00:02Tighter EU borders and migration deals with African countries have failed to reduce the number of departures from Africa.
00:10It merely temporarily diverted irregular routes, according to a report by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development.
00:18Irregular border crossings at the EU's external border fell by over one-quarter in 2025, according to Frontex.
00:26The sharper decrease occurred alongside the Western African route.
00:30It could be explained by recent partnerships between the EU and key African countries such as Morocco, Senegal and Mauritania.
00:38The Asylum and Migration Pact has also harmonized border procedures and handling of irregular arrivals across the EU.
00:47But the route from Mauritania to the Canary Islands has been diverted.
00:51Departures occur now from Gambia and Guinea, making the transit via sea longer and riskier.
01:08French President Emmanuel Macron met for the first time with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Friday for a
01:14private audience.
01:17Macron and the leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics were due above all to discuss the resolution of
01:23the crisis in the Middle East,
01:25with a particular focus on Lebanon, where deadly Israeli strikes threatened a two-weeks-long ceasefire between the US and
01:33Iran.
01:35Pope Leo XIV has visited Lebanon last year as part of his first trip abroad and has repeatedly prayed for
01:42the victims of the conflict.
01:46Both Macron and the Chicago-born pontiff have spoken out against US President Donald Trump over the Iran war and
01:53urged for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
02:02Ukraine says repairs to the Dujbo oil pipeline will be completed this spring, but the politics surrounding it are far
02:11from fixed.
02:12President Zelensky confirmed this week the work is underway on the pipeline, which Kiev says was struck by a Russian
02:19drone in late January.
02:22The pipeline carries Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia through Ukrainian territory, and this disruption has caused a major rift
02:30between Kiev and Budapest.
02:32Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused Kiev of deliberately keeping the pipeline shopped for political reasons, blocking a €90
02:40billion EU loan to Kiev in retaliation.
02:44But Zelensky has pushed back, saying he is effectively being forced to restore the flow of Russian oil and comparing
02:52it to lifting European sanctions on Moscow.
02:54The European Commission says Brussels and Kiev are broadly aligned on timing, but has stopped short of saying any more.
03:05Ukrainian military personnel shot down Iranian-designed Shahid drones in multiple Middle Eastern countries during the Iran war, President Volodymyr
03:15Zelensky has said.
03:16Zelensky made his first public acknowledgment of the operations on Wednesday in remarks to reporters that were embargoed until Friday.
03:25The Ukrainian leader described the operations as part of a broader effort to help partners counter the same weapons used
03:32by Russia in Ukraine, but did not identify the countries.
03:36Zelensky had previously said that 228 Ukrainian experts were deployed in the Middle East.
03:42The disclosure comes amid concerns that the conflict in the Middle East could divert Western military support from Ukraine, particularly
03:51air defense supplies.
03:52But Zelensky said that partners were continuing to supply missiles for Patriot systems, adding that a new batch had arrived
04:00in recent days.
04:07Israel and Lebanon will hold talks in Washington next week, a U.S. State Department official said on Thursday.
04:14The Lebanese government has yet to comment.
04:17Meanwhile, at least one person was killed in Israeli overnight strikes on the southern Lebanese village of Chukin, as Israel's
04:25military warned residents of Beirut's southern suburbs of imminent strikes and urged them to evacuate.
04:32This came one day after Israel pounded Beirut with strikes that killed more than 300 people, including 30 children, and
04:41wounded at least 1,100, Lebanon's health ministry said.
04:54Kuwait accused Iran and its proxies of launching drone attacks targeting it on Thursday despite the ceasefire.
05:02Iran denied launching attacks on Persian Gulf states after Kuwait's announcement.
05:07Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khomeini, said that Tehran did not want war with the United States and Israel, but
05:16would protect its rights as a nation, according to state television.
05:20U.S. President Donald Trump accused Iran of doing a very poor job of allowing oil through the Strait of
05:27Hormuz and of breaching the terms of their fragile two-week ceasefire agreement.
05:31Talks between the United States and Iran on a resolution to the conflict are expected to start as soon as
05:39possible in Islamabad.
05:44NATO allies are not obliged to assist the United States and Israel in the war in Iran, Turkey's Trade Minister
05:52Ömer Bolat told Euro news.
