Since Sunday, 8 December, several European countries have suspended the processing of asylum claims from Syrians – the largest group of asylum seekers in Europe. 

Sweden, Norway, Italy, Denmark and Germany – which has taken in more than 712,000 Syrian refugees and asylum seekers since the war began in 2011 – are among those that have paused applications.  

For Syrians already in these countries, applications will not be processed until Syria’s new leadership and security conditions become clearer.

Austria, the United Kingdom, Greece and Belgium have also suspended the process, arguing that since the majority of Syrian asylum seekers were fleeing Assad’s regime, there is no longer justification for not returning to Syria. 

France’s support for Syrian transition hinges on respect for minority rights

France cautious

France, however, is taking a more measured approach.

While the Interior Ministry says it is working on suspending Syrian asylum applications, the decision ultimately lies with Ofpra, an asylum seekers’ protection agency which is under the financial and administrative supervision of the ministry but operates independently of the government.

The organisation is currently reviewing 700 cases, with 45,000 Syrians having sought refuge in France since 2011. 

For many long-term Syrian residents in Europe, return seems impossible, despite the changing situation in Syria.

“For me personally, I believe it’s too late. I have a good business, I am engaged to a French woman and I have already applied for naturalisation. At my age, I know France better than Syria,” Iyad Alzorkan, who arrived in France in 2010, told RFI. 

Spainhas chosen to maintain its existing asylum policy, confirming that it will continue processing Syrian applications. 

Syrians hold rallies in Paris and across Europe to celebrate fall of Assad

Political divisions 

Europe’s far-right political parties are pushing for more aggressive measures. Germany’s AfD party argues that Syrians in Germany celebrating Assad’s fall have no reason to stay and should return to Syria. The CDU, Germany’s conservative party, has proposed offering €1,000 to those willing to go back. 

In Denmark, far-right leader Morten Messerschmidt said he hoped Syrians living in the country would soon return home, which he said “will improve rape statistics in Denmark”.

Meanwhile, the government in Vienna announced plans to review the cases of 40,000 Syrians granted asylum in the last five years, aiming to prepare for potential deportations.

For many refugees, this is an alarming prospect.

“Many Syrians are well integrated here, they work here. I myself have two daughters who were born in Austria, they can’t even read Arabic,” said Abdulhkeem Alshater, a 43-year-old who fled Homs and was granted asylum in Austria in 2015. 

“And this announcement comes too early, Syria is not yet safe, not yet stable. I find it inhumane to announce this. People are desperate and angry today.” 

What’s driving France’s sudden deportation of Kurdish activists?

Lukas Gahleitner-Gertz of the NGO Asylkoordination criticised the Austrian government’s decision as politically motivated, rather than practical.  

“If the situation in Syria becomes stable, there could be processes to revoke refugee status. But right now, this is premature and misleading,” he said. 

EU response 

The European Commission is urging member states to coordinate their approaches. 

While asylum policies remain under national jurisdiction, the European Union is working with the United Nations’ refugee agency to organise voluntary returns. 

“Most Syrians in the diaspora dream of returning home, but the decision must be an individual one,” said Commission spokesperson Anouar El Anouni. 

Interior ministers from across the EU are set to meet in Brussels this week, with further discussions scheduled for 16 December among foreign ministers. 

France welcomes fall of Syria’s Assad, calls for peaceful transition

This story was adpated from RFI’s original version in French

A veteran centrist, Bayrou raises hackles on the left – which is wary of him continuing the president’s policies – and on the right, where he is disliked by influential former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Macron has been under mounting pressure to choose a candidate capable of uniting a deeply divided parliament, and securing the passage of a budget to address France’s growing debt.

Bayrou will need to forge a consensus on how to tackle the country’s rising budget deficit, now at 6.1 percent – far above the 4.4 percent projected for the end of 2024.

His appointment follows two days of talks at the Élysée Palace, at which Macron met with party leaders to find a candidate capable of bridging divides and passing next year’s budget.

The far-right National Rally (RN) and hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) parties were not included in the discussions.

Macron had been widely expected to name the new prime minister on Thursday evening.

The delay underscores the political challenges posed by the fractured lower house of parliament, a result of July’s snap elections.

France unveils emergency budget law to prevent state shutdown

Divided parliament

The parliament remains split between a leftist alliance, the centrists and the conservatives, with the far-right RN complicating efforts to secure a stable government capable of surviving no confidence votes.

Speaking in a televised address last week, Macron rejected mounting calls for his resignation and vowed to serve his full term until 2027. 

Former prime minister Michel Barnier, whose government had support only from Macron’s centrist camp and his own conservative political family, was felled last week in a confidence vote over his cost-cutting budget.

His caretaker administration on Wednesday reviewed a bill designed to keep the lights of government on without a formal financial plan for 2025, allowing tax collection and borrowing to continue.

Lawmakers are expected to widely support the draft law when it comes before parliament on Monday.

The project includes drilling for oil in Lake Albert in northwestern Uganda and constructing a 1,443-kilometre heated pipeline to transport crude oil to the Tanzanian port of Tanga.

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), championed by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, has faced years of opposition from environmentalists who warn it threatens fragile ecosystems and local communities.

A report released Thursday by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Civic Response on Environment and Development, and Lawyers Without Borders alleges “disproportionate security measures, repression, land rights violations, forced evictions and corruption” during the project.

It accuses Ugandan troops of beating and harassing fishing communities near the oil sites, with cases of sexual and gender-based violence reportedly committed by soldiers and company personnel.

The most serious abuses occurred around the Kingfisher oil fields, where the report described a “high level of fear”.

“There has been an acceleration in construction at the oil sites over the last two years, bringing a new wave of human rights abuses,” Sacha Feierabend, a senior researcher with FIDH, told RFI.

The report also highlights violations of workers’ rights and specific challenges faced by women in affected communities.

“There is intensifying repression of human rights defenders, climate and environmental activists, who are trying to make their voices heard regarding this project,” Feierabend added.

Since May, at least 96 activists have been arrested, with additional reports of break-ins, beatings, unlawful detentions and torture.

NGOs seek climate trial of French oil giant TotalEnergies

Environmental groups sue TotalEnergies over ‘devastating’ East Africa oil pipeline

‘Violation of international law’

The report claims some 12,000 families around the pipeline have been displaced, as have hundreds of households around Lake Albert.

The most serious case dates back to May 2020 during the Covid pandemic when 769 people from the villages of Kiina and Kyabasambu “were driven out at gunpoint and never returned”.

The NGOs condemned the evictions and said that without prior notice or compensation they constituted a “violation of international and constitutional law”.

There are also fears of inflation due to land speculation, as well as concerns over working conditions on the sites, where at least two people have died in labour-related incidents.

Those who still live in the immediate vicinity of the oil sites also complain “regularly of dust, noise, light pollution and vibrations”.

Oil spills are “a serious threat to the environment and public health”, the report said, while “the catchment areas of the two lakes [Albert and Victortia] are vital to tens of thousands of people across East Africa”.

‘Smear campaign’

Ugandan government spokesman Chris Baryomunsi dismissed the report as “ridiculous and unfounded,” describing it as a “smear campaign” against the project.

Baryomunsi urged anyone with evidence of human rights abuses to report it to the authorities.

