Dutch voters head to the ballot box on Wednesday for an election that will be closely watched around Europe for the performance of the far-right led by anti-Islam, anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders.

Polls suggest Wilders and his PVV Freedom Party could repeat their stunning election success from 2023 and top the vote, although the gap to other parties has narrowed.

Even if he were to win, he is unlikely to become Prime Minister, as all other parties have ruled out a coalition with him.

Campaigning reached fever pitch this week, with several major debates between the main party leaders.

The leaders of the three other major parties – GL-PvdA (centre-left alliance between the Labour Party and Greens), the Christian Democrats (CDA) and the liberals (VVD) – accused Wilders of “not having done enough” during the last two years when his party was in power, whilst categorically excluding any future cooperation.

Frustrated that he could not push through his hard-line anti-immigration plans, Wilders pulled out of a coalition with the VVD, the farmers’ party BBB and the New Social Contract party NSC (a splinter from the Christian Democrats), causing the collapse of the government on 7 July.

Since then, a caretaker government has been running the day-to-day governance of the Netherlands, whilst political parties started to solidify their positions, hoping to gain a place in a new coalition after the elections on Wednesday.

Domestic priorities and immigration

Apart from affordable housing and healthcare, immigration features high on the campaign agenda, with half the electorate calling it their main concern.

The PVV is pushing a hardline anti-asylum stance, advocating a “total halt” to new arrivals and the deportation of dual nationals convicted of crimes  – measures that directly contradict European and international law.

The BBB (Farmers’ Party) and VVD also offer tough measures, including limits on asylum applications and the criminalisation of undocumented status. GL-PvdA, by contrast, supports civilised reception for undocumented migrants and fair arrangements for those refused residence, reflecting a more compassionate approach.

Support for Ukraine and EU membership

On EU membership, the major parties’ views reflect a divided society. Wilders’ PVV is openly Eurosceptic, proposing a “Nexit” and opting out of core EU migration policies, whilst seeking limits on Brussels’ ability to dictate Dutch laws, especially on pensions and agriculture.

By contrast, the VVD remains strongly pro-European, focusing on reform from within rather than challenging Dutch participation. The CDA and GL-PvdA are generally pro-EU, arguing for continued Dutch leadership in European cooperation and defence.

Despite the far right’s rise, the most recent coalition agreement maintains strong support for military assistance to Ukraine and the NATO alliance – a stance also championed by centrist and mainstream parties.

However, Wilders’ PVV has voiced a desire to halt Dutch arms supplies to Ukraine, preferring to redirect spending to domestic defence priorities. This duality means future Dutch policy will likely balance continued backing for Ukraine with new debates on spending and priorities.

Wilders, Le Pen and the rightward shift

Over the past decade, ties between Geert Wilders and France’s Marine Le Pen have grown closer, forming one of Europe’s most visible far-right alliances.

Le Pen openly celebrated Wilders’ electoral success, calling it an inspiration for protecting national identities across the continent.

This partnership symbolises a broader shift: as Wilders’ PVV steers the Dutch political agenda, a right-leaning bloc is consolidating in opposition to Brussels on migration, attracting supporters from France, Italy and Germany.

The implications could be profound. A closer PVV-Le Pen axis empowers eurosceptic forces, undermines traditional EU consensus on asylum and human rights, and prompts Brussels to brace for further opposition on key policy matters.

The Netherlands, long viewed as an anchor for European integration, now finds itself at the vanguard of a continent-wide swing to the right.​

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Or does it? Whilst the PVV gained an unprecedented 37 seats in the 150-seat Parliament just two years ago, and all opinion polls indicated a major lead over the other parties, that advantage began to shrink suddenly just a week before the elections.

According to polling institution Maurice de Hond, Wilders’ PVV would now secure 29 seats, whilst the Christian Democrats, Liberals and centre-left party have gained considerably since 2023. And as all parties have now indicated that they will not cooperate with a possible PVV-dominated coalition, the chances of Wilders steering Dutch politics for another term are becoming slimmer.

The main players

Geert Wilders (PVV)

The peroxide-blond populist has been the face of Dutch Euroscepticism since 2006, living under armed guard and vowing to freeze asylum and rewrite relations with Brussels. Wilders’ party has only one real member – himself – emphasising strong central leadership, albeit with little internal dissent.​

Frans Timmermans (GroenLinks-PvdA)

Erudite, experienced and formerly a European commissioner, Timmermans leads the left-green alliance, arguing for climate justice and humane migration. Though knowledgeable, he has faced challenges in winning the hearts of ordinary voters.

Dilan Yeşilgöz (VVD)

Now leading the centre-right after Mark Rutte, Yeşilgöz’s personal story as a former refugee merges with tough rhetoric on migration and a strong social media presence. She champions business-friendly reforms and increased defence spending, but takes a strict position on asylum.

Henri Bontenbal (CDA)

A relative newcomer, Bontenbal revitalised the traditional Christian Democrats with policies aimed at housing reform and cautious conservatism. His leadership is credited with a renewed focus on centre-ground policies and appeals to former supporters of New Sociaal Contract, a party that split from the CDA but was decimated after its leader left politics. 

(with newswires)

Hassan is running for her first full term at the head of Chama Cha Mapinduzi – Swahili for “Party of the Revolution” – which has ruled the country since its independence from Britain in 1961. The party has never lost a national election.

She came to power in 2021 after the sudden death of then-president John Magufuli, under whom she served as vice president.

Her main rival, opposition leader Tundu Lissu, has been imprisoned since April on treason charges. His Chadema party, along with another key opposition movement, ACT-Wazalendo, is barred from the ballot.

Another prominent contender and ruling party defector, Luhaga Mpina, has also been excluded.

That leaves Hassan facing only minor challengers in what analysts describe as Tanzania’s least competitive election in decades.

Many citizens had wanted a more genuine contest, Aloyce Nchunga, a political analyst in Tanzania, told RFI.

“If you look through comments on social media, you can still see that Tanzanians really wanted there to be a strong opposition … with real back-and-forth and genuine competition, like in past elections,” Nchunga said.

He recalled that in 2015, when Hassan was running as Magufuli’s VP candidate, the ruling party won one of its narrowest victories – clinching just 58 percent of the vote.

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Fading hopes for reform

When Hassan took office, many hoped for a gentler, more open style of leadership. But observers say political space has only tightened since.

“The Samia Hassan presidency started out with a lot of anticipation of opening of democratic space after the Magufuli period,” Alex Vines, who directs the Africa Programme at Chatham House, told RFI.

“But in fact, there have been more disappearances and incarcerations under President Samia than there was under Magufuli. This is the first time she’s tested by the electorate.”

Hassan, from Zanzibar – a semi-autonomous archipelago off Tanzania’s coast – comes from a political minority within the country’s broader landscape. “There is more diversity by gender within the political system, if not from political pluralism, given the repression,” Vines said.

That diversity is built into the system: the constitution reserves 113 parliamentary seats for women, increasing female representation. In total, there are 264 seats up for grabs on Wednesday – 214 from the mainland and 50 from Zanzibar.

But critics say those gains in representation mask a broader erosion of civic freedoms.

Reports by UN experts and Human Rights Watch – which the government strongly denies – describe abductions and attacks on activists, journalists and religious leaders.

Hassan has said her administration is committed to human rights and ordered an investigation into abductions last year, though its findings have not been made public.

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Zanzibar tensions

The islands of Zanzibar, long a political bellwether for the mainland, often mirror Tanzania’s national divides. Security forces and election staff began voting there on Tuesday, a day ahead of the rest of the country.

Nearly one million voters are registered, and past elections have been marked by fraud allegations and unrest.

In 2020, the opposition denounced massive fraud before being forced into a unity government.

Zanzibar’s main opposition candidate, Othman Masoud Othman, told the French news agency AFP the Zanzibar Electoral Commission was allowing ineligible voters to take part in early voting, describing it as “early stealing”.

“We have scrutinised the voters registry… There are people who are deceased, quite a number of them,” Othman said.

Opposition officials also say around 50,000 people have been added to the voter roll for early voting, which should have covered only about 7,000 security and election staff.

The tense atmosphere in Zanzibar adds to wider fears that Wednesday’s vote could deepen mistrust in Tanzania’s democratic process.

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Economic stakes

Tanzania, rich in gold and gas and home to a growing tourism industry, has one of East Africa’s largest economies. The International Monetary Fund forecasts growth of 6 percent this year.

Hassan has campaigned on stability and development, pointing to major infrastructure projects such as new rail links and hydropower dams.

Her government has also pursued new investment deals in mining and energy, including a $1.2 billion uranium project and plans for a liquefied natural gas terminal led by Shell and Equinor.

But political tensions have unsettled some investors, while negotiations on large-scale gas exports have stalled.

Economists warn that without a more open political environment, the benefits of growth may remain unevenly shared.

After an 18-month siege, the city in western Darfur was seized in October by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group which Sudanese army troops have been fighting since April 2023.

African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf expressed “deep concern over the escalating violence and reported atrocities” in El-Fasher, said a statement on social media platform X, condemning “alleged war crimes and ethnically targeted killings of civilians”.

He also called for an “immediate cessation of hostilities and the opening of humanitarian corridors to allow life-saving aid to reach affected populations”.

Youssouf emphasised there could be “no military solution” to the crisis, urging all parties to engage in dialogue to “commit to a peaceful, inclusive political process”.

On Monday, Sudan’s army admitted it had withdrawn from El-Fasher.

