House of representatives voted to denounce President Donald Trump for racist comments to form minority congressman on twitter again trump tonight says hes racist. And will the families of those killed on flight m. H. 17 receive justice the Malaysia Airlines flight was shot down over Eastern Ukraine 5 years ago today we look at where the investigation stands. Im sorry so much going to thank you for joining us members of the European Parliament have made history by electing the 1st woman asked Commission President germanys outgoing defense minister over the last underlined one lawmaker support for the role shes promised a quote if united and strong europe saying she would work constructively and pragmatically to achieve it she was voted in by a narrow majority. Uncertainty until the very last minute. The members of the European Parliament here install spoke new with a vote on the next Commission President was going to be close but not even the candidate herself was off on the line would have thought it was going to be that close vote the votes in favor 383. 00. Things are on the line secured the majority by just 9 books a week results in the end still enough to celebrate. My message so all of you is let us Work Together constructively because the endevor is a united a strong year old. The former German Defense minister spent the last 2 weeks building a majority trying to convince the political groups in the European Parliament to support her bid should this be her final address to parliament which some called the speech of her lifetime seem to have tilt of the scale in her favor but having the backing of her conservative p. P. P. Group she could afford moving towards the left and resonating with other groups on issues such as climate. This is the greatest responsibility and opportunity of our times. I want europe to become the 1st climate neutral continent in the world by 2050. On the night has vowed to fight for a greener fairer and more to the base. Like a man lying on a problem and so fragmented building majorities around any of these issues is likely to prove difficult. Our lets go to g. W. Is max hoffman hes standing by in strasburg for us hi max what will bring to this role and what do you think her main challenges will be. We do expect a difference in style if you look at john through the easy going type and then it was enough on the line who has a reputation of being very disciplined she always says herself when she wants to celebrate something she can she cracks open a bottle of sparkling water i think the most visible difference though will be her promise to have a gender balanced commission she even went as far to say she will reject proposals from the Member States if it doesnt add up to what she wants 50 percent women 50 percent in that you commission as for all the other things and what shes going to emphasize on i had the opportunity to speak to her right after the election on tuesday evening here in strasburg lets have a listen. As with us today and i have a very simple question to start out the interview how are you feeling. Relieved and happy because it was a tough ride over 13 days now i had to. Formulate the guidelines the political guidelines and to convince the parliamentarians this was not a lot of time and i made it and im happy right now does the majority bother you that it was only 9 votes ahead majoritys majority and 2 weeks ago i didnt have at all a majority of course i understand that because the parliamentarian said we want to know more of you we want to know what your program is we want to know the details in the topics were dealing with so it was a tough time a very intensive the most intensive in my political career ive ever had but now im happy and you happy with the speech or deliver the feedback you got yes because it showed my conviction and its worth to fight for this europe and its best to tell the story of our you are united and strong how i see it for the future and so this was a important moment you made a lot of promises today you do realise itll be very tough to keep all of those right but its right its not promises its politics and policy we want to bring forward if were talking about the climate neutral continent in 2050 its necessary that we act we have to take bold action to achieve those goals and we need it for our planet and for life so these all these topics are extremely important and we have to be ambitious and what would you say of all those topics you talked about which is your absolute top priority i think top priority is. Climate mutuality 2050 with a goal for 2013 and digitalization those are the 2 biggest concerns all opportunities. We have to tackle youre going to work with a divided parliament where its harder than ever to get a majority and also you could say with a divided council because you have a rift between Eastern Europe and the other European Countries for example on migration how will you handle this i think we absolutely have to overcome the division of east and west between east and west i know that people in the Eastern Countries central European Countries often think they are not accepted as they should be and as ive been working as a defense minister very much in those countries i have a lot of friends and they trust me so i know how to Work Together that we can improve the relationship and there is a division between north and south has to do with questions of competitiveness and flexibility and we have to solve that too why that because europe has to be united there are many many Big Questions we have to tackle and europe has to play a role and we only can do that when we are united ok so what are you doing over the summer. Ill spend it in process of getting my cabinet there the commissioners on board and to work on my work program that i have to lay down and lay out in october was a lot for the president elects of the European Commission thank you very much for talking to us. Interactive touched upon the fact that was left on the line