The Directorate for Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES) found that between the beginning of 2012 and the beginning of 2025, the number of doctors overall increased by 9.9 percent.

This has been especially noticeable in the last two years which saw a rise of 1.4 percent between 1 January 2023 and 2024 and 1.6 percent between 1 January 2024 and 2025.

Drees says that as of January this year, 50 percent of doctors are women, a significant rise from 41 percent in 2012.

Of the 237,214 doctors in practice in France (including 100,000 general practitioners), the number of women (118,957) exceeded their male counterparts (118,257) for the first time in 2025.

In specialist sectors, women make up 97 percent of midwives and podiatrists, with a rise seen in the number of dental surgeons in the past 13 years, Drees says.

Rise in foreign doctors

The overall rise in the number of doctors is due to several factors, including more doctors with foreign qualifications.

On 1 January 2025, 11 percent of doctors had a foreign qualification compared to 7 percent on 1 January 2012.

The number of training places has also increased, with a strong uptake between 2000 and 2020.

France moves towards professional equality for doctors trained outside the EU

The study also showed that doctors are getting younger, with the average age down from 51.1 years in 2012 to 49.9 years in 2025.

The proportion of doctors under 40 has increased sharply, from 17 percent at the beginning of 2012 to 31 percent at the beginning of 2025.

The baby fossas were first shown to the public this month at the Paris Zoological Park in Vincennes. Many visitors will have never heard of the species, which looks a little like a small wild cat but is more closely related to mongooses.

“It looks like a mini tree-dwelling puma, with a tail that’s about the same length as its body – maybe even a bit longer,” said zoo veterinarian Alexis Lécu.

Even in Madagascar, the fossa is hard to spot. Its forest habitat is shrinking every year due to farming and logging. Scientists believe that only around 3,000 fossas remain in the wild.

“Our visitors are often discovering this species for the first time. Even when you go to Madagascar, you see more lemurs than fossas,” Lécu said.

Wild chimpanzees beat the bush telegraph using tree-root rhythms

Elusive and under pressure

Fossas are difficult to study. “They only comes from one island and are not a species that’s spread out over a continent. Their whole system of hunting and lifestyle is based on hiding,” Lécu explained.

The species plays a key role in Madagascar’s ecosystems, but is classed as vulnerable as human activity puts it at risk.

The cubs, born in May, are among just 10 fossas born in zoos around the world this year. Their arrival in Paris is seen as a success for global breeding efforts.

Staff at the zoo closely monitor the fossas’ behaviour, rest and reproduction, sharing their findings with partners in Madagascar.

They are also working with local conservationists to protect the species in the wild. That includes helping people who depend on the island’s forests for farming, firewood and food.

“The aim is to help local populations live – to find ways of making a living that work, while continuing to protect species like lemurs, fossas and reptiles,” Lécu said.

Zimbabwe’s elephant boom fuels conflict alongside conservation wins

No return to the wild

The three cubs will eventually be sent to other zoos around the world as part of a breeding programme to help maintain a healthy global population.

But for now, there is no plan to reintroduce them into the wild.

Zoos like Vincennes are one of the few safe spaces left for fossas – and a reminder of what could be lost if Madagascar’s forests continue to disappear.

The stage was simple. Four sheets of music on a small black bench. Poetic verses. That’s how “Laaroussa Quartet” opened at La FabricA in Avignon. It marked the start of a journey back to ancestral knowledge and tradition.

At the start of the piece, an elderly woman appears on stage, dressed in traditional clothing and gifted with a voice as beautiful as it is piercing. Chedlia Saïdani stands out as the representative and ambassador of this little-known culture. 

The story behind the show began years earlier. Selma had spotted a clay doll in a Paris art gallery. Known as a laaroussa, the doll led the siblings to Sejnane, where women craft these distinctive figurines by hand. Many live in poverty, but their skills have been passed down for generations.

It took more than 10 years for Selma and Sofiane – who have always worked together – to complete “Laaroussa Quartet”.

Their journey started with a 2011 dance film about the Sejnane potters. That film laid the foundation for this full-length stage piece, which blends generations, places, and movement styles.

