i with sun, sand, and sir a winds postcard image hides a piece of battle of the past and future of these island parents. when an 8th meet the locals determined to keep for why, for why on al jazeera ah, this is a decisive moment for the european union. ukraine takes a large step towards e membership. a major morale boost as heavy fighting continues. ah, i me back here. this is al jazeera alive from london, also coming up the search and rescue mission is almost complete in afghanistan, earthquake shattered towns. this decision isn't just reckless. it's reprehensible.

the u. s. supreme court overrides the century old law and declares carrion gums and public a constitutional rights. every rain and flash floods leave people desperately seeking safety in india administered kashmir. ah, ukraine has taken a major step towards membership of the european union with the council of e u. leaders agreeing to give the war toll country e u. candidate status. all dover was given the same status. european council president shaw. michelle described the decision as a historic moment. natasha butler is in brussels following developments. and natasha. what criteria exactly has it that ukraine and moldova of bet in the eyes of the e. what on the pine other bends this decision?

what we've just heard from you leaders from the heads of the you council shell, michelle, he's cool. there's an historic moment talking about the fact that ukraine, i'm all over been granted candidacy status that basically put them on the past the membership george and not been given full candidacy status. but what, what european leaders call a european perspective, which basically is a step in that direction. either way. we also heard from the head to the you commission to live on the line. who said that this was all about strengthening the european union. i'm strengthening ukraine, moldova, and georgia, again were she called a russian aggression. so a lot of talk of an historic moment, obviously a very symbolic moment sending a message not only to keep to those all the capital of support, but also sending

a message to moscow that those countries that ukraine is looking very much, westwood, despite a russian fire fire power and attacks. so this of course doesn't happen overnight. this is called the start of a long process. but as he say, a deeply symbolic one, it's not going to happen overnight at all. it is a very long process. indeed, a very audius' one, as well, we're talking about possibly possibly even decade say some you officials because what ukraine has to do now is for sale a certain criteria set by the you on things like the judiciary, freedom of press, corruption until 8 fulfills that criteria will it can't even begin a process of negotiations who can take a long time. we've also heard from the leaders of wisdom, balkan countries, some of them well that countries have been waiting many, many years,

gaining candidacy for negotiations to go forward. some of those negotiation grinding lee, so blindingly flow, i should say western broken leaders think that they would like those processes to be sped up so it is a long way away. nevertheless, very important. in fact, the ukranian hedges mission to the european union was speaking to us a while ago today. and he said no matter what, no matter how long it takes to point to we are on the way we're going to be on this path to membership. and that is very important, it is a simple and very important. he said, not any of the see for everyone in ukraine. but very particularly he said, for those people who are fighting on the front lines, he said it really gives them a reason to know why they're there. ok natasha butler and brussels. thank you. let's go straight now to key if of course, when a child stratford, as we've been hearing charles from natasha, this will no doubt be a morale booster for ukraine. i got the present to lensky tweeted

that's right. yes. a huge morale boost for ukraine. one can imagine the president vladimir zalinski tweeting only a few minutes ago. he said that he sincerely commands a you leaders the you leaders decision. he said it's a unique historic moment in e, you ukraine relations. he said he was grateful to e latest for their support. ukraine's future is within the e u. he said, but as we heard natasha reporting there, it is a long lengthly deeply political process that could take years if not decades. and i think just putting this in context, in terms of how important the moment it is for ukraine, if it cost you mind back to 2004, the so called orange revolution was a signal to russia even then that this country wanted to have closer relations with the european union in 2013, 2014. that kind of message was made more emphatic in those protests in the made

and square in the center of cave. where they were sparked by a decision by the then president, the pro russian president yanna cove. it's not to sign an association agreement with the e u, that association agreement is subsequently been signed as has a free trade agreement. but of course, 8 years of conflict in the east with russian backed separatists in the look, guns can donates regions. and now since the 24th of february, the russian invasion, so a huge morale boost at a time where ukraine arguably is under more pressure than it ever has been since its independence am fallen the breakup of the soviet union in 1991 and charles a huge, her morale boost, it may be for ukraine, but a massive red line has been crossed for russia. all of this happening, as of course, russia deepens its campaign in the east of ukraine. that's

