brent: this is dw news live from berlin. clashes over whether we should have the final legal say. the polish prime minister accusing europe of blackmailing warsaw, but the european union is insisting it will not let polish courts undermine the european union. >> questions remain about this man's role in the country after

the taliban regained control. plus, an investigation by the new york times brings down the head of germany's most popular newspaper in a metoo moment that was almost buried by the bosses. and the world's largest trade fair for publishers has returned to frankfurt, germany, bringing bookworms from all over the world back on the same page. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers on pbs in the united states and to all of you around the world, welcome. we begin tonight with a dispute that strikes at the heart of the european union. today the polish prime minister accused the e.u. of bullying by threatening legal and financial action against his country. a recent polish court decisions

undermined the rule of law across the entire 27-member european union. >> looking friendly for the cameras, but the e.u. commission president and poland's prime minister soon took aim at each other following the court ruling. ursula von der leyen used the floor of the european parliament to express concern about poland's compliance with the e.u.'s legal order. >> this ruling calls into question the foundations of the european union. it is a direct challenge to the unity of the european legal order. we cannot, and we will not allow our common values to be put at risk. reporter: ursula von der leyen says the commission is determined to take action. her critique comes after members of the e.u. parliament have been pressuring the leadership for a stronger response. they want financial sanctions. many lawmakers felt that the

ruling from the polish constitutional court gave them because to worry about recent publications from warsaw. the decision declared some uu treaties and in poland, and stressed the primacy of national law over your obama -- over yo e.u. law. protests followed the court's decision, with the large majority of poles supportive of the european union. the polish prime minister said that the bloc's powers should have limits. >> it is unacceptable to expand the competencies of institutions in an irreversible way. we must not impose a decision or verdict without a legal basis. it is unacceptable to talk about financial penalties. blackmail must not be a method

of policy conducted on certain member states. reporter: but the commission president sees no room for negotiation. von der leyen is demanding that the primacy of the institution be restored, otherwise coronavirus reconstruction aid to poland will remain withheld. brent: our correspondent is in strasburg, where she spoke with the european parliament vice president. reporter: the polish prime minister mateusz morawiecki today said the e.u. is bullying poland and using the language of threats. is that correct? >> the opposite is correct. the polish government is pursuing its path of confrontation. we know, and the european court of justice, has decided that the constitutional court in poland is a marionette court, and this marionette court has decided that in poland, the treaties

shall not be applied. there is no more escalation than that, i would say. and if it was by the request of mr. morawiecki himself, that is the direction that the threats and the blackmailing is coming from. reporter: you already mentioned because additional court in poland and the fact that a challenged the e.u.'s treaties. prime minister morawiecki said he thinks this is ok. what does this mean for the e.u. in the future? >> he is not a lawyer. i had the impression that he does not understand what the constitutional court actually decided. he keeps saying that it was not against the treaties but only against an interpretation of the treaties. this is partly correct because that is what the polish constitutional court says. but the constitutional court does not attack a court ruling

or an interpretation by european central bank or whatever. they state that "articles of the treaties are not compatible with the polish constitution, and, therefore not be applied in poland." and there is no common ground in the european union if you deny the application of the treaties especially articles 1 and 19. the two articles that the brexiteers founded the referendum upon. reporter: what will happen now? what can the e.u. institutions do to challenge this court decision and also the polish at the moment? >> i find it very sad that we have to go further. poland is such an important country. we owe these people so much, and we really want poland to stay in the european union. but dialogue is not leading

anywhere, obviously. so we need to use the mechanisms that are in place, first and foremost because it is on the table now, the recovery fund. i am sure there cannot be -- there cannot be any payments made because they are linked to the judiciary. then we have to talk about the rule of law and mechanism and infringement procedures. because they will go on. brent: the united states has replied its envoy to afghanistan after he quit this job. he helped negotiate the 2020 agreement with the taliban, setting the terms for the withdrawal of u.s. troops, but he was not a part of the biden administration's formal talks with the taliban earlier this month. meanwhile, the u.s. state department says it is reviewing the chaotic and big to the pullout from afghanistan, including the emergency evacuation of its embassy in

