oggccccc per: hello, and welcome to “fos on europe.” and most people here in europe share just o wish dthe covid pandemic can be stive seas overcome.ehow instead,hat we're witnessing is the worrying spread of the aggressive omicron variant. meanwhile, in southern europe, countries like portugal and spain have come up with lae-scale campaigns starng in the summer vations, to combat the spread of the virusn spain have come up with

included, and it made real dierence. well, vaccination rates in italy are also significantly higher eastn europe.tanand ong many countries in central and paicularly wl is palazzo adriano in sicily. with the horrors othe first n their minds, the entire adult population of this small town has signed up for a vaination g place in a very special location. reporter: a small miracle has once again been achieved by the cilian vilge of palazzo adriano. 30 years ago, the town square was made world-famous by the movie “cinema paradiso,” and now the township at the foot of monte delle rose has again managed the extraordinary, in their fight against the coronavirus. signora mimmrecalls watchingy . footage of milary trucks transporting piled-up coffinsn

italy. ople he wanted to event something likehat happeng in tir town atll costs. italy. ople he wanmia:to event we were scared of the rus. in the beginning we thought it was a type of severe flu, but then what we saw on television told uthat it was something altogether different. and the enre villagead t same tught -- vaccinate. reporter: in this hardware sto, everyone has to wear mask. mimma wants to do all she can to protect against the new omicron variant. mimma: yes, and it's the right thing to do. u have to otect yourlf, just like you have to protect others. we are vaccinated.

but still, you have to be careful. reporter: in fact, palazzo adriano h a vaccation ratether europn cities can only dream of. going by official statistics, 104% of the population are . that statistical quirk isn't a cinematic fantasy, but due to the fact that the figure includes visitors whwere vaccinat right herin the cinema paradiso museum, which just happe to be houd in the town hl's largesroom. nicolo: this is the cinema paradiso museum. the film is still impoant to us. so locating our vaccination center here was common sense, but also about a sense of communit reporter: and , againsa backdrop o movie sters, thr major vaccination campaigns were held here. for the mayor, a well-functioning vaccination campaign is about more than

numbers. nicolo: in these times, vaccination meanfreedom,rovided tos by t govnment. it's about freedom for everyone. and i'm sorry that vaccination opponents don't understand that there's also a lot of democracy in t vaccines. rorter: dbeen close to zero thanks to ththe measures taken, which is importanalso becau as much of rural sicily, an above-average number of elderly people live in palazzo adriano, su as signormimma's 88-y. abovhe, doctor vanti is elderly peovaccinatinhim againsadriano, inuenza.his thircovil follow asoon as the vaccine is available again. re in town for several months.ne and if anyone got infected

somewhere, they at least didn't require intensive therapy or special medication. they had a bit of a sore throat or fev, and a spdy recory, and at is certainly wn to the success of vaccination. reporter: that evening, mimma and her husband inviteriends to eir housfor dinner they plan to once again watch their own local cult film, “cima paradis” backn the da mimma's husband helped build the set on the piazza. they a know the diogue by heart. mimma: the film mea everythinto us. st of l, though,t's the hope thaour town has a good future. reporter: they're proud of the town, anof their coronavir response. here in palazzo adriano, people stantogether so th the vis doesn't and a chce.

peter: the body of water that divides england and france is known by the french as la manche, while people in the u.k. call it the english annel. anmany migrants come to what is the narrowest part of the channel, wre they pe to cross over to british shores and start new lives. but those crossings are often deadly. which is why photographer and activist abdul saboor does all he can to persuade these desperate men, women, and children not to take the risk. reporter: rain or shin abdul comes to cais' beach and scans the horizon for small boats containing refugees. abdul: i speak to people and tell them it's too dangerous and that they shouldn't go. they say they want to go, we don'have a choice. i think it's so, so dangerous. going out on the sea is like going to your death. reporte the ung afghani arrived in

