Alexi Navalny: Danger of dissent

Surrounded in mystery and tales of demons, the Well of Barhout in Yemen's east -- known as the "Well of Hell" -- is a little-understood natural wonder. Closer to the border with Oman than to the capital Sanaa 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) away, the giant hole in the desert of Al-Mahra province is 30 metres wide and thought to be anywhere between 100 and 250 metres deep.

Danish is transgender, Khalid is gay. But in Afghanistan under the Taliban rule, LGBTQ people face the death penalty. So their only option is to flee the country. Here's their story.

With the plans currently on the table, we are gearing up for an increase of 2.7 degrees Celsius. That would be much worse for the planet than adhering to the agreed-upon Paris goal of 1.5 C.

Professor Faizullah Jalal has openly criticized the Taliban since the group took over Afghanistan last year. However, his family disputed the posts which the Taliban claim he made on social media.

The poisoning of activist Alexei Navalny is not the first attack on a Putin critic in Russia. Engaging in political opposition in Russia can be life threatening.

With three days to go until the first round of the presidential election, French voters are uninterested and undecided, leaving paper La Croix concerned about the country's future. Is alarm over a possible far-right victory a campaign strategy of Emmanuel Macron, or is far-right contender Marine Le Pen "more of a threat than ever before"? We also look at reactions in Burkina Faso to the trial over Thomas Sankara's 1987 assassination, as well as US sanctions on Vladimir Putin's daughters and French campaign goodies.

Toru Kubota is the fifth foreign journalist detained in Myanmar since the military seized power in February 2021. He is accused of stoking dissent against the military government.

Multiple anti-transgender and homophobic attacks, especially the death of a transgender man, raise the question: How safe are queer people in Germany?

Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, occur when colonies of algae — simple plants that live in the sea and freshwater — grow out of control and produce toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds. The human illnesses caused by HABs, though rare, can be debilitating or even fatal.

France warns that the UN mission in Mali is "in danger", a day after four peacekeepers were killed in an IED attack. Also, a powerful union in Tunisia throws its weight behind families demanding justice for relatives who died at sea.

They’ve come to be known as the Hong Kong 47. A group of prominent activists, former lawmakers and student leaders went on trial this week, accused of trying to topple the pro-Beijing government. Most of them, including Benny Tai and Joshua Wong, have been detained since their arrests two years ago.

In Israel, protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned judicial reform have been going on for weeks. Cultural activists say Israel's democracy is in danger. Writer Etgar Keret explains why.