00:01U.S. President Donald Trump said the war in Iran is, quote, very close to over.
00:11Italy's Prime Minister, Georgia Maloney, reiterated her disapproval of the war in Iran
00:15after Trump accused her of lacking courage for not joining.
00:21A 58-year-old Parisian engineer is the proud owner of an original Picasso painting
00:26after entering a raffle with a 100-euro ticket.
00:30I had to divert, because if I didn't do that...
00:33U.S. President Donald Trump said the war in Iran is, quote, very close to over.
00:38Trump's statement comes as the ceasefire that is set to expire on the 22nd of April remains on shaky ground.
00:46The United States is pressing ahead with its blockade on Iranian ports,
00:51while Tehran issued fresh threats in response.
00:54Nonetheless, officials said they were making progress on talks,
00:58and mediators said on Wednesday they moved closer to extend the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran.
01:05Negotiators are focusing on three key points that derailed last weekend's talks,
01:10including Iran's nuclear program, the Strait of Hommers and compensation for wartime damages.
01:15Despite the fragile truce, oil prices fell on Wednesday and U.S. stocks rose in hopes of an end to
01:22the war.
01:22Meanwhile, Israel continued its aerial and ground war on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
01:28The attacks come just after Israel and Lebanon held their first direct talks in decades in Washington.
01:38In the wake of Donald Trump's attacks on Giorgia Meloni, Palazzo Khidji is trying to play down the blow.
01:45It's not the end of the world.
01:46We've simply said what we think government sources say.
01:49But the rift has been clear-cut, with the U.S. president describing himself as shocked by Meloni's stance in
01:56solidarity with the Pope.
01:57Donald Trump had described the Pope as weak and terrible at foreign policy.
02:29Prior to the criticism, the Prime Minister had reiterated Italy's commitment to peace in the Middle East.
02:36The response of Italy with the U.S. is a rapport that goes on for a few years, no?
02:43It doesn't matter the single government.
02:46We try to do our best, clearly, in context, considering the U.S. is our strategic ally and priority.
02:55But when we are friends and when we have allies, particularly if we are strategic,
02:59we must also have the courage to say when we are not in agreement.
03:11Following Trump's attacks, Meloni simply reiterated the point, being allies does not mean being subject.
03:17She declared.
03:21The International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, says very detailed measures to verify Iran's nuclear activities must be included in a
03:31potential U.S.-Iran agreement to end their war.
03:35Speaking on Wednesday in South Korea, the director of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, stressed that Iran has
03:42an ambitious nuclear program requiring checks.
03:45All of that will require the presence of IAEA inspectors.
03:51Otherwise, you will not have an agreement.
03:54You will have an illusion of an agreement.
03:57So I am certain that we will be required and asked when the parties come to an agreement, hopefully,
04:08to provide the indispensable safeguard verification component of the agreement.
04:20Grossi's comments come as Iran has not allowed the IAEA access to its nuclear facilities bombed by Israel and the
04:27U.S. during the 12-day war in June.
04:30His comments also comes as an initial round of face-to-face talks in Pakistan between senior U.S. and
04:37Iranian officials failed to produce an agreement last weekend.
04:41The Trump administration has said that preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon is a key war aim,
04:48but Iran has long insisted it isn't developing such weapons and its program is peaceful.
04:57Three days after his party's landslide election victory,
05:01Peter Maia says he has called for an early transfer of power as soon as possible during talks with Hungary's
05:07president, Tamas Sulyok.
05:09Speaking at a press conference in front of the presidential palace,
05:13Maia told reporters he wanted the inaugural meeting of the new National Assembly to be held on the 4th of
05:19May,
05:20the day that official election results are expected to be released.
05:23We have to remain at the same time they'll premiere through the new government's conversation of the past and the
05:41new government's conversation,
05:43and the new government's conversation is.
05:53We have to move forward from the government,
05:55her and all the other people,
05:57whom the Orbán system is called in the place,
05:59be it the most important part of the government,
06:00or the government of the government.
