France’s recent political crisis, which left the country without a prime minister for months following snap elections earlier this summer, has added to the upheaval in French education policy after a rotation of four ministers in two school years.

At the start of this new term, the caretaker government was tasked with implementing some reforms and suspending others, all while facing budget cuts and a shortage of 3,000 teachers.

Tension between ministers

Outgoing Education Minister Nicole Belloubet is not on board with all of the reforms introduced by Gabriel Attal, who held her post from July 2023 to January of this year, when he was appointed prime minister.

The tension between the two was made clear Monday when each decided to visit a different school on the first day of class, an appearance the education minister usually makes accompanied by the premier.

Belloubet is tasked with overseeing the implementation of several reforms that were introduced by Attal, including the introduction of level groups for French and maths students in middle school.

Unpopular plans

Teachers and parents have protested against the measure, which they say will divide students and add to inequality.

Belloubet has tempered the reform, saying it will bring in “needs groups” instead of the “level groups” initially announced.

She promised the changes would be implemented with “flexibility and pragmatism”.

Children with disabilities still left out of French schools, activists warn

Other measures have been suspended pending a new government, including a plan to make the brevet, a diploma awarded at the end of middle school, a requirement to enter high school.

In the face of the uncertainty, shrinking resources and a teacher shortage, several unions have called for a strike on 10 September.

Ministry turnover

Appointed in February, Belloubet has had little opportunity to introduce her own education policies.

She took over from Amelie Oudéa-Castera, who was put in charge of both education and sports for only a month after Attal was named prime minister in January.

The messy turnover followed Attal’s nearly six-month tenure at the Education Ministry.

Education ministers have historically had some leeway to leave their mark, but some see recent changes – like Attal’s announcement of ban on abbayas at the start of last school year – as aiming more at media attention than meaningful reform.

“We are increasingly seeing communications announcements,” education historian Claude Lelievre told broadcaster FranceInfo. While the trend dates back at least to the start of President Emmanuel Macron’s time in office, he said, back then “there was at least ministerial stability”.

France rolls out trial ban on using mobile phones in secondary schools

Wait and see

During a summer of political uncertainty, with a caretaker government in charge, civil servants have taken the lead to maintain continuity and allow the school year to start smoothly.

The Education Ministry’s Directorate General for Schools is in charge of implementing policy, and “it is really what will keep things running at the start of this school year”, newly appointed director Caroline Pascal told the Express magazine.

Working with local school boards, its administrators are overseeing what has “already been debated, decided, approved and published”, she said.

“We will have to wait for the nomination of a new government to know more about possible future political orientations.”

Dominique Pelicot, a 71-year-old retiree, has admitted to abusing his wife without her knowledge between 2011 and 2020, drugging her with sleeping pills and then recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her in her own home.

“How are we supposed to rebuild ourselves when we know” what he did, said his daughter, 45-year-old Caroline Darian who uses a pen name, speaking in court in the southern city of Avignon on the fifth day of a case that has horrified France.

Pelicot kept meticulous records of the abuse of his wife, which police only discovered by chance after he was caught filming up women’s skirts in a supermarket.

For years his wife Gisele Pelicot, now aged 71 and in divorce proceedings, says she was troubled by strange memory lapses until she was contacted by police.

Speaking to the court on Friday morning, their daughter Darian recounted learning of the alleged abuse on November 2, 2020 from her mother after she had spoken to investigators.

“My life was literally turned upside down,” Darian said.

French woman says uncovering of mass rape trauma ‘saved her life’

“My mother said: ‘I spent most of the day at the police station. Your father drugged me to rape me with strangers. I was made to look at the photos.'”

“It was what you call a tipping point, the start of a slow descent into hell where you have no idea how low you will sink,” she said, breaking down into tears.

“I called my brothers… We didn’t know what was happening to us.”

Darian had left the room in tears less than 20 minutes into the second day of the trial on Tuesday, as the presiding judge recounted how naked photomontages of her had also been found on Dominique Pelicot’s computer in a folder titled “Around my daughter, naked”.

Darian in 2022 wrote a book “Et j’ai cesse de t’appeler papa” (“And I stopped calling you dad”) about the effect the discovery of the crimes had on the family.

‘Utmost restraint’

Gisele Pelicot has requested the trial of her husband be public to raise awareness about the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.

The case has shaken France, with many commenting and some even circulating purported lists of the accused online.

Gisele Pelicot and her family through their lawyers on Friday thanked members of the public for their support but called for “the utmost restraint on social media” during the court case.

“Our clients understand perfectly that this case is a tragedy for all families,” included those of the defendants, said one of them, Antoine Camus.

Paul-Roger Gontard, the lawyer of two of the accused, praised the move as protecting the families of his clients and other suspects who could be found innocent.

At least one person has set up a crowdfunding campaign for the family.

Gisele Pelicot “does not wish for any crowdfunding campaigns to be launched and requests any already existing be ended,” her attorneys Camus and Stephane Babonneau also wrote in a statement.

The investigators counted around 200 instances of rape, most of them by Gisele Pelicot’s husband and more than 90 by strangers.

Gisele Pelicot said on Thursday she had recognised only one of her alleged rapists, a man who had come to discuss cycling with her husband at their home, and whom later used to greet at the bakery.

Most of the suspects face up to 20 years in jail for aggravated rape if convicted.

Eighteen of the 51 accused are in custody, including Dominique Pelicot. Thirty-two other defendants are attending the trial as free men. The last is being tried in absentia.

The trial is to last until 20 December.

India this week agreed to speed up the import of 26 Rafale maritime jets by jettisoning plans to fit local radar on the French planes, which are meant for its latest aircraft carrier.

It also gave the green light to procure seven stealth frigates, patrol boats, utility aircraft, air defence radar and 1,770 modern battle tanks to replace India’s armada of Soviet-origin T-72 tanks, officials said.

The acquisitions spree comesthe week after India launched the ballistic missile submarine INS Arighat on 29 August, eight years after commissioning its first home-grown nuclear submarine.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Arighat, which means “destroyer of the enemy” in Sanskrit, would “enhance India’s nuclear deterrence and help in establishing strategic balance and peace in the region”.

The comments were a veiled reference to China, which fought a bloody war with India over a border row in 1962. Tensions resurfaced when soldiers from the rival armies clashed in a remote Kashmir valley in 2020, with 24 lives lost.

India now hopes to exercise some control over sea lanes in the Indian Ocean, which accounts for 80 percent of its oil imports and 95 percent of trade.

‘Guarantors of survival’

Showcasing INS Arighat as the work of local shipbuilders, the defence minister insisted India was striving to become a “developed nation”.

“Along with economic prosperity, we need a strong military,” Singh said in a statement.

India has a no-first-strike nuclear policy, but defence analysts say the power to respond is crucial.

“India must have what is called a second-strike capability, [and] a submarine with nuclear propulsion which also carries ballistic nuclear-tipped missiles are the ultimate guarantors of a nation’s survival,” argued Uday Bhaskar, a retired naval officer now with Delhi-based think tank the Society for Policy Studies.

