code red, climate change is here and spreading fast and some of it is irreversible. a panel of u.n. scientists raising the alarm on global warming. the desperate plight of thousands of families. militants overrun with more potential capitals. they feel the government is powerless to stop them.

the health pass drives the increase in covid-19 vaccinations. i am phil gayle, welcome to the program. we begin with another urgent warning on climate change, this time from the united nations. major climate change is here, the increase is inevitable. the increase in sea levels is -- this could pass by 2030. much sooner than previously thought. scientists say it is not too late to cut greenhouse gases. >> code red for humanity. that is how the

secretary-general described the report. the first since when h14. it states unequivocally that we are to blame for global warming. greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have driven the global temperature up by 1.1 degrees since 1850. it is on course to pass the limit by 2030 unless rapid action is taken. the effects of the temperature rise had never been more visible. severe floods left other parts submerged. still, they stress it is not too late. >> if we start warming at 1.5 degrees, we will also start many of these extremes from getting

worse. we can slow these changes down and we can stop many of the others -- after drastically reducing co2 emissions in the next decade. >> policymakers prepared for a crucial climate summit in november. activists want them to honor their commitments. >> this is absolutely down to governments. the rich countries agreed to put a pot of money together. 10 years later, they still have not gotten that money together. the u.n. panel says the report will be critical for negotiations at the upcoming summit.

>> welcome to dw. let's start with your reaction to this report. quick thank you for having me. this is the milestone in i'm it. this road together thousands and thousands to assess their content. more sure than ever at the human fingerprint is visible around the climate system. unequivocal change in the oceans atmosphere. >> this report seems to contain a lot of bad news. this is to limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees. lots of people are going to look at that and say why can't we keep trying?

>> they are by no means prescriptive. they are exploring different climate futures. it was more meant to limit to -- global warming to 1.5 degrees and that is what it does. we havea very good chance of limiting warming to around 1.5 degrees. there will be another report forthcoming. ? this real for us. we are already seeing forest fires and floods around the world.

how will life with more than 1.5 degrees of warming be different from life now? >> we ll look back athe exeme events we have seen and think this is all quite moderate because it is very clear that from here on it will only get wors we have extreme around 1.1 degrees of warming. it will only intensify the increa in warming. we will see more heataves, more drought, re precipitation and so on and so forth. not to speak of the very far-reaching implications of the climate system. >> not much good news there. one of the worst things about this is getting individual countries to cooperate. that has not been a priority so far.

if you could influence one government to take one action now, who and what would that be? >> that is a question that goes beyond the science. i think what the report delivers to governments more clear than ever is understanding on influence of the climate system. we talked about the bad news part but there is also the good news part. that means we are more certain than ever thaour actions matter. we are not looking at runaway greenhouse gas effects. we c sort this problem within one generation if we get going now and we are very able to do so. >> thank you for explaining that to us. those fears about climate change are playing out in the wildfires

currently ravaging much of sovereign -- southern europe. this is the second biggest island ever that have joined forces to try to contain you'd blade in the last week. the prime minister escorted a natural disaster of unprecedented proportions. >> with all of their might, firefighters and volunteers are trying to hold back the flames. massive forest fires have gripped the greek island. one of the helpers is richard constantine. this island is his home but now, much of it has been turned to ashes. courts are used to run in this forest. we used to go through the -- through there to collect birds. >> much of the north of the island has been destroyed.

this was the scene from a rescue boat on the shores. it looked as if the apocalypse had arrived. greece has been battling devastating wildfires for nearly two weeks now. public anger is growing with many accusing the state of inaction. >> just rage, that is the only thing i feel. i don't expect anything from any state or from any government, nothing. for me, there is no state. measures should have been taken years ago. a decade of austerity has/public services, weakening firefighting capabilities. the european union has promised help and ascending firefighters, aircraft and vehicles. for now, volunteers have to pick

up the slack. >> barbara wesel is increase and se us this assessment from athens. >> the fire is raging in the north of the greek capital. this could final be brought under control. 800 firefighters were iolved. however, in other parts of the country, the picture is considerably more grim. particularly on this island. the seventh biggest island west of the capital. there, you see scenes of utter devastation because the fire has gone completely out of control. the whole north of the island is completely burned down. 2000 people had to be evacuated. they are now waiting in every section cap for what the future might hold for them. local people lost their

