The toxic mudslide in Hungary, a visit to the mosque at Ground Zero and Tehran's "flirting street"

The Observers is a collaborative site and TV programme on France 24 that covers international current affairs by using eyewitness accounts from "Observers" - that's to say people who are at the heart of event. Videos, texts, photos - the content isn't produced by professional journalists - but everything's selected, verified, translated and explained by our team.

THE OBSERVERS

Presentation: Derek Thompson. Editorial team: Julien Pain, Lorena Galliot, Ségolène Malterre, Sarra Grira, Tatiana El Khoury.

STORY 1 : HUNGARY

Our first Observer today got a terrified phone call from his mother. A wall of red mud had hit her village.

Observer : Adam Maracz.

STORY 2 : UNITED STATES

Now to an address in New York City… 45 Park Place. It used to be a discount coat store. But it's better known now as the site of a controversial mosque and community center, scheduled for construction two blocks from Ground Zero.

Observer : Gaja Pellegrini.

STORY 3 : IRAN

Finally today… cruising, Teheran-style… Young people in Iran don't have many places to meet the opposite sex, so - they do it in the road. Our last Observer lives in London but visits Iran regularly.

Observer : Alessio Rastani.

Derek Thomson

Presenter

29/12/2012 - THE OBSERVERS

Striking Observers stories from 2012

This show is made up entirely of amateur images. We've seen time and time again how images captured by ordinary citizens then uploaded onto the Web can change history, or at least shift the balance of power. This week, we take a look back at some of those moments.