members of parliament in britain start getting their own back after the phone hacking scandal gets deeper all the time. hello, and welcome to the brussels studios of dw-tv and "european journal." also today, pollution problems for spain. the summer series about villages and communities, starting in poland. and macedonia's ethnic-divided young that unite to protest police brutality. britain's tabloid press is

notoriously aggressive about -- but "news of the world" top them all. the paper, britain's oldest sunday, has been closed down, but every day brings news of arrests at high-level resignations, including senior police officers, and it is shaking rupert murdoch's empire. every time paul traveled to england, the memories at king's cross station come flooding back. six years ago, a terrorist attack killed 26 people there. the 7/7 suicide bombings claimed 56 lives, and paul was one of the first helpers' on the scene. when he used a mask to protect a young woman whose face was badly burned, his picture made it into all of the papers. he was bombarded with calls from tabloid journalists.

>> asking if i had information, dierent pictures. this is somebody who is not pictured, behind a mask. there was an enormous media attention to getting hold of her picture. >> the police have since told paul that journalists hacked into his phone and the hope of finding out more personal information about the victim. paul has been invited to a dedete about the hacking scandal, where he will talk about his own experience. he came under significant pressure in the tabloids after the bombings and at one point was accused of having a criminal record. >> when i categorically told them the story did not exist, i was told, well, in threatening terms, if i did not have the conversation and did not know what my criminal record was,

they would go to the police and get the information. >> britain is shocked by the revelations, which highlighted journalists bribing the poli. about when you have police officers systematically selling people's private information, and then to make it worse the same police force completely failing to investigate this crime in the first instance, when people went to prison, aqueduct extent, it was never revealed, and that is because the police were disgracefully complicity. >> it is not only the police that were caught in the scandal. david cameron's former press spokesman was once the editor of rupert murdoch cost "news of the world." he resigned eararer this year. scandalous revelations were traditionally the preserve of the "news of the world," which has been closed as a result of the hacking affair.

for decades, there were a sordid tales of illegitimate children, celebrity drug addiction, and extramarital sex. it was one of a number of british papers known for its aggressive at sensationalism and political bias. >> they have always managed to resist any strict regulation. more importantly, there was a culture itself that they were there to be political and aggressive and that the price that you pay for that kind of rudeness and c ctical this is that you also have a very free, aggressive media is very good at breaking scandals. >> richard spent five years digging up and dishing the dirt for various tabloid newspapers. on one occasion, he was told to find out more about the death of a well-known musicians. he and his colleagues threatened to out one of the dead man's

friends as a homosexual if he did not talk. in the end, they bought the information they wanted from a corrupt policemen and how did the man anyway. a lot of what happened on the night of the musicians that was printed in the paper. >> we put that in the paper and presented it as if he said it to us directly to us. is that ethical? certainly not. do i feel good about it? certainly not. but you are under so much pressure that that man needed to be in the paper that those sort of concerns were secondary to getting the story. >> when he decided to talk about tabloid press practices, he got a taste from the other side. >> i was threatened, harassed, phone calls all hours of the night in my house, told by was a marked man. >> former tabloid journalists

and those who have had a taste of their methods are not going to be told what they can and cannot say. if the phone hacking scandal gets bigger, more people are likely to blow the whistle. the strait of gibraltar has always been a gateway to trade. more than 1000 ships travel through there every year and many stopped to rereel. special tankers servers them in the water. leeks are common and pollution problems are growing. gibraltar plans to increase its filling capacity and that has people worried. >> when he pokes around in the oil sludge, his heart sinks. it is part of the strait of gibraltar environmental reserve. it is considered especially

worthy of protection, but fuel oil constantly washes up on the shore. hardly anyone seems to care about the creeping carpet of oil. it comes from a ship refueling station just a few kilometers away. more than 100,000 cargo vessels passed through the streets of to robert annually. it is one of the most heavily traveled areas and will is cheap here. >> a huge number of large companies work here. especially in the waters around gibraltar. a floating refueling stations are in the day. about 300,000 tons of bunker fuel are stored in at special tanker ships. >> ships refueled in the territorial waters to save port charges. the oil from gibraltar is tax- free. environmentalists say 60,000

chips per year are refueled here, and lots of oil washes into the sea and on to their coast. this vulture died because it cannot free itself from the sticky mess. >> according to the paris memorandum, all ships that enter port have to be inspected. in gibraltar, ships registered under flags of convenience argot inspected as they are supposed to be. -- are not inspected as they're supposed to be. it is a 21st century pirates layer. >> but the criticism has borne no fruit, nor have political initiatives on the european level. the spanish and ablution governments are silent. >> a tanker could explode at any time because everything is done so hastily. we have pointed that out to gibraltar. in issues like these, borders

