christopher: a very warm welcome to "focus on europe," bringing you the human stories behind the european headlines. my name's christopher springate. here's what we have for you this week. the designer drugs sweeping through poland. the controversial whale hunt in the faroe islands. and the forgotten conflict in nagorno-karabakh. teenagers call them "legal highs" -- substances that aren't banned but nevertheless leave them intoxicated. particularly dangerous are so-called designer drugs, designed to imitate the effects

of illegal drugs, using ingredients that remain legal. authorities across europe are scrambling to catch up with the legal highs. often they can only ban them when the damage is already done. in poland for instance, two people died and dozens were hospitalised last month, after taking a designer drug. >> the dealer and his customer prefer to meet us in the forest. they'd rather not call attention to themselves. the dealer is selling designer drugs. concerns about their health risks are growing. >> they're legal. you can buy 'em on the internet, from friends, or in a shop. they're like amphetamines or cocaine, depending on the type and the price. it's not certain what's actually in these drugs. some contain creatine. others have detergents or flour. some of the mixtures have other stuff for a more powerful kick. >> we asked the buyer whether he'd ever had a bad trip.

>> i was sitting at the computer one day, and suddenly my hand started shaking. i stood up, then i doubled over with a cramp, and fell down. my tongue swelled up. i was screaming. some medics arrived, and took me to the hospital. reporter: this user was shaking all over when he got to the hospital. the way this man is thrashing around is a pretty good indication that he's been using synthetic drugs. some of the patients are completely unresponsive. this one's in critical condition. >> the patients are extremely aggressive. they smash things, including hospital equipment -- and they assault the staff. sometimes, we need up to six police officers to restrain them. reporter: in the space of just a few weeks there were more than 300 cases of drug poisoning in poland, and two drug-related deaths. the wave of overdoses has been particularly serious in

southwest poland. police have seized large quantities of drugs packed in small bags. "mocarz," which means "strongman," is the current drug of choice. it usually consists of vegetable matter soaked in chemicals. people who use it get high, and then lose control. polish officials are trying to get the situation under control. researchers at this government institute are collecting and analyzing as many synthetic drugs as they can. this high-tech device uses x-ray technology to scan samples. but the researchers fear that they're fighting a losing battle -- because more and more new drugs keep hitting the market. >> if ten new substances turn up on the european market over the course of a month, we can't just ban them outright. we find out about some of these

drugs only after someone ends up in the hospital, or even dies. reporter: the main problem is that these drugs are technically legal, and easy to buy. the labels on the packages say things like "detergent." and there's a warning, "not for human consumption." these drugs are so cheap to produce that some people simply make their own. >> most of these drugs are made in china, but they're also produced locally. we've got a lot of talented young chemists in poland, and they keep coming up with new synthetic drugs. reporter: this young man seems to be having a tough time of it. a young woman chirps, "you'll be fine." then she adds, "i'll post it on facebook." damian continues to take drugs,

even though they once put him in the hospital. and pawel the dealer continues to sell drugs. >> i sell the real thing, and only to people i know. if i don't know them, they can shove it. well, i might sell them some lessergrade stuff, even if it makes them puke. reporter: more and more people who are addicted to designer drugs are turning up at this treatment facility. krystian has been clean for several months -- but he's still having some symptoms. >> i forget a lot. i'll set something down, like a pen, and then forget where i put it. or i'll look for my keys, even though they're right in my hand. reporter: the rules at the treatment facility are strict. the patients check each other regularly for drugs. anyone who's caught using has to leave immediately. the head therapist is shocked by the condition of some patients when they arrive.

