and poland. what's life like on the border of the two nations what do the german and polish sides have in common and what makes them distinct. since one thousand nine hundred ninety eight score zelotes and girl it's called european city that's not an official title but it is a commitment to a united europe and that's why i'm looking forward to discovering not only the german but also the polish side. also follow the nice the river. will visit germany's polish neighbors and explore the hip city or francois. and this week's your video takes us to singapore himself east asia. but first to gurlitz which is packed with fascinating structures it has four thousand list the buildings in styles ranging from gothic gerena songs to rock and art. gurlitz wasn't damaged much during the second world war but it fell into disrepair on the east german rule with many buildings slated for demolition they were spared by the collapse of east germany since one thousand nine hundred eighty nine around four in five of t

just launched legal action against poland over the supreme court reform has that changed poland's position at all yes you're right sumi the european commission strongly disagrees another infringement procedure on its way this time because the retirement age for supreme court judges was lowered which means that a large amount of supreme court judges would have to retire that's one part of it but it really hasn't changed anything in poland i mean the dialogue has gotten better even the european commission acknowledges as much because with this new polish prime minister he's a different kind of person than his predecessor for that but in substance and that's what the commission said here in strasburg today in substance it's just not enough change so far so what is at stake for poland then. well eventually the article seven procedure with the groundwork for that is already laid what does that mean article seven eventually could lead to the stripping of the e.u. voting rights of poland although that seems highly unlikely because some countries have already said they would veto something like th

at the ten year anniversary of poland's e.u. accession i was asked by our polish neighbors if i had any visions for the future and i replied there are two possible ways of dealing with visions either you check into a hospital to get treated for hallucinations or you could get the polish mayor to govern both our cities for the first half of the legislative term and then i could take over for the second half and that suggestion sparked a lot of debate but it's an appropriate idea for a united europe when with so with would have been when there was that you need to. brush up on your polish no why would that be necessary i also suggested english should be the official language in both cities. thanks for the answer you need. time to head over to the polish side. most visitors discuss their let's stick to the pretty houses right along the nice a few explore the socialist euro prefab buildings that tower behind them. unlike gold it's jealous that's not benefitted from a major refurbishment program. but there is one thing that everyone

protesters gather outside poland supremum cause there's a new law forces some judges into early retirement the government says it is that overdue we form the european union is outraged. just angling to break that world cup penalty caps. the three lions win their first ever world cup penalty shootout beating colombia in dramatic fashion try being the last place in the quarterfinals. i'm phil gayle welcome to the program title thor's a giving diving lessons to a young football trade team trapped in a flooded cave system the twelve children on their coach have been stranded for eleven days but the floodwaters rise they could be stranded some months or even drought i mean fs is going to be extremely challenging for the non-swimmers among some of the latest force it shows that in reasonably good health. weak but in good spirits the boys receive medical treatment and food after more than a week underground they are now being cared for by the tiny the seals the video footage has reassured their loved ones officials are working to install a cable so that parents can talk to their children it is no

squaring off against poland here what is at stake for poland. well eventually they could and the groundwork for that has already been delayed have an article so current article seven procedure at the end of which maybe it could be stripped of its e.u. voting rights but that does not seem very probable because other countries like hungary most likely would veto that but more worrisome for poland is that they are now discussing taking away some of the cohesion funding for poland and poland is the country that gets most money from the european union so if the other countries try to tie this funding to the state of the rule of law in poland then that might hurt told right now important point there max hoffman reporting for us in strasbourg thank you very much max. and one fans are celebrated in the english capital yesterday after their team's win against colombia with renditions of football's coming home that's after a dramatic day at the world cup that saw their side progressed to before the finals for the first time since two thousand and six. by

