in brazil, indigenous firefighters are not only tackling wildfires. "my husband was against it, he even wanted to leave me. he said he wanted to separate from me because he couldn't accept that i'm part of this group. why is speed the driving factor on germany's highways? and: in the usa, there is still quite a long way to go in the fight for equal rights for all.

with a model of lady liberty in their arms, these two are heading to the statue of liberty. pascale sablan has been looking forward to this trip with her son xavier for weeks. not just because the seven-year-old has never seen it in reality. xavier and i pored over this lego statue of liberty set for a whole week. and when we finished i said 'you know, mom has a project on liberty island, ' he said, 'no way! that's your building! look over there! anyone who wants to climb the stairs inside has to first go through security screening in this building. simple and functional, it was designed by pascal sablan, a black woman--that's a rare accomplishment even today in this profession dominated white men. i feel so really, really proud. it's not, like, super glamorous, but having an impact in locations is really powerful. and when i think of all the people who kind of go through this space to kind of have an engagement with liberty

island, it's pretty awesome. to be part of that sequence of experiences. black people are particularly underrepresented in the construction and real estate industries. pascal sablan is one of the few to break through. for her, lady liberty is more than a symbol of freedom. it's really the statement against racism, right? is ths structure. and to have our projects be on this island and be part of that experience is important so--for me--the opportunities are not lost on me that my family took a risk to come and to be here and to enter into the unknown of what was expected. these hot dogs are famous in washington d.c. just like the woman who owns the successful restaurant where they're served: virginia ali. but customers come here for more than her special chili dogs. guests frequently ask to have their photos taken with the 89

-year-old business owner. ben' chili bowl even got a visit from barack obama when he was newly elected as president. his spot is marked to this day. this diner has long served as a melting pot. regardless of age, class, and race, everyone is welcome here. the counter hasn't changed since 1958, when virginia opened the local hot spot with her husband. back then, life for african-americans was completely different. because we couldn't go downtown to the theater, or we couldn't go downtown tfor dinner, or we couldn't buy a house uptown, or places like that, but we had everything we needed here. back in new york, pascale saban wants to show us her favorite building site in the bronx that's addressing racial disparity. the architect says that also means better housing. she describes a moment in her studies, when she was clearly judged on the color of her skin. my professor asked me and another student to stand.

it felt as if i had no idea what was happening: whether it was an assignment that was coming and they needed two leaders. and he said, 'okay, these two will never become architects because they are women and because they are black. what was it like for you? well, it was shocking. it was more shocking than anything else, because it wasn't expected in any way. and as a competitive person, that was the sentence i needed to hear. pascale is making a successful career for herself. thinking differently was the key to this project--where 500 apartments are being built, right here. an affordable living space with lots of glass and greenery. very different from the cramped housing blocks where many black families have lived up to now. our living quarters are so tight that it's very hard . so places like parks and outdoor spaces become that much more critical because it allows, culturally, for us to have time with our families, share a meal with our families. so, the client of this project paid to triple the amount of barbecue grills in the park.

look at this view! i mean, is this not like a beautiful glorious expression? even though it's affordable housing, people can have the dignity of pride when they look at their home and this quality space. bronx point wasn't just created by sitting at a desk. pascale and two other colleagues talked at length with local residents. the team took time to hear what they wanted, and what was missing from the area. 40,000 people have already applied to live here. it's starts with where's your heart at, where's your mind at. when you start the project, to make sure that the end addresses the voices of everyone. virginia and her family want to continue passing on the inspirational story of ben's chili bowl and its role within the black community. school groups visit regularly for history lessons over hot dogs and fries. because we've always had the theory of treat people the way you'd like to be treated.

it works, it works. treat people the way you'd like to be treated, even the angry ones if you get to them. she says that's why the chili bowl has been such a popular community spot for 65 years. you are always open to everybody. and i wonder, has that helped for tolerance and openness? i think it's helped us, and my family, and my business. and i think it's something that should be practiced worldwide. if we could get everyone to be kind to each other, it would be a wonderful thing. time has kind of stood still at ben's chili bowl but her son kamal ali says that things for african-americans have changed since the civil rights movement. he continues to run the diner with his family. we've gone from only working on civil rights and now we're talking about every kind of rights: gay rights and human rights and animal rights. it doesn't mean that racism doesn't still exist in the world or that we don't still have problems, but we've certainly come a long, long way from 1958 to now.