>> most of them are physically and psychologically ruined -- because these legal highs damage the nerves and vital organs. reporter: krystian is pleased that he's getting his life back under control. damian and pawel, on the other hand, continue on their destructive path. christopher: what is it, europeans ask themselves, that makes people risk their lives to reach our shores? is life in africa and the middle east really that bad? thousands of desperate migrants say, yes it is -- that's why we cross deserts and seas to get here. well, that desperation remains visible as they head towards the prosperous north of europe, towards britain for instance. many migrants again risking their lives in the french port city of calais, as they try to jump on trucks heading for the channel tunnel. for an inside view, we caught up with a truck driver who knows the route well. reporter: axel humke has been transporting luxury cars to britain for 10 years now.

and more recently, stowaways too. >> when they break in they damage the bodywork. and that can mean the best part of 40,000 euros totalled. reporter: he surveys his load one last time outside antwerp. from there, he'll be trucking non-stop to calais. it's a 200-kilometer journey across belgium and then into france. he can't afford to take a break, due to the risk of refugees boarding his truck. and what axel humke really dreads are these kinds of scenes in calais. >> some of them hang onto the mirrors. you can see them climbing up on the back. it's pretty awful, but it's become normal. reporter: as has the misery endured by the refugees, which the rest of the world only sees on their tv screens.

>> one slipped in without me noticing. i was taking a break in silverstone in england. when i opened the truck at bentley, i found an immigrant on there, in a basket. he'd made it all the way to britain. reporter: for most of the migrants, the journey ends here at the entrance to the tunnel under the english channel. to avoid getting a fine on the other side humke asks for his truck to be checked -- especially when he detects something suspicious. >> during checks i tell them there are immigrants on board. they bring in the dogs, i open up and there are six of them inside. reporter: the refugees risk everything. at least 9 of them have died this year alone attempting to cross the channel. for the time being the only response from the french and british authorities is higher fences, more police and more barbed wire.

not so much resolving the problem as relocating it. that affects axel humke in other ways as well. many highway rest area toilets are now closed on the roads leading to the coast. people smugglers try to sneak refugees onto trucks a long way before calais. officials in the belgian city of bruges have only legal tools at their disposal. the public prosecutor has been inundated with cases of people smuggling. >> the pressure coming from calais and the french refugee camps means that a growing number of people are now being taken to the border area. then they get hidden in trucks. reporter: we're now approaching the channel tunnel in calais. traffic seems to be flowing normally, and unusually, there are hardly any refugees on the side of the road today.

>> normally this is where they'd already be getting on board. and when there were traffic jams, it was just chaos. they must have done a massive clear-up job. reporter: axel humke can barely believe it. he's made it all the way to the tunnel check-in without any incident -- this time. a few hours later, as evening falls, the refugees emerge and continue their trek to the tunnel. christopher: they're full of life and crucial to the livelihoods of millions --

europe's seas. and in this week's episode of our summer series on europe's seas, we take you to the northern atlantic, to a remote archipelago that belongs to denmark, the faroe islands. now, the people on the faroes are proud sea-farers -- particularly proud of their age-old tradition of hunting whales. but it's a tradition that's drawing fierce criticism from activists. our reporters, veit-ulrich braun and markus böhnisch, travelled to the faroes to get a rare glimpse of this controversial whale hunt. reporter: it's a good day to go out fishing, one of the few sunny days in the faroe islands in the north atlantic. for twenty years, andreas nyggjegard worked as a fisherman. now, fishing for cod is just a hobby for him. there aren't enough left to make a living from it. andreas only catches them to feed his family -- and to commune with nature. he cites much the same reasons to explain why the the faroese

still hunt whales. >> it is special, because, if you look around us, you see birds here and the whales there -- you don't see any the whales now, but the whales -- these animals are living free, and we just take them out and eat them. they are not raised like on a farm in europe, where you have cows and pigs and chickens and everything. you raise them up and on purpose kill them. but the nature takes care of it, we take it out of the nature. reporter: the ship in the distance is one the faroese know very well. it's the brigitte bardot from the sea shepherd conservation society. the crew are activists here to prevent the annual whale slaughter -- if they can. they see the tradition as obsolete and unnecessary -- even if the pilot whale isn't endangered. >> we have nothing against faroe people. we are against the killintg of marine animals, because it's not necessary any more. i mean, the locals, they keep on insisting that they need to kill

to live -- to sustain themselves, they need the food. reporter: images like these disgust conservationists around the world -- a bay red with the blood of the slaughtered whales lined up on the quay. near hvannasund, villagers in boats drive them up to the shore, where specially trained lancers are waiting to kill them. >> if you want to have beef on the table, some animal had to be killed. if it's in a slaughterhouse or in this public slaughterhouse, it doesn't make any difference. reporter: but the 'public slaughterhouse' isn't accessible to the public. the danish navy has sent a frigate, and police dinghies keep the sea shepherd activists at a distance. even as the whales are heaved onto the quay, the police are there to push back a small group of activists and spectators. most of the police officers have come from denmark as reinforcements.

