my choice is cut. given the way to transport the troops. and i. did. hello and welcome to this week's focus on europe liz show adopting a baby is often the last means for childless couples to fulfill their dream of starting a family but waiting lists are long and that's why many europeans decide to adopt children from other countries like indonesia they want to have a child and to give the home to those whose parents gave them up for adoption out

of poverty or hardship children like these ones here in the slums object but such adoptions bad the danger of turning the young ones into commodities. authorities in the netherlands have currently suspended all international adoptions even from indonesia the move comes after an official inquiry uncovered adoption abuse like forged birth certificates the report also shows that some children were bought or even stolen from their birth parents media boy back a man and a man have sought to reveal the scandal and the role of the dutch state but it's difficult for the 2 women to live with the truth about their past. i think it's important for everybody to know where they come from so that everyone

has a basic right to know their roots. it defines your existence. stand. up north i always have the feeling that miriam and i were not biological sisters that we didn't have the same parents who always. it's very strange to have people tell you that your biological sisters when somehow they you know it's not true indonesia september 979 it's adoption day and 2 little girls are being picked up from a children's home by a dutch couple. they're given new names miriam and do it supposedly their sisters but 41 years later a d.n.a. test would prove this was not true. i had done so when you have the information in black and white it really hits you hard i didn't expect that it really affected me

according to the test the 2 are not even distant relatives just as do we bear your mom had always suspected for years she poured over her adoption papers desperately searching for information about her true identity but instead she found forgeries irregularities and lies another. file i see another signator also from her father sly meant he can see they don't totally don't match at all i showed it to everyone else you can see it yourself now and they say but at that dutch looked at it then it is all right even my mother said i showed it to her particular one. over the years has met many other adoptees in the netherlands most have similar discrepancies in their adoption paperwork among them is lawyer d.v.d. . she helped convince the dutch government to set up a commission to investigate the commission's report has now been published and

reveal shocking abuses in cases of international dropship from brazil colombia indonesia sri lanka and bangladesh before 900 $98.00 it lists cases of baby farms human trafficking and forged documents they confirms what we are saying for years now and perhaps i also was hoping that they would say well it was not so bad but now it's actually a confirmation that it is very bad day every day you now represents a group of out of teas who marched but the dutch state funds their research for their biological parents so for now the government has admitted its mistakes turning a blind eye for too long over it if the state did not do what was expected of it. it should have been more active in preventing this abuse. this is the painful truth the apologies are needed and therefore today on behalf of the cabinet i

apologize to those impacted gobbing it on the report warns today's adoption system is still vulnerable to dubious practices and proved so damning it prompted the government to suspend international adoptions david a year's adoptive mother welcomes the decision she trusts that the dutch authorities when she adopted her daughter missing still tumbled or maybe her biological mother is still searching for her we never knew what was going on. excuse me. it makes me really sad to know there might be someone out there still looking for their child there's no place to look it's a terrible thought. but imagine you take your daughter to daycare and when you come to pick her up they say they've given her away to someone who can take better care of her own the baby. so.

since the 970 s. around 40000 children have been adopted from abroad in 2 dutch families the investigative report shows how private into media organizations profited from the adoptions and per took in abuse several of these organizations refused our interview requests for those affected this comes as no surprise. in africa especially in the big periods less so it is ninety's there are approximately $2500000000.00 a year was turning or over into a country that invests in the street right are you going to tell me that we could not have. percent of this money to help the families in this country i don't believe so i think we could have held them all to date doritos and miriam are both happily married and have children of their old but the idea that they may have been

kidnapped or sold still haunts them. their adoptive parents had to pay several $1000.00 euros in placement fees to make the adoption happen don't region miriam grew up believing that their biological parents were poor sick i'm unable to feed their children they say looking for the truth can be a painful process are you already to know that you won't find them that also your papers are false if you are ready for that then i would say go if you're not ready don't do it because it will it's only painful for you and well we are 40 years old and in you need here the people won't get really or so maybe there or already death maybe so and if you're happy now you can choose for it to stay happy. or it and miriam have given up their search for their relatives in indonesia. those

fundamental questions about their heritage origins and ancestors may never be answered but what remains is a common history their life in the netherlands and their promise to always support each other as sisters. when we talk about 1000 victims we mainly mean those who have died from the disease or those who have fallen severely ill yet one group often gets forgotten people like sheba who didn't get infected with the coronavirus then officially recovered but was still experiencing effects even months later experts call this condition long cope now one common symptom is that patients find it difficult to breathe a clinic in the u.k. even is now working with opera singers who are teaching patients how to breathe properly the project has become so successful that it will be rolled out in all

