At the official handover ceremony in Paris, Lecornu, 39, promised a “profound break” in substance “and not just in form” as he took office from outgoing prime minister François Bayrou.

“There is a gap between real life and the political situation,” he said, adding that his government “will succeed” because “nothing is impossible”.

Bayrou, who resigned after losing a confidence vote in parliament, told the ceremony his team would “do everything to help the new government” as he left office.

Protests overshadow ceremony

Clashes broke out in several cities as police moved in to clear road blockades and sites occupied by demonstrators.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said 80,000 police and gendarmes had been deployed nationwide, including 6,000 in Paris, with orders of zero tolerance.

In the early hours, Retailleau told reporters that nearly 200 people had been detained. By mid-afternoon, the Interior Ministry reported nearly 300 arrests nationwide, including 183 in the Paris region.

Authorities said 430 protest actions had been recorded across France, ranging from roadblocks and demonstrations to attempts to occupy schools and transport hubs.

Later in the day, Paris police ordered the closure of the Châtelet-Les Halles complex after calls for looting circulated on social media. Metro and RER services there were suspended.

Thousands of protesters gathered at Place du Châtelet and Place de la République, joined by far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon and several of his deputies.

School blockades

Other blockades were carried out at several secondary schools, including Henri-IV and Lavoisier in the 5th arrondissement, Lamartine in the 9th, Voltaire in the 11th, Claude-Monet in the 13th and Hélène-Boucher in the 20th.

Around a hundred young people, some wearing hoods, gathered in front of Lavoisier with placards reading “We are blocking because we care about our mental health” and “To fill their coffers, Bayrou is picking our pockets”.

“We’re fed up because we feel like we’re the sacrificed generation,” Yonah, 17, a final-year student, told the French news agency AFP.

Bus depots and parts of the ring road were briefly occupied before being cleared by police using tear gas. An attempted intrusion at Gare du Nord was also stopped by police.

The RATP said metro and bus traffic was running nearly normally, though regional trains and RER services were heavily disrupted.

Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said forces “will not tolerate any damage or blockades” and “will intervene systematically”.

Protesters accused Lecornu of being too close to President Emmanuel Macron and of planning to continue what they called the same austerity policies of previous governments.

“Block Everything” actions were organised via social media and included strikes, roadblocks and boycotts.

“This is a citizens’ initiative,” CGT secretary general Sophie Binet told RFI. She explained that union-led protests planned for 18 September would add to Wednesday’s mobilisation.

Will France’s ‘block everything’ movement jump from social media to the streets?

Elsewhere in France

In Lyon, Montpellier and Nantes, police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds. At Nantes prefecture, projectiles were thrown at officers.

In Marseille, thousands marched, with turnout estimates ranging from 8,000 by police to 30,000 by organisers and 80,000 claimed by the CGT. Police reported minor damage and used tear gas after a group tried to enter a shopping centre. A handful of arrests were also reported.

SNCF reported track occupations in Cherbourg and Valence Ville, along with overnight cable damage in the Bordeaux–Toulouse area that caused disruption before repairs were made.

Authorities also reported roadblocks around Rennes, Nantes, Poitiers, Aix-en-Provence and Toulouse.

Opposition support

Mélenchon, leader of the far-left party La France Insoumise, urged supporters to take part. “On the 10th, we will block everything to bring down Mr Macron himself, because he is responsible for the crisis,” he said.

Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure called for restraint, warning the movement risked sliding into chaos. On the right, National Rally spokesman Gaëtan Dussausaye said the protests had been “hijacked by the far left”.

Martin Garagnon, a national adviser for Macron’s Renaissance party, also voiced concern, saying: “Jean-Luc Mélenchon wants the convergence of struggles. The French will get the convergence of destruction.”

What’s behind France’s current political crisis?

Budget woes

Lecornu, a close ally of Macron who has served as defence minister since 2022, must now steer a national budget through a divided parliament. France has until 31 December to adopt its 2026 budget.

His team has promised “a change of method” in politics, though details have not been given.

But the balance of power in the National Assembly remains unchanged. Macron’s party lacks a majority, leaving Lecornu reliant on opposition support to pass legislation.

Socialist deputy Hervé Saulignac said Macron was sticking to “a path that no socialist will join”. Jordan Bardella, leader of the National Rally, wrote on X that Macron’s choice showed he was unwilling to change course, adding that his party would judge Lecornu “on results”.

Mathilde Panot, parliamentary leader of La France Insoumise, called the appointment “a provocation” and vowed: “We will censure him.”

‘Discreet’ new PM

Lecornu has held ministerial posts since 2017, including at the environment ministry, local government and overseas territories before becoming defence minister. He is viewed as loyal to Macron and not a political rival.

“He is discreet, loyal and measured. He will do things differently and has already started his consultations,” said a member of his team, quoted by FranceInfo.

National Rally (RN) – France’s largest opposition party, with 123 seats in parliament – threw its weight behind Bayrou when he was nominated in December 2024, following the ousting of Michel Barnier.

In January, its decision to abstain in a vote of no confidence brought against Bayrou by left-wing parties allowed him to fight another day.

But after nine months of entente cordiale, RN leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella have thrown Bayrou under the bus.

“We don’t have confidence [in Bayrou],” Le Pen told reporters following a meeting with the prime minister last Tuesday, and announced that all RN MPs would vote against him in Monday’s confidence vote.

Defeated by 364 votes to 194, the veteran centrist politician had no choice but to tender his resignation, which he did on Tuesday.

Former defence minister Sébastien Lecornu has been named as his successor.

What’s behind France’s current political crisis?

Disagreements over budget

Behind this change of heart is disagreement over how to rein in France’s ballooning deficit – almost €169 billion, or 5.8 percent of its GDP.

Bayrou’s proposed budget for 2026 aimed to save €44 billion, largely through cuts to public spending and slashing two public holidays.

The RN, whose support base is largely working class, says cutting back on public holidays is one example of France’s elites making workers pay.

“The abolition of two public holidays,… is a direct attack on our history, our roots and working-class France,” said party president Bardella on 15 July. “No RN MP will accept this measure, which is nothing short of provocation.”

In August, Le Pen addressed an open letter to Bayrou laying out the party’s proposed budget priorities, amounting to up to €100 billion in savings. These included capping contributions to the European Union, disinvesting in renewable energy, limiting welfare payments to migrants and massive cuts in state bureaucracy.

“We’ve always been ready to improve the proposals made when it came to supporting purchasing power, measures in favour of security or controlling our migratory flows,” said party spokesperson Gaëtan Dussausaye.

“But when Marine Le Pen sent a letter telling Bayrou his plan was a bad one and that she was at his disposal, the prime minister ignored her. That’s not respectful,” he told RFI.

France’s debt: how did we get here, and how dangerous is it?

Growing unpopularity

The tide of public opinion too has turned against Bayrou. A recent poll put his satisfaction rate at 20 percent – an all-time low.

Anger is mounting, and one out of two people in France supports the “block everything” movement and its call to bring France to a standstill on Wednesday, 10 September, according to Matthieu Gallard of pollsters Ipsos France.

He cited social issues, the feeling that purchasing power is declining, issues of social protection and public services and anger over Bayrou’s plan to tackle the deficit as fuelling the growing discontent.

“There’s very strong anger against the outgoing prime minister and the president of the Republic,” he told RFI.

France hit by ‘Block Everything’ protests as new PM Lecornu takes office

For political scientist Erwan Lecoeur, Le Pen was eager to distance herself and her party from an unpopular leader.

“She saw that her electorate was becoming very angry with the government and was no longer in line with the idea of supporting François Bayrou,” he said. “It was dangerous and out of the question to appear too close to Bayrou and to Macronism. She had to regain her independence.”

Lecoeur, an expert on the far right, also argues that Le Pen’s support for Bayrou waned after it became obvious she wouldn’t receive any leniency over her five-year ban from running for public office, handed down in March for misuse of EU funds, and which she will appeal at the beginning of next year.

“Marine Le Pen wanted to negotiate her support for François Bayrou in exchange for greater, I would say, indulgence on the part of judges and the political system for the next presidential election,” he says. “But she saw over the last few months that there was nothing to be done on that front.”

Does ‘politically dead’ Marine Le Pen still have a path to power?

Back to the ballot box

The hard-left France Unbowed party is calling for the president to resign, while the Socialists want Macron to choose a left-leaning prime minister. The RN, however, is pushing for Macron to dissolve parliament and call new elections. 

“We call for an ultra-quick dissolution [of parliament], so that the new majority that will come out of these elections can build a budget,” said Le Pen ahead of Monday’s vote.

On Tuesday, Macron ignored them all and chose his close ally, former defence minister Lecornu, as prime minister.

Le Pen said the president was firing “the final cartridge of Macronism, from his bunker along with his little circle of loyalists”.

The president needs to get a budget drafted before 7 October and reportedly acted quickly to avoid further instability ahead of the 10 September day of action and trade union calls for strike action on 18 September.

Pollster Gallard said a “clear majority” of the public wanted the president to dissolve the government, with the latest survey showing 61 percent in favour. 

“While they didn’t understand last year’s dissolution – because even if there wasn’t a solid majority in the National Assembly, there was a feeling that government could work and hold – the situation is obviously very different now,” he noted.

However, despite RN voters hoping that snap polls could usher in a far-right government, he doubts any such elections would give the party an outright majority.

“A new dissolution would probably not radically change the political balance in the National Assembly. We would still have three blocs, none of which would be close to obtaining an absolute majority.”

Lecoeur, however, is more sceptical. “In many constituencies, more than 50, the RN came within a few points of 50 percent in the second round [of the 2024 legislatives]. The RN is hoping – and they have good reason to hope – that they will do better this time.”

Legal battle

Le Pen also has personal reasons to push for early elections.

Her bar on standing for public office means she’s unable to run in the 2027 presidential or any other elections.

She has appealed the verdict, claiming it was “politically motivated” and on Monday a Paris court confirmed the appeal would take place from 13 January to 12 February, 2026.

Paris court sets January appeal date that could decide Le Pen’s political future

Dussausaye says Le Pen, as an MP for the Pas de Calais region, would be a candidate in such snap elections.

“Of course she will be a candidate because she is innocent. She will submit her candidacy to the Pas de Calais prefecture and if it’s not accepted we will use all the administrative and legal remedies available.”

These include appealing to the constitutional council – which Lecoeur argues would be a way of rallying her camp against France’s institutions and fuelling the idea that she has been wronged.

“Her objective is to wage a political battle within the political-legal arena,” he explains. “There had to be a campaign in which she could run in order to force the courts to take a position on whether or not she has the right to run.

“The judges will prevent her from standing. It will show once again how ‘politically unfair’ it is for Marine Le Pen not to be able to stand for election. It’s important to show this in order to influence public opinion and politicians before her appeal trial.”

The incident forced airports to close, prompted Warsaw to invoke NATO consultations, and drew warnings from Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “testing the West”.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said a huge number of drones had crossed into Polish territory. Four were likely destroyed, with the last one brought down at 6:45am local time.

Poland asked NATO to invoke Article 4 of the alliance treaty, which allows urgent consultations when a member feels its security is under threat.

“Aircraft have used weapons against hostile objects. We are in constant contact with NATO command,” Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz posted on social media.

Macron, Starmer rally allies in Paris to push for Ukraine security guarantees

‘Act of agression’

Poland’s operational command said radars tracked more than 10 drone-type objects during the night. Those that could pose a threat were “neutralised”, the command said in a statement.

It added that searches for potential crash sites were under way and thanked NATO air command and Dutch F-35 fighters for assistance.

“This is an act of aggression that posed a real threat to the safety of our citizens,” the command said.

Poland’s government called an extraordinary cabinet meeting, while Warsaw’s Chopin Airport halted flights for several hours before reopening. The airport in Lublin, in eastern Poland, stayed closed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia used 415 drones and 40 missiles in overnight attacks, adding that at least eight drones were aimed toward Poland.

“This marks an extremely dangerous precedent for Europe. A strong response is needed – and it can only be a joint response by all partners: Ukraine, Poland, all Europeans, the United States,” Zelensky said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga wrote on X that Putin’s “sense of impunity keeps growing because he was not properly punished for his previous crimes”.

