In March and April, France deported three Kurdish activists to Turkey – Firaz Korkmaz, 24, Mehmet Kopal, 37 and Serhat Gultekin, 28.

All were suspected of having close ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been in conflict with the Turkish state for 40 years. France, along with its Western allies, considers the PKK a terrorist organisation.

The Kurds are a stateless people spread across the Middle East, with about one third living in  Turkey. Around 150,000 Kurds reside in France.

The Kurdish Democratic Council of France (CDKF), an umbrella group of 27 Kurdish associations, has condemned the deportations and warned that more cases are under investigation.

In late April, eight Kurdish men were arrested in Paris and southeast France, accused of extorting funds from the Kurdish community to support PKK activities, which is seen as financing terrorism.

French authorities also raided exiled Kurdish broadcasters Sterk TV and Medya Haber TV in Belgium at the request of the French judiciary.

The CDKF says this level of action is unprecedented. Prior to April, no Kurdish activists had been handed over to Turkey since 2019, when diplomatic relations between Paris and Ankara hit a low point.

The friction was partly due to France’s support for the Kurdish YPG, which was fighting the Islamic State in Syria, but is viewed by Turkey as an extension of the PKK.

Turkey opens another ‘Kafkaesque’ trial against scholar exiled to France

Not safe to return

Since April, French authorities have revoked refugee status from 50 Kurdish militants, according to the CDKF, and deported the three activists. The case of Serhat Gultekin has drawn particular concern.

A member of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP party, Gultekin had been tortured and persecuted in Turkey before fleeing to France in 2017. He applied for political asylum and continued his activism in exile.

In April 2023, Gultekin and 10 others were found guilty of extortion and financing terrorism.

He was sentenced, but in a highly unusual move the anti-terrorist state prosecutor specifically warned of the dangers of sending him and the others back to Turkey “in view of the danger they had faced” and “the risks that an expulsion would expose them to”.

The court agreed, but French authorities took a different view. On 12 April, the day before the judge was set to rule on Gultekin’s asylum claim, the Interior Ministry issued a deportation order.

“Plainclothes police officers put him in a truck, handcuffed him, tied him up and took him to the airport,” Gultekin’s lawyer, David Andic, told RFI.

“In the truck, they told him: ‘Serhat, we’re going to send you to Turkey. Whether you like it or not’.”

When Gultekin landed, members of Turkey’s MIT secret services were waiting. He is now serving a six year and three month sentence in an Istanbul prison.

Prosecutor seeks prison terms for alleged PKK members on trial in Paris

Violation of human rights

On 26 September, the Paris Administrative Court of Appeal declared Gultekin’s deportation “illegal”, stating it violated article 3 of the European Charter of Human rights, which prohibits torture.

The CDKF is also fighting to prevent the deportation of Idris Kaplan, another activist sentenced in absentia to life in Turkey as an alleged PKK leader.

“Mr Kaplan faces at least 25 years in prison in Turkey, a country where Kurdish rights are systematically violated, and where political persecution, repression and torture are commonplace,” a CDKF statement said.

They criticised France for ignoring these facts and deporting Kaplan despite the risks, citing article 3 and the principle of non-refoulement from the Geneva Convention.

“You can’t hand your allies over to their enemies in the name of security or diplomatic agreements. That’s a basic moral principle,” argued CDKF spokesperson Agit Polat in Le Monde, pointing to Kaplan’s role in fighting the Islamic State armed group alongside French special forces in Iraq.

On 8 October, a court in Cergy-Pontoise, northwest of Paris, suspended Kaplan’s expulsion order.

Who are the Kurds?

Kurdish activists as bargaining chips?

So why have French authorities taken a tougher stance on Kurdish activists? One theory is that economic interests are now outweighing human rights concerns.

Kostas Pikramenos, co-author of a book on Turkey’s MIT intelligence service, says Kurdish activists may be used as bargaining chips in intelligence negotiations.

The expulsion of the three Kurds is most likely part of a “seduction operation by France to sign commercial contracts” with Turkey, he told Marianne news magazine, pointing to a $40bn order of 200 Airbus aircraft by Turkish Airlines in late 2023.

The CDKF believes France may be paying Turkey for its intelligence cooperation.

In March, after a Moscow attack claimed by ISIS-K, French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the group had attempted several attacks on French soil in recent months.

