Latest news bulletin | May 30th – Midday
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00:00 Israeli shelling and airstrikes killed at least 37 people, most of them sheltering in
00:05 tents outside the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight on Tuesday.
00:13 Brussels Green Week kicks off focusing on water resilience.
00:20 Hundreds were forced to evacuate after a volcanic eruption in Iceland.
00:34 Russia has stepped up strikes on Ukrainian held areas in the southern Donetsk region.
00:40 Over the past 48 hours, at least two people died in a shelling on a residential area in
00:46 Selidove.
00:48 Ukrainian state emergency service claimed that fatalities include a 13-year-old boy
00:54 whose body was found under the rubble and a 53-year-old man.
00:59 In the same region, Russian forces also hit the village of Oleksievo Drushkivka.
01:05 Seven people were injured and over a hundred houses got damaged.
01:10 The village is around 12 kilometers away from Kamatorsk, one of the key Donetsk cities still
01:16 in Ukrainian hands.
01:19 Russia has allegedly carried out the strike with highly explosive aerial bombs.
01:23 The same weapons were reportedly used on the Bereslovsky district in Kherson, where three
01:29 people were killed and several others were wounded, including French volunteers.
01:35 Local authorities say Russia is purposely terrorizing the population there, launching
01:41 attacks even on settlements that have already been severely damaged.
01:46 They also added that energy facilities keep being targeted.
01:52 French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal campaigned on Tuesday in support of the ruling Renaissance
01:57 Party's candidate for the European Union elections.
02:01 Attal came to support Valérie Hayet at a rally in Boulogne.
02:05 During a speech, he warned of the threats Europe faces and stressed the importance of
02:09 the vote.
02:10 Europe is mortal, because economic competition is raging between the United States and China,
02:16 and Europe could be distanced if it does not take its fate in hand.
02:19 Yes, Europe is mortal because war is knocking on our doors, because bombs are raining in
02:25 Ukraine on democracy, on our values, and we know very well that if Russia wins, it will
02:31 not stay there.
02:32 Yes, Europe is mortal, because it now knows that it cannot count on the United States
02:38 to defend it, and that it needs to protect itself.
02:44 Valérie Hayet, a French MEP, dedicated her speech to the defense of women's rights.
02:48 At a time when some are going to hide or not against women's rights, I tell you all, for
03:00 us, ladies, for our grandmothers, for our mothers, for your wives, for your sisters,
03:07 for your daughters, our responsibility is immense.
03:10 We have ten days left.
03:13 Emmanuel Macron, a strong advocate of a strong and united Europe, called for a wake-up call
03:18 of voters to the rise of the far right.
03:21 National Rally candidate Jordan Bardella is the favorite in the polls with over 30% of
03:26 voting intentions, while Macron's Renaissance Party has 16%.
03:40 Police carried out a series of simultaneous raids at European Parliament offices in Brussels
03:46 and Strasbourg as part of a probe into Russian influence.
03:50 Dutch EU lawmaker Marcel de Graaf confirmed on X that the staffer in question was his
03:57 parliamentary assistant, Guillaume Pradura.
04:00 However, he distanced himself from the accusations and said he had had no involvement in any
04:06 Russian disinformation operation.
04:10 His aide had been expelled from Marine Le Pen's party in 2019 over an anti-Semitic picture.
04:18 He also worked as an aide to Maximilian Krah, who is embroiled in an investigation into
04:23 Chinese espionage.
04:25 The searches are part of a probe into a Russian influence operation suspected of having paid
04:31 MEPs to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda at the heart of EU institutions.
04:40 Whilst German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had previously been firm on Ukraine not using Western weapons
04:45 to strike Russian targets, he made a step in the direction of French President Emmanuel
04:50 Macron on the third and last day of the French leader's historic state visit to Germany.
04:56 Both leaders put their disagreements aside on Tuesday near Berlin and compromised on
05:01 the divisive subject of EU defence.
05:04 The German Chancellor was also more open in terms of military aid to Ukraine, saying Kiev
05:10 should be allowed to hit military sites inside Russia, but not other targets.
05:16 A turning point for Berlin, since the Chancellor had been reluctant to let Ukraine strike over
05:22 the border, fearing it could lead to a direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Moscow.
05:27 "She is under attack and is allowed to defend herself.
05:31 I find it strange that she is not allowed to defend herself and not take the appropriate
05:36 measures.
