The commission, chaired by Chad’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Abderaman Koulamallah, will be tasked with “officially notifying the French authorities of the denunciation of the military cooperation agreement … through diplomatic channels,” according to a decree signed by the country’s Prime Minister Allamaye Halina. 

The commission’s initial responsibility will be to officially notify the French authorities of the termination of the military agreement, including the convention that governs the presence of French troops on Chadian soil.

Following this, the body will draw up a plan for the cessation of obligations under the agreement; address the legal, security and logistical aspects of the termination, and coordinate with France for an orderly withdrawal of troops stationed at three bases, along with their equipment.

Although no final date for withdrawal has been set, the agreement states that the deadline for termination is six months from notification. 

Among the commission’s 21 members are several ministers, including those responsible for the armed forces and territorial administration, as well as other key officials from the presidency and the prime minister’s office. It also includes the head of Chad’s intelligence services.

• France caught off guard as Chad cuts military ties with Paris

Shock announcement

Chad announced its decision to terminate the security and defence agreements that have linked it with France since the end of the colonial era on 28 November – mere hours after a visit by France’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot.

The declaration caught Paris off guard, but Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Déby was quick to emphasise that the decision “in no way constitutes a rejection of international cooperation or a calling into question of our diplomatic relations with France,” adding that it was not a question of “replacing one power with another”.

Chad – the last country in the Sahel to host French forces – is currently home to around 1,000 French troops at bases in Ndjamena, Abéché, and Faya-Largeau.

• France to reduce military presence in West and Central Africa

Collapse of French influence

Still in political transition since the coup that brought General Déby to power in 2020, and a disputed presidential election last April, Chad is also currently under attack from the jihadist group Boko Haram in the north-west. The country has also received an influx of refugees from neighbouring Sudan, and is mopping up the damage caused by an unprecedented rainy season that has displaced more than 2 million people.

The end of military cooperation with France comes after the forced withdrawal of French troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. 

Meanwhile, Senegal’s new president Bassirou Diomaye Fayé has shared his desire to close French bases in his country.

On Wednesday, Koulamallah was in Bangui to inform the Central African Republic authorities of the postponement of Déby’s planned visit, which had been scheduled for today and tomorrow. The reason for this postponement were not specified, but several sources indicated to RFI it was related to the implications of Déby’s decision to end military cooperation with France. 

Barnier officially resigned on Thursday morning, plunging France into its second major political crisis in six months.

It came the day after a confidence vote nullified the government’s €60 billion austerity plan  that Barnier forced through parliament using his executive powers in a bid to shrink France’s huge deficit.

Brought by the hard left and supported by the far right in the National Assembly, the motion saw a majority of 331 MPs in the 577-member chamber opting to topple the government – a first since 1962.

Financial uncertainty

The political upheaval has left France without a long-term budget, triggering an automatic renewal of the current financial plan into 2025.

Lawmakers now have a tight 70-day window to propose, debate and adopt a fresh plan.

If a new budget is not approved in time, the country risks deeper financial instability. The resigning government can submit a special bill to continue collecting taxes, but it must be presented by 19 December.

France’s borrowing costs have already spiked, briefly surpassing those of Greece earlier this week – traditionally seen as a much riskier investment – as investors grow nervous over the political gridlock.

France has ‘one of the worst deficits’ in its history, minister says

New PM expected

A caretaker government will remain in place to take care of day-to-day business until a new prime minister is appointed.

A source close to Macron said the president has “no choice” but to name a new prime minister within 24 hours. He has scheduled a national address for 8pm local time on Thursday, the Elysée Palace said.

With over two years of his presidential term left, some – though not all – opponents are calling on Macron to resign.

Any new prime minister would face the same challenges as Barnier in getting bills, including the 2025 budget, adopted by a divided parliament. There can be no new parliamentary election before July.

Given the turbulence, the new nominee now risks serving an even shorter term than Barnier, whose tenure was the shortest of any administration since the Fifth Republic began in 1958.

Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu, centrist ally François Bayrou and former Socialist premier Bernard Cazeneuve are considered potential candidates for the role.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, said her party would cooperate with the next government to create “a budget acceptable for everyone.”

Wave of strikes brewing as French budget cuts anger unions

Winter of strikes

The financial uncertainty comes as France braces for widespread strikes. Teachers, air traffic controllers and other civil servants are walking off the job on Thursday over separate cost-cutting measures.

Farmers, who were promised administrative reforms in the scrapped 2025 budget, are planning demonstrations next week to voice their anger.

The strikes are expected to disrupt schools, transport and public services, compounding the sense of crisis gripping the country.

Tbilisi has been rocked by turmoil since the governing Georgian Dream party, which critics accuse of creeping authoritarianism and of leading the country back into Russia‘s orbit, claimed victory in a disputed election in October.

The government said last Thursday that it would suspend EU membership talks until 2028, sparking uproar and a fresh wave of demonstrations that have been met with a heavy-handed response from authorities.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has refused to back down in the face of international condemnation, instead escalating a feud with pro-EU opposition groups that are demanding a rerun of the elections.

“We will do everything necessary to completely eradicate liberal fascism in Georgia,” he told reporters Thursday.

“This process has already begun. These recent developments mark the start of the end of liberal fascism in Georgia,” he said, using language reminiscent of that used by the Kremlin in Russia to target its political opponents.

He also called on “parents to protect their children from the influence of liberal fascist hubs” – a reference to the young protestors that have taken to the streets of Tbilisi in nightly rallies.

The comments come a day after masked police officers raided several opposition party headquarters and arrested opposition leaders.

Georgia arrests 107 more people as pro-EU demonstrations continue

‘Unjustified violence’

Around 300 people have been detained and dozens injured, including protestors and police, in clashes outside the parliament building in central Tbilisi over the last week.

Several demonstrators, including journalists, have needed hospital treatment after being detained and, they allege, beaten by the security forces.

Rights ombudsman Levan Ioseliani has accused the police of using “torture” against those detained at rallies.

On Wednesday, Georgian police arrested seven people for “organising and leading group violence” and seized crates of fireworks, which have been launched by protestors at riot police.

Opposition leader Nika Gvaramia of the Akhali party was beaten and detained during a police raid, with television footage showing him, apparently unconscious, being carried away by masked security forces.

The United States is among those that have denounced Georgia’s forceful crackdown, threatening additional sanctions against the country’s leaders.

“The United States strongly condemns the Georgian Dream party’s brutal and unjustified violence against Georgian citizens, protesters, members of the media, and opposition figures,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

Kobakhidze on Thursday rejected Blinken’s statements and said Tbilisi was hoping for better relations with Washington after Donald Trump comes to power in January.

France joins calls for inquiry into alleged irregularities in Georgia election

Russian turn

Critics of the government are enraged by what they call its betrayal of Georgia’s bid for EU membership, which is enshrined in its constitution and supported by around 80 percent of the population.

Several ambassadors and a deputy foreign minister resigned over the decision to suspend EU accession talks for four years.

Galvanising the protest movement, a senior interior ministry official tasked with responding to the protests also quit on Wednesday, posting his resignation letter on social media accompanied by Georgian and European flag emojis.

The protests have drawn comparisons with the 2014 pro-EU revolution in Ukraine that ousted a Moscow-backed president, and come amid criticism of the Georgian Dream party for allegedly moving closer to the Kremlin.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday sanctioned Kobakhidze and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, widely seen as the country’s de facto leader, for “handing Georgia over to Putin”, he said in video message.

Since 2022, Georgia has advanced legislation targeting civil society and independent media outlets as well as curbing LGBTQ+ rights, measures critics say are based on repressive Russian laws.

Infected people suffer from flu-like symptoms including a high fever and severe headaches, authorities said, with women and children the most severely affected. 

The outbreak, which began in November, has primarily affected the Panzi health zone, a rural area near Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) border with Angola.  

Local authorities say a cough and anaemia have also been reported among patients. “This is extremely worrying as the number of cases is increasing,” said Cephorien Manzanza, a local civil society leader. 

Lack of medical resources 

Rémy Saki, the deputy governor of Kwango province, and the country’s Provincial Health Minister Apollinaire Yumba said many of the deaths had occurred in patients’ homes due to limited access to medical treatment. 

“Panzi is a rural health zone, so there is a problem with the supply of medicines,” Manzanza added. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed it had been alerted to the situation last week and is working with the DRC’s public health ministry to investigate. 

