♪ >> as global coronavirus infections surpass 18 million, authorities and the australian state of victoria brought new restrictions on movement to limit the spread of covid-19. a security operation still underway in afghanistan after islamic state militants storm a prison facility. and d two years after the bridge

a newsed in genoa, structure is said to be inaugurated. thank you very much for joining us here on france 24. two years after the morandi bridge collapsed in genoa killing 43 people, a new bridge will be inaugurated later on today. e new struructure was designed by famed italian architect and has advanced safety mechanisms. for more, we go to josephine standing by for us. what is the mood like as this bridge gets inaugurated? josesephine: it is a day of mixd emotions here,e, the families of the 4343 victims who were killed when the morandi bridge collapsed two yearss ago don't want to o ve anythining to do wh this ceremony. they say there's nothing to celelebrate, this is a day o of andnd even thoughgh

the names of each victim will be read out at the ceremony and there will be a few m moments' silence, they dodon't want anything to o do with itit. on the o other hand, many people here acrcross italy do see e ths an i incredible achievemement. designeded by a world-d-renowned architect, this bridge has been constructed by crews aroround 10 people working 24 hoururs per d, three shifts nonstop since the bridge c collapsed to rereconstt the new bririe and create something that is s going to not only restart genoa andnd open up trade, but make this city come alive again and give it new life and rereally, this is something that people are really looking forward to, particularly because of the economic impact,t, the sosocial impact and the impact f the covid virus. >> now anyone who crosses this bridge from there will haveve

safety on n the top of theheir minds, c clearly that is somethg the architect and construction crews had to have in mind as well. that's right, this bridge stretches foror more than 1000 meters and has beeeen fittd with robotic sensory systems thatat are designed to increasee surveillance andnd monitoring as well as the dehumidification devices that are designed to monitor condensation a and cocorrosion to prevevent the kif thing thatat we saw with the morandi bridge collapse. the prosecutors are still cocontinuingng their inquiryut generarally it is considered d t the otother bridge collapsed because of a lack of adequate surveillance andnd a lack of mainintenance. thatat is goioing to be top of d for p people. 60,000 vehicles will be e ossing ththis bridge every y single dad one taxidriverer said to me tody --this bridge collapsed could last 100 y years, we h hae made a great achieievement.

italians wilill be looking at ts as a model for other infrastructure programs across italy in a country that is known for bureaucratic obstacles and delays, as many of the bridges and roads across italy are in popoor shape, some need urgent maintenance. if italians can n make this a model, it will really inspire people and have new faith in what they country can really do. >> indeed, thahank you very much for that. to the latest on the coronavirus pandemic next, new data coming in show that july was the worst month for ththe virus so far according to the worldld healt orgaganization. global infections surpass 18 million over the weekend, the united states and india remain the worst countries affected. in australia, fresh restrictions have gone into effect in the state of victoria to limit the movement of people over the next six weeks. local authorities say the measures are needed to limit the spread of covid-19. state of disaster was declared on top of the state of emergency which was also in place.

the lockdown is expected to cost an additionanal 250,000 jojobs. people in cars have cautiously returned to the streets of melbourne. australia's second-largest city remains a virtually deserted. one person per household doing grocery shopping, one hour of exercise. the next six weeks, movements will be severely limited. ununiversities are going b back online. suppoposed it is restricting the lack of freedom but if it means wewe get on n top of thihs virus, then we all have to come together and we all have to buckle down and do it. >> a day after announcing sweeping new lockdown measures residents, the state government unveils restrictions for supermarkets,le

pharmacies, and post offices contntinue to operate as usual. nononessential b businesses will have to shut down on midnight wednesday. others like construction brands will have to reduce their facilities by one third. >> as heartbreaking as it is to close down places of employment, whilst i never thought that i would be telling people not to go to work, that is what we have to do in order to stop t the spread of this wildly infectious virus, this deadly virus. >> victoria azarenka ordered several hundred new covid-19 infections each day for the last few weeks. the e death toll has a also been rising. >> the french prime miminister s in the northern city today visiting the region as a number of coronavirus cases can use to mount. have madeorities wearing a mask mandatory in certain public areas, measures that have been emulated in other parts of france.

new rules to fight the virus. pedestrians in the northern city need to wear masks outside in the bususiest arts of town. -- busiest parts of town. [speaking foreign language] towns havearby beach imposed similar restrictions. >> [speaking foreign language] beachequirement on the but also in the center of town, city officials make sure the rules are respected. if not, they can hand out fines of 30 euros. >> [speaking foreign language] of the dozens of towns with such rules, many have partial restrictions. masks are required in ththe downtotownrea a and at nigight.

