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00:30Live from London, this is The World Today.
00:35Hello there, I'm Paul Barber. Our top stories.
00:38New momentum in Gaza ceasefire negotiations, says the head of the World Economic Forum,
00:43as the conflict dominates the summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
00:47The Palestinian president warns an Israeli ground incursion of Raqqa could begin in the next few days,
00:54saying it would be the biggest catastrophe in the history of its people.
00:59Student protesters against the Gaza conflict vow to keep up the movement
01:03that's sweeping university campuses across the United States.
01:07And with the May Day holiday approaching, China's tourism industry has a spring in its step,
01:13thanks to the new visa-free travel scheme.
01:28A Hamas official says a delegation will visit Cairo on Monday for talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza.
01:35Mediators are stepping up efforts to reach a deal ahead of an expected Israeli assault on the city of Raqqa.
01:42More than a million Palestinians are sheltering there.
01:45Saudi Arabia, which is hosting a special meeting of the World Economic Forum,
01:49has called for regional stability and warned of the ongoing conflict's effects on global economic sentiment.
01:55Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he expects the Raqqa operation to start in days
02:00and says only Israel's closest ally can halt it.
02:08All the Palestinians from Gaza are gathered in Raqqa,
02:11and it's only one small strike that would force them to flee the Gaza Strip,
02:15and here the biggest catastrophe in the history of the Palestinian people would then happen.
02:21We hope that Israel stops doing this attack.
02:24We call on the United States of America to ask Israel to not carry on the Raqqa attack
02:29because America is the only country able to prevent Israel from committing this crime.
02:37Our correspondent Adel Elmarouhi is in Cairo for us now.
02:40So Adel, a Hamas delegation is expected there in Cairo tomorrow,
02:44and of course the Gaza conflict is dominating the agenda at the World Economic Forum in Riyadh.
02:50Yes, it comes as news of possible progress is happening in the ongoing negotiation,
02:55which is Egypt and Qatar, along with the United States,
02:58are mediating between the Israelis and Hamas and other Islamic armed resisting groups in Gaza Strip as well.
03:07What we're hearing from some information that has been announced by Hamas
03:12is that some terms have been signaling that Israel is accepting the negotiations
03:17are discussing what is being said as, quote, reaching sustainable calm.
03:23And it's also part of the Egyptian aspiration is to push for another agreement,
03:30which would be one ceasefire day for each hostage Hamas releases.
03:35And Egypt eyes at least 30 hostages to be released in the first round,
03:39hoping that this agreement will be brokered.
03:43And if that happens, it is expected that some of Hamas's leader on the ground in Gaza
03:49would leave the besieged Strip coming to Egypt to themselves lead negotiations,
03:55which many experts believe this could lead to significant breakthrough in negotiations
04:00as the people on the ground make this deal.
04:02Because as the crisis continues, the top leaders of Hamas are hiding under cover,
04:09trying to lead their resistance as long as possible,
04:13but without being taking a real part in the negotiations that is going
04:18and will be continuing here in Cairo on Monday.
04:21Adel, Saudi Arabia is warning of the economic fallout from the Gaza conflict
04:25and Egypt is also concerned over a possible Rafah invasion.
04:29What is the feeling like there?
04:32Well, the Rafah has been a major concern for the Egyptian administration
04:37and specific as Egypt is the only country beside Israel that borders the Palestinian Strip.
04:44The Egyptian president has repeatedly warned that any ground invasion in Rafah
04:48where more than one Palestinians are taking shelter,
04:52they're just a few meters away from the Egyptian border.
04:55Egypt fears that a ground invasion would be a major threat to the Palestinians.
05:01A ground invasion would force all these Palestinians to breach the Egyptian border seeking safety.
05:08Europe is also concerned that such an event could awaken
05:13what has been a calm of irregular migration from the Egyptian shores.
05:19And therefore that is just one side of the concern.
05:22Saudi Arabia as well as Egypt and other main countries in this region
05:27are concerned about the economic implication that this would have.
05:30Already they have been feeling the stress on their economies because of the ongoing war.
05:35Basically it started on October 7th.
05:38It only was focused in Gaza but as the Houthis in Yemen started attacking vessels in the Red Sea,
05:46exports and imports have been affected.
05:48Egypt's Suez Canal revenues have been affected.
