While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 15
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Opening talks with the European Union would be a morale boost for Ukraine, as it fights off a Russian invasion.
PHOTO: REUTERS
EU agrees on start of accession talks with Ukraine, Moldova
European Union ambassadors agreed on June 14 formally to start accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, the Belgian EU presidency said, adding this would take place at intergovernmental conferences on June 25.
Belgium, which holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU, said on social media post X that the decision should be officially cleared by finance and economy ministers meeting on June 21.
Opening talks with the European Union would be a morale boost for Ukraine as Russia’s forces are advancing in the Donetsk region and opening a new front in the northeastern region of Kharkiv.
The agreement means that Hungary has dropped for now its opposition to Ukraine’s graduation to EU membership .Budapest, which has close ties to Moscow, has said it has doubts about European Commission’s assessment that Ukraine is ready.
Ukraine dismisses ceasefire demands as ‘absurd’
Ukraine dismissed ceasefire conditions announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 14 as “absurd”, saying he was trying to mislead world powers and undermine genuine peace efforts.
President Putin said in a speech Russia would end the war in Ukraine only if Kyiv agreed to drop its Nato ambitions and hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Moscow.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry described his words as “manipulative statements aimed at misleading the international community (and) undermining diplomatic efforts to achieve a just peace”.
US court allows liquidation of Alex Jones’ assets
NYT
A US judge on June 14 approved the liquidation of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ personal assets, setting the stage for the repayment of nearly US$1.5 billion (S2 billion) in damages he owes families whose loved ones were killed in a school shooting.
The ruling by a bankruptcy court in Houston throws into doubt the future of Mr Jones’ far-right website InfoWars – long notorious for peddling misinformation – which dangled the prospect of a “potential last broadcast” on June 14.
The serial provocateur had been ordered to pay nearly US$1.5 billion in damages for calling a 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in the state of Connecticut – which left 20 first graders and six adults dead – a “hoax.”
Britain’s Kate says she is making good progress
Kate, Britain’s Princess of Wales, has said she is making good progress as she undergoes preventative chemotherapy but is “not out of the woods”, ahead of her first public appearance on June 15 since surgery revealed the presence of cancer.
In a personal written message released on June 14, Kate said she had been “blown away” by the thousands of kind messages from across the globe which followed her cancer announcement in March.
She said they had made a world of difference to her and her husband, heir-to-the-throne Prince William.
Hosts Germany crush 10-man Scotland 5-1 in Euro 2024 opener
AFP
Germany thrashed 10-man Scotland 5-1 on June 14 with three goals in the first half to make a triumphant start to their Euro 2024 campaign and lay down a marker with the biggest opening game margin of victory in the tournament’s history.
The Germans, hunting a record fourth European title and first major trophy after a barren decade, scored through Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala and a Kai Havertz penalty, before Niclas Fuellkrug and Emre Can added two more late in the second half.
Scotland, who had defender Ryan Porteous sent off on the stroke of halftime, got on the scoresheet in the 87th minute courtesy of Antonio Ruediger’s deflected own goal.
