discovered. subscribing to the documentary on you tube. a low and welcome to focus on europe i'm brian thomas francis been shaken by the biggest protests the new years with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets against a president considered by many to be out of touch with everyday people the demonstrations in paris turned violent with a small hard core among the protesters attacking police officers responded with tear gas and water cannon as the crowds tried to reach the elysee palace president

mccall's official residence while it's especially the new tax on diesel car fuel that's bringing together a broad spectrum of so-called yellow vests protesters like. they say it's only a small elite who are profiting from policies. priscilla is on her way to paris to organize a protest she hopes will shut down the downtown area livelihood is on the line. because of any business with those protesting because we have less and less money enough places to take the fuel tanks it's already very high and they keep on increasing. her car is absolutely crucial for her organic cosmetics business and driving is becoming increasingly an affordable for many people with lengthy commutes to and from paris a few months ago her silly little ski set up an online petition calling for

a reduction in the mineral oil tax within just a couple of weeks it had been signed by several hundred thousand people the petition spawned a grassroots movement named after the vests worn by people protesting against president micron's policies the yellow vests now number half a million of their little i well seventy and this is my first demonstration prices are on the up for everything gasoline gas and electricity are current two hundred euro short a month but my pension has only increased by three euro's i work for forty two years. and that we don't have enough money to feed our children you call that normal i know elsewhere in paris people fail to understand what all the fuss is about downtown residents live a world away from those in the suburbs here many welcome across efforts to support the environment by raising fuel taxes. for someone on this issue and the you know vests which we don't have

a come and we don't want one said the tax doesn't affect us the tax on diesel has become a highly charged issue with less privileged citizens feeling left behind. but the government is standing firm. that we will adhere to our environmental objectives regardless of whether people like it will need to feel safe. but for the yellow vests it's the little people footing the bill most of those protesting voted for mccall in the hope of seeing a more just society now they're calling for his resignation. the. dusky has nothing against environmental protection but she cannot accept is that it's being paid for mainly by residents in the suburbs who are dependent on cars she says the gulf between the center of paris and the periphery between rich and poor is growing the

i was going into the president needs to listen to us and rethink some decisions including to make progress we have to work together. right wing populists have also been trying to embrace the movement the russell amol nazionale join the protests despite bacilli as efforts to keep them away. we support this movement because they're criticizing the same things that we've been criticizing for years. dude it's environmental protection that punishes french people and that's precisely what mr mcconnell wants to make running a car too expensive for normal people the. after months planning and organizing the protests priscilla is now powerless to prevent nationalists using the movement for its own aims there have been several cases of right wing yellow vests subjecting car drivers to racist abuse and damaging their vehicles brasilia is appalled.

and we don't want people promoting a party's ideology. they can come as regular citizens because this is a citizens movement. that we don't want them showing up to represent their policy. other parties have also attempted to instrumental lies the protest movement purposively a little ski doesn't want them manning the barricades it's not a question of being left or right when she says but justice for ordinary french. president has responded to the protests by saying he will talk with citizens groups but that the environmental tax will remain although russia has some one million people suffering from aids there's very little social awareness of a disease health officials say has reached epidemic proportions in some areas aids related deaths are on the rise especially among women gay men and drug users in

a society that is doing precious little for them some with h.i.v. are reaching out to the public in whatever ways they can. in the new year and i don't like being called an aids infector or contaminate or long gone i get cursed really horribly on the back streets before we still pools all sorts of them pulls on it's own quite a. few telly makowski has been a hiv positive for eleven years he is one of over one million russians living with a deadly virus. you're choosing to topple i want to tell everyone that hiv is not a death sentence as world people to. people who feel stigmatized by russian society varick over lego is among them. yes or many i'm a teddy positive that if i've been properly informed years ago about the virus and how to protect myself i wouldn't have gotten infected. vera and vitale live in you catherine berg. the city has one of the highest rates of infection in the country.

