Festival organisers unveiled the jury Monday, with four men and four women, including Sy, one of the biggest names in French cinema, known internationally for hit Netflix show Lupin, and Green, one of the most memorable James Bond actors, whose last role was Milady in The Three Musketeers, and who has appeared in a string of Hollywood blockbusters.

Joining them is Oscar-nominated actor Lily Gladstone, who won a string of awards for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s 2023 Killers of the Flower Moon.

The 37-year-old will be the youngest member of the jury, which also includes Turkish screenwriter and photographer Ebru Ceylan, Lebanese director and screenwriter Nadine Labaki, Spanish director and screenwriter Juan Antonio Bayona, Italian actor Pierfrancisco Favino, and Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu, who won the 2018 Palme d’Or for Shoplifters.

• American director Greta Gerwig chosen as jury president for 2024 Cannes Festival

Palme d’or

The Jury will award the 2024 Palme d’Or – the festival’s top prize – to one of the 22 films in competition, which include Francis Ford Coppola’s with his long-awaited epic, Megalopolis.

Coppola has twice won the Palme d’Or, for “The Conversation” in 1974 and for “Apocalypse Now” in 1979, which was not finished when it premiered at the festival.

A biopic of Donald Trump, The Apprentice, by Iran-born director Ali Abbasi, is also in the running.

The winners will be announced on 25 May at the closing ceremony

Late additions

There have been late additions to the festival’s line-up in recent days, including The Seed of the Sacred Fig by Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, who has faced prison time for criticising the government. It is unclear if he will be able to attend the festival.

Oliver Stone will present his latest documentary, Lula, about the current president of Brazil.

Actor Emma Stone and Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos will present Kinds of Kindness, after their 2023 collaboration, Poor Things, won Lanthimos the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, while Stone picked up an Oscar for Best Actress.

(with AFP)

Campaigning was rushed on the back of parliament’s approval of constitutional reforms that would allow lawmakers to elect the president instead of a direct vote by the people.

The move transformed Togo, one of the world’s poorest countries, from a presidential system to a parliamentary one. 

It establishes new prime minister-style position called President of the council of ministers, to be held by the leader of the biggest party.

‘Power grab’

Opposition parties denounced the reform as a ploy by Gnassingbé and his ruling Union for the Republic party – which has a majority in the 91-seat National Assembly – to get around presidential term limits.

The 57-year-old leader will likely assume the new position when his term expires next year.

“We are calling on the heads of our institutions to refer the matter to the Constitutional Court,” Maître Claude Amegan, who leads the Collective against impunity in Togo, told RFI.

• Togo parliament approves contested constitutional reforms

Gnassingbe has been in office since 2005 after succeeding his father, who had remained in power for nearly 38 years following a military coup.

He then later won re-election in multiple votes that were condemned as fraudulent by his rivals.

While opposition groups boycotted the last legislative elections in 2018, this time round they have mobilised.

“We are going to the elections,” Jean-Pierre Fabre, president of the National Alliance for Change, told RFI.

“We have noticed that it is worse not to run or to boycott. We are asking the population to vote massively for us, to correct the problems in the electoral register.”

Protest ban

In the lead up to campaigning, protests against the constitutional reforms were banned, further ratcheting up tensions.

Public protests have been outlawed since 2022 after a gendarme was killed in an attack at a market in the capital Lome.

The African Union’s Commission on human and peoples’ rights and rights groups condemned the restrictions on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.

• Opponents slam Togo’s new constitution as ploy for Gnassingbé to stay in power

Meanwhile the West African regional bloc Ecowas was accused of failing to enforce democratic rules in its member states after a fact-finding mission sent to Togo last week did not denounce the constitutional reforms.

Alioune Tine, founder of the Dakar-based thinktank AkricaJom Centre, told RFI that Ecowas should sanction heads of states when they seek to hold on to power undemocratically.

Togo became independent in 1960, after being colonised by the German, British and French empires successively.

It has only been through a brief area of democratic freedom in the early 1960s. 

“We want to do in Europe exactly what we did in Italy on 25 September 2022: creating a majority that brings together the forces of the right to finally send the left into opposition, even in Europe,” Meloni said at a party conference to set out EU policies and launch the campaign on Sunday in the coastal city of Pescara.

With calls for Italy to leave the euro zone, Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, which has roots in Benito Mussolini’s Fascist group, came in first in the 2022 general election, with 26 percent of the vote.

Since the election Meloni has followed a broadly pro-European line, particularly on foreign policy and conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Unifying European conservatives

On Sunday, Meloni praised her government’s efforts to combat illegal immigration, protect families and defend Christian values in its 18 months in office, before announcing she would be running for a seat in the European Parliament in the 6-9 June elections.

“I’m doing it because in addition to being president of Brothers of Italy I’m also the leader of the European conservatives who want to have a decisive role in changing the course of European politics,” she said.

In France, where the far-right National Rally is leading in the polls, with over 30 percent of votes, party leader Jordan Bardella announced that Marine Le Pen would enter the campaign in the coming days.

The former presidential candidate will appear second to last on the list.

Will not step down as PM

Meloni will be the first name on the Brothers of Italy list, but she said she would not use a “single minute” of her time as prime minister to campaign, and she is expected to give up her seat if she wins.

Brothers of Italy is the most popular in the country, with 27 percent support, according to recent polls, followed by the ahead of the opposition Democratic Party and the left-leaning 5-Star Movement

Brothers of Italy will be in direct competition with its coalition partners Lega and Forza Italia, founded by Silvio Berlusconi, which are polling at about seven percent and eight percent, respectively.

(with newswires)

“The government of Burkina Faso strongly rejects and condemns such baseless accusations,” communications minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo said in a statement late on Saturday.

“The killings at Nodin and Soro led to the opening of a legal inquiry,” he said.

The minister expressed his surprise that “while this inquiry is underway to establish the facts and identify the authors, HRW has been able, with boundless imagination, to identify ‘the guilty’ and pronounce its verdict”.

HRW described the massacre as “among the worst army abuse in Burkina Faso since 2015”.

“These mass killings… appear to be part of a widespread military campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with Islamist armed groups, and may amount to crimes against humanity,” the New York-based group said on Thursday.

According to the Burkina statement, “The media campaign orchestrated around these accusations fully shows the unavowed intention … to discredit our fighting forces.”

Media networks suspended

“All the allegations of violations and abuses of human rights reported in the framework of the fight against terrorism are systematically subject to investigations” followed by the government and the UN high commissioner for human rights.

The junta on Thursday suspended the BBC and Voice of America radio networks from broadcasting for two weeks after they aired the report accusing the army of attacks on civilians in the battle against jihadists.

The Burkina Faso communications authority CSC said the report contained “hasty and biased declarations without tangible proof against the Burkinabe army”.

• Burkina Faso’s army massacred over 200 civilians in village raid: NGO

The UN Human Rights Office said it was “concerned” about the suspension.

“Restrictions on media freedom and civic space must stop immediately,” spokesperson Marta Hurtado said in a statement.

The British and US broadcasters are the latest international media organisations to be targeted since Captain Ibrahim Traoré seized power in the West African country in a September 2022 coup.

French outlets targeted

Under Traore, the junta has distanced Burkina Faso from France, which ruled the country until 1960, and has already targeted a number of French media outlets.

In September, the junta suspended the print and online operations of French media outlet Jeune Afrique in the country after it published two articles about tensions within the military.

• Burkina Faso expels French diplomats for ‘subversive activities’

In June, it suspended French TV channel LCI for three months.

In March 2023, it also suspended all broadcasts by the France 24 news channel a few months after also suspending Radio France Internationale (RFI). It accused both public media outlets of having relayed jihadist leaders’ messages.

The following month the correspondents of French newspapers Liberation and Le Monde were expelled.

The jihadist insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015 has seen thousands of civilians, troops and police killed and two million people have fled their homes.

(with AFP)

At the core of Haiti’s struggle lie predatory interventions by powerful nations, principally France and the United States.

Speaking recently to RFI, Haitian author, playwright and former politician Gary Victor said that the international community is making the same mistakes in 2024 as it has done in the past.

“I wonder how – after all the time spent in Haiti – the international community doesn’t understand what’s going on,” Victor said.

“When we talk about a foreign force for Haiti … first of all, there has to be political will within the country to resolve the security issues. That’s why [previous UN missions] totally failed in Haiti, because the force was co-opted by corruption and delinquency in Haiti.”

• France to evacuate vulnerable citizens from Haiti as unrest rages

The cost of revolution

Haiti’s present turmoil traces its genesis back to the colony of Saint Domingue – ruled by France in the 17th and 18th centuries – where the exploitation of African slaves fuelled a trade in coffee and sugar.

The vast wealth created by slave labour on the plantations was matched by the brutality of their colonial owners, who kept their slaves in line using violence.

The struggle against colonial rule came to a head in 1791 with a slave rebellion that ultimately led to the creation of the Republic of Haiti in 1804. Slavery was officially abolished in Haiti on 1 January, 1804.

France, enraged by the loss of its colonial prize in the Caribbean, demanded exorbitant reparations from Haiti, pushing the newly formed nation into a cycle of debt that hindered the country’s development.

The “Double Debt” scheme was a key part of the problem shackling Haiti to “independence debt” owed to Paris banks along with extortionate loan fees with repayments equivalent to an overwhelming percentage of its annual revenue.

