After hosting Macron for a three-day visit that included a carriage procession to Windsor Castle with King Charles and a state banquet, Starmer was handed a much-desired boost when Macron said France had agreed to a migrant returns scheme.

Starmer, who has seen his popularity slide since winning an election landslide last year, is working to address high levels of immigration – including asylum seekers arriving by small boats across the Channel from France – to try to stem the rise of the populist Reform UK party, led by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage.

At a joint press conference, the two leaders said they had agreed a “one in, one out” returns scheme – which would see Britain deporting to France undocumented people arriving in small boats, in return for accepting an equal number of legitimate asylum seekers with British family connections.

“I’m pleased to announce our agreement today on a groundbreaking returns pilot. For the very first time, migrants arriving in small boats will be detained and returned to France in short order,” Starmer said, standing alongside Macron.

“This will show others trying to make the same journey that it will be in vain.”

It was unclear, however, whether the agreement would have a big impact.

A government source said they were looking at about 50 returns a week, or 2,600 a year, a fraction of the more than 35,000 arrivals reported by the government last year. Another source said the scheme could be scaled up.

More than 21,000 people have arrived on small boats so far in 2025, a record number for this stage of the year.

Fabian Hamilton, a lawmaker in Starmer’s Labour Party, said he was “sceptical that this is the answer”.

French, UK military chiefs discuss options to strengthen Ukraine’s army

‘Migration pull factors’

The policy, which is similar to a scheme used by the EU and Turkey, carries risks for Macron from his right-wing political critics who may question why he has agreed to take back migrants wanting to live in Britain.

Macron criticised Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, saying “a lot of people in your country explained that Brexit would allow you to fight more efficiently against illegal immigration” but that it resulted in “the exact opposite”.

He had earlier called on Britain to address “migration pull factors“, suggesting it should be harder for migrants in Britain to find work without legal residential status.

Starmer said Britain’s nationwide crackdown on illegal working, which he described as being on a “completely unprecedented scale”, would mean the jobs migrants had been promised would no longer exist.

Underlining their desire for closer ties between the two countries, which were damaged when Britain left the EU in 2020, the two leaders agreed to strengthen their defence cooperation and both participated in a call of the “coalition of the willing” – nations that plan to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia.

France and Britain to lead mission to support a future Ukrainian peace deal

On the call, Starmer told Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump‘s Ukraine envoy, it was time to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table to try to secure a peace deal. In the meantime, the focus should be on ensuring Ukraine was in the strongest possible position.

They agreed Paris would be the new headquarters of the “coalition of the willing”, rotating to London after the first 12 months. The group of nations would form a post-ceasefire force to regenerate land forces, secure Ukraine’s skies and support safer seas.

“Supporting Ukraine is not just the right thing to do, it’s essential for delivering security at home,” said Starmer.

Both pledged to order more Storm Shadow cruise missiles, now used in Ukraine, and signed an agreement to deepen their nuclear cooperation, which will say for the first time that the respective deterrents of both countries can be coordinated.

“As close partners and NATO allies, the UK and France have a deep history of defence collaboration and today’s agreements take our partnership to the next level,” Starmer said.

The EU and Israel came to an understanding that “aid at scale must be delivered directly to the population”, EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said in a statement on Thursday.

EU member states have been divided over sanctions on Israel over its war in Gaza. However the bloc has used its trade ties as leverage, with France and other countries saying they would review the EU-Israel Association Agreement if Israel did not allow aid into Gaza.

Israel has restricted aid since a ceasefire deal fell through in March. As a result, Gaza’s two million residents are facing hunger and even famine in some areas.

Hamas says Israeli troops sticking point in truce talks as Gaza pounded

‘Substantial increase’ in aid

In the coming days there will be a “substantial increase” in daily trucks bringing food and other aid into Gaza, via the reopening of border crossings in the north and the south and routes through Jordan and Egypt.

The deal includes protection for aid workers, including safe passages for convoys, as well as the repair of infrastructure such as power supplies and water desalination.

Fuel deliveries will also restart, allowing hospitals to remain open and bakeries and public kitchens to operate and help distribute food.

The EU said it “stands ready to co-ordinate” with humanitarian organisations and NGOs on the ground to ensure that the aid is distributed.

The deal also includes measures to “ensure that there is no aid diversion to Hamas”.

“We count on Israel to implement every measure agreed,” Kallas said on X (formerly Twitter).

Israel’s war and settlements a strategy to block Palestinian state: legal expert

Ceasefire talks 

Meanwhile, Israeli and Hamas negotiators are continuing indirect talks in Qatar over a proposed 60-day ceasefire and a hostage release plan.

On Wednesday, Hamas said it would release 10 more of the hostages taken during the 7 October, 2023 attack, which triggered Israel’s war on Gaza – which has now killed more than 57,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Of 251 hostages seized during the assault on Israeli border communities near Gaza, 49 are still being held in the territory, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Hamas said that although the negotiations “remain difficult due to the intransigence of the occupation” it wanted to show the “necessary flexibility” by agreeing to release the hostages.

Domestic pressure mounts on Israel PM to end Gaza war

Attacks on medical infrastructure

Israel, meanwhile, has been continuing to attack Gaza, killing 52 people on Thursday according to Gaza’s civil defence.

These attacks included a strike on a medical centre in Deir al-Balah that killed 16 people, including children, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Israel’s military said it had struck a militant who took part in the 7 October attack, and that it was aware of reports regarding injuries and that the incident was under review.

The United Nations has condemned Israeli attacks on Palestinian health facilities, its detention of medics and its restrictions on allowing medical supplies into the territory.

The UN’s OCHA humanitarian agency said in May that the UN had documented at least 686 attacks impacting healthcare in Gaza since the war began.

(with newswires)

The plan, which was approved by the Senate on Thursday, promises €4 billion in public investment over six years. It also aims to increase social benefits in Mayotte to match mainland France by 2031.

Currently 77 percent of people in Mayotte live below the national poverty line and payments such as the minimum income benefit RSA remain half as high as in the rest of France.

Cyclone Chido hit Mayotte on 14 December, 2024, damaging homes and roads.

The Mayotte Departmental Council said it remains committed to supporting the local economy. “Our priority was to act quickly and with ambition. This interest-free loan is not only immediate help for rebuilding, but a real boost for the local economy,” Bibi Chanfi, vice president in charge of economic development, told local paper Le Journal de Mayotte.

The council has given €4 million to Initiative Mayotte, a non-profit organisation that supports local businesses with zero-interest loans, to help firms hit by the storm. Another €35 million has been added to the 2025 budget for new port and urban projects.

Comoros marks 50 years of independence amid ongoing dispute over Mayotte

Tighter immigration rules

The new law also targets what authorities have deemed two major problems: illegal immigration and informal housing.

Overseas Territories Minister Manuel Valls said the bill shows an unprecedented political ambition to make good on the Republic’s promise to Mayotte.

Nearly half the island’s population is foreign-born. The new law will make it harder to obtain residence permits and gives officials more power to clear illegal settlements.

One rule allows authorities to skip the usual obligation to offer new housing when tearing down shanty towns. Around one third of homes on the island are informal.

During debates, Valls said Mayotte risked being rebuilt on “sand” if these issues were not tackled.

French Senate to vote on post-cyclone ‘refoundation’ bill for Mayotte

Political divisions

The plan received backing from the government’s coalition and the far-right National Rally, which called it “a political victory”. Some on the left voted against it or abstained, saying it puts too much focus on immigration.

“In Mayotte, the normal law no longer applies. It has become a security lab for laws we would never dare use elsewhere in France,” Green Party senator Antoinette Guhl said.

Mayotte MP Anchya Bamana said the island still struggles with basic needs. She pointed to longterm water cuts. “How can we justify one billion to swim in the Seine? But nothing to respond to the urgent need for drinking water access for Mayotte residents,” she asked.

New school term in Mayotte off to difficult start six weeks after cyclone Chido

Key changes

The law will also scrap the special visa that prevents Mayotte residents from travelling freely to mainland France by 2030 – a change many locals see as overdue.

The plan also includes a full population count, to take place this year. Local leaders say Mayotte’s true population is often undercounted, leaving schools and hospitals overstretched.

One plan to make it easier for the government to take land for new projects was dropped after strong local protests.

Despite the government describing the plan as “unprecedented”, “massive” and “historic”, some MPs argue that it overlooks challenges such as water supply, healthcare and the green transition.

The Mayotte plan was the last bill passed before parliament breaks for the summer.

Five heads of state from Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Senegal and Gabon are in Washington for a three-day summit that began on Wednesday with a lunch at the White House.

Trump told the visiting presidents the talks would focus on “incredible commercial opportunities” that could move relations “from aid to trade”.

Many are not convinced. On Thursday, callers to RFI’s Appels sur l’Actualité programme said the US wants to block Chinese influence in Africa while securing valuable resources for itself.

“The United States is only interested in accessing our rare minerals,” said Estimé from Libreville, Gabon’s capital. “This so-called win-win situation is not really in our favour.”

Others said the US wants to stop African countries leaning on China as a top partner and undermine France’s influence in the region.

Another caller, Lydie in Libreville, said the five leaders showed they lacked the skills to negotiate with powerful countries and “someone like Trump”.

Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani began to talk about his country’s uranium, manganese and lithium but was cut off by Trump, who said: “We’re gonna have to go a little bit quicker than this, because we have a whole schedule. If I could just ask your name, and your country, would be great.”

Investment push

Gabon President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema told Trump his country has “a great deal of resources”, including rare earth minerals. Gabon has about a quarter of the world’s known manganese reserves and supplies 22 percent of China’s needs.

“Our country is free, open to one and all,” Nguema said. “You are welcome to come and invest. Otherwise, other countries might come instead of you.”

China has invested heavily in Africa and signed over 4.3 billion dollars in deals with Gabon alone.

Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai thanked Trump for the meeting. Liberia has suffered since US aid was cut, losing 48 percent of its health budget.

