Latest news bulletin | August 23rd – Evening
Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond - latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel.
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00:00Belgium's government has been left in deadlock following the high-profile mandate resignation
00:06of the coalition negotiator.
00:10Troublers will have to be patient at airports again from next month as Brussels reverses
00:15its approval of new generation scanners at baggage checks.
00:22Efforts to form a government in Belgium have stalled as the politician appointed to reach
00:28consensus on the coalition has resigned from the mandate.
00:32Bart de Wever led the Flemish national party that won the most votes at the recent election
00:38and was tasked with forming a coalition.
00:42The Belgian royal palace confirmed on social media that King Philippe accepted de Wever's
00:47resignation on Thursday following a 19-minute discussion at the Palais Royal.
00:53Flemish media reports that before vacating the mandate, de Wever failed to find consensus
00:59among the five parties to agree to key Belgian policy planks, such as capital gains taxes.
01:07According to the royal statement, King Philippe will meet the party leaders to discuss other
01:12possible majorities.
01:15Belgium needs to form a government to file a federal budget to the European Commission
01:19by September 20.
01:21The country's longest period of running without an elected government was 592 days.
01:32Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has made his first visit to the border area since
01:37his forces launched a surprise offensive into Russia's Kursk region earlier this month.
01:43Speaking to the country's top military commander Oleksandr Siersky, Zelensky said new prisoners
01:48of war would help build an exchange fund to swap for captured Ukrainians.
01:54He also said Ukrainian forces had captured another village in Kursk, but didn't name
01:59it.
02:00Zelensky said last week that Ukraine has no plans to occupy the area long-term, but wants
02:05to create a buffer zone to prevent further attacks from that area into Ukraine.
02:11Meanwhile a Ukrainian drone strike targeted the Marinovka airbase in Volgograd.
02:17The region's governor confirmed that a defense ministry facility had been attacked with drones
02:22and said there had been no casualties.
02:25Outside Moscow on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the situation with
02:30governors of regions bordering Ukraine.
02:33Putin claimed that Ukraine had attempted to strike the Kursk nuclear power plant.
02:38And in Washington, U.S. officials said the Biden administration will send about $125
02:58million in new military aid to Ukraine.
03:01The latest package will reportedly include air defense missiles, high-mars munitions
03:06and counter-electronic warfare systems.
03:14Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he supports Ukraine's territorial sovereignty
03:20and integrity.
03:22Modi directed the comments, spoken through a translator, to Ukrainian President Volodymyr
03:27Zelensky on a highly anticipated trip to the Ukrainian capital.
03:32The Indian leader also expressed desire to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine.
03:38Modi said the only way of resolving problems is through dialogue and through diplomacy.
03:42I assure you that for all those efforts being made towards peace, India is ready to make
03:48its proactive contribution.
03:52Zelensky wrote on social media that Modi's comments are important as everyone in the
03:57world must respect the UN Charter.
03:59According to Indian authorities, Ukraine's peace formula discussed between Modi and Zelensky
04:05includes the withdrawal of Russian troops.
04:10Ukrainian and Indian officials billed the visit as a means of boosting the country's
04:14economic and diplomatic ties following a trip by Modi to Russia.
04:23The body of the last missing person from the super yacht that sunk off the coast of Sicily
04:28has been found in the wreckage, according to the Italian Coast Guard.
04:32A woman's body was detected on Friday.
04:35She has not yet been identified, but Hannah Lynch, the 18-year-old daughter of British
04:41tech magnate Mike Lynch, is reportedly missing.
04:44The Lynch family was aboard the British-flagged yacht, which went down in a storm early Monday.
04:51Civil protection officials said they believe the ship was struck by a tornado over the
04:56water, known as a waterspout, and sank quickly.
05:01Mike Lynch's body was recovered on Thursday.
05:04He has been celebrating his recent acquittal on fraud charges with his family and the people
05:09who had defended him at trial in the United States.
05:14His wife Angela Bacarris was among the 15 survivors.
05:23The debate between efficiency and security has returned to European airports.
05:29Brussels has reversed its approval of new generation C3 scanners at baggage screening.
05:35From the 1st of September, airports will have to revert to the X-ray model, which requires
05:40electronic devices in containers with liquids of more than 100 millilitres to be removed
05:45from suitcases.
