Lecornu said he would not resort to a special clause in Article 49.3 of the French constitution – invoked by several of his recent predecessors – because it “essentially allows the government to halt debates”.

“I am forgoing it in order to engage the government’s responsibility and for the government to write the final version,” he told reporters.

“It’s a useful tool. But in a functioning parliament, one that was renewed around a year ago and reflects the French people and their divisions, you cannot force your way through or coerce the opposition.”

Race to set draft budget

Lecornu is in crunch talks with leaders of several parties in France’s deadlocked parliament, which has been divided into three main blocs since snap elections last year. 

He is in a race against time to present a draft budget for legislators to discuss and approve before the end of the year.

His predecessor, François Bayrou, left office after he failed to receive backing for his 2026 budget that would have required nearly 44 billion euros in savings – largely through cuts to public spending and scrapping two public holidays.

“Giving up Article 49.3 must not lead us to give up on France having a budget,” said Lecornu before meetings at his Paris office with leaders of the National Rally, the Socialist Party, the Ecologists and the French Communist Party.

Who is ‘political animal’ Sébastien Lecornu, France’s latest prime minister?

Lecornu, appointed on 9 September by President Emmanuel Macron, is forced to talk to parties from across the political spectrum after Macron’s decision to hold snap parliamentary elections in July 2024 backfired.

Parliament was left in a three-way split between Macron’s centrist bloc, the far-right National Rally and a left-wing coalition.

Bayrou joined Gabriel Attal and Michel Barnier as the premiers who failed to unite the disparate factions on a response to France’s debt crisis.

Public debt has climbed to 113.9 percent of GDP, due in part to bailing out the economy during the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

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

Wealth tax mooted

Lecornu will need either the right-wing Republicans or the left-wing Socialists to abstain or support him.

As part of the horse trading, the Republicans say they want a third of the posts in the cabinet that Lecornu is set to announce. The Socialists are seeking a wealth tax alongside or instead of austerity measures.

In a bid to break the impasse, Lecornu has proposed creating a form of wealth tax that would exclude business owners’ professional assets, anonymous sources told Reuters news agency on Friday, without providing details.

The 39-year-old PM is aware that not passing a budget will tarnish France’s credibility.

On 12 September, credit rating agency Fitch downgraded France’s sovereign credit score to the country’s lowest level on record.

The move to A+ stripped the euro zone’s second-largest economy of its AA- status to underline growing investor concerns over its ability to rein in the highest budget deficit in the euro zone.

Failure to produce a budget would leave the government falling back on a stop-gap rollover that lets it spend only at last year’s levels. 

Wait and see

Lecornu’s predecessors were heavily criticised for their reliance on Article 49.3 to pass controversial reforms.

His political opponents cautiously welcomed his decision not to invoke it, while stressing they needed a clearer picture of the new prime minister’s policies.

“Not using 49.3 seems to me more respectful of democracy than what has been done in previous years,” said Marine Le Pen, president of the National Rally parliamentary group, after meeting Lecornu.

While she added that she didn’t see the new premier breaking with the status quo, Le Pen said she would wait and see what was in his policy speech.

Olivier Faure, first secretary of the PS, emerged from a two-hour meeting with Lecornu calling the budget proposals “very insufficient and in many respects alarming”, but welcomed the decision to allow parliament to debate the bill. 

He said his party wanted to know if Lecornu was willing to meet its key demands, such as a vote in parliament to change pension reforms that were adopted via 49.3.

“We don’t just want procedural steps, we want the French people’s lives to change,” Faure said.

France’s article 49.3 a handy constitutional tool to bypass parliament

Introduced in 1958 with the Fifth Republic, Article 49.3 was designed to overcome the shortcomings of the previous republic – notably political deadlock due to rapid changes of government.

In exchange for bypassing a vote on legislation, it leaves the prime minister exposed to a no-confidence vote that can bring down the government.

Since 2008, 49.3 can be activated for only one bill per parliamentary session – outside of the state and social security budgets, for which there are no limitations.

(with newswires)

In his report for the European Sentiment Compass 2025, Pawel Zerka, of the European Council on Foreign Relations, suggests Europe is living its own “Truman Show moment”.

The United States, he says, is no longer the ally Europeans had been accustomed to having. Instead, under Trump, Washington is not only pulling the strings in trade, defence and digital disputes – it is waging an outright “culture war” on Europe.

The big question is whether the EU has the courage to step off the set, reclaim its autonomy and begin writing its own story.

Europe’s uncertainty after Trump’s first 100 days

Trump 2.0

Transatlantic tensions are nothing new. Rows over trade, NATO spending and climate policy have flared under every president from Kennedy to Obama. But Zerka insists that Trump marks a rupture.

“There is a clear difference vis-à-vis previous presidents, and even vis-à-vis Donald Trump 1.0,” he told RFI. “Before, we had never seen a US president targeting Europe so clearly and aggressively.”

This time round, the barbs are sharper, the interventions more deliberate. Trump openly mocks Europe’s migration and climate policies, last week using the world stage of the United Nations to declare that Europeans are “going to hell” with their “crazy” ideas.

Such rhetoric, Zerka argues, is not just bluster. It is part of a deliberate strategy to humiliate Europe, a way of painting the European Union as weak, dependent and incapable of agency.

And this culture war is not confined to speeches, Zerka says – the Trump administration has moved from commentary to active interference.

In Germany, US Vice President JD Vance and former Trump advisor Elon Musk openly backed the far-right AfD party during the country’s legislative elections in February.

Similar interference was seen in Poland, Romania and Ireland, where Washington lent support to Conor McGregor, a former mixed martial arts champion who had thrown his “Make Ireland Great Again” hat in the ring for the country’s upcoming presidential election on 24 October, but withdrew from the race in September. 

McGregor’s political ambitions had been boosted by an invitation to the White House on St Patrick’s Day, with Trump calling him his “favourite” Irish person.

“We haven’t seen anything like this before,” Zerka stresses. “There’s such active involvement in domestic politics of European countries, supporting rivals of the governments in place – and very often those rivals are problematic political players.”

“There is a lot of appetite among the European public for an assertive Europe, but leaders keep finding themselves in situations where they look ridiculous and Europe gets humiliated” – Pawel Zerka

Europe’s new right: how the MAGA agenda crossed the Atlantic

A Truman moment

So what does it mean for Europe to “walk off the set”? In Truman Burbank’s case, it was about courage – daring to leave behind the artificial comfort of a staged life. For the EU, Zerka says, it is about dignity and identity.

“European leaders must be ready,” he argues. “Currently they are buying time with Trump, because they depend so much on America for security, especially with Russia’s war in Ukraine. But the danger is that by playing along, they risk repeated humiliation – whether at NATO summits or in trade negotiations – where Europe ends up looking ridiculous to its own public and to the wider world.”

The challenge, Zerka believes, is that many EU leaders still don’t grasp the true nature of the confrontation.

They treat disputes over tariffs or defence spending as technical haggles, missing the larger picture – that they are part of a cultural battle over values, sovereignty and the very meaning of the West.

Without that recognition, Europe risks stumbling from one Trump-scripted crisis to another, always reacting, never setting the agenda.

The role of the prophet

In The Truman Show, it was a character named Sylvia who first whispered the truth to Truman, that his life was staged. In today’s Europe, Zerka sees Denmark as playing that role.

Trump’s suggestion that the US might buy Greenland directly questioned Danish sovereignty, giving Copenhagen a unique impetus for defending European autonomy.

“Denmark is the one country really trying to show Europe the difference between reality and illusion,” Zerka says, adding though that Sweden and Finland, both scarred by the Russian threat and largely resistant to Trump’s personal appeal, could also be well placed to push for European autonomy.

Then there are what he calls the “door holders”, the heavyweight countries whose choices could swing the EU’s future one way or another: France, Germany and Poland.

Each stands at a crossroads. Elections in the coming years could see them drift towards the pro-Trump “director’s crew” – Hungary, Italy, Slovakia – or rally behind the prophets calling for strategic autonomy.

The outcome, Zerka warns, will determine whether Europe claims its agency or sinks deeper into dependency.

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

Walking the line

However, with Russian aggression on its doorstep, Europe cannot simply sever ties with Washington. Yet, Zerka argues, the notion that Europeans must appease Trump to preserve the transatlantic bond is a fallacy.

“It’s completely the other way around,” he says. “Only if Europe steps up in building its own capacities, and shows assertiveness, can it become a real partner rather than a subordinate.”

That means investment in defence, technology and energy resilience. It also means recognising the culture war for what it is, and refusing to be defined by Trump’s caricatures.

Trust in the EU is its strongest since 2007, with polls showing that citizens increasingly view the bloc not just as an economic club but as a community of shared values, and destiny.

Zerka believes European leaders must harness the public appetite for a more assertive Europe. The risk of inaction, he warns, is cultural subordination.

The reward of courage, by contrast, is the chance for Europe to write its own story, and participate in the transatlantic partnership as an equal.

Kabila, 54, was convicted in absentia on 30 September by the Military High Court in Kinshasa for treason and war crimes.

Prosecutors accused him of being a founder of the Alliance Fleuve Congo, the political wing of the M23 rebel movement, and the leader of the armed coalition AFC/M23. He has been living abroad since 2023.

The ruling has split opinion.

In Kinshasa, the government and its supporters frame it as a landmark step in the fight against impunity. In the east of the country, where Kabila still commands loyalty, many see it as a political attack that threatens peace efforts.

“We welcome this decision of the justice system,” Christian Lumu, of President Félix Tshisekedi’s Union for Democracy and Social Progress party (UDPS) youth wing, told RFI.

“Because whether we like it or not, the rule of law we are building under President Tshisekedi’s leadership rests on a clear principle: no one is above the law.”

Former Congolese president Kabila sentenced to death for war crimes

Condemnation

However, the NGO Human Rights Watch said the move could be interpreted as a warning to political opponents that they could suffer the same fate.

The NGO’s Africa director Lewis Mudge said he believed the manner in which the trial was held and the verdict bore the hallmarks of a political vendetta and showed that “the Congolese government is moving down a more authoritarian path”.

“It was a trial with several political aspects to possibly send a warning to other political opponents,” he said. “First, they stripped him of his immunity quite quickly. Then there was the fact that a trial took place rapidly and Kabila didn’t even have a lawyer. And finally, the trial was held in a military court.”

The verdict was also condemned by Sammy Jean Takimbula, a civil society leader in the east of the country, where Kabila continues to enjoy popularity.

The eastern region of the DRC, located on the border with Rwanda and rich in natural resources, including minerals, has been the scene of conflict for 30 years.

The violence intensified in early 2025, with the M23 armed group, supported by Rwanda, and Rwandan troops capturing cities including Goma in January and Bukavu in February.

International NGOs report mass killings and sexual violence in eastern DRC

“It’s another weakening of the search for peace here in the east of the country,” Takimbula told RFI.

“We understand that the Kinshasa government is not here for the people. It’s a government here for targeting, for their own interests, not for the benefit of the population. The people of South Kivu are suffering every day.”

Asked about the potential risk Kabila’s conviction might pose to ongoing peace process, particularly talks in Qatar between DRC authorities and the AFC/M23, Lumu said: “I don’t think [there is a risk posed], because the discussions in Doha, or the upcoming [inter-Congolese] dialogues under President Tshisekedi, have only one objective: to consolidate unity, build peace and reconcile Congolese people.”

He added: “These processes cannot be manipulated to protect those who refuse to account for their actions. Real justice must be done for reconciliation to be genuine. If we allow impunity, there will be no real reconciliation.”

DR Congo and M23 rebels say they will sign peace deal mid-August

‘A distraction’

For Takimbula, Kabila – who ruled DRC between 2001 and 2019 – had been working towards this reconciliation.

“Joseph Kabila came here to South Kivu,” he said. “He held consultations with all the representative layers of civil society. And it was for peace efforts. They [the government] are accusing him of having allied with the M23. But these are the same authorities who continue negotiations [with M23], who are conducting prisoner exchanges.”

“It’s a distraction. Condemning Kabila is just creating more problems,” he added.

HRW’s Mudge said that prosecutors had not presented any credible evidence against Kabila, who he said “when he was president, was at the forefront of the fight against the M23”.

He added: “There’s also the timing: there will be elections [including presidential elections] in 2028. Joseph Kabila is seen as someone who could be very inconvenient for President Tshisekedi.”

This article was adapted from the original version in French.

The measure comes as the two main opposition parties were planning to hold a march on Saturday to “demand dialogue for inclusive, transparent, and democratic elections”.

