but his term is due to end. eu leaders are debating over who to succeed him. german chancellor angela merkel and french president emmanuel macron are at odds over this issue. let's take a look at what makes ththe job ofof european commissn president so important. number one, the european commission proposes legislation, so the president has a very powerful role in shapingng laws that affect the entire eu. also important the commission president appoints the eu commissioners. with one commissioner from each member state, the president decides who is in charge of what. who is responsible for trade,

migration, energy and so on. it's take a look at the front runners. first there is germany's manfred weber. he is the leading candidate for the largest group in the parliament, the conservative european people's party. backed by german chancellor angela merkel. and then there is frans timmermans from the socialist and democrats in the apartment. he is calling for more social justice in the eu. and then there is margrethe vestager from denmark. her alliance gained 40 seats in the election last week. she has the backing of emmanuel macron. it is a complicated picture. we are hoping that max hofmann can clear things up for us a little. good to see you. it seems like there is a lot of disagreement in the eu over this question. max: and like you said, it is extreme he complicated. we could not even talk about a 10th of what is going on if you think about all the different countries and interests.

north, south, social democrats, liberals, conservatives. but the true frontline we have right now you mentioned it is between angela merkel and emmanuel macron. angela merkel is supporting this process which is called, and you explained it. i know it is a terrible word but it basically says that only those who have officially been lead candidates for the group in the european parliament and eventually be elected to become president of the european commission. and ththere are not that many there. notably manfred weber, the head of the group of the conservatives, the largest group in the european parliament. a lot of people said they could support him, especially angela merkel. but emmanuel macron when coming into the european council did mention a couple names, but he noticeably did not mention manfred weber. so that is where the clash is and this could take a while. sumi: it could take a wild with all of this wrangling.

when can we expect a decision? max: at the earliest, optimistically speaking, maybe at the end of june. this is when we have the next summit here. all the leaders will come back together. it is important because the european parliament, the new european parliament will convene for the first time at the beginning of july so will be practical to have a solution then. but many think it will not work out that quickly. you have strong forces now which were not strong that earlier. a right-wing populist party in italy that might complicate things in the parliament, but also on the leaders level. so it is hard to say. some pessimists say in might take until november or the end of the year. so, beyond november to sort this out. sumi: max hofmann for us in brussels with the latest. thank you. germany's established parties lost voters in the country's european elections. now the head of germany's conservative cdu party has

questioned whether opinions expressed on the internet ahead of elections should face regulation. and as you can imagine, that has provoked quite a backlash online. our reporter rebecca ritters has been looking into this for us. tell us what was said that was so controversial. rebecca: it was sparked by a video that has been making the rounds, it was washed widely before european elections on the weekend, called the destruction of the cdu. it was made by a 26-year-old german for longer. -- vlogggger. it wasas signed by y over 70 influential youtubers. the video criticized the cdu and called for vototers to boycocote party. it also called on them to boycott their coalition partners, the social democrats. it was also very critical of the alternative for germany, the far right party, but the video really focused on the cdu. its main thesis was that the german coalition government was

out of touch with younung voter, especially onn issssues surroung the enenvironment. itit w was v viewed m more than1 millllion times in thehe lead uo the e election. we know post-election how badly the cdu did. really historic losses, the worst results since world war ii. and speaking in response to that, akk, she criticized the video and questioned the regulations around influencing political opinion on the internet. we have a clip of what she had to say. >> the question and it shaping public opinion is what are the rules for the analog realm anand which rules should apply to the digital realm. we will tackle this discussion quite aggressively. sumi: so she's talking about rules and regulations. rebecca: and she faced a massive backlash. she has backed down from some of

those comments but it created quite a stir on social media. sumi: tell us about mr. on twitter. rebecca: it has unleashed a storm, the top three trending hashtags on twitter are all surrounding this. one user reply directly to a tweet from akk saying the destruction of the cdu is a party of the democratic center, with a statement like that you are destroying yourself. even traditional supporters have been ruffled i the incident. this one said as a longtime cdu voter, i am shocked how you deal with opinions and digital media. such statements show the cdu is not able to lead our country into the digital future and is not a viable choice for me anymore. some pretty strong words. one analyst broadened it out to other countries that have censorship. she wrote, where else are they trying this approach? right, egypt, where influencers with more than 5000 followers are controlled by the