Its leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announced the retreat in a broadcast on national television, but also vowed revenge and to fight “until this land is purified”.

Sudanese army allies known as the Joint Forces accused paramilitaries of having “executed more than 2,000 unarmed civilians” since taking control of El-Fasher.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), at war with the army for over two years, “committed heinous crimes against innocent civilians in the city of El-Fasher, where more than 2,000 unarmed citizens were executed and killed on October 26 and 27, most of them women, children and the elderly”, the Joint Forces said in a statement on Tuesday.

Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab said on Monday it had found “evidence consistent with RSF conducting alleged mass killings after capturing El-Fasher, North Darfur, according to satellite imagery analysis”.

Turning point

The capture of the city could mark a significant turning point in Sudan’s war, which has caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly 12 million.

It means that the RSF has control over all five state capitals in Darfur, consolidating its parallel administration in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.

The army is now confined to the north, east and centre of Sudan and is excluded from a third of Sudanese territory, a development, experts say, which raises the possibility the country could face partition.

“This represents a terrible escalation in the conflict,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told French news agency AFP, adding that “the level of suffering that we are witnessing in Sudan is unbearable”.

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The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Monday spoke of a growing risk of “ethnically motivated violations and atrocities” in El-Fasher.

He called for “urgent and concrete action… to ensure the protection of civilians in El-Fasher and safe passage for those trying to reach relative safety”.

A video released by local activists and authenticated by AFP shows a fighter known for executing civilians in RSF-controlled areas shooting a group of unarmed civilians sitting on the ground at point-blank range.

Footage shared by pro-democracy activists purportedly showed dozens of people lying dead on the ground alongside burned-out vehicles.

Influx of wounded

AFP was unable to contact civilians in the city, where the Sudanese Journalists’ Syndicate says communications, including satellite networks, have been cut off by a media blackout.

The syndicate expressed “deep concern for the safety of journalists” in El-Fasher, adding that independent reporter Muammar Ibrahim has been detained by RSF forces since Sunday.

According to the UN, more than one million people have fled the city since the start of the war and around 260,000 civilians, half of them children, remain trapped in El-Fasher without aid, where many have resorted to eating animal fodder.

Starvation spreads from camps to besieged Sudanese city of El-Fasher

The UN’s migration agency said more than 26,000 people had fled the fighting in El-Fasher since Sunday, either seeking safety in the outskirts of the city or heading to Tawila, 70 kilometres to the west.

In Tawila, teams from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said they were facing a massive influx of wounded “coming from El-Fasher to the overwhelmed town’s hospital”.

Since Sunday evening, 130 have been hospitalised, including 15 in critical condition, MSF said in a statement.

(with AFP)

The 44 signatories of the open letter, published Tuesday, are concerned that Macron has now changed his tone and abandoned France’s red lines with regards to the trade deal.

The signatories include the Confédération paysanne (French Peasant Confederation), the CGT (General Confederation of Trade Unions), Greenpeace, and France Nature Environnement (FNE).

The EU-Mercosur deal aims to create one of the largest free trade zones in the world, covering over 700 million people and nearly 25 percent of global GDP. 

Linking the EU to Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, its goal is to reduce tariffs and trade barriers, making it easier for businesses on both sides to export goods.

The European Commission formally endorsed the deal in September and now wants the 27 member states and the European Parliament to approve the agreement before the end of 2025.

EU Commission endorses Mercosur deal despite French reservations

France has long been at the forefront of opposition to the agreement, warning that the influx of cheap Latin American produce risks undermining Europe’s agricultural sector.

In February, Macron criticised what he described as a “bad text” during his visit to the Paris Agricultural Show, following months of protests by farmers against the draft agreement.

He said he was seeking a “blocking minority” within the EU, which would bring together enough countries to prevent the text from being implemented.

In an attempt to reassure France, the European Commission proposed in early September “reinforced” safeguard clauses in the event of a sudden increase in imports from Mercosur or a sharp drop in prices, with “enhanced monitoring” of “sensitive products” such as beef, poultry, rice, honey, eggs, garlic and sugar.

These measures are largely insufficient in the eyes of agricultural unions, which have maintained their opposition to the text.

Protect EU sectors, consumers

Macron declared last Thursday following a European summit in Brussels, that it was premature for France to make a final decision on the trade agreement, while emphasising that steps were being taken “in the right direction”.

“The French government, like the others, is waiting for answers. But all this is moving in the right direction, to protect the most exposed sectors, and also to protect European consumers,” he told a press conference.

“We have safeguard clauses, strengthened customs controls, support for livestock farming, and many accompanying measures (…) that are currently being implemented. We are waiting for all of this to be finalised,” Macron said.

But in the letter, the signatories expressed alarm that the text had already been forwarded to the 27 member states “for express ratification without parliamentary consultation” and that no changes had been made to the text since December.

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Representatives of the Confédération Paysanne said they did not feel reassured after a meeting with Macron’s agricultural adviser on 16 October.

“We left worried, we can sense that Emmanuel Macron is changing his mind,” spokesperson Thomas Gibert told French news agency AFP.

According to Gibert, “there is a strategy to make us swallow the pill: they say they refuse to sign the agreement as it stands, they try to grab safeguard clauses, or mirror clauses on some products. But that will not change the import of quotas” of Latin American products.

Nearly 80 percent of French farmers believe that the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement “represents a threat to French agriculture,” according to a survey by Cevipof and Agro Toulouse conducted between April and June among 1,082 farmers.

Protecting interests

Earlier this month the EU sought to again assuage farmers’ concerns by detailing how it will protect European producers.

The commission said it would send assessments of the impact of Mercosur imports of those products to the parliament and member states every six months.

It would kickstart a probe if the price of Mercosur imports is at least 10 percent lower than an identical EU product, and if the volume of duty-free imports rises by more than 10 percent.

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Any investigation would be completed within four months. If there is “serious injury”, the EU could reimpose tariffs.

The commission also said it would launch an investigation if requested by an EU state “where there are sufficient grounds” and would activate the measures “in no more than 21 days”.

“The commission will be ready to act swiftly and decisively in case of need to protect the interests of our agri-food sector,” EU agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen said in a statement.

(with newswires)

Nearly nine million voters were eligible to cast their ballot Saturday in the world’s top cocoa producer, which has resisted coups and jihadist attacks plaguing much of west Africa but which saw tensions soar and deadly violence in the run-up to the election.

Even before the provisional results’ announcement Ouattara was already anticipated to have swept the polls, after early tallies on Sunday showed him winning upwards of 90 percent of the vote. Turnout was close to 100 percent in his northern strongholds.

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The political veteran was also ahead in traditionally pro-opposition areas in the south and parts of the economic hub Abidjan, where polling stations had been almost empty on Saturday.

Entrepreneur Jean-Louis Billon came second to the veteran leader with 3.09 percent, said the commission’s president Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly, who announced a 50.10 percent turnout, a similar level to 2020 when Ouattara won 94 percent of the vote in an election boycotted by the main opponents.

This time around, Ouattara’s leading rivals, former president Laurent Gbagbo and Credit Suisse ex-CEO Tidjane Thiam, were both barred from standing, Gbagbo for a criminal conviction and Thiam for having acquired French nationality.

“Their absence, their calls not to participate in the election, and the climate of tension that deteriorated in recent days foretold a significant demobilisation of the electorate,” said William Assanvo, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

In the southern city of Gagnoa, Gbagbo’s former stronghold, Ouattara won 92 percent of the vote but with a turnout rate of only 20 percent.

The opposition has already denied “any legitimacy” to Ouattara and has called for new elections.   

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‘A calm election’

Political analyst Geoffroy Kouao believes “the turnout rate shows two things”.

“First, Mr Ouattara’s supporters turned out in force, as shown by the Soviet-esque results in certain regions,” said Kouao.

“And second, supporters of the (Gbagbo and Thiam’s parties) did not go to the polls.”

Billon also expressed concern Sunday for “very low turnout in some regions”, while still offering congratulations to Ouattara.

He and the other candidates on the ballot, including former first lady Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, did not have have a chance of reaching a second round due to a lack of support from a major party or significant financial resources.

Earlier calls for protests by the main opposition led to deadly unrest in the run-up to the election, with at least eight people killed this month and nearly two dozen reported injured in election-day clashes at some 200 polling stations.

The government had declared a nighttime curfew in some areas and deployed 44,000 security forces.

Presidential elections in Côte d’Ivoire are commonly rife with tension and unrest.

Ouattara first came to power following the 2010-2011 presidential clash between him and Laurent Gbagbo, which cost more than 3,000 lives among their supporters.

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On Monday, Abidjan returned to near-normal activity after the capital was unusually deserted at the weekend.

“The Ivorians said NO to prophets of doom,” headlined the Patriote, a pro-Ouattara newspaper, praising “a calm election”.

The opposition daily Notre Voie, however, pointed to “an election reflecting a divided country”.

  (AFP)

Beaten 1-0 in the first leg in Düsseldorf on Friday, Melvine Malard gave France the perfect start after three minutes at the Stade Michel d’Ornano in Caen.

The Manchester United striker headed in Selma Bacha’s cross to square proceedings on aggregate on Tuesday night.

But 10 minutes later, Nicole Anyomi edged Germany ahead on aggregate and just after the pause Klara Bühl’s strike gave the visitors a 3-1 lead overall.

Though Clara Mateo levelled matters on the nigh after 89 minutes, the hosts could not find a winner to force extra-time.

