>> this is giddily news from berlin. obama and putin face-off. and disagreements over the rolled serious government should play in ending the war there. also coming up, in what is described as a massive assault, the taliban seizes quintess in northern afghanistan. residents say they have reached the city center. " this be the source of life on the red planet -- and could this be the source of life on the red planet? flowing water was discovered on the terrestrial planet.

♪ i'm sarah kelly. welcome to the program. a cold war of words and even where united states and russia squared off on how to resolve the syrian conflict, that has caused hundreds of thousands of lives, spawned a refugee crisis, and facilitated the rise of the islamic date. barack obama has said that bashar al-assad cannot remain in power for the long-term, but vladimir putin argues his forces must play a role in bed pushing i.s. -- vanquishing i.s. >> at the center of the debate, how to bring an end to the war in syria. barack obama said that assad cannot stay in office, but that the u.s. was ready to coordinate

with two of his most powerful supporters to an end for the conflict. president obama: the united states is committed to finding an end for the conflict. but we must recognize that there cannot be after so much bloodshed, it so much carnage, a return to the prewar status quo. >> russian president vladimir putin used his speech to call for a broadening coalition, including muslim station -- including muslim states, and he criticized the u.s. for not supporting assad's forces. brian: we believe -->> we believe it is a huge mistake not to coordinate with those fighting terror face to face. no one but assad's forces and kurdish militia are truly fighting the islamic state in

syria. >> iranian president ron -- president rouhani also pointed a finger, saying afghanistan was part of the problems in the region. >> we are prepared to bring about democracy [no audio] using arms. competing visions among world powers could mean no end to the clashes insight in syria. >> let's bring in richard walker, standing by in new york. richard: a real clash today at the united nations. -- richard, a real clash at the united nations. richard: yes, they seemed as if they had different versions of what is going on in the world.

the two men had lunch with ban ki-moon after their speeches. many observers were looking for hints for the way forward in their relationship. as you said, competing positions that were totally different. obama portrayed putin as a strawman that leaves might is right and -- strongman that believes might is right and that bigger countries can push around smaller countries. whereas vladimir putin launched a blistering attack not just over the situation in ukraine or syria, but the last 25 years of u.s. foreign-policy ever since the cold war. he pretty much said that the united states has abused its position as the sole global superpower, that it had invaded countries and fermented revolutions with no regard to what would happen after those things happened.

it was an attack that went way beyond the confines of the situation in ukraine or syria right now. sarah: it was a dynamic that hearken back to the cold war itself. we have this meeting coming up a little bit later today between obama and putin and all of this is not been well for that. richard: he doesn't seem to, does it? there was one line in vladimir putin's speech that really struck me when we think about compromise, and that was one where he was referring to critics who say that russia is just trying to boost its global ambitions. and he said, no, it is not about that. we just look at the current state of the world and we cannot tolerate it and we have to step in. the essential mess is, look at the mess barack obama has made of the world and we will -- the essential message is, look at the mess barack obama has made of the world and we will have to step in and clean it up.

there certainly will be a lot of critics coming out if that does happen. and the sense in new york is extremely strong. something really has to give on syria. that was the message coming from ban ki-moon at the beginning of the morning, and also the message that american tv viewers are getting when they see the flow of refugees flooding into europe, and of course, the message the u.s. is getting from its allies. there is a clear sense that something has to give him a that u.s. policy is not working so far, it policy of only according certain rebels in syria is not working. that is the pressure on obama on both sides. it will be interesting to see if the two men can put their rhetoric aside and find some form of cooperation. sarah: richard walker following the story for us from the human in new york, thank you. a three-pronged surprise attack.

tonight, afghanistan's militant taliban control the city center ofkundis. in doing so, they has released hundreds of prisoners and routed the government, who have fallen back to the city's airport. when lieutenant in the taliban reports that will soon fall as well. >> taliban fighters were already celebrating their victory on the outskirts of the city. by this time, they had already captured armored vehicles. the attack had begun. later, they celebrated in central kundis, calling themselves the emancipator's. one man said that they will once again rule under sharia law. the fight has tracked civilians in conflict zones. the area has long been known as

the taliba stronghold, but the assault seemed to take afghan security forces by surprise. four hours a try to -- four hours they tried to fight back, and believe they would be successful. >> refight that in -- we fought back and defeated them in many locations. i'm sure we will be victorious. >> but later, the taliban wasted their flag over the city center where they have already released their fighters. this archived footage shows the military camp where the german army with through from afghanistan to years ago. now the afghan army and police forces are organizing their next -- their next operation here and the fighting is set to continue. sarah: let's switch gears and go over to our business desk now, where ben sizzlin will be speaking to the man whose organization blew the vessel on

