>> this is dw news live from berlin. grace's capital threatened by wildfires. the outskirts of athens burned as waves destroy houses and at least one person is dead. europe is facing its worst fire season for decades. we will hear from climate scientists. also on the program, the battle for control of afghanistan s -- escalates as the taliban assassinate government official and kabul.

♪ >> i'm phil gayle, welcome to the program. no end in sight for the intent loud dutch wildfires engulfing parts of southern and eastern europe. thousands of people were forced to evacuate as planes reached the outskirts of the greek capital, athens. authorities battle fires across the country. two have died. forests have been wiped out and religious in ruins. climate scientists say global warming has created perfect conditions for fires of this magnitude. an update from our correspondent in greece in a moment. let's look at the scale of the destruction. >> returning home, residents from this village in western greece find nothing of the

charred remains of their houses, farms and the animals they had to leave behind. >> it is a catastrophe. the fire is around midday with swirling winds. homes burned and a lot of animals burned to death, rabbits, sheep, dogs, everything gone. while they pick through the metal and care for the injured livestock but survived, the battle to save homes near athens rages on. the fires leapt across the national highway leading out of the capital. firefighters hoped it would act as a barrier. an industrial area less than 30 kilometers north of the city is burning out of control. the extreme heat and strong winds have hampered efforts to control the flames. >> this is the hardest day we

have faced in terms of the intensity of the weather conditions over the last 10 days. from thursday afternoon, a number of new fires were added to the many fronts we have across the country. now we have 56 fires where fighting. -- we are fighting. >> many of athens' northern suburbs have been evacuated but some residents have joined firefighters in a bid to save their homes. >> my house is behind here. you can see the roof. i set my kids away but i'm not leaving. whenever i can manage i will do. this is a let's work, you can't just leave it. -- a life's work, you can't just leave it. >> helicopters, water tanks and emergency crews being sent from across europe but with whether set to get worse there will be no relief yet. >> dw correspondent joins us

from the greek city, welcome. tell us about the day greece has been through. >> well, the situation is critical and it mig be actually getting worse. only today, hundreds of people had to leave their homes, civil protection chief talked about 56 active fires in greece in a press conference today. that was at 2:00. new fires kept breaking out throughout the day. weather conditions are extremely difficult. it is still very hot conditions, tinder dry. and on top of this, heavy wind is blowing, making the job of the firefighters more difficult. the situation is especially difficult on the island, 668 people had to be evacuated from the beach where they escaped after the fires had blocked the

streets. a lot of places on the peninsula , especially the tourist area. we have seen the footage, the most startling news we get from athens from the northern suburbs where the flames are closing in on the greek capital, there is heavy smoke all over the area. people have a hard time breathing. we hear about smaller explosions in the surrounding industrial areas. e public ectricity provider has cut off power in some areas in order to guarantee general supply, and now at night the situation is even more difficult since water dropping planes can only operate during the day. we are reaching anoth occult night. >> wildfires happen every year

in greece, though. why have authorities been so overwhelmed this time? >> is the sheer aunt of fires and the way they are spreading around. this is new, this is unprecedented. there are critical voices, too. the deputy mayor of amall town next to athens got very emotional in a tv interview yesterday while the flamesere reaching his village. he said to the tv reporter we have been calling for help three hours ago. there's only police here not doing anythi, send u firemen. and his word echoes the critique of some people saying that the government has invested too much money in police forces and border protection services, especially after the catastrophe of 2018 they should have

invested more money in the fire forces and fire trucks, airplanes, forest maintenance. it also of course in manpower, hiring people to be ready for these fires. >> thank you for that, dw correspondent florian schmidt in greece. those wildfires are now stretching across the mediterranean region in italy -- region. in italy, two people died after reportedly trying to save an olive grove. turkey has evacuated tens of thousands of people from a province aft a fire approached powerplant. in north macedonia, the army has joined efforts to quell blazes. large parts of the balkans and russia also being affected. this comes as a report describes the mediterranean region as a climate change hotspot, and warns of more heat waves,

