Situation in aleppo, there is no escape. It feels like the end of the world. On quadriga, we are going to be talking about the suffering of the people of syria and the response of the International Community. To do so, im joined in the studio by three syrian specialists, beginning with usahma felix darrah, a german syrian author and activist based in berlin. He says what is happening is an abomination and will continue as long as washington continues to refuses to exercise strategic leadership. Also with us is kristin helberg, a widely published commentator on syria. She is convinced the path to peace goes through moscow. We are joined by dws own maissun melhem. She was born in syria, and she says it is not aleppo that is the real cause for shame but the suffering of the Syrian People and the fact the International Community has been in denial for so long. I would like to begin with you. You were born in syria. We have tended, in recent times, to act as though the conflict could not get any worse. It seems there is a definite escalation. What are your thoughts and what are your feelings . Maissun you start your day with a cup of coffee and a feeling of satisfaction that your child is sleeping in his bedroom, and you start reading the news. The first thing you see, like what i saw today, a bunch of children swimming in a crater, explosion crater, resulting from the bombings of yesterday, filled with the water of the broken water supply, which civilians in aleppo do not have any more. Then you see the Syrian Ambassador at the u. N. Laughing when a journalist asked him peter truly a shocking moment. Maissun asking, mr. Ambassador, did you target the hospitals yesterday . He just laughed and walked away. You think it has been moving from bad to worse for the last five years. Every day, we reach a worse condition. I do not know if we are going to have an end anytime soon. Peter after five and a half years of the conflict in syria, the special envoy to syria said that we are witnessing new heights of horror. What can you tell us from your personal contacts . Kristin it is definitely a new escalation, and i always thought, as you probably thought, that it is not possible. It cannot get any worse. But it is getting worse. We have there places where people are besieged for four years now that we are not even looking at. We have the strategy to besiege people, starve them , and this works because assad and the russians know they can do whatever they w want. They can use the weapons they have because no one will interfere and stop them. This is the major problem right now. Peter before we bring you in, lets listen to two voices of people who are trapped in aleppo at this current time. I call on honorable peoplpleo comemend help usus. We are dying. The blockade, the destruction, the killing. May god hold these people to account. Which country did we rise up against . We are simple people. We have committed no crime. The entire world, including russia and america, is crushing us. Peter that is very moving testimony directly from aleppo. I have noticed the last couple of days a lot of people comparing the situation in aleppo with guernica in 1937 in the buildup to the second world war. People have been talking about what happened in dresden in 1945 at the end of the second world war, the tererrible firebombingf that city. How useful are those comparisons . Usahma i think they are useful comparisons to put a context there. I i mean, if you want to look at guernica or dresden, they were destroyed fairly quickly in a matter of several weeks. In aleppo or other places in syria that have been besieged in southern damascus, you have a civilian population of 6000 to 8000 people with 600 fighters that were besieged for three years and only could survive because they have an independent water supply, very deep wells, and they are into urban gardening. In terms of the context of the horror we see now, this is a long, protracted situation. It would be comparable to what happened in warsaw when the nazis beseiged the jewish corridor there. It held out for 21 days. Aleppo has thehe willpower to stanand for many months. What we are seeing is comparable to that. It is on a much larger scale. It is like dying in slow motion. Peter when we talk about the level of suffering, how important is it to point to the kind of weaponry being used . Cluster bombs s and napalm, bunr busters and incendiary bombs. How important is that now . Usahma how important is it . These are weapons that we have seen. We have a regime that has unfolded its complete conventional military arsenal. We have a white house that has said we have International Norms that have to be respected and enforced. There was a red line drawn, but not enforced. The murder weapon was taken away. He was not punished for it in terms of chemical weapons. The u. N. Started a process in which the regime became a partner in a disarmament process. Now, two or three years later, we see statements from the white house saying the use of chemical weapons has become routine in syria. We need to go much deeper here. The very foundations of the International System as we know it, as we knew it since the second world war, is fraying, falling apart. Peter you are nodding. Maissun i agree with him. Especially when i always get disappointed that not only that red lines are not enforced. Bashar alassad and his representatives