berlin. a russian court jails u.s. best buy stock -- u.s. basketball star brittney griner for nine years. u.s. president joe biden calls for her immediate release. so on the program, china puts on its biggest show of force around taiwan for decades. scores of jets on the taiwan straits following a

controversial visit by u.s. house speaker nancy pelosi. hungary's nationalist prime minister addresses america's largest conference of conservatives. we take you to dallas for a look at this year's cpac. i'm phil gayle. welcome to the program. a court in russia has sentenced u.s. basketball star greiner to nine years in jail after finding her guilty of smuggling -- u.s. basketball star brittney griner. the u.s. claims she was wrongfully detained and president biden has called for her immediate release. >> brittney griner entered the crammed courtroom hoping the sentencing judge would be

lenient, that the judge would consider that she admitted her mistake, had accidentally packed cannabis oil prescribed by her doctor and legal in the u.s. >> your honor, i never meant to hurt anybody. i never meant to put in jeopardy the rest of the population. i never meant to break any laws here. i hope that your ruling does not end my life here. >> she was stopped in mid. customs officials searched her bags and she was detaine she's considered one of the top basketball talents in the world. her 206-centimeter stature, 6.9 inches helps her dominate pro basketball and she has helped when two olympic gold medals for the u.s.

in court, she held up a picture of her team in russia after several teammates served as character witnesses for her, but she knows russia and the u.s. are now on opposite sides of a global conflict. >> i know everybody keeps talking about political pond and politics, but i hope that that is far from this courtroom. >> in a quick decision, the court showed it was unmoved by the call for leniency. she was sentenced to nine years, one less than the 10-year maximum. >> we saw her i think it was tuesday, and we told her see you on thursday, and she said see you on doomsday, so it looks like she was right. >> as she was led away, words of love for her family, but her future may be filled with diplomats for two countries

barely speaking to each other. >> any american detained and immediately turns into a very valuable hostage, and i think that because of the current situation, there are many americans coming to russia, so brittney griner becomes even more important, but before mr. putin releases her, as i think he will in exchange for a valuable russian prisoner, they have to give her a big, massive sentence because as you know, in russia, courts are just and they have to show that they are completely merciless -- in russia, courts are unjust. phil: antony blinken and sergei lavrov have spoken recently about a prisoner swap. did not come to anything.

tell us if that deal might still be on the table. >> i think the deal is on the table, and i think mr. putin wants basically to get the maximum of this exchange. a russian pilot has been sentenced in the u.s. for basically russian arms trade, what some call the motion -- the merchant of death. he has been in u.s. jail for quite a long time. he has become a famous case in russia as an innocent victim of american imperialism, kind of the u.s. trying to punish russia, and i think whitney greiner will eventually be exchanged -- i think brittney griner will eventually be exchanged because keeping a basketball star in russian jail is not something putin will probably want, and i suppose

what he does is to show that he have a victory bringing back a russian citizen home. phil: we expect in the next weeks or months, some sort of deal will be done publicly, or will this all happen quietly behind closed doors? >> i don't think such negotiations are conducted in public. i think that the result will be fairly public, and everyone, washington and russia, will claim that they won, but i think negotiations themselves are always behind closed doors. phil: thank you for that. ukraine's foreign ministry says russia is treating ukrainian prisoners of war illegally, using the four purposes

forbidden under the geneva conventions. three foreign-born ukrainian soldiers have been sentenced to death on allegedly fabricated charges. dw met the parents of one man being held and fair he could -- dw met the parents of one man being held. they fear he could meet a terrible fate. >> she has not heard from her son since russian forces captured him two months ago. she's scared they might be torturing him or that he might be dead. >> i sit in the kitchen and cry while my husband is still sleeping. when he gets up, i wash my face and try to be strong for the day, not to cry anymore. only in the early morning do i allow myself to cry. >> the couple invited us to their home because they want the world to know about this. his parents say he volunteered

to join the army even though he is a pacifist. he had worked as a journalist and activist, campaigning for refugees and human rights, but when russia invaded, he decided to take more direct action. >> he told me i'm joining the army because i have to defend the values i've been fighting for my whole life. >> they only realized he had been captured when a video of maxime being interrogated was shown on russian state media. >> it was horrible. the first thing i felt was just horror. i saw my only child. i felt, that cannot be true. >> pro-kremlin television channels called him a nationalist and even said he was a british spy because he had worked for the bbc in 2003.