The National Security Council (CNS) indicated that 44,000 members of the security and defence forces had been mobilised to “ensure a secure and peaceful election”, carrying out joint patrols.

The statement said that since the Constitutional Council published its final list of candidates for the 25 October presidential election, “several individuals, including political leaders, have been making xenophobic, hateful and subversive statements and spreading false information likely to disturb public order”.

Saturday’s planned march has now been banned because it posed “risks of public disorder,” according to the prefecture.

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

Risk versus reticence

For some analysts, despite the ban the risk of unrest remains.

“It’s particularly intense in Cote d’Ivoire at the moment,” researcher Paul Melly of British think tank Chatham House told RFI.

“Many young West Africans, particularly in the francophone countries, are frustrated with the political process and the political class more generally. And there’s a sense that the political class is preoccupied with its traditional disputes, its inter-partisan wrangles and tussles over power. And that they’re rather detached from the reality of people’s everyday lives.”

This all leads, he believes, to “a risk it could boil over and that there could be violence”.

Why Côte d’Ivoire’s election could be more complex than it seems

He counters, however, that Ivorians are wary of violent protests, citing the events of 2010-11 around the election in which current President Alassane Ouattara came to power and incumbent Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept the result, sparking the Second Ivorian Civil War.

“With those past crises seared deeply into the memory of many Ivorians, there is a reticence to [take] political confrontation too far and take it out on to the streets, because many people feel they never want to go back there,” he said.

The more pressing concern, according to Melly, is that young Ivorians will become disillusioned with the political process as a whole.

‘France’s last bastion’

Ouattara, 83, who has led the country since April 2011, is seeking a fourth term, having changed the constitution in 2016 to remove presidential term limits, angering the opposition.

The former economist had a career as an international civil servant, notably at the International Monetary Fund, where he became director of the Africa department, then at the Central Bank of West African States in Dakar.

As president, he has been credited with keeping Côte d’Ivoire prosperous and economically dynamic.

“I am a candidate because our country is facing unprecedented security, economic and monetary challenges, the management of which requires experience,” he said in a speech on 29 July.

However, Ouattara’s Côte d’Ivoire is also seen as “France’s last bastion”, and he maintains close ties with France’s Emmanuel Macron – which, according to political scientist Mathias Hounkpé “has diminished his ability to intervene in crises in the Sahel”.

Press freedom NGO urges Côte d’Ivoire to protect journalists ahead of election

Disqualifications

Four candidates are standing against the incumbent president: former ministers Jean-Louis Billon, Ahoua Don Mello and Henriette Lagou, and Simone Gbagbo, the former wife of former president Gbagbo.

But neither of the main opposition parties – the PDCI and PPA-CI – have been able to field a candidate, due to several being disqualified by the Constitutional Council, including Laurent Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam, former minister of development.

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

Provisional results will be published by the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) between 26 and 30 October. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must obtain an absolute majority of the votes cast. If none of the candidates manage this, a second round could take place on 29 November.

This article was partially adapted from the original version in French.

Maritime tracking websites Marine Traffic and Vesselfinder showed the Boracay, which claims to be flagged in Benin, heading towards the Suez Canal.

The vessel, also known as the Pushpa or the Kiwala, has been blacklisted by the European Union for being part of a fleet of ageing oil tankers used to bypass sanctions on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine three years ago.

It was boarded on Saturday by French authorities who detained the captain and first mate.

The skipper, who is due to appear in a French court in February over failing to comply with navy orders, was back on the vessel on Friday along with his chief officer, a source close to the case said.

France to try Chinese captain of Russia ‘shadow fleet’ vessel

Back on board

“They were brought back to their ship after being released from custody,” a source close to the case told the French news agency AFP.

French prosecutors said on Thursday that the Boracay was stopped because of inconsistencies over its registration while it was carrying a large cargo of Russian oil bound for India.

The Boracay has been linked to mysterious drone flights over Denmark last month, including military sites. They were part of a spate of drone sightings and airspace violations in European countries blamed on Russia although Moscow denies responsibility.

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, condemned France’s detention of the vessel as “piracy” and promised to react to what he called European threats.

“We are closely monitoring the rising militarisation of Europe,” Putin told a foreign policy forum in the city of Sochi, southern Russia.

“The tanker was seized in neutral waters without any justification” adding that there was no military cargo onboard. “This is piracy,” he said.

“Retaliatory measures by Russia will not take long. The response to such threats will be very significant. Russia will never show weakness or indecisiveness.”

Moldova’s pro-EU party ahead in polls overshadowed by Russian meddling claims

Airspace incidents 

The airspace incidents are adding to tension between European nations and Moscow, already riding high over Russia’s war on Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron urged European countries to do more to thwart Moscow’s efforts to skirt Western sanctions.

Speaking at a summit in Denmark, Macron said Europe needed to “kill the business model” of transporting Russian oil on ageing, foreign-flagged tankers by detaining such ships.

The Boracay left the Russian port of Primorsk near Saint Petersburg on 20 September, shipping data shows.

Marine Traffic data indicates it is scheduled to arrive in the Indian port of Vadinar on 20 October.

Three people have died since the demonstrations began. Hundreds have been arrested and nearly 300 people – mostly members of the security forces – have been injured in clashes and scuffles, the interior ministry said.

It added that 80 public and private buildings and hundreds of cars had been vandalised.

GenZ 212 also called for the release of all those detained in connection with what it described as peaceful protests.

The group, whose main organisers remain unknown, said its demand for the government’s dismissal was based on a constitutional article that gives the king the power to appoint and dismiss the prime minister and cabinet.

Morocco rocked by fourth day of Gen Z-led protests over public services

Social inequality

The rallies have been driven by anger over social inequality and failing public services. Protests swelled after reports last month of the deaths of eight pregnant women at a public hospital in the southern city of Agadir.

“Moroccan youth are taking to the streets to call for functioning hospitals, quality schools and decent jobs. They’re rejecting billions being spent on stadiums for the World Cup, while basic services are collapsing,” Tahani Brahma, a researcher and secretary general of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, told RFI. 

Most importantly, Moroccan youth do not want promises, they want their rights.”

Morocco was chosen last October, along with Portugal and Spain, to host the 2030 centenary edition of the World Cup. Six venues will be in Morocco, three in Portugal and 11 in Spain.

Spending on new stadiums and refurbishing existing ones for the World Cup and the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations is estimated to exceed €5 billion.

Online forums

GenZ 212 has mainly used the online messaging platform Discord to mobilise protests. It has repeatedly said it rejects the violence and vandalism reported in several towns and cities.

Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, head of the National Rally of Independents, chaired a meeting on Tuesday attended by coalition partners Fatima Zahra Mansouri, Mohamed Mahdi Bensaid and Nizar Baraka.

“After reviewing the developments linked to youth expressions in online and public spaces, the government affirms that it listens carefully to and understands the social demands,” the politicians said in a communique.

“We are ready to respond positively and responsibly through dialogue and discussion within institutions and public forums, and by finding realistic, implementable solutions that serve the interests of the nation and citizens.”

Morocco beats Madagascar to seize third African Nations Championship title

Reforms underway

Health Minister Amine Tehraoui on Wednesday told parliament several reforms were underway, but acknowledged that they were still insufficient to close the gaps in the sector.

Since the demonstrations started, hundreds of mostly young people have been arrested. 

The interior ministry said more than 400 people had been arrested since the demonstrations began, most of them young.

A spokesperson added that 80 public and private buildings as well as hundreds of cars had been vandalised.

RFI: What is your vision for Unesco if you are elected?

Firmin Édouard Matoko: Well, I think that what we need to do is quickly come up with pragmatic solutions to the problems with the United Nations system – its inefficiency, its extreme bureaucracy and its politicisation.

I think we can do more, we can do better. What I propose is a reflection on the mission and mandate of Unesco. It is a technical, intellectual agency, not an agency designed to engage in political mediation.

It is an agency that must propose technical solutions to situations that are extremely complex, from a political point of view. We saw this with the war in Ukraine, for example. We see it in Gaza. We see it in conflicts that are unfortunately forgotten today – in Sudan, Haiti and Afghanistan.

RFI: You say that Unesco lacks resources. This year, the United States announced its withdrawal from the organisation. Do you have anything to say to Donald Trump, who says that Unesco is too politicised?

FEM: Listen, this is a universal organisation where every voice counts. And it is an intellectual organisation, so we welcome contradiction and debate. We are not here to decide in favour of one side or the other, we give member states and civil society a platform to express their views on major issues. This organisation is a space for dialogue and solidarity.

Unesco warns majority of World Heritage sites at risk from drought or flooding

RFI: You have been a senior official at Unesco for more than 30 years. What do you say to those who call you an apparatchik?

FEM: Is the word “apparatchik” still used? I didn’t know that…

Well, let’s just say that, precisely because I am an insider, I prefer someone who knows the company, who has been in management. I know where changes can be made, and I know what can be done immediately.

RFI: Your leadership rival, the Egyptian Khaled El-Enany, emphasises that he comes from outside the organisation and has practical experience, having been his country’s minister of culture. Is that the difference between the two of you?

FEM: I was minister of external relations for 15 years. I travelled to more than 100 countries, providing solutions in times of peace and in times of conflict – in Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Haiti, Cambodia, at the height of conflicts in Somalia and Sudan.

So I think I know what multilateralism is. We proposed solutions in Rwanda after the genocide, in Burundi, in Congo. And so I think it’s reductive to talk about me as an apparatchik.

Plastic Odyssey and Unesco sign deal to restore marine World Heritage sites

RFI: You have only officially been a candidate for six months, whereas your opponent has been one for more than two years and has garnered support from many countries in Europe and the Arab world. Are you going into this election at a disadvantage?

FEM: No, I don’t think so. I’d say I have been a candidate for 30 years, since the first day I joined Unesco. I always had the ambition. And I am a role model for many colleagues, because I’ve shown it’s possible for a person from a small country in the Global South, trained within Unesco, can rise to the highest levels of leadership.

I believe in the wisdom of the member states to choose the best candidate for this organisation.

RFI: The African Union has already declared its preference, and it’s for your opponent…

FEM: The African Union has endorsed a candidate, but member states here at Unesco are not required to elect a candidate from the African Union. The African Union does not vote, otherwise we would have had a candidate from Mercosur and a candidate from the European Union. I have a legitimate right to stand as a candidate.

RFI: How do you feel about Khaled El-Enany being the favourite to win?

FEM: That doesn’t discourage me, believe me. I am not a candidate from one region or one country. I am a candidate for all nations, all peoples. And I am going into this with conviction because I am passionate about this institution.

This interview was adapted from the original version in French and lightly edited for clarity.

A surge of rebellion led by young people born between 1997 and 2012 is rewriting the rules of protest, with the smartphone the new megaphone.

Over the past three years, the pace at which these movements are changing the status quo has accelerated.

In 2022, it took five months for Sri Lankan students and activists to topple the Rajapaksa dynasty, which had clung to power for nearly two decades. In 2024, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in just six weeks. In Nepal last month , it took a mere 48 hours for protests to bring down the government of Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli.

The profile of these movements is strikingly consistent, with the crowds overwhelmingly young and hyper-connected. They are members of Generation Z – the first cohort to grow up entirely in the digital age, with social media seen not as an accessory but the lens through which they interpret the world.

France accused of restricting protests and eroding democracy

‘They see everything’

If the grievances vary by country – from corruption to education to basic services – the underlying themes are universal: anger at injustice, impatience with inequality and frustration at hypocrisy.

“These young people today are acting on demands that go beyond the purely political. They have a radical need for consistency, a need for authenticity,” says Elodie Gentina, a professor at the IESEG School of Management and a specialist in Gen Z.

“They want to compare everything, they judge everything, they see everything, because they have constant access to social media. They are also very aware of the contradictions between the promises made by leaders promises and their actions. They detest institutional hypocrisy – as seen in Nepal, where leaders talked a lot about modernity but at the same time blocked access to 26 social networks.”

Anger that had been building online over the privileged offspring of the political elite flaunting their wealth on Instagram, in a country where 20 percent of 15 to 25-year-olds are unemployed, spilled over on to the streets. 

Morocco rocked by fourth day of Gen Z-led protests over public services

The ‘amplifier’ effect

“Social media plays the role of emotional and political amplifier. It allows the sharing of images that can be inspiring, but also shocking. Gen Z are constantly comparing themselves to others, and that creates emulation. The viral logic of social networks transforms isolated frustrations into collective movements that become extremely powerful,” Gentina told RFI

In Indonesia, student protests earlier this year adopted an unlikely banner: the pirate flag from One Piece, a manga series in which the hero, Luffy, fights a corrupt and tyrannical world government.

