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tv   BBC News  BBC News  July 27, 2024 12:00pm-12:31pm BST

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and rain and cooler temperatures bring some relief for firefighters battling wildfires in the canadian town of jasper. the israeli military has ordered an evacuation for an area which was designated a humanitarian zone. there are reports from gaza which say several people have been killed and injured in an israeli strike on and injured in an israeli strike on a housing displaced people in central gaza. the first gold medal has been won by two teenagers from china. they beat
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south korea. china quickly won a second gold medal in women synchronised diving. this is the scene live in the french capital where it is ipm scene live in the french capital where it is 1pm in the afternoon. a total of 13 gold medals are up for grabs today. the games opened in spectacular style with a stunning display of french culture architecture and heritage. any world first, the olympic opening ceremony was held outside the stadium. 6800 athletes from 205 delegations travelled on 85 boats and barges down the river seine past some of the french capital's most famous landmarks with bridges and river banks used as cat box. there was heavy rain but it did not dampen the crowd's enthusiasm. the surprise performances throughout, too. a pink feather lady gaga and french malian singer performing alongside teams of dancers high—kicking pecan can and
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perching perilously on poles. the olympic flame, which had been carried by a host of global sports stars, was used to light a huge cauldron on a hot air balloon that rose high into the paris sky and the culmination of the show included an emotional return of canadian icon celine dion. herfirst live performance forfour celine dion. herfirst live performance for four years. she sang in a spectacularly eliminated eiffel tower for the first time since revealing a serious health condition. our sports correspondent katie gornall, is in paris with more on that spectacular opening ceremony. there is a huge enthusiasm. i think there was a massive acknowledgement that it was a very ambitious event that the paris organisers have put on, unlike, of course, anything we've ever seen. the first olympic opening ceremony to take place outside a stadium, and they really didn't hold back, and they showed off every part of the city that you could imagine. there were some absolutely spectacular scenes, weren't there,
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particularly with the lighting of the olympic cauldron in the shadow of the eiffel tower that was lit up in the way it was. but of course, with it not being in a stadium, that presented so many different challenges as well, which the weather certainly didn't help for, and as a spectator experience, it would have been very different. now, we saw a little bit of the opening ceremony outside from where we were. we could see people climbing on balconies and up lamp posts to get the best view they possibly could, but it was difficult for parisians, really, who didn't have those tickets in the grandstands to really get a sense of what was going on if you didn't watch it on tv. and of course, there were some unintended highlights as well, weren't there? through all of this, if you watched it, as well as the spectacular scenes and the images along the river seine, there was clips of carl lewis and serena williams doing the rounds on social media after their very choppy, uh, boat ride down the river seine, shall we say. so there was something for everyone, perhaps a little bit of a mixed reaction, but you certainly can't fault
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the organisers for their ambition. the french transport minister patrice vergriete says traffic on france's high—speed rail network should be back to normal service by monday. operators say seven out of ten high—speed trains will be running with delays of one or two hours. the french transport minister patrice vergriete says traffic on france's high—speed rail network should be back to normal service by monday. we deployed very much more significant means immediately afterwards, certainly, but these kind of security measures are reinforced on a regular basis and obviously, in years to come, we will continue to increase their security measures.