Bringing the overlooked impact of DR Congo’s displacement crisis into focus

A medical team has been sent to Panzi to collect samples and analyse the disease, with epidemiological experts expected to assist in identifying its cause. Health authorities are yet to release test results from the outbreak to rule out other common diseases. 

Health Minister Yumba has advised people not to touch the bodies of those who died from the disease to avoid contamination. Meanwhile, Saki has urged international partners to send medical supplies to the region, where infrastructure challenges are exacerbating the crisis. 

The outbreak comes as the DRC continues to battle an mpox epidemic, with more than 47,000 suspected cases and more than 1,000 deaths reported, according to the WHO. 

Gavi secures 500,000 doses of mpox vaccine for Africa amid outbreak

The junta, which took power in a coup in July last year, has vowed to revamp regulation of the mining of raw materials by foreign companies. 

In June, authorities withdrew Orano’s permit to exploit one of the largest uranium deposits in the world, Imouraren – which holds an estimated 200,000 tonnes of the mineral. Niger is the world’s seventh-largest uranium producer.

By late October, the French group had suspended production by its local unit Somair, in the northern Arlit region, due to what it termed increasingly difficult operating conditions and financial issues.

The company has also criticised the impossibility of exporting uranium, since Niger closed its border with Benin for what Niamey says are security reasons. 

Orano holds a 63.4 percent stake in Somair, while the Nigerien state owns 36.6 percent.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the French group said: “For several months, Orano has been warning of the interference that the group has been suffering in the governance of Somair. The decisions taken at the company’s board meetings are no longer being applied and, as a result, Orano is today confirming that the Nigerien authorities have taken operational control.”

This latest clash between the junta and Orano – majority owned by the French state – comes as Niger downgrades links with its former colonial power France, and strengthens ties with Russia and Iran.

Last month, Nigérien Mining Minister Ousmane Abarchi invited Russian firms to invest in uranium and other natural resource production in the country.

Niger embraces Russia for uranium production leaving France out in the cold

‘Heavy burden on employees’

Orano said Somair’s board had decided on 12 November to suspend expenses related to production activities “in order to prioritise the payment of salaries and preserve the integrity of the industrial facilities”.

But days later, a delegation of the regime’s advisers visited the Somair mines in Arlit to encourage work there to continue – a move that prompted Orano to declare enforcement of the board’s decision “is being deliberately prevented”.

“The production expenses which continue to be incurred on the site are worsening the company’s financial situation with every passing day,” its statement said.

It added that “representatives of Niger” defended their position at a board meeting on Tuesday, “in particular confirming their refusal to export the production”.

French nuclear giant slips into the red following Niger-French breakup

A total of 1,150 tonnes of uranium concentrate from 2023 and 2024 stocks – the equivalent of almost half of annual production in Arlit – are being blocked, according to Orano – stocks worth around €200 million.

“Orano expresses its deepest regret regarding the evolving situation which is placing a heavy burden on the employees and local communities,” the company said. “Orano intends to defend its rights before the competent bodies, and reaffirms its belief that only a united effort by all stakeholders to re-establish a stable and sustainable mode of operation can allow Somair to resume activities in peace.”

The more than five-year reconstruction of Notre-Dame cathedral has featured some near-miraculous recoveries, as well as several controversies.

Ahead of the official reopening of the cathedral on Saturday, here are some of the key moments:

The saviours

Paris firefighters won universal praise for their swift and decisive action on the evening of April 15, 2019, with officers later saying they thought they were only 30 minutes away from seeing the structure collapse.

Battling smoke and the risk of falling debris, they formed a human chain with church officials to evacuate the most precious artifacts and religious treasures, helping preserve most of the cathedral’s irreplaceable contents.

Others saw divine intervention in how a copper statue of a rooster that had sat atop the building’s incinerated 19th-century spire was found afterwards intact amid the scorched rubble.

Its contents – three relics, including a small piece of the Crown of Thorns supposedly worn by Jesus before his crucifixion – also survived, with the battered rooster now on display in a Paris museum.

Inside the cathedral, images the day after the blaze revealed that a giant gold cross on the altar was still standing amid the still smouldering wreckage, a symbol of hope and defiance for many on a dark day for Christians and the country at large.

Trump to join Macron and world leaders at reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral

Contested design contest

French President Emmanuel Macron called the fire “an opportunity to come together” but any sense of national unity after the disaster quickly broke down.

His suggestion that an “element of modern architecture” be included in the rebuild drew immediate criticism from conservatives who demanded that the reconstruction be faithful to the last major update by architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc in 1844.

The army general put in charge of the rebuild publicly fell out with the lead architect over the redesign, while entries for an architectural competition to select a new spire resulted in lurid headlines.

One suggestion shown by First Lady Brigitte Macron to then-culture minister Roselyne Bachelot resembled a “phallus with its base surrounded with golden balls,” Bachelot wrote in a book.

In the end, a replica of the old spire was built.

Six new stained glass windows are set to be installed featuring work by contemporary artists – a modest nod to modernity and Macron’s original vision.

France mulls charging tourists to enter Notre-Dame cathedral

Lead role

Notre-Dame’s roof and spire were covered by around 400 tonnes of lead, a toxic heavy metal that melted and vaporised with the heat of the fire, with some of it thought to have polluted the surrounding area.

Authorities cleaned nearby schools and advised local residents to wipe surfaces in their homes because of the risk of poisoning.

A health charity joined forces with a union and parents of local schoolchildren to lodge a criminal complaint in 2022 that accused authorities of failing to take every precaution to prevent pollution.

Charges are possible if authorities or contractors are found to have been negligent in protecting the health of residents or workers sent in to decontaminate the site, with an investigating magistrate overseeing a probe.

Paris unveils green ambitions for Notre-Dame Cathedral

Cause unknown

The chief Paris prosecutor at the time of the fire, Remy Heitz, said shortly after the inferno that he believed that an accident such as an electrical fault or a cigarette butt was the most likely cause.

Some of the workers renovating the roof at the time of the fire were known to have smoked on site, but investigators have never been able to pinpoint the exact starting point.

Speculation about an arson attack has been investigated during five years of forensic analysis, but no evidence was found.

The current chief Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in April that “the closer we have got to the spot the fire started, and the more results of analyses come back, the more weight is lent to the theory of an accident.”

Fee row

Culture Minister Rachida Dati has proposed that visitors to the restored cathedral pay a five-euro ($5.25) entry ticket, with the funds set to be routed to some 4,000 churches in need of repairs around France.

Charging for entry – entering Notre-Dame was previously free – would bring the tourist attraction into line with St Paul’s cathedral in London or Milan‘s Duomo.

But senior French church leaders have criticised the idea, with a senior bishop saying churches and cathedrals had “always been places open to all” and making money from visitors would be a “betrayal of their original vocation”.

The French state owns Notre-Dame and has the final say.

Artisans have been making the soap in the city for some 3,000 years, brewing olive and laurel oil in large pots and allowing the mixture to cool before cutting it into blocks, and stamping them by hand.

Makers craft the product using “traditional knowledge and skills”, said Unesco, adding that they rely on a mix of natural, locally produced ingredients and a drying process that can take up to nine months.

Aleppo soap on Tuesday joined the city’s traditional music, Al-Qudoud al-Halabiya, on Unesco’s list of intangible cultural heritage.

Aleppo itself, which was declared a world heritage site in 1986, was added to the organisation’s List of World Heritage in Danger in 2013, due to the damage wreaked by armed conflict.

Aleppo soap finds refuge in France

Of the 100 soap factories that stood in the city, only around 10 remain. Many have relocated to Damascus or neighbouring Turkey.

But the soap remains essential to the families and communities involved in the trade. “The collaborative production process promotes community and family unity,” said Unesco.

(with AFP)

UNESCO petitioned to save Lebanon’s heritage sites from Israeli strikes

Speaking on Tuesday from Cape Town, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the presidency of the G20 is a “great moment for our continent” as well as for developing countries known collectively as the Global South,

“We will use this moment to bring development priorities of the African continent and more broadly, the Global South, more firmly onto the agenda of the G20,” he added.

South Africa took over the rotating presidency of the grouping of the world’s largest economies on 1 December and will host its summit in November 2025 before handing over to the United States.

• G20 backs climate finance deal but faces fossil fuel backlash

Ramaphosa has said he wants the presidency “to have African flavour in substance, in issues that will be tackled, development issues” and to put forward the continent’s perspectives.