>> my biggest concern is that they might not recognize him as a prisoner ofar like they have with others. and that they would fabricate a criminal case against him using all those lies and twisted evidence. >> our domestic intelligence sources there rsia is holding more than 7000 ukrainian soldiers prisoner but they won't talk about any of it on camera because negotiations on prisoner swaps are top-secret. the lawyer representing families of more than 50 captured soldiers has agreed to talk with us. he works closely with domestic intelligence to try to get prisoners back. he expects that russia will file more and more criminal cases against ukrainian prisoners of war. >> i think this is done mostly for political purposes.

when you create such importance of the person, you may use it to engender political trade. >> but the opposition does not want -- but the parents do not want it to get that far. they say they will fight until maxime is released. phil: a panel of experts has concluded that rwandan troops attacked soldiers in the east in the democratic republic of congo edited by the local government according to a report seen by the reuters news agency. the rwandan government has repeatedly denied any connection to the m 23 militia. there have been violent clashes after people suspected of being

illegal miners were attacked. this follows the arrest of 80 men in connection with the gang rape of a group of eight women last week during the filming of a music video. four police officers have been charged in the fatal shooting of breonna taylor in the u.s. state of kentucky in 2020. the hospital worker was killed after officers stormed her home using a so-called no knock search warrant. her death caused a public outcry mass protests in the united states. china has launched live fire military drills around taiwan. tensions rise following the visit of u.s. have speaker nancy pelosi. the government in taipei says it scrambled jets to ward off chinese aircraft that entered its air defense zone and a number of taiwanese military websites have come under attack. misses policy left have on

pledging -- mrs. pelosi left taiwan pdging an ironclad commitment. >> these images showed china launching its biggest show of force against taiwan in decades. navy and air or's drills, indicad in blue, have encircled the self governing isnd that china claims as its own. the drills included what aging lled precision missile strikes in the taiwan strait. this new escalation comes as beijing hits back for u.s. house speaker nancy pelosi's visit to taipei. she reaffirmed the u.s. commitment to taiwan's democracy. >> our government is even more resolute to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our nation.

in light of the current situation, our government will not only strengthen its self-defense capabilities but will maintain close ties with like-minded countries like the united states. >> the issue has dominated an association of southeast asian nations in cambodia's capital. china's foreign minister emphasized political and as he on -- asean countries. >> we have guarded the piece. the two sides have strengthened your teacher communication, jointly tackled various spillover effects and drilling maintained stability in the region. >> asean is positioning itself as a negotiator has called for all sides to de-escalate, warning a miscalculation could lead to open conflict.

phil: you next guest is a professor of east asian politics . i asked if the drills were a simulation of an invasion of taiwan. >> i'm not sure they are exactly rehearsal for an invasion, but definitely showing the capability of the people's liberation army to move into the taiwan strait with various kinds of weaponry and to kind of clear a battle space that presumably would have to precede an actual invasion, and of course, you know, there are many military actions that could restrict taiwan's freedom of action that are short of invasion as well, and this is a demonstration, too. phil: this idea is interesting because as all these rockets and missiles are flying around, taiwan's normal trade is therefore disrupted planes, boats cannot get in.

>> yes, right. one of the things americans talk about a lot when we are discussing what might happen in the taiwan strait and how the u.s. might respond is we talk about blockade scenarios, but here we have a kind of blockade in effect, and it is not clear that it is entirely a blockade, but the effect of all of this activity is to make it difficult for airplanes and ships to move in this area so in a strange sort of way, you know, we seem to be moving toward the realization of one of the things we have speculated about for a long time. i don't think it will stick around for long, but it is scary nonetheless. phil: talk about scary. just two days ago we have the united nations secretary-general saying humanity is just one

misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation. just today, we hear five of those chinese missiles landed in economic zones. i wonder if you could explain to us first, what is an economic zone? and if this apparent miscalculation is likely to have repercussions for china. >> onef the things about the east asimaritimepace is that it is very crowded, right? the south china sea is very crowded and what we might think of as the east china sea or the sea of japan, they are also very crowded and the taiwan strait is not very big either, so there's a lot of overlapping territorial claims, ev if we g with land boers as the basis of those claims, so countries have 12 miles from their coastline as a kind of area that they really do -- they are suppos to be able to control and i have anothe couple hundred miles of exclusive economic zone, and