05:47reactions have been mixed.
05:50The new machines that they added where you don't have to take everything out is very
06:04convenient because you just keep everything inside and you just go right through.
06:09It's faster.
06:10I like the security of going through the checkpoint, so I don't mind it.
06:13If it takes another 10 minutes, it's nice.
06:17The new C3 technology scanners can display detailed, three-dimensional, high-resolution
06:22images of the inside of luggage, so it's not necessary to extract the contents.
06:28The European Commission has justified the move after a technical report that found that
06:32the equipment can't detect explosive material in liquids larger than 330 millilitres, so
06:38security won't be guaranteed.
06:40Brussels has made it clear that the decision is a purely technical matter and not a response
06:44to a specific threat.
06:47But the measure has not gone down well with airports that have invested in this new technology,
06:52which is up to eight times more expensive and difficult to maintain than traditional
06:57scanners.
06:58They're worried about financial losses and delays at checkpoints.
07:04It's unclear when the restrictions on the new scanners will be lifted, but travellers
07:08in a hurry will have to be patient at checkpoints from next month.
07:20Around 100 delivery drivers working for the Amazon subcontractor KM Group have been collectively
07:25dismissed via WhatsApp.
07:28The drivers were informed via text message that the company had gone bankrupt, leaving
07:32them without July's salary.
07:34They also say they haven't received the necessary forms to be able to apply for unemployment
07:39benefit.
07:40Unions say KM Group's bankruptcy was filed after the US online retail giant Amazon refused
08:09to renegotiate the terms of the contract.
08:12They also slammed the way the workers were sacked.
08:15While KM Group should have immediately started bankruptcy proceedings in court, a union representative
08:21said the company's balance sheet still hasn't been officially submitted.
08:41Unions say KM Group has confirmed it doesn't have the funds available to pay the dismissed
08:45staff the wages they are owed.
08:52Blood supplies have been flown between two hospitals by drone in a trial the company
08:57behind the scheme hopes will be rolled out across the country.
09:01Five identical blood packs made the 68km journey from the Wandsbeck hospital to Anick infirmary
09:07and back again in the northern county of Northumberland.
09:11The trial flight could offer the solution to how to deliver vital blood to hospitals
09:16quickly and easily.
09:18In this particular trial we flew 10 packs of red blood cells with NHS blood and transplant
09:25and drove 10 identical packs and essentially on the other end analysed those in the laboratory
09:31and proved that there was no difference between the two packs which means that delivering
09:35it by drone is a safe method of transport.
09:38Around 5,000 bags of blood are needed every day in the UK for transfusions and operations
09:43but donors and patients are often miles apart.
09:47The trials are aimed at getting approval to use drone transportation in the UK.
09:51This could be a great breakthrough for trying to get blood across areas where it's difficult
09:59to get through.
10:00So thinking about in the middle of London with traffic actually using a drone would
10:04be much quicker.
10:06While the drone trials have so far been well received, a full scale roll out of the scheme
10:11would need to be approved by the Civil Aviation Authority.
10:18Kamala Harris pledged her ongoing support for Ukraine's war against Russia on Thursday
10:23as she officially accepted the Democratic nomination to run for President in November's
10:27election.
10:28She criticised Republican candidate Donald Trump's past comments on the war in her speech.
10:34Trump, on the other hand, threatened to abandon NATO.
10:42He encouraged Putin to invade our allies, said Russia could, quote, do whatever the
10:50hell they want.
10:53Harris reaffirmed her support for NATO, which has been helping Ukraine fight the war for
10:57nearly two and a half years.
11:00Five days before Russia attacked Ukraine, I met with President Zelensky to warn him
11:06about Russia's plan to invade.
11:08I helped mobilise a global response, over 50 countries, to defend against Putin's aggression.
11:15And as President, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies.
11:24There was no shift in position from the Biden administration on Israel, with Harris saying
11:28she would always defend America's key ally.
11:31But she said it was time to end the more than 10-month war in Gaza.
11:36Harris also blasted Trump for cozying up to tyrants like North Korea's King Jong-un.
11:42Voters in the United States head to the polls on November 5th.