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00:00Three Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas in exchange for 183 Palestinian prisoners.
00:11Thousands gather across Slovakia to protest against what they call the pro-Russian policies
00:16of Prime Minister Robert Fitzo.
00:22Three Israeli hostages released by Hamas on Saturday have returned home to Israel. It
00:27was the fifth hostage release in the ceasefire deal that came into force on January 19th.
00:33Eli Shirabi, Ohad Ben-Ami and Or Levi were captured during the 7 October 2023 incursion
00:39into southern Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.
00:43Shirabi and Ben-Ami were taken from Kibbutz Berri, one of the hardest-hit communities
00:48of the attack.
00:50Including Saturday, Hamas has so far released 21 out of a total of 33 hostages set to be
00:56freed in the first six-week phase of the ceasefire deal.
01:00In exchange for Saturday's release, Israel is releasing 183 Palestinians being held in
01:05Israeli prisons.
01:07Shortly after the hostage release in Gaza, a bus carrying a few dozen Palestinian prisoners
01:13headed to a meeting point in the West Bank, greeted by their families, friends and well-wishers.
01:25The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania disconnected their electricity systems
01:30from Russia's power grid on Saturday, in order to integrate with Europe's system.
01:36Aimed at integrating the countries more closely with the EU and boosting security, the years-long
01:41process gained urgency with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
01:45Despite worries about possible sabotage and disinformation, no disruptions were reported
01:50during the switch.
02:10For a day and a half, the Baltic states are operating independently.
02:15Their power grids are being synchronized on Sunday afternoon with the continental European
02:19grid.
02:21At the same time, European commissioners, including President Ursula von der Leyen,
02:26are attending the Baltic Energy Independence Day celebration in Lithuania.
02:34Thousands of people have gathered across Slovakia to protest against what they say are the pro-Russian
02:39policies of Prime Minister Robert Fico.
02:42The latest wave of rallies was fuelled by Fico's recent trip to Moscow to meet Vladimir
02:47Putin, a rare visit to the Kremlin by an EU leader since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
02:54Fico's recent remarks that Slovakia's foreign policy could involve leaving the European
02:58Union and NATO has contributed to the unrest.
03:01The latest rallies took place in 41 locations in Slovakia, up from 28 two weeks ago.
03:08Fico is a divisive figure in Slovakia and has escalated tensions by accusing protest
03:13organizers of working with foreigners to engineer a coup.
03:17Fico's views on Russia have largely differed from the European mainstream.
03:22He ended Slovakia's military aid for Ukraine, criticized European Union sanctions on Russia
03:27and vowed to block Ukraine from joining NATO.
03:37The Kosovo parliamentary election, scheduled for this Sunday, will decide which government
03:42in Pristina will restart the negotiations with the Serbian community of Kosovo and Serbia.
03:48The talks sponsored by Brussels have stalled during the mandate of the outgoing Kosovan
03:53Prime Minister Albin Kurdi, a leftist nationalist that is struggling to win a clear majority.
03:59We need to go back to Brussels and continue our dialogue that has been initiated years
04:06back in order to close this chapter of disputes and move into another chapter which will bring
04:13more perspective to the Kosovo citizens, no matter of their origin.
04:21The EU and the US have imposed Kosovo's sanctions for the derailment of the inter-ethnic dialogue
04:27between the Kosovan Albanian majority and the Serbs.
04:31Even Albin Kurdi said in a day or two that he will not form the Association of the Serbian
04:37Municipalities.
04:38Actually, in our program, we still expect full implementation of that agreement and
04:45creation of this Association of the Serbian Municipalities.