President Ilham Aliyev announced the change during a visit to Kazakhstan, pointing to a shipment of Kazakh grain travelling through Azerbaijan to Armenia – the first such transit since cargo limits were imposed in the late Soviet era.

“It’s not a huge game changer in terms of Armenia’s ability to import and export,” said Joshua Kucera, a Caucasus analyst with the International Crisis Group (ICG).

But he added that the move was symbolically important, showing Azerbaijan was “willing to do things that they haven’t been willing to do before”.

Armenians caught between hope and distrust after accord with Azerbaijan

The lifting of cargo restrictions follows a series of agreements signed in Washington on 8 August between Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

These agreements are aimed at ending decades of hostility centred on the Nagorno-Karabakh region – a mountainous territory internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but historically inhabited primarily by ethnic Armenians.

The accords – and a 17-point peace deal that is yet to be officially signed and ratified – envisage the opening of transport routes to enhance trade, connectivity and mutual trust between the two countries, as well as the cessation of conflict.

The restoration of trade transits through Azerbaijani territory effectively reconnects Armenia to regional markets, following years of isolation due to prior hostilities and blockades.

Armenian constitution

However, significant hurdles remain. The biggest sticking point, according to Kucera, could be language used in the Armenian constitution which stipulates reunification between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Both sides now [effectively] acknowledge that this is Azerbaijani territory,” he said.

Azerbaijan thus views this as an unacceptable “territorial claim” in Armenia’s constitution, which stands in the way of a final peace agreement.

Armenia is now proposing a referendum on the constitution, to take place in 2027.

But according to Kucera, many Armenians perceive this as “bullying” from Azerbaijan.

“They don’t think it’s a legitimate demand from Azerbaijan. And so nobody knows if this referendum is going to pass.”

He added that many Armenians may simply boycott it. “If the referendum fails, the peace process will get a big hit.”

Spectre of 1915 Armenian genocide looms over Nagorno-Karabakh

Regional peacemaker

Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump claims that agreements between the two countries will be cemented by the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (Tripp).

This transport corridor through southern Armenia would link Azerbaijan to its exclave Nakhchivan, bypassing Iran and cutting transit times significantly.

Azerbaijan flexes its muscles amid rising tensions with Russia

With this initiative, the White House appears to be assuming the regional peacekeeper role that was traditionally Moscow’s, but Kucera is sceptical about a lasting US role in the area.

“Traditionally, the Caucasus has not been a very high priority of the US,” he told RFI. “Long before Donald Trump, you [had] an occasional attempt to get involved. [But] the attention never lasts for very long.”

He added: “I don’t think you can expect that this Russian absence from the Caucasus is going to last forever.”

The report, released on Wednesday, looked at four widely used AI assistants: OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s Gemini and Perplexity.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) conducted the study in partnership with British public service broadcaster the BBC, building on the results of an earlier BBC in-house study.

Between late May and early June, 22 public service media outlets from 18 countries posed the same 30 news-related questions to the free versions of the four AI assistants.

Journalists working in the participant media organisations – including Radio France, Germany’s Deutsche Welle and NPR in the United States – were asked to check and rate the answers provided by the AI asisstants.

The five criteria used to evaluate the responses were accuracy, sourcing, distinguishing opinion from fact, editorialisation and context.

Overall, 45 percent of all AI answers had “at least one significant issue”, regardless of language or country of origin, the report said.

Hallucinated details

One out of every five answers “contained major accuracy issues, including hallucinated details and outdated information”, it found.

Common mistakes included confusing real news with parody, getting dates wrong or simply inventing events.

Sourcing – missing, misleading, or incorrect attributions – was the biggest cause of problems, at 31 percent, the report found. This was followed by accuracy, which caused 20 percent of the problems, and providing sufficient context, at 14 percent.

Of the four assistants, “Gemini performed worst with significant issues in 76 percent of responses, more than double the other assistants, largely due to its poor sourcing performance”, the report said.

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

In one example, Radio France asked Gemini about Elon Musk’s alleged Nazi salute at United States President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.

Gemini responded that the billionaire had “an erection in his right arm”, having apparently taken a satirical radio programme by a comedian at face value.

Gemini gave Radio France and Wikipedia as sources for this information, but did not provide links to the content mentioned.

“The chatbot therefore conveys false information using the name of Radio France, without mentioning that this information comes from a humorous source,” the Radio France evaluator wrote.

Outdated information was another of the most common issues in the 3,000 responses.

When asked “Who is the Pope?” ChatGPT told Finnish public broadcaster YLE that it was “Francis”, as did Copilot and Gemini when asked by Dutch media outlets NOS and NPO, even though by this time Pope Francis had died and been replaced by Leo XIV.

‘Endangering public trust’

Fast-moving news stories proved to be particular stumbling blocks for the AI assistants, as did direct quotes, which were found to sometimes have been made up or modified.

“Like all the summaries, the AI fails to answer the question with a simple and accurate ‘we don’t know’. It tries to fill the gap with explanation rather than doing what a good journalist would do, which is explain the limits of what we know to be true,” one BBC evaluator said, when referring to a question for Gemini.

AI chatbots and TikTok reshape how young people get their daily news

For Jean Philip De Tender, deputy director general at the EBU: “AI assistants are still not a reliable way to access and consume news.”

He added: “This research conclusively shows that these failings are not isolated incidents. They are systemic, cross-border and multilingual, and we believe this endangers public trust. When people don’t know what to trust, they end up trusting nothing at all, and that can deter democratic participation.”

AI assistants are increasingly being used to search for information, particularly by young people. According to a global report published in June by the Reuters Institute, 15 percent of people under 25 use them every week to get news summaries.

(with AFP)

Eurostar is investing 2 billion euros in up to 50 new electric double-decker trains built by French manufacturer Alstom. The international high-speed company is aiming to grow its annual passenger count to 30 million by the early 2030s – a 50 percent increase from current levels.

This major investment comes as Eurostar faces rising competition on the cross-Channel route linking the UK and France, potentially ending its three-decade monopoly on passenger rail services.

Operators including Italy’s Trenitalia, the UK’s Virgin Group, Spain’s Evolyn, and Dutch startup Heuro have all expressed interest in launching services through the Channel Tunnel.

Eurostar named Europe’s worst rail service while Italy’s Trenitalia leads the way

Double-decker trains

Eurostar CEO Gwendoline Cazenave described the Alstom deal as a “milestone order” that brings the company’s ambitious growth plans to life.

“We’re particularly proud to introduce double-decker trains to the UK for the first time,” Cazenave said in a statement.

Alstom confirmed an initial €1.4 billion order for 30 Avelia Horizon trains, with an option for 20 more. Deliveries are expected to be completed by the mid-2030s.

Cazenave told French news agency AFP that Alstom was chosen partly because of its ability to deliver quickly, due to an existing partnership with Eurostar’s majority shareholder, French rail operator SNCF.

The new trains – to be named Eurostar Celestia – will offer a 20 percent increase in seat capacity compared to the current fleet.

Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge said the Avelia Horizon “embodies our vision of sustainable and competitive European mobility” and is built to handle the demands of high-speed international travel.

More seats, new routes

It is expected that each 200-metre train will have around 540 seats, while two can be joined to double the capacity, as happens with the current Eurostar fleet.

The new fleet is scheduled to enter service in 2031, gradually replacing most of Eurostar’s existing trains.

The rollout will also support the company’s planned expansion to new routes, including direct services from London to Geneva and Frankfurt.

These new destinations will add to Eurostar’s existing network connecting London with Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, and other European cities. On the flagship London-Paris route alone, Eurostar hopes to grow annual passenger numbers from 8 to 10 million by 2030.

The Channel Tunnel, from pipe dream to European reality

Meanwhile, Virgin Group founded by Richard Branson is planning to launch its own high-speed rail service through the Channel Tunnel by 2029.

Britain’s rail regulator earlier this year ruled that Eurostar’s London maintenance depot, Temple Mills, could be made available to other operators.

Eurostar said it plans to maintain its new fleet at the depot, which would be developed to accommodate the new trains at a cost of around 80 million euros while creating some 350 jobs.

(with AFP)

Diagne, the founder of the Avenir Communication media group – which publishes the daily Le Quotidien – was stopped by French police on Tuesday morning as he returned home to Le Pecq, in the Yvelines area southwest of Paris.

One of his lawyers, Vincent Brengarth, told RFI that “Diagne was arrested by police acting on an international warrant and then referred to the Versailles public prosecutor’s office”.

He was later released and placed under judicial control. That means he must stay in France, hand over his passport and check in regularly with the police while French authorities examine Senegal’s extradition request.

A communiqué signed by his team of eleven lawyers said the judge took into account that Diagne “is a public figure, a well-known journalist and owner of a press group”.

Financial crisis in privately owned media puts Senegal’s press freedom at risk

Suspect transactions

The 62-year-old editorialist, known for his criticism of Senegal’s government, is wanted under a warrant issued in September after he ignored an order not to leave the country.

The warrant is linked to an investigation into alleged suspect financial transactions, including a supposed kickback scheme worth over €32 million.

The case stems from a report by Senegal’s National Financial Intelligence Processing Unit (Centif), which flagged transfers between the accounts of a real estate company founded by Diagne and those of Ellipse Projects, a French construction firm specialising in hospital projects across Africa.

Ellipse had been awarded major contracts in Senegal’s health and justice sectors under the presidency of Macky Sall.

The investigation in Dakar has already led to the indictment and detention of Diagne’s wife and two sons, who are partners in the real estate company, on charges of money laundering and criminal conspiracy.

Media blackout in Senegal as publishers denounce government threats

Arrest ‘unfounded’

Diagne’s lawyers have rejected the accusations, describing them as politically motivated and “manifestly irregular”.

In a joint statement, his Senegalese and French legal teams said they “remain confident given the totally unfounded nature of the accusations contained in the extradition request and its irregularity”.

Speaking to RFI, Diagne’s French lawyer William Bourdon sai!d he had “powerful and well-documented arguments” to oppose any extradition.

The case will be reviewed by the Versailles Court of Appeal on Tuesday 28 October.

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

A history with authorities

This is not the first time Diagne has faced legal troubles. In 2004, he was imprisoned for 17 days after being accused of “disturbing public order, inciting magistrates to rebellion and disseminating secret correspondence”.

His arrest at the time sparked major protests among Senegalese journalists and press freedom organisations worldwide, and he was cleared of all charges two years later.

Since his release this week, Diagne has been cooperating with French authorities.

Before his arrest, he wrote on X that he was in France to “prepare his defence” and that he intended to return to Senegal “in a few days to face his responsibilities”.

