berlin. the west has condemned a pro-russian court for sentencing three foreign fighters to death. also coming up tonight, ukraine says that russia's assault in the east is killing as many as two hundred ukrainian soldiers every day.

it is calling for more weapons from the west to defend itself. also tonight, democracy in danger. >> january 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup. >> lawmakers share previously unseen video of the violence and put the blame squarely on former u.s. president donald trump. and new york is playing host to one of the biggest banks he exhibits ever. more than 100 pieces from the elusive artist gathered under one roof. i'm brent goff. two viewers watching on pbs in the united states and to all of you around the world, welcome. the united nations says the trial of three foreign fighters

in ukraine by a pro-russian court could amount to a war crime. the court in the self-declared donetsk people's republic sentenced to three men, two of them from the u.k., one from morocco, to death. it alleges they were mercenaries and therefore not prisoners of war. western nations have denounced the trial, saying that it breaches the rules of war. earlier, we spoke to a friend of the moroccan national. we ask him how he learned about what happened. >> first of all, april 17, i learned he had been captured by seeing a video interview. everyone knows about those british nationals are at risk of being sentenced to death.

i started to do research and found out that my friend is with them and also at that risk, so first of all, i started to -- like, i was panicking. i was so sad. i decided i've got to act. i've got to, you know, make actions and help my friend get out of this, so i started the campaign, and that's pretty much what i'm doing right now. he is not a mercenary. i have all the copies of his documents, all the contracts made with ukraine. he's not a mercenary. he is the soldier of the ukrainian army, and i have all the documents verifying and confirming that he signed the contract in november 2021.

rent: ashley -- brent: ashley reed from human rights watch told me that the three men are protected by international law. >> thank you. absolutely. whatever the court in donetsk is saying simply bears no relation on the facts or to the law applicable in this situation. it is clear the three men are covered by the third geneva convention. they are entitled to prisoner status. even in the event that the russian authorities or their proxies in donetsk want to challenge that, than the geneva conventions is very clear. you have to set up a competent tribunal to look at the evidence that would determine the status that they are not prisoners of war, and even then, let's say we did not know the facts and suggest these are three fighters

who are not entitled to prisoner of war status, they are still entitled to a fair trial. prisoner of war status protects them from being prosecuted for the kinds of acts that the authorities in donetsk have accuse them of. even if there had been a determination that they were stripped of prisoner of war status they were entitled to a fair trial, and it is clear that did not happen, and it is clear in the fact that they were given the death sentence which does not exist in either ukrainian or russian law, such as it's unclear what law these authorities in donetsk thought they were applying -- so it is unclear what law these authorities thought they were applying. brent: if i have the proper identification, they can prove they are members of the ukrainian army. we know president zelenskyy invited foreign nationals to

come to ukraine to with the military when this war began. that is a proven fact. absolutely. any army going to any state country going to war are not mercenaries simply by the fact that they have another nationality. if they are integrated into the army, working with together for six hour the militia aligned to regular forces, there -- they are entitled to prisoner of war status. particularly in international nflictwhich this is. a mercenary is a foreign fighter not attached to any particular regular army and is recruited for personal gain and gets a lot of financial incentive to fight, and i think the facts of these three seem to suggest none of that is in play, and also the geneva conventions is very clear, that when you capture a fighter who has committed what

they call a belligerent act, they are entitled to be presumed prisoners of war unless you prove otherwise, and there has been no process undertaken that would suggest you have to try to disprove any of the other evidence that these three were fighters with regular ukraine forces and are entitled to prisoner of war status. it is clear to do what they have done in terms of denying both was in of war and anyone a fair trial is a war crime and can be prosecuted by the international criminal court. brent: we appreciate your time and insights tonight. thank you. >> thanks very much. brent: ukraine says as many as 200 of its soldiers are being killed every day. with the war in the east rapidly becoming an artillery battle, ukrainian officials are increasingly calling for war-heavy weaponry. according to kyiv, russia has

