Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Thousands of protesters marched to the parliament in Tbilisi to oppose the Prime Minister's
00:06decision to suspend EU accession talks.
00:11Kia Starmer says he'll overhaul the immigration system after new data shows arrivals to the
00:16country hit a record high.
00:21Sweden's Prime Minister asks China to cooperate with a probe to determine how two data cables
00:26under the Baltic Sea were damaged.
00:35Thousands of Georgians have protested outside the parliament in Tbilisi after Prime Minister
00:39Irakli Kabakidze announced a suspension in the country's EU accession bid.
00:45There were clashes between police and protesters, with officers using water cannons and deploying
00:51right teams to quell the unrest.
00:55Kabakidze's decision to stop accession talks until 2028 came just hours after the European
01:01Parliament adopted a resolution rejecting the country's election results, citing major
01:06irregularities.
01:08But the people of Georgia are determined to continue making their voices heard until their
01:13demands are met.
01:14They are going against Georgian people's will and they want to drag us back to USSR, but
01:20that will never happen, because Georgian people will never let this happen.
01:25The European Parliament said the country should rerun its election under international supervision
01:30within a year.
01:31The bloc also announced a cut in budgetary support to Georgia, a measure lawmakers say
01:37could be detrimental to the country.
01:39They will not receive any funding from EU, which means that they will block 100 million
01:45devoted to Georgian civil society and media.
01:48We're going to suffocate whatever pockets of freedom are left in this country.
01:53Kabakidze accuses Brussels of blackmail and says his government will work to implement
01:58the necessary reforms to resume accession talks.
02:02He said that by 2028, Georgia will be the most prepared country among all candidates
02:08to join the bloc in the year 2030.
02:10Sweden has formally asked China to cooperate with an investigation into the suspected sabotage
02:20of two data cables running under the Baltic Sea.
02:24The fiber optic cables, one running from Finland to Germany and the other from Lithuania to
02:29Sweden, were damaged last week in an area where the Chinese bulk carrier Yipeng-3 had
02:34been seen.
02:36With this request, obviously we think it's extremely important to find out exactly what
02:42has happened and of course we expect also China to comply with the request we have sent
02:48to China.
02:50The Yipeng-3 is currently anchored in international waters between Sweden and Denmark, where it's
02:55being monitored by several vessels, including those belonging to the Danish Navy.
03:00The Wall Street Journal reported that investigators suspect the Yipeng-3 of deliberately severing
03:05the fiber optic cables by dragging its anchor along the seabed.
03:10Authorities in Beijing said they had no information about the ship and denied any responsibility.
03:17China has always been reluctant to cooperate in dealing with such incidents.
03:21We are currently working with the relevant parties to communicate and coordinate.
03:26Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said this wasn't the first time suspected sabotage had
03:31happened in the Baltic Sea.
03:33The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which carried gas from Russia to Germany, were both damaged
03:38in explosions in 2022.
03:41And in 2023, the Baltic Connector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was seriously
03:47damaged.
03:53British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the government will overhaul the immigration
03:57system after new data showed arrivals to the country had hit a record high.
04:02Figures released by the Office for National Statistics put net migration at more than
04:06900,000 in the year to June 2023.
04:10Starmer blamed those numbers on the previous conservative government.
04:15Because a failure on this scale isn't just bad luck.
04:20It isn't a global trend or taking your eye off the ball.
04:24No, this is a different order of failure.
04:28This happened by design, not accident.
04:34Policies were reformed deliberately to liberalize immigration.
04:39Brexit was used for that purpose.
04:42To turn Britain into a one-nation experiment in open borders.
04:48Starmer said his government plans to overhaul the points-based immigration system brought
04:52in by the conservatives in 2021 after Brexit.
04:57That system gives applicants points for specific skills and qualifications, and those who don't
05:02meet the threshold aren't granted a visa.
05:06Immigration is a divisive topic in the UK, with many voters concerned about the strain
05:10on public services caused by a large influx of people.
05:14But some sectors, including healthcare, argue they'd be unable to function without staff
05:19brought in from abroad.
05:24Weather conditions get harsher for Ukrainians as Russia intensifies its attacks on the country's
05:28energy infrastructure.
05:30Early Thursday morning, scores of missiles and drones launched across the entire country,
05:34targeting the energy grid and leaving more than one million Ukrainians without electricity.
