oh come on the ground is empowering women giving them the rules and we making them an agent of change you can see where the anything in the. stores journey we're here to go to. and i am hello and welcome to focus on europe i'm liable lola glad you could join us today we want to introduce you to extraordinary europeans regular people working to overcome hurdles to improve the lives of others take for instance paris there is no shortage of luxury in the french capital posh boutiques and hotels are abound and it's images like these that have made paris beloved the world over but what we

rarely see are the parisians whose lives are far removed from this glittering fairy tale the gap between the haves and have nots is growing bigger and not far from the shiny facades live the homeless or close as they are known there they can be seen sleeping in entrances or over subway shafts to protect themselves from the cold the homeless are visible yet invisible and some koreans choose to ignore their existence but for those living rough like christiane pas having a voice is important so he's using social media to bring awareness to homelessness . knows what it means to lead an insecure unstructured life he spent more than 3 years hanging out with this group of homeless people at the plus center in paris. he used to have a well paying job as a semi. but after his wife left him he started drinking and when he could no longer

pay the rent he ended up on the streets. this is one of the places i slept in. but a few weeks later they installed these typically anti homeless barriers. they're placed deliberately so no one can sleep rough here. the residents are a bit ashamed of the barriers but they're glad there are no homeless people sleeping here. so they could. they didn't bother anyone but it was dirty. i'm not sure what to think. it doesn't look nice but at least perhaps now they're living in better conditions than this entrance where there was lots of garbage. and homeless various have popped up all over paris after christian tweeted angrily about barriers that have been set up here where people sometimes live because there is warm air from the subway he was able to make

a change. in. the city of paris had put in iron rods to prevent access you can still see the traces. they would have stopped people from being able to sleep there in winter when it's cold. dry posted it on twitter and the next day the city authorities removed the iron rods. christian posted his 1st tweet 3 years ago after his possessions were soaked by street cleaners it was winter and he wrote this is how the homeless are treated in paris within a few months he had more than 30000 followers. tweet i tweet in the morning to say hello to the planet and at night to talk about what was going on on the street. so i take

a picture of my sleeping bag and say good night guys then go to bed and. people would have good night see you tomorrow. i thought it was cool. with his tweets christian was able to draw attention to the main problems homeless people face in paris something his friends appreciate his friendly i know doesn't have a phone she get one he'd have to overcome too many hurdles that appear insurmountable to him. at all because. i don't even have a bank account you know i do but at blog. you think my papers are at the lost and found office and i have to pay a lemon euro's to get them back. and on top of that they'll ask me for my papers but i don't have them the. people who live on the streets often feel like pariahs but christiane post has given them a voice and his activism has spread beyond paris people sent him pictures of

barricades from elsewhere in france. this one is from no burn in the south. say so could have as will flow through it's true that the social media have a certain power that can be negative for big brands people the goal mark. will see in the next few days that he bears will share will certainly get rid of those barriers feel that he is busy. christian is glad that his tweets can change things for the better his own situation has now changed for the better to he's found accommodation at least for the time being with a christian aid organization. what does it feel like to be treated like a stranger in your own home it's a reality for tens of thousands of afro turks a minority who feel invisible despite having lived in turkey for centuries few in

the country are even aware of their existence and often mistake them for foreigners almost afro turks like yelchin yannick know very little about their family history turkey is the only home he's ever known and yet he leads his life feeling like an outsider yelchin yearns to learn more about his ancestors and uncover the missing links in his family tree. on his way to work chain yannick 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. it should not be what you need is turkish but in his hometown is mir 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 arab. 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 mayor 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 them. very few of the effort turks themselves know their roots forced assimilation has consigned their history and culture to oblivion you know their descendants want to change that some years ago they founded an association for the purpose. and there's the father been

with stood up so now we haven't been able to say who we are exactly of course we're turks were born here but there's more to it something was always missing. in a disadvantage suburb of izmir the young family sits down to breakfast. like most afro turd. they are 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 hard in 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 and. i really don't like to be in crowds. i feel uncomfortable and

frightened. and. when i was a kid it was worse than budgeting admission yet i was trying to hide under a chair called. head of. the annual afro turk festival concludes with a big picnic the yonex 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 with. whenever we meet people from nigeria or sudan here in turkey we invite them over one of them tell us all about their home countries and cultures that you know the cult. of course we'd like to travel to africa or so. maybe someday destry move come true good mix that.

