the iron curtain between austria and slovakia is fading into oblivion. while eastern european countries like slovakia have already joined the e.u. other nations such as albania are eager for membership but a major hurdle is standing in their way the country has become one of europe's leading hubs for the production and trade of illegal drugs albanian authorities say they are cracking down on the mafia and are keen to promote their success to the international press while our reporter traveled to the mediterranean coast of albania to see just how big an impact their efforts are really having. we are accompanying albanian border police on patrol in the mediterranean they want to show us they're getting tough on the mafia which controls the drug trade here. because the italian police are better equipped they're helping the albanians fight

the drug smugglers. the officers fly down this fishing boat. they searched the cabin but find nothing suspicious. that we've had smugglers who had heroin in car tires or oil tanks and up to get the last time we discovered ten kilos of heroin and i don't mean to brag but in the last two years the police and its partners have become more effective and reduce the drug trade to a minimum. probably there. but the numbers tell another story in twenty seventeen year old paul the e.u. agency for law enforcement cooperation listed albania as europe's biggest producer of cannabis and a major drug trafficking hot. albania is one of the poorest countries in europe. here the average monthly income is around three

hundred thirty euros. get the capital tirana is full of luxury cars. and the construction industry is booming. where is all the money coming from. journalists are town hard accompanies us to villages north have to rana that are known for their contract killers he's the only investigative journalist in albania who reports on the mafia as involvement in drug trafficking it's a wonder he's still alive. here furniture stores suddenly spring up on isolated country roads. who are among those you know at the mobility report many of these shots are used to store and process drugs the record production of cannabis in two thousand and sixteen means that for no crime gangs no need to cultivate anymore they have enough in store for. such

a register as our presence with the local mafia boss just to be on the safe side. to make sure that nothing happens to him the journalist reports on all forty one clans equally in his t.v. documentaries they're always at war with each other here is where their deadline. why just says the whole country is really run by the mafia. against us from the wages of albanian police officers are far too low compared to the bribes they receive from the crime gangs. under the current conditions you can't wage a serious war against organized crime. from time to time your catch a few small fry but the guys pulling the strings will get off scot free. but albanian authorities claim the opposite they take us for a ride in a helicopter to show is that the marijuana fields are all gone.

and they introduce us to the special task force which fights organized crime but we can't show the investigators faces on screen. we had more than one hundred people arrested out of these operations you know conducted by the spouse that does force now do not say that they were just lower on soldiers that are not there are leaders of these groups but when we asked about investigations into corrupt politicians and their links to the mafia his replies were evasive. at a secret location in switzerland we met up with three tons of gunny he was a drug investigator in albania until twenty seventeen when he discovered that the country's then interior minister signed meir to he really had mafia connections with his cousins even used the ministers official car to smuggle drugs.

but when's that gunny passed on this information he's the one who got arrested do you think it was the toughest time in my life will move to the accusations that i was a traitor made my life a living hell from the balkans who will move then the threats began it's against my family i had to leave albania to protect my children. their lives were endangered by the mafia. a mafia which still has the full support of the government mafia. using a drone are ten hard job shows us where marijuana is still grown. here at the edge of a forest it's hard to spot. albania is making efforts to fight the drug trade. but until the link between politicians and the mafia is broken it's a battle the country is unlikely to win. for

animal lovers pets are a source of unconditional love and companionship life just wouldn't be the same without their four legged friends but for some people the cost of caring for their pets has become too high it's a problem that a group in antwerp belgium has found an answer to. in antwerp seville reich district a flemish couple has founded a pet food bank in a garage called kusa hoof it hands out food for animals to people who often go hungry themselves. a major idiot on scorm of the album and the folks who come here had their pets before they had financial woes electricity prices just went up again and there be some who can't pay their bills. it is easy to say but when you have money troubles some you can just give a pet that's been with you for years to a shelter and as that of. her clients are people like to leave master magda who

has to get by on a small pension others live on social assistance then there's kate like you know who has a big heart but little money. but even after we have seven cats and a dog all of them are neglected you know we saved them and for now gave them a home. and the stuff you say look it's a sociable place and have saw for the way they care for the animals like. it's very good you know. magda comes here every sunday morning. pet food is handed out from nine to eleven am demand is so great there's scarcely room to move one hundred twenty seven pet owners currently benefit from the nonprofit initiative which is financed entirely by donations. first we had to do a lot of looking around us we wrote to companies vets and stores the first day we gave away four kilos of food and now it's three hundred kilos per month.

