Revisited: Recent Episodes
FRANCE 24 English
We return to places which have been in the news - often a long time ago, sometimes recently - to see how local people are rebuilding their lives. Sunday at 9.10 pm. Or you can catch it online from Friday.
August 6 will mark 80 years since the US dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Little Boy, as the bomb was nicknamed, killed 80,000 people instantly. By the end of the year, the death toll had risen to 140,000. What has become of the last survivors? How was the city of Hiroshima able to rebuild itself and transform from a city devastated by nuclear weapons to a centre of peace? FRANCE 24's Mélodie Sforza, Aruna Popuri, Makiko Kobayashi and Justin McCurry report.
Hollywood, a name synonymous with cinema, is seeing its stars fade. Much more than a mythical place, it’s a global industry that generates revenue in the billions making it one of the biggest contributors to California’s economy. Battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, strikes, and devastating wildfires, the film industry is struggling to catch its breath. The box office is plummeting, and studios are relocating for lower production costs — be it in the United States or abroad. Is Hollywood at the dawn of a revival or at the end of its reign? Valérie Defert and Pierrick Leurent explore the challenges facing the movie capital of the world.
It's been 50 years since the fall of Saigon, a day that marked the end of a long and brutal chapter in Vietnam’s history. In the years that followed, Ho Chi Minh City rose from the ashes of war, reinventing itself as a bustling metropolis. Yet, beneath the modern skyline and the hum of economic growth, the memories of April 30, 1975, continue to echo. William de Tamaris takes us back to that pivotal moment and explores how a city shaped by conflict now faces the future, while still carrying the weight of its past.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on April 25, 2015, killing nearly 9,000 people as it destroyed homes and heritage sites across the country. The quake also triggered avalanches on Mount Everest that claimed the lives of 22 hikers. A decade later, the nation is still rebuilding, with fresh solutions to protect lives in the event of future quakes. FRANCE 24's Navodita Kumari and Nabeel Ahmed report.
Five decades after the start of Lebanon's civil war, veterans of the conflict are speaking out about their past role in the country's warring militias and how they broke with their respective parties. With the threat of war ever present, they worry that young Lebanese – who do not learn the history of the conflict at school – will fall into the spiral of violence like they did. Our reporters Sophie Guignon and Chloé Domat went to meet them.
On June 24, 2022, an attempt by mostly Sudanese migrants to force their way into Europe led to dozens of them being killed in the Spanish enclave of Melilla, on the border with Morocco. Nearly three years on, attempts to find out exactly what happened that fateful day have been thwarted. Meanwhile, migration routes to Europe have been redrawn as a result of the tragedy. Our correspondents investigate.
In May 2017, a Catholic Mission in Bangassou in the Central African Republic became a symbol of resistance. Priests formed a human chain to defend Muslims from a massacre by Christian majority anti-balaka militants. The priests sheltered the persecuted Muslim community for four years. Caroline Dumay and Stefan Carstens report on the current state of reconciliation in Bangassou, in a country where some 15 armed groups are still active.
Thirty-five years after the horrors of the Ceaușescu dictatorship were discovered in Romania, our reporters investigated one of the darkest episodes in the country's history – the squalid, state-run institutions where thousands of children were locked away and abused. An estimated 15,000 children died, mostly in so-called hospitals for those often misdiagnosed as severely disabled. While part of society is nostalgic for the Communist era, the work of collective memory and justice is far from complete.
In 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, hundreds of thousands of students took to the streets of the Thai capital Bangkok, leading to huge demonstrations and an unprecedented protest movement in the “land of smiles”. These young Thais defied the biggest taboo in the kingdom by calling for a reform of the monarchy. Five years on, some of the protesters are still fighting for more democracy. Others, disheartened by the severe crackdown, have lost hope of changing their country's politics.
During World War II, the Japanese imperial authorities abducted, coerced, tricked and sometimes recruited hundreds of thousands of women from Japan's colonial empire to become sexual slaves for soldiers. Sometimes minors, these women were called "comfort women" and were raped repeatedly in brothels near the front lines. With only a handful of survivors still alive in China, our correspondents met one of them: 95-year-old Peng Zhuying. She is determined to share her story in a country where the subject remains taboo.
Four years after the deadly assault on the US Capitol, two opposing narratives persist about what took place that fateful day. More than 1,500 people have since been criminally indicted in federal court, but President-elect Donald Trump has promised to pardon them all on his first day in office. Our correspondent Fanny Allard met a convicted rioter, a policeman who was injured on January 6, 2021 and a member of the bipartisan committee tasked with investigating the attack.
Twenty years after the devastating tsunami that hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the province of Aceh has returned to peace after a civil war and is now living under Koranic law. Our correspondent reports.
For nearly five years, our reporters have followed "the project of the century" – the reconstruction of Paris's Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was devastated by fire in April 2019. In this final episode, we take you across France to discover the craftsmanship that has helped bring the Gothic masterpiece back to life. The world's most famous cathedral is set to reopen to the public on December 8. FRANCE 24's Mélina Huet reports.
