The bodies were handed over late on Tuesday through the International Committee of the Red Cross. Kan said the government decided to cancel an earlier plan to halve the number of aid trucks entering Gaza after delays in returning the remains.

The crossing had been closed for several days. Israel had threatened to block aid shipments if Hamas failed to return the bodies of hostages as promised under the truce agreement.

Around 600 trucks a day are now expected to cross at Rafah, carrying goods from the United Nations, approved international organisations, private firms and donor countries.

Families confirm identities

Families confirmed on Wednesday that three of the four victims had been identified by Israel’s national forensic institute. The identity of the fourth remained unconfirmed.

The Israeli military said that one of the bodies handed over by Hamas as part of an exchange for Palestinian prisoners was not a former hostage.

After overnight forensic tests on the four bodies returned on Tuesday, the army said medical officials concluded that one “does not match any of the hostages”.

In a statement, the military warned that “Hamas is required to make all necessary efforts to return the deceased hostages”.

Macron welcomes Hamas return of Israeli hostages as truce plan begins

Relatives of those identified expressed their grief publicly.

“It is with immense sadness and immense pain that we announce the return of the body of our beloved Ouriel Baruch from the Gaza Strip, after two long years of prayers, hope and faith,” the family said in a statement posted online.

Baruch, 35, from Jerusalem, was abducted at the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023.

The families of Tamir Nimrodi and Eitan Levy said their bodies had also been returned. Nimrodi, 18, was a soldier captured at a base near Gaza. Levy, a 53-year-old taxi driver, was killed after dropping off a friend at Kibbutz Beeri that morning.

Four additional bodies were expected to be handed over later on Wednesday, RFI’s Jerusalem correspondent Frédérique Misslin reported. Around 20 deceased hostages have yet to be returned.

Four bodies were returned on Monday, making Tuesday’s handover the second batch this week.

Hamas has said it is struggling to locate all of the remains, while Israel continues to press the group to meet its commitments under the truce. Funerals for the returned victims were scheduled during the day.

Vital aid needs

Jonathan Crickx, communications director for Unicef Palestine, said that allowing 600 trucks a day is vital for civilians.

“Before the war, there were about 500 trucks entering the Gaza Strip. What we saw during the ceasefire in January was a situation where 600 trucks were entering every day,” he told RFI.

“At that time, we were able to see that food prices in the markets returned to normal and we could distribute basic necessities.”

Israeli daily Haaretz reported that negotiations on the next phase of a peace agreement have resumed.

The High Constitutional Court said it had asked Colonel Michael Randrianirina to take charge as head of state, saying Rajoelina was no longer able to carry out his duties.

Lawmakers in the lower house voted 130 to one to impeach the president on Tuesday, accusing him of “engaging in activities deemed incompatible with presidential duties”.

Rajoelina had earlier tried to dissolve parliament by decree from an undisclosed location, but deputies said the move was invalid and went ahead with the vote.

“We have taken power,” Colonel Randrianirina said on national radio. “Nothing is working in Madagascar. There is no president, no Senate president, no government. We must take responsibility.”

RFI reported that Rajoelina left Madagascar on Sunday aboard a French military aircraft. An opposition official, a military source and a foreign diplomat also confirmed his departure to Reuters.

State institutions suspended

Randrianirina, a commander in the elite Army Corps of Administrative and Technical Services, said all state institutions except the lower house were suspended, including the Senate, the Constitutional Court and the national electoral commission.

He told reporters that a committee led by the military would manage a transition lasting up to two years alongside a civilian government before new elections are held.

Madagascar’s president dissolves lower house, ignores calls to resign

Opposition deputy speaker Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko said Rajoelina’s decree dissolving parliament was “legally invalid”. He added that “the president of the National Assembly was not consulted.

Rajoelina later appeared in a video from an unknown location, saying he was in a safe place after what he described as a murder attempt. He called the events a “coup attempt” and insisted that he remained fully in office.

Protests and celebrations

The crisis began on 25 September when demonstrations over water and power cuts grew into wider protests against corruption and hardship. Many of those marching were from the Gen Z youth movement, which helped drive the uprising.

At Antananarivo’s 13 May Square, thousands of protesters danced, sang and waved Malagasy flags as news of the army’s takeover spread.

“We’re so happy Andry Rajoelina is finally gone. We will start again,” high-school student Fih Nomensanahary told Reuters. Others were more cautious.

France evacuates Madagascar president amid protests and army revolt

“They need to hand over to a civilian administration quickly and have an election,” said Rezafy Lova, a 68-year-old IT consultant.

Sarik, a member of the Gen Z movement, told RFI the group wanted “real involvement of civil parties in the transition that is coming”.

Over the weekend, Randrianirina’s Army Corps unit joined the protesters, declaring: “Let us refuse to be paid to shoot our friends, our brothers, our sisters.”

The gendarmerie and police later broke ranks with the president.

Concern abroad

The United Nations said it was monitoring the situation and would oppose any coup. French President Emmanuel Macron called for respect for constitutional order, while the United States urged all sides to seek a peaceful solution.

Randrianirina, 51, previously served as governor of the southern Androy region and was jailed last year for inciting military mutiny. His rise marks another turning point in Madagascar’s long history of uprisings and army takeovers.

With most of the population under 20 and three-quarters living in poverty, many Malagasy people now hope this transition will bring real change.

The so-called “one-in, one-out” plan was signed in July and took effect in August as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government faced growing pressure to control record levels of immigration.

The appeal was lodged with France’s highest administrative court, the Council of State. The NGOs argue that the deal should have been ratified by parliament before it came into force.

“The implementation decree… is tainted with illegality, as it fails to comply with the procedure prescribed by the constitution,” the groups said in a joint statement.

Among the organisations involved are Utopia 56, which supports migrants, and the medical charity Médecins du Monde.

Their lawyer, Lionel Crusoe, said France’s constitution requires any such bilateral agreement to be approved by parliament before being signed into law. He said the court is expected to decide by the end of the week whether to hold a hearing.

UK deports Indian man to France under ‘one in, one out’ migrant scheme

Record crossings continue

Under the deal, Britain has so far removed 26 people to France and taken in 18 migrants in return, the British government said last week.

British authorities had hoped the deal would curb record levels of irregular Channel crossings, which have fuelled the rise of the hard-right Reform UK party.

The organisations argued that “the number of dangerous and illegal crossings of the Channel has not decreased” following the agreement.

More than 8,400 migrants have entered the UK on dinghies since the deal was implemented, according to an AFP count based on official British data.

Nearly 35,500 such migrants have landed on British shores since the beginning of the year.

At least 27 people have died trying to make the perilous Channel crossing by sea during that same period, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

(with newswires)

After parliament toppled his two predecessors over cost-cutting measures, Lecornu, French president’s seventh premier since 2017, is battling to keep his cabinet alive long enough to pass a much-needed austerity budget by the end of the year.

The Socialists, a swing group in parliament, had threatened to vote to topple the government if he did not immediately suspend the pensions reform that raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.

In a policy speech to lawmakers, Lecornu supported suspending the 2023 pensions reform until the next presidential election.

“There will be no increase in the retirement age from now until January 2028,” he pledged.

The reform, which the government forced through parliament without a vote in 2023, sparked months of protests.

Lecornu also promised parliament that he would not use the controversial article 49.3 tool to bypass a vote in the lower house on any draft laws, and put all proposed bills to debate.

French social partners start three months of pension reform discussions

In a bid to gain opposition backing, Lecornu earlier this month promised not to force legislation through, and allow all bills to be debated in the lower house.

“The government will make suggestions, we will debate, and you will vote,” Lecornu said.

France’s public deficit

Lecornu, who became prime minister last month, resigned on Monday last week after criticism of his newly appointed government.

He was re-appointed on Friday and proposed a new team of ministers on Sunday – just in time for the government to approve and file a draft budget with parliament.

Reappointed French PM faces tight deadline to form government, negotiate budget

In the draft approved by his government Tuesday, France’s public deficit was cut to 4.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), Lecornu said, warning it must remain below five percent after parliamentary debate on the budget.

France’s debt-to-GDP ratio is the European Union’s third-highest after Greece and Italy, and is close to twice the 60-percent limit fixed by EU rules.

Freezing the pensions reform would cost some 400 million euros in 2026 and 1.8 billion euros the year after, Lecornu said, adding the suspension must be offset by savings, not by increasing the deficit.

The former defence minister told lawmakers the move was not about “suspending for the sake of suspending,” but an opportunity to chart a new course for the country’s pension system.

Under pressure

Lecornu is under severe pressure from opponents.

The hard-left France Unbowed party and far-right National Rally have already filed motions to topple Lecornu’s new cabinet, although they stand little chance of succeeding without the backing of the Socialists.

The Socialists did not immediately respond to Lecornu’s promise on the pension bill.

After the speech, the Green party said it would vote to oust Lecornu’s government even after the suspension, while the centre-right Horizons party called the reform a “dangerous shortcut”.

Earlier on Tuesday, Macron had warned that any vote to topple Lecornu’s cabinet would force him to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.

Macron has also faced unprecedented criticism.

Some opposition leaders are urging him to call snap elections or resign, and even key allies such as former prime minister Edouard Philippe have distanced themselves from the 47-year-old president.

The far-right senses its strongest chance yet to seize power in the 2027 presidential elections, when Macron’s second and last term runs out.

National Rally (RN) leader Jordan Bardella mocked the new government as “Emmanuel Macron’s saviour club,” saying its members shared only a “fear of the ballot box”.

(with AFP)

Cecile Kohler and her partner Jacques Paris are the only two remaining French citizens held in Iran and have been detained since 2022 when they were arrested at the end of a tourist trip.

Without specifically naming the defendants, the court sentenced one French citizen to six years in prison for spying on behalf of France, five years in prison on charges of conspiracy to commit a crime against national security, and 20 years of imprisonment for assisting Israeli intelligence services.

The other defendant was handed 10 years in prison for spying on behalf of France, five years in prison on charges of conspiracy to commit a crime against national security, and 17 years of imprisonment  for assisting Israeli intelligence services.

The charges could have led to the death penalty.

The two defendants can appeal their sentences to a higher court.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot have repeatedly called for the release of Kohler and Paris.

France has accused Iran of holding them arbitrarily, keeping them in conditions akin to torture in Tehran‘s Evin prison and not allowing proper consular protection.

The Islamic Republic denies the accusations.

ICJ drops France’s case on jailed couple in Iran as families urge action

No prisoner swap

In early September, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a television interview that a prisoner swap involving the French pair was nearing its “final stage” – with a proposed exchange for Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian woman arrested in France in February over promoting terrorism on social media.

Iran has repeatedly requested her release, arguing that she was unjustly detained.

Iran’s judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir said on Tuesday that accusations against Esfandyari were baseless and that France had refused to release her temporarily on bail.

“Follow-ups have taken a while but they have not stopped… We are striving for her release without conditions,” he added.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have detained dozens of foreign and dual nationals in recent years, often on espionage-related charges. Rights groups and Western countries accuse Tehran of using foreign detainees as bargaining chips, which Iran denies.