there's just a lot of overlap. on top of that are the air defense identificati zones that countries use to ensure that incing aircraft, including and typically normally commercial aircraft, are notifying airports on the ground, the towers on e ground of their arrival, and a lot of the chinese military activity in the taiwan straits actually in taiwan's air defense identification zone, b in the last few days, it has moved even closer to the island of taiwan, and it is closer to the island of taiwan, especially on the north end, tn it is not that far from okinawa and other parts of japan's territorial waters. phil: very scary. thank you for talking us through it.

this is "dw news" live from berlin. still to come, it is estimated there are only about 600 siberian tigers still living in the wild. a look at how china is working to save the world's biggest cats from extinction. also, every year, the far right wing of the republican political party holds the conservative political conference known as cpac to prioritize their agendas. former u.s. president donald trump is a keynote speaker at the event in dallas, texas. he is very popular with the republican's right wing is one of the first leaders who will be setting the tone of this year's convention. this comes as donald trump's influence on the republican party is in question. >> this is the place were dedicated republicans look to energize and captivate the

party. political leaders look to energize the party with hopes they could be the next influencer of the grand old party. this year's convention will be dominated two figures -- donald trump and victor or von. with cpac embracing the controversial hungarian president, there are questions -- how far right has the party gone, and how do they view democracy and the freedoms once guaranteed by the u.s. constitution? former trumps her buyer, who has had -- former president trump, who has hinted about another crack at the white house, but with polls showing he may be losingnfluence, there are questions if he has the support to become the next candidate in 2024. phil: our washington bureau chief is in the thick of it at cpac in dallas. this year's event is called awake not woke.

what is it like? >> i'm standing here like in one of the main halls where the vendors have all their stance, and they sell t-shirts, they sell hats. there's a lot of informational material, but it is also a place to gather. on the surface, it is a nice and friendly atmosphere. they are in customs, but if you getnto political conversations, you have the feeling that under the surface, there is a lot of anger and they are really willing to fight or what they think is the right way america should move to. do not be mistaken by the happy mood here in texas. phil: as we just heard in the report, one of the special guests is the far right hungarian leader who has just delived his speech called "how we fight or coat let's listen -- "how we fight."

let's listen. >> you should know that i am an old-fashioned reading fighter. [cheers and applause] -- old-fashioned freedom fighter. i'm also the oldest long serving leader in europe, a father of five and grandfather to five grandchildren, leader of a country under the siege of progressive liberals day by day. phil: despite being quite isolated here in europe, viktor orban does have quite a fan base there i the.s., doesn't he? >> he does indeed and he is not a newbie t cpac. cpac just teleconference in hungary in spring. president trump just mention him a couple of days ago saying, he is one of my friends. he came here offering advice to the american people that is

quite interesting. he said we know how to fight communism, but he also said we need you, the americans, to support us because we are the loan star of europe -- the lone star of europe, and he went on about immigration saying we do not let anybody without european roots into our country. he talked about family values, said that only a father and a mother can build a family, and they should leave our children alone, kind of talking about lgbtq rights and the whole debate going on here in the united states, so it was very obvious that immigration and lgbtq rights, family rights are in the center not only of his agenda but also the political agenda here at the cpac conference. phil: the other big name your -- you mentioned is donald trump. what do we expt to hr from him? >> donald ump is evewhere --

on every teacher on every hat but we had the chance to talk to the former deputy white house correspondent, and he tolds yes, donald trump is here, but he might not be the next president, but definitely the kingmaker. donald trump is expected to underline his power. he definitely will try to diminish the abilities of president biden, and he definitely will talk again about the fact that in his opinion, he did not lose the last electio so it will probably be more of the same from him, but he will definitely show, i'm here, and i'm willing to fight for my power. phil: thank you. firefighters. in berlin have been battling an out-of-control fire that broke out at a police munitions depot in the early hours of thursday morning. more than 140 emergency personnel have been deployed. >> berlin in the early hours of

the morning. a surveillance camera recorded an explosion in a forest in the southwest of the city. a series of explosions began a few hours later. an unintended or work display filling the sky. the cause -- 25 tons of explosives, confiscated fireworks, and world war ii ammunition. the fire department approached the sight -- approached the site but had to withdraw. part of the safety coordinate one kilometer was later reduced to 500 meters, but helicopters, drones, and satellites are crucial to the operation. >> the only way we can get a better picture on the situation is from the air. this gives us visual images and is also a thermal imaging camera. it enables us to identify various pockets of embers and better assess the situation. >> 15,000 square meters of forest are burning, about the size of two soccer fields.