• Kenya confirms security mission to Haiti as transitional administration plans collapse

US fears

As the first, liberated Black nation, the neighbouring United States saw Haiti’s independence as an existential threat to its own, slave-based economy, and bears much of the blame for the country’s ills.

After French colonisers left Haiti, the United States worked to isolate the country diplomatically and strangle it economically.

American leaders feared a newly independent and free Haiti would inspire slave revolts back home and did not officially recognise Haiti until 1862 during the Civil War that abolished American slavery.

As Haiti grappled with the burdens of emancipation, the United States seized upon the turmoil in the era of “gunboat diplomacy”, orchestrating a military occupation from 1915 to 1934 under the guise of safeguarding American interests.

US President Woodrow Wilson sent an expeditionary force that would occupy the country for two decades to collect unpaid debts to foreign powers – a period marred by coerced labour and economic subjugation.

• UN launches emergency appeal for Haiti as Benin mulls joining multinational security mission

The Duvalier dictatorships

The subsequent decades of the 20^th Century witnessed Haiti’s descent into an abyss of political instability, natural catastrophes, and the relentless spectre of foreign debt.

Estimates suggest that the legacy of coerced payments to France – that Paris has repeatedly downplayed – ensnared Haiti in an economic quagmire, depriving it of resources crucial for development, ushering in an era of gang violence coupled with brutal dictatorships.

François “Papa Doc” Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” employed the ruthless militia dubbed the “Tontons Macoutes” to crush opposition during their rule between 1957 and 1986.

While subsequent leaders also forged alliances with armed groups, the gangs have now risen above the politicians that empowered them.

Armed gangs now control large parts of the capital Port-au-Prince, where they kidnap people off the street for ransom and spread fear by sharing gruesome pictures and videos on social media of people being tortured, raped or killed.

Impunity and ‘persistent’ human rights violations

According to Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International, this crisis is the result of decades of political instability, extreme poverty, natural disasters, weakened state structures and a lack of strong commitments from the international community, all of which have exposed the population to violence.

“Military solutions or external interventions have failed to address the causes of the crisis and – far from promoting lasting stability – have left in their wake persistent human rights violations and impunity,” she said.

Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, Haiti has been plunged into another humanitarian, political, and security crisis, with the emergence of powerful criminal gangs who have seizied control over vast swathes of territory, including critical infrastructure like ports and airports.

In early March of this year, one such gang orchestrated the escape of over 3,600 prisoners, instigating widespread terror across Haiti and prompting Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s resignation.

“The images of violence that this crisis has given us are terrifying. The criminal gangs that are currently sowing terror must know that the seriousness of their actions makes them accountable and that they can be prosecuted for crimes under international law and serious human rights violations. The suffering of so many people cannot go unpunished,” according to Amnesty International

• Aid agencies in Haiti call for 120 million euros to feed starving population

Anarchy or order?

Prime Minister Henry was last seen in Puerto Rico, negotiating his return to a homeland gripped by extreme violence while a UN-backed security force is still waiting to be deployed to challenge the heavily armed gangsters.

With his fate in the air and the situation in Haiti deteriorating by the day, the world has been left to wonder whether the country will descend into anarchy or whether some semblance of order will be restored.

 “We don’t have the impression that the international community is our friend,” author Gary Victor told RFI.

The Israeli government has come under intense pressure to reach a ceasefire from its global allies, as well as from protesters within Israel demanding the release of hostages seized by Hamas during their 7 October attack that triggered the war.

A Hamas delegation will arrive in Egypt on Monday to deliver the group’s response to Israel’s new hostage and truce counterproposal, a senior official of the militant group told French news agency AFP.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate a new truce ever since a one-week halt to the fighting in November saw 80 Israeli hostages exchanged for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Hamas has previously insisted on a permanent ceasefire – a condition that Israel has rejected.

However the Axios news website, citing two Israeli officials, reported that Israel’s latest proposal includes a willingness to discuss the “restoration of sustainable calm” in Gaza after hostages are released.

It is the first time in the nearly seven-month war that Israeli leaders have suggested they are open to discussing an end to the war, Axios said.

A Hamas source close to the negotiations told AFP that the group “is open to discussing the new proposal positively”.

The source added that the group is “keen to reach an agreement that guarantees a permanent ceasefire, the free return of displaced people, an acceptable deal for (prisoner) exchange and ensuring an end to the siege” in Gaza.

Protest rallies

A heated rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday night was the latest held by protesters demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strike a deal that would see the hostages released.

Israel estimates that 129 hostages are still being held in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.

Just hours earlier, Hamas released a video featuring two of the hostages, Keith Siegel and Omri Miran, who appeared to speak under duress.

“Keep protesting, so that there will be a deal now,” Miran said in the footage.

“We are in danger here, there are bombs, it is stressful and scary,” said Siegel, a 64-year-old US citizen.

International pressure

The new hopes of a potential truce came as world leaders and humanitarian groups warned that a looming Israeli invasion of the southernmost city of Rafah would lead to massive civilian causalities.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas appealed to the US to stop Israel from invading Rafah, which he said would be “the biggest disaster in the history of the Palestinian people”.

• EU claims starvation used as ‘weapon of war’ as aid efforts to Gaza persist

The US – Israel’s main ally and weapons supplier – was the only nation capable of preventing Israel from “committing this crime”, Abbas told a global economic summit in Saudi Arabia.

 Abbas spoke at a World Economic Forum (WEF) summit that opened Sunday in Riyadh, which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and high-ranking officials from other countries trying to broker a ceasefire are also due to attend.

While there is no Israeli participation, the other key players will discuss the situation in Gaza, WEF president Borge Brende said.

There was “some new momentum now in the talks around the hostages, and also for… a possible way out of the impasse we are faced with in Gaza,” he said.

(with AFP)

As a historical partner to Lebanon, France is seeking to refine a roadmap that both sides could accept to ease tensions.

Israel and the Hezbollah group in Lebanon have exchanged tit for tat strikes in recent months, but these have increased since Iran launched a barrage of missiles on Israel in response to a suspected Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus that killed members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps’ overseas Quds Force.

“Today, if I look at the state of the situation, if there had been no war in Gaza, we would perhaps be talking about war in South Lebanon given the state of strikes and impacts in this area”, French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said after a visit to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), in Naqoura on Sunday.

“I’ll pass messages and we’ll make proposals here in Beirut to the political authorities to stabilise this area and avoid war and so that everyone takes their responsibilities,” he added.

Keep momentum

Earlier this year, Séjourné proposed an initiative that would see Hezbollah’s elite unit pull back 10 kilometres from the Israeli border, while Israel would halt strikes in southern Lebanon.

France’s proposal, which has been discussed with partners, notably the United States, has not moved forward, but Paris wants to keep momentum in talks and underscore to Lebanese officials that Israeli threats of a military operation in southern Lebanon should be taken seriously.

Hezbollah has maintained it will not enter any concrete discussion until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, where the war between Israel and Islamist militant group Hamas has entered its sixth month.

• France proposes Hezbollah withdrawal, border talks for Israel-Lebanon truce

Israel has also said it wants to ensure calm is restored on its northern border so that thousands of displaced Israelis can return to the area without fear of rocket attacks from across the border.

“The objective is to prevent a regional conflagration and avoid that the situation deteriorates even more on the border between Israel and Lebanon,” foreign ministry deputy spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said at a news conference.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Nikati and Lebanese army chief Joseph Aoun met French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this month, where they discussed the French proposal.

Political deadlock

In a letter addressed to the French embassy in Beirut in March, Lebanon’s foreign ministry said Beirut believed the French initiative would be a significant step towards peace and security in Lebanon and the broader region.

French officials say the responses so far have been general and lack consensus among the Lebanese. While they deem it too early for any form of accord, they believe it is vital to engage now so that when the moment comes both sides are ready.

Paris will also underline the urgency of breaking the political deadlock in the country. Lebanon has neither a head of state nor a fully empowered cabinet since Michel Aoun’s term as president ended in October 2022.

Israel has remained cautious on the French initiative, although Israeli and French officials say Israel supports efforts to defuse the cross-border tensions.

• Why France and the Middle East have such a deep and lingering past

France has 700 troops based in southern Lebanon as part of the 10,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force.

Officials say the UN troops are unable to carry out their mandate and part of France’s proposals are aimed at beefing up the mission by strengthening the Lebanese army.

After Lebanon, Séjourné will head to Saudi Arabia for a regional summit before travelling to Israel.

Arab and Western foreign ministers, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, will hold informal talks on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum event in Riyadh to discuss the Gaza war with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

(with Reuters)

Adi Hütter’s men needed to win at the Groupama Stadium to keep the Ligue 1 title race alive for at least another 10 days and also improve their chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

They made the perfect start when Wissam Ben Yedder scored in the opening seconds.

But they were hit by two goals in four minutes from Lyon skipper Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma.

Though Ben Yedder levelled after 60 minutes, Lacazette set up Malick Fofana for the winner.

The victory kept Lyon in the hunt for a place in next season’s European Conference League.

Despite the defeat, Monaco remain second on 58 points. Brest are two points behind in third following a 5-4 win at Rennes. And Lille stay in the hunt for a place in the Champions League with 55 points after their 2-1 victory at Metz.