government. probably not an example to follow. the backlash has been fierce, despite her backing away from those comments. sumi: it was just a suggestion to talk about the kind of online debate ahead of elections. how realistic is it that germany could change as laws on this? rebecca: pretty unlikely. there is not much support for it and her party, probably none. even if there were, she is governing in a coalition with social democrats. the general secretary of the social democrats to size the comments as absurd. other parties have also criticized it. even members of her own party have come out. the cdu state premier of -- spoke to dw and had this to say. >> germany's basic law, which just turned 70, stipulates everyone has the right in various forms to express their opinion. and youtube is a new medium that

was not around back then, but the law was certainly have applied to it. it is not journalism, it is expression of opinion, and expressions of opinion are not supposed to be regulated. rebecca: so a lot of criticism even from within her own party. i think the comments will not be building any bridges with the younger voters. sumi: rebecca ritters, thank you so much. now to some other stories making news around the world. a man armed with knives has killed two people including a child in a stabbing spree near tokyo. japanese media report the suspect killed himself after the attack, which targeted schoolgirls waiting for a bus during the morning rush-hour. more thahan 30 people e have ben injured by debris after a tornrnado pulverized buiinings arouound dayton, ohio. offificials said snowplows wer used to clear debris from roads. at least two other tornadoes touched down neaear the city.. more than n 60,000 homes and businesses in ohio sufferedd power cuts.s.

malaysia will sesend00000 tonsff non-recyclable plastic waste baback where it cacame from. china banned waste imports last year, causing countries like the u.s. and britain to start shipping trash to malaysia and turning it into the world's main destination for plastic waste. the country is concerned it is increasingly becoming a dumping ground. a few days ago the philippines said it would return tons of trash to canada. teenage climate activist greta has called on world leaders to acknowledge the seriousness of global warming and take urgent action to reverse it. she was speaking at a climate conference in the austrian capital vienna. the swedish student did not have much support when she started school strikes movement last august, but today she had the backing of an unlikely ally. rereporter: the determined activist meets the former action movie star. this unlikely duo sent to one clear message to delegates at the conference.

she had some tough words directed at politicians, business leaders, and scientists. >> this is, above all, an emergency. and not just any emergency. this is the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced. this is not something you can light on facebook. reporter: delegates were treated to performances dramatizing thee effectcts of climate chchange on stagage. bubut communitieies around ththd are already feeling the real impact of rising sea levels and changes in weather patterns. worsening wildfires in n the u., for example. two cyclones in east africa. during the conference, the u.n. secretary-general called for an end to fosossil fuel s subsidie.

that is to help countries reach the goal of capping global warming at under 2° celsius by the end of this century as part of a u.n.-negotiated agreement signed in paris. the u.s. pulled out of this deal two years ago. >> we all know that the paris agreement was signed in 2015. how many countries have kept their promise? the majority of countries did not. we are just asking you to stop lying to the people about climate change and about pollution, and to offer them solutions instead of [beep]. reporter: an impassioned plea from two generations of climate activists. sumi: now to northern syria, where president bashar al-assad is trying to take back the territory lost in his country's war. the shammar has asserted itself

against assad. the shammar hope to play a vital role in syria when the fighting comes to an end. reporter: sheikh humaydi daham al-hadi and his entourage follow ancecestral traditions in a bido solve a very current standoff. al-hadi heads one of the most powerful tribes in syria. the shammar led a historically nomadic lifestyle across the region. today they arere mostly settledn nonorthern syria. president bashar is targeting this area of northern syria after regaining control of broad swaths of the country. the sheik isis hopeful that negotiations might help prevent a military attack on his tribe.. that is why he recently held talks with syriansns representig assad. >> we have not yet held formal negotiations, but these meetings took place to bring about t peae