The Lebensborn programme, meaning spring or source of life, was one of the most secret and incredible projects of the regime in Nazi Germany. Its aim was to give birth to children who were seen as "perfect" in the eyes of the Nazis. These so-called Aryans – tall, blond and blue-eyed – were representatives of the "master race" that Adolf Hitler dreamed of. Our correspondent Anne Mailliet investigated this terrifying project and tracked down victims who are today more than 80 years old.
During the 2020 US presidential election, Arizona emerged as a pivotal state. Joe Biden won a narrow victory there, marking one of the rare occasions when this traditionally Republican state swung to the Democrats. In the aftermath of the election, while Donald Trump continued to claim victory, Arizona Republicans and the candidate's lawyers attempted to have the vote annulled in court – citing fraud and irregularities – but all these legal challenges were dismissed by the courts. Four years later, the state of Arizona remains more decisive than ever. Our reporters Valérie Defert and Pierrick Leurent followed the particularly tense campaign in Phoenix.
Forty years after his death, Ahmed Sékou Touré, the father of Guinea's independence, is more popular than ever. For young people across West Africa in search of a hero, Sékou Touré could be what they're looking for. But this rehabilitation of the country's past dictator glosses over the tens of thousands of deaths attributed to his regime, with access to the notorious Camp Boiro concentration camp now closed to victims' families. Our correspondent Sarah Sakho reports.
It's the biggest mystery and probably the biggest scandal to hit Mexico in the past decade. On September 26, 2014, in the southern town of Iguala, police officers fired on several buses carrying students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers' College. In the ensuing chaos, six people including three students were killed, while 43 other trainee teachers were taken away by the police, allegedly in cahoots with a local cartel. They were never seen alive again. Ten years on, the Mexican government and judicial system are unable to explain the tragedy. Our reporters Laurence Cuvillier, Matthieu Comin and Quentin Duval look back at this strange disappearance.
Dotting East Africa’s Swahili coast, Zanzibar, Lamu and Mombasa are synonymous with pristine waters and white sandy beaches. But many tourists are unaware that these UNESCO World Heritage Sites were the scene of a gruesome chapter in history. For centuries, the Swahili coast was central to the slave trade.
The first flashpoint of Russia’s hybrid war in Donbas in eastern Ukraine, and one of the first Ukrainian cities to be occupied and then liberated back in 2014, Sloviansk today finds itself once again under threat from the Kremlin’s armies.
In Japan, they are known as "children of mixed blood": those born after 1945 to an American GI and a Japanese woman and abandoned due to stigma. Eighty years after the end of World War II, we went to meet some of these orphans to understand more about their painful past.
Twenty-two years ago, the Indian state of Gujarat erupted in violence. For several weeks from the end of February 2002, inter-communal violence led to the deaths of around 2,000 people, most of them Muslims. Entire neighbourhoods were burnt down and families massacred. This outpouring of hatred was sparked by a fire on a train on February 27, 2002 at Godhra station. Fifty-nine Hindu pilgrims were burnt alive and dozens of others seriously injured. Hindu fundamentalist organisations in the region immediately accused Muslim extremists of attacking the convoy. It was the start of the worst religious riots in India since independence in 1947. Two decades later, our team returned to Gujarat, which is still scarred by the tragedy.
The events of April 25, 1974 have left an indelible mark on the history of Portugal and Europe. That evening, a group of 200 left-leaning young Portuguese military captains walked out of their barracks and occupied strategic locations. Tired of the ravages of the dictatorship and colonisation, they won the active support of the people. The uprising was nicknamed the Carnation Revolution after the flowers that protesters placed in the soldiers' guns and tanks, in a rare example of a military coup being staged to install democracy. The dictatorship collapsed in a single day. But 50 years on, Portugal’s old demons are surfacing. Chega, a populist xenophobic party, quadrupled its number of MPs in March’s elections. In less than five years, it has become the country’s third-largest political force. FRANCE 24’s Céline Schmitt and Clara Le Nagard report, with Sarah Morris.
Six decades after the military coup that plunged Brazil into 21 years of dictatorship, the country is still struggling with its old demons. FRANCE 24’s team went to meet deeply divided Brazilians – Bolsonaro supporters who are nostalgic for the dictatorship and survivors and left-wingers who want to make sure that this dark period of history is not forgotten.
The Croatian city of Vukovar, on the banks of the Danube, has a painful past. Located on the border with Serbia, it was the scene of the first major battle in the 1990s Balkan wars. Four years before the genocide in Srebrenica and eight years before the war in Kosovo, Vukovar was the first city in the former Yugoslavia to suffer ethnic cleansing, in 1991. More than 30 years later, reconciliation between local Serbs and Croats is hindered by impunity for war crimes and the inability to agree on a common version of events.
Fifty-three years ago, Bangladesh finally obtained independence from Pakistan, at the cost of a war that left nearly 3 million people dead. Since then, the nation has developed into one of Asia's most dynamic economies, thanks in particular to the textile industry. The garment industry brings in more than $55 billion a year, making Bangladesh the world's second-largest clothing exporter, just behind China. FRANCE 24 takes a closer look at the Bangladesh of today, a country that has fully embraced globalisation.
