International Glance
The EU has agreed to open the first accession negotiations cluster with Ukraine and Moldova – Cluster 1 – Fundamentals, calling the move a historic step and a reward for the two countries’ resilience and reforms amid Russia’s war.
The European Council’s agreement to open the accession negotiations marks a major step in both countries’ long path toward EU membership. The decision paves the way for an Intergovernmental Conference on June 15, where the first negotiation stage – the “fundamentals” cluster – will be launched in Brussels.
“Today, the European Union took a major step forward,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
“At the first Intergovernmental Conference on Monday, we will open the cluster on fundamentals; the back of the accession process,” she added, explaining that it covers the core values and principles upon which the EU is built from.
Unifil, the UN peacekeeping force set to wind down its operations in 2027, has operated in the area for two decades, and Israel appears to be making use of - and improvements to - tracks used by its patrols.
The numbers “8647” appeared in large scale on the grass of the National Mall on Thursday, June 11, only days before President Donald Trump’s birthday, prompting an investigation from the U.S. Park Police.
Eight-year-old Jad Suleiman was walking home from school in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza on Monday when the Israeli airstrike hit. A piece of shrapnel lodged in his neck, killing him instantly. Outside Shifa hospital, his body lay on a stretcher wrapped in a loose white sheet. Dressed in jeans and a blue and red checkered shirt, the smallness of his body was accentuated by his oversized backpack, still on his limp shoulders.
Ukraine is increasing defense and security spending by UAH 1.56 trillion ($34.6 billion), bringing total 2026 security and defense expenditures to a record UAH 4.4 trillion ($97.6 billion), Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.
The brief exchange of fire between Iran and Israel was a truer statement of the balance of power that now exists between these two countries than the many spurious claims by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about having “smashed”, “destroyed” or “obliterated” the armed forces of the Islamic Republic.
