00:01NATO Chief Mark Rutte and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have honoured foreign soldiers at the Wall of Remembrance in Kyiv.
00:11A recent drone incursion in Lithuanian airspace has revealed blind spots in the country's emergency preparedness.
00:19The U.S. military and Iran exchanged new strikes overnight as QH says its airport was hit by Iranian drones
00:27causing significant damage.
00:33Pictures of Ukrainian fallen soldiers are displayed at the Wall of Remembrance in Kyiv.
00:38NATO Chief Mark Rutte and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy honoured them on Wednesday.
00:44They laid red flowers and posed for a moment in front of their portraits.
00:49The ceremony was attended by senior military officials and representatives of all 32 NATO member states.
00:56The NATO Secretary General's visit to Kyiv on Wednesday had not been announced.
01:01It comes after a series of large-scale fatal Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital over the recent weeks.
01:08Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been appealing to NATO members for help to protect Ukraine from Russian ballistic missile attacks.
01:16For their part, Ukraine hit energy and military sites in St. Petersburg with drones at the start of a flagship
01:23economic forum there just hours before Rutte's arrival in Kyiv.
01:33Ukrainian drones struck energy and military sites in St. Petersburg as officials gathered for Russia's annual economic forum.
01:41Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian military targeted an oil terminal in the city, as well as an enterprise
01:48that produces Russian weapons.
01:50Russian authorities also confirmed that several of its infrastructure facilities were struck in three districts.
01:57It comes a day after Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack at Ukraine, killing at least 23 and
02:04wounding over 100 people.
02:15Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Russia is preparing for another large-scale attack on Ukraine and urged allies to toughen
02:33its sanctions against Moscow.
02:35The Ukrainian leader also called on Washington to supply additional Patriot interceptors, which can intercept Russia's ballistic missiles.
02:48For years, Baltic states squeezed between Russia and Belarus have been warning of the risks that Russia's full-scale invasion
02:55of Ukraine poses to the region.
02:56The alert on May 20th for people to flee underground over a drone in Lithuanian airspace was the starkest reminder
03:04in years that emergency planning should be fully operational.
03:08However, the incident revealed that for many residents, this was not the case.
03:12We knew the shelters, we went to one of them, but it was covered in cobwebs, and it seemed that
03:18no one is there for sure, or it wasn't unlocked for a really long time, and it wasn't marked.
03:24So we then passed another one that also didn't have any signs, and then we came to the one that
03:32I'm standing next to at the moment.
03:34And yeah, it's the biggest shelter, it seems, from the maps, and we couldn't get in for like 18 minutes,
03:43probably.
03:43Problems were so commonplace that Lithuania's prime minister, who had taken shelter with other lawmakers, offered a public apology for
03:51communication errors and vowed a review of procedures.
03:53I think that you cannot be fully prepared for all the situations and actions, but what we tested and what
04:01we actually, and how we reacted, shows that we have a system, we have a knowledge, we have an infrastructure,
04:08but at the same time, there's still some gaps that would like to face.
04:13And I think that there was a good exercise for the government, for the institutions, for the businesses, and for
04:19the, you know, simple citizens who was, like, participating.
04:22The goal is also to train more of Lithuania's 2.8 million citizens for the event of an emergency, and
04:29to roll out a network of modular training facilities that could serve as shelters.
04:39China remains a very big problem for the circumvention of EU sanctions against Moscow.
04:45EU sanctions envoy David O'Sullivan told your news as Europeans are working on a 21st package of sanctions against Russia.
04:52It's one of the biggest sources of circumvention, both in terms of what we call backfilling, this means simply selling
05:01Chinese versions of goods which we previously sold as Europeans, so, you know, things like household goods and so forth,
05:09which is, of course, perfectly legitimate, but also, unfortunately, as a platform for the re-export from China of Western
05:16-branded goods and EU-branded goods.
05:21The EU is mainly concerned with China exporting battlefield goods to Russia, the electronic components found in weapons such as
05:29drones, missiles, or artillery shells.
05:32These components are often of US, EU, Chinese, or Taiwanese origin with global value chains.
05:37These dual-use goods can have a legitimate civilian purpose, but are used by the Russian defense industry to manufacture
05:45weapons.
