Over the last 10 days, 24 bodies have been exhumed from Kwa Binzaro, a small village near Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast and not far from the Shakahola forest – where 450 bodies were found in 2023.

These were followers of self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie’s Good News International Church.

Mackenzie, a former taxi driver, is alleged to have incited his acolytes to starve to death in order to “meet Jesus” in one of the world’s worst cult-related massacres.

Autopsies on the bodies discovered in 2023 found that while starvation appeared to be the main cause of death, some victims – including children– had been strangled, beaten or suffocated. Previous court documents also said that some of the bodies had had their organs removed.

Kenya to release bodies of cult victims found in mass forest graves

Police have taken 11 people into custody in connection with the newly discovered graves, although three of them are being treated as victims, investigator Robert Kiinge told French news agency AFP.

According to a sworn statement submitted to the court in Malindi on 22 August, seen by RFI, Alfred Mwatika of the anti-terrorism police said that the 11 people arrested were followers of Mackenzie and had stayed in Shakahola.

According to Mwatika, the suspects recruited followers across Kenya and had funds “to rent houses in Malindi for their victims before they reached Kwa Binzaro”.

‘Abusing scripture’: The rise of Kenya’s Christian cults

Once in the village, the followers were locked up and starved, as per Mackenzie’s instructions.

Mackenzie has been charged with manslaughter and terrorism. His trial in a Mombasa court was adjourned this month, because of new evidence.

(with newswires)

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen addressed the press in Brussels following the strike, calling it proof “the Kremlin will stop at nothing” and vowing to uphold “maximum pressure” on Russia.

The overnight drone and missile strike “was an attack also on our delegation”, the European Commission president said.

“It shows that the Kremlin will stop at nothing to terrorise Ukraine, blindly killing civilians, men, women and children, and even targeting the European Union,” she told reporters.

France accuses Russia of stalling peace efforts as massive strikes hit Ukraine

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced on X that the bloc was “summoning the Russian envoy in Brussels,” warning: “No diplomatic mission should ever be a target.”

Von der Leyen said she had spoken with the EU’s deputy ambassador on site, and was “relieved that none of our staff were harmed.”

But she said the attack struck in “close proximity” to the bloc’s diplomatic mission, two missiles hitting within 50 metres of the delegation in the space of 20 seconds.

Grim reminder

EU officials shared a picture of the inside of an office with the windows blown out, ceiling partially hanging down and debris scattered on the floor, as well as an aerial view showing an obliterated building in the vicinity.

Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper told reporters the EU delegation was still “fully operational” and that “our staff will remain present in the country”.

But von der Leyen said the damage was “another grim reminder” of the need to keep “maximum pressure on Russia“.

“That means tightening our sanctions regime” with a 19th package of measures against Moscow, and “advancing” work on how best to exploit hundreds of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, she said.

EU hits Russia with sweeping new sanctions over Ukraine war

EU countries are currently using interest earned from the assets to help arm Ukraine and finance its post-war reconstruction, a windfall worth between €2.5 billion and €3 billion a year.

Von der Leyen also announced she would be travelling from Friday to seven countries on the EU’s eastern flank “that are strengthening and protecting our external borders, with Russia and Belarus.”

Inspectors from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Iran on Wednesday without a clear mission or knowing if they would be allowed into nuclear sites.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told lawmakers that Tehran had not reached an agreement on how it would resume cooperation with the watchdog.

Iran suspended its cooperation with the IAEA after it failed to condemn Israeli and American strikes on the country’s nuclear facilities in June.

It is unclear how much damage the 12-day war launched by Israel did to Iran’s nuclear facilities, and its large stock of enriched uranium has not been verified since.

Iran nuclear sites suffered ‘enormous damage’, IAEA chief tells RFI

The Institute for Science and International Security, a research group headed by David Albright, a former UN nuclear inspector, said on Thursday that a satellite image showed a clean-up operation at a nuclear-related site in northern Iran, which will likely remove evidence of any nuclear weapons development.

In order to pressure Iran into cooperating with IAEA inspectors, France, the United Kingdom and Germany – an informal security cooperation arrangement known as the E3 – will begin the process of re-imposing UN sanctions on Thursday, according to European diplomats.

After a meeting with Iran on Tuesday, the E3 concluded that Iran had not upheld its commitments under the 2015 agreement, in which it agreed to dismantle much of its nuclear programme and open its facilities to more extensive international inspections.

Iran and Europe hold Geneva nuclear talks as sanctions deadline looms

The snapback mechanism for imposing sanctions was put in place alongside this nuclear agreement – which fell apart when US President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal in May 2018, following which Iran resumed uranium enrichment, in violation of the commitments.

“This mechanism allows countries that are still signatories [to the 2015 agreement] to reimpose sanctions that were lifted by the UN,” Héloise Fayet, a researcher at the French Institute of International Relations told RFI.

The mechanism cannot be overturned by a UN Security Council veto, meaning neither Russia nor China could come to Iran’s rescue.

The E3 face a mid-October deadline, when their ability to trigger the mechanism will expire.

“These are therefore the last few weeks for Western countries to activate the snapback in order to put additional economic pressure on Iran,” said Fayet.

The E3 will transfer a letter to the UN Security Council later on Thursday, with the goal of pushing Iran to provide commitments within the 30 days it will take the snapback mechanism to take effect.

The figures come as Germany’s largest weapons producer, Rheinmetall, opened a new ammunition plant in northern Germany on Wednesday in a ceremony attended by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and senior German officials.

NATO members agreed in 2014 to spend at least 2 percent of national output on defence. For years many fell short. But the alliance said that in 2025 all 32 members will meet the benchmark, with seven at the minimum of 2 percent and others only slightly above.

Spending has risen since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, alongside pressure from US President Donald Trump for European allies to pay more for their own security, NATO said.

Dutch are first to buy US arms for Ukraine under NATO scheme

Poland is spending the most on defence relative to its economy at 4.48 percent, followed by Lithuania at 4 percent and Latvia at 3.73 percent. They are the only countries already above the new 3.5 percent goal agreed at a June summit in The Hague.

Leaders pledged to hit that target by 2035, alongside a wider aim of spending 5 percent of GDP on defence and security-related investments. That includes cybersecurity and upgrades to roads and ports to handle heavy military equipment, NATO said.

“Cash alone doesn’t provide security,” Rutte said on Wednesday at the Rheinmetall factory in Unterluess. “Deterrence doesn’t come from 5 percent. Deterrence comes from the capability to … fight potential enemies.”

New ammunition plant

The Rheinmetall facility will focus on 155mm artillery shells, a weapon in high demand for Ukraine. The company said production would rise to 350,000 shells per year by 2027.

“With this we’re opening a new chapter both in our company’s history and that of our site at Unterluess with regard to artillery production,” Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said.

Rheinmetall invested about €500 million in the site, which will also produce rocket motors. The wider complex already makes tanks and other artillery systems.

Macron names top military aide and ex-fighter pilot as new armed forces chief

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil joined Rutte for the ceremony, the company and officials said.

On the same day, activists from the Disarm Rheinmetall alliance staged a sit-in outside a Bundeswehr career centre in Cologne, part of days of action against militarisation, police and local media said.

Rheinmetall has grown rapidly as demand for weapons has risen in Europe.

The group has reported record orders this year, and its share price has climbed from below €100 after the 2022 invasion to peaks near €1,900 earlier this year, market data showed.

(with newswires)

The trip to the former Soviet republic, which borders Ukraine, came on the eve of campaigning for next month’s parliamentary elections amid claims of Russian interference.

Standing alongside President Maia Sandu, the three leaders praised Moldova’s resilience against what they said was a campaign of meddling from Russia.

“Kremlin propaganda tells us that Europeans want to prolong the war and that the European Union oppresses people,” Macon said about Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“These are lies. Unlike Russia, the European Union threatens no one and respects everyone’s sovereignty.”

European leaders are concerned that Russia has troops stationed in a largely Russian-speaking region that broke away from Moldova’s control in a brief war in the early 1990s.

Sandu’s pro-European allies face a stiff challenge in the election on 28 September.

The country has seen power alternate between pro-Western and pro-Russian political groups for decades.

Moldovans voted narrowly in favour of pursuing EU integration in a referendum last year, but Sandu’s opponents are mounting a strong challenge.

(with Reuters, AFP)

Teams will be divided into five regional groups and play round robin matches between September and January. The winner of the each pool will advance to the quarter-finals.

At that stage, the three French sides involved in the 2025/26 Champions League – OL Lyonnes, Paris FC and Paris Saint-Germain – will enter the competition.

“We wanted to increase the number of matches for clubs not playing in Europe by offering more competitive matches throughout the season,” said a spokesperson for the Women’s Professional Football League (LFFP) which is organising the competition.

“It will also provide the platform for new players to emerge by giving them an additional competitive framework in which to prove themselves.”

Tournament rules

Under the rules of the competition, the winner of a match in 90 minutes earns 3 points and the loser 0 points.

If a match were to finish in a draw, a penalty shoot-out ensues to determine the winner who gets 2 points while the loser receives 1 point.

The opening round of games will take place on 13 September. Further pool matches are scheduled for 11 October, 15 November, 10 December and 7 January.

The quarter-finals and semis will be in February and the final will be played on 14 March.

OL Lyonnes will be favourites to lift the inaugural trophy. The club has won 18 of the last 19 top flight championships.

PSG interrupted the hegemony in 2021 and in an effort to arrest OL Lyonnes’ dominance, PSG drafted in Rasheedat Ajibade from Atletico Madrid on Tuesday on a two-year deal to bolster their attack.

The 25-year-old was named player of the tournament at the delayed 2024 Africa Cup of Nations in July in Morocco where she skippered Nigeria to their 10th continental title.

Starting on Monday, Bayrou will begin talks with party leaders. In an interview with TF1, he stressed that “the prerequisite is that we agree on the importance of the effort” to reduce the debt – the question that lawmakers will be asked to decide in the confidence vote.

He warned it would be impossible to move forward with any budget discussions “if there is not a basic agreement on the importance of this choice”.

