Latest news bulletin | September 20th β Midday
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00:00Israel has launched a barrage of strikes on southern Lebanon as cross-border tensions
00:06continue to rise.
00:11Keeping the lights on and the heating going, EU pledges more winter aid for Ukraine.
00:22Far-right and centre-right form a majority on a vote in the European Parliament for the
00:26first time.
00:35Outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO's door was open for Ukraine to join
00:41and that it was closer than ever before. He made the comments during a farewell speech
00:46reflecting upon his 10-year tenure at the head of the alliance.
00:52During that time, NATO strengthened its defences from zero to tens of thousands of soldiers
00:57on its eastern flank.
00:59I do not believe that we can change Putin's mind, but I do believe that we can change
01:08his calculus. By giving Ukraine more weapons, we can make Putin realise he cannot get what
01:16he wants by force, and make it so costly that he will have to accept Ukraine as a sovereign
01:25democratic right to persist as a sovereign democratic nation.
01:31Stoltenberg will step down from his role as Secretary General at the end of this month
01:36to be replaced by former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
01:46Flooding continues to ravage parts of Europe as Storm Baras presses on with its path of
01:51destruction.
01:55Around 1,000 people were evacuated across northern Italy after torrential rains and
02:01severe flooding.
02:04Rivers burst with local officials urging people to stay on the upper stories of their homes
02:09or leave them outright. Hundreds had to find shelter in schools or sports centres.
02:17In the Czech Republic, new areas were threatened as the massive flooding continued moving across
02:23the area.
02:25The Interior Minister said another person was reported killed in the hard-hit north-east,
02:31bringing the death toll there to five.
02:35Helicopters distributed humanitarian aid while soldiers and emergency services participated
02:40in clean-up and recovery efforts.
02:45Residents of the south-western Polish town of Klodzko began cleaning up damage after
02:49a local river rose almost three times above its alarm level.
02:56Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the situation in Klodzko was the most dramatic
03:02in the entire country.
03:06So much was destroyed in the houses of residents in Lower Austria, there is now huge amounts
03:12of garbage.
03:13However, the large waste incineration plant in Donro was flooded and therefore at a standstill.
03:20Flooding in Central Europe combined with deadly wildfires in Portugal are proof of a climate
03:25breakdown that will become the norm unless drastic action is taken.
03:30According to the EU's head office.
03:36As the winter approaches, millions of Ukrainians have been left with limited access to electricity.
03:41The country is suffering from major power cuts on a daily basis.
03:46President von der Leyen announced on Thursday new EU support for Ukraine's energy security
03:51to keep people warm and the economy running.
03:53She also announced her visit to Kiev on Friday.
03:58We will make an additional amount of close to 160 million euros available for this winter.
04:07This includes 60 million euros in humanitarian aid for shelters and heaters, for example.
04:14And it includes around 100 million euros for repair works and renewables.
04:20And these 100 million euros come from the proceeds of the immobilized Russian assets
04:27in the European Union.
04:30Because it is only right that Russia pays for the destruction it caused.
04:35We know that more is needed, so we must keep transferring part of the proceeds from immobilized
04:41Russian assets to Ukraine's energy resilience.
04:46Approximately half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been destroyed, removing 9 gigawatts of
04:51power generation capacity.
04:53The EU Commission is now aiming to restore and export 4.5 gigawatts to Ukraine.
05:00But the Russian war on Ukraine also has consequences for energy prices in the EU.
05:04In a letter sent to the Commission President, the Greek Prime Minister called for European
05:09ways to address the effects of the war on the energy market.
05:15We know that we have in Europe, compared to the rest of the world, structurally too high
05:21energy prices.
05:22And one very clear goal of the new Commission, but also described in the Draghi report, is
05:29to lower structurally the energy prices.
05:34Once again, von der Leyen underlined that renewable energy and energy efficiency must
05:39play a big role in the EU's answer.
05:45The European Commission has asked Apple to open its operative systems iOS and iPadOS
05:51to other companies.
05:53Brussels wants Apple products to connect easily to other devices like smartwatches and headphones
05:58from other brands.
06:00The Commission wants the US company to map out the steps it plans to take to grant interoperability
06:05in an effective and fair way with iPhones and iPads.
06:08To comply with the Digital Markets Act, Apple must grant free and effective interoperability
06:14to rival businesses.
