him and hi >> hello and a very m welcome to "focus on europe." thanks very much for joining us. i'm damien mcguinness, and we've got a great show lined up for you today. the catholic priest who is helping save refugees. the english dj's who are more about hip replacement than hip hop. and the romanian sturgeons in danger of extinction. one of the biggest ethical dilemmas facing europe at the moment is what to do about the record numbers of refugees trying to flee across the mediterranean. european governments don't want to let them die if they get into

trouble out at sea. but they also don't want to encourage more migrants to attempt the perilous journey. but we've met up with one man, a catholic priest, himself a former refugee, who is very clear about what is the right thing to do. >> father mussie zerai knows it won't be long before his phone rings again with desperate phone calls or messages with coordinates from somewhere at sea between africa and europe. then he'll do everything he can to help his compatriots. father mussie is from eritrea, and for many refugees, he's the last hope. >> whe that, i call the coast guard in italy or malta -- often both. i send them the information so they can locate the boat carrying refugees on the mediterranean.

>> his phone number has been found scratched into the railings of refugee boats. it's handed around refugee camp across north africa. right now, the weather is still too poor to make the crossing, but soon people will again risk their lives on rickety, overcrowded boats, at the hands of unscrupulous people smugglers. all for the hope of a better life in europe. services for the eritrean catholic congregation in basel. father mussie's bishop sent him to switzerland, where he tends to 14 congregations across the country. the congregants are grateful for the occasional mass said in their native language. life isn't always easy for immigrants in switzerland. in his sermon, father mussie talks about the responsibility that everyone has for their own fate. the priest knows the problems faced by the members of his flock -- after all, he was himself a refugee.

the church members appreciate a priest who understands their needs. as often as he can, father mussie travels to roe. he lived there for many years, and still looks after refugees in the city. he sleeps at the vatican but pays his travel expenses himself. his friend abraham drives him around rome. the two have known each other for more than 20 years. >> whenever anyone turns to him, he never says, "i can't." he just does it. >> father mussie takes us to the ponte mammolo refugee camp. cameras aren't usually allowed here, but the residents make an exception for the padre. it's a slum similar to those found in africa, but we're right in the middle of wealthy europe. the residents are left to their own devices.

>> around 130 people live here. it's an unacceptable situation in a civilized country, which should welcome refugees in a humane way. >> humane? here, 130 people share just four toilets. 130 people, most of whom have recognized refugee status, and are in italy legally. 130 people trying to somehow survive. there's no government support -- and no work. a few of the men offer us tea. although desperately poor, they insist on maintaining their standards of hospitality. tesfay has been here for 11 years. but he still has nothing more than the dream of a better life.

>> there's no work, so we have to live here. no work also means that there's no solution. >> if there were a system that integrated refugees into society, this sort of place wouldn't exist. but i don't see any political will to provide a solution to this situation. >> father mussie rooms with another clergyman in switzerland. he can't afford an apartment of his own. he says that, with its avowal to uphold human rights, europe has a moral obligation to refugees. >> these people come here looking for freedom, justice, and dignity. >> father mussie zerai has made

helping refugees his life's work. he knows that the desperate calls wi reach him for a long time to come. but now to romania, home to one of the last wild sturgeon populations in europe. the giant fish are extremely valuable because they are a source of caviar. as a result they ar threatened by illegal fishing. and many species of sturgeon are in danger of extinction. to find out more, our reporters have been out on the danube river tracking down the poachers. >> rangers nicu acsentiev and nicu simionov have been patrolling the danube river delta in romania for hours. they and a few colleagues watch over an area of about 5000 square kilometers. they're on the lookout for poachers who hunt sturgeon. >> the poachers know this area like the backs of their hands. they know we are after them, so it is very difficult to catch

them. >> and this is what the poachers are looking for. sturgeon can grow to be up to 7 meters long. the fish made their first appearance on earth 200 million years ago, but their population in the danube delta is threatened with extinction. they are being overfished, because sturgeon eggs are caviar -- a valuable prize for fishermen. poachers in the delta are brutal and ruthless, as ranger nicu acsentiev learned the hard way. >> i have a big wound here on my head, and my arms are full of scars. when i tried to arrest them, they attacked me with their hooks. i was in the hospital for 40 days. >> suddenly the rangers discover these boats. they think the fisherman seem suspicious.

