ah virgin of the rocks. was there another symbolic meaning to this beautiful painting that perhaps we just don't understand? the search for answers stores july 7th on d w. ah, ah, this is d w. news live from berlin. the european union puts ukraine on the path to membership. european leaders have approved both ukraine and moldova as official candidates to join the e. u in future. also coming up, the u. s. senate passes a gun safety bill. the bipartisan action is the most significant measure of its

kind of 25 years, becomes just hours after the supreme court ruled that americans have the right to carry guns in public. and international aid reaches afghanistan following the deadliest quick their decades countries, taliban rulers have been internationally isolated since taking power, which is hampered relief. ah, i'm told me your logic. well, it's good to have you with us. we'll begin with a historic shift in europe as you leaders approve ukraine's bid for candidate status, the 1st official step towards joining the european union. moldova was also granted candidate status for ukraine. this is a victory in the political arena, as it battles russia's invasion, high profile leaders from germany, france,

and italy had all backed ukraine's application. but all 27 member states needed to give it the go ahead. yes yes we protesters outside the you council building here in brussels, found their views reflected by the 27 european leaders meeting inside. all of them agreed to grant ukraine e. u candidate status, along with moldova. french president emanuel mccomb spoke glowingly after the vote . the peter pub usual to complete a from day one of this conflict as europe has been reacting in a quick historic and united way body function. firstly with the sanctions. a few, then economic, military and financial support a committee day. and now, you know, by this political gesture suggest politic. the decision did not come as a surprise. my call along with 2 other powerful e u leaders. germany's olaf schultz and italy's mario doggy had travelled to keep

earlier in june, where they endorsed ukraine's e. u membership bid. many of the leaders acknowledged that russia's invasion played a large role in their decision making. these put the whole european union in such a motion. they will, we see is a result of totally new i would say utmost within europe in council. it says, i would say this is a new european council at this moment. it's clear ukraine will have to fulfill a long list of criteria before being able to enter the union. a process that could take years even decades. but the possibility of a lengthy wait didn't dampen the spirits of ukraine's president who thank the council via video link. each of these. yeah, ve to show property. yes. i believe that the flag of the european union will fly in every ukrainian city that we have to liberate from russian occupation grace, the ukrainian and european flags will be together when we rebuild our country after

this war. and from the sla t lini ross, you leaders will also have to discuss whether the union is even able to welcome new family members anytime soon. many here and brussels agree the block needs internal reform 1st. so europe can compete on the world stage. and believe the war raging on its doorstep makes this even more urgent. need of the correspondence, christine manuel was at the european council in brussels. and earlier i asked for her assessment all the council's decision, tell me the importance of this decision. will ukraine cannot be overstated? this is a country ad that officially began is e u aspiration i in 2004, it followed up at a later in 2013 and 14. and it's taken the invasion by russia for ukraine to finally be granted that membership. oh that candidate status. you've got to

imagine what this means for the ukrainians. fighting on the front lines, you've got to imagine what this means for the ukrainians, who are refugees, a neighboring countries looking on as the enemy advances and appears to be making ground in, in the don bus region, for example. it is a much needed boost for the you leadership here in brussels. this was important at a time where they're struggling for that unity, especially when it comes to punishing moscow with more sanctions. as more self interests are coming into play. that unity was important for the ease leadership and you heard that from francis president emmanuel micron. saying this is sending a message to russia that, that ukraine is being pulled into the western fold. so as to say taking it away from that russian sphere of influence. but this is just one official step towards a post possible membership in the future. what exactly will change for ukraine at the moment going forward after this you decision? that's right. tell me this is the 1st step in, in, in

a process that can take decades. and that's because it loads of reforms are required. these are deep structural reforms that span policy and, and, and, and in the economy of a country. and as you can imagine with a war raging, very little productivity can be made. and in that regard, what this is, is cave essentially being put on the road to brussels. it might not get they eventually, but what it is is a message to the ukrainians by the e. u. by the 27 member states of the european union that we are willing to let you into the club. i want to leave it there for 9, christine wonder and brussels. thank you. a string of mass shootings in the us seems to have spurred lawmakers into action. senators passed the 1st gun control bill in 25 years. it gears. it provides a number of gun control measures such as and housed background checks for young adults who wish to buy a gun. the bill is expected to pass the house of representatives and be passed into

law by president joe biden. the news came many hours after ruling that could lead many more people to carrying guns in public. the supreme court struck down a new york law requiring people to prove a specific need to carry a concealed weapon outside their homes. americans have a constitutional right to carry firearms in public. this was the landmark ruling by the u. s. supreme court. it's 1st major decision on gun control in over a decade. the court took issue with how new york provided licenses to carry concealed firearms. applicants in new york had to prove a special need for self protection to carry a concealed gun outside of their homes. but the court has instead placed that burden of proof on the state. it rolled that because americans have a constitutional rights to carry guns and public states must justified denying

