Every year, around 120,000 seasonal workers are hired to handpick grapes that are grown across 34,000 hectares of the eastern region, known for its trademark sparkling wine.

But working conditions during the September-October harvest are infamously poor, especially for migrant labourers. 

Maxime Toubart, who heads the Champagne winegrowers’ association SGV, says that this year, the “entire sector is mobilised” to improve the situation.

‘Harvest of shame’

Unions dubbed 2023 “the harvest of shame” after the death of four people due to sunstroke and reports of migrant workers living in appalling conditions.

Since then, three temporary housing facilities have been shut down for being “dirty” and “unfit for habitation”.

In November 2023, Prosecutors opened two probes into suspected human trafficking after around 200 Ukrainian and other foreign workers were found living in poor conditions during routine checks.

One contractor will be taken to court in March 2025 as a result of the first investigation. The second is still underway.

Migrant workers describe squalor and exploitation on Champagne vineyards

Local outreach

This year, 22 labour inspectors and 84 police have been deployed to oversee the harvest on a daily basis, according to the local Marne prefecture.

Local NGOs are also on the ground – including the Epernay Prevention Club, which aims to protect vulnerable and marginalised groups, and is working in tandem with national employment agency France Travail to provide outreach to seasonal workers arriving at Epernay train station.

“As soon as people get off the train from Paris, or the north, we meet them and tell them where to go to get recruited,” the club’s director, Corinne Vallard, told France 3 television.

“This means they avoid having to hang around in the park all day, where they risk being exploited by unscrupulous would-be employers.”

In the cellars of Maison Ruinart, the oldest champagne producer in France

Sophie Degrave, a social worker with the NGO, told reporters that migrant workers were suspicious of their presence at first and often reluctant to talk.

“They have trouble telling us who they are, where they’re from, what they are trying to do and whether or not they have work papers,” she says. Only gradually, she says, do they realise that she and her colleagues are there to help, not turn them in to the authorities.

France Travail sets up contracts for those who have come to find work, according to Christelle Marquez, director of the employment agency’s local branch.

Workers’ rights

Meanwhile unions are focusing on making sure conditions are respected once workers reach the vineyards.

For the second year running, the local CGT trade union has been visiting vineyards and handing out flyers to inform grape-pickers of their rights, including the minimum hourly wage, the limit on working hours and mandatory breaks.

The leaflets come in eight languages including Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Italian and French.

“If they have problems, there are emergency numbers and we will support them,” said CGT representative Sandrine Calvi. “French and foreign employees must have the same rights.”

Bad year for Italian grapes makes France the world’s top wine producer

According to the rules, harvesters are paid the gross hourly minimum wage for days of ten hours maximum and are entitled to one day of weekly rest.

Harvest contracts usually run for one month and are renewed if necessary.

Jose Blanco, secretary general of the Champagne CGT, said some of the migrant workers had been offered €30 per day when they should be making around €80.

Deputy secretary general Philippe Cothenet said the union would also send representatives to inspect working conditions.

“Hundreds and hundreds of service companies come to Champagne during the harvest period and some are unscrupulous about labour laws, so we are always careful,” he told public media France Bleu.

Subcontractors ‘like mushrooms’

Unions point to the proliferation of intemediaries offering to recruit short-term labour on behalf of producers, who sometimes turn a blind eye to working and living conditions.

Such subcontractors pop up “like mushrooms solely for the harvest, and take advantage of the misery of seasonal workers to exploit them”, said Mélanie Matoux, who represents the FO union at the Burtin champagne house.

Many fail to provide proper housing for the workers they bring in, the CGT’s Blanco told news agency AFP.

“We are still finding camps in the woods,” he said.

Established champagne houses insist that they take care of their temporary workforce.

Moët & Chandon says 1,900 of its 3,500 seasonal workers are provided with modern lodgings close to the vines. On average, workers there earn between €1,200 and €2,000 for a 10-day stint.

(with AFP)

A statement by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group on Saturday said Nasrallah “has joined his fellow martyrs,”  and vowed to “continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine“.

One of the best known and most influential figures in the Middle East, Nasrallah had led Hezbollah for more than three decades but had not been seen in public for many years due to fears Israel would assassinate him.

His death marks a major blow to Hezbollah as it faces an escalating campaign of Israeli attacks.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a statement earlier on Saturday that Nasrallah was killed in a “precise” attack carried out by Israel’s air force on Friday in Beirut, describing the leader as “one of the greatest enemies of the State of Israel of all time”.

Ali Karki, the commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front and other commanders were also killed, the Israeli military said, describing them as “legitimate military targets under international law”. 

Israel’s Chief of Staff said that the elimination of Nasrallah was “not the end of our toolbox,” indicating that more strikes were planned.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said six people were killed and 91 injured in the strikes, which levelled six apartment buildings.

France’s foreign ministry said it was in contact with the Lebanese authorities and France’s partners in the region to prevent any escalation.

“The security and protection of civilians must be guaranteed, including that of French people in the region, which is also our priority,” it added.

Hezbollah’s Nasrallah: the most powerful man in Lebanon

Regional outrage

The Palestinian militant group Hamas in a statement issued condolences to its ally, Hezbollah. Nasrallah frequently described launching rockets against northern Israel as a “support front” for Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza.

It added that “assassinations will only increase the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine in determination and resolve”.

Iran, the main supporter of Lebanese Hezbollah and other militant groups in the region, confirmed Nasrallah’s death on state television. 

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on Muslims to help fight Israel, saying Lebanon’s Hezbollah would play a major role in deciding “the fate of the region”, state media reported him as saying.

Reuters news agency reported that Khamenei has been transferred to a secure location in Iran under heightened security, according to regional officials. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who came to power with the backing of Iran-backed political factions, declared a three-day period of mourning in his country. 

Support for Gaza

Hezbollah began firing rockets on Israel in support of Gaza on 8 October, a day after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 people and abducting another 250.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has since killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas Health Ministry.

Since 8 October, Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in cross-border strikes that have gradually escalated and displaced tens of thousands of civilians on both sides of the border.

France calls for emergency UN meeting amid Middle East crisis as Israeli strikes continue

Hostilities escalated dramatically last week when thousands of explosives hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah detonated, killing dozens of people and leaving thousands, including many civilians, severely injured.

Israel is widely believed to be behind the attack.

Israel has also killed several top Hezbollah commanders in Beirut in recent weeks.

A total of 1,030 people – including 156 women and 87 children – have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon in less than two weeks, the country’s health minister said Saturday. 

(with newswires)

A search was underway for the suspects, national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said in a statement on Saturday.

The victims were 15 women and two men, she said. An eighteenth victim is in a critical condition in hospital.

The shootings took place in the early hours of Saturday in the town of Lusikisiki in Eastern Cape province in southeastern South Africa.

Video released by police showed that the shootings occurred at two houses in the same neighborhood – a collection of rural homesteads on the outskirts of the town.

Twelve women and a man were killed in one house and three women and a man were killed in the other house, police said.

“A manhunt has been launched to apprehend those behind these heinous killings,” Mathe said.

“The South African Police Service has launched an extensive search to bring those responsible for these brutal killings to justice. We are committed to ensuring the safety and security of our communities.” 

Children among the victims

Local media Dispatch Live reported the victims were believed to be relatives and neighbours who had gathered to prepare for a traditional ritual to mark the end of mourning of a mother and daughter murdered a year ago.

