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Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/05/21/latest-news-bulletin-may-21st-midday
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:00The U.S. Senate voted to approve Charles Kushner, the father of Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner,
00:05as the next American ambassador to France on Monday.
00:08The real estate mogul was previously pardoned by the president in 2020
00:12after having pled guilty to tax evasion and witness tampering, for which he served two years in prison.
00:22Kushner was first nominated as the next American ambassador to Paris in November,
00:27with several French officials accusing the 70-year-old of lacking proper diplomatic qualifications.
00:36During a Senate hearing, Kushner pledged to encourage French investment in American defense companies
00:40and bring Paris more in line with Washington's strategic interests.
00:47Kushner's appointment comes at a time of uncertainty for Franco-American relations,
00:51as the two nations diverge over Ukraine, trade and European security realignment.
00:57EU trade negotiator Maro Sefkovic has confirmed EU standards on food safety
01:04are not up for negotiation in the talks with the U.S. over tariffs.
01:10The EU and U.S. are locked in talks due to expire in early July
01:14after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a 90-day window to negotiate.
01:19Washington has decried EU safety standards on agricultural products
01:23as one of the reasons for the tariff war.
01:26I think we've been quite clear that we clearly would preserve our regulatory autonomy.
01:33And if I follow a little bit the discussion in the United States of America,
01:38there is also a lot of talk about, you know, having healthier food,
01:44what should be, you know, the composition of the food processing and so on and so forth.
01:49And I think we already had this discussion in Europe and we are very proud of our health and safety standards.
01:56If it comes to food, if it comes to agri-food production, we are going clearly to stick to that.
02:02So that's not up for negotiation standards?
02:03I think if it comes to health and safety issues, I mean, clearly these are not up for negotiations.
02:10Meanwhile, the EU negotiator says he is pushing for a fair and balanced deal with the U.S.
02:16But he says the EU stands ready to implement up to 95 billion euros of countermeasures if negotiations fail.
02:24I think that we are already paying 10 percent, we are already paying 25 percent for steel,
02:30we are already paying 25 percent for cars.
02:32And we really believe that this is simply not fair.
02:36So we want to resolve it through the negotiated solutions.
02:41But of course, we are also preparing alternatively we would have to protect the European jobs and European companies.
02:47And therefore, we started the consultations on eventual rebalancing measures.
02:53A new series of U.S. products could be targeted for potential EU tariffs,
02:58including aerospace champion Boeing or alcohol products like bourbon.
03:02You can listen to the full interview on the Europe Conversation this Friday.
03:12Heavy rainfall across Spain has filled up dam reservoirs across the country,
03:18forcing some to release some of their water.
03:20El Atasar Dam Reservoir in Madrid has been releasing water in a controlled manner.
03:26But now that the dam has reached maximum capacity,
03:29it is being forced to release water from an additional spillway.
03:33The heavy rainfall is in stark contrast with last year's stubborn drought.
03:38Scientists say climate change is making swings between dryness and downpour more acute.
03:43The European Union announced that it will lift all remaining economic sanctions on Syria
03:53to allow the war-torn country to have a chance at recovery and prosperity.
03:57The bloc said it hopes the relief will ease access to financial funds
04:01and speed up the recovery timeline after the fall of long-time President Bashar al-Assad in December.
04:06On Syria, ministers agreed to lift all economic sanctions while maintaining those related to Assad regime
04:15and human rights violations.
04:17This decision is reversible and conditional also on progress.
04:24There can be no peace without the path to economic recovery,
04:28The decision comes just a few days after the U.S. announced it was lifting sanctions on the country.
04:50U.S. President Donald Trump announced the move in Riyadh
04:53as he embarked on his first tour of the Middle East in his second stint in office.
04:57The news was hailed by the interim Syrian government.
05:18The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaya Callas,
05:21says the bloc didn't have a choice on whether or not to offer sanctions relief.
05:25She stressed that the options were either lift them and hope for the best,
05:29or risk another Afghanistan.
05:31She added that the EU will closely monitor the situation
05:34and will act accordingly if the trust is abused and no progress is made.
05:41The UN says that aid has not reached Palestinians yet,
05:45despite it beginning to enter Gaza two days ago.
05:48They say the delays have been due to the new Israeli security process
05:52to get aid cleared to distribution warehouses,
05:55which they've described as long, complex, complicated and dangerous.