05:46The EU is working on a tightrope as it also wants to forge closer trade ties with China.
05:51The EU's 20th package of sanctions against Moscow adopted in April listed some Chinese entities supplying dual goods and weapons
06:00to Russia or engaged in sanctions circumventions.
06:03In reprisal, Beijing banned seven European defense companies from receiving Chinese dual-use goods.
06:15On a normal day, this train station in Lisbon would be teeming with passengers.
06:20However, silence reigned in the morning.
06:23The impact of Wednesday's strike against the proposed labor reforms is being felt across virtually all sectors, with a particular
06:31impact on transport, hospitals, and schools.
06:34The Lisbon metro is closed with no essential services, and the buses that are running are not sufficient to meet
06:41all needs.
06:42We don't have the meters or cars here, so we have a management of our company so that we can
06:49call Uber for people to get to the local work.
06:53The General Secretary of the CGTP, Tiago Oliveira, stated that the strike is seeing strong support
07:00and reiterated the aim of halting the labor package presented by the government.
07:04The CGTP also accused the Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro, of ignoring the workers' views.
07:12The strike was called in protest against the changes of the labor code set out in the Work 21 program.
07:24The U.S. and Iran exchanged new strikes overnight into Wednesday in their war following a stall in ceasefire talks
07:32and negotiations.
07:33The U.S. military said it launched strikes on an Iranian facility in response to strikes on Kuwait and Bahrain,
07:41which failed to hit their targets.
07:44According to the U.S. Central Command, two of those fired at Kuwait fell apart en route,
07:50while U.S. and Bahrainian forces intercepted the missiles aimed at Bahrain.
07:55But Kuwait's army later said Iranian drones had hit its international airport, causing, quote,
08:02significant building damage and injuries to a number of people.
08:07The U.S. Central Command said it responded with strikes in an Iranian military ground control station in the Strait
08:13of Hormuz.
08:14The latest attacks come amid stalled ceasefire negotiations between the U.S. and Iran with hopes dampening over the weekend
08:21after Tehran stopped communicating with mediators reportedly over Israeli military action to Lebanon.
08:28On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump disputed reports that negotiations had stopped, claiming they were ongoing and continuing.
08:41Bolivia's political crisis deepens as the country's defense and education ministers resigned on Tuesday
08:48after weeks of protests demanding President Paz step down.
08:52The protests and around 100 roadblocks have left cities such as La Paz and El Alto isolated.
09:00Food, medicine and fuel shortages are worsening.
09:03The initial optimism surrounding Paz, who came to power with the backing of U.S. President Donald Trump,
09:10has given way to deep economic uncertainty.
09:13Workers, farmers, miners, transport workers and teachers denounced the rising cost of living and the elimination of subsidies.
09:22Meanwhile, the government accuses former President Evo Morales of encouraging the demonstrations while operating from hiding.
09:30Although Paz has attempted to ease tensions by cutting his own salary in half,
09:36international polarization and public discontent continue to grow.
09:40The opposition is now considering a recall referendum to determine whether the president should remain in office.
09:53Beyond Venice's crowded canals, flamingos are taking up temporary residence in the lagoon outside the city.
10:00Over the decades, this fragile ecosystem has been profoundly altered, above all by the demands of port and industrial activities.
10:08But the scientists and environmental groups working to restore these wetlands say a sharp rise in the number of flamingos
10:15may be a sign their efforts are paying off.
10:17In the past 20 years, the number of flamingos in the lagoon has increased very significantly,
10:25especially last year's numbers were the highest ever.
10:31We still have to be careful when we're trying to, you know, claim that there's a certain trend because nature
10:40is very complicated.
10:43There's lots, so many factors, some that change on a short term, others that are changing on the long term.
10:50A project funded through the EU Horizon 2020 program is taking shape,
10:55an initiative designed to bring part of the lost ecosystem back to life.
10:59Where we are now is a reconstructed wetland where sediments from port maintenance activities have been pumped into this contained
11:10area.
11:12And the idea is that it develops the ecological functionality of natural salt marsh.
11:20The presence of flamingos in the lagoon underlines the importance of the Venetian ecosystem
11:25and offers a new way for visitors to interpret the canal city and its many islands
11:29through their ecological and not just historical and artistic significance.
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