Inside the Americas

In California, the so-called Thomas fire is on course to become the largest in the state's modern history. More than 100,000 hectares and over 1,000 homes have been destroyed so far. The blazes have been raging since the beginning of December, fanned by strong winds reaching speeds of up to 130 kilometres per hour. Anca Ulea reports. Meanwhile, in Florida's Miami-Dade County, registered sex offenders cannot live within 800 metres of a school, daycare or playground. But with construction booming and the population growing, the limitations of the law are starting to show. Sex offenders are now being housed in makeshift camps. This massive gathering of sexual predators is raising concern, but so are the inhumane living conditions of these men who have already served their time. Marion Lippmann reports.

And in Honduras, President Juan Orlando Hernández has declared himself re-elected nearly a month after the vote took place. That contentious election has been marred by claims of fraud and weeks of violent protests. Opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla has rejected the result, calling for a revote. Ivana Scatola explains.

Two years after a global climate deal was struck in Paris, we are still no closer to limiting global warming to under two degrees Celsius. And the effects of an increasingly hot planet can already be seen: in Mexico, more than half of the country's coffee plantations have disappeared. Dheepthika Laurent explains. But first, Donald Trump's candidate in the Alabama Senate race has lost to a Democrat. Civil rights champion Doug Jones beat Republican Roy Moore, whose campaign was dogged by claims of sexual misconduct.

And President Trump is also under fire for what Democrats are calling unsavoury insinuations about New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. That's after she called for the president to resign over sexual harassment allegations against him.

Decisions made by US President Donald Trump’s administration are having an effect on the number of foreign students coming to America to study. A new report says dozens of campuses across the country have lost a big chunk of their foreign students and the drop in numbers means a drop in money as well. In the past school year, foreign students contributed some $37 billion to the US economy, and helped fund around 450,000 jobs. Our correspondents report from Indiana University. Also on the show: An Argentinian court has sentenced former military personnel for their involvement in crimes committed at a notorious torture center during the country's so-called “Dirty War”, some four decades ago. Only a fraction of the estimated 5,000 anti-government activists who were sent there survived.

And in Canada, the small town of Chruchill is the scene for a wintery spectacle every year. In October and November, polar bears travel through the town as part of their winter migration. The move is proving popular with tourists who hope to get close up to the furry, white giants.

The new Disney movie “Coco” pays tribute to Mexican culture with its vibrant music and “Day of the Dead” festivities. It also celebrates the country's national dogs, those hairless wonders known as the Xolos. Their real name is actually much more complicated than that... as our correspondents in Mexico discover. There is still no sign of the Argentine submarine that went missing two weeks ago. A dozen countries are desperately trying to find it.

And this week, the European Union voted to extend a licence for the controversial weedkiller glyphosate, a pesticide that critics say causes cancer. By contrast, the tiny Central American nation of El Salvador has steamed ahead and set an example by having banned a series of pesticides already.

Charles Manson, one of the most notorious criminals in America, died this week. He was the mastermind behind the 1960s Hollywood murders that killed seven people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate, the wife of director Roman Polanski. Manson died of natural causes aged 83, after spending close to fifty years behind bars. We look back at this dark chapter in recent US history. But first, the fate of an Argentinian submarine and its 44 crew members still hangs in the balance. It went off the radar a week ago, but the crew's friends and family are refusing to give up hope.

And could being Amish be the secret to a longer life? A genetic mutation discovered in people from the Old Order Amish group in Indiana seems to counter the protein responsible for ageing.

Chile is holding presidential and legislative elections on Sunday November 19. Based in the south of the country, the indigenous Mapuche - literally "people of the land" - have been fighting with the Chilean state to reclaim their lands for the past two centuries. Today, there are between 600,000 and one million members of these descendents of pre-Columbian civilizations. With election day looming, their fate is high on the political agenda. Our correspondents report. Also, the investigation into the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with Russia turned up a notch this week, targeting US Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He's now blaming his memory for failing to mention, during a previous hearing, that he did witness Trump aides discussing Russia. This comes as the Russia allegations also pinpointed President Trump's son. This week, Donald Junior released a series of private messages he exchanged with WikiLeaks during and after the 2016 race.

