00:00French President Emmanuel Macron announced that allies of Kiev will discuss security guarantees in Paris in early January to finalize a peace deal with Russia.
00:11Ukrainians remain skeptical of U.S. security guarantees as Russia launched dozens of drones into Ukraine overnight.
00:20Beijing ordered the extraordinary military exercises after Taiwan concluded a major arms procurement deal with the United States.
00:30French President Emmanuel Macron announced that allies of Kiev will also discuss security guarantees in Paris in early January.
00:37The gathering will aim to finalize concrete guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace deal with Russia.
00:42Macron made this announcement after speaking with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, U.S. President Donald Trump and other European leaders.
00:50Macron's statement came right after Trump and Zelensky declared significant progress in their bilateral meeting in Florida.
00:55Trump said Ukraine and Russia are closer than ever before to a peace deal after a two-and-a-half-hour phone call with Vladimir Putin.
01:03The leaders discussed Trump's 20-point ceasefire plan, which Zelensky said is 90 percent ready.
01:08Zelensky said Ukraine is ready for peace, but stressed results on the battlefield are vital for diplomacy.
01:14While Kyiv and Europe are concerned with security guarantees, Russia is focused on land.
01:20Kremlin's first reaction came from spokesman Dmitry Peskov, saying that Ukraine should withdraw its troops from the remaining parts of Donbass if it wants peace,
01:28implying further territorial losses or continue with fighting otherwise.
01:31Russia launched dozens of drones into Ukraine overnight into Monday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump to agree on extensive security guarantees.
01:49Ukraine's Air Force said its air defenses shot down 21 out of 25 drones launched by Russia.
01:55One man was killed in the city of Orykiv in the Zaporizhia region in an attack with a guided aerial bomb, according to the regional military administration.
02:05While European leaders welcomed progress made on security guarantees for Ukraine, many Ukrainians remain skeptical.
02:12Trump was saying a lot of things like Russia was wishing us good and is going to help to rebuild Ukraine.
02:20What do you mean? They're destroying Ukraine. And now he's just saying things that don't make sense at all.
02:27I absolutely don't have any expectations that they keep the word, keep the guarantees.
02:36Well, there's no. It's just a country in which there's no global idea, except for its benefits.
02:45Russia's defense ministry said on Monday that it shot down 89 Ukrainian drones overnight.
02:52Explosions reportedly rocked Russia's Khanskaya military airfield in the southern Russian city of Maikop.
02:59Ukraine's military has not commented on the alleged attack.
03:02In a televised briefing with military officials on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said forces would continue their operations in the Donbass on the front line,
03:11in accordance with the plans of the general staff.
03:15Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti is set for another term in office after his party secured a commanding victory in snap parliamentary elections on Sunday.
03:28With nearly all ballots counted, the left-leaning self-determination party won around 50 percent of votes, substantially ahead of two center-right parties.
03:37The elections followed a 10-month deadlock after Kurti's party won the most votes in February but failed to form a government.
03:47It remained unclear whether his party secured the 61 seats in parliament needed to govern alone.
03:54Kurti said his government formation would proceed as quickly as possible.
03:58And I look forward to cooperation with opposition regarding some international agreements that are pending and we need a two-third majority for them.
04:11Kurti's government will have the challenge of approving a budget for next year in a country with one of Europe's poorest economies.
04:18He has also taken a hard-line position in EU-mediated talks on normalizing relations with Belgrade, a condition the EU has set for the country's accession path.
04:28Starting on the 1st of January 2026, Bulgaria will become the 21st member of the Eurozone, with the euro replacing the left as its national currency.
04:42The Balkan country of 6.5 million people joined the EU in 2007 and formally began the process of joining the Eurozone in 2018.
04:52It now respects the four Maastricht criteria to join the currency bloc.
04:55Price stability with an inflation rate of 2.7% in 2024, sound public finances with public debt and deficit levels of 24% and 3% of GDP in 2024, exchange rate stability and long-term interest rate stability.