“Liberia is a longtime friend of the United States and we believe in your policy of making America great again,” Boakai said. “We just want to thank you so much for this opportunity.”

French mining group digs in as Gabon tightens grip on manganese exports

Language gaffe

Trump responded by praising Boakai’s English. “Such good English,” Trump said. “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”

“In Liberia?” Trump asked. “Yes sir,” Boakai replied. “That’s very interesting,” Trump said. “I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.”

Claudy in Dakar, Senegal’s capital, said Trump “showed nothing but contempt towards the African leaders”.

“They looked like five candidates applying for a job. Trump did not even know the names of the presidents he invited. He did not even know that English is the official language of Liberia,” Claudy said.

“Trump’s only focus in Africa is to do business and make money. He is not interested in our development, he has cut down aid towards Africa and stopped giving visas to many African citizens,” Claudy said.

Senegalese golf course?

Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye complimented Trump’s golf skills and invited him to build a course in Senegal.

“Thank you very much. Very nice. Thank you. I didn’t know I’d be treated this nicely. This is great,” Trump said. “We could do this all day long.”

Faye also spoke of plans for a “tech city” in Dakar with “views of the sea” and asked US investors to get involved.

Critics in Africa were unimpressed. Mokhtar in Nouakchott, Mauritania’s capital, said: “I am very disappointed by my president who looks like he went begging to the American president. All of them, in fact, in the way they had to list out their resources. Trump should already know all this.”

Jean-Martin in Cameroun said: “The hunted cannot negotiate with the hunter. We, the young Africans, we want the transformation of our minerals to be undertaken in our countries.”

The five African nations face 10 percent tariffs on goods exported to the United States. They also hold reserves of gold, oil, manganese, gas, wood and zircon.

According to a report from Oxfam entitled Africa’s Inequality Crisis and the Rise of the Super-Rich, released on Thusday, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, South Africans Johann Rupert and Nicky Oppenheimer and Egyptian businessman Nassef Sawiris control a combined $57.4 billion (€49.07bn).

This staggering concentration of wealth highlights the deepening inequality across the continent, the report warns.

Number of African-born millionaires to skyrocket over next decade: report

Since the year 2000, when Africa had no billionaires, their number has risen to 23 today, with their combined wealth increasing by 56 per cent over the past five years, reaching $112.6 billion.

The richest 5 percent of Africans now hold nearly $4 trillion – more than double the combined wealth of the remaining 95 percent of the population.

“This growing divide is exacerbating poverty, threatening economic development and undermining democratic governance,” the report adds.

Policy failures 

The report also examines how government policies across Africa have failed to address this inequality. African governments collect just 0.3 percent of GDP in wealth taxes – the lowest rate globally – and this share has fallen by nearly 25 per cent in the past decade.

Meanwhile, governments raise almost three times more revenue from indirect taxes such as VAT, which disproportionately impact poorer citizens.

The majority of African countries with active International Monetary Fund and World Bank loans cut spending on essential services such as education, health and social protection in 2023 and 2024 in order to meet debt repayments.

Illicit financial flows further drain resources, with an estimated $88.6bn leaving the continent annually.

“These policies continue to favour the wealthy elite while essential public services are starved of funding,” the report reads.

Surge in global wealth sees number of millionaires hit new high

Social and political consequences

Oxfam reports that almost 850 million Africans are now moderately or severely food insecure, an increase of 20 million since 2022.

Seven out of 10 people living in extreme poverty worldwide are in Africa today, compared to just one in 10 in 1990. Men hold three times more wealth than women, representing the widest gender wealth gap globally.

Political participation is also undermined in some countries. In Nigeria, for example, the high cost of entering politics and widespread vote-buying restrict democratic representation, favouring wealthy elites.

“Africa’s wealth is not missing,” Fati N’Zi-Hassane, director of Oxfam in Africa, said in a statement. “It’s being siphoned off by a rigged system that allows a small elite to amass vast fortunes while denying hundreds of millions even the most basic services. This is an utter policy failure — unjust, avoidable and entirely reversible.”

Forty percent of Nigerians live below poverty line: statistics office

Taxing the super-rich

To tackle the problem, Oxfam says modest tax reforms to fund essential services are needed across the continent.

It points out that a 1 percent increase in wealth tax and a 10 percent rise in income tax on the richest 1 percent could generate $66bn annually, equivalent to 2.29 percent of Africa’s GDP.

This would be sufficient to close critical gaps in free quality education and universal electricity access, the report adds.

Citing a number of examples, Oxfam points out that some African countries have shown that fairer tax systems are possible. Morocco and South Africa collect 1.5 percent and 1.2 percent respectively of their GDP from property taxes – among the highest rates on the continent.

Billionaire wealth on the rise, says Oxfam, warning of ‘aristocratic oligarchy’

In the Seychelles, since 2000 the poorest half of the population have increased their income share by 76 percent, while the richest 1 percent have lost two-thirds of theirs. Seychelles also guarantees universal healthcare, free education and a robust welfare system.

Despite these examples, many African governments have backtracked on tax policies, labour rights and the minimum wage since 2022, risking the continuation of poverty and inequality.

The report warns that without decisive action to tax the super-rich and invest in the majority, Africa risks perpetuating instability and economic hardship for decades to come.

Henri Grouès, known as Abbé Pierre, died in 2007. He has now been accused of 45 acts of sexual violence. Twelve new testimonies have been collected since January by Égaé, the helpline for victims.

“Seven of these testimonies concern people who were minors” as young as 10 years old at the time of the events, said the expert firm commissioned by Emmaus to shed light on the matter in a report posted on the Emmaus France website.

Among them are two sisters, one of whom “recounted Abbé Pierre masturbating her” when she was 11 years old in the mid-1970s. Her sister said she had been forced to perform oral sex on him when she was 15, which is considered rape.

Another victim said she was 17 when the priest touched her under her skirt on a train in 1953. She said the nuns who met her told her she had imagined everything.

Financial reparations

Emmaus and the French Bishops’ Conference (CEF) said they will set up a joint financial reparation scheme in September to “mark material recognition of the violence and consequences suffered”.

The Commission for Recognition and Reparation (CRR) will run the scheme. The CRR was set up by the CEF in 2021 after widespread reports of sexual abuse in the Church since the 1950s.

The church’s other reparation body, Inirr, said it will handle claims for three victims of Abbé Pierre who have come forward.

Both the CRR and Inirr are collecting testimonies and offering up to €60,000 in compensation.

‘Transparency’ on Abbé Pierre

Emmaus said it wants “transparency” on the abuse. Its research commission plans to publish a full report in early 2027.

Archives opened last September showed the church hierarchy stayed silent from the 1950s about Abbé Pierre’s actions. A book released in April said the Vatican knew as well.

Despite calls from the CEF, there will be no criminal investigation. Abbé Pierre died in 2007 and the statute of limitations has expired.

(with AFP)

On the night of 10 July 1985, the Rainbow Warrior was moored in Auckland, New Zealand, preparing to lead a flotilla of protest vessels to Moruroa, in French Polynesia, where France had been conducting nuclear tests for decades.

Greenpeace’s mission in the Pacific was clear: to bear witness, document and physically disrupt the tests, amplifying the voices of Pacific islanders and anti-nuclear campaigners who had long decried the impact of radioactive fallout on the environment and human health. 

The Rainbow Warrior had recently helped relocate Marshall Islanders affected by United States nuclear testing, further cementing its role as a symbol of peaceful protest.

‘Opération Satanique’

Shortly before midnight, two underwater bombs detonated against the hull of the vessel. The first explosion prompted an evacuation, but as crew members returned to assess the damage, a second blast tore through the vessel.

Fernando Pereira, a Portugese-Dutch photographer with Greenpeace, who had gone below deck to retrieve his camera equipment, drowned as the ship rapidly sank.

The attack was quickly revealed to be the work of French agents, part of a covert operation code named Opération Satanique, which was authorised at the highest levels of the French government.

The fallout was immediate and severe. New Zealand authorities arrested two French operatives, Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart, who were later convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.

However, under diplomatic pressure, they served less than two years, confined to a French military base in Polynesia before being repatriated.

Greenpeace report reveals France’s double standards in dealing with Russia

France was forced to apologise and pay reparations to New Zealand, Pereira’s family and Greenpeace, and French Defence Minister Eugène Charles Hernu resigned in disgrace.

The operation’s planning and execution became the subject of intense scrutiny. Among the team of agents involved was Gérard Royal, the brother of future French presidential candidate Ségolène Royal.

While Gérard Royal has never been formally charged, investigations by established French media including Le Monde, Les Echos and Le Figaro, as well as statements from former officials, have alleged his direct involvement in the operation, fuelling controversy in France for decades.

Ségolène Royal has repeatedly distanced her family from the affair, but the allegations remain a footnote in the saga of the Rainbow Warrior.

Opposite effect

Far from silencing Greenpeace, the bombing had the opposite effect. Public outrage surged in New Zealand and internationally, with donations and support for Greenpeace flooding in.

According to Mads Christensen, executive director of Greenpeace International, the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior “proved what many in Greenpeace said and are still saying – namely, that first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you and then you win. It basically showed that that kind of resistance against Greenpeace does not work. It has the opposite effect. It builds strength”.

The organisation quickly dispatched another vessel to Moruroa, ensuring the protests went ahead as planned.

The Rainbow Warrior became a potent symbol of resistance, and the incident is widely credited with strengthening the anti-nuclear movement in the Pacific and beyond.

“It is much more than just a ship that was bombed by the French,” Christensen told RFI.

“They tried to silence a movement, an opposition to their plans to do nuclear testing in the Pacific. And the aftermath showed that Greenpeace just grew stronger, as did the movement.”

Wake-up call for France as climate experts push for new action on emissions

In the years since, Greenpeace has expanded its operations, becoming one of the world’s best known environmental groups.

The lessons of the Rainbow Warrior have shaped its approach: a stubborn commitment to non-violent direct action, meticulous security protocols and a determination to expose environmental wrongdoing, regardless of the risks. 

