“In total, we have jointly gathered $800 million in humanitarian aid,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told participants as the conference closed.

He added that there were a further “$200 million for the security forces” bringing the total to “even more than a billion … with the latest contributions”.

The total far outstrips both France’s target of €500 million and the €400 million originally requested by the UN for Lebanon, where Barrot said over 2,500 people had been killed and “almost one million” displaced in fighting since late September.

Israel launched a ground offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon after a year exchanging fire over the border following the 7 October, 2023 attack by Hamas.

But while there were repeated calls for a ceasefire, diplomatic progress in Paris was limited by the absence of key players Israel and Iran, while America was represented only by a deputy to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Ministers and officials from over 70 countries and international organisations, including the European Union and acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati attended Thursday’s conference.

“We have risen to the occasion” with financial support, Barrot told participants, with major pledges including €100 million euros from France, €95 million from Germany and at least €17 million from Britain.

Diplomatic solution needed

Nevertheless, “we cannot limit ourselves to a humanitarian and security response… we have to bring about a diplomatic solution,” Barrot added.

France, which has historic ties to Lebanon and hosts a large Lebanese diaspora, is pushing alongside the US for a 21-day ceasefire to give space to find a more lasting truce.

Paris wants a a return to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which sealed the end of the last Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.

“The war must end as soon as possible, there must be a ceasefire in Lebanon,” Macron said, sitting alongside Mikati.

The Lebanese government chief in turn called on “the international community to hold together and support efforts… to implement an immediate ceasefire”.

As well as stipulating that the only armed forces on Lebanon’s border with Israel should be UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army, the resolution says no foreign forces should enter Lebanon without the government’s consent.

That was why participants pledged support for Lebanese troops, with Macron saying Paris would “contribute to equipping the Lebanese army”.

France backs UN peacekeepers in Lebanon amid Israel’s Hezbollah offensive

Massive displacement

Speaking remotely, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also called on participants to “strengthen their support to (Lebanon’s) state institutions, including the Lebanese armed forces”.

A ceasefire can only be agreed with involvement from Israel and Hezbollah’s backer Iran, neither of whom were invited Thursday.

Hezbollah must “stop its provocations… and indiscriminate strikes” against Israel, Macron said.

Although Israel has eliminated Hezbollah leaders over recent weeks, it “knows from experience that its military successes do not necessarily represent victory in Lebanon,” Macron said.

The war has displaced a million people in the country, killed over 2,500 and deepened an economic crisis.

The International Organization for Migration says many now in overcrowded shelters, while others have fled across the border into Syria.

“Anything that does not bring about an immediate end to the destruction and killing would make this summit a failure,” Bachir Ayoub, aid group Oxfam’s Lebanon chief, said before the conference ended.

Accountability

Oxfam was among over 150 aid groups to denounce on Thursday “flagrant disregard for international law by the international community” over Israel’s military actions in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.

“Without accountability, there will be no red lines.”

UN Development Program chief Achim Steiner warned that Lebanon’s economy was “beginning to collapse under the pressure of this conflict,” predicting a contraction of more than nine percent this year if the war continues.

That could hamper efforts to build up Lebanon’s institutions and especially its armed forces “to preserve the country’s unity, stability and sovereignty” as France’s Barrot hoped.

“Resolution 1701… remains the cornerstone of stability and security in southern Lebanon,” Mikati said, echoing France’s view.

Conference participants may offer training, equipment and funding to keep the Lebanese army functioning and allow new recruitment so it is strong enough to do its job.

(with newswires)

Watson, who had been living in France until his July 21 arrest, filed the request on Wednesday, said Tamalet, who coordinates the 73-year-old’s defence team.

The request “makes total sense when you realise that since 1977 he’s been giving everything to protect the marine ecosystem, whereas France has the second-largest coastline in the world,” Tamalet added.

Watson was arrested when his ship docked to refuel in Nuuk, the capital of the Danish Arctic territory, on its way to intercept a Japanese whaling vessel in the North Pacific, according to his foundation.

He is being held on a 2012 Japanese arrest warrant that accuses him of causing damage to a whaling ship in the Antarctic in 2010 and injuring a whaler.

Outcry in France as Greenland keeps anti-whaling crusader Paul Watson in jail

West Africa’s endorsement of commercial whaling alarms green groups

Greenland extended the detention of Watson – a prominent marine wildlife conservation activist – on Wednesday.

French Energy and Ecological Transition Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said Thursday that France would call for Paul Watson’s release by the Danish authorities.

“The allegations against him, from our point of view, do not justify detention,” she told broadcaster FranceInfo.

Watson had previously written to French President Emmanuel Macron to ask for political asylum.

French officials have previously urged Copenhagen not to extradite him but have said that a person must be in France to file an asylum claim.

Watson, a master mariner, was one of the founding members of Greenpeace. He went on to create Sea Shepherd and then the Captain Paul Watson Foundation.

The Arlit uranium mine in northern Niger is operated by its local subsidiary Somaïr – Orano owns 63.4 percent and the Nigerien state-owned Sopamin the rest.

Orano, which owns 63.4 percent of Somaïr, announced on Wednesday that the company would stop operations from 31 October, citing Somaïr’s worsening financial situation.

The closure of the main export corridor between Niger and Benin has left 1,050 tonnes of uranium concentrate from the 2023 and 2024 stockpiles stranded.

Orano estimates the value of the blocked uranium at €300 million, representing almost half of the site’s average annual production.

Orano said it had explored various options to unblock exports, including airlifting uranium via Namibia. However, “all the proposals made to the Nigerien authorities have remained unanswered”, the company said.

Despite describing the suspension as a “temporary measure”, Orano expressed concern over the impact on Somaïr’s employees and subcontractors.

The site employs 780 workers and an equal number of subcontractors, 99 percent of whom are Nigerien. Workers will continue to be paid until 31 December 2024.

French uranium mine leaves 20 million tonnes of radioactive waste in Niger

Niger’s junta returns French-run uranium mine ‘back to public domain’

Strained relations

The suspension comes amid deteriorating relations between France and Niger. The junta, which seized power in July 2023, expelled French troops deployed to fight Islamist militants in December.

In June, it also withdrew Orano’s licence to operate the Imouraren mine, one of the world’s largest uranium deposits, leading to a €133 million loss in the first half of the year.

Last month, Niger’s Council of Ministers announced the creation of the state-run Timersoi National Uranium Company (TNUC), though details of its role remain unclear.

Orano (formerly Areva), which has been operating in Niger since 1971, still owns three mines in the country, but Somaïr was the last one still in production.

