Update13h30 UT:

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has decided not to attend a virtual crisis meeting with his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, scheduled for this Wednesday.

The meeting, organised by the East African Community and chaired by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, comes amid escalating tensions following the entry of Rwanda-backed fighters into the eastern DRC city of Goma.

The official Congolese Press Agency confirmed Tshisekedi’s absence earlier in the day, signaling a worsening diplomatic standoff between Kinshasa and Kigali.

Instead of attending the summit, President Tshisekedi is set to address the nation Wedensday evening, according to state broadcaster RTNC.

This will be his first public statement since the occupation of key areas in North Kivu province by the M23 rebel group, which Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of supporting.

His speech is expected to outline the government’s stance on the crisis and possible measures to counter the rebel advance. 

Goma airport under M23 control

This comes as the M23 armed group seized Goma’s airport on Tuesday after days of heavy fighting that left more than 100 dead and nearly 1,000 wounded, based on a tally of hospital reports by the French news agency AFP.

It remains unclear how much of the city is controlled by Congolese forces versus M23, which claimed to have taken Goma on Sunday. But as clashes eased overnight, reports said only M23 fighters and Rwandan forces were visible on the streets.

Reuters reported that sporadic gunfire could still be heard in some districts of Goma on Wednesday, despite M23 fighters consolidating their control over key locations.

Residents described looting and disruptions to basic services, including water and electricity.

A security source told AFP that “more than 1,200 Congolese soldiers have surrendered and are confined” to the UN’s DRC mission base at the airport.

France ramps up diplomacy as M23 rebels advance in eastern DRC

Hospitals overwhelmed

Medical facilities are struggling to cope with the influx of wounded. The International Committee of the Red Cross said some patients were “lying on the floor due to lack of space”.

The organisation also warned of “unimaginable consequences” if samples of Ebola and other pathogens stored at a Goma laboratory were released amid the fighting.

“Bombs were falling and killing other people everywhere, we saw dead bodies,” Destin Jamaica Kela, a 24-year-old who fled across the border to Rwanda, told AFP.

Protests in Kinshasa

As the crisis escalated in Goma, anger erupted in Kinshasa, where protesters attacked several embassies, accusing foreign powers of failing to act.

The missions of France, Belgium, the United States, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa were targeted, with tyres set alight outside several buildings. Demonstrators also attacked the Rwandan embassy.

The US embassy urged its citizens to leave DR Congo, while EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas condemned the attacks as “unacceptable” and “deeply troubling”.

Rebels tighten grip on Congo mineral wealth as UN warns of long-term control

Calls for ceasefire

At a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, peacekeepers warned that the fighting risked reigniting ethnic conflicts dating back to the Rwandan genocide.

“In the past four days, the Human Rights Office has documented at least one case of ethnically motivated lynching in a displaced persons site in Goma,” said Vivian van de Perre of the UN’s DRC mission Monusco.

The African Union has urged M23 to “lay down arms” but stopped short of naming Rwanda.

In a call with Kagame on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio “urged an immediate ceasefire in the region, and for all parties to respect sovereign territorial integrity”.

China’s UN ambassador Fu Cong also called on Rwanda to “stop military support” for the M23.

Thousands flee eastern DRC as M23 rebels encircle provincial capital Goma

Regional tensions

The DRC has long accused Rwanda of backing the rebels to exploit North Kivu’s vast mineral wealth, which includes gold, coltan, copper and cobalt.

Rwanda denies the claim, saying it is defending itself against armed groups linked to the 1994 genocide.

A UN expert report in July found that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were fighting alongside M23 and that Rwanda had “de facto control” over the group’s operations.

M23 briefly occupied Goma in 2012 before being driven out by Congolese and UN forces the following year. It re-emerged in late 2021 and has since seized large areas of North Kivu province.

At least 17 peacekeepers from a southern African regional force and the UN’s DRC mission have died in the fighting.

A ceasefire in August failed to hold, and Angola-mediated talks collapsed last month.

Human-driven climate change set the stage for the devastating Los Angeles wildfires by reducing rainfall, parching vegetation, and extending the dangerous overlap between flammable drought conditions and powerful Santa Ana winds, according to an analysis published Tuesday.

The study, conducted by dozens of researchers, concluded that the fire-prone conditions fueling the blazes were approximately 35 percent more likely due to global warming caused by burning fossil fuels.

“Climate change increased the risk of the devastating LA wildfires,” said Clair Barnes of Imperial College London, the lead author of the study by World Weather Attribution, an international academic collaboration.

“Drought conditions are increasingly pushing into winter, raising the likelihood of fires breaking out during strong Santa Ana winds that can transform small ignitions into deadly infernos.

“Without a faster transition away from planet-heating fossil fuels, California will continue to get hotter, drier, and more flammable.”

Fossil fuel rise drives planet closer to critical climate safety limit

Windy conditions increasing

The study does not address the direct causes of the wildfires, which erupted around Los Angeles on 7 January, killing at least 29 people and destroying more than 10,000 homes, the most destructive in the city’s history. 

In the span of just three weeks, more than two dozen fires have broken out across the region, cumulatively burning more than 57,000 acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, as of Monday.

That’s an area nearly equivalent to Washington, D.C. and Manhattan, New York City combined.

Researchers from WWA analysed weather data and climate models to assess how such events have evolved under today’s climate, which has warmed approximately 1.3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Using peer-reviewed methods, they found that the hot, dry, and windy conditions were 1.35 times more likely due to climate change.

Looking ahead, the study warns that under current scenarios, where global warming reaches 2.6C by 2100, similar fire-weather events in January will become a further 35 percent more likely.

Historically, October through December rainfall has marked the end of wildfire season.

However, these rains have decreased in recent decades.

Trump withdraws US from Paris climate agreement for second time

‘Precipitation whiplash’

The study found that low rainfall across these months is now 2.4 times more likely during neutral El Nino conditions, leading to drier, flammable conditions persisting into the peak of the Santa Ana wind season in December and January.

The relationship between climate change and Santa Ana winds – which form in western deserts, then heat up and dry out as they flow down California’s mountains – remains unclear.

While most studies predict a decline in these winds as the climate warms, some suggest hot Santa Ana wind events and particularly strong years will persist.

This year’s fires followed two wet winters in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, which spurred the growth of grass and brush. However, almost no rain this winter left the vegetation dry and highly flammable.

Globally, extreme shifts between very wet and very dry conditions, known as “precipitation whiplash,” are becoming more common. These swings are driven by a warmer atmosphere that can hold and release greater amounts of moisture, exacerbating weather extremes.

(with AFP)

Dubbed “Sahelexit” by some commentators, the decision was first announced a year ago by the countries’ military leaders and is now taking legal effect.

The three nations are strengthening their cooperation through the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), announcing plans to create a joint military force of 5,000 troops to fight terrorism.

They will also introduce a shared passport system to allow free movement between their territories.

Foreign ministers from the three countries met in Ouagadougou on Sunday to finalise the terms of their withdrawal from Ecowas. They stressed a “comprehensive approach” to negotiations in line with the AES framework.

The ministers said they were determined to complete their exit swiftly while exploring practical solutions for future ties with neighbouring nations.

“We are ready to engage in dialogue with Ecowas to provide solutions to the concerns of the populations and their states,” said Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop.

He added that the three leaders remained “fully committed” to Pan-Africanism, advocating “friendship, fraternity and solidarity” within AES, across West Africa and the African diaspora.

Firm decision

For Komi Amewunou, sociologist, policy analyst and editor of Afrobarometer – a pan-African research network – the exit is not only final but logical for the three states

“It is legitimate for Sahel states to exit because they feel like Ecowas is not autonomous … like foreign powers are influencing its decisions,” he said.

“That’s what citizens are thinking … that it is not safe for them to keep a relationship with a regional organisation that is not completely autonomous.”

Amewunou said the security crisis in the Sahel, particularly in francophone West Africa, played a major role in the split, as did the influence of foreign powers like France.

He added that AES may now seek bilateral alliances with other Ecowas states, including Togo, where he is based.

“Togo is close to AES, but we can’t determine its position in terms of a potential Ecowas exit. Yet, Togo could be favourable to an exit and to enter AES in the near future,” Amewunou said.

“Togo has historically maintained a quieter and more pragmatic relationship with France – the key actor in the situation – but it has expressed sympathy for the AES, which could suggest a potential shift.”

Macron’s Africa ‘reset’ stumbles as leaders call out colonial overtones

Trading losses

The three military leaders cut ties with Ecowas after staging coups between 2020 and 2023. In response, Ecowas imposed tough economic sanctions, pushing the juntas to seek alternative trade routes.

But leaving the bloc comes with logistical and economic challenges. Before relations broke down, 80 percent of Niger’s freight passed through Benin’s port of Cotonou, the closest to the capital Niamey.