between 10 and 15 times as much artillery equipment. russian forces remain on the eastern donbass region, which has been partly occupied by pro-russian separatists since 2014. the eastern donbass region remains the center of the fighting, but it is not russia's only target, as our correspondent told us. nick: definitely not. we were in alive today, and it was not the focus of the most intensive riding, but we still heard -- it was not the focus of the most intensive fighting, but we still heard pretty berlin was artillery. people are losing thr lives here. that city in its entirety is within range of areas different bits of russian artillery, and time and time again, you have people going about their daily lives having their houses hit

are away from any kind of strategic targets and losing their lives. that is just the norm here. brent: ukraine says it is not losing as many as 200 fighters every day. that is almost double the official your we received just a week ago. what has changed? >> i think the main difference here is that russia has focused all its efforts on various specific, very targeted parts of the frontline. they learned from the mistakes of the early part of the world where they spread themselves too thinly and allowed ukrainians to attack their logistics, and now are massive superiority in terms of 10 times more, 15 times more in certain weapons categories than the ukrainians is really making itself felt. also, the ukrainians have more efficiently using what they do

have, using drones and coordinating the intelligence they get from drones, but still, that more agile style warfare is not enough to make up for the huge discrepancy in terms of munitions and the weapons to use them. we have been hearing from ukraine commanders saying they have the weapons systems but do not have the munitions left to work with. the shells are now used up and everything they will be using in the weeks to come is delivered from the west, so there success is dependent on the speed -- their success is dependent on the speed with which that is delivered. brent: what can ukrainians do in the meantime? >> play for time. that is basically what they are doing. they are trying to inflict as high-priced as possible. there is no illusion here they can stop the russians taking that city in donbass that has been the scene of so much fighting in recent weeks, but they can pull this out, make it

slower, try to make sure russians lose more men than they do, achieving less. but they are very conscious that they are here in a weaker position, and they need to also do pr and a lot of explaining and convincing, especially western europe, about the kind of support they need. most ukrainians get the sense that lots of european countries think they are doing a lot less than they are. maybe they are by the standards of normal wartime -- peacetime exercises, but when there's fighting 24 hours a day, you are just into totally different scales of material needed. they brought more than enough people who want to fight, but they do not have the kit to give them and send them to frontlines. when they need now is the equipment and the material, the ammunition to make it work. brent: as always, thank you.

here is a round up now up some of the other stories making headlines around the world. the leaders of nine central and eastern european countries are meeting in the capital of romania. nato chief jens stoltenberg will join them. they are expected to ask nato to formally declare russia a threat to the western military alliance. heavy storms and landslides in central china have left at least 17 people dead. flooding across the central province of hunan has affected nearly 2 million people. rescue teams are still searching for survivors. striking drivers in south korea have disrupted shipments and blocked ports. the drivers are demanding higher wages to offset rising fuel costs. the strike has led to a drastic cut in production at the country's biggest car factory.

the third attempt to pass legislation approving euthanasia for dr.-assisted suicide. portugal would become the fifth eu country to decriminalize euthanasia. across the atlantic to the u.s., the committee investigating the attack on the u.s. capitol has accused former president donald trump of the tenting to derail democracy. members have begun presenting their findings after a year of collecting evidence. -- of attempting to derail democracy. they say it was not really -- they say the january 6 right was not merely a protest that got out of hand but rather an attempt to overturn joe biden's electoral victory. >> the u.s. capitol dissenting into chaos and violence. these images are part of a mass of evidence presented by a house select committee investigating former president donald trump's role in the january 6 riots.

