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NewsTranscript
00:00 Finnish citizens began casting their ballots on Sunday in what is expected to be a tight
00:06 presidential election between the right and the left.
00:12 More European countries have followed the US's lead and suspended their funding of
00:16 the UN Relief and Works Agency.
00:21 A man was cleared of all charges after 33 years in prison for a triple homicide he did
00:27 not commit.
00:33 Voting began in Finland on Sunday morning, with citizens able to cast their ballots for
00:38 one of nine candidates aspiring to be the Nordic nation's 13th president.
00:44 Advanced voting started earlier this month, and the country's election commission reports
00:49 that more than 1.8 million people, or 44% of eligible voters, made their choice ahead
00:55 of Sunday's main vote.
00:57 The two leading contenders, Alex Stubb from the right-wing National Coalition Party and
01:02 Green Party politician Pekka Havisto, both have a wealth of foreign policy experience,
01:09 an important qualification for the role which is largely ceremonial.
01:13 Recent polls have put Stubb and Havisto within a few percentage points of each other.
01:18 Neither candidate is likely to get more than 50% in the first round, and so there will
01:23 almost certainly be a second round vote in February.
01:34 More countries suspended their funding of the UN Relief and Works Agency.
01:39 On Saturday, Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland joined
01:44 the USA, Australia and Canada.
01:46 The funding is suspended until the investigation as to whether UNRWA workers assisted Hamas
01:51 on the 7th of October concludes.
01:55 Although we've already suspended any additional allocations to UNRWA, we'll certainly consider
01:59 additional, depending on the investigation, whether that requires any additional changes
02:05 in the way we support UNRWA going forward.
02:07 Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hussein al-Sheikh,
02:12 called on the countries to reverse their decision, saying it posed great political and humanitarian
02:17 relief risks.
02:18 Earlier this week, it was announced that the agency had fired at least 12 workers suspected
02:23 in assisting Hamas to prepare the October 7 attack on Israel.
02:27 UNRWA Chief Filipe Blaserini said if suspects were found guilty, they'd be subject to criminal
02:32 prosecution.
02:36 Human rights activists claim that this is the biggest judicial error in Italian history.
02:41 On Saturday, the Court of Appeal in Rome fully acquitted Benjamino Zuncedo, who had spent
02:46 almost 33 years in prison.
02:48 Zuncedo was blamed for a triple homicide near Cagliari in 1991.
02:54 He was arrested, and a witness, the fourth victim who survived the attack despite wounds,
02:59 pointed at him.
03:00 Based largely on this testimony, Zuncedo was sentenced to life in June 1992.
03:05 He has repeatedly insisted he is innocent.
03:08 In 2022 came a turning point.
03:11 The witness who had accused Zuncedo admitted he had never seen his face.
03:15 The Italian police had twisted his words.
03:17 In November last year, the court suspended Zuncedo's sentence, and on Saturday, the justice
03:22 ultimately pronounced that he spent nearly 33 years in prison for nothing.
03:27 It is not clear as to whether Zuncedo will receive any compensation for being falsely
03:31 convicted and imprisoned.
03:36 Iran successfully launched three satellites into space on Sunday.
03:40 The announcement is the latest development in Tehran's ballistic missile capacity.
03:45 The launch comes at a time of heightened tensions for the Middle East over Israel's continued
03:49 war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, sparking fears of a regional conflict.
03:53 Whilst Iran has not intervened militarily in the conflict, it has faced increased internal
03:58 pressure to get involved.
04:00 A deadly Islamic State suicide bombing earlier this month and proxy groups such as Yemen's
04:05 Houthi rebels have intensified the pressure.
04:11 The annual Venice Carnival got underway on Saturday, and foggy weather didn't do much
04:16 to dampen spirits.
04:20 This year, the carnival is dedicated to explorer Marco Polo, probably the most famous Phoenician
04:25 who ever lived and the inventor of the word 'million'.
04:30 2024 marks 700 years since his death.
04:33 His book, "Of the Marvels of the World," describes how Europeans deceived the rest of the world
04:38 during medieval times.
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