Togo was also an important point of access to the sea.

Despite Ecowas lifting its sanctions, Niger has refused to reopen its border with Benin, accusing it of harbouring jihadist groups trying to destabilise the country.

Fears for the future in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso over Ecowas withdrawal

In Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan’s port also saw a drop in road freight in the first half of 2024 for similar reasons.

Meanwhile, Togo and Guinea enjoy smoother relations with AES countries, making the ports of Lomé and Conakry key transit points.

The split is also a blow to Ecowas. According to the International Food Policy Research Institute, the departure of these three founding members cuts the bloc’s population of 424 million by 16 percent and its GDP by 7 percent.

(with AFP)

It is estimated that over 1.1 million people are engaged in illegal mining across Ghana, with youth unemployment being a key driver. Foreign nationals from Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, and China are also involved in these activities.

The country’s cocoa industry is under severe threat as illegal mining devastates cocoa farms. As the world’s second-largest cocoa producer – responsible for around 20% of global supply – Ghana is losing vast tracts of farmland to mining operations.

Who were the winners and losers of African democracy in 2024?

Devastating impact 

The environmental destruction caused by illegal miners is immense, with major water bodies such as the Pra, Offin, Densu, and Ayensu rivers heavily polluted. These rivers serve as critical water sources for communities, but due to contamination, many water treatment plants have been forced to shut down, as the high turbidity damages machinery.

There are growing concerns over the long-term health effects of mercury used in mining, which could severely impact residents in affected communities.

According to Ghana’s Forestry Commission, an alarming 4,726 hectares of forest land have been destroyed due to illegal mining, affecting 34 of the country’s 288 forest reserves.

Yaw Owusu, a cocoa farmer from Mankraso in the Ashanti Region, shared his story with RFI:

“The illegal miners have destroyed my 20-acre cocoa farm. I was afraid to confront them because they were armed. I am not the only one – many farms in the area have been wiped out.”

Apart from environmental destruction, illegal mining has resulted in numerous fatalities. On 11 January 2025, two young men lost their lives when an illegal mining pit collapsed in Osino, Eastern Region. Violent clashes between illegal miners and security forces have also claimed lives.

John Mahama takes oath as Ghana’s president amid severe economic crisis

A recent confrontation at AngloGold Ashanti Mines in Obuasi, Ashanti Region, left nine illegal miners dead and many others injured.

Brigadier Emmanuel Aggrey-Quashie, Ghana Armed Forces’ Public Relations Director, outlined what happened.

“The miners, armed with locally made rifles, pump-action guns, knives, axes, gas cylinders, and other tools, opened fire on military personnel when confronted. In self-defence, the soldiers returned fire, resulting in the fatalities and leaving one illegal miner seriously injured. The remaining individuals fled the scene.”

Illegal mining in Obuasi has long posed serious safety risks and operational challenges. In response, the Ghana Armed Forces launched ‘Operation Halt II’ to curb illegal mining and protect mining concessions.

Government Efforts to Curb Illegal Mining

Over the years, Ghana has introduced several measures to combat illegal mining including:

• Formalisation of small-scale mining: The government has encouraged illegal miners to register and form cooperatives to enhance efficiency, reduce environmental damage, and minimise conflict.
• Community Mining Programme (2019): This initiative aims to legalise small-scale mining, improve working conditions, and create employment opportunities for local communities. However, progress has been slow.
• Operation Vanguard: A joint military-police task force regularly raids illegal mining sites to deter unauthorised activities.

Despite these efforts, illegal mining remains rampant, with little progress in eliminating the problem.

Africa is battling plastic pollution and waste crisis, activists say

Urgent Action

Michael Kwadwo Peprah, President of the National Concerned Small-Scale Miners Association of Ghana, condemned the violent incidents:

“We denounce the shooting of individuals who were simply trying to make a living. These actions are unacceptable. No one should lose their life in such circumstances, and we demand thorough investigations to ensure accountability and justice for the victims.”

Peprah proposed a new approach: “The government must ensure that mining concessions are fairly allocated to indigenous miners to promote inclusivity and local economic growth. There must be clear policies to regulate mining while creating legitimate opportunities for small-scale miners.”

The Ghana Coalition Against Galamsey is urging President John Dramani Mahama to take decisive action.

Kenneth Ashigbey, the coalition’s convener, stressed the need for immediate intervention:

“The president must declare a state of emergency on all water bodies and deploy the military to remove illegal miners. All active and planned mining concessions overlapping with river buffers must be revoked, and mining should be prohibited within 100 metres of rivers and streams.”

Presidential Response

In response to the recent clashes, President John Dramani Mahama has ordered an immediate investigation into the violence at AngloGold Ashanti Mines.

In an official statement, he expressed regret over the loss of life and called for accountability:

“The government deeply regrets the tragic loss of up to nine lives, reportedly illegal miners, following a violent clash at a mining site in Obuasi. Those found to have acted unlawfully will be held accountable.”

Standing in front of the Mona Lisa, Macron said plans included a “special space” for Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece that would be “independently accessible compared to the rest of the museum”, with its own access pass”.

The Louvre museum would also have a “new grand entrance” to help ease congestion at its glass-and-metal pyramid entry point and be financed entirely using the institution’s “own resources”.

As part of the so-called “New Renaissance” project, France would, over the next few months, launch an “international architecture competition” and select winners by the end of the year to transform its buildings by 2031 at the latest, Macron said.

Macron’s announcement comes after Louvre President Laurence des Cars warned that the centuries-old building was in a dire state, and raised the alarm over water leaks, failing infrastructures and temperature swings which endanger the conservation of works of art.

Louvre plagued by leaks and crumbling infrastructure, museum boss warns

‘Higher fee’ for non-EU visitors

The Louvre management estimates the renovation work could cost between 700 and 800 millions euros over the course of ten years.

Macron said “a different, higher fee for foreign visitors from countries outside the European Union” starting next year would help cover the costs.

A government source said earlier that authorities were also considering ways to “mobilise resources elsewhere” and get private donors and major companies involved.

France relied on donations from billionaires and the public to restore Notre Dame cathedral, which was ravaged by fire in 2019 and reopened last month.

The museum was originally designed to receive 4 million annual visitors but now handles more than double that number, recording 8.7 million guests in 2024.

In the future, the renovated Louvre Museum aims to attract twelve million visitors per year, according to the French president.

(with agencies)

“It’s a way of saying ‘this is our priority’”, Bayrou told LCI television on Monday, speaking about France’s National Education system, adding that the decision to keep the 4,000 job postings was “definitive”.

His remarks come just days ahead of Thursday’s meeting of a joint committee, comprising lawmakers from both the lower and upper houses of parliament, tasked with reaching a compromise on the disputed budget.

“The country has no budget, no majority. If we let it go, the country will sink into division,” Bayrou told the press on Monday. “My effort is to bring it all together.”

Bayrou, who became France’s fourth prime minister in a year and who survived a vote of no confidence on 16 January, faces a huge challenge to get agreement on a long-overdue budget plan for 2025.

Like his predecessor Michel Barnier, who lasted just three months before being deposed in a no-confidence vote, Bayrou lacks a majority in the National Assembly and could be dispatched just as easily if he fails to win at least tacit backing from enough opposition deputies.

A sustainable budget plan for this year is the priority for Bayrou after Barnier’s austerity budget was jettisoned along with his government in December.

French minister rules out new taxes on households amid budget showdown

Bayrou has been negotiating with the various blocs, with the far-right and most of the left rejecting deep spending cuts.

Reducing the number of teaching jobs was a red line for Socialists, who threatened to support another vote of no confidence if the cuts were implemented.

Continuing on the theme of education, Bayrou also told LCI that he wished to see a more “progressive” method used in schools to improve handwriting.

“I believe we must do writing at school, every day and in all classes, not just in French” he declared, adding that images had taken over when it came to young people.

A former Education Minister (1993-1997) and a classical literature graduate, Bayrou said it was a shame handwriting was on the decline.

He said he would encourage “writing in the physical sense of the term. Forming the letters. All this has completely disappeared,” he said.

(with newswires)

The proposed bill provides for the creation of a giant new company called France Médias, with a budget of €4 billion.

The so-called holding company would be made up of four subsidiaries: France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde (FMM) as well as the National Audiovisual Institute (INA).

It was due to be examined by lawmakers in December but was delayed after the fall of former prime minister Michel Barnier’s government.

Dati had openly pushed for the bill when she joined the culture ministry. last year and even called for a merger of public broadcasting companies.

The suggestion was met by angry strikes by journalists who slammed the project as “demagogic, ineffective and dangerous”. 

RFI staff carry on strike over merger of French public media

The project was then suspended for the first time by the dissolution of the National Assembly in June.

