While serving for a 5-4 lead in the second set, umpire Timo Janzen judged that the Brazilian had touched the ball as it flew out.

The call gave Fils the point to take him to 5-4 and despite Seyboth Wild and his captain Jaime Oncins pleading that no contact had been made, Janzen held firm and Fils stepped up a few minutes later to serve for the match.

At 30-30, with Fils showing signs of fragility, Janzen stopped the fifth point of the game believing that Seyboth Wild had challenged a first serve. When the video review showed the ball to have landed inside the line, he announced match point for the local hero.

Despite more pleading from Seyboth Wild and Oncins that no request for a challenge had been made, Janzen refused to relent. Fils terminated the late frenzy with his 11th ace of the match to register a 6-1, 6-4 victory.

“I thought Thiago had said something,” said Fils after the game. “But I wasn’t sure and I was ready to replay the point but the umpire said: ‘Match point.’ So I carried on.”

Drama

With Seyboth Wild storming off the court, the flurry left the 3,000 partisans pouring out of the Palais des Sports in good cheer.

Earlier, the French number one Ugo Humbert brought his country the first point of the first round qualifier with a 7-5, 6-3 win over the rising Brazilian Joao Fonseca.

The 18-year-old followed up his victory at the end-of-season tournament for the best players under-21 on the ATP circuit with a run through the qualifying rounds at the Australian Open into the main draw.

In Melbourne at the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, Fonseca saw off the world number nine Andrey Rublev in five sets but on Saturday in Orléans, western France, Humbert, ranked 15th, was too savvy.

“I love to play indoors,” said Humbert. “I returned really well and I thought it was the key to the win.”

Fonseca, who moved into the top 100 after his exploits in Australia concurred. “He played better than me. Of course, I’m frustrated that I lost but I played well.”

On Sunday, France, 10-time winners of the men’s team competition, will clinch the tie if the home pair claim the doubles match.

Should Brazil triumph, the singles matches will follow to decide the victor.

The film Haiyu – Rebel Singer Mariem Hassan and the Struggle for a Free Western Sahara, chronicles Africa’s last colony. This resource-rich territory of 266,000 square kilometres, with valuable phosphate deposits and fishing waters, is home to 600,000 inhabitants.

Since Spain ended its colonial rule in the mid-1970s, the region has remained caught between Morocco and Mauritania’s territorial claims, while Sahrawi independence fighters backed by Algeria continue their push for sovereignty.

At its premiere in Biarritz’s elegant Casino theatre, half the audience admitted they had never heard of Western Sahara. By the end, all applauded the film’s rare archival footage presenting an unprecedented Sahrawi perspective on the conflict.

RFI interviewed Mohamedsalem Werad, co-founder of the online platform Saharwi Voice and one of the film’s four directors, about the challenges of making the documentary and the story it tells.

RFI: Why is Western Sahara considered Africa’s last colony?

MW: Western Sahara remains colonised because superpowers like France and the United States provide Morocco with the support it needs to maintain occupation. Morocco does their dirty work in return for military and political protection at the UN Security Council. At the same time, they exploit the region’s natural resources for their benefit.

RFI: What was the goal of the documentary?

MW: The purpose of the documentary is to tell the story of Mariem Hassan and, through her, the story of the Sahrawi people and their fight for a free and independent Western Sahara.

RFI: Was Mariem Hassan the main symbol of Sahrawi resistance?

MW: Mariem Hassan was one of many figures in our struggle – and I insist on “one of”. There are many other legendary Sahrawis, from politicians to artists, who dedicated their lives to our cause. If we must speak of a Che Guevara for Western Sahara, it would be El Ouali Mustapha Sayed, the Polisario Front founder. He launched our revolution at 23 and was killed at 27.

RFI: How did music and culture play a role in Sahrawi resistance?

MW: We have a slogan: “Culture and music in service of liberation”. During Spain’s 90-year colonial rule, they deliberately limited Sahrawis’ access to education. Only a handful of people could read or write, so our nation relied on oral traditions like poetry and song. Music was essential for communicating messages of freedom, touching people’s hearts and strengthening their convictions.

From her refugee camp, Hassan sang against occupation, forced displacement and Morocco’s 2,700-kilometre defensive wall, built with American and Israeli expertise and known to Sahrawis as the “wall of shame”. Her song Arrabi al Arabe became an anthem for peace and unity.

Macron renews French support for Moroccan rule in disputed Western Sahara

RFI: What were the challenges of making this documentary?

MW: The film represents 10 years of work. We had no budget and faced enormous challenges. I worked from a refugee camp, another director was in Spain, and two others were in Sweden. We handled everything ourselves, from archive research to production, travelling only when we could raise funds.

RFI: Why are Sahrawi artists largely unknown outside the region?

There are so many barriers. We’re a small, divided nation, and even in the refugee camps, we only received electricity in 2015. We spent 40 years without development, making it impossible for our voices to be heard outside. Major powers have no interest in amplifying Sahrawi artists. It would expose their role in Morocco’s occupation and their exploitation of our resources.

RFI: What is Mariem Hassan’s legacy?

MW: When Sahrawis face difficult times, they find refuge and renewal in her music. She left us an extraordinary musical legacy that we must preserve.

In her final recorded message before her death in 2015, Hassan urged her people to continue to keep and develop our culture and arts. Through her music, she continues to inspire new generations to carry on the struggle.

We fight not just for her and past generations but for those to come,” Werad said, “so they won’t endure the same suffering she witnessed.

This story was adpated from the original version in French by Siegfried Forster

Now in its 52nd year, the four-day event celebrates the “ninth art” with nine major exhibitions, special guests, dozens of talks and a bustling publishing marketplace.

The festival officially kicked off on Wednesday with the Grand Prize going to French author Anouk Ricard.

The 54-year-old is only the fifth woman to receive the award since it was created in 1974. It is also the second consecutive year a female artist has won, following British writer Posy Simmonds in 2024.

“I’m definitely seeing more women authors and that’s a good thing,” Ricard told the press, adding that she was “overjoyed” and “proud” to be chosen by her fellow cartoonists.

Ricard, who first made herself known in children’s publishing with her series Anna and Froga, was in the running against fellow French author Catherine Meurisse and the American Alison Bechdel, a key LGBTQ figure.

Britain’s Posy Simmonds wins top prize at Angoulême Comics Festival

The super power of comics

One of this year’s biggest draws is Superman: The Hero with a Thousand and One Lives, running until 10 March. Created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster at the height of the rise of Nazism, the superhero’s story reflects decades of social and political change in the United States.

“In an era where everything feels more sinister, it’s easier to promote Batman, who has a darker view of society,” exhibition curator Yann Graf told AFP. But he insisted Superman is “more relevant than ever” amid social unrest and climate concerns.

The festival is also showcasing emerging talents and has a dedicated pavilion for school students, complete with its own awards.

For artistic director Marguerite Demoëte, the event’s success lies in its inclusivity. “It represents all genres of comics for all age groups,” she said.

She noted that France’s comic book industry attracts readers from all backgrounds.

“There is no contradiction between the popular aspect and the literary aspect of these works,” she told France 24.

Comics can tackle serious topics with satire and humour while bridging generational gaps. Demoëte pointed to Mortelle Adèle, a rebellious schoolgirl created by Antoine Dole, alias Mr Tan, as a book that has inspired many children to start reading.

