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00:00U.S. President Donald Trump hails NATO leaders' decision to ramp up defense spending to 5% by 2035,
00:07describing it as a big win for Europe.
00:11Flights were canceled in Brussels and Charleroi airports
00:14due to general strikes opposing the federal government's proposed pension reforms.
00:20Protesters in Venice are claiming an enormous victory
00:23after U.S. tech billionaire Jeff Bezos moved his wedding venue to the outskirts of the floating cities.
00:30NATO leaders on Wednesday confirmed their commitment to more than double defense spending by 2035,
00:37banding words like Crucial, Momentos and Quantum Leap.
00:41Members said that they were united against profound security challenges,
00:46singling out the long-term threat posed by Russia and terrorism.
00:51The resolutions came even as U.S. President Donald Trump faced questions at the summit about the Ukraine wars,
00:58just something he described as being hard for him to solve.
01:02Because it's more difficult than people would have any idea, Vladimir Putin has been more difficult.
01:09Frankly, I had some problems with Zelensky, you may have read about him,
01:13and it's been more difficult than other wars.
01:16By the end of the summit, allies in a joint statement committed to spending 3.5% of GDP
01:22on core defense spending to buy military hardware and maintain troops.
01:27However, their statements did not include a condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine as it had a year ago.
01:35Trump, who had always castigated European allies for not spending enough on their own defense,
01:41held the decision taken at the summit in The Hague.
01:44The U.S. President described it as a big win for Europe and Western civilization.
01:53Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky signed an agreement with the Council of Europe
01:58to set up a special tribunal for the war in Ukraine.
02:01The tribunal seeks to try top Russian officials for crimes of aggression
02:05after they launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
02:09Existing international courts, including the International Criminal Court in The Hague,
02:14lack jurisdiction to try Russian nationals for that specific offense.
02:18Secretary-General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset said that this is the first tribunal
02:23launched to address the crime of aggression.
02:26Zelensky referenced other tribunals, including those which tried Nazis
02:30and individuals accused of crimes in the Yugoslav war,
02:33arguing that they should serve as a foundation.
02:35The Ukrainian leader added that the world needs to see a, quote,
02:40honest and historic verdict to lift the veil on Russia's crimes.
02:43He also expressed optimism that the tribunal is a real chance to restore justice to the people of Ukraine
02:49who've suffered unspeakable crimes at the hands of Russian forces.
02:53Zelensky says he hopes to see Russia's President Vladimir Putin,
02:56who he labeled a war criminal, being held to account one day.
03:00The location of the core is yet to be decided,
03:03but the Ukrainian leader says The Hague, home to the ICC, would be perfect.
03:14French President Emmanuel Macron met with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency,
03:19Raphael Grossi, at the Élysée Palace in Paris.
03:22The meeting took place after Macron returned from The Hague,
03:25where he's been participating in the annual NATO Leaders' Summit.
03:28The meeting was structured in a closed-door setting.
03:32Prior to his departure from the Netherlands,
03:34Macron told reporters that he would discuss his assessment of damage to Iran's nuclear facilities with Grossi.
03:40In a post on X following the meeting,
03:42the French leader reaffirmed Paris' commitment to the agency,
03:45who he says plays a vital role in global nuclear safety and security.
03:50He also urged Tehran to allow the IAEA to resume its mission
03:53after Iran's parliament adopted a bill to suspend the country's cooperation with the agency.
03:59Iran says the UN nuclear watchdog had not fulfilled its duties and become a political tool.
04:04Iran described the agency's recent report alleging a lack of cooperation from Tehran
04:09as a pretext for the U.S.'s attack on Saturday.
04:12Trump says Washington's attack on Iran's three main nuclear facilities
04:16completely obliterated the country's nuclear program.
04:19An early U.S. intelligence report, however, suggested that U.S. attacks only inflicted minor damage,
04:25setting back the program by a few months, claims the White House rejects.
04:33Flights were cancelled in Brussels airport
04:35as a general strike over the federal government's plans to reform and cut pensions took place.
04:41Hundreds of departing flights were cancelled and rescheduled for the coming days
04:45as many security and airport staff participated in planned protests.
04:50Brussels airport, Belgium's main hub, only received 103 incoming flights on Wednesday,
04:55a sharp drop-off from the more than 260 flights originally planned to arrive.
05:00The airport now expects a few days of extremely high demand
05:04as it recovers from the strikes' disruptions.
05:06For all the annuleringen today, we have tried to do so many passengers in the coming days.
05:13Tomorrow will be a lot harder than initially, 12.000 extra passengers.
