just. 20. 129. i. hello and welcome to focus on europe i'm lara buffalo thanks for joining us today it's been called the forgotten war but the conflict in eastern ukraine continues to claim lives 5 years after it started ukraine's new president

lot of the says ending the fighting was program once separatists is his number one priority well the political newcomer recently resisted the front lines and invited top european diplomats to discuss ways out of the crisis well it's a promise the people in donbass are counting on the vast majority of those in the region of lou has voted for zelinsky because of his commitment to ending the war and he has taken the 1st step towards deescalation ukrainian army has partially withdrawn from the contested region and that's giving hope to nina cedar ranko who has to cope with living in a war zone as a disabled person. clambering over still needs a lot hans because makeshift bridge it's a journey made by thousands day in day out this is the only crossing point between government and separatist held territory for hundreds of kilometers. minas a doting core of her husband and not only live on the separatist held side but her

pension and the medicines she needs are only available on government territory once a month and you know must cross the front line each trip is an ordeal. just for the. fashionable on the muscling i was scared the whole time on the bridge and i had to take a tranquilizer. is what would've happened if someone had tried to tell you they were carrying me. but since ukraine's new president followed him as alinsky was elected nina says she at least feels hopeful selenski has promised to make ending the war in donbass his priority . beginning to look good if we were so impatient just waiting for the election year we have such high hopes for me my unsolicited gave his oath of office i simply cried and i just want all of this to and to finally get back to peace and i want nothing to do with me. at least instead it's

a $100.00 that could now be a little more likely even though heavy artillery fire can still occasionally be heard in the distance block by block the ukrainian army is dismantling its own forward defenses disengagement means soldiers on both sides and now several kilometers apart where previously they could practically look each other in the eye it's a measure agreed on some 2 years ago but it's only now being implemented and ukraine's new president. will show in the new ukrainian positions nothing is supposed to give away its location the soldier we meet is adamant this is no retreat. live edition the beach crush the new position is bigger and better for us and if we can see the end to be better for me watch the crash but then the. 5 years of conflict with the separatists have left their mark more than 10000 ukrainians have been killed and 3 times as many injured since fighting broke out this conflict has cost being called

daily back home in the hands she owned a business that employs more than 150 people the separatists gave her just 6 hours to leave everything behind instead it's in the hands because she began volunteering coordinating donations for the ukrainian army she believes ukraine should not back down. the way it was able to i'm totally against this withdrawal i don't want to give up this territory again this must all stay ukraine. we need to join the e.u. or nato. with a neighbor like russia we can't live without nato. this memorial is for the ukrainian soldiers who died in and around stand it's a long stare it was natalia's idea given the casualties the tally says ukraine must not just cave in and accept peace at any price at the present tense him that was his nickname he was a scout he wouldn't hear what i just seen him in the next morning i got

a call that he'd been shot and it happened nearby. nina said during co has had enough she just wants to get back to her old life a life in peace nina worked in a bakery until a failed operation put her in a wheelchair that was almost 2 decades ago a pension is just 50 euros half of which goes on nappies and drugs which she can't get at home in separatist held territory it's time to head back to the bridge most people here will have to wait several hours just to pass the checkpoint in hot temperatures of 30 degrees celsius fatalities and no rarity in these queues and then beginning when ordinary people have had enough of this war and when you do when you were grieving for the normal life of my used to live couple not of my nature is new. the scars left by 5 years of run deep but a little more normality could perhaps finally if you're around the corner president selenski has announced he intends to rebuild the ribbon preach within weeks with or

without support from the separatist side. of the little is known about their roots in fact many in the country aren't even aware of this black minority afro turks while their ancestors were brought to the ottoman empire as slaves hundreds of years ago and for yelchin yannick turkey is his home but he's often viewed as an outsider now he's on a journey to discover more about his family's origins and claim his place in turkish society. on his way to work next stops by to check on the syrian refugee families in the neighborhood and ask them how they're doing and if they need anything. they call him yelchin brother yeah i don't know if she can give you what you need is turkish but in his hometown is mere he's often himself taken for refugee specifically he's an afro turk a descendant of african slaves brought here in the mid 19th century by the ottoman

