00:00The European Union approved an additional 6.1 billion euros for Ukraine's procurement of military equipment, including Patriot interceptors.
00:10The French government is banking on 1% growth next year, Economy Minister Grelon-Lesture announced Friday.
00:20Travellers to cities and regions in England could soon have to pay a tourist tax, a scheme widespread across Europe.
00:30A Hong Kong court has sentenced three Tiananmen vigil activists to between five and seven years in prison for national
00:36security offenses.
00:41The European Union is set to provide Ukraine with 6.1 billion euros in additional assistance to help the country
00:48purchase military equipment.
00:50Notably, the so-called made-in-Europe requirement will be lifted to procure U.S.-made Patriot interceptors,
00:57badly needed to shoot down Russia's devastating ballistic missiles.
01:01The funding will come from the bloc's 90 billion euro support loan,
01:05which reserves 28.3 billion euros for military aid and 16.7 billion euros for budget aid this year.
01:12Ukraine's military edge depends on the rapid availability of critical products in the required quantities and within very short time
01:21frames.
01:22Accelerating EU deliveries through death-stocking, reprioritizing orders and ramping up the production remains crucial.
01:29The news comes as allies race to supply Ukraine with air defense systems as Russia escalates its bombing campaign ahead
01:54of what EU officials expect to be the war's harshest winter yet.
02:02The European Union needs to pin down Ukraine's exact financing needs before filling its budget gap,
02:09Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrowski stole your own news.
02:12Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked allies to plug a 23 billion euros deficit in the Ministry of Defense
02:20to pay for personal, social support and weapons purchases.
02:23Russia is strengthening the intensity of the war and we see that both the defense effort of Ukraine and the
02:35economic situation is more difficult
02:38and obviously it leads to the higher financing needs.
02:41As a possible solution, Zelenskyy has suggested that the EU accelerate disbursements under its 90 billion euros support loan.
02:49As an alternative, Ukraine has encouraged EU countries to reconsider tapping into Russian frozen assets.
02:56Last year, we came forward with a concrete legislative proposal to use those assets.
03:02Unfortunately, a member of the states were not able to agree on this, mainly because of the resistance of Belgium.
03:08But we certainly are ready to re-engage those discussions, seek those additional reassurances which may be needed and to
03:16help find a way forward.
03:18Belgium has already warned that its objections have not magically disappeared.
03:28A day after the French Statistics Office downgraded its growth forecast for 2026 from 0.7% to 0.4%,
03:36the French government attempted to present a more optimistic outlook for next year.
03:41Economy Minister Roland Lescure said on Friday he is banking on 1% growth in 2027.
03:471% is at the same time a rebound linked to an important hypothesis which is a progressive reduction but
03:55a reduction of geopolitical uncertainty and a return of the circulation in the district of Hormuz
04:01to the almost normal in the coming months.
04:04Meanwhile, inflation is forecast to hit 2.1% this year and slow to 1.8% in 2027.
04:12Within this context, the target of a 5% deficit in 2026 is no longer an option, the minister said.
04:19Nous sommes dans un cadre budgétaire contraint. Pour le dire simplement, nous n'avons plus de gras.
04:25Ce cadrage budgétaire y démontre la nécessité impérieuse d'adopter un budget le plus tôt possible pour 2027 avant la
04:35fin d'année, je l'espère.
04:36With a 0.4% growth forecast for 2026, the French economy is expected to perform three times worse than
04:44the average of major Eurozone countries,
04:47the French statistics of this said.
04:49In comparison, Germany is set to grow 1%, Spain 2.6% and Italy 0.9%.
05:02Travellers to cities and regions in England could soon have to pay a tourist tax after the government announced it
05:08will allow mayors to charge visitors for overnight stays.
05:12The visitor levy is uncapped but is expected to be under 5% of the accommodation cost.
05:18Tourist taxes are widespread across Europe.
05:21Many towns and cities already apply this system, a decision very often taken at local level.
05:27In France, tourist taxes are set by the local council.
05:31The rate varies between 65 cents and 15.60 euros per person per night, depending on the town and the
05:38type of accommodation.
05:40In Spain, there is no national tax.
05:43It is up to the regions to decide whether to introduce such a scheme, as is the case in Catalonia
05:48and the Balearic Islands.
05:50Municipalities may then decide to add a surcharge, as is the case in Barcelona.
05:55In Italy, the rate of the tourist tax is decided locally.
05:59Milan, for example, has raised its tourist tax for this year only to help fund infrastructure for the Winter Olympics.
06:08Greece stands out in this context.
06:10The tourist tax, now known as the Climate Resilience Tax, is set by the government.
06:16The amount is calculated based on the type of accommodation, as well as the season.
06:26Several people have been killed and others injured after a tour coach overturned on a mountain road in eastern Switzerland.
06:33The crash happened on Thursday on the road, linking Sush and Zernes in the canton of Graubünden.
06:41Police confirmed several fatalities, but have not yet released the exact number of victims, their nationalities or the cause of
06:48the crash.
06:49The Dutch Travel Industry Federation, ANVR, said the coach belonged to the tour company, OAD,
06:56and was carrying 48 passengers, all from the Netherlands.
07:00The group had left the Netherlands on Monday and was on a day trip to Switzerland from Austria.
07:06Emergency crews, including helicopters, were deployed at the scene, where the coach came to rest overturned on an embankment.
07:14A police spokesman said a more detailed toll would not be released until victims' families had been informed.
07:21The investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.
07:29The Hong Kong court has sentenced three Tiananmen vigil activists to between five and seven years in prison for national
07:36security offences.
07:39Nichuk Yang was sentenced to seven years, while Cho Hang-tung received seven years and three months.
07:44Albert Ho was given five years and two months.
07:47All three had been in custody since being charged in 2021 under Hong Kong's national security law.
07:53The activists were former leaders of the now disbanded Hong Kong Alliance, which organized annual vigils commemorating the victims of
08:02the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.
08:10Cho, who represented herself in court, said she had nothing to repent for.
08:16Taiwan condemned the sentences, saying the pursuit of democracy and human rights is not a crime.
08:23Go, your nation.
08:48Check out.
09:32The goal is to be able to create something out of your idea, even if you don't have the skill
09:38to do that.
09:39So you can actually express yourself and your creativity without thinking about what's the production limit.
10:04You're not killing a job, but you're just evolving that job.
10:08Because handwork is still needed, but specialized handwork is needed.
10:16And the robot is helpful because it can make the life of a sculptor even longer, working life I mean.
10:22Because it's more safe, it's more healthy to work on marble if a robot takes on the 99% of
10:34the sculpture.
10:35And you can focus only on your final 1%.
10:55I am actually feeling that I'm completely in control.
10:58This is really an extension of my own sculptural gesture.
11:01Simply this is not related to my human limb.
11:04It's the sort of algorithmic gesture.
11:07And so I love to talk about algorithmic sculpting that in the end still I feel that I am very
11:17much sculpting.
11:34I feel like walking in the end of the skull.
11:35I feel like the logic and Chloe are very consistent with me.
11:35You know?
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