there's probably no place in any where and when things are going to be such a great success. the renaissance. starts april twenty second. hello and a warm welcome to focus on europe thanks for joining us now and again there are events and images so extraordinary that the entire world is seemingly moved the fire at the historic notre down cathedral in paris was such an event onlookers watched in shock as the flames ravaged their way from the rooftop to this fire the firefighters could only extinguish the flames the next morning. isn't just any church it's the heart and soul of the french capital and though parts of it have been destroyed the structure of the iconic building has been preserved and french president emanuel mccaughan has vowed to rebuild the church within just five years for parisian and those who love the city the fire was a reminder of just how beloved new to down is. live it was an incredible sight more and more people gathered in front of notre dame cathedral which was burning before their very eyes they sang and prayed together parishioners and tourists from around the world. the fire had already been raging for three hours the iconic twin bell towers were in danger of collapsing many here were hoping for a miracle like josie and early christians from lebannon. they had to go if there is water on either side. but it's on fire and they can't put it out. even in france with all of its modern technology they can't put it out you were praying to god said. also this you might if men can't do it maybe the good lord will help us. so that. it's not just not true donna from paris it's not your damn of all humanity even the muslims next to us started singing with us when they saw he was singing in arabic. much of notre dame's roof had collapsed the fate of its invaluable artworks and relics was still unclear a best it was somewhat difficult for me this is the symbol of paris i'm in love with paris and its art and culture that this could happen to such a powerful symbol i can't believe. people hoped and prayed firefighters could put out the fire there never been one like this at notre dame many of the beams in the churches wooden frame were almost a thousand years old. put them through. my heart my soul. was i'm a parisian born in paris to me it's our most important building. everyone cried tonight i stood beside muslims jews blacks whites this united everyone it touches our soul and breaks our hearts. some people stayed all night. then in the early hours of the morning the fire department announced that the blaze was under control though the damage is huge many of the most important artworks were rescued . who long work for the roman catholic archdiocese of paris is relieved and impressed by how many people of all religions to together. last night the grand the rabbi of france cited the old testament that's common to both christians and jews. the prophet isaiah said he my house will be called a house of prayer all peoples. and that's what not represents for christians of course but for all men of good faith whether they be jews or muslims or otherwise. even nonbelievers. some say it's a miracle notre dame is still standing. still i believe in resurrection. will rise again due to the extraordinary solidarity of those mobilizing to rebuild it before going to give up the sale i think we're capable of doing it maybe differently but we have to do it in this world no matter what the cost it will be huge but that doesn't matter it must be done and when you know you're from. notre dame and paris are experiencing an outpouring of solidarity people around the globe want to help restore the treasure cathedral to its former glory and help is on the way through an outpouring of generosity hundreds of millions of euros from individuals and companies have already been pledged to rebuild. these people are demonstrating for a liberal and cosmopolitan spain for a tolerant society well the current socialist government supports these values but with elections coming up in spain they are facing a serious challenge from the far right a populist loss party are gaining momentum after their surprise victory in regional elections they are unapologetic about the country's former a dictatorship during which tens of thousands were murdered many others were imprisoned and tortured well the effects of franco's forty year reign of terror still have a profound impact on the victims and their relatives today. it was the most terrible experience of his life billy merrow was just nineteen when he was thrown into this prison in madrid. today it's hard to imagine the horrors that took place here during the fascist regime of francisco franco to force mayor to speak the police staged his execution. and. when they point to pistol and press the trigger with no bullet for this and that split second two things can happen you can just stand there speechless like i did or you fall apart. or so that. the young communist did not reveal any names his time in prison in the early one nine hundred seventy s. helped spur his decision to enter politics where he eventually served as m.e.p. for the united left bloc mayor fears that right wing populist are gaining support in twenty eighteen the far right box party took a leaven percent of the vote and to lucy as regional election now the country is heading into a general election. if it does it would have better i feel safe today but i'm very worried because a political force like box is yearning for a time in which we lived under a dictatorship of. the far right the box party wants to unseat the socialists the crowd of voc supporters have come to this bullfighting away enough for a rally many have written the slogan spain for the spanish on their flags they want to ban abortion and same sex marriage and they glorify the years under the dictatorship. grayle if we would the franco years weren't so bad there was a good side. of our border ok it was a dictatorship but a homeless one. just them yet we just had a crowd of spain's history thanks to franco spain made progress and became what it is today. for franco's victims and their families sentiments lie. these are a slap in the face for nine years they've been demonstrating every thursday in the center of madrid. they're calling for truth justice and retribution they say the dead should be exempt from mass graves and given a proper burial and their murderers and torturers brought to justice for the people here the rise of the far right is a shock. to brighten their lot and they want to recant ques a recount quest can you believe it this is a disgrace to spain. that's why we're here demonstrating against fascism not for ourselves we're old they're not but for our children our grandchildren. the crimes of the dictatorship have been swept under the carpet agrees nicholas sanchez. under franco he became a forced labor he fled spain and only returned after franco's death he wrote a book about his life spain's younger