Latest news bulletin | February 12th – Midday
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Israel rescues two hostages from captivity in the Gaza Strip as they continue strikes
00:06 on Rafa despite international warnings against.
00:10 The Israeli military has rescued two hostages from captivity in the Gaza Strip early Monday,
00:16 while a series of Israeli strikes hit Rafa overnight despite continued international
00:22 warnings against bombarding the city in southern Gaza.
00:26 Israel initially designated a safe area by Israel for Palestinians.
00:30 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists the action is vital to Israel's security.
00:35 "We want to bring a separation of the Strip.
00:39 This requires our security control and security responsibility.
00:43 I say this about the entire West Bank area, including the Gaza Strip, there is no alternative
00:51 to this in the foreseeable future.
00:52 We say this to the international community, to the US President, to all leaders, there
00:57 is no alternative to this."
01:01 On Sunday, the White House said President Joe Biden had warned Netanyahu that Israel
01:06 should not conduct a military operation against Hamas in Rafa without a credible and executable
01:12 plan to protect civilians.
01:14 However, aid agencies said it's impossible as there is nowhere for them to go.
01:20 The Hamas-run AXA television channel, meanwhile, quoted a senior Hamas leader saying any Israeli
01:27 ground offensive in Rafa will blow up the hostage exchange negotiations.
01:36 He is officially Finland's newest president.
01:39 On Sunday, after a close election run-off against ex-Foreign Minister Pekka Havisto,
01:44 former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb won the presidential bid.
01:48 With all the votes counted, the centre-right candidate of the National Coalition Party
01:52 secured 51.6% of the votes, while independent candidate Havisto from the Green Left secured
01:59 48.4%.
02:02 As head of state, Stubb's main priority will be to steer the Nordic countries' foreign
02:06 and security policies at a time when Europe faces significant political turmoil.
02:12 The starting point is that I want to see Finland in the core of NATO, that we are a security
02:17 provider, not a security consumer, that we have a steadfast and strong support defence
02:27 in the alliance with our 1,340-kilometre long border with Russia.
02:36 Stubb and Havisto were the main contenders in an election where over 4 million people
02:41 were eligible to vote.
02:45 We had two excellent candidates and both of them would be a great president here in
02:51 Finland but the winning margin was quite close so I think he has a lot of work to unify the
02:57 whole country.
02:58 I'm very proud of his victory.
03:02 For me, those values, the liberal values that he presents are really, really important in
03:12 these times.
03:14 The Finnish president is expected to remain above the fray of day-to-day politics and
03:18 largely stay out of domestic political disputes.
03:26 The Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has declared a day of mourning today for victims of the
03:30 recent mass Russian airstrike which claimed at least seven lives, including three children
03:35 this weekend.
03:37 Russian drones on Saturday hit a local oil depot, spraying nearby buildings with burning
03:42 fuel.
03:43 According to the local authorities, 15 residential buildings were burned down.
03:48 On Saturday, the Russian Ministry of Defence published a video of Minister Sergei Shoigu
03:53 visiting a drone production plant in the Udmurtia region where he inspected new drone models.
04:00 According to the Russian military, this enterprise has increased production by 60% since the
04:05 beginning of the war.
04:07 In Moscow on Saturday, wives of Russian soldiers gathered near the Kremlin wall.
04:12 They demand the government bring back their husbands and stop the fighting.
04:16 The Way Home movement is one of the only known anti-war protests in Russia which is still
04:20 not completely banned.
04:25 This is what remains of the village of Pretechiny, set a dozen kilometres away from the front
04:30 line in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk.
04:34 Close to the city of Barmut, it's paid a high tribute to the war.
04:39 Most of its inhabitants have evacuated to safer areas.
04:43 Alexander is among the 20 villagers out of 150 who decided to stay, despite ongoing warfare
04:51 and harsh living conditions.
04:53 His house was under heavy shelling.
05:04 Alexander's wife left to a nearby city for safety, but he stayed on.