The Jordanian city of Zarqa has a strong Palestinian identity, with good reason. In 1948, with the creation of the State of Israel – what the Palestinians call the "Nakba" ("catastrophe") – some 750,000 people, or more than 80 percent of the Palestinian population, were forced to take exile in neighbouring countries as they fled the violence. Jordan took in around 100,000 of them, with many of these refugees settling in Zarqa, a desert area on the outskirts of the capital Amman. Seventy-five years after their exile, what relationship do they have with their homeland and with their host country of Jordan?
It was one of Spain's deadliest terrorist attacks in history. On the morning of March 11, 2004, ten bombs exploded almost simultaneously at the Atocha train station in the Spanish capital Madrid. Nearly 200 people were killed and more than 1,500 wounded. Twenty years later, survivors of the incident are still waiting to know the truth behind the bombings.
A century ago, the "manufacture, sale or transportation, importation or exportation" of alcohol was strictly forbidden across the United States, a policy that left an indelible mark. Nine decades after the end of the Prohibition era, which lasted from 1920 to 1933, some states and towns in the United States still remain "alcohol-free". Our correspondent Fanny Allard reports.
In the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, one road symbolises the complex relationship between Lebanon and neighbouring Syria: the aptly named Syria Street. With the outbreak of civil war in Syria in 2011, Tripoli street also become a conflict zone. On one side, the Alawite district sided with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Sunni neighbourhood on the other side supported the rebels. For several years, the street was transformed into a battlefield. Young Lebanese living in Tripoli fought each other, ready to die for a cause that was not their own. Today, calm has returned to the street and communities that were once divided are learning to live together again.
An historic trial opened on January 8 for the West African nation of The Gambia. Ousman Sonko, a former high-ranking member of the dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh, is in the dock in Switzerland for a series of alleged crimes against humanity committed between 2000 and 2016. Victims of the dictatorship have high hopes for the trial. FRANCE 24's Sarah Sakho and Simon Martin report.
As Taiwan heads to the polls for a presidential election on January 13, we look back at a dark chapter in the island's past. Almost 80 years ago, on February 28, 1947, tens of thousands of Taiwanese who had risen up against the government were murdered. It was the start of the "White Terror" period. For 40 years, the Taiwanese were deprived of their freedoms, wrongly imprisoned or even executed. In 1987, with the lifting of martial law, Taiwan began its march towards democracy, and three decades later a Transitional Justice Commission was set up to work towards reconciliation. Our correspondent Lucie Barbazanges reports on a past that continues to haunt the Taiwanese people.
Between 1952 and 1960 in Kenya, the Mau Mau rebels who rose up against British rule faced a brutal crackdown that killed thousands of them. Left out of the history books for decades, these independence heroes are now fighting for recognition before the last survivors die out. Our correspondents report.
Thousands of Silicon Valley employees have been laid off over the past year, often finding out the bad news by email. Hit hard by rampant inflation and over-hiring during the Covid pandemic, the US tech giants of the San Francisco Bay Area have faced one of the worst crises in their history. A few months ago, a banking crisis added to their woes, when Silicon Valley Bank went bankrupt, before being rescued by the federal government at the last minute. Nevertheless, the tech sector – renowned for its resilience – is refusing to give in to defeatism, as our team reports.
The city of Raqqa symbolises the tragic fate of Syria over the past 12 years. From the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011, the northern city was a major target for rebel groups. It then became the stronghold of Islamic State group terrorists, who made Raqqa the capital of their self-proclaimed caliphate. The city went through three years of hell – suffering atrocities, public hangings and slave auctions – before being bombed and then liberated in 2017 by an international US-led coalition. Since then, the "Pearl of the Euphrates" has struggled to get back on track.
Some Argentinians carry a heavy family secret. Under the country’s military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983, their fathers were police or military officers. As such, they were responsible for the disappearance of up to 30,000 people, according to human rights groups. These men have since been accused – and sometimes convicted – of crimes against humanity. After decades of living in shame and silence, some of their now grown-up children have decided to make their voices heard and recount their terrible family legacy. They call themselves "the children of those who committed genocide".
In this edition of Revisited we head to Canada to discover the diversity of the country's French accents and cultures as the use of French in the mainly English-speaking country declines. From Port Royal in Nova Scotia to Toronto via New Brunswick and Quebec, what remains of the 18th-century colony of New France? Our correspondent reports.
As record numbers of migrants continue to arrive on the small Italian island of Lampedusa, FRANCE 24 looks back at the shipwreck of 2013, which saw 368 people drown off the island. Our reporters met a witness to the tragedy, a survivor and the island's doctor who registered the deaths. All of them want to put an end to these shipwrecks, which have made the Mediterranean the deadliest migrant route in the world.
It has been 50 years since Chile's military junta came to power. On September 11, 1973, the army headed by General Augusto Pinochet launched a coup with the US' covert backing. Soldiers took over the presidential palace, ousting leftist President Salvador Allende, who committed suicide. Pinochet then stayed in power for 17 years, a period of dictatorship that saw more than 3,000 people killed or missing and around 200,000 fleeing into exile. Even today, the constitution that was tailor-made for him in 1980 is still in force, although there are lively debates about amending it. FRANCE 24’s Juliette Chaignon and Guillaume Gosalbes report.
