Latest news bulletin | August 29th – Midday
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00:00Telegram owner and CEO Pavel Durov has been indicted on all charges and banned from leaving
00:07France.
00:11Flights were grounded and emergency services were hampered after a major IT outage spread
00:17across the Netherlands.
00:23Chairs waiting to be occupied by the new European Union commissioners.
00:27But who will deal with portfolios that have an economic impact?
00:31The most coveted by the 27 member states.
00:35Friday is the final day for governments to announce their nominees.
00:39Analysts say the budget portfolio is undoubtedly the top prize in negotiations as Ursula von
00:44der Leyen forms her second executive.
00:47We have the multi-annual financial framework which needs to be negotiated in the next term.
00:52This will be a very difficult and very heavy dossier but it will also be something which
00:58will be very determining also the priorities of the years to come.
01:06France is expected to maintain a strong portfolio with Thierry Breton currently on internal
01:12market likely to be nominated for a second term as a commissioner.
01:18It's always a great interest in also competition and trade so those portfolios where the EU
01:26has a lot of competence or where the budget is particularly high for instance cohesion
01:33and agriculture which both make up about a third of the whole EU budget.
01:40In the power plays von der Leyen can also use defence.
01:43A new portfolio dedicated to the military industry seen as highly relevant due to the
01:48war in Ukraine.
01:50Relations with the Mediterranean linked to migration management and housing are also
01:55sectors that will now have dedicated commissioners.
01:58Von der Leyen will also have to take into account which political parties support her
02:02when she designates her executive vice presidents.
02:06So one can assume that again now given that she is from the EPP from the conservative
02:11party that you will have a socialist a liberal and also potentially a green among the top
02:18positions in the commission.
02:21Another trump card is to secure the participation of more women.
02:25The president is struggling to achieve gender balance with fewer than 10 women officially
02:29appointed so far.
02:31She will have to work with these governments in the next five years right so it is a bit
02:35of a tightrope that she has to walk between putting her foot down and getting for instance
02:40the gender balance right but at the same time you know keeping you know good working
02:45relationships with those governments.
02:48But before the 26 commissioners take their seats for college meetings in the Jean Monnet
02:52room they'll first have to be approved by the European Parliament which will arrange
02:56lengthy hearings of the candidates.
03:03Telegram owner and CEO Pavel Durov has been handed preliminary charges for criminal activity
03:10on his messaging app by French authorities and barred from leaving France until further
03:15investigation.
03:17Released early Wednesday after four days of questioning he was ordered to pay a 5 million
03:22euro bail and report to a police station twice a week.
03:26Allegations against the Russia born Durov who is also a French citizen include telegrams
03:32used for child abuse material, drug trafficking and refusing to cooperate with investigators.
03:39Russia criticised the arrest as politically motivated but French President Macron denied
03:44this.
03:45The outcry has raised eyebrows among Kremlin critics because in 2018 Russian authorities
03:51themselves tried to block the telegram app but failed.
03:55Durov and his brother founded Telegram after facing pressure from Russia.
04:04A top UN official has raised the alarm on nuclear safety in Ukraine and Russia.
04:10At a security council meeting he says the UN nuclear watchdog reported periodic military
04:16activity near power plants in both regions.
04:19The International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, reported deterioration of the nuclear safety
04:28situation at Ukraine's Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
04:33Concerns are also rising over nuclear safety and security in the Kursk region of the Russian
04:39Federation.
04:40Meanwhile, Russia stepped up its offensive in Ukraine, firing dozens of missiles and
04:46drones in its biggest onslaught in weeks.
04:51Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the situation near Pokrovsk and other areas
04:56of the Donetsk region remains extremely difficult.
04:59He says this is where Russia's largest forces are concentrated.
05:05He once again called on Ukraine's allies to consider lifting restrictions on the use of
05:10long-range weapons.
05:14Hamas has announced at least 10 of its fighters have been killed in Israel's large-scale military
05:20operation in the West Bank.
05:23Israel launched the offensive overnight, raiding the cities of Jenin and Turkurem, as well
05:28as the al-Hara refugee camp.
05:32Israel says the raids are the first stage of an even larger operation aimed at preventing
05:37terrorist attacks on Israelis.
05:40Overnight, our IDF forces began this counter-terrorism operation in Jenin and Turkurem.
