q■q■ conor: hello, and welcome to “focus on europe.” it's nice to have you here today. it is autumn, or fall, here in germany, but after the warmest october ever documented, it doesn't really feel like it. record temperatures have been causing huge tracts of land to burn, and while most people are in agreement that carbon emissions should be curbed, it's a very different story getting countries to agree on just how to phase out coal, oil, and gas. climate talks on exactly this issue are currently underway at the summit in egypt.

at the end of the day, though, each country is called upon to play its part. like sweden, the home of climate activist greta thunburg. close to muonio, well above the arctic circle, the forested landscape is being scalped at an enormous scale. now that's obviously a problem for the climate, but it's a more immediate disaster for the animals living in those areas, like the reindeer whose sources of food have vanished. but with the help of climate activist annalena lohaus, those animals do have a voice, one who doesn't shy away from standing up to the powerful timber lobby. reporter: at first glance, you might think sweden is one big forest. over two thirds of the country is covered in woodlands. but the farther north you go, the more bare patches turn up. the old-growth forest starts thinning out. in many places, the countryside

s been strped bare, ke herecross the rder from muonio, finland, over 150 kilometers above the arctic circle. this is reportedly the work of swedish lumber companies. greenpeace has put signs on the trees saying, “do not cut.” annalena: clear-cutting means everything is cut down and taken away. they plant new trees, and 30 or 40 years later, they cut them, too. that's working against nature, not with it. reporter: a single operator with a tree harvester can clear as much timber as two dozen lumberjacks used to be able to in the same time. the machines' enormous tires leave behind packed soil and deep ruts in the ground. it's no surprise that it takes many years for anything to grow back here. a huge tract of land was slated for felling here, too.

the forest belongs to sveaskog, sweden's state-owned lumber company. but environmentalist groups such as greenpeace as well as reindeer hders had something to say about it. they placed the trees under their protection and patrolled and demonstrated for months. the quiet protest shook the company's majestic headquarters in downtown stockholm to the highest levels. the former director hato go. we talked to the new ceo, erik brandsma, who says the company is open to a new approach. erik: we previously haven't managed that conflict in an optimal way, and there have been situations where we have not advanced the possibilities for the reindeer herders to practice their profession. reporter: back to the forests that belong to sveaskog. around 4000 reindeer currently roam the area around muonio.

they find enough forage in the summer. in autumn, the semi-domesticated animals like to graze on mushrooms. we met with the chairman of the local reindeer cooperative, hans holma. does he trust the latest promises made by the lumber company? for now, he says, no trees are being felled. he's hoping it'll stay that way. hans: ofourse, we're hoping for an improvement and a new direction. er brandsmcame up here to see us. but to be honest, it's happening 30 years too late. most of the old-growth forests have already disappeared. reporter: in lapland's winter, food is scarce, especially now that the climate's turned erratic, with periods of relative warmth alternating with arctic cold. the winter forage only grows in

these woodland pastures. the herds graze on the lichen and plants beneath the snow. erik: we sort of have to decrease the volumes that we take out. if we want to have lichens in place, if we want to create corridors, create shelter and protection for the reindeer during the whole year, this has, of course, an impact. reporter: peace has returned to this forest, for now. the “do not cut” signs have been taken down. so will the trees have to get by without protection now? annalena: sveaskog will keep watch on their own. erik: our colleagues from greenpeace seem to sort of have enough trust at the moment that they left the area and focus on other issues, and i think that's a good sign. reporter: environmentalists and lumber companies have long been at odds. now, sveaskog has pledged to harvest 20% fewer trees in the coming years, an agreement that many here hope will bear fruit.