05:19And on Friday we have 2.000 more passengers in the coming days.
05:23So it will be a hard day on the air, also with a vacation.
05:26Further south, Charleroi airport, a major European hub for low-cost airlines,
05:36also cancelled all flights, citing a lack of staff.
05:43Tens of thousands participated in protests across the country
05:47to oppose the government's plans to raise retirement age and revise pensions.
05:51The Belgian government wants to raise retirement age for all civil servants to 66
05:56to align it with the private sector,
05:58as it says the rising life expectancy is causing a surge in costs.
06:03I think it's very important that the number of our rents are going to raise our pensions
06:08and that we are going to have less pensions.
06:12And that we will probably buy tanks with that money and other things to carry on war.
06:17Belgium Prime Minister Bart Deweyver says reforms are needed to also address
06:23the large federal budget deficit which violates EU rules.
06:27The country is also committed to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP
06:31as per the new NATO obligations adopted on Wednesday in the summit in The Hague.
06:36Bulgaria is getting closer to adopting the euro on the 1st of January, 2026.
06:48The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament
06:50has overwhelmingly approved the draft report recommending Bulgaria's entry into the eurozone.
06:56At EU level, the decision regarding Bulgaria's adopting the euro seems a foregone conclusion,
07:01despite the divisions within Bulgarian public opinion and the political parties.
07:06The Bulgarian MEP that drafted the report calls her fellow citizens to show convergence.
07:13I very much hope that the pro-European forces will be able to unite
07:18and stand for that stability in order to make sure there is a smooth adoption of the euro in Bulgaria.
07:25Bulgaria has struggled to find political stability since 2020.
07:29The country held seven legislative elections in five years with a long row of short-life governments.
07:37The president of the country, Roman Radev, a staunch anti-euro figure,
07:40is promising a harsh political battle on the adoption of the single currency.
07:46Many EU observers say that Russia has been igniting the anti-euro sentiments.
07:51These are the sort of sentiments and worries that, as politicians, we need to address.
07:58However, there is another point, and this is the manipulation that has been used by certain political actors,
08:05including President Radev, to use the fears of the public opinion.
08:11The report on Bulgaria joining the eurozone will be formally approved by the European Parliament
08:16at the plenary session in Strasbourg, scheduled for 7th of July.
08:20Seven Israeli soldiers were killed in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunus
08:30when an explosive device attached to their armored vehicle detonated.
08:34That is according to an Israeli military spokesperson.
08:37It comes a day after Gaza health officials reported at least 44 people were killed when Israeli forces
09:00and drones opened fire towards a crowd of Palestinians.
09:04They were waiting for aid in separate incidents in southern and central Gaza on Tuesday.
09:10Since the start of Israel's operation against Hamas,
09:14which started after an attack by the militant group in southern Israel on October 7, 2023,
09:19Israel says more than 860 of its soldiers have been killed.
09:24On the other hand, the health ministry in Gaza says the Israeli offensive
09:27has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians.
09:33The UK government has announced it will buy 12 F-35 fighter jets that can carry nuclear weapons.
09:42The government has called the purchase the biggest strengthening of the country's nuclear deterrent for a generation.
09:48Prime Minister Keir Starmer added that peace can no longer be taken for granted
09:53in an era of, quote, radical uncertainty.
09:56The decision was announced to coincide with the NATO summit in the Netherlands
10:01when NATO Secretary-General welcomed the announcement as another robust British contribution to NATO.
10:09The UK currently relies on four nuclear-armed submarines for its nuclear deterrent.
10:16But it's unclear when the jets will be purchased.
10:18Activists in the Italian city of Venice are claiming victory after the location of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' wedding to Lauren Sanchez was changed.
10:32The wedding, initially built for the city centre, triggered protests in the historic sinking city
10:39with demonstrators aiming to obstruct access to Venice's famed canals.
10:44Greenpeace's huge banner on St. Mark's Square this week garvanized the protest with the group saying that lifestyles filled by the arrogance of a few billionaires devastate the planet.
10:56While activists belonging to the No Space for Bezos group have said they do not have an issue with the marriage itself,
11:04the common feeling is that Venice is being privatized and exploited.
11:10Organizers have moved the lavish wedding venue from the 14th century Grande Scola Misericordia in central Venice
11:18to a famous shipyard on the outskirts of Venice called the Arsennale.
11:23Jeff Bezos, one of the world's richest men and TV presenter, Lauren Sanchez's wedding extravaganza,
11:30kicks off in Venice this Thursday with a ceremony scheduled to take place on Saturday.