place january 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup , a brazen attempt, as one rider put it, shortly after january 6, to overthrow the government. the violence was no accident. it represents at last stand, and most desperate attempt to halt the transfer of power. quick to try to prove that trump incited the insurrection, the committee compiled evidence in a video presentation. >> what really made me want to come was the fact that i had supported trump all that time. i did believe that the election was being stolen. and trump asked us to come. >> he personally asked for us to come, and i thought for

everything he done for us, if this is the only thing he's going to ask of me, i'll do it. >> we are going to walk down to the capitol. >> the committee also heard from a police officer tasked with defending the capitol that day. >> i could not believe my eyes. there were officers on the ground, you know, they were bleeding. they were throwing up. you know, they had -- i mean, i saw friends with blood all over their faces. i was slipping in people's blood. >> six more hearings are scheduled, but with so many republicans behind trump, it might not be enough to alter perceptions of what happened on january 6. brent: i asked our washington correspondent, is this committee holding donald trump responsible for what happened? >> that's right.

it is something we knew the committee was gathering evidence on ahead of time, but as we heard during that report, this committee absolutely considers donald trump responsible for attempting to carry out a crew and instigating the attack on the capitol. like you said, this hearing itself was spectacular. it was in the evening on tv, and usually, congressional hearings are pretty dry. this was a step-by-step retelling of the insurrection in careful detail. it was highly produced as well. i want to take you through some of the new snippets of information we saw and heard. there was this 11-minute clip spliced together that you just saw some images of. that included new police bodycam footage, new images from the capitol, also some voices from protesters and officers that was incredibly chilling that we had not seen before. we also heard members of president trump's inner circle were aware he had lost the election, including his attorney general and his daughter. president trump has responded to

that today saying both of them had essentially checked out of the process, but we have heard also that many republican congressman had asked president trump to pardon them for their role in trying to overturn the election results, and there are some witnesses cooperating with the committee as well. certainly this was an incredible hearing we witnessed on prime time tv. brent: this is uncharted territory. it is one thing to accuse a former president of an attempted coup. it is another to indict and prosecute him. is that going to happen? >> that will be interesting to witness. i think the committee, certainly democrats, know that republican leadership, republican voters are not going to be swayed by what we will see over the course of this hearing, but what they want to do or try to do by laying out this carefully calibrated story by laying out all this evidence is they want to make it very clear that this has to lead to some sort of accountability, and that has to

go through the department of justice. that is the only agency that can prosecute people with crimes linked to this insurrection. it has been two years, though, and this agency has already come under fire for not carrying out its own investigation, but the department of justice has already requested information for its own hearings, so that could be a sign they are looking to put togetherases, but as you said, this is just the beginning. if president trump himself will be held accountable, we will have to see what the department of justice decides to do. brent: the hearing last night was tremendous. a primetime audience. do we have the numbers. do we know? was the american public watching? >> we have some numbers that have come in that have shown that the ratings were relatively good for all of the major networks that showed -- mainstream networks, i should say, that showed the hearings live on tv. there were concerns people would

not be interested in watching this coverage because it has been two years. people in the country have moved on, but as i said, this was very compelling evidence to be watching, extremely effective storytelling. for those paying attention to the hearings, democratic voters, it is likely they will continue to watch, but i should note that fox news did not cover this hearing. they put it on foxbusiness, which has much lower viewership. they called it a show trial. for the many americans who watch fox news, they were not getting the same coverage, and that is important because it means it was not reaching a large number of americans. brent: as always, thank you. germany's chancellor met with leaders of serbia and kosovo on its tour of the balkans. both countries try to join the european union. in belgrade, he met with the serbian president on the agenda,

normalizing relations between serbia and kosovo, which serbia does not recognize. serbia has not imposed sanctions on russia due to its close ties with moscow and dependence on russian gas. the german chancellor says countries that want to join the european union should follow its line when it comes to sanctions. >> it is a terrible and pointless war started because of russia's imperialist agenda. that is why it is important for the european union and for all of us to stand in solidarity and help ukraine defend itself against russian aggression. our expectation is that these sanctions find support among those countries which want to be eu members. brent: the chancellors also in greece, meeting with representatives of the southeast europe and cooperation process.

