The goal now is clear, Retailleau said on Friday following a meeting with cryptocurrency executives: “To prevent, deter and protect.”

He promised to roll out a first wave of security and prevention measures swiftly, after images of the botched kidnapping of a prominent French crypto boss’s daughter on a Paris street went viral on Tuesday.

Amateur video showed a masked gang trying to abduct the daughter of Pierre Noizat, the CEO of French crypto firm Paymium, in broad daylight.

In January, the co-founder of French crypto company Ledger and his wife were kidnapped in central France, while in May the father of a crypto company executive was snatched in Paris. While all were rescued, both of the men lost a finger.

Security measures

The new measures include better partnering between law enforcement and crypto firms, giving top executives priority access to emergency services and offering them home security assessments by police experts.

A longer-term plan to improve security standards across the sector is also in the pipeline, Retailleau said.

Crypto professionals will be eligible for special security briefings provided by elite police units. The government also pledged to work closely with crypto entrepreneurs to deploy short-term measures aimed at disrupting organised crime efforts targeting the sector.

Alongside the planned government measures, the Association for the Development of Digital Assets, a major industry group, announced at the meeting it would raise awareness among its members on best practices for personal security.

Paris Perspective #38: Cryptocurrency and the Web3 revolution – Raphaël Bloch

‘Target on your back’

While authorities have said 10 people were questioned after the Ledger attack and seven were arrested following the first kidnapping in May, little is known about the gangs behind the attacks and identifying the criminals involved can be difficult.

While the blockchain – the secured database that contains the history of all exchanges made between its users since its creation – keeps an accurate record of transactions, it’s also “easier to hide your identity behind a pseudonym,” says Jérôme Mathis, professor of economics and finance at Paris-Dauphine University.

“Tracking the loot therefore becomes much more difficult,” he told RFI. “Criminals act rationally: they seek maximum gain with minimal risk. That’s why cryptocurrencies attract them.”

Some French crypto bosses say deregulation could provide executives with more security, by keeping the crypto paper trail more anonymous.

In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, Paymium criticised European regulations such as the international “travel rule” –  already in place in traditional financial institutions –  which requires data to be collected about the source and recipient of crypto transfers.

EU moves to tame the ‘wild west’ of cryptocurrencies in landmark legislation

Some executives are taking matters into their own hands, stepping up private security and considering hiring bodyguards.

To stay safe, Alexandre Aimonino, the 23-year-old co-founder of a crypto compliance software company, avoids public transport, skips industry get-togethers and varies his drive home.

“Working in the ecosystem feels like having a target on your back,” he told Reuters news agency.

Targeting new wealth

While they are a small part of global financial markets, the rapid rise in the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in recent years has created a new group of wealthy investors – tempting targets for criminal groups.

“Bitcoin, for example, has experienced spectacular growth. It was worth less than €1,000 in 2017, today it’s worth a hundred times more – nearly €100,000 euros – which makes it a highly coveted target for criminals,” says Mathis.

Crypto also holds its value and is easier to launder than cash.

“Unlike stolen jewellery, watches or luxury cars, that will have to be sold at discounted prices, there is no markdown on cryptocurrencies,” Mathis notes. “Digital assets are transferred from one account to another, allowing you to pocket the direct value of the cryptocurrency.”

He added: “Finally, in the case of ransom demands, digital assets are available 24/7. No need to wait to gather the requested funds. Transactions are instantaneous, without bank fees.”

Not unique to France

For some, the attacks are a symptom of France’s growing problem with violent crime.

“The heart of the matter is … whether we know how to repress crime in this country,” Noizat told BFM television on Friday.

Eric Larcheveque, a Ledger co-founder whose associate David Balland was kidnapped with his partner in late January, has referred to the “Mexicanisation” of France.

Mathis says we “may be getting close to that” given the kidnappings and ransom requests. But while he recognises it’s a worrying phenomenon, he insists it is not unique to France. “We’ve already observed this elsewhere in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, the United States, Latin America – Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela – or Africa, like in Nigeria.”

He said executives and their families should be vigilant, but not paranoid.

“There may be a kind of myth around cryptocurrencies today. Just as jewellers don’t all have diamonds at home, crypto entrepreneurs aren’t all millionaires,” he noted – although he added: “The richest have sufficient means to protect themselves and ensure their security.”

The former officers joined the Castres-based unit four years ago, hoping to dedicate their lives to the military. Nicknamed “Le Grand 8”, the regiment has fought in Afghanistan and is one of France’s most prestigious combat units.

“I aimed to join the special forces or become at least a non-commissioned officer. Now I’m on sick leave because of depression”, Clovis Tritto, one of the plaintiffs, told Le Parisien daily.

Tritto, 27, claims he was repeatedly insulted and ostracised for refusing to participate in hazing rituals and group harassment orchestrated by his superiors.

He and three others filed a legal complaint with the Paris public prosecutor on 9 May. The case targets their superiors and the Ministry of the Armed Forces, accusing them of “deliberate violence, moral harassment, threats, endangering the lives of others and incitement to suicide”.

French army says prepared for ‘toughest’ engagements

Archaic, harmful methods

“This is a courageous step by young men who not only want to denounce the serious abuses they suffered but also hope to see real change in military practices,” their lawyer, Thibault Laforcade, told the French news agency AFP.

“It’s time to reexamine how this institution functions. The military cannot continue to rely on archaic and harmful methods.”

Laforcade argued that younger recruits accept the discipline that comes with army life, but fundamental rights must be upheld – even within regimental walls.

In a letter addressed to Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Laforcade urged the government to “take all necessary measures to address these systemic problems”.

Other members of the unit also spoke to Le Parisien, describing a climate of fear in which soldiers who were shunned were isolated from their peers and denied contact.

They also described “entrenched” racism, saying words like “bonobo” and “negro” were used freely.

Is French Foreign Legion still an elite, international fighting force?

Zero-tolerance policy

The Ministry of the Armed Forces said it was taking the allegations “very seriously” and reaffirmed its “zero-tolerance policy” towards such practices.

“The French Army is determined to shed full light on the facts and has launched a command-level investigation,” the ministry said in a statement.

It also pledged full cooperation with judicial authorities and vowed that if the allegations are confirmed to be true, “those responsible will face severe disciplinary sanctions”.

Tritto said two-thirds of those who joined the regiment in the same year as him have since left the army, and one in four are dealing with depression.

(with newswires)

Enthusiasm for Eurovision is growing in France. A poll published on Friday showed that 56 percent of people had a positive image of the competition and 40 percent planned on watching Saturday’s final in the Swiss city of Basel.

Two-thirds said they like this year’s entry Maman by Louane, and more than a third think it could win. Although they would do, wouldn’t they?

The bookies have put the French entry in third place. So in theory there’s everything to play for. And Louane – born Anne Edwige Maria Peichert – is certainly not afraid of a challenge.

Eurovision returns amid protests over Palestine, Pride flags and parody lyrics

Premiering her song at the Stade de France during the Six Nations rugby tournament in March, she belted out the ballad while suspended 14 metres above the pitch, accompanied by strings and a full military band.

In Basel she gives an equally dramatic performance, alone on stage amid a sandstorm (actually made of cork shavings) – symbolising the sandpits of her childhood.

“It’s the first time I’ve done that but I’m happy. I was able to finish the song correctly. I choked a bit at the end, but it’s OK, it’s cool,” she told Le Parisien newspaper this week during rehearsals.

An ‘epic’ ballad

Louane rose to fame aged just 16, when she made it to the semi-final on The Voice.

She later won a César Award (the French equivalent of the Oscars) for most promising actress in the 2014 French-Belgian coming-of-age drama La Famille Bélier.

She lost both her parents when she was a teenager and the song Maman is a kind of open letter to both her late mother and her young daughter.

“I’ve changed a lot/I’ve grown up a lot/From you, I kept everything/That makes me who I am,” she sings.

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Written quickly last summer at the end of a recording session for her latest album, she said she’d decided to go with something she’d never done before, while keeping the ballad style she’s become famous for. 

“Ballads are in my genes but this is an ‘epic ballad’ and that’s something I’d never done before,” she told Eurovision. 

The song, a slow burner, builds to a dramatic crescendo. “Vocally it’s difficult, the most difficult of all my repertoire,” said Louane.

Eurovision heartbreak for France as Italy steals the show

Can she win?

France is competing against 25 other countries:  Norway, Luxembourg, Estonia, Israel, Lithuania, Spain, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Austria, Iceland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Poland, Germany, Greece, Armenia, Switzerland, Malta, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, San Marino and Albania. France will perform after Sweden, in the third-last spot.

Sweden’s trio KAJ are the hot favourites with their witty song about the joys of a sauna, Bara Bada Bastu.

But the popular vote, in which any country around the world can take part, can mean last-minute surprises. 

France hasn’t won since 1977, with Marie Myriam and her song L’Oiseau et l’Enfant. It was France’s fifth win. But since then, the country has averaged 12th place.  

However, it has been performing a little better of late, coming fourth last year with Slimane’s hymn to peace Mon Amour, and second in 2021 with Barbara Pravi’s Piaf-inspired Voilà. 

Alas, 2022 will go down in history for all the wrong reasons – Alvan & Ahez finished second to last with a performance in their regional Breton language.

Louane is singing in French which, given the country’s propensity to defend the national lingo, comes as little surprise.

Eurovision door still open for Celine Dion comeback

No song sung in French has won Eurovision since 1988, when Canadian Céline Dion represented… Switzerland.

However, this year five of the 26 entries are either in French (France, Switzerland, Luxembourg) or include French (the Netherlands and Israel).

What’s more, in a competition usually very much dominated by English, this year half of the entries are in languages other than English. Italy and Ukraine have both won with non-English language songs in recent years.

France has not always had a nose for a good song. In 1983 the singer Corinne Hermès submitted Si la vie est cadeau to the selection committee. They turned it down, so the artist offered it to Luxembourg – which won the competition.

More than 4,800 offences were recorded by police and gendarmes in 2024 – a 5 percent increase on the previous year – according to figures released by the interior ministry on Thursday.

Of those, 3,100 were classed as crimes or serious offences – a spike of 7 percent – while 1,800 were misdemeanours, up by just 1 percent.

Although the increase was smaller than in previous years – when annual rises averaged 15 percent between 2016 and 2023 – campaigners say the situation remains worrying.

The figures were published ahead of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, held each year on 17 May.

Julia Torlet, who leads the non-profit SOS Homophobie, told French news agency AFP the current climate was toxic.

“Political personalities are multiplying anti-LGBTQI+ discourse, which encourages hateful acts and gives them legitimacy,” Torlet said. “These discourses seep into society and become commonplace, which is dangerous.”

SOS Homophobie, which runs a national helpline and online support services, received 1,571 testimonies in 2024 – down from 2,085 the year before.

Of those reports, 55 percent were linked to homophobia and 23 percent to transphobia.

Court finds seven guilty of bullying Paris Olympics choreographer

Young men most affected

Most victims of serious anti-LGBTQI+ offences were men – more than 70 percent – and almost half were under 30, according to the interior ministry’s statistics.

Those accused of these offences were also mostly male (83 percent) and often young. Around a third of offences involved insults or defamation, while 9 percent took place online.

Physical violence and threats each made up nearly 20 percent of the more serious offences.

Despite the rise in incidents, few victims go to the police. Only about 4 percent file a complaint, according to a separate government survey.

Torlet said online harassment had worsened. “Anti-LGBTQI+ rhetoric from politicians also unleashes online speech – we find ourselves with an explosion of anti-LGBTQI+ comments and cyberbullying,” she said.

Torlet cited recent attacks on public figures such as Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, which included drag queens.

DJ Barbara Butch, who performed in the segment, was also targeted.

French football league orders PSG to shut stand over homophobic abuse

Calls for stronger enforcement

Torlet said hateful language – especially from public figures – had become alarmingly widespread.