For now, he remains in France – awaiting the court’s decision on whether Dakar’s extradition request holds up. His lawyers, meanwhile, say they are ready to fight it “with confidence and determination”.

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

Andrzej Poczobut is a correspondent for the influential Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. He was convicted of “harming Belarus’ national security” and sentenced to eight years, which he is serving in the Novopolotsk penal colony.

Mzia Amaghlobeli, a prominent journalist who founded two of Georgia’s independent media outlets, was in August convicted of slapping a police chief during an anti-government protest.

She was sentenced to two years in prison in a case that was condemned by rights groups as an attempt to curb media freedom.

“Both are journalists currently in prison on trumped up charges simply for doing their work and for speaking out against injustice. Their courage has made them symbols of the struggle for freedom and democracy,” Metsola said at the parliament in Strasbourg, France.

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

‘Highest tribute’

The annual EU award, named after Soviet dissident Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, was created in 1988 to honor individuals or groups who defend human rights and basic freedoms.

The winner is chosen by senior EU lawmakers from among candidates nominated by the European Parliament’s various political groups.

The assembly says the award is “the highest tribute paid by the European Union to human rights work.”

Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who along with her husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski and others opposed to the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko won the prize in 2020, said that awarding it to the reporters this year “sends a strong message to all political prisoners that you are not alone and journalism is not a crime”.

Several Sakharov laureates, including Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month, picked up the Sakharov last year.

The award, which comes with a €50,000 endowment, will be presented in a ceremony at the European Parliament in Strasbourg in December.

Crowds gathered early at the museum’s glass pyramid, eager to return after the rare closure.

The reopening came as director Laurence des Cars prepared to face the French Senate later Wednesday to explain how one of the world’s most secure museums was robbed.

Four thieves broke into the Louvre’s Galerie d’Apollon on Sunday and escaped with eight treasures, including Empress Eugénie’s diamond diadem and sapphires once worn by Queen Marie-Amélie and Hortense de Beauharnais.

The theft has stunned France and drawn global attention, fuelling a heated debate over museum security and public accountability.

Louvre remains shut for a second day as police hunt jewel heist gang

Hunt for the culprits

More than a hundred officers from France’s elite anti-gang brigade and the central office for trafficking of cultural goods are working to find the culprits.

“The investigation is progressing,” Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told CNews and Europe 1, adding he had “full confidence” the gang would be caught.

The thieves are believed to have used a hoist set up from a nearby street to reach the gallery through a window – a feat described as “one of the most spectacular art thefts in decades”.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed the €88 million estimate but said the real loss is cultural, not financial. “The figure is spectacular, but it cannot capture the historical and artistic damage,” she said on RTL radio.

Security questions raised after Louvre heist of ‘unsaleable’ royal jewels

Louvre director under fire

Laurence des Cars – the first woman to head the Louvre – is due to appear before the Senate’s culture committee in what many see as a test of her leadership.

A respected art historian who previously led the Musée d’Orsay and the Orangerie, Des Cars has stayed silent since the robbery.

According to Le Figaro, she offered her resignation earlier this week, but President Emmanuel Macron reportedly refused to accept it, expressing his support. The Louvre itself has declined to comment.

The senators are expected to press Des Cars on the museum’s security measures, particularly in the Galerie d’Apollon, which contains around 800 treasures.

Despite the reopening of the museum, the gallery remains sealed off from visitors, with grey panels blocking the view and staff redirecting tourists elsewhere.

Paris police hunt Louvre thieves after priceless jewels vanish in daring heist

Political fallout

Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who has been managing the crisis since Sunday, has rejected claims of a “security failure” inside the museum.

The alarm systems “worked perfectly”, she told MPs on Tuesday, instead pointing to inadequate surveillance “on the public thoroughfare”, which allowed the thieves to operate their crane undetected.

However, a draft report from the Cour des Comptes – France’s national audit office – criticised delays in deploying upgraded protective equipment, adding further pressure on the Louvre’s management.

Despite the scandal, the public mood at the museum was largely forgiving. “It’s heartbreaking, of course, but the Louvre is still the Louvre – it’s magnificent,” said one visitor.

(with newswires)

The first EU-Egypt summit opened in the Belgian capital on Wednesday, kicking off three days of high-level talks.

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was welcomed ahead of Thursday’s regular EU summit and a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” for Ukraine on Friday.

The talks aim to reinforce what both sides now call a strategic partnership – focusing on trade, migration and regional security.

Building a partnership

EU officials say Europe remains Egypt’s leading trading partner, accounting for about a quarter of the country’s commerce.

The “migration and mobility” pillar of the partnership is also being highlighted, as migration will dominate Thursday’s wider European discussions.

European Council president Antonio Costa has underlined the EU’s appreciation of Egypt’s “stabilising role” in the Middle East and its “mediation efforts” in the Gaza conflict.

All key topics were expected to be discussed on Wednesday evening, including the role of Hamas, the situation in the West Bank and the humanitarian emergency in Gaza.

The summit links closely to the European Council meeting on Thursday, where leaders will again debate Gaza, drawing on exchanges with al-Sisi.

European leaders hope that the current ceasefire agreement can help pave the way towards the two-state solution they continue to support.

France deepens Egypt ties as Macron rejects Hamas role in Gaza

Investment and recognition

For Cairo, the summit offers a chance to consolidate the strategic partnership concluded in 2024, covering political, economic and security cooperation.

Politically, al-Sisi wants to confirm Egypt’s position as an essential mediator in Middle East peace efforts.

Al-Sisi’s influence was evident at a recent Sharm el-Sheikh peace summit, which brought together around 30 heads of state and government to discuss Gaza.

Observers in Cairo say al-Sisi hopes to build on that momentum and reinforce Egypt’s image as a pragmatic power able to speak to all sides.

Economically, Egypt’s situation remains fragile. Inflation has eased and the pound has recovered slightly against the euro and dollar, but the country still badly needs investment and financial support from Europe.

Who owns the Nile? Water, power and politics in a warming world

Energy and industry

EU leaders, for their part, see Egypt as a valuable partner for energy cooperation, infrastructure and industrial projects.

Al-Sisi has travelled to Brussels with a large delegation of public and private business leaders to court that investment.

The European Commission is expected to sign a €75 million package to support to Egypt.

Cairo also presents itself as a frontline partner on migration. Egyptian officials point to the navy’s record in stopping almost all unauthorised departures from the northern coast in recent years.

That success gives al-Sisi leverage with European leaders keen to show they can control migration routes.

This article has been adapted from the original French and lightly edited for clarity

The robbery has also reignited the debate over museum security in France. Shortcomings have been previously pointed out on numerous occasions, and the Louvre heist, carried out in broad daylight at the world’s most visited museum, is just the latest in a series of incidents.

Among the stolen items were a tiara belonging to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, which features nearly 2,000 diamonds. The thieves also took a sapphire necklace belonging to Marie-Amélie, wife of Louis-Philippe I and the last queen of France, and Queen Hortense, the mother of Napoleon III which is composed of eight sapphires and 631 diamonds, according to the Louvre’s website.

Experts have said it would be impossible to resell these jewels in their current state, as they are listed in royal and imperial inventories, as well as in museum inventories.

They say the most likely scenario is that the jewellery will be resold once it has been dismantled.

Louvre remains shut for a second day as police hunt jewel heist gang

Magali Teisseire, a jewellery expert for the auction house Sotheby’s said: “An old-cut diamond can be recut into another shape and resold. Unfortunately, if they are recut, it is impossible to determine their origin as they are no longer stones with recognisable cuts, facets and inclusions.”

For auctioneer Olivier Valmier, the investigation into the heists is also a race against time to prevent the destruction of the pieces, whose gold could be quickly melted down.

“This week, [gold] reached a record price of €120,000 per kilo. But the value of gold is less than that of precious stones per unit,” he added.

Experts capable of cutting diamonds of this size optimally are rare, and the work could take several months.

Missing works

Around 60 investigators from the Paris judicial police’s banditry squad (BRB) and the Central Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Cultural Property (OCBC) have been mobilised.

On Sunday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron promised: “We will recover the works and the perpetrators will be brought to justice. Everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this.”

However, many priceless objects stolen from global cultural institutions have never been recovered.

In 1990, two men dressed in police uniforms robbed Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum by setting off the fire alarm in the middle of the night.

They removed 13 paintings and drawings by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Manet from their frames. The museum is still offering $10 million dollars for any information on their whereabouts.

In 2002, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam was targeted by the Neapolitan mafia. The thieves climbed on to the roof with a ladder, broke a window and descended into the exhibition hall using a rope.

The two Van Gogh paintings they took were discovered in 2016 during a raid on the home of one of the Camorra mafia bosses.

In 2018, a Berlin gang stole 21 pieces of jewellery from a museum in Dresden, Germany, three of which are still missing.

This is not the first time the Louvre has been targeted. In 1911 its most famous exhibit, The Mona Lisa, was stolen – by a glazier who worked for the museum. The painting was returned two years later.

The Paris museum was last targeted in 1998, when a painting by French painter Camille Corot was stolen and has still not been recovered.

Louvre plagued by leaks and crumbling infrastructure, museum boss warns

Questions over security

“We have failed,” said French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin on Monday, the day after the Louvre theft.

The museum “has failed to keep up in the deployment of equipment designed to protect the works”, according to a previous report by the Court of Auditors consulted by French news agency AFP.

The Court, which examined the period between 2019 and 2024, noted a “persistent delay” in this area.

It found that many rooms in the museum are not protected by video surveillance, and the that obsolescence of much of the equipment has accelerated “at a much faster rate than the pace of investment by the institution to remedy the situation”.

In January, the president of the Louvre, Laurence Des Cars, alerted Culture Minister Rachida Dati to flaws in the museum’s security.

Trade unions have denounced a lack of security staff at the museum. On 16 June, the Louvre was closed for several hours due to a strike by employees, carried out as a warning over the shortage of security personnel.

“The Louvre Museum is short of several hundred reception and security staff,” Alexis Fritche, secretary-general of the CFDT Culture union, told RFI’s Laurence Théault. “When the theft took place, there were four staff members on duty instead of the six scheduled. There was a glaring shortage of staff.”

“We believe that there needs to be an audit of security and prevention measures. It is often the staff who are best placed to talk about the difficulties and weaknesses that may exist, particularly in a security system,” Fritche added. 

Christian Galani, a representative of union CGT Culture, told AFP that the Louvre’s security team had seen “200 jobs cut in 15 years, while visitor numbers have increased 1.5 times”.

“You can walk through several areas without seeing a single security guard, and several rooms are systematically closed due to a lack of available staff,” he said.

Series of recent thefts

The theft at the Louvre is only the latest in a series of incidents. In September, a thief removed 6 kilograms of gold nuggets from the Natural History Museum in Paris.

