Von der Leyen re-elected as European Commission president 29:42

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I'm Andrew Peach and at 13 Hours GMT on Thursday the 18th of July, these are our main stories. Ursula von der Leyen is re-elected for another five years as head of the European Commission, promising the EU a bigger role in defence and ambitious green measures. This as the continent's leaders gather at a stately home in England for a summit at which the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hoping to reset relations with the EU.

Also today, ahead of Donald Trump's speech at the Republican National Convention, we hear from the man he's chosen as his running mate.

Also in this podcast, the team set up to represent the world's refugees at the Paris Olympics. A step in the right direction for gay rights in South Korea and... You've seen our figure skaters. When they're very tight and they spin round and they're very narrow and they stand up straight, they go really fast. When they sort of crouch down, they slow down. It's exactly the same thing that's happening there. An all-too-familiar problem, how getting a bit fatter around the middle is slowing down the Earth's rotation.

Members of the European Parliament have voted to hand Ursula von der Leyen a second term as European Commission President. European leaders had officially nominated Ms von der Leyen back in June. Despite that and efforts to shore up her support, right to the end, the outcome of the vote wasn't certain. In her final pitch to lawmakers, Ms von der Leyen pledged to prioritise defence and security and to lead Europe through a period of change.

Europe cannot control dictators and demagogues across the world, but it can choose to protect its own democracy. Europe cannot determine elections across the world, but it can choose to invest in the security and defense of this continent. Europe cannot stop change, but it can choose to embrace it and invest in a new age of prosperity

and improving our quality of life. In the end, she won pretty easily thanks to the support of the left, centre-right and Greens. I got this analysis from our Europe regional editor, Paul Moss. She was, in the end, a very unifying figure, and I think that's probably what helped swing it. She's a conservative, a member of Germany's Christian Democrats, but she also won the support of the socialist group, even the Greens,

She's also a figure of stability. I think we have to remember the European Union faces all sorts of crises at the moment. Obviously, the war in Ukraine, the possibility of trade battles with China, the uncertainty over the relationship with the United States, with Donald Trump poised to take the White House down.

And you've got to remember, she was the only proposed candidate. If they'd rejected her, they would start all over again having to find an alternative, leaving the European Union leaderless at this critical time. And allow me to be just a little cynical. It's mid-July. I think members of the European Parliament probably want to go off on holiday. If they'd rejected her, it would be like you're at school, the school break begins, and you're told you have to stay behind. And they really didn't want that.

OK. And in terms of what happens now, it's the same person. Are we going to get exactly the same kind of leadership from Ursula von der Leyen or has she made promises to do anything differently? I think the same kind of leadership, yes. But she has made all sorts of promises along the way of what's going to be on her agenda. And those are very strong. I mean, the main one we've talked about is defence, foresight.

far more cooperation on defence and security in the European Commission. She says he's going to create a commissioner for defence, double the number of staff at Europol, the European police force. She wants to create a more competitive economy in terms of particularly tech and artificial intelligence.

Lots of commitment on the environment. She says that they can't be dependent on China for environmentally tech things like wind power. They'll increase renewables, cut emissions, a lot of promises to help countries which are already suffering from climate change like Greece and Spain. And another big issue in the European Union, migration. She said they will triple the number of coast guards protecting the European Union's borders and create something called a pact for

for the Mediterranean with all the non-EU countries which are on the Mediterranean from where migrants are leaving. And so I suppose in order to get elected, she's made an awful lot of promises, but that's given her now with quite a hard task ahead of her. Europe is also on the mind of Britain's new Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Fresh from his landslide election win, Sir Keir has said he's keen to press reset on Britain's fractured post-Brexit relationship with Europe.

Today, he gets his chance to do just that, hosting a gathering of European leaders at a stately home in southern England. And here's how he set the tone addressing the meeting of the European political community gathered at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. Under my leadership, Britain will be a friend and a partner, ready to work with you, not part of the European Union, but very much part of Europe.

not focused on the differences between us, but on the values that we share, united by our determination to defend them. Our correspondent Rob Watson is there. The clip that you just played there was very well chosen, if I might say so, because it utterly summed up the zeitgeist, if I could put it that way, of...

of the message that Sakhir Starmer is trying to send out to Europe and that is that he wants the bitterness of the Brexit years over, that the UK no longer sees the European Union as some kind of rival or competitor but as a partner. But of course it's important to note that this reset isn't instant and really what the Europeans are rather curious about is what exactly is it that

Keir Starmer has in mind for this reset? What is it that the UK wants? And I guess that's what we're going to find out over the coming months. That's interesting. So I guess anyone would warm to the mood music of better relations, closer relations, but they're there thinking, what's he after? Yes, absolutely.

