the 1st communist. dollars grand arrives to join the ranks chain on her journey back to freedom. in our interactive documentary you are in the running returns home to news on the d w dot com tanks. me. alone a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven and we begin in belarus with a development project of trance european proportions which is stirring up major controversy it's a new international shipping route called the east 40 waterway 2000 kilometers inland it's designed to link the baltic sea in the north with the black sea in the

south the idea is to create another global passageway through eastern europe and also to give bella rules which is a landlocked country access to the sea. but environmental activists like constantine chicle of are up in arms saying the a 40 will impact 11 nature reserves in belarus and lead to the straightening of the pripyat river described as one of europe's last wild reverse. this might look like a casual boat trip but for constantine should call up it's a protest for their breath for a peak it's this is the 3rd year the chairman of the belorussian environmental organization has organized canoe tours like this one his goal is to show people here the unspoiled nature along the river and to demonstrate against the 40 waterway which could be built here constantine has been protecting nature and wildlife around him since he was a. there is

a company for us the purpose is like a european version of the amazon river. this place is unique because people can come here and see what rivers used to look like what nature in europe was like once . and if we can preserve these large areas of wild nature we are also helping to keep the ecological balance on the european continent along. the 40 waterway would cut straight through 11 nature reserves and the activists say it could destroy a unique ecosystem the canal is supposed to connect the baltic sea with the black sea its route goes through the so-called one of the last big wetland areas in europe with rare black alder forests 90 percent of the birds and bella bruce live here including endangered species some animals nest directly on the untouched banks . this time the canoe route stretches for 35 kilometers mainly along wild sections

of the river which would have to be dug out to allow commercial traffic in some of the tributaries even canoes have to go slow on the way the group stop several times in villages on the river to talk to locals about the planned waterway. often people in the villages only have limited sources of information become one of those sources for them so that they don't only get information from state media but also hear a different opinion. and then they can decide for themselves. how they want the rivers infrastructure to develop what they want to protect the environment around them and keep it healthy. with us they are. the river has always been the center of life in the villages like so far no one here has heard of the planned 40 waterway but some locals are quick to welcome anything that could give the region's economy a. a water way would be good for us. boats used to go to ukraine from

here as well. there was a lot of traffic on the river. with of course it has a negative effect on the environment and that would be burnt. there isn't much water here anymore used to be able to fish now the rivers drying up more and more. things will get more civilised there will be more people things will be exciting and we can take a trip all the way to the black sea. the government is still looking for investors for the waterway a final decision on the eve 40 project or its construction hasn't been reached which is why the belorussian transport ministry counselled an interview with us at the last minute but the chairman of the trans national expert commission on the eve 40 project highlights the advantages of transporting cargo on the water he says it's better for the environment and routes over land or at full capacity already infrastructure. those not

a structure has to be developed in order for the surrounding region to develop its . using the potential of the river for the good of the people is the main task of the government. day 2 of the canoeing campaign for many of the participants it's the 1st time on this tour during breakfast and at the camp fire constantine can share his concerns about the efore the waterway with them he's convinced that bella roots should be investing in eco tourism rather than in cargo on the river p.p. it. people don't think about leaving these spots untouched simply leaving them to nature itself. to just sit down peacefully just like this and simply watch to hear the birds singing or watch things slowly changing. the activist warns that the construction of the canal could dry out the. wetlands

here just like when the swamps were drained for large scale soviet agriculture programs the riverbed would have to be deepened to allow big ships to pass the people at river flows through areas that were contaminated by the chernobyl reactor disaster for constantine that's just another reminder to heed the lessons of the past otherwise the peak it could become another example of an ambitious economic project with catastrophic consequences for the natural world. now life people sometimes say is a long story and that certainly appears to be true in bowl garia the poorest country in the european union more and more people there are becoming lottery tickets buying up millions of so-called scratch cards so let's go to the village of turk and shaver oh and i always drive from the capital sofia where we meet some of the local residents who have little hope of escaping grinding poverty and woman called her off who did actually strike lucky.

