Desert Women of Mauritania

Mauritania: las mujeres del desierto

Mauretania

Mauritania: incontro con le donne del deserto

In Mauritania, travel writer Blanche de Richemont explores life in the desert sands by meeting the women of the Adrar, a mountainous region where traditional nomadic culture is still very much alive.

In Mauritania, travel writer Blanche de Richemont sets off to meet the women of the Adrar region of the Sahara.

For one of Europe’s smallest countries, Slovakia has a lot to offer: Unspoilt nature, a host of castles, a unique inland delta on the Danube and countless hot springs. An invitation to discover a beautiful land in the heart of Europe.

For one of Europe’s smallest countries, Slovakia has a lot to offer: Unspoilt nature, a host of castles, a unique inland delta on the Danube and countless hot springs.

Surprising Slovakia

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When Massimo Vacchetta discovered little Ninna, he immediately adopted her and saved her from certain death. The veterinarian, whose specialty was caring for cattle, had found his vocation: he opened a hedgehog refuge, now a local institution partly run by volunteers.

When Massimo Vacchetta discovered little Ninna, he immediately adopted her and saved her from certain death

360° Geo: A Hedgehog Shelter in Italy

The Scottish island of Rum is a remote paradise with only 35 residents. In this real island community we find Dave, the guitar-playing harbour master, Kim who runs the island’s tea shop, and Fergus, who is making rum on the island for the first time with local ingredients

Welcome to the Scottish island of Rum, a remote paradise with only 35 residents. 

The Isle of Rum

In the Amazon region, indigenous communities have often adopted a Western lifestyle and farming techniques. But faced with failing crops, disease, and poverty, attitudes are changing. In a growing number of villages, locals are returning to their old way of life, growing indigenous species in the old way.

Brazilian Rainforest: Back to the Future

In the Amazon, indigenous communities facing poverty and disease are returning to the ancestral way of life.

360° Reportage

Inter-island traffic was already essential when the Vikings, originally from what is now Norway, populated the Faroe Islands. But out in the North Atlantic high winds means sailing was not always possible. Rowing became essential and is today the national sport which is very popular with women.

Faroe Islands: A Passion for Rowing

Rowing is the national sport in the Faroe Islands and many women are passionate rowers.

Off the Caribbean coast of Columbia lies the tiny island of Santa Cruz del Islote. Life on possibly the most densely populated island on Earth is beauiful but complicated.

A Unique Island

Off the Caribbean coast of Columbia lies the tiny island of Santa Cruz del Islote, a complicated paradise.

360° Geo: Santa Cruz del Islote

The Italian island of Stromboli is home to just 300 people, mainly farmers and fishermen. They fish using sustainable, traditional methods that generates little profit, but empowers this small community to live outside of mainstream capitalism.

Stromboli - Land of Fire

The Italian island of Stromboli is home to fishermen who live using sustainable, traditional methods

GEO Reportage

In southern Thailand, the Koh Panyee village sits on stilts and even has a floating football field, built in the 1990s by a group of children. But over time, the ad hoc field has fallen into disrepair. But now the village is about to hold its first tournament in years and the field needs a major overhaul.

Thailand's Football Mad Island

In southern Thailand, the Koh Panyee village sits on stilts and even has a floating football field

In April 1974, left-wing factions in the Portuguese military staged a coup against the authoritarian regime which had been in power for half a century. The uprising was largely peaceful and went down in history as the Carnation Revolution. But the path to a democratic Portugal was not easy and not without obstacles.

Carnations against Dictatorship

On the night of 24 April 1974, a peaceful uprising put an end to the Salazar dictatorship, paving the way for a democratic Portugal.

Portugal

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After the end of the Second World War, American Major Steve Arnold is tasked with finding out which side the famous conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, who had decided to stay in Nazi Germany, was on. Was the legendary figure of classical music a Nazi?

The Furtwängler Case

Was famous conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, for or against the Nazis? Feature film biopic.

Taking Sides

Is it possible to eradicate smoking from society? As the UK takes steps to relegate smoking to the ash heap of history with a potential generational smoking ban, we look at changing circumstances though out the continent.

ARTE Europe Weekly

The UK wants to stub out smoking with a ban on cigarette sales for people born after 2009. But could a smoke-free Europe follow ? 

A War On Smoking

On 4 April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed, enshrining the creation of NATO just four years after the end of the Second World War. The primary objective of this military alliance of twelve European and North American countries was to prevent war in Europe and to counter the expansion of the Soviet bloc. Since its creation in the Cold War, the organisation has grown from 12 to 31 member states - including several former Eastern Bloc nations. Weakened by its turbulent history, NATO is facing a growing number of challenges: the difficulty of coordinating its members, the logistical obstacles in the event of an attack on European soil, and the threat, raised by Donald Trump, of an American withdrawal, at a time when European defence is almost entirely dependent on the United States.

A look back at the turbulent history of the military alliance facing unprecedented challenges in the face of Putin's Russia.

Putin, NATO, and Europe

Diwa is only 11 years old. She is one of the thousands of victims of a crime that is hardly reported on in Europe but which is causing havoc in the Philippines. She was raped by her parents, live on the internet, to satisfy the desires of foreign paedophiles who paid for the spectacle of her rape, giving instructions from a distance.

Philippines: Child Rape Online

Thousands of children in the Philippines have been abused, live on the internet. Report on a shocking crime.