Local Ingquza Hil mayor Nonkosi Pepping was quoted saying: “The gunmen came and shot randomly killing everyone. Women and children were also killed in the bloody shooting.

“This has left the community terrified.”

South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, and mass shootings have become increasingly common in recent years, sometimes targeting people in their homes.

Contract killings come cheap in South Africa

Ten members of the same family, seven of them women and one a 13-year-old boy, were killed in a mass shooting at their home in the neighboring KwaZulu-Natal province last April.

(with newswires)

Out of a total 161 lawmakers, 116 voted on Friday to amend the electoral law to strip Tunisia’s administrative court of its power to rule on electoral disputes.

It comes just days ahead of presidential polls on 6 October.

Demonstrators gathered outside parliament on Friday to protest the amendment, holding placards saying “Assassination of Democracy” and “Rigged election”.

Civil rights activists and opposition parties, including the Free Destourian Party, whose leader Abir Moussi is in jail, called for protests on Saturday.

“We are witnessing the capture of the state days before the vote,” political activist Chaima Issa said. “We are at the peak of absurdity and one-man rule.”

Tunisia voters give President near unchecked power in low turnout referendum

Court and electoral commission at loggerheads

The draft law removes the power of the administrative court, which is widely seen as Tunisia‘s last independent judicial body, after Saied dissolved the Supreme Judicial Council and dismissed dozens of judges in 2022.

The court has clashed with the electoral commission (ISIE), whose members are chosen by Saied.

ISIE has barred three presidential hopefuls from running against Saied in the 6 October polls.

The court overturned that decision in August and called for the disqualified candidates to be reinstated, arguing the legitimacy of the presidential election was in question.

ISIE has ignored the court and allowed only two candidates – businessman Ayachi Zammel and former parliamentarian Zouhair Maghzaoui – to run against Saied.

Tunisia’s President purges 57 judges, tightening grip on judiciary

In a statement issued Friday, lawmakers said that they had drafted the bill over “discord” with the court’s ruling that granted the barred candidates their appeals.

They argue the court is no longer neutral and could annul the election and plunge Tunisia into chaos and a constitutional vacuum.

Critics argue that Saied is using the electoral commission and the judiciary to secure victory by stifling competition and intimidating rivals. 

Saied was democratically elected in 2019, but then tightened his grip on power and began ruling by decree in 2021.

(with newswires)

At the UN, Erdogan again compared Israel to Hitler, calling for an “international alliance of humanity” to stop Israel as it did Hitler 70 years ago. However, such fiery rhetoric is finding a shrinking audience.

“It’s more conveying a message to their own base”, said Sezin Oney of the Turkish news portal Politikyol. “There isn’t an audience that really sees Turkey or Erdogan as the vanguard of Palestine rights anymore. On the contrary, that ship sailed long ago.”

Erdogan attempted to boost his image as a powerful regional player by meeting with the Lebanese and Iraqi Prime Ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. But Ankara is increasingly finding itself sidelined as a regional diplomatic player.

“Ankara‘s pro-Hamas approach has only marginalised Turkey in the international arena,” said international relations expert Selin Nasi of the London School of Economics. “So we see Egypt and Qatar receiving credits for their roles as mediators. And Turkey is locked out of international diplomatic efforts.”

Since Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent Gaza campaign, Ankara has tried to position itself among international mediating efforts to end the fighting, given its close contacts with Hamas.

Turkish youth finds common cause in protests against trade with Israel

Mediation efforts

“Turkey was asked by the United States to speak with Hamas people”, said international relations expert Soli Ozel at Vienna’s Institute for Human Studies.

However, Ozel says the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran denied Erdogan his diplomatic trump card.

“One big blow to Turkey has been the murder of Haniyeh, with which Turkey did have very close relations. For all I know, he may even have had a Turkish passport”, said Ozel.

“And I really don’t think Turkey has any relations or contacts with Yahya Sinwar, who is officially and effectively the leader of Hamas”.

With Israel already alienated by Erdogan’s fiery rhetoric along with Turkey imposing an Israeli trade embargo, Gallia Lindenstrauss of Tel Aviv‘s National Security Studies says Turkey has nothing to offer.

Turkey flexes naval muscles as neighbours fear escalating arms race

“There are two main mediators in this conflict: Egypt and Qatar. They’re the two actors that have leverage over Hamas. Turkey, despite its very open support of Hamas, has very little leverage on Hamas’s decisions,” said Lindenstrauss.

“So Turkey is not effective – it doesn’t have the money to push Hamas in a certain direction, it doesn’t have the political leverage over Hamas to push it in the right direction. In practice …Turkey is not very efficient.

“So I don’t think it’s a mistake that Turkey is not part of this [mediation] process.”

Ankara has been quick to point out that existing mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel have achieved little, with the conflict now spreading to Lebanon.

However, some experts claim Ankara’s diplomatic sidelining has a broader message of Arab countries pushing back against Turkey’s involvement in the region.

“None of the Arab countries would like to get Turkey involved in this process,” said international relations expert Huseyin Bagci, of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

“Turkey could be considered by their views as the enemy of Israel, but it is artificial. The Middle East Arab-Israeli conflict since 1948 has been an Arab-Israeli conflict, not a Turkish-Israeli conflict.”

Turkey and Egypt bury the hatchet with a dozen new bilateral deals

Regional ambitions

For more than a decade, Erdogan has sought to project Turkey’s influence across the Middle East, often referring to the years of Ottoman rule as the halcyon days of peace and tranquillity.

But the latest Middle East war has ended such dreams, analyst Ozel said.

“The Turkish government thought that they could dominate the Middle East. They played the game of hegemony seeking, and they lost it,” Ozel explained.

“When they lost it, Turkey found itself way behind [the position] it had prior to 2011 when their grandiose scheme of creating a region which would be dominated by Turkey began.”

As the Israel-Hamas war threatens to escalate across the region, Erdogan’s rhetoric against Israel will likely continue. But analysts warn that outside of the leader’s conservative base at home, few others in the region will be receptive.

From disinformation campaigns to soaring scepticism, plummeting trust and economic slumps, the global media landscape has been hit with blow after blow.

World News Day, taking place on Saturday with the support of hundreds of organisations including AFP, aims to raise awareness about the challenges endangering the hard-pressed industry.

In 2022, Unesco warned that “the business model of the news media is broken”.

Advertising revenue – the lifeline of news publications – has dried up in recent years, with Internet giants such as Google and Facebook owner Meta soaking up half of that spending, the report said.

Meta, Amazon and Google’s parent company Alphabet alone account for 44 percent of global ad spend, while only 25 percent goes to traditional media organisations, according to a study by the World Advertising Research Centre.

Platforms like Facebook “are now explicitly deprioritising news and political content”, the Reuters Institute’s 2024 Digital News Report pointed out.

Traffic from social to news sites has sharply declined as a result, causing a drop in revenue.

Few are keen to pay for news. Only 17 percent of people polled across 20 wealthy countries said they had online news subscriptions in 2023.

Such trends, leading to rising costs, have resulted in “layoffs, closures, and other cuts” in media organisations around the world, the study found.

France’s world photojournalism festival brings life on the margins into frame

Eroding trust

Public trust in the media has increasingly eroded in recent years.

Only four in 10 respondents said they trusted news most of the time, the Reuters Institute reported.

Meanwhile, young people are relying more on influencers and content creators than newspapers to stay informed.

