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00:00 [Music]
00:19 [Music]
00:31 Live from London, this is The World Today.
00:35 Hello, I'm Paul Barber. Our top stories this hour.
00:38 Israeli forces recover the body of a hostage during a raid in southern Gaza amid hopes for another round of ceasefire talks.
00:46 Pledging economic cooperation, China's Vice Premier, He Li Feng, holds more talks with the US Treasury Secretary in Guangzhou.
00:55 Thousands evacuated due to flooding around Russia's border with Kazakhstan as rising river levels cause a dam to fail.
01:03 And beavering away, activists in Italy look to revive the country's rivers with covert rewilding.
01:11 [Music]
01:23 The Israeli military says it's recovered the body of a hostage during a raid in southern Gaza.
01:29 47-year-old Elad Qatser was among more than 200 people captured during the Hamas attacks on Israel last October.
01:36 The Israeli government has been under intense pressure to bring back the remaining hostages.
01:41 It comes ahead of new ceasefire talks that are expected to take place in Cairo this weekend.
01:47 Our correspondent Alex Kadier is live in Tel Aviv for us now. So Alex, how likely is a ceasefire deal at this stage?
01:54 Well Paul, we've seen movement, but movement in ceasefire talks between these two sides doesn't always mean progress as we know.
02:05 Now there is a lot of pressure on Israel from the United States to reach a deal,
02:10 or at least to give negotiators enough room to operate to then reach a deal.
02:14 But there's also a lot of domestic pressure. This evening in Tel Aviv, the families of those hostages will be protesting,
02:20 urging the government to reach a deal now.
02:23 We also know, obviously, from the family of Elad Qatser, the 47-year-old killed by Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza,
02:31 that they feel very strongly that the government has responsibility in his death.
02:36 His sister released a statement saying he could have been rescued if a deal had happened in time,
02:41 but our leaders are cowards driven by political considerations.
02:45 Now, Elad Qatser was kidnapped on October 7th alongside his mother. His father was killed then and there on October 7th.
02:52 His mother released in a hostage deal in November, but unfortunately Elad Qatser killed, according to the IDF, back in January.
03:00 His body was recovered, buried in Khan Yunis in Gaza.
03:03 So that domestic pressure will be mounting. The families here in Tel Aviv protesting this evening.
03:08 Tomorrow they'll head to Jerusalem to protest outside of the Israeli parliament.
03:12 We know the United States is putting pressure on Israel and asking Qatar and Egypt to do the same,
03:17 but the two sides still very far apart to fall.
03:20 And Alex, there are fears, are there not, of serious escalation in the ongoing hostilities between Israel and Iran?
03:29 Yeah, everything we're hearing is it's not a question of if there's going to be an escalation,
03:35 it's a question of when.
03:37 And Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, saying it's definitely coming,
03:41 vowing to retaliate against that strike attributed to the Israelis in that building next to the Iranian embassy in Damascus,
03:49 killing senior military officials, Iranian senior military officials.
03:53 [No audio]
04:02 [Music]
04:31 [Music]
04:39 Gaza following pressure to increase aid into the territory.
04:43 Our correspondent Akram Alsatry has the latest from southern Gaza.
04:48 It's too early to decide what kind of impact has been brought about according to the flow,
04:53 or just the very limited flow of the trucks into the Gaza northern area
04:57 that has been besieged for such a very long time, around six months now.
05:00 The quantity that has been allowed is not significant.
05:05 One truckload of fuel that is supposed to be delivered to the hospitals in the Gaza north,
05:10 the hospitals that have already been destroyed and partially functioning,
05:14 and two truckloads of medications and medical supplies.
05:17 Yet we need to know what exact supplies that were provided to the hospitals,
05:22 because we would be able then to decide whether that is a significant shipment or significant load or otherwise.