both -- blew the whistle on volkswagen. ben: volkswagen's luxury brand audi has been rigged into this -- roped into this. the scandal over rigged emission tests shows no sign of abating they equipped vehicles with devices that enable them to cheat on emissions test. meanwhile, a criminal investigation into what the former ceos role was in the whole affair. today, we have an exclusive with the man who has been waiting for this moment for decades, the cofounder of the international council for clean transportation. you have been trying to set up regulations to avoid executive, the cheating full, for how long? >> for close to 30 years. the devices have gotten more

complicated. ben: it is a question of technology changing, allowing this to be detected. how long have you known this has been going on at volkswagen, for example? >> is not just volkswagen. many cars are sent to test it back. ben: why have really now heard about volkswagen and now it's brand, audi? >> this was published in the united states as well in new york. all of the cards have too much carbon dioxide and it is not allowed. it is caused by 80% easel cards.

-- diesel cars. ben: you have been telling regulars for decades that this cheating is going on. why haven't they listened to you? >> had good legislation in 2009. it literally says that we will get new testing on the roads. but i do not think it is enough. we need independent testing, not in the hands of the manufacturer. and it is very strange now. a big truck has such regulations for one year and now it is cleaner than a car sometimes. it has fewer emissions than a car. this shows what is possible if we have the right legislation. ben: at the same time, technology has helped you in this. what about the corporate site? because these big carmakers have

big lawyers. >> there are a number of people who change from government to car industry. and we had an alliance between france, germany, and italy in this case, all the big car producers. i think we have about more people working for the environment. ben: it will be interesting to see how this game plays out. >> most countries in the world follow european legislation. ben: thank you very much. let's go over to our markets man in frankfurt. he has been following this story extremely closely as well. we've heard the great -- we've heard the latest now, ali, that

audi has been roped into this affair. tell us about the market reaction, because i imagine it is negative. ali: you're right about that. the dpw taking automotive shares down with it. and there were other losers like deutsche bank and utilities. but the carmakers are clearly spoiling the mood here, at least at the beginning of the second week in a row. [no audio] go on seemingly for years. bosch, the big german supplier, it warned in 2007 and there was an employee that warns in 2011, and it still went on. ben: could this scandal drive volkswagen into the ground? a legal and it is hard to say at the moment because nobody knows the final tab -- all he: a --li:

it is hard to say at the moment because nobody knows the final cap. it can raise capital, cut investment. and it can sell its commercial vehicles. if that is not enough, that would be about 60 billion, then there are further companies that can sell like porsche before it gets down to the core of the company. but nobody knows how large the cap will be at the end. that is -- how large the tab will be at the end. ben: thank you very much for talking to us from frankfurt. sarah: many thanks. you are watching dw news. still to come on the program, it is far too salty for humans to drink, but it could well sustain

some kind of life. flowing walter -- flowing water is discovered on the red planet. we will tie about nasa's incredible discovery. and we will be talking about the details of an historic event in germany 25 years on. keep it here.

sarah: welcome back. a face-off at the u.n., russian president vladimir putin tells the general assembly it is a huge mistake not working with the syrian government forces to oust islamic state. u.s. president barack obama counters, saying the west is willing to work with all countries to resolve the syrian conflict except for the government of bashar al-assad. we are the people, the rallying cry in the autumn of 1989. hundreds of thousands of citizens of east germany took to the streets to demonstrate against dictatorship.

it was a peaceful revolution that brought on the wall and pave the way for german reunification. check the call realized it was a -- the chancellor realized it was a unique opportunity to bring the country together again. in september of 1990, they signed the two plus four treaty, too much jubilation. now 35 years after the end of the war, germany has regained unification. this year, germany marks the 25th anniversary of that historic event. we will be looking at the various aspects of the process. you can use the hash tag #germanreunification. a survey asked people if a unified germany has been to their advantage or disadvantage. overall, more than half of people say they have benefited

from reunification, and 51% of those surveyed in western germany were convinced it had a positive impact. in eastern germany, 67% were positive, but not everyone agreed. 17% in both east and west said it had a negative impact. we went on to ask several follow-up questions to find out just what sort of princes remained between east and west. here is more. >> a favorite spot for holiday shop -- holiday hotshots. remittance of the berlin wall -- remnants of the berlin wall. germany has spent 2 trillion euros on reunification. >> you cannot sum it up in marks or euros. we are happy to be reunited, no matter the cost. >> reunification cannot be expensive enough. we are glad to be reunited.

we are from the east. >> when you see how negative the second buildings are here, it already costs too much. >> in western germany, about half the population think reunification has been too expensive. in eastern germany, that figure has been just 37%. but germans are proud of their piece or -- peaceful revolution in 1989. 82% think that germany is a role model for other countries. a large majority consider german reunification successful, if not fully complete. 64% of western germans think reunification is not yet finished. and 77% of eastern germans share that opinion. >> not yet completely.