For them, video is king, with the study citing the influence of TikTok and YouTube stars such as American Vitus Spehar and Frenchman Hugo Travers, known for his channel HugoDecrypte.

Growing disinformation

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has renewed concerns about disinformation – rife on social platforms – as the tool can generate convincing text and images.

In the United States, partisan websites masquerading as media outlets now outnumber American newspaper sites, the research group NewsGuard, which tracks misinformation, said in June.

“Pink slime” outlets – politically motivated websites that present themselves as independent local news outlets – are largely powered by AI. This appears to be an effort to sway political beliefs ahead of the US election.

As part of a national crackdown on disinformation, Brazil’s Supreme Court suspended access to Elon Musk‘s X, formerly known as Twitter.

The court accused the social media platform of refusing to remove accounts charged with spreading fake news, and flouting other judicial rulings.

“Eradicating disinformation seems impossible, but things can be implemented,” Reporters Without Borders (RSF) editorial director Anne Bocande told AFP.

Platforms can bolster regulation and create news reliability indicators, like RSF’s Journalism Trust Initiative, Bocande said.

Russia to block EU media outlets including Le Monde, El Pais, Der Spiegel

Alarming new player

AI has pushed news media into unchartered territory.

US streaming platform Peacock introduced AI-generated custom match reports during the Paris Olympics this year, read with the voice of sports commentator Al Michaels – fuelling fears AI could replace journalists.

Despite these concerns, German media giant Axel Springer has decided to bet on AI while refocusing on its core news activities.

At its roster, which includes Politico, the Bild tabloid, Business Insider and Die Welt daily, AI will focus on menial production tasks so journalists can dedicate their time to reporting and securing scoops.

In a bid to profit from the technology’s rise, the German publisher as well as The Associated Press and The Financial Times signed content partnerships with start-up OpenAI.

But the Microsoft-backed firm is also caught in a major lawsuit with The New York Times over copyright violations.

‘Quiet repression’

With journalists frequently jailed, killed and attacked worldwide, “repression is a major issue,” said RSF’s Bocande.

A total of 584 journalists are languishing behind bars because of their work – with China, Belarus and Myanmar the world’s most prolific jailers of reporters.

The war in Gaza sparked by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel has already left a “terrible” mark on press freedom, Bocande added.

International investigation reveals ‘attack on press freedom’ in Gaza conflict

More than 130 journalists have been killed by Israeli airstrikes since 7 October, 2023, including 32 while “in the exercise of their duties”.

She said a “quiet repression” campaign is underway in countries around the world, including in democracies – with investigative journalism hampered by fresh laws on national security.

(AFP)

Technological solutions such as more sustainable fuels won’t make enough of a difference on their own to keep France on track to meet the targets set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement, according to green coalition Réseau Action Climat (“Climate Action Network”).

“It is imperative to reduce air traffic now,” the group says in a report released on Thursday, pointing out that the aviation industry generated 7 percent of France’s carbon dioxide emissions in 2019.

It is calling for a “frequent flyer tax” that would work in the opposite way to the air miles loyalty system: the more a passenger flies, the more they pay for a ticket.

According to the network’s modelling, the measure would “reduce emissions from the aviation sector by 13.1 percent, while shifting most of the burden onto the most regular passengers and generating 2.5 billion euros in revenue”.

France to invest in low-emission planes, sustainable aviation fuels

Revival of railways

The group argues it would also help to finance improvements to France’s rail system and “improve tax fairness” by charging plane passengers according to distance, just as those who travel by car have to pay a tax on fuel.

Its other proposals include banning private jets, getting rid of short-haul flights and introducing a quota of one return flight per person per year.

According to its report, air travel is used “mainly by well-off, educated, young, urban people to go on holiday”.

The wealthiest 20 percent of households in France account for 42 percent of air travel emissions, the vast majority for leisure purposes, the study said, citing a government survey from 2018.

France brings in watered-down ban on short-haul domestic flights

Speaking before the French parliament’s law committee this week, police prefect Nuñez said algorithmic video surveillance had “proved its usefulness”.

Describing the results of the Olympic security experiment as positive, Nuñez said he wants to see AI surveillance extended to other sporting and cultural events across France.

A 2023 law passed for the Paris Games already authorises potential use of AI surveillance until 31 March 2025.

The technology uses artificial intelligence programmes to analyse images recorded by surveillance cameras.

As the system processes video footage, it automatically identifies “abnormal” events, such as a person falling in the street or movements in a crowd that suggest panic. It does not rely on facial recognition.

• France approves algorithmic video surveillance to safeguard Olympics

Rights implications

Despite law enforcement’s assurances that its use will be limited, rights groups fear that AI surveillance could lead to serious abuses.

“When people know they are being watched, they tend to modify their behaviour, to censor themselves and perhaps not to exercise certain rights,” Katia Roux, a specialist in technology and rights issues with Amnesty International, told RFI.

“Any surveillance in a public space is an interference with the right to privacy,” she said.

“Under international law, it must be necessary and proportionate to a legitimate objective … It is up to the authorities to demonstrate that there is no less intrusive way of guaranteeing security. This has not been demonstrated.”

Another criticism concerns the artificial intelligence on which algorithmic video surveillance is based. The technology has been developed with data that potentially contains discriminatory biases, which it in turn may amplify.

“In other countries that have developed this type of surveillance of public spaces, we see it being used to disproportionately target certain groups of the population that are already marginalised,” Roux said.

• Top tech leaders and researchers call for ‘pause’ in AI race

‘Foot in the door’

Above all, civil liberties organisations fear that experimenting with algorithmic video surveillance will pave the way for more intrusive forms of use.

Security analysts say it’s a “foot in the door” that heralds more problematic applications of AI – such as facial recognition – in the near future.

In 2012, the London Olympics saw the massive deployment of surveillance cameras in the streets of the UK capital.

Six years later, the Football World Cup in Russia provided an opportunity to experiment with facial recognition, which is still in place today.

The French government is due to submit a report on the use of AI video surveillance to parliament by the end of this year.

The government needs to expand its “legal arsenal” and build more prisons, the 63-year-old said. And “all measures” must be used to bring down immigration.

Retailleau, the only high-profile arrival into President Emmanuel Macron‘s new government, nailed his conservative colours to the mast just days after becoming interior minister.

His appointment as the “premier flic” (top cop) of France is emblematic of the rightward shift of the government under new Prime Minister Michel Barnier following this summer’s legislative elections that resulted in a hung parliament.

Like Barnier, Retailleau does not come from Macron’s centrist movement but the traditional right-wing Republicans Party (LR) and even then from its most conservative side.

Formerly head of LR lawmakers in the upper house Senate, the always crisply dressed Retailleau carved out a reputation as a hardliner on social issues.

He opposed gay marriage, the inscription of the right to abortion in the French constitution and, most recently, new legislation on the right to die.

The post of interior minister in France has long been seen as a launch pad for tough-talking politicians.

Nicolas Sarkozy used the post to become president, Manuel Valls went on to become prime minister and Retailleau’s predecessor Gerald Darmanin, 41, makes no secret of his ambition.

Unlike them, Retailleau is not seen as harbouring presidential ambition.

But he has made clear his goals for his tenure at interior ministry headquarters in the luxurious 18th-century mansion on Place Beauvau in central Paris.

‘I believe in order’

In his first television interview after taking office, Retailleau vowed on Monday to “take all measures” to “reduce immigration to France“.

“I have an objective because like millions of French, I think massive immigration is not good for France and not even good for these migrants,” he told the TF1 broadcaster.

