A turbulent year it was full of challenges for the continent and its people were taking a look back at the people who impressed and inspired us in twenty seventeen people who saw me supernatural powers dared to take on new challenges in old age flee from their homeland fight for Animal Rights and who fearlessly put their faith first. One of the special people is the monk make a call of he lives and worships high up in rushes urals were a battle of biblical proportions is taking place david versus goliath his tiny buddhist monastery has taken on a mighty still Corporation One that has their sights set on the monks a little piece of enlightenment yet the company has no spiritual deeds in mind their interests are purely economic. Her insured chuckling morning begins with meditation. In a cluster high and we meet with young buddhists men and women who live in accordance with buddhist teachings. This guy has been peacefully meditating here for twenty years but the peace and quiet could soon be disturbed because the mountain here contains iron ore and the lure of profits for the Steel Industry at the foot of mount kut konar. This temple and the whole mountain is in danger. Of this mountain is five and a half billion years old there were no one has a right to own it but ive been living here for so long so im staying here. Up to no only blocks of ice are crushed here daily for water to make tea but soon machines could be brought here to demolish the buddhist temple and dig for iron. The monks and nuns are resolved to remain calm. Especially this man whom they respect fully call a lama. Founded this holy spot twenty years ago. But the congregation is not officially recognized. As the. Most put us in russia are part of the Ethnic Community of the brex. In siberia or live in the isle tyrant at the mongolian border but not here in the euros. So the authorities regard the residents of shad chuckling as illegal squatters who will have to leave and are soon but thats because most of them are master sonic of response to this as his faith teaches him. Teaches us to accept things as they are. So if you encounter a bad person who maybe you only think hes bad. Could be a good family man and what a great dad or fantastic lover you christy do. Or have really snazzy shoes something about it must be good to have it. But the monks and nuns dont think it would be a good thing to destroy a mount catch can are they say the iron ore deposits arent rich enough to feed the forty thousand residents of the city of catch can are at the foot of the mountain for years. This still manufacturer and the local government disagree minerals have been mined in this region for more than fifty years. And. No one here can imagine a life without mining. Theres a little bit of them when i was still in school my parents said the mine is your future you can always get a job there would i still have to stop i hope to keep it otherwise id have to leave the city or turn to crime to get money i dont have any other choice i have to feed my family was injured i was there for superman of. The mind or is immediately crushed separated concentrated and sent to the gigantic steel plants in these need in the central euro mountains without freshly mind or production ceases and with it revenues and jobs. Thats why the Steel Industry regards the disappearance of the buddhist temple as a done deal. With the material we think in purely material categories through. We dont have anything against the people up there who are simply illegal now that all. The monks and nuns arent considering moving they believe in the holy path that leads to their temple. They believe they must leave it but must keep calm and carry on meditating. Yeah theyre preparing to receive over there is nothing more valuable than our ideas our thinking. Here. With him. Could begin with and there are the buddhist teachings. Or the buddhist teachings help us put things together and understand things you. Could. Point out buddha is still gazing peacefully into the distance but a storm is brewing and will soon be here. When the snow melts in the spring well see if their struggle is successful lena alvarez had to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to fill one of her greatest desires with the help of invitro fertilization or i. V. s she was able to have her much longer for a little girl but her use of both a donor egg and sperm is not without controversy because lena was sixty two years old at the time her pregnancy at such an advanced age has ignited a heated debate in her native country spain. Yes you know our ass has become a mother once again as the age of sixty two. She named her daughter lena after herself baby linas started out as an embryo conceived from donated egg and sperm cells in a test tube that was implanted in the womb after her mother to be underwent hormone therapy. I still cant believe it its like magic and shes already seven months old the whole family is overjoyed. That she had her first child at the age of thirty four but her son is a cure was born mentally disabled her marriage broke up and for years afterwards she had no opportunity to have any more children. But time passed and with my disabled son i had a hard time finding another partner then i started menopause too early by the time i realised that i was forty two and couldnt have any more children. To begin with. To lena alvarez it was a blessing that spain allowed her to use donor eggs shes had two babies using this method her son samuel l. Who is now in school and baby lena the family is well known in their hometown lugo in here and a hot topic for debate some late motherhood throughout spain many see it as selfish to have children at such an advanced age. I meant that when the by the time the children are twenty they probably wont have any parents anymore its tough on kids to have such old parents. But lena alvarez doesnt feel like a grandmother she feels that its a sign of progress to be able to have babies this way. For heavens sake i dont know what selfish about it im just as much there for my children. And my experience is a great advantage that speaks in favor of having children at my age that more and more women in spain are having babies later in life private fertility clinics like this one in madrid charge around eight thousand