The World Today on CGTN at 2024/5/25
News and analysis of the biggest business stories from China and across the world. Brought to you from CGTN's European headquarters in London. Watch live each day at 16:00GMT.
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00:30 Live from London, this is The World Today.
00:35 Hello, I'm Jamie Owen. Welcome to the program.
00:37 Our top stories. Israel steps up its attacks across the Gaza Strip,
00:41 despite the ruling by the United Nations' top court to immediately stop its offensive in Raqqa.
00:48 But Israel maintains it has the right to defend its people,
00:52 and that it will continue its just and necessary campaign in Gaza.
00:58 Our other headlines. The desperate search continues.
01:01 Hundreds of people feared dead, scores still trapped after a landslide at Papua New Guinea.
01:07 And it's the world's largest election, and perhaps the hottest too.
01:11 A hundred million people are going to the polls in India in sweltering temperatures.
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01:30 Israel has continued to strike the Gazan city of Raqqa,
01:33 despite an order from the United Nations' highest court that it will immediately stop its offensive.
01:39 Israeli forces are intensifying their assault across the Gaza Strip,
01:43 attacking central Gaza and the Jabalia refugee camp in the north.
01:47 More families are fleeing the camp in heavy fighting and worsening food shortages.
01:52 Meanwhile, aid agencies say food bound for Gaza is beginning to rot
01:57 after being stuck at the Egyptian border for weeks.
02:00 The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations says he welcomes the International Court of Justice order
02:06 demanding Israel reopen the Raqqa crossing.
02:12 We would like to say there are more decisions by the ICJ that called for a ceasefire,
02:17 a halt to the military operations that threaten civilians in Gaza,
02:20 and to the opening of the Raqqa border crossing to allow aid flow to the Gaza Strip,
02:25 and prevent the forced displacement of the 800,000 people in Raqqa or those across the Gaza Strip.
02:31 We welcome all these decisions, and we call for Israel to obey them,
02:34 since we believe that the decisions of the ICJ are obligatory to parties that signed the impact of anti-genocide.
02:40 Therefore, Israel has no choice but to obey the decisions.
02:45 Our correspondent Akram Al-Satari reports now from Gaza.
02:50 Well, the total number of Palestinians who were killed in the last 24 hours is 46 people,
02:54 which means two Palestinians every hour. The bombardment is still continuous.
02:58 The number of people who were injured is 130 people.
03:02 The bombardment is continuous in all different parts of Gaza Strip,
03:05 in the north, in central Gaza, in Khan Yunis, and also in Raqqa.
03:08 Raqqa has been witnessing increased tension and has been witnessing extended bombardments
03:13 in the Gaza, in Raqqa east area and Raqqa central area.
03:17 The Israeli occupation forces are using, they actively fire, are using the F-16
03:22 and are using as well the quadcopters that have been targeting different people
03:26 in the different conjunctions of the streets and also nearby the Raqqa eastern area.
03:31 The situation is escalating and the bombardment have been heard all over the area.
03:36 I was coming to this place and I could see a very big black cloud over the city of Raqqa,
03:43 which is indicative of the increased bombardment that has been plogging the people in that area.
03:47 People are still moving from the areas that are considered safe, such as Tal As-Sultan area,
03:53 and seeking refuge and shelter in different parts of Khan Yunis and Gaza central area.
03:58 So the situation is still catastrophic and is even aggravating.
04:02 The International Court of Justice has also ordered Israel to open the Raqqa crossing
04:07 to allow the unhindered provision of aid, as it says.
04:11 What is the situation there now?
04:14 Well, as a matter of fact, the flow of the trucks was extremely slow,
04:21 even before the control, the full control of the Israeli forces over the two terminals,
04:26 which are Rafah border and Kerim Shalom.
04:30 The situation has been catastrophic.
04:32 The entry of the truckloads was extremely slow,
04:35 and there were around 15,000 trucks waiting at the other side of the border.
04:40 So some of the goods are already rotten.
04:43 Some of the stuff that is sent to the people to help them and save their lives is already expired.
04:49 The trucks are waiting, and some extra charges are now taken
04:53 for the sake of just keeping the trucks in the queue to enter the Gaza Strip.
04:58 Now, ever since Israel controlled Raqqa crossing and Kerim Shalom,
05:02 the situation is even getting more tense and becoming more critical.
05:06 There's nothing that has been allowed into Gaza,
05:08 and now they're agreeing on the entry of 200 trucks a day,
05:12 and according to the Egyptian sources, there are 5,000 trucks that are waiting.