India joins US, France, Britain with missile that fires multiple N-warheads

India is planning to commission a third and larger nuclear submarine, the INS Aridhaman, within six months.

The country, which plans to build 18 conventional and six nuclear-powered submarines by 2030, has so far procured six diesel-electric Scorpenes from France and is slated to buy three more.

Long-time ally Russia leased two nuclear-powered submarines to India since 1987. Next year, it is scheduled to deliver a third as part of a 2.7-billion-euro deal.

But sceptics believe nuclear subs can prove an expensive waste and that conventional boats should be enough to meet the strategic needs of India, which also has long-standing tensions with nuclear-armed Pakistan.

India-France partnership

Reports said France last year offered to jointly develop nuclear submarines with India and that it sent numerous delegates to Delhi for talks.

The two countries announced a roadmap for defence partnership until 2047, which included plans to expand naval cooperation.

“India and France are ready to explore more ambitious projects to develop the Indian submarine fleet and its performance,” they said in a 2023 joint declaration titled Horizon 2047.

Analysts say such a move will reduce India’s dependence on Russia – busy with its war with Ukraine – and also help France to recoup efforts it expended on a multi-billion-euro sub deal with Australia that was torpedoed by Canberra in 2021.

In 2013, a fully armed Indian sub of Russian origin exploded in Mumbai’s harbour, killing 18 sailors on board and further blunting the country’s underwater combat abilities.

Sinking of submarine deal leaves Franco-US friendship in tatters

An independent fact-finding mission uncovered “harrowing” violations by both sides since April last year “which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity”, they said.

The conflict pits the national army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

It has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed, and the experts said eight million civilians have been displaced while a further two million people have fled to neighbouring countries.

Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the fact-finding mission, created late last year, called for “urgent and immediate action to protect civilians”.

Sudan talks close with progress on two safe aid routes but not on ceasefire

“Given the failure of the warring parties to spare civilians, it is imperative that an independent and impartial force with a mandate to safeguard civilians be deployed without delay,” Othman said.

The mission found evidence of “indiscriminate” airstrikes and shelling against civilian targets including schools and hospitals as well as water and electricity supplies.

“The warring parties also targeted civilians… through rape and other forms of sexual violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as torture and ill-treatment,” the mission said.

“These violations may amount to war crimes.”

‘Wake-up call’

In August, the United States convened talks in Geneva aimed at ending the brutal war, achieving progress on aid access but not a ceasefire.

It also announced visa sanctions on an unspecified number of individuals in South Sudan, including government officials, accused of obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid for 25 million Sudanese facing severe hunger.

The UN-mandated experts based their findings on testimony from dozens of survivors of the fighting now in Chad, Kenya and Uganda – but not in Sudan, where authorities failed to respond to four requests to visit.

Sudan’s government also declined to comment officially on the mission’s findings.

Its report “should serve as a wake-up call to the international community to take decisive action to support survivors, their families and affected communities, and hold perpetrators accountable,” Mona Rishmawi, a member of the mission, said in a statement.

History women

All hail the women’s goalball team of Turkey. They won a record third Paralympic title with an 8-3 obliteration of Israel at the South Paris Arena. Women’s goalball was introduced at the 1984 Paralympics in New York City where the United States won the inaugural title. Canada claimed back-to-back crowns in 2000 and 2004 but Turkey have surpassed that. They have tasted glory in Rio in 2016, Tokyo in 2021 and Paris 2024.

Golden goalball

Men’s goalball came to the Paralympics in 1976 in Toronto. Japan lifted their first title following a see-saw struggle with Ukraine. Japan were 2-0 up. Ukraine came back and levelled. Japan led 3-2 and Ukraine pegged them back to force two three-minute periods of overtime where the ‘golden goal’ operates. Japan got the goal but The Review did feel for the Ukrainians. Actually, we just wanted more of the brilliant action and the chance to see a goalball penalty shoot-out. We feel denied.

Sweet 16

And on the French delegation ploughs to the wonderland of 20 gold medals. Florian Jouanny retained his men’s H1-2 road race crown early on Day 8 to take France’s gold medal tally to 16. French paralympic chiefs want their operatives to finish within the top eight nations and have set a target of 20 golds. With three more days of competition remaining, France lie in fifth place with 17 golds among their 61 prizes.

Broken tradition

Monique Kalkman-Van Den Bosch and Chantal Vandierendonck from the Netherlands won gold in the inaugural women’s doubles in the wheelchair tennis in Barcelona in 1992. They retained the title in 1996 in Atlanta. Compatriots Maaike Smit and Esther Vergeer carried on the winning tradition in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004. And gold has been a Dutch thing ever since. Diede de Groot and Aniek van Koot entered the 2024 tournament in Paris as defending champions and top seeds. But shock at the Roland Garros stadium over on the leafy western fringes of the city. The Dutch lost the flnal in the super tiebreaker deciding set to the Japanese duo Yui Kamiji and Manami Tanaka.

Redemption

Yui Kamiji’s quest for a gold is over. She has a silver and two bronzes from her previous trips to the Paralympics. “It is really tough to have lost in Paralympic finals,” the 30-year-old told the International Tennis Federation’s website. “Players have gold medals and they have that achievement forever.” Of her surge to victory of Van Koot and De Groot, she added: “Me and Manami just focused on our game and tried to keep pressure on them. It worked.” The women’s singles final on Day 9 in the wheelchair tennis should be a feisty affair. Kamiji will play a certain Diede de Groot.

The data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service followed a season of heatwaves around the world that scientists said were intensified by human-driven climate change.

Extreme weather struck around the globe – with some 1,300 dead during extreme heat at the hajj in Mecca, intense heat testing India‘s economy and electric system, and wildfire raging in parts of the western United States.

“During the past three months of 2024, the globe has experienced the hottest June and August, the hottest day on record, and the hottest boreal summer on record,” Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus, said in a report.

“This string of record temperatures is increasing the likelihood of 2024 being the hottest year on record.”

The average global temperature at the Earth’s surface was 16.82C in August, according to Copernicus, which draws on billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations.

UN weather agency warns of ‘red alert’ after record heat

The June and August global temperature broke through the level of 1.5C above the pre-industrial average – a key threshold for limiting the worst effects of climate change.

Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are warming the planet, raising the likelihood and intensity of climate disasters such as droughts, fires and floods.

Heat was exacerbated in 2023 and early 2024 by the cyclical weather phenomenon El Nino, though Copernicus scientist Julien Nicolas told AFP its effects were not as strong as they sometimes are.

Meanwhile the contrary cyclical cooling phenomenon, known as La Nina, has not yet started, he said.

A complete assessment of the impact of the temperature extremes will take time, but a study published in mid-August estimated that 30,000-65,000 people in Europe died from heat-related illnesses in 2023, mainly among the elderly.

Emissions reductions

Against the global trend, regions such as Alaska, the eastern United States, parts of South America, Pakistan and the Sahel desert zone in northern Africa had lower than average temperatures in August, the report said.

But others such as Australia – where it was winter – Japan and Spain experienced record warmth in August.

