Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned Elon Musk's endorsement of Germany's AFD party
00:06ahead of the country's upcoming elections.
00:10Thousands of protesters in Montenegro demand top security officials resign after 12 people
00:17were killed in a mass shooting.
00:22German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned Elon Musk's endorsement of Germany's far-right
00:27AFD party ahead of the country's upcoming elections.
00:49Scholz has largely disregarded personal criticism from Musk.
00:53The chancellor, however, is far more concerned with the U.S. billionaire's attempt at seemingly
00:57trying to get involved in the general election.
01:02Scholz also voiced his concern over the role social media algorithms play in shaping public
01:08opinion.
01:23Musk repeatedly backed AFD both online as well as in German media.
01:33This previously led to election interference allegations made by government officials.
01:42Austria's President Alexander Van der Bellen announced he will meet with the right-wing
01:46Freedom Party's leader, Herbert Kickl, after multiple failed government coalition attempts.
01:54It comes after he met with Chancellor Karl Niehammer, who previously announced his intention
01:58to resign after failed coalition attempts between his conservative Austrian People's
02:03Party, the center-left Social Democrats and the liberal NEOs.
02:16Van der Bellen said Niehammer is to remain his position until he appoints a new chancellor.
02:36Meanwhile, Austria's ruling conservative party nominated its general secretary, Christian
02:41Stocker, to succeed Niehammer.
02:49Thousands of people have protested in Montenegro to demand the resignations of top security
02:54officials after 12 people were killed in a mass shooting on New Year's Day.
02:59Protesters staged dual rallies in the capital Podgorica and in the central town of Cetinje,
03:05where the shooting happened.
03:07Many residents of Cetinje believe the police mishandled the situation and haven't done
03:11enough to boost security since the first massacre in August 2022.
03:36The shooting on New Year's Day came after a bar brawl.
03:39A 45-year-old man went home to get his gun before returning to the bar and opening fire.
03:45He killed four people there and eight others at various locations before killing himself.
03:51The massacre has raised questions about the readiness of state institutions to tackle
03:55the problems, including gun ownership.
03:58Police have said the shooting was impossible to predict, though the gunman identified as
04:02Arko Martinovich had been convicted for violent behavior and illegal weapons possession.
04:08Authorities swiftly announced a new strict gun law and other tough measures to curb illegal
04:13weapons.
04:14On Sunday, police said they raided several locations in the country and confiscated around
04:1920 weapons, more than 500 rounds of ammunition and explosives.
04:24Prime Minister Milojko Spajic promised draconian punishment for anyone who violates the new
04:30law.
04:34Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russian forces lost up to a battalion
04:40of infantry during recent battles in the Kursk region.
04:44Speaking in an evening address on Saturday, Zelenskyy claimed the battalion included both
04:49North Korean soldiers and Russian paratroopers.
04:54He added the losses were predominantly during two days of fighting in the past week.
05:20Ukrainian forces launched the unprecedented Kursk invasion in early August, achieving
05:26initial tactical success and marking the first time Russia was invaded since World War II.
05:36Heavy snow and freezing rain brought widespread disruption across Europe on Sunday, particularly
05:41in Germany, where the extreme weather caused major disruption to transport.
05:47Frankfurt Airport cancelled 120 of its 1,090 planned take-offs and landings on Sunday,
05:54according to the Fraport Press Office, while at the Munich Airport, only one runway was
05:59open.
06:00Authorities say they have issued black-ice warnings for drivers and pedestrians, advising
06:05people to stay home where possible.
06:09The extreme weather also brought widespread disruption across the UK, leaving many key
06:14roads in the north of England and Wales unnavigable.
06:18The UK's Met Office has issued eight weather warnings, while authorities in Ireland issued
06:23two weather alerts for some areas across the country following the overnight snowfalls.
06:29According to local media, up to 30,000 homes and businesses suffered power outages in Ireland
06:35as a result of the weather conditions.
06:41The U.S. has said that Russia is already providing military equipment and training
06:47to North Korea.
