A civil war and a shattered economy is likely to stand at the helm for many more years to come. Plus children in the gaza strip give us a lesson in perseverance as the lockdown is east there these amputee athletes and back out on the pitch. Im rebecca has welcome to the Program EuropeanUnion Leaders a holding a summit in brussels to try to Reach Agreement on how to share out a 750000000000 euro fund to help members recover from the pandemic there are deep divisions over whether grants or loans should be given to help the hardest hit member nations germanys chancellor Angela Merkel is presiding over the summit and she has admitted that finding a compromise will be difficult. Masks on and gloves off european leaders are back in brussels for the 1st time since the beginning of the Current Crisis with the blocs finances at the top of the Agenda Council president ial michel expects negotiations to be exceptionally tough a lot is at stake to secure the decision to diffuse the i know it will be very difficult because its not only about money its a question of the future of europe if you want a stronger more stable euro hope producer delete the whole bridge to michelle has put a financial package on the table to help the e. U. Economy get back on its feet in addition to the 7 year e. U. Budget of more than a trillion euros michelle has proposed a Recovery Fund of 750000000000 euros in loans and grants. Money for this fund will be bored by the e. U. On Financial Markets and directed toward countries hit hardest by the crisis such as spain italy and greece whats driving a wedge between leaders is whether the money should be handed out as grants the socalled frugal for austria the netherlands finland and sweden insist it should be mostly loans and paid back he is considered one of the biggest obstacles to a deal austrian chancellor is a bust its good things and agreement can be reached but that necessarily this weekend. Is used. There are still a lot of questions to be answered 1st of all to where should the funds flow who will be the main recipients what is the suitable criteria for this. Though clearly delighted to be meeting up again in person the jovial atmosphere is not expected to last long and german chancellor Angela Merkels cautious optimism in the days leading up to the summit seems to have subsided. This put off we will take a lot of willingness to compromise from all in order to agree on something that is good for europe that will be good for the people of europe with regard to the pandemic that would be a suitable response to the economic difficulties were experiencing so therefore i expect a very tough negotiations as if we have a 100. 00 for now leaders positions like their seats are still far apart. The data are available it joins us now from brussels a clear statement from the chancellor of there and a crucial summit for the a you outline for a 2nd painting views on this massive fund that is dividing the united and European Union. Thank you america didnt sound overly optimistic did she rebecca but it is really tough that is true because all the fault lines have now become apparent is some countries who say no we need more money for agriculture as other countries like poland for instance dont want. The climate rules and dont want to fulfill their climate goal then you have countries like hungary who say we have to have nothing to do with ties between the rule of law and money and then at the hard drearily is the big cultural war between the south and the north the southern countries say we need help we need a lot of money to sort of get out of this tremendous economic slump that we have fallen into through the corona crisis we know italys spain and portugal where the hardest hit countries in europe and so they say we need this money but we need it as grounds makes no sense to burden ourselves with for the loans so that is the one side on the other side you have the northern countries who say we dont like this Recovery Fund because it takes of debt we dont like the idea of communal debt then they say now if we have to give loans we want to control what the south does was the money and if it is grants if we just have to give away the money freely it those controls need to be even more stringent and that is really what the big division here isnt it is the gulf between the 2 sides at this point in time and will be very difficult to bridge while that division that you speak of goes so deep that the italian Prime Minister thinks this summit could decide the future of the e. U. Are the stakes really vast. Sticks are extremely high because what happens if the sauce really falls off the economic cliff edge and that is what im going to america for instance fears and that is why she has really shifted her position as through the last months and said no we need to just take money and go into debt and we just have to help them because they cant do it on their own so that is a big shift in the spanish Prime Minister peter ascensions he when he arrived here he spoke about. Historic summit so the stakes are extremely high and the problem was this his that at the core of the frugal countries the northerners are the netherlands now the netherlands have a reputation for being somewhat stubborn and also before being quite frugal there are a bit tight was the money question is however in this situation how can you split the european bill for the corona pandemic and so we come to the point that we have to consider