And our number of the week is 18. There are 18 percent more homeless people in California, Oregon and Washington than there were just two years ago. American voters in those western states have approved more than eight billion dollars in spending to try to tackle homelessness. But the numbers of people without shelter or living in makeshift dwellings such as their cars continue to rise - we find out why.

One year ago, Donald Trump won a surprise victory in the US presidential election, sending shockwaves around the world. Since then, the line has been drawn further in the sand with more and more Americans pushed to extremes of either loving President Trump or loathing him. In this special edition of Inside The Americas, we take a closer look at Trump's Divided States of America. Twelve months after his election as president of the United States, the billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump continues to cause controversy, through his tweets, his relations with the media and, of course, his divisive policies.

With Donald Trump as US president, many minority groups have gone from being protected under the Obama administration to feeling persecuted. Our reporters Philip Crowther and Sonia Dridi have been to the north-eastern city of Baltimore, where some live in very real fear of what Trump’s years in power could bring.

>> On France24.com: Civil rights in the Trump era: Has the White House abandoned American values?

Also, Genie Godula speaks to Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of independent non-profit publication the Columbia Journalism Review. He explains why 2017 has been "the year that changed journalism" following Trump's election.

Meanwhile, in California, Trump voters are finding it increasingly difficult to live in a state that is a Democratic stronghold. They say they have been ostracised, to the point where some of them have actually decided to leave and move to a more conservative state. Our correspondents Valérie Defert, Romain Jany and Haydé FitzPatrick report from Los Angeles.

Finally, we discover a pop-up store with a difference, where two female activists are calling for resistance to Trump through art.

Amid an ongoing probe into Russia's alleged meddling in the US presidential election, three of President Trump's aides have been charged. Paul Manafort faces charges of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the US government, alongside his business partner Rick Gates. Meanwhile, George Papadopoulos has admitted lying to FBI agents over his Kremlin-linked contacts. Also, Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey is facing growing condemnation following allegations he made sexual advances towards an actor when the latter was just 14 years old. Spacey's response to the accusations on Twitter only sparked further backlash, particularly among gay rights activists.

And our number of the week is 28. That's the time one man served behind bars for his involvement in a gang killing in Detroit. Bobby Hines was sentenced in 1989 when he was just 15 years old. But now, thanks to a Supreme Court ruling that bans mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles, Hines is a free man.

A Spanish tourist was fatally shot by military police in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro this week, after authorities said the vehicle she was travelling in failed to stop at a police checkpoint. Amid daily violence in Rio, several mobile apps which track gun violence and warn users of conflict zones have been developed. We take a closer look. Also, in a case which has gripped the United States, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has returned to a military courtroom. The 31-year-old soldier, who spent five years as a Taliban prisoner, faces up to life behind bars, after he pleaded guilty to the rare charge of misbehaviour before the enemy as well as desertion.

And staying in the United States, we tell you about the famous restaurant commonly known as a diner. American diners were once synonymous with cheap eating and a friendly atmosphere. These days, though, many are on the verge of disappearing - we find out why.

More than 6,000 buildings have been destroyed by the deadliest wildfires in California's history. Entire neighbourhoods in parts of the state's wine country were reduced to ashes. With California struggling with housing shortages even before the fires, residents who have lost their houses face an uphill battle. Meanwhile, thousands still don't know if they have homes to return to. Our correspondent Gallagher Fenwick followed one family's plight in Santa Rosa. We also head to Brazil, where a rapper is taking a stand against deforestation. MC Kunumi comes from the long-persecuted Guarani tribe, who once inhabited the rainforest. Now he and others like him live on an indigenous reserve near São-Paulo. At just 17 years old, MC Kunumi is using his music to fight for the rights of his people and he's starting to get heard. Our correspondents went to meet him.

And in Canada, climate change has sparked a wine-growing revolution in the French-speaking region of Quebec. Vineyards there are flourishing due to the region's warmer summers. We take a closer look.