“We have laws, but they must actually be enforced, which is not yet the case,” she told FranceInfo. “There are still rights that need to be gained.”

She also called for more education, saying “we still hear a lot of fake news about LGBTQI+ people”.

More than half of all recorded offences took place in Paris and other cities with populations greater than 200,000 people.

(with newswires)

Kyiv is seeking an “unconditional ceasefire” in the fighting that has killed tens of thousands, destroyed large swathes of Ukraine and displaced millions of people.

Moscow says it wants to address the “root causes” of the conflict and revive failed 2022 negotiations in which it made sweeping territorial and political demands of Ukraine.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called for a ceasefire as he opened the meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegations around 1:35pm in Istanbul‘s Dolmabahce Palace.

“While the war continues to take lives, it is of critical importance that the ceasefire be implemented as soon as possible,” Fidan said.

EU approves new sanctions package targeting Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’

He sat at the head of a table in front of Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian flags – with Russian and Ukrainian delegations facing each other, footage from the room showed.

Hundreds of journalists were waiting outside the palace.

The two sides spent the 24 hours before the talks slinging insults at each other and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of not being “serious” about peace.

Nevertheless, the fact the meeting was taking place at all was a sign of movement, with both sides having come under steady pressure from Washington to open talks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to travel to Turkey for the talks, which he had proposed, sending a second-level delegation instead.

Zelensky criticised Russia for not taking the talks “seriously” by despatching people who he said had no power to make decisions.

Both Moscow and Washington have also talked up the need for a meeting between Putin and US President Donald Trump on the conflict.

“Contacts between presidents Putin and Trump are extremely important in the context of the Ukrainian settlement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday, adding that “a meeting is undoubtedly necessary.”

Trump had said Thursday that nothing would be settled until the two leaders met.

France leads EU push for tougher Russia sanctions amid ceasefire stalemate

‘Unconditional ceasefire’

“Ukraine is ready for peace and a long-term and unconditional ceasefire,” Zelensky’s top aid Andriy Yermak said Friday.

“The Ukrainian delegation is in Istanbul today to achieve an unconditional ceasefire – this is our priority,” he added.

Ahead of the talks with Russia, Ukrainian officials held meetings with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg and the national security advisors of Britain, France and Germany.

Rubio “discussed the importance of seeking a peaceful end to the Russia-Ukraine war”, and reiterated “the US position that the killing needs to stop”, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.

A Ukrainian diplomatic source in Istanbul told AFP the delegation also wanted to discuss a possible Putin-Zelensky meeting.

Another source accused Moscow of blocking US participation in the peace talks – the first since early 2022.

Western leaders have criticised Putin for skipping the talks and sending his aide – a former cultural minister who is not seen as a key Kremlin decision-maker – Vladimir Medinsky.

Rubio acknowledged that the Russian representation was “not at the levels we had hoped it would be at” and downplayed expectations for a breakthrough.

‘Points of contact’

Russia’s Medinsky led the failed 2022 talks with Ukraine at the start of the war.

He said Thursday that Moscow sees the talks as a “continuation” of talks that failed in 2022 – a sign that Moscow’s hardline demands have not changed.

But Medinsky pushed back against Zelensky’s criticism and insisted that the Russian delegation has a mandate from Putin to “find possible solutions and points of contact.”

Russia has repeatedly said it will not discuss giving up any territory that its forces occupy.

Kyiv‘s chief negotiator is Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who has roots in Crimea, the peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014.

‘Avoiding peace’

Kyiv and Moscow last held direct diplomatic talks in March 2022, in the first weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They collapsed and fighting has raged since, with Moscow now occupying around a fifth of Ukraine.

Russia continued its attacks in the hours ahead of the talks, with Kyiv saying at least two people were killed.

European leaders slammed Putin for skipping the Istanbul talks.

EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas charged Friday that Russia was “clearly” not working for peace with Ukraine.

While NATO chief Mark Rutte said Putin had made a “big mistake” by sending a lower-rank Russian delegation to Istanbul.

Promised the Sky opens Un Certain Regard

Franco-Tunisian director Erige Sehiri returns to Cannes with Promised the Sky, which opens the Un Certain Regard section. Her previous film, Under the Fig Trees, drew wide acclaim for its focus on women’s lives and quiet resilience.

Sehiri’s new story centres on Marie, an Ivorian pastor living in Tunis, who opens her door to two young women – Naney, a mother seeking a better life, and Jolie, a determined student. Their fragile household is shaken when they take in Kenza, a young girl who has survived a shipwreck.

Set against a backdrop of growing hostility towards sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia, the film explores themes of solidarity, migration and the search for identity.

Aisha Can’t Fly Away shows life in the margins

Morad Mostafa’s debut feature, Aisha Can’t Fly Away, also screens in Un Certain Regard. It follows Aisha, a 26-year-old Somali care worker living in Ain Shams, a working-class neighbourhood in Cairo with a large migrant population.

Violence between local gangs and different communities is a constant threat, with the authorities turning a blind eye. Based on Mostafa’s own experience growing up in the area, the film offers an intimate and sometimes unsettling view of daily life for migrants in Egypt.

Mostafa’s earlier short, I Promise You Paradise, was shown at Cannes Critics’ Week in 2023 and went on to win the Poulain d’Or prize at this year’s Fespaco festival. Aisha Can’t Fly Away marks Egypt’s first return to the Croisette since Clash in 2016.

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Indomptables brings Cameroonian noir to Cannes

French-Cameroonian actor and comedian Thomas Ngijol surprises audiences with Indomptables, a gritty thriller selected for the Directors’ Fortnight. The film follows Commissioner Billong as he investigates the murder of a police officer in Yaoundé.

Inspired by A Crime in Abidjan, a documentary by Mosco Levi Boucault, the story explores justice, corruption and personal limits in a violent and fractured society. Ngijol plays the lead role himself, and the film was shot entirely in the Cameroonian capital.

“The ensemble of the cast is perfect,” the selection team said. “Thomas Ngijol is absolutely extraordinary, not only as a director, but also as an actor.” The team described the film as a powerful and unexpected addition from Cameroon.

My Father’s Shadow marks a first for Nigeria

For the first time, a Nigerian film is part of the official competition at Cannes. My Father’s Shadow, by Akinola Davies Jr, is set during Nigeria’s 1993 presidential election – the country’s first attempt to return to civilian rule after years of military leadership.

That vote, widely seen as the fairest in the nation’s history, was annulled by General Ibrahim Babangida, triggering mass protests. Around 100 people died in the unrest that followed.

In the midst of that chaos, the film follows two brothers spending the day together in Lagos. Blending fiction and autobiography, Davies reflects on family, power and the weight of political memory.

Tom Cruise returns to Cannes with Mission Impossible finale

L’mina reveals Morocco’s hidden miners

In the Moroccan town of Jerada, coal mining never truly stopped despite the official closure of pits in 2001. In L’mina, French-Moroccan visual artist and filmmaker Randa Maroufi reconstructs the reality of this underground economy in a 26-minute short.

The film features Jerada residents who play themselves, acting out scenes drawn from their daily lives. This collaborative approach offers a raw and authentic glimpse into the community’s resilience and resourcefulness.

L’mina is screening in Critics’ Week and is Maroufi’s fifth short film.

Life After Siham explores grief and memory

Life After Siham, by Franco-Egyptian director Namir Abdel Messeeh, is an emotional documentary selected by ACID – a group that supports independent filmmaking at Cannes.

Following the sudden death of his mother, Siham, Abdel Messeeh revisits family archives, old home videos and childhood memories. Through an investigation into his family history between Egypt and France, the film becomes both a tribute and a personal journey into grief, memory and identity.

Messeeh’s earlier film, The Virgin, the Copts and Me, combined humour with cultural reflection. This new work strikes a more introspective tone.

Ukraine, Gaza and #MeToo in the spotlight as Cannes Film Festival opens

This article was adapted from the original version in French by RFI’s Yann Le Ny

Within weeks of taking office in January, Trump began cutting health and climate research budgets, and France began asking its own scientific institutions to come up with ways to host scientists from the US.

In March, Research and Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste wrote a letter to France’s national research institutions and universities, and the University Aix-Marseille was one of the first to answer the call, committing €15 million to fund three-year research projects for 40 to 50 scientists from the US in a range of fields with its Safe Space for Science programme.

Listen to scientists who came to work in France during the first Trump administration, in the Spotlight on France podcast, episode 128: 

“This initiative comes out of a sense of indignation about what is happening in the United States, to offer scientific refuge to American colleagues, whose research is blocked and academic freedom impaired,” Aix-Marseille University president Eric Berton told RFI.

French university opens doors to US scientists fleeing Trump’s research cuts

French President Emmanuel Macron has committed €100 million to attract foreign researchers to France – a way for French institutions to recruit high-level talent, and to draw attention to France’s research capacities.

By April, Aix-Marseille had received nearly 300 applications from universities across the US, with 135 of the applicants US citizens 45 dual citizens.

‘Make our planet great again’

This is not the first time that France has tried to recruit scientists from the US.

In 2017, after Trump was elected to his first term and pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Macron launched a programme – called “Make our planet great again” – to encourage climate researchers in the US to come and do their research in France.

The programme drew applicants who were working in the US, but most were foreigners – with Americans not applying in the numbers seen in 2025.

“There wasn’t this clear an attack on US climate institutions as we’re seeing right now,” one of the grantees, climate researcher Ben Sanderson, told RFI.

Born and educated in the UK, he had been happily working in the US for a decade, but he grew concerned about the Trump administration’s approach to climate research.

“We weren’t seeing the closures of entire institutions in the same way that we’re seeing now. It didn’t seem reasonable to think of yourself as a climate refugee at that point in time.”

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However, because Sanderson was working on climate policy, he felt he would be better off looking for a job elsewhere.

It was easier for him to imagine working in Europe than it was for an American with deeper ties to the US, but even for him and his wife – also a British scientist – the decision to leave was difficult.

“The US is an amazing place to do science,” he said. “It’s a great place to work”

Through the programme, he was recruited to the CNRS, France’s national research centre, and went to work for Sirfax, a research institute in Toulouse.

Academic freedom

Philip Shulz, a physicist working on solar projects, also came to work in France as part of the programme, after spending years in the US.

“The job security that comes with the CNRS position is really remarkable and gives a clear perspective on how you’d like to structure your scientific trajectory and your career. It’s a true outlook to perform free research,” he said.

The current recruitment drive comes as France has cut more than €1bn from its research budget as part of a broader attempt to reduce a soaring budget deficit, and French scientists have questioned investing money recruiting foreign scientists when home-grown researchers are feeling the pinch.

Sanderson said he felt a similar pushback from the French scientific community when he arrived in 2018.

“Resources are sparse and therefore it can be perceived as another drain on local resources,” said Shultz, who has stayed in France, running the Photovoltaic institute of Ile de France.

He said he came to build a lab with local talent. “It was always important to underline that this is not a programme just for me, to lure one researcher from the US to France.”

Instead, he used the grant “to hire young French researchers to pursue research in France, with me being there to give guidance and counselling”.

US denies entry to French scientist over ‘hateful’ messages

A global effort 

Sanderson, who has since moved to an institute in Norway, says that climate research in particular should be considered in broader terms than individual scientists.

“It’s important to think about individuals and what they contribute towards climate science, but it’s also important to note that climate science is fundamentally this collective effort, and a lot of this is going to land in Europe’s hands to continue momentum into providing input to things like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,” he said.

Much global climate research still depends on resources in the US, and because not all scientists will want or be able to move, France – and Europe – should focus on other ways to preserve the research, he believes.

“I think any effort of individual countries to be poaching scientists at this point isn’t properly thought out,” he said.

“A lot of US scientists aren’t going want to leave the US, so how do you mobilise some collective European effort to make sure that mission-critical people in the US are able to carry on doing their jobs, which will then be to the benefit of everyone?”

