Are MEP friendship groups and "pariah" regime visits driving disinformation in the European Parliament?
Human Rights
Politics
BRUSSELS - The EU notes respect for human rights as one of its core values. However a number of MEPs who represent democratic and liberal countries, have in recent years, become increasingly friendly with autocratic regimes including that of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad.
ORANIA - Until thirty years ago, white Afrikaners dominated South Africa, today they feel like a threatened minority. The monopoly on agricultural land is disappearing, their culture is under pressure and many feel unsafe in the big cities. More and more Afrikaners are turning their backs on the rainbow nation. In Orania, the country's most contested village, they want to preserve their identity.
Air pollution is one of the most important environmental risks affecting health. According to WHO, it causes up to 7 million premature deaths worldwide per year and around 379.000 in the EU and the United-Kingdom. One might think that we all breathe the same air and all face those risks, but we don't.
JERUSALEM - The grounds around the Al-Aqsa Mosque are probably the most explosive powder keg of Israel and indeed the entire Middle East at the moment. The shrine in East Jerusalem has been the scene of violent clashes between Israeli riot police and Palestinian worshippers in recent weeks. But there is more going on than a religious conflict.
NAYPYIDAW - This is a story that describes the downfall of the financial sector of Myanmar after the military coup in February 2021. Due to a history of nationalisations and demonetisations, people and businesses lost trust in the banks immediately after the coup. That resulted in a bankrun.
NAIROBI - Kenya's attorney general's office opened a corruption and fraud investigation in 2019. The dams were supposed to bring water and electricity. Nothing is left at the site.
BUDAPEST - Hungary during the 2022 election campaign: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán relies on a level of media control unprecedented in the EU. A group of young journalists takes on the state propaganda. The documentary by Bence Máté and Áron Szentpéteri shows exclusive footage and documents taken directly from the state media headquarters. They reveal how the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office controls the media and rules over 80% of the media market.
MINSK - 72 Hours That Changed Belarus tells the story of the post-election collapse of human rights in the country through the first-hand experiences of those affected the most: a young couple injured by a stun grenade, a recent law graduate who documented torture and later fled to protect herself and the evidence, a blogger and a student who were tortured inside the infamous Okrestina jail in Minsk.