heute 19:00 Uhr vom 4.4.24 Bundeswehr-Reform, Nato-Jubiläum, Getreidetransport aus Ukraine (english)

Verteidigungsminister Pistorius will die Bundeswehr strukturell reformieren. Heute hat er eine neue Kommandostruktur vorgestellt. Diese und weitere Nachrichten des Tages in den ZDFheute Nachrichten um 19 Uhr.

English Subtitles
Today’s topics: Changing times – Bundeswehr on a new path; 75 years of NATO; Ukraine’s grain exports suffering; More news, including sports and the weather.

00:00 Vorspann

00:55 „Zeitenwende“ – Bundeswehr auf neuen Wegen
Bundesverteidigungsminister Pistorius will die Truppe mit einer strukturellen Reform effektiver machen. Die Bundeswehr soll kriegstüchtig werden – kommt nun die Wehrpflicht zurück?

03:18 Nato: Entwicklung des Militärbündnisses
Am 4. April 1949 wurde die Nato gegründet, um der sowjetischen Bedrohung zu begegnen – heute vor genau 75 Jahren. Generalsekretär Stoltenberg lobt heute den Gründungsvertrag.

04:56 75. Nato-Jubiläum in schwierigen Zeiten
Das Verteidigungsbündnis feiert heute 75. Geburtstag – und guckt gleichzeitig unsicher in die Zukunft. Die Ukraine soll weiter unterstützt werden. Doch was, wenn Trump US-Präsident wird?

07:11 „Auch Bedrohung aus dem Inneren der Allianz“
Am 75. Geburtstag erinnert die Nato in Brüssel heute vor allem an ihre Erfolge. Doch hat das Verteidigungsbündnis seine größten Kämpfe noch vor sich? Florian Neuhann berichtet.

08:41 Ukraine leidet unter fehlendem Getreideexport
Durch den Angriffskrieg ist der Getreidetransport weitgehend lahmgelegt. Die Ukraine will den Hafen in Mykolajiw wieder nutzen – doch dazu bräuchte es ein Abkommen mit Russland.

11:35 Zäher E-Auto-Absatz: Rückkehr zum Verbrenner?
Die Ampel will, dass mehr Menschen auf E-Autos umsteigen. Doch die Umweltprämie wurde zuletzt gestrichen. Ein Grund dafür, dass die Neuzulassungen im März um 29 Prozent einbrachen.

14:46 Der Pazifik und das Plastikmüll-Problem
Millionen Tonnen Plastikmüll gelangen jährlich in die Ozeane. Meeresströmungen treiben das Plastik in fünf Müllstrudeln zusammen. Die Strände der Osterinsel sind voll mit Abfall.

15:33 Mikroplastik-Gipfel auf der Osterinsel
Die polynesischen Staatschefs treffen sich auf der Osterinsel, um das Mikroplastik-Problem des Pazifiks zu lösen. Doch vor allem die großen Industrienationen müssen umdenken.

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Hier auf ZDFheute Nachrichten erfahrt ihr, was auf der Welt passiert und was uns alle etwas angeht: Wir sorgen für Durchblick in der Nachrichtenwelt, erklären die Hintergründe und gehen auf gesellschaftliche Debatten ein. Diskutiert in Livestreams mit uns und bildet euch eure eigene Meinung mit den Fakten, die wir euch präsentieren.

Abonniert unseren Kanal, um nichts mehr zu verpassen.

Immer auf dem aktuellen Stand seid ihr auf https://ZDFheute.de.

#bundeswehr #nato #ZDFheute

The nightly news with Barbara Hahlweg. Good evening and welcome to the news round-up this Thursday. Norbert Lehmann has the sports updates. Good evening. Let’s take a look at tonight’s topics. A new path for the Bundeswehr. A structure reform aims to make the troops more effective.

And compulsory military service is a topic of conversation once again. A birthday amidst a time of crisis. NATO is celebrating its 75th anniversary. At the same time, it’s turning a worried eye towards Russia and the USA. Three titles in one season? After winning one of the DFB Cup semi-finals,

Bayer Leverkusen is one step closer to taking home three titles. Two places demonstrated the importance of allies and defence today. In Brussels, the 75th anniversary of NATO was overshadowed by a threat from Russia. In Berlin, the federal minister of defence presented a plan to make the Bundeswehr combat ready.

Let’s start with the Bundeswehr. A centralised operational command is planned for the future. This will coordinate the army branches, including the air force, navy, and the new “cyber and information space”. Lars Bohnsack reports. For a long time, Boris Pistorius has been advocating to make Germany combat ready.

For this reason, the defence minister is proposing that the armed forces undergo a major structural reform. The Bundeswehr of our changing times should become more flexible, agile and efficient. We all know that the threat level in Europe has intensified. It needs to be clear to everyone

That we defend our country and our allies. In taking this step, we want to once again make it clear that it’s not a good idea to attack us as a NATO territory. Wars are waged not only on water, land and air, but increasingly in cyber and information spaces.

