ARTE Reportage Season 28, Episode 28: India - China: A Turnaround for Girls / India: Chess Crazy

1

Venezuela: Pro-Maduro and now Trump? / Somalia: ISIS continues to kill

(1) Venezuela: Following the arrest of Nicolás Maduro by the US military and his indictment on charges of "narco-terrorism," the report shows his supporters and their reactions. (2) Somalia: After its failures in Iraq and Syria, the terrorist group Islamic State strengthened its forces on other continents, especially in Africa. Somalia is its stronghold.

53 min

2

USA: The Anti-Vaccine Fever / Mexico-USA: When the Money Runs Out

(1) Donald Trump's Health Secretary and vaccine skeptic Robert Kennedy Jr. sealed his alliance with him during the 2024 election campaign with the founding of the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement. (2) Since taking office a year ago, Donald Trump has deported over 100,000 Mexicans. This has had economic repercussions for many Mexican villages.

53 min

3

Mariupol, the stolen identity / Gaza: In search of the missing

(1) Russia-Ukraine: The city of Mariupol in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian Donbas is being Russified by the occupiers. The Ukrainian heritage is to be eradicated. (2) Gaza: Desperate relatives are searching for their missing family members. Since October 7, 2023, the fate of more than 11,000 people remains uncertain.

52 min

4

Iran Special

(1) Ten Days of Resistance: Journalist Kajin Azadi traveled to Iran in early January and returned with exclusive photos. His travelogue is a chronicle from the heart of the revolt, from Tehran to the north of the country. (2) No More Silence: Since the end of 2025, the population has once again been rising up against the rule of the mullahs. The authorities are responding with countless arrests, enforced disappearances, and summary trials.

52 min

5

Sudan: A narrow escape from death / Russia: Generation Z

(1) Sudan: In El Fasher in Darfur, FSR militias killed 60,000 inhabitants in three days. The world's worst humanitarian crisis is simmering, triggered by a forgotten conflict. (2) Russia: Networked and under the yoke of propaganda, Russian youth wavers between patriotism and apathy.

52 min

6

China - Philippines: The Battle for the Sea / Japan: Yakuza Gangsters in Retirement

(1) China - Philippines: A bitter struggle is underway at sea for every island and reef in the South China Sea, with warships on a collision course, shipwrecks, and likely soon, fatalities. (2) Japan: In Tokyo, a 74-year-old retired Yakuza founded a softball team to help young criminals leave organized crime.

53 min

7

Ukraine: Survival in a shelter / India: Recruits for Putin's war

(1) Ukraine: February 24, 2026, marks four years since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Putin had not anticipated the fierce resistance from Ukraine. (2) India: They wanted to find well-paid work, but ended up in war: Around 20,000 foreigners fought under the Russian flag in Ukraine.

53 min

8

USA: Minneapolis in resistance / Gaza: The horror of Israeli prisons

(1) USA: The killing of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by ICE officers acted as a brutal wake-up call for many people in Minneapolis. (2) Gaza: The report provides insight into Israeli prisons where Palestinians are held in inhumane conditions.

52 min

9

Iran: The First Days of This War / India - China: Revenge for Girls

(1) Iran: In the first days of this war, many Iranians cheered, some even openly in the streets. Those loyal to the mullah regime, however, protested against the attack by the US and Israel. (2) India - China: For decades, parents in India and China only wanted sons; girls were aborted, abandoned, or sold. This has been changing for some time now.

52 min

10

Colombia: The return of the child killers / Argentina: Milei and the river on borrowed time

(1) Colombia: Drug cartels are increasingly recruiting minors as contract killers. In 2024, more than 200 minors stood trial for murder in Colombia. (2) Argentina: Budget cuts and staff reductions under President Milei are jeopardizing the rescue of the Riachuelo River in Buenos Aires.

52 min

11

Iran: In the shadow of war / Lebanon: The end of Hezbollah?

(1) Iran: ARTE reporters secretly film the daily lives of people in war: In Tehran, a young woman reflects on her future and that of her country. (2) Lebanon: Hundreds of thousands of followers of the Shiite movement felt like "orphans" when their leader Nasrallah was killed in Israeli airstrikes.

