Latest news bulletin | December 15th – 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 After weeks of veto threats by Hungary, the European Council decides to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova.
00:08 As Ukrainian soldiers face a shortage of ammunition following a drop in deliveries from the US and EU,
00:15 protesters in Kiev are demanding more support for the country`s armed forces.
00:19 Israel says it will not stop its war in Gaza as the death toll rises and international pressure grows for a ceasefire.
00:27 The NGO Save the Children warns the number of children suffering as a result of conflict is expected to surge.
00:38 Euronews speaks to two-time tennis grand slam champion Simona Halep a year after she was found guilty of doping.
00:53 Big surprise at the EU summit in Brussels. After weeks of veto threats from Hungary,
00:59 European Council decided to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova.
01:04 And they also granted candidate status to Georgia.
01:08 This is a historic moment and shows the credibility of the European Union, the strength of the European Union.
01:16 The decision is made. We opened the decision with Ukraine and with Moldova. We granted status to Georgia.
01:25 The president of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, welcomed the decision saying history is made by those who don`t get tired of fighting for freedom.
01:34 The president of Moldova, Maya Sandu, says her country is turning a new page with the EU`s go-ahead for accession talks.
01:42 The warm embrace of Europe is being felt.
01:46 The decision comes as a surprise given that Hungary`s prime minister campaigned for weeks against starting negotiations with Ukraine.
01:53 Now, sources tell Euronews that the Hungarian prime minister was not in the room when the decision was taken by the other 26 member states.
02:02 In a video posted on social media, Orban says that the 26 other countries insisted that the decision be made.
02:10 Hungary doesn`t want to share this bad decision, which is why it stayed away today.
02:15 Both Ukraine and Moldova seek entry to the EU after Russia invaded Ukraine last February.
02:21 Supporting Kiev is a main agenda of EU policymakers and has been welcomed in Brussels as a symbolic step.
02:29 Symbolically, it`s very important, because you need to send signals to Ukraine.
02:33 You know, it`s about supplying, of course, material support to the country, but you need to give them political support.
02:40 And that basically is a beacon of hope. And when you talk with Ukrainians, you know how important that is.
02:46 The European Council continues discussions about the financial support for Ukraine.
02:50 And tomorrow, it will discuss migration and the situation in the Middle East.
03:02 Vladimir Putin says there will be no peace in Ukraine until goals are achieved, among them the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.
03:11 Russia`s president said this at his end-of-year press conference, in which he assured that Kiev achieved nothing during its great counteroffensive,
03:20 which began last summer, and that Russian troops improved their positions on the front, which is now more than 2,000 kilometers.
03:28 "So, that 600,000 Russian troops are currently fighting in Ukraine," Putin said.
03:33 The head of the Kremlin described what`s happening in Ukraine as an enormous tragedy, similar to a civil war.
03:57 About the situation in the Gaza Strip, Putin described it as a catastrophe and denied that the level of destruction there has any similarity to what`s happening in Ukraine.
04:08 Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefront are finding themselves short of ammunition.
04:17 The biggest challenge for U.S. President Joe Biden is that he`s not getting the money he needs from Congress to continue supporting Ukraine,
04:25 which is facing dwindling supplies of artillery shells and air defense ammunition.
04:29 Deliveries from Europe have also fallen dramatically.
04:34 In the Donbas, a military unit leader said that last year they were receiving three or four times more shells from the EU.
04:40 The soldiers are taking part in a war with no end in sight, but having to undergo a period of restraint.
04:52 And it`s not just international support that worries the Ukrainians.
04:55 In Kiev, hundreds of people demonstrated on Thursday to demand more support for the country`s armed forces.
05:01 They want the authorities to prioritize spending on the war effort at a time when family and friends are dying on the front line.
05:08 Finland says it will reseal its entire eastern border starting at 8 p.m. on Friday
05:17 due to an ongoing influx of migrants at two crossing points on its frontier with Russia that were temporarily reopened early on Thursday.
05:25 Local authorities say that more than 70 migrants without proper documentation or visas had arrived at the two checkpoints by Thursday evening,
05:34 with the number predicted to increase rapidly.
05:37 Helsinki has accused Moscow of orchestrating an influx of asylum seekers in what it`s called an act of hybrid warfare.
05:46 Israel is determined to continue its war in Gaza despite increasing international pressure for a ceasefire, including from the U.N.
05:57 The mounting civilian casualties and deteriorating humanitarian situation is causing international support for Israel to waver.
