Latest news bulletin | December 14th – Morning
Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
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00:00 Heavy rain in Gaza pars further challenges on displaced Palestinians seeking refuge.
00:06 Israel says nine of its soldiers have been killed in an urban ambush.
00:10 The European Commission says it will unlock 10 billion euros in cohesion funds for Hungary
00:14 ahead of a crucial EU leaders summit in Brussels on Thursday.
00:21 Poland`s new prime minister Donald Tusk and his cabinet have been sworn in, ending eight
00:26 years of populist rule.
00:33 As Israel`s bombing campaign continues, displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip face a new
00:38 threat - floods.
00:41 Here in the southern city of Deir al-Bala, torrential rain has wreaked havoc with a refugee
00:46 camp behind a hospital.
00:48 Representatives for the United Nations say the humanitarian situation is steadily worsening,
00:53 calling it hell on earth.
00:57 The people of Gaza are running out of time and options.
01:01 They face bombardment, deprivation and disease in an ever, ever shrinking space.
01:09 They are facing the darkest chapter of their history since 1948.
01:17 And it has been a painful history.
01:20 Meanwhile, Israel says the war against Hamas militants will continue with or without international
01:26 support.
01:27 This after the IDF says nine of its soldiers were killed in a Hamas-led ambush.
01:32 Israel`s military also said it has seized weapons and discovered more tunnels in the
01:36 Jenin refugee camp, but these claims have yet to be verified.
01:44 The European Commission says it will unlock 10 billion euros in cohesion funds for Hungary
01:48 in what will likely prove a controversial move.
01:52 Budapest is threatening to veto the EU`s Ukraine policy at a crucial summit in Brussels on
01:57 Thursday.
01:59 Most of the EU`s funds for Hungary were blocked last year due to concerns over the rule of
02:03 law and corruption in the country.
02:07 Now the commission is saying that Budapest has made sufficient progress when it comes
02:10 to justice reforms and is recommending the release of one part of its cohesion funds.
02:18 We as an institution have to follow the rules, right?
02:25 And as we have explained time and time again in this room, what we are looking at is whether
02:33 and how Hungary is complying with different sets of conditions.
02:39 Hungary is also threatening to veto the bloc`s accession talks with Ukraine, as well as blocking
02:44 a crucial financial lifeline to Kiev worth 50 billion euros.
02:49 Budapest made it clear on Tuesday for the first time that they are ready for some sort
02:53 of horse trading during Thursday`s summit.
02:57 The political adviser of Prime Minister Viktor Orban says that Hungary would lift its veto
03:01 on the Ukraine funds if the EU would release all the frozen money, including 21.7 billion
03:07 of cohesion money and 10 billion euros in pandemic recovery funds.
03:14 Members of the four main political groups in the European Parliament warned the commission
03:17 in a letter that the Hungarian justice reforms are not sufficient.
03:23 They want commission president Ursula von der Leyen not to give in to blackmailing by
03:27 the Orban government.
03:30 It looks nasty that you release 10 billion euros to Orban just before the council.
03:35 We don`t even know if it`s kind of a negotiation for some position tomorrow regarding Ukraine.
03:41 These kind of political games, they are not the way to go with a bully like Orban, with
03:46 an autocrat like Orban.
03:48 Talks between leaders of the 27 member states will start on Ukraine and the Middle East.
03:54 Many are considering the summit as the most difficult one this year because of Viktor
03:58 Orban`s resistance.
04:05 Hungary`s right-wing populist government has passed a law, quote, "protecting national
04:14 sovereignty" to defend against what the ruling party has called undue political interference
04:19 by foreign persons or groups.
04:22 A move slammed by experts.
04:25 It is so general that an organization that has an opinion about politics, obviously,
04:38 and has an international relationship system, and these are not things from the devil, there
04:45 can be suspicion that it falls into the trap of this law, which is about the threat of
04:57 undue sovereignty, or not.