52 min

12

Ukraine: Chernobyl at war / Chile: Drought due to data centers

(1) Ukraine: Since 1986, the name Chernobyl has been a reminder of the nuclear reactor explosion. Today, it stands beneath a concrete sarcophagus – threatened by Russian drones. (2) Chile: The cooling systems of data centers are extracting so much water that the swamps near Santiago are drying up, the groundwater level is dropping, and farmers are being forced to emigrate.

52 min

13

Venezuela: Maduro was followed by a deal / Lebanon: Fleeing the bombs again / Lebanon: Back to the ruins

(1) Venezuela: The population finds hope under Maduro's successor, Delcy Rodriguez, tolerated by the US. (2) Lebanon: Since the start of the war on March 2, 2026, a quarter of the Lebanese population has fled. (3) Lebanon: Nahida Choobi and her family lived as displaced persons for a year and a half. When the family returned, their village lay in ruins.

52 min

14

Russia: Putin wants children / Syria: The stolen children

(1) Russia: A central tenet of Putin's domestic policy is to defend traditional values ​​against the corrupt West. This includes promoting families and striving for high birth rates. (2) Syria: For years, the Assad regime's secret service systematically made thousands of opposition children disappear.

52 min

15

Brazil: Mothers against police violence / Iraq: Are Christians returning home to Mosul?

(1) Brazil: Across Brazil, 6,000 people die every year during police operations; most are young Black men from the slums. (2) Iraq: In Mosul, the church bells are ringing again. The Al-Tahira and Mar Toma churches, icons of Eastern Christianity that had been destroyed by ISIS, have been restored and reopened.

52 min

16

Cuba: Island in Shock / Argentina: Save the Condor

(1) Cuba: With the arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro by the US, Cuba lost an ally and thus also the supply of Venezuelan oil, which covered half of its needs. (2) Argentina: The Andean condor has been on the Red List of Threatened Species since 2020. Argentine biologist Luis Jácome is trying to save it.

52 min

17

Japan: Toxic Water from Fukushima / Bhutan: Danger in the Green Kingdom

(1) Japan: A tsunami warning was enough to revive the trauma of March 11, 2011, and the fear of another meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. (2) Bhutan: Along with Panama and Suriname, it is one of only three countries in the world with a negative carbon balance. But now, its glacial lakes are threatening to overflow as a consequence of climate change.

52 min

18

Ukraine: Homecoming from Russian Captivity / Russia: The Returnees

(1) Ukraine: Anastasia’s father, Oleksandr, spent nearly three years as a prisoner of war in Russia. Thanks to a prisoner exchange, he finally returns home in 2025. Eight months later, he dies of a heart attack. (2) Russia: Hundreds of thousands of Russians have been fighting in Ukraine since February 2022. People who have spent a long time at war are changed forever.

52 min

19

Greenland: Proud to be Inuit / Cambodia: Blood stains their bricks

(1) Greenland: Donald Trump wants to annex Greenland for the USA, but they are resisting: The peaceful struggle of Inuit women for their identity. (2) Cambodia: Brick factories fuel Cambodia's construction boom. As a result, workers held in debt bondage toil day and night in these brick factories.

52 min

20

Kyrgyzstan: Authoritarianism instead of democracy / Colombia: Children as contract killers

(1) Kyrgyzstan: Driven by fear, Jama Bekten organized what may be the last demonstration – only a few women gathered to defend their rights in a state undergoing an authoritarian transformation. (2) Colombia: Drug cartels are increasingly recruiting minors as contract killers. In 2024, more than 200 minors stood trial for murder in Colombia.

52 min

21

Ukraine: Civilians in Drone Hell / Kazakhstan: Greetings from Baikonur

(1) Ukraine: In April 2026, reporter Edward Kaprov lived for two weeks with the remaining residents of Kherson – under daily attack from Russian drones. (2) Kazakhstan: In the vast halls of the cosmodrome, old Soviet rockets and spacecraft serve as reminders of the race to the moon between the USA and the Soviet Union.

52 min

22

Lebanon: The Children, the War and Me

"As a journalist, I tell other people's stories. For the first time, I tell my own." Beirut, March 2026: As Israel launches a new military campaign in Lebanon, Lebanese filmmaker and journalist Wissam Charaf reflects on how decades of conflict shaped his childhood, family and life in this powerful first-person account.

