Latest news bulletin | December 5th – Midday - video Dailymotion

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00:00Newly revealed declassified information suggests a state actor may have been behind Georgescu's

00:07campaign.

00:11France's prime minister will submit his resignation to the country's president after being ousted

00:15by a no-confidence vote in parliament.

00:24Parliament demonstrations carried out for a sixth night in a row on Wednesday in Georgia's

00:29capital Tbilisi.

00:31Protesters showed no sign of backing down amid water cannons and arrests by riot police.

00:38The opposition is calling for new elections following the October 26 vote, which has been

00:42labelled as fraudulent.

00:44The election that returned Georgian Dream to power was also criticised by President

00:49Salome Zurabichvili.

00:50The ruling party's latest decision to pause EU accession has worsened the situation.

01:01Opposition parties in South Korea submitted a motion on Wednesday to impeach President

01:06Yun Suk-hyeol after he imposed a martial law.

01:11The law was lifted just hours after the president announced it, following mass protests and

01:16parliament opposition.

01:21Lawmakers that had managed to defy security forces and enter parliament unanimously voted

01:26against the law.

01:30Impeaching Yun would require the support of two-thirds of the parliament and the backing

01:34of at least six constitutional court judges.

01:38Voting is set for Friday or Saturday.

01:42Officials are also mounting for members of Yun's cabinet to resign.

01:48If Yun is impeached, he'll be stripped of his constitutional powers until the court

01:52can rule on his fate.

01:58The Romanian political scene embattled second round of the presidential elections have been

02:03thrown in disarray by the Romanian presidency decision to unseal the intelligence agency's

02:09reports indicating a foreign interference in the elections in favor of far-right candidate

02:15Kalin Georgescu.

02:17Romania's foreign intelligence service states in the released documents that Romania is

02:23the target of aggressive hybrid actions by the Russian Federation.

02:28The dramatic move by the Romanian state to release the National Security Council's secret

02:33documents showed that major sums of money together with an elaborate foreign operation

02:40on social media influencing lead to the unexplained rise of the obscure extremist candidate Kalin

02:46Georgescu.

02:47The secret documents from three Romanian intelligence agencies details that 797 TikTok accounts

02:55created in 2016 for Georgescu and left dormant were activated to maximum capacity two weeks

03:03before the elections.

03:06Telegram accounts created in 2022 coordinated the TikTok and offer operations in favor of

03:13Kalin Georgescu who called himself an independent candidate with zero campaign spending.

03:20The documents which list a wide array of show that 1 million euros were mobilized by

03:26foreign state actors to drive Georgescu's campaign and the TikTok LHD confirmed that

03:32it received over 300,000 euros from Kalin Georgescu campaign.

03:38But Georgescu always maintained that he did not spend one euro for his campaign which

03:45opens the door to allegation and investigation of illegal campaign financing.

03:51The major question following now is the fate of the second round of the presidential elections,

03:57the light of these revelations.

03:59For Euronews, Andrea Gourban.

04:06Barely in and already out, French Prime Minister Michel Barnier will formally resign to French

04:11President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday morning.

04:15Following a no-confidence motion which toppled his government the night before.

04:19After your fall, sooner or later there will be a budget for the state.

04:24The Prime Minister must submit to the President of the Republic the resignation of the government.

04:29The work of the National Assembly is up to date.

04:33Barnier pushed through the 2025 budget without parliamentary approval, saying it was necessary

04:39amid deep political divisions.

04:42Yet the proposed austerity budget only deepened those divisions and inflamed tensions.

05:02Both the left and right wing of France's National Assembly united in favour of Wednesday's

05:08no-confidence vote.

05:13French President Emmanuel Macron will speak Thursday evening in an attempt to set a course

05:18at a time of rare political uncertainty.

05:25Chancellor Olaf Scholz battled questions from German MPs in the Bundestag on Wednesday,

05:31ahead of the vote of confidence.

05:35Chancellor Olaf Scholz battled questions from German MPs in the Bundestag on Wednesday,

05:41ahead of the vote of confidence that the Chancellor has called for December 16th.

05:46Scholz has drawn the line at sending German soldiers into Ukraine after the foreign ministers

05:52suggested that peacekeeping troops could be stationed in a demilitarised zone if a ceasefire

05:58between Russia and Ukraine was agreed.

