The European Union had warned that Saturday’s vote, seen as a crucial test of democracy in the Caucasus country, would determine Tbilisi’s chances of joining the bloc.

A group of international observers said the vote was “marred by an uneven playing field, pressure and tension,” while noting that election day was generally well organised.

A mission from the EU parliament meanwhile expressed concern about “democratic backsliding”, saying it had seen instances of “ballot box stuffing” and the “physical assault” of observers.

The result sets the stage for a political showdown that analysts warn could derail Georgia‘s European aspirations.

Official tallies from more than 99 percent of precincts showed the ruling Georgian Dream party winning 54.08 percent of the vote, while a union of four pro-Western opposition alliances garnered 37.58 percent, according to central election commission chair Giorgi Kalandarishvili.

The result gives Georgian Dream 91 seats in the 150-member parliament — enough to govern but short of the supermajority it had sought to pass a constitutional ban on all main opposition parties.

“Our victory is impressive,” Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said in a statement, accusing the opposition of “undermining the country’s constitutional order” by questioning his party’s victory.

An exit poll by US pollster Edison Research had projected an opposition victory by an 11-percent margin.

Opposition parties said the vote was rigged and refused to recognise the electoral outcome.

Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement (UNM) that campaigned on a pro-European platform, said the results were “falsified” and the election “stolen.”

“This is an attempt to steal Georgia’s future,” she said, declaring that the UNM did not accept the results.

Nika Gvaramia, leader of the liberal Akhali party, called the way the vote was held “a constitutional coup” by the government.

Pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili said there had been “deeply troubling incidents of violence” at some polling stations.

An election observer at a polling station in Georgia’s south-eastern village of Sadakhlo told AFP that he had “witnessed massive ballot staffing” and suggested “coordinated multiple voting in favour of Georgian Dream.”

A joint group of observers including the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Council of Europe and European Parliament noted concerns about the impartiality of state institutions.

“The uneven playing field… undermines trust in the outcome and explains the reactions to the election results,” the statement read.

“These issues need to be addressed by the authorities,” it added.

Analyst Gela Vasadze of the Georgian Strategic Analysis Centre said the Caucasus country was plunging “into political instability for an indefinite period” and that its EU hopes had “dimmed”.

He said, however, that the opposition lacked “charismatic leaders who could channel popular anger into a protest wave capable of bringing about political change.”

Georgia was gripped by mass demonstrations earlier this year against what the opposition saw as government attempts to curtail democratic freedoms and steer the country of four million off its pro-Western course and towards Russia‘s orbit.

In power since 2012, Georgian Dream initially pursued a liberal pro-Western policy agenda.

But it has reversed course over the last two years.

Its campaign 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 scarred by Russia’s 2008 invasion, the party has offered voters bogeyman stories about an imminent threat of war, which only Georgian Dream could prevent.

Georgian Dream’s controversial “foreign influence” law which targeted civil society sparked weeks of 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.

The ruling party has also mounted a campaign against sexual minorities. It has adopted measures that ban LGBTQ “propaganda”, nullify same-sex marriages conducted abroad, and outlaw gender reassignment.

Observers from the OSCE are set to hold a press conference later Sunday afternoon to present their preliminary conclusions.

 (AFP)

He says mining has spoilt the town which lies in South Kivu province, polluting rivers and destroying fields.

Hundreds of foreign companies, most of them Chinese-owned, mine gold in the mineral-rich province often without permits and without declaring profits, according to local authorities.

For a long time, civil society groups and members of the church in Kitutu, have been the only people taking a stand against the powerful mining businesses, who often have friends in high places.

“From the deputies, to the village chief, everyone receives something (from the companies), money or shares (in businesses),” Marcheselli told AFP.

In July, South Kivu governor Jean-Jacques Purusi suspended “illegal” mining activity in the province until companies could comply with Congolese mining laws.

Under the legislation, companies would have to renew their mining permits, some of which have been expired for decades.

Since the ban, firms, which normally operate in the shadows, have come in hordes to the governor’s office in an attempt to get authorisation to resume business.

“In place of the 117 illegal companies we invited, 540 showed up here overnight”, Purusi said.

DR Congo seeks justice and reparations for Rwanda’s role in conflict

Access denied

In the town of Kamituga, some 40 kilometres from Kitutu, gold mining is in full throttle.

In one site mined by Congolese cooperative Mwenga Force, around 400 people delve into vast open pits hoping to make a few dollars a day.

The president of an association for artisanal diggers, Felicien Mikalano, says local operators “don’t have the same means” as Chinese firms, such as machinery and cash.

Artisanal mining refers to small-scale mining, carried out by individuals without big machinery and not employed by big businesses.

The practice is forbidden to foreigners by the country’s mining code, but Chinese companies use local cooperatives as “partners” to circumvent the ban.

Around half of the Congolese cooperatives in the province are partnered with Chinese companies, according to the bureau of scientific and technical study (BEST), a Congolese NGO specialising in mining governance.

A few kilometres from Kamituga, at the end of a dirt track, access to a mine operated by one of these cooperatives is controlled at three checkpoints.

AFP was not allowed to pass them.

Officials employed to control and inspect mining sites are also refused entry.

“It is difficult to monitor these companies,” said inspector Ghislain Chivundu Mutalemba.

“These Chinese partners mine (and) the cooperatives sell the product over the counter. We don’t know what percentage the Chinese take, or how much they produce”, he said.

“All that I know is that the bosses take the gold and bring it to Bukavu, I don’t dare ask questions,” says gold buyer Siri Munga Walubinja.