05:29 However, the Palestinians in Gaza north were celebrating the entry of those trucks
05:34 because it breaks the chronic denial of the access of a truckloads into the Gaza strip,
05:39 and it is ominous about more influx of those trucks into the Gaza north.
05:44 So this is a good beginning. Palestinians are optimistic, yet they are very cautious about that,
05:49 and they hope that Israel would not be selective about what enters
05:53 and what is denied access to, denied entry to the Gaza north.
05:57 So we still wait to know the exact things and the quality of the improvement incurred by the entry of those three trucks
06:04 for 400,000 Gazans in the Gaza north and 300,000 Gazans in Gaza city.
06:10 And turning, Akram, to the negotiations,
06:13 Hamas have now said that they will attend the ceasefire talks in Cairo this weekend.
06:18 What's the latest on that?
06:23 Well, Hamas delegation will be arriving from Qatar, from Doha to Cairo.
06:28 It is apparent that Hamas made it clear even before they are going to fly to Cairo,
06:35 they said they will not be accepting any kind of compromise when it comes to the conditions they asked for
06:41 as an imperative to start or resume the negotiation over the situation in Gaza.
06:46 They want to see a full withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza strip.
06:50 They want a full stoppage of the hostilities on the Gaza strip.
06:54 They want a decent and sufficient exchange deal of the Palestinian prisoners.
06:59 They don't seem to be compromising any of those demands,
07:02 and they seem to be willing to engage in a new round of negotiation
07:06 while they are fully aware that the political pressure on the Israeli government is mounting
07:11 and that Israel is not at the best or favorite position when it comes to the negotiation.
07:16 So we'll be waiting, and I think Hamas is coming to those negotiations equipped with what they call
07:22 the Palestinians lined up behind them and asking them to bring about full end
07:27 and full end of the ongoing hostilities in Gaza strip.
07:31 That was Akram Al-Sasri in Rafa.
07:33 The United Nations says that Gaza's health care system is barely functional
07:37 after nearly six months of bombardment.
07:40 Some medical practitioners have set up makeshift clinics in tents
07:44 using equipment that's been recovered from under the rubble.
07:47 Our correspondent Noor Harazeen sent this report from Gaza.
07:51 In a 3 by 3 meters plastic tent, Dr. Najdat Saqr has his dental practice
07:58 making do with very few tools and equipment.
08:02 Before the war, Saqr had a thriving dental clinic,
08:06 which has since been destroyed by Israeli bombing.
08:13 In the past six months of this war, the area where I live was subjected to many bombings
08:18 and destroyed my clinic there.
08:20 I searched among the rubble for any equipment or devices that I could use again.
08:24 Then I set up this medical tent.
08:27 I still face many obstacles due to the lack of the necessary tools and other materials,
08:32 which are very difficult to find.
08:35 The war has had a devastating impact on Gaza's health care.
08:40 Many sections in the Abu Yusuf Al-Najjar Hospital,
08:43 which is now serving more than 1.5 million people in Rafah, have closed,
08:48 including the children's unit, due to the lack of medical equipment and supplies.
08:53 Our shortage goes beyond the lack of medical devices.
09:00 The hospital did not have enough capacity to treat the residents of Rafah.
09:04 But today, we are forced to serve more than 1.5 million refugees.
09:08 We don't have the most basic capabilities.
09:10 Even the simplest tests are not available.
09:13 Samah Fatem came to the hospital with her 32-year-old son, Mohamed,
09:19 who was injured in an Israeli strike in eastern Rafah.
09:23 Despite his extensive injuries, Mohamed has been laying on the hospital floor for hours.
09:29 We've been sitting on the floor for two hours now with my son in my lap.
09:35 I took off my clothes to cover him because I can't find anything here in the hospital to cover him.
09:40 Health care does not exist here anymore.
09:42 The little girl is holding the saline bag because there's no place to hang it.
09:46 According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 32 hospitals in the coastal enclave have completely shut down,
09:55 including the Ashifa and the Al-Nasir hospitals, which were Gaza's main medical providers,
10:02 leaving more than 2.3 million Palestinians with very few options to get medical treatment.
