Teaser : Nigeria drowning in plastics

An army of volunteers helps clean up a massive haul of plastic polluting Bali's famous Kuta beach.

The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits rose to its highest level since March, as the pandemic continues to shutter businesses across the country. In this show, we look ahead to President-elect Joe Biden's plans to protect households and boost the economy...plus French carmaker Renault's plans to pare back production and go electric.

Alarmed by the mountains of plastic waste leaching into Indonesia's waters, two best friends are taking on the environmental menace by turning crisp bags and shampoo packets into paving bricks.

Emergency services fight flames after an explosion sparked a fire at a plastics factory on the outskirts of Bangkok, killing at least one firefighter and wounding 29 people, according to officials.

Nina Gomes is no average environmentalist. With bright pink goggles and just 4 years old, she picks trash with her father from the water along the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. With Nina in tow, Gomes sets out on a paddleboard into the picturesque but polluted waters of Rio's Guanabara Bay, where she grabs plastic bottles and bags and puts them in a mesh net.

With greenhouses as far as the eye can see, the southern Spanish region of Andalusia has been nicknamed the "Sea of Plastic". Intensive farming is the norm and it helps feed the European market with fruit and vegetables all year long. It also produces an estimated 33,000 tonnes of plastic waste every year. Until two years ago, this waste was exported to countries such as China, Pakistan and Turkey. But now that these countries are refusing to take rubbish from rich countries, the "Sea of Plastic" is faced with the urgent challenge of recycling its own waste. Our correspondents report.

Afghanistan's Taliban government launched a programme to tackle hunger on Sunday, offering thousands of people wheat in exchange for labour.

Tetiꞌaroa, an almost deserted Pacific island northeast of Tahiti, is a sanctuary for birds, sea turtles and all sorts of marine life. The atoll is perhaps most famous for being bought by US actor Marlon Brando. But this picturesque French Polynesian island is being invaded by plastic waste washed ashore by ocean tides. As a result, a team of volunteers have been to Tetiꞌaroa for a clean-up operation. Our colleagues from Polynésie la première report, with FRANCE 24's Jennie Shin.

The Dominican Republic markets itself as a tropical vacation paradise. But behind the scenes lie heaps of trash from mass tourism. People like Eddy Rosado and the UN environment program are trying to shrink the Caribbean nation's garbage dumps.

People are still talking about Ghana's unique bus shelter made of plastic waste. It has been billed as a novel and sustainable way to put discarded plastic to use and fight pollution.

Locals in Ghana's Paga region revere crocodiles as sacred. It's forbidden to harm or kill them. But plastic waste is posing a new threat to the reptiles.

Ethopian entrepreneur Kidist Tesfaye challenges pollution by producing ecofriendly bags out of paper and fabrics.