Young talents paint a bright future for vibrant comic book business

Olé Olé! 

Spain is the guest country of honour this year, with its own pavilion and a focus on Spanish authors, with the exhibition “Constellation Graphique”.

The collection includes works of nine women avant-garde authors such as Barbara Alca, Marta Cartu and  Roberta Vazquez.

Ernest Urtasun, the Spanish Minister of Culture present at Wednesday’s awards ceremony, welcomed the inclusion at the Angouleme festival as a “historic opportunity” for his country.

“Most countries look at Angoulême as the central point of dialogue around comics,” he told AFP.

Emilio Gonzalo, general secretary of the Spanish Comic Sector told RFI’s Spanish service that many Spanish authors had made their mark in the competitive world of comics.

“Almost 200 Spanish authors currently work in the United States in the superhero market, both in Marvel and DC Comics,” he said.

Japanese manga is also a major feature this year, with three key exhibitions.

Vinland Saga: A Quest for Identity explores Makoto Yukimura’s cult series from the 1990s, while Gou Tanabe X H.P. Lovecraft: Hallucinated Visions dives into cosmic horror.

The third exhibit, Kamome Shirahama’s Sorcerer’s Workshop, showcases the enchanting universe of the Witch Hat Atelier creator.

“The returning hostages have just been transferred to IDF (military) and ISA (internal security) forces in the Gaza Strip,” the military said, referring to Israeli Yarden Bibas and French-Israeli Ofer Kalderon who were freed by the Palestinian militants in the southern city of Khan Yunis. The Israeli American Keith Siegel was also released.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a reaction that he shares ‘joy’ of Kalderon’s release after ‘unimaginable hell.’

Kalderon, 54, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the 7 October attacks along with his children Erez, 12, and Sahar, 16, who were released in November 2023.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office confirmed receiving a list of three male hostages to be released Saturday but did not publicly disclose names.

“All hostage families have been informed by military liaison officers,” the office said.

However Hamas named Kalderon, American-Israeli Keith Siegel and Israeli Yarden Bibas as the three to be released, according to the group’s military wing spokesman on Telegram.

Family reacts

The Kalderon family said in a statement: “It’s an immense joy mixed with paralysing fear. We are waiting impatiently to finally reunite with Ofer. Until he is in our arms, we won’t dare to believe it.”

Kalderon’s ex-wife Hadas escaped the October attack by hiding in a shelter with their older children.

“When I first heard about the agreement, I couldn’t believe it. Even if it’s not perfect, it must be accepted – otherwise, we risk bringing back fewer hostages,” she told French daily Le Parisien.

Macron tells Netanyahu to honour Lebanon truce as death toll from Israeli fire rises

The release leaves just one French-Israeli, Ohad Yahalomi, in Hamas captivity.

Yahalomi, 50, was also taken from Nir Oz alongside his 12-year-old son Eitan, who was freed in November.

Palestinians released as well

Also on Saturday, three buses carrying Palestinian prisoners released by Israel as part of a ceasefire deal arrived in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis on Saturday.

The prisoners, many wearing grey prison uniforms, were greeted by hundreds of Gazans who gathered around the buses as they approached the city’s European Hospital.

The prisoners were to undergo medical checks at the hospital before heading to their homes.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club in Ramallah, 150 of the 183 detainees released on Saturday as part of the truce between Israel and Hamas were to be transferred to Gaza.

The hostage-prisoner exchanges continue under the ceasefire agreement brokered between Israel and Hamas. On Thursday, Hamas released eight hostages in exchange for 110 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

While the truce remains in place, tensions persist – with the sight of armed militants escorting hostages through cheering crowds raising objections among Israeli officials.

During the French protectorate in Tunisia, thousands of soldiers were conscripted to fight in World War I as part of the African colonial riflemen – the tirailleurs. But little remains today in terms of archives or recordings documenting Tunisia’s role in the 1914-1918 conflict.

Now, a joint effort between the Lautarchiv of Humboldt University and the phonotheque of Tunisia’s Centre for Arab and Mediterranean Music has helped recover these lost voices.

Funded by the German Lost Art Foundation, the project marks a step towards restoring a missing chapter of Tunisia’s wartime history. Of the 445 recordings returned, 111 feature soldiers from across North Africa.

The discovery of the recordings came by chance in the 2000s, when Mounir Hentati, cultural advisor and former director of the Centre for Arab and Mediterranean Music, visited Berlin.

“One day, I was a bit tired, so I went to the library. Really, that’s how it happened. I asked if there were any recordings related to Tunisia, and that was the turning point. I discovered a real treasure, and I dedicated myself to studying these documents and listening to them,” Hentati told RFI.

Among the earliest recordings is a song expressing the hardships of war and exile, sung by a Tunisian soldier.

One of the soldiers, Sadok Ben Rachid, was held in a camp south of Berlin with nearly 4,000 prisoners when German researchers began recording them using gramophones and phonographic cylinders.

The project was part of an ethnographic study of North and Sub-Saharan African soldiers.

“Some were both poets and musicians, and they set words to old melodies to convey messages. Other prisoners were asked to recite the Quran or sing a melody from their region of origin. It’s a very varied material. For me, it’s very moving because it’s like sound archaeology,” Hentati said.

“As part of a review of their colonial heritage policy, more and more researchers and voices in Germany have called for these archives to be released, to bring these voices back to life and, in a way, to resocialise them.”

After 25 years of discussions, the archives have finally been returned to Tunisia.

► This report was produced by Lila Blaise for the RFI podcast Reportage Afrique.

As US-based company Nvidia – the world’s leading manufacturer of AI chips – reels from a record-breaking stock drop, European semiconductor firms and AI developers are weighing what the disruption could mean for them.

Philippe Notton, CEO of SiPearl, a European company developing processors for supercomputers, told RFI that DeepSeek’s ability to develop AI with fewer resources could be a turning point.

“That’s bad news for Nvidia in terms of future sales, because if you can develop some competitive solution with fewer Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), it means that Nvidia will sell fewer chips,” he said.

“All the forecasts predict that the hype on GPUs and Nvidia is collapsing.”

Artificial intelligence may lead humanity to extinction, industry leaders warn

Unexpected crash

DeepSeek’s launch last week sent tech stocks plummeting.

On 27 January, Nvidia, called the “posterchild of America’s AI frenzy” by Bloomberg, lost $589 billion in market value – the biggest market-cap loss for a single stock ever.

The Nasdaq 100 fell 3 percent, and the S&P 500 dropped 1.5 percent.

DeepSeek claims to have developed its model with just €6.23 million, far below its Western competitors.

For comparison, Stephen Walker, an AI developer and founder of Klu.ai, estimates that training OpenAI’s ChatGPT requires about 25,000 Nvidia H100 chips costing between €23,900 and €29,700 each – bringing total development costs to nearly €920 million.

“If what DeepSeek said is true, they can develop such a model for only €5.75 million with some 2,000 to 4,000 GPUs, which is very, very low compared to what the others are using,” Notton said.

“It’s good news for the planet because it’s going to use much less energy to build this. It’s good news for Europe because they could do it for a limited budget.”

AI development cannot be left to market whim, UN experts warn

Plagiarism concerns

As the dust settled, accusations surfaced that DeepSeek may have built its model using data from US companies. OpenAI and Microsoft are investigating whether DeepSeek trained its chatbot using their proprietary data.

Daniel Castro, vice-president of the Washington-based Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), compared the situation to past innovations.