“But I have never seen a Chinese person, it is uniquely the Congolese buying,” he adds.

Gold bought in Kamituga is transported to South Kivu provincial capital Bukavu by “big traders”, most of them Congolese.

Once they arrive in the provincial capital, some declare only a fraction of their merchandise and sell the rest illegally in DRC, which is then transported by smugglers to Rwanda, according to BEST.

In December 2022, the government granted a monopoly on gold exports from South Kivu to Congolese state-owned business Primera Gold.

The move aimed to “break the ore export routes to Rwanda”, and “to target political opposition business”, according to a note from the French Institute of International Relations published in February 2024.

Gold exports out of South Kivu have boomed from 42 kilograms (92 pounds) in 2022 to more than five tonnes (11,200 pounds) in 2023 — about a sixth of the officially declared national production.

But Primera Gold now lacks the liquidity to buy the mineral and has failed to curb the black market, according to BEST.

The channels used by the Chinese companies, none of which responded to AFP’s requests for comment, remain unknown to the authorities and NGOs.

Even Purusi is having trouble getting answers from businesses.

“Their representatives put you through to this general (telephone line) or a minister in Kinshasa on the phone, to tell you not to bother them,” says the provincial governor.

Kwoyelo was convicted of dozens of war crimes in August, the first time an officer of his seniority had been tried by Uganda‘s judiciary.

Founded in the late 1980s with the aim of overthrowing the government, the LRA brutalised Ugandans under the leadership of Joseph Kony for nearly 20 years as it battled the military from bases in northern Uganda.

The insurgents carried out horrific acts of cruelty, including rapes, abductions, hacking off victims’ limbs and lips and using crude instruments to bludgeon people to death.

“The convict played a prominent role in the planning, strategy and actual execution of the offences of extreme gravity,” Justice Duncan Gasagwa, one of the four judges, said.

“The victims have been left with lasting physical and mental pain and suffering.”

Kwoyelo avoided the death sentence because he was recruited by the LRA at a young age, was not one of the top-ranking commanders, and has expressed remorse and a willingness to reconcile with the victims, Gasagwa said.

Kwoyelo had denied the charges during the trial. His lawyer, Caleb Alaka, told the court he would appeal against both the verdict and the sentence.

In around 2005, under military pressure, the LRA fled to the lawless jungles of South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic, where it also unleashed waves of violence against civilians.

Splintered elements of the group, including Kony, are believed to still live in those areas, although attacks are now infrequent.

The Ugandan military captured Kwoyelo in 2009 in northeastern Congo and his case crept through the Ugandan court system until he was convicted in August.

He was found guilty on 44 charges, 31 were dismissed as duplications of others while he was acquitted on three.

An arrest warrant was issued by the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) against Kony in 2005, making him the court’s longest standing fugitive.

The LRA’s original aim was to create a state based on Kony’s interpretation of the Ten Commandments.

 (Reuters)

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is set deep inside a mountain on Norway’s Spitsbergen island, about 1,300 kilometres from the North Pole, where it can withstand disasters ranging from nuclear war to global warming.

Often referred to as the “Noah’s Ark” of food crops, it acts as a backup for gene banks around the world that store the genetic code for thousands of plant species.

Launched in 2008 with funding from Norway, the three cold chambers are today home to some 1.3 million varieties of seeds that their owners can withdraw at any moment.

Since its launch in 2008, funded by Norway, the vault’s three cold chambers have housed around 1.3 million seed varieties that can be withdrawn by their owners at any time.

The vault plays a critical role in preserving plants needed to feed a growing global population facing the impacts of climate change.

On Tuesday, more than 30,000 samples from 23 organisations in 21 countries were deposited, the Crop Trust, a partner in the project, said in a statement.

“This marks the largest number of depositors since the Seed Vault received samples from a record-breaking 35 genebanks in 2020, underscoring the urgent global effort to conserve crop diversity in the face of escalating climate change, conflict and other crises,” the statement read.

Among the latest deposits are seeds from vegetables, legumes and herbs sent by the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The trust also expects new seed samples from Sudan in February – another country suffering from war and famine.

Why reviving old crops is key to saving Africa’s degraded soils

‘Protecting culture’

Bolivia made its first contribution to the vault through the Universidad Mayor Real y Pontificia de San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca, a 400-year-old institution. The seeds were collected by 125 farming families from local communities.

“This deposit goes beyond conserving crops; it’s about protecting our culture,” said the project coordinator for the Norway-funded Biodiversity for Opportunities, Livelihoods and Development in Bolivia.

Chad, also making its first deposit, sent 1,145 samples of sesame, rice, maize and sorghum, crops crucial to the country’s food security and adapted to withstand high temperatures and unpredictable rainfall.

“Climate change and conflict threaten infrastructure and impact food security for over 700 million people in more than 75 countries worldwide,” Crop Trust director Stefan Schmitz said.

The vault’s chambers are only opened two or three times a year to limit exposure to the outside world.

Even if the refrigeration system were to fail, the vault would maintain its cold temperature thanks to the permafrost around it.

(with newswires)

Libya resumed oil exports this month after a pause caused by a dispute over control of the country’s central bank, which oversees oil exports.

“This was a serious crisis,” said Jalel Harchaoui from the Royal United Services Institute. “And while it’s partly fixed, there are still issues that need attention.”

The row between Libya’s two rival administrations which led to the temporary halt, was only resolved by intense negotiations, but Harchaoui claims the conflict’s repercussions continue.