whether splitting the bill going dutch will in the end implode the European Union. In the last days they have all been beating a path to michael 1st came the italian Prime Minister. Then his spanish counterpart. And finally the portuguese it was a concerted luvvie effort to convince the dutchman to loosen his Purse Strings but so far no luck. Refused it all begins to move in our direction and its already looking better. The netherlands are the 5th largest economy in the European Union big in trade and exports the wealthy country where people are mostly happy but sharing this wealth is not their cup of tea when going out with friends they often prefer to go dutch and split the bill and thats what they expect from their government to some kind of regulations because its a lot of money and im getting for my money but. Yeah its its not i think its necessary to have something you just cant if you just give out money people are just going to spend it like oh yeah well we just got the money so lets just do whatever the question with the europe should screw free money at the economic fire is it really really moves that people even the popular comedian are you luba picked up on this. So i want to extinguish your fire but i dont want to take over your mortgage. I think partly some some of it has to do with also with being greedy i was sorry to say that about the dart but we have that tendency to like. The more you have the more it makes you want to keep it all to yourself socialists politician young plume and however things the dutch government is being embarrassingly tight Everyone Wants to work in their own best interest and they stand for whats important to the netherlands however the message is not. You are not doing what you should do the message should be we are all in solidarity we need to come out of this crisis together. Thats also what stefano from italy hopes for he enjoys living partying and working with dutch people but for the little difference. Relationship to the reason between people and their money. He says. Own way of dealing with money and i mean of course have been dealing with because they. Can see that carry. A sharp. For the future of our beautiful. Euro is going to be the friend so the big question is whether the dutch are prepared to share the european bill after the corona crisis. The big question indeed im now joined by mandy it does to fan oh hes italys undersecretary of state of state for Foreign Affairs and a member of the governing 5 Star Movement mr this is a fun why should the netherlands and other nor the Northern European states bail out countries like yours. 1st a little more than a well ill say that some of these others and as of this week in the end we are. Told lead conference. On the method of and very. Long the big money through your very so we have not at all called the fence so i dont mean that we shave. Your head where she said that we should fall because the. Subject being. Loved. By the human user so we agreed that if you gave you can and do. To describe we have to look at the events of the day. And your and then we really have to figure out. That. We are all in all men. Right and so you say that this is about the future of europe that something that the Prime Minister of your countries also said to set the context but he has also said it would be ok for the commission to make suggestions on how to use the funds what the side of that. Well i think that we need an elementary Foreign Policy to come to that very well we say and express thoughts of the right for this crisis so we can all stand to come back to certain to be updated all day that we have to face in october 2008. And run out of focus on voting so what we think is that the new color i will be a big fine so we got to the end that call me for all of that on the media and we want to be clear that it makes no sense to relay that and to solution. And i say that and i. Will be able for more most of the found we need. Moments and again not talking just about the fate of the. Front lot of sound so i think that we really i mean the smallness we asked the grand minority to the congress that need that and the 2 years that they are not linked at all to the communities that are already in the. 3 so the. B. B. s and although id like to interrupt you but i want to i really would like to know why why you think that is important why you think its ok to accept the money without without any conditions. This is what we as. Money are they have to be. Studiously for the commission that we are talking about all the them we have to look at. 4 all who are in the green. Color and we are talking about the land that. Lie. In the east monday so we are not saying that we want money to do whatever we want as and. Before you. Say that we want to use that money to recall called me from the. Then they. Had by car about it i think it is something that we share all the kind of. Moment and i gate the horses by people so. Far not the way i. Thought. That we all are we always will be so it makes no sense to me makes no difference i mean are not in that. Mr just a funny thank you very much as they can to talk about it today and give them. Now to some of the other stories making news around the world this hour protesters have taken to the streets of vogue areas capital sofia for the 8th consecutive day and calling for the resignation of the current government headed by Prime Minister boyko barra self and for the chief prosecutor to stand down. Vast areas of china have been inundated by severe flooding along the Yangtze River since june heavy rains have forced nearly 15000000 people to be evacuated from their homes Officials Say they are seeing the highest average rainfall levels across the n. C. Basin for 50 years. British airways is retiring its entire boeing 747 fleet as it struggles to deal with the shop downturn in travel be a had wanted to phase out its 31. 