Latest news bulletin | February 15th – Evening
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00:00 European Environment Commissioner Virgina Sinkovicius told Euronews Hungarian Prime Minister
00:06 Viktor Orban`s actions towards Ukraine were shameful.
00:10 More than 75 percent of the total number of journalists killed globally have died in the
00:15 war in Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists latest report.
00:21 Several people are reported to have been killed in airstrikes in both Ukraine and Russia.
00:27 On Thursday, missiles hit targets in multiple regions across Ukraine, damaging homes and
00:33 infrastructure facilities.
00:36 Crews and ballistic missiles were fired at locations as far west as Lviv, close to the
00:41 border with Poland.
00:43 A number of people were injured in the strikes.
00:46 Ukrainian officials say some of at least 10 projectiles were intercepted.
00:51 Kupyansk in the east was also hit and at least two people were said to have died in the overnight
00:57 assault.
00:59 Russia has in recent weeks intensified air attacks, while Ukraine has also stepped up
01:06 cross-border strikes into Russia.
01:09 The governor of Belgorod region says six people were killed and 18 injured in the border city
01:14 in Russia, when a barrage of Ukrainian missiles struck a shopping mall.
01:20 EU Commissioner and former Lithuanian Minister Vyginas Sinkevicius says the horrors of living
01:31 under Soviet rule is still a living memory for Lithuanians.
01:35 Euronews joined him in Ukraine recently, where he met with President Zelensky.
01:38 Lithuania, the first of the three Baltics to declare independence from the Soviet Union
01:43 in 1990, is one of the strongest per capita donors of military and financial aid to Ukraine.
01:49 "It's first of all about our history, when hundreds and thousands, if you were a family
01:56 of teachers, if you were a large farmer, most likely you were sent to Siberia, where most
02:05 of the people never came back, they never returned.
02:08 So, you know, and if you look, not so much changed.
02:13 So many kidnapped children, so many families which had to go through some camps in Russia
02:20 and etc.
02:21 So, I mean, this ethnic cleannessing, what they're doing, has not changed this imperial
02:27 ambition which they're imposing now on Ukraine.
02:31 And Lithuania still remembers, of course, the part of its tragic history."
02:38 Part of the wake-up call for Europe after Russia's full-ground invasion of Ukraine,
02:41 he says, is how to avoid further complacency when it comes to security matters.
02:46 "For the Western world it's extremely important to make sure that we have a plan to support
02:52 Ukraine because now this decision-making, when it's so long, when we have to fight for
02:59 every decision, that sends a very positive signal to Moscow, first of all, and very negative
03:07 to Ukraine.
03:08 I think the mistake is that they're still thinking that, you know, one month or the
03:13 other month it can be over.
03:15 We see that Russia is gambling exactly on that.
03:19 They're waiting off.
03:21 They're waiting for elections in US, elections in EU, and might be a completely different
03:27 view.
03:28 We already see some of the new governments in the EU who are not so supportive of Ukraine."
03:33 And what do you say to Viktor Orban?
03:34 "I think it's shameful not to see obvious, for example, decision to postpone decisions,
03:41 not to have a vote on Sweden joining NATO.
03:48 That's obvious actions against the collective security, against the interests of the EU,
03:56 against the interests of the Western world.
03:58 And that's something that can only satisfy one side, the Moscow regime.
04:04 And therefore, it's not a good timing to take for granted.
04:08 It's time to actually increase our defence capabilities, defence industry, in order to
04:14 not only provide for Ukraine, but also to provide for ourselves."
04:24 Russian authorities may be generating enough new forces to sustain losses caused by the
04:29 current tempo of their offensive operations in Ukraine through 2025, says the Institute
04:35 for the Study of War.
04:36 The UK defence ministry recently said that the average daily number of Russian casualties
04:41 in Ukraine has risen by almost 300 during the course of 2023.
04:45 If the numbers continue the current rate over the next year, Russia will have lost over
04:50 half a million personnel in Ukraine.
04:53 In early December it reported that the assaults on Avdiivka have resulted in 90% increase
04:59 in Russian casualties.
05:01 Ukraine said on Thursday it was withdrawing troops from some parts of the eastern town
05:05 of Avdiivka to better position after a month of heavy fighting.
05:09 Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade, considered to be one of Ukraine's largest and best equipped,
05:14 confirmed that it was urgently redeployed to Avdiivka, adding that the situation in
05:18 the area is "hell and extremely critical".
05:22 The Institute for the Study of War says that there are no confirmed changes to the front
05:26 line in this area, although Russian forces reportedly advanced in the south and north
05:31 of Avdiivka.
05:33 Russian sources claim that Russian forces advanced to or even beyond the main Ukrainian
05:37 ground line of communication in Avdiivka, along Industrial Avenue, which then becomes
05:42 Grushevskogo Street.