empire. on the streets and even in his own leather workshop he's been called black in a derogatory manner or turkish for error. and. these remarks even come from my own acquaintances although they're meant to stroke a year might go by without any remarks like that at all and then i might hear them 10 times in one week. but turks of african origin like nick are growing more confident once a year they celebrate a festival in izmir with people coming all the way from the americas and africa. is mir's and they are also came to underscore his liberal image but many passers by are still surprised that afro turks exist. really these people here i wasn't aware of that. very few of the

afro turks themselves know their roots forced assimilation has consigned their history and culture to oblivion now their descendants want to change that some years ago they founded an association for the purpose. of community for them with stood up so now we have been able to say who we are exactly of course where turks were born here but there's more to it something was always missing. in a disadvantage suburb of his me or the young family sits down to breakfast. like most afro to. herc's there of modest means they have little time to delve into their past. believes his ancestors came from tanzania but that's about all he knows all about what you're going to do but even if you do want to research it hardly any documents from that time can be found. through. your children haven't learned anything about the history of the african slaves in school leaders

it's not even mentioned but they've had their experiences with day to day racism. i really don't like to be in crowds. a lot of problems i feel uncomfortable and frightened. and. when i was a kid it was worse it's been budgeting admission yet i was trying to hide under a chair called. head. the annual afro turk festival concludes with a big picnic the onyx try to get together with other efforts more often these days . sifu here is turkish. music too. but recently grass skirts and brightly colored shirts have become popular. nobody here can afford an actual trip to africa so they're happy to see more and more africans visiting turkey which would mean. whenever we meet people from nigeria or sudan here in turkey we invite them over and have them tell us all

about their home countries and cultures well not them that you know the call. of course we'd like to travel to africa or so. maybe someday destry more can truly get a good mix that is. but yeltsin yannick wants to bring about change here in turkey in 2018 he ran for parliament as a candidate for a left wing party. but he didn't collect enough votes to become the 1st afro turkish representative in the grand national assembly. hello. we are already more visible in many areas of society. now it's time for us to go into politics time for a black president told minister just a black but it. would look almost a good. go to new running things the time is right some 160 years after slavery was abolished after a turks are demanding their place in turkish society. a

boy restrained to his bed and a woman who hasn't seen daylight in 2 decades this is not a prison for violent criminals it's a state care home and lekha not greece well a decade ago it made headlines around the world after the shocking living conditions were brought to light so why after all this time has nothing been done while activists are outrage and have been fighting to bring dignity to its vulnerable residents our reporter visited the home that's become a symbol of shame in the country. scene from outside this is a typical nursing home for disabled people one of around 70 and all of greece. a small town on the palate nice. we visit the nursing home with the psychiatry your ghostly colliders to publicly criticize the conditions in the home. if he's not a welcome guest here as the nursing home's director obviously wants to correct the

negative image that has attained 3 years ago psychiatrist in the lightest found a home in an unspeakable state. because the story was the darkest clue that well the situation in 2016 was shocking. there were 51 inhabitants 36 of which were permanently sedated by medicine or electronic equipment. used before but if some people had actually been kept in wooden cages for 22 years without ever being let out not even for a few minutes they were even fed in those cages the. director pasta last less a rope or less only shows us one part of the nursing home many things have improved he says and he finally receives political support 45 people live in a home which actually should only house 15. and tony stray last is no stranger to the nursing home unless. he's got it 4 years

ago because he didn't want to accept such inhumane conditions. after war that this summer when we entered the home we saw were about 50 the sable people ranging from 4 to 50 years of age in tragic conditions. the hands were tied behind their backs. it was rendered. they encountered problematic conditions throughout the house was cold as there was no money for heating a lack of staff and the few who were there were unqualified a lack of food and what was served was unsavory people locked into cages to keep them quiet. but in the last 5 years there were 19 deaths among the inhabitants from the nursing home.

