07/15/21 07/15/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the fighting is ongoing. many people have been displaced from their homes. we want the situationo end. our demand is to make this clear, whether they shoul hand over the citto tell event or take full control by themselves and clear the area of insurgent so we can live a peaceful life. as u.s. forces withdraw from

amy:as u.s. forces withdraw from afghanistan after 20 years of war and occupation, taliban fighters advance across the country. we'll go to afghanistan to speak with malalai joya, the youngest person ever elected to the afghan parliament before she was suspended for denouncing warlords and war criminals. then to south africa, where thousands have been arrested in demonstrations against poverty and inequity and the jailing of the former president jacob zuma. >> it is not about zuma. people are hungry. there are no jobs. amy: and we'll look at how the pandemic has affected people going hungry around the world. 1/10 of the global population are undernourished last year. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

another punishing heat wave is set to bring triple-digit temperatures to at least 17 million people in the western united states and canada this weekend as a record wildfire season, fueled by the climate crisis, shows no sign of letting up. in oregon, the massive bootleg fire has burned more than 200,000 acres, over a million acres of the western u.s. and canada now in flames. this is dale kunce, head of the cascades region of the american red cross. >> what we have seen at the red cross is this change from a one big event a year or every five years or 10 years to now chronic events. amy: in northeastern washington state, hundreds of residents of the colville indian reservation were forced to evacuate after a wildfire, sparked by lightning, grew rapidly. washington governor jay inslee said wednesday climate change is to blame.

>> every part of our state is under attack. every person in some way is under attack from the combined effects of climate change. tonight and today it is ravaging our state. amy: in russia, the kremlin has ordered heavy-lift military aircraft to join firefighting efforts as massive wildfires scorch northeastern siberia. a heat wave and strong winds have left about 2 million acres of siberian forest and tundra burning. this week, yet another heatwave broke records in western russia, with high temperatures in moscow forecast to approach 90 degrees fahrenheit each day throughout the weekend. global covid-19 cases and deaths are on the rise, fueled by chronic outbreaks in latin america, and surging cases in southeast asia, africa, and the middle east. the world health organization is

warning of exponential rises in libya, iran, iraq, and in tunisia, where medical workers report they've run out of oxygen and beds for coronavirus patients. >> we don't have any vacant place to receive y patients. we are waiting for someone to die to leave their place for the next patient. the situation is catastrophic. the number of patients outside waiting for a place in the emergency room is huge. where will we put them? amy: indonesia continues to set records and overtaken india as the regions biggest covid hotspot. malaysia has logged the third straight day of record infections. in paris, teargas was fired for those who march against president mark krohn -- macron. people would be required to show proof of vaccination or recent

negative test result. in greece, more than 5000 anti-vaccine protesters rallied in athens against the country's maths vaccination program. the cdc says u.s. drug overdose deaths skyrocketed to a record 93,000 last year, a nearly 30% increase as the pandemic took hold. that's the largest one-year increase ever recorded. overdoses rose in 48 of 50 states, fueled by methamphetamine and powerful opioids, including fentanyl. overdoses accounted for more deaths in 2020 than car crashes, gun violence, and hiv/aids combined. president biden has nominated a doctor who oversaw west virginia's response to the opioid epidemic to head the office of national drug control

policy. if confirmed by the senate, rahul gupta would become the first medical doctor to serve as so-called drug czar since the position was created in 1988. dr. gupta also previously served as chair of the west virginia medical cannabis advisory board, where he touted the medicinal benefits of marijuana. senate democratic majority leader chuck schumer has proposed draft legislation that would remove marijuana from a federal list of controlled substances, while paving the way for the drug to be taxed and regulated. the "cannabis administration and opportunity act" would also expunge federal records of nonviolent marijuana offenders. cosponsor senator cory booker, democrat of new jersey, said it's the first time in american history the senate majority leader is leading the call to end marijuana prohibition. >> in 2019, there were more

marijuana arrests and -- than all other violent crime arrests combined. the majority were for simple possession. this is a grievous reality. lives are being destroyed every single day. amy: in haiti, the head of security at the presidential residence was taken into custody and is being questioned, along with several other security personnel, as investigations continue into last we's assassination of president jovenel moïse. colombian authories are probing whether dimitri herard met with any of the colombian suspects in the assassination when he traveled to bogota in may. twmore suspects were also arrested wednesday, including a former police superintendent, gilbert dragon, a close associate to guy philippe, who led the 2004 coup against then-president jean- bertrand aristide and who is now imprisoned in the united states.