>> [speaking foreign language] >> n no official rules are in place inhehe norn cicity. masks are required by the organizers of this yard sale, the biggest event held outside town since the national lockdown. authorities have rejected a report in the bbc's service which claimed the ministrtry has underreported the number of coronavirus deaths. data sent by an anonymous source claims the death rate is triple official figures. the number of covid-19 infections is also higher coming in at under half a million. earlier i spoke to our toernational -- in hopes shed light on the cinema pandemic in iran. >> when it comes to reporting on numbers coming out of countries like iran where there has been a

real lack of transparency from the beginning of the pandemic, we do need to be more cautious. what did the great to see some of that date -- wouldn't it be great to see some of that data? let's delve into the kind of reality, this is iran's second wave. 26 out of 31 provinces are in the "red zone." there was a dip in the middle of april. why the spike? one reason is that the country's leadership want to avoid, at all costs, the shutdown of an already added economy. there are protocols like wearing face m masks and social distancg that they are not being and people refer to super spreading events l like religious ceremonies and weddings. when it comes s to number themselveses, it is the iraranin

capital l that has suffered the highesest numberer of deaths.s. the clericaly, heart and eststablishment o of e islamic republic is the woworst hit, and that is where the first cases were initially detected back in janunuary. was s really interesting is thaa dispsproportionatete number of e dying are foreign nationals and in a country like iran, it can only be one thing, migrants, refugees. officials inside the country are actually criticizing iran's mismanagement, saying we need more action. people weret 24 killed after islamic state militants broke into a prison facility in afghanistan. a car bomb was detonated at the entrance of the prison before 30 isis gunmen opened firere on secutyty guards. 2000 prisoners were held at the

facility and according to police, 1000 have been caught. no detail seven provided on how many prisoners will remain at large. the situation is still ongoing. for more, here's a regional correspondent reporting. there is a lolot that the isislamic state once to prove. they want to prove that they are , they sasayve right now that it t was very harard to bee that the islamic s state alonenn be b behind such a complex event involving heavy machinery. officials believe thahat the islalamic state isis being suppd on a l local level i some lolocl military groupups that are linid to t the taliban.

therere is a peacece deal betwen the taliban and the islam government. >> leaven on foreign minister has announced he's quitting the gogovernment. his resignation comes in protest over the handling g of the worst economic crisis in decades. in a statement, he said there are contrtradictory intererestst plplagued lebanon and if they don't unite, the entire e county will sink. is in talks toit pick up the u.s. operations of chinese video sharing app tiktok. the comments from the company comes days after donald trump flouted the ideaea of banning te platform over security concerns. torcrosoft says it plans have talks with the parent company by september. >> microsoft is still aiming to

buy the u.s. branch of tick-tock although after its ceo spoke with donald trump on summit, the firm says it is committed to addressing the president's concerns. >> microsoft is committed to tok subject to a cocomplete security review and providing proper economic benefits to the united states included the united states treasury. to be a deal had appeared hold after the u.s. president vowed on friday to ban the platform out right. on sunday, the u.s. treasury secretary said the video site wowould need to o be eitheher bd or sold by the chininese parent firmrm. >> t tiktok cannot stay in the current format because it risks sending back information on 100 million americans. andoke with senator scott ond rubio, -- senators cottko and rubio, there has to be a change. >> the white house accususes thm of spreading c chinese intelligence interests.

was banned entirely, google andnd apple could be ford to remove it from the various offerings, e effectitively puttg his future in doubt. in the meantime, it is still up and running across the u.s. >> a fire e in souththern califa hahas resulted i in the e evacun .f nearly 8000 residents nearly 3000 firefighters are battling the blaze. the fire that broke out in the city of san bernardino has burned over 20,000 acres but only destroyed one home. havely, nasa astronauts returned to earth after successfully completing the internationals a stations first commercial crew mission. the retro style spsplashdown wih the first t of its kind d i amen astronauts in 45 years. thank you very much for watching.