This is why we need to establish a separate armed force, called “CIR”. It’s urgently needed. CIR elevates the cyber sector to a separate branch of the armed forces. This makes it clear how much value we’re placing on it. It’s about future developments. It’s about how we want to position ourselves in the future.

There’s not expected to be resistance from the troops. But experts point to a Bundeswehr problem that remains unsolved. The lack of new recruits. What will the future of personnel look like? How will the Bundeswehr find enough people? It has fewer recruits than it wants at the moment.

This is linked with the question, or debate, about compulsory military service. The Ministry of Defence is currently developing various models for compulsory military service. It remains to be seen whether any would be able to garner a political majority. But the reform is not affected by this question.

It should take six months to a year to implement. NATO was founded exactly 75 years ago today to counter the threat posed by the Soviet Union. “Never before has a document with so few words meant so much to so many people,” said Secretary General Stoltenberg today about the founding of the treaty.

Delia Thomas reports on how NATO became the largest military alliance in the world. In 1949, the USA and Canada joined forces with ten European countries to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, or NATO for short. The alliance is growing. Its goal is the security and freedom of all alliance states.

During the Cold War, this primarily meant military deterrence towards the East. Jump to 40 years after its founding. NATO changed during the political upheavals in Eastern Europe. It offered countries partnership support without membership. Many later joined the security alliance, like Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

The Baltic states and many southeastern European countries followed. Russia saw this as provocation. East-West relations reached a new low in 2014. Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in the Black Sea. Putin then attacked all of Ukraine in February 2022. This prompted formerly neutral countries Finland and Sweden to seek membership in NATO.

Now in its 75th year, NATO is larger than ever before. There was a celebration in Brussels today which commemorated the importance of the alliance. Foreign Minister Baerbock described NATO as “a central anchor of security”. Secretary General Stoltenberg emphasised that NATO would not be sending troops to Ukraine. Ulf Röller reports on the celebration.

NATO began its celebration with a show of unity. The war in Ukraine has brought the alliance together. US Secretary of State Blinken represented the most powerful country, the USA. The election campaign there is in full swing. Donald Trump has questioned the alliance. Europe needs America for its security.

But a fair distribution of the burden is crucial. That’s why Europe is spending more money on defence. Members made a pledge from the beginning. One for all. The famous alliance clause, Article 5. Whenever the territory or independence of a member country is threatened, the others will come to its aid.

The celebration script was well thought-out. One Eastern European after another emphasised the importance of NATO and warned of the threat of Russian aggression. Unfortunately, NATO’s greatest battles still probably lie ahead of it. We have to be very much prepared for that. I couldn’t stand here as foreign minister of an independent Estonia,

Because we probably would have been destroyed by an attack from the East. Keeping Moscow in check is a common thread that runs through NATO history. Now Putin is waging war in Europe. The Ukrainian foreign minister gave NATO an unusual birthday greeting.

I don’t want to spoil the party, but I have a clear message. We need Patriot missiles. This air defence system saves the lives of our citizens and our cities. NATO is celebrating 75 years. Many were keen to steal a glimpse at the founding charter, as the alliance seeks to continue defending freedom.

The Lithuanian foreign minister said that NATO’s greatest battles still probably lie ahead. Florian Neuhann live in Brussels, is this the tone of the anniversary? One thing above all else is clear here. NATO is facing a double threat. Russia’s war against Ukraine from the outside. No one is ruling out the possibility

That Putin might target a NATO country on the eastern flank after a possible Russian victory. Then there’s a perhaps even more important threat from within the alliance. That’s whether NATO sceptic Donald Trump will win the US presidential election. There was one message in particular today.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg repeated it several times. He said that not only does Europe need the USA, but the USA also needs a strong European partnership. It needs NATO. This was Brussels’ message to the USA today. Thank you, Florian Neuhann. Russia bombs Ukraine everyday.

Kharkiv, a city of more than a million, was hit particularly hard today. A Russian drone set fire to a residential building. A 69-year-old resident died from injuries. Firefighters and helpers rushed to the scene of the attack. Then a second missile hit. Three rescuers died. The attacks also hit energy infrastructure, bringing significant consequences.