of this regime, which is doing all the atrocities we are witnessing right now, he gets interviewed by international journalists, like, every couple of weeks. He is given the chance to justify his war crimes in front of all our cameras after doing all his crimes also in front of our cameras. I do not understand it. These journalists come usually from the u. S. , from the west, not even from russia, who is supporting the regime. Kristin we have to take into consideration the syrians are paying a price for western foreignpolicy of the last 10 or 15 years. If you look at the american record in the region, obviously, there was a lot of mistakes. We had the invasion of iraq, the birth moment, kindnd of, of f d, islamic state. We had obama in the white house saying, i do not want to go for any military adventure. I want to get american soldiers home. This was the second catastrophe for the syrians. We did not have any chance to engage in the only chance, militarily, of protecting civilians. I do not want to compare it to iraq. It did not happen. There was no western regime change. If any governments wanted to do this, they would have millions of reasons to do it, talking about the red lines. But we have a u. S. Administration and european continent that is not able to formulate any kind of common foreign policy. We really left syria to russia. They took the chance. They engaged very much, even militarily. We are now at a point where we have to realize, like it or not, that it is the russians who we need to convince how to get to a future inside syria. We need to have a negotiated transition. The russians have to understand this is in their interest. Engagement and t the war in syra is very expensive for the russians and not popular at home. The russians cannot own syria. It is too big for them. It is in their interest to make a transition, an organized transition, away from the assad regime. We have to convince Vladimir Putin of that. Without him, its not possible. Maisissun how . We have been watching peace talks between the americans and russians for i dont know how many months. Kristin it seems hes not interested. Maybe we need a military balance. That is the question. Do we need to engage militarily to stop the bombing of civilians unilaterally from the west . Everyone is afraid of escalation, a third world war with the russians. Will it be a step to get out of the spiral of violence . Usahma this is s exactly what s tried in geneva in the First Six Months of this year. The opposition was there. They had three rounds of peace talks. There were several tracks. This is what the goal is, to take the remnants ofof state institutions, Civil Servants with no blood on their hands, to try and go for some type of interim government. A military council and so forth. I think therere is a huge problm here. If you see the diplomacy fails, that has a huge, huge price. It does not occur in a vacuum. If you look at the u. S. Position going into geneva, they have plan a. And they declare that there is no alternative to diplomacy. But if you do not have a plan b, a credible threat, plan a cannot work. I will tell you why. The russian ambition grows with their perception of weakness in the white house. Of course, it is not so easy, as you mentioned. Russias economy is about the size of spain now. It is in freefall. Foreign currency reserves have fallen from 140 billion to 20 or even less. They do not want to swallow syria. They are fighting two hybrid wars in ukraine and syria at the same time. You have to have some type of balance so each side can sense how far they might be able to go to consolidate the situation. We are nowhere near that because the europeans, frankly, i think they can formulate a coherent policy but its only coherent in terms of the common denominator. We spoke of barbarism. Saturday, the Security Council on syria, an Interesting Exchange of blows there. The u. S. Said that russia is responsible and called their actions barbaric. The germans did not do that. They followed the american line. When the europeans came out with their statement, ms. Morgarini did not mention any culprits at all. She just said that is very didisconcerting. It shows there is no military component at all. That is the opposite of what we learned convnventional diplomacy to be, as Teddy Roosevelt said. Speak softly, but carry a big stick. Peter i would like to speak more about diplomacy. Listen to what four of the Top International diplomats have had to say in recent days. Images of destruction, people with limbs blown off, children in terrible pain with no relief infected, suffering, dying with nowhere to go and no end in sight. What russia is sponsoring and doing is not counterterrorism. It is barbarism. As a result in syria, hundreds of groups are being armed. The territory of the country is being bombed indiscriminately, and bringing peace is almost an Impossible Task now. There is a fafailure of the International Community. That is what the syrians are saying. They are right. Thank you very much. Thank you. Peter the people of syria are saying the International Community has let them down. I know you say the International Community is in denial. Tell me more. Maissun as i said, this drama we are watching on tv is more than about aleppo. It has been like this for two or three years, from 2011, when there wasnt any jihadists in syria, to 2014. And as