right. i mean, in the last few days, we've heard messages from the kremlin the spokesperson for the criminal dmitri pest golf a few days ago saying that sir, the russians were very concerned about ukraine's move closer towards europe. specifically, he said because of the deals that are being made in terms of weapons supplies from european and nato members. but then in the last couple of days, we heard from the president vladimir putin who seems to imply in st. petersburg that he didn't have a problem with with, with this a possibly a face saving statement made by him because the fact remains as you say, that the fighting now is arguably heavier in the east than it has been since this war started. it's being described as a battle of artillery heavy shelling in multiple locations most focus in and around that city of civil than it's one of 2 cities that the russians do not yet control in the low guns province. so ukrainians very much up against it in the east. so

today's decision in brussels of huge significance and, and moral importance for this country, child stratford, and care. thank you. now the united states is ready to send another $450000000.00 worth of military assistance to ukraine, including long range rockets, with an official announcement expected in the next few hours. a rush news agency on thursday release video that appears to show heavy fighting between pro russian and ukrainian forces in easton ukraine. russia is advancing and the don bass region capturing 2 more villages and her efforts to cut off supply lines and take control of the strategic cities ever done. ask moscow news agency says a 30000 ton grain silo was hit in ukrainian. shelling germany is stepping out, it's gas, emergency plan saying it's facing a supply crisis. and its economy minister says dwindling deliveries from russia

means rationing. can't be ruled out. donnie kane has more from berlin. the german government is effectively saying to the energy sector, but also to its citizens. we can guarantee gas supply for the moment, but there may come a time quite soon where we may not be able to do that. that is the way to perceive this new measure taken by the german government. it has to be said that at the start of the european summer here now in the northern hemisphere, then people will not be needing gas to heat their homes, particularly in the warm weather there is right now. but in industry there is a real concern because the german industry dust real sector does depend on gas quite considerably for its energy sauce. interestingly, in the energy sector, 2 separate voices, one from the chemical industry association, another from a large energy energy supplier have said that they can, they see this move by the german government as a logical step. and that it does not change the fundamental status quo for the time

being. and those are the operative words here, the decision by the russian government to reduce the amount of gas that it pipes to germany has certainly made ministers here. start to worry which explains why they're trying to find other sources of energy for the moment. the green minister in charge of this particular portfolio is trying to find coal and other things. remember also the climate change goals that this government has are really imperiled by a decision to go to other fossil fuels, which explains the dilemma. the berlin government has right now ah, search and rescue operations in afghanistan of ended in most major regions following its most devastating earthquake and 20 years. efforts are now focused on

remote areas. at least 1500 people are dead and they were urged appeals for international help. people impact t k province were entire villages were reduced to rubble, a desperate for food, shelter and drinking water. aid is trickling in, but it's not enough. given the scale of the disaster, a summer binge of aid has more. ah, even at night the search for the missing continued in easton of understand it's a race against time before the rescue operation turns into recovery of the dead. using bare hands and shovels to free those buried under the rubble in the remote villages of host and buck beaca provinces were in bed. been hundreds of homes and buildings were destroyed by the powerful earthquake. my nozzles lowered for the spring. i was sleeping and i felt a strong tremor. the roof fell on us. i hardly got out of the house and when i looked back, i saw my wife and daughter under the rubble in the next room. my nephew,

his wife and his daughter, they died. i lost everything in the blink of an eye. ah, as the scale of the devastation becomes clearer of honest lands currently does a realizing the challenges in providing relief and shelter for the displaced lords were already in disrepair. and now they are blocked or destroyed by ensuing landslides. after the quake a guy stun was its various agencies and ministers, launched a joint operation to assist the injured and dispatched a specialized themes by helicopter to provide medical assistance and emergency meeting was held by the prime minister. and it was decided to provide urgent financial aid for compensation. the prime minister appealed to foreign agencies and organizations to assist the gunny people in these difficult circumstances of. hi, nathan is already facing a humanitarian disaster. most international aid, dried up and foreign and stuff pulled out. when the taliban took over last year,

