In France, pan-African influencers are gaining more and more followers on social media. Advocating a radical anti-Western ideology, some of them claim responsibility for the recent coups in Mali and Burkina Faso. Their narrative is similar to that of the Kremlin, which is trying to place its pawns on the African continent. FRANCE 24 profiles two French influencers who seem to have taken sides with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Electric cars promise a clean energy transition amid the ongoing climate crisis. They rely on cobalt, a highly strategic mineral necessary for electric car batteries. It is found in particular in DR Congo, which has the largest cobalt reserves in the world. It is mined there at a colossal environmental and human cost involving child labour, water and air pollution, as well as corruption. As the auto industry battles it out, we went to meet the victims of the cobalt rush. FRANCE 24's Quentin Noirfalisse and Arnaud Zajtman investigate.

Crystal meth is a highly addictive substance that's considered one of the most dangerous drugs in the world. Sometimes referred to as the "poor man's cocaine", it's made from ingredients that are easy to purchase. Consumption of crystal meth is on the rise in Europe, with large quantities being produced illegally in the Netherlands. The drug is wreaking havoc in Germany in particular, where more and more people are taking this stimulant. FRANCE 24's Alix Le Bourdon, Anne Mailliet, Fernande van Tets and Nick Spicer report.

Every year, around 90,000 people are reported missing in Japan. Most of them are found or return home, but thousands of others simply vanish. It seems they don't want to be found. There is even a Japanese word for the phenomenon: "johatsu", or evaporation. Many make meticulous plans for their disappearance and cut all ties with their families to build new lives elsewhere. But why do they do it? And where do they end up? Our reporters spoke to investigators, experts and left-behind families to try to shed light on Japan's "evaporated" people.

Transgender people, who call themselves Khawaja Siras, have always enjoyed a special status on the Indian subcontinent. For five years, Pakistan enjoyed one of the most progressive laws in the world, recognising the existence of a "third gender". But this law has just been amended. The issue of transgender rights also made headlines late last year when the Pakistani film "Joyland", the story of a love story with a transgender erotic theatre dancer, was shortlisted for the Oscars. FRANCE 24's Shahzaib Wahlah and Sonia Ghezali report.

The twin island state of Trinidad and Tobago lies between the South American coast of Venezuela and the West Indies. Home to roughly 1.5 million inhabitants of African and Indian descent, the tiny Caribbean nation has one of the world’s highest volunteer rates for the Islamic State (IS) group. Between 2013 and 2016, more than 130 Trinidadians left to join the IS group, making the island country one of the world’s biggest recruiting grounds, per capita, for would-be jihadists. Since the fall of the self-declared caliphate in 2017, 90 Trinidad and Tobago nationals, including 56 children, have been detained in camps in Syria and are unable to return home. FRANCE 24's Cyrille Charpentier and Damien Lansade report.

Clearview AI is redefining our privacy. The New York-based tech company is working to identify and compile the faces of every human being on the planet. Clearview AI claims that the database will serve as a force for good, helping to solve crimes and prevent espionage. But the risks it carries are immense. FRANCE 24’s Jessica Le Masurier and Romeo Langlois have this special report. In collaboration with ARIJ (Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism).

Like many European countries, Belgium has been witnessing a crisis in its asylum system for several months. With its welcome centres and public services stretched to breaking point, NGOs are now sounding the alarm. They say more resources are needed to help process the many unaccompanied minors arriving in Belgium, with three quarters coming from Afghanistan. Belgian law requires each unaccompanied minor to have a legal guardian before starting the asylum process – but there simply aren’t enough of them. FRANCE 24's Alix Le Bourdon followed the demanding daily life of two of these guardians who hold parental authority over the young foreigners entrusted to them.

In Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus, education has become the leading economic sector. No less than 23 universities are concentrated in the small self-declared state recognised only by Turkey, which has occupied it since 1974. They attract students from developing countries by offering affordable courses with a "European" stamp of approval. But some of these students are soon disappointed. After falling victim to false promises made by their recruiters, they can end up in desperate situations. FRANCE 24's Corentin Bainier, Erika Olavarria and Derek Thomson report.

Due to excessive groundwater extraction, the Indonesian capital Jakarta and its 11 million inhabitants are sinking below sea level at a worrying pace. This phenomenon has prompted the Indonesian government to take a radical decision: to move the capital more than 1,500 kilometres away and create a new city from scratch on the island of Borneo, in one of the world's largest stretches of tropical rainforest. Lucie Berbey and Ulysse Cailloux report from Jakarta and Borneo on the rationale and challenges of this unprecedented decision.