00:02The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, invited Canada to become the first
00:08associate member of the European Union. In her annual speech on the State of the Union given at
00:14the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the EU chief promoted closer ties with Ottawa on tech,
00:20defense and energy. We want to bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level
00:26possible. And dear Mark, I said we must urgently reimagine our partnerships. So I would like to work with you
00:36on opening the door for Canada to being the first associate member of the European Union.
00:45Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, who attended Van der Leyen's speech in Strasbourg,
00:50is addressing the European Parliament on Thursday. Ottawa is discussing with Brussels to join the
00:56Erasmus Press Exchange Programme, Horizon Europe research grants and mutual recognition of workers'
01:02qualifications. However, associate member is a completely new status and key questions remain
01:09unanswered, including whether Ottawa will have voting rights in EU institutions.
01:18The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague has convicted former Kosovo President Hashim Taci to 25 years in jail
01:26on four counts of war crimes committed during his country's war for independence from Serbia.
01:32Taci, who was tried along with three other former guerrilla leaders, was convicted of murder,
01:37torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detention. The presiding judge said Taci used his position,
01:44leadership, authority and standing to encourage the crimes, including the targeting of political
01:49opponents and civilians perceived as collaborators and traitors during their time in the Kosovo Liberation
01:54army. For many inside Kosovo, Taci and the KLA are symbols of its independence movement.
02:01After the war, Taci remained a central political figure and was instrumental in its 2008 declaration
02:07of independence. But his image was tarnished by a 2010 Council of Europe report alleging links to
02:13organized crime and serious abuses committed during and immediately after the war.
02:20Taci's images have appeared on huge billboards across the country, and his supporters have
02:25regularly organized rallies in Pristina. Despite the seriousness of the charges, supporters of Taci
02:32expected him and his co-accused to be released, with preparations for a possible return already
02:37underway prior to the sentencing. Belarus has released 25 political prisoners in exchange of the U.S.
02:49lifting sanctions on two Belarusian companies in a deal brockered by U.S. envoy John Cole,
02:56who was in the capital, Minsk. Cole said that more talks could lead to a further release of individuals.
03:15The U.S. and many other Western countries imposed sanctions on Belarus after it allowed Russia to
03:23use its territory to invade Ukraine in 2022. Washington has now eased some sanctions which
03:30affected paint manufacturer Lakokraska and forestry sector group Belzpomprom. Hundreds of people were
03:37imprisoned after mass protests in 2020, sparked by the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko,
03:45who's been in power since 1994.
03:53The U.S. central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to a range of
04:003.75% to 4%, its first increase since July 2023. The goal to make borrowing more expensive, which
04:10usually slows spending and helps bring inflation down, in a unanimous 12-0 vote that put Chair Kevin
04:19Walsh directly at odds with U.S. President Donald Trump, who appointed him. Trump reportedly expected
04:26Walsh to eventually lower rates. The market reaction to the decision has been fairly muted,
04:32likely due to the fact that the hike was widely expected. The Fed's communication was as striking as
04:38its decision. The statement ran to three short paragraphs a fraction of the length markets are
04:44used to, with no forward guidance and no hedging. One sentence even reads,
04:49the committee will deliver price stability, not seeks to, not is committed to, but will.
04:55The Fed is signalling that interest rates may stay high or even go higher because inflation is still
05:02a problem as uncertainty remains elevated, the Fed said, owing partly to geopolitical developments,
05:09its terms for the war in Iran.
05:15The war with Iran had cost the U.S. military around 38 billion dollars by the 1st of August,
05:21according to the country's non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
05:25It said continued fighting could cost another two to three billion dollars or more each month,
05:30depending on the intensity of the conflict. Replacing munitions used through August 1st was estimated
05:37at 21.7 billion dollars, making it the largest single component of military cost.