“Obviously, there’s disappointment at being knocked out,” said the France boss Laurent Bonadei.

“I’m disappointed for the players because they gave their all and stuck to the game plan. We did everything we could to create chances and win the match.

“I see a lot of positive signs in the progress, especially among the young players, and in the team spirit. Including among the substitutes.”

In July, during the European championships, Germany beat France in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals,

“Perhaps we need to be realistic and clear-headed, and accept that we are where we are,” added Bonadei.

“We are only sixth in the Fifa rankings, behind Germany and Spain, among others.”

Spain, who lost to England in the final at the 2025 European championships, won 1-0 in Sweden to complete a 5-0 aggregate win.

They will play Germany in the final over two legs on 28 November and 2 December.

Winner of the print journalism category, Julie Brafman said she was “very happy” that the award “highlights” the unique practice of court reporting.

“Court reporting is a wonderful area of ​​journalism,” which allows us to tell “human stories,” she told French news agency AFP.

She was rewarded for her articles on two trials that made headlines in French legal news – that of the child sex offender surgeon Joël Le Scouarnec and the robbers of the American star Kim Kardashian.

The prize recognised Brafman’s work on two other more confidential cases, one of a shaken baby in Alsace in eastern France and a patricide near the western city of Angers.

“In addition to the trials that make the news, I choose to cover others, off the radar, when I believe the case says something about society and human feelings,” Brafman told French news agency AFP.

The jury, made up of previous prize winners and journalists announced their decision at a ceremony in Beirut on Saturday.

Poetic precision

Brafman was complimented on her “intelligent empathy” that takes the reader into the world of trials, as well as “the poetic precision of her stories, the depth of her analysis,” the jury said in a press release.

Created in 1933 in tribute to French journalist Albert Londres (1884-1932), the father of modern journalism, the prize is awarded €5,000 to each winner, who must be under 41 years of age.

The audiovisual reporting prize was created in 1985, and the prize for the best investigative and reporting book was created in 2017.

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Brafman joined Libération in 2016 after working for several magazines and also for the television show Faites entrer l’accusé (Call the witness to the stand) as an investigator and director. She had just published Vertiges de l’aveu (Dizzy confessions) (Stock), a reflection on the important role of confession in criminal justice.

Working in the newspaper’s investigations department for four years, she devoted herself to long format stories.

“Court reporting is a space for personal perspective, for grand narratives, for literary adventure,” she says. “I don’t believe in journalistic objectivity, but in fidelity and honesty. In sensitivity, empathy, and delicacy.”

Russia, Havana

The Albert Londres book prize was awarded to Franco-Russian Elena Volochine for Propagande. L’arme de guerre de Vladimir Poutine (Propaganda, Putin’s Weapon of War).

The television prize went to Jules Giraudat and Arthur Bouvart for Le Syndrome de La Havane (The Havana Syndrome), a documentary series on the Canal+ channel that resembles a spy film.

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A medal of honor was also awarded to Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip, represented at the ceremony by Adel Zaanoun, AFP bureau coordinator in Gaza, to recognize “the essential work of all reporters in the field,” the jury said.

They pointed to the fact that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has killed more journalists than during the two world wars of the 20th century.

The Albert Londres Prize organisers also called for the foreign press to “finally be allowed to enter” the Palestinian territory.

Beirut was due to host the Albert Londres Prize in 2024, but Israeli bombings in several regions of Lebanon forced the jury, made up of former winners, to repatriate their work to Paris.

In 2024, it was Le Monde journalist Lorraine de Foucher who won the print journalism prize for her reports and investigations into the rapes of Gisèle Pelicot in Mazan, the rapes of migrants and also the victims of the porn industry.

(with AFP)

The opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which has been more than twenty years in the making, had been slated to open its doors back in 2013.

After countless delays – from the Covid-19 pandemic to regional instability – the grand unveiling is now set for 1 November. 

Located just a stone’s throw from the pyramids of Giza, the museum will be the largest archaeological and antiquities museum in the world dedicated entirely to ancient Egypt.

In October 2024, GEM offered a sneak peek, opening its first 12 galleries to around 4,000 lucky visitors.

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Monumental design

The final phase, planned for 2025, will unveil the Tutankhamun treasure rooms. Some 5,000 objects from the boy king’s tomb – including his world-famous gold funerary mask – will go on show.

Designed by Irish architect Roisin Heneghan, the building features a facade of translucent alabaster.

Its north and south walls are precisely aligned with two of the Great Pyramids – those of Khufu and Menkaure – creating a direct visual link between past and present.

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100,000 artefacts

“This museum is the largest in the world dedicated to a single civilisation – in this case, ancient Egypt,” Ahmed Ghoneim, director of the Grand Egyptian Museum, told RFI.

“It’s a museum that embraces the latest scientific innovations, using state-of-the-art technology to restore and conserve artefacts.

“It also reflects the most modern museography, with carefully curated displays that bring history to life. We’re proud that Egypt can share this with the world.”

More than 100,000 artefacts from Egypt’s ancient past will be displayed across 22,000 square metres of exhibition space.

King Tut’s treasures come to Paris, record visitors expected

A billion-dollar wonder

Building the museum has cost more than one billion dollars, a investment covered in part by international touring exhibitions of Egypt’s most iconic treasures, including those of King Tutankhamun and Ramses II.

In 2019, the exhibition “Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh” drew nearly 1.5 million visitors to Paris’s Grande Halle de la Villette – a record-breaking success that helped raise funds for the GEM project.

With its grand opening finally approaching, the Grand Egyptian Museum aims to welcome up to five million visitors each year.

This was adapted from an original article by RFI’s Spanish service 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.

The new Fondation Cartier is located in a striking glass building offering 6,500 square metres of exhibition space.

Housed within an historic Haussmann-era complex that once hosted an antiques market, the modern art centre faces the Louvre and hopes to benefit from footfall to the world’s most visited museum to reach a new audience.

Pompidou Centre in Paris closes until 2030 for extensive renovations

Established by luxury jeweller Cartier in 1984, the foundation previously housed its collection of more than 4,500 artworks at a much smaller site in southern Paris, also designed by Nouvel.

The new-look premises were conceived as “a journey into the future” and “a museum of the 21st century”, Nouvel said when he unveiled the plans last year.

With five mobile steel platforms allowing for the modulation of space and light, its design borrows as much from “aircraft carriers as it does from the theatre”, according to the award-winning architect.

The foundation’s new home – within a “mythical” cultural hub comprising the Louvre, the Comédie Française theatre, the Museum of Decorative Arts and the Bourse de Commerce, which houses the art collection of French businessman François Pinault – is “worthy of the scale of the collection and its history”, said its director, Chris Dercon.

A trailblazing Paris show for indigenous Australian artist Sally Gabori

The institution plans to showcase some 600 works on rotation from its collection of works by 500 contemporary artists including Damien Hirst, David Lynch, Joan Mitchell, Patti Smith, Chéri Samba, Raymond Depardon and Malick Sidibé.

Its inaugural show, General Exhibition, highlights key works and moments from the foundation’s 41-year history.

The move cost an estimated €230 million in total, according to Fondation Cartier’s president, Alain Dominique Perrin.

(with AFP)

It began in Moldova. In late December 2023, a video purportedly showing President Maia Sandu disowning her government and mocking the country’s European ambitions went viral on Telegram.

The Moldovan government swiftly dismissed the clip as fake, but the damage was done.

According to Balkan Insight, an investigative news website, and Bot Blocker, a fake-news watchdog, the Kremlin-linked bot network “Matryoshka” generated the clip using the Luma AI video platform.

The footage, voiced in Russian, caricatured Sandu as ineffective and corrupt, recycling earlier disinformation tied to fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor.

French cybersecurity agency Viginum later described how AI-generated deepfake videos, including the one mimicking President Sandu, were distributed through Telegram and TikTok by a pro-Russian propaganda network affiliated with the Russian media outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda.

Viginum said websites like moldova-news.com were backed by what it called a “structured and coordinated pro-Russian propaganda network.”

Troll factories and cloning

Saman Nazari, a researcher with Alliance4Europe, a Europe-wide pro-democracy platform, told RFI the use of AI to influence elections is massively increasing.

In the past, he said people who wanted to influence elections would copy-paste the same text over and over again.

“They just have AI rewrite them, publish them across different accounts, different pages, with small variations aimed at specific target audiences,” Nazari said.

Nazari also said AI tools are now used to make disinformation operations look legitimate.

France’s Foreign Ministry said Storm 1516, a cyber-attack group, had launched 77 Russian disinformation campaigns targeting France, Ukraine and other Western countries since 2023.

According to Nazari, the operations were run by the successor to the Saint-Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency [founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin in 2013 and dissolved in 2023], the Russian Foundation for Battling Injustice – which created websites that look exactly like well-known media outlets.

The groups running these websites clone news sites, fill them with stolen articles that are rewritten or translated and then re-publish them to appear credible, Nazari said.

Alliance4Europe has counted hundreds of such websites during European elections.

“In the past, it was quite a big job to create a website and fill it with content, but now it’s being done almost automatically,” Nazari said. 

Personal targets

The threat is spreading into Western Europe. Professor Dominique Frizon de Lamotte of CY Cergy Paris University was targeted by an AI-generated video that faked his image and voice and attempted to link him to pro-Russian groups in Moldova.