Absolutely, because if you think about it, Sakhir Starmer said, look, Britain isn't rejoining the European Union, we're not going to join its main economic institutions, that's the single market and the customs union. So if you're an EU politician here, you're thinking, OK, well, what lies between reset and that? I mean, what exactly has it in mind? And I guess, I mean, I suspect that the equation goes something like this, that the UK is interested...

What it wants from the European Union is what it can get. And so what will be interesting is, you know, how much flexibility will the European Union show and just how close does the UK want to get? I think it's a sort of a dynamic process, if you see what I mean, Andrew, rather than something you could know right away.

Ukraine's obviously on the agenda. President Zelensky is there, also keen to secure good relations and continued support from Kyrgyzstan. Yes, absolutely. And it was a very clear message from President Zelensky, and that is, look, Europe, don't be bullied.

Don't be tempted by anything Vladimir Putin might offer. You've got to stick together. That is the only hope that Ukraine has. And I think he couldn't have made his message much clearer. And he also had a bit of a dig at the one European leader here who has visited Russia, that's Viktor Orban, the Hungarian leader, saying that that just was not helping Ukraine. What would help Ukraine is unity.

Rob Watson, today's meeting also playing host to some interested onlookers. One of them, leader of the opposition in Belarus in exiles, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. I'm here and I came here on the invitation of Prime Minister Kirill Shtarmar. I want the leaders to understand that Lukashenko is

threat, but Belarusian democratic forces are fighting for liberating our country from Lukashenko's regime, but also from creeping occupation of Russia. Then I want to raise attention again and again to the problem of political prisoners. The number of which is increasing every day in our country.

It's a crime against humanity. It's a problem not only for Belarus, but also for Europe because they lower the overall standard of human rights. I want the countries to see Belarus, democratic Belarus, as an opportunity because without free Belarus, there will be no free Europe.

That was Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. The weight loss drugs Zempik and Wegovy have boomed around the world after starting out much smaller as a way of managing diabetes. And now, the world's largest drug dealer, Zempik, has been able to do so.

As well as changing the way millions of people around the world use and view appetite suppressants, they've also completely changed one small community in Denmark, where Novo Nordisk, the drug's parent company, is based. Last year it made more than $12 billion in profits. Adrienne Murray reports. Stepping off the train in Kallenborg, a small port town with 17,000 residents, I'm greeted by a vast industrial site.

The factory complex is made up of grey, boxy buildings, but there's also temporary cabins, towering cranes and the beginnings of new concrete structures. An enormous expansion is underway. More than $8.5 billion is being spent right here. The local mayor of Kalimbor municipality, Martin Dam, takes me on a tour of Novo Nordisk's perimeter. We are the centre where the medicine starts.

About half of the world's insulin is produced at this site. It's also where semaglutide is made, the key ingredient for Wegovy and Zempik. Now you're coming into cream lane. The site is the size of 240 soccer pitches. Around 4,500 people are employed at the plant.

the plant and a further 1,200 roles will be added, he tells me. We have a rule of thumb. When you have one job inside the industry, you will generate three jobs outside the industry. Novo Nordisk's rising fortunes and growing corporate tax bill has also boosted local finances.

Callenbor has splashed out on a new public swimming area while a culture house and library are planned. Looking over it all, it's Cafe Costa, owned by New Zealander Sean Gamble. Drive through the building area and you just get surprised how massive it is for a small town. I think there's an excitement about what it's going to mean. I know in five years it will be totally different here in a good way.

Inside a hairdressing salon on the main shopping street, customer Gita Pedersen tells me she's optimistic about Kalimbor's future. It's very good for the town. You see a lot of shops have been closed. Hopefully they will open again. But she says many workers commute from elsewhere and the traffic is heavy. It will take half an hour just to get out of town. Sometimes I have to wait because I have to be in a queue and I don't like that.

Construction on the new highway to the capital begins in the new year, and more than 1,200 homes will also be built. In a small country of less than 6 million people, Neuropnordisk is now so big that it's having an outsized impact on the Danish economy, which grew four times faster than the European Union average. But strip away the drug giant, and it's a different story.

different story. Lars Olsson is the chief economist at Danske Bank. Last year, there was a 1.9% GDP growth in Denmark without the pharmaceutical industry that would have been exactly zero. The flood of US dollars from sales abroad has also resulted in cheaper mortgages here in Denmark. Denmark has fixed tax rate policy. Instead of leading to a stronger currency, it leads to lower interest rates.