China logged its hottest August in more than six decades last month, its national weather service said, after the country endured a summer of extreme weather and heatwaves across much of its north and west.

China is the leading emitter of greenhouse gases, but with Beijing installing renewable capacity at record speed, and a construction slump dragging down emissions-heavy steel production, there are signs the nation could hit the peak early, experts say.

Global warming accelerating at ‘unprecedented’ pace, study warns

Globally, August 2024 matched that month’s previous global temperature record from one year earlier, while this June was hotter than last, Copernicus data in the report showed.

July was slightly hotter in 2023 than this year, but on average the three-month period broke the record in 2024.

Governments have targets to reduce their countries’ planet-heating emissions to try to keep the rise below 1.5C under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Scientists will not consider that threshold to be definitively passed until it has been observed being breached over several decades. The average level of warming is currently about 1.2C, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.

Copernicus said the 1.5C level has been passed in 13 of the past 14 months.

Wildfires, hurricanes

The oceans are also heating to record levels, raising the risk of more intense storms.

Copernicus said that outside of the poles, the average sea surface temperature in August was just under 21C, the second-highest level on record for that month.

It said August “was drier than average over most of continental Europe” – noting the wildfires that struck countries such as Greece.

But places such as western Russia and Turkey were wetter than normal, with floods in some places.

The eastern United States had more rain than usual, including areas lashed by Hurricane Debby.

“The temperature-related extreme events witnessed this summer will only become more intense, with more devastating consequences for people and the planet unless we take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Copernicus’s deputy director Burgess said.

Some researchers say that emissions in some of the biggest countries may have peaked or will soon do so, partly as a result of the drive towards low-carbon energy.

In his first public comments since he was detained last month, Durov denied claims that the app is “some sort of anarchic paradise” as “absolutely untrue”.

In his statement, published on the Telegram app late Thursday, Durov said that French authorities should have approached his company with their complaints rather than detaining him.

Durov, a French citizen, was arrested on 25 August at an airport north of Paris. He’s been formally charged on several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on the popular messaging app – including drug trafficking, fraud and the spread of child pornography.

Telegram boss Durov charged, banned from leaving France

‘Surprising’ arrest

The Russian-born billionaire said the investigation into the app was surprising since French authorities had access to a “hot line” that he had helped set up and they could have contacted Telegram’s EU representative at any time.

“If a country is unhappy with an Internet service, the established practice is to start a legal action against the service itself,” he wrote.

“Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach.”

“Building technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for potential abuse of those tools,” he said.

Macron defends move to give Telegram’s Durov French passport

Room for improvement

While he admitted Telegram was not perfect, he denied any abuse associated with the app.

“But the claims in some media that Telegram is some sort of anarchic paradise are absolutely untrue,” he wrote. “We take down millions of harmful posts and channels every day.”

Telegram allows groups of up to 200,000 members. Critics argue this makes it easier to spread misinformation and for users to share for example paedophilic, conspirationist or terror-related content.

In his statement, Durov admitted that an “abrupt increase” in the number of Telegram users – around 950 million at present – had “caused growing pains that made it easier for criminals to abuse our platform”.

He aimed to “significantly improve things in this regard”.

The man with four passports: Durov’s international network

(with newswires)

The blaze erupted on Thursday night in a dormitory at Hillside Endarasha Primary, which caters to children up to the age of 14.

Nyeri County Commissioner Pius Murugu and the education ministry reported that the dormitory, which housed more than 150 boys, was constructed mainly of wooden planks, which contributed to the fire spreading rapidly.

The school, which has 824 students, is located in the country’s central highlands, 200 kilometres north of the capital Nairobi, where wooden structures are common.

“We have lost 17 pupils in the fire incident while 14 are injured,” police spokesperson Resila Onyango told Reuters. “Our team is at the scene at the moment.”

Citizen Television reported that the fire had burnt the students beyond recognition.

Anxious parents, who have been unable to locate their children among the survivors, are waiting at the school.

Investigation underway

President William Ruto said he had asked authorities to investigate and hold those responsible to account.

Authorities have cordoned off the school, Kenya Red Cross said on X.

Seven Kenyan schoolgirls killed in dorm fire: minister

School fires are common in Kenyan boarding schools, often due to arson driven by drug abuse and overcrowding, according to a recent education ministry report.

Some fires have been started by students during protests over workload or living conditions.

In 2017, nine high school students died in a fire at a school in Nairobi, which the government attributed to arson.

In 2001, 58 schoolboys were killed in a dormitory fire at Kyanguli Secondary School near Nairobi.

In 2012, eight students died in a school fire in Homa Bay County, western Kenya.

(with newswires)

As Africa’s biggest trading partner, China has tapped into the continent’s vast reserves of natural resources, including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals.

At the same time, Beijing has loaned billions to African nations, helping to build critical infrastructure but also sometimes stoked controversy by saddling governments with huge debts.

Since the 2000s, China-Africa relations have become more structured with the launch of Focac, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. This week marks the ninth Focac summit.

• China pledges to give Africa $51 bn in fresh funding over next three years

So what can we expect from this latest event?

RFI put the question to China-Africa relations specialist Daniel Large, author of China and Africa: the New Era, who is affiliated with the Vienna-based Central European University.

Daniel Large: There are four high-level meetings around key themes that we’re going to watch closely at this Focac: state governance, industry and agriculture, peace and security, and the Belt and Road Initiative.

But overall, this Focac has attracted far less media and public attention across large parts of Africa than previous summits.

China’s large-scale financing for development has decreased in recent years due to domestic economic problems and global challenges facing African economies.

I think expectations are perhaps lower this time, in keeping with China’s efforts to scale back and recalibrate its investments on the continent.

RFI: The last Focac in 2021 issued the Dakar Action Plan, including Chinese imports worth $300 billion. What came of that plan, and how do you see it being followed up?

DL: It’s still difficult to measure the success of Focac commitments because of unreliable or non-existent data.

Focac is usually very good at making declaratory statements and setting ambitious goals, but it often struggles to provide concrete evidence of actual achievements. There’s often a gap between what’s promised and then what’s achieved.

RFI: Focac was created in 2000 under then-Chinese president Jiang Zemin and his successor, Hu Jintao. What was the rationale behind its creation?

• China to seek more influence in Africa at crucial Beijing summit

DL: The rationale was really proceeded on the back of a rekindling of China’s Africa relations after the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989.

The economic ties between China and Africa really begin to take off over the 1990s, setting the scene for the creation of Focac in 2000.

Jiang Zemin also emphasised that China and Africa shared not only economic but also political interests.

RFI: One of the reasons for China’s involvement in Africa was to reduce the number of African countries that recognised Taiwan. In 2000, seven countries had ties with Taipei – now only one remains, Eswatini. Is this issue now off the agenda?

DL: Taiwan has effectively lost its diplomatic competition with China in Africa. Eswatini is the only African country that retains diplomatic links with Taipei. Somaliland also faced condemnation from Beijing when it set up a Taiwan office, but as Somaliland isn’t a fully recognised sovereign state, it doesn’t really count.

