in a wealth of insights totally different experts and whole fields of medicine were. in good shape. long do you believe. this is the w. news why but from berlin tonight it's a boy it's a girl or neither nor a landmark court ruling means that germany could become the first european country to offer a third gender on birth certificates it's being called a small revolution with the court saying that today's by mary gender choices

discriminate against intersex people also coming up in the u.s. voters elect the first openly transgender politician in virginia the democrat down to ram as alstad a pro trump incumbent republican democrats are celebrating a sweep of state and local election victories and paradise lost or fail will the latest mass leak of financial papers lead into a crackdown on tax havens we'll have an exclusive interview with the european union's tax chief pierre moscovici see. i'm bringing off it's good to have you with us germany could become the first european country to allow for a. third gender on birth certificates the country's top court today ruled that

present laws discriminate against intersex people now those are people who have a mixture of male and female sexual traits the court said that official documents should either recognize a third gender or remove gender altogether the change from binary gender choices to three choices is scheduled to take effect next year. i can hardly believe it the years of fighting for a third gender have finally been rewarded and. there are lots of places in society where there's a split between the sexes. so i have to ask myself again and again how do i define myself do i try to fit in or do i trust myself not to do so and how are people going to react and. it's an issue that directly affects vanya and around one hundred sixty thousand other intersex people in germany people who were born with

male and female features and whose gender can't be identified and that's where the problem starts so far it's only been possible to enter a male or female on the birth register or leave it open family has campaigned for a third category a third gender like into and the diverse the court is open the door to that although they've left the exact description open. as. they seek personal rights also protect the sexual identity of those people who don't define themselves as male female. the current law on civil status infringes on the prohibition of discrimination. just because it's not possible to enter anything other than male or female would have by plea he used the court has given lawmakers until the end of december twenty eighth seen to draft new rules. well how many transgender how many intersects people do you know if you've never met an openly intersex person the only encounter you may have had with the neither nor gender is

probably through the media t.v. for example is a social meet and greet or so is literature well my next guest won a pulitzer prize for his book middlesex that for really the first time gave high but brow treatment to a topic that became part of american pop culture i'm happy to welcome to the show jeffrey eugenides he joins us tonight from princeton university in the us where he teaches creative writing geoffrey lived here in berlin i think during the time when he was writing middlesex jeffrey it's good to have you on the show this evening i want to ask you what do you think based look at based on your time here in berlin what do you think it is about germany that made today's ruling possible what is it about germany i don't know i think there's a fair amount of free thinking over there when i wrote middlesex i was living in

shona lenin right stairs was the. sexual bit in shock. so there was a fair amount of. study and thought going into. what constitutes gender and different variations about it so i think this is something that you can trace back in germany to the one nine hundred twenty s. . you know investigations and now assists of gender and sexuality trying to figure out trying to understand how we can deal with it as a society so i would i would say that's probably why it's emerging in germany before some other countries and when we're talking about this if you have a gender variance not being forced to choose male or female we see that in the united states this topic can be politicized very quickly or just think about that controversial restroom law in north carolina that was aimed against transgender

identity how would you characterize the environment there in the u.s. where you are compared to germany when we're talking about this this notion of intersex identity well i think you see as in almost all of our cultural issues in america a great divide transgender rights intersexual rights have advanced. quite a great a great deal united states as has gay marriage and some of the other issues relating to sexually at the same time when there are advances there are push backs and you're seeing that in some of the other states in america so it's kind of a push pull that's going on here marriage is always. characterized by a certain amount of advancement and retrenchment so. you probably have few know

some of the same forces going on in germany i see it from the little bit i know about how the law is advancing i know this i'm up as asian from certain quarters one of them being the catholic church in germany so. you can imagine what it's like in america it's just an exaggerated form of probably the discussion your your i'm having in germany i want to talk a little bit about your book middlesex it dealt with a hermaphrodite and you know for our viewers out there maybe you aren't familiar with that we're talking about a person who may have the actual the sexual organs both a man and a woman and you write in the book about the the struggles of of that person would you say though that the world that you wrote middlesex in the beginning of this century basically compared to today would you say that those are two different worlds i mean would you be able to write middlesex the way you did back then would

