00:00France sweated through its hottest night ever recorded, Monday through Tuesday, and reported that some 40 people had drowned in
00:07the past five days.
00:11Two whales have been killed off the coast of Iceland two days after commercial hunting resumed.
00:22METEOR FRANCE ON TUESDAY PLACED 54 DEPARTMENTS COVERING MUCH OF THE WESTERN HALF OF THE COUNTRY ON RED ALERT AND
00:3135 OTHER DEPARTMENTS ON ORANGE HEATWAVE ALERT FOLLOWING FORECAST OF EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR THE WEEK.
00:38According to the Weather Alert Agency, daytime temperatures will rise to 40 degrees and even 42 degrees in the west,
00:47while nighttime lows will not fall below 18 to 24 degrees across most of France.
00:53In total, more than 90% of the French population is exposed to extreme exceptional heat this week.
01:00The alerts come after at least 40 people were reported to have drowned in France while swimming in unsupervised areas
01:08to seek relief from a heatwave gripping the country and other parts of Europe.
01:13Speaking after a crisis meeting on Tuesday, Prime Minister Sebastián Le Conu said the dead toll since Thursday was mainly
01:21young people.
01:22Meanwhile, Spain kicked off the summer with large parts of the country on alert due to temperatures expected to hover
01:29around 40 degrees Celsius.
01:32In the capital, Madrid, tourists and locals sought shade, cold drinks and ice cream to keep cool.
01:39The heatwave is expected to scorch Spain at least through Wednesday, while Belgium, Germany, Italy and the UK continue to
01:47experience sweltering temperatures.
01:49More than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes over the last four years, and most of
01:57the fatalities were preventable, according to the World Health Organization, WHO.
02:08These two whales killed off the coast of Iceland are brought back to shore.
02:13The kill overnight Sunday comes two days after commercial hunting resumed, ending a two-year pause.
02:18It marks the first catches since 2023.
02:21Before the set-off, a protester had attached himself to the mast of one of the vessels in the port
02:27of Reykjavik, but climbed down and was escorted away by police, according to local media.
02:31Iceland, Norway and Japan are the only three countries that still openly permit whaling, despite international condemnation from the public
02:39and animal welfare organizations.
02:42Iceland canceled its whale hunt over the past two years, partly because economic problems had cut demand and the industry
02:49was not deemed profitable enough.
02:52Iceland's Marine and Freshwater Research Institute has recommended that no more than 150 fin whales are caught in the 2026
03:00season.
03:06The public role between Polish President Karol Navrotsky and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky undermines political unity and plays into Russia's
03:16hands, the European Commission has warned as tensions escalate.
03:19If there's something we have learned over the past five years facing this unprovoked war in Ukraine is that unity
03:34is our strongest tool.
03:36And anything that undermines that unity, including disputes, in this case between a member state and Ukraine, is not helpful.
03:49Tensions have risen since late May when Zelensky signed a decree naming a military unit after the Ukrainian insurgent army,
03:58a formation founded during World War II.
04:01The UPA is admired in Ukraine for its resistance against the Soviet Union.
04:06But in Poland, the UPA is held responsible for killing tens of thousands of Poles, an event that Warsaw considers
04:14genocide.
04:16In response, Poland's nationalist president announced on Friday that he was stripping Zelensky of the Order of the White Eagle,
04:24Poland's highest honor.
04:26The spat comes just a few days before Poland is due to host the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdansk.
04:32Zelensky, who was expected to attend, will skip the ceremony.
04:36The Ukrainian Prime Minister will lead the delegation.
04:44Kazakhstan's President Kasim Yomar Tokayev has begun a strategic visit to Brussels.
04:50Astana is seeking a much deeper strategic partnership with the European Union.
04:55Kazakhstan's ambassador to the EU, Roman Vasylenko, told Euronews Programme Europe Today that, despite already strong relations, there is significant
05:03room for growth.
05:05We are in the heart of Eurasia.
05:07We border Russia, we border China, but we would like very much to strengthen our mutually beneficial ties with the
05:14European Union.
05:15European companies have invested around 184 billion euros in Kazakhstan, largely in the energy sector.
05:23However, the ambassador argued that the biggest untapped opportunities lie elsewhere.
05:29He highlighted transport and logistics, AI, green hydrogen and renewable energy.
05:35Critical minerals are another pillar of Kazakhstan's pitch to Europe.
05:39The country already produces 21 of the 34 raw materials identified as strategic under the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act.
05:49Energy security remains at the center of the EU-Kazakhstan relationship.
05:53Kazakhstan has emerged as one of Brussels' most important alternative energy suppliers.
05:59The country is already the EU's third largest provider of crude oil.