should be no consideration. the air knows no boundaries. we all breathe it. >> the government in gibraltar refused several requests for an interview and refueling stations are not the only environmental problems in the bay of gibraltar. refineries and chemical industry have come up here. the stench of sulfur hangs over the bay. black clouds of smoke covered the sky. the pollution takes its toll. a study found that residents here die an average of 13 years earlier than other areas. other studies have confirmed that, but no one has reacted. the government says more people in the area smoke and elsewhere. that infuriates this woman who ves next to a refinery. her father and aunt both died of

cancer. she and her siblings all have asthma. >> they certainly seem to be convinced that are iq is lower than the spanish average or the would not say anything so blatantly. we feel unprotected. whenever something happens, the authorities showed their side, not on t t side of the people who voted for them and pay their wages. >> people who come here are often aware of the silent but continual oil pollution. >> we see the oil on the sand, and there is an oil slick on the water. to be honest, on days like that, you notice that when you go swimming that you get dirty. >> this person has a view of the bay from his balcony. what worries him is the enormous number of ships.

the vessels sometimes have to circle to get in line for refueling. he is afraid that one day a collision will result in an oil disaster. >> we issue warnings time and again, but the lobbyists in gibraltar are strong. they do their work and refuel their ships in spanish or british-controlled waters. not only of the company's hurting the environment, they do the region's economy. >> g graltar is considering increasing its refueling capacity. but demand -- the demand is there, and so are the profits. today, a new summer series in which we look at life in small communities all over the european union. we began our journey in pilszcz, inside poland's border

with the czech republic. local people had to the graveyard to commune with the living. >> pilszcz, a small village, is located almost directly on the czech border. it has 750 residents and a problem. it is in a dead zone for mobile phone reception. most of the locals have a cell phone, but all they ever see of the display is a message that the phone is seeking access. so can that be fixed? four polish service p pviders say they need a location 45 meters high to install a transmitter. many were hoping they could use the old border police's radio tower, but it is not high enough. then there is the village church, more than 50 meters high, and installing a transmitter there would bring the congregation and the parish priest additional and come.

at but the bishop recently forbade any such measure. he said a house of god should not facilitate the transmission of worldly communications. bu someone may say something sinful on the phone. the bishop is not willing to discuss it. the publishers are not able to persuade the priest -- the villagers are not able to persuade the priest. but people want me to beg the bishop, but i will not. i have nothing more to say. i cannot install a transmitter contrary to the decision of my superior. it would violate the law. >> but the head of the village council has not given up hope. gp>> i pray for permission. maybe they will not forget us sheep, as the holy scriptures put it. maybe destiny awaits us.

>> for the moment, he has a case of telephone frustration -- pilszcz has a case of telephone frustration. but then we get a tip. it is possible to make a cell phone call here. >> we have to go outside the village, climbed the hill to the cemetery. there is reception there, for sure. >> that is true. if i want to make a call, i take my cell phone and a camel to the cemetery -- and a candle to the cemetery. i light the candle on my husband's grave and i talk to my sister. no other choice. >> and that is where we find a

lot of the vultures, talking on the phone in the cemetery, in groups, in front of graves. here, the reception is good. so communication goes on in pilszcz. >> it is a funny thing. it on the radio, they poke fun at our town because we get reception only in the cemetery. it is funny, but it is reality. in the 21st century, a whole village cannot telephone anywhere except the cemetery. it is kind of sick. >> this person has come to make a few urgent calls. she brings flowers to ease her conscience, but then cheerfully makes her calls. changing a dental appointment and chatting with her sister. and also complaining about the lack of reception except in the

cemetery. by the way, each village has their favorite spot. it depends on their provider. >> one person makes calls in the left-hand corner, another on the right. one stands behind a wall, another in front of it. some stand near the trees. where i stand is good for mine. every child knows it. >> until the bishop changes its mind, pilszcz remains in a cellular dead zone, except in the cemetery. after greece, portugal, ireland, and spain, financial markets are looking at italy. with public debt 120% of gdp, there is growing concern they will not meet their obligations. the problem has been foreseeable for a decade, but silvio

berlusconi's government has been ignoring it until they looked at the austerity package. european union leaders are jittery. >> this family has been producing the course and start since 1875. they are a storybook family. she took over in 2001, but times have not become easier. while business is booming abroad, their domestic business has been sagging. recently, the family spent millions on new bottling plants and would like to realize some profit now. at the moment, a gift packs for the u.s. are doing well. >> of course we had a really big problems. domestic sales have tumbled, but we were able to compensate by doing business abroad. for one and a half years,