droughts and fires to come. let's get in this with this dr. carrying out a postdoctoral research into climate change at the university in ireland. welcome to dw. consensus is that these extreme events are a consequence of man-made climate change. while international bodies are negotiating agreements like the paris accord, what can we do now to mitigate the climate driven disasters we have heard about? >> well, that is very difficult because what you can see right now are the conseences th climate resechers have warned for for decades. we know that while, change does not start a fire, global warming creates warm and dry conditions in these regions that help fires spread. what has to be done to mitigate it is the job of the local

authorities, but as a community we have to stop global warming. the best way to do that is to cut our co2 emissions. >> if we do that tomorrow, which of course we are not going to, but if that happened tomorrow and the co2 emissions were cut, how long would it be for we saw -- before we saw a reversal in these conditions? >> that is a good question. first of all, if we stop, or get our co2 emissions to zero tomorrow, global warming would still continue for some time, just because we have some components of the climate system, for example the oceans, which react on much slower mescales. for example, with the ocean is doing right now is taking up about 25% of the excess heat we create due to our enhanced co2

emissions. this heat that is stored by the ocean will then be released when the atsphere starts to warm. soe would not be able to stop global warming right away, but we will definitely make it easier on us if we use the co2 -- reduce the co2 emissions. >> let's look at another factor that is likely to bring disaster. your research has been looking at the abend took region and how climate change has affected the gulfstream system. let's take a look at some of the changes to the environment in that part of the world. a new study from an institute for climate impact research, and found the gulfstream it might b losing stality. it is part of an elaborate ocean circulation system tt regulates much of the weather here in europe. thcurrent spring warm waters from the gulf of mexico toward the european continent and without them, those regions could be five to 10 degrees

cooler, creating extremely cold winters. dr. left the -- doctor, explain why this is happened and give us an idea of its likely impact. >> basically what we see right now is that the gulf stream system over the last decades has been in a much weaker state than before in the last 1600 years, as far as our data when back. while we have not determined how much of the slowdown has been caused the rise in global temperatures, we know there are ways global warming can impact the gulfstream system. this is because one of the main drivers of the gulfstream system is the formation of deep water in several regions and in the atlantic. in these regions, the cooling of the ocean surface by the atmosphere it makes the water at the surface so dense that it becomes denser, heavier than the

water below and it sinks to the ocean. under global warming, the sinking process is disrupted. this is because both water from the greenland ice as well as arctic sea ice, as well as trance -- it's making them lighter and less likely to sink. as a consequence, we will definitely see an impact on the temperatures, especially in the north atlantic regions, but there are studies that suggest it might also affect storming us over the northwestern europe continent, especially wintertime, or that could even be too extreme heat waves in the summertime. >> between that and what we have already seen, this year has seen some of the worst natural disasters the world has seen, including wildfires and floods and landslides. is it your belief then that

things will continue to get worse before they get better? >> i would definitely say these extreme events are part of our future, because we know that global warming increases the likelihood of many types of extreme events, and we understand why, on the one side because ofhe therm change in the atmosphere, the warmer atmosphere can contain the moisture. but we've also seen changes that can trap weather systems over certain vocations and what would have been just a you hot days turns into dust locations and what wld have just a few hot days turns into a heat wave. we can expect the extreme warm summers like in 2003 or 2015 or 2018 that they become more frequent, and as we continue with global warming they will

become the new normal. >> there is a warning to us all. thank you for outlining all of that so clearly dr. cesar. >> you're welcome. >> more stories making headlines, a third day of violence around israel's border with lebanon. they have fired rockets into israel as retaliation from israeli airstrikes the day before. israel responded with artillery fire. united nations says the need for food aid in if the opio will be needed next year as the harvest is likely to fail. -- aid in ethiopia will be needed next year as the harvest is likely to fail. south africa's former president has beenaken to the hospital for observation. officials d not go into detail about his condition.