conor: back in 2015, hundreds of thousands of syrians entered the eu through the balkan route, with many of them making their way toward germany. today, europe's border fences have been reinforced and they are much more tightly controlled, and yet thousands of syrians, like mohamed here, are attempting to cross them once again. mohamed had been living in turkey for years, but now he says he can't stay there any longer because the threat of deportation is just too high. instead, he's traveling from turkey, to greece, and further north on a journey that is not without risk. reporter: mohamed, a 21-year-old syrian student from aleppo, left turkey as fast as he could. now he's near the border between greece and north macedonia. he says it took almost 20 attempts to get to greece. mohamed:

it was dangerous to leave but it would've been even more dangerous if turkey had put me in a refugee camp and sent me back to syria. i'd di, and ow. reporter: he and about two dozen other syrians hope that they will be safe from the police here in the forest. this man shows his scars. he says he was beaten by greek police. despite the violence and danger, many syrians are trying to reach western europe these days. many say they no longer feel safe in turkey, where authorities have reportedly started deporting refugees back to syria. they're prepared to risk their lives. there's no space left at this morgue in alexandroupolis, says greek coroner pavlos pavlidis pavlos:

a corpse without a name -- just a number. reporter: many nameless bodies have been brought to him in recent weeks from the evros river, which forms the greek-turkish border. people who died trying to reach greece, and the european union. pavlos: i've been working at this institute for 20 years, but it's never been this bad. we used to have about 50 bodies a year, but now we've had 60 in the first nine months of this year. reporter: the danger has increased since 2015 when huge numbers of refugees tried to reach the european union. greece has tightened controls and erected a high fence in some sections of the 200-kilometer border. it's reported that greek border officers have sent many migrants and refugees back. greece denies these reports of

pushbacks. it blames turkey. in mid-october, 92 young men, mainly from syria, were discovered naked on the greek side of the border. the men said that they'd been forced across by turkish border guards after being ordered to remove their clothes. mohamed is relieved to have made it to greece safely. tomorrow, he plans to cross the border to north macedonia, and continue on what's called the balkan route. mohamed: i want to go to germany, learn german, finish my engineering studies, and marry. reporter: mohamed and his friends are not exceptions. the greek border police says there's been an increase in illegal entries, though there've been no large groups. dimitris: it's become harder to cross the evros illegay, and smany are taking a longer detour

through bulgaria. the smugglers have also changed their tactics. people are brought over in ones and twos in small cars, even on motorbikes. reporter: new routes and new risks, as pavlos pavlidis sees in his daily work. pavlos: most of the victims drown in the river, or die of hypothermia. there are also more and more traffic accidents. if a smuggler's car has an accident, there's usually more than one victim. reporter: pavlidis tries to identify the bodies on the basis of jewelry and dna samples. desperate relatives contact him every day. pavlos: these are human beings, just like everyone else.

i'm not interested in where they came from, what they believed in, or their politics. they deserve our respect and that's why i try to do everything i can to identify them and to return them to their families. reporter: but he knows that the deaths at this borr region of europe are unlikely to end anytime soon. conor: to live in ukraine right now is to live in fear, whether you're a soldier, a civilian, or something in between, and regardless of whether you're in the areas under occupation or well away from them. anything that offers a sense of normalcy, however small, can make a big difference. like colorful, polished fingernails, for example. “war may be war, but women are still women,” ira says. for the ukrainian volunteer, it's a welcome distraction from the daily chaos, where the ongoing war is ever present.

reporter: ira doesn't need her helmet in kyiv, like she does at the front in donbas. she and anya spent 10 hours in the car, on the way back to kyiv. it's a chance to catch their breath. they work as volunteers, bringing whatever civilians and the military near the front might need -- infrared cameras, medicine, bullet-proof vests. both of them are taking big risks by helping the soldiers. ira: this time, shells started raining down on us near bahkmut. there was a convoy of military vehicles ahead of us. they got attacked with mortars, and we were 150 meters away. but we made it. reporter: the conversation is lively on the drive. one moment, the topic is the war. a moment later, cosmetics. another surprise -- both of the volunteers have elegant