Artisanal and ancestral gestures 

Born in Tunis in 1972 and 1975, the two choreographers have spent years studying movement. For this work, they focused on everyday gestures – hands, arms, shoulders, necks, backs, hips. The kinds of movements used when shaping clay. They treated them like musical notes, building a full “gesture opera”.

Sheets of notes lay on stage from the beginning – a kind of score written from the women’s movements. These were physical memories of a tradition that goes back thousands of years.

A large screen showed hills from the Tunisian countryside. Then, slowly, the faces of around 60 women potters from Sejnane appeared. 

“What is a free body?” wonders Selma Ouissi. “In our work, we find freedom within structure. That’s where freedom lies. For this project, we wrote using the vocabulary and symbols of Sejnane pottery. Choreographic scores composed entirely with those signs, just like a composer would write a quartet,” she told RFI’s Siegfried Forster.

For Sofiane Ouissi, freedom is also about time – a slower pace, away from modern pressures.

“The women of Sejnane asked us for time – the time to fully express their art, to truly live it and physically experience it. We archived and transcended this language, and brought it onto the stage.”

For them, these gestures are full of meaning. Small actions and stories, passed from mother to daughter, shaping not just clay dolls, but a way of being.

The company will tour in Tunisia in October at the Dream City festival and in Belgium in January 2026.

This article was adapted from the original version in French.

The World Food Programme (WFP), Unicef and the Food and Agriculture Organisation warned this week that time is running out, with Gaza “on the brink of a full-scale famine”.

“We need to flood Gaza with large-scale food aid, immediately and without obstruction, and keep it flowing each and every day to prevent mass starvation,” WFP executive director Cindy McCain said in a joint statement from the agencies.

Images of severely undernourished children have prompted outrage. According to data from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), one in five children under the age of five in Gaza City is now malnourished.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health has reported 147 deaths from hunger, including 88 children, since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted following the 7 October 2023 terror attack.

However, there has been no official determination or declaration of famine, leading to questions over whether one exists.

Determining a famine

The United Nations uses a tool called the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) to measure hunger. Created in 2004, the IPC is used by 21 agencies, including the WFP and Unicef.

It sets out five levels of food insecurity, with Phase 5 meaning famine or catastrophe.

Three things must happen at the same time for famine to be declared:

• At least 2 people per 10,000 (or 4 per 10,000 children) die daily of starvation, disease and malnutrition
• At least 20 percent of households face extreme food shortages
• At least 30 percent of children suffer from acute malnutrition

Even if those thresholds appear to be met, an independent review committee must confirm it. This panel includes experts in nutrition, health and food security. Only then can a formal declaration be made – usually by the government of the affected area or the UN.

“It’s a very high bar and the nature of the process is that if the data aren’t there, you say it’s not a famine,” Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University, told the ABC. “It has no legal force. The word ‘famine’ has no meaning in law.”

As of June 2025, Sudan is the only country currently experiencing famine, according to the IPC.

First confirmed in North Darfur’s Zamzam camp for displaced people in August, 2024, famine has since spread to 10 areas of the country, with another 17 at risk.

More than 110 aid and human rights groups denounce Gaza ‘mass starvation’

Data collection challenges

The IPC puts Gaza at Phase 4 (emergency) across the territory, with half a million people projected to reach Phase 5 by September.

Earlier this month, the IPC issued an alert warning that the “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out,” though this falls short of an official classification.

Collecting the necessary data to determine whether a country is officially suffering from famine requires the systematic surveying of populations to measure malnutrition rates and mortality.

Israel’s partial blockade on delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza has not only contributed to the risk of famine, the conflict and restrictions on international media have made gathering data near-impossible, aid agencies say.

“Our colleagues in Gaza right now are trying to work under bombardment with no guarantee of safety,” Scott Paul, director of peace and security at Oxfam America, told the ABC.

“Aid workers conducting assessments face the same dire conditions as the general population, including food shortages and restricted movement.”

Sudan government rejects UN-backed famine declaration

Politics has also affected how famine is assessed.

Doctors Without Borders has accused Israel of using “deliberate starvation” as a weapon of war.

