Latest news bulletin | September 22nd – Evening - video Dailymotion

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00:00A new centre-right government was announced in France as left-wing demonstrators took

00:05to the streets protesting the government they say rejects voters' will.

00:12Voters are heading to the polls to cast their ballots at the Brandenburg state election.

00:22A new centre-right government dominated by centrists and conservatives was announced

00:26by the French presidential palace.

00:29The announcement came more than two months following elections that produced a hung parliament

00:34and deepened political divisions within the country.

00:38A left-wing coalition secured the most seats in the June-July parliamentary elections but

00:43failed to win a majority.

00:45Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron named Conservative Michel Barnier as

00:50Prime Minister despite his party's poor showing in the elections.

00:55Barnier put together the new government following difficult negotiations.

00:59Macron approved and the announcement was made.

01:04France is a leading voice in EU policy, one of the world's biggest economies and a nuclear-armed,

01:10veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council.

01:13Its government make-up and direction is therefore very important.

01:23An explosion in a coal mine in eastern Iran killed at least 52 workers and injured 17

01:29others, local sources said on Sunday.

01:32The disaster marks one of the worst mining incidents in the country's history as others

01:36remained missing hours after the blast.

01:41Weeping miners stood alongside mine cars that brought up the bodies of their colleagues,

01:46all covered in coal dust.

01:49The Iranian Red Crescent Society is working on rescuing those still trapped below the

01:53surface.

01:55Authorities blamed the blast on a leak of methane gas.

01:59Such gases are common in mining, though modern safety measures call for ventilation and other

02:03measures to protect workers.

02:06It wasn't immediately clear what safety measures were in place at the mine in Tabas.

02:16German voters are casting their ballots in the Brandenburg state election.

02:21Around two million people are expected to vote in the decisive election, which could

02:26give the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party more parliamentary seats.

02:32The AFD saw landslide wins in Thuringia and Saxony in recent weeks.

02:38The popularity of the controversial group threatens to topple Chancellor Olaf Scholz's

02:43centre-left Social Democrats, which has ruled the state since 1990 reunification.

02:50The rise of the AFD also poses an existential risk to the traffic light coalition in the

02:56Bundestag.

02:58Brandenburg Premier Dietmar Woidker of the SPD party announced his intention to step

03:03down if the AFD wins.

03:06In the previous Brandenburg state election, the SPD secured 26 percent of the votes, followed

03:13narrowly by the AFD with 23 percent.

03:16Polls will close at 6 p.m. on Sunday, with immediate exit polls to follow.

03:26A biodiversity initiative launched by nature and environmental protection groups in Switzerland

03:32did not succeed in a referendum held on Sunday.

03:35Over 60 percent of voters rejected the idea, which aimed to increase green spaces untouched

03:41by human development.

03:44Switzerland is renowned for its pristine lakes and majestic alpine peaks, but its plant and

03:48animal life is under great threat.

03:51The initiative called for public funding to encourage farmers to set aside lands and waterways

03:56to help wild landscape develop.

03:59It also would have prohibited the construction of new railway lines through protected dry

04:03meadows.

04:06Opponents pointed to threats to Switzerland's bees, frogs, birds and other wildlife, as

04:11well as dwindling natural resources.

04:14The federal government and many rural voters opposed the plan, arguing it was too expensive.

04:21€630 million is already spent on biodiversity protection each year.

04:28Another proposal on pension reforms was also rejected in Sunday's referendums.

04:33The plan would have required employers and workers to raise their contributions into

04:37compulsory occupational funds, an idea widely opposed by unions.

04:44Referendums take place four times a year in Switzerland, far more often than any other

04:48European country.

Latest news bulletin | September 22nd – Evening

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