During the Cold War, the US military conducted manoeuvres in Spain’s Andalusia region. On January 17, 1966, a bomber and a supply plane collided in mid-air. From the belly of the bomber, four thermonuclear bombs fell to the ground. There was no nuclear explosion, as luckily they were unarmed. But they scattered highly radioactive plutonium over 250 hectares around the sleepy farming village of Palomares. The US tried to downplay the incident and quickly cleaned up the site, but left 50,000 cubic metres of plutonium-contaminated soil. More than half a century later, the accident is still a source of tension between Madrid and Washington. FRANCE 24's Céline Schmitt and Armelle Exposito report.
Back in 2015, Guatemala's President Otto Perez Molina was forced to resign before being eventually found guilty of fraud and criminal conspiracy. His downfall seemed proof that impunity for corruption was not inevitable in a country plagued by 40 years of civil war. Perez was the prize catch of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), but this victory was short-lived. In 2018, the Commission was dissolved by the new president, Jimmy Morales, whom it was investigating. Since then, the justice system has been in the government's crosshairs: magistrates are arrested, imprisoned or forced into exile; journalists and lawyers risk the same fate. FRANCE 24's Laurence Cuvillier and Matthieu Comin report on the country's authoritarian drift.
In 1953, a gigantic storm swept across the North Sea and caused a tidal wave in the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK. Many dykes controlling water levels were simply swept away as the water spread far inland. While more than 300 people died in the UK, more than 1,800 lost their lives in the Netherlands. At the time, around a fifth of the Netherlands was below sea level. More than 2,000 square kilometres of land were flooded there, including almost the entire province of Zeeland. Protective structures have since been created. But will they be sufficient to hold back the expected rise in sea levels due to climate change? FRANCE 24's Alix Le Bourdon reports.
In 1943, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising took place. It was a courageous act of resistance against the Nazis by several hundred Jewish fighters.
Since 1941, the Jewish population of the Polish capital – approximately 400,000 people – had been confined by the Nazi occupiers to a small neighbourhood in the center of the city. Many died as a result of starvation and diseases there. Others were sent to the Treblinka death camp.
Back in 2018, the signing of a peace deal between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and his longtime rival Riek Machar created hope and optimism. The people of South Sudan, an independent nation since 2011, were emerging from a brutal civil war. However, five years later, this peace agreement is mostly respected only in Juba, the young nation's capital. Elsewhere, the fear of conflict remains palpable – a fear that has been further accentuated by the conflict in neighbouring Sudan. FRANCE 24's team reports.
On March 29, 1988, South African anti-apartheid activist Dulcie September was shot dead at close range in central Paris. In the 1970s, she had been imprisoned in her home country for her activities against the apartheid regime. Upon her release, she had been authorised to leave South Africa on the condition that she never return. September was the representative of Nelson Mandela's ANC party in France and yet she claimed to be followed and watched. What did the French secret services know? FRANCE 24's Caroline Dumay, Stefan Carstens and Nadine Theron revisit the case.
For a long time, the island of Jolo, one of the southernmost points of the Philippines archipelago, was off limits. It was the stronghold of one of the most violent terrorist movements in the world, Abu Sayyaf. In 2000, a group of 20 tourists were kidnapped in Malaysia and taken to Jolo. Journalists who covered the kidnapping were then also captured. Negotiations for their release took several months. Today, after 30 years of fighting with the Philippine army, Abu Sayyaf is almost defeated and the island has begun to find peace. FRANCE 24’s Constantin Simon, Alexis Bregere, Sherbien Dacalanio and Aruna Popuri report.
For the past four years, FRANCE 24 has been closely following the reconstruction of Paris's Notre-Dame Cathedral following the devastating 2019 fire there. The year 2023 is a crucial phase for the rebuilding, as the cathedral's spire, which collapsed in the blaze, is slated to rise into the Paris skyline once again by the end of December. Our reporter Julien Sauvaget met the craftspeople who are rebuilding the spire in its original form. The restoration work has also allowed experts to carry out archaeological digs below the cathedral's floor in search of clues to the history of the well-loved monument – with a few surprises in store.
Located around 40 kilometres from Abidjan, the Ivorian beach resort of Grand-Bassam has become the symbol a tragedy – that of the first major terrorist attack in Ivory Coast. On March 13, 2016, 19 people were gunned down, including nine foreigners, and about 30 injured. In December 2022, four men were sentenced to life imprisonment by the courts for aiding and abetting the terrorists. The alleged masterminds of the attack were sentenced in absentia. But the trial failed to shed any real light on the attack. FRANCE 24's Sophie Lamotte and Sadia Mandjo report from Grand-Bassam, scarred forever by the tragedy.
Fallujah is one of the cities that has paid the highest price for the US-led invasion of Iraq two decades ago. A stronghold of support for former dictator Saddam Hussein, it quickly became the scene of brutal guerrilla warfare. The instability created by the conflict produced long-lasting effects. In particular, it laid the foundations for jihadism, giving birth to al Qaeda in Iraq, which later evolved into the Islamic State group. FRANCE 24's Lucile Wassermann reports.
