>> hello and welcome to “focus on europe." i'm lara babalola, thanks for your company. it's been a year since the taliban seized power in afghanistan. the chaos that followed sent shockwaves across the world. kabul's airport was crowded with people trying to escape life under the militants. some even clung to evacuation planes in acts of desperation. the window to flee was narrow, as international rescue flights, including ones from germany, brought refugees out

of the country. since international troops withdrew from afghanistan, the taliban has ruled with an iron fist. life for many afghans is now a fight for survival. poverty is rampant and the medical system is on the brink of collapse. things are especially bad for sick and injured children, like abdul. the 11-year-old lost both of his hands, and now he is receiving help from the aid organization “peacevillage international." the agency brings children in need of urgent medical care to oberhausen in germany. we accompanied abdul on his trip. >> they are hoping for medical treatment in germany. hundreds of afghan parents have brought their children to kabul. among them is 11-year-old abdul and his father. abdul lost both hands in a bomb attack, and he's nearly blind in his left eye. the german aid organization

peacevillage international is his only chance for receiving proper medical treatment. >> i visited other hospitals but didn't recover, that's why i'm here, because i need help with my hands. [chatter] >> social worker claudia peppmüll has been flying to afghanistan for years. she and her team bring severely injured children like abdul back to germany for treatment. since the taliban seized power in august 2021, she has seen conditions in the country take a dramatic turn for the worse. >> in all our time here, we've never had so many families come to us. over 2200 came. telling one child you can come, and another you can on come later is really hard, because you don't know if the child will survive half a year, especially with bone infections. >> afghanistan's economy has

collapsed. numerous people are starving. many qualified doctors have left the country, as have many aid organizations. >> children have started coming to us again without any dressing on their wounds or painkillers. we've seen seriously injured children who would be in intensive care in germany without any pain medication or bandages, just lying at home like that. >> before being able to help the children, claudia peppmüller and her colleagues need the taliban's cooperation. without their permission and valid passports, the children aren't allowed to leave country. >> at this point, the taliban, or men belonging to that organization, are in every department. we've had some really positive experiences. actually we were amazed when

they requested our help. >> for about 40 years, the aid organization has been transporting seriously ill and injured children to germany on chartered flights, to a foreign land, far away from their parents and brothers and sisters. >> you're nargis, and who's she? what's her name? >> orzo? [laughter] >> a few months later, we meet abdul again in the peacevillage in oberhausen. he's been living here with other gravely injured children from crisis and war zones from around the world. it's a community thrown together by dire need, for as long as the surgery and rehab lasts. a medical nurse checks abdul's

progress and explains his treatment. >> when he came to us a few months ago, he still had a wound here in the chest area. we managed to remove several little pieces of metal capsules. once they were out, the wound closed up quite nicely. abdul still has an operation coming up. it's to separate the ulna from the radius, so he'll have a pincer-like forearm. that way it'll be possible for him to grasp a pen or fit something. >> abdul knows the operation will bring him new possibilities. >> i'm not scared. i'm happy that they're operating on me. i'm not scared at all. [chatter] >> playing helps the children at peacevillage international momentarily forgot about their pain, war and being away from their

homes and families. here, everyone becomes one team. at least for a while. and they all contribute their own experience. >> it's amazing how each day, these children show me how much life is worth living. they show me-- use the day. live in the moment. that's also what they learn in their countries. it's not like us, we tend to think everything through right up to retirement. but they'll tell you, you can think about today, or tomorrow at the most. but enjoy the life you've got. >> abdul doesn't yet know when he'll be able to return to afghanistan. but he's already looking

fo>> europe is experiencinger aanother extremely hot and dry. summer. the situation looks apocalyptic, especially in the continent's south. forests are burning and droughts are drying up rivers. the greek capital of athens is one of the hottest places on the continent, but efforts are underway to cool down the ancient city. athens now has its very own chief heat officer, the first ever in europe. her task -- to keep the residents comfortable despite record temperatures. ♪ >> in high summer, the sun beats down on athens. temperatures of 40 degrees celsius or more are becoming commonplace. and that's hard on tourists and locals alike. eleni myrivili always keeps her water bottle handy. she knows all about summer in the city and the risks it poses -- because she's athens' chief heat officer.

the greek capital's first, and the first in all of europe. it's her job to prepare the city for climate change. here, she's descending into the city's historical underground, together with an employee of the athens waterworks. it's home to "hadrian's aqueduct," an underground tunnel almost 20 kilometers long, built by roman emperor hadrian in the second century a.d. eleni myrivili wants water to flow here again soon. engineers have already drawn up plans. >> they are planning to create 20 specific points where they tap into the water, into the green new parks. >> the idea is to create a green belt, running straight through the city. the creation of parks should produce a cooling effect. the chief heat officer is