Hundreds of thousands of people are without electricity. Let’s look at one of the most important sources of income for the Ukrainian economy. That’s the export of grain. War has made transportation by ship more difficult. Grain has to instead be transported less efficiently via a land route

To the Black Sea or even as far as the Danube. Ukraine is now pushing to return to using its centrally located port in Mykolaiv. Much of its capacity is lying idle. But that would require an agreement with Russia,

Because Russian troops would have to open the sea route to the Black Sea to enable this. Henner Hebestreit reports. The Mykolaiv port has been sealed off since the beginning of the war. No captain can access the Black Sea or navigate the rivers

That used to transport Ukrainian crops from Mykolaiv to the world market. We’ve exported about 700,000 to 800,000 tons via the Southern Bug river, which flows through here. Then another two million tons exported annually via the Dnipro from the port of Mykolaiv. Since Russia’s attack, barges have not been able to bring grain

From inland to these huge silos in Mykolaiv. This grain silo has the capacity to hold a full freight ship’s cargo. Normally it would be full. But no grain is reaching the world market from here because of the war. Freighters are stuck here, waiting in vain for cargo.

But instead of ships, hundreds of lorries have long taken over transportation from all over the country to other ports. Because this makes Ukrainian agricultural products much more expensive, his company is pushing for Mykolaiv to be included in a new grain agreement with Russia.

This would reduce the cost of grain handling and improve the financial situation of farmers. The old agreement officially expired in July. It remains to be seen whether Ukraine and Russia will return to the negotiating table over Mykolaiv. More on the situation in Ukraine on ZDF “heute live” at 7:30 PM.

It’ll also ask whether Putin will launch a new offensive. It can also be seen in our app and on our social media channels. Right-wing extremist organisation “Combat 18 Deutschland” has been banned for four years, in part because of racist and antisemitic positions. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office is now charging four suspected ringleaders.

They allegedly continued the association and recruited new members. This was discovered during a raid on neo-Nazi networks. The German government wants many more people to switch to electric cars to protect the climate. They also gave environmental subsidies, which were cancelled unexpectedly in December.

This is one reason why fewer electric cars are being sold. New purchases even fell by 29% in March, as compared to the same month last year. Fabian Köhler reports. The K Union car dealership in Hannover has 25 locations in three federal states.

Norman Henning and his colleagues sell brands like Skoda, Kia, Renault and Dacia. The decisive factor for his customers is not the drive. Other criteria are important. First, customers want an affordable car. It doesn’t really matter if it’s electric, hybrid or combustion engine. Purchase price matters the most, according to a survey.

More than half of all Germans surveyed don’t want to spend more than 30,000 euros. Only 13% of respondents would prefer electric when buying a new car. Meanwhile, interest in petrol or diesel cars has risen again. According to the survey, that makes up 49%. It should be on the cheaper end.

When it comes to type of engine, between diesel, petrol or electric, I’m still a fan of the combustion engine. It’s not really about the brand for me. It’s more important that the price-performance ratio is right. Around 49.1 million cars are currently registered in Germany. 61.5% are petrol-powered. 28.8% are diesel-powered.

Purely electric cars make up only 2.9%. But there’s no new electric subsidy on the horizon. Creating a market with subsidies is not a permanent solution. We have to ensure that the auto market functions on its own as a market economy. The goal remains 15 million electric cars by 2030.

So far it’s only a tenth. The key issue that needs to be addressed over the next few years is lower purchase prices. Manufacturers also need to sell more electric cars to reduce their fleets’ CO2 emissions. In the end, it’s all about the price.

Statutory health insurance companies do not cover any of the so-called “IGeL” services, i.e. individual health services. But doctors are happy to offer them. The German government’s patient representative wants some of them to be banned, like an ultrasound for early cancer detection in women.

This offer is harmful, Schwartze says, because it often leads to false positive results. It also means unnecessary tests and procedures. The death toll has risen to ten following the severe earthquake in Taiwan. But there’s also good news. 70 miners trapped in two different tunnels have been rescued.

Rescuers have freed hundreds of people since the quake. But rescuers are worried about hundreds more, including tourists trapped in Taroko National Park. Many bridges and roads are no longer usable following the quake. We rarely look at the South Pacific. But the Polynesian heads of state are currently meeting on Easter Island.

Their topic is microplastics, which also has to do with us. It’s estimated that more than 11 million tons of plastic waste end up in oceans every year. Ocean currents drive the plastic together into five giant rubbish whirlpools. Easter Island is located right on the South Pacific garbage patch.

More and more waste and tiny plastic particles end up on its beaches. Most of it is already decomposing in the sea. Microplastics are created by the combination of UV light, wave movement and salt water. Christoph Röckerath reports on how the people on Easter Island are dealing with this situation.

Shortly after sunrise, when a reverent silence still hangs over Easter Island, volunteers led by Ludo Burns make their way to the beach. In an area where tourists usually lie in the sun, they mark out an area they want to clear of plastic particles that wash up here everyday.

Plastic is everywhere and brings consequences for the entire food chain. Some pieces show shark bite marks. Look, these are shark teeth bite marks. Corals immediately colonise plastic in the sea. That in turn attracts the first fish. As soon as small fish are on the plastic, big fish like sharks come to eat them.