That battle and the race to avoid relegation to Ligue 2 will be the focus of interest for the last three games of the 2023/24 campaign.

On Saturday night at the Parc des Princes, PSG failed to win the title in front of their own fans when they came from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with relegation-threatened Le Havre.

PSG’s latest Ligue 1 titles takes their tally of trophies to 32 since Qatar Sports Investments took over the club in 2011.

It is the second trophy of the 2023-2024 season for Luis Enrique who was installed in July to replace Christophe Galtier.

In January, PSG beat Toulouse to lift the French Super Cup.

They will face Lyon in the final of the Coupe de France on 25 May and on 1 and 7 May take on Borussia Dortmund for a place in the final of this season’s Champions League.

“Winning the league is fantastic,” said PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi. “To win it for the 12th time makes it even more special for everyone connected to PSG. 

“Congratulations to all the players, our coach and his staff. Since the beginning of the season, the team has been so collective and united. 

“I will also never the forget the fans who have been amazing whatever the result. We will treasure this moment and also continue to work hard match by match until the last moment of the season.”

In total, around a hundred union activists and family members, some in tears, gathered on Saturday afternoon in the pouring rain at the scene of the tragedy to demand “recognition and justice for Amara”.

51-year-old team leader, Amara Dioumassy died on 16 June, 2023 on the construction site of the Austerlitz basin intended to improve the quality of the Seine river water for swimming events during the Paris Olympics.

The site is due to be inaugurated next week.

An employee of the Darras et Jouanin company, Dioumassy was hit by a construction truck which was reversing without a warning alarm, according to his colleagues who denounced serious safety breaches on the site.

Dangerous deadlines

Lyes Chouaï, CGT union leader from SADE, a subsidiary of Veolia which was working on the site says Diomassy’s death has been pushed under the carpet.

This project “really seemed unacceptable to us in terms of safety standards” Chouaï pointed out to French news agency AFP.

“We had to move quickly to meet deadlines”, he said, adding “there was no marking on the ground of the direction of movement of the vehicles”.

• Seine pollution too risky for Olympic athletes, warns environmental group

• Paris mayor to take a dip in the River Seine days before Olympics

Unlike the vast majority of Olympic projects in Ile-de-France managed by Solideo, the public establishment responsible for infrastructure for the competitions, the Austerlitz basin is managed by the Paris town hall.

Investigation

Co-organiser of Saturday’s tribute, Chouaï said unions wanted to appeal to “as many people as possible in relation to this modest death alongside these Games which will be seen by the whole world”.

The ceremony took place on the eve of World Day for Safety and Health at Work, organised by the International Labour Organization.

France the worst record for accidents in the European Union, with two people dying every day in the workplace according to official figures.

• France among most dangerous places to work in EU, figures show

“No action has been done for the family” and “his children are starving,” denounced his brother, Bally, 38 years old, adding Diomassy was father to 12 children.

Asked by AFP, the Paris town hall and Veolia recalled that the judicial investigation was still underway to “determine responsibilities”, ensuring that they had “fully cooperated”.

In 2021 in France, there were 640,000 work accidents, including 39,000 serious and 696 fatal, according to figures from Health Insurance, the public body which compensates victims.

(with AFP)

More accustomed to documenting social issues than sports, Zannettacci told RFI it was challenging to come up with a project that matched the festival’s theme.

First and foremost, he knew he wanted to find a way to put ordinary people on a pedestal by combining his loves of portraiture and the urban environment.

His collaborative project allowed him to meet sportspeople of all ages from the working-class suburb of Corbeil-Essonnes, some 30 kilometres south of Paris.

He photographed them practicing all sorts of sports, from billiards to pétanque, football to gymnastics to ping-pong.

Borrowing from a technique he used once before in a series on the fashion industry, he began by taking pictures of the athletes striking action poses in the studio against a black backdrop.

Then, he re-projected the studio images onto the walls of buildings around Corbeil-Essonnes at night and took a photo of each projection – a fun process he says got the whole community involved.

The result is a series of portraits of people leaping over cars, diving off footbridges and slam-dunking apartment balconies, like giants in their city playground.

Extraordinary athletes

“The idea is to pay homage to athletes in the shadows and amateur sports clubs and show how extraordinary they truly are,” Zannettacci told RFI.

“The participants were really happy, very invested and pleased that we were showing an interest in them and their sports,” he says, paying tribute to their dedication and passion.

Like sport, Zannettacci says, taking photos require patience, hard work and self-sacrifice.

He compares both to a marathon: you’re in it for the long haul, and you’ll have to try, fail and try again.

The title of his exhibition comes from the official OIympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius, Latin for “Faster, Higher, Stronger”.

In 2021, the International Olympic Committee also added the word Communiter – “Together”. That sits well with Zannettacci’s take.

For him, the Olympic Games are above all a chance to unite people from all walks of life and celebrate sport and its values.

But in practice, he says, the modern event doesn’t always achieve those goals.

• Paris 2024 Olympics unveil official posters that ‘tell a story’

Social inequalities

“I’m quite critical when it comes to the Games, especially in social terms in a country like this,” Zannettacci says, pointing to the high ticket prices for Paris 2024.

“I think it’s a great event for sport in general,” he insists. “It puts a spotlight on France and Paris, but there are other things happening that I find a bit shocking. I would’ve preferred to see a more inclusive event.”

He points to reports that students will have to move out of their lodgings to make way for Olympic visitors and homeless people “who will be made invisible” by being bussed out of Paris – a critique shared by human rights groups.

• More than games: photography festival celebrates sport as statement

A seasoned photojournalist for the French and international press, Zannettacci has covered protests, natural disasters and the plight of refugees in France.

Represented by Agence VU’ in Paris, he won the 2022 Caritas Photo Sociale Prize for his documentary series on a homeless shelter during the Covid pandemic.

The Urban Eye festival – made up of 10 free exhibitions, nine of them outdoors – is on until 11 May.

The guest of honour is Raymond Depardon, who shares his striking black-and-white photos of Olympics from Tokyo in 1964 to Moscow in 1980.

Corbeil-Essonnes is one of several towns in the local area that will host 24 disciplines, including basketball and table tennis, for the Paris Olympics and Paralympics this summer.

From wars to revolutions and the Covid-19 pandemic, most of the seismic events in French history have played out along the banks of the Seine.

The Vikings travelled up the river on their longboats in the 9th century, torching Rouen in 841 and later besieging Paris.

In 1944, Allied forces bombed most of the bridges downstream of Nazi-occupied Paris to prepare the ground for the D-Day landings which led to the liberation of western Europe.

A little over a decade later, a young Queen Elizabeth II was treated to a cruise on the Seine for her first state visit to France after taking the throne.

It was also to the Seine that Parisians flocked in 2020 when allowed out for air during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

• Paris expo recounts global struggles throughout Olympics history

• Paris mayor to take a dip in the River Seine days before Olympics

Monet’s muse

French impressionist master Claude Monet spent his life painting the river from different viewpoints.

Hollywood starlet Doris Day, British rock singer Marianne Faithfull and US crooner Dean Martin all sang about it.

And during one of her raging rows with her songwriter partner Serge Gainsbourg, singer and actress Jane Birkin jumped into it.

The Seine has long inspired artists, authors, musicians… as well as legions of couples who have sworn their undying love by chaining personalised padlocks to the bridges of Paris.

Barging ahead

Taking a cruise on the Seine is on most visitors’ bucket lists, but the Seine is also a working river, used to transport everything from grain to Ikea furniture to the materials used for the construction of the Olympic Village.

Around 20 million tonnes of goods are transported on France’s second-busiest river each year –the equivalent of about 800,000 lorry-loads.

Diving in

Swimming in the Seine, which was all the rage in the 17th century when people used to dive in naked, has been banned for the past century for health and safety reasons.

But that’s all about to change, with France spending 1.4 billion euros to clean it of faecal matter and other impurities before the Olympics.

The open-water swimming events and triathlon will start at Pont Alexandre III, a marvel of 19th century engineering near the foot of the Champs-Elysees, with the Eiffel Tower looming in the background.

Beyond the Games, Paris wants to open the river to bathers, with President Emmanuel Macron promising he’ll lead the charge and take the plunge.

• Man behind recycled plastic seats in Olympic venues plots ways to stop the trash

Mind the python

Cleaning up the Seine also has its macabre side. Between 50 and 60 corpses a year are fished out of the water.

Dredging of the river in recent years has also come up with voodoo dolls with pins stuck in them, a (dead) three-metre-long python, an artillery shell dating back to the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 and the trophy of the Six Nations rugby tournament, dropped during a victory party on the river after France’s win in 2022.

“The feelings are so exceptional. It’s such an emotion for me”, Tony Estanguet, Paris Olympics chief organiser, told reporters before the departure of the ship from Piraeus, outside Athens.

He hailed the “great coincidence” how the Belem was launched just weeks after the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896.

The Belem set sail on a calm sea but under cloudy skies, accompanied off the port of Piraeus by the trireme Olympias of the Greek Navy and 25 sailing boats.

Captain Aymeric Gibet told France Télévisions he was a little stressed before the departure, knowing how important the symbol of the Olympic flame is.

