Macron also defended France’s recent recognition of the state of Palestine, arguing that it is a necessary step to isolate Hamas and create a pathway toward peace in Gaza.

Following his criticism of “double standards” in the international handling of conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, Macron used the interview to outline France’s strategic approach to both crises, emphasising diplomacy, security, and civilian protection.

Gaza and Hamas

Macron cautioned that a full-scale military campaign in Gaza is unlikely to defeat Hamas and will inevitably put civilians at risk. “Total war kills civilians, it does not destroy Hamas. This is factual,” he said, highlighting the limits of Israel’s ongoing operations.

He acknowledged that Israel’s military has restored its deterrent capability, which was weakened by the attacks of 7 October.

Macron warns Israel that Gaza occupation plan risks ‘war without end’

While the Israeli army has achieved “remarkable military successes” and decapitated Hamas leadership, Macron stressed that the militant group “is not disappearing, it has just as many fighters as at the start of the war.” He questioned the military purpose of Israel’s continued campaign, noting that tactical gains have been made but the broader strategic goal of dismantling Hamas remains elusive.

“Our objective is the release of hostages held by Hamas – and it is clear that total war does not allow this. It even puts them in danger,” he said.

 

He added that France’s second aim is “a ceasefire, saving lives in Gaza and resuming humanitarian work.”

Macron argued that recognition of Palestine is “the only way to isolate Hamas,” noting that the move has already led the Palestinian Authority to condemn the 7 October attacks, call for Hamas’s demilitarisation, and begin a process of internal reform.

Macron says embassy in Palestine will open only after release of hostages

Defending France’s decision to recognise Palestinian statehood, Macron placed it within the framework of reviving diplomacy for a “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

. “France’s position has not changed, we have always supported the two-state solution,” he said, rejecting suggestions that recognition is merely symbolic.

“The decision to recognise Palestine stems from our aim to put in motion a process that enables a path to peace,” he added, linking it to efforts to end the war and secure the release of hostages.

France’s Macron repeats warning on Netanyahu’s military plan for Gaza

European security and Russia

Turning to Europe, Macron emphasised the importance of NATO unity in confronting Russian aggression.

He expressed support for Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pledge to “shoot down” any encroaching Russian aircraft, stressing that NATO members must remain “collectively uncompromising” when dealing with threats.

“The security of Europe is at stake today. We cannot allow the idea to take hold that Poland, Estonia, and Romania are in a weak position, because the next in line would be Germany and then us,” he said.

Macron described Russia as “a destabilising force for all of Europe,” referencing recent Russian incursions into NATO airspace.

He defended NATO’s response as proportionate, noting France’s deployment of additional Rafale fighter jets to Poland to bolster the alliance’s eastern flank. “If there are further incursions, we will have to step up our response,” he warned, adding that such action “would not be in Russia’s interest.”

Macron, Merz and Tusk join Moldova independence day with show of EU support

Ukraine

Macron noted that Russian territorial gains have been limited since Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive in 2022, which stabilised the front line.

“The US has witnessed Ukraine’s ability to resist and our collective capacity to do more,” he said, highlighting Europe’s role in supporting Kyiv alongside partners in the so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing.’

He welcomed Washington’s “new perspective” on the war, noting that recent comments from former President Trump highlighted Russia’s weaknesses.

Macron says Russia does not want peace, stresses security for Ukraine

“This is a very clear message from the US president that Russia is undoubtedly weaker and more fragile than he has sometimes thought,” Macron said, describing it as “a salute to the resistance of the Ukrainians and their ability to hold on to their territory and perhaps take it back.”

Despite this optimism, Macron remained sceptical about the prospects for a ceasefire. “Ukraine’s Zelensky is ready, but Putin has shown no sign he is any more open to peace than he was before,” he said, calling for continued pressure on Moscow to engage in meaningful talks.

Macron says 26 countries pledge troops as a ‘reassurance force’ for Ukraine

A dual approach

Macron’s remarks illustrate France’s dual approach: advocating for diplomatic solutions and civilian protection in the Middle East, while reinforcing European security and NATO unity in response to Russian aggression.

With the United Nations General Assembly in full swing in New York this week, world leaders are preparing for a climate summit on Wednesday, aimed at injecting urgency into the faltering global fight against warming.

The meeting is widely seen as a staging post for November’s Cop30 in Belém, Brazil, where nations are expected to deliver the next big leap forward on climate action.

More than 110 heads of state, alongside business leaders and campaigners, are attending the sprawling Climate Week NYC, which boasts over 1,000 events.

The message from the sidelines is clear – progress is happening, but nowhere near fast enough.

“We’re here to power on,” said Helen Clarkson, head of The Climate Group, at the week’s opening. “It’s an uphill struggle, but we know we don’t have a choice. It’s up to us to protect what we love.”

‘Building trust’ key to solving climate crisis, Cop30 president tells RFI

Moment of contrast

The summit comes amid sharp contrasts. On the one hand, investment in renewables has surged to $2 trillion last year – double the outlay on fossil fuels – with solar now 41 percent cheaper than the cheapest fossil alternative.

“The economic case is clear,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a renewables gathering. “The momentum is real.”

On the other hand, the United States – host nation and historically a climate heavyweight – has been singled out for what analysts call the “biggest backslide in history” on climate policy.

Climate Action Tracker warned that recent rollbacks under President Donald Trump represent the most aggressive reversal they have ever documented.

Trump himself turned heads with a broadside against climate science during an address to the United Nations on Tuesday, using the moment to claim global warming is “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.”

His stance has left allies dismayed but also galvanised others to press ahead regardless.

“Despair is not leadership. Fear has never built anything,” Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest said in New York.

France pushing for ‘China-EU leadership’ on climate to counter US withdrawal

Spotlight on China

All eyes, however, are on Beijing, as Chinese Premier Li Qiang will open the summit, with an update expected on his country’s 2035 emissions-cutting plan.

China is the world’s top polluter, responsible for about 30 percent of greenhouse gases, yet it is also racing ahead in green technology, from solar to electric vehicles.

Analysts expect China to pledge a modest reduction – “single digit to low double digit” percentage cuts – which may disappoint campaigners but still signals intent ahead of Cop30.

Crucially, Beijing is on track to peak emissions five years earlier than promised, thanks to its rapid roll-out of renewables.

“China has already become the green tech superpower of the world,” said Li Shuo of the Asia Society, who expects the country to under-promise but over-deliver.

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

Hope, with caveats

UN climate chief Simon Stiell is trying to keep the mood balanced between warnings and hope.

Without global cooperation, he says, the world is heading for five degrees of warming.

Now the trajectory is closer to three – still dangerous, but progress nonetheless.

“This new era of climate action must be about bringing our process closer to the real economy,” Stiell told delegates, launching a new “Build Clean Now” initiative to fast-track green industries.

Small island states, meanwhile, are making their voices heard.

Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne reminded leaders that “every degree of warming is an invoice” his Carribbean nation cannot pay.

Vanuatu and its allies in the Pacific are preparing a push at the UN General Assembly to require stronger action, citing this year’s International Court of Justice ruling that governments are legally bound to act.

World powers fail to reach climate targets as UN deadline passes

Setting the stage for Brazil

With just weeks before Cop30 gets underway in Belém, the pressure is on.

Only 47 of 195 countries have submitted their updated national climate plans, even though they were due last February.

China and the EU are expected to show their hands in New York, while others may follow suit.

The idea is to give negotiators in Belém a clearer sense of where the world stands ahead of the summit’s opening on 10 November.

The context is sobering, as the planet is already around 1.4°C warmer than pre-industrial levels, just a sliver below the 2015 Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C threshold.

Scientists warn that without sharper cuts, that goal will soon slip out of reach. Yet leaders here are keen to frame the summit as a springboard rather than a dead end.

As Stiell put it, “We are bending the curve. Still too high – but bending.”

(With newswires)

Following the American president’s scathing speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron had a pointed message for Trump: if the US leader really wants a Nobel Peace Prize, he has to stop the war in Gaza.

Speaking to France’s BFM TV from New York, Macron said only Trump had the leverage to push Israel towards ending the conflict.

“There is one person who can do something about it, and that is the US president,” Macron declared. “The reason he can do more than us is because we do not supply the weapons and equipment that allow war to be waged in Gaza. The United States of America does.”

Macron recognises Palestinian state at UN, defying Israel and United Sates

‘Reward for Hamas’

Macron’s comments followed Trump’s combative return to the UN General Assembly – his first since re-entering the White House.

He lashed out at the UN itself, accused European partners of letting migration send their countries “to hell” and derided climate change as a “con job”.

In his speech, Trump rejected his European allies’ recognition of a Palestinian state, dismissing it as a “reward for Hamas militants”.

But he also insisted: “We have to stop the war in Gaza immediately. We have to immediately negotiate peace.”

Israeli ambassador slams French recognition of Palestine as ‘historic mistake’ on RFI

Macron suggested Trump’s own ambitions could hinge on this one issue. “I see an American president who is involved, who reiterated from the podium this morning: ‘I want peace. I have resolved seven conflicts.’ Who wants the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Peace Prize is only possible if you stop this conflict.”

Several countries, including Israel, Cambodia and Pakistan, have nominated Trump for the award, in recognition of various ceasefire deals.

Trump himself has repeatedly insisted he deserves the prize, noting that four of his predecessors have won it.

Meanwhile, the White House defended his record: “President Trump has done more for peace than everyone present at the United Nations combined,” spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.

“Only this president could have accomplished so much for global stability because he has effectively Made America Strong Again.”

Changing stance on Ukraine

Hours after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in New York, Trump declared that he now believes Ukraine can win back all the territory seized by Russia – including Crimea, occupied since 2014.

“I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” he posted on his Truth Social media platform.

“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original borders … are very much an option.”

US president Trump set to meet Ukraine’s Zelensky ahead of UN address

This was a significant departure from Trump’s earlier line that Kyiv would have to give up land in exchange for peace.

Zelensky has long pleaded for stronger US backing. “Trump is a game changer by himself,” he said after their meeting.

This about-turn also reassured European leaders, who had been rattled by Trump’s previous references to “land swapping”.

Macron welcomed the change in stance, saying that he was glad to see Washington back Ukraine’s goal of restoring its sovereignty in full.

Trump still insists he could end the war quickly, saying in his UN speech that Russia’s flailing campaign in Ukraine shows it up as a “paper tiger“.

The most notable change was his signal that NATO allies should be prepared to shoot down Russian planes violating their airspace – a line that raises the temperature in Europe’s already tense skies.

France spearheads UN drive to recognise Palestinian statehood

Trump slams the UN

During his address to world leaders, Trump accused the UN of doing little more than issuing “really strongly worded letters” and mocked its broken escalator and malfunctioning teleprompter.

While in 2018 fellow leaders chuckled at his bravado, this time they sat in stony silence.

On migration, Trump told European leaders their countries were “going to hell” and accused the UN of “funding an assault” on the West.

On climate change, he doubled down on his scepticism, calling global warming “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”.

Trump also hinted at more sanctions on Russia, and pressure on Europe to stop buying Russian energy.

After talks with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Trump suggested the organisation needed “certain people” to run it better.

France’s decision to recognise the Palestinian state at the United Nations this week – alongside a handful of other Western powers – was a diplomatic landmark.

But on the streets of Ramallah and across the occupied West Bank, the mood was more weary than celebratory.

After decades of stalled promises, occupation and expanding settlements, Palestinians met this recognition with caution.

In the village of Raba, near Jenin, mayor Ghassan Bazour surveys the bulldozers at work on confiscated land. “The inhabitants no longer have the right to go to their fields. They can’t graze their animals either,” he told RFI.

Thirteen hectares have already been seized, he says, first earmarked for a military base but almost certainly destined for new Israeli settlements, considered illegal under international law.

The French recognition, he adds, is “a step in the right direction – but much more will be needed”.

His councillor Amar Bazour is even more blunt: “If it’s just a recognition on paper, it will change nothing. There have been UN resolutions for decades, but no implementation. As Palestinians, we’ve lost confidence in most countries of the world.”

Macron recognises Palestinian state at UN defying Israel and US

That scepticism is widely shared. In Ramallah, reporters found cafés filled with chatter and card games, but no live broadcasts of the UN debate.

Football commentary and the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris attracted more eyes than Emmanuel Macron’s speech.

“The West makes a big story of it, but for us, nothing changes,” shrugged Rasha, a woman in her thirties. “Our daily life is still the same mess.”

Still, there were flickers of hope. In one café, a group of older men watched Macron’s address and applauded discreetly. “Something good will come for the Palestinians in the years ahead,” said 63-year-old Abou Elias.

Another noted after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech at the UN: “He spoke well.”

But even the optimists tempered their hopes with realism. “People are tired – nothing has happened in 80 years,” Elias said. “You don’t get to the moon in one day.”

Macron says embassy in Palestine will open only after release of hostages

Concessions offered

In June, Abbas wrote privately to Macron and Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, offering a series of concessions to smooth the path to recognition.

The letter promised to sideline Hamas – condemning its 7 October, 2023 attacks and insisting the movement must “lay down its arms” and that it would not govern Gaza after the war.

Abbas also pledged that a future Palestinian state would not be militarised if it received international protection.

He committed to elections within a year of the war’s end, and to halting the controversial allowances paid to the families of militant attackers – a longstanding Israeli grievance.

Paris hailed these as “concrete and unprecedented commitments, showing a real will to move towards a two-state solution”.

Israel’s ambassador in France, meanwhile, dismissed them as worthless promises from a president who has long since lost legitimacy.

France condemns Israel’s west bank settlement plan as serious breach of international law

Reality of daily life

For most Palestinians, these diplomatic overtures feel distant. Daily life in the occupied West Bank remains dominated by checkpoints, economic stagnation and the steady spread of Israeli settlements.

Rasha, who has been unable to visit her family in northern Palestine since the spring, said: “It’s too risky with settlers attacking, and there are too many checkpoints. That’s the reality of their Palestinian state.”

Young people are equally unconvinced. “The war in Gaza has lasted two years already. Will this recognition end it? No, it will go on,” said 18-year-old Zain Abdel Wahab.