>> so what have you caused there? show me your fish. you know what you have to do with the sturgeon! you didn't catch any sturgeon? you have the nets used for sturgeon. >> but apart from a few carp and pike-perch, the rangers find nothing. they let the fishermen go. a little earlier, other rangers were more successful. they caught two poachers red-handed hiding this big sturgeon under their boat. >> you know what kind of fish that is, don't you? >> a sturgeon! >> once more, louder. what kind of fish? >> a sturgeon! >> the poachers' fishing gear is confiscated, and they can expect a jail sentence. but the rangers are seldom successful.

many fishermen in the danube delta are very poor, so some poach anything that brings money. here, for example, we witnessed poachers dragging a wild boar carcass to a dealer's vehicle. poachers are a conspiratorial group, but we got a tip and were able to meet an insider. our hidden camera recorded what the man had to say about this illegal business. >> here in the danube are deep channels. that's where the big sturgeon go. the fishermen use an unusual technique to kill them. they take electric cables down there and kill them with high-voltage electricity. the police don't care -- they turn a blind eye. but it looks like fireworks, or a huge light show in a disco. >> and so the danube is being ruthlessly overfished.

to secure the sturgeon's survival, fish farms have been established, like this one in sulina on the black sea coast. the young fish from the farms are later released in the danube. but this fish breeder, andre bezusenco, says some so-called fish farms are only pretending to breed sturgeon. >> we suspect that some companies work together with the poachers. they declare that they bred the fish, and that allows them to sell them legally on the market. but in fact they are selling wild sturgeon. >> and so a regular sturgeon mafia has spread in the danube delta. >> of course, everyone's involved in the business, even police officers. some of them have their own poaching gangs. here in the delta, everyone knows everyone. no one sees what you do. not even the devil. >> in the evening, the rangers return to their station. this time their search was again in vain, the poachers were

faster. all the rangers could secure were the nets. >> these nets are made specifically to catch sturgeon. they have a very fine, very tough weave. not even the smallest, youngest sturgeon no chance to escape. >> fishing for sturgeon has been banned here for almost 10 years. but there is so much poaching that no one knows whether the sturgeon population will ever recover. >> a former russian spy, who's fallen out with the kremlin, is poisoned by russian secret agents in a london hotel, as they put polonium in his tea. it may sound like something out of a spy novel, but this is allegedly what happened to alexander litvinenko in 2006. a public inquiry into that case has just opened. but other kremlin opponents in

europe say they also fear for their safety, including a former chechen minister who accuses vladimir putin of war crimes. >> said-emin ibragimov doesn't come alone to the river ill near strasbourg to fish anymore. last august, two men attacked him here, and it's a miracle that he lived to tell the story. >> they hit me on the head from behind. then they dragged me into the woods and tortured me there with a clothes iron on the chest, the back, everywhere. >> ibragimov hoped to be able to live in freedom when he sought refuge in strasbourg 12 years ago. he had flown from the violence and torture of the russians in chechnya. but moscow's long arm caught up with him in the west.

ibragimov is convinced that the torturers were henchmen of russian president putin. for a long time, he had been receiving threats that something would happen if he didn't withdraw his suit against putin. >> i sent my letter to the international court of justice in the hague nyway. in it, i accuse putin of having committed crimes against the chechen people. >> in the 1990's, ibragimov was communications minister and a legal expert in chechnya's autonomous government. he has assembled a huge dossier alleging putin's responsibility for kidnappings and murders committed by the russian army in chechnya. ibragimov wants justice -- with legal means. he is a pacifist and has always rejected chechen violence in their striving for independence.

>> i'm against any "holy war" or terrorism. i oppose all violence, all bloodshed, all war. >> ibragimov had placed his hopes in the european council. he provided pages and pages of reports on atrocities in chechnya and is bitterly disappointed that he never received an answer. the council's headquarters in strasbourg knows of ibragimov's case, but don't want to comment on it. >> personally, i think that the council of europe, the parliamentary assembly, is fundamentally about dialog. it's not a military organization. and i think it's best to continue that dialog with the russian authorities and the russian delegation. >> ibragimov is one of 30,000 chechens who fled from their country to france. they all live in fear of reprisals. >> the russian secret service has registered all the chechens

in europe. and russia's governor in chechnya, khadirov, systematically sends agents to threaten them and get the exiles to return to chechnya. if the threats don't work, they resort to physical attacks. >> this intimidation works. hardly any victims of attacks file charges against the perpetratos. the french judiciary seems to turn a blind eye, representatives of chechens abroad even speak of massive french-russian cooperation. >> the french secret service receives information about chechen terrorists from the russian secret service. in return, the french provide all kinds of information on peaceable chechens who have applied for asylum here. and that's not allowed.

>> ibragimov's last hope is the international court in the hague. every day, he hopes to hear that his case will be heard. >> if the international community doesn't condemn putin, he'll continue committing crimes. he will never admit his guilt. >> most attacks on putin critics in exile have something in common -- the perpetrators remain at large. inbragimov has survived six attacks so far. but every day, he has to fear the next one. >> fighting in eastern ukraine is escalating. in one recent rocket attack on a residential neighborhood in the city of mariupol, 30 people were killed and nearly 100 injured. kyiv says the shelling was carried out by pro-russian separatists. but whoever is to blame, the

attack highlights one of the problems with this conflict -- that the indiscriminate violence means civilians in particular are being hit hard, including children. >> these children have just spent four weeks on vacation in northern germany -- a respite from the conflict in ukraine. now they've got an 800 kilometer journey home ahead of them. to mariupol, a city on the edge of the fighting. 30 children from eastern ukraine who have grown accustomed to the sight of soldiers. those little girls of the soldiers do not shoot at children. the nitsches, who are members of a christian aid organization, had the idea of taking these children out of the warzone. >> germany is a very "happy" country in comparison to ukraine. everything works. there are laws and they are kept. in ukraine laws are passed, but they're not adhered to.