calais two years ago and quickly abandoned s plans to coinue to brain. after his asylum application was approved in france, he found work at an aid ganizationnd taught mself otography. wathis site is where thehe notorious camp dubbed “the jungle” once stood. some refugees still remain here, illelly, sleeping in flimsy tents. abdul: it's so cold, it's windy, and it's raini. the pele i talk in the camp say t water is coming into their tents. reporter: this stretch between the freeway d the train tracks is espeally uninving. migrants here are from afghanistan, the kurdistan region of iraq, and syria. it's time for breakfast, a moment of solace amidst a sea of wries. >> he's a number one chef. reporter: we meet soroush from iran, who tells us he fled from polical

persecution in his homeland. he survived a harrowing boat ride on his journey to france. soroush: we were 74 pple in a 12-meter boat. on the way from greece to italy we lost our gps and we lost connection. we were trying to go aft big boat cruise ships, but nobody stopped for us. one day we saw birds and we chased them until we got connecon, and we got to italy. reporter: from there, he traveled fartr north, to the french coast. the journey took longer than expected. soroush never imagined he would be sleeping on the ground outside during wintertime. roush: 's a hard me to be he. the place is crowded. it's filthy. soroush s family othe other side of the channel.

he's desperate to reach itain, eveif it meanbeing cold and wet. soroush: i justried outy socks.i'm st. if it's possible i'll cross, if it's not i'm still staying here, because i have no way back. i have tgo. reporter: most migrants here know how dangerous crossing the channel is, but they see few other options. many who end up in this makeshift camp have had their asylum applications rejected, or they think their chances are better in britn, like kaan fromfghanistan kamran: turk and greece deported peopleand there s no chanc in bosniand herzegovina, serbia, italy. that's why came torance, and why i'm now trying to reach england.

god help me, i've got to send my children money somehow. reporter: but it's far froclear what es in store for kamrannd send my chilhis iends. somehow. abdul tells us people here hav disaeared at nht. no one knows what became of them. abdul: last time, seven people died in the boat and their friends still didn't know if they were actually in the boat. we don know what happened to them or where they are. reporter: the budding photographer sends his photos to a newspaper. he'secome a prinent chronicler othe camp. and he also documented the fate of the kurdish hussein family, who came to calais with 20 other refugees in november, only to drown in the channel. the story made international headlines. abdul: when i looked to the mother, she was worried. and she knew it was difficult and she knew it wasn't easy.

i think the kids believed they were already in the u.k. because they were smiling and they had this happiness in their faces. the whole thing is so unjust. today when i went to the beach, the first thg it reminded me of was them. the problem is that their stories are being ignored. nothing has changed yet and no one is talking about it. reporter: abl can't foet the fatof the ssein fami. he fears others could meet the same tragic end, and so he keeps returning to the makeshift camp. peter: nothing changes. that's why abdul saboor will keep scanning the horizon for boats. withhe pandemic swping acss europe,any of uare thinking again about how we want to live our lives, especially in big cities like the spanish metropolis of barcelona, where once a week a district has created dedicated routes giving cyclists, including children on their way

to school, priority over motor vehicles. initially, it seemed like just an interesting idea. now, however, four-year-old liam grant is among the youngsters joining what has become a veritable movement. reporter: liam gra is praring for special coute to sool. th friday, hwon't be ring on the back of his mother's bike, as usual. instead,he four-ye-old is cycling onis very owbike, alongside dozens of other barcelona youngsters. a bikeide neitheon the dewalk oin a bike lane, but in the middle of the street. celia: the children love this. it gives them independence. it's something different, and 's new. reporter: it's aittle parton eels, withusic and alause r the kids

with the whole street to themselves, they don't have to worry about the thousands of cars that usually drive here. each friday, f about one houo this rd leading the scol, so thehildren n cycle in safety. parents who nted to sea change ithe neighbhood rodrigo: the ideas t initted the "bicibus”roject. from traffic, and other roads, too, in the future. the are bikeanes, but 's diffult fochildren especially small kids, to cycle straight inside a bike lane. plus, there are many scooters on the lanes, and some people cyclreally fas that n be dangous for thyoungest ks. reporter: district city councillor pau gonzez supports the ini. he's jusapproved another route for the bicibus. pau: the city is a hoste place fo younboys andirls.