53 min

23

Mexico’s Cartels: An End to Impunity? / Libya: The Trap for Migrants

(1) Mexico’s Cartels: An End to Impunity?: On February 22, 2026, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes died during a Mexican Army operation supported by the US. Mexico and the US aim to break the power of the cartels. (2) Libya: The Trap for Migrants: EU countries pay large sums of money to Libya so that its security forces intercept as many migrants heading toward the EU as possible, even though the methods used are controversial.

52 min

24

West Bank: They are shooting at children / Lebanon: Fleeing the bombs once again

(1) West Bank: Violence escalated in 2025: 58 minors were killed, a sad record. The Israeli army as well as the Israeli police do not wish to comment on the tragedies. (2) Lebanon: Nahida Choobi, Ahmad, and their children fled Naqoura once again. After bombardment and destruction, they fear they may never be able to return home.

52 min

25

Côte d’Ivoire: Healthcare System Under Pressure from Trump / Lebanon: Drug Users on the Front Line

(1) Côte d’Ivoire: Healthcare System Under Pressure from Trump – Since the Trump administration halted USAID funding, many NGOs in Côte d’Ivoire are no longer able to provide aid. (2) Lebanon: Drug Users on the Front Line – Massive airstrikes by the Israeli army rocked Beirut on April 8, 2026. Reporter Charbel Chérif filmed the aftermath of these attacks.

52 min

26

USA: Anti-Vaccine Fever / Cuba: Crisis in Vintage Paradise

(1) USA: Anti-Vaccine Fever - Health Secretary and vaccine skeptic Robert Kennedy Jr. cemented his alliance with Donald Trump during the 2024 election campaign by launching the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement. (2) Cuba: Crisis in a Vintage Paradise - For Western tourists, Cuba is a vintage paradise in the heart of the Caribbean. They rarely see how the locals are suffering under the economic crisis.

52 min

27

Sudan: Narrowly Escaping Death / Syria: On the Trail of ISIS

(1) Sudan: Narrowly Escaping Death – In El Fasher, Darfur, RSF militias killed 60,000 people. Survivors of the massacre recount the bombings, the hunger, and the death march to the refugee camp. (2) Syria: On the Trail of ISIS – The Islamic State in Syria exploited the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024 and the security vacuum that followed in the ensuing weeks: members fanned out across the country.

52 min

28

India - China: A Turnaround for Girls / India: Chess Crazy

(1) India - China: A Turnaround for Girls: For decades, parents in India and China wanted only boys. This has been changing for some time, likely driven by a realization of necessity. (2) India: Chess Crazy: In September 2023, India ranked second on the International Chess Federation’s world list, right behind the USA.

52 min

29

Africa: Safaris and Bargains / India: Living in 50°C Heat

(1) Africa: Safaris and Big Business – In the name of protecting rhinos, lions, and gorillas, governments are handing over control of increasingly large areas to conservation NGOs—to the detriment of indigenous peoples. (2) India: Life at Over 50 Degrees – In 2024, the country suffered its longest heatwave in living memory, with temperatures exceeding 50 degrees in the capital, New Delhi, and reaching up to 56 degrees in Nagpur in the west of the country.

52 min

30

Uganda: Cinema from the Slums / South Africa: A Bow on an Open Wound

(1) Uganda: Cinema from the Slums - In a Kampala slum, studio boss Isaac Nabwana is breaking all the norms of the film industry. With a budget of just 200 euros, he made the film "Who Killed Captain Alex?" and garnered ten million views on YouTube. (2) South Africa: A Bow on an Open Wound - The country abolished apartheid more than 30 years ago, yet it remains one of the most unequal nations in the world.

52 min

31

Russia: Generation Z / Madagascar: The Hidden Workforce Behind AI

(1) Russia: Generation Z - In Russia, the letter "Z" stands for the war and has been the official symbol for the invasion of Ukraine since February 2022. How do young Russians of Generation Z view their country's development under Putin? (2) Madagascar: The Hidden Workforce Behind AI - Every day, around 100,000 people click to train artificial intelligence algorithms.

52 min