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Nationalist protestors even stormed parliament to attack newly elected officials. Many of the young people in this small balkan state refuse to accept this. Reporter irina sterijovic is a young theater director in the capital skopje, and shes very worried about the nationalists she sees on the streets of her city. Theyve been demonstrating every day for 2. 5 months now, carrying old and new macedonian flags through the city center, past her favorite cafe. Skopjes young liberals gather here. Theyre horrified at the visible surge in nationalism. Irina you can see on their faces, you know. They are screaming makedonia, makedonia but their faces are all filled with hate. Reporter last year, sterijovic and thousands of others demonstrated for months in what was dubbed macedonias colorful revolution, because protestors threw paint at official buildings. Irina you have people who are going to prison for five years for stealing ten kebabs. And you have a government who is all in provisions, in ordering murders, in faking elections and all that. And they are still on the top of the chain. They can still order the police to let the people into the parliament, you know . There is very, very much power for someone who is criminalized. Reporter numerous construction projects, including a colossal monument to alexander the great, were calculated to set macedonian nationalism in stone. The initiative, skopje 2014, is said to have cost a total of 700 million euros. Much of that money is thought to have been diverted into private accounts, and the structures built were shoddy. Thats another reason sterijovic and other protesters hit the streets last year. The young director sees macedonia as a multiethnic republic. The population is about a quarter ethnic albanian, plus a few smaller minorities alongside a slavic macedonian majority, which the nationalists are trying to rally. Irina they teach them, practically, with everything with media, with propaganda, with their speeches they teach them that they dont have to do anything, just be macedonian. And by being macedonian, you are right by any case. Reporter irina sterijovic is certain the nationalist wave is part of a plan that those in power are trying to cover up shady construction deals. Irina half of this that is still on building now its considered illegal buildings. Reporter special prosecutors have since been assigned to investigate the allegations of corruption. These three women are working to build a case against the countrys longserving former prime minister. Many see it as a ray of hope for change. Katica we have to hand our list of indictments the ones that we gathered evidence for to the courts. But the decision for a conviction or acquittal is still up to the judge. Reporter sterijovic only hopes the anticorruption investigators wont let themselves be intimidated by the outgoing nationalistled government. Irina you cannot get to that emotional level with fighting, because you lose there. Reporter although macedonia remains deeply divided, irina sterijovic still hopes the ideals of the colorful revolution will win in the end. Michelle shes a celebrated paralympian who has won several medals, but Marieke Vervoort is preparing to die. At 38, the belgian wheelchair racer suffers such pain, she often wakes her neighbors with her screams. Shes decided that when it gets too great, shell be euthanized a practice that is legal in belgium. The athlete would like for people to understand that she doesnt want to die she wants to live but on her own terms. Reporter Marieke Vervoort seems as free and happy as a bird. Indoor skydiving may look easy, but it actually requires incredible physical control and strength. Vervoort is rapidly losing both. But meanwhile, shes glad that she can be here. Experiences like this are better than any painkiller. Marieke youre always lost on your wheelchair or in your bed, and youre not able to do things by yourself, and then youre flying like a bird and seeing your wheelchair there by the door its amazing, its an amazing feeling. Reporter vervoort is one of belgiums most famous and successful athletes. She and her dog zenn have become cult figures in the country. Vervoort held the wheelchair sprint world record for a long time. Last year, she took part in the rio paralympics after spending three days in the hospital in excruciating pain and won silver. But that was probably her last medal. Afterwards, the athlete announced that she was ending her career, and also said that she had signed euthanasia papers in belgium back in 2008. Marieke i put my limits always further and further, because ive got those papers in my hands and i know when its too far, when its too much for me, then i have my own life in my hands. Reporter vervoort has an incurable spinal disease that causes her acute pain. Her vision is failing, and she now frequently loses consciousness. Several doctors consented to her wish for assisted suicide when she so decides. This didnt stop a wave of criticism after she made her announcement in rio. Marieke for a lot of people, euthanasia is murder. But look at me. Im the perfect