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so there is no problem about supporters coming to paris in the next _ supporters coming to paris in the next couple of days? | supporters coming to paris in the next couple of days?— supporters coming to paris in the next couple of days? i think there will be some _ next couple of days? i think there will be some disturbances - next couple of days? i think there i will be some disturbances tomorrow but they certainly have a transport plan for tomorrow and for the days ahead. certainly for today and tomorrow there will be emergency measures. let's speak to travel expert, simon calder, who's in paris. we have heard that eurostar services from london to paris are still affected so how has the sabotage attacks of yesterday affected people from other european countries travelling into paris today? it has been really. _ travelling into paris today? it has been really, really _ travelling into paris today? it has been really, really serious - travelling into paris today? it has been really, really serious in - travelling into paris today? it has l been really, really serious in terms of a quarter rather million passengers yesterday had their travel plans: a and a number of those, of course, from the uk but
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also people travelling south from the netherlands, from belgium, via that same high—speed line that was attacked just south of lille, over to the east, the high—speed line there, again, there was another attack and that stopped trains coming in from germany. that is the normal route they would use and also some coming up from switzerland. however, the good news is that i've just been across to the station which is about a ten minute walk from here, the busy station in france and continental europe, and that everything seems to be back to normal. there has been work going on to try to put things right. it is as though the people behind the attack just thought, right, what need to do to knock out the railways for weeks? and certainly, attacking the fibre—optic cables with it signalling and communications run—through, was going to cause an awful lot of damage but they are
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getting going. today, here at the station, there are cancellations to brussels, to amsterdam, to lille, dunkirk and four out of the 15 planned eurostar trains are not funny but the situation is not a lot better than it was yesterday. across that multi nurse side of paris, that is the line for the trains going to toulouse and the west coast of france and that is seeing a similar pattern here, about seven out of ten trains are running. those which are running, very often they're having to use the so—called classic lines, 19th—century infrastructure that wasn't designed either for capacity all for speed. we wasn't designed either for capacity all for speed-— all for speed. we had from the french transport _ all for speed. we had from the french transport minister- all for speed. we had from the french transport ministerjustl all for speed. we had from the . french transport ministerjust that they are saying normal services should resume by monday. do people feel reassured that this sort of
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incident won't happen again? well. incident won't happen again? well, it is ve , incident won't happen again? well, it is very. very _ incident won't happen again? well, it is very, very difficult _ incident won't happen again? well, it is very, very difficult if— incident won't happen again? well, it is very, very difficult if you - it is very, very difficult if you are a vast country. france is by far the biggest country in western europe. you also have an extremely widespread high—speed rail line. which normally operates in extremely high frequency as well. it is impossible to police the whole thing but they are using drones, saying they are going to be stepping up security. and of course, nobody knows. this came out of nowhere yesterday. i was actually at the eurostar hub early in the morning, but to report on the smooth happy getaway to france and it turned into a shambles for many thousands of travellers so you don't know what will be happening but certainly, since so many people from other parts of france, from strasbourg, from lille, planning to come injust for the day, using high—speed
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trains, they will be reassured, i think, that things are going to work 0k think, that things are going to work ok but, of course, everything is on high alert. the main thing you notice here is the lack of tourists and also the very high presence of police. so everyone isjust and also the very high presence of police. so everyone is just hoping that things will hold up and the games will proceed without further transportation of incident and it is worth saying, for anybody who is in paris are coming to paris, that all the controls that were in place of the controls that were in place of the past week, more or less have been lifted. they had really strict controls about qr code to get in and out of your hotel sometimes and those have been lifted. thea;a out of your hotel sometimes and those have been lifted. they were in lace for those have been lifted. they were in place for the — those have been lifted. they were in place for the very — those have been lifted. they were in place for the very spectacular - place for the very spectacular opening ceremony. simon, thank you very much. that is travel expert simon calder who is at the garden or in paris. the president of the international olympic committee, thomas bach, will be speaking to south korea's, yoon suk yeol to apologise
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after the country's athletes were mistakenly introduced as being from north korea at the opening ceremony in paris. as the team floated down the river seine, both french and english announcers introduced them as the "democratic people's republic of korea", which is the official name of north korea. the same name was then used, correctly, when north korea's delegation sailed past. the south korean sports ministry said it planned to lodge a "strong complaint with france on a government level" over what happened. and a reminder you can follow the olympics in paris across the bbc. there is a special paris 2024 section on the bbc sport website and app where you can find live coverage of today's day one events in paris. find that bbc.co.uk/sport or on the sport app. if to the united states now and donald trump and his likely us presidential rival kamala harris have sharpened their attacks on each other, as opinion polls appear to show a tightening race. in a vitriolic, hour—long address at a conservative christian conference in florida,