In mid-July Bayrou presented a draft budget for 2026 aimed at saving nearly €44 billion through spending cuts and a freeze on social benefits. The plan has been strongly criticised by opposition parties, with the left demanding higher taxes on the wealthy instead.

“I am ready to discuss all issues… measure by measure,” Bayrou said on Wednesday, “except for one, which is the effort we must make to ensure that France can choose the path out of excessive debt.”

Asked why he had not met political groups before announcing the confidence vote, he replied “because they were on holiday”, adding that he had “in one way or another” been in contact with them directly or through intermediaries.

Bayrou has the backing of President Emmanuel Macron, who gave his “full support” to the initiative during Wednesday’s weekly ministerial council, government spokesperson Sophie Primas said.

The prime minister added that he “did not believe” dissolving the National Assembly and calling snap elections – something Macron could do if Bayrou loses the vote – “would allow us to have stability”.

(with AFP)

In 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, the European Union imposed a ban on most oil imports from Russia.

But the Druzhba pipeline was temporarily exempted from this, in order to give landlocked Hungary and Slovakia time to diversify their supply.

But when Ukrainian drone strikes hit a “fuel infrastructure facility” in Russia’s Unechsky district in mid-August, according to Aleksandr Bogomaz, the governor of the country’s western Bryansk region where the district is located, this forced temporary shutdowns of pumping stations, bringing crude deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia to a halt.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó responded by accusing Ukraine of using an “attack on [Hungary’s] energy security” as a threat to sovereignty.

“The war, to which we have no connection, is not a legitimate justification for violating our sovereignty,” Szijjártó posted online.

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that he had complained to United States President Donald Trump after Ukraine’s military actions against Russia’s invasion disrupted oil supplies.

He did not directly name the pipeline, but an important pumping station for Druzhba — Russian for “friendship” — is in the district and has been targeted many times.

“I asked for the help of the American president. The Ukrainians keep shelling the Friendship oil pipeline,” Orban said, according to a Facebook post by his Fidesz party on Friday. He added that Trump had replied, expressing support.

Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar called on Brussels to intervene and guarantee stable energy supplies, saying: “The attacks by the Ukrainian army on the Druzhba oil pipeline not only contradict the national interests of Slovakia, but they do not benefit Ukraine itself.”

Soviet symbol

The Druzhba pipeline was completed in 1964 as a symbol of Soviet bloc unity and strategic control, and is one of the world’s longest oil pipelines and one of its largest oil pipeline networks.

Stretching more than 5,500 kilometres from Russia to Central Europe, it has survived the Cold War, the collapse of the USSR and decades of shifting energy policy to remain an energy backbone for Hungary and Slovakia.

Yet the reliability of Druzhba is increasingly called into question – most recently by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who suggested on Sunday that the pipeline’s future depends on Hungary’s position regarding Ukraine’s EU accession.

“We always supported the friendship between Ukraine and Hungary. And now the existence of the friendship depends on what Hungary’s position is,” Zelensky said — in a possible indication that pipeline attacks may serve as leverage in the increasingly complex diplomacy surrounding Ukraine’s place in Europe.

Analysts see Ukraine’s strikes as part of a wider campaign to dent Russia’s war chest.

“Every disruption is not just about shortages, but about leverage, in Brussels and Moscow alike,” said Radovan Potocar, a Slovak energy analyst in an interview with Radio Slovakia International. 

Hungary and Slovakia, for now, continue to insist that Russian energy is crucial and resist broader EU moves to phase out Moscow’s oil and gas by 2027.

Nord Stream II

The attacks on the Druzhba are not the first time during the Russia-Ukraine conflict that crucial Russian energy infrastructure has been targeted.

In 2022, the explosion of the Nord Stream II gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea reverberated across Europe. An investigation by German weekly Der Spiegel pointed at Ukrainian involvement, which was supported by German and Swedish intelligence services.

American journalist accuses US Navy of Nord Stream pipeline attack

While the investigation implicated Ukrainian special forces, the Ukrainian government denied involvement, and the report noted the attack was allegedly conducted without the knowledge of President Zelensky

That attack, like the recent Druzhba strikes, highlighted the vulnerability of cross-border energy networks, and the ability of energy warfare to reshape Europe’s strategic landscape.

(with newswires)

The 82nd edition of the festival – known as the “La Mostra” – opens Wednesday evening with La Grazia – a love story from Venice regular Paolo Sorrentino, starring longtime collaborator Toni Servillo and set in their native Italy.

Two-time Oscar winner and Sideways American director Alexander Payne takes over from France’s Isabelle Huppert to head this year’s jury, tasked with awarding the Golden Lion best film to one of the 21 main competition contenders on 6 September.

He is joined by French director Stéphane Brizé, Italian director Maura Delpero, Romanian director and producer Cristian Mungiu, Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, Brazilian actress and screenwriter Fernanda Torres, and Chinese actress Zhao Tao.

The 2024 Golden Lion went to Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, The Room Next Door, starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton.

Frenchies on the frontline

French director Olivier Assayas has chosen a prestigious international casting for his film The Wizard of the Kremlin (Le Mage du Kremlin), an adaptation of Giuliano da Empoli’s best-selling novel.

It chronicles Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rise to power in the 1990s from the perspective of one of his closest advisors. Jude Law plays the Kremlin strongman on screen beside Paul Dano as the spin-doctor Vadim Baranov accompanied by Alicia Vikander.

François Ozon has taken on the task of adapting Albert Camus’ classic novel L’Etranger (The Stranger), to the screen in black and white, with Benjamin Voisin as the young Meursault beside Rebecca Marder, Swann Arlaud, Pierre Lottin and Denis Lavant.

‘By humans, for humans’: French dubbing industry speaks out against AI threat

Valérie Donzelli’s new film A pied d’oeuvre (On the job) is also in competition, starring Bastien Bouillon. Based on a novel by Franck Courtès, Donzelli’s seventh feature follows a successful photographer who abandons everything to devote himself to writing.

The festival’s closing film is dystopian thriller Chien 51 (Dog 51) by Cédric Jimenez with Gilles Lellouche and Adèle Exarchopoulos. Set in a futuristic Paris divided by social class and dominated by artificial intelligence, it also stars Louis Garrel, Romain Duris, and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi.

French director Julia Ducournau, who won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2021 for Titane, will chair the parallel Orizzonti section, a competitive section geared towards young talent and independent productions.

Gaza on and off screen

International film festivals have become places of protest and drawing attention to causes and Venice is no exception. 

The Voice of Hind Rajab by two-time Oscar nominee French-Tunisian Kaouther Ben Hania, set in Gaza, is likely to grab a few headlines due to its link to current affairs.

It revisits the death, in early 2024 in Gaza, of a Palestinian girl who “was trying to flee with her family during an Israeli attack” and features the original recordings of emergency calls.

Before the start of the festival, a group of Italian film professionals Venice4Palestine, called on organisers not to remain silent on the Gaza war, and a protest on the Lido is scheduled for Saturday.

‘I want a loud death’: Cannes Film Festival to honour slain Gaza journalist

“In Venice, all the spotlight will be on the world of cinema, and we all have a duty to make known the stories and voices of those who are being massacred, even with the complicit indifference of the West,” read an open letter signed by directors and actors including Matteo Garrone and Alice Rohrwacher.

The group called for the festival to disinvite actors Gerard Butler and Gal Gadot – appearing in Julian Schnabel’s In the Hand of Dante – who it said “ideologically and materially” support Israel’s actions.

The festival’s artistic director, Alberto Barbera, told French news agency AFP that “the festival is obviously not closed in a bubble” and directors today are “reflecting on the major problems that afflict us daily on a global level, from wars to the return of nuclear anxiety, obviously the occupation of Gaza and Palestine but also the many dictatorships resurging throughout the world.”

Hollywood Streaming

Venice, a highlight of the international film circuit, will serve up a healthy dose of big budget films – such as Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as an ageing wrestler.

Greece’s Yorgos Lanthimos teams up with Emma Stone (Poor Things) for sci-fi Bugonia about a high-powered executive kidnapped by people who think she is an alien.

Jim Jarmusch makes his debut in the main Venice lineup with Father, Mother, Sister, Brother, which he has called “a funny and sad film” starring Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Tom Waits.

Hollywood megastar Julia Roberts will make her Venice debut in Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, about a sexual assault case at a prestigious American university. The film is playing out of competition.

Often considered a launching pad for the Oscars, the Mostra offers a large space for Hollywood films and streaming platforms, unlike its Cannes competitor, which champions theatrical releases.

Three Netflix films are competing for the Golden Lion: Guillermo del Toro‘s Frankenstein, starring Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi; Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite, a White House thriller with Idris Elba; and Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, starring George Clooney as an actor in crisis facing an identity crisis, flanked by Laura Dern and Adam Sandler.

Special Awards

During the opening ceremony, German director Werner Herzog, 82, will receive a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement from director Francis Ford Coppola.

Herzog’s latest documentary, Ghost Elephants about a lost herd in Angola, debuts at the festival.

The festival also plans to pay tribute midway through to American actress Kim Novak, 92, the star of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, as well as to American director Gus Van Sant, who will present an out-of-competition premiere of his latest film, Dead Man’s Wire.

(with newswires)

Trump announced during his electoral campaign that he intended to deport “one million people a year”. But while imposing new global tariffs, the White House is also scrambling to find countries willing to take in those who Washington is forcing out.

Liberia, Senegal, Mauritania, Gabon and Guinea-Bissau have all refused to cooperate. The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration even approached Ukraine, without success.

Some proposals, however, have found takers in Latin America and Africa. But are these agreements motivated by lucrative rewards, or made under duress?

On the American continent, Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, Venezuela and El Salvador have agreed to take in individuals deported by the US. For most, the economic balance tips in Washington’s favour, with the 2004 CAFTA free trade agreement between Central America, the United States and the Dominican Republic serving as the main lever.

Three African nations – South Sudan, Eswatini and Rwanda – have also agreed to take in US deportees. According to Thierry Vircoulon, of the French Institute of International Relations think tank, these are countries that want to “get into Washington’s good books”. “Most of them also want to avoid being victims of a total visa ban,” he added.

However, motivation to answer Trump’s call looks different for each of the three.