05:10 He now lives in two small rooms.
05:14 A former welder, he's now jobless and depends on the food and basic necessities delivered
05:24 weekly by volunteers.
05:29 As we go back outside, we meet one of the soldiers operating in the area who came to
05:34 pay a visit.
05:35 He doesn't want to be identified.
05:37 I'm coming from a position, it's hard.
05:43 There's fighting, trying to capture Avdeevka.
05:48 They're coming, coming.
05:51 War is the hardest job in this life.
06:00 I'm going on.
06:04 Serve the Motherland.
06:08 And you have a good journey.
06:13 Whatever the risks, Alexander is confident that the Ukrainian soldiers will protect him.
06:18 I think we'll win and we'll be able to recover.
06:22 And so that everything goes as it was.
06:25 This hope makes you want to stay here.
06:29 You don't want to leave whatever happens.
06:31 This is my land.
06:32 The land of my parents, grandfathers and great-grandfathers.
06:36 I have to go there.
06:41 Well, one of the few people who decided to remain in the villages close to the front
07:01 line are confident in their army.
07:04 The situation remains tense, as you can hear from the explosions.
07:10 And the Ukrainian military are bracing for any attempt from the Russians to gain this
07:18 territory.
07:19 Valery Goryan, the Donetsk region, for Euronews.
07:27 Poland's farmers are on day three of a 30-day strike, holding a series of protests against
07:33 EU climate policies and agricultural imports from Ukraine.
07:38 They are blocking roads across the country until March 10th.
07:43 On Sunday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk attended a meeting, saying that the war in Ukraine
07:48 cannot be an excuse for unfair competition.
07:52 Farmers want Tusk's government to come up with new agricultural policies which will
07:56 ensure the sector's profitability.
08:03 Over half a million Berlin residents took to the polls on Sunday as part of a partial
08:07 re-run of Germany's 2021 Bundestag election.
08:12 The repeat comes following a decision from the Federal Constitutional Court which found
08:17 that significant errors occurred during the initial ballot two and a half years ago.
08:22 Some parties, such as the centre-right CDU and the far-right AfD, saw a slim increase
08:28 in their percentage points.
08:29 However, once all the votes were counted, the majority in the Bundestag remained unaffected.
08:35 [Music]
09:00 After I take train, I go to St. Petersburg.
09:05 Then I go to hostel there.
09:07 I wait maybe two days, two, three days.
09:09 Then after I go to another city, Vyborg city.
09:12 Then I buy from there a bicycle.
09:15 Then after I come to Finland.
09:18 The police and the arms, they help us.
09:22 So it's good for us because it's so easy.
09:25 You come here.
09:27 [Music]
09:47 We have information that there are in the city of St. Petersburg area thousands of persons
09:53 who might come to Finland.
09:55 We are using this route.
09:57 We know that we have to open the borders, or at least some of them in some time,
10:03 because this cannot go forever.
10:07 But we are at the same time drafting changes to our legislation
10:14 that make us better prepared for this situation when it arose again.
10:21 [Music]
10:37 Kansas City Chiefs have won a second straight Super Bowl
10:41 after a tight match against the San Francisco 49ers.
10:45 The outcome was only decided during overtime,
10:49 which made it the longest Super Bowl game of all time.
10:53 The final score was 25 to 22.
10:56 Pop star Taylor Swift was spotted watching her Chiefs boyfriend Travis Kelce.
11:01 Meanwhile, R&B singer Usher headlined the halftime show musical "Extravaganza,"
11:07 performing some of his biggest hits.
11:10 Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kipton and his coach died in a car crash
11:16 in western Kenya late on Sunday.
11:19 Kenyan media reported that a third person, a woman, who was in the car,
11:24 was taken to the same hospital with serious injuries.
11:28 Kipton was 24 and was the first man to run the marathon in under two hours one minute.
11:34 He set the new world record of two hours and 45 seconds at the Chicago Marathon in October,
11:40 beating the mark of fellow Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge.
11:44 (whooshing)