the other arrested suspect, reynaldo corvington, runs a security company and is accused of harboring the men who raided moïse's home and killed him. 18 colombian nationals, and five haitians are now in police custody. the u.s. drug enforcement administration has confirmed one of the two arrested haitian-american suspects had worked as a dea informant. cuba announced it will allow incoming travelers to bring in unlimited food, medicine, and hygiene products without having to pay a customs tax. the move comes after several days of rare anti-government demonstrations, with people decrying a lack of medicines and basic goods, which is due in large part to catastrophic u.s. blockade. a warning to our audience, this headline contains graphic footage of violence. taliban forces say they have captured a key border crossing with pakistan as they continue to make territorial gains, and with the u.s. and nato

withdrawal nearing its end. taliban fighters say they are encouraging afghan soldiers to surrender to the militant group. >> our request to the soldiers is to have mercy on themselves and surrender. our order is general amnesty and they will be forgiven. will not face any problems. they have seen what we have done to them. sometimes we have given them money and hung flowers around their neck. video emerged this week that appears to show taliban fighters gunning down 22 afghan soldiers as they surrendered last month in what amnesty international has called a war crime. intra-afghan peace talks are expected to resume as early as friday in doha. after the headlines, we will go to afghanistan to speak with malalai joya. in pennsylvania, the remains of nine indigenous youth who died while at a government school over 100 years ago were turned

over to their families wednesday. the carlisle indian school was founded by an army officer in 1879. over 10,000 native american children passed through its doors until 1918, where they were separated from their families and subjected to cultural genocide and neglect. interior secretary deb haaland participated in wednesday's ceremony with members of the rosebud and ogala sioux tribes. haaland, the first native american cabinet secretary, is leading an investigation into the impact of these residential boarding schools and will seek to identify more burial sites across the country. top u.s. general mark milley feared then president trump could attempt a coup to keep the former president in power and compared trump's rhetoric's to

that of nazi germany in the final weeks of his presidency. the revelations come in a new book by "washington post" reporters, which says milley described trump as a leader with nothing to lose. he also reportedly called trump's baseless claims of electoral fraud as his very own "reichstag moment." johnson & johnson says it's recalling five of its aerosol spray-on sunscreen products after they were found to contain the carcinogen benzene. the recalled sunscreens are sold under the brand names neutrogena and aveeno. in north carolina, the family of andrew brown, jr. has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, alleging officers who shot and killed the 42-year-old black father used unreasonable and excessive force in violation of brown's fourth amendment rights. brown was likely killed by a bullet to the back of his head

in april after two sheriff's deputies opened fire on him in his driveway while serving an arrest warrant. a north carolina prosecutor concluded the shooting was justified and said officers will not be charged. on wednesday, family attorney bakari sellers said brown didn't get justice in life and has yet to find justice in death. >> andrew brown's voice will be heard. the sheriff cannot just run to fox news. he is going to have to sit in front of us and have a deposition and answer the questions about his officers violated their own policy about shooting into vehicles where no one poses a threat. amy: and jamaica is planning to seek billions of dollars in reparations for slavery from britain. jamaica was a british colony from the mid-17th century until its independence in 1962 and remains part of the commonwealth today.

an estimated 600,000 africans were brought to jamaica as slaves. olivia grange, the minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sports, told reuters -- "our african ancestors were forcibly removed from their home and suffered unparalleled atrocities in africa to carry out forced labor to the benefit of the british empire. redress is well overdue." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my co-host nermeen shaikh. hi, nermeen. nermeen: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: as the united states continues to withdraw most of its forces from afghanistan after 20 years of war and occupation, taliban fighters in afghanistan said wednesday they had seized a major border crossing with pakistan as part of a rapid advance across the country.