outside in the courtyard of the you can see the olive tree that. one for each person who died in this. died from infections of the lungs probably caused by being fed wrong. habitants with pureed food while they were lying in bed to study the consequences of the inhabitants swallow properly and choked to death. after 30 years should either be shut down or conditions drastically improved activists n.g.o.s and european volunteers are all united into manned inhumane treatment of the inhabitants. despite international media reporting on this tragedy for 10 years now the conditions at the nursing home have hardly changed the deputy mayor said on the home support for 13 years but sees no fault of his own. given you're just the minister in charge the government didn't hire qualified stuff there's a lot of it but for example of the 3 floors there was only one staff member per

floor in charge in the afternoons. so how were they supposed to control these children you see to stay there and that's why they were put in these cages or tied down which is of course an acceptable but it was not with the way. there was no other way a shocking statement but the director promises things will now get better. so we're focusing on improving the living conditions of the people here and want to help them develop their perception and. motoric functions we want to further expand this during the coming year. will be my interest in those 2 french and turns a style in pauline speak freely about the conditions at the nursing home yet they haven't really seen improvements. despite the joy the 2 entrance bring to the inhabitants they're not even allowed to take them outside. the staff so they say don't take care of the inhabitants at all everything that's we saw in that we can

see here it's shock because it's from it's not normal and they're not respect the human rights that they're supposed to every hour should force our. dirty come 1st. and it's never really a bad look today where you like yanni really really sexy and every time people are in the self through for example upstairs i was at c.v. with me off and i was at ease with out there is one girl's who is blind and so she don't have in their music i mean she cannot see she can also hear anything because she is alone in the room. she is alone there is nothing only the master the 2nd but nothing she cannot even see so she just hear and believe in the way that she died very young only knows what and tony sree last won't give up and although he doesn't have much support he wants to keep fighting for all these

forgotten souls. they are the yellow vest protesters and have been putting pressure on the french president since last fall well they're angered by social inequality and policies which basically favor the elite now president emanuel mccraw is hoping to appease demonstrators by closing the very institution that paved the way for him and many other presidents they're called not sure now the minutes or nay has a reputation of being exclusive and elite but students suzanne is proud to study there and believes the school plays an important role in front society. this is the french national school of administration where ambitious students are being trained to become the next generation of french civil servants and lawmakers suzanne is one of the chosen few after earning a degree in political science the 24 year old passed the school's challenging entry

exam. when i was younger i saw what impacts political decisions having to deal and especially when it comes to education and social affairs i saw things that could be improved. which got me interested in starting a career as a civil servant. which. most applicants aspire to make france a little better says and hopes attending the elite school will help her land a top job as a french civil servant which isn't unlikely dana has produced some of france's most prominent politicians and heads of state among them president emmanuelle mccall and his predecessors francois hollande and shock shock but now has always had a reputation for cultivating a cloistered french elite only children from well to do parisian families it's been said stand a chance of being admitted. though lately efforts were made to make the school more

inclusive as headquarters were relocated from paris to strasbourg to draw in less privileged applicants in a director patrick maintains his school is open to everyone he says wealth or social status have no influence on who's admitted. the establishment of its ministry and state department could recruit their own management who lead to nepotism with children and nephews of being employed now all civil servants must pass the same entrance exam it's about individual merit which is beyond reproach. suzanne spent one whole year preparing for the entrance exam she worked hard to be admitted. to today's training session will teach her how to act if local residents protest against dispensaries for drug substitutes. do you have additional facts to analyze the situation what do you think about such

a dispensary opening even though the entry exam is the same for every applicant many in france feel they don't have a chance of passing it and only a few french nationals with a migrant background get admitted french yellow vest protestors want the school to be shut down but suzanne thinks the problem lies elsewhere. in a somber i know has become a symbol for everything that's wrong with the french state and we need to accept this criticism. alone is not to blame for the situation you can only enroll when you have gone to the french school system and we need to ask ourselves how can we improve french schools that was this on they were in. some form or in a graduates are also critical of their alma mater like. he was at the top of his class as a student and could have landed a prestigious job at the court of auditors. but instead he chose to become an asylum judge. but was disappointed by you know. when i

