As Brazil's coronavirus death toll tops that of China, the pandemic could get much worse as the South American giant enters winter. Yet the country's president is still resisting social distancing while his supporters clamour for a reopening of businesses in states where governors have issued lockdown orders. François Picard's panel discusses how it's turned into a culture war that mirrors scenes witnessed in Donald Trump's United States and how in the midst of the crisis, there's talk of impeachment – amid accusations Jair Bolsonaro is trying to obstruct justice to protect his sons.

While Paris hits the pause button, many in the densely-populated working-class suburbs north of the French capital still have to get to work. It's not just those in low-paid essential services jobs who're affected: many kids in the "banlieues" don't have access to online learning or depend on school for a proper meal. How can schools reopen on May 11? Can France use the crisis to truly address its inherent inequalities? President Emmanuel Macron himself acknowledged the accentuated inequality laid bare by the Covid-19 pandemic and appealed for the "building of new types of solidarity".

How to reconcile religion and the challenges of social distancing? As Muslims the world over embark on a month of fasting and prayer, what does it mean to attend mosque or to invite loved ones and good friends for the Iftar, the nightly breaking of the fast? As with other religions, we ask why most in the Muslim world are putting public safety before centuries-old rites and practice… while still some ignore the risk of Covid-19.

As some nations eye lifting coronavirus restrictions and others move to double down, FRANCE 24 and Deutsche Welle partner up for a special edition of The Debate. Why has Germany been more successful in containing the Covid-19 pandemic than France? And can the Paris-Berlin partnership – often dubbed the "engine" of Europe – rally a continent that is facing challenges from within as well as from the rest of the world?

Will shutting the borders stop coronavirus? The US president is banning all Europeans from entering. We ask if he is right and if so, why the exception for the UK and Ireland? At a time when the planet needs to come together to support those in the firing line, allay fears and prevent scapegoating, we ask if global leadership is up to this task.

Is it all over so soon? All those months of speculation, that overcrowded field of candidates, the talk of an open convention and then, just ten days after Joe Biden won his first primary in three runs for US president, the 77-year-old former vice president can boast what arguably looks like an insurmountable lead, drawing to the polls many who do not usually vote and with almost all other rivals lining up behind the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Is human civilisation not so all-powerful after all? When bubonic plague killed off as much as one third of Europe's population in the 14th century, they barely heard about it in Asia and certainly were oblivious in the Americas. Today, the world is so interconnected that an unexpected outbreak of a far, far milder disease is enough to disrupt worldwide supply chains and spread fear in real time to the five continents.

It's been a dramatic 48 hours. The Italian government announced on Sunday that more than 15 million people in the industrial heartland of the country were being quarantined for a period of four weeks. It came as the death toll from the coronavirus in Italy shot up to the highest level outside of mainland China. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte argues that these drastic measures are a bitter pill for the country's economy in the short term, but that this will spare the country longer-term economic damage.

How safe is safe when it comes to coronavirus and when is safe too safe? Italy has closed all schools and universities for two weeks, Saudi Arabia and Iran have suspended pilgrimages to holy sites, Israel has either banned travellers from affected areas or ordered them to self-quarantine while French authorities regulate the commerce of masks and sanitizing gel. And yet - as deaths mount - we are still asking how dangerous COVID-19 really is. What have we learned since the initial outbreak back in December?

"A big effing deal" is how one pundit put it, borrowing one of Joe Biden's most famous lines. Barack Obama's former vice-president has won the lion's share of Super Tuesday primaries and leap-frogged Bernie Sanders as the frontrunner to win the Democratic nomination for US president. The race is far from over, with nearly two-thirds of delegates still up for grabs. Have moderates coalesced for good around Biden and does he have the right stuff to take on Donald Trump in the fall?