this comes after 22 members of the afghan elite special forces were reportedly massacred by taliban forces earlier this week. the commandos had surrendered and were unarmed. a taliban delegation in moscow said friday the group now controls over 85% of afghan territory has surrounded , population centers, captured a key afghan border crossing with iran, and holds more than two-thirds of afghanistan's border with tajikistan. all of this is happening as president biden said last week the u.s. military will complete its withdrawal from afghanistan by august 31, nearly two weeks ahead of the previous september 11 deadline. on wednesday, former republican president george w. bush responded with a rare criticism of u.s. policy in afghanistan during an interview with german news outlet deutsche welle. >> i'm afraid afghan women and girls are going to suffer

unspeakable harm. i am spat. laura and i spent a lot of time with afghan women and they are scared. amy: well, for more, we go to afghanistan to speak to a leading afghan woman malalai , joya, a leading women's rights and human rights activist who in 2005 became the youngest person ever elected to the afghan parliament. in 2007, she was suspended for publicly denouncing the presence of warlords and war criminals in the afghan parliament. she's also the author of "a woman among warlords: the extraordinary story of an afghan woman who dared to speak out." welcome back to democracy now! thank you for joining us from afghanistan. i was wondering if you could respond to president bush's criticism of biden's withdrawal from afghanistan, particularly relating it to the condition of women. as the condition of women

improved after the last two decades of waand occupation? >> hello, amy and nermeen. as i was saying in the past, the catastrophic situation was a good excuse -- they pushed us into the fire most of the physically changed [indiscernible] today millions of afghans are suffering. no doubt some project they had for african women and girls [indiscernible]

rape, forced marriages, beat women publicly with lashes. this continu. nothe u.s. and nato -- it is clear the women of afghan will be the mostictims. manyf the women and my country do not have liberation at all. yomay hear nowhey're talking about -- with the taliban but the taliban announced they were saying through the declaration whenhey come in power, chris

15ears old to 45 years old, they will force [indiscernible] there are many examples of their misogynist acts against women. [indiscernible] the situation is a disaster. afghan people are suffering from covid-19. there suffering from joblessness, poverty. in the past 20 years --

strong evidence. thousands and thousands -- [indiscernible]

for years i have called for the withdrawal of the occupation from our country. [indiscernib]

[no audio]

nermeen: could you explain who are complicit with the present government of ashraf bhani who are the criminals being armed by the afghan government to fight the taliban now? >> the 20 years in power -- [indiscernible]

another example -- unfortunately and that is where the situation in afghanistan is very disastrous today. the only demand of the afghan people is they must be prosecuted. talking about it is more dangerous than war. democracy, peace, and justice.

[indiscernible] the only demand of afghan people is justice. two parts, one is -- they are heroes. extremist parties some i mentioned human rights watch, amnesty international. -- now they are in power. i says, taliban. all fighting for the same. [indiscernible]

because of the money. terrorism against our people. the people of afghanistan are the victim. and giving an example about the taliban. in the past 20 years -- it makes no sense. it is clear -- any other

examples we have. apologize to the afghan people. shed the blood of innocent ople. disaster situation. their pain fighters $600 a month

-- they are pain fighters $600 a month. [indiscernible] many other emples we have like this. now they betrayed the afghan people. the taliban do not attack th foreign troops. in the past four years 45,000 afghan security forces.

and also now they say in the name of peace, reconciliation, power to the trade the piece. -- betray the peace. neighboring countries, now ey're going -- the airport of kabul. [indiscernible] we have many examples like this. i have many other examples. amy: i'm good interrupt essay as

the u.s. troops leave, what message do you have for the american people, for the united states, longest war in its history? and for president bush who was the one led the war into afghanistan who said he and his wife laura did it partly for the safety and security of afghan women? >> these are shameless lies. day, fortunately, it has become -- taxpayer money. e blood of afghan people has no value for them. no more fuel on the fire and of the situation supporting the extremist terrorists.