A pop culture reference quickly became a unifying symbol, with the same imagery being adopted in Madagascar and Morocco.

In Madagascar, the triggers for the unrest were blackouts, water shortages and demands for basic freedoms. In Morocco, a collective calling itself “Gen Z 212” emerged online, calling for education and healthcare reform, and questioning the billions poured into hosting the 2030 World Cup while everyday needs go unmet.

“These are purely social demands,” says Souad Brahma, president of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, speaking to RFI. “The right to a dignified life – that means education, healthcare, decent housing. And through certain slogans, they also call for an end to corruption.”

Madagascar’s president dismisses cabinet as blackout protests turn deadly

Demographic weight

“More than against [individual] governments, Generation Z is rebelling against a model of governance that no longer works for them,” explains Gentina.

“They deem it too top-down, too opaque, too slow. These young people demand transparency and concrete results. They can no longer tolerate inconsistency between words and actions.”

With more than a third of the world’s population belonging to Gen Z, demographics are on their side. In parts of Asia, they account for half the population, making their voices impossible to ignore.

As for where they might rise up next, all eyes are on India. The world’s most populous nation also has the largest Gen Z population on the Asian continent, and those hundreds of millions of young people have not been spared by the mass unemployment, inequality and corruption that plague the country.

This article ahas been adapted from the original version in French.

The fledgling newsroom’s open-plan office sits within the new France Médias Monde (FMM) hub in the Senegalese capital of Dakar. An image of Blessing-Bili, a young singer from Congo-Brazzaville, looms large on one of its walls.

Cécile Goudou, ZOA’s deputy editor, is scrutinising subtitles, hunting for the slightest flaw. “I sometimes watch a video up to 10 times,” she laughs.

Although ZOA has only been posting content for a fortnight, its most popular videos have already racked up more than 800,000 views.

Joseph Kahongo Amutake is about to publish that day’s sports debate: “How does African cycling measure up internationally?” Several African commentators weigh in on the continent’s poor results at the World Cycling Championships.

“What I enjoy most is the dynamism we’re trying to bring to news,” says the 30-year-old Congolese journalist. “And being online, because that’s the platform young people prefer.”

Teenagers take centre stage at road world championships in Kigali

Bridge between generations

Amina Diop, a recent graduate of CESTI, one of Senegal’s top journalism schools, handles the Citizen Initiatives section.

She has just finished a feature on a young Beninese engineer who designed and built an electric scooter. “If another young person sees this story, they’ll think it’s possible to invent and innovate,” she says.

That’s why she joined ZOA – “to convey the positivity flowing through the continent and highlight the many initiatives that exist”.

For her, this means moving away from what she calls “misery journalism”. Her next story is on a Togolese fashion designer.

The channel’s mission is resolutely youthful and optimistic – but not naïve.

“ZOA tells Africa’s story from its roots, valuing those who built it, those who’re shaping it today and those imagining it tomorrow,” reads the colourful flyer announcing its launch.

Its mission: to amplify the voices of young Francophone Africans through fact-based reporting, grounded in human experience.

ZOA’s editor-in-chief, Kaourou Magassa, a journalist passionate about African cultures, likes to quote filmmaker Oumar Bayo Fall: “We are not the future, we are the present. We are also the bridge between our elders and the generations that will come after us.”

Combatting ‘fake’ news in Africa

Inspiring figures

ZOA’s first videos introduced audiences to a range of inspiring people: Aya Gueye, a former Miss Ziguinchor, who uses fashion to promote her culture and motivate young people; Ruffine Sonon, a 15-year-old Beninese athlete, who won the country’s first gold medal in the 800m at the African School Games, and Tening Faye, a young Senegalese taekwondo prodigy who has already won a world medal.

The channel also explores everyday topics… Could ataya tea – a staple of friendly gatherings – pose a health risk? How can families spot the signs of Alzheimer’s in ageing relatives? What are the real effects of sugar on health?

“The Health section is designed to produce explanatory videos on common and rare conditions,” explains Dikorou Cheick, the team’s health specialist.

“Our strength is that we inform with a relaxed tone. The idea is to provide preventative advice without frightening people, because once you’re aware of a condition, prevention becomes easy – and can even encourage recovery. Beyond that, we also want to showcase the progress made in healthcare across the continent.”

ZOA’s videos focus on daily life on the continent.

“For me, ZOA is a new approach, a new perspective,” says reporter Ibrahima Dramé. “We give the floor to ordinary Africans – people whose lives are not widely known, yet who are doing extraordinary things. That’s what makes my work here so important.

“With my mic and camera, I go everywhere: from Madina Ndiathbé in northern Senegal’s Fouta region, to Thiobon in Casamance in the south; from Pikine on Dakar’s outskirts to Koussanar in Tambacounda. I hand the mic to Senegalese voices that are rarely heard, even though they have a lot to say.”

From Goma to Cape Town, the young Congolese athlete pedalling for peace

No politics

ZOA distributes its content on all major social platforms – WhatsApp, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram – in the form of videos, photos and infographics.

“ZOA will cover practically everything: health, sports, society, culture, entrepreneurship – except politics,” says Goudou. “We believe there’s already enough coverage of politics.”

Instead, the content is resolutely “magazine”. There are features such as When I was 20, which sees elders share life lessons with younger generations; What’s your daily life? in which ordinary people talk about their routines, and Citizen Initiatives, showcasing young people working for their communities.

There is also a Heritage strand, which highlights Africa’s cultural and historical legacy. “Maybe a young Ivorian doesn’t know the history of Dakar’s Monument of the Renaissance,” notes Goudou. “Through this section, those are the kinds of stories we want to tell.”

Young Senegalese forced abroad by dual economic and political crises

Editorial independence

While ZOA is based alongside RFI’s Mandenkan and Fulfulde services in FMM’s Dakar hub, the new channel has its own distinctive style.

“RFI and France 24 provide us with technical and financial support, but editorially we’re independent,” says Magassa. “We have our own productions, our own editorial meetings and we choose our topics entirely on our own.”

The Dakar newsroom is home to 10 journalists from five African countries, with an equal number of men and women.

“The average age is 28,” notes Magassa. “So yes, we too are young Africans. This isn’t just about talking to young Africans – we are young ourselves, and we want to tell our own stories.”

The team works with a network of correspondents in 11 countries, because, as the editor-in-chief notes: “It’s vital to be as close as possible to the people – and to their stories.”

This article was adapted from the original in French.

The warning comes in the European Environment Agency’s Europe’s Environment 2025 report, a flagship assessment published only once every five years.

Drawing on data from 38 countries, it offers the clearest picture yet of how climate change and damage to nature are threatening Europe’s future well-being and prosperity.

“Significant progress has been made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, but the overall state of Europe’s environment is not good,” the report said.

Nature under strain

The EEA says Europe has cut greenhouse gas emissions by 37 percent since 1990 and more than doubled the share of renewable energy since 2005. Cleaner air has saved lives – deaths linked to fine pollution particles have fallen by nearly half since 2005.

But nature is still being degraded. More than four out of five protected habitats are in poor condition. Much of the soil is exhausted, and only about a third of rivers and lakes are healthy.

One in three Europeans lives in areas where water is under serious stress.

Europe is also warming faster than any other continent, making heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and floods more frequent and more destructive.

In 2022 extreme heat was linked to more than 70,000 deaths. Floods in Slovenia in 2023 caused damage equal to 16 percent of that country’s economy.

Air pollution continues to cause about 239,000 premature deaths a year across the EU, and traffic noise contributes to another 66,000 deaths.

“This report is a stark reminder that Europe must stay the course and even accelerate our climate and environmental ambitions,” said Teresa Ribera, the EU executive vice-president for clean transition.

Indigenous knowledge steers new protections for the high seas

She warned that recent extreme weather had shown how fragile Europe’s prosperity and security become when nature is damaged and the climate crisis intensifies.

“Protecting nature is not a cost. It is an investment in competitiveness, resilience and the well-being of our citizens.”

Others in Brussels echoed similar concerns.

EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said the wildfires and floods of recent years showed that “the costs of inaction are enormous, and climate change poses a direct threat to our competitiveness”.

Meanwhile environment commissioner Jessika Roswall said Europe’s economy ultimately depends on healthy ecosystems.

“Healthy nature is the basis for a healthy society, a competitive economy and a resilient world, which is why the EU is committed to stay the course on our environmental commitments,” she said.

France’s green challenge

The country profiles underscores the mixed picture in individual member states.

France has cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent since 1990, including an 8 percent drop between 2022 and 2023. It now protects nearly a third of its land, and water quality has improved.

But France still relies heavily on fossil fuels. Renewables supplied just 22 percent of its energy use in 2023 – well short of the 33 percent target for 2030. Only about one in 10 French farms is organic, far below the goal of nearly one in five by 2027.

Recycling and reuse of materials also lag behind.

A national water plan launched in 2023 set 53 steps to safeguard supplies as droughts become more common. The EEA says Europe as a whole could save up to 40 percent of its water in farming, energy and daily use with better management and modern technology.

Economy at risk

The report warns that the loss of healthy ecosystems threatens Europe’s economy.

Nearly three-quarters of businesses in the eurozone depend on natural systems such as pollination and clean water. Most bank loans go to companies that rely on these resources.

“Human survival depends on high-quality nature, particularly when it comes to adaptation to climate change,” said Catherine Ganzleben, head of the EEA’s Sustainable and Fair Transitions unit.

“Sustainability is not a choice, it is a question of when we do it. Do we do it in the short term and start now, or do we park it, in which case it is going to be harder and the costs of inaction will be higher?”

Could peatlands protect Europe’s eastern borders from a Russian invasion?

Environmental groups have urged the EU not to weaken its laws.

“Delaying the EU Deforestation Regulation or weakening our nature and water laws would be historic and irreversible mistakes,” said Ester Asin, head of WWF’s European policy office.

Her call for strong rules was echoed by the European Environment Agency itself.

“We cannot afford to lower our climate, environment and sustainability ambitions. What we do today will shape our future,” said EEA director Leena Ylä-Mononen.

The agency says reaching climate-neutrality by 2050 will require faster cuts in emissions from transport and farming, much greater recycling and the large-scale repair of damaged natural areas.

Of the hundreds of people evacuated from Gaza to France since the conflict in the enclave broke out in October 2023, 73 have come as part of a partly state-funded humanitarian programme known as Pause.

Run by the prestigious Collège de France research institute, Pause provides special one-year visas to artists and scientists in danger.  

Since 2017, it has supported more than 700 people from more than 40 countries, including Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan. For Palestinians in Gaza, it represents one of the few pathways to safety. 

‘A life jacket’

“The Pause programme was literally a life jacket for us,” says Abu Joury, a well-known Gazan rapper who arrived in the town of Angers in western France in January, with his wife and three children.

Sponsored by a local organisation, Al Khamanjati, he has been able to provide financial stability and security for his family – something he says has become impossible in Gaza.

But that life jacket is no longer available.

On 1 August, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that “no evacuation of any kind” would take place until further notice.

The trigger was a Palestinian student at Sciences Po Lille who was accused of sharing antisemitic statements in 2023, and was subsequently expelled to Qatar. 

The student was not part of the Pause programme, but the decision to halt all evacuations has left more than 120 people – 25 approved candidates and their families – stranded in what the UN has described as genocidal conditions. 

France halts Gaza evacuations over antisemitic posts by Palestinian student

“They’ve been waiting for months and are sending us constant messages calling for help,” says Marion Gués Lucchini, head of international diplomacy for the Pause programme. “They’re saying: ‘why are we being condemned for comments made by just one person? Why have we been abandoned?'”

The decision is unprecedented, Gués Lucchini says. “Because of a single person, all the others are condemned to remain in Gaza.

“We’ve been around for eight years. We’ve had people from all over the world, including countries where there may be sensitivities – Russia, Iran and so on. We’ve never had a security problem, we’ve never had anyone who was supposedly close to a terrorist group. Never.” 

She adds that all Pause candidates are subject to rigorous screening by four different ministries, including security checks by the Interior Ministry.

Listen to an audio report featuring Abu Joury and Mathieu Yon on the Spotlight of France podcast:

‘Collective punishment’ 

After President Emmanuel Macron recognised Palestinian statehood at the UN on Monday, the French government now faces mounting pressure to reinstate evacuations.  

A collective of Palestinian and migrant rights groups has filed a case with the Conseil d’Etat – France’s top court – claiming the suspension of evacuations for Gazans is in breach of the constitution.