but mt. many here are looking for social contacts as well as pet food so the project benefits animals and humans it's. no wonder the pet food banks founders are lovingly known as and corey and uncle frank. well that brings this edition of focus on europe too and thanks so much for joining me don't forget you can also watch our program online at www dot com ok dosing. the folks.

from.

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with us president donald trump has signed an executive order imposing sanctions on iran's metals industry the move is in retaliation for iran's decision to stop complying with parts of the landmark nuclear deal struck with world powers in twenty fifteen iran's president hassan rouhani and now instead one year after the u.s. through the agreement into jeopardy by unilaterally withdrawing from its. turning the u.s. house judiciary committee says attorney general william is guilty of contempt of congress by had failed to provide congress with the full unredacted miller report on russian interference in the twenty six thousand election it comes as u.s. president don't trump these presidential privilege to block the release of information demanded by congress. the two suspects being held every cheese day school shooting in denver colorado have made separate appearances in court prosecutors say they expect to file formal charges on friday one student was

killed in the shooting off the reportedly charge one of the attackers pinning him to a wall likely preventing further bloodshed. finnis well intelligence agents have detained opposition these you want why does deputy at. it's the first arrest of a lawmaker since quite a trying to spark a military uprising last week to bring down president nicolas materials government . this new news africa coming out in the next fifteen minutes with the military still holding onto pods that we need to graffitti artist who is honoring those who lost their lives in the fight for freedom. and south africans vote in the. general elections to find out what people want from the next government. and other we'll have a woman breaking into the male dominated industry of truck driving. any

market you know you're welcome to the program the people of sudan have succeeded in removing a long term dictator. but that doesn't mean they've won power for themselves of the mass protests which. the removal of see the military council which would please them is the lame in the implementation of civilian rule protests are set to continue the mass movements which are sparked change in sudan has many faces our correspondents. and i brought him a graffitti artist to do those who were killed in the fight for liberation who is now part of the revolution herself. spraypaint weapon of protest the qatar based graffiti artist has returned to her home sudan to

do her part for the uprising that broke out in december she's honoring anti-government protesters who've lost their lives by creating portraits of them in front of their homes. the art where there is a reminder to everyone that you know what they died for you. we have to remember the martyrs because. all comes down to they went out to protest for us. over the past month and a team of volunteers have memorialized over twenty martyrs as she refers to them. as they did so at a great personal risk. not so myself we painted in the middle of demonstrations with security forces everywhere what would we have done if something had happened when we were doing our last painting we got arrested.

i. came from moving conversations with relatives of the victims a seal is back in body the neighborhood so some of khartoum's most violent clashes . it's why our father was killed. a seal is here to complete the mural dedicated to his memory. comfort that. there was gunfire some of the demonstrators wanted to hide in the house my brother let them in some security officers wanted to get in but my father wouldn't open the door so they shot at the door my father got injured he died the next morning. with salt. fish god says her family's thankful to the paying tribute to her father for his role in sudan's revolution. as a young woman she's inspired it is a female artist who took this initiative summit overfit in right from the beginning the idea of a woman coming here to paint was strange i had never seen anything like that and.