their job is to stop the protesters from stopping the killing. >> last year, sea shepherd was able to interfere with the grind, and they were actually able to drive pods away, without being seen or without, you know, so the locals get them so they could kill them. so the government here must have actually all their heads together, and they have thought this, and they have thought about, 'what can we do to stop sea shepherd?' reporter: this time it took the police and the navy to stop the activists. a couple of hours after the hunt, the coordinator shows up with a list showing who gets how much meat from the whales. andreas nyggjagard also gets a share. the villagers get down to work, stripping off layers of blubber to get to the precious meat. almost every part of the whale is used. it takes about two hours of hard work to process the kill. andreas' wife is satisfied.

>> it's a way of getting food that's for free. like the tax is high here, my income is not that high, so it's a good way of getting some food on the table. reporter: the faroese cite the need to preserve tradition and their culture. >> if we stop killing the whales and continue to pollute the oceans, they will die of cancer or whatever disease, so instead of trying to make people focus on this, stop polluting the nature. reporter: the faroese kill an average of some 800 pilot whales a year. and they intend to continue, no matter what the rest of the world says. christopher: so, pictures there that leave activists outraged. people on the faroe islands say theyve been doing it for centuries. but what do you think? do send me your tweets on that. as ever, youll find me at spring

on the road. imagine a dormant volcano, with red-hot lava simmering just below the surface, ready to erupt. that comes close to describing the tension in nagorno-karabakh, the site of one of europe's forgotten conflicts. the conflict's origin dates back to 1991, when fighting broke out between armenia and azerbaijan, claiming some 30, 000 lives. nagorno-karabakh broke away from azerbaijan, becoming an ethnic armenian enclave within azeri territory. the international community has never recognised nagorno-karabakh's independence, and the enclave remains a flashpoint. for the armenian perspective, our reporter travelled to the frontline of this simmering conflict. reporter: the southern caucasus, towering mountains and impenetrable valleys. both sides fought hard for control of the highways. a memorial commemorates an armenian victory. vulo arsumanyan took part in the fighting, as a member of

armenian separatist forces. he's no longer a soldier -- but he still drives a military vehicle. >> we were defending our homeland, our churches, our cemeteries, our soil, and our families. we didn't want a war. reporter: stepanakert is the capital of the self-proclaimed republic of nagorno-karabakh. these are the government offices. the republic's flag is similar to armenia's. don't stick the karabakh travel visa in your passport, because the republic has no official status. >> being the minister of a non-recognized country, i m more free in my works. i have no big need to follow all sorts of diplomatic protocol. reporter: vulo often leaves the capital, travelling east to visit his younger brother who has just signed up to serve in the volunteer forces on the front line.

one of every six residents of nagorno-karabakh serves in the armed forces. the enclave is more like a military zone than a republic. anushavan was once a competitive athlete -- a wrestler, in fact. now, at the age of 40 he's a military recruit. he doesn't care if the pay is bad. he wants to protect his country -- just as his brother did before him. we're about 15-kilometers away from the front -- the demarcation line that separates armenians and azerbaijanis. the troops have dug in. they've set up tin-cans on a trip-wire to warn of possible intruders. there are trenches, barbed wire and land-mines. there are even military bibles in camouflage cover. >> the enemy is particularly active at night. they've got snipers. you can see the troops moving around.

they fire at us, and we fire back. that's how we hold the line. >> what sorts of weapons have they got? >> i can't say for sure. >> all kinds, huh? >> yeah, various kinds. reporter: the azeri troops are hunkered down behind sandbags about 200meters away. there's gunfire here on the front-line just about every day. not far away is the village of varanda. only ethnic armenians live here now -- including boris and his family. the azerbaijanis who used to live here were forced to leave, and their homes were destroyed. it's unlikely they'll be allowed to come back. >> we'll never let them back! we shed blood for this land. we've died for this land. there's no way we can forgive

the azerbaijanis. during the war, they killed pregnant women and young children. reporter: just outside stepanakert is the capital's new airport. construction of the facility was financed by armenians who live in the us, france, or russia. one of the air-traffic controllers explains how the equipment works. the various flight paths appear on this monitor. but there are no take-offs or landings here. azerbaijani troops have threatened to shoot down any aircraft that tries to land here. so the only way to travel to nagorno-krabakh is on the one highway that's still open. there are a few military trucks on the road. it's a tough job to bring in supplies for both soldiers and the civilian population.

