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00:00Benjamin Netanyahu says a deal with Hamas to return the hostages held in Gaza has been
00:06reached, paving the way to end 15 months of war.
00:11The EU's migration chief says migrant deportations are a key priority for the bloc during a visit
00:17to Greece.
00:25Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a deal to return the hostages held
00:30by Hamas in Gaza has been reached.
00:33It comes after his office said there were last-minute snags in finalizing the ceasefire
00:37announced on Wednesday.
00:40Netanyahu's statement appeared to clear the way for Israeli approval of the deal, which
00:44would pause 15 months of war in Gaza.
00:47It would also see dozens of hostages held by Hamas in the Strip released in exchange
00:52for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
00:55The deal would also allow hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to the
01:00remains of their homes in Gaza.
01:03Israel had delayed a vote on the ceasefire on Thursday, blaming a last-minute dispute
01:07with Hamas for holding up approval.
01:10Netanyahu's office accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the agreement in an attempt to
01:14gain further concessions.
01:16Hamas denied the claims, with a senior official saying the militant group is committed to
01:21the ceasefire agreement which was announced by the mediators.
01:25The deal can't be implemented until it's approved by both the security cabinet and the government.
01:31Netanyahu is expected to convene the security cabinet later on Friday.
01:36A full cabinet meeting will take place on Saturday night.
01:39Hamas triggered the war with its attack on Israel in October 2023 that killed 1,200 people
01:46and saw 250 others taken hostage.
01:50Israel responded with a devastating offensive that's killed over 46,000 Palestinians.
01:56The military campaign has leveled vast swathes of Gaza and forced around 90% of the population
02:02from their homes.
02:13Humanitarian aid, funding and reconstruction.
02:16The European Union is ready to play its traditional role in the Gaza Strip.
02:22The 27 member states did not take part in the negotiations that led to a ceasefire agreement
02:28between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday.
02:30But despite this political distance, the European Commission wants to take immediate action
02:36on the ground.
02:37The European Union is ready to support the implementation of the ceasefire, including
02:42through our considerable humanitarian assistance.
02:47We're also updating our plans to possibly redeploy EU BAM Rafa.
02:53This would enable EU BAM to better advise and assist the Palestinian border authorities.
03:01We're also continuing our considerable financial and political assistance with the Palestinian
03:05Authority to support its reform efforts.
03:09On Thursday, the Commission unveiled a 120 million humanitarian aid package for the Palestinian
03:15enclave in 2025.
03:17The EU has the financial and political means to support the success of a ceasefire.
03:22And for some analysts, this involves the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza and the
03:28departure of Hamas.
03:30That will require pressure on President Mahmoud Abbas, who is the president of the Palestinian
03:35Authority.
03:36The Palestinian Authority, which the EU funds quite considerably.
03:40So again, the EU has leverage in that regard.
03:43President Abbas has been, I think, somewhat reluctant to fully return his Palestinian
03:49Authority to Gaza.
03:51So that needs to be addressed.
03:53And then finally, this will also have to be accepted by the Israeli government.
03:57And the Israeli government has so far refused to allow for the Palestinian Authority to
04:01come back.
04:02So here again, it's a question of pressure.
04:05For the analysts, it is up to the European Union to decide whether it wants to get more
04:09involved.
04:10And it will have to find a consensus among the 27.
04:14However, the conflict between Israel and Hamas has deeply divided the member states.
04:25Senior UN officials have met Volodymyr Zelensky and Kyiv to discuss ways to strengthen humanitarian
04:31support for Ukraine.
04:33The first comes as the UN launched the humanitarian appeal for 3.32 billion dollars to support
04:38more than 8 million people affected by the war.
04:42The UN said the funding was to support critical assistance for around 6 million people living
04:47inside Ukraine.
04:48Some of the money will also go to the governments of 11 countries hosting Ukrainian refugees.
04:54This is the first visit we've done as a joint visit.
04:58And it's a sign of our solidarity as the whole UN family.
05:02And you know, I really want to start there that we've been with you throughout this war.
05:08And we're here to demonstrate that solidarity.
05:12Earlier in the day, Zelensky met Britain's Prime Minister Kyiv Starmer, who made an unannounced
05:17visit to Kyiv.
05:18The two leaders signed a 100-year partnership treaty, with Starmer pledging to guarantee
05:23Ukraine's security for a century.
05:26Zelensky said he and Starmer had also discussed an idea floated by French President Emmanuel
05:31Macron for Western troops to monitor a future ceasefire.
05:35Zelensky has been engaged in a flurry of diplomatic activity ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration
05:40next Monday.