TotalEnergies also rejected the claims, stating it “strongly disagrees” with the allegations.

“In Uganda, as elsewhere, TotalEnergies is transparent about its human rights commitments and their implementation,” the company said.

The research tracked over 45,000 former inmates and showed that more than one third reoffended within a year of release, with 15 percent doing so in the first four months.

The offences committed were not always the same as those that led to their original convictions, the ministry’s statistical service (SSER) said.

The study highlighted notable differences in reoffending rates based on age, gender and criminal history.

Young offenders

Younger ex-prisoners are almost three times more likely to commit new crimes than older ones.

“Young offenders, particularly those under 25, reoffend at much higher rates than those aged 55 and older upon release”, the study said.

The figures show 77 percent of young offenders return to crime, compared with 29 percent of those over 55.

Men were found to be more likely to reoffend than women, with rates of 64 percent and 42 percent respectively.

French prison population hits new record as overcrowding concerns grow

Unmarried prisoners also had a higher likelihood of reoffending than married inmates, though the study noted that “this disparity is not solely due to marital status, as married individuals tend to be older”.

Previous convictions also influence reoffending. Those with two prior convictions are twice as likely to commit new crimes as first-time offenders.

The study found that prisoners released early on parole or probation tend to reoffend less often than those who serve their full sentences.

However, the SSER said this difference might reflect the type of prisoner chosen for early release rather than the effectiveness of parole itself.

Bulgaria and Romania, both members of the European Union since 2007, were partially integrated into the Schengen in March, opening up travel by air and sea without border checks. 

Austria’s withdrawal of its long-standing veto this week has cleared the path for the two countries to join the world’s largest border-free travel zone.

The breakthrough comes after a decade-long process of technical evaluations and political negotiations. 

“It is a historic moment to finally welcome Bulgaria and Romania,” said Hungarian Interior Minister Sandor Pinter, whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

Bucharest and Sofia fulfilled all technical criteria set out by Brussels in 2010, but spent more than a decade waiting to join the Schengen as various member states blocked their entry. 

‘Historic decision’

Romania and Bulgaria “strongly” welcomed their full entry.      

“This is a historic decision, marking the end of the process of accession of the two countries to the EU free movement area, a key objective of both Bulgaria and Romania since their accession to the European Union,” the two countries said in a statement. 

Since 2022, their applications have been held up by Austria, which had for years complained about hosting a disproportionate number of undocumented migrants as a result of poorly protected external Schengen borders.

Austria dropped its objections after the three countries signed a “border protection package” agreement in Budapest.

‘Air Schengen’: Austria to relax air, sea borders with Romania and Bulgaria

This agreement involves joint border guard deployments along the Bulgarian-Turkish border and temporary land border controls for an initial period of six months. 

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis hailed the decision as a “recognition of our years-long efforts,” emphasizing that the accession would “strengthen EU security and unity.” 

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said the accession meant “a major benefit for our economy and faster journeys home for the millions of Romanians living and travelling in the EU”. 

Border crossing waits

For travelers and businesses, the implications are significant.

Truckers and cross-border workers, who previously endured wait times of up to 20 hours at land crossings, will now enjoy seamless travel.  

Tourism operators are also jubilant, with Emil Abazov from the Bulgarian Tour Operators Association noting the move will place their business “on an equal footing with other EU countries.” 

Created in 1985, the Schengen zone comprises 29 members, allowing over 400 million people to travel freely across the zone.

This expansion represents more than just a bureaucratic achievement. As foreign policy analyst Stefan Popescu noted, admission to Schengen symbolises “a question of dignity, of belonging to the European Union”. 

(with AFP) 

Assad fled Syria after a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and its allies, which brought a sudden end to five decades of repressive rule by his clan.

The collapse of Assad’s administration closes an era in which suspected dissidents were jailed or killed, and caps nearly 14 years of war that killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.

It has allowed Syrians to flood to prisons, hospitals and morgues in search of long-disappeared loved ones, hoping for a miracle, or at least closure.

“I turned the world upside down looking,” Abu Mohammed told French news agency AFP as he searched for news of three missing relatives at the Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus.

“But I didn’t find anything at all. We just want a hint of where they were, one percent.”

Sunni Muslim HTS is rooted in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda and designated a terrorist organisation by many Western governments, who now face the challenge of how to approach the country’s new transitional leadership.

The group has sought to moderate its rhetoric, and the interim government insists the rights of all Syrians will be protected.

“We respect religious and cultural diversity in Syria,” government spokesman Obaida Arnaout told AFP on Thursday.

He said the country’s constitution and parliament would be suspended during a three-month transition.

“A judicial and human rights committee will be established to examine the constitution and then introduce amendments,” he said, pledging that “rule of law” would be instituted.

“All those who committed crimes against the Syrian people will be judged in accordance with the law,” he added.

Desperate searches

Leaders of the G7, who will meet virtually at 1430 GMT Friday, said they were ready to support the transition to an “inclusive and non-sectarian” government in Syria.

They called for the protection of human rights, including those of women and minorities, while emphasising “the importance of holding the Assad regime accountable for its crimes”.

And they said they would “work with and fully support” a Syrian government that respected those principles.

In similar messaging, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a visit to Turkey, urged Syrian actors to take “all feasible steps to protect civilians, including members of minority groups”, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Inside much of Syria, the focus for now is on unravelling the secrets of Assad’s rule, and particularly the network of detention centres and suspected torture sites scattered across areas previously under government control.

UN investigators said they have compiled secret lists of 4,000 perpetrators of serious crimes in Syria since the early days of the country’s civil war.

And the US Justice Department on Thursday charged the former head of Damascus Central Prison, Samir Ousman Alsheikh, with torturing opponents of Assad.

Syria’s leadership said it is willing to cooperate with Washington in the search for US citizens disappeared under Assad, including US journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted in 2012.

Another American, Travis Timmerman, has already been located alive and Blinken said Washington was working to bring him home.

The search for other missing detainees has ended more painfully, with hundreds of Syrians gathering Thursday to bury outspoken activist Mazen al-Hamada.

In exile in the Netherlands, he publicly testified on the torture he was subjected to in Syrian prison.

He later returned to Syria and was detained. His body was among more than 30 found in a Damascus hospital morgue this week.

Kurdish fears

Assad was propped up by Russia – where a senior Russian official told US media he has fled – as well as Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group.

The rebels launched their offensive on 27 November, the same day a ceasefire took effect in the Israel-Hezbollah war, which saw Israel inflict staggering losses on Assad’s Lebanese ally.

Both Israel and Turkey, which backs some of the rebels who ousted Assad, have since carried out strikes inside Syria.

Speaking on Thursday in Jordan, Blinken stressed the importance of “not sparking any additional conflicts” after mentioning both Israeli and Turkish military activity in Syria.

Washington hopes to ensure that Syria is not “used as a base for terrorism” and does not pose “a threat to its neighbours”, added Blinken, whose country has hundreds of troops in Syria as part of a coalition against Islamic State group jihadists.

Israel on Sunday said it had ordered troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that separates Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, in a move the UN said violated a 1974 armistice.

And it has since carried out heavy strikes particularly targeting military facilities, including on Thursday night, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.