South Sudan

On 8 July, South Sudan received eight men – only one of whom was South Sudanese – who had been deported from the US. Juba has expressed its willingness to accept more deportees, but has reportedly set certain conditions, according to Politico.

A legal challenge in the US had halted their removal, but a Supreme Court ruling cleared the way.

The country is asking Washington to reverse the revocation of visas for its nationals, which came into effect in April 2025.

South Sudan is also seeking the lifting of sanctions on several senior officials, including Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel, who has been accused of corruption by the US.

It has further requested American support in prosecuting First Vice President Riek Machar, accused of inciting rebellion to block elections due in December 2026.

None of these demands have yet been met, but South Sudan continues to present itself as an ally of the US – with accepting deportees from the US seen as one way to do this.

South Sudan turns US deportations to its diplomatic advantage

Eswatini

The small monarchy of Eswatini has followed South Sudan’s lead by signing a similar agreement with the US, announced on 16 July. Only five people have so far been sent to this landlocked state in Southern Africa.

The five deportees – who are originally from Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos – are all said to be criminals “of unparalleled barbarity”, said Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security.

The men are being held in solitary confinement until they can be deported to their home countries, which could take up to a year.

The government of Eswatini, like South Sudan, cited its close ties with the US as a key motivator for the agreement.

According to Jean-Claude Katende, lawyer and vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the country is seeking to “polish its image in the eyes of the United States and also attract financial income”.

Outcry mounts in Eswatini over ‘illegal aliens’ deported from US

Rwanda

Rwanda is preparing to receive 250 people deported by the US – but this is not Kigali’s first attempt at such an agreement.

In 2022, a similar deal with the United Kingdom was announced, but was then invalidated the following year by the UK Supreme Court, which ruled it unlawful. This did not prevent Rwanda from receiving part of the promised financial compensation – some €280 million.

According to Katende, there is a similarly “purely financial reason” for Kigali to accept the US proposal, but also an interest in “benefitting from an easy workforce paid low wages”.

Rwanda agrees to take migrants from US in deal that includes cash grant

According to Vircoulon, Kigali is also “trying to appease the Trump administration in the context of negotiations between Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United States” to end the conflict between the DRC and Rwanda – negotiations in which Rwanda is far from being in a position of strength.

“It’s about giving Trump something, while the Congolese government is offering him access to its mining sector,” said Vircoulon.

South Sudan, Eswatini and Rwanda, he added, “are among the poorest countries in the world and are also the source of migratory flows“.

“It goes without saying that the deportees they take in will leave these ultra-poor countries and return to the illegal immigration trails.”

Uganda

The latest country to sign an agreement with Washington, a Ugandan Foreign Ministry official announced on Thursday that the country had agreed to accept third-country nationals who had not been granted asylum in the US but were unable to return to their home countries.

However, there are some caveats. Uganda stressed that this was a temporary arrangement and that it would not accept anyone with a criminal record or unaccompanied minors.

It also added in its statement Uganda would prefer to receive people with African nationalities.

Uganda, a US ally, is home to 1.8 million refugees – the largest number on the African continent – mostly hailing from neighbouring South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, although Sudan’s civil war has in the past year triggered a sharp spike in arrivals.

The US embassy in Uganda declined to comment on what it called diplomatic negotiations, but the US State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken by phone with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni about migration.

The department said the call focused on “migration, reciprocal trade and commercial ties” and that Rubio had “thanked Uganda for providing a model of regional stability including its valuable contributions to peacekeeping in East Africa”.

Ugandan opposition MP Muwada Nkunyingi suggested that the deal with the US would give the Ugandan government legitimacy ahead of elections, and urged Washington not to turn a blind eye toward what he described as human rights and governance issues in Uganda.

Uganda’s leaders will rush into a deal to “clear their image now that we are heading into the 2026 elections,” he said.

Uganda has had challenges with the US after it passed an anti-homosexuality bill in 2023 that punishes consensual same-sex conduct with penalties including life imprisonment. Washington threatened consequences and the World Bank withheld some funding.

In May 2024, the US imposed sanctions on Uganda’s parliamentary speaker, her husband and several other officials over corruption and serious abuses of human rights.

Human rights lawyer Nicholas Opio likened the deportee deal to human trafficking, and said it would leave status of the deportees unclear. “Are they refugees or prisoners?” he said.

“The proposed deal runs afoul of international law. We are sacrificing human beings for political expediency, in this case because Uganda wants to be in the good books of the United States,” he said. “That I can keep your prisoners if you pay me… how is that different from human trafficking?”

(with newswires and partially adapted from this article by RFI’s French service)

Yuliia Panina, Maryna Berezniatska and Svitlana Holovan made their way to the stage to loud applause from the audience of a few dozen, gathered for a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

The three women were introduced by Liudmila Huseynova, director of the NGO Numo Sisters and herself a survivor of Russian prisons, having endured three years of torture in the illegal Izolyatsia detention centre.

She told the audience: “Not long before joining us, [these women] wondered if they would ever be able to speak Ukrainian again, after being forced to speak Russian throughout their captivity.”

In Russian detention centres, prisoners are forbidden from speaking their own language, under threat of torture.

‘Tears and joy are all mixed together’

The three women, all civilians, were arrested in 2019 in their respective cities, facing unfounded charges of espionage, extremism and terrorism.

Yuliia Panina was abducted by Russian security services while taking her 13-year-old daughter to school in the city of Donetsk.

She was the first to speak, sharing her first impressions after her release: “When we crossed the border and arrived in the Chernihiv region, we saw Ukrainian flags. People were waving at us. It was wonderful to see that – a huge relief.”

Yuliia too was held at Izolyatsia, a former cultural centre in the city of Donetsk, now used as a prison – a place where Russian guards commit atrocities against Ukrainian prisoners of war.

“For us, it was a miracle, and we are here. But back there, in detention, there are still women, at least six, who have been held for a long time,” she said.

Svitlana Holavan, a worker in a fish-curing factory in Novoazovsk, a town on the Russian border a few kilometres from Mariupol, on the shores of the Sea of Azov, was arrested at her home – because some of her relatives live in independent Ukraine.

This was enough to mark her as suspicious in the eyes of the illegal occupation authorities.

France accuses Russia of stalling peace efforts as massive strikes hit Ukraine

“I still can’t believe that this hell, which has ruled my life for six years, is over. When I saw all the people who welcomed us when we arrived by bus, I felt positive emotions that I hadn’t felt in six years,” she said.

“I prayed so hard for this to happen, and my ordeal is finally over. We waited a very long time for this moment, survived torture, but hope always endured. Soon, I will be able to see my children again, who have grown so much, which is why my emotions – tears and joy – are all mixed together.”

Svitlana’s daughters, Anna and Sofia, first found refuge in Mariupol then in the west of the country and finally in Germany, where they are still living. A family reunion is planned for the coming days.

Interrogations, isolation and sexual abuse

Maryna Berezniatska, who was the director of a dog shelter, was arrested on suspicion of cooperating with Ukrainian secret services.

She said: “I’m still trying to come to terms with everything that happened. When I was released, I couldn’t express my feelings, and I still can’t. It’s hard to immediately understand that it’s true, that it’s all over, that a new life is beginning, that all of that is behind us. The worst part was the suffering of our families while they waited. We were all strong, but it was difficult.”

All three spoke in hushed tones about the torture they endured – although without going into detail.

What they were unable to put into words, others – including Liudmyla – have spoken about before: endless daily interrogations, isolation, humiliation, physical and sexual abuse, mock executions, and deprivation of the most basic rights such as access to water, food, hygiene and medicine.

French researcher imprisoned in Russia faces new charges of espionage

They also testified as to what they need now – and what is lacking.

Liudmyla highlighted the urgent practical support required for the three women, and many other former detainees.

“You have to build yourself up psychologically and physically. I remember that for the first six months after my release, I still had adrenaline rushes. You feel strong, you think you can overcome it on your own, but after a few months, all the physical and mental health problems start, and they overwhelm you,” she said.

“Psychologists help us, and I’m grateful for that, but when you have nowhere to sleep, it doesn’t help… People have been coming back from captivity for 11 years and this problem still hasn’t been solved.”

From the audience, representatives of various organisations supporting former prisoners promised help, while Viktor Missak, the representative of the attorney general, took the floor to assure the women that justice will be done.

“We are doing everything we can to record and bring to justice all those responsible. Many people have committed war crimes, including Russian soldiers and the directors of illegal detention centres,” he said.

“We are identifying them and charging them in absentia, and one day they will sit in the dock before a Ukrainian or international court and be tried.”

‘Russia appears to have abandoned the rulebook’

Since 2022, more than 60 prisoner exchanges have taken place between Russia and Ukraine.

The most recent exchange saw “146 Russian servicemen” and “146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces” transferred on Sunday, according to the Russian defence ministry – although Kyiv did not confirm any figures for the release.

But while Ukraine has opened the doors of its detention centres to international institutions, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, to show that the human rights of prisoners are being respected, in accordance with international conventions, the fate of thousands of Ukrainian prisoners – men and women, civilians and military personnel – in Russia remains extremely precarious.

Russia has been accused of systematically torturing civilians in occupied regions of Ukraine.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, last week sent a dossier of torture allegations to Russia – highlighting in particular the use of sexualised torture and detailing the cases of 10 Ukrainian civilians abused in occupied regions of Ukraine.

The cases involved rape, threats of rape, and electric shocks administered to the genitals. The 10 civilians – four women and six men – were also beaten, kicked, blindfolded and subjected to simulated drownings and mock executions.

Russia and Ukraine exchange POWs, civilians

“They represent however only a small snapshot of a wider, well-documented pattern of risks of torture to civilians in occupied areas,” Edwards said in a statement.

“A rudimentary rule of international warfare is that civilians are to be protected. Russia appears to have abandoned the rulebook entirely. It is high time that they were held to account for these unlawful practices and more pressure brought to bear by all States with influence over them.”

Edwards also noted that arbitrary arrests and detentions and enforced disappearances were being used in Ukraine’s occupied territories – particularly in Kherson, Kharkiv and Zaporizhia.

One of the women concerned remains detained in Russia and an appeal for her urgent release has been launched, according to the statement.