example that its not murder. If i hadnt got those papers, i did already, a long time ago, suicide. Reporter Marieke Vervoort was 14 when her illness first became apparent. Shes been in a wheelchair since 2000. And shes been impressing people with her physical skills and mental strength ever since. The paralympian always refused to let pain and increasing difficulties get her down. And she continued to train with dedication as they steadily worsened. Shes had a series of serious accidents, like when she injured herself severely four years ago. Marieke the doctor told me you will never reach the top again and it could be that you can never use your shoulder like before again, and what i answered was, youre lucky that i cant reach my finger. Ill be back. Reporter and she did come back, and she was able to reach the top. In fact, she continued to win events. And outside sport, she did things that most would never dare apparently fearless. Her motto is carpe diem seize the day. Marieke it was amazing. It was amazing, with the wheelchair and all. Reporter since vervoort has been forced to slow down, her suffering has increased. Marieke the bad moments are coming more and more. I dont have four good days in a week anymore, so i really have to enjoy every little moment. Reporter the paralympian has said she doesnt want to die badly, in misery. She wants to be conscious in her final moments, and with friends. She has many. Theyve learned what to do when she suddenly loses consciousness. Regaining it is growing increasingly difficult. Marieke i dont want a funeral. I want that everybody take a glass of champagne and say, salud, skol, of the Beautiful Life of marieke. I want that. I dont want that people cry. Thanks to the disease, i could do things that other people can only dream about. Reporter ironically, Marieke Vervoort has gained fame for saying that shes opted for assisted suicide when the time comes. Yet what people all over the world admire her for most is her incredible will to survive. Michelle an idea from a teenage refugee far from home has changed life in denmark. Selina juul arrived in copenhagen from moscow when she was just 13. After years of barely having enough to eat, she was overwhelmed by the abundance of food available in the average danish supermarket. But she was disheartened when she saw how much of it went to waste. So, she decided to do something about it. Reporter selina juul goes to supermarkets to campaign, not to shop. Shes the face of a Danish Initiative trying to stop food waste. Selina you shouldnt eat food after the expiry of the usebydate. Now there is another date called best before. And you can actually eat the food that is past the best before date. So remember that best before does not mean toxic after. Reporter juul grew up in russia. She says that when she came to denmark as a teenager, the affluent society she found here opened her eyes to wastage. Selina i got very upset. So eight years ago i started out a facebook group. Its called stop wasting food, and two weeks later we were on national media, and today we have become the biggest Danish Organization against food waste 63,000 people just on facebook. So, its huge. Reporter juul is clearly not the only one protesting against waste and overabundance. But supermarkets continue to throw away food thats no longer in its prime. At best, it sometimes gets used for other things. Ditte this is our biocontainer, and this is where we throw out food that we unfortunately dont get to sell in time, and all the food is going to be biogas. So it will be used for green heating for households, actually. Reporter wefood is a store to warm juuls heart. A supermarket full of goods past their best before date. It cant offer fresh fish or meat. Instead, there are lots of frozen goods here, but also vegetables. Customers love the low prices. A Second Branch has already opened. And some wares are produced especially for the store. An organic baker nearby makes more than he can sell, and passes the excess on to wefood. Jens hes doing that on purpose, and thats why . Jens well, because at wefood, we act as a safety net because we pay him a symbolic figure and we cover the costs of his production. So hes actually able to systematically produce more than he needs to and then all the stuff that he doesnt sell because then if he produces an excessive amount, then hes ensuring that he never runs out of bread. And at the same time, if he has too much, then we can just collect it for him and cover all of his expenses. We go to his stores and pick it up for free. So, without wefood, he might produce less . Jens yeah, he would, probably. Reporter Food Production puts a strain on the environment, and emits large amounts of co2. A real turnaround would be to reduce the amount of food produced, not just redistribute it, as selina juul also recognizes. Selina the wefood store, its a great, great, great initiative, but it does not address the root cause. And the root cause is that theres still a lot of food being produced and overproduced. So basically, the ideal scenario is that the wefood store is closed because theres not enough surplus produced for the wefood