06:05 Its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after a visit to IDF commanders, says nothing will stop them.
06:12 This war is going to be hard, but I see, and you see it in the material, the beginning of a break.
06:25 I see the beginning of understanding that we are determined to continue until the end and to erase this body.
06:34 Hamas has released images of its operation in Gaza.
06:38 The enclave`s health ministry says the offensive has resulted in the death of more than 18,400 Palestinians.
06:44 There are reports in U.S. media that Israel has recently begun pumping seawater into Hamas` vast labyrinth of tunnels underneath Gaza,
06:53 in a process that`s likely to take weeks.
06:56 There`s also concerns some of the hostages may be held underground.
07:01 Meanwhile, heavy rainfall flooded Gaza`s streets and camps sheltering thousands of displaced people,
07:07 adding to what has been described as hell on earth conditions.
07:10 Now, in its third month, the bloodiest ever war in Gaza is grinding on, forcing survivors to face bombardment, deprivation and disease.
07:20 Save the Children says the number of children suffering as a result of conflict is expected to surge.
07:30 Its annual report on the impact of war on children shows a worsening situation, but doesn`t yet account for the fighting in Gaza and Israel.
07:39 Violations in conflict rose by 13 percent in 2022, and the NGO says a further increase is inevitable when 2023 figures are added.
07:48 The NGO says there were 468 million children, one in six on the planet, living in conflict zones in 2022,
07:57 meaning within 50 kilometers of a conflict incident.
08:00 That`s a significant upward trend in the past decade, with some fluctuations.
08:05 The research says there have been almost 83,000 battle-related deaths of children in the Ukraine war,
08:12 but that figure is eclipsed by such fatalities in Ethiopia, with more than 100,000 recorded.
08:18 Save the Children classifies violations as killing, maiming, sexual violence and recruitment of child soldiers.
08:27 Threads, the app created by Meta to rival Twitter, now known as X, has been launched in the EU.
08:36 It comes months after the platform was introduced to the U.S. and other global regions.
08:41 Since then, Meta has been working to make its latest product compliant with data protection and other EU regulations.
08:48 Mark Zuckerberg`s Meta is aiming to capitalize on a collapse in Twitter users and advertisers since it was taken over by Elon Musk.
08:55 More than 100 million people joined Threads within a week of its launch in July outside the EU.
09:01 Good news for e-commerce giant Amazon on Thursday,
09:07 when Europe`s top court ruled that it does not have to pay 250 million euros in back taxes to Luxembourg.
09:14 It dismissed the European Commission`s argument that the American company`s tax arrangements amounted to illegal state aid.
09:21 But the ruling is seen as a blow to the bloc`s efforts to crack down on sweetheart tax deals for multinationals.
09:28 NGO Oxfam denounced the decision describing it as an early Christmas gift to Amazon
09:33 and urged the EU to come forward with real tax reforms.
09:36 The world beneath Simona Halep`s feet crumbled last year when she was found guilty of doping.
09:46 The two-time Grand Slam champion has now been banned from tennis for four years until 2026,
09:51 but she`s hoping that ruling will soon be reversed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
09:56 A hearing for her case has been set in February after the International Tennis Integrity Agency found she deliberately took performance-enhancing drugs.
10:04 Halep, however, says that verdict is wrong.
10:07 It`s very clear that it was a contamination.
10:10 Three days before the positive urine test, I was negative blood and urine.
10:15 So, I`ve been told at the beginning that it`s a very -- it`s extremely low quantity of this substance, banned substance.
10:22 And in those three days, I could not have doped.
10:26 It was not my intention and never has been the intention to do something wrong or something disrespectful to this sport,
10:34 because I have respected everything and I dedicated my life.
10:38 My principles are not like this, so I didn`t think to cheat in tennis.
10:44 There was another twist in the tale last month when a high-profile coach, Patrick Moratuglu,
10:50 admitted after a year`s silence that his technical team were to blame for giving Halep a contaminated substance.
10:56 She`s expressed great relief about the revelation, as it may prove to be crucial for her return to court.
11:02 That`s why you hire people, because you need information, you need to be better.
11:08 So, I always trusted this and my trust is broken a little bit right now.
11:13 And in the future, I don`t know how it`s going to be, if I can trust again and probably I have to learn,
11:20 because this is my principle in life.
11:22 If you hire somebody and you work with that person, you have to trust.
11:27 Watch the full interview with Simona Halep on Euronews from 10 o`clock on Friday night.
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