Reporters

Andorra, a microstate nestled between France and Spain in the heart of the Pyrenees, attracts millions of tourists every year for winter sports or shopping trips for cheap alcohol and cigarettes. Its flourishing financial sector contributes to an image of a tax haven. But today, the principality is facing criticism. Its institutions date back to the Middle Ages and have evolved little since, especially when it comes to women's rights and abortion, which is illegal in Andorra. Our regional correspondents Laura Cambaud, Léa Caboche and Sarah Morris report.

On June 24, 2021, Palestinian political activist Nizar Banat died after being violently beaten by Palestinian security forces. Banat was a fierce critic of corruption in the Palestinian Authority. His killing had an immediate effect: Thousands took to the streets in the Palestinian Territories to protest against the ruling Fatah party and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The 86-year-old Abbas is clinging on to his position, having cancelled the first elections in 16 years. Our reporters Gwendoline Debono and Laurent Van der Stockt went to meet Palestinians who are openly denouncing their leadership and who feel abandoned.

Colonel Assimi Goïta, who took power in Mali in an August 2020 coup, has been slow to put in place a promised transition to civilian rule. Now under international sanctions, the country has been gripped by nationalist and pan-African fever for several weeks. Relations with former colonial power France, which has deployed thousands of soldiers as part of an anti-jihadist force for nearly a decade, are strained to the point that Mali recently expelled the French ambassador. Meanwhile, the ruling junta in Bamako is welcoming new allies: members of the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group. Their presence has already been reported in certain areas of the country.

It’s been dubbed the "Great Resignation": an unprecedented number of US workers have walked off the job since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of Americans quitting their jobs hit a record high 4.5 million in November 2021. The hardest-hit sector has been the hospitality industry, followed by entertainment, retail and health services. Major strikes have also taken place across the country, with workers demanding higher pay and better working conditions. Covid-19 seems to have shifted the balance of power between American employers and workers. What's going on in the land of unbridled capitalism? FRANCE 24's Fanny Allard reports.

On January 13, in the first European trial against a high-ranking Syrian regime official, a former senior intelligence officer was sentenced to life in prison in Germany for crimes against humanity. Former head of interrogation at a detention centre in Damascus, Anwar Raslan was found guilty on 4,000 counts of torture and the murder of 27 detainees, less than a year after one of his subordinates was convicted by the same German court. It’s been a long road to justice for victims and their lawyers tracking down former torturers who have settled in Europe since 2013.

...but he liked to party before the pandemic too! Some misleading videos have been circulating online in the midst of the scandal about parties at 10 Downing Street.

Also, there has been a lot of criticism online of the state of the pitches in Cameroon during the African Cup of Nations. Some false images are circulating too.

Every year, more than 100,000 Mexicans living in the United States are deported to Mexico. Many of them have grown up and spent decades in the US, working, paying taxes and starting families. Some of them don't even speak Spanish. In a matter of days, they find themselves taken from their children and loved ones and escorted across the border, unable to appeal their deportation. FRANCE 24 brings you a special full-length documentary on their plight.

It's the largest trial of organised crime to be held in Italy since that of the Sicilian mafia Cosa Nostra at the end of the 1980s. The Calabrian mafia 'Ndrangheta, one of the most powerful in the world, went on trial in the beginning of 2021. Some 70 convictions were handed down in November, with 355 defendants still to be judged. Our correspondent Louise Malnoy met the protagonists in this so-called "maxi-trial" in which many southern Italians are placing their hopes.

It's been four months since the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan, something they did faster than anyone anticipated. Since August, they have had to make a rapid transition to running the day-to-day business of a struggling state. From Kabul to the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar and the mountainous Wardak province, our team have witnessed the grim reality of Taliban rule. FRANCE 24's senior reporters Catherine Norris Trent and Roméo Langlois bring us this exclusive full-length documentary.

In North America, the online porn industry is booming. Many low-budget shoots are now taking place in Canada. The videos then end up on streaming platforms that are among the world's most visited websites. But not all pornographic films are produced legally: Some content is posted without the consent of those involved. In certain cases, this can even amount to child porn or rape. Our reporters François Rihouay, Fanny Chauvin and Loubna Anaki investigate.