Latest news bulletin | July 6th – Midday
Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The U.K.'s Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveils his new cabinet after the Labour Party's landslide
00:07election victory.
00:10Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico makes his first public appearance since he was shot
00:15in an apparent assassination attempt in May.
00:22Keir Starmer has accepted the request of King Charles to form a government after the Labour
00:26Party's landslide election victory.
00:29In a ceremony known as the Kissing of Hands, Starmer officially became the U.K.'s Prime
00:34Minister.
00:36It was then straight back to Downing Street where he unveiled his new cabinet.
00:40The party's deputy leader Angela Rayner has been appointed Deputy Prime Minister.
00:46She served as Starmer's deputy since 2020 and will also take on the role of secretary
00:51for levelling up housing and communities.
00:54Rachel Reeves was named Treasury Secretary, becoming the first woman to hold the job.
00:59She gets the title Chancellor of the Exchequer, which dates to the 16th century.
01:04David Lammy was announced as Foreign Secretary while Yvette Cooper heads the Home Office.
01:10Starmer's cabinet includes the highest number of female ministers in history and more than
01:1440 per cent of the seats in the Commons will be held by women.
01:18In his victory speech on Friday morning, Starmer vowed to restore trust in politics and build
01:23a government of service.
01:30Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico has made his first public appearance since he
01:35was shot in an apparent assassination attempt in May.
01:40He spoke at a public holiday event in the capital Bratislava and made only one reference
01:45to his shooting, referring to it only as an unfortunate event.
01:49He used his speech largely to talk about the need to build a barrier against progressivism,
01:54which he said is spreading like a cancer.
01:59Slovakia's populist prime minister was shot at close range as he greeted supporters following
02:03a government meeting in Handlava on May 15.
02:08Fico immediately underwent a five-hour surgery to treat multiple wounds, followed by another
02:13surgery two days later to remove dead tissue.
02:17In late May, he was airlifted from the hospital in Banska Bystrica to the capital Bratislava
02:22where he was nursed at home.
02:24In early June, Slovakia's deputy prime minister said Fico's condition was gradually improving
02:29but that he would likely have permanent health issues.
02:38US President Joe Biden has blamed his disastrous presidential debate performance last week
02:43on a bad episode.
02:46In his first TV interview since his stumbling face-off against Donald Trump, Biden said
02:51he'd rejected an independent medical evaluation to prove he's fit to serve a second term in
02:56office.
02:58His debate performance led to speculation his Democrat colleagues may be trying to replace
03:02him.
03:04But Biden said he's completely ruled out quitting the race.
03:12Begoña Gomez, the wife of Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, has appeared in court as part
03:17of a probe into allegations that she used her position to influence business deals.
03:23Gomez has yet to speak about the investigation but Sanchez has repeatedly called it a smear
03:28campaign.
03:30The public prosecutor's office recommended it be thrown out and the government says that
03:34police said they had no evidence to support the allegations.
03:38The Madrid judge postponed a hearing to question Gomez until July 19.
03:48Officials in Poland say illegal migrant crossings from Belarus are down 50% since the establishment
03:54of a border buffer zone.
03:56The zone was re-established three weeks ago in a bid to stem irregular migration.
04:01Warsaw has accused Minsk and Moscow of orchestrating an influx of African migrants through Belarus
04:07into the EU in what it calls hybrid warfare.
04:10The EU's border agency Frontex says the number of people trying to cross over the bloc's
04:15eastern border nearly doubled in the first half of this year.
04:23The Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris has got its red windmill back after it inexplicably
04:28collapsed after a show in April.
04:31Part of the illuminated sign also crashed to the ground but the local mayor said there
04:35was no danger to the building's structure.
04:39The windmill was first illuminated in October 1889 when the world-famous cabaret first opened.
04:46The venue marks its 135th anniversary this year and attracts 600,000 visitors a year.