Embracing the opportunities of the technological revolution

A tense run-up to elections in Benin leaves one dead and several people wounded by gunfire in protests in the central city of Savé. Also, two years after the revolution that toppled Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir, hundreds of people who disappeared during the violent upheaval are still missing. Their loved ones are desperately seeking answers. Finally, Ivorian craftsman and creative Jean-Servais Somian has an international following but he plans on giving back to his homeland by opening a design school in Ivory Coast.

With Venezuela's official currency plummeting for years, both the government and cryptocreators are trying to stem the rot with digital tokens. For ordinary Venezuelans, the cryptoboom also means regaining freedom.

In the 1960s, the Green Revolution had a phenomenal impact on India's food production, but it also made the land infertile, led to extensive water consumption and exacerbated groundwater loss. It also led to widespread use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers. In the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, water scarcity and poor soil quality forced many farmers to walk away from agriculture. They were perennially buried under a vicious debt cycle, with most of their earnings funnelled into buying pesticides and fertilisers.

Four years after Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Paris climate accord, his successor Joe Biden has put the country firmly back in the fight against climate change. He has unveiled an ambitious plan that aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. To do this, Biden plans to boost the development of hydrogen. Most of the hydrogen consumed today is extracted from fossil fuels. But in California, researchers, manufacturers and startups are trying to implant carbon-free or "green" hydrogen, which would be a revolutionary step forward. Our correspondents report.

NFTs – or non-fungible tokens – are effectively a digital proof of sale, and it's fair to say they’re having a moment. Most recently an iconic YouTube home video from 2007 called "Charlie bit my finger" has been sold for a six-figure sum as an NFT, with the family who made it pledging that the winning bidder is now "the sole owner of this lovable piece of internet history". So how exactly do NFTs work? And could they transform the way we do business in the future? We speak to financial technology expert James Bowden, a lecturer at the University of Strathclyde.

In just a couple of decades, collaborations have opened up a world of possibilities for the world of fashion, with consumers now attuned to the letter X that indicates the marriage of two brands. High-profile collaborations include Prada x Raf Simons and Gucci x Balenciaga, but younger labels are also getting in on the action, as we've seen with La Draft Paris x Apnée. Commercial success is often a given, but the best fusions happen when the brands involved have a shared vision. We take a closer look.

Pro-democracy protesters in Thailand call for the premier to resign as they march on the 89th anniversary of the Siamese Revolution -- an uprising that transformed the country from absolutism to a constitutional monarchy. They took to the streets despite warnings from authorities not to gather because of soaring coronavirus infections.

Very few vaccines have found their way into the arms of Africans as they struggle with a surge in COVID-19 infections. Several countries now want to start producing vaccines on the continent. Can they succeed?

Amid growing Islamist violence in the Sahel, Niger's new President Mohamed Bazoum explains how he plans on tackling terrorism in his country.

Sri Lanka's aim to become the world's first 100 percent organic food producer is threatening its famous tea industry. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's ban on chemical fertiliser earlier this year has sparked concerns of a severe reduction in tea, the island's main export commodity, as well other crops by the end of this year.

Paris is famous around the world for its beautiful sights and towering monuments, but it's also somewhat infamous for its driving culture. Parisian drivers are the first to admit that manoeuvring the streets can be quite a harrowing experience. Over the years, Paris's authorities have taken steps to limit traffic in the French capital and encourage alternative modes of transport like cycling. The idea is to make the capital safer while also cutting air pollution, yet this has sparked growing rage among drivers. We take a closer look in this edition of French Connections.

In the autumn of 2019, an unprecedented protest movement engulfed the Iraqi capital Baghdad and the predominantly Shiite south of the country. Demonstrators were angry at the widespread corruption and incompetence of the political class, but also the influence of neighbouring Iran and its militias. An extremely violent crackdown left at least 600 dead and 21,000 injured in just a few months. Meanwhile, the leaders of the protest movement became the target of assassinations. As Iraq prepares to hold parliamentary elections, more and more voices are accusing pro-Iranian armed groups of being behind a campaign of systematic violence. FRANCE 24's Jonathan Walsh and Amar Al Hameedawi report.