The government struck a measured tone in response to the death of Le Pen, who was expelled from his own party after repeatedly denying the Holocaust – with Prime Minister François Bayrou describing him as a “fighter” and a “figure of French political life”. 

Impromptu parties that broke out in several cities quickly drew sharp criticism. 

“Nothing, absolutely nothing justifies dancing on a corpse,” said Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau. “The death of a man, even if he is a political opponent, should inspire only restraint and dignity. These scenes of jubilation are deeply disgraceful.”  

Scenes in Paris, Lyon, Marseille 

In the French capital, several hundred demonstrators converged on Place de la République, with some climbing the square’s central statue and chanting anti-fascist slogans and lighting smoke bombs.  

One placard in the crowd read: “That filthy racist is dead.” 

Around 200 to 300 gathered in Lyon, reportedly at the invitation of extreme-left groups, where fireworks were set off, while in Marseille protesters displayed signs reading “Finally” as they opened bottles of champagne.  

While those gatherings were mostly peaceful, police in Strasbourg intervened to disperse around 200 demonstrators. 

Far-right National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen dies aged 96

Reactions were more nuanced in Marseille’s Saint Barnabé neighbourhood, a National Rally stronghold – an indication of the deep divisions over Le Pen’s legacy. 

“May he rest in peace. He lived 96 years. You have to admit he was a character – although there were some some slip-ups that I didn’t like,” Jeannot, 64, told RFI at a local cafe. 

Forty-year-old National Rally voter Vincent, who lives in the neighbourhood, said: “He’s a man who left his mark on my youth and my adult life because he shaped the political landscape. Even if we don’t agree with him, we have to acknowledge that he had the strength of character to defend France as he saw it.” 

Defining figure

Le Pen, who founded the National Front in 1972 and led it until 2011, became a defining figure of the far right in France.

Convicted multiple times for hate speech, including comments dismissing the Holocaust as “merely a detail of history”, his political career was marred by controversy.  

Le Pen’s rhetoric often attracted fierce opposition and widespread protests, particularly during his surprise run-off in the 2002 presidential election. 

After taking over the party’s leadership, his daughter Marine Le Pen expelled him in an effort to rebrand the movement and distance it from his extremist image. The party was renamed the National Rally.

Jean-Marie Le Pen passed away on Tuesday in a health facility near Paris.

A private service is planned in the capital, followed by burial on Saturday in his hometown of La Trinité-sur-Mer, in Brittany.  

President Emmanuel Macron will award Blinken the Legion of Honour – a particularly meaningful decoration for the fluent French speaker who spent part of his childhood in the French capital. 

The honour marks a dramatic improvement in French-American relations since 2021, when Paris was angered by a US-led defence pact with Britain and Australia that cancelled a major French submarine contract. 

Improved ties have seen both countries working closely on global challenges including Ukraine and the Middle East. 

Before his departure from Washington, Blinken told reporters: “France has been an indispensable partner in advancing our shared values and priorities.” 

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot will meet Blinken to discuss Syria, where extremist forces toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime last month.  

Barrot visited Damascus last week with his German counterpart as Western nations cautiously engage with Syria’s new leadership. 

“I will work until my final hours in the job for a ceasefire in Gaza,” Blinken told AFP, as American and Qatari mediators step up indirect talks between Israel and Hamas. 

Sinking of submarine deal leaves Franco-US friendship in tatters

Asia strategy 

The Paris visit follows stops in South Korea and Japan, where Blinken focused on reinforcing US partnerships as the region grapples with Chinese expansion and North Korean threats. 

The Seoul visit came at a sensitive moment, with South Korea facing political turmoil after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment. 

The State Department said Blinken discussed ways “to build on our critical cooperation on challenges around the world based on our shared values.” 

In Tokyo, Blinken reviewed recent defence cooperation, including a $3.64 billion US missile sale that China claims will destabilise the region – allegations both Japan and the US reject. 

The diplomatic mission comes as Trump prepares to return to the White House on 20 January. The president-elect has not ruled out using military force to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal. 

Before leaving office, Blinken will join President Joe Biden in Rome for meetings with Pope Francis – Biden’s final international trip as leader. 

(with newswires)

“The situation of our compatriots held hostage in Iran is quite simply unacceptable. They have been unjustly detained for several years, in unworthy conditions,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, urging French nationals not to go to Iran until the hostages have been freed.

According to French authorities, three French nationals are held in Iran.

Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris have been jailed in Iran since May 2022 on charges of espionage, a capital offence in the Islamic republic.

Another French citizen, identified only by his first name, Olivier, has been in jail since October 2022. French authorities have not released details of his case.

Barrot said Paris had not forgotten about them “for a single second”.

Iran claims French couple imprisoned since 2022 ‘in good health’

Since the election of President Masoud Pezeshkian and “despite our efforts to engage at the highest level, their situation has deteriorated”, Barrot added.

“I say to the Iranian authorities: our hostages must be released,” he said, adding that “bilateral relations and the future of the sanctions” were at stake.

“And until our hostages have been completely released, I ask our compatriots not to travel to Iran.”

Iran, which does not recognise dual citizenship, holds several Europeans in detention, most of them also Iranian.

Rights groups describe them as “hostages” used as leverage in negotiations.

France denounces ‘state hostage-taking’ by Iran as couple mark two years in jail

In December, Italian journalist Cecilia Sala, reported to be 29, was arrested in Tehran.

Iran said it arrested Sala for “violating the law”, a move decried by Italy as “unacceptable”.

(with AFP)

The European Union will not tolerate threats to its borders, France‘s foreign minister said, as tensions rose over Trump’s comments about the Arctic territory, which is an autonomous part of EU member Denmark. 

“There is obviously no question that the European Union would let other nations of the world attack its sovereign borders, whoever they are,” Jean-Noel Barrot told France Inter radio.

“We are a strong continent.”  

Greenland push 

Trump first expressed interest in acquiring Greenland, an autonomous territory of EU member Denmark, in 2019 when he cancelled a trip to Copenhagen after Denmark’s prime minister dismissed the idea of its purchase as “absurd”.  

Trump’s most recent comments came during a press conference where he was asked whether he would commit to avoiding economic or military action to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal. 

“No, I can’t assure you on either of those two. But I can say this, we need them for economic security,” Trump said. 

He later took to his platform, Truth Social, to elaborate on his intentions.  

Activist Paul Watson freed after Denmark refuses extradition to Japan

“Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if and when it becomes part of our nation. We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN,” Trump posted. 

While expressing concern over Trump’s comments, Barrot downplayed the likelihood of actual conflict. 

“If you’re asking me whether I think the United States will invade Greenland, my answer is no. But have we entered into a period of time when it is survival of the fittest? Then my answer is yes,” he said. 

Danish position 

Denmark has reiterated that Greenland, which has been part of its kingdom for more than 600 years, is not for sale. 

“I don’t think it’s a good way forward to fight each other with financial means when we are close allies and partners,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. 

While she welcomed US interest in the Arctic, Frederiksen stressed it must be “done in a way that is respectful of the Greenlandic people”. 

Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede, who has called for eventual independence from Denmark, also rejected the idea of joining the US.  

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will host French President Emmanuel Macron for talks this Thursday following comments made by tech billionaire Elon Musk which have been deemed as “interfering” with European politics. 

According to the prime minister’s office, Starmer will meet with Macron at his country retreat of Chequers in Buckinghamshire near London. 

Musk has provoked fury across Europe with a string of hostile attacks on Starmer and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The billionaire has spent days posting incendiary comments on his X platform over historical sex offences against children in northern England.

Musk has called for Labour leader Starmer – elected by a landslide in a general election last July – to be removed from office.

He has also urged the release from jail of Tommy Robinson, one of Britain’s best known far-right agitators. 