Ukraine is demanding the return of all its prisoners, but so far Russia has not agreed to an “all for all” exchange. For now, Yuliia, Svitlana and Maryna are among the lucky ones.

(with newswires, and adapted from this story and this story by RFI’s French service)

European and US military chiefs last week reportedly presented ideas to their national security advisers on how to guarantee Ukraine’s security if there is a peace deal with Russia.

The discussions followed a summit of European leaders in Washington with US President Donald Trump on ending the conflict.

“It’s going to be a big challenge, but they will find ways of tackling that challenge without the US troops on the ground,” said Serhat Guvenc, professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.

“It will be a novelty because Europe has never carried out any peacekeeping or stabilization operation of this magnitude before.”

Turkey, with NATO’s second-largest army, is seen as a possible option.

“Turkey is an option, you know. And it seems that there is some talk of Turkish contribution,” Guvenc added.

Armenia and Azerbaijan peace deal raises hopes of Turkish border reopening

Ankara signals readiness

On the same day, French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss Ukraine’s security.

Ankara has already signalled it could take part in monitoring any peace deal, but Moscow’s approval would be necessary.

“If the parties agree, Turkey may send our troops to peacekeeping operations,” said Mesut Casin, a former presidential adviser and professor at Istanbul’s Yeditepe University.

Casin pointed to Turkey’s past record in UN operations.

“Turkey joined many UN peacekeeping operations in the former Yugoslavia, Somalia, and Korea, and in many other peacekeeping operations. The Turkish army is very powerful,” he said.

“Also, remember Putin is talking many times with Erdogan, and at the same time, Zelensky is visiting Ankara.”

Turkey and Italy boost cooperation in bid to shape Libya’s political future

Balancing Moscow and Kyiv

Since the start of the war, Erdogan has kept good relations with both Russia and Ukraine.

Ankara has refused to apply most international sanctions on Moscow, while at the same time selling vital military hardware to Kyiv. That balancing act has raised questions among European partners.

“Turkey ought to have been at the Washington meeting,” said Soli Ozel, an international relations scholar at the Institute for Human Studies in Vienna.

Even though Turkey borders both Ukraine and Russia, Erdogan was excluded from this month’s summit between Trump and European leaders.

“The fact that it wasn’t backs the observation that the bigger players or the major partners are not bringing Turkey center stage, they’re sidelining it,” Ozel added.

Despite this, Ankara remains strategically important.

“They keep it in the play, it’s important because if you’re going to need troops, you’re going to need Turkey. If you’re going to talk about the Black Sea security, you need Turkey. And so you cannot really dismiss Turkey,” Ozel said.

But he warned that mistrust is limiting Ankara’s role.

“You’re not making it part of the process that will hopefully lead to a conclusion or a peace treaty between Ukraine and Russia. There is a lack of trust, and I think that has something to do with the way Turkey has conducted its diplomacy,” Ozel said.

Peace or politics? Turkey’s fragile path to ending a decades-long conflict

Doubts over influence

Some analysts suggest Ankara hopes Europe’s reliance on Turkish forces or its navy for Black Sea security could help restore influence. But others see limited gains.

“There is no automatic increase in Turkey’s influence and credibility as a result of taking part in such operations,” said Guvenc.

“It does have a certain impact, but on the other hand, such contributions do not change other Western partners’ views of Turkey.”

Rather than a reset with Europe, Guvenc sees a continuation of the current dynamic.

“What might happen is yet another manifestation of transactionalism on both sides. And if Turkey contributes to peacekeeping in Ukraine, probably President Erdogan expects concrete benefits that will help him manage the deteriorating economic situation in Turkey.

“Therefore, you cannot build a comprehensive and sustainable relationship built on that transactionalism on both sides.”

Grape harvests in France are starting on average three weeks earlier than in the 1980s, according to the National Institute for Agricultural, Food and Environmental Research (Inrae).

Rising temperatures – which scientists confirm are due to human-driven climate change – are accelerating vine growth, with grapes ripening earlier. 

In Alsace, eastern France, the harvest has never started so early. The harvest of grapes that make the sparkling white wine crémant officially began on Tuesday – 10 days ahead of 2024, according to the Winegrowers’ Association (AVA).

Harvest dates for winemakers depend on the region and the variety of grape, and adhere to a calendar fixed by the National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO).

Nationwide trend

In Champagne, in eastern France, the grape harvest officially started last Wednesday.

David Chatillon, co-president of the Champagne Committee said that although the harvest was early due to the intense heat of recent weeks, he was expecting “a very good vintage” this year.

“The vineyard is in remarkable condition, which allows us to approach this harvest with confidence and serenity,” the committee’s press release said.

Early harvests are now being seen across all of France’s wine-growing regions.

Bordeaux saw the first pruning last Monday in plots dedicated to crémant, according to the Bordeaux Wine Interprofessional Council (CIVB).

The harvest is expected to be around 10 September for other white and red wines – which make up 85 percent of production.

The harvest now begins “10 or 15 days” earlier than it did 40 years ago due to climate change, according to the interprofessional association.

In Saint-Emilion, near Bordeaux, the harvest has begun around 15 September since 2010, instead of 26 September as seen in most of the 20th century, according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

As temperatures climb, is the future of French wine in England?

Vine cycle affected

At the Beaunes grape harvest in Burgundy, in recent years Pinot Noir has begun on the 6 September on average.

However, from the end of the Middle Ages up to 1988, this harvest usually took place around 27 September, according to a study that compiled data going back to 1354, cited by Le Monde newspaper.

This database has become a historical indicator of climate change, also cited in the sixth report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Hervé Quénol, a research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) told Franceinfo that, in reality, “it is the entire cycle of the vine that is earlier, from the budding [the opening of the buds] which occurs earlier and earlier in the spring, and therefore makes it more vulnerable to the frosts of late winter”.

Climate change helps France’s Beaujolais wine find its sweet spot

Maximum daily temperatures during the grape growing season have increased by around 3C since 1980, according to an Inrae ​​study published in May.

This phenomenon means grapes are gaining in alcohol content (the sugar content that will become alcohol) and acidity.

In Languedoc, for example, wines have had an average alcohol content of nearly 14 percent since 2015, compared to 11 percent in the 1980s, according to Inrae.

Loss of crops

Climate change caused by carbon emissions from fossil fuels has been linked to an increase in extreme weather events including intense heat, drought and heavy rains, which can destroy crops and even plots of land, particularly due to erosion, Inrae ​​notes.

Production drops can be drastic – up to 50 percent in the Hérault and Gard departments in southern France in 2019, for example, when grapes were burned by a heatwave.

Dilemma for French winemakers as alcohol content rises while consumption falls

Heat also brings an increase in vine diseases and pests, due to humidity. This was the case in Gironde, southwest France, in 2020, when mildew attacked Bordeaux vineyards, which had been flooded by heavy rains in May.

More frequent and larger wildfires also directly affect vines, as seen in early August when several hundred hectares burned in Aude, in the south of France.

According to a study published in 2024 in the journal Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, if global warming exceeds +2C compared to the pre-industrial era, 90 percent of coastal and lowland wine regions in southern Europe could be unable to produce quality wine at economically sustainable yields by the end of the century.

(with newswires)

In a new report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reveals that Mauritanian security forces have carried out “serious human rights violations” against migrants and asylum seekers – ranging from torture to rape – over the past five years.

Mauritania has become a key staging post for undocumented migrants from across Africa who risk the perilous Atlantic crossing from West Africa to Europe, with many aiming to reach Spain.

The NGO added that these abuses had been “exacerbated” by the European Union and by Spain, which continue to outsource elements of their migration management to Mauritania, including support for its border and migration control authorities.

The 142-page report documented violations committed between 2020 and early 2025 by Mauritania’s police, coastguard, navy, gendarmerie and army during border and migration operations.

The victims were largely migrants and asylum seekers from West and Central Africa “seeking to leave or transit the country”.

Worst year for migrant deaths on Spanish maritime routes, NGO warns

‘Catalogue of abuses’

“For years, Mauritanian authorities followed an abusive migration control playbook – sadly common across North Africa – by violating the rights of African migrants from other regions,” said Lauren Seibert, an HRW researcher on refugee and migrant rights.

The report cites a catalogue of abuse including torture, rape, beatings, sexual harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention, theft and collective expulsions.

HRW did, however, note that Mauritania’s government has recently taken steps that “may improve protection for migrants and their rights”.

It has urged the EU and Spain to put human rights and saving lives at the forefront of their cooperation with Mauritania.

Spain faces record surge in migrants reaching Canary Islands

Influx to Canary Islands

Thousands of people have died in recent years attempting the dangerous journey from North Africa to Spain, particularly when aiming for the Canary Islands off Africa’s northwest coast.

For its report, HRW interviewed 223 people, including more than 100 migrants and asylum seekers, and examined documentary evidence as well as visiting detention centres.

In total, it documented abuses against 77 migrants and asylum seekers – men, women and children – along with one Mauritanian national.

According to Spanish government figures, a record 46,843 people reached the Canary Islands by boat in 2024.

Arrivals slowed in 2025, with around 11,500 arrivals recorded between January and July.

Mauritania’s government has rejected many of the report’s findings, while the EU insists its partnership with the country is “solidly anchored” in respect for human rights.

(with newswires)

No subject was taboo for the meeting, which came just weeks after France closed its last military bases in Senegal, ending more than six decades of permanent presence.

One of the most delicate questions on the agenda is Thiaroye – the 1944 massacre of Senegalese soldiers by French forces.

Dakar has long called for the full release of military and judicial archives and for recognition of the scale of the killings. Progress here would be seen in Senegal as a sign of greater balance and transparency in relations.

Bullets unearthed in Senegal cemetery could shed light on Thiaroye massacre

Economic ties

Economic disputes are also on the table, including a row over the Dakar-Diamniadio express project. French construction company Eiffage is seeking about €150 million in unpaid bills.

At the same time, both governments want to highlight common goals in sustainable development, education and healthcare.

Beyond bilateral matters, Macron and Faye were expected to exchange views on regional crises and global challenges, from instability in the Sahel to international trade.

