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00:00 Germany becomes the latest European country to beef up its border security in a bid to curb illegal entries along the Balkan route.
00:08 Italy sets up its first centre for migrants from so-called "safe" countries in a bid to accelerate the process of asylum claims.
00:18 Defying expectations, a new forecast predicts Russia's economy to grow this year in spite of Western sanctions.
00:28 The foundations of the Schengen Treaty crumbling at the heart of Europe.
00:36 Germany has become the latest country to beef up its border controls.
00:41 Berlin says it has increased security along the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic to contain a sharp rise in illegal entries and asylum applications.
00:51 We have to stop the cruel business of the locks because they put people's lives at risk with maximum profit.
01:01 That's why the German police are taking additional flexible control of the locks, the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic.
01:13 The announcement came a day after police raids in Germany found more than 100 Syrian citizens inside apartments searched in connection with a smuggling ring.
01:21 On Tuesday, Poland also tightened its borders with Slovakia and on Wednesday, Slovenia followed suit along its southern border with Croatia.
01:30 Germany's interior ministry says about a quarter of all migrants who reach Germany are smuggled in across the Mediterranean Sea and the Balkans route.
01:42 Italy has set up its first centre for asylum seekers deemed to have come from so-called safe countries.
01:49 The Italian government hopes the facility in the Sicilian port of Pesaro will accelerate the process of asylum claims.
01:57 It will house people who can't claim refugee status as they've arrived from countries not considered to be dangerous.
02:05 It comes as Italy struggles to cope with severe overcrowding at its migrant centre on Lampedusa Island.
02:12 Authorities have begun moving some to other locations after a recent surge in arrivals.
02:18 The extent of the problem was highlighted earlier this month when some migrants broke out of the centre because of a lack of space and essential provisions.
02:28 In an effort to reduce numbers arriving, Prime Minister Giorgio Maloney's cabinet is implementing measures against young adults posing as unaccompanied minors in order to claim state protection.
02:39 Despite the impact of Western sanctions, Russia's economy is now forecast to grow this year instead of shrink as was previously predicted.
02:51 That's the view of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in a statement to the AFP news agency.
02:57 In May, the bank saw Russia's GDP shrinking by 1.5%. It now says it will actually grow by the same figure.
03:06 The EBRD, which was founded to help ex-Soviet countries adapt to free markets, says Russia's revenues have been boosted by high oil prices and new export opportunities with China, India and Central Asia.
03:20 It had expected an oil price cap as part of sanctions to have a greater negative impact.
03:26 Russia has sought to strengthen trade links with China, India and other non-aligned nations to shore up its sanctions-hit economy.
03:33 Nevertheless, the institution believes this won't be enough to offset a cooling of the Russian economy in 2024.
03:39 The general leading Ukraine's counter-offensive along the southern front line, Oleksandr Tarnavsky, promised "good news" from the front.
03:54 What is happening there? The Institute for the Study of War says the tactical situation in Verbovo remains unclear as Ukrainian forces continue defensive operations in western Zaporizhia region.
04:05 The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces continue defensive operations in the Melitopol direction.
04:14 A German-affiliated Mailblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces reached the northern outskirts of Novoprokopivka, about 13 km south of Orichiv.
04:27 Russian sources still have not directly addressed a claim from a source reportedly affiliated with the Russian Airborne Forces that Ukrainian forces controlled half of Verbovo, about 18 km south of Orichiv.
04:43 The Institute for the Study of War has not observed evidence of such a Ukrainian advance.
04:48 Instead, the think-tank says likely degraded elements of Russia's 42nd Motorized Rifle Division are increasingly counter-attacking near Novoprokopivka,
04:58 suggesting that Ukrainian counter-offensive operations may have degraded relatively more elite Russian airborne elements that were responsible for counter-attacking in the area.
05:09 Elements of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division are reportedly deployed as far back as Tokmak, there it is, which is about 20 km away from Novoprokopivka,
05:23 continuing to suggest that Russian command has not manned the multi-echelon defence in southern Ukraine in depth.
05:33 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has lost his appeal against a 19-year sentence added to his existing jail term.
05:40 It was imposed in August after he was convicted on six charges related to alleged extremist activity, which he denies.