05:49We are targeting armed terrorists from the air and the ground, dismantling explosives
05:55planted under the road and confiscating large quantities of weapons.
06:01Palestinian officials say the city of Jenin has been sealed off, with its governor claiming
06:07Israeli forces have blocked exits at entry points and access to hospitals.
06:14President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia,
06:20where he was meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss the ongoing war in Gaza.
06:27The UN Human Rights Office says Israel's operation in the West Bank risks worsening the already
06:33catastrophic situation in Palestinian areas.
06:41The cutting of the red ribbon marks the opening of additional NATO multinational brigade infrastructure
06:48at the Adazi military base in Latvia.
06:51The new Canadian-funded facilities will house the brigade's tanks and armored vehicles and
06:56will provide areas for maintenance.
07:00This multi-million euro project, I think it's in excess of 7 million euro, is just
07:05one more commitment to the efforts that we are to combat the aggression that's happening
07:11in the theatre.
07:12We're bringing people in here, we're training our people, we're bringing equipment and then
07:16we're housing this equipment with infrastructure.
07:18The brigade is expected to be ready for combat by 2026.
07:23Meanwhile, in Lithuania, construction is underway for the development of a military base in
07:30The base is funded by Germany and implemented via NATO and will be one of the two bases
07:35in Lithuania to house German soldiers.
07:38It's about deterrence and it's about Russia and we must be able to station a German armored
07:45brigade here in Lithuania in order to ensure the freedom of the Western nations.
07:50The brigade will be home to around 2,000 soldiers, including combat vehicles, and is expected
07:56to become completely operational in 2027.
08:04Flights were grounded and emergency services were hampered after a major IT outage spread
08:09across the Netherlands.
08:11The outage was a result of a malfunction in the IT system of the Dutch Ministry of Defence.
08:17It's been delayed twice now.
08:18First it was postponed until 12 o'clock and now it's been delayed until 1 o'clock, so
08:22we don't know if it will continue or not.
08:23The highly secured network is used by emergency services, the Royal Maréchaussee and the
08:29Ministry in The Hague.
08:31The outage also impacted Eindhoven Airport, which shares facilities with the Ministry
08:36of Defence.
08:3720 flights were cancelled and others were redirected to Amsterdam and Brussels.
08:44The extent and the cause of the outage remains unclear, although there is reportedly no indication
08:50of militia's intent.
08:52I can't point that out, but I can't rule it out at the moment.
08:55But the Ministry of Defence has not given the red light.
09:00The Defence Ministry have since confirmed they were restarting its systems.
09:07UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Berlin on Tuesday in a bid to repair relations with
09:13the EU and to renegotiate some of the Brexit terms agreed to by the previous Conservative
09:18government.
09:20Starmer and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a new deal that they hope to finalise
09:25by the end of this year that will focus on security, trading and intelligence sharing.
09:30Whilst both leaders said there was no change in their stances on the Middle East and on
09:35weapons deliveries to Ukraine, they said they would focus their efforts on smashing illegal
09:40smuggling rings in a bid to curb irregular migration to both the EU and the UK.
09:46Whilst the two countries celebrated their close friendship, they are becoming increasingly
09:51isolated in Europe as two of the very few remaining countries governed by Social Democrats.
09:57Germany's federal election is scheduled for autumn 2025 and a change in the government
10:03is widely expected to be on the cards.
10:06Liv Stroud, in Berlin, for Euronews.
10:11Northern Greece is facing a significant water crisis, owing to prolonged drought conditions
10:19exacerbated by successive heat waves and a lack of rainfall.
10:24Until recently, Lake Pykralimni in northern Greece was a popular destination for mud baths,
10:30but this summer it's just cracked earth.
10:40The shoreline of Lake Doirani, which straddles Greece's northern border with North Macedonia,
10:50has receded by 300 metres in recent years.
10:54In Halkidiki, the olive grove of Demetrius Papadakis is also suffering from drought.
11:00Six weeks before harvest, he and his son have to transport water by truck.
11:05And in Nea Potadia town in Halkidiki, a very popular tourist area,
11:10locals use all sorts of ways to cope with frequent household water cuts.
11:36The EU's Emergency Management Service says acute drought conditions
11:41extend from the Black Sea westward into northern Greece.