and reduce hatred among differerent ethnic groups in the country, different faiths, polititical partieies. it is our duty to diffuse the hatred others have spreaead. reporter: al-hadi'i's palace lis in a town inorththern syria.a. flanked by advisors, the sheik has been discucussing the fufute of the shammar tribe, estimated to number in the millions, inclcluding members in neighborg iraq. even before the war broke out eight years ago, assad never had full control in this part of syria. the shammar tribe has long been at loggerheads with the government, which is why sheiks like al-hadi have wielded so much influence. and that influence grew in recent years after assad's army almost completely wiwithdrew frm northern syria. the shamammar fought alongsidehe kurds and the u.s.-led coalition against the so-called islamic state.

the barrier at the entrance is a reminder that al-hadi's fighters could only halt the advance of i.s. with great effort. the shammar militants are led by al-hadi's son bandar. he is convinced the radical mindset of i.s. still poses a danger in syria. >> it has s been clear for some time that i.s. will be defeated militarily, but i am worried about the i.s. ideology. it has entered children's minds and cannot easily be eliminated. reporter: since bandar and his fighters fear i.s. sleeper cells, they maintain a presence in the tribal area. they stationed checkpoints along the bumpy roads. but these roadblocks will not stop assad's army. the sheik is seeking common ground with the assad regime to avoid drdragging the s shammar e and its warriors into a new deadly conflict. sumi: let's get a round up of

some other stories making news around the world. opposition groups in sudan are holding a two-day strike to protest the slow pace of talks with the ruling military council. negotiations on transferring power to civilian authorities stalled this week after the two sides agreed to a three-year transition period, a cabinet, and a legislature. i hiker who survived -- a hiker who survived for 17 days with a broken leg in a hawaiiiian foret has been welcomed home by her local community. she went missing on the eighth of may. she drank stream water and ate plants until she was spotted from a helicopter and rescued on saturday. at least 11 people have died trying to climb the world's highest peak, mount everest, this season. most are believed to have suffered from altitude sickness caused by low levels of oxygen in the air. but a number of deaths are being blamed on overcrowding. reporter: they came for an

adventure in the remotest place onon earth. they got queues, carnage, and tragedy. the man who filmed this long, breathless crawl to the top of everest turned back, fearing for his life. >> it has becocome a death race there, because there was a massive traffic jam and people are pushing themselves who are not even capable of doing it. they tried the summit and instead of summiting, they kill themselves. and it has turned into a bad thing. and i think people should really look into it. reporter: the reason for the snaking lines of mountaineers at the top of the world, a record number of permits and a narrow window of good weather. the delays made the already extreme conditioions worse. according to this climber who has the e scarto prove it. >> i hadado wait a w while for e traffic to decrease so we could go.

because of that, i was very cold and i was protecting myselelf. if there was no traffic, then maybe ththis frostbi w would not have happened. reporter: robin fisher is one of 11 people to have died this season. he shot this video, describing the conditions as he set out for the summit. >> this is surprising me. reporter: but it is at the death zone where the congestion is most dangerous. tourism officials have promised to implement safety barriers, but no limits. >> the number of climbers who come to our mountains is actually quite low compared to other countries. we are not going to fix or limit the number of climbers. we are trying to get more tourists and climbers to come to nepal by giving them better facilities and safety. we want to encourage them to come for both pleasusure and fa. reporter: as cleanup operations

get underway on everest, it is not just rubbish they are cocollecting. fofour more bodies were plucked off the mountain. another reminder that the pursuiuit of pleasure and fame n come at the grgravest price.e. sumi: switching gears to football now, fans of union berlin, a club based in the german capital, are celebrating their teams historic achievement. they are moving up to germany's top tier for the first time. they progressed to the top tier thanks to the away goals they's gord -- they scored in stuttgart last thursday. there were wild celebrations after the final whistle as fans invaded the pitch. the party went late into the night. it means berlin will have two teams in the --