The unstated ghost at the Focac is probably America in the context of geopolitical competition. But there’s no doubt that the issue of Taiwan is not entirely over, but perhaps it has been superseded by China’s other foreign policy objectives instead.

• Chinese tech, ignored by the West, is taking over Africa’s cyberspace

RFI: Chinese loans and investments in Africa peaked in 2016, then scaled down. What caused this, and how has it affected African economies?

DL: There was a long economic boom, with expanding trade and investment between China and Africa. The Belt and Road Initiative, formally announced in 2013, became linked with large-scale, unsustainable infrastructure financing deals.

It will be interesting to see how China repositions the Belt and Road Initiative now, with less available funding but more pressing needs.

There’s definitely a learning curve as China integrates lessons from past experiences and pushes for a new development cooperation going forward in which the new language of sustainability as well as green development is very prominent.

RFI: Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, global politics have shifted significantly, with China backing Russia and the Wagner Group gaining influence in African countries like Mali and Niger. How does this impact the relationship between China, the US/EU, and Africa?

DL: There’s been a lot of talk about a new Cold War in Africa, involving not just China and the US, but other powers like Russia.

African leaders are very wary of becoming trapped in a new type of cold war scenario they just don’t want that.

The key mantra has been not taking sides and there are good reasons why most African states don’t want to take sides.

African states are increasingly trying to diversify their partnerships, aiming to do business with everyone while remaining independent from any single external power.

Instead they want to pursue their own more independent agenda.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

The Paralympics, which got underway on Wednesday, are counting on the incredible energy generated during the two weeks of the Olympics, which drew enthusiastic crowds both inside the venues and in the public fan zones around the capital.

One of the largest areas open to the public is at the Hôtel de Ville, or town hall, in the heart of the city.

The building’s ornate stone façade are festooned with banners in the Paris 2024 palette of pale pink, green, beige and shades of blue, while the flagstones of the plaza out front have been covered with bright blue mats, sports equipment and shaded seating areas to welcome around 2,500 people at a time.

Léo, a young instructor who works for the local parasports committee in the greater Paris region, runs workshops in wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball.

He’s happy to see parasports edging further and further into the limelight, thanks in part to the excitement around the Paris Games.

“I have a twin brother who is disabled so I have always been in contact with parasports. It is very rewarding and nice to see young people with disabilities enjoying sports,” he told RFI.

Requests for workshops to raise awareness in schools and communities have noticeably increased, he says.

Who are the French athletes competing in the Paris Paralympic Games?

A chance to explore

Nearby, teams of kids in red and green jerseys and eye masks are getting instructions on how to play blind football. Some of them are tourists visiting from Slovenia and Germany.

The workshops are run by members of Femix’Sport, an association which promotes diversity and women’s representation in sports federations.

Thiphaine Meriot, the group’s development and communications manager, says that the workshops at the city hall fan zone are an ideal opportunity for people from different social groups to mix – regardless of age and background, and whether or not they have a disability.

She says that people are surprised and curious to learn the rules of blind football, in which visually impaired players seek to score goals guided by a ball with a bell inside.

Only the goalkeeper is allowed to have full sight, while assistants near the goalposts can help give vocal instructions to the other players.

“I thought that blind football was quite well known, but in fact it’s not,” Meriot says. “We can tell that people are not familiar with it, so they discover it here.

“The more we have these kinds of workshops, the more we can help people discover new and challenging sports.”

Accessibility gaps

Not only are the Paralympics a chance to highlight the talents of remarkable athletes, organisers are also hoping to address issues of discrimination, inclusiveness and accessibility in wider society.

Alain, a volunteer at the Games, spends his days scooting around the fan zone in his electric wheelchair, showing visitors around.

Although he is proud to see Paris hosting such a high-profile event, he admits that a lot needs to be done to improve accessibility, especially when it comes to public transport.

“Only the automatised metro line 14 is fully accessible at all stations,” he says, adding that the tram network is in better shape because it was built more recently, while public buses now have special ramps.

But the suburban RER train network is unfortunately lagging behind, he says, as only a few of the stations have been upgraded. These lines serve several Paralympic sites outside the city, such as the equestrian arena at the Château de Versailles.

“Of course we can call on someone [from the station] to help us, but that means that we are not independent. I find that unacceptable in 2024. We should be independent like everyone else,” Alain says.

Paris metro accessibility a ‘weak spot’ ahead of Paralympics

Shifting priorities

A total of 18 of the 35 Olympic venues will be reused during the Paralympics, albeit with minor modifications to better suit parasports.

International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons told French news agency AFP earlier this year he hopes the Paris edition will help make the issues facing people with disabilities a higher global priority.

Parsons said he believes the Games “will have a big impact in how people with disability are perceived around the world”.

He argued that disability had fallen behind sexual and gender identity in recent years.

“We do believe people with disability have been left behind,” he said. “There is very little debate about persons with disability.”

The World Health Organization declared mpox a health emergency last month, but efforts to curb the spread of the disease have been hampered by a lack of vaccines.

DR Congo is Africa’s worst affected country, with more than 19,000 suspected cases of mpox and more than 650 deaths recorded since the start of the year, according to health authorities. Sixty-two percent of infections are among children.

The first shipment of vaccines – manufactured by Bavarian Nordic and donated by the European Union – will arrive in DRC from Denmark on Thursday, with another delivery of 100,000 doses on Friday.

The 200,000 doses will then be distributed between Goma, Lubumbashi and the Congolese capital Kinshasa.

“There’s a distribution plan and a vaccination plan, which includes all those who have been infected, as well as contact cases and contacts of contacts,” Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told RFI.

Priority will be given to health workers and immunocompromised people such as those suffering from malnutrition or HIV-positive.

Negotiations for the vaccines, secured through Europe’s Health Emergency Preparedness Response Authority (HERA), have been finalised and the aim is to acquire 10 million doses quickly.

“The vaccines are expensive but the technology will be transferred to African from 2025,” Kaseya said. “They will be produced in Africa with a cost reduction of around 85-90 percent.”

Hefty challenge

Health authorities face a tough challenge launching the vaccination campaign across a country the size of western Europe.

The doses must be kept in cold storage and communities can be wary of participating.

“The vaccine will not be distributed as soon as it is received,” Cris Kacita, head of Congo’s mpox outbreak response told Reuters news agency, explaining why it would take around a month from delivery to launch the campaign.

“We need to communicate so that the population accepts the vaccination,” he said, adding that the six targeted provinces had capacity to store the doses at the required temperature.

While children are at high risk from mpox, Bavarian Nordic’s shot is not licensed for children.

However, the WHO‘s acting director of epidemic and pandemic prevention Maria Van Kerkhove said the WHO recommends its use in outbreaks for children when the benefits outweigh the risks, and this is currently under discussion in Congo.

Mpox – previously known as monkeypox – typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, and can kill.

It spreads through close contact, including sexual contact.

Sevda Altunoluk scored four goals and Fatma Gul Guler was on target three times in the rout which enabled the team to eclipse Canada’s back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2004 and become the sport’s most successful female side.