Ankara reportedly shared information on planned ISIS-K attacks during the upcoming 2024 Olympics, according to an anonymous French intelligence source cited by Marianne magazine.

France foiled three terror plots targeting 2024 Paris Olympics

Contacted about the deportation cases, France’s Ministry of the Interior declined to comment, telling RFI it was classified information.

Meanwhile, the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra) emphasised that it “independently assesses” Interior Ministry requests to revoke refugee status. These decisions can be appealed in the National Asylum Court.

The CDKF has warned that five more Kurdish activists could face deportation in the coming months.

“The fight for the right to vote for women was a 50-year-long battle,” said Susan Boser, social policy director at the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania – a non-partisan group promoting women’s political participation.

“And since then, any efforts to restrict it or to deny equal access under the law have been battles we’ve fought for a long time. We’re not going away now,” she told RFI.

One of the most divisive issues ahead of the 7 November vote is the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v Wade, the 1973 decision that had guaranteed women’s constitutional right to an abortion.

In June 2022, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organisation case that the constitution “does not confer a right to abortion” – giving individual states the power to regulate or ban abortions.

Boser, who had grown up knowing abortion was legal and safe, said she was appalled and angry when she heard the ruling.

“I am fearful for the women whose lives are affected by this,” she added, underlining that after the Dobbs ruling, many southern states banned abortions.

An abortion-ban tracker by The New York Times shows that 21 states now “ban abortion or restrict the procedure earlier in pregnancy than the standard set by Roe v Wade”.

As a result, women seeking abortions are travelling to states like Pennsylvania, where it is legal up to the 23rd week of pregnancy.

“We’ve seen a large influx of people coming here for abortions,” Boser said.

To protect those seeking abortions, Pennsylvania is preparing legislation to prevent judges, courts and medical facilities from sharing information about abortion seekers and their helpers with other states that could prosecute them.

But the issue remains unresolved. While Democrats control the State House of Representatives and support the bill, the Republican-led Senate is opposed.

“It’s a very hot issue now,” Boser said.

Cornerstone

Reproductive rights have become a cornerstone of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s campaign, with her often sharing personal stories that highlight the dangers of restricted access to abortion.

Her vocal advocacy contrasts sharply with the mixed messages of her Republican opponent Donald Trump. he wants to appeal to his conservative anti-abortion base, while also trying to reach moderate and undecided voters.

Polling data shows Trump trailing Harris by nearly 13 points among women voters nationwide.

However, women voters are not united on abortion. Many conservative women, especially in rural areas, support Trump’s anti-abortion stance, seeing the end of Roe v Wade as a victory.

This reflects a broader divide, with some women prioritising issues like the economy and healthcare over reproductive rights.

But the abortion issue may be a gamechanger, Boser said.

“On the issue of reproductive choice, you will see that’s a factor in who they vote for,” she added.

“And they’re more likely to lean Democrat, not just for president, but also in the down-ballot races for governor and candidates for the House of Representatives and Senate.”

Even if all existing pledges to cut emissions were fully implemented, temperatures would still rise by at least 2.6C above pre-industrial levels – far beyond the 1.5C goal laid down in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

This would have devastating impacts with worsening heatwaves, wildfires, storms, droughts and floods, the UN said in its annual Emissions Gap report, released Thursday.

“Climate crunch time is here,” said UNEP director Inger Andersen. “We need global mobilisation on a scale and pace never seen before, starting right now before the next round of climate pledges.”

Without action to make swift and dramatic emission cuts, “the 1.5C goal will soon be dead”.

The warning serves as a wake-up call, just a few weeks before political leaders gather in Azerbaijan for the Cop29 climate summit.

Human factors

The report says that countries must collectively reduce emissions by 42 percent by 2030 compared to 2019 levels to keep global temperatures within 1.5C.

But the new data showed that global greenhouse gas emissions increased by 1.3 percent last year, with human activities generating 57.1 billion tonnes of CO2.

“We’ve observed a trend towards slowing down, moving towards a plateau in emissions, but they are still increasing,” the report’s chief editor, Anne Olhoff, told RFI.

Despite the massive deployment of renewable energy, “economic growth is pushing energy demand upward” while fossil fuel use remains high, she said. 

“The efects of climate change are also impacting the ability to provide low-carbon energy. For example, droughts have affected hydroelectric production.”

