Latest news bulletin | February 4th – Midday - video Dailymotion

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00:00The EU is planning to boost defence spending, requiring an estimated 500 billion euros over

00:07the next decade.

00:10CDU leader Friedrich Merz vows never to work with the AFD following last week's migration

00:17vote controversy.

00:20The European Union is aiming to strengthen its defence capabilities, requiring an estimated

00:27investment of around 500 billion euros over the next decade.

00:32Defence spending has grown by 30% since 2021, but in the current geopolitical climate, the

00:38bloc believes this is not enough.

00:41On Monday, the EU27 met to explore new ideas, with the aim of incorporating some into a

00:47future European Commission document.

00:49When you ask what the leaders want in the white paper, certainly proposals for these

00:58three levels, how to create fiscal space, how to create common funds to common projects

01:06and finally how to mobilise private financing to strengthen our defence industry.

01:16Creating more fiscal space, or in other words, relaxing the economic rules that force countries

01:21not to take on too much debt, is one of the main ideas on the table.

01:26The key to this lies with the European Commission, which could allow countries to spend more

01:31on defence.

01:33For extraordinary times, it is possible to have extraordinary measures, also in the stability

01:39and growth pact, and I think we live in extraordinary times, so we will look as a commission deeper

01:45into using much more flexibilities, they are optional, possible with the stability and

01:50growth pact for defence investment and defence expenditures.

01:58At a time when relying on allies is crucial, the EU27 gathered at a summit alongside their

02:04partners, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

02:14Chair of Germany's centre-right Christian Democrats, Friedrich Merz, says his party

02:19will never work with the AFD, after being accused of breaking taboo by pushing through

02:25a motion on migration backed by the far-right party.

02:28I can assure the voters in Germany very clearly and very clearly, we will not cooperate with

02:39the party that calls itself the alternative for Germany, not before, not after, never.

02:48Merz and his party drew widespread criticism last week after he put forward a series of

02:54strict migration policies to parliament, one of which passed after it received support

02:59from the AFD.

03:02The move sparked protests across the country, with demonstrators accusing Merz of breaking

03:07Germany's unwritten post-Nazi promise to never pass any resolution with the support of far-right

03:13or nationalist parties.

03:16But Merz, who has been leading the polls ahead of the election on the 23rd of February, has

03:21rejected the criticism, claiming he is not seeking cooperation with the AFD, but merely

03:26putting forward tougher migration measures that are favoured by conservatives.

03:33US President Donald Trump has agreed to a 30-day pause on tariffs against Canadian and

03:38Mexican imports, after both countries agreed to take steps to strengthen border security

03:44and crack down on drug trafficking.

03:46The US and Mexican leaders announced the pause after what Trump described as a very friendly

03:52conversation.

03:53And they've agreed to put in 10,000 soldiers permanently, like forever, 10,000 soldiers

04:01at their side of the border and stop fentanyl and illegal aliens from coming into our country.

04:06They have a big incentive to do.

04:08Other than that, we've agreed to talk and consider various other things.

04:13We haven't agreed on tariffs yet, and maybe we will, maybe we won't.

04:17Later on Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reported a similar discussion with

04:22the US president, announcing that Canada would implement a $1.3 billion border enforcement

04:28plan and allocate additional resources to curb the flow of fentanyl.

04:34Announcement of the pause came just hours before the tariffs, which consisted of a 25

04:38per cent duty on all imports from Mexico and most from Canada, were set to go into effect.

04:44The threat of a trade war between the US and its two biggest trading partners had sent

04:49Wall Street into chaos on Monday.

04:51But after initially falling sharply, US stocks were able to mitigate their losses after Mexico

04:57said it had negotiated a one-month reprieve on the tariffs.

05:04Staff at the US Agency for International Development have been told to stay out of its Washington

05:09headquarters after billionaire Elon Musk announced that President Donald Trump had agreed to

05:15shut the agency down.

05:18A notice sent to staff early on Monday confirmed the closure, with around 600 employees reporting

05:25they were locked out of the agency's computer systems overnight.

05:30President Donald Trump has since defended his plans to shut down the agency, insisting

05:34it's rife with fraud and run by radical left lunatics.

05:38We just want to do the right thing. It's something that should have been done a long time ago.

05:43It went crazy during the Biden administration. They went totally crazy, what they were doing

05:48and the money they were giving to people that shouldn't be getting it and to agencies and

05:54others that shouldn't be getting it. It was a shame. So, tremendous fraud.