is way, wepen up spaceor thchildren to ride the bikes to school. reporter: he hopes tt soon famies will be le to monitor the route on the own, witht enjoying their friday adventure. olivia: because we're together, and we like to ride o bicycles.iam: it's great that we can cycle on the reet without fear. reporter: the parents are also keen to lower co2 emissions, but they're main focus is on making their children saf. barcelona has been expanding its bi lanes network. but competing needs are taken into consideration by city offials, inclung those o pedestrians and torists. la: walkinfrom your home to school is already an option, there'no probl there. and now, cycling is being added for schoolhildren. we're workg to improve the situatioin school neighborhoods, and we're adding bike paths. rerter: the,

situatioin school more family-friendly bike nlanes, clearly separated fromg the othetraffic. ra: the plans are prising, and the city council is working on them, but it's going to take a long time until there is actual chan. reporter until en, childr in barcela will keep cycling to school on fridays with the bicibus project. peter: great stuff. in the shrinking world in whic we le, there's increasiny frened international competition for key resources, one of which is wood. and one place to find out how this market works is sivry-rence, in belgium's southern wallonia region, where chinesbuyers sp up local wood that goes on sale at an annual market to then sell it back to european purchasers

with a significant markup. reporter: oak is a highly sought after natural source, especially if it's 100 or 200 years d like ese logs. thiey pirson rs a sawmilfter natural soin belum.ecially if it's a fourth geration famy busine, but this year has left him worried about the ture. oak is becoming increasingly expensive and hard to come by. thierry: i still have some trees left over from last year, and some from the year before. so we stilhave wood can press now, b only for e next seven months or so, and then that's it. reporter: the plan had been for his son to take over the sawmill, but now that future is uncertain. the economic situation in wallonia in general is diffict. unployment is high here, and following the decline of heavy industry, wood was the only natural resourceeft. now that's alsunder presre.

plenty of clients, his business he sais facing trouble.s he's been ying to sere as ch timber possible.lin: our costs are rising. we're finishing orders where 're seing cheapethan wee buying. the price of wood is rising faster than we can work. report: priously, buness here d be good. in times of clate change, high-grade wood like oak has become even more precious. and even lower-grade logs sell in timesvery well.change, the wood from local forests gets sold once a year at an auction held by the municipalities. this has always generated considerable sums. but this year, the modest sivry-rance auction had a surprise in store -- two traders bought 95% of all the wood on offer for a rerd sum, toe exported to china. jean francois: we earned twice as much as what we had estimated earlier in the

year, which is huge. the problem is that if this continues, there will be no more competition in a few years. if record sums of money are pumped into the market, people and sawmills here will go bankrupt. there's no way they can compete with foreign buyers, especially from china. reporter: china ships the logs back home to be processed, undercutting european sawmills. wood is a desirable commodity in china, but the government also wants to protect its remaining nature. president xi jinping has banned the logging of chinese forests for 99 yrs. je francois: the chinef funds and it subsidizes companies to buy wood abroad, because they are not supposed to cut down chinese oaks. but this creates unfair competition and could quickly destroy the european, belgian,

french, and german timbe industry. reporter: glal demand thus taki over belgium's local timber markets. but china is buying up wood all over europe to protect its own native forests. so, what should be done? shfor e europeanarket?quota or aexport bann unprocesd wood? anshould these measure only target china? after all, demand for wood has spiked all over the world. emanuel defays is a forestry expert. he cautions against any rash, ill-considered actio. emmanuel: wehould not condemn china across the board. we need to recognize that for many years, china bought our low-grade wood and was our valuablelly. buthis ally also a that.