05:54If the U.S. wants a lasting and sustainable peace in the Middle East, as Mr. Trump acclaimed after the
06:06ceasefire was set, somebody should say no to Israel and Israel's actions.
06:15U.S. President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Washington, D.C., saying allies
06:24need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within days.
06:27Trump's options include using military assets and Navy ships.
06:31A coalition of around 40 countries has been working on a strategy to re-secure the straits once hostilities have
06:39ceased.
06:39I'm sure that common sense will prevail and, I mean, NATO's presence as a deterring force also to keep peace
06:56and security, mainly on the European continent but in the world.
07:02Bolat said NATO countries are within their rights to tell Trump that NATO is a defensive organisation and remind him
07:09they were not involved in the planning of the conflict.
07:16The number of human beings who have travelled to the moon is expected to grow on Friday night, when the
07:22Artemis II crew complete their splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
07:28The re-entry is considered the most dangerous part of the mission, with NASA's Orion capsule expected to endure temperatures
07:36of nearly 2,760 Celsius, about half as hot as the sun's surface.
07:43The splashdown sequence, beginning with the separation of the European service module, takes roughly 42 minutes to complete and involves
07:5211 parachutes.
07:54Commander Reed Wiseman and his crew will be the first people to travel beyond lower Earth orbit since the final
08:01mission of the Apollo program in December 1972.
08:06Artemis II didn't land on the moon or even orbit it, but it broke Apollo 13's distance record, making the
08:14astronauts the farthest that humans have ever journeyed from Earth.
08:24Stefano Gabbana has resigned as chairman of Dolce & Gabbana just as the brand wrestles with €450 million in debt.
08:33He co-founded the Italian luxury house with Domenico Dolce back in 1985, though he will maintain a creative role.
08:42Stepping into the chairman's role is Alfonso Dolce, Domenico's brother, who takes the corporate reins as the brand navigates a
08:50fresh round of debt refinancing.
08:53The company described the departure, which took effect on January 1, as a natural process of organizational and governance evolution.
09:02This resignation, the statement continues, has no impact on the creative activities carried out for the group by Stefano Gabbana
09:11himself.
09:11They added that in regard to the debt they are still in negotiations with banks.
09:16Dolce & Gabbana built its name on Dolce's Sicilian roots
09:20and a particular genius for form-fitting glamour.
09:30The Portuguese city of Evora in the Alentejo region will be the European capital of culture in 2027, alongside Liepaia
09:39in Latvia.
09:41It is already the fourth city in the country to receive this title.
09:44The priority for the organization is to highlight the best that the region and its people have to offer culturally.
09:53O património é rico e vasto, a paisagem é uma paisagem única em termos europeus e portanto o que nós
10:01vamos fazer é criar uma programação e estamos a trabalhar nela, criar uma programação ao longo de todo o ano
10:07que mostra na verdade isto, como é que nós conseguimos ser um evento com raízes tão profundas no Alentejo e
10:16trabalhando a nosso, o que é que era, riqueza patrimonial, artística,
10:21mas torná-la na verdade com uma escala verdadeiramente nacional e internacional.
10:27This will be achieved based on a local philosophy where taking time to reflect and experience our surroundings is seen
10:34as essential.
10:36O vagar, que é um conceito fundamentalmente enraizado na característica dos alentejanos e do seu território, na verdade é um
10:44conceito que é multifacetado porque ele permite oferecer a possibilidade de refletirmos sobre a forma como vivemos as nossas vidas.
10:54Como vivemos as nossas vidas, como nos relacionamos com o tempo, como nos relacionamos com o outro e como nos
11:00relacionamos com o espaço à nossa volta.
11:02The organization estimates that this European Union initiative will result in a significant increase in the number of people visiting
11:10the region.
11:11Evora 27 vai trazer a Evora e ao Alentejo todo muitos visitantes. Segundo os estudos, o dobro dos visitantes, que
11:20normalmente são 600 mil todos os anos e deverão passar para 1 milhão e 200 durante o ano de 2027.
11:28The official opening of Evora 2027 is scheduled for February the 6th next year.
Comments