Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Romania's president, Claus Ioannis, announced his resignation on Monday, two months after
00:06a top court annulled the country's presidential election.
00:09Following the resignation, demonstrators doubled down on their demands.
00:13Ioannis had served two five-year terms, but his presidency was extended in December.
00:19The demonstrations against him continued in Bucharest after the announcement.
00:49Romania, plunged into turmoil after Carlin Dujescu, a far-right ultra-nationalist, won
00:59the first round of the country's presidential election, only for allegations of electoral
01:03violations and Russian interference to emerge.
01:14Romania is the latest country to join a supermarket boycott that has spread across the Balkans.
01:20The movement started in Croatia to protest rising grocery prices and a worsening cost
01:25of living crisis.
01:28In Romania, the far-right pro-Russian presidential candidate, Carlin Dujescu, took to social
01:33media to urge his supporters to join the boycott.
01:37He accused foreign-owned supermarkets of not selling Romanian products and eliminating
01:41cashier jobs by introducing self-checkout lanes.
01:45But others also criticized the boycott.
01:48Romania's minister for agriculture warned the boycott could actually harm Romanian producers.
01:53While supermarket prices are still a concern for many Romanians, some people have also
02:19started a counter-boycott, calling on people to support Romanian brands at their local
02:24supermarkets on Monday.
02:31A Hamas spokesperson said the next release of Israeli hostages will be delayed, accusing
02:36Israel of repeatedly violating the ceasefire agreement.
02:42The next exchange, scheduled for Saturday, called for three more Israeli hostages to
02:46be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
02:51Hamas says the Israeli military has targeted Palestinians with shelling and gunfire, and
02:56failed to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid as agreed.
03:01Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, responded by saying the delay itself was a violation
03:06of the ceasefire agreement, and instructed the Israeli military to be on high alert.
03:12Other Israeli officials said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed forward a meeting
03:17with a security cabinet to Tuesday morning.
03:20The Hostages and Missing Family Forum, which represents many of the hostage families, called
03:25on mediating countries to restore the existing deal.
03:36Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurdi's left-wing party won most seats in this weekend's parliamentary
03:41election.
03:42But his new term will face multiple challenges, including the revival of talks on normalizing
03:47relations with Serbia, a key issue in repairing ties with the EU and U.S.
03:52Albin Kurdi, Kosovo's Prime Minister
03:54Trump administration, they did not still make any statement about the dialogue, whether
03:58they want to engage or not, or to support it or not.
04:01And the EU has led the process in a way which was not at all convincing, let's say, to the
04:07parties.
04:08No Belgrade, no Pristina ever believes that the EU is firm, that it will provide any stick
04:15or carrot to incentivize parties to engage constructively in dialogue.
04:21Kurdi is also under pressure to increase public salaries and pensions, improve education and
04:26health services, and fight poverty.
04:30Left without a majority in the House, Kurdi's party will have to look for an ally to form
04:34the next government.
04:35The lack of a clear majority in Pristina and the divisions among the United States
04:40and the European Union on how to deal with the tension in the Western Balkans seems to
04:47create a very difficult perspective when it comes to reestablish a dialogue between Pristina,
04:55Belgrade, and the Serbian community of Kosovo.
05:03Belarusian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called Sunday a great day after the Baltic
05:07countries disconnected from the Soviet-era power grid and joined the European electricity
05:12network.
05:13The switchover, which the leaders of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania said held geopolitical
05:18significance, came more than three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
05:24It ends the Baltic countries' final ties to Russia.
05:28Their energy systems are now fully synchronized with the European continental system.
05:35Ukraine has already done this in 2022, and now the Baltic states have also got rid of
05:42their dependence.
05:43Moscow will no longer be able to use energy as a weapon against the Baltic states.
05:49All remaining transmission lines between the Baltics and Russia, Belarus, and the Russian
05:54exclave of Kaliningrad, were switched off one by one.
05:57The Baltic power system was then merged with the European energy network through links
06:01with Finland, Sweden, and Poland.
06:04EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the changeover was about more than just
06:09energy.
06:11It is about European integration.
06:14It is about European sovereignty.
06:18It is about proving once again that when we come together, we can move mountains.
06:27Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, you are at the heart of Europe.
06:36You work tirelessly for this moment.
06:40And today, all of Europe celebrates with you.
06:45The Baltic countries, which are all NATO members, have often had difficult ties with Russia
06:49since declaring independence from the USSR in 1990.
06:54Relations hit a new low over Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
07:00Sixteen power lines that used to connect the Baltic states with Russia and Belarus were
07:04dismantled in recent years as a new grid linking them with the rest of the EU was created.
07:10The three Baltic countries informed Moscow and Minsk of the disconnection plan in 2024
07:15to head off any hostile reaction.
07:23A high-stakes AI summit in Paris opened on Monday, where major world leaders are meeting
07:29as tech titans fight for dominance in the fast-moving technology industry.
07:33Heads of state, top government officials, and CEOs from around 100 countries are participating,
07:39including U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, who arrived on Monday.
07:43Vance is expected to meet many European leaders at the summit in what is his first overseas trip
07:49since taking office.
07:51The summit also comes as AI becomes the latest flashpoint in U.S.-China rivalry.
07:57Ahead of the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday said investors will pump
08:03109 billion euros into artificial intelligence projects in France in the coming years.
08:23The Paris summit, which gathers major players, aims at fostering AI advances in sectors like
08:28health, education, environment and culture.
08:34On the sidelines of the Artificial Intelligence Summit in Paris, the military community gathered
08:40to discuss how AI is impacting conflicts around the world.
08:44President Macron has been urging France and the EU to step up their AI efforts,
08:49especially within the defense field.
08:52But one of the main obstacles to increased EU cooperation is data.
08:57To be effective, algorithms require many sets of different kinds of data,
09:01some of which arms producers are reluctant to share.
09:17And the NATO commander said today's conflicts, such as Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine,
09:22demonstrate that alliance members don't have a choice but to keep up with the pace.
09:32You see that in Ukraine, so it's a matter of, it's a question of life.
09:36If you do not adapt at speed and at scale, then you die.
09:39The summit is already creating EU military cooperation.
10:04Helsing, a German-based company specialized in defense, teamed up with Mistral AI,
10:09a French AI startup, to develop next-generation AI systems for EU defense.
10:21At least 51 people were killed after their bus plunged off a bridge on the outskirts of Guatemala's capital.
10:30Others were seriously injured.
10:35A firefighting spokesman said a multi-vehicle crash sent the bus off the bridge before dawn.
10:43Guatemala's president offered his condolences and declared a day of national mourning.
10:49The Joaquin Ma Stradivarius, a masterpiece of sound.
10:53And we can start the bidding here.
11:19At $8 million. At $8 million. At $8 million. At $8 million. At $8,500,000 now.
11:41Sold. $10 million.
11:45Paddle 2.
11:49Paddle 3.
11:52Paddle 4.
11:55Paddle 5.
11:58Paddle 6.
12:01Paddle 7.
12:04Paddle 8.
12:07Paddle 9.
12:10Paddle 10.
12:13Paddle 11.