Last week, some 20 acclaimed writers, including French Nobel laureates Annie Ernaux and J.M.G. Le Clézio, called on Macron to “restore this lifeline” as soon as possible. 

“This suspension of evacuation programmes on the basis of one case of a racist social media post is a form of collective punishment at a time when all signatories to the Genocide Convention should be doing their utmost to save Palestinians from annihilation and should refuse to be complicit in crimes against humanity,” they wrote in an open letter.

While evacuating only writers, artists and researchers was “inadequate and even cruel in the context of the killings and destruction in Gaza”, they underlined that “today this programme is one of the only ways by which a few people in Gaza can be saved from genocide, a part of which is scholasticide”.

The authors called on France to “follow through on its proclaimed humanist values”.

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

‘I fear for my friend’

Mathieu Yon, a 48-year-old fruit farmer from southern France, has become an unlikely advocate for Palestinian evacuation rights.

On Wednesday he took up position on a bench in front of the Foreign Ministry holding a sign addressed to Barrot: “Monsieur le ministre, resume the reception of Gazans.”

Around six months ago, Yon struck up a friendship with Gazan poet Alaa al-Qatrawi after reading her poem “I’m not well”, about losing her four children in an Israeli bombing in December 2023.

“She lost her four children and yet she’s still full of love and without any anger or aggression,” he says. “I fear for my dear friend.”

He, his wife and two friends have raised the necessary €48,000 to cover al-Qatrawi’s year-long residency.

They have work and accommodation lined up for her in their home town of Dieulefit, north of Avignon. “Everything is in place,” Yon said, hoping that his protest will see her file, handed in on 26 August, treated as a matter of urgency.

As Gaza aid flotilla comes under attack, NGOs urge Europe to act

From a refugee camp in Gaza, al-Qatrawi describes the constant danger: “Every Palestinian living now in Gaza is at risk of being killed at any second and in any place you can think of. You are exposed to assassination attempts throughout the day. And if you survive, you think about how you are going to survive the next day.” 

Her four children – Orchid, Kenan, Yamen and Carmel – were killed on 13 December, 2023. “There was a cordon around the area. The occupation [by the Israeli army] prevented ambulances from arriving,” she told RFI’s sister radio station MCD. 

The Ma’an collective, which helps Pause applicants, reports receiving increasingly desperate messages from Gaza.

“These are no longer calls for help, but testaments and farewells,” it said in a statement. One read: “I am writing to you, and maybe my last words. We are starving and losing everything around us.” 

Ahmed Shamia, an architect who had been accepted by the Pause programme, was killed in bombardments on 1 May this year, just days before he was due to be evacuated.

“It was very difficult for us all,” says Gués Lucchini. “It was the first time [someone selected for] the programme had died.”

Conflating Gazans with terrorists

Gués Lucchini laments that a programme offering a lifeline to scientists and artists has become a target for the far right, with Pause dealing with online attacks.

“These accounts created the controversy surrounding the student [in Lille], which led to the suspension of the evacuations. Since then there have been other smear campaigns against [people selected for] the Pause programme. It’s clear there is a desire to confuse aid and support for Gazans – scientists, artists and others – with support for a terrorist group.”

The French Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, which has a controversial far-right editor, recently accused Pause of “opening the door to Hamas”.

Yon, who has Jewish ancestry and whose great-uncle was deported to Auschwitz, rejects any suggestion that Gazans pose an inherent security risk. “There are antisemitic people in Gaza. But I think there are in France, too. There are in all countries, not especially in Gaza.”

He added: “This is a collective punishment without any kind of justice. In France we have the principle of presumption of innocence, but this is presumption of guilt.”

France’s Foreign Ministry has not commented publicly on when evacuations of Gazans will resume. But a diplomatic source told RFI: “Since the Israeli authorities have suspended evacuations, no operation is possible at this stage.”

French services are effectively dependent on local authorities, in this case Israel, who grant or deny exit permits based on lists submitted by the French authorities.

Macron on Gaza and Ukraine: diplomacy, hostages and European security at stake

Race against time 

For those still waiting, time is running out. “Every day that passes is another day that we take the risk that someone supported by a French national programme will die,” Gués Lucchini warns. 

Joury could be considered one of the lucky ones. But despite finding safety and a “very warm welcome” in France,  he remains haunted by those left behind – especially his mother and brother, who didn’t manage to reach Egypt before Israel closed the Rafah crossing.

“I’m physically out. But my mind is still in Gaza. My mother and my brother, I’m thinking of them all the time. My soul is still in Gaza,” he said.

As Yon continues his vigil outside the Foreign Ministry, he reflects on how hard it was to tell al-Qatrawi evacuations had been halted.

“She said, ‘even if it doesn’t happen, this relationship, this poetry exists. Even if the result is sad for our life, all of this poetry, all of this love, all of this kindness is real’.  

“This relationship has a value in itself,” Yon concludes. A lifeline of friendship – but no life jacket.

Sixty ratifications pushed the treaty over the line, with Morocco’s kick-starting the 120-day countdown to 17 January.

The treaty offers a tool for nations to create marine protected areas (MPAs) – central to the goal of safeguarding 30 percent of the ocean by 2030.

It also recognises indigenous knowledge, and requires “free, prior and informed consent” – in other words, clear permission in advance – for the use of marine resources linked to that knowledge.

From the sacred waters of Papahanaumokuakea in Hawaii to the hand-built islands of the Solomons, indigenous communities say culture and conservation work hand in hand.

Niue, the tiny island selling the sea to save it from destruction

Culture steers conservation

Stretching northwest from Kauai across roughly 1,500 kilometres of ocean – about the same distance from Paris to Rome – Papahanaumokuakea is one of the world’s largest fully protected MPAs.

It covers around 1.51 million square kilometres, larger than all the national parks in the United States combined, and shelters more than 7,000 marine species, many found nowhere else on earth.

The area is vital for endangered Hawaiian monk seals, green turtles and millions of seabirds.

For native Hawaiians it is also a sacred realm – a place tied to creation stories and ancestral routes at sea.

“I’ve been involved for more than half my life in protecting a place that we now call Papahanaumokuakea,” Aulani Wilhelm, a native Hawaiian conservationist who played a central role in creating the marine monument, told RFI.

“It was a movement started by native Hawaiian fishermen who partnered with conservationists to protect the coral reefs and endangered species.”

Wilhelm, who also heads the non-profit organisation Nia Tero, said elders had pushed for a refuge rooted in local principles and direct community engagement.

In her words, “not just another model of Western conservation” – but instead protection anchored in values and participation.

Stewardship, not ownership

Papahanaumokuakea is co-managed by four entities: native Hawaiian leaders, the US Federal Government, the state of Hawaii and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Joint decisions cover both nature and culture, and include protecting reefs and endangered species, safeguarding creation stories and traditional navigation routes, and setting rules for access and research.

Instead of talking about “managing” a resource, Wilhelm describes a relationship of care.

“People used to call me the manager of Papahanaumokuakea,” she said. “And I said, I don’t manage anything. You don’t manage your grandmother. You don’t manage your elder cousins. This is a relationship. You ‘care for’ instead.”

The big blue blindspot: why the ocean floor is still an unmapped mystery

From sanctuary to survival

Indigenous people manage around a quarter of the world’s land and many of those places hold rich biodiversity. Advocates say the lesson is simple – when communities have a say, nature often fares better.

In the Solomon Islands the stakes are high. In lagoons such as Langa Langa and Lau, some families still live on artificial islands first built centuries ago. They now face rising seas, chaotic weather and stronger storm surges that push water into their homes.

Lysa Wini, a researcher from the Solomon Islands who works with Nia Tero, told RFI that communities are using what they know and are asking for resources so that guardianship can continue.

“That would be not just merely putting indigenous knowledge or wisdom into text, but actually into practice,” she said.

Nations vow to cut shipping noise as sea life struggles to be heard

Next steps

Once the treaty takes effect – and once the first Conference of the Parties (Cop) is held – countries can file formal proposals for MPAs under the new global system. The first Cop must meet within one year of the treaty coming into force.

States will agree basic rules, set up a secretariat, create a science panel and open an information hub to share data. Decisions are taken by consensus where possible, or by a three-quarters majority.

Each proposal must say where the area is, why it should be protected, which measures will apply, how long they will last and how progress will be checked.

Wilhelm told RFI the planet will need 53 more protected areas the size of Papahanaumokuakea in order to meet global targets.

“The parliamentary elections in Moldova demonstrated a high level of commitment to democracy, amid unprecedented hybrid threats coming from Russia,” according to Paula Cardoso, leader of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s electoral observers team.

“From illicit financing funnelled through shadowy networks to relentless disinformation campaigns eroding public trust, and brazen cybersecurity incidents designed to sow chaos, these tactics sought to manipulate Moldova’s democracy and sovereignty,” she added.

“Yet, the nation’s democratic tenacity prevailed and helped to ensure the integrity of the vote.”

The legal framework governing the elections provided a solid foundation, with recently introduced laws having enhanced the definition of electoral corruption and tightened campaign finance regulations.

However, Cardoso told RFI that last-minute changes to the law and controversial decisions by the Central Election Commission, including the disqualification of some parties close to the election date, “raised questions about impartiality and limited the political landscape somewhat”.

Nevertheless, the election day itself was largely “smooth and orderly,” according to the observers – with high competence among electoral staff, the majority of whom were women, earning praise from international observers.

In pictures: Moldovans vote in decisive parliamentary elections

‘Russia failed’

In total, 1,578,730 people voted at 2,274 polling stations nationwide, with the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) winning 50.2 percent of the votes – followed by the pro-Russian Patriotic Bloc with 24.18 percent. 

“We respect the free and unimpeded choice of the Moldovans to determine their future. The Russian Federation does not,” said Michael Gahler, head of the European Parliament Election Observer mission to Moldova.

Had the Moldovans decided otherwise, “we [the EU] are not the ones who then come with tanks,” he told RFI during an interview in Anenii Noi, a small town in the east of Moldova, where he was checking a polling station designated for Moldovans who live in the breakaway Transnistria region. 

“In the run up to this election, Russia interfered at an unprecedented scale with cyber-attacks, disinformation campaigns, intimidation and illicit financing and vote buying schemes. Yet again, they failed,” he added.

How Russian disinformation flooded Moldova’s media landscape ahead of election

Political divisions

The result is being viewed by many as affirmation of the country’s European aspirations, amid ongoing conflict in neighbouring Ukraine and persistent Russian efforts to influence Moldovan politics.

“It’s a big win for the PAS, the main pro-European party in Moldova,” said Natalia Putina, a political scientist at the State University of Moldova.

Nevertheless, political divisions remain deep. The Patriotic Bloc lost ground but retained a base of support, particularly in separatist-leaning regions such as Transnistria. 

“We would have liked to see victory and opposition. We hoped that the opposition would find a solution. We believe that the current government hasn’t shown any results yet,” said Igor, an employee with a bank in Tiraspol, the capital of Transnistria.

He had come to the polling station in Arenii Noi, one of 12 along the border with Transnistria set up to accommodate Moldovans living in the breakaway region.

His trip was not without obstacles: he had first tried to vote at a polling station in Causeni, further south, but it was closed and he didn’t know why.

Obstacles remain

Others from Transnistria expressed impatience with what they see as discrimination from people living in Moldova proper.

“We are the same as our brothers from Moldova,” said Inna Romanyenko. “I am a Moldovan myself. I got married in Transnistria – does it mean that I am a separatist? No, of course not. I am a Moldovan, I love my country, I appreciate it.”

While she voted for the pro-Russian leader Igor Dodon, she acknowledged the difficulties both in Moldova and Europe.

“Maybe it’s better in Europe, I don’t argue,” she told RFI. “But it’s not easy there either. If Moldova joins the EU, what do you think will happen to Transnistria? Nothing good.”

According to the final results published by the Central Election Commission, 12,017 Transnistrian Moldovans voted, and more than 51 percent favoured the pro-Russian bloc, with PAS coming second with close to 30 percent. 

France, EU leaders say Moldova’s election results put it on path to join EU

Looking ahead, political scientist Putina cautioned that Moldova’s path towards EU membership, while endorsed by the electorate, will be fraught with obstacles.

She cited the ongoing military occupation of Transnistria by Russia and the complex effects of regional conflict – further complicated by a persistent struggle against corruption and the influence of oligarchs.

“Moldova’s democratic development is like a dance: two steps forward and one back,” she said.

A possible return to power of the billionaire ex-premier could draw the Czech Republic – an ally of Ukraine – closer to EU mavericks Hungary and Slovakia, spelling rocky relations with both Kyiv and Brussels.