but yeah nick 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. 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. no chin yannick thinks the time is right some 160 years after slavery was abolished afro turks are demanding their place in turkish society. they live underground and multiplied by the millions rats are a plague in many european cities like lisbon the portuguese capital is struggling to contain rodents which are notorious for spreading diseases so how to control the

infestation pesticides traps neither option is ideal so city officials came up with a plan they're calling it a natural predator to sniff out the vermin. they prole through the streets in silent pursuit of their prey. lisbon's cats are helping sort out the city's rodent problem. some 6000000 rats live here and the feline forces are out to get them. and to r.j. and her colleagues from the organization animals on the street go around picking up feral cats. then they relocate them in places where the rat plague is at its most severe. with cats being created. so the smell of the cats keeps the rats away from the surface so it's

a good thing for them to do you give them a home and in exchange they keep the rats away from your house. the lisbon authorities are keen to build up the capital but rounding up the city's feral cat colonies is anything but easy. not to for this attempt fails. and her team make another attempt ideally they'd like to catch the entire colony can't make sense so it's usually much easier to relocate a colony if you put friends together cats that usually sleep together play together. brothers or sisters and then if you do it individually. lisbon is home to thousands of cat colonies. residents have mixed feelings about them some people think they're useful others can't stand them it's a scandal there are far too many cats to do that. you.

are one of my neighbors even fido slingshots at the cats. if you will and the cats help keep the city. claim they don't harm anyone but the routes. for the cats aren't. ombudsman for animal rights. she's one of the initiators of the rat control program . the cats when. people win and of course the rats because this is unethical way to control rats in the city well redskin of course being afraid of cats and they just disappear from the places where they are seen. success one cat is trapped. it panics that has no idea that this will work out well even.

before colony is no longer well where they belong. because. the neighborhood is not ok and they're facing dangers like poisoning or abuse or if the entire building where they lived is coming down for new construction they have to move. this school in central lisbon is the new home of a cat colony. cumorah she is at home here now. the tomcat has a kind of educational mission for the new arrivals. and. i think it's important for them to have to gain respect for animals and it's always good for both so we talk so much about 50 cent ship and this is also one way of

creating this awareness for for animals. and into our tastings this is desperately needed. she says the cat patrol is just a 1st step. i think this is a tip of the iceberg of more you main and green ways of solving these issues. these cats are pioneers so to speak a lot is expected from them. but they're taking it easy as the hunt begins. cats do things on their own time it was the day the music died for europe's leading instrument makers one of fierce storm tore down thousands of trees and if leaves north there were fears the industry could be devastated the precious would involve the c.m.i. used for violins and pianos had practically vanished overnight but the community

couldn't let it go and embarked on a mission to salvage the wreckage now it's running a race against time to save the lumber from the wood chipper. fabio on you benny always enjoys working with wood particularly if it has a nice texture. the wood is smooth and even that's just the right kind for making musical instruments. but a major wind storm knocked down almost all of the trees here involved a few. fabio has been coming to this area for 13 years to find just the right kind of wood for centuries the forest has provided wood for violins guitars and pianos the wood gives the instruments an excellent sound and resonance but now fabio is trying to save what he can.

and this trunk has or good diameter and or good texture. but this crack here shows that the tree split when it was knocked over so i can't use it. but i meant that although being. fabio wants to save as much what is he can before it's ruined by bark beetles and other pests. i love this kind of work and i love these trees. this is my passion with. me. the wood is processed at fabio small factory down in the valley this is where mountain spruce is converted into tone wood and resonance wood. fabio's customers include a number of major companies that produce musical instruments. this finally cut tone wood will be used to make violins it's been sorted by age and quality. more than 300 years

ago antonio stradivari crafted his violins from wood similar to this. but right now fabio is trying to recover as much wood as he normally does in 4 years and it's going to cost a lot of money to store it. so he's asked customers and private clients to pay $300.00 euros in advance per tree trunk to cover storage costs. that's why he's choosing only the best work right now. i've got to examine every trunk carefully to determine which piece of wood would be best for each instrument and how many pieces i can get out of a truck that i might get out of me only when a 40. only top quality wood will be processed fabio keeps

a close watch on all of the tree trunks even in the sawmill. here the trunks are precut along the grain this wood will be used to make sound boards for pianos. sawmill owner frank old saber is sorry that so many trees were lost in the wind storm. it took those trees 11020 years to grow to maturity and then the storm ruined everything it's sad and know it will take another 120 years for the forest to grow back. customers who appreciate fabio skill and experience will support him during these tough times . i know you will not respond the oh has an extremely important job he's the only one who can find this kind of high quality good violin makers like me couldn't do it but we're all part