Despite the disruption in Niger, Orano assured that its uranium supply remains secure, pointing to alternative sources in Canada and Kazakhstan.

France’s EDF, which relies on 8,000 tonnes of uranium annually to power its 56 nuclear reactors, is not expected to face shortages.

Details of the spending were made public in an annex to France’s 2025 finance bill, which tracks public funding for sports. By contrast, the London 2012 opening ceremony cost just 30 million euros, raising questions about Paris’s big-budget approach.

The ceremony formed part of a broader Games budget that grew substantially during the event’s preparation and delivery. Total public spending on the event ballooned to at least 2.8 billion euros, French daily Le Monde reported after analysing the finance bill.

Initial forecasts put the public spending for the Paris Games at 1.47 billion euros. That figure was later bumped to 2.4 billion. However costs continued to climb, driven by infrastructure, security and extra add-ons.

The organising committee received 204 million euros in public funding, including a late addition of 33 million euros “to preserve the ambition of the Paralympic Games”, the report said.

Privacy fears grow as France extends AI surveillance beyond Olympics

The total budget for the Paris Olympics, including private funding from sources such as the International Olympic Committee, ticket sales and corporate partners, exceeded 4.4 billion euros.

The spending breakdown included 1.68 billion euros for Olympic infrastructure through Solideo, the public body responsible for delivering venues, and 579 million euros in additional investments.

These figures did not include various other expenses such as medal winner bonuses and free ticket distributions, according to the report.

While public contributions may seem small in comparison, critics say the costs add pressure to the state’s already strained finances.

The ceremony marked the first time in Olympic history that the opening event was held outside a stadium, with boats carrying athletes along a six-kilometre route through the heart of Paris.

Djokovic, who beat Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets in the 2023 final, failed to give details for his withdrawal on Thursday night.

“Wishing all the players, sponsors, organisers and fans a great tournament,” Djokovic wrote on social media.

“I have a lot of great memories, winning seven titles there, and hope to be back with you next year,” he added. “Sorry to everyone who was hoping to see me there.”

Djokovic’s last visit to Paris yielded a gold medal in the men’s singles at the Olympic Games.

It was the only piece of silverware missing from his vast trophy cabinet.

Jannik Sinner from Italy and Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz will lead the seedings for the final event in the Masters series – regarded as the most prestigious titles on the circuit after the four Grand Slam tournaments in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York.

French Open runner-up Alexander Zverev will be the third seed. Daniil Medvedev will take over Djokovic’s post at fourth seed.

Djokovic’s absence could also prove fatal for his chances to play at the eight-man end-of -season championships in Turin next month.

He is sixth in the race to compete at the elite tournament and could be overtaken by a number of players including Dimitrov, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur.

Last Thursday, the US Justice Department named Vikash Yadav as the Indian intelligence official and charged him for his alleged role in the June 2023 plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US citizen.

The Indian government responded, saying that it no longer employed Yadav.

His lawyers insisted on his innocence.

“The accusations are baseless and part of a larger international conspiracy against India,” media quoted lawyer R.K. Handoo as saying.

But US ambassador Eric Garcetti argued Yadav may have crossed a red line. “People in Washington will only be satisfied when accountability is achieved,” he said.

“I’d expect that the Indian system, just like the American system, knows that murder-for-hire plots are illegal and will hold people accountable.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington said the US will pursue Yadav for the plot against the Sikh separatist who on Monday warned of attacks on Air India flights next month.

Pannun, a US citizen, also warned India’s busiest international airport in Delhi will remain closed on 19 November.

Last year, US prosecutors in a first indictment named Yadav as co-conspirator. Weeks later, Yadav was arrested in India in unrelated cases.

Co-conspirator Nikhil Gupta was previously charged and extradited from the Czech Republic. The 53-year-old is incarcerated in the US.

Washington’s decision to charge Yadav is likely to spur tensions between India and the West, following the tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats from Canada and India.

Ruined ties

Ottawa expelled six Indian diplomats after police on 14 October named them as “persons of interest” in a probe into the June 2023 assassination of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Najjar in British Columbia.

India, denying the allegations, booted out six Canadian diplomats amid worsening ties with Canada, home to a 771,000-strong Sikh community.

The Canadian government also placed remaining Indian diplomats in country “on notice.”

“We will never tolerate the involvement of a foreign government threatening and killing Canadian citizens on Canadian soil, a deeply unacceptable violation of Canada’s sovereignty and of international law,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

He alleged Indian agents shot and killed Nijjar, a designated terrorist in India.

The list of allegations includes the purported use of criminal gangs by Delhi to carry out its work.

Details

Further details have not been given but Canada’s Foreign Minister, Mélanie Joly, insisted “ample, clear and concrete evidence” led to the government’s action.

On Monday, Indian Foreign Minister, Subramanyam Jaishankar, accused Canadian authorities of hypocrisy as Delhi asserted the allegations were designed to boost Trudeau’s domestic image.

“They seem to have a problem if Indian diplomats are even trying to make efforts to find out what is happening in Canada on matters which directly pertain to their welfare and security,” Jaishankar told a meeting.

“But look what happens in India. Canadian diplomats have no problem going around collecting information on our military, police, profiling people, targeting people to be stopped in Canada.

“So apparently, the licence that they give themselves is totally different from the kind of restrictions that they impose on diplomats in Canada,” Jaishankar added.

Bilateral ties have never been easy since Sikh militants in 1985 blew up an Air India plane with 329 people on board in the deadliest terror strike in Canada’s history.

The Sikh homeland drive, which claimed thousands of lives in India, waned in the 1990s but the Indian government fears separatists are trying to revive the campaign.

The survey, published on Thursday, shows that 47 percent of Muslims in 13 European countries, including France, reported facing discrimination over the past five years.

Several EU nations have seen a rise in both anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic acts since 7 October 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel and Israel launched a retaliatory offensive on Gaza on Gaza, the agency said.

“We are aware of reports from several EU countries, highlighting a spike in anti-Muslim hatred – as well as anti-Semitism – after the Hamas attacks,” FRA spokeswoman Nicole Romain told French news agency AFP.

But even before these events, the FRA report shows that “it was getting more difficult to be a Muslim in the EU”.

Nearly half of Muslims in the EU face racism and discrimination in their daily lives, “a sharp rise” from 39 percent found in the agency’s 2016 survey.

Cultural garment or religious symbol? Debate over France’s ban on abayas in school

Fuelled by conflicts

“We are witnessing a worrying surge in racism and discrimination against Muslims in Europe,” FRA director Sirpa Rautio said.