“I have no connection with Moldova; I don’t even use Telegram,” he told France 3 television. The video was flagged by EUvsDisinfo, an EU misinformation monitoring group, and French media as an attempt to undermine trust in academics.

The 2024 presidential election in Romania brought further evidence of AI-linked interference.

Officials said the interference, widely attributed by European governments to Russian-backed actors, led to the annulment of the election results by Romania’s Constitutional Court, an unprecedented move in Europe.

During the rerun in mid-2025, far-right narratives and fabricated content circulating on TikTok and Telegram sought to influence public opinion. Pro-European candidate Nicusor Dan ultimately won the repeat vote.

All eyes on Hungary

Hungary is preparing for a flood of AI-influenced content ahead of its 2026 elections.

Pro-government groups, including the National Resistance Movement, have already spent over €1.5 million promoting unlabelled AI videos attacking opposition leader Peter Magyar.

Some clips show fabricated scenes of Hungarian soldiers dying in Ukraine to provoke nationalist sentiment. Magyar has called the videos “pathetic” and “election fraud”.

Analysts say that even when viewers think content might be fake, emotional impact still shapes opinions.

Within a larger legal framework, the European Union has rules forcing platforms to show who is behind political adverts.

Within a wider framework, the European Union has already introduced the Digital Services Act in 2022 to strengthen platform rules on transparent political advertising.

The commission also operates a Rapid Alert System and an AI Integrity Taskforce to detect and counter manipulative content across languages and borders.

French cyber agency warns TikTok manipulation could hit Romania’s vote, again

Voters at risk

Nazari said young people are used to seeing altered images and deepfakes online.

“Young people have grown up with memes, with people making deep fakes. Edited images and videos and so on. [They] are familiar with the concept.”

But older voters, he told RFI, are more likely to be misled.

“They might not be able to distinguish between a real video and a deep fake video,” Nazari said, adding they are especially vulnerable in countries where digital literacy is not very high.

Ivorians go to the polls on Saturday to choose their next president. Incumbent leader Alassane Ouattara, 83, is seeking a fourth term and faces four challengers. Two of those challengers are women.

On both the president’s side and in the opposition, women have become a driving force. Some attend every meeting. Others help run campaign offices. MPs, mayors and other elected women are also involved.

Even candidates’ wives, such as Henriette Gomis Billon – married to main challenger Jean-Louis Billon – are busy trying to win support.

Female contenders

Two women are standing for president: Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, a former first lady and ex-wife of Laurent Gbagbo (who was excluded from the race along Tidjane Thiam), and Henriette Lagou.

Lagou told the media she hopes to embody a female alternative in a competition dominated by the traditional male figures of Ivorian political life. A former minister for women, she also founded the movement Two Million Girls for Gbagbo to support young Ivorian women and girls.

They are seen mainly as symbols of female involvement rather than likely winners. Still, their presence on the ballot shows how many women want a greater role in decisions that shape the country.

To appeal to female voters, both Ouattara and Billon have recruited dozens of women organisers and supporters.

Martine Vléon, national campaign director of the women working for Billon, said: “This page in our country’s political history will be written by women who stand tall, dignified and determined – women who know that Côte d’Ivoire’s future will not be built without them.”

She added that women have always had a strong role in Ivorian politics.

Voices on the ground

“We want peace in Côte d’Ivoire,” a Billon supporter told RFI. “Someone who will give us peace. We want to live in tranquility, in joy, in love. That’s what we’re looking for. We don’t want someone who will come and create problems, no… We want to work.” 

For Ouattara’s women supporters, what matters is the legacy of the president.

“I’m here to support my Papa ADO (Alassane Dramane Ouattara), the father of orphans, the one who built today’s great Côte d’Ivoire, which now looks like Paris. I don’t need to go to Paris anymore; I stay in my country, thanks to ADO. My country is the most beautiful country in the world. Papa ADO, I adore you.”

Another woman praised what she sees as progress.

“He’s a good president. Thanks to him, there are so many markets today, and jobs,” she told RFI. “We don’t struggle to sell anymore, you know what I mean?”

She said school and childbirth are free and added: “There are evening classes for adults. And today we no longer suffer to give birth like before, you see? That’s why we women come out today to say thank you. May God give him a long life. You don’t change a winning team!”

Representation gap

Women are often seen as those who hold families, businesses and society together.

Their political activism has deep roots too, including the Women’s March on Grand-Bassam in December 1949, when women travelled from Abidjan to Grand-Bassam to demand the release of political leaders held by the French colonial authorities.

Still, their seats at the table remain limited. In 2023, women represented only 13 percent of members of parliament. They were 7 percent of mayors and barely 6 percent of regional elected officials.

A 2019 law set a 30 percent quota for women in list elections and it has encouraged more women to stand. But real parity is still far off.

“Ivorian women have always carried the country on their shoulders,” Vléon said at a meeting in Abidjan.

“They feed our families, educate our children, care for our sick and participate in economic and social life with courage and selflessness.”

Many hope that after this campaign women will not only be visible – they will finally be heard.

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).

Postcard from Cannes #3: Surfing a wave of French cinematic nostalgia

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.

Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro backs stop-motion animation studio in Paris

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.

Chaplin’s ‘The Gold Rush’ shines at 100 years old

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.”

In Spotlight on Africa this week, you’ll hear from the people RFI met and interviewed in Abidjan – the main economic hub of Côte d’Ivoire and its administrative capital  – located in the south of the country on the Atlantic coast.

Although Yamoussoukro is the official capital, Abidjan remains home to most embassies, the National Assembly, and one of the presidential palaces. 

Côte d’Ivoire‘s recent economic growth depends heavily on its cocoa and coffee producers as well as on the mining sector. Abidjan is also recognised as a cultural hub for the whole of West Africa.

In this episode, you’ll hear from campaign supporters – particularly young people and women – about their expectations for the post-election period and its outcome.

We’ll then head to the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny to hear from students and their lecturer, Wise Bogny.

In Cocody, we also take you to the shop of Axel Emmanuel Gbaou, Le Chocolatier Ivoirien, the first Ivorian chocolate maker.

We then head to the Maison de l’Art, in Grand Bassam, which opened in late September and which now hosts the first museum of African contemporary art in Côte d’Ivoire.

Finally, in the last part of this episode, you’ll hear from the AKAA, (Also Known As Africa) the African contemporary art fair in Paris, which closed on Sunday, with our arts journalist Ollia Horton. 

Paris fair celebrates modern African artists reinventing traditional crafts

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

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

Satellite data shows close to 9,000 fires consuming 965,000 hectares, including a third of farmland. That is almost double the area burned across the entire European Union over the same period.

The EU Joint Research Centre confirms 2024 as a record year, the worst for Ukrainian forests in more than 30 years.

A complex battlefield

A joint investigation by The Guardian and the Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Independent shows the devastation is directly linked to the invasion.

Using satellite images, monitoring data and testimony from the ground, the investigation maps burn scars that closely follow the front line in the east, tracing an arc from Kharkiv to Donetsk and Luhansk.

Experts say trees can hide movements from drones. That makes forests useful to both armies and may also make them targets.

Shadow fleet targeted as EU advances frozen assets plan for Ukraine

The picture is more complicated, General Jean-Claude Allard, an associate researcher at the French Institute of International and Strategic Affairs, told RFI.

“These are areas that, added together, are significant. But they are not large fires. They mainly result from artillery and explosive exchanges,” Allard said.

Using fire as a weapon is possible but hard to prove, he added.

“This type of weapon is delicate and difficult to control. Artillery fire is much more effective in military terms and causes fires indirectly linked to the conflict.”

A tinderbox front line

Last summer’s heat and drought turned Ukraine‘s front line into a powder keg.

More than two million mines are scattered across the country. Some explode when temperatures rise. Others block access to burning areas and keep emergency workers out.

“We observe many outbreaks of fire. Often these are small fires, but they quickly grow,” said Lennard de Klerk, a lead author of a report on the fires and a member of the War Greenhouse Gas Accounting Initiative, who spoke to RFI in February 2025.

“Firefighters cannot intervene. There are mines, it is too dangerous. The fires are therefore much larger and more intense than they would have been without the war,” he said.

Russian surveillance adds to the danger.

“The Russian armed forces monitor everything since they use drones. As soon as there is movement, they track it to see what is happening. It is one of the mechanisms of the war,” Allard pointed out.

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

Hard to prosecute

Under international law, deliberately targeting rescuers or intentionally setting destructive fires is a war crime. But ecocide is not recognised worldwide.

“You would have to prove the intention to deliberately destroy Ukrainian territory in the war zone,” said Sophie Marineau, a PhD candidate in the history of international relations.

“It is difficult, because Russia can show it was attacking battalions or that it sensed a threat from that region.”

Ukrainian prosecutors are trying to document whether some attacks target natural resources.

“Each bombardment is a deliberate military action,” said Kherson prosecutor Vitaliy Nikitin. “We document every case where protected areas are hit.”

Marineau said building a case remains a challenge.

“The destruction of dams and the pollution of rivers have been documented, but it is still difficult to build a case,” she said.

“You need evidence and for international justice to have the power to judge this kind of crime, which is not yet the case.”

Russia and Belarus war games fuel European fears over Ukraine conflict

Climate cost

The impact reaches beyond Ukraine. Since 2022, the conflict has generated nearly 237 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, the War Greenhouse Gas Accounting Initiative estimates.

The climate damage cost already stands at $US43 billion (€36 billion).

