next up, jane ferguson.ce, "afghanistan has become the world's largest humanitarian crisis." back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the world food program is warning afghanistan is facing "tsunami of hunger." the group estimates 23 million afghans face acute food shortages, including early 9 million who were close to starvation. afghanistan's economy collapsed after the u.s. and iernational nancial organizations froze afghan assets after the fall of kabul. earlier this week, bernie sanders urged president biden to take immediate action. he wrote -- we're joined now by jane ferguson. she is a special correspondent for pbs newshour and contributor to "the new yorker." she has reported extensively from afghanistan over the years and was in kabul as it fell to the taliban in august last year. she returned to taliban-controlled afghanistan in november to report on the humanitarian crisis. her latest piece for "the new york or,

back in 2019, special correspondent jane ferguson met with a female doctor in kabul, and she recently returned to find that same doctor now faced with a previously unimaginable choice. >> reporter: long before the taliban seized power in afghanistan, dr. najmussamar. shefajo's expertise stood out. one of the country's top gynecologists, she offered a crucial service to thousands ofo women, advised the government, and from the clinic she built in the capital kabul, pioneered advanced medical technology for expecting mothers. >> for the patient, we reach to the diagnosis soon, and there is no need to go out of the country. >> reporter: so it saves lives? >> yes, of course! this is the nose, this is the mouth. >> reporter: to dr. shefajo, interaction with her patnts is important. >> here the mother sees the baby, her own ultrasound. >> reporter: and how do they react? >> they are very happy. right now, they know this is the head, this is the heart, this is the stomach, because i each them. >> reporter: that was dr. shefajo in late 2019, speaking with us in her clinic. her calling card: a

for the pbs newshour, i'm jane ferguson in kabul, afghanistan. >> woodruff: as climate change's impact grows, so does the risk of ever-larger and more frequent wildfires. no state knows that better than california. but, the golden state is also grappling with the role of one of the country's largest utilities in all of this, and whether the company will do what's needed to prevent or stop fires. stephanie sy has the story. >> sy: it's beenive years since the california utility pg&e was placed under criminal probation for its conviction in the explosion of a natural gas pipeline which killed eight people in 2010. the probation ends today, but pg&e remains a "continuing menace," wrote the supervising judge in a concluding report. federal judge william alsup says pg&e has failed to rehabilitate itself, and says californians remain "trapped in a tragic era of pg&e wildfires because, for decades, it neglected its duties." by the judge's accounting, while on probation, pg&e has set off 31 wildfires, killing 113 californians, burning nearly 1.5 million acres, and destroying almost 24,000 stru