ARTE Reportage

In one day in April 1974, the Carnation Revolution in Portugal put an end to the Salazar dictatorship and five centuries of colonisation. This documentary is a blow-by-blow account of this momentous day that marked a turning point in the history of a nation and its people.

A blow-by-blow account of one momentous day that marked a turning point in the history of a nation and its people.

Portugal: April 1974

On 1 May 2004, the European Union welcomed ten new members, including eight countries from Central and Eastern Europe. This massive enlargement changed overnight the dynamics of the EU. Twenty years on, how has this enlargement in the East shaped the new member states and the EU as a whole?

EU enlargement into eastern Europe was a major geopolitical moment in 2004. A focus on the European Union's biggest decision and its consequences.

EU Enlargement: Twenty Years On

Chinese men are suffering. There are simply not enough women to go around since China implemented its one-child policy in 1979.  This means that 1 in 5 Chinese men will not be able to find a partner in five years’ time.

Chinese men are suffering. There are simply not enough women to go around since China implemented its one-child policy in 1979. 

China: Men without Women

A joyous return to the stage for Zach Condon and his European folk-focussed indie project Beirut. This is music as imagined landscape, a romantic sweep of Europe's past through the eyes of an American troubadour. From his Balkan-tinged debut in 2006, through a bohemian France dreamed up on 2007's The Flying Cup Club and on towards the Dutch and Mexican influences of his later material, Beirut is clearly the work of a singular vision while remaining hauntingly familiar, a half-remembered dream of a past life. Latest album Hadsel was inspired by a short time spent exiled in northern Norway, an emotional return to form released in 2023.

Live in Berlin's Tempodrom

After some time in the wilderness, Zach Condon leads his romantic indie-folk project to a triumphant return to the stage.

Beirut

Tattooing began as an ancient symbolic practice and has evolved into an artform, but today it can also be used to cover scars, camouflage skin conditions and even reconstruct nipples after mastectomy, allowing people to cope better with the aftermath of accidents or illness. Laetitia Limmois meets reconstructive tattoo artists and uncovers the possibilities and the risks.

This programme by France Télévisions Slash is part of the European Collection, a joint initiative from European public service media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR, RTBF and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.

Reconstructive tattooing, used to camouflage scars and reconstruct nipples, is helping people heal mentally.

The art of reconstructive tattoos

When Mark Zuckerberg launched the metaverse it was going to revolutionise our lives. Except it didn’t. How Zuck made the embodied internet so uninspiring.

Nothing Else Metas

The metaverse was supposed to revolutionise our lives. Except it didn’t. And it was really uninspiring.

Super Fails

This investigation reveals how people smugglers are using social media to encourage migrants to cross the English Channel illegally. In their TikTok videos, smugglers promote their services and compete with untenable promises: "crossing in just 3 hours", "1000% safe crossing", charging between €1,700 and €4,000 per person to take the perilous journey to reach Britain.

TikTok and People Smugglers

How people smugglers are using social media to encourage migrants to cross the English Channel illegally and getting rich in the process.

Data Sources

Under the baton of Lithuanian conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra performs works by Lili Boulanger, Romualdas Gražinis and Anton Bruckner.

Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra

Lithuanian conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla conducts the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla

Cruises: quiet jaunts around the world for the respected and respectably retired. Except these guys didn't get the memo. Come aboad a cruise ship with a difference: for four days, 3000 revellers - aged between one and 70 upwards - and 60 heavy metal bands will cruise the Caribbean ocean. First off though, a launch party at Miami Beach. Welcome to the heaviest, most head-banging cruise of all time.

Welcome to the Jungle

Cruises: quiet jaunts around the world for the respected and respectable retired. Except these guys didn't get the memo. Welcome to the heaviest, most head-banging cruise of all time.

The Vessel of Hell (1/9)

Last month, saw the hottest March on record reminding us that the race against the clock to prevent climate catastophe rages on. But is Europe doing enough to stave off a deepening climate crisis? This ARTE Europe Weekly, we go to Europe's top courtrooms where legal battles are changing the course of climate change.

Climate protection is now a human right

Climate inaction violates human rights according to a top EU court. But how seriously is Europe taking the climate crisis?

ALA.NI, Patrice, Celeste, Kareen Guiock Thuram, Kham Meslien and Youn Sun Nah celebrate the legacy of Nina Simone at the Pantheon in Paris. Six artists, six emotional perspectives on the work of this timeless artist.

Resonances at the Paris Pantheon

Six contemporary artists celebrate the legacy of Nina Simone.

Nina Simone

A major luxury brand equipping children with BDSM teddies in its new collection? Not a good idea.

Balenciaga

Sacred music meets the theatricality of opera in Handel's oratorio Messiah, here conducted by Laurence Equilbey and performed by the Insula Orchestra, Polish artist Jakub Józef Orliński and the Chœurs accentus at the Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival.

Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival

Laurence Equilbey conducts Handel's "Messiah" at the Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival.

Handel's Messiah

In north-east Honduras, a team of archaeologists is unearthing the remains of a lost pre-Hispanic culture. This documentary looks at their discoveries and how important they are in revealing the history of pre-Colombian central American civilisations.

In north-east Honduras, a team of archaeologists is unearthing the remains of a lost pre-Hispanic culture

Desert Women of Mauritania

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