On 17 August 2023, popular protests over the high inflation rate and deteriorating economic situation in Syria erupted in the Druze majority city of Al-Suwayda, with hundreds of participants. These grew, and by 20 August, thousands of protesters chanted slogans demanding the downfall of Assad regime.

This week we're at the 2023 annual MEDEF meeting, where the largest employers' federation in France gets leaders of the country's business community together to discuss the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead – one of them being the transition to a green economy. A world leader when it comes to waste treatment and solutions is French group Veolia. Its CEO Estelle Brachlianoff told FRANCE 24's Charles Pellegrin about the solutions that waste can provide when it comes to energy.

Food bank Les Restos du Coeur, responsible for one third of food assistance in France, warns that financial difficulties could force it to close within the next three years. We take a look at how France's richest man reacted to the announcement and why he drew criticism. We also discuss concerns about the rising popularity of the far right in France, and finish with some shocking falsehoods in online learning materials for high school students in Sao Paulo.

Schools in France told dozens of girls in abayas to go home on the first day of the school year, a minister says. The government argues the garments go against secularism rules.

A weekly news show produced with photos, videos and personal accounts from France 24 Observers around the world - all checked by our staff here in Paris.

In this edition, the contentious issue of how some Muslim women and girls dress captures the headlines here in France with once again, the spotlight being on clothing in schools. Also the missing women of Peru where thousands disappear yearly primarily due to human trafficking, prostitution and gender violence. Plus the nuns of Kathmandu who teach women and girls Kung Fu as an act of empowerment.

Nigerian student, Oluyemi Sopade, and his team have emerged victorious in the annual Kids Innovation Challenge, hosted by The Destiny Trust. The team, all students at a local technical college, built an Arduino smart compost system capable of transforming food waste into manure.

A video purporting to show the French Ambassador to Niger being booed as he is forced to leave the Embassy has been widely shared since Thursday, at a time of heightened tensions between coup leaders in Niger and France. This video, however, has nothing to do with that. It actually shows another coup-hit African country, as Emerald Maxwell explains.

French retail giant Carrefour has started putting stickers on products that have shrunk in size but that cost the same or even more, in a bid to warn customers against "shrinkflation". The move comes ahead of new contract talks that are set to begin soon. Meanwhile, the government is planning to temporarily lift a ban on retailers selling fuel at below-cost, in order to help households struggling to cope with stubbornly high inflation.

The parents of Marie, a 15-year-old French teenager, have pressed charges against TikTok after their daughter committed suicide in 2021. They believe that by sharing a flow of videos about suicide to Marie, who suffered from low self-esteem, the platform pushed her to take her own life. FRANCE 24's Science reporter Shirli Sitbon looks at ways a new French bill could tackle negative algorithms and online bullying.

At the same time the global economy was forecast to do slightly better in 2023. But the effects of tight monetary policy are expected to be felt for a while yet.

Keir Starmer is in Paris a day ahead of King Charle's delayed state visit to France. The UK opposition leader has said he wants closer ties to the EU but won't seek to rejoin the bloc.