Assad’s ouster has also given Turkey a golden opportunity to move against US-allied Kurdish forces that it sees as a major security threat, analysts say.

As the Islamist-led rebels marched on Damascus, Turkish-backed fighters began pushing into Kurdish-held areas. The fighting left at least 218 dead before a US-brokered ceasefire started Wednesday.

The semi-autonomous Kurdish administration that controls much of northeast Syria has adopted the opposition’s independence flag, but some Kurdish civilians acknowledged fears for the future of the country.

“We, the Kurds, as the second-largest ethnic group in this country, want it to be a federal state, not a dictatorship,” said Khorshed Abo Rasho in Qamishli.

“I still have bullets in my body from the war in this country, and I will not accept that it fails to become a democracy.”

Their country ravaged by war, sanctions and runaway inflation, Syrians also face a struggle for basic necessities.

More than a million people have been displaced since the rebel offensive began last month, and the UN’s World Food Programme is seeking $250 million (€230 million) for food assistance.

Jordan will host a Syria crisis summit on Saturday with foreign ministers from numerous Western and Arab nations as well as Turkey.

The helpline, known as the Reference Centre on Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault (or Crafs, its acronym in French), was launched by a Paris health centre on October 15.

That was in the middle of testimony at the rape trial of Dominique Pelicot and 50 other defendants, which has shocked the country, sparked mass protests and raised awareness in France about the use of drugs to commit abuse.

For years, Gisele Pelicot, Dominique’s now-former wife, had strange memory lapses and other health problems, consulting numerous doctors who could not pinpoint the cause.

Then police told her she had been drugged and raped for nearly a decade by her husband and dozens of strangers he recruited online.

Since its launch, the helpline has received a wave of calls from healthcare providers and victims seeking information about drug-related abuse, said Leila Chaouachi, a doctor who founded the service.

“The doctors who contact us say they, too, might not have noticed anything,” said Chaouachi, referring to Gisele Pelicot’s symptoms.

“What are the warning signs? They feel they don’t have enough training,” she added.

French justice minister favours adding consent to legal definition of rape

Symptoms and guidance

One of the services offered by Crafs is to provide information on the possible symptoms linked to drug-related abuse.

There are many indicators that someone could have been drugged, said Chaouachi: drowsiness, nausea, disorientation, blurred vision and amnesia, among others.

But some healthcare professionals tell Chaouachi they are worried they might overlook the signs or, if they do recognise them, are unsure of what to do next.

Crafs can also offer guidance on those possible next steps.

One doctor who contacted the centre worried that a patient – a victim of domestic violence – was also drugged by her partner, and wanted to know if a hair analysis should be prescribed to detect the presence of substances.

“Five centimetres of hair is like five months of history,” explained one of the CRAFS team of pharmacologists, who are also trained in sexual assault response.

Victims who call the hotline are encouraged to lodge a complaint to benefit from free drug detection kits.

In mid-November, Equality Minister Salima Saa announced an awareness campaign about the “new scourge” of using drugs to commit sexual abuse, which Chaouachi said can sometimes be misunderstood.

‘Speaking out’

There are “preconceived notions” around the use of drugs in sexual assault cases, Chaouachi told AFP.

“People think it’s about young girls drugged in a nightclub with GHB,” said Chaouachi, referring to a notorious “date-rape drug” often used in sexual assaults.

“However, our data shows that the victim is often drugged by someone around her who betrays her trust,” she said.

“It could be a woman of any age… an elderly person drugged to make them sign a paper extorting an inheritance, or a child drugged so someone doesn’t have to look after them. That is chemical abuse.”

In 2023, French police recorded more than 110,000 victims of sexual violence, 85 percent of them women.

For some, the hotline offers an opportunity to speak about what happened to them, even if the abuse was too long ago for medical detection.

“Even if they are old, these accounts are useful: they tell us how attackers operate,” Chaouachi said. “And speaking out and being heard is good for the victim.”

Prosecutors have sought a maximum 20-year jail term for Dominique Pelicot, and 10 to 18 years in prison for 49 of the 50 co-defendants accused of rape or attempted rape, with a four-year punishment requested in only one case.

A verdict is expected on 19 or 20 December.

Speaking during a joint press conference with Macron in Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he discussed the possibility of stationing foreign troops in Ukraine in case of a ceasefire with Russia, but that Poland was not currently “planning any such actions”.

During Macron’s visit, Tusk underlined: “I would like to take this opportunity to end speculation about the potential presence of troops from one country or another in Ukraine once a ceasefire or peace has been agreed. The president [Macron] knows this, we discussed it, any decision on Polish actions will be taken in Warsaw and only in Warsaw. For the moment, we are not planning any such actions”.

“We will work with France on a solution that will, above all, protect Europe and Ukraine from resuming the conflict if an agreement can be reached,” he added.

Trump, Zelensky meeting in Paris

Thursday’s bilateral talks follow a meeting at the Elysée Palace between Macron, Trump and Zelensky on Saturday, that has been described as “brief but important”. 

Donald Trump – who will take office at the White House on 20 January – has called for an immediate ceasefire and for negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine, the day after his Paris meeting with Zelensky.

However, in an interview published in Time Magazine this Thursday Trump said he disagrees “very vehemently” with Ukraine firing US-supplied missiles deep into Russia.

But the US president-elect insisted he would not abandon Ukraine as US support for Kyiv would be key leverage in efforts to bring the war to a close.  

Trump returns to world stage at Notre-Dame Cathedral reopening in Paris

Winter peace talks?

Tusk has recently mooted that peace talks on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine could begin this winter.

The Polish prime minister – who is a staunch backer of neighbouring Ukraine and will take over the rotating EU presidency from Hungary next month – also announced a series of upcoming talks with foreign officials.

“Our [EU] presidency will notably be co-responsible for what the political landscape will look like, perhaps how the situation will look during [peace] negotiations, which could begin – though there are still question marks – in the winter of this year,” Tusk told reporters on Tuesday.

Poland has been a strong Ukraine supporter since Russia invaded nearly three years ago and serves as a crucial logistics hub for Western military aid to Kyiv.

EU and Mercosur trade bloc finalise free trade deal opposed by France

Opposition to Mercosur deal

Meanwhile, Macron and Tusk also discussed the controversial trade deal between the EU and the South American Mercosur bloc, with the French president hammering home his opposition to the agreement concluded in Uruguay last week, stressing that European farmers could not be “sacrificed in the name of the principles of the past century”.

Both France and Poland are opposed to the trade agreement which aims to create a vast market of more than 700 million consumers, but still needs the approval of at least 15 member states representing 65 percent of the EU’s population, and then a majority in the European Parliament.

Thursday’s meeting in Warsaw came ahead of a forthcoming EU summit on 19 December and Poland’s presidency of the EU Council on 1 January.

Sweden’s prosecution authority announced two months ago that it was investigating an alleged incident that occurred at an upscale Stockholm hotel on 10 October, without mentioning the suspect by name.

The 25-year-old forward with Real Madrid – one of the highest-profile players in world football – was in the Swedish capital from 9 to 11 October with a group of people after he was not selected by France for a Nations League match. 

Several Swedish media outlets, including newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen and public broadcaster SVT, identified Kylian Mbappé as the suspect.