06:03Mr. President,
06:05he gave a clear answer to this question,
06:07and he said that he would certainly
06:09want to support the government
06:10in Hungary,
06:12his reputation and his name
06:15and his name.
06:17He said that Mr. President,
06:18he said that he wanted to support him
06:19in the conversation.
06:22Maria, over two years,
06:23attracted a cross-section of public support
06:26his Titsa party,
06:27which swept the ruling fidets from power
06:30on Sunday.
06:54The EU's age verification app for online platform is technically ready,
06:59and will soon be rolled out.
07:01European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
07:03said Wednesday as a growing number of countries
07:06push ahead with plans to curb social media access for younger users.
07:10You download the app,
07:12you set it up with your passport or your ID card,
07:16you then prove your age when accessing online services.
07:20Second,
07:22it respects the highest privacy standards in the world.
07:27users will prove their age without revealing any other personal information.
07:34Put simply, it's completely anonymous.
07:38Users cannot be tracked.
07:41Third, the app works on any device, phone, tablet, computer, you name it.
07:47European officials have warned children are increasingly exposed to harmful content online,
07:54citing cyber bullying and addictive features designed to maximize engagement as examples.
08:00Officials said the aim is to develop a single EU-wide system,
08:04avoiding a patchwork of national approaches.
08:07However, they did not provide a timeline
08:10for when the system will be fully deployed across the block,
08:13nor did they announce whether platforms will be required to adopt it.
08:18The move is aimed at major platforms,
08:21such as TikTok, Meta's Facebook and Instagram,
08:24and Snapchat,
08:25which have clashed with Brussels Digital Services Act
08:28over child safety and addictive design.
08:34A 58-year-old Parisian engineer is the proud owner of an original Picasso painting
08:40after entering a raffle with a 100 euro ticket.
08:43The charity raffle in Paris offers participants to win a work by Pablo Picasso
08:48for the price of a single ticket,
08:50all while raising funds for Alzheimer's research.
09:15A total of 120,000 tickets were sold at 100 euros each,
09:21raising 12 million euros.
09:22Of that total, 1 million euros will go to the Opera Gallery,
09:26which owns the painting,
09:27and the remaining funds will support medical research
09:30through the Alzheimer Research Foundation.
09:33The raffle went crazy, actually,
09:36because we sold all the tickets.
09:40This morning, before 10 o'clock Paris time,
09:44we were sold out.
09:46We had to shut down the site,
09:47and we stopped selling because we had no more tickets.
09:52The organizers held the raffle twice before,
09:55once in 2013 and another in 2020.
09:59The two previous raffles had raised more than 10 million euros combined,
10:04funding cultural initiatives in Lebanon,
10:06as well as water and hygiene programs in parts of Africa.
10:13A new flotilla mission with around 40 boats
10:15has set sail for Gaza from Barcelona on Wednesday
10:18in a fresh bid to break the Israeli blockade
10:21and deliver aid to the region.
10:24According to the organizers of the Global Sumut Flotilla,
10:2720 more boats from France and 4 more from Italy
10:29will join the convoy on April 24,
10:32with a week-long stopover in Sicily
10:34for a non-violence training.
10:36Sumut, which means resilience in Arabic,
10:39aims to rally hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists
10:41from dozens of countries.
10:44The ships in the flotilla are mostly sailboats.
10:47In late 2025, an initial flotilla of about 50 boats,
10:52composed of political figures and activists
10:54such as Sweden's Greta Thunberg,
10:55was boarded by Israeli Navy in international waters,
10:59which was an illegal action according to Amnesty International.
11:03Israel, on the other hand, invokes Article 51 of the UN Charter,
11:06asserting that the blockade and naval intervention
11:09are necessary measures to prevent the smuggling of weapons
11:12and dual-use materials.
11:14The Gaza Strip, governed by Hamas,
11:17has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.
11:20The sides accused each other of violating a ceasefire
11:23that came into effect on October 10, 2025,
11:26after two years of war.
Comments