05:17 If there are 5,000 trucks that are waiting outside of the Raqqa border,
05:22 how many days do they need to allow the entry?
05:25 And saying 200 trucks is somehow sounding like they are restricting the number
05:30 of trucks that are entering the Gaza Strip.
05:33 The actual need to those trucks in Gaza is extremely profound,
05:38 and the actual number of trucks that are needed is around 1,000 trucks a day,
05:43 maybe minimum 800,000 a day.
05:45 So there are some restrictions on the number of trucks that are allowed into Gaza,
05:51 the quality of the stuff that is allowed into Gaza,
05:54 and I think the way this whole thing has been treated is allowing the expiration
05:58 of the stuff that is sent to Gaza and is bringing about more suffering
06:03 amongst the population that have already been suffering a lot.
06:07 Israel has called the ICJ's order to immediately stop its assault on Raqqa
06:12 outrageous, morally repugnant, and disgusting.
06:15 Our correspondent Jonathan Redjev is in Tel Aviv.
06:18 Jonathan, what further reaction from Israel to the United Nations court ruling?
06:23 This is pretty much the music that we've been hearing from Israel,
06:31 an outrageous decision and one that will not stop Israel,
06:34 and it's not only coming from extreme elements within the government
06:38 such as the far-right ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and B'Tsalis Motric.
06:42 It also came from World Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz saying that Israel
06:47 needs to continue with the war, and if there was something that was
06:52 extremely outrageous for Israelis, it's the fact that 125 hostages
06:57 are still in Gaza, and that has hardly been mentioned by the ICJ ruling.
07:02 They were speaking and speaking about the suffering of the people in Raqqa,
07:06 which no one in Israel denies, by the way, but not speaking at all
07:11 about the fact that 125 hostages are still held in Gaza,
07:15 not speaking about the fact that the October 7th attack is what led
07:19 to this situation, and therefore outrage here in Israel,
07:23 and an absolute no-go for any decision of the ICJ to stop the war.
07:30 The war in Raqqa is ongoing, and Israel has no plans to stop it.
07:34 Away from Gaza, Jonathan, we're seeing reports of Israeli strikes
07:39 on Hezbollah targets in Syria.
07:42 What more are you hearing about that?
07:45 That is correct, and we're constantly speaking about Gaza,
07:51 but we have to understand that in the northern borders of Israel,
07:55 with Lebanon, with Syria, there's a full-on war.
07:57 It's ongoing all the time.
08:00 There might not be a ground operation over in those borders,
08:03 but there is constant exchange of fire, and this morning,
08:07 an attack coming in Syria.
08:10 We're hearing that two people have been killed.
08:13 Israel, when it comes to attacks in Syria,
08:15 Israel usually does not take responsibility,
08:18 but it's quite understood in this region that if there is an attack
08:23 in Syria targeting Iranian targets, targeting Hezbollah targets,
08:28 then probably Israel is the one behind it.
08:31 This morning, just another one of those strikes on Hezbollah installations.
08:37 If in the past, before October 7th, Israel was very careful
08:41 not to hit direct Hezbollah targets within Syria, and of course within Lebanon,
08:47 now it is completely different.
08:49 We're seeing practically every day exchange of fire,
08:52 mostly within Lebanon and Israel, meaning Hezbollah attacking from Lebanon
08:58 and Israel striking back, but there are also many installations in Syria
09:03 belonging to Hezbollah, belonging to other Iranian proxies,
09:07 and Israel is constantly attacking them.
09:09 This morning was just the latest example.
09:11 Jonathan, thank you for that.
09:12 Our correspondent, Jonathan Redjev, in Tel Aviv.
09:16 Now the rest of the day's news.
09:18 Hundreds of people are now feared dead after a massive landslide
09:22 leveled dozens of homes and buried families alive
09:25 in a remote village in Papua New Guinea.
09:28 Difficult terrain and damage to main roads is hampering rescue efforts,
09:32 as more emergency teams try to reach the isolated area.
09:36 Imwe Chen lives in the community.
09:39 On local time, 24th May, 3 a.m. in the morning,
09:44 an ambulance landslide took place at Kaukalan village,
09:48 Maib Moulitaka in Engar province.
09:50 The place was distanced around 60 kilometers from
09:54 Wabeg district, capital of Engar province.
09:57 From what I have observed so far from social media,
10:00 this chaotic disaster has took life of more than 200 people.