Mbappé ‘not involved’

In a statement released this Thursday, prosecutor Marina Chirakova said: “My assessment is that the evidence is not sufficient to proceed and the investigation is therefore closed,” although she did not mention Mbappé by name.

Chirakova said the suspect had “not been notified of suspicion of a crime”.

In October, Mbappé said that he was “shocked” to see his name linked to the investigation.

Speaking for the first time about the case on Sunday, he told French television show Clique he was “not involved”.

“I haven’t received anything, no summons … I’m not involved,” he said.

• Mbappé to take legal action for libel over Swedish rape investigation

According to Aftonbladet, Mbappé and his entourage dined at a restaurant one evening before going on to a nightclub. 

Aftonbladet said the complaint was filed on October 12 after the alleged victim had sought medical attention.

Meanwhile, Expressen reported that police had seized some clothing as evidence, saying it consisted of women’s underwear, a pair of black trousers and a black top.

Photographs showed police officers leaving the hotel with brown bags.

• Mbappé fights off-field drama buoyed by support of Madrid fans

Difficult season

Mbappé joined Madrid this summer after seven years at Paris Saint-Germain and has stayed clear of scandal in his private life.

The forward – who is known for carefully managing his image through a close network of family, lawyers and spokespeople – has become one of the world’s highest paid players after a stellar career that began when he was barely into his teens.

Mbappé won the World Cup as a teenager in 2018 in Russia and scored a hat-trick in the 2022 final in Qatar which France lost on penalties to Lionel Messi’s Argentina. 

He has had a difficult season since moving to reigning European champions Real Madrid from PSG in the summer, failing to find his top form.

However the Frenchman scored in Madrid’s 3-2 win against Italian side Atalanta on Tuesday, which revived Real’s flagging bid to regain their Champions League title.

According to the Paris-based NGO, 18 journalists were killed by Israeli forces this year: 16 in Gaza and two in Lebanon.

RSF described the killings as “an unprecedented bloodbath” and claimed more than 145 journalists have died in Gaza since the war began in October 2023.

Thirty-five of them were actively working at the time of their deaths.

RSF’s annual report – which covers data up to 1 December – states: “Palestine is the most dangerous country for journalists, recording a higher death toll than any other country over the past five years.” 

The organisation has filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court for “war crimes committed against journalists by the Israeli army”.

Israel rejects RSF death toll

In a separate report published Tuesday, the International Federation of Journalists reported that 104 journalists have been killed worldwide in 2024, with more than half of them in Gaza.

The figures differ between the IFJ and RSF due to different methodologies used in calculating the toll.

RSF only includes journalists whose deaths have been “proven to be directly related to their professional activity”.

• Dozens of media associations call on EU to suspend treaty with Israel

Israel denies that it intentionally harms journalists, but admits that some have been killed in air strikes on military targets.

Government spokesman David Mercer told reporters: “We don’t accept these figures. We don’t believe they are correct.”

After Gaza, the deadliest places for journalists in 2024 were Pakistan with seven deaths, followed by Bangladesh and Mexico with five each.

• French NGO files case with ICC over journalists’ deaths in Gaza

Journalists held captive

In 2023, the number of journalists killed worldwide stood at 45 in the same January to December period.

The RSF report also noted a rise in detained journalists, with 550 imprisoned worldwide as of 1 December – up from 513 the previous year.

The highest numbers are in China, which holds 124 journalists (11 in Hong Kong), followed by Myanmar with 61 and Israel with 41.

Additionally, 55 journalists are being held hostage globally. Nearly half – 25 in total – are held by the Islamic State armed group.

The report also revealed that 95 journalists are reported missing, including four new cases this year.

In a report released on Wednesday, the WHO estimates there were 263 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2023 – 11 million more than the previous year.

It also found that the death toll remained relatively stable. In terms of the overall mortality rate, “we have come back to pre-pandemic numbers”, according to Arnaud Le Menach, of the WHO’s Global Malaria Programme.

In 2020, disruptions caused by the Covid pandemic led to a sharp increase in malaria-related mortality, with an additional 55,000 deaths counted that year.

Since then the total number of deaths from the disease – which is caused by a mosquito-borne parasite – has gradually shrunk, as has the mortality rate.

Why is malaria so difficult to combat?

However, the estimated 2023 mortality rate in Africa of 52 deaths per 100,000 population still remains more than double the target set by a global strategy for combatting malaria through 2030. The WHO is insisting that “progress must be accelerated”.

Vaccine promise

The WHO has pointed to the wider rollout of malaria vaccines as a promising development, expected to save tens of thousands of young lives each year.

The two jabs currently in use – RTS,S and R21/Matrix-M – hold the promise of significantly easing the burden in Africa, which accounts for up to 95 percent of all malaria deaths.

Malaria vaccines were rolled out on the continent in April 2019 – first in Malawi, with Kenya and Ghana following suit.

According to the WHO, by the end of 2023 almost 2 million children in those three countries had received jabs of the RTS,S vaccine.

“We saw in those three pilot countries … a 13 percent drop in mortality during the four years of the pilot programme,” said Mary Hamel, who heads the WHO’s malaria vaccine team.

The organisation is now anticipating a similar drop in other countries introducing the vaccines, with Hamel pointing out that the countries that began introducing the jabs early this year were “following a similar trajectory”.

So far, 17 nations across sub-Saharan Africa have included the vaccines in their routine immunisation programmes.

A further eight countries had been approved to receive funding towards introducing the inoculations through the GAVI vaccine alliance.

• UN to roll out 18 million malaria vaccines across 12 African countries by 2025
• WHO says Covid disruptions caused surge in malaria deaths

‘Curb the threat’

In another promising development, new-generation dual-insecticide nets are becoming more widely available.

The nets – which are coated in a pyrrole insecticide in combination with the standard pyrethroid insecticide – have been shown to offer far better protection against malaria.

The WHO estimated earlier this year that such nets had averted 13 million malaria cases and nearly 25,000 deaths over three years.

Despite these successes, the WHO highlighted a number of factors slowing the battle against malaria, including a lack of funds and insufficient stocks of vaccines – as well as climate change, which is allowing a greater spread of the mosquitos that carry the parasite that causes malaria.

“Stepped-up investments and action in high-burden African countries are needed to curb the threat,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

Hailing it as a “historic agreement”, Erdogan said he hoped the deal would be “the first step towards a new beginning based on peace and cooperation between Somalia and Ethiopia“.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud flew into Ankara earlier on Wednesday for the latest round of talks following two earlier rounds that made little progress.

The two neighbours have been at loggerheads since landlocked Ethiopia struck a deal in January with Somalia’s breakaway region Somaliland to lease a stretch of coastline for a port and military base in exchange for recognition, although this was never confirmed by Addis Ababa.

The move sparked a fierce diplomatic and military row between Ethiopia and Somalia, which branded the deal a violation of its sovereignty, setting international alarm bells ringing over the risk of renewed conflict in the volatile Horn of Africa region.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Erdogan said he believed Wednesday’s agreement, which came after talks that reportedly lasted eight hours, would eventually bring about a way to ensure landlocked Ethiopia’s access to the sea.

“I believe with the meeting we had today, especially with Ethiopia’s demands to access the sea, my brother Sheikh Mohamud will give the necessary support for accessing the sea,” he said.