The museum’s alarm and video surveillance systems had been “inoperative” since a cyberattack on 25 July, AFP learned from police sources – which the museum has neither confirmed nor denied.

Also in September, two Chinese platters and a vase – classified as “national treasures” and worth several million euros – were stolen from the Adrien Dubouché National Museum in Limoges.

Chinese woman arrested following September gold theft at Paris museum

“We are well aware that French museums are highly vulnerable,” Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez acknowledged on Sunday when asked about possible flaws in the Louvre’s security system.

On Monday, he sent instructions to all prefects to strengthen security measures around cultural institutions where necessary.

Des Cars is due to be heard by the Senate on Wednesday. Laurent Lafon, chairman of the Cultural Affairs Committee, told AFP that she must provide “her explanations following Sunday’s theft”.

A commission of inquiry into the security of museums across the country will also be proposed to the National Assembly.

The Louvre, which remained closed on Tuesday, is set to undergo major renovations. At the beginning of the year, Macron announced works estimated to cost up to €800 million over a period of 10 years.

This article was adapted from this report and this report by RFI’s French service.

On a dusty field in Sherikat, a suburb in the south-east of South Sudan’s capital Juba, children and teenagers practice dribbling balls and weaving between cones. They take turns playing against each other, different coloured jerseys dividing them into teams.

“This is Young Dream Football Academy,” says Alaak Akuei, who everyone calls Kuku. “We are working with young people. Most of them come from the street and some are in gangs.” 

Akuei, 24, used to belong to a gang himself. He joined when he was 13 and newly arrived in Juba from a smaller town in the south.

Five years later, after several stints in prison, he set up Young Dream. 

“The young men, they don’t have anything to do. That’s why many of them are on the streets and end up in gangs,” he says. “We need to offer them activities to keep them busy and so that they don’t drop out of school. Football can be very powerful to fight this issue of gangs.” 

‘Sense of belonging’

Gang crime has become a major concern in Juba and other cities in South Sudan. In one internal displacement camp in the capital alone, the NGO Nonviolent Peaceforce estimates that nearly 1,200 people belonged to gangs in 2021, more than 90 percent of them aged under 18.

Members were accused of crimes including theft, drug dealing, rape and assault.

While many victims are members of rival gangs, outside “civilians” can be caught up too: between 2018 and 2023, the charity says, gang violence reportedly killed 39 people in the camp – 11 of them non-members – and severely injured more than 600.

From civil war to economic chaos: Ten years of independence for South Sudan

Years of insecurity in the country have killed or displaced millions, breaking up communities and disrupting schooling and livelihoods.

Now, the peace deal that ended the 2013-18 civil war looks close to collapse, threatening to tip the country back into conflict. 

Meanwhile, widespread corruption and power struggles between political factions have left much of the country struggling to secure food, healthcare, education and other basic services, according to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan.

In the absence of the state, gangs have stepped in. They offer not only a path to profits, but a community. 

“Children and youth are looking for a sense of belonging, to be loved. That is the main reason why they join gangs,” believes Sakaya Peter, who works for community empowerment NGO Gredo.

“In these groups, they don’t just fight or steal. They love each other deeply and care for one another.”

For the same reason, he says, initiatives such as the football academy can offer an effective alternative.

“By bringing them together regularly to do sports, we can offer them that same feeling that they have people they can get support from.”

South Sudan’s returnee farmers yearn for peace to revive food production

Second chances

Today Young Dream trains more than 900 young footballers, as well as running other sports programmes, academic support sessions and leadership workshops. 

Its six coaches are all former gang members. Emmanuel Aman Malual, 21, sees it as a second chance.

“Back when we were in the gang, we slept on the streets, drank, smoked. We did a lot of bad things. But it is possible to change,” he says. “I am a different person now, and I can’t imagine going back. Now all I want is to help these children, because they are the future of this nation.”

By the side of the pitch, a group of boys stand in the shade of a tin veranda. They were recruited from the streets by Akuei, who is also trying to get them back in touch with their families. 

John, 17, left home in 2017. His mother, an alcoholic, could be violent. His ambitions are simple: “I want to play football and go to school, and stay in a nice place where I can sleep, change my clothes and live normally.”

This article was adapted from the original version in French by RFI’s Florence Miettaux.

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.

Up a steep track above the village of Sallanches in the Arve valley, the road turns to rock and tree roots. Beyond the beech trees, a meadow opens on to a view of Mont Blanc and the Fiz and Aravis ranges. Nestled here is the Asters breeding centre, a small conservation site that has worked since 1986 to bring the bearded vulture back to the Alps.

Its exact location is kept secret. The birds are extremely sensitive to stress – it can even kill them.

“You can tell their state of mind by the red ring around the pupil,” says Étienne Marlé, a field worker who helps care for the birds. “If it widens, it means stress or excitement. That’s our signal to stop and come back later.”

Each aviary is equipped with cameras, including one trained directly on the nest. These run day and night so staff can observe the birds without disturbing them. The footage is also available online, allowing anyone to watch the birds in real time.

“It’s not a zoo,” Marlé says. “We don’t receive visitors. We just feed them in the morning and leave them in peace.”

‘Bone breaker’

The bearded vulture, or Gypaetus barbatus, is an icon among Alpine wildlife. Each pair needs a vast territory – up to 500 square kilometres – to find enough food and nesting space.

A scavenger, it survives mainly on bones – which make up around 80 percent of its diet – which it digests with its highly acidic stomach juices.

In the wild, if the bones are too large to swallow it carries them high into the air and drops them on to rocks to smash them apart – a habit that explains its Spanish nickname, quebrantahuesos, or “bone breaker”.

By feeding on carcasses left behind by other animals, the bird clears the mountains of decay and helps prevent disease. It also keeps mountain water sources pure and saves farmers the trouble of hauling dead livestock down from high pastures.

“Reintroducing the bearded vulture is a way of repairing our past mistakes by restoring biodiversity,” Marlé explains.

He feeds the centre’s three breeding pairs six days a week. “On the menu today: sheep and rabbit legs,” he says, smiling at the smell.

Raising a new generation

Two of the centre’s young adults, Flata and Bargy, were born in 2019. “We paired them early so they could bond and start nesting,” Marlé says. “Our goal is to understand how each pair works and give them the best conditions for breeding.”

If an egg or chick needs help, it can be placed in an incubator, but staff prefer to let parents raise their own – otherwise the bird might grow up seeing humans as friends and its own species as rivals.

The vultures remain still as people pass by, moving only their heads. “They see us, but they won’t eat until we’ve gone,” Marlé adds. “They’re not hungry animals.”

Nearby, a rabbit hops about. Visitors sometimes expect drama, Marlé says. “People wait for the bird to pounce. But it never does – it’s a scavenger, not a killer.”

At least 650,000 years old, the bearded vulture once shared the mountains with wolves and early humans.

With its vast wingspan, black beard and hooked beak, it has a fierce look. For centuries, local myths claimed that it carried off children or pushed livestock over cliffs. In the 19th century, even scientists accused it of killing cattle.

Those fears led to its extermination across the Alps, with the last known Alpine bird shot in Italy in 1920.

Hunters were paid to destroy them, their bodies ending up in museums and private collections. “It was pure prejudice – the bird was just unlucky to look intimidating,” Marlé says.

Black when young, the bearded vulture’s chest turns pale as it matures. Some later stain their feathers orange-red by bathing in iron-rich mud – a natural show of dominance seen in both males and females.

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A European rescue

Efforts to bring the species back began in the 1970s but took off in 1987, when a bird named Phénix was released in France.

Today, six breeding centres – in France, Austria, Switzerland and Spain – and around 30 zoos from Finland to Kazakhstan form a vast European network coordinated by the Vulture Conservation Foundation.

“We pool the birds we produce and distribute them based on genetics, age and release sites,” Marlé explains. “Now we have wild-born bearded vultures in the Alps that have never been touched by human hands.”

At three months old, chicks born in captivity are transported to release areas such as regional parks or bird protection groups. They are placed in artificial nests and fed without ever seeing people. After a month, they take their first flight.

Still endangered

Four decades of work have brought 29 breeding pairs to the French Alps and 93 across the Alpine range – a small number, but a real success. “We started from zero and the population is growing,” said Marlé. “It’s working.”

Still, the recovery is slow. Bearded vultures reproduce only from age seven, raising one chick every two or three years. The nesting period lasts almost a year, from October to late August.

“For now, the number of pairs is rising and their range is expanding,” says Marie Heuret, who leads France’s national recovery plan. “But if just three or four more adults died each year, that progress could reverse. The balance is very fragile.”

The species also needs genetic reinforcement to stay healthy in the long term.

The latest Red List from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, released this month, still classifies the bearded vulture as endangered in France and the Mediterranean region, where numbers have halved over 40 years. In Corsica, the species is close to extinction.

France has unveiled a new 10-year plan to protect the bearded vulture, as it makes its fragile comeback in the Alps. The plan aims to raise the number of breeding pairs across the country’s four mountain ranges by 42 percent by 2034 – reaching 130 pairs, including 54 in the French Alps.

It coincides with growing public interest, with more than 1,000 people across Europe recently joining a special observation day dedicated to the bird.

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Threats from humans

Each young bird carries a GPS tracker so researchers can monitor its journey across the mountain chain. “Some used to disappear without trace,” Marlé says. “Now we can learn what really caused their deaths.”

The main threats to these birds are poisoning, lead contamination and power lines. Of 77 recorded deaths since 1989, 21 were caused by toxic substances.

“If someone poisons a sheep to kill wolves, the bearded vulture will eat it too,” Marlé says. The birds also suffer lead poisoning when they swallow bullet fragments left in carcasses.

Fifteen have died after colliding with electrical or ski-lift cables. Partnerships with ski resorts and energy operators now help fit lines with visual markers and anti-electrocution devices.

Some are still shot, despite being fully protected. Thirteen have been killed by gunfire since 1989 – seven of them between 2010 and 2020.

One mystery, however, remains unsolved – the death of Rei del Causse, a three-year-old bird found lifeless in the Cévennes in May after travelling as far as Austria. No lead, poison or virus was detected.

Even high up in the cliffs, these birds are not left undisturbed. Helicopters, wildlife photographers and mountain sports such as off-piste skiing, paragliding, wingsuit flying and ice climbing all encroach on their habitat.

“If climbers pass close to a nest every day, the birds will leave and breeding will fail,” Marlé says. “We need to communicate better and mark nesting sites clearly so people know to avoid them.”

Dialogue with local communities remains key – and mostly positive. “It’s an animal that inspires real affection,” Heuret explains. “It brings together very different people because it’s not controversial.”