05:50Saudi's exports and exports have also been more or less affected.
05:54And with the expansion that we've seen in recent weeks,
05:57that included attacks in Syria, in Lebanon and in Iran,
06:01the entire region could find itself suffocated by this war
06:06as it's rippled on its economies, economies that are aspiring great development.
06:12May all these efforts come to a freeze if this conflict expands or even lasts longer.
06:17Adele, thanks very much for that.
06:19That's Adele al-Marouki, our Cairo correspondent.
06:22A White House spokesperson says Israel has agreed to listen to U.S. concerns
06:27before launching an attack on Rafah.
06:30There are also reports that U.S. President Joe Biden will speak to Benjamin Netanyahu,
06:34the Israeli prime minister, later on Sunday.
06:36Meanwhile, Israel's foreign minister says a planned invasion of Rafah could be suspended
06:41if Adele is reached to secure the release of Israeli hostages.
06:45Associated Press correspondent John Gambrel reports from Jerusalem.
06:50Paul, Israel Katz, who's the Israeli foreign minister,
06:53made this comment in an interview with a local television broadcaster,
06:56and it kind of mirrors what we've been hearing from other Israeli officials.
07:00Just a few hours ago, we even heard from Benny Gantz,
07:02who is in the war cabinet with Netanyahu.
07:05He came out and said something very similar,
07:07that if the hostages start to be released from the Gaza Strip,
07:10that Israel could suspend or potentially cancel this Rafah offensive.
07:15Gantz was very specific and said that while going into Rafah
07:18and targeting what he described as Hamas members there
07:21would be very crucial for the Israelis,
07:24that freeing those hostages that remain in the Gaza Strip was an even greater priority.
07:28All this is coming, as your colleague had mentioned,
07:30that we have Hamas now offering their own comments on this ceasefire proposal.
07:35Again, it's still very up in the air.
07:37It's been months since we saw the last ceasefire that happened back in November
07:40that saw some 100 captives released.
07:42Now the number is much smaller that we're talking about.
07:45We're talking about dozens of people potentially released.
07:47Some of the hostages that are remaining there may actually be dead.
07:50But we also are seeing pressure from the Israelis.
07:53They put tanks, armored personnel carriers, other weaponry in southern Israel.
07:57We have the Israeli military making more and more comments about troop movements,
08:01about the potential of this Rafah offensive.
08:04But we also have Hamas as well trying to turn the screws on the Israelis.
08:07They've released a couple of videos over the last few days
08:10showing those hostages that remain alive, those hostages making mention of Passover,
08:14which is just ending now in Israel.
08:16So both sides are trying to pressure.
08:18But as of right now, Paul, we just don't know if this ceasefire is going to take effect.
08:23And thousands of people have been protesting yet again there, haven't they, John,
08:27calling for early elections as well as the release of the hostages.
08:31That's right, Paul.
08:33In Tel Aviv last night, we saw thousands on the streets again holding placards,
08:37chanting, demanding that Prime Minister Netanyahu resign.
08:41Now, you have to keep in mind that even before October 7th,
08:44when Hamas launched this attack that started this current round of fighting between Israel and Hamas,
08:49that Netanyahu was really on the political ropes.
08:53The country largely had come out in mass protests over his plans to change how the judiciary works here.
08:59Those protesters said that would threaten what they described as Israel's democracy.
09:03We have also seen Netanyahu face longstanding corruption allegations.
09:07He was supposed to go on trial.
09:09The war kind of upended all of that.
09:11So as of right now, these protesters are back out.
09:14They're saying they want to see Netanyahu resign.
09:16They want to see all the hostages that remain in Gaza released.
09:18They want to see an end to the fighting.
09:20But as of right now, Netanyahu still has that coalition government that he has
09:24with those really, really hardline members.
09:26But one kind of interesting thing to keep in mind,
09:28we have started to hear from some of these hardliners that if a ceasefire goes through,
09:32that they may not support it.
09:34And it wouldn't take that many people in Netanyahu's coalition to peel away
09:38before his own government could be threatened.
09:40And it could force early elections.
09:43But as of right now, they're holding together.
09:45But we're going to have to wait to see, number one, if the ceasefire negotiations bear fruit.
09:50And number two, if it does halt that planned Rafah offensive
09:53and what those hardliners may do in response.
09:57The AP's John Gambrell in Jerusalem.