Find more on this story in the Spotlight on France podcast, episode 128, listen here.

Ahead of the first semi-final on Tuesday night, the contest announced its arrival in host city Basel on Sunday with a parade – mixed with protests over Israel’s participation – to kick off a week of revelry building up to the grand final on Saturday, 17 May.

The Eurovision Song Contest was launched in 1956 (with Switzerland the inaugural host) to foster European unity in the wake of the Second World War. A campy yet heartfelt celebration of diversity, national pride and the power of pop, it has gone from seven participating countries to 37, and is now the world’s biggest annual live televised music event, reaching 163 million viewers in 150 countries in 2024.

The final on Saturday will see 26 of the 37 entrants compete for the grand prize, the rest having been eliminated in two semi-finals on Tuesday and Thursday. As the host, Switzerland is guaranteed a place in the final, as are the so-called Big Five – France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom – who contribute the most towards the cost of staging the contest.

A history of controversy

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises Eurovision, insists it is a strictly non-political event but, as they do most years, organisers will have their hands full containing tensions over culture wars and conflicts – this year, those being waged in Gaza and Ukraine.

“It’s impossible to depoliticise the event,” Dean Vuletic, a historian and the author of Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest, told French news agency AFP.

“It is completely impossible,” agreed Jess Carniel, an associate professor at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia. “With everyone competing under their national flag… there is always an undercurrent of politics.”

The Palestinian who almost represented Iceland at Eurovision

This has previously manifested as an Austrian protest over Franco’s dictatorship in Spain in 1969 and Greece submitting a song in 1976 slamming Turkey over its invasion of Cyprus.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated the event in 2022 – which Ukraine won and from which Russia was (and still is) barred – while last year saw protests over Israel’s war in Gaza and its inclusion in the contest cast a long shadow in the host city of Malmo, Sweden.

‘A message of healing’

Demonstrations are already planned against Israel’s participation this year and security has been stepped up. The event will see 1,300 police officers on duty, with specialists drafted in from the military alongside cyber security experts.

Isreal’s entrant Yuval Raphael survived the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival on 7 October, 2023, and will perform a song entitled New Day Will Rise, which she describes as a message of healing and solidarity. 

More than 70 former Eurovision competitors last week signed an open letter calling for Israel to be banned from the event over the war in Gaza, including France’s 2023 entrant La Zarra, the UK’s Mae Muller and Iceland’s Da∂I Freyr.

Last year’s winner Nemo has joined calls for Israel to be ejected, saying: “Israel’s actions are fundamentally at odds with the values that Eurovision claims to uphold – peace, unity, and respect for human rights.”

Spain’s public broadcaster has also asked the European Broadcasting Union, which organises Eurovision, to open a “debate” on whether Israel should be allowed to take part, a move also backed by Iceland and Slovakia, while a protest took place outside the offices of Irish broadcaster RTE on Friday calling for it to withdraw from the contest in protest at Israel’s inclusion.

Spain public broadcaster calls for ‘debate’ over Israel’s Eurovision participation

RTE director general Kevin Bakhurst said it would not pull its entry – Laika Party, an ode to the first dog in space, performed by singer Emmy (who is Norwegian) – out of the competition.

However, he said he had written to the EBU, chaired by Irishman and former RTE director general Noel Curran, to ask for a “discussion” on Israel’s inclusion in the contest.

In response to the criticism, Eurovision director Martin Green said: “As a reminder, the EBU is an association of public service broadcasters, not governments, who are all eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest every year if they meet the requisite requirements.

“As part of its mission to secure a sustainable future for public service media, the EBU is supporting our Israeli Member KAN against the threat from being privatised or shut down by the Israeli government.”

Ukraine singer’s home destroyed

The EBU has also faced criticism over what some have called double standards, given that Russia has been barred from the event since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, while Israel has not faced similar sanctions in the wake of the war in Gaza. 

Ukraine’s 2025 contestant Khrystyna Starykova posted on Instagram last week that her home has been destroyed by Russian shelling in the city of Myrnograd, while she has been in Switzerland rehearsing. 

She posted photos of her damaged apartment block in the Sviltly neighbourhood, with the caption: “Home. And I dreamed so much of returning home.”

Eurovision winners auction trophy, give 850,000 euros to Ukraine army

In an interview with Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne, she vowed to carry on and perform “for the sake of our country” and “to show what a strong people we are”.

In response to Russia’s expulsion, President Vladimir Putin has ordered the revival of a Soviet-era alternative to Eurovision, named Intervision – with the aim of “developing international cultural and humanitarian cooperation”, the Guardian reported.

Presidential envoy Mikhail Shvydkoi has said that countries including Brazil, Cuba, India and China had already agreed to take part in the event, planned for the autumn. 

Swiss referendum

This year’s event has also sparked debate in the host nation Switzerland, where the conservative Federal Democratic Union (EDU) party waged a campaign to block public funding for it – based on what it called the contest’s promotion of a “woke agenda”. 

“It has become like a freak show,” Samuel Kullmann, a member of the Bern cantonal parliament, told Reuters, accusing Eurovision of pushing queer identity narratives at the expense of traditional values.

Last year’s winner Nemo won the 2024 contest with The Code, a song about their journey of non-binary gender identity self-discovery.

There were also objections from evangelical Christian groups, who claim performers regularly sing about satanism and the occult. 

But in a referendum – a regular feature of Swiss democratic life – on 24 November last year, 66.6 percent of voters gave approval to Basel’s budget for the event of $40 million.

Basel backs splashing the cash to host Eurovision

Flying the flag

The organisers have also adopted a new flag policy this year, following a row last year.

In a tightening of rules, contestants will now only be allowed to display the flag of the country they are representing, while restrictions for audience members have been loosened – they can now wave any flag they like in the arena, including Palestinian flags and all iterations of LGBTQ+ flags. 

This was in contrast to last year’s event, where only the flags of competing countries and the standard six-stripe rainbow Pride flag were permitted in the arena. Non-binary acts Bambie Thug from Ireland and Switzerland’s Nemo were not allowed to wave the non-binary flag on the Eurovision stage.

The decision to ban Pride flags from the stage this year has been a controversial one, given Eurovision’s legendary LGBTQ+ fanbase.

The Netherlands’ national broadcaster Avrotros appealed to organisers to relax this rule in the run-up to this year’s live final, following a request from an LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group in the country.

After discussions, the EBU decided against a rule change so close to the contest, with event director Green saying: “Eurovision needs no flag to demonstrate its alliance and celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. You only have to see the show, see the people that are taking part, hear what they’re singing about.”

Lyrics under the spotlight

While the EBU said it was too late to rewrite the rules on flags, one entrant was asked to change their song title and lyrics, after the organisation deemed the original version too reminiscent of an offensive English word.

Maltese singer Miriana Conte was to sing a song called Serving Kant – a play on the Maltese word for “singing” and a well-known phrase in drag culture that uses an English term for female genitalia. 

The request was reportedly prompted by a complaint from the BBC, according to the Times of Malta, although the UK broadcaster has declined to comment on this.

Meanwhile, some in Italy have taken offence at Estonia’s entry, Espresso Macchiato by singer Tommy Cash – who has previously dubbed himself “Kanye East” and is known for his provocative and tongue-in-cheek parodies. 

The song is sung in a mock Italian accent, and some have said it perpetrates stereotypes, with lines such as: “It keeps me sweating like a mafioso.”

Codacons, the Italian association for consumer rights, has called for the song to be disqualified, as has Gian Marco Centinaio, a senator with Italy’s far-right League party, who said: “Those who insult Italy should stay out of Eurovision.”

The bookies’ choice

While rumours swirl of an appearance by Canadian singer Celine Dion – who won the contest for Switzerland in 1988, launching her career in the process – France’s hopes this year are being carried by Louane, a superstar in the country who rose to fame aged 16 when she appeared on TV singing competition The Voice. Since then she has sold more than 3 million albums.

She’ll be singing a ballad entitled Maman, a conversation with her late mother, who died when Louane was 17 – a track she debuted during half-time at the Six Nations rugby match between France and Scotland in March, performing on a platform 20 metres above the pitch.

Bookmakers predict France will finish in third place, with Austria in second and Sweden’s entry KAJ (a band from Finland) the hot favourites to win – with a catchy ditty about the joys of a having a sauna.

(with newswires)

Simion, a former football hooligan, is known for his fiery speeches and his admiration for US President Donald Trump. He won a comfortable 40.9 percent in the first round. If he wins the second round, his victory could have a significant impact on the country’s relationship with the EU and NATO.

His rival, Nicușor Dan, a centrist who secured less than 20 percent of the vote, hopes to attract undecided voters in an effort to prevent a nationalist shift under the Eurosceptic Simion, who opposes sending aid to neighbouring Ukraine.

Romania names interim premier as pre-election turmoil deepens

According to political scientist Sergiu Miscoiu, no previous Romanian election has been this polarising.

“An increasing number of Romanians are challenging the entire political and administrative system, as well as the decision-making rules and procedures. Many are also rejecting the political class itself,” he told RFI.

Miscoiu explains that both candidates are “anti-system to some extent”. However, the difference lies in their approach. Dan and his supporters aim to reform the system to align it more closely with liberal democracy, while Simion’s supporters are pushing for “illiberal sovereignism and populism as a natural policy”.

This divide is unprecedented in Romania. “We have always had polarisation in the second rounds,” said Miscoiu, “but never in a way that called into question the very existence of the democratic system or the geopolitical direction of Romania.”

The last major schism occurred 25 years ago, when Corneliu Vadim Tudor, the leader of the far-right Greater Romania Party, qualified for the second round of the 2000 elections. However, he secured only 30 percent of the vote and lost to former Communist Ion Iliescu.

‘A gift for Russia’

According to Miscoiu, Simion’s pursuit of “illiberal democracy” is in emulation of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

“His intention is to turn Romania into a player that is totally independent from the other EU countries, to cultivate relations with Russia, China, Turkey and other big powers on its own, without correlating with the EU and without being constrained by [EU] rules.”

What can Europe learn from Orban’s victory in Hungary’s elections?

Miscoiu views Simion’s ideas as “a reference to [Cold War leader Nicolae] Ceaușescu’s National Communism, where Romania pursued an international course that was quasi-independent from the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact of Eastern European countries controlled by Moscow”.

“The implications of Romania falling under the rule of an illiberal leader… the reorientation of the entire eastern flank of the European Union and of NATO could be possible,” he added.

A Simion win could mean that Romania will be “thrown back into the grey zone” of pre-1994, when the country had not yet decided whether it wanted to join either the EU or NATO.

Miscoiu said: “This is exactly what the Russians expect – creating a new breach and supporting in this way the idea that there are direct negotiations individually with European Union states, with NATO states, and not with the alliance and the Union as a whole. For Russia, this is a gift.”

Second attempt

These elections come after a failed vote in 2024, the results of the first round of which were annulled by Romania’s top court, citing allegations of Russian interference.

This time, according to Miscoiu, Russia has played it safer. “They did not directly publicly support Simion, in order to not put the Romanians in a situation of choosing between Russia and the West, because they will definitely choose the West.”

French cyber agency warns TikTok manipulation could hit Romania’s vote, again

In his campaign, Simion “softened his discourse by strengthening the importance of the EU and NATO,” he said.

Miscoiu predicts that Simion will win on Sunday by “at least” 53 percent. However, he added, a television debate on Euronews Romania last Thursday showed Dan in combative mode, while Simion looked “a little grotesque with his accusations” so the tide could still be turned.

But, he added, if there is “no big mobilisation for the second round – especially of the youth who will be the most affected by this dramatic change of policy in Romania – then the gap is too big”. Dan will have to recover a massive 30 percent to catch up with his opponent.

“They are at the end of their strength. Jacques’s face is more and more marked by the detention – you can feel he is dying slowly in that cell,” Noémie Kohler told RFI. “Cécile and Jacques are increasingly desperate and are less and less optimistic.”