about 50 kilometers east of sofia lies the tiny mountain village of she can't at 1st glance it looks like delic a 2nd glance reveals the abject poverty only about 300 people live here. after all those are still life is hard because our pensions are small molecules that could could double what can we do with these little pensions you could pull measurement. we can't travel on a boat in the mills and we can't do anything at all and most used to the sea water . there are hardly any jobs here the only ray of hope many of these people see is the national lottery. scratch cards with the promise of winnings that would lift them out of poverty all they need is a bit of luck. so you have all lost your the last year off is the village hero in 2018 he won the equivalent of 50000 euros with a single scratch card he's 2 can only big prize winner so far.

the. most little i play because there's nothing else. there's nothing in our country no laws. the truth lies no lottery the only real chance if you win you're somebody but you're if not you're not so that's all there is to it. so your gay sister pat sells the scratch cards she's an avid player herself. that the bit that i spend the equivalent of 50 euros a month on cards but i've never won more than $75.00. was the cards cost from 3 to 10 euros apiece not exactly pocket change in a country where the monthly wage seldom exceeds 300 euros while i some people give up quickly when they don't want anything. it's a scam but in 100 cards you might find one or 2 with 5 euro winnings and that's all

they are just scamming people out of their money. should they is for example the new games company in sofia bulgaria and are inundated with their ads promising instant riches whether on the street on the internet or on t.v. . as a big winner to got to be a television star for a day go for you a little very well for the world after just 3 quarters before. new games is owned by a bulgarian businessman. the director is dimitri again if 57 percent of bulgarians play the lottery and in 2017 the company sold $100000000.00 tickets but none of the revenue goes towards social causes as it's mandatory in every other country even so gahn of sees him self as a philanthropist that's the stuff of course relax positivity in every sense we can give people positive feelings and help them have fun getting news that it is due in that i really can't understand how anyone can get addicted just from buying

a few scratch cards to try their luck for the last couple of. psychologist plan and dimitrov disagrees he has no doubt that gambling addiction amongst bulgarians is a problem. the long 3 is the stock market of poor and desperate people who are quite mysterious matched if they had a different socio economic status they'd be investing in other things my god the effects almost home from to young people. i've seen children using their lunch money to buy tickets child days later. it's just too good it is a. jackpot winner georg luck didn't last long. he bought a house for his young family but recently he lost his job as an auto mechanic. now he worries that he'll have to sell the house to get by.

there was so happy mrs it was a great satisfaction because like well i thought of one so much it was such a big deal. i thought it accomplished so much but things didn't work out that way in reality i ran out of money again pretty fast. pensioner very stout dimitrov has never won anything at all but he still spends about half his meagre pension on scratchcards. he and his wife dream of visiting their daughter in germany some day for at least a month they can't stop playing now. we could see munich a noise from stein that wonderful council in the alps and spend 30 days there and feel like moment people are treated good to trick. dreams die hard in the village of to catch about wealth remains scarce in bulgaria but the scratch cards reach

even the remotest of places. and you do keep an eye on both gary as neighbors georgia and moldova are it'll be interesting to see how things go there when those 2 countries introduce scratchcards as they both plan to do now it's impossible to really imagine what it's like for children to live through war but objects like an old swing might perhaps evoke the trauma that young boys and girls have faced which is why the wall of childhood museum in the bosnian capital sarajevo has collected old books and goals for instance as well as personal testimonies from children who can now as other olds still remember the desperate days of the bosnian war in the 1990 s. minimalize men of h. is among those who has a story to tell and her memories go back to the day when the war came right up to her front door. bullet holes and shrapnel the marks left by the war on the building in mena had to flee are

