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00:00French President Emmanuel Macron visited Notre-Dame Cathedral as its interior was unveiled for
00:06the first time since its devastating fire.
00:10Thousands of Italian workers took to the streets this Friday to protest the government's new
00:16budget plan.
00:21At a security summit in Kazakhstan, Putin threatened to hit the Ukrainian capital with
00:25recently deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles.
00:31Kia Starmer says he'll overhaul the immigration system after new data shows arrivals to the
00:36country hit a record high.
00:44French President Emmanuel Macron visited Notre-Dame Cathedral as its interior was unveiled for
00:50the first time after being closed for more than five years following a devastating fire.
00:56Accompanied by his wife, Brigitte, they entered through the cathedral's giant front doors
01:02and gazed up at the ceilings in wonder.
01:05France's national treasure is set to reopen its doors to the public on December 8, even
01:10though the exterior of the monument remains a construction site with cranes and scaffolding.
01:15The cathedral had been left with gaping holes in the ceilings caused by the fire, which
01:20stonemasons were able to fix.
01:23The French president will return on December 7 to attend the consecration of the new altar
01:29and offer a speech during a solemn mass the following day.
01:33His administration is presenting the cathedral's reconstruction as a symbol of French can-do
01:38attitude and national unity.
01:42Nurses, teachers and thousands of other public and private sector employees in Italy took
01:48to the streets on Friday to protest the government's new budget plan.
01:53Workers say salaries are not high enough to keep up with inflation and that there has
01:58been a decline in spending power and government policies.
02:28Unionists also asked for new hires and the stabilization of employees with temporary
02:36contracts in hospitals and schools.
02:39But Premier Giorgia Meloni has repeatedly said that the core of her government's economic
02:59measures are tax cuts rather than subsidies.
03:07Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to strike Ukrainian capital Kyiv with recently
03:12unveiled Oreshnik missiles, as he praised US President-elect Donald Trump as quite clever
03:18and experienced.
03:21He made the comments during a news conference on the sidelines of a security summit alliance
03:25of former Soviet nations in Kazakhstan.
03:55While at the summit, Russia's leader also praised incoming US President-elect Donald
04:05Trump.
04:31Moscow has launched intensifying attacks against Ukraine's energy infrastructure recently,
04:37with Trump's victory casting uncertainty over the future of Ukraine.
04:46Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belusov visited North Korea this Friday to discuss further
04:52cooperation between the two countries.
04:56In a meeting with his North Korean counterpart Noh Kwon-choh, Belusov said military support
05:01between Moscow and Pyongyang is expanding.
05:05He also added that an agreement signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North
05:09Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June is aimed at stabilizing Northeast Asia, including reducing
05:16the risk of nuclear war.
05:25British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the government will overhaul the immigration
05:29system after new data showed arrivals to the country had hit a record high.
05:34Figures released by the Office for National Statistics put net migration at more than
05:38900,000 in the year to June 2023.
05:42Starmer blamed those numbers on the previous conservative government.
06:12Starmer said his government plans to overhaul the points-based immigration system brought
06:24in by the conservatives in 2021 after Brexit.
06:29That system gives applicants points for specific skills and qualifications, and those who don't
06:34meet the threshold aren't granted a visa.
06:37Immigration is a divisive topic in the UK, with many voters concerned about the strain
06:42on public services caused by a large influx of people.
06:46But some sectors, including healthcare, argue they'd be unable to function without staff
06:50brought in from abroad.
06:57Thousands of Georgians have protested outside the parliament in Tbilisi after Prime Minister
07:01Irakli Kabakidze announced a suspension in the country's EU accession bid.
07:07There were clashes between police and protesters, with officers using water cannons and deploying
07:13right teams to quell the unrest.
07:16Kabakidze's decision to stop accession talks until 2028 came just hours after the European
07:22Parliament adopted a resolution rejecting the country's election results, citing major
07:28irregularities.
07:30But the people of Georgia are determined to continue making their voices heard until their
07:35demands are met.
07:47The European Parliament said the country should rerun its election under international supervision
07:51within a year.
07:53The bloc also announced a cut in budgetary support to Georgia, a measure lawmakers say
07:59could be detrimental to the country.
08:02Kabakidze accuses Brussels of blackmail, and says his government will work to implement
08:20the necessary reforms to resume accession talks.
08:24He said that by 2028, Georgia will be the most prepared country among all candidates
08:30to join the bloc in the year 2030.
08:37Voting began Friday morning in Ireland's parliamentary elections which will decide
08:41the country's next government, and show whether Ireland bucks the global trend of incumbents
08:46being ousted by disgruntled voters after years of pandemic, instability and economic pressure.
08:53Housing and the cost of living are two topics at the forefront of voters' minds as they
08:58head to the polls.
09:00Ireland has an acute housing shortage.
09:02Despite being one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, rents have soared.
09:07Many young people can't afford a place of their own.
09:10The proportion of young people struggling to afford housing costs is amongst the highest
09:15in Europe.
09:16Coupled with the housing crisis, rising immigration is another topic driving discontentment with
09:21establishment, centre-right political parties like Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
09:27About 20% of Ireland's population was born outside Ireland, and 120,000 foreigners moved
09:34to Ireland in the year to April, the biggest number since 2007.
09:39The country of 5.4 million has struggled to house all the asylum seekers, leading to tension
09:45and protests.
09:46The main political parties are trying to defuse the discontentment, touting plans to get a
09:51grip on immigration and build many more houses.
09:55Analysts say the most likely election outcome of this vote is another alliance between establishment
10:00parties Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
10:07Sweden has formally asked China to cooperate with an investigation into the suspected sabotage
10:12of two data cables running under the Baltic Sea.
10:16The fibre optic cables, one running from Finland to Germany and the other from Lithuania to
10:21Sweden were damaged last week, in an area where the Chinese bulk carrier Yipeng 3 had
10:26been seen.
10:27With this request, obviously we think it's extremely important to find out exactly what
10:34has happened and of course we expect also China to comply with the request we have sent
10:40to China.
10:42The Yipeng 3 is currently anchored in international waters between Sweden and Denmark, where it's
10:47being monitored by several vessels, including those belonging to the Danish Navy.
10:52The Wall Street Journal reported that investigators suspect the Yipeng 3 of deliberately severing
10:57the fibre optic cables by dragging its anchor along the seabed.
11:02Authorities in Beijing said they had no information about the ship and denied any responsibility.
11:18Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said this wasn't the first time suspected sabotage had
11:23happened in the Baltic Sea.
11:25The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which carried gas from Russia to Germany, were both damaged
11:30in explosions in 2022.
11:33And in 2023, the Baltic Connector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was seriously
11:39damaged.