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This summer will mark 100 years since the start of world war i. Europeans plunged themselves into a deadly conflict that quickly pulled the world into its trenches. As the war dragged on, there was a high demand for soldiers and workers. The european armies turned abroad for help. Some 700,000 Foreign Workers came to france alone, most of them from other parts of europe and also the colonies in africa and asia. Among the more someone hundred 40,000 chinese, but once a year, the Chinese Community in paris gathers in a small town to commemorate them. This is an unusual day for this village in northern france. A bus of chinese visitors has arrived from paris. Even chinese soldiers from the French Foreign legion have come. Their destination is a Small Cemetery on the outskirts of the village, the final resting place of 838 chinese who died here during world war i. Its a chinese custom to remember the dead on the first weekend in april, even though none of the visitors is a relative of any of the dead here. This is the festival, an important chinese tradition. Its the day when we go to the cemetery and clean the graves. Normally, the children of the deceased do this, but these people have no children, so we do it. Thats our tradition. The dead here were not soldiers but laborers. During world war i, the british brought about 140,000 chinese to france to keep the war machine operating. For many, it was a journey of no return. Our countrymen here supported the french and english and world war i. We are here to remember and mourn them. Tens of thousands of Chinese Workers came in trains like this. They worked in munitions factories, shipyards, and even as farmers in the field. Dominique is a journalist for local news. He has been tracing this story for 25 years. Few people had heard about the fate of the chinese laborers in this remote heart of france. They were told this was a kind of volunteer service abroad. I dont think they imagined that it would be like it was hard work, unfamiliar surroundings, the climate, all of it together. I think they were startled by what awaited them. There was a chinese camp on these fields next to the village. Witnesses who have since died say that the british soldiers treated the chinese like forced laborers. They worked 10 hours a day, six days a week, and received starvation wages. If they broker rule, they were severely punished. Below our feet lies a lot of misery. This is where the chinese lived. You have to imagine it during the day, they suffered from the heaviest labor, and in the evening, they returned here exhausted where it was not much better. The camp was locked up. There was a sick bay and even a Mental Hospital for those who could not take it anymore. So far from home and cut off from their families, many went crazy. From here, the workers marched every day to the train station to work. Located between a strategic port and world war i. The railways here were important for forces. The chinese works here. They had to repair the rails, which were regularly damaged by bombs. Just imagine they had to carry the rails here and lay them. The same with the ties and gravel. It was all extremely heavy, and the chinese tended to be short and delicate, and they had this journey full of hardships behind them. It was an incredible drudgery. Danielle is not the only person interested in the story. The inscriptions on the gravestones reveal that many of these dead come from this mans home city in china, and now lee wants to send their names to the archives at home in the hope of finding some descendents. I think this is important. If they were my ancestors, i would want to know what happened to them here in france, how they experienced the war and how they died. Even after 100 years, the chinese in france want to preserve the memory of the fate of their countrymen, so they will be back next year to observe the festival among the graves. The mood is still tense between the west and russia after the annexation of crimea. The Baltic States in particular have been watching moscows every move in ukraine very closely. Their governments have asked nato for help. They are worried that president putin might secretly planned to seize estonia, latvia, and lithuania, which like ukraine also have regions with a Large Russian speaking population. In estonia, for example, in one part, nine out of 10 citizens are russian. The town is located on the border with russia and has been struggling with an identity crisis since estonia declared independence in 1991, so if theres anyone in the eu who feels nostalgic about the good old soviet times, you will likely find them here. Every so often, she pays a visit to the in basement embankment where she used to spend her lunch breaks. For years, she worked at a Textile Factory, the towns largest employer. The factory was an important part of life or people here. After it closed, many did not know what to do. One woman committed suicide because she could not stand the void in her life. The soviet years are a nostalgic memory for many here. The factory was the mainstay of the local economy. It employed about 12,000 people at good wages. After estonia declared its independence, the factory was privatized. The last owner was a swedish investor. Four years ago, they shut down the ailing company. Sasha is a University Student who was born here. She is part of the russian speaking majority. Here at the russian border, many locals feel neglected by the government. The older generations especially look with longing to the east. A russian town is just across the river. Many support the russian governments recent