usahma said, the Syrian Regime did many things, crossed manyny red lines drawn by the International Community or the u. S. , and was not asked about it. We heard only rhetoric from them. I mean, just a couple of weeks ago, a convoy of aid organizations going to civilians in aleppo was targeted by russia. No one even raised an eyebrow. Peter how about the question there, how can one deal with the question if russia is responsible for barbarism or war crimes . Kristin last week seemed quite cynical. They were sittining around in nw york trying to go back t to a truce, but it was russia itself bombing aleppo. Again, we wont be able to find a solution without the russians. They have their own goals in syria. I would argue Vladimir Putin reached his goals already to be perceived as a world power, a regional power. He wants to make sure the American Century is over in the middle east. He wants to make sure his own military bases i think this is what he needed from syria. Now would be the time for him to realize that, if he wants to influence the postwar era and who follows the assad regime, it would be the moment to asksk Bashar Alassad to step aside. The problem is, who will tell this to Vladimir Putin . At the moment, i feel the deal between assad and putin is we will let some humanitarian aid convoys pass. At the same time, he really wants to go back and take east aleppo. He has tried several times. This time, he said, we will finish this. The russians will help them with the hope that, after this election in the u. S. Because that is the biggest fear, this convoy would be frozen for three or four months. No one will think about an International Initiative without a new u. S. President. The russians will help fortify his position militarily on the ground. Everyone has to wait until february until any International Initiative will be announced. Maissun did i understand you right that russians are not able to impose their word on assad . Kristin i think they dont seem interested. Maissun they are waiting for him to get the part of the city that is held by the rebels. They might be satisfied, and then they might talk to him . Kristin yes. Usahma it is interesting that, when we speak to the russians, we say that the guy that you are protecting is the worst war criminal we have seen for a long time. This rubs off on you, and he is weak on the ground. The syrian army is only legally carrying this title. It has basically dissolved into a bunch of warlords. We have seen the results with the last socalled elections. The parliament is full of warlords. The army itself cannot hold a single front. Krisistin this is what russiann generals say. Usahma a lot of them complain about this. Look at what we got ourselves into. The other aspect is what is happening on the ground. If we say the International Community should balance out something, it is not going to happen without hillary clinton. The opposition is speaking to hillary clinton. She has a syrian task force, six or seven people. Reassessing her options means what . Trying to separate the free syrian army, which is there, tens of thousands of people in the north, central, and in the south. Maissun it is not an army. Usahma it is not an army, but an idea. The idea of an army that keeps the oath it swore to protect the fatherland and syrian citizezen, which nobody in the syrian army does now. From now until february, say hillary wins, what is going to happen in this interval now . This is where putin goes all in trying to destroy aleppo. What it means for the International Community is that syrians are saying the jihadists on the ground are a morally stronger force than the International Community. This is what they see. They feed us and so forth. On the ground are a morally peter we talked about the americans and the russians. What about Bashar Alassad and his supporters . Im guessing you have had opportunities to listen to what they have to say. It would be interesting to hear how that sounds to you at t this point in time. They too are the Syrian People. Maissun they are. As any other part in syria, there are extremists living in the region where assad still has control. But many people are tired from this longterm war. They are just stuck, hoping to leave the country. They just hope to leave the country behind and survive with children. Like many others we hear from them the same statement we have been hearing for the last five years. What might be the alternative if assad went . It is about existence there. The war between jihadi and militants after it has become a sectarian war, they are just defending their existence or trying to leave the country. Kristin it has become a selffulfilling prophecy. Maissun they invented, and they are suffering right now. Kristin Foreign Terrorists coming to the country was ridiculous. Maissun they were not laughing. They believed it from the first moment. Kristin now they see, on the other side, we have these jihadists. Assad is supposed to protect me from these people. His supporters hold still. They dont move. They are a afraid. They feel, lets not move. They are afraid of the assad regime and the future as well. They tend to believe what he is telling them. Maissun even afraid of serving the army. They support him but would not like to fight in his army. Usahma it is true, of course, this is his selffulfilling prophecy, to destroy the moderates so the world has to choose between him or al qaeda or isis or whoever. Syrians are stuck with saying, these people protect us. They do not share our vision for the future of syria. They do not even use the word syriria, true jihadists. But he is the only one protecting me now. Wheres the world . When i speak of the ininterval until the next u. S. President hopefully decides to make a move, there is an important point. 