00:00East or West, Armenians and the world are about to find out where the country is heading
00:05as the official vote count has begun for the parliamentary elections.
00:10Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kirti's party has taken the lead in Sunday's snap parliamentary
00:14election with slightly more than 40% of the votes but missing a majority.
00:20An Israeli man opened fire in several districts in central Israel, killing one and injuring
00:26five others in what officials say was a terrorist attack.
00:29The first results are coming in this evening as Armenia goes to the polls in what is a pivotal
00:35vote in the future of the country.
00:38Now the elections are set against the backdrop of a Russia-West backlash.
00:44Armenia has a population of 3 million people and has been coming under increasing economic
00:49pressure from Moscow as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan seeks re-election under the
00:56promise of European integration.
00:58Now voting is up to 49% turnout this year which is a 10% increase from 2021.
01:07Votes are expected to be counted until the early hours of the morning.
01:12Until then the country is bracing itself for those final results.
01:16Jane Witherspoon, Euronews in Yerevan, Armenia.
01:23Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kirti's party has taken the lead in Sunday's snap parliamentary
01:27election which was marked by low water turnout.
01:31Exit polls by three main Kosovo media outlets show Kirti's Veteven Dossier party won slightly
01:36more than 40% of the votes.
01:38While this puts them ahead, it's not enough to govern alone and represents more than 10%
01:44percentage points less than the party won in the previous vote in December.
01:47The ballot marks the country's third election in just over a year, coming amid mounting frustration
01:53over a prolonged political deadlock.
01:56The crisis dates back to February 2025 when an inconclusive election triggered a long political
02:02stalemate, repeated failed votes and successive snap polls after lawmakers failed to agree on a new president.
02:09Experts warn the latest ballot may struggle to break the impasse completely, with deep
02:14divisions between competing parties still unresolved.
02:17Many voters say they feel disillusioned, expecting little change despite returning to
02:22the polls once again as rising living costs continue to hit the economy.
02:26The ongoing instability is also being closely watched in Brussels, where Kosovo's repeated
02:32political deadlocks are seen as a setback to its EU accession ambitions and to broader
02:37stability in the Western Balkans.
02:43Acclaimed filmmaker and compound door winner, Jafar Panahi faces prison in a travel ban following
02:48a court decision in Tehran.
02:49On Sunday, his lawyer Mustafa Nili told an Iranian media outlet that a revolutionary court
02:55has rejected their objections and fully upheld the in absentia verdict against the prominent
03:00director.
03:01Under the initial verdict, Panahi had been sentenced to one year in prison on the charge of engaging
03:06in propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
03:09Nili added that his client was also handed a two-year travel ban and prohibited from joining
03:14political and social groups and associations.
03:16The grounds cited for the verdict included making an underground and problematic film
03:21against the establishment, supporting political prisoners, backing popular protests and supporting
03:27the woman life freedom slogan.
03:28The initial court ruling was issued while Panahi was abroad taking part in a publicity campaign
03:33for the film A Simple Accident which was selected to represent France in the race for the
03:38Academy Award.
03:39The director returned to Iran on March 30 after attending the Oscars.
03:45Panahi's lawyer noted that the ruling can still be appealed to the Tehran Provincial Court
03:49of Appeal within 20 days of notification.
03:52The filmmaker previously spent 86 days in Evin prison in 2002 and 2023 on charges of propaganda
03:58against the state.
04:00He was released after going on hunger strike and winning an appeal.
04:08An Israeli man opened fire at several towns in central Israel on Sunday, killing one person
04:14and injuring five others before being shot and killed by police.
04:18Israeli officials say all those who were injured have been transferred to hospitals to
04:23receive medical treatment.
04:25police say the attacker was of Palestinian ethnicity but holds Israeli citizenship and
04:30stress that investigations are ongoing to determine the motives.
04:35Israeli media say the man carried out the shootings from inside his car, allowing him to reach several
04:40areas in a matter of minutes.
04:43Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the incident as a terrorist attack and praised his
04:48country's agencies for quickly responding to and neutralizing the threat.
04:51orders Bye.
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