The largest shareholder in the drugmaker is the Novo Nordisk Foundation, a non-profit organisation that funds medical treatment and research. Medda Pfeiffer is the vice president of the Danish Chamber of Commerce. If they were not owned by this foundation, I think actually they would not be Danish at this moment because they would have been sold. So this foundation structure gives us more stability and more patient investments.

The market for weight loss drugs is expected to be worth $100 billion annually by 2030. So the race to meet demand from this small town isn't about to let up anytime soon.

Adrian Murray in Denmark. South Korea's Supreme Court has upheld a ruling that same-sex partners are eligible for the same access to health insurance as straight couples. It ruled in favour of a couple whose state health insurer withdrew coverage because they were gay. And these were the cheers from their supporters as they appeared outside court.

One of the men behind the case said it was a step in the right direction. When I heard the ruling, I couldn't hold back my tears. And I hope that today's good news becomes a stepping stone towards marriage equality, allowing LGBT people equal access to use the marriage system.

Our Asia-Pacific editor is Mickey Bristow. This ruling concerns a gay couple in South Korea. Initially, the partner of one of the men involved was allowed to join the health insurance of his partner, but then the health insurer withdrew that, the case came to court, and the Supreme Court has decided whether or not this partner is able to share the health insurance

just as husbands and wives in straight couples do in South Korea. It's ruled in favour of the couple, saying essentially it would be discrimination if this health insurance was withdrawn purely on the basis of someone's sexual orientation. So that's the ruling. It's a very narrow ruling about a very specific case, but it perhaps will have further...

further implications. Yes, I was going to ask you about that. Do you think this indicates a direction of travel when it comes to things like same-sex marriage?

Yes, at the moment, same-sex marriages are illegal or not allowed in South Korea. But there has been a lot of pressure over recent years to push towards this. There have been a couple of bills introduced in Parliament which have failed to get through. But what often happens in other countries, in other places, in Taiwan this happened as well, is that sometimes minor legal issues such as this one raises questions which the court then resolves themselves.

in favour of a same-sex couple. And that then leads the political leaders to have to reassess a whole host of other legislation, perhaps to come to some agreement on whether to allow same-sex marriages. You can imagine there are going to be a whole host of people in South Korea, same-sex couples lining up to challenge

other legal rulings which have gone against them. So certainly people are hailing this in South Korea as one step towards more rights for LGBT couples. And quite a big bit of celebration going on among the LGBT community in South Korea as a result. A lot of celebration. The couple involved, they couldn't believe the ruling came in their favour. They were very, very happy about it. Mickey Bristow reporting.

Still to come, Haiti's interim prime minister announces emergency measures to combat the country's criminal gangs.

Gail Katz told friends she was leaving her husband, Bob, then went missing. On season one of The Girlfriends, Bob's ex-girlfriends came together to bring him down and seek justice. I can't believe this. Now on season two, host Carol Fisher is back, working to solve the mystery of another missing woman. It's almost like it's become this moral obligation to

Find her. Listen to The Girlfriends, Our Lost Sister on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search The Girlfriends, Our Lost Sister and start listening.

Today's the day Donald Trump is due to address the Republican faithful at their convention in Milwaukee. It's a coronation by a party united and confident, buoyed by Mr Trump's survival of the assassination attempt. Before Mr Trump's own big moment, eyes were on the former president's choice of running mate, J.D. Vance. The senator, young, new to national politics and proud of his credentials as a son of the blue-collar Rust Belt of Kentucky and Ohio, claimed in his speech at the convention...

that Trump was the last best hope for Americans. Listening was our North America correspondent, Nomia Iqbal. My name is J.D. Vance from the great state of Ohio.

Just two years, that's how long J.D. Vance has been in politics. And to now be standing here giving this speech, it's quite a remarkable twist of fate. And as one expects from a VP pick, he talked with a language of loyalty. Now prior to running for president, he was one of the most successful businessmen in the world. He had everything anyone could ever want in a life. And yet, instead of choosing the easy path...

He chose to endure abuse, slander and persecution. And he did it because he loves this country. With Donald Trump, loyalty is on another level, though. Mr. Vance has backed his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. But you can't help wonder, was Mr. Vance asked in his interview with Mr. Trump, will you overturn the election results if my opponent wins?