no doubt they should come to the international criminal court for the war they committed, these warmongers. president bush, trump, now the bidens who follow this disgusting policy. they don't care about the wishes of afghan people. this is not peace. this is more dangerous than the war. not only the situation of afghanistan [indiscernible] not only the terrorists in afghanistan they are supporting -- amy: we just have 10 seconds. you continue to name names as

you did in the afghan rliament as the of this person ever elected there and then you were thrown out. what gives you the courage to contue to do this as you rein in afghanistan? >> yes, the truth itself is enough to give me courage. the voiceless suffering people, the solidarity of the people. we are askg for the solidarity of antiwar movement peace loving, just as loving movement, feminist movement that they should not leave afghan people do notllow them to forget afghanistan -- we havno other way. [indiscernible] it is time we put the secondhd

issues aside to unite and organize to fight for our country. i repeat, no nion -- amy: malalai joya, thank you for being with us, women and human rights activist in afghanistan. youngest person ever elected to the afghan parliament, suspended in 2007 for publicly denouncing the presence of warlords and war criminals in the afghan parliament. she is author of "a woman among warlords: the extraordinary story of an afghan woman who dared to speak out." next up, we go to south africa were thousands have been arrested in demonstrations against poverty and the jailing of the former president. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: legendary south african musician known as the village pope. he died today of covid-19-related complications. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we turn now to south africa, where police say the death toll from ongoing protests and unrest has risen to at least 72 people. over 3000 people have been arrested since demonstrations erupted after former president jacob zuma, who was charged with contempt of court, began his 15-month jail sentence for refusing to testify in a corruption probe. demonstrators have expressed frustration with entrenched poverty and inequity as south africa battles a devastating wave of covid-19. looters said they were motivated by financial hardship. >> it is not about zuma is about poverty. people are hungry. there are no jobs. we cannot dodge.

>> people were running around causing chaos and saying they had no food so they're going to get some. so i also did the same. i stole food. i won't even lie. amy: now the south african government says the army is preparing to deploy tens of thousands of soldiers. for more, we go to johannesburg, south africa, to speak with sithembile mbete, a senior lecturer in political sciences at the university of pretoria. welcome to democracy now! can you explain the origin of this protest and what is happening now? >> thank you so much for having me. the origins of the protests really come from the imprisonment of the former president jacob zuma on the charge of contempt of court. he basically was instructed by the constitutional court to testify before the state capture

commission, which is investigating charges of state capture and corruption during his term in office. the irony is former president zuma is the one who instituted the commission in the first place and who is instrumental in writing this terms of reference. however, yes refused since 2019 to appear before the commission because he stated the chair of the commission, the deputy chief justice, is compromised and should step down. the constitutional court after he refused to appear before the constitutional court in varying court cases earlier on this year , they judged them to be in contempt of court and cited a can studio sentence, 15 months. he went into prison last week,

wednesday, wednesday night, and thursday and friday we began to see protests effectively of economic sabotage, actually, initially, is what we saw in the main highway, the main port in south africa and johannesburg, the commercial center. we saw trucks between the two cities being torched on thursday and friday as well as warehouses and other important economic infrastructure being torched. by the end of friday and into saturday, this had spread to a province, former president zuma's home province, to mass unrest. effectively what i would call food riots as people stormed

different malls and food retail outlets in order to take food from these places. of course, you also saw or generalized looting as people were also stealing refrigerators and television sets and clothing and all of those kinds of items as well. i think the food riots we can certainly understand in terms of the deep levels of poverty and vast inequality that south africa finds itself in as he expanded unemployment rate of the genera population is about 46 percent. the unemployment rate for people under the age of 24 is 74.7% at the moment. so there is very high levels of unemployment. the government had been giving a social grant to people who are unemployed during the covid-19

lockdown period of 350 rand, which is about $24, but that was discontinued in march. a vast number of people were reliant on the money, as small as it is, to feed their families every month. and with the absence of the grant and the decision by the government in the beginning of july to extend covid-19 lockdown regulations to level 4 and reduce economic activity, this was really a perfect storm that has built up, triggered by initially the imprisonment of zuma. but the protests and rest has stopped being about former president zuma and has become more about the socioeconomic condition people find themselves

in and the problems of hunger. and that certainly is what it is around the looting and the vandalizing of stores. what we have also seen in recent days is the destruction of key economic infrastructure. electricity substations, community radio stations in johannesburg have been attacd -- which is leading some to think there's also a dimension of this that is far more deliberate and a lot more of a political attempt at those who support former president zuma to undermine or overthrow the administration of the current president. nermeen: you just talkedbout