On Monday, Starmer condemned those “spreading lies and misinformation,” adding that “a line has been crossed” with some of the online criticism – in a thinly veiled swipe at Musk.

Starmer pushes for stronger post-Brexit EU ties in Paris and Berlin talks

Protect EU states from ‘interference’

This comes as France’s foreign minister urged the European Commission to protect EU member states with “the greatest firmness” against interference in political debate, particularly from Musk. 

Speaking this Wednesday on France Inter radio, Jean-Noel Barrot said: “Either the European Commission applies with the greatest firmness the laws that we have given ourselves to protect our public space, or it does not do so and then it will have to agree to give back the capacity to do so to the EU member states.”

“We have to wake up,” he added.

Asked whether X could be banned in Europe, Barrot replied that such a mechanism to close a social media platform “is laid out in our laws”.

“As Europeans,” Barrot posted on X, “we have equipped ourselves with clear rules to protect public debate online”.

Musk’s ‘DOGE’ commission

Musk, who has secured unprecedented influence thanks to his proximity to US president-elect Donald Trump, is set for a prominent role in Trump’s administration as head of a so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” or DOGE. 

He has provoked fury across Europe with a string of attacks on the continent’s leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“When you take part in a government or aspire to take part in one, your opinions have a rather special value,” said Barrot.*

EU concerned by high disinformation rate on Musk’s X platform

Macron slams ‘direct intervention’

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron accused Musk of intervening in elections, including Germany’s snap legislative polls next month.

“Ten years ago, who could have imagined it if we had been told that the owner of one of the largest social networks in the world would support a new international reactionary movement and intervene directly in elections, including in Germany,” Macron said in a speech to French ambassadors.

“I have been there since 2012, it is planned that I will be there until 2026,” Deschamps told French broadcaster TF1 on Wednesday.

“I have done my time, with the same desire, the same passion to keep the France team at the highest level, but 2026 is good,” he added.

Deschamps led the French team ‘Les Bleus’ to the 2018 World Cup title, becoming only the third man to win the football tournament as a player and a manager.

He took over from Laurent Blanc in 2012 and has taken France to three major finals in total, losing the Euro 2016 final to Portugal and the 2022 World Cup showpiece to Argentina.

Deschamps was captain when Les Bleus won their first World Cup on home soil in 1998.

The 56-year-old has already set the record for longest-serving official France coach.

European qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada, gets under way later this year.

Zidane waiting in wings?

Zinedine Zidane, who won the 1998 World Cup as a player alongside Deschamps, has long been tipped as the favourite to eventually replace him in the dugout.

Now 52, Zidane has been lying in wait since ending his second spell as coach of Real Madrid in 2021. One of France’s greatest ever players, he won the Champions League three times with Madrid but has not managed any other club.

“Nobody is irreplaceable,” admitted Deschamps. “I have tried to be as indispensable as possible with the results that you know, but that is behind us now.”

Zidane’s shadow will continue to hang over the France team in the coming months, as they prepare for their next matches, beginning with a two-legged Nations League quarter-final in March against Croatia.

(with AFP)

“We will work towards solidarity, equality and sustainable development that will have an impact on many people around the world,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his New Year address last night.

“Every South African will be part of the journey towards a better future for all.”

Pretoria aims to put African development priorities firmly on the G20 agenda – and more broadly, those of the Global South.

South Africa took over the rotating presidency of the grouping in December, and will host its main annual summit in November 2025, before handing over to the United States.

‘Not unexpected’

The forum unites 19 of the world’s largest economies plus the European Union, who meet regularly to coordinate global policies on trade, health, climate and other issues. The group granted the African Union membership in 2023.

South Africa is the last member of the G20 to hold the presidency of the group, which was set up in 1999 to create a platform for the world’s most dynamic economies beyond the G7.

William Gumede, of the University of the Witwatersrand‘s School of Governance in Johannesburg, says it’s important not to overstate the significance of an African country taking the helm.

“The G20 has a rotating presidency, so it was at some point coming to South Africa. It is not out of the ordinary, it is not unexpected,” he told RFI.

G20 backs climate finance deal but faces fossil fuel backlash

“The only irony is that this comes after Brazil and it appears that all the Brics countries in the last couple of years have been taking over the presidency. But, it is just by rotation,” he added, referring to the economic bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.

A challenging time

South Africa’s G20 presidency comes as the country and its governing African National Congress (ANC) party faces significant internal challenges.

Economic stagnation, high unemployment and political uncertainty have cast a shadow over the country’s leadership aspirations.

But its leadership also stands to create opportunities for growth.

“Such events help improve infrastructure and create at least temporary jobs, which is happening now, especially in Cape Town,” he said.

Events throughout the year, including cultural performances with international guests, will allow South Africa to showcase itself to global partners.

South Africa’s humbled ANC seeks to form national unity government

Key issues

Debt relief, climate change and peacekeeping are expected to dominate this year’s G20 discussions.

“The climate change crisis is worsening,” Ramaphosa said in early December, as he unveiled his G20 priorities. “Many economies carry the burden of unsustainable levels of debt.”

Pretoria’s new coalition government, formed in June last year, is also advocating for a transition to cleaner technologies, such as solar power, which is increasingly being adopted in southern Africa.

And it wants to promote unity and diversity as a positive tool not only for South Africa, but more broadly for developing economies.

Zambia’s crippling drought creates chance for solar power to shine

Foreign affairs

The presidency is likely to influence South Africa’s foreign relations, particularly with the United States.

Some key summit dates remain unconfirmed, possibly awaiting news of Donald Trump.’s plans following his inauguration on 20 January.

If Trump attends the G20 summit, it will mark his first major global appearance outside industrialised nations.

“Putin is not going to come, but speculatio is raging about Trump. For him, it would be big and symbolic,” Gumede said.

South Africa takes Israel to international court for ‘genocidal’ acts in Gaza

But it may not be smooth sailing for relations between the US and South Africa. 

Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in DC, noted that tensions between South Africa and the US could complicate matters.

“Pretoria has long had pro-China, pro-Russia and anti-Israel positions, which will not work well with Donald Trump,” he said.

Talks at this year’s forum could potentially influence South Africa’s foreign policy, shifting it to a more neutral stance, Gumede suggested.

“The new unity government has shared no criticism of Trump so far, not even from the ANC,” he told RFI. And that could help improve relations between the US and the African continent in general.

The announcement was made on Tuesday and deals a setback to the RSF’s efforts to improve its image and assert its legitimacy, including attempts to establish a civilian government.

The paramilitary group aims to expand its territory beyond the area it currently controls, which amouts to about half the country.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the determination was based on information about the RSF’s systematic murder of men and boys and the targeted rape of women and girls from certain ethnic groups.

“The United States is committed to holding accountable those responsible,” Blinken said. He also announced sanctions against RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemedti, for his role in what he describes as systematic atrocities committed against the Sudanese people.

Avaaz, Refugees International, and other NGOs welcomed the decision.

The genocide determination will substantially impact the RSF’s ability to continue fighting, Mohammed Suliman, a Sudanese researcher and writer based in Boston, told Avaaz, particularly given the Emirati lobby’s efforts to neutralise US involvement in the Sudanese conflict.

Call to action

The US Treasury Department unveiled its own sanctions against Daglo on Tuesday, accusing the RSF of engaging in a brutal armed conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces for control of Sudan.

“Through its campaign in Darfur, Gezira and other combat areas, the RSF has committed a litany of documented war crimes and atrocities,” a Treasury Department statement said.

As the overall commander of the RSF, Daglo “bears command responsibility for the abhorrent and illegal actions of his forces,” it added.

The Treasury has designated seven companies and one individual linked to the RSF for their roles in procuring weapons for the group.

“The United States continues to call for an end to this conflict that is putting innocent civilian lives in jeopardy,” said D Secretrary  of the Treasury, Wally Adeyemo, said.