we shouldn't offend china. in fact, we should maintain goodusiness ti, oil the cogr boost trade. it is a delicate matter to withhold wood from china, a source it nts so much. reporter: it's true that chinese demand hasn't caud europeanores to dispear. alain lalmanshows us which trees will be exported. often sick or damaged trees are selectedin the intert of stainabili. but occasionally, a healthy tree is felled to be sold, and th hurts. aln: thisak is thring. it's gng nowhere i don't want anyone cutting it down. reporter: wdecided by the people ofd which sivry-rance.eter:still now, something else of value are these chips. why?

well, because there's an inspiring story behind them. and, because they can make all the difference to people living on the streets of the city of bristol in southwest england, giving them a hot drink or something decent to eat. the sche behind the chips was the idea of megan abernethy-hope, who wanted to do something to support the spiraling number of homeless people in her hometown while, at the same time, paying tribute to someone very dear to her. reporter: one thing megan abernethy-hope learned from her brother billy wato not just walk by pele in nee that's why she regularly sets off to bristol city cent to ha out billyhips to ople, ke laura. the chips can be used to pays ofor food or beverages. megan: a hot drink, try and keep warm. reporter: ii thk you ne a bit oan op: courage and a bit of humanity. because s just le havi a chatith anybodelse.

and i ink that fr and worr of appaching peoplis what stops thatove and that transaion and th emwerment. rorter: for megan and her father jon, it's also a way for them to pass on the lovehey had fo billy,ho died the years ag in a motcycle accint. he was only 20 years old, and had just completed his training to be an aulan driver. even as a ild, billyas deeply tubled byhe hardships faced by homeless people and once asked his father why he didn't distrute alof his cnge. jon: billyt vent a ten, that you could buy and then exchangfor food and drink. and i think he saw that at would reduce the barriers because people wou know that was a safe, secure thing to do. and then people would also counicate more with homeless because peoppeople.know that because that was something that billy really struggled with, was that pple just ignored homele people, a they sort

of become invisible. reporter:t after billy's death, his father and sister decided to realize that idea. ey developed chips that people can purchase, which homeless people can then exchange for food and drinks in cafes. jon: hi, there. how are you? good. thanks. i just thought we'd come in today and chat to you a bit about the nebilly chip star: currently,2 cafes inristol anthe surrnding area parthomeless people. matt: and: our feeling is that some people are very happy tgive money, but othe might be a bit conscis about how the money is being used, and knowing that its going to something to feed or sustain the person that they are gifting it to. somebody came in and asked for 10, presumably as part of their christmas gifting. it's really popular. we have regulars w come back again anagain to buy chi to h: 10, presumably as part of their christmas gifting. one chip cos two pounds,nd can traded foat least o

hot drink. thomas: don't ofn have chae anyme. and i thinthere is something out the reasrance of how it will be spent, which is good as well. rerter: aid organizations estimate the number of homeless people in england has doubled in the past few years. bristolmany people are now miliar witmegan, h father, and the billy chips. >> yeah, they are really good. rerter: wh do you li about it? why e they good? >> yeah, they are really good. >> you get a free coffee. it's ablutely vit to ha a warm drk through e cold nights. >> if you want to feed someone, feed them. why do you need another kind o money? don't undstand it. >> if you wreporter:ed someone, megan and her father say one reon for t chips is at theyhow homele people th are part of the community, too, and that they're welcome in

cafe megan: we pouredr grief -- we could no longer pour it into billy, so we poured it into the billy chip. we created a legacy. we've, in a way, immortalized the key values that billy had as a human bng, that we loved out him, and that we fl everybody should kind of hopefully take a leaf out of his book wh. reporter: megan and her father think that if billy were still alive, this project would never have come to be. but they're certain that if he knew about the work they're doing, he'd be proud. peter: a real inspiration, that story. and if you have enjoyed this latest edition of the show as much as i have, en do joins next time round. until then, seon's greetgs from me and the rest of the “focus on europe” team. for now, though, bye-bye, and tschüss. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning instite, whh is resnsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

♪ >> this is dw news live from berlin. a german court has sent a syrian colonel tprison for life for crimes against community. >> it is victory for the future of syria. >> victims and families are taking comfort in a verdict against a man who oversaw dozens of killings and the torture of thousands in syria.