seen men doing it but that a woman comes and does this it was new. a seal says she is just one of many women who have been a driving force in this uprising. to stand as a symbol for the freedom of artists in sudan and a catalyst for conversations about change in the future i think art is is the most important thing in revolutions because it's only thing the visual thing that makes you feel like you're there we would appear in all this art courses and to speak about what's happening you know today it's not just a specific person but it's what he died for in the cause that he died for. the full full full the full of the military transitional council in favor of the civilian government that's the last demand is c.l. and the community here have in their revolution. a sea of

hopes that for future generations in a free sudan the last remnants of the country's repressive regime will be these nero's reminding everyone how that very system was overthrown. with me in a studio as my colleague. and sit down a recently to events welcome back now you spent time with us what does what she's doing tell us about the opposition movements and i think with the says about this particular movement even though it's extremely serious this is a very important moment after thirty years of autocratic rule people finally feel like they have a say in the politics of their country however this also what a seal does and what other artists have done shows that this is a movement with a very very strong need to express itself we've seen a whole movement of artists that. i've been borne out of this uprising from day one whether it's with the music that has that was born out of the protests or the graffiti that you see everywhere and hard to live i was in harlem before in twenty

seventeen and back then the walls were extremely very doing the kind of work that a seal does could actually get you into into real trouble but now the second you land you see murals everywhere people writing slogans of revolutions on the walls when you go to the sit in area that the protesters all to are to this day still occupying to demand civilian rule there are all kinds of performances and poetry being written and songs being composed so it really shows that people's need to express themselves and this rediscovery of art really if you have it to be done i think he went to experience on the ground you've talked about that a bit but what reception did you personally get us a foreign journalist because it's always been pretty difficult right i mean sudan has been notoriously known for its difficulties from reporting on the ground and not to make this about us journalists being there and this is obviously about the people but i i will say that we even the sit in area right in the heart of hearts i'm in front of the army headquarters we were treated with the utmost respect the

protesters there are really reveling in this new kind of freedom and you felt that people were more than happy to speak with you everybody was extremely open and willing to to to share their perspective on the new sedan when we would stand in the middle of the sit in and make interviews people would gather. in their messes which i think shows the interest that people have in this event that it's going on in their country but we faced i would say know little to no difficulties from from the protesters themselves and felt extremely safe reporting on the ground that's the time to start to start a good you know not the military council says it is likely to extend. that means to not planning to transition to civilian government anytime soon how could this play out i think the feeling that you get on the. and at the sit in is that people they really feel that their occupation of this space is their bargaining chip in this negotiation for them getting there and holding on to the specific space for so long

as what has been pushing the negotiations it is what has given the civilians negotiating with the with the military a legitimacy they have been interesting to see from the people on the streets and if you know the civilians have accuse the government of stretching this period not wanting to give power and have threatened for civil disobedience and general strikes so i think in the short term what this will need is that we are seeing the people remain on the streets and stay there and on the long term more distrust unfortunately between the military and the civilians and the young people that have driven this uprising let's see how things go i have brought him many thanks for your time. now. elections since the end of. the afghan national congress led by. the

feast yet given large majorities to the. discontent with the party twenty five years after the end of the country remains divided economic and unemployment high twenty seven percent. to find out what people hope this election. we just want them to take. take. take care of children make sure that. people who. want to see. people and i think. so ever when.

you take people seriously and listen to what the people want it's very easy to make promises. it's another thing to actually implement and become the government that people vote for you don't. think. you'll stay for as long as you need to be. the trucking industry. in most parts of the world and that's true of. things are beginning to change. driving right through this male dominated industry. she's rumbling along the right to drive at the wheel of a giant truck. delivers fuel to. mine's abigail is one of twenty one female drivers at the all women company ladybird logistics. are proud to have me in knots so i'm courage and when you see we have companies that's

all female are the fairest time in. the whole world so i'm going. to enjoy the company for is to empower me to trash. the ladybird women are slowly changing attitudes in a tough industry ordinarily dominated by men the reaction from other companies and from male drivers has been positive. drivers we've not had any major ring and then today so i think there's a lot of respect for the men and they realize that these ladies are good drivers and twenty fourteen survey found that just opened three of the nine women wimp lloyd in the transport and storage industry compared with more than twenty times as many men being employed in the sector. but employing women in a male dominated profession is not only empowering women says paying for it also

brings other benefits to her business. i think the female drivers are more cautious they're really careful maybe it's a female thing because we're always thinking about the children that we have at home. and making sure that you don't want to take sector with when every girl heard about the new all female company she jumped at the chance to get involved for her it's not just about doing a job it's about becoming part of a company that is trying to break down gender stereotypes in ghana.