Later in the day Faye was due to take part as guest of honour at a major gathering of French business leaders hosted by Medef, the country’s largest employers’ organisation, in a sign of France’s push to position Senegal as a key partner for investment in Africa.

French military to leave Senegal amid ongoing withdrawal from Africa

French military withdrawal

The meeting takes place against the backdrop of France’s military departure from Senegal.

In July, the final French installations in Dakar – the Geille camp and a base at the capital’s airport – were handed over to Senegalese command.

Marked by flag-raisings and a symbolic exchange of keys, the ceremony closed a chapter that dated back to the colonial era.

The withdrawal followed negotiations launched in 2022 and sped up after Faye’s election, with his Pastef party promising to end foreign military bases on Senegalese soil.

It also fits into France’s wider reshaping of its military footprint in Africa, with troop withdrawals this year from Chad and Côte d’Ivoire.

Both governments insist this does not mean an end to security ties. Training missions and cooperation in fields such as maritime surveillance and cybercrime will continue, though without French troops permanently based in Dakar.

“We must reinvent our partnerships in response to the aspirations of a young generation – we no longer need bases to do that,” General Pascal Ianni, France’s commander for Africa, said at the July handover.

Senegal has become the first French-speaking sub-Saharan country to adopt such a law, according to the Platform for the Protection of Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF).

The text, adopted on Tuesday by members of parliament, aims to protect individuals who, in the course of their professional activity, report or disclose information relating to a crime, financial offence or harm to the public interest.

Whistleblowers can report their information anonymously if they wish, through internal channels within government departments or externally to the relevant authorities, the parliamentary report states.

Those who report information that leads to the recovery of illicit funds or assets will receive a reward of 10 percent of the amount recovered, or an amount determined by the relevant authorities.

Senegal calls on US to withdraw sanctions against ICC magistrates

Jimmy Kande, PPLAAF’s West Africa director, called it “a historic moment for Senegalese democracy and for the entire continent” – although he said that he regretted the bill’s limited scope.

“Whistleblowers seem to be limited to matters of corruption and economic crimes, whereas the scope would usually be much broader, covering environmental, health or human rights issues,” he told RFI.

PPLAAF has published a critical analysis of the bill, highlighting key areas for improvement – including broadening the scope of protection, clarifying the notion of “Good Faith”, distinguishing whistleblowers from nominees, protection against retaliation and the creation of a special fund for whistleblowers.

The organisation also wants the new law to distinguish between whistleblowers and “nominees”, who are fronts or proxies used by corrupt individuals to hide stolen assets, launder money or evade legal scrutiny.

A corrupt official might place assets in the name of a nominee to disguise their ownership, making them someone acting s a cover for illicit interests rather than exposing them.

France and Senegal look to reset ties as Macron hosts Faye in Paris

However, PPLAAF remains optimistic and hopes the move will inspire other African countries to do the same.

“Adopting a whistleblower protection law is a strong signal,” Kande said. “It’s there to encourage other countries in the region and other French-speaking countries to adopt laws that protect whistleblowers.”

The National Assembly of Senegal also adopted three other laws aimed at strengthening transparency in the country: one on access to information, another on the creation of a body to combat fraud and corruption, and a third that extends asset declarations to magistrates and investigating judges.

 (with newswires)

Wembanyama, 21, will miss the tournament as he continues his recovery from the a blood clot on his right shoulder that ended his 2024-25 season in February.

Gobert, 33, who has played for 12 seasons in the NBA, stepped away from international duties to ensure full fitness for the launch of the NBA season in October.

In their absence, France head coach Frédéric Fauthoux will look to NBA star Guerschon Yabusele to guide a crop of youngsters through the Group D games against Slovenia, Israel, Poland and Iceland.

“If we want to go far, the players will have to be at their best.” Fauthoux said in an interview with the French basketball federation’s website after Sunday night’s final warm-up match against Greece.

“We get results when the top players are playing well.”

Greece led France 49-43 at half-time in Athens but a strong third quarter put the visitors ahead 71-61.

France maintained their dominance to win 92-77. The success furnished them with a 100 percent record from their five warm-up games.

On 4 August in Mouilleron-le-Captif, France beat Montenegro 81-75 and three days later in Pau, they overcame Great Britain 74-67. Back-to-back wins in Badalona and Paris over Spain followed, before the victory over Greece.

In the afterglow of the preparation games, Fauthoux warned that his squad would not fall to overconfidence.

“I don’t think winning the games will be a trap,” the 51-year-old Frenchman told the sports newspaper L’Equipe.

“We’ve built up confidence by the way we’ve been playing. That’s very important. And of course, it’s always better to win.

“But winning doesn’t stop us from seeing everything we did wrong like in the first-half against Greece. These are things which we can work on.”

The tournament starts on Wednesday night with the three games in Group A at the Xiaomi Arena in the Latvian capital Riga and three Group B ties at the Tampere Deck Arena in Finland.

Spain begin the defence of their title on Thursday night in the Group C clash against Georgia in Limassol, Cyprus. They will also play Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Italy and Greece.

The top four teams in the four pools advance to the last-16 knockout stages. The final will be played on 14 September in Riga.

It said ticket sales to see the Sarajevo Haggadah, one of the most precious religious manuscripts of the Middle Ages, would be donated to “support the people of Palestine who suffer systematic, calculated and cold-blooded terror, directly by the state of Israel“.

The move drew intense criticism earlier this month from Jewish organisations, with some abroad accusing the museum of antisemitism.

But museum director Mirsad Sijaric, 55, stood by the decision and said he had received numerous messages of support from Jewish people around the world.

“Did we choose one of the sides? Yes, we chose one of the sides,” Sijaric told AFP.

RSF says journalists ‘targeted’ in Israeli strike on Gaza hospital

‘Politicisation’

The museum’s donation will also include sales from a book about the Haggadah.

Sijaric insisted the move was “absolutely not” directed against Jewish people, but was instead a message of opposition to what was happening in Gaza.

“Feigning neutrality is siding with evil. In my opinion, this is pure evil, and one must oppose it.”

Several Jewish organisations criticised the museum’s announcement, including the New York-based Anti-Defamation League, which labelled it a “politicisation” of a “symbol of heritage, survival, and coexistence”.

Sitting in a glass cabinet in a specially designed room in the museum, the Haggadah has long been a treasured symbol of Sarajevo‘s diversity.

The majority-Muslim city is also home to just under a thousand Jewish people.

France slams leisure park ban on Israeli teens as ‘unworthy of the Republic’

Symbol of ‘shared life’

The Haggadah’s illuminated and well-preserved parchment pages narrate the creation of the world and the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt.

Dating back to 1350, the intricately illustrated manuscript is believed to have been written near Barcelona, and brought to Sarajevo by Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492.

It survived Nazi occupation and was kept safe during intensive shelling in the Bosnian War of the 1990s.

Jakob Finci, president of the Bosnian Jewish community, described the move as “bizarre” and “a bit offensive”.

“It tarnishes Sarajevo’s reputation and that of the Sarajevo Haggadah, the book that for many years has borne witness to Sarajevo’s multiethnic character and our shared life,” Finci said.

“I’ve heard a lot of criticism (of the move)… I have not seen any praise.”

Long kept in a safe and rarely displayed, the book has been more accessible since the special room opened in 2018 after a renovation paid for by France.

Its rich history and rarity continue to draw visitors and academics to the museum.

Hunger, disease and no escape: Gaza aid worker’s account of life under siege

“I think it’s a way to support the situation of the Palestinians in Gaza,” said Italian Egyptologist Silvia Einaudi after viewing the manuscript.

“Gaza, why not?” said French visitor Paul Hellec. “It’s a tough topic at the moment. But there are also many other places where people are suffering.”

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Out of 251 hostages seized by Hamas, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 62,819 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

Invited by President Maia Sandu, the three leaders will join her for official statements at the Presidential Palace before addressing citizens at a public concert on Chisinau’s Great National Assembly Square.

The “Weimar Triangle” leaders aim to underline support for Moldova’s sovereignty and European path, at a time when EU capitals are weighing whether to open the first round of accession talks with Chisinau.

The grouping, formed by France, Germany and Poland in 1991 in the German city of Weimar, promotes itself as “playing a significant role as the driving force of the enlarged European Union”.

The Elysée Palace said the visit will “reaffirm full support for Moldova’s security, sovereignty and European path”.

French support, Russian meddling and the fight for Europe’s frontier in Moldova

Parlimentary polls

The trip comes one month before Moldova’s parliamentary elections on 28 September, amid fears of Russian interference.

Moldova’s security services have warned that Moscow is stepping up efforts to influence voters at home and abroad through disinformation, cyberattacks and the financing of disruptive protests.

Sandu, re-elected last year in a contest already marred by allegations of foreign meddling, has called the current threats “unprecedented election interference”.

Russia’s efforts to sway Moldova’s politics follow last year’s referendum, when Moldovans voted narrowly in favour of joining the EU.

Romania’s new president Nicușor Dan pledges to counter Russian influence

EU member states are now considering opening the first negotiating cluster for accession talks with Chisinau as early as next month – a move that could strengthen pro-EU voters but frustrate Ukraine, whose own membership bid remains blocked by Hungary’s opposition.

Opinion polls suggest Sandu’s centre-right Action and Solidarity Party is in the lead with about 39 percent support, well ahead of the pro-Russian Socialist Party PSRM on just under 15 percent.

Macron has already condemned what he described earlier this year as Russia’s “increasingly uninhibited” attempts to destabilise Moldova and its democratic institutions.

Romanian President Nicușor Dan is also due in Chisinau on 31 August for Romanian Language Day, in another sign of regional backing for Moldova’s European ambitions.

(with newswires)

In the letter, published by French newspaper Le Monde, Macron said Netanyahu’s claims of French inaction against anti-Semitism were “unacceptable and offensive to France as a whole”, and warned Israel’s leader against a “murderous headlong rush” in Gaza.

He added that: “The fight against anti-Semitism must not be exploited for political ends.”

The row was sparked when Netanyahu wrote to Macron on 17 August, expressing his concern over “the alarming rise of anti-Semitism in France” and accused the French president of “feeding the fire” by signalling his intention to recognise Palestinian statehood.

