Latest news bulletin | October 3rd – 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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00:00At least six people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on central Beirut in the
00:05early hours of Thursday.
00:08Lebanese authorities said the airstrike started a fire in an apartment building in the residential
00:13Bashura district, not far from the United Nations headquarters.
00:18Residents in Beirut reported a sulfur-like smell in the city following the airstrike.
00:24Lebanon's state-run national news agency later accused Israel of using international-banned
00:30phosphorus bombs.
00:32The attack was the second airstrike on central Beirut this week.
00:36Multiple strikes were also reported in Beirut's southern Dahiyeh suburbs.
00:42The Israeli Defense Force, IDF, issued evacuation orders for five buildings, but the area struck
00:47in central Beirut was not covered in those warnings.
00:51Throughout Wednesday, Israel's military engaged in close-range encounters with Hezbollah in
00:56southern Lebanon.
00:59The IDF released footage it said showed Israeli troops on the ground there.
01:04Meanwhile, about eight IDF soldiers have died in combat since Israel began a ground invasion
01:11of southern Lebanon this week.
01:14According to the IDF, more than 240 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards northern
01:20Israel throughout Wednesday.
01:30Kyiv forces have withdrawn from Vuhlydar in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian military command
01:36confirmed on Wednesday.
01:38Having advanced from west, south and northeast, Russian soldiers were geo-located, planting
01:43Russian flags and freely operating in various parts of Vuhlydar.
01:48Vuhlydar's strategic importance is in its location.
01:51The town sits on higher ground between the two fronts, eastern and southern.
01:55To the south, Vuhlydar was the last fortified town before the village of Velyka Novoselka
02:00and the entire southern part of the Donetsk region that Ukraine controls.
02:04The town is roughly 40 kilometers east of the administrative border with the Zaporizhzhya
02:09region.
02:10Controlling Vuhlydar would also help Russian forces improve their railway's logistics,
02:14which might help them advance further.
02:1750 kilometers north from Vuhlydar is Russia's primary target, the town of Pokrovsk.
02:22Although threatening to Pokrovsk-1000 flank, Russian forces would need to maneuver across
02:27open terrain to meaningfully support offensive operations southeast of Pokrovsk.
02:33The Institute for the Study of War said it is unclear if Russian forces will make rapid
02:37gains beyond Vuhlydar in the immediate future.
02:42Advancing across an open field area during the upcoming muddy season would be complicated
02:46for Russian forces.
02:48It is possible that Ukrainian military command factored the weather aspect in when deciding
02:53to withdraw its forces from Vuhlydar.
02:56And whilst it won't be an issue for Russian forces to take full control of the town now,
03:01the muddy roads and fields will be almost unusable for mechanized assaults should Russian
03:06forces decide to advance further.
03:09They might decide to wait for the ground to freeze before considering the next steps,
03:14which would happen in about a month in the southern part of Ukraine's Donetsk region.
03:24The UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the relations between the UK and the
03:28European Union would be strengthened at pace during a meeting in Brussels.
03:34The Labour politician, however, refused to elaborate further on the exact shape relations
03:38between the UK and the EU would take.
03:43We should explore the scope for more cooperation while we focus on the full and faithful implementation
03:50of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Windsor Framework and the TCA.
03:55The pair face a long game of negotiations ahead.
03:58Starmer wants to smooth out trade barriers between the two partners, with the European
04:02Commission President Ursula von der Leyen refusing to say how the UK could negotiate
04:07this without re-entering the single market.
04:11Good afternoon.
04:13On youth mobility, look, again, I have made it clear what our position is and in particular
04:19that free movement is a red line.
04:23Despite the red lines, the two sides agreed to discuss relations in an atmosphere of warmth.
04:32Most people don't care about Brexit.
04:35It's not a priority issue for UK voters.
04:37It's maybe 5-10% of the population that considers EU relations a priority issue.
04:43But this is potentially an advantage for the UK government if it wants to get closer, because
04:48people aren't really paying attention.
04:50Both leaders have agreed to hold regular meetings to check on progress, with the first summit
04:54to take place in the first half of 2025.
05:04Swine fever has gripped northern Italian regions, threatening livelihoods and production
05:09of prized pork products.
05:11The areas of greatest concern include Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy, regions known
05:18for their Parma prosciutto.
05:19Damage to the pork industry is estimated at €500m so far, with farmers at risk of losing
05:26their livelihoods.
05:27As soon as the swine fever was confirmed in Italy, 12 countries, including China, Thailand
05:57and Mexico, put an immediate ban on importing Italian pork, regardless of whether it was
06:03produced in an area where swine fever was detected or not.
06:12Activists and experts at Baku's climate summit are warning that extreme weather is threatening
06:17the world's food supply ahead of the COP29 UN summit in November.
06:22Speakers at the Baku Climate Action Week in their run-up to the city hosting the summit
06:27emphasized the importance of ports as a lifeline.
06:30Hurricanes and rising sea levels are disrupting the ability of ports to operate, stopping
06:36the flow of goods from food to medical supplies, putting pressure and harming countries' GDP.
06:44A non-profit organization focused on ports says it's publishing a report for COP29 to
06:50show how some ports are dealing with climate change.
06:53There are 17,000 ports around the world and 30 million individuals work directly within
06:59them.
07:00So it's not just imports and exports and people's livelihoods are dependent on ports.
07:06The countdown to COP29 is on in Azerbaijan.
07:10The country says one of its focuses will be on water.
07:13It wants communities to come together and create knowledge hubs, sharing information
07:17that will lead to policies that will protect water basins.
07:21Another topic discussed at the summit was how technology can mitigate the impacts of
07:26climate change.
07:27What kind of action can they take?
07:30This is action.
07:32Establishment of the knowledge hub, cooperation in that knowledge hub, discussing the policies
07:40that would take into account the interests of all countries sharing the basins, creating
07:45data, creating information on that water basin.
07:48An agricultural NGO that is on the COP29 advisory board said it understood there were
07:54questions about whether the annual summits would lead to real improvements for the environment.
08:01So what I would want to say is that progress can be slow, but progress does happen in these
08:06COPs.
08:07So we have to be patient, but at the same time, we have to agitate for faster change.
08:12Thank you everyone for coming, thank you very much.
08:16Rui de Carvalho's life is on stage.
08:19That's how he sees it.
08:21That's how he wants it to continue.
08:23At 97 and a half years old, he is the oldest theatre actor in the world still working.
08:29Four days a week, he fulfills the ritual of arriving here at the Malaposta Theatre on
08:35the outskirts of Lisbon and donning the skin of Major Metcalfe in Agatha Christie's play
08:41The Mousetrap.
09:05For the actors who work with him, it leaves a mark in their lives.
09:35Rui de Carvalho has the capacity to always be available, always learning despite his age,
09:39always attentive to everything.
09:41It's very curious to see that Rui continues to live the stage as if it were his first time.
09:46How is it to work with Rui de Carvalho?
09:48It's an immense pride.
09:50Every day we learn something.
09:52And it's wonderful to see him working with this energy, with this joy, stepping on stage
09:58every day.
09:59So it's wonderful to work with Rui.
10:06When Agatha Christie's play debuted in London 72 years ago, Rui de Carvalho was already
10:14a theatre professional 5 years ago.
10:16With the energy with which we saw him on stage tonight, the play will certainly be on stage
10:22here in Lisbon for a long time as well.
10:24With Bruno Silva's image, Ricardo Figueira, Euronews, Lisbon.