Dati, who gave her new year policy speech in Paris on Monday, said it was “essential to have a framework that allows better pooling of resources when it comes to managing investments that can be made jointly”.

The idea of ​​a joint holding company appears to be better accepted, both in the National Assembly and within the media concerned.

 Prime Minister François Bayrou, in his policy speech on 14 January, also insisted that changes needed to be made to the public media services.

“The reform of public broadcasting, for the common good of the French, must be completed,” he said.

Finding a balance

Faced with expected budget cuts in culture and audiovisual sectors, Dati is confident that her ministry will find “a balance…and make the efforts asked of us.”

However, in an open letter published on Monday, 15 performing arts organisations and unions accused Dati of “giving up” on them, and called a meeting to discuss their concerns.

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

They criticised the minister for having supported a government amendment that would see a total drop of €130 million for cultural projects and a further €80 million taken from the public broadcasting budget, as voted on by senators earlier in January.

A joint committee meeting to find a compromise on the 2025 draft budget is set for Thursday.

In a separate announcement, Dati also indicated that the government would provide a new legal framework based on the results of a long consultative audit on the media sector, carried out by professionals last year.

The group came up with fifteen proposals such as large-scale awareness of disinformation, reinforced protection of journalists’ sources, and further strengthening of the independence of the editorial staff.

(with AFP)

The biennial international event, which takes places in front of a live audience, was founded in 1987 by late French cooking legend Paul Bocuse.

Having witnessed Scandinavian countries dominate over the past decade, France’s team has become more professional and secured funding from public authorities and private donors, highlighting the significance of the title for national identity.

“It’s a childhood dream. It’s a source of pride to take France to the top again,” a visibly emotional Marcon, 29, told reporters on Monday evening after being hoisted onto the shoulders of his colleagues in his chef’s whites.

“Today I hope that we light up the eyes of all the cooks and cooks-to-come in France,” he added.

In total, 24 countries competed in the 2025 edition, with the Danish team, winners of the last edition, taking silver and Sweden the bronze medal.

Deer pie

Marcon and his team wowed the judging panel with a pie filled with deer braised in red wine, foie gras and wild mushrooms, accompanied by celery and followed by apple flavoured with French liqueur Chartreuse.

The quality of cooking on display at the Bocuse d’Or is seen by observers as increasing every year as countries invest in their delegations for national marketing purposes or to raise the profile of their gastronomic traditions.

France has won just one medal in the last decade – Davy Tissot having clinched gold in 2021 – with Scandinavian nations maintaining a grip on the top positions with their precise, minimalist and environmentally-conscious cooking.

Macron announces ‘centre of excellence’ dedicated to French cooking

Until Monday’s victory by Marcon, the United States – whose food the French have long looked down on – had won more medals than France over the last 10 years.

“France was navel-gazing,” Tissot told French news agency AFP recently, “while people around us were moving forward.”

Olivia Gregoire, then France’s trade and tourism minister, admitted last year that France had been “outstripped by the performance and influence of other countries.”

Injection of funds

Realising that the country had fallen behind, Team France head Romuald Fassenet began searching for new funds and resources when he took over in 2019 and he found an ally in President Emmanuel Macron, who became the first French leader to visit the Bocuse d’Or.

Around €600,000 were raised for this year’s French team led by Marcon from private donors and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region surrounding Lyon, which is headed by ambitious conservative politician Laurent Wauquiez.

Lyon: France’s gastronomy capital is dishy in more ways than one

A national centre for gastronomic excellence, called the Paul Bocuse Institute, was formally launched in January in Lyon to train chefs for international cooking competitions.

Macron has also created an “ambassador for French gastronomy”, naming former presidential chef Guillaume Gomez to the role last year.

(with AFP)

In a significant moment for post-Brexit relations, lawyers for the European Union have taken Britain to an arbitration tribunal over a ban on sandeel fishing in the North Sea.

The case marks the first legal dispute between the EU and the UK since Brexit and could influence the Labour government’s efforts to rebuild ties with the bloc.

The EU’s legal representative, Anthony Dawes, addressed a three-member panel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on Tuesday.

“We are here today because the UK’s prohibition of all sandeel fishing in its North Sea waters nullifies rights conferred on the European Union,” Dawes stated.

Ten EU states back France in fishing row with Britain

The hearing, set to last three days, will delve into whether Britain’s fishing ban violates the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) signed by both sides.

The arbitration panel, composed of legal experts from France, New Zealand, and South Africa, is expected to deliver a final ruling by late April.

While the financial stakes are modest – Britain estimates a worst-case revenue loss of upto €54 million for non-UK fishing vessels – the political implications loom larger.

The tribunal has two options: uphold the ban or determine it breaches the TCA.

If the latter, the EU could take retaliatory measures if the ban is not lifted, putting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government in a challenging spot.

France to seek EU legal action against UK over fishing rights

Opposition to concessions

Britain has defended its sandeel ban, citing scientific research that highlights the species’ critical role in marine ecosystems.

Sandeels serve as a vital food source for larger fish, marine mammals, and seabirds like puffins.

While UK fishing fleets don’t target sandeels, Danish vessels catch them primarily for animal feed and oil production.

The EU, however, argues that the ban is discriminatory, excessive, and unsupported by the best available science.

According to the bloc, it unfairly restricts EU fishing vessels’ access to UK waters guaranteed under the TCA.

As both sides make their case, the dispute underscores a delicate balance of post-Brexit relations.

As environmentalists and Brexiteers alike might oppose any concessions, the legal spat could make it harder for the UK to smooth relations with the EU.

Starmer is scheduled to meet EU leaders next Monday to discuss enhanced defence cooperation in response to Russia’s aggression, as well as NATO’s defence spending goals.

But beyond defence, Britain is also eyeing a veterinary agreement with the EU to streamline agricultural and food trade, signalling a desire for broader cooperation.

World leaders have joined the call for his release and many have signed a special petition to have him released which has now reached Washington.

The campaign has also created a  website dedicated to ensuring Mohamed Bazoum is not forgotten.

“His unjust detention is a call to action – for democracy, justice, and the principles he represents. Together, we stand with President Bazoum and demand his freedom,” the petition reads.

The American human rights lawyer and prosecutor Reed Brody is one of Mohamed Bazoum’s lawyers and spoke to him regularly until Bazoum’s phone was taken away, almost a year ago.

Since then, Bazoum and his wife have been cut off from the rest of the world, Brody told RFI.

“Since the coup in July 2023, they have been confined to his former palace. Only a doctor can visit him twice a week,” Brody said.

In recent weeks, his lawyers and campaigners advocating for his release have travelled across the globe to rally support, with backing from the United Nations, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretary-General.

Concern grows for Niger’s president, detained by junta for over two weeks

The case is symbolic for Niger and its citizens. 

“It speaks about the lack of rule of law,” he said. “No charges have been brought against [former] president Bazoum and his wife. There is no legal basis for holding him. I think it’s a symbol because the military doesn’t want [him]… to talk to the world.”

Undemocratic rule

The coup that put the junta in power stormed the the palace and deposed Bazoum over 550 days ago.

“…for 550 days, unelected leaders have ruled over a once hopeful country, with no timetable for elections,” said Jeffrey Smith, the executive director of the public advocacy group Vanguard Africa, in Washington DC.

“They have seriously [and] violently trampled on basic freedoms,” Smith told RFI. “They’ve imprisoned hundreds of citizens, chief among them…the elected president of the country, Mohamed Bazoum, who in 2021 completed the first peaceful handover of power in Niger’s history.”

Since the 2023 coup, the military have reinforced their power in the country, and have not clarified when they intend to install representative democracy.

Niger is also about to leave the West African economic bloc Ecowas on 29 January, along with Mali and Burkina Faso, after forming their own Alliance of Sahel States.

Fears for the future in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso over Ecowas withdrawal

Security experts and members of the diaspora have voiced concern over what lies ahead.

Trump’s attention

The promoters of the petition hope that the new administration in the United States might help push for a final decision on Bazoum’s liberation.

“As with any incoming administration, there will be policy changes, sometimes significant and sweeping,” Smith told RFI. “It is important to maintain focus on building democratic resiliency and countering the threat of authoritarianism.”

According to Brody, the new Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has spoken about promoting democracy worldwide. As President Bazoum was a “friend of the United States,” this could make a difference.

“While respecting his country’s sovereignty, he was a strong advocate in the fight against terrorism. I hope that Donald Trump and Marco Rubio will look at this man and say, ‘This is the kind of man who shouldn’t be in jail. This is the kind of man who should be free’,” Brody added.

At a press conference in the capital Moroni on Monday, the deputy secretary general of the government, Mahamoud Salim Hafi, denied allegations that President Assoumani plans to transfer power directly to his own son, Nour El Fath, when his term ends in 2029.