06:08Officials from the European Commission and 15 member states discreetly met with a Taliban delegation on Tuesday in Brussels in
06:15an attempt to speed up the deportation of Afghan migrants.
06:18Deportations have proven particularly difficult for Afghans who were among the top nationalities served with return orders in 2025.
06:26It will also be an opportunity for member states and for member states at technical level to establish contacts because
06:33it will be those member states that will have to carry out returns and that have to also be in
06:42touch themselves.
06:43And again, we speak here in the very first place about persons who pose a security threat and about serious
06:50criminals.
06:51Rights groups have criticized the meeting.
06:54Activists from the Rights NGO Amnesty International unfurled a banner reading shame outside the European Commission in Brussels.
07:01On est au-delà du scandale. On est véritablement dans l'ordre du crachat au visage des valeurs prétendument portées
07:09par l'Union Européenne et par la Belgique qui prétendent défendre le droit international, les droits humains, alors que là
07:18elles se compromettent avec un régime qui est complètement liberticide, qui piétine les droits humains chaque jour et qui le
07:25fait de plus en plus.
07:26Belgium stressed that granting visas to the delegation does not imply recognition of the Taliban.
07:35And the authorization of the activity is one issue and alleged misconduct is a different type of question.
07:43The European Commission has stated that former commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos' approved NGO activities are a separate matter from the alleged
07:50misconduct, which is suspected to be a part of the ongoing investigation.
07:55When asked whether the Commission's credibility is damaged, the spokesperson underlined that everything was done by the book.
08:01At that time and at that moment, back in 2022, when we looked at the matter, we had no indication
08:07of any breach of the conditions that were included in the respective college decision.
08:13In contrast to Commission's ethical and practical procedures, Avramopoulos' NGO activities are being investigated as part of a cash for
08:20influence corruption network.
08:22For that purpose, the Belgian Supreme Court Prosecutor's Office has just forwarded a European arrest warrant to the Greek Parliament,
08:28along with a formal request to lift Avramopoulos' immunity, as he is still a member of the ruling New Democracy
08:34Party.
08:35After his term as commissioner ended in 2019, Avramopoulos has become a member of the Honorary Board of Fight Impunity,
08:43an NGO founded by the suspected mastermind Antonio Panzeri to influence European Parliament decision-making and received 75,000 euro
08:51in total.
08:53Avramopoulos categorically rejects any involvement in the case and states that he will not invoke parliamentary immunity, calling for a
09:00full judicial investigation.
09:01The former Migration Commissioner stated that all monthly payments were transparently declared, taxed and formally approved by the European Commission.
09:16Peter Morrell, the former chief executive of the Scottish National Party and ex-husband of Scotland's former First Minister, Nicola
09:24Sturgeon, has been sentenced to five years and three months in prison.
09:28The 61-year-old was convicted in May of embezzling more than £400,000 of party funds.
09:35If you had been found guilty of this charge after trial, I would have imposed the sentence of seven years'
09:43imprisonment.
09:44Having pled guilty at the preliminary hearing, I imposed a sentence of five years, three months' imprisonment.
09:51I shall backdate that sentence to the 25th of May, 2026, when you're first remanded in custody.
09:57Some of his purchases included two luxury watches, a coffee machine, items from Mont Blanc and a motorhome.
10:04The police received a complaint for possible mismanagement of the party finances in 2021.
10:10Officers carried out a search of Morrell's home in 2023 and arrested him.
10:15Morrell served as chief executive of the SNP from 2001 to 2023.
10:20Police Scotland said the sentence was proof that those who flout the law will not escape justice, regardless of how
10:27high a profile or role they may hold.
10:32European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee approved the long-awaited digital euro on Tuesday,
10:38as the bloc seeks to drastically reduce its structural reliance on United States-controlled payment networks.
10:45Data from the European Central Bank reveals that American giants Visa and MasterCard currently process 61% of card payments
10:52in the euro area,
10:53controlling nearly all cross-border transactions.
10:57Amid rising geopolitical tensions, the proposed digital token will function as central bank money backed by the Frankfurt Institution,
11:04designed to complement physical cash rather than replace it.
11:08Consumers will hold the currency in a dedicated wallet that supports both online and offline options.
11:14and features advanced privacy protocols that prevent the central bank from tracking individual identities.
11:21While European lawmakers aim to reach a final agreement with member states before the end of the year,
11:27global competitors are taking significantly different approaches to financial tech.
11:31China has introduced a digital yuan and Russia is preparing a digital ruble for September,
11:37whereas Washington has abandoned a central bank token to back privately-issued dollar-linked setable coins.
11:43We're going to be now the leader by a lot more.
11:44We're going to be now the leader by a lot more.
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