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00:00Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened with reciprocal measures if Ukraine does not
00:06resume gas transit from Russia.
00:1113 people have been killed and around 30 more injured in a Russian airstrike on Zaporizhia
00:20in South Ukraine.
00:22Russia has frequently launched aerial attacks on civilian areas during the almost three-year
00:27war.
00:28Ukraine's leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, continues to pressure Kyiv's allies to strengthen its
00:34air defense systems.
00:59Thousands of civilians have now been killed in what is Europe's biggest conflict since
01:03World War II.
01:05Earlier on Wednesday, the Ukrainian military said it struck a fuel storage depot deep inside
01:11Russia, causing a huge blaze at the facility that supplies an important Russian airbase.
01:23Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened with reciprocal measures if Ukraine does not
01:28resume gas transit from Russia.
01:31Speaking at a press conference in Brussels after talks with European Commission officials,
01:36Fico said Slovakia could cut off humanitarian aid to Ukraine, stop its emergency electricity
01:41supplies and reduce or withdraw benefits for Ukrainian refugees.
01:58A pipeline that runs through Ukraine used to be one of the four networks through which
02:12Russian gas flowed to the European Union.
02:15Kyiv decided to halt this gas supply as a transit deal signed before the start of the
02:20war expired at the end of 2024.
02:25In a post on social media platform X, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the decision
02:30to halt the transit means Moscow will lose what he says is one of its most profitable
02:35and geographically accessible markets.
02:47Financing its rearmament is a difficult balance for the EU.
02:52On the one hand, public finances are in the red.
02:55On the other hand, the Russian threat and the prospect of a US isolationist retreat
02:59are looming over Europe.
03:03In the wake of the war in Ukraine, different solutions are on the table to finance the
03:06continent's defence such as buying weapons together.
03:10However, the specific needs of member states in terms of armaments sometimes hinder this
03:15form of cooperation.
03:19The starting point needs to be what do we need to spend money on together to increase
03:27efficiency, become more cost effective, reduce the cost of what we're doing.
03:32I mean, talk about hypersonic missiles, air defence, cyber, satellite.
03:40These are all areas where if we work together, drone warfare also, if we work together in
03:46these areas, we will really get more bang for the buck.
03:51European common depth through Eurobonds could help finance the rearmament, but supporters
03:56of fiscal orthodoxy like Germany remain reluctant to borrow jointly.
04:02The idea behind more EU joint borrowing is the fact that quite a few member states have
04:09problems with their national finances and here this would be in a way then to use the
04:16collective power of the EU as a borrower to make it in fact cheaper to borrow money.
04:25We have done that in other cases.
04:28Some like Emmanuel Macron call for buying European in the name of strategic autonomy.
04:33Others prefer to place orders elsewhere to reduce costs or delivery times.
04:38It's also a matter of security, to think about what we buy in European, because of
04:43course what we manufacture in Europe we are a priority to consume, what is manufactured
04:48elsewhere than in Europe we are not a priority to consume.
04:50We have signed a contract.
04:51If the conditions change, if something happens in the Indo-Pacific or in Taiwan, Europeans
04:57will not be a priority.
04:58So in fact we have to secure our backyards and it's not that we should only buy European,
05:03I don't think anyone has that in mind, but we have to revalue the part of what is European
05:08in what we buy.
05:09The EU's role in this matter has been and still is limited.
05:13Defence remains to be an exclusive competence of the member states.
05:19Some 10,000 people have been evacuated from the German city of Dresden after the discovery
05:25of a World War II bomb on Wednesday.
05:30The device was discovered during the demolition of a bridge near the historic centre.
05:34Authorities have decided to defuse it on site.
05:39Dresden was the site of several bombing campaigns, including the infamous February 1945 air raids
05:46that saw the Allies drop 4,000 bombs, leaving the city centre in ruins and killing 25,000
05:52people.
05:56Italian journalist Cecilia Sala has returned to Rome.
06:03Sala was detained in the Iranian capital three weeks ago by police forces who accused her
06:07of violating the laws of the country.
06:10Her detention came three days after Italy arrested Iranian national Mohamed Abedini
06:15in Milan, who was wanted by the US.
06:18Washington accuses Abedini and another Iranian national of supplying drone parts that were
06:23used in a 2024 attack killing three US service members in Jordan.