“We are so proud and so happy,” said Seydanur Kaplan who was in the squad that won gold in Tokyo in 2021. “It is a big victory.

“But it wasn’t easy because it was a final,” added the 24-year-old. “It was so hard but we are family.

“I think this is our secret. It is our special quality. We are a band of sisters because, you know, we live everything together … crying, happiness.”

Goalball, along with boccia, are the only two sports exclusive to the Paralympics.

Before the game, as the Turkish and Israeli players limbered up for their showdown, a spry young man whirled around the court perimeter brandishing a placard bearing the twin legends: “Get loud!!!” and “Ambiancez vous!!!” 

The 3,000 fans duly responded to both exhortations.

But within minutes of satisfying his commands, a somewhat sterner usher was suggesting another pitch.

Silence

“Quiet please,” match referee Raquel Aguado beseeched the frenzied throng.

Cheerily came the compliance.

For silence is golden during goalball. Noise will prevent the three players stretched out along the nine-metre width of the court from hearing the approach of the 1.25kg rubber ball which contains bells.

The game of two 12-minute halves consists of hurling the ball into the opposing team’s goal which lies at the other end of the 18-metre court.

Players – who all have various levels of visual impairment – wear opaque goggles to ensure parity.

To score, a player must ensure the ball bounces on their side of the pitch and also in the opponents’ half before it enters the net.

Altunoluk bagged a brace and Guler was also on target as Turkey raced into a 3-0 lead in the first four minutes of the final.

Lihi Ben David pulled one back for Israel. But three more goals from Guler and another from Altunoluk underlined Turkish authority.

Ben David’s second of the match just before half-time suggested Israel had a chance.

But they were unable to make an early strike in the second-half. Turkey scored again to effectively kill off the match. Ben David’s third was a mere consolation.

Surge

“There was pressure on us to win,” Kaplan admitted. “There is a tension and a different feeling in every tournament.

“But we have this third one and we want to be champions again in Los Angeles in four years.”

A third title looked far from obvious at the start of the competition. Turkey drew their opening game on 29 August with Brazil 3-3. They lost the next day to China and beat Israel 5-4 on 31 August to finish the group stages second behind China.

But they began to show form with victories over South Korea in the last eight and Brazil in the semis to set up the final with Israel who beat Canada and China in the knockout stages.

“We learned so much during those early games,” said Kaplan. “We didn’t make the same mistakes again … so now it looks like it is easy.”

The men’s gold medal match between Japan and Ukaine was a closer affair.

Japan took a 2-0 lead before Ukraine pulled back to 2-2. Japan nudged 3-2 ahead mid way through the second-half.

But Ukraine levelled with two minutes remaining. That brought a tense finale but neither side broke through.

The deadlock produced three minutes of “golden goal” overtime 

Yuto Sano scored with 90 seconds left to give Japan their first crown since the introduction of the sport at the 1976 Paralympics in Montreal. Brazil and China took the men’s and women’s bronze medals respectively.

In a statement released on Wednesday, France’s Ministry of the Economy announced: “This State aid will enable us to finance the operation of public services [health, electricity] and the payment of social benefits in September”.

The payment is conditional “on the adoption of reforms to improve New Caledonia’s economic and social model”.

In addition to this latest aid package, State support for New Caledonia since the riots that ravaged the Pacific territory and destroyed its economic fabric amounts to over €400 million.

However the figure doesn’t include a bailout for the archipelago’s failing nickel industry.

• Embattled New Caledonia nickel mine to lay off 1,200 staff

‘Conditions’ for State aid

In detail, the ministry has stipulated that “if the conditions set by the State are met”, France will pay over €48 million to New Caledonia in the form of repayable advances, including almost €42 million euros to finance the local health insurance system and just under €5 million to prevent the electricity system operator Enercal from defaulting on its payments.

While €100 million had already been paid to the New Caledonian government at the end of July to fund short-term unemployment, a further €61 million will be released for that purpose from September to October.

According to local government figures, the destruction, looting and fires have caused over €2 billion in damage, and almost one employee in five is either totally or partially unemployed.

‘Rebuilding and reconstruction’

At the end of August, the Congress of New Caledonia assembly adopted a resolution calling for massive state support of 500 billion Pacific francs – just over €4 billion – to rebuild the archipelago.

At the same time, the local government launched public consultations ahead of a “safeguarding, rebuilding and reconstruction” plan aimed at changing New Caledonia’s economic and social model.

• Can France solve the economic collapse and unrest plaguing New Caledonia?

On Tuesday, Sonia Backès, the loyalist leader and President of the territory’s Southern Province – the richest and most populous province in New Caledonia – was received at the Elysée Palace by Emmanuel Macron.

“On the economy, we discussed the need to move very, very quickly to a phase of massive public investment to restart the economic machine. [The Head of State] told me that he shared this vision,” she said after the meeting.

At some 200 “colleges” – the middle schools French children attend between the ages of 11 and 15 – a scheme is being trialled to ban the use of mobile phones during the entire school day.

The trial of the “digital pause” – which encompasses more than 50,000 pupils – is being implemented ahead of a possible plan to enforce it nationwide from 2025.

Right now, pupils in French middle schools are obliged turn off their phones.

This latest experiment takes things a step further, requiring children to hand in their phones upon arrival.

Taking to social media site X this Wednesday, France’s minister for education posted: “When you arrive at school, just put your phone down: that’s the new rule for the start of the new school year. And it’s being tested in over 200 schools. 

“We’re introducing a real digital break, for the well-being of our pupils. That’s what schools are all about!”

‘Arrested development’

The project is part of a move by President Emmanuel Macron for children to spend less time in front of screens, which the government fears is arresting their development.

The use of “a mobile phone or any other electronic communications terminal equipment” has been banned in nurseries, elementary schools and middle schools in France since 2018.

In high schools – which French children attend between the ages of 15 and 18 – internal regulations may prohibit the use of a mobile phone by pupils in “all or part of the premises”.

Bruno Bobkiewicz, general secretary of SNPDEN-Unsa – France’s top union of school principals – said the 2018 law had been enforced “pretty well overall”. 

“The use of mobile phones in middle schools is very low today”, he said, adding that in case of a problem “we have the means to act”. 

• French lawmakers ban mobile phone use in public schools

Improving ‘school climate’ 

The experiment comes after Macron said in January he wanted to “regulate the use of screens among young children.” 

According to a report submitted to Macron, children under 11 should not be allowed to use phones, while access to social networks should be limited for pupils under 15.

The French education ministry hopes that the mobile-free environment will improve “school climate” and reduce instances of violence, including online harassment and dissemination of violent images. 

The ministry also wants to improve student performance because the use of mobile phones harms “the ability to concentrate” and “the acquisition of knowledge”. 

The experiment also aims to “raise pupils’ awareness of the rational use of digital tools”. 

• France applies school mobile phone ban

‘Complicated to implement’ 

According to the education ministry, “it is up to each establishment to determine practical arrangements”, with the possibility of setting up a locker system.

Pupils will have to hand in their phones on arrival, putting them in boxes or lockers.

