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00:00Croatians reacted with mixed emotions after President Zoran Milanovic, a critic of the
00:05EU and NATO, overwhelmingly won re-election.
00:10Austria's far-right party and conservatives have reached a budget agreement on Monday
00:15which should cut the country's deficit below the EU's 3% limit.
00:25Croatians reacted with mixed emotions after President Zoran Milanovic, a critic of the
00:31EU and NATO, overwhelmingly won re-election.
00:37Milanovic won with 1.1 million votes, almost four times the amount won by his challenger
00:43Dragan Primorac, who is backed by the ruling Croatian Democratic Union Party.
00:48I think someone said it well, we voted against the HDP, we didn't vote for Milanovic, but
00:57in any case, it's good and I like the result.
01:01I think he's crazy enough to be countered and to do something.
01:07I listened to him in the morning when he said he would give a hand to the reconciliation
01:11and that it would continue according to the law.
01:14If that happens, it's OK.
01:16But listen, maybe it's too late and tomorrow it will be different, I don't know.
01:22We have to believe him, what else can we do?
01:26Milanovic is sometimes compared to US President-elect Donald Trump because of his combative style
01:31of communication with his political contenders.
01:35He is a fierce opponent of Croatia's conservative Prime Minister Andrei Plenkovic and his government.
01:41Milanovic regularly accuses Plenkovic and his conservative HDZ of systemic corruption,
01:47while Plenkovic has labelled Milanovic pro-Russian and a threat to Croatia's international standing.
01:53However, Milanovic denies government claims that he is pro-Russian.
01:57The incumbent president is against Western military support for Ukraine in the war against Russia.
02:03He is also critical of the European Union, accusing it of being non-democratic.
02:09I don't believe that he will change foreign policy so much.
02:12He was largely excluded from contact with other politicians in the European Union or in the world.
02:21But I think it is possible that he will be more aggressive in terms of carrying out his constitutional duties.
02:31Despite limited powers, many believe the presidential position is key for the political balance of power
02:37in a country mainly governed by the HDZ.
02:44Austria's far-right party and conservatives have reached a budget agreement,
02:49according to far-right leader Herbert Kicill on Monday.
02:53The two parties agreed to 6.3 billion euros in savings to cut Austria's deficit below the EU's 3% limit.
03:02Kicill, whose Freedom Party won Austria's parliamentary election in September,
03:07received a mandate to try to form a government with the conservative Austrian People's Party a week ago.
03:13The conservatives had previously attempted to form a government without Kicill,
03:18but lengthy talks with two other mainstream parties collapsed.
03:22Conservative Austrian leader Karl Nehammer resigned following his failed attempt to put together a new coalition.
03:29In the meantime, Foreign Minister Alexander Schellenberg has taken over as interim chancellor.
03:35Negotiations to form a new government could take months and aren't guaranteed to succeed.
03:45Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says he'll return two North Korean soldiers to Pyongyang
03:50in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Russia.
03:54That statement comes after the security service for Ukraine announced on Saturday
03:58that two North Korean soldiers had been captured in Russia's Kursk region.
04:04If Kim Jong-un remembers his citizens and can arrange an exchange for our soldiers held in Russia,
04:14we can send such soldiers.
04:16There will definitely be other North Korean prisoners of war.
04:20Zelensky said during questioning one of the men said he wants to return to North Korea,
04:25while the other reportedly indicated he wanted to stay in Ukraine.
04:29There's been no comment from Pyongyang about the capture of the soldiers,
04:33but North Korea hasn't publicly confirmed it sent troops to support Russia's war effort.
04:38Ukraine's security service said their capture was indisputable evidence of North Korean involvement in the war.
04:44Meanwhile, South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoting the country's spy agency
04:49said 300 North Korean soldiers had been killed in fighting with around 2,700 wounded.
04:55The news agency also said the North Korean troops are urged by their Russian commanders
04:59to kill themselves rather than risk capture by Ukrainian forces.
05:10Switzerland and Serbia are reportedly willing to host a meeting
05:13between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
05:18Nicolas Bideau, head of communications for the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs,
05:22said Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. have been regularly informed of Switzerland's availability
05:28to support diplomatic efforts to establish peace.
05:31Serbia's President Alexander Vucic said his country would also offer to host a meeting between Trump and Putin.
05:38However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no preliminary preparation was in place yet.