10:04 The detailed casualties are yet to be known due to the landslide
10:09 that buried the bodies deep underneath the rubble.
10:12 From what I know, Engar provincial government has dispatched
10:17 emergency rescue unit yesterday immediately after the disaster has occurred.
10:22 Besides that, they also bought goods and materials to aid the people there.
10:26 It is common to experience landslides in highlands region,
10:30 but this is the first time for us to meet such a chaotic natural disaster.
10:35 You're watching CGTN Still Ahead.
10:38 Why complaints about pollution and parties could see tourist riverboats banned from Budapest.
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12:04 This week on RZR, trying to better understand our universe
12:08 by moving beyond the standard model of particle physics.
12:13 If the standard model was the only correct theory,
12:16 that would tell us the probability that something would happen when we collide these protons.
12:20 So you would have a certain probability of creating a Higgs boson.
12:23 Higgs boson would have a certain probability of decaying into particles that we would then see in our detectors.
12:28 [Music]
12:36 Hello, welcome back. A reminder of our top stories.
12:39 Israel steps up its attacks across the Gaza Strip.
12:42 Despite the ruling by the United Nations top court to immediately stop its offensive in Rafa.
12:48 But Israel maintains it has the right to defend its people
12:52 and that it will continue its just and necessary campaign in Gaza.
12:57 Our other headlines, the desperate search continues,
13:01 hundreds of people feared dead and scores still trapped after a landslide hit Papua New Guinea.
13:07 The UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing an exodus of departing Conservative members of Parliament
13:14 with nearly 80 announcing they will not be seeking re-election.
13:18 The long-serving Cabinet Minister Michael Gove is the most high profile to step down ahead of the vote in July.
13:25 Earlier this week, Sunak, who has been in power since 2022, called the general election,
13:30 but his party is trailing in the polls after a period of high inflation, low growth
13:35 and a series of political scandals.
13:39 Well, the world's largest election continues amid a deadly heatwave.
13:43 Indians are voting in phase six of the general election there
13:47 as temperatures surge to 47 degrees Celsius in the capital New Delhi.
13:53 More than 111 million people in 58 constituencies are eligible to vote in this phase.
13:59 Our correspondent Ravinder Bauer reports.
14:02 The temperatures have been extreme in northern India, especially and also in central India
14:08 during this polling contest which started about, you know, a few weeks back.
14:13 So, yes, in Delhi today, which is the sixth phase, things are quite heated up in terms of the opposition
14:20 contesting with the party in power, but at the same time, the voters are struggling.
14:25 And, of course, you can see that a lot of shaded areas, water, wheelchairs and paramedics
14:32 and all these kind of arrangements made by the Election Commission to ensure that voter turnout is not impacted,
14:37 which has been the case in this election because of more heatwave days and because of extreme temperatures.
14:44 There has been an impact on the voter turnout, which Election Commission is concerned about,
14:49 along with the political parties who are in the fray.
14:52 So, over the last six weeks, we have seen various issues coming to the foreground from various parties,
14:57 but definitely the present dispensation concentrating more on providing a stable government,
15:02 on talking about the development that they have done in the last 10 years.
15:06 They are talking about the fact that, you know, they have taken India to the world map
15:11 and now India plays a major role in international politics.
15:15 And they are also, you know, playing to the national sentiment of the Indians who are out there to vote.
15:21 Apart from that, of course, religious sentiment is also important for this political party
15:25 because of the Ram temple which was built and which has been inaugurated.
15:29 And so it is playing with the religious and the nationalistic sentiment of a lot of voters.
15:33 On the other hand, the opposition is talking about issues like unemployment, inflation,
15:38 which are on the rise in the country and they are impacting not just the youth,
15:42 but overall every household, you know, savings have gone down.
15:47 The households are only trying to just now spend on food.
15:51 So that is the kind of inflation people and the voters are dealing with.
15:55 So that's what the opposition is trying to concentrate on.
15:57 These are the issues which are in the fray as far as Delhi is concerned.
16:00 About 80 percent of the population here is a working class population who are living in slum clusters
16:06 and they are the main voters.
16:08 And for them, sanitation, clean water, good housing, you know, free electricity,
16:13 these are the kind of issues that really matter.
16:15 So apart from national issues, the local issues are also playing a role
16:19 in the way the voter is going to vote this time.
16:22 And South Africa's political parties have staged huge rallies ahead of Wednesday's general election,
16:29 set to be the most tightly contested since the end of apartheid.