Today, the Rainbow Warrior rests on the seabed off New Zealand’s coast, transformed into a living reef.

Intimidation and attacks

Meanwhile, the repression of environmental activists persists in new forms. 

According to a statement issued by Greenpeace on 9 July, Greenpeace USA and Greenpeace International faced a “record-breaking” Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) in the US, launched by oil and gas company Energy Transfer, resulting in a €563 million fine.

Worldwide, according to NGO Global Witness, one environmental defender is killed every two days. The UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders also expressed concern over the disproportionate use of force during environmental protests, including in France.

According to Greenpeace, attacks on activists – whether physical, legal, political or media-driven – “reflect a clear intent to silence those who challenge exploitative and destructive models”.

Fighting for the Ocean: Paul Watson on activism, repression and hope

“The numerous attempts to intimidate non-violent activists underscore the urgent need to guarantee freedom [of expression], protect whistleblowers and defend all those working for climate justice, the preservation of life and fundamental rights,” said Jean-François Julliard, executive director of Greenpeace France.

Forty years after the Rainbow Warrior attack, the organisation says its “determination remains undiminished”.

Throughout the summer, activists from the organisation’s local groups are mobilising across France to pay tribute to activists, calling on the public to join the Time to Resist campaign, the aim of which is to “ignite a global wave of resistance to push back against billionaires’ greed, legal bullying and attacks on our right to protest and speak up for the planet – and for each other”.

Barabash still finds it hard to believe she’s living in Paris. “I ask my son sometimes, do you really think that now I live in Paris?” she says, speaking from the offices of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) – the press freedom NGO that helped organise her extradition from Moscow. “For me it still feels a bit unreal. It’s something like a dream.”

The knock on the door came on 25 February, shortly after the 64-year-old Russian journalist returned from reporting at the Berlin Film Festival. Detained for a day and stripped of her electronic devices, she was then placed under house arrest on 21 April, and was facing up to 10 years in prison for criticising Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Her crime was writing “the truth about this war” on Facebook, she says. After Russia introduced its draconian “fake news” law in 2022, making it effectively illegal to criticise the military, authorities began monitoring Barabash’s posts. One, written in March 2022, described how Russia had “bombed the country” and “razed whole cities to the ground”.

Hijacking news: Fake media sites sow Ukraine disinformation

Ties to Ukraine

For Barabash, a film critic who has spent decades writing about cinema, speaking out wasn’t just her professional duty – it was deeply personal. Born in Kharkiv when it was part of the Soviet Union, she has strong family ties to Ukraine. Her son has lived there for 17 years, and her late father was a renowned Ukrainian literature expert who wrote openly against the war before his death last November.

“If there were not my personal links with Ukraine, if I didn’t imagine each night how the missiles are attacking my son’s house, maybe I would have been quieter,” she said.

Her transformation from culture journalist to wanted dissident began long before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. As Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine escalated, she found herself unable to separate art from politics.

“When the war began – not this invasion in February 2022 but before that, after Crimea and the first attacks on the east of Ukraine, [that] was the beginning of the war – that’s the moment I understood that it wasn’t possible to write only about culture. Culture is very tightly connected with politics.”

She cites a Russian saying: “If you don’t [take an] interest in politics, politics will [take an interest] in you.”

After her lawyers gave her an estimated 50-80 percent chance of imprisonment, Barabash made the decision to flee. She was approached by a network of volunteers – “some Russian people in exile and some Russian people in Russia” – who had helped others, including TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, to escape.

“They found a way to me and proposed to help me escape. They said that if I agree, they’ll prepare all the operation,” she said.

The escape began with a car ride from Moscow to Belarus, driven by a volunteer who then returned to Russia, leaving her alone to follow encrypted instructions. For the most dangerous part of her journey, she went completely offline. “I turned off all the equipment and I was without any connection for almost 10 days. I didn’t know if my mother, my family, my friends, knew where I was,” she recalls.

Reporters Without Borders launches news platform to counter Russian propaganda

‘It’s difficult to scare me’

Her route to freedom took her through the forests of Belarus, sleeping rough for nights on end, guided only by encrypted messages from anonymous volunteers. At times, she admits, the journey felt more dangerous than staying in Russia to face trial.

“I had to sleep in the forest, in the fields,” she recalls. “I understood only afterwards that it was very dangerous. But at the time I didn’t think about it. I had my freedom, that’s all.”

Sleeping rough in forests was challenging for a woman in her sixties, but Barabash had forged a lot of inner strength. “I’m a strong Russian woman. I’m a former sportswoman,” she says, referring to her background in gymnastics. “So it’s very, very difficult to scare me. It’s my character.”

The journey took two and a half weeks, with RSF coordinating the final stages. The NGO’s director Thibaut Bruttin later admitted the organisation had feared the worst several times: “Once, we thought she was dead.”

Barabash crossed into European Union territory on 26 April, her 64th birthday. “I crossed the border illegally. But there were people who helped me on the other side of the border. And then people from RSF came and took me to Paris.”

‘A symbol of hope’

The transition hasn’t been easy. “I came with this, with my backpack,” she says, pointing to a small bag on the floor. “And so for a few days after my arrival here, I was wearing my friends’ clothes.”

The separation from her family, too, is hard. Her 96-year-old mother remains in Moscow, while her son and grandson are trapped in Ukraine. “I left everything – my property, my family, my mother. I see the pictures of my previous life and I try to close them in my mind. It’s very dramatic, but I am trying to be involved in this life, in France.”

RSF is helping her claim political asylum and she lives with a good Russian-born friend. Unable to work legally in France, she writes a little for Russian-language media based elsewhere in Europe.

RSF has described her as a “symbol of hope” but she shakes her head at this. For her, proper Russian journalists are now either in jail or living in exile, while the others consider her “as a symbol of stupidity”.

“They say, why? You have such an old mother, you have property, you should be silent. We are against the war, but we are keeping silent. You’ll end up in prison.”

As a journalist she felt obliged to break that silence. “The journalist profession is… for those who have to say the truth. And especially in such dark times as now in Russia.”

Does she have any regrets?

“Je ne regrette rien,” she says, quoting Edith Piaf. “I was saving my dignity. The dignity of my profession.” She adds that if even one person read her articles and it helped them to change their mind about the war, then it was worth it.

Zimbabwe’s elephant population has grown steadily over the past decade thanks to intensive national and regional conservation strategies.

According to Tinashe Farawo, spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks), the country’s elephant count has risen from around 84,000-90,000 in 2014 to over 100,000 today, growing by roughly 5 percent per year.

This success is supported by both local initiatives and international partnerships. The European Union, Germany, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), among others, have poured millions into biodiversity efforts.

Under its Natural Africa Programme, the EU alone has allocated $36 million toward conservation, sustainable economic development, and improved park management across Southern Africa.

Global conservation talks resume in Rome amid funding deadlock

Zimbabwe is a key player in the region’s Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs). They are cross-border protected zones that enable wildlife to roam freely across 11 international boundaries.

These include areas like Kavango-Zambezi, Great Limpopo, and Mana Pools, designed to preserve migration corridors for elephants, rhinos, and other species.

The human cost of conservation

With animal populations booming, local communities are facing growing dangers. Farawo notes that elephants are increasingly forced to venture outside protected areas in search of food and water, bringing them into direct conflict with people.

“We’ve translocated over 200 elephants in the Save Valley over the last five years,” says Farawo. “But it’s a drop in the ocean. Long-term solutions are expensive and require major investment.”

Tensions are high in places like Hwange, Chiredzi, Kariba and Mbire, where elephants trample crops and predators attack livestock or even villagers.

Domingos Gove, Director for Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources at the SADC Secretariat, reported that dozens of people are killed by wildlife annually across the region.

Traditional leaders and local advocates stress the need for communities to see tangible benefits from conservation, such as employment, schools, clinics, and infrastructure – if they are to become true stewards of the land.

Building community-led solutions

Professor Andrew Nambota, head of the Peace Parks Foundation, says meaningful local participation is essential.

“Communities are not just stakeholders – they’re custodians. They should be at the decision-making table and drive economic development in their regions.”

Itai Chibaya, Country Director for WWF Zimbabwe, agrees.

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“In the Hwange-Kazuma-Chobe corridor, sustainable conservation supports livelihoods,” he says. “Nature tourism accounts for up to 10 percent of GDP in several SADC countries and supports over three million jobs, including many for youth and women.”

But Chibaya warns that climate change, underfunded projects, and fragmented habitats from mining and infrastructure threaten long-term sustainability. WWF and other partners are working to develop ecotourism models that return value directly to villages, not just capital cities.

 Call for new conservation models

At the recent SADC Transfrontier Conservation Areas Summit in Harare – held under the theme 25 Years of Cooperation for Regional Integration and Sustainable Development – leaders called for broader, more inclusive conservation strategies.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa highlighted Zimbabwe’s launch of a blockchain-based national carbon registry, aimed at generating transparent revenue through climate action.

“This shows our determination to contribute to new global standards with accountability and sustainability,” he said.

Illegal logging threatens livelihoods of hundreds of Ghanaian women

Experts argue that carbon credits from reforestation and other efforts could become a critical funding source for conservation if communities are properly included in benefit-sharing models.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe holds over 130 tonnes of ivory from natural deaths and anti-poaching operations worth an estimated $600 million. Yet international bans under CITES prevent the country from selling the stockpile, limiting potential funding for future conservation work.

As the SADC summit concluded, leaders urged member states to develop tailored solutions for rising human-wildlife conflict and push for legislative and financial reforms to ensure the long-term viability of shared conservation goals.

This week, we begin in Harlem, New York City, USA, with Rico Speight, a film and theatre director.

His film, Rediscovering Fanon, was screened in Paris on 5 July in partnership with the Frantz-Fanon Foundation, as this year marks the centenary of one of the inspirational figures of the anti-colonial movement. The film will also be screened acorss France and in Martinque later in the year.

According to Speight, Frantz Omar Fanon (1925–1961), whose ideas have stirred the hearts of progressives since the 1950s, continues to inspire even decades after his death.