He added: “The longer he faces no strength in response, the more aggressive he gets.” Sybiga warned that “a weak response now will provoke Russia even more – and then Russian missiles and drones will fly even further into Europe”.

A NATO spokesperson said chief Mark Rutte was in touch with Polish leaders and that the alliance was consulting closely with Warsaw.

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

International response

French President Emmanuel Macron called the drone incursion “simply unacceptable” and said he would speak soon with Rutte. “We will not compromise on the safety of our allies,” wrote Macron on X.

European Council President Antonio Costa said the bloc stood “in full solidarity with Poland”, warning that Russian incursions posed “a direct threat to the safety of all Europeans”.

In Washington, Democratic senator Dick Durbin said Putin was “testing our resolve to protect Poland and the Baltic nations”. Republican congressman Joe Wilson called the incident an “act of war” and urged President Donald Trump to impose new sanctions.

Russian drones and missiles have crossed into NATO airspace several times since the start of the war, but members had avoided firing on them. Last month, Poland said a Russian drone exploded in farmland after crossing the border.

In 2023, officials said a Russian missile crossed into Polish airspace to strike Ukraine. In November 2022, two civilians were killed when a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile struck a village near the border.

Poland hosts more than one million Ukrainian refugees and is a key transit point for Western humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine.

(with newswires)

“On 28 September 2025, Moldova will hold the most consequential election in its history,” Sandu said in a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

“Today we face an unlimited hybrid war on a scale unseen before the full invasion of Ukraine – the Kremlin’s goal is clear, to capture Moldova through the ballot box, to use it against Ukraine and to turn us into a launch pad for hybrid attacks in the European Union.”

Sandu and her European allies have repeatedly accused Moscow of attempting to destabilise the former Soviet republic of 2.6 million people that lies between war-torn Ukraine and EU and NATO member Romania.

A vocal critic of Russia, in particular since the start of its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Sandu has steered Moldova to official EU accession talks that started in June 2024.

“Our European path is not just a matter of values, it is a matter of survival, and precisely because we have advanced greatly on this path, Russia has unleashed its arsenal of hybrid attacks against us,” Sandu said.

‘Unprecedented interference’: how Russia is attempting to shape Moldova’s future

“The battlefield is our elections.”

The Moldovan leader detailed a raft of alleged Russian tactics from illicit cryptocurrency financing, through disinformation campaigns on social media to direct vote buying.

“Moldova is not alone in protecting its democracy. The European Union has stood with us financially, technically and politically, and we are deeply grateful,” she said.

The EU has thrown its weight behind Moldova ahead of the election, with the leaders of Germany, France and Poland making a highly symbolic joint visit last month.

(with newswires)

The agency said obesity has become the most common form of malnutrition among those aged five to 19, affecting nearly one in 10 worldwide. That amounts to 188 million children. In total, one in five – some 391 million – are overweight.

“When we talk about malnutrition, we are no longer just talking about underweight children,” Unicef executive director Catherine Russell said. “Obesity is a growing concern that can impact the health and development of children.”

The report said the share of five to 19-year-olds who are underweight has dropped from nearly 13 percent in 2000 to 9.2 percent, based on data from over 190 countries. But over the same period obesity has more than tripled, from 3 percent to 9.4 percent.

Child homelessness soars in France as aid groups denounce political inaction

Several Pacific Island countries now record the highest levels globally, including Niue at 38 percent, the Cook Islands at 37 percent and Nauru at 33 percent.

These rates have at least doubled since 2000, driven by a shift from traditional diets to cheap, imported foods.

Many wealthy countries also see high levels of obesity. They include Chile at 27 percent, the United States at 21 percent and the United Arab Emirates at 21 percent.

Marketing blamed

Unicef said the surge is not the result of poor individual choices but of unhealthy food environments.

“Ultra-processed food is increasingly replacing fruits, vegetables and protein at a time when nutrition plays a critical role in children’s growth, cognitive development and mental health,” Russell said.

The agency warned that fast food and sugary products dominate shops and schools, while digital marketing gives companies powerful access to young audiences.

It cited a 2024 poll of 64,000 young people in more than 170 countries which found 75 percent had seen advertisements for soft drinks, snacks or fast foods in the previous week.

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

Katherine Shats, a Unicef legal expert in nutrition, told the French news agency AFP that children are “being bombarded by unhealthy food marketing of junk foods, especially at school where they are exposed to sugary drinks and salty snacks”.

She said families often buy such products because they are cheaper than fresh foods.

Unicef said the health impact is severe, with obesity linked to insulin resistance, high blood pressure and later-life diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

Call for urgent action

The agency urged governments to act quickly to improve children’s food environments.

Its proposals include clearer labelling, advertising restrictions, taxes on sugary drinks and bans on ultra-processed foods in schools. It also called for stronger social protection schemes to help families afford healthier diets.

“In many countries we are seeing the double burden of malnutrition – the existence of stunting and obesity. This requires targeted interventions,” Russell said.

“Nutritious and affordable food must be available to every child to support their growth and development.”

Unicef warned that without action, the global economic impact of overweight and obesity could exceed 4 trillion US dollars annually by 2035.

The Constitutional Council, tasked with drawing up the final list of candidates, retained five bids to contest the 25 October ballot, including current President Alassane Ouattara, who is seeking a fourth mandate.

The bids of Tidjane Thiam and Laurent Gbagbo were rejected.

“The Constitutional Council has consistently required voter eligibility as a condition of eligibility,” Constitutional Council President Chantal Nanaba Camara said, declaring the two men’s candidacies “inadmissible”.

Five candidates, two women

Alassane Ouattara, 83, in power since 2011, will face four candidates: former ministers Jean-Louis Billon; Ahoua Don Mello; former first lady Simone Ehivet Gbagbo; and Henriette Lagou, who was a candidate in 2015.

Billon is a dissident from Thiam’s Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI), while Ahoua Don Mello is a former member of Gbagbo’s African Peoples’ Party – Côte d’Ivoire (PPA-CI).

Both politicians were recently disavowed by their parties, which removed them from office.

Lack of choice

At this point, there is no further recourse for either Gbagbo or Thiam.

This means that the two main opposition parties, the PDCI and the PPA-CI, find themselves without a candidate for the 25 October presidential election.

“Ivorians hoped the council would defend their fundamental right to choose their president through the ballot box. Instead, they find themselves facing a veritable plebiscite organised by the incumbent president, for an unconstitutional fourth term,” Thiam said in a statement sent to news agencies.

He added that the election next month risked becoming a “coronation” for Ouattara.

Ouattara confirms fourth term run as Ivorian opposition cries foul

The political climate has been tense in Côte d’Ivoire for several weeks. The opposition, which expected the exclusion of its leaders, denounces a less than inclusive election and opposes Ouattara’s fourth term, which it considers unconstitutional.

According to a recent report published by the International Crisis Group (ICG), President Ouattara’s controversial bid for a fourth term, the exclusion of key opponents and a non-consensual electoral framework are raising fears about the smooth running of the vote.

Since 1995, no presidential election has resulted in a peaceful change of power, the report points out.

 (with AFP) 

The GERD, located along the Blue Nile, in Guba, Benishangul-Gumuz region, is expected to produce more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity, doubling Ethiopia’s current output, part of which will be exported to neighbouring countries.

Construction of the dam began in 2011 and has raised concerns in neighbouring Egypt and Sudan about a potential reduction in downstream water levels.

Tensions remain high with Egypt describing the development as a security risk, arguing that it could lead to drought downstream. A joint panel to discuss the sharing of the Blue Nile water has been set up.

Ethiopia’s controversial mega dam on the Blue Nile ‘now complete’

Ethiopia’s pride

However, Ethiopia insists that the towering dam will not only benefit its more than 100 million people, but also its neighbours, and describes it as an opportunity for the country to become Africa’s leading electricity exporter.

Ethiopian Water Minister Habtamu Itefa said his country has no intention of harming any of the neighbouring countries.

“So the way forward is to work together for more investment. Let’s join hands to propose more projects that can benefit all of us, wherever they may be. This can be scaled up to Nile Basin countries – to Uganda, to Tanzania, to Rwanda, to DRC, to South Sudan, to Kenya, to Ethiopia, to Egypt as well,” he said.

Public effort

The project has created strong regional tensions, “raising fears in Sudan and Egypt about its impact” on the Blue Nile’s course,” Tsegay Tekleselassie, an economist at Wellesley College in the United States, told RFI. “However, there is no doubt that this is a very important moment for Ethiopians.”

The Renaissance Dam was built with national resources, Tekleselassie added, as many international organisations did not want to finance it. As a result for Ethiopians, it represents a strong symbol of the country’s independence and sovereignty.

“The dam was financed from the national budget, but also through the purchase of bonds by individuals,” he said. “So everyone, every worker, bought their bonds. There was also the contribution of public companies and loans from local banks. Because of its symbolic importance, people are very proud and enthusiastic about it.”

The dam is also seen as a unifying force in Ethiopia, as there are many ethnic divisions.

“So the government is using it as a unifying symbol, but also to gain credibility with the people. There will certainly be a lot of emotion among Ethiopians during this inauguration.”

Providing electricity

Nearly half of Ethiopians currently lack access to electricity.

“The country has a very large population, with 130 million inhabitants,” Sonia Le Gouriellec, lecturer in political science at the Catholic University of Lille, France, told RFI.

“There is a real challenge in providing electricity and achieving the country’s economic ambitions. Numerous special economic zones have been opened with the aim of providing electricity to everyone.”

Water experts in downstream Egypt say the dam has reduced the amount of water the country receives, however, and the government has had to come up with short-term solutions such as reducing annual consumption and recycling irrigation water.

“Egypt was able to overcome this shortage through Egypt’s High Dam, which has a water reserve that is used to replace what was lost due to the GERD. But we can’t always rely on this reserve for water supply,” said Abbas Sharaky, a professor of geology and water resources at Cairo University.

Ethiopia resumes filling Nile mega-dam reservoir angering downstream nations

For Sudan, experts say seasonal flooding has decreased during the dam’s filling, but they warn that uncoordinated water releases could lead to sudden flooding or extended dry periods.

“What is currently under discussion is the absence of clear and binding rules for its management in times of water stress,” Le Gouriellec told RFI.

“Egypt has always had a consistent position on this issue: all possible upstream exploitations should have a legally binding written agreement, with clear rules of operation, on how these waters will be managed over time, particularly in times of drought. And that, for the moment, is absent.”

So, although the Ethiopian Prime Minister invited Sudan and Egypt to come to the inauguration, the invitation is  diplomacy and nothing concrete has been signed off.

“That bothers them a lot. And what we fear is that the conflict could be exported to other areas, for example to Somalia,” Le Gourielle said.

Egypt and Sudan’s greatest fear is that in the case of a drought, the Ethiopians will not release the necessary volume of water stored by this dam.

“There is a lack of clear, binding rules on the management of the Nile’s waters,” Le Gouriellec added.

Reassurance

Ethiopian Water Minister Habtamu Itefa has pointed out that so far, the water levels recorded downstream during the dry season were “three to four-fold what they used to get before the dam.”

“This means, at the expense of the dam we built, they can have their irrigation land. Three to four-fold, they can increase that, because we are providing more water during the dry months. It is a blessing for them,” said the Ethiopian minister.

Yacob Arsano, who teaches hydro politics in the Nile Basin at Addis Ababa University, said Ethiopia was “very careful” with the design and planning of the dam to ensure water flows downstream throughout the year.

“Egypt continues to receive the water. Ethiopia continues to send water. So that is the remaining fact and for which how to organise such a shared use of water resources depends on the two sides. All of the upstream and downstream countries need to sit down properly and soberly,” he said.

 (with newswires)

France has not run a budget surplus in over fifty years. The last time was before the 1973 oil crisis.

“Since then, our deficit has not stopped increasing, and so our debt has not stopped increasing,” François Ecalle, a former member of France’s high council on public finance and an honorary senior adviser to the Cour des Comptes public auditors, told RFI.

France’s debt at the end of the first semester of 2025 was €3,345 billion, according to the Insee statistics institute, and it has grown over the last two decades to reach 113.9 percent of GDP this year.

