Latest news bulletin | April 23rd – Morning - video Dailymotion

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00:00 Washington says a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine will be released as soon as it's

00:07 approved by the Senate.

00:12 US President Joe Biden has told Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky that a $61 billion

00:18 military aid package will be released to Kiev as soon as it's approved by the Senate.

00:26 In a phone call a day after the package was approved by the House of Representatives,

00:31 Biden assured Zelensky that US economic assistance would help maintain financial stability and

00:36 rebuild critical infrastructure.

00:39 Zelensky, who was meeting members of Congress in the capital Kiev, called the bill "historic."

00:47 "We spoke about how we can rush after the decision, getting package of military support.

00:59 That is crucial for our soldiers on the battlefield."

01:03 Meanwhile, EU foreign and defence ministers meeting in Luxembourg agreed that Ukraine

01:10 needs better air defences, but stopped short of committing to giving Patriot systems to

01:15 the country.

01:18 Representatives said they prefer to focus on the money they're spending to assist Ukraine.

01:22 "I'm sorry but they don't have Patriots here in Brussels.

01:27 The Patriots are in the capital and it's up to them to take the decisions.

01:33 I want to insist that a launcher without interceptors is useless and certainly interceptors without

01:42 launchers are also useless.

01:45 So we need both things."

01:49 So far, only Germany has given a single Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, something the

01:54 country says it desperately needs to help fend off Russian airstrikes.

02:03 The European Union has reached an agreement to expand sanctions on Iran.

02:09 Foreign ministers gave the green light to tougher restrictions, but not against Tehran's

02:14 powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

02:17 The new measures limit the export of components used to build drones and missiles, and blacklist

02:23 people and entities involved in production of those weapons.

02:28 They also cover Iran's backers in the region, including the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah

02:34 in Lebanon.

02:36 The move comes after Tehran's first-ever drone and missile attack on Israel 10 days

02:41 ago.

02:42 EU leaders say they support the people of Israel, but have been calling for a de-escalation

02:48 of the country's war with Hamas in Gaza.

02:51 The EU has already imposed sanctions on Iran over its supply of drones to Russia, human

02:57 rights violations and attempts to establish a nuclear program.

03:05 European Union foreign affairs and defence ministers say the trajectory of the war in

03:10 Ukraine is headed the wrong way.

03:13 Meeting in Luxembourg, they're putting pressure on Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece and

03:19 Romania, all countries known to have Patriot air defence systems in storage and unused.

03:27 Some leaders have resisted sending weapons to Kiev for fear of escalating the two-year-long

03:32 war with Russia and to protect their own country's security.

03:37 The truth is that it's been our self-restraint that has triggered the escalation.

03:43 You know, Putin smells fear and he smells the fact that we're afraid.

03:48 And, you know, what does a fighter on a ring do when he smells that his adversary is scared?

03:56 He doubles down, and that's exactly what is happening.

03:59 So on the one hand, I think, you know, conceptually even and psychologically, it's an argument

04:03 that doesn't hold much water and the evidence shows that, as I said, our self-restraint

04:08 is exactly what has triggered an escalation.

04:15 Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky chastised countries withholding stocks of

04:20 defence systems.

04:25 EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell says Russian military attacks on Ukraine are intensifying

04:32 and is urging member states to do what they can to help defend the country.

04:37 The figures are really appalling.

04:40 The way Russia is attacking Ukraine on missiles, on drones, on guided bombs.

04:50 Just on guided bombs, the Ukrainians have reported 7,000 in four months, which is about

04:56 16 guided bombs a day.

04:59 It is a constant shelling in the east.

05:02 It's part of Putin's strategy.

05:06 On the other hand, it's clear that Ukraine lacks weapons to sell defence and to reject

05:16 the Russia aggression.

05:19 It's not clear how many air defence systems are available in the EU.

05:25 Zelensky is asking for seven to protect the main cities against Russian air strikes.

05:35 European Parliament President Roberta Mazzola has spoken to Euronews, saying she's ready

05:40 to waive immunity of MEPs allegedly involved in the Russian influence scandal.

05:45 EU politicians are accused of being paid to spread pro-Russian propaganda.

05:50 Mazzola says she needs more information, including names.

05:54 We continue to wait for information to be received from national authorities because

05:58 this would require any waiver of immunity being adopted by this house.