It has been 20 years since the United States and its allies invaded Iraq in their “war on terror” amid claims that the country’s dictator, Saddam Hussein, possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction. Along with Baghdad, the dictator’s birthplace Tikrit, was quick to fall. But what has become of Tikrit, once a rich and flourishing town, in the 20 years since the invasion? FRANCE 24’s Lucile Wassermann reports.
After lying dormant for half a century, the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma, in Spain's Canary Islands, suddenly exploded in a river of fire on September 19, 2021. The eruption lasted for 85 days. No one was killed, but more than 1,000 homes were destroyed, as well as 70 kilometres of roads. Some 350 hectares of banana plantations were covered with lava. The eruption dealt a huge blow to the island's economy. Almost a year and a half later, around 100 residents are still being housed in hotels and many continue to wait for the financial aid promised by the Spanish authorities. FRANCE 24's Céline Schmitt and Armelle Exposito report.
In Peru, approximately 270,000 women and 22,000 men were sterilised between 1996 and 2000 as the result of a controversial birth control policy. The goal of then ex-President Alberto Fujimori and his administration was to reduce poverty. But thousands of indigenous women, who did not always speak Spanish, say they were forcibly sterilised. More than two decades on, victims are still fighting for justice. FRANCE 24's Thomas Nicolon reports.
Over the past two decades, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emerged as the undisputed master of Turkish politics. Elected prime minister in 2003, then president in 2014, he is gearing up for a hotly contested re-election bid later in 2023. FRANCE 24's Shona Bhattacharyya and Ludovic de Foucaud look back at the political legacy of a man who has had a profound impact on the lives of everyday Turks, for better or for worse.
Many African Americans are fascinated by Liberia, a small West African country founded 200 years ago by freed slaves from the United States. Some visit the country, while others even move there. But Liberia still bears the scars of the brutal civil wars of the 1980s and 1990s. FRANCE 24's Sophie Lamotte and Sadia Mandjo report.
Located in a far-flung corner of the south Atlantic, the Islas Malvinas or Falkland Islands are at the heart of an age-old rift between Argentina and the UK. Back in 1982, this escalated into a ten-week war between the two countries. Four decades on, Argentina's defeat against the British remains a gaping wound for the South American nation. More than eight out of ten Argentinians say their government should continue to claim sovereignty over the islands. FRANCE 24's Éléonore Vanel, Nicolas Flon and Flavian Charuel report.
It was a tragic day that became a symbol of the rise of the far right in the US during the presidency of Donald Trump. On August 12, 2017, during a rally by White supremacists in the city of Charlottesville, Virginia, a young neo-Nazi sympathiser rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters. One young woman was killed and dozens of other people were injured. Five years on, FRANCE 24's reporters Fanny Allard and Matthieu Mabin returned to Charlottesville to meet residents.
On May 5, 1992, on the French island of Corsica, local football club Bastia were hosting Marseille for a French Cup semi-final. But what should have been a day of celebration turned into a nightmare. Less than 10 minutes before the start of the match, the top of the temporary metal stand that had been installed to double the Furiani stadium's capacity collapsed. Hundreds of people fell dozens of metres to the ground in a tangle of metal: many crushed in the collapse, others in the mayhem that followed. In total, 19 people were killed and more than 2,300 injured. Three decades on, Annabel Lecouffe-Robaglia, Florie Castaingts and Thierry Derouet went to meet survivors and victims’ families.
On May 5, 1992, on the French island of Corsica, local football club Bastia were hosting Marseille for a French Cup semi-final. But what should have been a day of celebration turned into a nightmare. Less than 10 minutes before the start of the match, the top of the temporary metal stand that had been installed to double the Furiani stadium's capacity collapsed. Hundreds of people fell dozens of metres to the ground in a tangle of metal: many crushed in the collapse, others in the mayhem that followed. In total, 19 people were killed and more than 2,300 injured. Three decades on, Annabel Lecouffe-Robaglia, Florie Castaingts and Thierry Derouet went to meet survivors and victims’ families.
In the 1970s and 1980s, North Korea organised a kidnapping campaign in "enemy" countries. As one of its closest neighbours, Japan became a prime target. The programme, decided at the highest level of the Communist state, was likely intended to train North Korean spies in foreign languages and customs. FRANCE 24's Louis Belin, Philippe Chambret, Constantin Simon and Aruna Popuri went to the Japanese city of Niigata, where a teenage girl was abducted in 1977.
In the 1970s and 1980s, North Korea organised a kidnapping campaign in "enemy" countries. As one of its closest neighbours, Japan became a prime target. The programme, decided at the highest level of the Communist state, was likely intended to train North Korean spies in foreign languages and customs. FRANCE 24's Louis Belin, Philippe Chambret, Constantin Simon and Aruna Popuri went to the Japanese city of Niigata, where a teenage girl was abducted in 1977.