official say residential fields are not in danger. the emergency effort included firefighters, police, and soldiers, but the fire is still raging on. >> there are two big challenges -- the danger at the blast site and the rapid spread of the fire, both of which are not helped i weather conditions. >> but a forecast of heavy rain overnight gives hope. phil: the endangered siberian tiger is one of the largest wildcat species in the world. native mainly to russia, it is also found in some parts of northern china. there are estimated to be only about 600 left in the wild. these numbers have wanted conservation efforts, in china at least. the results have and promising. >> these images are the pro. rare pictures of siberian tiger cubs shot by a hidden infrared camera. the species is critically endangered, but in northeastern china, 10 babies were born in

2031, putting the number of the remaining big cats in the wild up to 600 animals. siberian tigers are the biggest living cats. from head to tail, they measure about two meters and can reach a weight of 300 kilos. destruction of their habitat, poaching, and trophy hunting are the biggest threats to the survival of the species, but conservation efforts are underway. >> china has constructed multiple natural reserves and monitoring stations to intensify patrol and management of t tigers' habitat. a number of projects focusing on protecting wild animals and plants as well as the construction of natural reserves have been implemented. >> in northeastern chinese provinces, the country has established a 1.4 million hector nature reserve --

1.4-milln-hectar nature reserve. they will check if the ban on commercial loggings complied with. the big cats need the forest to creep up on their prey. 2022 is the year of the tiger in the chinese lunar calendar, so the country is proud to announce that the population of the white siberian tigers has incread from 27 in 2017 to more than 60 today. phil: this is "dw news." in a moment, i will be back to take you through the big stories of the day in "the day." from viktor orban at cpac and why a former german chancellor cannot seem to stay out of trouble. see you in a moment. ♪

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>> this is focus on europe. i'm lara babalola, thanks for your company. it was a catastrophe of epic proportions the flooding that ripped through western germany last summer. no one saw it coming until it was too late. rivers, including the ahr, burst their banks and destroyed virtually everything in their path. dozens of villages were inundated homes and possessions washed away in an instant. more than 130 people died along the ahr river. the sheer amount of rainfall

took residents by surprise. experts say the extreme weather event was caused by climate change. and it seems like a combination of the topography and city planning has made the region more vulnerable to rising waters much of the landscape in the ahr valley is still scarred. those living in the community of schuld have a lot work ahead of them. residents are yearning for normality as they face an uncertain future. >> abandoned, since summer 2021. a village on the river ahr a gentle stream that turned into a raging current. >> what do you think, when will this village be rebuilt? >> in ten years. >> everything will be normal then?

>> yes, we hope so. >> schuld was one of the municipalities hardest hit by the flooding. last july,eavy rainfall made the river ahr swell up to seven meters high, destroying cars, homes and anything elsin its th. authorities failed to warn locals in time a fatal mistake. julia henrichs and her three children sheltered on a roof until the water finally subsided. >> there was a house standing here. the front had collapsed during the flooding, though there were still two people inside. they survived by the skin of their teeth. the torrent tore a hole into julia's parent's house. but after eight months of repairs, they were able to move back in. many locals, meanwhile, have

been left traumatized by the flood. >> you fear water, that includes taking a shower. you hear the water gushing out of the shower head. and that reminds you of the sound of surging water and the feeling of wetness. last year's ahr valley flood killed at least 133 people. hundreds went missing, only to be found later including some of julia's neighbors. >> i'll never forget that: the door was forced open by the water masses and a child shouted: mum, help! mum, help! and then it was suddenly quiet. i did not hear from these people for three days. but then i saw them again and knew: ok, they're safe, nothing bad has happened to them. >> the aftermath of the flooding:

mounds of mud and debris everywhere. that year, we visited mohammed abdulhamid in his hair salon, trying to salvage what he could. >> i've been here for almost six years i lost everything. >> for months, he cut his client's hair outside. he finally managed to reopen the salon a few days ago. >> thank god, but there are still a few things missing. >> yes, sure, but it took a long time until you could reopen. >> eleven months! i am really glad tsee the salon back open, to have a daily routine, and see my clients. to be honest: my heart is dancing! >> mohammed has been fortunate. many buildings in this region still remain damaged, and at risk of collapsing. in some cases, it's unclear who will pay for repairs.