The G20’s members – 19 sovereign nations and two regional groupings, the African Union and European Union – account for 85 percent of global GDP and three-quarters of global trade.

Until the AU was admitted in 2023, South Africa was the “lone African voice for the longest time”, Ramaphosa said.

‘Neglected continent’

More African countries, notably Nigeria – the continent’s other big economic powerhouse alongside South Africa – need to be included “so that we can raise the voice from Africa, the neglected continent”.

“We have a voice, we have a presence, and we are going to be the biggest growth story in years to come. And our population is going to grow by leaps and bounds. 

“And therefore, as a continent, we are going to be a big noise. And we want that big noise to be recognised in the form of countries that will become part of the G20 right now,” Ramaphosa said.

South Africa’s priorities for its presidency are to strengthen disaster resilience in the face of climate change, mobilise finance for the move towards greener energy and tackle unsustainable levels of debt hobbling low-income countries, many of them African.

• Five takeaways from the G20 summit in Rio

“We will use this G20 to champion the use of critical minerals as an engine of growth and for the development of our continent, as our continent is rich and richly endowed with these critical minerals,” he said.

Special task forces will focus on inclusive growth to reduce inequality, food security and sustainable development.

South Africa’s is the last in a series of G20 presidencies led by a developing country, with the United States under incoming president Donald Trump the next in line.

Asked if he was concerned about handing over to Trump’s government, Ramaphosa said: “I think there will be sufficient shock absorbers that will be put in place to enable the G20 to continue to function in a way that will advance the interests of the world”.

The aid package, which will be split across 31 nations dealing with historic drought conditions linked to El Nino, was unveiled during Biden’s landmark trip as the first US president to visit Angola. 

“The United States is all in on Africa,” Biden said as he reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to the continent following a meeting with Angolan President Joao Lourenço at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday. 

Both leaders highlighted strengthening ties between their nations despite past Cold War tensions. 

“Our conflictual past … is now over. This is also a turning point in our relations, which without a shadow of doubt, will experience new dynamics from today,” Lourenço told reporters. 

During a speech at Luanda’s National Slavery Museum, Biden described the transatlantic slave trade as “the original sin” that has “haunted” his country. 

Angola was a major source of enslaved people transported to the Americas in the 19th century. 

Biden visits Angola to keep railway project and American interests on track

Transporting minerals

Wednesday’s meeting saw Biden joined by Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and Zambian leader Hakainde Hichilema to discuss plans for transforming the transport of critical minerals across the region. 

The 1,300-kilometre rail line, funded partly by the US, is expected to slash transport times for minerals like cobalt and copper across central Africa to the coast from 40 days by road to just 40 hours by rail. 

The railway is a key component of Biden’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment initiative, designed to boost trade and job creation in Africa while strengthening ties between the US and the region.  

“This corridor is of vital importance to opening up our countries, to opening up our regions, the continent, and truly the global economy,” Hichilema said.

“This project is a huge opportunity for investment, for trade.”

Eastern DR Congo grapples with Chinese gold mining firms

Countering China

However as Biden prepares to leave office in January, questions remain about the long-term support for initiatives like the Lobito Corridor. 

His visit comes as Washington seeks to counter China‘s growing influence in Africa.  

Hours before Biden’s museum speech, Beijing announced export restrictions on several high-tech materials to the United States, including minerals used in electric vehicle batteries. 

“We’ve also pushed to ensure that developing nations do not have to choose between paying down unsustainable debt and being able to invest in their own people,” Biden said in an apparent reference to Chinese lending practices. 

The Paris court on Wednesday confirmed the ruling of a lower court in May, which found 91-year-old Polanski not guilty of defaming Lewis, 57, who alleges he raped her in Paris in 1983.

The verdict handed down in May – which Lewis appealed – related strictly to the charge of defamation, and not to Lewis’s accusation of rape against Polanski.

The appeals court also decided that Polanski had not committed a breach of civil duty and therefore did not owe Lewis any damages.

Polanski did not attend any of the hearings.

Lewis’s lawyer Benjamin Chouai described the ruling as “very questionable“. He added: “It gives Roman Polanski a sort of licence to kill via the media. He is being allowed to defame, discredit, tarnish. He will likely continue to do this against Charlotte Lewis, but also the other women.”

‘Freedom of expression’

Meanwhile Polanski’s lawyer, Delphine Meillet, said the final acquittal was “very satisfying”. “It’s a great day for freedom of expression as it has again been confirmed that that when you are accused in the press you can defend yourself in the press,” she said.

In March, Lewis said she became the victim of a “smear campaign” that “nearly destroyed” her life after she spoke up about the alleged assault.

• French court clears director Roman Polanski of defamation against Charlotte Lewis

Defamation charge

In 2010, Lewis accused Polanski of abusing her “in the worst possible way” as a 16-year-old in 1983 in Paris, after she travelled there for a casting session.

Polanski retorted that this was a “heinous lie” in a 2019 conversation with Paris Match magazine.

According to the magazine, he pulled out a copy of a 1999 article from the British tabloid newspaper News of the World, and quoted Lewis as saying in it: “I wanted to be his lover.”

Lewis maintains that the quotes attributed to her in that interview were not accurate.

She filed a complaint for defamation, and the film director was automatically charged under French law.

• Polanski avoids trial over 1973 assault allegation after reaching settlement, lawyer confirms

US lawsuit

Polanski is wanted in the United States over the rape of a 13-year-old in 1977.

The case went to trial, but he fled to Europe in 1978 before a verdict was pronounced. Switzerland, France and Poland have refused to extradite Polanski to the United States.

He also faces several other accusations of sexual assault dating back decades and past the statute of limitations. 

Between 2017 and 2019, four other women came forward with claims that Polanski also abused them in the 1970s – three of them as minors. Polanski has denied all the allegations.

He will, however, face a civil trial over the alleged 1973 rape of a minor in Los Angeles in August next year.

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

The Atlantic route to the Canary Islands has become increasingly popular for migrants fleeing poverty and conflict in West Africa, despite its dangers.

Many arrive on overcrowded, makeshift boats without enough drinking water. Authorities report 610 boats have reached the islands so far this year, compared to 530 in 2023.

Dangerous crossing

The Atlantic crossing is one of the deadliest migration routes to Europe due to strong currents and rough weather. The International Organization for Migration estimates nearly 5,000 people have died attempting the journey since 2014.

Mali, Senegal, and Morocco are the main countries of origin for those arriving in the Canary Islands, the European Union‘s border agency Frontex said.

Personal stories paint rich portrait of France’s immigration through time

The regional government of the Canaries says it is struggling to manage the surge. The islands, home to 2.2 million people, are often a first stop for migrants before they are transferred to mainland Spain.

The Spanish government has stepped up efforts to address the crisis. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez toured West African nations earlier this year, securing agreements to reduce departures from Senegal, Mauritania, and the Gambia.

Spain has also urged Frontex to restart its air and sea patrols in the region, which ended in 2018.

Workforce visas

In addition to border control measures, Spain is offering visas to up to 900,000 undocumented migrants already in the country. The programme, which will grant 300,000 visas annually over three years, aims to integrate migrants into the workforce.

“Spain has to choose between being an open and prosperous country or being a closed and poor country,” said Migration Minister Elma Saiz.

The Canary Islands are part of a broader trend, as Spain remains one of Europe’s main entry points for migrants, alongside Italy and Greece. A total of 56,976 migrants have entered Spain without documentation so far in 2024, exceeding last year’s figure of 56,852.

Vice-President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah took just over 57 percent of ballots followed by the candidate for the main opposition Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) with 25.5 percent, the election authority announced.

Nandi-Ndaitwah, 72, becomes the first woman to rule the mineral-rich southern African country that has been governed by the South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo) since independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990.

The November 27 election was a test of Swapo’s 34-year grip on power, with the IPC attracting some support from younger generations more concerned by unemployment and inequality than loyalty to liberation-era parties.

Voting was extended to 30 November after logistical and technical problems, including a shortage of ballot papers, led to long queues. Some voters gave up on the first day of voting after waiting for up to 12 hours.

The IPC said this was a deliberate attempt to frustrate voters and it would not accept the results.

Its presidential candidate Panduleni Itula, 67, said last week there were a “multitude of irregularities”.

Namibia’s ruling party on edge as country holds presidential polls

The “IPC shall not recognise the outcome of that election”, he said on Saturday, the last day of the extended vote. The party would “fight… to nullify the elections through the processes that are established within our electoral process”, he said.