“Apple didn’t invent the smartphone,” he said. “They just invented the best one, and that’s why they were so successful with the iPhone.

“When something like this comes out, all the other companies are asking themselves: what are we doing to make sure to lower the costs. Ultimately that competition will be very good for the AI industry.”

French industry

Meanwhile, European tech firms scrutinise the DeepSeek phenomenon with interest.

According to Semiconductor Review, the industry generates €25 billion in yearly revenue and employs more than 50,000 people, constituting over 10 percent of the country’s total exports.

However, Acsiel, which monitors trends in the French electronics sector, reports the market fell 19 percent in the third quarter of 2024, to €486 million.

A massive reduction of research and developing costs in the increasingly competitive AI market may prove very welcome. 

The French AI start-up Mistral on Thursday hailed the latest DeepSeek model as “great,” and announced another new release of its own.

“R1 is a great and complementary piece of open-source technology,” Mistral said in a statement, while announcing its own new release “Mistral Small 3”, which it claims is competitive with larger models including Meta’s Llama and Alibaba’s Qwen.

Over-regulation?

However, US analysts argue that European AI regulations could hinder innovation.

Stephen Ezell, vice-president at ITIF, said the EU’s AI Act, introduced in July 2024, was one of the most restrictive regulatory regimes we’ve seen for AI globally.

“If I was a European policymaker looking at how a company like DeepSeek is challenging probably the top European AI company, Mistral … I would be very concerned about the approach of now putting them at a further disadvantage through this regulatory regime that really restricts access,” Ezell said.

The developments gain added significance following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of the €500 billion Stargate project, a joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank that he called “the largest AI infrastructure project in US history”.

This is something that Europe cannot compete with, Notton said.

“But if finally, we can do it for let’s say 100 times cheaper, it becomes much more reasonable,” which makes the DeepSeek phenomenon “a kind of revolution because if it can be produced for a lower price, much more countries will be able to do it.”

France’s Mistral AI signs partnership with Microsoft

Fears for free speech 

Advocates of free speech and data protection advocates are worried.

If users ask DeepSeek questions that are sensitive to China’s Communist Party, it suddenly stops functioning properly.

Probes about the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, independence for Tibet or Taiwan, or about deposed politicians or Chinese dissidents are flatly answered with “sorry, that’s beyond my current scope. Let’s talk about something else”, or “I am sorry, I cannot answer that question. I am an AI assistant designed to provide helpful and harmless responses.”

But Castro is not worried. “American and European researchers are not going to use this AI chatpod to research Chinese history or politics,” he told RFI. “If that was the primary use, that would be of concern.”

Yet other worries remain.

Dieter Kugelmann, president of Germany’s Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, warned that DeepSeek “seems to be lacking in pretty much everything in terms of data protection law”.

The app collects extensive user data – including IP addresses, chat histories and keystroke patterns – which could be stored on servers in Hangzhou, thus potentially accessible to China’s Ministry of State Security.

If these concerns prove valid, the EU may need to act. The European General Data Protection Regulation only allows data transfers with countries offering comparable protections to the EU.

No such agreement exists between China and the EU.

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.

As you know, World Radio Day is coming up on 13 February, and we’ll have the annual WRD Sound Kitchen feast next Saturday, 8 February, to get you ready for your upcoming festivities.

Be sure and take a look at the RFI English Listeners Forum Facebook page – there are oodles of wonderful graphics posted by your fellow Sound Kitchen listeners – there’s even a World Radio Day quiz from Anand Mohan Bain, the president of the RFI Pariwer Bandhu SWL Club in Chhattisgarh India – so don’t miss out!

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 21 December, I asked you a question about that week’s International Report podcast, produced by RFI English journalist Melissa Chemam. It was really interesting – Melissa reported on a series of 22 short films produced by Gazan filmmakers.

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

Entitled From Ground Zero, the 112-minute collection is presented as a feature film in two parts and has been selected to represent Palestine at the Oscars in March 2025.

The project was made possible by the Masharawi Fund for Gaza Filmmakers, created in 2023 by Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi.

You were to listen to Melissa’s 15 December International Report podcast – “Gaza’s powerful war narratives make their way to the Oscars” – and answer me this: What are the names of three of Masharawi’s films, and in which years were they produced? 

The answer is, to quote Melissa: “Masharawi, who is from Gaza, is one of the first Palestinian filmmakers to have directed cinema projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.

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

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: What would your fantasy road trip be like?

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

The winners are: Ali Shahzad, a member of the RFI Seven Stars Listening Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan. Ali is also this week’s bonus question winner – congratulations on your double win, Ali!  

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are RFI Listeners Club members Father Steven Wara, who lives in the Cistercian Abbey in Bamenda, Cameroon, and Zenon Teles, the president of the Christian – Marxist – Leninist – Maoist Association of Listening DX-ers in Goa, India. There’s Bithi Begum, a member of the Shetu RFI Listeners Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh, and RFI English listener Amara, who belongs to the International Radio Fan and Youth Club in Khanewal, Pakistan.

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “The Courtly Dances” from Gloriana by Benjamin Britten, performed by Julian Bream and the Julian Bream Consort; “Bulbul Al-Afrah” by Dede Effendi Bayati Husseini-Muhayyer Maqam, performed by Nidaa Abou Mrad and the Classical Arabic Music Ensemble; “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 “Green Chimneys” by Thelonious Monk, performed by Thelonius Monk with the Thelonius Monk Quartet.  

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 “African nations set to light up the homes of 300 million people by 2030”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 24 February to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 1 March 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.   

When the United Kingdom formally left the European Union at 11pm universal time on 31 January 2020, the economies on both sides of the English Channel entered unchartered waters.

While breaking from the EU was championed by Brexiteers as a step toward sovereignty and economic independence, its impact has been mixed.

As Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks better deals with Brussels, EU officials insist insist Britain must first implement the existing agreements before any concessions are considered.

The financial burden of Brexit continues to mount, with estimates putting the cost at over €36 billion.

Unresolved questions

Trade figures show the scale of change.

UK exports to the EU fell by 27 percent and imports dropped by 32 percent between 2021 and 2023, the Institute for Public Policy Research reports. 

“It’s been a success in the sense that Brexit now feels like something in the past. It’s been done. But it’s not something that everyone’s terribly happy about,” UK politics professor Colin Hay, from Sciences-Po in Paris, told RFI.

“They’re not chuffed [with what] Brexit turned out to be. And that leaves a whole series of questions unresolved, which now become the agenda for the next five years and next 10 years.”

The UK has yet to fully implement the Brexit deal’s requirements for produce to flow freely between Britain and the EU.

Over the past five years, British businesses have adapted to new conditions and Prime Minister Starmer wants to improve the terms of trade between Britain and the EU. 

“But he doesn’t want something which looks like it’s about seriously revisiting and overturning part of the Brexit deal,” Hay said.

“So it’s a little bit one foot in, one foot out … in particular, what he has asked for is easing up the flow of goods into the UK economy from the European Union and vice versa, particularly foods.”

EU and UK clash in first post-Brexit legal battle over North Sea fishing ban

Europe still strong

While the EU has maintained economic cohesion despite global challenges like the Ukraine war and inflation, Brexit has affected both sides.

“Brexit was not a victimless crime,” said Hay. “Brexit caused hardship for Britain, but it’s caused hardship for every single one of the EU member states that exports to the UK.

