Latest news bulletin | July 20th – Morning
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00:00Planes have been grounded, banks disrupted and broadcasters taken off air due to a worldwide
00:07technological glitch.
00:09US journalist Evan Gershkovich has been sentenced to 16 years in prison by a Russian court.
00:25Planes have been grounded, banks disrupted and broadcasters taken off air due to a worldwide
00:32technological glitch.
00:35US cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike admitted that a defect in a product update for Microsoft
00:41programs was to blame.
00:43CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said that the identified issue was being fixed and the disruption
00:50was not a cyber attack.
00:53Britain's Brandenburg Airport and London's Gatwick Airport are among a slate of European
00:58transport hubs impacted and reporting delays, with Edinburgh Airport stating passengers
01:04had missed flights.
01:06Hospitals in Britain and Germany are reporting system malfunctions, with one cancelling elective
01:11surgery.
01:12Australian and South African banks are reporting that customers are unable to use their bank
01:18cards while major UK broadcasters were temporarily offline.
01:23Grocery stores and retail outlets have reported they are unable to make in-store payments.
01:33US journalist Evan Gershkovich has been convicted on espionage charges by a Russian court and
01:40sentenced to 16 years in prison.
01:43Gershkovich, his employer and the US government have vehemently denied the charges, with the
01:49latter describing the trial as a sham.
01:53The Wall Street Journal reporter was arrested and detained in March 2023 while on a reporting
01:59trip to Yekaterinburg.
02:01Upon his arrest, he was accused of spying for the United States and has remained in custody
02:07ever since.
02:10His trial took place behind closed doors, as espionage and treason cases often do in
02:16Russia.
02:18Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the UN earlier this week that Moscow and
02:24Washington are discussing a prisoner exchange, but any such deal could take months or even
02:29years.
02:33A tentative deal for the controversial excavation of lithium has been signed by Serbia, Germany
02:39and the European Commission.
02:41German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Vice President of the European Commission Maros
02:46Sefcovic met with the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to conclude the deal.
02:51It was agreed upon in a strategic partnership on sustainable resources, battery production
02:56chains and electric vehicles in Belgrade, Serbia.
03:10Lithium is a critical substance in making batteries for electric vehicles, with Germany
03:14being the largest car maker in Europe.
03:18It wants to secure a reliable source of lithium for its electric vehicle industry, as Europe
03:23struggles to reduce its dependency on Chinese imports.
03:27Earlier this month, the Serbian Constitutional Court overturned a ruling to cancel a multi-billion
03:33dollar project to mine lithium, after thousands took to the streets in protest for fear of
03:38potential hazards to the environment.
03:43It seems like that the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have
03:47put their differences aside very noticeable, especially in recent months as the German
03:51leader arrives in Belgrade for the signing of a very important document that could pave
03:55the way for the strategic partnership between the European Union and Serbia on sustainable
04:01raw materials, battery production chains and electric vehicles.
04:05And while the German Chancellor states that lithium today is as important as oil once
04:10was, the Serbian President stated and tried to address the concern of many people in Serbia
04:16by saying that all European standards will be respected when it comes to the protection
04:22of the environment, because many organizations in Serbia are actually concerned that the
04:27excavation of lithium will have devastating consequences, especially in the Western part
04:33of Serbia, where the lithium mine is planned.
04:37This summit was also attended by the European Commission Vice President Maro Ševčević,
04:42who signed the document together with the Serbian Mining Minister Dubravko Đedović-Kandanović.