Forest fires alone represent one fifth of the war’s carbon footprint.

“This war has an impact on the climate. We see huge CO2 emissions and these do not only harm Ukrainians,” de Klerk said.

“They contribute to global warming and therefore affect the whole world.”

Ukraine’s authorities say nature is paying heavily.

“Nature is a silent victim of this war,” Environment Minister Svitlana Grynchuk told the Cop29 summit in November 2024.

Scientists warn that restoring forests and soil will take years or even decades. Ending the fighting will be only the first step in repairing the damage.

This story was adapted from the original version in French by RFI’s Julien Hennequin and lightly edited for clarity.

“We are very concerned about the incident that occurred on Sunday in which an Israeli drone dropped a grenade in the vicinity of a UNIFIL patrol, and subsequently an Israeli tank fired a shot at the peacekeepers in Kfar Kila in the UNIFIL area of operations,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday, referring to the incident in southern Lebanon.

“Our colleagues at UNIFIL are in touch with the IDF to protest vehemently what has happened. It’s not the first time that we feel we’ve been targeted in different ways by the IDF (including) pointing lasers or warning shots. It’s very, very dangerous,” he said.

The UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL works with the Lebanese army to enforce the ceasefire agreement that ended more than a year of conflict between Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel.

According to a French diplomatic source, the UNIFIL troops involved in Sunday’s incident were French.

“France condemns the Israeli fire that targeted a UNIFIL detachment on October 26, 2025,” the French foreign ministry said in a separate statement.

It said that “these incidents follow those observed on October 1, 2, and 11, when the Israeli army had already targeted UNIFIL positions.”

Drone activity

On Sunday, UNIFIL said an Israeli drone flew over its patrol in an “aggressive manner”.

“The peacekeepers applied necessary defensive countermeasures to neutralise the drone,” it said in a statement.

The incident “shows disregard for safety and security of the peacekeepers implementing Security Council mandated tasks in southern Lebanon“, it said.

UNIFIL later said another Israeli drone came close to its patrol operating near Kfar Kila and dropped a grenade.

“Moments later, an Israeli tank fired a shot towards the peacekeepers. Fortunately, no injury or damage was caused to the UNIFIL peacekeepers and assets,” the statement added.

France’s Macron hails UN decision to extend peacekeeping mission in Lebanon

The Israeli army still occupies five positions in southern Lebanon, along the border with northern Israel, and despite the ceasefire continues to carry out strikes on Lebanese territory, claiming to target Hezbollah.

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on X earlier on Monday that “an intelligence-gathering drone was downed in the area of Kfar Kila.”

“An initial inquiry suggests that UNIFIL forces stationed nearby deliberately fired at the drone and downed it. The drone’s activity did not pose a threat to UNIFIL forces,” Shoshani wrote.

Ceasefire deal

As part of last year’s ceasefire deal, Israeli troops were to withdraw from southern Lebanon and Hezbollah was to pull back north of the Litani River and dismantle any military infrastructure in the south.

According to the agreement, only the Lebanese army and UNIFIL are to be deployed in the south of the country.

Lebanon’s president seeks French, US support for Israeli withdrawal

Under US pressure and fearing an escalation of Israeli strikes, the Lebanese government has moved to begin disarming Hezbollah, a plan the movement and its allies oppose.

Despite the terms of the truce, Israel has kept troops deployed in five border points it deems strategic.

 Israel has also intensified strikes in recent weeks, with several deadly attacks launched over the past few days.

(with AFP)

Since May 2024, El-Fasher has been besieged by the Rapid Support Forces, which have been fighting a brutal war with Sudan’s army for over two years.

The RSF said Sunday it had seized full control of El-Fasher, the last major city in the vast western Darfur region not in its hands, in a potential turning point in the country’s unrelenting civil war.

“The risk of further large-scale, ethnically-motivated violations and atrocities in El-Fasher is mounting by the day,” United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned in a statement.

He called for “urgent and concrete action… to ensure the protection of civilians in El-Fasher and safe passage for those trying to reach relative safety”.

Death toll from RSF attack rises to 60 in Sudan’s El-Fasher: activists

Turk said his office had received reports of summary executions of civilians trying to flee, with indications of ethnic motivations for killings.

His statement described multiple distressing videos showing “dozens of unarmed men being shot or lying dead”, surrounded by RSF fighters accusing them of fighting for Sudan‘s army.

It also cited reports that hundreds of people had been detained while trying to flee, including a journalist.

“Given past realities in North Darfur, the likelihood of sexual violence against women and girls in particular is extremely high,” the rights office said.

Reports of summary executions 

It also highlighted reports of numerous civilian deaths, including of local humanitarian volunteers, due to heavy artillery shelling between 22 and 26 October.

As well as information of severe food shortages and exorbitant prices, the office said it had received reports that RSF fighters had summarily executed five men attempting to bring supplies into the city.

Summary executions of civilians by RSF fighters were also being reported in Bara city in North Kordofan state in western Sudan, it said, with dozens of civilians allegedly killed.

Starvation spreads from camps to besieged Sudanese city of El-Fasher

“The RSF must urgently take concrete steps to end and prevent abuses against civilians in both El-Fasher and Bara, including ethnically-motivated violence and reprisal attacks,” Turk insisted.

“I remind the RSF commanders of their obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of civilians and to ensure the passage of essential supplies and humanitarian assistance,” he said.

International law prohibits violence against those not taking part in hostilities, and bans the use of starvation as a weapon of war, he said.

(with AFP)

“Hereby proclaimed President-elect: the candidate Biya Paul,” Clement Atangana, president of the Constitutional Council, said during the announcement in the capital Yaoundé.

The results were delivered region by region. Ambassadors from Europe and the United States did not attend the event.

Biya has ruled since 1982 and removed presidential term limits in 2008. He has never lost an election. His new seven-year mandate will allow him to govern until 2032.

Results showed his closest rival, former government minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary, won 35.19 percent of votes. The council said Biya took 53.66 percent, with more than 2.4 million votes.

Bakary quickly denounced the announcement of Biya’s win, telling French news agency AFP that “there was no election; it was rather a masquerade. We won unequivocally”.

Deadly unrest as Cameroon awaits presidential election result

Deadly unrest

Bakary once served as Biya’s spokesperson and employment minister.

He broke away earlier this year and drew large crowds during his campaign. Before results were released he declared himself the winner and urged his supporters to protest.

Authorities say at least four people were killed in clashes with security forces ahead of the announcement. The deaths happened on Sunday in Douala, the economic capital, as hundreds of people took to the streets in several cities including Garoua and Maroua.

“I am ready to stake my life to defend my vote. I voted for Tchiroma because I want change,” Oumarou Bouba, a 27-year-old trader in Maroua, said.

Samuel Dieudonne Ivaha Diboua, governor of the Littoral Region, said several members of the security forces were injured and at least 105 protesters were arrested in Douala.

Videos shared online showed police firing tear gas as protesters barricaded streets.

Cameroon opposition leaders arrested as protests erupt over contested elections

Fraud claims

Dozens of opposition supporters, activists and leaders have been detained in recent days.

Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, said on Saturday that the government had arrested several people plotting violent attacks. The government said the protests were illegal.

Bakary and his supporters accuse Biya of fraud and gross irregularities. The opposition has also claimed that the president used “state machinery” to manipulate the election in his favour and had a hand in disqualifying his strongest rival.

Biya and his party deny this.

Opposition groups in Europe strongly backed Bakary. He took 62.79 percent of votes cast overseas, compared to Biya’s 22.63 percent. But the winner is the candidate with the most votes nationwide.

Voter turnout stood at 46.3 percent, according to the official results announced 15 days after the election.

Cabral Libii came in third place with 3.4 percent, followed by Bello Bouba Maigari with 2.5 percent, and Hermine Patricia Tomaino Ndam Njoya, the only woman candidate, with 1.7 percent.

The other eight candidates each received less than one percent of the vote.

Analysts warned that Cameroon, once seen as stable, could face deeper political turmoil if many citizens believe the result does not reflect their votes.

Biya remains the world’s oldest head of state. He faced criticism for only appearing at one campaign rally. At that event, he told voters that “the best is still to come”.

It was 5.30pm and night was falling as a group of 10 boys headed home after a day at the football pitch. A resident saw them near a building site and called police, wrongly fearing a break-in.

Fourteen officers arrived and began chasing them. On one side was a simple suspicion of an offence. On the other was a deep fear of identity checks.

Three boys climbed the fence of an EDF electrical substation as they ran. Two officers nearby saw them. One said over his radio: “If they go onto the site, I wouldn’t give much for their chances.”

Thirty minutes later, 20,000 volts surged through Zyed and Bouna, killing them instantly and causing a brief power cut in the town.

A third boy, Muhittin, was badly burned but managed to escape, call for help and say what had happened. Anger spread fast.

In a Paris suburb, young people learn how to handle discriminatory police stops

Spreading unrest

The next day, the world discovered Clichy-sous-Bois through images of burning cars. The unrest spread from working-class neighbourhoods around Paris to the outskirts of cities across the country.

On 7 November, after several nights of violence, then prime minister Dominique de Villepin announced a state of emergency. It was the first since the Algerian War. Prefects were allowed to impose curfews.

Nicolas Sarkozy, interior minister at the time, had for months been making tough remarks about young people in the suburbs. Two days before the deaths, he said: “Have you had enough of all this scum? Well, we’re going to get rid of them for you.”