Like the mythical phoenix with which it was once compared, the Alpine bearded vulture is rising again – but its future remains fragile.

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

Released in French cinemas on Wednesday, Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol (A Magnificent Life) is the joyful tale of a French icon and his towering contribution to the arts. It was directed by Sylvain Chomet, the French animation artist behind international hits including The Triplets of Belleville and The Illusionist.

Aton Soumache, one of the film’s producers, called it “a tribute to creativity and to cinema” and insists it doesn’t matter whether audience were already familiar with Pagnol’s works, saying: “He lived an amazing life.”

Born in 1895, the year the Lumière Brothers produced the first moving picture, Pagnol was a teacher, novelist, playwright and pioneer filmmaker.

Despite hitting the big time in Paris in the 1920s and 30s, Pagnol’s loyalty remained with his southern roots, and with his family and close friends who followed him throughout his career. He included local actors to keep the authenticity of the accents and also opened his own studio in Marseille.

Although he admired American prowess, Pagnol remained deeply loyal to his homeland and even founded an organisation to protect French cinema, which later became the National Centre for Cinema (CNC).

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Taking risks

He embraced technology and invention but focused on telling stories. With each invention, he set out to make his mark, always taking risks – a story echoed in the making of A Magnificent Life itself.

“I think the best cinematic propositions are those where we take risks. So sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But in any case, we have the feeling of doing something different,” Soumache told RFI.

Making a feature-length biopic in animated form was ambitious, Soumache says. It took a budget of around €15 million and almost eight years from its conception to its premiere in Cannes in May 2025.

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Soumache calls the film “a mirror of our own times”, in terms of its use of new technology, be it digital tools, artificial intelligence or streaming platforms.

He believes artists need to take these things in their stride and find a way to keep telling stories, just like Pagnol did in his day.

Pagnol, who died in 1974, was greatly influenced by the major technological advances of his time and his career was forever changed by the moving picture.

Witnessing a film with dialogue for the first time in London in 1929 – he was delighted as he had never been a fan of silent movies. He went about adapting his popular theatre pieces to film, including Topaze, Marius and Fanny and became the first French director to use dialogue in films.

He also experimented with colour, and with shooting scenes outdoors as well as in a studio. 

“It’s a film about resilience, about how Marcel Pagnol kept reinventing himself,” he said. “At 63, having never written a book, he became a member of the French Academy and the great novelist we now know, though he had mostly been a playwright and filmmaker. He lived 10 lives, and we show seven or eight in the film.”

‘A universal language’

Pagnol’s grandson Nicolas gave Chomet complete creative freedom to interpret the life of a national treasure, whose voice is poignantly performed by Laurent Lafitte.

Animation, Soumache says, brings a touch of magic to telling Pagnol’s story, while respecting the real-life elements.

“Animation is a universal language” he said, adding that it also made it easier to bring Pagnol and his entourage to life, rather than trying to find actors who look the part.

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For Nicolas Pagnol, the finished product is proof that the themes of his grandfather’s work are timeless. “They can speak to everyone, in every era, like Molière.”

He added: “We thought it would be released for the 50th anniversary of his death, in 2024. But I prefer that it comes out for the 130th anniversary of his birth because this film is a rebirth for Marcel.”

On 30 September, the Netherlands invoked the Goods Availability Act to take control of Nexperia, a European subsidiary of the Chinese chip giant Wingtech headquartered in the Dutch city of Nijmegen, citing risks to national and European economic security.

Both Wingtech and China’s leading state-backed semiconductor association say they firmly oppose the move, which was only announced this week.

The Goods Availability Act dates back to 1952, a period of post-World War II reconstruction and rising geopolitical tensions that would culminate in the Cold War. The legislation was designed to give the Dutch government authority to manage national resources and safeguard economic stability in times of crisis.

Until now, the Act had never been used.

In a statement on 12 October, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs cited “serious governance shortcomings” and declared its aim to ensure that goods produced by Nexperia – both finished and semi-finished – remain available during an emergency.

Parent company Wingtech called the move “excessive intervention based on geopolitical bias rather than a fact-based risk assessment”. 

Wingtech also suggested that Nexperia had suffered an internal coup, with “certain foreign members of its management” attempting to forcibly alter the company’s ownership structure under the guise of complying with Dutch directives.

The China Semiconductor Industry Association said in a statement it opposed “the abuse of the concept of ‘national security'”, as well as “the imposition of selective and discriminatory restrictions” on Chinese-owned companies overseas.

Nexperia declined to comment when approached by RFI, and the Dutch Ministry of Economy did not provide further details beyond its official statement. 

But according to Alexandre Ferreira Gomes, a research fellow with Dutch think tank Clingendael, Dutch authorities are concerned “that some of the technology that is developed by Nexperia is being shared or leaked to Chinese counterparts”.

Microchips on battlefields

There are additional concerns. A 2022 investigation by the UK’s Royal United Services Institute revealed that some of Nexperia’s chips had been used by Moscow in Russian military drones and cruise missiles deployed in the Ukraine conflict, despite sanctions in place after Russia’s invasion. Dutch broadcaster NOS later found recent Nexperia microchips on battlefields in Ukraine.

As a consequence, the UK government forced Nexperia to divest its Newport chip manufacturing facility in November 2022 under the National Security and Investment Act. Nexperia expressed shock at the decision, but sold the facility in 2023 to US-based Vishay Intertechnology.

Nexperia admitted in 2024 it was aware of “incidents where our products have ended up in applications which our chips were not developed or sold for, including in countries where we do not do business”.

While the company said it condemned the Russian invasion and complied with international sanctions, Gomes suggests that Western governments are wary.

“China has been supporting Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine,” he said. “By restricting access of Chinese stakeholders or companies to Nexperia, [governments] also hope to limit the military use of these technologies, particularly by Russia.”

Trade wars

Underlying all this is the fierce competition for microchip supremacy – a complex struggle involving China, the US and Europe.

“There is an increasingly overt conflict between China and the US, with the US imposing export controls on certain technologies that cannot be sold to China,” Gomes explained. “China responds with export controls on key materials, such as gallium and germanium, necessary for chip production.”

The Netherlands has been swept up in these tensions before. In 2018, pressure from Washington led the Dutch government to block sales of high-definition scanners produced by a Dutch-owned company, ASML, that produces printers for semiconductor wafers. 

Amsterdam also withheld an export licence for the products on the grounds that they fell into the category of dual-use technologies which can serve both civilian and military purposes, and were therefore subject to special restrictions.

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Last year, the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security put Nexperia’s parent company Wingtech on a blacklist, claiming that the company was helping China to acquire semiconductor factories in the US and in countries allied with Washington in order to improve its own chip industry.  

According to Gomes, it is not clear if the US directly pressured the Netherlands into taking over Nexperia, but “given the perception that the position of Nexperia is sensitive, also in relation to the discussion of Russian military applications”, he says, they may have preempted any US action. 

Today, things are changing rapidly, according to the researcher. “Just a few years ago, China was considered an important partner for a country like the Netherlands. Now, they are keen to protect what they have left.”

Beijing views the Dutch government’s move as anti-Chinese, further straining already fragile EU-China relations, which have been in a downward spiral since 2021 following Brussels’ suspension of a major investment deal over human rights concerns.

EU puts massive China investment deal on hold

French alternative

While the Netherlands resorts to emergency legislation, France is opting for a different strategy. According to Gomes, Paris has “traditionally been more attentive to sovereignty issues” and has established several funds and initiatives to invest in high-tech startups.

For example, the French public investment bank BPIFrance “intervenes and acquires companies itself rather than allowing them to be taken over by Chinese or American firms”, he says.

These policies align with the European Chips Act, which focuses on collaboration within the EU semiconductor ecosystem and building EU-wide resilience, rather than the more defensive approach taken by the Dutch government.

A government decree in the Journal officiel confirmed the risk level will move from “moderate” to “high”, the top tier in the national alert system.

The move means poultry must now be sheltered and protected from contact with wild birds – an early precaution compared with previous years.

Authorities said the decision was prompted by “the dynamic spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in migratory flyways crossing France”, with new cases detected among migratory wild birds on French territory.

Officials warned these birds could pass the virus to domestic flocks.

In just 10 days, five outbreaks of HPAI have been confirmed across the country – two on commercial poultry farms and three in smaller backyard holdings. The new decree aims to “reinforce surveillance and prevention measures” to limit further spread.

Hundreds of geese slaughtered as bird flu grips France’s Dordogne

Early warning

France classifies bird flu risk in three categories – negligible, moderate and high. The level had remained “negligible” since May before being raised to “moderate” last week.

This year’s shift to the highest alert comes earlier than usual. In previous seasons, it was typically activated in November or December.

Under the “high risk” designation, birds must be sheltered indoors or protected by nets. On larger farms with more than 50 birds, feeding and watering systems must also be covered to prevent contamination from wild species.

Smaller flocks must be either confined or kept under netting.

Since October 2023, France has slightly eased certain confinement rules to ease the strain on free-range producers.

Poultry farmers raising chickens and guinea fowl can, from eight weeks of age, and turkeys from 10 weeks, let their birds outside – but only in restricted areas and without needing prior approval from local authorities.

Laying hens kept outdoors may also continue to roam within a reduced enclosure, provided farmers obtain the green light from their regional prefecture.

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A Europe-wide concern

According to the European health surveillance platform ESA, 37 outbreaks of avian influenza were reported in poultry holdings across the EU between 1 August and 12 October, with additional cases since then – including several in France.

While the jump to “high risk” status will add new constraints for French farmers, officials hope early action will prevent a repeat of the devastating waves of bird flu seen in recent years.

With tighter monitoring and earlier containment, authorities aim to keep both flocks and consumers safe as migratory birds begin their autumn journeys.

(with newswires)

The theft took place on 16 September, just over a month before the audacious jewellery heist at the Louvre on Sunday.

The museum’s director said it was carried out by an “extremely professional team”.

The 24-year-old Chinese national was arrested at Barcelona airport on 30 September, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said.

She was handed over to French authorities on 13 October and charged with theft and criminal conspiracy, and placed in provisional detention the same day.

Investigations showed she had left France on the day of the break-in and was preparing to return to China.

At the time of her arrest, she was trying to dispose of nearly 1 kilogram of melted gold pieces, the prosecutor said, without providing more details.

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‘Priceless’ historical value

A Natural History Museum curator discovered the theft of the gold nuggets after a cleaner reported debris on site.

The stolen items included nuggets from Bolivia donated in the 18th century, some from Russia’s Ural region gifted by Tsar Nicholas I in 1833, and some from California dating to the gold rush era. A 5 kilogram nugget from Australia discovered in 1990 was also taken, said Beccuau.

