this is focus on europe. i'm lara babalola, a warm welcome to the show. the italian island of lampedusa has declared a state of emergency after thousands of refugees and migrants landed there within days. they arrived on flimsy vessels from africa after surviving the dangerous journey across the mediterranean sea. local authorities there were caught off guard by the swell in numbers and say they've reached a tipping point. the reception centre is overcrowded and the united nations has called the situation critical.

the eu has promised to support italy in coping with illegal migration. still, the european union's refugee policy is coming under scrutiny. italy's right-wing government is calling on brussels to block migrants from departing north africa and crossing the mediterranean sea to europe. italy's prime minister says she intends to take immediate extraordinary measures to deal with the surge in arrivals. the greek island of lesbos is another hotspot for refugees and migrants - there too, camps are overcrowded and conditions are difficult. emmanuel lojang arrived there months ago. he fled south sudan and has applied for asylum in europe. but he faces a lengthy wait. the process could take years - still emmanuel is finding ways to cope with the uncertainty. emmanuel lojang radiates positivity - that's not always easy for someone living on lesbos.

lojang works as a volunteer in the parea community center on the greek island, which has been an asylum hotspot for years. the center here is run by ngos. lojang is helping with security, like here at lunch, and as a translator. he's from south sudan and arrived on lesbos five months ago. he has applied for asylum and for relocation to another eu country. he knows that many people here get stuck in the asylum process - some are in bureaucratic limbo for years. even though the eu told us that efficient, fast and fair asylum procedures are critical. the hardest thing that we are facing inside the camp is only about the process, it's all about the process, the delivering of the asylum process. we have no any other option. we have nowhere to go, we can't go back and we can't go ahead unless if you finish your process. the community center is right next to the migrant camp on lesbos. for many of the people stranded on this island, the center is

a refuge - and a life line. they can do laundry here, attend classes, or just relax. working as part of a team has given emmanuel's life on lesbos some structure and purpose. i used to be inside the camp without doing anything. and so i started experiencing a lot of stress because just from morning to evening i have nowhere to go and i have nothing to do. so since i joined and since i started working here, i'm seeing myself, i'm comfortable and even i'm happy at the same time. in south sudan the 27-year-old studied political science. he wanted to shape his county's future after a long civil war and worked for an opposition party and as an anti-corruption activist. that put him in danger, he says. he prefers not to give details. if you have any misunderstanding with anyone who is in

the government, and the person immediately will target you and the person will do anything to you. at night you will not sleep. whenever you are sleeping at night, you will not have a peaceful mind of sleeping because anything will happen to you, you know. anything will just happen, just from nowhere. emmanuel lojang decided to leave south sudan. he fled to turkey and then found a smuggler boat to bring him accross the mediterranean to lesbos. summer has brought a huge wave of new arrivals here. official statistics show the camp is already over capacity. since july, more than 1300 people have arrived each month, over four times more than before. the greek authorities rejected our request for access to the camp, saying they currently have too much work due to mass arrivals. but the ngo europe cares, which runs the nearby community center, is concerned that the situation in

lesbos could deteriorate. with so many new arrivals, the housing capacity of the camp is decreasing more and more.they started to use the rubhall, which are huge tents where people are living together in smaller rooms where the hygiene conditions are a lot worse than in the other housing units. and there is no ac, no fans, so it is really hot inside as well. the ngo workers report that some refugees here don't have enough to eat in the camp. they say every week over 400 people pick up food packages at the center. in may the greek migration ministry decided that the camp will no longer feed people whose asylum requests are not currently being processed. this is a way to encourage people to leave the camp faster so that there is more space for the new arrivals. since the camp capacity is limited. for us, the most important thing is to provide a sense of community, a sense of belonging to the people. it is really important to make them feel humanized and seen in

a context which makes them feel constantly like numbers, constantly like their rights don't count, their lives don't count. they are just described as an invasion, as a flow, as a flux, as numbers, but not as actual people. emmanuel lojang started learning to play guitar on lesbos. he hopes that if he gets asylum in europe, he can finish his studies - he might even try to go into politics. music helps lojang to keep up his spirits, he says. he wants the lyrics to his songs to give comfort and courage to his fellow migrants- to all those stuck waiting for asylum in europe. it means no condition is permanent, dont think too much everything is having time. so if the time comes, everything will be fine. he's certainly making the best of his situation.

