Despite mounting pressure on public finances, Macron’s speech, delivered on the eve of Bastille Day in the gardens of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, is expected to include “major announcements”, according to the Elysée.

The address comes amid warnings from France’s top military officials. On Friday, General Thierry Burkhard, Chief of the Defence Staff, painted a stark picture of the security landscape, citing Russia’s enduring threat to Europe, the United States’ strategic retrenchment, persistent hybrid and disinformation attacks, and the ongoing war in Ukraine as key challenges. 

The head of France’s external intelligence service, Nicolas Lerner, has also recently highlighted the heightened risks facing the country.

The forthcoming National Strategic Review, due for publication on Sunday, is expected to call for a significant shift in France’s defence posture. The last time France presented a National Strategic Review was on 9 November 2022, when Macron unveiled the document in Toulon.

Macron is likely to argue that France must adapt to a new strategic reality, requiring not just increased defence spending but also renewed intellectual, moral, and industrial efforts. 

France leads Europe’s big five in pushing for stronger Ukraine defence

The government has already raised the defence budget from €32.2 billion in 2017 to €50.5 billion in 2025, with the current military programming law allocating €413 billion for the armed forces between 2024 and 2030.

However, with France’s debt servicing costs projected to reach €62 billion this year, questions remain over whether further increases are feasible as the government seeks to rein in public spending.

Other European countries, such as Germany, Poland, and the UK, have already announced substantial boosts to their own defence budgets.

(With newswires)

The Djidji Ayokwe “talking drum” is one of tens of thousands of artworks and other prized artefacts looted by France during the reign of its colonial empire, from the 16th century to the first half of the 20th century.

Three metres long and weighing 430 kilograms, the drum was used as a communication tool by the Atchan people to transmit messages between different areas.

The sound could be heard up to 20 kilometres away, enabling the convening of assemblies or the issuing of alerts in case of danger.

When in 1916 Atchan villagers refused to participate in road construction work linking Abidjan to Abobo, colonial authorities seized the drum in retaliation.

From 1922, it was exhibited at the Trocadéro Museum near the Eiffel Tower and a century later joined the Quai Branly Museum, where it was restored. It has been waiting there, in a crate, ever since.

Slow process

The drum is one item on a list of 148 works claimed by Abidjan, which submitted an official restitution request in 2019. Two years later, President Emmanuel Macron promised to return it along with other artefacts, but the process has been delayed.

The drum cannot be returned without a change in the law because it is part of France’s public collections.

“Public collections belong to the state,” says Vincent Negri, a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and specialist in international cultural and heritage law. “They are protected by a regime of inalienability and imprescriptibility. This concept should be understood as a prohibition on the transfer of ownership.”

The text adopted by MPs on Monday specifies that, by exemption, the drum ceases to be part of the collections.

‘Titanic’ task of finding plundered African art in French museums

France lags behind

Without a framework of legislation concerning goods looted during the colonial period, France has no other option than to pass laws for each restituted object.

This was the case for the 26 treasures of Abomey returned to Benin in 2021 and the El Hadj Omar’s sabre, returned to Senegal in 2019.

In 2023, two laws of this type were enacted – one concerning goods stolen from Jewish families during the Second World War and another on human remains held in public collections. The latest law has been slow to emerge, leaving France trailing behind when it comes to restitution.

“It’s a paradox,” notes Negri. “The momentum for restitution was set in motion following the Sarr-Savoy report, submitted to the president of the Republic in November 2018, but ultimately, the report had a [more] significant impact outside our borders.”

He explains that while Germany has adopted a restitution policy, Belgium has passed a law and Switzerland is now considering a regulatory framework, “the lack of a parliamentary majority in France has prevented any clear, meaningful debate on the proposed framework law”.

Netherlands prepares to return looted Benin bronzes to Nigeria

‘A liberation’

The legislation voted this week specifies that French authorities have one year to transfer the drum to Côte d’Ivoire.

Maurice Kouakou Bandaman, Ivorian ambassador to France, welcomed the unanimous vote “with lawmakers recognising the full value of this artefact, the wrong that was done to Côte d’Ivoire, to the Bidjan people, to the Tchaman (Ebrié) people, through this theft.”

The Djidji Ayôkwé, he said, is not just an object, but “a symbol of resistance”. “A resistance fighter was captured, kidnapped and has been held captive for a century. So this is a liberation.”

This article was adapted from the original version in French, by Marie Casadebaig.

“I feel as though I need to take deeper breaths, even though I’m not making much of an effort,” says Martin Estivals, after a few minutes of walking on a treadmill in the Climate Sense heat chamber.

The chamber is a container on a lorry that has been travelling around France for the past few months. Inside it looks like a doctor’s office, with treadmills at one end. The ambient temperature is a steady 50C.

The highest temperature recorded to date in France is 45.9C – in the southern village of Gallargues-le-Montueux, during a heatwave in 2019. Europe’s highest temperature was recorded in Sicily in 2021 – 48.8C. 

Estivals, 26, and his friend Emma Louise Robeyns, 21, wanted to try out the chamber when it was in Marseille in the spring, after hearing about it from a friend.

A report on the climate chamber, in the Spotlight on France podcast

Cognitive effects

The pair spend 30 minutes inside, walking on a treadmill, attempting a few fine motor tasks and completing cognitive tests.

On the treadmills, they are asked to walk normally, as if they were going to work or out shopping. After 10 minutes, Robeyns says her head feels hot.

She and Estivals move on to the next task: moving loops around, to avoid them touching each other – manual tasks that are made harder by their sweating.

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

Ten minutes later, they are having real trouble with the cognitive tasks. “I can’t even read the first line of the instructions,” Robeyns says, incredulously.

She tries to recall words or find differences between images – simple tasks that would be no problem in normal temperatures, but after 20 minutes in 50C she feels her brain slowing down.

“They all look alike,” she says, looking at two images in which she is asked to find the differences. “Usually I’m pretty good at this kind of exercise. But I must admit that this is difficult. I think my body is focused on the basics, and it’s forgetting about the rest.”

Impact on the body

Robeyns is more than ready to leave as soon as the 30 minutes are up. On the way out, she and Estivals test their body temperatures and heart rates, to compare them with the readings from the way in. Robeyns’ temperature has risen by 2C.

Christian Clot of the Human Adaptation Institute, which runs the climate chamber, says high heat has real physiological impacts.

As the body struggles to stay within its normal range of approximately 36–37C, organs work harder and the brain slows down to save energy.

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

“You lose certain cognitive capacities – of concentration, decision-making and calculation,” he explains, adding that social skills are impacted too. “Being social takes a lot of energy, and the heat makes you become more irritable or you just want to spend less time with others. And bit by bit, your social skills break down.”

‘An abstract concept’

He believes that putting people through this kind of heat stress is key to raising awareness of climate change and how human behaviour affects it, saying that global warming is an abstract concept until the physical repercussions feel real.

“For a person to change their behaviour, they must be affected sensorially and emotionally. To understand the climate of the future, you need to have an experience that allows you to feel it emotionally. It helps people make decisions on how they act today.”

The institute’s follow-up surveys have shown that more than 60 percent of visitors to the climate chamber say they will change their behaviours, to be more conscious of CO2 emissions.

For Robeyns, who is originally from Paris but now lives in Aix-en-Provence, where temperatures are regularly extremely high in summer, the experience in the chamber has driven home the impact of global warming on daily life.

“No matter how aware you are, it’s good to be confronted with the real repercussions of our daily actions,” she said.

Estivals is not sure whether he will change anything in particular, but the experience has made him realise what an increase of just a few degrees feels like.

“It’s hard to imagine 50C, and this allows us to test it,” he said. “What is more difficult is to imagine that it could be like this all day. It is not the same as just a few moments.”