the government, which called it says these la cameras, it accuses wold powers of callous behavior for freezing assets and stopping aid from millions of afghans. and we do not have our teams do not have a specific educator take people under the from under the rubble of these has to live most get on the efforts of the defacto for it is at least 15 $1000000.00 will be required immediately international and regional head will be crucial, as it will likely take months and years to recover from the devastation. afghans who feel abandoned and let down by the international community say, all they can do is pray for both the dead and those who survive. come, i've been driving out there, you know, early latifah has more from afghanistan's poxy province. earlier today we saw world food program trucks passing by. we know that the international rescue committee has started deploying more mobile medical units,

but the assistance is still slow to come. we're currently at the pack the army corps, and here on the tarmac is where helicopters will land and transport, the injured 2 ambulances that will then take them to the regional hospital here. but once they get to the regional hospital here, it's another issue in the hospital doesn't have proper emergency equipment and it may not be able to treat head to injuries. and so in that case, they will have to go by land to the city of kabul, which is another 45 hours away. so again, it shows sort of in this disaster setting, the kinds of shortcomings with which government is currently operating, extremely urgent. you know, we were talking to a pilot earlier who was piloting one of the aircraft. and he was saying that when he landed, unpacked the call, you know, hundreds of people just warm towards the helicopter, trying to get their thinking injured on board. trying to get attention trying to get out and get to a better hospital as much as much possible. and he was saying that as many as the

people who come and seek help to, to get out into the city, the city of guys is there just as many still trapped under the rubble. and obviously the system was hindered yesterday by the implement weather and then that also impact, you know, the condition of the people that are being treated. a lot of people may have died just by being stuck under the rubble. other, you know, are facing serious medical conditions because of how long is taking them to get to a proper hospital, whether that be these or if they have to be transported to so they need helicopters for sure that that's one major issue with helicopters common go once every hour or so, but they can only take so many people with them out of time. so the more they are there are because the roads are so difficult to get to. and because yesterday, you know, there was rain and hail that there would be flooding and land size and things like that. they really need air support at the moment. still to come this half hour, you k prime minister boys johnson defends the controversial deportation plan while

meeting the wonders president and gully. ah, how are we got some proper wet weather pushing into western parts of europe at the moment. we got sir. somebody down paused, rolling in from the atlantic. a fair bit of cloud just coming through here. these areas of low pressure having quite an impact on our weather. over the next couple of days that we still got high pressure in place just around the poland. and that's feeding a lot of warm weather, very warm weather in across region here to push back into southern areas of france . there we go with that stormy weather. $64.00 millimeters the friday that the 24 hours in leon. and there's more where that came from. y spread, showers across a good part of france, easy through the low countries into germany, some heavy down polls there too. just around the outs. further north, up towards the north where some wet and windy weather coming into ireland,

the republic of allan northern ireland coming across much of the u. k. actually, let's see some wet weather for glastonbury as it should be. of course, we'll see some country temples coming through one or 2 showers down towards the southeast. we have got the wet weather clearing through. if we go one through sas day more. that wet weather rolling into northwestern parts as we go on through saturday. so much ry around central park. we have got the sunshine there across a good part of the med, northern africa allows you to, i wanted to shout up towards the north west and plenty of heavy showers around much west africa. ah, lou ah ah, ah,

wherever you go in the world, one airline goes to make it feel exceptional. katara always going places to go. ah ah, reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera, the european union has voted to give war torn ukraine e u. candidate status president for a lot of me as a lensky. welcome to move, calling it a unique and historic moment, and search and rescue operations of ended in most major regions of afghanistan after the countries worst, earthquake, and 20 years. at least 1500 people have been killed. the taliban governments made

