Latest news bulletin | September 2nd – Midday
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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00:00The leader of the far-right AFD in Thuringia calls his party's success in Sunday's state
00:06elections a historic victory.
00:10The bodies of six hostages were recovered by Israeli forces, with the military spokesperson
00:15claiming they had been killed just before they could be rescued.
00:21The Pope is heading on his longest papal tour ever as he heads to Asia to rally the region's
00:26growing Catholic community.
00:35The leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, has called
00:39his party's success in Sunday's state elections a historic victory.
00:44It's the first time since World War II that a far-right party appears set to enter a state
00:49parliament with the AFD polling at over 32 percent of the vote.
01:11The conservative Christian Democratic Union has fallen to second place in Thuringia but
01:16is slightly ahead in the polls in neighboring Saxony.
01:19The CDU's minister-president for the state, Michael Kretschmer, said his party was ready
01:24to govern.
01:39The Greens, one of the three parties that makes up Germany's ruling coalition, performed
01:43poorly in both states.
01:46The party's leader in the German parliament said he was more disappointed about the strong
01:50showing of the AFD than he was about the poor polling for his own party.
02:09Many view these results as a barometer of public sentiment for the current government
02:13ahead of next year's national elections.
02:16But the inconclusive results in both federal regions means forming a government will be
02:21very difficult.
02:22It's extremely unlikely that any other party will agree to put AFD in power by joining
02:27it in a coalition.
02:29The CDU's national general secretary, Carsten Linnemann, said his party will stick to its
02:34long-standing refusal to work with the far-right group.
02:40Russia has launched a barrage of drones, crews and ballistic missiles at Kiev Monday
02:45morning.
02:46Residents were sent into bomb shelters as several explosions rocked the city.
02:51One person was injured from falling debris, according to Kiev mayor Vitaly Klitschko.
02:58The head of Kiev's city military administration said over 10 cruise missiles, about 10 ballistic
03:03missiles and a drone fired at the Ukrainian capital and its suburbs were destroyed by
03:08Ukraine's air defenses.
03:13In the Russian city of Belgorod, a Ukrainian shelling reportedly damaged a kindergarten,
03:18a commercial facility, several residential buildings and cars, said governor Vyacheslav
03:23Gladkov.
03:25Just hours earlier, a strike in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv damaged a gas pipe and wounded
03:30dozens.
03:32Local firefighters tried to quench flames from leaking gas.
03:36This comes a day after Russia's military reported 158 Ukrainian drones targeted multiple
03:42Russian regions in one of the biggest attacks of the war.
03:52The bodies of six hostages were recovered by the Israeli military during an operation
03:57in the Gaza Strip, as protests calling for a ceasefire continue.
04:03All six of the hostages were killed just before Israeli forces could rescue them, according
04:08to an Israeli military spokesperson.
04:11The bodies were recovered from a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafa, around a kilometer
04:16from where another hostage was rescued alive last week.
04:21Their recovery sparked further protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
04:29Families of hostages, as well as much of the Israeli public, blame him for failing
04:34to strike a deal with Hamas to end the ongoing war and bring the hostages back alive.
04:40Netanyahu says the killings prove that Hamas does not want a ceasefire deal.
04:45Negotiations have dragged on for months.
04:52The Gotthard base tunnel, the main rail connection between Switzerland and Italy, reopens on
04:57Monday more than a year after an accident forced its closure.
05:01It happened on August 10 last year when a Swiss Federal Railway's freight train derailed
05:06due to a broken wheel.
05:09The derailment caused the train to crash into the gate, separating the western and eastern
05:13tunnels, causing severe damage.
05:16An investigation after the crash revealed that hairline fractures in a wagon wheel caused
05:20the accident when pieces came away, causing the carriage to jump the tracks.
05:25And the clean-up operation was also problematic.
05:28SBB estimated last year that repairing the damage would cost in the region of 135 million
05:55euros, but the company said this week that the final price tag was 159 million.