The Israeli leader argued that anti-Semitic incidents in France had risen since Macron’s statements about Palestine and accused the French government of a “lack of decisive action”.

The Élysée swiftly rejected the claims, and in his letter published yesterday Macron underlined France’s record in combating anti-Semitism – which he said had historically been fuelled by the far right but today also came from segments of the far left.

He stressed: “I remain, and will remain, the guarantor of the imperative need to fight this abomination, everywhere and always.”

France rejects Netanyahu’s antisemitism claim over recognition of Palestine

Figures from France’s interior ministry show there have been 504 anti-Semitic incidents recorded between January and May this year – a decline of 24 percent compared to 2024, although still more than double the level of 2023.

The issue is particularly sensitive in France, which is home to both the largest Jewish community in Western Europe – at around half a million people – and a sizeable Arab-Muslim population.

While Macron initially stood firmly with Israel following the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023, he has since sharpened his criticism of Netanyahu’s Gaza strategy.

France summons US ambassador over antisemitism criticism

In his letter, he urged the prime minister to end “the illegal and unjustifiable recolonisation of the West Bank” and embrace international efforts for “peace, security and prosperity”.

Recognising a Palestinian state, Macron insisted, was not an endorsement of Hamas but instead the “only way to eradicate” the group and to spare young Israelis a future of endless war.

“The Palestinian state must constitute the end of Hamas,” he wrote.

Washington too has entered the diplomatic row, with the United States ambassador to France Charles Kushner – father of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner – sending Macron a letter echoing Netanyahu’s arguments.

He was summoned to the French foreign ministry on Monday.

The Kick platform has come under scrutiny in France after a 46-year-old Frenchman died during a 12-day live streaming marathon on his channel, which specialised in him enduring abuse or humiliation dished out by other participants.

“Kick did not do everything possible to stop the broadcast of dangerous content,” Digital Affairs Minister Clara Chappaz said, accusing the platform of breaking a 2004 law regulating online content.

A post-mortem examination found that the man – real name Raphael Graven, known online as “Jean Pormanove” or “JP” – was not killed by trauma or by someone else.

Investigators probe death of French streamer broadcast live

In a separate announcement on Tuesday, French prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into the platform.

This probe will examine whether Kick “knowingly” broadcast “videos of deliberate attacks on personal integrity”, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.

Investigators will also examine whether the streaming platform is in compliance with the European Union’s Digital Services Act on content moderation.

Offenders risk up to 10 years in prison and a fine of €1 million.

‘Creating a buzz’

Last week Chappaz called Graven’s death “an absolute horror” and said she had referred the matter to Arcom, the regulatory authority that oversees streaming platforms, as well as to the Pharos platform, which investigates illegal content and behaviour online. 

After a post-mortem examination, two forensic doctors confirmed they found no “internal or external traumatic injuries” or burns, only a few bruises and healed lesions.

Nice prosecutor Damien Martinelli said Graven may have suffered from heart problems and was undergoing medical treatment for his thyroid gland.

EU countries push for stricter rules to keep children off social media

Graven first won an online following commentating on video games, such as Fortnite and FIFA, with an angry and provocative tone that became his trademark.

He then built a following of hundreds of thousands by putting on live shows which “were staged and aimed at creating a buzz,” he told an inquiry in January, adding he made “sums of €6,000”.

He denied being the victim of any violence.

Kick said all co-streamers involved in the event had been banned from the platform pending the outcome of the investigation.

It said it was also running a “complete re-evaluation” of its French content.

The platform is seen as having less stringent user terms than those of its livestreaming rival Twitch.

(with AFP)

“These skulls entered the national collections in circumstances that clearly violated human dignity and in a context of colonial violence,” said French Culture Minister Rachida Dati at a ceremony to send the relics home.

Her Madagascan counterpart, Volamiranty Donna Mara, described the return of the skulls as an “immensely significant” gesture. 

“Their absence has been for more than a century an open wound in the heart of our island,” Mara added.

Scientists confirmed the skulls were from the Sakalava people in western Madagascar. They said one was most likely that of King Toera, who was killed in his royal capital Dembi along with several hundred of his subjects.

“It is not clear whether he was killed by gunfire, and then his head was cut off, or whether he died because he was beheaded,” historian Klara Boyer-Rossol told RFI.

“But his head disappeared. And so the descendants were deprived literally of the royal head of their ancestors.”

Boyer-Rossol, an expert on the slave trade and slavery in the western Indian Ocean, said written records describe what happened in detail.

“We have quite extensive written archives which state very clearly that King Toera had laid down his arms and surrendered and so when he was attacked by Commander Augustin Gérard’s troops, he was unarmed, which is why we refer to it as a massacre,” she said.

France and Madagascar wrangle over sovereignty of Scattered Islands

Skulls kept in museums

The skulls have been in Paris museums since 1897. They are being returned under a 2023 French law that makes it easier to hand back relics and artefacts.

“The fact that we have been able to reconstruct a context of colonial violence, identify them at least in part, link them at least to territorial group identities, and also agree that their presence in French museum reserves undermines the human dignity of their descendants,” said Boyer-Rossol.

“All of this allows or justifies restitution, even if the individual identity of the head to be returned could not be formally established on a scientific level.”

France has taken steps to face its colonial past by returning artefacts and human remains from its museums to countries of origin.

Since his election in 2017, President Emmanuel Macron has acknowledged French abuses in Africa.

Madagascar’s master artisans sail through time to revive lost ships

During a visit to Antananarivo in April, Macron spoke of seeking forgiveness for France’s colonisation of Madagascar, which declared independence in 1960 after more than 60 years of colonial rule.

“Our presence here is not innocent, and our history has been written… with deeply painful pages,” Macron said at a remembrance ceremony at the former royal palace.

“Only you can make this journey of forgiveness,” he said after touring the palace with Princess Fenosoa Ralandison Ratsimamanga.

“But we are creating the conditions for it, by making it possible… to mourn what is no longer.”

Boyer-Rossol said some might see the return of the skulls as a form of reparation.

“In my position as a historian and researcher, I hope that this restitution will shed light on the history of these collections of human remains in French museums and also encourage support for provenance research so that we can find out more about their history.”

In a statement published on its website, the organisation urged “anyone who may have seen the suspect or has information about his movements or acquaintances” to contact investigators or reach out directly to the organisation.

The bodies of four men were found floating in the Seine in Choisy-le-Roi, a suburb around 10 kilometres south-east of Paris, on 13 August.

On Sunday, a murder investigation was opened and a homeless man in his twenties indicted in connection with all four killings and placed in pre-trial detention.

According to prosecutors, his identity remains “uncertain” and he is being identified only as “Monji H”.

Homeless man charged after four bodies discovered in the River Seine

One of the victims, a 48-year-old Frenchman identified by Stop Homophobia as “Franz”, was a resident of Créteil, and openly gay.

The group said that, according to the victim’s relatives, Franz was known to frequent the area where the bodies were discovered – a site known as a meeting place for sexual encounters between men.

This detail has also been confirmed by the public prosecutor’s office.

Among the other victims were two young homeless men – a 21-year-old Algerian and a 26-year-old Tunisian – as well as another 21-year-old Algerian man, who lived in Choisy-le-Roi.

Two of the bodies were partially naked when pulled out of the river. Two showed signs of having been strangled.

“Every witness statement could prove crucial to establishing a timeline and preventing further tragedies,” said Terrence Khatchadourian, secretary-general of Stop Homophobia.

Toxic climate blamed for rise in LGBTQI+ attacks in France

While the motive has not been officially confirmed, multiple sources close to the investigation suggest that the accused may have harboured hostility toward homosexuality, possibly influenced by an extremist religious ideology.

“This is not just an isolated incident,” added the group’s lawyer, Etienne Deshoulières. “Initial findings indicate this may be an expression of systemic violence targeting gay men.”

(with AFP)

Brussels has adopted a powerful legal arsenal aimed at reining in tech giants – namely through its Digital Markets Act (DMA) covering competition and the Digital Services Act (DSA) on content moderation.

The EU has already slapped heavy fines on US behemoths including Meta and Apple under the new rules, which have faced strong pushback from Trump’s administration.

The bloc’s trade chief Maros Sefcovic insisted last week that Brussels successfully “kept these issues out of the trade negotiations” with Washington – and that the bloc’s “regulatory autonomy” was not up for debate.

But while he did not explicitly name the EU, the US leader cast new doubt on the status quo Monday by threatening fresh tariffs on countries with regulations that sought to “harm” American technology.

Here is a look at the EU rules drawing Trump’s ire:

Digital Services Act

Rolled out in stages since 2023, the mammoth Digital Services Act forces online firms to aggressively police content in the 27 countries of the European Union – or face major fines.

Aimed at protecting consumers from disinformation and hate speech as well as counterfeit or dangerous goods, it obliges platforms to swiftly remove illegal content or make it inaccessible.

Companies must inform authorities when they suspect a criminal offence that threatens people’s lives or safety.

And the law instructs platforms to suspend users who frequently share illegal content such as hate speech – a provision framed as “censorship” by detractors across the Atlantic.

EU begins rollout of new AI rules with tech giants split on compliance

Tougher rules apply to a designated list of “very large” platforms that include US giants Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Microsoft and Snapchat.

These giants must assess dangers linked to their services regarding illegal content and privacy, set up internal risk mitigation systems, and give regulators access to their data to verify compliance.

Violators can face fines or up to six percent of global turnover, and for repeated non-compliance, the EU has the power to ban offending platforms from Europe.

Digital Markets Act

Since March 2024, the world’s biggest digital companies have faced strict EU rules intended to limit abuses linked to market dominance, favour the emergence of start-ups in Europe and improve options for consumers.

Brussels has so far named seven so-called gatekeepers covered by the Digital Markets Act: Google’s Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok parent ByteDance, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta, Microsoft and travel giant Booking.

In a bid to limit the ability of online giants to snuff out potential rivals, the rules require all buyouts to be notified to the European Commission, the EU’s competition regulator.

Gatekeepers can be fined for locking in customers to use pre-installed services, such as a web browser, mapping or weather information.