06:28Italian analysts believe Iran was using Sala's arrest as a bargaining chip to secure the
06:32release of Abedini, though Tehran has refuted those claims.
06:37Sala was welcomed in Rome by her partner and family members.
06:40Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Maloney was also present to welcome her back home.
06:45The Italian premier had personally called the journalist's parents to inform them of
06:48her release.
06:50She credited Sala's liberation to the government's, quote, intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence
06:55channels.
06:56Leader of Italy's largest opposition, democratic Elie Schlein, also hailed her release and
07:01thanked the incumbent government for their effort.
07:06Lebanon's parliament has elected army commander Joseph Aoun as president, breaking a two-year
07:12deadlock.
07:13Aoun's emergence came after parliament held the two rounds of voting session to elect
07:18the country's president on Thursday.
07:20In the first round, the Lebanese army commander secured 71 out of 128 votes and fell short
07:27of the two-thirds majority required for an outright win.
07:31The vote, which saw all 128 members of the legislature present, took place amid chaotic
07:37scenes early in the session, with lawmakers shouting over one another.
07:43Aoun is considered to be the preferred candidate of Lebanon's key allies, the United States
07:48and Saudi Arabia.
07:50He now faces a daunting task of governing an overwhelmed nation, first by maintaining
07:56the ceasefire agreements between Israel and Hezbollah and working to revive an ailing
08:02economy that has decimated the country's currency and wiped out the savings of many Lebanese.
08:13Three people were killed after police opened fire and used tear gas on a crowd of supporters
08:18of Venencio Mondlane in the centre of Maputo.
08:21The crowd was celebrating the opposition leader's return to Mozambique following his self-imposed
08:26exile.
08:27Mondlane fled the country in October when unrest broke out after Mozambique's ruling
08:32party candidate won the presidential election.
08:36Earlier in the day, the opposition leader was greeted by his supporters at the airport,
08:41where he made a symbolic inauguration.
08:45Self-exiled Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González is rallying regional support for
08:53the opposition's claims that he won the July election against President Nicolás Maduro.
08:58Days before Venezuela's presidential inauguration, González held meetings in the Dominican Republic,
09:03having already made stops in Panama, Argentina and Uruguay.
09:08He presented Panamanian President José Raúl Molina with a photo of electoral documents
09:12that the opposition say are evidence disproving Maduro's claim to victory.
09:16On Thursday, González will meet also with the Dominican President Luis Abinader.
09:25No respite for Los Angeles.
09:27A sixth fire broke out in the iconic Hollywood Hills neighbourhood in the early hours of
09:32Thursday.
09:33Firefighters in the Los Angeles County area have been battling multiple wildfires that
09:37have been scorching the city since Tuesday morning.
09:41Officials say at least five people were killed in the blazes.
09:45Fires are spreading at a rapid rate due to the fast wind speeds.
09:49We are still facing strong and erratic winds.
09:53In Palisades and in Silmar, we are very much in an active firefight.
10:00And the celebrity favorite Pacific Palisades neighbourhood was hit the hardest.
10:05The Palisades fire is estimated to have damaged more than 1,000 structures, mostly homes.
10:12Many Hollywood A-list celebrities suffered serious losses.
10:16Paris Hilton's beachfront Malibu family home was burnt to the ground in the fire.
10:21And hundreds of other properties succumbed to the same fate.
10:25About five of my friends' house burned down that live up the street.
10:31And when it's a wind-driven fire, there's nothing, very little we can do.
10:42The fires have cast thick clouds of smoke and ash across multiple areas in L.A.
10:48Authorities say the air quality has worsened significantly and urge residents of the affected
10:53areas to stay indoors and remain alert.
11:01Rescue teams in Tibet continue to search for survivors after a 6.8 magnitude quake
11:07struck the country on Tuesday morning.
11:12So far, at least 126 fatalities have been reported in Dingri.
11:18It is one of the deadliest quakes to hit China in recent years.
11:22By Tuesday evening, a total of 407 individuals had been pulled out from beneath the rubble.
11:29While over 46,000 residents have been relocated.
11:35Rescuers fear harsh winter conditions and high altitudes could reduce the chance of
11:40people surviving.