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00:00Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico is reportedly stable following an apparent assassination
00:07attempt at a political meeting.
00:10Chinese leader Xi Jinping welcomed Putin at an official ceremony as the Russian president
00:16began a state visit to China.
00:24Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico is reportedly stable following an apparent assassination
00:31attempt at a political event in the central town of Hadlovo.
00:37Fico's deputy said he is expected to survive after being shot at multiple times.
00:52Politicians from both sides of the aisle condemned the shooting, but were quick to
00:57blame each other for creating a climate of violence.
01:01Slovakia's president said she was shocked by what she called a terrible and vicious
01:05attack.
01:06As Fico was airlifted to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery, messages from
02:07A 71-year-old man has been detained in connection with the shooting.
02:13While a motive has yet to be established, Slovakia's interior minister said Fico had
02:19been shot at five times and initial evidence clearly points to a political motivation.
02:32Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Putin at an official ceremony as the Russian president
02:38began a state visit to China.
02:41Putin, Xi and other top officials are expected to hold meetings that will emphasize their
02:47commitment to the no-limits relationship they signed in 2022, just before the Russian invasion
02:54of Ukraine.
02:55Putin's visit comes as Russia has become more economically dependent on China following
03:02the invasion.
03:03Russia has diverted the bulk of its energy exports to China and has relied on Chinese
03:09companies to import high-tech components for the Russian military in order to circumvent
03:15Western sanctions.
03:17Military ties between Russia and China have also strengthened.
03:21They have held a series of joint war games in recent years, including naval drills and
03:27patrols by long-range bombers.
03:33Despite a price increase in major commodities such as crude oil, economic forecasts say
03:39inflation is declining.
03:41The European Commission says that EU inflation will fall to 2.7% this year after reaching
03:46a high of around 10% after the pandemic and Russia's war in Ukraine, which massively impacted
03:52the economy.
03:53This time next year, inflation could be at 2.2% in the EU.
03:57European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni told Euronews that while this is good news
04:01for the EU, it will take some time to see its effects.
04:04We need that the decline of inflation produce its consequences overall on food prices, etc.
04:16This will take some time.
04:19Equally important is that the level of credit provided by banks restart increasing because
04:30this is important to fuel the economy.
04:36The Commission says the economic outlook shows increased uncertainty and downside risks,
04:42mainly stemming from the evolution of Russia's war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle
04:46East.
04:47The geopolitical tensions also continue to pose risks, but these are not the only risks.
04:56In this difficult crossroads where growth is restarting, you adopt too restrictive fiscal
05:09stance and you miss part of the investments that are needed.
05:16How to avoid this without breaking our fiscal policies and our budgets?
05:23My answer is still next generation EU.
05:30The Commission's spring forecast comes 20 years after the EU's 2004 enlargement, which
05:35saw the bloc's largest expansion to date.
05:40The 10 states that joined at the time saw significant upticks in their GDP and real
05:45incomes as they underwent the EU accession process, a positive message for EU hopefuls.
05:57As the European elections loom, concerns mount over the potential deterioration of conditions
06:02for LGBTQ individuals if the far-right maintains its momentum.
06:07ILGA Europe, the continent's leading LGBTQ advocacy group, calls on candidates to commit
06:13to strengthening legislation once elected.
06:18Within this coming election we really need candidates to step up to the challenge and
06:21to commit in these weeks preceding the elections to actually legislating change when they are
06:28elected.
06:30There has been great progress made in the EU in the last five years and that needs to
06:33be continued, but still freedom of movement, which is at the core of EU values, is not
06:39secured for trans people, for intersex people, for non-binary people, for rainbow families.
06:46So the new Commission and the new Parliament really needs to prioritise filling those legislative
06:51gaps and that really needs to happen soon.
06:54In Italy, the absence of clear legislation regarding the registration of children from
06:58same-sex couples has allowed Giorgia Meloni's government to prohibit municipalities from
07:03recognising same-sex couples as parents.
07:07ILGA has released a map illustrating the legal status of the LGBTQ community.
07:14At the European level, Poland ranks the lowest, however, following a change in government
07:20late last year, there are indications of potential change.
07:24People and representation were invited to discuss the potential legislation about same-sex
07:32partnerships and the hate speech law is being settled and being discussed and shortly to
07:42be implemented, fingers crossed.
07:45So as of now, after this few months, we do not see the change, but we feel the change
07:52that it is coming.
07:56But despite increased legal protection, the group now suffers more violence across the
08:00European Union.
08:01According to the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, two-thirds of those surveyed have
08:06received hate messages.
08:13Protesters have taken to the streets of the Armenian capital Yerevan to demand Prime Minister
08:18Nikol Pashinyan step down.
08:20There's continuing anger over the terms of a peace deal with Azerbaijan regarding the
08:24contested territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
08:28Protesters are angry over Pashinyan's decision to cede several border villages to Azerbaijan.
08:33The area is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but was inhabited by ethnic
08:38Armenians until September 2023, when most of the population fled a blockade and military
08:44operation.
08:49France has declared a state of emergency after four people died in rioting in the Pacific
08:54Overseas Territory of New Caledonia.
08:57The unrest started on Monday with a protest over France's efforts to expand voter lists
09:02that would benefit pro-Paris politicians and marginalize the Kanak people.
09:07The Kanak are indigenous to the islands and once suffered from strict segregation policies.
09:13Gendarmerie and police reinforcements took off from France on Wednesday in a bid to curb
09:18spiraling violence.
09:23In 2008, European lives in an area at risk of flooding, according to the latest European
09:29Environment Agency report, which warns of the impact of climate change on the entire
09:34water cycle, including droughts and forest fires.
09:39In 40 years, floods have already claimed over 5,580 lives and the danger seems greater than
09:47ever.
09:48Most of the economic activities in Europe are still based in the flat plains.
09:53For example, about 15% of industrial facilities across Europe may be based in flat plains.
10:02Of course, also infrastructures such as wastewater treatment plants are located further downstream
10:10and over a third of them in Europe are located in flat plains.
10:18According to the report, 11% of hospitals are in areas at risk.
10:22Droughts and heat waves also threaten water quality by increasing the concentration of
10:27pollutants.
10:28Taken together, these events threaten people's access to water, affect the cooling systems
10:34of nuclear power stations and affect agriculture.
10:40Of course, the main consequence is that it affects the agriculture and the food production.
10:46In 2022, we've seen a really drop in production of maize, of corn, of olive oil, for example,
10:54especially in southern Europe, and it's estimated that around 9 billion euros every year are
11:02caused by the losses caused by droughts in agriculture, public water supply and energy
11:10sectors.
11:11The European Agency is therefore calling on all stakeholders to limit the development
11:18of areas at risk.
11:19It suggests solutions inspired by nature, such as planting trees to retain water or
11:25reusing treated water.
11:27Finally, the Agency is calling on a more effective early warning system.