His friend Ibrahim Salam Abdullah pleaded for something more tangible: “We want those countries that recognised Palestine to improve the situation here in the West Bank, to end the war in Gaza, and stop the famine that is affecting our children there.”

(with AFP)

France has declined to grant political asylum to anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, dismissing his plea that he would face persecution if returned to Canada or the United States.

Ofpra, the French body charged with asylum decisions, judged his fears “unfounded,” noting that both countries are “democracies governed by the rule of law”.

Watson, the founder of the Sea Shepherd conservation group, aged 74, holds dual US and Canadian citizenship.

He was held in Greenland for five months in 2024 before Denmark declined to extradite him to Japan, which accuses him of involvement in damage and injury aboard a Japanese whaling vessel in 2010.

He arrived in France late last year and filed his asylum claim in February.

Paul Watson: unshaken by prison and still fighting for whales

Furthering the campaign

Speaking to RFI in February, Watson remained unbowed by his ordeal. He described his jail time as “an opportunity to further the campaign” against illegal whaling, adding that he was “overwhelmed by the international response” to his detention.

He said he believed Denmark was “surprised” at the attention his case drew.

He remarked: “International waters are like the wild west, where rules exist but are not respected, often for economic or political motives.”

Watson emphasised that in his decades of activism he has “never hurt anyone” and has always “operated within the framework of the law”.

He pointed out that, over the years, his crews had intervened to rescue an estimated 6,000 whales.

When pressed on his motivation, he recalled a harrowing experience in 1975 in which a whale threatened to crush his ship.

He said: “I looked directly in its eye … I could tell it knew what we were doing. … He could have killed us, but he chose not to. I owe my life to this whale. That’s when it hit me … we [humans] are insane. And I said to myself that I would do whatever it takes to protect these animals.”

Sea Sheperd’s Paul Watson vows to keep fighting for oceans from Marseille

‘Disappointed’ but hopeful

Watson, who is still based in France, recently told RFI he tries not to dwell on uncertainty. “You have no control over the future, but you have absolute control over the present. What you do today will define your future.”

For him, that means continuing to use every platform available – from international summits to grassroots campaigns – to highlight threats to the ocean and rally support for whales.

Watson told reporters he is “disappointed” by the rejection of his asylum claim, but remains hopeful that he might ultimately obtain French citizenship.

His lawyer, Emmanuel Ludot, has urged France to reconsider. He said: “France is not honouring itself by refusing political asylum to Paul Watson. Japan maintains its international arrest warrant, so he is still in danger, wherever he may travel.”

(with AFP)

With her fierce beauty and husky voice, Cardinale not only captivated Italy’s greatest filmmakers, she played opposite most of the leading men of the time, from Burt Lancaster to Alain Delon and Henry Fonda.

She died at her home in Nemours, near Paris, with her children by her side, her agent Laurent Savry told French news agency AFP, adding that the date and place of her burial had not yet been fixed.

“She leaves us the legacy of a free and inspired woman, both as a woman and as an artiste,” Savry said.

Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli called her “one of the greatest Italian actresses of all time” and said Cardinale embodied “Italian grace”.

But Cardinale’s fairytale career began as a nightmare, after she was raped in her teens by a film producer and became pregnant. With few options at the time, she made the tough decision to try “to earn a living and her independence” from cinema in order to bring up her son, even though she never wanted to be in films.

“I did it for him, for Patrick, the child I wanted to keep despite the circumstances and the enormous scandal,” she told French daily Le Monde in 2017. “I was very young, shy, prudish, almost wild. And without the slightest wish to expose myself on the film sets.”

Reluctant star

Born in La Goulette, near Tunis, on 15 April, 1938, to Sicilian parents, Cardinale’s life was turned upside down at at the age of 16, when she was picked out of a crowd to win a local beauty contest.

Crowned “The most beautiful Italian girl in Tunis”, the prize was a trip to the Venice film festival – where she immediately turned heads and, reluctantly, turned her back on her plans to become a teacher.

60s filmstar Claudia Cardinale honoured in Tunisian birthplace

“All the directors and producers wanted me to make films, and I said no, I don’t want to!” she said. It was her father who eventually convinced her to “give this cinema thing a go”.

Her sexual assault happened just as she began to land small film roles. A mentor convinced her to secretly give birth in London and entrust the child to her family. To the rest of the world, her son Patrick was passed off as her younger brother, until she revealed the truth seven years later.

“I was forced to accept this lie to avoid a scandal and protect my career,” she said.

‘Post-war European glamour’

There was no looking back, as she was swept up into the golden age of Italian cinema – even though she knew “not a word” of the language, speaking only French, Arabic and her parents’ Sicilian dialect.

“I became the heroine of a fairytale, the symbol of a country whose language I barely spoke,” she wrote in her 2005 autobiography My Stars.

Her voice had to be dubbed in Italian until she starred in Fellini’s Oscar-winning surrealist hit 8 1/2 in 1963, when the director insisted she use her own voice. She was filming Visconti’s epic period drama The Leopard at the same time.

Critics called her the “embodiment of post-war European glamour”, and she was packaged as such, both on screen and off. “It’s almost like she had sexiness thrust upon her,” The Guardian newspaper wrote in 2013.

Also embraced by Hollywood – where she refused to settle – Cardinale had a huge hit with Blake Edwards’ The Pink Panther alongside Peter Sellers, then Henry Hathaway’s Circus World with Rita Hayworth and John Wayne.

“The best compliment I ever got was from actor David Niven while filming The Pink Panther,” Cardinale recalled – “Claudia, along with spaghetti, you’re Italy’s greatest invention.”

She acted into her 80s, including in the play La Strana Coppia, a female version of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, at the Teatro Augusteo in Naples.

Women’s rights ambassador

While she was an object of desire, she said her “only love” was the Neapolitan director Pasquale Squitieri, the father of her daughter Claudia, with whom she worked on several films over four decades until his death in 2017.

Her own decades-long career saw her star in 175 films, and both the Venice and Berlin film festivals awarded her honorary prizes.

In 2017 she featured on the official poster of the Cannes film festival, amid an outcry that her thighs had been airbrushed to make them seem thinner – when Cardinale had famously refused to ever have any cosmetic surgery.

A staunch defender of women’s rights, she was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 2000 in recognition of her commitment to the cause of women and girls.

Of this, she said: “I’ve had a of luck. This job has given me a multitude of lives, and the possibility of putting my fame at the service of many causes.”

(with AFP)

The Electoral Commission made the announcement on Tuesday, near the capital, Kampala.

Uganda’s long-time President Yoweri Museveni will thus stand in the January 2026 elections, despite his nearly 40-year rule in the East African country, having been in power since 1986. 

After the announcement, he urged supporters to back his vision for the future.

His party, the governing National Resistance Movement (NRM), had officially confirmed him in June as its presidential candidate.

Readied programme

In posts on social media, he thanked the NRM members for entrusting and electing him as their “Presidential flag bearer for the 2026-2031 term.”

“In this economy, the GDP of Uganda has doubled currently in the recent Kisanja from $34 billion to $66 billion,” he wrote. “You have everything today that you lacked in the past: electricity, roads, telephones, manpower, the educated people, and peace. That’s why we are being flooded by many investors because they are looking for a peaceful and profitable area where to invest.”

He named among his priorities for this term wealth creation, education, infrastructure, the fight against crime and against corruption, and improvement in health and water provision.

Controversial figure

A former rebel, Museveni came to power as he was seen as a hero who brought back peace to Uganda.

After seizing power in 1986 through force, Museveni said the problem facing Africa was not its people but “leaders who want to overstay in power”.

For the next ten years Uganda had no multiparty elections. The country operated under what he called the “Movement system”.

In 1996, Museveni organised Uganda’s first presidential election under this system, standing as the candidate of the Movement, and won with around 75 percent of the vote.

Multiparty politics was only restored in 2005, after a referendum, while , under pressure from Museveni, the parliament scrapped presidential term limits.

Museveni is now Africa’s fourth longest-ruling leader, and his government has amended the constitution twice to remove age and term limits, allowing him to remain in office.

Since coming to power, has been credited with stabilising Uganda, promoting economic growth, and combating HIV/AIDS.

But critics denounce his government’s suppression of political opponents, human rights abuses and corruption scandals.

Ugandan opposition denounces brutal crackdown ahead of 2026 elections

Towards January 2026 polls

Museveni’s was the first candidacy to be cleared by the elections body, which is charged with evaluating whether those seeking office meet legal requirements.

The body assessed this Wednesday the candidacy of Bobi Wine, 43, real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, a singer who has leveraged his pop stardom to galvanise a large support base among young voters.

Museveni defeated Wine in 2021 by a wide margin, though Wine said his victory was stolen through ballot stuffing, intimidation by security forces and other irregularities.

 

Bobi Wine’s fight for democracy in Uganda continues on the big screen

The president’s opponents have long accused him of using state patronage and the military to maintain his grip on power, and of using kidnappings and torture against adversaries, claims he denies.

In May, Museveni’s son, who is also Uganda’s military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba, admitted to holding a missing opposition activist in his basement while threatening that Wine would be next.

 (with Reuters)

In a letter sent to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday, Macron confirmed France’s intention to press ahead with recognition and work to convince other partners to do the same. 

To date, about 144 of the 193 UN member states have recognised a Palestinian state, including most of the global south as well as Russia, China and India. Only a handful of the 27 EU countries do so, mostly former Communist countries as well as Sweden and Cyprus.

Spain, Ireland, Norway and Slovenia did so last year.

If Macron keeps his promise, France – a permanent member of the UN Security Council – will become the largest Western power and the first G7 country to recognise Palestinian statehood. 

The decision is mostly symbolic, with Israel occupying the territories where the Palestinians have long sought to establish such a state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

But it makes Israel appear more isolated on the international stage over the war in Gaza, where Israel has been fighting Hamas militants since the 7 October 2023 terror attack.

Why now?

Macron’s announcement on Thursday has been fuelled by the rising global outcry over starvation and devastation in Gaza.

According to the World Health Organization and a number of international aid organisations, Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid delivery have led to mass starvation in the enclave, though Israel blames Hamas for the suffering.

Macron had been leaning towards recognising Palestine for months as part of a bid to keep the idea of a two-state solution – traditionally defended by France – alive. But he has speeded up the timetable.

“Emmanuel Macron has realised that, in reality, he cannot, unfortunately, expect French diplomacy to have a knock-on effect,” says Middle East specialist Frédéric Encel. “A few months ago, he had hoped that Saudi Arabia, or at least one Arab state, would recognise Israel as a price for France’s recognition of Palestine. That’s obviously not the case,” he told RFI.

Faced with Washington’s huge influence in the region and France’s diminishing influence there, Macron “decided to take the bull by the horns closer to the date of the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly at the beginning of September”. 

As co-host alongside Saudi Arabia of next week’s UN conference in New York aimed at promoting the two-state solution, France was also under pressure to clarify its stance.

“It’s difficult for France to chair a coalition in favour of a two-state solution if France itself does not recognise one of the two states,” says Hasni Abidi, director of the Geneva-based Centre for Studies and Research on the Arab and Mediterranean World (CERMAM).

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

France still counts

Palestinian authorities in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank have largely welcomed France’s decision.

“At last, France is aligning itself with international law – a system that was invented and built in Europe,” says Anwar Abu Eisheh, the PA’s former culture minister.

“France, like Germany and the United Kingdom, is a major global player with considerable influence,” Eisheh told RFI. “And France is also a permanent member of the UN Security Council – that carries weight. This could help accelerate a genuine state-building process.”

Given that Palestinians have lost faith in the West, after lots of talk about values and human rights but little evidence on the ground, “this could at least help limit the damage”, he argues.

“More than 148 states have recognised a Palestinian state,” Abidi notes. “France can only be part of this march of history. What is happening today in Gaza is the result of international resignation and the lack of interest in the Palestinian question and the Palestinian state. And that, in my opinion, is an important factor that led President Macron to anticipate this decision.”

Jean-Paul Chagnollaud, a Middle East expert and co-author of the Atlas du Moyen-Orient, agrees. “It’s a crucial move. It reasserts the principles of international law and the UN Security Council resolutions calling for a two-state solution. France’s recognition of Palestine is a step in that direction.”

Going it alone

Encel, however, plays down the importance of Macron’s contribution.

“It won’t be a decisive contribution. Firstly, because it will change absolutely nothing on the ground. Secondly, because without the knock-on effect France will lose credibility.”

Macron’s announcement has indeed opened the door for other major G7 nations such as Britain, Germany and Canada to possibly jump on board.

Chagnollaud says that the announcement was initially scheduled to coincide with a conference in New York in June, which was postponed due to hostilities between Israel and Iran. “At that time, French diplomacy was actively seeking support from other players – Canada and the UK in particular. It was clear that France hoped to bring others on board, not just within Europe, but globally.”

In the immediate term, Malta and Belgium have indicated they could be the next EU countries to recognise a Palestinian state but whether bigger international players will follow is far from sure.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday that his government would recognise a Palestinian state only as part of a negotiated peace deal, disappointing many in his Labour Party who want him to follow France.

After discussing with Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ways to pressure Israel to end its war in Gaza, Starmer said he was focused on the “practical solutions” that he thought would make a real difference to ending the war.

Earlier on Friday, a German government spokesperson said it was not planning to recognise a Palestinian state in the short term and that its priority was to make “long-overdue progress” towards a two-state solution.

Chagnollaud says Germany “remains paralysed by the historical weight of its responsibility for the Holocaust. 

And without Germany, Encel insists EU pressure on Israel will be minimal.

“As long as Germany, which is Israel’s economic heavyweight and main economic partner within the European Union, does not take this kind of step, the Israeli government will not take the French position into account.”

Does Macron’s pledge on Palestine signal a return to France’s ‘Arab policy’?

‘Rewarding terrorism’

“Despite the announcement, many Palestinians criticise France for remaining close to Israel, so I wouldn’t call it a breath of fresh air,” Encel says. “As for the Israeli government, it will make little difference –  they’re a far-right coalition that couldn’t care less what France or most European states do.”

Israel has reacted angrily, accusing France of “rewarding terrorism” in reference to Hamas.