“Since most of those economies had a balance of trade surplus with the UK, in one sense, it’s done almost more harm to EU member states together than it’s done to Britain individually. So there has been lots of suffering from this.”

The split has weakened Europe’s geopolitical position in negotiations with global powers like Russia, China and the US.

UK’s centre-left Labour sweeps to power as leader Starmer vows to bring change

Shifting attitudes

A recent YouGov survey found 55 percent of Britons now consider Brexit a mistake, with younger people particularly favouring closer European ties.

“The polls show that if a referendum were to happen tomorrow, Britain would vote to overturn the original decision,” said Hay.

“But there’s a very big but here, because if you study the polling data, if you ask British citizens if they would they like to have a second referendum, they’re very clear that they don’t want to revisit the question again … [and] the Labour government is not contemplating that at all.

“The British political class today views Brexit as something which has already happened and is irreversible now,” said Hay.

French forces have left Chad after 65 years of almost continuous presence in the West African country.

While the withdrawal was undertaken at Chad’s request, France’s foreign ministry told RFI it is “absolutely not the end” of cooperation on military matters.

The ministry’s spokesperson also outlined France’s position on the crisis in eastern DRC where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels are advancing in North and South Kivu provinces.

On Thursday, the French army handed the Adij Kossei base – its last military compound in Chad – over to Chadian authorities, with President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno welcoming what he called the “definitive and complete departure” of French forces.

The handover marks the end of France’s military presence in its former colony “according to the wishes of the high Chadian authorities” in the capital N’Djaména.

President Déby, in power since 2021, had previously said the cooperation agreements with France had become “completely obsolete” in light of “the political and geostrategic realities of our time”.

French withdrawal across Sahel

French forces have already been forced to withdraw from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in the wake of military coups, marking a decline in French influence in West Africa.

But Christophe Lemoine, spokesperson with France’s Foreign Ministry, insists the closure of the Kossei base was “the natural outcome” of talks with Chad in the context of reconfiguring France’s military presence on the African continent.

He underlined that France and Chad will continue to cooperate in several fields.

“It is absolutely not the end of cooperation with Chad in military terms,” he told RFI, adding that bilateral cooperation – such as public development aid, economic cooperation, cultural cooperation, student exchanges –  would also continue.

On Friday, however, Déby appeared to strike a different tone: “We are not breaking off our relationship with France but we are ending the military dimension of this cooperation,” the leader said at the base, where only the Chadian flag is now flying.

France to reduce military presence in West and Central Africa

Chad ‘not concerned’ by Macron comments

Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments to diplomats that African countries “forgot to say thank you” for France’s decade-long deployment to fight an Islamist insurgency in the Sahel met with irritation among France’s remaining African allies. 

Chad’s foreign affairs minister called the remarks “humiliating and unacceptable”.

Lemoine insists Macron was “expressly referring to the operations that have been deployed in certain Sahel countries at the request of these states”.

“I’m thinking of the Barkhane and Serval missions, especially in Mali,” he added.

French troops were deployed in Mali in 2013 to help in the fight against terrorism, at the request of Malian authorities.

“France lost 58 French soldiers in these operations. And I think that’s what the President of the Republic was referring to. It was not a criticism addressed to the Chadians who were not concerned by these operations. I think we have to be precise about the situation and not mix things up”.

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

Rwanda must withdraw

In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, heavy fighting between Rwandan-backed M23 fighters and Congolese government forces have led to several deaths and forced thousands to flee.

M23 claims to have taken control of Goma in East Kivu province and is advancing in South Kivu. It has vowed to march all the way to Kinshasa.

Lemoine described the situation as “very worrying” and “dramatic” for the civilian population, saying the situation had to end.

“From France’s perspective, the best way to end the situation is to find a diplomatic solution through dialogue between [Congolese] President Tshisekedi and [Rwanda’s] President Kagame, in order to put in place a plan for the full withdrawal of  M23 troops from the Congolese territory.”

France has already called on Rwanda to stop its offensive and Lemoine reiterated its demand that Rwanda withdraw its troops citing the principle of respect for DRC’s territorial sovereignty.

“North Kivu is Congolese territory and foreign troops must leave the Kivu area,” he said.

While Germany has suspended development aid to Rwanda in protest over the DRC crisis, Lemoine said France had “not yet” made a decision on whether to follow suit.

As for sanctions, he insisted that such decisions had to be made “either at the UN or EU level”.

Faithfull, who inspired the Rolling Stones to compose the iconic “As Tears Go By” in 1964, moved to the French capital in the 1990s.

She was a vocal fan of Édith Piaf and Juliette Gréco.

Faithfull was managed by François Ravard, who later became her partner. He produced her live album “20th Century Blues”, recorded at the New Morning club in Paris in 1997.

By the 2000s, she had settled in the first arrondissement, near the chic rue Saint-Honoré. About 10 years later, she moved to the Left Bank, living in Montparnasse.

‘Music saved my life’

Faithfull endured many health struggles, including alcoholism, drug addiction, hepatitis and breast cancer. In a 2011 interview with RFI’s Imogen Lamb, she reflected on the role of music in her life:

“[Music] really saved my life. I always thought it might. I had great faith in that.”

“I often think that it’s the vibrations in the sound that are so healing […] Certain chords are very healing. I know that.”

Tears gone by as Marianne Faithfull tours again

Speaking about “The Ballad of Lucy Jordan”, the hit from her album “Broken English”, which marked her comeback in 1979, she said: “It’s a song written by Shel Silverstein. He can write beautifully about women and what they’re feeling and thinking and the situation they’re in.”

Faithfull could identify with Lucy Jordan.

“I know I’m not a housewife in a white suburb somewhere, cleaning the house all day… I never was. But I do understand Lucy Jordan and I put my heart into it,” she said.

‘I ended up in this life by mistake’

In 2016, French news agency AFP interviewed Faithfull after she recounted her life in the documentary Marianne Faithfull, Fleur d’âme, directed by French actress Sandrine Bonnaire. The film won awards at the Biarritz Audiovisual Festival in 2018.

“I always tell myself I ended up in this life by mistake because of Andrew [Loog Oldham] and the fascination with the Rolling Stones,” Faithfull said.

In this interview, she also talked about “They Come at Night”, inspired by the 13 November, 2015 Paris attacks: “I was at home, so shocked that I had to write a text immediately.”

Yet, she would perform at the Bataclan on 24 November, 2016.

In 2020, after recovering from a severe case of Covid, Marianne Faithfull crossed the Channel back to London.

The group’s capture of most of Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, earlier in the week was a dramatic escalation in a region that has seen decades of conflict involving multiple armed groups.

Rwanda says its primary interest is to eradicate fighters linked to the 1994 genocide but is accused of seeking to profit from the region’s reserves of minerals used in global electronics.

The crisis has rattled the continent and international observers, with a southern African regional bloc holding an emergency summit in Zimbabwe‘s capital Harare on Friday.

M23 fighters are now moving south.

Local sources told AFP on Thursday that fighting was concentrated some 30 kilometres from the city of Kavumu.

The city has a strategic military airfield and is where the Congolese army has laid down its defensive line just 40 km north of South Kivu’s provincial capital Bukavu.

The United Nations warned it was concerned by “credible reports that the M23 is moving rapidly towards the city of Bukavu”.