parliamentarians also highlighted poland's contributions towards here paying unity they urge to also not to isolate itself from the rest of the bloc of european view boylan. we want poland at the center of europe we want you to contribute but don't destroy democracy in your country we. are of yet ski defended his government's reforms saying they would strengthened not weakened the polish justice system he said poland would not tolerate brussels telling it what to do national road there's a. continent has been shaped by its cultural institutions a hundreds of years welsh on the vine your perspective on national identities is part of the trust that has been built in the e.u. because the constitutional pluralism in article four of the treaty is one of the great values of the euro and every country has the right to set up which legal system in line but its own traditions. that you have to change but the demonstrators in warsaw have made clear that opposition to the reforms along with the e.u. they're set to keep up the pressure on the polish government. brussels bureau chief max hoffman

confusion reigns at the highest levels of poland's judiciary.aw that requiresjudges to retire at 65, not 70. she says she'll be turning up for work on wednesday. but the word from aides to the polish president is that the new law will come into force, and a new chiefjustice has already been appointed. our correspondent adam easton is in warsaw. adam, just explain to us why she is insisting on going to work, and some of the thinking behind the change of guard in thejustice of the thinking behind the change of guard in the justice system in poland. yeah, the chiefjustice of the supreme court, malgorzata gersdorf, is 65, and due to the lowering of the retirement age, which came into force at midnight last night, she is no longer the chiefjustice, according to the new law. however, mrs gersdorf has said she will come to work as normal today in the supreme court behind me, and people are starting to gather here in this square to show support for her and for the otherjudges. there's almost 40% ofjudges who looked to be affected and could be replaced i

in poland?he same. please note that in the european union, we will have elections next year. it happened in certain situations in different .ountries they have their own strategies to prepare for this election. the european union with all of those colors is a political animal. this is something what we have to take account. we sincerely would like to close the dispute with the european commission. we want really to obey the european norms and this is what we really have done. this is why we have exceeded so far in terms of economy, fighting and all other things. would investment be affected into your country if we were to see the eu and posing sections of the results? if we were to see the money flowing from brussels to poland, with that then have a knockdown effect into the investment for the ecb and country as well? stats,if you look at 2015 and 2016, we had a very poland. level in booming.s the economic growth for the last three consecutive quarters, at the level of 5% for the first quarter w

i hope so i think this is a test for poland and for our presence in the opinion union we were able to change the so-called whole cults last several days ago within eight hours so under the pressure of the united states and israel so if we like someone if we respect our allies we can be quite quick in adjusting our legislation so i am expecting the polish government to show the respect to their opinion as well and to at least to freeze the law not to appoint new judges. j. to the side on this issue i'm not sure if this is going to be a case but i think it is a test for poland as if the polish president if we want to be a member of the opinion because only respecting the european you know respecting the verdict by the you can be a member of the opinion thank you very much professor so.

in poland the percentage of foreigners is considerably lower than the e.u. average but migration is still a big issue. for our ana is a member of a private militia in eastern poland in her free time the twenty three year old trains to defend her country against invaders. well i don't know if you can truly be ready to fight you can go to the firing range shoot off ammunition always hit the target to know your weapon inside out. but if a crisis or war breaks out we're talking about killing people. let's not be under any illusions nobody can be ready for that now for new movie most. of in sneakiness not a lot of. it will go postal. though both. today and her comrades are taking part in a parade with real soldiers and tanks we are a little nervous but we hope everything goes well so it's not a very busy year. because of reactions poundage we want to show what we can do improve our patriots. as this material is coming. they're taken by bus to central marcel where they plan to march past the presidential and government buildings past politicians will recognize the

in poland thousands of people are protesting controversial changes to the country's judicial system a new role lowers the retirement age for supreme court judges forcing a third of them to go before the end of their terms of the country's right wing government says it's modernizing a justice system left over from the communist era critics say it's threatening judicial independence or this morning poland's top judge showed up for work defying her own forced retirement. the european flag flying outside poland's highest court in more so once again thousands of poles have gathered to protest the government's judicial reforms the highest profile dissenter. gassed off poland's top justice she turned up for work on wednesday in defiance of a new law forcing supremes court judges to retire earlier the government wants the twenty six highest judges to step down at sixty five instead of seventy. then no one has seen polish prime minister jet ski come under fire in the european parliament. politicians across parties say warsaw is just trying to get rid of opposition judges and is threatening dem

