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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/2025/03/26/latest-news-bulletin-march-26th-midday
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:00The U.S. has announced that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to a ceasefire in the Black Sea
00:04following three days of talks in Riyadh. However, the significance of the deal is in question.
00:10Top national security officials for U.S. President Donald Trump discussed war plans in a Signal
00:16Group chat that mistakenly included a prominent journalist.
00:21At least 23 people were killed in overnight Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, Palestinian medics
00:27said on Tuesday.
00:30The U.S. has announced that Ukraine and Russia have agreed to a ceasefire in the Black Sea
00:34following three days of talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
00:38In separate but nearly identical statements, the White House confirmed Kiev and Moscow
00:41will ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent commercial vessels
00:46from being used for military purposes.
00:49Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustam Umerov clarified Kiev's position, warning that any
00:53movement of Russian military vessels outside the Eastern Black Sea would violate the agreement.
00:59Meanwhile, senior Russian official Grigory Karasin described the talks as very interesting,
01:04difficult but quite constructive.
01:06Both countries also pledged to develop measures to ban strikes against energy facilities.
01:12These discussions did not involve direct talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials.
01:17While the U.S. committed to helping Ukraine secure prison exchange, civilian releases,
01:21and the return of forcibly transferred children, it promised Moscow assistance in restoring
01:26access to global markets for agricultural and fertilizer exports.
01:30Questions remain about the deal's significance as Russia no longer holds a military grip
01:34in the Black Sea, and a Romanian corridor already ensures safe passage for civilian cargo ships.
01:46Top national security officials for U.S. President Donald Trump discussed war plans and a signal
01:51group chat that mistakenly included a prominent journalist.
01:56Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, wrote about his unprecedented experience on
02:02Monday, saying he didn't think it was real at first.
02:06It sounded like the people I know who are in this administration.
02:10Nevertheless, it wasn't until Saturday that I was reasonably certain that this wasn't
02:15a hoax, that I had actually mistakenly been included in a conversation of the principals
02:22committee, essentially the leaders of the national security community, including the
02:26head of the CIA, in this discussion.
02:29U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was one of the officials who had shared information
02:34in the group chat.
02:36After the story quickly spread, he tried to discredit Goldberg.
02:40You're talking about a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who's made
02:48a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again to include the, I don't know, the hoaxes
02:54of Russia, Russia, Russia, or the fine people on both sides hoax, or suckers and losers
03:01hoax.
03:02So this is a guy that peddles in garbage.
03:03This is what he does.
03:05Meanwhile, Trump claims to be unaware.
03:08I don't know anything about it.
03:10I'm not a big fan of the Atlantic.
03:12To me, it's a magazine that's going out of business.
03:14I think it's not much of a magazine, but I know nothing about it.
03:17The story sparked concern among both Democratic and Republican lawmakers about how sensitive
03:22information could so easily leak.
03:25The National Security Council said the messages appeared authentic and added it was looking
03:30into how Goldberg's number was added to the chat.
03:35Mass protests in Turkey continued for the seventh night on Tuesday as thousands of opposition
03:41supporters rallied outside Istanbul's City Hall in support of the jailed mayor, Ekrem
03:46Imamoglu.
03:47Police dispersed the protesters who gathered, waving flags and chanting slogans.
03:52Earlier, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan once again warned the protesters to know their
03:57limits.
03:58Meanwhile, the head of Turkey's main opposition party visited Imamoglu in prison on Tuesday,
04:28where he held a two-hour meeting.
04:31Arrested on 19 March on corruption charges, Ekrem Imamoglu is seen as the main challenger
04:36to President Erdogan's 22-year rule.
04:39His arrest has sparked demonstrations in cities across the country.
04:46Israel's parliament has passed a state budget securing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
04:50governing coalition and granting him months of political stability amid growing public
04:55pressure over the war in Gaza.
04:59Protests erupted outside the Prime Minister's office and Knesset in Jerusalem, with demonstrators
05:03blocking roads and forcing ministers and legislators to walk to the parliamentary building.
05:09The rallies also called for negotiations to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas
05:14in Gaza.