The G20 group of major economies, which accounts for about 80 percent of global emissions, bears particular responsibility for driving reductions, the report said.

Seven G20 nations, including China and India, have yet to reach their peak emissions. China remains the world’s largest emitter, responsible for 30 percent of global emissions, followed by the United States at 11 percent.

Energy-related CO2 emissions hit record levels in 2023, says IEA

More investment needed

The report estimates that emissions could be cut by up to 31 gigatonnes by 2030 through existing technologies and measures. Solar and wind power alone could deliver 27 percent of needed reductions by 2030.

However, this will require a massive increase in investment, between $900 billion and $2.1 trillion annually until 2050.

Countries have agreed to submit new carbon cutting plans, known as nationally determined contributions, by February 2025 – ahead of the Cop30 summit in Brazil. 

The ruling follows a 10-day hearing of the joint appeals committee of the Ligue de Football Professional (LFP) which runs the top two professional divisions in France.

Last month, PSG refused to pay Mbappé the sum despite an LFP order to do so. 

It is understood that the Ligue 1 pacesetters will appeal against Friday’s ruling and take the case to hearings at the French football federation or the French national Olympic and sports committee.

Mbappé, 25, left PSG in May after seven years during which he became the club’s record scorer with 256 goals in 308 games.

The marksmanship before his move to Real Madrid helped him to a plethora of awards: he was named Ligue 1 Player of the Season a record five consecutive times and he claimed the Ligue 1 “Golden Boot”  from 2019 to 2024.

Departure

In August 2023, Mbappé said he would not take up his May 2022 contract’s option of a further year at the club and leave as a free agent in June 2024.

Outraged, the PSG hierarchy told new boss Luis Enrique to go on a tour of Japan and South Korea without their star striker.

But Mbappé was eventually reintegrated into the first team squad and PSG swept the board domestically winning the French Super Cup, Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France.

PSG executives claim that under an agreement to return to the first team, Mbappé said he would waive 55 million euros in various bonuses and then leave for Madrid. 

The sum Mbappé is claiming is comprised of the last third of a signing-on fee, of 36 million euros gross pay, which he was supposed to receive in February, as well as his salary from April, May and June 2024 and an ethics bonus covering the same period.

During his years in the capital, Mbappé harvested 15 medals including six Ligue 1 titles. 

Eramet was looking to build two plants in the northern town of Dunkirk as part of the ReLieVe project – a facility designed to separate minerals from the black powder formed when used EV batteries are processed.

On Thursday, the company announced the suspension of ReLieVe “until further notice”. This marks the second such project in France to be halted within a month, following a similar decision by carmaker Stellantis and mining group Orano.

Although the European Union has banned the sale of new combustion-engine cars from 2035 to cut carbon emissions, the EV transition is hitting roadblocks. While France saw record EV sales last year, demand across Europe has slowed, with consumers increasingly opting for cheaper Chinese-made imports.

“The electric vehicle battery value chain in Europe is having a difficult start,” said Eramet’s executive vice president Geoff Streeton n a statement.

He explained that the slow development of European battery factories and their components has left the company unable to secure the necessary raw materials for its recycling facility.

Record number of electric, hybrid cars sold in France in 2023

From metal to chemical 

Eramet had expected to source materials from production offcuts at new battery factories being built in northern France. However, despite the French government’s push for “reindustrialisation“, setbacks are mounting in the EV sector.

Sweden’s NorthVolt has laid off staff and is scaling back operations, while ACC – a partnership between TotalEnergies, Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis – opened a “gigafactory” in northern France last June. Plans for additional plants in Italy and Germany are on hold.

Eramet CEO Christel Bories said these delays had led to “many postponements of projects in the battery value chain”. One major issue is that metals like nickel, cobalt, and lithium need to be transformed into chemicals before they can be used in batteries.

However, “no cathode precursor projects have been confirmed on European soil”, Bories said – making the economics of the project unfeasible if materials had to be exported to Asia for processing.

French startup raises record sum to build gigafactory for car batteries

Banking on Argentina

While the French battery sector struggles, Eramet is banking on its lithium project in Argentina. On Thursday, the company announced it would buy out Chinese group Tsingshan’s 49.9 percent stake in the Centenario lithium mine project in a deal worth $700 million.