Refusing to rule out France following Germany in restoring controls on its Schengen European borders, Retailleau also vowed to reform a social aid system that allows foreigners without residency the right to free medical care.

“I have three priorities. Restore order. Restore order. Restore order,” Retailleau said Monday at his handover ceremony with Darmanin. His predecessor, in office since 2020, visibly bristled beside him.

Retailleau this week also confronted the fallout from the rape and murder of a 19-year-old student, named as Philippine, in the Bois de Boulogne park outside Paris.

The main suspect is a Moroccan man who was subject to a French deportation order. He was arrested in Switzerland.

Authorities need to “develop our legal arsenal to protect the French”, said Retailleau. “If we have to change the rules, let’s change them.”

Traditional French right-wing politicians like Retailleau see themselves as the inheritors of the legacy of postwar leader Charles de Gaulle.

They are deeply mindful of the rising popularity of the French far right under three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, and its encroachment on their territory.

Even if he has not yet outlined the specific reforms he is considering, “Bruno Retailleau will want to symbolise a new, tougher approach through a few measures, to set himself apart from Gerald Darmanin”, said political scientist Bruno Cautres.

Sources have said that Barnier, a former EU Brexit negotiator appointed by Macron to end weeks of political crisis, insisted on the appointment of Retailleau as interior minister over that of another right-wing heavyweight Laurent Wauquiez.

There was even an initial plan by Barnier to create a ministry of immigration, although this was later scrapped.

‘Further divide society’

Retailleau’s approach has already caused tensions within the government in a spat with new Justice Minister Didier Migaud, the only leftwinger in the government, after he complained that too many short sentences were not being served in jail and more prisons should be built.

Retailleau should know that “the judiciary is independent in our country”, the justice minister responded.

An umbrella group of NGOs called the Federation of Solidarity Actors has already lashed out at Retailleau’s stance on immigration, saying he was using the “words” of the “far right”.

“We hope that Bruno Retailleau and the government will not employ approaches and measures that will only further divide society,” Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, a former Socialist education minister who now heads the France terre d’asile (France Land of Asylum) NGO, told AFP.

“Kenya will deploy the additional contingent towards attaining the target of all the 2,500 police officers by January next year,” Ruto told the UN General Assembly on Thursday.

“Kenya and other Caribbean and African countries are ready to deploy, but are hindered by insufficient equipment, logistics and funding,” he added.

Ruto also called on member states to “stand in solidarity with the people of Haiti by providing necessary support”.

The three-month-old security force to combat spiralling insecurity in the Caribbean nation is currently spearheaded by a Kenyan-led multinational policing operation. Changing it into a UN-mandated force would require a Security Council vote.

Criminal gangs control more than 80 percent of the capital Port-au-Prince, as well as key roads around the country.

UN force?

Edgard Leblanc Fils, the head of the transitional council currently governing Haiti, told the UN General Assembly this week he “would like to see a thought being given to transforming the security support mission into a peacekeeping mission under the mandate of the United Nations”.

Leblanc Fils said that such a change would allow for the challenge of funding the mission to be resolved, while helping “to strengthen the commitment of member states to security in Haiti”. 

“I am convinced that this change of status, whilst recognising that the errors of the past cannot be repeated, would guarantee the full success of the mission in Haiti,” he said.

The United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti, deployed from 2004 to 2017, was tarnished by accusations of sexual abuse by peacekeepers and the force’s accidental introduction of cholera, which killed some 10,000 people.

The United States has also backed consideration of putting the new force under the UN flag to ensure a predictable source of funding.

But the move faces daunting odds in the Security Council, where China and Russia hold veto power.

• Kenya supports turning Haiti mission into formal UN peacekeeping operation
• Kenya-led mission to Haiti faces scrutiny as UN mandate deadline looms

‘We’re nowhere near winning’

A draft UN Security Council resolution extending the mandate of the security mission contains a call “to consider” transforming the deployment into a UN-mandated peacekeeping mission and is due to be debated Monday.

Haiti’s interim Prime Minister Garry Conille warned Wednesday that “we’re nowhere near winning this” as he stressed the battle against the gangs would not be successful without outside help.

On Wednesday, the United States announced the disbursement of $160 million of additional aid for Haiti, bringing the total amount of US aid to the country to $1.3 billion since 2021.

Leblanc Fils said Haiti still needed “much more in terms of personnel and also equipment to be able to solve the security problems and allow elections to take place”.

Washington has also announced sanctions against two Haitians linked to the country’s powerful gangs.

(with AFP)

The legal definition of rape in France includes the notions of “violence, coercion, threat or surprise”, but makes no mention of “consent”.

Asked if he would back such a move on the France Inter radio station, Migaud replied: “yes”.

Women’s rights advocates have called for the law to be tightened by including the concept, so that all sex without consent would be considered rape.

They say only a tiny fraction of rapes or attempted rapes lead to a conviction.

President Emmanuel Macron in March also signalled he would back changing the law to include “consent”.

Shocking trial

The notion has since early September been at the heart of a mass rape trial that has shocked France.

Dominique Pelicot, 71, has admitted to drugging his wife to rape her while unconscious and inviting dozens of strangers to join in for almost a decade.

He and 50 co-defendants are being tried in the southern city of Avignon, in a trial to last until December.

Mass rape trial revives question of consent within French law

Many of the accused have claimed they were led to believe they were taking part in a couple’s fantasy.

During hearings, some defendants have reluctantly acknowledged that Gisele Pelicot had not given them her consent.

Gisele Pelicot, now 71 and divorced, has received praise for demanding the trial be open to the public to raise awareness about the use of drugs to facilitate sexual abuse.

Spain in 2023 approved new legislation, dubbed the “Only yes means yes” law, under which all non-consensual sex is rape.

Sweden, Greece, Denmark and Finland have also passed similar laws.

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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 bilingual 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.

Remember, podcasts are radio, 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 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 August, I asked you a question about the 2024 Paris Paralympics Games, which had just opened with a parade on the Champs-Élysées and a grand show on Place de la Concorde, designed by the Games artistic director Thomas Jolly. You were to re-read our article “Paralympic torch arrives in France ahead of opening ceremony” and send in the answer to this question: How many athletes will compete in how many events?

The answer is, to quote our article: “During the Games, around 4,400 athletes will compete in 549 events, which will take place in 18 competition sites, including 16 identical to their Olympic counterparts.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “With whom do you feel the happiest, and why?”, suggested by Jayanta Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India.

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

The winners are: Razia Khalid, who’s a member of the RFI Seven Stars Radio Listeners Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan. Razia is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations, Razia!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are M. N. Sentu, a member of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, and RFI Listeners Club member Kashif Khalil from Faisalabad, Pakistan.  

Last but certainly not least, two RFI English listeners from Bangladesh: Shahanoaz Parvin Ripa, the president of the Sonali Badhon Female Listeners Club in Bogura, and Shihab Uddin Khan from Naogaon.

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: Traditional music from the Middle Ages; the Allegro from the Piano Sonata K. 545 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by Gabriel Tacchino; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, sung by Cécile McLorin Salvant.

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, listen to Alison Hird’s report on political compromise in France on the Spotlight on France podcast no. 115, or consult her article “Where did France’s culture of political compromise go, and is it coming back?”, both of which will help you with the answer. 