few here were insured when disaster struck. government aid hasn't reached everyone yet or has proven insufficient. many here are disappointed. they expected quicker emergency relief. >> i tnk at first there were not enough workers. on top of that i guess it was the same for you you had to get an estimate of the damage, get a company to do that >> we had a foreign company do that. >> the flood wiped out many jobs in the region. mario is a nurse but his former workplace a nearby clinic is still being rebuilt. >> i'm on benefits, because of the flood. we will have to see how things go. i hope they will reopen this year, but we haven't heard anything yet. >> a tiny housing settlement, a little further up the valley. they're emergency shelters for 30 local families.

they don't afford much space, and many here yearn to return soon to their own homes. >> two bedrooms, a small one, a kitchen, and living room. >> soon, michael and his family can leave this shelter. after a year of repairs, their family home finally is inhabitable. though he does not want to keep living there. i think that in the medium or long term, we will leave. not so much out of fear, but there is an uneasy feeling. whenever there is heavy rainfall, or a storm warning, it does make you a bit nervous. >> the river ahr has taken and changed lives forever. even a year after the flooding, few things here are back to normal.

>> russia has been at war with ukraine for four months now. one of the kremlin's first targets during the early days of the invasion was kharkiv, ukraine's second-largest city. kyiv's forces managed to defend kharkiv and push back the russians. still, the battle is far from over, as putin's troops continue to shell the city. residents are trapped between normal, daily life and the fight for survival. >> another day of work in kharkiv. another day these garbage collectors aren't sure they'll come back home alive again. >> it's dangerous with all the shelling going on. >> andriy, yuri, and mikhail are making the rounds in the north of the city. when the war broke out, a wave of destruction hit. and shells keep raining down. every day is different.

>> there was a time before the war, and now. to me, it's like two different lives. you can't even remember normal life anymore. it feels like there's only been these past three or four months. >> flying shrapnel sometimes barely misses them. yet, gone are the protective vests. death, destruction, and tears may be part of day-to-day life now. but the trio isn't numb to it. >> it really hits me when we stop at an apartment and i see diapers on the balcony, and the whole building is destroyed. it's tough. and what lies in the rubble they clear away? there could be dangerous explosives. the garbage collectors are the

silent heroes of the city. they risk their lives to keep things going because kharkiv must not give up. someone has to do this work. who else is going to? everyone decides for themselves. i like to help people. >> and they're not the only helping hands. volunteers offer to make destroyed apartments more or less livable again free of charge. when the shells start raining down and your hands are shaking, you start cutting crookedly. it's really stressful. >> today, they've been called over by a retired woman whose windows have been blown out since february. she'd originally fled, but now wants to return to kharkiv. >> a shell hit the building next-door and killed a boy. my granddaughter was sleeping at my place. and all the windows blew out.

>> the 72-year-old pensioner says it's a real miracle how these young men are repairing her apartment for free now. but they see it as their contribution in wartime. yet sergiy still feels guilty. >> sure, i'm providing humanitarian aid. but i keep thinking about my friends fighting in the warzone on the front. and how they're spending days down in the trenches sleeping with machine guns in their arms. >> the metropolis of kharkiv has two surreal, parallel worlds. some parts are peaceful and idyllic, while others are being pummeled by shelling. kharkiv fell almost entirely into russian hands when the war began. then in may, the city was liberated. but many feel putin won't stop until he's got his hands on this prestigious prize.

