Latest news bulletin | January 15th – Morning - video Dailymotion

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00:00NATO said it would increase its military presence in the Baltic Sea to protect against critical

00:05infrastructure damage.

00:11EU Commissioner for Enlargement Martakos says any enlargement of the bloc will be based

00:17on merit.

00:20TikTok users are flocking to a Chinese social media app as a potential ban of TikTok looms

00:26in the US.

00:35NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced the alliance is launching a new mission to

00:39protect undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region.

00:44His announcement comes following a string of incidents in the Baltic that have heightened

00:48concerns about possible Russian activity in the region, including the suspected sabotage

00:53of undersea cables.

01:18Rutte said NATO adversaries must know the alliance will not accept attacks on its critical

01:23infrastructure, with Estonia's Prime Minister adding that plans were in place for the Baltics

01:28to be cut free from the Russian energy sector.

01:35Finland has hosted the first NATO Baltic Sea Summit to bolster defences against hostile

01:40acts such as attacks on critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.

01:44On Christmas Day, Finnish authorities seized an oil tanker suspected to be responsible

01:49for damaging undersea communications cables.

01:52Over 95% of the world's data is transported through the cables.

01:57Russia and China are regularly accused of sabotaging them as part of hybrid war.

02:02Finnish President Alexander Stubb told Euronews his country is well prepared, but overall

02:07Europe needs to do more.

02:09There's a lot of malintent coming from the Russian Federation at this particular moment,

02:15and it's a new normal that we have to live with.

02:17And of course, in a country like Finland, which has 1,300 kilometres of border with

02:22Russia, we're quite used to this.

02:24So we're coping with it, we're staying calm, cool and collected.

02:28We take necessary measures, including joining NATO.

02:31We take necessary measures, including confiscating vessels.

02:36So we're quite relaxed about it, really.

02:39Because Mark Rutte isn't.

02:40He said that while we're not in a kinetic war now and we are safe in four to five years,

02:46we won't be unless Europe steps up on security and defence.

02:50Well, the Secretary General of NATO is concerned about the whole alliance.

02:54As President of Finland, I'm concerned about the state of our defence.

02:58And I have to say that we never dropped our guard.

03:00We still have compulsory military service.

03:03We have 900,000 men and women in reserves, 280,000 that we can mobilise at wartime.

03:10We have 62 F-18s.

03:12We have soon 64 F-35s.

03:15We have long-range missiles, land, air and sea.

03:18And we have the largest artillery in Europe, together with Poland.

03:23So I sleep my nights quite well.

03:26And I hope that our allies do as well, because they can be quite assured that we play our

03:31part in the alliance.

03:32But you're also an expert on the EU, having spent a lot of time there.

03:36What would you urge Europe to do for the sake of Finland and 27 member states altogether

03:43to ensure that Europe will be safe?

03:46Well, I think there are a few things that we need to do.

03:48First is we need to hike up our defence expenditure, because our holiday from history is now over.

03:55So it is in our vested self-interest to promote and spend more on defence, unfortunately,

04:01of course.

04:02Secondly, we need to pool our defences better.

04:06So we need to do orders together in order to bring down the price of them.

04:11And of course, the third thing we need to do is to work very closely with our closest

04:14ally, the United States.

04:16Donald Trump has said that he would like to take over Greenland.

04:19So it's not a great start, is it?

04:21Well, we'll take one step at a time.

04:24And I think the sort of calm response from the Prime Minister of Denmark is the correct

04:30one.

04:31Prime Minister Stoke, thank you very much for joining us.

04:36The EU's Commissioner for Enlargement has said any expansion of the bloc will be based

04:41on merit rather than geopolitics and must serve existing member states as well as future

04:47ones.

04:48There will be no geopolitical discount.

04:51The enlargement process remains merit-based.

04:55As I told you on November 7, I will walk the talk about European values.

05:01The rule of law and fundamental values will continue to be cornerstone of the EU's enlargement

05:07policy and the foundations of a reformed and enlarged union in the future.

05:13With the start of a new year, EU members will be watching the progress made in accession

05:18negotiations, particularly with the likes of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, all of whom

05:24were granted EU candidate status after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

05:30Formal accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova began in June last year, a landmark

05:36move which signalled a vote of confidence in Ukraine's future in Europe.

05:42But both countries still have a long path ahead of them, with Moldova under increasing

05:46Russian influence and Ukraine facing hostility from member states such as Slovakia and Hungary.