Lennart Monterlos, an 18-year-old French-German cyclist arrested this year, was released last week after a court acquitted him of espionage charges.

(with newswires)

The presidential campaign officially began on Friday 10 October.

President Alassane Ouattara has led the country since April 2011, and is seeking a fourth term. 

He managed to establish himself as a heavyweight in Ivorian politics over the past thirty years, and is credited with keeping Côte d’Ivoire prosperous and economically dynamic. But Ouattara’s Côte d’Ivoire is also seen as “France’s last bastion”.

Now 83, he can run after changing the constitution in 2016 to remove presidential term limits, which has angered most of the opposition in Côte d’Ivoire.

Four candidates are standing against the incumbent president, the only ones having been ruled eligible by the country’s constitutional court: former ministers Jean-Louis Billon, Ahoua Don Mello and Henriette Lagou, and Simone Gbagbo, ex-wife of president Laurent Gbagbo and therefore a former first lady.

But neither of the main opposition parties – PDCI and PPA-CI – have been able to secure a candidate, as the court disqualified many, including former president Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam, a businessman and former minister of development.

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

The election campaign will end on 23 October, two days before voting begins.

Provisional results will be published at the national level by the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) between Sunday 26 October and Thursday 30 October 2025.

To be elected in the first round, a candidate must obtain an absolute majority of the votes cast. If none does, a second round of the presidential election could take place on Saturday 29 November.

Our guest this week is Paul Melly, researcher on West Africa and consulting fellow with the Chatham House think tank in London, UK.

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

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

The online movement, a driving force behind more than two weeks of near-nightly protests in the kingdom, called for demonstrators to take part in sit-ins Saturday in cities across the country.

“We call on young people in Morocco and all citizens to massively mobilise to support this movement until our demands are met,” the group, whose founders remain unknown, said in a statement.

The protests erupted in late September, after the deaths of eight pregnant women during Caesarean sections at a hospital in Agadir, in southern Morocco, sparked anger over conditions at public health facilities. 

Protesters are also outraged over the state of the education system, alleged corruption and other issues.

The movement announced a pause in the protests ahead of King Mohammed VI’s annual address to parliament Friday.

In the closely watched speech, the monarch said creating jobs for young people and improving the health and education systems were “priorities” – but made no reference to the protest movement.

How football mega tournaments became a lightning rod for Morocco protesters

€40 for a medical consultation

Nearly 36 percent of 15–24-year-olds are unemployed in Morocco. Those lucky enough to have work must contend with a high cost of living, particularly when it comes to healthcare.

“If I want treatment in a public hospital, there’s nothing available,” says Fadil. “If I go to a private clinic, they’ll charge me €40 just for a consultation – that’s 10 percent of my salary,” he told RFI.

The kingdom projects the image of an emerging nation with strong growth and widespread construction.

But economist Najib Akesbi says there is a fundamental problem in how resources are allocated. “The needs of the majority of the population are clearly not being prioritised,” he told RFI. “Instead, ostentatious, prestige-driven spending is favoured. That’s the great imbalance.”

CAF ‘absolutely confident’ AFCON will go ahead in protest-hit Morocco

Investments often ‘not profitable’

The country’s large-scale sports infrastructure – the stadiums built or renovated for the Africa Cup of Nations and the FIFA World Cup, with a combined budget of nearly €2 billion – are the most striking example, Akesbi argues.

“The big problem in Morocco is that we invest massively, but often in projects that are not profitable, that generate neither sufficient growth nor enough jobs,” he says.

While the Ministry of Health’s budget increased by more than 30 percent between 2022 and 2024, basic needs are unmet.

“People still lack material resources, medicines are missing from hospitals, and essential tools and equipment are in short supply. No serious or credible reform has been implemented,” notes the economist.

How Gen Z is taking the fight for their rights from TikTok to the streets

Dozens of arrests

The recent rallies, that have drawn crowds ranging from dozens to several hundred people, have been largely peaceful, though some nights have seen spates of violence and vandalism.

Three people were killed in clashes with security forces earlier this month, while police have made dozens of arrests.

GenZ 212 also called Monday for a boycott campaign, without specifying the targets.

At protests in Casablanca, reporters with AFP news agency have seen demonstrators brandishing placards against Afriquia, a fuel-distribution company that is a subsidiary of the Akwa group, co-owned by Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch’s family.

Akhannouch is Morocco’s third-richest person, with a fortune estimated at $1.5 billion, according to Forbes.

(with newswires)

Alghorra (Zuma Press), who is still in Gaza, was recognised for his series “Trapped in Gaza: Between Fire and Famine”. Last year, he won Bayeux’s young reporter award.

His work on the plight of civilians trapped in the Palestinian territory by the Israeli military campaign also saw him pick up the 2025 Humanitarian Visa d’Or award at Visa pour l’image festival in Perpignan in September.

Gaza was the focus of the other two recipients for this category with Ali Jadallah (Anadolu Agency) in second place and Jehad Alshrafi in third.

Jadallah’s image of Israeli fire raining over Deir al-Balah in Gaza also won the Public’s Choice award.

In the print journalism category, Wolfgang Bauer (Zeit Magazin) from Germany won first place for “The Forgotten”, about the only hospital still able to perform surgery in Sudan‘s capital, Khartoum.

The journalist thanked “all the doctors, nurses and volunteers” at the hospital “who do everything they can to save lives every day” in a video message, on the verge of tears.

Reports from Gaza, Sudan, DRC honoured at French photojournalism festival

Second place in the print category went to Declan Walsh’s “Sudan on Fire” published by The New York Times. His article also won the honorary Ouest-France-Jean Marin prize.

Third place went to Alexander Clapp for “Cocaine, bananas, and tongueless children: behind the scenes of the world’s latest narco-state Ecuator” for The Economist.

Syrian women have their say

Swiss-Canadian journalist Maurine Mercier (RTS-RTBF) received the top prize for radio for her report “Pokrovsk: Two Flowers in the Ruins”, about the sexual lives of women in eastern Ukraine.

“These women live, they defend democracy and freedom,” Mercier told the nearly 1,560 spectators gathered at the award ceremony, “but I didn’t think you would be ‘punk’ enough to award this report.”

Second prize in radio went RFI’s Manon Chapelain for “Barrage de Tichrine: le dernier front de Syrie” (Tichrine Dam: Syria’s last frontline) and third prize to Radio France’s Aurélien Colly for “Syrie: la folie de la tyrannie” (Syria and the folly of tyranny).

In the television category, Julie Dungelhoeff, James André and Sofia Amara from France 24 won first place for their report, “Inside Assad’s terror machine”, focused on the prisons liberated by the Syrian regime.

“It’s important that we continue to go out into the field whenever possible to tell these stories,” said Amara told the audience.

The second prize in television went to Solenn Riou, Pauline Lormant and Oleksii Sauchenko for a report on Ukrainian commandos on the frontline.

The third prize went to Jomana Karadsheh, Tareq Al Hilou, Mohammed Al Sawalhi, Mick Krever and Mark Baron from CNN for their documentary about the lives of children in Gaza which also won the special Normandy Region Prize, designated by students and trainees.

A documentary on the conflict in Ethiopia called “Tigray: rape, the silent weapon” by Agnès NABAT, Marianne Getti (Kraken Films / Arte) scooped up the Grand Format television trophy, awarded by the Caen Memorial museum.

The Young Reporter Award was awarded to Pierre Terraz (Politis, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Grands Reportages), who distinguished himself with “Burma: A Clandestine Plunge into Civil War.”

“Every day, Burmese journalists are arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and executed, sometimes in public,” Terraz said on stage. “I think about them every day.”

Global press freedom at ‘tipping point’, media watchdog RSF warns

Tributes to journalists who perished

The Video Image Award went to Edward Kaprov (Lila Production for ARTE Reportage) for “Donbass, Between Life and Death,” a poignant account of the war in Ukraine.

Presided by American journalist Jon Lee Anderson, the international jury of the 32^nd edition of the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award combed through hundreds of entries to chose winners in the ten categories.

“This has definitely been one of the strongest journalistic offerings I have seen since I have come to the Prix Bayeux,” Anderson said after seeing the numerous entries.

“We evaluated an incredible array of material that included many examples of real journalistic excellence, and it came from all over the globe. We had vigorous debates which were always stimulating and ultimately rewarding. I am tired, but feel very satisfied by the process we have engaged in, and I trust that the public will agree with our choices,” Anderson said.

During the ceremony, tributes were paid to journalists killed recently in the line of duty.

Aida, the partner of French photojournalist Antoni Lallican, who was killed on 3 October in Donbass, eastern Ukraine, in a Russian drone attack, sent a message saying she “already misses the joy of living” of the “talented” reporter who died at the age of 37.

A tribute was paid to Syrian journalist Anas Kharboutli, who died a few days before Bashar al-Assad fled the country.

The Bayeux Calvados-Normany Awards for war correspondents exhibitions are open to the public until 9 November.

The archives in the basement of Wits University are a real maze – but Ajit Gandabhai knows exactly where he is going.

“There are a multitude of categories,” he said. “But we’re heading for the sports section.”

It contains valuable resources for historians and sports enthusiasts: a collection of objects and documents that show how, long before the end of apartheid, black, Indian and mixed-race communities were already playing cricket, rugby and tennis.

“These are financial reports from clubs dating back to 1973,” Gandabhai said. “And this is the trophy for the cricket competition – only for the non-racial federations. The winner took it home.”

South Africa to examine past failures to prosecute apartheid crimes

Boycott and resistance

South Africa was expelled from the Olympic Games in 1964 and, six years later, from the football World Cup. The apartheid government tried cosmetic reforms to make it look more acceptable to the world.

Rejecting any compromise with the regime, activists created the South African Council of Sport (SACOS).

“Sport became a prime way to fight the segregationist state without violence,” said Gandabhai. “And we had the slogan: ‘No normal sport in an abnormal society.’ That is still true today.”

Along with campaigning for an international boycott of South African teams, SACOS and allied clubs built a parallel network of non-racial sport inside the country.

Keeping the memory alive

To make sure this history is not forgotten, activists and sports officials, including Gandabhai, set up a dedicated archive fund in 2014.

“We cannot lose the memory of the people who sacrificed their lives, who were detained by the police,” he told RFI. “This story must be told – and not just from 1995.”

The year 1995, when South Africa won the Rugby World Cup under president Nelson Mandela, is widely seen as the symbolic start of the country’s integrated sporting era.

Because official media under apartheid ignored these competitions, archivists have had to rely on alternative sources – records kept by former players and local supporters.

The legacy of Nelson Mandela 30 years after his election as president

Women’s sport still missing

Michael Kahn, the fund’s secretary-general, said the work is far from complete.

“Several sections are still not well documented,” he said. “And particularly in relation to women’s sport, there are gaps. Black women also played sport – in really difficult conditions.”

The archivists continue to track down testimonies, photographs and documents to fill those gaps and to honour all those who fought for the right to play on equal terms.

The people behind the archive say their work is not just about remembering the past. It also highlights how, three decades after the end of apartheid, access to sport in South Africa still varies sharply between communities.

