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00:00French President Emmanuel Macron nominates longtime ally and leader of the centrist bloc
00:06Francois Beirut as the new prime minister.
00:10Russia launches a massive aerial attack against Ukraine, firing nearly 200 drones, mainly
00:16targeting the country's energy infrastructure.
00:22Syrians celebrated during the first Friday prayer since the fall of President Bashar
00:26al-Assad's regime.
00:32The wait is finally over, French President Emmanuel Macron appointed longtime ally and
00:37centrist bloc leader Francois Beirut as the country's new prime minister after MPs toppled
00:43Michel Barnier's government last week.
00:46Now Beirut faces the challenge of forming a government that will not be brought down
00:51by MPs in parliament, which is not an easy task.
00:55As of Friday afternoon, he will have the support, obviously, of Macron's presidential
01:00camp, and the far-right National Rally Party also said that they will not vote against
01:06Beirut as long as he does not cross certain red lines concerning immigration, for example.
01:12But uncertainty remains over the position of the conservative right-wing camp and certain
01:17left-wing parties, such as, for example, the Greens and the Socialists, who demanded the
01:22future prime minister come from their ranks.
01:25One thing for sure is that the hard-left France Unbowed Party have already declared that they
01:30will be pushing for a no-confidence vote as soon as possible.
01:34The new prime minister in his cabinet will have the daunting task of passing the nation's
01:40next year's budget plan in a bitterly divided lower house.
01:45Polls indicate, however, that the French public is quite fed up with the current political
01:49mess.
01:50In a recent Elab survey, about two-thirds of French people said that they want the MPs
01:56to reach some kind of deal instead of, once again, toppling the prime minister.
02:04François Beirut is the third French prime minister of 2024.
02:10But just who is he, exactly?
02:12From southwestern France, 73-year-old Beirut calls himself a, quote, man of the countryside,
02:19he is a political heavyweight who is no stranger to French politics.
02:24When Macron came into power in 2017, he was appointed justice minister, but was quickly
02:29forced to resign amid an investigation into alleged embezzlement of European Parliament
02:34funds.
02:35Beirut became well-known to the French public when he was education minister from 1993-1997.
02:42His political experience is seen as key in efforts to restore stability as no single
02:47party holds a majority at the National Assembly.
02:51Macron's strategy aims at preventing far-right leader Marie Le Pen from holding a make-or-break
02:56power over the government.
02:58Beirut's appointment is also in line with the president's efforts to build a non-aggression
03:02pact with the socialists, so that they commit not to vote against the government in any
03:07future confidence motion.
03:16Republicans attended their first Friday prayers since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's
03:21regime nearly one week ago.
03:24In a video address, rebel leader Ahmad al-Shara, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jilani,
03:29invited people to celebrate peacefully following the prayers.
03:33Leaders of the G7 countries said in a statement that they are ready to support a political
03:57transition process that ensures the protection of human rights and Syrian religious and ethnic
04:02minorities.
04:04Meanwhile, Turkish President Erdogan met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday
04:10in Ankara, where Blinken pressed the importance of keeping up the fight against Islamic State.
04:17We also discussed the imperative of continuing the efforts to keep ISIS down.
04:24Our countries worked very hard and gave a lot over many years to ensure the elimination
04:31of the territorial caliphate of ISIS, to ensure that that threat doesn't rear its head again,
04:37and it's imperative that we keep at those efforts.
04:40Seeking to moderate its rhetoric and build relations with the West, Syria's interim government
04:45has pledged to uphold the rule of law, adding that they respect religious and cultural diversity
04:51in Syria.
04:57At least 25 Palestinians have been killed and dozens of others wounded in an Israeli
05:02airstrike on central Gaza.
05:05Officials at two hospitals said they'd received the bodies of those killed in the strike,
05:09which hit a residential building in the Nusayrat refugee camp.
05:14Israeli medics also reported that over 40 people, most of them children, were receiving
05:19treatment at both hospitals.
05:21Al-Aqsa Hospital said that the Israeli attack also damaged several nearby houses.
05:27That strike came just hours after US President Joe Biden's national security adviser raised
05:32hopes about a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that would end the war in the Strip.
05:38Israel is trying to eliminate Hamas, which led the attack on southern Israel in October
05:422023 that sparked the war in Gaza.