they may see -- many see his visit as a message to turkey. >> turkish president erdogan tweeted in greek, telng the greeks not to do anything they might regret. threats of war echoed in these words and this very aggressive rhetoric leading to rising tensions, and this indeed seems to be the main reason for chancellor olaf scholz to be at this dinner. some say this visit is to be seen as a clear diplomatic gesture in favor of athens, telling ankara to back off. people he, howeverdo not really have high hopes that it will lead to a de-escalation of the situation. brent: earlier in belgrade, we heard the german chancellor calling on potential eu member states to join sanctions against

russia. how was that received? >> well, pple actually wait for somethi to actually happen. when the chancellor said that clearly and explicitly meant the serbian president, who is also a very good friend of vladimir putin, the russian president, and he had not really shown any sign of changing that any time soon. until the war, russia and berlin would let this slide, but now with the war and the west trying to show unity, stand together, clear commitment from the side of belgrade is being expected, but if he would actually act on his promises regarding loyalty remains mere lip service, we will see that in future. brent: we know the german chancellor wants to improve relations with the balkan states, also to counter russian

influence in that region. what is his message othat? plexi really does not have a new message to these countries. nothing ally is new. the only thing thais changing at the moment is that because of the necessity to become independent of russian gas, it becomes much more important for the european union. a good example is a terminal for liquefied natural gas is being built in a greek coastal city right next to the turkish border . the plan is to transport natural gas from their through countries like bulgaria and serbia towards the north. this collaboration bween the countries is a good sign of the region the war in ukraine leads to reshufflingf econom and political alliances, and the

countries here in the region see a ance to boost their economies, and they know that in order to profit, they need to pull on the same strings. this time the eu really depends on these countries and not vice versa. brent: yes, very good point to make. thank you. banksy is one of the world's most celebrated and secret artist. his works usually appear on walls in cities around the world. fans have to move fast if they want to see the originals, but thanks to an exhibition in new york, visitors can now enjoy dozens of banksys all in the same place, and they are not going anywhere, at least not now. >> "girl with balloon" -- probably the best-known image of the phantom artist who shows himself on walls on streets

around the world. 120 original works from private collectors are being brought together for the first time. what was once considered vandalism is now part worth millions. >> tre is no public collection abt banksy's artwork. this has been done with a company that banksy holds for this process of authentication. >> keeping with the times against war, consumerism, and police violence. >> he wants to be disruptive because he wants to take precise steps against what in his mind is unfair and unjust. >> visitors can also try their hand as street artists and leave behind a message of their own. >> really makes us think about what we do and the consumerism,

and a lot of global issues. >> he wants to, you know, make change through his artwork, and i respect that. he gets around. >> since the pandemic and ukraine war, banksy has been quiet. many fans are hoping the graffiti gorilla -- the graffiti guerilla will soon be visible again. brent: ecuador will play in the 2022 world cup. fifa reduced claims that they fielded an ineligible player in qualifiers. ecuador finished fourth in the south american table, which automatically qualified them for qatar. chile's football federation plans to appl the decision with the court of arbitration of sport. before we go, here is a quick look at our top stories this hour.

ukraine and its western allies have denounced a pro-russian court for sentencing three foreign fighters to death. they say the trial of the two britons and one moroccan was a sham and that it violates the rules of war. you are watching "dw news." after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. tonight, the hearing in washington and the blame on donald trump. we will be right back. ♪

