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00:00 President Zelensky says he is confident that the United States will not betray Ukraine.
00:11 Russian President Vladimir Putin says his troops are holding the initiative in Ukraine.
00:23 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave an end of year press conference on Tuesday,
00:29 in which he expressed hope for the future of Ukraine and his conviction that although
00:34 the U.S. Congress failed to agree on a 54 billion euros aid package to Kyiv, he still
00:40 had their full support.
00:52 Zelensky said he wanted to meet with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to find solutions
00:59 after suffering a tough blow from Hungary as they blocked a vital EU aid package of
01:04 50 billion euros.
01:06 "We have made big bets on the European Union.
01:14 We have achieved one victory on the European Union, 50 billion.
01:20 I am sure we have already achieved all of this.
01:24 The question is now for some time."
01:30 The Ukrainian President hailed the great victory of his country's army over Russia in the Black
01:34 Sea.
01:35 It is not known when the war will end, as he himself admitted, but the army intends
01:40 to mobilize up to 500,000 more people.
01:48 Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking at the meeting of the Defense Ministry's board
01:54 on Tuesday said his troops were holding the initiative in Ukraine.
01:59 Putin also says that the West continues a hybrid war against Russia and insisted that
02:04 Russia is not planning war against Europe.
02:07 "The enemy is suffering heavy losses and has spent a significant amount of reserves,
02:14 trying to show its real masters some result of its so-called counteroffensive.
02:24 By the way, the myth of the invulnerability of Western military equipment has also collapsed."
02:31 Russian Defense Minister stated this Tuesday that Russian troops now control a territory
02:37 in Ukraine that is five times larger than that occupied before the start of the war
02:43 in February 2022.
02:49 Russia has damaged or destroyed almost every building in the eastern Ukrainian city of
02:53 Advika, according to a new report.
02:57 It is part of a major assault plan, which has seen civilian infrastructure like schools
03:02 and hospitals deliberately flattened.
03:04 Over the last 24 hours, Russia has launched dozens of drones at Ukrainian cities in what's
03:11 become a nightly barrage, while trying to put together a ground offensive in eastern
03:16 Ukraine with limited success, Ukrainian troops so far being relatively well armed.
03:22 But with U.S. aid remaining blocked by Congress, the situation could change.
03:27 "We are still planning one more aid package to Ukraine later this month.
03:33 However, when that one's done, as the Comptroller, Mr. McCord, made clear in his note to Congress
03:40 today, we will have no more replenishment authority available to us, and we're going
03:44 to need Congress to act without delay."
03:48 Ukrainian President Zelensky thanked the EU for adopting a 12th package of sanctions against
03:53 Russia.
03:54 It focuses on imposing additional import and export bans, combating sanctions, circumvention
04:00 and closing loopholes.
04:02 The Russian Defense Ministry released footage it claims is Russian artillery firing at Ukrainian
04:08 positions.
04:09 For months now, neither side appears to be making progress.
04:18 Fourteen Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians have been found guilty of espionage against
04:23 Poland.
04:24 The court in Lublin found the defendants guilty of preparing acts of sabotage and espionage
04:29 on behalf of Russia against Poland.
04:35 The judge said some of them operated within the framework of an organized criminal group,
04:40 a spy network that has since been dismantled.
04:46 Among the operations being prepared was the attempted derailment of aid convoys to Ukraine
04:51 and the surveillance of military installations and crucial infrastructure in Poland.
04:58 The sentences range from one month to six years in prison.
05:04 Two other alleged members of the network, the only ones who withdrew their initial guilty
05:09 pleas, will be tried separately.
05:12 "Protect, strengthen, anticipate" - those are the watchwords of the 13th Belgian presidency
05:22 of the Council of the EU, which begins on January 1st.
05:28 The country will take the lead in joint discussions during what promises to be a turbulent political
05:32 period with the European elections at the beginning of June in its sights.
05:37 In practice, the Belgian presidency will not have the usual full six months to complete
05:42 the 150 dossiers on the table.
05:44 For the Prime Minister, the first priority is to protect citizens and turn the EU towards
05:49 the future.
05:50 "The second element is to strengthen our economy, an economy that creates prosperity,
05:56 that creates employment, that finances our social solidarity, help this economy to transition
06:04 to a sustainable economy, an industry that helps us to achieve the objectives of the
06:09 Green Deal."
06:10 When it comes to the EU`s Green Deal, the Belgian presidency will have to reach an agreement
06:15 on carbon emissions from trucks and buses.