“Each year the public debt goes up because we have a deficit: overall, the state and local authorities and the social security system have revenue that is less than what they spend,” Ecalle says.

Crises feed the debt

That deficit – the difference between revenue and spending – comes from yearly spending, but has also gone up with various crises, most recently the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid pandemic, when the government spent money to bail out businesses and support the healthcare system and other public services.

Like many states, France borrows money to cover the deficit, which costs more money, as there is interest to pay – the cost of servicing the debt.

Retirement benefits – which continue to rise, with an ageing population – are the largest item in the 2026 budget, but they are followed by the cost of servicing the debt, which Bayrou said is expected to cost €75 billion – more than the cost of healthcare or education.

Servicing the debt

Because interest rates have been on the rise, Bayrou said the cost of servicing the debt could become the single largest line item in the budget by 2029, which he says represents a serious and immediate danger.

“An immediate danger weighs on us, which we need to face, not tomorrow or after tomorrow, but today, without any sort of delay, without which our future will be denied us and the present will be made severely worse,” the Prime Minister said during the press conference on 25 August in which he announced the confidence vote he would put to parliament on 8 September.

Movement calls for September shutdown across France to protest budget cuts

The Cour des comptes public auditor agrees that reducing the debt is necessary. In July last year, the head of the institution, Pierre Moscovici, called it a “burning obligation”.

Keeping France’s yearly deficit within the European Union’s limit of 3 percent of GDP is “imperative to the sustainability of the debt”, the auditor wrote this July – if the deficit goes up, lenders will no longer trust France to pay back its loans.

Debate over how to reduce the debt

The debate – and subsequent vote in parliament – will focus on “the overall plan, its necessity and usefulness,” Bayrou said, even as the political disagreements are more on the substance of Bayrou’s particular proposals, rather than the concept of the deficit itself.

France has ‘one of the worst deficits’ in its history, minister says

“There is a growing consensus among experts, politicians, and the French people, particularly around the idea that something must be done to reduce deficits and regain control of the debt,” said Ecalle.

“But there is no consensus on how to get there. And when one government starts saying how to do it, the response is to look elsewhere.”

What to tax, what to cut?

Bayrou’s draft budget has €21 billion in spending cuts, plus a pension freeze and a cap to all social benefits to 2025 levels.

Taxation is a red herring – French President Emmanuel Macron’s governments have promised no new taxes on households.

Ecalle says at some point the government needs to find new sources of revenue, through taxes – on inherited property or high pensions – but he recognises the difficulty in getting people to support such measures: taxes, like budget cuts, are never popular.

Why does France want to scrap two of its public holidays?

“The debates we are having today over how to balance the books – whether they involve spending cuts or tax increases – are debates that we have been having for decades. When I was at finance ministry 30 years ago, these were the same debates,” he says, adding that his not optimistic that the current period will be any different.

“We put off these the conflicts over taxes and public spending that we are unable to resolve today, to some point in the future.”

A “record” 37.5 tonnes of cocaine were seized in France in the first six months of this year, compared to 47 tonnes in the whole of 2024 – an increase of 45 percent.

These figures – revealed in a confidential note from late July from the national anti-drug trafficking agency (Ofast) – prompted Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau to describe the proliferation of cocaine in France as a “white tsunami”.

More than half of those 47 tonnes came from, or was intercepted in, the French Caribbean territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique – whose combined population is little more than 750,000. 

“It’s easy to imagine the impact this has on the local population,” says investigative journalist Jerome Pierrat, an expert on organised crime. “An explosion in violence, in the use of firearms and in local drug use… it’s a major destabilisation of society.”

According to a recent report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Martinique and Guadeloupe have become major gateways for cocaine and marijuana entering mainland France.

Cocaine and synthetic drugs power new era of global trafficking

From South America to Europe

The reasons for the French Caribbean becoming a key entry and transit point for South American cocaine en route to Europe are largely geographical.

The French Antilles are on the doorstep of South America’s cocaine-producing countries of Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, and close to Venezuela – one of the two exit countries for cocaine, along with Brazil.

Global production continues to increase, with the Andean countries producing 2,700 tonnes in 2022, more than double the amount produced in 2010.

Yet the traditional North American market has plateaued, Peirrat explains, with some users there turning to synthetic drugs such as fentanyl. The United States’ anti-drug trafficking measures have also forced cartels to look elsewhere – notably further south.

“Traffickers are looking for people with money to sell cocaine to, so they tend to turn to Europe, Australia, Asia, Japan and a part of China. The second biggest market in terms of purchasing power is Europe,” explains Pierrat.

In addition, because they are part of France the Antilles are not subject to extra customs checks when transporting goods to the mainland. And Guadeloupe, with its 700 kilometres of coastline and small islands, is particularly difficult to monitor.

More than 2 tonnes of cocaine washes up on shores of northern France

Record seizures

In late February, the French Navy seized 8.3 tonnes of cocaine from a cargo ship off the coast of Martinique. In March, 1.2 tonnes were seized near Martinique.

In June, 2.4 tonnes were seized on a “go-fast vessel” – a type of a small, fast powerboat favoured by smugglers – near the US Virgin Islands, while in July, French Armed Forces intercepted close to five tonnes on two ships in the Caribbean.

On the French mainland, authorities made a major haul in January – two tonnes of cocaine, valued at €130 million – in the northern port of Le Havre, France’s main maritime gateway.

Further along the chain, Pierrat highlights a recent haul on the Balzac housing estate in Vitry-sur-Seine, a working class suburb of Paris: “160kg of pure cocaine that had come over from Guadeloupe in a fake removals vehicle.”

While some drugs are still transported by plane, the cartels prefer to use sea routes for ever-larger quantities. Shipments are dispatched from Colombia’s and Venezuela’s Caribbean coasts and routed via islands such as Dominica, before landing on the many beaches of the French Antilles aboard fast boats.

Once in the Antilles, cocaine is stored locally and then shipped on to ports in northern Europe such as Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, and Le Havre.

Belgian port of Antwerp says record volume of cocaine seized in 2022

Surge in violence

In the fight against trafficking, French authorities are facing criminal networks capable of changing their strategies regularly.

“They are now highly structured, no longer work with intermediaries, deal directly with South American drug producers and are capable of exporting cocaine to Europe,” Guadeloupe’s Attorney General Eric Maurel recently told France Info. 

He has also warned that criminal gangs in Guadeloupe “seem to be evolving towards mafia-style structures”.

Pierrat says local officials in the Antilles have been “sounding the alarm for two or three years now,” – but to little effect.

In June this year, Maurel, alongside another judge, Michael Janas, gave a press conference warning that drug trafficking and the proliferation of firearms was driving an unprecedented surge in violence in Guadeloupe.

“All warning lights are flashing red. We are facing a wall of crime,” they told reporters. “We are at a tipping point. It’s now or never.”

The judges said that between January and June this year, Guadeloupe recorded 28 violent homicides, along with 111 attempted murders and 300 armed robberies.

Neighbouring Martinique has also seen a rise in violence, with 16 homicides since January, 13 involving firearms.

France to build supermax prison to isolate drug lords and Islamists in Amazon

“This is no longer a series of isolated incidents; it is a spiral of death taking root in our daily lives. And yet, the State looks the other way,” wrote Serge Letchimy, president of the executive council of Martinique, in an op-ed published in Le Monde in June. 

According to Letchimy’s figures, only 1,400 of the 188,000 containers passing through Martinique’s port in Fort-de-France in 2024 were inspected by customs – the result of chronic understaffing.

On 19 August, four MPs from Guadeloupe published a letter to the Interior and Economy ministers, demanding immediate reinforcement to fight the growing instability fuelled by drug trafficking.

Cocaine use in France doubles as workplace pressures drive demand

New measures

The French government appears to have heard their call. On a recent visit to the Antilles, Retailleau announced a raft of measures, including 13 additional investigators to bolster the ranks of Ofast.

A local ballistics lab will be opened, meaning forensic samples will no longer have to be sent to the mainland, and two mobile gendarmerie squads and two marine units are to be deployed.

Paris will also provide radar systems to monitor the strategic Dominica and Les Saintes channels and a drone to survey Guadeloupe’s coastline. Checks at ports and airports are to be reinforced.

While acknowledging that France’s planned budget cuts meant it was limited in what it could provide, Retailleau insisted: “The Republic will not give an inch on public order. We will not let these territories become a lawless zone.”

France to build supermax prison to isolate drug lords and Islamists in Amazon

‘No quick fix’

Guadeloupe MPs Olivier Serva and Max Mathiasin, two of the authors of the open letter, expressed their “relative satisfaction” after months of lobbying for reinforcements.

“I heard announcements, not empty words,” Serva told local radio. “I’m satisfied. But we expect more on regional cooperation and faster implementation.”

Mathiasin called the measures “a step in the right direction” but warned they’d have to see them in action.

In Pierrat’s opinion, given the size of the territory and its waters, 13 more investigators may not make much difference. He added that there is no quick fix for the situation, and suggesting otherwise is political posturing.

“The problem is Retailleau doesn’t have time. Elections are fast approaching, all this stuff has to be visible, talked about, it has to look like they’re doing something. But if you really want to curb trafficking you’d lay on 200 more investigators, 200 drones, you’d throw in a billion euros. And it will still take time,” he says.

Another concern is the expansion of the main ports in Guadeloupe and Martinique as part of the “Antilles Hub” project, which aims to transform them into a major regional logistics and maritime centre. 

An additional 300,000 containers are expected to transit through the ports each year. While this is intended to give the region a much needed economic boost, Pierrat fears it will also boost trafficking.

“Traffickers are very happy,” he says “It’ll be very hard to monitor all the extra containers, even with a couple of extra radars or mobile scanners. And even if you could afford to install loads more scanners that would slow traffic down, [which] makes no commercial sense when you’re trying to attract new business.”

Acknowledging these concerns, Retailleau said a mission from the General Secretariat of the Sea will be conducted within the coming weeks to “audit all port processes” both in Guadeloupe and Martinique.

France transfers first drug traffickers to be isolated in ultra-secure prison

Forgotten territories

With unemployment in the Antilles more than double that on the French mainland – 15.7 percent in Guadeloupe and 12.8 percent in Martinique, compared to the national average of 7.4 percent – plus a far higher cost of living and lower wages, the economic conditions are ripe for spreading corruption.

“The French overseas departments have the highest corruption rates in France, including civil servants,” says Pierrat. “But that’s the corollary of drug-trafficking – corruption and violence.”

He also points out that the French Antilles are no longer just a transit hub for cocaine, but indeed a growing local market for it – spurred on by the fact local traffickers are paid in cocaine. 

“I’ve been writing and making documentaries about drug trafficking for 30 years now,” he says. “It’s been growing for decades. We saw it coming. And yet all of a sudden you get the impression it sprung up over the last couple of years.

“For years it was a forgotten corner of France. The guys in French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe… nobody really gives a damn. So I’m not very hopeful or optimistic that the situation in the French Antilles will change any time soon, unfortunately for them.”

The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) – the world’s leading professional body dedicated to the study of genocide – this week passed a resolution declaring that Israel’s actions against the Palestinians in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide.

Backed by 86 percent of the members who voted, the resolution details acts that the Association says fall squarely within the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide: the killing of tens of thousands of civilians, the deliberate targeting of children, the destruction of agricultural land and homes, and the systematic dismantling of health, education and cultural institutions.

It also points to explicit statements by Israeli leaders suggesting an intent to destroy the Palestinian nation in Gaza. Genocide scholars say that this amounts to the destruction of a people’s future and their ability to regenerate.

RFI spoke to Tim Williams, second vice president of the IAGS and Professor of Insecurity and Social Order at the Bundeswehr University in Munich. 

He outlines how the resolution was drafted, why it highlights children as proof of genocidal intent and how the recognition of a Palestinian state by countries – including France – could reshape the global perception of Israel’s actions.

‘Nowhere in Gaza is safe’ says RFI correspondent amid call for global media access

Recognition of genocide ‘brings obligations’

One of the striking issues is why so many governments and institutions are reluctant to use the word genocide, despite mounting evidence. Williams is clear: hesitation is often a political stance.