10:09 Nurharazin, CGTN, Gaza.
10:12 In other news, at least seven people have been killed by Russian drone strikes on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
10:19 The mayor says apartment blocks were hit, along with offices, a school and shops.
10:24 It's the second attack on the city in as many days.
10:27 Four people were killed on Thursday.
10:30 Rescuers in Taiwan are using heavy equipment in a desperate search for any remaining survivors,
10:36 three days after the island's strongest earthquake in 25 years.
10:40 At least 13 people were killed in the 7.3 magnitude quake and dozens remain missing.
10:46 Some residents in affected areas are still without power or water.
10:50 Tens of thousands of demonstrators have marched through central Budapest,
10:53 calling on Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban to resign.
10:57 It's the second mass protest against Orban in as many weeks.
11:00 The rally was led by opposition figure Peter Magyar,
11:03 a 43-year-old lawyer and former diplomat seeking to challenge Viktor Orban's rule.
11:09 Mexico has suspended ties with Ecuador after police forced their way into its embassy in Quito
11:17 to arrest a former vice president.
11:19 Jorge Glass had been staying in the embassy building since December.
11:23 The raid happened just hours after he was granted political asylum by Mexico.
11:28 Our correspondent Nicolas Suarez has the latest.
11:31 In a late night operation on Friday,
11:34 Ecuadorian police forcefully entered the Mexican embassy in Quito,
11:38 where Jorge Glass had sought refuge since December.
11:41 Glass, who served as Ecuador's vice president from 2013 to 2018,
11:46 was released from prison in November after serving time for corruption
11:51 in a vast scandal involving the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht,
11:55 and now faces another arrest warrant for diverting funds
11:59 that were intended for reconstruction efforts after a devastating earthquake in 2016.
12:06 The Mexican government swiftly reacted with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
12:11 ordering the suspension of diplomatic relations with Ecuador,
12:14 condemning the breach as a blatant violation of international law and Mexico's sovereignty.
12:21 Mexico's foreign secretary says the country will file an appeal at the International Court of Justice.
12:27 A day earlier, tensions between the two countries escalated
12:31 after Obrador commented on last year's elections won by current Ecuadorian president Daniel Novoa,
12:38 a statement that Ecuador called "very unfortunate."
12:42 As the raid unfolded, Roberto Canseco, head of the chancery at the Mexican embassy at Quito,
12:48 confronted the Ecuadorian authorities trying to stop the arrest.
12:52 How is it that the criminals raided the Mexican embassy in Ecuador?
13:00 This is not possible. It can't be. It's madness.
13:06 Ecuador's presidency confirmed Glass's detention,
13:10 alleging that the Mexican embassy had abused diplomatic privileges by protecting a convicted criminal.
13:16 However, Mexico maintains that it acted within the bounds of international law by offering asylum to Glass.
13:23 As the situation continues to unfold, one thing remains clear.
13:27 The implications of this diplomatic standoff between Ecuador and Mexico are far-reaching
13:33 and have the potential to reshape regional relations.
13:36 Nicolás Suárez, CGTN, Quito, Ecuador.
13:40 You're watching CGTN Still Ahead.
13:43 Believing in beavers. Why the animals are making an undercover return to Italy's rivers.
13:50 Ever wondered what's the difference between a bear and a bull market?
14:01 Where are the cash cows?
14:03 And who are the lame ducks?
14:07 And what exactly are black swans, grey rhinos, and unicorn companies?
14:18 Make sense of it all with Global Business, only on CGTN.
14:24 I think it should be more public oppression.
14:28 I would like to hear more the voice of the developing countries.
14:35 Globalization has lifted more than a billion people out of poverty.
14:41 The green transition has to happen. It's a necessity.
14:45 For China and the United States are important powers in the world.
14:51 What unites us is much more than what divides us.