>> we need thohose who seek equality. g globefrom across the about the women were challenging the way we think. >> 51%. a france 24 and france 24.com. hello and welcome to the france 24 interview. my guest today warns of a planet where the economy has collapsed, the air is unreadable and new diseases have been unleashed. a planet no longer fit for humans. that is the grimim scenario davd wallace warns in his brutal portrait of climate change in the uninhabitable earth, a story of the future.

also, deputy editor of new york magazine, itit is aa pleasure eo welcomome into the studio.o. thanks for being here. this book is often described as a call to action. david, journalist or activist? myself as a journalist and i think of the book as a work of journalism. the main job is to describe the gete of science and then to beyond the signed a little bit into what we know or can start to think about her human life beyond climate impact can be changed for dramatic clenching. how will it change our politics? our culture, our sense of relationship to capitalism and technology, the impacts from climate change are likely to be so profound ththat although thee relalationshs wiwill be chanang. we will be living in very different world as soon as a few decades from now. >> y you just mentioned a little earlier in your lifetime. >> by 2015 if we don't change course, we will be at about two

degrees of warming which will mean damages from storms growing 100 full from where they are today. hundreds of millions of climate refugees according to the u.n., cities and south asia and the u.s. -- middle east would be so hot during sorry that you would not be able to walk around outside. and probably at about 2.1 degrees, with the probably lock in the permamanent loss of all f the planets ice sheets which would mean over centuries, the sealevel rise and of the drowned two thirds of the world's major cities. thatat impact wiwill take placer centuries, so we can adapt, but some of the other impacts are going to happen much, much sooner. in fact, they are already here. i think that houston in the united states, a city that was just hit by its s fifth 500 year storm in five years. this is a a stronger-than-expecd five centuries. no europeans were living in north america. we are talking about a storm that was supposed to hit once in

all that time in houston has been hit by five of them. we are already living in unprecedented world in very short order and it will become almost unrecognizable. >> you say it is much worse than you think. famousf the faintest t -- first lines of your book. >> i think everyone will be motivated by different forces and will be moved by different features of the story. i think this is a saga that is enormous, it affects every aspect of modern life. we shouldn't expect that everyone will respond to an impressive the same way, but for a very long time, scientists and activists and journalists were so reluctant to scare the public that they were not actually being honest about what the scientists said. as a result, the public is relatively uninformed. they had a misleadingly sanguine impression of what was to come. we were told that climate change was very slow story, that took place over centuries.

half of all of the omissions we produced in the entire history of humanity have come in the last 30 years which means we're doing this damage very much ourselves. we were told about the story almost exclusively in terms of sealevel rise which meant if we lived anywhere but the coast, we were safe. but the more you learn about , to the effect on conflict which could double by the end of the century, to the effect on agricultural yields which could cut in half by the end of the century if we don't change course, you realize this is not a story that is happening in one particular place that we can escape. no matter who you are, this story will be part of your story over the century. and we were told for a very long time that two degrees was a abot the worst case that we could expect. degreest abobout 1.1 today which is already hotter than the planet has ever been in its entire history but we are likely t to get at least one moe degree, and that level of

warming is catastrophic and the island nations of the world call it genocide. it is looking more and more like a best case scenario. i think the public did not really understand the urgency of the crisis for a long time, in part because there wasn't sufficient alarmism. from my perspectctive as a journalist, if the scientists hearing, the best thing to do is share it with the public. do not share his patronizing. while i agree that my book is alarming, i don't really think of myself as an alarmist because i think that all on doing is being tranansparent about what e scientific community knows, and trying to produce some affect on the reader where we respond to this crisis in some way that approaches the scale that the science itself demands. >> as a fellow journalist who also covered climate change, in recent years the language have become more alarmist to the point where nothing shocks anymore. we talk about conflict over the lack of food, total coastal nations disappearing. the language is terrifying, the scenarios are terrifying, and

emissions are on the rise. what needs to happen for this tipping point to happen? > i think we are moving in te right direction, there is a new sense of urgency. the rhetororic is s starting wih the report from last october. >> it is fairly recent, this change. >> it has become even more intense over the last nine months. extinction rebellion in the u.k. , movements in the u.s., we have had these really remarkable protest movements, unprecedented. millions of people in the streets expressing much more concerned than has ever been expressed before, and we're just starting to see policy changes in response to it with the british parliament declaring a climate emergency. getting norway, finland to that zero to the quickly. and the u.s., a democratic primary in which all of the candidates are competing with one another to become more ambitious on climate change. considering that no place in history of climate change has ever been fulfilled, it is reasonable to be skeptical of some of these empty promises.