06:01The Chancellor was gruelled about the shrinking economy, which has continued to deteriorate

06:05over the past three years, while Scholz has been in power due to repercussions stemming

06:10from Covid and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which have arguably been outside

06:15the government's control.

06:17While Scholz said that he would continue to work on policies over the next couple of months

06:21ahead of the vote scheduled for February, it's clear that he's already in full election

06:26campaign mode.

06:28Liv Stroud, in Berlin, for Euronews.

06:41It's quite a commotion for a former EU Justice Commissioner to be subject to an investigation

06:47by the Belgian authorities for money laundering.

06:50Didier Reynders is suspected of having bought tickets of the national lottery, for which

06:55he was responsible during his term as finance minister, and transferring the laundered profits

07:00to his private account.

07:02Could these alleged misdeeds undermine the credibility of the European institutions?

07:08Is the Commissioner responsible for justice and the rule of law?

07:14So if he is implicated in money laundering or illegal activity, that would be a particular

07:21blow.

07:22On the other hand, he is now out.

07:25There is a new Commission that started its work just this Monday, so it's also a bit

07:31in a way the problem is already solved as far as the EU institutions are concerned.

07:38As Justice Commissioner from 2019 to 2024, Reynders led the fight back against democratic

07:44decline in Hungary and Poland, during which EU funds for these countries were temporarily

07:49suspended.

07:52I was a member of the LIBE Commission.

07:54Many times Commissioner Reynders was on it.

07:57He spread fake news about allegedly broken rule of law in Poland.

08:02He demanded blocking of funds for Poland.

08:05Today, I as a Pole and the people in Poland perceive the Reynders situation as a peculiar

08:11hiccup from history.

08:13The allegations span a period of several years and date back to his time as Belgian Federal

08:17Minister for Finance and later for Foreign Affairs.

08:20The investigation was opened last year, but the authorities waited with their raids until

08:24the end of his EU mandate.

08:26Five years ago, a former Belgian intelligence officer accused Reynders of corruption and

08:30money laundering in connection with various projects, including arms deals.

08:34At the time, the accusations were dismissed for lack of evidence.

08:42The European Commission was unaware of the investigation into the alleged money laundering

08:46by former European Commissioner Didier Reynders.

08:49The Belgian politician was Commissioner for Justice until last Saturday.

08:53So first of all, did you have any indications that Mr. Reynders was engaging in any malpractice

08:58during his mandate?

09:00We do not have any further information about this matter.

09:03Of course, if the Belgian authorities were to contact us, we are going to collaborate

09:08with them.

09:11Reynders still enjoys a certain immunity linked to his former position.

09:15If it were to be withdrawn, the decision would be up to the current College of Commissioners.

09:20So indeed, members of the College are accorded immunity, but solely, only, in the interest

09:28of the Union.

09:30What does that mean?

09:31It means that they benefit from immunity for acts performed by them in their official capacity.

09:37So it's a functional immunity.

09:40According to French daily Le Soir and investigative platform Follow the Money, Reynders' homes

09:46were searched by police on Tuesday.

09:48Apparently, following suspicions that he may be laundering money through the Belgian

09:52National Lottery.

10:00Starting this Christmas Eve, the Eternal City will welcome an estimated 35 million pilgrims

10:05for the 2025 Jubilee.

10:07And Rome is gearing up for the occasion with much of the city transforming into an open

10:12air construction site for the past few months.

10:16Monuments are being restored, roads repaired and pedestrian areas redesigned to prepare

10:22for the stream of visitors.

10:25Despite opposition claims that the city is falling behind on numerous projects, Rome's

10:30mayor says the city will be ready in time.

10:34We are moving forward according to the schedule.

10:37We are very confident and this will be a Jubilee where many works will be completed first.

10:42This will be the second Jubilee led by Pope Francis, following the one in 2015.

10:48The central message of the Holy Year is to foster hope and trust.

10:52The pontiff has called on clergy and religious orders to lead by example and to help tackle

10:58the housing crisis.

11:04From those who are more concrete, even if more difficult than peace, to those compared

11:09to the poor, the young, the elderly, the sick, to all those who need hope.

11:23The Jubilee will officially begin with the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica.

11:29Over the following days, the doors of Rome's major basilica will also open and will remain

11:34so until the end of the celebrations.

Latest news bulletin | December 5th – Midday

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