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anchor: as russian forces step up attacks in eastern ukraine, kyiv pleads for more weapons from the west. ukrainian forces trying desperately to maintain control of a city. french prosecutors have recommended a life sentence for the main suspect in the november 2015 terror attacks in paris. the massacre left 130 people dead in an assault on a concert hall and other locations across

the city. pope francis has called off a trip to africa. the vatican says the pontiff is suffering with a bad knee and having trouble walking. the news has revived worries about the state of his health. thank you for joining us. ukraine pleading for help on the west. they are asking for faster deliveries of weapons as it faces heavily armed russian forces. president zelenskyy has said his president is holding onto the -- onto a better city and they have hit military positions in a southern city. russia is concentrating most of its attacks on the donbas. we are following the latest developments from kyiv. reporter: the situation in the east remains extremely difficult for ukrainian forces, and various ukrainian officials,

military and politicians, have been stressing that in recent days, providing quite a negative outlook on how the battle is going. it is not a tone they were striking at the beginning of the war, but they've been painting a picture of heavy losses. we don't have exact figures of ukrainian losses, that is a secret, but they are saying they are suffering sometimes up words of 100 ukrainian soldiers being killed today and several hundred more injured. they are painting a picture of heavy fighting continuing in severodonetsk and the region, coming under intense russian artillery fire. that's why they say they need these new deliveries of artillery systems and quickly. the defense minister saying he's not been satisfied with the tempo and quantity of artillery being delivered to ukraine from western allies, and there are fears the russians could push westward if they managed to consolidate and take severodonetsk.

there are also continuing battles in the south. there have been signs the ukrainians have been pushing forward to take some ground. it's difficult to get an exact picture, but the front remains active and there are big concerns still for ukrainian authorities. anchor: life in prison without the possibility of parole. that is a recommendation from prosecutors for the main suspect in the november 2015 terror attacks here in paris. salah abdeslam is the only surviving member of the terror group who killed 130 people when they opened fire in a packed concert hall and café terraces. this follows three days of closing arguments. reporter: the maximum penalty under the law. french prosecutors on friday demanded a life sentence without

parole for the sole surviving member of the commando cell that carried out the country's worst ever terror attack on november 13, 2015. >> this is an attack on the state, on the nation. this has been taken into account and it is verimportant for society, for the state and also for victims who have suffered so much in this massacre. reporter: 32-year-old french national salah abdeslam spent most of his life in belgium before allegedly joining up with a group led by an islamic state leader to plan the attack that would ultimately kill 130 and enter nearly 700. after five months on the run, he was captured in brussels. he initially refused to cooperate with investigators eventually testified at trial he had decided at the last minute not to detonate his suicide belt while tearfully apologizing to victims of the attack. prosecutors say his explosive device simply malfunctioned,

calling him and his co-conspirators lowlife terrorists and criminals whose bloodthirsty fury was without limit. a life sentence without parole is extremely rare in france. only four have been handed down since its introduction in 1994. 19 other men stand accused of aiding the attackers. six ar presumed dead. prosecutors are seeking standard life sentences for three others and five to 20 years in prison for the rest. >> there is no sentence that could come close to the harm my brother suffered. for us, the families of the victims, we will never be satisfied. reporter: the proceedings now moved to closing arguments from the defense. a final verdict is due on june 29. anchor: time for a quick look at some other news. a british judge has clear the way for more than 30 asylum-seekers to be put on a one-way flight to rwanda next

week. the controversial deal between the u.k. and east african country means anyone trying to enter the u.k. a legally can be sent to rwanda to be processed. the government sees it as a deterrent to illegal immigration. the judge is allowing opponents to make a last-minute appeal. leaders from across the americas met in los angeles this friday. at the summit, president biden declared a partnership and regional approach to migration. nations are pledging to take in migrants and provide humanitarian assistance. the mexican president did not attend but the country's top diplomat said the meeting yielded very positive results. protests happening across india after two members of the country's ruling party made derogatory remarks abobout the prophet muhammad. police clashed with demonstrators in at least two indian cities. a government spokesperson said one of the lawmakers has been suspended and the other expelled

by the party. spain's foreign minister was in brussels this friday to discuss his countries crisis with algeria. the dispute focuses on madrid backing moroccan role in western sahara. in response, algiers suspended a decades-old treaty with spain, potentially freezing trade between the countries. the eu is urging algeria to reverse its decision. our correspondent has the developments from brussels. reporter: following this meeting between the spanish foreign minister and eu officials, we got a statement from the chief of eu foreign policy, and the eu trade chief, standing by spain and saying you cannot have a trade dispute with just one eu country. you pick a fight with one, you pick a fight with the entire eu.

