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00:00France's iconic Notre-Dame Cathedral is reopening its doors on Saturday for the first time since
00:08a devastating fire nearly destroyed the 861-year-old landmark in 2019.
00:15The structure took almost two centuries to build, making the short five-year restoration
00:20timeline a welcome achievement for French President Emmanuel Macron amid domestic political
00:26turmoil.
00:28Fifteen hundred guests are attending Saturday's opening ceremony, including US President-elect
00:33Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Britain's Prince William.
00:40Public viewing areas along the Seine's southern bank will accommodate 40,000 spectators, who
00:45can follow the celebrations on large screens.
00:49Security will be tight all through the weekend, echoing measures taken during the Paris Olympics
00:54earlier this year.
01:02A Russian attack on Ukraine's southeastern city of Zaporizhia has killed at least nine
01:06people and wounded close to 20 others.
01:09Footage released by Ukraine's state emergency service showed firefighters putting out blazes
01:13on Friday night in the aftermath of the deadly attack.
01:17Authorities say the attacks targeted a service station which was destroyed and caused damage
01:21to several nearby homes, businesses and vehicles on the street.
01:26A raid alert sounded across the city from 5 p.m. local time, as Ukraine's air force
01:31warned of more potential attacks.
01:33The bomb struck unsuspecting civilians, many who were just trying to have a peaceful holiday,
01:38as the country observed St. Nicholas Day.
01:41Russian forces also targeted a residential building in the neighboring city of Kriviary.
01:47Two people were killed in that attack, and a dozen more were injured.
01:51Local officials condemned the offensive and accused Russia of targeting civilian positions
01:56with no regard for human life.
02:02Police in Georgia have used water cannon and tear gas to break up mass protests sparked
02:07by the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union.
02:13More than 400 protesters, including opposition leaders and activists, have been detained
02:17and more than 100 people treated for injuries.
02:21The ruling Georgian Dream retained control of parliament in the disputed 26th October
02:26election, a vote widely seen as a referendum on Georgia's EU aspirations.
02:32The opposition accused the governing party of rigging the vote with the help of neighboring
02:36Russia to keep the Moscow-friendly Georgian Dream party in power.
02:40But the protests against the election spread beyond Tbilisi after the decision last Thursday
02:45to put EU accession talks on hold until at least 2028.
02:50That was in response to a European Parliament resolution that criticized the elections as
02:54neither free nor fair.
03:02Insurgents in Syria led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group are advancing on Homs as they
03:07make their way towards Damascus in a bid to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
03:11HTS has seized two towns on the outskirts of Homs, the latest in a lightning advance
03:18over the past week, which has seen them take Aleppo and Hamaim, the face of little resistance
03:23by government forces.
03:25Pressure on the Assad government is intensifying on multiple fronts in Syria.
03:29In the east, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said they had moved into the government-held
03:34half of the city of Deir el-Zor, apparently without resistance.
03:38At the same time, insurgents seized Syria's soul crossing to Jordan.
03:43After years of largely being bottled up in the northwest, the rebels burst out a week
03:47ago and have been advancing ever since.
03:50The sudden offensive has flipped the tables on a long-entrenched stalemate in Syria's
03:54nearly 14-year-old civil war.