Israeli officials have pushed back on that, questioning the accuracy of the figures and suggesting the viral images of emaciated children are misleading.

“In most cases, their extreme malnutrition is due to underlying medical conditions rather than food scarcity alone,” a spokesperson for the Israeli army told Le Point magazine.

Israel also argues that previous IPC warnings proved inaccurate, noting that predictions of imminent famine in March 2024, and then again in March of this year, failed to materialise. By June, the World Health Organization had recorded 32 hunger-related deaths – far below projections.

Even so, many aid groups say action should not be delayed just because a formal famine has not been declared.

In Somalia in 2012, around half of the 250,000 famine deaths happened before the official announcement was made.

“The importance of taking action before famine is declared cannot be overstated,” Paul said, adding that severely malnourished individuals may be harmed by certain foods if distribution is not carefully managed.

The new bill would allow artefacts to be given back by government decree, without needing a full vote in Parliament each time. It would apply to objects taken from their countries of origin under conditions described as “illicit”.

A similar bill planned for 2024 was blocked by France’s highest administrative court, the Conseil d’Etat, and its review was postponed.

On 30 July, the French government said its goal is to speed up restitution.

The bill would set out clear rules for what counts as looted, and would cover items acquired between 1815 and 1972. It cites theft, looting or forced transfer as reasons for return.

The word “colonisation” is not used, but the references point directly to France’s colonial past.

France passes law to allow return of Ivorian drum stolen by colonial troops

Scientific commission

Dati said the bill would apply mostly to African countries, but could be used for objects taken from anywhere.

France will be among the first countries to pass such a law, said Catherine Morin-Desailly, a senator and member of the French Senate Culture Committee.

“Apart from Belgium so far, such a framework law has not yet seen the light of day,” Morin-Desailly told RFI.

Asked whether the process would really be faster, she said: “Yes and no”.

“I’m going to be nuanced because for each object it is also necessary to examine the request and to have a scientific, historical and legal study that allows us to affirm that it is indeed the right object,” she explained.

What’s new in the bill is that objects can only be returned if their acquisition is proven to be illegal. If that hasn’t yet been shown, a scientific commission can be set up to help.

It would bring together French and international experts to research the object’s history and trace its true origin.

How an RFI investigation helped return an ancient treasure to Benin

“There will be a lot of work [for the] special commission to allow these restitutions. But what is important is that it will avoid specific laws that clutter the parliamentary agenda and make it take time,” Morin-Desailly said.

She said public attitudes have changed, and that a shift is now possible.

“Not all objects from foreign countries were necessarily acquired illicitly,” she added. “This is where we will have to look closely.”

The aim of each return should be either “reparation” or “reappropriation”. These terms were not included in the last bill, which was more cautious and referred only to “international relations” or “cultural cooperation”.

Thousands of requests

France has returned only 27 works to African nations in the past six years. This includes 26 royal treasures from Dahomey handed back to Benin in 2021, and one item returned this year from Finland, though it belonged to a French collection.

At least 10 countries have filed official requests for thousands of other items, including Algeria, Madagascar and Côte d’Ivoire, based on 2023 data.

The new law would allow the principle of “inalienability” to be waived by decree in these cases. That rule normally bars French public museums from giving away state-owned items.

Many of the objects are still held in French collections and have never been properly listed or documented.

Lack of transparency

Experts and lawmakers have criticised the lack of transparency around how these items ended up in France.

“France has not yet finished its process of coming to terms with its colonial past,” Pierre Ouzoulias, a Communist senator from Hauts-de-Seine and a member of the Senate Culture Committee, said on Wednesday in an interview with France Culture.

He wants to see a permanent, independent commission created.

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

“It is absolutely essential that these restitutions are carried out with complete transparency,” he said, “and that opinions are made public, to assure Parliament and the nation – who own these items – that everything has been done according to the rules and in accordance with a codified code of ethics that will be upheld regardless of future governments.”

Saskia Cousin, a sociologist and anthropologist at the University of Nanterre, also supports the plan. She has long studied the issue of looted African heritage.