kabul. a lot of talk about here. to do that, i am joined by sarah from washington, d.c. she worked in afghanistan after 9/11, served as special assistant to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. good to have you on the program. the u.s. supported government in afghanistan came on board two months ago. but the u.s. envoy remained in afghanistan. are these bad optics? guest: bad optics or bad licy? so i have been very curious at the lack of curiosity, if i might say, about zalmay khalilzad himself. i am not talki about why a trump administration official was held over by the biden administration, but rather, his own background. this is a gentleman who was born in afghanistan, who served in

the 1990's as a supporter of an oil pipeline that the taliban at that time wished to have constructed under afghanistan, essentially doing lobbying or lobbying support for the taliban in washington at that time. so then he is the person put in charge of negotiating this deal which was signed in february of 2020. but when president biden came into office in january of 2021, he didn't even look at the terms of how that negotiation had been conducted, or even, i might add, the terms of the agreement itself. and what is quite interesting in that agreement is that it effectively confers sovereignty to the taliban. he never -- it never says that. it always rushes to say repeatedly that the islamic emirate of afghanistan -- which

we do not recognize. however, it binds the topknot to, for example, issue visas to international terrorists. well, no one but a government issues visas, do they? brent: that's correct. guest: therefore, the terms in itself in effect confers sovereignty. so, armed with that and with the time between march of 2020 and august of 2021, the taliban could run around to local level commanders and say look, the americans are leaving, we are coming, we are effectively recognized, so you should join us. and that is exactly what happened. brent: before we run out of time, it sounds like you are saying that he was like the emperor's nuclear. he was making the trump administration and even though biden administration think one

thing at the same time, making sure that the taliban's interests were being served. am i hearing that right? guest: that is exactly right. an i have heard from european diplomats who were in doha that the negotiations themselves were conducted in cash to, with nobody else in the room that could speak the pashto language. our european allies were not well served by this. i am wondering when the u.s. congress will bring zalmay khalilzad up for hearings. brent: i hope we can bring you back to talk about this again. sarah chas, joining us from washington, d.c. thank you. guest: thank you for having me. brent: let's turn now to some of the other stories we are following at this hour. a gang in haiti is demanding a ransom of $17 million for the release of u.s.-canadian missionaries, kidnapped as they

visited an orphanage in the capital of port-au-prince. the gang says they want $1 million for each of the 17 hostages. in nigeria, 43 people died after gunmen attacked a market in the northwestern state. heavily armed gangs have terrorized the area for years, raiding and looting villages. such attacks have become even more violent in recent months. rescuers in northern india continue to search for people stranded by heavy rains and flooding. many are missing. the forecast calls for more rain in the area. a 96-year-old old woman has appeared in a northern german court, charged with helping nazi forces murder more than 11,000 people in world war ii. the former secretary was due in court last month but intended to escape the trial. she was apprehended 60 kilometers away.

axel springer, europe's largest publishing house, has announced it has completed a $1 billion takeover of the u.s. media outlet politico. but the news is overshadowed by a scandal that has hit the best-selling german tabloid newspaper. the paper's influential editor-in-chief was fired over allegations of misconduct not to life by the new york times. reporter: the berlin headquarters of german media giant axel springer, europe's most powerful publishing house, has an imposing presence in the center of the german capital. its flagship publication, europe's largest tabloid, with a daily circulation of 1.2 million copies. until the end of this week, julian was an influential editor-in-chief. now he has been removed from his post over revelations of professional and sexual he is accused of. glean behavior and abuse of power towards female staff.

