Latest news bulletin | August 28th – Evening
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00:00After years of post-Brexit bruising, leaders of Germany and the UK have announced plans
00:07to strengthen ties.
00:11Who will get the top jobs under von der Leyen?
00:14Economic portfolios are the most sought after for new EU commissioners.
00:20The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has called for a three-day humanitarian ceasefire
00:25in Gaza to vaccinate children against the poliovirus.
00:32After years of tense post-Brexit bruising, leaders from Germany and the United Kingdom
00:38have announced plans to repair ties.
00:42German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and UK Prime Minister Kirsten Stammer announced a new agreement
00:47designed to strengthen science, tech, trade and security in Berlin on Wednesday.
00:54We don't want to leave it to confessions, but to put our relationship on a whole new
00:59foundation.
01:00In the coming months, we will work together on a contract that reflects the entire scope
01:06of our relationship.
01:08Scholz said this was an agreement reached between close partners and trusted allies,
01:14while Stammer billed the plan as ambitious.
01:18And that is what we are doing today, a new UK-Germany treaty, a once-in-a-generation
01:25chance to deliver for working people in Britain and in Germany.
01:33The leaders also spoke of establishing a joint action plan to tackle illegal migration.
01:39Security is high on Scholz's agenda after a terrorist with suspected links to the Islamic
01:44State killed three people in the German town of Zollingen.
01:50Stammer has made it clear his intentions to repair relations between Britain and the European
01:55Union since he won office at the July elections.
02:02Chairs waiting to be occupied by the new European Union commissioners.
02:06But who will deal with portfolios that have an economic impact?
02:10The most coveted by the 27 member states.
02:14Friday is the final day for governments to announce their nominees.
02:18Analysts say the budget portfolio is undoubtedly the top prize in negotiations, as Ursula von
02:23der Leyen forms her second executive.
02:26We have the multi-annual financial framework which needs to be negotiated in the next term.
02:31This will be a very difficult and very heavy dossier, but it will also be something which
02:37will be very determining also the priorities of the years to come.
02:45France is expected to maintain a strong portfolio, with Thierry Breton currently on internal
02:51market likely to be nominated for a second term as a commissioner.
02:57There's always a great interest in also competition and trade, so those portfolios where the EU
03:05has a lot of competence, or where the budget is particularly high, for instance cohesion
03:12and agriculture, which both make up about a third of the whole EU budget.
03:19In the power plays, von der Leyen can also use defence, a new portfolio dedicated to
03:24the military industry, seen as highly relevant due to the war in Ukraine.
03:29Relations with the Mediterranean, linked to migration management and housing, are also
03:34sectors that will now have dedicated commissioners.
03:37Von der Leyen will also have to take into account which political parties support her
03:41when she designates her executive vice presidents.
03:45So one can assume that again now, given that she is from the EPP, from the conservative
03:50party, that you will have a socialist, a liberal, and also potentially a green among the top
03:57positions in the commission.
04:00Another trump card is to secure the participation of more women.
04:04The president is struggling to achieve gender balance, with fewer than 10 women officially
04:08appointed so far.
04:10She will have to work with these governments in the next five years, right, so it is a
04:13bit of a tightrope that she has to walk between putting her foot down and getting, for instance,
04:19the gender balance right, but at the same time, you know, keeping, you know, good working
04:24relationships with those governments.
04:26But before the 26 commissioners take their seats for college meetings in the Jean Monnet
04:31Forum, they will first have to be approved by the European Parliament, which will arrange
04:35lengthy hearings of the candidates.
04:42The European Union's foreign policy chief has called for an immediate three-day humanitarian
04:48ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to allow the population to be vaccinated against polio.
04:56In a post on social platform X, Borrell warned that the quick spread of polio threatens all
05:02children in Gaza, already weakened by displacement, deprivation and malnourishment.
05:09UN agencies, World Health Organization and UNICEF say they are ready to vaccinate around
05:16640,000 children.