he is serving a 15 month sentence for contempt of court, he is due back in court next week for a corruption trial. a taliban gunmen have shot and killed someone from a media center in kabul. they run press operations for local and for media, -- foreign media. this comes days after an attempt on the acting defense minister. the taliban makes advances as foreign troops withdraw. they have captured a city, the first time they've taken a regional capital in five years. the un security council has held an emergency session at the request of the afghan government. the u.n. envoy to afghanistan described the worsening situation. >> in the past weeks, the war in afghanistan has entered a new, deadlier amount mortgage structure phase. the taliban campaign during june

and july to capture rural areas has achieved significant territorial gains. from this strength of position, they have begun to attack the larger cities. >> michael o'hanlon specifies in u.s. defense strategy and the use of military force for the brookings institution and the international institute for strategic studies. welcome to dw. after the u.s. and foreign troops pulled out, the taliban surged. a lot of people are saying this was protectable. >> i'm afraid -- predictable. >> i'm afraid it is and i was one of those people, but those who advocated staying the course , that was not working either. things will get much worse before they get better and i

don't think people should expect a rapid taliban takeover countrywide, necessarily. the fact that beginning with this remote regional outpost and continuing assassination efforts, these would suggest they realize they have a big fight had them if they really want to take kabul, some of the other big cities in the south. they have started with a remote outpost in the southwest, which is an indication it's not going to be quite as easy. 1000 -- one possibility is a taliban takeover as the collapse of country, but at least as kely is a period of civil war. the government is holding onto me areas better than others in afghanistan is looking more like it did in the 90's, the early 90's when civil war was the norm for several years. >> for those of us without your expertise, the appearance is that the government has lost

control and the taliban's progress is unstoppable. you're saying they picked up the easier targets first. >> that's a possibility. i also want to acknowledge agnosticism in my -- limits of my knowledge and washington, d.c. without a feel for the battlefield in real time. but it is important to understand that although cities are still in government hands even with nato's troops essentially -- virtually complete gone. it is not going to fall immediately like a house of cards. there is the possibility of a rapid collapse if morale disintegrates, a couple of cities fall and that creates a domino effect. i'm not trying to give a happy prognostication and mine is not at all happy because i see two bad outcomes, either a taliban takeover of the country or an ongoing civil war. but the latter at least gives a chance for many of the people of the international -- that the

international comnity has worked with to find safe places in the country to keep some kind of forei -- forward-looking afghanistan intact. even though it woulde violen and worse than what we have seen in the last 20 years, it is still preferable to a complete taliban victory. >> we are in a situation where it's hard to see what the international community can deal. there is no appetite to go back in having now come out. and there is no appetite on the part of the taliban to sit down and talk peace. we seem to be stuck where we are. >> yes, although i think within the realm of american influence, and i blame us more than any nato partner for the rapid departure, everybody was frustrated by this war but it was only one person, president biden, who decided it was now time to leave and with him can everybody else. he also still has opportunity to do things like use u.s. airpower from the rion to try to

counter any big taliban attacks against city's re needed in the comingeeks. he has the ability to work out where contractors might go and help maintain the afghan air force from a safe location. >> good talk. thank you so much. michael o'hanlon from the brookings institute. thank you. >> thank you. >> the philippines has suffered the second-worst covid-19 break -- outbreak in asia. this prompt at the government to put the capital, manila under lockdown for the third time. the restrictions have left citizens worried about their livelihoods and many are rushing to get vaccinated. >> manila has gone into lockdown again. for two weeks only essential business as will be allowed to open. a curfew begins at 8:00 p.m.. those not permitted to work can get financial help from the state. >> now we are in quarantine