still visible. more than 25 years have passed since the tanks suddenly appeared beneath her window. and what i could see in my father's eyes that something bad was happening. that the national. i mean it was 8 years old about the age of the girl who lives here now when the enemy soldiers came her parents center along with their neighbors who fled to croatia the same day. chuckles and the by the way i want them the populace files that we waited for night to fall the lot and i packed a few things that felt like i had a backpack and i remember that my teddy bear kept me company on the back where we kids were sitting with full wallets and the ideas they had. what was meant to be a few days away from the fighting turned into years i mean it made it to germany. and although her host family welcomed her with open arms she was homesick she

wanted to return to sarajevo even as the war was still raging. but for that she needed her passport in the rush her parents had forgotten to give it to her. the passports she was issued as a replacement was very different. to my thumb a dot digital misstated my date of birth. that was all i knew at the time. i didn't have any papers with me when i left syria to a few things were missing from the passport element that in particular my complete id number did not dash this is the passport i came home with. solving possum's the south while quote. the war childhood museum in sarajevo has collected thousands of pieces including i mean his passport. every exhibit represents

a child's story that the museum's founder. has collected. originally conceived as a book project it's become a prize winning museum concept that setting an example for the world. i thought the children's perspective wasn't getting enough attention one of us and i want to change that there's a real somehow i wanted to document the experiences of children whose lives were shaped by a weird thought because you're not. an essential aspect of the museum's work is to educate visitors about peace. more than $5000.00 children and teenagers come to the museum every year. some are looking for their own parents stories. the children back then didn't have what we do we didn't have any toys you should be

a student of freedom because they were locked up at home with no food or water you can on. but we put some more i don't know this is my 1st time head and i see a lot of emotion lots of sadness but also the. happy moments people experience during the war version of the rat to. the exhibitions tell not only stories of war but of survival as well i mean i knew immediately that she wanted to be a part of the project she came across her old passport at home. but it's the fact of being maybe i had it for myself so i wouldn't give it away but leave it as a reminder. that when the museum started off i really wanted to be a part of it but it's the right place to preserve my memories of it that the torch . was news media is still full of the politicians nationalist rhetoric people seem to be getting tired of it they don't want to see a revival of the conflict between bosnians and serbs. but also suppose i saw.

the exhibits and stories come from all over bosnia i'm happy that reports about the museum in the country have been positive that's quite rare for projects about what you know of the player of course about it at all and. i mean is hoping for a better future for herself and her family her husband been working in germany for 2 years now soon she and her children will be joining him near hamburg where she had lived as a refugee. now people across europe are slowly waking up to the fact that we might only avoid a global climate catastrophe if we drastically reduce emissions of carbon dioxide now that in turn means phasing out coal fired power stations sooner rather than later greece though is still heavily dependent on lignite coal 38 selectors degeneration and in the country's northern coal mining heartland around the village

of a creamy people like apple store liz kelly i need this will tell you that the industry might be dirty but it gives people what they want most which is jobs. this is one of the 5 old power plants in the coal mining region of northern greece . 33 year old apostol s. kelly anytus works as a blaster in a local open cast mind that belongs to the state run electricity company. his father works there too he operates an excavator and even his grandfather used to work in the mine. today apostol us and his colleagues are setting up explosive charges he earns $1200.00 euros per month not much with 2 kids to feed but he's grateful to be employed because 70 percent of young people here are jobless this is the largest mine in the balkans 4 villages had to be demolished to make way for it including his own. unit would just like to go to this work is very

important for us that means we can feed our families that a lot of people are employed here and almost all of them have family other big. story it's just as a father of 3 who farms and rears livestock here in the village of a creamy. but the fields that once belonged to his ancestors are now owned by the state electricity company. in 2011 they were legally obliged to resettle him. but they refused to pay for the resettlement and the reason was because there's no coal underneath their village the residents feel betrayed. by my fellow gumbo when they take off our heels from us they might as well take up village to 90 percent of people here off alma's sure some villages work for the electricity company but what about the other 90 percent. after opening back up what