Inside the government, Azouz Begag, the minister for equal opportunities, opposed this approach. “The only order that needs to be restored is the order of equal opportunities,” he said.

France denies police racism is widespread, but evidence tells another story

‘Stuck in denial’

In a statement issued for the 20th anniversary, de Villepin said he had spent two decades trying to understand the fractures that led to the tragedy.

“We are still stuck in denial and neglect,” he said, adding the boys were “children of France” who were “victims of segregation and of the republic turning its back”.

The balance of the nation, de Villepin said, must be built on truth because “only truth guarantees justice”.

Rebuilding trust in public leadership, he said, was “essential”, adding: “Truth is not a political risk. It is the basis of democratic life.”

He added that restoring public trust in political leaders was vital and that speaking the truth should be seen as a normal part of democracy, not a risk.

The government in 2005, De Villepin said, had weakened trust by too quickly repeating incorrect information from the Interior Ministry.

He also criticised public remarks that “hurt people and fuelled resentment, as if the republic reduces some of its children to a problem that must be solved”.

Survey shows nearly all black people in France have experienced racism

Persistent divides

De Villepin said the 2005 unrest showed what he called a “two-speed France”, with communities where the French state still felt present and others where it had become distant or seen as a constraint.

He pointed to later protests such as the Yellow Vests in 2018 and unrest after the killing of Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old shot by police during a traffic stop in June 2023, as signs that many people still felt abandoned.

He said the tragedy in Clichy-sous-Bois revealed a French youth that wanted only to be recognised and respected.

For people in working class neighbourhoods, the unrest underscored a need to be heard and a strong feeling of injustice after a police intervention that left two teenagers dead.

Ten years later, two police officers were put on trial for failing to help the boys but the court found they lacked clear knowledge of a serious imminent danger and acquitted them.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said Sunday that investigators made the arrests on Saturday evening, adding that one of the men was taken into custody as he was preparing to leave the country from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport.

French media BFM TV and Le Parisien newspaper earlier reported that two suspects had been arrested and taken into custody. One of the suspects was apprehended around 10pm (2000 GMT) on Saturday at the airport, and the second arrested not long after in the Paris region, those sources said.

The two men were taken into police custody on suspicion of organised theft and criminal conspiracy. They could be held up to 96 hours.

Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests, which were made by investigators from the anti-gang brigade.

She regretted in her statement the premature leak of information, saying it could hinder the work of over 100 investigators “mobilised to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators”.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez also called for confidentiality while congratulating the investigators “who have worked tirelessly”, in a post on X.

Heist of the century

Thieves took less than eight minutes last Sunday morning to steal jewels valued at 88 million euros at the world’s most visited museum – a crime that has shocked the world.

French officials described how the intruders used a basket lift to scale the Louvre’s façade in broad daylight, forced open a window, smashed display cases and fled.

They fled down the ladder and sped off on scooters. They dropped a diamond and emerald crown that once belonged to Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, which was damaged and needs to be restored. But they got away with eight pieces.

The museum’s director Laurence des Cars called the incident a “terrible failure“.

The brazen theft has made headlines across the world and sparked a debate in France about the security of cultural institutions.

Des Cars has admitted the robbers had taken advantage of a blind spot in the security surveillance of the museum’s outside walls.

But Beccuau said public and private security cameras elsewhere had allowed detectives to track the thieves “in Paris and in surrounding regions”.

Investigators were also able to find DNA samples and fingerprints at the scene from items left behind by the robbers as they fled. As well as the dropped crown, they include gloves, a high-vis vest, a blowtorch and power tools.

‘Concern for the jewellery’ 

The eight pieces which have not yet been recovered risk being broken apart, their precious metal settings melted down.

Nunez expressed his “concern for the jewellery” in an interview with French weekly La Tribune Dimanche on Sunday, saying the heist appeared to have been carried out by an organised crime group but adding that “thieves are always eventually caught”.

“The loot is unfortunately often stashed abroad. I hope that’s not the case – I remain confident,” he added.

The Louvre theft is the latest in a string of robberies targeting French museums.

Less than 24 hours after the Louvre break-in, a museum in eastern France reported the theft of gold and silver coins after finding a smashed display case.

Last month, criminals broke into Paris’s Natural History Museum, making off with gold nuggets worth more than $1.5 million. A Chinese woman has been detained and charged with involvement in the theft.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati said on X on Friday she had requested findings from an investigation into the Louvre’s security by early next week to “announce concrete measures to secure” the museum.

(with newswires)

The defendants are aged between 41 and 60. They include an elected official, gallery owner, teacher, medium and IT specialist.

They are accused of posting malicious comments online about Brigitte Macron’s “gender” and “sexuality”, and of comparing her age gap with her husband to “paedophilia”, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

The investigation followed a complaint lodged by Brigitte Macron on 27 August 2024. It led to several waves of arrests in December 2024 and February 2025.

Trial over online abuse

Investigators said they selected “only the most virulent” offenders. If convicted, the accused face up to two years in prison.

Brigitte Macron’s lawyer, Jean Ennochi, has not confirmed whether she will attend the hearing.

Among the accused is 41-year-old advertising executive Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, known on social media under the pseudonym “Zoé Sagan”.

His X account, since suspended, has been the subject of several complaints and is often described as being linked to conspiracy circles.

Another defendant is 51-year-old medium, self-styled journalist and “whistleblower” Delphine J, known online as Amandine Roy.

She played a major role in spreading the rumour that Brigitte Macron, born Trogneux, was a transgender woman whose birth name was Jean-Michel, referring to her brother.

Delphine J was convicted of defamation by a French court in September 2024 alongside independent journalist Natacha Rey. She was ordered to pay several thousand euros in damages to Brigitte Macron and €5,000 to Jean-Michel Trogneux.

She was later acquitted on appeal on 10 July this year.

Brigitte Macron and her brother have lodged an appeal before the Court of Cassation against that ruling.

Disinformation targeting Brigitte Macron spreads beyond France

Claims spread to US

The trial comes a few days after a BFMTV documentary revealed that the first lady’s online tax file had been hacked in September 2024 and her name changed to Jean-Michel.

“Mrs Macron filed a lawsuit to find out where the change had come from and investigators identified two people,” Tristan Bromet, her chief of staff, said.

The claim that the French first lady was born a man first surfaced in 2021 in far-right magazine Faits et Documents.  It then went viral in the United States. Far-right podcaster and pundit Candace Owens released a video series titled Becoming Brigitte.

In March, Owens said she “would stake [her] entire professional reputation” on the claim that Brigitte was born male. In late July, the presidential couple launched legal action in the US against Owens for defamation.

Several of those on trial in Paris are accused of amplifying content from Owens.

A doctored Time magazine cover showed Brigitte Macron as “Man of the Year” with the caption “Excellent”.

In another post, a defendant shared claims that “2,000 people” were ready to go “door to door in Amiens to get to the bottom of the Brigitte affair”, promising the involvement of American bloggers.

President Emmanuel Macron has called the accusations against his wife “false and fabricated”. On International Women’s Day this year he said: “The worst thing is the false information and fabricated scenarios. People eventually believe them.”

While the damage caused by cattle ranching and soy farming is well known, coffee’s role in deforestation has gone largely unnoticed. Yet between 1990 and 2023, the area planted with coffee in Brazil more than doubled – from 600,000 to 1.23 million hectares.

Much of that expansion has eaten away at the once-rich Mata Atlantica, or Atlantic Forest, one of the world’s most endangered ecosystems. Once covering 1.2 million square kilometres, less than 10 percent of the dry forest now remains.

Brazil, the world’s biggest coffee producer, supplies nearly 40 percent of the global total. That success has come at a heavy ecological cost – especially in the coffee heartlands of Minas Gerais state, north of Rio de Janeiro, where the forest lies. 

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Massive losses

The NGO Coffee Watch, which tracks the industry’s impact, estimates that coffee farming has wiped out more than 11 million hectares of forest in high-density production areas since 2001.

“Between 2001 and 2023, coffee destroyed an area of forest equivalent to the size of Honduras,” Etelle Higonnet, founder and director of Coffee Watch, told RFI.

That figure reflects several overlapping trends. Direct forest loss from clearing land for coffee accounts for about 300,000 hectares, while wider deforestation across coffee farm properties adds roughly 740,000 more.

The rest comes indirectly: new roads that cut through forests, urban growth around coffee regions, and what campaigners call “deforestation laundering” – where coffee takes over land that was already cleared for other uses.

Coffee Watch used detailed satellite data to reach these estimates, finding the highest levels of destruction in Minas Gerais.

‘Cannibal commodity’

The loss is not only ecological but also a threat to the coffee crop itself. Forests such as the Amazon act as a “rain machine”, regulating water cycles through atmospheric rivers that carry moisture southwards to Brazil’s coffee belt.

“Scientifically, we can show very precisely how deforestation for coffee has destroyed the region’s hydrological cycle,” Higonnet said. “It has led to droughts, then to harvest crises. Coffee has become a cannibal commodity that destroys the system it needs.”

Since 2014, rainfall anomalies have become the norm across Brazil’s coffee-growing areas. Severe droughts in 2014-2017, 2019-2020 and again in 2023 slashed yields. In 2014, rainfall in key coffee regions like Minas Gerais fell as much as 50 percent below normal during the crucial bean-development months.

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Economic, climate pressures

That instability has pushed prices sharply higher.