“The head of state, at no time, has ever said that he was going to bequeath power to his son,” Hafi said, following up on a government press release that denounced an “erroneous and intentional interpretation by certain detractors”.

He was referring to a speech given by Assoumani on the island of Mohéli on 23 January, when the head of state spoke about his political future.

The leader was celebrating the CRC ruling party’s win in parliamentary elections the week before, which were heavily boycotted by the opposition.

He told his supporters that when the time comes for him to leave power, “I will place my son to replace me as head of the state and the party”.

Translation error ?

It seems that the confusion stemmed from a literal translation of the word ‘son’ that was relayed in various media outlets.

Hafi stressed that Assoumani was speaking in metaphorical terms of his future successor and that to report otherwise was “misinformation”.

“He [Assoumain] spoke of a son in terms of his three families: his political family, his government family and his nuclear family…In 2029, he will choose, within the framework of the party, a child of the party to run for the universal suffrage of the Comorian people,” Hafi went on.

The government spokesman explained that under a rotational leadership system shared by the three islands in the archipelago, the next leader must come from the island of Anjouan.

“In 2029, the turn falls to the island of Anjouan and Nour El Fath Azali is not from Anjouan. Not only is he not from Anjouan, but he has not lived the necessary ten years in Anjouan – as required by the Constitution,” Hafi added.

Broad powers given to Comoros leader’s son fuels fears of dynastic control

Despite the president’s denial, critics have raised concerns about the growing influence of Nour El Fath in Comoros’ political affairs. 

The 39-year-old was appointed by his father as coordinator of government affairs, granting him sweeping powers over the cabinet.

He also won 85 percent of the votes in his district of the Hambou region on Grande Comore Island in the legislative elections.

Electoral ‘farce’

Present at Monday’s press conference, Nour El Fath did not respond to any questions directly addressed to him, RFI’s correspondent reported.

Assoumani, who first seized power in a military coup in 1999, has maintained a firm grip on the nation’s politics.

His latest election win in 2024 was marred by accusations of vote manipulation.

He also brushed off claims of irregularities by the United Opposition coalition, which in a statement denounced the January legislative polls as “the worst electoral farce of our half-century of independence”.

A second round of voting will take place on 16 February, in which the United Opposition said it “would not participate”.

With original reporting by RFI Moroni correspondent Abdallah Mzembaba

Nearly 600 million Africans live without access to electricity – higher than any other continent.

A plan dubbed “Mission 300”, launched by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) last April, is now racing to connect half of those homes to power by 2030.

The push aims to unlock at least $90 billion (€85 billion) in capital from multilateral development banks, development agencies, finance institutions, private businesses and philanthropies, according to the Rockefeller Foundation, which is part of the initiative.

“We want to expand and rehabilitate our electricity grids using the least cost possible,” said Kevin Kariuki, vice president for infrastructure at the AfDB during a two-day energy summit of African heads of state in Tanzania’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.

In Nigeria, an estimated 90 million people, 40 percent of the population, don’t have access to electricity. The country, along with Senegal, Zambia and Tanzania is one of a dozen that committed Monday to reform their electricity utility companies, push renewable energy integration and raise targets to improve access national electricity.

Multilateral development banks and commercial banks represented at the summit will use the country’s commitments to persuade their clients to invest in Africa’s energy sectors, said World Bank President Ajay Banga.

UAE pledges $4.5 billion investment in clean energy for Africa

Create new jobs

Providing 300 million people with access to electricity is a crucial building block for boosting Africa’s development by creating new jobs, Banga said.

The World Bank expects to spend $30-40 billion on the plan, Banga said, while the AfDB will provide $10-15 billion. The rest will come from private investors and other sources.

“The World Bank will pay countries as part of our support only when they make the (regulatory and policy) changes,” Banga said.

Private capital has in the past blamed unfriendly regulations, red tape and currency risks for making investments in Africa’s electricity sector hard.

Half of the targeted new connections will get electricity from existing national grids, the World Bank and the AfDB said, while the other half will be from renewable energy sources, including wind and solar mini-grids.

While Africa may have the most potential to generate solar power, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the continent has not yet installed enough capacity.

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

(with Reuters)

Auschwitz survivor Marian Turski on Monday condemned a “huge rise” in anti-Semitism, calling for “courage” against Holocaust deniers and conspiracy theorists, on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp.

 “Today, and now, we see a huge rise in anti-Semitism and it is precisely anti-Semitism that led to the Holocaust,” the 98-year-old told fellow survivors and world leaders at a ceremony by the gate of Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

Some 1.3 million people – most of them Jewish – were sent to Auschwitz during the four years it was in operation, but when Soviet troops liberated it on 27 January, 1945, there were only 7,000 people there.

The vast majority of those deported to the camp died at the camp – most sent to the gas chambers as soon as they arrived.

Located in occupied Poland, Auschwitz was part of a network of camps at the centre of Adolf Hitler’s “Final Solution” to annihilate European Jews.

International delegations

The liberation was commemorated by some 3,000 people, with 50 international delegations, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s King Charles III, outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. 

There were questions over whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he travelled to Poland, given that he is subject to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in November over alleged war crimes during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that any Israeli politician, including Netanyahu, could attend the ceremony without fear of arrest, despite the fact that Poland is a signatory to the ICC, although aides to Netanyahu have indicated that he would not be attending.

Despite the Soviet Union’s role in liberating the camp, Russia was not been invited to the ceremony, just as it was not invited to events marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France last year.

The politics of commemorating 80 years of D-Day

Focus on survivors

The director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum Piotr Cywiński has said he wanted the 80th anniversary to be free of contemporary politics, and that the ceremony should focus on survivors, as this may be one of the last commemorations that will include them.

Politicians were not invited to speak, instead the voices of some of the 50 survivors in attendance were heard. At the commemoration 10 years ago, 300 survivors participated.

Henriette Cohen, oldest French Holocaust survivor dies aged 101

Teresa Regula, 96, arrived at Auschwitz at the age of 16. The Gestapo took Regula and her mother from their home in Krakow and sent them to the Plaszow camp, where her mother was executed. Regula was then transported to Auschwitz and was tattooed with the inmate number 22011.

“They shaved us down to bare skin, and it was a scorching hot day, 4 August,” she told news agency Reuters from her home in Krakow. “That was the first authentic pain I felt.”

She contracted chickenpox, measles and scarlet fever in the camp. For decades after the liberation, she kept her memories repressed. “Now everything comes back to me,” she said.

Educating younger generations

Janina Iwanska, 94, a Polish Catholic woman was sent to Auschwitz in 1944. She was transported from Warsaw in a freight train and recalled stepping out of it to the smell of burning bodies. In the camp, she cared for children in the block she lived in.

“The children were treated differently; they didn’t have to work. They only had to wait patiently – either for their mothers or for the war to end,” she told Reuters.

Iwanska did not witness the liberation of Auschwitz because she was evacuated by the Germans days prior to it, to the Ravensbrück concentration camp in northern Germany, which was liberated on 2 May, 1945.

How Allied photos revealed true horrors of the Nazi death camps

For decades, survivors have kept the memory of the atrocities committed by the Nazis alive, by telling and retelling their stories, with the hope of educating younger generations to not repeat the same mistakes.

But Iwanska is not optimistic about this, citing the “hatred” and divisions in modern society. “I won’t live much longer. But when I look at the youth and the little ones… what will their future be? I see it as bleak.”

(with Reuters, AFP)

The work, entitled “Train Tracks of Memory” (Rails de la mémoire), is made up of 1,173 metres of railway tracks, symbolising the 1,173 kilometres separating Lyon from the former Auschwitz concentration camp, in Poland, where a million Jews were murdered between 1941 and 1945.

Auschwitz was the largest of the extermination camps and has become a symbol of Nazi Germany’s genocide of six million European Jews, along with more than 100,000 non-Jews.

The camp was liberated on 27 January by Soviet troops who found 7,000 survivors. The date has been designated by the United Nations as Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Around 76,000 French Jews, including more than 11,000 children, were deported by the Nazis with the help of the collaborationist Vichy government.

The new Holocaust memorial in Lyon – designed by Parisian architects Quentin Blaising and Alicia Borchardt –  stands in a square near the central station, from which many convoys left towards the death camps.

How Allied photos revealed true horrors of the Nazi death camps

Inscribed on the edge of the rails are the words : “In Memory of the six million Jewish victims of the holocaust, which includes 1,5 million children, 1941-1945. 6,100 came from our region.”

The architects recycled old railway elements to construct the memorial, including the rails, the wooden sleepers and the ballast.

“The reuse of railway materials symbolises the resilience and ability of humanity to rebuild after periods of atrocity” they wrote in their brief.