Kohler, 40, and Paris, who is in his seventies, were arrested on 7 May 2022 at the end of a tourist trip to Iran. They are accused of spying – charges they strongly deny.

They are being held in section 209 of Tehran’s Evin Prison, an area reserved for political prisoners. They are the last known French citizens still detained in Iran and are considered “state hostages” by the French government.

France warns of sanctions on Iran if nuclear deal not reached

Conditions ‘equivalent to torture’

France’s foreign ministry says the couple are being held in conditions that “amount to torture under international law”.

They have no furniture and continue to sleep on the floor. The lights remain on 24 hours a day and they are allowed outdoors just two or three times a week, for no more than 30 minutes at a time.

Whether they are allowed out depends on prison guards and weather. Phone calls are rare, short and tightly monitored. The most recent, on 5 May, lasted just eight minutes.

“She told us she writes poems in her head,” Noémie said. “She repeats them every night so she doesn’t forget them, because after three years, she still has nothing to write with.”

Noémie also described the mental pressure her sister and Jacques are under.

“For several months they have been told that a verdict is imminent, that it will be extremely severe. They are given deadlines each time and nothing ever happens,” she said. “It’s psychological torture.”

A few months after their arrest, Iranian state television broadcast “confessions” by the pair, which France said were forced.

Their lawyers have still not been granted access to their case files. “Their right to a defence has been completely denied,” Noémie said. “We have no reliable information about the legal process.”

French citizens jailed in Iran since 2022 ‘must be freed’ says Macron

Campaign for freedom

French President Emmanuel Macron marked the anniversary with a message on social media, saying France was working “tirelessly” to free them.

“I assure their families that our support is unwavering,” Macron posted on X.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot also posted a video message describing Kohler and Paris as “hostages” and “victims of the Iranian regime”.

“They are kept in inhumane conditions that amount to torture,” Barrot added. He also urged French nationals not to travel to Iran.

France has said it will file a formal complaint against Iran at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. While the move has been welcomed by the families, it is not expected to lead to a breakthrough in the short term.

Frenchman Olivier Grondeau freed after more than two years in Tehran prison

Diplomatic tensions

The case comes amid worsening ties between Paris and Tehran.

In February, an Iranian woman was arrested in France on terrorism-related charges. A Franco-Iranian influencer is also due to go on trial on similar accusations. France has threatened new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

The couple are among several Europeans held by Iran. Some European governments say these detentions are politically motivated.

One of the others still in prison is Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali, who was sentenced to death in 2017 on spying charges his family says are false.

Dozens of rallies were planned across France on Wednesday to draw attention to Kohler and Paris’s case.

“They’ve become pawns in something far bigger than them,” Noémie said. “We just want them home.”

One of the most prolific actors in film history, Depardieu has appeared in more than 200 films and television series since his on-screen debut in 1967, working with directors including Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, Alain Resnais, Claude Chabrol, Ridley Scott and Bernardo Bertolucci.

A national icon in France – Depardieu is a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur and of the Ordre national du Mérite – he has made the rare crossover to stardom in the anglophone world, with his Hollywood hits including Green Card (1990), for which he won the Golden Globe for best actor, as well as Hamlet (1996), The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), La Vie en Rose (2007) and Life of Pi (2012).

The 76-year-old is known for his portrayals of towering historical figures including Joseph Stalin, Auguste Rodin, Christopher Columbus and Rasputin, as well as heroes of French literature – characters and their creators alike – such as Honoré de Balzac, Alexandre Dumas, Cyrano de Bergerac, Jean Valjean, Obélix and the Count of Monte Cristo.

Origins

Born Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu on 27 December 1948 to an impoverished family in Châteauroux, central France, he was one of six children.

By the age of 13 he had left school, barely literate, and was dabbling in crime. According to his 2014 autobiography, Ça s’est fait comme ça (“It just happened like that”), he worked as a prostitute as well as robbing graves, selling black market cigarettes and alcohol at a nearby American air base and stealing cars.

Acting proved his salvation, with money the motivating factor by his own admission. He left his hometown for Paris at the age of 16 to pursue it. There he met director Agnès Varda, the first to cast him – in a short film that was never completed.

He made his screen debut in Roger Leenhardt’s 1967 short film Le Beatnik et le minet (“The Beatnik and the Twink”). But it was his performance as a young thug in 1974’s Les Valseuses (“Going Places”) that was to be his big break.

Leading man

In 1981 he won his first César Award for best actor, for his performance in François Truffaut’s The Last Metro (1980), set in Nazi-occupied Paris and co-starring Catherine Deneuve.

This kicked off two decades as France’s premier leading man, a period in which he appeared in his biggest hits, including Maurice Pialat’s Police (1985), 1986’s Jean de Florette, which raised his international profile, and the 1993 adaptation of Emile Zola’s Germinal.

Ten years on from his first, he won his second César best actor award, for his career-defining role in Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), for which he also received an Oscar nomination.

French celebrities distance themselves from Depardieu, accused of rape

Flops have been a rarity in Depardieu’s career, but two notable box office failures were Ridley Scott’s 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) in which he played Columbus. The film took just $3 million on its opening weekend, for which Scott blamed US audiences’ difficulty in understanding European accents.

In United Passions, the story of the origins of football federation Fifa, Depardieu played its founder Jules Rimet. The film lost $26.8m worldwide and was blasted by critics as propaganda, as its release coincided with Fifa’s 2015 corruption case.

It was only shown at Cannes after Depardieu lobbied the director of the festival directly, who eventually agreed to an open-air public screening on the beach.

Courting controversy

Depardieu is no stranger to the headlines – famously once declaring that he drinks up to 14 bottles of wine a day, being banned from driving for six months after crashing his scooter while four times over the legal alcohol limit, and urinating into a water bottle on an Air France flight, which he then spilled on the floor.

He is currently under investigation for alleged tax fraud. French tax investigators suspect him of falsely declaring his tax residency as Belgium since 2013 to avoid paying taxes in France. This followed a vocal dispute with the French government over the wealth tax introduced by then-president François Hollande, in which he referred to his home country as a “filthy mess”.

Cancel Depardieu? French cinema split over film icon

Financial crime prosecutors opened a probe in February, which resulted in raids in France and Belgium as well as police interviews, although the actor has not been questioned.

He acquired Russian citizenship in 2013 from President Vladimir Putin, who Depardieu has praised, calling him “the man Russia needs”. In 2015, he was banned from entering Ukraine for five years after apparently supporting the Russian annexation of Crimea.

In December 2023, after a documentary aired that included footage of Depardieu making sexually suggestive comments about a young girl in North Korea, President Emmanuel Macron defended the actor on national television, saying: “Gérard Depardieu makes France proud.”

A few weeks later, Macron expressed his regret over the comments, saying that it was important “for women who are victims of abuse to speak out”.

Sexual assault allegations

On Tuesday, Depardieu was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on the set of a movie in which he starred and was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence by a Paris court.

He was also fined a total of €29,040 and the court requested that he be registered in the national sex offender database.

Depardieu was convicted of having groped a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant during the filming of Les Volets Verts (“The Green Shutters”) in 2021.

The actor, who denied the accusations, did not attend the hearing in Paris. His lawyer said that his client would appeal the decision.

Depardieu is the highest-profile figure in French cinema to face such accusations in the wake of the country’s #MeToo movement, and his trial has been viewed as a test of France’s willingness to confront sexual violence and hold influential men accountable.

The actor is facing allegations of sexual harassment and assault from more than a dozen other women, and a Paris court is still deciding whether to go ahead with a second trial for his alleged rape and sexual assault of Charlotte Arnould, the first woman to file a criminal complaint against him in 2018.

Depardieu denies all the allegations. “Never, but never, have I abused a woman,” he wrote in an open letter in French newspaper Le Figaro in 2023. “I have only ever been guilty of being too loving, too generous, or having a temperament that is too strong.”

(with newswires)

Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk by Iranian director Sepideh Farsi is to be shown at ACID Cannes, which runs parallel to the main competition, at this year’s festival from 13 to 24 May.

The film features conversations between Farsi and Hassouna, as the 25-year-old photographer documented the impact of the devastating war between Israel and Hamas on the Palestinian territory.

Hassouna was killed along with 10 of her relatives in an air strike on her family home in northern Gaza last Wednesday, the day after the documentary was announced as part of the ACID Cannes selection.

The Israeli military, which media freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has accused of carrying out a “massacre” of Palestinian journalists, claimed it had targeted a Hamas member.

“The Cannes Film Festival wishes to express its horror and deep sorrow at this tragedy, which has moved and shocked the entire world,” the festival said, in a statement on Hassouna’s death sent to French news agency AFP.

“While a film is little in the face of such a tragedy, its screening at the ACID section in Cannes on 15 May will be, in addition to the message of the film itself, a way of honouring the memory of the young woman, a victim like so many others of the war,” it added.

French journalists’ collective appeals for solidarity with colleagues in Gaza

‘She was such a light’

Just before her death, Hassouna wrote on social media: “If I die, I want a loud death. I don’t want to be just breaking news, or a number in a group.”

“She was such a light, so talented. When you see the film you’ll understand,” Farsi told Hollywood news website Deadline after her death. “I had talked to her a few hours before to tell her that the film was in Cannes and to invite her.”

The ACID festival said her “life force seemed like a miracle” in a statement released after her death.

RSF also denounced her death. “Her name joins those of nearly 200 journalists killed in 18 months. This carnage must stop,” it wrote on the Bluesky social media platform.

Also at Cannes, Palestinian twins Tarzan and Arab Nasser will showcase their latest film Once Upon a Time In Gaza, a tale of murder and friendship set in the war-torn territory, in the secondary Un Certain Regard section.

The Gaza Project: The Palestinian journalist paralysed by a bullet to the neck

Late additions

Cannes Festival organisers also this week announced two new films in its main competition that will compete for its coveted Palme d’Or award.

American filmmaker Lynne Ramsay (We Need To Talk About Kevin) has been selected for the main competition with her thriller Die My Love, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson.

Of the 21 films in the main competition this year, seven have been made by women directors, the joint highest total.

Cannes Film Festival unveils diverse line-up of veteran stars and fresh talent

Iran’s Saeed Roustaee is also set to compete for the main prize with his latest feature, Mother and Child, three years after showing Leila’s Brothers in Cannes – which led to him being sentenced to six months in prison in Iran.

The festival has also secured the world premiere of the first film directed by former Twilight star Kristen Stewart – The Chronology of Water – which will screen in the Un Certain Regard competition.

She will be up against fellow American actress-turned-director Scarlett Johansson whose director debut Eleanor the Great has been selected in the same section.

(with AFP)

A group of 30 left-wing French politicians travelled to Algeria this week to take part in commemorations and call on France to acknowledge its responsibility.

“It’s important on this symbolic date to have a French delegation to show that in France there are not only enemies of Algeria, as we have seen with the heated debates of the past few months,” greens MP Sabrina Sebaï told RFI, referring to the degradation of diplomatic tensions between France and Algeria.

She said the visit aimed “to send a message also to say that there is a deep work to do on issues of memory and reconciliation”.

But for the French right, such a visit is a provocation.

“The day of 8 May, which is a day of national pride, you have French elected officials who go to Algeria to participate in self-flagellation and humiliation,” said Laurent Wauquiez, the president of the right-wing Les Republicains.

Listen to a history of what happened in Algeria on 8 May 1945 in the Spotlight on France podcast, episode 128: 

The events being commemorated began on 8 May, 1945. As people gathered in the northern Algerian city of Sétif to celebrate the Allied victory, some brought out Algerian flags and banners calling for independence.

French authorities ordered the banners be removed. When some refused, troops opened fire on the crowd.

News of the shootings spread to nearby towns, including Guelma and Kherrata, where rioting broke out. Around 100 French settlers were killed.