domestic activity has stalled. >> a 48 billion euro austerity package is supposed to kick start the recovery. along with cuts to the public- sector budgets, the berlusconi government wants to boost revenue. they say privatisation will bring in billions of euros. at the same time, various taxes are to be increased. experts warn that will not stop the crisis. >> as a whole, the austerity package has been defined. but whether it will be enough is hard to say. i have the impressions are not taking a focused look at individual measures. instead, they are examining the credibility of the institutions. >> even before the vote in parliament, union members were demonstrating against the austerity measures.

the opposition agrees with their position, saying that families and a modest earners will bear the heaviest burden and there are other ways to save. >> for example, we could cut the number of provinces. we spend billions on the bureaucracy. the numbers could really be reduced. and they could simply eliminate major parks, especially those of politicians and bankers. there is one thing i would like to emphasize, the economic situation in italy may be problematic, but there is no reason to panic. >> other italians agree. they are not convinced they have to dramatically tighten their belts just yet, but people are taking three weeks rather than four weeks vacation. even at summer clothes out of 50% are not attracting buyers.

stock rooms are full. people ought not spending. what do people think of the crisis? >> it will hit the poor first. honestly, i not see there is a crisis. >> we need to look at germany, not just countries that are worse off than we are. >> this person says the measures will not help her business after the doldrums, either. >> the sovereign debt in the 1970's was about 60%, meaning everything was under control. in the 1980's, it was 90%. now our generation is being left to face this. >> italy's business community is looking at real economic reform, so their earnings will improve and it will invest and create new jobs, which are sorely needed.

nothing unites people like having a common enemy. in macedonia in june, a 22-year- old died following a severe beating by the police. since then, young people have set aside their differences and come together in the capital to demonstrate against police brutality and to call on the interior minister to resign. earlier this year, macedonians and albanians fought street battles. today, they are more in harmony. >> a cultural festival is being held at in skopje, the capital of macedonia. music is in the air, and on the street, people lay on the street pretending to have been beaten by the police. the young people are demonstrating against the state's corporate for use of power. the country has never seen anything like it before. it is also aunusual that many

ethnic albanians are protesting what the youou people. they are strictly separated from the macedonians. >> facebook has changed things. i now have lots of macedonian friends. i have your. i have learned that a young macedonian was beaten to death. >> it was not the first time a police officer went berserk, but it is the first time anyone has staged protests about it. macedonians and albanians stand side by side, carrying bilingual betters. what most outraged everyone was the government's attempt to cover up the killing. a spokesman lied directly to the cameras saying they had no information about the incident. but dozens of eyewitnesses testified they had seen a police officer relentlessly beating a 22-year-old.

this person is on his way to the daily demonstration. he lives in the albanian part of town. usually, the ethnic albanians keep to themselves. the modern macedonian part of the city is on the other side of the river, where the nationalist conservative government has commissioned a monumental construction projects. this dirt-poor country will have many grand edifice is an historical style -- at asedifics in historical style. >> it is insanity. we have 30% unemployment. i have a degree in political science and no chanceof finding a job. instead of investing in the economy, the government builds monuments. >> this person sees things similarly. he attends demonstrations daily in the macedonian part of town.

he passes the construction sites and the feature nine-story statue of alexander the great. the macedonians, like the greeks, regard him as a national hero. behind the sculpture is the site where the police officer killed a young man. this person study the communications and the united states and london on a scholarship for the gifted. in the town, he works and a call center. demonstrating gives the gunmen a feeling they are doing something useful -- demonstrating gives the young men a feeling they're doing something useful. >> week organize people who are not members of the political parties. >> the only television station that reported on the protests from the beginning, a private channel, is on the verge of bankruptcy. the prime minister has called on

citizens to boycott the channel and several ms. piper's critical of the government. -- and several newspapers critical of the government. >> yes, we are afraid. if you want something so much, you don't give up. >> so they continue, now more than ever. they collect money to print out leaflets and banners. macedonians and albanians to get there. that in itself is already a minor revolution. meanwhile, the police officer who killed a student has been arrested, but the protesters are not satisfied. they're demanding political repercussions, more democracy, the rule of law, and a better future for themselves instead of national megalomania. that finishes proceedings for today. we will you back with another "european journal" at the same

time next week. i do hope that you'll join us then. until then, goodbye. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--