Between the countries. For the first time, britain and the eu are holding brexit talks. Brussels demanding to know what will be the u. K. s divorce strategy. We begin in venezuela where an estimated halfmillion voters have casted their ballots in an opposition organized referendum. The polls asking whether or not they approve of maduros changes to the general assembly. This where they are using crisis maduro said that the vote is meaningless. Renewed violence across the capital has killed at least one other person. Celebrating a political victory, after more than 7 million opposition supporters maduros plan to change the constitution in an unofficial referendum. The vote has no legal status, but leaders said i hope it will heap pressure on venezuelas government. Power beose who are in kind and humble enough to listen to us. We do not want a fraudulent, constituent assembly imposed on us. We do not want to be cuba, we do not what to be a country without freedom. Venezuela rose up to say that freedom is nonnegotiable. The opposition says that the proposed changes would put too much power in the hands of maduro and turn venezuela into a dictatorship. Maduro says he would like to restore peace and stop their position from a coup detat. The first lady cast her ballot while testing the Voting Machines and declared a landslide victory for maduro. There is no doubt that july 30 will not just be a victory but a perfect victory. Sundays referendum was marred by renewed violence in the venezuelan capital. It killed at least one person. More than 100 people have died in political clashes since april. Affairsr International Commentator alex obert has more on their dire circumstances. I read a statistic recently believe it. Idnt three out of four venezuelans yeareight kilos last because most of them cannot find food. Supermarket shelves are empty. Meanwhile in a polarized city the wealthy are dining in these elite restaurants. Rampant deflation is one of the causes. It is estimated to go to about 2000 next year. Cannot get food, cannot get medicine. You have diseases, hunger, poverty, corruption. Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong under nicholas maduros rule. It used to be one of the wealthiest in latin america, a modern democracy am a a democracy, a petrol state with as much oil as saudi arabia. Not optimistic, but that is the way it is being seen. Annette eight people have been killed when a female suicide bomber detonated her vest. The bombing occurred in the in this area. It is the second time in one week that female suicide bombers have sought to cause carnage in the town. Peoplet 30 fi 34 have been declared missing after a military vessel sank off the atlantic coast. Helicopters have rescued three soldiers, and will continue the search. Some 37 people were on board the ship. It was on a routine mission when it sank on sunday. Our correspondent has more. Reporter according to the Cameroonian Ministry of defense, the logistic vessel was heading here for the refueling at the base their. It should be pointed out that the peninsula borders cameroon and nigeria. Personnel capsized at sea, yesterday at 6 00 a. M. Local time. The circumstances surrounding the accident are not clear, but reports say the sea suddenly was agitated. Three people have been rescued, 34 reported missing. Search efforts are going on. The commission of inquiry has been set up to determine the cause. Byette explosives planted wounded 17ts and soldiers, four seriously. Been passingad through this district of the yuksekova province. It borders both iran and iraq. South korea offered to hold talks with north korea to diffuse tensions between the nations. This comes after a series of missile tests by pyongyang, leading some experts to warn against the possibility of a global threat. Reaching out to an, unruly koreas, south government is pushing for talks with pyongyang. We have organized talks for reunion of separated families, and military talks to cease all hostile activities along the demarcation line. We expect a positive response from the north. North korea has not yet oulsnded to se proposal, which comes after weeks of escalating tensions. They have conducted two Nuclear Tests since the beginning of last year, and dozens of missile tests. Any successfully tested intercontinental ballistics which experts say could reach of alaska. In response, south korea and the u. S. Held a rare live fire drill. The proposal follows up on the promise to impmprove relations with the norse. North. Celeste talks were held in december. There expected to have fraught negotiations about brexit. Brussels is pressing theresa may to set out her divorce strategy. The meeting will set the stage for long negotiations expected to last through to november 2018. Mcmahon in brussels has more. Apart from a prescripted statement on camera this morning, the talks are going on behind closed doors. Know theyl we exchanged gifts and niceties. Todays talks will be getting them to the nittygritty. It is a massive workload so they plan to break it down and work in groups that will be meeting over the next three days. They will only speak to press officially this thursday after they have lunch together. The aim of the week is to focus on the three main points. The financial matter. The 3. 