While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 18
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Mr Blinken (centre) spoke separately with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin (left) and Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi.
PHOTOS: REUTERS, EPA-EFE, AFP
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Blinken talks to counterparts ahead of China trip
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke separately with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, emphasising the importance of “sustained... trilateral cooperation” ahead of his visit to China, the State Department said on Saturday.
The conversations also come as North Korea has stepped up missile launches in the past year, and Tokyo is also contending with growing pressure from Chinese vessels around islands contested with Beijing.
Mr Blinken on Friday reassured Foreign Minister Park Jin of the United States’ “ironclad commitment” to South Korea’s defence, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement on Saturday.
Mr Blinken repeated the “ironclad commitment” to defence to Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoshimasa Hayashi, and “condemned the DPRK’s continued unlawful ballistic missile launches into the Sea of Japan.”
Biden makes re-election pitch in key swing state
NYT
President Joe Biden made his 2024 re-election pitch to union members in Philadelphia on Saturday in his first political rally since launching his campaign in April, aiming to shore up a key part of his political coalition and bolster support among white working-class voters.
The AFL-CIO, which includes 60 unions representing more than 12.5 million workers, endorsed Biden and his running mate Vice-President Kamala Harris this week - the earliest it has ever made an endorsement in a US presidential election - and hosted Saturday’s event.
“I told you when I ran for president, I’d have your back, and I have,” Mr Biden told the approximately 2,000 union members in attendance. “But you’ve had my back as well.”
Rammstein fans, sex assault protesters face off
AFP
Around 150 protesters gathered outside a Bern stadium on Saturday, trying to out-shout thousands of Rammstein fans pouring in to see their favourite band, despite a wave of sexual assault claims.
Brandishing banners with messages such as “I believe her”, and “Stop the rape culture”, the small crowd raised their middle fingers towards the concert venue and the far-larger gathering of black-clad fans of the German metal band.
The fans responded in kind, with a line of police officers separating them.
Putin lectures African leaders seeking to mediate in Ukraine
VIA REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday interrupted opening remarks by African leaders seeking to mediate in the Ukraine conflict to deliver a list of reasons why he believed many of their proposals were misguided.
Mr Putin first welcomed leaders from Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, Congo Republic, Comoros and South Africa to the 18th-century Konstantinovsky Palace on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, stressing Russia’s commitment to the continent.
But after presentations from the Comoran, Senegalese and South African leaders, he stepped in to challenge the assumptions of the plan before the round of comments from all the representatives could go any further.
Verstappen on pole for Canada GP, Hulkenberg second
USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Max Verstappen drove with extreme poise and skill on Saturday as he claimed pole position for Red Bull ahead of Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, in a rainswept qualifying session at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The defending double world champion and series leader outpaced the German driver by 1.244 seconds in a very wet top-10 shootout to secure his 25th career pole. It also completed a hat-trick for the Dutchman after poles in Monaco and Spain.
Two-time champion Fernando Alonso was third-fastest for Aston Martin and will share the second row of the grid with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.
