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00:00Syrian insurgents have reached the suburbs of the capital Damascus, opposition activists
00:08and a rebel commander said on Saturday.
00:11The insurgent commander posted on telegram that opposition forces are headed to Damascus
00:16from southern Syria.
00:20The advance comes less than a week after taking control of Syria's largest city Aleppo.
00:26In their lightning-fast offensive, the rebels managed to move south and capture Hama, before
00:31starting an advance on the city of Homs.
00:35On Saturday, insurgent fighters claimed to have seized most of the country's south, as
00:39government forces withdrew there, sending large numbers of reinforcements to defend
00:44Homs.
00:46If the insurgents capture Homs, they would cut the link between Damascus, President Assad's
00:51seat of power and the coastal region where the President enjoys wide support.
01:02Vladimir Putin has signed a treaty offering security guarantees to Belarus, including
01:07the possible use of Russian nuclear weapons.
01:10The signing of the pact in Minsk follows the publication of a revised version of Russia's
01:15nuclear doctrine, which for the first time placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella.
01:21Speaking alongside Belarus's President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said he was sure the treaty
01:25would ensure the security of Russia and Belarus.
01:29Lukashenko asked Putin to deploy more advanced weapons in Belarus, including the new Areshnik
01:35ballistic missile that Russia used for the first time in Ukraine last month.
01:39Putin has hailed the Areshnik missile's capability, saying that it's immune to interception by
01:44any existing air defense systems.
01:47Lukashenko, who's ruled Belarus for more than 30 years and relies on Russian subsidies
01:52and support, allowed Moscow to use his country's territory to launch the invasion of Ukraine.
02:02France's iconic Notre Dame Cathedral is reopening its doors on Saturday for the first time since
02:08a devastating fire nearly destroyed the 861-year-old landmark in 2019.
02:15The structure took almost two centuries to build, making the short five-year restoration
02:20timeline a welcome achievement for French President Emmanuel Macron amid domestic political
02:26turmoil.
02:28Fifteen hundred guests are attending Saturday's opening ceremony, including U.S. President-elect
02:33Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Britain's Prince William.
02:40Public viewing areas along the Seine's southern bank will accommodate 40,000 spectators, who
02:45can follow the celebrations on large screens.
02:49Security will be tight all through the weekend, echoing measures taken during the Paris Olympics
02:54earlier this year.
03:02Police in Georgia have used water cannon and tear gas to break up mass protests sparked
03:07by the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union.
03:13More than 400 protesters, including opposition leaders and activists, have been detained
03:17and more than 100 people treated for injuries.
03:21The ruling Georgian Dream retained control of parliament in the disputed 26th of October
03:26election, a vote widely seen as a referendum on Georgia's EU aspirations.
03:32The opposition accused the governing party of rigging the vote with the help of neighboring
03:36Russia to keep the Moscow-friendly Georgian Dream party in power.
03:41But the protests against the election spread beyond Tbilisi after the decision last Thursday
03:45to put EU accession talks on hold until at least 2028.
03:50That was in response to a European Parliament resolution that criticized the elections as
03:54neither free nor fair.
04:00Alice Wiedel is now officially the first chancellor candidate the German far-right party AFD presented
04:05for the upcoming snap elections set for February 2025.
04:10Although in practice she has no chance of taking the chancellery as other parties refuse
04:14to work with the populist party, the alternative for Germany has been getting strong approval
04:18rates and is currently the second strongest party polling between 18 and 19 percent in
04:22nationwide surveys.
04:33The 45-year-old economist has co-led the party since 2022 and she promises to turn back the
04:38country's climate-friendly energy transition and cut down harshly on migration.