France brings in new protective measures for outdoor workers in heatwaves

Speed is key

Clot says that if the world fails to keep carbon emissions down, France could see 50C by the middle of the century – a scenario he hopes can still be avoided, but one he insists people need to be prepared for. 

While he says that speed is of the essence when it comes to tackling climate change, he also believes we need to slow down when it comes to certain aspects of daily life. 

“We have a tendency to want to go faster all the time. For example, when you order something you want it to arrive in 24 hours. If we just accepted deliveries in three to four days, we would already hugely reduce our carbon footprint. Every time we accelerate we emit more CO2.”

However, when it comes to taking action to lessen global warming, he says there is not a moment to lose. “Today we have the freedom to choose to reduce the risks to avoid extreme temperatures in the future. In the future, we will not have that freedom.”

Listen to a version of this story, which was first reported by Jeanne Richard, in the Spotlight on France podcast, episode 130, here.

The Polish eighth seed was in charge from the first point and wrapped up victory in just 57 minutes in a brutal display of precision hitting on Centre Court.

It is the first time a woman has won a final at Wimbledon without dropping a game since 1911, when Britain’s Dorothea Lambert Chambers triumphed by the same scoreline.

And Swiatek, 24, is just the second player in the Open era to win a major without losing a game in the final since Steffi Graf humbled Natalia Zvereva at the 1988 French Open.

“It seems super surreal,” said Swiatek, who is the first Wimbledon singles champion from Poland and has now won majors on all surfaces.

“I didn’t even dream, for me it was way too far. I feel like I am already an experienced player after winning the Slams before but I never expected this one.

“This year I really, really enjoyed it and feel I improved my form here.

“I am always going to remember the opening of champagne bottles between serves. It is a sound that will keep me awake at night.”

Swiatek lost just one set during the entire tournament as she won her first trophy on grass, two weeks after reaching the final of the grass-court event at Bad Homburg.

Demolition job

US 13th seed Anisimova was expected to prove a stern test after ousting world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals, but Swiatek performed a demolition job.

Anisimova made a nervous start in hot conditions on Centre Court, with Catherine, Princess of Wales, watching from the Royal Box.

She was broken in the first game, soon slipping 2-0 behind and the signs looked ominous.

The American appeared to have found her feet in her next service game but the merciless Swiatek refused to give ground and recovered to move 3-0 ahead when Anisimova double-faulted.

At 4-0 down Anisimova was facing a first-set wipe-out but she was powerless to halt the rampant Swiatek, who sealed the opener 6-0 in just 25 minutes.

The American won just six points on her serve in the first set and committed 14 unforced errors.

An increasingly desperate Anisimova could not stem the tide in the second set, double-faulting again in the third game to give her opponent game point and then netting a backhand.

The crowd got behind her but to no avail as Swiatek kept up her level, serving out to win and celebrating before consoling her devastated opponent.

Anisimova made 28 unforced errors in the 12 games.

Swiatek is Wimbledon’s eighth consecutive first-time women’s champion since Serena Williams won her seventh and final title at the All England Club in 2016.

She has won all six major finals in which she has competed.

Swiatek, who now has 100 career Grand Slam match wins, has won the French Open four times and also the US Open, in 2022.

Her previous best performance at Wimbledon was a run to the quarter-finals in 2023.

The distraught Anisimova left court briefly before returning for the trophy presentation.

The American, who lost in qualifying last year, broke down in tears again during her speech on court, calling Swiatek an “incredible player”.

“I know I didn’t have enough today but I’ll keep putting in the work,” she said.

“I keep believing in myself and I hope to be back here one day. Thank you everyone.”

(With newswires)

Now as they prepare to contest Sunday’s Club World Cup final, the French champions must carefully juggle pursuit of glory with managing their energy reserves after a marathon season that has pushed the limits of endurance.

A year in comeptition

“Our season began on 14 July 2024. If we make it to the final here, we’ll have had a 365-day season,” head coach Luis Enrique told AFP,  highlighting the extraordinary physical and mental demands placed on his side.

Although Enrique has publicly backed this expanded global tournament, he has also used recent weeks to draw attention to the overloaded fixture schedule faced by elite players.

The notion of a full calendar year spent in competition starkly illustrates the scale of effort invested by the PSG squad and staff.

Everyone within the club has repeatedly expressed their desire to “make history” by adding the Club World Cup to an already dazzling list of honours collected this season: the Champions League, Ligue 1, Coupe de France, and the Trophée des Champions. Yet the question lingers – how much more can this team give?

Extra security measures in Paris for PSG’s big Champions League final

Despite their motivation and Wednesday’s emphatic 4-0 semi-final dismantling of Real Madrid, the signs of fatigue are increasingly visible.

“At this point in the season, things are getting a bit more difficult,” admitted midfielder Fabián Ruiz, who scored twice in that match. Earlier in the tournament, Vitinha openly criticised the relentless pace, saying, “You can see the fatigue.”

Balancing act

PSG are also well aware of what awaits once the curtain comes down on this campaign. On 13 August, they face Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Super Cup in Udine.

With pre-season training scheduled soon after the final in New Jersey, most players will receive no more than three weeks off – a meagre break for a team expected to hit the ground running once again.

Although the Super Cup is not the most prestigious of trophies, PSG will be under pressure to win it and extend their dominance. Days later, they are back on the road to face Nantes in Ligue 1, meaning two away trips in quick succession.

PSG squeeze past Lyon to take French League Cup final

More broadly, they must now defend every title earned in this historic season, including the Champions League, where they will be the team to beat. Complicating matters further, the 2025-26 club season will be compacted to accommodate the 2026 World Cup in June, intensifying an already punishing schedule.

To safeguard against burnout, the PSG hierarchy and Enrique’s staff have focused heavily on load management. Throughout the campaign, key players have been rested strategically – even when in top form – as part of a long-term plan to protect their fitness.

Enrique revealed that he and his staff have tracked every player’s minutes with forensic detail, aiming to distribute playing time as evenly as possible. But, as he said in February: “It’s like a game of Tetris. You can plan everything, and then two players fall ill or someone gets suspended. You need flexibility. We’re managing minutes, but it’s never easy.”

Recharging on the road

Following their Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal, PSG allowed seven regular starters to sit out the weekend trip to Montpellier.

Ousmane Dembélé, despite being in the form of his life, was rested frequently from Ligue 1 duty in the latter stages of the campaign.

During the Club World Cup, squad rotation was only seriously attempted in the match against Botafogo – a game PSG lost 1-0 in a flat performance. However, in a departure from usual protocol, the club chose to give players their afternoons off after morning training sessions at their base in Irvine, California.

Why PSG’s victory in the Champions League is above all a win for Qatar

This relaxed approach has been welcomed by the squad. “Thank you to the coach and the club,” said goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who appreciated the opportunity to unwind with beach visits and shopping trips to help “relax and win”.

Earlier this week, the team relocated from New Jersey to central Manhattan, where players like Joao Neves were seen enjoying the city with family, capturing moments on social media amid the buzz of Times Square.

Now, PSG find themselves on the verge of completing a perfect season – five trophies from five – and writing themselves into the annals of football history. But as the final approaches, the focus is as much on recuperation and mental freshness as it is on tactics.

Both sets of duties would take effect August 1, Trump said in separate letters posted to his Truth Social platform, citing Mexico’s role in illicit drugs flowing into the United States and a trade imbalance with the EU respectively.

The duties are higher than the 25 percent levy Trump imposed on Mexican goods earlier this year, although products entering the United States under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement are exempted.

EU races to strike trade deal with Washington as Macron slams tariff ‘blackmail’

Canada earlier received a similar letter setting out 35 percent tariffs on its goods.

The EU tariff is also markedly steeper than the 20 percent levy Trump unveiled in April, as negotiations with the bloc continue.

The EU, alongside dozens of other economies, had been set to see its US tariff level increase from a baseline of 10 percent on Wednesday, but Trump pushed back the deadline to August 1 just days before the elevated rates were due to take effect.