manicures. anya: since the war broke out, i thought, i'd better look good, because you never know when a missile might hit you. ira: looking good is a big deal for me. i spend a lot of time behind the wheel, and i really look different. all the normal people have lost weight during the war. but i've gained weight and cut my hair. when i come back from donbas, i don't look that great. but of course, as a woman, i want to be attractive, like before the war. so i make an effort to look nice. reporter: when you see fingers like mine, then for you, they're dirty? ira: they're normal. manicures are a little part of my old life before the war that i want to hold onto. when i have my nails done, i feel a bit more normal. reporter:

this war is so overwhelming that the little things like fingernails seem all the more important. before the war, ira was an assistant film director. but for now, she's making the rounds between the frontline and kyiv. a few days later, anya and ira are paying a visit to a completely different world -- a nail studio. ira: the nail studio is like a girls' club. we meet up here. and we ask each other what's going on, and talk with the manicurist. it's a distraction from day-to-day life. it's a magical world. reporter: is the work here a way to forget the war? inna: yes, sometimes. you zone out of reality for a moment and come back a bit later. reporter:

in russian, the word "dievochka" can mean girl but also a woman of any age -- a "lady," in other words. and ideally, a dievochka should always be well-groomed, in peacetime or war. ira: when i go to the front in donbas, i have to be attraive because i see the boys. we don't let ourselves go. war is war, and women are still women. when we arrive and they see us, they want us to look good. we don't wear civilian clothes, but military outfits. so there's only one way to look like a woman, with a manicure, make-up, and a haircut. reporter: the finishing touch on her nails is a tribute to ukraine, and then she's done. they head off together. the manicurist inna is also coming along. ira: we're at the khreshchatic subway station. it's the central stop in kyiv,

and the safest place in the city to be if a bomb falls. because it's so deep. everyone is safe here. and so everyone survives. inna: it's my first time attending a concert like this in the subway. i think it's going to be a very emotional experience. reporter: ira got tickets for this concert, in the middle of the day, down in the subway. it's an attempt to pretend life is normal, and a welcome moment of distraction. ira lives two lives -- one at the nail salon, and one at the front. so how does ira handle life in two different worlds? ira: i can't. not at all. i'm currently taking classes in emergency medicine. and i'm headed to the front in a month. reporter:

so why does she want to go? ira: it's the only way i can cope. many men have died at the front and i want to help them. reporter: ira is devoting herself ever more to the war effort. but she's determined to keep up her perfect manicure. conor: by the year 2030, which is not that far away anymore, there will probably be more plastic in our oceans than there are fish -- that's what experts predict. and on land, the situation is just as dramatic. with our world suffocating under the plastic waste, young belgians are looking at biodegradable alternatives that might actually work as a substitute. and they've found one -- a kind of exotic, but sustainable way to create some truly ecological packaging. all you need to do is grow it out of mushrooms. reporter: deep in the bowels of brussels, in the cellars of tour and taxis.

at one time, this was a major center of trade and industry. today, another form of commerce -- and life -- thrives in this labyrinth of passages. here on an area of 1000 square meters, oyster mushrooms are grown on a base of organic coffee grounds. within a few weeks, the mushrooms burst out of the plastic bags they were planted in. it may have the look and feel of something out of a horror movie, but the cultivation is clean, and free of parasitic insects and bacteria. victor: we're definitely not the first one to grow oyster mushroom, but i would say we're among the first one to grow oyster mushroom but only based on organic waste that comes from mostly cities. for the moment, we're only focusing on coffee grounds but the idea of permafungi is that, one day, we might have a huge diversity of substrates using

different stream of waste. reporter: what makes it feasible, as victor thomas explains, is that mushrooms can grow on just about anything. all the basic components -- hay, mushroom spores, and coffee grounds -- are mixed together in a rotating drum, where they're also pasteurized to eliminate harmful microbes. they also put the used substrate from the bags to good use. it's cleaned again and seeded with spores of a different mushroom. these grow to become insulation panels, or packaging, or even lampshades. it's an idea with a lot of potential, and the european commission agreed. permafungi was awarded a two million euro grant to lp scale up its production for the european market. victor: a mushroom like this grows thousands of times faster than a tree.