In response, the RSF has accused the US of double standards, saying it is failing to effectively address the ongoing crisis.

Criticisms

The announcement had been expected by many in Sudan and in the humanitarian workers community. But for most of them, it is “too little too late,” as Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in DC, wrote on social media.

“It’s too late to fix a failed (non-existent) Sudan policy and it’s too late to get on the right side of history,” he added.

“The fact is that this Administration had all the evidence they needed to make these announcements months ago when they could have had an impact on this war and they chose not to make them. With less than 2 weeks left in power, this is nothing more than a reflection of a guilty conscience.”

Blinken’s announcement is only as meaningful as the actions taken to address it, civil society groups also said.

Lauren Fortgang is executive director of Preventing And Ending Mass Atrocities (PAEMA), a US-based organisation working with communities in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burma, and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, dedicated to preventing and ending mass atrocities by amplifying the integral role of community centered solutions.

The genocide determination by the US Secretary of State “reaffirms the daily reality of millions of Sudanese living through hell on Earth due to the brutality unleashed by the RSF and SAF,” she wrote in a statement, but “it must be accompanied by stronger policies that match the severity of the worst humanitarian crisis the world has ever seen, as well as the severe protection crisis which worsens by the day.”

Sudan war sparks ‘biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded’ – IRC

The group called for the long overdue sanctions against Hemedti to be coordinated and truly effective.

The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted after World War II, defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

But legal experts started to question the ability of Secretary Blinken to determining genocide, especially as the UN, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have declared an ongoing genocide in Gaza, which the US refuses to recognise let alone address.

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

 (with newswires)

This week, we focus on the fight against the exploitation of ‘blood minerals’ or ‘conflict minerals’ in Central Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Conflic minerals is the term used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to describe minerals sourced from conflict-affected and high-risk areas, such as tantalum, tin, tungsten (referred to as the ‘3Ts’), gold, cobalt, coltan, and lithium.

These minerals are essential for high-tech applications, including smartphones, electric batteries, and other advanced technology such as appliances, cars, and even wind turbines. They are predominantly found in the African Great Lakes region, especially in eastern DRC.

In an effort to combat the illegal and exploitative trade of these minerals, the NGO Global Witness established a transition team several years ago.

The May 2022 a report from Global Witness revealed that these minerals are used in products by international brands such as Apple, Intel, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, and Tesla.

Now, with a trial underway in France and Belgium accusing Apple, many observers are hopeful that it could bring about meaningful change.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has filed a criminal case against European subsidiaries of the tech giant Apple, alleging the company has illicitly used conflict minerals in its supply chain.

The American company claims it no longer sources conflict minerals from Central Africa, but is it doing enough?

DRC case against Apple brings new hope in conflict minerals crisis

The complaints filed against Apple have been described by lawyers involved as a matter of significant public interest.

European countries, consumers, and non-governmental organisations are increasingly scrutinising the international supply chains of minerals, with calls for highly profitable companies to be held accountable.

This complaint could mark the beginning of a broader wave of legal actions targeting technology companies linked to the sourcing of conflict minerals.

To examine the implications of this trial, this week’s guest is Gregory Mthembu-Salter, a researcher specialising in Africa’s political economy and a former consultant to the UN Group of Experts on the DRC on due diligence regarding conflict minerals. He is based in South Africa.

Episode mixed by Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is a podcast from Radio France Internationale.

Over the course of his sixty-year political career, which spanned five presidential elections, Jean-Marie Le Pen revived the French far right, which had previously been disgraced by its collaboration with the Nazi regime.

He stayed at the head of the National Front, the party he co-founded in 1972, until 2011, when he handed the reins to his daughter, Marine Le Pen.

But his racist and anti-Semitic stances made him unpalatable for a renewed far right, and the party expelled him in 2015 because he repeated comments, first made in 1987, that the Nazi gas chambers were a “detail of history”.

From Algeria to France

Born in Brittany, in La Trinité-sur-Mer, in 1928, Le Pen came to politics relatively early in his life.

After studying law and political science in Paris, he enlisted in the army in 1954, going to Indochina.

Back in Paris, an accolade of populist Pierre Poujade, Le Pen was elected to parliament in 1956, becoming the youngest member of the National Assembly.

At the end of that year he returned to Algeria, where he served in the army from the end of 1956 to April 1957 – the height of the Battle of Algiers.

Le Pen was accused of torturing Algerians, which he made little attempt to hide at the time.

“I have nothing to hide. I tortured because it had to be done,” he said in a 1962 interview in the Combat newspaper, which he later corrected, saying he used “methods of coercion”, not torture.

Decades later, he came to deny using torture at all and filed several legal suits against anyone insinuating it.

Unifying France’s far right

Le Pen headed the 1965 presidential campaign of far-right lawyer Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour, and he worked to consolidate the various far-right movements in France.

In 1972, he was appointed to head a new party called the Front national pour l’unité française, known as the Front national, or National Front (FN).

Le Pen ran for president for the first time in 1974, and made his way through French politics – becoming a millionaire along the way, after inheriting a mansion in 1976.

By 2002, running on a platform of “national preference” and promising to immediately deport “all illegal immigrants”, Le Pen won more votes that Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin, making it into the second round of the election.

Rise of the party, fall of the man

The surprising result brought millions of people into the street to march against racism and Le Pen as its political incarnation. He was thrashed by conservative candidate Jacques Chirac. 

That marked the start of the party’s rise, even as Le Pen’s own political career began to nose-dive.

Marine Le Pen took over the FN and began to try and make it palatable to a broader constituency, in a process that she called dé-diabolisation, or de-demonisation.

However, her father disagreed with the approach and remained true to himself, continuing to espouse anti-Semitic and other hate speech.

In 2015, after repeating his take on the gas chambers, the party decided to dismiss its founder, expelling him from the party the following year.

• France’s far right tries to move away from past anti-Semitism

Grudging acceptance

Le Pen remained bitter about how the party was being run and never forgave his daughter for changing the name to the National Rally in 2018. He left the European Parliament in 2019 and gradually withdrew from public life.

Keen to keep his legacy alive, Le Pen wrote the first volume of his memoirs in 2018: Fils de la nation (Son of the nation), which sold out even before it went on sale.

He created the Jean-Marie Le Pen Institute in August 2020 to house the archives of the far right.

Family first

The Le Pens agreed to stop debating each other in public in the spring of 2023, after Jean-Marie suffered a heart attack.

A year later, he was put under the guardianship of his daughters, meaning they would make legal decisions for him. This put into question his ability to stand trial in the case involving parliamentary assistants working for the National Rally at the EU parliament. 

His case ended up being separated from that of his daughter and other party leaders, after a medical expert concluded he was not able to prepare his own defense.

Le Pen died in a hospital in Garches, near Paris, where he had been admitted several weeks ago, according to his family.

He is survived by his second wife, Jany Le Pen, three daughters – of whom Marine is the youngest – as well as eight grandchildren. One of his granddaughters, politician Marion Marechal Le Pen, left the National Rally to found her own far-right movement.

The Kouachi brothers, who had pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda, attacked Charlie Hebdo on 7 January 2015, killing eight staff members, including cartoonists Cabu, Charb, Honoré, Tignous and Wolinski.

The satirical weekly had, since 2006, riled Islamists with its caricatures of the Propet Mohammed.

Despite the trauma, the magazine continues to take swipes not just at Islam but Christianity, Judaism and any other insitutionalised belief system, in line with its defence of freedom of expression and the French form of secularism known as laicité.

The front cover of its 10th anniversary edition shows a Charlie Hebdo reader sitting on a rifle under the headline “indestructible”.

The issue contains a selection of caricatures of God, submitted through a global competition launched in November 2024.

“The most interesting are the ones without captions, because the whole world understands with no need for translation,” Biard told RFI. “It’s very difficult to pull off that kind of drawing, but when you succeed it’s unparalleled.”