a normal day at school - it's something ukrainian student louisa can only dream of. she lives in kharkiv - ukraine's second largest city. it's located near the border with russia. kharkiv regularly comes under fire and classes have since been moved underground. math and spelling lessons now take place in the subway shafts of the metro station. despite the challenging conditions, the students enjoying learning. the teachers have gone the extra mile to transform the dark spaces into cozy classrooms. it's a welcome distraction from the reality above ground. kharkiv's metro is a symbol of ukrainians' resistance to russian aggression. when the shelling was at its worst, people sought refuge here. today, the metro has become a safe haven for the children of kharkiv. this is a first day of class for these six-year-olds - an exciting moment. but the underground classroom can't accommodate all the children at once.

so, they take turns, splitting their time between remote schooling and classes here, with a teacher. for us, it's like we can finally breathe fresh air again. because it's terrible for the children to learn at home, alone. the parents don't like it either, they want their kids behind their desks at least twice a week so they can learn together. here i can take them by the hand and show them how to write. there's a much stronger emotional connection than through a monitor. ukraine wants provide as much regular instruction as possible for the country's nearly four million schoolchildren. but as long as the war continues, around half of them have to learn from home at least part of the time. louisa worked hard today - and she has her dream job in her sights already. we did some learning and then some arts and crafts.

when i grow up, i want to be a teacher. kharkiv is close to the russian border and under constant threat of shelling. but while the sirens wail above ground, the children don't hear any of it - or the passing subways. and the air is fresh and clean down here. the ventilation system works really well, which i'm very pleased about. and in spite of the summer heat outside, it's still quite pleasant in here. it was a great first day of school for louisa. she's back on the bus with her new classmates. they're still getting used to the scarf they all wear. their teacher hanna is sitting a fews rows back, consoling the children who need more support. normally the teacher wouldn't be on the bus - she's here because of the war.

it's a completely different way of getting to know the children. i ask them about their interests and what they like to do, i make a few mental notes. i'm basically still working on the bus. here we can talk quietly, about all sorts of things. not about school, but about life in general. back at the regular school, the parents wait eagerly for the school bus bringing the children back from their classroom in the bunker. louisa has a lot to tell her mother on the way home. the two live here in kharkiv alone - separated from the rest of the family by war. my husband is bulgarian, so we knew where we were going to escape to. at the beginning of the war, when the first bombs went off at eleven in the morning, we left for bulgaria.

like everyone else, we thought we'd be away for a few days. in the end, it was more than a year. she returned back home, with all its memories of family life before the war, because she has a job at the loocal university. and because she wanted louisa to start school in ukraine. if weren't for the war, my older daughter would have taken her little sister by the hand and walked her to school. that's our tradition. but she stayed in bulgaria. she didn't want to spend the summer here. she's better off over there, she has friends there. louisa and her mother stay in touch with sixteen-year-old milena. she's planning to come back to ukraine for university. we ukrainians are very strong, even in hard times.

we always find a way to learn and study, and to keep in touch, in spite of everything. i believe we will all go back home again, and make ukraine strong, together. lousia misses her sister, but for the moment she's happy because she's already decided what she wants to teach when she grows up. i want to be a teacher of english or french, of all the languages of the whole wide world. louisa is thrilled to have started school and is looking forward to what she'll learn -- despite the war. it's a mystery that has captivated generations - the legend of the loch ness sea monster. for decades, people have set out to prove its existence - to no avail. still, the thrill of spotting the creature draws more than 1.5 million tourists to the scottish highlands each year.