In this edition we look back at a terrible shipwreck with a death toll even heavier than the Titanic. On September 26, 2002, the Joola disaster claimed at least 1,800 lives. The ferry was sailing between the Senegalese province of Casamance and the capital Dakar. In the middle of the night, 40 kilometres off the coast, the boat capsized after being hit by tropical rains and strong winds. It took more than 16 hours for help to arrive on the scene. Only 64 passengers survived the night of hell. FRANCE 24's Sarah Sakho and Sam Bradpiece revisit the tragedy, two decades on.
In this edition we look back at a terrible shipwreck with a death toll even heavier than the Titanic. On September 26, 2002, the Joola disaster claimed at least 1,800 lives. The ferry was sailing between the Senegalese province of Casamance and the capital Dakar. In the middle of the night, 40 kilometres off the coast, the boat capsized after being hit by tropical rains and strong winds. It took more than 16 hours for help to arrive on the scene. Only 64 passengers survived the night of hell. FRANCE 24's Sarah Sakho and Sam Bradpiece revisit the tragedy, two decades on.
Palestinian militants took 11 members of the Israeli delegation hostage inside the Olympic village in Munich, Germany, on September 5, 1972. The terrorists, who claimed to be part of the Black September movement, were demanding the liberation of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. After killing two hostages, they negotiated for a plane to take them out of the country. But a German police operation to rescue the Israelis went horribly wrong. In the end, all the hostages were killed, along with five of the eight attackers and a German police officer.
Palestinian militants took 11 members of the Israeli delegation hostage inside the Olympic village in Munich, Germany, on September 5, 1972. The terrorists, who claimed to be part of the Black September movement, were demanding the liberation of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. After killing two hostages, they negotiated for a plane to take them out of the country. But a German police operation to rescue the Israelis went horribly wrong. In the end, all the hostages were killed, along with five of the eight attackers and a German police officer.
This month marks 80 years since the Vél d'Hiv roundup, when French police detained 13,000 Parisian Jews, including 4,000 children, acting on orders from occupying German forces and their French allies in the Vichy Regime. Many were first sent to the Vélodrome d'Hiver stadium, which gave its name to this sinister chapter of French history, before being deported to Auschwitz, never to return. FRANCE 24’s Claire Paccalin and Stéphanie Trouillard met with survivors who managed to escape.
On November 17, 2018, French men and women gathered for the first time on the capital’s iconic Champs-Élysées and on hundreds of roundabouts throughout France to protest against the high cost of living. They were easily recognisable by their yellow high-visibility vests. The months-long demonstrations against the government of President Emmanuel Macron turned violent and were met with a fierce crackdown by security forces. Almost four years later, those who participated in the movement tell FRANCE 24’s reporters how the struggle has changed their lives.
It's a utopian city without money, without a government, without religion and which welcomes all nationalities. Auroville was founded in southern India in February 1968 by Mirra Alfassa, a French woman nicknamed "the Mother". After her death in 1973, the city developed, despite being located in the middle of the desert, thanks to the work of its residents. Some 3,300 people from 52 different countries live there today. Half of the population is Indian and a fifth is French. Together, they dream of building a new humanity, where people live in peace and harmony. FRANCE 24's Marion Laouamen, Lucile Perrone and Navodita Kumari report.
Created on the island of Sicily in the mid-19th century, Cosa Nostra soon became one of the most powerful branches of the Italian mafia. In 1986, the Italian justice system launched a counter-offensive, with the Palermo prosecutor's office leading the charge. Judge Giovanni Falcone became a symbol of the fight against the mafia but on May 23, 1992, he was killed in a car bombing, along with his wife and three bodyguards. His colleague and friend Paolo Borsellino was murdered less than two months later. Three decades on, our correspondents report on how these assassinations by Cosa Nostra sparked an awakening and an ongoing fight against the mafia.
Twenty years ago, one of the longest, most brutal and deadliest wars of the last century ended in Angola. In 27 years, this conflict left nearly 1 million people dead and displaced 4 million. It has also left the country in ruins: In 2002, 60 percent of Angolans did not have access to drinking water and 30 percent of children died before the age of five. Has the West African country recovered from these dark years? We find out in this report by Clément Bonnerot, Dombaxi Sebastiao, Evan Claver and Juliette Dubois.
French President Emmanuel Macron has set a deadline of 2024 to reopen Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral to worshippers and visitors. FRANCE 24's Revisited show is following the progress of this ambitious project and brings you a fresh update, three years after the devastating fire that badly damaged the world-famous cathedral. Our reporter Mélina Huet met those who are involved in the restoration work, both inside the mediaeval edifice and elsewhere in France. They now find themselves in a race against time.
Occupied by Turkish soldiers for close to half a century, the former Cypriot resort town of Varosha lies in ruins. Known as Marash in Turkish, the town is situated in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, an entity only recognised by Ankara. It's also home to one of the two Turkish military bases on the island. According to a 1984 UN resolution, Varosha must be returned to its original owners. But neither the Greek Cypriot authorities, nor the Turkish Cypriot administration have taken steps to apply the decision. Our regional correspondents Shona Bhattacharyya and Ludovic de Foucaud report.