One cartoon shows Christ on the cross taking a selfie. Another depicts a cartoonist wondering whether it’s acceptable to draw “a guy who draws a guy who draws Mohammed”.

“God is an idea like any other… no less or more respectable than any other,” argues Biard.

“Like all ideas, we have the right to laugh about it, make fun of it, contest it… to make fun of what it embodies, of those who claim to speak in its name or in their name, because there are thousands of deities around the world.”

Legal loopholes are undermining press freedom in France, report warns

Ongoing threats

Biard is speaking to RFI in the offices of Charlie Hebdo’s press liaison. The location of its newsroom remains a closely guarded a secret due to ongoing death threats.

Biard said many people on social media face similar harassment.

Criticism of Charlie Hebdo comes from various quarters, not just those offended by its religious satire. A recent cover featuring rape victim Gisèle Pelicot also sparked backlash.

Veteran cartoonist Riss recently expressed feelings of isolation, saying that criticism of Charlie Hebdo often outweighs support. Biard echoed this sentiment, saying he wished for “more support, or simply some support, instead of continuing to put targets on our backs”.

But he takes comfort from subscribers, loyal readers, people who write in every week “most of whom say how important Charlie is to them” – which is “nice to hear”.

The paper, founded in 1970, counts 30,000 subscribers and sells around 50,000 copies per week.

A survey by the Fondation Jean-Jaurès in June 2024 found that 76 percent of French people believe “freedom of expression is a fundamental right,” with the freedom to caricature included.

France focuses on freedom of speech, but comic Dieudonné arrested for controversial remarks

Satire in decline

However, Charlie Hebdo finds itself in a smaller and smaller playing field as newspapers grow shy of satirical cartooning.

The New York Times has stopped, and last week The Washington Post killed a cartoon featuring its billionaire owner Jeff Bezos kneeling before a statue of President-elect Donald Trump. Its creator, Ann Telnaes, resigned as a result.

“Press drawings, satire, caricature, causes you hassle,” Biard concedes. “So clearly The New York Times’ editorial board prefers to have peace and tranquillity.

“This is awkard though, when you claim to defend democracy and freedom of expression in a country that will, I think, need it over the next four years.”

Turkey to sue over ‘despicable’ Charlie Hebdo cartoon of half-naked Erdogan

Looking forward

Cartoons remain an “essential” journalistic tool, Biard argues. “They show society what we cannot or do not want to see.” The boundaries of satire, he says, are defined by France’s 1881 law on freedom of the press, which addresses defamation, racism and antisemitism.

“It’s quite clear and applies to all citizens,” Biard adds. In addition, everyone has their own limits.

“There are subjects I wouldn’t treat. For example I won’t talk about someone’s private life if they haven’t themselves made it public or if it doesn’t concern society at large.”

He considers that Charlie Hebdo‘s gritty and sometimes nasty humour still has its place.

“There is no reason to stop. And we’re not the only ones using this type of humour,” he says.

House of Press Cartoons coming in 2027, says French culture chief Dati

Reflecting on the loss of colleagues in the 2015 attacks – including psychanalyst Elsa Cayat, subeditor Mustapha Ourra and economist Bernard Maris – Biard says: “They’re still with us. We carry them in us, and they’re always present in the pages of the newspaper.”

With an independent business model, Charlie Hebdo operates without external shareholders or advertising. “It lives thanks to its readership, that’s quite rare, very rare in fact,” Biard says.

The editorial team of between 30 and 40 people collaborates with a host of young cartoonists and journalists. The publication’s future, he says, is increasingly in their hands.

“The future of Charlie isn’t Paris, it isn’t me. It’s them.”

While the 7 January anniversary is a “fundamental date in the newspaper’s history”, the younger generation are the ones “who’ll also make the Charlie Hebdo of 10 years on”.

“That’s what we’re aiming for, what we’re thinking about, and I hope, where we’re heading.”

The 2015 attack by the Paris-born Kouachi brothers, of Algerian descent, was said to be revenge for Charlie Hebdo‘s decision to publish caricatures lampooning the Prophet Mohammed, Islam’s most revered figure.

The attacks prompted a rise in anti-Muslim sentiments, culminating in a record 429 incidents of discrimination in 2015 alone, as reported by France’s National Consultative Commission on Human Rights.

The perception that Muslims were collectively culpable for the actions of a few continue to resonate 10 years on.

The Charlie Hebdo killings fuelled an outpouring of public sympathy expressed through the slogan “Je Suis Charlie” (“I Am Charlie”) not only in solidarity with its lost cartoonists, but in favour of freedom of expression in general and the long-standing French tradition of caricaturing.

French court hands guilty verdicts to all Charlie Hebdo accomplices

Beyond ‘Je suis Charlie’

For Dominque Sopo, President of the NGO SOS Racisme, there was a reaction “in favour of press freedom, which itself came under attack following the events of 7 January”.

“On freedom of expression more generally … the attacks may have served as a trigger for the release of stigmatising language about Muslims. But it should be noted that the attack did not have a direct or immediate effect,” he told RFI.

He says that those in power – embodied at the time by president François Hollande – reacted with “hauteur” to the attack and those attacks that followed.

“There were words of cohesion and appeasement that were spoken and generally followed by the rest of the political class, with the obvious exception of the far right.

“However, in the longer term, we are seeing a political discourse that is trying to capitalise on what politicians perceive to be anti-Muslim concerns within the French population.”

For Sopo, this is all linked to a reactionary discourse that emerged in the media and politics around the globe following the 9/11 attacks of 2001.

“The situation is ambiguous,” he says. “Political leaders constantly and quite strongly condemn any attack on Muslims or their places of worship. On the other hand, they can convey or allow to be conveyed a discourse of suspicion.”

French court issues severe sentences to those linked to beheading of teacher Samuel Paty

Since the Charlie Hebdo massacre, the nature of satire in France has grown more complex, with cartoonists navigating a society shaped by both fear and indifference.

Haounes Senigeur, senior lecturer in political science at Sciences-Po Lyon maintains there are two aspects that need to be considered beyond the legitimate emotion surrounding the 7 January attack.

“On the one hand,” he told RFI, “[Charlie Hebdo] was targeted because of its cartoons of the Prophet of Islam, which were considered sacrilegious by individuals – in this case the Kouachi brothers – acting on behalf of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. 

“This may have led to a form of self-censorship on the part of certain French journalists and cartoonists, but it did not lead to a definitive renunciation of the publication of new cartoons of sacred figures in Islam,” he explains.

He goes on to say that threats and fear – for the lives of those targeted or those close to them – have certainly not disappeared, especially since the murder of French teacher Samuel Paty in October 2020.

“On the other hand – following this attack and others of the same type – we have seen the development of a kind of widespread suspicion, explicit or more diffuse, of Islam and Muslims, from the very top of the State to the very depths of society, via the 24-hour news channels that carry and exacerbate it,” Senigeur says.

Rise of social media

The emergence of social networks has transformed the dynamics of satire, Senigeur says, with international audiences not necessarily sharing the same cultural context in which to interpret the information.

He suggests that this type of media readily picks up on news stories and tragedies, “all the more so if the people behind the misdeeds are of foreign origin – of Muslim culture or religion – and if they target ‘white’ people”.

“Social networking sites and 24-hour news channels are increasingly used to disseminate so-called ‘alternative’ views, in which events are interpreted through the filter of extremist ideologies, which claim to be committed to freedom of expression only to attack all kinds of minorities, whether ethnic, religious or sexual,” according to Senigeur.

From this point of view, the ethics of responsibility tend to be eroded in favour of a “freedom to say anything” – including things that are reprehensible under the law.

This shift has also led to concerns about self-censorship among artists who fear reprisal for their work.

The tools of satire – once seen as effective in challenging authority and societal norms – now often contend with not just legal constraints, but also with the pervasive threat of violence and social backlash.

