Latest news bulletin | October 24th – Midday
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00:00 Hamas has released two Israeli hostages following negotiations with regional mediators as Israel continues aerial bombardment of Gaza.
00:09 Ukrainian police are trying to evacuate civilians from Avdivka, the scene of intense fighting as Russia attempts to encircle its defenders.
00:19 With no party winning an overall majority in Poland's general election, political leaders start talks with the president today to try and shape a new government.
00:29 Flanked by Hamas gunmen, Israeli hostages, 85-year-old Yokofer Livshitz and 79-year-old Nurit Cooper are handed over to the Red Cross.
00:42 Their release follows Egyptian-Qatari mediation efforts. Israel says more than 200 hostages are still in captivity after the Hamas attack on October 7.
00:53 The Israeli army is said to be pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch the ground incursion into Gaza, saying the operation in the south is well prepared.
01:08 Israel's military and political leaders warn they'll deliver a crushing blow to destroy Hamas.
01:15 "We are making the decisions here and in the Cabinet for the Management of the War, one-to-one. We are doing this with great responsibility. We are doing this in the holy land."
01:28 In preparation for that incursion, Israel pounded Gaza with hundreds of airstrikes.
01:37 According to Gaza health officials, more than 5,150 Palestinians have died in the fighting, including 140 overnight.
01:47 On Israel's northern border with Lebanon, cross-border exchanges of fire left people in the city of Kiryat Shmona running for cover.
01:56 Israel's military has warned that Hezbollah's escalating attacks risk dragging Lebanon into war.
02:05 Another 20 trucks carrying humanitarian aid have entered Gaza, the third convoy since the start of the war.
02:15 The Red Crescent said supplies included medicine and food. However, fuel was not included and reserves will run out within the next two days.
02:24 The United Nations has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire for more aid to be sent in.
02:32 The UK will send an additional £20 million worth of aid to help civilians in Gaza.
02:37 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made the announcement after his trip to the Middle East.
02:43 Previously, it was the turn of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who met with both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
02:58 He reiterated that Israel is allowed to defend itself, but also urged Netanyahu to minimise the number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip.
03:06 An emergency session of the UN General Assembly will be held on Thursday to discuss the war between Israel and Gaza.
03:14 The battle for the former coal and coke town of Abdiwka on the outskirts of Donetsk has become one of the most important in the war in Ukraine.
03:27 Russia's attempts to encircle Ukrainian forces continue despite huge losses. Ukrainian police are helping to evacuate residents.
03:37 I wish the health of the Ukrainian people.
03:40 A short report on this day.
03:42 I made a bet. The issue is essentially the same situation in all our directions.
03:46 Front, Abdiwka.
03:48 I am especially grateful to the soldiers in this direction.
03:51 The strength there is the strength for the whole of Ukraine now.
03:54 Marienka, other Donetsk directions, Liman, Kupyansk. Thank you, soldiers.
04:00 On Sunday, three people were killed as a result of air strikes in Abdiwka. Residential buildings are ruined and there are no longer shops or supplies.
04:09 But despite the daily assaults, more than 1,500 people are still living in the city.
04:14 Earlier, a Russian missile killed six people and injured another 17 at a mail depot near Kharkiv, according to Kyiv.
04:28 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blasted the European Union on the anniversary of Hungary's 1956 anti-Soviet uprising
04:37 by comparing Hungary's membership in the European Union to more than four decades of Soviet occupation of his country.
04:44 Orban accused the EU of seeking to strip Hungary of its identity by imposing a model of liberal democracy that he said Hungarians reject.
04:54 We had to dance the way Moscow danced. If Brussels dances, we dance the way we want. And if we don't want to, we don't dance.
05:05 Orban, considered one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's only allies in the EU, had to face the opposition of thousands of citizens on the streets on Monday.
05:15 A demonstration in Budapest criticizes government policies and its relationship with Russia despite the war in Ukraine.
05:24 In the Polish elections, everyone declared victory. The ruling Law and Justice Party, or PIS, won the most seats.
05:36 But a coalition of three more liberal parties says only it can form a majority. First, the president must meet the parties.
05:45 We have the issue of the president, who has been supported by our party.
05:53 Many of the solutions that the opposition is announcing will be voted on by the president.
05:59 The opposition has no possibility of rejecting the presidential veto with such a large representation that we have.
06:05 The president should take all this into account in the parliament. I hope that after these talks, he will entrust us with creating a government.
06:14 We are the largest party that won these elections. We cannot be deprived of the possibility of creating a government.