In a statement, Hamas welcomed Macron’s decision as a “positive step” towards justice and self-determination for the Palestinian people.

Israel argues French recognition of Palestine will encourage Hamas to hold a harder line in ceasefire negotiations but France insists the announcement – which also called for Hamas to be demilitarised – was not about rewarding Hamas but rather “proving it wrong”.

“Hamas has always rejected the two-state solution. By recognising Palestine, France is proving this terrorist movement wrong. It is proving the peace camp right against the war camp,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on X.

Israel slams French plan to recognise Palestinian state as a ‘prize for terror’

Domestic differences

France is home to Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim populations so any decisions relating to Israel and the Palestinians can have an impact on the domestic front.

Announcing his decision, Macron said “the French people want peace in the Middle East”.

However, a poll last month found that only 22 per cent were in favour of immediate and unconditional recognition while 47 per cent would accept recognition once Hamas had laid down its arms and released all the Israeli hostages.

Opinion among France’s political class is also divided. Jean-Luc Mélénchon, figurehead of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, which has long defended Palestinian rights, described Macron’s decision as a “moral victory”. Socialist MP Arthur Delaporte said that faced with famine and ongoing massacres “the priority is to stop the violence,” adding that recognition of Palestine, while not enough, is a step in the right direction.

The conservative Republicans party (LR) said that while it had “always been favourable” to recognising a Palestinian state, the conditions were not met.

“At present it would give victory to Hamas – a terrorist organisation – while the [Israeli] hostages have still not been freed”, it wrote in a statement. 

The far-right National Rally (RN) party, closely aligned to Israel’s right-wing Likud, said Macron’s decision was “precipitated”.  RN lawmaker Julien Odoul went further saying it legitimised Hamas.

“Be as violent as possible and you’ll be handed a state on a silver platter. The signal this sends to the world, especially from France, is appalling.”

Macron’s supporters within the government back the move as both a principled and strategic step.

Popescu served as foreign minister in 2019, then as deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs between 2021 and 2024, when he resigned citing personal reasons.

He is now co-director of the European Security Programme and distinguished policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, as well as an associate professor at Sciences Po Paris.

In July, he announced that he would be re-joining the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) and standing in the election in September, which he called “the most important in the recent history of the Republic of Moldova”.

Despite the shadow of Moscow looming large and the economic shock of the war in Ukraine, Popescu tells RFI he remains confident that Moldova will uphold stability and maintain its pro-European direction.

RFI: How stable is Moldova’s democracy at the moment?

Nicu Popescu: Moldova has had an uninterrupted democratic track record since its independence in 1991. That’s 34 years of orderly, calm, democratic changes of government. So, Moldova has a good record.

But it is also true that in recent years, in the context of Russian aggression against Ukraine, the shocks and pressures on Moldova have increased dramatically. Moldova has nevertheless maintained peace, stability, and its democratic process.

In recent years, presidential elections were complicated, but nonetheless reconfirmed Moldova’s democratic functioning. I am sure the same will happen this time.

So, yes, the pressures are there. There is a lot of Russian interference through illegal party financing. Russia switched off gas supplies a few years ago. But Moldova has found solutions to stay the course, to preserve stability and to remain democratic until now. And I am sure it will continue to do so.

RFI: What could the Moldovan government do better to counter Russian disinformation?

NP: Disinformation is a large-scale attempt to influence and sway voters in many countries. It mostly comes through digital tools and digital means, and we have seen Russian interference in France, the UK, Central Europe, Romania – and many others.

That is also happening in Moldova. There are large-scale operations on TikTok and other social media which are essentially strengthening and amplifying the messaging of pro-Russian political players.

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

 

Besides that, there is a lot of non-digital interference. The Russians have been trying to buy votes on a large scale. Last year, roughly 140,000 people from Moldova – representing around 10 percent of the normal electorate – received Russian bank cards, and many of them were paid through these cards in order to vote as instructed by Russia.

There have been multiple instances of large amounts of cash being seized from pro-Russian political activists. In just one day in April 2024, for example, at Chisinau airport, police detained people trying to bring in roughly €1 million in cash.

So there are many attempts to buy votes and to finance political operatives, journalists, and influencers with vast amounts of completely illegal money. This is a wide spectrum of activities that Russia has been undertaking – and they are completely illegal, going well beyond the digital sphere.

RFI: Moldova received European Union candidate status on 22 June. What progress has been made since then?

NP: In 2023, the European Commission assessed that Moldova had demonstrated very good progress on eight of the 35 chapters, which at the time placed Moldova among the EU candidate countries with the fastest rate of adoption of the Acquis Communautaire. 

Moldova has made significant progress towards energy independence and the green transition. Throughout most of the summer, about a third of Moldova’s energy came from renewable sources – wind and solar power. On some days, Moldova even covered 100 percent of its electricity needs from renewables, which is a good rate by European standards.

There has also been significant progress in infrastructure development, including road building in villages. Many villages still need better access to drinking water, and there have been hundreds of projects with concrete benefits for the population, upgrading Moldova’s infrastructure [to be] closer to EU standards.

RFI: When Ukraine wanted to sign a trade deal with the EU in 2013, Russia was fiercely against it. How do you think Russia will react if Moldova joins the EU?

NP: Russian hostility towards Moldova is nothing new. Russia has opposed Moldovan sovereignty and independence since the late Soviet period, from the late 1980s.

Since independence in 1991, Russia has supported separatism in Moldova, maintained an illegal presence in Transnistria, and imposed blockades on dairy products, fruit and vegetables, while using energy as a tool of pressure. With the aggression against Ukraine, the risks have certainly grown.

There have been multiple incidents of Russian drones and missiles transiting Moldovan airspace. Moscow’s energy blackmail has grown. Gas supplies were cut off two years ago, which shocked domestic prices.

But each time Russia sought to pressure Moldova, the country managed to soften the blow by finding alternative markets – with the support of European partners as well as the US, UK, Canada and Japan.

RFI: How does Moldova assess the Russian presence of some 5,000 military “peacekeepers” in Transnistria?

NP: It is clearly important to overcome this separatist conflict. It is also clear that Russia has maintained this illegal military presence since the 1990s, despite having previously committed to withdrawing the troops and weapons by the end of 2002. Moscow has not respected its obligation to withdraw, which is a problem.

At the same time, Moldova has managed to preserve peace, calm and stability around the separatist region. There have not been significant security incidents. The country is at peace. That region is not currently in a tense security situation. Differences with the separatist area are managed through talks, negotiations and peaceful means.

Moldovans living on both banks of the River Dniester have made a real effort since the full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine three and a half years ago not to import war into Moldovan territory, but instead to resolve their differences peacefully. This must continue.

RFI: To what extent does the Transnistria situation affect the EU accession talks?

NP: It is much better to join the EU without a separatist conflict. At the same time, the EU would not be facing such a situation for the first time. Germany, a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community, was divided for more than three decades but still co-founded the European project. Later on, there was the case of Cyprus.

Of course, separatist areas always pose problems. But Europe’s history shows there are ways to minimise the impact on the rest of the Union. In the case of Moldova, the hope is that by joining the EU, reintegration of the country will in fact be made easier and more sustainable.

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

RFI: French President Emmanuel Macron has been very vocal in supporting Moldova’s EU accession. How significant has the French backing been?

NP: France, together with other partners, has played an extremely important role. The Moldova Support Platform, launched by Romania, France and Germany, has been fundamental in keeping Moldova stable economically and in security terms. France’s investment and commitment to Moldova’s peace are deeply appreciated.

Just recently, on Independence Day, 27 August, the Weimar Triangle leaders – the president of France, the chancellor of Germany and the president of Poland – came to Chisinau and spoke to 100,000 people in the city’s main square. President Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk addressed the crowd in Romanian, a gesture of respect warmly received by the Moldovan people.

RFI: Are you worried about US foreign policy, given President Donald Trump’s softer line towards Russian President Vladimir Putin?

NP: We have seen many statements, but we have also seen NATO remain strongly committed, with allied states continuing to invest seriously in security and defence. I believe the EU, NATO and the US are now on track to strengthen their shared security capacity and maintain peace in Europe.

It is very clear that Washington wants peace in Europe to be underpinned by greater European investment in defence, which would also allow the US to reposition some of its forces. That is a legitimate and longstanding demand – it predates President Trump. I think the alliance is on track to meet it.

And as long as NATO remains united and militarily modern, it will continue to act as a strong factor for peace in Europe.

Under negotiation since 2001, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies was adopted in June 2022, and enough countries ratified it for it to officially come into force on Monday, 15 September.

Subsidies to fishing fleets are a key factor in the depletion of fish stocks around the world. Critics have long argued that they incentivise boats to catch fish faster than stocks can replenish.

Around 35 percent of global fish stocks are overfished, compared to just 10 percent in 1974, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, and almost all stocks are fished at their maximum sustainable level.

‘Game changer’

The WTO deal, the first to address an environmental issue, is a “game changer”, according to Tristan Irschlinger, an expert on the issue at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, a Canada-based think tank.

“States will no longer implement their subsidy policies in a legal vacuum – they will need to keep sustainability in mind,” he told RFI.

In 2018, states granted fisheries €30.1 billion ($35.4 billion) in public subsidies, according to one study, with China, the European Union, the United States, South Korea and Japan in the lead.

Of that sum, “governments spend around €18.7 billion ($22 billion) on harmful subsidies that contribute to overfishing and the depletion of marine resources”, said WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

The new rules aim to address both environmental concerns and the well-being of fishing communities.

“No one has an interest in financially supporting illegal fishing, or harvesting of already overfished stocks,” Irschlinger said. But there needed to be a mechanism for countries to stop doing so, he suggested, “without losing face in front of other states”.

France defends tuna policy as critics warn of overfishing in the Indian Ocean

Rooting out illegal fishing

The first part of the WTO agreement, called Fish 1, targets illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices, whether carried out deliberately or not.

“The agreement specifically targets industrial fishing activities that profit illegally because they know the risks are generally quite low,” explains Irschlinger.

IUU practices include vessels operating without authorisation or in violation of the law, such as fishing in protected waters, catching protected species, or using banned gear like dynamite.

Quantifying the effects of IUU fishing is difficult.

A 2009 study determined the practice accounted for between 11 and 19 percent of all fish caught globally in the 2000s — between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish. The numbers are almost certainly much higher today.

Beyond its environmental impact and the effects on food security, IUU fishing also intersects with crime, according to French ocean conservation organisation Fondation de la Mer.

IUU is “linked to corruption, mafia practices, modern slavery and organised crime”, it said in a report on the practice last year.

Help for developing countries

The WTO agreement prohibits states from granting subsidies to vessels and operators in three cases: when fishing activities are illegal; when fish stocks are overexploited; or when fishing takes place on the high seas, which are not regulated by any single state.

The UN’s High Seas Treaty, which is expected to come into force next week, will reinforce the WTO agreement, particularly through the creation of marine protected areas where some or all forms of fishing would be banned.

French Polynesia unveils world’s largest marine protected zone

Developing countries are given a two-year grace period to comply with the agreement, and 17 members have pledged more than €15 million ($18 million) to a fund to help fisheries transition to more sustainable practices.

In theory the agreement would be enforced through the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body, which resolves conflicts between states – but because the United States has blocked the appointment of judges, it has remained unable to handle new cases since 2019.

The agreement also does not specify the kinds of sanctions that could be imposed.

Aiming to avoid the need for penalties, a fisheries subsidies committee will be tasked with monitoring implementation, while states are also expected to scrutinise each other.

Looking ahead to Fish 2

There is hope that the first part of the agreement will build momentum for the second part, Fish 2, currently under negotiation, to be finalised within four years.

Fish 2 focuses specifically on fishing fleets themselves, which Irschlinger says is “the root of the problem”.

The Fondation de la Mer says that even when fishing fleets are not fishing illegally, or when stocks are not yet overfished, subsidies can still be harmful: “They often promote the development of oversized fishing fleets and encourage excessive fishing pressure, which can ultimately lead to overexploitation or even stock collapse.”

The second part of the agreement sets out a general list of prohibited subsidies, and removes the need to detect illegal fishing or assess fish stocks in order to enforce the rules. Instead it is up to states to prove that they have put management measures in place.

Fish 2 depends on ratification by the United States, which ratified Fish 1 under the previous administration.

The new administration is taking a more ambitious and hardline stance in negotiations, aligned with India and Indonesia, which argue that the text is not strict enough on states that subsidise the most.

Negotiations will likely restart in earnest in March of next year at a WTO meeting in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

---

This article was adapted from the original version in French by RFI’s Géraud Bosman-Delzons.

Ouattara, 83, has been in power since 2011 and changed the constitution in 2016 to remove presidential term limits. 

Four candidates are standing against him, having been ruled eligible by the country’s constitutional court: former ministers Jean-Louis Billon, Ahoua Don Mello and Henriette Lagou, and Simone Gbagbo, who is a former first lady.

Neither of the main opposition parties are in the race, after the court disqualified several other candidates including former president Laurent Gbagbo – Simone’s ex-husband – and Tidjane Thiam, a businessman and former minister of development.

Excluded candidates have denounced the ruling as unfair and several are considering contesting it.

Meanwhile thousands of people took to the streets last month to protest the ban.

Thousands in Côte d’Ivoire protest exclusion of opposition leaders from election

Relative calm

Previous elections in Côte d’Ivoire have been fraught with unrest and clashes. When Ouattara stood for a third term in 2020, several people were killed in election violence.

Rinaldo Depagne, West Africa director at the International Crisis Group (ICG), says the situation remains remarkably calm compared to earlier campaigns.

“If you compare with what happened in 2020, mid September, the country already had a death toll of more than 15 people killed during violent protests. So this time, it is quite reassuring,” he told RFI.

“We don’t have any notable violence reported. The only incident was in August, an attack on a bus in Yopougon [a suburb of Abidjan].”

Several members of Laurent Gbagbo’s African People’s Party – Côte d’Ivoire were arrested after a public bus was set alight last month. They denied all involvement and the party slammed the arrests as politically motivated.

Human rights issues

Meanwhile, on 15 September Amnesty International launched a manifesto setting out six key priorities for the next administration. 

