00:00Iran's President Masoud Pizashkian warned Trump that Tehran will not respond to threats or force
00:06as he delivered a defiant address to the UN General Assembly.
00:10The European Commission has unlocked 4.2 billion euros of cohesion funding to Hungary.
00:20The European Commission announced that it will not extend its November 1 deadline
00:24to phase out Chinese power inverters from EU-funded energy projects,
00:28despite calls for more time.
00:30French businessman Martin Ryan was released from Azerbaijan in a swap deal that saw Paris
00:35rally to remove an Uzbek-Russian oligarch from the EU sanctions list.
00:41Iran's President Masoud Pizashkian struck a defiant tone as he addressed the UN General Assembly on Wednesday,
00:48a day after his US counterpart Donald Trump threatened to annihilate his country.
00:53Addressing a crowd of his peers, the Iranian leader acknowledged Trump's claims of ongoing
00:58direct talks with Washington to end the almost seven-month war on his country but stressed
01:03that they will not be bullied.
01:28Addressing a point of global concern, the still-blocked Strait of Hormuz, Pizashkian suggested the
01:34U.S. Perfiant
01:34the situation will remain unchanged so long as the offensive on his country continues.
02:24The Iranian leader also showed pictures of children who had been killed in the war at the hands of US
02:30and Israeli forces
02:31and called on the world to acknowledge and oppose these crimes.
02:38Syrian President Hamed Al-Shahra voted in front of the UN General Assembly Wednesday
02:44that the Golan Heights region will remain Syrian despite Israel's claims over the strategically important territory.
03:11The U.S. had been the only country to recognize Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights in 1981,
03:18which it captured from Syria in 1967, until Colombia's new hard-right government in August
03:25also recognized Israel's claim. The UN maintains that the plateau is Syrian territory under Israeli military
03:33occupation, previously declaring Israel's annexation of the territory null and void.
03:43Cuba will fall. That's how the U.S. President put it before the United Nations General Assembly.
03:49Donald Trump asserted that his administration is seeking fundamental change on the island
03:56and declared that freedom will come to Cuba at a time of heightened tension between Washington and Havana.
04:03It's an absolutely failed state. It's failing like never before, and it will fall.
04:11His words provoked an immediate response in Cuba. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez accused
04:18the U.S. President of spreading falsehoods and argued that Cuba has the right to be a fully independent
04:24and sovereign country. President Miguel Diaz-Canel also responded to Trump, accusing him of resorting
04:31to lies to justify U.S. policy toward the island. And on the streets of Havana, some Cubans do not
04:38seem
04:38intimidated by Trump's words either.
04:52But the rejection of Trump coexists with weariness over the hardship of daily life on the island.
05:17The Cuban Human Rights Observatory reports that 94% of Cubans live in extreme poverty.
05:31The European Commission has unlocked 4.2 billion euros of cohesion funding to Hungary,
05:37citing progress made by the country in strengthening its rule of law.
05:40In addition, Hungarian students will regain access to the Erasmus Plus Student Abroad Programme,
05:45and Hungarian scientists are to regain access to the Horizon Europe Research Scheme.
05:50The Commission considers that Hungary has addressed the rule of law breaches affecting the EU budget
05:54by correcting weaknesses and shortcomings in areas such as public procurement, the anti-corruption
06:02framework, the prevention of conflicts of interest, and the effectiveness of prosecutorial action.
06:08In 2022, the EU suspended 6.3 billion euros in cohesion funding to Hungary, citing rule of law breaches.
06:15Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar, who won a landslide election victory in April,
06:21had campaigned on a promise to unlock EU funds suspended during Viktor Orban's 16-year rule.
06:26The full unlocking of the funds now needs to receive final approval from EU member states within one month.
06:36The European Commission will not extend its November 1 deadline for phasing out Chinese-made power inverters
06:43from EU-funded energy projects, despite calls from investors and the renewable energy industry for more time.
06:50From November 1, projects connected or due to be connected to the EU electricity grid
06:56will have to exclude high-risk suppliers or progressively switch to inverters from suppliers not deemed high-risk.
07:03The move was driven by cybersecurity concerns, particularly the risk that manufacturers could remotely access
07:10and manipulate inverters, potentially destabilizing electricity grids and triggering blackouts.
07:16But stakeholders argue that the Commission's timetable is unrealistic
07:20and could create significant financial and practical problems for renewable energy projects
07:25at a time when energy costs are soaring across the EU.
07:29The Commission, for its part, says that a viable alternative supply of non-Chinese inverters already exists
07:36and that the price of guaranteeing the security of Europe's energy infrastructure is a modest one to pay.
07:52The French businessman had been detained there since December 2023,
07:59accused by Baku of espionage and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
08:03Paris contested the legal proceedings, deeming them arbitrary and unfair.
08:07His release comes the day after European sanctions were renewed
08:11against more than 2,600 individuals and entities considered to be close to the Kremlin
08:16or supporting Russia's war on Ukraine.
08:19Ryan's release was part of a wider agreement with France
08:22tied to the delisting of Uzbek-Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov from the EU sanctions list.
08:28Paris hailed this as a humanitarian gesture
08:30and a step towards normalizing relations with Baku.
08:33Another French citizen, Anastir Raz, who's accused of accepting a Russian bribe,
08:39remains in detention in Azerbaijan for the time being.
08:47Rebels in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region seized control of a key airport
08:53and clashed with federal troops in the neighboring region of Afa on Wednesday
08:57as long-standing tensions split into open battle.
09:01Local and security sources said Tigrayan forces were in control of the airport
09:07in the regional capital, Mekele.
09:09A foreign security source based in Ethiopia confirmed the information.
09:14Between 2020 and 2022,
09:17the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the TPLF,
09:20fought a devastating war with the federal government
09:23that resulted in the deaths of some 600,000 people,
09:28according to African Union estimates.
09:30Sporadic clashes in recent months have raised fears of a return to war.
09:36Rights groups have accused the TPLF of a campaign of forced recruitment this year
09:41as it prepares for renewed fighting.
09:44The region has not recovered from the last war,
09:47with around one million people still displaced
09:49and many parts of the peace deal unfulfilled.
09:53The TPLF ruled Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018
09:57before being sidelined by the rise of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed,
10:02which eventually triggered the war in 2020.
10:09Since the start of the Iran war,
10:11higher fuel prices have cost the EU an estimated 53 billion euros,
10:15according to a new report of Environmental Group Transport and Environment.
10:20Most of that extra cost, 40 billion euros, came from diesel.
10:24TNE estimates that higher road fuel prices have added an average of 270 million euros a day
10:30to transport costs, including 203 million euros a day for diesel.
10:35The remaining is attributable to petrol.
10:37Europe is the most reliant major economy on diesel.
10:40TNE says nearly 4 in 10 passengers' cars on EU roads run on diesel in 2024.
10:46For drivers, the increase is substantial.
10:49TNE estimates that the average EU diesel car driver
10:52paid about 142 euros more over the period it studied
10:57than in the comparable period last year.
10:59By the 14th of September,
11:01filling a 50-litre diesel tank cost about 30 euros more than before the war, it says.
11:06Businesses face higher bills too.
11:08An average German long-haul diesel truck incurred about 6,000 euros in extra fuel costs
11:13over the period, equivalent to 236 euros a week.
11:17To get consumption, TNE recommends to work from home where possible,
11:21lower motorway speed limits and invest in public transport.
11:25In the longer term, the group argues that electric vehicles
11:28would reduce Europe's exposure to oil price shocks.
11:31It estimates that nearly 8 million electric cars in the EU
11:34avoided the use of about 46 million barrels of oil in 2025.