Nearly 6 kilograms of native gold was stolen, with a value estimated at €1.5 million she added, noting that the historical and scientific value of the pieces was “priceless”.

Native gold is a metal alloy containing gold and silver in their natural, unrefined form.

Paris police hunt Louvre thieves after priceless jewels vanish in daring heist

‘A circus artist’

Investigators found that two museum doors had been cut with an angle grinder and the display case breached using a blowtorch. Tools including a blowtorch, grinder, screwdriver, gas cylinders and saws were recovered nearby.

Surveillance footage showed a lone intruder entering the museum shortly after 1am and leaving at around 4am, according to Beccuau.

“We thought she was a circus artist,” said a police officer who reviewed surveillance footage from the museum, showing a woman dressed entirely in black slipping through a hole barely larger than an A4 sheet of paper, according to French broadcaster TF1.

Beccau added: “The investigation continues, particularly to analyse this gold, to search for what happened to the stolen items, and to identify possible accomplices.”

Police are also still on the hunt for thieves who stole priceless royal jewels from the Louvre museum in a spectacular daylight robbery on Sunday, which has reignited a row over a lack of security in France’s museums.

(with AFP)

France’s right-wing leader from 2007 to 2012 was found guilty last month of seeking to acquire funding from Moamer Kadhafi‘s Libya for the campaign that saw him elected.

AFP journalists saw the 70-year-old – who has appealed the verdict – leave his home, and after a short drive flanked by police on motorbikes, enter the La Sante prison in the French capital.

“Welcome Sarkozy!”, “Sarkozy’s here,” reporters from French news agency AFP heard convicts shouting from their cells.

In a defiant message posted on social media as he was being transferred, Sarkozy denied any wrongdoing.

“It is not a former president of the republic being jailed this morning, but an innocent man,” he said on X.

“I have no doubt. The truth will prevail.”

Sarkozy was handed a five-year jail term in September for criminal conspiracy over a plan for late Libyan dictator Kadhafi to fund his electoral campaign.

After his 25 September verdict, Sarkozy had said he would “sleep in prison – but with my head held high”.

Dozens of supporters and family members had stood outside the former president’s home from early Tuesday, some holding up framed portraits of him.

“Nicolas, Nicolas! Free Nicolas!” they shouted as he left his home, holding hands with his wife, singer Carla Bruni.

Sarkozy set to begin jail term over Libyan funding scandal

Earlier they had sung the French national anthem, as neighbours looked on from their balconies.

“This is truly a sad day for France and for democracy,” said Flora Amanou, 41.

Sarkozy’s lawyer Christophe Ingrain said a request had been immediately filed for Sarkozy’s release.

The Paris appeals court in theory has two months to decide whether to free him pending an appeals trial, but the delay is usually shorter.

“He will be inside for at least three weeks to a month,” Ingrain said.

Solitary confinement

“This is a sad day for him, for France and for our institutions because this incarceration is a disgrace,” declared his other lawyer, Jean-Michel Darrois.

Sarkozy told Le Figaro newspaper he will be taking with him a biography of Jesus and a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, a novel in which an innocent man is sentenced to jail but escapes to take revenge.

Sarkozy is likely to be held in a nine square metre cell in the prison’s solitary confinement wing to avoid contact with other prisoners, prison staff told AFP.

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In solitary confinement, prisoners are allowed out of their cells for one walk a day, alone, in a small yard. Sarkozy will also be allowed visits three times a week.

Six out of 10 people in France believe the prison sentence to be “fair”, according to a survey of more than 1,000 adults conducted by pollster Elabe.

But Sarkozy still enjoys support on the French right and has on occasion had private meetings with President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron even welcomed Sarkozy to the Elysee Palace on Friday, telling the press this week: “It was normal, on a human level, for me to receive one of my predecessors in this context”.

Pressure on justice system

Socialist leader Olivier Faure slammed the visit as putting “pressure on the justice system.”

“It gives the impression that there are defendants who are different,” he told RTL media on Tuesday. This does not correspond to respect for institutions”.

The far-right National Rally (RN) defended the move, saying it was “show of consideration” and “the least that the current President of the Republic could do”.

“Nicolas Sarkozy is not a prisoner like any other,” argued Sébastien Chenu, the vice-president of the RN, on Public Sénat television.

Meanwhile, the Justice Minister, Gérald Darmanin has also said he will visit Sarkozy in prison, saying he would “ensure the safety” for the former leader, which was part of his job.

However, the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, Rémy Heitz, expressed concern about the risk of Darmanin’s visit “undermining the independence of magistrates.”

(with AFP)

The talks, which are being held on 21 and 22 October, mark the third session of the Joint Security Coordination Mechanism – a framework established under the peace agreement signed on 27 June in Washington.

The goal is to breathe life into that agreement and move forward after a shaky start.

The previous talks, held on 17 and 18 September, ended with both sides agreeing to launch a “Concept of Operations” – or Conops – from 1 October.

This detailed plan outlines practical steps towards military and security cooperation, particularly aimed at tackling the Rwandan Hutu rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), long active in eastern DRC.

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Evaluating the first phase

Since that announcement, however, progress has been limited. According to initial reports, the FDLR has not surrendered to either the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo (Monusco) nor the DRC’s armed forces (FARDC).

During this week’s two-day meeting in Washington, the focus will therefore be on evaluating this first phase of the fight against the armed group, which involved awareness raising, planning, coordination and intelligence sharing.

The next step in the Conops plan is targeted operations against the FDLR, the gradual lifting of Rwanda’s so-called “defensive measures”, and an end to ad hoc cross-border actions.

Restoring trust

Tensions have been simmering since the June peace deal. Speaking at the UN General Assembly in September, Rwanda’s foreign minister Olivier Nduhungirehe accused Kinshasa of dragging its feet and undermining the agreement by “militarising” the region.

He criticised the DRC for deploying combat aircraft, hiring mercenaries and maintaining alleged ties with the FDLR – actions he described as incompatible with the spirit of the Washington accord.

His main concern, however, lies with the Wazalendo – local self-defence groups supporting the Congolese army. Kigali views them as dangerous militias whose methods evoke memories of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

The minister called for a “robust response” before “it’s too late”.

Congo and M23 rebels agree to form ceasefire monitoring body

Kinshasa, for its part, stands by its collaboration with the Wazalendo, describing them as volunteers defending remote communities from the M23 rebel movement – a group widely seen by the DRC as enjoying Rwandan backing.

In many eastern villages, officials say, these local fighters are the only ones preventing M23’s further advance.

Both sides have agreed, in principle, that neutralising the FDLR and restoring cross-border trust are essential steps towards lasting peace in eastern Congo.

The two days of discussions will test whether Kinshasa and Kigali can turn commitments into coordinated action.

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

Army colonel Michael Randrianirina, who announced last Tuesday that the military had taken power after Rajoelina was impeached for desertion of duty following weeks of protests, was sworn in as president Friday.

Randrianirina promised sweeping change and new elections in the poverty-stricken island nation, where anger over chronic power cuts sparked the demonstrations last month that swiftly escalated into a mass anti-government movement.

Following consultations with the national assembly, Randrianirina chose Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo – a prominent figure in the private sector and former chairman of the Malagasy bank BNI – as new premier on Monday.

How Madagascar’s new leader Randrianirina rose from prison to presidency

Rajaonarivelo had “the skills, the experience but also relations with international organisations in other countries that will collaborate with Madagascar,” Randrianirina said.

The new president has promised a civilian government and collaboration with “all the driving forces of the nation” after the military takeover, rejecting accusations of having led a coup last week.

He said Monday that the choice of head-of-government had “scrupulously followed the constitution”.

Turning point

Randrianirina led the CAPSAT army unit which mutinied on 11 October, condemning violence against anti-government protesters by Rajoelina‘s security forces and joining the demonstrations in the capital Antananarivo.

It marked a turning point in the weeks-long uprising, leading Rajoelina to flee the country.

Media reports said the ousted ex-president was evacuated on Sunday aboard a French military plane that took him to the French island of Reunion, from where he travelled to Dubai.

Rajoelina’s supporters have condemned the power grab, which was backed by the constitutional court.

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It is the third military transition in Madagascar since independence in 1960, following coups in 1972 and 2009.

It is the latest of several former French colonies in Africa to come under military control since 2020, after coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Gabon and Guinea.

The country, off the coast of Mozambique, is one of the poorest in the world, with about 80 percent of its 32 million people living in poverty, despite an abundance of natural resources and rich biodiversity.

The African Union and regional bloc SADC said they would send fact-finding missions to the country and called for constitutional democracy to be upheld.

(with AFP)

The town of Ermont, about 20 kilometres northwest of Paris was worst hit by the sudden twister that caused damage across some 10 districts.

Regional prosecutor Guirec Le Bras told French news agency AFP one 23-year-old construction worker was killed on a building site and 10 people had been injured with four others in critical condition.

According to the authorities, the tornado toppled cranes, tore off rooftops and smashed up cars.

Rail traffic was severely disrupted on lines H and C, due to a tree falling on the tracks, which damaged overhead power lines.

The operator warned that the connection between Pontoise and Ermont-Eaubonne would remain suspended until at least 3pm local time on Tuesday.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on social media platform X that it had been a storm of “rare intensity”.

Videos shared on social media showed three cranes falling within seconds of each other as debris swirled through the air.

One crane fell on a clinic, without causing injuries, and another on a residential building.

Over 80 firefighters, 50 police officers and dozens of medical personnel were at the scene, authorities said.

The prefecture issued a statement Monday night, saying that emergency personnel had responded to “324 interventions and more than 700 calls”.

Storms, floods and fires: Have planetary conditions really become more extreme?

The prefect of Val-d’Oise, Philippe Court, announced that a crisis unit had been opened at the Rébuffat gymnasium in Ermont, “for residents who cannot find accommodation or who cannot return to their homes.”

During the night from Monday to Tuesday, 1,700 homes were without electricity, according to the prefecture, which asked the public service company Enedis to “restore the network as soon as possible.”

Public parks in nearby towns such as Margency were closed all day Tuesday to clear the debris from fallen trees.

Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France region, wrote on X: “My thoughts are with the residents of Val-d’Oise, victims of a violent tornado,” adding that her administration “will support the affected communities.”

An investigation into involuntary manslaughter and unintentional injury in the workplace was opened in Pontoise.

(With newswires)

Lars Aagaard, energy minister of Denmark, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, called it a crucial step to make Europe energy independent.

“Although we have worked hard and pushed to get Russian gas and oil out of Europe in recent years, we are not there yet,” Aagaard said.

The plan, which must be approved by the bloc’s parliament, is part of a broader EU strategy to wean EU countries bloc off Russian energy supplies. 

