oh and a very warm welcome indeed to focus on europe with me peter craven and we begin in slovakia a country where tensions are running high ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections and a country still traumatized by the 2018 killing of a young investigative journalist probing corruption in high places money on corruption a businessman accused of ordering the crime is facing trial and what of thora he's

hope will be a demonstration of justice being. many slovaks there remain deeply disillusioned well by coincidence the brother of the accused even coach now runs a small cafe close to the courthouse where the trial is taking place and as we find out now the brothers represent 2 sides of a slovakian society that is profoundly divided. a gloomy day in slovakia. as gloomy as the country's political climate says even questioner which he believes is partly his brother's fault. as me it's ok but i don't want to talk about that all has already been said. even as brother is marion kushner a prominent businessman whose actions have had a profound impact on the country the papers are full of stories about him even no longer talks to his brother and he's tired of talking about him. marian stands

accused of having ordered the killing of journalist. a murder that sent shock waves throughout the country. and people this was not a disagreement between different mafia groups this was an attack on honest upright people. talk and on young people. and that makes an attack on families on all of us. let me talk to be one. of. the brothers have little in common even runs a small confectionery his brother was power hungry and has long been thought to have ties to organized crime. was close to one covering these and more and found out the journalist was investigating him the courts now have to determine whether marion ordered the assassination. the businessman had ties to numerous individuals involved in corruption including high ranking judicial and government

figures. the killing of coots york and his fiance sparked mass protests several politicians judges and public prosecutors were forced to resign the subsequent revelations about marion koch no deeply shocked his brother yvonne who is now taking a public stand against corruption i think it's the national courageous citizens like event are standing up for their rights help makes the vazquez a more just and fair country. but with less than a month to go before the slovak parliamentary elections the country remains deeply divided the governing social democrats are accused of complicity in marion kushner's dubious deals and are expected to suffer significant losses. even kushner hopes the country's liberal pro european parties will receive the majority of votes but they're fragmented something that frustrates him. well the situation ahead of the elections is confusing it seems so blocky is parties don't want to work

together but. hopes the country's liberal parties will form a coalition to hasn't happened. i think that's a mistake. a coalition could have pushed for change but now that every party is just doing its own thing. i could because the. base. even kushner worries the country's far right extremist people's party could benefit from this situation. they've been railing against the country's roman minority the e.u. and european liberal values polls indicate they could benefit from the population's disillusionment with the political class some party supporters refer to far right leader. as their fear of well their marches echo nazi esthetics. for some voters it's hard to feel hopeful. that the general atmosphere is bleak the weather is really god and so is the mood. yes.

even questioner says his brother is partly to blame. there had been some political in judicial reform since the murder of journalist 2 years ago but much work still lies ahead says even caution or. us. efforts will go on. there's still much to do. is just democracy is not a given and not eternal. democracy is a state which we have to value and actively preserve. even hopes to see his brother sentenced as he feels marion's action strengthened the far right and damaged democracy in slovakia it's a country at a crossroads which will choose its path at the upcoming parliamentary elections. now france is still the country of choice for many people hoping to enjoy the fight

in skokie old cuisine and this fierce competition for the coveted stars awarded by the legendary michel our restaurant guide one star means excellence through extraordinary and free well world class but what if a celebrity chef is stripped of all of his 3 stars will that happen to mark very raw one of the most highly rated flamboyance an outspoken chefs in france and he says that he's no longer willing to barrow to michelin's judgment. moneygall is an idyllic spot in the french alps but at the restaurant lemons on the tensions are simmering. much better the man with the black hat is a local hero and a michelin starred chef but in 200-1000 his restaurant lost one of its 3 coveted michelin stars little. the last of the star plunged him into a deep crisis he learned the art of cooking from his father and reached the upper echelons of his profession more very much father would have cried if he now and it