generation he believes has learned far too little about the horrors of the dictatorship that's why many are now joining the far right. haven't properly grappled with our own history we're going to a lot of we had an entire series of very conservative governments. made sure that schoolchildren never learned about what actually happened in this country. they'd undenied that we had a dictatorship. spain's history has divided the country far right box leader santiago rejects the notion that any form of reckoning or redress is necessary to come to terms with franco's nearly forty year dictatorship but you only look are you going to apologize for our history we should acknowledge its glory it's a darker side and all the best out of it and take pride in it that you know you're really mayor. is dismayed and angry at the spanish left which he says failed to counter the rise of the far right he hopes the radical right won't have a strong showing in the general election and become kingmakers in a new conservative government as they did in and. say we're not allowed not to that was one of the most terrible nights of my life. in this war that after so many years of struggle and sacrifice of this of after so many disappeared so many who were forced to flee from credit so many who were tortured that this would be a step backwards it would be like starting over again at zero the third of. billy mayer says he won't give up he'll continue to fight for a just and lightened and modern spain. many girls the world over dream of becoming famous and reality casting shows can offer a fast track to fame and fortune eleven year old tango from russia dreams of making it big as a singer but first she has to win over the tough judges to make it through to the finals with millions of russians tuning in the competition can be brutal especially for children but from chinese for eventual city of to there the draw of the big stage in moscow is worth the risk. to make it big you've got to stop small. a rehearsal room in severe a provincial russian city eight weeks before the show. act just eleven years old lead singer tom your goal is one of russia's youngest rocks it. has to move in with my band mates are quite a bit older but if i were to play with kids my own age or even we could never achieve this quality level we're tame. johnny has been chasing her dream of talent show success but she is she'd applied for goalless russia's version of the voice once before but didn't make it past the first round since then she's been rehearsing every day in her hometown to the city lies on the boat and on the rail line between moscow and st peters but. tommy is having private singing lessons with her voice teacher musharraf's. time he has an unusually strong will to sing rock you must have an inner motivation time he has that and a natural presence which you don't need for the thread if you. just four weeks to go till the show tanya has to go to moscow to rehearse with the orchestra for russian television channel one but the on phone bill has little experience with hard rock so can it work. and is there any way usually play this song twice as fast. as his wish i listened and thought. why. finally the day of the show has come and tommy is hoping that a slower version of the song will strike the right chord with the jury he did. it but the other will be ready to go on at twenty two eleven. with that though millions of people all across russia are waiting to hear who the jury will send to the final round russia's been in a talent show frenzy for years now. young performers sing their versions of songs by big stars. at last tommy a girl keenness on with her own interpretation of never grunge and smells like teen spirit. the juries made up of three famous russian singers. they sit with their backs to the contestants judging solely on what they hear if nobody's turned their chair around by the songs and the singers out of the running . meet babied see. mike you and i get to see him. and that's just how he goes for tonya none of the jury members turned around the eleven year old aspiring the singer from to via has to fight not to break down in tears. that was the request can i say she's just not right for this format or rather channel one's not yet ready for tanya's music. now they'll be hearing from me. no happy ending for tommy or other youngsters are waiting backstage hundreds while thousands sit at home in front of their t.v.'s watching. the. weeks ago we shared with you the story of how a young man from iraq who had camped out on the french coast of cali with no roof over his head he was left to sleep under a bridge in the middle of winter and not told us his goal was to cross the english channel over to the u.k. before border controls were reintroduced for braves it he repeatedly risked his life trying to cross the freezing waters on an inflatable dinny or correspondences and adore hegar has kept in contact with hammer and brings us this update. february twenty fifth twenty nineteen hama from iraq squeezed into a refrigerator truck with other refugees trying to cross the english channel from county to britain without permission. they were all risking their lives. hour after nine hours without knowing what was happening around them the truck was in britain fear melted away only now did hama dare to take videos on his cell phone that come together some long. ago you cannot describe the feeling it's unbelievable as it's happens because something when to not expect something and you wanted to happen when it's happened it's you cannot. explain it. the asylum authority sent homage to liverpool it was his first time on british soil after at least sixty attempted crossings in over ten thousand euros paid to people smugglers. after all he's been through his room in the refugee shelter here feels like paradise welcome this is my home this is my bit. in here is better warm safe no objection of the police no in trooping or anything else. hama says that in iraq he was roughed up by the kurdish secret service and threatened with murder his dream was to get to britain he imagined english gardens stately homes and best of all an open liberal society. but the reality of britain is very different. time is afraid to walk the streets at night in this neighborhood some locals are less than welcoming and far from cosmopolitan. when you walk. you know walking. near to them close to them. they look at you by some way that you are not belong to this side you have a different one night friend of me. how my don't. walk around and the midnight. in the night because lots of people in here are drunk they say they want to make a problem so it's for your safety. and he gets homesick especially times like this. someone has placed roses in a tribute to their mother on a lamp post that reminds hama of his own family. i left my. country i didn't tell him you didn't tell him. i was i was in greece. i was in greece my brothers. and i didn't speak