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00:00 Brazilian President Lula da Silva warns Europe against protectionist policies
00:04 following a summit with EU and Latin American leaders in Brussels.
00:09 At least 12 people injured in the port city of Odessa in Russian strikes that
00:15 Ukraine claims deliberately targeted grain export sites.
00:19 Vladimir Putin will not travel to a summit in South Africa next month over fears he could be arrested under an ICC warrant.
00:29 European Union concerned about the growing influence of the far right in Spain as the country heads into general elections.
00:37 Brazil's President Lula da Silva is warning against European protectionism.
00:48 He says that the ratification of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement should happen by the end of the year.
00:54 But he wants an equal partnership between the two sides.
00:58 He was speaking in Brussels on Wednesday following a summit between the EU and Latin America
01:04 where he made it clear that both sides have the right to protectionism even if it isn't the best way forward.
01:11 France is very keen on protecting its agricultural products, its small and medium-sized agriculture,
01:19 its chicken, its vegetables, its cheese, its milk, its wine.
01:25 So, just as France has this tendency to defend its productive heritage,
01:38 we have an interest in defending ours.
01:41 The richness of the negotiation is that someone has to give in.
01:46 A letter from the EU side was sent to Mercosur countries back in February
01:51 with demands on the environmental preservation of the Amazon rainforest.
01:55 It's another obstacle to the signing off of the trade agreement with the bloc,
01:59 which is made up of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
02:02 What are the key points for Brazil in this letter?
02:06 First, we don't accept the letter from the EU.
02:10 It's impossible to imagine that between historical partners like us,
02:17 someone would send a threatening letter.
02:20 We don't have a problem. We sent a letter in response
02:25 and we think the EU will agree with our response.
02:31 When it comes to Latin America's position on the war in Ukraine,
02:34 Lula da Silva stressed the need to work quickly towards a ceasefire
02:38 and again offered his mediation skills.
02:41 For now, neither the Veresky nor the Putin want to draw a draw,
02:45 because everyone thinks they will win.
02:47 But there is a fatigue.
02:50 The world is starting to get tired.
02:53 The countries are starting to get tired.
02:55 So, there will come a time when there will be peace.
02:59 And then we will need a group of countries capable of talking to Russia and Ukraine.
03:06 After hours of long discussions, the final declaration from the EU-Latin America summit
03:11 showed the stark difference of opinions on the war in Ukraine on both sides of the Atlantic.
03:16 The statement referring to the conflict was weak, without even mentioning Russia.
03:26 Images showing the aftermath of a second night of extensive Russian drone and missile attacks
03:32 on Ukraine's southern port city of Odessa.
03:35 Kyiv says residential buildings were damaged by the blast or debris
03:39 and that at least 12 civilians, including a child, sustained injuries in the strike.
03:45 Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow
03:48 of deliberately targeting grain export sites in the city.
03:53 The attacks come days after Russia withdrew its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative,
03:59 which enabled vital grain exports from Ukraine.
04:03 Moscow has said the strikes were aimed at military targets
04:06 and were in response to a blast on a bridge linking Russia to the occupied Crimean Peninsula on Monday,
04:12 which it has blamed on Ukraine.
04:17 The bombing took place amid Ukraine's ongoing counter-offensive and Russian offensive operations.
04:24 The Ukrainian command sees these attacks as an attempt to make the situation even harder in the south
04:30 by targeting crucial infrastructure.
04:33 The South African government has confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin
04:41 will not travel to the country next month to attend a BRICS summit.
04:45 Putin is subject to an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court,
04:49 to which South Africa is a signatory.
04:52 That means that they would be responsible for detaining him should he enter the country.
04:56 But Moscow has made it clear that any such move would be tantamount to a declaration of war against Russia.
05:03 BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa
05:08 and the group is held by some as an alternative to the G7.
05:12 A spokesman for the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
05:18 will represent Putin at the summit.
05:20 The Kremlin has denied issuing any warning to Cape Town
05:23 but insists that everyone knows what the arrest of the Russian President would mean.
05:27 Putin is wanted by the ICC in connection with the kidnapping of Ukrainian children.
05:38 Just one day after French President Emmanuel Macron criticized her appointment,
05:42 America's Fiona Scott Morton has decided not to take on the role of European Union's next chief economist.
05:48 In her resignation letter, Morton said that she was stepping down from the position
05:52 because of political controversy that followed.
05:54 It comes after Macron argued that appointing an American economist to the role
05:58 would not help the EU become more independent from the US
06:01 and that a citizen of the European Union would be a better fit for the job.
06:05 But Macron insisted that he had nothing against the Yale professor with degrees from multiple institutions
06:10 and previous experience working with the Obama administration.