In response, French authorities launched a brutal crackdown.

Charles de Gaulle, who led France at the time, gave the green light for “all necessary measures to repress all anti-French acts”.

Backed by army troops and the air force, colonial forces bombed villages and carried out summary executions across the region. Civilians – men, women and children – were killed throughout May and June.

France’s official silence

There is still no agreed figure for how many people died. Algeria says 45,000 were killed. Historians have estimated between 15,000 and 20,000.

“Eighty years later we do not know exactly the number of people who died in May and June 1945 because there was a code of silence,” said filmmaker Mehdi Lallaoui, who made a documentary on the Sétif massacre.

“The survivors of the killings were thrown in prison, and the state wanted to hide this event.”

De Gaulle reportedly said to “bury the whole affair”, and officials referred to it only as “the events”.

But in Algeria the Sétif, Guelma and Kherrata massacres helped spur on the emerging movement for self-determination – energising, perhaps even uniting, what had been a fractured independence movement until then. 

Over the next few years, resistance groups became more organised. On 1 November 1954, Algerians started their revolution against the French, who were eventually forced to grant the colony its independence in 1962.

Recognition and reconcilliation

Algeria made 8 May an official day of commemoration in 2020. Some in France want the same – a move that would involve officially acknowledging France’s role in the killings. So far, that has not happened. 

“Algeria’s independence remains a trauma in the French public opinion,” historian Nils Andersson told RFI.

“There is an anti-Algerian feeling in France – the colonising country – and I think the role of political leaders is to have the courage to recognise the facts about colonialism, which is neither an act of contrition of repentance, but just a moral and truthful act.”

In 2005, France’s ambassador to Algeria called the massacre an “inexcusable tragedy”. A decade later, a French minister visited the massacre’s commemoration site.

This week, a group of left-wing MPs submitted a proposal to officially recognise the massacres as a “state crime perpetrated against an unarmed civilian population”.

The MPs’ visit and the proposed resolution come at a time of high tension between France and Algeria. Interior Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told RTL radio on Tuesday that relations were currently “blocked”.

For the centrist Senator Raphaël Daubet, a member of the delegation, reopening dialogue with Algeria involves “the recognition of these massacres” that happened in Sétif, Guelma et Kherrata.

In its case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), France accuses Iran “of violating its obligation to provide consular protection” to Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris and holding them “hostage” under “appalling conditions that amount to torture”, Jean-Noel Barrot told France 2 television.

The announcement comes as Iranian negotiators prepare to meet with their counterparts from the United Kingdom, France and Germany in Turkey on Friday for talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.

French teacher Kohler and her partner Paris on Wednesday marked three years in detention in Tehran.

“They are at the end of their strength,” Kohler’s sister told RFI on Wednesday. “Cécile and Jacques are increasingly desperate and are less and less optimistic.”

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

Kohler, 40, and Paris, who is in his seventies, were arrested on 7 May 2022 at the end of a tourist trip to Iran. They are accused of spying – charges they strongly deny.

They are being held in section 209 of Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, an area reserved for political prisoners.

They are the last known French citizens still detained in Iran and are considered “state hostages” by the French government.

(with newswires)

According to data published in April by Insee, France’s national statistics institute, infant deaths rose from 3.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2011 to 4.1 per 1,000 in 2024 – placing France 23rd out of the 27 countries in the European Union.

A study by Ined, the national demographics institute, noted that “this is a marked drop compared with the 1990s, when [France] was among the best-ranked countries”.

The French national audit body, the Cour des Comptes, in May 2024 called out France’s “very mediocre” approach to perinatal health – the time just before and just after the birth of a child.

Many children in Europe still die unnecessarily before age of five: WHO report

Fewer wards, more risk

Studies and surveys have found several reasons for the rise in infant mortality, including a rise in the age of mothers, an increase in premature births, and a deterioration in the health care system.

Insee data shows that infant mortality particularly affects multiple births – twins or triplets – who are five times more likely to die before the age of one.

Poverty is also a factor, and women living in the French overseas departments are twice as likely to lose their babies than women in mainland France.

Corsican MP Paul-André Colombani, who introduced the bill, sees a lack of access to maternity wards as a contributing factor, and the legislation would introduce a three-year moratorium on closures.

“Today, nearly 900 women live more than 30 minutes from a maternity hospital, and the number of those living more than 45 minutes away has risen by 40 percent since 2020,” the bill reads.

French health watchdog warns of pesticide dangers to young children

Role of intensive care

But not everyone agrees that this is the crux of the issue.

“The first cause of neonatal mortality is prematurity and its complications, the second is congenital malformations, and in third place, complications from childbirth,” Elsa Kermorvant, a doctor at the Necker hospital in Paris and vice-president of the French society for neonatal care, told RFI.

Insee data shows a rise in deaths of babies in the first 27 days of life, while death on the day of birth and beyond the first month remains relatively stable.

Kermorvant says the focus should be less on maternity wards, and instead on neonatal intensive care.

“Healthcare provision is inadequate: the recommended ratio of one intensive care bed per 1,000 births is unevenly distributed across the country,” she said, pointing also to a shortage of nurses.

On 28 April, Guinean soldiers fired three shots in the air as they attempted to enter the village of Sokoma, near Yenga – a mineral-rich settlement that has been contested for more than two decades.

The gunfire caused panic in nearby communities and sent residents fleeing south towards the town of Koindu.

“We heard three gunshots,” local resident Daniel Makundu told RFI. “People got scared and fled towards Koindu. The next day, the Guinean military prevented any return to Yenga.”

Although calm has returned, local authorities say the situation on the ground remains unstable.

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Legacy of war

The dispute over Yenga dates back to the 1990s, during Sierra Leone’s civil war.

At the time, the government in Freetown invited Guinean troops to help secure the eastern border. Guinean forces moved into the region but did not fully withdraw after the war ended.

Their continued presence has triggered repeated standoffs and failed diplomatic efforts.

“Every time we engage in dialogue at the highest level, they agree to leave,” Sierra Leone’s foreign minister, Timothy Kabba, said.

“But once the diplomats return to their capitals, they come back. But this time, we are [applying] maximum pressure. They must understand that Yenga belongs to Sierra Leone and we will protect our borders.”

Freetown has warned it may escalate the matter to the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the African Union or the International Court of Justice if Guinean forces do not withdraw.

EU observers flag voting problems that ‘stain’ Sierra Leone election

Impact on locals

While the two governments consider their next moves, civilians are left to deal with the consequences. Makundu, who used to farm the wetlands near Yenga, said the loss of access to his land has left him with nothing.

“I lived off the land, off my swamps,” he told RFI. “Now I’ve lost everything. It’s very, very discouraging. I call on the government to settle this once and for all.”

In response to the incursion, Sierra Leonean authorities deployed a security cordon around Sokoma and delivered aid to displaced families. But villagers say that without a lasting agreement, the risk of new clashes remains high.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are found in everyday products such as cosmetics, pesticides, food packaging and non-stick coatings.

They’re often referred to as “forever chemicals” because they can stay in the human bloodstream for years. 

Studies have shown that exposure to these chemicals can lead to metabolic disorders, decreased fertility in women and developmental delays in children. They’re also believed to increase the risk of some cancers. 

In February, France passed a law banning their use in cosmetics, clothing and shoes, although not in cookware.

But the ban, which comes into effect in 2026, doesn’t go far enough for people living in “chemical valley” – one of the biggest chemical and petrochemical parks in Europe, located along 17 kilometres of the Rhone river on the outskirts of Lyon.

As many as 220,000 people in the area could be affected by PFAS pollution.

Thierry Mounib lives in Pierre-Bénite, in the south of Lyon, opposite the Daikin and Arkema chemical factories.

“Over there is the testing centre, and behind are Daikin’s workshops,” he told RFI. “There’s the nursery school. We took samples from there. It’s a disaster.”

Study sounds alarm on toxic ‘forever chemicals’ used in EU pesticides

Mass legal action

Via his organisation Bien Vivre à Pierre-Bénite (“Living well in Pierre-Bénite”), Mounib is alerting people to the pollution, and the health problems that he believes are linked to PFAS.

“My wife has had breast cancer and Parkinson’s disease. All around me, in every house, there’s cancer,” he said.

On 12 May, the American chemical giant 3M agreed to pay the state of New Jersey up to $450 million to settle claims it contaminated the state’s drinking water with harmful “forever chemicals”.

“Arkema and Daikin are refusing. They’re not going to pay billions for the people of Pierre-Bénite,” said Mounib.

He is one of around 400 plaintiffs that have signed up so far for a mass legal action, supported by the environmental groups Notre Affaire à Tous (“Our Shared Responsibility”) and PFAS Contre Terre (“PFAS versus Earth”)

It’s a collective civil case, with the aim for each plaintiff to demand financial compensation from the two companies at the same time.

“It’s the first civil lawsuit in France concerning PFAS contamination” says Louise Tschantz, a lawyer specialising in environmental law at Kaizen – the firm representing the plaintiffs. “And because of its scale it could become the largest case of its kind in Europe.”

Climate-hit citizens launch legal challenge against French state

Building a body of case law

Mounib filed his claim after a blood test showed his PFAS level was 22.6 µg/L of blood – 10 times higher than the average. 

“When you look at the grid provided by the laboratory, when you’re above 20 you’ll have health problems. People who are not the closest to the plant, like us for example, we’re 1.5 km away, think that they’ve escaped the problem. But we have serious doubts about the quality of the vegetables or eggs we are supplied with.”

Victims could claim compensation not just for health issues but for emotional distress and property devaluation, amongst other things.

Sums could range from €1,000 to several million per person.

Tschantz hopes that the lawsuit will go beyond compensation and have a dissuasive effect on industrial companies.

“The idea is to create a body of case law that will have a real impact,” she explained.

“We want this to cost them so much that next time in their business decision and in their steering committee they say to themselves, it’s not possible to react like that, we have to protect the environment and our health, otherwise the public will take legal action and that will cost us a lot.”

This article was based on a piece in French by RFI’s Juliette Pietraszewski

One of the world’s largest vaccine makers and a leader in anti-inflammatory drugs, Sanofi said on Wednesday that it is planning on investing $20 billion (€17.8 billion) in the next five years to expand its capacity to manufacture drugs in the US.

In a statement, Sanofi said the money would allow a substantial increase in spending on research and development in the country “to expand its US manufacturing capacity”, through direct investments in current Sanofi sites and partnerships with other domestic manufacturers.

Trump’s tariffs come into force, upending economic ties with Europe

Since taking office, Trump has held off on imposing tarrifs on pharmaceutical products, in order to keep prices down, but his administration is conducting an investigation into imports, in an effort to impose tariffs on national security grounds.

Trump this week signed an executive order that aims to force drug manufacturers to sell their products in the US at the lowest price they do abroad, which drug makers see as a threat, as the industry uses profits in the US to fund research in the US market.

Nearly half of Sanofi’s total revenue in the first quarter of 2025 came from the US. It recently sold a controlling stake in its over-the-counter drug unit, which produces the popular acetaminophen painkiller Doliprane (paracetamol), to a US investment fund.

Sanofi confirms €16 billion sale of painkiller Doliprane to US investors

The company said its new investments “will be adjusted as the external environment continues to evolve”.

Sanofi employs 13,000 people in the US, and it said its new investments are expected to create “a significant number of high-paying jobs in multiple states in the coming years”.

Other pharmaceutical companies have announced similar investments in the US to try to avoid the impact of possible tariffs or other measures.

However, Swiss drug giant Roche, which announced $50 billion in US investments in April, warned Trump’s drugs price plan could force it to scale back.

(with newswires)

The study, published on Wednesday by the NGO Clean Cities, compared 36 European cities.

Paris came out on top with a score of 79 percent. Amsterdam was second with 63 percent, Oslo placed ninth with 48 percent and Copenhagen ranked 11th with 45 percent.

