Author: DW

This is a repeat programme, originally broadcast in 2023. There may be time references which are no longer valid. The Russian Feminist Resistance and the Ukrainian frontline, British nonagenarian performer Thelma Ruby, Sasha Talaver on Soviet gender narratives, women challenging Albania's brain drain, UK campaigners against police misogyny and the French woman saving lives from beyond the grave.

France steps up security after the rail sabotage, our man in Paris reviews the Olympics' first week, swimming in the polluted Seine river and Turkey wants to cull millions of street dogs. Also: Belarus pardons a German man sentenced to death for terrorism, Italy's anti-abortion law riles rights groups, were the London 2012 Olympics value for money? And how Toledo is drawing crowds this summer.

Our Olympics special: Has France's political crisis dampened the mood in Paris? How climate change is hurting some athletes' hopes of Gold, the Olympic flame gets Parisians fired up, and how the Games are helping refugee athletes to rebuild their lives. Plus, a special edition of DW's Don't Drink the Milk podcast on how passports didn't exist before World War I but now we can't live without them.

Can Ursula von der Leyen unite EU factions in her second term? Finland plans to turn back refugees at the border, and activists fail to bloc a lithium mine in Serbia. Also: Erdogan is accused of hypocrisy over Israel's war in Gaza, why Russian attitudes toward Ukraine are changing, could Muslim-majority Kosovo approve same-sex marriage? And Bulgarians avoid the army, despite a 30% pay hike.

France goes to the polls, the political script is flipped in the UK and the Danube region does some budget balancing. In the second half: the first installment of our new "Other Europes" series, showcasing hopeful stories from across the continent.

The EU’s Nature Restoration Law is approved - thanks to a rogue Austrian minister, the King of Brexit shakes up British politics and the Estonia-based academic recruited to spy for Moscow. Also: the man tipped to be NATO's next chief, Turkey profits from weapons to Ukraine, Kyiv gets unusual funding from the G7, a boisterous start to Euro 2024 and France prepares for the Olympics and an election.

Macron gambles the house on legislative elections, the dust settles in Brussels, an interview with the Secretary General of the Party of European Socialists, and analysis of the election results in Italy. Then: what motivates people to vote for Germany’s AfD party? What happened in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia? And what does DW’s elections expert, Jack Parrock, make of it all?