With Speight’s latest documentary, the filmmaker said he “aims to reveal the man behind the legend and analyse the relevance of his prolific theories in a globalised, post-racial millennium.”

Biopic explores the life and legacy of Frantz Fanon, a century after his birth

We also head to Unesco in Paris, where Spotlight on Africa spoke to Caroline Munier about the UN agency’s new report on the state of the publishing industry on the African continent. 

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

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

France is falling behind on its climate promises as extreme weather claims lives, hits food supply chains and strains public budgets, the country’s top climate advisory council warned on Thursday.

In its annual report, the High Council for the Climate (HCC) painted a bleak picture of France’s fight to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Political instability and stop-start funding are holding back the changes needed to adapt to a fast-warming world, it said.

France’s climate plan has “stalled” this year, the HCC added, blaming a lack of clear leadership and poor coordination between government ministries.

“Is there still a pilot on this plane while the turbulence is getting worse?” the report asked. The HCC, created in 2018, was renewed for five years last year.

It comprises 12 independent experts and is chaired by Jean-François Soussana, an agronomist and the vice-president of France’s national research institute for agriculture and the environment.

Europe is world’s fastest-heating continent, report warns

France warming faster than average

The council’s seventh annual report landed during a heatwave that has swept across France and the rest of Europe – the fastest-warming continent. It shows the country is not on track to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, and that it is heating up faster than the global average.

Over the last 10 years, mainland France has warmed by 2.2°C. If the global average rises by 1.5°C, on the current trajectory that will means a rise of around 2°C for France.

If the world reaches 2°C, France could see 2.7°C, and a global rise of 3°C would mean a 4°C rise in France, the HCC said.

France rolls out plan to prepare for 4C temperature rise by end of century

It warned that the occurrence of heatwaves could triple in the next five years, and become five times more common by 2050 compared with the late 20th century.

Pointing to the consequences of rising temperatures, the report said: “In recent years, impacts have reached levels never seen before.”

In 2024, heat caused more than 3,700 deaths during the summer in France. Cereal harvests fell to their lowest in 40 years. The cost of floods last winter reached €615 million.

Cuts in emissions too slow

Although France did meet its second carbon budget, from 2019 to 2023, progress has declined sharply since then. France’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 6.7 percent between 2022 and 2023, but only dropped 1.8 percent between 2023 and 2024.

Next year’s drop is likely to be just 1.3 percent – a figure which needs to be doubled to reach the 2030 target.

The building sector, which contributes 15 percent of emissions, needs to cut emissions nine times faster than it currently does. But sales of gas boilers rose by 15 percent this year, while sales of heat pumps have fallen by 40 percent.

The waste sector has increased its emissions, and must cut them by a factor of 29.

The HCC also said that only one third of emissions cuts came from climate policies this year, with the rest due to temporary factors such as increased nuclear energy, fewer cattle, a mild winter and good rainfall which benefited hydropower.

Global warming accelerating at ‘unprecedented’ pace, study warns

Policy rollbacks

“The strengthening of existing policies would help restart the drop in emissions,” the HCC wrote. But this will need “strong political support” and steady funding, both of which were lacking last year.

The council listed a series of rollbacks: social leasing for electric cars was paused, support for home insulation was cut, low-emission zones were scrapped and rules to protect soil from construction were weakened.

Agriculture too remains a sticking point. The HCC said the French government’s response to farmers’ protests at the start of the year had weakened efforts to cut farm emissions.

“The political response to the farmers’ protests has slowed the sector’s agro-ecological transition,” the report said, adding that new laws risk locking agriculture into high-emission models instead of shifting to greener, more sustainable methods.

Threatened by climate change, France’s forests need billions of euros to adapt

Key plans delayed

In addition, France’s climate plans are behind schedule. The third National Adaptation Plan came out in March but the new Low Carbon Strategy will not be ready before the end of this year, while the new energy plan is expected by the end of summer.

“Without these, France risks missing its 2030 and 2050 targets,” the HCC warned. Diane Strauss, a member of the council and an expert on transport and energy, said: “Government uncertainty weighs on the survival of public policies.”

France’s main planning office for climate action, the SGPE, lost its head in February. Antoine Pellion, who had led the office since it was set up in 2022, resigned over cuts to green policies and lack of political support.

EU confirms 90 percent emissions cut by 2040, with some concessions

Public trust at risk

The Climate Action Network, which brings together 40 environmental groups, released its own list of “more than 43 environmental rollbacks” by the government or parliament over the last six months.

It added a 44th when President Emmanuel Macron said he wanted to revisit the EU’s goal to cut emissions by 90 percent by 2040. “Where is the compass of the French government?” the group asked.

Soussana warned that climate policies must benefit everyone to maintain public support, as climate change worsens social divides.

“There is a temptation to polarise the debate on climate and ecology, which could threaten targets and budgets,” he said. “Some people feel policies have not helped everyone equally, so there is some support for tearing them down. But all French people suffer during heatwaves, so we need policies that help everyone.”

Named Amietia wittei after Belgian herpetologist Gaston-François De Witte, the frog was thought to live only at lower altitudes, so members of an expedition up Kilimanjaro were not looking for amphibians.

“We wanted to observe the scarlet-tufted malachite sunbird – a tiny colourful bird resembling a hummingbird, fond of nectar,” said Dmitry Andreichuk, co-founder of Altezza Travel agency.

“We know it lives between 2,000 and 4,500 metres altitude, so we thought in this part of Kilimanjaro we should definitely find some.”

But it was not a bird that took Andreichuk’s breath away.

“I start descending the slope, and there, I see something jump into the water… I think: ‘Did I really see that?’ Then I move forward again, and I see a second thing jump… and there, I realise it’s a frog!”

That memorable day was in late June on the Shira plateau, at the foot of the memorial to mountaineerer Scott Fischer who died on Everest.

Andreichuk immediately called his brother, who asked him to wait to be sure they were not mistaken. They waited two hours, their feet in icy water, until the frogs reappeared.

It turned out they had seen Amietia wittei, a river frog widespread in Africa but which had never been seen this high before.

Population of critically-endangered thumbnail-sized frogs found in South Africa

Surviving in icy water

In an environment where “even staying 30 seconds with your feet in the water chills you to the bone”, Andreichuk notes, the frogs appear to thrive. The small stream – barely 10 centimetres deep – houses a hundred tadpoles and several adults.

“We immediately knew it was something important. We didn’t yet know if it was a new species, but we knew river frogs normally don’t climb this high.”

Professor Alan Channing, a specialist in amphibians at Northwest University in South Africa, confirmed that it was indeed Amietia wittei. The frog had already been found on several high plateaus of East Africa – notably in Kenya (Aberdare, Mount Elgon, Mount Kenya) and Uganda – but never at this altitude.

“These frogs have an incredible capacity for adapting to the cold,” Channing explains. “Their metabolism works at slow speed. They can survive in icy waters, sometimes even covered with surface ice. They’ve been there for millions of years.”

Melting African glaciers an early casualty of global warming, say experts

Limited escape routes

With global warming, the frogs are moving higher to stay cool. “If streams continue to flow at higher altitude, they could climb even more,” he notes.

The frogs rely on cold water and mountain micro-ecosystems, so they may not keep pace with rising temperatures. “They flourish in cool zones, but if temperatures rise too much, their survival will be compromised.”

Other related species, like Amietia nutti, already live lower down and have fewer options. Kilimanjaro reaches nearly 6,000 metres, but other East African mountains such as Mount Elgon or the Aberdares are lower, leaving limited escape routes.

On these ranges, some frogs already live at the top, and if the planet keeps heating, they will have nowhere left to go.

A 45-day mission to Kilimanjaro is now planned to watch the frogs and learn more about how they survive.

Andreichuk’s discovery could herald others.

“We weren’t even doing research, we were just hiking for pleasure,” he says. “And yet, we made an extraordinary discovery. Imagine what specialised researchers could find.

“Kilimanjaro still has a lot to show us.”

This article was adapted from the original version in French by RFI’s Christina Okello

France just experienced its hottest June since 2003, with several days of extreme heat at the end of the month that left two people dead and slowed the country down – halting work outdoors and closing schools. The heatwave is a taste of what the future might hold, as global warming leads to more extreme weather conditions. The Human Adaptation Institute has created an immersive experience of what life at 50C would be like. Jeanne Richard reports from the mobile lab as it tours France to raise awareness over the need to mitigate and adapt to climate change, one hot individual at a time. (Listen @0′)

France is Europe’s largest egg producer, yet it’s struggling to meet growing demand from people looking for a cheap source of protein. Eggs are now being imported from Ukraine where environmental, health and animal welfare norms are far lower. Alice Richard, head of the National Egg Promotion Committee (CNPO), talks about the need to increase home-grown production and make it easier for farmers to start or expand their farms. Cyril Ernst, campaign manager with Anima, whose mission is to put an end to laying hens in cages, insists any easing of regulations for new farms mustn’t be at the expense of animal welfare. (Listen @16’45”)

The first line of the Paris metro opened on 19 July 1900, after decades of wrangling between the capital and the state slowed down its development. Today the metro system is 245kms long, with 16 lines covering the entire city and beyond. (Listen @10’30”)

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).

The European Court of Human Rights‘ decision comes after a row engulfed the 2024 Paris Olympics over the gender of an Algerian boxing champion.

Semenya, a 34-year-old South African runner, is classed as having “differences in sexual development”, but has always been legally identified as female.

She has been unable to compete in her favoured 800m category since 2018, after she refused to take drugs to reduce her testosterone levels under new rules from World Athletics, the governing body for track and field.

Semenya told journalists the ECHR’s decision was a “positive outcome”.

“We need to respect athletes, we need to put their rights first,” said the athlete, who was the Olympic 800m champion in 2012 and 2016 and world gold medallist in 2009, 2011 and 2017.

“It’s just a reminder to the leaders to say priorities lie on the protection of athletes.”

