Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Austria's caretaker government says it has stopped all asylum claims from Syrians
00:05and has begun plans to repatriate or deport people back to their homeland.
00:10Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in court where he
00:15faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
00:22The Austrian government says it has started preparations for a deportation
00:27program for Syrians living in the country. The decision followed the
00:31government's suspension of asylum applications from Syrian refugees and
00:35comes as millions of refugees are now able to return home. The Interior
00:40Ministry said a reassessment of about 40,000 Syrians granted status over the
00:45last five years has begun.
00:57On Monday, thousands of Syrians took to the streets of Vienna to celebrate the
01:12fall of Bashar al-Assad. Many in the Austrian capital waved the Syrian flags.
01:16Around 95,000 Syrians live in Austria, many of whom arrived during the migrant
01:22crisis of 2015 and 2016. The start of the civil war in 2011 forced some 14
01:29million Syrians to leave the country.
01:35Syria's Prime Minister said that most cabinet ministers were back to work
01:40after rebels overthrew President Bashar al-Assad. However, a UN official said the
01:45country's public sector had come to a complete and abrupt halt, with some state
01:50workers reportedly failing to return to their jobs. Syrian rebels announced that
01:56rebel leader Ahmed al-Shara met in Damascus with the outgoing Prime Minister
02:00who chaired Assad's government. Talks focused on the political transition in
02:05the country, according to the rebel coalition. The UK and US are both
02:11reportedly considering whether to remove the main anti-Assad rebel groups from
02:15their lists of designated terrorist organizations. Meanwhile, streams of
02:21refugees crossed back into Syria from neighboring countries, hoping for a more
02:25peaceful future. Across swathes of Syria, families are now waiting outside
02:33prisons, security offices and courts, hoping for news of loved ones who were
02:38imprisoned or who disappeared during Assad's rule.
02:45Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in court, taking the
02:50stand more than four years after his trial on charges of bribery, fraud and
02:54breach of trust began. Netanyahu is accused of granting regulatory favors in
03:00exchange for positive press coverage, as well as receiving gifts in return for
03:04political favors. The Prime Minister maintains his innocence and says the
03:10three cases against him are politically motivated.
03:33The corruption case has long divided Israel and both supporters and critics
03:39gathered outside of the courthouse.
03:42We are here to support the rule of law, to oppose the fact that we have a prime
03:49minister who is also accused of crimes and is also a war criminal.
03:55He is the leader at the highest levels. He won over Hamas, he won over ISIS, he won over
04:02the Syrians and he also won over the Court of Appeal.
04:05It is the first time an Israeli Prime Minister appears in court as a criminal
04:11defendant. The trial had been postponed several times already, first because of
04:15the COVID-19 pandemic and more recently because of Israel's war in Gaza.
04:26Ukrainian military forces are producing leaflets and videos encouraging North
04:30Korean soldiers to desert. Kyiv's intelligence began their work after news
04:37broke that thousands of North Korean troops joined Moscow's forces in the
04:40Kursk border region. The project originally was aimed at Russian soldiers
04:45who didn't want to participate in the war, but its scope has since expanded.
05:06Leaflets show North Korean forces how to surrender as well as what conditions are
05:13like on the other side. These leaflets are dispersed either by drone or through
05:20projectiles. The Netherlands began implementing renewed additional border
05:30controls on Monday. The tightened border checks are set to last six months across
05:36roads, railways and a select number of flights. The measures were proposed by
05:40the right-wing coalition led by the well-known anti-Muslim nationalist PVV
05:45party of Geert Wilders. Despite criticism, the Dutch Minister of Asylum and
05:50Migration said the move is not just symbolic and expects it will succeed in
05:54bringing down the influx of illegal migrants.
06:06The Dutch military police carrying out the checks said most people will not
06:14notice a huge difference at borders. While they are now technically able to
06:18carry out checks at all border crossing points, this is unlikely to happen as
06:23they must operate at the same capacity as before.
06:29Fishermen in Spain have begun a two-day strike to protest the proposed European
06:34cuts that would largely restrict the number of days they can fish in the
06:38Mediterranean. Thousands gathered on Monday in front of the headquarters of
06:42the European Commission in the capital Madrid to demonstrate against the planned
06:46cuts that would see the number of days at sea for trawlers drop from the
06:50current 130 per year to 27 or 28 days. The protesters argued that the EU's plan
06:57is based on flawed data and a lack of respect for local fishermen.
07:04The European Commission has said the plan aims to boost fish stocks and
07:21biodiversity. The Spanish government has opposed the proposed cuts.
07:27The King and the Queen of Spain as well as several high-ranking Spanish
07:34politicians attended a memorial service for the victims of Spain's devastating
07:39floods a few months ago.
07:47The ceremony held in the Cathedral of the Valencian capital was attended by
07:52hundreds of relatives of the flood victims, some of who advocated against
07:57the attendance of Spanish politicians. They blamed them for having acted with
08:06negligence in what was the worst natural disaster in decades. The flash floods in
08:11October killed more than 200 people and left a trail of destruction mostly in
08:16the region of Valencia.
08:19The ceremony to reopen Notre-Dame Cathedral brought world leaders and some
08:35big names to Paris last Saturday. It was almost an unofficial summit where
08:40bilateral and even trilateral meetings were held. However, one important figure
08:45was missing. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen,
08:49was conspicuously absent from the prestigious occasion. She had been in
08:53Uruguay the day before to conclude a political free trade agreement with the
08:57South American countries of Mercosur, a text rejected by the French president.
09:02For some, von der Leyen is openly challenging Paris. For others, it was
09:07simply a scheduling problem that prevented her trip.
09:10There were scheduling issues. I have no information on the exact, what was exactly
09:20the scheduling issues, but that was the reason indeed. And as said, we had not yet
09:25formally confirmed the participation of the president. Ursula von der Leyen is
09:29criticized for announcing her trip to Montevideo at the last minute. But above
09:34all, this agreement comes at a time of political crisis in France, as the
09:38country is currently without a fully-fledged government. However, the
09:43French president's representatives in Brussels show that Emmanuel Macron still
09:47intends to prevent the text from being ratified.
09:52We have concrete issues that we raised a long time ago, so we continue to work on
09:59this and to show that, to really see that if the Commission moves forward on
10:06all this area or not. So, in fact, now, like I said, it's a new step. President
10:14Macron, but also French minister, will work on the Council level, and me, I
10:20continue my job in the European Parliament.
10:23The political battle is far from over. The agreement must be ratified by the
10:28member states. France is therefore trying to muster a blocking minority. If the
10:35capitals fail, Paris will have another opportunity to derail the text, since the
10:39Parliament also has to vote.
10:48New York's police commissioner said the NYPD arrested a 26-year-old with weapon
10:53consistent with the gun, using the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian
10:59Thompson. Thompson died in a dawn ambush on Wednesday as he walked to the
11:04company's annual investor conference from his hotel across the street.
11:11NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenney said Luigi Nicolas Mangione was taken
11:16into custody on Monday. He was arrested after police received a tip that he had
11:22been spotted at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania. Authorities reportedly
11:27recovered a handwritten document speaking to both his motivation and
11:31mindset. NYPD officials said the document indicated ill will towards
11:35corporate America rather than specific threats. The arrest appears to bring an
11:41end to a sprawling manhunt that expanded across the U.S.