there she won this vote but only with a very slim majority and you have been speaking to some lawmakers there what is their reaction. The majority was only by 9 votes if you have a total of 747 parliamentarians at the moment that is in fact a very slim majority so one of the central questions here today is where did all the expected votes go especially the votes from her own party the European Peoples Party and it appears that many of the members of the European Parliament on the conservative side were quite unhappy with her speech because. In fact really did cater towards the left even to the greens with all her program on climate protection although the greens out already said last week they wouldnt vote for her and she had hoped to get some votes from them it probably worked not for the german greens but for other greens and you know you you can always say in the end the plan work nevertheless its a its a sign of things to come that for own party is so discontent with the direction that she showed us but in the end also were hearing many here say a majority is a majority maxine talk i was left on the line as well about all of those promises that she made in her speech that she have the support to carry those through. You know that she needs the support not only of the European Council and we talked about that in the interview which is divided between mainly Eastern Europe and western europe on some of those central questions because you have those right wing populist governments for example in hungary also in poland but nahla also in italy that will be very difficult and without the council. Cant really do anything and then of course she needs a majority in the European Parliament which has become harder than ever because its more fragmented than ever and the social democrats already announced today they will be very vigilant to make sure that she keeps all those promises she made in her speech and also the letter she wrote to the social democrats at the beginning of the week so even if shes happy now it will be really really tough to get everything required. To pass legislation in the next 5 years all right Marc Saltzman for us in strasburg thank you for that reporting. What was left on the line has now a step down from her role as germanys defense minister and she will be succeeded by and i got to come come in power both women attended an official Handover Ceremony with a chance for america a little while ago come cullen valley is also the leader of medicals conservative party and she took over as the head of the christian democrats last year and shes widely seen as michaels protege. And for more on that we have our chief Political Correspondent linda crane with us here in studio hi melinda i see any good come come by the next defense minister was it a surprise absolutely it was a surprise because around 2 weeks ago she absolutely ruled out the idea that she might become the successor to ursula fund a lot in fact ruled out taking on any ministry post saying that she wanted to concentrate on her job as Party Leaders so when this news broke last night most people thought this this cant be this is astonishing there are a couple of reasons though why this would have been of interest to her and the main one is that shes made some real missteps in the last few months her star has been on the wane and this gives her an opportunity to show what she can do in terms of hands on government she has never held a federal ministry before and this is a big tough challenge this ministry literally is full of minefields no pun intended given its defense but it if she succeeds in addressing some of the problems there then certainly that will help her profile and therefore also raise her profile and therefore also give her more credibility in her push to become the. Chancellor when uncle americal does step down you said yourself this is a tough job some say the toughest one of the toughest at least in berlin what are some of the challenges that are now facing or will it start with hardware meaning everything from Weapons Systems to planes as many people will have followed on our news bulletins the German Defense operation has really been struggling with problems she needs to ensure that theres proper maintenance carried out many of the planes are grounded and then she also needs to modernize weapon systems and hardware so thats the 1st point theyre also struggling with a real shortage of recruits for the board to spare theres a lot of competition out there were close to full employment in germany so difficult to get recruits particularly in critical areas like Digital Skills and going to sphere is looking to upgrade those so thats another problem area and then theres the question of the budget as you know theres been a lot of pressure on germany to up its contribution to nato to also take more responsibility in military missions abroad we know that and a great crime karen bauer supports a stronger financial contribution but shes going to have some tough going to go shooting with her colleagues in the finance ministry so those are just 3 very tough challenges that she will face an opportunity to prove herself but also a lot of pitfalls and one that just briefly what do you think all of this seeing as the left underlined being named a european Commission President now. Defense minister 2 allies of the chancellor Angela Merkel what do you think that says about where she stands right right now how strong she is chancellor well you know its her birthday today shes turning 65 and i would say she can definitely be celebrating she has a key ally now who will be running the European Commission theyre both moderates this doesnt mean that sort of underlying will be doing the bidding of the German Government but certainly thats a real bond between the 2 of them and on a great crime. Qanbar is also a key ally of the chancellor shes also to some degree a moderate at least in the areas that will count in defense and Security Policy and for that