But when they bite, they eat the plastic as well. Microplastic, with a diameter of less than 5 mm, gets into everything. It floats to the top of the bucket, allowing easy removal. After just over half an hour, they’ve cleared eight kilos from the small area alone.

A handful of volunteers cannot solve Easter Island’s plastic problem on their own, of course. But they want to show that everyone can do their bit, especially in places where the plastic that washes up here comes from. The island’s recycling centre has long been overwhelmed.

Much of the waste here comes directly from the sea and from major industrialised nations. They must change, the mayor of Easter Island demands. It is wrong to call a country “developed” if it produces garbage. A country is only really developed when it thinks about what it’s leaving behind for its children.

A remote island is drowning in the world’s plastic. The Moai statues always have their backs turned to the sea, as if they don’t want to see what’s washing up. From Easter Island to the DFB Cup, Norbert. Leverkusen now follows Kaiserslautern into the final. A confident 4:0 home win last night against Fortuna Düsseldorf.

The second-division team was outmatched in every way. The Bundesliga table leaders, on the other hand, put on quite the show. Leverkusen coach Alonso is savouring the moment. He’s teaching football, just like Günter Netzer once did. Florian Wirtz passes to the left to Adli instead of the right.

What an eye and what a game of switching fields. It was Adli’s fifth goal in the DFB Cup. It’s fun just to celebrate with the fans, to look at their faces and see how happy they are. The team transformed from runners-up to winners in the space of a year.

From “Neverkusen” to “Foreverkusen” in a season with three titles up for grabs. Our full focus today was just on today, not on three titles. I think that’s exactly how we approached the game. It was 4:0 in the end. It was Florian Wirtz’s first two-goal game. A perfect cup evening.

We showed up on the field, and that’s the most important thing. So far, we’ve done very well. The trainer in Germany with the best record and the best team in Europe. Düsseldorf didn’t stand a chance. Leverkusen is celebrating 40 games undefeated. In the German ice hockey championship playoffs,

Bremerhaven won its second semi-final game against Munich. Berlin’s Eisbären also beat Straubing in an epic match. Berlin celebrated victory after 111 minutes. It was the third longest game in the history of the DEL. The Straubing Tigers managed to tie the score shortly before the end of the third period after trailing 3:1.

The deciding goal only came in the third overtime after 111 minutes. US player Ty Ronning scored for Berlin. The Eisbären lead Straubing 2:0. They only need two more wins to reach the final. Now to the basketball Europe Cup. Despite a second leg defeat against Bilbao, Chemnitz has reached the final

And can now dream of winning their first title. They’ll face Istanbul in the final. After the serious fall of German professional cyclist Lennard Kämna yesterday in Tenerife, a serious accident occurred today on the Basque Country tour. It was two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard this time,

Who flew off the track during a curve and was taken to hospital with serious injuries. However, apparently he remained conscious. Race leader Primoz Roglic from the German team Bora-Hansgrohe was also injured and had to drop out of the race. The German eight is on course for the Olympics.

National coach Sabine Tschäge announced the team for the Summer Olympics in Paris today in Dortmund. She’s also counting on Hannes Ocik returning as batsman. After winning silver in Tokyo three years ago, the leading German boat has only been moderately successful.

Their first test comes next week at the Rowing World Cup opener in Varese. Thank you, Norbert. A bit of colour from the Allgäu region to end. A natural spectacle. A gypsum quarry pond near Füssen has turned completely purple. Purple bacteria are responsible.

They appear when there’s a lack of oxygen and a lot of sulphur in the water. You can even bathe in the purple water, if you want. It’s not harmful. Temperatures will climb starting tomorrow. Özden Terli has the details. Dunja Hayali hosts “heute journal” at 9:45 PM. Thanks for tuning in and goodbye.

See you tomorrow. Have a nice evening. WEATHER REPORT Good evening and welcome to the weather. An extreme weather event awaits us at the weekend. Temperatures of up to 30 degrees are possible. This mass of air doesn’t belong in Central Europe. You can see it travelling here from North Africa, filled with Sahara dust.

This Saharan dust can also cloud the air and actually lower the highest temperatures. But this mass of air has a lot of heat. It will feel like summer. But there will still be some rain and thunderstorms in the south. They’ll gradually subside.

Temperatures will drop to 7 degrees in the north and 11 degrees in the far west. Cloudy with rain clouds in the north tomorrow. Thunderstorms will pass through in the afternoon. Windy towards the North Sea and particularly stormy in some places. It’s a different story in the south, where the sun will shine.

Tomorrow will pass as a summer day. 24 degrees in the south, 13 degrees in the far north, Relatively warm elsewhere. It’ll get even warmer on Saturday with temperatures of up to 28 degrees. Only the Sahara dust could put a damper on things. Have a good evening.