05:37 This has never been a requirement from us, from other countries in Europe, from friendly
05:42 states in the international area and will never be."
05:47 For his part, Emmanuel Macron buried the hatchet with Berlin after the latter initiated a European
05:53 anti-missile shield project without including Paris.
05:57 Other differing views, such as economic links to China and the US, have also rocked the
06:02 Franco-German relationship recently.
06:05 Since Macron supports greater European independence in defence and to shield the EU economy from
06:12 unfair Chinese and American competition, Schultz underlines the importance of transatlantic
06:18 treaties and trade relations with China.
06:22 This meeting, ahead of the EU vote, marks a turning point in domestic EU politics.
06:29 The goal of the historic state visit was to show a united Franco-German front as both
06:34 leaders face predicted defeats at the hands of far-right parties less than two weeks ahead
06:40 of the EU elections.
06:45 For the first time ever in Ireland, immigration is top of the political agenda.
06:50 New political parties have been formed to address the issue, saying the Irish government
06:54 is soft on the matter.
06:56 "I don't think there's anger towards foreign nationals.
06:59 There's anger towards the policies which are being pushed on to the Irish people.
07:03 We've always been a welcoming country and we always will be, but right now we're being
07:07 too overwhelmed with people coming in.
07:10 So the anger's not at the foreign nationals coming in, it's more directed at the government
07:15 and that will show."
07:16 A recent opinion poll confirmed that the majority of people feel that Irish government policy
07:22 on the matter amounts to open-door immigration, which is causing problems elsewhere in Irish
07:27 society.
07:28 "I've been out on the campaign trail and we've been to all areas, working class areas, middle
07:32 class areas, upper class areas, and they all have more or less the same issue.
07:37 And the reason they have the problem with immigration is because everything else is
07:40 not fitting into place for them over the last ten years.
07:42 For example, longer waiting lists in the hospitals.
07:45 Their sons and daughters can't get a house in Ireland anymore because it's become unaffordable
07:48 because of the lack of accommodation.
07:49 And a lot of this stuff comes back to immigration."
07:53 The Irish Freedom Party says there is a growing mood of discontent amongst the Irish electorate.
07:59 "People are sick of getting up, going to work, paying taxes, seeing this money being
08:03 handed over to welfare and free accommodation for people who come from abroad.
08:08 And yet our own people are emigrating abroad to Australia and to Canada.
08:13 So there's a financial cost and there's a security cost."
08:16 Seasoned observers on Irish politics believe that the new wave of parties that are critical
08:21 of immigration policy in Ireland are responding to growing public concern.
08:26 "The anti-immigrant candidates and parties that we've seen grow up in recent months,
08:35 they are responding, I think, to a public concern on an issue and clearly trying to
08:41 manipulate it for their own political ends."
08:44 No less than four political parties that are critical of Ireland's immigration policies
08:49 are contesting these elections.
08:51 Whether they win seats or not remains to be seen.
08:54 However, the very fact that they're contesting these elections at all is proof that a growing
08:58 number of people feel that the Irish government and the EU Commission are out of touch when
09:03 it comes to immigration.
09:05 This is Ken Murray for Euronews in Dublin.
09:14 Since becoming Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni's key challenge has been to curb illegal
09:18 migration.
09:19 But delivering on the main promise of her political programme has been particularly
09:22 tough given the sharp increase in the number of arrivals from Northern Africa since the
09:27 beginning of her mandate.
09:28 As she launched Brothers of Italy's electoral campaign, she took credit for changing Europe's
09:32 approach to migration.
09:34 If we look at official data for the first three months of 2024, the number of arrivals
09:38 has decreased by more than half compared to the same period last year.
09:43 Italy's government strongly supported the recent deal between the EU and Tunisia, hailing
09:47 it as a success that has led to a decrease of almost 60% in the number of departures.
09:52 [Italian]
10:00 But the deal, which has been criticised by
10:29 several humanitarian organisations and MEPs for failing to respect human rights, is not
10:35 the only piece of legislation to have steered controversy.
10:38 The adoption of the EU's pact on migration and asylum has never seen Italy's ruling majority
10:43 and opposition parties so divided.
10:45 [Italian]
11:04 The
11:25 visions in the Italian parliament have also emerged following the government's call to
11:29 develop the outsourcing of asylum policies, such as the protocol signed between Italy
11:34 and Albania, with this approach gaining more support among member states.
11:38 Giorgia Orlandi for Euronews in Rome.
11:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]