that's a huge advantage. our crop takes ridiculously little time compared to industrial, petrochemical, or natural production. reporter: for now, permafungi is known for its high-quality mushrooms, especially for organic food stores. the crop is lovingly trimmed daily by hand. many tasks have deliberately not been automated with a view to creating more jobs. but once nathan jumps on his cargo-bike to deliver the last of the mushrooms to the stores, he's more than ready to emerge from the cellars into the daylight. conor: if a priest mentions a drink with “spiritual qualities,” you don't usually think of whiskey. but that is exactly what a group of catholics from germany had in mind as they embarked on a pilgrimage to scotland. their priest is quite popular

amongst parishioners, partially because of the whiskey tours wolfgang rothe has been leading for some years now, but also because he's not afraid to break the mold. reporter: this seems like good fun. a group of bavarians on a whisky pilgrimage with a priest leading the way. wolfgang: i'm a church rebel. >> he's the pastor the church needs. >> if he didn't exist, you'd have to invent him. >> he's a man of faith and brings progress to the church. wolfgang: hello, can you hear me now? wonderful. we're ready to head out. welcome to the promised land of scotland. reporter: along with sightseeing, wolfgang rothe and his group are touring local distilleries, one after the next. whisky, says the bavarian priest, is holy water. wolfgang:

the most important thing is mindfulness. we don't just gulp down the alcohol. we perceive what is offered to us with all our senses. this isn't a wild drinking spree. it's an exercise in mindfulness, and at the same time an exercise in moderation. reporter: the group approaches the tasting with a kind of sober, scientific curiosity. some don't taste at all, just sniff. nosing. wolfgang: looking through these windows, you gaze directly at the heavens. reporter: the rugged landscape is a source of solace for wolfgang rothe. a place he fled to in his thoughts, at a time of deep crisis. a bishop tried to rape him in 2004. he remained silent for years, out of shame.

when he finally broke his silence, nobody believed him. wolfgang: i came to realize that my church unfortunately has a culture of silence. there were things that desperately needed to be spoken about, because that was the only way to get to the bottom of things and move in the right direction. instead, they just wanted to brush it under the rug and cover it up. reporter: rothe wrote a book about his story. the accused bishop sued him, but lost in both a lower court and on appeal. by breaking with taboos, the priest -- who holds a service every day of the trip -- has also succeeded in bringing people back into the folds of the church.

christine left the church more than 30 years ago, even though she still felt close to her faith. christine: i was raised catholic and i still feel connected to the catholic church, but it's too confining for me. a lot of what they preach is foreign to me, so i left the church. with wolfgang, i know it's different. reporter: wolfgang rothe's approach to religion may be unusual, but it works. next stop is the borders distillery. there's a tour here, too. jamie: if you cross that, you're going to get punched by smell. but other than that, it should be nice. so feel free to come up one by one and have a nice little check of it.

reporter: the bus driver is waiting outside. he's already driven many tour groups. but the whisky pilgrims are a favorite. david: they don't seem to get very drunk. they seem to be interested in how the whisky is made and where it's coming from, stuff like that. so it's not as if they're just knocking them back, sort of thing. so yeah, there's no chance they'll vomit on the bus, which i'm quite happy about. reporter: wolfgang rothe's whisky pilgrimage is not only about spirits, it's about spirituality, too. it's a blend that's won him many fans, and there's already a date for the next tour. conor: that will definitely get more people to go to church, i bet. well, cheers from me here at “focus on europe,” and on behalf of the rest of the team here, thank you for joining us this week, and until next time. goodbye for now. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

12/01/22 12/01/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> during the trial, the government's evidence showed almost immediately following the november 2020 election, defendant stewart rhodes, founder and leader of the oath keepers, began planning to oppose by force the peaceful transfer of power. amy: for the first time in nearly 30 years, federal jury convicted two defendants