Semenya has embarked on a long legal marathon to contest the World Athletics rules.

The Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled against her in 2019 and the decision was validated by the Swiss Federal Court in Lausanne in 2020.

It judged that a testosterone level comparable to that of men gave female athletes “an insurmountable advantage”.

The ECHR found that the case had required a “rigorous judicial review that was commensurate with the seriousness of the personal rights at issue”, but the Swiss federal court’s review had “fallen short of that requirement”.

It ruled that, as such, Semenya “had not benefitted from the safeguards provided for” in the European Convention on Human Rights, and ordered Switzerland to pay the athlete 80,000 euros ($93,000) for her expenses.

‘Fight never over’

A lower chamber at the ECHR in 2023 ruled that Semenya was the victim of discrimination by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Its decision was however largely symbolic as it did not call into question the World Athletics ruling nor allow Semenya to return to competition without taking medication.

Swiss authorities, supported by World Athletics, appealed to the European court’s 17-member Grand Chamber, leading to Thursday’s ruling.

Semenya had also hoped that the Grand Chamber would uphold that she had been victim of discrimination, but it said those complaints were inadmissible as they did not fall under Switzerland’s jurisdiction.

She said on Thursday she would continue to demand dignity and respect for athletes.

“The fight will never be over,” she said. “As long as we have injustice, we fight till the court.”

There are many types of “differences in sexual development”, a group of rare conditions involving genes, hormones and reproductive organs.

Formerly known as intersexuality, they occur in approximately one in 1,000 to 4,500 births.

Semenya was born with the “46 XY” chromosome, rather than the XX chromosome most women have.

Before the 2009 world championships, where Semenya won the 800m gold aged just 18, she was forced to undergo gender testing.

She was subsequently put on medication to reduce testosterone levels.

But Semenya said she felt she was being treated like a “human guinea pig” and vowed to never again allow it.

Testosterone is produced by men and women, but men produce 20 times more of the sex hormone.

But how much the hormone boosts performance remains a matter of debate.

‘Degrading’

The International Olympic Committee is weighing reintroducing gender testing.

World Athletics and World Boxing have already adopted chromosomal testing — generally a cheek swab to check for the SRY gene, which reveals the presence of the Y chromosome.

World Aquatics in 2023 adopted a policy that foresees such testing.

Supporters say such screening simplifies access to women’s competition, and UN rapporteur Reem Alsalem has said such tests are “reliable and non-invasive”.

But Madeleine Pape, a sociologist of gender in sport, says there is a lack of research proving that transgender athletes or those with one of the many forms of DSD gain a “disproportionate advantage” over XX competitors.

Human Rights Watch has argued that World Athletics regulations “are degrading and invasive of privacy, on grounds that are scientifically contested”.

The gender debate reignited in June around Paris Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif.

Donald Trump, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling were among those who stoked a row over the Algerian’s gender.

This is likely to have led to far more heat-related deaths than would have occurred without the influence of global warming, a study conducted by more than a dozen researchers from five European institutions concluded.

Temperatures between late June and early July soared well above 40 degrees Celsius in many European countries, as the first heatwave of the summer broke records and triggered health warnings. 

Hottest June on record

The European Union’s climate monitoring service Copernicus on Wednesday said that Western Europe had seen its hottest June on record, with some schools and tourist sites shuttered as the mercury soared. 

To assess what role climate change had played, scientists compared the intensity of the heatwave with one that would have occurred in a world that had not warmed due to burning of fossil fuels. 

France and much of southern Europe roast as temperatures soar

Using historical weather data, they concluded that a heatwave “would have been 2-4C cooler” without human-induced climate change in all but one of the 12 cities studied. 

The 4C elevation greatly increased the risk to health in the 12 cities, which included Paris, London and Madrid, and have a combined population of more than 30 million.

“What that does is it brings certain groups of people into more dangerous territory,” said researcher Ben Clarke from Imperial College London, which co-led the study with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 

“For some people it’s still warm, fine weather. But for now a huge sector of the population, it’s more dangerous.”

Death toll

The study also sought to estimate the death toll from the heatwave in the 12 cities studied, and how many of these deaths could be attributed to climate change. 

Based on peer-reviewed scientific methods and established research on heat and mortality, the study concluded that the heatwave likely caused around 2,300 deaths between 23 June and 2 July across the 12 cities studied. 

Around 1,500 of these deaths would not have occurred had climate change not pushed temperatures to such dangerous highs, researchers said, whole stressing that this was an estimate as no official death toll was not yet available.

Heat caused nearly 50,000 deaths in Europe last year, study finds

Heatwaves are particularly dangerous for the elderly, those with health conditions, young children, outdoor workers and anyone exposed to high temperatures for prolonged periods without relief. The impact on health is also compounded in cities, where heat is absorbed by paved surfaces and buildings.

Copernicus said large parts of southern Europe experienced so-called “tropical nights” during the heatwave, when overnight temperatures don’t fall low enough to let the body recover. 

“An increase in heatwave temperature of just two or four degrees can mean the difference between life and death for thousands of people,” said Garyfallos Konstantinoudis, a lecturer at Imperial College London. “This is why heatwaves are known as silent killers. Most heat-related deaths occur in homes and hospitals out of public view, and are rarely reported.”

Authorities say it could take weeks to calculate a definitive death toll from the recent heatwave, but similar episodes have claimed tens of thousands of lives in Europe during previous summers. 

(with AFP)

Prosecutors said they are investigating allegations of illegal financing of longtime party leader Marine Le Pen’s 2022 presidential bid, and the party’s European Parliament and French parliamentary campaigns.

The anti-immigration National Rally (RN) is the biggest single party in France’s lower house of parliament.

Jordan Bardella, 29, who took over the RN presidency in 2022, said that police seized “all files relating to the party’s recent regional, presidential, legislative, and European campaigns – in other words, all of its electoral activity”.

Bardella slammed the raid in a message on X. “This spectacular and unprecedented operation is clearly part of a new harassment operation. It is a serious attack on pluralism and democratic change,” he said.

France’s Le Pen asks Bardella to prepare for 2027 presidential bid

Fresh blow

The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed in a statement that searches were carried out at the RN’s headquarters,  as well as at the head offices of several unnamed companies and at the homes of those companies’ executives.

The searches were prompted by a judicial inquiry opened a year ago into a raft of allegations, including fraud, money laundering and forgery.

The inquiry is also investigating allegations thay the RN overbilled for services or billed for fictitious services in order to artifically increase the amount of state aid provided to the party for its electoral campaigns.

The alleged violations were related to the financing of campaigns during the 2022 presidential, 2022 legislative and 2024 European campaigns, the office said, adding that no person or legal entity has been charged in the probe and the investigation is still ongoing.

In a separate probe, EU financial prosecutors said Tuesday they had opened an investigation into alleged misuse of €4.3 million by Identity and Democracy – a now-defunct far-right European Parliament bloc that included the RN.

Wednesday’s raid represents a fresh blow for the far-right party after Le Pen was convicted in March of embezzling EU funds and barred from running in the 2027 presidential election.

She aims to get her conviction overturned so that she can run for president for the fourth time. Bardella has said he will run if she cannot.

(with newswires)

The 68-metre embroidered masterpiece chronicles the Norman conquest of England, depicting the famed 1066 Battle of Hastings when William the Conqueror crossed from France to defeat English forces.

The tapestry will be loaned to the British Museum for 10 months from 1 September, 2026 while the museum in the city of Bayeux, Normandy, which normally houses the work of art closes for two years for renovation.

The masterpiece, believed to have been created in England around 1077, will return to British soil for the first time in nearly 1,000 years.

Scholars, including Professor Levi Roach of the University of Exeter, suggest the tapestry was probably produced near Canterbury, making its return something of a “homecoming”. UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy called it “one of the most iconic pieces of art ever produced in the UK”.

Bayeux Tapestry to come to life in ambitious museum revamp

‘Revitalising’ the cultural relationship

In return, Britain will loan several significant archaeological treasures to France – notably the Sutton Hoo collection, the Lewis Chessmen and “other treasures”. 

The Sutton Hoo collection comprises relics discovered by archaeologists in 1939 at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, where they unearthed an Anglo-Saxon cemetery.

The finds were part of a seventh century Anglo-Saxon ship burial, and offer remarkable insights into England from a time before the Norman Conquest. 

The British artifacts will be exhibited in museums in Caen and Rouen during the Bayeux Museum’s closure.

British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan called the opportunity to display the tapestry “extraordinary”, while the UK government hailed the exchange as a diplomatic and cultural milestone.

President Macron was equally enthusiastic. “By its symbolic, unprecedented nature, and the priceless value of the loaned pieces, this unprecedented exchange signifies the desire to revitalise the cultural relationship between our two countries and the trust that exists between us today,” he told Ouest France newspaper. 

French officials cast doubt on Bayeux Tapestry loan to Britain

The tapestry has recently been restored for the first time since 1870, after Paris and London announced in 2018 that it would be loaned to Britain.

But the plan for the tapestry to cross the Channel for a mooted 2022 exhibition did not materialise, and there had been no recent update on when it would happen.

(with newswires)

Media outlets in several countries reported last week that a draft audit by the European Parliament had found that parties linked to the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group had performed improper procurement procedures and had given donations to non-parliamentary activities.

The report said ID was suspected of improperly spending 4.3 million euros between 2019 and 2024. 

The ID group contained MEPs from a range of eurosceptic parties including the National Rally of Marine Le Pen – the longtime standard bearer of the French far right – Italy’s League and the Alternative for Germany.  

According to the reports by a consortium of European media, the bulk of the allegedly misused funds benefited companies belonging to Frédéric Chatillon, a former advisor to Le Pen, and his wife Sighild Blanc.

“The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation,” a spokesperson for the agency, which probes financial crimes against the bloc, said.  

The European Parliament said it “takes note of the decision” by the prosecutors to open the probe, first reported by Euractiv on Tuesday. 

“As always, parliament cooperates fully with national or European authorities if requested so,” the parliament said. 