Cousin said thousands of artefacts have been returned to African nations from other parts of the world, but that France is “lagging behind”.

Netherlands prepares to return looted Benin bronzes to Nigeria

“This is an issue that goes beyond cultural diplomacy,” she told France Culture. “We must return to the primary stakeholders – especially the youth, their heritage and matri-heritage – so they can reclaim not only this history but also a sense of pride.”

The bill is due to be debated by the French Parliament during an extraordinary session in September, after the summer break.

The rules come into effect on Saturday, kicking off a voluntary compliance period for general purpose AI (GPAI) models – the systems behind tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.

The EU is one of the first regions in the world to set clear rules for how powerful AI systems should work.

The full AI Act is not expected before 2026, but the European Commission has released a Code of Practice to get companies working towards the new standards now.

The code is not legally binding, but it sets out clear expectations: explain how models work, be transparent about training data, assess risks such as bias or misinformation, and help users understand how the technology operates.

EU nations reach landmark agreement on AI regulation

Google signs, Meta refuses

Google announced on Tuesday that it would sign the code. Other companies, including OpenAI and French startup Mistral, have already done so.

“We will join several other companies, including US model providers, in signing,” said Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs.

But he also raised concerns that too many rules could slow innovation. “Over-regulation risks slowing Europe’s development and deployment of AI,” he said.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is refusing to sign. It argues that the code is too vague and goes beyond what the AI Act will require.

“This code introduces a number of legal uncertainties for model developers, as well as measures which go far beyond the scope of the AI Act,” said Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, in a LinkedIn post.

Meta has had other run-ins with Brussels. It recently pulled all political ads from its European platforms rather than comply with new EU rules on online campaigning.

Could European AI create a more unified European identity?

Brussels pushes ahead

Some of Europe’s largest firms have also voiced concern. Earlier this month, companies including Airbus and Lufthansa asked Brussels to pause its AI plans, warning that the bloc risks falling behind in the global race for tech leadership.

Google echoed those concerns. “Departures from EU copyright law, steps that slow approvals, or requirements that expose trade secrets could chill European model development and deployment,” Walker said.

Despite pushback from industry and political pressure from abroad, the Commission is holding firm. The compliance period begins this weekend, showing that Brussels plans to press ahead with its approach to AI governance.

“I am going to make a new deadline of about 10 or 12 days from today,” Trump declared at a press conference on 28 July during his visit to Scotland.

“There is no reason to wait 50 days. I wanted to be generous, but we don’t see any progress being made.” 

The American president admitted his efforts to end the Ukraine war had failed and that his patience with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was at an end.

Turkish President Erdogan ready to rekindle friendship with Trump

Trump later confirmed 8 August as the date for the new measures. With US-Russian trade down 90 percent since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Trump warned that other countries importing Russian goods would also be hit by secondary sanctions.

“If you take his [Trump] promises at face value, then he should look at all countries that import any Russian commodities that is of primary importance to the Russian budget – this includes, of course, crude oil, and here you have China and India mostly,” explained George Voloshin of Acams, a global organisation dedicated to anti-financial crime, training and education.

Voloshin also claims that Turkey could be a target as well. “In terms of petroleum products, Turkey is one of the big importers. It also refines Russian petroleum in its own refineries,” Voloshin added.

“Turkey imports lots of Russian gas through the TurkStream pipeline. Turkey is very much dependent on Russian gas and Russian petroleum products.”

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

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ankara insists it is only bound by United Nations sanctions.

Last year, Turkey was Russia’s third-largest export market, with Russian natural gas accounting for more than  40 percent of its energy needs.

Putin has used Turkey’s lack of meaningful domestic energy reserves and dependence on Russian gas to develop a close relationship with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“Putin knows that no matter what Trump wants, Turkey is not going to act in any military or sanctions capacity against Russia and Iran. You know, these are Turkey’s red lines. We can’t do it,” said analyst Atilla Yeşilada of Global Source Partners.

“Trump is 10,000 miles away. These people are our neighbours,” added Yeşilada. “So Putin doesn’t think of Turkey as a threat, but as an economic opportunity, and perhaps as a way to do things with the West that he doesn’t want to do directly.”