06:01Taking almost 17 years to complete after decades of planning, the Gotthard base tunnel is the
06:06longest railway tunnel in the world, stretching 57 kilometers under the Swiss Alps.
06:13It's an essential link between Switzerland's German and Italian-speaking cantons and costs
06:1810 billion euros to construct.
06:23The Pope is beginning his longest, furthest and most challenging trip ever to Asia.
06:29Pope Francis will be visiting Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore during
06:34his 11-day trip.
06:36Traveling tens of thousands of kilometers, the journey will far surpass any of his previous
06:40trips being one of the longest papal tours ever.
06:56During his trip, the Pope will deliver 16 speeches and hold several giant masses as
07:00he seeks to rally the region's growing Catholic community.
07:05While attempting to bolster ties with local Catholics, the Pope also aims to bridge religious
07:10divides in a majority Muslim country like Indonesia, during a visit to an iconic mosque.
07:16Francis also faces challenges like addressing growing discrimination amongst religious minorities
07:21in Indonesia and a sexual abuse scandal in East Timor.
07:25The Pope is expected to address some of the key issues that have marked his tenure as
07:29head of the Catholic Church, including the environment.
07:34A commemoration marking the 85th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II took place
07:40in the northern Polish city of Gdansk.
07:42Veterans, troops and delegations from across Poland participated in the event alongside
07:48Polish politicians at the location where the war was triggered decades ago.
07:53Nearly 6 million Poles died in the conflict, which killed more than 50 million people overall.
07:59Poland's current pro-EU government, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, has urged Germany
08:05to provide financial compensation over losses the country sustained at the hands of Nazi
08:10troops.
08:11According to Polish media, discussions between the two countries on financial compensation
08:17to living victims are underway, with Poland estimating up to 70,000 people would be eligible.
08:24Speaking at the ceremony, Tusk said the lessons of the world war were not an abstraction and
08:29drew parallels with the ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine.
08:37Greek authorities have announced a series of measures to support local businesses after
08:41more than 100 tons of dead fish were carried by flood water into the central port of Volos.
08:48Subsidies will be provided for businesses who have lost money and tax and insurance
08:52payments will be suspended.
08:54The local government will also look into ways to promote tourism in the region.
08:59The dead freshwater fish filled both Volos Bay and nearby rivers on Tuesday after they
09:04were displaced from their normal habitats by flooding last year.
09:08Experts say a net wasn't placed at the mouth of the river leading into Volos and the fish
09:12died when they came into contact with seawater.
09:16The mayor of Volos accused the regional authority of acting too slowly and warned the rotting
09:20fish could cause an environmental disaster.
09:24The city's chamber of commerce said it was taking legal action to seek damages after
09:28commercial activity in the popular tourist destination dropped by an estimated 80 percent.
09:40The Polish government has announced new guidelines aimed at facilitating safe access to abortion.
09:46The rules, published by the health ministry, say that a recommendation by one specialist
09:50doctor is enough for a woman to obtain a legal abortion in hospital.
09:55The doctor performing the procedure will not be liable for prosecution.
09:59Previously, abortion was only possible in the case of a pregnancy that was the result
10:03of sexual abuse or in a situation of extreme danger to the pregnant woman's health.
10:09Those regulations led to a number of deaths across the country after doctors refused to
10:13perform an abortion for fear of being punished.
10:17Doctors or persons who helped to procure an abortion faced up to three years in prison.
10:23The new guidelines say hospitals that refuse to perform an abortion on a woman with a medical
10:27referral could be fined up to 115,000 euros or lose their National Health Fund contract.
10:40Students in Greece will be required to keep their mobile phones in their school bags at
10:44all times during lessons when the new academic year starts in September.
10:49The new regulations were announced on Saturday by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
11:14Under the new rules, pupils who don't comply will be excluded from school for one day.
11:25In the case of a repeat offence, teachers have the power to remove pupils from lessons
11:29for several days.
11:31And anyone filming their classmates or their teachers without permission could face expulsion
11:35from school.