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Too many people, too little space. Migrants in Malta have contributed to a strong economic boom over the past 20 years. But as the island becomes more crowded, more and more residents seem to be turning against non-European migrants.

The smallest country in the European Union has the lowest birth rate. However, it is currently facing overpopulation.

Malta: an overpopulated and unwelcoming island

Now that the media, the legal system, cinemas, theatres and universities have fallen under the influence of the Hungarian prime minister and his right-wing Fidesz party, is the publishing industry next? In early July, a company close to the government called Mathias Corvinus Collegium Foundation (MCC) bought Hungary’s largest bookshop chain, Libri. And bookshops have had to follow a specific directive recently imposed by the government, stating that any children’s books even remotely referencing homosexuality must be covered with plastic.

In Hungary, the state wants to control literature

The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the Colosseum in Rome and Pompeii are some of Italy’s biggest tourist attractions. But staff who check entrance tickets or work in souvenir shops at these destinations generally earn less than 7 euros an hour. They’re hoping that the introduction of a 9-euro statutory minimum wage, currently being debated in Italy, will ease their precarity. 

Italy’s famous tourist sites attract millions each year, but workers behind the scenes often have a hard time making ends meet.

Precarious workers in Italy’s cultural sector

For over two years, a small company in eastern Germany has been testing out the four-day work week. By reorganising their work days, implementing more digitisation and optimising their tasks, they have managed to increase sales and decrease working hours. A win-win situation for both the company director and his employees.

In a town in east Germany, a small company has been testing out the four-day work week. And it’s working.

The four-day work week

A law stating that surrogacy is a “universal crime” was passed in Italy’s lower chamber. In September, the bill will go through the Senate. If it passes, anyone who decides to have a child by surrogacy abroad could automatically face prison and a hefty million-euro fine on their return.

Anyone who decides to have a child by surrogacy abroad could automatically be prosecuted on their return to Italy.

Italy, where surrogacy is a crime

Thousands of kilometres from Moscow lies Nizhny Tagil, or “Tank City”. Uralvagonzavod, a local company, is based there and produces war tanks that are used by the Russian army in the war in Ukraine. While the company racks up huge profits from its activity, local inhabitants pay the cost by living with intense pollution. A portrait of a poverty-stricken place in the Ural Mountains.

Meet the inhabitants of “Tank City”, a poor and polluted town in Russia that supplies tanks to the army.

This Russian town produces war tanks

Estonia shares over 300 kilometres of border with Russia, so the war in Ukraine has rekindled fears of its powerful neighbour. As a result, Estonia has taken in more Ukrainian refugees than any other country since the war began. But this small town is struggling with the country’s decision to erase all traces of Soviet occupation from its public spaces.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Estonia has decided to erase all traces of Soviet occupation from its public spaces.

Estonia "cleans up" its Soviet past

In Serbia, citizens are protesting to say "no" to violence and are calling for far-reaching reforms. The country is still traumatised by the two mass killings that took place last May. Protesters are accusing President Vucic's regime for allowing a climate of violence to develop in the country.

In Serbia, citizens are taking to the streets to protest rampant violence in the country.

Serbians are protesting against violence

In the Irish town of Greystones, adults have agreed to ban the use of smartphones before children reach secondary school, around the age of 13. The goal is to protect them from harmful content online and limit their use of social media.

A town in Ireland has decided to ban smartphones for children under the age of 13.

An Irish town united against smartphones

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, men between the ages of 18 and 60 have been forbidden from leaving Ukrainian soil. For fear of being conscripted and sent off to fight in the war, many have decided to flee to neighbouring Romania. It’s a dangerous and sometimes fatal journey to exile, but hundreds continue to cross the border.

Since the start of the war, thousands of Ukrainians have crossed the border into Romania illegally to avoid military service.

Politics and society
ARTE Journal

All videos

Malta: an overpopulated and unwelcoming island

In Hungary, the state wants to control literature

Precarious workers in Italy’s cultural sector

The four-day work week

Italy, where surrogacy is a crime

This Russian town produces war tanks

Estonia "cleans up" its Soviet past

Serbians are protesting against violence

An Irish town united against smartphones

Ukrainian deserters flee to Romania

Politics and societyARTE Journal

All videos

Malta: an overpopulated and unwelcoming island

In Hungary, the state wants to control literature

Precarious workers in Italy’s cultural sector

The four-day work week

Italy, where surrogacy is a crime

This Russian town produces war tanks

Estonia "cleans up" its Soviet past

Serbians are protesting against violence

An Irish town united against smartphones

Ukrainian deserters flee to Romania

Politics and society
ARTE Journal