05:48 The 19-year sentence is on top of 11 and a half years that he's already serving for fraud and other charges.
05:56 Navalny is one of the most visible opponents of the Russian regime, which has incarcerated him since his return in 2021 after nearly dying in a poisoning attempt.
06:06 Internet giant Amazon's being sued by the Federal Trade Commission in 17 states over allegations it inflates online prices and overcharges sellers.
06:20 The lawsuit is the result of a year-long investigation into the company's businesses and one of the most significant legal challenges brought against it in its nearly 30-year history.
06:29 Seattle-based Amazon said the FTC is wrong on the facts and the law and had departed from its role of protecting consumers and competition.
06:43 British regulators have approved new oil and gas drilling at a site in the North Sea, a move environmentalists say will hurt the country's bid to meet its climate goals.
06:52 Authorities angered climate activists by giving permission to the Rosebank field development plan, claiming drilling will create jobs and bolster the UK's energy security.
07:02 One of the largest untapped deposits in UK waters, Rosebank holds an estimated 350 million barrels of oil.
07:10 Critics say it's the latest climate U-turn by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative government.
07:15 Four girls and two boys aged between 11 and 24 from Portugal have their first day of hearings at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on Wednesday as part of a case against 32 European states.
07:32 The Agostinho and others case accuses these governments of failing to tackle the climate crisis.
07:40 The motivation stems from the 2017 wildfires in Portugal, which claimed more than 100 lives with the case filed in September 2020.
07:48 They say they're already feeling the effects in their daily lives and also fear for their futures.
07:55 As I said with the fires, they are fires that are very close to where I live.
07:59 Fires that have already put my life at risk, the lives of my sisters.
08:03 School days that were lost because of the excess of smoke in the air.
08:07 My respiratory systems have not been improving properly.
08:13 We're talking about their right to individual private life, family life and also because they're young, their future is at stake.
08:21 So they experience the climate harms for a much greater period of time, therefore we're arguing they're discriminated against.
08:27 And the court also asked us to deal with questions of inhumane treatment and degrading treatment by virtue of the mental anguish and traumatisation that the climate crisis will create for them.
08:41 Their legal team expects a victory that would be equivalent to what it describes as a legally binding regional treaty compelling all 32 countries to rapidly accelerate their climate action.
08:51 It's a view shared by the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights.
08:56 I think the time is right that we move from words to deeds because as we know there are numerous resolutions, numerous conventions, wonderful, wonderful words on paper.
09:10 But the action is missing.
09:12 The legal argument of the governments in question says that the case has no supporting evidence to claim that the plaintiffs are in more danger than the rest of the Portuguese population.
09:21 They say that they're already undertaking their mitigation commitments within the 2015 Paris Climate Accords.
09:32 They are Claudia, Catarina, Martim.
09:37 A team of 86 lawyers represents the 32 governments.
09:42 The countries in question are the 27 of the European Union and Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Russia.
09:50 A spokesman for this team told Euronews that they didn't want to comment on this phase of the process.
09:56 Isabel Marques da Silva in Strasbourg.
10:04 Electric scooters are everywhere in Prague. There are thousands of them. Nobody knows the exact number.
10:10 Their boom started right after the Covid pandemic when tourists from all over the world returned.
10:15 And while they're designed as an easy, eco-friendly mode of transport, in the wrong hands they can be a menace.
10:22 The most common mistakes that cyclists make are riding on sidewalks, crossing crosswalks, going in the opposite direction.
10:29 They don't know the rules of road traffic and unfortunately often they also ride under the influence of alcohol.
10:34 City police officers have dealt with 13,000 scooter-related offences by August, twice as many as in the whole of 2022.
10:43 Over 4,000 people were fined and accidents and injuries are on the rise.
10:48 Managers of Prague's historic quarter wanted to ban scooters as they did Segway seven years ago.
10:53 But talks with the mayor and police are still taking place.
10:56 Scooters can be left on the sidewalk right in front of the city hall without any problems.
11:07 It would be optimal if the cities had the right to say what they really want and what they don't want.
11:14 And to do it with a simple, transparent power.
11:30 The city council is still looking for a solution that would ban and restrict uncontrolled parking of scooters on the main streets and main streets of the city.
11:41 Jiri Skáncel, Euronews, Prague.
11:44 (whooshing)