00 jumbos by 2024 its the latest in a string of and lines that have said goodbye to a plane that dominated the air for 50 years. A joint Space Mission by european and u. S. Scientists has taken the closest photos ever of the some Scientists Say the new images reveal countless small solar flares dotted across the suns surface the solar orbit it was about 77000000 kilometers from the sun when it took these High Resolution images. For us the u. K. And canada are accusing russian agents of carrying out Cyber Attacks to steal information on potential covert 19 vaccines the 3 nations have one scientists and pharmaceutical companies to be on alert they say the cyber attack the Cyber Attacks use custom melwood to target Coronavirus ResearchCenters Russia denies the accusation. As the pandemic surges across the globe the search for a covert 1000 vaccine has been an International Effort to protect Global Health this common goal has been undercut by allegations accusing russia of trying to steal information from Vaccine Research as in the u. K. The u. S. And canada believe this is economic espionage or theyre trying to promote 2 Games Private information intellectual property from news from his organized lucians that are engaged in Coronavirus Research and presumably use it to advance their own Research Efforts the alleged culprit is a familiar photo a. T. P. 29 or a cozy pair a group associated with russian intelligence also blamed for interference in the us election 4 years ago the Intelligence Community believes that cozy there is an agency of the russian. Theyve been around for a long time their attacks to 2014 they were the group thats believed to be behind the 2016 attacks against the Democratic National committee as well as other attacks against countries around the world the coordinated warning across continents seems designed to add weight to the announcement and prompt other potential targets to protect themselves a global bid to come back to not only across continental Security Breach but a virus that poses a major threat to humanity across the globe. And now to syria where president bashar assad is marking 20 years in power parliamentary elections take place on sunday but like all previous elections no real opposition is permitted so despite a civil war thats lasted 9 years asaad looks set to stay in power. Well well if you are you into july the 17th 2008 just 34 years old basher assad is sworn in as president following the sudden death of his father. He quickly finds his feet meeting the great and the good earth this is. Often accompanied by his british born wife asma. From the start of his presidency assets bill close ties with both russia and iran strategic relations that will prove crucial to retaining power. In march 20th levon antigovernment protests across much of the arab world known as the arab spring spread to syria. In the Southern City of deraa demonstrators began taking to the streets after the arrest and torture of a group of teenagers protest grew while as sands military responded with greater force. As fallons escalated the country descended into a brutal civil war. We will win without a doubt against this conspiracy and theyve now reached the final stages of their conspiracy. Attempts by the International Community to force asaad to step down failed. And so to moves to broker a peace deal. By 2013 the un said the number of refugees fleeing syria had reached a 1000000 this was a humanitarian crisis then the regime was accused of carrying out a chemical attack near the capital damascus it took another such attack in 2017 for the u. S. To take action claiming a sense military. Tonight very orderly told you. Or if you. Could where the chemical. Was war. But despite the reprisal asset has continued his war with the help of russian airpower and Iranian Forces the Syrian Government now controls most of the country. A country that lies in tatters is led by a man who looks like he will Never Surrender power. Lets bring in a christian helberg an expert on syria kristen thanks for joining me when bash said came to power 20 years ago he was held as a reformer today become tree is largely in ruins an estimated 400000 people have been killed in the war and half the population is displaced how is assad still able to hold on to power. 