“I wouldn’t say that international courts hesitate to use the term,” he told RFI. “They do when it is applicable in cases. States, on the other hand, do hesitate because in the UN Convention, there is an obligation under international law on states to prevent and punish genocide.

“So by recognising genocide, it obliges states to engage in prevention efforts, which would mean that if a state recognises it, they have to exert pressure on Israel. They would have to cease all arms delivery to Israel, and ultimately intervene in the situation to try and prevent the genocide from occurring.”

Naming genocide is more than a moral gesture – it carries heavy legal and political implications. Williams describes the paradox at the heart of the Genocide Convention: to declare it compels action, but that obligation can also delay acknowledgement until long after atrocities have unfolded.

Why children matter in proving intent

The IAGS resolution gives particular weight to the killing and maiming of children, a focus Williams sees as critical. He argues that targeting children is one of the clearest signals of genocidal intent under international law.

“Children are seen as a protected part of a group, and they are particularly important because they are also the future of the group,” he said. “By destroying the children of a nation, you’re precluding any possibility to regenerate the group and strengthen it. So it’s a particularly keen indicator of intent.”

He adds that children offer an unmistakable measure of civilian harm in conflicts often clouded by disputes over combatant status. “With children, it’s particularly clear that they are not combatants. And this is even more indicative of civilian status … it doesn’t mean that all adults are combatants, but with children, it’s particularly clear.”

By highlighting the plight of children, the resolution not only underscores the human tragedy in Gaza but also strengthens the legal case for genocide.

Beyond the death toll

While media coverage often focuses on casualty figures – with more than 63,000 Palestinians killed in the conflict, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry – Williams stresses that genocide is not just about killings. It is also about creating conditions of life that make a group’s survival impossible.

“The core of genocide is, when we talk about it in public discourse, very much focused on the killing part,” he explained. “But really it’s about the destruction of the group in and of itself. And so the forced displacement of people and the removal of the conditions of life necessary are part and parcel of that destruction of a nation.”

The resolution cites the destruction of farmland, desalination plants and bakeries, along with the near-total destruction of Gaza’s housing and healthcare systems, as evidence that Israel has deliberately created unliveable conditions.

Williams warns that political plans to relocate Gazans permanently outside Gaza – once a fringe idea, now openly endorsed by Israeli leaders – could be read as further evidence of genocidal intent.

Defining famine: the complex process behind Gaza’s hunger crisis

Recognition of Palestine

The political landscape is also changing. In recent months, France, Canada and Belgium have joined a growing number of states in recognising Palestinian statehood. For Williams, these moves matter both symbolically and practically speaking.

“I think these are very important moves that have been happening in the last weeks and months,” he said. “On the one hand, a strengthening of the legitimacy of the Palestinian nation and an attempt to push forward with, possibly, a two-state solution. But also, I think it’s important symbolically, because it departs from Israel’s interests, and it’s a sign that Western countries are increasingly withdrawing their support from Israel.”

Williams argues that recognition of Palestine forms part of a larger “mosaic” of pressure that could eventually compel change.

He cautions, however, that symbolic steps must be matched with legal obligations: halting arms transfers that could be used in war crimes and enforcing rulings by international courts.

Ultimately, the IAGS has no powers of enforcement, but Williams hopes the resolution will add weight to the global debate.

“We’re a large organisation of genocide scholars, but we have no political clout,” he said. “What I do hope this resolution means is that we can say that the International Association of Genocide Scholars recognises this as a genocide, and I hope that gives political credibility also to those in the political arena who are claiming that it’s genocide and would like to exert more pressure.”

For Williams, this is also about more than Gaza: it is a test of whether the world is willing to confront genocide while it is happening, rather than decades later.

From 8 to 10 September, 45 heads of state and government, alongside more than 25,000 campaigners, business leaders and institutional representatives, are gathering at the African Union’s international conference centre in Addis Ababa.

The meeting is seen as a vital moment for Africa to set its priorities ahead of major international milestones later this year – including the UN General Assembly, the G20, and the upcoming Cop 30 climate negotiations in Brazil.

Climate change is already hitting Africa hard. The World Meteorological Organization estimates that the crisis costs African economies between 2 and 5 percent of GDP annually.

By 2030, as many as 118 million of the continent’s poorest people could face severe droughts, flooding, and extreme heat.

Yet leaders and thinkers are keen to underline that Africa is not simply a victim. The continent holds 60 percent of the world’s solar potential and nearly 40 percent of global renewable energy resources. Its soils are rich in critical minerals essential for the green transition.

“Africa could benefit enormously and even become a global leader in the transition,” argues Iskander Erzini Vernoit, director of the Moroccan think tank, the IMAL Initiative for Climate and Development, speaking to RFI. “But Africa cannot remain passive. It must act in a coordinated way – and that is one of the goals here in Addis Ababa.”

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A fairer financial system

Despite this promise, Africa currently attracts only 2 percent of international green investment. High interest rates and the crushing burden of debt remain major barriers.

For Vernoit, this summit offers a chance to demand change, telling RFI: “Africa will continue to press for reform of the international financial architecture. This meeting is a moment to call for a fairer, more equitable system that supports the continent’s climate action efforts.”

African leaders are expected to conclude the summit with a joint declaration, signalling unity and ambition to investors and the international community.

At the first Africa Climate Summit in 2023, leaders committed to scaling up renewable energy capacity from 56 to 300 gigawatts by 2030, and pledges of more than $23 billion in renewable energy investments were announced.

Heavy rains in Guinea capital Conakry cause multiple deaths and destroy homes

Challenge of resilient infrastructure

But climate change is also eroding progress. A new report from the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), released during the summit, highlights the costs of climate damage to African infrastructure – estimated at nearly $13 billion each year.

“Most of these losses come from damage to housing, municipal facilities, schools and hospitals, with flooding accounting for 70 percent of the destruction,” Ramesh Subramaniam, CDRI’s director, explained to RFI. Earthquakes account for a further 28 percent.

The solution, he argues, is not to prevent disasters – which is impossible – but to build smarter and stronger. “If a road is built to the right quality standards, it will resist when disaster strikes. The embankments, the protections – all of it will remain in place,” he says.

According to CDRI, adapting infrastructure to withstand climate impacts typically adds only 5 to 15 percent to a project’s cost.

Yet many African countries face infrastructure funding gaps of up to 50 percent, leaving them unable to invest sufficiently in resilience.

Africans less likely to blame rich nations for climate crisis, survey shows

Stronger voice for Africa

Against this backdrop, the Addis Ababa summit is more than a technical discussion – it is a statement of intent.

Africa’s leaders want to showcase the continent’s potential as a clean energy powerhouse, a hub for innovation, and a driver of global solutions – provided that the international community steps up with fair financing and real partnerships.

By the close of the meeting, a united African position is expected to emerge, sending a message ahead of the world’s next big climate gathering: Africa is ready to lead, but it needs the means to do so.

“Anthropologically speaking, I don’t believe there are any cultures where people don’t dance,” says art sociologist Laura Cappelle, editor of “A New History of Dance in the West: From Prehistory to the Present Day”.

The first figurative representations of humanRFI dance appeared around 40,000 years ago. But, in the absence of archaeological evidence prior to that, anthropologists have sketched out the contours and timeline of a practice that is undoubtedly much older. 

Archaeologist Yosef Garfinkel says this history can be mapped out in five stages.

The first is dance for seduction, which he says could date back a million years and a function of dance we share with many animals.

The second, which he dates to around 100,000 years ago, is linked to funeral rites. This corresponds to the emergence of group dancing.

For the three stages after that, we are able to rely on visual representations. Forty thousand years ago, trance dances appeared, “along with shamanism, magic and religion”.

A little over 10,000 years ago, ceremonies accompanying the seasons were established, in connection with the birth of agriculture.

Finally, 5,000 years ago, with the emergence of the first cities, dance became a particular skill, even a profession – in front of an audience, the body became a spectacle.

‘Thinking through movement’

But where did the impulse to dance come from? While we commonly dance in pairs or in groups, we also dance alone, without an audience, for our own pleasure.

When asked why we dance, Cappelle says: “It’s a way of thinking through movement, which brings joy and a whole range of emotions that make us feel alive. We often dance to be together, without having to talk.”

Unifying African identities through modern dance

Although she says this shared experience is being diminished today, leaving dance in danger of becoming the preserve of specialists.

“People feel that they dance less, especially in rural areas, with the decline of popular dances and nightclubs,” she laments.

She added that dance is no longer part of the curriculum in primary or secondary education in France today, and many other countries. “Today, it is entirely possible to leave the school system without ever having taken a dance class.”

Gender roles

Dance as an integral part of one’s education was seen in Ancient Greece, where it served a specific purpose, as Cappelle explains.

“The presence of dance in the education of citizens in Ancient Greece is linked to the fact that they learned war dances. They learned to wage war by learning to dance. Attacking and defending oneself was a matter of mastering the body.”

She adds that this connection between dance and combat can also be seen in capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art that incorporates dance, acrobatics and spirituality.

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This may seem at odds with the more modern idea that dance is a feminine occupation, but according to Cappelle: “The idea that dance is feminine is not universal.”

Dance was similarly primarily a masculine activity during the Ancien Régime, the political and social system in France before the Revolution of 1789. It was the rise of the bourgeoisie in the 19th century feminised it, with the stage one of the few places where women took the lead.

According to Garfinkel, the first manifestation of music for dancing was the use of bells and shells as adornment on the dancer’s body. Unlike music, however, which was codified very early on in the West, dance was not transcribed until the 18th century, using a wide variety of notation systems.

For Cappelle, dance remains perhaps the art form most resistant to any form of verbalisation.

“There are things that happen during a dance that are difficult to put into words. That’s kind of our problem as critics and researchers. It’s difficult to assign a single meaning to movement. Often, movement lends itself to multiple interpretations and generates emotional states.”

But, she adds: “For me, this ambiguity of movement is part of what makes it particularly powerful. Unlike theatre, for example, where we are limited by what our language can offer us today, with all its possible experiences, the body in motion says things that are difficult to express in any other way.”

This article was adapted from the original version in French.

Kasakula received universal access to solar power through an award-winning energy model from SolarAid, a small international charity, which chose the remote, low-income village to pilot its Energy-as-a-Service model.

It means that, since the last week of August, it has become 100 percent powered by solar energy, and almost all of its 8 to 9 000 households have access to this solar powered electricity.

Malawi’s government is now keen to roll out access across the country, setting a precedent for Africa.

Kasakula residents used to live off-grid, relying on candles and a few lamps, says Brave Mhonie, SolarAid Malawi general manager and president of Renewable Energy Industries Association of Malawi.

“We are kind of living the dream, a global dream of universal energy access,” Mhonie told RFI.

“We’re achieving our SDG 7 [Sustainable Development Goal 7] by 2030. [But] as a sector, we are behind our global goals for various reasons, one being poverty. The majority of customers who are being left behind is because they are very poor.”

Sustainable Development Goal 7 is one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. It aims to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”.

“What we wanted was to develop a model that enables universal energy access while being sustainable,” Mhonie said.

“And realising that dream that we have actually connected the entire community, which will act as a blueprint to others to also learn and understand how it can actually be done. So for us, it’s not just a celebration belonging to SolarAid.”

The programme has been pushing the grid to go into the remotest areas, but this grid has got limitation as to how many people can be connected to it and how far it can go for proper maintenance.

SolarAid’s model started by integrating into what the government is already doing, then by extending power coverage, to connect people and make sure that everyone in the area is actually powered with electricity, according to Mhonie.

“We are talking of about 32,000 individuals,” Mohnie said.

They also got involved in this business model.

“We put the community itself at the centre stage of the implementation and delivery of the business activities,” he added.

Changing lives

These changes impact directly the life of people in the village; they improved the way people work, and security at night, and the way they communicate with each other. 

“In general, we can see quite a big shift in terms of impact, on opening business opportunities, for instance,” Mhonie said. “We have some people like tailors using the light to continue working at night, which they never used to do before. We have got some people who own small shops. Again, they are connected and they are extending their working hours.”

SolarAid also connected 12 schools in the area, ten primary schools and two secondary schools. “Learners are now coming to the school at night to have extra lessons from their teachers as well as are studying, especially during the exam time. 

One of the greatest stories that Mhonie has observed so far is its impact on the girls.

