With Europe still grappling with Covid-19, Talking Europe speaks to Christa Schweng, President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).

2021 began with the promise of vaccines to the rescue. But as one variant begets another, rich nations talk of boosters and jabs for kids while much of the developing world still waits for first doses.

The year 2021 didn’t get off to a great start, to say the least. The Covid-19 pandemic had already brought the world as we knew it to a standstill, and this year – once again – fashion weeks from London to New York were struck from calendars in the same of social distancing. But nevertheless, fashion has always known how to adapt. A new-found focus on inclusive casting and sustainable processes has been the result. FRANCE 24 takes a look back at some of the year's fashion highlights.

Atanaz is a French hip-hop artist whose family stems from the French West Indies. During his time in New York, he studied the American hip-hop business model in parallel to law. He popped by FRANCE 24 to talk to Marjorie Hache about his new album "Vivre," which very much reflects the mood - and hope - for a post-pandemic world.

As the Omicron COVID variant spreads like wildfire around the world and tension rise between Russia and Ukraine, DW's correspondents around the world are looking ahead to the issues for the new year:

Film critic Lisa Nesselson speaks to Eve Jackson about the week’s film news, including the new Paris-set and female-led spy thriller "The 355" starring Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o and Penélope Cruz, as well as the French-language adaptation of Philip Roth's 1990 novel "Deception" directed by Arnaud Desplechin, plus the Icelandic nature vs nurture film "Lamb" starring Noomi Rapace.

German carmaker BMW has unveiled the world's first "color-changing" car at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Some 15 million students could go back to the classroom for the first time since March 2020, amidst fears that irreparable damage has been done to their education.

Japan recently became the first country in the world to sell genome-edited tomatoes. This technology, which alters a crop's genetic information, does not involve adding outside genetic material – unlike with genetically modified foods. Experts claim that some genome-edited foods are healthier than their conventional counterparts. But environment campaigners are calling for more testing to be carried out amid safety concerns. Our correspondents Louis Belin, Rie Fukushima, Yuko Sano and Justin McCurry report.

As COVID-19 continues to harm economies globally, it's the developing and emerging economies that are suffering most says the lender's Franziska Lieselotte Ohnsorg.

FRANCE 24 spoke to Mahbouba Seraj, a leading women's rights activist in Afghanistan. She told us the Taliban have to "give in" on "red lines" such as women's access to education and work in order to "continue governing". With Afghanistan in dire need of financial assistance, Seraj said she was "angry at the whole world", especially US President Joe Biden. "You cannot let the people of this country die," she said in an emotional plea to the international community.

Turkey is home to more refugees than any other country in the world, with more than 3 million Syrians and 300,000 Iraqis. But as the years have gone by, many Turks believe these refugees have overstayed their welcome. Now, as the economic crisis in the country gets worse, attacks have begun to escalate, both rhetorically and physically. Our correspondents Ludovic de Foucaud, Shona Bhattacharyya and Hussein Asad report from Bolu, a city whose mayor wants all foreigners out of Turkey.