16:32 The polls suggest the ruling ANC party may lose its majority for the first time after 30 years in power.
16:40 Its leader, the incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa, appeared before a huge crowd in Johannesburg.
16:45 Meanwhile, the opposition leader Julius Malema greeted supporters at his final rally.
16:51 Ukrainian authorities say that at least two people have been killed
16:55 after Russian forces hit a hypermarket in the city of Kharkiv.
16:59 The emergency services are at the scene and President Volodymyr Zelensky said
17:03 more than 200 people could have been inside when it was attacked.
17:08 The market is in a residential area.
17:11 The United Nations says escalating violence in conflict-torn Myanmar's Rakhine state
17:17 has forced another 45,000 Rohingyas to flee.
17:20 There are reports of killings, beheadings and arson attacks
17:24 as clashes intensify between the military and the Arakan army rebels.
17:29 Rohingya have faced persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar for decades.
17:35 Some families of the victims of the Elvada school shooting in the United States
17:40 have launched legal action against three companies they say helped to train the gunman.
17:45 They have sued Meta, Activision Blizzard, the maker of the video game Call of Duty,
17:51 and a gun company on the second anniversary of the attack in Texas.
17:56 18-year-old Salvador Ramos killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.
18:05 The River Danube is Europe's second longest river.
18:09 While it's historically important, it's also crucial to the region's economic and cultural development,
18:15 attracting visitors from all around the world.
18:18 But many residents in Hungary's capital have long complained about the pollution
18:23 and the noise from river traffic.
18:26 Our correspondent Pablo Guterres reports now from Budapest.
18:32 Thousands of tourists flock to riverboats every day along Budapest's Danube riverfront.
18:37 Some want scenic cruises and dinners, while others love the party boats,
18:42 offering cheap and unlimited alcohol.
18:45 Their presence and behavior isn't always welcome.
18:49 These people don't really leave the neighborhood, but they stay here.
18:55 I have to mention that there is no proper infrastructure.
18:58 There are no restrooms down there or anywhere.
19:03 So they climb into the park, they do their job between cars, anywhere, because they have to go.
19:11 Marta Kisieli, a community advocate, and her neighbors have been pushing to relocate
19:15 most riverboats outside of Budapest's city center.
19:19 Besides the nuisance from the party boat patrons, Kisieli says a more serious issue
19:24 caused by the boats is affecting them.
19:27 There are no boats with environmentally safe engines running, okay?
19:34 No boats at all.
19:36 A recent air quality test by Greenpeace found that the neighborhood near the riverboat docks
19:41 is one of the city's most polluted areas.
19:44 Activists say that the daily air pollution from the docked boats and tourist buses
19:49 is causing health problems for residents in the neighborhood.
19:52 It's very dangerous. I mean, it's really bad for our health.
19:56 It causes cancer. If you have any kind of respiratory problems, it is very suffocating.
20:05 The city has responded to the residents' complaints by promising to reduce the number of docks along the river.
20:11 Riverboat operators, though, are not pleased with the plan.
20:15 They said that five ports can stay, and these ports can be used to drop off the passengers
20:22 or to get on the boats.
20:24 The reason we see this a problem is because it will increase air pollution,
20:29 it will increase traffic jams on the water, and it will increase the risk of safety
20:34 because many ships will wait on the water.
20:37 Last year, Budapest's riverboats hosted around 4 million visitors.
20:41 Operators argued that the reduction in docks would not only impact their businesses,
20:46 but could also push tourists to neighboring cities like Vienna and Bratislava,
20:51 which could lead to job losses here.
20:54 Riverboat operators say the city of Budapest should build more docks along the Danube
21:01 to reduce congestion in this area.
21:04 They also want docking permits to be issued every 10 years instead of annually,
21:10 and government subsidies so they can invest in cleaner engines.
21:15 Approximately 50 vessels could be forced to relocate under the city's supervision
21:21 to less central suburban mooring locations that have not yet been built.
21:26 Operators say they are planning to fight back against the plan.
21:30 The whole city was built around these ships in the past centuries,
21:35 so we say there should be regulation, there should be good practice,
21:39 there should be regulation over what type of services we can give here,
21:44 but putting out of the ships is not the solution.
21:47 As both sides gear up for change, the battle to safeguard the city's quality of life
21:52 and keep its tourism alive stays afloat.
21:56 Pablo Gutierrez, CGTN, Budapest.
21:59 Formula E, the world's first net-zero all-electric motorsport series,
22:04 is back in China for the first time in five years.
