Focus

Since a migration agreement between Berlin and New Delhi came into force in 2023, the number of visas issued for Germany has soared. Nearly 40,000 Indians now live in the German capital – making them the fastest-growing migrant group. But while many Indians thrive in Germany, some face serious difficulties. FRANCE 24's Anne Mailliet, Kilian-Davy Baujard, Willy Mahler, Lisa Gamonet and Nick Holdsworth report.

Long perceived as a young state with little past, Kuwait intends to write its own history. In this Gulf emirate of 4 million inhabitants, archaeology has become a national priority, accounting for a quarter of the cultural budget. Excavations are being carried out throughout the country, including at Christian sites. This is a way for Kuwait to assert its identity and show the world that it's not just an oil state. FRANCE 24's Léa Delfolie and Jules Pilorge report.

Considered one of the world's largest producers and consumers of tobacco, Indonesia is seeing a devastating scourge amongst its youth: some 40 percent of teenagers aged 13 to 15 smoke, and one in five smokers today lit their first cigarette before the age of 10.

Reviving Japan's countryside is a topic that's close to the heart of Shigeru Ishiba, the country's outgoing prime minister. Ishiba hails from a remote part of Japan and owes his political career to support from rural voters. This year, he doubled subsidies for local governments and appointed 180 "revitalisation officers". But the exodus from rural regions continues. Today, more than half of Japan's land is inhabited by less than 10 percent of the population. Yet generous incentives to encourage people living in cities to return to the countryside are having some success. FRANCE 24's Justin McCurry, Alexis Bregere, Mélodie Sforza, Ayana Nishikawa and Constantin Simon report.

Western Sahara is a disputed territory, listed by the United Nations as non-self-governing. Morocco largely controls the area, but for decades has been battling the pro-independence Polisario Front armed group, which is supported by Algeria. Recently there has been a diplomatic shift, with some nations such as the US and France choosing to back Rabat's plan that would grant large autonomy to Western Sahara while remaining under Moroccan sovereignty. The region is also rapidly changing, with huge investments in new infrastructure – particularly in the small city of Dakhla. FRANCE 24's Achraf Abid and Clovis Casali report.

The reality of disappearing glaciers is no longer a distant phenomenon: back in May, a glacier collapsed, triggering a massive landslide that buried the Swiss village of Blatten. Switzerland finds itself on the front line of global warming. As a result, monitoring has been intensifying in the Alps, where around a hundred remaining glaciers are under increased surveillance. FRANCE 24's Jade Levin reports, with Josh Vardey.

On August 9, 1965, Singapore became an independent city-state. Despite having no natural resources, it now rivals some of the world's greatest nations. The key to its success: a strategic port that's now one of the planet's busiest economic hubs, and attractive financial policies that have turned it into a magnet for foreign capital. But this prosperity comes at a political price.

All over Egypt, clinics offering couples the option to choose the sex of their future child operate openly. Having at least one son is still considered essential by many Egyptians, especially in villages. While this practice is strictly prohibited across Europe, in Egypt, a legal grey area allows it to persist. IVF clinics take advantage of this legislative loophole to advertise their services to Egyptians, but also foreigners. FRANCE 24's Mathilde Delvigne reports, with Matthew Thompson.

As the world's second-largest producer of medication, India is facing increasing scrutiny over drug quality following deadly incidents involving Indian products. Is India's race to remain the "pharmacy of the world" coming at the cost of human lives? FRANCE 24's Khansa Juned and Lisa Gamonet report.

In Spain, property owners are increasingly turning to private companies to eject unwanted tenants or squatters – "okupas", as they're dubbed in Spanish. The use of private firms to persuade squatters to leave properties is banned in some countries like France. The majority of illegal home occupiers are Spanish families or foreigners struggling to make ends meet, who don't have anywhere else to live. FRANCE 24's Maude Petit-Jové and Sarah Morris report on the methods employed by these private companies, a symbol of Spain's worsening housing crisis.

In Karachi, Pakistan's economic capital and largest city, fear has become a commodity. In 2024, Forbes Advisor ranked Karachi as the second-most dangerous city in the world for tourists. Due to the ineffectiveness of law enforcement agencies in curbing this violence, private security companies are thriving and expanding their clientele beyond affluent residential areas to include schools, shopping malls and corporate headquarters. This rapidly expanding and largely unregulated private security sector is turning Karachi's chronic insecurity into a lucrative business. FRANCE 24's Shahzaib Wahlah, Sonia Ghezali and Ondine de Gaulle report.

