Latest news bulletin | October 2nd – Morning
Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
Transcript
00:00 Turkey's President Erdogan ordered 20 airstrikes against the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK
00:06 in northern Iraq after a suicide bomb attack in Ankara.
00:10 Populist former Prime Minister Robert Fico and his leftist SMER party win Slovakia's
00:15 parliamentary elections after campaigning on a pro-Russia message.
00:20 In Poland, hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters marched through Warsaw just two
00:25 weeks before a crucial parliamentary election.
00:30 Armenians from across Europe gather in Brussels to demand sanctions against Azerbaijan after
00:35 it occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.
00:41 After Sunday morning's suicide bomb attack in Ankara, retribution from Turkey was swift,
00:47 with 20 airstrikes on PKK or Kurdistan Workers' Party targets in northern Iraq.
00:52 A group linked to the PKK had said it was behind the bombing.
00:59 Hours later in parliament, a tough and distinctly unilateral message from Turkey's president.
01:05 "As a state, as a country, we have no expectations from the European Union that we have been waiting
01:14 for 60 years.
01:16 If they turn away from their wrongdoings, especially their visa suppression, they will
01:24 correct their own mistakes."
01:33 The attack in Ankara left two police officers injured and two attackers dead and prompted
01:38 tight security on the Turkish capital's streets.
01:44 Populist former Prime Minister Robert Fico and his leftist SMER party have won Slovakia's
01:49 parliamentary elections in what's widely seen as a victory for Vladimir Putin.
01:54 After a campaign based on a pro-Russia, anti-American message, SMER led with 22.9 percent, the Slovak
02:02 statistics office said on Sunday, after counting more than 99.9 percent of the vote.
02:09 Fico's main rival, Mikhail Simica, whose progressive Slovakia party was a distant second at 18
02:15 percent, said Fico's win is bad news for the country and would be even worse if SMER manages
02:22 to form a government.
02:24 The country of 5.5 million people has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia's
02:30 invasion last year, donating weapons and opening its borders to refugees fleeing the war.
02:38 Fico opposes EU sanctions on Russia and wants to block Ukraine from joining NATO.
02:44 Hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters marched through Warsaw on Sunday, just two
02:50 weeks before a crucial parliamentary election.
02:53 Opposition leader Donald Tusk, who was once the European Council president, is trying
02:57 to get rid of the controversial nationalist government that's been eroding the rule of
03:01 law.
03:02 After it was found to be limiting the independence of its judges, the EU has been fining Poland
03:07 half a million euros every day.
03:10 The ruling Law and Justice Party has also interfered with state media to ensure it mostly
03:15 promotes the government's views and its promoted populist policies, such as demanding Germany
03:21 pay reparations for atrocities committed in World War II.
03:25 Recent surveys suggest the opposition's electoral alliance is a few percentage points behind
03:30 Law and Justice.
03:32 But Donald Tusk says he thinks the wider opposition could defeat the ruling party and former government
03:37 and at the start of the march he greeted leaders of the centrist Third Way Party.
03:45 Armenians from across Europe gathered in Brussels on Sunday to demand sanctions against Azerbaijan.
03:51 Almost all of the ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh fled to Armenia after
03:56 Azerbaijan's forces occupied the region.
03:59 They feared that they wouldn't be treated humanely if they'd remained and their way
04:03 of life as Christians who speak their own language would have been threatened.
04:07 On Sunday, a UN mission arrived there to assess the humanitarian needs of those who didn't
04:12 or couldn't flee.
04:14 The Armenian fighters who had controlled Nagorno-Karabakh for 30 years surrendered.
04:19 And Azerbaijan is now in full control of the Lachin Corridor that used to be the only main
04:24 road connecting the region to Armenia.
04:27 Also on Sunday, Azerbaijan's prosecutor general issued an arrest warrant for the former Armenian
04:33 leader of Nagorno-Karabakh.
04:35 The Armenian government that was in charge of the region has said it will dissolve itself
04:39 by the end of the year.
04:45 The Spanish city of Murcia went into three days of mourning on Sunday after at least
04:50 13 people died in a nightclub fire.
04:53 Officials fear the number could rise as several people are still reported missing.
04:58 The fire started around 6am in the Teatra nightclub and quickly spread through the venue.
05:04 It's not yet clear what caused it.
05:06 The police and the emergency services tried to prevent the whole building from collapsing.
05:12 They're still trying to locate the victims' bodies and identify them.
05:21 Adi grew up in this house in Groningen.
05:24 But because of earthquakes, it is no longer safe to live.
05:27 "It's hard to get out and it's hard to get in."
05:33 The earthquakes are caused by the extraction of gas from the Groningen gas field, the largest
05:38 one in Europe.
05:40 Thousands of residents have struggled to get compensation.
05:43 "They say they need to reinforce it.
05:46 They've been trying to do that for a long time.