Newly reconciled, Turkey and Egypt could be a force for stability in Africa

“A lot of players, including armed groups in Tripoli, are trying to take advantage of whatever has happened over the last several weeks. So I’m not describing a scenario of war, but I’m describing a more volatile environment,” he said.

Turkish-Egyptian relations

However, a recent rapprochement between Egypt and Turkey could offer hope of easing Libyan tensions.

“We agreed to consult between our institutions to achieve security and political stability,” pledged Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at a press conference last month in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

Libya once was a point of Turkish-Egyptian rivalry, with Cairo backing the eastern Libyan administration in Benghazi of Khalifa Haftar and Ankara supporting the western Tripoli-based Government of National Unity. Now, Egyptian-Turkish collaboration is key to resolving the latest Libyan crisis.

“Both countries can push the Tripoli-based government at least to accept something or come to the least terms that they can agree,” said Murat Aslan of the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, a pro-Turkish government think tank. “So it’s a win-win situation for both Egypt and Turkey.”

Economic crises

With both the Turkish and Egyptian economies in crisis, the economic benefits of cooperating in Libya are seen as a powerful force behind the country’s rapprochement and Libyan collaboration.

Fighting between rival militias in Libya kills dozens

“These two countries are very important to one another,” said Aya Burweila, a Libyan security analyst

“They’ve figured out a way to divide spheres and work together. Even in the east now, Turkish companies have cut lucrative deals, infrastructure deals, just as Egypt has.

“So economy and money drive a lot of these political friendships and reapportionment.”

Ankara is looking to Cairo to use its influence over Hafta to support an agreement it made with the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity to explore widely believed energy reserves in Libyan waters.

Libya’s stability at greater risk with turmoil in Niger and Sudan, UN warns

At the same time, Cairo is pressing to remove Ankara-supported Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh of Libya’s Government of National Unity. Despite differences, Harchaoui says Cairo and Ankara are committed to cooperation.

“What has already been decided is that they are going to speak and they are going to speak on a daily basis,” said Harchaoui.

“And then at every crucial moment, they are going to make sure and Turkey, specifically, is going to make sure that Egypt is on board.

“But we need more tangible results from the dialogue that has already been in place,” he added.

October and November are peak months for art fairs worldwide, especially in France.

On the weekend of 19-20 October, most art galleries gathered in Paris for Art Basel and regional events like AKAA, which focuses on African arts, and Asia Now.

However, curators Jenn Ellis and Emie Diamond chose Beaune, in Burgundy, to launch Terra, with help from producer Milena Berman, who has lived in the region for years.

Around 50 international artists are participating, including renowned German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, Mariana Hahn, British painters Rebecca Halliwell Sutton and Jodie Carey, New York-based German-American artist Nick Mauss, South African artist Mia Chaplin, and French artists Emmanuelle Rosso and Antoine Langenieux-Villard.

Singaporean artist Wyn-Lyn Tan also features in the exhibition.

The exhibitions offer a variety of visual interpretations of territory, space and beauty.

Displayed in villas, châteaux and heritage sites in and around Beaune, Terra invites artists to reflect on the history of the locations, combining French tradition with an international perspective on nature and culture.

Terra is on view until 17 November.

“Across Europe, people have to pay to get into the most remarkable religious buildings,” Culture Minister Rachida Dati told conservative daily Le Figaro in an interview on Wednesday.

She proposed “a symbolic charge for all tourist visits to Notre-Dame with the money totally dedicated to a major plan for conserving religious heritage” in a conversation with the Catholic archbishop of Paris.

Notre-Dame, gutted by a fire in 2019, is set to reopen on 7 December following an extensive reconstruction. A €5 entrance fee could generate around €75 million annually, Dati estimated.

“That way, Notre-Dame would be saving every church in Paris and across France. It would be a magnificent symbol,” she said.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau supported the idea, noting that visitors are charged €5 to enter the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

“If for five euros we can save religious heritage that people cherish, whether they believe or not… it’s just part of the French landscape,” Retailleau told France Inter.

Criticism

However, not everyone agrees. Historian Alexandre Gady, a member of the National Commission for Architecture and Heritage, called the proposal “a money-making plan in the wrong place”.

Gady suggested increasing the tourist tax slightly instead, pointing out that charging for entry clashes with the principle of “cultural democratisation” initiated by Culture Minister André Malraux in 1959.

Parisians also have mixed feelings. Christine, in her 70s, called it “a very big disappointment” but added: “If we can maintain the church, why not, but it’s still shocking.”

Vincent, another local, said the idea was acceptable as long as the money goes directly to repairing the cathedral and not into the state coffers.

Five years after devastating fire, race to rebuild Notre-Dame gains pace

Non-EU visitors to pay more?

Dati also proposed charging higher fees for tourists from outside the European Union to visit French national monuments and museums.

“The French public shouldn’t have to pay for everything by themselves,” she said.

Tourists near Notre-Dame mostly welcomed the idea, saying they were used to paying for church visits in countries like Italy and England.

However, what bothers Anna, a German tourist, is the idea of ​​having a fixed price: “You shouldn’t force people to pay, it would be better to let them choose what they give. If you can give two euros, you give two euros, and if you can give 10 euros, you give 10.”

France was the world’s most visited country in 2023, according to the UN’s World Tourism Organisation, with around 100 million arrivals – beating out Spain, the US, Italy, and Turkey in the top five.

(with AFP)

Slavery and the threat of climate change were major themes for representatives of the 56 countries in the group, most with roots in Britain’s empire, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that began in the Pacific Islands nation on Monday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose country has long rejected calls for financial compensation for nations affected by slavery, said summit discussions were not “about money”.