translationzlj protested on the street in the 1980s when poland had martial law.e quartz. today, everything is crumbling right for our eyes. —— right for. —— right before. power was earlier, the president andrzej duda signed into parliament new laws, many of them believe it threatens not only the independent courts, but its democracy as a whole. we are notjust here for ourselves, but also to show the rest of the world that poland is a country to democracy is important. the new law is one of a string of proposed reforms proving deeply unpopular, the european union has questioned the changes, saying they could undermine the independence of poland'sjudiciary could undermine the independence of poland's judiciary and so be could undermine the independence of poland'sjudiciary and so be in breach of the country's obligations under eu law. poland has until early august to respond, many of its people are already making their feelings clear. let's turn to our top business story — amazon. from online bookstore to retail, media and data giant — its march towards becoming a

this is the woman that poland will be watching on wednesday.ahead of the supreme court. she was supposed to step at midnight, in line with a new law cutting the retirement age the supreme courtjudges law cutting the retirement age the supreme court judges from law cutting the retirement age the supreme courtjudges from 70 265. it means around one third of the country's judiciary could lose their jobs unless the president extends their terms. but ma gorzata gersdorf says she will defy the new legislation which she has called a purge. translation: as far as my status is concerned, it has not changed after talks with the president. tomorrow i will come to work. i have a six year term in line with a constitution and i have to act in accordance with the constitution. i have appointed a judge, the president of the chamber of flavour and social security, to perform duties during my absence because i intend to go on vacation. i think because i intend to go on vacation. ithinki because i intend to go on vacation. i think i deserve it. her because i inte

poland would be his first casualty. on aug twelfth one thousand thirty nine eva brown had to disappear from the scene once more. from a safe distance she filmed a unit of the s.s. bodyguards lined up for the italian foreign minister count chano who had come to discuss italy entering the war with hitler. it is unclear if hindmarsh hoffman shot this close up photo of the visitor if a brown's note in her photo album reads there's something people are forbidden to see up there. or informed his ally about his decision to attack poland. neva brown called these snapshots departure viewed from the hotel rooms perspective. on several occasions the dictator discussed the details of war terror and mass murder with his henchmen and overzealous prick and she was able to film s.s. chief language himmler and his associates hydration and car evolve on the back terrace. foreign minister you're walking fun ribbentrop also took part in hitler's talks about his war plans as peace in europe hung by a thread the furor isolated himself from t

parliamentarians also highlighted poland's contributions towards here paying unity. to also not to isolate itself from the rest of the bloc of the european view boylan. we want poland at the center of europe we want you to contribute but don't destroy democracy in your country. or of yet he defended his government's reforms saying they would strengthen not weaken the polish justice system he said poland would not tolerate brussels telling it what to do. there's a lot of on the continent has been shaped by its cultural institutions are the hundreds of years welsh on the vine your perspective on national identities is part of the trust that is being built in the e.u. because the constitutional pluralism in article four of the treaty is one of the great values of the euro and every country has the right to set up its legal system in line but its own traditions. but the demonstrators in warsaw have made clear that opposition to the reforms along with the e.u. set to keep up the pressure on the polish government. it is fashion at its most elaborate most exclusive and most

troops in poland.even offered a two billion-dollar incentive when their defense minister met with secretary mattis at the pentagon recently. he was noncommittal and neato investor kay bailey hutchinson on fox news on sunday had this to say about poland's request. >> we do have troops in poland and it is a rotating force, part of our enhanced forward presence. certainly we look at all offers me like that but no decision is being made right now. looking at it, yes. >> dana: at the u.s. begin rotating more than 1,000 troops and 80 tanks into poland in january 2017. a move designed it to send a strong deterrent signal to russia without breaking a 1997 nato agreement not to permanently basing u.s. or nato troops in former war's warsaw t countries. >> dana: in southern washington they suggest the president could silence its critics in helsinki by moving u.s. bases from germany to poland. why would this anger russia and divide nato? >> top u.s. military officials whom i've spoken to push back hard on any noti

