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00:00Georgia's passed the controversial law that's believed to restrict freedom of speech and
00:06derail its path to EU membership.
00:10Israeli shelling and airstrikes killed at least 37 people, most of them sheltering in
00:15tents outside the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight on Tuesday.
00:21The EU considers reactivating its mission to protect the Rafah border crossing in the
00:26Gaza Strip.
00:31Israeli shelling and airstrikes killed at least 37 people outside the southern Gaza
00:35city of Rafah overnight and on Tuesday, pummeling the same area where strikes triggered a deadly
00:41fire days earlier in a camp for displaced Palestinians, according to witnesses.
00:48The White House condemned the loss of life of dozens of civilians as a result of the
00:52Israeli airstrike in Rafah, but said it is not planning any policy changes as a result
00:58of Israel's actions.
01:00The French president said he is totally ready to recognize the Palestinian statehood, but
01:05it must be at a useful moment.
01:28Dozens of Palestinian families have fled the southern city of Rafah following the latest
01:33strikes.
01:41The EU is considering reactivating its mission to protect the Rafah border crossing in the
01:46Gaza Strip.
01:47The European Union Border Assistance Mission to the Rafah crossing point was established
01:51in 2005 to support the Palestinian Authority in controlling the border, in line with international
01:57standards.
01:58It was suspended when Hamas took power in the Gaza Strip in 2007.
02:02Since then, Egypt's controlled the border crossing, but the EU would like to be more
02:05present on the ground.
02:07For the time being, one of the major questions that the EU needs to solve before reconsidering
02:18and implementing also EU ban is who will be in control over the Gaza Strip-Rafah border.
02:26Will Egypt, that insists also on the PA returning to the Gaza Strip, have its role to play?
02:35Will Israel also allow it, for example, to have people freely leaving the Gaza Strip
02:43also in the future after it suspends its military assault?
02:48And these questions will very much determine the possibility of EU ban to be active on
02:54the ground and to play a positive role.
02:58Reviving the mission will not be easy.
02:59One of the main difficulties will be that Israel could prevent it from implementing
03:03its mandate.
03:04Militant group Hamas and the control it exercises on the Palestinian side is another uncertainty.
03:12So is it the right time to revive the EU ban mission?
03:17I'm not sure that the timing is excellent yet.
03:21On the other hand, the EU needs to look for more access and more presence on the ground
03:28because it knows that it is very much also a player in the conflict.
03:37And it wants to be more of a player because, of course, the United States have mainly been
03:41the player.
03:42And in that sense, it is looking for a constructive role.
03:49Now that EU ministers have given the green light, working groups in Brussels are discussing
03:54what exactly needs to be done for the EU ban mission and how.
04:04Norway handed over papers to the Palestinian Prime Minister in the latest step of formally
04:09recognizing the Palestinian state.
04:12The document states that recognition will officially begin from May 28, 2024.
04:19Last Wednesday, Ireland and Spain pledged along with Norway to recognize the Palestinian
04:25state.
04:27Recognition means a lot for us.
04:29It's the most important thing that anybody can do for the Palestinian people is to recognize
04:34them as independent, worthwhile people in this region that can contribute to its peaceful
04:43living for all its children and populations.
04:46So it's a great deal for us.
04:48The handover of the papers by the Norwegian Foreign Minister to Palestinian Prime Minister
04:53Mohamed Mostafa was made in Brussels, where Mostafa is meeting with high-level EU officials.
05:03Portuguese support for Kiev will amount to 126 million euros in 2024, announced the country's
05:11Prime Minister.
05:13The package includes bilateral and multilateral contributions by the European Union and NATO.
05:22Portugal also promised to continue training pilots to use F-16 fighter jets.
05:29Zelensky said he considers Portugal a sincere friend and partner of Ukraine following the
05:35announcement.
05:37After visiting Spain and Belgium, Zelensky arrived in Lisbon to sign cooperation agreements.
05:44His trip aims to deepen relations between the two countries, especially regarding security
05:50and defence.
05:53Zelensky's trip was part of a wider, whirlwind tour through the EU, with billions of euro
05:58in aid being pledged.