2e face of million european citizens residing in the united kingdom, and the one million u. K. Citizens regarding residing in other member states. They want to make sure that the friday agreement remains in tact. Since day one, they have said they will not entertain any talks on trade. What are expected to be the major sticking points . First of all, money. Isnt that something most people dispute about . The financial settlement. We heard on Michelle Bernier calling for some sort of clarity regarding the settlement. He did here in a written statement from david davis. His obligations to the European Union but that u. K. New to recognize the obligations the European Union. He will be pushing david davis for more. Regarding those comments from boris johnson, rethought go whistle was an appropriate response. Barnier said there was no whistle but a ticking clock. Not satisfied with the recent proposal from theresa want all of the citizens to be treated the same so they have the right to vote in local elections. The european negotiator from the European Parliament wants to make sure these citizens to become secondclass european citizens. The European Parliament will have the chance to veto any plaintiff they do not like it. Have diedine people in a 13yearold boy is missing after a group of family and friends slipped away well cooling off in a creek that turned treacherous and arizona. It happened as the rainstorm sent floodwaters roaring in the canyon. Hitting a group of people who set out chairs to lounge in the sun and swim. A Large Family Group was down by the river. It is a recreation area. The flash flood came through and washed 14 people from the camp. Normally it is just a trickle of a creek. During the monsoon season, it can go from one foot deep to 10 feet deep in minutes. Now in Entertainment News. He was the man responsible for the classic night of the living dead. And other horror films. He turned something movies into commentaries, and his followers spawned countless imitators. Passed away atas 77 following a battle with one cancer. London cancer. Lung cancer. It is hard to imagine what zombies would look like today without this man . He wrote the book on the modern zombie in his 1968 directorial debut. Night of the living dead. The dead who live on living flesh. A grossfor 100,000, more than 30 million at the box office and set the tone for americas career in horror. It influenced generations of film makers. Laced with social commentary, it was never just about the gore, but rather what it represented. He address issues like racism and the vietnam war. Consumerismiticize of american society. Is the mindless of society gun made. It is reproduced in films, to these, books, and video games. He was critical of recent genres. Calling walking dead a soap opera, and said bigbudget films like world war z were destroying the genre. Stephen king said there will be another like him. Quinn joins me here in the studio. You come with an unexpected lift to the chinese economy. Recent Economic Data shows that beating expectations for the first half of the year. Overall growth is on track to speed up for the first time in six years. It is welcome news for the Chinese Government looking to deal with massive steep debt and other systemic economic challenges as claire rush reports. Growth beatrys expectations, thanks to an uptick in exports and consumption, and a strong Property Market. High housing prices have prompted Property Investment which grew in the first half compared with the same period last hyear. Retail sales rose 11 in the first half of the year. The positive data puts the chinese economy back on track to reverse six consecutive years of slowing growth. The National Economy maintained steady momentum in the first half of the year. This laid a Solid Foundation for achieving annual targets. We must be clear there are still uncertainty and destabilizing factors in the world. These structural problems include manufacturing overcapacity, and a debt that has bloomed to 227 of gdp. Experts are concerned that the Property Market effect is a bubble, leading some analysts to reign it in, predicting a slowdown in the second half of the year. Turning to brexit negotiations. A chummy start as the eu andtiator Michel Barnier others get down to business. There was a lack of political unity on the u. K. Side making british businesses service. The confederation of british industry releasing a survey over the weekend showing that 40 2 of u. K. Companiess showing say 42 of u. K. Companies brexit has hurt their expansion plans. The government is coming down to the need for interim trade arrangements as brexit proceeds. The way to get the economy moving, the way to restore Business Confidence and consumer confidence, is to give as much clarity as possible as early as possible. That is why i have been talking over the last weeks about the importance of a transition arrangement. The great majority of my colleagues not recognize that is the right and sensible way to go. Time for a check on the markets. The european indexes mixed as investors cast a wary eye on those negotiations. The Economic Data coming out of china helping to boost stocks in mining and resource companies. The ftse 100 is up just over 0. 