Troops ‘vigorously’ countering M23 push, says DRC president Tshisekedi

The second biggest city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after Goma, Bukavu has a population believed to be around two million.

The Congolese army has yet to comment on the latest M23 advances but President Felix Tshisekedi said earlier this week that a “vigorous” military response was under way.

Information about the fast-moving offensive has remained unclear, but so far M23 fighters have met limited resistance from the ill-equipped and poorly paid Congolese forces.

In Goma, residents have emerged to count the dead and search for food, as hospitals struggled to cope with the wounded.

“We do not want to live under the thumb of these people,” one person, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

The United Nations, United States, European Union, China, Britain, France and mediator Angola have all called on Rwanda to withdraw its forces.

Britain said Thursday it was considering reviewing aid to Rwanda.

Tshisekedi skips crisis summit as M23 tightens grip on eastern DRC

‘Not Rwandans’

Rwanda has hit back at the criticism, with government spokesperson Yolande Makolo saying the UK did not deliver “a direct warning” about aid.

“The international community has its fair share of the blame in the current situation,” she posted on X.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame also strongly rejected accusations that Kigali is supporting the armed group, saying: “M23 are not Rwandans – they are Congolese.”

On Friday, the 16-nation Southern African Development Community will hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the “worrying situation”.

Kagame and Angolan President Joao Lourenco, the African Union-appointed mediator between Kigali and Kinshasa on the conflict, will not attend.

The meeting follows soaring tensions between Kagame and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa after the deaths of 13 South African soldiers in DRC’s east.

“We are ready to defend ourselves if we are attacked by a coalition including South African forces,” Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told South African public broadcaster SABC late Thursday.

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

‘We will not leave’

The M23 and Rwandan troops entered Goma on Sunday. During days of intense clashes that killed more than 100 people, the group seized control over much of the city as many Congolese soldiers surrendered or fled.

“We are in Goma and we will not leave,” Corneille Nangaa, head of a coalition of groups including the M23, said on Thursday.

“We will continue the march of liberation all the way to Kinshasa,” he added.

The offensive has heightened an already dire humanitarian crisis in the region, causing food and water shortages and forcing half a million people from their homes this month, the UN said.

Africa‘s health agency warned that the “unnecessary war” in eastern DRC – a hotspot for infectious diseases including mpox – raised the risk of pandemic.

The DRC has accused Rwanda of waging an offensive to profit from the region’s mineral wealth.

Rwanda has denied the accusations.

Monaco, the other French club in the play-offs will take on Benfica.

Following the eight games of the group stages, PSG finished in 15th place in the 36-team division. Monaco and Brest completed their campaigns in 17th and 18th respectively.

The draw, which took place at the headquarters of competition organisers Uefa, pitted the 2024 champions Real Madrid against the 2023 winners Manchester City.

Both teams ended outside the top eight places guaranteeing automatic qualification for the the last-16 and they will play each other for the fourth year running in a knockout tie during European club football’s most prestigious competition.

“It feels like a derby already,” quipped the Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola on Friday at a press conference ahead of his side’s Premier League game at Arsenal on Sunday.

“Four years in a row facing Real Madrid. Hopefully we can arrive in the first leg and then at Madrid in the best possible condition.”

In other play-off matches, Juventus take on PSV Eindhoven and in another battle between Dutch and Italian outfits, Feyenoord play AC Milan.

Last season’s Europa League winners Atalanta will face Club Brugge of Belgium while Celtic will vie with Bayern Munich. Sporting Portugal were drawn against last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund.

The play-offs will take place on 11 and 12 February with the return legs on 18 and 19 February.

The draw for the last-16 onwards will take place on 21 February.

Storm Ivo hit areas already struggling with flooding from storms Eowyn and Herminia. Red weather alerts remain active in three regions of Brittany – Ille-et-Vilaine, Loire-Atlantique and Morbihan.

Their combined impact of the storms was exacerbated by the fact that the ground was already drenched from previous persistent rainfall.

National weather service Météo France warned that the situation could get worse in the coming days and authorities are on high alert.

River levels expected to rise

The town of Redon, surrounded by two rivers, a canal and marshes, has been underwater since Wednesday.The Vilaine river’s level was hovering just below that of historic floods in 2001, but was expected to rise further, official alert body Vigicrues reported.

“It’s highly likely that the peak won’t be reached today, but it will be in the next few days,” Redon‘s Mayor Pascal Duchene told French news agency AFP.

He said an estimated 750 residents could be affected.

The Red Cross had set up an emergency shelter for 50 people at a local gym. A second shelter was being set up at another sports centre for 200 people, a Red Cross official said.

Meanwhile, Ille-et-Vilaine’s administrative centre Rennes experienced its worst flooding in 40 years, with rainfall around the city exceeding 178mm for January.

“Unfortunately we haven’t seen the worst of the flooding,” the mayor of Rennes, Nathalie Appere told AFP on Sunday, after around 400 people were evacuated at the weekend.

“It’s quite catastrophic,” a local resident Juanita told RFI. “I am also thinking of how the clean-up will be difficult for all these people once the waters recede.”

France declares natural disaster zones for nearly 400 towns flooded in October

De-waterproofing

The city of Rennes has already begun looking into ways to manage urban development and prevent flooding.

The city’s energy and climate agency told RFI that the plan is to “de-waterproof” the ground at “all levels” from the courtyards of individual houses to industrial lands and streets.

This means allowing water to gradually infiltrate the ground and prevent overflow.

On top of that, work is also being carried to restore local wetlands, which would be able to store excess water during storms.

Another solution is the restoration of agricultural land by replanting hedges, which naturally retain excess rainfall. These were previously removed to create bigger farming plots.

As residents struggle to clean up and shore up their homes and businesses, the Minister of Ecological Transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher said a “state of natural disaster” would be declared in the coming days.

France skipper Antoine Dupont set up three tries as the hosts went in at half-time on Friday night leading 28-0.

Dupont was taken off shortly after the pause but his absence failed to disrupt the France machine nor spark the visitors who slumped to a 13th successive defeat – their worst run in their 144-year history.

“A very good first match gives you no guarantees for the rest of the Six Nations,” said Dupont after the game.

“We’re satisfied with this win but next week, against England, a team in a different place to Wales, will be something else.”

Dupont was at the heart of the team that beat Wales, England, Ireland, Scotland and Italy to hoist the 2022 Six Nations crown and achieve the Grand Slam – victories over all five sides.

Ireland repeated that feat in 2023 and retained the title last year.

For the 2025 campaign, the Irish will be vying to become the first country to win three championships on the trot since the inception of the Six Nations in 2000 when Italy joined the Five Nations party.

“The goal is to win a championship and everyone wants to win a Grand Slam, that’s the ultimate goal,” said Ireland forward Tadhg Beirne in the prelude to Saturday evening’s opening game against England in Dublin.

“But there’s a big hurdle in front of us each week. This week it is England and as each week goes by it becomes clear whether we have the possibility of winning a Grand Slam or not.”

Ireland, the world’s second best team after South Africa, are expected to see off England, Scotland and Wales before the crunch against France, who lie fourth in the rankings, on 8 March at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Return

In Friday night’s match, France coach Fabien Galthié sent out Dupont and his Toulouse teammate Romain Ntamack at fly-half for the first time in nearly two years.

Injuries forced Ntamack to miss the 2023 World Cup and last year’s Six Nations tournament while Dupont skipped the 2024 Six Nations championships to prepare for the 2024 Olympics with the sevens team with whom he won a gold medal.