Ankara is performing a delicate balancing act. While maintaining trading ties with Russia, Erdoğan remains a strong supporter of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Turkey is a major arms seller to Ukraine, while at the same time, Erdoğan continues to try and broker peace between the warring parties.

Last month, Istanbul was the venue for Russian–Ukrainian talks for the second time in as many months. Such efforts drew the praise of Trump.

Trump and Erdogan grow closer as cooperation on Syria deepens

Trump’s pressure mounts on energy and trade

The American president has made no secret of his liking for Erdoğan, even calling him a friend. Such close ties, along with Turkey’s regional importance to Washington, analysts say, is a factor in Ankara’s Western allies turning a blind eye to its ongoing trade with Russia.

“I think Turkey has got a pass on several levels from Russian sanctions,” observed regional expert Sinan Ciddi of the Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

However, Ciddi cautions that Trump remains unpredictable and that previous actions are no guarantee for the future.

“Past experience is not an indicator of future happenings. We just don’t know what Trump will demand. This is not a fully predictive administration in Washington,” Ciddi said.

“We do know right now that he [Trump] is very unhappy with Putin. He blames Putin for prolonging the Ukraine war,” added Ciddi.

Change of stance

“And if he feels sufficiently upset, there is a possibility that no waivers will be granted to any country. Turkey will be up against a very, very unappetising and unenviable set of choices to make.”

Trump has successfully lobbied the European Union to increase its purchases of American liquefied natural gas (LNG), replacing Russian imports. Similar demands could put Ankara in a difficult position.

“If Trump pressures Turkey not to buy Russian natural gas, that would definitely be a huge shock,” warned Yeşilada.

“Trump might say, for instance: ‘Buy energy from me or whatever.’ But I don’t think we’re there yet. There is no way Turkey can replace Russian gas.”

However, Trump could point to Turkey’s recent expansion of its LNG facilities, which now include five terminals and have excess capacity to cover Russian imports, although storage facilities remain a challenge.

Turkey’s energy infrastructure is also built around receiving Russian energy, and any shift to American energy would likely be hugely disruptive and expensive, at a time when the Turkish economy is in crisis.

Putin retains another energy card over Erdoğan. A Russian company is building a huge nuclear power plant in Turkey, which could account for 20 percent of the country’s energy needs.

Ciddi argues Erdoğan is now paying the price of over-relying on Russia.

Turkey’s Erdogan sees new Trump presidency as opportunity

“There is no need to have resorted to making Ankara this dependent on natural gas, nuclear energy, or for that matter bilateral trade. This was a choice by Erdoğan,” said Ciddi.

“The fact it is so dependent on so many levels in an almost unique way is something that Turkey will have to rethink.”

But for now, Erdoğan will likely be relying on his expertise in diplomatic balancing acts, along with his close ties to Trump and Turkey’s importance to Washington’s regional goals, to once again escape the worst of any sanctions over Russian trade – although Trump may yet extract a price for such a concession.

Conservative think tanks, whose influence was once limited to Washington’s corridors of power, are now establishing connections with political actors and organisations in countries such as Poland and Hungary, working to shape Europe’s future.

This report delves into the activities of the Heritage Foundation and its burgeoning alliances with groups including Ordo Iuris in Poland and the Mathias Corvinus Collegium in Hungary.

These organisations advocate for conservative cultural and economic reforms, sparking heated debate over national identity, the structure of the European Union and the future of liberal democracy across the region.

Can Europe withstand the ripple effect of the MAGA political wave?

As alliances form and agendas clash, a crucial question looms: are these movements charting a course toward genuine European reform, or steering the continent toward greater division? 

Voices from both sides share their perspectives, revealing the complexity behind this transatlantic ideological exchange.

Our guests: 

Chris Murphy, Senator (D, Connecticut)

Kenneth Haar, researcher at Corporate Europe Observatory 

Zbigniew Przybylowski, development director at Ordo Iuris

Rodrigo Ballester, head of the Centre for European Studies at Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC)

At a ceremony in northern Iraq, PKK commander Bese Hozart announced that the disarmament by 30 fighters – 15 men and 15 women – was undertaken freely and in line with the group’s commitment to pursue a democratic socialist society through peaceful means. The fighters’ weapons were burned as part of the symbolic event.

