Focus
Rásarupplýsingar
Focus
Our Focus programme brings you exclusive reports from around the world. Every day at 8:45am Paris time.
Nýlegir þættir
73 þættir
UAE seeks to hire more Emirati nationals in private sector
In the United Arab Emirates, the government has imposed quotas for hiring Emirati citizens across the private sector, with the aim of having them make...
Ukrainian sumo wrestler Aonishiki, 21, conquers fans in Japan
A few days ago, Aonishiki became the first Ukrainian wrestler to win a professional sumo tournament in Japan. At just 21 years old, he has risen up th...
Newly returned Syrians struggle to reclaim land seized under Assad regime
Since Ahmed al-Sharaa and the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took power in Syria a year ago after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, hun...
Syria's lost children: Families search for youngsters taken during Assad regime
A year after the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, more than 110,000 Syrians are still missing, including several thousand children. Were they...
Syrian city of Homs trapped in cycle of sectarian violence
One year ago, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad fled the country aboard a Russian military aircraft. Twelve months later, the country continues to grapple...
'Rhino Renaissance Campaign': South Africa steps up fight against poachers
Every year, hundreds of rhinos are killed for their horns, which are trafficked mainly to Asia for use in traditional medicine. As part of the "G20 He...
After deportation from US, Mexican 'retornados' struggle to rebuild their lives
They once chased the American dream. Now, thousands of Mexicans are being deported back to a country they barely remember, or never even knew. Accordi...
Pro-European political prisoners: Georgian mothers fight for release of their sons
For over a year, authoritarianism has been gaining ground in Georgia. More than a hundred pro-European protesters are currently behind bars. In the mi...
Tehran residents film their daily lives as Iran faces devastating drought
Dried-up lakes, recurrent water cuts and undrinkable water: residents of the Iranian capital Tehran are suffering the consequences of an unprecedented...
Sinophobia on the rise: Anti-Chinese sentiment growing in South Korea
South Korea's close ties to China were evident at the recent APEC summit, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping held positive talks with his South Korean co...
Living among landmines: Residents' risky return to villages on Syrian-Iraqi border
Since the fall of the Syrian regime in December 2024, the NGO Handicap International has recorded 725 accidents and nearly 1,400 victims of landmines...
Should ultra-Orthodox Jews have to do military service? Israeli society divided
Israeli society is split over the issue of compulsory military service for the ultra-Orthodox community. Ultra-Orthodox Jews, who represent 15 percent...
British voters divided over immigration as Reform UK soars in the polls
In the UK, one of the key architects of the campaign to leave the EU is currently the favourite to become the next prime minister. Nigel Farage and hi...
Gender-based violence in Pakistan: Female influencers targeted
In Pakistan, some women are murdered simply for having a TikTok account, one of the most popular social media platforms in the country. On July 11, in...
Violence in eastern DR Congo: Ituri plagued by ethnic conflict
The province of Ituri, in eastern DR Congo, has been devastated by decades of ethnic conflict. Violence has exploded since the 1990s, with the Hema an...
Egyptian students in Russia pressured to join army or leave
Russia has long been a preferred destination for students from across Africa seeking affordable higher education. In 2023, Russia estimated that 32,00...
Germany's LGBT+ community worried at rise in hate crimes
In recent months, Germany has seen a sharp rise in hate crimes targeting the queer community. Figures from the Federal Criminal Police Office and the...
Electric vehicles in China: Beijing expands battery recycling
China has some 36 million EVs (electric vehicles) on its roads. But their batteries don’t last forever. With the first generation of EVs coming to the...
Vietnam's Mekong Delta threatened by rising sea levels
Vietnam's Mekong Delta is under serious threat from climate change. The agricultural region, which produces half of the country’s food supply, is bein...
French police better prepared for terror attacks since November 13, 2015
After emergency services received the first distress calls during the November 13, 2015 Paris terror attacks, police officers from the anti-crime brig...
Period poverty: The fight for menstrual hygiene in Pakistan
Pakistan is one of the worst affected countries by period poverty. According to UNICEF, nearly 44 percent of girls lack access to the minimum resource...
Baghdad gets a makeover: Iraqi capital undergoes major renovation
Since Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's government came to power three years ago following a serious political crisis, Iraq has been experienci...
Oil drilling to begin in part of Brazil's Amazon rainforest
As the COP30 climate summit opens in the Brazilian Amazon city of Belem, Brazil is stepping up its race for oil. The government agency in charge of en...
Making it rain: Inside the United Arab Emirates' cloud-seeding programme
With the COP30 climate summit under way in Brazil, we take you to the United Arab Emirates, one of the most arid countries in the world. There, the go...
Gold mining in Peru: The not-so-glittery side of your smartphone
The COP30 climate summit will open on November 10 in Belem, a city in Brazil's Amazon, as the rainforest continues to be threatened by deforestation....
Ukrainian youth orchestra recreates sounds of Russian attacks
In the Ukrainian village of Kivshovata, south of Kyiv, air raid sirens have become part of everyday life. Although far from the front line, Kivshovata...
Spain bets on migration to drive economic growth, bucking European trend
As Europe tightens up its borders and makes migration policy stricter, Spain has surprised with a welcoming approach to migrants. Between January and...
New York mayoral race: On the campaign trail with Zohran Mamdani
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate in New York City's mayoral race, is shaking up US politics. The 34-year-old could make history on Tuesday by...
Inside the mega farms growing cheap Moroccan tomatoes
French tomato producers are seeing red, angry at what they believe is unfair competition from Morocco. In one of the most arid parts of the North Afri...
Three years of Meloni: Assessing the track record of Italy's far-right leader
Three years after her arrival at the Palazzo Chigi, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni still enjoys high approval ratings. The strict budget polici...
In the Netherlands, immigration dominates election campaign
Dutch voters head to the polls on October 29 and far-right parties have made immigration the central issue of the campaign. This hardline rhetoric led...
More than two decades after independence, East Timor finally joins ASEAN
Twenty-three years after obtaining its independence, East Timor is starting a new chapter in its history. The small Southeast Asian country has just j...
Liberated Ukrainians still bear the scars of time in Russian prisons
Over 6,000 Ukrainian prisoners have been liberated from Russian prisons since the beginning of the war. But behind the scenes of their touching reunio...
Ivory Coast combats uptick in disinformation campaigns around elections
The election campaign in Ivory Coast has come with an upsurge in disinformation on social media. Supporters of both the ruling and opposition parties...
Life after al-Hol camp: Women of IS group try to reintegrate into Syrian society
When the Islamic State group was defeated in 2019, more than 40,000 men, women, and children were held in the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria. Along...
Police crack down on illegal meat smuggling from France into Switzerland
Illegal meat trafficking is on the rise, with quantities seized by customs becoming increasingly significant. From simple steak portions hidden under...
Exploring India's spice route: A thousand-flavour journey through Kerala
The state of Kerala, in southern India, is home to the country's most famous spice route. From the hills where the spices are grown to the ports where...
Assisted dying in California: A decade on, how have views changed?
Earlier this month, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law that made assisted dying permanent in the state, after an initial law was passed in...
India’s baby bust: World’s most populous country fears demographic decline
India, home to 1.45 billion people, recently overtook China as the world’s most populous country. Yet, behind this demographic milestone lies an unexp...
Academics leave Trump’s America over budget cuts and threats to intellectual freedom
Researchers, professors, and scientists are leaving Donald Trump’s America in increasing numbers, choosing to settle in Canada. Their reasons are ofte...