Between 2023 and 2024, coffee prices rose more than 40 percent. And climate models suggest things could get far worse. Under moderate greenhouse gas scenarios, Brazil could lose up to two-thirds of its Arabica-suitable land by 2050.

Despite these warnings, there are few programmes to limit coffee-related deforestation.

“Coffee is the sixth-leading cause of global deforestation, yet it gets no attention,” Higonnet said, adding that palm oil, by contrast, is now covered by multiple zero-deforestation initiatives.

Coffee Watch estimates it is almost certain that most consumers’ morning coffee is linked to deforestation if it comes from Brazil.

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Only a few certification schemes exist. Coffee with the Smithsonian Bird-Friendly label is guaranteed to be free from deforestation, but it makes up just about 1 percent of global production. The Rainforest Alliance also certifies coffee under strict rules on the environment and working conditions, though its forest standards are less demanding than Smithsonian’s.

Brazil’s coffee industry also faces severe human rights issues.

“Farm inspections remain minimal,” Higonnet said. “Brazilian authorities checked only 0.1 percent of farms. Even with that tiny sample, they found 3,700 enslaved workers who were freed.”

Organic and fair-trade labels, she added, do not monitor deforestation either. And none of the current certifications guarantee farmers a living income, making it harder for them to stop clearing land.

Europe delays import rules

The European Union is developing a law to ban products linked to deforestation from entering its market, and coffee is on that list. Producers will have to prove their goods did not come from land cleared after 2020.

But enforcement has already been pushed back twice – first from December 2024 to 2025, then again to 2026 – after pressure from several exporting countries, including Brazil.

The European Commission has said it plans to “soften” the rules, as political support for environmental measures weakens across the EU.

EU postpones anti-deforestation rules as bloc signs trade deal with Indonesia

Some projects show there are better ways to grow coffee. One of them is agroforestry – planting coffee among trees instead of clearing the land.

The trees help keep the soil moist, lower temperatures and protect crops from heat. Indigenous communities have used this method for centuries, creating a kind of natural shield against climate shocks.

In regions like Brazil’s Zona da Mata, where agroforestry is more common, farms kept more soil moisture during the 2021 drought.

But the practice is still rare. In major coffee-producing areas such as Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo, it covers less than 1 percent of farmland.

This story was adapted from the original version in French by RFI’s Simon Roze.

Guelleh, known as IOG, has held power in the tiny Horn of Africa nation since 1999.

With a population of just one million, it’s one of Africa’s smallest countries but is also a major port that hosts military bases for the United States, France, and China.

Djibouti‘s constitution says the head of state cannot run for office after 75, which prevented Guelleh, 77, from running in the next election in April 2026. 

But an amendment to remove the age limit was backed by all 65 parliamentarians present on Sunday, speaker Dileita Mohamed Dileita told France’s AFP agency.

The president can choose to approve the decision or call a referendum. 

If approved, parliament will confirm the decision with a second vote, expected on 2 November.

Five things to know about Djibouti

No surprise

Guelleh left the door open to another five-year term in an interview this May with The Africa Report.

“All I can tell you is that I love my country too much to embark on an irresponsible adventure and be the cause of divisions,” he said. 

This vote is “not a surprise,” said Sonia le Gouriellec, a Horn of Africa specialist at the Catholic University of Lille.

“There are protests on social media, but I fear that the opposition will not have the space to express itself in Djibouti,” she said. 

The state has a poor record of freedom of expression and the press. 

Dileita told AFP the constitutional change was necessary to ensure “the stability of the small country, in a troubled region, the Horn of Africa, with Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea“. 

“I think more than 80 percent of the population supports this,” he said.

Macron champions France’s military role in Djibouti as key to Indo-Pacific strategy

Landslide victory

In April 2021, Guelleh was re-elected with more than 97 percent of the vote. 

His party, the Union for the Presidential Majority, holds the majority of parliamentary seats.

Guelleh succeeded Hassan Gouled Aptidon, the father of Djibouti’s independence, in 1999 after serving as his chief of staff for 22 years.

One of the least populated countries on the continent, Djibouti plays an outsized strategic role in the region.

It lies opposite Yemen at the mouth of the Red Sea, in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, through which passes a large part of global trade between Asia and the West.

Djibouti is also home to the only permanent US military base in Africa, with some 4,000 soldiers supporting anti-terrorist operations on the continent, notably in Somalia.

(with AFP)

A French teenager called Emma (not her real name) told RFI she was quickly drawn into toxic content.

Two years ago, the now 18-year-old installed the app on her phone for the first time. At first, the videos matched the interests she had selected. But after a few minutes, a music video caught her attention.

“The song talked about the struggles the singer faced with mental distress. Since I stayed on the video for quite a while, I was shown more like it. That is when I started falling into that spiral. And it kept getting worse and worse”, Emma remembers.

Within a week – and without having actively looked for it – she was being exposed to content that “normalised death, that encouraged self-harm, all kinds of dangerous and harmful behaviors”.

Emma’s mental health deteriorated. Visits to a psychologist were no longer enough. She became depressed and was hospitalised six times.

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Self-harm and suicide

Her testimony echoes an Amnesty International report released this week. The NGO spent months looking into how TikTok affects the mental health of young users.

It created three fake accounts of 13-year-olds and found that dangerous content appeared very quickly, even before users expressed any interest.

“When we created the three fake teenage accounts, we did not like anything, share anything, comment or even search,” says Katia Roux, advocacy officer at Amnesty International France.

“We only watched two videos related to mental health. And yet, that was enough to see the feeds of those accounts filled, almost flooded, with this kind of content. And after 45 minutes, we had the first content related to self-harm and suicide on two of these three accounts.”

French parliament to probe psychological effects of TikTok on children

Legal Action

Amnesty says TikTok’s moderation policies remain inadequate. It wants the platform to rethink its business model, which keeps users on the app as long as possible, in order to protect them better.

That is also the view of Stéphanie, whose daughter died by suicide five years ago after watching toxic content on TikTok.

“We could have shown her more friendly content or sport programmes or told her: go for a walk,” she says.

“But the problem is, if you show her that, she will not stay on the platform. And in fact, TikTok’s model is to maximise time on the social network. They do not care about childhood.”

TikTok says it has moderation systems, parental controls and mental health resources in place.

Together with 10 other families, Stéphanie has filed a complaint in France for incitement to suicide. The case is still being investigated.

As for Emma, progress has been slow.

“I saw those videos, and some of them remain burned in my retina. I will have those contents for a very long time,” she says.

Now, however, she reports all toxic content she comes across on social media.

Political scrutiny

In March 2025, a French parliamentary inquiry opened to examine TikTok’s impact on young people. It will not investigate ongoing cases but has looked at whether the app shows more dangerous content to vulnerable groups.

On a broader European level, the Digital Services Act now requires stronger oversight of online platforms.

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

Dahbia Benkired was handed an “irreducible life sentence” for killing 12-year-old Lola Daviet in Paris in 2022.

The case caused outrage and sparked anti-immigration fervour in France because the woman did not have the right to be in the country.

The sentence is the harshest under the French penal code and does not allow for parole or a reduction in sentence.

“We believed in justice and we got it,” said Lola’s mother, Delphine Daviet following the verdict.

Heaviest possible sentence

Benkired, now aged 27, was detained after Daviet went missing in the northeast of Paris.

Her body was then found in a trunk in the lobby of the building where her father and mother worked as caretakers.

In the verdict, the presiding judge cited the “extreme cruelty of the criminal acts”, describing them as “true torture” and “total dehumanisation”.

“In determining the appropriate sentence, the court took into account the unspeakable psychological damage to the victim and her family in such violent and almost unspeakable circumstances,” he said.

The public prosecutor had argued earlier in the day that Benkired should be handed an “irreducible life sentence”, saying it reflected the “extreme gravity” of the crimes and “the suffering” they caused her family.

Lola’s brother Thibault Daviet thanked the justice system after the ruling.

“We have restored the memory of my sister, we have restored the truth,” he said.

Since its introduction in 1994, only four men have received the same maximum sentence.

Those given it may in theory, after 30 years, ask a judge to review the ban on seeking parole.

France tries Algerian woman for rape and murder of 12-year-old girl

‘Psychopathic’ tendancies

Residents in the building saw Benkired in the lobby of the apartment block in the 19th district on 14 October, 2022, carrying suitcases and a heavy trunk covered in a blanket, the investigation showed.

An hour and a half earlier, security footage showed Benkired approaching the girl as she returned from school, then leading her into the flat her sister occupied in the building.

Benkired raped and hit the schoolgirl with scissors and a box cutter, then bound her up in duct tape, including around her face. An autopsy found she had died from asphyxiation.

Benkired apologised for her “horrible” actions when her trial opened last week.

She had undergone a psychological evaluation ahead of the trial. Three psychiatric experts said they had noted “psychopathic” tendencies in the defendant, and did not think she suffered from any mental health condition that could be cured.

She was found competent to stand trial.

During the trial, Benkired described growing up in a dysfunctional family, a childhood spent between Algeria and France, unloving aunts and a violent father.

She settled in France in 2013 but had no stable job or residence.

Conservative and far-right politicians seized on the case to call for better immigration law enforcement, after Benkired was found to have overstayed a student visa and failed to comply with a notice to leave France.

The far right organised demonstrations against what they said was the government’s poor management of illegal immigration.

The victim’s mother has urged politicians to stop exploiting her daughter’s death. 