Since returning to power in January, US President Donald Trump has pledged to deport tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants. Among them are 18,000 Indians who entered the country illegally. In February, the Trump administration sent the first group of these Indian migrants back on a US military plane. In total, more than 1,700 Indians have been deported so far this year. Most of them used what is popularly known as the "donkey route" – a long, roundabout journey designed to evade border controls. Our correspondents in India met one of the deportees who took that route. FRANCE 24's Navodita Kumari and Suhel Khan report. 

Many people from LGBT minorities who are persecuted in their own countries have found refuge in Canada. The NGO Rainbow Railroad, which supports threatened sexual and gender minorities around the world, helps them settle there. Since the beginning of the year, it has already received 8,500 requests for help. The NGO is particularly concerned about the worsening situation for minorities in the United States since Donald Trump's return to the White House. It says that in June 2025, requests for assistance from the US increased tenfold from the previous year. FRANCE 24's Joanne Profeta et François Rihouay report from Toronto, with Fraser Jackson.

Eggs without chickens, milk without cows, and meat without slaughter: Singapore has emerged as Asia's hub for food innovation. The city-state of six million people imports 90 percent of its food and has less than 1 percent of arable land. Now, with an ambitious goal to produce 30 percent of its food domestically by 2030, Singapore has reinvented itself as a true laboratory for global food. In 2020, it became the first country to approve the sale of lab-grown meat. Massive government investments, a surge in startups and the arrival of lab-grown products on dinner tables are reshaping its food landscape.

On December 1, 2024, Belgium became the first European country to regulate prostitution through a formal employment contract. This reform goes further than a previous 2022 reform, which had already decriminalised prostitution in the country. The new legislation allows sex workers to benefit from independent status. But since its rollout, has the new law really had the desired effects? A few weeks after its entry into force, nine associations petitioned the Belgian Constitutional Court to annul the law, and they are still awaiting a decision. FRANCE 24's Alix Le Bourdon reports, with Dave Keating.

Spain recycles 15 percent of its wastewater, compared to less than 1 percent in neighbouring France. The Murcia region is a pioneer, recycling 98 percent of its wastewater, mainly for agriculture. It's a huge help during periods of drought. But while many people consider recycling wastewater the most sustainable way to manage the resource, some are worried about the effects on people's health. FRANCE 24's Maude Petit-Jové, Léa Le Denmat and Sarah Morris report from the Murcia region.

One of US President Donald Trump's first acts on his return to the White House was to suspend the activities of USAID, the United States Agency for International Development. The freeze has brought thousands of humanitarian programmes to an abrupt halt and the results have already been deadly. How are French NGOs managing to continue their work in this context? In DR Congo and France, our reporters Elena Volochine and Aurélie Bazzara-Kibangula met those bearing the brunt of these decisions.

India has witnessed its wettest May in 125 years, with torrential rains arriving well ahead of the usual monsoon season. Typically expected in early June, the monsoon arrived early this year, flooding cities across the country. Driven by a temperature contrast between the Indian Ocean and the Asian subcontinent, the seasonal rains account for nearly 70 percent of India's annual rainfall. But they also bring recurring floods, landslides and widespread disruption, particularly in urban areas. Now, climate change is intensifying the monsoon's impact, pushing India's already fragile infrastructure beyond its capacity. FRANCE 24's Théo Prouvost and Lisa Gamonet report.

Every day, hundreds of Afghan refugee families in Pakistan are being deported back to their country. Since April 1, Islamabad has stepped up its deportations of migrants and refugees from Afghanistan. This wave of expulsions is part of the "Plan for the Repatriation of Foreigners in an Illegal Situation", implemented since October 2023 by the Pakistani authorities, who cite security reasons amid the resurgence of terrorist attacks in the country. Tens of thousands of Afghans have been deported as a result.

While some artists see artificial intelligence as an opportunity to push their creative boundaries and innovate, others are concerned about being replaced by machines. In the United States and Europe, many cultural figures are rallying against the illegal use of copyrighted works to design generative AI applications. In France, this is the case for voice actors. They are all calling for its use to finally be regulated so as not to jeopardise their work and livelihoods. FRANCE 24's Cécile Khindria and Juliette Lacharnay report.

It has been two years since violence erupted in India's northeastern state of Manipur between the Meitei and Kuki communities. Since then, more than 200 people have been killed and over 60,000 displaced. Despite the imposition of martial law and a heavy military presence, fresh clashes continue to haunt the region.

Brazil is home to over 4 million trans and non-binary people, the largest transgender population recorded anywhere. As the first country on the continent to legalise gay marriage, Brazil is seen as one of the most advanced in terms of LGBT rights. Yet it is also the country where the most trans people in the world are killed and raped. Fuelled by far-right discourse, evangelical fundamentalism is gaining ground. A number of churches, such as Libertos por Deus (Liberated by God) and its pastor Flavio Amaral, are setting up highly controversial conversion therapies. Our correspondent reports.