Despite a drop in lithium prices, Bories said the Centenario project remains attractive, with production due to start in the coming weeks. Full control will allow Eramet to decide how to proceed with a second production facility.

The mine is expected to produce 24,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate annually – enough to power 600,000 EVs.

Meanwhile, Suez, Eramet’s partner in the ReLieVe project, confirmed it will continue with its own plans to build a facility outside Paris to break down used car batteries.

Georgians vote on Saturday in watershed elections, with a union of pro-Western opposition forces facing off against a ruling party accused of democratic backsliding and shifting towards Russia. 

Brussels has warned the 26 October vote will be crucial for the fate of Georgia‘s fledgling democracy and its long-held aspiration for European Union membership.

Opinion polls indicate opposition parties could get enough votes to form a coalition government to supplant the ruling Georgian Dream party, controlled by powerful billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili.

The current government says it wants to win a supermajority in parliament to allow it to pass a constitutional ban on the pro-Western opposition.

“Georgia’s traditionally fractured opposition forces have managed to forge an unprecedented united front against Georgian Dream,” said analyst Gela Vasadze at Georgia’s Strategic Analysis Centre.

“But if the ruling party attempts to stay in power regardless of the election outcome, then there is the risk of post-electoral turmoil.”

In power since 2012, Georgian Dream initially pursued a liberal pro-Western policy agenda. But over the last two years the party has reversed course.

Its campaign has centred on a conspiracy theory about a “global war party” that controls Western institutions and is seeking to drag Georgia into the Russia-Ukraine war.

In a country where the scars of Russia’s 2008 invasion remain unhealed, the party has offered voters bogeyman stories about an imminent threat of war, which only Georgian Dream could prevent.

In a recent TV interview, Ivanishvili painted a grotesque image of the West where “orgies are taking place right in the streets”.

Georgian envoy to France resigns over ‘foreign agent’ bill

‘Crucial test’

The party’s passage of a controversial “foreign influence law” this spring, targeting civil society, sparked weeks of mass street protests and was criticised as a Kremlin-style measure to silence dissent.

The move prompted Brussels to freeze Georgia’s EU accession process, while Washington imposed sanctions on dozens of Georgian officials.

Earlier this month, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell cautioned that Georgian Dream’s actions “signal a shift towards authoritarianism”.

He called the upcoming polls “a crucial test for democracy in Georgia and its European Union path”.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has vowed to lead Georgia towards EU membership, saying ties with the West will normalise once the Ukraine war ends.

Georgia ruling party stages mass rally ahead of key vote

Undecided voters

But the latest polls show that the opposition is poised to garner enough votes to form a coalition government.

The grouping includes Georgia’s main opposition force, jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili‘s United National Movement (UNM) and Akhali, a recently formed party headed by former UNM leaders.

Along with several smaller parties, they have signed up to a pro-European policy platform outlining far-reaching electoral, judicial and law enforcement reforms.

They have agreed to form an interim multi-party government to advance the reforms – if they command enough seats in parliament – before calling fresh elections.

The parties argue that the current electoral environment is not conducive to democratic elections, and that a fresh ballot held in a year’s time – after necessary reforms have been implemented – would truly reflect the will of the voters.

Nestled between the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea, Georgia was once considered a rare example of a democracy among ex-Soviet nations.

But elections in the country of some four million regularly spark mass protests.

Georgia’s president tours Europe, US to strengthen ties after a week of protests

A poll conducted by US pollster Edison Research shortly before the elections showed 34 percent of decided voters would cast their ballots for Georgian Dream, while the four opposition alliances combined are set to garner 53 percent of the vote.

No other party is expected to clear the five-percent electoral threshold needed to secure seats in the 150-member legislature.

But the outcome of the vote is far from a foregone conclusion, as more than a quarter of respondents told the pollster they were either undecided or refused to name their preferred political force.

Voting will begin at 0400 GMT and end at 1600 GMT, with exit polls set to be released on closing.

The elections, held under a proportional party list system, will be monitored by international observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Frelimo’s Daniel Chapo will succeed President Filipe Nyusi to become Mozambique’s fifth president since its independence from Portugal in 1975. Nyusi is stepping down after serving the maximum two terms.

Chapo won over 70 percent of votes, the electoral commission (CNE) said on Thursday.

Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, who declared himself the winner and claimed irregularities, won just over 20 percent, the CNE said.