French court hands guilty verdicts to all Charlie Hebdo accomplices

Shift in political discourse

The year 2015 marked a dramatic shift in political discourse, particularly following the subsequent 13 November Paris attacks that resulted in 130 deaths.

A state of emergency saw Muslim neighbourhoods subjected to increased surveillance and administrative searches.

A trend of stigmatisation was perpetuated by political debates and legislation targeting Muslim practices over issues such as women wearing the veil in public spaces.

Commemorations will include a special edition of Charlie Hebdo, ceremonies led by President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, and tributes across France honouring the victims.

On 7 January 2015, brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi stormed the offices of Charlie Hebdo, killing 11 people and injuring 11 others. A 12th victim was killed as the gunmen fled.

The attackers, who claimed allegiance to al-Qaeda in Yemen, said they were taking revenge for the paper’s printing caricatures of the prophet Mohammed.

The following day, their associate Amedy Coulibaly killed a police officer in Montrouge, south of Paris. On 9 January, he attacked a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris, killing four people after taking them hostage.

All three attackers died in shoot-outs with police.

In the aftermath of the attacks, the French art director Joachim Roncin created the slogan “Je Suis Charlie”, which became a logo that was adopted by advocates of freedom of speech, who took to the streets in rallies throughout France to support the concept.

Iran protests cartoons of Khamenei in French satirical weekly

Special events

The magazine will release a special double issue on Tuesday featuring results of a competition asking readers to draw God, alongside a poll on French attitudes towards religious caricatures, blasphemy and free speech.

“They didn’t kill Charlie Hebdo,” said editor-in-chief Gérard Biard in a recent interview with the AFP new agency. “We want it to last for a thousand years.”

The magazine says the competition is intended for everyone who is fed up with living in a society directed by God and religion.

“The idea is not to publish anything, it’s to publish everything that makes people doubt, makes them reflect and to ask questions so they do not end up closed in by ideology,” said Riss, a cartoonist who survived the attack.

French TV channels plan special coverage, with the public France Télévisions hosting an event featuring Charlie Hebdo staff, terrorism experts, teachers and artists at the National Library of France.

In northeastern France, high school students have collaborated on a special edition of Charlie Hebdo Grand Est, a newspaper to be distributed in schools.

The National Audiovisual Institute (INA) is also showcasing archival footage of the events online.

Charlie Hebdo targets ‘new censorship’, five years after terror attacks

Legacy of provocation

Since its founding in 1970, Charlie Hebdo has been known for pushing the boundaries of free speech, often attracting censure for its provocative tone.

Critics accuse the magazine of Islamophobia, pointing to caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed that some argue associate Islam with terrorism.

Free-speech defenders in France regard the ability to criticise and ridicule religion as a fundamental right acquired through centuries of struggle to reduce the influence of the Catholic Church.

In December 2020, 14 people were convicted for helping the Kouachi brothers and Coulibaly plan and carry out the attacks.

“The fact of choosing victims precisely because they were journalists, or a member of the security forces, or of Jewish faith, clearly demonstrates in itself their desire to sow terror in Western countries,” the presiding judge told the court.

Macron said during his discours that the announced withdrawal of French military bases had been negotiated between the African countries involved and France. He claimed it was purely out of convenience and politeness that France allowed these African nations to make the announcement first.

The remarks were made at the annual conference of ambassadors held this year on 6 and 7 January in Paris.

However, Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko criticised Macron’s remarks as “completely inaccurate,” while Chadian Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah described them as disdainful.

Chad’s position

Chad’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abderaman Koulamallah, dismissed the French President’s remarks in a statement broadcast on national television.

“The Government of the Republic of Chad expresses its deep concern over recent comments by the president of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, which reveal a disdainful attitude towards Africa and Africans,” Koulamallah said.

He added that, despite 60 years of presence in the country, France’s contribution has often been “limited to serving their own strategic interests, with little genuine or lasting impact on the development of the Chadian people.”

He concluded by urging Macron to focus on “addressing the issues concerning the French people.”

Sonko responds

Sonko strongly dismissed Macron’s claims about the position of France in Senegal too. “I must emphasise that, in the case of Senegal, this assertion is entirely incorrect,” he wrote on social media.

“No discussion or negotiation [about withdrawal] has taken place to date, and the decision made by Senegal stems solely from its own will, as a free, independent, and sovereign country.”

Both Chad and Senegal repeated that their respective decisions to ask French troops to leave were unilateral.

Chad orders French troops to leave within six weeks as relations sour

Lack of gratitude?

Macron also criticised the “ingratitude” of certain leaders on the African continent – suggesting they would not be leading sovereign nations today if the French army had not been deployed there.

“Let us observe that France neither has the capacity nor the legitimacy to ensure Africa’s security and sovereignty,” Sonko said.

“On the contrary, it [France] has often contributed to destabilising certain African countries, such as Libya, with disastrous consequences for the stability and security of the Sahel.”

A staunch critic of the French presence in his country before coming to power last year, Sonko reminded President Macron that “if African soldiers – sometimes forcibly conscripted, mistreated, and ultimately betrayed – had not been deployed during the Second World War to defend France, the country might still be German today.”

Koulamallah also highlighted the “crucial role” played by Africa and Chad “in the liberation of France during the two world wars.”

France honours WWII colonial troops shot dead by French army in Senegal 

He called on “French leaders to learn to respect the African people and to acknowledge the value of their sacrifices.”

How France’s diverse forces were ‘whitewashed’ during the liberation of Paris

Diplomatic mistakes

The French president’s African policy looks less and less readable, according to African affairs expert Antoine Glaser.

“Macron is making a serious effort to wipe the slate clean…” he told RFI, “across the entirety of French-speaking post-colonial Africa, with a desire to shift focus towards Nigeria and English-speaking countries in general. He has visited Ethiopia and South Africa.”

According to Glaser, Macron seeks to demonstrate that he still holds influence over Africa’s future. However, Chad and Senegal have forged new strategic and financial partnerships, particularly with the United Arab Emirates, as well as with countries in Asia and the broader Middle East.

Nicolas Sarkozy was present in the Paris court as the trial got underway Monday. He plans to attend the initial phase of hearings, as a source close to him told French news agency AFP, asking not to be named.

The trial centers on whether the former French president received money from the then Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to finance the campaign that brought him to the Élysée in 2007, with him and eleven other defendants, including three former ministers – Claude Guéant, Brice Hortefeux, and Éric Woerth – standing trial.

Vincent Brengarth, lawyer for the Sherpa association, a civil party, told RFI that he hopes that despite the longevity and complexity of the case, the public’s interest will match the stakes of this trial.

“This case might seem, in some respects, completely fictional if it were not supported by years of thorough investigation,” he said.

The accusations

The first accusations against them came from Libya in 2011, just before the fall of Gaddafi. The Libyan leader had then been cornered by a popular uprising, supported by a Western intervention, particularly France and President Sarkozy himself.

A Libyan news agency announced in March 2011 that the Libyan regime would soon reveal a “secret capable of jeopardizing the political career of the French head of state.”

Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, soon demanded in an interview that Sarkozy “return the money to the Libyan people.” Gaddafi himself soon after stated in an interview with the French daily Le Figaro that it was thanks to them that Sarkozy “became president; it is we who provided him with the funds.”

The French news site Mediapart later published a document, presented as a note written in Arabic and dated 10 December 2006, in which the former head of Libya’s external intelligence services, Moussa Koussa, reportedly mentions a “preliminary agreement” to “support the electoral campaign of candidate” Sarkozy “for an amount worth 50 million euros.”

Sarkozy, then a candidate for re-election in the 2012 presidential race, denounces the following day an infamy and later files a lawsuit against Mediapart, accusing it of producing a forgery.