On slavery, the leaders said in a joint statement they had “agreed that the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity”.

The push for ex-colonial powers such as Britain to pay reparations or make other amends for slavery and its legacies has gained momentum worldwide, particularly among the Caribbean Community and the African Union.

The statement also made reference to “blackbirding”, a term for people from places including the Pacific Islands being deceived, coerced or kidnapped to work on plantations in Australia and elsewhere.

Remorse over slavery grows in Europe, but reparations are slow to follow

Those opposed to reparations say countries should not be held responsible for historical wrongs, while those in support say the legacy of slavery has led to vast and persistent racial inequality.

The joint statement did not mention what form reparations should take.

Global South amplifies calls for compensation for historical injustices 

Starmer told a press conference the joint statement did two things: “It notes calls for discussion and it agrees that this is the time for a conversation.

“But I should be really clear here, in the two days we’ve been here, none of the discussions have been about money. Our position is very, very clear in relation to that,” he said.

Professor Kingsley Abbott, director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, said the statement was a sign of a potentially historic breakthrough on the issue.

“The commitment to conversations on reparatory justice wedges open the door for dialogue, and now the hard work really begins,” said Abbott, who attended the summit.

The joint statement also referred to concern about “the severe consequences of the climate crisis, including rising temperatures and sea levels”.

More than half of the Commonwealth’s members are small nations, many of them low-lying islands at risk from rising sea levels caused by climate change.

New Chief

The Commonwealth members selected Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey as the group’s new secretary-general.

Botchwey, a supporter of reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism, takes over from Britain’s Patricia Scotland, who has been in the job since 2016.

King Charles and Queen Camilla, who both attended the summit, flew out of Samoa after a visit in which the monarch acknowledged the Commonwealth’s “painful” history.

Before leaving, the royal pair attended a farewell ceremony in heavy rain in the village of Siumu.

Charles said in a speech to the summit on Friday that he understood “from listening to people across the Commonwealth how the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate”.

“It is vital, therefore, that we understand our history, to guide us towards making the right choices in future,” he said.

The king and queen’s time in Samoa followed a six-day tour of Australia, where a large crowd turned out to see them at the Sydney Opera House.

Charles also met with Indigenous elders in Sydney, after being heckled by an Indigenous senator in Canberra.

 (Reuters)

Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate, faces Republican nominee and former president Donald Trump, who’s been busy energising his supporters with populist rhetoric.

The outcome of the election will influence the political landscape far beyond US borders.

“Just under 2 percent of the world’s population have the right to go to the polls in November to decide who will be the next US president,” said Misha Glenny, rector of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna.

He adds that with an average 60 percent voter turnout in US presidential elections since 2004, about 96 million people will make a choice with far-reaching consequences for the remaining eight billion around the globe.

The election carries stark implications for US foreign policy.

“We are in an incredibly dangerous moment, whoever wins the election,” says David Vine, a political anthropologist and author of The United States at War.

“The choice between Harris and Trump includes a choice between a future where the United States remains an empire with bases and troops encircling the globe and an empire that is engaged in multiple wars,” he added.

Domestic concerns

While the world watches, American voters are focused on issues like immigration, education and the economy. Rising prices are hitting households hard, with 56 percent of Americans reporting financial strain, up from earlier this year.

Polls, like those from Pew Research, show that voters trust Trump more on economic issues than Harris, which could hurt her candidacy.

Politically, there are fears about authoritarianism, especially if Trump wins a second term.

This sentiment has led to what Business Insider calls the “great Trump diaspora” as some to consider leaving the country altogether should their preferred candidate lose.

A Scripps News/Ipsos poll this week found that 62 percent of people think violence after Election Day is “very likely” or “somewhat likely”, with fears of unrest shared by 59 percent of Republicans and 70 percent of Democrats.

Harris holds a slight lead in the polls, but by no more than 3 percent, and her advantage has been shrinking in recent days.

Abortion rights have become a key concern for voters, with 8 percent identifying it as a top issue – the highest percentage recorded by Gallup. LGBTQ+ rights, particularly for transgender individuals, are also a focus, with many fearing their safety could be at risk depending on the election outcome.

The Civil Liberties Union reported that during Trump’s previous term, his administration “initiated a sustained effort to erase protections for LGBTQ people.”

• US elections: Who are the running mates for the key candidates?

Electoral college doubts

Another point of concern is the US electoral system itself. Established in the 18th century, it relies on 538 electors who formally cast votes for the president based on their state’s popular vote. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win, but this system doesn’t always align with the national popular vote.

“You could theoretically win the Electoral College with about 35 percent of the total popular vote,” said Mark Herman Schwarz, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, explaining that the system disproportionately favours rural states with smaller populations.

Abolishing the Electoral College would be difficult, as it’s enshrined in the constitution and would require approval from two-thirds of Congress and at least 38 states.

“The only way I could see change is if Republicans consistently lost elections to Democrats who won fewer popular votes but more electoral college votes,” said Schwarz, though he sees this as unlikely given the current system’s advantages for Republicans.

“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 5 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.”

Hours later the Israeli military said it had completed the strikes and achieved its objectives, warning Iran not to respond. A semi-official Iranian news agency vowed a “proportional reaction” to the Israeli moves against Tehran.

Iranian media reported multiple explosions over several hours in the capital and at nearby military bases, starting shortly after 2AM (2230 GMT on Friday).

Before dawn, Israel’s public broadcaster said three waves of strikes had been completed and that the operation was over.

Iran said its air defence system successfully countered Israel’s attacks on military targets in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan and Ilam with “limited damage” to some locations.