This story was adapted from RFI’s original version in French

Vast stretches of the country’s forest reserves have been stripped bare and water bodies have been contaminated. Activists are warning that without immediate, decisive action the damage could become irreversible.

Illegal mining – locally known as galamsey – is also threatening livelihoods and fuelling political and social unrest.

Civil society groups, environmental advocates and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference are among those now calling on the president to declare a state of emergency to combat the crisis.

Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said: “Such a declaration would empower extraordinary interventions: curfews in volatile areas, the securing of devastated lands, the dismantling of entrenched criminal syndicates and the halting of corrupt administrative complicities.”

Civil society demands

Darly Bosu, deputy director of environmental NGO A Rocha Ghana, has echoed this call, saying the time for political debate has passed.

“The devastation caused by illegal mining has gone far beyond control,” he said.

“Our rivers are poisoned, farmlands destroyed, and communities displaced. The survival of millions of Ghanaians is at stake. A Rocha Ghana is calling on [the president] to declare a national state of emergency on galamsey. This is no longer a political issue. It is about the very soul of Ghana – its water, its food and life itself.”

The Ghana Coalition Against Galamsey has also demanded that the government declare a state of emergency in those areas most affected by illegal mining as justification for urgent intervention.

Kenneth Ashigbey, the Coalition’s convenor, stressed the need for security forces to be empowered through such a declaration to tackle illegal mining head-on.

“The Ghana Coalition Against Galamsey has called for a declaration of a state of emergency in areas prone to galamsey,” he said. “Illegal mining activities continue to devastate the environment, posing threats to lives. A state of emergency is needed to address this issue directly.”

Illegal logging threatens livelihoods of hundreds of Ghanaian women

Government reaction

President Mahama, however, says the National Security Council does not currently recommend declaring a state of emergency in response to the ongoing crisis.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting on illegal mining in Accra, he explained that while he has the constitutional authority to make such a declaration, the decision must be informed by the counsel of the National Security Council.

“At this point, the Council believes we can overcome the galamsey challenge without resorting to emergency powers,” he said.

Human impact

The consequences of illegal mining are being felt across the country.

Forensic histopathologist Professor Paul Poku Sampene Ossei says his research has linked at least 500 cases of spontaneous abortion in Ghana to high levels of heavy metals in the placenta caused by illegal mining activities.

His research involved more than 4,000 placentas examined from different regions across Ghana, with results showing dangerous levels of contamination on both the maternal and foetal sides.

“I have about 500 cases where women [lose their babies] because of the concentration of these heavy metals in their placenta,” he said. “The placentas are all contaminated and polluted with heavy metals.”

Ghana unveils West Africa’s largest floating solar project, boosting renewable energy ambitions

Many communities have also been left without water as a consequence of illegal mining.

The Ghana Water Company has shut down its treatment plant at Kwanyako in the Central Region, and the government minister responsible for the area, Ekow Panyin Okyere Eduamoah, disclosed that around 10 of the 22 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the region are facing an acute water shortage as a result. 

“I visited the plant myself, and I realised that even if they were forced at gunpoint to provide water, you could not be sure of its quality,” he said. “I therefore asked that they stop.”

Farms destroyed

Meanwhile, Bismark Owusu Nortey, executive director of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, told RFI that illegal small-scale mining has devastated farmland across the country.

“A report that we’ve worked on shows that close to 1.2 million hectares of farmlands have already been destroyed due to galamsey,” he said.

“Behind these farmlands are over 500,000 individual farmers and their dependants who have been denied the opportunity to use farming as an economic tool to improve their livelihoods.”

Cleaner kitchens, healthier lives: Ghana’s cookstove revolution gains ground

The destruction of farmlands and the pollution of water bodies have drastically reduced farmers’ productivity, with some who had farmed all year round now restricted to seasonal cultivation.

Illegal mining has also claimed lives. On 1 October, seven illegal miners died after a pit collapsed at an unauthorised mining site at Kasotie in the Atwima Mponua District of the Ashanti Region.

In response to the escalating crisis, the minister for lands and natural resources, Emmanuel Amarh Kofi-Buah, has issued a directive to security forces tasked with fighting illegal mining, urging them to be “firm, resolute and ruthless” in their operations.

Environmental groups, however, insist that extraordinary measures are needed before the damage becomes permanent.

Beginning in 1960, Goodall lived for long periods in what is now Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, watching wild chimpanzees at close range. She described how they used tools and hunted and their social behaviour, drawing into question the line people drew between humans and other animals.

Goodall went on to become a leading voice for conservation. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977 to support science and protect great apes and their habitats, then launched Roots & Shoots, a youth programme now active in some 100 countries.

This interview with RFI was recorded around the release of Jane, a documentary directed by Brett Morgen. It shows the young researcher in the forest and reflects on a life built from a childhood dream.

RFI: There have been many documentaries about you. What do you think this one adds to what we know about your work with chimpanzees?

Jane Goodall: It’s completely different to any other documentary in that it’s much more honest. So it basically shows things as they were. I think that Brett Morgen, the director, the way that he’s interspersed interviews with me today with that early footage is amazing. And one of the things that strikes people again and again is there’s a whole long section of Jane on her own in the forest.

And most people don’t even think, well, obviously she wasn’t on her own, she’s being filmed. And yet there’s such an immediacy about it. And even I when I’m watching it, I think yes, that’s how it was. I was alone like that. That’s exactly how it was.

Jane Goodall, pioneering primatologist and voice for wildlife, dies aged 91

RFI: This was in 1960, in Gombe National Park in Tanzania, very close to the border with Burundi. Probably quite a dangerous place to be, so close to chimpanzees. You were a 26-year-old white female. Were you aware of the dangers?

JG: I don’t think it was dangerous at all. First of all, people have said, well, being a woman must have been a disadvantage. Well actually, no, because Tanzania was becoming independent. White males were considered a sort of threat. But a young girl – innocent, defenceless – they wanted to help.

So I had a lot of help from the local people and from the government as well, once it became independent. And the dangers in the field… not really, you know.

I could have been charged by buffalo. I was, in fact, once. Chimpanzees – they’re not dangerous out in the field. They could be, but they’re not. So I didn’t consider it dangerous. And looking back on it, I don’t think it was dangerous. It became more dangerous once the Congo erupted and we got the people escaping, all the Belgians coming over the lake.

Then things became different. Then you got the genocide in Burundi and Rwanda. It became politically much less stable.

RFI: Just remind us, what made you want to go to Africa in the first place?

JG: When I was eight years old I was reading Doctor Dolittle, and there’s a story where he rescues circus animals and takes them back to Africa. I loved that particular book. And then when I was 10, I read Tarzan and Tarzan of the Apes, and that was it.

So from 10 onwards, that’s all I wanted to do. Go to Africa, live with animals and write books about them.

RFI: In the film we see you saying it was like a dream come true, I felt that this is where I belonged. So really, you felt that was your natural habitat?

JG: Yes. Once I got used to it, it was like my backyard. I knew all the little shortcuts through the forest. I got to know the different animals and the sounds. It was just what I dreamed of all my life.

RFI: Do you prefer animals to humans?

JG: I prefer some animals to some humans, and some humans to some animals. We’re animals too, remember.

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

RFI: You’ve moved from being a primatologist to more of an animal activist. You founded an educational NGO, Roots & Shoots. It’s now present in around 100 countries.

JG: Roots & Shoots began in Tanzania in 1991 with high school students. The great thing was that these students weren’t animal rights people – they were worried about poaching in the national parks and asked why the government wasn’t doing anything about it.

They were also concerned about the treatment of animals in markets, about street children sniffing glue and about illegal dynamite fishing.

I sent them back to their schools to gather friends who cared about these problems. From the start, Roots & Shoots was different from other environmental organisations. Its message was that every one of us makes a difference every day – and we choose what sort of difference we make.

We knew from the rainforest that everything is interconnected and each species has a role. So groups often focused on three areas: improving life for people, for animals and for the environment. Sometimes one group worked on all three, sometimes they divided tasks but shared results.

The programme grew naturally. It broke down barriers between people of different nations, religions and cultures – and between us and the natural world. People sometimes say they don’t understand the name, but if you picture a seed sending out little white roots and a green shoot that can grow into a mighty tree, you understand why it’s called Roots & Shoots.

RFI: Can you give us an example of something that a Roots & Shoots project has achieved?

JG: In Tanzania, we’ve got Roots & Shoots in every single part of the country because it began there, and they’re proud of it. They’ve planted between them so many hundreds of thousands of trees. They’ve really worked to improve the lives of animals. They’ve taught their parents about what’s going on with the dynamite fishing. They’ve made a huge difference in clearing trash, beach clean-ups and so forth.

In China, it’s changed the attitude of a whole generation towards animals and the environment – and the number of Chinese adults who’ve come up to me and said, well, of course I care about the environment, I was in your Roots & Shoots programme in primary school, and they showed us the documentaries about the chimpanzees.

So I’ve seen the attitude in China change, and it’s only recently I’ve realised the major role that Roots & Shoots has played in creating this change.

RFI: You travel around 300 days a year. You’re still a very active woman, even in your eighties. And you travel with this little creature called Ratty. He’s a toy, I must add, a stuffed rat. Just tell me, why Ratty?

JG: Ratty was actually given to me. He’s the symbol for a wonderful group called Doctors Against Animal Experimentation, showing that we don’t need to use animals – the rat being the most commonly used.

But I use Ratty not only to talk about the amazing intelligence of the ordinary rat, but the giant forest rat of Africa has been taught to detect landmines from the scent, even if they’re deep buried under the ground.

And they’ve helped to defuse tens of thousands of landmines in Mozambique, Angola and different African countries, and now moving into the eastern world as well.

They can identify the very earliest stages of TB before the hospital instruments, but now some of them have been taught to sniff out ivory, some rhino horn, some leopard skin, some pangolin scales so they can go up among the crates where people and dogs can’t go. And they have managed to find a whole lot of illegally smuggled products of this sort.

RFI: Just another reminder of how intelligent animals can be. Thank you for talking to us, Jane Goodall.

For many voters, the centre-right government of incumbent Petr Fiala had failed to tackle inflation, energy costs and stagnating wages.

That disillusionment paved the way for a populist comeback. “It was an easy path for Babis to take power,” Ondracka told RFI, referring to parliamentary elections held on 3 and 4 October.

Without a clear majority, Babis needs junior partners for a coalition government. The likely candidates are two smaller right-wing parties, the anti-immigration, eurosceptic Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the conservative, anti-Green Deal Motorists for Themselves.

Meanwhile, Babis’s personal dominance in the government is expected to be total.

Whatever coalition Babis chooses, he will wade into a “monstrous conflict of interest, because he is milking the state funds and subsidies”, claims Ondracka, a long-time critic of the billionaire agriculture tycoon.

He views Babis less as a geopolitical threat than as a self-interested pragmatist: “He is not a pro-Russian politician. He is pro-European, because that’s where he sees the most money for his own pocket.”