14:57 And I believe China is committed to this agenda.
15:00 Join me, Juliette Mann, to set the agenda at these times every weekend on CGTN.
15:07 Events have consequences. Words create impact.
15:15 One more offensive in a long line of battles that's been ongoing for...
15:19 Just got to be careful here with some gunshots.
15:22 The world today matters, but your world tomorrow.
15:27 The number of casualties is growing quickly.
15:30 This is one of the hardest hit towns in the region.
15:34 The world today, every day, on CGTN.
15:39 Hello, welcome back. A reminder of our headlines.
15:47 Israeli forces recover the body of a hostage during a raid in southern Gaza...
15:52 amid hopes for another round of ceasefire talks.
15:55 And Israel reopens a key border crossing into Gaza...
15:59 following international pressure over aid deliveries.
16:03 China's Vice Premier He Li-fung and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen...
16:08 have agreed to launch exchanges on balanced economic growth.
16:12 That's according to American officials.
16:14 The two sides have been meeting in Guangzhou with more talks expected.
16:18 Our correspondent Sun Ye has more from Beijing.
16:21 US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is in Beijing tonight.
16:25 In Beijing, over the next few days, she will be meeting with high-level Chinese officials...
16:29 including Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
16:31 She will also meet with Chinese Finance Minister Lan Huan...
16:35 and China's Central Bank Governor Pan Guangsheng.
16:37 Yellen will also be meeting with students and faculties...
16:40 at the prestigious Peking University on Sunday.
16:43 She will be wrapping her visit in China with a press conference on April 8th.
16:48 Here in Beijing, the meetings between US Treasury Secretary and Chinese officials...
16:54 is expected to continue in the vein of what has happened in Guangzhou...
16:58 that many are viewing as the most important thing of all her visits here in China...
17:03 is that the visit demonstrates a return to regular communications between US and China.
17:09 As Yellen herself had said earlier in Guangzhou...
17:12 she believes that China and US cannot decouple and cannot afford to decouple.
17:19 In Guangzhou, Yellen had extended meetings that straddled two days...
17:24 with China's Vice Premier He Lifeng.
17:27 Those meetings have been described as in-depth, candid, pragmatic and constructive.
17:32 Yellen had voiced her concern of overcapacity in China...
17:36 while China has responded fully on that.
17:39 China also expressed serious concern over US economic and trade restrictions on China.
17:45 They've also discussed issues like economic growth, finance stability, sustainable finance...
17:51 anti-money laundering and other issues.
17:54 While the two sides are talking about differences...
17:57 the packed and extended trip here by the US Treasury Secretary...
18:02 mostly shows that high-level communication is back and regular...
18:06 especially considering her visit had come right after Chinese President Xi Jinping...
18:11 and US President Joe Biden had a phone call...
18:14 where it's also let known that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken...
18:18 is expected to visit China in the coming weeks.
18:21 Sun Ye, CGTN, Beijing.
18:23 Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes around Russia's border with Kazakhstan...
18:28 after a dam burst its banks.
18:30 It follows a sudden thaw in winter snow...
18:33 which caused water levels on the Ural River to rise quickly.
18:37 A state of emergency has been declared in neighbouring Kazakhstan.
18:41 Our correspondent, Jascha Chernyshova, has the latest from Moscow.
18:45 Well, we understand that the water level in the Ural River in the Orenburg region...
18:50 has reached nine metres and this is the critical mark.
18:55 We understand the local authorities are calling on all the residents...
18:58 that have an opportunity to evacuate themselves, to their relatives, to their friends in the nearby regions.
19:04 But obviously the situation has become even more critical after the dam breached...
19:09 and this is when over two and a half thousand houses have gotten underwater immediately.
19:15 The local authorities are urging all residents not to leave their pets, their animals tied.
19:21 They are calling on them to be evacuated.
19:23 We also understand that those evacuations have been ongoing non-stop overnight...
