LUXEMBOURG: EU countries on Friday formally approved launching accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova next week, a landmark event for the two countries at the start of their long path toward joining the bloc.
European Union ministers will start negotiations first with Ukraine and then with Moldova in Luxembourg on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Ukraine — followed by its neighbor Moldova — lodged its application to join the 27-nation EU in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Starting the negotiations will still only put the two ex-Soviet states at the beginning of what is likely to be a years-long process of reforms before they can finally become members.
EU leaders took the key step in December of agreeing to open talks on war-torn Ukraine — and Moldova — joining the club.
But to actually begin the negotiations the bloc’s members still had to sign off on a formal framework for the process.
The EU’s executive told member states this month that Ukraine and Moldova had met all the criteria needed to launch the talks.
Pressure has grown to move Ukraine onto the next step in its quest for membership, in the face of fears that Hungary could stall progress when it takes over the EU’s rotating presidency in July.
Hungary — the friendliest country to Russia in the EU — has said it does not intend to hold any further rounds of talks with Ukraine during its six months at the helm.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has reinvigorated a push in the EU to take on new members, after years in which countries particularly in the Western Balkans made little progress on their hope to join.
The EU in December 2023 also granted candidate status to another of Russia’s former Soviet neighbors, Georgia.
It has also approved accession negotiations with Bosnia and has opened such talks with Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia.
EU confirms launch of Ukraine, Moldova membership talks Tuesday
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EU confirms launch of Ukraine, Moldova membership talks Tuesday
- Starting the negotiations will still only put the two ex-Soviet states at the beginning of what is likely to be a years-long process of reforms before they can finally become members
Pro Palestine protesters scale roof of Australia’s Parliament
CANBERRA: Pro Palestine protesters climbed the roof of Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday and unfurled banners, one saying Palestine will be free, and accused Israel of war crimes, TV footage showed.
Footage showed four people dressed in dark clothes on the roof of the building, unfurling black banners including one reading “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a common refrain of Pro Palestine protesters.
One of the protesters began a speech using a megaphone accusing the Israeli government of war crimes, an accusation it rejects.
“We will not forget, we will not forgive and we will continue to resist,” the protester said.
A handful of police and security advised people not to walk directly under the protest at the main entrance to the building, but there appeared to be no immediate attempt to remove the protesters, a Reuters witness said.
“This is a serious breach of the Parliament’s security,” opposition Home Affairs spokesperson James Paterson said in a post on social media platform X.
“The building was modified at great expense to prevent incursions like this. An investigation is required.”
The war in Gaza began when Hamas gunmen burst into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killed 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages back into Gaza, Israel says.
The offensive launched by Israel in retaliation has killed nearly 38,000 people, according to the Gaza health ministry, and has left the heavily built-up coastal enclave in ruins.
Both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the early stages of the Gaza war, a UN inquiry found last month, saying that Israel’s actions also constituted crimes against humanity because of the immense civilian losses.
Democratic governors say they are standing behind Biden amid questions about his shaky debate
WASHINGTON: A group of Democratic governors say they are standing behind President Joe Biden amid increasing calls from some in their party for him to leave the presidential race.
Biden met for more than an hour at the White House in person and virtually with more than 20 governors from his party. The governors told reporters afterward that the conversation was “candid” and said they expressed concerns about Biden’s debate performance last week.
But they did not join other Democrats in urging him to leave the race.
“The president is our nominee. The president is our party leader,” said Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland. He added that, in the meeting, Biden “was very clear that he’s in this to win it.”
A defiant Biden vowed Wednesday to keep running for reelection, rejecting growing pressure from Democrats to withdraw after a disastrous debate performance raised questions about his readiness to keep campaigning, much less win in November.
But increasingly ominous signs were mounting for the president. Two Democratic lawmakers have called on Biden to exit the race while a leading ally publicly suggested how the party might choose someone else. And senior aides said they believed he might only have a matter of days to show he was up to the challenge before anxiety in the party boils over.
“Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running … no one’s pushing me out,” Biden said on a call with staffers from his reelection campaign. “I’m not leaving. I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win.”
Still, despite his efforts to pull multiple levers — whether it was his impromptu appearance with campaign aides, private conversations with senior lawmakers, a weekend blitz of travel and a network television interview — to salvage his faltering reelection, Biden was confronting serious and mounting indications that support for him was rapidly eroding on Capitol Hill and among other allies.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Arizona, told The New York Times that though he backs Biden as long as he is a candidate, this “is an opportunity to look elsewhere” and what Biden “needs to do is shoulder the responsibility for keeping that seat — and part of that responsibility is to get out of this race.”
Senior aides said they believe the 81-year-old Biden has just a matter of days to mount a convincing display of his fitness for office before his party’s panic over his debate performance and anger about his response boils over, according to two people with knowledge who insisted on anonymity to more freely discuss The president accepts the urgency of the task — having reviewed the polling and mountains of media coverage — but he is convinced he can do that in the coming days and insistent that he will not step out of the race, the aides said.
Meanwhile, a major Democratic donor, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, also called on the president to exit the race, saying, “Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous.” The statement was first reported by The New York Times.
And all that followed Rep. Jim Clyburn, a longtime Biden friend and confidant, saying he’d back a “mini-primary” in the run-up to the Democratic National Convention next month if Biden were to leave the race. The South Carolina Democrat floated an idea that appeared to be laying the groundwork for alternative choices by delegates during the Democrats’ planned virtual roll call that is scheduled before the more formal party convention set to begin Aug. 19 in Chicago.