“This is fuelled by conflicts in the Middle East and made worse by the dehumanising anti-Muslim rhetoric we see across the continent,” Rautio added.

More than 9,600 Muslims in 13 EU countries were surveyed between October 2021 and October 2022.

Austria reported the highest rate of Muslim discrimination at 71 percent, followed by Germany at 68 percent and Finland at 63 percent. France was closer to the EU average, at 39 percent.

“Muslim women, men and children are targeted not just because of their religion, but also because of their skin colour and ethnic or immigrant background,” FRA noted.

Young Muslims born in the EU and women wearing religious clothing are particularly affected, it added.

The survey highlighted a surge in anti-Muslim racism in the job market, which has had a “knock-on effect on other areas of life, such as housing, education or healthcare.”

Two in five Muslims, or 41 percent, are overqualified for their jobs compared to 22 percent of the general population, FRA said.

Rights groups complain to UN over French police racial profiling

Economic pressure

A third of Muslim households struggle to make ends meet, compared to 19 percent of households overall. Muslims are also twice as likely to live in overcrowded housing, the survey found.

Many respondents also spoke of being subjected to random police checks based on racial profiling. About 27 percent of Muslims reported being stopped by the police in the past five years, with 42 percent of those believing the check was due to their ethnicity or immigrant background.

About 26 million Muslims live in the EU, making up about 5 percent of the total EU population, FRA said, citing the most up-to-date estimates available for 2016 from the Pew Research Centre.

Most live in France and Germany.

The number of Muslims in Europe has increased in recent years due to conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, FRA said.

In a July report, the agency warned that Europe’s Jewish community was also facing a “rising tide of anti-Semitism,” with the Middle East conflict “eroding” progress in the fight against it.

To address these issues, the FRA is urging EU countries to collect more data on anti-Muslim discrimination and to enforce existing anti-discrimination laws.

(with AFP)

OFF Radio Krakow introduced what it calls “the first experiment in Poland” where journalists are represented by AI-created virtual characters.

The programmes are hosted by three avatars – Jakub, Emilia and Alex – each with their own personality and interests. They’re aimed at engaging younger Gen Z listeners with topics like culture, art and LGBTQ+ issues. Even the music playlists are generated by AI.

“Is artificial intelligence more of an opportunity or a threat to media, radio and journalism? We will seek answers to this question,” station head Marcin Pulit said in a statement.

However there’s been backlash on social media after Mateusz Demski, a journalist and former host on the station, published an open letter on Tuesday protesting “the replacement of employees with artificial intelligence“. 

“It is a dangerous precedent that hits us all,” Demski wrote, warning that it could lead to a future where experienced media professionals and creatives are replaced by machines.

More than 15,000 people had signed his petition by Wednesday morning, Demski told The Associated Press. 

Listenership ‘close to zero’ 

Demski, who worked at OFF Radio Krakow from February 2022 to August this year, was one of about a dozen journalists laid off from the station, which is state-owned. He called the job cuts shocking.

But Pulit defended the layoffs, saying: “No employee or co-worker of OFF Radio Kraków has been fired due to the use of AI tools,” adding that the station’s audience was “close to zero”.

Pulit explained that since the station began in 2015, it had mainly been an automated music station with just two hours of live programming and a few original music shows each week.

The layoffs, he said, were not due to AI but because collaboration contracts with external contributors ended in August.

Uncertain future for ‘broken’ news industry hobbled by distrust and AI fears

Krzysztof Gawkowski, Poland’s minister of digital affairs, joined the debate on Tuesday, saying on X that while he supports AI development, boundaries are increasingly being crossed.

“The widespread use of AI must be done for people, not against them!” he wrote, calling for regulation.

On the same day, the station aired an “interview” between an AI-generated presenter and a voice pretending to be Wisława Szymborska, the late Polish Nobel Prize-winning poet.

Michał Rusinek, president of the Wisława Szymborska Foundation, told TVN that he had allowed the station to use Szymborska’s name.

He said the poet, who died in 2012, had a sense of humour and would have liked it.

(with AP)

Global warming made the seasonal downpours this year about 5-20 percent more intense across the Niger and Lake Chad basins, said World Weather Attribution (WWA), a group of scientists studying the link between climate change and extreme weather.

In a study published Wednesday, it also said such intense rainfall could occur annually if warming continues.

“Spells of heavy summer rainfall have become the new normal in Sudan, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad,” said Izidine Pinto, one of the study’s authors and a researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.

“These results are incredibly concerning,” he said, warning that “with every fraction of a degree of warming, the risk of extreme floods will keep increasing.”

He called for the UN’s Cop29 climate summit to “accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels” when it meets in Azerbaijan next month.

This year’s floods killed around 1,500 people and displaced over 1 million more in West and Central Africa, according to the UN aid agency OCHA. The rainfall also overwhelmed dams in Nigeria and Sudan.

Deadly floods in Sudan displace thousands, hinder aid delivery

The severed floods in June, July, August and September hit an extremely vulnerable region, and have “significantly deepened a complex humanitarian crisis in Sudan, straining the capabilities of aid organisations and government bodies to respond,” the WWA said.

If global warming increases to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, which could happen as early as the 2050s, downpours like this are expected to occur nearly every year in the affected regions, WWA said, calling for more investment in early warning systems and dam upgrades.

“Africa has contributed a tiny amount of carbon emissions globally, but is being hit the hardest by extreme weather,” said Joyce Kimutai, researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College in London.

She said the onus was on Cop29 to ensure rich nations contribute “meaningful finance” to help.

(with newswires)

Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s administration has submitted an amendment to its 2025 budget plan – currently under debate in parliament – to legalise online casinos.

The government argues that France and Cyprus are the only two EU member states where online casinos remain illegal.

France allows online betting, but online casino-game gambling has been banned, with previous governments arguing that the risk of addiction is too great. 

Poker, which is played in casinos and allowed online, is the exception because it is deemed to rely more on a player’s skill than on sheer luck.

There is already a growing illegal online casino market in France, which the government believes generates up to 1.5 billion euros every year, or roughly 10 percent of all the sector’s income.

By legalising, and regulating, online casinos the government believes it can “limit the impact of online games on the health of consumers”, it said.

It would also be able to tax them to the tune of 55.6 percent of gross revenues.

Europe’s largest casino opens in Cyprus

‘Castrophic’ consequences

The plan has been met with strong opposition.

