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00:00A top Romanian court annulled the first round of the country's presidential election, with
00:05the entire process to be redone at a later date.
00:11Mass protests in Georgia are entering a second week, with police cracking down on protesters
00:16with increasing force.
00:22A top Romanian court annulled the first round of the country's presidential election, days
00:28after allegations that Russia ran a coordinated online campaign to promote far-right candidate
00:34Kalin Djordjescu.
00:36The entire electoral process will be redone at a date yet to be set.
00:41Despite being a huge outsider who declared zero campaign spending, Djordjescu came out
00:46on top of that first round.
00:48He was due to face off against centrist pro-EU candidate Elena Lascone this weekend.
00:57The constitutional court's unprecedented and final decision came after the Romanian president
01:03declassified intelligence that alleged Russia ran a sprawling campaign comprising thousands
01:09of social media accounts to promote Djordjescu.
01:13The news leaves the country in an unparalleled political situation with unforeseen consequences.
01:21The European Commission says it has sent TikTok an urgent request for information demanding
01:27more answers about the platform's controversial role in the first round of Romania's election.
01:33The EU Commission's request on Friday came hours before the Romanian constitutional court
01:38cancelled the presidential runoff scheduled for this Sunday.
01:42The latest developments followed serious concerns of foreign interference.
01:46The Commission has indeed sent to TikTok another request for information, this time asking
01:51the platform to provide comments to the issues raised in the intelligence documents that
01:57were declassified by the Romanian authorities, as well as information shared and actions
02:02undertaken by TikTok as a result of those issues.
02:06The EU Commission's request to TikTok is based on the Digital Services Act, DSA, and comes
02:12with a deadline of 24 hours.
02:15The first round of the election saw a previously unknown far-right nationalist candidate, Karline
02:20Djordjescu, top the polls in a shock result.
02:29Mass protests in Georgia, sparked by the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining
02:34the EU, have entered a second week, with police cracking down on protesters with increasing force.
02:40The protests are continuing in Georgia, entering its second week right now.
02:50The Georgian people are protesting against the Georgian Dream Statement that the issue
02:54of accession negotiations with the European Union will not be placed on the agenda until
02:592028.
03:01Over the past week, more than 400 protesters have been assaulted and arrested, and approximately
03:0650 journalists have been injured.
03:09The opposition leaders and activists have also been detained.
03:12The police investigators have entered the homes and offices of the opposition parties
03:17and activists, with some searches reportedly conducted without the witness presence.
03:22Also, some state institution employees have also resigned from their positions.
03:29The Georgian people have declared that they will not give up until the final goal, the
03:34resumption of the accession negotiations with the European Union, and a call for the
03:39new elections is achieved.
03:42I will never go back in my childhood, I will never go back to the USSR.
03:46My son was born in a free country, so all these children, they are so strong, much stronger
03:53than we are, so they will fight and they will succeed, and I believe in this.
03:58I'm a lawyer, and when you see your profession is diminished every day in the streets by
04:07the law enforcement agencies, that is one of my regrets.
04:15Opposition have accused the governing party of rigging the vote with the help of neighboring
04:19Russia to keep Moscow-friendly Georgian dream in power.
04:29French President Emmanuel Macron is receiving a number of political leaders, with a view
04:34of forming a government of general interest after the country's Prime Minister, Michel
04:39Barnier, was ousted by a no-confidence vote.
04:44This is why I will appoint a Prime Minister in the coming days.
04:48I will make sure to form a government of general interest, representing all the political forces
04:54of the country.
04:59Public sector workers staged strikes across France to demand increased funding and staffing
05:05for public services, as the country waits to see who will replace Barnier and solve
05:10the enormous social issues facing the country.
05:14Macron also invited socialist leader Olivier Faure to the LEC, in a potential attempt to
05:19create distance between the left-wing coalition which took power in recent elections.
05:24There was a formation that came to mind.
05:28The New Popular Front.
05:29It's a coalition.
05:30It had a candidacy.