The Middle East has been on edge awaiting Israel’s retaliation for a ballistic-missile barrage carried out by Iran on 1 October, in which it fired around 200 missiles at Israel, killing one person in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Tensions between arch rivals Israel and Iran have escalated since Hamas, the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group based in Gaza, attacked Israel on 7 October 2023.

Hamas has been supported by Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants, also backed by Iran.

Fears that Iran and the US would be drawn into a regional war have risen with Israel’s intensifying assault on Hezbollah since last month, including airstrikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut and a ground operation, as well as its year-old war in Gaza.

“In response to months of continuous attacks from the regime in Iran against the State of Israel – right now the Israel Defence Forces is conducting precise strikes on military targets in Iran,” Israel’s military said in a statement announcing the attack.

‘Obligated to respond’

The Israeli military said later it had completed its “targeted” attacks in Iran, striking truck missile manufacturing facilities and surface-to-air missile arrays, adding its planes had safely returned home.

“If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond,” the military said.

Targets did not include energy infrastructure or Iran’s nuclear facilities, a US official said.

US President Joe Biden had warned that Washington, Israel’s main backer and supplier of arms, would not support a strike on Tehran’s nuclear sites and had said Israel should consider alternatives to attacking Iran’s oil fields.

Iranian authorities have repeatedly warned Israel against any attack.

“Iran reserves the right to respond to any aggression, and there is no doubt that Israel will face a proportional reaction for any action it takes,” the semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Saturday, citing sources.

A senior Biden official said Israel’s “targeted and proportional strikes” should be the end of direct exchange of fire between the two countries, but the US was fully prepared to once again defend Israel if Iran should choose to respond.

US informed ahead of strikes  

Videos carried by Iranian media showed air defences continuously firing at apparently incoming projectiles in central Tehran, without saying which sites were coming under attack.

Tasnim reported Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps bases that were attacked were not damaged and said Iran was resuming flights from 9AM (0530 GMT) after a suspension during Israel’s attack. Neighbouring Iraq was also resuming flights, its state news agency said.

Israel targeted some military sites in Syria’s central and southern parts with airstrikes early on Saturday, Syrian state news agency SANA reported. Israel has not confirmed striking Syria.

Israel said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other security officials closely followed the operation at the military’s command and control centre in Tel Aviv.

Gallant spoke to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin shortly after Israel’s strikes began. Austin emphasised the enhanced force posture of the United States to defend U.S. personnel, Israel and its partners across the region, the Pentagon said.

Israel notified the United States before striking, but Washington was not involved in the operation, a US official told Reuters.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in the Middle East for another attempt to broker a peace deal, said on Wednesday Israel’s retaliation should not lead to greater escalation.

Saudi Arabia condemned the attack on Iran as a “violation of its sovereignty” and international laws. It urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint and called on the international community to take action towards de-escalation and ending conflicts in the region.

Even as it sought to convince Israel to calibrate its strikes, the United States moved to reassure its closest Middle East ally that it would aid in its defence should Tehran stage a counterattack.

This included Biden’s decision to move the US military’s THAAD anti-missile defences to Israel, along with about 100 US soldiers to operate them.

 (Reuters) 

The shift reflects “increasing risk that France’s government will be unlikely to implement measures that would prevent sustained wider-than-expected budget deficits and a deterioration in debt affordability,” said Moody’s Ratings.

It changed France’s outlook from “stable” to “negative.”

In the same statement, the agency affirmed France’s credit rating at Aa2, saying this was supported by its “large, wealthy and diversified economy.”

In lowering the outlook, Moody’s said the fiscal deterioration it has seen is “beyond our expectations and stands in contrast with governments in similarly rated countries that are tending to consolidate their public finances.”

France’s new finance minister Antoine Armand noted the decision Friday but maintained that the country is able to carry out “far-reaching reforms.”

France faces credit downgrade as Moody’s readies verdict on €3.2 trillion debt

He said some have already produced results and added that the country has economic strength, while vowing to restore its public finances.

Armand had told AFP on Thursday that France must take “credible” steps to tackle its high deficit.

For now, Moody’s said risks to France’s credit profile are heightened by its political and institutional environment.

It noted the situation is “not conducive to coalescing on policy measures that will deliver sustained improvements in the budget balance.”

“As a result, budget management is weaker than we had previously assessed,” it added.

New French Prime Minister Michel Barnier is hoping to bring public sector deficit to below five percent of gross domestic product next year, from an expected 6.1 percent in 2024.

The government hopes that in 2029 it will drop to below three percent, the agreed deficit ceiling for EU members.

This month, he unveiled a deficit-slashing budget.

France’s annual budget debate has often triggered no-confidence motions and Barnier’s plan sparked vocal opposition even before its full details were known.

France’s debt is expected to rise to close to 115 percent of GDP next year, compared to an EU debt target of 60 percent.

In absolute terms, France’s debt stood at over 3.2 trillion euros, having risen by about one trillion since President Emmanuel Macron took power in 2017.

French PM vows more taxes and spending cuts to reduce ‘colossal’ debt

Earlier this month, Fitch Ratings also affirmed France’s rating at AA- but revised its outlook from “stable” to “negative,” pointing to heightened fiscal policy risks.

On Thursday, Armand said “the work we’ll be doing over the coming months will be to monitor and fine-tune our public spending” to make savings.

Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin added that the strength of the French economy continued to be recognised, although noting that the country should pursue a structural reform agenda.