dave halton believes that nessie is real - but you won't find him on a group expedition searching for it. dave prefers to go it alone, confident that his method will bring him face to face with the elusive creature. welcome to the home of scotland's greatest mystery. loch ness. what lies below its depths is a question that's gripped generations. and draws millions to its dark and murky waters in search of a monster. here's a brew. dave halton has seen many nessie hunters come and go. he spends every moment he can camped here by the water's edge. his own private sanctuary away from the crowds. dave believes there's a creature out there. a creature he hopes one day to discover. of course i do. it's got to. somewhere out there has been. hopefully he or she is still here. on those mornings where the mist is just hovering

above the water. you know, just come on. just poke your head up. let's come out and let's see you. it was a passion for nature that first brought dave to the loch. now in his 60s he says he's addicted. spellbound by its majesty. hooked on the endless promise of mysteries still to be discovered. it just makes me. hairs on the back of my neck standing up. it's amazing. i love just it. away from dave's secluded corner, nessie is a global sensation. it's spawned a massive tourism industry. with a major new monster hunt this summer drawing the world's attention to scotland once again. if you've got your drones get them up. your cameras get them out. binoculars, minoculars. let's get on it. a boat equipped with sonar and sound technology trawled

the waters in the biggest surface water search in 50 years. with hundreds of volunteers lured to the loch. we have travelled twelve hours on a train. she is here and we are going to find her. rebecca and her two sons travelled all the way from wales to turn a nessie fantasy into reality. we came because it has been rufus' dream for the last two years to come to loch ness and to try and find the monster. and i thought i have got to do this for him. i won't get another chance in his childhood i've got to do it. and so 11 half hours on a train and we are here. worth it! oh, look! another nessie enthusiast hooked there. a red boat as another search passes with the mystery still unsolved. but there's magic to this story that an elusive monster can't dampen.

magic that makes even the most hardened cynics scourer these waters and wonder, what if? and for search organizer alan mckenna preserving this legend for the next generation is even more important than finding the monster itself. i don't want this to go away. i have loved this mystery and the environment since i was a wee boy. i will be called selfish for that. he is only fueling it for myself. your damn right i am fueling it for myself. i love this place. i am really happy just to play a really small part in this important legacy. and i think that's worth protecting. across the water, dave is setting off once again. one man and his kayak. a more welcoming prospect he hopes for a creature who routinely shuns the crowds. when all those people are gone. i am still going to be here and i can go out and paddle to my heart's content on my own and just. you never know. see ya for dave this loch is more than just a monster.

but if he finds one along the way . well wouldn't that really be something. on the mediterranean coast of southern italy, a threat looms on the picturesque horizon.residents of the gulf of naples are at the mercy of mount ves-oo-vius. in the nearby suburb of potsuolli lie the flegrean fields - a vast area full of volcanic activity. the fields may not be as well known as mount vesoovius - but they pose a considerable threat. seismologist nicóla alessandro pino is concerned about the pressure mounting under the earth's surface. and residents are being warned to prepare for the worst case scenario. jets of sulphurous steam rise into the skies near naples. a city of 3 million, teetering on the edge of a dangerous supervolcano.

but it's not mount vesuvius -- it's the 150 square kilometer phlegraean fields. seismologist nicola alessandro pino is in pozzuoli, a suburb of naples. he is here to examine what is happening in the harbor. it may look like the tide has gone out, and the water level is low, but that's not what has happened. the quay, the rocks, even the whole town - is rising out of the sea. over three kilometers of the earth's crust, lifted more than a meter - you can imagine what kind of pressure is involved. the culprit? an underground supervolcano, just beneath the surface of the phlegraean fields. huge quantities of magma and gases are pushing upward, from under the earth's crust. we're transitioning from an elastic phase to an inelastic one. if i take a twig and bend it, it will first have an elastic phase

in which it bends. if i let it go, it snaps back into shape. but if i keep bending it, it starts to crack - i can hear it crack. in the phlegraean fields, what's bending is the earth's crust. it could also crack open, as it did in the earthquake of march, 1970. before that, the ground had risen by almost a meter, just like today. in some areas, the sea temperature rose to over 70 degrees celsius. local residents were alarmed. scientists came from far and wide to investigate. that cycle was repeated in the 1980s - and there was another earthquake. then the ground subsided again. but for the last 20 years, the ground has been rising again. as pino would say, the stick is approaching its breaking point. what that means is that the earth's crust will probably snap. but that doesn't necessarily mean that we're headed for a catastrophic eruption. but it's within the realm of possibility.