Le Pen, Orban lambast EU at far-right rally in France

Fake jobs scam

The Identity and Democracy grouping was unveiled by French politician Le Pen in 2019, uniting eurosceptics from across the continent who aimed to devolve power from Brussels back to capitals. It was formally disbanded after elections last year and was succeeded by a new grouping Patriots for Europe. 

Jordan Bardella, who now heads the Patriots group, said the probe represented a “new harassment operation by the European Parliament”.

The EU investigation comes after Le Pen suffered a blow in March when a French court convicted her and other party officials over an EU parliament fake jobs scam.

‘We are the future’: European far right makes show of force

The ruling, which Le Pen has appealed, banned her from standing for office for five years, effectively ruling her out of running in the 2027 presidential vote.

(with newswires)

Tuesday’s fire started in a vehicle in the area of Pennes-Mirabeau to the north of Marseille, on the road to its airport, roaring across 350 hectares by the afternoon, firefighters said.

It sent plumes of acrid smoke billowing into the sky, causing the airport to close its runways shortly after midday and cancel at least 10 flights, a spokesman for the Marseille Provence airport said.

The air hub’s website showed departures – including to Brussels, Munich and Naples – had been called off.

The fire had burnt through 700 hectares but no fatalities had been reported. It decreased in intensity overnight but has not stabilised, the city’s prefecture said on Wednesday morning.

Rail travel in Marseille was also affected. More than a dozen trains in and out of the city were cancelled on Tuesday, according to the SNCF national rail operator’s website. Traffic was expected to return to normal on Wednesday.

Marseille mayor Benoit Payan had on Tuesday warned residents that the fire was now “at the doors of Marseille”, urging inhabitants in the north of the city to refrain from taking to the roads to leave way for rescue services. 

Payan announced on Wednesday morning that that part of town was “no longer under lockdown” and residents were allowed out, while calling on them to “exercise the utmost caution in the area, as emergency services are hard at work”.

The mayor of Pennes-Mirabeau, where the fire began, said two housing estates had been evacuated. It was too soon for the hundreds of residents who had fled from the wildfire to return, officials said.

Wildfires in southern France mark start of season spurred by high temperatures

More destructive wildfires 

The fire near Marseille is just the latest to have hit southern France in recent days, fanning out at speed due to wind and parched vegetation after a heatwave.

To the west along the Mediterranean coast, near the city of Narbonne, more than 1,000 firefighters from around the country battled to contain another blaze that had crept across 2,000 hectares of trees. It started on the property of a winery on Monday afternoon, they said.

The fire near Narbonne caused authorities to temporarily close the A9 autoroute to Spain.

Climate change has made wildfires more destructive in Mediterranean countries in recent years.

Over the last 10 days, fires have raged in northeastern Spain, on the Greek island of Crete and in Athens.

(with newswires)

After three years of elevated mortality linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, France’s mortality rate fell to historic lows in 2023, according to reports published Tuesday by researchers from the French public health agency, the Inserm statistics institute, and the Health Ministry’s statistics office.

A total of 637,082 people died in France in 2023, primarily from cancers and circulatory diseases.

The mortality rate dropped below 2019 levels, before Covid, which dropped to the ninth cause of death, down from the fifth cause of death in 2022, and the third in 2020.

Over a quarter of deaths in France are due to cancer, and a fifth due to cardio-neurovascular diseases, including strokes and heart failure.

Deaths caused by respiratory diseases other than Covid, including pneumonia or the flu, rose slightly in 2023, but have gone back to re-Covid levels, after falling sharply in 2020 and 2021, at the height of the pandemic.

Mortality higher in overseas territories

Mortality was much higher in France’s overseas departments and territories, notably in Mayotte, where the rate is 89 percent higher than the national average.

Conversely, mortality is 15 percent lower in the Paris region, compared to the national average Île-de-France region.

The disparities could be linked to economic and territorial inequalities in access to healthcare.

Mortality is higher in rural areas and lower in and around large cities.

(with AFP)

According to the Polish Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration, 52 checkpoints have been established along the German border and 13 along the Lithuanian border. The checks are being carried out by the Border Guard, supported by police and Territorial Defence Force soldiers.

Inspections are conducted randomly, with a focus on vans, vehicles carrying multiple passengers, and cars with tinted windows. Officials have emphasised that these are not a return to pre-Schengen barriers; vehicles will pass through, and only selected cars will be stopped for document and boot checks.

The move is a response to what Polish authorities describe as a spike in irregular migration, with far-right groups in Poland alleging that Germany has been pushing migrants back into Polish territory after they reached Western Europe.

Migrant centre in Germany feels the heat from rising far right

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has made tougher migration policy a central part of his administration, recently increased police presence at Germany’s borders and announced that some asylum seekers would be turned away.

For the European Union, these developments highlight the growing strain on the Schengen system, which has long been seen as a cornerstone of European integration and economic cooperation.

The temporary reintroduction of border controls is permitted under EU rules in cases of serious threats to internal security, but Brussels and many observers see the trend as a worrying sign of retreat from collective solutions to migration and security challenges.

Summit on Ukraine

The timing of Poland’s decision is particularly notable as it coincides with French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to the United Kingdom, where he is hosting a summit on Ukraine.

The summit, which brings together European leaders to discuss support for Kyiv and broader security issues, is set against a backdrop of shifting alliances and heightened concerns about border security across the continent. Poland’s move to tighten its borders underscores the broader anxieties within the EU about managing migration and maintaining internal cohesion at a time when external threats and geopolitical instability are at the forefront of the European agenda.

Macron to co-chair Ukraine talks while in UK for state visit

As leaders gather in London to reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine and European unity, Poland’s border checks serve as a reminder of the persistent challenges facing the EU’s vision of open borders and collective security.

The coming weeks will test both the practical impact of these controls on cross-border movement and the political resolve of European governments to balance national interests with the ideals of integration.

(With newswires)

In letters to 14 countries so far, including Japan and South Korea, as well as smaller exporters Serbia, Thailand and Tunisia, Trump said he would be imposing an additional 25 percent tariffs from 1 August, warning them against imposing their own tariffs.

“If, for any reason, you decide to raise your tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added on to the 25 percent that we charge,” Trump told Japan and South Korea in letters released on his Truth Social platform.

The higher tariffs will not combine with previously announced sectoral tariffs, such as those on automobiles and steel and aluminium, which means that tariffs on Japanese cars, for example, would stay at 25 percent, rather than increasing to 50 percent.

EU gets more time

Other trading partners including the European Union, got an extra three weeks to negotiate agreements with the US after Trump signed an executive order Monday extending to 1 August the Wednesday deadline for negotiations.

The EU still aims to reach a trade deal by Wednesday after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Trump had a “good exchange,” a commission spokesperson said.

Since early April, European steel and aluminium exports to the US have been subject to a 50 percent tariff, along with 25 percent for cars and car parts and 10 percent on most other products.

The US is looking into further tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.

China has until 12 August to reach a deal with the US to prevent Trump from reinstating additional import tariffs.

Only two countries – Britain and Vietnam – have made deals with the US so far.

(with Reuters)

The Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR) closed the case five years after its launch in July 2020, following complaints alleging the government mishandled the response to the virus—citing, among other issues, shortages of protective equipment and inconsistent guidance on mask-wearing.

At the time, then-prime minister Philippe, former health minister Agnès Buzyn, and her successor Olivier Véran were designated as assisted witnesses – a status in the French legal system that lies between that of a witness and a formal suspect, and implies potential wrongdoing without sufficient evidence for formal charges.

Thousands of complaints lodged over French government’s handling of Covid crisis

Five-year inquiry with no trial

“The investigative committee of the Court of Justice of the Republic has decided to dismiss the case,” Prosecutor General Rémy Heitz said on Monday, without providing further details.

The public prosecutor had already requested the case be dropped in May, effectively ruling out the possibility of a trial.

The CJR is the only court in France authorised to prosecute and try current or former members of government for alleged crimes committed in the course of their official duties.

The investigation found that the government had taken a range of measures to tackle the pandemic, Heitz noted in May. The prosecutor’s request—seen by AFP—acknowledged that although those measures were in some respects insufficient, neither Philippe nor Véran had wilfully failed to respond to the crisis.

“Each of them, in their respective roles, took action against the epidemic from the moment it appeared in France,” the request stated.

Buzyn faced significant public criticism at the time for stepping down at the outset of the health crisis to run for Mayor of Paris. However, she resigned on 16 February 2020—several days before France officially declared a state of emergency, following the first Covid-19-related death on 25 February, the prosecutor general’s office noted. In hindsight, some observers have questioned whether that criticism was justified.

Buzyn had also been under investigation for endangering the lives of others, but the Court of Cassation dropped that charge in January 2023.

French court dismisses case against former health minister over Covid charges

Philippe clears legal hurdle 

Philippe, a widely popular prime minister from 2017 to July 2020, currently serves as mayor of the northern city of Le Havre and leads a centre-right party allied with, though distinct from, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition. He remains the only major figure to have definitively declared his candidacy for the 2027 presidential election.

The court’s ruling may remove a key legal cloud that could have complicated Philippe’s presidential ambitions. As of now, none of the three former officials has issued a public statement in response to the decision.

Public reaction to the dismissal has been mixed. While some see it as a necessary closing of a politically motivated case, others—particularly among victims’ families—have expressed disappointment, arguing that accountability has not been fully served.

Five years on from the Covid-19 pandemic, what legacy has the virus left?

According to France’s public health agency, approximately 168,000 people died from Covid-19 in the country between February 2020 and September 2023, when the World Health Organization declared the global health emergency to be over.

This decision marks a turning point in the legal reckoning over France’s pandemic response, bringing one of the country’s most high-profile inquiries to an official close.

(with newswires)

Saba Saba Day, meaning “Seven Seven”, commemorates the mass demonstrations that forced Kenya’s return to multi-party democracy after years of autocratic rule.