was i was depressed for 8 months but i'm better now that i saw that person. from uk that cooking is about more than just food it's almost a religion. making dishes like this one from eggs laid by his own hens and served with herb sauce piped into every shell has a very special meaning for him. you know i've always said that cooking is something spiritual you thought the ingredients come from the earth and reach for the sky we respect them food is spiritual a protector of life. and because cooking is almost wholly for him the loss of his star hit especially hard the mission inspector who visited his restaurant anonymously claimed that their hearts served him as soft lay made from english cheddar cheese. you later said the souffle was made from french she says

her shawl and profile and that saffron had accounted for its yellow color. just because the cheese was ghetto they thought it was chatter after that they confuse the cookies on jack with monkfish liver which proves they know nothing of the bad for them all it. wants me to reveal the criteria it uses when writing restaurants for its famous guide attention just as returns to the world of french cuisine but michelin's lawyer sees things differently. that totally contradicts all of the principles of freedom of opinion critical freedom and freedom of expression if you don't want to be subjected to criticism then you shouldn't be submitting your works to the public. for writers as well as top chefs. but for his fans is still a go star or no star only he could pull off a 12 course menu called the woodland symphony so you can make. is willing to

pay the price to eat it he came to france to train in the kitchen of another top chef better known as a. presenter because own life back in 2003 because he feared the loss of one of his 3 michelin stars. says stars don't really say much about a chef's actual abilities so he saved for months to be able to afford one of mark their last $400.00 euro menus. just as follows i had to choose between eating here and sleeping in a hotel so i'm sleeping in my car. level it's ok not too cold it's comfortable here though it's also cuisine you comfort the corner experience as believe with more. mask that feels that his fans are supporting him he sees himself as a spokesperson for those who've suffered criticism from restaurant guides now the restaurant of his deceased close friend poor book hughes has also lost one of its

michelin stars. want to do really show something military and say this man did everything for france for after his death big killed him again by taking away his 3 stossel it's of death myself with france and french cuisine the school. there are those like food journalist emmanuelle have been who are convinced that michelin has a motive for taking away stars he says it's a trick the restaurant guide is using to boost sinking sales at the chef's expense . it's bad but they took away a part looking as this 3rd star because bookies was a star himself and after his death it was even easier to do that was pretty currently on the part such as a lot of rock as we now mark is fighting for his restaurants to be excluded from the michelin guide he wants no part of it. through a little bit so we asked a 1000 people

a 1000 guests why they came here they came from okparanta regional cuisine not a single one said they came because of the mission on guide no one cares about that and in most often. they are things the mission and guides days are numbered and that france's chefs will be better off without it. well for the time the mark very raw has lost his legal battle but the star war goes on and he's appealing against the judgment now a chilling story from switzerland a story in which thousands of people adults and children were shot away from society in what the heartless bureaucrats chose to call administrative care but why were they shut away well valves are emmitsburg are and many others were judged to be living outside the norms of society the school system continued up until 981 in reports now show that survivors are still suffering under the abuse they were subjected to. the swiss authorities took him away from his mother

put him in a home and locked him away. at age 6 but her in his burial was placed in foster care with a parish couple who abused him. for longer than a priest pulled my ears and by hair a lot and beat me he would lock me in the basement or in the broom closet because. emma's beggar is still traumatized by his experiences to this day he struggles to set foot in a church. the 64 year old set up a small museum in the basement of the community center of his village of fair outdoor which makes 10 jubal how this was state condemned him. around 60000 people in switzerland were submitted to so-called administrative care by the can tunnel authorities because they were judged to be socially different the

practice continued until 981 people including his mother were put in prisons like this one emma spared or was born here in 1957. or moved because my name i suspect that my mother was administratively cared for because she was expecting and illegitimate child. and that's what they did at the time. they put such mothers away they didn't fit into swiss society. those rights. people deemed as being work shy drinkers or of having loose morals were taken to prison without trial to foster families or to a psychiatric ward there they were to be reeducated. by a system that had stripped them of their rights and excluded them from society. historians like were confirmed that these people were not criminals conducted