‘Trumpist’ billionaire wins Czech election, spelling shift on Ukraine

Opportunist

While some compare Babis to Hungary’s Viktor Orban or France’s Marine Le Pen, Ondracka sees him as more opportunistic than ideological: “Babis is not right-wing or left-wing. He tells you whatever you want to hear. What really matters for him is his own pocket and business interests.”

For Ondracka, this absence of ideology is “on one hand scary, on the other hand maybe even a relief”.

That ambiguity may end up working in favour of the status quo. Although Babis often positions himself against domestic elites and Brussels bureaucrats, he knows that EU membership, and crucially, EU funds, underpin his own economic power base.

Babis’s fortune, estimated at more than €3.7 billion, comes from the Agrofert conglomerate. Founded as a fertilizer company, it now has interests in multiple industries from construction to energy to media, and operates in both Europe and China.

Babis was its sole proprietor until 2017, when he was forced to transfer ownership to trusts controlled by his family to comply with conflict of interest rules.

He is embroiled in a legal battle against allegations that he fraudulently claimed €2 million of EU subsidies earmarked for small businesses, charges he rejects as a smear campaign.

European trend

Ondracka sees the Czech election results as part of a wider European pattern. “The elections reflect the very same societal divisions as we see in basically every European country,” he told RFI. “There are the city elites, and then you have people who simply feel betrayed by these elites, and they don’t trust them.”

This erosion of trust, he thinks, has fuelled resentment across the continent, with populists and nationalists offering “simple solutions” to voters seeking a break from liberal centrism.

Even if Babis’s populism is pragmatic rather than ideological, his win reinforces the EU’s broader rightward turn. The ANO victory also highlights the weakening of traditional party structures that once anchored Czech politics in predictable coalitions.

Europe at a crossroads as democratic erosion deepens, report warns

Meanwhile, the Visegrad Four – the alliance that unites the Czech Republic with Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – is unlikely to gain new momentum from Babis’s return.

“It seems that Babis will agree on some issues with Orban and [Slovak Prime Minister Robert] Fico,” Ondracka said, “but there is also huge opposition from Poland and from [Polish Prime Minister Donald] Tusk, so I don’t think the Visegrad Four will be a very actionable group. It will remain politically irrelevant within the EU.”

Still, cooperation inside the group will continue “because these are our neighbours, and we have to collaborate on many issues”, he says.

Outside influences

Babis has invited comparisons with United States President Donald Trump, declaring he wants to “make the Czech Republic great again”.

While some Czech politicians may “take inspiration and try to have a similar vocabulary” to hard-right US populists, Ondracka says the impact on the country’s politics is modest: “People simply vote according to their vital economic interests.”

From Washington to Warsaw: how MAGA influence is reshaping Europe’s far right

Russian influence, by contrast, remains a persistent undercurrent, amplified by disinformation networks.

Yet the election showed voters’ resistance to pro-Kremlin narratives. “Czech elections actually showed that majority of the Czech population doesn’t buy that narrative and they don’t want to come back to Russian influence at all,” Ondracka told RFI. “Most of the parties who were clearly pro-Russian actually lost.”

The Czech Republic bears tangible costs from the war in Ukraine, he added, including some half a million refugees in a country of 10 million. This has strained public services, but also deepened solidarity with Kyiv.

There is reason to believe, then, that the country’s pro-European mainstream remains intact, Ondracka concludes – even with Babis’s populist touch.

An estimated 750,000 people over 60 are living out what French charity Petits Frères des Pauvres (Little Brothers of the Poor) calls a “social death” – rarely or never seeing a friend, relative, neighbour or community worker.

The figure has soared by 42 percent in the past four years. Previous surveys put it at 530,000 in 2021 and 300,000 in 2017.

The organisation’s president, Anne Géneau, says loneliness and isolation has become far more widespread, affecting all aspects of social life.

In its latest report, published on Tuesday, the charity found that 2.5 million older people feel lonely daily and nearly 6 million say they don’t have anyone to talk to about their feelings.

Beyond family and friends, interactions with local businesses and home professionals such as caregivers or cleaners have also broken down, with 30 percent of seniors reporting less than one exchange per month.

Lasting loneliness

“We thought the worsening observed in 2021 was an accident linked to Covid, which made people withdraw into themselves,” Géneau says, referring to social distancing and lockdowns during the pandemic.

“But that is not the case. We are not back to pre-crisis levels.”

The charity points to a number of other factors behind the figures. Poverty is the main one, affecting 9 percent of those interviewed for the 2025 poll.

There are also a growing number of seniors without children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren.

The impact of lockdown on young people in France, five years after Covid crisis

Augmented reality

Often overlooked, isolation is a striking theme at the Photoclimat Biennale in Paris, an open-air festival that brings together artists and NGOs working to address social issues.

French photographer Sacha Goldberger spent time interviewing seniors who receive help from Petits Frères des Pauvres for his exhibition “Augmented Solitude”. Some of them hadn’t left their apartments in months or even years, he says.

Based on their conversations, he used artificial intelligence to splice together portraits of his subjects with images of someone they’d like to meet or keep them company. Spectators use their smartphones to view the augmented-reality photographs and learn the backstory.

Goldberger says that while the series exploits AI, it also shows that retreating into a virtual universe can be dangerous. “It highlights the vital necessity of human relationships in the digital age to combat isolation,” he says.

Digital isolation

The internet can also be a powerful tool against solitude, for those who can access it.

Despite declining sharply during the Covid crisis, digital isolation – being cut off from online services – is contributing to the loss of social contact.

“While the pandemic may have encouraged and sometimes even ‘forced’ the use of digital tools among elders, the rate of elderly people who never use the internet has risen from 20 percent in 2021 to 27 percent today,” said Quentin Llewellyn of the CSA institute, which carried out the poll.

Some people are sacrificing their internet subscription for financial reasons or fears over cyber security, the CSA observed.

At Photoclimat, painter Bertrand de Miollis focuses on the internet’s power to bring people together.

In collaboration with the Afnic Foundation, which strives to expand access to the internet for all, he created works that celebrate examples of people using technology to find community, stay in touch, learn new skills or explore their creativity.

Zoom on optimism

People living at the intersection of poverty and isolation are particularly in need of help, according to French charity Entourage.

“For the 5 million people who are in precarious situations and the 330,000 people without homes, the chances of getting out of their situation are almost zero,” the NGO says. “These numbers are only increasing.”

It works to promote connections between people who might not necessarily cross paths, in a bid to change the way society sees poverty and social isolation.

Intergenerational living helps relieve isolation for seniors and students

The charity invited Dutch-Croatian photographer Sanja Marusic to take portraits of both volunteers and beneficiaries involved in its social outreach programmes.

She says it was important to inject a touch of fun and colour to the project – to draw out the optimism which can help people feel empowered to make a difference.

“The most important part for me is that there’s no hierarchy [in the photos],” she told RFI. “I love that you don’t really see who is helping who. It can go both ways.”

Photoclimat Biennale is a free, outdoor exhibition in Paris and surrounding suburbs that runs until 12 October.

Going into the final round of games, Benin, second-placed South Africa and Nigeria in third all had the chance to advance to the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

With a two-point advantage over South Africa, Benin simply needed to match South Africa’s result while Nigeria had to beat Benin by at least two goals and hope Rwanda held South Africa to a draw.

But it was South Africa who clinched the berth with their win in front of delirious partisans at the Mbombela Stadium.

In the prelude to the game, the South Africa boss Hugo Broos said his team needed to beat Rwanda and then pray for a miracle.

Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen emerged as that godsend. The 26-year-old struck twice in the first-half and completed his hat trick shortly after the pause to end Benin’s dream. Frank Onyeka racked up the fourth in stoppage-time.

Goals within the first half hour from Thalente Mbatha and Oswin Appolis settled South Africa’s nerves and Evidence Makgopa added the gloss with just under 20 minutes remaining to send South Africa to the World Cup for the first time since they were hosts in 2010.

“It’s wonderful,” Broos told South African broadcaster SABC after the victory as fireworks exploded around the stadium. “We all knew that we could do it. We believed in ourselves.

“You could see from the beginning that the players wanted to win that game.

“The only thing that could stop us was what was happening in Nigeria … but Nigeria did what they had to do and we did what we had to do. So we’re going to the World Cup. It’s fantastic.”

Nigeria’s victory pushed them up into the runners-up spot with 17 points.

In Dakar, Mané was the star of the show at the Abdoulaye Wade Stadium.

The 33-year scored his 47th international goal on the stroke of half-time to open the scoring. And within minutes of the restart, he notched up his 48th.

Iliaman Ndiaye and Habib Diallo added the gloss for the hosts.

Pape Bouna Thiaw’s squad ended their 10 Group B matches with 24 points from seven wins and three draws.

Democratic Republic of Congo finished on 22 points after Theo Bongonda’s strike in the 29th minute edged them past Sudan at the Stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa.

Cote d’Ivoire beat Senegal on penalties to reach last eight at Cup of Nations

Kessié starts the party

Côte d’Ivoire’s only threat to a fourth appearance at the World Cup lay 3,500km away in Franceville where second-placed Gabon were entertaining Burundi.

An Ivorian slip-up at the arena where they outwitted Nigeria to claim their third Africa Cup of Nations title in February 2024 would allow the Gabonese to progress to their first World Cup with a win.

Franck Kessié, who scored in Côte d’Ivoire’s 2-1 victory over Nigeria, eased the nerves of the partisans at the Alassane Outtara Stadium with a strike in the seventh minute.

Yan Diomande doubled the advantage in the 54th minute and Amand Diallo hit the third five minutes from time to make proceedings in Franceville irrelevant.

Two goals late in the match from Bryan Meyo Ngoua and Mario Lemina furnished Gabon with a win and a points haul of 25 in Group F to send them into a play-off with three of the other best runners-up.

The winners of that tournament will advance to a play-off with a team from another confederation for a slot at the World Cup.

Hosts’ zany triumph caps feral month at Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire

South Africa advance

Earlier on Tuesday, South Africa claimed a spot at the World Cup for the first time since hosting the tournament in 2010 with a 3-0 win over Rwanda in Mbombela.

The victory, coupled with Nigeria’s 4-0 romp over Group E pacesetters Benin, allowed Hugo Broos’ charges to claim supremacy with 18 points from their 10 matches. Nigeria were a point behind in second.

It’s wonderful,” Broos told South African broadcaster SABC after the victory as fireworks exploded around the stadium. “We all knew that we could do it. We believed in ourselves.

“You could see from the beginning that the players wanted to win that game.

“The only thing that could stop us was what was happening in Nigeria. Nigeria did what they had to do in case we lost but we did what we had to do. So we’re going to the World Cup. It’s fantastic.”

In 2016, 39 percent of French people were experiencing difficulties with cumbersome administrative procedures. By 2024, this had soared to 61 percent.

The survey found that 23 percent of public service users had given up something they had a right to in the last five years, due to the complexity of the procedures involved.

Respondents also reported they had given up their rights due to negative experience with the authorities, with 50 percent saying they have experienced discrimination from a public service.

Those struggling come from all social and educational backgrounds, and age groups – although while older people had previously reported  being the most comfortable in dealing with administration, this is no longer the case.