euros for the procedure it involves implanting fertilized eggs from anonymous donors but unlike other countries spain sets no legal age limit even so doctors often refuse to perform the procedure on women over fifty they have even signed a voluntary agreement. It would then. I mean of of course we now have the ability to initiate pregnancies in women over sixty. But we also want healthy children. And the probability of giving birth to a healthy child drops in women over age fifty. Years of. Legal expert carlos romeo caster boehner sees the voluntary agreement as useless hes a member of the Spanish Commission for reproductive medicine hes disappointed that the commission couldnt push through an age limit when the legislation about assisted reproduction was passed in two thousand and six. I personally detail to the problems associated with late pregnancies for the health minister. But i didnt want to set an age limit because of a womans right to selfdetermination. Nobody cares if a man becomes a father at seventy but they do with the mother does of course the mother is responsibility is greater she plays a more important rule at least i think so even if she shouldnt. Say that. At eighty five years spanish women have one of the worlds highest life expectancies so lena alvarez may well be able to see her daughter far into adult hood. Over the past year weve witnessed a further decline in democracy in turkey a deterioration in both press and personal freedoms ever since the failed coup in two thousand and sixteen and the aggression shown towards anyone perceived as a critic to the government many turkish people feel like strangers in their own country particularly if they work in industries considered liberal or progressive many actors an artist now complain that the istanbul art scene is dominated by a climate of fear this cost the celebrated turkish actor an intellectual turk to pack up his family and go into a selfimposed exile here in germany a departure into a new life and into the unknown. The culture turks are packing up kamal and his wife ayesha a pianist are leaving their house in istanbul their flight to berlin is in just a few hours along with their two daughters dhamma and yasser mean they are starting a new life. And the kids made this but we cant take everything with us. It makes me so sad but thats life you always have to leave something behind to. Target. The concert her family is leaving behind their house with a yard on the edge of the city near the black sea. After her husband had a guest performance in berlin they decided to move to the german capital the german consulate in istanbul granted them a six month artist that allows them to seek employment in germany. Ever since the failed coup the situation has escalated dangerously. Well he did and. I was so worried about him we see him people are simply arrested at night and locked away. I couldnt stop thinking about it just. The neighbors have come to say goodbye they can understand the culture turks decision many turks are considering leaving the country. Let them go ahead and see what its like and then we can visit them and see how theyre doing. Just. Like you then its time to say goodbye. Not only to their house and their best friends. But somehow also to their entire life as they had known it. Berlin two weeks later the culture took family was able to stay in an acquaintances apartment first they have already found their own apartment and will be moving soon but they still havent found work. With two q they didnt even before leaving i had said my opportunities would be limited here in germany. I wont be able to earn money as easily here with my turkish place but the difference is at least i can try. Its time for their appointment at the berlin Immigration Authority its about their residence permit well the family be allowed to stay and if so for how long the costs are turks hope theyve gathered all the right papers certifications from theatres that want to work with kamal confirmations from the daughter schools bank statements. This appointment to the Immigration Office is making me a bit nervous we cant speak german yet so i dont feel comfortable that appointments like this. Behind in these Office Windows the decision will be made of germany will give the cacciatore a chance. After an hour and a half they come back out. Happy and relieved i think. It went great. For which we were granted a two year stay. An evening in a bar in quotes back im sure and came all koch a turk are visiting the regular turkish expat meet up for the first time. They can recognize several familiar faces among the journalists artists and writers and each week new political refugees arrive from turkey. Was it you now i just want to enjoy this freedom from you here nobody interferes in your life there doesnt seem to be aggression here nobody shouting its so peaceful i could live like this in the world. Tonight is kamal culture turks first small performance in berlin he recites turkish poems accompanied by a. Guy. The culture turks are now part of the turkish Expat Community in berlin here they will find help and support yet despite all optimism they are all united in their longing for home and worry for those left behind. In. The cogito family has now found their own home and even received their first paid in cajuns are you looking forward to the new here and all the surprises it has in store or would you rather know exactly what to expect in the car pathans of ukraine many people believe in the supernatural powers of soothsayers and folk hillers of whom they called while farce the tradition is deeply rooted in the region they heal predict the future and are even consulted on political matters all reporter met one of them magdalena and felt surprisingly enchanted. The landscape around the settlement vehicle vinyasa in the car peytons is remote and magical so its perhaps understandable that the region is associated with magic. This is mountain lena much of ski shes a more fatah as a female more father are known she personifies the secret knowledge of her homeland like saddam in this day you with that of another one you cant become a monk far you have to be born one would have sacred knowledge that is passed down for generations. But today at the. People here have always been religious there are