Latest news bulletin | April 8th – Evening
Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
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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/2025/04/08/latest-news-bulletin-april-8th-evening
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:00Belgian Defence Minister Theo Franken wants to increase his country's reservists to 20,000.
00:09Following a similar initiative recently announced in the Netherlands,
00:1218-year-olds will soon begin receiving letters to encourage them to participate in voluntary military service.
00:19The Dutch army already offers people between the ages of 18 and 27
00:23the option to try out a career in the military for one year, a so-called service year.
00:2918-year-old Matthias began his voluntary military service with the Dutch army in October.
00:35I didn't know if this profession was for me,
00:38so I decided to try this year for 10 years.
00:43The Dutch State Secretary of Defence said 17-year-olds will be asked to fill out surveys
00:47related to their abilities, motivations and affinity with defence,
00:51hoping this will encourage more people to participate and become reservists.
00:56The initiative comes as fears about Russia and doubts about the future of US protection
01:02are pressuring EU countries to boost their defence spending.
01:05NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte raised concerns about China's arms build-up and military drills near Taiwan
01:11during a visit to the Japanese Navy port of Yokosuka on Tuesday.
01:18RUTE called on the organisation's members and friendly nations to work together.
01:25Let's not be naive about it. China is supporting the Russian war efforts.
01:32China is building up its armed forces, including its navy at a rapid pace.
01:39So we cannot be naive and we really have to work together, assess what is happening.
01:46And therefore, I think developing the defence industrial base is so important.
01:51RUTE also said that his visit is to expand NATO's relationship with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
02:06Japan considers China a threat in the region and has been building up its military in recent years,
02:25including plans to acquire long-range missiles for defence.
02:29RUTE is expected to meet Japan's defence minister later on Tuesday and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday in Tokyo.
02:42President Donald Trump has announced the US will hold direct talks with Iran on its nuclear programme starting on Saturday.
02:52Trump made the remarks during his Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
02:58the first world leader to visit the US President since he imposed tariffs on countries worldwide.
03:05We're having direct talks with Iran and they've started, it'll go on Saturday.
03:12We have a very big meeting and we'll see what can happen.
03:15During their meeting, Netanyahu also vowed to eliminate Israel's trade deficit with the US,
03:21after his country was hit with 17% tariffs last week.
03:26I mentioned tariffs, it's a subject of some interest today.
03:29I can tell you that I said to the President a very simple thing,
03:34we will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States.
03:39Netanyahu said he and Trump further discussed ongoing efforts to get hostages released from Gaza
03:45and said they are working on another deal.
03:48Meanwhile, hundreds of Israelis protested against Netanyahu and his government in Tel Aviv,
03:56following their moves to oust top security and legal officials and to resume war in Gaza.
04:03U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed he has no plans to suspend global tariffs,
04:12despite another day of turbulence in global stock markets.
04:16Well, we're not looking at that.
04:19We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us and they're going to be fair deals
04:25and in certain cases they're going to be paying substantial tariffs.
04:30Following big swings throughout the day after Trump threatened additional tariffs on China,
04:37the Dow Jones closed down 0.91% at the end of trading,
04:42while the S&P 500 dropped 0.23%, marking its third straight day of losses.
04:49The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite gained 0.1% after fluctuating between losses in gains multiple times during the session.
04:59Europe's biggest stock markets all closed more than 4% down,
05:04with Spanish financial experts saying there are strong reasons to fear a global recession
05:09after the IBEX 35 index closed with a 5.12% drop.
05:14Inspections against foot and mouth disease in Slovakia have caused a massive gridlock on the D2 highway,
05:24which leads to the Czech Republic.
05:26Officials reported that tailbacks on both lanes were approximately 12 kilometers long
05:31and Slovak police warned the situation could get worse.
05:35Police said they had advised motorists to use smaller border crossings to travel to the Czech Republic,
05:41although drivers should still expect delays there.