actions in crimea. My grandmother and all her friends watch Russian Television all day. Thats where they get all their information, so thats how they stay informed, so, of course, they are prorussian. Click despite the ailing economy, the mayor has big plans for the future. He wants to transform the former factory grounds into a thriving new district, modern with fashionable shops, expensive homes, cafes, and cultural activities, just like they have in berlin, london, or new york. Im sure that our residents will do well. 62,000 people live here. We are the easternmost city in the european union, and we are continuing to make progress here. We have many new Infrastructure Projects under way, and we will get help from brussels. This is what the new district is supposed to look like one day. The mayor hopes to lower many wealthy russians here from st. Petersburg. Theres a glossy brochure, but so far, they have not found any investors. If the eu imposes sanctions on russia, that would probably spell the end of the project. Nina also supports rush sent military action. She says it is right that crimea once again belongs to russia. It was ahistorical mistake that russia gave up crimea back then. That was always russian territory. The big cities were always russian. With the Textile Factory gone, the entire city is suffering. Unemployment is more than 30 . Even with support from the eu, entire district are decaying entire districts are decaying. Those with other options are leaving. Only 45 identified as estonian. Most have russian boots or see themselves as russian. There has been an Estonian School here for almost seven years, but enrollment has twiddled, and the high school is set to close. Then there will only be two schools here, but the director is still looking for a solution. I think we will become part of a new large high school, but the final decision has not been made yet. They have not finalized their plans. The town is situated right at the border crossing. Traffic is always heavy on the road, but its favorable location on this busy thorough way has not brought any economic benefits to the city. Sasha pays a visit to a local cafe to meet some friends. The conversation turns, as so often, to the struggles of day to day life. Many are worried about the future and are frustrated that the corruption of the soviet era is still an ongoing problem. The Employment Office is different from the rest of estonia. To get a job here, you need connections. People say it is changing, but it is slow. I have no idea how long it will take, but if no one fights back, then nothing will change. Back at home, nina and her family are looking at old photo albums. They have been reminiscing a lot these past months, and the old soviet days are taking on an ever rosier glow in their memories. We had our cultural sports and educational traditions. We helped organize holiday counts for our children. Those were wonderful holidays for us here. As a russian, i feel close to st. Petersburg. We used to go there a lot, but now i need a visa, and that makes me sad. The family steel does not feel much connection to estonia, but they also do not want to leave the eu and become russian. They will just stick it out, they say. The border passes between the castle on the one side and the fortress on the other. Many russians say they feel torn between the two countries not entirely estonian, but not russian, either. German hunters tend to think of themselves as environmentalists who make sure they keep certain animal populations down and diseases like rabies at bay, but there is a bigger issue brewing while gun possession is heavily regulated in germany, the country is rather out of date when it comes to checks on ammunition. Lead bullets are still widely used by german hunters, and studies show that the toxic heavy metal is dangerous for people and animals alike. Is palace is a paradise for german hunters. The estate north of berlin is home to one of the countrys modern indoor shooting ranges. Hunters are testing leadfree ammunition here. The hunter has placed a target on what is known as ballistic gelatin and then fires. The block is then cut open for examination along with the bullet. The result shows that good quality leadfree munition is just as effective as conventional lead shot or bullets, but old habits die hard. Abandoning lead ammunition is not really a Current Issue here because ultimately, we hunters are concerned about the effects of the bullet rather than its composition. In other words, manufacturers must ensure what they are selling on the market will allow us to kill various types of game from different ranges in a humane way and in compliance with hunting principles. Meeting most of germanys 350 thousand hunters will continue shooting with their trusted lead ammunition. Their prey should be dispatched with as quickly and painlessly as possible. It a berlin Conservation Group has shown that lead shot is deadly for seagulls. The birds die of lead poisoning after eating carrier hunters. Researchers say that a band has yet to be placed on lead hunting munitions in germany and the european union. Thousands of tons of it are fired into german orest each hunting season. German forests each hunting season. This is an xray of a deer. Here with a heart would be, the animal was struck with a soft point lead bullet. What remains is a large area of will fragments that are mainly led. The next xray shows the stomach of a sea eagle full of lead munition fragments. The bird died of acute lead poisoning. At two one third of seagulls that dialect poisoning, a second third dies from ingesting that, perhaps to their immune systems. You can see