berlin. -- live from berlin. a third of pakistan is underwater in the wake of a monsoon on steroids. those are the words of the u.n. secretary general. describing the catastrophic flooding, many of them homeless, many more fearing food shortages. in iraq, this clara tell his followers to end their protest after 30 people die in clashes

in baghdad. we will look at what sparked this unrest. and dw news visits a ukrainian summer camp for children who were traumatized by war but are still dreaming of peace. to our viewers watching in pbs and the letter states, looking around the world, welcome. the you achieve is calling on the world to take action to help pakistan do with konta which is of devastating floods. one third of the country is underwater. the u.n. says that climate change was to blame for the good -- to blame for the castrophe. >> the pakistani people are

facing a monsoon o steroids. there were that less impact of epic levels of rain and flooding. let's stop sleepwalking toward the destruction of our planet. today, it is pakistan, tomorrow it could be your country. >> this map shows the areas hit by the flooding, stretching the entire length of the country and many of pakistan's breadbasket provinces in the south have been submerged. 33 million people have been affected around 3000 kilometers of roads and highways have been damaged and the country natural disaster authority says where that a thousand square kilometers of land have been flooded and that is raising concerns about food security. >> a village underwater in pakistan's province.

one of several key agricultural regions that never symbol small oceans. many people here report before the floods came, now they have lost almost everything. in those areas that are dry, makeshift camps house those displaced by the water. farmers salvage what they can from their fields. pakistan's climate minister says the flooding is apocalyptic and that our country is bearing the brunt of climate change caused by more developed nations. >> pakistan is less than 1% in the global essions of if you like. we heard the contribute any omissions to the broader admission blanket that makes greenhouse gases that turn our climate into a living hell. >> in the northern pakistani

city here, the effects of the floods are being felt in soaring prices for food and other basic goods. >> prices increased a lot because of the floods. goods can't be transported from here, the roads are closed. our business is almost slow to a stop. people can't feed their children, can't pay their rents, can even pay electricity bills. all prices have doubled. >> the floods could not have come at a worse time for pakistan where the economy was already in crisis. now the government says it needs more than $10 billion to recover from this latest climate catastrophe. >> janelle is with the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies and told us more about the severity of the damage. >> oureams on the ground are seeing very heartbreaking

images. you mentioned the numbers, 33 milln people aected. or than a thousand homes are damaged or destroyed. 500,000 people sleeping in temporary camps. it is a really devastating picture. i think there are more things than just the immediate needs, food, water, shelter, a lot of people have lost family members or have been separated from family members and don't know their fate so it is an ever evolving situation. it is not over yet and it is something people are going to have to cope with. >> there was just so much water, water as far as the eye can see, what needs have to be addressed first in this type of catastrophe? >> the basic needs are necessary, food, shelter, water. we think about mquito nets, making sure those are not spread. making sure people have basic health care is really important. right now, the reds -- pakistan

red crescent are able to distribute some cash grants to people where markets are working so they are able to buy what they need and can maybe even start to think about replacing things they have lost. >> we know that pakistan is a problem case to deal with, the politics are dysfunctional. the economy already crippled. how does that impact the work that you are trying to do? it eight agencies are trying to provide? >> right now, when communities have already sufred from a covid pandemi we are just seeing compounding crises and compounding risks. we pre-positioned materials in case some thing like a flood happens and we have volunteers at the ready, working around-the-clock. while you can never be prepared for a disaster of this scale, certainly we know that teams are

working hand-in-hand with other organizations and the government to get as much aid to people in need as possible. >> you so you can never be prepared for something this extensive. yet pakistan has been listed as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world in terms of climate change impact. is it possible for aid organizations to at least have some semblance of a plan for these countries that are going to be hit? pakistan being the best example. >> certainly. another redross r cscent is ramping up its preparedness efforts for this exact reason. how do we mitigate the risk of disasters before they happen? that is the best way to keep people safe, healthy and alive. it is something we are investing in and i know a lot of other organizations are as well. we are seeing that people are really shaken because the reality is even if you know a flood could happen or another

disaster, the uncertainty you face is really scary. that is what people are coping with right now. we are hoping we can help people navigate through that. >> you are doing important, value work. -- valuable work. thank you. ukraine says its troops are engaged in intense fighting across the southern ukrainian region. that is the day after ukraine said it had been working through enemy lines at several points, they were trying to retake territory occupied by russia. the push follows weeks of preparation with ukraine attacking russia's supply routes in an attempt to isolate troops in the area. russia captured the city of -- early in the war. >> we have a member of the european parliament here. i asked her how an is is being