In reaction to Tuesday’s announcement of the Swapo victory, IPC spokesperson Imms Nashinge said the party maintained this position.

Itula last week called on his party’s supporters to be calm but also “stand firm to ensure that we shall not be robbed neither denied our democratic right to choose our leaders.”

An organisation of southern African human rights lawyers serving as election monitors also said the delays at the ballot box were intentional and widespread.

Failures

The Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) admitted to failures in the organisation of the vote, including a shortage of ballot papers and the overheating of electronic tablets used to register voters.

Of the nearly 1.5 million registered voters in the sparsely populated country, nearly 77 percent had cast ballots in the presidential vote, it said Tuesday.

“Fellow Namibians, elections are competitive by nature, but democracy calls upon us to unite once the votes have been counted. I urge all Namibians to embrace the results with the spirit of unity, diversity, understanding and reconciliation,” said ECN chairperson Elsie Nghikembua after announcing the results.

Swapo also had a clean sweep of the concurrent national assembly election, taking 51 seats compared to 20 for the IPC. Swapo’s tally was down from its 63 seats in the previous assembly.

Namibia’s high court strikes down laws criminalising gay sex

The election was seen as a key test for Swapo after other liberation-era movements in the region have lost favour with young voters including with the Botswana Democratic Party being ousted from power of that country last month after almost six decades.

Namibia is a major uranium and diamond exporter but analysts say not many of its nearly three million people have benefited from that wealth in terms of improved infrastructure and job opportunities.

Unemployment among 15- to 34-year-olds is estimated at 46 percent, according to the latest official figures from 2018, which is almost triple the national average.

Nandi-Ndaitwah, a Swapo stalwart known by her initials NNN, will be among the few women leaders on the continent.

The conservative daughter of an Anglican pastor, she became vice president in February this year.

Recognisable by her gold-framed glasses, she has tried to vaunt the wisdom of her years during the campaign where she was often wearing blue, red and green, the colours of her party and of the national flag.

Among her election promises, NNN said she intends to “create jobs by attracting investments using economic diplomacy.”

Detectives from a joint investigation team have been reading messages sent on the Matrix chat service since September.

They closed it down during an operation involving Lithuanian and Spanish police.

“The founders were convinced that the service was superior and more secure than previous applications used by criminals,” said a statement from the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust).

Matrix breakthrough

The breakthrough, three years after police cracked the Encrochat and SkyECC networks, enabled them to read millions of messages between suspected criminals.

“The infrastructure of the Matrix platform was technically more complex than previous platforms,” Eurojust said.

Using more than 40 servers in several countries, the most important MATRIX servers were tracked down in France and Germany.

“It is not the first time and will not be the last time that authorities are able to read criminals’ messages in real time,” Eurojust said.

Journalist murdered

Dutch media reported that new encryption tool was discovered following the murder in July 2021 of Peter R. de Vries who was the country’s best-known crime reporter.

Police found the software on a Google Pixel phone in the getaway car of the man who shot him, the NOS public broadcaster said.

During an investigation into the messaging service, police discovered users were only able to join via invitation. They eventually intercepted and deciphered more than 2.3 million messages in 33 languages linked to crimes such as international drug trafficking, arms trafficking and money laundering.

In 2016, Michael Rogers, the director of America’s National Security Agency warned of the dangers of encryption after it emerged that the men behind the November 2015 massacre on the streets of Paris had been using the system which prevented intelligence officials from picking up the trail.

“As a result, we did not generate the insights ahead of time,” he told Yahoo News. “Clearly, had we known, Paris would not have happened.”

(With newswires)

“People were frothing from their mouths, the 81-year-old recalls. “Some had defecated, some were choking in their own vomit.”

His response to the deadly fumes was as brave as it was foolhardy. He tied a handkerchief over his nose and used a pushcart to ferry his neighbours to hospital. 

Gas Devi was born as the poisonous plumes of smoke seeped into the city of two million souls on 2 December 1984.

Four decades on, the daily wage labourer says she has constant pain in her chest, the result of a lung that has not fully developed. She complains that she keeps falling sick.

“My life is a living hell,” Devi told the French news agency AFP.  “My parents named me Gas.” Eyes welling up, she adds: “I believe this name is a curse. I wish I had died that night.”

Twenty-seven tonnes of methyl isocyanate (MIC), used in the production of pesticides, escaped into the cold night air after one of the tanks storing the chemical burst.

As well as those who perished in the immediate aftermath, up to 25,000 people are estimated to have since died in what remains the world’s deadliest industrial disaster.

“We don’t know when the horror will end,” Rachna Dhingra, an activist who heads the Bhopal Group for Information and Action, told RFI.

“Children in utero at the time of the disaster were born sick. The new generations have an alarming rate of cancer.

“Bhopal didn’t happen 40 years ago. Bhopal has been going on for 40 years.”

India’s Supreme Court refuses Bhopal case reopening

Payment

Union Carbide’s negligence was quickly established. In 1989, in a partial out-of-court settlement with the Indian government, Union Carbide agreed to pay 450 million euros in compensation to the victims.

But the victims themselves were not consulted in the negotiations, and received just 300 euros each.

Dow Chemical, the current owners, have refused to pay further compensation for the catastrophe.

In 1991, Warren Anderson, Union Carbide chairman and chief executive at the time of the disaster, was charged in India with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. But he never stood trial and died aged 92 in Florida in 2014.

A plea seeking compensation of 500,000 rupees (6,000 euros) from the Indian government for each victim diagnosed with cancer or kidney ailments is languishing in courts.

 “Not a single individual has gone to jail – even for a day – for killing more than 25,000 people and injuring half a million people, and contaminating the soil and groundwater,” said Dhingra.

Fight

“People in the city are continuing to fight because there is no legal mechanism to hold these corporations accountable worldwide.”

A report in the medical journal The Lancet published on 1 December to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the tragedy, highlighted the gruesome legacy in the capital of Madhya Pradesh state.

“It is estimated that more than 150,000 people exposed to methyl isocyanate are still battling respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological, ophthalmological or psychiatric illnesses,” the report reads.

Tasleem Bano, 48, is convinced of a link between the plant and congenital illnesses.

Her son, Mohammed Salman, was born with splayed limbs. “His twin brother died in the womb. Mohammed survived but he could not speak a word till he was six-years-old,” she said as she showed the braces that help her son to stand.

“Doctors say he is like this because of the gas,” said Bano, who was living near the plant in December 1984.

Her 12-year-old son could only respond with a toothy grin when asked his name.

Like him, hundreds of children seeking medical help at the Chingari Trust struggle to speak, walk or eat their meals.

Rashida Bee, co-founder of the charity organisation, believes those who died were fortunate.

“At least their misery ended,” she said. “The unfortunate are those who survived.”

Medical aid

She says her trust has admitted more than 150 children this year alone with cerebral palsy, hearing and speech impairments.

She blames the disorders on the accident and the contamination of the groundwater.

Tests of groundwater near the site has revealed cancer and birth defect-causing chemicals 50 times higher than what is accepted as safe by the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States.

“This tragedy is showing no signs of relenting,” said Bee, 68, who has lost several members of her family to cancer since the accident.

“The soil and water here are contaminated and that is why kids are still being born with deformities.”

Activists say that Union Carbide and Dow Chemical have been evading responsibility since December 1984.

“They are using techniques known to multinationals: delaying deadlines, not going to court, refusing to recognise Indian justice as competent,” rights campaigner Satinath Sarangi told RFI.

“Data very clearly shows that mortality in the exposed population compared to a matched controlled population is much higher,” said Sarangi, founder of Sambhavna Trust clinic.

 “In 2011, we’d taken stock through our registered cohorts and we found there was 28 percent more mortality among the gas-exposed.”

Illness

Sarangi, 70, said the MIC fumes damaged the immune system of affected populations and caused chromosomal aberrations, something corroborated by medical research.

 “Children of gas-exposed parents have much higher prevalence of congenital malformations,” he said.

“Bhopal has taught corporations how to get away with murder. None of those responsible have been convicted, and the US government has always opposed their extradition. This is the biggest industrial crime in history, and it goes unpunished.”

In 2021, sociologist Nikhil Deb wrote a research paper for Oxford University Press’s academic research platform, analysing how Bhopal’s victims became marginalised.

“The Bhopal disaster could have been avoided, and it could also have enabled the players involved to rectify their mistakes,” said Deb, a professor at California Polytechnic State University.