>> the home comers have just entered the donetsk region. we're just 40 kilometers from mariupol. that parents take them us at the bus stop. the besieged city has them in its clutches again. >> there were attacks and firing. you can hear the impact of the shells. that's everyday life these days in mariupol. people go to work and the children go to school. that's our life nowadays. >> 16-year-old david can't wait to get home. his mother is terminally ill with cancer. medical care here in eastern ukraine is catastrophic. many doctors have left mariupol and the health care system is on the verge of collapse. >> i was very worried about mum.

>> when he said he'd be away for a month, i was very worried i'd die before he was back. >> daniel tells her what impressed him about germany. >> in germany you can drink water out of the tap that you'd have to buy in a shop in ukraine. >> the next morning we drop in on jegor. the 11-year-old normally lives here. but when money is short, his mother takes him to the local children's home where he can get food and a warm bed for free. he is growing up against a backdrop of poverty and war. we ask him if he wants to become a soldier one day. >> maybe, but i'd rather not really. >> a family friend is in the army. >> he said it's terrible when you have to kill people or watch

them dying. >> jegor's shoes are his pride and joy. he's never owned anything new before. they're a present from his time in germany -- a world away from his life here. >> but finally to britain -- one of the world's big exporters of pop music -- but a country where it's not only young hipsters on the turntables. a group of senior citizens has decided to get into the groove, by learning how to dj the music they want to hear on a local radio station. >> you might say portsmouth is a rather down-at-heel british equivalent of a florida resort. england's south coast attracts many senior citizens who used to while away their time here with tea dances and music, but for years now, the pleasure piers with their ballrooms, arcades and pavilions have been crumbling into the sea. once the pulsing centre of

seaside fun -- now just fading memories -- >> it was always packed with people. always, so it is very sad now, looking at it all. just, you know, looking across at the pier. it is sad. there are no signs of the good old times returning here any time soon. but joan and her gang decided to revive the past at least over the air waves. with the help of the technically savvy tony they have set up their own radio station for oldies. the average age of its dj's is 75, and the biggest challenge they face is mastering the computers where some of the songs from their youth are stored. >> i'd always shied away from computers. and i'd never touched a typewriter to even know where

the keys were. but gene said i've picked it up ok -- quite well. >> the first time i looked at it i said i should blow that up as soon as i touch it. [laughs] >> but most of the music is on vinyl -- sometimes practically as old as the dj's themselves. >> when i first did it, i was absolutely terrified. i don't think i slept for a week. but tony doesn't leave you like that for long. he soon gets you out of it one way or another. and he can trick you quite easily into being on the air without you even realizing. >> today it's jeannie turn. >> we're going to show you how to cue a record up. >> now this is something i haven't done. >> while advice about rheumatism is being given next door, tony is explaining to the budding dj how to lower the turntable needle gently.

not so easy when you're 79. now angel radio has one more dj to bring memories of the past into the living rooms of its thousands of senior listeners. >> angel radio, 101.1. quite one of the first listeners was june, who became lonely after the death of her husband and fell into a deep depression. the radio was her salvation. suddenly, everything came back to her -- the 1970's, her children, and even her husband. >> and once you're on your own then you feel that you are alone the whole time.

and to a certain extent you are. we've got wardens that come in and we've got the pull-calls if you need anything. and they do the shopping. but that's for everyone. and with angel radio, each listener feels that they are the only one. and so one day she decided to call by the angels and meet the people who had lifted her mood so decisively. and within a few weeks, she was one of the stars of the station. her monday night show with pete, who used to own a disco, has become one of radio angel's big hits. >> i like it to be heard all over. everywhere. when i think of so many lonely people, old people. not only lonely and old. my daughter's 56 and she enjoys it as much as i do.

>> their radio station has become so successful that they're planning to apply for a license to broadcast nationwide. and the chances are looking good for a golden oldies station that makes its dj's just as happy as its listeners. >> reminds me a bit of my hometown in southport in northern england. well that's all for today. remember do feel free to get in touch any time. after last week's show and the report about anti-islam marches in germany, quite a few of you tweeted saying that there should be more respect for other people's beliefs. do keep those comments coming. in the meantime, thanks for watching. and see you next time. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

♪ >> hello there. welcome to "newsline". i'm catherine kobayashi. our top story this hour, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake has struck off the coast of iwate prefecture in northeastern japan around 8:00 a.m. japan time on tuesday. the japan meteorological agency says it observed a several-centimeter tsunami at ports in the region. major damage hasn't been reported so far. and officials with three nuclear facilities in the region say they also