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00:00Green light for an armistice. Israeli cabinet approves ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.
00:10Experts say far-right extremist and fringe candidate Callan Georgescu used a sophisticated
00:15social media campaign to win the first round of Romanian presidential elections.
00:24The cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved an Israeli-Hezbollah
00:29ceasefire deal, after he had recommended it.
00:55The deal aims to achieve a 60-day cessation of hostilities in Lebanon. It was not immediately
01:00clear when it would go into effect, and its exact terms are not released.
01:04The deal does not affect Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
01:13Russia launched almost 200 drones towards 17 regions in Ukraine in an overnight blitz,
01:18marking the record number of drones fired by Russia in a single attack.
01:24Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that while most of the drones were shot down,
01:28the shelling damaged apartment buildings and critical infrastructures such as a national
01:33power grid.
01:48In many regions, efforts are still underway to adjust the aftermath of the drone strikes.
01:54Zelensky also said a rescue operation was underway in the Sumy region after an attack
01:58on an auto repair shop killed two people.
02:00Meanwhile, in a rare official acknowledgement, Moscow said that long-range missiles launched
02:06by Ukraine damaged infrastructure and injured several servicemen in Russia's Kursk region.
02:12Speaker of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin urged the West to refrain from escalating
02:18tensions as it could ultimately harm the citizens of Europe.
02:39Volodin also said that the new Oreshnik ballistic missile was necessary to protect Russian citizens.
02:49Romania is reeling from the unexpected rise of far-right extremist Kalin Djorgescu, who
02:56won Sunday's first round of the presidential elections as an independent.
03:02His come-up went unnoticed by the political system, with his victory representing the
03:06first time a French candidate won a national election solely through a sophisticated media
03:11campaign.
03:13Djorgescu wrote a wave of public discontentment with the political establishment, combining
03:18with an intensive, years-long social media assault filled with anti-Western rhetoric.
03:23He is selling an utopic story, he is selling a dream for conservative Romanians as an opposite
03:32to the classical politicians that are very transactional.
03:35We have now a TikTok messiah or something like that, very successful, and we are not
03:41sure if he will be able to win in the second round.
03:49Djorgescu captured the protest vote against the mainstream political parties and their
03:54economic performance, using a well-oiled social media machine, propagating extreme nationalist
04:00and pro-Russian messages to devout followers.
04:30Bordering Ukraine and on NATO's eastern flank, Djorgescu's statements have all the hallmarks
04:50of a hybrid war against the West, following the same narrative which can be seen in other
04:54European countries.
05:01Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, the usual champions of austerity in the EU, are
05:07now being targeted by the European Commission for their high spending.
05:13A change that has not gone unnoticed by Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni.
05:20Yes, there are some rigid rules, but honestly I'm not the one that wanted them.
05:30So if there are strict rules, in several cases these strict rules were asked by, I'm not
05:46dressing my finger to anyone, but someone asked for these strict rules.
05:54Brussels believes Germany's budget plan is not entirely in line with expenditure ceilings.
06:01An opposition MEP points to the country's current situation as one of the causes.
06:06Now we see that we have problems in innovation, that we have problems with investments, and
06:14that's the reason why Germany goes into an economic crisis.
06:21But while some are being singled out, those traditionally in the spotlight, such as southern
06:26European countries, are now on the opposite side.
06:31Although France, with a deficit double that allowed by the EU, has presented a plan that
06:37is too austere, says a Social Democrat MEP.
06:56After a pause due to the pandemic, this is the first time that the fiscal rules have
07:01been reactivated after being reformed.
07:08Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has written her political memoirs.
07:13For many it is the book of the year.
07:16The 16 years of her chancellorship were characterised by stability.
07:20But in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, critics accuse her of Germany's dependence
07:26on Russian gas and a lack of innovation.
07:29Publicist Ursula Weidenfeld has written a biography of Angela Merkel in 2021.
07:36Hearing you spoke to her about the former Chancellor.
07:56Merkel was a pragmatic Chancellor, Weidenfeld explains.
08:00Her calm manner sets her apart from the serious current candidate for Chancellor, Friedrich
08:06Merz, who is considered impulsive.
08:09The workplace culture may return to its more patriarchal state if Merz wins the February
08:31elections.
08:40Demonstrates the political power of women.
08:41I think it is clear that not only in Germany but also in Europe and in the world the trend
08:50is moving against women, or women in the leading positions.
08:56And it is possible that this is what will happen in Germany.
09:01Angela Merkel was not innovative.
09:03She followed the wishes of her voters.
09:06With just under five months to go, preparations are well underway for the Osaka World Expo
09:322025.
09:34Delegates from around the world met in Paris on Tuesday to discuss the latest developments
09:39and find solutions to the different challenges encountered.
09:43The World Expo is one of the oldest and largest international events.
09:54More than 160 countries will present their latest innovations next year in Japan.
10:00But with only around 7.3 million tickets sold as of November, Japanese authorities
10:05hope to bolster their communication strategy to attract more European visitors.
10:41The governor of Osaka announced Ukraine will be participating in next year's Expo despite
10:51Russia's full-scale invasion.
10:53Moscow withdrew from the event last year.
10:57Organizers hope the World Expo will bring unity at a time of global instability and
11:02conflict.
11:03Expos are an apolitical gathering of countries, you know, and it's also a non-confrontational
11:08gathering of countries.
11:09It's a possibility for the world to come together, to try and talk together, and to have a dialogue.
11:15And I think that one of the things we notice, especially in the last few years in the different
11:20geopolitical context that we have and the problems that have been arising all over the
11:23world, is that we need a place for dialogue.
11:26We need somewhere where the world can come together and where, for once, perhaps we don't
11:31let our differences separate us, but we let our differences bring us together.
11:34The Osaka World Expo will take place from April to October next year and aims to welcome
11:40an estimated 28 million visitors.