translation: i protested on this street in the 1980s when poland had martial law.ht before our eyes. hours earlier, president andrzej duda signed into law a highly controversial measure which would effectively allow the government to choose the head of the supreme court and replacejudges. necessary, it says, to tackle corruption. but many believe it threatens not only the country's independent courts, but it's democracy as a whole. translation: we are not just here for ourselves, but also to show the rest of the world that poland is a country where democracy is important. the new law is one of a string of proposed reforms proving deeply unpopular. the european union has questioned the changes, saying they could undermine the independence of poland's judiciary — and so be in breach of the country's obligations under eu law. poland has until early august to respond, many of its people are already making their feelings clear. andrew plant, bbc news. it is eight minutes till 2pm. have you thought about quitting social media ? scroll free september is a new campaign urg

people in poland decide that to vote for for conservative party and that party. is doing what i promised during the election time and one of the main promise was reform the proof form of judicial review and we've done it yes and then the it's in our position it's in. it's it's done very well maybe it maybe not but effectively because we had just humans but for well and of course they did the caller to luxembourg will decide about this matter but still we optimistic thank you minister for giving is a clear position from the government thank you so sami more demonstrations are expected not only here in warsaw but across the country and the bureaucracy in brussels is looking on with great concern now back to you every change of air from also. a few moments we'll have all the way over with richard wrangham but still ahead here now the zero. the largest teachers' union in the u.s. val's to continue fighting against a court ruling that will hit its funding plus handover of power mexico's incoming president promises changes the prepares to take charge and find out why s

confusion reigns at the highest levels of poland's judiciary.justice has said she will defy a new law that requiresjudges to retire at 65, not 70. she says she'll be turning up for work on wednesday. but the word from aides to the polish president is that the new law will come into force, and a new chiefjustice has already been appointed. lebo diseko reports. this is the woman that poland will be watching on wednesday, malgorzata gersdorf, who was the head of the supreme court. she was supposed to step at midnight, in line with a new law cutting the retirement age for supreme courtjudges from 70 to 65. it means around a third of the country's judiciary could lose their jobs unless the president extends their terms. but professor gersdorf says she will defy the new legislation, which she called "a purge." translation: as far as my status is concerned, it has not changed after talks with the president. tomorrow, i'll come to work. i have a 6—year term in line with the constitution, and i have to act in accordance with the constitution. i have appo

this is poland's chiefjustice malgorzata gersdorf.t and tuesday was meant to be her last day at work. well this happened earlier. that's justice gersdorf in the middle, arriving for work in warsaw as usual. as you can see she had supporters with her, they're chanting ‘we are with you'. this new law in poland lowers the retirement age forjudges from 70 to 65. that means almost 40% will be out ofjob soon. that'd mean 27 supreme courtjudges. the government argues this law will help fight corruption and cronyism because it will mean that judges who worked during the communist era will be fazed out. justice gersdorf doesn't see it that way. she says this is a purge. here's a clip of her yesterday. trnaslation: as far as my status is concerned, it has not changed after talks with the president. tomorrow, i will come to work. i have a six—year term in line with the constitution and i have to act in accordance of the constitution. i have appointed a judge, the president of the chamber of labour and social security, to perform duties during my

zero zero zero zero zero senior judges forced out of their posts on the supremes court in poland show up to work regardless. and that simon is fresh blood. in the street. the weather sponsored by qatar airways. hello and welcome to international weather forecast the weather across much of europe remains fine very warm but we've still got a big sharp potential and we've got a very of low pressure across northeastern areas and that's been very slowly filling of last twenty four to forty eight hours meanwhile we've got a line of potential storms all the way from the peyronie's across southern france through towards the alps so some severe storms are likely to develop over the next twenty four to forty hours in these areas so you see it in the case and there are some of the storms building up during the course of the david temperatures still into the thirty's in many places and there were vienna looking at thirty degrees fine conditions across southern parts of europe but then through the balkans some of these storms are going to be really quite active as i move the forecast through into