80 of syria are hard to reach areas. According to the geneva designation, you have 18 or 19 besieged areas. 80 are hard to reach. Those are almost exclusively provided for by syrian civil society. I am afraid that not only are the political discourse and negotiations trying to find a meeting of interest between the great powers and neighboring countries, the syrians are shrinking away from the process. I do not see them being consulted. I mean, how can you have a process there and cessation of hostility based on an agreement with russia that you dont consult with allies and friends with . You are doing this for the Syrian People, arent you . It seems to a lot of syrians that they are improving bilateral relations at our costs. Peter should the Syrian People make shaming the International Community one of the topics of discussion . Pope francis talked about globalization of indifference. 30 seconds on that phrase. Kristin i think the u. N. And International Community has not only let syria down in terms of war or bombing, but humanitarian aid is not being delivered to people there. The assad regime dictates who gets help. We have to go back to a more stronger standard. Peter globalization of indifference. Maissun the sentence before the show, injustice has become part of our moral system. Usahma i would just ask the european states to n not think n terms of National Interests or agenda. If you wanant to help the Syrian People, you invest in civil society. It is alive. And it is the future of syria. Peter thank you to my guests for your comments, your insights. Thank you for joining us on quadriga. Until then, byebye. Qea]0kxopopp hello and welcome to focus on europe. This week, we head to poland, where womens groups have taken to the streets against a proposed law that would criminalize abortions. Poland is staunchly catholic and many members of it ruling rightwing law and Justice Party hope to tighten the already restrictive abortion law. Opponents fear that women who believe in the right to choose will face even more criticism. And above all, these women, she said to me, do you want to kill a little baby . More on that is coming up later in the program. But first, we head to greece. The southern european country is suffering the effects of the debt crisis more than any other nation in europe. In the face of crippling austerity measures demanded by international lenders, hundreds of thousands of families in greece are threatened with losing their homes. Many of them, like the couple in our next report, are desperately doing everything they can just to keep the lights on. Theyre ashamed of their debts. For weeks, this couple has been withthout elecectricity. Bills have piled up. They owe the Electricity Company more than 5,000 euros, but they live below the poverty line, and cant pay. In desperation, theyve turned to a group of activists called den plirono,o, which translatess i dont pay. I didnt know what to do, so i asked the group for help. I even called the government to ask for payment to be deferred. My daughters going back to school, and i need to buy food to cook her meals the i dont pay movement is popular in greece. The activists go down to the electricity meter with their tools,and switch the power back on. They dont believe that what theyre doing is illegal. Theyre simply switching the supply on. Theyre not stealing any electricity. The Public Utility Companies beg to differ, but the activists say its about making a political point. In the next few months, pressure on debtors will mount. More people will lose their homes. We will demonstrate our solidarity with these people who are under pressure because they cant pay their debts. A growing number of greeks are at the mercy of creditors. In the next few months, some 300,000 homes could be seized by the state or the banks. When the homes are put up for auction, the activists from i dont pay try to occupy them. Theyre usually successful. The police tend not to intervene, and the creditors get unwelcome publicity. Most of them refuse to speak to the media. They feel theyre made to look ridiculo i in videos the activistpopost on e ininternet. Christostomos enotiadis is unemployed. The activists prevented his home from being seized by occupying it. He joined the i dont pay movement himself when a court was about to confiscate his home. When i arrived in court, i hadnt realized that a demonstration was planned. I was so happy when i saw the activists. I owe the bank 2400 euros. They were going to seize my apartment and put it up for auction for just 80,000 euros. For now, banks and authorities can get as tough as they like. Theyve got the law on their side. The leftwing greek government had promised to protect the poor and ensure they could keep their homes, but in response to pressure from greeces creditors, whats known as the katseli law was relaxed. Anna korsanou is a lawyer. She gets dozens of calls every day from people who fear theyll lose their homes. There is