Russian ‘shadow fleet’ ship detained by French navy resumes voyage

The commission is in parallel pushing for LNG imports to be phased out one year earlier, by January 2027, as part of a new package of sanctions aimed at sapping Moscow’s finances during its war with Ukraine.

But sanctions need unanimous approval from all of the EU’s members. Trade restrictions like those approved on Monday instead require the backing of 15 of the 27 countries.

Geographical constraints

All but Hungary and Slovakia, which are diplomatically closer to Russia and still import Russian gas via pipeline, supported the latest move, according to diplomats.

“The real impact of this regulation is that our safe supply of energy in Hungary is going to be killed,” Budapest’s top diplomat, Peter Szijjarto, told reporters.

His government says the landlocked country needs to import gas from Russia due to geographical constraints.

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Under the proposal approved on Monday, Russian gas imports under new contracts will be banned as of 1 January, 2026. 

Existing contracts will benefit from a transition period, with inflows under short-term contracts allowed until 17 June 17 2026  and those under long-term contracts until 1 January 2028.

Although gas imports from Russia via pipeline have fallen sharply since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, several European countries have increased their purchases of Russian LNG transported by sea.

Russian gas still accounts for an estimated 13 percent of EU imports in 2025, worth more than €15 billion euros annually, according to Brussels.

The admission comes after a majority of EU nations urged Brussels to reach out to the administration in Kabul.

Markus Lammert, a spokesman for the EU’s executive, told journalists in Brussels that the European Commission was working to ensure coordination among member states.

“Earlier this year, we initiated exploratory contacts at technical level with the de-facto authorities in Afghanistan,” he said.

The Taliban have been largely isolated on the global stage since they imposed a strict version of Islamic law upon returning to power in 2021, following the withdrawal of US-led forces.

But in a letter initiated by Belgium, 20 EU member states called on the commission to take action to enable both voluntary and forced returns of Afghans with no right to stay in Europe.

“We are unable to return irregular Afghan nationals, even after a conviction,” Belgian migration minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt said in a statement. “This undermines public trust in asylum policy and affects our collective security. It is time for Europe to act together.”

Countries sign text

The text was signed among others by Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden.

Most are members of a club of EU countries that is clamouring for a broader clampdown on migration following a souring of public opinion that has fuelled hard-right electoral gains across the bloc.

According to EU data, fewer than 20 percent of people ordered to leave the 27-country EU bloc are returned to their country of origin.

Sweden’s migration minister Johan Forssell told the French news agency AFP in an interview last week that EU members could pool resources to repatriate Afghans.

“There could be joint planes to Afghanistan,” he said, adding an EU team had been holding technical discussions in Kabul. “We need to find common solutions here,” Forssell added.

The EU has maintained a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan but contacts have been limited to certain areas, including humanitarian assistance.

Brussels’ diplomatic service says on its website that the engagement “does not bestow any legitimacy” to the Taliban government.

EU, US condemn Taliban ban on women working for NGOs in Afghanistan

In September 2022, the Taliban ordered non-governmental organisations in the country to stop women employees from working.

The Taliban government said in a notification to all NGOs that it was because of the “non-observance of the Islamic hijab” (headscarf) by “females” working for the NGOs.

The Ministry of Economy threatened to suspend the operating licences of NGOs if they failed to implement the order.

The move came less than a week after the Taliban leadership banned women from attending universities, after having banned teenage girls from high school. Women have also been pushed out of government jobs.

France’s Alexis Lebrun, the world number 12, disposed of Iulian Chirita in straight sets to start the road to glory.

The 22-year-old saw off his 19-year-old adversary 11-2, 11-6, 11-7 at the the Kresimir Cosic Hall in Zadar in southern Croatia.

World number five Félix Lebrun doubled the advantage following a four-game victory over Eduard Ionescu.

And team mate Simon Gauzy sealed the triumph 11-9, 11-9, 3-11, 11-3 against Ovidio Ionescu 3-1 (11-9, 11-9, 3-11, 11-3)

“This was spectacular, miraculous, to win the title with the national team,” said Félix Lebrun. “I know that we won the title without losing a match, that’s great, but it’s not that important to me.

“The only important thing is that we won the European championship title. I’m proud of that. Proud of all the guys, our team and myself.”

France beat Hungary and Spain to advance from the pool stages to the last-16 where they saw off Slovakia. Belgium were dispatched in the last eight and on Friday they beat Germany in the semis.

Chinese teenagers claim para table tennis doubles crown

Alexis Lebrun added: “It’s crazy, European Champions. It’s unbelievable. We have such a great team, and it’s an incredible feeling to share this together. I’m just so happy to be part of this amazing team.”

Gauzy, at 30, the eldest of the French team, said: “After so many years, to be European champions again in a team event feels amazing. I’m just really, really happy. We played a perfect tournament from beginning to end, we can only be proud.”

It was France’s fourth European team title since the inception of the competition in 1958. At the last event in Sweden in 2023, they reached the semis.

Romania reached a final for the first time after emerging from Group F. They got past Serbia in the last-16 and beat defending champions Sweden in the last eight. Slovenia were dispatched in the semis before the defeat on Sunday.

A New York jury has ruled that French banking giant BNP Paribas helped sustain the brutal regime of former Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, making it liable for atrocities committed under his rule.

After a three-week civil trial, the eight-member jury sided with three Sudanese-born plaintiffs – now American citizens – who accused the bank of indirectly fuelling the violence that tore their country apart.

The panel awarded them more than $20 million in damages.

The plaintiffs, two men and one woman, shared harrowing testimony of being tortured by soldiers and members of the Janjaweed militia – the notorious paramilitary group accused of ethnic cleansing in Darfur.

One survivor described being burned with cigarettes and slashed with a knife, while another recounted sexual assault.

“I have no relatives left,” said 41-year-old Entesar Osman Kasher, her voice breaking as she recalled the devastation that claimed her family.

Sudan stages anti-coup protests on third anniversary of Bashir’s ouster

‘A victory for justice and accountability’

For the victims’ lawyer, Bobby DiCello, the verdict marks a turning point in the long fight to hold corporations accountable for the human cost of their business decisions.

“The jury recognised that financial institutions cannot turn a blind eye to the consequences of their actions,” DiCello said. “Our clients lost everything to a campaign of destruction fuelled by US dollars – money that BNP Paribas helped move and that should have been stopped.”

During his closing arguments, DiCello accused the bank of having “supported ethnic cleansing” and “ruined the lives” of his clients.

BNP Paribas, which did business in Sudan from the late 1990s until 2009, has pushed back strongly against the verdict.

The French lender was accused of providing letters of credit that allowed Bashir’s government to continue exporting oil, cotton, and other commodities – generating billions of dollars in revenue despite US sanctions.

A bank spokesperson told AFP the ruling “is clearly wrong” and said there were “very strong grounds to appeal the verdict, which is based on a distortion of controlling Swiss law and ignores important evidence the bank was not permitted to introduce.”

Defence attorneys argued that BNP Paribas’s transactions in Sudan were legal in Europe at the time and even mirrored partnerships that global institutions such as the International Monetary Fund maintained with the Sudanese government.

“There’s just no connection between the bank’s conduct and what happened to these three plaintiffs,” said defence lawyer Dani James, while another attorney, Barry Berke, insisted that “Sudan would and did commit human rights crimes without oil or BNP Paribas.”

International Criminal Court opens new investigation into Darfur violence

A dark chapter revisited

Between 2002 and 2008, Sudan’s conflict – particularly in Darfur – claimed around 400,000 lives and displaced 2.5 million people, according to UN estimates.

The violence drew international outrage, with Bashir himself later indicted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and war crimes.

Bashir, who ruled Sudan for nearly 30 years, was toppled in April 2019 after months of mass protests.

He remains in custody in Khartoum and faces multiple charges related to corruption and his regime’s legacy.

This weekend’s verdict adds to growing pressure on multinational banks and corporations to reckon with their roles in regimes accused of human rights abuses.

Sudan to hand over ICC suspects, ex-President Bashir refuses to cooperate

BNP Paribas has already faced hefty penalties for its Sudan dealings – including a record $8.9 billion fine in 2014 for violating US sanctions.

For the three Sudanese survivors, however, the latest judgment is about more than money. It’s about recognition.

“This case shows that even the most powerful institutions can be held to account,” DiCello said after the verdict.

BNP Paribas is expected to appeal.

(With AFP)

Yassir Zabiri scored both goals in the victory over the six-time champions at the Estadio Nacional Julio Martinez Pradanos in Santiago.

The 20-year-old opened his account in the 12th minute curling in a sumptuous free-kick into the top right hand corner of Santino Barbi’s goal.

And 17 minutes later, he clinically bagged his brace.

Othamane Maamma weaved his way into the right hand side of the Argentina penalty area and dinked over a cross inviting the flourish.

Zabiri, who plays for the Portuguese top flight side Famalicão, duly obliged to the delight of the Moroccans in the 43,000 crowd in the Chilean capital.

The king had “followed the heroic journey of the Atlas Lions with immense joy and deep pride”, the official Moroccan news agency MAP reported on Monday.

He had sent the team members “his warm congratulations for this new global achievement, the first of its kind in the history of Moroccan football”, it added.

Morocco Gen Z protests enter sixth day with calls to oust government

Morocco’s victory over the six-time champions allowed Morocco to emulate Ghana as the only sides from Africa to brandish the under-20 World Cup crown since the inception of the tournament in 1977.

The North Africans, trying to match Ghana’s exploits in 2009, went into the final against a backdrop of Generation Z-led protests in their country over issues including government spending on sporting events at the expense of public services. 

As well as pushing for reforms on education, healthcare, demonstrators want authorities to tackle corruption and a cost of living crisis.

They have also hit out at the estimated €2 billion cost of revamping stadiums for December’s Africa Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco is co-hosting with Spain and Portugal.

How football mega tournaments became a lightning rod for Morocco protesters

Six months ago, Morocco finished runners-up to South Africa at the under-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

But while the South Africans fell in the last-16 to Colombia, Morocco saw off South Korea 2-1 in the last-16 and beat the United States 3-1 in the quarter-finals.

A penalty shoot-out victory over France last Wednesday in the semis took them into the final.

Zabiri also took home the Silver Ball as the competition’s second-best player after teammate Maamane who was deemed the best player of the tournament.

Twenty years ago in the Netherlands, Lionel Messi won the same accolade as he inspired Argentina to a fifth title at the tournament.

The 37-year-old, who skippered Argentina to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, sent a message on social media congratulating his heirs on their progress to the final.

On Monday, he was among the first to commiserate. “Keep your heads up, boys!,” said the Inter Miami sar.