 (AFP) 

Marseille, under Roberto De Zerbi, have shown increasing guile and nous over the first eight games to be considered plausible title challengers to a PSG side still reconfiguring its identity without record goal-scorer Kylian Mbappé.

Off-field incidents have dominated the headlines too. Before the 5-0 win at Montpellier on 20 October, Marseille’s supporters were involved in clashes with police that left six officers injured.

A day earlier, during the 4-2 victory over Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes, PSG fans targeted Marseille and their recently recruited midfielder Adrien Rabiot for homophobic slurs.

Why? A decades-old rivalry between aspirational clubs and also a fiction of treachery: that after seven years at PSG and then five seasons at Juventus in Italy, Rabiot should want to ply his trade in Marseille.

Oui. Oui. Oui. Such fickleness demands invectives.

Venom

The homophobic chants spewed out from PSG’s Auteuil stand despite repeated calls over the public address system to stop the virulence.

French interior minister Bruno Retailleau condemned the behaviour.

“They should be severely punished,” he said of two alleged ringleaders who have been identified and who are likely to face prosecution.

“It has become unbearable. We can no longer put up with homophobic chanting. I won’t stand for it any longer,” Retailleau added.

But oh what a world. What a world. 2024, climatic armageddon a-knocking on the door, myriad atrocities in the Middle East and Saturday night performative bigotry in western Paris.

“PSG reaffirms its firm commitment against all forms of discrimination, including homophobia”, the club said in a statement on Thursday.

“PSG is taking all necessary measures, before and during matches, to ensure that the Parc des Princes remains an inclusive venue for all.”

Zero tolerance

The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), which oversees France’s top two divisions, added after a meeting of government ministers and football chiefs: “Everyone around the table reaffirmed zero tolerance in the fight against discrimination in stadiums, including homophobic chanting.

“The LFP supports identifying and questioning troublemakers to impose individual sanctions.”

At least the authorities appear to be united on taking some form of action.

Only five years ago, the top echelons of the French football federation (FFF) seemed keen to bugle their indifference.

Noël Le Graët, the then president, said the FFF would not instruct referees to stop matches except in cases when a whole stadium was guilty of homophobic chanting.

“I think we’re stopping too many matches,” he said. “That makes certain government ministers happy, but it bothers me,” Le Graët told the regional newspaper Ouest-France.

Stop

“We’ll stop the matches if there’s consistent homophobic abuse from the whole ground, but if 2,000 imbeciles in a crowd of 30,000 are chanting, I don’t see why the other 28,000 should be punished,” Le Graët said at the time.

Le Graët has passed into obsolescence, victim of his own antidiluvean attitudes and dismissive comments towards French football legend Zinedine Zidane.

But the latter-day response to the chanting appears uncoordinated.

Newly installed sports minister Gil Avérous says he wants clubs with a history of violence such as PSG, Marseille and Lyon to ensure individual names are on tickets so the holders can be tracked.

He has also urged football authorities to enforce rules that allow for matches to be interrupted or abandoned over homophobic abuse.

“This has been very well understood by the LFP,” Avérous said after meeting football bosses.

But Retailleau has taken a more cautious approach. “Stopping matches is very complicated. It’s not the right solution,” he said.

His is a preference for using undercover police among the faithful to identify and extract miscreants.

Omission

Two days before the clash between Marseille and PSG, gay and lesbian sports groups accused the government of isolating them from the drive for lasting solutions.

“Bruno Retailleau’s emergency meeting left us perplexed,” said a joint statement from Inter-LGBT, LGBT+ and Paris FC Arc-en-Ciel.

“The method is incomprehensible, as not a single LGBTQI+ field sports association was invited. So the message seems clear: the fight against LGBTIphobia in sport and soccer stadiums will go ahead without us.”

Ministers countered that groups Carton Rouge and SOS Homophobie had been  included in the talks at the interior ministry.

But the key test will be how French footballing authorities act after Sunday’s showdown.

The match will be much more than just the ninth fixture of the 2024/25 Ligue 1 season.

Le Classique, as fixtures between Marseille and PSG are styled, could provide French authorities with their moment of truth.

They can prove that the hateful and the homophobes aren’t in control.

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.

Mark your calendars now for 12 December, 6 PM Paris time – that’s when the winners of the ePOP video competition will be announced, live on the ePOP Facebook page. My good pals Max Bale and Gaël Flaugère, who run the Planète Radio department that sponsors ePOP, invited me to come on the show and talk to you for a few minutes, in English. So plan to stay up late or get up early on 12 December, beloved listeners!

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 Spotlight on France, Spotlight on Africa, The International Report, and of course, The Sound Kitchen. We also have an award-winning bilingual series – an old-time radio show, with actors (!) to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis. 

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 Alison Hird and Sarah Elzas’ Spotlight on France podcast no 115, Alison produced a piece on France’s current governmental crisis, and the lack of an ability in the French political landscape to compromise – as Alison noted: “France does not have the tradition of coalition building more commonly found in Germany, Switzerland and the Nordic countries.”

As social scientist Loïc Blondiaux told Le Monde: “The idea of deliberation – organised, reasoned debate in the form of an exchange of arguments – has never had the force and legitimacy in France that it has in other countries … a specific trait of our political culture is, on the contrary, contempt for consensus. Compromise is often seen as synonymous with giving in and weakness.”

I asked you to re-listen to Alison’s report, and send in the answer to this question: How many political groups are there in France’s National Assembly?

The answer is: As Laure Gillot-Assayag, a researcher in political science and philosophy told Alison: “There are 11 political groups in the National Assembly, it’s a record … a culture of compromise is more necessary than ever if the government is to function in such a deeply divided political landscape.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “What is the most wonderful thing you’ve ever seen in a museum?”

