05.09.2024 – 15:12
ARD The First
Munich (ots)
Moderation: Natalie Amiri
Planned topics:
USA: San Francisco in free fall
Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars and Alcatraz: San Francisco is a place of longing for millions of tourists. But the postcard idyll is deceptive: the former hippie stronghold is struggling with a downward spiral of social division, homelessness and drug addiction. The high-tech boom in neighboring Silicon Valley has created hundreds of thousands of new jobs and caused rents to soar to astronomical heights. The result: Nowhere in the USA are more people homeless than in the Golden City. Misery and neglect are particularly visible in the notorious Tenderloin district, the epicenter of the fentanyl crisis on America’s west coast. The city now wants to take action here – with draconian measures. And not a day goes by when Donald Trump does not blame Kamala Harris personally for the decline of the former dream city. After all, the Democratic presidential candidate was responsible for security and order here for eight years as district attorney. (Author: Torben Börgers, ARD Washington DC)
Russia: Advocate of a lost cause?
Mikhail Brujkow is one of the few who still takes on this job. The lawyer defends political prisoners in Russia in court. His chances of success are slim. The trials often seem absurd. And he knows that lawyers themselves live dangerously and can very quickly become the focus of Russian law enforcement. Alexei Navalny’s lawyers have long been behind bars themselves. Mikhail Brujkow told Ina Ruck in Moscow why he keeps going and doesn’t give up his job. (Author: Ina Ruck, ARD Moscow)
Ukraine: Frustration on the Eastern Front
The Russian troops are moving ever closer to the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine. Serhii and his wife Oksana have long hoped that Russia would withdraw part of its forces from the Eastern Front to Kursk to defend itself against Ukraine, but unfortunately that has not happened. They fear that Russian soldiers could soon take over their hometown. They have mixed feelings about the fact that the Ukrainian armed forces are now active in Kursk. After all, Pokrovsk, one of the few cities in the Donetsk region that is still in Ukrainian hands, must now be evacuated.
And so Oksana packed her life piece by piece into boxes and sent them off with “Nova Poshta”, which was recently named the world’s best postal service. Oksana took the daily evacuation train with her youngest son and wants to start a new life in Odessa. Serhii will follow – he still earns good money in the mine, which the family depends on. He will stay until the Russians actually come. (Author: Birgit Virnich, ARD Kyjiw)
Morocco / Libya: Reconstruction after earthquake and flood
North Africa, last September: two natural disasters within two days. In Morocco, the Atlas Mountains shook – almost 3,000 people died, hundreds of thousands were left homeless. In Libya, dams in the mountains near the port city of Darna collapsed after heavy rain – and washed a large part of the city into the sea. At least 14,000 people died. Kristina Böker traveled to Morocco, to the remote, destroyed villages that barely received any relief troops shortly after the earthquakes. To this day, people in the Moroccan mountains are still living in tents. Many families received an initial payment of the equivalent of 2,000 euros from the government to rebuild their houses – but the amount is far too low, and reconstruction is slow. The situation is different in Darna – in oil-rich Libya, there is money for reconstruction and many houses are being rebuilt. And yet Ramin Sina experiences it on site: many residents are still traumatized to this day, they do not feel safe in their country. The local government acted negligently a year ago and did not warn residents in time about a possible dam break, according to the accusation. No one wants to take responsibility for the avoidable disaster. (Authors: Kristina Böker, ARD Madrid and Ramin Sina, ARD Cairo)
Albania: Tourism versus environmental protection?
The wild river Shushica in Albania is part of Europe’s first wild river national park and is strictly protected. But now the Shushica is under threat because its water is to be diverted for tourists on the coast. People living along the river fear that there will be no drinking water left for them. Due to climate change, the water level of the river has already dropped significantly. The environment on the coast is also under threat. Experts such as biologist Aleko Miho from the University of Tirana are particularly concerned about the Narta Lagoon because of planned luxury resorts. The ecosystem is considered one of the most valuable in the entire Mediterranean because of its pelican and flamingo colonies. (Author: Nikolaus Neumaier, ARD Vienna)
Montenegro: First beach for hijab wearers on the Adriatic
Montenegro has the first stretch of beach on the Adriatic that is reserved only for women in hijabs. Muslim women can undress and sunbathe there, protected from outsiders’ gaze, behind a straw fence. The special hijab beach is located on one of the longest sandy beaches on the Adriatic and stretches 13 kilometers from the Montenegrin city of Ulcinj to Albania, leaving nothing to be desired. There is a dog beach, one for kite surfers, a nudist beach, a women-only beach and now the area for women in hijabs. The majority of the inhabitants of the small town of Ulcinj, which is considered very liberal, are ethnic Albanians, almost 72 percent of the population profess the Muslim faith. And yet the issue of the headscarf polarizes here too. While the new stretch of beach has been well received by Muslim tourists, criticism is now also being raised by people who fear extremism. (Author: Anna Tillack, ARD Vienna)
Editor: Judith Schacht (BR)
Press contact:
BR Press Office, Email: [email protected]
Original content from: ARD Das Erste, transmitted by news aktuell