19:27 and they have continued on Saturday and they will continue in the region...
19:32 because the water levels are not expected to recede in the upcoming one and a half or at least two weeks.
19:39 That's why the authorities are urging on the residents not to be tied to their houses and to leave immediately.
19:46 In the meantime, we understand that those are the territories where this spring flooding...
19:53 has never been that difficult as it is this year.
19:57 It is because of particularly snowy winters that Russia has experienced this year.
20:02 Also, some people have been reported to have been admitted to hospitals with the so-called norovirus...
20:09 which is the stomach infection.
20:12 This is something that is typical after the flooding.
20:14 So the whole host of issues has been raised in this flooding...
20:18 and what we understand is that the local prosecutors have opened a criminal case...
20:23 into the breach of security measures when it comes to this dam...
20:28 because they say that this dam should have been taken care of properly, which was not the case.
20:34 That was Dasha Chernysheva in Moscow.
20:37 Meanwhile, residents in parts of Sydney are being told to evacuate...
20:40 after record amounts of rain fell across a wide stretch of Australia's eastern coast.
20:46 This is continuing with teams trying to reach stranded communities.
20:50 Our correspondent Greg Navarro has the latest.
20:53 We're here in the Sydney suburb of Nairbine.
20:55 It is north of the CBD and it is part of a 400-kilometer stretch of Australia's east coast...
21:01 that was hammered by a monster storm, producing very heavy winds...
21:06 and more importantly, torrential rains that dropped in areas like this...
21:09 a month's worth of rain in just 24 hours.
21:11 Some of the suburbs near here received more than 300 millimeters of rain in 48 hours.
21:17 Have a look here.
21:18 This is the problem here in this low-lying neighborhood.
21:21 This is a lagoon which has spilled way over its banks here...
21:25 and the problem is it's been threatening homes, if you follow me just over here, that line this.
21:30 These are very expensive homes.
21:31 Normally people pay for a beautiful view of the water.
21:33 The water has been creeping up.
21:35 They're under an evacuation order here...
21:37 because although the water has receded somewhat since overnight...
21:41 it is expected to rise again as those floodwaters continue to move downward toward the ocean...
21:47 which is not far from here.
21:48 It's led to about 70 swift water rescues overnight...
21:52 as well as, I mentioned, widespread evacuations, not just in this suburb, but other suburbs as well.
21:57 In fact, just beyond these trees here across the water is a caravan park...
22:02 which also sits right on this lagoon.
22:04 And people we talked to say it was a very tense couple of hours overnight.
22:08 It's pretty watertight, the old van.
22:10 But the annex and that was just almost imploding with the wind.
22:18 It was lifting off and fortunately I had it pegged down well.
22:23 But it was pretty, not necessarily scary, but worrying...
22:28 because you just didn't know if it was going to hold up.
22:32 Heavy rain and wind cancelled scores of flights...
22:35 knocked out power for thousands of people...
22:37 closed schools and roads across the region.
22:39 The Warragamba Dam, which serves as Sydney's main water source, has also spilled over.
22:45 And while the sun is out and the skies are blue...
22:47 the rain has stopped for the moment.
22:49 The concern, the focus is still on waterways like this one...
22:52 which continue to rise, raising the concern for more widespread flooding.
22:56 Greg Navarro, CGTN, Sydney.
22:59 Voting is underway in Slovakia in a close presidential run-off.
23:04 Former Foreign Minister Ivan Korchok is backing closer links with NATO and the European Union...
23:09 and is running slightly ahead in the opinion polls.
23:12 His opponent is Peter Pellegrini, the Speaker of the country's Parliament...
23:16 and an ally of Slovakia's populist Prime Minister, Robert Vico.
23:20 He's been accused of favouring closer ties with Russia.
23:23 It's the final day of the Qingming Festival in China...
23:27 and one of the busiest.
23:29 119 million domestic trips were made during the three-day holiday...