While Dupont shone against Wales in his Six Nations return, Ntamack blotted his copy book with a red card nine minutes from time for a dangerous tackle on the Wales fly-half Ben Thomas.

In contrast to the pre-match feel good factor around Dupont and Ntamack, Galthié entered far more controversial waters with the inclusion of the 21-year-olds Oscar Jégou and Hugo Auradou.

The pair were accused of raping a 39-year-old woman in their hotel room in Mendoza, western Argentina, following a drunken night out during the tour of South America last summer.

The men said the sexual relations were consensual and Argentine judges cleared them in December. However, the defendant has lodged an appeal against the court’s decision which will be heard on 10 February.

Cleared

Galthié has stressed that once the pair were exonerated, he felt that they should be available for selection for the national team. However, powerful voices in the French media have queried such swiftness.

“Fabien Galthié could have waited another two weeks for the appeal verdict,” said an editorial in the French newspaper Le Figaro on 15 January. “That would have been more respectful of Argentine justice.”

The editorial added: “The French rugby federation and Galthié had the opportunity to make their mark, to put ethics back at the heart of the game. And, more cynically, to avoid the headlines and other debates that will inevitably accompany the return to favour of Jégou and Auradou. The coach could have avoided hiding behind the law. Legally, that’s fair. Morally, it remains to be seen.”

Both Jégou and Auradou came on as substitutes during the match against Wales and were booed by sections of the crowd.

Galthié remained defiant about his decision to include the pair. “They’ve been tried, they’ve been arrested, and that’s as it should be,” he said after the victory. “And from the moment they are eligible for selection, if they are performing well, they have the right to a second chance, they have the right to redemption.”

Pressure

Around 80,000 fans watched the opening game of Les Bleus – the nickname for the national team. A similar crowd is expected at the arena to the north of Paris for the final game of the campaign against Scotland on 15 March.

Following Friday night’s annihilation of Walese, three games over the next five weeks will determine whether that clash will be a joyous coronation or a lament for what could have been.

The Elysée Palace reaffirmed France’s commitment to supporting Haiti’s security efforts and mobilising international partners, particularly within the European Union.

“The Haitian people can count on the solidarity of France, which has always been present in Port-au-Prince,” the Elysée said, adding that restoring security was an absolute priority.

Escalating gang violence in Haiti claimed over 5,600 lives last year.

France has been helping the Haitian police both bilaterally and as part of the Kenya-led multinational security support mission.

But with only around 800 police officers deployed – far fewer than the 2,500 originally planned – the force remains too small to counter the growing dominance of armed gangs, which the UN estimates control 85 percent of the capital.

Despite worsening violence, Voltaire said long-delayed general elections are set for around 15 November 2025.

Haiti has been without elected representatives since January 2023, and no elections have taken place since 2016 due to spiralling violence.

Speaking to French-language channel TV5 Monde, Voltaire stressed the urgency of the vote. “We must pass on power to a legitimate, elected government on 7 February 2026,” he said.

However, with more than one million Haitians internally displaced and over five million facing severe food shortages due to gang activity, doubts remain about whether the country can establish the necessary conditions for a free and fair vote.

Gangs could overrun Haiti capital if aid falls short, UN chief warns

‘Horrific brutality’

The violence is not limited to Port-au-Prince.

In Kenscoff – a mountainous commune once considered a refuge from the capital’s chaos – armed gangs launched a brutal attack earlier this week, killing several residents, including 12 members of the same family.

Reporting from the scene, RFI documented harrowing accounts from survivors.

One resident, a father of three, described the brutality of the attackers. “They kidnapped the father of a young man called Léger, killed him, and then burnt him near my home.

Haiti witness recounts gang massacre driven by witchcraft claims

“Another citizen who was trying to flee was captured and beheaded. Madame Jacques, a sister from my church, was also beheaded, and the bandits took her head with them.”Another witness, Naïca, voiced her despair after losing contact with her family following the attack.

“Members of my family saw their house and shop taken by the bandits. They’ve moved into the house now. But I don’t see them anymore, I don’t know where they are.”

Voltaire said the UN-backed mission in Haiti is insufficient and warned of worsening conditions if the United States cuts humanitarian aid and escalates the deportation of Haitian migrants.

“It is unprecedented. It shows you the level of engagement of the officers and the amount of violence in society,” Hubert Bonneau, head of the National Gendarmerie, told television station BFM.

“There is no such thing as a harmless patrol. You never know who you’re going to run into during an operation.”

Of the 10,000 injuries recorded in 2024, 5,300 occurred while gendarmes were on duty. The rest happened while travelling to work or during training exercises.

Official data shows that between 35 and 50 percent of all injuries took place in France’s overseas territories.

Attacks on officers

Bonneau, who took charge of the 130,000-strong force last October, said 63 gendarmes were shot at last year, while 1,000 were attacked with weapons ranging from guns and knives to blunt instruments.

“People are driving vehicles at them,” he added.

His comments came a day after L’Essor, the gendarmerie’s in-house newspaper, reported that an officer had suffered multiple injuries when a car driving the wrong way struck him at a motorway toll booth between Nantua and Oyonnax in south-eastern France.

“Every 20 minutes, a gendarme is confronted by someone who just refuses to obey a request to stop,” Bonneau said. “It’s just the everyday reality of the men and women serving as gendarmes.”

Prosecutor seeks trial for French police over delivery man’s death in chokehold

In a wide-ranging interview, Bonneau also spoke about the fight against drug networks, terrorism and rising violence in society – including the potential for social unrest.

Commenting on an internal memo instructing commanders to prepare for possible conflict, he said: “We’re in a violent society and we’re in a difficult international context.

“We’ve seen fighting for three years in Ukraine, which is important in the national framework for preparing an armed force such as the gendarmerie. Our mission is not only to do everyday policing but also – as an armed force – we must be ready to take on other eventualities such as aggression on mainland France.”

Dior’s Spring-Summer 2025 collection drew on “the creativity of past centuries” and aimed “to disrupt the order of time,” according to show notes.

Models with Mohawk-inspired hairstyles, their braids woven with feathers, walked the runway in draped skirts, short crinolines, lace, long fringes and capes resembling flower petals.

Trapeze dresses and coats were also featured, inspired by the silhouette designed by Yves Saint Laurent for Dior in 1958.

The show in the gardens of the Rodin Museum was attended by a star-studded audience, including former model and singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, American actors Pamela Anderson and Anya Taylor-Joy and French actress Camille Cottin.

Rumours have been swirling for months that British designer Jonathan Anderson might leave Loewe to take the reins at Dior, with both brands owned by French powerhouse LVMH.

The speculation has been fuelled by Anderson’s absence from recent Fashion Weeks in Milan, Paris, and London.

Luxury slowdown

LVMH is set to announce its annual results on Tuesday, figures the industry and analysts will pore over for evidence of how much a global slowdown in the luxury sector has hurt the business.

While Dior’s revenues have nearly quadrupled under Chiuri – from 2.7 billion euros in 2018 to more than nine billion euros in 2023 – some critics have charged the famed French house risks going stale and is ripe for a shake-up.

Meanwhile on Monday, British designer Stella McCartney announced that she had bought the 49 percent stake in her firm held by LVMH since 2019, for an undisclosed amount.