>> we will take all the necessary steps. we will start to speak about peace, not about war. so that there will be no need to buy additional ammunition. reporter: anushavan and vulo are taking a day off from the front line. they're visiting their mother -- and preparing shashlik, a popular caucasus dish. it's made with potatoes, tomatoes, and meat. vulo talks about the war, and the atrocities he says were committed by the other side. he can't forget what he experienced on the battlefield. afterward, they'll drink a toast to their fallen comrades. one of their brothers was killed in the war 22 years ago. on both sides of the border -- tensions are running high - and peace and reconciliation seem a long way off. christopher: now, there are few objects quite so symbolic of switzerland as the bells hanging round the necks of its cows.

you'll find them everywhere, on posters, on company logos, and in advertising. and the sound they make is almost synonymous with the pristine peacefulness of switzerland's alpine landscapes. but, there's now a growing campaign to have them banned. what's wrong with cowbells, i hear you say? well, quite a lot actually, according to a growing number of animal rights activists. reporter: cow bells -- to many people the world over, they're the sound of the swiss alps. to some ears, the sound is soothing, to others annoying. the hammered metal trychels can weight anywhere from 200 grams to several kilos and cost up to 1000 swiss franks -- or 940 euros. they're a kind of national symbol and source of pride for many swiss farmers. >> to us, of course, they're a tradition, a part of our culture. that's important. reporter: but to nancy holten,

they're instruments of torture. she's even willing to try them on herself to prove it. her position is quite simple and straightforward. >> it just takes logic, common sense and a little empathy, just imagine having a bell like this hanging around your own neck. i don't like it, so why should the animals like it? it's quite simple. reporter: the journalist and friend of bovines is calling for a ban on all such bells. swiss farmers' spokesman markus ritter calls it quixotic nonsense. besides, they're useful for finding the cows in the fog -- and the cows love them, he claims. >> the cows enjoy them. every animal's bell has a characteristic ring. i've observed my cattle for 30 years, and they've never suffered because of the bells. reporter: even so, holden has amassed some 4,000 sympathizers in her facebook group. the other side has also formed a

facebook group to counter what they call the 'vegan, left-wing, liberal-minded do-gooders'. one user went so far as to ask what this dutchwoman was even doing in switzerland. another called on her to adjust better to her adopted home. >> i was born in holland, but i grew up here. i feel swiss. switzerland is my home country. i love it. so i think that's uncalled for. besides, kindness to animals has nothing to do with nationality. reporter: the cow-bell protester is not a lone voice in the wilderness. respected institutions in zurich conducted an experiment with 19 cows wearing five-and-a-half-kilo bells. the researchers found the cows spent far less time grazing, chewing cud and lying down. and the volume itself even exceeded the suva insurance company's limit for noise human ears may be subjected to. >> in human terms, that would be equivalent to having a jackhammer right next to your ear.

and suva wouldn't allow any more than 85 decibels in the workplace. but these bells are well over twice as loud as that. reporter: markus ritter says it's a lot of noise over nothing and disconnected from the reality of swiss cow barns. he calls the study a waste of money. >> we were surprised by th study. they did tests with bells weighing five and a half kilos. we don't use bells that big. the ones we put on the cows in the pastures weigh from 200 to 800 grams. reporter: the cow bells in the swiss alps will fall silent with the arrival of autumn -- like every year, when the cows come home to spend the winter in their barns without bells. christopher: thanks for

watching. stay with us. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

hello there and welcome to "newsline." it's tuesday, august 18th. a large explosion in central bangkok has left at least 19 people dead and wounded 123 others. police say it was caused by a bomb detonated by remote control. the blast took place on monday noor -- near erawan shrine, monday evening evening in a busy comm