“You had an amazing tournament, and even though we all wanted to see you lift the trophy, we’re left with the joy of everything you gave us and the pride of seeing how you defended the sky blue and white [shirt] with your hearts.” 

On the 10th anniversary of the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran announced that it is no longer bound by the deal’s restrictions, formally drawing a line under a pact that once symbolised rare cooperation between Tehran and the world’s major powers.

In a statement released on Saturday – exactly a decade to the day since the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed in Vienna – Iran’s foreign ministry said that “all of the provisions, including the restrictions on the Iranian nuclear programme and the related mechanisms, are considered terminated.”

Yet even as Tehran celebrated what it called the “termination day” of the accord, it struck a notably measured tone, insisting it “firmly expresses its commitment to diplomacy.”

Iran denounces ‘unjustifiable’ return of UN nuclear sanctions

France’s hand in nuclear diplomacy

The announcement marks the end of a turbulent chapter in Iran’s nuclear history. The original 2015 deal had been hailed as a diplomatic triumph, crafted painstakingly over two years of negotiations between Iran and six world powers: China, Russia, the United States, Britain, Germany – and crucially, France, whose diplomats played a central role in brokering compromises on uranium enrichment and verification.

Paris, under then–Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, was seen as one of the toughest negotiators in the Vienna talks, insisting on strict limits and oversight to prevent any military dimension to Iran’s nuclear work.

Those efforts helped clinch the final deal that was later endorsed by the UN Security Council through Resolution 2231.

But the accord began to unravel in 2018, when US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the deal and reimposed sweeping sanctions. Iran gradually rolled back its commitments in response, enriching uranium far beyond the 3.67 percent cap agreed under the pact.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran is now enriching uranium to 60 percent purity – just below weapons-grade – though Tehran continues to insist its nuclear programme is entirely civilian, focused on energy and medical research.

Iran and Europe in last-ditch push to avert UN sanctions showdown

European stance reignites tensions

The final blow came last month when, at France’s initiative alongside Britain and Germany, the United Nations reimposed broad sanctions on Iran for the first time in a decade. The move effectively rendered the nuclear deal defunct ahead of its scheduled expiration this weekend.

In a letter to the UN, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the European action as “irresponsible” and claimed that, with the JCPOA’s expiry, those sanctions are now “null and void.”

Tehran also accused the three European powers of undermining a recent attempt to restart cooperation with the IAEA – talks that had reportedly been taking place under a framework agreed in Cairo earlier this year. “Iran’s efforts to revive the exchanges… were sabotaged by the irresponsible actions of the three European countries,” the foreign ministry said.

Diplomatic tensions have been further inflamed by the fallout from the July conflict between Iran and Israel, which saw Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and a fierce retaliatory response from Tehran.

In the aftermath, Iran suspended cooperation with the IAEA, saying the agency had failed to condemn attacks on its infrastructure.

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

Open door to talks

For many in Tehran, the symbolic timing of Saturday’s announcement – coming precisely a decade after the deal was clinched – was no coincidence. It served as both a message of defiance and a reminder of what was once possible through negotiation.

Despite the rhetoric, Iran’s leaders appear keen to leave the door open to renewed talks. “Commitment to diplomacy” remains a recurring phrase in official statements, suggesting that while the JCPOA may be dead, the spirit of dialogue – that hallmark of the 2015 Vienna accord – has not entirely vanished.

Whether France and its European partners will take Tehran up on that offer, however, remains to be seen.

Paris has long positioned itself as both a critic of Iran’s nuclear advances and a potential bridge back to talks.

(With newswires)

Fifteen years after one of France’s most harrowing hostage crises, a French court has ordered a trial for nuclear group Areva – now known as Orano – over allegations it underestimated the threat from Al-Qaeda in the Sahara.

The company is accused of failing to protect workers at its uranium mine in Niger, paving the way for a 2010 kidnapping that shocked France.

The Paris correctional court will examine charges of “involuntary injury through negligence or breach of safety obligations”, according to judicial sources quoted by AFP on Sunday, confirming an earlier report by Le Parisien.

The referral order, dated 26 September, marks a new chapter in a case that has shadowed the French nuclear sector for more than a decade.

The charge relates to the kidnapping of five French nationals, a Malagash and a Togolese employee near Areva’s Arlit uranium site in northern Niger in September 2010.

All were working for the company or its subcontractors when armed men stormed their living quarters in the night of 15-16 September.

Françoise Larribe, who was unwell, was freed after five months along with her Madagascan and Togolese colleagues.

The remaining four hostages – including her husband Daniel Larribe and fellow workers Pierre Legrand, Marc Féret and Thierry Dol – endured 1,139 days in captivity before their release in October 2013.

Orano halts uranium output at Niger’s Arlit mine amid financial strain

Limited scope of the trial

While the trial order covers the charge of involuntary injury, judges dismissed a series of more serious terrorism-related accusations – including “kidnapping and unlawful confinement by an organised group and complicity in a terrorist enterprise” – in line with recommendations from France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat).

The Pnat had also requested that no trial be held on the negligence charge and has appealed the decision to proceed, filed on 2 October, according to judicial sources speaking to AFP.

Areva’s lawyer, Marion Lambert-Barret, said the group would not comment.

But for survivors, the decision to hold a trial is a long-awaited step.

“It’s unacceptable that, despite numerous warnings, Areva failed to take serious measures to protect staff on its sites,” said Olivier Morice, lawyer for ex-hostage Pierre Legrand, who filed the original complaint in 2013.

France has every reason to believe Niger hostages alive, says Defence Minister

Warnings ignored

The investigation painted a troubling picture of security at Arlit, where around a hundred expatriates lived and worked.

The residential compound was reportedly unfenced and guarded only by unarmed Tuareg contractors. No alarm system or fallback base existed in case of attack.

Despite signing a security agreement with Niger’s government – which provided police and military protection for mining facilities and staff movements – the response on the night of the abductions was sluggish.

Police and gendarmes reportedly took more than 90 minutes to reach the scene.

As early as 2008, France’s defence attaché in Niamey had warned Areva about weak site security, noting the growing reach of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which was increasingly targeting Westerners and French interests in the Sahel.

France encouraged by Niger hostage pictures

Company denies wrongdoing

During questioning in June 2022, Orano’s legal director rejected any suggestion of negligence, insisting that “the protection of employees was a priority.”

The group argued that each of its subsidiaries and subcontractors also bore responsibility for the safety of their personnel.

According to the company, its overall security framework was solid, but local implementation fell short. Investigating judges, however, concluded that the firm had seriously underestimated the risk posed by AQIM, which had escalated attacks and kidnappings since 2009.

At the time, Areva was a flagship of French industry and one of Niger’s largest employers.

Its uranium operations were central to both the French energy supply and Niger’s fragile economy – but also made the company a high-profile target in a region where state control was already crumbling.

The judicial investigation began in 2013 under France’s anti-terrorism division. The forthcoming trial, though limited in scope, will finally allow a public examination of how one of France’s most prominent companies operated in a volatile region – and whether corporate complacency played a role in a tragedy that resonated far beyond the desert town of Arlit.

(With AFP)

One week a UN inquiry concluded on 16 September that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, another group of experts appointed by the UN published their own statement – calling for Israel to be excluded from international football.

Addressing their statement to Uefa and Fifa – football’s European and international governing bodies, respectively – 30 experts called on them to suspend Israel “as a necessary response to address the ongoing genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory”.

“Sporting bodies must not turn a blind eye to grave human rights violations,” they declared.

Palestinian football targeted

The genocide in Gaza is one in which Palestinian athletes have been deliberately targeted. Over the past two years, the Israeli army has killed some 898 Palestinian athletes – including at least 420 footballers.

Among them were Hani Al-Masdar, assistant coach of the Palestinian national football team; Mohammed Barakat, star striker of the national team; and Suleiman Al-Obeid, known as the “Palestinian Pelé”, who was killed on 6 August while waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip.

The death of Al-Obeid caused international outrage. Uefa posted on X: “Farewell to Suleiman al-Obeid, the ‘Palestinian Pelé’. A talent who gave hope to countless children, even in the darkest of times.”

The tribute prompted Liverpool forward and captain of the Egyptian national team Mohamed Salah to respond: “Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?”

Israel has also attacked almost 290 sports facilities in two years in the Palestinian enclave and the occupied West Bank.

Opened in 1952 and rebuilt many times following Israeli attacks, Gaza City’s 9,000-seat Yarmouk Stadium became a refuge at the start of the latest conflict. 

But in December 2023, the Israeli army entered the stadium and turned it into an interrogation site – or “torture camp”, in the words of Nader Jayousi, deputy secretary of the Palestinian Olympic Committee.

It was subsequently demolished, its ruins becoming a refugee camp for displaced Gazans.

On 5 October this year, the headquarters of the Palestinian Football Association (PFA), located in East Jerusalem beside the national team’s Faisal Al-Husseini stadium, were targeted by tear gas and sound grenades fired by the Israeli army.

The PFA said in a statement: “These actions are not isolated incidents but part of a systematic policy of targeting Palestinian sport, in direct contravention of the principles enshrined in the Fifa statutes, the Uefa regulations, and the Olympic Charter, all of which are founded on respect for human dignity, equality, and peace.”

Fans, players and politicians protest

Palestinian rights activists have been calling for Israel to be banned from global football competitions for several decades – and since the start of the 2023 war, despite restrictions, football fans have been displaying banners and flags in support of the Palestinian people in stadiums around the world.

Earlier this month, Spanish football club Athletic Bilbao organised a pre-match ceremony as a show of solidarity with Palestinians at the San Mamés stadium, just before their La Liga match against Real Mallorca.

Eleven Palestinian refugees living in Spain, alongside representatives of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, walked on to the pitch as Athletic fans waved Palestinian flags and gave them a standing ovation.

In September, 48 athletes under the banner Athletes 4 Peace, including French football international Paul Pogba and Moroccan international Hakim Ziyech, signed an open letter denouncing the genocide in Gaza and calling for the exclusion of Israeli teams from competitions organised by Uefa.

Game Over Israel is another movement waging an international campaign, mobilising sports stars and fan groups alongside human rights organisations. On 16 September, their slogan “Soccer federations: boycott Israel” was beamed from a billboard in New York’s Times Square. New York is set to host eight matches in the World Cup next year, including the final. 

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has also called for Israel to be excluded from tournaments, citing the difference with how Russia has been treated since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. “Israel cannot continue to use any international platform to whitewash its image,” he told elected representatives of his Socialist Workers’ Party.

Patxi López, leader of the Socialist group in parliament, said that Spain would be prepared to boycott the 2026 World Cup if Israel qualifies.

