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00:00The Freedom Party of Austria was commissioned by the Austrian President to form a government.
00:15Its leader, Herbert Kickl, does not hide his ambitions to become the next Volkskanzler,
00:19meaning Chancellor of the People, a term used by the Nazis to designate Adolf Hitler.
00:27The potential arrival of the far right in Austria could disturb the EU and threaten
00:30military support to Kiev, at a time when the war in Ukraine and Donald Trump's return
00:35to the White House are calling for collective action.
00:43They are definitely very much against the sanctions against Russia, they feel this is
00:47hurting Austrian interests, they are against sending weapons to Ukraine, even apart from
00:53Austrian neutrality, and they would like to see the earliest possible end of the war,
01:01regardless of what this means for the Ukraine.
01:03The rejection of immigration is one of the FPÖ's flagship projects, which advocates
01:07closure of borders, rejection of the right to asylum and relocation and remigration of
01:11foreigners in order to guarantee a homogenous society.
01:14FPÖ radically rejected the asylum pact, basically they say it's hopeless, we will not solve
01:21this issue on the European level, we have to solve it on the Austrian level basically,
01:26and they basically want to renationalize migration policy.
01:31Opposed to the European Green Deal, which he calls climate communism, Herbert Kickl
01:35could support a rollback in environmental standards in Europe.
01:39On the European side, the FPÖ leader wants to transfer more competences to the member
01:43states without advocating a total exit from the EU.
01:47They say they will not promote Austria leaving the European Union, but they want to change
01:54the European Union, essentially they want to return competences to the level of the
01:58member states, they would like to reduce the influence of the European Commission, and
02:05they are talking about a Europe of sovereign states basically, they would like to have
02:11a very intergovernmental type of Europe without strong supranational institutions.
02:18The FPÖ arrived first in the federal elections in September with more than 28% of the votes.
02:24Efforts to block it have failed.
02:27Now forced to make up a coalition government, probably with the conservatives, the FPÖ
02:31will have to dilute its policies.
02:42The German federal election is in full swing.
02:45Multiple parties have kicked off their election campaigns in what's being dubbed as one of
02:49the most crucial elections in German history.
02:52The Greens party began their campaign tour in Lübeck, where some 1,200 people attended.
02:58The event was headlined by Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena
03:02Baerbock.
03:04The Greens were quick to attack their competition, accusing previous governments under the Christian
03:09Democratic Union party of plunging the country into economic turmoil.
03:14The Greens promised to continue on the path of making Germany greener and pledged to continue
03:19advancing renewable energy projects.
03:22Habeck says the party's economic outlook is designed to address issues of concern to ordinary
03:27Germans, like rising rents and scarce job opportunities.
03:31He adds that unlike his rivals, he will implement policy that will make Germany affordable again.
03:37These are real problems that will not disappear, even if the majority of the government changes.
03:43And that's why we have to give answers in this election campaign that take these and
03:48other problems, such big problems, seriously and give answers that are as big as the problems.
03:55We need a policy that is ready to question what has been set as rules in the past.
04:03The Christian Social Union party also held a meeting in preparation for the upcoming
04:07elections.
04:08The party organized a three-day event in Bavaria, which reportedly featured businessmen and
04:13foreign politicians as attendees.
04:16The party's chairman, Markus Söder, presented a very different approach, instead opting
04:21to abort green policies, which he labeled as ineffective and expensive.
04:25His party pledges to vastly increase investment in areas like the auto industry, research
04:30and innovation, new technology, and defense industries, all areas the CSU accused the
04:36ruling coalition of ignoring.
04:38Research and innovation, which is important to us, which, by the way, has been constantly
04:42cut short by the office, aviation, space travel, AI, robotics, such things must be an elementary
04:47part of our strategy, but must not only be made available for the economy, for innovation
04:50in economic use, but also in military research.
04:57The CSU has already ruled out any possible coalition with the Greens in the upcoming
05:01federal election.