According to the Defender of Rights – France’s independent institution to ensure the protection of citizen rights, which conducted the survey – this is due to the digitisation of these procedures.

French government will use AI to modernise public services

Getting in touch

To overcome the difficulties users experience, the government has set up a network of service centres, named France Services, staffed by advisors who can help guide them through complex bureaucratic processes.

Serge arrived at a France Service centre in Boulogne-Billancourt, west of Paris, with a pile of documents. With the help of Alice, an advisor, he put together his pension application.

“Thank goodness she’s here!” he said. “They asked for additional information. There were some things I didn’t understand. I couldn’t do it on my own.”

‘It’s a fairly common request, so we give them the information. Then they do the rest themselves,’ Alice added.

Getting in touch with France’s administrative bodies to obtain the right information was the most common hurdle encountered by users, followed by difficulty making an appointment.

Serge didn’t even try to call his pension fund, feeling discouraged before he began.

“When you call, you get voicemail. It’s not easy to get through to them,” he explained.

There are more than 2,800 France Services locations across the country, with the aim that all French people should live within 20 minutes of one of the centres, and last year the government pledged to open 300 more by 2027.

Benefits bureaucracy estimated to save French state billions in unpaid welfare

Online access

In the office next door, Michel needs to renew his vehicle registration.

While he already had the access codes for the dedicated website, this is not always the case for users who come to Rémi Lafonpuyo, manager of this France Services centre.

He said: “To access online services, you need to have an account. This means that users need to be able to access their emails on their phones, because security codes are required. This already requires a minimum level of technical proficiency.”

He added that often he has to start by setting up an email account for people who don’t have one. Currently less than half of people in France say they are able to complete online procedures without any help.

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

A new group of migrants deported from the US arrived at Kotoka International Airport in Accra on Monday morning aboard a Boeing 767-200 from Baltimore, Ghanaian lawyer Oliver Barker-Vormawor told RFI.

The lawyer said he had not received details of numbers or nationalities.

Ghanaian authorities, contacted by RFI, have yet to respond.

So far, they have only confirmed the arrival of 14 West African nationals deported from the US since 10 September – when Accra and Washington officially signed a bilateral agreement whereby Ghana agreed to take in third-country nationals expelled from the US.

Barker-Vormawor said the latest group is at least the third to have been transferred to Ghana under the deal. He claims that another group of 14 migrants also arrived in the country last month.

Ghana accused of dumping West African migrants deported from US in Togo

Highly controversial agreement

On Monday, Barker-Vormawor filed a petition to the Supreme Court, asking it to declare the deal null and void on the basis of two legal issues.

The first concerns its lack of ratification by Parliament – a status which, according to the lawyer, means the executive is operating outside any constitutional authority.

While Ghanian authorities insist the text does not require parliamentary approval because it is not yet final, the lawyer contests that position. It is “not only wrong but also likely to undermine the constitutional framework governing the executive’s accountability in foreign affairs”, he told RFI.

“What the judiciary has made clear is that whatever name you give an agreement, if it is concluded with another state, it must be presented to Parliament for ratification before taking effect.”

The second problem is that the deal contradicts international treaties to which Ghana is a signatory. Under those commitments, Ghana cannot rely on the Ecowas principle of free movement of persons in order to transfer West African nationals without due process.

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The lawyer also argues that “the first individuals transferred to Ghana were granted protection from deportation [to third-party countries] on the grounds of a well-founded risk of torture if returned to their countries of origin”.

“Yet Ghana itself has signed the Convention against Torture. By sending these individuals back, Accra would be violating its international obligations.”

The lawyer’s firm filed a separate lawsuit last month against the Ghanaian government over the alleged unlawful detention of 11 migrants deported from the United States.

On 11 October, Taliban forces launched armed “reprisals” against Pakistani troops, accusing Islamabad of carrying out airstrikes inside Afghan territory.

Amid this climate of hostility, convoys of Afghan families continue to stream back across the border – many of them expelled from Pakistan, others from Iran – in a surge of forced returns that is raising alarm among aid workers and humanitarian agencies.

Their arrival at Spin Boldak, in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, takes place under chaotic conditions and these new arrivals often come without resources, back to a country they no longer know – or did not know at all – which is in the throes of a serious economic crisis.

The situation for women is the most critical, due to the restrictions imposed on them in Afghanistan: the need for a male family member to accompany them when they travel, the ban on attending school after the age of 12, and the difficulties they face in working independently.

Charity slams EU for ‘staggering neglect’ of Afghan refugees

‘I know nothing about this country’

Inside a waiting room reserved for women, Rabia sits between her two daughters, Habiba and Assia.

Speaking to RFI, she explained that her family had lived in Pakistan for 40 years. “We have relatives here, but no home, no money.”

“We are very worried. My husband is still over there. We don’t know anything about this country, we cannot read or write. We need help – we haven’t eaten for two days.”

Her husband is expected to follow later, bringing the family’s luggage.

Around an hour’s drive away, at the Anzargi transit camp, hundreds of returnees crowd into small rooms or wait in corridors for food and shelter.

Among them is 45-year-old Gul Ghoti, who fled Pakistan with her 10 children. Her eldest, an 11-year-old girl, had been attending school.

“In Pakistan, she was in Year 11. But here, I have no idea what we’re going to do, I can’t imagine. I know nothing about this country,” she told RFI.

Once they leave these centres, women will have to conform to Taliban-imposed dress codes and movement restrictions, enforced by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Most of them are unaware of this.

‘All they dream of is leaving’: the reality of life for women under the Taliban

Decades in exile

At the Spin Boldak crossing alone, some 20,000 people arrived in just a few days, according to local officials.

Among them was 75-year-old Rahmatullah, who has spent decades in exile. Speaking to RFI, he recalled his ordeal.

“I’m from Jawzjan province, in northern Afghanistan. I’d lived in Baluchistan, Pakistan, for 45 years. One morning, while I was praying at the mosque, the police arrested me. I tried to tell them I had a refugee card, but they said it didn’t matter. They kept me in a place like a prison all day, and that night I was driven here.”

Rahmatullah did not get the chance to say goodbye to his family. “My wife, my children – they’re all still in Pakistan,” he says. “I have no money, nothing at all. I need help. I don’t know what to do.”

Taliban celebrate US departure, promise tolerance and reconciliation

Limited aid

Taliban officials at Zero Point, the Spin Boldak border post, insist they are trying to help.

“Pakistan has been expelling Afghan refugees for years,” says Ali Mohammad Haqmal, one of the commanders on site. “When people arrive here, we try to give them some cash, talk to them, reassure them. We tell them they are our brothers.”

But humanitarian workers say this assistance is nowhere near enough.

“Most arrivals are malnourished,” Mohamed Sabir, a doctor with the Red Crescent, told RFI. “We only have a few basic medicines. There’s not much we can give them.”

After registering, many families are bussed to temporary camps before being dispersed across the country.

Since January, nearly 1.8 million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan. Afghanistan, still reeling from years of war, drought and sanctions, is struggling to absorb such numbers.

Economic opportunities are scarce, and international aid has dwindled since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.

As winter approaches, the prospects for these returnees – particularly women and children – look increasingly bleak.

Adapted from this report and this report by RFI’s special correspondent Margot Davier in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan.

The Mouvement associatif, which represents 700,000 French organisations, organised a protest on 11 October to deliver what it called “a wake-up call” to public authorities across France.

“We came to support each other because our activities are in danger,” said Florence Bouhmana, an employee of Solidarité Laïqu, an organisation that fights inequality and promotes access to education in France and abroad. “Ça ne tient plus –  everything is falling apart,” she told RFI.

The Mouvement associatif points out that associations are facing increasing needs and rising costs due to inflation, while receiving fewer resources from public authorities in the midst of a “budget crisis”.

Organisations working in international solidarity, including Solidarité Laïque, are also feeling the strain of partially frozen funding from the French Development Agency (AFD), the main public funder in this sector.

Funding cuts 

These difficulties were highlighted in a survey across nearly 5,000 associations, whichwas first published in spring 2025 and recently updated.

According to this survey, 30 percent of the 1.4 million associations reported having little or no cash flow. 

Following delays in some payments – due to the 2025 budget only being adopted in January – 58 percent reported a decrease in public funding, and 20 percent even mentioned complete cuts in subsidies from the state or local authorities. 

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“People have had enough,” said Lofti Ouanezar, CEO of Emmaüs Solidarité, lamenting the stagnant or declining resources despite growing hardship.  

“We’re seeing more and more people on the streets, but also new groups – more women, young people, and poor retirees. For example, in our daytime shelter at Châtelet, we’ve gone from 200 to 300 people a day, but with the same resources. Yet we are the last safety net: after us, it’s the street!” 

‘A dynamic sector’

The situation also impacts a dynamic economic sector that employs 1.8 million people – 11 percent of the salaried workforce.

One in three associations had to reduce their payroll in 2025, according to the same survey. Claire Thoury, director of the Mouvement associatif, stated during a press conference ahead of the protest that the number of liquidations and rescue plans had doubled since 2022. 

“We launched a redundancy plan just last week,” confirmed Marc Dixneuf, CEO of AIDES, an organisation that has been fighting HIV and hepatitis for 40 years. 

“Sixty-one jobs will be cut out of around 500, that’s 12 percent of our staff,” explains the director. This is due to “600,000 euros in subsidies from the Health Ministry cut overnight, changes in pricing for testing and health centers and effects of the Ségur healthcare reforms.”

In the middle of the crowd, Uriel Moulet walked around holding a sign that reads: “Do you have any questions?” The young woman works for CNAJEP, a coordinating body for youth and popular education organisations. 

“When I was younger, I didn’t realise that many of the things I had access to – summer camps, community and youth information centers – were tied to associations,” she explained. 

“Sports, culture, youth, popular education, international solidarity, social services, the environment… associations are everywhere,” she emphasizes. And “without them, society falls apart,” reads a placard.

“Associations carry out part of the work of public services through delegation,” explained Alexandra Cordobard, Socialist Party mayor of the 10th arrondissement of Paris, who came to support the protest. “So de-funding them also means abandoning those public policies.” 

Culture and sports sectors under pressure 

The cultural and sports sectors, representing 25 percent and 20 percent of all associations respectively, are particularly under pressure. 

A survey from May 2025 by the association of elected officials for sports (Andes) found that 43 percent of local governments cut their sports budgets this year.

Culture has been hit just as hard: almost half of local governments reduced their cultural budgets between 2024 and 2025, according to the Observatory of cultural policies (OPC).

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At the national level, things haven’t been better. The government froze part of the Pass Culture funding for six months, and the Pass’Sport program, which gave discounts on sports club memberships, hasn’t been available since September for kids aged 6 to 13.

Feminist organisations

Feminist organisations have also raised concerns. At the end of August, the Fondation des femmes (Women’s Foundation) warned of a “particularly critical” situation for associations supporting women victims of violence, at a time when demand continues to grow. A survey of 148 organisations found that over 70 percent reported worsening financial conditions in 2025.