The ranking was based on three criteria: the percentage of school streets that are pedestrianised, the share of roads where the speed limit is 30km/h or less, and the proportion of protected cycle lanes.

Paris ranked third for pedestrianised school streets, at 25 percent – just behind London and Milan.

But it topped the other two categories, with 89 percent of its roads limited to 30km/h and 48 percent of its cycle lanes protected – the highest rate, alongside Helsinki.

‘Rapid change is possible’

“This shows that significant change is possible in a relatively short time,” said the authors of the report.

They praised “the efforts of Mayor Anne Hidalgo to drive the city’s transition over the last decade”. Hidalgo’s policies to reduce car traffic in Paris since 2014 have been controversial, drawing criticism from the right.

Lyon placed fifth with 52.9 percent. It scored well on speed limits – 84 percent of roads are capped at 30 km/h – but only 15 percent of schools are on pedestrianised streets and just 14 percent of cycle lanes are protected.

Marseille came in 31st out of 36 cities. Only 1 percent of its streets have a 30 km/h limit, 2 percent of schools are on pedestrianised roads, and 8 percent of its bike lanes are protected. Its total score was just 16 percent.

Paris pushes vision of ‘100-percent bikeable’ city

Broader implications

Clean Cities says cities that are more accessible for children tend to be more inclusive overall.

Jodie Soret, who works on health and social equality with the United Nations’ children’s fund Unicef, told French newspaper Libération there is “a virtuous circle between implementing children’s rights and achieving sustainable development goals”.

Clean Cities also points to the impact of air pollution, which it says causes 1,200 deaths a year among children and teenagers in Europe.

Air pollution in Paris region ‘cut in half’ over the past 20 years

Children’s independence has dropped sharply over the past decades.

In 1971, 86 percent of children in the UK and 91 percent in Germany walked home from school alone. By 2010, that had fallen to 25 percent and 76 percent respectively.

“Children are less free to move around the city and less active than before, particularly girls,” said Barbara Stoll, one of the directors of Clean Cities.

“But our ranking shows that parents, teachers and municipal administrations can make considerable and rapid progress.”

In the first round of the election on 4 May, the Romanian far right obtained even higher results outside its borders than it did within – Simion came first with more than 40 per cent of the vote in Romania, but took more than 60 per cent of the vote in the diaspora.

This was a repeat of the pattern seen during the cancelled presidential elections in Romania in 2024, the results of which were annulled by Romania’s highest court, citing allegations of Russian interference. This time, the phenomenon was even more marked.

The diaspora vote is particularly favourable to the far right in the countries where Romanian expatriates are most numerous, namely in Western Europe.

Simion received more than 70 percent of the vote in Italy – home to the largest expat Romanian community, numbering more than 1 million – and in Germany and Spain.

Romania’s election re-run: pro-Trump candidate faces centrist Bucharest mayor

“Their vote is a protest vote against the traditional parties, which are seen as corrupt,” explained Antonela Cappelle-Pogacean, a researcher at Sciences-Po and a specialist in Romania.

“But it’s also a vote with socio-economic motivations, since in these Western societies, members of the Romanian diaspora are to be found among the working classes. Finally, it’s also a vote about identity, since the integration of these people is sometimes difficult, and they are in a way torn between their rebuilt lives and their desire to return to Romania.”

French cyber agency warns TikTok manipulation could hit Romania’s vote, again

East-west split

In Eastern European countries such as Poland, Moldova and Hungary, however, the pro-European candidate Nicusor Dan came first.

This result can be explained by Simion’s hostile stance on sending military aid to Ukraine, and by the pro-Russian stance of Calin Georgescu, the candidate who topped the poll in November and whose legacy the leader of the Alliance for Romanian Unity claims to inherit.

The diaspora vote is therefore directly linked to the economic and geopolitical context of the countries where Romanian expatriates live.

Roma push France to recognise Holocaust-era genocide

Nonetheless, it will be one of the keys to the second round, the outcome of which seems much more uncertain than opinion polls conducted before the 4 May vote might have suggested.

With the Romanian diaspora one of the largest in the world, the performance of the two candidates abroad on 18 May will play a crucial role in the outcome of the election.

This article was adapted from the original version in French.

Thiam had quit as leader of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI) on Sunday, but was the sole candidate when the party held an extraordinary congress on Wednesday to pick a new president.

“In the interest of the party, I’ve decided to place my mandate as president of the party in your hands, the activists,” he said after resigning, in a speech posted on social media early on Monday.

He received 99.77 percent of the vote.

Political tensions remain high in Côte d’Ivoire as several opposition figures have been ruled ineligible to stand in the presidential election scheduled for 25 October.

Thiam was removed from the electoral list in April. A court ruled that the 62-year-old lost his Ivorian nationality when he became a French citizen in 1987.

Côte d’Ivoire judge rules main opponent out of presidential election

Battle for the presidency

Presidential candidates in Côte d’Ivoire are not allowed to hold dual citizenship. Thiam, who was born in the country, renounced his French citizenship in March to enable his run for the top job.

He is also facing a legal challenge over his first election as party leader in December 2023. The case, brought by party activist Valérie Yapo, argues that Thiam was still a French citizen at the time and therefore ineligible to lead the PDCI.

The court is expected to examine the case on Thursday.

Côte d’Ivoire’s voter roll reaches 8.7 million amid opposition demands for revision

Thiam has not returned to Côte d’Ivoire for more than a month.

“Thiam has left to come back stronger. Now that he is exclusively Ivorian, he can calmly take back leadership of the PDCI,” said political analyst Geoffroy Julien Kouao.

But he added: “It will be difficult for him to be eligible for the presidential election on 25 October” – since he is no longer on the electoral roll and no updates are scheduled before the vote.

Three other opposition figures have also been excluded from the race due to past convictions, including former president Laurent Gbagbo.

The former mayor of Abidjan, Vincent Toh Bi Irié, announced his candidacy on Wednesday.

President Alassane Ouattara, who has been in office since 2011, has not said whether he will run again. The 83-year-old has said he is keen to “continue serving my country”.

Ivorian authorities say the decisions are made by an independent judiciary and deny any political interference in the electoral process.

(with AFP)

Putin was not included on a list of Moscow’s negotiating team published by the Kremlin late Wednesday, after Zelensky challenged him to turn up in person to the talks.

Putin opted instead to send a lower-level team headed up by a hardline aide who oversaw the failed peace talks in March 2022 in the first weeks of Russia‘s invasion.

The absence of Putin – as well as any top diplomats like Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov or foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov – would seem to diminish the talks’ importance or any possibility of a breakthrough.

Tens of thousands have been killed since Moscow invaded in February 2022, and Russia now occupies about a fifth of Ukraine‘s territory in Europe‘s worst conflict since World War II.

A Ukrainian official told AFP that Zelensky planned to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, not Istanbul, later on Thursday, and only then would decide his approach to the talks.

“The president starts his visit with Erdogan in Ankara and only then will the president decide on the next steps,” the official said, after Russian state media reported that Moscow’s delegation had landed in Istanbul for planned talks.

Ukraine also rejected reports in Russian state media that the talks could set to start at 10am.

“Russian fake news,” Zelensky’s spokesman said when asked if that was the plan.

AFP reporters at the Dolmabahce Palace, where the talks are rumoured to be taking place, saw hundreds of journalists waiting outside.

EU approves new sanctions package targeting Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’

‘His war’

US President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a swift end to the war, floated the possibility of attending and had called on Putin to turn up.

His Secretary of State Marco Rubio was to travel to Istanbul on Friday “for meetings with European counterparts to discuss the conflict in Ukraine and other regional issues of mutual concern”, the State Department said.

Zelensky had spent days corralling Putin to turn up.

“This is his war… Therefore, the negotiations should be with him,” he said in one statement.

Despite the flurry of diplomacy in a bid to end the war, Moscow and Kyiv‘s positions remain far apart and there has been little sign either are willing to make concessions.

The Kremlin’s naming of Vladimir Medinsky, a hardline aide to Putin and ex-culture minister, as its top negotiator suggests Moscow does not plan to make any concessions at the talks.

Medinsky led the failed 2022 negotiations in which Moscow called for sweeping territorial claims and restrictions on Ukraine’s military.

Medinsky is seen as influential in advancing Russia’s historical claims over Ukrainian territory.

The other three negotiators were named as Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin and Igor Kostyukov, director of Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency.

Ukraine has not named its delegation. Its Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga is in Turkey meeting NATO foreign ministers at a gathering in Antalya.

France leads EU push for tougher Russia sanctions amid ceasefire stalemate

‘Cautiously optimistic’

Putin held a briefing with his negotiating team and Russia’s top foreign policy and defence officials in Moscow on Wednesday before they departed for Istanbul, the Kremlin said, without providing details.

Russia insists the talks address what it calls the “root causes” of the conflict, including a “denazification” and demilitarisation of Ukraine, two vague terms Moscow has used to justify its invasion that are widely rejected in Kyiv and the West.

It has also repeated that Ukraine must cede territory occupied by Russian troops and pull out of some areas still under Ukraine’s control.

Kyiv is calling for an immediate 30-day ceasefire, and says it will not recognise its territories as Russian.

But Zelensky has acknowledged that Ukraine might only get them back through diplomatic means.

NATO chief Mark Rutte said Thursday that he was “cautiously optimistic” for progress towards peace but that it was up to Russia to take the “necessary next steps”.

“I’m still cautiously optimistic that if also the Russians are willing to play ball, and not only the Ukrainians are doing this… that you could get to some breakthroughs over the next couple of weeks,” Rutte said at the NATO meeting.

European leaders have said new sanctions will be quickly imposed on Russia if the Istanbul talks do not produce results.

Cruise greeted fans as a band played the original Mission: Impossible TV theme – a lower-key entrance than in 2022, when he arrived to a flyover by eight French fighter jets trailing red, white and blue smoke.

One of the most expensive movies ever made, with a budget of about $400 million, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is being released on 21 May after delays due to Covid lockdowns and Hollywood strikes.

The premiere lightened the mood at the festival, whose opening day began with accusations that Hollywood was ignoring “genocide” in Gaza and ended with Robert De Niro calling Donald Trump “America’s philistine president”.

Even Cruise’s optimism has been tested by Trump’s threat to impose 100 percent tariffs on movies produced outside the United States. 

Mission: Impossible is one of the most international franchises in Hollywood, with filming in multiple countries and heavy use of London studios.

Living on the edge

The film drew mostly good reviews following its screening and garnered a five-minute standing ovation.

Hours before the premiere, director Christopher McQuarrie revealed that Cruise, a trained acrobatics pilot who does his own stunts, had a close call during a shoot in South Africa, when he passed out after climbing out on the wing of a stunt biplane he was piloting alone.

“He was laying on the wing of the plane, and his arms were hanging over the front of the wing. We could not tell if he was conscious or not,” said McQuarrie, who took over directing the franchise in 2015 and has now made the last four films..

(with newswires)

Bayrou said he only learned of the alleged abuse at Notre-Dame de Bétharram through media reports, and insisted he had not received any official information when he was Education Minister from 1993 to 1997.

“I had nothing to hide,” he told the committee Wednesday, indicating he was ready to cooperate with the inquiry into allegations of widespread abuse for many decades at the Catholic boarding school near the town of Pau, where he has been mayor since 2014.

Around 200 legal complaints have been filed since February last year accusing priests and staff of physical or sexual abuse from 1957 to 2004 at the school where Bayrou sent many of his children, and where his wife taught religious studies.

“For me, this hearing is very important. It is very important for the boys and girls who have been victims of violence, particularly sexual violence, for decades,” he said.

During the questioning, Bayrou was asked about claims by a former maths teacher, Francoise Gullung, who taught at Bétharram from 1994-1996, and is considered a whistleblower in the affair, that she had alerted him.