About 20 years ago, the Russian state began a large-scale operation to take control of Orthodox parishes all over Europe. Some of these had, over time, broken ties with the Moscow patriarchate. They're now the object of legal cases pitting the Russian Federation against local associations created to run these expatriate churches during the Soviet era. In April, a court in the French city of Nice ruled that a church and historic cemetery there rightfully belonged to Russia, rather than to the local cultural association. For some of its parishioners, seeing the French justice system side with the country waging war against Ukraine has been hard to accept. Descendants of the Russian tsars, on the other hand, welcome this decision. FRANCE 24's Elena Volochine reports.

On July 11, 1995, Srebrenica – a small Yugoslav spa town, now located in Bosnia and Herzegovina – became the site of Europe's last genocide of the 20th century. Thirty years later, the town, whose population is now 60 percent Bosniaks and 40 percent Serbs, has not regained its former glory and remains haunted by the memory of one of the worst crimes of the Yugoslav wars. FRANCE 24's Laurent Rouy, Edward Godsell and Nikola Vrzic report.

Exactly 40 years ago, a Greenpeace ship called the Rainbow Warrior was bombed in New Zealand, killing a photographer on board. It later emerged that the attack was carried out by France's foreign intelligence agency, the DGSE. Its aim was to stop the boat from disrupting nuclear tests being carried out off the coast of French Polynesia. Decades on from that testing, a parliamentary inquiry committee has been set up to investigate what France did to the region and the impact on victims. FRANCE 24's David Gilberg, Chloé Bach Chaouch and Jonathan Walsh report, with Lauren Bain.

This week marks six months since deadly wildfires tore through parts of Los Angeles, in the city's worst-ever disaster. The fire destroyed over 16,000 homes and businesses. Since then, the progress made has been staggering, but many hurdles remain on the road to recovery, on top of the trauma that has affected thousands of displaced residents. FRANCE 24's Pierrick Leurent and Wassim Cornet report.

More 20,000 people arrived in the UK in the first half of this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats. That figure is up 48 percent on the first six months of 2024. The number is especially high at this time of year, because of the warm summer weather and calmer waters. Efforts to crack down on illegal immigration will be among the issues discussed this week as French President Emmanuel Macron makes a state visit to the UK. French police face resistance from migrants determined to complete the last step in the journey, and reach the UK. 

Artificial intelligence is set to revolutionise warfare. With the help of its algorithms, armies can exponentially increase their capacity for analysis and precision targeting. In military circles, some describe defence AI as a game changer comparable to the invention of the atomic bomb. Between major powers such as the US, China and Russia, an "intelligent arms" race is already on. France, not wishing to be left behind, plans to invest €2 billion in defence AI by 2030. In this exclusive report, FRANCE 24's Elena Volochine met some of the French forces learning how to use this technology, as well as the engineers developing them and the top officials working on a framework for them to operate in. 

It's the oldest Communist guerrilla group in the world. The New People's Army (NPA) has waged a violent campaign against the Philippine government since 1969. The conflict has killed an estimated 40,000 people. But today, the rebel group is struggling. Since the failure of a 2019 ceasefire, Manila has hunted down Communist sympathisers, mainly in the movement's rural strongholds.

Serbia is home to a large Russian and Belarusian community, which has increased in number since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But the small Balkan country was already a popular destination for Russians and Belarusians looking to move abroad. Among this older population of Russian and Belarusian immigrants, those who want to adopt Serbian nationality have been facing administrative difficulties for the past two years, resulting in them becoming stateless. FRANCE 24's Laurent Rouy, Aleksandar Cvrkotic, Edward Godsell and Paul Murray report.

Every year in Japan, thousands of fathers fall victim to parental child abduction. It very often follows the same pattern: the Japanese mother leaves suddenly with the child and then forbids the father from seeing them again. These are abductions that fathers – Japanese and foreign alike – are powerless to fight, since Japan is one of the only countries in the world that does not recognise joint custody post-marriage. After a divorce, custody is granted to only one parent. But now, the law is about to change. FRANCE 24's correspondents Alexis Bregere, Mélodie Sforza and Adam Hancock report.

Myanmar is the world's leading producer of jade. Up to 90 percent of global supply of the precious stone is mined in the country's northern Kachin state, despite a decades-long armed rebellion raging there. According to the NGO Global Witness, some 90 percent of this jade is then smuggled out of the country – almost all of it to neighbouring China. Once favoured by emperors to defy death, jade and its knock-offs continue to be worn as a status symbol. Our correspondents Yena Lee, Yorben den Hartog and Jasmine Ling report. 