“Over the next five years, the president should address violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International‘s regional director for West and Central Africa, wrote.

“They should end forced evictions and support affected people, ensure respect for the right to truth, justice and reparation for victims of electoral violence, protect the rights of women and children and the right to a healthy environment.”

The recommendations aim to provide the future president with a human rights roadmap.

“These elections offer an opportunity to strengthen respect for human rights in Côte d’Ivoire. We call on all candidates to commit to this,” Sivieude added.

Switching off

Regarding participation, Depagne says the main parties have shown “a certain sense of responsibility” in not calling for violence, yet the calm may also be a sign that voters are switching off from politics.

“Young people don’t expect much from politics; they don’t want to be killed or harmed for a result that won’t give them a job or a better life,” he said.

“So on the one hand, this is reassuring because we have so far had quite a peaceful pre-campaign… But on the other hand, people are not really involved in political life.”

No presidential election since 1995 has resulted in a peaceful change of power, ICG notes in its latest report on Côte d’Ivoire.

One of the issues, according to the think tank, is that the candidates are well-known politicians who have been on the scene since the 1990s.

“In a way, I’m not sure that many Ivorians believe in them anymore,” Depagne says. “The turnout could be low.”

Ouattara confirms fourth term run as Ivorian opposition cries foul

Furthermore, the violence surrounding previous elections means that “politics for many people is something dangerous”, according to Depagne. 

“For many people, going in the street to demonstrate could be dangerous,” he told RFI. “This is also why you don’t see massive protests, I think.”

The Ivorian government should hold formal talks with the opposition as soon as possible, the ICG recommends, while parties whose candidates have been disqualified should resist the temptation to boycott.

The election campaign officially kicks off on 10 October and will end on 23 October, two days before voting begins.

Now in its third edition, Photoclimat brings together 47 artists from around the world. Their installations trace the work of non-profit groups tackling climate change, protecting biodiversity and defending communities on the frontlines.

The Biennale was created in 2021 by French photographer Nicolas Henry, a member of Le tour d’un monde (A Journey Around a World), a cultural association that develops artistic projects with a social focus.

He says the idea is to use art as a bridge to the work of NGOs.

“The idea of this project is to combine the strength of artistic talent together with the stories of the work done by NGOs. We want to really wake people up – raise awareness,” he told RFI.

He hopes visitors will go further – learning more about the organisations, volunteering or donating.

“But it’s also all about giving meaning to what we do, bringing joy and a good mood that can transform people’s lives. It gives us a sense of direction and a sense of community,” he says.

A powerful tool

Henry believes photography, along with art and design, can open the door to difficult issues, especially for younger audiences. 

“It’s a way to introduce these NGOs to the younger generation who may not have heard of them – encouraging them to become ‘actors of society’ when it comes to ecology and social progress,” he says.

One of the headline works sits at Place de la Concorde. It is “Les Voix des Fôrets” (Voices of the Forest), a series by young Filipino photographer Gab Mejia. His black-and-white portraits are displayed on a circular wooden pavilion that doubles as a meeting space for artists.

France’s photojournalism festival opens with focus on war and climate crisis

Mejia worked with Laure d’Astorg from the French NGO Alliance pour la Préservation des Fôrets (Alliance for Forest Preservation) to find a way to celebrate the people behind the mammoth task of saving the world’s endangered forests.

“I wanted the work to share their messages and to transmit a call to action of what we can do to preserve the forests all across the world,” Mejia told RFI.

He says the Philippines, one of the world’s most biodiverse countries, has vast primary forests under threat. “It’s part of our identity; we have indigenous communities and local communities who really rely on the forest in the Philippines and the islands.”

Among his subjects was Hernando Chindoy, a Colombian leader working with the Alliance to fight deforestation. Mejia combined photography with digitally rendered sketches to portray the activists.

For d’Astorg, there’s the public message battle, and then there’s the legal one behind the scenes.

Her organisation strives to make sure raw materials derived from the forests, like wood, coffee, cacao are sustainably sourced.

“Forests are in danger, forests in Europe, but also in Amazonia and Basin of Congo and Southeast Asia,” she says.

“The planet is burning and we really need to bring this message and this fight can only be won together with the businesses and the NGOs. We really need to work together to stop deforestation.”

Beauty and the blight: a photographer’s quest to expose an ecological disaster

Elsewhere at Photoclimat, visitors can see British photographer Tim Flach’s portraits of animals, the bold colours of Ghanaian artist Prince Gyasi and the abstract work of Dutch photographer Sanja Marusic.

On the banks of the Seine, other installations focus on oceans and rivers, underscoring the efforts of people and organisations working to protect them.

For Nicolas Henry, Photoclimat is just the beginning of a conversation: a wake-up call he hopes will transform awareness into meaningful action.

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Photoclimat runs until 12 October – spanning 6 locations in central Paris and several locations in the Paris suburbs.

A makeshift punching bag stuffed with rags hangs from the rafters. The women form a circle around it, colourful khangas wrapped tight, bare feet planted firmly on the earthen floor.

Beatrice Nyariara, who is in her seventies, calls out: “Remember, grandmothers, defend yourselves!”

For years, elderly women in Korogocho were targeted for rape and robbery, made vulnerable by a deadly myth that older women were “safer” victims less likely to carry HIV.

With few local police officers and slow response times, help rarely arrived when needed.

The violence seemed unstoppable until 2007, when Beatrice and the others began learning martial arts from visiting instructors.

The techniques they use blend karate, kung fu and taekwondo, stripped down to the essentials: quick strikes, joint locks, targeted kicks. They don’t aim for flashy moves, but for practical techniques that create escape opportunities.

The women named their group Shosho Jiking  – meaning “Grandmother, defend yourself”.

‘Beauty exists everywhere’: Ballet builds hope for future in Nairobi slum

‘He thought I was helpless’

The women practise palm strikes to the nose, precise blows to the collarbone and swift kicks to the groin. Every move ends with a fierce chorus: “No! No! No!” – to stun attackers and alert neighbours.

At first, many of the women questioned whether their ageing bodies could handle the strain. Joints ached. Muscles protested. But week after week they returned, growing stronger in body and spirit.

Gradually, attacks on elderly women in the neighbourhood declined. Word spread: these grandmothers knew how to fight back.

After a brutal assault left Jane Waithiegeni HIV-positive, she withdrew from community life for years, trapped in isolation and shame.

Finding the karate group marked a turning point. Today, she instructs women of all ages through the Ujamaa Karate programme, teaching them that their bodies are worth defending.

Hannah Nyakio smiles when she recalls the night an intruder broke into her home. “He thought I was helpless,” she says. A quick kick to his nose and a knee to his groin gave her time to escape and raise the alarm.

Then there’s Rebecca Wambui, who at nearly 100 years old walks to training with her cane but delivers sharp, accurate strikes. Her presence alone reminds the group that strength is about more than muscle.

The women carrying the burden of Kenya’s rural healthcare on their backs

Beyond self-defence

The karate lessons too have evolved into something much bigger. The women have formed a chama – a traditional savings club where small contributions help cover medical bills, funeral costs or expenses for the grandchildren that many are raising alone, after they were left orphaned by AIDS.

In a community where poverty and crime frequently tear families apart, the karate grannies have created their own safety net, protecting the children from abuse and gang recruitment.

The Kenyan company turning trash into cash

The sessions also help maintain their mental health, as well as the physical. Between drills they joke with each other and share news and recipes. What began as survival training has become a source of joy, wellness and sisterhood.

They also challenge assumptions about gender and age. In a society where older women are often dismissed as powerless, these grandmothers prove that vulnerability isn’t an inevitable part of ageing.

Popescu served as foreign minister in 2019, then as deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs between 2021 and 2024, when he resigned citing personal reasons.

He is now co-director of the European Security Programme and distinguished policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, as well as an associate professor at Sciences Po Paris.

In July, he announced that he would be re-joining the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) and standing in the election in September, which he called “the most important in the recent history of the Republic of Moldova”.

Despite the shadow of Moscow looming large and the economic shock of the war in Ukraine, Popescu tells RFI he remains confident that Moldova will uphold stability and maintain its pro-European direction.

RFI: How stable is Moldova’s democracy at the moment?

Nicu Popescu: Moldova has had an uninterrupted democratic track record since its independence in 1991. That’s 34 years of orderly, calm, democratic changes of government. So, Moldova has a good record.

But it is also true that in recent years, in the context of Russian aggression against Ukraine, the shocks and pressures on Moldova have increased dramatically. Moldova has nevertheless maintained peace, stability, and its democratic process.

In recent years, presidential elections were complicated, but nonetheless reconfirmed Moldova’s democratic functioning. I am sure the same will happen this time.

So, yes, the pressures are there. There is a lot of Russian interference through illegal party financing. Russia switched off gas supplies a few years ago. But Moldova has found solutions to stay the course, to preserve stability and to remain democratic until now. And I am sure it will continue to do so.

RFI: What could the Moldovan government do better to counter Russian disinformation?

NP: Disinformation is a large-scale attempt to influence and sway voters in many countries. It mostly comes through digital tools and digital means, and we have seen Russian interference in France, the UK, Central Europe, Romania – and many others.

That is also happening in Moldova. There are large-scale operations on TikTok and other social media which are essentially strengthening and amplifying the messaging of pro-Russian political players.

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

 

Besides that, there is a lot of non-digital interference. The Russians have been trying to buy votes on a large scale. Last year, roughly 140,000 people from Moldova – representing around 10 percent of the normal electorate – received Russian bank cards, and many of them were paid through these cards in order to vote as instructed by Russia.

There have been multiple instances of large amounts of cash being seized from pro-Russian political activists. In just one day in April 2024, for example, at Chisinau airport, police detained people trying to bring in roughly €1 million in cash.

So there are many attempts to buy votes and to finance political operatives, journalists, and influencers with vast amounts of completely illegal money. This is a wide spectrum of activities that Russia has been undertaking – and they are completely illegal, going well beyond the digital sphere.

RFI: Moldova received European Union candidate status on 22 June. What progress has been made since then?

NP: In 2023, the European Commission assessed that Moldova had demonstrated very good progress on eight of the 35 chapters, which at the time placed Moldova among the EU candidate countries with the fastest rate of adoption of the Acquis Communautaire. 

Moldova has made significant progress towards energy independence and the green transition. Throughout most of the summer, about a third of Moldova’s energy came from renewable sources – wind and solar power. On some days, Moldova even covered 100 percent of its electricity needs from renewables, which is a good rate by European standards.

There has also been significant progress in infrastructure development, including road building in villages. Many villages still need better access to drinking water, and there have been hundreds of projects with concrete benefits for the population, upgrading Moldova’s infrastructure [to be] closer to EU standards.

RFI: When Ukraine wanted to sign a trade deal with the EU in 2013, Russia was fiercely against it. How do you think Russia will react if Moldova joins the EU?

NP: Russian hostility towards Moldova is nothing new. Russia has opposed Moldovan sovereignty and independence since the late Soviet period, from the late 1980s.

Since independence in 1991, Russia has supported separatism in Moldova, maintained an illegal presence in Transnistria, and imposed blockades on dairy products, fruit and vegetables, while using energy as a tool of pressure. With the aggression against Ukraine, the risks have certainly grown.

There have been multiple incidents of Russian drones and missiles transiting Moldovan airspace. Moscow’s energy blackmail has grown. Gas supplies were cut off two years ago, which shocked domestic prices.

But each time Russia sought to pressure Moldova, the country managed to soften the blow by finding alternative markets – with the support of European partners as well as the US, UK, Canada and Japan.

RFI: How does Moldova assess the Russian presence of some 5,000 military “peacekeepers” in Transnistria?

NP: It is clearly important to overcome this separatist conflict. It is also clear that Russia has maintained this illegal military presence since the 1990s, despite having previously committed to withdrawing the troops and weapons by the end of 2002. Moscow has not respected its obligation to withdraw, which is a problem.

At the same time, Moldova has managed to preserve peace, calm and stability around the separatist region. There have not been significant security incidents. The country is at peace. That region is not currently in a tense security situation. Differences with the separatist area are managed through talks, negotiations and peaceful means.

Moldovans living on both banks of the River Dniester have made a real effort since the full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine three and a half years ago not to import war into Moldovan territory, but instead to resolve their differences peacefully. This must continue.

RFI: To what extent does the Transnistria situation affect the EU accession talks?

NP: It is much better to join the EU without a separatist conflict. At the same time, the EU would not be facing such a situation for the first time. Germany, a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community, was divided for more than three decades but still co-founded the European project. Later on, there was the case of Cyprus.

Of course, separatist areas always pose problems. But Europe’s history shows there are ways to minimise the impact on the rest of the Union. In the case of Moldova, the hope is that by joining the EU, reintegration of the country will in fact be made easier and more sustainable.

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

RFI: French President Emmanuel Macron has been very vocal in supporting Moldova’s EU accession. How significant has the French backing been?

NP: France, together with other partners, has played an extremely important role. The Moldova Support Platform, launched by Romania, France and Germany, has been fundamental in keeping Moldova stable economically and in security terms. France’s investment and commitment to Moldova’s peace are deeply appreciated.

Just recently, on Independence Day, 27 August, the Weimar Triangle leaders – the president of France, the chancellor of Germany and the president of Poland – came to Chisinau and spoke to 100,000 people in the city’s main square. President Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk addressed the crowd in Romanian, a gesture of respect warmly received by the Moldovan people.

RFI: Are you worried about US foreign policy, given President Donald Trump’s softer line towards Russian President Vladimir Putin?

NP: We have seen many statements, but we have also seen NATO remain strongly committed, with allied states continuing to invest seriously in security and defence. I believe the EU, NATO and the US are now on track to strengthen their shared security capacity and maintain peace in Europe.

It is very clear that Washington wants peace in Europe to be underpinned by greater European investment in defence, which would also allow the US to reposition some of its forces. That is a legitimate and longstanding demand – it predates President Trump. I think the alliance is on track to meet it.

And as long as NATO remains united and militarily modern, it will continue to act as a strong factor for peace in Europe.