16 . 0. 2 . C and paris up about easyjets chief is leaving the airline to join itv. She will take over as ceo of the biggest commercial broadcaster in the u. K. In 2019. She was previously chief executive of the guardian group. Shares on itv were up 3 on the news. Wells fargo is planning to eliminate a number of its Small Business operations. The plan comes after the u. S. Lender said it would pay 142 million to settle the classaction lawsuit. So far, they have made deals to sell their registration business and the commercial insurance operation. The u. S. Labor market is looking quite healthy these days but there are some troubling factors at play. The working rate among Young American men has been steadily declining over the past 20 years. By menarket hours worked between 21 and 30 phil by 12 in 2000 and 2013. Both of those figures are far greater than for older men. The study posits an interesting explanation that could be video games. And recreational computing could explain the difference in work rates between younger and older men. More surprising is that those who sent more time in Virtual Worlds then the real one reported increased overall happiness. News indeed. Bling time for the press review. To take a look at what is making headlines across the world. And for somebody to guide us through that here in the studio memo that in the newsroom we need to wear pink. Lets start with that report from the washington post. The post says that these were behind the hacking of the qatari government in late may. It produced false quotes attributed to the qatari amir and set off that crisis between the qatari and its neighbors. The conflict has highlighted sharp differences trump who isand taking the side of the uae and and practicing shuttle diplomacy for the past few weeks. Annette another story certain to create further tensions is has arrested and sentenced an american set us in to citizen to 10 years in jail for spiting. This story hasnt picked up by many outlets including the u. S. The new york times. He is a grad student from Princeton University and has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying. Iranian Authorities Say he is fluent in persian and that he has digitally archived 4500 ages of iranian documents. He was arrested last summer and the University Says they have been working quietly to get him freed. The u. S. State department has fabricating of charges to detain americans and other foreigners. Irans state Department Says the decision can be appealed. Annette they have launched a major operation against the Islamic State. The army has begun an operation in tribal areas to try to stop the Islamic State from advancing from afghanistan into pakistan. Feared that the jihadi have hideouts across that whole area. Pakistan is awash with weapons and the area is still volatile despite successes striving out the taliban and operatives. A number of local terrorist groups have pledged allegiance to the i. S. Group and young people from pakistani cities are being recruited to fight alongside them in syria. The militarys action against militants will not gain complete success as long as the mindset that supports them continues to thrive in the country. Annette time for the Entertainment News that is getting praise from the bbc network. The breaking of the glass galaxy. Who, whiches dr. Has been on air for 54 years has announced its first ever female lead. First ever female lead in 54 years. There was a massive drive to have the lead ever since Peter Capaldi announced in january that he would be stepping down. Another is a woman in place. Whittaker. Jodie the bbc announced that she will be the new dr. Who. It is about time. The doctor has added to a growing list of role models from girls and young boys. I quote, how cool that a girl and i have a chance to fixed disasters, outsmart bad guys with a brilliant plan and equipment. Annette speaking of family entertainment, the beloved childrens series when he the ooh has winnie the p been blacklisted from china. They have become too politically sensitive. Beenoneyeating there has censored and chinas social networks. There has been no official explanation, but observers believe that comparisons between jinpingly bear and xi could be behind the blacklisting of winni the pooh. It is an important Political Year for the president were where key political announcements will be made. Doesnt want anything that will portray him in an unfavorable light, as he believes is the case here with winnie the pooh, the most hope highprofile victim of the communist crackdown. Annette if you want to take a atk at the stories, you can france24. Com. I will be back with more news and headlines after a short rate. Short break. Do stay with us on france 24. China dreams of becoming a World Football superstar. When president xi jinping himsel f says he wants china to o hold the 2030 world cup, everyone is on board. Chininas professional clalass, national starsrs with enormomous contcts. S. The e pressure is mounting. The worlds biggest Football Academy is pulling out all the stops to train chinas future football elite