Several hundred people gathered for the ceremony on Sunday, including Jean-Olivier Viout, president of the Association for a Holocaust memorial in Lyon.

He said it was important to remember the victims from the region but it should also be a “tribute to the six million victims of the Holocaust”.

As a magistrate, Viout was a member of the prosecution at the 1987 trial of SS officer Klaus Barbie, known as “the butcher of Lyon”.

Survivors strive to ensure young people do not forget Auschwitz

The mayor of Lyon, Grégory Doucet described the deportations that took place in Lyon as “unspeakable crimes”.

Lyon was “smeared in blood” by “the incredible cruelty of its executioners”, he said, referring to Barbie and the leader of the French militia, Paul Touvier.

“Anti-semitism is a poison that must be fought forcefully,” Doucet told reporters, and thanked his predecessor Gérard Collomb, who died in 2023, for getting the memorial project off the ground.

(with AFP)

Rodrigues bought two tickets at 400 euros apiece as a present for her husband’s 33rd last June.

“The seats are quite high up in the arena and not exactly the best,” said the 34-year-old nurse. “But it’s cheaper than going to America to watch a game,” Macedo smiled as they prepared to attend their first NBA game.

“Neither the Pacers nor the Spurs are my team,” said Macedo. “Kobe Bryant was my idol. I’m from kind of an older generation. The Spurs are a side with lots of young players.”

One of them, Victor Wembanyama, has dominated the prelude to the clashes on Thursday and Saturday at the Accor Arena in Bercy, south-eastern Paris.

The 21-year-old grew up in Le Chesnay, some 17 kilometres west of Paris, and turned out for the club Nanterre 92 in north-western Paris between 2014 and 2021 before before moving to ASVEL Lyon-Villurbanne.

He went to the Spurs in 2023 as the top young recruit.

The Spurs have returned with the Pacers to play two regular season games as part of the NBA’s international drive to boost the popularity of its teams.

Mexico has hosted pre-season and regular season NBA games for more than 30 years. NBA superstars have also played in Britain and Japan. France has been staging games since 2020.

Star return

On Monday, shortly after jetting in from the United States, Wembanyama limbered up with his teammates on his old stomping ground at the Palais des sports Maurice-Thorez in Nanterre.

He was the star turn the following day at the inauguration of two basketball courts in his home town.

“There is a bit too much about Wembanyama,” said Macedo on Thursday evening. “He is just starting out and has lots to learn. Everybody is expecting him to do big games all the time. I’m here to see the Spurs’ old stars like Chris Paul.”

Fatima Boudlali confessed she was heading to the game simply for the ambiance.

“I saw an NBA game in Los Angeles just over a year ago. I like it when everyone supports a team, when there’s a buzz. I love it.”

Flanked by Adime Toukourou, a pal from her college days, the 23-year-old happily declared: “I really don’t know anything about basketball, I just know that there are four quarters.”

Boudlali’s original plan had been to go with her boyfriend. “But we broke up,” she explained. “But I still wanted to go to the game. I thought of asking Adime because he’s never been to an NBA game and he’s mad about basketball.”

Passion

“Absolutely adore it,” beamed the 24-year-old. “I played for several years but I got an injury. I used to watch it on TV but with the time difference between France and the United States, it was a bit complicated but I watch when I can.”

His allegiances, he said, had switched from the Oklahoma City Thunder to Lebron James and his LA Lakers as well as the Phoenix Suns.

“I’m not particularly here to see Wembanyama,” he added. “But of course I’m interested because he is a rising star and French.”

Just before the game started, Wembanyama and the Pacers’ Bennedict Mathurin thanked the 16,000 fans for coming to the game.

“It’s an immense pleasure to be here in Paris,” added Wembanyama to raucous cheers. “I hope you have a lot of fun at the game.”

With the local lad in the line-up, every point of the Spurs was acclaimed boisterously. The decibels rose further when the returning son was the author.

Spurs win

In a nod to munificence, grudging cheers accompanied points for the Pacers who were level pegging with the Spurs until they took a double digit lead mid-way through the third quarter.

The Spurs went into the final 12 minutes leading 105-80.

Just before he departed the fray, Wembanyama threw the ball up against the board behind the hoop, caught the rebound and slammed it into the basket. Each replay of the exploit on the giant screens was gleefully greeted.

With an array of former NBA stars such as Tony Parker, Pau Gasol and Boris Diaw duly dusted off and sent out to soak up the applause and love, the game ended 140-110 to the Spurs.

Wembanyama, boasting personal statistics of 30 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and five blocks was accordingly anointed the man of the match for a performance that brought praise from Spurs coach Mitch Johnson and his Pacers counterpart Rick Carlisle.

“The Spurs played a great game,” said Carlisle. “Victor is a great player. France should be very proud. He’s one of a kind. It’s just breathtaking the things that he does.” 

“While we aim to move fast, the lifting of sanctions can be reversed if wrong steps are taken,” foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas wrote on social media platform X on Monday.

The 27-nation EU imposed wide-ranging sanctions on the Assad government and Syria’s economy during its civil war.

Brussels says it is now willing to ease sanctions on the expectation the new authorities make good on commitments to form an inclusive transition.

The aim is to help the reconstruction of the war-ravaged country and build bridges with its new leadership after the end of the Assad family’s five-decade rule.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the EU could start by suspending sanctions on the energy, transport and banking sectors that are key to the financial stabilisation of the country.

Syria FM says scrapping sanctions ‘key’ to country’s stability

Suspension not removal

Some EU countries worry about moving too fast to embrace the new Islamist-led rulers in Damascus.

Diplomats say the EU will only suspend the sanctions and not lift them definitively so as to keep some leverage over the new Islamist regime Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Ahmed al-Sharaa.

A “fall-back mechanism” can reinstate the penalties if HTS fails to deliver on its promises of inclusive governance.

Assad, whose family had ruled Syria with an iron first for 54 years, was toppled by Islamist rebels on 8 December, bringing an abrupt end to a devastating 13-year civil war that had created one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times.

The conflict left large parts of many major cities in ruins and the vast majority of the population living in poverty. The imposing of tough Western sanctions on Syria has effectively cut off its formal economy from the rest of the world.

(with newswires)

The start of the school year, scheduled for 13 January, had already been postponed twice due to the severe damage caused by Chido and storm Dikeledi.

Despite calls for further delays, the education authorities went ahead with Monday’s reopening, stressing the importance of staying in touch with pupils.

However,39 of Mayotte‘s 221 primary schools and three of its secondary schools will not open immediately due to extensive damage.

For both teachers and pupils alike, it’s a difficult time.

“I’m quite pessimistic because conditions are very degraded,” high school teacher Olivier Thomas told RFI.

He works at the Sada high school in the western part of Grande-Terre – one of the archipelago’s three islands. It was badly damaged so pupils are heading back in rotating classes, with middle and high school students attending one or two days per week.

“We’ll welcome around 650 pupils of the 2,400 we would usually have,” Thomas said. “All or part of the high school is inaccessible due to repair works. There’ll be no canteen, no access to labs, so it will be a very difficult and very unusual new term.”

The primary school in Chiconi, Grande-Terre, opted to delay reopening altogether due to safety concerns – a joint decision between local authorities and parent representatives.

“We made a collective decision not to open the school,” said parent rep Fatima Mouhoussini. “I cannot allow my son to go into a school where bits of ceiling are falling off, water is leaking, and electricity cables are hanging down.”

Mayotte struggles to recover a month after devastating cyclone Chido

Concern over migrant children

Youssouf Abdallah, a primary school teacher and union rep, expressed concern that not all the children will return.

“Many of our pupils are from migrant families, their homes were destroyed so we don’t know if they’ll come back. They may have disappeared,” he told RFI. “The ones that don’t have the means to go elsewhere and are not injured will certainly return,” he added.

Even before the cyclone, Mayotte’s education system was under strain.  A 2022 report highlighted the inefficiency of the system, with overcrowded schools operating on a rotating schedule and offering limited school meals.

Last week, around 300 teachers protested over the “makeshift” nature of the new term.

Adda Fatihoussoundi, president of the local parent-teacher federation (FCPE) called the reopening “premature” and criticised the lack of adequate safety conditions.

Some schools have also been affected by break-ins and looting following the cyclone, and teachers are concerned about the psychological impact that could have on students.

As a back-up, French and maths lessons are being broadcast daily on the local television channel for older primary school students. Psychological support units have been set up, and a free helpline is available 24/7.

Nearly 1,200 students have opted to continue their education outside Mayotte, mostly in Reunion Island.

French PM Bayrou unveils ‘Mayotte standing’ reconstruction plan

The French Minister for Overseas Territories, Manuel Valls, acknowledged that the return would take place “under difficult conditions” and is due to visit Mayotte later in the week to assess the situation.