This year, police set up roadblocks and restricted access to central Nairobi, where previous rallies have taken place. Most businesses remained closed, and an online map showing at least 20 police roadblocks was widely shared on social media.

Despite the clampdown, small groups of mainly young protesters gathered on the outskirts of the city, clashing with anti-riot police.

Officers fired tear gas at crowds, who responded with rocks and, in some cases, looting and vandalism. Journalists of the French press agency AFP witnessed at least two people wounded in the confrontations, as well as property destruction in surrounding areas.

Protesters on a major highway chanted “Ruto Must Go” and “one term” in a direct challenge to President William Ruto.

The protests reflect growing frustration among Kenya’s youth, who face economic hardship, corruption, and alleged police brutality.

Demonstrations last month descended into violence and looting, leaving dozens dead and thousands of businesses destroyed. Protesters accuse the authorities of using armed vandals to discredit their movement, while the government has compared the unrest to an “attempted coup”.

Police block roads to Kenyan capital on anniversary of pro-democracy protests

The heavy police response appears to have discouraged many from joining the marches. At least 80 people have died in protests since June last year, according to rights groups, and dozens have reportedly been detained without charge.

“I have never witnessed the city centre like this,” said security guard Edmond Khayimba, 29. Motorbike driver Rogers Onsomu, 32, said he hoped more would join the demonstrations later, criticising President Ruto for failing to deliver on promises, especially on healthcare.

Tensions have also been heightened by attacks on civil society.

On Sunday, men armed with sticks stormed the compound of the Kenyan Human Rights Commission during a press conference condemning enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

Since his election in 2022, President Ruto has formed an uneasy alliance with opposition leader Raila Odinga, leaving no clear challenger for the 2027 election. However, each violent crackdown seems to fuel further unrest.

“Every time people organise a protest, they kill more people, so it just continues to feed off itself,” said activist Nerima Wako.

African politics expert Gabrielle Lynch of the University of Warwick observed that the government appeared to be recycling tactics from the 1990s. “But we’re not in the nineties,” she said. “They don’t seem to have realised the world is different.”

(With newswires)

Masra, who leads the opposition Les Transformateurs party, has been held in pre-trial detention since May 2025 on charges of orchestrating the massacre of 42 herders in Mandakao, near the border with Cameroon, on May 14 – an allegation he categorically denies.

According to his legal team, which includes both Chadian and French lawyers, the judge’s decision to detain Masra was made under pressure from the highest levels of the Chadian government.

In a letter addressed to the French president, they argue that the only piece of evidence submitted by investigators – and which the examining magistrate relied upon – is a 2023 audio recording in which Masra calls on southern populations to engage in self-defence amid a wave of deadly violence at the time.

“This case was fabricated from the start,” Vincent Bringarth of the Paris-based law firm Bourdon & Associés told RFI.

France launches embezzlement inquiry into Chad’s President Mahamat Idriss Déby

International recourse

Bringarth, who has previously represented Masra in a case before the International Criminal Court following the October 2022 “Black Thursday” crackdown, criticised the French authorities’ silence.

“The prosecution is entirely based on a two-year-old audio recording that has no causal link whatsoever to the May 2025 violence,” he said. “We have firmly presented this argument before the Chadian courts, which clearly refuse to engage with reason. When domestic legal avenues are exhausted, we must take international recourse.”

The lawyers’ letter denounces what they call “serious violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms” against Chad’s main opposition figure. Citing a complete loss of confidence in the Chadian judiciary, Bringarth called for decisive action from Paris.

“We are waiting for a strong response from France,” he said. “We expect President Macron to take on the role of mediator in a situation that is clearly at an impasse. We simply do not understand France’s silence in the face of what we view as a politically driven detention.”

Chad extends detention of RFI journalist, as lawyers denounce ‘crackdown’

Silencing the opposition

Masra was appointed prime minister on 1 January, 2024 by transitional president Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, who seized power on his father’s death in May 2021, continuing the Deby family’s three-decade hold on power.

He ran for president in the May 2024 elections but lost out to Deby with 18.53 percent of the vote. His party contested the results. He resigned as prime minister and filed a legal challenge.

Masra’s arrest in May this year has deepened concerns over political repression in Chad, where intercommunal violence continues to destabilise parts of the country.

His supporters maintain that the charges are intended to sideline a key opposition voice ahead of future political transitions.

(With newswires)

This week, we begin in Harlem, New York City, USA, with Rico Speight, a film and theatre director.

His film, Rediscovering Fanon, was screened in Paris on 5 July in partnership with the Frantz-Fanon Foundation, as this year marks the centenary of one of the inspirational figures of the anti-colonial movement. The film will also be screened acorss France and in Martinque later in the year.

According to Speight, Frantz Omar Fanon (1925–1961), whose ideas have stirred the hearts of progressives since the 1950s, continues to inspire even decades after his death.

With Speight’s latest documentary, the filmmaker said he “aims to reveal the man behind the legend and analyse the relevance of his prolific theories in a globalised, post-racial millennium.”

Biopic explores the life and legacy of Frantz Fanon, a century after his birth

We also head to Unesco in Paris, where Spotlight on Africa spoke to Caroline Munier about the UN agency’s new report on the state of the publishing industry on the African continent. 

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

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

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s hosting of Pashinyan in Istanbul last month represents a notable diplomatic effort to normalise relations. Ankara had severed diplomatic ties and closed its border with Armenia in 1993 following the war between Armenia and Turkey’s close ally, Azerbaijan, over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.

However, Pashinyan’s Istanbul visit is being hailed as groundbreaking. “I believe it was very significant for several reasons. It was the first bilateral diplomatic summit between the Turkish and Armenian leaders,” explains Richard Giragosian, Director of the Regional Studies Centre, a Yerevan-based think tank.

Until now, interactions between the two leaders had been limited to multilateral engagements—such as Erdoğan’s inauguration and meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. But Giragosian argues that the Istanbul meeting carries deeper significance.

“This is the first bilateral invitation from Turkey to the Armenian leader. That reflects a second important development: Turkey is seeking to regain its options with Armenia,” observes Giragosian.

Armenia looks to reopen border with Turkey as potential gateway to the West

Zangezur corridor at centre

One of the key issues discussed was the creation of a land bridge through Armenia to connect Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave, which borders Turkey. Known as the Zangezur Corridor, this project is a strategic priority for Ankara. It would not only link Turkey directly to its key ally and vital trade partner Azerbaijan, but also open a new route for Turkish goods to Central Asia.

“It is especially important now from an economic standpoint,” notes international relations professor Hüseyin Bağcı of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

Pashinyan’s visit is seen as part of a broader Turkish diplomatic push to secure regional support for the Zangezur Corridor. “This is why Prime Minister Pashinyan came to Turkey,” says Bağcı, who suggests Erdoğan is attempting to counter Iranian resistance. “The Zangezur Corridor should not be held hostage by Iranian opposition. It shouldn’t be conditional on Iran’s stance,” he adds.

Iran, Armenia’s powerful neighbour, strongly opposes the corridor. Currently, Turkish goods must transit through Iran to reach Central Asia—giving Tehran significant leverage. Iran has often restricted this trade during periods of diplomatic tension with Ankara. More critically, Tehran fears the proposed 40-kilometre corridor would cut off a vital route it uses to bypass international sanctions.

Despite Turkish diplomatic efforts, Iran remains firmly opposed. “Nothing has changed in Tehran’s position regarding the Zangezur Corridor. Iran is still against the project,” warns Prof Dr Zaur Gasimov of the German Academic Exchange Service.

Growing military buildup in Azerbaijan and Armenia a concern for peace talks

Gasimov notes, however, that recent geopolitical developments—particularly Israel’s ongoing conflict with Iran—have shifted the regional balance in Ankara’s favour. “As of July 2025, Iran’s diplomatic, political, and military capabilities are far more constrained than they were just a few years ago, due to Israel-led and US-led operations,” says Gasimov. “In both military and political terms, Iran is now significantly limited.”

Yet Azerbaijan’s insistence that the Zangezur Corridor operate independently of Armenian control remains a major sticking point for Yerevan, says Giragosian. Still, he believes the broader aim of establishing a new trade route—combined with Turkey’s willingness to reopen its border—offers the region both economic incentives and a path towards stability through mutual dependence.

“The reopening of closed borders, and the creation of trade and transport links, reshapes strategic thinking. It makes any renewal of hostilities far more costly,” says Giragosian.

“In this context, it lifts all boats. It’s a win-win for everyone,” he continues. “And I do think the real sticking point now will be Russia’s reaction, more than any resistance from Turkey, Armenia, or Azerbaijan.”

Russia and Iran push back

Initially, Moscow supported the Zangezur Corridor, particularly since Russian personnel were envisioned to administer it under the original proposals. But Gasimov notes that Russia’s enthusiasm has cooled as it grows increasingly wary of Turkey’s expanding influence in a region it still considers part of its traditional sphere.

“Moscow is very concerned about Ankara–Yerevan relations. Turkey, after all, is a NATO member—even if Russia cooperates with it in several areas,” says Gasimov.

France pushes for peace in the Caucasus amid heat over Iran detainees

Despite being heavily engaged in its war in Ukraine, Gasimov suggests Russia still has leverage in the South Caucasus

“After three years of war and sweeping sanctions, Russia’s capabilities in the region are diminished. But it continues to try to assert itself—by intimidating vulnerable regional economies and exploiting internal political instability, as it did in Armenia just two weeks ago,” says Gasimov.

Last month, Armenian security forces arrested several opposition figures, claiming to have foiled a coup attempt.

As Moscow remains bogged down in Ukraine, Yerevan may have only a limited window of opportunity to capitalise on Russia’s distraction and weakness. “We do see a storm on the horizon,” warns Giragosian. “With an angry and vengeful Putin lashing out at Russia’s neighbours, he’s seeking to reassert Russian power and influence across the near abroad—from Central Asia to the South Caucasus.”