“Previously the area, the performance of girls was very low. When we did a survey, we realised that, when the school organises these extra lessons or night studies at school, before we brought in the electricity, it was very difficult for the girls because they couldn’t go to school at night, for obvious reasons, they are so vulnerable.”

So, they were forced to stay at home, while boys were going to school at night to have extra lessons and to study.

“Now that we have connected more or less every, household, the girls are having access to electricity in their respective homes don’t have to go anywhere. And that also has created them to have opportunity to read at night and putting them at the same level as the boys in terms of opportunities.”

There is also one health facility in the area, which is connected to grid, but it is not reliable.

“So at night nurses and midwives were finding it difficult to deliver women at night, when the facility had no electricity. They approached us to connect them to an alternative electricity and a backup to the grid. Now the solar is having more impact on women’s health at night.”

National expansion

Kasakula’s governance structure involves traditional chiefs

Now, the team behind the project is working very closely with the traditional authorities, the chiefs, on consumer education about clean renewable energy and how it actually works, and to teach them about their responsibility in looking after the products.

“We work very closely with the local chiefs to to educate the consumers.”

Spotlight on Africa podcast: Malawi’s first solar-powered village

The community is at the centre stage of delivering this work.

“All the success that we are celebrating today is because of a very strong, cohesive, ah, collaboration with the community members themselves.”

And other villages could learn from that experience, in Malawi and beyond. 

“Our intention is to do something that actually inspires others to also stand up and take action. We know that people want to see solutions coming out, but probably no one has spearheaded with a bold move to take that level of action. So, what we are expecting is that other communities will be inspired by it, and will also take action.”

The charity and its partners are now working with the government to make sure that it has a good knowledge of what is happening, so they can take this model and incorporate it into its rural electrification further into the country.

“We have already received requests from other chiefs wanting us to go into their villages as well to do it, from other organisations that are also interested in rural electrification, coming to seek support on how we can work with them to help.”

The enterprise SunnyMoney and the Swedish NGO Postcode Foundation are also helping in one of the districts down south in Malawi, where a similar project has also been set up at a smaller scale.

Another community group in the eastern part of the country is also working on making solar power happen, as well as a local Catholic church and church members, willing to receive electricity in their homes.

“So it’s something that indeed can be replicated in other areas quite easily,” Mhoni concluded.

EU lawmakers have given the final go-ahead to a sweeping new law designed to cut back Europe’s towering piles of wasted food and rein in the environmental footprint of fast fashion.

Brussels estimates that each person in the 27-nation bloc generates around 130 kilogrammes of food waste annually – that’s a staggering 60 million tonnes – along with some 15 kilos of discarded textiles.

By slashing food waste, the EU hopes to also reduce the water, fertiliser and energy used to produce, process and store food that too often ends up in the bin.

A similar rationale underpins the textile provisions: producing a single cotton t-shirt, the EU points out, requires around 2,700 litres of fresh water – the amount an average person drinks over two and a half years.

French consumers have bad habits when it comes to food waste, data shows

Binding targets for food

Under the law passed on Tuesday, member states will face binding food waste reduction targets, though they will have the freedom to decide how best to reach them.

By 2030, households, retailers and restaurants must cut their waste by 30 percent compared with 2021-23 levels, while the food industry must trim its losses by 10 per cent.

Rapporteur Anna Zalewska said “targeted solutions” could include encouraging sales of “ugly” fruit and vegetables, clarifying confusing date labels and boosting donations of unsold but still edible food.

Parliament initially pushed for even steeper reductions of 40 and 20 percent, but the final compromise was hammered out with the European Commission and EU capitals.

The hospitality industry lobbied against binding targets, arguing instead for a stronger focus on consumer education.

“The key is raising awareness – especially among consumers,” said Marine Thizon of the European hotel, restaurant and café association Hotrec, noting that households account for more than half of Europe’s food waste.

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Textiles brought into the fold

The law also updates a 2008 directive on waste, for the first time extending its reach to textiles.

Producers will be made responsible for the cost of collecting, sorting and recycling clothing, carpets, mattresses and more.

With less than one per cent of textiles recycled worldwide, and over 12 million tonnes thrown out annually in the EU alone, lawmakers hope the measures will stem the tide of ultra-cheap fashion imports – many from China – sold by platforms such as Shein.

Brussels is already investigating the online giant over concerns about illegal products.

Separately, the EU has proposed a €2 flat import fee on small parcels, aiming to curb the flood of low-cost packages driven by fast-fashion sales.

Last year, 4.6 billion parcels entered the bloc – more than 145 every second – with nine in ten arriving from China.

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Farm sector spared

One major gap remains, as the new law sets no waste-reduction targets for farmers, to the disappointment of environmental groups such as WWF.

“Losses before, during and after harvesting or livestock rearing make up a considerable amount of food waste across the value chain,” the organisation warned, saying it was “concerned” about the exemption.

Even so, the new law marks a significant step forward, with the potential to make Europeans more mindful of what they eat, wear and throw away – and to send a clear signal that wasteful habits can no longer be the norm.

(with newswires)

The Real Madrid star swept home a penalty on the stroke of half-time to cancel out Andri Gudjohnsen’s opener for the visitors at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

The strike in the 22nd minute came against the run of play as France dominated the opening exchanges.

Marcus Thuram twice went close during the early pressure on the Iceland goal.

But midway through the first-half, France gifted Iceland the lead.

Trying to play the ball out from defence, midfielder Michael Olise slid a pass across his own penalty area into the path of Andri Gudjohnsen who intercepted and prodded past the France goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

Olise almost atoned for his error 10 minutes later but the Iceland goalkeeper Elías Rafn Olafsson denied him instant redemption.

Mbappé leads the fightback

The road to salvation started just before the pause. France were awarded a penalty following a review by the video assistants who spotted Mikael Anderson’s hack on Thuram.

Mbappé stepped forward and thrashed his spot kick high into the top right hand corner to notch up his 52nd goal for his country and level proceedings.

Olise swept a shot onto the crossbar a few minutes after the restart as France upped the pace and intensity.

But Iceland held firm until the hour mark. Aurélien Tchouaméni lofted a pass over the Iceland midfield into the path of Mbappé who charged towards goal.

With the stadium anticipating another dead-eyed strike, he drew out Olafsson and passed for Bradley Barcola to slot the ball into the empty net.

Relief greeted the goal. But trepidation infiltrated proceedings with 20 minutes remaining.

Tchouaméni was sent off after a video assistant review for a late challenge on Jón Dagur Þorsteinsson.

France boss Didier Deschamps reordered his midfield and brought on Kingsley Coman and Adrien Rabiot for Barcola and Thuram while his Iceland counterpart Arnar Gunnlaugsson reassembled his forward ranks.

The gambit appeared to pay dividends three minutes from time when Gudjohnsen bundled the ball over the line.

The 23-year-old was denied his brace. Referee Antonio Nobre chalked off the goal following a video review for a foul on Ibrahima Konaté in the build-up. 

“There are a lot of things to go away and look at,” Mbappé told French broadcaster TF1.

“We can obviously get better but we’ve got six points from our two games and you can’t do better than that.”

France lead the group following wins over Ukraine and Iceland who stay second with three points after Ukraine drew 1-1 with Azerbaijan.

On 10 October, France host Azerbaijan while Iceland entertain Ukraine.

Marine Le Pen’s political future will hang in the balance early next year, after a Paris court confirmed that her appeal trial in the so-called “parliamentary assistants” affair will take place from 13 January to 12 February 2026.

The decision on dates was, announced by the Paris Court of Appeal on Monday.

In March 2025, the three-time presidential candidate was handed a heavy sentence: five years of ineligibility, enforceable immediately, and four years in prison, two of them to be served under electronic tagging.

Unless overturned, the ruling would bar her from standing in the 2027 presidential race – a devastating blow to the far-right leader who had been preparing another run for the Elysée.

Her lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, had argued that the appeal should be scheduled after the municipal elections of March 2026, warning that political and judicial calendars risked colliding.

Prosecutors, however, pushed for an earlier hearing, determined to keep the case well clear of the presidential contest.

In the end, the court opted for January, promising a verdict well before the summer of 2026.

French court hands Le Pen five-year election ban in fake jobs case

Fraud convictions

At the heart of the case lies allegations of a long-running fraud scheme said to have operated between 2004 and 2016, in which party staff were paid with European Parliament funds.

In the first trial, Le Pen, her National Rally, and two dozen allies were found guilty of siphoning off an estimated €3.2 million.

While some co-defendants have accepted their convictions, twelve figures – including Perpignan’s mayor Louis Aliot, MP Julien Odoul and veteran party members Bruno Gollnisch and Wallerand de Saint-Just – have joined Le Pen in appealing the decision.

That narrower line-up means the retrial is expected to be shorter than the original, which ran for two months in late 2024.

The consequences of her conviction have already sent ripples through French politics.

Prime Minister François Bayrou admitted to being “troubled” by the severity of the sentence, while within the far right, the prospect of a “Plan B” candidate, such as party president Jordan Bardella, has been openly discussed.

French police raid far-right National Rally HQ in campaign financing probe

Legal battles

For Le Pen herself, the appeal represents not only a legal battle but also a race against time to preserve her long-nurtured presidential ambitions.

However, the National Rally is facing a separate investigation, launched in July 2024, into allegations of fraud and illicit campaign financing.

The probe centres on loans from private individuals used to bankroll campaigns in 2022 and 2024, leading to a police raid at party headquarters last summer.

Yet despite these mounting troubles, Le Pen remains determined.

Her legal team insists she will fight to clear her name, banking on the appeal to overturn or at least soften the first-instance verdict.

France’s homegrown artificial intelligence champion Mistral has cemented its place among Europe’s tech leaders, announcing on Tuesday that it has raised €1.7 billion in fresh capital – a record for a French start-up.

The fundraising drive has brought the value of the company to €11.7 billion, almost double its worth just over a year ago.

The deal also brings in a heavyweight new ally – Dutch technology giant ASML, the world’s most important supplier of advanced semiconductor equipment, which is directly investing €1.3 billion in Mistral.

ASML emerged from the round as Mistral’s leading shareholder, in a move set to link Europe’s most prominent AI developer with the linchpin of global chip production.

Could European AI create a more unified European identity?

European tech alliance

The partnership is being hailed as a milestone for European technological sovereignty at a time when the EU is seeking to reduce its reliance on US firms, especially under the renewed presidency of Donald Trump.

By joining forces, ASML and Mistral are positioning themselves to explore joint research and innovative solutions at the intersection of AI and advanced chipmaking.

ASML said its investment was designed to “generate clear benefits for ASML customers through innovative products and solutions enabled by AI”, while also holding out the prospect of deeper collaboration in research.

Arthur Mensch, Mistral’s co-founder and chief executive, struck an equally confident note.

He said Mistral’s technology could help ASML tackle “current and future engineering challenges”, boosting both the hardware that underpins semiconductors and the AI systems that rely on them.

ASML will take between an 11 to 15 percent stake in Mistral and secure a seat on its board, although neither company has confirmed the details.

France’s Mistral AI teams up with UAE-backed developers as Le Chat app launches

From start-up to heavyweight contender

Mistral was founded in 2023 by Mensch, a former researcher at Google’s DeepMind, alongside Guillaume Lample and Timothée Lacroix, who both cut their teeth at Meta’s AI division.

In just two years, the Paris-based company has carved out a reputation as Europe’s most promising AI start-up.

Its flagship product, Le Chat, is a large language model chatbot pitched as a rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Beyond text, Mistral has also rolled out generative models capable of creating images and computer code.

The company has expanded quickly, with offices now open in Paris, London, Luxembourg, New York, Palo Alto and Singapore.

Along the way, it has struck a string of headline-grabbing partnerships – from teaming up with Nvidia to develop a cloud computing platform, to joining forces with Saudi investment fund MGX on an AI campus outside Paris.

Mistral has also signed a deal with Agence France-Presse, allowing Le Chat to draw on AFP’s extensive multilingual news archives to answer users’ queries on current and historical events.

AFP strikes deal for France’s Mistral AI to use news articles

Playing catch-up with US rivals

Despite its rapid rise, Mistral remains a relative lightweight compared with American competitors.