He caused controversy over the weekend calling immigration to Mayotte a “plague” that was “gradually killing” the archipelago. He said it needed to be reduced to “virtually zero”.

Tensions on the archipelago were reignited last week when migrant families who had lost their homes in the cyclone were given accommodation in a middle school in Mamoudzou. The school will remain closed until at least 3 February, RFI’s local correspondent reported.

Tensions are rising among the 30,000 staff members at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) following the announcement in mid-December to create “Key Labs”.

The Rogue ESR collective behind the Paris-based protest argues that management is planning to prioritise human and financial resources for a select group of leading laboratories, known as “Key Labs,” at the expense of others.

The collective is now calling for the resignation of the CNRS president Antoine Petit.

“In fields like particle and nuclear physics, some sites will be well-funded, while others will receive little support,” Olivier Coutard, president of the CNRS scientific council, told franceinfo.

This move, Coutard warns, is creating a “highly destabilising” effect on research teams.

The protest comes at a time of heightened tension, after French senators voted two bills in January slashing over a billion euros in funding.

French minister rules out new taxes on households amid budget showdown

The so-called “Key Labs” are seen as a way to “mask these budget cuts”, according to CNRS astrophysicist Olivier Bernen.

“Instead of openly saying, ‘We’re cutting funds,’ they’re saying: ‘Only the best will get funding,’” Bernen, who is also part of the Rogue ESR collective, explained.

“It’s a clever strategy because it pits people against each other. It avoids the direct issue of creating a funding shortage, because the last thing anyone wants is for students to take to the streets.”

Decline in resources

For Marc Odin, a geosciences researcher at the CNRS branch in Toulouse, this decision goes hand in hand with the decline in resources invested by the state in research over the past ten years, which also favours closer ties with the private sector.

He is particularly concerned that research into major issues such as ecology will be abandoned due to lack of investment.

Funding for dinosaur fossil digging falls, as French interest rises

Petit, however, defends the strategy, insisting he’s not neglecting other laboratories.

“Research is a balance of cooperation and competition. We know that international competition is getting tougher. We need labs that are ‘front-runners,’ to attract top students and researchers,” Petit said.

At this point, the criteria for selecting these “excellence” labs remain unclear.

CNRS management said it is open to discussions but insists it doesn’t need the board’s approval to move forward with the changes.

Caletodraco cottardi, a carnivorous dinosaur that lived 100 million years ago, was first discovered on a beach in Normandy, northern France, in 2021.

Nicolas Cottard, a science teacher and amateur palaeontologist, was scouring the chalk cliffs around where he lives in Saint-Jouin-Bruneval, and found a large piece of stone with bones in it.

He and a another amateur fossil collector worked on preparing it – cutting out the bones using specialised chisels and micro-pneumatic hammers.

“They knew they had something interesting. So they contacted me and asked me, what do you think? And I said it’s difficult to say what it is,” recalls Eric Buffetaut, a palaeontologist with the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).

Two years later Cottard found another piece of stone with more bones – vertebrae, part of a tail and pelvic bones – that fit with the first, and also included a tooth, which sealed the deal: it was a dinosaur.

Listen to an interview with Eric Buffetaut on the Spotlight On France podcast here: 

”The tooth was very, very clearly that of a carnivorous dinosaur. I spent quite a long time making comparisons and discussing it with colleagues in other countries as well,” explains Buffetaut, who determined it was a new species – one that belonged to the Furileusauria clade of dinosaurs, which until then had only been found in South America.

At the time Caletodraco cottardi lived, the Normandy cliffs would have been in the middle of the proto-Atlantic ocean. In the paper Buffetaut published about the discovery, he hypothesised that the dinosaur’s body had likely been washed out to sea and floated several hundred kilometres offshore, where its carcass was eaten by a prehistoric shark, because a shark tooth was found mixed in with the bones.

French scientists find giant dinosaur’s toe

Why this discovery was made in France is not yet understood, because even though the continents were not in the same position 100 million years ago, there was still water separating Europe and South America. The discovery could therefore shed new light on the evolution and migration of dinosaurs.

“That is what makes it really exciting. It’s not just because it’s a new dinosaur, but it raises a lot of questions about the geography of the time, about how these animals travelled around and so on,” said Buffetaut.

Palaeontology revival

Caletodraco cottardi is just one of several dinosaur fossils found in France over the last 20 years. Many were discovered at a dig in Angeac, in the south-west, where last year a new species of sauropod which lived 140 million years ago was identified.

Buffetaut says such finds are the fruit of an interest in dinosaurs that bloomed in the 1980s and 90s.

Discovery of dinosaur thigh bone in France thrills scientists

The 19th-century French anatomist Georges Cuvier was one of the first people to identify dinosaurs, or the concept of ancient, extinct species. He described vertebrae found in northern France as belonging to an ancient crocodile.

“He thought were peculiar crocodiles, but in fact, they turned out to be dinosaurs,” Buffetaut said.

But, subsequently, interest in dinosaurs waned in France.

“There was a long period when apparently French palaeontologists were not that interested in dinosaurs, but more interested in mammals or human evolution,” Buffetaut said.

“There was really a renewal of interest at the end of the 20th century, when a few palaeontologists in France said, we have dinosaurs in France, so why don’t we look at them in more detail? They have been there all the time, but nobody cared very much.”

Amateur collectors

France’s geological variety means there are dinosaur traces in its soil from all three periods of the dinosaur age, from around 252 million years ago to 66 million years ago.

“Of course, not all these geological formations have yielded dinosaurs, but quite a few have,” says Buffetaut.

One area particularly rich in dinosaur traces is the Jura mountain range in eastern France, on the border with Switzerland. The Jurassic era – 201 million to 145 million years ago – was named after the mountain range.

But fossils can only be studied if they are unearthed, and in France, as in many areas, this is thanks to amateurs, like Nicolas Cottard.

“Professional palaeontologists can’t be in the field all the time, everywhere, in a country like France. So you must rely on cooperation with people who are able to go and collect fossils in the cliffs along the sea every weekend, who keep a constant watch,” says Buffetaut.

”Without those people, many, many important fossils would remain undiscovered.”

Lack of funding

Professionals such as Buffetaut are called in to analyse, compare and confirm finds. But the number of experts dwindling, with fewer positions for palaeontologists studying dinosaurs in France today.

“When I first got my position in palaeontology, I thought it was really hard to find a job. But it was easy in comparison with what it is now,” says Buffetaut.

Palaeontology, unlike applied research, is not a lucrative field and as such, especially in a period of budget cuts, is not a priority.

“Palaeontology is not considered really something important,” says Buffetaut. “It has no economic importance.”

And yet, there is interest. He receives calls from students interested in digging up dinosaurs, although he tells them not to get their hopes up.

“I try to tell them if they are interested they should try but they should know it will be very, very difficult, and there is absolutely no guarantee of a job,” he says.

“But if you’re really motivated and interested, I don’t want to discourage you. I’m trying not to be discouraging.”

Listen to an interview with Eric Buffetaut on the Spotlight On France podcast, episode 122 here.

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to comply with the truce agreement and withdraw Israeli forces still stationed in Lebanon.

In a phone call, Macron stressed the importance of restoring Lebanon’s state authority nationwide and called for an immediate end to the Israeli presence beyond the agreed deadline.

Israeli army fire claimed the lives of 22 individuals in southern Lebanon on Sunday – including a Lebanese soldier – as civilians attempted to return home under the ceasefire deal.

The agreement, which took effect on 27 November, required Israeli forces to withdraw over a 60-day period, ending Sunday.

However, Israel announced plans to extend its presence, citing Lebanon’s failure to fully implement the terms, leading to growing tensions and mutual accusations.

Sporadic violence 

Lebanon’s health ministry reported that Israeli forces opened fire on civilians attempting to return to villages still under occupation.

The casualties included six women and 124 wounded individuals.

The Lebanese army also confirmed the death of one of its soldiers and another injury.

The Israeli military has justified the action, stating its troops fired warning shots at individuals approaching their positions, claiming they identified and detained several suspects deemed threats.

Despite the ceasefire largely holding since November, sporadic violence persists.

In the border town of Bint Jbeil, hundreds gathered for collective prayers and marched towards nearby villages.

Some mourners carried portraits of Hezbollah’s former leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli strike last September.

Israel has withdrawn from coastal areas but maintains a presence in eastern regions.

US and France lead backing for Lebanon-Israel ceasefire deal

Calls for calm

The ceasefire terms require Hezbollah to withdraw its forces north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres from the border, and dismantle remaining military infrastructure in the south.

Netanyahu’s office stated on Friday that these conditions had not been fully met, justifying Israel’s extended military presence.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has called for calm, urging residents to trust the Lebanese army to ensure their safe return.