i think there are a lot of points where we can grow further together. >> no, but we are well on the way. >> i personally think we are fully reunited. >> for the children of berlin, the wall memorial is something they pass on the way to the playground. they can hardly imagine that germany once was separated by a wall. sarah: i'm joined from washington by the executive director of the transatlantic academy of the german marshall fund there. the majority of germans think reunification was a good thing. you are someone who closely followed events at the time. do you agree with them? >> yes, i think they are correct. it is great to have a unified and peaceful and democratic germany, and it is very important for europe to have a successful core at the heart of

a continent that is having a lot of problems right now. i would also say there is a recent poll here in the united states by the pew foundation that found that 75% of americans think that a reunified germany is a reliable partner. there is a great feeling that it was a huge success here as well. sarah: when we look at the way reunification was conducted and we approach it with a critical eye, what could have been kit -- what could have been done differently? >> have to separate the diplomacy of german unification, which had to occur very quickly in part because east germany was collapsing, but also because the west germans realized that gorbachev and chevron ozzie might not -- and shattered not see -- might not stay in power very long. i think they moved much too

quickly and as a result there was a high cost to pay. the point that many people are making is that it has taken at least 15 years for germany to really be unified. only now after the troubles that were -- at least 25 years for germany to be really unified. only now after the troubles that occurred are we going to see what germany will look like in the next 20 to 30 years. sarah: for those who do not think it was such a great thing, many feel it cost so much money and a lot of people say this not even up to scale right now. that there is still work to be done. sarah: i think that is -->> i think that is right. part of the problem is that there was a desire to bring west german state is to the east -- to the east germans too quickly. and a lot of the advantages that they had in terms of the wages, for example, were not there. and so they just kept moving

east and went to places like: and the czech republic -- poland and the czech republic. you see a lot of underpopulated, or depopulated areas where a lot of the younger people are moving to the west. it has been a mixed success. i think the economics of it could have been handled much better. sarah: perhaps a little bit of work to be done. thank you very much from washington for your insight. we appreciate it. in other news, it is not exactly [no audio] nasa says it has found liquid water on the red planet, which is critical for living organisms to drive. the space agency as that the discovery is revolutionizing our understanding of the planet. >> is one of the most exciting

discoveries in years, one that could revolutionize our understanding of our solar system and mankind place within it. are we alone in the universe? nasa scientists have found new findings that could help answer the question. >> mars is not the area question -- the area plant we thought -- the area, dry planet we thought it was in the past. >> scientist say these images from the orbiter appear to show water flowing down a martian slope. the product meaning that life today could exist on the red planet. a mission to mars could soon get off the ground. >> in today's announcement of a really fascinating results of current water on mars is one of the real -- one of the reasons why i feel it is very imperative we send scientists to mars to

explore the question of whether there is current life on mars. >> source of the water remains a mystery. scientists are unsure if it is melting water, and underground reservoir, or melting water vapor from the atmosphere. but we are closer than ever before to finding out whether a planet once found -- once thought dead is very much alive. sarah: in soccer, group stages resume on tuesday with bundesliga taking on barcelona. roger smith side head to spain in the hope that barcelona's injury woes will be there chance to grab much-needed points. >> barcelona is coming to terms with the loss of their star forward, the four-time award-winning player of the year will be missing for up to eight weeks after suffering a tear in

his medial ligaments at the weekend. >> a player like liam messi is irreplaceable, but we will keep battling. >> luis suarez and others will be picking up the slack against the labor team that has hit top form at just the right time. >> it's a very intense team, 18 that defends rick -- a team that defends very well and presses a lot, and is physically very strong. they have performed well at the champions league's can cause is quite a few problems. >> the reigning champions league winners will be looking to take all three points off of the visiting team to get their campaign underway after drying against roma last time out. sarah: it is going to be a tough fight there. a reminder of the top stories we are following at the top of the

hour. this --dis-united nations. vladimir putin is urging working with the syrian state, but president obama says he is a tyrant and refuses to work with his regime. kabul confirmed the collapse of government efforts to defend the city of kundis in afghanistan. you're watching dw. see you next time. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

b;b;ñ

hello, and welcome to focus on europe, with some of the very best stories about how europeans really live. i'm damien mcguinness. thanks very much for joining us. on today's show -- why albanians want a better life. why greek miners want a new government. and the english lady who's saving the turtles of turkey. europe is in the middle of a crisis, faced with unprecedented numbers of refugees and migrants. most are heading here to germany, which is positioning itself as a sort of humanitarian superpower, ready and willing to take in those fleeing war and conflict.