World
Approved! EU countries endorse Ukraine as official candidate
Ukraine has been granted official European Union candidate standing, after being endorsed by the bloc’s 27 leaders throughout a summit in Brussels.
Moldova was additionally granted candidate standing whereas Georgia was left on the ready listing, pending reforms to make sure the nation’s political stability.
“A historic second,” stated European Council President Charles Michel. “As we speak marks a vital step in your path in direction of the EU.”
Michel congratulated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Moldovan President Maia Sandu and added “our future is collectively.” Different EU leaders took to social media to hail the second.
Zelenskyy “sincerely” counseled the choice and stated “Ukraine’s future is throughout the EU.” He then joined the summit just about to talk with the heads of state and authorities.
“An unequivocal and powerful sign of assist for our residents and Moldova’s European future,” stated Sandu.
Candidate standing is a largely symbolic designation that recognises the chosen nation is on observe to start the prolonged, advanced and sometimes tortuous accession course of.
The candidacy does not mechanically assure the beginning of negotiations, not to mention their conclusion. Over the previous a long time, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey have been granted candidate standing, with very restricted progress in direction of turning into members. Turkey obtained the title again in December 1999.
Regardless of the symbolism, the standing does characterize a geopolitical victory for Ukraine, a war-torn nation that, till earlier this yr, was by no means thought-about a critical contender to enter the EU. The transfer can be seen as a response to Russia’s try and reinstate its sphere of affect.
“We owe this to the Ukrainian folks. They’re preventing for our values,” stated French President Emmanuel Macron.
“27 occasions sure!” stated German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “This is to good cooperation within the European household!”
The European Fee has put ahead seven key reforms that Ukraine wants to hold out earlier than the tip of the yr. The listing contains the appointment of judges for the Constitutional Court docket, the struggle towards corruption and cash laundering, the safety of nationwide minorities and the implementation of a regulation meant to curb the extreme affect of oligarchs within the economic system.
The Fee is anticipated to report again to the European Council by the tip of the yr concerning the tempo of the reforms undertaken by Ukraine and Moldova, in addition to Georgia, who could possibly be granted candidate standing at a later stage.
“I do know that they may transfer swiftly,” stated European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen, reacting to the information. “They know the way essential that is for his or her democracies, their economies and their residents.”
EU leaders will use this report to find out the following step, which may embrace a extra detailed roadmap to open formal negotiations. All main steps in enlargement coverage require a unanimous vote of member states.
Accession talks are divided into 35 chapters and grouped into six primary clusters: fundamentals; inner markets; competitiveness and inclusive development; inexperienced agenda and sustainable connectivity; assets, agriculture and cohesion; and exterior relations.
The Fee has already warned that your complete course of is merit-based and could be “reversed if the underlying circumstances usually are not met anymore.”
Thursday’s breakthrough was broadly anticipated to occur following a flurry of assist over the previous days and an outreach marketing campaign by President Zelenskyy.
It comes per week after a joint journey to Kyiv by Scholz, Macron and Italian PM Mario Draghi. The leaders, talking on behalf of the EU’s three largest economies, delivered an unmistakable “sure” to granting Ukraine the coveted candidate standing.
“Russia needs to indicate that the European Union is allegedly incapable of being efficient and that European values can’t shield freedom,” Zelenskyy stated final week, whereas assembly with Scholz, Macron and Draghi.
“We are able to and due to this fact should break this situation collectively and show to them that Europe will proceed to be free, democratic and, I emphasise as soon as once more, that is essential – united.”
This text has been up to date to incorporate new reactions and developments.
World
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World
Operating company of Fukushima to use robot to remove melted nuclear fuel from destroyed reactor
- A company demonstrated a remote-controlled robot for retrieving melted fuel debris at Japan’s destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
- The plan involves deploying an extendable pipe robot into the reactor to begin debris removal by October.
- Approximately 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain in the three damaged reactors.
The operator of Japan’s destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant demonstrated Tuesday how a remote-controlled robot would retrieve tiny bits of melted fuel debris from one of three damaged reactors later this year for the first time since the 2011 meltdown.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings plans to deploy a “telesco-style” extendable pipe robot into Fukushima Daiichi No. 2 reactor to test the removal of debris from its primary containment vessel by October.
