Im sumi so much going to thank you for joining us the new president of the European Commission it was about funded line as promised to strive for a quote united and strong europe saying she will work constructively and pragmatically to achieve it she is germanys former defense minister and is the 1st woman to be elected to the top job of all the vote by members of the European Parliament in her favor was a narrow. Uncertainty until the very last minute. The members of the European Parliament knew the vote on the next Commission President was going to be close but not even the candidate herself was enough on the line would have thought it was going to be that close. Vote the 5 votes in favor 383. Things are on the line secured the majority by just 9 votes 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 life time seem to have tilt of the scale and her favorite support 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. 1 that night has vowed to fight for a greener fairer and more beauty based here but relying on a problem and so fragmented building majorities around any of these issues is likely to prove difficult. Are brussels biro chief max health month spoke to the new Commission President elect shortly after the vote. Is with us today and i have a very simple question to start out the interviewer 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 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 intense of the most intensive in my political career ive ever had but now im happy and you happy with the speech you 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 europe 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 realize 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 neutrality 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 words 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 i have 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 the commissioners on board and to work on my Work Programme that i have to lay down and lay out in october for the president elect of the European Commission thank you very much for talking to us. What was a friend of mine has now stepped down from her role as germanys defense minister handing over the post to i got to come out of our the head of germanys ruling christian democrats both women attended an official Handover Ceremony with chancellor Angela Merkel earlier today. Took over from nicolas the head of the conservative c. D. U. Last year she is widely seen as a chance for success. And for more on that we have arts. Political correspondent linda crane with us here in studio hi melinda i said im going to come on 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 funded line 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 of the toughest one of the toughest at least in berlin what are some of the challenges that are now facing her well start with hardware needing 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 boy in despair theres a lot. 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 karen bauer supports a stronger financial contribution but shes going to have some tough going to go she getting 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 where do you think all of this seeing as a funded line being named a European Commission president now and again. 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 the 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 at our chief Political Correspondent melinda crania thank you for that insight. All right lets get a round up now of some other stories making headlines around the world in sudan protesters and the ruling generals have signed a political document a part of a power sharing deal paving the way for a civilian government though this has been one of the key demands of demonstrators ever since the president Omar Al Bashir was ousted back in april a 2nd to constitutional document is likely to be signed within days. Of reconstruction and rescue operations are underway across south asia after heavy monsoon rains caused massive flooding and landslides the millions are affected and officials estimate that at least 180. 00 people have died floods hit india nepal and bangladesh where refugee camps have experienced extensive damage. Of course in moscow has extended pretrial detention for the 1st 6 of 24. 00 ukrainian sailors arrested by russia off the coast of crimea last year now a decision on the remaining sailors is due later on wednesday of the group are is accused of illegally entering russian waters he denies those charges. And a South African musician and antiapartheid activist johnny clegg has died after a long battle with cancer the Grammy Nominated artist who spoke fluent zulu crafted hits inspired by township harmonies and defied felt africa system of institutionalized racial segregation by forming multiracial bands he was 66. Now on this day 5 years ago Malaysia Airlines flight m h 17 was blasted out of the sky as it flew over Eastern Ukraine killing all on board blame was placed on a russian made surface to air missile but moscow dispute it the claim last month the netherlands dutch lead a team of international detectives that charge 4 men with murder over the incident heres a look at how that investigation unfold. 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 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 the style 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 moscow has always denied involvement and says investigators have not provided any proof it was responsible for shooting down the plane. All right lets get more on the story with journalist stefan boss he is at the dutch and h. 17 National Monument near amsterdam hi stephanie good to see you of the commemoration for the victims is now over tell us more about what happened in the ceremonies today. Well the ceremony has just and its infected people are just leaving now it was a very emotional the charts several bits and he revert to as he sees it the propaganda and misinformation done by russia regarding the strategy he clearly put the blame on russia for days attack against a plane now that was quite something during this ceremony of course what was also quite emotional i think for many people i also spoke with some relatives that was when the 298 names of the victims were mentioned during this ceremony here at the national and h. 17 memorial really a park i would call it with 298 trees of course. Symbolizing the number of victims and its really made in a special way to remember what was really one of the worst terror attacks against civilian plane in history definitely mention that next year the netherlands will try 4 suspects in this case its very unlikely that they will show up so theyll be tried in absentia but what evidence do authorities actually claim to have against them. They say there was clear evidence that the rockets that actually attacks deplane came from russia they also say they have both transcripts and older material basically connecting 3 russian nationals as well as a Ukrainian National to dance crime and they are the instant that they have the evidence now i spoke reason relatives and they said they realize that this will take time and that russia and ukraine and may not extradite suspects any time soon but they say they would already be very happy in a way if they face court somewhere and they are really listening to that day so my relatives made clear to me all right journalists on both speaking to us from the netherlands where commemoration ceremonies took place today stefan thank you all right lets get the russian perspective on all of this our correspondent