You have until 21 October to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 26 October 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,  

The iconic five-coloured rings – 29 metres long and 15 metres high – were placed between the first and first floors of the iron structure of the Eiffel Tower on 7 June ahead of the Paris Olympics this summer.

Since the end of the Games, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, has repeated her wish to keep the Olympic symbols on the monument until the opening of the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

However, the descendants of Gustave Eiffel have rejected the idea, insisting the rings are aesthetically in conflict with the concept and design of the Tower.

The 30-tonne rings initially installed on the Eiffel Tower were also not designed to withstand winter weather conditions.

• Eiffel Tower given the Olympic treatment as ring display unveiled
• Eiffel’s descendants call for Olympic rings to be moved to LA

Plan to install ‘lighter rings’

The City of Paris and the International Olympic Committee – as respective owners of the Eiffel Tower and the Olympic logo – say they are working on new, lighter and more durable rings.

Pending the installation of the new structure, smaller rings were hung from the Iéna Bridge, located just in front of the historic monument.

Hidalgo’s plan to keep the rings in place until 2028 has met with strong criticism from heritage campaigners – as well as Eiffel’s descendants – who believe that keeping the Olympic logo would be an affront on the 135-year-old tower, which they say was not designed to display “an advertising sign”.

This week’s visit by the French president, his second since he came to power, was also an opportunity for the two leaders to set aside for a moment their respective domestic political challenges.

“France and Canada share a beautiful common language and shared values,” Trudeau said on Thursday, adding it was important to spread these values and have “a positive impact in these times of great challenges.”

“We have an extremely aligned agenda. We believe in open economies, we believe in the decarbonisation of our economies,” said Macron.

The two nations also announced they would strengthen their defense partnership and support for Ukraine.

The meeting of the prime minister, 52, and his guest, 46, who both embodied a new generation of young, optimistic leaders, comes as both are now experiencing political headwinds.

French PM defends Ceta trade deal on visit to Canada, despite lawmakers’ rejection

At a 2017 G7 summit in Italy, shortly after Macron’s election, their chumminess – dubbed a diplomatic “bromance” – spurred global headlines.

But seven years later, Macron is in a weakened position, having lost legislative elections that he himself called, forcing him to share power with a right-wing prime minister.

Trudeau, abandoned by his main leftist ally and unpopular after nine years in office, survived a motion of no confidence on Wednesday, hours before Macron landed.

Lebanon ceasefire

At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Macron and Trudeau called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon.

“Israel must stop its strikes and Hezbollah must stop its retaliation,” said the French president, adding that he does not want to see Lebanon become “the new Gaza“.

The French leader faced a tense confrontation with protesters who were critical of France’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Shouting “Shame on you” and accusing Macron of having “blood on his hands,” the protesters voiced anger over what they saw as France’s tacit support for Israeli military actions.

A Palestinian woman, who said she lost her daughter in the conflict, accused Macron of complicity in what she called “genocide” in Gaza.

Macron engaged with the demonstrators, responding in English. He denied the claims, insisting that France is calling for a ceasefire and has not supplied arms to Israel.

However, his explanations did little to calm the protesters, some demanding he “resign” if he cannot effect change.

After the encounter, Macron continued his visit, meeting with Quebec Premier François Legault.

Speaking to journalists later, he acknowledged the deep emotions surrounding the Gaza conflict but criticised the “unacceptable” comments made by the protesters.

French language

Earlier in the day, Macron discussed the revival of French language and culture in Canada – where it is in decline – with stakeholders.

The French language must not only “resist,” but “we can continue to inoculate it in the younger generations,” he told francophones from English-speaking provinces.

Canada is a bilingual country but Quebec is the only province with a French-speaking majority.

Quebec has a French community of nearly 200,000 people.

(with AFP)

The DRC, represented by Samuel Mbemba, Deputy Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, is seeking to condemn Rwanda for alleged aggression in the region, including looting, rapes and massacres.

Kinshasa hopes to secure reparations from Kigali. A preliminary hearing was being held on Thursday in the court in Arusha, Tanzania.

Rwanda’s Foreign Minister, Olivier Nduhungirehe, said the DRC should first focus on delivering justice “to the victims of the FARDC” — the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo — and “those of the FDLR” — the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a rebel group opposed to the Rwandan government — before “giving lessons on justice”.

Nduhungirehe also criticised what he described as “media and judicial posturing” and “constant insults from the Congolese Minister of Justice” directed at Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

• Rwandan forces and M23 rebels accused of shelling civilians in DR Congo

The case follows calls from Mbemba for legal action over Rwanda’s role in the conflict.

In addition to the East African Court, Rwanda faces charges before the African Court on Human and People’s Rights. These actions are part of the DRC’s broader effort to hold Rwanda accountable for regional instability.

The Congolese government is also pushing for the International Criminal Court to speed up its investigation into Rwanda’s actions in the eastern DR Congo.

To further bolster these efforts, the government has launched a campaign called “Justice for the DRC” aimed at raising global awareness and demanding justice for victims of the conflict.

(with newswires)

Central and Eastern European countries are increasingly questioning the multicultural ideals promoted by Western Europe, the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) conclude.

Their report, published on Wednesday, suggests that these countries, which joined the EU more recently, are challenging the bloc’s self-image by highlighting a more ethnic and nationalist view of European identity.

Entitled Welcome to Barbieland – a nod to the rose-tinted “Barbieland” in Greta Gerwig’s 2023 blockbuster film – the report identifies three key “blind spots” across the bloc and argues their intersection risks eroding or radically altering EU sentiment.

Euroscepticism might stem from a sense of humiliation at having to conform to Western standards, the report’s author, Pawel Zerka, told RFI – adding this sentiment has evolved significantly in recent years.

“It’s as if Central and Eastern Europe had to prove that they’re sufficiently European, and as if it were Brussels, Paris and Berlin that had to say, ‘Yeah, you are good Europeans now, because you have reformed your countries like we told you to’.”

Goodbye UK, hello Ukraine

The war in Ukraine has reinforced certain views about Russia and NATO while increasing scepticism towards Western European foreign policy, Zerka added.

“It has proved to people in Poland and the Baltic states that they were right when it comes to their perception of Russia, the importance they attached to NATO and the scepticism that they had towards Paris and Berlin regarding foreign policy.”

As a result, these countries are now more engaged in the EU’s Migration Pact by welcoming Ukrainian refugees, a shift from their stance during the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis.

The departure of the United Kingdom from the EU has shifted the concept of “Europeanness” towards a more ethnically homogeneous view. Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are now being considered for EU membership, further altering the bloc’s demographic landscape.

Lack of diversity

Zerka criticises the exclusion of non-white and Muslim Europeans from political representation, pointing to the recent rise of far-right parties in the European Parliament.

This underrepresentation, coupled with rising xenophobia, has exacerbated feelings of alienation among minority groups, particularly in France, where systemic discrimination and anti-immigrant sentiment are prevalent.

“I find it troubling that non-white Europeans – as well as Muslim Europeans – very often serve as scapegoats for Europe’s problems,” he said.

France’s Muslim population has also found itself grappling with how the EU’s alignment with Israel and the repression of pro-Palestinian protests contrasts with the lived experiences of many of its citizens.

The ‘anti-boomer’ generation

The report highlights growing disillusionment among younger Europeans, who are increasingly turning to non-mainstream and radical parties.

Like other EU member states, France must also confront the reality that younger generations may be losing faith in the European project that was founded by the “baby-boomer” generation.