clinics across the u.k. . to combat. susie's and is a trained singer and for some of them it's a bit too hard work at the moment but what it does is it just allows your voice a little bit of a chance to unpressed. she's developed special breathing exercises for patients. thanks to suzy she has once again healthy and to pursue new hobby this year or 2 she contracts to severe case of course at 19 i was put on oxygen 3 months on i remember feeling so fatigued breathless. i mean literally from my bed to the bathroom i would just get breathless her g.p. didn't know how to help her it's

a dilemma that many other patients suffering from long who've it are faced with by chance she even heard about a scientific study involving different therapy methods. the machine never dreamed that singers use the english national opera of all people who'd be able to help her. i was totally skeptical i was like ok how does singing how i do i didn't know the science behind it and also my trepidation was that i'm not a single or i'm not even a native english speaker so how my going to sing these lyrics and sing in front of people who i don't know but it was such a nonjudgmental environment that everyone was put at ease. and their living is easy to see today her breathing strong enough for spontaneous

and to perform. she trains for this once a week. arms down to show the heights. the sessions focus on better posture relaxation and above all conscious breathing and just hold that for a moment we think a lot about breathing down because if you're over breathing you're taking in lots of air and actually tend not to be expelling the air so just giving people tools to slow things down and get them in the moment is really helpful. here she shoes how to write your name with your. fabulous amat sound that n g sound allows our vocal folds to just stretch a little bit without the full impact of singing. her to her. it's not really that we're teaching people lots of new

techniques it's rather trying to strip away things that were coping mechanisms during a time that was a terribly anxious time and get back to what sort of breath feels like. singing together during the sessions also creates a sense of community. that could have never imagined coming out of that darkness all by myself so it's been a huge support system for me it's like my family now we had i guess you can say a common purpose to get better and more beautiful way to think. out and heal them at the same time the. dream is to perform on a real and pristine to see others. and her dream come true as soon as the

condemn it subsides. because then the english national opera francis teacher very special production such. patients. the turkish government is aiming to have the majority of the population vaccinated against the corona virus by june but there is still a long way to go and infection rates have been rising dramatically for weeks reaching remote regions like the village of i attended close to the iranian border is a challenge for health workers it's her dedication that keeps doctors say now growing her goal is to convince people of the benefits of a vaccination and to fight some common misconceptions. it's not often that strangest undertake the ology is journey into the mound.

that's why there is always a little sensation here and now today. for the worse when the medical team comes from town but says. the little girl. is responsible for coronavirus vaccinations in the area people know her now because everything she says that it was more difficult when she 1st came here her home in march people always think on the nose they believe that only men can be docked this women cannot but by now they have gotten used to me and they trust me. feast in turkish village of the tin that is located nearly 2000 meters high a few 100 people live here most of them are ethnic kurds. it's been months since any coronavirus cases have been reported in alt and that's one of the reasons why some residents don't understand the importance of being vaccinated.

they are team have gotten used to the skepticism and to the climbing they do before every home visit. they are convinced that their mission is important. people in the villages live close together if there is an infection here it will spread very quickly and many don't like coming to the hospitals in nearby towns so we have to come to them. or are. getting his 2nd dose today when the doctors 1st came here a few weeks ago he almost kicked them out. i was afraid at 1st here in the village they set the doctors were coming to kill the old people. i heard the elderly die from the vaccination and that scared us and not just what.

they did is familiar with these kinds of reservations that's why she often tells her patients that she and her team have been vaccinated as well as their grandparents. that doesn't convince everyone but it did convince. your you know if i hardly felt anything it didn't hurt at all less painful than a bee sting of your. family is next on the list the journey there is perilous the brooklyn buster bombs on monday because during my studies i always dreamt of a doctor's position in the east but i never thought that i would climb mountains in the snow and ice to get to people's homes. but that's the way it is in a pandemic everyone has to do their part. on the.