‘Constructive talks’

According to the text of the agreement released by Turkey, the parties agreed “to leave behind differences of opinion and contentious issues, and resolutely move forward in cooperation towards common prosperity”.

They agreed to work closely together on commercial arrangements and bilateral agreements that would ensure Ethiopia’s “reliable, safe and sustainable access” to the sea “under the sovereign authority of the Federal Republic of Somalia”.

To that end, they would start technical talks no later than the end of February which would be completed “within four months”, with any differences to be dealt with “though dialogue, where necessary with Turkey’s support”.

Speaking alongside Erdogan, his remarks translated into Turkish, Ethiopia’s Abiy said: “We have addressed the misunderstandings that have occurred over the past year.

“Ethiopia’s desire for secure access to the sea is a peaceful venture and will benefit our neighbours, it is a venture that must be seen in the spirit of cooperation, not suspicion.”

Turkey deepens Somali ties with energy push, but rising Ethiopia tensions jeopardise investments

He said the “constructive talks” would allow the two nations “to enter the New Year in a spirit of cooperation, friendship and the willingness to work together instead of against each other”.

The Somali leader, whose remarks were also translated, said the agreement had “put a halt to their differences” and that his nation was “ready to work with the Ethiopian leadership and the Ethiopian people”.

The row had sent shivers through the Horn of Africa, drawing in Ethiopia’s long-standing rival Egypt, and Eritrea.

Somalia expelled Ethiopia’s ambassador in April and said Ethiopian troops would be excluded from a new African Union peacekeeping force against Islamist Al-Shabaab insurgents that is due to be deployed on 1 January.

Turkey has been mediating between the two sides since July, leading discussions aimed at resolving their differences, but the two previous rounds of talks in Ankara had failed to produce any tangible progress.

In December 2023, Mali’s ruling junta pushed the United Nations stabilisation mission (Minusma) to leave the country amid deteriorating international relations and a spike in jihadist battles and separatist violence.

Minusma had previously maintained around 15,000 soldiers and police in the Sahel state, and was in part tasked with protecting civilians and human rights.

According to a Human Rights Watch report published on Thursday, since May the Malian army – supported by the Wagner mercenary group – has “deliberately killed at least 32 civilians”, forcibly disappeared four others, and burned at least 100 homes in the north and centre of the country.

The NGO also said the Al-Qaeda-linked Group to Support Islam and Muslims (JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) had “summarily executed at least 47 civilians and displaced thousands of people since June”.

Number of deaths could be higher

The rights group added the number of civilians deaths given in its report could be underestimated by hundreds due to difficulties conducting research in central and northern Mali.

“Since Minusma left Mali a year ago, it has been extremely difficult to get comprehensive information on abuses, and we are deeply concerned that the situation is even worse than reported,” senior Sahel researcher at HRW, Ilaria Allegrozzi, was quoted as saying in the report.

HRW said it based its information on interviews with 47 witnesses and 11 other informed sources, as well as satellite imagery and verified photos and videos. 

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Failure of accountability

The rights group said it had sent its findings to the Bamako government but received no response.

“Malian authorities’ failure to hold members of the security forces, the Wagner Group, and Islamist armed groups to account for grave abuses has eased the way for further atrocities,” it said.

Minusma ended its 10-year mission in Mali on 31 December, 2023.

The junta which seized power in back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021 has also broken off relations with former colonial ruler France and turned to Russia for political and military assistance.

As well as Tuesday’s attack in the village of Petel Kole, social media was awash with claims that another savage assault had taken place in Chatoumane, in the same western region, but the ruling junta denied those “unfounded claims”.

“The Petel Kole detail was the target of a terrorist attack yesterday afternoon. A horde of hundreds of criminals on motorcycles tried to take control of the position,” the army said.

It said at least 26 attackers had been “neutralised”.

Social media posts on the alleged Chatoumane attack said 91 soldiers and around 40 civilians had been killed. AFP was not able to immediately verify the information.

Niger military junta seizes control of French uranium operations

Niger‘s joint chiefs of staff denied the claim, telling state TV: “It is clear this is a brainwashing campaign by adversaries of the Nigerien people to sap our troops’ morale and sow divisions.”

Niger has been ruled since July 2023 by a military junta that took power in a coup that ousted elected president Mohamed Bazoum.

Like fellow Sahel neighbours Burkina Faso and Mali, it has been hit by years of violence by jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

At least 1,500 civilians and troops have been killed in jihadist attacks in Niger in the past year, according to conflict monitoring group ACLED – more than double the 650 killed from July 2022 to July 2023.

The massacre was reportedly ordered by gang leader Micanor Altès – also known as Monel Felix and Wa Mikano – who suspected his child had been made sick using black magic. 

Haiti’s government has acknowledged the killings in the impoverished Cité Soleil neighbourhood, and promised to bring to justice those behind the “unspeakable carnage”. 

The events began on Friday, On 6 December, when Altès gathered between 200 and 300 people in the Wharf Jeremie area of Cité Soleil, an unnamed witness told RFI, adding that civilians were forced to appear before him for a sham judgment. 

“They brought people to him one by one and he asked them: ‘Are you evil? Do you practice black magic?’ And if he thought yes, they tied their hands behind their backs and put them aside,” the witness said. 

Deadly aftermath  

Some 80 people were reportedly killed that evening, with another 50 murdered the following morning as gang members conducted raids throughout the neighbourhood, killing victims with machetes and guns. 

The UN has confirmed that at least 184 people, including 127 elderly men and women, were slaughtered between 6 and 8 December in the Wharf Jérémie area. 

The densely populated Cité Soleil has long been a stronghold for gangs, with little government or police presence. 

RFI’s witness said Altès had blamed the death of his newborn son on a curse.  

“He claimed that he himself now had to make a pact with the devil. He said this several times during the fake trial,” the witness said. 

A history of violence: Haiti’s revolution, collapse and descent into anarchy

Grief and loss  

The killings have devastated families across Cité Soleil. One young woman described how her father was lured to his death. 

“Micanor sent two motorbikes. My father was sitting outside our house when they called him,” she told RFI.  

“He said, ‘What have I done? I have no problem with anyone. I’m innocent.’ He went to them calmly. That was the last time we saw him.”  

Another young woman, using the pseudonym Dayana, expressed her anguish.  

“My father was my guide and my rock. Whenever I was in trouble, I could lean on his shoulder. Micanor took his life, just like that. I demand justice,” she said. 

Mackeson Cangé, whose father was stabbed and burned, said: “The bandits took away a friend, a confidant, because when my father spoke to me, it was as if we were two good friends.” 

The attacks reportedly ended when Altès’s men announced through a megaphone that the massacre was over.  

Despite this, the fear remains. Many residents have begun fleeing the area, fearing further violence. 

France to evacuate vulnerable citizens from Haiti as unrest rages

Official response  

Haiti’s Prime Minister’s office condemned the attacks, calling them a “red line” and vowing to “mobilise all forces to track down and annihilate” those responsible, including Altès. 

Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called for urgent action to curb arms trafficking to Haiti, which fuels gang violence.  

“These killings bring the death toll this year in Haiti to a staggering 5,000 people,” Turk said, urging international support. 

The White House also expressed outrage, with a security spokesperson saying the US was “appalled”. 

