Our Focus programme brings you exclusive reports from around the world, followed by comment and analysis from our newsroom in Paris. Monday to Friday at 7.15 am and 11.15 pm.
Mali is in crisis - that's the conclusion of the latest report from Amnesty International. Since the military coup on March 22nd, the country has seen the worst abuses of human rights in 50 years, with civilians exposed to growing violence and food shortages.
The French government says it's getting tough on employers who flout equal pay laws. Recently two companies were fined for violating equality
legislation. According to the European Commission, the problem isn't restricted to France. Brussels says that, on average, men are paid 16 per cent more than women across the European Union.
French President Francois Hollande has become the first foreign head of state to be received by new Chinese leader Xi Jinping. While his predecessor irked China over issues such as Tibet, Hollande is seeking to forget the past and start relations afresh - not least to boost the French economy. His hopes of launching new trade ties are helped by the fact that Shanghai is home to the largest community of French expatriates in China... and that the Chinese love all things French.
Afghanistan's TV industry is thriving. Since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, more than 40 channels have been created. Shows are usually imported from India, Turkey and even South Korea. But one of them is different: "University FM" is an Afghan-made soap opera that's breaking taboos by running storylines on arranged marriages and Islamism. The show has done well in the ratings, but it's provoked anger, particularly in a country where actresses are still considered by many to be prostitutes.
It's an issue that has divided French society for months, but this Tuesday, the National Assembly finally approved a bill making France the 14th country in the world to allow same-sex marriage. The bill also grants gay and lesbian couples the right to adopt children. But the past months have been marred by widespread demonstrations, for and against, and even a spate of violent homophobic attacks. We look back at the debate and division leading up to Tuesday's historic vote.
Poland is marking 70 years since the start of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. It was the first major act of resistance against the occupying Nazis during World War II and went down in history as a heroic act to restore the dignity of a condemned people. Indeed, of the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis, half of them were Polish. Poland had the largest Jewish population of any country before World War II; it now has only around 20,000.
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