“For years, feminist associations have been a lifeline for thousands of women experiencing violence. By cutting their funding, we’re closing that door – and leaving women to face their abusers. That’s a grave political failure, with consequences counted in human lives,” Anne-Cécile Mailfert, president of the foundation, said.

“When associations are attacked, it’s the most marginalised people who are being attacked,” added Sarah Durocher, president of Planning Familial, at the Mouvement Associatif’s press conference.

Like others, she criticised a growing climate of mistrust, exemplified by the “Republican Commitment Contract” (CER) introduced in 2021, which associations must sign to receive public funding or accreditation.

Some funding cuts are simply “political choices,” she argued. 

This is a view shared by Cordobard: “Now you also have to agree with the government to get support!” she warned, in reference to threatening statements made by former Interior minister Gérald Darmanin (in 2023) about funding for the Ligue des Droits de l’Homme (LDH). 

“We need the associations doing the work,” the mayor insisted. “In my arrondissement, food is distributed every night. If associations don’t do it, who will?” 

This story was adapted from RFI’s original version in French.

Half of the prize was awarded to Mokyr, a professor at Northwestern University in the United States and at the Eitan Berglas School of Economics at Tel Aviv University in Israel, for identifying the conditions needed for sustained growth through technological progress.

The other half went jointly to Aghion and Howitt for developing the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction.

Aghion teaches at the Collège de France and INSEAD in Paris, and at the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom. Howitt is a professor at Brown University in Providence, in the United States.

“Over the last two centuries, for the first time in history, the world has seen sustained economic growth. This has lifted vast numbers of people out of poverty and laid the foundation of our prosperity,” the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said on Monday, awarding the final Nobel prize of 2025.

The winners have also shown that economic progress cannot be taken for granted: “Economic stagnation, not growth, has been the norm for most of human history. Their work shows that we must be aware of, and counteract, threats to continued growth”.

Speaking by phone at the press conference, Aghion, called on Europe to keep the US and China from dominating technological innovation.

• Macron calls for UK-France AI alliance to catch up with US and China

“I think European countries have to realise that we should no longer let the US and China become technological leaders and lose to them,” Aghion told reporters by phone during a press conference in Stockholm announcing the winners.

He said the wealth gap had widened between the US and the eurozone since the 1980s.

“The big reason is that we failed to implement breakthrough, high-tech innovations,” he said, pointing to a lack of a financial ecosystem to support innovation.

“In Europe, in the name of competition policy, we became very anti any form of industrial policy,” he said.

“I think we need to evolve on that and find ways to reconcile industrial policy in areas like defense, climate, AI, biotech, where we are very good, we have very good research there.”

(with newswires)

Monday was the formal deadline for submitting the budget to the National Assembly. Under the Constitution, lawmakers have 70 days to examine and adopt it before 31 December.

Because of time pressure, the proposal is expected to be almost identical to the version sent to the High Council of Public Finances on 2 October.

That version already drew heavily on the previous plan by the previous prime minister François Bayrou but included fewer cuts.

Open for debate

While “not perfect”, the budget was “largely designed to allow for debate,” Lecornu said last week.

He indicated he could revise the deficit target to just under five percent of GDP, higher than the 4.7 percent planned earlier. But he insisted on keeping the long-term goal of cutting the deficit to 3 percent of GDP by 2029, in line with European Union rules.

Lecornu’s team faces pressure from Brussels and financial markets to show fiscal discipline after months of political instability in France.

However, an austerity budget remains deeply unpopular and leaves the government exposed to potential motions of censure.

The far-right National Rally filed a no-confidence motion on Monday, a day after Lecornu unveiled his new cabinet. The party said it would also back a motion from the hard-left France Unbowed, aiming to bring down the government and force new elections.

Reappointed French PM faces tight deadline to form government, negotiate budget

Spending cuts

Lecornu is counting on support from the Socialist Party to survive the vote. That could mean reopening talks on the pension reform that took effect in 2023, raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.

The reform remains highly controversial. Lecornu has said he is willing to discuss a suspension – a key Socialist demand.

He has also promised not to use Article 49.3 of the constitution, which allows a government to push a bill through without a vote. Instead, he says his focus will be on reducing the deficit by cutting public spending.

He has said that his priority for reducing the deficit will be on cutting public spending, including a €6 billion cut in the state’s operating costs and tighter control of both social welfare payouts and spending by local authorities.

In terms of revenue, Lecornu has ruled out the so-called “Zucman tax”, supported by the left, which would introduce a minimum 2 percent tax on the wealth of the 1,800 richest taxpayers.

Though acknowledging a need for greater tax justice, he proposed a new financial wealth tax, which would target family holding companies that are sometimes used to avoid taxation, and which could generate between 1 billion and 1.5 billion euros.

(with AFP)

The 70-year-old will be held at La Santé prison in Paris, sources close to the case told the French news agency AFP.

Sarkozy learned the details of his detention during a short meeting at the financial prosecutor’s office earlier in the day.

An AFP journalist saw him arrive in a car with tinted windows and leave about 45 minutes later without making any comment. He was later seen returning home.

Sarkozy denies wrongdoing and has appealed against his conviction. A new trial is expected in the coming months, but he must begin serving his sentence while the appeal is pending.

Macron slams ‘unacceptable’ threats to judge after Sarkozy court ruling

First postwar leader jailed

Sarkozy will be the first French postwar head of state – and the first former leader of a European Union country – to serve time behind bars.

Extra security measures are expected to protect him, with the former president likely to be placed either in a unit for vulnerable inmates or in solitary confinement.

Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012, was found guilty in late September of criminal conspiracy. Judges ruled that he and his aides sought campaign funds from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi for his successful 2007 presidential bid.

“The offences were of exceptional gravity,” said presiding judge Nathalie Gavarino in the ruling.

French ex-president Sarkozy stripped of Legion of Honour

Secret deal with Gaddafi

Prosecutors said Sarkozy’s team struck a secret deal with Gaddafi in 2005 to secure illegal financing. Investigators believe that in return, Gaddafi was promised help in restoring his international image after Libya was accused of involvement in deadly plane bombings over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 and over Niger in 1989.

The court found Sarkozy guilty of criminal conspiracy but cleared him of other charges, including embezzling Libyan public funds, passive corruption and illicit campaign financing.

Sarkozy has called the verdict “a scandal” and insists he never took money from Gaddafi’s regime.

Kadhafi’s son breaks silence on Sarkozy Libya funding

Third fraud conviction

It is the third time Sarkozy has been convicted on fraud-related charges. In 2021, France’s top court upheld his conviction and one-year sentence for trying to bribe a judge in 2014. He served part of that term under house arrest with an electronic tag.

He was also given a one-year jail term – six months in prison and six months suspended – for illegal financing of his 2012 re-election campaign. That case is under final appeal, with a ruling expected late next month.

Despite his legal troubles, Sarkozy remains influential on the French right and is known to keep in regular contact with President Emmanuel Macron.

“Peace becomes possible for Israel, for Gaza, and for the region,” Macron said on X as the first hostages were handed to the Red Cross.

He added that he shared “the joy of the families and of the Israeli people”.

Hamas released the hostages in two groups early on Monday – seven first, then 13 later in the morning.

The handover marks the start of the Gaza ceasefire plan negotiated with US, Egyptian, and Qatari mediation. As part of the deal, Israel has agreed to free nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas took 251 people hostage during its attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. Many were freed during earlier truces, but 47 remained in Gaza, only 20 of whom were still alive.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the release was “a major diplomatic success and a crucial step towards peace”.

“The release of hostages is a major diplomatic success and a crucial step towards peace. President Trump made this breakthrough possible,” she said on X.

Peace summit

Macron’s comments came as he arrived in Sharm El-Sheikh for a peace summit on Gaza co-chaired by Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

More than 20 world leaders are expected to attend, along with UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Macron said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would also take part. Neither Hamas nor Israel will be represented.

Meanwhile, Kallas announced that the European Union will restart its monitoring mission at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Wednesday.

The European Union Border Assistance Mission, which includes French, Italian and Spanish police forces, aims to ensure a neutral presence at the strategic crossing point.

The mission had been redeployed in January before being suspended again in March.

(with newswires)

Dailon Rocha Livramento got the opener for the hosts just after the pause and Willy Semedo doubled the advantage in the 55th minute to the delight of the 15,000 partisans.

Just over 4,000km away at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon, the only danger to the mounting delirium, were labouring 0-0 against Angola.

In the prelude to the match, Cape Verde coach Bubista described the game as the most important match in the country’s history and urged his players to seize their chance for history.

Once ahead, they maintained their control and structure to squeeze the life out of the pool makeweights.

And a composed performance was rewarded in stoppage-time when Stopira added the third.

“Giving this happiness to these people is enormous,” said Bubista. “It’s a victory for all the Cape Verdean people and, above all, a victory for those who fought for our independence.

“It’s a special moment in this celebration of the 50th anniversary of our independence.”

The goalkeeper Vozinha added: “We knew we could do better in the second-half and we did.

“I have been dreaming of this moment since I was a child. It’s time to celebrate.”

Cape Verde’s history men face South Africa for place in semis at Cup of Nations

World Cup feat

Cape Verde –  a nation of just under 600,000 people – will be the second smallest country after Iceland to send a team to the World Cup since its inception in 1930.

When Iceland featured in Russia in 2018, 32 sides battled for primacy. In 2026 in Mexico, the United States and Canada, 48 sides will fight for the crown.

The expanded version will increase the number of teams from Africa from five to nine. A tenth could participate  if they navigate intercontinental play-offs next March.

That route will be of little concern to Cape Verde who claimed Group D with 23 points from their 10 games.

The Blue Sharks – as they are nicknamed – started the road to glory inauspiciously with four points from their first three games against Angola, Eswatini and Cameroon.

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

Bounce back

But after the 4-1 defeat to Cameroon in Yaounde, Cape Verde won five consecutive qualifiers, including crucial one-goal victories away to Angola and at home to Cameroon.

That left the islanders needing three points from their final two qualifiers. They notched up one in a drama-filled 3-3 draw in Libya before Monday night’s gala against Eswatini.

The qualification for the World Cup will serve as redemption for Bubista who botched the campaign to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

Despite that failure, Cape Verdean football chiefs retained him and the former defender has repaid their faith.

Cameroon, one of the traditional powerhouses of African football, finished second on 19 points and could be in contention for a place in the play-offs as one of the four best runners-up.

Road to 2026: Morocco maintain surge as Nigeria slip up

Benin’s turn?

On Tuesday night, Benin will attempt to emulate Cape Verde. 

Gernot Rohr’s squad lead Group C. They are two points ahead of South Africa and three in front of Nigeria whom they face in Uyo.

“We still have to do something great against Nigeria,” said Rohr who steered the Nigeria side through the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“All is possible for South Africa, Nigeria and us,” added the 72-year-old German who took over in Benin in 2023.

“We have our destiny in our hands. This can be a little advantage. We will see.”

In other African qualifying groups on Tuesday, Group B pacesetters Senegal entertain Mauritania. Victory will assure Pape Bouna Thiaw’s side of passage to a second successive World Cup.