received by the public in that part of the country. >> i will tell you this. we do not know all the details of the operation that is ongoing right now as we speak but what is apparent right now is that ukraine has been preparing for this operation for a couple of weeks now. the explosion of the warehouses had been part of this big operation that we are seeing right now. of course, ukraine would never have enough manpower to go against the whole army but by using the smart equipment we getting from the u.s. a other western allies, we can naturally make the difference on the battlefield. what we know now is that there is somedirect engagement. we cannot provide any details of that as of right now but we know for sure that dings have been happening over there and at the same time, ukrainian armies continue to destroy the russian

warehouses with russian weapons and ammunition. >> are you getting the sense that the military has reached a point things to these western weapons that it can now begin effectively pushing the russian forces back? it is hard for me to judge. raised on my talks with the military, the western missiles are making a huge difference. but there are some elements of the help that we are still asking from the west. mainly the tanks which not a single country has provided right now. which at the same time are extremely import for any counteroffensive. they're difficult to go on a counteroffenve without the proper amount of good tanks that the ukrainian army currently needs. this is our biggest asked from the germans as well.

altogether, all the weapon supplies have made a difference. i think the russians a going to be expecting this. they did not expect the west would be as supportive. we are very nervously waiting for what is to come out of this. >> speaking of nervously waiting, that describes what the entire world is doing when you look at the situation. let me ask you about the team of u.n. nuclear inspectors. >> we see the meeting right there, that was ahead of their inspection of the nuclear power plant. that is occupied by russian forces. the site has been repeatedly hit by shelling as russian and ukrainian forces battle nearby. that has prompted a meltdown.

do you think that will be enough to ensure that we are not facing a possible second chernobyl? >> ukraine is a country that did survive the first chernobyl. they are very aware of wh is to come. were trying to be as cautious as possible. the russians are holding big numbers of tanks and armored vehicles and missile launches over there. we shall see how they will react to the international atomic agency over there. from what i have been hearing, they have been making the trip not safe on the way there. even if the mission comes over there had to be make sure many

of them will take that ay? the question is actually to have a constant presence to ensure that the russians do not create a nuclear disaster over there. >> we appreciate your time and insights tonight. thank you. the ukrainian counteroffensive comes as the european union defense ministers are meeting here to discuss military assistance for kyiv. talks of setting up the ukrainian army here -- the eu is united in its support for ukraine. >> it is not just warfare. there are many trending

initiatives on the way but the needs are enormous. i can said thatll memr states agree clearly on that. >> jack has been following development for us. he joins us from there. let me ask you, you heard them speaking about how eu defense ministers will agree on ukraine. >> what they have essentially done is they can start defining the parameters of what any potential eu training mission --

they could sign off and gather the green light. they did not go that far. they can start drawing up what it might look like. this is important and ukrainians are calling for it. the funny defense minister also joined that meeting via video link. what they are saying they need specifically is training for snipers and also de-mining. these are things the military needs. the question is how would that operation look? the eu does win military missions. all of them are in the countries of origin where those trips are being traded. the checked defense ministry

sent us a statement afterwards saying that even if there is a possibility of such a mission existing in the future, for the discussions involving any specific involvement of the czech republic would be needed. although the idea is going up, it looks like this training mission is some way off. >> what about the idea of visa restrictions for russian travelers who want to come into the european union? >> this is the double whammy of the meetings. we are talking about the training mission and other foreign ministers are in prague to discuss this visa issue. denmark and finland want and all right been on fees as being issued to russian tourists but there is a lot of opposition to this. specifically, france and germany , they circulated a paper ahead of the meeting saying it would be counterproductive to restrict

this sort of portal for russians coming into the european union, that it would rebuild some sort of iron curtain again. there are 10 million eu ease circular at the moment. a number of countries say they are planning to invalidate those visas if the russians enter the european union. specifically, this issue would need unanimous approval by all of the eu member countries.. that does not look like it is happening. >> let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world.