But even if Babis’s ANO (“Yes”) party tops the vote, it will almost certainly have to negotiate a coalition or backing from other parties.

Babis is campaigning in the EU and NATO member of around 11 million people on pledges of welfare and halting military aid to Ukraine.

The current centre-right coalition government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala has provided extensive humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, but many voters blame it for ignoring problems at home.

“A change is necessary. The Czech Republic must be more autonomous, it must not be just a messenger boy for Brussels,” 68-year-old geographer Jaroslav Kolar told AFP.

But doctor Anna Stefanova, 41, told AFP she was afraid of a “sway towards Russia”.

Babis was critical of some EU policies while he was prime minister from 2017 to 2021, and is on good terms with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovakia’s Robert Fico, who have maintained ties with Moscow despite its invasion of Ukraine.

France’s Macron in Prague for talks on Ukraine, nuclear energy

‘Czechs first’

Polling stations will opened at 12pm GMT and will close at 8pm GMT on Friday, before reopening from 6am-12pm GMT on Saturday, with the results expected on Saturday evening.

ANO tops the opinion polls with support exceeding 30 percent, ahead of Fiala’s Together grouping with about 20 percent.

In 2024, Babis co-founded the far-right Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, which also includes France’s National Rally among other parties.

Fiala, a 61-year-old former political science professor, said on X that voters would decide “whether we will continue on the path of freedom, high-quality democracy, security and prosperity, or whether we will go east”.

‘Pragmatic businessman’

But Charles University analyst Josef Mlejnek told AFP he did not expect “a fundamental change” if Babis wins.

“Babis is a pragmatic businessman and the only thing he cares about is being prime minister,” he added.

Analysts caution, however, that all will depend on the election results.

If Babis’s party comes first but fails to win a majority, he could try to pursue a coalition with the far-right opposition SPD movement, which is backed by about 12 percent of voters, according to analysts.

Some concerns about Russian propaganda being spread online to influence the elections have also emerged, though analysts say they cannot see a big shift in voter sentiment so far.

Slovakia’s neighbours boost border checks to stem illegal migrant flows

A group of analysts said last week that Czech TikTok accounts reaching millions of viewers “systematically spread pro-Russian propaganda and support anti-system parties through manipulated engagement”.

Both Babis and Fiala have seen scandals tarnish their reputations.

Fiala’s government is under fire over the justice ministry’s decision to accept $44 million in bitcoins from a convicted criminal.

Babis, Slovak-born and the seventh-wealthiest Czech according to Forbes magazine, is due to stand trial for EU subsidy fraud worth more than $2 million.

Babis allegedly took his farm near Prague out of his Agrofert food and chemicals holding company in 2007 to make it eligible for a subsidy for small firms.

He has rejected all allegations of wrongdoing as “a smear campaign”.

The anniversary celebrates the political turning point of 1990, when East and West Germany became one nation after more than four decades of division.

Integration was swift, dramatic and expensive. Some estimates put the cumulative cost of reunification at more than €2 trillion between 1990 and the mid-2010s.

In the years following reunification, the federal government poured money into infrastructure, social welfare and retraining programmes in the former East. Public and private transfers to that half of the country have remained substantial, sometimes reaching €70 billion a year.

It also launched a rapid monetary union and privatised state-owned enterprises through the Treuhand agency, which oversaw one of the largest public sell-offs in modern history.

Chancellor-elect Merz outlines new coalition’s vision for Germany

Disparity between east and west

Economic activity, capital investment and productivity in the former East initially surged, reducing the prosperity gap with the west of the country. However that momentum stalled, and today economic disparity between former East and West Germany is pronounced.

In 2023, GDP per capita in the east stood at around 66 percent of that in the west.

Several studies estimate that, depending on the metric used, the east remains 20 to 25  percent poorer than the former West.

Rural parts of eastern Germany are most acutely affected, with lower wages, weaker capital stocks, slower growth and demographic decline. Even among firms of comparable size in similar industries, productivity gaps persist. 

The rise of the AfD 

In recent weeks, the political and social tensions around this persistent divide have drawn attention anew.

On 25 September, Chancellor Friedrich Merz acknowledged that large parts of eastern Germany remain haunted by “fears of decline” as he met with state premiers from the region.

He lamented that many in the east feel like “second-class citizens” and warned that outward migration, de-industrialisation and disenchantment with politics have deepened disillusionment.

Since reunification, some 5 million people have left the east of the country for better opportunities in the west. The far-right AfD is now leading in the polls in all five eastern states.

German intelligence classifies AfD party as extremist threat to democracy

Merz stressed that there have been positive developments, pointing out that average incomes in the east now exceed those of some large European peers. He stressed a renewed focus on competitiveness, energy, transport and defence investment.

However, Merz’s personal engagement in the region has been limited – until recently he had rarely visited any areas in the east of the country outside Berlin.

From an economic viewpoint, Germany faces fresh headwinds. Growth has been sluggish, even contracting in recent years, and many analysts warn of structural malaise in Europe’s powerhouse economy.

The European Commission forecasts German stagnation in 2025, before a modest rebound in 2026. Against this backdrop, the former East’s enduring disadvantage feels especially stark, and the mood on 3 October decidedly mixed.

The Global Sumud Flotilla of around 45 vessels began its voyage to Gaza last month, with politicians and activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg aiming to break Israel‘s siege of the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations says famine has set in.

The Israeli navy began intercepting vessels on Wednesday after warning the activists against entering waters it says fall under its blockade, with Thunberg’s ship among those stopped from going further.

By Thursday, of the roughly 45 ships, more than 30 had been intercepted or were assumed to have been intercepted, according to the flotilla’s tracking system.

“Hamas-Sumud passengers on their yachts are making their way safely and peacefully to Israel, where their deportation procedures to Europe will begin. The passengers are safe and in good health,” the foreign ministry said on X, posting photos of Thunberg and other activists aboard a boat.

Flotilla spokesman Saif Abukeshek said the vessels that had not been intercepted were determined to continue.

“They are determined. They are motivated, and they are doing everything within their hands to be able to break the siege by this early morning,” he said.

In a statement, the flotilla organisers branded the interceptions as “illegal” since they were traversing international waters.

“Beyond the confirmed interceptions, live streams and communications with several other vessels have been lost,” the statement added.

Gaza flotilla boarded by Israeli navy amid calls to lift blockade

‘Piracy’

Israel’s foreign ministry said the intercepted activists were being transferred to an Israeli port.

It posted footage of the 22-year-old Thunberg retrieving her belongings, adding: “Greta and her friends are safe and healthy.”

Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza, condemned the interception of the flotilla as a “crime of piracy and maritime terrorism”.

With the war in Gaza dragging on, solidarity with the Palestinians has grown globally, with activists and increasingly governments criticising Israel for its actions.

Spain and Italy, which both sent naval escorts to protect its citizens on board the flotilla, had urged the activists to halt before entering Israel’s declared exclusion zone off Gaza, saying they would not be allowed to pass that mark.

After a 10-day stop in Tunisia, where organisers reported two drone attacks, the flotilla resumed its journey on September 15.

One of its main ships, the Alma, was “aggressively circled by an Israeli warship”, the group said, before another vessel, the Sirius, was subjected to “similar harassing manoeuvres”.

Growing calls for France to lift ‘collective punishment’ ban on visas for Gazans

‘Intimidation’

The flotilla had earlier vowed to press on with its bid to break the siege and deliver aid to Gaza despite what it called “intimidation” tactics by the Israeli military.

It said on X it remained “vigilant as we enter the area where the previous flotillas were intercepted and/or attacked”.

In Italy, which has already seen a general strike in support of the flotilla, hundreds of protesters turned out on Wednesday in Rome.

In Naples, demonstrators blocked trains at the main station for around an hour before being cleared by police.

Unions have called for another strike on Friday to urge stronger action from the government against Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he will expel all remaining Israeli diplomats in the country over the interception.

Turkey called the interception “an act of terrorism that constitutes the most serious violation of international law and endangers the lives of innocent civilians”.

Israel blocked similar flotilla campaigns in June and July.

As Gaza aid flotilla comes under attack, NGOs urge Europe to act

‘Stop now’

Spain’s digital transformation minister, Oscar Lopez, had urged the flotilla not to cross into Israel’s declared exclusion zone, extending 150 nautical miles off Gaza.

Italy, too, urged the activists to “stop now” after its frigate halted at that limit.

The activists said Spain and Italy’s decision was an attempt to “sabotage” their endeavours.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the activists posed no threat and urged Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu not to consider them one either.

On Thursday, Spain summoned Israel’s top representative in Madrid, the foreign minister said, saying that 65 Spaniards were travelling with the flotilla.

And Italy’s Giorgia Meloni said the voyage could jeopardise US President Donald Trump‘s latest proposed Gaza peace plan, currently still under negotiation.

“The recent drone incidents across Europe are a clear sign that Russia still feels bold enough to escalate this war,” Zelensky said as he arrived for the talks.

“It was never just about Ukraine, Russia has always aimed to break the West and Europe.”

EU leaders meeting in the Danish capital on Wednesday endorsed the idea of a coordinated system of sensors, weapons and technology to detect and neutralise drones.

They said the move was urgent given Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and what they called Moscow’s attempts to destabilise its neighbours.

“Europe must be able to defend itself,” Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said. She called for more investment in drones, anti-drone systems and a continent-wide network to respond to threats.

Zelensky offered Ukraine’s “war-tested” expertise in countering drone attacks, telling leaders: “If the Russians dare to launch drones against Poland, or violate the airspace of northern European countries, it means this can happen anywhere. We are ready to share this experience with our partners.”

EU leaders plot defence boost in shadow of Denmark drones

‘Russia tries to test us’

The informal summit came just days after unmanned aircraft disrupted flights in Denmark, prompting a nationwide temporary ban on drones.

Poland has reported repeated breaches of its airspace by Russian drones, while Estonia accused Russian fighter jets of flying over its territory. NATO scrambled fighter jets, helicopters and a Patriot missile defence system to respond to the Polish incident.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen was blunt about Moscow’s tactics.

“Russia tries to test us. But Russia also tries to sow division and anxiety in our societies. We will not let this happen,” she said.

Von der Leyen’s call for a “drone wall” – a network of early-warning sensors and weapons along Europe’s eastern flank – has gained traction since she first raised it last month.

NATO secretary general Mark Rutte described it as “timely and necessary”, a view now backed by many EU leaders.

The Kremlin has denied responsibility. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the “drone wall” idea, saying “as history has shown, erecting walls is always a bad thing”.

French president Emmanuel Macron said Western countries should take a tougher line when confronted by Russian drones.

“It’s very important to have a clear message. Drones which would violate our territories are just taking a big risk. They can be destroyed, full stop,” he said.

Romanian prime minister Nicosur Dan, whose country has already seen Russian drones cross over from Ukraine, warned that his forces would shoot down the next one to violate Romanian airspace.

French military to help counter drones over Denmark ahead of EU summit

Disagreements over priorities

While leaders endorsed the overall plan, they differ on how to make it work. Frederiksen and Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo stressed the need to act quickly, warning that Russia will keep probing Europe’s defences.

French president Emmanuel Macron argued for a broader deterrence strategy, including early-warning systems and long-range strike capabilities. Italy’s Giorgia Meloni said the EU must also pay attention to threats on its southern borders.

Macron also urged Europe to crack down on what he called Russia’s “shadow fleet” of ageing oil tankers that Moscow uses to evade restrictions on exporting its oil.

“It is extremely important to increase the pressure on this shadow fleet, because it will clearly reduce the capacity to finance this war effort,” he said, noting that France had moved this week to hold a blacklisted tanker linked to Russia.

Funding Ukraine with frozen assets

The summit also discussed a proposal to use Russian assets frozen in Europe to help finance a large loan for Ukraine. Some member states back the idea, saying Moscow should help pay for the war it started. Others remain cautious, citing legal and financial risks.

The EU plan could raise around €140 billion. Proponents say it is needed to help Ukraine plug budget shortfalls – and that Russia, not European taxpayers, should ultimately foot the bill. But Belgium, which holds most of the frozen assets, is wary.

“We’re going to move to uncharted waters. This is very, very risky,” Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said. He wants firm commitments from other EU leaders to share potential liability to shield Belgium from any Russian retaliation.

Von der Leyen said on Wednesday it was clear that the risk should not fall only on Belgium’s shoulders and promised to “intensify” talks to find a way forward.

The Kremlin has denounced the plan as “pure theft”.