The strategic use of peat bogs, marshes and floodplains in warfare has a long history. As early as the 16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch destroyed their dykes to repel Spanish and French invaders.

In 2025, as EU countries scramble to strengthen their defence capabilities in the face of the Russian threat, a group of German, Ukrainian and Polish scientists believe that restoring the continent’s eastern wetlands could be part of the solution. In a document addressed to EU member states, the researchers posit that by restoring them, Europe could kill three birds with one stone.

“Firstly, it would strengthen our defences, as peatlands are very difficult to access,” explains Hans Joosten, professor emeritus of peatland science at the University of Greifswald and the initiator of the project.

“Secondly, it’s good for the climate. Dried-out peatlands are huge CO2 emitters, and we need to restore them in order to comply with the Paris Agreement targets.

“And thirdly, it would be very beneficial for biodiversity, as the species that live there are all endangered. And it would fit perfectly with the European law on nature restoration.”

Russia and Belarus war games fuel European fears over Ukraine conflict

‘Natural barriers’

Among wetlands, peatlands in particular have several advantages.

They produce more biomass than they degrade, and the result is “the formation of organic layers that we call peat,” explained Joosten. “These peat layers are preserved as long as the bog remains wet. And it stores large amounts of CO2, up to 10 tonnes per year per hectare.”

“But for agricultural and forestry reasons, many marshes have been drained over the last few centuries,” he added. “This leads to massive CO2 emissions that would otherwise be stored in the peat bogs. But if the marshes are rewetted, these CO2 emissions cease immediately.”

Von der Leyen urges Europe to fight for ‘independence moment’

The peatlands which Joosten and his colleagues are focused on stretch along the eastern borders of Europe, from Finland through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to Romania, as well as eastern Germany.

“In Europe, we have millions of hectares of peat bogs. Many national borders are located in peat bogs. As they are difficult to access, they have always been natural barriers. This is an international phenomenon,” said Joosten.

Obstacles 

The research group also insists that once restored, these peatlands could complement the EU’s future defence strategy.

“Instead of laying minefields, it is better to restore peatlands,” said Joosten. “A living peat bog is 95 percent water. It is impossible to drive heavy vehicles such as tanks or lorries on it. In Lithuania, an American tank got stuck in a peat bog and couldn’t get out. Its occupants died. So peat bogs make any rapid attack impossible.” 

It’s an idea that appears to be gaining ground. The Polish army has commissioned a plan to “use the natural environment as a border security measure”. And for the German army, “wetlands are an important factor in the planning of operational barriers”.

Poland calls emergency UN meeting over drone raid blamed on Russia

However, the plan is not without obstacles. Peatlands have been drained over the centuries to make them suitable for cultivation. To restore them, their owners would have to be compensated and viable economic alternatives offered.

And once the decision to restore them has been made, it will take two years for the peatlands to return to their original natural state.

This article was adapted from the original version in French.

The postponement came as negotiators from the 27-nation bloc finalised a multi-billion euro trade agreement with Indonesia.

The original 2024 launch of the law was delayed by a year after complaints from industries and trade partners including Brazil, Indonesia and the United States under the former presidnt Joe Biden.

Environment Commissioner Jessica Roswall told reporters in Brussels that it was necessary to put off the implementation of the law in order to address concerns about the large amounts of data needed to enter in the IT system to enforce the rules.

Roswall said that pushing ahead with the launch of the policy without proper checks on the IT system could disrupt EU firms and supply chains.

“We tried to do simplification,” she said. “We have concern regarding the IT system, given the amount of information that we put into the system. And that is why we will seek, with the co-legislators, to seek for a postponement of one year.

“And that will, of course, also give us time to look at the different risks,” she added.

“There’s a lot of information coming from industry and businesses in a short period of time. That is the overload that we see a risk for, and that is why we need this extra time to see how we can solve that,” Roswall added.

Roswall’s announcement came hours after the EU Trade Commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, and the Indonesian Minister of Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, concluded the Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

The pact will will open investment in strategic sectors such as electric vehicles, electronics, and pharmaceuticals.

“By finalising this agreement, the EU and Indonesia are sending a powerful message to the world that we stand united in our commitment to open rules-based and mutually beneficial international trade,” Sefcovic said after the signing in Bali.

“In all, EU exporters will save some 600 million euros a year in duties paid on their goods entering the Indonesian market, and European products will be more affordable and available to Indonesian consumers,” EU President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.

More than 100 countries pledge to end deforestation, but critics call it ‘Blah Blah Blah’

Scrutiny of products

The deforestation law has been hailed by environmental groups as a significant breakthrough in the fight to protect nature and combat climate change.

It prohibits a vast range of goods – from coffee, cocoa, soy, timber, palm oil, cattle, printing paper and rubber – if produced using land that was deforested after December 2020.

Exporting countries considered high-risk would have at least nine percent of products sent to the EU subjected to checks, with the proportion falling for lower-risk ones.

Among the amendments introduced in November 2024 was the creation of a “no risk” category that would see products from some countries – such as Germany – face virtually no scrutiny.

Julia Christian, a campaigner at environmental group Fern, said at the time of the November 2024 amendments that it was the equivalent of giving EU forested countries a free pass.

“The message to the rest of the world is unmistakable,” she added. “You must stop destroying your forests, but the EU won’t end the widespread degradation afflicting its forests.” 

Environmental activists are concerned the trade agreement will lead to more deforestation driven by increased demand for Indonesian palm oil.

 “The remaining natural forests in palm oil concessions will potentially be cleared in the near future (and) converted into plantations,” said Syahrul Fitra of Greenpeace Indonesia.

(With newsires)

Neutrinos are sometimes called “ghost particles.” They have almost no mass, carry no electric charge, and rarely interact with anything at all. Trillions of them pass through your body every second without leaving a trace. Catching even one requires a detector on an extraordinary scale — which is exactly what researchers in the KM3NeT project are creating.

“These are very different types of telescopes,” explained Paschal Coyle, spokesperson for KM3NeT and research director at the Marseille Particle Physics Centre. “Normal telescopes look up at the sky and collect light. Our telescopes look down through the Earth to detect neutrinos. From the Mediterranean, our best view is actually of the sky above Australia — seen through the planet itself.”

France takes record for longest lightning bolt

Two detectors are under construction:

• ORCA, near Toulon, France, sits 2.5 kilometers underwater. It will help scientists study how neutrinos change from one type to another as they travel through space.

• ARCA, off the coast of Sicily, Italy, is even deeper at 3.5 kilometers. Its mission is to hunt for neutrinos from extreme cosmic events such as exploding stars, colliding galaxies, or black holes.

Each telescope is built from long strings holding hundreds of glass spheres. Inside the spheres are ultra-sensitive photodetectors that can spot the tiniest flash of light.

“When a neutrino finally collides with matter, it creates a charged particle that gives off a burst of blue light in the water,” Coyle said. “Our detectors are sensitive enough to catch that flash.”

Earlier this year, the ARCA detector captured the highest-energy neutrino ever observed — a sign of just how powerful this new tool may become. By mapping where these ghostly particles come from, scientists hope to uncover the sources of cosmic rays and gain new insights into some of the most energetic processes in the universe.

World’s first zero-particle ship sets sail in the Mediterranean

For now, the telescopes are still being built, but their promise is enormous. By listening for whispers of light deep under the sea, scientists may soon unlock secrets written across the cosmos — carried to Earth by particles that almost never leave a trace.

At least 64 executions took place in the past week alone, an average of more than nine hangings per day, said the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group, which counts and verifies executions in Iran on a daily basis.

With more than three months of 2025 still to go, the figure is already the highest since IHR began keeping records in 2008, topping the 975 executions recorded last year.

“In recent months the Islamic republic has begun a mass killing campaign in Iran’s prisons, the dimensions of which – in the absence of serious international reactions – are expanding every day,” IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said.

Iran carried out a spate of executions in the 1980s and early 1990s in the aftermath of the Islamic revolution of 1979 and the Iran-Iraq war.

 But activists say the country is using capital punishment more intensely than at any time in the past three decades after the clerical leadership under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was challenged by 2022-2023 protests and the 12-day war against Israel in June.

According to the IHR data, 50 percent of all executions were for drug-related offences and 43 percent for murder. The remainder were for the security-related charges of baghy (armed rebellion), efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) and moharebeh (enmity against god), rape, and espionage for Israel. 

Iran says Europeans have no right to reimpose sanctions for nuclear programme

Disagreements over nuclear programme 

When the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrives in New York for the UN General Assembly, Iran’s nuclear programme is likely dominate the agenda after the UN Security Council voted to reimpose sanctions.

“Given the scale, systematic nature and political function of the executions to intimidate and create societal fear, the organisation calls on the UN Human Rights Council’s fact-finding mission to investigate them as crimes against humanity,” said Amiry-Moghaddam.

“Any dialogue between countries committed to the foundations of human rights and the Islamic republic that does not include the execution crisis in Iran is unacceptable,” he added.

IHR emphasised that its figures for executions are “an absolute minimum”, with the real number likely higher “due to the lack of transparency and restrictions on reporting”.

According to IHR data, 50 percent of all executions were for drug-related offences and 43 percent for murder. The remainder were for the security-related charges of baghy (armed rebellion), efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) and moharebeh (enmity against god),  rape and espionage for Israel. 

Executions in Iran are carried out exclusively by hanging with most taking place in prison, although there are occasional public hangings.

According to human rights groups including Amnesty International, Iran is the world’s second most prolific executioner after China, which is believed to execute thousands each year although no precise figures are available.

(with newswires)

France’s President Emmanuel Macron officially recognised a Palestinian state at the United Nations on Monday, following Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and Portugal on Sunday.

Monaco, Belgium, Andorra, Malta and Luxembourg followed suit from the General Assembly podium, bringing the total number of recognitions to three-quarters of UN membership.

Spain, Ireland and Norway had already recognised Palestine as a state in May, and Sweden did so in 2014. Germany, Italy and Japan, while critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza, are among the countries that have declined to do so.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced the push for recognition as “absurd”, claiming it would endanger Israel’s existence. He has vowed not to allow a Palestinian state and far-right members of his cabinet have threatened to annex the West Bank to make statehood impossible.

Macron says embassy in Palestine will open only after release of hostages

Zarka, Israel’s ambassador to France since last year, told RFI on Monday that these recognitions were “empty words, words that lead nowhere”.

“On a personal level, it’s a feeling of not having succeeded in convincing the French authorities of the extent to which this decision and this statement not only harmed the security of my country, but endangered it,” he said.

“What’s more, instead of helping to create an environment of peace, it did exactly the opposite.”

‘We must first change the atmosphere’

RFI: Don’t you think that the recognition of a state of Palestine, and therefore the existence of two states, is a solution?

Zarka: “What I’m saying very clearly is that in order to create an environment of peace, we must first fundamentally change the atmosphere that exists between us and the Palestinians.

“As you know, Israel proposed the creation of a Palestinian state on four different occasions after the Oslo agreements. On all four occasions, the Palestinians rejected these agreements. It was not us who rejected these agreements.”

Franco-Israelis hit out at Macron’s recognition of Palestinian state

You talk about changing the atmosphere. You have read the letter that Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, sent to President Macron. First of all, he made a commitment, condemning the attacks of 7 October, committing himself to new governance of the Palestinian Authority and also assuring him that Hamas would no longer have a political role.

Zarka: “It’s words that [are not worth] the paper they were written on. You know, the President of the Palestinian Authority was last elected in 2006. Since then, he has not agreed to hold elections. And today he has the support of not even 15 percent of his population. So it’s clear that he represents nothing.”

‘No pressure on Hamas’

Turning to the issue of the Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas, Zarka said: “Our hostages are still in the hands of Hamas. Yesterday and the day before, Hamas presented photos of the 48 hostages and said ‘we still have these human shields, we are using them as shields until the last moment’. It’s an inhuman organisation that still has our hostages and continues to use the Palestinian population.”

Recognising a Palestinian state does not mean recognising a Hamas state. These countries are saying that they condemn the attacks of 7 October, that Hamas must not be part of the political authorities. If we are to believe no one’s words, how are we to move forward?

Zarka: “The first thing to do is to dismantle Hamas. Because it’s not by asking Hamas nicely, please, that they’ll do it.”

Do you think the international pressure on Hamas is too weak?

Zarka: “There is no international pressure on Hamas. The international pressure today is on Israel and that’s all.”

Zarka added that Israel feels “isolated’ and blamed this on “the fact that the images we see coming from the Middle East interfere with bourgeois parties in Parisian salons”.

“Sixty thousand people killed in Gaza can’t just be a nuisance at parties?”

Zarka: “Half of them were armed terrorists.”

“You think that public opinion and governments have somehow been taken hostage in this spiral of emotion?”

Zarka: “Manipulated by Hamas and manipulated by those who have financed them, such as Qatar and the Iranians.”

“And the Israeli government bears no responsibility for this headlong rush to war?”

Zarka: “We have done and will do everything in our power to free our hostages. And if that means continuing the war, we’ll continue the war. You know, these are people who have been kidnapped from their homes. They were asleep. These are people who were taken from their beds. This could end immediately if Hamas releases our hostages.”

Defiant French mayors keep Palestinian flags flying despite court rulings

‘French people are great friends of Israel’

“What does the Israeli government intend to do in response to this wave of recognition of Palestine?”

Zarka: “This is a big question. It is a question that will be decided by the Israeli government and by the prime minister. Yesterday, the prime minister announced to his ministers that this kind of decision would only be taken after his visit to Washington and that he would coordinate this with the president of the United States.”

Does this mean that he needs the green light from the Americans to do anything, or that it’s the American president who decides?

Zarka: “No, no, it means that he wants to coordinate this kind of thing with our friend and ally, the United States.”

Your last ally?

Citing a recent IFOP poll commissioned by the Council Representing Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), in which 71 percent of respondents said any recognition of the Palestinian state should not take place before the release of the Israeli hostages, Zarka said: “He’s not our last friend, nor our last ally, not at all. You know, 70 percent of French people are opposed to the decision taken by the government. The French people are great friends of Israel. I have no doubt about that.”

Is a total annexation of the West Bank envisaged or not?