and yet, fact that governments are making them is a a real sign of some progress and i think it reflects, in addition to the changing politicalal landscape, the fact that there is a new economic conventional wisdom. the case that economists believe that action on climate change was too expensive to be worth it. the said the impact of votes of the small and we're better off just growing however we can. that has really changed and now almost every promise will tell you we would be better off if we back faster rather than slower. i think that's another reason we're just beginning to see policy change but as you know, emissions are setting records every year, we only have 10 years to have them cut in half, and we are not just moving too slowly in the right direction, we are moving in the wrong direction. i think there are reasons for thinking that will change soon, but it is clear that we are not moving nearly fast enough, even given the unprecedented mobilization that we've seen. >> that leads to my next question, you asask we spent s e time with greta thunberg.

issue more of a media from the distraction from the real topic? title think she is a distraction at all, i'm enormously grateful that she has done what she has done, and i am in awe overachievement. one year ago she was a friendless 15-year-old boy yourself, now she is leading a movement of millions of schoolchildren all around the world. i think we need more than her, but she would tetell you the sa. she is not trying to take cocorol of pololicy or ask for particular concessions, she is not even trying to express the state of the crisis in her own words. when she was invited to the u.s. to give testimony before congress, she declined and just handed over the report and say you don't need me to tell you, just listen to the scientistss. her not - -- or message is not e of self-aggrandizement. she just wants the leaders of respond to the crisis as it is described by the scientists. i think that message is almost

inarguguable, which is one of te reasons why she has been such a powerful spokesperson. she's also been very helpful in thinking so clearly about the matter of intergenerational justice and i is able to articulate in ways that no adult can deny that her generationn will be suffering becacause of e indifference of people of our age and older. and i think that has had an effect on the teenagers of the world, upon the also the adults in the world who may feel guilty for how little they have done on this issue to this point. again, i would not want to put her in charge of global climate policy, i would not want for extension rebellion in chargrge, but i'm enormously grateful and even exhilarated that those protest movements are unfolding because they are genuinely changing the shape of the politicacal landscapes, and makg much more efficienent on climate possible than i would have even thought was possible one year ago. >> i wanted to just speak about david wallace. usaid he is a journalist more than an activist, but what can

you do as an individual to contribute to the direction we need to go? is it about having less children, eating meat, less flying? it, thisy that i see crisis is too big to address with anything but politics. we need a thorough transformation of nearly every aspect of modern life because nearly every aspect produces a carbon footprint and if we have a hope of stabilizing the world's temperatature at any level, not even a comfortable level, even a terrible level if we want the warming to stop ever, we need not just to reduce emissions, we need to completely zero them out. which means at least as an enendgame, w we need to get we e where all of our food is raised in way that does not produce carbon, air travel is not produce carbon. nottransportation is produce carbon and our industry does not permit carbon. to do that at anything like this be that is required means politics because you and i can't build a new electric grid. we can't deploy a whole nation

of solar rays. >> is it enough to signal change? >> there's a way that individual action can bring about large-scale changes but it is only important as a stepping stone. there are other reasons. first of all, it is good to live in euro and values and living in accordance with the way you want to see the world. it is also good to signal to those around you that you care abouout this issue. some carry anxiety privately and even discussing with family and friends means it is the beginning of a political action. persrsonally, even more e than , it is good to vote to support people who prioritize climate action, to all those who are in action accountable to the promises they made, and ideally to put extra political pressure in the form of protests on the powers that be because the politics that we have now in almost every country in the world, even when leaders are committed to the principle of

climate action, most politics are moving far too slowly. >> a pleasure to have you here, thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. because we gotd more news coming up here on france 24.