00:01The European Union has approved Ukraine's next spending envelope of 6.1 billion euros for
00:08defense procurement as part of the bloc's 90 billion euros loan program the EU executive
00:14announced on Monday. The approval comes as Ukraine marks 35 years of independence amid a
00:20rise in civilian deaths from Russian attacks due to Kiev's shortage of air defense systems.
00:26According to a statement by the European Commission, the defense funding aims to supply
00:31Kiev with air and missile defense systems, missiles, ammunition and radars. The funding
00:38also comes as EU leaders participated in key meetings in Kiev on Monday, including the
00:44Coalition of the Willing meeting aimed at drumming up additional air support and energy
00:49supplies for Ukraine as it edges closer to winter.
00:55Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska honoured the memory
01:01of fallen soldiers on Monday as the country marked their independence day.
01:07Zelensky and his wife laid flowers at the Wall of Remembrance, a memorial to Ukraine's fallen
01:13defenders alongside other European leaders as part of the official celebration. No delegates
01:19from the Trump administration were present at the ceremony marking the independence day as Russia
01:24pushes on with its more than four-year-old invasion of the country.
01:31U.S. President Donald Trump says the U.S. will double tariffs on Canadian vehicles from 2027,
01:37as he accused Ottawa of, quote, ripping off the United States of America for years.
01:43In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump wrote that starting from January next year,
01:49tariffs on Canadian automobiles, automotive parts and steel will be increased to 50%.
01:56Current U.S. tariff rates on automobiles stand at 25% for non-U.S. content. The threats come amid
02:03a
02:03growing trade war between the two neighbours that hit a flashpoint on Friday, after talks
02:08over a deal to avoid 50% duties on some Canadian goods collapsed. According to Prime Minister Mark
02:16Carney, Canada had been forced to walk away from a bad deal. The levies, which came into effect on
02:22Saturday, impact some $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. Carney warned that Ottawa would match the U.S.
02:30tariffs, quote, dollar for dollar to protect workers and businesses. Since returning to office,
02:37Trump has been putting intense economic pressure on Canada due to several grievances and strategic
02:43motives that includes his suggestion that Canada should become the U.S. 51st state.
02:55It's a month ahead of the French presidential election. A major poll puts left-wing LFI leader
03:00Jean-Luc Mélenchon in contention to go through to the second round. According to a new Toluna Harris
03:06interactive poll, Mélenchon would qualify for the second round runoff in three of the five scenarios
03:12stated. France elects its president in two rounds, with the two top candidates in the first round going
03:17head-to-head in a runoff. The candidate for the La France Insoumise party, or France Unboard in English,
03:23is currently polling at over 16% in the first round. Meanwhile, Raphaël Glucksmann officially announced
03:29his presidential bill on Sunday, positioning himself as a social-democratic pro-European
03:35alternative to LFI. There is, however, a major weakness in Mélenchon's apparent path to the LFI.
03:41In a head-to-head contest with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, the poll shows she would take around
03:4668% of the vote against 32% for the LFI leader. Le Pen also beats all the other candidates
03:53tested,
03:53although her lead is much narrower against former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.
04:03On Saturday, Iceland will vote on whether to resume negotiations on joining the European Union.
04:09A yes vote would restart negotiations in Brussels, while a no vote would be a setback for the EU's
04:15enlargement drive. Iceland previously applied to join the bloc in 2009 following a financial crisis,
04:22but these negotiations were eventually suspended after a Eurosceptic coalition came into power in 2013.
04:29By then, Iceland's economy had largely recovered, and public support for joining the bloc also faded,
04:36with fisheries being a main point of contention. However, a reversal came in 2024, when a pro-EU
04:44coalition government took office. Since then, major geopolitical developments reshaped the
04:50international landscape, such as US President Donald Trump threatening to seize Greenland and the
04:55Arctic becoming a hotspot for rare-earth minerals. This made a deeper cooperation with the EU a key
05:01variable in safeguarding Iceland. Opinion polls suggest the results are expected to be very close,
05:09with farming and fishing remaining among the most contentious issues.
05:16After several unfortunate incidents in previous years, tourists visiting Greece this summer appear
05:23to be better informed about the dangers of ultraviolet radiation and the health risks associated with
05:30excessive sun exposure. In central Athens, increasing numbers of visitors can be seen sightseeing under the
05:37protection of hats and sunglasses, while some are even carrying umbrellas.