06:20 I'm not saying it's easy, but it's not impossible either.
06:24 Opposition coalition leaders are trying to persuade the president not to give priority to forming a government to the party that won the most votes,
06:31 but to the parties that are now demonstrating a parliamentary majority.
06:35 A new coalition of three parties will be formed. It will be a good proposition for Poles.
06:45 It will be an answer to the decision of the voters on October 15, who clearly said that they want changes in Poland.
06:51 The formation of a new government and the president should take into account the will of Poles in his next steps.
06:58 The most likely scenario is that President Duda's own political sympathies may sway the appointment of the next prime minister when parliament meets next month.
07:07 This prime minister will most likely be Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
07:12 Now, he will not be able to form a government because despite coming in first and gaining the greatest number of seats,
07:22 PIS will not be able to have a majority. In the next step, parliamentarians from this new parliament will be able to appoint an alternative prime minister,
07:32 and that will most likely be Donald Tusk, who will lead the new coalition.
07:37 The transfer of power and the appointment of a new government will happen in December.
07:45 During two days of consultations with representatives of political formations, the Polish president will ask each of them whether they see a chance of obtaining a parliamentary majority.
07:56 Although for many, the answer seems to be clear, politicians do not want to lose hope until the end.
08:02 Magdalena Hradovnik for Euronews from Warsaw.
08:05 Iran has become the latest foreign power to try to ease foreign tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
08:14 Tehran hosted a meeting of the country's foreign ministers as well as those of Russia and Turkey, which both have a strong influence in the region.
08:22 Hostility remains high following Azerbaijan's recapture of its Armenian-dominated Nagorno-Karabakh territory last month.
08:29 Iran says it wants the encounter to be a cornerstone for improved relations.
08:34 It also warns against US and EU involvement in the South Caucasus.
08:43 The City of London CEO Chris Hayward says it's time to draw a line under Brexit and re-engage with Brussels for the greater good of both the EU and the UK's economies.
08:53 I actually think Prime Minister Sunak now has taken a very positive approach to the EU, as has our Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt.
09:01 So I think, you know, those days are past. I talk about a painful divorce. It was a painful divorce.
09:07 But I think, you know, we have to now get trust back because the opportunities for both the EU and the UK by trading together, by working together, far outweigh those conflicts.
09:18 But is it over for the UK, given that you have a sort of stubbornly high inflation rate, which people like Mark Carney are saying was a direct result of Brexit?
09:27 Let's be clear. Some of these issues you've talked about are common across Europe.
09:31 So high inflation isn't peculiar to the UK, nor high interest rates. We're all affected by the geopolitical issues that are affecting our economies at the present time.
09:40 The one thing I think we need to do in the UK, and I think the EU as well, frankly, is to drive economic growth.
09:47 We haven't had a lot of economic growth over the past few years, and we need to get growth back into the system.
09:52 And I think EU countries are finding the same challenge as well.
09:55 Well, then does that not mean that the UK is better off in something like the European Union? We look at the US, the way it has its Inflation Reduction Act and the EU, where it can work together as 27 member states.
10:05 You just look at the Covid Recovery Fund and various other funds that happened throughout Covid.
10:10 The UK is an outlier because of the supply issues, the cost of supply. It's at the end of the supply chain. It's not just a global issue, is it?
10:21 Look, I regret us not being in the single market. I think to not be in the single market was a mistake, and I'll always think it was a mistake.
10:29 But I do think that the opportunities now for us are that we have to now compete on the world stage.
10:35 We have to stand alone. We're capable of standing alone. I think we'd be better standing within the EU.
10:41 But we now have to seize those opportunities that are available to us.
10:44 How do you see standing alone and having growth? Does that mean driving down regulations, social dumping, all that kind of thing?
10:51 So, first of all, we don't want to deregulate. Let me be absolutely clear.
10:54 High quality regulation, financial regulation is really important to getting inward financial investment from across the world.
11:00 So that's actually very important to us. Getting growth is about getting investment growth into the country.
11:06 So it's stimulating our FinTech sector, for example.
11:10 Just a final question, because it may not be over for some people. 62% of people would like to rejoin.
11:16 Would you relish a second referendum or even a conversation about that?
11:22 Personally, no. I think not in my lifetime. I think we have now taken a decision. There has been a referendum.
11:28 Of course, you could always argue with that swing the other way if we did it again now.
11:33 I think we've now set a course for ourselves, which we now have to follow.
11:37 Thank you very much for joining us. Thank you very much indeed.
11:40 - Interesting.
11:40 (whooshing)