A long investigation followed, and several judicial decisions. Finally, the Court of Cassation definitively upheld the dismissal ordered in favour of Mediapart and, without confirming that it is a genuine document, dismissed the accusation of forgery repeatedly made by Nicolas Sarkozy.

However, the investigating judges explained that the disputes regarding the authenticity of this note led them not to consider it a central element of the case, even though Koussa confirmed the content of the document.

After ten years of investigation, the magistrates decided in August 2023 that there were sufficient charges to refer 12 men to trial, including Sarkozy and former ministers Guéant, Hortefeux, and Woerth. 

If convicted, Sarkozy faces up to 10 years in prison under the charges of concealing embezzlement of public funds and illegal campaign financing.

The trial is due to last until April 10.

Major corruption

According to the magistrates, the case actually began almost 20 years ago: At the end of 2005, Sarkozy, then Minister of the Interior in Dominique de Villepin’s government but aiming for the 2007 presidential election, met Gaddafi in Tripoli. Officially, the two men met to discuss immigration, but they are accused of signing a “corruption pact” then.

Sarkozy is said to have obtained a financial contribution for his presidential campaign, according to the accusation, which relies on the statements of seven former Libyan dignitaries, on the discrete movements of Guéant and Hortefeux before and after, as well as on the notebooks of the former Libyan Minister of Petroleum, Choukri Ghanem, who was found drowned in the Danube in 2012.

Gaddafi supposedly hoped to obtain international rehabilitation this way.

Sarkozy has always denounced it as a fable, even a conspiracy aimed at harming him, rejecting the accusations entirely.

This new trial is starting barely half a month after France’s top appeals court on 18 December rejected Sarkozy’s appeal against a one-year prison sentence for influence peddling, which he is to serve by wearing an electronic tag rather than in jail.

Ex-president Sarkozy to wear electronic tag as court upholds corruption conviction

Sarkozy’s career has been shadowed by legal troubles since he lost the 2012 presidential election but he is an influential figure and also known to regularly meet President Emmanuel Macron.

Sarkozy braces for high-stakes legal battles in 2025 even after conviction

Libyans between resentment and anger

For Libyans, the question of corruption does not arise. Familiar with the practices of Gaddafi’s regime, which provided funds to foreign heads of state, the Libyans are convinced that their country did indeed finance Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign.

French court rejects ex-president Sarkozy’s appeal to block Libya trial

“For the Libyans, it’s as if it belongs to a bygone era,” researcher Jalal Harchaoui, a Libya specialist at the Royal United Services Institute, told RFI’s Africa service.

“They are well aware that Sarkozy played an important role in Libya’s fate in 2011. But people are not really hanging on to this particular case. They tend to think that there is not much suspense regarding the final outcome. They are rather disillusioned by this story.”

In Libya, many view Sarkozy primarily as the figure responsible for the destruction of the Libyan state and the despair that followed France’s military intervention in 2011.

Since then, their living conditions have continued to deteriorate in Libya, where people face corruption, instability, and the devastation caused by militias and constant foreign interventions.

Some voices have been raised, calling for the former occupant of the Élysée to be brought before the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes committed against the Libyan people.

French national Martin Ryan was arrested in Azerbaijan in December 2023 on spy charges.

Prosecutors accused Ryan of cooperating with employees of French security services who they said were based at the French embassy.

They accused him of gathering information on Baku’s relations with Turkey, Iran and Pakistan – as well as on companies linked to Russia and China.

Martin was put on trial along with an Azerbaijani citizen, Azad Mamedli, who has been accused of treason.

Frenchman arrested in Azerbaijan for ‘espionage’

Ryan faces up to 15 years in prison, while Mamedli could be jailed for life.

Baku says Ryan lured Mamedli into spying and organised for him to meet French agents, who it alleges tasked him to recruit Azerbaijanis and Russians at a Moscow university where he studied.

Paris has denied the allegations and called for his immediate release.

Diplomatic tensions

In court, the Frenchman expressed regret and said he had acted unknowingly, according to French news agency AFP.

Ryan’s lawyer has said his client also holds British nationality.

France and Ryan’s defence lawyers have insisted he is not part of French intelligence and that he is caught in the cross-fire of diplomatic tensions.

Another Frenchman – Theo Hugo Clerc – is also held by Azerbaijan, facing up to three years in prison for drawing graffiti in the Baku metro, in a case slammed by Paris.

France shunned the COP29 climate conference in Baku in November last year and has accused Azerbaijan of stoking tensions in France’s overseas territories and dependencies.

French minister shuns Cop29 over Azeri comments on New Caledonia, colonialism

Azerbaijan is infuriated by France’s decision to provide weapons to Baku’s longtime foe Armenia, accusing Paris of escalating the conflict between the Caucasus countries.

(with AFP)

He takes office as the country faces a deep economic crisis.

Mahama has already promised to find sustainable solutions to Ghana’s financial turmoil, to fight corruption, to improve its energy supply, and to manage the regular power outages from which the country suffers.

“We’re facing a critical situation in the energy sector,” Mahama said. “The electricity company of Ghana is the ‘sick man’ of the whole value chain and we need to quickly fix it.”

The new president also started working on reinforcing Ghana’s partnership with other stable African nations, travelling to Kenya just before the end of the year to meet President William Ruto.

Emergency budget

Mahama is Ghana’s main opposition figure and tried twice before to win back the country’s top post.

As the leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party, he defeated   Mahamudu Bawumia, who represented the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), in elections on 7 December.

Ghana’s former president Mahama wins election after ruling party concedes defeat

Ghana‘s parliament passed a provisional budget mid-December, which allows the government to spend 68.1 billion Ghanaian cedis (€4.2 billion) through March, narrowly averting an unprecedented government shutdown.

Parliamentary speaker Alban Bagbin said the parliament had approved the provisional budget in a sitting that stretched deep into the night.

Ghana’s president faces tough start as economic crisis drives people to leave

Promises to fight corruption

Mahama recently appointed an anti-corruption task force, as he had promised in his campaign programme, to tackle graft and reclaim misappropriated state funds. 

The five-member group will try to recover all the public funds embezzled along with the proceeds of corruption in the West African country in recent years. During his campaign, Mahama said that unchecked procurement processes are one of the main  problems in this respect.

Ghana voters carry economic pain to the polls

Emmanuel Wilson Junior, an anti-graft advocate and lawyer with the organisation Crusaders Against Corruption, hailed the initiative and urged the incoming administration to act swiftly.

“This is a step in the right direction. Ghanaians are tired of corruption being swept under the carpet. We expect this team to be proactive and ensure real accountability,” Wilson told French news agency AFP.

Finally, Mahama and his government should also seize the opportunity to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights, the NGO Amnesty International said a statement.

These issues include gender equality and women’s rights, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, and the right to a healthy environment for everyone in the country, Amnesty said Monday.

(with newswires)

A case of the clade 1b variant was confirmed in the Brittany region, western France, and “the recommended oversight measures have been implemented”, the health ministry said in a statement.

Mpox, previously known as monkeypox and related to smallpox, is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact. 

It causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions, and can be deadly. 

The WHO declared an emergency over the virus in August and renewed it on 22 November following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

WHO reports 30,000 suspected mpox cases in Africa, mainly in DRC

France’s health ministry said the case concerned “a person who had not travelled to central Africa, a region where several clades variants of the virus have been circulating for several months”. 

“However this person was in contact with two people who returned from central Africa. Inquiries are underway to find the origin of the infection and identify all people in contact.” 

France to donate 100,000 mpox vaccines as it prepares for outbreak at home

Clade 1b and other mpox strains have been reported across 80 countries – 19 of them in Africa – so far this year, WHO has said previously. 

The agency has warned European nations to be prepared for “rapid action” to contain the latest variant. 

(with AFP)

“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister,” Trudeau, told reporters in Ottawa following a protracted political crisis that saw top Liberal allies urge him to quit.