10:00Our correspondent Akram Alsatry in Rafah says there are growing fears
10:04of an imminent Israeli ground assault.
10:07Yes, indeed, the Israeli aerial attacks and also unmanned drone attacks
10:11are intensifying in all different parts of Rafah.
10:14The latest of those attacks took place in Al-Barazil neighborhood
10:18where it destroyed a house that is apparently an evacuated house
10:23and also left two Palestinians injured.
10:25The situation in Rafah is one of fear and anticipation.
10:29Tens of thousands of Palestinians have already been moving out from Rafah
10:34to Khan Yunis area and central Gaza.
10:36Some of them were just reactivating some of the domestic local wells
10:41for the sake of just extracting water and serving their families.
10:45Some of them are already moving.
10:47Some of the people in Rafah have been communicating with different organizations
10:50and with different people asking them if they can secure them tents.
10:54So people have been anxiously following the news about that imminent ground operation
10:59knowing that more destruction is going to be brought upon them
11:03and preparing themselves as well with the very minimum they have.
11:06The organizations that are actively erecting tents not far away from Rafah
11:10are receiving some potential people or potential internally displaced people
11:15who would be staying in there.
11:16Khan Yunis area has seen also a large influx.
11:19Tens of thousands of people moved to different parts of Khan Yunis.
11:23Khan Yunis is a large area, 102 square kilometers,
11:27and people are already moving, erecting their tents next to their destroyed house,
11:32getting the water and hoping they would also use some of the times solar panels
11:37to have some source of electricity and trying to live there
11:41knowing that Rafah is going to be affected by that ground operation sometime soon.
11:47That was Akram Alsashri in Rafah.
11:50Protesters in Washington, D.C. have rallied outside the annual White House correspondence dinner
11:55calling for an end to the conflict in Gaza.
11:58Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you!
12:04Demonstrators condemned both President Biden for his support of Israel's military campaign
12:09and American news outlets for what they say is bias and undercoverage.
12:15Members of the press were heckled as they walked in.
12:18During the dinner, President Biden made a toast to press freedom
12:21but did not mention the killings of journalists in Gaza, most of them Palestinian.
12:27The French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourne is in Lebanon to present a proposal
12:32aimed at easing cross-border tensions between Hezbollah and Israel
12:36and prevent an expansion of the Gaza conflict.
12:39Israel and Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group have exchanged near daily fire since October 7th,
12:45but fighting has intensified recently with Israel striking deeper into Lebanese territory
12:50as Hezbollah steps up its attacks on military positions in northern Israel.
12:56And you're watching CGTN Still Ahead.
12:59To restore or not to restore, we take a look at old churches under threat of closure in the UK
13:06desperately lacking the resources it would take to save them.
13:16This programme contains strong language and adult humour.
13:21Adult humour is advised.
13:45This programme contains strong language and adult humour.
14:15And welcome back.
14:32A reminder of our headlines.
14:34New momentum in Gaza ceasefire negotiations, so says the head of the World Economic Forum
14:39as the conflict dominates the summits in the Saudi capital.
14:44The Palestinian president warns an Israeli ground invasion of Rafa could begin in the next few days
14:49saying it would be the biggest catastrophe in the history of its people.
14:55Dozens more protesters have been arrested in the United States
14:59as nationwide university demonstrations against Israel's strikes on Gaza continue.
15:04Central to students' demands is that their colleges divest from firms with links to Israel.
15:09Adiz Kansan reports from the University of California in Los Angeles
15:13where security has been stepped up and tensions with some Jewish students are beginning to fray.
15:22As the bells chimed at the University of California Los Angeles
15:26hundreds of students filled the protest encampment in support of Palestine.
15:31This is day three of their demonstration.
15:34Students are closely watching what's happening in the Middle East.
15:38So I think that our resolve here is stronger and our demand for an immediate and permanent ceasefire
15:42and a divestment by the UC of its endowment from corporations that profit off of the genocide of Palestinians.
15:47The university has not responded to the specific demands
15:50but it said it supports the rights of free speech in the community.
15:54Administrators also want to minimize disruption to teaching and classes.
15:59Security around the encampment has increased in an effort to prevent congestion
16:04but a segment of the Jewish community is voicing discontent with the growth of these protests.
16:09There's freedom of speech and then there's going over about it.