05:42Trump in the White House is expected to signal a departure from the outgoing U.S. administration's
05:47pledge to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes to defeat Russia.
05:51On the campaign trail, Trump has been critical of the amount of money Washington has sent
05:56to Ukraine, both in military and humanitarian aid.
06:00He also indicated he wants Europe to shoulder more of the burden for helping Ukraine.
06:08Recently appointed French Prime Minister François Beyrou and his new government live to see
06:12another day.
06:14François Beyrou passed his first big test on Thursday after his minority government
06:19survived a no confidence vote in parliament after the far right as well as the center
06:24left socialist party refused to support the motion that was backed by the rest of the
06:31left wing coalition.
06:33To appeal to the socialists, Beyrou, for example, promised to open talks to renegotiate French
06:39President Emmanuel Macron's highly unpopular pension reform.
06:44But the next few weeks will be complicated for the new prime minister as he now faces
06:49the challenge of passing the country's long overdue budget plan for this year.
06:54As a reminder, his predecessor, Michel Barnier, was toppled back in December after he tried
07:01to pass the country's 2025 social security budget plan without a vote in parliament,
07:07which led to the far right and left wing MPs to file a successful no confidence motion.
07:16Bulgaria's parliament has formally approved a coalition government led by the pro-European
07:22GERB party.
07:24Nearly three months after elections resulted in a deeply divided parliament, lawmakers
07:29voted 125 to 114 to elect Rozen Zelyazkov as prime minister.
07:35His center right party has pledged to restore financial stability and keep Bulgaria on a
07:41pro-EU and pro-NATO track.
07:43Among the main priorities of the government will be the quality of life of the people
07:52with a focus on health care, education and the development of the labor market.
07:58The GERB party finished first in October's early elections, the seventh in three years,
08:04but won only 69 seats in the 240-seat National Assembly.
08:10Zelyazkov and his party had made the necessary compromises addressing the ideological differences
08:16with its two junior partners, the pro-Russia Socialist Party, BSP, and the populist group
08:23There Is Such People.
08:25Greenland wants a stronger EU commitment to the territory's critical raw materials, according
08:39to one of its local MPs.
08:41These materials are needed for the construction of clean energy technologies such as solar
08:47panels and batteries.
08:49The EU is lagging behind compared to the Americans, the Chinese or even the British.
08:5525 out of 34 minerals found in Greenland have been identified as critical raw materials
09:02in a European Commission study.
09:04We would like to see EU much more engaged when it comes to rare earth.
09:09We know that 78% of everything that EU needs when it comes to rare earth can be found in
09:14Greenland.
09:15Right now we have more or less a Chinese monopoly when it comes to rare earth and therefore
09:20I think it makes a lot of sense and I think it's an overlap and interest between Greenland
09:25and EU to get investments to focus on rare earth, but also on tourism.
09:34The MEP says she is concerned about Russia and Trump's provocative statements, which
09:39do not exclude forced to seize Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark.
09:45The majority of the 56,000 inhabitants have a long-term goal of independence and exclude
09:51being in the US fold, she says.
09:54At this time, Greenland believes that there is a need to diversify and strengthen Greenland's
09:59cooperation with other global players.
10:03I think there's no shortcut to independence, even though it's the biggest wish and the
10:10biggest dream for a lot of us in Greenland.
10:12I think we need to see it as a long-term goal and then to diversify who we're collaborating
10:18with.
10:19So it should be Denmark, should be EU and it should also be US.
10:23So we're part of the North American continent and it makes sense to cooperate, for example,
10:29on defence, but we don't want military bases in Greenland.
10:35Since 2009, Greenland has had the right to declare its independence through a referendum.
10:41The MP, who chairs the Greenland committee in the Danish parliament, has suggested that
10:46a possible referendum could take place during the new mandate.
10:50Parliamentary elections will be held next spring.
11:00A SpaceX Starship rocket was destroyed in a failed launch just eight minutes into the
11:05flight.
11:06Elon Musk's company said it lost contact with the spacecraft after its engines appeared
11:11to shut down one by one.
11:13A minute before the loss, SpaceX used the launch tower's giant mechanical arms to catch
11:18the returning booster, a feat achieved only once before.
11:22But the thrill of the catch quickly turned into disappointment for not only the company
11:26but the crowds who had gathered to watch the launch.
11:29A group of people visiting the Turks and Caicos Islands captured footage of the rocket ship's
11:34debris flying overhead as the wreckage left behind a colourful stream of smoke.
11:40It was supposed to make a near loop around the world on a test flight after launching
11:44from Texas.