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mr trump described ms harris as a radical liberal and a bum and mocked the pronunciation of her name. she was a bum three weeks ago, she was a bum. a failed vice president in a failed administration with millions of people crossing where the borders are. so now we have a new candidate to defeat, the most incompetent, unpopular and far left vice president in american history. that's what she is. the most incompetent but certainly the most far left. for more analysis of what donald trump had to say here's our north america correspondent david willis. an hour—long address to that christian convention, as you mentioned, in palm beach, florida. and we heard some of the mud slung by donald trump just there calling kamala harris a burn, the most far left vice president
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in american history. and he also attacked her record on immigration, saying that her policies and those ofjoe biden had led to millions of people entering the country illegally. it's amazing to think thatjust a week ago, donald trump was basking in the adulation of republican party members who had conferred on him their presidential nomination for the elections in november. and now he finds himself battling against a much younger, more energetic candidate in kamala harris and somebody who is doing quite well in the opinion polls as well. latest polls show that they are basically neck and neck, the two candidates and that kamala harris has gained some of the territory lost, as far as opinion polls
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are concerned, tojoe biden. and there is a two point difference between the candidates, according to that poll in the wall streetjournal in donald trump's favour. but obviously some way to go, 100 days and a little bit. but this election campaign is really heating up now. there is speculation that the chancellor will use a speech on monday to address concerns over a possible black hole in public finances of around 20 billion pounds. it's expected that rachel reeves will argue she has inherited "unfunded projects", and that some hospital and road projects will have to be delayed as a result. i asked our political correspondent rajeep sandhu, what we can expect to hear from the chancellor on monday so rachel reeves has been conducting a review of uk finances with the treasury and we are expecting her to talk about the dire financial inheritance that they receive from the conservatives. that is a theme that they have talked about many times in the first few weeks of government. we are expecting her to say that actually when she's opened up
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the books and looked at them, it's worse than they expected. we don't have a finalised figure but there are figures out there of about £20 billion of a black hole that they need to fix. while labour say that this is kind of new to them, people watching the election very closely will know that it is not a total surprise because it was something that the institute for fiscal studies was warning about and saying, actually, the conservatives and labour had a conspiracy of silence. not really talking to the voters about where they would find £10 to £20 billion worth of money to spend on public services. it is not a complete surprise but in labour's defence they would say that things have changed slightly since the election. one big issue is around pay rises for public sector workers. we are expecting potential increases for nurses and teachers above inflation. i think what was budgeted previously and what sources have told the bbc was around 2% increase, it could be a 5.5% increase we are expecting potential increases for nurses and teachers above inflation.
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i think what was budgeted previously and what sources have told the bbc was around 2% increase, it could be a 5.5% increase because that is the amount that the independent pay review body has recommended to government. it does seem like rachel reeves would be looking to implement that in order to prevent strikes. but of course, we are now looking that that is the backdrop to this idea that she could potentially delay large infrastructure projects, projects that she thinks aren't funded properly. and also those projects that perhaps where costs have gone up since they were first announced. things like roads and hospitals, we could look at those projects being delayed further. what is the conservative response been to this? conservatives think that all of the doom and gloom from the labour party and the idea that it is worse than they thought is a way to lay the ground for future tax increases. that is something that labour ruled out on personal taxes for working people. but the conservatives have pointed
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out that labour promised 50 times during the campaign, they sent a very long e—mail of all of the words that labour politicians have said outlining where they wouldn't increase taxes, they think this is a ploy to roll the pitch for tax increases. labour did say that they wouldn't increase personal taxes, of course that leaves out other taxes that could be increased. i think rachel reeves wouldn't want to pull those levers just yet and she is looking the other way she can get a bit more money in order to pay for the things that need to be paid in the immediate short term. let's bring you some breaking news, reports from gaza say at least 30 palestinians have been killed in an israeli strike on a school housing displaced people. these are the latest pictures from deir al—balah, as ambulances have brought the injured to a hospital in deir al—balah in central gaza. israel's military says the strike targeted a hamas command and control centre embedded inside the school.