the claims are not entirely new. earlier this year, he was briefly suspended after the company internally investigated complaints about his management style. he was reinstated 12 days later. german media had also been looking into accusations of misconduct. this woman was part of an investigative team that had dug up damming details. >> our research showed that abuse of power towards women did happen and that julian had sexual relations with women who were in a hierarchical relationship with him, and therefore, were dependent on him. it also showed that that led to women experiencing both professional advantages and disadvantages. reporter: that their investigation was killed by the publisher. but a few days later, the new

york times reported about the compromising allegations against him. axel springer is facing uncomfortable questions about why it only fired him after pressure from abroad. that scrutiny is not going away given springer's ambitions to become a global player in publishing without american owners. most recently it paid $1 billion for u.s. media company political o. the dismissal of its editor-in-chief made only page three on tuesday, hidden in a very small article. brent: for more, i am joined by our political correspondent, leonie hammerstein. as we heard in your report, these accusations have been circulating quite some time. why did it take the new york times to break down -- to bring down that editor. guest: as we heard, there were

some german journalists who had investigating the allegations for months and were due to publish the findings but the publisher prevented the from doing so. and a rival german media group to axel springer said in a statement that they canceled the story to, quote, "avoid the impression that we might want to harm a competitor." many here in germany saw this as sort of yet another sign of powerful men being seen reluctant to criticize other powerful men. we have to remember, germany's publishing world is dominated by large companies, most of them run by men. so that caused the first outcry. the second outcry came when the new york times published its report about the editor's alleged affair with an axel

springer trainee. this in a powerful american newspaper, it comes at a time when axel springer is investing in the american market and wants to become a global player. so observers say that both these factors led to this mounting pressure on axel springer to do something and sack the editor. brent: is this case just about one man's personal misconduct? tell us something about the corporate culture at the axel springer publishing house. i was told that as editor-in-chief, you're almost like a god. guest: it is a little bit of both. we have to remember, earlier this year there was an investigation into axel springer and back then they said the investigation concluded and that the editor had mixed his personal and professional lives but had not broken any laws. now they have come out, saying

that there is new evidence that has come in and they could no longer work with him. but it has been interesting to watch the reactions of the chief executive of axel springer and senior journalists within bild, coming out in support of julian reichelt and supporting him as an executive. so there was a culture that supported him despite these allegations. brent: certainly a fascinating story that has long legs. dw news leonie hammerstein, thank you. it has been three weeks since federal elections in germany. we know that the parliament will be younger and more diverse, including germany's first two transgender parliamentarians. reporter: they have made history. the two green party mps are the first trans women to win seats

in germany's parliament, the bundestag. >> it was an incredibly intoxicating feeling. >> i was ecstatic on the day of the election. reporter: one of them will move from north rhine-westphalia to the capital of berlin. at just 27, she is one of the youngest members of parliament. >> when i went into politics over 10 years ago, there were no trans role models. i only knew about trans people from a tabloid-driven with sensational points of view where it was only about operations. reporter: tessa has been politically active for over 20 years. originally from bavaria in southern germany, her main focus will be on your political issues and climate protection. >> in the bundestag, i would also like to build on the political work i have been doing

in the bavarian state parliament, for example, helping to shape the greens' transport policy. reporter: their presence in the bundestag as trans women is important to them both. >> there are still so many discriminatory laws. for example, there is the transsexual law in germany, which is partly unconstitutional, that treats trans people as if they are mentally ill. reporter: nicka receives a lot of support, but she has also faced abuse. >>. >> i have had a lot of positive messages on social media or in the mail, but there have been lots of hateful messages, too, like from women who told me i am not a woman. reporter: such messages are familiar to tessa, too. >> i don't let myself get upset by malice, ridicule, or insults.