livestock, their houses, their livelihoods. perts fear the fire may not even be over because the weather conditions mea danger continues for the next weeks to come. further fires might break out in other parts of greece. so far, the country has lost about half a million actors of -- hectors. the greek clinical structures are coming under increasing and severe pressure. the country finds it reallyard to deal with the fallout of this environmental catastrophe. >> we will take a look now at more stories making headlines around the world. in japan the city of nagasaki, marking 76 years since the u.s. at a bombing that killed 70,000 people. hundreds gathered to remember

the victims. they called on governments to renounce nuclear weapons. canada has reopened its borders to american taurus for the first time since the start of the pandemic. travelers must be fully vaccinated against coronavirus and shoah recent negative test. the u.s. canada frontier is one of the longest and busiest. the technical failure has left london's famous tower bridge stuck in the raised position. halting traffic on both sides of the river thames. the bridge typically opens about 800 times per year. it will allow large ships to pass. authorities are working to resolve this. the taliban are continuing their advance across afghanistan. thousands of civilians are being displaced by fighting and many more fear for their future. the parts of the country

highlighted here in red represent territory not held by the taliban. the afghan government controls the blue areas including the capital of couple. -- kabul. he specializes in the use of military force. welcome back to dw. there was a lot of red on that map. the taliban have control of six provincial capitals since friday. this is just a matter of time until they take the whol country. >> not necessarily. i think they have to recognize how hard it is to prognosticate about war. and not believe that things are inevitable just because it is an easy rhetorical thing to say. what you could see is some of

the smaller capitals are conceded but the afghan government attains a small enough special force and a core elite army. maybe four of the biggest cities. and then also benefit from the politics that make it hard for the taliban to win in certain parts of the country like the north. all that happens which i think is simply possible. then you could see more of a stalemate emerge in the coming months where the taliban controls much of the countryside. perhaps there is hard fighting over one of the largest cities. heaven forbid that also happens in kabul. so many of the people in afghanistan don't want them to. they will fight tooth and nail to the death. there are a lot of militias and other groups that don't want to tell event to control the areas

they live. i think that is a distinct possibility. phil: that was going to be my next point because stalemate sounds like a long and protracted thing. it sounds like another 20 years is likely. >> afghanistan really has not been there since then. the taliban were mostly in control of most of the count. your basic point i agree with. that is a distinct possibility. that is why president biden made such a big stink. as bad as things were, they can get worse but it does not mean the taliban will win. some people prefer they would. then they can try to influence their behavr. i don't think they are going to win, frantically. at least there is no confidence

with which i can make that kind of prediction. >> good talking to you. thank you for joining us. apologies for some of the quality. let's hear on the same issue from patrick. he is the chair of the association. welcome to dw. should nato troops have stayed in afghanistan? >> i think they should have stayed to secure peace and to give the society a chance to learn my chrissy, to open schools and -- i am of the same opinion. i don't think the taliban could win in the end. we will give them the chan to learn democracy, learn how

societcan be built up. i cross ngers that the taliban regime will not win more and more space in the country. >> crossed fingers are all very well but it will take more than that to secure peace. do you foresee a situation where nato troops would return to this country? >> not yet in the situation. a few weeks ago we just redeployed our soldiers back to our countries, also germany redeployed soldiers back to germany. i think it is time for dlomacy to talk about aid to support the government, to support the areas which tried to build up democratic structures. i think it is a time of diplomacy. >> i don't know what that means. if the country is involved in civil war, what are you

supporting? you're supporting a government that is trying his hardest not to cede control. >> there are a lot of civil organizations in the country. there are foundations in the country. we should support them that they can continue their work. it is not easy when the area is not stable. they are still in the cntry and we can support them so that we can show them some difference between democratic structures and nondemocratic structures. in the end, i don't think the taliban will win. >> german troops were basted there for 10 years. it is back in taliban hands. germany's defense minister describes the reports as very painful. how do you feel about it? >> it is. a lot of comrades have done their service. this is linked with military hiory of germany.