05:59Just to make it clear, while more supplies have come in to the Gaza Strip,
06:06we have not been able to secure the arrival of those supplies
06:12into our warehouses and delivery points.
06:16In the end, about four trucks, not five, were allowed in yesterday.
06:22Today, we have a few dozen.
06:25I'm trying to get a more exact number, but that's where we are.
06:29But the point is that the logistical, the security complications
06:34and just the overall environment make this extremely, extremely difficult.
06:40The aid coming in is the first in almost three months
06:43to trickle into the enclave.
06:45Gaza has been under a complete blockade since March,
06:48preventing food, basic items, medical supplies
06:52and other critical aid from reaching residents.
06:55Because of the blockade, there's so little stuff getting in.
06:59There's no food getting in, so people are starving.
07:02There's very little medical supplies coming in.
07:06But also, the other very noticeable thing
07:09is the massive extent of destruction.
07:13I mean, Khan Yunus looks like Stalingrad.
07:16The UN Humanitarian Agency has received approval for 108 trucks
07:20under the new Israeli scheme,
07:22a sharp drop-off from the 600 trucks entering Gaza daily
07:26during the latest ceasefire.
07:28Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will only allow,
07:31quote, minimal aid to enter Gaza to preserve U.S. and ally support,
07:35who criticized the images of starvation coming out of the Strip.
07:43The U.K. government announced it will be suspending
07:46free trade negotiations with Israel
07:48and announced new sanctions on settlements in the West Bank.
07:52The U.K.'s Foreign Secretary David Lammy
07:55has criticized Israel's military actions in Gaza
07:58as well as violence by Israeli settlers.
08:01I'm announcing that we have suspended negotiations
08:04with this Israeli government on a new trade, free trade agreement.
08:10We will be reviewing cooperation with them
08:13under the 2030 bilateral roadmap.
08:17The Netanyahu's government's actions have made this necessary.
08:22Yesterday, Minister Smodryk even spoke
08:26of Israeli forces cleansing Gaza,
08:33destroying what's left of residents, Palestinians,
08:38being relocated, he said, to third countries.
08:42We must call this what it is.
08:46It is extremism.
08:47International pressure has been building on Israel
08:51following a nearly three-month blockade of supplies into Gaza
08:55that led to famine warnings.
08:57The United States has voiced concerns
09:00over the growing hunger crisis,
09:03and France and Canada mirrored the United Kingdom
09:05and threatened to sanction Israel
09:07if it does not halt its offensive
09:09and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
09:17Members of the World Health Organization
09:20approved a treaty to avoid the mistakes
09:22of the COVID-19 pandemic
09:24in future global health crises.
09:27It will require countries to take steps
09:30to prepare for and respond to future pandemics,
09:34with the goal of making medical supplies
09:36more accessible across the globe.
09:39But there are still a few issues
09:42that have yet to be resolved,
09:44and the treaty won't go into force
09:46until they have been agreed upon.
09:49One item still on the table
09:51is the creation of a new pathogen access
09:53and benefit-sharing system,
09:56in which countries share samples and data
09:58with drug makers in return for access
10:01to vaccines and medicine.
10:03The United States is not expected
10:05to ratify the treaty under the Trump administration,
10:08which could undermine its effectiveness.
10:11U.S. negotiators left the treaty discussions
10:14after U.S. President Donald Trump
10:17began the process of withdrawing from the WHO
10:20when he took office in January.
10:26Cambodia on Tuesday marked 50 years
10:29since the country's communist Khmer Rouge
10:32launched a four-year reign of terror
10:34that killed an estimated 1.7 million people.
10:38On Cambodia's annual Day of Remembrance,
10:41around 2,000 people attended a ceremony
10:44honoring the victims of the Khmer Rouge genocide
10:47at the site of one of the most notorious killing fields
10:51some 15 kilometers south of the capital, Phnom Penh.
10:54Dozens of student actors from the Phnom Penh art school
10:58reenacted brutalities under the Khmer Rouge,
11:01which held power from 1975 to 1979
11:05when an estimated one-quarter of Cambodia's population
11:09was wiped out from torture, starvation, executions, and misrule.
11:15The Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on 17 April 1975
11:19and immediately ordered almost all the city's residents
11:23into the countryside.
11:25The regime ruled until 1979
11:27when it was driven from power
11:29by an invasion from neighboring Vietnam,
11:31forcing its ruler, Pol Pot, into hiding.
11:35The Khmer Rouge