The president of the Israel Football Association (IFA), Moshe Zuares, responded in French newspaper Le Parisien, saying: “I heard the Spanish prime minister’s stupid threat. I suppose he made it after consulting the table and realising that we would not qualify for the World Cup.”

On 14 October, several thousand demonstrators gathered in Udine, Italy, to protest the genocide before the kick-off of a qualifier between Italy and Israel – a match that saw the end of Israel’s World Cup hopes with a 3-0 defeat. The country has only qualified for the tournament once – for Mexico 1970, at which it was eliminated in the group stage.

Clubs cautious

Fan protests aside, Turkey’s football federation is the only Uefa member so far to publicly call for Israel to be suspended from international matches. It has described the situation in Gaza as “inhumane and unacceptable”.

If a team withdraws from a match against any side, the boycotters earn an automatic 3-0 defeat. “But if no one is doing this with regard to Israel, it is mainly because they are all afraid of being labelled antisemitic,” notes Romain Molina, an investigative journalist and football specialist.

“Another point to note is that many football club owners have ties to Israel. One of the greatest football agents in history is Israeli, Pini Zahavi. He was the one who brought the Barça team to Israel [for the 2013 “Peace Tour”], and it was a huge diplomatic victory for Israel to see Neymar, Messi and others at the Wailing Wall.”

At the Uefa Super Cup final between Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain on 13 August, a banner reading “Stop killing children. Stop killing civilians” was displayed on the pitch in front of the players as they lined up before kick-off.

However, Uefa’s gesture met with criticism for not going far enough. “To name the crime but not the perpetrator is an act of cowardice,” said Shaista Aziz of Amnesty International.

Saving South Africa’s forgotten story of sport that defied apartheid

Fifa statutes

On 1 October, Amnesty called on Fifa and Uefa to suspend the IFA from their tournaments until it bans at least six clubs based in illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory from continuing to play in Israeli leagues.

Article 64.2 of Fifa’s statutes stipulates that “member associations and their clubs may not play on the territory of another member association without the latter’s approval”.

Article 3 is similarly clear: “Fifa is committed to respecting all internationally recognised human rights and shall strive to promote the protection of these rights.”

The PFA filed an official complaint with Fifa in March 2024. It cited Israel’s actions in Gaza as well as the inclusion of clubs from Israeli settlements and the failure of IFA to take action against discrimination and racism. 

Fifa has repeatedly postponed a vote on Palestine’s motion to ban Israel from the international stage, saying its experts are still investigating.

Russian precedent

Several countries have previously been suspended by footballing bodies – South Africa during apartheid, Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav wars and most recently, Russia.

Four days after its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Uefa and Fifa jointly excluded Russian clubs and the national team from international competitions, a sanction that is still in force.

However, a source told French daily Le Monde: “Russia’s suspension was not a political decision. It was due to the fact that more than 40 federations refused to play against the Russians. The decision was therefore taken to ensure the integrity of the competitions. There is currently no such pressure regarding Israel.”

In Molina’s view: “They said to themselves, ‘this could be dangerous for our own power, so we’ll ban Russia’. That wasn’t the case for Israel. So as long as that doesn’t happen, Israel won’t be suspended. They’re always looking for excuses.”

European football chiefs ban Russian teams from international tournaments

Trump and Infantino

At the end of September, according to revelations in British daily The Times, a majority of Uefa committee members were “in favour of suspending” Israel in response to the UN declaration of genocide.

A meeting was scheduled to decide on the matter, but was put on hold due to the presentation of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, with Sky News reporting: “There is a belief among leaders in European football now that imposing sporting sanctions on Israel would not be the right move in the middle of peace talks.”

Molina sees it differently. “Trump’s proposal does not absolve Uefa and Fifa from making decisions. In fact, they are using it as an excuse not to decide,” he says. “It’s just a matter of electoral interest. They don’t care about the war.”

The United States, host of the 2026 World Cup alongside Mexico and Canada, “will absolutely work to fully stop any effort to attempt to ban Israel’s national soccer team from the World Cup”, a US State Department spokesperson told the New York Times on 25 September – although, officially, governments have no role in the decisions of Fifa or Uefa.

Trump has a close relationship with Fifa boss Gianni Infantino, who was present on 13 October in Sharm el-Sheikh for the signing of the Gaza peace plan – at the US president’s invitation.

Trump says Fifa chief would back moving World Cup games

On 2 October, Fifa issued a statement in which Infantino stressed the importance of promoting “peace and unity”, without mentioning Israel or the IFA.

“At Fifa, we are committed to using the power of football to bring people together in a divided world. Our thoughts are with those who are suffering in the many conflicts that exist around the world today,” he said, adding: “Fifa cannot solve geopolitical problems.”

Molina, however, says that Infantino “has politicised a sporting institution like never before”. 

“He dreams of winning the Nobel Prize before becoming secretary-general of the United Nations,” jokes Molina. “At the Fifa annual congress a few months ago, he arrived two hours late because he was on tour with Donald Trump.

“As long as Trump is around, Infantino won’t budge an inch.”

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

Turkey responded to a call from Hamas for assistance with locating the bodies of Israeli hostages still unaccounted for in the ruins of Gaza, sending specialists to help in the search.

Ankara maintains close ties with Hamas, which some analysts say could make it a useful mediator – although strained relations with Israel could stand in the way of any peacekeeping or reconstruction mission, despite Turkey’s experience in these areas.

“Turkey does have expertise for this – it has a doctrine,” said Murat Aslan of the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, a pro-government think tank.

“In Afghanistan, Bosnia, some African countries like Somalia or Sudan, and in Kosovo, Turkey contributed either through its Tika aid agency, responsible for reconstruction, or through its armed forces.”

Aslan believes Turkey’s approach would be similar in Gaza. “Turkey will send soldiers for sure, for the protection of the civilian units,” he said.

Hamas says committed to Gaza truce and returning hostage remains

High risk

However, others warn the mission would not be easy.

“Turkey can become part of this protection force, but it will not be easy. At the moment it seems more problematic than many people assume,” said Huseyin Bagci, an international relations professor at Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

Bagci fears Gaza could slide into chaos as rival groups fight for control.

“There are fights between Hamas and the clans,” he said. “It will not be easy because Hamas has to give up its weapons, which is the primary condition. Hamas is not 100 percent trusting Turkey – if not, Israel will probably act.”

Turkey and Egypt’s joint naval drill signals shifting Eastern Med alliances

Deep mistrust

Any Turkish deployment would also require Israel’s consent, which appears unlikely given the collapse in relations between the country’s leaders.

Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have regularly traded insults since the start of the current conflict in Gaza, and Ankara’s vocal support for Hamas has further deepened mistrust.

Israeli analysts say the government is hesitant to allow Turkish troops in Gaza, citing deep tensions and mistrust between the two countries.

Gallia Lindenstrauss of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv said there is little enthusiasm for involving a Muslim peacekeeping force, as any casualties could inflame anger across the Muslim world and worsen relations.

“This conflict in Gaza has heightened tensions between Turkey and Israel, particularly between the two leaders,” she added.

Counting on Washington

Any Turkish role in Gaza would likely need US backing to move forward, given Israel’s resistance, observers warn.

Aslan believes Washington could help bridge the divide. “Erdogan does have a charming power over Hamas,” he said.

“So it’s on Turkey to urge Hamas to accept some things, and it’s on the United States to push Israel to accept the terms of a long-term peace. I believe that Trump is well aware of it, because there is no trust of Israel. That’s a fact, not only for Gazans or Palestinians or Turks, but [across the world] overall.”

Aslan says trust would be essential to persuading Hamas to disarm. “I believe Hamas will lay down their arms when they feel safe, and they have to see friendly faces in Gaza to be persuaded.”

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

Road to normalisation

Turkish involvement in Gaza could also help pave the way for a reset in relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv.

Bagci believes Erdogan is hoping for political change in Israel to make that possible. “There will be elections,” he said. “Erdogan [is counting on] Netanyahu losing. But if he wins, then he has to deal with him because both sides have to be pragmatic and realistic.”

Bagci said much of the fiery rhetoric from both men is aimed at domestic audiences, with both having reputations as political survivors and pragmatists.

If peace efforts gain ground, observers say cooperation in Gaza could offer a path towards rebuilding trust – and serve both countries as they compete for regional influence.

(with AFP)

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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 30 August, I asked you a question about France’s budget problems … since I asked that question, two governments have been dissolved: that of François Bayrou, and that of the next in line, Sébastien Lecornu, who quit after just a few days, but now he’s back. It’s a high-level game of musical chairs, and we still are not anywhere near coming up with a budget.

You were to read our article “French PM puts government on line with call for confidence vote” and send in the answers to these two questions: What is France’s budget deficit, and what is the official European Union limit for a country’s budget deficit?  

The answer is, to quote our article: “After years of overspending, France is on notice to tame a budget deficit that hit 5.8 percent of gross domestic product last year, nearly double the official EU limit of 3 percent.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “What is your favorite memory of your mother?” The question was suggested by Liton Rahaman Mia from Naogaon, Bangladesh.

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

The winners are: RFI English listener Debashis Gope from West Bengal, India. Debashis is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations on your double win, Debashis.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Paresh Hazarika, a member of the United RFI Listeners Club in Assam, India, and RFI Listeners Club members Shadman Hosen Ayon from Kishoreganj, Bangladesh, as well as Arne Timm from Harjumaa in Estonia. Last but certainly not least, RFI English listener Rowshan Ara Labone from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Les Feuilles Mortes” by Jacques Prévert, set to music by Joseph Kosma and sung by Yves Montand; “Twelfth Street Rag” by Euday L. Bowman; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Serenade to a Cuckoo” by Roland Kirk, performed by Kirk and the Roland Kirk Quartet.

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 “Morocco Gen Z protesters call for ‘peaceful sit-ins’ to demand reforms”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 10 November to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 15 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. 

Populist billionaire Andrej Babiš has swept back into power after voters, frustrated by unfulfilled promises and a stagnant quality of life, turned their backs on the centre-right government.

According to Ondračka, Babiš’s resurgence reflects deep public disillusionment with the political establishment – alongside his skill as a pragmatist who “tells people whatever they want to hear.”

While Brussels voices unease over his return, Ondračka argues that Babiš is neither aligned with Moscow nor guided by ideology.

Instead, he describes him as a tycoon whose loyalties lie squarely “where the money is” – inside the European Union.

Czech populist’s comeback a win for politics of pragmatism in shifting Europe

As the Czech Republic enters coalition talks and joins Hungary, Slovakia and Poland in navigating a shifting political landscape, Ondračka warns that Europe’s populist wave is far from receding, continuing to test the strength of the liberal centre.

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. 

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.