05:01 The law calls for the creation of a new government authority that will have the power to gather
05:06 information on any groups or individuals that benefit from foreign funding for election
05:12 campaigns or groups that might influence public debate.
05:16 The law on national sovereignty has been passed, but it is still unknown who exactly the government
05:23 wants to protect Hungary from.
05:26 Finally, according to the text of the law, I could easily label the journalists of Euronews
05:30 as foreign businessmen.
05:33 Zoltán Siposegyi, Euronews, Budapest.
05:39 Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Oslo trying to cement more support for his
05:43 country.
05:45 Norway's Prime Minister has pledged he will continue to help Kiev.
05:49 But Zelensky's main sticking point remains.
05:52 Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban is threatening to block the start of talks on Ukraine's accession
05:56 to the European Union, a matter that requires the unanimous approval of all 27 member states.
06:03 He has no any reasons to block Ukrainian membership in EU and I asked him to tell me one reason,
06:13 not three, five, ten.
06:15 Tell me one reason.
06:20 I'm waiting for answer.
06:24 Head of the EU summit in Brussels, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also warned that Ukraine
06:28 will be brought to its knees if support drops.
06:31 This after Republicans in the US Senate blocked an emergency spending bill for Ukraine and
06:36 Israel last week.
06:37 Meanwhile in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron received the Slovenian Prime Minister
06:41 and called on the EU to give full and lasting support to Ukraine.
06:46 Our two countries are determined to support Ukraine as long as it takes.
06:53 We will carry this message together during the European Council so that the Union is
06:57 at the meeting of the full and lasting support to Ukraine.
07:01 Also on the agenda at the EU Council meeting is the approval of 70 billion euros in military
07:05 aid and financial support for Ukraine.
07:14 Russian lawmakers have introduced a bill to exclude private clinics from the list of medical
07:19 organizations that can legally perform abortions.
07:23 Moscow has successfully cracked down on terminations over the last six months.
07:28 In some regions, quote, "cursing abortion is now against the law."
07:32 This is a real national disaster, destroying the future of our society, destroying the
07:42 idea of the value of human life.
07:45 Only the state should control where, when and who is killed in our clinics.
07:52 But many women in Russia have vocalized their opposition to the ban.
08:12 Observers say the move is part of a wider initiative to instill certain values across
08:17 Russia and detract from the war in Ukraine.
08:36 However Russia's population is in decline and the country's low fertility rate has been
08:41 a key priority for the Kremlin since President Putin took power.
08:49 The new Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, and his cabinet members took office on Wednesday
08:55 after they were sworn in by the President Andrzej Duda, officially ending 80 years of
08:59 nationalist populist rule in Poland.
09:02 Tusk has pledged to restore Poland's position in the European Union.
09:32 Tusk's government has challenges ahead.
09:47 His cabinet must now prepare and approve a general budget in less than two weeks and
09:53 implement important institutional reforms.
10:00 Uber drivers or Deliveroo delivery workers?
10:03 Are they freelance or are they employees of these companies?
10:06 An agreement between the EU institutions reached Wednesday in Brussels should help answer this
10:11 question as it seeks to regulate and improve the working conditions of platform workers.
10:16 The deal fixes what the criteria are for them to be considered employees of the companies
10:20 they work for.
10:21 The agreement establishes five key indicators, which include whether the company fixes up
10:43 limits to the employees' remuneration, supervises their performance through an app, controls
10:48 the distribution of their tasks, chooses their working hours, and makes them wear corporate
10:52 clothing.
10:53 If two of these criteria are fulfilled, then workers should be made employees and benefit
10:58 from social rights, including paid holidays.
11:01 For some MEPs, one of the difficulties has been dealing with the platform companies.
11:06 Representatives from the platforms have not replied to Euronews' request for comment.
11:30 And according to data from the European Parliament, around 5.5 workers are now worryingly misclassified
11:35 as freelance.
11:36 The new law will also make algorithms more transparent and clarify for workers how they
11:40 are used to allocate work, as well as how their personal data is treated.
11:44 [WHOOSH]