Latest news bulletin | September 20th – Morning - video Dailymotion

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00:00Israel has launched a barrage of strikes on southern Lebanon as cross-border tensions

00:06continue to rise.

00:12Far right and centre right form a majority on a vote in the European Parliament for the

00:16first time.

00:21Keeping the lights on and the heating going, EU pledges more winter aid for Ukraine.

00:30Israel has launched a barrage of strikes on southern Lebanon as cross-border tensions

00:39continue to rise.

00:41The attack follows a similar assault by Hezbollah on northern Israel early on Thursday, in which

00:47Israel says two of its soldiers were killed.

00:50The exchanges of fire come after two days of targeted explosions of handheld devices

00:56killed dozens and injured hundreds across Lebanon and Syria.

01:01Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, called the attack, which has largely been blamed

01:05on Israel, a severe blow.

01:24In a joint press conference with President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas

01:29in Madrid, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for restraint.

01:52It comes as Israel's defence minister declared the start of a new phase of war.

02:00The European Parliament has recognised Edmundo Gonzalez, the candidate of the opposition,

02:04as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

02:07The chamber rejected the official results of the presidential election held at the end

02:10of July and condemned the repression and attacks on civil society under Venezuelan President

02:16Nicolás Maduro.

02:17And it is adopted.

02:18This is a step further compared to EU member states, which did not recognise Maduro as

02:22a legitimate president, but neither Gonzalez is the winner.

02:26309 MEPs voted in favour, among them the members of the EPP, the largest political group in

02:32the Parliament.

02:49The European People's Party voted together with the groups further to the right, the

02:53European Conservatives and Reformists, Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations,

02:58forming a new majority in the Parliament for the first time in this legislature.

03:02The Liberals also generally condemned Maduro's persecutions and rejected the official results,

03:07but the Renew Europe group abstained because they did not want to vote with the far right.

03:12Socialists, Greens and the left voted against.

03:28The resolution also requests an international arrest warrant for Nicolás Maduro for crimes

03:45against humanity, on the basis of, quote, grave violations of human rights.

03:57As the winter approaches, millions of Ukrainians have been left with limited access to electricity.

04:02The country is suffering from major power cuts on a daily basis.

04:06President von der Leyen announced on Thursday new EU support for Ukraine's energy security,

04:11to keep people warm and the economy running.

04:14She also announced her visit to Kiev on Friday.

04:19We will make an additional amount of close to 160 million euros available for this winter.

04:27This includes 60 million euros in humanitarian aid for shelters and heaters, for example.

04:35And it includes around 100 million euros for repair works and renewables.

04:40And these 100 million euros come from the proceeds of the immobilized Russian assets

04:48in the European Union.

04:50Because it is only right that Russia pays for the destruction it caused, we know that

04:56more is needed, so we must keep transferring part of the proceeds from immobilized Russian

05:02assets to Ukraine's energy resilience.

05:06Approximately half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been destroyed, removing 9 gigawatts of

05:12power generation capacity.

05:14The EU Commission is now aiming to restore and export 4.5 gigawatts to Ukraine.

05:20But the Russian war on Ukraine also has consequences for energy prices in the EU.

05:25In a letter sent to the Commission President, the Greek Prime Minister called for European

05:29ways to address the effects of the war on the energy market.

05:36We know that we have in Europe, compared to the rest of the world, structurally too high

05:41energy prices.

05:42And one very clear goal of the new Commission, but also described in the Draghi report, is

05:49to lower structurally the energy prices.

05:54Once again, von der Leyen underlined that renewable energy and energy efficiency must

05:59play a big role in the EU's answer.

06:09Despite Kyiv's attempts to draw away Russian forces from Pokrovsk, with a surprise incursion

06:14into Kursk region, Moscow is still prioritizing its efforts in eastern Ukraine, where their

06:20offensive does not seem to ease up any time soon.