On CNN, Clyburn said Vice President Kamala Harris, governors and others could join the competition: “It would be fair to everybody.”
Clyburn, a senior lawmaker who is a former member of his party’s House leadership team, said he has not personally seen the president act as he did on the debate stage last week and called it “concerning.”
And even as other Democratic allies have remained quiet since Thursday’s debate, there is a growing private frustration about the Biden campaign’s response to his disastrous debate performance at a crucial moment in the campaign — particularly in Biden waiting several days to do direct damage control with senior members of his own party.
One Democratic aide said the lacking response has been worse than the debate performance itself, saying lawmakers who support Biden want to see him directly combatting the concerns about his stamina in front of reporters and voters. The aide was granted anonymity to candidly discuss interparty dynamics.
Most Democratic lawmakers are taking a wait-and-see approach with Biden, though, holding out for a better idea of how the situation plays out through new polling and Biden’s scheduled ABC News interview, according to Democratic lawmakers who requested anonymity to speak bluntly about the president.
When Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who called on Biden to leave the race this week, shopped around his move for support from other Democratic lawmakers, he had no takers and eventually issued a statement on his own, according to a person familiar with the effort granted anonymity to discuss it.
Russia claims control of part of Chasiv Yar, Ukraine reports heavy fighting
- Russian forces have been slowly pushing their way across parts of eastern Ukraine since February
MOSCOW: Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that its forces had taken control of a district in the key Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar, while Ukraine said the area was engulfed by intense fighting.
Chasiv Yar stands on high ground 20 km (12 miles) to the west of Bakhmut, a town Russian forces seized a year ago. It had been levelled by months of fierce battles.
Both sides see Chasiv Yar as a strategic site which Russia could use as a potential staging point to move westward through Donetsk region toward the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
“Units of the South group of troops, as a result of dynamic actions, have taken full control of the “Novyi” district of the settlement of Chasiv Yar ... and improved their positions in forward sectors,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The Novyi district lies to the west of Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal which lies on the east side of the town.
On Wednesday, Ivan Petrechak, press officer for Ukraihe’s 24th brigade defending the town, told Suspilne public television the situation was “critically difficult,” with fighting around the canal.
“We see no letup in the amount of shelling. The enemy is using artillery, multiple rocket systems,” Petrechak said. “The situation remains tense. But the 24th brigade is holding its positions.”
Russian forces, he said, were sticking to known tactics — moving infantry into forested areas and then dispersing to attack Ukrainian positions in small groups. Advancing soldiers were covered by shelling and attack drones.”
The popular Ukrainian war blog DeepState reported earlier in the day that Russian forces had “completely erased” Novyi district. A Ukrainian military official said last week that Russian troops had been pushed out of an area by the canal.
Russian forces have been slowly pushing their way across parts of eastern Ukraine since the capture of the key city of Avdiivka in February.
Ukrainian forces are now receiving Western weaponry and ammunition after assistance from Washington was halted for months by disputes in the US Congress.
The United States announced its latest $2.3 billion military aid package for Ukraine this week, including artillery rounds, interceptor missiles and anti-tank weapons.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, writing on X, thanked the United States for the package on Wednesday and said it included funds to buy Patriot and NASAMS missile systems “which will strengthen our soldiers and boost our battlefield capacities.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters clear out Canadian campus encampment
- University of Toronto President Meric Gertler said in a statement Wednesday he was pleased the encampment had ended peacefully
TORONTO: Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters cleared out tents and tarps on Wednesday from a fenced-off grassy area on the campus of Canada’s largest university, where for two months they had held an encampment, ahead of an evening deadline.
In a ruling on Tuesday, an Ontario judge ordered the protesters to leave by 6 p.m. on Wednesday (2200 GMT), granting an injunction requested by the University of Toronto. The judge said in this case free expression was no defense to trespass.
“We are leaving on our terms to protect our community,” said Mohammad Yassin, a recent University of Toronto graduate, a Palestinian and a spokesman for the protesters, to a crowd of supporters and reporters outside the former encampment site.
He added the occupation through the school’s convocation period was “a massive victory.”
The protesters had been calling on the University of Toronto to disclose its investments, divest from investments associated with the Israeli occupation and cut ties with some Israeli-affiliated institutions.
“Negotiations have been frozen for a little while now,” Yassin said.
University of Toronto President Meric Gertler said in a statement Wednesday he was pleased the encampment had ended peacefully.
“Members of our community continue to be free to exercise their right to free speech and lawful protest,” he said.
Erdogan offers to help end Russia-Ukraine war; Kremlin rules him out as intermediary
- Meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Kazakhstan, Erdogan said he believed a fair peace suiting both sides was possible
ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that Ankara could help end the Ukraine-Russia war, but Putin’s spokesman said Erdogan could not play the role of an intermediary in the 28-month-old conflict.
Erdogan, speaking to Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan, said he believed a fair peace suiting both sides was possible, the Turkish presidency said.
But Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, ruled out any role as a go-between for the Turkish leader.
“No, it’s not possible,” said Peskov, when asked by a Russian television interviewer whether Erdogan could assume such a role, according to the Russian Tass news agency. The news agency’s account did not explain why the Kremlin was opposed to Erdogan’s participation.
The Turkish presidency said the two leaders also discussed the war in Gaza and ways to end the conflict in Syria.
Turkiye is a member of NATO, the US-led Western military alliance.
Unlike other NATO leaders, who have imposed sanctions on Putin’s government, Erdogan has tried to maintain good relations with both Russia and Ukraine throughout the conflict.
Turkiye played a key role in putting in place a deal to ensure grain could be shipped safely from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. The accord remained in effect for a year.