Féderation Addiction –  a network of associations and professionals working in the field of addiction – has called for the amendment to be withdrawn, calling it “irresponsible and contrary to public health priorities”. 

“In 2019, 1.4 million French people were already at risk of excessive gaming, including nearly 400,000 who suffer from pathological gambling disorders,” the group said in a statement published Tuesday, warning that the number of players with problems was on the increase in France.

The real-world casino industry also voiced concern. Professionals have already protested against the plan, saying the impact on their business would be “catastrophic”, costing them between 20 and 30 percent of their gross revenues.

Gregory Rabuel, head of France’s casino association, told business daily Les Echos that the move would lead to “the closure of 30 percent of our establishments”, with 15,000 jobs at risk.

However, advocates of the government’s move argue that there already is a sizeable online casino market, and its legalisation would not add significantly to competitive pressures on bricks-and-mortar casinos compared to now.

(with AFP)

Also known by its French acronym, FPRNM, the fund has been called the backbone of France’s natural disaster prevention policy, according to the country’s CCR public assurance body in its latest report on the subject.

The fund enables local authorities, small businesses and private individuals to finance work to reduce the vulnerability of buildings exposed to natural disasters.

Initially intended to finance compensation paid to owners of property expropriated as a result of severe natural events, the scope of the fund has significantly broadened since it was first set up in 1995.

The CCR says that between 2009 and 2020 the so-called “Barnier fund” financed around 700 preventive operations for an average annual amount of more than €170 million – or more than €2 billion over the last decade.

More than half of these were reportedly linked to the construction or reinforcement of hydraulic flood protection works such as dykes and water control structures.

Other European funds contribute to the prevention of natural hazards – such as the European Regional Development Fund – enabling the average amount in the emergency coffers to be almost doubled every year.

• Climate disasters cost French insurers €6.5bn in ‘worrying uptick’

State contributions

However, since 2021, the FPRNM has been included as part of the French state’s budget, so its amount is agreed and voted by Parliament.

Until 2020, the fund was financed by a tax on the natural disaster “surcharge” – an additional contribution levied in particular on multi-risk home insurance policies to the benefit of the CCR and its contribution when natural disaster is declared by the State. 

This “surcharge” tax mechanism would have enabled the fund to be much better next year, since the natural catastrophe tax will increase from 12 percent to 20 percent from 1 January 2025.

Last year, the CCR called on the French government for a gradual increase in the resources dedicated to prevention “in view of the foreseeable rise in the cost of claims by 2050″.

• Macron pledges emergency funds for flood-struck towns in northern France

Controversial tax

On Sunday, however, the President of France Assureurs spoke out against the idea that the resources of the Barnier fund should remain static in the 2025 budget, even though the proceeds of the tax will automatically increase.

“Stop the hold-up on the Barnier fund … it’s intolerable!” Florence Lustman told France Info.

Prevention is one of the pillars of the insurance industry in France, who see it as an effective way of limiting claims.

For example, the Senate Finance Committee estimates that by 2023 there will be a gap of €73 million between the amount of the Barnier fund and the proceeds of levies on the natural catastrophe guarantee.

According to Lustman, the fund should reach “around €450 million by 2025 … and today we can only find half”.

In an interview with the French weekly Journal du Dimanche, Barnier said he believes that the fund that bears his name could be “mobilised” to finance the national plan for adapting to climate change, scheduled for the end of October and presented as a priority.

This is not the first time that the Barnier fund has found itself at the centre of controversy.

In March 2017, the French Court of Auditors criticised the fund’s management, citing “unnecessarily complex” accounting, poorly assessed expenditure and cases of undue compensation.

According to the Court, the fund ended up financing ordinary State expenditure, such as studies or subsidies to local authorities, thereby increasing its own costs.

Scholz’s visit to India this week comes at a delicate time for Germany, whose export-oriented economy faces a second year of contraction and concerns over a trade dispute between the European Union and China that could rebound on German companies.

From cars to logistics, German companies are largely optimistic about India’s growth potential, tapping into a wealth of skilled young workers, a cheaper cost base and economic growth motoring at around seven percent.

However – stung by its problematic reliance on cheap Russian gas before the Ukraine war in 2022 – Germany has pursued a strategy of reducing its exposure to Beijing.

Speaking on Wednesday, Germany’s Finance Minister Robert Habeck said: “India, the most populous country in the world, is a key partner of the German economy in the Indo-Pacific and plays a key role in the diversification of the German economy.”

“We must reduce critical dependencies and strengthen the resilience of German companies and their supply chains to and from Asia,” he added.

German presence

According to Volker Treier, head of foreign trade at the German Chamber of Commerce DIHK, German direct investments in India have been valued at around 25 billion euros for 2022 – about 20 percent of the volume invested in China.

He believes that share could rise to 40 percent by the end of the decade.

“China will not disappear, but India will become more important for German companies,’ said Treier.

“India is the litmus test, so to speak. If de-risking China is to work, India is the key … because of the size of the market and the economic dynamism in the country,” he added.

Scholz, will be travelling to India with most of his cabinet including the foreign and defence ministers, and is scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday before presiding over the seventh round of Indian-German government consultations.

Habeck will arrive a day earlier to open the biennial Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business.

• India and France agree on joint defence production

Expansion into India

German firms cite bureaucracy, corruption and India’s tax system as hurdles to investment, according to a study by consultancy KPMG and the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad.

Nonetheless, they see a bright future in India, with 82 percent expecting their revenues to grow over the next five years.

Some 59 percent are planning to expand their investments, compared to just 36 percent in 2021.

For example, German logistics giant DHL plans to invest half a billion euros in India by 2026, tapping into a fast-growing e-commerce market.

Volkswagen – which has been hit by falling sales in China and high production costs at home – is considering new tie-ups in India for joint production.

It already has two factories in the country and signed a supply deal with local partner Mahindra in February.

• India and Russia sign arms, trade deals straining tense relationship with US

Similarly, Cologne-based engine maker Deutz announced a deal this year with India’s TAFE – the world’s third-largest tractor maker – for subsidiary TAFE Motors to produce 30,000 Deutz engines under licence.

In 2023, trade between Berlin and New Delhi hit a new record, with India expected to overtake both Germany and Japan to become the world’s third-largest economy by the end of the decade.

However, negotiations for an EU-India free trade deal, years in the making, still have no end in sight.

After enjoying a surge during the COVID years, the video game sector has faced declining investments and fierce competition over the past two years, despite overall sales holding steady.

Since the beginning of 2024, over 13,000 employees worldwide have lost their jobs, according to Game Industry Layoffs.