Meanwhile, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati appealed to international mediators – including France and the US – to pressure Israel into complying with the truce.

As tensions escalate, UN representatives have stressed that conditions are not yet safe for civilian returns.

Israel slams Macron as a ‘disgrace’ over French arms fair ban

Israel invited to Paris Air Show

This comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Sunday that Emmanuel Macron will allow Israeli companies to attend this year’s Paris Air Show, following Sunday’ call between the two leaders.

“The French president assured the prime minister that Israeli companies would be able to participate in the Paris Air Show,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

Macron’s office confirmed that the presence of Israeli companies “could be examined favourably as a result of the ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.”

The Paris show, held at Le Bourget airport in mid-June, is a major global aerospace event for civil and military industries.

In 2024, relations between France and Israel further soured after Israeli companies were banned from participating in an arms trade fair outside Paris over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

“Those who knew the camps are never free from them,” Selinger, 97, wrote in his 2021 book Nuit et Lumière – Des marches de la mort au chemin de la Vie (“Night and Light: From Death Marches to the Path of Life”).

“[The camps] are there every night, and with them every morning those who were assassinated by my side, witnesses of absolute and shapeless darkness from which I try to sculpt some sort of hope.”

Born in the small town of Szczakowa, Poland in 1928, Selinger grew up in a Jewish family. Deported with his father in 1942 when he was 13 years old, he survived nine concentration camps and two death marches.

His mother and one of his sisters were taken to Auschwitz in 1943 and never returned, something he only learned years later.

In 1945 he was saved by a Jewish military doctor who came with the Soviet army to liberate the Terezin camp in then-Czechoslovakia. He was discovered on a pile of corpses and taken to a military field hospital. Although his health recovered, he suffered from amnesia for seven years.

Art as hope

After his liberation, he went to Israel, where he fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. He helped found the Kabri Kibbutz in Galilee and met his wife Ruth, whom he married in 1954.

It was at this time that he discovered sculpture and art, and with them a way to deal with the painful memories that came flooding back to him in nightmares.

After winning the Norman Prize for young sculptors in 1955, he headed to France where he enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and studied under the sculptor Marcel Gimond. In 1962 he met the gallery owner Michel Dauberville, who has exhibited his work ever since.

How Allied photos revealed true horrors of the Nazi death camps

“Nature gave me oblivion to rebuild myself, art did the rest,” the Jewish Cultural Centre in Paris quotes him as saying. “I leave my house and hurry to my studio each morning. I take my chisel and my hammer. I dance with the stone and together we invent a language of light to say what can’t be held back. It’s in that way that I can be free”.

Since the 1950s, Selinger has made more than 900 artworks in many formats and materials. His works are displayed in public spaces including the Holocaust memorial site in Drancy, north east of Paris, from where French Jews were deported to the extermination camps, and the Yad Vashem museum in Israel.

One of the works donated to Unesco this week, entitled “Desire for freedom”, a charcoal drawing made in 1995, depicts horses galloping side by side, their limbs overlapping, straining to get ahead.

It underwent extensive restoration by Unesco experts, before being handed over at a ceremony on Thursday.

Alongside it is the work “Shoah” (Holocaust), an Indian ink drawing done in 1975, which depicts the emaciated bodies of men and women, ribcages exposed, guards standing over them brandishing whips. The image of a horse also appears, with its hoof appearing to stamp on a man’s face.

The handover of these works is part of the Unesco’s programme to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp on 27 January. More than 1 million people were murdered there, most of them Jewish. The former camp was added to the Unesco World Heritage list in 1979.

The Holocaust saw the murder of 6 million Jews across Europe, executed by the Nazi State in Germany and its collaborators. Each year countries across the world hold commemorations to mark the 27 January, International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.

Survivor of 1942 Jewish roundup tells her story ‘for those who didn’t come back’

This year, the education branch of Unesco has published a new series of guides to help teachers and journalists “fight Holocaust denial and distortion”.

“At a time when survivors and direct witnesses to the Holocaust are becoming increasingly rare, it is essential to invest more in education to transmit the memory of the facts and fight against contemporary forms of anti-Semitism,” the director of Unesco, Audrey Azoulay, said at the ceremony on Thursday.

In collaboration with the Normandy Region and the Shoah Memorial, Unesco has also opened a photo exhibition “Beyond the Abyss of the Auschwitz-I and Auschwitz-II Birkenau camps” by photographer Olivier Mériel, displayed on the fences of the Unesco Headquarters in Paris from 20 January to 28 February.

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.

WORLD RADIO DAY is coming up – it’s on 13 February. As we do every year, we’ll have a feast in The Sound Kitchen, filled with your voices.

Send your SHORT recorded WRD greetings to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr by 1 February. This year’s theme is “Radio and Climate Change”, but you don’t have to talk about the theme – if you just want to say “hello!”, that’s fine, too.

Be sure you include your name and where you live in your message.

Most importantly, get under a blanket to record. This will make your recording broadcast quality.

Bombard me with your greetings !!!!

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!

This week’s quiz: On 14 December, I asked you a question about Syria and the end of Bashir al-Assad’s dictatorship. Rebel forces, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, seized Damascus on 8 December; Assad fled to Russia, ending his family’s six-decade- rule.

You were to re-read our article “France’s support for Syrian transition hinges on respect for minority rights” and send in the answer to this question:  France’s outgoing Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was quoted in the article. He noted that “Assad’s fall is a ‘clear defeat for Moscow’”. Why? Why does Jean-Noel Barrot think that Assad’s fall is a “clear defeat for Moscow”?

The answer is, to quote our article: “… Russia now could lose access to military bases in Syria which allowed it to conduct operations in the Magreb and elsewhere on the African continent.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by Debashis Gope from West Bengal, India: “How can we have peace amongst all people?”  

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

The winners are: RFI English listener Dia Zanib from Muzaffargarh, Pakistan. Dia is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations on your double win, Dia!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week is Omar Faruk, a member of the Shetu RFI Listeners Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh, and Alok Bain, a member of the RFI Pariwer Bandhu SWL Club in Chhattisgarh, India. There’s RFI Listeners Club member Abdul Mannan Teacher from Sirajganj, Bangladesh, and last but not least, RFI English listener Nargis Akter from Dhaka, Bangladesh. 

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Vivace” from the Piano Concerto No. 11 in D major for fortepiano and orchestra by Franz Joseph Haydn, performed by Ronald Brautigam and the Concerto Copenhagen; the first movement from the Suite for Oud Quartet by Mohammad Osman, performed by the Syrian Oud Quartet; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Kudzi Malaissane” by José Pires and Roberto Isaias, performed by Kapa Dêch.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read our article “French NGOs to quit social media platform X following Trump inauguration”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 17 February to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 22 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.   

How will 2025 shape up for African nations and their global partnerships? Will Africa secure a more central role in the global diplomatic landscape?

To understand what’s at stake on the continent, the Spotlight on Africa podcast consulted three experts in African politics and diplomacy.

Cameron Hudson from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CISC) in Washington DC discusses priorities for South Africa as it takes on the rotating presidency of the G20 group, and in particular its relationship to the United States. 

Michael Dillon from King’s College, London, UK, looks at China’s new strategy that aims to deepen its influence in Africa.

Thierry Vircoulon from IFRI in France analyses the legacy of France in Africa, notably in the Sahel where French troops have been pushed out by military juntas of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

These countries have since established their own Alliance of Sahel States and made the decision to withdraw from the West African bloc Ecowas. Set to take effect on 29 January, security experts and members of the diaspora have voiced concern over what lies ahead.

Episode mixed by Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is produced by Radio France Internationale’s English language service.

Erdogan was quick to congratulate Trump on his election victory, making clear his desire to work with him again.

“Donald Trump is a man who acts with his instincts, and Erdogan is too,” explains Huseyin Bagci, a professor of international relations with Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. 

“They are not intellectuals as we used to have, big political leaders after World War II. They are tradespeople. They are very pragmatic ones, and they are political animals. In this sense, they like transactional policies, not value-based policies.”

Syria a key focus

Erdogan’s top priority is expected to be securing the withdrawal of US forces from Syria, where they support the Kurdish militia YPG in the fight against the Islamic State.

Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist group linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency in Turkey for decades.

During his first presidency, Trump promised to pull US forces out of Syria, though this move faced strong resistance from American officials.

Sezin Oney, a commentator with Turkey’s independent Politikyol news portal, said new challenges in Syria make an early withdrawal unlikely.

“Not to have the ISIS resurgence again or this HTS presenting a threat to the United States, the Trump administration would be interested in protecting the YPG and the Kurds, their alliance with the Kurds,” said Oney.