right now, the ground is higher than we've ever recorded it. we're about ten centimeters higher than in 1984. one scenario is that a number of smaller earthquakes could allow the gases to escape, and the pressure from below to go down. the ground would sink again. the second scenario is catastrophic. the pressure would be released in one huge eruption, devastating naples and the surrounding region. how do locals feel about the risks? we ask anama kotlaresky and strato d'alessio, who ferry tourists around the gulf of naples. it's certainly a risk, but it's also a beautiful attraction because we have a lot of areas where you can see the volcanic activity. including below us, on the seabed. the phlegraean fields reach all the way out here, too. bubbles rising from hot springs are evidence of the reach of the underground supervolcano.

it's beautiful. the fear is there, but so is the beauty. so it's really worth it. it's strange and a little bit exciting. there's always this minaccia della morte, knowing it could erupt at any moment. that's why seismologist nicola alessandro pino and volcanologist mauro di vito keep a sharp eye on the phlegraean fields. they monitor the volcano's activity, transmitting the data to the command center, which would warn the population in case of emergency. if our instruments show strong or frequent seismic activity, we report it. civil defense is notified immediately, and alarm messages are sent out automatically. and we have this red phone on the desk, a direct line to the headquarters of the italian civil protection department.

that way we can report a major earthquake immediately. plans for evacuation are at the ready. but the question remains: will they work? the plan is that they would send a bus to pick us up, up there if it happens, i don't think there'll be enough time to escape. unless the warnings really are early enough. oh stop it. i'm staying - pozzuoli is beautiful. the people on the gulf of naples love their home - despite the active supervolcano below. performing on a big stage requires rigorous training and raw talent - and this four-legged artist certainly has the chops. the cocker spaniel has a bark like no other.

it's a special gift that gave him the edge over the competition at a casting call in copenhagen. zofus got the part as one of a canine trio making their musical debut at a concert hall. and his owner hopes zofus's performance will be all it's barked up to be. on a day like this, it's understandable that sofus would have a little extra business to do. after all, the cocker spaniel is making his big debut tonight. and his owner torben petersen doesn't want to leave anything to chance. we're ready. we've been practicing the past few days before the concert. on saturday we took a break. but now we're all set to go. the reason for all the excitement lies behind this door. the orchestra is already rehearsing: leopold mozart's jagdsinfonie or hunt symphony. and sofus is set to play a major part, because the composer envisioned having real dogs on stage.

it is a real challenge. it's no easy task to get a dog to bark exactly when you want it to. last april, conductor adam fischer held auditions in copenhagen. he was looking for the perfect bark: not too loud or too soft. a friendly sounding woof. like sofus's. the cocker spaniel was easily best in show. in addition to his perfect woof, his floppy ears may have also given him an advantage. but just before the performance, stage fright gets the better of him. or at least, his owner. it's so exciting. we're about to go on stage. i'm curious to see how sofus responds to the audience. after four months of rehearsals, the big moment has arrived.

they're playing to a full house. for exactly six bars, the cocker spaniel can bark to his canine heart's content. but not a peep more. the dogs were a bit nervous. they made two 'human' errors, but corrected them right away. it was fantastic! sofus woofed his way into the hearts of the audience. and he looked quite pleased with his performance. it could be the start of a dog-gone great musical career! even the greatest tenors started small. and what a treat for the audience that was. that's all from us this week at focus on europe. you can catch more of our stories online at dw.com. thanks for your company. bye for now.

10/12/23 10/12/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> this is where people in gaza used to seek safety. this is just to prove there is no place safe in gaza. amy: hospitals are going to be turned into graveyards. that is the warning from the international red