麻豆社

It is five years this month since the conflict in Yemen intensified into outright war. Since then Yemeni civilians have been relentlessly pummelled by the power-struggle between the Houthi rebels aligned with regional power Iran, and government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition supported by Western powers, including the UK. In a rare lull in the violence recently, the 麻豆社鈥檚 Chief International correspondent travelled up the road from the south to the north and gained a rare insight into daily life in Yemen.

This week, three Russians - and a Ukrainian - were put on trial, in absentia, for the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014. The Dutch-led investigation team says it has proof that the missile system used to shoot down the aircraft came from a military base in neighbouring Russia. But Moscow continues to reject the evidence and reprimand those who bring it up, as Steve Rosenberg reports.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron makes much of protecting human rights and freedom of movement in his commitment to a stronger European Union. Yet France reinstituted border checks after the 2015 terror attacks in Paris, and has been criticised by the European parliament for keeping the checks in place ever since. The far-right nationalist party of Marine Le Pen is promising freedom from the European Union鈥檚 open borders and open markets. Lucy Williamson has been on the frontier between France and Italy.

This week, the film producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault. But in the tightly controlled media world of Hollywood, revelations about his behaviour took years to come to light. Kirsty Lang, presenter of Front Row, tells of her own experience of dealing with the stars, their gatekeepers and the battle for access.

(Image: Taiz, home to one of the longest running battles of Yemen's civil war. Credit: David Bull/麻豆社)