05:44In late March, Slovakia declared a state of emergency because of foot-and-mouth disease
05:50after three cases were reported at separate premises housing cattle.
05:55On Friday, new cases were reported, bringing the total number of affected sites to six.
06:01A new outbreak of the disease has also been detected in Hungary from the Slovak border near Bratislava.
06:07The Slovakia government said it has reintroduced temporary border checks with Hungary and Austria in response.
06:14One American and two Russian astronauts who left Earth from Kazakhstan early Tuesday have landed at the International Space Station,
06:28according to NASA.
06:29The journey lasted just over three hours.
06:35This was the moment NASA astronaut Johnny Kim and Russia's Sergei Rizikov and Alexei Zubrytsky took off in a Soyuz booster rocket
06:45from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.
06:51They are scheduled to stay for about eight months.
06:55According to NASA, Kim is set to conduct scientific investigations and technology demonstrations
07:01to help prepare the crew for future space missions and provide benefits to people on Earth.
07:08Kim and the crew of Russian astronauts joined other astronauts already on the space outpost.
07:14King Charles III has arrived in Rome for a three-day state visit to Italy accompanied by Queen Camilla.
07:29It marks his first overseas trip since his brief hospital stay for cancer treatment side effects
07:35and will include the first address to the Italian Parliament of a British monarch, meetings with Italy's President and Premier
07:43and a trip to Ravenna to commemorate the city's 80th anniversary of liberation.
07:50Charles had been set to meet with Pope Francis, but this was postponed by mutual agreement
07:56due to the Pope's recent hospitalisation with double pneumonia.
08:00While in Rome, Charles is expected to emphasise the strong ties between Britain and Italy as NATO allies
08:08at a time when European nations are working to bolster support for Ukraine.
08:13The visit will also feature a joint flyover of Rome's historic centre
08:18by the Italian Fregio Tricolori and the RAF Red Arrows.
08:22Europe is in a rearmament race.
08:33The United States is disengaging from the continent
08:36and Europeans depend on American military support for their defence.
08:40However, there's one area in which Europe has a degree of autonomy, tanks.
08:45Added together, the armies of the European Union have a total of 4,262 armoured vehicles,
08:52slightly less than the 4,640 tanks in the USA.
08:56However, the situation varies greatly from one member country to another.
09:01Greece leads the way with 1,344 vehicles, followed by Poland and Romania.
09:08By comparison, Germany and France have 296 and 215 tanks respectively.
09:15While Athens stands out because of historical tensions with Turkey,
09:19Warsaw has beefed up its arsenal in response to the Russian threat.
09:23The case of armoured vehicles reflects the problems facing the European defence industry.
09:52The market is highly fragmented with several companies and several models,
09:57such as the French Leclerc tank and the German Leopard.
10:00We have the idea that we can be in retard with the Americans.
10:07In Europe, we have the knowledge, the studies offices,
10:11we have the technologies, the scientific research
10:14that allow the materials that are at the same level as the United States.
10:20Dozens of European models mean different training, different parts and therefore different maintenance.
10:27The question of standardising equipment has been raised for many years.
10:32But behind this production lies issues of sovereignty, employment and economic activity
10:38that European capitals don't seem ready to give up.
10:41The Netherlands has launched a so-called weed experiment in ten municipalities,
10:53meaning coffee shops will only sell legally grown cannabis.
10:57The almost 80 participating coffee shops will no longer buy from illegal growers
11:01in a move the Dutch government hopes will regulate the production and sale of cannabis.
11:06Ten companies are allowed to supply cannabis to coffee shops in the test municipalities.
11:19Preparations for the scheme first started in 2017,
11:23But it wasn't until the end of 2023 that legal weed went on sale for the first time.
11:28The important goal is that the chain is completely transparent and inzichtely.
11:33So that we can follow the product in a closed chain,
11:37from the milk to the bag.
11:40In addition to the quality, the effect on crime and public health will be measured during the experiment.