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00:00French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to name a new prime minister after days of
00:05political deadlock triggered by the ousting of Michel Barnier by the parliament.
00:15At least 25 Palestinians have been killed and dozens of others wounded in an Israeli
00:20airstrike on central Gaza.
00:23Officials at two hospitals said they'd received the bodies of those killed in the strike which
00:27hit a residential building in the Nusayrat refugee camp.
00:32Palestinian medics also reported that over 40 people, most of them children, were receiving
00:36treatment at both hospitals.
00:39Al-Aqsa Hospital said that the Israeli attack also damaged several nearby houses.
00:45That strike came just hours after U.S. President Joe Biden's national security adviser raised
00:50hopes about a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that would end the war in the Strip.
00:55Israel is trying to eliminate Hamas, which led the attack on southern Israel in October
01:002023 that sparked the war in Gaza.
01:04At least 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others taken hostage in that incursion.
01:11Gaza's health ministry says over 44,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, more than half of
01:17them women and children.
01:19But the ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
01:28A new prime minister is expected to be named in France this Friday as President Emmanuel
01:33Macron returns to Paris after a visit to Poland.
01:37The visit to Warsaw on Thursday came amid a wait back home by both Macron's political
01:43allies and rivals to appoint a new government chief.
01:47Prime Minister Michel Barnier resigned last week following a historic no-confidence vote
01:52prompted by budget disputes.
01:55Barnier's ousting by parliament after only three months in office pushed France into
01:59a fresh crisis.
02:01According to local reports, a final meeting by President Macron this Friday with party
02:06leaders at the Elysee Palace is expected to result in the announcement of a new prime
02:11minister and bring an end to days of political deadlock.
02:18Just days after the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, European Home Affairs
02:25ministers are discussing what fate awaits the thousands of Syrian refugees in Europe.
02:32European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, says that while
02:36voluntary returns are encouraged, it is too soon to discuss deportations.
02:41Austria's interior minister, on the other hand, wants to start preparing for such a
02:46scenario as soon as possible.
02:59On the other hand, Körner's German counterpart, Nancy Faeser, echoed Brunner in wanting to
03:04await how the situation in Syria unfolds.
03:08She also emphasized the important contribution Syrian refugees have made to her country.
03:15I would also like to emphasize the people who work in Germany, in Syria, who make an
03:21important contribution to us, for example in health institutions, as nurses or as doctors.
03:28We have a lot of doctors from Syria in Germany who are happy to stay in Germany and are welcome
03:35to us as long as they follow the laws and work for us.
03:39Germany has welcomed more Syrian refugees than any other EU country in recent years.
03:45But some conservative hardliners are now calling for their return.
03:53A delegation from the European Parliament has visited Georgia and marched with pro-EU
03:58protesters.
03:59That comes as demonstrations against the government's decision to suspend accession talks are now
04:04in a second week.
04:06Police have reportedly resorted to more heavy-handed tactics in a bid to clamp down on the unrest,
04:12with more than 400 protesters detained and at least 100 treated for injuries.
04:17The ruling Georgian Dream retained control of parliament in the disputed 26th October
04:22elections.
04:24The opposition accused the governing party of rigging the vote with the help of neighboring
04:28Russia to keep what they call the Moscow-friendly Georgian Dream in power.
04:33But the protests against the election took on a new dimension after the Georgian Dream's
04:37decision on the 28th November to put EU accession talks on hold until 2028.
04:43That decision was in response to a European Parliament resolution that criticized the
04:47elections as neither free nor fair.
04:50International observers say they saw instances of violence, bribery and double voting at
04:55the polls, prompting some EU lawmakers to demand a rerun.
05:03Hundreds of protesters have staged a rally outside Serbia's state television headquarters
05:11in Belgrade, as the wave of demonstrations against the government of Aleksandar Vucic
05:15continues to grow.