“Instead, India’s state and private actors who are driven by increasing privatisation and a desire to have more foreign investment have exacerbated people’s suffering.”

On Monday, campaigners organised the mass posting of thousands of victims’ letters to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling for him to take action over their claims for compensation.

“The sad reality is that in India you get all the permits and escape all the controls by paying the right person,” said Sarangi.

“Today, the country is dotted with mini Bhopals, industrial zones that contaminate the local population, often from the lower castes.

 “But we will keep fighting because Bhopal is the biggest industrial crime in history and concerns the whole world.”

This story has been adapted with news wires from the  original French version by Côme Bastin

In a post on his Truth Social network, Donald Trump announced: “It is an honor to announce that I will be traveling to Paris, France, on Saturday to attend the re-opening of the Magnificent and Historic Notre Dame Cathedral, which has been fully restored after a devastating fire five years ago”.

The 850-year-old edifice which was ravaged by a fire in 2019 will welcome visitors and worshippers again this Saturday and Sunday, with dozens of world leaders expected among the guests.

French President Emmanuel Macron – who set the ambitious goal of rebuilding Notre-Dame within five years – conducted an inspection of the restoration on Friday, saying workers had done the “impossible” by healing a “national wound”

Macron – Trump relations

Trump also posted on Truth Social that Macron had “done a wonderful job ensuring that Notre-Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so. It will be a very special day for all!”

After Trump first took office in 2017, his relations with Macron – then a fresh new face on the world stage, boosted by a resounding election win of his own – had the initial makings of a “bromance”.

Ties later cooled, as the US leader pressed on with a steady retreat from multilateralism that at times ran counter to Macron’s position.

As the fire ravaged the fragile cathedral in 2019, Trump urged the use of water bombers to put out the blaze, earning the ridicule of the French fire services.

• Notre-Dame reopening backed by $62m from American donors

Some 250 companies and hundreds of experts were ultimately brought in for restoration work costing a total of nearly €700 million.

It was financed from the €846 million in donations that poured in from 150 countries in a surge of solidarity, of which the United States was the highest donor.

In December 2023, Macron said in he had invited Pope Francis to the reopening of the cathedral but the head of the Catholic church announced in September, to the surprise of some observers, that he would not be coming.

Instead, the pontiff is making a landmark visit the following weekend to the French island of Corsica.

Multi-day celebration

The reopening of Notre-Dame will be an elaborate, multi-day celebration, beginning on Saturday.

Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich will preside at a reopening service that afternoon, banging on Notre-Dame’s shuttered doors with his staff to reopen them, according to the cathedral’s website.

The archbishop will also symbolically reawaken Notre-Dame’s thunderous grand organ.

The fire that melted the cathedral’s lead roofing coated the huge instrument in toxic dust. Its 8,000 pipes have been painstakingly disassembled, cleaned and retuned.

Macron will attend and address the VIP guests.

After the service, a concert will be held featuring opera singers Pretty Yende and Julie Fuchs, pianist Lang Lang, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Benin’s Angelique Kidjo and Lebanese singer Hiba Tawaji, according to France Télévisions.

• With Notre-Dame set to reopen nearly half of France plans to make a pilgrimage

On Sunday morning, the Paris archbishop will lead an inaugural Mass and consecration of the new altar.

Nearly 170 bishops from France and other countries will join the celebration, along with priests from all 106 parishes in the Paris diocese.

The Mass will be followed by a “fraternal buffet” for the needy.

Ile de la Cité, where the cathedral sits in the middle of the River Seine, will be blocked off to tourists for the events.

A public viewing area acccomodating some 40,000 spectators will be set up along the Seine’s southern bank.

(With newswires)

The French leader arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday for a three-day state visit just as a political crisis threatens to topple the French government.

After a meeting with Prince Mohammed – the de facto ruler of the oil-rich Gulf kingdom – Macron’s office announced the signing of a new partnership aimed at improving cooperation in “defence, energy transition, culture, mobility between the two countries”. 

The two leaders also “agreed to make every effort to contribute to de-escalation in the region“, including helping to consolidate the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. 

“Together, they called for the holding of presidential elections in Lebanon with the aim of bringing the Lebanese people together and carrying out the reforms necessary for the stability and security of the country,” a statement from Macron’s office said.

Macron touched down in the Saudi capital Riyadh in the afternoon, where he was greeted by an honour guard of sword-holding servicemen and celebratory cannon fire as he disembarked from his plane.

He did not comment on the political situation in France as he arrived.

Political turmoil in France

Macron’s visit began as France’s less than three-month-old minority government faced the prospect of being forced out by a vote of no confidence in the coming days.

The far-right National Rally party said it would vote to oust Michel Barnier’s government after the prime minister used an executive tool to push through a social security budget bill without parliamentary approval.

The left wing is also expected to back the motion, which could be held as early as Wednesday. If successful, it would oust the government that was appointed in September after snap polls.

Macron’s three-day stay also coincides with a flare-up of violence in Syria, where anti-government rebels have seized Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city.

The fighting in Syria follows France’s brokering of a ceasefire in neighbouring Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting Iran proxy Hezbollah.

• French PM triggers political crisis by forcing budget through parliament

‘Working together’

Macron’s state visit is the first by a French president to Saudi Arabia since Jacques Chirac in 2006, cementing what the presidency calls a “very close relationship”.

In 2021, Macron became one of the first Western leaders to meet Prince Mohammed in Saudi Arabia after the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul.

The French president and Prince Mohammed will see how they “work together” on the conflicts shaking the region, with Lebanon at the “heart of the discussions”, the French presidency said in an earlier statement. 

Macron is hoping for Saudi support for the Lebanese army, which is being deployed towards the border with Israel under the ceasefire but is poorly armed and trained.

He will also try to win Saudi help to reverse the political disintegration that has plunged Lebanon’s government and economy into catastrophe.

Paris and Riyadh are also calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and a “political outcome” based on the two-state solution of separate Israeli and Palestinian states.

• Macron’s Saudi visit targets arms deals and economic diversification

Macron is accompanied by about 50 senior officials from major French companies including TotalEnergies, EDF and Veolia, as well as start-ups in artificial intelligence and quantum physics.

Discussions are also under way for Saudi Arabia to acquire French-made Rafale fighter jets, although no announcement is expected during the visit.

The French president is due to attend a One Water summit on the sidelines of the Cop16 desertification conference in Riyadh later this Monday. 

Justice Ministry figures from last month show 80,130 detainees crammed into facilities built for 62,357 people, a dozen of which are operating at double their official capacity.

The situation is particularly dire in remand centres, where 21,000 people await trial in facilities overcrowded to 155.1 percent.

Around 4,000 inmates are forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor, said Jean-Claude Mas, president of the International Prison Observatory.

“It all means that three to four people can be crammed into 9m² cells designed for one person,” Mas told RFI. “This overcrowding accentuates the dilapidation and filth associated with prisons.”

Prison numbers have been rising steadily for the past two years as government pledges to provide more places have been unfulfilled.

A Justice Ministry source described the situation as “an all-time record” and called it “regrettable”.

Failed promises

In 2017, shortly after sweeping to power, President Emmanuel Macron vowed to provide the extra capacity within a decade.

The new figures emerged after Justice Minister Didier Migaud conceded that the plan to build 15,000 additional prison places by 2027 will not be met on time.

“We have encountered difficulties in the timetable for major construction operations,” said Migaud. He stated that 6,421 places should be operational by 2027, with the full plan likely delayed until 2029 at the earliest.

In an attempt to cut prison numbers, more community service orders have been issued and judges have been told to stop giving sentences of less than one month.

It is understood the Justice Ministry is considering using former prisons, or emulating the system in Belgium and Germany where prefabricated blocks can be created within three months.

“Prisons are necessary, they are there to punish and protect citizens,” said Migaud. “But incarceration must take place in conditions that are safe for staff and dignified for inmates.

”But to tackle overcrowding we need to consider all possible tools including alternative measures to incarceration for less serious offences.”

Calls for reform

At the end of October, the International Prison Observatory and some 30 other organisations, including the French lawyers’ union, the magistrates’ union and the barristers’ union, issued a joint statement calling for fundamental reforms aimed at reducing the use and duration of incarceration.

“Prison must no longer be seen as the benchmark of the penal system, and its alternatives, far from being symbolic, must replace confinement,” they said.

Mas criticised the lack of progress, saying: “For two years now, we have been experiencing record after record levels. And there’s no sign of any progress in this area – quite the contrary. There is a growing focus on repressive measures that worsen over-incarceration and prison overcrowding.”