05:43The report also warned that depletion of missile defense interceptors had reduced U.S. inventories
05:48for several years. It is estimated that the United States may have used between half and two-thirds
05:55of those munitions since June 2025. The CBO also said the conflict was increasing inflationary pressures
06:03by disrupting oil and natural gas supplies. It is projected that first quarter inflation next year
06:10could be 0.5 percentage points higher than previously expected.
06:19A six-story building housing dozens of people in Gaza collapsed on Wednesday, killing at least 21
06:26people, including 11 children, while dozens were still missing. The building crumbled overnight onto
06:33nearby homes and tents in Gaza City, according to the Civil Defense Agency. It was known to be unstable
06:40because of damage from Israeli strikes earlier in the war, underscoring how perilous and desperate
06:46living conditions have grown for the majority of the enclave's population, as a cease-fire deal
06:51between Israel and Hamas is stalling. There's been no reconstruction work since the cease-fire was
06:57agreed to almost a year ago. Israel has said that it won't allow any rebuilding until Hamas disarms,
07:03and has allowed only a handful of excavators into Gaza. With so many Palestinians left homeless and
07:10major shortages of construction materials, many Gaza residents have taken the risk of moving into
07:16unsafe buildings. Gaza's Civil Defense Agency has identified around 2,000 buildings in the territory
07:22that it says are at risk of collapse. Multiple petrol stations have been vandalized in northern France,
07:34with the words thieves written and screens smashed in protest against rising fuel prices. While four
07:42petrol stations were vandalized around the town of Douai, one local resident says that for this type of
07:48action to work, people need to mobilize en masse.
08:05Meanwhile, some places across France, including Paris, saw prices for diesel go up to almost 2 euros 50
08:13per litre, causing some French motorists to flock to Total Energy's service stations as they announced
08:20a cap of 1 euro 99 per litre of E10 petrol and at 2 euros 25 for diesel, considerably less
08:28than the national
08:29average. Other petrol stations, especially independent stations and supermarkets, are complaining about
08:36what they call unfair competition from Total Energy's. The energy giant can afford to sell fuel
08:43more cheaply because it also produces and refines oil, even if it incurs considerable losses at their pumps.
08:55The small English village of Piddington has decided to leave the United Kingdom. The result of the symbolic
09:02referendum is primarily intended to protest against the government's decision to accommodate 1,200 asylum
09:10seekers in disused military barracks less than a kilometer away. In the village of around 350 people,
09:19the result was clear. 285 of the 312 ballots countered backed the call for the village to seek self-determination.
09:28We have given an absolute message, not just to the region, not just to the country, but to the world.
09:37And Piddington is not just doing it for itself. What I've learned in this journey is that there are many,
09:43many people across this country who are hugely frustrated, angry with the behaviour of government and democracy.
09:52The government says the use of former military bases is part of its plan to reduce
09:58reliance on hotels for asylum accommodation. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would consider
10:04the concerns raised by the community, while the government has maintained that the site will go ahead.
10:16Rome is home to many ancient treasures. Now the public can see what is believed to be the largest
10:23fresco and mosaic complex from ancient Rome.
10:30Authorities have unveiled a first-century A.D. fresco depicting a maritime city at the Trajan
10:37Baths, once the largest bath complex in the world, and the site now houses a new museum inaugurated on Wednesday.
10:46The painted city fresco and great mosaic were discovered in an underground gallery during excavations
10:54in the 1990s of the Baths of Trajan on the Opium Hill near the Colosseum. The mosaic measures some
11:0115 metres high and features decorated columns and architectural elements and figures over four
11:08different levels. The Baths of Trajan, which were dedicated by Emperor Trajan in 109 A.D., extended over six hectares.
11:20The painted city is a 10-square-metre fresco dating from the 1st century A.D., before the Baths of
11:27Trajan were built.
11:28It depicts a city seen from above. To protect the works, the first visits will be limited to small
11:35groups on weekends. Free guided tours will be available by reservation on September 12th and 13th.
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