However, he emphaised that the torch would be well looked after on board, thanks to the 16 professional sailors and 16 apprentices selected to participate in the trip.

Moving occasion

“We came here so that the children understand that the Olympic ideal was born in Greece. I’m really moved,” Giorgos Kontopoulos, who watched the ship starting its voyage with his two children, told French news agency AFP.

On Sunday, the ship will pass from the Corinth Canal – a feat of 19th century engineering constructed with the contribution of French banks and engineers.

The Belem is set to reach Marseille – where a Greek colony was founded in around 600 BCE – on 8 May.

• Architecture students design Olympic fan zones for Paris suburbs

Over 1,000 vessels will accompany its approach to the harbour, local officials have said.

French swimmer Florent Manaudou will be the first torch bearer in Marseille. His sister Laure was the second torch bearer in ancient Olympia, where the flame was lit on 16 April.

Ten thousand torchbearers will then carry the flame across 64 French territories.

12,000-kilometre journey

It will travel through more than 450 towns and cities, and dozens of tourist attractions during its 12,000-kilometre journey through mainland France and overseas French territories in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific.

The torch harks back to the ancient Olympics when a sacred flame burned throughout the Games. The tradition was revived in 1936 for the Berlin Games.

Greece on Friday had handed over the Olympic flame of the 2024 Games, at a ceremony, to Estanguet.

Hellenic Olympic Committee chairman Spyros Capralos handed the torch to Estanguet at the Panathenaic Stadium, where the Olympics were held in 1896.

• Olympic flame begins long journey from Greek birthplace to Paris

Estanguet said the goal for Paris was to organise “spectacular but also more responsible Games, which will contribute towards a more inclusive society.”

Organisers want to ensure “the biggest event in the world plays an accelerating role in addressing the crucial questions of our time,” said Estanguet, a member of France’s Athens 2004 Olympics team who won gold in the slalom canoe event.

A duo of French champions, Beijing 2022 ice dance gold medallist Gabriella Papadakis and former swimmer Beatrice Hess, one of the most successful Paralympians in history, carried the flame during the final relay leg into the Panathenaic Stadium.

Nana Mouskouri, the 89-year-old Greek singer with a worldwide following, sang the French and Greek anthems at the ceremony.

The Paris Olympics run from 26 July – 11 August and the Paralympics from 28 August – 8 September 2024.

(with AFP)

A woman identified as Sonia M., the former wife of the jihadist group’s head of external operations Abdelnasser Benyoucef, was charged on 14 March, Le Parisien daily newspaper reported on Saturday.

The Yazidi woman, who was 16 when she was forced into slavery by Benyoucef, accused Sonia M. of raping her twice and knowing that her husband was raping her, the report said.

The woman, now 25, said she was held for more than a month in 2015 in Syria, where she was not allowed to eat, drink or shower without Sonia M.’s permission.

Sonia M. denied the allegations against her in a 14 March interview with French investigators, saying “only one rape” had been committed by her former husband.

The teenager “left her room freely, ate what she wanted, went to the toilet when she needed to”, she said in her interview, seen by French news agency AFP.

Ongoing investigation

Sonia M.’s lawyer Nabil Boudi slammed the charges as “opportunistic accusations”, saying that prosecutors were seeking “to make her responsible for the most serious crimes, because the courts have not managed to apprehend the real perpetrators”.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Benyoucef, according to a source close to the investigation.

• Pain of Yazidi genocide remembered in France

France launched an investigation in 2016 into genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and Syria since 2012.

The probe has focused on crimes suffered by members of the Yazidi and Christian communities as well as members of the Sheitat tribe, according to France’s PNAT anti-terror unit.

“The aim is to document these crimes and identify the French perpetrators who belong to the Islamic State organisation,” PNAT told AFP.

(with AFP)

“I’ve been taking the tram more since it’s been free,” Cécile, who lives on the outskirts of Montpellier, tells RFI.

“It’s really nice to be able to take the tram and not have all the stress of a car.” 

The city’s four tramways and roughly 40 bus lines have been free to the 500,000 people who live in Montpellier and its suburbs since last December.

First trialled on weekends, free rides were made permanent for under-18s and over-65s from September 2021 before being rolled out to all residents.

That decision made Montpellier the biggest metropolitan area in France to date – and one of the biggest in Europe – to experiment with free public transport.

Nearly 140,000 vehicles pass through Montpellier each day, the city estimates, generating traffic, noise and air pollution.

Making trams and buses free will “encourage car users to make the shift to public transport, either partly or entirely”, the council predicts. 

Julie Frêche, the councillor in charge of transport, says passenger numbers are already up. 

“We’re waiting for the end of the first quarter to set out initial results, but what I can say is that we’ve topped pre-Covid user rates,” she told RFI. 

Environmental benefits unclear 

But transport experts say the numbers need a closer look.

Frédéric Héran, an economist at Lille University who has studied data on travel habits in cities across Europe before and after they made public transport free, told RFI it wasn’t clear the policy ultimately reduces emissions.

“When people say that car users are taking public transport instead, it’s a small number, and it’s never specified whether that’s drivers or passengers. Most likely it’s car passengers who are switching to using free public transport,” he said.

Free transport also draws in pedestrians and cyclists, according to Héran, travellers who don’t have a carbon footprint in the first place.

After Estonia’s capital Tallinn became one of the first big cities to waive fares in 2013, a study a year later found that the number of trips made on foot fell by 40 percent, while trips by car dropped just 5 percent – and tended to cover longer distances.

By 2021 the country’s national audit office concluded that free public transport, despite increasing passenger numbers, ultimately had not reduced driving, with more than half of all journeys to work still made by car.

Based on Héran’s observations, he said, free public transport is “neutral for the environment, but you certainly can’t say it’s good for the environment”.

• Parisians approve referendum on tripling parking fees for SUVs
• Mapping pollution in Paris metro reveals three stations in the red

Patchy service 

To convince more drivers to leave cars at home, commuters say public transport has to provide better service.

A collective of Montpellier public transport users says the network was already stretched before fares were scrapped, complaining of crowding, long waits and patchy connections across the growing suburbs.

Now they fear the situation will get even worse as passengers increase and ticket revenues plummet.

The free transport scheme is expected to cost Montpellier some €30 million per year, which the council says will be covered by corporate taxes.

Companies with 11 employees or more – around 2,500 of which are based in the greater urban area – have to pay a 2 percent payroll tax that’s earmarked for the local transport system.

The council says it plans to add an extra tram line and five more bus routes over the coming years, as well as building more than 200 kilometres of new cycle lanes.

“We are working on concrete measures for our farmers,” Gabriel Attal told reporters during a visit to the local seafood market in Pirou, in the northwestern region of La Manche.

“These additional measures which are added to the 67 measures that I announced on 26 January, demonstrate our determination to meet the needs of our farmers and to guarantee a prosperous future for our agriculture”, he said.

Among these measures is the promised presentation of the final version of the Ecophyto 2030 pesticide reduction plan at the beginning of May, which had been put on hold due to the agricultural crisis.

There is also a new cash flow aid for farms, the acceleration of 100 water storage or irrigation projects starting this year and an aid plan for three departments hit by weather crises such as severe flooding (Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude, Hérault).

€50 million has been earmarked for projects to adapt to climate change and develop local sectors, the government said.

Cautious optimism

The measures come after unprecedented protests by farmers earlier this year and intense negotiations lasting several months.

The government hopes to enter a new phase with the concrete implementation of each of these measures, which were welcomed the major agricultural unions, the FNSEA and the Young Farmers union on Saturday.

But they promised to be “extremely vigilant”.

• French farmers stage tractor protests in Paris on eve of Agriculture Fair

“A crisis does not end by snapping your fingers,” deputy secretary general of the FNSEA Christophe Chambon told Franceinfo on Saturday.

“Everything that has been announced for months must trickle down to the farms,” he said.

President of the Coordination Rurale (Rural Coordination) also said there was still a lot to do.

“We are given the feeling of moving quickly, but a lot of measures could have been taken from the start,” she declared.

A meeting with Emmanuel Macron, promised since the Agricultural Show in February, should make it possible to seal the entry into a new phase, but no date has been set.

• Farmers’ protests in France: a long and sometimes deadly history

Attal said he would not let the farmers down.

“This is a question of trust,” French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said, when asked about future agricultural protests. “We don’t want to get into mutual blackmail with the unions,” he said.

Next week, MPs will be called upon to examine the agricultural orientation bill, that was revised following the crisis.

It will look at simplifying the rules around pesticides and using an European indicator instead of the French used until now.

Some NGOs have criticised the European indicator for less clearly differentiating the harmfulness of pesticides.

The government also confirmed that the reform of agricultural pension funds will apply from 2026, based on the best 25 years of a career.

(with AFP)

Showing at the national History of Immigration Museum in eastern Paris, the exhibition highlights the fractious hinterland of the Games since they were prised out of the ancient history books and repackaged during a Franco-Hellenic love-in at the end of the 19th century.

Developments in social, gender and racial equality are also surveyed through the 600-odd posters, letters and mementos in “Olympism, a History of the World 1896-2024”, which runs until 8 September – the end of the Paralympic Games.

“We talk a lot today about the impact of the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East,” said museum director Constance Rivière.