Since the start of the week, Trump has sent out letters to more than 20 countries with updated tariffs for each.

(With newswires)

“From now on, there will be a commemoration ceremony every July 12 for Dreyfus, for the victory of justice and the truth against hatred and antisemitism,” Macron said in a statement published by his office, 90 years after Dreyfus’ death.

The first such day would be celebrated in 2026, the 120th anniversary of France’s highest appeals court recognising Dreyfus’s innocence, Macron said.

France needed to remain vigilant in the face of the “ancient spectre” of antisemitism, he said.

The scandal began in 1894 when Dreyfus, a Jewish army captain from Alsace, was accused of passing military secrets to Germany. The evidence was flimsy, the investigation tainted by prejudice and the trial a public spectacle, fuelled by a virulently anti-Semitic press.

Despite the lack of proof, Dreyfus was convicted of treason, publicly stripped of his rank and sentenced to life on the notorious Devil’s Island penal colony, off the coast of French Guiana.

The injustice of the Dreyfus Affair did not go unchallenged.

Dreyfus’s family, notably his brother Mathieu, launched a tireless campaign for his exoneration, enlisting the support of journalists and intellectuals.

The most famous intervention came from novelist Émile Zola, whose open letter “J’Accuse” in the 13 January, 1898 edition of newspaper l’Aurore accused the French military and government of a deliberate miscarriage of justice.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart, the head of military intelligence, uncovered evidence that another officer, Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, was the real traitor.

But instead of righting the wrong, the military doubled down – even jailing Picquart and acquitting Esterhazy.

Public outrage grew and the Dreyfus Affair became a national crisis, splitting France into “Dreyfusards”and “anti-Dreyfusards”. The case exposed the dangers of institutional anti-Semitism and the fragility of justice in the face of prejudice and political expediency.

After years of struggle, Dreyfus was pardoned in 1899 and finally exonerated in 1906. He was re-instated to the army and later served in the First World War. He died on 12 July, 1935 at the age of 75.

Global impact

The impact of the Dreyfus Affair was immense, and it remains a touchstone for debates about justice, minority rights and the responsibilities of the state – and is now seen as a foundational episode in the modern fight against anti-Semitism.

In France, it led to reforms in military and judicial procedures. But the Dreyfus Affair also had global consequences, particularly for the Jewish people.

Macron opens museum dedicated to the the ‘Dreyfus affair’ and anti-Semitism

Among those covering the trial in Paris was Theodor Herzl, a Viennese journalist writing for the Neue Freie Presse of Vienna.

Witnessing the depth of anti-Semitic hatred and the failure of assimilation as a safeguard, Herzl was galvanised to write Der Judenstaat (“The Jewish State”) in 1896. This foundational text of modern political Zionism argued that Jews could only have safety and dignity in a state of their own.

Herzl’s activism, including his lobbying through the nascent Zionist movement and later at the Jewish World Congress, helped set in motion the international efforts that would eventually lead to the Balfour Declaration in 1917 – a key step towards the creation of the State of Israel.

Posthumous promotion

Meanwhile, France’s National Assembly Defence Committee on 25 May unanimously approved a bill to posthumously promote Dreyfus to the rank of brigadier general – a highly symbolic gesture intended to correct a historic injustice and honour his memory. 

The law is the culmination of a long process, originally initiated by the Dreyfus family as early as 1906 and revived following a speech by President Jacques Chirac at the École Militaire on 12 July 2006.

This act could pave the way for further recognition – even inclusion in the Panthéon, France’s national mausoleum for distinguished citizens.

French MPs back promoting Jewish army captain 130 years after treason scandal

(with newswires)

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.

Rwanda adopts 70 South African white rhinos under rewilding initiative

“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).

These ancient monuments, erected over more than two thousand years during the Neolithic period, cover an area of 1,000 square kilometres. The site includes more than 550 monuments across 28 towns and villages in Morbihan.

Among the most famous are the Carnac alignments, with their long, straight rows of menhirs (meaning ‘long stones’ in Breton) of all sizes. The origins and purpose of these stones remain a mystery, but they attract nearly 300,000 visitors each year.

Unesco described the megaliths as “an exceptional testimony to the technical sophistication and skill of Neolithic communities.” The organisation highlighted the ability of these ancient people to extract, transport and position huge stones and earth to create a complex symbolic landscape. This, Unesco said, reveals a unique relationship between the population and their environment.

This is the first site in Brittany to be fully inscribed on the World Heritage list. The Vauban Tower in Finistère is already listed, but as part of a group of 12 Vauban fortifications across France.

France now has 54 sites on the World Heritage list. Spain and China each have 60, and Germany has 55.

This year, the World Heritage Committee, meeting in Paris until Sunday, is considering 30 nominations. These include King Ludwig II’s castles in Bavaria, genocide memorial sites in Cambodia, and cultural landscapes in Cameroon and Malawi.

France pushes for Unesco status for D-Day beaches and Carcassonne fortresses

The inscription not only acknowledges the cultural and historical significance of these ancient monuments, but also seeks to ensure their preservation and protection for future generations.

A management plan for the site, developed in partnership with local authorities and stakeholders, will guide conservation efforts in the coming years.

(With newswires)

The agreement still requires local ratification but represents a significant step forward after years of tension, including deadly riots in 2024 over electoral reforms.

Under the new terms, the local electoral roll will be opened to residents who have lived in New Caledonia for at least ten years, starting with the 2031 provincial elections — a key demand following previous restrictions that sparked unrest.

Macron meets New Caledonian leaders to discuss future after riots

Both pro- and anti-independence groups have welcomed the accord as a turning point. Loyalist parties have praised it for ushering in “a new era of stability” and respecting the results of three previous independence referendums, while pro-independence leaders highlight the recognition of Caledonian nationality and the promise of increased economic support, particularly for the vital nickel industry.

The French Parliament is expected to convene in Versailles later this year to constitutionalise the agreement, with a local referendum planned for February 2026 and crucial provincial elections scheduled for mid-2026.

Leaders on all sides say the deal offers renewed hope for dialogue, economic recovery, and a more stable future for New Caledonia.

(With newswires)

Lesotho has declared a national state of disaster for the next two years, amid the fallout from tariffs and aid cuts imposed by the US.

With unemployment already around 30 percent, the government is warning of an additional 40,000 job losses in the textile sector if the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is not renewed by the end of September.

AGOA gave preferential access for African goods to the US markets, under certain conditions. Lesotho was one of its biggest beneficiaries, exporting textiles to the US.

In April, US President Donald Trump announced 50 percent tariffs – higher than any country – on goods from Lesotho. The tariffs have since been paused and a flat 10 percent rate is currently being applied to most countries.

Oscar van Heerden, senior research fellow at the Centre for African Diplomacy and Leadership at the University of Johannesburg, told RFI that the Trump administration is weaponising trade through its use of tariffs.

Africa braces for economic hit as Trump’s tariffs end US trade perks

“Trump doesn’t care about the consequences for Lesotho. What he wants is a good deal for the United States and to recalibrate what he considers to be trade deficits for the US,” he said. “There is clearly something – but we don’t know what – he wants from Lesotho and that’s why he has slapped it with such a high tariff. The 50 percent tariffs makes no sense.”

‘Master-servant era’

Van Heerden called the policies adopted by the Trump administration a step back into colonial times.

“The Trump administration with the weaponisation of tariffs are taking us back to the master-servant colonial era, where the weak must suffer and the strong will decide. That’s precisely what is happening with Lesotho,” he said.

He added that Lesotho must think outside the box. The country’s Prime Minister Sam Matekane said in June that the solution for unemployment lies in intensive labour and sectoral transformation.

“We are not only investing in traditional sectors but also embracing innovation and creativity. We aim to empower mostly women and young Basotho with meaningful jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities,” Matekane said.