16:13There's, you know, like I went to school in Texas and seeing, you know,
16:17how the state of Texas and UT Austin handled all these protests,
16:21sending these state troopers, making arrests, you know.
16:24That's the way to handle it, you know.
16:26The organizers have established strict community guidelines that enforce mutual respect for all
16:32and they have handpicked spokespeople to make sure their message represents everyone here.
16:37The encampment is a broad coalition of our community members.
16:41It includes people of all faiths.
16:43It includes many prominent Jewish organizers on our campus
16:47as well as organizations that are explicitly Jewish such as Jewish Voice for Peace,
16:51Students for Justice in Palestine.
16:53Many of these organizations have Jewish chairs, co-chairs.
16:56There was a Passover Seder and a Shabbos dinner inside the encampment.
17:00I would point out that the Jewish people are not a monolith.
17:03It's day three of the pro-Palestine protests here at the University of California Los Angeles
17:09and the number of students taking part has visibly grown in recent days
17:14but so has the amount of security surrounding this encampment.
17:18Organizers say the university officials have not responded to their demands as of now
17:23and although these protests have been largely peaceful,
17:26we understand large counter-protests are expected in the area in the coming days.
17:31It is Tian Shan, CGTN, Los Angeles.
17:34In other news, five people have been killed and 33 others injured after a strong tornado
17:40hit the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
17:43The tornado, which was accompanied by heavy rain, thunder and lightning,
17:47also damaged 141 factory buildings.
17:50However, authorities said no residential houses collapsed
17:53and search and rescue work has been more or less completed.
17:57Guangdong province had already been hit by floods in the past week.
18:01Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris is calling for legislation
18:05that allows asylum seekers to be sent back to the United Kingdom.
18:09His government says 80% of migrants recently arriving in the Republic
18:13have come across the land border with Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.
18:18There are concerns that Britain's new controversial new immigration policy,
18:22which plans to send some illegal migrants to Rwanda, will impact Ireland.
18:28Tesla boss Elon Musk has met with Chinese Premier Li Chang
18:32as he made a surprise visit to Beijing while the city hosts its annual auto show.
18:36Premier Li hailed Tesla as a successful example of China-US trade cooperation.
18:42Musk told him that Tesla's Shanghai factory is the firm's best performing.
18:47It's also reported that Elon Musk will discuss rolling out self-driving software
18:51with Chinese officials.
19:03The numbers of foreign tourists travelling to China
19:06has surged significantly as the May Day holiday approaches.
19:10The country's largest online travel agency, Ctrip,
19:13says bookings have risen by 130% year on year.
19:18China scrapped visa entry requirements for France, Germany, Italy, Spain,
19:22the Netherlands and Malaysia in December.
19:25The latest figures from Ctrip showed that the total number of inbound tourists
19:29from those six countries grew sixfold year on year in the first quarter.
19:34In January, Switzerland, Ireland and Thailand were added to the list,
19:38with tourists from Thailand growing more than fourfold.
19:41In March, four more countries were also given visa-free treatment, including Hungary.
19:46Our correspondent, Paolo Gutierrez, went to meet some Hungarians
19:49who say the new policy has opened a window of opportunity.
19:55David Panagiot is thousands of kilometres away
19:58from the country he considers his adopted home, China.
20:04It was there where the Hungarian-born male model says he found professional success.
20:09I got from China, from the Chinese people, the opportunities in China.
20:15We should give the same warmth what we get in China.
20:18Panagiot says his career took off in China initially as a TV commercial model,
20:24then transitioning to acting in movies after mastering Chinese.
20:28He later became the lead on the Chinese version of The Bachelor,
20:33which paved the way for him to establish his modelling agency there
20:37with the help of local partners.
20:40Was it hard to open a company in China?
20:42Actually, not that much hard.
20:45So I was also shocked, I was thinking it's going to be even much more harder,
20:49but I think Chinese people love to give the opportunity to foreigners also,
20:54so it was not that hard actually.
20:58Panagiot now runs his company from Hungary, but wants to return to China.
21:03He says he postponed his travel plans because of the long visa process.
21:07However, the recent Chinese visa-free travel initiative running from March to mid-November
21:13has reignited his interest in visiting.
21:17Cutting down on red tape could boost Hungarian travel to China.