06:18 It will also have the task of reaching an inter-institutional compromise on packaging,
06:23 which aims to reduce, reuse and recycle these products.
06:28 Finally, Belgium will oversee the first discussions on the bloc`s environmental targets for 2040.
06:37 A Belgian-style compromise will also be required to reach agreement on the revision of the
06:42 union`s multi-annual budget.
06:45 Last week, the EU`s 27 leaders were unable to agree on a budget increase requested by
06:50 the European Commission.
06:52 Finally, reform of the EU and the possible enlargement of it will be discussed during
06:57 this six-month period.
06:59 "It`s preparing our Europe to be more efficient.
07:06 And before we become bigger, we have to become better.
07:10 We have to become better in a quicker decision-making process that helps us to keep our unity."
07:17 The signals being sent out by the Belgian authorities on enlargement will be closely
07:21 followed by the 27 EU member states as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of the union`s
07:26 great eastward enlargement in the first half of the year.
07:35 Several thousand Serbian opposition supporters have been protesting outside the electoral
07:39 commission building in Belgrade after political tensions rose following reports of irregularities
07:45 in the country`s weekend elections.
07:47 An early official vote count confirmed victory in the parliamentary elections for the ruling
07:52 populist party of President Aleksandar Vucic.
07:55 But international election observers say the snap election was held in unjust conditions
08:00 with multiple reports of irregularities.
08:02 Opponents of President Vucic are claiming the vote was rigged.
08:06 "The opposition has also ordered to re-register the Belgrade elections.
08:20 Citizens have gathered in the King`s Street in front of the Republican election commission.
08:26 They are ordering, they are ordering, that they do not give a victory and that the election
08:32 was stolen."
08:33 Serbian populists have been in power in Serbia since 2012, despite this being the third election
08:38 in three years.
08:40 Observers say there is a chronic lack of pluralism in the country.
08:44 "In the run-up to elections, yes, there are some systemic issues and they have to do with
08:51 the level playing field, they have to do with the state of the medias in the country, the
08:57 freedom and independence of media and this must be improved.
09:00 Part of it had to do with the fact that the institutions of democracy, the parliament
09:06 have for a number of years been dominated by the ruling party.
09:11 In part also because the opposition decided to boycott these institutions in the past."
09:16 Some coalition Serbia against violence members have submitted their evidence of vote rigging
09:20 and are planning a hunger strike until the results of the Belgrade city hall elections
09:25 are cancelled.
09:28 The intensity of a volcanic eruption that began last night southwest of Iceland's capital
09:34 Reykjavik is decreasing, according to the country's meteorological office.
09:39 Icelandic authorities have created a safety zone in the affected area, which was evacuated
09:44 weeks ago.
09:45 Some residents are worried, others excited.
09:48 "I'm very excited to be here in this place, in this time and just being able to see this
09:54 natural phenomenon happen.
09:56 This is like something from a movie."
09:58 "Now this time there is a lot going on and the town involved, which might end up under
10:07 the lava that's flowing behind us.
10:09 So yeah, that's kind of mixed feelings to be honest.
10:12 So yeah, let's see how it goes and how long it lasts.
10:16 It's still amazing to see, but that's kind of a bittersweet feeling at the moment."
10:24 The Icelandic meteorological office explained in its latest bulletin that the eruptive fissure
10:29 is about four kilometers long.
10:31 There have been no air traffic disruptions so far.
10:38 At least 120 people have been killed and more than 700 injured in a 6.2 magnitude earthquake
10:46 in China.
10:48 As rescue operations are ongoing, many people will spend the night in tents in camps set
10:53 up by the authorities.
10:55 Houses and roads have been destroyed and high voltage power lines have fallen.
11:01 Electricity and communications were cut off in the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai.
11:07 The quake was the nation's deadliest in nine years.
11:13 NASA has used a state-of-the-art laser communication system on a spaceship 31 million kilometers
11:19 away from Earth to set a high definition cat video.
11:22 The 15 second movie featuring an orange tabby named Tatters is the first to be streamed
11:27 from deep space.
11:28 It took just 101 seconds to travel to Earth after being sent by an instrument on NASA's
11:33 Psyche probe.
11:34 Videos have already been transmitted via this laser technology from space, but from much
11:38 closer.
11:39 NASA wants to use this instead of traditional radio communications in preparation for sending
11:44 manned missions to Mars.
11:46 (whooshing)