His critics say he's a secretive oligarch who pulls all the strings in a country caught between Europe and Russia.

His supporters say he's a just a successful businessman-turned-politician with his country's best interests at heart.

But who is the man whom many know as Moldova's Puppet Master? And what lies behind murky allegations of blackmail, hitmen and a billion-dollar bank fraud?

In advance of Moldova's recent general election, we sent filmmakers Glenn Ellis and Viktoryia Kolchyna to find out.

Moldova and the Puppet Master | People and Power

Al Jazeera English’s weekly investigative documentary programme that looks at the use and abuse of power.

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Mexico's Sinaloa cartel is one of the most powerful criminal enterprises in the world, its multibillion-dollar revenue gained mostly from trafficking narcotics such as cocaine, heroin and fentanyl into the United States.

Its activities are deadly and harmful, not just for many consumers of its products but also for those who cross it or try and stand in its way. Along with rival cartels, it is responsible for tens of thousands of brutal murders and it corrupts almost everything it touches - government, law enforcement, public institutions - with a sea of dirty narco-money.

So how does it operate? Over two episodes of People and Power, filmmaker Vincent Prado goes behind the scenes to find out.

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Inside the Sinaloa Cartel (Part 1) | People and Power

When the coronavirus pandemic began spreading across the world earlier this year, Italy quickly became one of Europe's worst-affected nations and soon after went into lockdown.

As its hospitals began to falter under the growing strain, its economy ground to a halt and the population retreated into their homes.

We asked two filmmakers from Rome, Alessandro Righi and Emanuele Piano, to document those remarkable first few weeks. Their episode of People & Power is a revealing and moving portrait of how their fellow Italians responded to an unprecedented crisis.

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Coronavirus: Lockdown Italy | People and Power

Thailand has begun lifting restrictions after a steady decline in the number of coronavirus infections.
But many people still need help putting food on the table and some businesses are expected to struggle.
The government will evaluate the situation every two weeks - either determining to further ease the restrictions - or if there is a spike in confirmed cases, they will reimpose some of the restrictions.

Al Jazeera's Scott Heidler reports from Bangkok.


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Most businesses resume operations in Thailand

As Canada’s hospitals and medical personnel deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, calls are mounting to allow more internationally-trained doctors to practice and support front-line healthcare workers. But tight regulations are leaving many shut out of their chosen profession.

Al Jazeera's Daniel Lak reports.



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Moldova and the Puppet Master | People and Power

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