As global demand for sustainable solutions rises, India is emerging as a significant player in the booming seaweed industry. With over 7,500 kilometres of coastline and more than 800 native seaweed species, the country is turning to this climate-friendly marine crop not just as a source of organic fertiliser, but as a powerful tool in the fight against climate change. Through its ambitious "seaweed mission" and planned investment of $86.8 million, India aims to increase seaweed production to 11 million tonnes by 2025, unlocking new opportunities in agriculture, food and cosmetics. FRANCE 24's Khansa Juned and Lisa Gamonet report.

The Taliban have severely restricted the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan since returning to power in August 2021. Nearly 2.2 million girls are deprived of education, with girls banned from school after the age of 12 years, while women are not allowed to work in most sectors of society. In response, more and more Afghan women in the capital Kabul are using art as an act of hope and resistance. FRANCE 24's team reports, with Shahzaib Wahlah.

For years now, Dutch authorities have been regularly dismantling illegal drug labs producing amphetamines, ecstasy and cocaine – often hidden away in remote, rural areas. But one of the lesser-known consequences of this illegal industry is the severe environmental pollution it leaves behind. Barrels filled with hazardous substances are frequently dumped in forests, fields and even protected nature reserves. Last year alone, 217 illegal dumping sites were discovered across the country. FRANCE 24's Ingrid Gercama and Alix Le Bourdon report.

Spain's countryside is the most depopulated in Europe. Some villages have just one resident left in them. But locals are fighting back, determined to attract new inhabitants. FRANCE 24's Maude Petit-Jové and Maxime Bergeron report from Spanish two villages that are managing to turn the tide of urbanisation.

Last year, Egypt set a new record for fruit and vegetable exports: nearly 7 million tonnes, valued at €6 billion, with 20 percent destined for Europe. According to the World Bank, agriculture is the sector that employs the highest proportion of women in the country: around 45 percent nationwide, and as high as 94 percent in Upper Egypt. But in the fields, the working conditions of the 5 million female farm workers are dire: no contracts, half the wages of men and scorching temperatures. Grassroots organisations are now stepping in, campaigning to formalise women's labour, demand fair pay, ensure workplace safety and fight for recognition. FRANCE 24's Mathilde Delvigne and Nuria Tesón report.

The fall of Bashar al-Assad last December did not erase the deep-rooted prejudices within Syrian society. Identity and political divisions remain vivid, and since January, sectarian clashes have been increasing. In a country as fragmented as Syria, old grudges are simmering, with many taking justice into their own hands – driven by a thirst for revenge against those they view as traitors or internal enemies. Amid this escalating violence, the authorities insist they are committed to holding those responsible accountable. Meanwhile, civil society is doing what it can to keep hope alive by calling for dialogue and pushing for national unity. Our correspondent in Syria, Jenna Le Bras, reports.

An increasing number of US veterans are sounding the alarm. Behind US President Donald Trump's patriotic rhetoric, fundamental social benefits for veterans are being eroded: access to healthcare is being slowed down, medical staff are being laid off, and aid for transgender veterans is being discreetly cut. Trump's plan also includes up to 80,000 job cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Despite a majority of veterans voting for Trump at last year's election, some are now denouncing rampant privatisation that's impacting the most vulnerable in the community. A silent rift is opening up between the nation and those who risked their lives for it. FRANCE 24's Matthieu Mabin and Fraser Jackson report.

In recent years, the fight against air pollution has become a major issue for large urban areas. Measures such as low-emission and pedestrian zones in city centres are now beginning to pay off. According to the Paris-based air quality monitor AirParif, pollution in the Paris region has been halved in 20 years. The city of Lyon has also deployed a series of measures to discourage drivers from driving in the city's historic centre that sits between two rivers. But not everyone is happy about these changes to the urban landscape. Our France 2 colleagues report, with FRANCE 24's Guillaume Gougeon.

On May 30, five members of a music group in Mexico were found murdered in the northeast of the country. Their group played a popular musical genre known as "narcocorridos" or "corridos tumbados" – songs that glorify drug cartels. After a string of controversial concerts, this type of music has become the subject of heated debate in Mexico. The government is trying to curb the influence of songs that praise cartel bosses. Meanwhile, "narcocorridos" performers are complaining of censorship. FRANCE 24's Quentin Duval, Laurence Cuvillier and Ed Augustin report.

The world's largest landlocked body of water, the Caspian Sea, is evaporating at an alarming pace. Since the 1990s, its level has fallen by more than 3 metres. With ports drying up, fishing in decline and the economy in turmoil, Kazakhstan is bearing the brunt of the consequences. Like the Aral Sea before it, the Caspian could dry up almost completely if no action is taken. That would be an ecological disaster with massive consequences for the whole country. FRANCE 24's Lucie Berbey and Mathieu Beaudouin report, with Anna Hartley.