“The industry has a bit of a hangover,” says Charles-Louis Planade, an analyst at Midcap Partners, noting a retreat by many publishers to focus on their most popular franchises. 

New releases are struggling to compete with juggernauts like “Fortnite” and “GTA V Online.”

While the French market saw a rebound in 2023, surpassing six billion euros in revenue, the challenges remain. 

Gaming giant Ubisoft has faced underwhelming releases and postponed the much-anticipated “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” to February.

Also, a strike mobilised a quarter of its 4,000 employees in France on Tuesday, according to union reports.

France’s Ubisoft faces three day strike as unions protest over remote work decision

Meanwhile, the studio Don’t Nod announced plans to lay off 69 employees – over 20 percent of its workforce – as part of a reorganisation effort.

In contrast, publisher Focus (part of Pullup Entertainment) reported record revenue for its second quarter, driven by the success of “Warhammer 40000: Space Marine 2,” with 4.5 million players.

Manga, cosplay, e-sports

“This event will be a platform for discussing the realities of the industry,” says Nicolas Vignolles, general delegate of the Leisure Software Publishers’ Syndicate (Sell), which organises the Paris Games Week.

“But our primary goal is to celebrate video games,” he adds, emphasizing a growing festival-like atmosphere which will tak eplace until 27 October.

While the core of the event remains access to the latest releases, this year’s edition is expanding further into pop culture, featuring more space dedicated to manga, cosplay, and e-sports. 

Attendees will even find a Tesla Cybertruck on display in one of the three halls.

“We embrace this theme park aspect,” says Vignolles, who anticipates welcoming up to 200,000 visitors, promising the “most ambitious edition” since the pandemic.

(with AFP)

Dupont, 27, did not feature during the 2024 Six Nations tournament as he went through his paces with the sevens sides for the Olympic tournament.

The switch ended perfectly for the 2021 international player of the year.

His appearance in the second-half of the final against the defending champions Fiji ignited a comeback victory and provided France with their first gold medal of the Games.

The hosts went on to collect 15 more as part of a 64-medal haul that took them to fifth in the medal table – the best performance by a European country.

It will be Dupont’s first appearance for France since their narrow defeat to South Africa in the quarter-final of the 2023 rugby union World Cup at the Stade de France.

Absences 

Notable absences from Fabien Galthié’s squad are Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou.

The two 21-year-olds were accused of raping a 39-year-old woman in a hotel room after a trip to a nightclub following the first game of France’s summer tour of South America.

The pair are back in France awaiting the final decisions in the case. 

In the autumn series matches – which will all be held at the Stade de France – Galthié’s men will play Japan on 9 November, New Zealand on 16 November and Argentina on 22 November.

The Tests will also be a chance for freshly anointed French rugby federation president Florian Grill to assert his authority.

As part of his re-election campaign, the 59-year-old Frenchman promised that there would be more control of players while they are on international duties following a disastrous voyage to South America.

The trip began with the expulsion of full-back Melvyn Jaminet for posting racist comments on social media just after the opening match against Argentina on 6 July in Mendoza, western Argentina. He was subsequently suspended from rugby for eight months.

Auradou and Jegou were then named in the sex assault case.

Changes

In an attempt to refresh his teams, Galthié drafted in defenders Romain Buros and Paul Costes among eight uncapped players.

Maxime Lamothe, Mickaël Guillard, Pierre Bochaton, Marko Gazzotti and Joshua Brennan will add freshness to the forward line along with the Bayonne prop Tevita Tatafu.

The 22-year-old was born in Tonga but joined the youth set-up of his French club as a 17-year-old. He qualifies for France on residency grounds.

The Oscar-winning director was due in civil court in Los Angeles next August for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl in 1973.

The suit, filed last year, claimed Polanski took a then-teenager – named anonymously in filings as Jane Doe – to dinner at a restaurant in Los Angeles.

He allegedly gave her alcohol, and when she began to feel dizzy, drove her to his home, where he forced himself on her.

“She told him: ‘please don’t do this,'” the plaintiff’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, told reporters in March, saying the alleged assault had caused her client “tremendous physical, emotional pain and suffering”.

The lawsuit, which sought unspecified damages, was filed in June 2023, just before the expiration of a California law that allowed for an extended window for claims against the alleged perpetrators of sexual crimes.

Court papers filed in California in July said a “conditional” accord had been reached.

The case was “settled in the summer to the parties’ mutual satisfaction and has now been formally dismissed,” Polanski’s lawyer Alexander Rufus-Isaacs told France’s AFP news agency on Tuesday.

Allred confirmed this in an email, saying “a settlement of claims was agreed to by the parties to their mutual satisfaction”.

Divisive figure

Polanski, now 91, is a controversial figure. Some in the movie world hail his creative genius, while others maintain he was always a sexual predator.

He admitted to the statutory rape of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer in a plea bargain in 1977 to avoid a trial on more serious charges. 

But he fled to France the following year, after serving 42 days in jail, when it appeared a judge was reconsidering his release. He has never returned to the US and France has always refused to extradite him.

US court rejects disgraced Polanski’s bid to rejoin Oscar Academy

Geimer has subsequently defended Polanski, and was photographed with him last year.

Between 2017 and 2019 four women accused Polanski of abusing them in the 1970s.

In May, a French court acquitted Polanski of defaming British actor Charlotte Lewis after she accused him of raping her when she was a teenager.

The director has always denied wrongdoing.

(with AFP)

According to the Elysée Palace, Tuesday’s meeting – which takes place in the context of Hungary’s current rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union – “provides an opportunity to prepare two summits”.

During the working dinner, the two leaders “will also exchange views on the various aspects of bilateral relations, particularly in the fields of energy, defence and transport,” the Elysée Palace added.

The French president regularly meets the nationalist Hungarian prime minister – a difficult partner within the EU – before major European meetings.

The two leaders met for a working lunch at the Elysée in June, just before Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the EU Council. 

• Hungary assumes EU presidency amid controversies and corruption concerns
• Hungary’s Orban clashes with EU leaders over Ukraine, migration policies

Orban’s migration plans

This Tuesday’s meeting comes as Orban announced earlier in the day, that migrants seeking asylum must have their applications assessed before being allowed to enter the European Union. 

The Hungarian Prime Minister maintains that this model – which is in use in Hungary – is the only one that works against illegal migration.

Hotspots set up in the last safe countries for migrants – for example in Africa – could be a mass solution, Orban said after meeting the Slovak and Serbian leaders at a meeting in Komarno, Slovakia.