05:17The protesters say they're angry that RTS television is carrying Vucic's allegations
05:22that the students were paid by the West to overthrow his government.
05:27They brought improvised money bags to the headquarters of RTS, which has been accused
05:31of spreading the nationalist pro-government narrative for years.
05:35Classes at more than 40 university faculties throughout Serbia have been suspended for
05:40days.
05:42The protests initially erupted last month after a concrete canopy collapsed at a railway
05:47station in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 15 people.
05:51Many in Serbia blame the canopy collapse on rampant corruption in the country that led
05:55to sloppy renovation work at the station building.
05:59The disaster has become a flashpoint for broader dissatisfaction with the president's
06:04increasingly autocratic rule, reflecting public demands for democratic changes.
06:09Almost daily protests have been held since the 1st of November in Novi Sad, Belgrade
06:14and other cities across Serbia which have sometimes turned violent.
06:22NATO's Secretary General Mark Rutte wants NATO countries to increase defence spending
06:27well beyond the 2% of GDP to which they are now committed.
06:32To this end, he has asked citizens to help put pressure on their governments and even
06:37make sacrifices.
06:39Your politicians need to listen to your voices.
06:43Tell them you accept to make sacrifices today so that we can stay safe tomorrow.
06:49Tell them they need to spend more on defence so that we can continue to live in peace.
06:54For example, Rutte believes that cuts will have to be made in pensions, healthcare and
06:59security systems in order to increase defence spending.
07:06If we don't spend more together now to prevent war, we will pay a much, much, much higher
07:13price later to fight it. Not billions, but trillions of euros.
07:19Rutte has argued that NATO faces a threat equal to or greater than the Cold War.
07:33Romania and Bulgaria finally received the green light on Thursday to become full members
07:39of the passport-free Schengen area.
07:41This breakthrough was made possible after Austria agreed to lift its long-held veto
07:46on the accession of the two Eastern European countries, which was initially due to concerns
07:51about migration.
07:52In practice, the deal means the abolition of checks at internal land borders, although
07:57some checks will still remain.
07:59Although practically they will be fully members by the start of 2025, there will be some internal
08:09border controls placed by Hungary at the Romanian border and then also in the border
08:16between Bulgaria and Romania for at least six months.
08:21The Schengen area is experiencing a delicate period, with at least eight countries reintroducing
08:28temporary internal border checks one after the other, among them Germany and more recently
08:34the Netherlands, both citing a risk of irregular migration or cross-border crime.
08:39All countries have notified the EU Commission, but an analyst suggests the issue is more
08:45political than security related.
08:48So it seems that more and more countries are actually using border controls. I don't know
08:55whether or how real the risk is and how effectively these border controls can actually respond
09:04to the reasons that are stated in the notifications. But I guess they also serve as this tool to
09:17kind of say to the domestic public that we are doing something. Internal border controls
09:23may not be that invasive, actually. They may be only like random checks at the border.
09:30The Schengen Agreement was founded on the principles of strengthening external borders,
09:35allowing member states to trust one another. However, this trust has been challenged by
09:40some member states regarding migration issues. There is hope among some that implementing
09:46the Asylum and Migration Pact could rejuvenate the Schengen visa-free area.
09:54A new business is booming in northern Nigeria, the mining for lithium. Filled by its growing
10:00demand for making batteries for electric vehicles and phones, the new frontier is however
10:06coming with a steep cost. The methods are as primitive as they are dangerous. Miners
10:12wield axes to hack through rocks, descending several feet into dark pits.
10:24The shadowy world of Nigeria's illegal artisanal mining thrives on informal networks of buyers
10:37and sellers operating with minimal government oversight.
10:58A business for the poorest and most vulnerable. Local merchants say a team of six children
11:04can sort and bag up to 10-25 kilograms a day.
11:08Lithium mining began here about a decade ago. The work here feeds the stock of China's
11:38businesses who dominate Nigeria's laxly regulated extractive industry.