05:19Aid workers warned that without a humanitarian pause, a vaccination drive due to begin this
05:26weekend could fail to reach enough children to stop the fast spreading polio virus.
05:31The truth of three days is, first of all, totally insufficient to tackle the polio crisis
05:44in Gaza.
05:45And second, well, it's not a truth that we need.
05:50It's a ceasefire.
05:52The population is in constant displacement.
05:55So it's extremely difficult to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza at the moment, with a population
06:02which is constantly on the road, or it was not able to stay in one place for more than
06:09a few days.
06:10Polio has re-emerged more than two decades after it was eradicated in Gaza, as the war-torn
06:17enclave remained under Israeli military operations for the last 10 months.
06:22The severe cases lead to irreversible paralysis.
06:29Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the Kursk incursion is part of a victory plan
06:35that he intends on presenting to the President of the United States in September, as Ukraine
06:41is about to enter its fourth week into its incursion into Russia's Kursk region.
06:53A UN watchdog shared his concerns about the risk of a nuclear incident after visiting
07:07a plant in the Kursk region.
07:10He is particularly worried about the proximity of the plant to the military front and the
07:15potential impact drones may have.
07:18The core of the reactor containing nuclear material is protected just by a normal roof.
07:28This makes it extremely exposed and fragile, for example, to an artillery impact or a drone
07:40or a missile.
07:42Zelensky says that the Kursk incursion has so far averted the threat of occupation of
07:48parts of the Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv regions.
07:54Northern Greece is facing a significant water crisis, owing to prolonged drought conditions
08:00exacerbated by successive heatwaves and a lack of rainfall.
08:05Until recently, Lake Pikralimni in northern Greece was a popular destination for mud baths,
08:11but this summer it's just cracked earth.
08:25The shoreline of Lake Doirani, which straddles Greece's northern border with North Macedonia,
08:31has receded by 300 metres in recent years.
08:35In Halkidiki, the olive grove of Demetrius Papadakis is also suffering from drought.
08:41Six weeks before harvest, he and his son have to transport water by truck.
08:46And in Nea Potadia town in Halkidiki, a very popular tourist area,
08:51locals use all sorts of ways to cope with frequent household water cuts.
09:11The EU's emergency management service says
09:21acute drought conditions extend from the Black Sea westward into northern Greece.
09:29Extreme heat and drought. This year in Italy, the product of olive oil,
09:34one of the fundamental ingredients of the Mediterranean diet,
09:37will suffer heavy consequences from water scarcity.
09:41The region of Apulia in the south of Italy is responsible for around 50%
09:45of the national olive oil production, but the drought has been felt harshly here.
09:51Pietro Leon manages an agricultural company in the province of Foggia,
09:55with around 100 hectares planted with olive trees.
09:58This year, low rainfall has seriously impacted olive production,
10:02and next November's harvest promises to be poorer than the previous year.
10:10The Cappaccio Dam is the closest to the city of Foggia,
10:33and supplies water to the entire province for industry, irrigation and drinking purposes.
10:38It is fed by a stream that transports rainwater into the reservoir.
10:43Today, this dam is practically empty and contains just 2.5 million cubic metres of water,
10:49compared to the usual 17 million cubic metres.
10:52What little there is comes from last winter.
10:55This year, the dam did not fill.
10:58The other three reservoirs in the province of Foggia are only 50% full.
11:09We did half a season of irrigation, and then had to stop to save nine months of drinking water.
11:23Numbers and percentages are worrying, but become shocking when translated into images.
11:30Green meadows and animals have replaced water.
11:34The low water levels of this artificial reservoir
11:42may be an advantage for grazing cows, but are very dangerous for olive trees.
11:47Although these plants need less water than other crops,
11:49temperatures above 40 degrees for 50 consecutive days
11:53put the production of olives, and therefore the precious olive oil, at great risk.