How technology is helping African countries fight malaria from the skies

The DMA has forced Google to overhaul its search display to avoid favouring its own services – such as Google flights or shopping.

It requires that users be able to choose what app stores to use – without going via the dominant two players, Apple’s App Store and Google Play.

And it has forced Apple to allow developers to offer alternative payment options directly to consumers – outside of the App Store.

The DMA has also imposed interoperability between messaging apps WhatsApp and Messenger and competitors who request it.

And it imposes new obligations on the world’s biggest online advertisers – namely Google’s search engine and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram – by forcing them to reveal much more to advertisers and publishers on how their ads work.

Failure to comply with the DMA can carry fines in the billions of dollars, reaching 20 percent of global turnover for repeat offenders.

The meeting comes after a first round of discussions in Istanbul on 25 July. During the June conflict, the United States carried out strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog following the war with Israel, accusing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of failing to condemn Israeli and US strikes on its facilities.

The unprecedented Israeli bombing and Iran’s retaliation during the 12-day war halted Tehran’s nuclear talks with Washington.

Macron urges calm as Iran halts nuclear cooperation amid IAEA row

The European trio have threatened to trigger a “snapback mechanism” under the 2015 nuclear deal which would reimpose UN sanctions that were lifted under the agreement, unless Iran agrees to curb its uranium enrichment and restore cooperation with IAEA inspectors.

Iran disputes the legality of invoking the clause, accusing the Europeans of not honouring their commitments under the accord.

Britain, France and Germany, along with China, Russia, and the United States, reached an agreement with Iran in 2015 under a deal formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA.

Sanctions relief

The deal provided Iran with sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon – something it has always denied wanting to do.

But Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term in office, and the reimposition of biting economic sanctions prompted Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments, particularly on uranium enrichment.

At the time of the US withdrawal, London, Paris and Berlin reaffirmed their commitment to the agreement and said they intended to continue trading with Iran. As a result, UN and European sanctions were not reinstated, even as Trump restored US sanctions.

Iran says it will not halt nuclear enrichment ahead of European talks

But the mechanism envisaged by European countries to compensate for the return of US sanctions has struggled to materialise, and many Western companies have been forced to leave Iran, which is facing high inflation and an economic crisis.

The deadline for activating the snapback mechanism ends in October, but according to the Financial Times, the Europeans have offered to extend the deadline if Iran resumes nuclear talks with Washington and re-engages with the IAEA.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that the Europeans have no right to do so.

Russian support

Meanwhile, Russia’s Vladimir Putin held a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian, the Kremlin said Monday, in which the pair “touched on the situation around Iran’s nuclear programme”.

It did not elaborate on what the pair discussed.

The Iranian presidency said Pezeshkian had thanked Putin for supporting Tehran’s “right to enrichment” and said Iran was “not seeking, and will never seek to build nuclear weapons”.

The two countries have bolstered political, military and economic ties during Russia’s military offensive on Ukraine.

Iran has regularly sought to coordinate its position with both Russia and China before key nuclear talks with the United States and Europe during the current stand-off.

(with AFP)

World number 85 Kamilla Rakhimova beat the 31-year-old 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 17 minutes to bring the curtain down on a 14-year career.

Following her last match as a professional, Garcia was presented with a trophy celebrating her time on the circuit by the US Open tournament director Stacey Allaster and Gilles Moretton, the boss of the French tennis federation (FFT).

“Tennis brought me so much,” Garcia told spectators on Court 6 at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows.

“There were some great emotions and some tough ones but it shaped me to become the person I am today.

“I am at peace with the decision to say goodbye to tennis … at least in competition and the suffering that goes with it. I cannot handle it any more.”

Soon after the defeat, the FFT published a video tribute to Garcia and Moretton hailed her contribution to French tennis.

“Congratulations on a magnificent, career,” said Moretton on social media. “You’ve been a determined, talented and inspirational player.”

Teenage talent at French Open

In 2011, a 17-year-old Garcia was invited by Moretton’s predecessors to play in the main draw.

In the second round, the then world number 188 led seventh seed Maria Sharapova 6-3, 4-1.

But the Russian reeled off 11 consecutive games to claim the encounter 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Garcia’s game and attitude brought compliments from pundits and players including the men’s fourth seed Andy Murray who posted on his social media account during the match on Centre Court: “The girl Sharapova is playing is going to be number one in the world one day … what a player.”

Murray’s prediction never came true.

But Garcia went on to win 11 singles titles including the 2022 WTA end-of-season championships which propelled her back to a career high of number four in the world rankings.

But since that peak, injuries, poor form and disillusion with the game led to a fall to 174.

“It was a great run,” Garcia told journalists after the match. “I did great things on court and I achieved what I could achieve.

‘You can always achieve more’

“Obviously you can always achieve more and I was dreaming of achieving more but I’m happy to be at peace with my decision and move forward with my life and end my chapter as a tennis player.”

In February 2024, Garcia launched the Tennis Insider podcast with her partner Borja Duran. Guests have included Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa, who spoke about their lives on the circuit and their ambitions.

“Obviously I want to keep going with the podcast,” Garcia added. “Little by little it is growing. We believe we are doing some good things and giving back to tennis by looking behind the scenes with the players and coaches.

“If the podcast can help some young players out there, it would be the best reward I could get. Now I see a future for myself in tennis and 12 months ago it wasn’t the case.”

Though she failed to brandish a singles crown at one of the four Grand Slam tournaments in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York, Garcia became an accomplished doubles player.

She won eight titles with various partners including the 2016 and 2022 French Open with Kristina Mladenovic.

On Tuesday, Diane Parry, one of the contenders to be France’s top female player, eliminated Petra Kvitova 6-1, 6-0, in what was the Czech player’s last match.

Kvitova won 31 singles titles including Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014. Parry, the world 107, will play Renata Zarazua from Mexico on Wednesday for a place in the third round.

On Tuesday, the French number one Lois Boisson will play her first match in the main draw at the US Open.

The 22-year-old, who reached the semi-finals at the French Open in June, takes on the Swiss player Viktorija Golubic.

Health authorities have focused on Vitrolles, a suburb of Aix-en-Provence, where 33 locally transmitted cases have been confirmed – the largest outbreak ever seen in mainland France.

A total of 27 outbreaks involving 154 cases have been recorded in mainland France this year, according to the national health agency SPF.

France’s Reunion Island has been facing a deadly outbreak of the tropical disease since 2024, with one third of the population estimated to have been infected, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

The virus has been spreading in mainland France as temperatures in northern Europe have warmed, and winters are no longer cold enough to kill off the tiger mosquitoes.

The mosquito, which also carries dengue fever, which is also on the rise, is now present in over 80 of France’s 101 departments, and mosquito control measures are being stepped up in areas with infections.

Chikungunya virus outbreak kills six on France’s Réunion Island

Vaccine suspended in US

Meanwhile, US health authorities have suspended the license for Ixchiq, a vaccine against chikungunya, made by the French company Valneva, following reports of “serious adverse events”, particularly in elderly patients.

Valneva obtained US approval for the vaccine in 2023, but reports of side effects have prompted reviews, including by the European Medicines Agency this year.

“As we determine potential next steps, and as the clear threat of chikungunya continues to escalate globally, Valneva remains fully committed to maintaining access to our vaccine as a global health tool,” chief executive Thomas Lingelbach said in a statement.

Ixchiq is one of just two vaccines against chikungunya approved for use in the US and in Europe.

Chikungunya is rarely fatal, though there is an increased risk of death for babies and the elderly, and symptoms, which include high fever and severe joint pain, are often debilitating.

In July, the WHO warned of the risks of a major chikungunya epidemic, calling for urgent action.

(with newswires)

European and US military chiefs last week reportedly presented ideas to their national security advisers on how to guarantee Ukraine’s security if there is a peace deal with Russia.

The discussions followed a summit of European leaders in Washington with US President Donald Trump on ending the conflict.

“It’s going to be a big challenge, but they will find ways of tackling that challenge without the US troops on the ground,” said Serhat Guvenc, professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.

“It will be a novelty because Europe has never carried out any peacekeeping or stabilization operation of this magnitude before.”

Turkey, with NATO’s second-largest army, is seen as a possible option.

“Turkey is an option, you know. And it seems that there is some talk of Turkish contribution,” Guvenc added.

Armenia and Azerbaijan peace deal raises hopes of Turkish border reopening

Ankara signals readiness

On the same day, French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss Ukraine’s security.

Ankara has already signalled it could take part in monitoring any peace deal, but Moscow’s approval would be necessary.

“If the parties agree, Turkey may send our troops to peacekeeping operations,” said Mesut Casin, a former presidential adviser and professor at Istanbul’s Yeditepe University.

Casin pointed to Turkey’s past record in UN operations.

“Turkey joined many UN peacekeeping operations in the former Yugoslavia, Somalia, and Korea, and in many other peacekeeping operations. The Turkish army is very powerful,” he said.

“Also, remember Putin is talking many times with Erdogan, and at the same time, Zelensky is visiting Ankara.”

Turkey and Italy boost cooperation in bid to shape Libya’s political future

Balancing Moscow and Kyiv

Since the start of the war, Erdogan has kept good relations with both Russia and Ukraine.

Ankara has refused to apply most international sanctions on Moscow, while at the same time selling vital military hardware to Kyiv. That balancing act has raised questions among European partners.

“Turkey ought to have been at the Washington meeting,” said Soli Ozel, an international relations scholar at the Institute for Human Studies in Vienna.

Even though Turkey borders both Ukraine and Russia, Erdogan was excluded from this month’s summit between Trump and European leaders.

“The fact that it wasn’t backs the observation that the bigger players or the major partners are not bringing Turkey center stage, they’re sidelining it,” Ozel added.

Despite this, Ankara remains strategically important.

“They keep it in the play, it’s important because if you’re going to need troops, you’re going to need Turkey. If you’re going to talk about the Black Sea security, you need Turkey. And so you cannot really dismiss Turkey,” Ozel said.

But he warned that mistrust is limiting Ankara’s role.

“You’re not making it part of the process that will hopefully lead to a conclusion or a peace treaty between Ukraine and Russia. There is a lack of trust, and I think that has something to do with the way Turkey has conducted its diplomacy,” Ozel said.