the destruction of infrastructure and the way in which the unrest, as you say, has spread. many have said in fact this kind of disruption will in the end impact the poor more than anybody else. if you could also talk about the extension of this lockdown, south africa now caught between these two impossible situations on the one hand rising numbers of covid cases and on the other hand the devastating effects of the lockdn where half of south africa's population was already below the poverty line. as you say, the government assistance stopped in march. >> certainly. what we have seen, especially in township areas where people were destroying the retail stores and

malls -- and this was really localized, and even then, not all parts of the province. what we have is people in townships destroying -- we have seen the destruction of the retail stores, of malls, and what that is leading to now is a shortage of food in some areas because of places where people would buy food are now closed and not operational. there is a broader concern those workplaces that were employing people, as i've said, south africa's unemployment rate is incredibly high. and retail was really the area where most people were finding employment. and so those local employers in

these different areas, many of them will never really be able to open. so there will be many people who have lost their employment in a township areas around south africa and in areas like where until the late 1990's, there wasn't really much infrastructure for people to be able to live and work and buy what they need within the township, even though it has a population of around 2 million people. so all of that infrastructure that has been developed over the past 15 to 20 years, much of it has been destroyed and may not be rebuilt. so the people that are really going to feel the brunt of this

and actually already in the short-term but certainly i think and the medium to long-term, are the south africans who are already suffering so much under the economic circumstances of the country. and i do think we need to distinguish between -- i am self-correcting here -- although the people who were engaging in the food riots and taking the food and other goods from shops are not necessarily the people who were burning the infrastructure. and it seems as more information becomes available, as more intelligence comes out, that there were two different dynamics in this unrest. i was a legitimate cause of people who were hungry and who are economically marginalized. but it seems then the other

destruction, the burning seems to have been done by people with the greater political purpose. the government really does not seem to have many solutions to deal with the underlying causes of what we have seen. i really believe the imprisonment of former president zuma last week and all the disgruntlement around this would not have turned into the kind of -- we have seen in the past few days if people are more economically secure. the government, instead of reintroducing the assistance to people that was discontinued in march, have decided instead to deploy the army, as you say, or soldiers are being deployed than

ever since 1994, and they say cost does not matter. the minister of defense has basically been given a blank check by the national treasury to deploy soldiers around the country. in this to me seems like a wrong way to deal with this. if money really is not a problem, then that money should be used to provide greater support to the people economic support and financial support to the people who need it. because as you say, we are facing these -- between the rock and a hard place. on one hand, covid-19 and the delta variant which is spreading rapidly throughout the country and has caused a significant increase in deaths, especially deaths of younger people, some people below the ages of 45 are dying at far greater rates with this new variant.

of course, the measures that have been put in place to limit the spread of the delta variant have also undermined people's ability to engage economically and to make money for their families. so the government has been looking at this very short sidedly as a security problem where i think a more sustainable solution could be found if the government looked more holistically at the causes of this and in the immediate term, as an immediate solution, reintroduced some kind of financial relief to all south africans who need it. and i think the longer-term term, really considers looking at some kind of universal basic income. in a situation where half your population is unemployed, there are no real other options about how to sustain people and to

keep a socially healthy and productive society. nermeen: we just have a minute. you pointed out that in fact one of the grievances driving grievances of these protests is the fact life for most bla south ricans has remained more or less unchanged since the days of apartheid and this has been compounded by policies of the anc government. could you talk about that briefly? >> south africa's famed peaceful transition i think was successful in some degree and on the political front and in the immediate conflict ending the immediate conflict that came with apartheid, but did nothing to change the underlying economic structure. the reity is the economy since 1948 -- to exclude black people. economy structured so that

black south africans would be a kind of permanent end of class, servicing the economy and needs of white south africans with assets including land, etc. what has happened since 1994, while a few black south africans, myself included, have been able to get an education and eak into the middle and upper classes, the vast majority of black south africans remain excluded from the economy and unable to improve their conditions. and until we change the fundamental structure of our economy, i think we will continue to face the risk of this kind of unrest in the future. amy: we want to thank you for being with us and i want to add in looking at south africa, leading the challenge to get vaccines throughout the poorest