“As far as the Games are concerned, there is a lot of talk about things like inclusion, the environment and sustainability. But these are issues that have existed almost since the inception of the Games.”

Seven curators have worked for the past five years to sift through a treasure trove of sporting memorabilia.

Each of the 33 Games receives its own array of panels featuring details such as the boycotts of 1976, 1980 and 1984, the star athletes who emerged, and the contemporary geopolitical crises that were burning the firmament or smouldering.

Gender battle

Also outlined are the number of male and female athletes as well as their origins.

Pierre de Coubertin, the Frenchman who dreamed up the idea of reinvigorating the ancient Greek model, was eventually forced to concede that the inaugural event should take place in Athens.

But his concepts about women remained: they were essentially on earth to bear and look after children. Sporting pursuits would, for him, harm that capacity.

Consequently, no women were among the 241 participants at the 1896 Games, which was exclusively populated by Europeans. There were no Asian or African competitors.

Four years later in Paris, 22 women were allowed to take part in sports such as golf and tennis. Amsterdam in 1928 marked the first time they could compete in athletic events.

“The inclusion of women in the Olympic Games was an extremely slow process,” added Rivière. “And it’s only now, in 2024 that parity is finally being forced through.

“That’s an incredible achievement. And it didn’t happen by itself. It happened because women had the courage to fight for their rights.”

Racial divide

Fittingly for a museum dedicated to the movement of peoples, the black American athlete Jesse Owens leaping to glory in the long jump at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin takes primacy as the poster for the exhibition.

His exploits – featured in extracts from Leni Riefenstahl’s film of those Games – debunked the Übermensch efforts of the Nazi regime to promote its theory of blonde-haired and blue-eyed Aryan power.

Owens, though, for all his wonders and four gold medals in Berlin, returned home to a segregated society.

In Mexico City, just over three decades after Owens’ brilliance, Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their hands on the podium following respective gold and bronze medals in the 200m as part of a protest for racial equality in the United States.

“All these struggles have had an impact, whether on the inclusion of women, on the issue of minorities, or on the inclusion of the different continents of the world,” added Rivière.

“At one point, the Olympics were truly the Games of the northern hemisphere. They were also very bourgeois games because you had to be an amateur and professionals weren’t allowed to take part.”

Boycott threats

Nearly 11,000 athletes of all hues and income streams are expected in Paris for the 2024 Olympics – half will be female.

But they will come to an event where organisers have trumpeted the low environmental footprint and the sustainability of the buildings.

Threats of boycotts due to the conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East permeate the prelude.

“A question arises,” said co-curator Sandrine Lemaire, a specialist in French colonial history.

“Can we continue to organise this type of mega-event with the traditional rules of unity of place and unity of time? For example, the next football World Cup has been split up to be in several countries.

“Will the Olympic Games have to do the same thing? Today there are a lot of young people who prefer sport but not as we see it in the Olympic Games. It’s clear that the current model is running out of steam.”

Such a move would give visitors, many of whom visit the Louvre for the iconic painting alone, a better experience, Laurence des Cars told the France Inter broadcaster.

“It’s always frustrating when you don’t give visitors the best possible reception, and that is the case for the Mona Lisa,” she said.

“A better solution seems necessary to me today,” she said, adding that the Louvre was in contact with the culture ministry about potential solutions.

The Louvre, the world’s most popular museum, welcomed close to nine million visitors in 2023.

Thousands of tourists

Des Cars said 80 percent of them – 20,000 people per day – braved the crowd to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa’s enigmatic smile, often taking selfies in front of the painting.

Metres of belt-barriers line the room, just like at an airport, to allow everyone in the queue a few seconds to gaze at the painting before moving on.

The Mona Lisa currently hangs in the Louvre’s Salle des Etats (State Room), the museum’s biggest, in a protective glass case, but Da Vinci’s masterwork is not alone there.

It is accompanied by works by 16th-century Venetian masters, and across the room hangs the Louvre‘s biggest painting, The Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese.

As well as being on the bucket list for many tourists, the iconic painting has been the target in recent years of envionmental activists.

As recently as January this year, two women from the Riposte Alimentaire (Food Retaliation) group threw soup at the protective glass casing of the masterpiece.

• Activists splash soup on glass-protected Mona Lisa in Paris

The collective says it is dedicated to advocating for action on climate change and sustainable agriculture.

In a separate incident, someone threw a custard pie at the painting in May 2022.

Le Louvre is gearing up to attract even more visitors as Paris prepares to welcome the Olympic Games in July and August.

The world’s biggest museum announced on Tuesday that it planned to organise yoga and sport sessions in its famed galleries as part of a city-wide cultural programme ahead of the sporting events.

• Olympic flame to burn in front of Louvre museum during Paris 2024 Games

“The Louvre is physically in the centre of Paris. It will be physically at the centre of the Olympic Games,” des Cars told reporters.

Details of the special sessions and the museum’s new Olympics-themed exhibition are available on its website.

Organisers of the Paris Games have also indicated that the Olympic flame is set to burn in the Tuileries Garden in front of the Louvre museum.

(with AFP)

There was no risk of further collapse, Paris firefighters said. The reason for the accident was not yet known.

“Fortunately this happened after closing,” a Moulin Rouge official told AFP on the condition of anonymity.

“Every week, the cabaret’s technical teams check the windmill mechanism and did not note any problems,” the source added.

It’s the first time that an accident like this has happened since the cabaret first opened its doors on 6 October, 1889.

Images on social media showed the blade unit lying on the street below, with some of the blades slightly bent from the apparent fall.

• The Moulin Rouge celebrates 125th birthday
• Life’s a ball as Moulin Rouge marks 130 years of razzle dazzle

Concerns

The Moulin Rouge cabaret, with its distinctive red windmill blades, is located in northern Paris and is one of the most visited landmarks in the city.

Known as the birthplace of the modern dance form the cancan, it opened its doors in October 1889 at the foot of the Montmartre hill.

It quickly became a hit and a stop to look at its facade or catch a show inside is a must-do on most tourists’ lists of things to do in the French capital.

The accident will add to concerns of whether Paris, one of the most visited cities in the world, is ready to host the thousands more that will descent during July-August for the Olympic Games.

The only serious accident the Moulin Rouge has endured was a fire that erupted during works in 1915, which forced the venue to close for nine years.

(with newswires)

On 25 April 1974 – after almost half a century of dictatorship – the military coup opened a new era.

Led by low-ranking officers within the Portuguese army and backed by widespread public support, the so-called Carnation Revolution not only toppled Portugal’s authoritarian regime but signalled the end of its colonial wars in Africa.

The dictatorship established by Antonio de Oliveira Salazar had been at war with national movements demanding freedom from the Portuguese empire for more than 10 years.

In the aftermath of the revolution, all five of Portugal’s African colonies – Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Angola and Sao Tome and Príncipe – swiftly gained independence. 

Those countries’ heads of state were in Lisbon this week to join in the 50th anniversary celebrations – tribute to a struggle for freedom that spanned two continents.

Rebellion in Guinea-Bissau

By the spring of 1974, the battle for decolonisation was furthest advanced in Guinea-Bissau. 

The country had unilaterally declared independence from Portugal in September 1973 as after 10 years of conflict that helped drive Portugal’s own push for freedom.

“Many [officers] had passed through Guinea-Bissau. There were more deaths in Guinea-Bissau than anywhere else,” says Mario Cissoko, who was then part of the PAIGC rebel group. 

“We had a radio station in Conakry – Radio Libération. We communicated in Creole, Portuguese and the vernacular languages to raise awareness among all the people in areas controlled by the colonial forces,” he told RFI.

“And even the Portuguese troops – we convinced them through the radio.”

Young Portuguese recruits no longer wanted to do four years’ military service in the country at the risk of dying in the name of a dictatorship, Cissoko says – and there were many deserters. 

“We freed them ourselves and handed them over to the International Red Cross. All that played a part in the political mobilisation of Portuguese soldiers.”

• Lisbon street plaques tell story of Portugal’s forgotten slave trade

Wind of change

In Mozambique, an independence agreement was signed just months after Portugal’s military revolted, in September 1974, and took effect the following year.

Joaquim Chissano, who would go on to be president of Mozambique, was a guerrilla fighter with the pro-independence Frelimo movement at the time.

“We heard about the coup in Portugal on the radio,” he told RFI.

He and his fellow rebels were at a training camp in neighbouring Tanzania, and soon realised the events in Lisbon could create an opening for their fight to decolonise.

At the time, Chissano recalls, “we took the attitude that the coup d’etat would be the end of fascism – perhaps – but we couldn’t assume that it was the end of colonialism.

“So we had to continue the struggle until we had the conditions to have our independence.”

• Podcast: Germany’s dark past in Africa

Catalyst effect

The events of April 1974 also catalysed Angola’s journey to freedom.

The country had been engaged in a gruelling war for independence since 1961. After the revolution, negotiations between the Portuguese government and Angolan liberation movements gained momentum and led to the signing of independence agreements in 1975.

Angola proclaimed independence on 11 November the same year.

Cape Verde and Sao Tome and Principe, where the movement for decolonisation had been slowest to advance, also obtained their independence under Portugal’s new leaders in 1975.

While decolonisation would probably have occurred even without the Carnation Revolution, the change in regime helped accelerate the process. 