research for this was government as part of an independent commission of inquiry. by even for in the case of those receiving administrative care it was usually not a matter of criminal offenses but simply a way of life that did not conform to social norms and. stories like voter emmitsburg years have cast a shadow over swiss history there are around $650.00 prisons and other institutions in switzerland in which children and young adults were imprisoned exploited and in many cases severely mistreated. emmitsburg or was locked up for hours on end at his foster parents house he was forced to clean and work in the garden and fields he didn't accompany us to the house as he suffered a panic attack when he tried to visit a few years ago. for of a course the hut was so strange i hid in the bush like an animal i really felt that this was the end. when he was 11 the parish couple took him to the psychiatric

clinic in minsk jelling and there the boy's plight worsened near the it illegally constans the hospital director tested psychiatric medication on him in the 1960 s. and seventy's. this time for all i know is that i felt a lot of noisier through and just generally bad and lousy. and every now and again i'd also have something like a seizure fall because. the boy does not seem to tolerate tougher until well and we believe that the unpleasant symptoms he is showing are side effects of this medication. it makes my skin crawl. and i asked myself why they did that. in his spare is fighting to have what happened to him and others forced into administrate of care publicly recognised he's received 25000 francs from

a swiss fund but the canton of 2 ago which is jointly responsible stated that there will be no compensation trust. this statement acknowledged the drug trials but said that due to a lack of further studies the extent of the damage can't be determined. rather emmitsburg or fines these stalling tactics unbearable tens of thousands of people have been disenfranchised by this with state he said and their suffering must not be forgotten. jimmy r.v. my hope is that something like this never happens again though and also that this whole dark chapter of switzerland's past goes into the history books as writes. truly cruel bureaucracy is the absolutely worst kind well when it comes to tracking crime suspects fingerprints have traditionally been an important tool now though many governments wanting to keep an eye on or even spy on their citizens are

turning to facial recognition that works and the russian capital moscow is building one of the largest such systems in the world advocates say it will help to create what they call a safe city but alyona pop over and other rights activists see it as a grave threat to people's privacy. a security technology trade fair and moscow where the current trend is facial recognition. many russian and chinese manufacturers have. recognized. and electronic gatekeeper the camera captures people's faces and a system aps their features only those who are recognised are allowed and. the salesman has a body count on his jacket with which he's recording trade for visitors without their permission in the event of a crime the police could compare the footage to their databases. such as here when

a thief stole the painting from moscow's gallery in broad daylight police quickly identified him using pay shreiking mission and tracked him down over 3000 crimes were solved in russia last year using facial recognition technology. but the lawyer and activist. is not convinced she's fighting against facial recognition or anything it's possible to find out the damien are here their exact location. and the time precisely to the 2nd. what we know for certain is that facial recognition was used to arrest activists from the moscow protests last year yes. it's like in china where only people who are against the government are arrested. i suppose i mean all of these these security videos were used by the authorities for facial recognition. the news that they show her protesting with a poster outside the russian parliament. well good idea we tell them if you pursue

us without a court order and without our consent then stop you have no right along with you. which is why you're not isn't quite. we're allowed to film in the courtroom only before and after the 3 hour a trial as the verdict is being read we can't from the judge but you can hear her voice. and it's you know give us now when you listen to what the case is dismissed but you're right there was a good number of the something i'm not at all disappointed on the contrary the trial encouraged me to keep on fighting that i'm not the guy everyone has admitted to gathering data the other side was nervous and got angry that on your initial i mean. if someone gets that upset they have something to hide but almost the whole bit is the white washing of their gaze at this that is going to live. i don't know has appealed the verdict and she's not alone with her concerns journalist and lake

wanted to find out whether the data gathered by russian police is facial recognition technology is safe so we searched for it on the dark night. i was able to buy access to the city's facial recognition system and found a hitlist using my face because it's. many people on the 80 page list look very much like him even if there wasn't a direct match with his face. some of the photos were taken from home security cameras in germany this would lead to public outrage but not in russia. but i should security is good it's very important because everybody's currently worried about their safety was near saudis doesn't it bother you that the city knows everything. you thought everyone knows everything anyway even without these cameras just through the internet. but it's not on the margins look that it was in the data could be misused and that makes me uncomfortable. if somebody wanted to

