Latest news bulletin | February 21st – Evening
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Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/02/21/latest-news-bulletin-february-21st-evening
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:00Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas would pay the full price after
00:06it was announced one of the four bodies released on Thursday did not include mother Shiri Bibas.
00:12The militant group released the bodies of four deceased Israeli hostages and claimed
00:16they included three members of the Bibas family.
00:20However, Netanyahu said the body released was of a Gazan woman instead.
00:26Twenty-four living hostages have been released in recent weeks under the first phase of a
00:30tenuous ceasefire that paused 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
00:35Hamas are scheduled to hand over six more living hostages on Saturday in exchange for
00:40hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israeli forces.
00:43However, it is unclear whether the scheduled swap will take place and under what conditions.
00:54Israeli police say that several explosions targeted empty buses in the central city of
00:58Bat Yam in what they're labeling a suspected terror attack.
01:03Large units were dispatched to the scene to investigate the incident and search for clues
01:07and suspects.
01:10Authorities say they're aware of at least five explosive devices that either detonated
01:14or were disabled, with all of them having timer devices.
01:19Israeli media outlets are calling this a strategic terrorist attack.
01:24Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for an emergency meeting to discuss the incident.
01:29Police say no casualties were reported and investigations are ongoing.
01:38Two women have been killed in a knife attack at a shopping center in the Czech Republic.
01:43It happened in a store where both of the women were reportedly employees in the northern
01:47city of Hradec Kralove.
01:50Police say a 16-year-old youth has been detained in connection with the stabbings.
02:06Reports initially said the victims had been injured, but police later said both had died.
02:11Neither of the women have been identified.
02:14The motive for the attack isn't immediately known, but an investigation is ongoing.
02:20Police say the situation is under control and there's no further danger to members of
02:23the public.
02:31With hundreds of thousands of dead or wounded and no end in sight, war has been raging on
02:37for nearly three years in Ukraine.
02:42But the successes and mistakes of both Ukraine and Russia are a lesson for the French army.
02:49This high-intensity conflict foreshadows the war of tomorrow due to the many technological
02:54and tactical innovations.
02:57It's even pushed the French army to go as far as to create its own special defence innovation
03:02unit.
03:03One key takeaway this year?
03:27The hidden electronic warfare battle that's reshaping the Ukraine war.
03:32This has forced French military leaders to consider where there are gaps in their own
03:37capabilities.
04:08The war even inspired the creation of a new NATO-Ukraine centre in Poland, inaugurated
04:28this week to help the alliance learn important lessons from the battlefield in Ukraine.
04:44Barely a month after the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States, transatlantic
04:50relations are on the rocks.
04:54Trade has been one of the main areas of concern, as Trump has threatened to impose heavy tariffs
04:59on imported European goods.
05:02On trade, I have decided for purposes of fairness that I will charge a reciprocal tariff, meaning
05:09whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them.
05:15Unjustified tariffs on the European Union will not go unanswered.
05:22And let me speak plainly, we are one of the world's largest markets.
05:27We will use our tools to safeguard our economic security and interests, and we will protect
05:36our workers, our businesses and consumers at every turn.
05:40While keeping Europe out of the peace talks in Ukraine, Trump has entered into bilateral
05:44negotiations with Russia, and opened the door to granting numerous concessions to Vladimir
05:49Putin.
05:51I don't see any way that a country in Russia's position could allow them, just in their position,
05:59could allow them to join NATO.
06:01I don't see that happening.
06:02And long before President Putin, Russia was very strong on the fact that I believe that's
06:08the reason the war started.
06:09We will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in the negotiations, providing
06:17security guarantees in reconstruction, and as a future member of the European Union.
06:28In the run-up to early elections in Germany, the Vice President of the United States criticized
06:32an alleged decline in freedom of expression in Europe.
06:38The threat that I worry the most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China, it's
06:44not any other external actor.
06:47And what I worry about is the threat from within.
06:50The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the
06:56United States of America.
06:58That's why we will not accept it if external actors in favor of this party intervene in
07:03our democracy, in our elections, and in the democratic formation of opinion.
07:10According to a recent study, Europeans now regard the United States as a, quote, necessary
07:16partner, rather than an ally.
07:22One day before the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Germany will
07:26head to the polls.
07:27Yet throughout the election campaign, support for Ukraine has not appeared to be a top priority
07:32for the leading candidates and their parties.
07:34Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba explained why he believes the war has played
07:38such a minor role in the election campaign.
07:41You don't believe that this is going to happen to you, because look around, walk the streets
07:46of Berlin, everything is so nice.
07:50You forgot that all of this can be gone, and you don't want to think that this is something
07:56that may come to your home, as we never could imagine that anything like this would be happening
08:05in our country.
08:07Kuleba issued a stark warning about Russian President Putin's ambitions, questioning whether
08:12Germany and the West have truly learned from history.
08:15Putin will test NATO if Ukraine falls.
08:20I'm not saying this as a Ukrainian, who maybe people may say, of course he's trying to pull
08:26us into the war, he's trying to scare us, no, no, no, we will manage it.
08:31You failed to manage Putin for 20 years, and he knows that, and his only goal will be to
08:39destroy Ukraine and destroy the West, because this is his ambition, this is how he wants
08:45to go down in history.
08:48You don't want to believe us, as you never wanted to believe us before 2022, well, what
08:55can I say?
08:57History repeats itself, and when European politicians solemnly declare never again on
09:03each and every anniversary of the First and Second World War, they are lying, because
09:10history repeats itself again and again.
09:14The coming German elections are crucial not only for the EU, but also for Ukraine.
09:20Cutting pesticide use by half in the EU by 2030 was a key goal of the European Green
09:28Deal, but that target, put on hold by the European Commission last year, has now been
09:32shelved indefinitely.
09:34In an interview with Euronews, EU Agriculture Commissioner Christoph Hansen confirmed that
09:39reviving this idea is no longer on the EU executives' agenda.
09:45It didn't work out, and now we have no progress at all.
09:49Is that...
09:50But still it's off the table.
09:51It is off the table, exactly, so no progress at all, and I believe with this process where
09:56we take the farmers on board, and we take the civil society on board, in the European
10:01Board on Agriculture and Food, we determine there and discuss about solutions that are
10:07applicable and effective on the ground to achieve those targets.
10:11The plan to halve pesticide use in the EU was withdrawn by the Commission one year ago
10:16following mounting opposition from right-wing parties and widespread farmer protests.
10:22At that time, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that the pesticide
10:26reform would stay on the agenda with possibility of a more mature proposal.
10:31But now Hansen says any new EU initiative on pesticides will focus on trade and innovation
10:37aspects rather than on reduction targets.
10:42It is important that we encourage them rather with incentives to achieve goals rather than
10:52to say just from the top down, this is the number, and we exactly see what happened with
10:59those numbers when it goes to the co-legislative process.
11:02Instead of tightening environmental standards, the Commission's new vision for agriculture
11:13and food unveiled this week prioritises making farming a more attractive job, particularly
11:20for young generations, a clear sign that for now environmental ambitions are taking a back
11:26seat to economic and political realities.
11:29And therefore, our farming and food producing community