Zarka: “I’d be surprised if that’s the decision that’s ultimately taken by the Israeli government. But, again, it’s a decision that will be taken at the highest level.”

You have no information on this subject? You cannot tell us this morning that the West Bank will not be annexed?

Zarka: “We can’t say that it will be annexed. I can’t say that it won’t be annexed. I can say that it is one of the requests that has been made by part of the coalition. I can say that personally, it [would] surprise me.”

But you can say what the Israeli prime minister means when he says there will never be a Palestinian state?

Zarka: “It means that it is the position of the prime minister who says very clearly that his government will never accept the creation of a Palestinian state.”

So there is no two-state solution with this government?

Zarka: “I choose my words very clearly and I am very careful about what I choose. I said the government, Mr Netanyahu, has made it very clear that his government will never accept the creation of a Palestinian state.”

There is also talk of reprisals for countries that recognise [Palestine], but what are the consequences?

Zarka: “I don’t know. Once again, these are things that will be decided. These are decisions that will be taken by the Israeli government, by the prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs.”

For Zarka, “the weapon of recognition is something you only use once, and that’s it. After that, there’s no leverage”.

This interview has been edited for clarity. Listen to the original interview in French here.

As the UN General Assembly gets into full swing in New York, Iran and Europe’s so-called E3 – Britain, France and Germany – are engaged in frantic back-room diplomacy aimed at stopping the reimposition of UN sanctions on Tehran over uranium enrichment.

Foreign ministers from the four sides, joined by the EU’s new foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, are meeting on Tuesday in what is being billed as a final attempt to salvage some space for negotiation.

It follows weeks of rising tension over Iran’s nuclear programme, which Western capitals say breaches the 2015 nuclear deal designed to block Tehran from developing an atomic weapon.

The E3 triggered a 30-day “snapback” process on 28 August, accusing Iran of falling short of its commitments and threatening to restore sanctions unless Tehran acts fast.

The deadline looms large, as if no agreement is reached by 27 September, all UN sanctions will automatically snap back into place, tightening the economic screws on a country already struggling with years of restrictions and domestic discontent.

Iran and Europe hold Geneva nuclear talks as sanctions deadline looms

‘Cooperation or confrontation’

Iran insists its nuclear activities are purely peaceful, but European diplomats argue that the stockpile of enriched uranium, patchy access for international inspectors, and lack of progress on fresh negotiations with the United States are cause for alarm.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi struck a defiant but still conciliatory note on Monday, telling Iranian state TV: “They have tested Iran repeatedly and know we do not respond to the language of pressure and threat. I hope we can find a diplomatic solution in the coming days, otherwise Tehran will take appropriate measures.”

He confirmed that Tehran has been in contact with E3 and EU officials, as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency’s director general Rafael Grossi, in search of a breakthrough. “I am in New York to use these remaining days for diplomatic consultations that might lead to a solution,” he said.

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

Room for talks

To buy more time, Britain, France and Germany have presented an offer – suspend the sanctions trigger for up to six months if Iran restores full access for UN inspectors, reins in its enriched uranium reserves, and reopens channels with Washington.

But European diplomats – speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity – have said the outlook is bleak. “The ball is in Iran’s camp. It is up to it to quickly take the concrete steps in the coming days to avert snapback. If not, then sanctions will be reimposed,” said one. Another admitted bluntly that “chances are slim”.

At best, they suggest, Iran could present a special report or allow inspectors token access to a handful of sites – but even that may not be enough, particularly with Washington poised to wield its veto.

Iran retaliates after Israeli strikes targeting its nuclear programme and military

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has tried to project confidence, declaring at the weekend that the Islamic Republic will weather any reimposed sanctions.

However, public frustration with a battered economy is mounting, leaving Iran’s leaders under pressure.

The mood in Tehran is further complicated by US and Israeli strikes on nuclear facilities in June, which prompted Iran’s parliament to suspend cooperation with the IAEA.

A fragile compromise was reached on 9 September to allow inspections to resume, but any fresh sanctions risk derailing that progress.

With the clock ticking towards 27 September, Araqchi insists Iran is ready to talk, while the E3 maintain the terms are clear.

The outcome of the New York neogotiations could, however, set the course not just for Iran’s nuclear future, but for broader stability in the Middle East.

(with newswires)

The withdrawal of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso from the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a “sovereign decision,” the official statement said, according to news agencies AP, AFP and Reuters, as well as our RFI regional correspondent.

The three countries, led by coup leaders, have a string of grievances against the international court, responsible for trying those accused of genocide and serious crimes. 

The joint statement states that “over time,” the ICC has transformed itself “into an instrument of neocolonial repression in the hands of imperialism, thus becoming a global example of selective justice”.

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso accuse the ICC of “double standards”.

Expected move

The ICC, based in The Hague, is the world’s permanent global tribunal for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The withdrawal was not unexpected, as the junta leaders were brought to power after military coups in the three Sahelian countries.

Since these coups in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, the three countries’ military leaders have abandoned longtime partners, including Europe and the West Africa regional bloc, Ecowas.

Three Sahel nations exit West African bloc as regional politics shift

They have instead established new alliances, mainly with Russia, whose President Vladimir Putin faces an arrest warrant from the ICC over Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The withdrawal process from the ICC takes at least a year to complete.

Earlier this year, Hungary also announced its withdrawal.

In March, following a meeting of Malian, Nigerien and Burkinabe ministers, the three juntas announced the upcoming creation of a Criminal and Human Rights Court of the Alliance of Sahel States.

At the same meeting, discussions were launched on the construction of a high-security regional prison to strengthen the fight against terrorism and serious crimes in the Sahel region.

Potential ICC cases

The three countries have been facing deadly violence from jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State for years, but the juntas’ armies are also accused of crimes against civilians.

Tuareg associations in Mali and Burkina Faso notably filed a complaint in June with the ICC against their nations’ armies and the Russian paramilitary group, Africa Corps.

Tuaregs in Mali and Burkina file ICC complaint against armies, Russian allies

The complaint targets the Malian Armed Forces (FAMA), the Burkinabe Forces, and Russian mercenaries from the Africa Corps, which recently replaced the Wagner group in Africa.

The charities Imouhagh International, Kel Akal, Diaspora of the United States and the Azawad Solidarity Association accuse them of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The groups say the crimes against humanity and war crimes reported to the prosecutor of the ICC have been committed in Mali and Burkina Faso since 2022.

They point to the use of mercenaries from Africa Corps – the replacement for the former Wagner Group – in the repressive operations carried out by the armies of both countries.

Human Rights Watch and other groups have also accused Islamist militants, as well as the militaries and partner forces of Burkina Faso and Mali, of possible atrocity crimes.

In April, United Nations experts said the alleged summary execution of several dozen civilians by Malian forces may amount to war crimes.

The ICC has had an investigation open in Mali since 2013, over alleged war crimes committed primarily in the northern regions of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal, which had fallen under militant control. 

The investigation was opened following a referral from the government at the time.

 (with newswires)

As France prepares to recognise Palestine at the UN, town halls across the country are caught up in a row over whether or not to raise the Palestinian flag in solidarity.

Macron is due to recognise a Palestinian state on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, following up on a pledge he made in the summer that angered Israel.

Many mayors are sticking to their plan to hoist the flag in spite of stern warnings from the France’s Interior Ministry and early rulings from administrative courts.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who is also leader of the right-wing Republicans Party, last week instructed police prefects to enforce the principle of political neutrality in public services.

“The principle of neutrality in public service prohibits such displays,” the Interior Ministry said, adding that any decisions by mayors to fly the Palestinian flag should be referred to courts.

In Malakoff, just south of Paris, Communist mayor Jacqueline Belhomme has said the flag will stay put “until Tuesday” – despite an order from the local administrative court to take it down after a complaint from the Hauts-de-Seine department’s police prefecture.

Double standard

The police prefect has already gone back to court, this time seeking a financial penalty. An administrative court on Monday announced this would be a sum of €150 per day. 

“I symbolically placed a flag on the town hall facade in solidarity with the Palestinian people, whose state will finally be recognised on Monday at the UN by the President of the Republic,” Belhomme told RFI.

“This is absolutely not a provocation. The law does not forbid it.”

Belhomme underlined that when Malakoff had put a Ukrainian flag on its town hall after the Russian invasion, “there was no controversy at the time”.

“I think there’s a double standard,” she said.

France’s Interior Ministry clamps down on public display of Palestinian flags

‘Symbolic choice’

The black, white, red and green banner is also expected to fly over other town halls in the Paris suburbs, including Nanterre, Bagneux, Gennevilliers, Ivry-sur-Seine and Corbeil-Essonnes.

For Mathieu Hanotin, Socialist mayor of the suburb of Saint-Denis, north of Paris, the gesture is deliberately time-limited rather than a permanent statement: “It’s not an act of long-term militancy,” he told French news agency AFP, but a symbolic choice timed to coincide with President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement at the UN General Assembly confirming France’s recognition of the State of Palestine.

Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure attended a flag-raising ceremony in Saint-Denis, saying he opposed Retailleau’s order and said he had written to Macron asking the president to rescind it.

“This flag is not the flag of Hamas, it is the flag of women and men who also have the right to freedom and self-determination,” Faure said.

Karim Bouamrane, mayor of nearby Saint-Ouen is following the same line, with Bouamrane even planning to raise both Palestinian and Israeli flags.

The mayors of Lyon, Lille, Rennes and Nantes are also taking part.

France spearheads UN drive to recognise Palestinian statehood

Directive from Interior Ministry

Elsewhere, however, some are retreating under pressure. In Mauléon-Licharre, a small town of 3,000 in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, the Communist mayor who had raised the Palestinian flag on Friday removed it the following day after a court challenge by the local prefect.

That line was echoed in the Cergy-Pontoise court’s decision and underlined by Interior Ministry secretary general Hugues Moutouh: “The state not only does not ask for flag displays, it explicitly asks for non-displays.”

Centrists, conservatives and the far right are backing the ministry’s stance.

But the issue is splitting the left. In the Créteil suburb of Paris, Socialist mayor Laurent Cathala has refused to raise the flag, arguing that his priority must be to preserve social cohesion in his community.

Other mayors are finding creative workarounds. In Brest, the city hall – which has flown the Ukrainian flag since 2022 – will instead light up its façade in the colours of Palestine.

In Marseille, mayor Benoît Payan promised a “strong gesture”, saying he wanted to go further than to raise a flag.

On Monday afternoon, he announced a sister-city link between Marseille and Bethlehem, in the West Bank, a project he launched some months ago.

The flags of both Israel and Palestine, as well as peace images of a dove and olive branch, were displayed late Sunday at the Eiffel Tower, which was illuminated in celebration of the recognition of the Palestinian state.

“Paris reaffirms its commitment to peace, which more than ever requires a two-state solution,” Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote on Bluesky.

Acknowledging the impassioned responses caused by his decision, which have included anger from within France’s Jewish community, Macron posted a video on X on Sunday saying France wanted “peace, an immediate ceasefire and the release, without delay” of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

(With AFP)

Ten in the morning on a Tuesday in early September and tourists are already queueing up in front of Le Mur des je t’aime (the Wall of Love) – a 40-square-metre mural tucked behind Abbesses Metro station in Montmartre.

They each strike a pose against the hundreds of enamelled tiles proclaiming “I love you” in 311 languages, phones raised, capturing a slice of Parisian romance for posterity, and probably social media.

The wall, created in 2000 by two French artists, has gained worldwide renown since it featured in an early episode of the cult Netflix series Emily in Paris.

“This is the stupidest thing you can see,” rages Béatrice Dunner, a translator who has lived in Montmartre since 1979, pointing to the wall and the crowds that are sometimes “so big they block access to the park altogether”.

Up in the hilltop of Butte Montmartre, home to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, tour guides now make an additional stop at the statue of French-Italian singer Dalida to allow tourists to caress her bosom, in what has to rival for stupidest tourist must-see of the moment. 

For Dunner, scenes like this show tourism at its worst.

“Montmartre is just a whole succession of obligatory spots for tourists. You have a vintage photo booth not far from here. There’s nothing special about it, but it’s on TikTok, so people queue.”

Photogenic Montmartre – with its spectacular hilltop views, cobbled streets, windmills, ivy-clad cafés and erstwhile bohemian Place du Tertre – has become a focal point in the battle against overtourism.

Eleven million visitors flocked to the basilica last year – more than to the Eiffel Tower – while the local population is no more than 30,000 and in the area around the Butte, they’re only 12,000 or so.

“It gives you an idea of the shock,” says Dunner, who heads the Association for the Defence of Montmartre. “It’s getting complicated to live here.”

Listen to a report on overtourism in Montmartre in the Spotlight on France podcast:

Daily life under the microscope

Dunner describes having to wait for “gaps” in tourist crowds just to exit her building near the funicular railway. Shopping has turned into a laborious piece of theatre with tourists “busy buying and busy taking pictures of what they’re buying”. 

Food tours, where guides explain to tourists how and what the French eat, are “very unpleasant”, she says. “You feel like a chimp in the zoo.”

Could Mona Lisa move into a private suite at Le Louvre?

“I think it’s fair to talk of overtourism in Montmartre,” says geographer Rémy Knafou, author of a book on the subject.

The top of Montmartre has always been a magnet for tourists. But the combined effect of the 2001 film Amélie, the surge in tourism worldwide after Covid travel restrictions were lifted, the success of the series Emily in Paris, and the 2024 Paris Games which brought the road bike race to Montmartre, have drawn tourists further down the hill, into the area of Abbesses and Rue Lepic. Knafou calls that a “noticeable change”.

In July, the Tour de France made a detour via Montmartre, drawing in not only thousands of extra spectators, but bringing those famed cobbled streets to millions of new eyes.

The Instagram effect

Meanwhile social media influencers continue to turn previously quiet corners into must-see destinations.

“Montmartre is a victim of the Instagram effect,” local deputy-mayor Jean-Philippe Daviaud told RFI’s Brazilian service.

There’s not much anyone can do about it.

Macy, an American influencer from Boston, is one of many young women striking a pose in front of the early-20th-century La Maison Rose café – a haunt for writers and artists like Picasso, Camus and Utrillo, and more recently Emily.

