Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Israel has launched a barrage of strikes on southern Lebanon as cross-border tensions
00:06continue to rise.
00:12Far right and centre right form a majority on a vote in the European Parliament for the
00:16first time.
00:21Keeping the lights on and the heating going, EU pledges more winter aid for Ukraine.
00:30Israel has launched a barrage of strikes on southern Lebanon as cross-border tensions
00:39continue to rise.
00:41The attack follows a similar assault by Hezbollah on northern Israel early on Thursday, in which
00:47Israel says two of its soldiers were killed.
00:50The exchanges of fire come after two days of targeted explosions of handheld devices
00:56killed dozens and injured hundreds across Lebanon and Syria.
01:01Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, called the attack, which has largely been blamed
01:05on Israel, a severe blow.
01:24In a joint press conference with President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas
01:29in Madrid, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for restraint.
01:52It comes as Israel's defence minister declared the start of a new phase of war.
02:00The European Parliament has recognised Edmundo Gonzalez, the candidate of the opposition,
02:04as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
02:07The chamber rejected the official results of the presidential election held at the end
02:10of July and condemned the repression and attacks on civil society under Venezuelan President
02:16Nicolás Maduro.
02:17And it is adopted.
02:18This is a step further compared to EU member states, which did not recognise Maduro as
02:22a legitimate president, but neither Gonzalez is the winner.
02:26309 MEPs voted in favour, among them the members of the EPP, the largest political group in
02:32the Parliament.
02:49The European People's Party voted together with the groups further to the right, the
02:53European Conservatives and Reformists, Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations,
02:58forming a new majority in the Parliament for the first time in this legislature.
03:02The Liberals also generally condemned Maduro's persecutions and rejected the official results,
03:07but the Renew Europe group abstained because they did not want to vote with the far right.
03:12Socialists, Greens and the left voted against.
03:28The resolution also requests an international arrest warrant for Nicolás Maduro for crimes
03:45against humanity, on the basis of, quote, grave violations of human rights.
03:57As the winter approaches, millions of Ukrainians have been left with limited access to electricity.
04:02The country is suffering from major power cuts on a daily basis.
04:06President von der Leyen announced on Thursday new EU support for Ukraine's energy security,
04:11to keep people warm and the economy running.
04:14She also announced her visit to Kiev on Friday.
04:19We will make an additional amount of close to 160 million euros available for this winter.
04:27This includes 60 million euros in humanitarian aid for shelters and heaters, for example.
04:35And it includes around 100 million euros for repair works and renewables.
04:40And these 100 million euros come from the proceeds of the immobilized Russian assets
04:48in the European Union.
04:50Because it is only right that Russia pays for the destruction it caused, we know that
04:56more is needed, so we must keep transferring part of the proceeds from immobilized Russian
05:02assets to Ukraine's energy resilience.
05:06Approximately half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been destroyed, removing 9 gigawatts of
05:12power generation capacity.
05:14The EU Commission is now aiming to restore and export 4.5 gigawatts to Ukraine.
05:20But the Russian war on Ukraine also has consequences for energy prices in the EU.
05:25In a letter sent to the Commission President, the Greek Prime Minister called for European
05:29ways to address the effects of the war on the energy market.
05:36We know that we have in Europe, compared to the rest of the world, structurally too high
05:41energy prices.
05:42And one very clear goal of the new Commission, but also described in the Draghi report, is
05:49to lower structurally the energy prices.
05:54Once again, von der Leyen underlined that renewable energy and energy efficiency must
05:59play a big role in the EU's answer.
06:09Despite Kyiv's attempts to draw away Russian forces from Pokrovsk, with a surprise incursion
06:14into Kursk region, Moscow is still prioritizing its efforts in eastern Ukraine, where their
06:20offensive does not seem to ease up any time soon.
06:24The battle for Pokrovsk started months ago, when in mid-February Ukrainian forces withdrew
06:29from Avdiivka.
06:31From there, they have been retreating towards Pokrovsk, a major logistics base and transport
06:36hub for Ukraine's armed forces, where multiple roads and rail lines intersect.
06:41Since the first breakthrough of Ukrainian defence lines in April near the village of
06:45Ocheretyne, Russian forces have advanced to over 20 kilometres towards Pokrovsk.
06:52In early September, Ukraine transferred more forces to this area, but Russia hasn't moved
06:57any of its own away towards Kursk, pushing for more advances towards Pokrovsk, while
07:02also threatening to encircle a large grouping of Ukrainian forces south of the main area.
07:09The Russians are pressing from two directions.
07:11They swallowed up the town of Novogrodivka and are pushing forward from the southeast
07:17and from Ukrainsk, which fell a few days ago.
07:21If Ukraine loses Pokrovsk, it will be much harder to move troops, provisions and ammunition
07:27to other parts of an overstretched front line here in eastern Ukraine.
07:36Before the elections on the 26th of October, the Russia-friendly government of Georgia
07:40yet took another step further away from Brussels and adopted a draft law on family values and
07:44protection of minors, which is an anti-LGBTQ manoeuvre.
07:48Meanwhile, opposition parties are divided on the matter, trying to avoid loss of potential
07:52votes from conservative electors.
07:54They do not openly claim the initiative to be undemocratic, but rather untimely.
07:58Mamuka Dinaradze, chairman of the ruling party Georgian Dream, says that a legislative change
08:02was needed as a countermeasure to LGBT propaganda.
08:06In two or three generations, it can have such harmful consequences, he claims, that no conqueror
08:10has been able to achieve for centuries, and stresses that same-sex marriage cannot be
08:15allowed.
08:16At the plenary session, the adoption of this controversial law passed without disruption,
08:20with 84 in favour and zero against.
08:23Conservative opposition was not present, as many of them have been boycotting ever
08:26since the adoption of the law on foreign agents earlier this year.
08:29Human rights defenders argue that the goal is to cover up real problems and create another
08:33barrier to European integration.
08:53Civil society groups state that this law resembles Russian legislation that encroaches on freedom
09:05of speech while also legalising censorship.
09:26The draft law consists of 13 articles, addresses marriage, adoption, medical procedures and
09:30many other issues.
09:32As of May 17, the International Day Against Gay, Bi and Transphobia has been designated
09:36as a day of purity of the family and respect for parents.
09:39More than 5,000 firefighters are battling 90 reported fires in northern Portugal, where
09:50seven people have died and hundreds of thousands are in danger.
09:55Four firefighters and three civilians have died in the country's worst outbreak of fires
10:02in recent years.
10:04Portugal continues to mobilise its forces and resources to combat the wildfires that
10:10have been raging for several days around the western city of Aveiro.
10:16Emergency services have reported 90 incidents in mainland Portugal, with 17 fires currently
10:23raging and 60 approaching their end stages.
10:29The fire in Pessegueiro de Vuga is still active, with more than 500 firefighters on
10:35the ground.
10:36The weather is set to aid in combating the fires, with the Portuguese Institute for the
10:41Sea and Atmosphere predicting lower temperatures, heavy clouds and afternoon showers in central
10:48Portugal on Thursday.
10:50UN chief António Guterres said during a press conference that it is clear that the worsening
10:57of the fires have a direct relationship with the worsening of the climate crisis.
11:05The Vatican has approved continued pilgrimages to a southern Bosnian village, where children
11:11reported visions of the Virgin Mary.
11:14Despite previous doubts from local bishops and concerns about conflicting messages from
11:19the visionaries, the decision overlooks worries about the economic interests that have made
11:25Medjugorje a popular religious tourism destination.
11:28Unlike other established Catholic sanctuaries, the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje have
11:34never been declared authentic by the Vatican.