store. Reporter still, there has been a change in mindset in denmark, if a modest one. Wastage rates in the country have fallen by 25 in the last decade a personal victory for juul. She traces her commitment to her youth at the end of the soviet union. Selina communism collapsed. There were Food Shortages in the stores. The stores were basically empty. So, we wasted no food because basically there was no food to be wasted. We had huge respect for food. So, when i came to denmark 24 years ago, i saw the supermarkets and i was shocked. I was shocked to see so much food. Reporter juul hopes to get the big supermarket chains to start offering rebates on single products, rather than volume discounts. But above all, she says customers have to get involved in fighting waste. Its good to do something to stop it, so we can live sustainably and help the environment. I think the normal shops should be way better at estimating how much of the product they need so that they can sell it out before it goes bad. Reporter that will require danish consumers to rein in spending. So activists like selina juul are hitting supermarkets to enlist them in the fight against wasting food. Michelle greek and Turkish Cypriots alike long for peace. Cyprus has been formally split since turkish troops occupied the north more than 40 years ago. But in recent years, activists have been able to make more progress on peace between the two sides than any politician. The turkishgreek committee on missing persons in cyprus has worked to exhume the bodies from violence in the past and return them to their families all without pointing the finger of blame at whoever was responsible. They hope that by ending the cycle of retribution, cyprus can have a new start. Reporter the remains of this man, listed as missing, have lain buried in the earth of cyprus for 43 years. Members of the committee on missing persons found them. Young turkish and Greek Cypriots are joining forces to help bring peace to their divided island. Irini i think the fact that turkish and Greek Cypriots are working together here is very important. It makes a statement about cooperation. I view the committee on missing persons as a microcosm of our future society. A society where turkish and Greek Cypriots will be able to live together again peacefully. Reporter on average, the committees scientists only find remains of someone killed in the civil war at one in three excavation sites. Even so, more than half of those listed as missing have now been located and identified, and their remains given over to relatives. Evren were looking for the missing. Right now, thats the most important task on cyprus. Were looking for the mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, uncles for everyone. We dont bring joy to people, but we do bring closure. And closure provides an opportunity for a new beginning, which can lead us to peace. Reporter the laboratory of the committee on missing persons. 34yearold erdinc usta works as an archeologist, laying out the bones to be photographed. In this job, you cant have any qualms about working with the dead. But even after ten years, usta says the stories still affect him. Erdinc once, we found a skeleton that still had a ring on one finger. When i examined it, i found it had an engagement date engraved on it. And it was the very same day i got engaged myself. This skeleton was that of a young person, and that really got to me. Reporter the ioannou family lives in the southern part of the island. Eleftherios ioannous remains were found in november, 2016. His brothers and sister had waited 42 years for the news. In 1974, andros and lenia were teenagers. Like eleftherios, kypros fought in the civil war as a soldier. The family hasnt let the pain of his loss turn to hatred for Turkish Cypriots. Theyre very grateful to the committee on missing persons. Andreas to us, the work of the committee on missing persons is the work of god. It really is the work of god. I hope very much that theyll continue to bring good news to all turkishcypriot and all greekcypriot families who are missing someone. Reporter the funeral is held the very next morning. And the pain the family has carried inside for 42 years bursts forth. A half hour later, at the ioannous family plot, their missing brother is laid to rest. The work of the committee on missing persons may not be joyful, but it is helping many people on cyprus to finally close a painful chapter in their lives, and hopefully move on. Michelle recent opinion polls show a majority of cypriots support making compromises for reunification. But with so many failed attempts at talks over the last 40 years, some are worried their island will never be as one again. Germany is known for its passion for football. And a small region in the far northeast of the country is no exception. Unusually, the cashstrapped local team fields mostly foreign players, just like a top flight club on a multimillion euro budget. As a result, the team have found themselves in a whole new ball game. Reporter here are the players from grunweib nadrensee a german districtdivision soccer team. But theyre not speaking german theyre speaking