Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00A new climate financing framework is agreed, but will it be enough?
00:11The EU foreign policy chief says UNIFIL has the strong support of the bloc after meeting
00:16the mission's commander in Beirut.
00:21A little-known populist takes the lead in Romania's presidential election, a surprise
00:25result that's rocked the country's political landscape.
00:31Protesters in Tbilisi accuse the government of election fraud at a rally ahead of the
00:35first session of the newly elected parliament.
00:44Like many before it, the 29th edition of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change
00:49needed extra time for an overall agreement to be reached.
00:53In the early hours of Sunday, exhausted delegates in Baku finally found a compromise on the
00:58most crucial issue of COP29, a new climate financing regime.
01:03The UN Climate Change Executive Secretary called it an insurance policy for humanity.
01:10Like any insurance policy, it only works if premiums are paid in full and on time.
01:19Promises must be kept to protect billions of lives.
01:26The sum agreed on to be guaranteed by the developed nations is at $300 billion annually
01:31much lower than developing nations had been asking for, with many delegates making their
01:36frustrations clear.
01:38However, as others pointed out, the compromise was accepted regardless, as there is now an
01:43expectation that this sum will serve as the foundation to reaching the goal experts say
01:48is needed, $1.3 trillion annually.
01:51It was very important for the African group to have that number, $300 billion by 2035,
01:58as a floor and not a ceiling.
02:01And we've been able, very late in the negotiation, to have the term at least to ensure that this
02:08can only be a starting base, a minimum, due to the vast needs of developing countries.
02:18Voluntary contributions by rich nations not included in the group of developed nations
02:23in the Convention, like China and South Korea, are supposed to help reach that ceiling.
02:28As well as multilateral development banks, investments by the private sector and revenue
02:32from taxes in the carbon markets.
02:35As did most delegates, the European Commissioner for Climate Action stressed that an agreement
02:40being reached in difficult geopolitical times was particularly significant.
02:44But he also pointed to an issue close to the EU's heart, where at least some progress
02:49also had been made.
02:51Ladies and gentlemen, another topic that was on our minds this week is reducing emissions.
02:57It was not the focus of this COP, but we wanted more, because the world needs more of it.
03:05And even though the UE consensus was attacked, we did move forward, even though it was just
03:12a bit.
03:14We did manage to safeguard Dubai and take some steps forward.
03:17It is less than what we have liked, but it is better than we feared.
03:24Next year's UN Climate Conference will be hosted by the Brazilian city of Belém, where,
03:29among other issues, mitigation in general and the Amazon rainforest in particular will
03:35take centre stage.
03:42The EU foreign policy chief has said UN peacekeepers stationed in southern Lebanon have the strong
03:47support of the bloc after meeting their commander in Beirut.
03:51Josep Borrell held talks with UNIFIL's head of mission and force commander Lieutenant
03:56General Aroldo Lazaro during his visit to the Lebanese capital on Sunday.
04:01That meeting comes days after four Italian soldiers were injured after two rockets exploded
04:06at a UNIFIL base in Sharma, apparently fired by Hezbollah.
04:10Borrell said that attacks on UNIFIL personnel are completely unacceptable and said the peacekeepers
04:15play a key role in an increasingly challenging environment.
04:19Meanwhile, Israel continued airstrikes on Beirut into Sunday night after Hezbollah fired
04:24around 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel.
04:29At least seven people were wounded in one of the militant group's heaviest barrages
04:33on Israel in months.
04:35Sunday's attacks in northern and central Israel came in response to deadly Israeli strikes
04:40in central Beirut on Saturday.
04:42Meanwhile, Lebanon's military says an Israeli strike on an army center in the southwest
04:47killed one soldier and wounded 18 others.
04:50Israel's military expressed regret and said its operations are directed solely against
04:55Hezbollah militants.
05:00Hundreds of Lebanese protesters gathered in Paris on Sunday.
05:07Their main demand?
05:08An immediate ceasefire.
05:10Since clashes between Israel and Hezbollah began a year ago, more than 2,000 people have
05:15been killed.
05:16Thousands of Franco-Lebanese nationals that are watching the conflict from afar say they're
05:20filled with anger and guilt.
05:22They are more than 4,000 kilometers away from Lebanon, but the conflict hits close to home.
05:28Over these past few weeks, Israeli forces have carried out heavy airstrikes targeting
05:32the capital Beirut and southern Lebanon.
05:35This is the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on a village in the southern Bekaa Valley.
05:40As a result, Mayad Sleiman's family home, shown in this video, is no longer habitable.
05:45The Franco-Lebanese doctor says he feels extreme guilt to be living in France.
05:50I feel totally guilty for not being there because I could have given a hand.