The last vice president didn't. Mike Pence isn't even at the convention. He's now a persona non grata in the party. Never in my wildest imagination could I have believed that I'd be standing here tonight. I grew up in Middletown, Ohio, a small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands, and loved their God, their family, their community, and their country with their whole hearts.

But it was also a place that had been cast aside and forgotten by America's ruling class in Washington. The working class background is very key for Mr. Vance. He found national fame with his memoirs about growing up in poverty in Ohio. It was a best-selling book, a Netflix movie. That appealed to Donald Trump, the showman, but also to blue-collar workers who are now a key part of the Republican base under Donald Trump.

Mr. Vance also backs isolationist policies when it comes to foreign issues and hardline positions at home. At each step of the way, in small towns like mine in Ohio or next door in Pennsylvania or Michigan, in states all across our country, jobs were sent overseas and our children were sent to war. But

But when promoting his book, J.D. Vance slammed Mr. Trump as a liar, said he considered him America's Hitler. All seems to be forgiven by the former president and lots of Republican delegates here. I forgive people every day and I hope they forgive me for some of the dumb things I say. But the bottom line is he's on board.

He's a great guy. He has a lot of talent. He's young, he's energetic, and he wants the American first agenda. He was a never-Trumper. Now he sees the consequences of the public policy that he's enacted, and he knows who he really is. And that's what J.D. Vance is supporting and recommending. J.D. Vance says his radical U-turn is because he saw the real Donald Trump. But maybe he also saw an opportunity.

John Adams, the first ever vice president of America, famously said, in this I am nothing but maybe everything. Perhaps Mr. Vance sensed where Mr. Trump's voters were and made a play for them. At 39 years, he has now positioned himself to one day be the young heir apparent of the Republican Party. Thank you. God bless all of you and God bless our great country.

We heard Jamie Vance talk about his background. He was born in Appalachia, a region in the east, depicted in his best-selling memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. Author and activist Nima Avashia is also from Appalachia, but she's no fan of Mr Vance, so she's been telling my colleague, Victoria Uwanunda. He describes the people of Appalachia as...

members of a white working class that is lazy, that doesn't want to work, that blames the government for their problems, and that effectively is to blame for anything that is wrong in their lives, that there is a culture of poverty in that community, and that as a result, they struggle because of their choices and their beliefs, and that they need to pull themselves up

by their bootstraps. I think the stereotypes that Vance executes, they are embraced by people on the left and the right because I think they make it so that no one has to be responsible for Appalachia.

When we cast this sort of single narrative and sort of single identity of Appalachia as one group of people, we exempt people in power from responsibility for taking care of all of the people in that region. His portrayal of the region where you come from, Appalachia, seems to show a place that doesn't

seem to have much diversity. And yet you're telling us here, Nima, that there is at least 20% of people of color. Give us a sense of what life as a non-white person in Appalachia is like, was like when you were growing up.

Yeah, I'm not going to romanticize it. There were parts that were hard. I certainly experienced discrimination and racism. Those were sort of very core parts of my growing up. And also, I grew up in a neighborhood where my white working class Appalachian neighbors loved me. They taught me how to drive. They taught my family how to garden. They showed up when my mom got injured and made sure that she had all the support that she needed. I've never been loved.

by people in the same way that I was loved in Appalachia. The way that Appalachian people extend care, their understanding of community, it is unparalleled. Nima Avashia talking to Victoria 100. And don't forget, you can hear all the best bits of Donald Trump's speech and our analysis of what he has to say to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in later editions of the Global News Podcast.

Let's catch up on events in Haiti now. You'll have heard us talking before about how criminal gangs have paralysed much of the country, especially the capital Port-au-Prince. Now Haiti's interim Prime Minister, Gary Conneal, has announced emergency measures to combat the gang's power. He's declared a state of emergency in 14 districts. He said this would allow the government to confront those he called bandits and restore the authority of the state. Here's Vanessa Bush-Luther.

Mr. Kaneel faces a daunting task. An estimated 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, is under gang control. The interim prime minister has described life there as a battle for survival. He has warned that retaking control of territory will take time. But he promised Haitian police, who have now been joined by 400 Kenyan officers, would drive out the gangs house by house, neighbourhood by neighbourhood. Half a million Haitians have been displaced by the gang violence.

While they will welcome the prospect of order being restored in their neighbourhoods, they will also want to see tangible results before considering moving back.

New research from Switzerland suggests the Earth is getting fatter as a result of climate change, as its girth at the equator increases and that affects the length of days. Researchers at Zurich's ETH University say rising sea levels are to blame, slowing down the speed at which the Earth spins. Here's Stephanie Prentice to talk us through the findings.