growing public anger and desperation. These people have nothing, and the government promised it would cancel their debts. That didnt happen. Instead, there have been tax hikes. That makes people even less likely to pay off their debts. Thanks to the i dont pay activists, the couple from athens whose electricity was turned off, can turn the lights on again, but theyre still worried their home might be seized. Thats my greatest fear. Ive already consulted a lawyer, even though i cant really afford him. Hes going to see if we can be let off as an exception. All we can do is hope. Hundreds of thousands of other greeks canan only hope as well. An end to the countrys debt crisis is nowhere in sight. Now its time for our next installment of eastwards, stories about russia. Today, our correspondent takes us to a kommunalka in the Northern City of st. Petersburg. The communal apartment, housing multiple families with just one kitchen and bathroom, may be a bit too close for comfort, but it is a surviving remnant of the soviet era, which shows no sign of dying out. Im in the center of town at Ligovsky Prospekt number three. Theyre expecting me. In one of the most unusual apartments i have ever seen. First, a hallway, long and dark, then, sixteen rooms with sixteen families. This is a kommunalka, a shared apartment, a relic from soviet times. Its like a journey to the past. In the heart of st. Petersburg, i meet the people who make their home in the kommunalka. A home they value, despite all the difficulties. The power lines from the 1950s can be a problem. Its pretty awful here. The kitchen is the heart of the kommunalka, with clear rules and a strict hierarchy. Those who have lived here longer get the better parts. That means your own table and your own part of the communal stove. I was born here, so my husband and i are among the privileged ones. And this is our privilege. Kommunalkas are an integral part of life in st. Petersburg. The sovietstyle collectives help people feel less alone in the big city. The shabby communal apartments arare a stark contrast to the opulenent tourist attractions. And they are also right in the center, in the old town, also a privilege. I pay a visit to the privileged residents in room number 3. Mama polina and her daughter alexandra are getting in some early musical education. It seems to make yoschik the cat hungry. [laughter] papa evgeny is trying to install a heating and cooling system for the winter. They dont want alexandra to freeze when the heater breaks down, as it often does. Russia now is like the soviet union of the 1970s. The economy will ultimately collapse and a new life will begin, but not in our lifetimes. So we dont have big plans for the future. Getting on with life, no matter what happens, a typically russian attitude thats shared by polinas neighbours. Theres no reason we cant be happy in this country or to put it another way, theres nothing here we hate so much that wed want to leave. Of course, russia has flaws, but what country doesnt . A shortage of goods is something this country definitely does not have, provided you have enough money to buy them. The produce at this nearby market sells for western prices. Even though the average monthly income in russia is the equivalent of just 400 euros. The mutton has been requested by an uzbek family in the kommunalka who are going to make a plov, a dish with rice. Back in the kommunalka, the boundaries between public and private realms disappear as evening approaches, especially as the aroma of roasting mutton spreads. The uzbek couple, mirzo and his wife, whose name they wont divulge, would rather not talk about russia, where they are guest workers. We just earn our money here and thats more than in uzbekistan. Uzbekistan is here in the kitchen, with rice and carrots and lots of meat. A piece of the uzbek south here in northern russia. Evgeni and polina offer me chocolate and chips this evening, along with plenty of kommunalka philosophy. Its all fine so long as you remain in your own room. Ive got to raise my voice to make sure the kommunalka stays clean. Sadly, i was wasnt voted kommunalka president and so i have to constantly raise my voice and assert myself. And so, democracy within the kommunalka remains fraught with difficulties. You might say rather like in russia as a whole. Despite the strict hierarchy that residents must abide by, people feel secure in the kommunalkas or perhaps they feel secure because of it. Poland is one of europes most devoutly catholic countries, despite already having some of the continents strictest antiabortion laws, some members of the rightwing ruling party want to bring in even tougher rules. This is the latest in a string of controversial proposals introduced by the law and Justice Party since they took office last year. Nationalist movements have gained in popularity across europe, particularly in the wake of the refugee crisis and terrorist attacks. But in poland, the latest battleground is the womb. Karolina wanted to have her baby, but when she was younger, she had an abortion. It was a hard decision. Poland is staunchly catholic, and its not easy for a woman to seek a termination. Now, the rightwing, nationalconservative government is considering making it completely illegal. Tightening the law will only lead to more personal tragedies. I know what women in that situation are prepared to do. I considered