21:22Analysts say before the pandemic, 30,000 Hungarians visited the country.
21:28Another critical factor in increasing tourism is the improved air connectivity
21:32between China and Hungary.
21:35We have four cities, four destinations in China, Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Ningbo.
21:42The Beijing and the Shanghai flights were already there before the pandemic,
21:47but Ningbo and Chongqing are basically relatively new destinations
21:51and a total number of 13 flights per week.
21:55Panagiot sees the new visa-free travel initiative as a bridge between nations.
22:01Regardless of his location, he says China will always be a part of him.
22:07Pablo Gutierrez, CGTN, Budapest.
22:11Churches across the United Kingdom are facing closures at an alarming rate,
22:16prompting concern among religious communities and advocates.
22:19Thousands of houses of worship have closed in the past decade in the UK
22:23and many more are now at risk.
22:25Our correspondent Li Jianhua went to Wales to find out more.
22:32Some much-needed repair work for a church that dates back to the 12th century in Tenby in Wales.
22:39Considered a witness of Tenby's prosperous medieval economy,
22:43St. Lawrence's was designated at risk in 2021
22:48due to a lack of funding for upkeep and repairs.
22:52Andrew Faulkner has been in charge of restoring this church since last year.
22:57He says over $1 million is needed to return it to its former glory.
23:02We think it's really important that this building is so, so special.
23:06It's seen the lives of so many people, the local community here, for all those hundreds of years.
23:11And it has some really amazing features within it which are rare across the country,
23:16particularly the wall paintings.
23:18During the repair work, a wall painting hidden under thick layers of plaster was discovered.
23:24It's revealed medieval layers, including these paint fragments.
23:28So here we have an eye and a face, including the nose, and possibly some praying hands here as well.
23:34The conservation of the wall painting may cost even more.
23:38Many other churches may not be as lucky, according to National Churches Trust.
23:44Over the past decade, about 3,500 churches across the UK have been closed down.
23:51About $1.2 billion of funding has been provided by Britain's National Lottery Heritage Fund
23:58over the past three decades to save places of worship of all faiths.
24:03But there is still a funding gap of at least $94 million a year in England alone.
24:10Not all the churches would get the funding.
24:12Some of them have been sold or repurposed.
24:15Believe it or not, this building, which used to be known as St David's, was sold for a pound back in 2014.
24:24From a house of prayer to an indoor climbing and bouldering centre,
24:29this former church in Carmarthen is one of the many that have been refurbished and now used for other purposes.
24:36If it's not being used as a church, then why not use it for something?
24:40It's a great activity for adults, children, so I think it still has a lot of the values that a church would have anyway,
24:47so I personally don't have a problem with it.
24:52This group, Friends of Friendless Churches, has been helping those that don't get enough funding.
24:58It now has over 60 churches in England and Wales in its care.
25:03Particularly with very ancient churches, or older churches, rural churches,
25:08we don't really know an awful lot about their history and we're making decisions about their future without really knowing everything about them.
25:14Loss of a community space and a public utility is a real shame, definitely.
25:20In a 2021 England and Wales census, less than half of the population said they considered themselves to be Christian for the first time.
25:30Falling church tenders, coupled with the UK's current economic downturn,
25:35have made the question to save or not to save those ancient buildings more pertinent.
25:46And finally, a pocket watch belonging to the richest passenger on the Titanic
25:51has sold for a record-breaking one and a half million dollars.
25:55The 14-carat gold timepiece was recovered from the body of American businessman John Jacob Astor.
26:01He died when the ship sunk in 1912 after helping his pregnant wife into the lifeboat.
26:07The amount a private collector paid for the watch was six times the guide price
26:12and makes it the most expensive piece of Titanic memorabilia ever sold.
26:18And our top stories again.
26:20New momentum in Gaza ceasefire negotiations, says the head of the World Economic Forum,
26:25as the conflict dominates the summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
26:29The Palestinian president warns an Israeli ground invasion of Rafa could begin in the next few days,
26:35saying it would be the biggest catastrophe in the history of its people.
26:39And a student protester against, or student protesters against the Gaza conflict
26:44is now to keep up the movement that's sweeping the university campuses across the United States.
26:50And that's the World Today. Thanks for watching.
26:52There's more news at the top of the hour coming up next.
26:54It's Reza Bernaldo from all the team in London. It's goodbye.
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