00:00 Mourning grips the nation in the wake of the Iranian president's death in a helicopter crash.
00:10 The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he is seeking arrest warrants
00:15 for Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Benjamin Netanyahu.
00:20 A UK court says Julian Assange can appeal his extradition to the US,
00:26 but the legal saga is likely to continue.
00:31 Global far-right leaders attend an event in Spain
00:34 as Vox rallies the party's base ahead of June's EU elections.
00:39 Mourning grips Iran in the wake of President Ibrahim Raisi's death.
00:49 Iranians gathered in the streets across the nation
00:52 to express their grief over the death of their president and his companions.
00:57 His funeral will be held on Thursday.
01:01 He was killed alongside the Iranian foreign minister
01:04 in a helicopter crash in a mountainous area near Azerbaijan, state media reported.
01:12 Local media report a total of nine people, including the flight crew,
01:16 were killed in the helicopter crash.
01:20 The group were travelling back to Iran from a ceremony
01:23 where they had inaugurated a dam with the Azerbaijani president.
01:28 State media said the helicopter was forced to make a hard landing in the mountainous region
01:35 after getting into difficulties due to heavy fog and bad weather.
01:45 Iran's President Ibrahim Raisi was 63 years old.
01:50 The crash in which he died comes as the Middle East remains unsettled by the Israel-Hamas war,
01:56 during which Raisi, under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
02:00 launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel last month.
02:05 Under Raisi, Iran enriched uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels
02:10 following the collapse of the international nuclear deal.
02:13 That further escalated tensions with the West,
02:17 as did Tehran supplying Shahed attack drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
02:23 Iran also saw mass protests on Raisi's watch against the country's Shiite theocracy,
02:28 its faltering economy and women's rights.
02:32 At home, Raisi will arguably be best remembered by the grim moniker "the butcher of Tehran".
02:38 He was defiant when asked at a news conference after his election as president
02:42 about the 1988 mass executions,
02:45 which saw sham retrials of political prisoners, militants and others
02:49 that would become known as "death commissions".
02:53 International rights groups estimate that as many as 5,000 people were executed.
02:59 Raisi's presidency also saw the 2022 arrest of Swedish national Johan Flodorus,
03:05 who was working for the Afghanistan desk of the EU's European External Action Service.
03:12 He's accused of spying for Israel and prosecutors are seeking the death sentence.
03:17 Flodorus is the latest EU citizen to be arbitrarily detained by the Iranian regime
03:23 on widely contested criminal charges known as hostage diplomacy.
03:33 The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he is seeking arrest warrants
03:39 for Israeli and Hamas leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
03:44 The warrants were issued in connection to actions during the seven-month war between Israel and Hamas.
03:51 The ICC's prosecutor said he believes Netanyahu, the Israeli defense minister,
03:57 and three Hamas leaders are responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity
04:03 in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
04:06 He must request warrants from a panel of three judges who take, on average,
04:11 two months to consider the evidence and determine if the proceedings can move forward.
04:16 Israel is not a member of the International Criminal Court,
04:21 which means that even if the arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and the Israeli defense minister
04:27 do not face an immediate risk of prosecution.
04:31 A hero for many, a criminal for others, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange
04:39 has been given right to appeal his extradition to the US.
04:43 Hundreds of supporters anxiously awaited the decision outside London's Royal Court of Justice on Monday.
04:50 Assange's wife, Stella, was among the crowds and released a statement after the verdict.
04:56 The judges reached the right decision.
05:00 We spent a long time hearing the United States putting lipstick on a pig,
05:07 but the judges did not buy it.
05:10 As a family, we are relieved, but how long can this go on?
05:16 The United States should read the situation and drop this case now.
05:23 Now is the moment to do it.
05:26 Just abandon this shameful attack on journalists, on the press and the public
05:34 that has been going on for 14 years.
05:37 Monday's decision is likely to drag out further what has already been a long legal saga.