Earlier this month, US firm Anthropic secured fresh funding at a staggering $183 billion valuation, underscoring the scale of investment flooding into AI across the Atlantic.

Yet Tuesday’s announcement marks a clear statement of intent.

For France and Europe more broadly, Mistral’s success is being held up as evidence that the continent can nurture its own champions in a sector increasingly seen as strategic.

With ASML now on board, Mistral has secured both deep pockets and a powerful partner at the heart of global chipmaking.

For Europe’s bid to assert itself in the AI race, that combination may prove invaluable.

Located in the volatile eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Virunga is not only Africa’s first national park but also one of its most biodiverse and economically promising.

“Virunga is Africa’s first national park, and it can be Africa’s best national park,” photographer Brent Stirton told RFI.

“For me, given the resources it has, the potential for ecotourism, the hydroelectric schemes, the wider development taking place around the park, as well as the security it provides, this is a billion-dollar park.”

Despite ongoing conflict and political instability — including the current M23 occupation of parts of the park — a dedicated team continues to pursue an ambitious vision for conservation and sustainable development.

“Eight hundred rangers look after this vast area. Over the past 20 years, more than 240 of them have been killed and many more wounded,” Stirton explained.

“But what I always find extraordinary is that no one abandons their post. No one leaves.”

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► Visa pour l’Image runs from 30 August to 14 September, 2025.

PSG supremos are upset over injuries to star players Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué while they were in action for France against Ukraine on Friday.

Dembélé lasted 36 minutes as a second-half substitute during the 2-0 victory in Wroclaw before being withdrawn with a hamstring problem and Doué was taken off at half-time with a calf strain.

On Sunday, PSG issued a statement calling for a new set of guidelines between clubs and the national team, which is run by the FFF.

“PSG, which monitors its players medically throughout the year and has accurate and detailed information, had provided the FFF with concrete medical data, even before the French team began training, on the acceptable workload and injury risks for its players,” said a club statement.

“The club regrets that these medical recommendations were not taken into account by the French national team’s medical staff and that there was a total lack of consultation with its medical teams.”

Dembélé and Doué face lay-offs of six and four weeks respectively and will miss the start to their team’s defence of the Champions League.

Sad about injuries

“What happened is what happened,” said Deschamps. “I’m really sad about the injuries and also because the France team is losing two important players.

“We did things in a professional, progressive way, as we do with every player,” he added.

 “But PSG are not our opponent — clubs have never been. I’ve been on the other side of that fence myself. Our only opponent is Iceland.”

France go into Tuesday night’s clash at the Parc des Princes in Paris in second place in Group D on goal difference.

Iceland opened up their qualifying campaign for next year’s tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada with a 5-0 annihilation of Azerbaijan in Reykjavík last Friday night.

In the pool’s other clash on Tuesday night, Azerbaijan entertain Ukraine in Baku

Seventh heaven for Tunisia

In Monday night’s qualifiers in Africa, Tunisia became the second team from the continent to advance to the finals.

Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane struck in second-half stoppage time against Equatorial Guinea to secure the points that take the team to the World Cup finals for the seventh time.

Algeria edged closer to the next year’s competition with a 0-0 draw in Guinea to leave them with 19 points from their eight games in Group G.

Vladimir Petkovic’s men will advance to the finals so long as they match Uganda’s result in Botswana during the next round of qualifiers in October.

In Group I, Ghana stayed top following a 1-0 win over Mali. Alexander Djiku hit the only goal of the game just after half-time at the Accra Sports Stadium.

Ghana lead the pool with 19 points from eight of their 10 games. Madagascar are second with 16 points following a 3-1 victory over Chad.

From 8 to 10 September, 45 heads of state and government, alongside more than 25,000 campaigners, business leaders and institutional representatives, are gathering at the African Union’s international conference centre in Addis Ababa.

The meeting is seen as a vital moment for Africa to set its priorities ahead of major international milestones later this year – including the UN General Assembly, the G20, and the upcoming Cop 30 climate negotiations in Brazil.

Climate change is already hitting Africa hard. The World Meteorological Organization estimates that the crisis costs African economies between 2 and 5 percent of GDP annually.

By 2030, as many as 118 million of the continent’s poorest people could face severe droughts, flooding, and extreme heat.

Yet leaders and thinkers are keen to underline that Africa is not simply a victim. The continent holds 60 percent of the world’s solar potential and nearly 40 percent of global renewable energy resources. Its soils are rich in critical minerals essential for the green transition.

“Africa could benefit enormously and even become a global leader in the transition,” argues Iskander Erzini Vernoit, director of the Moroccan think tank, the IMAL Initiative for Climate and Development, speaking to RFI. “But Africa cannot remain passive. It must act in a coordinated way – and that is one of the goals here in Addis Ababa.”

UN court rules countries must treat climate change as an ‘existential threat’

A fairer financial system

Despite this promise, Africa currently attracts only 2 percent of international green investment. High interest rates and the crushing burden of debt remain major barriers.

For Vernoit, this summit offers a chance to demand change, telling RFI: “Africa will continue to press for reform of the international financial architecture. This meeting is a moment to call for a fairer, more equitable system that supports the continent’s climate action efforts.”

African leaders are expected to conclude the summit with a joint declaration, signalling unity and ambition to investors and the international community.

At the first Africa Climate Summit in 2023, leaders committed to scaling up renewable energy capacity from 56 to 300 gigawatts by 2030, and pledges of more than $23 billion in renewable energy investments were announced.

Heavy rains in Guinea capital Conakry cause multiple deaths and destroy homes

Challenge of resilient infrastructure

But climate change is also eroding progress. A new report from the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), released during the summit, highlights the costs of climate damage to African infrastructure – estimated at nearly $13 billion each year.

“Most of these losses come from damage to housing, municipal facilities, schools and hospitals, with flooding accounting for 70 percent of the destruction,” Ramesh Subramaniam, CDRI’s director, explained to RFI. Earthquakes account for a further 28 percent.

The solution, he argues, is not to prevent disasters – which is impossible – but to build smarter and stronger. “If a road is built to the right quality standards, it will resist when disaster strikes. The embankments, the protections – all of it will remain in place,” he says.

According to CDRI, adapting infrastructure to withstand climate impacts typically adds only 5 to 15 percent to a project’s cost.

Yet many African countries face infrastructure funding gaps of up to 50 percent, leaving them unable to invest sufficiently in resilience.

Africans less likely to blame rich nations for climate crisis, survey shows

Stronger voice for Africa

Against this backdrop, the Addis Ababa summit is more than a technical discussion – it is a statement of intent.

Africa’s leaders want to showcase the continent’s potential as a clean energy powerhouse, a hub for innovation, and a driver of global solutions – provided that the international community steps up with fair financing and real partnerships.

By the close of the meeting, a united African position is expected to emerge, sending a message ahead of the world’s next big climate gathering: Africa is ready to lead, but it needs the means to do so.

Invited to an investor forum organised by a French investment bank, BPI France, set for 23 September, Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko declined the invitation, citing scheduling constraints.

He will be represented at the event by a member of his government.

This was to be his first official trip to France.

In a statement published on social media on 3 September, and on the Prime Minister’s website, Sonko  expressed “his sincere thanks to BPI France” for the invitation sent by mail and dated 22 July 2025, to participate as a guest of honour in the 11th edition of Bpifrance Inno Génération (BIG) in Paris,

He added that”a scheduling impediment” has made it impossible to attend in person.

Other trips

In the same statement, Sonko announced two other official trips however: one to the United Arab Emirates, from 8 to 12 September, and another to Italy, where he will meet with the Senegalese diaspora, on 13 and 14 September.

The Senegalese prime minister will also welcome his French counterpart to Dakar as part of the Intergovernmental Seminar (SIG), a joint initiative announced by the two countries. The dates remain to be confirmed as it is not clear who the French prime minister will be.

Senegal leader announces cabinet reshuffle, pledges to work around the clock

France and Senegal

Newspapers’ columnists wrote it might not be appropriate for the prime minister to go to Paris after President Faye went less than a month ago on 27 August.

Faye met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace, and they agreed on the need to “renew” and “strengthen” the relationship between France and Senegal.

He himself took part in key business meetings, the Rencontres des Entrepreneurs de France (REF), where he sought to convince French business leaders to reinvest in his country.

“Senegal offers you an expanding market, recognised political stability and opportunities in strategic sectors with high potential,” Faye even said in a public address.

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

While it is unclear what scheduling problem has led to the cancellation,  Senegal‘s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has to travel to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on the same dates and protocol requires that the head of state and the prime minister can not be outside Senegal at the same time.

A Senegalese political analyst told our correspondent that this cancellation could also simply be a reflection of Sonko’s  political views, given his sovereignist discourse and his strong positions on France in recent years.

(with newswires)

Frederic Péchier, 53, worked as an anaesthetist at two private clinics in the eastern French city of Besançon, where several patients went into cardiac arrest in suspicious circumstances between 2008 to 2017. Twelve could not be resuscitated.

His youngest alleged victim, four-year-old Teddy, survived two cardiac arrests during a routine tonsil surgery in 2016. The doctor’s oldest alleged victim was 89.

The trial, held in Besançon and expected to last until December, comes after a seven-year investigation that stunned the medical community.

“I’ve been waiting for this for 17 years,” said Amandine Lehlen, whose 53-year-old father died of cardiac arrest during kidney surgery in 2008. An autopsy revealed an overdose of lidocaine, a local anaesthetic.

Péchier faces life imprisonment if convicted. The father of three, who has been banned from practising medicine, denies the charges.

He is currently under judicial supervision – an alternative to pre-trial detention.

French doctor charged in 17 new cases of poisoning

Alleged conflict with colleagues

An investigation was launched in January 2017, after 36-year-old Sandra Simard suffered a suspicious cardiac arrest during an operation at the Saint-Vincent clinic in Besançon.

A potentially lethal dose of potassium was discovered in a saline bag used for her anaesthesia.

Suspicion quickly fell on Péchier, who was detained and charged two months later.

Prosecutors allege he had contaminated infusion pouches used by colleagues in order to create operating room emergencies where he could intervene to show off his supposed resuscitating talents.

“What he is accused of is poisoning healthy patients in order to harm colleagues with whom he was in conflict,” said Prosecutor Etienne Manteaux.

“Frederic Péchier was the first responder when cardiac arrest occurred,” he added. “He always had a solution.”

‘Perverse traits’

Pechier has argued that the majority of poisonings were the result of “medical errors” made by his colleagues.

“I am being accused of heinous crimes that I did not commit,” he said in 2017.

His defence team says he “has every intention of proving his innocence in this case”.

A psychological evaluation of the accused carried out in 2019 – and roundly criticised by his defence lawyers – pointed to a “controlling personality” and “perverse traits”.

He is also believed to suffer from depression.

In 2014 he attempted suicide, and in 2021 he fell from a window at his parents’ house in a drunken state.

Over the course of the seven-year investigation, more than 70 reports of “serious adverse events” were examined – medical terminology for unexpected complications or deaths among patients.

The cases of 30 patients who suffered cardiac arrest during surgery at the Saint-Vincent Clinic and the Franche-Comte Polyclinic made it to trial.

According to L’Est Républicain, police had to investigate 1,514 people “who could have had access to the operating theatres” at both clinics. Péchier was the only one whose name appeared at both locations.

The newspaper reported that before Péchier’s brief stint at the Polyclinique de Franche-Comté in 2009, there had been no such incidents reported there.

After he left, following a financial dispute, they ceased. Similarly, Saint-Vincent clinic has had no such events since his arrest.

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A ‘dizzying case’

Manteaux has called the case “unprecedented in French legal history”. Investigators needed years to master the medical knowledge required, identify the alleged crime pattern and determine various methods of operation.

The investigation also required four exhumations of bodies –  a rare judicial decision that the prosecutor said was necessary, despite being “technically complicated, expensive and traumatic for families”.

More than 150 civil parties, including a trade union for anaesthetists, will be represented at the trial.

It is a “dizzying case” due to its “scale, duration and technical complexity,” said Frederic Berna, one of 55 lawyers representing the victims.

Ahead of the trial Pechier said he was “not particularly anxious”.

