Received

The US said the world had narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe after Russian forces in Ukraine seized Europe's biggest nuclear power plant in its ongoing attack on its neighbour.

Fighting was raging in Ukraine as Russian troops besieged and bombarded cities in the second week of an invasion that has created over 1 million refugees, a barrage of sanctions, an exodus of firms from Russia and fears of a global economic hit and wider conflict.

The southeastern port city of Mariupol has been encircled and shelled. There is no water, heat or electricity and it is running out of food after five days under attack, according to Mayor Vadym Boychenko.

At a meeting on Friday, NATO allies rejected Ukraine's appeal for no-fly zones, saying that stepping in directly could make the situation worse.

"We have a responsibility... to prevent this war from escalating beyond Ukraine because that would be even more dangerous, more devastating and would cause even more human suffering," said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy slammed the summit as "weak" and "confused." "It was clear that not everyone considers the battle for Europe's freedom to be the number one goal," he said.

Putin's actions have drawn almost universal condemnation and many countries have imposed heavy sanctions as the West balances punishment with avoiding a widening of the conflict.

A glut of global brands have halted operations or exited completely while shipping and supply chain issues have made it difficult to work in Russia.

Fighting back in the information war, Russia's parliament passed a law imposing a prison term of up to 15 years for spreading intentionally "fake" news about the military.

"This law will force punishment - and very tough punishment - on those who lied and made statements which discredited our armed forces," the chairman of the Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin said.

Russia is blocking Facebook and the websites of the BBC, Deutsche Welle and Voice of America.

"It leaves us no other option than to temporarily suspend the work of all BBC News journalists and their support staff within the Russian Federation," said Tim Davie, the director general of the BBC.

The British channel said access to accurate information was a fundamental human right and it would continue its efforts to make its news available in Russia.

CNN, Bloomberg News and Canada's CBC also suspended the work of their journalists in the country.

A humanitarian disaster is also unfolding, with more than one million people seeking refuge in western Ukraine and in neighbouring countries.

The attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, about 225 km west of Mariupol, brought the conflict to a perilous moment.

As shells hit the area, a training building caught fire - triggering a spasm of alarm around the world before the blaze was extinguished and officials said the facility was safe.

The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told an emergency UN Security Council meeting, the attack reflected a "dangerous new escalation" in Russia's invasion.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Raphael Grossi said the plant was undamaged from what he believed was a Russian projectile. Only one of its six reactors was working, at around 60 per cent of capacity.

Russia's defence ministry said the plant was working normally and its forces were in control. It blamed the fire on an attack by Ukrainian saboteurs.

Moscow denies targeting civilians in Ukraine and says its aim is to disarm its neighbour, counter what it views as NATO aggression and capture leaders it calls neo-Nazis.

Ukraine and its Western allies call that a baseless pretext for a war to conquer a country of 44 million people.

More sanctions are likely, potentially including a ban on Russian-flagged ships in European ports and blocking imports of steel, timber, aluminium or coal.

The US is also weighing up cuts to imports of Russian oil.

© RAW 2022

Russia has declared a partial ceasefire to allow humanitarian corridors out of the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha, the Kremlin's defence ministry says.

"From 10am Moscow time (6pm AEDT), the Russian side declares a ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to leave Mariupol and Volnovakha," Russian news agencies quoted the defence ministry as saying.

Earlier in the day, Russia blocked Facebook and some other websites and passed a law to allow much stronger powers to crack down on independent journalism, prompting the BBC, Bloomberg and other foreign media to suspend reporting in the country.

Ten days of fighting in Ukraine has created more than a million refugees, a barrage of sanctions that are increasingly isolating Moscow, and fears in the West of a wider global conflict that has been unthought-of for decades.

Moscow says its invasion is a "special operation" to capture individuals it regards as dangerous nationalists, and has denied targeting civilians.

Ukraine says Russian forces have focused efforts on encircling Kyiv and Kharkiv, the country's second-biggest city, while aiming to establish a land bridge to Crimea.

Kyiv, in the path of a Russian armoured column that has been stalled outside the Ukrainian capital for days, came under renewed assault, with explosions audible from the city centre.

Russian forces have also encircled and shelled the strategic southeastern port city of Mariupol. There is no water, heat or electricity and food is running out, according to Mayor Vadym Boychenko.

"We are simply being destroyed," he said.

President Vladimir Putin's actions have drawn almost universal condemnation, and many countries have imposed heavy sanctions.

Fighting back in the information war, Russia's parliament on Friday passed a law imposing a prison term of up to 15 years for spreading intentionally 'fake' news about the military.