the first ship carryin grain has reached africa. they are loaded with 23,000 metric tons. nearly 200,000 people are without safe drinking water. residents have been warned not to drink tap water. the city is not just riveting bottled water. schools and businesses have had to close. not to iraq where the president is calling for early elections to settle up political crisis that has turned into some of the deadliest violence baghdad has seen in years. earlier this week, he called on his supporters to end their protest after a second day of classes with the army and rival shiite factions, they bent to

his demands. >> bearing there dead, supporters lay their loved ones to rest. killed in clashes with other iraqis, the unrest only ended after the powerful shiite cleric ordered his followers to pull back. >> if within six timmons you don't withdraw from the green zone and from the city in outside parliament, i will even disavow the unit -- movement itself. >> minutes later, members of the militia started recoiling. in frustration over a palooka deadlock, he said he was quitting politics. he commands a militia with thousands of fighters, many of whom stormed the green zone in anger.

the area is home to the iraqi parliament and numerous international embassies. they traded shots with rival shiite factions and prompted the united nations to warn that the state's very survival was at stake. the class was just the latest escalation in a political crisis that has left iraq without any government since elections last october. the party won the largest share of seats in parliament but could not secure a majority because of political infighting. he says his shiite rivals are too close to iran. as the turmoil continues, many iraqis are struggling to put food on the table. >> we are only here to ask for a good life, to ask for schools for our children. access to health care. we want take the d. >> the violence may be over but the divisions remain with no clear way forward out of the crisis.

>> i am joined by my guest with the middle east and north african program on foreign relations. it is good to have you without. do you know what the goal is here? he announced he is quitting politics that appear to spark these protests and now he is calling for his supporters to withdraw. is this a miscalculation or a demonstration of his power? >> you can say it was both but i would say it is a slight miscalculation. he did win the most seats. he had those mps resign a few weeks ago which means he was -- he no longer had a seat at the table and his rivals will move on without him and form a government. it just kept escalating until we had clashes last night.

>> he has been demanding new elections. it looks like that will happen. is he going to -- are at least one of his demands being met by the end of the day? >> we still don't know. the most logical thing to do is to have snap elections and start this over again but in the long term, this will have a negative impact on iraq's democratization. voter turnout haseen decreasing over the last three elections and it was below 44% in october and to have another snap election, forcing his mps to resign does not bode well for the democracy. >> it has been more than 10 months since elections in iraq. we still don't have a government. why haven't iraqi leaders been able to get their act together and form their government?

>> the are being selfish. they are not able to come together and have another consensus government. he thought he could sideline some of his politicalivals and form a government with just certain parties from the kurdish and semi blocks. others were able to block him and not allow him to form a new government which allowed him to have his mps resign in frustration. it is just the nature of the political system that encourages large broad-based consensus governments. >> thank you for helping us understand the events that have shaken baghdad this weekend. >> the war in ukraine has forced millions of people to leave their homes, many are children who have seemingly lost everything. a group of volunteers in the south of ukraine set up a summer

camp. it is supposed to be a place for fun and it is supposed to be safe but as is reported tonight, the horror of the war is never far away. >> this is a birthday like no other. >> i would like -- i wish you happiness and a peaceful sky above your head. this is a summer camp for kids and families. refugees are in occupied areas here. >> the russians were standing there with tanks and next attacks were people unable to live. and then they took these people

away. >> unable to live, in just a few weeks, many of these kids have seen more than most people in their lifetime. his dad is a soldier in the ukrainian army. his mother decided to flee when the russians started looking for the families of ukrainian soldiers. >> a look through the blinds, i was scared but the neighbors saved me. they told the soldiers it was the house of a single mother with two kids and the soldiers looked, they saw children's clothes drying in the yard and did not enter. click the organizer wanted to create a space that was only temporary by the war is always close. the 70-year-old girl named marsha asked him to bring her

friend. -- seven-year-old girl named marsha asked him to bring her friend. >> one day she was sitting there in the hammock, crying. i approached her and asked what is wrong? she said my friend that you didn't take is not coming anymore. i understand it is not my fault but she would still be alive. >> many here have stories like this but the other volunteers

try everything they can to distract everybody with outdoor activities. it is the birthday boy posturing to climb the rocks. a victory at least for today. so much in his life or means uncertain. >> after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. stick around, we will be right back.

ñcñcñcñccqwqc÷gqgq?x>x!aa

>> welcome back you are watching france 24. mark: these are the headlines. one the most significant figures of the 21st century mikhail gorbachev has died, he was 91 years old. the last leader of the soviet union, he was key of moving rush away from a communist doctrine. ukraine claims have destroyed of bridges, ammunition and tempos and russian command posts. this is the counteroffensive in underway. of the country is the nuclear watchdog lands in kyiv in