In her testimony to the commission at the end of March, Gullung said she had written to Bayrou, and then told him orally, about what had been taking place at the school.

Bayrou denied ever getting the information, and told the commission that she had “made up” statements.

Bayrou has repeatedly denied covering up the abuse, and says claims that he did so are part of a campaign to destroy him politically.

During the questioning, Bayrou accused one of the committee’s two co-rapporteurs, Paul Vannier, of the hard left France Unbowed, of trying to “fuel a scandal”, and also said he did not feel that the commission was “completely objective”.

Bayrou has managed to survive a no-confidence vote in parliament, but the allegations in the Bétharram affair have damaged his credibility.

The French president has thrown his support behind Bayrou – his sixth Prime Minister

“We have talked about it a lot and I know that I have confidence in him,” he said during an interview on TF1 Tuesday evening.

(with newswires)

In the Arctic and Antarctic, the water is becoming visibly bluer. Melting ice is allowing more sunlight to reach below its surface, changing the types of microscopic life that flourish there.

These tiny organisms – particularly plankton – help define the ocean’s colour and play a key role in absorbing carbon dioxide.

“What gives the ocean its colour are primarily plankton communities,” explained Vincent Doumeizel, who advises the UN on ocean sustainability, in an interview with RFI.

Plankton might be tiny, but they are everywhere. They make up around 90 percent of all life in the oceans.

“When we think a drop of water is empty, it’s actually filled with about 1 million different organisms – and a litre of seawater has around a billion,” Doumeizel said.

Most of these organisms are plankton: microscopic plants and animals that float with the currents and support nearly all ocean life.

How bolder targets, treaties and talks will steer a defining year for climate

Balance under threat

This microscopic life form captures between 30 and 40 percent of global CO2 emissions. But warming seas and retreating glaciers are putting that balance at risk.

A study published in Nature found that more than half of the world’s oceans have changed colour over the past 20 years, with tropical and polar waters becoming increasingly blue or green. The changes were linked to climate-driven shifts in plankton and other microscopic organisms.

“The light will change, the temperature will change – even the salinity will shift as glaciers release cold, fresh water,” said Doumeizel. “Together, these changes will alter surface plankton – the communities that shape the ocean’s colour.”

One striking example already observed is the appearance of so-called “blood falls” – red-tinted streams flowing from some glaciers, caused by a pigmented microalga called Sanguina.

“This glacier blood will ultimately accelerate melting,” said Doumeizel, “because the glaciers, no longer being white, reflect less of the sun’s heat.”

Nearly half of tropical coral species face extinction, report shows

Green and red oceans

Doumeizel’s new book, Plancton, to be released this month, builds on the message of The Plankton Manifesto, a document co-written with international scientists calling for plankton to be recognised as vital to climate balance and marine life.

He describes them as the planet’s “invisible climate engine”.

Despite absorbing vast amounts of carbon and sustaining most ocean life, plankton remain largely overlooked in global environmental policy.

The Earth’s oceans haven’t always been blue. Around 3 billion years ago they were green, and later red, depending on the microscopic life that was dominant.

Doumeizel explains that chlorophyll-rich organisms once turned the seas green. Later, the oceans became red when iron in the water oxidised in the presence of oxygen – newly released by those same organisms.

In the future, oceans could shift again – turning red during toxic algae blooms or even purple if volcanic activity releases sulphur into the water.

Planet on the brink with ocean acidification set to cross critical limit

Science-led summit

Scientists say these changes are already visible and could accelerate without stronger protection of marine ecosystems. That pressure is now building ahead of next month’s UN summit in Nice, where world leaders are expected to respond with new commitments.

Ahead of the Nice summit, the European Commission is set to present its “Ocean Pact”. But a leaked draft has drawn criticism from several environmental groups, including Surfrider, WWF, ClientEarth and Oceana.

In a joint statement, the groups said: “If the document mentions advances in enforcing existing laws, it contains no concrete actions to address the most urgent threats to marine life and biodiversity.”

Campaigners also delivered a petition with 250,000 signatures calling for a ban on bottom trawling – which involves dragging weighted nets across the seabed – in marine protected areas.

French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to make the summit science-led. “No action regarding the ocean should be taken without being guided by science,” he said in March, warning of attacks on research by “major powers”.

The summit, running from 9 to 13 June, will bring together 2,000 scientists and dozens of heads of state. Macron also wants more countries to ratify the High Seas Treaty, which needs 60 signatories to enter into force –but has only 21 to date.

The OECD issued a report in March warning that ocean economy growth could stall without stronger protections. It cited climate change, illegal fishing and territorial disputes as growing threats.

This article was partly adapted from an interview in French by RFI’s Florent Guignard

The European Union has approved a powerful new round of sanctions on Russia, stepping up pressure on the Kremlin as hopes for a breakthrough ceasefire in Ukraine begin to gather momentum.

This 17th package of measures – endorsed by all 27 member states in Brussels – takes direct aim at Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of oil tankers and expands restrictions on firms and individuals propping up Moscow’s war effort.

Set to be formally adopted in Brussels next Tuesday, the package includes the blacklisting of around 200 tankers allegedly used to dodge restrictions on Russian oil exports.

It also slaps fresh sanctions on companies based in Vietnam, Serbia and Turkey accused of channelling supplies to Russia’s military sector.

Dozens more Russian officials will join the nearly 2,400 individuals and entities already subject to EU asset freezes and travel bans, while the package also tackles cyberattacks, human rights violations and acts of sabotage linked to Russian operatives in Europe.

France leads EU push for tougher Russia sanctions amid ceasefire stalemate

Pressure on Russia

Speaking this week at a democracy summit in Copenhagen, Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs underlined, “We need to put pressure on Russia because it takes two to want peace; it only takes one to want war, and Russia clearly wants war”.

France has welcomed the move, with President Emmanuel Macron signalling support for additional sanctions if Moscow fails to engage with a proposed 30-day ceasefire plan backed by the United States.

He also indicated that future measures could target Russia’s financial services and energy sectors, including oil and gas.

Macron says France does not want to unleash ‘World War III’ over Ukraine

Diplomatic push

The EU’s fresh measures come as diplomatic efforts have intensified over bringing the Ukraine war to an end, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is ready to attend potential peace talks in Istanbul later this week.

Though the Kremlin remains silent on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s participation, momentum is building around the idea of a direct dialogue.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged Russia to seize the moment. “This is a real opportunity for progress. If Russia refuses to act, the consequences will be swift and serious,” he said.

While EU officials have acknowledged that forging agreement on new sanctions is becoming more complex, the bloc’s message is clear: Europe will keep tightening the screws until Russia changes course.

The move follows Algeria’s decision to send home French personnel who were posted in the country on temporary assignments. Speaking to BFMTV, Barrot described their expulsion as “unjustified and unjustifiable”.

“Our response is immediate, it is firm and it is strictly proportionate at this stage,” he said. “We are asking for the return to Algeria of all agents holding diplomatic passports who currently do not have a visa.”

Barrot did not say how many Algerian diplomats would be affected.

France faces pressure at home to admit 1945 colonial massacre of Algerians

Chargé d’affaires summoned

The Algerian chargé d’affaires in Paris was summoned to the French foreign ministry on Tuesday.

“We also made it clear that we reserve the possibility of taking other measures depending on how the situation evolves,” Barrot said. “The Algerians wanted to send our agents home. We are sending theirs back.”

Algeria had earlier summoned the French chargé d’affaires in Algiers on Sunday to inform him of the expulsions. The decision was reported by Algerian state news agency APS, which said the French staff had been appointed under “irregular conditions”.

No formal statement was issued by the Algerian foreign ministry.

France said the expulsions were based on a unilateral decision by Algerian authorities to impose new conditions of entry on French public servants holding official, diplomatic or service passports.

The French foreign ministry said this violated a 2013 bilateral agreement.

Barrot said he “absolutely” regretted the decision taken by Algiers. “They go against the agreements that govern relations between our two countries,” he said. “They are not in France’s interest, and not in the interest of the Algerians either.”

France to compensate more Harki families for mistreatment after Algerian War

Background tensions

Ties between France and Algeria have been under strain for months. In mid-April, Algeria expelled 12 French Interior Ministry staff.

France responded by expelling 12 Algerian consular agents and recalling its ambassador, Stéphane Romatet, for consultations.

Barrot said earlier this week that the relationship between the two countries remained “totally frozen”.

Efforts by French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to ease tensions during a meeting in March have so far failed to lead to lasting improvement.

The current dispute follows a broader diplomatic breakdown that began in mid-2024, when France gave full support to Morocco’s plan for autonomy in Western Sahara.

The territory is also claimed by the Polisario Front, which is backed by Algeria. Algiers responded by recalling its ambassador from Paris.

According to Amnesty International, Donald Trump’s rise to the presidency has hastened trends already unfolding over the past decade.

Just one hundred days into his second term, President Trump has demonstrated a complete disregard for universal human rights, making the world both less safe and less just, the organisation’s latest report claims.

“His all-out assault on the very concepts of multilateralism, asylum, racial and gender justice, global health and life-saving climate action is exacerbating the significant damage those principles and institutions have already sustained and is further emboldening other anti-rights leaders and movements to join his onslaught,” Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, wrote.

While Africa’s armed conflicts caused relentless civilian suffering, including increasing levels of sexual and gender-based violence, and death on a massive scale, international and regional responses remained woefully inadequate.

The NGO also denounces global failures in addressing inequalities, climate collapse, and tech transformations that imperil future generations, especially in fragile zones. 

To discuss the implications for Africa in detail, this week, Spotlight on Africa’s first guest is Deprose Muchena, senior director for regional human rights impact at Amnesty International. 

Meanwhile, in South Africa, experts reflect on a recent visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as the country leads the G20 this year and tries to become a platform for peace talk.

Did Zelensky’s South Africa visit signal a diplomatic pivot by Pretoria?

We talked to the French business and veteran diplomat, Jean-Yves Ollivier, founder of the Brazzaville Foundation, who was a key actor in organising Zelensky’s meeting with South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Finally, we hear from Djiby Kebe, one of the founders of  Air Afrique magazine, created by and for young members of the African diaspora in Paris and Abidjan. Inspired by the once-successful Pan-African airline of the same name, the publication centres on culture and travel.

Episode mixed by Erwan Rome.

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

While protests continue over the jailing of the Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, his account on social media platform X has been cancelled.

X, formerly Twitter, claims it was in response to a Turkish court order. Dozens of Imamoglu supporters have also had their accounts suspended, drawing widespread condemnation.

The controversy is stoking broader concerns over the stance of the world’s tech giants towards Turkey.

“These international tech companies find it well to keep good relations with the Turkish authorities because their only evaluation is not just on the side of democratic standards,” said Erol Onderoglu of the Paris-based Reporters without Borders.

“But there is another challenge which is based on financial profit. The country’s advertising market is very vibrant regarding social media participation,” he added.

Google is also facing criticism. The US tech giant was recently accused of changing its algorithms, resulting in a collapse in people accessing the websites of Turkey’s independent media and therefore depriving the companies of vital advertising revenue.

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

Fewer alternative voices

Until now, the internet has provided a platform for alternative voices to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who controls around 90 percent of the mainstream media.

“Google has a very big effect when you search the web for news, the most visible ones are always from pro-government media or state media. But the omission of independent media from results is just a mystery right now,” said Volga Kuscuoglu editor of Bianet English edition.

Turkey’s independent media is battling arrests and fines by the Turkish authorities. Reporters Without Borders’ latest index on press freedom saw Turkey slip further down the rankings to 159 out of 180 countries.

Koscuoglu fears the government is seeking to extend its control over the media to the internet.

“We don’t know whether there was any political pressure as no reports have been made about that,” said Koscuoglu. “But the government has passed several laws in recent years and those were aimed to bring large social media under control in Turkey.

“You wouldn’t expect Google to be excluded from this control; so yes, there could be political influence on that decision.”