22:07 It's made its debut in Shanghai with March's Mitch Evans from Jaguar,
22:13 winning the first of a double header of races this weekend.
22:16 The first ever Formula E race was at Beijing's Olympic Green Circuit.
22:20 It was won by Audi's Luca de Grassi, who went on, of course, to race in Formula One.
22:26 Formula E's fan base hit a record high last season with 344 million viewers all around the world,
22:33 meaning that it's now the fourth most-watched motorsport.
22:37 It's also becoming a rather lucrative business,
22:39 with sponsorship revenue reaching more than $100 million for the 2023-24 season.
22:46 Plans have been verbally agreed to hold an all-female Formula E test event in November.
22:52 Formula E hopes that it'll pave the way for women to get a regular seat from 2026,
22:58 when power-assisted steering is going to be brought in.
23:01 Tom Brooks is the Formula E's lead commentator. I asked him about the atmosphere at the first race in Shanghai.
23:10 It's amazing down here, genuinely. It's one of the best Formula E races we've been to all season.
23:16 Everybody loves Formula E, and especially here in Asia, it's where the championship began back in 2014.
23:22 There's a lot of excitement around coming back to here for the first time since 2019.
23:27 It's been wonderful. All the fans have been fantastic. The weather's been brilliant.
23:32 We've had some great racing this weekend.
23:34 What is the significance of Formula E's return to China?
23:40 I don't think it can be overstated how important it is for Formula E to come back to China.
23:44 EVs in general are a huge market now, and China has really been at the epicentre of that for the last few years in particular.
23:53 There's a huge atmosphere and appetite in particular for EVs,
23:59 and that's represented by the audience that we've had here, which have turned out so positively
24:04 to see Formula E returning and to a new city and a new circuit this weekend.
24:08 Formula E has a short history, doesn't it?
24:10 How much has Formula E grown over the past years, and how much has it changed?
24:17 Hugely. It began back in 2014 as an idea on a napkin,
24:22 and during that time we've had three generations of cars.
24:24 We're now on the third generation. The cars are more powerful, they're lighter than ever.
24:28 The racing is closer than ever. We had 22 drivers separated by six tenths of a second in qualifying today,
24:35 and in the race we had 10 drivers separated by just over two seconds.
24:39 It was incredibly, incredibly close. The racing has evolved and it continues to do so.
24:44 We're heading into what we call the Gen 3 Evo, so it's the same car,
24:47 but with four-wheel drive, 0-60 in under two seconds, which is a really exciting prospect.
24:53 The cars will be faster than ever, and the racing should be more exciting than ever.
24:56 This started off as being rather marginal stuff. It's now mainstream.
25:00 I wonder to what extent does Formula E promote going electric?
25:06 Massively. Again, it can't be overstated how important Formula E has been for that,
25:13 not only in terms of just bringing international electric racing to the stage,
25:18 also in terms of what manufacturers have done. We've had manufacturers such as Audi, such as BMW.
25:23 Currently we've got Porsche in there. We've got Jaguar, and Jaguar in particular are going to an all-EV lineup from 2025.
25:31 In fact, the last internal combustion engine car rolled off the production line in the UK just the other day.
25:36 So it's had a massive impact on that, and the technology that's developed within Formula E, it all trickles down to road cars.
25:43 It's been hugely important for that and for its incredible growth and development over the last 10 years.
25:49 Historically, going back well over a century of conventional motor racing, it's been dominated by men.
25:56 It's been boys' toys stuff. What more can you tell us about these plans for an all-female test event later this year?
26:06 I've heard about that. Obviously, with female racing drivers, there's a lot of initiatives now.
26:10 We've got the F1 Academy. Prior to that, we had the W Series.
26:13 It's fantastic because females generally haven't had the same opportunities as males within a very male-dominated sport.
26:20 So it's fantastic that Formula E, looking at that and seizing the initiative and looking to try and bring female racing drivers
26:27 within the single-seater international ladder and bring them up to Formula E.
26:33 And hopefully, we'll have more female Formula E drivers in the future.
26:36 We've already had a few in the past. We've had a bit of a lull over the last few years.
26:40 And hopefully, this will be the next step to try and kickstart it and get more female drivers on the international single-seater racing level.
26:47 And that is the World Today. Thank you for watching. More news at the top of this hour.
26:52 Coming up next, it's the agenda with Juliette Mann. For now, from all the news team in London, it's goodbye.
26:58 (upbeat music)
27:00 [inaudible].