While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 26
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Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Olga Stefanishyna (front row, centre left) posing with European affairs ministers and representatives at the first meeting of the Conference on Accession of Ukraine to the European Union, in Luxembourg, on June 25.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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EU starts ‘historic’ membership talks with Ukraine, Moldova
The European Union on June 25 kicked off accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, setting the fragile ex-Soviet states on a long path towards membership that Russia has tried to block.
The landmark move signals in particular a vote of confidence in Kyiv’s future at a time when Moscow has momentum on the battlefield almost two and a half years into the Kremlin’s invasion.
“Dear friends, today marks the beginning of a new chapter in the relationship between Ukraine and the European Union,” Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said via videolink at the start of the talks.
President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a “historic day” as officials from Kyiv and the EU’s 27 member states met in Luxembourg. “We will never be derailed from our path to a united Europe and to our common home of all European nations,” the Ukrainian leader wrote on social media.
Obama’s half-sister hit with tear gas in Kenya protests
Kenyan activist Auma Obama, the half-sister of former US president Barack Obama, was among protesters tear-gassed on June 25 during demonstrations outside the parliament building in Nairobi, a CNN interview showed.
Police opened fire on demonstrators trying to storm Kenya’s legislature on June 25, with at least five protesters killed, dozens wounded, and sections of the parliament building set ablaze as lawmakers inside passed legislation to raise taxes.
Ms Auma Obama was taken aside in the melee by a CNN reporter and asked why she was there.
US voters prefer Trump on economy, Biden on democracy
REUTERS
US voters see Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as the better candidate for the economy but prefer his Democratic rival President Joe Biden’s approach on preserving democracy, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
The three-day poll that concluded on June 23 showed that less than five months before the Nov 5 election, the electorate is divided on the candidates’ approach on the issues that respondents view as the top two problems facing the nation.
Mr Biden’s approval rating, measured across all respondents in the poll, rose marginally to 37 per cent from 36 per cent in May when it tied the lowest reading of his presidency.
Four people arrested after protest at British PM’s home
British police arrested four people June 25 on suspicion of trespassing, after they entered the grounds of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s property in northern England, police said in a statement.
The arrests come during a general election campaign where Mr Sunak is battling to overcome the centre-left Labour Party’s large lead in the polls.
“We have arrested four people in the grounds of the Prime Minister’s constituency home this afternoon,” North Yorkshire Police said in a statement.
Mbappe breaks drought, but France still lack cutting edge
AFP
As France struggled again to turn chances into goals at Euro 2024 in a 1-1 draw with Poland on June 25, a frustrated Kylian Mbappe ran over for an exchange with Didier Deschamps, pointing animatedly to different corners of the pitch.
The first-half debate between captain and coach summed up the challenge for France who have found the back of the net only twice in three games at the tournament: once from an own goal against Austria and a penalty scored by Mbappe against Poland.
The draw - which means France finished second in Group D, the first time in Deschamps’ 12 years in charge that they have not topped a group stage pool - will do little to settle the unease among fans at their team’s lack of goals.
