Description
Added on the 22/06/2019 15:36:29 - Copyright : Wochit
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says that the US-led defence alliance's European members are making "real progress" on their defence spending, with 2024 set to be the first year their spending amounts to "two percent of their combined GDP". Stoltenberg's comments come after Donald Trump rattled the alliance by saying he would "encourage" Russia to attack members who were not meeting the two percent obligation. SOUNDBITE
The COP28 president says that the climate summit is making progress but "not fast enough" as he urges all countries to set aside narrow self-interest. "The window is closing to close the gaps. We are making progress, but not fast enough and not satisfying enough," Sultan Al Jaber the Emirati oil boss who is leading the summit in Dubai, tells a late-night session. SOUNDBITE
The UN nuclear watchdog is "making progress" inspecting several areas of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, after claims it had been mined, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said Friday. "I think we are making progress," he said in Tokyo, explaining officials had visited sites including cooling pools, but had not yet been given access to the roof, where Ukraine claims possible explosive devices have been placed. SOUNDBITE
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen congratulates Moldova's President Maia Sandu on making "big progress" in the reforms required to back a bid for European Union membership. SOUNDBITE
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says that no agreement had been reached following a high-stakes meeting with President Joe Biden over raising the US debt limit. "I didn't see any new movement," McCarthy says after the White House talks, which were also attended by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and the top Democrats in Congress, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. SOUNDBITE
Hundreds of firefighters continue to battle Spain's first major forest fire of the year, as authorities say that they're beginning to make headway in limiting the blaze. "The overall development is positive," firefighters in the province of Castellon, where the fire broke out on Thursday afternoon, said on Twitter. The fire has already burnt 3,800 hectares of vegetation and led to the evacuation of 1,500 people in the Valencia area. More than 500 men are still fighting the flames. IMAGES