The Munich Cyber Security Conference considers a world of digital threats

South Koreans went to the polls on Wednesday March 9 to elect a new president. Perhaps unsurprisingly for one of the most connected countries in the world, candidates for the top job used technology in a bid to connect with as many voters as possible, especially younger ones. Our correspondents report on the digital tools that have shaped the election campaign, from AI-generated clones of candidates to metaverse virtual reality platforms.

A Nigerian project is turning looted works of African art into non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, in a form of "alternative repatriation".

Imagine using an EU-wide app to pay your bills, to access your local government services or to upload a medical file or a driving licence. You would log in with a unique, life-long ID number. To some, this might sound convenient – much like travelling smoothly across borders with a digital Covid-19 certificate. To others, it's the stuff of Orwellian nightmares – a step towards mass surveillance and control. Either way, plans for an EU digital identity are coalescing, with a "common toolbox" expected this September. We debate the issues at stake with two MEPs.

Since February 24, Ukraine has been putting up fierce resistance against Russia: on the ground, but also in the digital sphere. FRANCE 24 spoke with Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, George Dubinskiy. He explained that Ukraine, which suffered several large-scale cyberattacks long before February 24, has been in a digital war against Moscow "since 2014" and is defending not only its land borders, but also digital ones.

Digital sovereignty is a key idea in the internet age — the idea that parties must have sovereignty over their own digital data. This can be applied on an individual basis or toward nations — the bottom line is that digital sovereignty involves consideration of how data and digital assets are treated.

FRANCE 24 sat down with Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's deputy prime minister and minister of digital transformation. The ministry was created in 2019 because President Volodymyr Zelensky had promised that Ukraine would be a pioneering e-government. Since the Russian invasion, digital transformation has been put on a "war footing", Fedorov said. He told FRANCE 24's Gulliver Cragg about several projects: a chatbot that allows people to send information about the movements of the Russian army, a joint project on drones with the Ukrainian military, as well as the use of artificial intelligence for facial recognition. The latter includes identifying slain Russian soldiers and informing their families via social media.

A new visa program will allow more foreign professionals to work from Thailand. However, applicants must prove that they have enough money in the bank.

Hacking attacks on power grids, telecom networks, or governments can paralyze entire societies. That makes them a powerful military weapon, as the war in Ukraine demonstrates. How can countries protect themselves?

In less than a decade, India's digital penetration has more than doubled to reach over 50 percent of its 1.3 billion residents. It's all part of PM Narendra Modi's ambitious plan to turn the country into a trillion-dollar digital economy.

The British government has announced that the country's new 5G networks will be built, in part, by the Chinese tech giant Huawei. The US, Australia and New Zealand have banned Huawei, citing national security concerns. Britain admits the company is high risk. Brent Goff asked tech expert Graham Webster whether it is also a manageable risk.

The COVID pandemic catalyzed a major digitization drive in Germany's tourism industry. But while significant progress has been made, staff-shortages pose a major challenge.

We look at this bombshell report from French investigate website Mediapart about Paris Saint Germain hiring a digital troll army to smear its critics and detractors, including its own star player Kylian Mbappé.