with tail i guess it's. just arriving to italy i. see i speak with a on she. she she writes lots. how much doesn't know when he'll see his mother and siblings again he can't leave britain until his asylum status has been decided. he tries to communicate with people wherever he can americans knew him here so what do you think you need if you bring revenue to the economy that will soon be a problem for. some some kind of people maybe they do that not every everyone's going to have a different opinion on that he said i don't see a problem thanks thanks i said thanks a lot but right thanks ali. on his way to britain how often acted as an interpreter for other refugees in an effort to be of service here to he offered his services to the red cross fortunately for him and the red cross his language skills are needed. meanings he said because this ronnie and i are. that's fantastic for us to to to have an interactive with us providing supposed with those skills yet it's just one of the many many ways of integrating and becoming part of new movement to and we recognize that recklessness on cities have a lot of positive contributions to. hama has applied for asylum now he's waiting for the interview that will help determine his future. it's my dream come true that's what i think so maybe i'm right maybe i'm wrong. i will fight just like i thought to come here i will fight to stay here. he's made a start. hummel wants to study nursing at a university and start a new life step by step. in security and freedom. tackling food waste is becoming increasingly important as we seek to make our world more sustainable the european union has committed to reduce fuel waste by fifty percent by the year twenty thirty and in the czech republic the government has already acted by introducing a new law that declares war on food waste it's an initiative welcomed by people like stanislav said elect but critics say it's crossing the line. once a week stanislav said he like opens up his garage for the needy he distributes groceries mostly to pensioners and single mothers today he has pizzas that have almost reached their sell by date supermarkets are no longer allowed to throw these products away they are legally obliged to give them to charity organizations marta franco about is happy she can no invite her grandchildren to dinner muddy it out i get a small pension of about three hundred dollars and when i have to buy call and pay the electric bill it's hard to. climb out of a comes here every week at age thirty she's on disability because of heart trouble receiving the equivalent of one hundred sixty euros a month but groceries cost about the same in the czech republic as they do in germany she comes away with three pizzas and a pair of ridge she says these will last five days. this is did you know at first i was ashamed because this was someone i didn't know and i've never done anything like this asking a stranger for food even if i know he gives it to others then you first. need told me i can come here every thursday at a certain time. so i do. this difference to john cherry picks up the food items daily from supermarkets in and around prague the discounters are now required by law to give him merchandise about to reach its best before date this staff member of a prague food bank wholeheartedly supports the idea. it's terrible when you see how many people have nothing to eat and then the stores just toss all these products in the dumpster or you. just horrible. new boxes of yogurt fruit and chocolate stacked up in the proud food bank about ten tons of groceries are distributed each day to around twenty two thousand people in need hardly anything is thrown away people either pick it up directly or it goes to homeless shelters and soup kitchens. the new law means we have much more food at our disposal and a greater variety get more perishable goods including fruit and vegetables. the discount supermarket say the law is a mistake. the regulations are quite strict sometimes it's not easy to determine which fruit we're still allowed to pass on and which we need to throw away after all the charities have to document that the perishable goods will be used quickly. a complaint was filed at the constitutional court by some czech senators they said the last smacked of communism and that other potential beneficiaries were losing out. we lodged a complaint because the state was deciding who the supermarket should give food to . for example some discounters have been donating such products to zoos that have any sort of well now they're not allowed to do so despite the quantities available being enough for everyone that it will dock is all because our it was brought in as our column is the most general stanislav so deal like disagrees there's not enough to go around he says food prices are so high that even ordinary pensioners rely on food banks the state isn't providing enough support but. the problem is that there are many people like me who say my pension is enough i don't need to work i can volunteer. i don't earn anything from what i do here i go with. what stanislav really like is a freezer the law may have made more food available for distribution but the czech republic is by no means a paradise for those in need plenty of food for thought well that's all for this edition of focus on europe feel free to get in touch about this week's topic on twitter you can also find more stories on our website. thanks for watching and. the food. is going to. be. going. into the conflict zone confronting the powerful. the most of those are treaty organization nato has just started seventieth birthday but it wasn't a happy one my guess this week period nato headquarters is rose got so much luck feel good musicians deputy secretary general cool she now acknowledged the great so far as serious splits in its unity conflicts so few minutes on the phone. hold. her first day at school in the jungle. her first coming lesson. then doris crane the moment arrives. join during getting on our journey back to freedom. in our interest in documentary. tour of the ring of jane returns home on d w dot com orangutang. birth. home of species. a home worth saving. those are big changes and most start with small steps the ideas tell stories of creative people and innovative projects around the world. to use the toilet boost drainage systems and reforestation. the crew to interactive content teaching the next generation about environmental protection. using all channels available to inspire people to take action and most attorneys to do something here for the next generation the idea is the environment series of global three thousand on d w and online. i'm scared that the volume or that's hard and in the end is a me you're not allowed to stay here any more we will send you back. are you familiar with this. with the smugglers with lions and. what's your story. on what numbers of women especially of victims of violence. take part and send us