Meanwhile Haitian leaders are pressing for the deployment of a stronger, Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission, but logistical and financial hurdles remain. 

This story has been adapted from RFI’s original version in French

The special law, presented to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, contains three key articles designed to maintain essential state functions and prevent any interruption of public services. 

It comes in the wake of a political impasse that has stalled the passage of key finance legislation. 

“The objective is really to ensure the continuity of the state,” a government source told FranceInfo, adding that the law contains “no political reform”. 

The legislation will allow the government to continue collecting existing taxes and permit state borrowing through the French Treasury Agency.  

It also authorises four social security organisations to take out loans to maintain their operations. 

However, the emergency measure blocks any new tax initiatives and freezes several planned investments, including 25.7 billion euros in commitment authorisations for the armed forces. 

France’s Macron meets party leaders, promises new PM within 48 hours

Recruitment freeze  

The temporary law also affects public sector recruitment, with 700 planned military positions and 1,500 justice ministry jobs now on hold until a full budget can be passed. 

“Recruitment necessary for the continuity of public services can nevertheless continue,” the finance ministry said. 

The National Assembly will examine the text on 16 December, followed by the Senate on 18 December.

The law must be enacted before 31 December to ensure uninterrupted public services. Once passed, a decree will allocate the minimum funds needed to keep those services running. 

“When you look at the content of this law, there is no political reform, the objective is really to ensure the continuity of the state, so nothing suggests this would be a subject of discord,” the government source told FranceInfo. 

Manuel Bompard, coordinator of the hard-left France Unbowed party said: “We must guarantee budgetary continuity.” 

France’s article 49.3 a handy constitutional tool to bypass parliament

Suspended measures  

Several key programmes will be affected by the temporary arrangement.

The government confirmed that special electricity tariffs will revert to pre-crisis levels of 33.78 euros per megawatt hour, with regulated rates to be reviewed on 1 February 2025. 

Support measures for farmers and New Caledonia will be suspended, while local authorities will receive their standard revenue allocations but not special investment grants. 

The text follows article 45 of France’s organic finance law and article 47 of the constitution.  

A similar emergency measure was last used in December 1979, when the Constitutional Council rejected the government’s draft budget over procedural issues. 

In a nod to the 100th anniversary of the tournament, the opening game of the 2030 World Cup will be held in the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo in Uruguay which hosted the inaugural event. The second and third games of the tournament will be played in Argentina and Paraguay respectively.

The rest of the matches will then unfold in stadiums in Spain, Portugal and Morocco where plans are underway to build a 115,000-seat stadium in Benslimane, 40km east of Casablanca.

“Fifa has proposed World Cups that are an ecological aberration,” said Guillaume Gouze, of the Centre of Sports Law and Economics at the University of Limoges in France. 

“Fifa has a moral responsibility to integrate climate concerns into its tournament plans.”

Benja Faecks, of the non-governmental organisation Carbon Market Watch, which evaluates climate promises of major events, told the French news agency AFP that the 2030 tournament was an unfortunate geographic choice.

“When an event is spread over sites thousands of kilometres apart, teams and potentially hundreds of thousands of their loyal fans have to travel by plane,” she added.  

Fifa, set up in Paris in May 1904 to oversee international competition among eight European national football associations, has grown into a global body comprising more than 200 associations.

It earned 7.5bn dollars in revenue through four years of commercial deals tied to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. In the cycle leading up to the 2018 event in Russia, it raked in 6.5 billion dollars.

“With the exception of the games in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, for 101 games, the tournament will be played in a footprint of neighbouring countries in close geographic proximity and with extensive and well developed transport links and infrastructure,” Fifa said in a statement about the 2030 tournament.

Concerns

Last month, the campaign group Human Rights Watch claimed that Saudi Arabia’s bid failed to tackle alleged abuses of the 13.4 million migrant workers in the country.

Saudi Arabia aims to construct 11 stadiums and 185,000 hotel rooms for the month-long tournament as well as massive infrastructure upgrades covering airports, road and rail networks.

Last summer, the Building and Wood Workers’ International Union (BWI) filed a forced labour complaint against Saudi Arabia at the International Labour Organization (ILO). The complaint was based on cases of tens of thousands of workers with unpaid wages from two Saudi-based construction companies and testimony from 193 migrant workers who have faced a range of abuses.

Violations included confiscation of identity documents and poor working and living conditions despite Saudi authorities claiming that labour laws had been revised. 

“Saudi Arabia’s World Cup hosting documents ignore the country’s egregious human rights violations, including inadequate heat protections, unchecked wage theft, the ban on labour unions and an abusive visa sponsorship labour system,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch.

 “Fifa is wilfully blind to the country’s human rights record, setting up a decade of potentially horrific human rights abuses preparing for the 2034 World Cup.”

Twelve days ago, Fifa released an evaluation report incorporating an independent human rights context assessment carried out by the law firm AS&H Clifford Chance. The Fifa report said Saudi Arabia was considered “medium risk” for human rights.

Bid

“The Saudi bid presents a very strong all-round proposition, reflected in the results of the technical evaluation, which assesses the proposed infrastructure (both sporting and general) as well as its commercial potential,” the Fifa report said.

In the prelude to the publication, a dozen human rights organisations – including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and FairSquare – queried the rigour of the assessment.

“The severe risks of hosting the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia are clear and well-known – without huge reforms, critics will be arrested, women and LGBT people will face discrimination, and workers will be exploited on a massive scale”, said Steve Cockburn, head of labour rights and sport at Amnesty International.

“It is incredible that AS&H Clifford Chance omitted such glaring risks from its assessment and scandalous that Fifa paved the way for them to do so.

“Fifa must now insist on a proper assessment and meaningful human rights strategy, or its flagship tournament will inevitably be tarnished by severe human rights violations.”

Concerns over human rights overshadowed the 2022  tournament in Qatar – the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East.

Similar issues will dog the second football fest even as authorities in Saudi Arabia strive for more credibility and less opprobrium with high-profile events such as a Formula One Grand Prix, heavyweight boxing contests and the women’s end of season tennis championships.

 “Based on clear evidence to date, Fifa knows workers will be exploited and even die without fundamental reforms in Saudi Arabia, and yet has chosen to press ahead regardless,” Cockburn added.

“The organisation risks bearing a heavy responsibility for many of the human rights abuses that will follow. At every stage of this bidding process, Fifa has shown its commitment to human rights to be a sham.

“Fifa must urgently change course and ensure that the World Cup is accompanied by wide-ranging reforms in Saudi Arabia, or risk a decade of exploitation, discrimination and repression connected to its flagship tournament.”

In mid-September, investigating magistrates said they would consider an appeal by civil parties against the October 2023 decision to dismiss the case and their refusal to carry out certain investigative acts into the Bisesero massacre.

They accuse the French-led UN Operation Turquoise of having knowingly abandoned Tutsi civilians who had taken refuge in the Bisesero hills in western Rwanda for three days, allowing hundreds of them to be massacred by genocidal Hutu militia between 27 and 30 June 1994.

In the case, the associations Survie, Ibuka, International Federation for Human Rights and six survivors – all civil parties – accused France and French peacekeeping forces of “complicity in genocide”.