They will then collect them at the end of the school day.

The ban also extends to extracurricular activities and school trips.

However, the enforcement of the measure across all schools in France from January 2025 could be expensive.

According to local authorities, the roll-out of the ban could cost “nearly €130 million” for the 6,980 middle schools across France.

For the leading middle and high school teachers’ union Snes-FSU, the ban raises too many questions about how will things work.

Sceptics believe extra staff will be needed to manage arrivals, drops-off and departures – as well as the collection of mobile phones.

Bobkiewicz of SNPDEN-Unsa principal’s union underlined he did not want to rummage through pupils’ bags to look for their phones, adding: “It’s going to be complicated to implement”.

“The police saved my life by investigating Mister P.’s computer”, Gisele P. told the court in the southern city of Avignon, referring to her husband – one of 51 of her alleged abusers on trial.

Gisele P., now 71, had remained stoic and silent through the three first days of the high-profile case, communicating only through her lawyers.

But she revealed her emotion on the stand on Thursday when she recounted the moment in November 2020 when investigators first showed her the images of a decade of sexual abuse orchestrated and filmed by her husband Dominique P.

“My world is falling apart. For me, everything is falling apart. Everything I have built up over 50 years,” Gisele P. said.

“Frankly, these are scenes of horror for me,” she said of the pictures, while her husband listened with his head bowed.

“I’m lying motionless on the bed, being raped,” added the woman of the “barbaric” footage.

“They treat me like a rag doll,” she told a panel of five judges, adding that she had only plucked up the courage to watch the footage in May 2024.

“Don’t talk to me about sex scenes. These are rape scenes,” she said, stressing that she had never practised swinging or any other form of libertine sex.

Lawyers for some of the defendants questioned on Wednesday whether the couple had had a libertine relationship, or whether it was credible that Gisele P. had noticed nothing for the entire decade of the abuse.

The line of questioning appeared to upset the plaintiff, although she stayed put when her three children briefly left the courtroom in disgust.

“Of course she was offended,” said her lawyer, Antoine Camus.

“She wanted to respond. We felt her bobbing up and down behind us, saying, ‘I want to answer. I just have to answer’ and we told her, ‘Tomorrow!'”

Gisele P. has insisted that the trial take place in public so the full facts of the case can emerge.

Nevertheless, there will be “extremely difficult moments” for her as she testifies, said Stephane Babonneau, her other lawyer.

Detailed records

Gisele P.’s husband, Dominique, is accused of abusing his wife between 2011 and 2020, drugging her with sleeping pills and then recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her, lead investigator Jeremie Bosse Platiere told the court on Wednesday.

Dominique P. was exposed by chance when he was caught filming up women’s skirts in a local supermarket.

On Tuesday, he answered “yes” when asked if he was guilty of the accusations against him.

The 71-year-old father of three documented his actions with meticulous precision on a hard drive with a folder labelled “abuse”.

That enabled French police to track down more than 50 men suspected of raping Gisele P. while she was drugged.

A third of them were identified using facial recognition software, Bosse Platiere said.

The senior police chief for the Hautes-Alpes region said he had hand-picked investigators “who had the stomach” to face videos and images of abuse.

Police drew up a list of 72 individuals suspected of abusing Gisele P.

The investigators counted around 200 instances of rape, most of them by Dominique P., and over 90 by strangers enlisted through an adult website.

The assaults took place between July 2011 and October 2020, mainly in the couple’s home in Mazan, a village of 6,000 people in the southern region of Provence.

Most of the suspects face up to 20 years in jail for aggravated rape if convicted.

Eighteen of the 51 accused are in custody, including Dominique P.

Thirty-two other defendants are attending the trial as free men.

The last suspect, still at large, will be tried in absentia.

The trial is expected to last four months until December 20 – “a totally awful ordeal” for Gisele P., Camus said.

“For the first time, she will have to live through the rapes to which she was subjected for 10 years”, of which she has “no memory”, he told AFP.

Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou arrived at Buenos Aires airport on Tuesday evening and headed for passport control without speaking to the press.

The players boarded a flight to Paris shortly before midnight and were expected to arrive on Wednesday at 15h45 UT.

Earlier in the day a court in Mendoza, about 1,000 kilometres west of the capital Buenos Aires, ruled that the pair can leave the country “from this moment”.

The prosecution had recommended that the players be allowed to travel because the accusation had “lost its initial force”.

Jegou and Auradou, both 21, were arrested in July, just two days after winning their first international caps against Argentina in Mendoza.

Hearing date to be set

They were charged with the aggravated rape of a 39-year-old woman who alleged they viciously assaulted her in a hotel room after a night out following the match.

The men deny the accusation, saying sex with the woman had been consensual.

They were released from detention into house arrest on 17 July and freed under supervision last month.

The two players were allowed to travel from Mendoza to Buenos Aires last week pending a hearing into a request for the charges to be dropped.

A date for that hearing has yet to be set.

Tuesday’s ruling requires the both men to “appear if they are summoned to the Argentine consulate in France,” to report virtually “as often as required,” or return “to appear in Mendoza if requested”.

A judge also rejected a request from the accuser for further psychological examinations of the rugby players.

‘Like a brute’

Late Tuesday, the plaintiff gave an account to the press of what she said happened the night she met Auradou in a nightclub in Mendoza.

“When he asked me to go and have a drink at his hotel, I said yes,” she told journalists from France 2’s television programme Envoyé Special, in clips released ahead of the programme’s 12 September broadcast.

Once in the hotel room, she said she asked to leave, but alleged the rugby player prevented her from doing so. 

“He grabbed my neck. He put me on the bed. He stripped me like a brute,” she said, before choking her “so that I had no oxygen left”.

“I tried to react by slapping him. Instead of stopping him, this slap only encouraged him to carry on.”

According to the complainant, Jegou then entered the room. 

But instead of helping her as she believed he would, she alleges he went on to assault her as well.

Lack of objectivity

The French Rugby Federation welcomed Tuesday’s ruling, and underscored the men must be considered innocent until proven otherwise.

Auradou’s club in the French city of Pau expressed “joy and relief” at the news that he would be returning home.

According to the complainant’s lawyer, Natacha Romano, her client suffered injuries to her face, back, breasts, legs and ribs, as well as bite and scratch marks.

Defense lawyers have pointed to witnesses and cameras allegedly detecting no injuries on the woman as she left the hotel.

The plaintiff’s lawyers filed a motion on Monday for the recusal of the prosecutors in charge of the case, alleging a “lack of objectivity” on their part.

The woman, her representatives say, recently tried to commit suicide and would continue to suffer “irreparable harm” while the men she accuses resume their lives in France.

This week, we focus on the presidential election in Algeria, scheduled for 7 September, with a potential second round two weeks later, if none of the candidate reaches 51 percent in the first round.

The campaign ended on Tuesday 3 September. Most experts expect incumbent Abdelmadjid Tebboune to win again, while only two challengers have been allowed to run: Abdelaali Hassani of the moderate Islamist party, the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP), and Youcef Aouchiche of the centre-left Socialist Forces Front (FFS). 

