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00:00 A convoy of ships carrying 400 tons of food and aid leave Cyprus for the war zone of Gaza.
00:11 The European Parliament proposes internal reforms to the EU before enlargement to strengthen
00:16 rule of law and democracy.
00:23 A three-ship convoy has left Cyprus and is Gaza-bound. It's carrying 400 tons of food
00:30 and other supplies for the Palestinian people as concerns about hunger soar.
00:36 An open-arms NGO ship began the direct sea route to the territory with 200 tons of aid
00:41 earlier this month. It comes after the UN court ordered Israel this week to improve
00:47 the humanitarian situation in Gaza as its war with Hamas continues.
00:52 Meanwhile the US military has been dropping hundreds of tons of food and other supplies
00:57 into the Strip. The airdrops are part of an international effort to work around the problems
01:03 of getting it in by road. United Nations officials and some rights groups say the distribution
01:09 method is inefficient.
01:11 The UN says the nearly six-month-long war has pushed thousands of Palestinians to the
01:16 brink of famine. More than 32,000 have been killed.
01:24 Ukraine's president is ramping up his leadership reshuffle. On Saturday, Volodymyr Zelensky
01:30 fired long-serving aide Sierhiej Shafir from his post as first assistant. He also dismissed
01:37 five others, including three advisers.
01:40 The move comes just hours after Ukraine's air force says it shot down several Russian
01:45 drones. Russia's defence ministry says its forces have launched one-mass and 57 group
01:52 strikes against Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities in the past week.
01:57 Meanwhile, regional authorities are continuing to evacuate thousands of children from the
02:02 Russian border city of Belgorod. They say the area has come under increasing Ukrainian
02:08 shelling. Around 5,000 children have been moved so far.
02:14 It's one of the biggest publicly announced evacuations since the war started more than
02:19 two years ago.
02:25 Fifteen years have passed since the last update of a treaty of the European Union. Entering
02:30 into force in 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon clarified the division of powers between the EU and
02:35 member states. Since then, some have called for treaty changes in anticipation of the
02:40 bloc's enlargement.
02:41 "The EU needs to be made future-proof. It has to become more agile, it has to have more
02:48 capacity to act, in particular if the EU is going to grow."
02:56 Institutional reforms would also aim to build on the EU's capacity to respond to contemporary
03:01 challenges.
03:02 "We are dealing with a different international context and Europe needs to raise its capacity
03:09 to defend itself, to support Ukraine."
03:13 So the European Parliament, which gave the green light at the end of November to proposals
03:17 for reforming the treaties of the Union, proposed to create a defence union with military capabilities.
03:25 Proponents of reform argue the defence of the rule of law and democratic legitimacy
03:29 of the EU could also be strengthened.
03:32 "One of the major weaknesses of the European Union has been over the past years that it
03:38 hasn't been able to protect the rule of law in all member states."
03:43 The expert recommends increasing budgetary conditions and improving Article 7 of the
03:47 Treaty of the European Union, which allows the suspension of a member state's voting
03:51 rights in the Council in the event of non-compliance with its fundamental values. Triggered against
03:56 Poland and Hungary, Article 7 never succeeded and has not yet achieved its goal.
04:02 Digital and energy transitions, the fight against climate change and health crises are
04:06 all global challenges that require increased EU capacity for action, according to experts.
04:12 "Europe needs to have a key role in improving global governance when dealing with climate
04:18 change."
04:19 When it comes to energy, experts and MEPs propose the creation of an integrated European
04:25 Energy Union to guarantee a stable, affordable and sustainable energy supply for Europeans.
04:32 And there are also calls for increased EU competence to ensure fair and impartial access
04:37 to healthcare within the EU or to conduct group procurement of vaccines.
04:42 However, opponents of these proposed reforms believe that these powers belong to member
04:46 states and many are calling for more national sovereignty.
04:49 (wind blowing)
04:51 (whooshing)