Finance minister Retselisitsoe Matlanyane described youth unemployment as a “significant” challenge for Lesotho. According to a coalition of youth organisations, 48.8 percent of young people in the country cannot find a job.

Global aid in chaos as Trump proposes to slash funds and dismantle USAID

AGOA in question

According to Van Heerden, the US administration – through Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth – has made it clear that it is not interested in AGOA.

“There’s no way that AGOA is going to be renewed,” he said. “The Trump administration is talking with a forked tongue. It gives the impression that there is room for negotiation, but the truth is they’ve made up their mind.

“They will negotiate with countries in Africa where they can benefit in terms of critical, strategic minerals and other sectors of interest to them. They’re not really interested in doing business with Lesotho.”

He added that it will be an uphill battle for the Lesotho government.

“I suspect they are going to turn to SACU [the Southern African Customs Union] and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for loans and bailouts, and where that fails, they will have to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to try and recover some funds, if indeed they have some collateral to bargain with in order to secure loans.”

Violence simmering

The abolition of USAID programmes to Lesotho, including the crucial Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, combined with the unemployment crisis, has compounded the risk of violence among young people, according to Van Heerden.

“There is potential for the pot to explode, given the level of dissatisfaction among the population. And that’s why I think in preparation for any eventuality, the Lesotho government decided to declare a state of emergency to handle this situation.

“It is trying to keep the [heat] contained for now, if it is at all possible, while at the same time looking at alternatives, in terms of loans and markets.”

In July last year, Lesotho declared a state of National Food Insecurity Disaster after a historic drought triggered by El Niño led to the lowest crop yields since the 2018-19 agricultural season.

Friday’s symbolic weapons destruction ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan marked a major step in the transition of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from armed insurgency to democratic politics — part of a broader effort to end one of the region’s longest-running conflicts.

“Turkey has won. Eighty-six million citizens have won,” Erdogan said. “We know what we are doing. Nobody needs to worry or ask questions. We are doing all this for Turkey, for our future”.

Armed struggle

Thirty PKK fighters destroyed their weapons at a symbolic ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan on Friday, two months after the Kurdish rebels ended their decades-long armed struggle against the Turkish state.

Analysts say that with the PKK weakened and the Kurdish public exhausted by decades of violence, Turkey’s peace offer handed its jailed founder Abdullah Ocalan a chance to make the long-desired switch away from armed struggle.

The PKK’s disarmament also grants President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the distinction of being the Turkish leader who managed to draw a line under a conflict that has cost more than 40,000 lives and wrought havoc in Turkey and beyond.

Outside the ancient cave of Casene, a group of 30 PKK fighters, men and women, gathered on a stage in khaki fatigues, their faces uncovered, in front of an audience of around 300 people, an AFP correspondent reported.

PKK ends 40-year fight but doubts remain about the next steps

One by one, they walked down to lay their weapons in a cauldron in which a fire was lit. Most were rifles but there was one machine gun and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

As they looked on, people in the crowd started cheering while others could be heard weeping.

After the ceremony, the fighters returned to the mountains, a PKK commander said.

France’s foreign ministry said it welcomed Friday’s ceremony, adding it hoped the PKK’s dissolution would “be effective and verifiable”, bring an end to the violence, and “give rise to an inclusive political process”.

Dissolution

The PKK was formed in 1978 by Ankara University students, with the ultimate goal of achieving the Kurds’ liberation through armed struggle. 

It took up arms in 1984, beginning a string of bloody attacks on Turkish soil.

But more than four decades on, the PKK in May announced its dissolution and said it would pursue a democratic struggle to defend the rights of the Kurdish minority in line with a historic call by their leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who is in a Turkish jail since 1999.

Earlier this week, Ocalan said the disarmament process would be “implemented swiftly”.

In recent months, the PKK has taken several historic steps, starting with a ceasefire and culminating in its formal dissolution announced on May 12.

The shift followed a historic appeal at the end of February by Ocalan, 76, who has spent the past 26 years behind bars.

(With newswires)

Thousands marched through the streets of the Mediterranean city of Adana in protest at the arrest of its mayor on alleged corruption charges. The mayors of Antalya and Adiyaman have also been detained on similar charges. More than a dozen mayors of Turkey’s main opposition CHP have now been jailed.

The legal crackdown began in March with the jailing of Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, and on Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed there would be no letting up.

“We launched an investigation into the largest theft ring in the history of the Republic, the most reckless organised crime organisation ever,” Erdogan told his parliamentary deputies.

“Those who took bribes, those who practically held cities under extortion, those who put people in a difficult situation and then robbed them were all CHP people,” he continued.

A battle for survival 

Erdogan further ratcheted up the pressure on the CHP with a presidential motion calling for the lifting of parliamentary immunity from 61 out of CHP’s 121 deputies.

CHP leader Ozgur Ozel is also under investigation for allegedly inciting public hatred and insulting the president.

Ozel is at the forefront of leading anti-government protests across the country, which continue to attract large crowds as the party builds a significant lead in opinion polls over Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The CHP claims their growing success is what is motivating the recent prosecutions, rather than corruption. “These are politically driven arrests and investigations,” declared party spokesman Ilhan Uzgel. “Not a single government party mayor is even investigated.”

Uzgel admits that with more than 500 of its officials having been arrested, the party is facing a battle for survival. “The government has all the instruments of the state. They control the judiciary, they control the police force etc etc. So it’s very difficult to stop it.”

Despite mounting pressure, however, Uzgel insists they will not back down.

“We are organising rallies twice a week, our leader is very energetic. He [Ozel]… said we are not going to back down. The government, they don’t want the opposition party to challenge Erdogan’s authority. This is the core of the issue right now.”

Turkey walks a fine line as conflict between Israel and Iran cools

Broadcasting bans

However, the political noose around the neck of the CHP continues to tighten. This week, the opposition Sozcu TV station was banned for 10 days by regulatory authorities for “inciting public hatred” after broadcasting protests against the jailing of the Istanbul mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.

Another opposition TV station, Halk, is facing a similar ban. The two are among the few media outlets that continue to report on the ongoing CHP protests against the waves of arrests.

The broadcast bans are being seen as a sign that the days of critical media could be numbered.

“I believe by the end of this year we might be hearing of the start of the liquidation of critical TV channels,” claims Erol Onderoglu, Istanbul representative of the Paris-based NGO Reporters Without Borders.

Fears are growing too that the threat against independent media is part of a much more worrying process of the dismantling of the pillars of democracy.

Turkey steps into EU defence plans as bloc eyes independence from US

Opinion polls

However, the government appears to be losing the battle for people’s minds, with several opinion polls reporting that more than 60 percent of people polled believe the legal crackdown on CHP is politically motivated.

Anger against the government also continues to grow over 40 percent inflation.

Sezin Oney, an analyst for the independent Poltiyol news outlet, fears a political showdown is looming. “Turkish democracy is on its deathbed, actually. Erdogan envisions a political stage where we don’t have a really challenging opposition. [Arrests] will escalate and escalate. They will go as far as they can until they reach their target.”

While Erdogan remains in a strong position, the opposition is still a threat to the president. “He does have most of the cards,” said Oney, “but he doesn’t have the support of the public in general. So, at the end of the day, at one point it will be the people versus Erdogan.”

“What matters is where the security forces stand,” he added, “When it comes to a point when the people take to the streets en masse, will the security bureaucracy go against their own people?”

Neither the CHP nor Erdogan are showing any signs of capitulating, with protests expected to continue and likely to intensify in September, coinciding with the reopening of universities and the return of people from summer holidays. Court cases against the CHP are also scheduled to resume then.

With both sides insisting they are fighting for the future of their country, it could well be a fight that leaves only one side standing.

The ban comes amid a surge in migrants reaching the island of Crete and after talks with Libya’s Benghazi-based government to stem the flow were this week.