you be able to write that same book today well first of all when you're talking about an actual living person i would only use the term intersexual or intersex hermaphrodite is really a term used in literature to refer to a mythical creature of both sexes it's not the preferred term for people who have any and of ambiguous gender indeterminate gender. i wrote the book and it came out in two thousand and two and has been part of this discussion if not initiating some of it. what i write the book again today i don't usually write about things. after the you know after they've become current i try to get ahead of the head of the ball in that way so i don't think i would write the book now because you've seen so much so much of a topic come out it would be less original less fresh and in a certain way there'd be less need for me to write it i don't think i write in

a different way because nothing has changed in terms of the look at what's in the book the book is a story about one one into sexual slifer and his family and his experiences growing up in detroit and the experiences of his grandparents and parents immigrating from asia minor to america sort of be no need to to change the book because fifteen years have passed but i am very surprised that of quickly. the issue has become in the mainstream with middle sex came out i used to have to explain the concept of gender identity to audiences. i spoke to people didn't even understand that gender could be. different and then once biological sex and the gender was on a continuum and this is not a binary it was was an idea that a lot of people hadn't considered before. things have changed quite rapidly since the book came out there was kind of a lot of resistance in two thousand and two when when the book came out and

a lot of people didn't want to read it they thought it was some kind of. story about a freak or something like that and so i'm happy that it contributed to a greater understand and any of what these people are like and what they go go through and you know i can only be happy to see that it's starting to have political ramifications and i want to ask you before we run out of time you've been quoted as saying there really is no other form that can describe how people are thinking as well as the novel can. maybe i'm going to ask you to brainstorm for a second here where this describe the novel you think that could be inspired by the events that happened today that this court ruling in germany is there a novel that could come out of that. this is possibly a novel that and come out of it it won't be my novel so i don't know that i want to brainstorm it perhaps you could write

a story from the point of view of someone. in germany whose interest second cooks who is fighting for this change to do the designation i don't know of you know there's as many stories about intersex people as there are about regular people each story would be different i've always approached the topic not in a. analytical way or in a stereotypical way i think each person is different each person's story is going to be going to be different and i wouldn't try to encapsulate everyone's experience intersex or not in a novel is there's no sense and in generalizing about the particular areas particularly for people's lives pulitzer prize winning author jeffrey you do these joining us tonight from the princeton jeffrey thank you very much we appreciate your time tonight thank you. well in the

united states democrats are celebrating victories in several closely watched state and local elections a year into donald trump's presidency the polls are being seen as a test of voter opinion trumps republican party was dealt a major setback in the state of virginia where democrat ralph northam has been elected governor northam never the decisive victory over republican ed gillespie who had attacked him on divisive issues such as immigration gang crime and confederate statues the democrats also won the race for governor in new jersey and scored well in local elections scattered across the country. billabong the democratic victors in those regional elections is set to become the country's first openly transgender state legislator tour danica rehm is a thirty two year old journalist in virginia where she alstad

a pro trump incumbent take a look. down the corridor and celebrating a historic victory in virginia. now tell me is she the first openly transgender person elected to a u.s. state that just that she also defeated a staunch the conservative republican to get the musher had sponsored legislation seeking to restrict which bathrooms transgender people can use but it was algae champion road who came out on top. yeah i am a transgender woman everyone because i am a translator and because i am a reporter because i am a white pointed resume now because of my i am here and identifiers like despite that i never ran away from them i championed one of rahm's campaign ads showed how putting on makeup and taking home. but while growing food for representation for the trans community it was not the focus of her campaign instead she sought votes

with ideas on how to solve local infrastructure issues. traffic congestion doesn't care what your generated is traffic congestion doesn't care what your sexuality is just doesn't care what your race is traffic just doesn't care or your traffic congestion hates everyone because the church of congested everyone gets stuck at. rome has at times seemed frustrated by the amount of attention paid to have gender identity. it shouldn't be a revolutionary act to say this is who i am this is why i am well qualified for all the long time local reporter and as a lifelong resident of the district i'm running properties that it's bigger of listener to have to say like and i'm transgender. wants the celebrations are over the hard work of office begins rome wants to make the journey a more inclusive but not before she saw that traffic congestion.