05:45Trump's incoming national security adviser, on the other hand,
05:48told ABC that a meeting between Trump and Putin was being prepared.
06:07An outstanding warrant for Putin from the International Criminal Court
06:11would be an obstacle to the potential meeting.
06:14Switzerland or Serbia would be legally obliged to arrest Putin.
06:18However, the Swiss Federal Council reportedly has the authority to grant exceptions
06:23in situations involving peace negotiations.
06:27Trump, who has criticized U.S. aid for Ukraine's war effort
06:31and publicly commented at the U.S. potentially reconsidering NATO membership,
06:35has sparked concern amongst allies and security experts.
06:40The U.S. President-elect has vowed to bring Kiev and Moscow to the negotiating table,
06:45at one point claiming he could end the war within a day.
06:53Iran's military on Monday said it has added thousands strategic drones
06:57to its fleet amid tensions with the U.S. and Israel.
07:00Videos broadcast on state TV showed various drones in an unknown location
07:06with Iranian Defense Minister General Aziz Nasrzadeh
07:09and the Commander-in-Chief of Iran's Army General Abdul Rahim Mousavi reviewing the drones.
07:14The development comes amid growing concerns over a possible attack against Iran's nuclear sites.
07:21In recent days, Iran performed air defense drills near its key nuclear facilities, Natanz and Fordow.
07:29BELGIAN UNIONS PROTEST AGAINST A PENSION REFORM FOR PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS ON MONDAY
07:36Railway traffic is severely disrupted with the mandatory minimum number of trains running.
07:42Prison guards, waste collectors and 24,000 teachers are also on strike.
07:4740% of flights have been canceled at Brussels airport.
07:51Five parties are negotiating for a new Belgian government and nothing has been decided yet,
07:55however, the strike is on for planned reforms that might be in the disadvantage of the workers.
08:06University students in Serbia have protested outside the constitutional court in Belgrade
08:11against what they say are civil rights violations under the government of Alexander Vucic.
08:16They also claim to have come under pressure from the secret service.
08:21Pro-government media have published personal data of some of the protesters,
08:25which wouldn't be possible without the involvement of Serbia's secret service, the BIA.
08:30The ongoing protests reflect wider discontent with what they see as President Alexander Vucic's increasingly autocratic rule.
08:38Vucic says he wants to steer Serbia towards European Union membership,
08:42but he's faced accusations of curbing democratic freedoms rather than advancing them.
08:50We support the children. We protect their backs.
08:54If someone touches them tomorrow, we'll go out on the street.
08:57The rally began with thousands of people standing in silence
09:01to commemorate the victims of a concrete canopy collapse at a railway station in Novi Sad, which killed 15 people.
09:08That incident triggered almost daily anti-corruption protests.
09:12Many in Serbia believe the canopy collapsed in November
09:15because of sloppy reconstruction work that resulted from corruption.
09:19Prosecutors have filed charges against 13 people, including a government minister and several state officials.
09:26But doubts remain about the probe's independence.
09:36Progress was made in ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, according to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
09:44Mediators reportedly presented Israel and Hamas with a final draft of a deal
09:49which they hope will end the ongoing war between the two in Gaza.
09:54Progress was made. We see some progress in the negotiations.
10:01Israel wants a hostage deal.
10:04Israel is working with our American friends in order to achieve a hostage deal.
10:10And soon we will know whether the other side wants the same thing.
10:18A Hamas official said a number of contentious issues still needed to be resolved,
10:23including Israel's commitment to ending the war
10:26and details about the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the hostage-prisoner exchange.
10:33At least one body has been recovered from the rubble of a house in Gaza City
10:38that was destroyed when it was hit by an Israeli strike.
10:42According to local reports, several houses in the Shujaia neighborhood in the eastern part of the city
10:48was hit by Israeli attacks over the weekend.
10:51Local media did not mention the number of casualties.
10:55But since Israel's war against Hamas began,
10:58more than 46,000 people have been killed and more than 110,000 injured,
11:04according to Gaza's health ministry.
11:07Meanwhile, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory on Sunday
11:12called for an end to the war in Gaza
11:15to ensure a better future for children there and the entire region.
11:20Mohanad Hadi made the appeal during a visit to Gaza City
11:24where he met with representatives from non-governmental organizations.
11:28The senior UN official also visited a church
11:31where he recorded a video message surrounded by displaced children.