On the Italian coast, in the central region of Tuscany, the seaside resort of Rosignano looks like a picture-postcard paradise with turquoise sea and shimmering white sand. But this landscape is a result of its close proximity to a large factory producing soda ash. For over a century, the Belgian chemical company Solvay has managed the site, with the authorisation to discharge up to 250,000 tons of waste – pumped directly onto the beach. Although legal and monitored, this activity still has considerable environmental and health implications. Life in Rosignano revolves around a battle between the chemical giant and a number of local residents. Our reporters went to meet them.

Africans make up just 5 percent of immigrants in the United States but represent the fastest-growing immigrant group. For many of them, America is the land of opportunity. But the reality is sometimes more difficult, as Africans are confronted with various challenges. These include a form of racism against them – somewhat ironically, from the African American community. FRANCE 24's correspondent Fanny Allard went to Washington, as well as the states of Maryland and Virginia, to meet some of these men and women who have made a new life for themselves in the United States.

Rafael Moreno was a Colombian journalist who regularly exposed corruption and crime in his northern home region of Cordoba. On his Facebook page, Moreno tirelessly denounced embezzlement in public contracts and illegal resource extraction. But he paid the ultimate price for his reporting. Our Bogota correspondent Pascale Mariani travelled to the Cordoba region to pay tribute to him.

In August 2021, when the US hurriedly pulled out of Afghanistan, it organised an airlift to evacuate those who had worked with NATO forces and found themselves threatened by the Taliban. These evacuations became chaotic and not everyone made it out. Meanwhile, Washington insisted on security checks for the Afghans and asked third countries to take some of them in while their visa requests were processed. Albania is one of 27 countries that are now home to Afghan refugees. FRANCE 24's Nadia Bletry and Thierry Trelluyer went to meet some of them and found that in many cases, their lives are still in limbo a year and a half later.

Professor Francine Ntoumi, 62, is a world-renowned scientist and malaria specialist. She is spending a year travelling through her country, the Republic of Congo, to spread the word that education and science can make it a better place and create opportunities for the younger generation, particularly women and girls. Reaching out to the local population, raising awareness and allowing more young women to access science is Professor Ntoumi's driving ambition. Kate Thompson-Gorry and Michel Welterlin went to meet her.

The security situation in Haiti has spiralled out of control since the shock assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021, with the country increasingly beset by violence. Today, unrest has reached such levels that the United Nations is being urged to intervene and there has been a total breakdown of governance. The country is increasingly at the mercy of criminal gangs and half of the population struggles to find food. FRANCE 24's team travelled to Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, before gangs took full control of the city. They met a writer, a street vendor and a food importer, as well as residents trying to flee abroad.

In the world's highest mountain range, global warming threatens thousands of glaciers, resulting in increasingly frequent natural disasters: landslides, avalanches and glacier collapses. Our reporters Alban Alvarez and Navodita Kumari travelled to the small northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, where these disasters are compounded by a rush to develop infrastructure such as hydroelectric dams.

With film shoots, star-studded festivals and modern studios, the conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia is sparing no expense to become a land of cinema. Showcasing the wonders of Saudi Arabia on the big screen also helps attract tourists and project a modern image of the country, which is usually better known for its serious attacks on personal freedoms. Young people are now rushing to multiplex cinemas created throughout the kingdom, which also welcome women – a situation that was unthinkable five years ago. Thomas Paga and Mathieu Beaudouin report.

In Ukraine, the justice system is now documenting potential war crimes committed by Russian forces, with the hope of one day seeing the perpetrators face justice. Like in all conflicts, women are the main victims of rape committed by the Russian occupiers, although many men have also suffered genital torture. The victims of these sexual crimes are often ashamed and find it very difficult to speak out. Some agreed to do so in this report by Ilioné Schultz and Marine Courtade.

As their country sinks deeper into a financial crisis, more Lebanese people depend on money sent by relatives living abroad to survive. Remittances sent by the Lebanese diaspora, one of the largest in the world, partly explain why Lebanon has not yet descended into social chaos or full-scale revolt, despite the country suffering from what the World Bank calls one of the worst financial crises since the mid-19th century. FRANCE 24's Chloé Domat and Sophie Guignon report.