05:52 But the procedures are so long and so complicated and so money wasting.
06:01 While the money that goes to the houses or to the people, it all takes a long time."
06:09 The field's riches laid the foundation for the Dutch welfare state.
06:13 "The discovery of the Groningen gas field was really important to the Dutch economy
06:17 because it enabled us to make annual revenues of about 15 billion euros in the beginning.
06:25 So it was a huge contribution to the Dutch economy and also the Dutch state had a major
06:32 share in these revenues.
06:33 About 80% of these revenues went to the Dutch state, to the Dutch society."
06:38 The first earthquake hit in 1986.
06:41 In 2012, a 3.6 scale earthquake caused massive damage and public sentiment started to shift.
06:48 A parliamentary inquiry earlier this year found that the government had placed too much
06:52 importance on gas extraction.
06:55 On the 1st of October, the Groningen gas field will be closed.
06:59 Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte visited affected residents last Friday.
07:04 "It's important because we know there is a direct link between the earthquakes and gas extraction
07:09 and luckily we are able to do without the Groningen gas field.
07:14 So that's why it's crucial to close this because of the safety of people."
07:19 In case of an exceptionally cold winter, the field could be tapped one last time.
07:25 "Behind me you can see a gas installation that is now partially dismantled.
07:29 There's many of these dotted around the Groningen countryside atop of this largest onshore gas
07:35 field in Europe.
07:37 Now the gas extraction will end but the earthquakes it has caused will continue for many decades
07:42 to come.
07:43 This is Fernand van Tetz reporting for Euronews, Groningen."
07:51 Some countries within the borderless Schengen area are stepping up checks on their frontiers.
07:56 One of the main principles of the Schengen Agreement is freedom of movement of citizens.
08:00 There are clauses that provide for the temporary restoration of border controls, primarily
08:05 when it concerns a threat to public order or internal security.
08:09 And so far in 2023, at least seven Schengen states have taken advantage of these provisions.
08:15 So is the treaty working as hoped?
08:19 "What we are seeing now is yet another example of the fragility of the Schengen borderless
08:26 area.
08:27 And this is for a number of reasons.
08:29 There are political reasons that have to do with upcoming elections at the local and national
08:35 level, which have put central governments under pressure.
08:39 They also have to do with additional arrivals, especially in southern European countries
08:44 and the possibility of further secondary movements to northern European countries that have seen
08:50 an uptake in first-time asylum applications in recent months."
08:58 Germany calls the resumption of border checks with Poland and the Czech Republic one of
09:02 the options for combating human traffickers.
09:06 Slovenia is also stepping up surveillance of its border crossing with Croatia, which
09:11 recently joined the Schengen area.
09:15 "It is often just a matter of spot checks.
09:18 They check some of the people that cross, but it is not really a full reproduction of
09:23 internal borders as such.
09:24 It is a symbolic measure for the domestic public.
09:27 And as such, probably it is not as important as some politicians would want it to be.
09:33 But the Schengen system on its own is fine."
09:38 How old is too old to be a political leader?
09:41 It is a popular question in the United States, where the current president is 81 next month
09:46 and he wants to remain president for another six years.
09:49 And since life expectancy in the US is just 76, it is not outlandish to question whether
09:55 Joe Biden could possibly die in office if he wins a second term.
09:59 US Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who is a mere 44, has called for so-called
10:05 lucidity tests to be mandatory for politicians over 75.
10:10 In Brazil, President Lula is 77, whilst Russia's Vladimir Putin is 70.
10:15 Other European leaders are in their much younger 40s.
10:18 "Usually in the past, prime ministers were used to enter office after accumulating a
10:24 lot of experience in parliament, in the party, in the cabinet.
10:27 But now we have more and more outsiders with low political experience, more technical experience
10:32 and they are young.
10:33 So in this case, maybe the issue about age is the effect that can have on what prime
10:38 ministers do after being in office.
10:40 More and more you have these leaders going into the private sector and this may raise
10:47 issues of accountability."
10:49 Many of the world's populations, mainly in Asia and Europe, are aging, and it's usually
10:54 seen as discriminatory to prevent older people from working.
10:57 So for now, it seems unlikely there'll be a mandatory retirement age for world leaders.
11:02 And ultimately, in democracies at least, it is up to the voters to decide.
11:07 Team Europe produced a stunning performance to regain the Ryder Cup in Rome on Sunday.
11:15 With the hosts needing four points from the final day's singles matches, Tommy Fleetwood
11:20 won the 11th game to secure the 44th edition against the US.
11:24 Europe dominated the events with strong performances by the likes of Jon Ram, Victor Oyland and
11:29 Rory McIlroy.
11:30 Captain Luke Donald's strategic decisions paid off, with Europe establishing an early
11:35 lead and never looking back, en route to a much-needed win two years after losing heavily
11:39 at Whistling Straits.
11:41 (upbeat music)
11:43 (whooshing)