The charismatic autocrat Hugo Chavez dies of cancer at the age of 58. In this programme we look back at the Venezuelan president’s life and his self-styled Socialist revolution. Next, Brazilian troops take on violent drug gangs in a bid to get Rio de Janeiro ready for the World Cup and the Olympics. Finally, we bring you a report from Colorado, where residents have voted to legalise cannabis.
In Bangladesh, clashes break out after a war crimes verdict that has been over 40 years in the making. Next, how do you say smartphone in Chinese? Our correspondent tells us why you may soon need to find out. Finally, we take you to visit the Afghan rehab centre that helps recovering drug addicts as young as just three years old.
Guns and drugs are everyday currency in parts of Rio de Janeiro, which is set to welcome the world for the next World Cup and Summer Olympics. The authorities claim to have made progress in making previous no-go zones into places of relative safety. But the gangs are still in power. France 24's Nicolas Ransom in Brazil, embedded with drug traffickers, reports.
The US Justice Department on Friday said it has joined a civil lawsuit against Lance Armstrong alleging the disgraced cyclist knowingly defrauded his sponsor, the US Postal Service, by using banned performance-enhancing substances.
The French government has given the green light to the opening of the country’s first trial “shooting gallery” where drug addicts can inject drugs legally under medical supervision. The opposition has described the decision as a “moral defeat.”
FRENCH PAPERS, Weds. 06/02/13: French FM Laurent Fabius tells Metro that if everything goes according to plan, French troops should start leaving Mali in March. Papers also react to the government’s decision to open the first supervised injection centre in Paris. And Justice Minister Christiane Taubira has a laughing fit in Parliament during the gay marriage debate.
France 24 heads to a clinic in Morocco to see how volunteers there are tackling the growing problem of drug addiction. Next, British Prime Minister David Cameron pays a surprise visit to Libya after heading to Algeria where he and President Bouteflika agree on a security partnership. Finally, although Tunisia is a long way from winning its struggle for post-revolutionary stability, some women who feel that they can now play a more active role in their country's future say it's not all bad.
France on Wednesday halted the sale of a hormonal acne drug manufactured by Bayer that has also been used as a contraceptive pill. Four women have died in the past 25 years from blood clots attributed to Diane 35.
We start in Japan, a country hit hard by the deadly hostage crisis in the Algerian desert. Ten Japanese were among the dozens of foreigners killed when Islamist terrorists stormed the In Amenas gas plant. Next, we head to a village in the Indian state of Rajasthan where an unofficial law has been imposed: single women cannot use mobile phones. And a Bali court hands down the death penalty to a British grandmother who was caught with almost 5 kilos of cocaine in her suitcase.
Vindication for Frenchwoman Florence Cassez shows up the flaws of Mexico’s justice system, but was she innocent? Her politically-charged case prompts François Picard’s panel to issue a scathing verdict for the war on drugs policies of Mexico’s former president Felipe Calderon.