• Few surprises in store as Algeria’s presidential election nears

The opposition has, however, complained of intimidation with dozens of people arrested last month over alleged election fraud.

Opposition leader Fethi Ghares was even detained  during the last week of the campaign, accused of “insulting the president” and spreading disinformation online.

Meanwhile, Algerian officials are tightening restrictions on civil liberties, Amnesty International reports. The human rights group says that the authorities’ actions aim to limit citizens’ rights to free speech, peaceful protest, and form associations.

To understand how opponents, political parties and civil society navigate the civic space, we have with us Nadège Lahmar, the consultant on Algeria for Amnesty. 

Episode mixed by Nicolas Doreau. 

Spotlight on Africa is a podcast from Radio France Internationale. 

Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan described August’s second round of indirect talks in Ankara between his Ethiopian and Somali counterparts as constructive and positive.

“We were able to focus on the details and technicalities of concrete steps that are important convergences on some major principles and specific modalities”, Fidan said.

“This constitutes notable progress.”

While there was no breakthrough, all sides agreed to meet again in September.

Controversial deal 

Ethiopian-Somali tensions have escalated since January, when Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland, a breakaway state from Somalia.

Under the agreement, Ethiopia would secure sea access in exchange for recognising Somaliland, a deal condemned by Somalia as an infringement on its territorial integrity.

“Ethiopia needs access to a coastline”, said Dubai-based geopolitical consultant Norman Ricklefs.

“It’s the second-largest country in Africa. It’s a booming economy. And, somehow, that deal needs to be made, but it’s not going to be easy because of the previous deal earlier this year with Somaliland.”

Ricklefs predicts that finding a solution will require considerable diplomatic finesse.

“It’s not going to be easy to convince the Somalis to grant that [Ethiopian demands], feeling that they’re under pressure right now because of the deal that was previously done with Somaliland,” he said.

“But I think Turkey is probably best placed, as they have a very close relationship with both Ethiopia and Somalia.”

Somalia recently threatened to block access to Ethiopian Airlines in the latest bout of diplomatic tensions. Meanwhile, Egypt could reportedly deploy soldiers to Somalia, a move that threatens to further escalate and broaden tensions, given existing Ethiopian-Egyptian conflicts.

Ethiopia and Somalia move closer to resolving Somaliland dispute

Deepening influence

The situation between Somalia and Ethiopia is expected to be discussed during Wednesday’s summit in Turkey, where Egyptian President Sisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are set to meet.

Africa expert Elem Eyrice-Tepecikoglu from the African studies department of Ankara’s Social Sciences University said Turkey’s historical and deepening economic and military ties with both Somalia and Ethiopia give it an advantageous position in its mediating efforts.

“Somalia has a very important place in Turkey’s Africa policy. Turkey has established its largest embassy in Somalia’s capital, and it also established its largest military training facility, again in Somalia,” said Tepecikoglu.

“But Turkey also has old and established relations with Ethiopia as well. There are several investments of Turkish companies in the country, and Turkey also signed a military cooperation agreement with Ethiopia. Reportedly, Turkish drones were used against the Tigray rebel forces.”

Growing military buildup in Azerbaijan and Armenia a concern for peace talks

Economic, military stakes

Earlier this year, the Somali parliament ratified a naval agreement with Turkey to protect its territorial waters and a deal to search for hydrocarbons. Turkey is second only to China in investment in Ethiopia, including selling its military-proven drones.

Analysts suggest that there is more than diplomatic prestige at stake for Ankara in resolving Ethiopian-Somali tensions, given the region’s potential and geostrategic importance as a critical world trading route.

“There’s a reason why the Horn of Africa has American military bases and Chinese military bases. The Japanese even have a base in that area. All of them think the Horn of Africa is a pretty significant region for global shipping,” Ricklefs said.

“It’s a region that has not been developed. It has hydrocarbon resources and other resources like agricultural resources that have not been developed and would need networks and infrastructure that a country like Turkey could provide if there was security and stability.”

Ethiopian and Somali talks are set to resume in September. Success would underline Turkey’s growing influence in a region of increasing international competition, while failure could threaten two decades of Turkish investment in the region.

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!

The ePOP video competition is open!

The ePOP video competition is sponsored by the RFI department “Planète Radio”, whose mission is to give a voice to the voiceless. ePOP focuses on the environment and how climate change has affected “ordinary” people. You are to create a three-minute video about climate change, the environment, pollution – told by the people it affects.

You do not need expensive video equipment to enter the competition. Your phone is fine.  And you do not need to be a member of the RFI Clubs to enter – everyone is welcome. And by the way – the prizes are incredibly generous!

Go to the ePOP page to read about past competitions, watch past videos, and read the regulations for your entry.  You can also write to us at thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr, and we’ll forward your mail to Planète Radio.

The competition closes 12 September. We expect to be bombarded with entries from the English speakers!

Facebook: Be sure to send your photos to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr for the RFI English Listeners Forum banner!

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 to subscribe to see all our videos.

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 counseled 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.  Please keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our excellent 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!

This week’s quiz: On 6 July, I asked you a question about France’s snap legislative elections, called by President Emmanuel Macron after his centrist party was severely trounced by the far-right National Rally Party in the European legislative elections.

The first round of voting was on 30 June; voter turnout was quite high. You were to consult RFI English journalist Jessica Phelan’s article “The three-way factor that makes France’s election results so unusual” and send in the answer to these two questions: What was voter turnout on Sunday 30 June, and in which year was it last that high? 

The answer is: As Jessica wrote in her article: “The last three parliamentary elections have seen turnout of roughly 48 percent (2022), 49 percent (2017) and 57 percent (2012) in the first round, which effectively meant parties had to win a higher share of ballots cast to get across the threshold.

On the 30th of June turnout reached almost 67 percent – its highest since 1997.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “Given unlimited resources, what scientific or medical problem would you investigate, and why?”

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Lata Akhter Jahan from Bogura, Bangladesh. Lata is also the winner of this week’s bonus question. Congratulations, Lata, on your double win.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Ras Franz Manko Ngogo, the president of the Kemogemba RFI Club in Tarima, Tanzania, and Nirupa Bain, a member of the RFI Pariwer Bandhu Shortwave Club in Chhattisgarh, India.

Last but not least, two RFI Listeners Club members: Sakawat Hossain from Sylhet, Bangladesh, and Solomon Fessahazion from Asmara, Eritrea.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Polovtsian Dances” from the opera Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin, arranged for marimba ensemble by Fumito Nunoya and performed by the Nunoya Marimba Ensemble; “I’ve Got Rhythm” by George Gershwin, performed by Django Reinhardt and the Quintette du Hot Club de France; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and  “Un jour tu verras” by Georges van Parys and Marcel Mouloudji, sung by Mouloudji.

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 “Paralympic torch arrives in France ahead of opening ceremony”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 23 September to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 28 September podcast. When you enter be sure to 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.

Click here to learn how to 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,  

Azerbaijan showcased its military might in a grand parade in Baku last year to celebrate its victory in recapturing the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave from Armenian-backed forces.