almost two percent of the population here have a chevy. experts have called it an epidemic. to will sing a chevy across all age groups that it affects the entire population of russia and little is interesting. but the virus and the disease it leads to aids are often hushed up say vitale inventor. they want to change that by breaking down prejudices and ending the isolation of the infected. monette richard bobo the only thing distinguishing me from healthy people is pills four times a day to stop me from dying maybe. pills the vitali will have to take for the rest of his life. events in medical treatment mean that h.p.v. no longer has to be a death sentence provided you get that treatment in time but many russians do not even know that they are infected. prejudices of let's insufficient education

awareness. and your skull i waited eight years before telling my mother the first thing she said was and we had such high hopes in you in other words not any more about the chemo and you know her world being hiv positive means you're no longer a person reach out here ted and you. vera set up an association to help get people informed she also offers practical things such as free a chevy blood tests and condoms and also drives out to those hardest hit the so-called high risk groups sex workers and drug addicts. person is one of just a handful of private initiatives and you katherine berg vera and her fellow campaigners meet those affected in hidden places. one war and your test today is

negative no antibodies. but because the unsafe sex you had was only a month ago you need to come by again and i will take care of yourself it's worse to get a call for my shit i'm scared to go anywhere else you don't get it being outed. or or most places the infection means shame. even if it's not your fault and i'd say the condom torturing sex or if a customer just removes it. and then you start to panic yet then the horrifying yukio i had one such case and say was group really helped me or. outside city hall and you catherine berg to tell his companion in a rather different way. he's holding a banner telling people about his illness and inviting strangers to give him a hug if they're not afraid. he wants to bring down the invisible wall that he says has arisen between him and society senses infection. and the thirty year old knows

he's taking a risk. aren't you afraid i know i'm a doctor. vera has now provided counseling to over twenty women. women who come to me start thinking about how h.i.v.'s now part of their lives the one thing that counselling is my contribution in the fight against the hiv epidemic wattles to love the one which they would love. it. if only if you're not scared. scared of what thanks. if i get any more

people hugging me i'll start crying it's so overwhelming and empowering. vitali and vera have never met but they share a common fate. both are fighting in their own way to stop the spread of aids and for the rights of hiv positive people in russia. california's worst forest fires on record are thankfully now under control there get another reminder of the destructive force of climate change if we needed one the upcoming climate conference and will be addressing the worst effects of global warming but for some on the german island of longo there is no time to loose doing what they can now instead of a stormy autumn is paskin in sunshine it's not cold right as it's positively tropical for this time of year what is it twelve or thirteen degrees

celsius and sunny about how much of the ice and sunshine in november weighed in the water barefoot. no problem on the north sea island of lung or nothing is like it was before. this past summer was one of the hottest on record for increasing climate change is starting to pose a threat to life on. the sea level is rising and storm surges are getting stronger . as far as long term prognoses go all of the climate researchers all of the serious studies that i read make me fear for our children's future because it's not just my restaurant that might disappear but the entire island. effect invites restaurants right on the beach would be one of the first places affected angered by the politicians lack of action on climate change that act in votes on taking the e.u. to court. the sea levels already risen by over twenty centimeters

since the one nine hundred fifty s. that means storm surges are higher and the danger for us on the island lies back there. are freshwater lens is located there behind it then doing ridge. at the north sea breaks through the ridge all our drinking water wells would be contaminated with salt water. already experiences drinking water shortages especially in the summer the island has just two thousand residents that more than two hundred thousand people come here each year on holiday and they use lots of water the natural reservoir nice here under the genius. rainwater collects under the sand in what's called a fresh water lens that feeds the wells but the close to the sea comes the small of the lens gets. truxton before her time the protective area around the dunes has receded by fifty to seventy metres we must be careful not to go too far into the

valley because then the lens will get ever smaller. that's why people here think the e.u. should be aiming for stricter climate targets right away. they are so many of us that we need to get people to come out and join forces and the entire island should be sitting here. thanks but i just one of ten families taking part in the people's time at case against the e.u. they come from across europe kenya and fiji. it's about people trying to protect their fundamental rights on the one hand it's about human rights the right to food and water and food and on the other it's about economic rights the freedom to choose their occupations the ability to continue operating their business or tourist industry. that's the stuff that it's a serious case that aims to sentence the e.u.

