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00:00The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, arrived in Russia's city of Kazan for the
00:06BRIC summit.
00:11The IDF said it has killed Hashem Safiyeddin, a top Hezbollah official widely expected to
00:16be its next leader.
00:21The European Parliament approved an initiative to issue a 35-billion-euro loan for Ukraine
00:26backed by frozen Russian assets.
00:31A statue in Berlin memorializing victims of sexual abuse by Japanese soldiers in World
00:36War II has caused an international row.
00:46The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, arrived in Russia's city of Kazan on Wednesday
00:51for the BRIC summit hosted by President Vladimir Putin.
00:55His attendance, in light of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, has been controversial,
01:01with the Ukrainian foreign ministry describing it as a wrong choice.
01:05Another controversial attendee is Turkey's Recep Erdogan, a NATO member historically
01:10aligned with the West.
01:15Putin has already met with several members in the BRIC's alliance, including India's
01:19Narendra Modi and China's Xi Jinping.
01:22The summit is sending jitters across Europe as the ever-growing club hopes to rival the
01:27Western economic hegemony.
01:29The bloc is now two and a half times the EU's economic size.
01:34High on the agenda are discussions on forming an alternative payment system for trade between
01:39members in local currencies, to bypass the dollar-based network, as well as other ways
01:44of promoting alternatives to the US-led global order.
01:54The IDF said it has killed Hashem Safiyedin, a top Hezbollah official widely expected to
01:59be its next leader.
02:02He was reportedly killed in an airstrike on southern Beirut in early October, not long
02:07after the Israeli military killed former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
02:12Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with several Israeli officials on Tuesday
02:18during his 11th visit to the region, including Defense Ministers Yoav Galand and Prime Minister
02:23Benjamin Netanyahu.
02:26He is hoping to revive efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, stressing the need for Israel
02:31to do more to help increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
02:37Gaza's humanitarian crisis is becoming increasingly dire, especially in the north.
02:42On Monday, the World Health Organization evacuated 14 critically ill patients from the Kamal Adwan
02:48Hospital in northern Gaza to al-Shifa Hospital amid a renewed Israeli military offensive
02:53and critically low aid supplies.
02:56The United Nations Humanitarian Office reports that Palestinians in northern Gaza are rapidly
03:02exhausting all available means for their survival, and that Israel is still denying
03:06requests to deliver much-needed aid to the area.
03:10The Israeli military has issued more evacuation orders for northern Gaza as it continues its
03:14ongoing siege.
03:19The European Parliament approved an initiative to issue a 35 billion euro loan for Ukraine,
03:25backed by frozen Russian assets.
03:28The plan received 518 votes in favor, 56 against and 61 abstentions in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
03:35It will be part of a framework that will make future revenues from Russian central bank
03:40assets frozen in the EU available to Ukraine.
03:43Some 210 billion euros in assets have been held in the European Union territory since
03:49the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
03:59Russia appears to be trying to reduce tensions with South Korea, following reports of intensified
04:05North Korea cooperation, including the intelligence warnings that North Korean troops have been
04:11deployed to Russia for training.
04:13What do we know?
04:15According to Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Krylov Budanov, the first group of
04:192,600 soldiers will be deployed to Russia's Kursk region, where Ukraine is holding significant
04:28territories following the incursion from the beginning of August.
04:33Ukrainian forces recently advanced on the western side of the Ukrainian salient in Kursk
04:37region amid continued fighting within and west of the salient.
04:42Budanov said that close to 11,000 North Korean troops are in Russia and will be ready to
04:48fight in Ukraine by the 1st of November.
04:51According to South Korean intelligence, North Korea has sent 1,500 soldiers to Russia for
04:58training, describing the move as the first step in the secretive state's military involvement
05:03in Moscow's war against Ukraine.
05:07Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed that Russia-North Korea cooperation, quote,
05:11should not cause concern to other states, and that information about the alleged presence
05:16of North Korean troops in Russia may be, quote, contradictory.