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earlier the army ordered an evacuation for southern areas of khan younis, which was designated as a humanitarian zone. the military says it was in response to rocket fire. our correspondent mark lowen is injerusalem with the latest well, the israeli defence forces have dropped flyers and they have sent sms messages and voice notes and made media appearances urging people to leave a part of al—mawasi. now that is a 16 square kilometre strip of land on the coast in southern gaza, which had been designated a humanitarian zone. now a part of that zone, a southern chunk of it has now, the israeli military say, being used to for for rocket attacks against the israeli army and for, as they call it, terrorist infrastructure. so basically what they have done is that they have re redesignated
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or adjusted the boundaries of the humanitarian zone by, by by saying that that southern little bit of, of al—mawasi is no longer a safe humanitarian zone. they have changed the delineation of al—mawasi, if you like. now, the reason that's important is because that would suggest that an israeli operation in that part of al—mawasi is imminent. why do we think that? well, because a couple of days ago, the israeli military did a similarthing. they also announced a readjustment of the lines of that humanitarian zone before they went in to retrieve the bodies of five israelis who were killed after the 7th of october hamas attack on israel. so the fact that they have done that again, suggests that there is going to be another imminent israeli operation in that area. we don't know whether it is whether it is likely to be another retrieval of israeli bodies, because israel is getting a lot of intelligence now from the continued interrogation of. hamas and, and of and of gaza and officials
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or whether it is potentially an israeli strike on al—mawasi because they did that a couple of weeks ago when they were targeting mohammed deif, that is, the leader of the hamas military wing in gaza and thought to be one of the architects of the 7th of october attacks, they again they launched a barrage of strikes in al—mawasi. so either way, it suggests that an impending israeli operation is is afoot in that part of what was previously designated a humanitarian safe zone. meanwhile, a bbc investigation has found that half of gaza's water sites have been damaged or destroyed. the world health organization has warned of a "high risk" of polio spreading in gaza and beyond after the variant type 2 polio virus was detected in sewage. there are fears that it may already be spreading undetected amongst the population in khan younis and deiral balah, where it was discovered. our reporter, ru abbass, takes a look at the struggles of two families living there in dire conditions.
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this family know that their lives will never be the same again. they have been displaced from the north and their grandmother works hard to create a sense of normality for the children. but living in such squalor means the kitchen and the toilet are in the same room. although the sanitation challenges inside are not their biggest problem. due to desperation, and a lack of available space, they have been forced to set “p space, they have been forced to set up their tent next to a sewage canal. sewage that the world health organization has identified as containing the highly infectious type two polio virus. here, the stench has been hard to bear. and during the life and of plastic sheets amid soaring temperatures has taken its toll. sheets amid soaring temperatures has taken its toll-—
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taken its toll. there is nothing to rotect taken its toll. there is nothing to protect us _ taken its toll. there is nothing to protect us from _ taken its toll. there is nothing to protect us from insects _ taken its toll. there is nothing to protect us from insects and - taken its toll. there is nothing to protect us from insects and the l protect us from insects and the diseases they cause including allergies to the children and diarrhoea. all night we try to get rid of them and they are so big. they keep coming back. what can we do? we keep killing them but then others keep coming out hours. the? others keep coming out hours. they “ust don't others keep coming out hours. they just that die- _ others keep coming out hours. they just don't die. the _ others keep coming out hours. they just don't die. the un says an estimated 100,000 tonnes of rotting waste is piling up in gaza. the inability to maintain hygiene amidst the filth exposes many to infectious diseases, leaving them highly vulnerable. the world health organization says that over 150,000 people have contracted skin diseases due to living in poor conditions. this desperate father uses mud in hopes of stealing his little girl's skin since medical care is unavailable.— skin since medical care is unavailable. ., ., , ., unavailable. someone advised me to ut it on unavailable. someone advised me to put it on my —
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unavailable. someone advised me to put it on my daughters _ unavailable. someone advised me to put it on my daughters back. - unavailable. someone advised me to put it on my daughters back. he - unavailable. someone advised me to put it on my daughters back. he has| put it on my daughters back. he has relocated his — put it on my daughters back. he has relocated his heavily _ put it on my daughters back. he has relocated his heavily pregnant - put it on my daughters back. he has relocated his heavily pregnant wife i relocated his heavily pregnant wife and children to the beach. there is no privacy here or any kind of sanitation infrastructure. but he has found his own way to create a makeshift toilet. this curtain may offer some privacy but it provides scant protection from flies who travel from the sewage, spreading diseases and invisible danger to those forced to do well here. we live as cavemen. you salted water and we _ live as cavemen. you salted water and we bring it from the sea. now only i'm _ and we bring it from the sea. now only i'm thinking only to evacuate my family— only i'm thinking only to evacuate my family to a safe place but nowhere _ my family to a safe place but nowhere is safe in gaza. unable to turn to the — nowhere is safe in gaza. unable to turn to the fragile _ nowhere is safe in gaza. unable to turn to the fragile health - nowhere is safe in gaza. unable to turn to the fragile health care - turn to the fragile health care system collapsing under the strain