In a post on social media ahead of the court decision, Survie wrote: “[We] hope that justice will enable the survivors of Bisesero, the families of the hundreds of victims, and the French people to know the truth.

‘Denial of justice’

According to Eric Plouvier, representing the civil society association Survie, “at the very least, the investigations must continue. It is not a good thing for a judicial decision to leave the bitter taste of a denial of justice”.

In light of this Wednesday’s announcement by the Paris court, “an appeal to the Supreme Court will inevitably be lodged,” he added.

Pierre-Olivier Lambert, who is defending General Jean-Claude Lafourcade – who headed Operation Turquoise – has consistently maintained that he and his client “confidently [expected] the Court of Appeal to confirm the analysis made by the investigating judges [following] the meticulous investigation carried out over nearly 20 years, which unequivocally exonerated the French army and its soldiers”.

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The two investigating magistrates from the Crimes against Humanity Unit of the Paris Judicial Court had decided to drop the charges against the five soldiers involved in the proceedings, who were never indicted.

After an initial dismissal of the case in September 2022, the investigation was reopened for procedural reasons – linked to the publication of the report by the commission chaired by historian Vincent Duclert in April 2021 – which highlighted France’s “profound failure” during the Bisesero massacres.

According to the United Nations, the massacres instigated by the Hutu government left more than 800,000 dead in Rwanda between April and July 1994, mainly among the Tutsi minority.

In mid-November, the Paris Administrative Court rejected an application by victims of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda to have the French state condemned for its alleged complicity in the 1994 tragedy, saying it lacked the legal competence to hear the case.

(With newswires)

Prosecutors allege he played a key role in atrocities that left 300,000 dead and forced 230,000 to flee to neighbouring Chad, according to UN figures. 

Abd-Al-Rahman, 72, denies the 31 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, claiming he was merely a pharmacist caught up in the conflict. 

Final arguments 

Closing arguments at the court in The Hague began Wednesday and will span three days, with prosecutors, victim representatives and Abd-Al-Rahman’s defence presenting their final statements. 

The trial, which began almost three years ago, included testimony from 56 prosecution witnesses, many of whom gave evidence anonymously or behind closed doors due to security concerns. 

“Civilians were attacked, raped and murdered, their homes and villages were destroyed, thousands were forcibly displaced,” former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told the court during the trial.  

“Men were loaded onto vehicles, taken a short distance away and executed in cold blood. Mr Abd-Al-Rahman was present at and directly participated in these callous crimes.” 

Deadly shelling of Darfur camp sparks exodus of displaced people

Suspects at large

Abd-Al-Rahman is the first Sudanese leader to be tried at the ICC. However, three other former officials from ex-president Omar al-Bashir‘s regime, including Bashir himself, face charges but remain at large. 

The fighting erupted when non-Arab tribes protesting systematic discrimination took up arms against Bashir’s Arab-dominated government, which responded by deploying the Janjaweed militia. 

Abd-Al-Rahman fled Sudan in 2020, eventually surrendering to the ICC in the Central African Republic four months after the new Sudanese government announced it would cooperate with ICC investigators. 

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Ongoing crisis 

As the ICC trial ends, Sudan faces another devastating conflict. Fighting between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudan’s army has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions. 

Current ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said the court had made “significant progress” in investigating new war crimes linked to the ongoing conflict.  

“I hope by my next report, I will be able to announce applications for warrants of arrest regarding some of those individuals that are the most responsible,” he said. 

The judges will retire to deliberate after hearing the final arguments.  

“The country accounts for 10 percent of all people in humanitarian need, despite being home to less than one percent of global population,” the New York-based International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid organisation said in their 2025 Emergency Watchlist.

Sudan tops a 2025 watchlist of global humanitarian crises released by the organisation for the second year in a row, followed by Gaza and the West Bank, Myanmar, Syria, and South Sudan.

Since April 2023, the war in Sudan between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 13 million.

War in Sudan leaves 13 million people displaced and more than half the population malnourished

Nearly nine million of those are displaced within Sudan, most in areas with decimated infrastructure and facing the threat of mass starvation.

Across the country, nearly 26 million people — around half the population — are facing acute hunger, according to the United Nations.

Famine has already been declared in the Zamzam displacement camp in the western Darfur region, and the United Nations has said Sudan is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in recent memory.

Ongoing fighting

At least 175 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Sudan on Monday and Tuesday by barrel bombs and shelling from the warring sides, rights activists said.

More than eight barrel bombs hit the market in the North Darfur town of Kabkabiya on Monday, the pro-democracy Al-Fashir Resistance Committee said.

Emergency Lawyers, a human rights group, said densely populated civilian areas have been targeted.

The 20-month-old war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been turning increasingly bloody as ceasefire efforts have stalled, and crises elsewhere have dominated world attention.

The army has stepped up airstrikes in the half of the country that the RSF controls, while the RSF has staged raids on villages and intense artillery strikes.

The army has frequently targeted towns in North Darfur with airstrikes as it fights the RSF for control of the state capital, al-Fashir, its last foothold in the region.

It denied responsibility for the attack on Kabkabiya, while insisting that it had the right to target any location used by the RSF for military purposes.

The RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

No end in sight

The IRC’s report says a total of 30.4 million people were in humanitarian need across the northeast African country, making it “the largest humanitarian crisis since records began”, the IRC said.   

There is no end to the war in sight, with both parties intensifying strikes on residential areas in recent weeks.

The IRC warned of total “humanitarian collapse”, as the health crisis was set to worsen and both sides continued to “choke humanitarian access”.

Around 305 million people worldwide are in need of humanitarian support, according to IRC, with 82 percent of them in watchlist areas such as the occupied Palestinian territories, Myanmar, Syria, South Sudan and Lebanon.

“It is clear that ‘the world is on fire’ is a daily reality for hundreds of millions of people,” IRC chief David Miliband said.

(With newswires)

“France is putting an end to its detachment of fighter planes at the Kossei airbase,” a French military source told the French news agency AFP.

“The French army has taken the decision to remove its planes.” 

Chad had been a key link in France’s military presence in Africa and its last foothold in the wider Sahel region after the forced withdrawal of its troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in the wake of a series of military coups.

On 28 November, hours after a visit by France’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, Chadian authorities announced the end to the security and defence agreements that had linked it with France since the end of the colonial era in 1960.

The declaration caught Paris off guard. But Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Déby was quick to emphasise the move did not mean severing ties.

‘Not a rejection’

“The decision in no way constitutes a rejection of international cooperation or a calling into question of our diplomatic relations with France,” he said.

“It is not a question of replacing one power with another.”

Chad – the last country in the Sahel to host French forces – had been home to around 1,000 French troops at bases in N’Djamena, Abéché and Faya-Largeau.

Déby has sought closer ties with Russia in recent months but talks to strengthen economic cooperation have yet to bear concrete results.

Kolawole Osinowo, CEO of Baobab Plus in Nigeria – a French-Nigerian energy distribution company – highlighted the challenges of energy access in the country.

“A lot of people in Nigeria don’t have access to electricity, so we’re supporting the government by bridging the gap,” Osinowo told RFI.

“There’s a connection in terms of technological and financial support that is key.”

Osinowo said he hopes to shift Africa-Europe relations from being aid-driven to investment-focused, aiming to boost Nigeria’s economy and create jobs.