05:32This candidacy is maintained.
05:34I am quite lucid to realize that three months of Mr. Barnier, that is, in fact, three months
05:39of blockade by Mr. Macron, who comes back as if nothing had been voted by the French,
05:44he comes back, he offers you the same policy.
05:47We fight it.
05:48He puts us at 49-3.
05:49We are obliged to do censorship.
05:51And censorship is voted.
05:54Barnier and other ministers will remain in power to act as a caretaker government until
05:58the appointment of new ministers.
06:06Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has clashed indirectly with U.S. Secretary of
06:11State Antony Blinken at the OSCE security meeting in Malta.
06:16Lavrov accused the West of reviving the Cold War and provoking a direct conflict with Russia.
06:22He said U.S. actions were driven by a desire to return NATO to the political spotlight.
06:28Blinken, who spoke after Lavrov left the room, put the blame for escalation in the region
06:33back on Russia.
06:34He cited the deployment of North Korean forces in Europe, the use of an intermediate-range
06:40ballistic missile to attack Ukraine and Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
06:46The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Poland and Estonia walked out of the room when Lavrov
06:51started speaking.
06:53Before leaving the podium, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sebeya called Lavrov a war
06:58criminal.
07:02This is Lavrov's first visit to an EU member country since the invasion of Ukraine in February
07:072022.
07:09It's been relatively rare for Lavrov to attend forums involving senior Western officials,
07:14although he recently took part in the UN General Assembly and the G20 summit in Brazil.
07:21It is 216 million consumers on their side and 450 on our side, so it will be a huge market,
07:41a common market. That will of course help consumers. They will have more choices and
07:47more products to choose from and hopefully it will also help to beat inflation.
07:52Well, it's difficult to exactly see the benefits because it's lowering the tariffs to import
07:58more products issued from the agricultural sector, mainly beef, poultry, but also honey
08:05for instance.
08:10It's huge opportunities for farmers and for the food producers, but of course there is
08:15also some sensitive products and we have to pay attention to them. The Commission has
08:21done that, so there are tariff rate quotas, meaning that it cannot come in too many products
08:28for the sensitive goods.
08:30The farmers will be impacted by the import of products that do not respect the same social
08:36and environmental standards, using chemicals and products that the EU is exporting, that
08:42are forbidden in the EU and that will come back through our soy, for instance, or also
08:47the meat production. It means that the level playing field is not respected, that there
08:53is an unfair competition between the products that are imported here in Europe.
09:05Yes, I would say it is a very good package for the climate because first of all we have
09:12a commitment to effectively implement the Paris Agreement.
09:17The Mercosur Agreement is based on a 20 years old mandate, which means that climate issues,
09:24biodiversity issues are not taken into account and that those elements are not enforceable,
09:30which means that, no, it will have an adverse impact on climate change, mainly also because
09:36of deforestation.
09:42Iran said it conducted a successful space launch, the latest for its programme the West
09:47alleges improves Tehran's ballistic missile programme.
09:51The announcement comes as heightened tensions grip the wider Middle East over Israel's continued
09:56war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and as an uneasy ceasefire holds in Lebanon.
10:02The US has previously said Iran's satellite launches defy a UN security resolution and
10:08called on Tehran to undertake no activity involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering
10:13nuclear weapons.
10:15UN sanctions related to Iran's ballistic missile programme expired in October 2023.
10:25Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti claims their security forces have doubled in size
10:30with plans to transition into a national army by 2028.
10:35Tensions with Serbia have risen following explosions Kosovo blames on Serbia, despite
10:40a lack of evidence.
10:41Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, remains unrecognised by Serbia.
10:46The defence minister has announced they are working to open a state-owned ammunition factory.
11:05Some experts have expressed concern over military developments, fearing it could worsen tensions
11:16in the region.
11:27Kosovo's security forces are advancing their capabilities by acquiring armoured vehicles,
11:33drones and anti-tank missiles.
11:35The government claims their military development is for defence purposes and would only act
11:40in coordination with their allies.