A recommendation inviting member states to crack down on second-hand smoke and vapour was adopted by health ministers from the bloc’s 27 nations meeting in Brussels.

Second-hand smoke

“Today’s agreement is a crucial step towards our goal of a tobacco-free generation in Europe, and is critical in protecting our children and young people from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke,” said the EU’s health commissioner, Oliver Varhelyi.

The recommendation is non-binding, as health is a competence of individual member states.

But it gives an indication of the policies governments could pursue in the future as they seek to reduce smoke-related deaths and ailments.

It passed with all countries voting in favour apart from Germany and Greece, which abstained, underscoring some political divisions on the issue.

France to ban smoking on beaches and close to schools

Last week, the European Parliament voted against a similar text.

The document approved on Tuesday calls on EU countries to extend restrictions in place for cigarettes to cover “emerging products”, such as heated tobacco devices and electronic cigarettes that are increasingly popular with young people.

Governments should “provide effective protection” from aerosols emitted by these in indoor environments such as offices and public buildings.

Following an initial proposal put forward by the European Commission in September, the text says such protection should also be granted in some outdoor areas.

This in practice entails that all smoking should be banned in locations including swimming pools, beaches, zoos, rooftop bars and restaurant terraces.

French people have stopped giving up smoking, survey shows

 ‘Violation of individual freedom’ 

The push comes as the EU is aiming to reduce its smoking population from around 25 percent now to less than five percent of the total by 2040, as part of its “Beating Cancer Plan”.

Tobacco use is estimated to kill more than eight million people globally each year, including about 1.3 million non-smokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke, World Health Organization (WHO) statistics show.

Emissions from electronic cigarettes also typically contain nicotine and other toxic substances that are harmful including to second-hand smokers, according to the WHO.

But treating smoking and vaping the same way is contentious.

In a joint declaration ahead of the vote, Italy and Romania said calls for a ban on outdoor vaping lacked scientific basis and should have not been included in the recommendation. The two countries nevertheless backed the text.

Germany abstained saying that the issue fell within the competences of its regions — not the central government — and some opposed a ban on smoking in outdoor terraces and patios.

Greece similarly voiced skepticism about the effect of such rules, saying more scientific data was needed on the effects of e-cigarettes.

The European Parliament last week voted against a resolution on the same subject, after lawmakers on the right passed amendments to differentiate between traditional tobacco products and electronic devices.

This drew the ire of the left, which had supported the original text but rejected its watered down version.

“We see the outdoor smoking ban as a violation of individual freedom,” Pietro Fiocchi, a lawmaker with the hard-right ECR group, said in a statement.

The parliamentary resolution, which would have had only symbolic value, was turned down with 378 votes against and only 152 in favour.

(AFP)

The 49 member states of the Bern Convention charged with the protection of wildlife in Europe and some African countries agreed to lower the wolf’s protection status from “strictly protected” to “protected”, the Council of Europe said.

Grey wolves were virtually exterminated in Europe 100 years ago but their numbers have practically doubled to the current population of 20,300, triggering protests from farmers angry over the animals eating their livestock.

Demoting wolves to “protected” status would allow hunting to resume under strict regulation, a move activists fear could result in a large number of the species being shot dead.

Mixed reactions as France prepares to simplify wolf culling rules

“We need a balanced approach between the preservation of wildlife and the protection of our livelihoods,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who has strongly backed the lowering of the protection.

The Bern Convention is an international treaty of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe in nature conservation which came into force in 1982.

The European Union, which is entirely separate from the Council of Europe, is a party to the convention.

‘Far from solved’

The move comes after the EU backed a plan in September to lower the protection status of wolves as the species’ growing population brings the creatures into more frequent contact with humans.

The carnivores’ proximity to human activity is causing damage to livestock at “significant levels”, said Brussels.

In late 2022, von der Leyen herself lost her beloved pony Dolly to a wolf that crept into its enclosure on her family’s rural property in northern Germany — leading some to suggest the matter had become personal.

But some farmers say Tuesday’s decision is not enough to protect their livestock.

“The problem is far from being solved”, said Thierry Chalmin, head of a chamber of agriculture in northeastern France.

“What’s the difference between a super-bandit and a bandit,” added Chalmin, who in September encouraged farmers to “go out armed and shoot a wolf” if they see one.

‘Purely demagogic’

Animal-rights activists say the move puts at risk the wolf population, which at one point disappeared entirely from France.

“The risk of downgrading this status is to weaken or even cause the decline of this species in Europe,” said Yann Laurans of WWF France.

Some say culling the wolf population will not reduce the number of attacks on livestock.

The decision is “political and purely demagogic,” said Nathan Horrenberger, head of a France-based biodiversity association.

“It’s not going to help solve the problems facing livestock farmers, because wolves have been shot in European countries for years… and it’s not bearing fruit”, he added.

Killing wolves might even disrupt pack behaviour, creating “more solitary animals, who turn to easier prey, namely farm animals”, Horrenberger told AFP.

The change will be implemented on March 7, 2025, said the commission, unless at least a third of its members object.

But only five countries voted against the measure, said environmental association Green Impact, which called the decision a “disgrace” and vowed to take it to the European courts.

“The wolf remains a protected species,” said Paris‘s ecology minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher, promising any killing of the carnivore “will remain highly regulated”.

But “this change will make it easier to manage the species”, added Pannier-Runacher.

(AFP)

The election comes at a time when Ghanaians are grappling with a cost-of-living crisis, driven by soaring inflation and economic instability. Key topics influencing the electorate include job creation, education, and infrastructure development, as voters seek solutions to the hardships they face in their daily lives.

A total of 18,774,159 registered voters, including 459,291 first-time voters, are expected to elect a president and 276 legislators at 40,976 polling stations.

Henrietta Sarpong, a researcher at the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), emphasized the importance of addressing education, employment, and healthcare as the primary concerns for voters ahead of the 2024 elections.

During the launch of its General Election research report titled “Matters of Concern to the Ghanaian Voter,” Sarpong said: “Many voters are particularly focused on issues surrounding the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, while younger voters are increasingly concerned about employment opportunities.”

Voters Opinion

Voters, particularly first-time voters, hold differing opinions about the criteria they will use to decide in the upcoming December elections.

A recent graduate from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Akua Yeboah, shared her thoughts as a first-time voter: “I will vote for a presidential candidate who has a good policy to create jobs for the youth like myself and other unemployed youth.”

In Cape Coast, Gifty Ghartey, a resident of the Central Region, for her part, outlined her priorities: “I will consider the economy, jobs, good roads, the health sector, and even the condition of our water bodies before voting. I believe there must be meaningful change after the election.”

Richard Adu, a teacher, stressed the need for integrity. “I will look at the candidate’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and anti-corruption measures as crucial. I have carefully evaluated each candidate’s stance on key issues such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure development,” he said.

For Daniel Twumasi Kankam, a community leader from Koforidua in the Eastern Region, past performance is the most important thing. “I will vote based on the records of the various political parties over the past 16 years. Specifically, I will consider human empowerment programmes and policies introduced by both parties that have aimed to ease the burdens on citizens and promote empowerment,” he told RFI.

Cost of living

At a bustling market in Kaneshie, a suburb of Accra, traders are quick to express disappointment with the economy.

“The price of onions has tripled, and customers just walk by without buying,” said Ama Asante, a vegetable seller.

Daniel Amateye Anim-Prempeh, an economist at Policy Initiative for Economic Development, said inflation was still having an impact on voters.

“The high cost of goods and services continues to burden households. Voters will factor this into their decisions,” he said.

Bawumia has highlighted improvements in macroeconomic stability, pointing to a rebound in growth to 5.8 percent in the first half of 2024.

“Ghana’s economy has come back to life after years of difficulty,” Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam told NPP supporters on the campaign trail.

But critics argue Bawumia’s policies lack innovation, dismissing them as repackaged old policies.

Mahama has pledged to renegotiate aspects of the IMF deal to free up resources for development, emphasizing youth employment, agriculture, and infrastructure.

“We cannot continue with business as usual,” Mahama said at a rally in the northern city of Tamale.

Recovery is still underway. Debt-to-GDP ratios remain at 84 percent, with the IMF projecting a reduction to 55 percent by 2028.

Growth is forecast at a modest 3.4 percent in 2024, and unemployment remains high.

For many Ghanaians, Saturday’s ballot is a test in the electorate’s faith in the system.

