While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 2
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) welcomes Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to Kyiv.
PHOTO: AFP
Zelensky says ‘serious threat’ remains at nuclear plant
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Saturday that a “serious threat” remained at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and said Russia was “technically ready” to provoke a localised explosion at the facility.
Mr Zelensky cited Ukrainian intelligence as the source of his information.
“There is a serious threat because Russia is technically ready to provoke a local explosion at the station, which could lead to a (radiation) release,” Mr Zelensky told a joint news conference in Kyiv with visiting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
He gave no further details. Ukrainian military intelligence has previously said Russian troops had mined the plant.
Trump rival Ron DeSantis criticised over ‘homophobic’ video
Gay Republicans criticised as “homophobic” a video posted by Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis’ campaign highlighting rival Donald Trump’s past statements in support of gay rights, and the former president declined at a rally on Saturday to respond to the attack.
Florida Governor DeSantis’ campaign posted the video on Twitter late on Friday, saying it marked the end of a month of LGBTQ+ pride celebrations.
“To wrap up Pride Month, let’s hear from the politician who did more than any other Republican to celebrate it,” the campaign said in presenting the video. It contrasted Trump’s 2016 pledge to “do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens” with Mr DeSantis’ own hardline conservatism regarding transgender and other LGBTQ+ rights.
Moldova airport shooting suspect in coma
The chief suspect in a shootout in Moldova’s main international airport remained in a coma on Saturday and was wanted in his native Tajikistan in connection with the abduction of a bank officer, Moldovan authorities said.
The 43-year-old man grabbed a gun and shot dead two security officers and wounded a civilian on Friday after being denied entry to ex-Soviet Moldova, they said.
Acting chief prosecutor Ion Musteata said the suspect, who seized a gun from a security officer, remained unconscious after being wounded in the exchange of fire while being led away to an area for a flight back to Istanbul, from where he had arrived.
Dutch teenager Dilano van’t Hoff dies in crash at Spa
Dutch teenager Dilano van’t Hoff died in an accident during a wet Formula Regional European Championship race at Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps circuit on Saturday, his team said.
The 18-year-old, who won the 2021 Spanish F4 championship, was racing for the Dutch MP Motorsport outfit at the Belgian Grand Prix circuit.
The race, in wet conditions with heavy spray, was on the support programme for the 24 Hours of Spa endurance race.
We Didn’t Start The Fire is updated for a new generation
Three decades have passed since Billy Joel released his hit single We Didn’t Start The Fire, a song that chronicled cultural and historical events from 1949 to 1989. Its rapid-fire lyrics took listeners through a time machine, with references to figures such as Harry Truman and Marilyn Monroe and events such as the Korean War and Woodstock.
Now, the rock band Fall Out Boy has picked up where the song left off with an updated cover version.
The single’s cover art reads “A Fall Out Boy cover of the Billy Joel song ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’ covering newsworthy items from 1989-2023,” and the new lyrics refer to Myspace, the Mars Rover, Jeff Bezos and the deaths of Prince and Queen Elizabeth.