In a statement, the daughter of Beatles singer Paul McCartney said it was time for a “new page”.

But she said she would continue to advise LVMH chief Bernard Arnault on the environmental issues she has long championed, including avoidance of leather, fur and feathers in her collections.

Star designer McCartney slams killing of ‘billions of birds’ in the name of fashion

Haute Couture Week began on Monday with Schiaparelli’s traditional show, titled “Icarus”, which was also inspired by the past.

Corseted models with structured necklines and wide hips, including Kendall Jenner, paraded beneath the gilded ceilings of the Petit Palais.

Haute Couture Week showcases one-of-a-kind, entirely handmade pieces which are primarily intended for red carpets, high-profile events, and galas.

A total of 28 houses will present their collections over the next four days, including Chanel, Armani, Jean Paul Gaultier and Valentino.

The latter will show its first Haute Couture collection under Alessandro Michele, creative director since early 2024.

(with AFP)

Pelicot, 72, who was sentenced in December to 20 years for aggravated rape, is being questioned over a rape and murder in Paris in 1991 and an attempted rape in the Seine-et-Marne region outside the capital in 1999, his lawyer Beatrice Zavarro said.

She said the investigation, being handled by a unit in the Paris suburb of Nanterre dedicated to “cold cases”, had been going on since October 2022 and Dominique Pelicot had already been interrogated in October 2023.

He has denied involvement in the 1991 rape and murder case but has admitted to the 1999 attempted rape after he was identified by his DNA.

These dates are well before the near decade from 2011 to 2020 during which Pelicot invited dozens of strangers, whom he had recruited online, to the family home in the town of Mazan in southern France to rape his heavily sedated wife Gisele.

The 20-year gap between these crimes has sparked fears that Pelicot could have committed other acts in the interim that have not yet come to light.

His ex-wife Gisele Pelicot has been hailed as a hero for her courage and dignity in the over-three-month trial that ended in December with all 51 defendants, including her ex-husband and the men he enlisted to rape her, being convicted.

France urged to place consent at centre of rape law reform

‘Little bottle of ether’

During his trial, Dominique Pelicot confessed to the 1999 attempted rape.

“It was indeed me,” he said. “I took off her T-shirt, her shoes and her trousers but I didn’t do anything.”

But he denied having played a role in the murder and rape of Sophie Narme, a real estate agent killed in Paris in 1991.

“I have nothing to do with that case,” he said, despite the similarities in the two cases, with both the victims young real estate agents aged 23, who were visited by a man under a false name to view an apartment.

The two women were undressed from below in the same way.

A strong smell of ether — an anaesthetic historically used in surgery — was also noted at the crime scene around Sophie Narme, and the substance had been used to attack the young woman in 1999.

“I had a little bottle of ether in the car and a piece of string,” he said of the attempted rape case during his trial.

Asked why he fled, he said: “I had a mental block, thinking it could have been my daughter,” he said.

Pelicot’s daughter, Caroline Darian, would have been in her early twenties at the time.

Darian, now 46, believes she was also drugged and raped by Pelicot after seeing pictures of her unconscious body, wearing underwear she did not recognise, were found among the detailed records her father kept of his crimes.

She told the BBC this month that he “should die in prison” as he was “a dangerous man”.

Among the 50 others sentenced in December, 14 have appealed.

Dominique Pelicot could thus again appear in court, but as a witness, during an appeals trial later this year in front of a jury, according to a prosecutor in the southern city of Nimes.

“This is one of the most misinterpreted elections in our last 75 years,” said Charlie Cook, founder of the Cook Political Report. A well-known Washington analyst, Cook has provided independent commentary for decades and is widely followed by major US news outlets.

“Yes, Democrats are extremely disappointed that they lost the presidential election,” he said, but pointed out that the party “picked up seats in the House of Representatives”.

The Republicans still control the House after the 2022 midterms, holding 220 seats to the Democrats’ 215. But while a majority requires 218 seats, the Republicans lost ground – dropping from 222 seats in 2022 – while the Democrats gained two.

“Democrats lost four seats in the Senate,” Cook acknowledged. “But three of them were states that they probably shouldn’t have had anymore. They were very, very red conservative Republican states, West Virginia, Ohio, and Montana.”

Republicans now control the Senate with a 53-47 majority. But the election results were not a wipe-out. “Not a single governorship in the country changed parties. The state legislatures: very little happened. Same thing on Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State,” he said.

The elections, Cook argued, were split into two different worlds. “One for president and one for everything else. And the everything else wasn’t that bad at all for Democrats,” he said.

Biden’s loss was a “very focused, very targeted repudiation” of his presidency and the Biden-Harris administration.

“It was purely about the cost of living (which, under Biden, went up with a staggering 20 percent) and the border, but it did not contaminate or damage Democrats down ballot. It really didn’t,” Cook said.

Push to ‘drain the swamp’

Trump has vowed to “drain the swamp” – his term for cutting back what he sees as a bloated and corrupt bureaucracy that slows down Washington politics.

“Eight years ago he had to find the swamp,” said Cook. “He didn’t know much about Washington at all, knew little about government.

“Today he knows more and has more loyal people surrounding him,” he said, adding that Trump’s attempts to overhaul the system could be more effective this time around.

But Trump faces a tight timeline. Midterm elections in November 2026 are just 20 months away.

“He only has a window of about two years to get things through Congress” because of the Republican Party’s extremely narrow majority, Cook said.

“In 90 percent of midterm elections, the president’s party loses seats. So the executive authority is really where he’s going to have the biggest impact.”

A multi-party system?

A recent study in The New York Times proposed an alternative to the current two-party system, which dominates US politics. A Pew Research Centre poll found that “nearly half of younger adults say they wish there were more parties to choose from”.

The newspaper suggested a six-party system, with a “Progressive Party” representing Bernie Sanders supporters, a “New Liberal Party” for market-friendly but socially liberal Democrats, and a “New Populist Party” for those between the Democratic and Republican mainstream.

On the Republican side, the proposal imagined a “Growth and Opportunity Party” for traditional market-friendly conservatives, a “Patriot Party” for Trump’s MAGA movement, and a “Christian Conservative Party” for fundamentalist Christians.  

Cook, however, is doubtful.

“There are lots of ways you could divide up the American people. But there are very few true independents out there,” he said. “The Republican side has become more populist with scorning any kind of elitism, expertise.

“You can agree or disagree with a lot of what Trump does, but it’s more populist than conservative. And absolutely different from the tradition that you saw with any previous Republican president or presidential nominee that we’ve had.”

Cook added that the US “has never been as bitterly divided since the Civil War as it is today”, making a shift to a multi-party system unlikely.

What lessons did the Democrats learn from the presidential defeat?

“I haven’t seen many signs that Democrats have learned any lessons at all,” Cook said. “In 2020, Joe Biden won the Democratic nomination because he wasn’t Bernie Sanders. And he won the general election because he wasn’t Donald Trump.

“Biden thought he had won a landslide and took it as an authorisation to do a very ambitious legislative agenda. People described it as historic, transformational, compared it to Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, when he had the authorisation to not be Donald Trump.”

But Cook said the same dynamic is now at play with Trump.

“Whenever a party wins a narrow victory, but pretends they won by a landslide and governs as if they had won by a landslide, that party is in grave danger,” he said.

“Biden did that in 2020, and Trump is doing that right now. And there’s very likely to be a political price paid.”

