Latest news bulletin | February 21st – Morning
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/2025/02/21/latest-news-bulletin-february-21st-morning
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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/2025/02/21/latest-news-bulletin-february-21st-morning
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Cutting pesticide use by half in the EU by 2030 was a key goal of the European Green
00:07Deal, but that target, put on hold by the European Commission last year, has now been
00:11shelved indefinitely.
00:13In an interview with Euronews, EU Agriculture Commissioner Christoph Hansen confirmed that
00:18reviving this idea is no longer on the EU executives' agenda.
00:24It didn't work out and now we have no progress at all.
00:28But still it's off the table.
00:30It is off the table, exactly, so no progress at all and I believe with this process where
00:35we take the farmers on board and we take the civil society on board in the European Board
00:41on Agriculture and Food, we determine there and discuss about solutions that are applicable
00:47and effective on the ground to achieve those targets.
00:50The plan to halve pesticide use in the EU was withdrawn by the Commission one year ago
00:55following mounting opposition from right-wing parties and widespread farmer protests.
01:01At that time Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that the pesticide reform
01:06would stay on the agenda with possibility of a more mature proposal.
01:10But now Hansen says any new EU initiative on pesticides will focus on trade and innovation
01:16aspects rather than on reduction targets.
01:21It is important that we encourage them rather with incentives to achieve goals rather than
01:31to say just from the top down, this is the number and we exactly see what happened with
01:37those numbers when it goes to the co-legislative process.
01:40It is like a big auction, who gives a bit more on percentage.
01:48Instead of tightening environmental standards, the Commission's new vision for agriculture
01:52and food unveiled this week prioritizes making farming a more attractive job, particularly
01:59for young generations.
02:01A clear sign that for now environmental ambitions are taking a back seat to economic and political
02:07realities.
02:14One day before the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Germany will
02:18head to the polls.
02:20Yet throughout the election campaign, support for Ukraine has not appeared to be a top priority
02:24for the leading candidates and their parties.
02:27Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba explained why he believes the war has played
02:31such a minor role in the election campaign.
02:33You don't believe that this is going to happen to you because look around, walk the streets
02:39of Berlin, everything is so nice.
02:42You forgot that all of this can be gone and you don't want to think that this is something
02:48that may come to your home, as we never could imagine that anything like this would be happening
02:57in our country.
02:59Kuleba issued a stark warning about Russian President Putin's ambitions, questioning whether
03:04Germany and the West have truly learned from history.
03:08Putin will test NATO if Ukraine falls.
03:12I'm not saying this as a Ukrainian who may be, people may say, of course he's trying
03:18to pull us into the war, he's trying to scare us, no, no, no, we will manage it.
03:23You failed to manage Putin for 20 years and he knows that.
03:28And his only goal will be to destroy Ukraine and destroy the West because this is his ambition,
03:36this is how he wants to go down in history.
03:40You don't want to believe us, as you never wanted to believe us before 2022, well, what
03:47can I say?
03:49History repeats itself and when European politicians solemnly declare never again on each and every
03:57anniversary of the First and Second World War, they are lying, because history repeats
04:04itself again and again.
04:06The coming German elections are crucial not only for the EU, but also for Ukraine.
04:15Two women have been killed in a knife attack at a shopping centre in the Czech Republic.
04:21It happened in a store where both of the women were reportedly employees in the northern
04:25city of Hradec Kraljeve.
04:27Police say a 16-year-old youth has been detained in connection with the stabbings.
04:37Reports initially said the victims had been injured, but police later said both had died.
04:48Neither of the women have been identified.
04:51The motive for the attack isn't immediately known, but an investigation is ongoing.
04:57Police say the situation is under control and there is no further danger to members
05:01of the public.
05:05On Thursday, the Vatican said that the Pope got out of bed and had breakfast while seated
05:10in an armchair.
05:11Pope Francis is spending his seventh day here at Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where he is being
05:16treated for pneumonia.
05:17He was initially admitted for bronchitis, but recent chest scans revealed what was described
05:22as a more complex clinical situation requiring further pharmacological therapy.
05:28This latest update follows another one which was released by the Vatican on Wednesday evening
05:32stating that the Pope's condition was stable and that he had shown slight improvement in
05:37his blood test results.
05:40On Wednesday, he also received a visit from Italy's Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni, who
05:45said that he was alert and responsive.
05:48It seems that Pope Francis will have to remain in hospital as long as necessary.
05:54The Vatican has not yet confirmed how long he will remain hospitalized.
05:58Supporters have gathered outside the hospital alongside reporters and TV crews from around
06:04the world following the latest updates on the Pope's health.
06:08Giorgio Orlandi for Euronews at Gemelli Hospital in Rome.
06:17Israeli police say that several explosions targeted empty buses in the central city of
06:21Bat Yam in what they're labeling a suspected terror attack.
06:26Large units were dispatched to the scene to investigate the incident and search for clues
06:30and suspects.
06:32Authorities say they're aware of at least five explosive devices that either detonated
06:37or were disabled, with all of them having timer devices.
06:41Israeli media outlets are calling this a strategic terrorist attack.
06:46Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for an emergency meeting to discuss the incident.
06:52Authorities say no casualties were reported and investigations are ongoing.
07:02With hundreds of thousands of dead or wounded and no end in sight, war has been raging on
07:07for nearly three years in Ukraine.
07:13But the successes and mistakes of both Ukraine and Russia are a lesson for the French army.
07:19This high-intensity conflict foreshadows the war of tomorrow due to the many technological
07:25and tactical innovations.
07:27It's even pushed the French army to go as far as to create its own special defense innovation
07:33unit.
07:34One
07:56key takeaway this year, the hidden electronic warfare battle that's reshaping the Ukraine
08:01war.
08:03This has forced French military leaders to consider where there are gaps in their own
08:08capabilities.
08:39The war even inspired the creation of a new NATO-Ukraine center in Poland, inaugurated
08:58this week to help the alliance learn important lessons from the battlefield in Ukraine.
09:08The giant guarding the entrance of the town of Ternivka in eastern Ukraine sets the tone.
09:12We're at the heart of Ukraine's major coal mining basin in western Donbass, a crucial
09:18resource for the country's energy supply and a potential target for Russian forces.
09:25The area's oldest coal mine is still operating full swing, with the help of an increasing
09:31number of women as more and more men are being mobilized.
09:35Oksana is among those holding the country's energy front line.
09:51Oksana fled her hometown of Barmut in the Donetsk region under heavy Russian shelling.
09:57Her father and eldest son were killed in the bombings.
10:03Many women here were displaced by the war, losing their homes and former jobs.
10:09Tatyana used to be a nanny.
10:11Irina was an accountant.
10:13Their job at the mine ensures their livelihood.
10:16It's also a way for them to take part in the war effort.
10:33Before the war, women were prohibited from working underground in Ukrainian mines under
10:41a law going back to Soviet times.
10:44They now account for about 5% of the underground workforce in this mine.
10:48A welcome presence, says Irina's husband, who's worked here for years.