Since the start of the year, East Africa has been suffering from an invasion of desert locusts, which are multiplying after an unusually long rainy season. In Kenya, the last time this happened was 70 years ago. Dozens of millions of insects are destroying everything in their path, including crops and grass for feeding cattle. Nothing escapes the swarms' appetite. The locusts have reproduced and their descendants are expected to take flight in the coming days. The country is racing against time to avoid a massive crisis and has even called in a paramilitary group. Our correspondents report.

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Food crisis looms as Kenya endures locust infestation

As Italy reels from the coronavirus pandemic, with 827 dead and nearly 12,500 cases, the entire country is under quarantine. From the Tuscan city of Florence, to the Sicilian capital Palermo, to the large port of Genoa, our correspondents measured the catastrophic impact of the virus on tourism and the Italian economy. Their report was filmed just before further restrictive measures came into force, closing all stores except for pharmacies and food shops.

Coronavirus in Italy: From Florence to Palermo, tourism and economy grind to a halt

Japan, the world's third-largest economy, consistently ranks poorly in global gender equality tables. Despite their increasing presence in the workplace, many Japanese women find it difficult to balance work and family life, are paid less than their male counterparts and encounter sexual harassment. The #MeToo movement seen in other countries, including neighbouring South Korea, has yet to take hold in Japan. Our correspondents report.

Gender equality: Japan lagging behind other developed nations

The coronavirus epidemic may be slowing in China after three months of crisis, but another problem is taking hold in the country: anxiety. Isolation and fear of being infected by the virus have given way to loneliness, especially among the residents of Wuhan, who are still under quarantine. A recent poll puts the number of people suffering from anxiety in China at 42 percent. Our correspondents Antoine Védeilhé, Charlie Wang and Charles Pellegrin report.

Anxiety, isolation, boredom: The side effects of coronavirus in China

Seven years after the start of the civil war that devastated Central African Republic and one year after the signing of the Khartoum peace agreements, the country is seeking to rebuild itself. This fragile process includes the return of some 600,000 Central African refugees, almost 270,000 of whom are in neighbouring Cameroon. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees is coordinating a major repatriation operation for 25,000 of them this year. Our team made the trip home with a group of these Central African refugees, some of them still traumatised by the violence they experienced.

Central African refugees return home after seven years in Cameroon

At the start of the 20th century, there were half a million wild rhinoceros on the planet. Only 29,000 remain. Of these survivors, 80 percent are in South Africa where they're still actively poached for their horns: 1,000 rhinos are slaughtered each year in the Rainbow Nation. This illegal and lucrative business supplies black markets in Asia, where some people believe rhino horns have medicinal properties. In this ongoing battle against organised crime and extinction, an orphanage caring for baby rhinos is standing its ground. France 2's Marc de Chalvron and his team report.

South Africa's rhino orphanage: A sanctuary in the war against poaching

Chicken legs and pork chops for a few dozen cents: welcome to Germany, where the prices of milk and meat are hard to beat. Germans are among the Europeans who spend the least on their food, thanks to discounters who dominate the market and who also put enormous pressure on food producers. But German farmers are having a hard time getting by and consumers are not always getting quality food. The system has reached a breaking point and has pushed farmers to take to the streets. Our correspondents report.

Underpaid German farmers fed up with 'hard discount' logic

Since 2014, thousands of mainly US troops have been deployed in Iraq to support the local Iraqi forces in their fight against the Islamic State group. But back in January, the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad sparked an escalation in the region, the consequences of which remain unclear. On the ground, cooperation between the international coalition and the Iraqi forces may well suffer. Our correspondents Jack Hewson and Lucile Wassermann report.

Yankee go home? In Iraq, anti-IS group coalition compromised

In California, the most populous state in the US, 415 delegates are at stake in the Democratic primary on Super Tuesday. Nearly 40 percent of the state's population is Hispanic, a vital demographic for victory. How do the candidates hope to win the all-important Hispanic vote? FRANCE 24's Terry FitzPatrick, Valerie Defert, and Pierrick Leurent report from California.

Democrats pull out the stops to woo California’s Hispanic voters

Dozens of accidents have marred France's hunting season this year, including eight fatalities, a figure that is on the rise. This comes amid a fierce debate between those for and against hunting with hounds, a pastime for more than 1 million people in France. Anti-hunting activists say hunting poses a danger to those out for a walk or living near where a hunt takes place as well as causes ecological damage. They are now doing what they can to get the practice banned.

France: Hunting with hounds, an outdated pastime?

On Sunday March 1st, some 8 million people will vote, not only for MPs, but also in a referendum on a series of constitutional reforms proposed by President Alpha Conde. Critics fear those reforms would pave the way for Condé to stay in power for a third term. In an interview he granted France 24 on February, Alpha Condé said he wants to let his party decide whether he should run again. Undeterred by the protests led by the NFDC, the ruling party has been out campaigning, leaving observers wondering if a democratic change of power is possible.

Is Guinea's Alpha Condé headed for a third mandate?

French group Bolloré has long reigned supreme over the ports of West and Central Africa. Now, its legacy is very much in question after it was stripped of its contract to manage Central Africa's largest port in Cameroon at the beginning of the year: the port of Douala. But the French logistics giant isn't taking the decision lying down, contesting the fact that they were left out of the tendering process to renew the contract. Our correspondents report.

Who controls Cameroon's ports?

France's local elections will take place on March 15 and 22. In the battle for Paris's City Hall, 10 candidates are jostling for a place in the race. The run-up to the election was marked by the exit of the ruling party's candidate, who stepped down when an intimate video was leaked online. He was replaced by the former health minister, Agnès Buzyn. Three women are now ahead in the polls, including LREM’s Agnès Buzyn, alongside current mayor Anne Hidalgo and Rachida Dati for the Republicans (LR). We look into their programmes for Paris.

Battle for Paris: Three women in the lead

With more than 2,400 deaths and 77,000 infections, the coronavirus epidemic has been tormenting China for over a month. And because it all started in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, the province's inhabitants say they are being targeted: They are now pariahs, regardless of whether have been to the region since the beginning of the outbreak. In some places they are even tracked, and some end up sleeping on the streets or fired from their jobs. Our correspondents in China report.

Coronavirus in China: People of Hubei province treated as outcasts

As Paris's big agricultural fair begins, we take a look at Austria, a European organic farming heavyweight. Over a quarter of the country's agricultural land is dedicated to biological farming. Meanwhile the number of farmers converting to bio is steadily increasing, organic food is widely accessible to a majority of consumers. Our correspondent Anthony Mills reports.

Organic farming: Austria, a European heavyweight

Our Focus programme brings you exclusive reports from around the world. From Monday to Friday at 7.45 am Paris time.

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