they said this appears to be a violation of the eu-algeria association agreement. essentially what they are saying is if algeria continues on this course of not honoring its existing trade relationships with spain and cutting off trade relations with spain come a it risks cutting off trade relations with the entirety of the european union, something that would obviously be devastating for algeria. however, this is coming at a very inopportune time for the eu. algeria provides gas to eu countries, and notably to spain. right now the eu is looking to diversify away from russian gas. they desperately need algerian gas. so far, the spanish foreign minister speaking to reporters said that so far there is no sign that algeria is intending to cut off gas supplies to spain or anywhere else in the eu. however, the commission knows if they escalate too much, it could be a step algeria takes or a

threat they make. we had tough language in the statement from the eu, however, they also said the preferred solution is diplomatic and they want all sides to come to the table. they certainly were not afraid to remind algeria of the implications this could have in disrupting all eu trade. anchor: our correspondent reporting from brussels. pope francis has canceled a planned trip to africa. the vatican says the pontiff is suffering with a bad knee and having trouble walking. news has revived worries about the state of his health. we have more. reporter: the president of the european commission went down to her knees degree pope francis. this was intended as a mark of respect, but also due to the fact that the pontiff is will chair bound and suffering from a knee problem. it is an issue which has disrupted his schedule, postponing his trip to africa at the start of july. >> at the request of his doctors

and in order not to jeopardize the results of the therapy he is undergoing for his knee, the holy father has been forced to postpone, with regret, his apostolic journey to the democratic republic of congo and south sudan. reporter: pope francis and tendered to go to two congolese cities in then on to the south sudanese capital. leaving many in the capital of the democratic republic of congo deflated. >> a real disappointment. we were saying the visit would be beneficial for the country. for all of africa. to choose our country was not a coincidence and it sent a strong message. reporter: the knee problems have given rise to speculations about his future, although he's given no indication he intends to resign. last month, a trip to lebanon was also canceled. anchor: there is more fallout from the police response at the champions league final in paris two weeks ago. officers used pepper spray on

fans outside of the stadium where the match was taking place. wrench authorities said they were trying to prevent people with fake tickets from forcing their way into the stadium. now some key evidence appears to be missing. we have more. reporter: crucial images surprisingly missing. scenes of chaos outside the stadium, supporters showered with tear gas. these incidents are being investigated by the senate, but some evidence is missing. this is prompting controversy. >> after seven days, the only way we could have access them was with a special request. one thing i can tell you for sure is the images were extremely violent. reporter: a handshake that speaks louder than words. 220 cctv cameras around the stadium and no footage available. incompetence, innocent mistake or political ploy -- that is the

question that feeds the controversy. >> there is evidence that has been destroyed, by mistake or at the very least incompetence, because i don't want to say it was done on purpose. so it is very serious. i think it is very serious. reporter: a debate that adds pressure on the government, especially in the middle of a political campaign. far right politician marine le pen use of scandal as a political argument for the upcoming elections. >> i don't think our reporters are so incompetent as to forget to request this major piece of evidence for an event that was so important to france and internationally. it was a conscious effort to burn the evidence. reporter: since the hearing on thursday, authorities have requested the footage from inside the stadium, and a fuller

picture could soon be available. anchor: japan has announced it is reopening its borders to tourists later this month, but there are still several conditions to get inside the country. reporter: from its temples and fo markets to snowcapped mount fuji, japan's iconic attractions have been largely void of foreign tourists since the pandemic began. that is set to change as japanese authorities begin excepting international holidaymakers on friday, a move expected to boost the sluggish economy. t would open up what many had hoped to be the white knight of the current stagnant situation in the japanese economy. something that brings light, which is the inbound touri, which exceeded all expectation before the corona incident. reporter: relief may be limited.