That work is more than two years behind schedule. The removal of melted fuel was supposed to begin in late 2021 but has been plagued with delays, underscoring the difficulty of recovering from the magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in 2011.
DRONE AIMS TO EXAMINE JAPAN’S DAMAGED FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR REACTOR FOR THE FIRST TIME
During the demonstration at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Kobe, western Japan, where the robot has been developed, a device equipped with tongs slowly descended from the telescopic pipe to a heap of gravel and picked up a granule.
TEPCO plans to remove less than 1 ounce of debris in the test at the Fukushima plant.
“We believe the upcoming test removal of fuel debris from Unit 2 is an extremely important step to steadily carry out future decommissioning work,” said Yusuke Nakagawa, a TEPCO group manager for the fuel debris retrieval program. “It is important to proceed with the test removal safely and steadily.”
About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the three damaged reactors. Critics say the 30- to 40-year cleanup target set by the government and TEPCO for Fukushima Daiichi is overly optimistic. The damage in each reactor is different, and plans must accommodate their conditions.
Better understanding the melted fuel debris from inside the reactors is key to their decommissioning. TEPCO deployed four mini drones into the No. 1 reactor’s primary containment vessel earlier this year to capture images from the areas where robots had not reached.
World
What happened when Israel attacked Rafah?
Thirteen out of 21 people killed by Israel in an air strike on the so-called “safe area” of al-Mawasi were civilian women and girls, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary reported on Tuesday.
This was the second attack since Sunday, with a horrifying strike on Sunday night setting displaced people’s shelters ablaze not too far from Tuesday’s strike.
The world had watched, aghast, on Monday as displaced Palestinians were forced to dig through smouldering remains with their bare hands – looking for bodies, or injured people, or in some cases, a few scraps of food they could salvage to keep their families going a bit longer.
As reports further clarify what happened on Tuesday, here are the details of Sunday’s attack:
When and where was this attack?
The attack happened at night on May 26.
It was inflicted on an encampment of makeshift shelters just north of Rafah city, in an area called Tal as-Sultan
It came after United States President Joe Biden said a “major offensive” by Israel on Rafah would be a red line.
What happened in the attack?
Many shelters burst into flames with their occupants still inside.
The Gaza Government Media Office said Israel dropped seven 900kg (2,000-pound) bombs as well as missiles on the displacement camp.
The Israeli army said it targeted Rafah with “precision munitions”, and that a nearby fuel tank led to the subsequent fire.
Horrific videos emerged of the aftermath – the most notable was of a man holding up the corpse of a young child without a head.
Al Jazeera’s Sanad Verification Agency was able to obtain images of fragments believed to be of the weaponry used in this attack. The photos the agency obtained show the tail of a GBU-39/B small-diameter bomb, which is made by Boeing. The GBU-39/B includes a jet engine taken from the M26 unguided missile.
Who were the people killed?
Thousands of civilians had been sheltering in the Tal as-Sultan area, seeking some minimal protection from the continuous Israeli attacks across Gaza.
The Israeli government had not issued any orders to evacuate the area before it attacked.
How many people died?
Israel killed at least 45 people in the offensive.
The total number of injured people is hard to determine, as the hospital where casualties were taken has closed after a subsequent Israeli drone attack on its entrance that killed two members of staff.
How did they die?
Some people died from the impact of the bomb.
Some people “reportedly burned to death”, according to Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
What were they doing when they died?
Accounts from Rafah say that many of the dead were preparing to go to sleep when the attack occurred.
Why is Israel doing this?
Initially, the Israeli army claimed it had struck “a Hamas compound in Rafah in which significant Hamas terrorists were operating”.
It added it was “aware of reports indicating that as a result of the strike and fire that was ignited several civilians in the area were harmed”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since said the attack was “a tragic mistake.”
“Despite our best effort not to harm those not involved, unfortunately a tragic error happened last night. We are investigating the case,” Netanyahu said.
The attack came two days after the ICJ ordered Israel to halt its offensive on Rafah.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is set to convene an emergency meeting over the attack on Rafah.
To date, the United States has vetoed every UNSC proposal aimed at holding Israel accountable.
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