00:00U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday,
00:06which has now come into effect to bring a temporary moment of respite after weeks of ongoing Israeli strikes.
00:13And though the Iran-backed Hezbollah, whom Israeli forces are fighting, are not party to the deal,
00:20Trump says they will abide by its terms.
00:22I think they will. I think it's going to be, actually it's very exciting because it's 48 years.
00:28We're going to be meeting with Bibi Netanyahu, as you know, and the president of Lebanon.
00:35And I had a great talk with both of them today.
00:37They're going to be having a ceasefire, and that will include Hezbollah.
00:43News of the truce was well-received in Lebanon, with people firing tracer rounds in celebration,
00:49and also by the international community.
00:51We welcome steps that would end hostilities and suffering on both sides of the blue line.
00:57The United Nations, through our political and peacekeeping missions, remains ready to support these efforts
01:03and continues to urge the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701.
01:10And that full implementation is towards a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution to the conflict.
01:16Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the opportunity for peace with Lebanon,
01:21but stressed that Israeli troops will not withdraw from their occupied so-called security zone.
01:46Israel says it also reserves the right to attack at any time to respond to any threat
01:51that it perceives, even preemptively.
01:54The Lebanese Health Ministry says Israeli strikes since the beginning of the war in Iran
01:58have killed at least 1,200 people, injured thousands, and displaced roughly 1.2 million.
02:06The Iranian Foreign Minister Saeed Abbas Araqchir declared the Strait of Hormuz completely open for business
02:12for the remainder of the 10-day ceasefire brokered yesterday between Israel and Lebanon.
02:18Vessels will be allowed to pass along the coordinated route announced by the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran.
02:24The announcement came as a coalition of mainly NATO countries were having talks in Paris
02:29to prepare a plan to resume navigation through the waterway,
02:32a key oil route choked off by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
02:36French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting the hybrid meeting,
02:39which is also joined by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Frédéric Maers,
02:43but not the United States.
02:45The mission is set to include military ships, mine clearing operations, and radar capabilities.
02:51The leaders spearheading the mission insist it will be strictly defensive.
02:57Chancellor Merz said German participation could only occur after a provisional ceasefire
03:01and a mandate within a collective security framework,
03:04preferably from the United Nations, as well as approval from the German government.
03:09The coalition was pushed to create a plan after U.S. President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to NATO allies.
03:15The waterways closure is set to trigger even more economic pain
03:19if efforts to secure a lasting ceasefire failed.
03:27Europe could face a shortage of jet fuel in the coming weeks,
03:31said the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, on Thursday,
03:36warning of a possible flight consolation soon if oil supplies remain blocked by the Iran war.
03:44We are in Europe, we have maybe six weeks or so jet fuel left.
03:52If we are not able to open the Strait of Hormus,
03:56if the refining is as a result of start to work,
03:59I can tell you soon we will hear the news that some of the flights from City A to City
04:09B
04:09might be cancelled as a result of lack of jet fuel.
04:14Last week, the Airports Council International Europe wrote to the European Commission
04:19saying shortages of jet fuel could begin at the beginning of May
04:23if tankers do not begin sailing through the Hormuz.
04:25The situation varies considerably across the continent.
04:30Austria, Bulgaria and Poland have comfortable stocks.
04:33For Britain, Iceland and the Netherlands, it is the opposite.
04:37France is somewhere in the middle,
04:39and the impact won't be the same for all airports and airlines.
04:44Airlines for Europe, a trade association that includes Air France, KLM, Lufthansa and Ryanair,
04:50has been urging the European Union to begin providing real-time information
04:54on jet fuel stocks at airports.
05:02For 1.5 million displaced Palestinians,
05:06the choice is between enduring harsh conditions in a tent
05:09or returning home to unsafe living conditions,
05:12including roofs at risk of collapse.
05:15By mid-2025, around 90% of Gaza's population have been displaced from their homes,
05:22many of them more than once.
05:24Now thousands returning to neighborhoods face the unprecedented scale of the destruction.