How Turkish voters are beating internet press clampdown before polls

Threat to reduce bandwidth

Duvar, one of Turkey’s largest and most prominent independent news portals, closed its doors in March, citing a loss of revenue following the collapse in internet hits, which it blamed on Google’s change to algorithms.

Google was approached to comment on the accusations but did not reply.

However, a spokesperson speaking anonymously to Reuters news agency said that any algorithm changes were simply aimed at enhancing the search facility.

Internet experts believe the Turkish government has controlled the world’s tech giants by making them liable to Turkish law.

“The government, in addition to warnings, financial penalties and an advertisement ban, was going to impose a bandwidth restriction,” said Yaman Akdeniz, a co-founder of Turkey’s Freedom of Expression Association.

“The government was going to throttle the social media platforms that didn’t comply…up to 50 percent of their bandwidth access was going to be reduced, and that was going up to 90 percent of their bandwidth being restricted from Turkey.

“Social media providers didn’t want to risk that,” he concluded.

Press freedom concerns as Ankara forces internet giants to bow to Turkish law

‘Extinction of pluralism’

With some of Turkey’s independent media organisations claiming their web activity has dropped by as much as 90 percent in the past few months, many are struggling to survive and are laying off journalists.

The experience of Turkey could well be the canary in the mine.

Onderoglu of Reporters Without Borders claims the plurality of the media is at stake.

“Extinction of pluralism within the media, which means that you’ll have just one echo from a country which is the official line, is extremely dangerous,” he warned.

“This is the main concern not only in Turkey but in dozens of countries around the world,” he added.

“Journalists are trying to make viable another view within society, another approach from the official one.”

Questions over Google’s power as effective gatekeeper to the internet and what critics claim is the lack of transparency over the search engine’s algorithms are likely to grow.

Meanwhile, the algorithm changes leave Turkey’s besieged independent media, already battling arrests and fines, fighting for financial survival.

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday – here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. You’ll hear the winners’ names announced and the week’s quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you’ve grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so be sure and listen every week.

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 12 April I asked you a question about the drop in air pollution in Paris. That week, Airparif, an independent group that tracks air quality, reported that between 2005 and 2024, levels in Paris of the two most harmful air pollutants – fine particles and nitrogen dioxide – fell by 55 percent and 50 percent respectively.

You were to re-read our article “Air pollution in Paris region ‘cut in half’ over the past 20 years” and send in the answer to this question: According to Airparif, what are the policies that led to the reduction in Paris’ pollution? What are some of the concrete steps that were taken?

The answer is, to quote our article: “Antoine Trouche, an engineer at Airparif, told France Inter radio that several concrete steps had made a difference.

These included ‘the Euro emissions standards, taxation of industrial pollutant emissions, and increased public transport and cycling infrastructure’.

He also pointed to ‘the replacement of diesel vehicles with petrol and electric vehicles.’”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by Jayanta Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India: “Suppose you find an old magical lamp which when rubbed a genie appears and tells you he will fulfill one wish. What would your wish be?”

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

The winners are: RFI English listener Malik Allah Bachaya Khokhar, the president of the Sungat Radio Listeners Club in Muzaffargarh, Pakistan. Malik is also the winner of this week’s bonus question. Congratulations on your double win, Malik.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Ramu Reddy, a member of the RFI Pariwar Bandhu SWL Club in Chhattisgarh, India, and RFI Listeners Club members Sardar Munir Akhter from Punjab, Pakistan, as well as Deekay Dimple from Assam, India.

Last but not least, RFI English listener Ataur Rahman Ranju, the president of the Alokito Manush Cai International Radio Listeners Club in Rangpur, Bangladesh.

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme:  “Free Wheelin’” by Thierry Durbet and Laurent Thierry-Meig; “Arc en Ciel 3” by Philippe Bestion; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Un Nuit à Paris” by Kevin Godley and Lol Cream, performed by 10cc.

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 “France hosts summit to lure scientists threatened by US budget cuts”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 9 June to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 14 June 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.   

Relations have been turbulent since Donald Trump took office in January. Cooperation on trade, health, defence and diplomacy has suffered after several of Trump’s executive orders.

The US is South Africa’s second largest trading partner, but exports to America now face 30 percent tariffs.

On 7 February, Trump issued an executive order to resettle white South African refugees, saying the country’s leaders were doing “some terrible things, horrible things”.

US media say the first group of Afrikaner (white South Africans) “refugees” is due to arrive as from 12 May. South Africa expressed its “concerns” to the United States on 9 May and reiterated that “allegations of discrimination are unfounded”.

On 14 April, South Africa named former deputy Finance Minister Mcebesi Jonas as its special envoy to Washington after ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was expelled.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Rasool was “no longer welcome” in America, calling him “a race-baiting politician who hates America” and Trump.

President Cyril Ramaphosa and Trump spoke on the phone on 24 April in what was described as a cordial exchange. Trump invited Ramaphosa to Washington and suggested he “bring the golfers over”.

South Africa unites against Trump as US freezes aid over land reform

RFI: Where are we at today with the relationship between South Africa and the United States?

Ronald Lamola: The relationship has always been dynamic and evolving, obviously with more challenges since the election of President Trump, particularly with the number of executive orders that are not based on any facts or truths.

In South Africa, the expropriation bills are aimed at redressing the imbalances of the past to ensure there is equitable distribution of all the resources of our country. This is done in line with the constitution, which has got sufficient safeguards against any arbitrary use of power by the executive or by the state.

It is in that context that we continue to engage with Washington because the relationship remains important. Washington is our strategic trading partner, the second biggest after China.

RFI: Is there more going on behind the scenes than we can see? Are relations improving despite the tensions?

Ronald Lamola: Indeed, there are still challenges, but we continue to engage at a diplomatic level.

International Court of Justice hears South Africa’s genocide case against Israel

RFI: Is South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice being used as a bargaining chip?

Ronald Lamola: No, it cannot be used as a bargaining chip. This is a matter of principle.

Our history is linked to that of Palestine and, as Nelson Mandela said, the struggle of South Africa is not complete until the Palestinian people are also free. There has been propaganda that Iran or Hamas is paying for these legal fees.

You can check the departmental websites where all reports are recorded. It is the South African government tax money that is paying for this case. There is no other hidden hand paying for the case.

RFI: Can you imagine a scenario where the United States might ask South Africa to drop the case against Israel in order to continue enjoying good relations with Washington?

Ronald Lamola: Unfortunately, I cannot imagine things that I don’t know.

RFI: What would South Africa’s position be if that were to happen?

Ronald Lamola: I don’t want to speculate about anything or any scenarios. We deal with what is in front of us.

As you are aware, in one of the executive orders, this issue of the case has been raised and, also in some of the bills that are before Congress. But this is a matter of principle. It’s based on the Genocide Convention. Principles cannot be negotiated.

RFI: Where does the case at the ICJ stand now?

Ronald Lamola: We are waiting for Israel to respond. As you are aware, we filed a memorial last year in June. The case has to take its normal course. The court must decide because the future of the world is dependent on certainty, on a rules-based international order, which is based on international law.

We have to ensure that international law is respected by all. The might cannot always be right.

RFI: South Africa says it will not cut ties with historic allies. President Ramaphosa said that South Africa will not be bullied. Is there a price to pay for standing by your principles?​​​​​​

Ronald Lamola: Nations must respect and abide by the rule of law. We are signatories to the Genocide Convention. We will respect and live by the UN Charter. Obviously, there will be pain that may come with it, but this is the pain we need to pay for the people of the world.

South Africa is a product of solidarity. We would not be free if it was not for the people of the world who suffered and stood in solidarity with us. So, we owe it to the people of the world to ensure that the UN Conventions and the UN Charter are protected and defended.

EU flags stronger partnership with South Africa with €4.7bn investment

RFI: The US is South Africa’s second largest trading partner. How can your country absorb the blow of 30 percent tariffs, if they go through by mid-July?

Obviously, it is going to be very difficult and damaging to our economy. We see it also as an opportunity for us to engage in bilateral agreements with the US that are mutually beneficial.

There are South African businesses invested in the US, and also US businesses invested in our country. About 601 companies from the US have invested in South Africa, responsible for more than 150,000 jobs in our country.

It is an important dynamic relationship, which has also brought a lot of technology in our country and improved our economy.

But, we also have to diversify markets. We are glad that the EU is opening its market to work with us and trade with us. We are also looking at other countries to trade with us.

We will, however, continue to engage with the US because we believe the relationship is mutually beneficial and we have to continue to nurture it for the benefit of our two nations.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity

Ever since US President Donald Trump started defunding and dismantling US scientific institutions, France has made a push to get scientists to move. In March the French minister in charge of research asked universities to fund programmes to attract American scientists. In 2017, after Trump first pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Accords, Macron launched a recruitment drive aimed at climate scientists working in the US. Two of those grantees, Ben Sanderson and Philip Shulz, talk about the experience of leaving the US for France, and what the current environment is like for climate scientists today. (Listen @1’10)

With 87 percent of France considered a “medical desert”, lawmakers and the government are looking to tackle doctor shortages. But the proposals – to regulate when specialists can open their private practices and require health professionals to work two days a month in areas with chronic shortages – have met with strong opposition from GPs, trainee doctors and students. Yassine Bahr, vice-president of the French junior doctors union (ISNI), and Anna Boctor, president of France’s Jeunes Medecins (young doctors) union, talk about why the proposals won’t solve the problem and the sense of injustice at being held responsible for a situation that is not of their making. (Listen @20’20)

On 8 May 1945, during a celebration of the end of WWII in Europe in the Algerian city of Setif, French colonial authorities shot at Algerians holding pro-independence signs. The ensuing riots then spread to neighbouring cities where the authorities  unleashed a campaign of reprisals to crush the unrest – indiscriminately killing tens of thousands of Algerian men, women and children. France has yet to officially acknowledge its role in the massacres. (Listen @15’00)

Episode mixed by Cécile 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 winners’ names announced and the week’s quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you’ve grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so be sure and listen every week.

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 3 April I asked you a question about Marine Le Pen, the president of the far-right French party the National Rally (RN). She, along with eight other RN Parliament members, was judged guilty of embezzling 4.4 million euros in European Union funds to pay France-based RN party staff who worked only for the RN and not on EU issues.

Le Pen and her fellow lawmakers have been banned from running for office for five years. This ban, which had previously been a rare sentence, has become commonplace since the Sapin 2 law was adopted in 2016, which made it the standard sentence for cases involving the embezzlement of public funds and was roundly supported by RN lawmakers – until now.

You were to re-read our article “RN leader Le Pen battles for political future after embezzlement conviction”, and send in the answer to this question: Aside from the ban on running for office, what else was included in Le Pen’s sentence?

The answer is, to quote our article: “Le Pen was also sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, two of which will be served under an electronic bracelet, and a fine of 100,000 euros.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by the late Muhammad Shamim who lived in Kerala State, India: “Would you rather be rich but not famous, or famous but not rich?”   

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

The winners are: RFI English listener Lata Akhter Jahan, the co-president of the Sonali Badhan Female Listeners Club in Bogura, Bangladesh. Lata is also the winner of this week’s bonus question. Congratulations, Lata, on your double win.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are RFI Listeners Club members Shaira Hosen Mo from Kishoreganj, Bangladesh; Nasyr Muhammad from Katsina State, Nigeria; John Yemi Sanday Turay from Freetown, Sierra Leone, and last but not least, Saleha, who is also a member of the International Radio Fan and Youth Club in Khanewal, Pakistan.

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme:  “Les Jardins de L’Alhambra” by Gérard Torikian; “Stacatto” by René Aubry; “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 “Aýa döndi” by Nuri Halmamedov and Mahtumkuli, performed by baritone Atageldi Garýagdyýew.

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 “How French women won, and used, their right to vote in 1945”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 2 June to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 5 June 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.