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00:00 Washington says a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine will be released as soon as it's
00:07 approved by the Senate.
00:12 US President Joe Biden has told Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky that a $61 billion
00:18 military aid package will be released to Kiev as soon as it's approved by the Senate.
00:26 In a phone call a day after the package was approved by the House of Representatives,
00:31 Biden assured Zelensky that US economic assistance would help maintain financial stability and
00:36 rebuild critical infrastructure.
00:39 Zelensky, who was meeting members of Congress in the capital Kiev, called the bill "historic."
00:47 "We spoke about how we can rush after the decision, getting package of military support.
00:59 That is crucial for our soldiers on the battlefield."
01:03 Meanwhile, EU foreign and defence ministers meeting in Luxembourg agreed that Ukraine
01:10 needs better air defences, but stopped short of committing to giving Patriot systems to
01:15 the country.
01:18 Representatives said they prefer to focus on the money they're spending to assist Ukraine.
01:22 "I'm sorry but they don't have Patriots here in Brussels.
01:27 The Patriots are in the capital and it's up to them to take the decisions.
01:33 I want to insist that a launcher without interceptors is useless and certainly interceptors without
01:42 launchers are also useless.
01:45 So we need both things."
01:49 So far, only Germany has given a single Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, something the
01:54 country says it desperately needs to help fend off Russian airstrikes.
02:03 The European Union has reached an agreement to expand sanctions on Iran.
02:09 Foreign ministers gave the green light to tougher restrictions, but not against Tehran's
02:14 powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard.
02:17 The new measures limit the export of components used to build drones and missiles, and blacklist
02:23 people and entities involved in production of those weapons.
02:28 They also cover Iran's backers in the region, including the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah
02:34 in Lebanon.
02:36 The move comes after Tehran's first-ever drone and missile attack on Israel 10 days
02:41 ago.
02:42 EU leaders say they support the people of Israel, but have been calling for a de-escalation
02:48 of the country's war with Hamas in Gaza.
02:51 The EU has already imposed sanctions on Iran over its supply of drones to Russia, human
02:57 rights violations and attempts to establish a nuclear program.
03:05 European Union foreign affairs and defence ministers say the trajectory of the war in
03:10 Ukraine is headed the wrong way.
03:13 Meeting in Luxembourg, they're putting pressure on Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece and
03:19 Romania, all countries known to have Patriot air defence systems in storage and unused.
03:27 Some leaders have resisted sending weapons to Kiev for fear of escalating the two-year-long
03:32 war with Russia and to protect their own country's security.
03:37 The truth is that it's been our self-restraint that has triggered the escalation.
03:43 You know, Putin smells fear and he smells the fact that we're afraid.
03:48 And, you know, what does a fighter on a ring do when he smells that his adversary is scared?
03:56 He doubles down, and that's exactly what is happening.
03:59 So on the one hand, I think, you know, conceptually even and psychologically, it's an argument
04:03 that doesn't hold much water and the evidence shows that, as I said, our self-restraint
04:08 is exactly what has triggered an escalation.
04:15 Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky chastised countries withholding stocks of
04:20 defence systems.
04:25 EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell says Russian military attacks on Ukraine are intensifying
04:32 and is urging member states to do what they can to help defend the country.
04:37 The figures are really appalling.
04:40 The way Russia is attacking Ukraine on missiles, on drones, on guided bombs.
04:50 Just on guided bombs, the Ukrainians have reported 7,000 in four months, which is about
04:56 16 guided bombs a day.
04:59 It is a constant shelling in the east.
05:02 It's part of Putin's strategy.
05:06 On the other hand, it's clear that Ukraine lacks weapons to sell defence and to reject
05:16 the Russia aggression.
05:19 It's not clear how many air defence systems are available in the EU.
05:25 Zelensky is asking for seven to protect the main cities against Russian air strikes.
05:35 European Parliament President Roberta Mazzola has spoken to Euronews, saying she's ready
05:40 to waive immunity of MEPs allegedly involved in the Russian influence scandal.
05:45 EU politicians are accused of being paid to spread pro-Russian propaganda.
05:50 Mazzola says she needs more information, including names.
05:54 We continue to wait for information to be received from national authorities because
05:58 this would require any waiver of immunity being adopted by this house.