06:24The battle for Pokrovsk started months ago, when in mid-February Ukrainian forces withdrew

06:29from Avdiivka.

06:31From there, they have been retreating towards Pokrovsk, a major logistics base and transport

06:36hub for Ukraine's armed forces, where multiple roads and rail lines intersect.

06:41Since the first breakthrough of Ukrainian defence lines in April near the village of

06:45Ocheretyne, Russian forces have advanced to over 20 kilometres towards Pokrovsk.

06:52In early September, Ukraine transferred more forces to this area, but Russia hasn't moved

06:57any of its own away towards Kursk, pushing for more advances towards Pokrovsk, while

07:02also threatening to encircle a large grouping of Ukrainian forces south of the main area.

07:09The Russians are pressing from two directions.

07:11They swallowed up the town of Novogrodivka and are pushing forward from the southeast

07:17and from Ukrainsk, which fell a few days ago.

07:21If Ukraine loses Pokrovsk, it will be much harder to move troops, provisions and ammunition

07:27to other parts of an overstretched front line here in eastern Ukraine.

07:36Before the elections on the 26th of October, the Russia-friendly government of Georgia

07:40yet took another step further away from Brussels and adopted a draft law on family values and

07:44protection of minors, which is an anti-LGBTQ manoeuvre.

07:48Meanwhile, opposition parties are divided on the matter, trying to avoid loss of potential

07:52votes from conservative electors.

07:54They do not openly claim the initiative to be undemocratic, but rather untimely.

07:58Mamuka Dinaradze, chairman of the ruling party Georgian Dream, says that a legislative change

08:02was needed as a countermeasure to LGBT propaganda.

08:06In two or three generations, it can have such harmful consequences, he claims, that no conqueror

08:10has been able to achieve for centuries, and stresses that same-sex marriage cannot be

08:15allowed.

08:16At the plenary session, the adoption of this controversial law passed without disruption,

08:20with 84 in favour and zero against.

08:23Conservative opposition was not present, as many of them have been boycotting ever

08:26since the adoption of the law on foreign agents earlier this year.

08:29Human rights defenders argue that the goal is to cover up real problems and create another

08:33barrier to European integration.

08:53Civil society groups state that this law resembles Russian legislation that encroaches on freedom

09:05of speech while also legalising censorship.

09:26The draft law consists of 13 articles, addresses marriage, adoption, medical procedures and

09:30many other issues.

09:32As of May 17, the International Day Against Gay, Bi and Transphobia has been designated

09:36as a day of purity of the family and respect for parents.

09:39More than 5,000 firefighters are battling 90 reported fires in northern Portugal, where

09:50seven people have died and hundreds of thousands are in danger.

09:55Four firefighters and three civilians have died in the country's worst outbreak of fires

10:02in recent years.

10:04Portugal continues to mobilise its forces and resources to combat the wildfires that

10:10have been raging for several days around the western city of Aveiro.

10:16Emergency services have reported 90 incidents in mainland Portugal, with 17 fires currently

10:23raging and 60 approaching their end stages.

10:29The fire in Pessegueiro de Vuga is still active, with more than 500 firefighters on

10:35the ground.

10:36The weather is set to aid in combating the fires, with the Portuguese Institute for the

10:41Sea and Atmosphere predicting lower temperatures, heavy clouds and afternoon showers in central

10:48Portugal on Thursday.

10:50UN chief António Guterres said during a press conference that it is clear that the worsening

10:57of the fires have a direct relationship with the worsening of the climate crisis.

11:05The Vatican has approved continued pilgrimages to a southern Bosnian village, where children

11:11reported visions of the Virgin Mary.

11:14Despite previous doubts from local bishops and concerns about conflicting messages from

11:19the visionaries, the decision overlooks worries about the economic interests that have made

11:25Medjugorje a popular religious tourism destination.

11:28Unlike other established Catholic sanctuaries, the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje have

11:34never been declared authentic by the Vatican.

Latest news bulletin | September 20th – Morning

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