Latest news bulletin | December 13th – Evening - video Dailymotion

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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.

Latest news bulletin | December 13th – Evening

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