you thought. was. 8 years ago the company bought his fields 440000 euros. this means he now has to lease agricultural land so he can grow crops to feed his cows. skeff bowman i mean sometimes i think about giving up but making the 1st difficulty of my age i'm 54 and have 3 kids. and a lot of. dimitrios coal fired power plant is located right beside me village. does being a works here she's married to the mine blaster apostol us she makes just $620.00 euros a month on a fixed term contract but hopes to become permanent. in the voice a part of the company is a lifeline for many people. the entire region depends on coal mining. for generations thousands of families from this area have worked for the company.

in 2950 percent of greek electricity was produced using like night but today it makes up less than 30 percent. we depend on coal. and it really worries me to think about what would happen if we stopped using ignite or limit on my zick. because of the economic crisis the e.u. wants greece to privatized parts of its state run electricity company. many countries and investors are now moving away from coal and europe has created financial deterrents. you fines for high emissions have tripled over the past 2 years. it's making the coal and profitable electricity source. go. dark clouds of coal dust hang over a creamy. because this village suffers from this environmental pollution and they

fear they'll never be resettled. he says the municipality no longer invests anything in the neglected village and morale here is very low we're going to maintain our water was polluted. told them contaminates. nobody does anything to improve nobody cares and we keep drinking this water. out of the ground. and his family have since gained access to fresh drinking water they were moved to another village located 25 kilometers from the mine where they work. for them the mining industry still remains a blessing. well everybody has heard of bull fights but what about fights where cows quite literally go head to head with each other well the battle of the queen's are staged annually in switzerland violate cantle draws

thousands of spectators but in what is after all a famously peace loving country we join council breeder john claude saw bringin to find out just how he responds when one of his big beasts makes it perfectly clear that she's not up for a scrap. day thomas big day or rather it's her breeders big day. going to switzerland whole weigh in before entering the rink is an impressive 672 kilograms some time a is a helen scout towel and aggressive. suntan as a mother has won prizes at the national level twice. and she came with 2 if she's in good shape on the day when the. dog is 40. it also depends on how the competition performs

a miracle is one of the favorites and could be a big threat to some thomas. she won a prize here last year as a stroll in there she's a very good she's proved that already at this show and gets. the 1st calls are already fighting. they follow their instincts to form a hierarchy no callous force to fight but if they choose not to fight 3 times or they lose 3 times their eliminate. the cow fight is a traditional spectacle. that the animal show during the fights are simply amazing. he says it's great it's a fight but at the injuries. around 120 cows are going to fight today finally some tanner is called to the big ring but today she seems to have other

plans she's not up for a fight and to make matters worse is the other thing for miracle that wants to fight some tonya. was hoping for. quickly gets is kalil to be arena and thomas wellbeing is his top priority but he's still deeply disappointed. when sometimes i wasn't in the mood for fighting. when i brought her over it's better to take. the family stays to watch the final fights anyway. sure it hurts a little but that's the life of a couple. the favorite takes the title after all there's no prize money but the new queen is presented with a beautiful bell. and that's all from focus on europe this time

around thanks so much for joining us and do come back next week and soledad bye bye and found troops. thank you it was ok. it was.

growing up. remaining a child forever there's no doubt in his mind. the 35 year old child. is conspicuous and has trouble fitting in but he's not going to be ignored in. life with autism. 75 miles.

the 1st i'm not proud of they will not succeed in dividing us about not succeed in taking the people off the streets because we're tired of this dictatorship. taking the stand global news that matters. listen carefully to the soon to list going to do good play action play discover the ultimate. playing. subscribe to a documentary on the 2. burglars

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. blame . this is deja vu news on live from berlin china's president xi jinping arrives in north korea for the 1st time the leaders of the 2 countries have met several times before but with ties now strained and north korea's kim jong un will take up the stalled talks on the north's nuclear program. also coming up.