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00:00Dominique Pellicot has been found guilty of all charges of rape against his wife, facing
00:0620 years in prison.
00:11Costa's debut. EU leaders meet for the last summit of the year, which is also the new
00:17council president's first.
00:21NATO's Secretary General says he wants to discuss ways to put Ukraine in a position
00:26of strength for any future peace talks with Russia.
00:35Dominique Pellicot has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in a historic rape trial that
00:41has turned the victim, his wife Giselle Pellicot, into a feminist hero.
00:47Pellicot drugged and raped his wife for nearly a decade, also offering her unconscious body
00:52to strangers he had met online. In total, 50 men were tried in what became known as
00:58the Mazan rape trial.
01:01The trial triggered protest rallies around France in support of Giselle Pellicot, who
01:05said she hoped that by making the trial public, she would help other women speak up.
01:11They kept up their efforts on Wednesday night, plastering messages across Avignon where the
01:16trial took place, ahead of the verdict.
01:18I think it has changed society already, along these four months. As the day the trial started,
01:27we started to talk and talk a lot and think a lot, and we went through so many emotions.
01:34Activists say the three-month trial has sparked important debates around consent. Now, they
01:40are calling for the country's legal definition of rape to be expanded to include specific
01:44mention of it.
01:48The EU leaders are closing the year with a summit that is the first for the new European
02:00Council President, Antonio Costa. High on the agenda is the discussion on Ukraine, with
02:06the participation of its president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
02:13But with the return of Donald Trump to the White House and his promise to end the conflict
02:29in 24 hours, the EU wonders if Washington will still be one of their main allies, including
02:35in Ukraine.
02:37I will not believe that the US will totally withdraw. They will maybe say we give less
02:44but force us to give more, but that's what we're doing and what we have to do.
02:48The situation in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime is the other hot topic, and especially
02:55what the EU position will be regarding the millions of Syrian refugees that live on the
02:59continent since 2011.
03:02The position that has been expressed by the Italian government on the asylum seekers is
03:07a very clear position, and it is an evolution compared to the conclusion of the Assad regime.
03:14So, basically, there will not be a request for asylum within the European Union, because
03:19they can easily re-enter the Syrian territory today.
03:23A full agenda for the EU leaders, but the possibility of concrete proposals is low.
03:31NATO's Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he wants to discuss ways to put Ukraine in
03:40a position of strength for any future peace talks with Russia during a meeting on Wednesday
03:45with Ukraine's president and select European leaders.
03:49Thank you very much.
03:52And very much high on the agenda is to make sure that the president, his team, Ukraine
03:59are in the best possible position one day, when they decide so, to start the peace talks.
04:05And that means that we have to do everything now to make sure that when it comes to air
04:10defence, when it comes to other weapon systems, that we make sure that we provide whatever
04:16we can.
04:17Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted the need for a united European position and
04:23stressed the priority of securing more air defence systems.
04:29So, but it's really very important that to use these two days in Brussels to meet with
04:40all our partners and to have the same, what is very important, not divided, the same joint
04:45position of Europe.
04:48Zelensky also met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Brussels as part of a series of
04:53meetings with various leaders ahead of an EU summit on Thursday to discuss the war in
04:59Ukraine and EU support.
05:05Germany wants to increase the size of its armed forces up to 230,000 from the current
05:10target of 203,000.
05:14German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius announced the ambitious plan as he answered questions
05:19in the Bundestag.
05:22Germany currently has 180,000 active personnel, approximately 20,000 short of its current
05:28target.
05:31The German armed forces have been struggling to recruit people for years.
05:36The targets Pistorius wants to set will further complicate an already difficult objective.
05:43Pistorius says the plan to increase the number of permanent staff is to meet NATO's capability
05:48targets.
05:51NATO demanded its members to increase their defence capacities to boost the alliance's
05:55strength following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
06:03Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union have initialed a border security agreement
06:09with EU border agency Frontex on Wednesday in Sarajevo, marking a key step towards EU
06:15integration as Brussels holds the EU-Western Balkans summit on the same day, intending
06:21on strengthening EU-Western Balkans integration.
06:24Luigi Soreca, the EU ambassador for Bosnia and Herzegovina, spoke on its importance.
06:30The agreement which is going to be initialed today attests to our partnership, the European
06:37Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to our shared commitment to enhance security, stability
06:44and cooperation in this critical area in Europe.
06:50Director for Schengen Borders Henrik Nielsen emphasised the importance of mutual respect
06:56and cooperation in the negotiation process.
07:00We have always listened to each other, we have always taken into account each other's
07:06concerns and that has now brought us here today where we have this fully agreed text
07:12which is really a pleasure for me to note.
07:15This agreement means that Frontex officers will now be deployed at Bosnia's borders helping
07:21identify security needs.
07:23According to officials, the agreement will be signed by the end of February or early
07:28March.
07:33After concluding a visit to Damascus and meeting the new administration, the UN envoy to Syria,
07:38Geir Pedersen, said the country needs a political transition that will be credible and inclusive
07:42for the Syrian society.
07:44According to the envoy, this process should take place under a UN resolution adopted in
07:482015 to help negotiate a political solution in the country.
07:52Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Pedersen also mentioned of forming a new constitution.
07:59There is a lot of hope that we can now see the beginning of a new Syria, a new Syria
08:05that in line with Security Council Resolution 2254 will adopt a new constitution that will
08:12ensure that there is a social contract, a new social contract for all Syrians and that
08:18we will have free and fair elections when that time comes after a transitional period.
08:25It is not yet clear if Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or HTS, the main former rebel group now in
08:30control of Syria, will pursue such a process.
08:33The group has set up an interim administration comprising members of its Salvation Government.
08:38It will oversee the country until March, but the new ruler, Ahmed al-Shara, have not made
08:43clear how the transition to a new, fully empowered government would take place.
08:51On the French island of Réunion, communities are coming together to help the people of
08:55cyclone-devastated Mayotte.
08:58People have been donating food, water, clothes and other assistance, and some of that donations
09:03are being collected at a community center called Mayotte House.
09:06A family in Mayotte, I haven't heard of them for two days after the cyclone destroyed the
09:17island.
09:18I got news from them, the house is okay, but a lot of houses got destroyed.
09:28Organizers are hoping to have enough donations to fill a container that they can transport
09:33using a military plane.
09:53Being the poorest territory of France, the tiny island of Africa was battered by its
09:57worst cyclone in nearly a century.
10:00Authorities fear hundreds and possibly thousands of people have died.
10:05Survivors wandered through streets littered with debris, searching for water and shelter.
10:10France already used ships and military aircraft to rush rescuers and supplies to Mayotte on
10:15Monday.
10:16President Emmanuel Macron declared a national mourning period, and now cancelled his plans
10:20to join the EU summit in Brussels to be able to travel to the island to evaluate the situation
10:26personally.
10:32More and more Norwegians are facing increased poverty.
10:36The impact is seen at the increasingly long queues for the country's Salvation Army Christmas
10:41Aid.
10:43According to their poverty index, one in five Norwegians struggles to make ends meet.
10:49This week, the Salvation Army will distribute food boxes with Christmas food to 1,400 Norwegian
10:54families.
11:06After years of high prices, more people are coming to the Salvation Army for help.
11:12Most people who come to them also receive benefits from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare
11:16Administration.
11:18The charity organization is now making an appeal to the government.
11:33Financial struggles during Christmas this year are especially prevalent in families
11:37with children.
11:39Earlier this year, the Norwegian National Institute for Consumer Research released a
11:44report concluding that social assistance should be increased.