06:49In a meeting with South Korean leaders on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
06:53expressed his concern over deepening ties between Putin and Kim Jong-un.
06:57We have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology
07:03with Pyongyang, and that Putin may be close to reversing a decades-long policy by Russia
07:10and accepting DPRK's nuclear weapons program.
07:14These comments came just hours after North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the Eastern
07:19Sea.
07:20And also at a time of political turmoil in South Korea, the country's president, Yoon
07:25Seok-gyu, has been impeached after his short-lived martial law decree on December 3.
07:31Korea's democracy has been tested in recent weeks, just as American democracy has faced
07:35challenges throughout our history.
07:37But you are responding by demonstrating your democratic resilience.
07:41The United States has full confidence in South Korea's institutions, and we reaffirm our
07:47unwavering support for the Korean people.
07:52Blinken is making what is expected to be his final overseas trip in office.
07:57He is later also visiting Japan and France.
08:05Monday marks the fourth anniversary of the 6th of January attack on the U.S. Capitol.
08:11Hundreds of Donald Trump supporters breached the building in a bid to stop lawmakers certifying
08:16the results of the 2020 election, which saw Joe Biden win the presidency.
08:21And as lawmakers meet to repeat the process, opinion is split among Republicans over Trump's
08:26pledge to pardon all those jailed for their involvement.
08:30Trump said he would issue pardons to rioters on day one of his presidency, which begins
08:34on the 20th of January.
08:36Most likely, I'll do it very quickly, he said on NBC's Meet the Press.
08:41More than 1,250 people pleaded guilty or have been convicted after trials in connection
08:47with the 6th of January, with more than 650 receiving prison time ranging from a few days
08:53to 22 years.
08:55Some Republicans, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, are in favor of sweeping pardons for all those
09:00convicted.
09:01I think they've served their time and I think they should all be pardoned and released from
09:05prison, she said.
09:07But others believe it's more appropriate for Trump to look at pardons on a case-by-case
09:11basis.
09:13Veteran Republican Gus Bilirakis wasn't prepared to sanction sweeping pardons.
09:19You've got to look at it individually, some probably deserve to be pardoned, he said.
09:24But police officers who defended the Capitol are particularly incensed about the possible
09:29pardons.
09:30Many officers were beaten, some with their own weapons, as they tried to hold back the
09:34mob.
09:35About 140 officers were injured in the violence, making it what one attorney called likely
09:40the largest single-day mass assault of law enforcement in American history.
09:46House Democrats, who conducted an investigation into the attack, warned that the pardons could
09:50have far-reaching consequences.
09:53And Republican Bennie Thompson, who led the House committee that investigated the riots,
09:58said in his report that Trump lit the fire for the insurrection.
10:06Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgia Melani, appeared on Saturday alongside Donald Trump after traveling
10:11to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
10:14Trump and Melani attended a screening of a documentary addressing the challenges faced
10:19by some conservative lawyers within the U.S. legal system.
10:23The visit makes Melani the third EU leader to meet with Trump following his re-election.
10:28It also comes as tensions escalate between Italy and Iran over an Iranian businessman
10:34arrested in Milan under a U.S. warrant.
10:41At least 32 dolphins have died since oil spilled out of two stricken tankers three weeks ago
10:47in the Kerch Strait.
10:49The waterway separates the occupied Crimean Peninsula from Russia's southern Krasnodar
10:54region.
10:55Russia's Delfa Dolphin Rescue and Research Center said the deaths are most likely related
10:59to the fuel oil spill.
11:01Two Russian oil tankers were badly damaged in a storm in the Kerch Strait in mid-December
11:06with one vessel breaking in two.
11:09State media reported that both tankers were carrying around 62,000 barrels of oil products
11:14in total.
11:15In late December, officials said more than 3,300 tons of low-grade fuel had been spilled
11:21into the strait.
11:23Officials in Crimea declared a regional emergency on Saturday after oil was detected on the
11:27shores of Sevastopol.
11:29That came a week after a similar declaration was made in Russia's southern Krasnodar region
11:34after fuel oil began washing up there.
11:45For more stories, visit nyseagrant.org