During World War II, one of the worst massacres of the conflict took place in Eastern Europe, in Romania's second city of Iași. A tenth of the city's population – more than 13,000 people – was murdered in the space of a few days, simply because they were Jews. More than 80 years after the Iasi pogrom, most people in Romania know little about these atrocities, and the country's far-right party is gaining in strength – as are those who want to rewrite history. FRANCE 24's Nadia Blétry, Thierry Trelluyer and Ruth Michaelson report.
In Sri Lanka, 13 years after the end of the civil war with the Tamil Tigers that lasted a quarter of a century, reconciliation appears elusive. Elected in 2019, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, seen by the Sinhalese majority as a hero and accused by the Tamil minority of war crimes during the conflict, embodies this divide. FRANCE 24's Thomas Denis reports, with Navodita Kumari.
An oil producer hard hit by the slump in global prices, Venezuela has seen its economy gradually deteriorate over the past decade, with international economic sanctions aggravating the crisis. The late former president Hugo Chavez, in power from 1999 to 2013, wanted to make his country the home of "21st century socialism". But despite this promise to eradicate inequality, the most vulnerable seem in a more precarious situation than ever. However, some economic indicators have recently improved. To take stock of the situation, our team reports from Caracas, a capital where cameras are not always welcome.
Is the United Kingdom better off without Europe? Did the country make a risky choice by leaving the EU one year ago? Our reporters Jonathan Walsh and Clovis Casali crossed the Channel to understand the consequences of Brexit on the daily lives of citizens. From London to Belfast, via Boston – the town with the highest pro-Brexit vote in 2016 – they report on how the UK has changed.
For various experts, Storm Alex, which ravaged south-eastern France in October 2020, was a "weather bomb". In the area north of the city of Nice, torrential rain burst the banks of rivers. Entire houses were swept away in the current, sometimes with their owners inside. The 2,000 inhabitants of the village of Tende – perched high in the Roya valley – were cut off from the rest of the world, with no running water or electricity for several weeks. Supplies had to be brought in by helicopter. Since then, access has been restored. But not everyone has been able to return. More than a year later, Storm Alex has left catastrophic scars.
The Soviet bloc officially collapsed in late December of 1991, leaving 14 independent republics in its wake in addition to the newly named Russian Federation. Three decades on, FRANCE 24's James André, Achraf Abid, Gulliver Cragg, Sylvain Rousseau and Elena Volochine bring us a series of reports from Russia, Estonia, Ukraine and Georgia on what remains of the Soviet era – and the relationship that these countries have with Moscow today.
In November, shortly before the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian authorities moved to close down one of the country's oldest and most influential NGOs, Memorial, which was dedicated to preserving the memory of Stalin-era repressions. Despite everything, the group's historians are determined to continue the fight to open up the archives of the Soviet secret services. FRANCE 24's Elena Volochine reports, with illustrations by Sofiya Voznaya.
After Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the US forcibly displaced 120,000 people of Japanese origin into 10 internment camps in the western United States. Eight decades on, our correspondents went to meet survivors, who reflected on their ordeal.
Despite being the first genocide of the 20th century, the 1904-1908 massacre of the indigenous Herero and Nama peoples by German colonial troops in Namibia remains a little-known chapter of history. It was not until May of this year that Berlin officially recognised its responsibility for the atrocities. Our regional correspondents report.
The Black liberation group MOVE was founded in 1972 in the US city of Philadelphia. It combined a wide array of ideologies, including environmentalism, animal rights and an end to capitalism. The group's activities were closely watched by law enforcement, at times leading to armed confrontation. Tensions peaked on May 13, 1985, when the Philadelphia police bombed the MOVE house, killing 11 Black people. Despite two grand jury investigations and a civil suit, no one was ever criminally charged for the bombing. More than 35 years later, FRANCE 24's correspondents returned to Philadelphia to revisit the day the city bombed its own citizens.
60 years before Fukushima, Japan was hit by an ecological disaster in the port city of Minamata. Forgotten by some, its memory is preserved by the illness that bears its name: Minamata disease, or severe mercury poisoning. Now, a new film about one of the worst cases of industrial poisoning in modern times is about to be screened in Minamata for the first time.
Between 1991 and 2002, the small West African nation of Sierra Leone was ravaged by a decade of war, which left between 50,000 and 200,000 people dead. The conflict was also marked by rapes, mutilations and the forced use of child soldiers in both the rebel and regular armies. Twenty years on, the country is still trying to recover from the civil war, one of Africa's most brutal. Sierra Leone remains deeply divided and plagued by corruption. And despite its many riches, it is one of the poorest countries in the world.
As the Taliban once again take control of Afghanistan, we take you to a place where their members have often found refuge. Located on the Afghan border, the tribal areas of Pakistan have long been destabilised by radical Islamist groups who operated there with impunity, since Pakistani law did not apply in the region. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the tribal zones became one of the key challenges of the "war on terror".
The Great Green Wall was officially launched by the African Union in 2007. It aims to fight desertification by creating a huge strip of vegetation across Africa, from Dakar in the west to Djibouti in the east. The Wall would be eventually more than 8,000 kilometres long, crossing 11 African countries. Since 2007, the project has evolved, with the goal of creating millions of jobs. But critics say progress has stalled. Our correspondents report from Senegal and Nigeria.