taking Desperate Measures myself. Its hard to explain, but i would have deliberately risked my life. I just wasnt in a position to have a baby at that time. Karolina felt she was too young to become a mother, and she knew she and the father wouldnt stay together. But in poland, neither factor is considered a valid reason to terminate a pregnancy. At a clinic, karolina encountered an antichoice activist. She said she wouldnt allow me to have an abortion. It was so awful in the waiting room. There were heavily pregnant women and mothers with their newborns. She followed me around, pushing me towards the children and putting my finger in their tiny hands. And in front of all those women, she said, so are you really going to murder such a tiny baby . According to the law, polish doctors can refuse to perform abortions by signing a statement of conscience. Thats why at least three women a week visit this clinic in warsaw to see romuald debski, a gynecologist who performs legal abortions. Many others go abroad. Its often cheaper to seek a legal abortion in germany than to get one illegallyly in polan. Ive been trying to help patients for years, but its very frustrating that women from all over the country come to me because im not in a position to help them all. Doctors who perform legal abortions in poland would never perform an illegal one. Im well aware that i am under constant observation. Women who cant find help legally have to go underground, as karolina did. Later, i realized it was very primitive. I dont know anyone who had such a traumatic experience. I actually had to hold some of the instruments myself during the surgery. There was a pail, i remember that. It wasnt nice. Coat hangers have come to symbolize these illegal and often dangerous practices. Thats what women used to use for selfinduced abortions. The staff here at the federation for women and Family Planning in warsaw arent allowed to advise a woman to seek an abortion. All they can do is explain what women in similar situations have done. Some women go to slovakia or germany, says this counselor. In the german town of prenzlau, close to the polish border, theres even a polish gynecologist. We see a lot of women whove been through traumatic experiences, especially since the petition for the new law banning abortion was submitted to parliament. Doctors are getting scared. The number of abortions, including legal ones, performed in poland is falling. Women either get them by going underground or abroad. Fear of stigmatization is growing. Prolifers are resorting to increasingly aggressive campaigning, such as plastering up shocking images around town. We jus want women to understatand what an abortion means. That its the murder of a human being. People dont understand that. That its not just a cosmetic intervention. Theyre killing a sentient human being. Having an abortion is a decision people cant take lightly. Karolina does understand that, and not only since her daughter was born, but she also know that no amount of draconian legislation will stop women seeking abortions. Youre prepared to do whatever it takes. Whatever it takes. Karolina hopes that when her daughter is grown, shell have the right to choose what to do with her own body. In the aftermath of last years terrorist attacks in paris, tourism not only slumped there, but also in brussels, where several of the perpetrators had lived and planned the attacks. Their neighborhood, molenbeek, was declared a terrorist nest by the media, but this summer, the predominantly migrant area has became an attraction in its own right. When i lived in brussels, friends who visited would ask to eat moules frites in the narrow streets surrounding grand place. Molenbeek was an area rarely visited by nonlocals, but guided tours there are now surprisingly in demand. These visitors are strolling through a neighborhood that used to be ignored by tourists. City guide erik nobles offers tours through the notorious brussels area of molenbeek. He receives inquiries from all over the world. People love the thrill of a little fear, especially when its not really dangerous. A bit of horror tourism. I giveve a lot more toururs of s part of brussels now. This is the neighborhood that people now want to visit. Horror tourism. A tour through the terror nest, as the media dubbed molenbeek. Inga from poland and ali from italy are some of erik nobles guests. Theyre modern young people, socially involved, and curious. Molenbeek is colorful, exotic, and multicultural, but only half the people here are employed, and crime is part of everyday life. This is not your typical city tour. Sure, at first all of us were a little afraid to come here, but now that were here, i see there is no need to be so much afraid because things happen. But not everyone is as bad as wed think. There was a funny situation on our tour. Someone waved to me and called out, hi there are no terrorists here. [laughter] but there were terrorists in this neighborhood. One of the planners of the paris attacks, salah abdeslam, was captured in this building in a police raid in march. Sightseeing that puts shivers down your spine. Molenbeek residents say the paris attack has ruined their image. Karim naciri, an 18yearold belgian with moroccan roots, loves his district and likes to sketch everyday scenes. He doesnt mind an increase in tourism, but terrortourism is Something Else