France’s under-35 population has shown low voter turnout in recent elections. However, in this year’s European elections, younger French voters were also increasingly drawn to the National Rally and other non-mainstream alternatives.

• Macron says Europe must ‘wake up’ to counter rise of the far right

Zerka is calling for a reinvigoration of the EU’s core values of diversity and inclusivity, urging leaders to resist far-right rhetoric and to foster broader political participation.

Concerning the younger electorate, which represents one-sixth of the voting population, there are two potential scenarios, he said: “Either they will no longer find the European Union interesting, because the main parties in the EU simply do not show any interest in their concerns … or young people could increasingly veer towards voting for the far-right.”

Lure of alternative parties

The rise of young, radical leaders, such as Jordan Bardella of the National Rally, poses a significant challenge for mainstream political parties in France. These new faces of populism are effectively engaging young voters, especially through digital platforms.

“Bardella not only made it to the European Parliament but also brought several other young people with him,” said Zerka, adding that the National Rally has brought the largest number of under-30s to the Strasbourg-based assembly.

• French far right makes immigration focus of EU election campaign

However, young people across France and other countries are not only flocking to the far right but also showing support for other non-mainstream parties, such as the radical left in France or green and libertarian parties elsewhere.

This shift does not necessarily indicate that young people are inherently anti-European or xenophobic, Zerka said. Rather, it reflects their disillusionment with traditional political structures that seem unresponsive to their concerns.

Presidents Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York late Wednesday as they voiced fears that the conflict, after a year of bloodshed in Gaza, would escalate into a full-blown regional war.

The situation in Lebanon has become “intolerable” and “is in nobody’s interest, neither of the people of Israel nor of the people of Lebanon”, a joint statement released by the White House said.

“We call for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement.”

The statement was issued jointly with Western powers, Japan and key Gulf Arab powers – Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot earlier unveiled the proposal at an emergency Security Council session.

“There has been important progress in the past few hours,” Barrot said.

“We’ve been working since the start of the week in New York on a diplomatic solution with our American friends in particular.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and warned that “hell is breaking loose”.

Israel said it welcomed diplomacy on Lebanon but did not commit to a ceasefire, vowing to pursue its goal of degrading Hezbollah.

“We are grateful for all those who are making a sincere effort with diplomacy to avoid escalation, to avoid a full war,” Israel’s envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told reporters before entering the session.

• France calls for emergency UN meeting amid Middle East crisis as Israeli strikes continue

“We will use all means at our disposal, in accordance with international law, to achieve our aims.”

The violence comes after the failure to reach a ceasefire in Gaza where Israel for nearly a year has been seeking to wipe out another Iranian ally, Hamas, which carried out the deadliest attack ever on Israel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Tehran, which in recent weeks has held back on retaliatory strikes on Israel after attacks targeting Iranian interests, may no longer be restrained.

“The region is on the brink of a full-scale catastrophe. If unchecked, the world will face catastrophic consequences,” he told reporters.

Hezbollah holds powerful influence within long-turbulent Lebanon. The country’s foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, asked by reporters if a ceasefire was possible, said: “Hopefully yes.”

(with newswires)

Since M23 captured Sake and moved closer to Goma earlier this year, artillery and rocket fire have hit camps and densely populated areas around the city at least five times, the organisation said.

The fighting around Goma has seen both sides commit abuses, including killing and raping civilians and blocking humanitarian aid, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published on 26 September.

The violence has affected over half a million displaced people seeking shelter in the area.

In January 2024, the Rwandan Defence Force (RDF) and M23 advanced towards Sake, cutting off key supply routes to Goma, which is just 25 kilometres away.

Since then, M23, backed by Rwanda, has gained more control in North Kivu, marking its largest territorial expansion since resurfacing in 2021, HRW said.

On 3 May, between 10 and 11am, at least three rockets hit camps 15 kilometres west of Goma. HRW reports that the shelling came from positions held by the Rwandan army and M23 northwest of Sake in the DRC. Seventeen civilians were killed, including 15 children.

“As fighting between Rwandan and Congolese forces with their allied militias, edges closer to Goma, civilians and displaced populations are increasingly trapped in the crossfire and deprived of vital aid,” said Clémentine de Montjoye, an Africa researcher with HRW.

“Both Rwanda and Congo must cease support for armed groups that violate the laws of war and ensure the protection of civilians.”

• Slim prospects for peace as DRC-Rwanda ceasefire comes into effect

Between May and July 2024, HRW researchers visited several camps around Goma, including Bulengo, Bushagara, and Mugunga, interviewing 65 people, including survivors and witnesses. They also reviewed satellite images, photos, and videos of the attacks to analyse artillery positions and assess the damage to civilian areas.

HRW submitted its findings to both Rwandan and Congolese authorities but did not receive a response.

As the violence escalates, the number of displaced people in North Kivu has soared to about 2.4 million. The use of heavy artillery by the Rwandan military and M23 rebels has led to indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, raising concerns about violations of international humanitarian law.

In August, Médecins Sans Frontières reported that more than one in 10 young women in Goma’s displacement camps had been raped between November 2023 and April 2024, with that figure reaching 17 percent in some camps.

(with newswires)

The clashes began at dawn, several residents reported, in what appeared to be the army’s first major offensive in months to regain parts of the capital controlled by its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Sudanese army forces were “waging fierce fighting against the rebel militia inside Khartoum“, a source in the military told AFP, referring to the RSF.

The source, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said army forces had crossed three key bridges over the Nile River – which had separated parts of the capital held by the army from those under RSF control.

Since April 2023, when war broke out between the forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the paramilitaries had pushed the army nearly all the way out of Khartoum.

UN Security Council extends arms embargo on Sudan’s Darfur

Following its last major offensive in February, the army regained much of Omdurman, the capital’s twin city just across the river, and part of greater Khartoum.

Several residents of Omdurman reported “intense artillery shelling” which started early on Thursday, with bombs falling on residential buildings while military warplanes flew overhead.

Since the war began, much of its worst fighting has been in densely populated areas, with both sides accused of indiscriminately bombing residential areas.

The war has already killed tens of thousands of people, with estimates ranging from 20,000 to 150,000 and most of the dead unaccounted for, according to medics.

It has also displaced more than 10 million people – a fifth of Sudan‘s population – and created one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent memory, according to the United Nations.

Native Americans from French Guiana and Suriname were recently in Paris to demand the restitution of the remains of six of their ancestors who died after being exhibited in so-called human zoos. Corinnne Toka Devilliers, whose great-grandmother Moliko was exhibited at the capital’s Jardin d’Acclimatation in 1892 but survived, describes holding a shamanic ceremony at the Museum of Mankind to prepare her fellow Kali’na for the voyage home. But there are still legal obstacles to overcome before the remains can leave the Parisian archives where they’ve spent the past 132 years. (Listen @3’30”)

Until recently, French villages with fewer than 2,000 residents did not need to name their streets – but legislation that came into effect this summer now requires them to identify roads to make it easier for emergency services and delivery people to find them. While not all villages have jumped at the opportunity, we joined residents in a hamlet in the south of France as they gathered to decide their new street names. And geographer Frederic Giraut talks about how the law is impacting the culture and heritage of small, rural localities. (Listen @21’53”)

The closely watched trial of a man accused of drugging his wife and inviting others to rape her while she lay unconscious at their home in southern France has become a rallying cry for those who say society needs to change the way it thinks about sexual assault. Fifty years ago, another rape case caused similar outcry – and led to changes in how France prosecutes and defines rape. (Listen @13’25”)

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).