Zelensky is expected to use his visit on Thursday to urge EU leaders to keep up military and financial support for Kyiv, as United States backing weakens.

(with newswires)

Governments in Berlin and Paris have been aiming to enhance the continent’s defence autonomy at a time of heightened tensions with Russia.

“Arms companies on both sides are claiming leadership,” Macron said in an interview with the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

“It is therefore up to us to stay the course of what we consider to be in the general Franco-German interest and to continue working on joint solutions.”

The Future Combat Air System programme – known by its French acronym Scaf – was launched in 2017 to replace France’s Rafale jet and the Eurofighter planes used by Germany and Spain.

But the scheme, jointly developed by the three countries, has stalled as disagreements grow between France’s Dassault Aviation and Airbus, which represents German and Spanish interests.

France warns it could go it alone as European fighter jet project stalls

‘Necessary decisions’

 Macron also said he and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had requested their defence ministers conduct a review of the project by the end of the year.

“And it is on this basis that we will rule and take the necessary decisions,” he added.

Both French and German executives said recently they can develop the fighter jet project without each other.

Last week, Dassault Aviation and a government official said that France was in a position to press on with the project alone should negotiations with Germany and Spain fail.

“I don’t mind if the Germans are complaining,” said Dassault Aviation chief Eric Trappier. “If they want to do it on their own, let them do it on their own.” 

Leaders in Berlin and Madrid have been exasperated by the position of Dassault, which has been vying for a main role in the project.

Air France, Airbus back in court over deadly 2009 Rio-Paris flight

France and Germany have also sought to jointly develop a next-generation battle tank equipped with artificial intelligence and laser technology.

But those plans have also faced delays amid rivalry between French and German industrial companies.

Macron said that both the fighter jet project and the advanced battle tank dubbed the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) still meet the strategic needs of both countries.

“We knew from the outset that it would be very difficult, because competing manufacturers were forced to join forces for a project,” Macron said.

“However, I am in favour of maximum integration, because we need to produce more, and we need to do so at the European level.”

‘Strategic ambiguity’

During the interview with the paper, Macron also said he would not rule out downing a Russian fighter jet if it were to breach European airspace without authorisation.

France and Germany weigh future of joint EU weapons projects

“In accordance with the doctrine of strategic ambiguity, I can tell you that nothing is ruled out,” Macron told the paper.

After Russia was blamed for drone incursions into NATO members Poland and Romania, Macron last week said the alliance’s response would have to go up a notch in the case of new provocations from Moscow.

On Wednesday, Macron revealed that France was investigating an EU-sanctioned, Russian-linked oil tanker anchored off the French coast for what he said were serious offences.

The Boracay, a Benin-flagged vessel, has been blacklisted by the European Union for being part of Russia’s sanction-busting “shadow fleet”.

According to the specialist website The Maritime Executive, the vessel is suspected of being involved in mystery drone flights that disrupted air traffic in Denmark in September.

Goodall “passed away of natural causes” while in California during a speaking tour of the United States, the Jane Goodall Institute said in a statement on social media.

“Dr Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionised science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” it added.

Scientific pioneer

Born on 3 April 1934 in London, Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall – later known simply as Jane Goodall  – displayed a fascination with animals from a very young age. Her father gave her a toy chimpanzee, “Jubilee”, which she cherished throughout her life.

Enthralled by the Tarzan adventure books, she later remarked with amusement that Tarzan had married the “wrong Jane”.

Goodall’s unconventional path began in 1957 when, at the age of 23, she travelled to Kenya to visit a friend.

There she met Louis Leakey, the eminent Kenyan-based palaeontologist, who hired her as his secretary and soon recognised her extraordinary observational gifts.

Zoologist Jane Goodall warns: ‘The world is a mess’ ahead of COP16

Leakey dispatched her to what is now Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, where she embarked on a groundbreaking study of chimpanzees in their natural habitat.

With no formal scientific training at the time, Goodall’s approach was unconventional but revolutionary: she named the chimpanzees she observed, rather than assigning them numbers, and emphasised their individuality, emotions, and social bonds.

Her most celebrated discovery came in 1960, when she observed chimpanzees using sticks and blades of grass as tools to extract termites from their mounds.

This shattered the long-held belief that tool-making was a uniquely human trait, forcing a profound re-evaluation of the boundary between humans and other animals.

Encouraged by Leakey, Goodall went on to pursue a doctorate at the University of Cambridge, becoming only the eighth person in the institution’s history to be awarded a PhD without first obtaining an undergraduate degree. Her thesis, based on her Gombe research, was published in 1965.

Research and global advocacy

In 1977 she founded the Jane Goodall Institute, which has since become a global leader in primate research, conservation, and community-led environmental projects.

Fourteen years later she launched Roots & Shoots, a youth movement dedicated to environmental and humanitarian action that now spans more than 60 countries.

Goodall’s transition from scientist to activist began in the 1980s after attending a US conference on chimpanzees, where she was confronted with the grim reality of animals used in biomedical research and the accelerating destruction of African forests. Deeply shaken, she resolved to speak out.

Anthropologist, conservationist and eternal optimist Richard Leakey dies at 77

From then on she travelled tirelessly, sometimes visiting more than 300 cities in a single year, urging audiences to act with compassion towards both animals and the planet. She became a powerful voice in global debates on biodiversity, climate change, and sustainable development.

Even in her later years, Goodall remained a commanding presence. Ahead of a United Nations biodiversity summit in Colombia in 2024, she told AFP: “The time for words and false promises is past if we want to save the planet.”

Her philosophy was rooted in the belief that every person, no matter how ordinary, can make a difference. “Each individual has a role to play,” she said, “and every one of us makes some impact on the planet every single day. We can choose what sort of impact we make.”

Indigenous Kenyans forced off ancestral lands in name of conservation: NGOs

Enduring legacy

Goodall received countless accolades during her lifetime, including damehood in 2004, the French Legion of Honour, the Benjamin Franklin Medal, and the Templeton Prize. She authored numerous books — from academic works to children’s stories — and was the subject of acclaimed documentaries, including National Geographic’s Jane (2017).

Despite her fame, she remained humble, often describing herself as “just a girl who loved animals”. Her legacy lies not only in her scientific achievements but also in the millions she inspired to treat animals and the natural world with empathy and respect.

(with newswires)

The centre-right coalition pushed the bill through parliament on Tuesday with support from all right-wing parties. Left-wing parties voted against it.

An earlier version passed in July was blocked by the Constitutional Court. Lawmakers returned with amendments addressing the most critical points found to be in violation of the constitution.

Government spokesman Antonio Leitao Amaro said before the vote that “the time of irresponsible immigration is over”, adding that Portugal needed to control and regulate flows in order to integrate with humanity.

Far right gains in Portuguese polls as PM holds on

Tighter family rules, work visas

The law sets a two-year period of legal residence before immigrants can apply to bring in spouses.

Couples who were together for more than a year before moving can apply after a year. Children under 18 and dependants with disabilities can join regardless of the applicant’s residency period.

Job-search visas will be reserved for highly skilled workers. Another measure ends a pathway that had allowed Brazilians – the country’s largest immigrant group, with over 450,000 people – to regularise their status after entering on tourist visas.

Lawmakers are still debating changes to the rules for acquiring Portuguese nationality.

How Portugal’s Carnation Revolution changed the fate of its colonies in Africa

Rights groups angry

“This approval, hand in hand with Chega, is truly another stab in the back for the constitution of the Portuguese republic, for all European human rights conventions, and for the fundamental charter of human rights,” Mariana Carneiro of the non-profit SOS Racismo told RFI.

“It is a blatant attack against the people who choose to live here and work here.”

Amaro said the reform “ensures that the right balance is struck – neither with doors wide open to immigrants, nor closed” as the government seeks to link migration more closely to labour market needs.

Portugal, a country of about 10.5 million people, has seen immigration rise fast in recent years.

Official figures show more than 1.5 million foreign citizens were legally living there by the end of 2024 – about 15 percent of the population.

The reforms reflect a wider trend across Europe, where governments have tightened immigration rules as far-right parties gain influence.

Watching his latest film, It Was Just an Accident, screened for the first time at Cannes before an international audience, Jafar Panahi was overcome with tears of joy.

For 15 years, he had been unable to experience a film of his with the public, owing to a travel ban imposed by the Iranian authorities.

“I could really see how the public and the crew were reacting, when they laughed and when they felt emotion and that’s fundamental for a filmmaker,” he told RFI after the première at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

The sensation was amplified when he was announced winner of the Palme d’Or on 24 May – the highest honour of the event.

In a moving speech, he defended freedom of expression, declaring: “No one should dare tell us what kind of clothes we should wear, what we should do or what we should not do. The cinema is a society”.

Once the applause in Cannes subsided, however, it was time to return and face the reality of the situation.

Although available to audiences worldwide, Panahi’s film will not be seen by Iranians at home – one of the filmmaker’s biggest regrets.

A portrait of contemporary Iranian society, It Was Just an Accident recounts how five Iranians prepare to confront a man who could be their former jailor.

One dark night, there’s a minor car accident. From that point, the characters are thrown together, forced to relive their trauma, and take action. Despite the dark tone of the film, there are moments of humour and tenderness. 

Panahi wrote the parts based on his own experience and the information gleaned from other prisoner’s testimonies – some of whom had spent decades in jail.

The director has been jailed twice, most recently for seven months in 2022 -2023. He was released after a hunger strike.

Despite the danger in pursuing his work, he said it was important to bring these stories out into the open.

The common point among the characters was the pyschological torture they experienced. They were all blindfolded and interrogated by someone, standing behind them – which made them wonder – who is this man ? How old is he ?

Cannes 2025 ends on a high as director Jafar Panahi claims the Palme d’Or

The question Panahi asks the audience a moral one: what would you do if you recognised your jailor in the street?

“It’s not just about vengeance or forgiveness,” Panahi told France 24.

He points to when the notorious Evin prison was bombed by Israel (in June 2025) and the interrogation wing was destroyed.

Some of the prisoners escaped, but theyalso helped prison guards who were buried under the rubble.

“They could have had vengeance, but it depends on the situation,” he says. “In that moment, being human overcame the need for vengeance. You can’t predict how you would act in certain circumstances.”

‘Guerilla cinema’

One thing is certain, Panahi who has made dozens of films, most of them illegally, has perfected the art of “guerilla cinema”.

You have to make films “very fast, with a low budget and a small crew”, he says.

It Was Just an Accident was shot in 25 days, with an interruption of around a month near the end because the authorities caught up with them. 

Surreal Canadian comedy shifts between Farsi and French to defy borders

Despite an extensive search, they didn’t find the footage because the crew had carefully hidden it. Panahi managed to wrap up the last two days of shooting in one day.

He has been banned for the last 20 years from making films by the Iranian authorities, but this has not dampened his spirit, nor his desire to keep trying to find a way to tell his stories.

“Living in Iran is like being in prison, when you’re told what to think and believe, what you’re supposed to wear and eat – all of that within the framework of an ideology. You leave the small prison, only to find you’re inside a larger one,” he said.

Turning a page

Despite criticism from the regime – who said the film only won a prize because “foreign secret service agents wanted to promote it” –  Panahi says he could never see himself living in exile as he loves his homeland too much. 

He feels heartened by the changes he’s witnessed Iranian society in the past few years, thanks to the Women,Life, Freedom protests and he feels a “page has turned”.

“A regime like this can’t last forever, even if we don’t know exactly when it will fall. We can see that the roots are not strong, it’s an empty shell.

“The regime may still have power, but all the foundations linked to Iranian society have eroded, it’s rotten from the inside and they’re only digging their own graves.”

PSG will play in Spain without Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé and fellow forwards Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Skipper Marquinhos will also miss the game at the Olympic Stadium.

“Both teams like to defend high up the pitch,” said Enrique who spent eight years as a player for Barcelona before coaching the side to nine trophies including the 2015 Champions League.

“Both teams take risks in that way,” he added. “There’s one way to look at what we’re going through, either you come looking for excuses or you come looking for results.

“We’re coming for results regardless of who is in our team.”

All eyes on PSG as Marseille and Monaco fight for Champions League limelight

Barcelona under the cosh

Barcelona are also suffering their own pain. Their casualty list includes striker Raphinha, midfielders Gavi and and Fermin Lopez as well as goalkeepers Joan Garcia and Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

“Watching a game between Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain with five or six important players from both teams not playing … to me it’s a shame, for their manager and for fans of both teams,” said Enrique.

“I am happy to come back, it’s my home,” added the 55-year-old Spaniard. “I spent a large part of my career as a player and a manager here.