He started addressing  the media at 10:45 am local time (1545 GMT).

Trudeau, who has been in power since 2015, has been facing his worst political crisis since becoming premier in 2015.

Internal crisis, international worry

Parliament was due to resume on 27 January in Canada and opposition parties had vowed to bring down the government as soon as they could, most likely at the end of March or before the end of May.

Trudeau confirmed that he had received permission from Canada’s governor general to suspend all parliamentary business until March 24.

He said the Liberal leadership race will be “a robust, nationwide competitive process.”

Trudeau’s Liberals are trailing badly in the polls to the opposition Conservatives and narrowly survived three non-confidence votes in parliament late last year.

His minority government had been held up by a deal with the left-wing New Democratic Party but in December the NDP said they would vote to topple Trudeau at the next opportunity.

That could give the Liberals time to choose a new leader while restricting the opposition chances to bring a vote of non-confidence.

His party, the Liberals, are trailing badly in the polls to the opposition Conservatives, and narrowly survived three non-confidence votes in parliament late last year.

He now trails his main rival, Conservative Pierre Poilievre, by 20 points in public opinion polls, who described himself as a “true conservative”, often presented as libertarian and populist. He could be tempted to align Canada’s policy with the one of the new US president, Donald Trump.

This is also bad news for France and Western Europe, as President Emmanuel Macron has joined the Norwegian and British prime ministers as well a German government spokesperson on Monday in responding to a barrage of hostile posts by Trump’s key ally Elon Musk, who has been backing far-right political parties and attacking leftwing politicians in Europe.

Macron and Trudeau pledge common front on economy, language

Canada – US tensions

Trudeau’s political fortunes plunged to new depths following the surprise resignation in December of his former finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland.

In a scathing resignation letter, Freeland accused Trudeau of focusing on political gimmicks to appease voters, including a costly Christmas tax holiday, instead of steadying Canada’s finances ahead of a possible trade war with the United States.

Incoming US president Donald Trump has promised to impose a 25 percent tariff on all Canadian imports, a measure that could prove devastating to Canada‘s economy, and Trudeau has vowed to retaliate.

Today’s resignation means that Trudeau will continue to lead Canada when Trump takes office later this month and will be tasked with leading the country’s initial response to the new US administration, including a possible trade war.

Trump also stirred controversy by suggesting Canada’s merge with the US, only a few hours after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced resignation.

“Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State. The United States can no longer suffer the massive Trade Deficits and Subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat. Justin Trudeau knew this, and resigned,” Trump wrote on his own network Truth Social on Monday.

Echoing the fears of many Canadians, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May recently said the country should not go into a federal election with a second Trump administration about to take office in Washington, as Trump recently threatened to impose punishing tariffs on Canadian goods entering the United States.

 (with newswires)

Vilnius was named two years ago by the European Commission as the European Green Capital for 2025.

The jury praised the Lithuanian capital “for its strong commitment to sustainability while having a realistic and down to earth approach.”

It recognised its efforts in various areas, such as air quality, climate change adaptation, and biodiversity preservation.

Green city

Vilnius is a green city, with green areas covering 61 percent of its territory and a forest located right in the city center.

“Vilnius has its green crown, plantations that surround the city and can be seen from many places,” Lithuanian researcher Jekaterina Lavrinec told RFI.

“At the beginning of the 20th century, people still planted tree-lined avenues in Vilnius, which encouraged walking through the city,” she says.

“We are working to protect wildlife and plants in different areas, and our decision not to mow all the green spaces, as is commonly done, has been widely noticed,” adds Jurga Mikutiene, head of the green capital project in Vilnius.

Eco-friendly transport

The city has also narrowed some streets to make room for pedestrians and cyclists as one of the major concerns is improving urban mobility.

“Five years ago, the city limited car traffic in the city center. For me, this helped people realise that driving everywhere isn’t necessarily the best option,” says Silvestras Dikcius, a sustainable development trainer.

More than 100 kilometres of bicycle lanes now connect the various districts of Vilnius.

Urban greening could prevent hundreds of deaths a year, French study finds

Public transportation is also becoming increasingly eco-friendly.

“Trolleybuses are buses connected to an electrical grid via antennas. Now we have vehicles that charge their batteries while driving connected to the grid,” explains Jurga Mikutiene.  

“They can be autonomous for a while, and as such, there are no CO2 emissions.”

Less green spaces

However, the growing demand for new neighborhoods has led to the gradual loss of green spaces.

“[Buildings and constructions] are increasing in the city. This is due to the economic model. Mortgage rates are low, and demand is high,” says Jekaterina Lavrinec.

This year, as Vilnius holds the title of European Green Capital, the focus will be on communication and raising awareness about ecology.

And by 2030, Vilnius aims to become climate neutral by 2030, which means achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions.

(With AFP)

About 200 farmers and 50 tractors made their way towards Paris on Monday, and others moved on Lyon, though none was able to enter the capital

The members of the Coordination rurale union are protesting against the Mercosur free trade agreement with South American countries, agreed on the European Union last month, despite France’s objections, and they are demanding better compensation.

The country’s second largest farmer’s union believes that 13 January date set for a meeting with Prime Minister François Bayrou is too far off, and they want to make sure their demands are not forgotten, as the new government moves forward with budget negotiations and new legislation.

“Their concerns are perfectly understandable,” Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard said on TF1 television Monday, though insisting that the farmers must not block Paris, and their protest must not be violent.

“One does not block, one does not disrupt,” she said, especially the day that students go back to school after the end-of-the year holiday break.

Around ten tractors and 15 cars forced their way onto the N10 highway before being blocked by police, while another convoy was blocked in the Essonne.

Smaller convoys continued on smaller roads towards Paris, and in the Rhone, near Lyon.

Genevard said that they would not be received by Bayrou sooner than the date planned next week, though she said that the long-awaited agriculture reform bill would be among the first legislation presented to the National Assembly after the budget.

The government is hoping to get a budget passed next month, Budget Minister Amelie de Montchalin said on Monday,

“So that at the very latest by the end of February French people can get out of this uncertainty and deadlock, so that people such as the farmers and others can have more clarity,” Montchalin told France 2 public television.

The farmers’ convoys mark the start of the election campaign for the chambers of agriculture, to be held 15-31 January, and whose results will determine which unions have power in negotiations with the government.

(with AFP)

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.

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Be Our Guest” by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman; “Auld Lang Syne”, performed by the Glenn Miller Orch, and “New Year Resolution” by M. Cross, R. Catron, and W. Parker, performed by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas.

The quiz will be back next Saturday, 11 January, with the answer to the question about the legislative elections in Senegal. Be sure and tune in! 

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday. This week, you’ll hear what Helmut Matt, your fellow RFI English listener, has found to be true in his life. Don’t miss it!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Butterfly Lovers” by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang, performed by the National Cinema Symphony Orchestra.

Next week, be sure and tune in for a special program featuring your New Year Resolutions and Wishes for 2025.

The Syrian National Army, supported by Turkish air power, is pushing against the US-supported People’s Defense Units (YPG), which Ankara claims is linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK, which has been fighting Turkey for decades. 

The YPG controls a large swathe of Syria bordering Turkey, which Ankara says poses a security threat.

Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan says Turkey is determined to prevent the YPG and its affiliate the PKK from exploiting a power vacuum following the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

As Erdogan celebrates Turkish role in ousting Assad, uncertainty lies ahead

“We are in communication with the groups to make sure that terrorist organisations, especially Daesh [Islamic State] and the PKK, are not taking advantage of the situation,” he said. “Turkey is committed to continuing the fight against terrorism. All minorities – non-Muslims, Christians, non-Arabs, Kurds – should be treated equally.”

Opportunity for Ankara

Ever since the YPG took over control of the Syrian territory at the beginning of the Syrian civil war, Ankara has been seeking to remove it. 