again. there are less passengers, only a few people are allowed out. there are hundred 58 tricycle drivers here, how -- there are 158 tricycle drivers, how are we going to earn a living? >> this is our only livelihoods we have no source of income. i'm worried. >> but lockdown comes in response to a huge surge and infections blamed mostly on the delta variant. financial problems and the possibility of contracting covid-19 are the main concerns but manila residents are worried about being stuck at home for two weeks. after rumors that the unvaccinated would be barred from leaving homes and going to work, thousands rushed to vaccination centers as lockdown began. demand was so high one center had to be closed. >> the president said we cannot

go out, we cannot go to our jobs if we do not get our vaccines. so what happens now? this should add more doses so everyone here can be vaccinated. >> officials in the philippines have tried to dispel rumors but concern is understandable given the president's warning. >> to those people who do not want to be vaccinated, i am telling you not to go outside because if you do, i will tell the police take you back on. you will be escorted back to your house because you are a walking spreader. >> he later admitted there was no law on the books to enforce his tough talk. the government will be hoping the latest measures will bind them -- by them time to bring infections to a manageable level. >> more of the latest developmt in theandemic. schos have gun reening i

the unedtates with mt stes leavi disionsbout ss weari to scol and misters. me states ha banned mass quiremen in publ schools china sledg $100 miion to fund vid vcines fo poorerountries those ll bdistrited to the covax gbavaccine aring itiative italy wlequire people viting rtaurants, musms, thters to show pof of vaccinion agait or havg recored from covid-19 peop wil alsoe able t obtain so-lled greass wi a fsh native te. pistan whherandemic has amified an edation cris. lack of uversalccesso techlogy mea millionof chilen wer cut off whe schoolwitched online learng. scol csures mean th gls e at incased ris of opping o altogetr. reporting from karachi. >> being outside with her

cousins is one way she tries to pass the time. the 13-year-old used to love science at school but her father lost his job during the recent lockdown and can no longer afford to center there. -- send her there. >> i was in class eight, but i had to leave. i want to become a doctor. i had good friends. we used to eat, play and have fun together. i feel bad that things are no longer the same. my friends are starting bu i had to stop and it makes me really sad. >> low income families like hers have been the pandemic. higher rate of dust rates of poverty have been put more pressure on girls to stay at home to reduce cooling costs. millions may never return to the classroom. >> we don't know what is in store for our children, we want them to have a bright future but i can only happen if they

continue to study. -- that can only happen if they study. the children are confused. >> not only is it a personal tragedy for every schoolboy and schoolgirl who will miss out on an education, asses national applications, too. pakistan was already pgued withigh literacy -- illiteracy rates and the pandemic is made the situation worse. school closures have affected some 40 million children. the school is in one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in karachi. empty desks, more than half of the stents have less -- left. >> this is caused such damage that even those who were enrolled could not stay. manyf our classrooms are half empty so we are very much affected. this will not go back to normal until the government announces they will be no more lockdowns and that the covid pandemic is

officially over. >> pakistan's government has made efforts to compensate for school closures encouraging remote learning by the internet and special tv programs but these are not accessible and affordable to some of the poorest communities and several exrts criticize the support given. >> the government should have given a proper structure for online learning. they needed to provide hardware -- so quality education can be delivered to the students. >> the government says it will commission a study to find out exactly how many children have dropped out of the school system, and that it plans to reengage as many as possible. but there are fears that if action is not taken millions of children will continue to suffer from a virus that threatens their present and their future. >> a reminder of our top story

at hour, authorities evacuating the outskirts of athens where wildfires continue to spread and threaten the greek capital. blazes have wiped out large areas of forest and destroyed infrastructure. these are the worst fighters southern europe has seen for decades. -- fires southern europe has seen for decades. more world news at the top of the hour. in just a moment on dw, i will go through some of the biggest stories from the day in the day. until then, good day. ♪#x2cc

♪ >> a major milestone, coming on the same day militants assassinated government official in kabul. from europe to america, wildfires wreak havoc this summer. in greece, death and others forced to flee as they battle a