06:16The company is also being asked to establish a clear procedure for rivals to send their
06:20interoperability requests.
06:22Apple now has six months to make the changes.
06:27The European Parliament has recognized Edmundo Gonzalez, the candidate of the opposition,
06:32as the legitimate President of Venezuela.
06:34The Chamber rejected the official results of the presidential election held at the end
06:38of July and condemned the repression and attacks on civil society under Venezuelan President
06:44And it is adopted.
06:45This is a step further compared to EU member states, which did not recognize Maduro as
06:50a legitimate President, but neither Gonzalez as the winner.
06:53309 MEPs voted in favor, among them the members of the EPP, the largest political group in
06:59the Parliament.
07:13The EPP voted together with the groups further to the right, the European Conservatives
07:21and Reformists, Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations, forming a new majority
07:26in the Parliament for the first time in this legislature.
07:29The Liberals also generally condemned Maduro's persecutions and rejected the official results,
07:34but the Renew Europe group abstained because they did not want to vote with the far right.
07:40Socialists, Greens and the left voted against.
07:42None of the 27 countries of the European Union has done it, nor has the European Union done it,
07:46and in fact, of the entire international community, only two countries, Panama and Ecuador, have
07:51made this recognition.
07:52We have indicators about the result, but we do not have the entire electoral body, and
07:58it seems to us that we are not a legitimate body to recognize an electoral result when
08:02we do not have all the documents and all the data.
08:07The resolution also requests an international arrest warrant for Nicolas Maduro for crime
08:12against humanity on the basis of, quote, grave violations of human rights.
08:22The flames have finally receded in AlberguerΓa, Alvilja, but normality is still far away.
08:30At the entrance of the city, there are hectares of burnt and fallen trees, auto dealerships
08:35with charred cars and houses on which only the outer walls remain.
08:41On Monday morning, here in AlberguerΓa, it was the most dramatic time for us.
08:47We had many active fronts, namely there, right at the city gates of the continent,
08:53several neighborhoods evacuated as well.
08:56They were difficult moments for everyone, few resources, the firefighters were very scattered.
09:02The wind was strong, when the fire was close to our houses, we did not have a firefighter,
09:09we called, but there was no firefighter, there was no one to come.
09:12They only came if it was close to the house, but even so, we ran out of water, we ran out of light,
09:19we ran out of nothing, we had the bucket where we were going to get a little water,
09:24which still passes a little, and so we fought and we fought until we got rid of it.
09:32The few people who go out on the streets of the city center wear masks because of the
09:37smoke and ash particles in the air.
09:41Above all, the worst was the smoke, there were times when you could only breathe inside the house,
09:46because outside it was impossible to hear.
09:48I had a burn on my throat and I had to put on a mask because I could not breathe.
09:57And at work too, there was a lot of smoke in the morning, the factory was practically full of smoke.
10:04A few kilometers north, in Sever do Vuga, the fires are now under control,
10:09but the firefighters are exhausted after three nights without sleep.
10:14The government has already declared a situation of calamity in all the municipalities affected by the fires in recent days.
10:23Here in Albergaria a Velha, the situation appears to be calmer,
10:27despite the cloud of smoke that thickens over the region.
10:30Joana Marom Carvalho for Euronews in Albergaria.
10:43There are no entry points expected as 6 million participants are foreseen
10:46and it will be prohibited to bring knives, glass bottles or backpacks.
10:50There is an absolute guarantee, because of course on the meadows people eat with knives and forks,
10:54and of course it is possible to do that.
10:57Nevertheless, we have to prevent someone from bringing a knife or any other dangerous object.
11:01Security is tighter in the wake of last month's deadly knife attack in Solingen in western Germany,
11:06which left three dead and eight wounded.
11:08The meadow is just as safe or unsafe as the public space,
11:12because we have camera surveillance, access controls, a fence around it,
11:17we have several thousand policemen in civilian uniform, several thousand security forces,
11:22and I think that shows that the meadow is a very safe public space.
11:27Oktoberfest had security concerns before and some tight measures were also implemented in 2016
11:32in response to a series of attacks.
11:34Authorities say there are no specific threats to the world's largest folk festival this year,
11:39but the mood of the country right now is to be better safe than sorry.
11:42The festival begins on Saturday and runs until the 6th of October.