05:45 Ukrainian military sources say that the supply and evacuation of Avdiivka has become challenging,
05:50 but alternative logistics routes prepared in advance have been activated.
05:56 [Swoosh]
05:57 More than 75% of the total number of journalists and media workers killed globally have died
06:05 in the war in Gaza.
06:07 More journalists were killed in the first three months of this war than have ever been
06:12 killed in a single country over an entire year.
06:16 These are the chilling figures of the new report published Thursday by the Committee
06:21 to Protect Journalists.
06:23 CPJ is investigating whether a dozen journalists killed in the Israel-Gaza war were deliberately
06:30 targeted by Israeli soldiers.
06:33 Seventy-two Palestinian journalists were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.
06:38 In contrast, 22 journalists and media workers were killed in 18 countries outside the conflict.
06:45 The 2023 numbers are the highest since 2015 and show almost a 44% increase on 2022`s figures.
06:54 CPJ`s 2023 data shows that targeting of journalists remains constant in Mexico, Somalia and the
07:01 Philippines, countries that have proven deadly for journalists over decades.
07:07 Two journalists were killed in Mexico in 2023, a decrease from its record of 13 in 2022.
07:14 And yet, media workers continue to face attacks, harassment, threats and abduction and corruption
07:20 and organized crime in one of the world`s deadliest countries for the press.
07:28 Angelos Maikelidis is a gay single parent.
07:32 He had two daughters in the United States with a surrogate mother.
07:38 The 53-year-old doctor now lives in Athens.
07:42 The bill allowing the marriage of same-sex couples that will be voted in parliament on
07:47 Thursday will change his family`s life.
07:50 When the law is voted, I will register my children in the police station, so they will
07:55 be visible for the state.
07:56 They will have medical insurance, free of charge, like all the children.
08:03 I will be able to rest, I don`t have to work in the morning or in the evening to register
08:09 them in a private school, but I can register them in a public school.
08:13 Several MPs have reservations about the possibility of same-sex couples adopting children.
08:19 But the government argues that the bill will restore an injustice that has been in place
08:22 for many years.
08:24 Professor of constitutional law, Lina Papadopoulos, has drafted the bill.
08:28 There are many children who grow up with two mothers or two fathers.
08:33 These children, when they go out, when they go to play basketball, when they go to the
08:38 hospital, they have two mothers with them.
08:41 The state comes and takes one of their mothers, takes her away, takes her away from their
08:47 records and says, "You don`t have a second mother."
08:50 These children know that they have a second mother.
08:53 They know it.
08:54 They live it.
08:55 They live it every day.
08:56 So, the first and very important thing is that these children will not be taken away
09:01 because of the state and because of a state decision of their second parent.
09:06 Our right parties and the Orthodox Church strongly oppose the bill.
09:10 With the re-election of the bill, Greece becomes the 16th member of the European Union that
09:18 allows same-sex couples to marry with a political marriage.
09:22 For the LGBTQI+ community, this is an important victory and a moment that has been waiting
09:27 for many years.
09:28 But the most important thing is that, finally, the rights of children, of same-sex couples
09:34 and of all people who, until today, were almost invisible for the state.
09:39 From Athens, Giorgos, Apostolos Staikos.
09:44 A report on the scale of anti-Semitism in the UK since Hamas` attack on Israel has showed
09:50 a 589% increase in the number of incidents compared with the same period in 2022.
09:58 The Community Security Trust, which monitors anti-Jewish abuse and attacks and provides
10:03 security for UK Jewish citizens, recorded more than 4,000 anti-Semitic incidents in
10:08 the UK in 2023, the highest total in a calendar year reported to the organization.
10:15 Two-thirds of the 2023 incidents occurred after the 7th of October Hamas attack.
10:21 The types of altercations recorded include assault, damage to Jewish property, threats
10:25 and abusive behavior.
10:27 Online anti-Semitism also rose by nearly 300%.
10:31 The British Home Secretary said the government has taken steps to confront it, including
10:35 increasing funding for protective security at Jewish schools and places of worship.
10:42 Japan's economy is now the world's fourth largest after it contracted in the last quarter
10:49 of 2023 and fell behind Germany.
10:53 The government reported the economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.4% in October to December.
10:59 According to Cabinet Office data on Real GDP, the rate grew 1.9% for all of 2023.
11:07 It contracted 2.9% in July to September.
11:11 Two straight quarters of contraction are considered an indicator an economy is in a technical
11:15 recession.
11:16 Japan's economy was the second largest until 2010 when it was overtaken by China's.
11:23 Japan's nominal GDP totaled $4.2 trillion last year, while Germany's was $4.4 trillion.
11:31 A weaker Japanese yen was a key factor in the drop to fourth place, since comparisons
11:36 of nominal GDP are in dollar terms.
11:39 (whooshing)
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