again. I dont think its good at all. What use is it . If they want to view the sights and our city, fine, but to gravitate to where the raids were, where everything happened, whats the point . Its useless and stupid. People in molenbeek have grown used to cameras. Karim says he and his friends have been photographed by japanese tourists. Erik nobles doesnt take his group where the terrorists were arrested. He tells his young guests to maintain their distance and not to take pictures. The Person Holding the camera is always in a stronger position than the person being photographed. Its better not to take pictures, and if you do take someones s picture, ask for thr permission first. Molenbeek, the immigrant ghetto and notorious breeding ground for terrorists, is suddenly hip at least for some visitors looking for a new thrill. Do tours like these help or exploit the people in the areas they visit . Let us know what you think about that or any of todays stories by getting in touch on facebook, email or twitter. Albeit small and sparsely populated, corsica can occasionally erupt into passionate disputes. This time, the small war taking place in a Little Village on the mountainous island, isnt about its ongoing fight for independence from mainland france. Instead, its over a pigs right to roam. Gerard alfonsi is attached to the bit of chestnut forest he owns. His ancestors are all buried here near the village of piobetta, and this is where he wants s to spend his old age. It could all be so wonderful if it werent for the animals. Goats, cows, and even pigs wander freely through alfonsis garden. In the old days, they built walls here to protect the trees. This is where the wall was, but the pigs have rooted around here, destroying the wall and digging up the roots of the tree. Now the roots are exposed. The former forester belongs to a group of retirees who have returned to piobetta, their home village on corsica, after living elsewhere for decades. While they were away, they say, local farmers simply took over their gardens. The farmers want grazing land for their animals and eu subsidies. The more animals a farmer has, the greater the subsidies he gets and to maintain the animals, he needs land for grazing. This is our land. The farmers simply tell the eu, we have a few hectares here and a few hectares there, but this is our land. Goatherd angepaul alfonsi has lived in piobatta for more than 40 years. He cant imagine fencing in his goats. As far back as he can remember, Domestic Animals have always been free to wander in piobetta. Its good for them to get out. They eat the weeds and can move about freely. The pensioners want the court to enforce their rights. Theyve already got a judgment against the village that says it should provide this fencedin meadow for the animals. But how can the retirees make the animals go there . The mayor refuses to use the police. The pensioners say hes on the farmers side. If you turn this water faucet on, nothing happens. Lets follow the hose. See . This is the hose thats meant to bring the water. The retirees Court Records fill a whole cabinet in the town hall. The legal battle has cost the town thousands of euros. The mayor hasnt been able to solve the problem. He says the retirees who have returned here just want to dominate piobetta. Its not true what they say. Theres nothing to ruin on their property they dont cultivate anything. They spent years pursuing their careers on the mainland, and now theyre all upset about a few trees they never took care of for the last 60 years. With the mayor showing so little understanding, gerard alfonsi feels entitled to resort to drastic measures. When animals wander onto his property, he simply shoots them. Hes been doing that for years. It must have been about 40 pigs and also about a dozen cows. There were a few bulls, too. When angepaul alfonsi hears of this, he calls it brutality and says at some point the farmers will have to defend themselves. The loss of their livestock costs them a lot of money. It breaks my heart to slaughter a goat, and these people shoot at animals as if they were cardboard targets. The pensioners are calling for law and order. They want every cow, goat, and pig behind a fence. What they apparently havent considered is that freerange farm animals have long been part of piobettas charm. Thats it for todayay. Thank you for watching. Next week be sure to look out for the final report in our russia series, where we take you to moscow to get up close and personal with the capitals rich and elite. In the meantime, its goodbye from me and whole team. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] ;f;o;o;o;o;oqea]0kxopopoppppp woman to many outsiders, culture in los angeles is something that begins and ends with the movies. But the city has always been h home to radicl voices and new ideas that have stirred things up. In art, in literature, in architecture anand urban life. In recent yea, the citys artistic profile has grown bigger and brighter, with new cultltural instititutions, w approaches to art, and new ways of thinking about the landscape. Join me as we hit some of the citys most important cultural nerve centers. Im carolina miranda, culture writer for the los angeles times, and this i is artbound. Woman los angeles is an infinitely inspiring city. It feels like you can n just
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