Latest news bulletin | July 26th – Midday
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00:00The U.N. Secretary General delivers a stark warning after the hottest day on record.
00:09U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris says she has serious concern about the humanitarian
00:16situation in Gaza after nine months of war.
00:25The U.N. Secretary General António Guterres issued an urgent call to action after the
00:31world experienced its hottest day on record on Monday.
00:37He states that extreme heat events are increasing in scale, intensity, frequency and duration,
00:43and warns that Earth is becoming hotter and more dangerous for everyone and everywhere.
00:50Extreme temperatures are no longer a one-day, one-week or one-month phenomenon.
00:57If there is one thing that unites our divided world, it is that we are all increasingly
01:03feeling the heat.
01:05The U.N. chief asks for a joint international effort to address the extreme heat and urges
01:11countries to work towards the global goals agreed at COP28.
01:16He calls out the world's wealthiest countries and urges that their leadership is essential
01:20to the phasing out of fossil fuels.
01:23The G20 must shift fossil fuel subsidies to renewables and to the support of vulnerable
01:29countries and communities.
01:32And national climate action plans must show how each country will contribute to the global
01:37goals agreed at COP28.
01:40Gutierrez attributes extreme heat to the widening of inequalities.
01:45He stresses that the implementation of measures to protect exposed workers and those vulnerable
01:50to climate change must be in place to reflect the reality of the rising heat today.
02:02There have been anti-war protests outside the White House as Israel's Prime Minister
02:06Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.
02:11Harris told Netanyahu of her serious concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza after
02:17nine months of war between Israel and Hamas.
02:22The images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes
02:29displaced for the second, third or fourth time.
02:34We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies.
02:38We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent.
02:46Netanyahu's first White House visit since 2020 comes a day after he gave a fiery speech
02:51to Congress in which he vowed total victory against Hamas and denounced American opponents
02:56of the war in Gaza as idiots.
03:01Netanyahu's talks with Harris, who is widely expected to be the Democrat presidential nominee
03:06after Joe Biden announced earlier this week he wouldn't run for office again, came after
03:10a meeting with the outgoing president earlier on Thursday.
03:1481-year-old Biden is pressing to get Israel and Hamas to sign a ceasefire deal before
03:19he steps down in January.
03:21White House officials say ceasefire negotiations, which have stumbled along for weeks, are in
03:26the closing stages, but there are still issues that need to be resolved.
03:31Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has called the humanitarian
03:37situation in Gaza a total disaster.
03:42We are in a situation of total lawlessness, a situation where the law and order has completely
03:50disappeared. Nobody is in charge of security anywhere in the area of Gaza. So we see convoys
03:58looted at any moment.
04:01Since the war against Hamas started last year, more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed
04:06in Gaza and the death toll in Israel is 1,200. Dozens of Israeli hostages are still being
04:13held by Hamas in Gaza after being taken captive on October 7.
04:21The EU is losing credibility over its stance in Gaza, having failed to sanction Israel
04:27for its offensive there, say legal and political experts.
04:31As Israel continues to pummel the Palestinian enclave and with the death toll among civilians,
04:36in particular children, rising by the hour, the EU stands accused of being selective in
04:41its defense of international law.
04:44Israel started its offensive in October after a Hamas terrorist attack killed over 1,200
04:49Israelis and abducted over 250 people. Israel is now being investigated for genocide, extermination
04:56and starvation of civilians, among other things.
05:06I think on Gaza the EU has scored a very transparent and dramatic fail in terms of being able to
05:14assert that it has been the upholder of international law, of the rule of law, that there is any
05:23semblance even of consistency in its position and I think it has lost a lot of ground in
05:31the global majority, global south.
05:34We remember during the first year of the Ukraine war that there was a lot of talk about, you
05:42know, why isn't the rest of the world more with us? How do we get that global floating
05:46vote? I don't think anyone even thinks in those terms anymore because the approach towards
05:51Gaza led by President Ursula von der Leyen has made that claim impossible.
05:58A recent opinion by the International Court of Justice says Israel's occupation of the
06:02West Bank and East Jerusalem is illegal and it should evacuate its settlers and pay reparations
06:07to the Palestinians.
06:09We have to be true to ourselves, to our own principles. We say all the time the rule of
06:15law, international law, humanitarian law, protection of human rights. These principles
06:22are universal and they apply to the South China Sea as well as to Ukraine and to the
06:30Middle East. You cannot have a selective understanding of what are the rulings or the opinions of
06:37the international court.
06:39EU foreign policy requires unanimous decision making so even if a majority of EU member
06:44states wanted to apply sanctions against Israel for alleged breaches of international law,
06:49it would require all countries to support it. The EU therefore has limited influence
06:53when it comes to the Middle East. However, there is a consensus on the need for a two-state
06:58solution for a lasting peace and a ceasefire in Gaza.
07:02Shona Murray, Euronews, Brussels.
07:08France's interior minister has thanked Belgium after authorities carried out 14 raids across
07:14the country and detained seven people over suspected terrorist activities. Belgium's
07:19federal prosecutor's office said that all the people concerned are suspected of participating
07:24in the activities of a terrorist group.
07:27Thursday's raids happened a day before the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris. 450,000
07:34police officers from 44 countries are taking part in the security operation to secure the
07:39opening ceremony.
07:44World and business leaders have pledged billions of dollars to finance sporting initiatives
07:49aimed at accelerating sustainable development a day before the Olympic Games opens.
07:55500 participants including 50 heads of state and government attended the Sport for Sustainable
08:01Development Summit in Paris. The event was championed by French President Emmanuel Macron.
08:32A coalition of public development banks pledged
08:39to invest 9.2 billion euros across the world for community-based, inclusive and sustainable
08:44sports infrastructure by 2030. And the French development agency said it would release 500
08:51million euros for sustainable development in sports.
08:54With his country slated to host the 2026 Youth Olympic Games, Senegal's president said the
09:00Olympic ideal is today challenged by the tragedy of war.
09:21The 2024 Paris Olympics opens on July 26 and runs until August 11.
09:31Three years after the official announcement, the big day is finally approaching.
09:36The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics will be held on Friday starting at 7.30pm.
09:42For the first time in history, the ceremony will not take place in a stadium but instead
09:48along the Seine River in front of more than 300,000 spectators.
09:53More than 10,000 athletes from 206 delegations will parade aboard nearly 100 boats for a
10:01spectacle lasting almost four hours.
10:04A meticulous organization that required more than three years of preparation.
10:09Whatever the weather or the flow of the river might be on Friday night, organizers insist
10:15that they are ready for any kind of scenario.
10:24An impressive feat led by the actor and director Thomas Joly.
10:28He worked hand in hand with multiple playwrights, choreographers and historians to imagine an
10:34extravagant performance showcasing France's history, art and culture with 12 massive paintings
10:40that will be displayed.
10:53As per tradition, Greece will host the Paris Olympics next year.
10:57It will be the first time in history that the Olympic Games will be held in Paris.
11:02It will be the first time in history that the Olympic Games will be held in Paris.
11:07It will be the first time in history that the Olympic Games will be held in Paris.
11:12It will be the first time in history that the Olympic Games will be held in Paris.
11:18As per tradition, Greece will lead the way and France's delegation will be the last boat.
11:24As per tradition, Greece will lead the way and France's delegation will be the last boat.
11:27The contents of the show has been kept tightly under wraps, but a few big names have been
11:32mentioned such as possible performances from singers like Céline Dion, Lady Gaga and French
11:38Malian sensation Ayana Kamara.
11:41Sofia Katzenkova reporting from Paris for Euronews.
11:47Euronews.