05:55I live with the rhythm of the messages announcing the death of a friend, the death of a cousin,
06:03a childhood friend in the village, an acquaintance in Beirut, a colleague, etc.
06:09And that's very, very complicated.
06:11Many say their daily lives are governed by social media notifications, trying to find
06:16out if their loved ones are safe from the latest bombing.
06:19We spend a lot of time following the news, although that obviously doesn't change the
06:24situation on the ground, but it's a way to lower the pressure for us and to make sure
06:32that our loved ones, at least, haven't suffered.
06:36It's about following the news as immediately as possible.
06:40Despite the conflict, many Franco-Lebanese nationals we spoke to don't want to move back to France.
06:46That's the case of this researcher who is going back to Beirut at the end of the month.
06:50My life is there.
06:52You know, it's not easy to leave even when you're Franco-Lebanese.
06:55My car is parked there, my apartment is there, my work is there.
06:59I'm going to come here.
07:01You have to look for work to move back.
07:04You have to find a place to live.
07:06So it's not easy.
07:08So I wanted to move as planned, by praying and telling myself,
07:13I'm going to go back and everything will still be in place.
07:17It's hard to say everything will still be in place and everyone will be there.
07:22On Sunday, the EU's top diplomat called for more pressure on both Israel and Hezbollah
07:27to reach a ceasefire.
07:35A little-known far-right populist has taken the lead in Romania's presidential election,
07:40a surprise outcome that's rocked the country's political landscape.
07:44Independent candidate Kalin Georgescu is leading the polls with around 22% of the vote.
07:50Analysts say since he lacked a clear agenda,
07:53support for him appeared to be a protest vote against the establishment.
07:57Polling second is Prime Minister Marcel Ceaulacu of the Social Democratic Party at 20%.
08:03He was widely expected to lead the first-round vote.
08:06Ceaulacu said before polls opened that one of his biggest goals
08:10was to convince Romanians that it's worth staying in Romania.
08:14Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania Union Party was polling third with 18%.
08:19Casting her ballot, she also spoke about Romania's massive diaspora spread throughout Europe
08:25and said her priority was to make sure state institutions worked properly.
08:29George Simeon, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians,
08:34took 14.1% of the vote.
08:36Pollsters expected him to face Ceaulacu in December's runoff.
08:41Simeon campaigned for reunification with Moldova,
08:44which this year renewed a five-year ban on him entering the country.
08:49Thirteen candidates ran for the presidency in the European Union and NATO member country.
08:54The president serves a five-year term and has significant decision-making powers
08:59in areas such as national security and foreign policy.
09:02The second round of the presidential vote will be held on 8 December,
09:06a week after parliamentary elections.
09:09Thousands of people have staged a protest outside the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi
09:14ahead of the first session of the newly elected parliament on Monday.
09:18Protesters vowed to spend the night outside parliament,
09:21accusing the ruling Georgian Dream Party of rigging the results of October's elections.
09:26Members of opposition parties have also announced their refusal
09:30to participate in parliamentary activities.
09:34The round-the-clock protests follow elections on the 26th of October
09:38that kept the governing pro-Russian Georgian Dream Party in power.
09:42Opponents say the vote was rigged
09:44and suspect NATO members of the Georgian Dream Party
09:47were involved in the election.
09:49The Georgian Dream Party has been in power for more than 20 years.
09:53The Georgian Dream Party has been in power for more than 20 years.
09:56The Georgian Dream Party has been in power for more than 20 years.
10:00Opponents say the vote was rigged
10:02and suspect neighbouring Russia of election interference.
10:06The Central Election Commission said Georgian Dream won with about 54% of the vote
10:11and party leaders have rejected claims of fraud at the polls.
10:15European observers said the election took place in a divisive atmosphere
10:19marked by instances of bribery, double voting and physical violence.
10:23Pro-European President Salome Zubishvili said earlier this month
10:27that she would appeal the election result to the Constitutional Court.
10:31The EU suspended Georgia's membership application process indefinitely in June
10:36after the country's parliament passed a controversial foreign interference law.
10:40The party has also pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin
10:44to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ plus rights.
10:50One person has died after a cargo plane crashed into her house Monday morning
10:58near the Lithuanian capital as it was on its final approach for landing.
11:03Local officials say three people were injured
11:06and had been taken to the hospital after the crash.
11:09Police said 12 people have been safely evacuated
11:13while firefighters tackled smoke coming from a building close to the crash site.
11:18According to the Lithuanian Airport Authority,
11:21the DHL cargo plane arriving from the German city of Leipzig
11:25smashed into a two-storey home near Vilnius International Airport.
11:30Data from a flight tracking website shows the plane crashed an hour and a half after departure.
11:37Lithuanian authorities say investigation has begun to determine the cause of the crash.