“This is essential so that people don’t have to migrate and cause different migration issues around the world,” he said.

Creative partnerships

Uchenna Pedro, founder of the lifestyle platform Bella Naija and named one of Forbes Africa’s 50 Most Influential Women, emphasised France’s potential as a partner in Nigeria’s creative industries.

“French industries in my domains bring high value, and France’s belief in the arts makes it a great partnership,” said Pedro. Her platform already collaborates with French companies like L’Oréal in the beauty and fashion sectors.

Pedro is also a member of the French Africa Foundation’s young leaders group, which supports initiatives connecting France with African nations.

Nigerian businesses court French investors during Tinubu’s landmark visit

France as a cultural hub

Singer-songwriter and activist Chioma Ogbonna, known as Cill, also praised France’s prioritisation of the arts and its thriving creative industry.

“Because of how the arts and the creative industry thrive here in France and how it is prioritised, it is an important destination for Africans and Nigerians especially,” she said.

Tinubu’s visit underscored the potential for deeper collaboration between Nigerian businesses and French investors, particularly in energy, culture, and creative sectors.

Episode recorded and mixed by Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is a podcast from Radio France Internationale.

The lightning offensive of Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, which has seen the rebels capture several major Syrian cities in less than two weeks, gives Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leverage over his Syrian counterpart President Bashar al-Assad.

“Turkey can easily stop both [rebel] entities and start a process. Turkey does have this strength, and Assad is well aware of it,” said Murat Aslan of the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, a Turkish pro-government think tank. 

Until now, Assad has rejected Erdogan’s overtures for dialogue to end the civil war peacefully. “The Turkish intention politically is not to escalate in Syria [but to] start a political, diplomatic engagement with the Assad regime, and come to the terms of a normal state, and that all Syrians safely return to their homes,” Aslan noted.

Syrian rebels surround Hama ‘from three sides’, monitor says

Syrian refugees an issue

Erdogan is seeking to return many of the estimated 4 million Syrian refugees living in Turkey, amid growing public unease over their presence in the country.

“According to the opinion polls here, yes, the Syrian refugees [are] an issue. For any government, it would be a wonderful win to see these Syrians going back to Syria of their own will,” explained Aydin Selcen, a former senior Turkish diplomat who served in the region and is now a foreign policy analyst for Turkey’s Medyascope news outlet.

However, Moscow has a lot to lose in Syria, as a key military backer of Assad, who in turn has granted Russia use of a key Syrian naval base. “For Moscow, it’s of crucial importance that the personality of Assad remains in power,” said Zaur Gasimov, a professor of history and a Russia specialist at the University of Bonn.

Syria rebel leader says goal is to overthrow Assad

Gasimov warns that Turkey could be facing another humanitarian crisis. “Russia would definitely use the military force of its aerospace forces, that can cause a huge number of casualties among civilians. Which means a new wave of migrants towards Turkish eastern Anatolia.”

With more than a million Syrian refugees camped just across the Turkish border in the rebel-controlled Syrian Idlib province, analysts warn a new exodus into Turkey is a red line for Ankara.

“If they refresh their attacks on the captured areas by indiscriminate targeting… well [we can] expect further escalations in the region,” warned Aslan of the pro-government SETA think tank. “And for sure there is a line that Turkey will not remain as it is, and if there is a development directly threatening the interests or security of Turkey, then Turkey will intervene.”

Pushing back the YPG

With the Syrian rebel offensive also making territorial gains against the US-backed Kurdish militant group, the YPG, Ankara is poised to secure another strategic goal in Syria. Ankara accuses the YPG of having ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is fighting the Turkish state.

France joins Germany, US and Britain in call for de-escalation in Syria

“Without putting up a fight, and without getting directly involved, they [Ankara] have achieved one of their goals – for YPG to pull back from the Turkish frontier towards the south,” explained Selcen. “I think Ankara now is closer to that goal.”

With Syrian rebel successes appearing to advance Ankara’s goals in Syria, some analysts are urging caution, given the rebels’ links to radical Islamist groups. “The crashing down of the Assad regime is not in the interest of Turkey, because there will be chaos,” warned international relations professor Huseyin Bagci, of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

“Who is going to rule? What type of [governing] structure are we going to have?” he asked. “They are radicals, and another Daesh-style territory would not be in the interest of Turkey – in Turkish prisons, there are thousands of Daesh people.”

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 winners’ 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 get your New Year’s resolutions – or wishes – in the mail for our annual New Year’s Day show. We 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: Zahurul Islam Joy from Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Welcome, Zahural!

This week’s quiz: On 2 November, I asked you a question about Ghana – Melissa Chemam had just published her Spotlight on Africa podcast, where she shined the light on textile waste in Africa from fast fashion – and how Ghana has become a dumping ground for the world’s unwanted textiles, with devastating consequences for local ecosystems.

You were to send in the answer to these questions: How much second-hand clothing arrives in Ghana each week, and what happens to the unsellable clothes?

The answer is, to quote Melissa: “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.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question:  “Which of the 13 overseas French territories would you visit, if you had the chance?”, which was suggested by Hans Verner Lollike from Hedehusen, Denmark.

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

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

Also on the list of lucky winners this week is a long-lost RFI Listeners Club member: Arne Timm from Harjumaa, Estonia. Welcome back to the Kitchen, Arne – don’t be such a stranger!

There’s also Ekbal Hossain, who’s a member of the RFI International DX Radio Listeners Club in West Bengal, India, and our brand-new RFI Listeners Club member Zahurul Islam Joy from Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Rounding out the list of lucky winners this week is RFI English listener Kadija Akter, also from Rajshahi, Bangladesh.

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Set Me Free” by Dominique Guiout and Manu Vergeade; “Life is Just a Party” by Kiala Pepple, performed by Ghetto Blaster; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer; “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, and “Motor Head Baby” by Johnny “Guitar” Watson and Mario Delagarde, played by Johnny “Guitar” Watson.

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 Myer’s article “Small island nations lead fight for climate justice at UN’s top court”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 13 January to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 19 January 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.   

A few days before General Charles de Gaulle was due to make his triumphant entry into Paris, the three French war correspondents lined up to cover the event were captured. A young French-British journalist was chosen, in extremis, to replace them. Her name was Marcelle Poirier but despite being de Gaulle’s official reporter and AFP’s first female war correspondent, she and her work somehow fell into oblivion. When AFP journalist and photo editor Laurent Kalfala stumbled on a photo of her in military uniform, he embarked on a long paper-trail to dig up her fascinating story. His documentary reveals a feminist with a flair for strong human stories, and who mysteriously waited 40 years to tell her own. (Listen @1’50”)

Warmer summers in France’s wine-growing regions have pushed up the sugar content in grapes, which is leading to more alcoholic wine. Wines that used to be 11 or 12% alcohol even a decade ago are now pushing 15% today, and customers are taking notice. Winemakers and visitors to a recent wine fair talk about the tension between the impacts of global warming on wine and a trend towards drinking less alcohol. (Listen @21’30”)

As Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral reopens to the public, five years after the 2019 fire that destroyed much of its wooden and metal roof and toppled the spire, Ollia Horton meets local residents and business owners who are looking forward to things going back to normal. (Listen @14’15”) 

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).

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! 

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.