polish. The players are poles. They train in szczecin in poland, and play across the border in nadrensee in germany. Its a bit complicated. Szymon they dont understand us, and we dont understand them there are misunderstandings. One guy got a red card, even though he had just said something totally normal in polish. Reporter szymon starosta is packing up his gear. Today, the team will be facing off against archrival blauwebs leopoldshagen. Szymon always takes along his poland scarf, even in to the german District Division games, when the players head over the border for league matches. Whos up front today . Misiek for sure, and skuter, too. Reporter nadrensee is hosting todays game. A few years ago, the small border town no longer had enough players to make up a team, because too many had moved to western germany. But the locals were determined to have a home team. Mariusz nawrocki came to the rescue. The pole, who lives in nadrensee, began recruiting players from across the border. For him, its an act of international cooperation. Mariusz we have one german here. Hes turning 18 today, by the way, and hes learning polish at home even polish songs. I know of four people who are learning polish. They really want to be able to speak the language. Reporter one of the players has been injured. Thats nothing unusual, but in the past, things were much rougher. Club chairman andreas pauch remembers it well. Andreas at first it was pretty bad. We were playing down a division, and there were a lot of arguments it wasnt good. There were also fights. Reporter but the players have put that behind them. The team is nearing the top of the District League table and plays well against leopoldshagen today, to the delight of the german fans. Its nice that we can continue to exist as a club, and that through sports were making nadrensee known in the district in the state even across the nation. Reporter nadrensee wins 42 a good result. The fans are hoping yet another trophy is on the way, and that the positive pr might even inspire someone to donate a new sign to the club. Michelle hopefully that referee will pick up a few polish phrases, too. Thats it for today. Thank you for watching. Let us know what you think about that or any of todays stories by getting in touch on twitter, or visit our facebook page, dw stories, to find out more. In the meantime, its goodbye from me and the whole fokus on europe team. See you next time. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] steves while dedicating a month of your life to walk the camino may be admirable, it doesnt work for everyone. But any traveler can use this route as a sightseeing spine and as an opportunity to appreciate some of the joys and lessons that come with being a pilgrim. Just 5 miles before the spanish border stands the french basque town of st. Jeanpieddeport. Traditionally, santiagobound pilgrims would gather here to cross the pyrenees and continue their march through spain. Visitors to this popular town are a mix of tourists and pilgrims. At the camino office, pilgrims check in before their long journey to santiago. They pick up a kind of pilgrims passport. Theyll get it stamped at each stop to prove they walked the whole way and earned their compostela certificate. Walking the entire 500milelong route takes about five weeks. Thats about 15 miles a day, with an occasional day of rest. The route is wellmarked with yellow arrows and Scallop Shells. The Scallop Shell is the symbol of both st. James and the camino. Common on the galician coast, the shells were worn by medieval pilgrims as a badge of honor to prove they made it. The traditional gear has barely changed a gourd for drinking water, just the right walking stick, and a Scallop Shell dangling from each backpack. The slow pace and need for frequent rest breaks provide plenty of opportunity for reflection, religious and otherwise. For some, leaving behind a stone symbolizes unloading a personal burden. The first person to make this journey was st. James himself. After the death and resurrection of christ, the apostles traveled far and wide to spread the christian message. Supposedly, st. James went on a missionary trip from the holy land all the way to this remote corner of northwest spain. According to legend, in the year 813, st. James remains were discovered in the town that would soon bear his name. People began walking there to pay homage to his relics. After a 12thcentury pope decreed that the pilgrimage could earn forgiveness for your sins, the popularity of the camino de santiago soared. The camino also served a political purpose. Its no coincidence that the discovery of st. James remains happened when muslim moors controlled most of spain. The whole phenomenon of the camino helped fuel the european passion to retake spain and push the moors back into africa. But by about 1500, with the dawn of the renaissance and the reformation, interest in the camino died almost completely. Then, in the 1960s, a handful of priests reestablished the tradition. The route has since enjoyed a huge resurgence, with 100,000 pilgrims trekking the santiago each year

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