a permit. while the decision invalidated several states regulations. it said authorities can still restrict permits based on objective factors such as age and training for the plaintiffs who brought the case forward. the ruling was a welcome one. the lawful and legal gun owner of new york state is no longer going to be persecuted by laws that i have nothing to do with the safety of the people and r a will do nothing to make the people safer. but gun control advocates disagree, fearing it could undermine similar restrictions in other states. the governor of new york called the ruling a dark day and warned that it could put millions of lives in danger. have let the supreme court the united states of america, has stripped away the state of new york's right and responsibility to protect its citizens. this decision isn't just reckless. it's reprehensible. gun rights are

a contentious issue in a country. still reeling from mass shootings involved a texas and buffalo new york. the supreme court's ruling has forced a rethink of safety measures across the country, making tackling gun violence and increasingly complicated task. international aid is trickling into eastern afghanistan a day after a powerful earthquake of the killed at least 1000 people, and injured many more. a spokesman for the ruling taliban says, rescue efforts and nearly complete the quake comes as the country is already facing . drought and food shortages says the taliban to pa last august has become harder for 8 agencies to operate in the country. scenes of destruction like these all across spectacle province. in eastern afghanistan, people were still sifting through what's left of their destroyed homes. the hope of

still finding some one alive slowly waning. most people have lost some one in the deadly quake. some families have been decimated. dogwood is a mother, i lost 12 members of my family, and my house would that get it is completely destroyed, the mazda and everything we had. one go found shade on the last. however, it is a dock work. oh, those who survive has started. it burying their dead, but even finding tools to dig the graves is difficult with the rescue operations as a whole have been challenging. heavy rain in the region has made the dirt roads harder to navigate. with rescue team struggling to reach the remote area. with little heavy equipment on the ground, people have often been left to their own devices and their bare hands to dig through the rubble floor last oqueeno while no rescue was arrived and everybody was

digging on their own. all of them children were trapped under the debris and i went back in to help them out of supplies have started to arrive, but 8 organizations say they're not enough. since the taliban take over last year, some agencies have left afghanistan over much of the development financing that the country so heavily relied on was also withdrawn amid conflict. food insecurity and lack of health care. this earthquake is yet another humanitarian disaster to hit afghanistan. let's take a quick look at some of the stories making headlines of the saw. russian president vladimir putin says he's rerouting trade and oil towards countries from the bricks group of him emerging economies in the wake of western sanctions of ukraine. the announcement was made during an online meeting of the leaders of brazil, russia, india, china, and south africa. police in ecuador have fired tear gas at

protesters as a tried to enter the congress building in the capital nationwide demonstrations against increasing fuel prices. and the high cost of living have shut down the capital for over a week. the people have died in the rest. the world health organization is meeting to declare to decide whether to declare monkey pox, global health, emergency of until may the disease, excuse me, had not caused sizable outbreaks beyond africa. some experts are unhappy that the w h o is only taking action now. that monkey books are spreading in rich countries and announcement is expected. on friday. austria has scrapped its compulsory covey. 19 vaccination for adults. health minister said the measure which was suspended in march was unlikely to raise the austrian vaccination rate one of the lowest in western europe. the rule was the only such sweeping mandate in the european union. a large wall ross has been

causing a stair and norwegian coastal town hundreds of kilometers from her home in the arctic circle. the walrus was known as freya, mistaken as fancy to sunbathing on boats, but there's a rather awkward problem. most of the vessels are, let's say, on the smaller side, all frere at 700 kilograms, is a whole lot of mammal. me, freya, walrus with the thing. christ sunbathing on the small boat. what are we supposed to do if you know the damage from the 700 killer walrus on your boat can be extensive. that especially when she chooses a vessel that's not walrus worthy. and surprisingly, boat owners aren't excited share with freya. i mean,

i don't want it on the dock on my boat water. just get it away from here. france traveled, foreign wides in the arctic circle. stopping in the u. k. the netherlands denmark, germany, and now norway, where she's out staying her welcome. plan for now is to get frere her own sunbathing spot, a floating duck where she can rest without wrecking boat. with all that, we have a grace period to see if you get used to the dock. and after that, they will come forward with larger boats or docking trunk, but to the coast of gnawed more. his hope is that free. i will figure it out so she can carry on her tour. i before we go, here is a quick reminder. all of our top story european union leaders have approved ukraine's bid for candidate status. the 1st official step towards joining the youth . moldova was also formerly accepted as

a candidate high profile leaders from germany, france and italy had all back ukraine's application. the european parliament was also in favor of next, a new edition, a law documentary series dock film. stay tuned for that, and don't forget, our website has all the latest news. d, w dot com have told me all medical myself on the team. thanks for watching. the green you feel worried about the planet me to on the old hosting the on the green fence post and to me it's clear remains to change.