“I have to fight one last time to bring this to an end,” he told broadcaster BFMTV. “I’m not tired. I’m not angry. I just want people to listen for once.”

(with newswires)

On Tuesday, judges in The Hague will examine 39 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Kony, including murder, torture, rape, sexual slavery and pillaging.

The proceedings, known as a confirmation of charges hearing, will be the court’s first ever in absentia.

Although ICC rules forbid full trials without the accused present, prosecutors argue the hearings are critical to ensure a trial can proceed swiftly should Jospeph Kony finally be caught.

They also say that bringing his alleged crimes before an international court offers a measure of recognition for victims, even in his absence.

Once a Catholic altar boy and later the self-proclaimed prophet of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Kony has eluded capture for decades.

His brutal insurgency against President Yoweri Museveni’s government left at least 100,000 dead and saw some 60,000 children abducted, according to UN estimates.

The LRA’s trail of atrocities – massacres, mutilations, and abductions –spread far beyond Uganda into Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

LRA rebel commander jailed in Uganda for war crimes in landmark case

Courtroom test

Over three days of hearings, ICC judges will assess whether the charges against Kony are sufficiently credible to advance to trial.

His defence team has dismissed the process as “an enormous expense of time, money and effort for no benefit at all”, stressing that no trial can take place unless Kony is apprehended.

But for prosecutors, the exercise has both practical and symbolic importance.

“By hearing the accusations now, the court ensures that justice will not be delayed if he is ever arrested,” one official explained, highlighting the ICC’s duty to victims as well as to the record of international law.

Kony’s case has long been central to the ICC’s identity. The 2005 arrest warrant against him was the first the court ever issued, signalling its mission to tackle the world’s worst atrocities.

Since then, several of his lieutenants have faced justice, including Dominic Ongwen, a former child soldier turned commander who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2021.

In April this year, the ICC ordered €52 million in reparations for Ongwen’s victims.

ICC upholds 25-year war crimes sentence for LRA commander Ongwen

An elusive fugitive

Despite international efforts, Kony remains at large. In 2012, he became globally infamous after the viral “Kony 2012” campaign, which drew more than 100 million views on YouTube.

The campaign prompted then US president Barack Obama to send 100 special forces to support regional militaries in the hunt. Yet the mission ended in 2017 without success.

Recent UN reports suggest Kony has shifted between Sudan and the Central African Republic, pursued at times by defectors, regional armies and even Russian mercenaries.

His following, once several thousand strong, has dwindled to a handful of fighters scattered across remote terrain.

US hunt for Kony over, justice for victims remains

Justice deferred, not denied

For communities scarred by the LRA’s violence, the hearings are a chance to see the world’s attention return to their plight.

Survivors in northern Uganda say the process may not deliver immediate justice but remains meaningful.

“Even though we have passed through a lot, we cannot lose hope,” said Stella Angel Lanam, a former abductee who now runs a victims’ support network. “At least I will get justice.”

The ICC is not expecting Kony to appear in court this week. But the fact that the judges will hear evidence against him – two decades after first issuing his warrant – sends a clear signal that the international community has not given up, and that his alleged crimes will remain on the record until justice is done.

In a letter sent to Brussels on Monday, 150 EV executives, including bosses from Volvo Cars and Polestar, warned that any delay to the 2035 target would hand a competitive advantage to global rivals – particularly Chinese manufacturers – and undermine investor confidence in Europe’s green transition.

“Weakening targets now would send a signal that Europe can be talked out of its own commitments,” said Michael Lohscheller, Polestar’s chief executive, in a statement. “That would not only harm the climate. It would harm Europe’s ability to compete.”

As part of its fight against climate change, the EU requires carmakers to progressively cut carbon emissions produced by new vehicles sold in the bloc, or face steep fines.

In March, the European Commission yielded to pressure from European automakers to give them three years, rather than one, to meet the carbon emission targets.

Two weeks ago, the heads of the European automobile manufacturers’ and automotive suppliers’ associations sent a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressing that a 100 percent reduction in emissions for cars by 2035 was “no longer feasible”.

That letter was signed by Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius – a significant endorsement from one of Europe’s automotive giants.

EU car industry must speed up electric sales or face billions in fines

Emissions targets on track

On 12 September, Von der Leyen is set to discuss the future of the automative sector with industry players as they face increased competition from Chinese rivals and US tariffs.

A study by transport research and campaign group T&E, published Monday, showed that all European carmakers, except for Mercedes-Benz, are on track to meet the emission targets for 2025-2027. The German luxury manufacturer would need to pool its emissions with Volvo Cars and Polestar to avoid fines, the report said.

It forecast battery electric vehicle sales would surpass a 30 percent share of the EU car market in 2027 from 18 percent this year.

Demand for EVs across Europe has slowed, with consumers increasingly opting for cheaper Chinese-made imports.

Carmakers unhappy after EU hits China with tariffs on electric vehicles

Meanwhile, Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa has called for greater flexibility in the transition to electric vehicles, urging the EU to support hybrid technologies as an interim solution.

“A European policy that encourages the replacement of older cars with new cars and a wider choice of powertrains would have a greater impact on global CO₂ emissions,” he argued.

Kasakula received universal access to solar power through an award-winning energy model from SolarAid, a small international charity, which chose the remote, low-income village to pilot its Energy-as-a-Service model.

It means that, since the last week of August, it has become 100 percent powered by solar energy, and almost all of its 8 to 9 000 households have access to this solar powered electricity.

Malawi’s government is now keen to roll out access across the country, setting a precedent for Africa.

Kasakula residents used to live off-grid, relying on candles and a few lamps, says Brave Mhonie, SolarAid Malawi general manager and president of Renewable Energy Industries Association of Malawi.

“We are kind of living the dream, a global dream of universal energy access,” Mhonie told RFI.

“We’re achieving our SDG 7 [Sustainable Development Goal 7] by 2030. [But] as a sector, we are behind our global goals for various reasons, one being poverty. The majority of customers who are being left behind is because they are very poor.”

Sustainable Development Goal 7 is one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. It aims to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”.

“What we wanted was to develop a model that enables universal energy access while being sustainable,” Mhonie said.

“And realising that dream that we have actually connected the entire community, which will act as a blueprint to others to also learn and understand how it can actually be done. So for us, it’s not just a celebration belonging to SolarAid.”

The programme has been pushing the grid to go into the remotest areas, but this grid has got limitation as to how many people can be connected to it and how far it can go for proper maintenance.

SolarAid’s model started by integrating into what the government is already doing, then by extending power coverage, to connect people and make sure that everyone in the area is actually powered with electricity, according to Mhonie.

“We are talking of about 32,000 individuals,” Mohnie said.

They also got involved in this business model.

“We put the community itself at the centre stage of the implementation and delivery of the business activities,” he added.

Changing lives

These changes impact directly the life of people in the village; they improved the way people work, and security at night, and the way they communicate with each other. 

“In general, we can see quite a big shift in terms of impact, on opening business opportunities, for instance,” Mhonie said. “We have some people like tailors using the light to continue working at night, which they never used to do before. We have got some people who own small shops. Again, they are connected and they are extending their working hours.”

SolarAid also connected 12 schools in the area, ten primary schools and two secondary schools. “Learners are now coming to the school at night to have extra lessons from their teachers as well as are studying, especially during the exam time. 

One of the greatest stories that Mhonie has observed so far is its impact on the girls.

“Previously the area, the performance of girls was very low. When we did a survey, we realised that, when the school organises these extra lessons or night studies at school, before we brought in the electricity, it was very difficult for the girls because they couldn’t go to school at night, for obvious reasons, they are so vulnerable.”

So, they were forced to stay at home, while boys were going to school at night to have extra lessons and to study.

“Now that we have connected more or less every, household, the girls are having access to electricity in their respective homes don’t have to go anywhere. And that also has created them to have opportunity to read at night and putting them at the same level as the boys in terms of opportunities.”

There is also one health facility in the area, which is connected to grid, but it is not reliable.

“So at night nurses and midwives were finding it difficult to deliver women at night, when the facility had no electricity. They approached us to connect them to an alternative electricity and a backup to the grid. Now the solar is having more impact on women’s health at night.”

National expansion

Kasakula’s governance structure involves traditional chiefs

Now, the team behind the project is working very closely with the traditional authorities, the chiefs, on consumer education about clean renewable energy and how it actually works, and to teach them about their responsibility in looking after the products.

“We work very closely with the local chiefs to to educate the consumers.”

Spotlight on Africa podcast: Malawi’s first solar-powered village

The community is at the centre stage of delivering this work.

“All the success that we are celebrating today is because of a very strong, cohesive, ah, collaboration with the community members themselves.”

And other villages could learn from that experience, in Malawi and beyond. 

“Our intention is to do something that actually inspires others to also stand up and take action. We know that people want to see solutions coming out, but probably no one has spearheaded with a bold move to take that level of action. So, what we are expecting is that other communities will be inspired by it, and will also take action.”

The charity and its partners are now working with the government to make sure that it has a good knowledge of what is happening, so they can take this model and incorporate it into its rural electrification further into the country.

“We have already received requests from other chiefs wanting us to go into their villages as well to do it, from other organisations that are also interested in rural electrification, coming to seek support on how we can work with them to help.”

The enterprise SunnyMoney and the Swedish NGO Postcode Foundation are also helping in one of the districts down south in Malawi, where a similar project has also been set up at a smaller scale.

Another community group in the eastern part of the country is also working on making solar power happen, as well as a local Catholic church and church members, willing to receive electricity in their homes.

“So it’s something that indeed can be replicated in other areas quite easily,” Mhoni concluded.

The force said 857 people had been arrested under anti-terror laws for supporting a proscribed group during Saturday’s demonstration, with an additional 33 arrested for other offences including assaults on police officers.

“We have a duty to enforce the law without fear or favour. If you advertise that you are intending to commit a crime, we have no option but to respond accordingly,” deputy assistant commissioner Claire Smart said in a statement.

The government in July proscribed Palestine Action under the UK’s Terrorism Act of 2000 following several acts of vandalism, including against two planes at a Royal Air Force base, which caused an estimated £7 million (€8 million) in damage.

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

Critics, including the United Nations, have condemned the ban as legal overreach and a threat to free speech, but ministers insist that people are still able to attend pro-Palestinian marches.

“The contrast between this demonstration and the other protests we policed yesterday, including the Palestine Coalition march attended by around 20,000 people, was stark,” added Smart.

“You can express your support for a cause without committing an offence under the Terrorism Act or descending into violence and disorder, and many thousands of people do that in London every week.”

Serious concerns

Palestine Action has won approval from the High Court to challenge the ban, a ruling the government is seeking to overturn. The case is ongoing, with a hearing scheduled for 25 September.

The UN human rights chief has criticised the British government’s stance, saying the new law “misuses the gravity and impact of terrorism”.

The decision to designate Palestine Action as a terrorist group “raises serious concerns that counterterrorism laws are being applied to conduct that is not terrorist in nature, and risks hindering the legitimate exercise of fundamental freedoms across the UK”, Volker Türk warned.

Police officers assaulted

An estimated 1,500 took part in the Palestine Action protest outside parliament, with some holding placards that read: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”

Of the 33 people arrested for non-terror offences, 17 were for “intolerable” assaults on police officers, the force said.

The organisers of the protest, the campaign group Defend Our Juries (DOJ), said the “Lift the Ban” rally had been “the picture of peaceful protest”.

France says ‘no alternative’ to two-state solution for Israel, Palestinians

Many of those detained for showing support for Palestine Action appeared to be older people.

Most face six months in prison if convicted but organisers of the rallies could be sentenced to up to 14 years if found guilty.

Five members of Defend our Juries were arrested earlier this week ahead of the protest.

Ex-interior minister Yvette Cooper, who oversaw the ban, has accused Palestine Action of orchestrating “aggressive and intimidatory attacks against businesses, institutions and the public”.

Cooper has also suggested that some supporters of Palestine Action “don’t know the full nature of this organisation, because of court restrictions on reporting while serious prosecutions are under way”.

The ban does seem to have increased support for what was previously a little-known organisation.

“It’s so important for me that groups that are called terrorist groups must be terrorist groups,” said 60-year-old greengrocer Philip Hughes, holding a placard that read, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”.