vaccination visits are a lot of fun for the villages children but. a few not so much. the 74 year old is next in line his wife has ina talked him into it she has already been vaccinated while her husband is receiving the injection she tells us that she even went to the hospital to get it how much some money attempts to reach it scared us when we heard about the virus on t.v. but thank god nothing bad happened to us we live our lives the same way he did she for the disease we do our jobs eat our animals and take care of our houses question . the doctors administered to more vaccinations that day more isn't really possible under these conditions. but even if it takes time they

nip arak is proud of her work. which ensures that the pandemic is under control at least it is here. in russia some rural areas lack even basic infrastructure that's the case in sawyer a small village in the tiger cut off from the rest of the country it's difficult for locals to get daily supplies like food or medicine like uli there is the tiger extras drive. gives the people of saigon a chance to escape them again lives once in a while. boris petrovitch school is on his way to pick up passengers. he brings life to the taiga i do because i feel sorry for the old ladies with their villages are

dying out. his route takes him from the village of out of new gear to the village of sawyer in northern russia near our hunger yes. or to be more precise what used to be a village. the narrow galahs railway line is 31 kilometers long the train consists of one passenger car and a diesel locomotive in the seemingly endless russian tiger. morris petrovich schoolman whose affectionately known as petrovitch does the round trip twice a week on mondays and fridays. in winter he gets the stove going well before the 1st passengers get on the journey can last between one and 3 hours depending on how much snow there is on the truck. it's not going to be clear i probably have a road and so's in passengers and their ship to do. today he arrives on time it's 8 in the morning.

the villagers are glad to see him. here all our hope rests on this train if it breaks down will be stuck here forever. this train is all we have. otherwise we'd have to walk 40 kilometers only old people live here that. there used to be a lot of life here not just ramshackle buildings during the soviet era so you go was an important hub for the lumber industry millions of cubic metres of forest were cut down and transported from here or in mains is a lot of broken equipment which petrovich used to set up a functioning passenger service. one as reliable and punctual as himself a fact the villagers appreciate. though a train trip through the taiga might sound romantic to some it's not without risk

despite the train driver skills. that way sometimes the train tips over less often you know but a couple of years ago when i started it was almost every day once i was here and all of sudden the wheels were facing upwards from the 1st the passenger car overturned and then it pulled the look of with it i was just wondering if we were going to derail and then we were upside down a good. one the lumber mill closed most people here lost their jobs some took to the bottle not to be drinking wine you know that you were right snotty and one would be going to. say what else is there to do apart from drink and drive cars. petrovitch doesn't drink and drive he always takes a long food prepared by his wife fallon tina. hears the

chan what's taking so long. there's also picking cucumbers and fruit preserves. the 2 have been together for 40 years living in harmony. he's always full of energy. and he's always on duty hi lynn. the phone rings day and night no worries lena and picking brett up tonight. the villagers depend on him and he can match in their lives without petrovich know their death. you could get one recently. used to driving the train she said oh yeah you please don't stop till i'm dead but 1st i said to her are you crazy that you have to move

and you kept it a month later she was dead. so i carried out her last wish i took her to the cemetery. petrovich plans to carry on driving his train for 10 more years until the last villager has left. did you know that people in france can get very old like really really old a french woman reached 122 years compared to that colette's may seem like a young lady after all she's only 106 years old but that's not stopping her from her passion for music. colette's months has been playing the piano for a century she was born into an upper middle class family in 1914 and what my mother was a hard woman she was quite masculine and even went hunting that music was my consolation

my tenderness. especially loves the romantic works by robert schumann she began playing the piano at the tender age of 5 it became her life's passion. she studied as a music conservatory in paris where she also learned fitness techniques like yoga that helped keep her limber to this day. it keeps her body erect less to play things must be very loose here cope with but talk here at the back. end clip only the piano when you play you need to sit like this. and not like this. her son for priests helps manage her career. that's you there you are 17 or

18 who. will enter this is your diploma from 134 to. move along. what grade did i get it doesn't say then it must just have been so so. but were to put an end to her dream of becoming a professional pianist collette ma's worked as a nurse during the german occupation. after the war she became a piano teacher. it was only decades later that she recorded her 1st album by then she was already over 80. now she has 6 c.d.'s to her credit. that age is all in your head at least i think so. you must live life with energy that's it.

and we wish her much more energy and many more years thanks so i think.

i was 15 when i arrived here i slept with 6 people in a room for the 9th a man it was hard i was fair. i even got white hair is that. the german language mel got this gives me a little bunch maybe took in truck loads of say you want to know their story the muslims the fighting and reliable information for migrants.

more than a 1000 years ago europe witnesses a huge construction boom. christianity islam established itself. both religious and secular leaders aren't eager to display their power now but the trace begins. who can create the tallest biggest and most beautiful structures. obstruct masons from builders and architects compete with each other. this is how massive churches are created the big. contest of the cathedrals for. the 12th on t.w. .