It marks a further hardening of Greece’s stance towards migrants under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ centre-right government, which has built a fence at its northern land borders and boosted sea patrols since it came to power in 2019.

Human rights groups accuse Greece of forcefully turning back asylum-seekers on its sea and land borders. This year, the European Union border agency said it was reviewing 12 cases of potential human rights violations by Greece.

The government denies wrongdoing.

The law, which received 177 votes in favour and 74 against, halts asylum processing for at least three months and allows authorities to quickly repatriate migrants without any prior identification process.

UN demands urgent action after Greece migrant boat tragedy

“Faced with the sharp increase in irregular arrivals by sea from North Africa, particularly from Libya to Crete, we have taken the difficult but absolutely necessary decision to temporarily suspend the examination of asylum applications,” Mitsotakis was quoted by his office as telling the German newspaper Bild on Friday.

“Greece is not a gateway to Europe open to everyone.”

Greece was on the front line of a migration crisis in 2015-16 when hundreds of thousands of migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa passed through its islands and mainland.

“Illegal and inhumane”

Since then, flows have dropped off dramatically. While there has been a rise in arrivals to the outlying islands of Crete and Gavdos – those numbers have quadrupled to over 7,000 so far this year – sea arrivals to Greece as a whole dropped by 5.5 percent to 17,000 in the first half of this year, U.N. data show.

Rights groups and opposition parties said the ban approved by parliament violates human rights.

“Seeking refuge is a human right; preventing people from doing so is both illegal and inhumane,” said Martha Roussou, a senior advocacy adviser for aid group International Rescue Committee (IRC.)

Thousands of irregular migrants have been rescued by the Greek coastguard off Crete in recent days, the Athens government said. Hundreds of them, including children, were temporarily housed at an exhibition centre in Agyia, near the city of Chania in western Crete, amid sweltering summer temperatures.

Footage by the Reuters news agency on Friday showed a migrant who had fainted being taken out of the shelter on a stretcher.

Crete lacks an organised reception facility. The government said it would build a migrant camp there but the local tourist industry is worried the plan could harm the island’s image.

“The weight is too great, the load is too big, and solutions now have to be found … at a central level,” said George Tsapakos, a deputy governor for Crete.

(With newswires)

Friday’s reported violence came as negotiators from Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas were locked in indirect talks in Qatar to try to agree on a temporary ceasefire in the more than 21-month conflict.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he hoped a deal for a 60-day pause in the war could be struck in the coming days, and that he would then be ready to negotiate a more permanent end to hostilities.

Hamas has said the free flow of aid is a main sticking point in the talks, with Gaza’s more than two million residents facing a dire humanitarian crisis of hunger and disease amid the grinding conflict.

Israel began easing a more than two-month total blockade of aid in late May. Since then, a new US- and Israel-backed organisation called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has effectively sidelined the territory’s vast UN-led aid delivery network.

France urges EU to reassess Israel trade partnership over Gaza rights abuses

There are frequent reports of Israeli forces firing on people seeking aid, with Gaza’s civil defence agency saying 10 Palestinians were killed Friday while waiting at a distribution point near the southern city of Rafah.

‘Unacceptable’

The UN, which refuses to cooperate with GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives, said Friday that 798 people have been killed seeking aid between late May and July 7, including 615 “in the vicinity of the GHF sites”.

“Where people are lining up for essential supplies such as food and medicine, and where… they have a choice between being shot or being fed, this is unacceptable,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday’s deaths, but has previously accused militants of firing at civilians in the vicinity of aid centres.

(With newswires)

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 ensure these voices are heard. 

How do you do it?

With a three-minute ePOP video. It should be pure testimony, captured by your lens: 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). An ePOP film is a razor-sharp look at 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!

Click here for all the information you need. 

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

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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. 

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

This week’s quiz: On 14 June, I asked you a question about the 2025 One Ocean Summit, which was held in the French city of Nice. There was very good news on the opening day: French Polynesia’s President Moetai Brotherson announced that his country is on track to create the world’s largest marine protected area.

You were to re-read our article “French Polynesia unveils world’s largest marine protected zone”, and send in the answer to this question: What is the size of France’s maritime domain?

The answer is: 11 million square kilometers. As noted in our article: “Polynesia’s announcement alone allows France, whose maritime domain covers 11 million square kilometers, to increase the proportion of its waters under protection to 78 percent, a broad term that includes areas where activity restrictions are minimal.

Of this area, 14.8 percent is now considered highly protected, compared to 4.8 percent before Polynesia’s announcement.

Just eight percent of global oceans are designated for marine conservation, despite a globally agreed target to achieve 30 percent coverage by 2030.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “Which season of the year do you like the most, and why?” The question was suggested by Rafiq Khondaker.

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

The winners are: Saleem Akhtar, the president of the RFI Seven Stars Radio Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan. Saleem is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations, Saleem, on your double win.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week is RFI Listeners Club member Sahadot Hossain, who, as an Assistant Professor of Geography and Environment at the Gurudayal Government College in Kishoreganj, Bangladesh, can probably recite every country’s maritime domain in his sleep! There are two more RFI Club members on the list this week, and they’re both from Assam, India: Deekay Dimple and Karobi Hazarika. Last but assuredly not least, there’s RFI English listener Lata Yeasmin Jahan, the co-chairwoman of the Sonali Badhan Female Listeners Club in Bogura, Bangladesh.

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Dawganova”  by David Grisman, played by the David Grisman Quintet; “Le coucou” by Louis-Claude Daquin, performed by Ruth Laredo; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Scar Tissue”, written by Anthony Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante, and Chad Smith, and performed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read our article “Seven Nobel laureates urge France to adopt tax on ‘ultra-rich’”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 25 AUGUST (yep, summer vacation is coming up!) to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 30 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

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Click here to learn how to win a special Sound Kitchen prize.

Click here to find out how you can become a member of the RFI Listeners Club, or form your own official RFI Club.   

The legal complaint, filed with civil party status, concerns two soldiers identified as Sasha A and Gabriel B – members of an elite sniper unit of the Israeli army, known as the “Ghost Unit” or Refaim in Hebrew.

The plaintiffs accuse them of carrying out deliberate killings in Gaza – crimes that could be considered war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide under international law.

The complaint was submitted by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organisations – Al-Haq, Al Mezan, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PHCR), the LDH and the Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS) – on 1 July to a specialised unit of the Paris Judicial Court.

This unit has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and enforced disappearances – particularly those cases involving French victims or suspects, or foreign suspects present or habitually resident in France.

‘No Israel exception’

The Ghost Unit, comprised of a few dozen snipers assigned to carry out “targeted neutralisations”, is primarily made up of dual nationals – including Israeli-American, Israeli-Belgian and Israeli-Ethiopian soldiers.

Approximately 4,000 French nationals are currently believed to be serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) – which FIDH refers to as the Israeli Occupying Forces.

Dual nationality exposes them to prosecution under French law. The complaint accuses the two soldiers of “deliberate attacks on life”, constituting crimes under international law.

“There is no ‘Israel exception’. Justice must move forward,” said Alexis Deswaef, a lawyer and vice-president of the FIDH. “Impunity fuels future crimes. We absolutely need a conviction for war crimes, crimes against humanity, or even genocide – a first conviction so that others can follow.”

“It would mark a turning point…and would probably change things on the ground,” he said, although he acknowledged too that justice alone “won’t be enough to stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” and said there must be a ceasefire.

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

Victim testimonies

The legal complaint is based on investigative work by independent Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi, who conducted an investigation into the Ghost Unit.

His 38-minute documentary, published on X (formerly Twitter) in October 2024, shows footage of sniper attacks on civilians, including children and paramedics. One fatal shot came from more than a kilometre away.

The alleged acts took place between November 2023 and March 2024, near the al-Nasser and al-Quds hospitals in Khan Younis – both of which have been the target of intense Israeli bombardments following the 7 October Hamas attacks. 