and poland are already strained the databank is another point of contention. shifts as everyone has the right to private. and now it's time for rush if ranking the most popular instagram cities in twenty seventy in fifth place is stand bull the turkish megacities bustling with life on and off line the hash tag boasts fifty point two million posts but instead of classic city snapshots they mostly show every day life from a visit to the silo to the newest pajamas. been full of places dubai with fifty nine point six million posts in the largest city of the united arab emirates even the moon seems to shine brighter desert shores are especially popular. in third place parish beautiful people fantastic food and plenty of flair seventy five million photos and videos can attest to that even the floor reserve snow or enchanting in the city of love. at number two new york city with eighty eight point five million posts next to skylines the most popular images are of wacky new yorkers and their pants no wonder the big apple is so ensuring lead popular. shrub to only buy

union brought an end to calmness rule in poland. just trust me and then joy is real if we surrender the coots so we go further we must prove all our efforts into defending them. peerage the crowd to unite behind a new and younger leadership to fight for the future of democracy in poland david chaytor al-jazeera was. lazy as former prime minister najib razak has been charged with a number of corruption offenses are in connection to billions of dollars missing from a state investment fund he set out while in office but the sixty four year old remains defiant telling reporters the upcoming trial will be his chance to prove his innocence flown slowly reports from kuala lumpur. was not a ride at the political poor high court to want to charges of corruption at pivotal to trust which carry a maximum twenty year pretty said it was. i side his supporters mostly from the political party who once lived chanted three nights in. the month and he's the former prime minister and party leader who's done a lot for malaysians now that he's facing su

union brought an end to calmness rule in poland. trust me and then joy is real if we surrender the courts so we go further we must prove all our efforts into defending them. here's the crowd to unite behind a new and younger leadership to fight for the future of democracy in poland david chaytor al jazeera. zimbabwe's military commanders are hoping to convince voters there remain neutral elections planned for the end of the month the army was instrumental in unseating robert mugabe eight months ago well since then offices of taking up key posts in the electoral commission has more from harare. joining robert mugabe's rule army commander supported his rulings on it and the military vowed not to allow the opposition to take over the army which forced to resign last november say this year things are going to be different this in public defense forces is not de red in the upcoming election. role in the elections is mainly to support the zimbabwe public release in their role of maintenance of roi in order in the country before during and

protesters gather outside poland supreme court as a new low forces some judges into early retirement the government says it's an overdue reform of the european union is outraged. england's a break their world cup battle to. relax and win their first ever world cup pretty pleasing clumber in dramatic fashion the last place in the quarter. welcomes to the program title thoughts they say they will take no risks in the complex efforts to rescue twelve boys and a football coach from a flooded cave system divers found the group nine days after they went missing but with monsoon rains approaching on the flooding likely to worsen that rescue workers are divided about how best to get the group out as experts try to come up with a solution officials have released a new pictures that seem to show the boys in good health. weak but in good spirits the boys receive medical treatment and food after more than a week underground they are now being cared for by the tiny the seals the video footage has reassured their loved ones officials are working to install a cable so that parents can talk to their

and catching a wave serving surfing on the baltic coast in poland. all this week we are featuring five of europe's a major tourist hot spots but we're showing them in a different light and today the city of love is on the agenda paris there are so many beautiful spots in the french capital that it's hard to know where to begin but we looked up with a photographer who took us off the beaten path to show some of the quieter spots in the city. iconic sights in paris. and some of its lesser known but equally alluring spots. the talk of first says romilly has discovered many hidden gems like these. even interest hotspots like the city's popular mom must try to destroy. them because it's one i really like this street because usually it's difficult to capture depth in pictures just looking for converging lines it's already even though the around two thousand tourists sitting on the steps of the nearby secretary nobody's here. bromley produces large photo books and also has a lot of followers on you tube. the canal sun my attorney eastern paris with a record