1st of all i think this was a misunderstanding from the beginning because. As. Well as subtended to reform the country to make it to the Credit System for example that he wanted to modernize and this is what he did especially by liberal by liberalizing the economy but still actually what he didnt change is the very nature of this regime the regime in syria has replaced the state and this is important to understand because all institutions like the parliament the military the administration the judiciary they also have this one goal the preservation of power so until now assad really depends on loyalty this loyalty is enforced by means of fear this is where he needs a very strong intelligence that the wages and the secret services in more powerful than ever and it is in force as well and ensured by client to this by the regime cronies by wealthy businessmen that that theyre loyal to him and this makes it a very stable internal system now the country is of course in deep economic crisis and weve even seen a resurgent in every serjeants raba in antigovernment protests in parts of the country how big of a threat does that pose to assads authority. Hes confronting a very sensitive moment i would argue with us that could win the war militarily especially with the help of russia and iran but she cannot win the peace because he doesnt have the money to do so he has to deliver to the people who keep him in power and which are russia and iran but as learn a lot of the militia leaders and businessmen who kept him there but he cannot deliver to them what they need and they consider syria only way to exploit and to follow their own interests so you have the Murphy Alexis and that is really ruining the country and even russians are losing patience because they are claiming that assad is not able to finish or to better manage the country so they are very kind of upset with this quote level of corruption and mismanagement and now another important aspect of war is of course foreign involvement in you and the us have been widely criticised for their response to the syrian conflict is it too late for them to act now. I think the we of. Right now offers the no opportunity the americans are going for maximum pressure with their caesar act which enables them to put sanctions on whoever wants to make a deal with assad and its allies i think the europeans should go to another way they should use the money that theyre already spending in syria they are financing 70 percent of the humanitarian aid that is the little by the u. N. Its financed by the europeans so they should really put their own conditions on that to make sure that this helps that this help reaches the people that are most in need and not the ones who are loyal to us that because this is what happening right now whats happening right now the u. N. Agencies inside syria cooperating even with organizations and engine ols and companies that are close to the regime that are listed on the e. U. Sanctions list and this is a standard so they should really make sure that its not asset which tells who is on going to receive this help but its warm it has to be humanitarian standards which means nutella tea and independence that make sure that the reap the help we just the needy so once this works out of humanitarian aid you can think about reconstruction and recovery christian helberg expert on syria thank you very much for the insight thank you pandemic restrictions are used in the gaza strip and that means people can go out enjoy playing their favorite sports a game that includes a team of young people and children have suffered severe injuries in the conflict between israel and palestinians what happens on this pitch is a matter of skill balance and strength both physical and emotional. But these Young Palestinian athletes are. They are back on the pitch after months away mostly behind doors closed by coronavirus what an awful thing they are very happy because were getting back to activity. 26 players have gathered here in gaza some lost limbs to artillery fire over the last 12 years during which the ruling Islamist Militant Group hamas fought 3 wars with israel child casualties and persevered. I got injured in the 2014 war during which i lost 5 members of my family. A lot of the other when i started playing football and sports in general but i felt that i got rid of many things inside me and gained a positive energy. 15 year old them all a stall was also injured in the 2014 war. That i have been injured for the past 6 years today i returned to playing sports after 6 years of injury. And the team and the palestine m. P. T. Football association in gaza are sponsored by the International Committee for the red cross which provides the space the uniforms and the crutches all of which help to in many cases besley increased levels of self esteem. Youre watching get over your news line from then ill be back at the top of the hour with more headlines until then you can always find out today on our web site at state dot com dont forget to follow us on twitter and instagram update on the news that special is up next on the back or it is facing. The boss. 25000 covert 1000 related both peoples. How did it come to. Such patients away. Residents of the old peoples homes. Im not a parent. Many others want justice. Every journey begins with the 1st step and every language the 1st word published in the. Eco is in germany to learn german with him simple line on your mobile and free up the e. W. E. Learning course nikos speak german made. Good use crime fighters are back with the africas most successful radio drama series continues in the only because those are available online. You can share and discuss on w africas facebook and other social media platforms. To me and theyll. Look closely. Listening carefully. To the. Live discover the. Live live subscribe. Documentary on. Alan. Live. Live live hello and welcome to focus on europe with me liz show the corona virus seems to be under control and europe but still experts warn of a possible 2nd wave of infections especially since a some people are feared to no longer be following Safety Measures on the Spanish Island of majorca 100 soft tourists were seen partying on the street