>> maria can barely stand the constant fear of death while going about her day-to-day life. >> i keep telling my son that our guys are sleeping in the trenches so we can sleep soundly in bed. >> maria says our guys because she feels ukrainian. and started her family here. but she's russian. and the artist has grown apart from her native country. she says ukraine has become freer and more upbeat, while russia has lurched towards authoritarianism. maria has applied for ukrainian citizenship and burned her russian passport >> it was my way of expressing my disapproval and saying i wanted nothing to do with that country anymore.

and that i no longer see myself as a russian citizen. >> the war may keep grinding on for some time. it could take generations to heal the hate. and yet kharkiv beams with defiant optimism. these people keep toiling away, despite the risks to keep kharkiv alive and strong. >> the effects of the ukraine war are also being felt by fishermen in italy. the spike in energy prices is making the diesel that fuels their boats unaffordable for some. in genoa, fishermen rely on a good catch to make ends meet. now some have given up entirely leaving their vessels moored at the dock. hs but mauro gambaro is refusing to throw in the towel just yet. he and his colleagues have come up with a clever business model to help keep them afloat during

the crisis. >> fisherman mauro gambaro sets off from the port of genoa at seven in the morning, as he's done almost every day for the last 20 years. what's new is that he doesn't know if the catch will be big enough to cover his costs. >> at a restaurant, the fish dishes still cost about the same as before, because you don't want to put the prices up too much. but our profit is going down! and our costs continue to rise. we're lucky we've organized ourselves into a big cooperative we'll have to see how things go. >> 24 fishermen have joined together in the cooperative, specializing in regional fish and lobsters a niche market alongside wholesalers and cheap imported fish. they have laid out three kilometers of net, which they haul in by hand, meter by meter, which takes hours. >> here look, we can't use this one, it's been eaten by sea

fleas. and that is a jellyfish. >> and finally: the coveted lobsters. if you net a lot of them, the day was worth it. due to overfishing and warming seas though, this precious catch is dwindling. >> the sea has changed, that's clear. we're finding much more plastic in the nets, unfortunately. >> after five hours, the net is fully hauled in. the result: >> there are about seven kilos of lobsters, 350...650 700 euros; that's all it's worth. that's rough, because today we spent about 200, 300 euros on diesel, then there's our own provisions, the wear on the boat, and the fact that the nets must constantly be

repaired. >> that doesn't leave much to live on. they try to make ends meet with new sales markets. the fishermen run their own restaurant. they also have a stall at the harbor, where they sell directly to the customer. mario, the head of the cooperative, takes care of this. but most of the stands in the small market hall are empty today for many fishermen, it's no longer worth heading out. >> if you're not passionate about fishing, you can't do the job. but you've got to get something out of it. if we don't get help, there won't be any of us here in 5 or 6 years. >> the situation is dramatic for all fishermen, since the price of diesel has almost tripled due to the ukraine war. for weeks fishermen went on strike and blocked ports. with the already low profit margins, the business is hardly

worthwhile anymore. >> the government has forgotten and abandoned us; that's obvious. >> we must be given the opportunity to work. the price of diesel has to go down; that's what we want, not >> -- not charity! >> mario was on strike too, but he doesn't believe in government handouts and has taken matters into his own hands. here in the picturesque bay of boccadasse in genoa, the cooperative runs a restaurant locals and tourists love the old fishing village, because it retains much of its original charm. in the restaurant they only sell fish they've caught themselves. so far, the idea has been a hit. and it could be a lifesaver for the fishermen of boccadasse. >> we came to boccadasse, because we loved the idea of this restaurant. i had the blue fish it was great.

>> it's definitely better to spend money on a regional product than spending the same amount on something imported from abroad. >> the next day, mauro heads out again. and he hopes to live from fishing for a long time to come; he simply can't imagine doing anything else. >> it's bloody, deadly and a tradition that's treasured by some bullfighting is still alive and well in spain. the sport was even named a part of the country's cultural heritage in 2013, much to the dismay of animal rights activists. it's man versus bull and it almost always ends with a dying animal in the arena. well, there's yet another aspect to bullfighting that has activists up in arms: people with restricted growth performing as clowns and acrobats.

the men do it voluntarily, they say. does that make it ok? >> they're rehearsing one last time before the show. roberto torres and his fellow clowns want to make their audience laugh in the bull-fighting arena of granada. that's what's brought the troupe together from across spain. most of them are people with restricted height due to a genetic condition. >> my father was also short and performed in the arena for years. i always watched and it's what got me into bull fighting. i've enjoyed it since i was a kid as long as i can remember. and i'm still doing it now. >> little toreros are often an essential element of any show in spanish bull fighting. they perform with young bulls like these, but they don't hurt or kill them. the troupe is on their way to lunch. and in the street, they turn a lot of heads.