of the process of creating a musical instrument so we have to trust each other. every step of that process must be spot on as fabio's tone what is made into a violin. they do. now i'm happy when the client is pleased with the instrument. a lot of the manufacturers and the musicians deserve a lot of credit too. but people seem to forget that it's my word that makes the instrument the way. fabio on e bay needs customers certainly haven't forgotten and for the time being he'll continue to salvage as much what is he can from the valid if you have a site so that he can keep providing top quality material for world class musical instruments. or grandmothers are held in high esteem in russia unlike many other cultures

attending status is a position of great honor yet many elderly women are being abandoned as a younger family members live away the small town of star obey show is home to a unique place where young and old live side by side they are not related by blood but do share a longing for companionship far away from russia's capital moscow the elderly and disabled have found a safe space where stigmas are left at the door. when you're making pancakes every step needs to be timed just right that's what deana could you have i've learned from her boarding home grandmother spent long a gram of the pair found each other 12 years ago when they started living together in a unique russian residential home. my this is my family and sometimes they get pretty cheeky. it's

a special home they share a yana and or surrogate grandma live together with 30 other children and over $100.00 pensioners. they're all in one big housing complex where they spend their lives together. most pensioners live here because their relatives no longer want to care for them and most young people are here because their parents are no longer allowed to care for them many were alcoholics who lost custody. as a result many of their children were born with disabilities. with no other family to rely on young and old alike would be lonely if it weren't for this haven. for you to hear or read to you. you know. my entire family died in 1993 in a car crash it was horrible. i almost lost my mind. back then i didn't want to live

anymore. i would have preferred to die with my family but with. this unique home where young and old live side by side was founded 12 years ago. it's an start of a shuffle in russia's court a stand republican party and its one of a kind in the entire country. that. actually this is something i children are happy that they have loving care taken and live in a loving environment the kids don't need to feel ashamed of that disability they can get through life with their heads held up high yes i've seen it it's news just like other children without disabilities get the global interest in the because that's it because it's about. these residents are lucky. their home is widely acclaimed. thanks to funding by the state donors and volunteers the facilities are

in great condition. few other russians with disabilities or special needs are as fortunate human rights activists have repeatedly reported cases of abusive caretakers corrupt directors insufficient fire safety measures and a lack of funding in other homes. but often the public is unaware of this grim reality as most homes are isolated from the outside world. yeah the director says this is long overdue to change. i did to save us still remains a huge barrier between people with and without disabilities in a society parents from the soviet generation do not want their children socializing with kids that have special needs. but this home where young says and pension as live side by side still shows that it is possible to store basically the same walk

under the same sun and to ordinary people when you got to listen to the health. though of course with people of all ages residing here it's not always smooth sailing. living together and caring for each other can be challenging. still everyone here is very close they are eager to share their lives rather than just co-exist. or when i see children i forget all my problems. they just vanish so you and all i see are the good things some of them will. the day of the special residential home winds down with a small dance performance. life is good because here russia's most vulnerable are not left to fend for themselves. if they can't use your family but they're proving otherwise thanks so much for

watching focus on your up do let me know your thoughts about this week's show on twitter all the best and 5 for now.

choosing the 1st job wisely. he could have an effect on your entire career. what should people starting a new profession look out for. which mistakes and pitfalls should they avoid. my 1st day at a new job tips for a path to success. made in germany and 30 minutes on w. because the following research projects climate

protection students from 20 countries involved in a scientific expedition need to chat columns to collect some 0 from to devise the same time in the good sense of the standards of the project will help them to spread environmental awareness about. what he wants to share that there's a lot that we can go. now for. 90 minutes on the w. . welcome to the euro max you tube channel. a good line of stories. with exclusive sites. and a must see concerning arts and culture to ensure a. place to be for curious minds. do it yourself networkers. so for subscribing and don't miss out.

on knocked me out. and colby promises. they could. never see to me. have. something from. my parents or your backyard or a car for good. or for about. a minute of a moment. in the public perception africa is now assuming the position to which it was always entitled to give their views of if they. start in january 1st.

place. this is g.w. news live from berlin outrage on the streets of india death toll reaches 25 in clashes between protesters and police hundreds of thousands of people continue to rally across the country against a citizenship law they say discriminates against muslims also coming up turkish president. says he plans to send troops to support the embattled u.n. back to the libyan government the potential before that puts it at odds with russia and several arab states backing libya's.