Azerbaijan, buoyed by its oil wealth, is continuing its aggressive rearmament programme, heavily relying on Turkey for military support.

“The Turkish defence industry and Turkish military equipment will be providing further arms to protect Azerbaijan,” predicts Huseyin Bagci, a professor of international relations at Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.”

However, Bagci noted that Azerbaijan is also turning to another ally for advanced weaponry.

“Israel is much better in this respect. Azerbaijan buys the highest technology from Israel, and Israel is providing it.”

Turkish and Israeli arms played a crucial role in Azerbaijan’s recent military successes, overwhelming Armenian-backed forces that relied on outdated Russian equipment.

Armenia’s response

In response to its loss of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia is also ramping up its military capabilities, with France leading the supply of new, sophisticated weaponry.

Paris argues that this support helps Armenia shift its focus away from Russian reliance and towards Western alliances.

Yerevan maintains that its rearmament is purely for self-defence.

“Right now, there is no military parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” says Eric Hacopian, a political consultant in Armenia.

“The goal is to create deterrents to make any aggression against Armenia more costly. In the medium term, we aim for equality, and in the long term, superiority.”

Stalled peace talks

The rearmament comes amid stalled peace talks, with Baku concerned that Yerevan’s military buildup might indicate ambitions to retake Nagorno Karabakh.

“The truth is our territory was under occupation, so we worry that in five, 10 years, Armenia will rearm its military, strengthen military capacities, and will come back,” warned Farid Shafiyev, chairman of the Baku-based Centre of Analysis of International Relations.

Yerevan maintains that its rearmament is purely for self-defence.

“Right now, there is no military parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The goal is to create deterrents in the short run to make any aggression against Armenia far more costly than it has been in the past,” says Eric Hacopian, a political consultant in Armenia.

“Two is to create equality in the middle term and in the long term superiority. You can’t have any other goal when your country is constantly under threat, or attack is the only way to respond to it.”

Hacopian also notes: “The moment Armenia can defend itself, then the game is up because Ilham Aliyev is not going to risk a war that he is not guaranteed to win; Armenia rearming means he is not guaranteed to win a war which he means he won’t launch one.”

However, Hacopian acknowledges that the coming year will be dangerous for the region as Yerevan seeks to close the military gap with Azerbaijan.

“Next year is the year of living dangerously because next year is the last year that they can do a major aggression against Armenia without having to face the consequences because the gap is closing. Once it closes, the game will be up,” he says.

Ongoing tensions

Earlier this month, Armenian and Azerbaijani forces exchanged fire in a border skirmish, underscoring the ongoing tensions between the two nations.

Both Baku and Yerevan insist their military enhancements are for defensive purposes.

However, Bagci warns that the arms race is turning the region into a potential flashpoint.

“Armenia and Azerbaijan are like two children; they play with fire, and the house is burning, and everybody is asking the big powers why the house is burning and who has done it. They have done it together,” he says.

Despite their rearmament, both Armenia and Azerbaijan claim to remain committed to the US-backed peace process.

Analysts, however, warn that the escalating arms race could deepen mutual suspicions and further complicate efforts to achieve lasting peace.

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!

The ePOP video competition is open!

The ePOP video competition is sponsored by the RFI department “Planète Radio”, whose mission is to give a voice to the voiceless. ePOP focuses on the environment and how climate change has affected “ordinary” people. You are to create a three-minute video about climate change, the environment, pollution – told by the people it affects.

You do not need expensive video equipment to enter the competition. Your phone is fine.  And you do not need to be a member of the RFI Clubs to enter – everyone is welcome. And by the way – the prizes are incredibly generous!

Go to the ePOP page to read about past competitions, watch past videos, and read the regulations for your entry.  You can also write to us at thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr, and we’ll forward your mail to Planète Radio.

The competition closes 12 September. We expect to be bombarded with entries from the English speakers!

Facebook: Be sure to send your photos to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr for the RFI English Listeners Forum banner!

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 to subscribe to see all our videos.

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 counseled 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.  Please keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our excellent 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!

This week’s quiz: On 29 June, I asked you a question about France’s snap elections for the lower house of Parliament, the National Assembly. President Emmanuel Macron had just dissolved the Assembly after his party was rather severely trounced in the European Parliament elections by the far-right National Rally party.

The first round of voting was on 30 June, and the candidates were, as I noted then, promising the moon to voters … you were to listen to Sarah Elzas’ report on her Spotlight on France podcast, and send in the answer to this question: What did the National Rally party say they would do in July to decide what they can or cannot do, as far as their economic promises to the voters?

The answer is: As Romeric Godin told Sarah on the podcast: “Many of the spending proposals put forward by Bardella and the RN are predicated on an audit of the country’s finances, planned as of July, which would determine what can (and cannot) be done.

“That’s a traditional way to say ‘We can’t implement some promises we made before, because public finances are not in order’,” says Godin, skeptical that the RN will be able to deliver.

For Godin, the economic audit offers a way out: “They can say that if the report on France’s public finances is very bad, they will not do it in the autumn, or at all.”

The fiscal information is all there, no audit is necessary.  France’s Cour des Comptes, the country’s independent and supreme audit institution, publishes a monthly report on the country’s finances. It’s not a secret document. It’s online, and everyone can read it.

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “What do you remember about your first day at your first job?”, which was suggested by Mokles Uddin Mollahis from Bogura, Bangladesh.

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

The winners are: RFI English listener Rafiq Khondaker, the president of the Source of Knowledge Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh. Congratulations, Riaz, on your double win.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Ferhat Bezazel, the president of the RFI Butterflies Club Ain Kechera in West Skikda, Algeria, and RFI Listeners Club member Hans Verner Lollike from Hedehusene, Denmark. Last but not least, there are RFI English listeners Liton Ahamed Mia, from Naogaon, Bangladesh, and Malik Muhammad Nawaz Khokhar from the Sungat Radio Listeners Club in Muzaffargarh, Pakistan. 

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Sous le ciel de Paris” by Hubert Giraud and Jean Dréjac, sung by the one and only Edith Piaf; the traditional valse-musette “A Happy Day in Paris” performed by AccordionMan; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Hymne à l’Amour” by Marguerite Monnot and Edith Piaf, sung by Céline Dion.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate.

You have until 16 September to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 21 September podcast. When you enter be sure to 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.

Click here to learn how to 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,  

In a world increasingly dominated by Western beauty standards promoted through pop culture and the global beauty industry, the Decolonising Beauty campaign seeks to challenge narrow perceptions and showcase the multifaceted beauty traditions in Africa.

The campaign uses a multi-platform approach to reach a broad audience of English and French speakers in Africa and around the world.

A series of initiatives from the campaign will be announced until the end of the year involving photographers, artists, poets, media makers and content creators.

Zikora Media & Arts founder Chika Oduah tells us more.

• Read also: French lawmakers vote in favour of bill to ban hair discrimination

Episode mixed by Cécile Pompéani

Spotlight on Africa is a podcast from Radio France Internationale

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.