While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 9
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Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (left) meeting US President Joe Biden at the White House..
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Biden, Sunak sign US-UK agreement on clean energy, AI
US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday agreed to deepen close economic ties between their countries, pledging to accelerate the clean energy transition and strengthen critical mineral supply chains.
The two leaders also discussed their “unwavering support for the people in Ukraine,” Mr Biden told reporters at a joint news conference with Mr Sunak, an opportunity not afforded to every world leader who visits the White House.
Mr Biden and the British prime minister released the “Atlantic Declaration,” which Mr Sunak described as a first-of-its-kind economic partnership on issues like artificial intelligence (AI), climate change and protecting technologies that would help shape the future.
Mr Biden hailed the intensity of the economic relationship as an “enormous source of strength” that underpinned broader ties between the Nato allies.
At least nine wounded in shelling of Ukraine’s Kherson
Russian shelling wounded at least nine people in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Thursday, as residents were being evacuated due to flooding caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, Ukraine’s interior ministry said.
The Prosecutor-General’s office initially said one person had been killed by the Russian shelling, but later said no deaths had been reported.
In a statement on the Telegram messaging app, the interior ministry said the shelling had begun “precisely during the evacuation of citizens whose homes were flooded”.
EU ministers seal ‘historic’ migration deal
AFP
European Union ministers agreed on Thursday on how to share out the responsibility for looking after migrants and refugees, after 12 hours of negotiations got Italy and Greece to sign up to a deal that has eluded the bloc for nearly a decade.
Home affairs ministers from the 27-member bloc sealed the deal, hoping to end years of division dating back to 2015 when more than a million people - mostly fleeing war in Syria - reached the EU across the Mediterranean.
Germany’s Nancy Faeser hailed the agreement as “historic”. The bloc’s top migration official said it amounted to “a win-win” situation for all EU member states.
Ruby gemstone sells for record $46m
A ruby sold at Sotheby’s in New York on Thursday for US$34.8 million (S$46 million), setting a new record price at auction for the precious stone.
The 55.22-carat gemstone, named Estrela de Fura, was already the largest ruby ever to go under the hammer.
It was cut from a 101-carat rough stone discovered in July last year at the Montepeuz ruby mine in Mozambique operated by the Fura Gems company.
Swiatek to play Muchova in French Open final
Reigning champion and world number one Iga Swiatek will face unseeded Czech Karolina Muchova in the French Open final after defeating Brazilian 14th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) on Thursday.
Poland’s Swiatek, 22, is chasing a third Roland Garros crown in four years and bidding to become the first woman to successfully defend the title since Justine Henin in 2007.
She is the youngest woman to reach three French Open finals since Monica Seles at the start of the 1990s.