pascale is back at her old catholic girl's school. this is where it all began for her. now, she has a clear message to encourage more young women in that moment i was shocked. but it also allowed me to understand my responsibility. when i walk into a space, i won't just be pascale. i will be representing my race, my ethnicity, my gender--so i therefore have to show up and show out, every single time. that also said to me that i couldn't just be an architect who did buildings, but i also needed to come in and rock the profession at the same time. i mean i did think that, but i also thought it was really inspiring, cuz she does all that and she's also exceptional in her field. i feel like i will be, i will make a change, an addition on to pascale, and she will help me along with it. pascale also feels that her success comes with a degree of responsibility.

her goal is ambitious. she wants to see sexism and racism eradicated from her industry within the next five years is this the sound of german autobahn? maybe if you're visiting. because for many locals hurtling down the highway at top speed is just. another day of driving. germany could save millions of tonnes of co 2 a year if it implemented a speed limit. so why doesn't this self-proclaimed green power take its foot off the gas? in germany, the debate around the speed limit is polarizing. a slight majority of the population wants one, but the opposition is loud. “it doesn't make sense to drive 200 km h just to have some fun or feel superior to other people. we should keep it as is.

we are restricted everywhere. apparently gas prices still aren't high enough to make people drive slower. why do we build cars with more than 50 horsepower if we can only drive 100 kilometers per hour? and spoiler alert: this discussion often doesn't revolve around facts. “it's kind of an emotional debate. this is katja diehl. she wrote a book about mobility in germany. “because people want to be free, to have the free will of driving really fast. but let's take a look at the facts first. germany has more than 13,000 km of autobahn. famously well-maintained and toll-free for cars. most countries in the world got speed limits to improve road safety or to conserve fuel. yet in germany, you can drive as fast as you want on about 70 % of highways. opponents of the speed limit argued that there are fewer road deaths per kilometer on the autobahn than in some nations - such as france or italy. but experts like the german road safety council say it would become even safer with a limit. in recent years, the discussion has shifted to

another aspect: the climate. the one thing all studies agree on is that a speed limit on these highways would lower emissions. the question is: to what extent? well, according to the latest study by germany's environment agency, the country could save up to million tonnes of co 2 per year if it implemented a speed limit of 120 km h. that's about as much as low-emission countries like rwanda and eritrea pollute in a year. another study commissioned by the car-friendly fdp party puts the savings much lower at million tonnes per year. so, realistically speaking, how substantial really is a cut of a 1 - 6 million tonnes of co 2 for a top polluter like germany? opponents of motorway speed limit argue that the emission reductions would be trivial. giulio mattioli researches transport and climate policy. “they just choose the denominator that would make it appear ridiculously small. but i think if you choose the right denominator, the reduction would be substantial. the denominator he is referring to is the gap between how much the german transportation sector should be

emitting, according to the federal climate protection act - and how much it actually is emitting. in 2022, the sector went over its co 2 emissions target by 9 million tonnes. a speed limit could reduce that difference significantly if we go with the german environment agency's estimates. if we go with the liberal party's estimates, the limit could reduce a portion of these excess emissions. “it's such a low hanging fruit in terms of it will have other benefits, in terms of safety, in reducing road deaths, and it already exists in pretty much any other country in the world. but for some germans that is a big ask. they see driving fast as an expression of their freedom. and cars as part of their culture. “some of us germans see it as a kind of dna. i think it started, sorry to say, with adolf hitler. the nazi dictator promised to motorize germany in the 1930 s. a venture that he said would create jobs and drive technological development.