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

The winners are: Saleem Akhtar, the president of the RFI Seven Stars Radio Listening Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan. Saleem is also the winner of this week’s bonus question. Congratulations, Saleem!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Sakirun Islam Mitu, a member of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, Bangladesh; also from Rajshahi, RFI English listener Sumaiya Akter, a member of the World Dx International Radio Fan Club.

Rounding out this week’s list of lucky winners are Ferhat Bezazel, the president of the RFI Butterflies Club Ain Kechera in West Skikda, Algeria, and finally, RFI English listener Abdul Rehman, a member of the International Radio Fan and Youth Club in Khanewal, Pakistan.

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Take a Hike” by Rik Carter and Phil Brown; “Galerie” by Bruno Letort; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Identité” by Gaël Horellou, performed by Horellou and his ensemble.

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 Amanda Morrow’s article “Ecosystems hang in the balance as Colombia hosts crucial biodiversity talks”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 18 November to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 23 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

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France

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.   

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. 

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.

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.

“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)

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.

• French retail giant Carrefour brings first foreign supermarkets to Israel
• French supermarket giant Casino ‘put on notice’ over illegal logging in Amazon

“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.

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 ruling Georgian Dream party’s billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, the opposition, and foreign diplomats had cast the election as a watershed moment that would decide if Georgia moves closer to the West or leans back towards Russia amid the war in Ukraine.

If confirmed, Georgian Dream’s victory would prove a blow to those Georgians who hope for closer integration with Europe in a vote billed as a choice between the West and Russia.

Early official results with 70 percent of precincts counted, representing the majority of votes cast, showed the ruling party had won 53 percent of the vote, the electoral commission said.

The results do not include most ballots cast by Georgians living overseas.

Opposition parties contested the election results at a news briefing held in the early hours of Sunday and said they would not accept them.

“This is a constitutional coup,” said Nika Gvaramia, leader of the Coalition for Change opposition party, according to the Interpress news agency.

“The Georgian people have cast a vote for the European future of this country, and therefore we will not accept these falsified results published by the CEC (Central Election Commission),” said Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement.

“We Vote”, a Georgian coalition of electoral observers, said it believed the results “do not reflect the will of the citizens of Georgia”, citing multiple reports of voter intimidation and vote buying.

“We will continue to demand the annulment of the results,” it said.

Rival exit polls gave sharply different projections for the election: The Georgian Dream-supporting Imedi TV channel showed the ruling party winning 56 percent.

Exit polls by the pro-opposition channels showed major gains for the opposition parties.

Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream’s reclusive billionaire founder and onetime prime minister, claimed victory and praised the Georgian people.

“It is a rare case in the world that the same party achieves such success in such a difficult situation – this is a good indicator of the talent of the Georgian people,” Ivanishvili told cheering supporters.

Though Georgian Dream lost out to the combined opposition in parts of the capital, Tbilisi, it won margins of up to 90 percent in some rural areas.

The Georgian opposition initially also celebrated victory and some monitors reported election violations. But a parallel count operated by one of the opposition parties showed Georgian Dream in a strong position to win a majority.

Party representatives told Reuters they would be analysing the results in the coming hours, but stopped short for the moment of alleging any falsifications.

Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia in the 1990s, came to power in 2012 advocating pro-Western views, alongside a pragmatic policy towards Russia.

He has since soured on the West, accusing a “Global War Party” of seeking to drag Georgia into war with Russia, even as he insists Georgia is on course to join the European Union (EU).

If victory for Ivanishvili’s party is confirmed, it would be a blow to the EU’s hopes of bringing more former Soviet republics into its orbit. Moldova on Oct. 20 voted by a very slim majority to support EU accession.

Russia had repeatedly signalled it wanted Georgian Dream to win, while accusing Western countries of undue interference in Georgian politics.

“The Georgians won. Well done!” said Margarita Simonyan, the editor of Russian state media outlet RT, which the United States has accused of trying to influence its own presidential election.

There was no immediate comment from the EU.

Crucial vote 

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili – a one-time ally of the ruling party turned fierce critic whose powers are mostly ceremonial – and independent domestic election monitors had alleged Georgian Dream was engaged in widespread vote-buying and other forms of electoral abuse in the lead-up to the vote.

The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), an independent Georgian electoral monitoring group founded in 1995, said it had documented numerous violations and instances of violence outside multiple polling stations.

Video circulated on social media showing a man stuffing multiple ballots into a voting box in Marneuli, a city of some 25,000 south of Tbilisi.

The votes were later declared invalid, a Central Election Commission spokesperson said, according to the Interpress news agency.

Giorgi Kalandarishvili, the chairman of the electoral commission, said the vote was peaceful and free, and said the election had taken place in accordance with international standards.

Change

Some opposition-minded Georgians told Reuters they were disappointed by the results.

Voter Irakli Gotsiridze said: “I’m very disappointed that these are the results. I don’t want to believe it.”

Georgia was once one of the most pro-Western states to emerge from the chaotic aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse. The road leading from Tbilisi’s airport is named after former US President George W. Bush.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Tbilisi’s relations with the West have taken a sharp downward turn.

Unlike many Western allies, Georgia declined to impose sanctions on Moscow, while Georgian Dream’s rhetoric has become increasingly pro-Russian.

Georgian Dream has drawn the ire of its Western allies for what they cast as its increasingly authoritarian bent.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban congratulated Georgian Dream for an “overwhelming victory”.