“We’re It’s not the Nou Camp but the Olympic Stadium is a beautiful venue. I played here in the Olympic Games in 1992. It’s very special to be here.”

PSG launched the defence of their crown with a 4-0 romp past Atalanta at the Parc des Princes in Paris while Barcelona won 2-1 at Newcastle United.

The Spaniards will be boosted by the return of Lamine Yamal who was runner-up to Dembélé for the Ballon d’Or.

Joao Neves returns to the PSG fold after missing the Ligue 1 games against Marseille and Auxerre.

On Tuesday night in the Champions League, Igor Paixao bagged a brace as Marseille walloped Ajax 4-0.

France skipper Kylian Mbappé hit a hat trick in Real Madrid’s 5-0 win at Kairat Almaty.

“The opportunity to turn my passion into a profession is a privilege I have cherished during every match and moment of my 21-year career,” he wrote.

“Though this game means the world to me, I am tremendously at peace with my decision.”

Born Gael Sebastian Monfils on 1 September to Rufin Monfils and Sylvette Cartesse who had come to France from Guadeloupe and Martinique respectively, he grew up with a brother and two sisters in north-eastern Paris.

His genius with a racquet and ball would take him to all four corners of the planet.

He played his first junior match in January 2002 in Sweden. Two years later, he was the junior world number one clocking up victories at the junior events at the Australian Open in Melbourne, the French Open in his home town and on the lawns of Wimbledon in south-west London. 

He turned professional in 2004 and distinguished himself as the showman incarnate in an era dominated by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

“I’ve had the chance to play during a golden age of tennis alongside some of the greatest names in the history of our sport,” Monfils said.

“Even losing feels epic when you’re facing a legend (though I have to admit the occasional wins were pretty euphoric, too).”

The announcement comes with Monfils at 53 in the world rankings, a far cry from the high of sixth place in July 2016.

A final year on the tour will furnish him with a chance to add to a trophy cabinet boasting the silverware from 13 triumphs from his 35 finals.

“While I came close, I never did win a Grand Slam during my career,” he added. “I won’t pretend that I expect to do so during the next year.

“You could have, you should have …

“As those who know me can attest, I’ve never thought this way, and frankly I’m far too old to start doing so now.

“Believe me when I say I have no regrets.

“What I do have is the feeling that I have been lucky: insanely, stupidly lucky.”

Over the course of a 2026 Gael gala farewell tour, fans across the globe are likely to reciprocate the sentiment.

Ambassador Nkosinathi Emmanuel “Nathi” Mthethwa had been reported missing by his wife on Monday evening after she received a text message from him that worried her, the prosecutor’s office said.

The 58-year-old had booked a room on the 22nd floor, according to the prosecutors, and a secured window had been forced open. The body of Mthethwa, a close associate of former South African president Jacob Zuma, was found “directly by the hotel”, it added.

South Africa to examine past failures to prosecute apartheid crimes

‘Untimely death’

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called his death “untimely” and “a moment of deep grief in which government and citizens stand beside the Mthethwa family”.

“Ambassador Mthethwa has served our nation in diverse capacities during a lifetime that has ended prematurely and traumatically,” he said.

In a statement released in Pretoria, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said he had “no doubt that his passing is not only a national loss but is also felt within the international diplomatic community”.

The circumstances of “his untimely death” are under investigation by the French authorities, the statement confirmed.

A source close to the case, who asked not to be named, said the ambassador suffered from depression and his death could have been suicide.

Mthethwa had been ambassador since December 2023. He served as minister of arts and culture of South Africa from 2014 to 2019, and then of sports, arts and culture until 2023, according to his embassy website.

He was also police minister from 2009 to 2014 and security minister from 2008 to 2009.

Mthethwa also served on the board of directors of the 2010 football World Cup local organising committee.

South Africa hits back at US over ‘flawed’ rights report and land grab claims

Between 2007 and 2022, he was a senior official in the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party since the first post-apartheid democratic elections in 1994.

He worked underground within the ANC’s military wing during apartheid and was notably arrested during the state of emergency in 1989.

(with AFP)

From May 2022 to early 2023, the Mediterranean went through its longest marine heatwave in four decades, with surface temperatures up to 4.3C above normal.

Scientists examined how that extreme heat affected two invasive species – the Atlantic blue crab and the bearded fireworm – which have spread in the Po River delta in northern Italy and along the Sicilian coast.

In the Po delta, the surge in blue crabs, which feed on shellfish, caused mussel production to collapse by 75 to 100 percent in some lagoons in 2023. The fast-breeding predator appears to have been boosted by warmer waters, threatening seafloor habitats and upsetting the balance of the ecosystem.

The bearded fireworm, a native Mediterranean species that can grow up to 70 centimetres long and live for nine years, also multiplied as the sea warmed.

Its venomous bristles have become a serious problem for small-scale fishers in Sicily, consuming bait, breaking secondary lines attached to hooks and damaging fish, which reduces their market value.

Brittany’s mussel farms ravaged by surging spider crab invasion

Local fishers impacted

“This worm constitutes a threat both to marine biodiversity and to the economic stability of local fisheries,” the report’s authors said. They called for management strategies to curb its spread.

Proposed responses include encouraging local consumption of the blue crab, limiting the release of egg-bearing females and using the fireworm to process shellfish waste.

Beyond invasive species, the 2025 Copernicus Marine report warns that oceans face multiple other pressures – including rising acidification, growing plastic pollution and shrinking sea ice.

“Every part of the ocean is affected by the triple planetary crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution,” said Pierre Bahurel, director-general of Mercator Ocean International, which runs Copernicus Marine, during an online briefing.

The report said the ocean has absorbed about 90 percent of the excess heat from human activity since the 1960s. Sea-surface temperatures have hit record highs in many regions in recent years, fuelling more frequent and intense marine heatwaves.

Indigenous knowledge steers new protections for the high seas

Warming and acidification

Ocean acidification is also worsening as carbon dioxide builds up in the atmosphere. “As long as net carbon dioxide emissions are not brought back to zero, ocean acidity will continue to grow,” said Jean-Pierre Gattuso, research director at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research and a senior scientist at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations.

Climate-driven shifts are also affecting other species such as micronecton – small fish, crustaceans and squid that rise to the surface at night to feed on plankton.

With the ocean warming, “cold ecosystems are shrinking and the habitats of Arctic and sub-Arctic micronecton species with them”, said Patrick Lehodey, a modelling expert at Mercator.

That shift has knock-on effects for predators from whales and penguins to commercially valuable fish.

Europe’s climate progress overshadowed by worsening loss of nature

The report said these changes show that the effects of warming are reaching deep into food chains and affecting both wildlife and human livelihoods.

More than 70 scientists from nine countries contributed to the report.

“The science is unequivocal: the ocean is changing fast, with extreme records and worsening impacts. We know why. This knowledge is not just a warning signal, it is a roadmap to restore balance between humanity and the ocean,” Mercator resaercher Karina von Schuckmann told the briefing.

The speed of the changes, scientists warn, is unprecedented in human history.

“These changes are happening very rapidly on the scale of two centuries,” Gattuso said. In contrast, the five mass extinctions in Earth’s history unfolded over thousands of years or more.

Dati, is accused of accepting €900,000 in lawyer’s fees between 2010 and 2012 from a Netherlands-based subsidiary of Renault-Nissan, without actually working for them, while she was an MEP from 2009 to 2019.

The judges who investigated the case believe that Dati’s activity in the European Parliament “amounted to lobbying”, which “appears incompatible both with her mandate and with her profession as a lawyer”.

Ghosn, the former chairman and chief executive of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, was arrested in Japan in November 2018 on suspicion of financial misconduct, before being sacked by Nissan’s board.

The 71-year-old, who holds Lebanese, French, and Brazilian nationality, has been living in Lebanon since late 2019 after a dramatic escape from Japan.

He is due to be tried for abuse of power by a company director, breach of trust, corruption, and active influence peddling.

Ghosn’s presence at the trial appears highly hypothetical since he has been the subject of an arrest warrant since April 2023.

Both Dati and Ghosn have contested the charges.

Requests for annulment

After the announcement of her referral to the criminal court at the end of July, Dati had insisted on the reality of her work as a lawyer and denied any lobbying in the European Parliament.

“As president of the largest automotive industrial group in the world, president of European manufacturers, do you think Carlos Ghosn needed me?” she asked.

Dati’s three lawyers, Frank Berton, Olivier Bluche and Basile Ader, have warned that they intend to file applications for annulment as soon as the proceedings begin.

Resurgent conservative Rachida Dati unveils ambitions to run for Paris mayor

The criminal trial – from 16 to 28 September – will take place six months after the municipal elections on 15 and 22 March, 2026.

A high-profile political figure and mayor of the French capital’s chic 7th district, Dati holds ambitions to become the mayor of Paris.

She is scheduled to run as a candidate for the right-wing Les Républicains (LR) party.

Dati was a key figure in former president Nicolas Sarkozy‘s conservative government, serving as justice minister from 2007 to 2009.

She has served as Culture Minister under President Emmanuel Macron since January 2024 and is yet to find out if she will be part of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s new government lineup.

Dati is also the subject of a judicial investigation into the possible failure to declare luxury jewellery to the French High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP). She denies any irregularity.

(with newswires)

The 20-point plan calls for a ceasefire and the release of hostages by Hamas within 72 hours, as well as a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Hamas still holds 48 Israeli hostages – 20 of whom are believed by Israel to be alive.

In return, Israel would free 250 Palestinians serving life sentences in its prisons, as well as 1,700 people detained from Gaza since the war began.

Under the proposal, Hamas would have to disarm in return for an end to the fighting, humanitarian aid for Palestinians and the promise of reconstruction in Gaza.

“I support your plan to end the war in Gaza which achieves our war aims,” Netanyahu said in a joint press conference with the US president at the White House.

“If Hamas rejects your plan, Mr President, or if they supposedly accept it and then basically do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself.”

Trump said that Israel would have his “full backing” to do so if Hamas did not accept the deal.

Sincere efforts

Trump insisted peace in the Middle East was “beyond very close” and described the announcement of the plan as a “potentially one of the great days ever in civilisation”.

Eight key Arab and Muslim nations – Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia and Pakistan – hailed the agreement’s “sincere efforts” in the wake of their own talks with Trump last week.

The Palestinian Authority, which is based in the West Bank but would be set for a role in a post-war Gaza government, also welcomed Trump’s “sincere and determined efforts”.

Washington’s European allies promptly voiced support, with the leaders of France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy sharing strong expressions of support for the plan.

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

French President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that Hamas now had “no choice but to immediately free all the hostages” and called on Israel to “commit resolutely” to it.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said the UK “strongly” supported Trump’s “efforts to end the fighting, release the hostages and ensure the provision of urgent humanitarian assistance for the people of Gaza”.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez – who has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza – said Madrid “welcomes the peace proposal”.

“We have to put an end to so much suffering,” he said, adding that a two-state solution was “the only one possible”.

European Union chief Antonio Costa urged all parties to “seize this moment to give peace a genuine chance”.

Mixed reactions

Trump’s plan sparked mixed reactions in a region scarred by nearly two years of devastating war.

A senior Hamas official told French news agency AFP that the group would “respond once we receive it”. Qatari and Egyptian mediators later shared Trump’s proposal with Hamas, another official briefed on the talks said.

Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian armed group fighting alongside Hamas in Gaza, called the plan “a recipe for continued aggression against the Palestinian people”.

“Through this, Israel is attempting – via the United States – to impose what it could not achieve through war,” it said.

In devastated Gaza, residents expressed scepticism that Trump’s plan could end the war.

“We as a people will not accept this farce,” Abu Mazen Nassar, 52 – one of 1.9 million Gazans displaced by the war – told AFP.

‘Recognition brings obligation’: How declaring genocide could reshape war in Gaza

For Hamas, the deal means being excluded from future roles in government, although those who agree to “peaceful co-existence” would be granted amnesty.

Netanyahu could also face trouble selling the deal to far-right members of his cabinet.

He stressed to reporters that Israeli forces would retain responsibility for Gaza security “for the foreseeable future” and cast doubt on the Palestinian Authority’s role.

Trump’s plan, meanwhile, leaves hope for Palestinian statehood – something he said Netanyahu had strongly objected to during the meeting.

Other key points in Trump’s plan include deployment of a “temporary international stabilisation force” – and the creation of a transitional authority headed by him, and including former British prime minister Tony Blair.

Blair, still a controversial figure in much of the Middle East for his role in the 2003 Iraq war, hailed what he called a “bold and intelligent” plan.