The documentary features an interview with the unit’s Israeli-American staff sergeant Daniel Raab. Speaking directly to camera, he explains how they shoot unarmed Gazan civilians near the two hospitals.

“If they are in an area designated as a combat zone, and they are men of military age, then we shoot,” Raab said on camera. “The question of women and children is debated with command… As a sniper, you have a lot of independence, a lot of responsibility, and a lot of room for judgement… In some cases, they say yes or no, and in others, they say yes when you think it should be no… and then it’s up to you. You shoot.”

Raab states that his unit killed at least 120 Palestinians in under five months.

The NGOs say they have additional evidence supporting Tirawi’s findings.

“We were able to gather testimonies from direct victims of snipers in the time and place documented by Younis Tirawi – precise statements from victims, snipers or relatives of people killed by snipers at the entrance to the two hospitals,” said Deswaef.

“The testimonies complete the evidence collected by the journalist. That’s what makes this case so exceptional.”

International obligations

“The convergence of eyewitness accounts and the documentation provided by Tirawi clearly indicates the involvement of the same snipers in a coordinated campaign of extra-judicial executions in various locations across Gaza,” the FIDH said in a statement.

Deliberately targeting civilians with lethal intent constitutes a serious violation of international law, including prohibited acts under the Genocide Convention, it added.

As a signatory to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols, as well as to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, France has a legal obligation to investigate and, if warranted, prosecute its nationals accused of international crimes.

According to the complaint: “In the areas where the unit operates, the apparent strategy is to open fire on any person of military age, even in the absence of any clear threat. Each shot fired by the snipers is intended not to wound, but to kill.”

The complaint argues that “these acts may constitute not only war crimes, but also genocide and other crimes against humanity”.

French woman sues Israel over Gaza strike that killed two grandchildren

Past and present complaints 

This is not the first case of its kind. In late 2024, the FIDH filed a complaint against another Franco-Israeli soldier, Yoel O, for alleged torture of Palestinian prisoners. The case was dismissed.

A previous complaint concerning the same individual had also been dropped earlier in the year by the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat).

More recently, Pnat opened two judicial inquiries into French-Israeli nationals accused of participating in the obstruction of humanitarian aid. On 4 July, the organisation Lawyers for justice in the Middle East (AJPO) filed a complaint against French-Israelis living in illegal settlements, along with French entities allegedly complicit in recruiting individuals in France to move to West Bank settlements.

Additional complaints targeting other members of the Ghost Unit are expected to be lodged in Italy and other European jurisdictions. Investigations are already under way in South Africa and Belgium.

But Deswaef insists their case is exceptional. “What makes this case so particular is that we already have the evidence at the time the complaint is filed – significant and even sufficient evidence to allow for prosecution and conviction.

“These are damning elements. We have enough to try them as perpetrators of crimes, or at the very least as co-perpetrators or accomplices as members of the Ghost Unit operating collectively in Gaza.”

He said having the staff sergeant openly explaining they were shooting unarmed civilians who pose no threat from 1.2 kilometres away, with the clear intent to kill, was “the very definition of a war crime”.

France pressures Israel to resume full humanitarian aid to Gaza

‘Our international credibility has evaporated’

France has been outspoken and active in its efforts to secure the release of French-Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October, 2023. Deswaef hopes it will show the same determination in holding its citizens accountable for any crimes committed in Gaza.

“We must hope so because otherwise it would be just another example of the completely unacceptable double standard – an insult to human intelligence and an insult to the European values that our leaders so often invoke to criticise others.

“Unless we’re to say that France makes an exception for Israel? This double standard is unbearable, and it undermines credibility. I don’t think our European leaders realise how much our international credibility has evaporated because of our inaction over Israel’s crimes committed in total impunity and without provoking the slightest reaction.”

While France has one of the most advanced frameworks in matters of universal jurisdiction, lawyer Johann Soufi questions the political will to prosecute French citizens for crimes committed abroad.

“At present, France appears reluctant – both in its statements and in its actions,” he said. “I detect no sincere willingness on the part of political leaders to shed light on the possible involvement of our compatriots in what the International Criminal Court – and many legal experts – now define as war crimes, crimes against humanity or even genocide.”

International justice in jeopardy

Since the Hamas attacks on Israel, international justice has moved faster than diplomacy.

The ICC, which considers Israel’s actions in Gaza war crimes and crimes against humanity, has issued arrest warrants. The International Court of Justice has acknowledged a plausible risk of genocide and ordered several provisional measures. United Nations bodies have documented what they describe as a criminal – even genocidal – policy, including the deliberate starvation of civilians.

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the possible responsibility of our compatriots in these crimes, whether military or civilian,” said Soufi. “International courts have done their part – they’ve stated the law, legally qualified the facts and established responsibility on the basis of the evidence presented to them.

Gaza faces ‘critical risk of famine’: UN report

“But justice depends – and will always depend – on the political will of states to be effective. Today, those who are failing are not the NGOs or lawyers, such as those who brought this complaint. It’s the political leaders – particularly in the West – who, through their silence or complicity, through their total lack of moral compass, are burying the values they claim to uphold.

“When the time comes to account for these events, it won’t be up to defenders of international law to justify themselves, but those who refused to act. Unfortunately, we will all pay the price for this betrayal, because international law itself is being allowed to disappear.”

The death toll in Gaza has now surpassed 57,000, with more than 130,000 people injured, according to the Hamas health authority – figures that the UN deems credible.

This article was adapted from the original version in French.

“That was [Vladimir] Putin’s own statement,” General Burkhard said during a rare press conference about threats to France. “That doesn’t mean he isn’t concerned with other countries.”

The Élysée said on Thursday that President Emmanuel Macron will make “major announcements” in his speech to the armed forces on Sunday, the eve of the annual Bastille Day celebrations.

France, a nuclear power protected by its deterrent, does not face a “direct and large-scale attack on national territory”, Burkhard said. But Russia still has “many other options” to act against it, he warned. These include spreading false information, launching cyberattacks and spying.

As a “disruptive power”, Russia is involved in “all forms of threat”, the general said. He pointed to sabotage of undersea cables, disinformation in France and Africa, spying, and even threats in space. He said Russian satellites have carried out manoeuvres to disrupt or spy on French satellites or change their paths.

Russia steps up disinformation campaigns against French elections, Paris Olympics

With regard to maritime security, Burkhard pointed to “Russian nuclear attack submarines that regularly enter the North Atlantic and sometimes descend into the Mediterranean”.

He added they were “clearly seeking to monitor areas that are strategically important to us, and to the British”, describing the UK as another major supporter of Ukraine and a target for Moscow.

“In the air, there is frequent friction and interaction,” Burkhard said. He was talking about encounters with Russian aircraft over the Black Sea, Syria, the Mediterranean and “sometimes quite far out into the North Atlantic”.

“In the air, there is frequent friction and interaction” Burkhard noted, referring to encounters with Russian aircraft over the Black Sea, over Syria, in the Mediterranean and “sometimes quite far out into the North Atlantic”.

(with AFP)

General Sembé Bobo, head of the Union for Peace (UPC), and Ali Darassa of Return, Reclamation and Rehabilitation (3R), confirmed the disbanding of their political and military wings during the event on Thursday.

Wearing blue and white boubous, the two warlords took turns placing Kalashnikovs on a table, marking the end of hostilities, reported RFI’s correspondent Rolf Steve Domia-leu.

The laying down of arms follows a ceasefire agreement signed between Bangui, UPC and 3R on 19 April in N’Djamena, with Chadian mediation.

“In the name of our movement, the 3R, we are here to answer the call for peace, we commit to honouring this agreement for the supreme interest of the nation,” Bobo said. “I assure you that I will respect all the commitments I have made.”

Darassa made a similar promise and urged the Central African government to do the same. He called for security guarantees to be upheld, signatory groups to be included in running public affairs and fighters to be integrated into reintegration and community development plans.