China’s Defence Ministry had announced the rare trial on Wednesday, saying that the missile was carrying a dummy warhead and “fell into expected sea areas”.

The launch sparked protests from countries in the region, with Japan saying it had not been given advance notice, and Taiwan expressing “solemn condemnation”.

Australia said it was seeking an explanation, while New Zealand called the launch “an unwelcome and concerning development”.

French Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson earlier told AFP that “the missile fell not far from … the Marquesas Islands”, an archipelago that is part of its exclusive economic zone.

“The Chinese authorities previously notified their French counterparts of this test,” the French High Commission said in a statement – adding that France would make its position on the test known.

The Pentagon also said the United States received “some advanced notification of this ICBM test”, describing this as “a step in the right direction” that would help prevent “misperception or miscalculation”.

China’s military on Thursday released imagery of the missile, showing the projectile soaring into the air in a plum of smoke from an undisclosed location.

The Chinese Defence Ministry described the test launch as a “routine arrangement in our annual training plan” than is “in line with international law and international practice and is not directed against any country or target”.

Analysts said the imagery suggested the launch could be of a Dongfeng-31 AG ICBM, unveiled during a military parade in 2017.

• China expands military might as far as French borders with Solomon Islands pact.

Nuclear development

Beijing has stepped up its nuclear development and boosted defence spending in recent years, with the Pentagon warning last October that China was developing its arsenal more quickly than the United States had anticipated.

China held more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023 and is likely to have more than 1,000 by 2030, the Pentagon said.

But analyst Benjamin Ho, of Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said Beijing was clearly trying to signal its strength.

“It sends a signal to the US and its allies… that China has the military ability to react in the event of any escalation of tensions between the United States and China,” he told the French press agency AFP.

(with newswires)

At the UN, Erdogan again compared Israel to Hitler, calling for an “international alliance of humanity” to stop Israel as it did Hitler 70 years ago. However, such fiery rhetoric is finding a shrinking audience.

“It’s more conveying a message to their own base”, said Sezin Oney of the Turkish news portal Politikyol. “There isn’t an audience that really sees Turkey or Erdogan as the vanguard of Palestine rights anymore. On the contrary, that ship sailed long ago.”

Erdogan attempted to boost his image as a powerful regional player by meeting with the Lebanese and Iraqi Prime Ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. But Ankara is increasingly finding itself sidelined as a regional diplomatic player.

“Ankara‘s pro-Hamas approach has only marginalised Turkey in the international arena,” said international relations expert Selin Nasi of the London School of Economics. “So we see Egypt and Qatar receiving credits for their roles as mediators. And Turkey is locked out of international diplomatic efforts.”

Since Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent Gaza campaign, Ankara has tried to position itself among international mediating efforts to end the fighting, given its close contacts with Hamas.

Turkish youth finds common cause in protests against trade with Israel

Mediation efforts

“Turkey was asked by the United States to speak with Hamas people”, said international relations expert Soli Ozel at Vienna’s Institute for Human Studies.

However, Ozel says the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran denied Erdogan his diplomatic trump card.

“One big blow to Turkey has been the murder of Haniyeh, with which Turkey did have very close relations. For all I know, he may even have had a Turkish passport”, said Ozel.

“And I really don’t think Turkey has any relations or contacts with Yahya Sinwar, who is officially and effectively the leader of Hamas”.

With Israel already alienated by Erdogan’s fiery rhetoric along with Turkey imposing an Israeli trade embargo, Gallia Lindenstrauss of Tel Aviv‘s National Security Studies says Turkey has nothing to offer.

Turkey flexes naval muscles as neighbours fear escalating arms race

“There are two main mediators in this conflict: Egypt and Qatar. They’re the two actors that have leverage over Hamas. Turkey, despite its very open support of Hamas, has very little leverage on Hamas’s decisions,” said Lindenstrauss.

“So Turkey is not effective – it doesn’t have the money to push Hamas in a certain direction, it doesn’t have the political leverage over Hamas to push it in the right direction. In practice …Turkey is not very efficient.

“So I don’t think it’s a mistake that Turkey is not part of this [mediation] process.”

Ankara has been quick to point out that existing mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel have achieved little, with the conflict now spreading to Lebanon.

However, some experts claim Ankara’s diplomatic sidelining has a broader message of Arab countries pushing back against Turkey’s involvement in the region.

“None of the Arab countries would like to get Turkey involved in this process,” said international relations expert Huseyin Bagci, of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

“Turkey could be considered by their views as the enemy of Israel, but it is artificial. The Middle East Arab-Israeli conflict since 1948 has been an Arab-Israeli conflict, not a Turkish-Israeli conflict.”

Turkey and Egypt bury the hatchet with a dozen new bilateral deals

Regional ambitions

For more than a decade, Erdogan has sought to project Turkey’s influence across the Middle East, often referring to the years of Ottoman rule as the halcyon days of peace and tranquillity.

But the latest Middle East war has ended such dreams, analyst Ozel said.

“The Turkish government thought that they could dominate the Middle East. They played the game of hegemony seeking, and they lost it,” Ozel explained.

“When they lost it, Turkey found itself way behind [the position] it had prior to 2011 when their grandiose scheme of creating a region which would be dominated by Turkey began.”

As the Israel-Hamas war threatens to escalate across the region, Erdogan’s rhetoric against Israel will likely continue. But analysts warn that outside of the leader’s conservative base at home, few others in the region will be receptive.

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: 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 bilingual 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.

Remember, podcasts are radio, 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 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 August, I asked you a question about the 2024 Paris Paralympics Games, which had just opened with a parade on the Champs-Élysées and a grand show on Place de la Concorde, designed by the Games artistic director Thomas Jolly. You were to re-read our article “Paralympic torch arrives in France ahead of opening ceremony” and send in the answer to this question: How many athletes will compete in how many events?

The answer is, to quote our article: “During the Games, around 4,400 athletes will compete in 549 events, which will take place in 18 competition sites, including 16 identical to their Olympic counterparts.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “With whom do you feel the happiest, and why?”, suggested by Jayanta Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India.

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

The winners are: Razia Khalid, who’s a member of the RFI Seven Stars Radio Listeners Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan. Razia is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations, Razia!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are M. N. Sentu, a member of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, and RFI Listeners Club member Kashif Khalil from Faisalabad, Pakistan.  

Last but certainly not least, two RFI English listeners from Bangladesh: Shahanoaz Parvin Ripa, the president of the Sonali Badhon Female Listeners Club in Bogura, and Shihab Uddin Khan from Naogaon.

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: Traditional music from the Middle Ages; the Allegro from the Piano Sonata K. 545 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by Gabriel Tacchino; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, sung by Cécile McLorin Salvant.

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, listen to Alison Hird’s report on political compromise in France on the Spotlight on France podcast no. 115, or consult her article “Where did France’s culture of political compromise go, and is it coming back?”, both of which will help you with the answer. 