05:16Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the budget, calling it theft and accusing the
05:19government of cutting the income and future of Israel's middle class while shamelessly
05:24exploiting those who work, pay taxes and serve in the military.
05:30Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich criticized the protests, describing them as a bankruptcy
05:34of the rule of law and urged police action against demonstrators blocking access to Knesset.
05:42The budget vote was a critical test for Netanyahu's coalition, which includes ultra-nationalist
05:47and ultra-orthodox parties.
05:54The top UN official in South Sudan warned the country is on the brink of a renewed civil
05:59war after the government postponed the latest round of peace efforts.
06:04UN Special Representative Nicholas Haysom said violence is escalating as elections approach
06:10and political competition between the country's president and vice president intensifies.
06:16Haysom noted the two sides don't have sufficient trust in each other to steer the nation towards
06:21a democratic path.
06:23South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 following decades of conflict.
06:29It descended into a civil war as forces loyal to the country's president and vice president
06:34clashed.
06:35The conflict claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people before a peace agreement was
06:40signed in 2018.
06:43While elections were initially set for 2023, they've been postponed twice and are now expected
06:49in 2026.
06:52The European Union has urged Serbia to deliver on EU reforms after months of record-breaking
06:59protests in the country.
07:00The call to Belgrade came on Tuesday after President Aleksandar Vucic met with the President
07:06of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Council President, Antonio
07:10Costa, in Brussels.
07:12Vucic said the meeting addressed the current political situation in Serbia and its path
07:17towards EU accession.
07:43Last week, Vucic's planned meeting with the EU's bloc's leaders sparked controversy in
07:53Serbia, when around 32 MEPs demanded in a letter that von der Leyen cancel the meeting.
07:59The Serbian leader has faced increasing pressure at home, with student blockades and protests
08:04that have persisted for more than four months.
08:08A group of protesters blocked traffic on several bridges in the centre of Hungary's capital,
08:15Budapest, on Tuesday in opposition to a recent law that effectively bans LGBTQ plus pride
08:21events and restricts Hungarians' right to assembly.
08:24The protest, the second within the week, comes after Hungary's ruling Fidesz party used its
08:30two-thirds parliamentary majority last Tuesday to fast-track the controversial law.
08:38Pride is not about banning pride, it's about a certain number of privacy and security and
08:44the right of hundreds of thousands of people to go back to their home.
08:47It's about banning future events they don't like and it's about making them easier for
08:55them to be sanctioned.
08:58The new law amends Hungary's rules on assembly to make it an offense to hold or
09:03or attend events that violate the country's contentious child protection
09:08legislation. Authorities say they may now use facial recognition tools to
09:12identify individuals that attend prohibited events. Several opposition
09:17parties in the country have condemned the law but the recently formed
09:21center-right Sitsa party, which according to several opinion polls is
09:25currently more popular, has described the issue as a distraction.
09:31The European Commission and Parliament are trying to tackle the housing crisis
09:36across the EU. The situation is critical. Rising property prices combined with a
09:41shortage of available housing has made access to affordable housing for many
09:46incredibly difficult. Between 2010 and 2023, rents across the block rose by an
09:53average of 22% and property prices by almost 50%. The EU is particularly
10:00interested in the impact of short-term rentals, which account for almost a
10:04quarter of tourist rentals.
10:30Measures on the table include the use of European funding for the
10:37construction of social housing, as well as the creation of a pan-European
10:41recruitment platform to tackle the shortage of construction workers. The
10:46Parliament recently set up a special committee on the EU housing crisis, which
10:50is expected to make recommendations to the Commission within a year. Its
10:55chairwoman insists that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to guarantee
10:59access to affordable housing in the EU.
11:02There can be areas where the problem is more demand side, other areas where it's
11:07more of a supply side, the type of supply varies. There are places where new
11:13construction is unthinkable, and you really need to work on existing
11:18infrastructure, retrofitting, renovation. There are areas where you could
11:24actually alleviate the problem by constructing. So I wouldn't have one-size-fits-all
11:31recipes. The average age at which the majority of Europeans move out of their
11:36parents' home increased from 26 to 28. But housing is not directly controlled
11:42by the EU, meaning there is limited room to manoeuvre.