reason i think that the chancellor can be very satisfied indeed she has wanted to put more women into positions of power and she has really done that these last 2 days there right our chief Political Correspondent melinda crane and thank you for that insight lets catch up now and some other stories making news around the world in sudan protesters and ruling generals have signed a political document part of a power sharing deal paving the way for a civilian government this has been one of the key demands of demonstrators since president Omar Al Bashir was ousted in april a 2nd constitution document is likely to be signed within days reconstruction and rescue operations are underway across south asia after heavy monsoon rains caused massive flooding and landslides millions are affected and officials estimate that at least 180 people have died floods hit india nepal and bangladesh where rohingya refugee camps have experienced extensive damage. Scientists in canada say theyve observed record temperatures in the worlds northernmost settlement a high of just over 20 degrees celsius was measured on sunday and monday in alert thats a military facility near the north pole the average july high there is just 7 degrees in the u. S. The house of representatives has passed a motion condemning President Donald Trump for making racist comments it follows a series of tweets in which trump said 4 democratic lawmakers should quote go back to their countries although all are u. S. Citizens and 3 were born there all 235 democrats voted to condemn trump although the motion has no legal weight. It was a symbolic vote and one easily approved by the democrat held house of representatives but 4 republicans and one independent also supported the motion to condemn donald trump for making xenophobic statements we condemn the hurtful inoffensive comments that demean immigrants and people of color these comments from the white house are disgraceful and disgusting and that comments are racist how shameful to hear him continue to defend those offensive words words that we have all heard him repeat not only about our members but about countless others we are America America is a nation of immigrants we are not going anywhere america is our home and many of us will still be standing here long after occupant over office leaves earlier this week trump released a series of tweets attacking progressive female democratic politicians saying they should go back to their countries his unnamed but understood targets for outspoken nonwhites lawmakers all u. S. Citizens. Trump is standing by his comments. Its up to them what they. Think they can stay they should love our country and they should work for the good of our country Senior Republicans are supporting their leader. The president authorizes the deliberate daughter roses and i think the tone of all of those is not good for the country following the verge of condemnation Texas Democrat al green introduced articles of impeachment against trump saying the president was unfit for Office Another symbolic move unlikely to succeed. That today marks 5 years since the Malaysia Airlines flight m h 17 was blasted out of the sky as it flew over Eastern Ukraine all the passengers and crew were killed blame was swiftly placed on a russian made surface to air missile but moscow disputed those claims last month an International Team of investigators charged 4 men with murder over the incident all of them linked to russian separatist rebels in ukraine heres a look at where the investigation stands. Flight m h 17 was shot out of the sky on july 17th 2014. All 298 people on board were killed most of them were dutch nationals the plane had departed from amsterdam and was headed to kuala lumpur but the boeing 777 disappeared off radar screens about 3 hours after takeoff while flying over a part of Eastern Ukraine held by pro russian rebels. International condemnation was swift and fingers were pointed at moscow. Sanctions against russia for its annexation of crimea what we already in place and western nations toughened those measures in response in the investigation that followed an International Team led by the netherlands found fragments at the scene of the crash which they said probably came from a russian misdialed they said the missile exploded outside the plane causing it to break apart investigators later said they had irrefutable evidence that the missile came from the territory of the Russian Federation last month they named 4 men 3 russians and one ukrainian as murder suspects in the inquiry. Theyre expected to face trial next year mosco has always denied involvement and says investigators have not provided any proof it was responsible for shooting down the plane. And lets take to journalist stefan boss he is at the dutch and makes 17 National Monument near Schiphol Airport outside amsterdam high stefan the downing of m. H. 17 is being remembered tell us whats happening today. Well what is happening right now we step said a relative so for many of the 298 people who passed away in detroit edgy have arrived here and are still arriving and so very soon the dutch Prime Minister mark will actually speak here to people i already know that he will say that basically no one for instance in the netherlands was touched by the strategy as we do know almost 202298 victims of course came from danetta linz and i can tell you here dearies almost no municipality thats an idea or indirectly or directly knew someone involved in this a new strategy now what is happening here debts a week behind me there are 298. 