to greatly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. though it's the offseason. has his hands full here i just know it's there this. court the european general court has accepted the case so the legal wrangling can begin there's no financial risk for the plaintiffs their costs are covered by donations. they offer nothing but of course we hope that something good will come of it at first i thought there will be a bit of media hype and that will be it. but now they've accepted the case and slowly you start to think oh something really is happening it would be great if something comes of it. but who knows. that there's. a lot by this month. and the sooner the better because the sea level continues to

rise time is running out for the people. for the e.u. member states bracks it is a done deal but the final document still must be approved by the british house of commons and that is far from certain whether it's an orderly or a disorderly brax it millions on both sides of the channel are now saying farewell to a decades long partnership for the bracks years themselves until very though they hope the goodbye will be as quick as possible. will hill knows tilbury well because he's lived here for many years. but he doesn't like his town much anymore the windows of god kids hang around on the streets drinking even at noon. will use to work at the docks and made good money but now he has lots of time to think about the police station that's been shut down due to budget cuts

it's like that everywhere. everything. nobody helps. only twenty miles away from london. on a clear day you can even see the glittering skyscrapers of the city of london the place where policy is made and lots of money. none of it finds its way to tilbury just down the thames here many people have low wage jobs and much of the work at the ports is now done by machines. many long time residents say they are too many foreigners here that's why so many until brave voted for bracks it and still want it even today. like tell me lawrence you were.

not that he's following all of the political drama taking place in the british capital in recent weeks it's beyond comprehension and he's got better things to do . he's proud of his pigeons the poor man's race horses. so much remains uncertain but charlie lawrence is sure of one thing. called white country by. will and surely have lost all trust in the politicians when they talk they're full of the starter for the england of all and they're counting on breaks or to turn back the clock to the days when told he was wealthy and wise. ass. or knew what it was law before he was in europe where we had a good standard of living we have got nothing in this country. it would be easy

enough just to write these men office xenophobes but they've simply been neglected and ignored for too long and want to escape their dire straits but a first real war we want a tough one all along. because because it's tough well all the more because. more grandchildren will benefit without a shadow. there are big plans for tilbury for its course at least it's to be expanded here at the edge of the marsh. rather gledhill can't wait he's the star a council leader and a firm believer in bracks that he doesn't fear in the ideal scenario where britain crashes out of the e.u. with all the ensuing political and economic turbulence. he says even today much of the freight atoll pre-schools comes from asia and africa. will be pretty shit when it's here already at this point if you're striking because from poll

forty percent of it comes from outside of the we're already geared up for that expansion and indeed the capacity here means will be outside of that straight why don't we just be winners. for many young people until very the st mary's boxing club is the only place where they feel like when is the only place that gives them strength. the town has the youth facilities. and the british government doesn't provide funding to help keep kids off the street. tell me rusts two sons box head he says the school teaches them discipline something he thinks prime minister to reason may could learn a thing or two about we hear the trays of mice keep this in cash than genuine to stop us doing trade deals with the rest of the well. we've just given a vote we told each and now the politicians are doing what they want so now

a lot of people having been very upset very upset. and people here have much to be abscess about residents of tilbury struggle with poor housing poor diets and poor communities spirits here just a stone's throw away from london life expectancy is eighty years shorter than in richer parts of the country. will spend a lot of time by the thames he even spread his father's ashes here for the former dock worker the river symbolizes both his past and his hopes for the future i hope some money does come back into this town and so on into the sand it was it was a family. so if it does it does which i'm hoping it will but as i said i can't look into a crystal ball i can only hope and wish. people here are pinning their hopes on bragg said to bring better days but unless the law changes residents of tilbury