 “I’ll vote for whoever can make life better,” market trader Serwaa said. “We’ve suffered enough.”

(with AFP)

The first group of 16 ring-tailed lemurs arrived at Antananarivo airport on 1 December, marking the start of a major operation to bring home animals that were illegally captured and smuggled out of the country. 

“It’s such an emotional moment to be here on the tarmac, seeing the lemurs coming out of their cages,” said Environment Minister Max Fontaine, as he watched the distinctive orange-eyed primates being unloaded from the aircraft. 

Criminal networks 

Investigators believe the animals were initially captured along Madagascar‘s west coast using small illegal boats before being transferred to larger vessels at sea and transported to Thailand, a known hub for wildlife trafficking. 

“This is a scourge that’s gaining ground in Southeast Asia – the domestication of these wild species that attract particular affection. For example, we’ve had cases in Hong Kong of people walking tortoises on leashes in the street,” Fontaine told RFI. 

Madagascar’s lychee growers in crisis as production plummets

The remaining animals awaiting repatriation include radiated tortoises, a species found only in Madagascar. Deforestation and trafficking have devastated their population, which has fallen 75 percent in three decades from 12 million in 1990 to 3 million today. 

The case, now classified as transnational organised crime, has already resulted in the deaths of about 50 tortoises and one lemur due to the conditions of their captivity.  

The surviving animals are set to be transported under heavy security to the south of the island, where they will eventually be reintroduced to their natural habitat. 

International probe 

A joint investigation by Thailand‘s Justice Ministry and Madagascar’s Anti-Corruption Unit has so far led to 15 arrests – six in Thailand and nine in Madagascar. 

The suspects’ extensive financial resources suggest an organised criminal network, making it challenging to dismantle. 

“There are always potential loopholes and forces of evil who are very well-organised because huge sums are at stake,” Fontaine said.  

“When it comes to tortoises, they can fetch several thousand dollars. With lemurs, it’s tens of thousands.” 

Meet the tiny tuft-tailed saviour of Madagascar’s endangered baobabs

Corruption challenge 

The fight against wildlife trafficking faces significant obstacles from corruption at the highest levels of administration.  

For years, Madagascar’s forests have been plundered with the complicity of some senior state officials and regional authorities. 

Legal measures to protect wildlife are often poorly implemented, further weakened by a lack of funding.  

“Less than 1 percent of the national budget is allocated to the Ministry of Environment,” Fontaine said. 

This story has been adapted from the original French version by Pauline Le Troquier

US President Joe Biden signalled this week that Turkey could have a role in mediating peace in the Middle East.

“The United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza,” Biden told reporters.

However, US officials have downplayed Turkey’s mediating role due to Ankara’s ties to Hamas.

“We don’t believe the leaders of a vicious terrorist organisation should be living comfortably anywhere, and that certainly includes in … a major city of one of our key allies and partners,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said earlier.

Hamas tensions

Hamas leaders reportedly relocated to Turkey after the collapse of ceasefire efforts in November.

Erdogan, a staunch supporter of Hamas, has described the group as a “liberation movement”. Following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Erdogan declared a national day of mourning.

“There are rumours, and I don’t know how true they are, that many of those people have actually received Turkish citizenship as well,” Soli Ozel, a lecturer at the Institute for Human Studies in Vienna told RFI.

In a move seen as an attempt to placate Washington, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that there are no plans for Hamas to open a political bureau in Turkey.

Turkish presidential adviser Mesut Casin defended the policy: “Ankara will continue its position hosting Hamas number one. Number two, they will continue dialogue with Hamas in order to establish peace”.

Turkish President Erdogan ready to rekindle friendship with Trump

Complex ties

Despite tensions between Turkey and Israel, they maintain back-channel communication.

In November, the head of Israel’s intelligence agency Shin Bet met his Turkish counterpart in Ankara. The meeting reportedly centred on the plight of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

“We have 101 hostages that are still, we don’t know their fate,” says Gallia Lindenstrauss, an Israeli foreign policy specialist at the Institute for National Security Studies.

“There are attempts to at least receive information about who’s alive, who’s dead, who’s holding them – Hamas or Islamic Jihad.”

Lindenstrauss cautioned that Israel remains sceptical of Turkey’s ability to act as a neutral mediator.

“It would be very hard for Israel in general and specifically Prime Minister Netanyahu to trust Turkey to be a mediator that will be respectful to both sides,” she said.

While Erdogan’s public rhetoric often inflames tensions, analysts say Turkish-Israeli relations are shaped more by pragmatism than politics.

“Turkey and Israel have one way of dealing with one another in public and another way of dealing with one another diplomatically and in security cooperation,” Ozel explains.

In a possible effort to build trust, Turkish authorities recently extradited three Uzbek suspects linked to the murder of an Israeli rabbi in the United Arab Emirates.

Egypt and Turkey’s closer ties spark hope for peace among Libya’s rival factions

Challenges remain

As Israel intensifies its military campaign against Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a Gaza ceasefire for now.

“The reason for having a ceasefire is to separate the fronts and isolate Hamas,” Netanyahu said Tuesday.

“From day two of the war, Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own. We will increase our pressure on Hamas.”

Despite Ankara’s overtures, Israel has warned that Hamas leaders are not safe from targeting, even in Turkey.

“They will find these Hamas leaders and target them wherever they find them,” Lindenstrauss maintains.

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday. This week, you’ll hear musical requests from your fellow listeners Jayanta Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India, Alan Holder from Isle of Wight, England, and Karuna Kanta Pal from West Bengal, India.

Be sure you send in your music requests! Write to me at thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Nunca es Suficiente” written by Natalia Lafourcade, Daniela Azpiazu, and Anthony Lopez, sung by Natalia Lafourcade; “Lake Como” by Giselle Galos, performed by Sweet People, and “Dance Little Lady, Dance” by Gerry Shury and Ron Roker, sung by Tina Charles.

The quiz will be back next Saturday, 7 December. Be sure and tune in! 

“Negative narratives about Africa have real consequences for people’s lives and futures,” said Abimbola Ogundairo, campaign lead for the NGO Africa No Filter, which produced the report and works to promote balanced storytelling about the continent.

The organisation’s latest research found these biases cost African economies $4.2 billion annually in lost investment opportunities.

It found that persistent portrayals of poverty, conflict and corruption have far-reaching consequences, from deterring investment to increasing borrowing costs for African nations.

Stories of success, innovation, and resilience were overlooked.

Investors deterred

Using case studies and data analysis, the report examined how media narratives influence investment, particularly during election periods. It compared African countries to their global peers and quantified the costs of misrepresentation.

The report also quantified how biased media coverage correlates with sovereign bond yields – a critical financial indicator.

It found that even nations with strong democratic institutions are often framed through lenses of instability and corruption – reinforcing negative stereotypes and overshadowing progress.

The Spotlight on Africa podcast explores this issue, featuring interviews with both Ogundairo, who is from Nigeria, and the acclaimed filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako, from Mauritania.

Both emphasise the need for African voices to take control of the continent’s narrative.

Episode mixed by Vincent Pora.

Spotlight on Africa is a podcast from Radio France Internationale.

Grapes have been grown for centuries in Manisa, western Turkey. It is here that Fulya Akinci and her Spanish husband, Jose Hernandez Gonzalez, decided they wanted to be a part of the transformation of the country’s wine industry.

“In 2005, in 2006, maybe when you went to a restaurant, you would order red wine or white wine, that was it,” explains Akinci. “In the last 15 years, there has been a real boom. We have so many, we say, boutique wineries. Now, with these small wineries, the quality has changed a lot.”

With their wine label Heraki, Akinci and Hernandez Gonzalez are part of this surge of new, small producers – a group which has grown to number around 200, from only a handful a decade ago. The couple trained at a wine school in Bordeaux and have worked in vineyards around the world. Hernandez Gonzalez explained that it was Turkey’s untapped potential that persuaded him and Akinci to produce their own wine there.

“As a foreigner, when I came to Turkey I was really surprised about the biodiversity of different grape varieties,” he said. “This is a country with many different grape varieties. Also, [there was] the potential of the soils and the climate. We have mountains, we have the coasts – many different climates to make grapes. And the potential of those grapes to make wine is huge.”

France asks for EU help to destroy ‘unprofitable’ Bordeaux vines

Government restrictions

Hernandez Gonzales explained that rather than making wine from vines used worldwide, they decided to use indigenous grapes. “One of our main ideas here at Heraki was to make wines from those local grapes.”