he wanted to lay the groundwork for one of the earliest highway networks in the world. for a while the nazis implemented no speed restrictions. that is until resources started running low during world war ii. and autobahn drivers had to stick to a limit of 80 km h to conserve gas. after the war, having autonomy became crucial to many germans. “germany was really destroyed, there was no hope, there were people coming back from the fronts and the car was a kind of a freedom sign. owning a car was the aspiration. and that turned more and more feasible as the car industry started booming. producing cars became the answer to rebuilding the country's economy. and driving them fast became the answer to rebuilding its freedom. so west germany got rid of the nazis' speed limit law in 1952. similarly, when the communist gdr dissolved during german reunification in 1990, its autobahn speed restrictions went with it shortly after.

for decades, many germans fought tooth and nail for this liberty. any time anyone messed with the right to drive fast, they were met with outrage. perhaps because, in a country with tens of millions of cars and pristine roads, driving fast might just be one of the easiest ways to find that slice of freedom. this slice of freedom has become a bit of a selling point abroad. tourists even come to germany to drive as fast as possible. for several hundred euros, you too can rent a premium car to “enjoy the excitement of the notorious german autobahn, ” drive full-throttle” and “reach top speeds of 300 km h or more! but if other people also find driving fast so fun, why is germany one of the only countries that still allows it? after all this time, the speed limit can hardly be sold as a relic of nazi germany. well, that booming car industry that provided many germans with a taste of freedom back then is still around of course. and it's very influential. the line between politicians and the car lobby has

long been blurry. “so you see this, kind of, what in germany we call drehtüreffekt. you step out of politics and you go to the industry or to the lobby organizations. these close ties became apparent when germany's previous transport minister met with industry representatives 80 times during his tenure of nearly four years. this was first reported by the german newspaper süddeutsche zeitung. he only met with environmental associations once. and the new government continues to give privileged access. its last mobility summit was almost exclusively stacked with car representatives. it's no surprise then that the government has often pushed for the car industry's interests. when it comes to limiting caps on vehicle emissions, for example. or expanding highways around the country. as for the speed limit: we can't say the car lobby has actively petitioned against it in government. but we know the conservative and the liberal party currently stand in the way of this restriction. and so does most of the industry. “we do not need a general rigid speed limit on open roads.

” simon schütz is a spokesperson for the vda, an interest group for germany's automotive industry. “we need situation adapted speed regulation. the vda suggests digital boards could show a speed limit when bad weather or traffic conditions require it. according to the group, a rigid limit would have minimal effects on the climate or road safety. its fact sheet references a study that says the limit could cost german society more than a billion euros. the study calculated how much time germans would lose if they drove slower. and how much of an average wage they would miss out on, as a result. but this 2023 paper published in the journal for ecological economics disputes assertions like these. its cost benefit analysis says germany could save hundreds of millions every year. because yes - there is a cost to the speed limit. but benefits like paying less for fuel, damages from accidents and even future effects of climate change outweigh these costs. recent attempts to implement a speed limit have been denied in parliament.

because one of the parties in power, the car-friendly fdp, blocked the issue from being part of the coalition agreement. instead some opponents like to point to alternatives to save emissions - like going electric. many car producers are becoming more open to this shift. after all, the eu has banned the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035. and germany is very slowly incentivizing people to use electric vehicles. but there are still tens of millions of cars with combustion engines on german roads. and not everyone can afford to get rid of theirs - or wants to. beyond that, the country has the potential to improve public transport in rural areas. and revamp a train system that currently is often late and unreliable. but these solutions take time. what many environmental researchers stress is that a speed limit is one of the fastest mechanisms we have to lower emissions in the meantime. “in my opinion, if the german government can't even bring itself to do that, then i wonder what it can do to reduce carbon emissions. ” “i think we need to have better status symbols or better

dreams than driving fast or owning a car. ” for some people, this would feel like an attack on their culture, their personal freedom. but it would put germany on par with most countries in the world. across canada, the us, europe, russia, south america - wildfires are becoming increasingly common. so far this year, millions of hectares of forest have been destroyed. the bigger the fire, the more difficult it is to put out. and the more man- and womanpower is needed. these housewives, teachers, students, and artisans. are voluntary fire fighters in the world's largest tropical rain forest--the amazon. many of these indigenous women have families.