CAR refugees face hardship and uncertainty both at home and abroad

Disarmement and rehabilitation

CAR has been mired in violence since a coalition of mostly northern and predominantly Muslim rebels known as Seleka, or “Alliance” in the Sango language, seized power in March 2013 after ousting president Francois Bozize.

Their dominance gave rise to the opposing anti-balaka Christian militias.

The UN mounted the Minusca peacekeeping operation in 2014.

Touadéra was elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020 but large parts of the country have remained under the control of armed groups.

In February 2019 Bangui signed the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in the Central African Republic (APPR-RCA) in Khartoum with 14 armed groups, but attempts at integrating rebel factions into state structures failed and the main ones withdrew.

The agreement was revived after lengthy negotiations between Bangui, the 3R and UPC, brokered by Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, and signed on 19 April. 

It sets out a detailed process to incorporate rebel fighters into the army and security forces.

Fighters from the UPC and 3R have already been relocated to five cantonment sites in rebel strongholds in the east and north-west of the country, and registered.

They will then be disarmed.

Former rebels deemed fit for service will begin training, with a view to joining the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) or one of the other branches of the country’s defence and security forces, as pledged by the government. Fighters deemed unfit will benefit from the country’s Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration programme (DDR).

France accuses CAR of complicity in disinformation campaign, suspends support

‘Latest agreement not sign of weakness’

As mediator and guarantor of the 19 April agreement, Chad will be responsible for ensuring its effective implementation.

During Thursday’s ceremony, Chad’s Defence Minister Issakha Malloua Djamous urged all parties to remain faithful to its spirit. “Ongoing instability in the Central African Republic could destabilise Chad,” he warned, calling on all parties to work “hand in hand”.

President Touadéra acknowledged everyone’s efforts. “This latest agreement is not a sign of weakness,” he said, expressing his conviction that “dialogue will contribute to the development of the Central African Republic”.

He reiterated calls for “an immediate end to hostilities through a ceasefire, a permanent renunciation of the use of weapons and violence, and the handing over of arms to the government within the framework of the DDR process”.

Bangui is also in negotiations with other rebel movements, including the anti-balaka militias and the Patriotic Movement for the Central African Republic (MPC) – both of which have expressed a willingness to rejoin the 2019 agreement.

On 11 July, 1995, Bosnian Serb forces killed more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys in a massacre that international courts later ruled was a genocide.

Srebrenica was at the time a United Nations Safe Area, under the protection of UN troops.

Daily life in the town now revolves around the vast cemetery at Potocari, where the victims are buried.

“It’s important that Srebrenica lives – and not only on 11 July,” Nerma, a florist whose shop faces the cemetery, told RFI. She has seen the crowds shrink as fewer foreign visitors come each year to pay their respects.

Nerma, who lost relatives in the massacre, said the town still struggles with things most people take for granted.

“It’s no longer about knowing who is Bosniak or Serb. We have no bakery, no butcher, no clothing shop. If we want to do shopping for the children’s return to school, we have to go to another town,” she said.

War, peace and progress: why 2025 will be a standout year of remembrance

‘The world watched in silence’

On Friday, thousands gathered at the Potocari Memorial Centre to bury seven more victims, including a 19-year-old man and a 67-year-old woman.

Many families wait years to lay loved ones to rest because remains are often found in fragments in secondary graves.

“Before the war, there were 6,000 inhabitants. During the war, there were up to 50,000 people, and even more. Today, there aren’t even 800,” explained Sadik, a local writer who has watched the town empty, year by year.

That emptiness weighs on families who never found all they lost. “For 30 years we have carried the pain in our souls,” said Munira Subasic, president of the Mothers of Srebrenica group.

Her husband Hilmo and 17-year-old son Nermin were among those killed in the massacre. “Our children were killed, innocent, in the UN protected zone. Europe and the world watched in silence as our children were killed.”

In May last year, the UN General Assembly named 11 July the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica.

Fragile trust

Many young Bosnians now choose to build their lives in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Canada or Australia. They leave behind a country still divided by old rivalries and a web of overlapping governments.

Bosnia’s power-sharing deal – the Dayton Agreement, which ended the Bosnian War – created a complex political structure, with a total of 17 governments split between the two entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Serb-majority Republika Srpska controls nearly half the land and is still pushing for independence. Bosniaks support a single, united state. Croats, the third-largest ethnic group in the country, want an autonomous region of their own.

Some young people see the conflict through fresh eyes. “Some are interested and try to understand and visit memorial sites,” Aline Cateux, an anthropologist who studies post-war Bosnia, told RFI. “They want each community, Serb or Muslim, to be able to commemorate its dead, to better move on.”

She added that young people often focus more on the problems of today, such as corruption or pollution, rather than old divides.

Still, daily trust can be fragile. Small choices remind people of the past.

“From the point of view of a survivor, what trust can you place in a Serb doctor? If you are a Bosniak Muslim woman, are you really going to choose a Serb gynaecologist?” asks Cateux.

Srebrenica remembers victims following Mladic arrest

Slow justice

Some Serb leaders continue to reject the word genocide. “A terrible crime was committed, but it was not genocide,” Milorad Dodik, president of Republika Srpska, told a rally last week.

That denial shapes what some children learn, Cateaux said. In Serb-run areas, textbooks no longer mention Srebrenica. “In schools following the Serb curriculum, Bosniak Muslim children learn that certain war criminals are heroes.”

While Bosnian Serb wartime leaders Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic were jailed for life by international courts, lower-level suspects are still being pursued.

Since the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia closed in 2017, which had been responsible for the prosecution of serious crimes committed during the Yugoslav Wars, Bosnia’s prosecutors have taken on nearly 500 cases linked to the war, involving around 4,000 suspects. Many of them live in Serbia or Croatia, where extradition is slow and rare.

Earlier this year, Bosnian courts charged five police officers and four soldiers over their alleged roles in the killings. Around 7,000 victims have been identified and buried so far, but nearly 1,000 are still missing.

Some families are able to bury only a bone or two when remains are found.

For Nezira Mehmedovic, visiting the graves of her sons Sajib and Sinan, killed in their early twenties, brings her closer to what is left.

“I like the most to come here to my sons. I talk to them, I cry, I pray, I kiss them,” she told French news agency AFP. “My heart aches for them constantly. They say life goes on… but how?”

The French foreign ministry had previously expressed concern over the fate of 18-year-old Lennart Monterlos who disappeared in Iran on 16 June, while on a cycling trip from Europe to Asia.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told French newspaper Le Monde on Thursday that an “official notification” about Monterlos had been sent to the French embassy in Tehran.

He said Monterlos “has been arrested for committing an offence”.

France and a number of other countries have urged their nationals not to go to Iran because of the risk of detention.

In an interview with broadcaster LCI on Thursday evening, French Prime Minister François Bayrou urged Iran not to “persecute the innocent who are sometimes unaware of the risks they face”.

The French foreign ministry, which has accused Iran of pursuing a deliberate policy of detaining foreigners to use as bargaining chips, said it was in contact with Iranian authorities about the case and was also speaking with the teenager’s family.

France blasts Iran for fuelling nuclear tensions citing UN watchdog report

‘Retaliatory measures’

Monterlos is the third French national currently held in Iran. Academics Cecile Kohler, 40, and Jacques Paris, 72, are being held on charges of spying for Israel and could face the death penalty. They were detained on 7 May, 2022 on the final day of a holiday in Iran.

French President Emmanuel Macron has threatened Iran with “retaliatory measures” if the pair are not released.

In May, France filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Iran of “violating its obligation to provide consular protection” to Kohler and Paris and holding them “hostage” under “appalling conditions that amount to torture”.

French couple face death penalty in Iran on spying and conspiracy charges

Relations between Paris and Tehran have been tense, with Iran accusing the West of not doing enough to condemn Israel’s recent strikes.