Georgian Dream had campaigned hard on keeping Georgia out of the war in Ukraine, with campaign billboards contrasting pristine Georgian cities with devastated Ukrainian ones.

Sandro Dvalishvili, a 23-year-old Georgian Dream activist, told Reuters last week that Georgia would face “danger” if his party of choice was defeated at the polls.

“If it turns out that we don’t win, for me that’ll be very bad. Because I don’t see another force that will bring peace and stability to our country”, he said.

 (Reuters)

Libya resumed oil exports this month after a pause caused by a dispute over control of the country’s central bank, which oversees oil exports.

“This was a serious crisis,” said Jalel Harchaoui from the Royal United Services Institute. “And while it’s partly fixed, there are still issues that need attention.”

The row between Libya’s two rival administrations which led to the temporary halt, was only resolved by intense negotiations, but Harchaoui claims the conflict’s repercussions continue.

Newly reconciled, Turkey and Egypt could be a force for stability in Africa

“A lot of players, including armed groups in Tripoli, are trying to take advantage of whatever has happened over the last several weeks. So I’m not describing a scenario of war, but I’m describing a more volatile environment,” he said.

Turkish-Egyptian relations

However, a recent rapprochement between Egypt and Turkey could offer hope of easing Libyan tensions.

“We agreed to consult between our institutions to achieve security and political stability,” pledged Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at a press conference last month in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

Libya once was a point of Turkish-Egyptian rivalry, with Cairo backing the eastern Libyan administration in Benghazi of Khalifa Haftar and Ankara supporting the western Tripoli-based Government of National Unity. Now, Egyptian-Turkish collaboration is key to resolving the latest Libyan crisis.

“Both countries can push the Tripoli-based government at least to accept something or come to the least terms that they can agree,” said Murat Aslan of the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, a pro-Turkish government think tank. “So it’s a win-win situation for both Egypt and Turkey.”

Economic crises

With both the Turkish and Egyptian economies in crisis, the economic benefits of cooperating in Libya are seen as a powerful force behind the country’s rapprochement and Libyan collaboration.

Fighting between rival militias in Libya kills dozens

“These two countries are very important to one another,” said Aya Burweila, a Libyan security analyst

“They’ve figured out a way to divide spheres and work together. Even in the east now, Turkish companies have cut lucrative deals, infrastructure deals, just as Egypt has.

“So economy and money drive a lot of these political friendships and reapportionment.”

Ankara is looking to Cairo to use its influence over Hafta to support an agreement it made with the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity to explore widely believed energy reserves in Libyan waters.

Libya’s stability at greater risk with turmoil in Niger and Sudan, UN warns

At the same time, Cairo is pressing to remove Ankara-supported Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh of Libya’s Government of National Unity. Despite differences, Harchaoui says Cairo and Ankara are committed to cooperation.

“What has already been decided is that they are going to speak and they are going to speak on a daily basis,” said Harchaoui.

“And then at every crucial moment, they are going to make sure and Turkey, specifically, is going to make sure that Egypt is on board.

“But we need more tangible results from the dialogue that has already been in place,” he added.

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.

Mark your calendars now for 12 December, 6 PM Paris time – that’s when the winners of the ePOP video competition will be announced, live on the ePOP Facebook page. My good pals Max Bale and Gaël Flaugère, who run the Planète Radio department that sponsors ePOP, invited me to come on the show and talk to you for a few minutes, in English. So plan to stay up late or get up early on 12 December, beloved listeners!

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 Spotlight on France, Spotlight on Africa, The International Report, and of course, The Sound Kitchen. We also have an award-winning bilingual series – an old-time radio show, with actors (!) to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis. 

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 Alison Hird and Sarah Elzas’ Spotlight on France podcast no 115, Alison produced a piece on France’s current governmental crisis, and the lack of an ability in the French political landscape to compromise – as Alison noted: “France does not have the tradition of coalition building more commonly found in Germany, Switzerland and the Nordic countries.”

As social scientist Loïc Blondiaux told Le Monde: “The idea of deliberation – organised, reasoned debate in the form of an exchange of arguments – has never had the force and legitimacy in France that it has in other countries … a specific trait of our political culture is, on the contrary, contempt for consensus. Compromise is often seen as synonymous with giving in and weakness.”

I asked you to re-listen to Alison’s report, and send in the answer to this question: How many political groups are there in France’s National Assembly?

The answer is: As Laure Gillot-Assayag, a researcher in political science and philosophy told Alison: “There are 11 political groups in the National Assembly, it’s a record … a culture of compromise is more necessary than ever if the government is to function in such a deeply divided political landscape.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “What is the most wonderful thing you’ve ever seen in a museum?”

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

The winners are: Saleem Akhtar, the president of the RFI Seven Stars Radio Listening Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan. Saleem is also the winner of this week’s bonus question. Congratulations, Saleem!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Sakirun Islam Mitu, a member of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, Bangladesh; also from Rajshahi, RFI English listener Sumaiya Akter, a member of the World Dx International Radio Fan Club.

Rounding out this week’s list of lucky winners are Ferhat Bezazel, the president of the RFI Butterflies Club Ain Kechera in West Skikda, Algeria, and finally, RFI English listener Abdul Rehman, a member of the International Radio Fan and Youth Club in Khanewal, Pakistan.

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Take a Hike” by Rik Carter and Phil Brown; “Galerie” by Bruno Letort; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Identité” by Gaël Horellou, performed by Horellou and his ensemble.

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 Amanda Morrow’s article “Ecosystems hang in the balance as Colombia hosts crucial biodiversity talks”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 18 November to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 23 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

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.   

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.

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.