The world this week--PoliticsRussian bombs and missiles have damaged half of Ukraine’s power systems, said the Ukrainian government.Widespread blackouts are likely in the coming months, it warned.Russia’s state-owned gas company, Gazprom, threatened to curtail supplies in the last operational pipeline connecting Russia with western Europe, which runs through Ukraine.The Russians claim that Ukraine is hoarding gas destined for Moldova; Ukraine denies this.The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, reported that recent intense shelling had caused widespread damage across the site of the Zaporizhia nuclear plant, but that key equipment had not been affected.The head of the agency said that a major incident had been avoided by “metres, not kilometres”.Rishi Sunak, Britain’s new prime minister, visited Kyiv and met Volodymyr Zelensky.Mr Sunak stressed that although Britain has had three prime ministers in the past three months, there has been no change in the country’s solid commitment to Ukraine.Britain’s Supreme Court ruled that a referendum on independence for Scotland could only proceed with consent from the Westminster Parliament.The Scottish National Party, which governs Scotland, had hoped to hold a referendum in October next year.