Democratic Republic of Congo will advance if they beat Sudan and Senegal lose their match. 

It is the first time scientists have declared that Earth has likely reached a so-called “tipping point” – a shift that could trigger massive and often permanent changes in the natural world.

“Sadly, we’re now almost certain that we crossed one of those tipping points for warm water or tropical coral reefs,” report lead Tim Lenton, a climate and Earth system scientist at the University of Exeter, told AFP.

This conclusion was supported by real-world observations of “unprecedented” coral death across tropical reefs since the first comprehensive assessment of tipping points science was published in 2023, the authors said.

In the intervening years, ocean temperatures have soared to historic highs, and the biggest and most intense coral bleaching episode ever witnessed has spread to more than 80 percent of the world’s reefs.

Understanding of tipping points has improved since the last report, its authors said, allowing for greater confidence in estimating when one might spark a domino effect of catastrophic and often irreversible disasters.

Scientists now believe that even at lower levels of global warming than previously thought, the Amazon rainforest could tip into an unrecognisable state, and ice sheets from Greenland to West Antarctica could collapse.

Indigenous knowledge steers new protections for the high seas

‘Unprecedented dieback’

For coral reefs, profound and lasting changes are already in motion.

“Already at 1.4C of global warming, warm water coral reefs are crossing their thermal tipping point and experiencing unprecedented dieback,” said the report by 160 scientists from dozens of global research institutions.

The global scientific consensus is that most coral reefs would perish at warming of 1.5C above preindustrial levels – a threshold just years away.

When stressed in hotter ocean waters, corals expel the microscopic algae that provides their distinct colour and food source.

Unless ocean temperatures return to more tolerable levels, bleached corals simply cannot recover and eventually die of starvation.

Since 2023, marine scientists have reported coral mortality on a scale never seen before, with reefs turning ghostly white across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans.

“I am afraid their response confirms that we can no longer talk about tipping points as a future risk,” Lenton told reporters.

Rather than disappear completely, scientists say reefs will evolve into less diverse ecosystems as they are overtaken by algae, sponges and other simpler organisms better able to withstand hotter oceans.

These species would come to dominate this new underwater world and over time, the dead coral skeletons beneath would erode into rubble.

Such a shift would be disastrous for the hundreds of millions of people whose livelihoods are tied to coral reefs, and the estimated one million species that depend on them.

Earth fails another critical health check, but scientists say it’s not too late

‘Danger zone’

Some heat-resistant strains of coral may endure longer than others, the authors said, but ultimately the only response is to stop adding more planet-warming greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Exceeding 1.5C “puts the world in a greater danger zone of escalating risk of further damaging tipping points”, Lenton said, including the collapse of vital ocean currents that could have “catastrophic” knock-on impacts.

Scientists also warned that tipping points in the Amazon were closer than previously thought, and “widespread dieback” and large-scale forest degradation was a risk even below 2C of global warming.

That finding will be keenly felt by Brazil, which on Monday is hosting climate ministers in Brasilia ahead of next month’s UN COP30 conference in Belem on the edge of the Amazon.

In good news – the exponential uptake of solar power and electric vehicles were two examples of “positive” tipping points where momentum can accelerate for the better, said Lenton.

“It gives us agency back, policymakers included, to make some tangible difference, where sometimes the output from our actions is sometimes disproportionately good,” he told AFP.

At Buffet Crampon’s large workshop near Paris, 15,000 clarinets are produced each year. The majority are exported to the United States – “around 30 percent of our production,” Jérôme Perrod, president of this 200-year-old company, told RFI. 

But since the implementation of US tariffs on 7 August, things have changed.

“We’re already seeing a decline in the market due to price increases. Stores are being very cautious and don’t want to renew their stock, because they fear that musicians will buy fewer instruments,” said Perrod.

The US market for wind instruments is shrinking because prices have gone up due to tariffs set by Donald Trump’s administration. According to Perrod, prices have increased by 10 to 15 percent.

US competition

Jakez François, CEO of Camac Harps, a pioneering French harp maker, shares the same concerns. The American market makes up a quarter of the company’s exports. 

“These tariffs caused our prices to jump overnight,” François explained. “And they come on top of the weak dollar against the euro. Combined, this has led to a 22 percent increase in our prices in the United States.”

On 15 September, Camac faced a setback that had long been feared. “We had a shipping container with about 15 harps ready to go,” said François. “Our main distributor cancelled more than half the order. We’re now in the exact situation we were worried about.”

It’s a significant blow, especially given that Camac’s main global competitor is based in the United States. “This puts us in a much tougher position against that competitor,” François added. 

Trump’s tariffs come into force, upending economic ties with Europe

Buffet Crampon, however, is almost in a monopoly position on the wind instrument market. Because of this, Perrod says he doesn’t understand the relevance behind these tariffs.

“We have no competitors in the United States, so no one is going to benefit from these American taxes.”

Impact on education

The customs duties agreed between the EU and the Trump administration appear to be a lose-lose deal. 

This is especially concerning since wind instruments have long been an important part of musical education and culture in the US. 

“There is a very strong tradition of instrumental practice in the United States, particularly in orchestras, starting in school. Half of all children between 9 and 12 years old choose to play a wind instrument, which inevitably leads to a career in music for some of them,” says Perrod.  

In the long term, this tradition could suffer the consequences of these tariffs, explains Coraline Baroux-Desvignes, general delegate of the Chambre Syndicale de la Facture Instrumentale (CSFI), the union which represents around 60 companies in the sector.

“Some musicians may delay purchasing musical instruments until the situation improves, which could have an impact on the quality of musical productions,” she said.

The price increase also impacts instruments made for students, which are more affordable.

“This could discourage young musicians from starting regular practice of an instrument,” added Baroux-Desvignes, who fears the consequences for “several generations of musicians”.

Partial unemployment

French instrument makers are now exploring new markets. The president of Camac Harps said he is working to grow the company’s presence in parts of Asia, particularly China, Hong Kong and Singapore. 

Buffet Crampon is thinking about doing the same. “But these new opportunities will probably not compensate for the decline in export volumes to the United States,” said Perrod, as the US market buys half of all musical instruments made worldwide.

François says his company can manage for now, but Perrod has had to put some workers on partial unemployment to cut back on activity. 

EU winemakers left exposed after missing US tariff exemption

“It breaks our hearts to see the workshops empty on some Fridays,” he said.

According to him, this is the best option available. “It would take us years to re-train workers and get back to the quality we have today. Partial unemployment lets us keep our staff and when business picks up again, bring them back like before.” 

Perrod doesn’t believe the tariffs will be lifted anytime soon, but still hopes for an exemption from US taxes on wind instruments. 

The US Supreme Court is due to rule in early November on whether the tariffs imposed by Trump on US trade partners are legal.

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

The Entry/Exit System (EES) requires all non-EU citizens to register their personal details, including fingerprints and facial images, when they first enter the Schengen area – which comprises all EU nations, apart from Ireland and Cyprus, plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

The new electronic system removes the requirement to manually stamp passports at the EU’s external border and instead creates digital records that link a travel document to a person’s identity using biometrics.

It will be applied on arrival at airports, ports, train terminals and road border crossings in the Schengen area.

As the Schengen Agreement turns 40, how free is movement around Europe today?

Children under 12 need to be registered under the EES, but will only have their photograph taken. Travellers do not have to pay for EES.

Non-EU citizens with residence permits or long-stay visas for EU countries will be exempt from using the EES as will Irish and Cypriot travellers, despite their countries not implementing the system.

“This is a significant step towards a more secure and efficient border management system for the EU,” said EU spokesman Markus Lammert.

The EU says the system is intended to prevent illegal migration, combat identity fraud and identify overstayers.

Gradual rollout

Hotly debated for almost a decade, the system has raised concerns among transport providers and passengers, who fear it could lead to longer queues at airports and train stations.

To limit disruption, there will be a phased rollout. Data collection will be gradually introduced at border crossings from Sunday, with full implementation by 10 April, 2026.

The bloc’s biggest countries, including France and Germany, have said they will carry out only a handful of checks in a bid to avoid huge queues at airports.

EU countries tighten border checks amid security and migration fears

UK travellers

British nationals – no longer EU citizens, following Brexit – will be subject to the new rules.

UK authorities have already advised travellers to allow extra time when crossing into the Schengen zone, particularly at high-traffic ports such as Dover and train stations such as London St Pancras.

Transport providers including Eurostar and Getlink, which operates the Channel Tunnel, say they are ready for the rollout. But the UK’s Road Haulage Association has warned of potential delays during peak travel periods.

Passenger vehicle checks will commence in November at Dover, and by the end of the year at the Eurotunnel. Eurostar has said it will gradually introduce the new border procedures.

France reinstates border checks as immigration policies tighten

Online travel authorisation

The next phase in the EU’s border overhaul will be the launch of an electronic travel authorisation document – known by its acronym ETIAS – similar to the United States’ ESTA or its UK equivalent ETA.

Non-Schengen area citizens will need to apply for an ETIAS authorisation, provide personal information and details about their trip and pay a €20 fee before they travel. This authorisation will be valid for three years or until a passport expires, whichever comes first.

Since April, European visitors to the UK have had to purchase an electronic permit in advance.

(with newswires)

The presidential campaign officially began on Friday 10 October.

President Alassane Ouattara has led the country since April 2011, and is seeking a fourth term. 

He managed to establish himself as a heavyweight in Ivorian politics over the past thirty years, and is credited with keeping Côte d’Ivoire prosperous and economically dynamic. But Ouattara’s Côte d’Ivoire is also seen as “France’s last bastion”.

Now 83, he can run after changing the constitution in 2016 to remove presidential term limits, which has angered most of the opposition in Côte d’Ivoire.

Four candidates are standing against the incumbent president, the only ones having been ruled eligible by the country’s constitutional court: former ministers Jean-Louis Billon, Ahoua Don Mello and Henriette Lagou, and Simone Gbagbo, ex-wife of president Laurent Gbagbo and therefore a former first lady.

But neither of the main opposition parties – PDCI and PPA-CI – have been able to secure a candidate, as the court disqualified many, including former president Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam, a businessman and former minister of development.

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

The election campaign will end on 23 October, two days before voting begins.

Provisional results will be published at the national level by the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) between Sunday 26 October and Thursday 30 October 2025.

To be elected in the first round, a candidate must obtain an absolute majority of the votes cast. If none does, a second round of the presidential election could take place on Saturday 29 November.

Our guest this week is Paul Melly, researcher on West Africa and consulting fellow with the Chatham House think tank in London, UK.

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

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

Erdogan said this week that Turkey would work with the United States on civil nuclear energy, in a new signal to Washington that Ankara is looking west for its energy needs.

Turkish companies last month signed a 20-year, multibillion-dollar deal with American firms to buy liquefied natural gas.

The agreement came during Erdogan’s visit to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump in late September. During that meeting, Trump urged Erdogan to reduce ties with Moscow and end Turkey’s reliance on Russian oil and gas.