With the ousting of the Assad regime and the withdrawal of its Iranian and Russian backers, which had in the past blocked Turkish military interventions, analysts say Ankara now sees an opportunity to finally remove the YPG threat.

“The current situation creates an opportunity for its [Turkey’s] fight against PKK and YPG because there is now no Russia, there is no Iran,” explains Bilgehan Alagoz, a professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Marmara University.

“Turkey was facing the Russian forces, the Iranian forces, and Assad’s regime forces while it was combatting the PKK and YPG,” she added. “We can name it as an opportunity for its fight against PKK and YPG.”

Success of rebel groups in Syria advances Turkish agenda

However, the YPG is still being supported by a small US military force, as part of the war against the Islamic State (IS). The YPG is also detaining thousands of IS militants.

‘The Euphrates is a line’

With the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army now approaching the Euphrates River, analysts say further eastward advances could put Ankara on a collision course with both Washington, and Syria’s new rulers – Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. 

“The Euphrates now is like a line perhaps for the US military,” explains Aydin Selcen, a former senior Turkish diplomat who served in the region and is now a foreign policy analyst for Turkey’s independent Medyascope news outlet.

“If that [military advance] goes on as such, it could bring Turkey indirectly head to head with the US, with even perhaps HTS, and it could put Ankara in a delicate diplomatic position again,” warned Selcen.

Tensions with Israel

The Israeli military’s advance into Syria is adding to Ankara’s concerns over the threat posed by the PYG and its political wing, the Democratic Union Party (PYD). Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar last month described the Kurds as a “natural ally” of Israel, a comment that came amid growing Israeli-Turkish tensions.

Turkey seeks Gaza ceasefire role despite US criticism over Hamas ties

“Israel is now carving out a corridor [in Syria] between the PKK/PYD-controlled territories, and its own territories,” explained Hasan Unal, a professor of international relations at Ankara’s Baskent University.

“That suggests that this is what they [Israel] are trying to do – [to create] a Kurdish puppet state east of the Euphrates. And this is something that is likely to create lots of problems with Turkey,” he added.

With Israel’s presence in Syria, Ankara is likely to step up pressure on the YPG, and on the incoming Trump administration to end US military presence in Syria.

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.

The RFI English team is pleased to announce that Saleem Akhtar Chadhar, the president of the RFI Seven Stars Listening Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan, won the RFI / Planète Radio ePOP video contest, in the RFI Clubs category. Bravo Saleem! Mubarak ho!

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: Himangshu Mukharjee from West Bengal, India. Welcome, Himangshu! So glad you have joined us!

This week’s quiz: Paris Photo – the largest international art fair dedicated to photography – is held every November at the magnificent Grand Palais. RFI English journalist Isabelle Martinetti wrote an article about it: “Paris Photo fair focuses on photo books and their publishers”.

You were to re-read Isabelle’s article and send in the answers to these questions: What is the name and nationality of the photographer who won the First Book prize at this year’s Paris Photo fair?

The answer is, to quote Isabelle: “The first book prize was awarded to Taiwanese photographer Tsai Ting Bang for “Born From the Same Root”, a self-published work, awarded with a $10,000 cash prize.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question:  “What do you like to eat in the winter? Why?” The question was suggested by Liton Hissen Mia from Naogaon, Bangladesh.

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Dipita Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India. Dipita is also the winner of this week’s bonus question. Congratulations, Dipita!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Ferhat Bezazel, the president of the Butterflies Club Ain Kechera in West Skikda, Algeria, and Zaheer Ayiaz, a member of the Naz Radio France and Internet Fan Club in Faisal Abad, Pakistan. There’s also RFI Listeners Club member Shaira Hosen Mo from Kishoreganj, Bangladesh, and last but not least, RFI English listener Sadman Shihabur Rahaman, from Naogaon, Bangladesh.

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, performed by Johnny Bregar; “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, performed by the Dexter Gordon Quartet; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Un flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle”, attributed to Nicolas Saboly and Emile Blémont, performed by Les Petits Chanteurs de Mont-Royal.

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, listen to Melissa’s 15 December International Report podcast – “Gaza’s powerful war narratives make their way to the Oscars”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 27 January to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 1 February 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.   

Tibetans and Tibetan scholars are alarmed at how Paris’ Guimet museum of Asian art has categorised its art and artefacts from Tibet. Tenam and other Tibetans in exile, who have been demonstrating regularly outside the museum, talk about the importance of using the name Tibet, and scholar Katia Buffetrille questions the role of China in putting pressure on a French public institution. (Listen @2’48”) 

Like many residents in the town of Malakoff, just south of Paris, Vincent Chévrier had an olive tree in his garden but wasn’t doing much with it. So he federated a group of fellow local olive tree owners and together they’ve made Born to be Olive – the first olive oil “made in Ile de France”. Their collective project isn’t just about making a locally grown, organic product, it’s brought people together in a unique way. (Listen @17’37”)

On 22 December 1974, the people of the Comoros in the Indian Ocean voted overwhelmingly for independence from France. But the island of Mayotte did not, and became France’s 101st department. It’s created an immigration conundrum, straining the island’s already sparse resources  which were laid bare by Tropical Cyclone Chido last week. Listen @13’40”)

Episode mixed by Hadrien Touraud. 

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).

The project, overseen by Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi, includes 22 short films spanning documentary, animation, and drama.

The films aim to share the voices of people living through the conflict in Gaza, offering a glimpse into their fears, dreams and hopes.

“The idea for From Ground Zero came immediately, in the second month of this ongoing war, to try to pick up films and stories from Gaza,” Masharawi told RFI.

He explained that the goal was to give filmmakers in Gaza the chance to make their own films.

As a recent report from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) underlines the toll of the war on Palestinian journalists, RFI spoke with him and his team in Paris.

RSF says Israel responsible for one-third of journalist deaths in 2024

The shorts, ranging from three to six minutes, are “a mix between fiction, documentaries, video art and even experimental films,” he said.

“We are filmmakers, we are dealing with cinema. Even if it’s a catastrophe, it’s very tough with all the massacres. But we were also trying to make cinema, to add life, to be optimistic and to add hope.”

The 112-minute collection is presented as a feature film in two parts. Contributors include Reema Mahmoud, Muhammad Al Sharif, Tamer Nijim and Alaa Islam Ayou.

From film festivals to the Oscars

After premiering at the Toronto Film Festival in September, From Ground Zero toured film festivals across Europe, North Africa and South West Asia in November and December.

Screenings have taken place at the French Arab Film Festival near Paris, the Bristol Palestine Film Festival and in London. Additional showings are scheduled for Morocco and Egypt.

Earlier this year, Masharawi held an outdoor screening of the film during the Cannes Film Festival to protest its exclusion from the event.

Now, the collection has been selected to represent Palestine at the Oscars in March 2025, with hopes of a wider release in the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

UN rapporteur says Israel’s war in Gaza is ’emptying the land completely’

Emerging voices

The project was made possible by the Masharawi Fund for Gaza Filmmakers, launched in November 2023 to support creative talent from the territory.

Masharawi, who is from Gaza, is one of the first Palestinian filmmakers to have directed cinema projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.

His first film, Travel Document, was released in 1986, followed by The Shelter in 1989 and Long Days in Gaza in 1991.

The executive producer of the film, Laura Nikolov, who is French and based in France, is travelling with Masharawi to promote the film around the world.

“It’s a very unique project,” she told RFI. “We have now translated it into 10 different languages. We made this to allow the voices of the Gazan people [to be heard] and it’s working. I think we’ve reached more than 60, perhaps 80 screenings and festivals.”

With its selection for the Oscars, Nikolov is hopeful that the film will reach even wider audiences.

“This means it will be shown in cinemas in the United States,” she said, adding that they hope to expand its reach across Europe and the Middle East.

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.