05:30The United Nations estimates that around 320,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged,
05:36equivalent to 81% of buildings in Gaza.
05:54Winter in the Strip has further intensified already dire living conditions for Palestinians.
05:59Heavy rain has flooded tents, creating cold, damp conditions that leave many vulnerable to hypothermia.
06:07But the rain also exposed the fragility of the damaged homes.
06:11Water seeping into the soil beneath these damaged structures
06:14significantly increases the risk of sudden collapse.
06:30In addition to the structural hazards, returning residents face another threat,
06:36that of unexploded devices buried beneath the rubble.
06:39The United Nations has also warned that Gaza's debris contains hazardous materials,
06:45including asbestos, as well as industrial and medical waste.
07:07But Gazans face a long road ahead of them.
07:10The UN predicts the removal of rubble alone could take up to seven years,
07:14and the reconstruction of Gaza could take decades and is expected to cost over 40 billion U.S. dollars.
07:23On the second leg of his African tour,
07:26Pope Leo on Thursday traveled to the western Cameroonian city of Bamenda,
07:30preaching a message of peace to a region that's been at the epicenter
07:33of a separatist conflict that humanitarian groups have called
07:37one of the world's most neglected crises.
07:54Pope Leo's message follows his speech given on Wednesday upon his arrival in the Central African country,
08:01where he urged the poor Bia government to root out corruption.
08:04President Bia, who, at 93, is the world's oldest leader,
08:09sat passively as Pope Leo read his speech in French at the presidential palace in Yaoundé.
08:14For the peace and justice to affirm,
08:18we need to break down the chains of corruption
08:21that defigure the authority in the evidence of its credibility.
08:28We need to release the heart of this fear of Ghan,
08:33which is an idolatry.
08:36The real Ghan is the integral development of the human being,
08:40that is the strength of all aspects that make life on this land a benediction.
08:49Being the first Pope to visit Cameroon since 2009,
08:54many cheering Cameroonians gave Pope Leo a raucous welcome,
08:58lining the road into the capital Yaoundé from the airport,
09:01dancing and waving palm fronts as the Pope's motorcade wheezed by.
09:05Ahead of the visits, the Vatican had said fighting corruption in Cameroon
09:09would be one of the themes of Leo's visit,
09:12and the Pope did not hold back.
09:19They have been waiting for hours.
09:21These immigrants in Spain have been queuing to gather all the necessary documents
09:26to qualify for the fast-track immigration procedure.
09:29Despite the wait and technical issues,
09:32these immigrants remain optimistic.
09:33It's very good for everyone,
09:36it's beneficial for the work,
09:37supposedly,
09:37to give us a job with all the benefits,
09:40since we are working as a black person.
09:42We open doors for a better future,
09:47a better stability,
09:51and so many things.
09:53Spain's government finalized a migrant amnesty measure
09:57that it announced earlier this year,
09:59paving the way for immigrants living and working without authorization
10:03to apply for legal status.
10:05An estimated 500,000 people living in Spain without authorization
10:10could be eligible to apply,
10:12the government said.
10:13Those who meet certain conditions
10:15can now apply for one-year residency and work permit.
10:21Bulgaria will on Sunday hold its eighth parliamentary elections in five years,
10:27with former President Roman Radev's new party leading polls in a vote
10:31many hope will end the now chronic political instability.
10:36According to the latest polls,
10:38Radev's progressive Bulgaria coalition,
10:41formed in December,
10:42leads with 33% support,
10:45positioning him as a key power broker
10:48in what is expected to be
10:50another fragmented parliament.
10:52The election follows five years of near-permanent crisis
10:56in which no government has survived a full term.
11:00Instead,
11:01the country has cycled through caretaker administrations,
11:05fragile coalitions,
11:06and short-lived alliances
11:08that have often collapsed amid scandal.
11:11The elections also come after that of Hungary,
11:14which ended Prime Minister Viktor Orban's 16-year rule last weekend
11:19and showed that change is possible anywhere in Europe.
11:23But analysts fear Radev,
11:25an admirer of Orban,
11:27could be the EU's next disruptor-in-chief.
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