only visitors on guided package tours can enter and they must be from 98 countries and regions deemed as having low covid infection rates. many in japan are wary of lifting border restrictions and the government is hoping the strict travel conditions can keep infections low. >> we will continue to try to recover demand for tourism while balancing anti-infection measures and social and economic activities. reporter: the reopening comes as the yen six to 20 year lows. tourism makes up a small portion of the nation's gdp, but the sector has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. according to the japan national tourism organization, the country so roughly 66,000 international visitors this march, compared to 2.67 million in march 2019. anchor: stay tuned for more world news coming up on france 24.

>> war has once more reared its head in europe might recording the darkest hours of our history. france 24 is providing constant coverage of events in ukraine. our teams on the ground and in the studio will keep you informed of all of the latest developments. stay informed, stay aware. ♪ ♪ >> a small synthetic piece of fabric that has become a potent

symbol of the pandemic and an intimate part of our daily lives. we might see fewer surgical masks in the streets these days, but they have certainly left their mark a socially and culturally. >> hello and welcome to france and focus, we are exploring how almost two years of covering our faces have affected us. for example, how does just catching a glimpse of the eyes change of first impression of a person? how have we learned to interpret nonverbal clues and work emotions expressed behind the mask? and what happens when we finally take them off? our reporters have been looking for answers. . >> at this code working space, like in many empties, mask wearing no longer mandatory. as employees part ways with the face covering, they recall some humorous situations. >> we kind of got our identities

back or we took out our masks because we look a lot alike with them on and the customers had trouble telling us apart. we will show you. while we left, we close -- laugh , we close our eyes and look even more alike. >> it also changed interactions as they had to guess our facial expressions and features. >> in fact, we imagine the bottom of the face to go along with what we can see, and it is a surprise when what we imagine does not match with reality. there are disappointments and good surprises. i can't say more, i have to be diplomatic. >> a study from cardiff university shows people tend to idealize faces. this man's face was presented uncovered, hidden or masked and he is considered the most attractive when wearing a surgical mask. researchers say the reason is the type of face covering.

long equated with illness or death, surgical masks are now associated with the medical profession and that has become reassuring. as for being surprised when the mask comes off, that can be explained. >> the brain will assimilate all of the faces we have seen since we were born when we construct the lower parts of the face. the results were a bit disturbing because 87% of those questioned said they were surprised when the mask came off because it wasn't what they imagined. >> another consequence of removing the mask, people's brains can take a break because during the pandemic, the brain had to work harder to reconstruct facial features and decipher the expressions and intentions of the person speaking. >> our brains are made so that when we walked down the street or in public spaces, the main question that pops up but stays

in the background is deciding whether or not i am in danger. will the person attack or let me pass? that is a fundamental point. the more people there are, the more the question arises and the more information your brain has to process. itas to work harder when people are wearing masks. >> a tired brain and more fluid communication -- a less tired brain in more fluid munication, making it easier to interpret smiles and micro expressions. >> indeed, after many months of just seeing their classmates eyes, french teenagers were able to return to school without their masks in mid-march. for some at a sensitive age, the facial covering had become a way to express individuality, and for others a screen to hide behind. we went to find out more. >> in this music class in paris,

students are singing and clapping along to queen, even if some of their mounts are covered up. weeks after french schools ended a mask mandate, about a third of these 12 and 13-year-olds are still wearing them in today's class. >> sometimes i just put a mask on in the morning because... i don't know, i am used to it, and i am tired and my face doesn't look that good. >> it is prettier that way, it adds a bit of style. >> we keep it because it looks good with our clothes. >> and accessory some said is also practical for chewing gum in class and hiding from teachers. they are less convenient in classes like this one, where students practice dance routines. still, several of these 13-year-old girls keep their masks strapped around their chins and admit they found them hard to let go of. >> just feel more comfortable with a mask, i don't know why. >> of course, taking off our