your good luck with the traffic in northern virginia all right there's new outrage over tax avoidance following those recent paradise papers that leak now that you used top politicians were pushing through measures to stop it day yeah and it's been a long time coming as well brant the commissioner. says member states can and will do much more to fight tax havens a top priority is the creation of a blacklist to name and shame jurisdictions that cater to wealthy firms and individuals. yet the e.u. has been working for two years on similar measures with limited success consensus remains a challenge especially among members with low tax rates of their own. and joining me now is the man him self a use commissioner for economic and financial affairs pia moscovici good evening thank you very much for coming in you've said that the e.u. must seize the opportunity to make a credible blacklist of tax havens what counts as a tax haven for attacks even is

a country which fulfills three criteria first a country which does not respect the global standards of governance of the set in what we call beds procedure from the us you second a country would not have automatic exchange of information on the readings or all simply on the personal accounts and third country which as zero tax rate as far as corporate taxation is concerned about zero tax rate is a very high above the low and some would look to a you member at least for the moment written as being the no now you know member state is a tax even if you look at those criteria then you've got to examine that as. an objective because there's a british crown dependency with a zero percent you know you are talking about something different i'm talking about you if you talk about the u.k. country you know well the u.k.

is not a tax even and the country on the country is very prominent actually fighting dogs for the tax evasion but there are some crown dependencies all the territories which are associated to the crown or to the u.k. which are screen that will take another example that drizzy which is the isle of man i have designed. for your wall so for jack the way to stacks to the isle of man and i expect risk. bounces and if the responses are not satisfactory then we will have an estrangement procedure and this island is also cremated taking the easy route between good because really because the u.k. sounds like a fun job these sounds like an excuse in order to not be tough with member states like britain imo although not point five percent tax rate is i don't really love don't be upset with u.k. i learned as a country was

a low tax rate but there is suffering on tax rates but it's not zero it's twelve point five and when it's not respected which was the case with upul then we consider that it is a state aid that's what my colleague margaret decided so coming back to the blacklist if we've got those criteria and they are severe enough much more severe than the o.e.c.d. quote syria. i have three messages first it must be delivered fast we must have this blacklist before the end of two of them seventeen it will be the first time ever that we have a european background his second we need to have a credible blacklist of a critical blacklist as more obviously than one territory or non-corporeal jurisdictions all countries which are. following those criteria is considered tax even must be listed and food you cannot have a credible list if you don't have credible sanctions appropriate sanctions and that's what we're working on yesterday that was the council in brussels we made

good progress i think that with the parties paper scandal the ministers the governments few of that they need to deliver the commission is there push them to deliver the public opinion is there to push them to deliver the media here to what was a deliberate of them coming out in the midst of this commission president john paul younger has been remarkably quiet over the last few days and i put it to you that the commission has zero credibility to handle this issue of tax avoidance because after all he the commission president is accused of encouraging tax avoidance when there was a prime minister lesson that absolutely force this commission has done more on fighting back through the tax evasion than all the commissions in the previous twenty years you know if you employ you don't think it had wait a minute it's not due to the fact that this or that person ids here due to the fact that we are in the new when the new area new period which is

a period of transparency i have proposed that i am the tax commissioner and i've got full trust of drunken younger i act in these names i have proposed eleven proposals directives among them six have been adopted which is not that easy if you consider what is the rule of unanimity inside the e.u. we have the best treating ever for a commission chose to commissioners my colleague not going to and myself who are really i think a team which is dedicated to find the text of massive tax avoidance you know you can all say that in two thousand and three he encouraged amazon to put it in tax base in luxembourg i'm talking about the president of the committee. and dr you are president of the commission and this commission we are i can say that quietly but very confidently the champions of fighting tax fraud and tax evasion we talked about this is a commission proposal i will mention two other proposals the one is the first one

is that i think that the activity of those intermediaries legal advisers. fiscal advisors banks it must be made transparent to the next administration and the third one is that we have already established a country by country reporting this is one of the six directives i mentioned but between tax administrations i would like it to become public i think there is no a position between investment which we want to protect the event you want to look at her and say yes because transparency if you want to see is the only way to tackle with those phenomena is if we can reach our goal but when you are addressing it when you're looking for how will this affect the average person in europe who is watching this right now if you do manage to get what you want and close these tax loopholes and blacklist these tax havens i think that what we are attending now

