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00:00Dominique Pellicot has been found guilty of all charges of rape against his wife, facing

00:0620 years in prison.

00:11Costa's debut. EU leaders meet for the last summit of the year, which is also the new

00:17council president's first.

00:21NATO's Secretary General says he wants to discuss ways to put Ukraine in a position

00:26of strength for any future peace talks with Russia.

00:35Dominique Pellicot has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in a historic rape trial that

00:41has turned the victim, his wife Giselle Pellicot, into a feminist hero.

00:47Pellicot drugged and raped his wife for nearly a decade, also offering her unconscious body

00:52to strangers he had met online. In total, 50 men were tried in what became known as

00:58the Mazan rape trial.

01:01The trial triggered protest rallies around France in support of Giselle Pellicot, who

01:05said she hoped that by making the trial public, she would help other women speak up.

01:11They kept up their efforts on Wednesday night, plastering messages across Avignon where the

01:16trial took place, ahead of the verdict.

01:18I think it has changed society already, along these four months. As the day the trial started,

01:27we started to talk and talk a lot and think a lot, and we went through so many emotions.

01:34Activists say the three-month trial has sparked important debates around consent. Now, they

01:40are calling for the country's legal definition of rape to be expanded to include specific

01:44mention of it.

01:48The EU leaders are closing the year with a summit that is the first for the new European

02:00Council President, Antonio Costa. High on the agenda is the discussion on Ukraine, with

02:06the participation of its president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

02:13But with the return of Donald Trump to the White House and his promise to end the conflict

02:29in 24 hours, the EU wonders if Washington will still be one of their main allies, including

02:35in Ukraine.

02:37I will not believe that the US will totally withdraw. They will maybe say we give less

02:44but force us to give more, but that's what we're doing and what we have to do.

02:48The situation in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime is the other hot topic, and especially

02:55what the EU position will be regarding the millions of Syrian refugees that live on the

02:59continent since 2011.

03:02The position that has been expressed by the Italian government on the asylum seekers is

03:07a very clear position, and it is an evolution compared to the conclusion of the Assad regime.

03:14So, basically, there will not be a request for asylum within the European Union, because

03:19they can easily re-enter the Syrian territory today.

03:23A full agenda for the EU leaders, but the possibility of concrete proposals is low.

03:31NATO's Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he wants to discuss ways to put Ukraine in

03:40a position of strength for any future peace talks with Russia during a meeting on Wednesday

03:45with Ukraine's president and select European leaders.

03:49Thank you very much.

03:52And very much high on the agenda is to make sure that the president, his team, Ukraine

03:59are in the best possible position one day, when they decide so, to start the peace talks.

04:05And that means that we have to do everything now to make sure that when it comes to air

04:10defence, when it comes to other weapon systems, that we make sure that we provide whatever

04:16we can.

04:17Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted the need for a united European position and

04:23stressed the priority of securing more air defence systems.

04:29So, but it's really very important that to use these two days in Brussels to meet with

04:40all our partners and to have the same, what is very important, not divided, the same joint

04:45position of Europe.

04:48Zelensky also met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Brussels as part of a series of

04:53meetings with various leaders ahead of an EU summit on Thursday to discuss the war in

04:59Ukraine and EU support.

05:05Germany wants to increase the size of its armed forces up to 230,000 from the current

05:10target of 203,000.

05:14German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius announced the ambitious plan as he answered questions

05:19in the Bundestag.

05:22Germany currently has 180,000 active personnel, approximately 20,000 short of its current

05:28target.

05:31The German armed forces have been struggling to recruit people for years.

05:36The targets Pistorius wants to set will further complicate an already difficult objective.

05:43Pistorius says the plan to increase the number of permanent staff is to meet NATO's capability

05:48targets.

05:51NATO demanded its members to increase their defence capacities to boost the alliance's

05:55strength following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

06:03Bosnia and Herzegovina and the European Union have initialed a border security agreement

06:09with EU border agency Frontex on Wednesday in Sarajevo, marking a key step towards EU

06:15integration as Brussels holds the EU-Western Balkans summit on the same day, intending

06:21on strengthening EU-Western Balkans integration.

06:24Luigi Soreca, the EU ambassador for Bosnia and Herzegovina, spoke on its importance.

06:30The agreement which is going to be initialed today attests to our partnership, the European

06:37Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to our shared commitment to enhance security, stability

06:44and cooperation in this critical area in Europe.

06:50Director for Schengen Borders Henrik Nielsen emphasised the importance of mutual respect

06:56and cooperation in the negotiation process.

07:00We have always listened to each other, we have always taken into account each other's

07:06concerns and that has now brought us here today where we have this fully agreed text

07:12which is really a pleasure for me to note.

07:15This agreement means that Frontex officers will now be deployed at Bosnia's borders helping

07:21identify security needs.

07:23According to officials, the agreement will be signed by the end of February or early

07:28March.

07:33After concluding a visit to Damascus and meeting the new administration, the UN envoy to Syria,

07:38Geir Pedersen, said the country needs a political transition that will be credible and inclusive

07:42for the Syrian society.

07:44According to the envoy, this process should take place under a UN resolution adopted in

07:482015 to help negotiate a political solution in the country.

07:52Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Pedersen also mentioned of forming a new constitution.

07:59There is a lot of hope that we can now see the beginning of a new Syria, a new Syria

08:05that in line with Security Council Resolution 2254 will adopt a new constitution that will

08:12ensure that there is a social contract, a new social contract for all Syrians and that

08:18we will have free and fair elections when that time comes after a transitional period.

08:25It is not yet clear if Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or HTS, the main former rebel group now in

08:30control of Syria, will pursue such a process.

08:33The group has set up an interim administration comprising members of its Salvation Government.

08:38It will oversee the country until March, but the new ruler, Ahmed al-Shara, have not made

08:43clear how the transition to a new, fully empowered government would take place.

08:51On the French island of Réunion, communities are coming together to help the people of

08:55cyclone-devastated Mayotte.

08:58People have been donating food, water, clothes and other assistance, and some of that donations

09:03are being collected at a community center called Mayotte House.

09:06A family in Mayotte, I haven't heard of them for two days after the cyclone destroyed the

09:17island.

09:18I got news from them, the house is okay, but a lot of houses got destroyed.

09:28Organizers are hoping to have enough donations to fill a container that they can transport

09:33using a military plane.

09:53Being the poorest territory of France, the tiny island of Africa was battered by its

09:57worst cyclone in nearly a century.

10:00Authorities fear hundreds and possibly thousands of people have died.

10:05Survivors wandered through streets littered with debris, searching for water and shelter.

10:10France already used ships and military aircraft to rush rescuers and supplies to Mayotte on

10:15Monday.

10:16President Emmanuel Macron declared a national mourning period, and now cancelled his plans

10:20to join the EU summit in Brussels to be able to travel to the island to evaluate the situation

10:26personally.

10:32More and more Norwegians are facing increased poverty.

10:36The impact is seen at the increasingly long queues for the country's Salvation Army Christmas

10:41Aid.

10:43According to their poverty index, one in five Norwegians struggles to make ends meet.

10:49This week, the Salvation Army will distribute food boxes with Christmas food to 1,400 Norwegian

10:54families.

11:06After years of high prices, more people are coming to the Salvation Army for help.

11:12Most people who come to them also receive benefits from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare

11:16Administration.

11:18The charity organization is now making an appeal to the government.

11:33Financial struggles during Christmas this year are especially prevalent in families

11:37with children.

11:39Earlier this year, the Norwegian National Institute for Consumer Research released a

11:44report concluding that social assistance should be increased.

Latest news bulletin | December 19th – Midday

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