You have until 21 October to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 26 October 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,  

Native Americans from French Guiana and Suriname were recently in Paris to demand the restitution of the remains of six of their ancestors who died after being exhibited in so-called human zoos. Corinnne Toka Devilliers, whose great-grandmother Moliko was exhibited at the capital’s Jardin d’Acclimatation in 1892 but survived, describes holding a shamanic ceremony at the Museum of Mankind to prepare her fellow Kali’na for the voyage home. But there are still legal obstacles to overcome before the remains can leave the Parisian archives where they’ve spent the past 132 years. (Listen @3’30”)

Until recently, French villages with fewer than 2,000 residents did not need to name their streets – but legislation that came into effect this summer now requires them to identify roads to make it easier for emergency services and delivery people to find them. While not all villages have jumped at the opportunity, we joined residents in a hamlet in the south of France as they gathered to decide their new street names. And geographer Frederic Giraut talks about how the law is impacting the culture and heritage of small, rural localities. (Listen @21’53”)

The closely watched trial of a man accused of drugging his wife and inviting others to rape her while she lay unconscious at their home in southern France has become a rallying cry for those who say society needs to change the way it thinks about sexual assault. Fifty years ago, another rape case caused similar outcry – and led to changes in how France prosecutes and defines rape. (Listen @13’25”)

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).

In Istanbul’s conservative Uskudar district overlooking the Bosphorus waterway, activists from the group 1,000 Youth for Palestine recently gathered to protest the killing by Israeli security forces of the Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.

But along with chants condemning Israel, the demonstrators also attacked Erdogan and his government for Turkey’s continuing trade with Israel.

“I am here to force the Turkish government to stop the oil trade with Israel and to stop genocide,” declared Gulsum, a university academic who only wanted to be identified by her first name for security reasons.

“This is not just a public demand. It’s also a legal obligation for Turkey to stop genocide.”

Since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, the student-based group has directed its protests at the export of Azerbaijani oil to Israel by way of a Turkish port.

It also targets Turkish companies – many of which have close ties to Erdogan – that it accuses of circumventing the trade embargo by using third parties.

Turkey talks tough on Israel but resists calls to cut off oil

Unifying cause

The group uses social networks to broadcast its message, getting around government-controlled media.

The activists say they have received broad support that crosses Turkey’s traditional divides of religious and secular.

“When it comes to Palestine, it is a story that we all unite about,” said Gizem, a university student and 1,000 Youth for Palestine member.

“There are those who define themselves as socialists and those who define themselves as Islamists. There are also apolitical youth who say ‘I don’t like politics’, but still join us.”

While Erdogan presents himself as a stalwart defender of the Palestinian cause, police are cracking down on the protests.

One of the group’s Palestinian members was arrested after activists disrupted a panel discussion on Israel hosted by the state broadcaster. She now faces deportation in a case that has provoked further protests.

Images of police arresting headscarf-wearing members of the group further embarrassed Erdogan and his religious base.

Protests escalate in Turkey over Azerbaijani oil shipments to Israel amid embargo

‘Divide and rule’

Sezin Oney, a commentator for Turkey’s Politikyol news portal, says the group’s diversity poses a problem for Erdogan, given he has often sought to exploit the deep divisions between religious and secular voters when facing attack.

She argues that 1,000 Youth for Palestine’s ability to bridge those gaps is indicative of a wider change in Turkish society.

“It’s actually portraying the current youth of Turkey – you don’t have monolithic circles in the grassroots,” explains Oney.

“You have a mixture: hybrid groups of conservatives, conservative-looking, but very progressive,” she says. “Such hybrid groups are coming together because of a cause, but ideologically or background-wise or social class-wise, they may be very diverse.

“And that’s something threatening for the government. Because the government is embarking on divide and rule.”

Persistent political headache

Erdogan lost heavily in local elections earlier this year, a defeat widely blamed both on economic problems and anger over Turkey’s ties to Israel.

The 1,000 Youth for Palestine activists say they hope to continue to build on those results. 

“The reason for our success is that we put our finger on the right spot. We expose the hypocrisy of both the capitalists, the corporations and the government,” claims Murat, a university student who belongs to the group.

“People also saw this hypocrisy and thought that someone should speak out, and they supported us a lot because of that,” he added. “We will unite as the people of Turkey and continue to stand in the right place in history to stop the massacre in Palestine.”

The diversity of 1,000 Youth for Palestine is seen as its main strength, which is why it will likely continue to pose a political headache for Erdogan. Yet it may also offer hope that the deep divides in Turkish society can be bridged.

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: 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 bilingual 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.

Remember, podcasts are radio, 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 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 24 August, I told you a story about a sign I saw on a French highway this summer. On most highways across France, there are illuminated signboards that tell you if there’s an accident ahead, encourage you to take a break from driving, or remind you of the speed limit. The messages change according to what information is deemed necessary for drivers.

During the Olympic games, the signs said: “Remember: 130 kilometres per hour … speed is for Léon”. You were to write in and tell me who Léon is, and why the French said speed was OK for him.

The answer is: Léon is that French human fish, Léon Marchand. He won four Gold Medals in swimming this year … the 200-meter medley, 200-metre breaststroke, the 200-metre butterfly, and the 400-metre medley. He became the sixth Olympic swimmer to win four gold medals at a single Games.

Léon Marchand is the world record holder in the long course 400-metres individual medley; the Olympic record holder in the 200-metres butterfly, the 200-metres breaststroke, and the 200-metres individual medley; and the French record holder in the long course 200-metre individual medley, 200-metre butterfly and 200-metre breaststroke.

The young man is fast – watching him swim was incredible. See why the French government would tell us to be careful with our speed, but Léon could go as fast as he wished?

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by Hans Verner Lollike from Hedehusene, Denmark: “The Paris 24 Olympic Games are over, but if you had a chance to win a Gold Medal, in which sport would it have been?”

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Alan Holder from the Isle of Wight, England. Alan is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations, Alan!

Saleem Akhtar is a winner this week. Saleem is the president of the RFI Seven Stars Radio Listeners Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan.

Pakistan! Congratulations on your amazing javelineer, Arshad Nadeem. Nadeem made history for Pakistan by becoming the first Pakistani to win an individual Olympic gold medal. Not only that, but he set an Olympic record with his throw of 92.97 meters… the sixth-longest throw in history. Mubarak, Arshad! Mubarak, Pakistan!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are RFI Listeners Club members Rodrigo Hunrichse from Ciudad de Concepción, Chile; Helmut Matt from Herbolzheim in Germany, and Father Steven Wara, who lives in the Cistercian Abbey in Bamenda, in Cameroon’s North West Region.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Imagine” by John Lennon; the waltz op. 64 No. 1 in D flat, the “Minute Waltz” by Frédéric Chopin, performed by Arthur Rubinstein; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Pocket Piano” by DJ Mehdi.

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 “France’s foreign ministry unveils two-year gender equality strategy”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 14 October to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 19 October 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,  

While floods are devastating West Africa, about 68 million people in southern Africa are suffering the effects of an El Nino-induced drought which has wiped out crops across the region. 

Nearly 68 million suffering from drought in southern Africa

Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho, Namibia, and Zambia are facing severe drought conditions, leading to widespread devastation. The impact is stalling economic growth and raising serious concerns about food security in the region. 

Zimbabwe to cull elephants to tackle drought, food shortages

In Zambia, the drought that has gripped southern Africa since early this year has led to rolling power cuts in a country that relies heavily on hydropower.

Some inhabitants, however, have already turned to solar power as an alternative.

To discuss how it can help, we speak this week with John Keane, CEO of the UK-based charity SolarAid, from the Zambian capital Lusaka. 

He explains how sales of solar products have increased by more than 540 percent since the beginning of 2024, and what the social enterprises are doing to spread awareness among Zambians and avoid the use of charcoal or candles.     

Episode mixed by Nicolas Doreau  

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.