that two thirds of all we have looked at up to now have a lead contamination problem. Is hunter has his own bullets manufactured. They are leadfree. He knows all his ella hunters arguments its ineffective, unsafe, and causes wear and tear on the guns. He says there is another reason whlead is being used. If you use a hard substance, the bullet has to be made on a lathe. Theres no change because the industry would have to get rid of their presses and by lance lathes. Its a question of using old, paid for machines or buying new ones. Thats one reason why the munitions lobby is campaigning for keeping lead in bullets and shot. The group who call themselves environmental hunters opposes this cap again and warns of the threat lead poses to humans as well the group who call themselves environmental hunters opposes this campaign. When you explain to consumers the difference between game that has data that is leadfree or that contains lead, they are immediately ready to pay more for leadfree meat because it is healthier. Its obvious it is organic meat, and they appreciate it when the game has been taken with leadfree ammunition. It cannot be ruled out that game killed with leadfree munition will get a seal of. He says it would improve the reputation of game and could do more than safe sea eagles. The veterinarian examines a dead raven that was possibly poisoned by lead. How many other carrioneating birds in europe have been killed by lead poisoning has yet to be determined. Authorities have already investigated it, but they did not use animal cadavers. Instead, they took lead samples and were able to show that during the summer when there is little hunting going on, the lead levels were much lower, but as soon as hunting season got underway, the birds showed higher lead levels. Veterinarians, corners, and german conservationists want to see lead munitions banned. Just like the lead and automobile fuels that was eradicated three decades ago. Some 140 million tons of debris are floating in the worlds oceans. Some of the objects are even visible from space. Most of it is plastic rubbish, and that is a fatal trap for many seabirds. Now eu officials want to tackle this problem at the source. They are proposing an outright ban on the test of plastic carrier bags. For now, though, plastic bags are everywhere in portugal. A portuguese video artist has come up with a creative idea to raise awareness. Plastic bags have taken over portugal. 40 years ago, portugal was a poor Agricultural Land and organic for lack of funds. Today, it is europes champion consumer of last big. The average person uses more than 500 a year. This video artist has responded to this with humor, creating the character of the melon, who stands for the portuguese consumer, the man with two plastic bags. When a person is concerned with great existential questions, then plastic tags bring him back down to earth. With plastic bags, we all look alike. He depicts life uncertainties. A team shoots footage for a television series. I wanted to show how portuguese the plastic tag is. Showing a portuguese person without one is like showing Humphrey Bogart without a cigarette. He came up with the idea one day when he found himself holding two plastic bags, looked around, and saw that almost everyone else was carrying them as well. In portugal, plastic bags are omnipresent and unavoidable. Looked they even give you the countries biggest weekly paper in a plastic bag. He sees the plastic bag is the symbol of the everyday burden of the modern consumer like himself. Two boys who have to be picked up from school, grocery shopping, and cooking. Supermarkets of the bottomless source of plastic bag. A flood of them pour out of the Shopping Centers every minute, and the portuguese have surrendered to this without resistance. We portuguese are very good at pointing our fingers at others at the governments and our neighbors but we do not accept our own responsibility for the common welfare. For the environment, you need a sense of community. So the portuguese are a burden on their environment. Things already in packages are bad once again, each item separately or at most two to a bag. If you do not like it, you can line up at the ecological Cash Register and pay two cents per bag. Other cashiers would use six or seven bags instead of just two. The solution is to stop giving away free bags. But there are other reasons as well. I am here because there was no line. Pashta only wants one bag for everything. It disrupts the flow. I tried it. I said, just one bag please. He just laughed as if to say, ok, buddy, be the hero. So i succumbed to the pressure of the market. I thought, ok, dont be a fundamentalist. Take the extra back home. I dont think the portuguese will follow ecological constructs. He works at a private television station. He is not questioning his work, but maybe the poetry of his images will lead his countrymen to think about their Consumer Behavior because the portuguese have always been world champions in poetry. That brings us to the end of this edition of european journal. We hope you enjoyed the show. Thanks for watching. Auf wiedersehen and bye for now. Captioned by the National Captioning Institute www. Ncicap. Org ÷w 04 17 14 04 17 14 [captioning made possible by democracy now ] from pacifica, this is democracy now on the brink of civil war. I hope that everyone who is responsible for making the decisions at the moment, i mean both the ukrainian authorities who we cant consider legitimate, but these are the authorities who came to power as a result of the coup, have brains to avoid driving the country

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