"This law will force punishment - and very tough punishment - on those who lied and made statements which discredited our armed forces," said Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of the Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament.

Russia is blocking Facebook for restricting state-backed channels, and the websites of the BBC, Germany's Deutsche Welle and Voice of America, among others.

The US is weighing cuts to imports of Russian oil and ways to minimise the impact on global supplies and consumers as politicians fast-track a bill that would ban Russian energy imports.

Global oil prices surged more than 20 per cent this week on fears of supply shortages, posing a risk to global economic growth.

At a meeting on Friday, NATO rejected Ukraine's appeal for no-fly zones, saying they were increasing support but that stepping in directly could make the situation worse.

"We have a responsibility ... to prevent this war from escalating beyond Ukraine because that would be even more dangerous, more devastating and would cause even more human suffering," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

Zelenskiy slammed the summit as "weak" and "confused".

"It was clear that not everyone considers the battle for Europe's freedom to be the number one goal," he said.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres talks on peacefully ending the conflict had "not moved from the starting point", Russia's Tass news agency said.

More than a million people have sought refuge in western Ukraine and neighbouring countries. Thousands waited for hours on Friday outside the railway station in the western city of Lviv to board trains heading to Poland.

"All we took with us is the bare necessities," Yana Tebyakina said. "A change of clothes. All the rest we left behind, all our lives stayed back at home."

Friday's attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, about 230km west of Mariupol, brought the conflict to a perilous point, but officials later said the facility was safe.

US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the world had narrowly avoided a nuclear catastrophe.

Bombing has worsened in recent days in the northeast cities of Kharkiv and Chernihiv, while Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said an advance on the southern port of Mykolayiv had been halted.

If captured, the city of 500,000 people would be the biggest yet to fall.

© RAW 2022

Residents in NSW's mid-north coast have been evacuated overnight ahead of more rainfall, as the state government announces funding for flood-affected primary producers.

The State Emergency Service ordered residents in low-lying properties in Croki to evacuate by 2:30am on Saturday, including people who live on Barton St, Ferry Rd and Reid St.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned flooding is possible near Croki about noon on Saturday during high tide, due to flooding around the Manning River, as dozens of flood warnings remain in NSW.

The warning comes as Deputy Premier Paul Toole announces primary producers can access $15,000 immediately through the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

Grants of up to $75,000 are available for primary producers in disaster-declared local government areas.

"We know it's going to be a long road to recovery for our farmers, however this funding means they'll have access to immediate support as well as in the crucial period of rebuilding ahead," he said on Saturday.

Six deaths have been confirmed in the state's floods, the most recent a man believed to be in his 40s whose body was found near Terragon, south of Murwillumbah, on Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, there are fears the Hawkesbury River could again peak at a moderate flood level near Wisemans Ferry on Saturday afternoon.

The SES is warning the river, northwest of Sydney, could hit 3.5 metres about 1pm with the high tide.

The weather bureau has also issued a moderate flood warning for Tuggerah Lake, north of Sydney.

The SES says moderate to major flooding is possible along the Hawkesbury and Lower Nepean Rivers from Sunday with more rain forecast.

Over the next four days parts of NSW could see up to 100mm of rain and parts of the Hunter up to 150mm, with severe thunderstorms, heavy rains and damaging winds forecast, the BoM said.

"We are not past the danger period yet. The rivers are very high, fast-flowing," NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York said.

Further rain over the weekend falling in saturated catchments could cause renewed river rises in areas already devastated by flooding.

Cash management providers Prosegur and Armaguard have delivered cash to Casino, Byron Bay and other towns around northern NSW as electronic payment systems were taken out of action and ATMs ran out of notes.

About 400 NSW Rural Fire Service, Fire & Rescue NSW and Australian Defence Force personnel are joining locals to start the clean-up effort.

"The immense scale of the flooding is unprecedented and we are putting equally unprecedented resources into the significant clean-up and long-term recovery effort," said Emergency Services Minister Steph Cook, who will soon take on the role of Flood Recovery Minister.

Concerns have been raised about the depth of the government's preparation, resourcing and response to the disastrous floods, with the NSW Premier acknowledging on Friday it was likely mistakes were made.

Those will be identified when the government conducts its reviews and the premier has pledged to "resource every level of government to a level that will provide protection to the people of our state".

The SES has begun giving the all clear for evacuated residents to return home after Sydney dodged the bulk of the rain.

Thousands had their power returned on Friday, but Endeavour Energy estimated it could take several days for flood-damaged electricity infrastructure to be assessed.

© AAP 2022