Follwoing the summit, Orbán, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico outlined a plan for stricter migration policies they’d like to see adopted by the EU, including more effective deportation measures and greater funding for member countries on the bloc’s external borders. 

(With newswires)

Among the 75 graphic novels being auctioned is a unique edition of “Tintin in America,” first published in 1932, which has an estimated value of 200,000 euros.

This special copy was dedicated by Hergé in 1933 to his friend and mentor, Charles Helsen, the chaplain of his Brussels scout troop.

Hergé wrote: “To Mr. Abbot Helsen, in memory of the good years spent under his supervision, discovering Adventure…Tintin is just another version of me, who would have continued on that path, all the way.”

Daniel Perez, the auction house expert covering the sale, noted that Hergé likely requested a special printing of this edition for Helsen, making it a one-off printing.

75 graphic novels

The sale of 75 graphic novels at the Tajan auction house will break up a collection built over generations by the family of Felipe Ortiz-Patino, whose Bolivian great-grandfather started the mania.

Perez said he put together the lots for sale from the collection after Ortiz-Patino “switched interests for various reasons”.

Many of the books on offer are in near-new or very good condition, displaying the original colours of their cover illustrations.

Among the highlights is a first-edition copy of “Tintin in the Congo,” published in 1931 – of which only a few thousand were printed – with an estimated value of 100,000 euros.

This edition features Hergé’s signature, alongside that of his fiancée, Germaine, who signed as “Milou” – the French name for Tintin’s loyal dog, known as “Snowy” in English.

Tintin defies critics to remain one of France’s most beloved characters

Also on offer is a rare, unsigned pop-up version of “Red Rackham’s Treasure,” estimated at 60,000. euros.

In November, Tajan plans to offer one of Herge’s original 1941 illustrations for “The Shooting Star”, another Tintin adventure, estimated at up to 500,000 euros.

(With newswires)

Vinatier, who worked with the Swiss NGO Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), is one of several Westerners to have been arrested in Russia since Moscow launched its Ukraine offensive in 2022.

“The appeal against the verdict was registered on 21 October,” the Zamoskvoretsky court said on its website, a week after Vinatier’s sentencing.

Vinatier has admitted guilt and said he was unaware that he should have registered as a “foreign agent” – a tag that has been almost exclusively used against Russia’s domestic critics of the Kremlin.

The 48-year-old was arrested in Moscow in June and was also accused of gathering information on Russia’s military.

French researcher sentenced to three years in Russian penal colony

French President Emmanuel Macron has demanded that Russia release Vinatier, whose arrest came as tensions between Paris and Moscow mounted over the Ukraine conflict.

Arrests on charges of spying and collecting sensitive data have become increasingly frequent in Russia since the start of the war.

In early August, Russia and the West held the biggest prisoner exchange since the Cold War. After this massive swap, France called on Moscow to free all people “arbitrarily detained in Russia”.

(with AFP)

First, the diehards among the PSG faithful can go more than 90 minutes without descending into homophobic chanting à la Saturday night against Strasbourg.

And Kang-in Lee should only lead the front line when the players either side of him – Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembélé – convert the chances presented to them from his selfless running.

PSG boss Luis Enrique pushed the buzzy South Korean forward for the third game of the Champions League campaign.

And the ploy with the midfielder would have paid off handsomely had the France internationals been more composed when through on goal.

Barcola was the initial miscreant. Eleven minutes in, PSG’s intricacy pierced the PSV rearguard and the 22-year-old zoomed in from the left wing.

But he failed to apply enough curve on his side-footed shot and the ball rolled just outside the left hand post of the PSV goalkeeper Walter Benitez.

Accuracy

Five minutes later, Lee was rather more old school. He belted his shot from just outside the penalty area forcing Benitez to parry the attempt away for a corner.

Then came the Dembélé horror double on the right. Nuno Mendes surged down the left and rather than feeding Barcola on the wing, the Portugal international put his foot on the ball and spotting Dembele’s run, lofted a pass over the defenders for Demebélé to stab or slot past Benitez into the goal.

Dembélé opted to lash it over the bar.

After Barcola’s second fluff, Dembélé, put through by Joao Neves’ neat chested lay-off, fired high into the stands.

Thirty minutes in, for all PSG’s territorial dominance, the hosts had nothing to show.

And four minutes later, PSG were behind. Neves tried to send a pass to  Dembélé but PSV’s Olivier Boscagli prodded the ball to Ismael Saibari who nudged it on to Noa Lang on the left.

The rangy winger ran at the PSG skipper Marquinhos, created space with a body swerve and shot past a bizarrely statuesque Gigi Donnarumma into the PSG goal.

A befuddled silence fell over the ground. And PSG, looked for a quick response before half-time.

They levelled just after the break. And it was somewhat prosaic.

From a corner on the left, the ball was moved through Mendes over to Fabian Ruiz in the centre who pushed it to Achraf Hakimi on the right. The Morocco international’s shot should have offered Benitez a routine block but it went through his legs and into the net.

Parity

At parity, the fans found their voice. Wholesome it was too. But it was PSV who should have retaken the lead on the hour mark.

Luuk De Jong’s header sent Guus Til through on goal. But with only Donnarumma to beat, he tried to slide in Lang to finish but Marquinhos intercepted.

“Football is fickle,” deadpanned Enrique after the match. “And we could have lost that game, but that’s how this sport works.

“It’s hard to accept a result like that,” the 54-year-old Spaniard added.

“We obviously had more chances than our opponents. We deserved to win the game, and it looks like we were better than PSV Eindhoven. We just couldn’t get the decisive shot on target.”

A frantic finale ensued after the video assistant referees denied PSG a penalty in stoppage time. PSG bombarded the PSV box. PSV defenders threw themselves at the ball and Mauro Junior hacked it off the goal line after Benitez blocked Marquinhos’ header from a corner.

After the final whistle, PSG’s players slumped to the turf. PSV’s warriors roared at their resilience.

But the stalemate did neither side any favours.

With the top eight qualifying automatically for the last-16 knockout stages and the next 16 going into a draw for a two match play-off, PSV lie 27th in the 36 team division while PSG are 10 places above them in 17th.

“I’m worried, yes,” admitted Enrique. “PSG are undoubtedly one of the teams who create the most chances. Luck has to be on your side when it comes to finishing.

“There’s an air of pessimism because of the unfair results. But I’m calm. My team was much better than the opposition.”

In an official decree, the prefecture of Martinique stated that “all movement of individuals in public spaces is prohibited between midnight and 5.00 am until 28 October.”