In the decades that followed, several of the newly independent countries faced a difficult transition through civil wars, corrupt leaders and proxy conflicts.

They remain some of the world’s poorest countries today – while in Portugal, the far right is gaining ground for the first time in decades.

Freedom Day is a public holiday in South Africa and is celebrated on 27 April, the same day Nelson Mandela from the African National Congress (ANC) was elected in 1994.

It commemorates the day the new constitution was introduced, affording all South Africans equal rights, abolishing the racially discriminative system of apartheid.

It is a day where the “unsung heroes and heroines who fought for freedom and paved the way for an equal, representative, non-racial nation” are honoured, the government said in a statement.

List of improvements

President Cyril Ramaphosa touted South Africa’s achievements under his party’s leadership on Saturday just a month before its most consequential election in decades.

“South Africa today is an infinitely better place than it was 30 years ago,” Ramaphosa said in a speech marking “Freedom Day” at the Union Buildings, the seat of government, in Pretoria.

The 71-year-old used the occasion to list improvements shepherded by the ANC, which is struggling in the polls and risks losing its outright parliamentary majority for the first time.

“We have pursued land reform, distributing millions of hectares of land to those who had been forcibly dispossessed,” he said.

• South Africa’s ANC and DA look at coalition deal as elections loom

“We have built houses, clinics, hospitals, roads and constructed bridges, dams, and many other facilities. We have brought electricity, water and sanitation to millions of South African homes.”

An Ipsos poll released on Friday showed support for the ruling party, which won more than 57 percent of the vote at the last national elections in 2019, has fallen to just over 40 percent.

The party’s image has been badly hurt by accusations of graft and its inability to effectively tackle poverty, crime, inequality, and unemployment, which remain staggeringly high.

Ramaphosa acknowledged the problems, but denounced critics as people who wilfully “shut their eyes”.

“We have made much progress and we are determined to do much more,” he said.

Coalition on the cards

For the first time since it came into power in 1994, polls are indicating that the ANC party might receive less than 50 percent of the national vote, which would see it losing power if it does not manage to form a coalition with some smaller parties.

On 13 April, the organisation Defend Our Democracy, held a conference in Johannesburg to discuss the best way to approach possible future negotiations if the ANC does not win an outright majority.

One of the representatives of the Action SA party, Michael Beaumont, spoke to RFI’s correspondent in Johannesburg.

“I think we have to be careful not to develop a ‘Stockholm syndrome’ with regard to the idea of stability,” he said, “because, in fact, [the] creative tensions of a coalition can be something to celebrate.”

Meanwhile, one of the main challenges for parties will be to convince young voters to participate in democracy again, as their parents did with the end of apartheid.

“The majority of youth don’t vote; they are disappointed,” a citizen named Vote Ubisi told news agency Reuters. He considers himself lucky to have a part-time job as a waiter at a safari lodge.

Ubisi was born on 27 April 1994, in a poor village in Mpumalanga province, and his parents named him after a historic day.

He still plans to cast his ballot in May, although he declined to say which party he would vote for.

“You vote for the party that can bring some contribution to the community. That’s what I’m looking for,” he said. “We need the change.”

From progress to decline

South Africa‘s economic development in the last 30 years can be divided into two periods, according to the economist Azar Jammine.

The period before the presidency of the ANC’s Jacob Zuma (2009 – 2018), and the period under Zuma.

“The first fifteen years were quite a success,” Jammine told RFI.

“The country experienced an average growth of three percent per year between 1994 and 2001. Then, almost five percent per year between 2001 and 2007. It coincided with a boom in commodity prices.”

Isobel Frye, director of the Social Policy Initiative (SPI) think tank, explained to RFI that under apartheid, black communities could hardly own land.

“The same for small businesses. People were proletarianised and dependent on their salaries. And wages, for those who are employed, and especially for semi- or low-skilled jobs, are very low. So the introduction of a minimum wage is one of the successes of the ANC,” she said.

South Africa’s social benefit system is also among the most developed on the continent, and a lifeline for the poorest. Almost 30 percent of the population benefits from it, not counting the post-Covid aid still distributed.

Despite progress, South Africa remains one of the most unequal countries in the world, according to the Gini index.

From 2012, its economy made very little progress, with a significant decline in growth, Jammine notes.

The “rainbow nation” envisioned by Mandela is nowadays afflicted by poverty, inequality, corruption and crime.

 (with newswires)

In recent weeks President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal have been looking for ways to tackle what Macron has called a wave of ultraviolence sweeping the country. They’ve put the focus on young people, but not everyone agrees with the assessment. Critics have denounced the government proposals as reactionary, fuelling yet another “war” on youth. Sociologist Laurent Mucchielli, who says statistics do not show any rise in violent crime committed by youngsters, talks about why France regularly targets young people, and how it is often linked to electoral politics. (Listen @2’15”)

The Bald Soprano and The Lesson, by Romanian-French avant-garde playwright Eugène Ionesco, have been running at the tiny Théatre de la Huchette in Paris five times a week non-stop since 1957. Two million people have flocked to watch the plays, which are performed in their original staging and set. But what’s it like for the 45-member company, some of whom have been acting in Ionesco’s absurdist universe for more than 30 years? We went along to the 20,024th performance to find out. (Listen @18’50”)

French women obtained the right to vote on 21 April 1944, later than most other countries in Europe. Historian Anne-Sarah Moalic talks about the long road to equal suffrage, which required patient activism along with a bit of geopolitical chaos. And a woman who voted in France’s very first elections open to all adults, in April 1945, recalls the excitement and pressure of her maiden trip to the ballot box. (Listen @11’05”)

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompéani. 

Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, Apple podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here) or your favourite podcast app (pod.link/1573769878).

The loading of medical supplies and food is underway on the Akdeniz, an old ferry boat that will lead the flotilla of three ships carrying over 5,000 tonnes of aid to Gaza.

At a press conference, the flotilla’s organisers, a coalition of international and Turkish humanitarian groups, claimed the flotilla is not just about delivering aid.  

“We hope to break the illegal naval blockade of Gaza that Israel has had on it for decades,” Ann Wright of US Boat to Gaza explained to RFI. 

Wright acknowledged the aid they plan to deliver will do little to alleviate the humanitarian crisis but hopes it will open the door to more assistance.

“We hope to certainly bring food and medicines that are needed by the people of Gaza. But it’s a small drop in the bucket. We’re calling for the border of Rafah to be opened, where tons of food are waiting. It’s criminal that the world has not forced the entry of these trucks into Gaza.” 

Wright said the issue was being forced because “people that are starving and suffering genocide must have assistance”.

If the governments won’t act, “we, the citizens will”, she said.

Flotilla in 2010

In 2010, ten people died the last time a flotilla sought to break Israel’s Gaza blockade.

When Israeli commandos intercepted the Mavi Marmara, which was leading the flotilla, activists said they were aware of the dangers they faced, but given the humanitarian crisis in Gaza it was a risk worth taking.

• France condemns killing of Gaza NGO workers as US pressed to toughen stance with Israel
• Turkish court indicts Israeli soldiers two years after flotilla raid

“We are conscious that it’s not a mission without any danger,” said Nima Machouf is with the group, Canada Boat to Gaza.

“But the danger and the horror is part of the horror that we want to denounce that it is faced by Palestinian people. Gaza people need medical support and need food.”

Flotilla participants are given lessons on how to de-escalate a possible confrontation with Israeli forces. There has been no comment from Israeli officials.

Gallia Lindenstrauss, an analyst with the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Avi, warns the risks are real given the tensions in the region.

“Both on the Israeli side and on the Turkish side, there is an understanding of how dangerous things might get out of hand. So I think there will be caution, both from the Turkish side and the Israeli side,” said Lindenstrauss.

“But obviously, this is a very, very intense time now in Israel. And, also, I would be very careful, and hope that, the authorities are on both sides are aware of what they need to do to make sure that this will not escalate into violence.”

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is likely to have the final say on whether the flotilla will leave, has not commented on the mission. 

But Erdogan met with Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh last Saturday, in which humanitarian aid to Gaza was discussed – a meeting Israel condemned. 

Whatever risks flotilla organisers say they are determined to deliver aid to Gaza.

“Of course, we are worried, but, we think that, the time is now to act,” said Torstein Dahle, a former Norwegian parliamentarian of Ship to Gaza Norway. 

But Dahle says the flotilla is looking for international protection.

“We demand support from national governments, from everybody who has influence on this matter, to facilitate the supply of humanitarian aid to the starving people of Gaza,” he said.

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday – here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. You’ll hear the winner’s names announced and the week’s quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you’ve grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so be sure and listen every week.

Erwan and I are busy cooking up special shows with your music requests, so get them in! Send your music requests to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr  Tell us why you like the piece of music, too – it makes it more interesting for us all!

Facebook News: There’s a “new and improved” Facebook page for you, the RFI English Listeners Forum. 

It’s for everyone who reads and listens to us and wants to connect with others, so ask to join, and I’ll sign you up!

The RFI Listeners Club page and the RFI English Clubs page no longer exist; if you belonged to the RFI English Clubs page and not the RFI Listeners Club page, you’ll need to ask to join. I promise I won’t click “Decline” 😊 

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More tech news: Did you know we have a YouTube channel? Just go to YouTube and write RFI English in the search bar, and there we are! Be sure and subscribe to see all our videos.

