Toxic Pesticides. Banned in Europe, Dumped in Africa
ACCRA - This investigation puts the spotlight on the use of banned pesticides from Europe in rubber farms in Ghana and other regions across the world, while European development banks, the main funder of such projects turn a blind eye to the environmental, health and safety concerns.
LONYEARBYEN - The Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard is warming six times faster than the global average.Natural disasters are threatening residents, while local government is making efforts to limit the damage.
ERBIL / ISTANBUL / ATHENS - The increased complexity and dangers of migration routes to Europe, including the risk of being swindled by traffickers or robbed by security forces, have led to an increased reliance on an informal banking system based on the traditional money transfer system of 'hawala' ...
BASRA - In Iraq, one of the world’s driest and poorest countries, Western oil companies are exacerbating water shortages as they make record profits exporting alternatives to Russian oil in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
PRAGUE - Waste is illegally imported to the Czech Republic. Both the competent state authorities and representatives of NGOs agree that this is a serious and not well studied problem.
SARAJEVO - Around half of Bosnia-Herzegovina is covered by forests and wood is one of the Balkan country’s most valuable natural resources. But instead of developing the nation, some politicians and private companies enrich themselves with the profits of the ‘green gold’. Forests are cut down for ...
TUZLA - According to studies, the 18 coal power plants in the Western Balkans (WB) are responsible for more pollution than the 221 coal power plants still active in the European Union.
JERUZALEM - Three friends with three different faiths travel together to the cradle of their religions: Jerusalem. They want to discover what they have in common and what divides them. But soon they are confronted with the harsh realities of conflict.
BELFAST - Northern Ireland this week celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The 1998 peace brought an end to 30 years of civil war between Protestants and Catholics, but unrest seems to have returned in recent years. Northern Ireland politics has been tumbling into one crisis ...
BRUSSELS - What prevents a woman with FGM from going to the doctor? While there are more and more survivors of female genital mutilation (FGM) living in Belgium, strikingly very few visit the healthcare centres for women with FGM in the country. Through an in-depth investigation, this project aims ...
Disruptive change? - Radical Climate Activism in Europe
BARCELONA/COTTBUS/ASSEN - Climate terrorism, rebellion, radicalization: increasingly violent words are being thrown around in the debate on climate activism.
In search of traces of liberal funerary heritage in Flanders
BRUSSELS - Unknown is unloved, especially when it comes to liberal funerary heritage. Gravestones of freethinkers and other "sinners" have been neglected, forgotten or simply disappeared. And yet, things can be different. Three stories about "dog corners," the neglected memorial of the co-founder of ...
LALIBELA - The rock churches of Lalibela in northern Ethiopia are world heritage sites. But during the civil war, the village was occupied by civilian militias of the Tigray Army (TPLF) fighting the government army. The soldiers left Lalibela as a ghost village.
YEREVAN - Since 2017, nearly 100 Armenian citizens have served as proxy directors for a network of companies that have been used by prominent Eastern European oligarchs to move millions of dollars, shift assets from shuttered banks abroad, and pay for lobbying services in the United States.
BAGDAD - Climate change is causing an exodus in Iraq of farmers whose land is drying up. They are moving with their water buffaloes or selling their livestock. The government does not know how to deal with climate migration, environmentalists are threatened and even kidnapped.
BRUSSELS - How Nigerian girls are forced into Belgian prostitution. In 2018, 21-year-old Eunice Osayande is murdered on the streets of Brussels. The Nigerian woman was smuggled into Belgium with the false promise of becoming a hairdresser here and having a better life than in Nigeria.
ODUOHA - This story focuses on Total's oil and gas exploration activities in Nigeria (Rivers State) that have allegedly resulted in death, environmental damage, and farmlands destruction.
KIGALI - A research in Rwanda shows that "CO2 compensation projects" are often unverifiable, the ecological added value is more than questionable, and climate (in)justice is not just a political fighting term, but a life-threatening reality in East Africa.
TUNIS - When Tunisians initiated the Arab Spring in 2010, a challenging transition to democracy began. Nearly a decade later, Kais Saied, an independent candidate, came to power. He stealthily implements his political agenda, dissolving parliament, arresting the opposition and targeting the media ...
RIGA - From Trams through Pharmaceuticals to Renewable Energy: Czech millionaire Tomáš Krsek is a well-known investor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist with a known fortune of €436 million (2021).
Freezing Mubarak and Ben Ali’s Assets: Many Violations, Few Results
CAIRO/TUNIS - Despite sanctions on the late Arab dictators Hosni Mubarak and Zine el-Abdine Ben Ali, their clans and allies still own French property worth millions, casting doubts on the effectiveness of these sanctions. Recovering Egypt’s and Tunisia’s stolen wealth remains elusive.
MELILLA - In June 2022, dozens of people were killed when a large group attempted to storm the border fence near the Spanish exclave of Melilla in Morocco. European leaders are particularly keen to stop migrants, and to that end, they are turning to Morocco, among others.
FOS-SUR-MER - ArcelorMittal, the world's leading steel company, has exceeded several pollution limits authorised by European, Italian and French law for over a decade. Meanwhile, the Luxembourg-based multinational has received billions of euros inf public funds and indirect subsidies.
PRIKRO - SIAT, a Belgian company specialised in palm oil and rubber production, in Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria, bring a high socio-economic and environmental cost for the local communities. With the support of the national governments, the company is causing social division and food scarcity.
BRUSSELS - These women weren’t leading the same battles, walking in the same streets or speaking in the same forums. Yet they were all victims of the same crime: political feminicide.