The curfew is part of broader measures that also restrict the sale and transportation of gasoline and the use of fireworks.

The latest wave of unrest occurred Sunday night into Monday, marked by reports of around a dozen roadblocks, the looting of a gas station, and injuries among law enforcement officers. This unrest follows a brief period of relative calm in previous nights.

The escalation in violence comes as the French Caribbean island prepares for a day of protests against high living costs, organised by the Assembly for the Protection of Afro-Caribbean Peoples and Resources (RPPRAC).

The citizen collective, which has been at the forefront of the movement against rising prices, refused to sign an agreement aimed at reducing the prices of approximately 6,000 food products by an average of 20 percent.

Martinique strikes deal with distributors to cut soaring food prices

This agreement had been negotiated by the police chief, local distributors, and the territorial collectivity of Martinique.

The RPPRAC deemed the number of products included in the agreement insufficient, highlighting that food prices in the region are about 40 percent higher than in mainland France.

The group has called for continued mobilisation, with around 2,000 participants expected at upcoming demonstrations.

This curfew follows an initial partial lockdown from 18 to 26 September, aimed at curbing riots, and a subsequent nighttime movement ban that began on 10 October, which was set to expire on Monday morning.

(with AFP)

This Tuesday’s appeal at the French Supreme Court will examine in particular “the decision by the judges in Nouméa to exile the defendants without any adversarial debate, and the conditions under which the transfer was carried out,” according to François Roux, one of the defendants’ lawyers.

“Many of them are fathers, cut off from their children,” the lawyer explained.

The decision from France’s highest court is expected to be handed down quickly.

• New Caledonian activists transferred to France to face charges over deadly riots

The transfer of the five activists to mainland France at the end of June was organised overnight using a specially chartered plane, according to Nouméa public prosecutor Yves Dupas, who has argued that it was necessary to continue the investigations “in a calm manner”.

Roux has denounced the “inhumane conditions” in which they were transported: “They were strapped to their seats and handcuffed throughout the transfer, even to go to the toilet, and they were forbidden to speak”.

Left wing politicians in France have also slammed the conditions of detainees, who they underline were deported more than 17,000 km from their home for resisting “colonial oppression“. 

Ongoing investigation into violence

A total of seven activists from the CCAT separatist coalition are accused by the French government of orchestrating deadly riots earlier this year and are currently incarcerated – five in various prisons in France and two in New Caledonia itself.

Among those detained in mainland France is Christian Tein, the CCAT leader who was named president of the FLNKS independence movement at the end of August. 

They are under investigation for, among other things, complicity in attempted murder, organised gang theft with a weapon, organised gang destruction of another person’s property by a means dangerous to people and participation in a criminal association with a view to planning a crime.

Two CCAT activists who were initially imprisoned have since been placed under house arrest in mainland France.

• New Caledonia’s pro-independence alliance names jailed activist as leader

Christian Tein, imprisoned in the Alsatian city of Mulhouse, is suspected of having orchestrated the violence – on a scale not seen since the 1980s – which broke out on 13 May against an electoral reform the pro-independence movement believes will  marginalise the indigenous Kanak population.

Thirteen people – including two gendarmes – were killed and the damage is estimated at several billion euros.

The Kanak leader, born in 1968, has always denied having incited violence, claiming to be a political prisoner.

On October 11, Fitch’s decision to downgrade France’s economic outlook to “negative” serves as a warning to Prime Minister Michel Barnier, who is struggling to push his 2025 budget through parliament. The credit agency’s assessment signals a potential downgrade if the government fails to take swift action to improve public finances.

France’s fiscal situation appears increasingly precarious. The deficit, now at €167 billion (5.5 percent of GDP), could  surpass 6 percent  by year’s end. With national debt projected to hit €3.5 trillion, or 114.7 percent of GDP, France is far beyond EU limits.

France braces for economic judgment amid political turmoil and record debt

EU rules require member states to keep budget deficits below 3 percent of GDP and debt under 60 percent of GDP.

Fitch predicts that the deficit will hover around 5.4% in both 2025 and 2026 due to ongoing political uncertainty and the challenges in implementing fiscal reforms. The agency believes the budget could pass before the year’s end, but the government may need to make concessions to win support from opposition parties. 

All eyes are now on Moody’s which will reveal its judgement on France’s economy and credit-worthiness on 25 October. 

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Antoine Armand emphasised the government’s commitment to improving the economy following Fitch’s assessment, but will that be enough?

RFI spoke to Erik Norland, Chief Economist with the Chicago-based CMEGroup about the possible scenarios France’s economic planners are facing.

Over 405,000 people – both Lebanese and Syrian – have crossed into Syria from Lebanon since the start of Israel’s offensive, according to figures from UN refugee agency UNHCR.

Approximately 60 percent are under 18, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said on Thursday, and most are struggling to meet basic needs.

The returnees are mainly people who had sought sanctuary in Lebanon from the civil war in Syria, now in its 13th year. “In Lebanon, there have been nearly one million Syrian refugees just since 2011,” says Metin Corabatir of the Research Centre on Asylum and Migration, an Ankara-based NGO.

He warns this could be just the beginning of the exodus if the fighting in Lebanon continues, threatening to overwhelm Syria.

“We are not talking only about Syrian refugees going back to Syria, but the Lebanese population is moving, crossing the border to Syria. And Syria would either try to close the borders or force them to go north to the Turkish borders,” Corabatir told RFI.

“This really would lead to a catastrophic situation for people, for countries and may pull Turkey into more tensions with Israel.”

Anti-refugee backlash

People fleeing Lebanon have been arriving at refugee camps in north-east Syria, close to the Turkish border. But Turkey, already hosting an estimated five million refugees, including over three million Syrians, is facing growing public backlash over their presence.

“Turkey basically cannot handle more refugees,” warns Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, head of the Ankara office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, an international think tank.

Earlier this year, tensions spilled over into violence against refugees in the provincial city of Kayseri. The issue has become a significant political liability for the government, with opinion polls routinely finding large majorities wanting refugees to leave.

Even if the country has the practical capacity to take more people in, “I don’t see Turkey accepting a massive new wave of refugees”, predicts Unluhisarcikli. 

Turkey’s Syrian refugees face local hostility as economic problems mount

Border barricades

In the last couple of years, Ankara has constructed a wall along its border with Syria in a bid to prevent more refugees from entering Turkey. 

Murat Aslan, of the pro-government Seta Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, believes such efforts will only continue as the war in the Middle East threatens to trigger a new exodus.