areas of the world, less than 3% of the population has been fully vaccinated compared to almost 70% of people in the united states. sithembile mbete, thank you so much for being with us a messinger lecturer -- senior lecturer in political sciences at the university of pretoria. next up as we talk about hunger in south africa, we will go global and look at how the pandemic has fueled massive increase in the number of people going hungry around the world. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we look at how covid has fueled a sharp increase in the number of people going hungry around the world. a new report on the state of food security and nutrition in the world found about 1/10 of the global population were

undernourished last year. more than 2.5 billion people lacked access to sufficiently nutritious food. the united nations says one in five children around the world now face stunted growth. this is 25-year-old zetina, who lives in a village in western madagascar and has not been able to work during the pandemic. she has three children who are malnourished. she spoke to al jazeera english. >> without this aid, we would have died. we have been eating plant roots which haveiven us permanent stomachaches. even men are unable to do so anymore. amy: for more on how covid as well as conflict and climate change are contributed to a rising level of hunger, we're joined by saskia de pee, the world food program's head of systems analysis for nutrition. welcome to democracy now! new layout the findings of this global report? >> yes, good morning. the global report shows the increase of

undernutrition, hungry people [inaudible] furthermore, there's a lot of malnutrition that comes with that. children with stunted growth. suffering malnutrition early in life as a prolonged effect throughout the rest of life. it affects schooling, income earning, it affects health, cardiovascular disease.

the consequces of the hunger in them now nuttion -- and malnutrition will be long-term. amy: i want to go to the chief economist of the food and agriculture organization maximo torero laid out the key findings of the report. >> we find 720 to 811 million people around the world faced hundred 2020. what this means is 418 million people are more undernourished in asia and around 282 million people are more undernourished and africa. in latin america, we have seen an increase to 9.1% ofhe population being undernourished today. when we look at the real asons behind hunger, always conflict, climate, reasons.

nermeen: you talked earlier about under nurse meant in the long-term effects of undernourishment, especially on children. could you say how many children have been impacted by hunger or undernourishment and what areas are worth -- worst impacted, where are the people most hungry or more people hungry? close the largest number of hungry people is in asia. the largest proportion of hungry people is in africa. stunted children is around 22% and it has increased because of covid. the projections are in 2030, we

will still see the impacts of the stunting of the undernutrition early in life happening today. nermeen: could you explain wt is the hidden hunger and what are the distinctions between a healthy diet and how is that taken into account in the report? >> yes, in the report, 3 billion people were unable to afford healthy diet. that is the case and a 2019. we are seeing an increase of at least 140 million people because of covid now. it is not only the number who cannot afford, but also the extent to which they cannot afford. healthy diet, synonym would be a recommended diet. a diet gives us enough vegetables, fruits, a good

variation of protein-reached foods. the guidelines that tell us how to eat. doing that at the lowest possible cost has been the benchmark for the 3 billion. the extent to which you cannot afford such a recommended healthy diet. if you can only afford 50% of that, your diet is much lower quality than if you cannot afford the last 10% of the cost benchmark. you will have deficiencies of minerals and vitamins. you may not really notice it, but those affect your energy level, your brain development as a child. it affects many bodily functions but you don't really feel hungry nor do you look -- the number up

to 811 million people hungry. beyo that, there are many more people who suffer the hidden hunger. amy: what is the world food program's most important demand for dealing with this crisis of 1/10 of the world hungry? >> so we are planning this year to reach 138 million people directly with our food assistance. ensuring the have better access to food, which comes in different forms. it comes provision of foods and in the form of cash they can participate in the local markets , and that also brings out food systems and social protection systems. provide a way for systems people engage with on a daily basis to provide better for them. and also make a connection.

so you get some social assistance -- how can the cash be enough and how can the food systems have white options available? america we have to leave it there. saskia de pee

narrator: on this episode of "earth focus," climate change is forcing traditional dairy producers to look for more sustainable methods. in central california, farmers have found ways to reduce and even reuse methane gas, while in eastern africa, drought is creating a market for an unexpected source of milk.