the bottom . this is you know when you fly from berlin a surprise stop the u.s. secretary of state makes an unannounced visit to afghanistan anthony blinken arrives in kabul to grief afghan officials on plans to withdraw all u.s. troops by september just hours after the u.s. presence announced he will end america's longest war also on the program out of control dr super zilker is facing

a humanitarian catastrophe but record breaking cold with 19 deaths traced many of the hardest hit worried about sickness to starvation and the rebuilding of the landmark 2 years after a devastating fire ripped through not cut down quickly grow president i mean my current list is the building sites and hills the progress being made to restore a conic monument. on lilac thank you very much for your company u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken has made an unannounced visit to afghanistan after president biden confirmed that all american troops will leave by september 11th mr blinken search his visit was to demonstrate america's ongoing commitment to the country he told the afghan president ashraf high. that their partnership was

changing but enduring mr heidi said he respects the decision expressed gratitude for the sacrifices of u.s. troops. well as the u.s. and other nato troops prepare to exit of gonna stand there's concern about a possible security breakdown and a resurgence of the taliban many of gun women are especially worried about what could happen next. parvana samani is a teacher at a private school in the afghan capital kabul this is her dream job but now she fears her career and indeed her entire life are under threat. that is. she at the home today where they told us not to go too far from our homes what will happen when the foreign troops leave our country it will be especially hard for women we won't be safe even within our own 4 walls. i don't think. from the outside nothing much about life in kabul appears to have changed

but is people digest the news that u.s. and other nato troops will finally leave afghanistan there is growing concern. although that's a worrying situation and people believe that if the foreign troops leave the country there will be a civil war that some of the samples of the rubble over the and much of the anger here is directed at the taliban which nato forces had hoped to beat into submission. instead the islamist group now controls large areas of the country. and in our demand to the taliban is to come and make peace with the afghans and government absolutely. but many here are also pointing the finger at nato troops who have been on afghan soil for almost 20 years. before troops came here we didn't have any problems with their lives if the u.s.

military pulls out people will be able to unite again and see peace restored you know with. peace though looks alone way off afghanistan's security situation is dire many like teacher parvana of the money now fear things will only get worse. i've got a sign at the crossroads that we can speak now to merriam sofie she is an international relations advisor an expert on afghanistan thank you for your time misaki and you've had some time to digest the news what does that would draw of international troops before peace settlement has been reached with taliban mean for the afghan people as specifically the afghan women the what role of u.s. troops. surprisingly without any conditions is one that has instilled great fear amongst the people of afghanistan because it would draw without a peace deal or even a comprehensive moving

a forward on these talks would likely lead to increased violence and on president levels across the country higher civilian casualties casualties amongst afghan national security forces which are already and are very alarming rate further erosion of the kabul government and political and that the correct mentation across the country is what are some of the the scenarios that the that the people of afghanistan are fearing could emulate from this withdrawal without a deal and without any conditions with no strings attached now we understand secretary states antony blinken is in afghanistan today trying almost surya's sure the leadership and the people of afghanistan that the relationship is just changing what did you make of what he had to say were you reassured. well the relationship is certainly going to change however the reassurances from secretary of state. at the present moment doesn't come with any sort of concrete measures or

concrete guarantees we've already seen aid multibillion aid and financial support for the afghan national security forces which have declined over the last few years and they've already declined compared to last year and the national security forces which are on the front lines of the of not only the the fight against the insurgency but also on the front lines of the global war on terrorism really require the support and so we're not seeing anything concretely be to show us or give us a surance that this new chapter is going to bring about. more positive or proved scenarios for the country as it stands now with the americans and the international community exiting afghanistan would you advocate for engaging with the tala by. i think that the people of afghanistan something that we have been able to note and

our various consultations with civil society organizations is the only path that they deem require to resolve these 4 decades of conflict so a political settlement sitting down continuing to talk is something that the people of afghanistan would like to see happen however when when this happens without any pressure and you can do any leverage is they dealt whether. those talks could lead to a sustainable peace civil society organizations has continuously stated that they will only accept a peace process in afghanistan that reflects their aspirations one that reflects the dumb and if that doesn't happen then the peace process and the of intervention well agreement would not likely be accepted and then of course not sustainable. ram sufi international relations advisor and an expert on afghan policy thank you very much greatly appreciate it. now some of the other stories making headlines

around the world. demonstrators have few tribute to the hundreds of people killed during unrest following me on mars military takeover in february this comes after security forces arrested one of the main leaders of the campaign against military rule and after the army opened fire on protesting health workers in mandalay. because president biden's administration has announced a new round of sanctions against russia including the expulsion of 10 russian diplomats this is in response to alleged interference in last year's presidential election and the hacking of u.s. government agencies or just foreign ministry meanwhile has condemned the sanctions saying a response is inevitable. and germany and the u.s. are backing calls now for russia to halt its troop buildup along the border with ukraine kiff says moscow has sent thousands of soldiers to the frontier there are fears now that the 7 year conflict between russia and ukraine could flare up again