enrolled i was full of energy and eager to improve the french state if not more or less school is like a bubble just one example. that i had expected to be taught by economists with different perspectives in order to be able to come up with fresh new ideas on the ground. but instead we were instructed by graduates who work for the finance ministry. said he says as relocation to strasbourg has not really. the situation and the school still maintains a small parisian campus a stone's throw from the senate suzanne meets in a graduates in the french capital to get valuable career advice but she's adamant this is not about building networks to land top jobs in politics. political said francis the state plays a bigger role than in other countries that's why we are very selective about who

will later play a role in managing. editor for. president my call is assessing whether the school should be shut down but susan disagrees she's convinced that a national continue training coming generations of elite french decision makers. italy is the setting for what may be the greatest love story ever told shakespeare's romeo and juliet even more than 400 years after it was written this spirit of the star crossed lovers is very much alive in verona and so is its protagonist juliet while millions visit the city each year to walk in the footsteps of the famous lovers a romantic pilgrimage where fates can be sealed and hearts can be healed. christina spun yellow prepares for her big role should be playing juliet. on the me for. the transformation begins when i do my hair by choice 3 braids and

pin them up. i only do my hair like this as juliet. christina a young lady of verona italy is in reality a university student. but whenever she has the opportunity she slips into the role of juliet's generally at the casa de juliet or the house of juliet. it receives thousands of visitors a day almost all of the making a pilgrimage of faith faith in love. basically whoever touches the breast of the juliet statue will always be lucky in love. and. that's for the rest they can write and ask for advice and they're taken quite seriously. every day volunteers answer the letters every

single one at the club d.j. the voluntary secretaries of juliet among them christina spend give each letter personal attention letters such as this one. that i do and america. there's a person in my life very close to my heart we've been together for 4 years now but nothing's happening between us anymore. should i look for a new love or try to find happiness in this relationship maybe no love has left. clues help me to understand and to. verona northern italy has become the city of love inseparably bear on to the story of shakespeare's romeo and juliet. 2 and a half 1000000 visitors pass through annually most of them calling for the remand take up mr fish if some even propose to their loved one here.

year of the year the cassidy giulietta receives. around 10000 letters from around the world assistance from many countries help out doing what they can to make love grow and flourish. about. christina who likes her work here both as an assistant and in a role as a british life juliet's the sooner she appears people start asking her to pose for a photo with them. etc no it's always an honor to play juliet for these occasions and to see that the public appreciates my being here and people are happy to see a real life juliet it's even better and if they're all over the last several. even if juliet story is purely fictional it's become a living reality for the city of verona. a city where life imitates art well thanks for watching focus on europe and this rather get in touch with me on twitter about this week's topics next week my colleague peter craven will be

back with a special edition a focus on here from rome i'm sure to join it but that's it for today by.

such a thing. to . enter the conflict zone with tim sebastian weeks of mass protest in hong kong shows no sign of coming to a day my guest this week is ronnie chong a member of the hong kong government's topamax to the also to snatch up a few extradition which provokes a crisis should be scrapped now and slow cooked food washes over before there is

conflict in the field 30 minutes on c.w. the for. almost all. take football or simply un with all the wonderful people in stories that make the game so special. for all true fans. a funny man. the because more than football online you know that 77 percent of black are younger than 6 o'clock. that's me and me and you. and you know what it's time all voices what part. of the 77 percent of the talk about the issue. this is where it comes.

to 77 percent this weekend on d w. it's been 50 years since the monday. he was the 1st man to walk on the moon. as a small boy he dreamed of the stars. as a pilot decent anything no matter how dangerous. church or go to the cold. as an astronaut he took part in the greatest adventure in history. but he rode a legend was simply

a human being. was new armstrong starts july 20th on t.w. . place . this is the dublin news live from berlin showdown in the gulf britain says a royal navy frigates has driven off a range of boats trying to intercept a british oil tanker iran denies there was any confrontation also on the program. french lawmakers vote for a digital services tax that washington believes unfairly targets american tech giants could the u.s. be giving up for another trade war this time with france. women's prime minister

says he has listened to young people like these 2.