Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Polling stations across the UK open as the country gears up for a historic general election.
00:11Lithuanian and Polish defence ministers called EU and NATO support for the eastern border.
00:21Thousands of demonstrators assembled in Paris to protest against the popularity of the far right.
00:31Polls have opened across the UK for what is being described as a historic general election.
00:38For months, opinion polls have centre-left Labor Party poised for victory, trumping the Conservatives' 14-year rule.
00:47The Tories have conceded Labor's apparent win but are urging voters to not hand the party a super-majority in Parliament.
00:56Polling stations opened at 7am local time Thursday morning in 650 constituencies across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
01:07Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak voted in Yorkshire, while Labor leader Keir Starmer will cast his ballot in London.
01:15The centrist Liberal Democrats, environmentalist Green Party and Nigel Farage's Reform UK also want to sweep up disaffected voters.
01:25Voting is set to continue until 10pm when the first estimated results, based on exit polls, are expected to be published.
01:38With Labor tipped to enter government, the UK's general election could spell the end of Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives' controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
01:50Labor wants to scrap the plan, which has been deemed unlawful by the UK's Supreme Court,
01:55and use the money earmarked for it to create a border security command to dismantle migrant smuggling networks.
02:02But a migrants' rights charity is concerned Labor will explore similar deals with other third countries.
02:19So, whereas Rwanda is still a concern and has been identified as still an unsafe country for many, many individuals,
02:29we are concerned that another country will be considered by Labor.
02:36And we know this because bilateral agreements are already taking place.
02:42So, we have bilateral agreements between Bangladesh and the UK to deport individuals and India.
02:49This Afghan asylum seeker, whose family was persecuted by the Taliban, says Rishi Sunak's plan would jeopardise his need for protection.
02:58I would like the Prime Minister to tell every new people here coming, no stay.
03:05I don't have give the stay in the UK. Send back to Rwanda. This is not good for me.
03:10Rwanda, Afghanistan, same for me.
03:13Irregular arrivals by small boats across the Channel only make up 8-10% of migrant arrivals into the UK.
03:21Both Labor and the Conservatives have also vowed to bring net legal migration numbers down.
03:27There has been a surge in overall migration numbers since Brexit came into force in 2020,
03:32but both parties have different approaches on stemming migration.
03:35So, the Conservatives would look to restrict the supply of visas,
03:40and they would do this by putting an annual cap on work and family visa grants each year.
03:46For Labor, it's more about restricting the demand for visas.
03:49Opinion polls show that among Conservative voters, immigration is the number one concern.
03:55Among Labor voters, it's not even in the top five priorities.
03:59But the Labor leader, Keir Starmer, has understood that this is a hot political issue,
04:05and he has vowed to cut migration numbers into the UK.
04:10But with a country facing labor shortages in key sectors like healthcare,
04:15immigration is also part of the puzzle when it comes to restoring an economy
04:21that recently came out of a short-lived recession.
04:24Marit Gwynne for Euronews in central London.
04:30Italy's Five Star Movement has asked to join the left group in the European Parliament.
04:36It comes as the Populist Party, who shared a group with Nigel Farage before Brexit,
04:42tries to find a home after a year without a group in the European Parliament.
04:46The left, aware of the party's situation, seems ready to welcome it on board.
04:51It has argued that both parties voted in the same direction on issues such as the Migration Pact.
04:56All members of our group have to sign a so-called political affinity declaration
05:02and we will discuss, of course, the political topics with them
05:06and see if they will fit in the group or not.
05:08In recent years, the Five Star Movement tried to join the Greens and the Liberals,
05:13but to no avail. They were also in contact with the Social Democrats.
05:17This Thursday, the left will take its final decision.
05:21Despite its progressive outlook, the left has adopted a critical stance
05:24on the EU's response to Russia's war on Ukraine.
05:28Meanwhile, two co-presidents have been elected by the left,
05:31the smaller group of the European Parliament.
05:34The French Manon Aubry and Germany's Martin Scherdevan were elected on Wednesday.
05:39The European Conservatives and Reformist ECR,
05:42the third largest group in the European Parliament, also elected its leaders.
05:47Italy's Nicola Procaccini and Joachim Brzezinski from the Polish Party, Law and Justice.
05:54Some MEPs were connected from Brussels.
05:57The development implies that the Polish have ultimately decided to remain in the ECR
06:03instead of joining the Patriots for Europe group of Hungarian Viktor Orban,
06:08with whom they have held negotiations.
06:13Lithuania and Poland's defence ministers have called for the internalisation
06:18of the protection of the EU and NATO's eastern border.
06:22The joint call was made during the visit of Poland's Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister
06:28Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz to Lithuania on Wednesday.
06:32Both leaders stressed that border protection remains a key task.
06:52The three Baltic states and Poland last week signed a letter calling on the EU
06:58to be involved in building an estimated 2.5 billion euro defence line
07:03along the bloc's eastern border with Russia and Belarus.
07:22Lithuania!
07:28Thousands gathered on Wednesday in Paris to protest the results of the first round
07:32of the French legislative elections after the far-right National Rally Party secured the most votes.
07:38Multiple unions, independent media and citizens' organisations were behind the demonstration
07:44calling on voters to block the rise of the far-right for the second round of the election
07:48scheduled for Sunday.
07:51Many present fear a far-right victory could curtail civil liberties
07:56due to the National Rally's history of xenophobia and anti-Semitism.
08:19There is a chance that if voters mobilise massively,
08:23they could block the National Rally from winning the absolute majority in parliament next Sunday.
08:28But voter fatigue is a major hurdle.
08:49However, not everyone present at the demonstration agreed with the general message.
09:12More than 49 million registered voters will be heading to polling stations on Sunday
09:18for what could be a decisive election in French history.
09:22Sofia Katzenkova reporting from Paris for Euronews.
09:30Joe Biden has announced that he will not withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.
09:37The incumbent US president has been under increasing pressure
09:41since his poor performance in his debate against Donald Trump last week.
09:45Democrats are divided on the question,
09:48with one-third believing Biden is too old and should not run for re-election.
10:14But I don't feel confident in Joe Biden's ability to win this election,
10:20and that makes me very afraid.
10:22On Wednesday, Biden met with 24 Democratic governors,
10:26several of whom said after the meeting that the president was in good health.
10:44It doesn't impact what I believe he's delivering.
10:47According to the New York Times, Biden has told his close allies
10:51that he only has a few days to convince party members and voters of his fitness for office.
10:57If he fails to do so, his candidacy may be in jeopardy.
11:04Travellers can now take a short international flight
11:07in an electric aircraft from the Maastricht-Aken airport in the Netherlands.
11:11It's part of a trial where people can fly without emissions.
11:15These are flights of between 30 and 50 kilometres,
11:19and mainly business people are expected to use them.
11:22The electric fly project runs until the end of August.
11:26With aviation accounting for approximately 4% of climate change,
11:30some experts believe electrification is one option for reducing the environmental impacts.