we are going to talk all about with that with the union berlin stadium announcer. thank you for joining us and congratulations are in order for the promotion of your team to the top tier. before we talk about all that, i want to start by showing the viewers some interesting images. i think you know what is coming. let's take a look at these pictures. on the pitch after the game, let's take a look at these pictures if we have them. let's hope that we can get them up. there you are. there you are on the left with a long head of flowing hair, longer than mine even. you are among all those fans flooding onto the pitch to celebrate. that is impressive. looking very happy indeed. here you are today with no hair. did you run into a buzz saw on the way to the studio? >> it started in january when we

had winter preparations in spain. we are always there would lots of fans. it was like 500 this year. we sit together in the evenings and we drink, then we talk to each other. one suggested, what do you think, what is a promotion worth to you? would you u offer yourur hair fr that? i was like, of course i would offer my hair. it is growing again. then actually in the last weeks i was hoping they just forgot it, but of course they did not. so they came straight to me yesterday with a razor. it was just done on the pitch. very funny for all the people who have been watching. sumi: and well worth it for your team. what was it when he realized were team was being promoted to the top tier for the first time? christian: the final whistle was a relief. it was five minutes extra time,

which is pretty long for german football. they had three corners against us. sumi: like torture. christian: if just one ball drops and all of a sudden it is all gone. but it did not happen, so it was a relief. what we tried was to keep the pitch safe until all the players and the referees are gone. so it was like, can we have three minutes then let the people invade? but it was the final whistle and everyone dropped on and it was crazy. but everything was fine. sumi: it was a massive party. we should say thousands of union fans could not get tickets even though they wanted to. let's take a look at what was happening. reporter: from the edge of footballing relevance, the sound of the final whistle, the right to step up into the bundesliga, on study feet.

-- steady feet. union fans spilled onto the streets around the stadium to light up the night. a beacon for the underdogs. a victory after which words simply failed. >> i have nowhere is. i just -- i have no words. just no words. >> what do you do in the bundesliga? i have no idea. reporter: in the tradition of this passionate event, the celebrations were un- self-conscious. union club berlin are for the people, by the perry bill -- by the people. and now the football world is about to get a taste. sumi: there were grown men crying.

what makes this club so special? christian: that is really a long story because it is kind of a people's club. there are no big differences between the team on the pitch, the board or the president of the club. it is all close together, they know each other. it is the whole ground. everyone is there every day. you wait in the parking lot and you can ask a player for a selfie or whatever. it is all close together and you are always welcome, the fans with your ideas to bring them in. it happened in history where we had to save a license for the football association, money was missing and people donated blood or spent blood and donated the money they gave -- they received for it to get to the club. and they rebuilt the stadium. that was 10 years ago. it was like 2000 fans offering

140,000 hours of work in their free time. that is dedication. famous things like the christmas carol singing, every year on the 23rd of december. that was invented by fans who just entered the grounds on the very day. there were 89 of them just saying goodbye and merry christmas to each other, now it is 28,000 every december. sumi: very quickly, what can we expect from union berlin in the bundesliga? christian: passion, intensity, wildness, loudness, standing terraces, no goal music, no presentations during the game. so, fewer football, that is -- pure football, that is what we call it. you will see what is calling -- coming.

sumi: christian arbeit, thank you so much for joining us here on dw. just very quickly here in germany, traffic police say a speeding motorist was saved by a photobomb of a very different kind. a speed camera caught this vehicle traveling at 54 kilometers an hour in a 30 zone, just as a pigeon flew in front of the car and spread its wings, obscuring the driver's identity and saving him or her a 105 euro fine. police say the mystery driver should take it as a sign from above to slow down. you're watching dw and we are back in a few minutes. stay with us. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

. template is what the life in paris will use an analysis from from thank at i'm margot and these are the headlines france and germany at loggerheads over who should be the next president of the european commission. on medical. shifting ground on who succeed jungle junker. go to a correspondent classes. the general strike in saddam puts more pressure on the military council people call me the power to be handed to the civilians. forcing the take home i'll be shipped out of power was just the start of the process. yet to be resolved. argentina's lawmakers vote on a woman's right to have an abortion. subject is how the divisiveness twenty catholic country last year m move to legegalise