05:03Voters are faced with a critical decision on the 23rd of February, in an election with
05:07a lot at stake.
05:14Far-right French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen has died at the age of 96.
05:19According to his family, he had been in a care facility for several weeks.
05:26One of France's most controversial figures, Le Pen formed the Front National Party, since
05:31rebranded as the National Rally by his daughter Marine.
05:37Le Pen was an extremist on race, gender, and immigration.
05:41His controversial statements, including Holocaust denial, led to multiple convictions.
05:48In 2002, he ran against Jacques Chirac in the presidential elections, a race he was
05:53expected to not even reach.
05:58Chirac won by a landslide.
06:01The moment, however, is seen as a turning point for the party, now one of France's main
06:06political forces.
06:15A decade after the deadly assault on the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo,
06:21France paused on Tuesday to honour the victims, but also to grapple with the evolving challenges
06:27of free expression and terrorism.
06:30President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo led solemn tributes at the site
06:35of the attack, where 12 people were killed on the 7th of January, 2015.
06:41Speaking to local media, French Interior Minister Bruno Retaillot cited the recent attacks at
06:46public gatherings in Germany and New Orleans as grim reminders of why France must maintain
06:51a very high level of caution.
07:15The attack on Charlie Hebdo carried out in retaliation for the newspaper's irreverent
07:19caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed ignited fierce global debates about the limits of
07:24free expression.
07:26Ten years on, Charlie Hebdo said its research shows that while a majority of the French
07:31still believe in the fundamental right to caricature, younger generations increasingly
07:35criticise satire they see as divisive or insensitive, particularly toward marginalised communities.
07:46Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with the head of the Orthodox Church, Patriarch
07:51Kirill, asking him to consecrate crosses and icons he prepared as gifts for commanders
07:57of troops fighting in Ukraine.
07:59Putin on Tuesday said he thinks the troops will be especially pleased to receive the
08:04symbols of faith as the Orthodox Church celebrated Christmas.
08:09The Patriarch then read a prayer and sprinkled holy water on the gift boxes.
08:15Patriarch Kirill, who oversees the Russian Orthodox Church, has portrayed the Ukraine
08:20war as part of a metaphysical struggle against the West and gay pride parades.
08:27Russians and many other Orthodox believers generally celebrate Christmas on January 7,
08:32while most Western countries observe it in December.
08:36Ukraine, which has had its own independent church since 2018, has moved its Christmas
08:41celebration to December 25.
08:54U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said he would not rule out the use of military force
08:59to seize control of the Panama Canal and Greenland.
09:03Pressed on the issue by reporters at a news conference, he said U.S. control of both to
09:08be vital to American national security.
09:34He added that Denmark should give up Greenland voluntarily, while also threatening tariffs.
09:39President-elect Donald Trump said he would not rule out the use of military force to
10:08Trump has also floated having Canada join the United States, but he said he would not
10:14use military force to do that, saying he would rely on economic force.
10:19During the press conference, Trump further talked about renaming the Gulf of Mexico as
10:23the Gulf of America, and vowed to reverse Biden's move to ban offshore energy drilling
10:28in most federal waters.
10:35A day after the United States reported its first human death from avian flu, the UN World
10:40Health Organization insisted that the risk to the general population remains low.
10:46WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that the H5N1 virus causing
10:53the disease is mainly a concern for those who work in animal industries, who need to
10:57be better protected.
10:59It's not circulating in humans, but it is jumping into humans who are exposed, particularly
11:04those exposed to poultry or to the dairy cattle, the two sort of groups where we're seeing
11:10most of the movement from animal to human, but we're not seeing sustained circulation.
11:16The patient who died of the disease in Louisiana was over 65 and reportedly had underlying
11:22medical conditions, Dr. Harris said.
11:25According to the health authorities, he had been exposed to chickens and wild birds.
11:31Reports of bird flu cases also rose in Europe towards the end of last year, although numbers
11:36remain lower than in previous years.