looks set to be disappointed. eight hundred kilograms in weight one point six metres in height those are not the healthiest of measurements not even for a cow at six a debate is raging in switzerland right now about the ideal weight for cattle this and trolley of cows to swiss life was brought into sharp focus by the recent national referendum on horn cutting by a slim margin the nation voted to continue the practice that many argue was cruel and unnatural so the horns are gone let's find out of swiss cows will now be permitted to keep those extra pounds. of cotton mel is the pride and joy of farmer mathias haute and one of his best dairy cows but like the rest of his herd she has an inborn problem a sister called carmela is

a special cross breed and i know she's now four and a half and has produced two calves and is one of our biggest cows she's almost one metre sixty tone on foster i meet don't say stick. oh sounds impressive the farmer shows us what the problem is his father built a cow shed thirty years ago back then its inhabitants were considerably smaller. in the one nine hundred sixty s. so as farmers began breeding their cows to enhance their milk output in the process the cows and their utters grew larger and larger. for mathias quote that would mean expanding the shed and stead he wants to breed smaller cows it's really their grandmother i'd like to show you are heard and maybe get a few tips. shots and back at work for the association that advises farmers on their breeding plans and i think because they didn't get the bit farms with

a science related problems like the one of midst of old have to use boots was jeans could use mid sized or smaller costs. this new twenty first century swiss cow needs to be both smaller and more efficient and here are a group of those prized to specimens they belong to and to various elica who runs an organic farm his cows are modest in size and appetite making them ideal for grazing the biggest is one metre forty five tall. trying to make you seem to be alive you know smaller cows are more economical. they're healthier and need less fodder. then. but not all farmers think the new swiss cow is the future heinz maya prefers high performance cattle. this cow is being dolled up for an auction a young cow with huge potential. little she hasn't been tested and with perfectly

placed teats she's a deal for a fully automated stable said milking systems a mouth amount. heinz maya is picking out the animals for his next auction among them is penny at one meter sixty five she's around twenty centimeters taller than the cow. as on the organic farm she also produces about a third more milk. preserved her certainly i don't have the feeling that we need to new invention. but it seems the future will belong to smaller and slighter cows a recent study shows that in switzerland pasture feeding is more canonical than indoor housing. not only that but those beautiful swiss meadows will make for much happier cows about as well. that's all for this edition of focus on europe i'm brian thomas for the entire team thanks so much for being with us and if you'd like to see any of our reports again just go to our own page at g.w. dot com or visit our facebook page you know if you stores so long we're not.

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to. enter the conflict zone fronting the powerful tool this week in a special edition conflict zone is coming to you from the. policy forum my guest is a veteran of the studio and chief negotiator for south america. if his dream of an independent state ever came true what would it look like conflicts of. human still.

wouldn't be fighting for the case to be taken seriously in the words of what appears was coming up. on house talk on d. w. o. they do this video super series on a mission to change attitudes smart women smart talks smart stricture and legend this and by no means missed out on hammering creasing dangerous time. to make more money. is going to. help i know just to not go to day nothing would change you know the banks to mine and so was the language of the bank money. for speaking the truth global news that matters g.w. made for mines. thanks to sleep waiting we think for

a lifeline to syria. good morning where are you why aren't you answering to every call brings them closer together. but it hurts because they feel powerless to help. they worry about the ones they've left behind. but. i'm trying to be strong but deep down i'm broken. the war continues to haunt those who fled from syria. i'm trying to reach them but nobody yet since. the war on my phone our two part documentary starts december eighth on d w.

play. players play. this is g w news a live from berlin german prosecutors write that country's biggest lender deutsche bank investigators want to know if staff at the bank helped a longer money for criminals the claims were first made in the twenty six thousand data leak known as the panama papers. also coming up in germany calls for calm over the crimea crisis chancellor angela merkel says that there can be no military solution to the standoff between russia and ukraine the two neighbors have been on the brink of conflict.