Latest news bulletin | July 19th – Midday
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00:00Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy slams Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's peace
00:06mission trips to Russia and China.
00:15Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has slammed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's
00:20self-styled peace mission trips to Russia and China.
00:25Speaking at the European Political Community Summit, Zelenskyy, who didn't name Orban directly,
00:30said European leaders should turn their backs on him.
00:35But if someone in Europe tries to resolve issues behind others' backs or even at the
00:42expense of someone else, if someone wants to make some trips to the capital of war to
00:51talk and perhaps promise something against our common interests or the expense of Ukraine
00:58or other countries, then why should we consider such a person?
01:03Zelenskyy also warned leaders that Russian President Vladimir Putin may approach them
01:08in a bid to tempt or pressure you to blackmail you so that one of you betrays the rest.
01:16The summit in the UK comes two weeks after Orban, then just days into his six-month rotating
01:21presidency of the Council of the EU, travelled to Moscow for talks with Putin about the war
01:27in Ukraine.
01:29He then jetted to Beijing for similar talks with President Xi Jinping.
01:34The trips, which Orban declared a peace mission, have drawn strong condemnation from other
01:39EU leaders.
01:41But the Hungarian government insists the trips were done on a purely bilateral basis and
01:45that Orban was not representing the bloc.
01:48Asked about the criticism he's received, Orban said other European countries are more pro-war
01:54than his own.
01:57President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen also took aim at Orban, describing
02:01his controversial trips as an appeasement mission.
02:05Russia is banking on Europe and the West going soft.
02:11And some in Europe are playing along.
02:15Two weeks ago, a European Union prime minister went to Moscow.
02:22This so-called peace mission was nothing but an appeasement mission.
02:29And the European Commission earlier this week announced its commissioners would boycott
02:32informal council meetings organized by the Hungarian presidency and send senior civil
02:38servants instead.
02:42Yemen's Houthis have claimed responsibility for launching a deadly drone attack on an
02:47apartment complex in Israel.
02:50A Houthi armed forces spokesperson said on social media that the group was behind the
02:55strike launched in support of Hamas.
02:57One person died and a dozen were injured, according to Tel Aviv police.
03:15It was not immediately clear how the strike evaded Israel's strong air defences.
03:21For the past nine months, Houthi fighters have fired dozens of drones and missiles towards
03:26Israel.
03:28And until recently, all were intercepted.
03:31A Houthi military spokesperson said this new type of drone was built to fly undetected
03:37through the Iron Dome.
03:44Donald Trump has accepted the Republican presidential nomination on the final day of the party's
03:49national convention.
03:52Trump said he was running for all of America because there's no victory in winning for
03:56half of America.
03:59The 78-year-old former president also described how he survived an assassination attempt five
04:05days ago because he had God on his side.
04:09Trump will face Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential election on November 5.
04:19The Democrats are making a push for President Joe Biden to re-evaluate his election bid.
04:26Former President Barack Obama has reportedly privately told colleagues that Biden needs
04:31to consider the viability of his campaign.
04:36And former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has told Biden the party could lose the ability
04:40to seize control of the House if he doesn't step away from the 2024 race.
04:48Concerns about Biden's age have always been there but came to the forefront last month
04:55after his disastrous performance in a televised presidential debate.
05:00Biden acknowledged he'd been slow and stumbling but blamed it on tiredness after travel.
05:07Some Democrats hope Biden, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, will take a fresh
05:13look at the trajectory of the race over the coming days.
05:18Biden himself has repeatedly insisted he's not backing down, adamant that he's the candidate
05:23who beat Trump before and will do so again.
05:26In a radio interview, he dismissed the idea that it was too late for him to recover politically.
05:32I feel good. I feel as good as ever before.
05:35Look, one of the things is most communities don't really begin to focus on the election
05:41until they get into September. And so all the talk about who's leading and where and
05:47how, it's kind of, you know, everything so far between Trump and me has been basically
05:53even.
05:55If Democrats are seriously preparing the step of replacing Biden and moving Vice President
06:00Kamala Harris to the top of the ticket, insiders say this weekend will be critical to changing
06:06the president's mind.
06:08The only thing age brings is a little bit of wisdom.
06:12A police officer has been wounded in a knife attack in the Champs-Elysees neighborhood
06:18of Paris.
06:21Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on X that the assailant had been immediately
06:26neutralized.
06:29An anonymous official confirmed that the attacker is still alive.
06:35The attack comes with the French capital already on high security alert just days before the
06:40July 26 opening of the Summer Olympics.
06:49Officers and businesses in Dakar have been closed as student protests against how government
06:54jobs are allocated continue.
06:59Students have been demonstrating for weeks against the quota system which sees a third
07:03of civil service jobs earmarked for the descendants of veterans of the war for independence.
07:10Students say it's unfair and want it replaced with a merit-based system.
07:15Protests have often been violent with six people killed on Tuesday.
07:24UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced €99 million in funding to tackle illegal
07:30migration.
07:32Starmer said to stop illegal migration we must also tackle it at source.
07:39The money will fund projects across Africa and the Middle East and includes humanitarian
07:43and health support and access to education.
07:47Starmer was speaking to the leaders of 45 countries at the European Political Community
07:52Summit in Oxfordshire.
07:59The Refugee Olympic team including athletes, coaches and staff have all arrived in France
08:05to take part in a pre-games welcome camp.
08:08The event is an opportunity for the athletes to meet for the first time and create a sense
08:13of unity amongst the team.
08:16The Refugee Olympic team is made up of 37 athletes from several countries and competing
08:21in 12 different sports.
08:24Appearing for the third consecutive Olympic Games, this year's Refugee team is the largest
08:29yet reflective of the growing number of refugees globally.
08:34I have a mission. I want to represent the Olympics not just for one refugee. I want
08:40to be in the Olympics as a 100 million people. They are displaced. They are in a really really
08:46difficult situation.
08:47We are 37 athletes for 120 million refugees around the world and we want to draw people's
08:56attention to the fact that we are not just 37 athletes but hundreds of millions of refugees
09:03who have no hope and hopefully we can change something.
09:08With its rich history, strong understanding of the impact of war and affinity with the
09:13plight of refugees, Bayeux was considered a perfect host to bring the team together.
09:33The opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics takes place on July 26 and the Games run until
09:42August 11.
09:47Climate is impacting the life of Sicily very strongly. There are some people that deny
09:55climate change. I think we cannot deny this anymore.
10:00This dry landscape might soon become a familiar sight across Sicily. This island is already
10:05facing the severe impacts of global warming with droughts, wildfires, flash floods and
10:10record-breaking temperatures. So how does it feel to live and work here? What is it
10:14like to be on the front lines of the climate crisis? Find out in a new episode of Witness.
10:31What we always say as farmers is basically we say that the land is not ours but we have
10:49it, land from our children. What's important is to give a future to this farm and to this
10:55land. And right now with this climate change, this is becoming extremely complicated to
11:00think about the future.
11:25The networks have not been modernized.