an urgent appeal for international health. the gun lobby in the united states has won a significant court victory just weeks after a string of mass shootings. the u. s. supreme court has ruled that the existing gun laws in new york state violate the 2nd amendment right to bear arms must be relaxed . christian salumi as more from new york arrest for gun crimes in new york already 28 year high. originally motivated shooting in the city of buffalo. recently left 10 people dead. and now gun control activists say the violence is only going to get worse. the supreme court has ruled new york's law requiring anyone who wants to carry a concealed handgun show what's known as proper cause is unconstitutional. justice clarence thomas wrote the 63 page decision. he says the constitution protects an individual's right to carry a handgun for self defense outside the home. the decision was based on

a case brought by the new york state rifle and pistol association. criminals are the ones that are causing the crimes in the cities, not, not legal, gun owners, not lawful people. it's a decision. new york elected officials were bracing for and they didn't hold back their criticism at the court decision. this decision isn't just reckless. it's reprehensible. it's not what new yorkers want, and we should have the right of determination of what we want to do in terms of our gun laws in our state. this keeps me up at night. new york's mayor says it will set back efforts to rain in gun crime and gun deaths. former police officer, kirk burke halter agrees with the impact of the more guns on the streets of new york. and i am of the opinion that does not make a city this populace safer. and here is why even train that law enforcement officers training military personnel quite often don't hit what they aim at. and we

see this all the time throughout the country, right? innocent bystanders, children the elderly and so for that is struck by stray bullets who are unintended targets, the ruling kind of the wake of high profile, now shooting at a time when pull show, the majority of americans prefer stricter gun control laws. the decision will impact not only new york, but other states was similar restrictions including connecticut, massachusetts, and california. the ruling is a set back for gun control, advocates who advanced legislation to tighten gun laws at the state and federal level. they point out more than half of all gun deaths in the u. s. are suicides. as a state. our numbers are some of the best in the country. we have some of the lowest numbers of gun deaths from suicide, from domestic violence. states need to be able to make laws that protect their communities. new york is not like montana, they're worried that is about to change. even as new york officials promised to

pass new legislation to restrict guns insensitive locations that will satisfy the courts and keep their citizens safe. kristen salumi al jazeera new york. the us house select committee is holding its 5th hearing in to la. she is storming of the capital building and whether then president donald trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election, auditory, castro. it joins us live from capitol hill. heidi, what more can we expect from a thursday's hearing? on the hearing is taking place now and its focus is on former president trump's attempts to in the committee's words corrupt the department of justice. of course, that is the highest law enforcement agency in the united states and it falls under the president's administration. and trump is accused of trying to corrupt this department in at least 2 ways that they're focusing on today. one is putting the pressure on this department to falsely declare that there had been widespread

voting fraud in the 2020 election, which trump lost joe biden. and when that effort failed, because the department justice is top, officials refused to comply. then trump is accused of trying to replace the top official there, the acting attorney general with someone that people have labeled a conspiracy theorist, a little known attorney working at the department of justice at the time named jeffrey clark. now, just so happens at clark's home in virginia was rated yesterday by federal investigators likely related to the criminal aspect of this investigation. and he is not appearing to day it before this congressional committee, but at least 3 other people who he worked with at the time in the waning days of trump presidency. they are telling the story and they are expected to detail how clark wrote a letter that falsely promoted the idea that the adoption had been stolen. and try to send that to swing states to convince them to decertify jo biden's when that

failed. and they're also expected to talk about how trump then wanted to have clark, then become the man in charge there at the department of justice. and only gave up on that effort when everyone else in the room, essentially frightened to resign in protest. so the big picture here need that the investigators are trying to paint here is how dangerously close once again, the american democracy came was in danger because of trumps efforts to corrupted a department of justice. but how officials resisted the guard rails of democracy and it worked in that instance, but still, how dangerously close this came to trump's attempted coup taking place. and eventually how, when that failed, how president trump they, they will later expected to try to show how he summoned the mob that descended here on capitol hill on january 6th of last year. and a few more hearings to come, heidi joe castro live from capitol hill. thank you. 24 democratic