. the doctors without borders has declared brazil's response to the pen demick a humanitarian catastrophe made worse by political mismanagement brazil currently has the world's highest number of daily deaths from covert 19 the country's health care system is overwhelmed with many intensive care units nearly full to capacity soaring infection rates are being driven by the highly contagious p one virus variants in the new strain is causing international concern earlier this week france went along and suspended all flights to and from brazil in a bid to prevent the varian spread millions of people in latin america's biggest country are struggling now to put food on the table as the covert 1000 outbreak weeks havoc on the economy. fairley a gomez starts her day early she gets up at around 4 am worried about having enough food for her 4 children to have breakfast. i wake up with the

feeling of being in agony i jump out of bed in the 1st thing i do is stand guard i'm alive i look at my children and think to myself today i'll bring home some food for them i leave the house early to fetch bread there are days when i can't manage to bring them anything but they run out of the night. lives enough for valor of around 100000 people in south paolo here and across brazil unemployment hit a record high last year this community association helps people living in marginalized areas to find work. we had an 84 percent increase in demand for employment after the government's imagine c. 8 ended and the number of people seeking our help tripled because so many people didn't have any support anymore and it. up. in december government aid of around $84.00 euros

a month was cut making an already difficult situation for many much worse the number of people living on less than 36 years more than doubled many families stopped cooking with gas and started using firewood 27000000 brazilians live in extreme poverty renate tardelli has been researching the for villas for 20 years. noel you pull the data shows that the poorer you are the higher the rates of infection. the more on the periphery the person finds themselves the higher the death rate from coronavirus. brazil has added 2000000 more people to the marginalised areas in the past year it's not ethical that brazilians have to choose between going hungry or getting the virus it's an ethical. no way that you can use . for adults live in the home of sylvia de hayes us she's

a cook and the only one still to have a job but it's just one day a week she used to cook in other people's homes but they let her go for fear of infection. that this pandemic is difficult that's going to leave all of us starving and that's apart from all the damage it does feel health look at this q we're all in the same boat. that problem of the melba. with a shortage of vaccines and hospitals overwhelmed it's hard to see a way forward for people in the lowest social groups who are trapped by both poverty and disease dire times and purcell we're going to head now to france has been 2 years since a fire ripped through the most famous cathedral in paris and shocked the world while many are wondering when not to down will open its doors again and french president imminent michael visited the building site to offer some encouragement

and show that french heritage has not been forgotten and that the current affairs crisis. moments from april 15th 2019 etched forever in the minds of persians. of all the french. of anyone who has visited the city of light or wants to some day. but from the dramatic scenes turning the beautiful monument ugly to the dramatic felling of an enormous oak tree in western france the 1st of a 1000 hand selected to rebuild the spire and roof of the cathedral. and make it beautiful again. the wood from the trees is being dried some of it on site part of a 5 year reconstruction plan that has 3 years and many miles to go. in fact the

work so far has mostly been to secure what was left after the fire. up. there we are all gather and i will restart. to give the. french architect. back to the wall. the french president toured parts of the restoration site on this anniversary of the fire telling workers each and every one of us remembers where we were 2 years ago. the emotion that was the motivation of all the catholics watching and of all of us in paris and all of france the people in it and i believe that we can see here the immensity of the work he accomplished in 2 years. 2 years of work on a massive stunningly detailed paris institution dating to the 12th century with 3 years to go to resurrect the french national treasure. and our another top story

that we're tracking for you this hour u.s. secretary of state anthony blinken has made an unannounced visit to afghanistan it comes after the u.s. confirmed it would pull out all its troops and the longest war in u.s. history by september 11th other nato countries including germany will also withdraw from the country. next up reserve business update with my colleague a rob what's stick around for that while iraq and going on behalf of all this year thank you so much for spending this part of the day with us we'll have the world headlines at the top of the hour. 96. it's their story their very own personal drama. the people who survived the catastrophe remember. and they share private footage with us.