Armenia reconsiders alliances

Giragosian argues that such threats could be the catalyst for historic diplomatic realignments. “From an Armenian perspective, it’s deeply ironic. For decades, Armenia feared Turkey and turned to Russia for protection. Now, Armenia is looking to Turkey for a greater role—and seeking to distance itself from the Russian orbit.”

Pashinyan has made no secret of his intent to pivot Armenia away from Russia and towards Europe. But with neighbouring Georgia increasingly under Moscow’s sway, and with Iran and Azerbaijan offering few viable alternatives, Turkey may now represent Armenia’s best chance to achieve that strategic realignment.

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.

The ePOP video competition is open!

The ePOP video competition is sponsored by the RFI department “Planète Radio”, whose mission is to give a voice to the voiceless. ePOP focuses on the environment, and how climate change has affected “ordinary” people.

The ePOP contest is your space to give these voices the reach they deserve.

How do you do it?

With a three-minute ePOP video. It should be pure testimony, captured by your lens, where the spoken word reigns supreme. No tricks, no music, no text on the screen. Just the raw authenticity of an encounter, in horizontal format (16:9). This is the very essence of an ePOP film: a concentrate of humanity that challenges, moves and enlightens.

From June 12 to September 12, 2025, ePOP invites you to reach out, open your eyes, and create that unique bridge between a person and the world. Join the ePOP community and make reality vibrate.

Go to The Sound Kitchen or the RFI English Listeners Forum Facebook pages for all the information you need about creating your video.

We expect to be bombarded with entries from the English speakers!

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” and 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. 

Independent RFI English Clubs: Be sure to always include Audrey Iattoni (audrey.iattoni@rfi.fr) from our Listener Relations department in your RFI Club correspondence. Remember to copy me (thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr) when you write to her so that I know what is going on, too. N.B.: You do not need to send her your quiz answers! Email overload!

This week’s quiz: On 7 June, I asked you a question about RFI English journalist Amanda Morrow’s article “The big blue blindspot: why the ocean floor is still an unmapped mystery”.

You were to re-read Amanda’s article and send in the answers to these three questions: How many people do the world’s oceans feed per year? How much economic activity is generated by the oceans every year? And, what is the percentage of the ocean’s waters that are formally protected?

The answers are, to quote Amanda’s article: “The ocean feeds 3.2 billion people and generates an estimated 2.6 trillion USD in economic value each year. Yet just 8 percent is formally protected – and only a fraction of that is off-limits to damaging activities.” 

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “What is the most hilarious thing or situation you’ve come across in your life, or what or whom made you laugh the most?”, which was suggested by Jocelyne D’Errico from New Zealand.  

Do you have a bonus question idea? Send it to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Jayanta Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India, who is also the winner of this week’s bonus question. Congratulations, Jayanta, on your double win.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Abdur Rakib, the co-president of the Shetu RFI Listeners Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh, and Nuraiz Bin Zaman, who’s a member of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, also in Bangladesh. Last but certainly not least, RFI Listeners Club member Mumtaz Hussain from Odisha, India, and RFI English listener Nowsaba Nuha from Munshiganj, Bangladesh.

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: The theme to Mannix by Lalo Schifrin; the “Aquarium” from Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens, performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conducted by André Previn; “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 “Take the A Train” by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington, performed by the Joe Henderson Trio.

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 Amanda Morrow’s article “Ocean campaigners hail French move to snuff out cigarette butt pollution”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 28 July to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 2 August 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.   

France just experienced its hottest June since 2003, with several days of extreme heat at the end of the month that left two people dead and slowed the country down – halting work outdoors and closing schools. The heatwave is a taste of what the future might hold, as global warming leads to more extreme weather conditions. The Human Adaptation Institute has created an immersive experience of what life at 50C would be like. Jeanne Richard reports from the mobile lab as it tours France to raise awareness over the need to mitigate and adapt to climate change, one hot individual at a time. (Listen @0′)

France is Europe’s largest egg producer, yet it’s struggling to meet growing demand from people looking for a cheap source of protein. Eggs are now being imported from Ukraine where environmental, health and animal welfare norms are far lower. Alice Richard, head of the National Egg Promotion Committee (CNPO), talks about the need to increase home-grown production and make it easier for farmers to start or expand their farms. Cyril Ernst, campaign manager with Anima, whose mission is to put an end to laying hens in cages, insists any easing of regulations for new farms mustn’t be at the expense of animal welfare. (Listen @16’45”)

The first line of the Paris metro opened on 19 July 1900, after decades of wrangling between the capital and the state slowed down its development. Today the metro system is 245kms long, with 16 lines covering the entire city and beyond. (Listen @10’30”)

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).

“We welcome the news that an agreement has been reached on the establishment of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, which came late last night,” Erdogan said before departing for the NATO summit in The Hague.

Israel’s war on Iran had put Erdogan in a tricky spot – maintaining his hostility towards Israel without damaging his ties with Trump.

On Saturday, Erdogan slammed Israel, calling it a “terrorist state”, while warning that the war on Iran threatened to plunge the region into chaos. The speech, delivered in Istanbul at a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, was just the latest in what has become an almost daily verbal assault on Israel.

But the United States bombing of Iran just a few hours after Erdogan spoke drew little reaction from Ankara beyond a short statement expressing its “concern” over the attack.

Turkey’s rivalry with Iran shifts as US threats create unlikely common ground

Words versus actions

Erdogan’s actions have also not always matched his rhetoric.The Turkish leader resisted opposition calls to close the US-operated NATO Kurecik radar base near the Iranian border.

“Turkey is not interested once again in going into conflict with America because, if you close Kurecik, then it is a NATO issue, and Israel has close relations also with NATO,” said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

The Kurecik radar station, Bagci said, is important to Israeli security.

“Turkey signed the acceptance (agreement) that Israel should take information from Kurecik,” Bagci added. “There is no in an article in the case of war that Turkey would not provide the information. So, this is why Erdogan, based on this fact, is not undertaking any steps against Israel.”

Earlier this month, Erdogan lobbied Baghdad not to follow Tehran’s calls to intercept Israeli warplanes using Iraqi airspace to strike Iran. All moves that are likely to play well with Trump. Erdogan values what Trump has called a “great friendship”.

The two leaders are expected to meet for the first time since Trump’s re-election on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague, where Erdogan will likely be seeking an invitation to Washington.

With Turkey and Iran long-time regional rivals, competing for influence from the Caucasus to Central Asia and the Middle East, Ankara also shares the West’s concerns over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

“Turkey definitely doesn’t want a nuclear-armed Iran, because that is going to trigger a proliferation process in the Middle East,” said Serhan Afacan, head of the Center for Iranian Studies, a research organisation in Ankara.

Interim president Sharaa weighs up Ankara and Riyadh in power struggle for Syria

Refugee fears and regional risks

The United States bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities – which Washington claims has ended Tehran’s atomic programme – drew no condemnation from Ankara. But the risk of a wider conflict has raised fears of growing instability and the possibility of a refugee wave into Turkey from Iran.

Trump’s surprise move to broker a ceasefire between Iran and Israel will come as a relief to Ankara, said regional expert Professor Zaur Gasimov of the German Academic Exchange Service in Istanbul. He warned the ceasefire came just as signs were emerging of a refugee exodus.

“What we see now is already now is the mobility of people within Iran, leaving Tehran and other bigger cities, going to different directions, that is a challenge for the entire region. And maybe Turkey is a country that is about to observe a refugee influx coming from Iran by the border,” said Gasimov.

He warned Ankara is likely not prepared for such an exodus.

“That is a challenge. So, Turkey is currently observing the situation with great attention, and certain answers to this challenge is not ready yet,” said Gasimov.

Azerbaijan and Turkey build bridges amid declining influence of Iran

Economic toll

Turkey, which borders Iraq and Syria, has struggled for decades with chaos on its southern frontier. It currently hosts as many as five million refugees and has paid a heavy economic price through the loss of valuable regional markets.

Ankara will likely be eyeing the potential rewards of a weakened Tehran in the long-running competition for regional influence.

“A weak Iran is good for Turkey always, but not a dead Iran,” said Bagci.

“Iran is important for connectivity. They [Iran] have many neighbours like Turkey. They are close to Russia, Central Asian republics, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, you name it. And the destabilisation of the region is in nobody’s interest.

“That is why China and Russia are very careful in their statements, and everybody is trying now for a diplomatic solution.”

How long Trump’s brokered ceasefire will last remains to be seen. But for Ankara, the hope is that wider regional chaos has been avoided – and that it has managed, at least for now, to balance its competing interests.

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” and 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. 

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 24 May, I asked you a question about our article “EU and UK reunite in London for talks on diplomacy and defence” – that week, talks were held between France’s President Emmanuel Macron and the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer – after five years of rather tense relations between the two countries, following Britain’s exit from the EU in 2020.

I asked you to send in the answer to this question:  Which three issues – aside from defense and security partnerships – were also discussed – issues which are still quite politically sensitive?

The answer is: Fishing rights, food checks, and youth mobility.

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by Rafiq Khondaker: “What is your favorite animal, and why?”

Do you have a bonus question idea? Send it to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Nasyr Muhammad from Katsina State in Nigeria, who is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations on your double win, Nasyr.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Debakamal Hazarika, the president of the United RFI Listeners Club in Assam, India, as well as RFI Listeners Club members Sharifa Akter Panna from Kishoreganj, Bangladesh; Zenon Teles, the president of the Christian – Marxist – Leninist – Maoist Association of Listening DX-ers in Goa, India, and last but assuredly not least, RFI English listener Rodrigo Hunrichse from Ciudad de Concepción, Chile.

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: The overture to L’Italiana in Algerie by Giacchino Rossini, performed by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic; “Round Midnight” by Thelonius Monk, performed by the Thelonius Monk Quartet; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and the Act I finale of L’Italiana in Algerie by Giacchino Rossini, sung by Marilyn Horne and Paolo Montarsolo with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra conducted by James Levine.

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 Alison’s article “From Goma to Cape Town, the young Congolese athlete pedalling for peace”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 21 July to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 26 July 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.