Backed by the Podemos party, Mondlane displaced former rebel movement Renamo, which had been the official opposition party but whose candidate came third this time around.

In parliament, Frelimo – the socialist Mozambique Liberation Front – increased its number of seats to 195 out of 250, more than the 184 it had before.

Turnout was only 44.5 percent, seven points less than in the last vote in 2019.

Contested results spark protests

Observers have said the 9 October election was not free and fair.

A European Union mission reported irregularities during counting and alteration of results at the local and district level – problems that have marred most polls since Frelimo first allowed multi-party elections in 1994.

Opposition parties and even the Catholic church claimed irregularities in the voting.

Mondlane, who holds sway over many of the country’s young voters, has called for nationwide demonstrations.

Groups of protesters gathered in the capital Maputo and northern Nampula as the results were announced – some holding placards with slogans such as “tired of being the slaves of thieves”.

In the centre of Maputo, police fired tear gas along a main avenue where protesters had burned tyres and ripped up election posters.

Tensions have been running high since Monday when police used teargas and gunfire to disperse opposition supporters protesting the murder of a Podemos lawyer and party official two days earlier.

Police said that clashes with protesters had left several injured nationwide and reported one death in Nampula.

French gas ambitions pose a ‘climate time bomb’ for Mozambique

New face but little change expected

Chapo, a lawyer, will officially take over in January to become Mozambique‘s first president born after independence in 1975, when Frelimo first took power.

A former provincial governor with no experience in national government, he will be the first president not to have fought in the 1975-1992 civil war between Frelimo and Renamo, which claimed around a million lives.

The 47-year-old is seen as a business-friendly choice.

Observers say he is likely to maintain the status quo, including a fight against Islamist insurgents in the north and partnerships with companies like ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies, which are trying to get major gas projects off the ground.

The country of nearly 35 million people is struggling with a large debt burden and worsening climate shocks, including drought and cyclones.

(with newswires)

The report, published this week, accused MAF, which operates Carrefour stores in Saudi Arabia, of exploiting migrant workers from Nepal, India and Pakistan.

Amnesty’s findings were based on interviews with 17 men who worked at Carrefour stores in Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah between 2021 and 2024.

The report detailed how workers, many employed by third-party labour companies, were subjected to harsh conditions. They were forced to work 60-hour weeks, denied rest days, and unpaid for overtime – all in violation of Saudi labour laws, which cap working hours at 48 per week.

Some workers also said they were misled by recruitment agents and housed in squalid conditions. Amnesty described the treatment as “appalling exploitation and abuse“.

“Workers thought they were opening the door to a better life, but instead many were subjected to appalling exploitation and abuse,” said Marta Schaaf, head of Amnesty’s corporate accountability programme. For some, she added, the conditions “likely amount to forced labour, including human trafficking”.

Internal investigations

Carrefour said it had engaged with Amnesty earlier this year about the allegations and requested that MAF conduct internal investigations.

While the initial inquiry did not fully confirm the report’s claims, it did reveal issues with housing, work-hour records, and training, for which corrective actions were taken.

The company has also appointed an independent expert to review human rights practices, including those of subcontractors, but the details of this review are still being finalised.

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“In order to prevent potential human rights non-compliance situations, we decided to extend our investigations to a wider scope of activities, covering all human rights requirements,” Carrefour said in a statement on Monday.

The Saudi Ministry of Human Resources reaffirmed its zero-tolerance policy for labour abuse, stating that all allegations are thoroughly investigated.

“Any form of labour abuse or exploitation is unacceptable,” the ministry said, adding that it works closely with the home countries of migrant workers to tackle recruitment abuses.

The ministry did not directly address Amnesty’s claims involving Carrefour.

Saudi incident not isolated

Abuses of migrant workers are not new in Saudi Arabia. In 2020, hundreds of Indian workers sued a Saudi construction company for unpaid wages after being laid off during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Similar cases of unsanitary living conditions and months without pay have been reported across several industries.

MAF, which operates nearly 500 Carrefour stores across 30 countries, including the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, reported a net profit of €690 million on revenues of nearly €9 billion last year. Saudi Arabia is its second-largest market after the UAE.

Amnesty has called on both Carrefour and MAF to take full responsibility for ensuring labour abuses are eliminated from their operations and to prevent future harm to workers.

“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)

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.