05:45 Julian Assange, a 52-year-old Australian computer expert, faces up to 175 years in prison, his lawyer said.
05:54 He got indicted on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse
06:00 over the publication of thousands of classified US documents almost 15 years ago.
06:06 American authorities say Assange didn't just gather information for journalism purposes,
06:14 but attempted to solicit, steal and indiscriminately publish classified government documents.
06:21 US President Joe Biden, however, last month said he's considering a request from Australia
06:31 to drop the case and let Assange return to his home country.
06:42 Spain's far-right Vox party has held an event in Madrid that brought together right-wing figures
06:48 from across Europe in a bid to rally the party's base ahead of June's EU elections.
06:53 Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban sent a video address to the 11,000 supporters at the rally,
07:00 while French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was there in person.
07:04 Also appearing on video was Italy's Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni,
07:08 who said it was important to mobilise ahead of the June vote.
07:13 We are on the eve of a decisive election.
07:17 Because for the first time, the result of the European elections
07:22 could end with a majority of anti-natural and counterproductive.
07:27 We have to keep our heads down, keep our feet on the ground and our eyes on the horizon.
07:36 It's time to mobilise.
07:39 But the star of the show was arguably Argentina's President Javier Millet,
07:44 who's on a three-day visit to Spain.
07:47 He started his speech by saying his attendance was a moral imperative.
07:52 He went on to rail against socialism before taking a swipe at Spain's left-wing
07:57 Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who's refused to meet him.
08:01 They don't know what kind of society and country it can produce,
08:05 and what kind of people are in power and what level of abuse it can generate.
08:11 Even when a corrupt woman is in the limelight, it takes five days to think about it.
08:18 Vox leader Santiago Abascal acknowledged the growth of right-wing support,
08:25 and many saw the meeting as a significant step in international consolidation of far-right ideology.
08:34 But not everyone was happy.
08:37 Across town in Columbus Square, left-wing groups held a counter-protest denouncing Vox as fascists.
08:45 I'm here because in this Alegria we have a summit of hate,
08:50 and we must fight against the fascists because we must mobilise and defeat the fascist far-right parties.
08:57 The EU election runs from the 6th of June to the 9th.
09:02 (singing)
09:04 17-year-olds in Greece will be able to vote for the first time in the upcoming 2024 European elections.
09:18 Three students from an Athenian school share their concerns and hopes for the continent ahead of the June poll.
09:29 This is a great opportunity for us, 17-year-olds, to go and vote,
09:36 to reform Europe and to bring new people to the European Parliament,
09:42 who will represent our ideas and wishes better, and Europe that we want to see in the future.
09:49 They are certainly concerned with the issue of education,
09:52 the environment is also a popular issue that we must certainly look at,
09:57 and certainly the peace on European soil.
10:01 Another reveals how she keeps up with Brussels News.
10:04 We did various programmes at school, but also by myself,
10:10 and I generally ask adults in my family environment.
10:15 Did you get any information from the internet?
10:18 Yes, obviously, because it is a big part of my life, of my own, and of all my conversations.
10:26 A third student is emphatic to vote.
10:29 Yes, of course I will vote.
10:31 I believe that there is no young person who can observe his society and not find flaws,
10:36 but I believe that most of us feel incapable.
10:41 But with the opportunity that is given to us, our voice can be heard,
10:45 both in Europe and in the European spaces, and we can bring out representatives
10:51 whose views will agree with ours and our beliefs can be passed on to Europe.
11:00 I believe that the European Union is not so much in need of us,
11:05 who are not fully informed about the European Union and the European elections in general.
11:12 I believe that most young people see it as a burden that they have to vote.
11:18 Both the European Union and the political parties in these elections
11:26 seek to bring to the scales as many young people as possible.
11:29 On 9 June, young people over 17 years old have the right to vote for the first time.
11:34 As they say, there are many basic issues that concern them,
11:38 such as education, health, work, climate change and technology.
11:43 From Athens for Euronews, Yorgos Dimitropoulos.
11:46 [SWOOSH]