Along with other European countries, France suspects Iran of taking Western citizens hostage to barter their freedom for concessions, notably on its nuclear plans and the lifting of economic sanctions on the Islamic republic.

The European Union has hinted that it could reimpose the sanctions mechanism planned in the 2015 deal on Tehran’s atomic programme.

“The threat of sanctions does not help diplomacy,” Araghchi said, urging France, Germany and the United Kingdom to play “a constructive role” in the talks.

Iran is believed to be holding around 20 Europeans in detention.

(with newswires)

Deporting people to third countries has been a hallmark of the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented migrants, notably by sending hundreds to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

“The US is mounting considerable pressure on African countries to accept Venezuelans to be deported from the US, some straight out of prisons,” Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said in an interview with Channels Television on Thursday.

“It will be difficult for Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners. We have enough problems of our own,” he added.

Tuggar also suggested the US motivation for threatening tariffs against the Brics political bloc – of which Nigeria is a member – was related to the issue of deportations.

Trump has announced a 10 percent tariff on Nigerian goods exported to the US.

Africans accuse Trump of chasing minerals and mocking their presidents

Contentious deportations 

Tuggar’s comments followed a meeting between President Trump and the leaders of five west African nations – Senegal, Liberia, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau and Gabon – in the White House on Wednesday.  His administration was pushing them to accept deportees from around the world, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The president of Guinea-Bissau told reporters that Trump had raised the issue of deportations to third-countries but “he didn’t ask us to take immigrants back”.

In an unprecedented move, Trump has overseen the deportations of hundreds of people to Panama, including some who were sent away before they could have their asylum applications processed.

Hundreds have also been sent to El Salvador, with the US administration invoking an 18th century law to remove people it has accused of being Venezuelan gang members. 

Some of the people were sent to El Salvador despite US judges ordering the planes carrying them to turn around. 

Earlier this month, the White House deported eight third-country nationals to impoverished South Sudan, which the United Nations warns may be seeing a return to civil war. 

US Supreme Court approves deportation of migrants to South Sudan

(with AFP)

Thousands marched through the streets of the Mediterranean city of Adana in protest at the arrest of its mayor on alleged corruption charges. The mayors of Antalya and Adiyaman have also been detained on similar charges. More than a dozen mayors of Turkey’s main opposition CHP have now been jailed.

The legal crackdown began in March with the jailing of Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, and on Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed there would be no letting up.

“We launched an investigation into the largest theft ring in the history of the Republic, the most reckless organised crime organisation ever,” Erdogan told his parliamentary deputies.

“Those who took bribes, those who practically held cities under extortion, those who put people in a difficult situation and then robbed them were all CHP people,” he continued.

A battle for survival 

Erdogan further ratcheted up the pressure on the CHP with a presidential motion calling for the lifting of parliamentary immunity from 61 out of CHP’s 121 deputies.

CHP leader Ozgur Ozel is also under investigation for allegedly inciting public hatred and insulting the president.

Ozel is at the forefront of leading anti-government protests across the country, which continue to attract large crowds as the party builds a significant lead in opinion polls over Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The CHP claims their growing success is what is motivating the recent prosecutions, rather than corruption. “These are politically driven arrests and investigations,” declared party spokesman Ilhan Uzgel. “Not a single government party mayor is even investigated.”

Uzgel admits that with more than 500 of its officials having been arrested, the party is facing a battle for survival. “The government has all the instruments of the state. They control the judiciary, they control the police force etc etc. So it’s very difficult to stop it.”

Despite mounting pressure, however, Uzgel insists they will not back down.

“We are organising rallies twice a week, our leader is very energetic. He [Ozel]… said we are not going to back down. The government, they don’t want the opposition party to challenge Erdogan’s authority. This is the core of the issue right now.”

Turkey walks a fine line as conflict between Israel and Iran cools

Broadcasting bans

However, the political noose around the neck of the CHP continues to tighten. This week, the opposition Sozcu TV station was banned for 10 days by regulatory authorities for “inciting public hatred” after broadcasting protests against the jailing of the Istanbul mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.

Another opposition TV station, Halk, is facing a similar ban. The two are among the few media outlets that continue to report on the ongoing CHP protests against the waves of arrests.

The broadcast bans are being seen as a sign that the days of critical media could be numbered.

“I believe by the end of this year we might be hearing of the start of the liquidation of critical TV channels,” claims Erol Onderoglu, Istanbul representative of the Paris-based NGO Reporters Without Borders.

Fears are growing too that the threat against independent media is part of a much more worrying process of the dismantling of the pillars of democracy.

Turkey steps into EU defence plans as bloc eyes independence from US

Opinion polls

However, the government appears to be losing the battle for people’s minds, with several opinion polls reporting that more than 60 percent of people polled believe the legal crackdown on CHP is politically motivated.

Anger against the government also continues to grow over 40 percent inflation.

Sezin Oney, an analyst for the independent Poltiyol news outlet, fears a political showdown is looming. “Turkish democracy is on its deathbed, actually. Erdogan envisions a political stage where we don’t have a really challenging opposition. [Arrests] will escalate and escalate. They will go as far as they can until they reach their target.”

While Erdogan remains in a strong position, the opposition is still a threat to the president. “He does have most of the cards,” said Oney, “but he doesn’t have the support of the public in general. So, at the end of the day, at one point it will be the people versus Erdogan.”

“What matters is where the security forces stand,” he added, “When it comes to a point when the people take to the streets en masse, will the security bureaucracy go against their own people?”

Neither the CHP nor Erdogan are showing any signs of capitulating, with protests expected to continue and likely to intensify in September, coinciding with the reopening of universities and the return of people from summer holidays. Court cases against the CHP are also scheduled to resume then.

With both sides insisting they are fighting for the future of their country, it could well be a fight that leaves only one side standing.

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!

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The ePOP contest is your space to ensure these voices are heard. 

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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!

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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 14 June, I asked you a question about the 2025 One Ocean Summit, which was held in the French city of Nice. There was very good news on the opening day: French Polynesia’s President Moetai Brotherson announced that his country is on track to create the world’s largest marine protected area.

You were to re-read our article “French Polynesia unveils world’s largest marine protected zone”, and send in the answer to this question: What is the size of France’s maritime domain?

The answer is: 11 million square kilometers. As noted in our article: “Polynesia’s announcement alone allows France, whose maritime domain covers 11 million square kilometers, to increase the proportion of its waters under protection to 78 percent, a broad term that includes areas where activity restrictions are minimal.

Of this area, 14.8 percent is now considered highly protected, compared to 4.8 percent before Polynesia’s announcement.

Just eight percent of global oceans are designated for marine conservation, despite a globally agreed target to achieve 30 percent coverage by 2030.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “Which season of the year do you like the most, and why?” The question was suggested by Rafiq Khondaker.

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

The winners are: Saleem Akhtar, the president of the RFI Seven Stars Radio Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan. Saleem is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations, Saleem, on your double win.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week is RFI Listeners Club member Sahadot Hossain, who, as an Assistant Professor of Geography and Environment at the Gurudayal Government College in Kishoreganj, Bangladesh, can probably recite every country’s maritime domain in his sleep! There are two more RFI Club members on the list this week, and they’re both from Assam, India: Deekay Dimple and Karobi Hazarika. Last but assuredly not least, there’s RFI English listener Lata Yeasmin Jahan, the co-chairwoman of the Sonali Badhan Female Listeners Club in Bogura, Bangladesh.

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Dawganova”  by David Grisman, played by the David Grisman Quintet; “Le coucou” by Louis-Claude Daquin, performed by Ruth Laredo; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Scar Tissue”, written by Anthony Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante, and Chad Smith, and performed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read our article “Seven Nobel laureates urge France to adopt tax on ‘ultra-rich’”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 25 AUGUST (yep, summer vacation is coming up!) to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 30 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.   

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).

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.