We have a new/old podcast! RFI English has revived our monthly podcast Spotlight on Africa. It’s produced and hosted by Melissa Chemam from our newsroom’s Africa desk. Every month, Melissa will take an in-depth look at one of the leading stories on the continent today, with interviews and analysis from on-the-ground specialists.

Would you like to learn French? RFI is here to help you!

Our website “Le Français facile avec rfi”  has news broadcasts in slow, simple French, as well as bi-lingual radio dramas (with real actors!) and exercises to practice what you have heard.

Go to our website and get started! At the top of the page, click on “Test level”. According to your score, you’ll be counselled to the best-suited activities for your level.

Do not give up! As Lidwien van Dixhoorn, the head of “Le Français facile” service told me: “Bathe your ears in the sound of the language, and eventually, you’ll get it”. She should know – Lidwien is Dutch and came to France hardly able to say “bonjour” and now she heads this key RFI department – so stick with it!

Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!

In addition to the breaking news articles on our site with in-depth analysis of current affairs in France and across the globe, we have several podcasts that will leave you hungry for more.

There’s Paris Perspective, Spotlight on France, Spotlight on Africa, and of course, The Sound Kitchen. We have an award-winning bilingual series – an old-time radio show, with actors (!) to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis. And there is the excellent International Report, too.

As you see, sound is still quite present in the RFI English service. Keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our staff of journalists. You never know what we’ll surprise you with!

To listen to our podcasts from your PC, go to our website; you’ll see “Podcasts” at the top of the page. You can either listen directly or subscribe and receive them directly on your mobile phone.

To listen to our podcasts from your mobile phone, slide through the tabs just under the lead article (the first tab is “Headline News”) until you see “Podcasts”, and choose your show. 

Teachers, take note!  I save postcards and stamps from all over the world to send to you for your students. If you would like stamps and postcards for your students, just write and let me know. The address is english.service@rfi.fr  If you would like to donate stamps and postcards, feel free! Our address is listed below. 

Another idea for your students: Br. Gerald Muller, my beloved music teacher from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, has been writing books for young adults in his retirement – and they are free! There is a volume of biographies of painters and musicians called Gentle Giants, and an excellent biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., too. They are also a good way to help you improve your English – that’s how I worked on my French, reading books that were meant for young readers – and I guarantee you, it’s a good method for improving your language skills. To get Br. Gerald’s free books, click here.

Independent RFI English Clubs: Be sure to always include Audrey Iattoni (audrey.iattoni@rfi.fr) from our Listener Relations department in your RFI Club correspondence. Remember to copy me (thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr) when you write to her so that I know what is going on, too. N.B.: You do not need to send her your quiz answers! Email overload!

We have a new RFI Listeners Club member to welcome: Rodrigo Hunrichse from Ciudad de Concepción, Chile.

Welcome, Rodrigo! So glad you have joined us!

You too can be a member of the RFI Listeners Club – just write to me at english.service@rfi.fr and tell me you want to join, and I’ll send you a membership number. It’s that easy. When you win a Sound Kitchen quiz as an RFI Listeners Club member, you’ll receive a premium prize. 

This week’s quiz: On 16 March, I asked you a question about India’s space programme. Earlier that week, India unveiled their plans for their next space flight, which is scheduled for this coming fall. As you read in RFI English correspondent Pratap Chakravarty’s article “India picks pilots for space flight that will blast it into cosmic history”, on board that rocket will be a humanoid robot.  You were to write in with the name of the robot (it’s in Sanskrit) and its translation into English.

The answer is: Vyomitra, which translates into English as “space friend”. Vyomitra will make the test flight, to ensure the space-worthiness of the craft before astronauts fly onboard it next year.

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by Morium Nessa Momo from Bogura, Bangladesh: “Who is the person – still living – that you most admire, and why?”

Do you have a bonus question idea? Send it to us!

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Shaira Hosen Mo from Kishoreganj, Bangladesh. Mo is also the winner of this week’s bonus question. Congratulations Mo!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Nafisa Khatun, the president of the RFI Mahila Shrota Sangha Club in West Bengal, India, and RFI Listeners Club member Faiza, from the International Radio Fan and Youth Club in Khanewal, Pakistan, as well as two members from Bangladesh: Ajharul Islam Tamim from Kishorganj, and Sahadot Hossain, from Sunamganj. 

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Habana del Este” written by Juan de Marcos Gonzalez Cardenas and performed by his orchestra; “The Spirit of Man” from Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Mamy Blue” written by Hubert Giraud, and sung by Nicoletta.

Do you have a music request? Send it to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read our article “‘Titanic’ task of finding plundered African art in French museums”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 20 May to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 25 May podcast. When you enter, be sure you send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

or

By text … You can also send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen mobile phone. Dial your country’s international access code, or “ + ”, then  33 6 31 12 96 82. Don’t forget to include your mailing address in your text – and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

To find out how you can win a special Sound Kitchen prize, click here.

To find out how you can become a member of the RFI Listeners Club, or form your own official RFI Club, click here. 

In recent weeks President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal have been looking for ways to tackle what Macron has called a wave of ultraviolence sweeping the country. They’ve put the focus on young people, but not everyone agrees with the assessment. Critics have denounced the government proposals as reactionary, fuelling yet another “war” on youth. Sociologist Laurent Mucchielli, who says statistics do not show any rise in violent crime committed by youngsters, talks about why France regularly targets young people, and how it is often linked to electoral politics. (Listen @2’15”)

The Bald Soprano and The Lesson, by Romanian-French avant-garde playwright Eugène Ionesco, have been running at the tiny Théatre de la Huchette in Paris five times a week non-stop since 1957. Two million people have flocked to watch the plays, which are performed in their original staging and set. But what’s it like for the 45-member company, some of whom have been acting in Ionesco’s absurdist universe for more than 30 years? We went along to the 20,024th performance to find out. (Listen @18’50”)

French women obtained the right to vote on 21 April 1944, later than most other countries in Europe. Historian Anne-Sarah Moalic talks about the long road to equal suffrage, which required patient activism along with a bit of geopolitical chaos. And a woman who voted in France’s very first elections open to all adults, in April 1945, recalls the excitement and pressure of her maiden trip to the ballot box. (Listen @11’05”)

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompéani. 

Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, Apple podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here) or your favourite podcast app (pod.link/1573769878).

With Turkish forces continuing their build-up for a major offensive against the Kurdish rebel group the PKK, enlisting Iraq’s support is expected to top Erdogan’s agenda in Baghdad.

The PKK has for decades used Iraqi territory to wage war against the Turkish state. Erdogan’s visit is part of a new approach to Baghdad in fighting the PKK.

“Turkey wants to start a comprehensive strategy that has an economic, social, and security base,” said Murat Aslan, a senior security analyst for the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, an Ankara-based think tank.

“In the meantime, expanding the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces may make Iraq much safer, and Turkey may feel more secure.”

Breakthrough

Last month, Ankara achieved a diplomatic breakthrough when Baghdad banned the PKK.

Erdogan will have also leverage when he visits Iraq. Iraq is suffering a severe drought and Baghdad has repeatedly called on Ankara to release more water from dams controlling rivers serving Iraq.

This week, Erdogan said he is ready to consider Baghdad’s pleas.

“One of the most important agenda items of our visit is the water issue,” Erdogan told reporters.

“Baghdad has made some requests regarding water and we are working on these issues.

“We will make efforts to resolve this issue with them. They already want to resolve this matter. We will take steps in this direction.”

Bilateral trade

Deepening bilateral trade is also a key part of the Turkish leader’s visit. Ankara seeks to increase international transit through Iraq as part of a planned new trade route between China and Europe.

“The main backbone of this upcoming presidential visit to Iraq, to Baghdad and Erbil, will be the new so-called development road,” said Aydin Selcen, a former senior Turkish diplomat who served in Iraq.

“It will connect the port of Basra to the Turkish border, to Habur, or to a new border gate. Perhaps it will have a railroad, and then parallel to it, there will be a highway. And that will be an oil and gas pipeline.”

Erdogan also said he may visit Erbil, the capital of semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, with whom the Turkish leader has developed close ties.

However, Iran could thwart the goal of expanding Turkish influence in Iraq.

“In Baghdad, the sun does not shine without the approval of Iran, of course,” warned Selcen, who works as a foreign policy analyst for Turkey’s Medyascope news portal.

“So how will Ankara be able to align all these stars and build a capacity to cooperate with it? It’s still debatable to me, and it looks unrealistic to me.”

Balance

However, some experts say Baghdad is looking to Ankara to balance Tehran’s influence, especially as speculation grows over the withdrawal of United States forces from Iraq, one of the few checks to Iran.

“My hunch is that the Iraqi government wishes to free itself at least somewhat from the grip of Iranian influence and Turkey can be a balancer,” said Soli Ozel, who teaches international relations at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.

 “I think Turkey would like to be a balancer here because Turkey, just like every other country in the region, is not all that happy with the kind of power that Iran has in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.” 

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday – here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. You’ll hear the winner’s names announced and the week’s quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you’ve grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so be sure and listen every week.

Erwan and I are busy cooking up special shows with your music requests, so get them in! Send your music requests to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr  Tell us why you like the piece of music, too – it makes it more interesting for us all!