Huge twin blasts in the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020 left more than 200 people dead and 6,000 injured. The source of the disaster was 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a compound used as a fertiliser that is also a very powerful explosive agent. It had been stored at the port with no precautions for more than six years. The tragedy soon became a symbol of Lebanon’s years-long political, social and economic crises. Despite promises of change, wounds left by the explosion have yet to heal.
India's small western state of Goa is probably one of its most widely visited tourist spots, with 7 million visitors in 2019 alone. But few people know that it was the only Indian state to live under Portuguese – not British – colonial rule. Goa only joined independent India in 1961, 14 years after the rest of the country. Long famous as a hippie paradise, today Goa still attracts dreamers from all over the world and remains a cultural melting pot of Indian and Portuguese traditions.
The Ogoniland area of southern Nigeria is one of the most polluted places on Earth. The crops are burnt to a cinder, ash and tar smother the land and the wells are polluted with oil, making the water totally undrinkable. Entire communities have suffered as their way of life has been destroyed by the oil industry. Our reporters take you to Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta, where pollution has become the norm.
On April 16, 2014, the MV Sewol ferry capsized near the southwestern shores of South Korea, with 476 passengers on board, including 325 pupils on a school trip. Very few of them survived because they obeyed the order to stay in their cabins while the ferry was sinking. Beyond the human tragedy, with 304 lives lost, the disaster sparked widespread social and political upheaval in South Korea. Seven years on, FRANCE 24's team reports on how the terrible event has changed the country.
The name of Codogno may not sound familiar, but the town in the northern Italian region of Lombardy was the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak in Europe. The first coronavirus cases were detected there at the start of February 2020. A little over a year later, our correspondents returned to Codogno to take stock of how the town is faring.
In February 1960, France carried out its first nuclear test in the Algerian desert, codenamed "Blue Jerboa". Three more atmospheric tests and 13 underground tests followed, until 1966. The consequences for humans and the environment were disastrous. More than 60 years on, the after-effects are still visible and the victims of nuclear tests are struggling to be heard. FRANCE 24 reports from both sides of the Mediterranean: with former French conscripts who performed their military service in Algeria and are trying to receive compensation, and Algerians, who feel abandoned to their fate.
When the Syrian uprising began in 2011, few would have guessed that it would become one of the bloodiest conflicts of our time. Ten years on, our reporters returned to the northeastern city of Idlib. It's the only Syrian city not yet under government control, but where thousands of families are anxiously awaiting to learn the fate of loved ones who have disappeared. By crosschecking photographs with witness statements, an aid group tries to help them identify their missing family members.
On the evening of April 15, 2019, the world watched in horror as Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris went up in flames and its burning spire crashed through the roof. Firefighters battled into the night to save the 850-year-old edifice. As the flames spread, Notre-Dame was at very real risk of collapse but luckily it remained standing.
Built by the US over a 30-year period, the strategically located Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. On January 1, 2000, Panama regained sovereignty over it, 85 years after its inauguration. Prior to that, the area around the canal had been a US colony: some 1,400 square kilometres, nicknamed "La Zona". Since its handover to Panama, most Americans have left this narrow strip of land. Our reporters Laurence Cuvillier and Matthieu Comin met those who have stayed behind, maintaining American traditions but with bitter memories for some Panamanians.
Back in 2011, FRANCE 24 followed Sam and his men fighting Muammar Gaddafi's forces in the streets of the Libyan capital Tripoli amid the whirlwind of the Arab Spring. Ten years on, our reporters caught up with Sam, now known as Hussam Najjair, to see if he thought the fight was worth it. They also went to the eastern city of Benghazi to meet supporters of strongman Khalifa Haftar. Gaddafi may now be just a memory, but Libya remains deeply divided.
On February 11, 2011, after almost three decades in power, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned following 18 days of mass protests. But 10 years later, the ideals of the revolution have given way to another authoritarian military regime. On the emblematic Tahrir Square, where thousands of protesters once gathered, even taking out a camera is now forbidden. Meanwhile, NGOs estimate that at least 60,000 political prisoners are languishing in Egyptian jails. Our Cairo correspondents Edouard Dropsy and Claire Williot report.
In Tunisia, ten years after the revolution, the transition to democracy has not been easy and many Tunisians wonder what they have gained or lost in the past decade. In the city of Sidi Bouzid, where the self-immolation of street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi on December 17, 2010 sparked the Arab Spring, those who were wounded in the 2011 protests lament the lack of justice and official recognition from the state. Our correspondents report on the bittersweet legacy of Tunisia's revolution.
Amid violence, racism and poverty, the southern city of Porto Alegre has become a symbol of the divisions in Brazilian society. In November 2020, a Black man was beaten to death by white security guards at a supermarket there. Once a testing ground for the Brazilian left who wanted to change the world, the city has been run by the conservative right for the last 14 years. What has become of the children of the World Social Forum, which Porto Alegre hosted from 2001 to 2005? What remains of that alternative vision of the world? Our correspondents report.