beat me up to find out what i. come home and who i need to know because of them want that. for only a few. for most. is more important than personal privacy. now the italian city of venice ranks as one of the most beautiful in the world and it's famous for its gone delirious who with great grace and dexterity pilot visitors around the city's legendary canals on their flat bottom gone but now some of those gone have been laying aside boating hats and stripey tops and donning instead scuba helmets and wet suits so what are they up to. the nation gondoliers take pride in showing visitors around their city. but now they've also taken to cleaning up the city's many canals. that the sake of venice

has 276 canals taken together they are some 30 kilometers long we are trying to select those that have been frequently used by transport vessels over the past years. and are here. in the volunteer gondolier divers have gathered in the early morning when there are still few boats about. that all. do not put off by the water's frigid temperature that. what they call. within minutes one of them returns to the surface he's found something. the last time they did this the divers retrieved a staggering 80 kilograms of refuse from the murky waters. then as has a serious garbage problem in part because the city attracts so many tourists. but

the city council and the gondoliers agree that the visitors alone aren't to blame for the refuse filled canals. shivani to stowe of the venice city council greatly appreciate the gondoliers help in cleaning up the waterways. we may be fine kottaras it's funny really venice is a city without cars where cars aren't allowed to drive. but we seem to have the most discarded car tires in the world. we're told me i'm old bloke. this is cleanup operation is sending a powerful signal to locals and tourists alike it wants everyone to get involved. but cleaning the canals can be tricky. as some objects have sharp edges or are extremely heavy. some of the city's waterways are up to 5 meters deep plenty of room to dump refuse. but the volunteers also know that sometimes objects like air

conditioning units laundry carts or sinks fall into the canals from transport ships by mistake. that said many locals have also had a less a fair attitude to refuse disposal. than 3 years folks acted irresponsibly exactly including the nation's before they just open the window and toss things into the water luckily it's no longer that way but. the gondoliers came up with the idea of collecting trash while on a diving holiday in a shipwreck stefano and his friends discovered 70 year old rubber boots and were shocked at how well preserved they were they realized this meant the waters of venice must be full of garbage to effect they're hoping to change. the moment well we shall die the it's not work for us we do it willingly but yesterday wasn't such a great day because visibility was so bad on the canal bad we could only see 8 to

10 centimeters so it was hard to find objects to be especially when the canal bad gets churned up she was still we retrieved almost 500 kilos of stuff. which. by. stefano vo is already looking forward to the next clean up dive especially since the nations are also cleaning up their act. but for now he's in his gondola waiting to show visitors his beautiful hometown of venice. i love the story about the car tires car tires in venice can you believe it and that's all from focus on europe this time around thanks so much for joining us and if you'd like to see any of our reports again just go to our home page on d.w. dot com or visit our facebook page t w stories and do come back next week and tell and by by.

if. you are.

to. enter the conflict zone here in london eat still all about bricks of bricks it breaks it to break up the bricks of what we all should full was making the right decisions and steering our own ship we want to stay friends with our british neighbors stressed city's residents matter in the country so special this week we look back at some of the key arguments for them shaped hole for the growing great breakthrough debate conflicts. 90 minutes on t.w.

. hijacking the news. more are going wrong the news is being hijacked journalism itself has become a scripted reality show it's not just good versus evil us versus them wacky and one. in countries like russia china church people or shoulders or something and if you're a journalist there and you try to get beyond that. you are facing scare tactics intimidation. and i wonder is that where we're headed is well. my responsibility as a journalist is to give young the smoke and mirrors it's not just about me prayer and balance or being neutral it's about being true. when he was born god and i were giving the other.

this is d w news live from berlin u.s. president donald trump has been cleaning his impeachment trial is there for order to judge that the said donald trump being and he is hereby acquitted of the charges in said articles of the u.s. senate clears trump of abuse of power and obstruction of congress ending a congressional being to oust him from office will go live to our correspondent in washington for the latest also coming out. a passage of.