Facebook News: There’s a “new and improved” Facebook page for you, the RFI English Listeners Forum. 

It’s for everyone who reads and listens to us and wants to connect with others, so ask to join, and I’ll sign you up!

The RFI Listeners Club page and the RFI English Clubs page no longer exist; if you belonged to the RFI English Clubs page and not the RFI Listeners Club page, you’ll need to ask to join. I promise I won’t click “Decline” 😊 

Here’s your job: send me your photos for the banner! Send them to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

More tech news: Did you know we have a YouTube channel? Just go to YouTube and write RFI English in the search bar, and there we are! Be sure and subscribe to see all our videos.

We have a new/old podcast! RFI English has revived our monthly podcast Spotlight on Africa. It’s produced and hosted by Melissa Chemam from our newsroom’s Africa desk. Every month, Melissa will take an in-depth look at one of the leading stories on the continent today, with interviews and analysis from on-the-ground specialists.

Would you like to learn French? RFI is here to help you!

Our website “Le Français facile avec rfi”  has news broadcasts in slow, simple French, as well as bi-lingual radio dramas (with real actors!) and exercises to practice what you have heard.

Go to our website and get started! At the top of the page, click on “Test level”. According to your score, you’ll be counselled to the best-suited activities for your level.

Do not give up! As Lidwien van Dixhoorn, the head of “Le Français facile” service told me: “Bathe your ears in the sound of the language, and eventually, you’ll get it”. She should know – Lidwien is Dutch and came to France hardly able to say “bonjour” and now she heads this key RFI department – so stick with it!

Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!

In addition to the breaking news articles on our site with in-depth analysis of current affairs in France and across the globe, we have several podcasts that will leave you hungry for more.

There’s Paris Perspective, Spotlight on France, Spotlight on Africa, and of course, The Sound Kitchen. We have an award-winning bilingual series – an old-time radio show, with actors (!) to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis. And there is the excellent International Report, too.

As you see, sound is still quite present in the RFI English service. Keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our staff of journalists. You never know what we’ll surprise you with!

To listen to our podcasts from your PC, go to our website; you’ll see “Podcasts” at the top of the page. You can either listen directly or subscribe and receive them directly on your mobile phone.

To listen to our podcasts from your mobile phone, slide through the tabs just under the lead article (the first tab is “Headline News”) until you see “Podcasts”, and choose your show. 

Teachers, take note!  I save postcards and stamps from all over the world to send to you for your students. If you would like stamps and postcards for your students, just write and let me know. The address is english.service@rfi.fr  If you would like to donate stamps and postcards, feel free! Our address is listed below. 

Another idea for your students: Br. Gerald Muller, my beloved music teacher from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, has been writing books for young adults in his retirement – and they are free! There is a volume of biographies of painters and musicians called Gentle Giants, and an excellent biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., too. They are also a good way to help you improve your English – that’s how I worked on my French, reading books that were meant for young readers – and I guarantee you, it’s a good method for improving your language skills. To get Br. Gerald’s free books, click here.

Independent RFI English Clubs: Be sure to always include Audrey Iattoni (audrey.iattoni@rfi.fr) from our Listener Relations department in your RFI Club correspondence. Remember to copy me (thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr) when you write to her so that I know what is going on, too. N.B.: You do not need to send her your quiz answers! Email overload!

We have a new RFI Listeners Club member to welcome: Rodrigo Hunrichse from Ciudad de Concepción, Chile.

Welcome, Rodrigo! So glad you have joined us!

You too can be a member of the RFI Listeners Club – just write to me at english.service@rfi.fr and tell me you want to join, and I’ll send you a membership number. It’s that easy. When you win a Sound Kitchen quiz as an RFI Listeners Club member, you’ll receive a premium prize. 

This week’s quiz: On 9 March, I asked you a question about our article “Scaled-back opening ceremony for Paris Olympics to offer 326,000 tickets”. Earlier that week, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin gave the exact number of tickets for the Opening Ceremony: 326,000 –  which is a significant scale back from the original amount, 600,000. The scale-back is due to security issues. 

Remember, this is the very first time that an Olympics Opening Ceremony has been held outdoors and not in a sports arena. And on the water, at that!

You were to refer to our article and answer these questions: How many boats will sail in the ceremony, and on how many of those boats will there be athletes?

The answer is, to quote our article: “A total of 180 boats are set to sail around six kilometres down the Seine, of which 94 will contain athletes.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by Alan Holder from the Isle of Wight, England: “Are you superstitious?  Give examples of the steps you take to avoid any bad luck.”

Do you have a bonus question idea? Send it to us!

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Radhakrishna Pillai from Kerala State, India. Radhakrishna is also the winner of this week’s bonus question – congratulations, Radhakrishna!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are RFI Listeners Club members Shadman Hosen Ayon from Kishoreganj, Bangladesh; Sagor Mia, also from Kishoreganj – and the president of the Let’s Go on the Right Path and Tell the Truth Radio Listener Club, as well as Hans Verner Lollike from Hedehusene, Denmark.

Last but assuredly not least, faithful RFI English listener Rafiq Khondaker from Naogaon, Bangladesh.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Chopin’s Charleston Dream” written by Alfredo Gattari, and performed by the composer and Gottlieb Wallisch; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Popurri des Boleros”, sung by Gina Leon.

Do you have a music request? Send it to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read Melissa Chemam’s article “Sudan conference opens in Paris to try and fix ‘forgotten’ crisis”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 13 May to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 18 May podcast. When you enter, be sure you send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

or

By text … You can also send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen mobile phone. Dial your country’s international access code, or “ + ”, then  33 6 31 12 96 82. Don’t forget to include your mailing address in your text – and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

To find out how you can win a special Sound Kitchen prize, click here.

To find out how you can become a member of the RFI Listeners Club, or form your own official RFI Club, click here. 

This edition of Spotlight on Africa looks at the vast and diverse West Africa region, from Senegal to Benin to Niger and Mali.

It’s a big election year for Africa in general, with no fewer than 16 countries heading to the polls.

These include a complicated parliamentary vote in Togo on 19 April, general elections on South Africa on 29 May, presidential elections in Algeria in September, and presidential elections in Ghana in December.

But for Sahel nations Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, elections appear a distant dream as the military juntas in power delay processes for a return to civilian rule.

Many hope the inspiring outcome of the Senegalese election can galvanise the region.

Speaking to RFI about the polls are former Senegalese diplomat Babacar Ndiaye and Nigerien researcher Seidik Abba.

Meanwhile Yvonne Ndege, of the International Organisation for Migration, looks at the issue of migration on the continent.

And finally Azu Nwagbogu, curator of the Benin pavilion for the Venice Biennale, speaks to RFI’s Ollia Horton ahead of the event’s opening on Saturday.

Read also:

• Senegal sets March date for delayed presidential election
• Insecurity erodes chances of return to civilian rule in Niger and Mali

Episode mixed by Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is a podcast from Radio France Internationale. 

Madhya Pradesh is often referred to as the Heart of India. Located right in the middle of the country, the Indian region shows everything India has to offer through its abundant diversity. The IFTM trade show, which took place in Paris at the end of September, presented the perfect opportunity for travel enthusiasts to discover the region.

Sheo Shekhar Shukla, Managing Director of Madhya Pradesh’s tourism board, sat down to explain his approach to sustainable tourism.

“Post-covid the whole world has known a shift in their approach when it comes to tourism. And all those discerning travelers want to have different kinds of experiences: something offbeat, something new, something which has not been explored before.”

Through its UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Shukla wants to showcase the deep history Madhya Pradesh has to offer.

“UNESCO is very actively supporting us and three of our sites are already World Heritage Sites. Sanchi is a very famous buddhist spiritual destination, Bhimbetka is a place where prehistoric rock shelters are still preserved, and Khajuraho is home to thousand year old temples with magnificent architecture.”

All in all, Shukla believes that there’s only one way forward for the industry: “Travelers must take sustainable tourism as a paradigm in order to take tourism to the next level.”

In partnership with Madhya Pradesh’s tourism board.

Also known as the Land of the Beautiful Islands, Malaysia’s landscape and cultural diversity is almost unmatched on the planet. Those qualities were all put on display at the Malaysian stand during the IFTM trade show.

Libra Hanif, director of Tourism Malaysia, explained the appeal of the country as well as the importance of promoting sustainable tourism today: “Sustainable travel is a major trend now, with the changes that are happening post-covid. People want to get close to nature, to get close to people. So Malaysia being a multicultural and diverse [country] with a lot of natural environments, we felt that it’s a good thing for us to promote Malaysia.”

Malaysia has also gained fame in recent years, through its numerous UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which include Kinabalu Park and the Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley.

Green mobility has also become an integral part of tourism in Malaysia, with an increasing number of people using bikes to discover the country: “If you are a little more adventurous, we have the mountain back trails where you can cut across gazetted trails to see the natural attractions and the wildlife that we have in Malaysia,” says Hanif. “If you are not that adventurous, you’ll be looking for relaxing cycling. We also have countryside spots, where you can see all the scenery in a relaxing session.”

With more than 25,000 visitors at this IFTM trade show this year, Malaysia’s tourism board got to showcase the best the country and its people have to offer.

In partnership with Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board. For more information about Malaysia, click here.