06:06Georgia's parliament has given the final green light to the controversial foreign agent law.
06:12The bill requires all organisations receiving at least 20% of their funds from abroad to
06:20register as an agent pursuing the interests of a foreign power or face hefty fines.
06:26Authorities said the new law is needed to limit alleged foreign attempts to influence
06:32domestic politics, but critics say it's going to significantly restrict freedom of speech
06:38on top of sabotaging Georgia's application to become an EU member.
06:43Georgia's president is among the critics and vetoed the bill, saying it mirrors Kremlin
06:49legislation.
06:50But a parliament committee on Monday overrode her move, clearing the way for Tuesday's final
06:56approval.
06:57Protesters took to the streets for weeks in the attempt to block the bill.
07:02Dozens were detained in clashes with the police.
07:05More rallies broke out on Tuesday in Tbilisi, as demonstrators flocked to parliament ahead
07:11of the bill's approval.
07:19A former spy chief was tipped as the new prime minister of the Netherlands.
07:25Former head of the Dutch spy agency and counter-terrorism office, Dick Schoof, was tipped to become
07:31the nation's new prime minister.
07:34The 67-year-old will lead a coalition dominated by Geert Wilders' radical right-wing Freedom
07:40Party.
07:42The coalition is also made up of the centre-right VVD, centrist New Social Contract and the
07:48farmer-citizen movement.
07:53For the third consecutive year, the Dutch non-profit organization Healthy Seas made
07:57a return visit to the Greek island of Ithaca.
08:01Their mission was to clean up waters contaminated by deserted fish farms.
08:06The island has two ghost farms, which have been abandoned for more than a decade.
08:11They release debris, plastics and pollutants into the marine environment.
08:15These pollutants disrupt marine ecosystems, endangering flora and fauna.
08:20Ghost farms are abandoned, bankrupted or aquaculture facilities which keep polluting
08:26the area.
08:27It's not only a problem for marine life and the environment, but also for the local communities.
08:32For tourism and for recreational purposes, the local communities lose the area which
08:39are polluted by these ghost farms.
08:41Sea pollution has a major impact on local fishermen who struggle to find fish in the
08:45waters around the island.
08:47Many fish get trapped in the abandoned farms or leave the area due to pollution.
08:51Every year the fish are reduced, every year, year after year.
08:57There is a lot of garbage in the seabed, they want to take everything out.
09:04The clean-up operation lasted 10 days and two significant locations were tackled, one
09:09near Patras and another in Ithaca.
09:12Around 30 tonnes of nets and waste were collected in Patras, while the number in Ithaca estimated
09:17to be higher.
09:18Local residents have backed the initiative in both locations, as they have not seen any
09:22clean-up efforts by the Greek government.
09:24The local community was in the beginning, and then we are talking about 2021, a little
09:30bit sceptical, like they are cleaning up the fish farm, for real, OK, let them go and let's
09:36see where it ends.
09:37Now all lights were at green, so the coastguard, the mayor, everyone, all the locals, everybody
09:44is supporting us really well, and that's super nice.
10:15I am Yoann Barre, milk producer at the Department of the Vosges, and I am a spokesman for the
10:27FNSOA.
10:28So if I am elected to the European Parliament, the first thing I will set up is really redefining
10:33a cap for European agriculture, to make producers want to produce again, and above all, that
10:39European sovereignty is ensured at the level of food.
10:42So I explain to myself today, we import a lot of chicken on the European continent,
10:46and how do we set up good conditions for producers to want to produce, and above all
10:51that consumers have confidence in what they consume in relation to European standards,
10:56French in particular.
10:57And I would also like to remind you that we need to produce protein on the European
11:02continent.
11:03So all this to ensure dairy production, but also when we produce pork, we need protein.
11:10And unfortunately in Europe, for the moment, we don't have it, we don't have the count,
11:14we really need a better cap for European agriculture tomorrow.
11:24I am from Lubelszczyzna, a pre-war region, a region bordering Ukraine.
11:29Security, territorial borders, these are priorities.
11:35Poland cannot have unknown quality grain from Ukraine.
11:39We must know what we eat and what we release into the EU.