Well, Andrew, we do think of the Earth as completely spherical, but it's not really. It's slightly wider or fatter, as this research calls it, closer to the equator. Now, this study, which was based on observations as well as precise AI modelling, it says that melting of ice at the poles in the Arctic and Antarctica, it's causing that water to flow towards the equator.

making the Earth even wider there and having an impact on the speed it can actually turn. So in simple terms, more mass at the equator, the Earth turns more slowly and the days get longer. If that is confusing for anyone, let's listen to Professor Alan Collins. He works at the School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Scientists at the University of Adelaide and has his own way of explaining it.

You put more mass at the equator and it actually slows the planet down. It's like you've seen figure skaters, ice skaters, when they're very tight and they spin around and they're very narrow and they stand up straight, they go really fast. When they sort of crouch down, they slow down. It's exactly the same thing that's happening there. Now, when people get fat around the middle, it's bad for our health. Is it bad for the Earth?

Well, it is something various studies have been looking into over the past decade because it is something climate scientists have been worried about. But as it stands, the research says the increase in days is just a few milliseconds per century. But that said, the research suggested if emission levels aren't reduced, the impact of this could eventually end up being greater than the effect of a moon, which of course has been determining the length of days for billions of years.

The team also pointed out that these minor shifts have implications for things like precise timekeeping, important for things like space navigation. But really, crucially, they were keen to stress this shows that humans have a greater impact on the planet than many perhaps realise. And this responsibility really needs to be taken more seriously.

Stephanie Prentice. The Paris Olympics are just eight days away. Athletes around the world are making their final preparations to represent their country. That's something that's not always possible, though. The Olympic refugee team was first set up by the International Olympic Committee for the Rio Games in 2016. It represents the 100 million displaced people worldwide. Sarah Dawkins has been talking to just one of the 36 athletes selected to compete in Paris.

Here at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes, Great Britain's athletes are fine-tuning their serves and smashes before competing on the world's biggest stage.

But there is an athlete here today who will be representing a different team, the Olympic refugee team. I am Dorsa Yavarivafa. I am from Iran and I am part of the refugee Olympic team. I came in the UK about four years ago. The reason I left Iran is because of my mom's problems and issues in Iran. And because of that we had to leave because it was unsafe for us.

I had to leave my family, my friends, my badminton team and technically everyone I knew to start a new life. I did not speak any English. I learned English by myself in the UK by watching Netflix actually.

Since its creation in 2016, the team has grown from 10 to 36 athletes. Dorsa will compete in Paris alongside athletes from Syria, Cuba, Ethiopia and many other nations, all of whom have been forced to flee their home, but who are embracing the opportunity to compete together in the sports they love.

My dad introduced me to badminton. I immediately fell in love with it. It's the great community, great people that you meet from all over the world and it's just such a great sport to bring people together. My dad wasn't allowed to watch me play in Iran as it's a rule in Iran to not allow men to watch women play. Dorsa didn't see her dad for years until he joined her in England last year, sport eventually bringing them back together.

When my dad watched me play for the first time in 19 years and after the game we started hugging each other he said I'm really proud of you and that made me feel amazing. Olympics was always my goal to play, always and now achieving it is just such an unreal opportunity and I'm like I still don't believe it. I'm so excited to see the Eiffel Tower, I'm just excited for everything.

For Dorsa, who wears an Olympic rings necklace, the chance to compete in Paris means more than just sport. I think my story will say that no refugee is alone and we're all normal people. We should be treated how normal people is being treated and we are human. My long-term goal for all of this is...

keep the track on Olympics and also to hopefully join the Great Britain's team, which it would be amazing for me to do that and to just keep this going and make this my career. Sarah Dawkins reporting.

That's all from us for now. There'll be a new edition of Global News to download later. If you'd like to comment on this edition, drop us an email. The address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk or you'll find us on X where we are at globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Jack Wilfan. The producer was Mark Duff. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Andrew Peach. Thanks for listening and until next time, goodbye.

Gail Katz told friends she was leaving her husband, Bob, then went missing. On season one of The Girlfriends, Bob's ex-girlfriends came together to bring him down and seek justice. I can't believe this. Now on season two, host Carol Fisher is back, working to solve the mystery of another missing woman. It's almost like it's become this moral obligation to find her. Listen to The Girlfriends, Our Lost Sister, on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app.

and search the girlfriends are lost sister and start listening.