(with AFP)

In his report for the European Sentiment Compass 2025, Pawel Zerka, of the European Council on Foreign Relations, suggests Europe is living its own “Truman Show moment”.

The United States, he says, is no longer the ally Europeans had been accustomed to having. Instead, under Trump, Washington is not only pulling the strings in trade, defence and digital disputes – it is waging an outright “culture war” on Europe.

The big question is whether the EU has the courage to step off the set, reclaim its autonomy and begin writing its own story.

Europe’s uncertainty after Trump’s first 100 days

Trump 2.0

Transatlantic tensions are nothing new. Rows over trade, NATO spending and climate policy have flared under every president from Kennedy to Obama. But Zerka insists that Trump marks a rupture.

“There is a clear difference vis-à-vis previous presidents, and even vis-à-vis Donald Trump 1.0,” he told RFI. “Before, we had never seen a US president targeting Europe so clearly and aggressively.”

This time round, the barbs are sharper, the interventions more deliberate. Trump openly mocks Europe’s migration and climate policies, last week using the world stage of the United Nations to declare that Europeans are “going to hell” with their “crazy” ideas.

Such rhetoric, Zerka argues, is not just bluster. It is part of a deliberate strategy to humiliate Europe, a way of painting the European Union as weak, dependent and incapable of agency.

And this culture war is not confined to speeches, Zerka says – the Trump administration has moved from commentary to active interference.

In Germany, US Vice President JD Vance and former Trump advisor Elon Musk openly backed the far-right AfD party during the country’s legislative elections in February.

Similar interference was seen in Poland, Romania and Ireland, where Washington lent support to Conor McGregor, a former mixed martial arts champion who had thrown his “Make Ireland Great Again” hat in the ring for the country’s upcoming presidential election on 24 October, but withdrew from the race in September. 

McGregor’s political ambitions had been boosted by an invitation to the White House on St Patrick’s Day, with Trump calling him his “favourite” Irish person.

“We haven’t seen anything like this before,” Zerka stresses. “There’s such active involvement in domestic politics of European countries, supporting rivals of the governments in place – and very often those rivals are problematic political players.”

“There is a lot of appetite among the European public for an assertive Europe, but leaders keep finding themselves in situations where they look ridiculous and Europe gets humiliated” – Pawel Zerka

Europe’s new right: how the MAGA agenda crossed the Atlantic

A Truman moment

So what does it mean for Europe to “walk off the set”? In Truman Burbank’s case, it was about courage – daring to leave behind the artificial comfort of a staged life. For the EU, Zerka says, it is about dignity and identity.

“European leaders must be ready,” he argues. “Currently they are buying time with Trump, because they depend so much on America for security, especially with Russia’s war in Ukraine. But the danger is that by playing along, they risk repeated humiliation – whether at NATO summits or in trade negotiations – where Europe ends up looking ridiculous to its own public and to the wider world.”

The challenge, Zerka believes, is that many EU leaders still don’t grasp the true nature of the confrontation.

They treat disputes over tariffs or defence spending as technical haggles, missing the larger picture – that they are part of a cultural battle over values, sovereignty and the very meaning of the West.

Without that recognition, Europe risks stumbling from one Trump-scripted crisis to another, always reacting, never setting the agenda.

The role of the prophet

In The Truman Show, it was a character named Sylvia who first whispered the truth to Truman, that his life was staged. In today’s Europe, Zerka sees Denmark as playing that role.

Trump’s suggestion that the US might buy Greenland directly questioned Danish sovereignty, giving Copenhagen a unique impetus for defending European autonomy.

“Denmark is the one country really trying to show Europe the difference between reality and illusion,” Zerka says, adding though that Sweden and Finland, both scarred by the Russian threat and largely resistant to Trump’s personal appeal, could also be well placed to push for European autonomy.

Then there are what he calls the “door holders”, the heavyweight countries whose choices could swing the EU’s future one way or another: France, Germany and Poland.

Each stands at a crossroads. Elections in the coming years could see them drift towards the pro-Trump “director’s crew” – Hungary, Italy, Slovakia – or rally behind the prophets calling for strategic autonomy.

The outcome, Zerka warns, will determine whether Europe claims its agency or sinks deeper into dependency.

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

Walking the line

However, with Russian aggression on its doorstep, Europe cannot simply sever ties with Washington. Yet, Zerka argues, the notion that Europeans must appease Trump to preserve the transatlantic bond is a fallacy.

“It’s completely the other way around,” he says. “Only if Europe steps up in building its own capacities, and shows assertiveness, can it become a real partner rather than a subordinate.”

That means investment in defence, technology and energy resilience. It also means recognising the culture war for what it is, and refusing to be defined by Trump’s caricatures.

Trust in the EU is its strongest since 2007, with polls showing that citizens increasingly view the bloc not just as an economic club but as a community of shared values, and destiny.

Zerka believes European leaders must harness the public appetite for a more assertive Europe. The risk of inaction, he warns, is cultural subordination.

The reward of courage, by contrast, is the chance for Europe to write its own story, and participate in the transatlantic partnership as an equal.

DZ Fest is the only festival focused on Algerian culture outside the country. It has been run every year since 2022 in the United Kingdom.

This year the festival took place in the latter half of September with events in both London and Nottingham.

Spotlight on Africa travelled to London to talk to the organisers and guests of DZ Fest, and to some Algerians living in the UK

Founder and creative director Rachida Lamri – an artist, musician and member of the London-based Arabo-Andalusian orchestra – curated a programme showcasing Algerian music, traditions, and cuisine.

We also met:

• The Algerian chef Djamel Ait Idir, who runs couscous workshop in his restaurant, Khamsa, in Brixton, South London
• Fayssal Bensalah, an Algerian-born novelist and a lecturer teaching creative writing in Cardiff, Wales
• Comedian Mehdi Walker, also born in Algeria, who lives in France but performs his comedy sketches in English
• Artist and filmmaker Leila Gamaz, who lives between Bristol and Morocco. 

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Nicolas Doreau.

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

Ankara is celebrating a diplomatic win after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was hosted by US President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday.

In the Oval Office, Trump praised his guest in front of the world’s media.

“He’s a highly respected man,” Trump said. “He’s respected very much in his country and throughout Europe and throughout the world, where they know him.”

Erdogan smiled as he listened. The Turkish leader had been frozen out by President Joe Biden, who made clear his dislike for the Turkish leader.

Trump, by contrast, has long cultivated a friendship with him. But even that relationship has limits, with Israel’s war on Gaza still a source of strain.

Turkey walks a tightrope as Trump threatens sanctions over Russian trade

Restraint over Gaza

Erdogan is a strong supporter of Hamas, which he refuses to label a terrorist group, calling it instead a resistance movement. Yet he chose not to let the issue overshadow his visit.

Analysts say this restraint was deliberate.

“There’s been a concerted effort not to get into a spat about Gaza,” Asli Aydintasbas, of the Washington-based Brookings Institution, told RFI. “Uncharacteristically, he remains silent on the Gaza issue and that is by design.”

During his trip, Erdogan kept his criticism of Israel’s offensive in Gaza to remarks at the UN General Assembly, echoing broader international condemnation.

He also met French President Emmanuel Macron in New York and welcomed France’s recognition of a Palestinian state.

Erdogan is also seeking wider backing as concerns over Israel’s actions grow, an issue that also came up in his talks with Trump.

“Turkey’s concerns with Israel are not actually limited to Gaza,” said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, of the German Marshall Fund in Ankara.

He said Ankara is also uneasy about Israel’s actions in neighbouring states, adding that the two countries’ policies towards Syria clash sharply.

“Turkey wants a stable Syria and one that’s centralised,” he said. “Whereas Israel wants a decentralised and less stable Syria.”

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

Energy and Russia

Turkey’s close ties with Russia risk becoming another flashpoint.

Sitting beside Erdogan at the Oval Office, Trump called for an end to Turkish purchases of Russian energy. He also criticised Erdogan’s long-standing policy of balancing relations between Washington and Moscow.

“Trump does not want a balancing Turkey, at least today,” said Aydintasbas. “That was more obvious than ever in his rhetoric and his dealings with Erdogan.”

She said Erdogan had assumed for the past decade that his balancing act between the West and Russia was acceptable. “It must come as a surprise,” she added.

Turkey is the third-largest importer of Russian oil and gas. But in a move seen as an attempt to placate Trump, Ankara this week signed a multibillion-dollar deal to buy US liquefied natural gas over 20 years.

The two leaders also signed a strategic agreement on civil nuclear cooperation, which could pave the way for Turkey to buy US-made nuclear reactors.

As Trump rails at UN and shifts Ukraine stance, Macron urges US to end Gaza war

Limited gains

Despite these gestures, analysts said Erdogan achieved little in return. He had hoped Trump would lift a US embargo on the sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets. Instead, Trump only gave a vague promise to address the issue.

For Erdogan, however, the White House meeting itself may have been the main prize.

US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said before the meeting that Trump wanted to give Erdogan “legitimacy”.

“For Erdogan, this is a big win,” said Sinan Ciddi, of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies. The Turkish leader, he said, has long sought a White House photo-op to showcase at home.

“He gets to show that he has met the US president, has gravitas on the world stage and is signing deals with Washington,” Ciddi added.

“At a time when he is jailing leaders and dismantling democratic governance inside Turkey, he is being legitimised by the leader of the so-called free world.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This week’s quiz: On 19 July, I asked you a question about RFI English journalist Dhananjay Khadilkar’s video and article about the study of exoplanets, or extrasolar planets, which are planets outside of our solar system.

As you read in Dhananjay’s article “Swiss exoplanet pioneer reflects on Earth’s place in the cosmos”, Didier Queloz, along with Michel Mayor, discovered the first exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star in 1995, which ushered in, as Dhananjay wrote, a new era in astronomy and planetary science. The two scientists won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work.

Dhananjay met with Didier Queloz, who told him, and I quote: “Looking for exoplanets is essentially looking for us.”

What did Professor Queloz mean by that? You were to send in the answer to this question: According to Queloz, what is the essential reason for studying other planets?

The answer is, to quote Dhananjay Khadilkar’s article: “In essence, by studying other planetary systems, scientists are holding up a mirror to our own. Are the conditions that led to Earth’s habitability common or exceedingly rare? Is our solar system an outlier, or just one example among countless others?”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “Is it up to the State, the government, to decide what is fair, or what is just?”

Do you have a bonus question idea? Send it to us!

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Dipita Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India. Dipita is also the winner of this week’s bonus quiz. Congratulations, Dipita, on your double win.

Also on the list of lucky winners is RFI Listeners Club member Pradip Basak from Kerala, India, and RFI English listeners Debashis Gope from West Bengal, India; Liton Rahaman Khan from Naogaon, Bangladesh, and Rashidul Bin Somor, the General Secretary of the Source of Knowledge Club, also in Naogaon.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: The allegro di molto from the Symphony No 38 in C Major (the “Echo” symphony) by Franz Joseph Haydn, performed by the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra conducted by Adam Fischer; “Space Ambient” produced by Space Relax; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Young at Heart” by Johnny Richards and Carolyn Leigh, sung by Connie Francis.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read Paul Myers’ article “Dembélé and Bonmati win Ballon d’Or as PSG take team and coach prizes”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 20 October to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 25 October podcast. When you enter, be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

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France

Click here to find out how you can win a special Sound Kitchen prize.

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

Evacuations from Gaza to France were suspended on 1 August after a Gazan student in Paris was found to have published antisemitic social media posts before her arrival. The suspension has left applicants for the largely state-funded Pause programme, which welcomes scientists and artists facing persecution, in limbo. French and international writers and Palestine solidarity groups have denounced it as “collective punishment”. Gazan rap musician Abou Joury, who arrived in France in January, talks about finding safety and financial stability. Meanwhile French fruit farmer Mathieu Yon – whose friend and “sister”, the poet Alaa al-Qatrawi, is currently stuck in Gaza – has taken up position in front of the Foreign Ministry, pushing for evacuations to resume. (Listen @3’50”)

A record 19 percent of France’s GDP is now in savings accounts – the highest level outside of the exceptionally high rate recorded during the Covid pandemic. While the French have always had a tendency to squirrel money away, sociologist Jeanne Lazarus says the current increase is a sign people are feeling anxious about the economy and the long-term viability of France’s famously supportive social welfare system. (Listen @22’20”)

The story of how French revolutionairies overturned not only the monarchy but time itself, by instituting the Republican calendar from 22 September 1792. (Listen @16’25”)

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).

“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.

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.