but fifty-three-year-old josé antonio zarzuela doesn't mind. he's used to it. >> that's just life. we've got a disorder called achondroplasia. too bad. but i'm happy with my body and myself. i don't care if i get a few looks or what they say about me. >> but having little toreros perform in granada or other spanish cities has become a controversial matter. >> when i was little, i would go with my parents. when i was six or eight. and i had a lot of fun. >> that shouldn't be happening anymore. it doesn't make any sense to put someone in the limelight for their body size and make fun of them. >> the shows upsets carolina puente. she's just a meter and thirty-seven centimeters tall herself and promotes equality

for people with restricted growth. she finds these kinds of shows counterproductive. she wishes they were phibited. >> we didn't come all th way earning society's respect just to have it trampled in a show or to have children making fun of shorter classmates. >> time for the sod check at the arena in granada. for his part, daniel calderón is average-height. he met the smaller comedians while working as a bull fighter. and now he leads the troupe. he doesn't get his crics' objections. >> who says you need to be a certain height to be a comedian? everyone can do what they want. these guys are professionals. they pay into social security; they are proper bullfighters. we're not doing this because someone is forcing us.

we're professionals. >> one hour to go until the show begins. the bullfighters are getting ready. carlos isn't nervous at all. the portuguese native has performed in many shows already. and knows what it means to be humiliated. >> the only thing i didn't like was being thrown through the air. tall men took us and tossed us around. that was in torrevieja, it was really degrading. >> carolina puente has teamed up with susana noval to fight for the rights of people with achondroplasia. they say comedic bullfighting shows are humiliating. >> it gets people thinking that those with dwarfism are funny and slapstick-y. apparently, it's okay to make fun of this disability. but nobody would find it funny if people in wheelchairs were thrown through the air.

>> do you really think these people are suited to bullfighting? no. they are employed because their unusual bodies make them strange. >> and then, it's show time. >> >> the group of comedians have become close friends over time. >> we all have the same stature. nobody is taller or smaller than anyone else. we are like brothers, helping each other out. we all have the same worth. we're equals.

>> and they'd love to keep doing what they do. but carolina and other activists have already succeeded in banning such shows in other parts of spain. >> nouvelle cuisine or new cuisine is a french movement that was pioneered by this man, paul bocuse. he tore up the rule book and modernized fine dining. bocuse was crowned the chef of the century and went on to teach many notable chefs before his death in 2018. his legacy lives on in a cooking school that bears his name. each year, hundreds of students learn the techniques of their idol in lyon. >> sparkling clean glasses. >> napkins perfectly rolled. isoline is studying to become a hotel manager at the bocuse institute it's her dream job. >> to get the right aesthetic look, the plate must be two

finger-widths from the edge of the table, along the axis of the chair, and aligned with the glass. >> meanwhile, in the kitchen, the ovens are heating up. students from all over the world come here to learn about haute cuisine at the school founded by paul bocuse. today, it's a five-course menu. mohammed from morocco is in his third and final year. the work at the stove is grueling, the pressure great. but mohammed loves the challenge. >> there is a clear hierarchy that we have to respect. we know who's boss. it's like an orchestral conductor with their musicians. only with us, it all happens in the kitchen. the boss sets the tempo. >> in this case, the boss is florian pansin. he is responsible for ensuring that the restaurant slash cooking school retains its michelin star.

the students have to be calm and focused so that they get all the instructions. it requires a lot of concentration, which itself requires rigor and discipline. >> the moment of truth. the main course. squab aka pigeon in a crust of cashew nuts. all under the watchful eye of paul bocuse. >> the food is excellent. well done! bravo! our french culinary heritage allows us to shine the world over. and that's just what schools like this are about. >> high praise for the students, as they too dream of bringing haute cuisine to the world. isoline with a hotel in india mohammed with a restaurant in morocco. >> and i dream of tasting their creations. that brings us to the end of this edition of focus on europe.

thank you for watching. bye for now.

08/04/ 084/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we need a treaty of nonproliferation of nuclear weapons as much as ever. amy: as the u.n. secretary-general warns of possible nuclear annihilation, we look at the growing threat of nuclear war as tensions