The Know Daily - Wednesday 12 July 2023

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Native giraffes have made a return to Angola as part of a new conservation project aiming to restore the country’s wildlife after decades of conflict. Giraffes are thought to have been extinct in Angola since the 1990s, but seven females and seven males recently arrived in Iona National Park from central Namibia. Park manager Pedro Monterroso hailed their arrival as “a message of hope for conservation in this country”.

🌐 Summit latest

Nato states announced a “strong package” of measures for Ukraine at the 2023 Vilnius summit on Tuesday, but the alliance has refused to give President Zelenskyy a timeline for his country’s membership.

What’s the story?
Speaking on Twitter yesterday ahead of his arrival in the Lithuanian capital, Zelenskyy criticised the “absurd” delay to Ukraine’s membership of Nato. Kyiv wishes to join the alliance as soon as fighting ends, but Nato states have refused to be drawn on a timeline, saying that Ukraine can join “when allies agree and conditions are met”.

“Some member states fear near-automatic membership for Ukraine could give Russia an incentive to both escalate and prolong the war,” explained the BBC.

Tell me more.
Speaking at the end of the first day of the summit on Tuesday, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg laid out what he described as a “strong package for Ukraine and a clear path towards its membership in Nato”.

Stoltenberg said that the onerous application process for Nato membership had been shortened from two steps to one for Ukraine. He also announced the creation of a new Nato-Ukraine council, which would give Kyiv the right to summon meetings of the security council.

The two-day summit concludes later today.

Is there anything else I should know?
The G7 - an informal bloc made up of seven wealthy countries - is also set to sign a long-term security agreement with Ukraine. The declaration is “expected to be ratified in the margins of the Nato summit”, said Sky News, and would provide “more defence equipment, increase and accelerate intelligence sharing and bolster support for cyber defences”.

PM Rishi Sunak has said the agreement will potentially “return peace to Europe”.