05:54Meanwhile, Georgia's accession is likely to remain on hold as the EU struggles to reach

06:00a consensus on the ruling Georgian Dream Party, which faces accusations of being both anti-democratic

06:07and pro-Russian.

06:08France's new Prime Minister François Bayrou announced the renegotiation of a contested

06:17plan raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.

06:21Bayrou aimed to please all sides and avoid a no-confidence vote during a much-awaited

06:27key policy speech.

06:29But moments after, the far-left filed a motion of no-confidence against Bayrou's government

06:34to be examined on Thursday.

06:36Bayrou urgently needs to pass a budget bill for 2025 to help reduce France's deficit.

06:46More than 150 Nobel and World Food Prize winners have written an open letter, calling for an

06:53increased commitment to new food distribution efforts in the face of a global hunger crisis.

07:00The letter, which emerged after a meeting of food accessibility experts last year, says

07:06around 700 million people are now food insecure, a number likely to rise with climate change

07:13and population growth unless efforts are made to grow more and different kinds of food.

07:21Despite the gloomy outlook, however, experts remain hopeful that the crisis can be avoided

07:26if people take the necessary actions.

07:31These include an increase in research funding and information sharing, along with more innovative

07:37production methods such as enhancing photosynthesis in essential crops, developing crops less

07:43reliant on chemical fertilisers and lengthening the shelf life of fruit and vegetables.

07:51A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas may be close to coming to fruition as negotiators

08:01meet on Tuesday seeking to finalise its details.

08:05Mediators reportedly gave Israel and Hamas a final draft of the agreement after a midnight

08:10breakthrough.

08:12If successful, it would lead to the biggest release of Israeli hostages since the early

08:16days of the war.

08:19Meanwhile, Israeli strikes on Gaza remain intense.

08:22Several strikes hit areas throughout the Gaza Strip overnight and early on Tuesday, killing

08:27dozens.

08:29A growing number of Israeli soldiers have started to speak out against Israeli conduct

08:33in Gaza and are refusing to continue serving if a ceasefire is not secured.

08:38They say they saw or did things that crossed ethical lines.

08:43At the same time, around 1,000 Israelis demonstrated against a ceasefire deal in Jerusalem, shouting

08:49slogans against humanitarian aid delivery to Gaza, prisoner exchanges or relinquishing

08:54conquered territory.

08:57They say the government should release the hostages only through victory over Hamas.

09:09As the threat of a TikTok ban looms, some U.S. TikTok users are flocking to Chinese

09:14social media app Xiaohongsu, making it the top downloaded app in the U.S.

09:21Users landed on the app, called Little Red Book in English, as an alternative to TikTok,

09:27with some saying they specifically picked the Chinese app to protest the TikTok ban.

09:34Today, it has grown into a popular platform for young people to share practical tips or

09:39tutorials on various topics like beauty, fashion, fitness, adventure or even career advice.

09:48The app has over 300 million monthly active users and most of them are young females living

09:54in the big cities.

09:56The U.S. Supreme Court is due to rule on whether TikTok must divest from its Chinese parent

10:01company or be banned in the U.S. over security concerns.

10:05Masses of TikTok users joined the Chinese app using hashtags such as TikTok Refugee.

10:12Since yesterday, we have seen many new posts in English calling themselves the TikTok refugees

10:17and the reaction from the Chinese users have been mixed.

10:21Some believe this is a great way the Chinese culture get to a global audience, while some

10:26worries this will be a cultural invasion and it might have an impact on the censorship.

10:34Little Red Book has become the top downloaded free app on the U.S. App Store, but it is

10:39not clear if the app will serve as a sustainable replacement for TikTok.

10:51Rising temperatures have brought heavy snow to the mountainous areas of southeastern Europe.

10:56Albania has closed 77 schools after heavy snowfall cut off several villages.

11:02The military is helping to clear roads and carry out emergency services in some areas.

11:07Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Italy also issued weather alerts and closed schools due to heavy

11:14snowfall, which is expected to cause disruptions throughout the week.

11:19In lower-altitude areas, the cold temperatures have also brought flood risks. Sicily issued

11:24a yellow alert on Tuesday due to heavy thunderstorms for the entire island.

11:29France has also issued an orange flood warning in the north and there are avalanche alerts

11:34across the western Alps.

11:37Cold air coming from northeastern Europe has brought low temperatures throughout the rest

11:41of the continent as well, expected to last all week.

Latest news bulletin | January 15th – Morning

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