06:13 Long gone are the days when Spain was one of the fewer ACs in Europe
06:19 without a far-right presence in its institutions.
06:22 But since 2019, the Vox party has held 52 of Parliament's 350 seats.
06:28 Vox has been blanketed.
06:30 Not only after the elections in Andalusia,
06:32 the citizens and the PP agreed to hold a demonstration with Vox in the Plaza Colón.
06:37 We are talking about February 19.
06:39 In other words, in Spain there was never a so-called sanitary cordon,
06:43 a democratic cordon, against far-right forces.
06:46 With a poll suggesting victory for the right-wing Popular Party in the upcoming general election,
06:51 a coalition government that includes Santiago Abascal's Vox party is more than likely.
06:56 Its growth is a result of several factors
06:58 and can be traced back to the push for Catalan independence in 2017.
07:03 That was compounded by corruption scandals in the Popular Party
07:06 and the socialists taking power thanks to the support of extreme left and secessionist parties.
07:12 And that is obviously capitalized by Vox,
07:15 because there we find one of Vox's biggest enemies,
07:19 which they consider to be anti-Spain.
07:21 It is a phenomenon that is also explained by the fear of the unknown,
07:26 the technological change we are experiencing,
07:29 and that is causing a new clivage,
07:32 not only left-right, not only nationalist-non-nationalist, but also, for example, rural-urban.
07:38 And finally, and no less important, the social elevator, the social contract,
07:44 seems to have, I don't know if it's broken, but at least it's put in quarantine.
07:48 Looking ahead to the European elections in June 2024,
07:51 Brussels is concerned about the effects of a coalition between the Popular Party and Vox.
07:56 It would put on the table the possibility of a future alliance
08:00 after the next European elections between the European People's Party
08:03 and the European conservatives and reformists.
08:06 But how big will this extremist wave get?
08:09 When they arrive, we see that they are not in the daily issues.
08:14 It is an identity war, not ideological.
08:18 Therefore, when they have governed, they have not repeated.
08:21 Trump did not repeat, Bolsonaro did not repeat.
08:25 We'll see if Meloni repeats.
08:28 And only in the countries where these beliefs are really imbricated in society,
08:35 such as Poland and Hungary, governments resist like this.
08:40 Israeli police using water cannons to disperse protesters
08:44 who massed in central Tel Aviv on Tuesday night.
08:47 They were some of tens of thousands of people who blocked highways and train stations
08:51 in demonstration against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial judicial overhaul plan.
08:57 Now in their seventh month, the protests have taken on a sense of urgency in recent days,
09:02 as Netanyahu and his allies press ahead with the program.
09:06 The first bill in the package, a measure that seeks to limit the Supreme Court's oversight powers,
09:11 could become law as soon as next week.
09:14 Thailand's constitutional court suspended reformist Peter Limjarawanrat on Wednesday
09:22 in another blow to his hopes of becoming the nation's next leader after a stunning election win.
09:27 His efforts to form a government have stumbled since the May poll.
09:31 He's widely popular with young Thais, frustrated after almost ten years in military-backed rule,
09:36 but he's fiercely opposed by Thailand's conservative establishment.
09:40 The court could disqualify Peter from Parliament altogether
09:44 for owning shares in a media company, forcing his suspension.
09:48 Australian castaway Timothy Lindsay Shaddick has set foot on land for the first time
09:58 since being rescued by a Mexican tuna boat after he was adrift in the Pacific with his dog Bella for two months.
10:04 The 54-year-old had set sail in April from the Mexican city of La Paz, bound for the tropical French Polynesia,
10:11 but his catamaran was damaged by bad weather weeks into the 4,000-kilometer journey.
10:15 He survived on raw fish and rainwater, and he has admitted he didn't think he would make it.
10:26 The 2023 Women's World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand on Thursday.
10:32 This year, the football tournament is bigger than ever, with 32 nations competing for the trophy.
10:39 The United States is the team to watch, aiming to make history with a third consecutive title.
10:45 But they are set to face stiff competition.
10:48 Among them, England stands tall as the reigning European champion, spearheaded by a determined lineup.
10:55 Joining the charge are football powerhouses Germany and the Netherlands, along with Spain,
11:00 whose star player Alexia Bodellas makes a triumphant comeback after a nine-month recovery from a ligament injury.
11:07 And there's even more to play for, with FIFA tripling the prize money compared to 2019.
11:14 The tournament kicks off Thursday with New Zealand facing Norway in Auckland,
11:19 and Australia playing Ireland in front of a sally crowd of 80,000 people in Sydney.
11:25 Thank you.
11:25 (whooshing)