05:13In 2024, Bulgaria was the poorest EU country in terms of GDP per capita.
05:18It is also the EU country the most affected by poverty, with more than 21% of its population living below the poverty line.
05:26Brussels and Sofia hope joining the Eurozone will boost the country's economy and strengthen its European integration.
05:33The bigger effect is the long-term effect, basically boosting confidence when it comes to the currency, to the purchasing power of the currency, the confidence of foreign investors, people who buy Bulgarian debt, but also people who invest in the country.
05:50Peter Ghannev thinks that joining the Eurozone will only marginally contribute to inflation.
05:55It's not the main factor. The main factor is the consumption, which is supported by inflationary budget and by record-high credits, especially for new homes.
06:10But it's political instability that might negatively impact Bulgaria's economy.
06:16The government resigned in mid-December after weeks of anti-corruption protests.
06:21Nine people have been arrested and millions of euros seized in an illicit Hamas financing probe in Italy.
06:33According to investigators, around 7 million euros were raised for Hamas over more than two years, while assets worth 8 million euros were also seized.
06:43The money was supposedly collected by NGOs as humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians, a policeman's statement said, but was instead sent to the militant group via a complex fundraising system and used to support the movement's criminal activities, including attacks against civilians.
07:04One of the suspects arrested is Mohamed Hanoun, president of the Palestinian Association in Italy, according to Interior Minister Matteo Piandetosi.
07:15The investigation began after the 7th of October 2023 Hamas attack and benefited from cooperation with the authorities of the Netherlands and Israel, allowing authorities to monitor financial flows and intercept communications.
07:31The investigation began after the 7th of October 2023 Hamas attack and benefited from cooperation with the authorities of the authorities of the authorities of the authorities of the authorities of the authorities of the authorities.
08:02The investigation began after the 8th of unhappy
08:28Chinese fighter jets and warships have flooded the waters surrounding Taiwan as Chinese troops
08:40conduct drills simulating the seizure of ports. Beijing ordered the extraordinary military
08:46exercises after the autonomous island concluded a major arms procurement deal with the United
08:51States. The move coincided with a statement by Japan's Prime Minister, who said Japan would
08:57provide military assistance to Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. Beijing tested not
09:03only the combat readiness of its air force and navy but also placed its medium and long-range
09:07missiles on high alert on land. Taiwan's leadership described this as a direct threat of war.
09:27Taiwan's defense ministry said in a post on X that rapid response exercises were underway with
09:37forces on high alert to defend the island. In a separate statement, it said it had deployed
09:42appropriate forces in response, conducting combat readiness drills. The most likely scenario,
09:47however, is that this is yet another show of force and no one will attack.
09:53The first of three phases of voting has finished in Myanmar in an election that comes nearly five
09:59years after the military seized power in a coup. Polling began on Sunday with reports of explosions
10:05and airstrikes across multiple regions in the country. Final results will not be known until
10:11after two more rounds of voting are completed in January. But the ballot is widely been dismissed
10:18as a sham, with major political parties dissolved, leaders jailed and as much as half the country
10:25not expected to vote due to an ongoing civil war. Observers say the junta, with China's support,
10:32is seeking to legitimize its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating stalemates in the country.
10:38The ensuing civil war has left more than 3.6 million people displaced, according to the United
10:46Nations. Every winter evening, thousands of visitors brave the freezing cold to attend Japan's largest
10:59light festival, Nabana no Sato, located four hours from Tokyo. For the Japanese, the end-of-year
11:06celebrations are above all a celebration of beauty and wonder.
11:10Today, the Japanese-like illumination and the illumination of the Japanese-like illumination.
11:18You're waiting for it? You're waiting for it. You're waiting for it. You're waiting for it.
11:22I feel like it's in Japan. It's warm, isn't it?
11:26While some visitors treat themselves to a break in the country's natural hot springs, others admire
11:33a 35-metre-high reconstruction of Mount Fuji. It took three months of work and 20 technicians
11:40to transform the botanical garden and install millions of tiny light bulbs.