06:04 Investigations that would need to take place, like had happened in the past, that would
06:08 require national authorities to ask.
06:11 We're waiting for that and when that happens we will do our job as we've always done.
06:14 It's not the only scandal to mar the current term.
06:17 The European Parliament's vice president is one of the main suspects in the Qatar cash
06:22 for favours scheme.
06:24 She faces charges including corruption and money laundering.
06:28 She was suspended from her role in December 2022.
06:32 We had a choice that day.
06:33 Either we say that this is something that would happen in any parliament or that we
06:38 look at the party political colour or that we look at the country involved.
06:42 But I refused to do that.
06:43 I said this house needs to move on.
06:47 This house needs to make sure that if something like this had to happen again, then firewalls
06:52 would be put in place and alarm bells would be sounded.
06:56 It took a very long time both to go through the motions of what needed to be done.
07:02 The final plenary session is being held this week before the European elections in June.
07:08 Now you have a choice.
07:09 You either decide who you want to sit in this chass or you let others decide for you.
07:16 Citizens of EU member countries will head to the polls to elect 720 politicians to the
07:21 European Parliament between June 6 and June 9.
07:30 Germany's party of European socialists lead EU elections candidate Nikola Schmidt is in
07:36 Berlin for talks with the Social Democratic Party's candidate Katharina Barley.
07:43 Schmidt says he wants to strengthen democracy in Europe from the inside out.
07:48 Every election is important, but if we look around and look at the general context, then
07:58 this election is a very important election.
08:02 A kind of direction decision, a direction election, not only internationally but also
08:10 internally, where Europe should actually go.
08:15 After much debate in Germany, people from 16 years of age will be allowed to vote in
08:21 the June elections and have their say on who will lead the European Union for the next
08:26 five years.
08:31 Approximately half of the EU menstruates or will do at some point of their lives, but
08:36 that does not mean access to menstrual products is guaranteed.
08:41 There is no official EU data on how many women suffer menstrual poverty, but Belgian NGO
08:47 Bruxelles believes that in Belgium, one in 15 people cannot buy their choice of product.
08:52 At some point, we have to choose between a product of first necessity and the purchase
08:58 of menstrual products.
08:59 So at some point, we have to choose between eating or buying a menstrual product.
09:03 When we get to that point, we are really in the context of menstrual precariousness.
09:09 We also add two variants that really aggravate this situation, which are the lack of menstrual
09:15 information, but also the lack of a secure and well-adapted place to be able to change
09:20 in all safety.
09:21 Since 2022, the EU allows member states to sell menstrual products without VAT.
09:27 For now, Ireland is the only one doing so.
09:31 Most of them have reduced taxes between 5 to 10%, but others remain high, like Hungary
09:37 at 27% or Sweden and Denmark, both at 25%.
09:41 One of the options to alleviate the cost of menstrual products is using reusable ones.
09:46 Catalonia recently started giving out a menstrual cup, a pad or a pair of period underwear to
09:51 fight menstrual poverty.
09:54 Menstruation still has lots of taboos, stigma and silences in society.
10:00 This is why this is a universal action.
10:02 We need to change the way society has been dealing with menstruation as a private issue,
10:08 as something that is not spoken about, because these myths, these stigmas have also implications
10:15 on women's health and well-being.
10:18 According to the Catalan government, 23% of women in the region are reusing single-use
10:23 products and 44% can't afford their first choice.
10:32 Germany's interior ministry says three people have been arrested for allegedly spying for
10:36 China.
10:39 Prosecutors said the German nationals were suspected of arranging the transfer of information
10:44 on technology with potential military uses to Beijing.
10:48 The investigations will show whether and which damage has already occurred.
10:54 As I said, we are warning and sensitizing very clearly about these dangers.
10:59 This is especially true for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, in
11:03 many events and discussions with the economy and science, because these risks of the know-how
11:10 transfer of research and spying exist in these areas.
11:13 There is a special interest in innovations from Germany and in the area where military
11:20 innovations, armaments, dual use, are possibly concerned, as in this case, it is even more
11:25 sensitive.
11:26 Monday's arrests follow last week's detention of two German-Russian men on suspicion of
11:32 espionage.
11:33 One was accused by prosecutors of agreeing to carry out attacks on potential targets
11:37 including US military facilities to sabotage aid for Ukraine.
11:42 [SWOOSH]