05:40Ukrainian air defense reported that 176 missiles and drones out of 188 have been intercepted.
05:46Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the attacks were a response to Ukraine's attacks
05:50with UK and US weapons last week.
05:53However, Moscow has been targeting the energy grid every winter since the invasion began.
05:58Over 280,000 households in the northwestern Rivne region were without electricity because
06:03of the attack.
06:05There were also interruptions to water supplies in affected areas.
06:09One of the strikes in the Odessa region killed two and injured three, including a 16-year-old boy.
06:23There are no windows or doors in any of the rooms.
06:30We are in a state of shock.
06:35We are left in one box.
06:38There are no windows, doors or doors.
06:42Also in the Volvin region, 215,000 households lost electricity or critical infrastructure
06:48that lost power has been switched to generators.
06:56Israel claimed the ceasefire with Hezbollah earlier this week was breached, as Lebanon
07:01said Israeli tanks attacked areas in the country's south, threatening a truce which had only
07:07just begun.
07:09At least two people were wounded by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon, according to state
07:14media.
07:17Israeli officials said in a statement that suspects had arrived to several areas in southern
07:21Lebanon, breaching the ceasefire terms.
07:25They said the IDF opened fire towards them and would actively enforce violations of the
07:30ceasefire agreements.
07:32A long-negotiated ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday, intending
07:38to allow people from both sides of the conflict to return home after 14 months of fighting.
07:46The agreement comprises an initial two-month ceasefire during which Hezbollah would withdraw
07:51north and Israeli forces return to their side of the border.
07:57Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would then patrol the buffer zone.
08:05This is the political book of the year.
08:07In an autobiography entitled Freedom, former Chancellor Angela Merkel looks back on her
08:1316 years at the helm of Germany, a period that has left its mark on the European Union
08:19and is now causing a stir among MEPs.
08:23In the book, Merkel talks about how she thought it was an illusion to assume that the path
08:27to NATO membership would protect Ukraine and Georgia from Putin.
08:32Well, I think that's a mistake.
08:36I think that would have been a very, very clear message that, you know, Georgia and
08:42Ukraine joining the NATO would have pushed Putin to solving the question, is he ready
08:50to attack NATO?
08:52Question is, is he ready to attack Georgia or Ukraine is much easier to answer.
08:56And he did answer.
08:57In 2008, he attacked during the opening of the Olympics, he attacked Georgia.
09:03In the memoirs, she also quotes Germany's dependence on Russian gas, saying that it
09:07arose without any ever being transported through the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
09:12Angela Merkel's policy has proven to be a losing policy, because even though she wanted
09:19to get gas at a good price, Putin was able to determine the strategic choices of Germany
09:27and Europe.
09:29Merkel also mentions Greece and how during the financial crisis, forcing a country to
09:34leave the monetary union could have had unforeseen consequences.
09:39I think she has a very bad legacy when it comes to the euro crisis.
09:43What they did was that they saved the German banks.
09:47They made sure that they got repaid and they sacrificed the people of Greece, but also
09:51people in Spain, Portugal and Ireland.
09:54This example, we should praise her achievements back then, because obviously the eurozone
09:58was on the brink of collapse and Greece as a country, as a nation was on the brink of
10:04collapse.
10:13Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the most career Formula One race wins and is widely
10:18considered the greatest driver in motorsport history.
10:21The British driver shocked the racing world when he said he would suit up for Ferrari
10:26in 2025, calling it one of the hardest decisions he's ever had to make.
10:30Euronews caught up with Hamilton before his last race with Mercedes.
10:35Formula One revs up this weekend for the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix.
10:3920 of the world's best drivers will line up on the starting grid at the newly upgraded
10:43Lusail International Circuit.
10:45All eyes will be on Lewis Hamilton as he heads into his final lap with Mercedes, trading
10:50in his Silver Arrows for the iconic red of Ferrari.
10:56I think some of the biggest hurdles are probably second-guessing yourself, having doubts of
11:03whether or not you can do something when things get tough, so self-belief I think has been
11:09one of the most important things for me, is to continue to have self-belief.
11:14This is beautiful, wow.
11:21Hamilton also recently fulfilled one of his childhood dreams.
11:25He landed in the cockpit of a high-performance training jet, where he participated in flight
11:30training for astronauts.
11:33Hamilton will wear a unique race suit featuring patches that say Space Mission and is starting
11:37number 44 this weekend at the Lusail International Circuit.