00 trees each bearing a name to victim it says its a bark an especially developed to remember what was really the worst terror attack on a civilian plane in recent history 7 what about the investigation the trial against 4 people who allegedly were involved will start next year what is the evidence against them. Well what we do know is that the dutch lets an International Investigative team believed every hes a lot of evidence to link the attack against the plane to at least 3 russian nationals and also a Ukrainian National and what is interesting i think from that evidence apparently that at this very high in the chain of command and there was some concern that the kremlin directly or indirectly was in old days as well now of course that all has to be investigated the trial will only start next year but i do know det france is the Prime Minister has have talks with moscow about this matter now of course russia is denying any involvement in this they call it an attack and a Propaganda Campaign against russia but its not the International Investigators are viewing it at this moment how has this case affected the relations between russia and europe well i think it has of course at its 2 tension that already existed between the European Union and russia over for russian involvement in ukraine and i think what did netherlands hes hoping now that the new European Parliament. Recently elected will people to pressure. To rush out to really come forward and at the dents and also make sure that those involved in the attack will be prosecuted now of course it will be complicated because russia and ukraine have no extradition agreements. Very slim hope that that may change in the near future perhaps even off the russian president Vladimir Putin is gone and another one takes over my correspondent stefan boss reporting there in the netherlands thank you. Now the german army has been hosting chinese troops at a military base in the south of the country together the 2 sides have been carrying out to drills for one of the worst Case Scenarios that they might encounter a pandemic outbreak they exchange aims to prepare both countries to respond to high casualty emergencies as they embark on un aid missions. Casualties injured by land mines are brought to a un military facility it could be anywhere in the world its only a scenario but german and Chinese Armed forces medical staff a working together to treat the wounded the fictional operation in real bavaria is bringing unlikely partners together troops from the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army are taking part in an exercise on german soil for the 1st time the chinese soldiers have been training for the last 2 weeks with their counterparts from the german army the bundeswehr a german Chinese Military exercise seems odd at 1st but china is investing heavily in its military forces and its bonding not only for unilateral purposes chinas getting increasingly involved in the un missions abroad and Service Germany which gathered a lot of experience in this field in the last couple of years for example in mali where German Armed Forces trained soldiers both china and germany contribute in mali to the Un Peacekeeping mission during the able entre back in 2014 the country was severely threatened by the epidemic. Back in the varia german and chinese troops are training for sea areas of possible disasters such as an outbreak of an Infectious Disease at a un refugee camp. A joint team runs tests in a mobile field of oratory. To. Tell us about things that arent available in our country the technology in germany is very practical and we can learn from that from the mistress of the. Corporation is so far limited to emergency medical scenarios. There are no plans at the moment for joint military missions but even these tentative 1st steps help the Un Peacekeeping partners to gain a better understanding of each other. The ones they forced at 1st the idea of working together with chinese soldiers is strange its a very different culture talking but every day we work and practice together barriers break down and real friendships develop as it is to give them difficult but if germany and china are deploying more military resources around the world this joint training should help both countries to run challenging operations more effectively in the future. Now police at spains barcelona airport are no strangers to drug smugglers who often come up with ingenious ways of bringing illegal substances into the country but this past week the man you see here wearing a hat and a rather large wig sparked the suspicion of officers the man who arrived on a flight from colombia was asked to remove the whigs were feeling half a kilo of cocaine glued to his head he was then swiftly arrested in what police are calling operation to pay. A reminder now of our top story that were following for you here on the w. Germanys was a left on the line has won a close vote to become the 1st woman Commission President shed have previously been serving as a defense minister in chad for the government. Coming up next on new our environment show eco india will be looking at efforts to recycle temple flowers and also rediscovering heirloom saris thats coming up in just a few minutes you can also have our website you have you dot com for all the latest news and information around the clock well be right back here at the news desk at the top of the hour. A 1000000 tonnes of flowers dumped into the jews in india and every. Pesticides contaminated water. Now a start of converts use flowers into shop coleman chemical free incense sticks. Being able to see if someone p. K. G. S. Up your pants designs from getting into the one. Next on the deal in. Front of a starry eyed idealists or p. R. Strategists. Main business startups are house to change the world they build Online Platforms at an instant and then make money. To stop sliding fees have a future all on famously just a marketing trick. Made in germany in 60 minutes of w. A forrester equivalent to 30 soccer futures is cleared every. Hour consumerism is causing a radical depletion of forests. For 25 years. Or has it. Forests and money. The tragic reality behind the exploitation starts july 24th. Hello welcome to a brand new episode of eco india a sustainability magazine vivi introduce you to change makers people like you and i who are finding solutions to some of the most pressing problem