“We already have the (US) vice president, JD Vance, pointing out the ISIS resurgence.”

Turkey steps up military action against Kurds in Syria as power shifts

Israel and Iran

The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel could ease another potential point of tension between Erdogan and Trump, as Erdogan has been a strong supporter of Hamas.

Meanwhile, both Ankara and Washington share concerns over Iran’s regional influence, which could encourage cooperation between the two leaders.

“Trump administration is coming in with a desire to stabilise relations with Turkey,” said Asli Aydintasbas, an analyst with the Brookings Institution.

“We are likely to see more and more of a personal rapport, personal relationship, which had been missing during the Biden administration,” she added. “President Erdogan and President Trump will get along famously. But it does not mean Turkey gets all of its policy options.”

Success of rebel groups in Syria advances Turkish agenda

Fighter jets and Ukraine

Erdogan is also hoping the Trump administration will lift a Congressional embargo on advanced fighter jet sales. Experts suggest Turkey could play a key role in any Trump-led efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the Ukraine war, given Erdogan’s ties with both Russia and Ukraine.

“If Trump is pushing for a ceasefire in Ukraine between Russia and Ukraine, in this case Turkey could be very helpful as a potential mediator,” said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, head of the German Marshall Fund’s Ankara office.

But Unluhisarcikli warned of potential challenges.

“What happens in Syria could be a test for the US-Turkey relationship very early on. Turkey is actually preparing for a new intervention in northeast Syria against what Turkey sees as a terrorist organisation, and what the United States sees as a partner on the ground.”

Economic risks

Trump’s previous presidency saw tensions with Erdogan peak after Trump threatened to destroy Turkey’s economy over its plans to attack US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces. This move triggered a sharp drop in the Turkish lira.

With Turkey’s economy now weaker than before, analysts say Erdogan will need to proceed cautiously in his dealings with the new Trump administration.

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.

WORLD RADIO DAY is coming up – it’s on 13 February. As we do every year, we’ll have a feast in The Sound Kitchen, filled with your voices.

Send your SHORT recorded WRD greetings to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr by 1 February. This year’s theme is “Radio and Climate Change”, but you don’t have to talk about the theme – if you just want to say “hello!”, that’s fine, too.

Be sure you include your name and where you live in your message.

Most importantly, get under a blanket to record. This will make your recording broadcast quality.

Bombard me with your greetings !!!!

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!

This week’s quiz: On 7 December, I asked you a question about the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which had just begun to hear evidence from 98 countries and 12 organizations about climate change, and how to establish rules for rich nations to support poorer ones, who are on the frontlines of climate change.

It’s a landmark case: brought by students in 2019 from the University of Vanuatu – the Pacific Island nation heavily impacted by climate change – led to a UN General Assembly resolution in 2023, asking the ICJ for a formal opinion on the legal obligations of states to protect the climate system. The court will also consider whether large polluting nations can be held liable for damages to vulnerable countries like small island states.

You were to re-read Paul Myer’s article “Small island nations lead fight for climate justice at UN’s top court”, and send in the answer to this question: In addition to the small island states and developing countries, who else will the ICJ hear from?

The answer is, to quote Paul’s article: “The court will also hear from the United States and China – the world’s top two emitters of greenhouse gases. The oil producer group OPEC will also give its views.

The 15 judges at the ICJ will hear submissions until 13 December and deliver their decision next year.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by Liton Ahamed Mia from Naogaon, Bangladesh: What do you remember about your first boat journey, and how did you feel when you were back on land?

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

The winners are: Fatematuj Zahra, the co-secretary of the Shetu RFI Listeners Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh. Fatematuj is also this week’s bonus question winner

Congratulations on your double win, Fatematju!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week is A. K. M. Nuruzzaman, the president of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, and two RFI Listeners Club members from India: Babby Noor al Haya Hussen from Baripada, and Radhakrishna Pillai from Kerala State.

Rounding out the list of this week’s winners is RFI English listener Liton Islam Khondaker from Naogaon, Bangladesh.

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: Hungarian Folk Dances by Bela Bartok, performed by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; “Dance With Pennons” from Three Japanese Dances by Bernard Rogers, performed by the Eastman Wind Ensemble conducted by Frederick Fennell; “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 “The Intrepid Fox” by Freddie Hubbard, performed by Hubbard and the Freddie Hubbard Quintet.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read our article “’Exhausted’ Frenchman held in Iran since 2022 reveals identity in plea for help”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 10 February to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 15 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.   

The often fraught relations between France and its former colony Algeria have hit an all-time low after a series of disagreements over Western Sahara, the detention of a French-Algerian writer and an Algerian blogger accused of inciting violence. Both countries have spoken of “humiliation” and “dishonour”. Arab world specialist  Adlene Mohammedi talks about bilateral relations being polluted by internal affairs – notably Algiers’ lack of democratic legitimacy and the increasing influence of the far right in France. And while the sorely needed level-headed diplomacy  is more needed than ever, it’s been run down in both countries.   (Listen @2’05”)

France’s remarkable geological diversity means the country is prime dinosaur territory – home to fossils from all three periods of the dinosaur age.  The first dinosaurs were discovered in France in the 19th century, but as paleontologist Eric Buffetaut explains, many of the major finds have been in the last 40 years, thanks to amateur paleontologists around the country. (Listen @21’25”)

France enacted a law decriminalising abortion on 17 January 1975. Ollia Horton talks about the legacy of that right and how despite being  enshrined in the constitution, access 50 years later is still not guaranteed. (Listen @14’40”)

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompeani. 

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).

Syrian refugee Hasan Sallouraoglu and his family have carved out a new life in Istanbul with a thriving pastry shop in Istanbul‘s Sultanbeyli district, home to around 60,000 Syrians.

With Assad gone, the question of whether to return to Syria now looms. “It’s been 10 years, and my shop has been open for the last eight years. We can start a shop there in Syria, too,” explained Sallouraoglu.

However, Sallouraoglu, with an ironic smile, acknowledges returning to Syria is a hard sell for his family. “There is not much excitement in my family. We see the news and we see that our country is completely destroyed on the ground. Ninety percent of it has been destroyed, so we need time to think,” said Sallouraoglu.

Across the road from Sallouraoglu’s pastry shop, the owner of a clothes shop, Emel Denyal, is considering returning to her home in Aleppo but says such a move could mean breaking up her family.

Nostalgia

“We are all thinking about returning. But the children aren’t interested. They love being here. They want to stay here,” said Denyal.

 ‘We still feel nostalgic for our land. We are still missing Syria because we were raised in Syria,” added Denyal, “The Syrian generation growing up in Turkey doesn’t think about going back. The elderly and my husband are considering returning, but my children aren’t. Can we find a solution?”

Since Assad fled Syria, Turkish authorities claim about 35,000 Syrians out of the nearly four million living in Turkey have gone home.

The Refugee Association in Sutlanebeyli provides assistance to some of Istanbul’s 600,000 Syrian refugees. Social welfare director Kadri Gungorur says the initial euphoria over Assad’s ousting is making way to a more pragmatic outlook.

“The desire to return was very strong in the first stage but has turned into this: ‘Yes, we will return, but there is no infrastructure, no education system, and no hospitals,’ said Gungorur.

Gungorur says with only 12 families from Sultanbeyli returning to their homes, he worries about the consequences if Syrians don’t return in large numbers. “If the Syrians do not return, the general public may react to the Syrians because now they will say that ‘Syria is safe. Why don’t you return?'”

Over the past year, Turkish cities, including Istanbul, have witnessed outbreaks of violence against Syrians amid growing public hostility towards refugees.

 Turkish authorities have removed Arabic from shop signs in a move aimed at quelling growing resentment made worse by an ailing economy.

Concerns for women

Turkish presidential adviser Mesut Casin of Istanbul’s Yeditepe University claims the government is aware of the Turkish public’s concern.   

“We all saw the civil war in Syria. Four million immigrant people in Turkey and that has brought a lot of problems in Turkey …even criminal actions. There’s also the problem of border security. Turkish public opinion is opposed to the Syrian people today,” said Casin.

Erdogan is promising to facilitate the quick return of Syrian refugees. However, such aspirations could well be dependent on the behaviour of Syria’s new rulers,

“The Syrians you have in Turkey are mostly women and children. So it has to be a government and administration friendly to women and children, specifically women,” says analyst Sezin Oney of the independent Turkish news portal Medyascope. 

“But we don’t know with these, Islamist, jihadist groups. Will they be really friendly towards these othe groups? So I don’t see the return of the Syrians who are in Turkey, really,” added Oney.

Erdogan is pledging that the return of the Syrians will be voluntary. However, analysts suggest more decisive action may be necessary, as the Turkish leader knows if the refugees do not return home quickly, it could have political consequences.

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.