2+ mon, 5+ day ago  (278+ words) In the second instalment of "Backdropping Current Affairs," Carl Henrik Fredriksson is amazed by newly released footage of the Louvre robbery. But other Louvre scenes prove more telling: from David's Horatii to Bertolucci's drifting '68ers, ideals dissolve into irony. Is the…...

2+ mon, 2+ week ago  (218+ words) Meagre pay, weak or non-existent social protection, and job insecurity. For years now, the press has been in a structural economic crisis, and it's taking a toll on journalists. Once seen as privileged members of the elite, they are now…...

3+ mon, 1+ week ago  (630+ words) As you know, journalism runs at a frantic pace: as soon as one article is published, we jump straight to the next. The weeks fly by, and opportunities to look back on past accomplishments are all too rare. But since…...

3+ mon, 1+ week ago  (518+ words) As the European Cartoon Awards marked the tenth anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attack, prize-winning cartoonists and journalists warned that satire is increasingly being perceived as a security threat, both by authoritarian regimes and within democracies. Tjeerd and his fellow…...

4+ mon, 1+ week ago  (669+ words) Fraud scandals in France expose widespread misuse of wine-competition medals, from counterfeit Champagne to misleading exports. Whistleblowers and judges warn that weak controls and commercial incentives leave consumers unprotected. "Wine medal stickers were important tools used to attract clients, especially…...

4+ mon, 2+ week ago  (1117+ words) The appropriation of ancestral knowledge has a name: biopiracy. In this report, we examine the emblematic case of sacha inchi, also known as "peanuts" or "Inca gold", in the Peruvian Amazon "a seed highly prized by cosmetics manufacturers in Europe…...

4+ mon, 3+ week ago  (1110+ words) In the waters off The Gambia, a ghost fleet of Chinese-owned trawlers continues to plunder the seabed, robbing Africa's smallest mainland nation of its marine resources. Collisions with local artisanal fishermen are becoming increasingly frequent, while illicit catches flow with…...

4+ mon, 3+ week ago  (549+ words) As Brussels turns grey, Cinemamed brings back Mediterranean colour. For its 25th edition, the festival bridges Europe's shores through films of migration, identity and belonging " reminding us that cinema, too, is a language of democracy and encounter. There's something quietly magical…...

5+ mon, 2+ week ago  (457+ words) While the pro-Kremlin government official figures celebrate a record tourism boom, Georgia's hospitality sector faces closures, layoffs and plummeting prices " as political turmoil and uncertainty scare away European visitors and stall local recovery. We used to climb it when Gran…...

6+ mon, 4+ day ago  (1290+ words) Italy, France and Romania have dispensed billions in subsidies to promote cleaner cars. The subsidised cars" emissions were measured by lab tests, but in practice many of the vehicles emit far more CO" in real-life conditions. We investigate a story…...