with those parties papers which is a scandal but probably those practices are mostly legal but they are not moral this cannot be possible why because it exists only because it is even and certainly it is revealed if it is transparent if it is public it is not possible anymore you know all those people all those structures all those companies all those states which today named and shamed after the brothers' paper if their activity would be immediately made public then they would be much much more for that's why transparency is the massive destruction weapon against tax evasion against tax aggressive tax planning. and that's why this commission is so so strong on for the you could commission right and you mention the threat to the potential threat of sanctions what are we talking about here are we talking about fines directly for a few who try and squirrel away their money in tax havens are we all it's ok

because unless there's a significant legal threat they're going to continue to say tax avoidance is a misdemeanor we're not talking about firms we're talking about the states when you have a blacklist of tax even if you're talking about the states or territories we've mentioned some of them getting to the ground but there are those states will be which will be used to denote that we will have a very strong list strong by pleased the sanctions must be linked to our own capacity to their own linkage with the union i would mention for example well create deals or multilateral or bilateral agreements that we have with them that can be suspended but the best thing should the strongest action is name and shame ok i really mean nobody nobody will like to be there and in one word are we now finally going to see significant change and cracking down on tax havens under your leadership in this case it's not up to me to

decide that you know the commission as a prominent role because we have the monopoly of the initiative and we have taken so many just as i mentioned three of them and believe me if they become decisions that would be different but but the ball is in the camp of the member states it's up to them to decide they have to decide they have to deliver. and everything they have to deliver but the end of this year two thousand and seventeen is the year pierre moscovici thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us today. a new set of challenges could be set to hit european carmakers the e.u. commission is proposing another thirty percent cut in vehicle emissions the new rules could impose massive penalties on car makers who don't comply that's left german carmakers in particular on it a new study shows several auto manufacturers are already having trouble meeting existing targets. there and more of the

reducing greenhouse gas emissions while still keeping the e.u. car money is competitive that the e.u. commission's plan for the future of the european car industry this is not only good for the planet but also for our pockets the commission wants a thirty percent reduction in carbon emissions from cars and vans by twenty thirty compared to twenty twenty one barb's they first want to see it to fifteen percent reduction by twenty twenty five the proposal also offers incentives for the production and sale of electric cars environmentalists and car manufacturers a light had waited with bated breath to hear these plans and the commission says they're designed to please both sides. this proposals is ambitious but this is realistic that ambitious they are defective and basis but not this optimism about many on topic environmentalists were hoping for a quota on the number of clean energy vehicles comic is how to produce and have

been left angry by reports that the proposal was watered down to intervention from german condo b s this is a good early christmas present from president to the to the cut german car industry that the targets which have been proposed are highly on ambitious but most importantly the proposed zero emission vehicle it's all gates has been completely removed from the proposal off the direct lobbying by the german car industry this is a huge disappointment the proposal still needs the green light from the european parliament and even member states several of whom say year it needs to accelerate reforms if its car industry wants to stay competitive in a fascinating market. and its only business and film fans here in the morning yes this day for the james bond film fans the only german bond girl the actress carving door has died she was seventy nine and or gained international fame in the

alfred hitchcock film topaz in one thousand nine hundred sixty nine and she met her end at the hands of the super villain blow fell in the one nine hundred sixty seven bond movie you only live twice. well. you got to watch out for those trapdoors door also had a cult following in germany for her roles in the video two movies she passed away in bavaria. after a short break we'll be back to take you through the day stick around for that.

entered the conflict zone there are plenty of strong views about the muslim brotherhood several arab states have declared them a terrorist organization my guest here in amman jordan is a team of tabu she's an m.p.

for the islamic action from the political wing of the brotherhood forced king abdullah right to accuse them of being like wolves in sheep's clothing you know for in sixty minutes called the w. e w's program guide on the internet the highlights. the whole. d.w. dot com highlights. their black and living in germany. she's reminded what that means on a daily basis presenter john updike is nothing i wanted to belong to and i was gonna. take a holiday group and be you know different than the ones. she travelled across germany to meet other black people and to hear their stories. it's that. i grew up in a white family in a white neighborhood it was definitely

a challenge. she decided to put me up for adoption. sort of. the main thing was to keep your head down can your mouth shut of course of the face like this i could never completely disappear if you see all of these stereotypes about africa if you could see if. you do something for your country but you're still the black guy it's well thought out. afro germany starting december tenth w. . gender and a step beyond by an area today germany's highest court ruled that sex is about more than a man and a woman. there are lots of places it's split between the sexes. so i have to ask myself again and.