particularly proud of this small park which was inspired by japanese gardens. >> we have to choose plants that both have a lot of leaves and thick canopy, that lose their leaves in the winter, but also do not need enormous amounts of water and can survive in difficult conditions. >> for several years now extreme , heat waves in greece have almost always been accompanied by forest fires, which are increasingly becoming a threat to the capital. in mid-july, there was a wildfire on the northern outskirts of athens. dozens of homes were destroyed. eleni myrivili knows that time is running out. in a few decades, large parts of this city of close to 4 million people could become uninhabitable. already, athens is often the hottest city in europe during the summer. >> we don't have a lot of parks and green spaces, and we have a

lot of old people. the fact that the surfaces, we have a lot of surfaces that tend to heat up. we have a lot of cars that produce even more heat, and air conditioning produces even more heat. so it's actually a pretty deadly mix in athens. >> studies have shown that older people, in particular, are at risk of dying during heat waves. so, eleni myrivili is also seeking advice from the red cross. here, colleagues from the australian red cross explain how they devised a system to help vulnerable groups cope with temperatures of up to 50 degrees celsius. >> they started out in response to a big heat wave that killed many people, at the request of the local authorities there. >> we are preparing people to be able to help people before they get really sick, so that we can tell them what to do. and, if they start having symptoms, somebody's there that can answer a phone or can be

next to them to help them so they don't end up in the hospital. >> yet few athenians take heat that seriously or perceive it as lifthreatening. >> ii get dizzy or feelike i'going to tow up, i just stick my feet in cold water. >> athens is increasingly unbearable in summer. we have no rivers and most of the surrounding countryside is burned up. >> the heat is an issue for agis emmanouil, and not just because he likes to run long distances. he's an actor and one of the most famous climate activists in greece. to promote climate protection, the athenian ran 2500 kilometers from here to the world climate conference in glasgow, scotland, last year. he thinks having a heat officer like eleni myrivili isn't a bad idea. but that, for athens, it's likely too little, too late. >> it'd be nice to have a new park in my neighborhood with a

fountain i can cool off in on hot days. but, to be honest, it seems like giving a cancer patient an aspirin. i get the impression that we've already surrdered. we've accepted the climate crisis and now we're trying to somehow live with it. >> eleni myrivili doesn't want to give up on her home city. but she can see why young athenians might choose to leave. >> my daughter is currently studying in norway. and to tell you the truth, i'm kind of happy that she is studying in norway, because i think it is going to get -- i am afraid. i worried that it's going to get am really hard in the south. >> still, eleni myrivili says young athenians should also be able to have a future here. after all, this ancient city has survived many a crisis in its

almost 4000 year long history. ♪ >> italy has also been suffering under extreme heat and drought. water supplies are running low, and in places like the island of gelio, tourism is making the situation worse the revenue the holiday-makers generate is welcomed but the vast amounts of water they consume is creating a problem. the most obvious solution is the sea. a de-salination plant produces millions of litres water daily but it is a plan that comes at a high price. >> if only seawater were portable.on the italian island giglio southeast of elba, there is plenty of seawater. and for centuries, there was also enough springwater. but booming tourism led to the water dema exploding. in the summer, the population of the island increases tenfold. which is why this dissemination

plant was needed. 2 million liters of fresh water are made here from seawater everyday. >> the water is pumped out of the sea and into these two tanks. then in these cylinders, bacteria and other microorganisms are filtered out. otherwise, they could cause problems later in the treatment process. >> the filtered saltwater water is then forced under high pressure through these pipes in the membrane. salt can't pass through, so what comes out is freshwater. >> it is good. really good. >> the process sounds simple enough, but can the solution be broadly applied? biologist andrea belluscio says, de-salination has drawbacks. he and his team have been studying the sea floor off of

giglio for more than 10 years - including around the plant. >> over there, the brine from the plant comes back into the sea. just there behind the rocks, where the foam is. >> this brine is three times as salty as normal seawater. the biologists have found that that all plants within a radius of about 30 meters have died. including neptune grass, which is crucial for the water balance. to compare -- this is a healthy seabed off giglio. >> neptune grass is as vital as a forest on land. it stabilizes the seabed, produces oxygen, and it provides refuge for fish as well as other sea creatures. sea grass forests are proper ecosystems. >> near the outflow from the

plant, most animals have also disappeared. and the desalination plant comes with other problems. it uses as much power as 500 three-households. >> the electricity is produced on the island, over on the other side. it's made there with the help of generators. >> this is the power generation plant. every day, around 1000 liters of diesel are burned just to power the desalination plant. but finding a greener alternative isn't straightforward. the mayor explains that many of the houses are historic and not suited to solar panels. and as most of the island is a nature preserve, wind turbines aren't allowed either. >> unfortunately, many tons of diesel are brought here for

power production. but the italian state has a project to connect the island to the mainland with a power cable. >> but the project's launch date is unclear. so for now, the island is carrying on with oil -- as there is no good alternative to desalination. and for hoteliers like eva mariuz, desalination is desperately needed. >> in the past, water was brought over by tankers. when that was used up, my grandparents had to go down to the harbor to collect water from wells with these jugs. with the desalination plant, we've had no more water problems. >> but having a constant supply of fresh water carries a hidden risk, says biologist andrea belluscio.