23:33 nearly 12% higher than before the pandemic.
23:36 Qingming, which means Tomb Sweeping Day...
23:38 is a chance for people to remember and honour their ancestors.
23:42 Tourism and sightseeing have become popular during the three-day festival.
23:46 Well, beavers have been spotted building dams in Italy.
23:52 The animals have returned to the country after they disappeared around 500 years ago.
23:57 But it's not part of an official project.
23:59 So-called guerrilla rewilding has been carried out...
24:02 by people who say that the animals are vital for river ecosystems.
24:06 Our correspondent, Giles Gibson, reports.
24:09 In thick woods deep in the Tuscan countryside...
24:17 we're searching for signs of recent arrivals.
24:20 There, you see? Look.
24:22 - And what's that? - Wow, that's a beaver sign.
24:24 And after a few wrong turns along the riverbank...
24:27 we found exactly what we were looking for.
24:30 So you see the beaver gnawed all around the tree here.
24:34 Alessio Barriviera is a film producer whose work focuses on conservation...
24:39 and he's in contact with what he calls beaver believers...
24:42 or activists reintroducing the animals into the wild without official permission.
24:48 He says they're frustrated with how society treats rivers and nature in general...
24:52 and have decided to take action.
24:55 By re-adding beaver, it's a cost-effective way, in fact it's free...
25:01 to try and fix up some of these problems...
25:05 and for the better good of all people.
25:08 Whereas if left to the government themselves...
25:12 these things would typically happen much more slowly...
25:16 through a process that can take years.
25:19 By gnawing down trees and building dams, beavers create wetlands...
25:23 which have been called one of the most productive ecosystems on earth.
25:27 Some of Italy's beavers reappeared by natural means...
25:31 migrating into the far north of the country from Austria about six years ago.
25:35 But when they started to pop up hundreds of miles away in central Italy...
25:39 researchers realized something more covert was happening.
25:43 Beavers are widely considered as ecosystem engineers...
25:47 because of their great ability to modify the environment.
25:52 Emiliano Mori from Italy's National Research Council...
25:55 says beavers can sometimes help invasive plant species to spread...
25:59 but the positives still outweigh the negatives.
26:03 Illegal reintroductions often create problems in the long term.
26:09 However, the current presence of beavers, their reproductive success...
26:16 has been shown to be helpful for native biodiversity.
26:22 Beavers have been reintroduced, with or without official permission...
26:26 in countries all over Europe, including the UK and Germany.
26:30 Their reappearance often triggers angry reactions from farmers and fishermen...
26:34 who fear the animals will destroy fish populations or crops.
26:38 Back in Tuscany, Alessio tells us that local fishermen smashed up a dam...
26:43 built by beavers on this stretch of the river Tiber.
26:46 But beaver believers hope that locals will eventually learn to live alongside their new neighbours...
26:52 as they quietly restore biodiversity on Italy's rivers.
26:56 Giles Gibson for CGTN, Tuscany, Italy.
27:01 In a moment, my colleague Juliet Mann will be here with the agenda.
27:06 In this week's show, where next for artificial intelligence?
27:10 And will we ever really trust machine learning?
27:13 That's the agenda, right after the World Today at 16.30 GMT here on CGTN.
27:20 And a final look at the headlines.
27:22 Israeli forces recover the body of a hostage during a raid in southern Gaza...
27:27 amid hopes for another round of ceasefire talks.
27:31 And pledging economic cooperation, China's Vice Premier He Li Feng...
27:36 holds more talks with the US Treasury Secretary in Guangzhou.
27:40 And that's the World Today. Thank you for watching.
27:42 There's more on CGTN Europe's channel on the Telegram app.
27:45 Or you can scan the QR code on the screen to get stories and updates sent direct to your phone.
27:50 That's all the news here at the top of the hour.
27:52 For now, though, from all the team in London, it's goodbye.
27:56 (upbeat music)
27:58 you
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