05:46At least 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others taken hostage in that incursion.
05:53Gaza's health ministry says over 44,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, more than half of
05:59them women and children.
06:02But the ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
06:11Gaza launched a massive aerial attack against Ukraine's energy infrastructure on Friday,
06:17firing 93 missiles and nearly 200 drones, according to Kyiv.
06:25In the capital, people hid in the subways while waiting for the alerts to be over.
06:33While strikes were reported to have hit the city of Kharkiv, which as the crow flies is
06:39situated only about 25 kilometres from the front line.
06:44In the southern city of Odessa, authorities reported to have shot down all targets.
06:50According to President Zelensky, air defences intercepted 81 of the missiles.
06:55Russian attacks have repeatedly disrupted heating and drinking water supplies during
07:00the harsh winter, aiming to break Ukrainian spirits and resolve.
07:04Moscow claims its attacks target Ukraine's defence industry, including missile, drone,
07:09armoured vehicle and artillery production.
07:15Protests have been ongoing over two weeks now in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, as well
07:20as other cities across the country.
07:22Citizens continue to rally against the ruling party's decision to halt the EU accession
07:27process.
07:28Their primary demands are unchanging, new parliamentary elections and the release of
07:32those who have been unlawfully detained during the past 15 days.
07:36There have been numerous protests here in the capital throughout the day in different
07:40locations.
07:41Medical and IT professionals, artists took to the streets, expressed their solidarity
07:47towards those who have been detained and voiced the demands of the movement once again.
07:53On Thursday, 12th of December, a delegation of European Parliament joined the demonstration
07:59on Rustaveli Avenue.
08:01They were welcomed by those gathered here.
08:04Earlier, they met with the president, the members of the opposition and media representatives.
08:10The MEPs once again expressed their commitment to support Georgia on its path to the European
08:18Union.
08:23Hundreds of protesters have staged a rally outside Serbia's state television headquarters
08:28in Belgrade, as the wave of demonstrations against the government of Aleksandar Vucic
08:33continues to grow.
08:35The protesters say they're angry that RTS television is carrying Vucic's allegations
08:40that the students were paid by the West to overthrow his government.
08:44They brought improvised money bags to the headquarters of RTS, which has been accused
08:48of spreading the nationalist pro-government narrative for years.
08:53Classes at more than 40 university faculties throughout Serbia have been suspended for
08:57days.
08:59The protests initially erupted last month after a concrete canopy collapsed at a railway
09:04station in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 15 people.
09:08Many in Serbia blame the canopy collapse on rampant corruption in the country that led
09:13to sloppy renovation work at the station building.
09:16The disaster has become a flashpoint for broader dissatisfaction with the president's increasingly
09:22autocratic rule, reflecting public demands for democratic changes.
09:27Almost daily protests have been held since the 1st of November in Novi Sad, Belgrade
09:31and other cities across Serbia, which have sometimes turned violent.
09:38Bulgarian truck drivers are happy.
09:40They expressed their joy on the Greek border on Thursday after European Union ministers
09:46agreed to let Bulgaria and Romania fully integrate into Europe's ID-check-free travel
09:52zone known as the Schengen area.
10:16Bulgaria and Romania joined the Schengen area in March, allowing free air and sea travel
10:28but not land access due to Austria's opposition over illegal migration concerns.
10:34Ministers have now agreed to lift land border controls next year.
10:43Lawmakers in South Korea will hold a second vote in parliament this Saturday to impeach
10:49President Yoon Suk-kyo after his short-lived martial law decree has brought about political
10:55chaos.
10:56On Friday, opposition parties submitted a new impeachment motion against the president.
11:02Saturday's vote will require support from 200 of the 300 National Assembly members and
11:09only then will the matter proceed to the Constitutional Court.
11:13Last week, an attempt to remove the president failed as the ruling party blocked the impeachment
11:18vote.
11:19Refusing to resign, the embattled Yoon, in a televised speech on Thursday, declared that
11:24he would fight to the very end and defend his decision to seize control of the country.
11:30Yoon's short-lived December 3 martial law declaration has generated political chaos
11:35and large protests calling for his ouster.
11:39The declaration was the first of its kind in the country in more than 40 years.