Latest news bulletin | May 16th – Midday - video Dailymotion

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00:00Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico is reportedly stable following an apparent assassination

00:07attempt at a political meeting.

00:10Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcomed Putin at an official ceremony as the Russian president

00:16began a state visit to China.

00:24Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico is reportedly stable following an apparent assassination

00:31attempt at a political event in the central town of Hadlovo.

00:37Fico's deputy said he is expected to survive after being shot at multiple times.

00:52Politicians from both sides of the aisle condemned the shooting, but were quick to

00:57blame each other for creating a climate of violence.

01:01Slovakia's president said she was shocked by what she called a terrible and vicious

01:05attack.

01:06As Fico was airlifted to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery, messages from

02:07A 71-year-old man has been detained in connection with the shooting.

02:13While a motive has yet to be established, Slovakia's interior minister said Fico had

02:19been shot at five times and initial evidence clearly points to a political motivation.

02:32Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Putin at an official ceremony as the Russian president

02:38began a state visit to China.

02:41Putin, Xi and other top officials are expected to hold meetings that will emphasize their

02:47commitment to the no-limits relationship they signed in 2022, just before the Russian invasion

02:54of Ukraine.

02:55Putin's visit comes as Russia has become more economically dependent on China following

03:02the invasion.

03:03Russia has diverted the bulk of its energy exports to China and has relied on Chinese

03:09companies to import high-tech components for the Russian military in order to circumvent

03:15Western sanctions.

03:17Military ties between Russia and China have also strengthened.

03:21They have held a series of joint war games in recent years, including naval drills and

03:27patrols by long-range bombers.

03:33Despite a price increase in major commodities such as crude oil, economic forecasts say

03:39inflation is declining.

03:41The European Commission says that EU inflation will fall to 2.7% this year after reaching

03:46a high of around 10% after the pandemic and Russia's war in Ukraine, which massively impacted

03:52the economy.

03:53This time next year, inflation could be at 2.2% in the EU.

03:57European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni told Euronews that while this is good news

04:01for the EU, it will take some time to see its effects.

04:04We need that the decline of inflation produce its consequences overall on food prices, etc.

04:16This will take some time.

04:19Equally important is that the level of credit provided by banks restart increasing because

04:30this is important to fuel the economy.

04:36The Commission says the economic outlook shows increased uncertainty and downside risks,

04:42mainly stemming from the evolution of Russia's war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle

04:46East.

04:47The geopolitical tensions also continue to pose risks, but these are not the only risks.

04:56In this difficult crossroads where growth is restarting, you adopt too restrictive fiscal

05:09stance and you miss part of the investments that are needed.

05:16How to avoid this without breaking our fiscal policies and our budgets?

05:23My answer is still next generation EU.

05:30The Commission's spring forecast comes 20 years after the EU's 2004 enlargement, which

05:35saw the bloc's largest expansion to date.

05:40The 10 states that joined at the time saw significant upticks in their GDP and real

05:45incomes as they underwent the EU accession process, a positive message for EU hopefuls.

05:57As the European elections loom, concerns mount over the potential deterioration of conditions

06:02for LGBTQ individuals if the far-right maintains its momentum.

06:07ILGA Europe, the continent's leading LGBTQ advocacy group, calls on candidates to commit

06:13to strengthening legislation once elected.

06:18Within this coming election we really need candidates to step up to the challenge and

06:21to commit in these weeks preceding the elections to actually legislating change when they are

06:28elected.

06:30There has been great progress made in the EU in the last five years and that needs to

06:33be continued, but still freedom of movement, which is at the core of EU values, is not

06:39secured for trans people, for intersex people, for non-binary people, for rainbow families.

06:46So the new Commission and the new Parliament really needs to prioritise filling those legislative

06:51gaps and that really needs to happen soon.

06:54In Italy, the absence of clear legislation regarding the registration of children from

06:58same-sex couples has allowed Giorgia Meloni's government to prohibit municipalities from

07:03recognising same-sex couples as parents.

07:07ILGA has released a map illustrating the legal status of the LGBTQ community.

07:14At the European level, Poland ranks the lowest, however, following a change in government

07:20late last year, there are indications of potential change.

07:24People and representation were invited to discuss the potential legislation about same-sex

07:32partnerships and the hate speech law is being settled and being discussed and shortly to

07:42be implemented, fingers crossed.

07:45So as of now, after this few months, we do not see the change, but we feel the change

07:52that it is coming.

07:56But despite increased legal protection, the group now suffers more violence across the

08:00European Union.

08:01According to the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, two-thirds of those surveyed have

08:06received hate messages.

08:13Protesters have taken to the streets of the Armenian capital Yerevan to demand Prime Minister

08:18Nikol Pashinyan step down.

08:20There's continuing anger over the terms of a peace deal with Azerbaijan regarding the

08:24contested territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

08:28Protesters are angry over Pashinyan's decision to cede several border villages to Azerbaijan.

08:33The area is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but was inhabited by ethnic

08:38Armenians until September 2023, when most of the population fled a blockade and military

08:44operation.

08:49France has declared a state of emergency after four people died in rioting in the Pacific

08:54Overseas Territory of New Caledonia.

08:57The unrest started on Monday with a protest over France's efforts to expand voter lists

09:02that would benefit pro-Paris politicians and marginalize the Kanak people.

09:07The Kanak are indigenous to the islands and once suffered from strict segregation policies.

09:13Gendarmerie and police reinforcements took off from France on Wednesday in a bid to curb

09:18spiraling violence.

09:23In 2008, European lives in an area at risk of flooding, according to the latest European

09:29Environment Agency report, which warns of the impact of climate change on the entire

09:34water cycle, including droughts and forest fires.

09:39In 40 years, floods have already claimed over 5,580 lives and the danger seems greater than

09:47ever.

09:48Most of the economic activities in Europe are still based in the flat plains.

09:53For example, about 15% of industrial facilities across Europe may be based in flat plains.

10:02Of course, also infrastructures such as wastewater treatment plants are located further downstream

10:10and over a third of them in Europe are located in flat plains.

10:18According to the report, 11% of hospitals are in areas at risk.

10:22Droughts and heat waves also threaten water quality by increasing the concentration of

10:27pollutants.

10:28Taken together, these events threaten people's access to water, affect the cooling systems

10:34of nuclear power stations and affect agriculture.

10:40Of course, the main consequence is that it affects the agriculture and the food production.

10:46In 2022, we've seen a really drop in production of maize, of corn, of olive oil, for example,

10:54especially in southern Europe, and it's estimated that around 9 billion euros every year are

11:02caused by the losses caused by droughts in agriculture, public water supply and energy

11:10sectors.

11:11The European Agency is therefore calling on all stakeholders to limit the development

11:18of areas at risk.

11:19It suggests solutions inspired by nature, such as planting trees to retain water or

11:25reusing treated water.

11:27Finally, the Agency is calling on a more effective early warning system.

Latest news bulletin | May 16th – Midday

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