06:04 Investigations that would need to take place, like had happened in the past, that would

06:08 require national authorities to ask.

06:11 We're waiting for that and when that happens we will do our job as we've always done.

06:14 It's not the only scandal to mar the current term.

06:17 The European Parliament's vice president is one of the main suspects in the Qatar cash

06:22 for favours scheme.

06:24 She faces charges including corruption and money laundering.

06:28 She was suspended from her role in December 2022.

06:32 We had a choice that day.

06:33 Either we say that this is something that would happen in any parliament or that we

06:38 look at the party political colour or that we look at the country involved.

06:42 But I refused to do that.

06:43 I said this house needs to move on.

06:47 This house needs to make sure that if something like this had to happen again, then firewalls

06:52 would be put in place and alarm bells would be sounded.

06:56 It took a very long time both to go through the motions of what needed to be done.

07:02 The final plenary session is being held this week before the European elections in June.

07:08 Now you have a choice.

07:09 You either decide who you want to sit in this chass or you let others decide for you.

07:16 Citizens of EU member countries will head to the polls to elect 720 politicians to the

07:21 European Parliament between June 6 and June 9.

07:30 Germany's party of European socialists lead EU elections candidate Nikola Schmidt is in

07:36 Berlin for talks with the Social Democratic Party's candidate Katharina Barley.

07:43 Schmidt says he wants to strengthen democracy in Europe from the inside out.

07:48 Every election is important, but if we look around and look at the general context, then

07:58 this election is a very important election.

08:02 A kind of direction decision, a direction election, not only internationally but also

08:10 internally, where Europe should actually go.

08:15 After much debate in Germany, people from 16 years of age will be allowed to vote in

08:21 the June elections and have their say on who will lead the European Union for the next

08:26 five years.

08:31 Approximately half of the EU menstruates or will do at some point of their lives, but

08:36 that does not mean access to menstrual products is guaranteed.

08:41 There is no official EU data on how many women suffer menstrual poverty, but Belgian NGO

08:47 Bruxelles believes that in Belgium, one in 15 people cannot buy their choice of product.

08:52 At some point, we have to choose between a product of first necessity and the purchase

08:58 of menstrual products.

08:59 So at some point, we have to choose between eating or buying a menstrual product.

09:03 When we get to that point, we are really in the context of menstrual precariousness.

09:09 We also add two variants that really aggravate this situation, which are the lack of menstrual

09:15 information, but also the lack of a secure and well-adapted place to be able to change

09:20 in all safety.

09:21 Since 2022, the EU allows member states to sell menstrual products without VAT.

09:27 For now, Ireland is the only one doing so.

09:31 Most of them have reduced taxes between 5 to 10%, but others remain high, like Hungary

09:37 at 27% or Sweden and Denmark, both at 25%.

09:41 One of the options to alleviate the cost of menstrual products is using reusable ones.

09:46 Catalonia recently started giving out a menstrual cup, a pad or a pair of period underwear to

09:51 fight menstrual poverty.

09:54 Menstruation still has lots of taboos, stigma and silences in society.

10:00 This is why this is a universal action.

10:02 We need to change the way society has been dealing with menstruation as a private issue,

10:08 as something that is not spoken about, because these myths, these stigmas have also implications

10:15 on women's health and well-being.

10:18 According to the Catalan government, 23% of women in the region are reusing single-use

10:23 products and 44% can't afford their first choice.

10:32 Germany's interior ministry says three people have been arrested for allegedly spying for

10:36 China.

10:39 Prosecutors said the German nationals were suspected of arranging the transfer of information

10:44 on technology with potential military uses to Beijing.

10:48 The investigations will show whether and which damage has already occurred.

10:54 As I said, we are warning and sensitizing very clearly about these dangers.

10:59 This is especially true for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, in

11:03 many events and discussions with the economy and science, because these risks of the know-how

11:10 transfer of research and spying exist in these areas.

11:13 There is a special interest in innovations from Germany and in the area where military

11:20 innovations, armaments, dual use, are possibly concerned, as in this case, it is even more

11:25 sensitive.

11:26 Monday's arrests follow last week's detention of two German-Russian men on suspicion of

11:32 espionage.

11:33 One was accused by prosecutors of agreeing to carry out attacks on potential targets

11:37 including US military facilities to sabotage aid for Ukraine.

11:42 [SWOOSH]

Latest news bulletin | April 23rd – Morning

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