i always report anything that could be considered criminal. reporter: both women are now pushing ahead with their goals in the bundestag. >> i am sure that trans people that come after us will have it a lot easier. brent: russia is facing what some doctors say is the worst of the coronavirus endemic so far, with cases surging in less than one third of residents for the vaccinated. the virus is claiming lives at a rate never-before-seen in the country. reporter: a hospital far removed from the epicenter of the disast. >> it hits everything inside. it hits the lungs and twist them. it is very scary. reporterin today's russia, pain is everywhere you look. here in this province, daily cases have almost doubled since last month. >> we offices of our senior nurses, even of the head of the

hospital, who are forced to admit patients in the corridors. reporter: experts warn that russia is in a race against time as cases run rampant. on tuesday officials reported 1015 covid-19 deaths in a day, a sobering record that is all but sure to be broken before long. despite this, many russians refused to get vaccinated. >> people here are more used to counting on themselves than any help from others. i am the same. i don't believe anyone will be able to help me except myself. this is probably the reason for all of this. brent: for now, the kremlin has ruled out another nationwide lockdown. but with inoculation lines largely empty, it is hard to see any other way out of the crisis. >> i think the lockdown we had last year will happen again. they were even less infected people back then, so i am expecting it. and of course, it is

frightening. reporter: for many here, this has become the soundtrack of a country on life-support, a robotic cacophony of despair as the machines grown under the weight of russia's covid-19 calamity. some turn to a prayer to save them, even as many refused the treatment that could mean the difference between life and death. brent: it is the world's biggest book fair, and after going online for the pandemic, the frankfurt book fair is opening its doors again to publishers around the world, as well as levers of the printed word. reporter: the world's most famous book fair is back. the model is "reconnect." . and it is obvious why. the organizers are expecting 2000 exhibitors from 80 countries in-person, just over one quarter of pre-pandemic

numbers, but still pretty remarkable. further events will be offered online. the festival director is confident that both professionals and the book club in public, will be pleasantly surprised. >> a lot of what you would find in a normal bookstore will be possible here, too. you can read authors with many events. the book fair is putting its best foot forward. reporter: attendees will have to prove they have been vaccinated, tested, or have recovered from covid-19, and daily numbers will be kept. exhibitors stands are also space year than usual to encourage social distancing. this year featured canada. the country is presenting a host of celebrated authors, and a futuristic installation. >> actually, the basic concept

of this, it is a paper going out of a printing machine, amplified by new technology. so we are in a place where technology is taking the place of books, and our vision is that it is a good thing, but they need to work together. reporter: the 73rd frankfurt book fair opens its doors to publishing professionals from wednesday. friday, book lovers from the general public can join the fun. reporter: sports news now. bayern munich returned to action in the champions league in lisbon on wednesday august the portuguese leaders. bayern munich headed into the game off the back of a thundering 5-1 victory against bayer leverkusen, in the german champions have also won both of their champions league games so for the season. but the coach is reluctant to accept the role of favorite ahead of his trip to portugal.

>> i don't think there is a single team in the champions league that is afraid of any other. there is respect. we respect been fecal because they have got a lot of quality, and our quality is plain for benfica to see, so they will respect us. but i don't think they will be quaking in their boots at home, in front of a sellout crowd. they are too good for that. brent: and a reminder of the top story we are following for you at this hour the european union and poland have clashed in heated debate at the european parliament. brussels pledging to take action on the recent court ruling in poland challenging the supremacy of e.u. law. the top u.s. envoy to afghanistan, zalmay khalilzad, has resigned, handing over his duties to his deputy. he has been under pressure since the chaotic u.s. withdrawal. he was excluded from the biden administration's official talks with the taliban earlier this

month. you are watching dw news. after a short break, i will be back to take you through "the day." tonight, she knows russia, and she knows the west. fiona hill on the perilous parallels embedded by donald trump and vladimir putin. we will be right back. ♪ ♪

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anchor: hello and welcome. the eu commission president heads out of poland's prime minister, warning the supremacy of european law won't go unpunished. turkeys president takes aim during a tr of africa, promising to advance relations on the continent on the basis of equal respect. france 24 marts breast cancer awareness month, one in eight women are likely to develop breast cancer, but early detection remains the game changer. ♪