“In a sense, he [Trump] is offering a grand bargain to Erdogan,” said Asli Aydintasbas of the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

She summed up the deal: “Stop the hedging, stop the stuff with Russia, stop the geopolitical balancing, and then let’s re-establish the partnership, and then we can move along and can really become key partners in the region.”

Turkey walks a tightrope as Trump threatens sanctions over Russian trade

Economic pressure

Trump often praises Erdogan as a “friend”, but the US leader has shown he is willing to use economic pressure. During his first term, he triggered a collapse in the Turkish lira over the jailing of an American pastor.

He could again target Ankara with secondary sanctions if Turkey keeps importing Russian energy.

Russian fossil fuels still provide nearly half of Turkey’s total energy. Zaur Gasimov, a Russian-Turkish expert with the German Academic Exchange Service, said Europe’s experience shows how costly a sudden break with Moscow could be.

“It was the case with some Western European countries in 2022 that caused an augmentation of the prices,” said Gasimov. “And the Turkish economy is struggling with inflation that would immediately and heavily affect the life of the average citizen. No party power in Turkey would take such a decision.”

Ankara has ruled out ending its Russian energy contracts, but oil imports from Russia have fallen to their lowest levels in a year.

Some gas deals, signed decades ago, are due for renewal. Analysts say Turkey may use that moment to slowly cut its dependence on Moscow – a move that would deal a serious blow to Russia, which now relies on Turkey as its last major European gas customer.

Druzhba pipeline: dependence, diplomacy and the end of Russian leverage in Europe

Strategic balancing

Energy trade has long been at the heart of Erdogan’s personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The partnership has survived the war in Ukraine, despite the fact Turkey also supplies arms and support to Kyiv.

Turkey’s balancing act helps keep regional rivalries under control, said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, who heads the Marshall Fund office in Ankara.

“Turkey and Russia have been fighting proxy wars in the Caucasus, in North Africa, in the Levant,” he said. “Turkey is getting the upper hand in the end. But Turkey could still manage its relationship with Russia.”

Unluhisarcikli added that Ankara would want guarantees from the West before distancing itself from Moscow, since “it would have security implications on Turkey”.

Turkey would have to be “certain” that it would be welcomed back to Europe and have assurances from the United States, he suggested.

Erdogan spoke with Putin by phone this week, though such contacts have reportedly become less frequent as their once-close relationship cools.

Ankara remains aware of the risks: when Turkey accidentally shot down a Russian bomber near the Syrian border in 2015, Putin responded with sanctions that hit Turkish exports and tourism, and several Turkish soldiers in Syria were later killed in what Moscow called an accident.

Turkey eyes Ukraine peacekeeping role but mistrust clouds Western ties

Declining leverage

With Russia weakened by sanctions and isolation over its war in Ukraine, analysts say its influence on Turkey is diminishing.

“It is the window to Europe. It is a way to the outside world,” Gasimov says. “The number of flights to Turkey is getting bigger and bigger.

“For Russia, Turkey remains a very, very important partnership. So the leverage Moscow once possessed over Ankara is getting less and less.”

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 24 July, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would formally recognize a State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly, which was in September.

Following Macron’s announcement, there was a two-day conference at the UN Headquarters in New York. Co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, ministers from across the world discussed fostering the Israeli and Palestinian states living peacefully side-by-side.

You were to re-read our article: “UN gathers to advance two-state solution to Israel-Palestine conflict”, and send in the answer to this question: Aside from recognizing Palestinian statehood, what other three issues were discussed at the conference?

The answer is, to quote our article: “Beyond facilitating conditions for the recognition of a Palestinian state, the meeting will focus on three other issues – reform of the Palestinian Authority, disarmament of Hamas and its exclusion from Palestinian public life, and normalisation of relations with Israel by Arab states.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by Rafiq Khondaker, the president of the Source of Knowledge Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh. Rafiq’s question was: “What is your favorite historical site in your country? Why?”

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

The winners are: Fatematuj Zahra, the co-secretary of the Shetu RFI Listeners Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh. Fatematuj is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations on your double win, Fatematuj.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Naved Raiyan, the president of the RFI Fan Club in Murshidibad, India, along with a fellow Murshidabadite, Asif Ahemmed, a member of the RFI International DX Radio Listeners Club. There are RFI Listeners Club members Rodrigo Hunrichse from Ciudad de Concepción in Chile, and last but not least, RFI English listener Miss Kausar, a member of the International Radio Fan and Youth Club in Khānewāl, Pakistan.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Ständchen” by Franz Schubert, arranged by Franz Liszt and performed by Vladimir Viardo; the traditional “Longa Alla”, performed by the Ensemble musical de Palestine; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and the selections from the anonymous L’amour de moy, performed by Doulce Mémoire conducted by recorder player Denis Raisin Dadre with singer Jean François-Olivier.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read our article about the winner, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 3 November to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 8 November podcast. When you enter, be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

Click here to 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. 

As French politicians remain deeply divided over how to address the country’s growing deficit, one measure appears to unite public opinion across the political spectrum: the Zucman tax. Devised by 38-year-old economist Gabriel Zucman, the idea is to add a two percent tax on the ultra-rich, who often use holding companies to shield their wealth from income taxes. While the left sees it as fiscal justice, many on the right are concerned about additional taxes in a country that already has a lot, and maintain taxing the wealthiest will drive them abroad. (Listen @2′)

Ali Akbar left his native Pakistan aged 18, looking to make enough money to buy his mother a decent home. Since arriving in France in 1973, he’s managed to do just that – selling newspapers like Le Monde on the streets of Paris’s Left Bank district. A popular figure in the neighbourhood, Akbar – the capital’s last remaining hawker – was recently selected for the National Order of Merit by President Emmanuel Macron, a former customer. He talks about loving his work, the collapse of the newspaper culture and how recognition by France will help to “heal” the injuries of his past. (Listen @18’30”)

France abolished the death penalty on 9 October 1981. Forty-four years later, the justice minister who fought to change the law, Robert Badinter, is entering the Pantheon, the monument dedicated to French heroes. (Listen @11′)

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).

After a 13-year break, Turkish and Egyptian warships last week carried out a major naval drill in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The exercise is the latest step in repairing ties after years of tension that began when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Mohamed Morsi, a close ally of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“It marks the consolidation of the improvement in relations,” said Serhat Guvenc, professor of international relations at Kadir Has University in Istanbul, adding the drill sent “a powerful message to Israel of a new alignment”.

Guvenc said naval drills in the eastern Mediterranean have typically involved Cyprus, Greece and Israel, but this time Egypt broke with those countries, signalling it was no longer part of the anti-Turkey camp in the region.

Erdogan’s Washington visit exposes limits of his rapport with Trump

Shift in alliances

The Turkish-Egyptian exercise follows years in which Cairo built strong ties with Ankara’s rivals in the region. The shift has not gone unnoticed in Israel.

“Definitely, this is a major event that Turkey and Egypt have conducted a naval exercise after so many years,” said Gallia Lindenstrauss, an Israeli foreign policy specialist at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

The joint drill comes as Ankara has expanded and modernised its navy in recent years. Lindenstrauss said this has unsettled some of Turkey’s neighbours, giving Israel common ground with Greece and Cyprus.

“Some of them also have quite big disputes with Turkey, such as Cyprus and Greece,” she said. “Greece and Cyprus relations with Israel have been developing since 2010. We’ve seen a lot of military drills together. We saw weapons procurements between the three actors, and this has been going on for some time. So Israel is not alone.”

Turkey has long-standing territorial disputes with Greece and the Greek Cypriot government in the Aegean and the Mediterranean.

Guvenc said Israel has gained the upper hand over Turkey in their rivalry centred on Cyprus.

“The Greek Cypriots acquired a very important air defence system from Israel and activated it. They made life far more difficult for the Turkish military, in particular for the Turkish Air Force,” he said.

“This gives you an idea about the shifting balance of power in the Eastern Mediterranean as a result of Israel taking sides with Cyprus and Greece.”

Macron and Erdogan find fragile common ground amid battle for influence

Tensions over Gaza

Despite those rivalries, Turkey and Egypt are finding common ground in their opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza and in wider concerns over Israel’s growing regional power.

In September, Sisi reportedly called Israel an enemy.

“There is competition over who is the most dominant and important actor in the Middle East, in the Muslim world in general,” said Lindenstrauss.

“I really can’t imagine a unified Turkish and Egyptian action against Israel. I can imagine them cooperating to pressure Israel to change its position, which is what is happening now.”

Cairo and Ankara remain at odds over Libya, where they back rival governments. But analysts warn that the fallout from the Gaza conflict is increasingly shaping the region’s power calculations.

Guvenc said the outcome of peace efforts could determine the future balance in the Mediterranean.

“We see an alignment of Greece, Greek Cypriots and Israel. But once the Gaza issue is tackled, from an Israeli perspective, Turkey is strategically more important than these two countries,” he said.

“But if the strategic makeup of the region may not secure a solution, we may see deterioration in the general situation. Then outside actors will be invited by one side or the other, such as Russia, China or even India, to further complicate the issue.”

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 26 July, I asked you a question about Paul Myers’ article “Petition seeking repeal of new French farming law passes one million signatures”.

It was about the Duplomb law, which was passed by the French parliament on 8 July. The law would allow the pesticide acetamiprid to be used, after a ban since 2018. French farmers protested the ban because it is allowed at the European level; they say it puts them at a disadvantage with their European counterparts.

But two weeks after the bill passed, Eléonore Pattery, a young student from Bordeaux, launched a petition calling for a recall.

And that was your question: you were to write in with the number of signatures on that petition as of 20 July, and also how many signatures French law requires before the lower house of Parliament, the Assemblée Nationale, has the right to hold a public debate on the contents of the petition.

The answer is, to quote Paul’s article: “Late on Sunday, the 20th of July, the number of signatures had risen to 1,159,000.

Under French rules, once a petition crosses that threshold and has verified signatures from throughout the country, the Assemblée Nationale has the right to hold a public debate on the contents of the petition.

The regulations also state that even if a petition gathers 500,000 names, it does not mean that the legislation will be reviewed or repealed.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by RFI Listeners Club member Jocelyne D’Errico from New Zealand. She wanted to know how you feel and what you think about soulmates.

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

The winners are: RFI English listener Kalyani Basak from West Bengal, India. Kalyani is also the winner of this week’s bonus quiz. Congratulations, Kalyani, on your double win.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Akbar Waseem, a member of the RFI Seven Stars Listeners Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan; RFI Listeners Club member Rasel Sikder from Madaripur, Bangladesh, and RFI English listeners Sadman Shihab Khondaker from Naogaon and Momo Jahan Moumita, the co-secretary of the Sonali Badhan Female Listeners Club in Bogura, both in Bangladesh.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: España by Emmanuel Chabrier, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ataúlfo Argenta; “Hoe-Down” from the ballet Rodeo by Aaron Copland, performed by the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer; “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, and “Mama Used to Say” by Junior Giscomb and Bob Carter, sung by Junior Giscomb.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read our article “Moldova’s pro-EU ruling party wins majority in parliamentary elections“, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 27 October to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 4 November podcast. When you enter, be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

Click here to 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. 

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.