the idea of them leaving home regularly to tackle wildfires was difficult for their loved ones to accept. "my husband was against it, he even wanted to leave me. he said he wanted to separate from me because he couldn't accept that i'm part of this group. he believes that women should stay at home. i told him: “the days when women only stay in the kitchen and take care of the kids are over. men can do that now. the apinajé guardians are 43 women who set up a fire brigade to fight the rise of wildfires here. they were trained and certified by the brazilian institute for the environment and renewable natural resources. their work also involves controlled burns -- which is

dangerous and difficult work. "it's very hot. we wear this clothing, and we get tired quickly because it's heavy. in the amazon, fire season starts in july. that's when the forest is dryest, and blazes can spread rapidly. the apinajé firefighters know only too well how most of the fires start. "there are many farms surrounding our land, and a lot of people trespass on our land to hunt and fish. when the farmers burn brush to create more grazing land for the cattle, they set fires, and it spreads from their farms to indigenous areas. the apinajé indigenous land is located in the brazilian state of tocantins. the military dictatorship - which ruled the country between

1964 and 1985 - created a massive influx of people from other regions. this led to conflicts over land. as more white people arrived, they started buying land from the municipality. when we realized they were taking over our territory, we asked the foundation for indigenous peoples for a survey to demarcate the boundaries. we got a portion of the land back, but not the entire territory where our ancestors lived. " this land is sacred to the apinajés. the people rely on the forest for everything they need - including raw materials for crafts, building, and herbs for medicine. the amazon rainforest is also a habitat for many animals and a vital source of water.

the women faced enormous difficulties and overcame many challenges to complete their training. the result has changed their community. - it's something that cannot be explained, the overwhelming emotion. they represent the community itself, for all the effort they put in. it's not easy for a woman to leave her home. it's very difficult. they are warriors. they can do anything. "we are still taking baby steps in this project. but we're fighting for a better future for our children. just like our ancestors did. they fought so that we could have this territory.

why not take care of it today for future generations - so we can pass it down to them too? their firefighting efforts are currently unpaid. however, they hope that this will change in the future. one thing is clear: giving up is definitely not an option: "i will continue until the very end. i can't let the forest be destroyed. it's fading away, and it hurts me inside. i may not be able to do much but, thanks to the strength i get from these women, i can make a small contribution. we will keep going-- keep fighting and putting out fires

the costa rican capital, san josé, lies some 1170 meters above sea level. its city center is home to the restaurant "nuestra tierra". here they've been whipping up traditional dishes for over 20 years. including a real classic: today i'll show you how to prepare gallo pinto. head chef ronald muñoz starts by sautéing chopped onions with some garlic. then come the main ingredients: rice and beans. mix everything together and fry it. adding green onion and spices gives the gallo pinto its signature flavor.

you can prepare it in various ways. some people like it when it's still a bit moist. others prefer it to be fried a little more. now we need a little cup. we'll use to put everything together. a tortillita is a must. and some fried cheese. a fried egg is also part of this hearty breakfast. costa rica's national dish is served with a tortilla, fried cheese, fried plantain and sour cream. here they make up to 150 orders of gallo pinto each day. and it's not just for breakfast. the ticos, as costa ricans are known as, like to eat this rice-and-bean dish for lunch and dinner too. all of the meals served at "nuestra tierra" are also available for take-out.

but they taste best hot off the grill. for werner and marieschen araya, gallo pinto is always a special treat. it's a country breakfast that's been adopted by city folks. because costa rican society is basically rural. we still cultivate these traditions: that the milkman delivers the milk and that you go to the baker's to buy tortillas. those are all deeply-rooted costa rican traditions. gallo pinto is delicious, because of the different seasonings. it has a really special taste that's typical for -- and unique to -- costa rica. so if you're ever in costa rica, don't miss the chance to try gallo pinto for yourself!

♪ anchor: this is dw news live from berlin. the deadly wildfire in hawaii, residents say they had no warning and no sirens sounded. at least 65 people have been killed on the island of maui. we will report on an island that has -- a town that has been razed. and the south african president vic of zuma has been returned home after visiting