“Turkey does not want any further waves coming from another region because Turkey is just experiencing and mending an economic crisis,” he says. “Inflation is currently under control, and we expect a decrease in it.

“What does another wave of refugees mean? A lot of spending, a lot of inflation, and other than this, societal insecurity. That’s why Turkey will not tolerate another wave.”  

But such a stance will likely be tested if Israel continues its offensive, creating more refugees and with them, the risk of Turkey facing a humanitarian crisis on its border.

Turkey continues to host more refugees than anyone else, but for how long?

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.

It’s time for you to start thinking about your New Year’s resolutions for our annual New Year’s Day show. If you’ve already made up your mind about what you’ll aim for in 2025, go ahead and send it to us … if not, be sure you send us your resolution – or resolutions if you are really ambitious! – by 15 December.

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 21 September, I asked you a question about a gender equality plan at France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  We reported on that plan in our article “France’s foreign ministry unveils two-year gender equality strategy”.

You were to re-read the article and send in the answer to this question: What is the Foreign Ministry’s goal for promoting women to important posts? What is the percentage they are aiming for?

The answer is, to quote our article: “According to the ministry, this year more than 45 percent of ambassadors appointed for the first time will be women, while among newly-appointed consuls-general, over 40 percent will also be women.” 

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “How would you define a truly happy person?”, which was suggested by Sabah Binte Sumaiya from Bogura, Bangladesh:

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Hans Verner Lollike from Hedehusene, Denmark. Hans is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations, Hans, on your double win.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are RFI Listeners Club members Samir Mukhopadhyay from Kolkata, India; Mizanur Rahman from Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Faiza Zainab – who’s also a member of the International Radio Fan and Youth Club in Khanewal, Pakistan.

Last but certainly not least, RFI English listener Tafriha Tahura from Munshiganj, Bangladesh.

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Mazurka no. 4″ by Frédéric Chopin, arranged by Serge Forté and performed by the Serge Forté Trio; “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima” by Krzysztof Penderecki, performed by Antoni Wit and the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra; “La Grande Galerie de la Zoologie” by Philippe Hersant, performed by the Ensemble Bestiaire Fabuleux; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin, performed by McFerrin.

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 Paul Myers’ article “Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich sets women’s world record at Chicago Marathon”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 11 November to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 16 November 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,  

Ghana is being swamped by millions of unwanted clothes from the West, creating an environmental disaster as textile waste piles up across the country.

The scale of damage to public health and the environment has been laid bare in a new Greenpeace report that exposes the devastating impact of discarded clothing on communities and ecosystems in Ghana. 

About 15 million items of second-hand clothing arrive in Ghana each week. Nearly half cannot be resold.

The unsellable clothes end up in informal dumps or are burned in public washhouses, contaminating the air, soil and water.

“The situation is catastrophic. These clothes are literally poisoning our communities,” said Sam Quashie-Idun from Greenpeace Africa, speaking to RFI.

The report shows how Ghana has become a dumping ground for the world’s unwanted textiles, with devastating consequences for local ecosystems.

“What we’re seeing is environmental racism. The Global North is using Ghana as its trash can,” said Hellen Dena of Greenpeace Africa.

The flood of cheap, disposable fashion reflects broader problems with global waste management and environmental justice.

To explore this issue further, RFI spoke to Sam Quashie-Idun and Hellen Dena from Greenpeace Africa.  

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompeani.

Spotlight on Africa is a podcast from Radio France Internationale.

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 14 September, I asked you a question about Algeria’s presidential elections. Held on 8 September, the incumbent, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, was reelected.

RFI English reporter Melissa Chemam followed the race closely; the day after the election she wrote an article for us, “High expectations as Algeria’s President Tebboune begins new mandate”. Her article is about what’s on Tebboune’s presidential plate economically and socially for his next mandate.

There are several worries in civil society, as Melissa noted: “The first mandate of President Tebboune saw a clampdown on civil liberties and seen the army take on a more important role.”

Your question was about the army, and its, as Melissa noted, “more important role”. In August, a few days before Tebboune declared his candidacy, a decree was issued involving the army. You were to tell me what was in that decree.

The answer is, to quote Melissa’s article: “A few days before Tebboune’s declaration of candidacy, in August, a decree was published to legalise the transfer of the senior civil administration under the direct authority of the army.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word “red”? The question was suggested by Ashik Eqbal Tokon from Rajshahi, Bangladesh.

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Radhakrishna Pillai from Kerala State in India. Radhakrishna is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations on your double win, Radhakrisha!  

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are RFI Listeners Club members Father Stephen Wara from Bamenda, Cameroon; Shadman Hosen Ayon from Kishoreganj, Bangladesh, and Atikul Islam – who is also the president of the Narshunda Radio Listeners Family in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Last but certainly not least, RFI English listener Jahangir Alam from the Friends Radio Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh.

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Autumn” from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi, performed by Carla Moore and Voice of Music; Traditional Chaabi music from Algeria; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Mr. Bobby” by Manu Chao, performed by Chao and the Playing for Change musicians.

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 “Algeria’s Tebboune refuses France visit in snub to former colonial ruler”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 4 November to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 9 November 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 Paris Olympic Games and Paralympics gave French-language songs huge exposure, adding new fans to the global audience already growing on streaming platforms. But what kind of music are non-French-speakers listening to and why? A new exhibition at the recently opened International Centre of the French Language asks the question. Its curator, the music journalist Bertrand Dicale, based the exhibit on the idea that songs reveal who were are, and he talks about what popular songs reveal about France. He also highlights some surprising differences between French and foreign audiences, which have allowed stars like Aya Nakamura and Juliette Gréco to enjoy huge success abroad despite being scorned at home. (Listen @0’00)

France lags behind many countries in the use of technology in classrooms and there is no clear policy from an ever-changing education ministry. But the disorganisation may be buying educators time to consider the consequences. A report commissioned in the spring by President Emmanuel Macron advised placing limits on young people’s use of smartphones and social media, and some schools are testing a smartphone ban this year. Founded by concerned educators, the collective Pour une éducation numérique raisonnée (“For a sensible digital education”) has raised its own concerns about the push to digitise textbooks and get students learning on screens. We visit a class taught by one of its members, and see how technology is – and is not – used. (Listen @22’00)

In the midst of Nobel season, a look at some of France’s 71 prizes, from the first ever Nobel Peace Prize in 1901 to the five won by members of the Curie family for physics and chemistry. (Listen @15’00)

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).

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.