The move came just days after the release of a video message from imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who reiterated his call for an end to the armed struggle and the formal dissolution of the group. It was the first time the Turkish public had heard Öcalan’s voice since his incarceration in 1999.

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

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responded by telling supporters that the country had reached a historic moment. Ankara now expects a complete disarmament of the remaining PKK fighters by autumn.

Since the beginning of the peace process last year, Erdoğan has ruled out making concessions, insisting the rebels are unilaterally surrendering. However, the high-profile nature of the disarmament ceremony is increasing pressure on the government to respond in kind.

“This is a historic moment; this is a conflict that has been going on for nearly half a century. Now it’s the government’s turn to actually open up the political space,” said Aslı Aydıntaşbaş of the Brookings Institution in Washington.

“Both the Kurdish side and the Turkish side are telling their own constituencies that they’re not giving up much—trying to convince their bases, which, in both cases, seem unprepared for such a radical shift,” she added.

Kurdish leader Ocalan calls for PKK disarmament, paving way for peace

Opaque negotiations, rising distrust

As a gesture of goodwill, the government has reportedly improved Öcalan’s prison conditions and allowed communication through a so-called “secretariat.”

However, the PKK continues to press for broader concessions, including an amnesty for its members and the right for ex-fighters to return to Turkey. There have also been calls for Öcalan’s release, alongside the release of tens of thousands of individuals jailed under Turkey’s broad anti-terror laws.

Yet concerns are mounting over the transparency of the peace negotiations. “It’s really difficult even to assess it because we don’t really know what’s going on,” said Zeynep Ardıç, an expert on conflict resolution at Istanbul’s Medeniyet University. “Some negotiations don’t need to be public, but the public should still be informed,” she said.

Ardıç warned that the current polarization in Turkish politics and a legacy of mistrust built over decades of conflict make transparency essential. “There should be a bit of transparency, because people don’t trust state institutions, people don’t trust each other, people don’t trust the government or the judiciary.

So, it’s not easy to succeed under these circumstances. The government needs to reinstall trust – not just among Kurdish people, but among Turkish people as well.”

Politics could undermine fragile progress

Following the disarmament ceremony, Erdoğan announced the formation of a parliamentary commission to oversee the process, including members from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), his coalition partner the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and the pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM). Notably absent was the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), whose exclusion is fueling fears that Erdoğan is politicizing the peace process.

Erdoğan requires the support of Kurdish parliamentarians to amend the constitution and potentially remove presidential term limits—allowing him to remain in power indefinitely.

Turkey’s Saturday Mothers keep up vigil for lost relatives

“Erdoğan is trying to juggle two conflicting priorities,” noted analyst Atilla Yeşilada of U.S.-based consultancy Global Source Partners. “A: give the Kurds the least of what they want in return for a constitution that allows him to run again, and B: broaden his war against the CHP. I don’t know how he can finesse that.”

While Erdoğan speaks of a new era of unity between Turks, Arabs, and Kurds, he is simultaneously escalating a legal crackdown on the CHP, even going so far as to label the party a terror threat. This is a risky move, given that the pro-Kurdish DEM party has previously supported CHP candidates in both presidential and mayoral elections.

Kurdish analyst Mesut Yeğen, of the Center for Social Impact Research in Istanbul, warned that Erdoğan may be overplaying his hand. “If Erdoğan’s pressure on the CHP continues, then it’s likely that DEM’s electorate, members, and cadres could grow discontent,” Yeğen predicted.

“They’ll think that if Erdoğan succeeds against CHP, he’ll start a similar campaign against the DEM. So I think they will strike a kind of balance.”

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

Despite the uncertainty, powerful incentives remain on both sides to pursue peace. With the PKK largely pushed out of Turkish territory and facing military defeat, and Erdoğan in dire need of parliamentary support, momentum for a resolution is strong.

But with negotiations shrouded in secrecy, many remain skeptical about what kind of peace this process will ultimately deliver.

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.