masks was -- not an ordeal, that is too strong a word, but we were worried about what others would think anil that -- and all that. >> on days when i don't want to take it off, when i don't feel good about my face, i keep it. when i feel good about my face, i take it off. >> this ongoing attachment to masks is not a surprise to this psychologist, who says adolescence is a time when the outside gaze takes on particular importance. >> not only for children, not only for adolescents, but also for adults, the outside gaze can represent sadat -- desire and seduction but can become oppressive. for some teenagers, especially younger ones for whom psychological transparency is an issue because they think we

can see what is going on in their heads, the mask becomes a sort of veil. >> when you think about it this way, young teenagers choosing to wear masks isn't so different from wearing hoodies or spamming with makeup. their adolescents just coincided with the pandemic, giving them to crises to navigate -- two crises to navigate. >> some more detail and analysis. thank you so much for joining us. as we said, the mask is no longer mandatory and you can ta it off in this room. you are a sociologist at the university of strasbourg and you've written extensively about the role the human face plays in society. i wanted to ask you first, what does the face convey about our identity, our personality? >> obviously we recognize people

by their faces. that's how we are genocide and age, sex, -- that's how we are identified with an age, sex, level of attractiveness. it is how we know whether our words are goodwill, or if the other person seems critical or worried or annoyed. the face is also an essential element in conversations, to know how to appropriately behave with one another. >> and smiling, a person's smile was something we so rarely when we were wearing masks. how important is a smile in day-to-day interaction? >> i think smiling is essential when meeting someone. it is a fundamental part of recognizing someone. through our smile, we let the other person know we are happy to see them again. >> the mask might hide certain

things but can reveal others, like our relationship with authority, our consideration for other people. do you think the mask is an indicator of politics? >> when it comes to daily life, it has a political side to it, in the sins of our interactions with each other. it is true that masks provide anonymity. weo longer knew who we were dealing with and it allows some interaction that would be impossible in other circumstances. for example, in france in the first months after the lockdown was lifted, many women using public transport complained about various forms of aggression, harassment, inappropriate comments. all the more common as these men knew they were not going to be recognized. there are things you would never allow yourself. there is a french saying, if i did th, i could never look

myself in the face again. >> following the pandemic, the fact you cover your face has a positive association now, given that many medical professionals wear them. you think it is something that shows trustworthiness, responsibility? >> no i think the mask is associated more with the sense of responsibility toward other people. it is true at first it was absolutely a major anthropological break. living without a face. we wondered how that was going to be possible. sometimes we came across asian tourists who wore them in the airport or streets of our big cities, but it remained mostly anecdotal. then suddenly billions of people started wearing masks and it started to be positively associated with fighting the pandemic. fighting the disease. in the coming months when the pandemic is behind us, i think it will probably be more common to wear a mask when you have the

flu, for example. i think we have become accustomed to the mask and it will be positively associated with protecting others. >> wearing the mask has affected different sectors of society in differen ways, for example some studies show very young children have had linguistic difficulties because of people wearing the mask around them. why is that? >> i think it is the youngest generation that has been most affected by the mask. the children who are 2, 3, 4, 5 years old who had wear our mask while their teachers and childcare workers also had wear our mask. these children have been deprived of certain essential elements of interaction. a child who asks a question is looking at you. he's not only paying attention to your voice but also your face. he seeks out your face most of the time. in the upcoming years, it is the children who risk bearing the

consequences of wearing face masks, unless the parents have always been loving and attentive and if the parents explained to the children why they had to wear the mask for a while, and if they also explain this was not normal, but that society wasn't danger and it was necessary to protect ourselves against the illness. >> thank you very much for joining us today. ♪ that's all for this week's france a focus. thank you for watching. we will be back next week here on france 24.

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06/10/22 06/10/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> january 6 was the culmination of an attempted coup, a brazen attempt shortly after january 6 to overthrow the government. violence was no accident. it represents trump's