The move follows what Algeria called “consistent testimonies” about discriminatory practices by border police at Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports.

The Algerian Foreign Ministry expressed “deep concern” over reports from travellers alleging “provocative, degrading and discriminatory” treatment by French authorities.

Secretary of State for the National Community Abroad Sofiane Chaib summoned French Ambassador Stéphane Romatet on Tuesday to lodge a “firm protest by the Algerian government against such totally unacceptable acts”, according to an official statement.

Chaib demanded France take all necessary measures to end “unacceptable practices that dishonour the French government”.

With Franco-Algerian relations at an all-time low, can they get back on track?

Border delays

State newspaper El Moudjahid reported that Algerian travellers faced extensive delays at Paris airports on Monday.

The paper claimed border authorities “intentionally closed all visa windows upon the arrival of Algerian passengers, leaving only one open for them”, forcing passengers to wait “longer than the duration of their flight” to have their passports stamped.

The newspaper accused French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau of orchestrating “a policy of humiliation directly targeting Algerians”.

France and Algeria revisit painful past in battle to mend colonial wounds

Historical tensions

Relations between the two nations, shaped by 132 years of French colonisation and a war of independence that ended in 1962, have deteriorated further since France announced support for Morocco‘s autonomy plan for Western Sahara in July.

The territory’s status remains undefined at the UN after five decades of conflict between Morocco and the Polisario Front independence movement, which Algeria backs.

The diplomatic rift widened after Franco-Algerian author Boualem Sansal was detained in Algeria in November, followed by French authorities arresting several Algerian social media personalities this month for allegedly promoting violence.

Algeria has urged France to ensure its citizens are treated with “respect and dignity” when travelling.

France has yet to respond publicly to the accusations.

Lille walloped Feyenoord 6-1 in the final game of the group stages to finish seventh in the 36-team division and gain automatic qualification to the last-16 knockout round.

The other three sides – PSG, Monaco and Brest – completed their campaigns in 15th, 17th and 18th respectively. They will contest a two-leg play-off for a place in the last-16.

Dembélé scored his first at the MHPArena in Stuttugart in the 17th minute to double his side’s advantage in a game they had to win in order to be assured of advancing to the play-off places.

He slotted in his second just before half-time to put PSG in control.

The 27-year-old completed his hit a hat trick nine minutes into the second-half to give PSG a 4-0 lead.

William Pacho put through his own net 12 minutes from time to gift the Gerrmans a consolation goal. PSG’s 15th place finish means they will be one of the eight seeded teams for the play-offs where they could play Brest or Monaco.

Other unseeded teams include Feyenoord, Juventus, Celtic, Manchester City, Sporting Lisbon and Club Brugge.

Adventure

Brest lost their final game of the group stages 3-0 at home to Real Madrid. Rodrygo opened the scoring for the defending champions mid-way through the first-half. England international Jude Bellingham doubled the advantage shortly after the pause. And Rodrygo completed his brace 12 minutes from time.

“We want to keep going and make even more history than we have already,” said Brest goalkepper Marco Bizot. “And if we can continue to get results, why not.”

Monaco, who were reduced to 10 men following Christian Mawissa’s expulsion in the 13th minute, went down 3-0 at Inter Milan. Lauro Martinez was the star for the hosts with all three goals.

“We knew it would be a difficult match,” Monaco midfielder Caio Henrique told the club’s website. “Playing against Inter at the San Siro is always tough. We made mistakes right from the start.

“But we’re leaving with our heads held high despite everything, and now we have to think about the next stage. The important thing is that we qualified and now we have to correct our mistakes for the next phase.”

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.

As you know, World Radio Day is coming up on 13 February, and we’ll have the annual WRD Sound Kitchen feast next Saturday, 8 February, to get you ready for your upcoming festivities.

Be sure and take a look at the RFI English Listeners Forum Facebook page – there are oodles of wonderful graphics posted by your fellow Sound Kitchen listeners – there’s even a World Radio Day quiz from Anand Mohan Bain, the president of the RFI Pariwer Bandhu SWL Club in Chhattisgarh India – so don’t miss out!

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 21 December, I asked you a question about that week’s International Report podcast, produced by RFI English journalist Melissa Chemam. It was really interesting – Melissa reported on a series of 22 short films produced by Gazan filmmakers.

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

Entitled From Ground Zero, the 112-minute collection is presented as a feature film in two parts and has been selected to represent Palestine at the Oscars in March 2025.

The project was made possible by the Masharawi Fund for Gaza Filmmakers, created in 2023 by Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi.

You were to listen to Melissa’s 15 December International Report podcast – “Gaza’s powerful war narratives make their way to the Oscars” – and answer me this: What are the names of three of Masharawi’s films, and in which years were they produced? 

The answer is, to quote Melissa: “Masharawi, who is from Gaza, is one of the first Palestinian filmmakers to have directed cinema projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.

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

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: What would your fantasy road trip be like?

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

The winners are: Ali Shahzad, a member of the RFI Seven Stars Listening Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan. Ali is also this week’s bonus question winner – congratulations on your double win, Ali!  

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are RFI Listeners Club members Father Steven Wara, who lives in the Cistercian Abbey in Bamenda, Cameroon, and Zenon Teles, the president of the Christian – Marxist – Leninist – Maoist Association of Listening DX-ers in Goa, India. There’s Bithi Begum, a member of the Shetu RFI Listeners Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh, and RFI English listener Amara, who belongs to the International Radio Fan and Youth Club in Khanewal, Pakistan.

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “The Courtly Dances” from Gloriana by Benjamin Britten, performed by Julian Bream and the Julian Bream Consort; “Bulbul Al-Afrah” by Dede Effendi Bayati Husseini-Muhayyer Maqam, performed by Nidaa Abou Mrad and the Classical Arabic Music Ensemble; “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 “Green Chimneys” by Thelonious Monk, performed by Thelonius Monk with the Thelonius Monk Quartet.  

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 “African nations set to light up the homes of 300 million people by 2030”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 24 February to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 1 March 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 government’s budget for 2025, if passed, will see public spending slashed by €32 billion. While most ministries are impacted, funding for public development assistance (PDA) is facing cuts of more than €2 billion – 35 percent of its budget. Coordination Sud, an umbrella group for 180 French non-profit organisations working internationally, say they’re being disproportionately hit at a time when international solidarity efforts are needed more than ever. Elodie Barralon, the group’s advocacy officer, talks about the impact of such cuts and concerns that civil society is being rolled back in France. (Listen @0′)

As a three-year experiment with medical marijuana comes to an end, instead of generalising its use, as intended, authorisation has been stalled. Nadine Attal, head of the pain centre at the Ambroise-Paré hospital in Boulogne near Paris addresses the sticking points, which include France’s current government chaos and the lack of political will to move forward. She sounds the alarm over the hundreds of patients enrolled in the experiment who have benefited from medical cannabis but whose health is now being ignored. (Listen @20’20”).

French humourist Pierre Dac came to fame in the 1930s with a winning brand of absurdist humour that managed to get everyone laughing while ridiculing no one. When WWII broke out he turned his talents to fighting anti-semitism, Hitler, and the collaborationist Vichy regime, joining Free France’s Radio Londres in 1943. He also founded a political party that defended the place of laughter and flabbiness in politics.  Fifty years after his death, on 9 February 1975, he remains one of France’s most popular, and humanist of humourists. (Listen @14’20”)

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).

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.   

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.