“I saw this on Instagram, I know it’s an important landmark in Paris,” she says, checking it on her phone. “I’m taking my followers with me around Montmartre, trying to identify hidden gems.”

I put it to her they won’t be hidden for long. “If it’s done well, it should be OK,” she says, smiling, before hurrying off to her next discovery. 

France mulls charging tourists to enter Notre-Dame cathedral

Some visitors are well aware of the potential discomfort for local residents. American couple Bre Figone and Dorian Nguyen, fresh from a vintage Citroën tour they discovered on TikTok, say they’re “trying to be as attentive as possible”.

“This is a neighbourhood where people live, work, and die,” says Nguyen, a home health worker. “It’s easy to buy an Eiffel Tower made in China, but if we see locally made art we’ll try and buy French-made stuff instead.”

French court blocks Nice’s ban on cruise ships to fight pollution, overtourism

Adapt or close

While the influx of tourists is a boost to the local economy, it’s also changing its nature, as butchers and grocers give way to more tourist-friendly creperies, cafés, takeaway joints and souvenir stands.

“There’s only one fish shop, two butchers,” says Dunner. “Most shops are luxury shops, chocolate sellers, ice cream sellers, souvenirs. There aren’t many shops that locals use.”

Some international brands have set up shop in the neighbourhood – not necessarily to sell things, but to have a shop window with the Montmartre Paris logo, says Stéphane Cachelin, a local restaurant owner and vice-president of the Abbesses-Lepic shopkeepers’ association. 

“These big luxury brands sell mainly on the internet but at least they’ll have an address in Montmartre that glorifies them a bit.” 

In contrast, tourism in Montmartre has become more “low cost”, he says. “Before Covid we also had business tourism, but we’ve lost that because Montmartre has become a bit too much of a mass tourist destination.

“Now, tourists don’t stay long or spend much, they just come to see what Montmartre is all about.”

However, Cachelin insists local retailers are adapting to the changing market. “We used to have a pork butcher and now he makes takeaway crepes. Frankly shopkeepers are not unhappy, especially those who want to give up or retire and are selling their businesses to chains. I often walk round the neighbourhood and don’t see many vacant shopfronts.”

Louvre plagued by leaks and crumbling infrastructure, museum boss warns

Priced out of the market

Property prices in the area near Sacré-Coeur are now some of the highest in the capital – “between 12,000 to 15,000 euros a square metre”, says local estate agent Brice Moyse.

Unhappy residents say several school classes have been forced to close as families, in need of larger flats, can no longer afford to stay and new families are priced out.

“Montmartre has always been overrun with tourists,” says Moyse, who’s worked in the neighbourhood for 35 years and also serves as president of the local shopkeepers’ association. “When people bought in Montmartre, they knew exactly where they were buying.”

He dismisses the claim that mass tourism is responsible for inflating property prices, but admits it has changed the market as owners eye bigger returns through short-term tourist rentals and Airbnb.

“Airbnb kills neighbourhoods,” Moyse says. “We’ve lost a huge number of long-term rental properties to Airbnb – perhaps 20 percent of flats in the area have been removed from the market.”

While Paris city hall has capped the maximum number of nights Airbnbs can be let at 90 per year, Moyse says there “aren’t sufficient controls”. 

As rents rise in Marseille, anti-Airbnb activists take matters into own hands

Pressuring politicians

The issue of overtourism in Montmartre has now become political, with some residents hanging banners from apartment buildings with slogans such as “Forgotten residents!” and “Let the Montmartrois live!”

Dunner’s association is drafting a white paper to present to candidates in the city’s municipal elections next March, “to convince decision-makers to make things less easy for tourists”.

Proposals include higher tourist taxes, pre-empting commercial leases to stop them being turned into even more souvenir shops, restricting tour group sizes, and reclaiming public pavements that have been overtaken by café tables – “the privatisation of public space”, as Dunner puts it.

They’re taking inspiration from cities like Amsterdam, which has forbidden the building of new hotels unless one is closed down, reduced incoming flights, and enforced strict regulations on all short-term tourist rentals.

For geographer Knafou, Montmartre illustrates what can happen “when authorities fail to anticipate the impact of mass tourism”.

In 2021, Montmartre was selected as part of the Embellir votre quartier (“Beautify your neighbourhood”) project, which has culminated in the recent pedestrianisation of a number of streets in La Butte. Aimed at improving quality of life and reducing noise and air pollution, it’s met with stiff opposition from residents’ associations like the Defence of Montmartre.

“Urban beautification policies, such as pedestrianisation, are driven by very good intentions, but by making a city more beautiful they also make it more attractive to tourists,” Knafou says. “Removing parking spaces on the Butte is seen by locals as a punishment,” he notes, particularly by elderly people who are more reliant on cars. 

While the city of Amsterdam acted in time and has had some success in regulating mass tourism, Knafou says Montmartre faces unique challenges as a district within a major city rather than a standalone destination.

He advocates more modest steps such as better noise control, limits on the use of tour guides with microphones, and involving residents more in decision-making.

‘Unbridled capitalism’

Local authorities acknowledge the challenges.

“Paris’s position is clear: we’re against Airbnb,” deputy-mayor Daviaud said, citing the reduction in annual rental limits from 120 to 90 nights, and equivalent taxes for both short- and long-term rentals.

The municipality has also banned or restricted film shoots in the pedestrianised Butte district. 

But he views current visitor numbers as a return to normal rather than a crisis. “Today we’re not seeing an explosion of tourism, but rather a return to pre-lockdown levels.”

Ultimately, the battle reflects the tourism industry’s huge economic clout. France welcomed over 100 million international visitors last year, generating around €70 billion – with nearly half coming to Paris.

“Tourism nowadays is the human activity where unbridled capitalism is really ferocious,” says Dunner. “It brings in so much money, struggling against it is very difficult.”

Restaurant owner Cachelin, however, says “we can’t afford to wall ourselves in”.

Dunner insists the battle isn’t just about her neighbourhood and personal comfort, but part of a bigger discussion on urban life itself.

“Should cities disappear and just be film sets, or should they still exist and be full of life and full of events?” she asks.

“We want to preserve life in Montmartre. At least we’re trying.”

“I am proud of him and his success,” said Deschamps after Dembélé had acknowledged him during an emotional acceptance speech in front of a dazzling array of the sport’s most famous players and coaches.

“It’s wonderful,” Deschamps added. “I’m very happy for him. He is in the global spotlight.”

The former Brazil striker Ronaldinho presented Dembélé with football’s most prestigious individual prize at the end of a gala ceremony at the at the Theatre du Chatelet in central Paris.

Dembélé, 28, was saluted for a sensational season with Paris Saint-Germain in which they completed a second successive domestic clean sweep of Ligue 1 title, Coupe de France and French Super Cup.

They also pulverized Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich in May to lift the Champions League trophy for the first time.

PSG boss Enrique hails players after romp past Atletico Madrid at Club World Cup

Key man

Dembélé set up two of the goals in the final. Unsurprisingly, they were anointed men’s team of the year.

“He hasn’t had the most straightforward of careers,” said Deschamps.

“There have been lots of injuries but he has always had this ability, this strength, to play down the drama and tell himself that he would come back stronger.

“He came to into the France team when he was 19 and I thought he had enormous potential and everything it takes to succeed at the highest level.

“It took time but today he is a Ballon d’Or winner.”

Dembélé’s success at the expense of the likes of the Barcelona striker Yamine Lamal and several PSG teammates such as Vitinha, Désiré Doué and Fabian Ruiz, makes him the sixth Frenchman to lift an accolade set up by France Football magazine in 1956.

“I’m super happy for him,” said Marseille striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who played with Dembélé at Borussia Dortmund in Germany in the 2016/2017 Bundesliga season.

“He’s someone I appreciate enormously and the award is entirely merited. There is no argument. If you know anything about football, you cannot disagree with him getting the award.”

World Cup France boss Deschamps defuses PSG player injury spat as Iceland loom

Road to redemption

His victory also furnishes the disillusioned or disparaged with a compelling template for redemption.

Last December, PSG boss Luis Enrique left him out of the squad to play at Arsenal during the league phase of the 2024/2025 competition after a row during a game at Rennes.

He was eventually rehabilitated and Enrique – who won the coach of the year trophy on Monday night – moved him in from the right wing into the centre.

A glut of goals followed as Dembélé morphed from gawky inaccuracy into a sleek goal machine.

He hit 25 in 20 games from December to March to allow the PSG faithful to forget the departure to Real Madrid of their former darling Kylian Mbappé.

As Dembélé celebrated with friends and family, the France skipper posted a message on his social media page.

“Really, really pleased for you, my brother,” Mbappé said. “You deserve it a thousand fold.”

Bixente Lizarazu, who won the 1998 World Cup in the team skippered by Deschamps, told the French broadcaster Franceinfo: “I’m not surprised. He played a great season with PSG both individually and collectively.

“And it’s not something that was ever expected. He had a difficult time at Barcelona with injuries and living in Messi’s shadow and it wasn’t always easy with Enrique.

“But he has become the symbol of the PSG collective.”

PSG supremos saluted the first player from the club to win the Ballon d’Or by unveiling a collector’s edition T-shirt.

“It’s a powerful way to celebrate the achievements of an exceptional talent, enhanced by the rest of the team,” said a club spokesperson.

“It offers fans a unique souvenir of this historic moment.”

(with newswires)

The women’s junior ITT featuring 17 and 18-year-olds will start the day’s action over 18.3km between the BK Arena in Kigali and the Kigali Convention Centre.

In a nod to the first world championships to be held in Africa, Yvonne Masengesho from Rwanda will launch the race. She will be followed by Divine Ogbe from Nigeria and Rosemarie Thiel from Namibia.

In all, 47 cyclists will compete for the coveted rainbow vest.

The competition will be followed by the male teenagers who will ride over 22.6km between the same venues.

On Monday, Sweden’s Jakob Söderqvist claimed the men’s under 23 ITT.

The 22-year-old Lidl-Trek Future Racing cyclist completed the 31.2 km course in 38 minutes, 24.43 seconds. He posed  an average speed of 48.741 km/h between the BK Arena in Kigali and the Kigali Convention Centre.

“This is the one thing in the U23 category that I care about the most,” he said after his triumph. “So there have been preparations all year round to just make this one as good as possible.” 

Nate Pringle from New Zealand was second just over a minute behind. France’s Maxime Decomble claimed bronze.

In the women’s under 23 ITT, Zoe Backstedt took top prize. She completed the 22.6km sprint in 30 minutes, 56.16 seconds.

Viktoria Chladonova from Slovakia was second nearly two minutes behind the 20-year-old Briton and the Italian Federica Venturelli was third.

French long-distance cyclist Sofiane Sehili, who has been held in Russia since early September after allegedly crossing the border illegally, has lodged an appeal against his detention. 

The 44-year-old rider was stopped in Russia’s Far East, at what should have been the final leg of his record attempt to pedal across Eurasia.

Sehili set out from Lisbon in July, aiming to cover 17 countries and finish in Vladivostok by early September – a journey of more than 60 days and many thousands of kilometres.

But his record-breaking ride ran into bureaucratic trouble at the Russian border with China.

According to officials, Sehili first attempted to enter at a checkpoint restricted to Russian and Chinese nationals.

He then tried another crossing, only to find that the rules required travellers to enter by train or bus – a move that would have disqualified his world record attempt.

Determined to stick to his bike, he presented himself to border guards in the hope they would wave him through. Instead, he was detained.

French cyclist arrested in Russia to be detained until October

Pre-trial detention appeal

On Monday, Russian lawyer, Alla Kouchnir, told French news agency AFP that she had appealed his arrest with the regional court in Primorye, based in Vladivostok.

“I have spoken with investigators. In general, the investigation is already complete, and it’s unlikely that new details will appear,” she said.

Kouchnir has requested that Sehili’s pre-trial detention be replaced with a less restrictive measure that does not involve isolation.

For now, Russian courts have ordered that the Frenchman remain in custody until at least 4 October.

State news agency Ria Novosti reported that the appeal specifically challenges this provisional detention.

Despite the setback, supporters say Sehili is in good spirits.

A Russian prison monitoring official, Vladimir Naidin, reported that he had visited the cyclist in jail and found him in good health.

French researcher imprisoned in Russia faces new charges of espionage

‘Ultra-cyclist’ challenge

Back in France, his partner, Fanny Bensussan, told regional channel France 3 Occitanie that his only focus had been on the athletic feat itself.

“He thought only about his sporting achievement,” she said, explaining that he believed the border guards would make an exception.

Sehili is no stranger to gruelling challenges. A former archivist at cultural magazine Télérama, he reinvented himself as an “ultra-cyclist”, specialising in rides stretching hundreds or even thousands of kilometres.

His Eurasia crossing was to be his most ambitious undertaking yet.

His arrest, however, comes against a fraught backdrop – since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, several Western nationals have been detained in the country, amid continuing tensions between Moscow and Paris.

(With AFP)

Standing for the centre-right Les Républicains (LR), Michel Barnier claimed more than 45 percent of the vote on Sunday in the capital’s second constituency – a seat traditionally considered safe for the right.

He will face Socialist candidate Frédérique Bredin in next weekend’s run-off.

Turnout, however, has been exceptionally low, with almost three in four voters staying away from the ballot box, with abstention close to 75 percent.

Barnier himself admitted it reflected “worry, frustration and fatigue” with France’s national political climate.

The result puts the 74-year-old, who briefly held the premiership last year before being toppled by a budgetary censure motion, on course to become Les Républicains‘ only MP in Paris.

Since 2022, the capital’s 18 parliamentary seats have been split between President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists and the left.

French PM meets Macron to resign after no-confidence vote

Duel between left and right

Bredin – a former minister under socialist president François Mitterrand – secured about 32 percent of the vote.

She was the sole left-wing standard-bearer in a crowded field of 17 candidates.

The far-right National Rally’s Thierry Mariani trailed far behind in third place.

Barnier sought to frame the choice ahead as a straightforward duel: “On the one hand, our united candidacy of the right and centre; on the other, the left’s candidate, backed by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and France Unbowed,” he told supporters.