06:01Demonstrators gathered outside the USAID headquarters in protest against the move, while Democratic

06:06lawmakers vowed to act, slamming the agency's shutdown as illegal.

06:11Les demandes formulées sur de nombreux bancs pour l'éducation, pour l'écologie...

06:17Will the French Prime Minister François Bayrou's recently appointed government survive a no-confidence

06:23vote?

06:24After forcing this year's long-overdue budget plan through Parliament without a vote on

06:29Monday afternoon, Bayrou now faces a no-confidence motion as early as Wednesday.

06:35A total of 288 votes are needed from MPs to successfully topple the government.

06:41And for the moment, it's the hard-left France Unbowed Party that said that they will be

06:46putting forward two separate motions, one against the budget plan and another one against

06:51the social security budget.

06:54As a reminder, Bayrou's predecessor, Michel Barnier, was ousted in December after the

07:00far-right and the left-wing coalition, the NFP, joined forces. However, this time, the

07:06Socialist Party, part of the NFP, said on Monday that it has chosen not to vote against

07:12Bayrou just yet.

07:14The far-right National Rally Party told us that they're still hesitating, but that they

07:17will make a decision by Wednesday afternoon.

07:21And without this crucial socialist vote, well, it looks like Bayrou might be able to

07:26survive a confidence vote this week, meaning that the budget plan could be adopted as early

07:33as end of February.

07:35This contentious bill plans to cut an eye-watering EUR 30 billion and raise taxes by EUR 20 billion.

07:44France has been under pressure from the EU for its public deficit reaching 6% in 2024,

07:52more than the double the percentage allowed by Brussels.

07:57Sofia Katsenkova reporting from Paris for Euronews.

08:03The revival of US President Donald Trump's demand to acquire Greenland has cast a light

08:08on long-standing difficult relations between Copenhagen and Nuuk, as well as reignited

08:14calls for independence.

08:16It's also laid bare the country's importance as a semi-autonomous Danish state loaded with

08:21critical minerals, a highly lucrative fishing industry and a vital Arctic location.

08:27Melina Abelson is chair of Greenland's largest company, Royal Greenland.

08:32It's a state-owned fishing company representing over 95% of Greenland's exports.

08:37She says Greenland will work with other countries based on equal footing.

08:42I think the Greenlanders are also very worried.

08:44The news poll just came out that also said that no one really wants to be bought by the US.

08:50I mean, the whole abrupt way of coming forward and saying that I want to buy Greenland, it's

08:55like we're not for sale, we're not playing Monopoly here in this world.

08:58Actually, we are a people living in here, living in Greenland.

09:02So I think the whole way of talking about that is just not the way we would like to

09:08talk with an allied partner.

09:11Elections are due to take place in April, where the future of Greenland as an independent

09:15state will no doubt take centre stage.

09:17However, what's not clear is exactly what independence means and whether the EU is to

09:22be invited to play a significant role in Greenland's future.

09:26A delegation from the Renew Group in the European Parliament met with members of the government

09:30as well as private and public industries and academics.

09:34They say Europe will stand by Greenland and respect its citizens' future aspirations.

09:39I do understand the desire to have more autonomousy, but I also want to make clear that even Denmark,

09:49even France, even Germany, no country nowadays can really talk about we can do everything

09:55on our own.

09:56We need to stick together.

09:57I wouldn't say that Denmark has been letting Greenland down, but probably we have not paid

10:02enough attention.

10:03And at least I do recognize the fact that, you know, being more eye to eye in the way

10:09that we talk together, I do think there's something there to be worked on.

10:14Both the government here in Greenland and the EU are treading carefully when it comes

10:18to Trump's demands.

10:19They realize that America's overtures to resource-rich Greenland is spurring on the independence

10:24movement.

10:25Moreover, they're deeply concerned that an ally is threatening to take over territory.

10:31Shona Murray, Euronews, Nuuk, Greenland.

10:37Hundreds of people scrambled to leave the Greek island of Santorini by ferry on Monday

10:42after an increase in seismic activity raised concerns about a potential powerful earthquake.

10:49Local officials said six tremors whose magnitude exceeded 4.9 on the Richter scale were recorded

10:55on the island and off the coast of Amagos Islands.

10:59Authorities banned access to some seaside areas.

11:20The frequency of the quakes has worried residents.

11:24According to the University of Athens Seismological Laboratory, more than 280 earthquakes were

11:30recorded across Greek islands over the past three days.

11:34Santorini, a premier tourism destination, draws more than 3 million visitors annually

11:40to its whitewashed scenic villages.

Latest news bulletin | February 4th – Midday

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