we had a real huge incident. for us, it is hard to see the taliban getting more and more space in and aund. this is not 100% in taliban hands. let's see if they can stay in this area, if they can stay stable. or what i hope is afghan troops can fight against the taliban also. >> thank you so much for joining dw. the united states and great britain are imposing new sanctions on belarus a year after the countries -- country's disputed elections. the national olympic committee is accused of money laundering. hello xander lukashenko told a news conference he won the election fairly. he described his opponents as foreign educors.

we have this look back at 12 turbulent months since that. >> a year ago, the belarusians were queuing other people to vote after their country's most lively election campaign. they had only been registered as the government was convinced they had no chance of winning. other position figures said they had been jailed before they could even run. record turnout, so many belarusians wait for hours. when authorities announced this 80% victory for lukashenko, many could not believe their eyes. soon, evidence emerged, making these unusual exit. after the polls closed on november 9, protesters took to

the streets. the police response was swift and brutal. thousands were arrested. any simple he disappeared for days on end. relatives begin gather outside places. this prefer any news about the loved ones. reports spread of beatings, sexual abuse and lifesaving medicines. the response backfired. protests grew larger and larger as ordinary people discussed by the violence came out to protest. 80, 100, 200,000 civilians. it seems these were more afraid than he on -- afraid than the unarmed protesters. on his return, the crackdown

began in earnest. in the weeks and months that followed, lukashenko's security services turned up the heat. the leaders were either hind bars or in excel, sometimes forcibly thrown out of their own country. by winter, they retreated to downtown minsk. the risk of arrest was just too big. soon, the government was following them home as well. but dissenting voices cropped up. even now, they used a graduation speech to. the clip went viral and they were detained for two weeks. this is just one of many stories and they keep on coming. for all the intimidation over the past year, the regime has not managed to silence critics.

there are still many in belarus who are willing to take the risk and speak out, irrespective of the costs to themselves. >> a marathon seven hour news conference. lukashenko spoke to journalists who had been chosen by the government in minsk. >> there were lots of guests from belarus and russia. the international journalists, he has been giving thea hard time and implying that all they are doing is serving the foreign powers interest. challenged about human rights abuses, beatings and protesters last year. he first said show me facts, the are n any, this is all made u a couple sennces further on, the millie contradicting them selves. -- themselves. not a lot of coherence there. definitely an attempt to show some confidence and give the impreson that the government

is back in control of the situation, it is not challenged and it has the confidence to tell theestern world you can establish contact with us and reestablish relations but on our terms. are not going to budge. you're going to ve to except the situation as it is. please stop annoying us with all this talk of human rights. >> france has seen a sharp increase in demand for covid-19 vaccinations after introducing the health past. people need to show they have been vaccinated or tested negative to get into restaurants. -- restaurants, hospitals and long distance trains. some say the past infringes their personal freedoms. >> coffee, croissant and a covid-19 pass. that is with the french government wants the daily life to look like right now.

since this morning, we have thrown away dozens of people. the government hopes more people will get vaccinated so they can visit their favorite hangouts. it has become something of a burden. we have respected everything, the difference between tables, plexiglas, sanitizer and now we are being asked to make an extra effort. our job is to provide a service and at peak hours, it is really time-consuming to scan all the customers and to explain things to them. this is not our job. some customers to welcome the checks. >> i think it is an excellent idea. it protects us all.

especially given the new delta variant which is very dangerous. the rules are also being enforced at train stations. passengers receive special wristbands to allow them to board city trains. it follows weeks of protests against covid-19 restrictions. others don't want children to have the job. -- jab. hands off our kids they have said. >> the french team has come home bearing the olympic flag as paris will host the next tournament in 2024. the athletes stepped off the plane and showed off the flag. paris has learned many lessons from tokyo's handling of the event. the 2024 olympics will be usually significant -- hugely

significant for the country. >> it is a very important issue for our country and it is an incredible chance for our country in 2024. it will help us bounce back after these extremely difficult years. phil: that is it, you're up-to-date, more world news at the top of the hour in just a moment. i will be back to take you through more stories of the day.

♪ >> eight u.n. report has predicted quicker global warming then feared. it's as coal, gas and oil should be phased out fast to drastically cap emissions. in afghanistan, taliban militants capture a sixth provincial capital monday after ousting security forces from border towns and trade routes. this ahead of a trait -- u.s. troop pullout. the french government has extended the implementation of a health pass to cover cafes, restaurants