Emily Sherwin is standing by for us in moscow hey i only as we heard the netherlands is pointing the finger directly at russia here what is moscows latest position on all of this. Well moscows position remains largely unchanged even 5 years after this tragedy they strongly deny any involvement in the downing of the image 17 we heard in a Statement Today from the Foreign Ministry that russia was saying that they are and have always been open to cooperating with the International Investigation they also said that they would want to find those who were really responsible rather than as they see it people who were kind of blamed in advance now russia sees this whole incident as an opportunity as it were to blame russia once again for something that happened on the International Stage almost as an as an International Plot against russia and they also accuse the joint investigative. Committee that has been investigating the mh 17 downing of being kind of biased and weve seen that today on state t. V. As well kind of repeating the line and also blaming ukraine once again for not closing its airspace to civilian air traffic during times of crisis and only we mentioned there is a trial thats supposed to start the netherlands next year and 3 of the 4 suspects are russian who are these men. Well all of them are linked to the russian army and one of them is a colonel who used to work in the f. S. B. The Russian Security service 2 of them were formally employed also by the g r g r u v russias military Intelligence Agency and all of them are linked to russian backed separatists in ukraine one of them even lead separatist forces in ukraine in 2014 but its unlikely that those 3 nationals will kind of come to trial that they will and to attend the trial of russian law actually. Doesnt allow the extradition of its nationals and also the position of russia as ive said remains unchanged when those accusations came out against those 3 russian nationals the Foreign Ministry called the accusations against the 3 men unfounded. When reporting for us in moscow thank you emily youre watching new still to come on our show scientists sound the alarm in the arctic they say temperatures are rising significantly in a land thats usually frozen all year round. But 1st the german army has been hosting chinese troops at a military base in southern germany the 2 sides have been carrying out drills for one of the worst Case Scenarios that they might encounter a disease pandemic the joint exercise aims to prepare both countries to respond to high casualty emergencies as they embark on un mission. 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 trained for the last 2 weeks with their counterparts from the german army the understeer 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 un missions abroad and serves 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 abel outback in 2014 the country was severely threatened by the epidemic. Back in bavaria germany and chinese troops are training for a 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 nuts about things that arent available in our country the technology in germany is very practical and we can learn from that from the. Evil 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. At 1st the idea of working together with chinese soldiers is strange its a very different culture but every. We work and practice together barriers break down and real friendships develop. 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. Not to a heat wave in the arctic scientists in canada say they observed record temperatures earlier this week at a weather station on a military base a 1000 kilometers from the north pole. T. Shirt weather in this treeless tundra here in the alert the northernmost permanent human settlement on the planet where snow and frost last all year temperatures hit a record high of 70 degrees fahrenheit or 21 degrees celsius. This summer has wreaked havoc on the arctic chill bringing balmy weather to a land not adapted to deal with it. A recent report showed greenland glaciers are receding faster than previously thought. This video from a greenland climate researcher went viral sled dogs sloshing across melting ice on the inglefield fjord. Uncommon number of wildfires like this one in Anchorage Alaska have also lit up the arctic and subarctic regions this season fires are not unheard of in the arctic but Scientists Say this summer was an omen of global warming. There have been unprecedented wildfires in the arctic since the beginning of june according to the World Meteorological organization over 100. 00 intense and long lived wildfires were reported in the Arctic Circle the northern part of the world is warming faster than the planet as a whole that heat is drying out forests and making them more susceptible to burn the wildfires in turn spew more carbon into the atmosphere increasing the effects of Climate Change scientists warn its a vicious cycle that puts the future of the ice caps in doubt. 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 well this past week a man know who we are see here wearing a hat in a rather large wig sparked the suspicions of officers the man who arrived on a flight from colombia was asked to remove the whigs revealing half a kilo of cocaine the glue to his head he was sent for flea arrested in what police are calling operation to pay. Her minder now of our top story here on d. W. The new president of the European Commission was the last on the line has promised to strive for a quote united and strong europe germanys former defense minister is the 1st woman to be elected to the top e. U. Chop although the vote was very narrow. Dont forget you can always get your news on the go download or out from google play or from the app store that will give you access to all the latest news from around the world as well as push notifications for him. And you can also use the data you have to send us your photos and your videos. Coming up next on d w news asia china goes on the diplomatic off fence of to justify its detention of muslims look at how beijing is trying to control the message coming out of. Picking up the pieces for refugees in bangladesh begin to rebuild after monsoon rains washed away thousands of shanty homes. And punching above our weight well see how one of the lation teenager is turning the world of professional wrestling on its head. So for the responder to have both stories coming right up on c. W. New sejour dont call. I love a starry eyed idealists or p. R. Strategists the business stops on the couch to change the law they build Online Platforms them into play and make money the big stop shops like bees have a future all on a minute just a marketing shaking a. Made in germany 16. Blocks to go to the girl max trying to. Close a gold mine of stood. With exclusively. The must see concerning parts culture to europe. For jurists mimes. Do it yourself networkers odd subscribers and dont miss a. Trial i am. Its been 15 years since the. Sheep was the 1st man to walk on. Fire. As a small boy she dreamed of the stars. As a pilot she flew anything no matter how dangerous. To go to the pole. As an astronaut she took part in the greatest adventure in history. Armstrong the moon was his destiny starts july 20th on t. W. This is the day after news asia coming up on the program. For their faith more than a 1000000 week goes and most of my daughter t. s continue to be held in chinese detention camps in shin jag and now china is on the diplomatic offensive to justify its actions how long can it continue with what the u. S. Has called the concentration camps also coming up