>> now, with the desalination plant, people waste water. a shower after swimming, then a second and a third , they hose down ships in the harbor with freshwater. >> the desalination plant is soon to be upgraded to produce even more fresh water. but that also means more brine and even more fuel use! high time people re-learn to treat fresh water as a precious commodity. ♪ >> imagine not knowing whether your child is alive or dead. yevgeniya and oleksandr butkevych know this agony all too well. their son maksim took up arms when russia invaded ukraine. the war has now been raging for almost six months, and reports of ukrainian prisoners of war being abused have emerged. maksim is one of the estimated 7000 ukrainian soldiers believed to have been captured by russian forces. for his parents, the days are

filled with heartache and uncertainty. >> every morning, yevgeniya butkevych takes a few minutes. she's holding a photo of her son maksym. she hasn't had any sign of life from him since he was taken prisoner by the russian military two months earlier. she's terrified he's being tortured, or that he's no longer alive. >> i sit and cry, while my husband's still asleep. when he gets up, i wash my face, and try to be strong for the day. i only allow myself to cry like that early in the morning. >> yevgeniya and oleksandr butkevych invited us in to hear about their son. maksym butkevych volunteered for military service. for years, he'd worked as a ukrainian journalist and stood up for refugees and human

rights. when russia invaded ukraine, they tell us, maksym decided to fight for his country. >> he's a pacifist and anti-militarist, has been all his life. but he told me, "i have to join the army. i have to defend the values i've fought for my whole life." >> if we'd been younger, we would've joined, too. but we're too old. >> maksym's parents only found out he'd been taken prisoner from a video shown on russian state media. it showed eir son being interrogated in a cellar somewhere. >> it was terrible.the first thing i felt was pure horror. i saw my only child and thought, this can't be true.

>> over the following weeks, social media channels close to the kremlin labelled maksym a nazi, an ultra-nationalist and even a british spy over and over again, simply because in 2003 he worked as a producer for the bbc. his parents went to the ukrainian military, ukraine's security service and aid organizations, but no one could tell them anything. >> my biggest worry is that they won't treat our son as a p.o.w., but as a criminal, the way they've been doing with many others. i'm worried that they'll put him on trial using all these lies and trumped-up evidence. >> according to ukraine's security service, over 7000 ukrainians have now been taken as prisoners of war by russian forces. the security service is collecting as much information as possible, but its work is highly confidential, so it

turned down our interview requests. however, an attorney representing 50 families of p.o.w.s was prepared to talk to us. vladyslav ignatiev works closely with the security service, trying to bring the p.o.w.s back home. he thinks russia will be accusing more and more ukrainian soldiers of being nazis or committing other invented crimes. >> i think this was done mostly for the political purposes: when you create such an, you know, importance of the person, like he's such a great nazi. you may use it in their political trade. >> maksym's parents are determined not to let that happen. they have filed an emergency appeal with the european court of human rights, hoping it'll put pressure on russia to allow international organizations access to their son.

>> we're doing this so we can find out how maksym is doing. we really have just one goal: that maxsym and his comrades be set free. >> until then, yevgeniya and oleksandr butkevych are trying to remain strong, and fight back the panic and fear they feel for their son. >> and finally, in italy, cycling is a sport normally associated with professional athletes. but change is afoot in the home of ferrari and vespa. the bicycle as a means of transport is picking up pace. and the city of ferrara is ahead of the curve. >> ferrara is a cycling city. a quarter of residents cycle regularly -- which is unusual in italy, where few got around by bike before the pandemic. ferrara's love of bicycles can be seen at ricicletta. instead of throwing away old, broken bikes, they donate piles of them to the project, to be

refurbished and resold. >> they support our social project by donating bikes that were left in yards or cellars. we recycle 300 to 350 bikes per year. that's like rescuing one from the junkyard every day. >> ricicletta is both good for the environment and the local community. the project employs people seeking to re-enter the workforce, and has hired two men. and demand for the bikes is high. the city has been working to become even more bicycle-friendly for decades. this also attracts cycle tourists, for whom new ideas are being developed, such as bed and bike, where bicycles can be taken into the room. >> tourists didn't know where to store their bicycles.

and they have expensive bikes. they need to know that they'll be safe. >> in ferrara, people have been avid cyclists for over 150 years. the highlight of the year is the historic bike race, where everyone has to ride vintage racing bikes. >> this is my second time. i'm riding my grandad's bike. he's really happy about it. >> in the city, kids learn to cycle before they can walk. >> i have been cycling since i was 14. now i'm 80. i rode 25 kilometers to come here today. i'm a little late. [laughter] [shouting] >> and they are off! the route is 61 kilometers, but that's more pleasure than competition for all those in ferrara passionate about cycling. >> as they say, “it's the journey, not the destination." and that brings us to the end of our programme.

thank you so much for watching. see you soon. ♪

09/01/22 /01/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now!w! >> more democracy, then we will go to bring perestroika. i make a does for the words of former soviet leader mikhail gorbachev in