Reporters FRANCE 24 English

Located off Morocco, Spain's Canary Islands are facing their worst migrant crisis since 2006. In just one year, 30,000 migrants have arrived on the archipelago. The smallest island, El Hierro, saw 4,000 arrive in January alone. Despite locals and NGOs coming together to help out, El Hierro is overwhelmed. FRANCE 24’s Clara Le Nagard and Armelle Exposito report, with Sarah Morris.

Japan's low birth and marriage rates would suggest that the country's citizens have given up on love. That assumption could not be further from the truth. Many Japanese are indeed searching for that special someone, just not the conventional kind. Despite Japan still lagging behind on LGBT+ rights (same-sex weddings are still illegal) the country has become a laboratory for new types of relationships – digital, solitary or even devoid of sex. Could it be a model for the future? Our reporters Alexis Brégère and Mélodie Sforza went to find out.

In Ivory Coast, would-be migrants who return home are known locally as "the cursed". With their dream of a better life abroad in tatters, they also face stigma and rejection from their families and communities. Yassin Ciyow and Guillaume Collanges went to meet them.

The Latin American nation of Ecuador has been experiencing an unprecedented security crisis for several months. In the port city of Guayaquil, now under the control of drug gangs, residents are living in fear.

In October 2023, for the first time in the history of the Catholic Church, women were allowed to participate in and vote at the Synod of Bishops, a religious gathering that had previously been reserved only for bishops. The landmark event came amid calls from feminists in many countries for the ordination of women priests and a more inclusive Church. Since the 11th century, only men have been allowed to be ordained as priests and perform the sacraments.

The US-Mexico border is the most dangerous land frontier in the world, according to the United Nations, but it's also the one with the most crossings. Since January 2023, 2.3 million migrants have been apprehended by border police after entering the United States illegally, an all-time high that does not include migrants who got through without being arrested or taken charge of, or those who died trying to cross. The situation has become unmanageable for Texas border towns like Eagle Pass, which has become the epicentre of these illegal arrivals. Our correspondent Fanny Allard reports.