In five years, their production has increased from a couple of thousand to 20,000 bottles. But the couple says this has been an uphill struggle. “We have some difficulties because of the bureaucracy – so much paperwork – and some pressures over tax… so huge pressures on us. It’s not easy at all,” explained Akinci.

Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK), which enjoys large support among Muslims, has, since coming to power in 2002, hiked alcohol taxes to 65 percent, among the highest in the world. There are also growing restrictions on wine production, sales and advertising. “We love making wine, but it’s not easy at all. It’s hard, and every day is getting worse and worse,” said Akinci.

Turkey’s broadcasting authorities banned images of alcohol on television back in 2013, and in much of the country securing alcohol licences is difficult.

Turkish radio ban is latest attack on press freedom, warn activists

But meanwhile, government adverts promoting Turkey as a tourist destination abroad often highlight the country’s wines as an attraction. With much of the wine industry based in tourism centres, experts say tourists are helping to drive demand and grow the reputation of Turkish wines.

International interest

“Wine producers have started to get better prices for their wines. They can now make money, against all the odds. There is international interest,” said wine consultant Sabiha Apaydın Gonenli. Through her Kok Koken Toprak Conference (Root Soil Wine Conference) international symposiums, she promotes Turkey’s wine industry internationally.

However, she warns the industry still has a long way to go. “It’s not that economically viable at the moment because it is very small. In order to market this, you need support. You can’t do this alone, wine producers need to come together.”

Police break up French-Italian wine fraud ring

As for Heraki wines, they are now being stocked at a top European restaurant and have secured a German distributor. But despite such successes, Akinci says wine-making in Turkey remains a bittersweet experience.

“One day, we are so happy to make wine here, and we are thinking about increasing the volume and making other things. Then another day, we’re thinking about closing up and going to Spain.”

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.

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, in English. So plan to stay up late or get up early on 12 December, beloved listeners! And we are so pleased that “one of our own” has made it into the running: Saleem Akhtar Chadhar, the president of the RFI Seven Stars Listeners Club, is one of the 10 nominees in the RFI Clubs category! 

It’s time for you to start thinking about your New Year’s resolutions – or wishes – for our annual New Year’s Day show. If you’ve already made up your mind about what you’ll aim for in 2025, or what you hope to see happen in 2025, go ahead and send it to us. We’ll need your resolutions and/or wishes 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 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!

We have a new RFI Listeners Club member to welcome: Jahangir Alam from Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Jahangir is also the president of the World DX International Radio Fan Club in his fair city. Welcome, Jahangir!

This week’s quiz: On 26 October, I asked you a question about The COP16 Biodiversity Summit, which opened on  21 October and ran through the first of this month, November. Held in Cali, Columbia, it was attended by leaders and delegates from over 200 countries.

RFI English journalist Amanda Morrow wrote about what was at stake at this COP, in her article “Ecosystems hang in the balance as Colombia hosts crucial biodiversity talks”.

Not much has happened since COP15 – as Amanda noted, as of this date, only 17 percent of land and about 8 percent of oceans are protected – a far cry from the 30 percent committed to at COP15.

Money pledged is also far behind schedule: and that was your question. You were to re-read Amanda’s article and send in the answer to this question: How much money was promised by wealthy nations to support biodiversity protection in developing countries, and how much has actually been secured?   

The answer is, to quote Amanda: “Talks at Cop16 will focus on pressuring wealthy nations to deliver the promised US 30 billion annually to support biodiversity protection in developing countries. So far, pledges to a new biodiversity fund have fallen far short, with only about 400 million secured – and even less disbursed. Countries like China may also be called on to play a larger financial role.”  

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “Imagine that France’s president Emmanuel Macron came to visit your city. Which three places would you take him?”

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

The winners are: RFI English listener Malik Shoaib Ahmad Khokhar from Muzaffargarh, Pakistan. Malik is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations, Malik!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are our brand-new RFI Listeners Club member Jahangir Alam from Rajshahi, Bangladesh, as well as RFI English listeners Kripa Ram Kaga from Sirajganj, Bangladesh; Bari from the Friends Radio Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh, and last but assuredly not least, our brother journalist Suresh Agrawal, from Odisha, India.

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Les Pommes de Grand-Mère” from Le Grand Cahier by Alexander Litvinovsky, performed by the Metamorphose String Orchestra conducted by Pavel Lyubomudrov; “Zingaro” by Rene Aubrey; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and  “Intro” by Alan Braxe and Fred Falke.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read our article “Senegal’s ruling Pastef party on track to get large majority in elections”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 6 January to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 11 January 2025 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.   

The Academie Française, guardian of the French language since 1635, has issued the 9th edition of its official dictionary, with 21,000 new words compared to the 8th edition of 1935. President Macron has praised the academy’s steady pace, which “prevents it from giving in to the temptations of ticks and trends”. Writer Frederic Vicot, one of the “immortels” on the dictionary commission, talks about how writers, historians and scientists have pooled their talents over the decades to get the best definitions possible. But the dictionary has its detractors – a group of  linguists have slammed the opus as useless and outdated given the time it takes to publish. Florent Moncomble from the “Community of Appalled Linguists” outlines why both the choice of terms, and the academy’s methodology, are problematic. (Listen @0′) 

Donald Trump’s recent election to a second term as President of the United States came as a shock to many in France, who’d been less than enthusiastic about his first term in office. Trump’s intent to impose import tariffs is set to impact the economies of both France and Europe more widely, and his approach towards Ukraine runs against France’s unwaving support. Celia Belin, head of the Paris office of the European council on Foreign Relations, talks about what France needs to do to face a second Trump presidency, and reflects on the impact his election will have on France’s far right. (Listen @19’50”) 

The collapse of the Malpasset dam in the south of France, on 2 December 1959, decimated the Reyran river valley. More than 400 people died and the town of Frejus was cut off for days. The disaster prompted a wave of fundraising and solidarity, in what is considered the first example of international solidarity following a catastrophe. (Listen @15’30”) 

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompéani. 

Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, Apple podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here) or your favourite podcast app (pod.link/1573769878).

Madhya Pradesh is often referred to as the Heart of India. Located right in the middle of the country, the Indian region shows everything India has to offer through its abundant diversity. The IFTM trade show, which took place in Paris at the end of September, presented the perfect opportunity for travel enthusiasts to discover the region.

Sheo Shekhar Shukla, Managing Director of Madhya Pradesh’s tourism board, sat down to explain his approach to sustainable tourism.

“Post-covid the whole world has known a shift in their approach when it comes to tourism. And all those discerning travelers want to have different kinds of experiences: something offbeat, something new, something which has not been explored before.”

Through its UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Shukla wants to showcase the deep history Madhya Pradesh has to offer.

“UNESCO is very actively supporting us and three of our sites are already World Heritage Sites. Sanchi is a very famous buddhist spiritual destination, Bhimbetka is a place where prehistoric rock shelters are still preserved, and Khajuraho is home to thousand year old temples with magnificent architecture.”

All in all, Shukla believes that there’s only one way forward for the industry: “Travelers must take sustainable tourism as a paradigm in order to take tourism to the next level.”

In partnership with Madhya Pradesh’s tourism board.

Also known as the Land of the Beautiful Islands, Malaysia’s landscape and cultural diversity is almost unmatched on the planet. Those qualities were all put on display at the Malaysian stand during the IFTM trade show.

Libra Hanif, director of Tourism Malaysia, explained the appeal of the country as well as the importance of promoting sustainable tourism today: “Sustainable travel is a major trend now, with the changes that are happening post-covid. People want to get close to nature, to get close to people. So Malaysia being a multicultural and diverse [country] with a lot of natural environments, we felt that it’s a good thing for us to promote Malaysia.”

Malaysia has also gained fame in recent years, through its numerous UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which include Kinabalu Park and the Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley.

Green mobility has also become an integral part of tourism in Malaysia, with an increasing number of people using bikes to discover the country: “If you are a little more adventurous, we have the mountain back trails where you can cut across gazetted trails to see the natural attractions and the wildlife that we have in Malaysia,” says Hanif. “If you are not that adventurous, you’ll be looking for relaxing cycling. We also have countryside spots, where you can see all the scenery in a relaxing session.”

With more than 25,000 visitors at this IFTM trade show this year, Malaysia’s tourism board got to showcase the best the country and its people have to offer.

In partnership with Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board. For more information about Malaysia, click here.