05:21The Kremlin's attempts to assure South Korea that its cooperation with North Korea is not
05:26a threat to Seoul suggest that Moscow remains very concerned about the prospect of Seoul's
05:32potential pivot towards providing Ukraine with necessary military support, given that
05:38South Korea is one of the top 10 arms exporters in the world.
05:47Dozens of funeral crosses line the road leading to this factory owned by the car parts giant
05:53Valeo in northwestern France, a symbol of the 300 employees at risk of losing their
05:59jobs.
06:00Since Monday night, the workers at this plant that produces battery cooling systems for
06:12electric vehicles are on strike.
06:15Two other factories nationwide are also on the brink of shutting down.
06:19It's a constant source of stress and anxiety for the employees.
06:23Following car sales, companies like Valeo searching for cheaper labor abroad, and the
06:49EU Commission's goal to switch to all-electric vehicles by 2035 are all causing a crisis
06:56within the car industry across Europe.
06:59Many workers at the Valeo plant even wonder whether the car industry has a future in Europe.
07:18Foreign news reached out to Valeo, but the company refused to answer any of our questions.
07:22The fate of the three plants should be decided by mid-December.
07:34This statue on a quiet residential street in Berlin is at the center of an international
07:40row.
07:41It memorializes women, mostly from Korea, who were forced to have sex with Japanese
07:47soldiers during World War II, known as comfort women.
07:52Japan has called for the statue to be brought down.
07:55Some politicians in Berlin are siding with Tokyo.
07:59The local Korean NGO behind the memorial, known as the Statue of Peace, says it will
08:04sue the local district of Mitte to keep it in place.
08:09The group says it's not just about defending the rights of Korean women.
08:14In the history, I think every woman can imagine what can be happened in the wartime if you
08:23are not protected and the soldiers are coming and raping you.
08:28So every woman can identify with the Statue of Peace.
08:35The memorial was put up four years ago.
08:37Japan has been raising the issue with the German government as well as local officials.
08:43The local district said that the statue needs to be taken down by the end of this month,
08:49setting time limits for temporary art in public places.
08:53The district told Euronews that Japanese and Korean officials have visited its office,
08:59threatening to worsen relations with Germany.
09:02The district says that there was a questioning of aid to Ukraine, as well as a possible
09:07termination of the sister city relationship between Tokyo and Berlin.
09:13Japan says that it never suggested ending the relationship.
09:18In a press release in May, the mayor of Berlin called the statue a one-sided portrayal after
09:24a meeting in Tokyo with the Japanese foreign minister.
09:28Berlin's local government told Euronews that it is talking to the district and federal
09:32government to replace the statue with a more general memorial for women who face sexual
09:38violence during conflicts.
09:41It also stated that it will be expanding its relationship with Tokyo.
09:46An expert on German-Japanese relations said the government is prioritizing its economic
09:51and security ties with Japan over South Korea.
09:56Both partners should be treated quite equally.
10:01So far, this case of the Comfort Women statue in Berlin lacks a bit of that cautious and
10:10balanced approach.
10:11A source with the foreign office told Euronews that freedom of opinion and of the arts are
10:16fundamental to Germany's constitution.
10:19However, they said that what happens with the statue is up to the district, and the
10:24foreign office cannot provide instructions on the subject.
10:28Japan's embassy told Euronews that the statue serves as a symbol to denounce its country
10:34and that the memorial has caused unrest in Berlin.
10:39Like the mayor of Berlin, the embassy also called the statue one-sided.
10:44A petition arguing to keep the statue up has garnered 3,000 signatures.
10:51It's not only our wish, but many people who are living in this area, they want to keep
11:00the statue of peace.
11:08Authorities in Bulgaria say they have seized a large quantity of counterfeit banknotes
11:13after dismantling an operation for its production.
11:16The fake money, with denominations of 50 Bulgarian leva, 50 US dollars and 500 euros,
11:23had been released into circulation.
11:25According to the investigators, the superfake banknotes were also seized in some European
11:30Union countries.
11:33Investigators called it a very serious attack against the entire financial system of Bulgaria
11:38and the European Union.

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