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Since 2016, Colombian cyclists have topped the podiums in the French, Spanish and Italian tours. Yet these successes hide a dark secret: a doping problem. Along with Costa Rica and Italy, Colombia has the highest number of cyclists sanctioned for taking performance-enhancing drugs.

The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, giving rise to Russia and 14 independent states. Now it seems Russian President Vladimir Putin no longer respects the sovereignty of those other nations. That’s led to a new patriotism in the ex-Soviet states.

For years, Brussels has been at loggerheads with the Hungarian government over a host of issues – migrants, the rights of minorities, media freedoms, the independence of the justice system and, most recently, over Russia and Ukraine. Long-standing tensions are coming to a head as Hungary delays a proposed EU aid package to Ukraine, while the EU holds up billions of euros in funding to Hungary over rule-of-law concerns.

The former US president fought for years to keep his tax affairs secret, even suing the committee that tried to make them public.

Soledar, a salt-mining town of 10,000 people in eastern Ukraine, is the new focal point of a war where the Kremlin badly needs some good news from the battlefield. We ask who controls the town that's a gateway to the Donbas city of Bakhmut, where the Russians have been pushing for months.

Kyiv's top diplomatic envoy in Berlin says his country needs German-made Leopard 2 tanks to fight Russia as soon as possible. But an arms maker said it could take until 2024 for its tanks are ready for export.

Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, the manufacturer of the Leopard 2, touts it as “the world's leading battle tank" that for nearly a half-century has combined aspects of firepower, protection, speed and maneuverability, making it adaptable to many types of combat situations.

US President Joe Biden said Washington would send Ukraine 31 of the powerful battle tanks. The announcement, marking a policy U-turn, followed a similar move by Germany.

Faced with an ageing population and holes in public finances, many European countries are grappling with reform of their pension systems. In this programme, we compare and contrast the situations in two EU member states, Denmark and Romania, and debate what constitutes a fair system of pension contributions.

Eighty years ago, the surrender of Nazi Germany's Sixth Army marked the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. Today, Russia uses commemoration events for its campaign against Ukraine and reinterprets history.

Award-winning French journalist Samuel Forey joins us for Perspective to discuss his newly-released book, which retraces six years of reporting from the Middle East. He tells us more about why he decided to become a war reporter and also reacts to the devastating twin earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.