Latest news bulletin | August 7th – Morning
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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00:00Kamala Harris has picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate in the 2024
00:07presidential election.
00:11The World Health Organization, WHO, warns that COVID-19 infections are surging globally
00:17including at the Paris Olympics.
00:22Political instability threatens Bulgaria's ongoing issues and dossier with the European
00:27Union.
00:33Kamala Harris has confirmed her running mate in the 2024 presidential election will be
00:39Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
00:41Harris praised Walz's record as governor, writing he delivered for working families
00:46like his in a post on X.
00:50Walz, who grew up in a small town in Nebraska, was a social studies teacher, a football coach
00:55and a union member before he got into politics.
01:00He ran for governor in 2018 and defeated Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson by more than
01:0611 points.
01:09He governed through the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests that emerged in the wake
01:14of the murder of George Floyd.
01:17Harris will introduce Walz at a rally on Tuesday evening in Philadelphia.
01:23COVID-19 infections are surging globally including at the Paris Olympics.
01:30According to the WHO, the virus is unlikely to decline any time soon.
01:35The virus is circulating in all countries.
01:38Data from our Sentinel-based systems across 84 countries reports that the percent of positive
01:43tests for SARS-CoV-2 has been rising over the last several weeks.
01:48Overall, test positivity is above 10 percent, but this fluctuates by region.
01:53In Europe, percent positivity is over 20 percent.
01:56The UN Health Agency is also warning that more severe variants of the coronavirus may
02:01soon be on the horizon.
02:03The Olympic Games have not been spared.
02:07In recent months, regardless of the season, many countries have experienced surges of
02:11COVID-19, including at the Olympics.
02:14Currently, there are at least 40 athletes who have tested positive.
02:17The WHO is urging governments to strengthen their vaccination campaigns, making sure that
02:22the highest risk groups get vaccinated every 12 months.
02:28At least eight people have been injured after a rocket attack on the centre of Kharkiv,
02:34according to the regional prosecutor's office.
02:38Over 25 cars and at least 15 buildings were also damaged in the attack, the office said.
03:08It comes as the governor of Kherson reported a Russian drone dropped explosives on the
03:18outskirts of the city, injuring at least five people.
03:23Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defence has released footage of what it says shows
03:29the cruise of Ka-52 helicopters striking a temporary deployment point of the Ukrainian
03:35armed forces.
03:43It is a rare public display of Russian secret agents.
03:46The Russian state television interviewed two former spies who have returned to Moscow as
03:51part of the biggest prisoner exchange since the Cold War.
03:55Prior to their arrest in Slovenia in 2022, the couple were posing as Argentine citizens
04:01and allegedly had been using Slovenia as their base since 2017.
04:05We were threatened that the Argentine side allegedly wanted to take our children, that
04:10the children could be given to another family.
04:15But we felt that the Slovenian special services were doing everything possible to save the
04:26children in Slovenia, so that we could be together.
04:30The West released Russian spies as well as a convicted Russian assassin, while Russia
04:35released journalists, a former US Marine and political activists.
04:40One of the political activists released by Russia is Ilya Yashin, who was serving time
04:45in jail for criticizing Russia's war in Ukraine.
04:49Upon his release to Germany, the Russian opposition politician thanked his supporters on a live
04:54stream.
04:55For me, it is very important to convey my point of view and to conduct anti-military
05:00education among the citizens of Russia who remain in Russia.
05:04The chief of the Committee to Protect Journalists says that the release of journalists from Russian
05:08captivity does not mean that press freedom in Russia is improving.
05:14Our concern is that this doesn't set a precedent for future governments to feel that they can
05:21simply take innocent journalists, for example, imprison them and use them as bargaining chips
05:27for the release of prisoners abroad.
05:32She adds that Russia was the fourth largest jailer of journalists worldwide in 2023, making
05:38it one of the most restrictive environments for journalists globally.
05:46Iran and Russia have agreed to fast-track their friendship, according to political officials
05:52that attended a meeting in Tehran on Tuesday.
05:55Secretary of Russia's Security Council Sergei Shoigu met with Iran's new president Massoud
06:01Bezeshkian amid increasing hostilities in the Middle East.
06:05In a document provided by the Iranian government, Bezeshkian referred to Russia as a friend,
06:11with a Russian delegate emphasizing the need to speed up the build of the North-South Corridor,
06:16an international transport hub connecting the countries.
06:20Bezeshkian also spoke about Gaza, describing the assassination of Hamas' top leader Ismail
06:27Haniyeh as a violation of international law and stating Israel will receive a response
06:33for its crimes.
06:35The talks come as the U.S. and its allies work to prevent a wider regional war after
06:40Israel killed Iran-allied militants.
06:43The European Commission also called for calm in the region, with a spokesperson telling
06:47reporters in Brussels its leaders continue to work to defuse the tensions.
06:56China says it has launched a rocket carrying 18 satellites in an effort to enhance its
07:02presence in space.
07:05The Long March-6 carrier rocket was launched from north China's Shaanxi province.
07:11China's government's news agency says the rocket has now safely reached its pre-programmed
07:16orbit.
07:19It's the latest triumph in China's space program, which in June became the first to bring back
07:24rocks from the far side of the moon.
07:31When Leon Marchand dives, France holds its breath.
07:35The 22-year-old French Olympic swimmer won four gold medals and one bronze medal at the
07:40Paris Olympics, a record for France.
07:44In the fan zones and behind the screens, the extraordinary performances of the four-time
08:10Olympic champion give rise to scenes of joy.
08:34After the Tokyo Olympics, Leon joined coach Bob Bowman in Arizona, former mentor to Michael
08:40Phelps.
08:41His legendary flows have been particularly praised.
09:00After the Olympic excitement, Leon Marchand says he wants to take a vacation.
09:05After that, he will be training to do more exploits ahead of the Los Angeles Games.
09:11The black mussels produced by Romania are exclusively wild, harvested from great depths
09:18and rocky areas.
09:20Although they are as good as the Bulgarian ones, they are smaller and far fewer.
09:50Matei Daciu has been waiting years for the green light from the authorities to be able
10:15to grow Romanian mussels in the sea near the restaurant he owns.
10:21He has invested in storage spaces and bivalve sand cleaning devices, which are lying unused.
10:28in the sea, put here, sanded, cleaned, analyzed and sent to the tourists' table.
10:48How much did the investment cost?
10:54Romanians have been eating Bulgarian mussels for a long time.
11:03In fact, they often go directly to Bulgaria to get them.
11:23Without an agreement between the authorities and traders, the Romanian seaside risks losing
11:40tourists, who, in search of good seafood, will have to cross the border into Bulgaria.