Peace or politics? Turkey’s fragile path to ending a decades-long conflict

Doubts over influence

Some analysts suggest Ankara hopes Europe’s reliance on Turkish forces or its navy for Black Sea security could help restore influence. But others see limited gains.

“There is no automatic increase in Turkey’s influence and credibility as a result of taking part in such operations,” said Guvenc.

“It does have a certain impact, but on the other hand, such contributions do not change other Western partners’ views of Turkey.”

Rather than a reset with Europe, Guvenc sees a continuation of the current dynamic.

“What might happen is yet another manifestation of transactionalism on both sides. And if Turkey contributes to peacekeeping in Ukraine, probably President Erdogan expects concrete benefits that will help him manage the deteriorating economic situation in Turkey.

“Therefore, you cannot build a comprehensive and sustainable relationship built on that transactionalism on both sides.”

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday. This week, you’ll hear musical requests from your fellow listeners Heimer Sia, Hossen Abed Ali, and Debashis Gope. 

Be sure you send in your music requests! Write to me at thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Angelina” by Pierre Perez-Vergara, Stéphane Planchon, and Yassine Dahbi, performed by PSY; “Like Jesus to a Child”, written and performed by George Michael, and the traditional 18th-century French drinking song “Chevaliers de la Table Ronde”, sung by the Quatre Barbus with André Popp and his ensemble.

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 a unique bridge between a person and the world.

Join the ePOP community and make reality vibrate!

Click here for all the information you need.

https://concours.epop.network/en/

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

The quiz will be back next Saturday, 30 August. Be sure and tune in!

The deal, brokered by US President Donald Trump, commits both countries to respect each other’s territorial integrity – the issue at the centre of bloody wars.

The agreement is seen as paving the way for Turkey to restore diplomatic ties with Armenia.

“Ankara has been promising that once there is a peace agreement, it will open the border,” says Asli Aydintasbas, of the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

“There was a brief period in the post-Soviet era when it [the border] was opened, but that was quickly shut again due to the Armenian-Azeri tensions.”

Aydintasbas says reopening the border could have wide-reaching consequences.

“Armenia and Turkey opening their border and starting trade would be a historical moment in terms of reconciliation between these two nations, which have very bitter historic memories,” she adds.

“But beyond that, it would help Armenia economically because it’s a landlocked country entirely dependent on Russia for its protection and its economy.”

Turning point

In June, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul. The meeting was seen as a turning point in relations long overshadowed by the memory of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, which Ankara still officially denies.

“There’s now a degree of personal chemistry between the Armenian prime minister and Erdogan. This was seen in a June historic meeting, the first ever bilateral contact, a face-to-face meeting,” says Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Centre, a think tank in Yerevan.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 after ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan seized the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.

The enclave was retaken by Azerbaijani forces in 2022. Giragosian says the peace deal, along with warmer ties between Pashinyan and Erdogan, could now help Yerevan reach a long-sought goal.

“In the longer perspective for Turkey and Armenia, this is about going beyond the South Caucasus. It’s about Central Asia. It’s about European markets, potentially a new Iran in the future,” he says.

Erdogan congratulated Pashinyan on Monday over the deal, but made no official pledge on reopening the border. That decision may lie with Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev.

“They [Ankara] will be looking to Baku. Baku is basically able to tell Turkey not to move on normalisation with Armenia, not to open the border,” says Aydintasbas.

“Part of the reason is that Turkey has developed an economic dependency on Azerbaijan, which is the top investor in Turkey. In other words, little brother is calling the shots, and I think that Ankara, to an extent, does not like it, but has come to appreciate the economic benefits of its relationship with Azerbaijan.”

Azerbaijani demands on Armenia

Azerbaijan is also pushing for changes to Armenia’s constitution, which it claims makes territorial claims on Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The Armenian constitution refers to the Declaration of Independence of Armenia, which has a clear clause on the unification with Armenia, with Nagorno-Karabakh,” says Farid Shafiyev of the Centre for Analysis of International Relations, a Baku-based think tank.

Shafiyev warned that without reform, the peace deal could unravel.

“Let’s say, imagine Pashinyan losing elections, a new person says: ‘You know, everything which was signed was against the Armenian constitution.’ For us, it is important that the Armenian people vote for the change of the constitution,” Shafiyev says.

Analysts note that changing the constitution would require a referendum with more than 50 percent turnout – a difficult and time-consuming process.

Time, however, may be running short. Russia is seen as the biggest loser from lasting peace in the Caucasus. For decades Moscow exploited the conflict to play Armenia and Azerbaijan against each other.

Pashinyan is now seeking to move away from Russian dominance and closer to Europe.

Giragosian warned that Armenia’s window of opportunity is limited.

“There is a closing window of opportunity – that is Russia’s distraction with everything in Ukraine. We do expect a storm on the horizon, with an angry, vengeful Putin reasserting or attempting to regain Russia’s lost power and influence in the region.”

Weakening Russia’s grip remains key, he adds. “Armenia, after all, is still a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Russian-dominated trade bloc.

“But it’s also a country that has a Russian military base. Russia still manages the Armenian railway network, for example. This is why, for Armenia, the real key here is going to be Turkey and normalising relations with Turkey.”

At present, Armenia’s only open land borders are with Georgia and Iran – both close to Russia. Opening the Turkish border would give Armenia a vital new route, while also benefiting Turkey’s economically depressed border region.

But for now, Azerbaijan may seek further concessions before allowing any breakthrough.

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday. This week, you’ll hear three different versions of a song requested by Jayanta Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India.

Be sure you send in your music requests! Write to me at thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” by Brenda Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Frank Wilson, Berry Gordy, in three versions: Brenda Holloway, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Alton Ellis.

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 a 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 overwhelmed with entries from the English speakers!

Earlier this month, the leaders of Italy, Turkey and Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) met in a tripartite summit – the latest sign of growing cooperation between the three Mediterranean nations.

“Turkey and Italy have both differing interests, but interests in Libya,” explains international relations professor Huseyin Bagcı of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

“Particularly, the migration issue and illegal human trafficking are big problems for Italy, and most of the people are coming from there [Libya], so they try to prevent the flow of migrants.

“But for Turkey, it’s more economic. And Libya is very much interested in keeping the relations with both countries.”

Turkey and Italy consider teaming up to seek new influence in Africa

Migration, legitimacy concerns

Turkey is the main backer of Libya’s GNA and still provides military assistance, which was decisive in defeating the rival eastern-based forces led by strongman Khalifa Haftar. An uneasy ceasefire holds between the two sides.

Libya security analyst Aya Burweilla said Turkey is seeking Italy’s support to legitimise the Tripoli government, as questions grow over its democratic record.

“What it means for the Tripoli regime is very positive. This is a regime that has dodged elections for years,” she says.

“Their job was to have democratic elections, and one of their ways to make sure they stay in power was to get foreign sponsors, like Turkey… Now, with this rubber stamp from Meloni in Italy, they can keep the status quo going at the expense of Libyans.”

Years of civil war and political chaos have turned Libya into a major hub for people smugglers. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, elected on a pledge to curb irregular migration, sees stability in Libya as key to that goal.

“The migration issue has become very, very urgent in general for Europe, but of course for Italy too,” says Alessia Chiriatti of the Institute of International Affairs, a think tank in Rome.

Trump and Erdogan grow closer as cooperation on Syria deepens

Mediterranean ambitions

Chiriatti said Meloni’s partnership with Turkey in Libya also reflects broader foreign policy goals.

“There is another dimension – I think it’s directly related to the fact that Italy and Meloni’s government want to play a different role in foreign policy in the Mediterranean space,” she says.

“Italy is starting to see Africa as a possible partner to invest in … But what is important is that Italy is starting to see itself as a new player, both in the Mediterranean space and in Africa, so in this sense, it could have important cooperation with Turkey.”

She points out that both Italy and Turkey share a colonial past in Libya. That legacy, combined with the lure of Libya’s vast energy reserves, continues to shape their diplomacy.

Ending the split between Libya’s rival governments is seen as vital for stability. Moscow’s reduced military support for Haftar, as it focuses on its war in Ukraine, is viewed in Ankara as an opening.

“Russia is nearly out, and what remains are Turkey and Italy,” says Bagcı.

He added that Ankara is making overtures to the eastern authorities through Haftar’s son Saddam, a senior figure in the Libyan military.

“The son of Haftar is coming very often to Ankara, making talks. It’s an indication of potential changes… But how the deal will look like I don’t know, we will see later. But it’s an indication of potential cooperation, definitely.”

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

Shifting alliances

Libya was discussed when Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo on Saturday.

Sisi backs Haftar’s eastern government. Libya had been a source of tension between Turkey and Egypt, but with relations thawing, both say they will work together on the country’s future.

Turkey’s position in Libya is strengthening, says Burweilla.

“Saddam is pro-Turkey – there is a huge difference between son and father – and the younger generation is pro-Turkey,” she says.

Such support, Burweilla said, stems from Ankara allowing Libyans to seek sanctuary in Turkey from fighting in 2011, when NATO forces led by France and the United Kingdom militarily intervened against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

“I think the Europeans underestimated the political capital that gave Turkey. Turkey is winning the game in Libya,” Burweilla says.

She adds that Ankara’s rising influence is also due to a shift in tactics towards the east.

“What they [Ankara] realised was that you can’t conquer the east of Libya by force; they tried and they failed. And the Turkish regime is very much motivated by business… They don’t care about anything else, and they’ve realised they want to make a business,” Burweilla says.

They’ve reached out more to the east, and the east, in turn, has realised that if they don’t want to be attacked by Turkey and its mercenaries, they need to make peace with Turkey as well.”

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday. This week, you’ll hear musical requests from your fellow listeners Hossen Abed Ali from Rangpur, Bangladesh and a composition written by SB Leprof from Winneba, Ghana.

Be sure you send in your music requests! Write to me at thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Epitaph” by Robert Fripp, Ian McDonald, Greg Lake and Michael Giles, to lyrics by Peter Sinfield, performed by King Crimson, and “Ginger Milk” by SB Leprof.

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 a 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 overwhelmed with entries from the English speakers!

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.