troops in poland instead of germany is a bad idea. >> it would be decades before poland could match whatrovides us. if it's just about infrastructure. it's about intelligence sharing. germany does so much for us that doesn't fit neatly under the 2%, if you will. >> another hurdle, placing troops in poland would inevitably anchor russia and perhaps divide nato allies who don't want to provide russia with a pretext for more expansion. >> bret: jennifer griffin at the pentagon. thank you. up next, a democratic senator up for reelection finds himself in a tough spot tonight. we will tell you who it is and what he's facing. ♪ if you're turning 65, you're probably learning about medicare and supplemental insurance. medicare is great, but it doesn't cover everything - only about 80% of your part b medicare costs, which means you may have to pay for the rest. that's where medicare supplement insurance comes in: to help pay for some of what medicare doesn't. learn how an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by united healthcare insurance company might be the right choice for you. a fr

deals with poland, with the eastern bloc and with russia will be early challenges for the foreign policye president-elect, ronald reagan. >> reagan spent much of his career blasting the soviet union and attacking any republican or democrat who said we can negotiate. he had been the leading opponent of detente during the 1970s, the policy of trying to ease relations with the soviets. what he disliked about detente, was that they were hitting the negotiating team as equals. reagan thought there are two super powers, but we have moral superiority because democracy is inherently good and sovietism is inherently bad. >> the only morality they recognize is what will further their cause, meaning they reserve unto themselves to commit any crime, to lie, to cheat. i think when you do business with them, even at a detente, you keep that in mind. >> and everybody was like oh, this cowboy shoot from the hip actor, doesn't he understand that's not diplomatic? boy did he get the soviets' attention, but there was tush-tushing about whether this was appropriate for the president to say. >> ronald reagan

why poland is willing to pay up for american protection to the satisfaction of the u.s. president that it's three leaders in as many stages at this year's tour de france people is going to have the details and the sports. i. mean the weather sponsored by cattle. once again welcomes out a look at the international forecast this lossy drawn across southern parts of china at the moment a few bits and pieces of cloud down towards the far south but this is as we go on into the second half of the week that we really are concerned midway we're going to see this tropical system super time food maria making its way across northern parts of taiwan towards the province damaging winds and flooding rains coming in here it will weaken but lots of very heavy rain and we are likely to see quite a bit of chaos as we go on through the second half of this week because for the south the showers continue through the philippines southern parts of india china malaysia seeing some showers some longer spells of rain in some wet weather still very much in evidence across a good part of thailand w

union brought an end to come this rule in poland. trust me and then joy is real if we surrender the courts so we go further we must prove all our efforts into defending them i feared still crowd to unite behind a new and younger leadership to fight for the future of democracy in poland david chaytor al-jazeera. coming up on al-jazeera. he is former prime minister he's not guilty to corruption charges connected to the disappearance of state money al improve relations between china and north korea are fueling a property boom in this border town plus i'm on the richardson of the world cup in russia finding out why so many chinese fans are here you can either take to qualify . how the heat wave continues across west of your more hot sunshine humid conditions as well but we also got some rather lively showers in place you can see this little china storms just spilling out of the bay of biscay rolling across the far north as pain just extending into southern areas of france pushing across the alps northern parts of italy see some very live

and protests outside and inside poland supreme courts has its top judge turns up for work in defiance of a new law forcing her and others to retire. hello again look at weather conditions across southern and eastern parts of china and taiwan you see a massive cloud across more northern areas giving quite a bit of rain at the moment so some heavy downpours here further south it's looking very dry few showers maybe for hong kong draw across much of a laos and also vietnam was neuer looking at forty degrees a very hot and humid but from him are still some showers coming into coastal regions through friday not a great deal of change so yangon looks as could be quite wet at times as they head across into south asia seeing some heavy rain really popping up all over the place certainly down through the western ghats we've had more pulses of very heavy rain some by coming in with some big rainfall totals here but elsewhere low horse had some deadly flooding in the last day or so seeing heavy rain affecting parts of bangladesh this is really as you were at least as far as mumbai is concerned m