05:41I travel with hats, and this umbrella also is UV protection, so it's all UV protection.
05:48Red Cross volunteers, who assist visitors during heat waves, confirm that tourists are arriving better prepared.
05:55People tend to use more hats and other protective methods, such as sunscreen and sunglasses,
06:04compared to the past. Because I think they're more educated now about the UV radiation and how the sunlight
06:11and sun exposure can affect the skin and the aging of the skin and skin cancer.
06:17Last summer was the third hottest on record in Greece, yet the extreme heat did little to deter tourists,
06:25with the country welcoming a record 38 million visitors.
06:32Six EU countries are intensifying calls for a block-wide windfall tax on oil companies,
06:37as profits surge amid the war in the Middle East.
06:42Finance ministers from Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland and Portugal, along with Spain's economy minister,
06:49urged Ireland to put the issue on the agenda for next month's meeting of EU finance chiefs in Dublin.
06:55The ministers called for an EU-wide framework to tax windfall profits, drawing on the temporary
07:01Levi introduced in 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
07:06Beyond the proposal, Germany's finance minister Lars Klingbeil said that excessive crisis profits
07:11should be returned to consumers. Energy companies have posted major earnings as the war disrupted
07:17shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. However, the EU has not yet signaled plans for a new Levi.
07:23The letter remains a preliminary draft while political divisions persist within member states, including Germany.
07:37Yemen's Houthi rebels said on Monday that they hit a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea.
07:42The attack occurred 63 nautical miles west of the Red Sea city of Yanbu.
07:47The United Kingdom maritime trade organization said no casualties have been reported.
08:13Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have attacked Saudi tankers in recent weeks as they pursue a
08:20maritime blockade of the maritime blockade of the Babelman-Deb Strait.
08:23Riyadh has since launched airstrikes and Houthi military positions and infrastructure.
08:28The Babelman-Deb Strait, which connects the Southern Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean,
08:34carries roughly 12 percent of global maritime trade. Riyadh announced last month a new
08:39multinational maritime defense coalition with 14 countries to protect Red Sea shipping.
08:51New Zealand's Prime Minister proposed a law banning under-16s from using social media.
08:56Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said platforms such as Instagram and TikTok would be required to
09:02verify users age. We would never knowingly let our children wander into places in the real world
09:08we know to be unsafe. We put boundaries around cars, around alcohol, around gambling, because we know
09:15children aren't yet equipped for them. And yet online we've left them almost completely unprotected.
09:22Meta could be fined up to 10 percent of their global revenue if they fail to comply.
09:28This is a generational shift. We are the first generation of parents raising children in a fully
09:33digital world. There is no rule book for this, but we know enough to act. It is unclear whether the
09:40bill will pass due to opposition from two of the three parties in the coalition government. Australia
09:45banned children from social media in December. The UK, France and others followed.
09:55The Red Cross voiced alarm after six workers taking part in a bid to contain the deadly Ebola outbreak
10:02were harmed in attacks last week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In a statement,
10:07the organization said that attacks against volunteers and humanitarian personnel are unacceptable.
10:13Last week, the World Health Organization warned that these assaults affect the Ebola response.
10:18Yesterday, one of our ambulance was attacked here, you know, one of the ambulance of the response
10:23operation was attacked here, you know, in Punia. And we are really quietly, extremely,
10:29very regularly challenged by this situation, by this attack on healthcare services.
10:33Since the Ebola outbreak was declared in May, 12 volunteers have been injured, ambulances have been
10:39damaged, and equipment has been destroyed during 11 violent incidents. The Red Cross said tensions
10:45have emerged with local communities over the handling of Ebola victims' remains. Burials must be
10:51supervised as corpses remain contagious. In Eastern Congo, youth caravans raise awareness for Ebola
10:58people who are amid the attacks on health workers.
11:01Sur terrain, lorsque les équipes de la riposte arrivent pour faire leur travail, il y a la jeunesse qui
11:08les attaque pour qu'ils ne puissent pas faire bien leur travail. Alors cette activité est organisée
11:15pour montrer à ces jeunes-là que la maladie existe réellement et nous devons tous unir nos efforts
11:21pour que cette maladie puisse être éradiquée.
11:24More than 2,500 deaths from above 5,300 confirmed cases of Ebola have been registered
11:31in the DRC, according to the WHO.
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