“You cannot go and use terrorism laws to go and stop an organisation who object to something that you have done,” he told AFP.

UN declares famine in Gaza, first ever in the Middle East

The rallies came as Israel launched new strikes on Gaza, with the stated aim of seizing Gaza City to defeat the militant group Hamas.

Several countries, including France and Belgium, have pledged to recognise a Palestinian state during the UN General Assembly later this month.

Britain said it would recognise a Palestinian state if Israel failed to agree to a truce in the Gaza war, triggered by Palestinian group Hamas’s October 2023 attack.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,368 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

(with AFP)

The Irish photographer, who was awarded the prize for his coverage of the battle for Khartoum, which pitted the Sudanese army against the paramilitary militia FSR (Rapid Support Forces) between 2023 and 2025 for control of the country’s capital, expressed “great surprise” and said the award was “a great honour” for him.

“For this work on Sudan, the problem was gaining access to this war. I’m lucky to have had access to it,” he added.

His photos show the daily life of the civil war, with its share of material destruction and, above all, the suffering of a population trying to survive in particularly difficult conditions, while remaining “strong despite what is happening.”

The Visa d’Or Magazine was awarded Friday evening to South African Getty Images photographer Brent Stirton for his report on Virunga National Park, the oldest and largest in Africa, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Several armed groups supported by Rwanda and Uganda are present there, some of which are plundering the DRC’s wealth.

His photographs depict an elephant decapitated for its ivory or a gorilla slaughtered in the jungle, as well as rangers patrolling to combat illegal charcoal production or arresting poachers.

The photographer described his work in the park as “a modest attempt to pay tribute to this extraordinary place on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.”

Resilience in Gaza

The leading international event dedicated to photojournalism, the 37th edition of Visa pour l’image in Perpignan offers snapshots of a world “ever more cruel to the innocent,” victims of the climate crisis and global conflicts, from Ukraine to Gaza.

Among other awards, the Visa d’or from the City of Perpignan Rémi Ochlik was awarded to Alfredo Bosco for his work combating synthetic drug trafficking in Iraq, where sales and distribution are on the rise.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Humanitarian Visa d’Or, which annually recognises a professional photojournalist who has covered a humanitarian issue related to armed conflict, was awarded to Saher Alghorra (Zuma Press) for his work in the Gaza Strip.

In the photos taken by this 26-year-old photographer, still trapped in the Palestinian enclave, we see little girls dressed in pretty dresses on their way to school, children on a swing, others smiling at a motor oil stand, or on the beach trying to escape the war.

While depicting death and hunger, the photojournalist reveals the resilience of the population, which “continues this semblance of reality,” according to Aruallan, a photographer in constant contact with the Gazan.

Global food systems

The Visa d’Or d’honneur from Figaro Magazine, intended to recognise the work of an established photographer still practicing for their entire professional career, was awarded to George Steinmetz.

This year in Perpignan, with his images of megafarms, overfishing, and enormous livestock farms, the American photographer took to the skies, by motorized paraglider or with a drone, to provide “transparency” on the global food system and its “significant impact on the environment.”

“It’s interesting to know where your food comes from,” he says. “You have to be conscious of your choices when you shop.”

(with AFP)

► Visa pour l’Image runs from 30 August to 14 September, 2025.

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday. This week, you’ll hear musical requests from your fellow listeners Eric Mbotji, Hossen Abed Ali, and Jayanta Chakrabarty. 

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: “Seven Seconds” by Youssou N’Dour, Neneh Cherry, Cameron McVey, and Jonathan Sharp, performed by Youssou N’Dour and Neneh Cherry; “Babe” by Gary Barlow, played by Take That, and “Never Let You Go” written and performed by Klaus Waldeck and Patrizia Ferrara.

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!

In a move steeped in symbolism, Turkey’s leader chose recent celebrations marking the Ottoman Turks’ defeat of the Byzantine Christians at the Battle of Malazgirt in 1071 to issue an ultimatum to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

“Those who turn to Ankara and Damascus will win,” Erdogan bellowed to thousands of supporters on 26 August. “If the sword is unsheathed, there will be no room left for pens and words.”

Turkey, a strong ally of Syria, has a military presence in the country and the two governments recently signed a defence training agreement.

But Turkey is unhappy with the presence of the SDF, a coalition of Kurdish and Arab forces, which controls a large swathe of Syria bordering Turkey’s own predominantly Kurdish region.

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

Buying time

The SDF is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has for years been fighting Turkey for greater Kurdish minority rights.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. But Ankara is engaged in a peace process with the Kurdish militants, who have committed to disbanding.

However, Kurdish analyst Mesut Yegen, of the TIM think tank in Istanbul, says the disarmament process would be limited to Kurds from Turkey, and doesn’t include SDF forces in Syria.

Erdogan is now ramping up pressure on the SDF to honour an agreement its leader Mazloum Abdi signed in March with Syria’s new President, Ahmed Al Sharaa, to merge his military forces with the new regime in Damascus.

The deal is backed by the US, which has a military force in the SDF-controlled region as part of its war against the Islamic State.

But, according to Fabrice Balanche from Lyon University: “The SDF has no intention of implementing the agreement made in March. Mazloum just wanted to gain time.”

Balanche points out that Abdi’s SDF is a staunchly secular organisation and remains deeply suspicious of Sharaa’s jihadist connections.

Recent attacks on Syria’s Druze minority by forces linked to Sharaa appear to confirm the SDF’s fears over merging with the Damascus regime, says Balanche.

Syria’s interim president vows justice for Druze after deadly clashes

‘Israel would like a weak Syria’

At the same time, Erdogan is aware that the emergence of an autonomous Kurdish state on its border could be exploited by its rival Israel, which is looking for non-Arab allies in the region.

Aydin Selcen, a former senior Turkish diplomat and an analyst for Turkey’s Mediyascope news outlet, said: “Strategically, Israel would like a weak Syria, a weak Damascus, a weak Beirut and a weak Tehran.”

Turkey has carried out military incursions against the SDF, and its forces remain massed on the border.

But Balanche says American presence there will likely deter any new Turkish military action. However, he warns that Ankara could seek to fuel Kurdish Arab rivalries within the SDF, with the fall of former ruler Bashar al-Assad last December.

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

“It is different now, you have a Sunni leader in Damascus, and many [Arab] tribes, many people, prefer to join Damascus,” he explained.

“So the risk is a proxy war. Of course, for the new regime, it would be a disaster. If you have no peace, you have no investment, you have no trust.”

The dilemma facing Ankara is that any new conflict against the SDF would likely weaken the Sharaa regime – a key ally.

Rwanda received seven people from the United States in the last week of August, as part of a deportation deal with the Trump administration, which has sought to send foreigners to third countries including Eswatini, South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda.

Authorities in Kigali announced at the beginning of August that they had reached an agreement with the United States to take in up to 250 migrants.

The move has raised fresh concerns over human rights, legality, and the growing trend of wealthier nations paying others to accept deportees.

To understand the implications for migrants, for Africa, and for human rights, we spoke to Phil Clark, Professor of International Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. A specialist on Rwanda, the Great Lakes region, and conflict and post-conflict issues in Africa, he has conducted field research in Rwanda and beyond every year for the past 20 years

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

Kasakula: The first solar-powered village in Malawi

Meanwhile, in southern Africa, a community of nearly 9,000 households in rural Malawi became the country’s first village to achieve universal access to solar power at the end of August.

Kasakula town, where off-grid families have until now relied on lamps and candles, has reached this milestone, according to Brave Mhonie, general manager of the charity SolarAid Malawi and president of the Renewable Energy Industries Association of Malawi.

SolarAid is a small international charity, and chose the remote and low-income village of Kasakula to pilot its model called Energy-as-a-Service. 

---

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

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

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

The ePOP video competition is open!

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

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

How do you do it?

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

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

Join the ePOP community and make reality vibrate!

Click here for all the information you need. 

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

Erwan and I are busy cooking up special shows with your music requests, so get them in! Send your music requests to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr Tell us why you like the piece of music, too – it makes it more interesting for us all!

Facebook: Be sure to send your photos to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr for the RFI English Listeners Forum banner!

More tech news: Did you know we have a YouTube channel? Just go to YouTube and write “RFI English” in the search bar, and there we are! Be sure to subscribe to see all our videos.

Would you like to learn French? RFI is here to help you!

Our website “Le Français facile avec RFI” has news broadcasts in slow, simple French, as well as bilingual radio dramas (with real actors!) and exercises to practice what you have heard.

Go to our website and get started! At the top of the page, click on “Test level” and you’ll be counselled to the best-suited activities for your level.

Do not give up! As Lidwien van Dixhoorn, the head of “Le Français facile” service, told me: “Bathe your ears in the sound of the language, and eventually, you’ll get it.” She should know – Lidwien is Dutch and came to France hardly able to say “bonjour” and now she heads this key RFI department – so stick with it!

Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!

In addition to the news articles on our site, with in-depth analysis of current affairs in France and across the globe, we have several podcasts that will leave you hungry for more.

There’s Spotlight on France, Spotlight on Africa, The International Report, and of course, The Sound Kitchen. We also have an award-winning bilingual series – an old-time radio show, with actors (!) to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis. 

Remember, podcasts are radio, too! As you see, sound is still quite present in the RFI English service. Please keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our journalists. You never know what we’ll surprise you with!

To listen to our podcasts from your PC, go to our website; you’ll see “Podcasts” at the top of the page. You can either listen directly or subscribe and receive them directly on your mobile phone.

To listen to our podcasts from your mobile phone, slide through the tabs just under the lead article (the first tab is “Headline News”) until you see “Podcasts”, and choose your show. 

Teachers take note! I save postcards and stamps from all over the world to send to you for your students. If you would like stamps and postcards for your students, just write and let me know. The address is english.service@rfi.fr  If you would like to donate stamps and postcards, feel free! Our address is listed below. 

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

This week’s quiz: On 12 July, I asked you a question about our article “Seven Nobel laureates urge France to adopt a tax on the ‘ultra-rich’”. The open letter, written by seven Economics Nobel laureates, urged the French government to implement a minimum tax on the wealthiest households in France.

The laureates noted that while global billionaires hold assets equivalent to 14 percent of global GDP, French billionaires control wealth worth nearly 30 percent of France’s GDP.

Our article cited a proposed wealth tax, which was voted down by the French Senate (it did pass in the lower house, the Assembly). I asked you to send in the name of the bill and why it has that name.

The answer is: The bill is called the Zucman bill, after Gabriel Zucman. As noted in our article, “The bill was based on proposals by French economist Gabriel Zucman. Initially passed by the National Assembly, the bill would have introduced a ‘differential contribution’ ensuring that individuals with more than €100 million in assets pay at least 2 percent of their annual wealth in taxes.

“The aim was to curb the kinds of avoidance strategies employed by some ultra-wealthy individuals, who are often able to structure their assets in ways that greatly reduce their tax burdens.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by Sultan Sarker, the president of the Shetu RFI Fan Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh. Sultan’s question was: “What do you do when tragedy enters your life? How do you deal with the sorrow, the grief?”

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Admand Parajuli, the president of the Bandhu Listeners Club in Sunsari, Nepal. Admand is also the winner of this week’s bonus quiz. Congratulations, Admand, on your double win.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Ferhat Bezazel, the president of the RFI Butterflies Club Ain Kechera in W. Skikda, Algeria, and Nahid Hossain, a member of the Shetu RFI Listeners Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh. Last but not least, RFI Listeners Club members Rasel Sikder from Madaripur, Bangladesh, and Father Steven Wara, who lives and serves in the Cistercian Abbey at Bamenda, Cameroon.

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Les Sauvages” from Jean Philippe Rameau’s opera-ballet Les Indes Galantes; “Hail, Hail the Gang’s All Here” by Theodora Morse and Arthur Sullivan, sung by the The Childen’s Music Band; “Money Makes the World Go Around” from John Kander and Fred Ebb’s musical Cabaret, sung by Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Azúcar pa’ ti” by Eddy Palmieri, performed by Eddy Palmieri and La Perfecta.  

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read our article “French PM puts government on line with call for confidence vote”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 13 October to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 18 October podcast. When you enter, be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

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

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

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!

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.