senators have written to you as president joe biden, telling him to get washington directly involved in the investigation into the murder of al jazeera journalist, serene apo ucla. sharyn was shot dead by friday forces on the 11th of may while on to simon's and janine in the occupied westbank. i white house correspondent, kimberly how can the house more on the letter? there is a big reason why these democratic senators are looking for the white house and, and the united states to get directly involved in the investigation into the death of sri and ever. i claim that is in large part because of the mistrust that exists between the israelis and the palestinians. we know that there have been investigations that have been conducted on both sides, but given the fact that there is such a deep distrust. and given the fact that also the, there have been conclusions and investigations that have been conducted by the media that really call into question the conclusions of the israeli investigations

. and other words that these in really have concluded that in fact it was not there and is really bullet that killed sharon ever i play. and in fact media investigations as well as palsied investigations, conclude just the opposite. that there is, in fact, some deep distrust with these conclusions. and that is the reason that these democratic centers say the united states must get directly involved in order to get the transparency and the full accountability that the secretary of state antony blinking has promised that the united states will seek to try and achieve british prime minister boys johnson has meant rwandan president polka gum a to discuss the controversial migrant deal between that countries. the latest mass on the sidelines of the commonwealth had the government meeting into gali. under the agreement, britain is planning to deport asylum seekers to wander. the 1st flight of refugees

was meant to take off from the u. k last week, but it was whole hit by last minute ruling from the european court of human rights . malcolm web has more. golly, british prime minister boris johnson and rwandan president pool academy of mac and spoken about the asylum seekers deportation deal. also in gali right now is the case print, child who's here representing the queen of the united kingdom, here with the commonwealth heads of government meeting and 2 days before traveling . here, prince charles described deportees deal as a pooling come on the widespread criticism in the u. k and beyond some people say the u. k. neglecting ethical and legal obligation to give those people a chance to apply for asylum in the u. k. is also shown a spotlight on one, the human rights record, which is something even the u. k. itself has been critical of last year over to you and human rights meeting in geneva,

the u. k. said it was concerned about torture. enforce disappearances and killing of critics and political opponents. miranda, but the refugee deal is been on the table, the u. k. for what he paid about $150000000.00 to run the case on quiet about that and certainly for his johnson prince charles in the commonwealth meeting or here happening here this week is going to be seen by many as a glowing endorsement on the party u. k, for president who could gummy and his government. heavy rainfall in indian administered kashmir is triggering landslides and flash flooding. the regions largest river has breached its danger level and flood warnings have been issued for the regions largest cities, renada, country lopez audio has more. oh, with threats and homes partially submerged. this community in indian administered kashmir is trying to stop things from getting worse. c heavy rainfall come with

a canal and boot camp to strip to burst disbands. now this neighbourhood is bearing the brunt associates, away i'll go. but we were sleeping and hurt people's cries. of flood water started coming in. many houses are damaged, uneven potty fields are under water. damaged crops will meet a huge loss for us. robina says she feels helpless. all her belongings are damaged. going to back, it took like a lot of those locals with nothing matches left. now my nephew had a close call, but he was somehow see from the flood waters. it's so high you caught him in take out items from inside the house. heavy rain and snowfall has triggered flash floods and landslide and recent days. roads are blocked and course stranded rescue teams have started moving people from below lying areas to safer locations.

yeah, the garage has told me that one of the land slides covered in area of about a 100 meters. if it doesn't rain in the next few days, it will take at least 2 days to clear the debris until that happens, families are doing what they can, stacking sand bags and putting of barriers to try and save what's left. castillo lilyanne, which is here. ah, a reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera, the european union has voted to give water in ukraine, e u candidate status. moldova was given the same status. european council president shall, michelle and ukrainian president vladimir zalinski. both described the decision as a historic moment is coincided with the u. s. preparing to send more military assistance to you.