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of the war, the people of gaza have choice but to navigate the turbulent tide that lies ahead. to venezuela now where people are gearing up for a pivotal presidential election on sunday. president nicolas maduro, who's been in office since 2013, is seeking a third consecutive term. he is trailing in the polls and has told voters they have a choice between war and peace and warned of a bloodbath if he loses. the opposition candidate, edmundo gonzalez, is leading most opinion polls, but fears the vote won't be free and fair. he says it's time to re— establish democracy and prosperity in the country after a quarter of a century of socialist rule. i spoke to ana milagros parra, who is a political scientist and podcaster. ana gave us her assessment on edmundo gonzalez�*s fears that this election won't be free and fair. you cannot analyse venezuelan
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elections in these elections to democratic lenses. you cannot analyse this moment, thinking with democratic logic in thinking that the government here in venezuela is acting with democratic logic. these elections are not free, are not fair. your persecution, you have repression, you have censorship against the opposition, against any citizen that is supporting edmundo gonzalez and you have to know that these are not equal conditions for these are not equal conditions for the candidates. we do see these two candidates. one is 20% on the polls and the other one is around 50 and 60%, you know who is going to win, right? but the selections do not work how elections work in a democracy. the venezuelan people and
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the opposition is using a democratic tool, the elections in the election process, as a way to pressure the government to start a democratic transition but these are not democratic elections. oh elections that are held under a dictatorship, under an authoritarian regime that is forced to do elections and when you think about the entire regime we know that anything that happens under that, know that anything that happens underthat, it know that anything that happens under that, it is not free, it is not fair and under that, it is not free, it is not fairand it under that, it is not free, it is not fair and it is ruled by fear. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. the sunshine is a little hit and mist today. it was really quite sunny earlier on but a weather front is approaching if it has not reached already and that does mean of other overcast afternoon and some outbreaks of rain. most of them should not last very long. here is the satellite picture and the radar where you see the blobs of blue, thatis where you see the blobs of blue,
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that is where it has been raining. notice quite a few showers there across parts of northern england, especially the lake district and into southern scotland as well. but there are showers so they don't last for very long and that does mean that, for most of us, it should be a dry day put up the best of the sunshine, i think, dry day put up the best of the sunshine, ithink, along dry day put up the best of the sunshine, i think, along the south coast of england and by the afternoon it should brighten up in the west. temperatures are fairly modest. 22 are elsewhere. this evening and overnight, those clouds will melt away and we will have a clear night. a bit of mist and fog forming by the early hours of sunday and the temperature is first thing hovering around the mid—teens in south—east of england. about ten or south—east of england. about ten or so in the lowlands of scotland. tomorrow promises to be a sunny day right from the word go. just a little bit of cloud developing through the morning into the afternoon. skies are a little bit on the hazy side, i think, across northern ireland and scotland but it is a dry day. it is a little warmer.
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temperatures in the 20s. you will notice that tomorrow. also, the humidity will be rising notjust tomorrow but gradually over the coming days. here is monday's by the map. a big area of high pressure that are in charge of the weather across europe. a weatherfront that are in charge of the weather across europe. a weather front does dry to sweep into north—western parts of the uk. very slow moving. struggling against the high pressure. actually, what is happening, a warmer atmosphere are streaming in from the south so temperatures will continue to rise through monday and into tuesday. if we look at monday's highs, while the edge of the mid 20s, pushing 28 in the south—east. that it will keep on intensifying into tuesday. streaming out of spain into france, there could be some thunderstorms but in paris temperatures could actually hit the mid 30s. even the uk, london, they will probably reach 30 but for most of us further north it won't be hot but it will be very pleasant. goodbye.
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this is bbc news, the headlines. china wins the first gold of the olympics in the 10—metre mixed team air rifle event while team gb bags bronze in women's synchronised 3—metre springboard. meanwhile, the french authorities say rail travel is likely to remain disrupted throughout the day, after sabotage attacks on the network yesterday. uk chancellor rachel reeves is expected to argue that public finances are in a bad state and to delay some road and hospital projects.
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the israeli military has ordered an evacuation for southern areas of khan younis, which was designated as a humanitarian zone. gaza's hamas—run health ministry says at least 30 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in an israeli strike on a school housing displaced palestinian in central gaza. let's go back to our top story — the olympic games in paris have officially begun, with stars like celine dion and lady gaga performing in an elaborate, but rain—soaked ceremony. in a world first, the olympic opening ceremony was held outside of a stadium — with thousands of athletes sailing down the river seine, and hundreds of thousands watching from the banks. our sports correspondent patrick gearey reports. singing paris never more spectacularly, the city of light.
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an evening drenched in sound, colourand rain.

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