Bredin hit back, calling Barnier’s performance “a historic failure for the right, with less than 50 percent in this constituency”, which spans Paris’ upmarket 5th, 6th and 7th district on the Left Bank – long considered bastions of conservatism.

Who could be on the ballot for the 2027 French presidential election?

‘Shotgun’ by-election

The by-election was triggered in July when Macronist deputy Jean Laussucq’s victory was annulled by the Constitutional Council over irregularities in his campaign accounts.

The tight campaign calendar frustrated Bredin, who unsuccessfully demanded a postponement, calling the timetable “scandalously short”.

Barnier’s path to the ballot was not without turbulence, as his candidacy was initially threatened by Rachida Dati – outgoing culture minister and combative mayor of the 7th district – who suspected Barnier of eyeing the office of Paris mayor.

Dati pulled out only at the last minute, after securing LR’s official nomination for next year’s municipal elections.

Barnier’s ‘Paris credentials’

Though know internationally as the EU’s chief negotiator during Brexit, Barnier is best known in France for representing Savoie for decades – as MP, senator and local council chief.

Throughout his campaign, the former prime minister has been shoring up his Paris credentials, saying he has lived in the constituency for the past 12 years.

Eyebrows were raised, however, when it emerged he had to cast his ballot by proxy, as he is not registered on Paris’s electoral rolls.

Next Sunday’s duel now promises a symbolic showdown, with Barnier bidding to replant Les Républicain’s flag in the capital, while Bredin hopes to pull off an upset for the left in one of Paris’s most traditionally conservative constituencies.

“We are fighting for the future of Turkey‘s democracy,” said party leader Ozgur Ozel to tens of thousands of supporters at a rally in Ankara on Saturday.

Ozel has been travelling the country since March, when Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested on graft charges. The case marked the start of a legal assault on the CHP. Ozel now speaks at rallies twice a week, despite his often hoarse voice.

The party is also defending itself in court over alleged voting irregularities at a congress two years ago that elected Ozel as leader. If the court rules against them, Ozel and the rest of the party leadership could be removed and replaced by state-appointed trustees.

“It’s unprecedented,” said political analyst Sezin Oney of the Politics news portal. “There has not been such a purge, such a massive crackdown on the opposition, and there is no end in sight, that’s the issue.”

Macron and Erdogan find fragile common ground amid battle for influence

Arrests and polls

On Wednesday, another CHP mayor in Istanbul was jailed, bringing the total to 16 detained mayors and more than 300 other officials. Most face corruption charges.

The arrests come as the CHP’s new leadership is stepping up its challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Recent opinion polls give Imamoglu and other CHP figures double-digit leads over the president.

Oney said the prosecutions are part of Erdogan’s wider strategy.

“He’s trying to complete the transformation, the metamorphosis as I call it, of Turkey to become a full authoritarian country,” she said.

“There is an opposition but the opposition is a grotesque opposition, that can never have the power actually to be in government. But they give the perception as if the country is democratic because there are elections.”

Armenia and Azerbaijan peace deal raises hopes of Turkish border reopening

‘Multi-front attack’

Ilhan Uzgel, the CHP’s foreign affairs coordinator, said the party is under siege.

“We are under a multi-front attack from all directions at almost every level, running from one court case to another,” he said.

He argued that Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is using fear to force defections. “Sixteen of our mayors are in jail right now, and they threaten our mayors. You either join our party or you face a jail term,” Uzgel said.

Erdogan rejects any suggestion of coercion and insists the judiciary is independent. Since he came to power more than 20 years ago, however, not a single AKP mayor has been convicted on graft charges – though on Friday at least two local mayors from the ruling party were detained as part of a corruption investigation.

Turkey warns Kurdish-led fighters in Syria to join new regime or face attack

Political risks

Despite appearing dominant, Erdogan may face a backlash. Atilla Yesilada, a political analyst with Global Source Partners, said the crackdown is fuelling public anger.

“You look at recent polls, the first complaint remains economic conditions, but justice rose to number two. These things don’t escape people’s notice; that’s what I mean when I say Erdogan took a huge political risk with his career,” he said.

Erdogan currently trails behind several potential challengers, but elections are still more than two years away.

Yesilada said much depends on the stance of Erdogan’s ally Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party.

“It’s quite possible at some point, Bahceli will say enough is enough, you are destroying the country, and may also end the coalition,” he said.

Bahceli formed an informal alliance with Erdogan in 2018, when Turkey switched to a presidential system. Erdogan relies on Bahceli’s parliamentary deputies to pass constitutional reforms needed to secure another term.

Bahceli has voiced concern about the pressure on the CHP, which has been trying to win his support. But with the court expected to rule next month on the party’s leadership, the CHP says it will keep fighting.

“The only thing that we can do is rely on our people, our electorate, and the democratic forces in the country. We are not going to give up,” said Uzgel.

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday. This week, you’ll hear musical requests from Erwan, Paul, and me.

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: “Picadillo de Soya” by José Luis Cortés, performed by José Luis Cortés and NG La Banda; “Electricity” by Paul Humphreys and Andrew McCluskey, performed by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and “One Life to Live” from Lady in the Dark by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin, performed by Teresa Stratas with the Y Chamber Symphony conducted by Gerard Schwarz.

The quiz will be back next Saturday, the 27th of September. Be sure and tune in! 

Cameroonians are set to go to the polls for the presidential election on 12 October, but the opposition remains fragmented, despite efforts to unite behind a single candidate to challenge President Paul Biya, who, at 92, is seeking an eighth term.

In the first week of September, the United Nations raised concerns over whether rising tensions in the country could jeopardise the possibility of free and fair elections.

According to Enrica Picco, Central Africa director for the International Crisis Group (ICG), this lack of unity, combined with the perception of an absent or weak opposition, could lead to low voter turnout. The ICG also warns that ongoing instability in the country may further depress participation.

On Saturday, Issa Tchiroma Bakary was named the opposition’s “consensus candidate” for the October vote. But will this be enough to galvanise voters?

The 10 other opposition candidates, who remain officially in the race, have yet to comment on Tchiroma Bakary’s appointment.

We have Enrica Picco on the line to discuss the potential flashpoints and the ICG’s recommendations ahead of the election.

Fears over divided opposition and instability, as Cameroon heads to the polls

 Oil pollution in Nigeria

In Nigeria, major oil companies are facing allegations that they have abandoned decades of pollution in the Niger Delta without addressing the environmental damage.

A UN-appointed panel of experts has written to Shell, Eni, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies, warning that the firms cannot simply sell off their assets to evade their responsibilities to local communities.

We’ll hear the reaction of community member Celestine AkpoBari, an Ogoni-born activist who coordinates the Ogoni Solidarity Forum and leads the Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative (MEDI).

Oil giants accused of dodging Niger Delta clean-up as UN panel intervenes

South Africa and the US

Finally, in South Africa, since Donald Trump assumed office in the United States, companies, business leaders and diplomats have been working behind the scenes to strengthen relations, particularly for the hundreds of South African seasonal farmers who spend a few months each year in the US to supplement their income.

One prominent advocate for these farmers is Neil Diamond, president of the South African Chamber of Commerce in the US, based in Atlanta.

We discuss the importance of these work opportunities in the US for South Africans, as well as the final three months of South Africa’s G20 presidency — a historic first for an African nation.

---

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. This week, you’ll hear musical requests from your fellow listeners Ali Shahzad, Jocelyne D’Errico, and a composition by B. Trappy.  

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: “Love is Stronger”, written and performed by B. Trappy; “Coups et Blessures” written by Adrien Gallo and performed by BB Brunes, and “Misty”, by Erroll Garner and Johnny Burke, performed by Sarah Vaughan with Quincy Jones and His Orchestra.

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!

French President Emmanuel Macron is pushing for the creation of a military force to secure any peace deal made between Russia and Ukraine.

Turkey, which boasts NATO’s second-largest army, is seen as a key player in any such move – especially given that Washington has ruled out sending US troops.

For its part, Ankara has said it is open to joining a peacekeeping mission.

“Macron finally came to terms [with the fact] that Turkey is an important player, with or without the peace deal. Turkey will have an important role to play in the Black Sea and in the Caucasus,” said Serhat Guvenc, professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.

Macron last month held a lengthy phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, focused on the Ukraine conflict, and thanked him for his diplomatic efforts to end the war.

Turkey eyes Ukraine peacekeeping role but mistrust clouds Western ties

Turning point

For Professor Federico Donelli of Trieste University, this marks a dramatic turnaround. Previously, the two leaders have frequently exchanged sharp words, especially over Turkey’s rising influence in West Africa and the Sahel.

“In Paris, public opinion and the press criticised this move by Turkey a lot,” said Donelli. “At the same time, the rhetoric of some Turkish officers, including President Erdogan, was strongly anti-French. They were talking a lot about the neocolonialism of France and so on.”

Donelli added that cooperation over Ukraine has pushed France to reconsider its Africa stance.

“As a consequence of Ukraine, the position of France has changed, and they are now more open to cooperating with Turkey. And they [understand] that in some areas, like the Western Sahel, Turkey is better than Russia, better than China,” he said.

Analysts also see new openings in the Caucasus. A peace agreement signed in August between Azerbaijan, which was backed by Turkey, and Armenia, which was supported by France, could provide further common ground.

Macron last month reportedly pressed Erdogan to reopen Turkey’s border with Armenia, which has been closed since 1993. Turkish and Armenian officials met on the countries’ border on Thursday to discuss the normalisation of relations.

Turkey walks a tightrope as Trump threatens sanctions over Russian trade

‘Pragmatic cooperation’

But clear differences remain, especially when it comes to Syria. The rise to power of Turkish-backed President Ahmed al-Sharaa is seen as undermining any French role there.

“For Erdogan, the victory of al-Sharaa in Damascus on 24 December is the revenge of the Ottoman Empire, and Ankara doesn’t want to see the French come back to Syria,” said Fabrice Balanche, a professor of international relations at Lyon University.

Balanche argued that France is losing ground to Turkey across the region.

“It’s not just in Syria, but also in Lebanon – the Turks are very involved, and in Iraq, too. We [the French] are in competition with the Turks. They want to expel France from the Near East,” he said.

Despite this rivalry, Guvenc predicted cooperation will continue where interests align.

“In functional terms, Turkey’s contributions are discussed, and they will do business, but it’s going to be transactional and pragmatic cooperation, nothing beyond that,” he said.

One such area could be the Palestinian territories. Both Macron and Erdogan support recognition of a Palestinian state and are expected to raise the issue at this month’s United Nations General Assembly.

For now, shared interests are likely to outweigh differences – even if only temporarily.

For many critics of French President Emmanuel Macron, his nomination of close ally Sebastien Lecornu to replace François Bayrou as prime minister is a slap in the face, and further proof that the government is ignoring people’s wishes.  Participants in a movement to shut down the country on Wednesday talk about feeling unheard, and draw comparisons with the anti-government Yellow Vest movement from 2018-2019. (Listen @0′)

Tourists have long been drawn to the “village” of Montmartre, with its famed Sacre Cœur basilica, artists’ square, winding cobbled streets, vineyards and pastel-shaded houses. But the rise of influencers and instagrammers who post picture-postcard decors, as featured in hit films and Netflix series, have turned it into a must-see destination. With tourists now outnumbering residents by around 430 to one, the cohabitation is under strain. Béatrice Dunner, of the Association for the Defence of Montmartre, is calling on local authorities to follow the example of Amsterdam and tackle overtourism before it’s too late. (Listen @13′)

On 15 September 1635, a group of French colonists claimed the Caribbean island of Martinique, establishing a plantation economy reliant on slavery. Its economic and cultural legacy continues to shape the island today as an overseas department. (Listen @6’35”)

Episode mixed by Cécile Pompeani

Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, Apple podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here) or your favourite podcast app (pod.link/1573769878).

Madhya Pradesh is often referred to as the Heart of India. Located right in the middle of the country, the Indian region shows everything India has to offer through its abundant diversity. The IFTM trade show, which took place in Paris at the end of September, presented the perfect opportunity for travel enthusiasts to discover the region.

Sheo Shekhar Shukla, Managing Director of Madhya Pradesh’s tourism board, sat down to explain his approach to sustainable tourism.

“Post-covid the whole world has known a shift in their approach when it comes to tourism. And all those discerning travelers want to have different kinds of experiences: something offbeat, something new, something which has not been explored before.”

Through its UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Shukla wants to showcase the deep history Madhya Pradesh has to offer.

“UNESCO is very actively supporting us and three of our sites are already World Heritage Sites. Sanchi is a very famous buddhist spiritual destination, Bhimbetka is a place where prehistoric rock shelters are still preserved, and Khajuraho is home to thousand year old temples with magnificent architecture.”

All in all, Shukla believes that there’s only one way forward for the industry: “Travelers must take sustainable tourism as a paradigm in order to take tourism to the next level.”

In partnership with Madhya Pradesh’s tourism board.

Also known as the Land of the Beautiful Islands, Malaysia’s landscape and cultural diversity is almost unmatched on the planet. Those qualities were all put on display at the Malaysian stand during the IFTM trade show.

Libra Hanif, director of Tourism Malaysia, explained the appeal of the country as well as the importance of promoting sustainable tourism today: “Sustainable travel is a major trend now, with the changes that are happening post-covid. People want to get close to nature, to get close to people. So Malaysia being a multicultural and diverse [country] with a lot of natural environments, we felt that it’s a good thing for us to promote Malaysia.”

Malaysia has also gained fame in recent years, through its numerous UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which include Kinabalu Park and the Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley.

Green mobility has also become an integral part of tourism in Malaysia, with an increasing number of people using bikes to discover the country: “If you are a little more adventurous, we have the mountain back trails where you can cut across gazetted trails to see the natural attractions and the wildlife that we have in Malaysia,” says Hanif. “If you are not that adventurous, you’ll be looking for relaxing cycling. We also have countryside spots, where you can see all the scenery in a relaxing session.”

With more than 25,000 visitors at this IFTM trade show this year, Malaysia’s tourism board got to showcase the best the country and its people have to offer.

In partnership with Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board. For more information about Malaysia, click here.