Forty Churches for some thirty thousand people in their coven yup. And their faith predates christianity. Mantilly now shows us the tools of our trade a nail pendulum a dull knife and herbs she says she can use these things to heal people. Oracle bones are used to foretell the future they come from rabbits this one helps ward off the evil law i read you can recognize a witch by looking through a witch bone. We buy some bread and water were supposed to keep them overnight so that a more fire can breed the future were skeptical. People in the carpathian earn money from tourism and timber their spirituality is heavily influenced by ancient practices. Magic and sherman ism have learned to coexist here along side christianity or is it the other way around. It most farmers use christian symbols as well and they mix prayers and with ancient spells. There is something amiss between this woman and her neighbor only magic will help dove bush the more far uses a pendulum to make the diagnosis. Show me who is my friend and who is my enemy do you feel something on your palm warns. You have a good friend who envies you your walk. Before things get really serious has to put a coin on the side of the path its a toll for demons. Then bush and withdraw. Burn my back pain dont forget to burn the queen of pain turn to her torture punish her dont spare her during the day or the night. Populace says shes relieved more fired off bush has promised her neighbors envy will disappear. Faith and superstition are as inseparable as smoke and air in the carpet the ends recently more fires have been conjuring on behalf of their entire country ukraine which is waging war against separatists in the east magdalena recites a spell for protection. Just as smoke leaves fire so shall the enemy leave our borders today and for all time. We head on by horse drawn cart to a town high up in the mountains to see another celebrated morph aka. This woman is seventy two but people still come to our she doesnt want to tell our fortune today but does show us how its done. You need bread its put three times into water and you count from nine to one. If everythings fine the bread will float if not it sinks. Violently you know you but weve come during fasting season and its forbidden to practice magic right now the woman says that politicians also have their fortunes told but shes careful around them. Politicians from kiev reportedly also consulted the famous mother from a child on a child five years ago he was discovered stabbed to death magdalena believes it was a political assassination when he knew ukraines future and he spoke many times of a war that was about to break out the school so they probably decided to kill him so his secrets would go to the grave with him. Whatever the truth magic hasnt been able to protect ukraine from more. Magic may not have been able to prevent conflict in ukraine but a farmer in switzerland has decided to use another ancient method of summoning protection lobbying the government arm and loves his animals and believes that cows have rights and has made it his mission to curtail a practice he considers unnecessarily cruel he has even taken his fight all the way to the swiss parliament. You are going to get sleazy. Seeing the room and the guy me i dont mind farmer i mean couple has never followed the crowd. Hes a free spirit who has always done his own thing. And hes someone who usually gets what he wants sooner or later. And what he wants now is that cows get to keep their horns although they are all born with more nubs in switzerland eight out of ten kelvins are d. Horned this is often train full of the cattle. Its clearly cruelty to animals. This is the creator equipped cows with horns so for me its only natural that they belong to the animal this is all you can. Get it here. So he started campaigning to let swiss cows hold on to their horns for years he tried to do this through petitions but the authorities and the politicians wouldnt listen. So he launched his own cool horned Cow Initiative and against all odds collected more than one hundred fifty thousand signatures enough for a referendum on the matter. In a few months switzerlands more than five million voters will decide and army income power stands a good chance of winning despite opposition from the government the parliament and the association of swiss cattle breeders. And scientists of us cant be that Something Like whether cows have horns or not becomes part of the constitution i was looking for house here how theyre all standing around us so calm and peaceful atmosphere i dont think these animals are lacking for anything up to me and cows with horns significantly raise the risk of accidents. In the fall you fought off their. Own nose he cant bandy horning entirely he jokes that if you tried to do that someone might set fire to his cow stall instead hes seeking Financial Assistance for farmers who let their cattle keep their horns. Thats because these cows need more space in the stalls and d. Horned ones. His opponents say couples initiative would cost thirty million swiss francs. It will be at the scale where the money come from it have to be taken out of domestic agriculture and there certainly wouldnt be any more direct payments or subsidies and that would mean more discontent amongst farmers in one of them but the battle against horning is really about creating more nature oriented agricultural policies something armen couple plans to keep fighting for now he must find funding for his Referendum Campaign he paid for everything himself so far but now his wife has taken the bull by the horns and forbidding him from doing it again. Thats all from us here at focus on europe on behalf of the whole team we wish you a very happy twenty eight lets make it a good one thanks for watching. Us. Yeah yeah. Yeah frank. Yeah yeah. Yeah. And during the conflict zone confronting the powerful oaks this recall brings on is in warsaw where the polish government is facing mounting criticism from the e. U. Over its record on democracy and human rights my guest is the deputy Prime Minister matteo as far as yet this is government ready to address. But then so voiced by brussels well continue rejecting them out of this. In thirty minutes phone d. W. They make a commitment. They find solutions. They inspire. A