(with newswires)

A decree published Friday in the official gazette said Rajoelina‘s Malagasy nationality was revoked because he had acquired French nationality in 2014, local media reported, as photographs of the document were shared online. 

RFI has confirmed the decree with the entourage of the new prime minister, Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, who signed the order.

The decree means that Rajoelina – who was impeached on 14 October after fleeing the island nation in the wake of weeks of protests – will not be able to contest future elections.

The decree cited Madagascar’s nationality code, in force since 1960, which stipulates that any Malagasy who voluntarily acquires a foreign nationality automatically loses their Malagasy nationality. 

French nationality scandal

Rajoelina’s French nationality caused a scandal when it was revealed just months ahead of the November 2023 elections, nearly 10 years after it was granted. 

At the time, Rajoelina justified applying for French nationality to make it easier for his children to settle in France and continue their studies there. “But this piece of paper does nothing to change the blood that runs in my veins,” he insisted.

It triggered calls for him to be disqualified but he went on to win the contested polls, which were boycotted by opposition parties.

The 51-year-old politician fled Madagascar after army Colonel Michael Randrianirina said on 11 October that his CAPSAT unit would refuse orders to put down the youth-led protest movement, which security forces had attempted to suppress with violence.

Rajoelina said later he was in hiding for his safety, but did not say where.

Randrianirina was sworn in as president on 14 October, pledging elections within two years.

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

Associate arrested

Meanwhile, the authorities in Mauritius have arrested Mamy Ravatomanga – one of Madagascar’s richest men and a close associate of Rajoelina.

Ravatomanga was wanted on money-laundering charges relating to to the transfer of Boeing aircraft to Iran in violation of US sanctions, a source told AFP.

The transfer of the planes was allegedly made possible through registration certificates issued by Madagascar’s Civil Aviation Authority (ACM).

Ravatomanga fled Madagascar to the neighbouring island of Mauritius on 12 October, days before the coup .

The 56-year-old businessman was arrested on Friday and his assets have been frozen. 

(with newswires)

In his role as AKAA’s new artistic director, Sitor Senghor believes it is important to “get back to basics” and restore the value of artisanal skills.

“I want to bring the creative process back to the centre, so that collectors and the public can see the artist working with their hands,” he told journalists gathered ahead of the opening on Friday.

These crafts have often been marginalised, he says, seen as “secondary” or “minor” when compared to fine arts like painting and drawing.

This is something Senghor has set out to change – as well as seeking to “honour the women” typically associated with handicrafts, passing know-how and traditions on for generations.

That’s why the exhibition spotlights material works: ceramics, sculpture, pottery, weaving, fabric and more.

Morocco: bridging Africa and the world through contemporary art

Cultural crossover

Dressed in a long, white, Japanese kimono, Senghor also noted the surprising parallels that can be found between African arts and crafts and other cultures across the globe.

“We think that Africa and Asia are very separate, but actually it’s not the case. When you look at Chinese archives, you can see a relationship between Asia and Africa that dates back to the 16th century,” he says.

“Some names in Africa sound like Asian names. There is also the tradition of statues and masks.”

A case in point is the specially commissioned installation that welcomes visitors as they enter the AKAA hall in Paris’s Marais district.

The Third Aesthetic, a four-part sculpture designed by Cameroonian artist Serge Mouangue, captures a visual universe suspended between Asia and Africa.

“When I arrived in Japan in 2006, I realised that there were many similarities between where I came from and where I lived in Japan,” says Mouangue, who moved to Tokyo for work. He spent 17 years designing cars before moving over to textiles and artistic design.

Paris exhibition explores kimono, from Japanese icon to global trend

He points to the blue and white cylinders suspended in the air, made of bamboo and decorated with red and white feathers. He worked with Japanese artisans in Tokushima to colour the cloth according to an ancient indigo dyeing technique, a method also used in West Africa.

Nearby are “mamorigami” guardians – a series of kendo masks that stand imposingly attached to sacred “shimenawa” ropes used in Japanese religious ceremonies. The masks, used by real fighters from Japan, are “covered with beads from my mother’s village in the Bamileke country” in Cameroon, Mouangue explains.

In the Seven Sisters, figures clad in robes and masks process across the hall. Although they could be mistaken for Noh theatre masks, Mouangue explains that they are actually Punu tribal masks from Gabon.

Contemporary African culture centre to open in Paris after four-year delay

Clothes reimagined

Moroccan designer Sophia Kacimi is exhibiting at AKAA for the first time with her project Zoubida – a collection of dresses and jackets made from woven jacquard fabric.

Combining her experience in fashion with her cultural heritage, she met with local artisans in Fez and Rabat to reinvent this colourful cloth, traditionally associated with Moroccan upholstery.

“I want to bring craftsmanship into an arena where we are not used to seeing it,” Kacimi told RFI, adding that she sees playfulness as part of her DNA.

Nearby is Emmanuel Aggrey Tieku from Ghana, who is also interested in clothes – but from an entirely different perspective. He has embarked on a “45-year long project” of recycling old clothing in different countries to make beautiful installations.

Winner of the Ellipse prize for young artists, Tieku says his art is chance to open a dialogue about the monumental waste that stems from the clothing industry, much of which ends up in his homeland.

Ghana grapples with crisis caused by world’s throwaway fashion

AKAA is hosting 47 galleries this year, representing 95 artists from 24 African countries, as well as members of the diaspora in the United States, Puerto Rico and Europe.

Also Known as Africa is at the Carreau du Temple in Paris until 26 October, 2025.

In Spotlight on Africa this week, you’ll hear from the people RFI met and interviewed in Abidjan – the main economic hub of Côte d’Ivoire and its administrative capital  – located in the south of the country on the Atlantic coast.

Although Yamoussoukro is the official capital, Abidjan remains home to most embassies, the National Assembly, and one of the presidential palaces. 

Côte d’Ivoire‘s recent economic growth depends heavily on its cocoa and coffee producers as well as on the mining sector. Abidjan is also recognised as a cultural hub for the whole of West Africa.

In this episode, you’ll hear from campaign supporters – particularly young people and women – about their expectations for the post-election period and its outcome.

We’ll then head to the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny to hear from students and their lecturer, Wise Bogny.

In Cocody, we also take you to the shop of Axel Emmanuel Gbaou, Le Chocolatier Ivoirien, the first Ivorian chocolate maker.

We then head to the Maison de l’Art, in Grand Bassam, which opened in late September and which now hosts the first museum of African contemporary art in Côte d’Ivoire.

Finally, in the last part of this episode, you’ll hear from the AKAA, (Also Known As Africa) the African contemporary art fair in Paris, which closed on Sunday, with our arts journalist Ollia Horton. 

Paris fair celebrates modern African artists reinventing traditional crafts

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

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

Securing 63 percent of the vote, Tufan Erhurman’s victory in last weekend’s election took Erdogan by surprise.

“The defeat was so big, 63 percent was such a landslide, Ankara was really shocked,” said former Erdogan advisor Ilnur Cevik.

Erhurman’s Republican Turkish Party backs a united island. Erdogan supported incumbent Ersin Tatar, whose National Unity Party wants two separate states.

“Ankara had amassed all its political clout on the island,” Cevik added. “It had sent its vice president five times to the island; it had sent numerous delegations led by deputies and mayors.”

It failed to win Turkish Cypriots over because “the essence of it was Turkey’s interference, which created huge resentment among the Turkish Cypriots”, Cevik said.

Cyprus has been split since Turkey invaded in 1974. Erdogan had pushed for international recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognised only by Ankara.

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Shift away from partition

Analysts say Erhurman’s win has dealt a final blow to Erdogan’s two state strategy for Cyprus.

“The two independent states idea was dead on arrival, and now it’s officially dead,” said Soli Ozel, of Kadir Has University’s International Relations Department.

He said Erdogan’s reaction to the election points to a change in approach.

“President Erdogan’s message of congratulations to [Erhurman] suggests at least for the moment he’s ready to turn the page on that.”

Erdogan’s stance is very different to that of his coalition partner Devlet Bahceli, who called for the result to be overturned and for the north of the island to be integrated with Turkey.

Former Turkish ambassador Selim Kuneralp said the election gives Erdogan a chance to drop a policy that has become a growing obstacle to improving EU defence relations.

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

EU ties on the line

Cyprus has long blocked Turkey’s hopes of deeper EU defence cooperation and access to a 150 billion euro arms programme known as SAFE.

“So far, everything has been blocked by the Cyprus problem,” said Kuneralp, adding that the election result offers a rare opening.

“Now you’ve got these election results that open a small window. So that’s why the present situation might not be so bad for Erdogan.”

European governments see Turkey as an important partner in defending themselves against Russia.

A shift to unification talks could suit both sides, analyst Soli Ozel said.

“Given Russia’s proclivities, it makes sense for [Turkey] to be part of SAFE. And it doesn’t make sense for the Europeans because of the Greek and Greek Cypriot opposition to leaving Turkey out,” he said.

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

Changing priorities

EU leaders have new priorities that could help clear a path.

“The European Union is no longer the European Union of our grandmothers; the issues of human rights and rule of law no longer count for anything,” Ozel said. 

“That’s a relation that is cleared of its thorns.”

Turkey’s backsliding on democracy has long held back cooperation with Brussels. Human rights is not expected to feature much during German Chancellor Frederick Mertz’s visit to Ankara later this month.

Deepening defence ties is set to top the agenda, but how far Erdogan supports unification could decide his next steps with the EU.

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.

It sounds early, but it’s not. 2026 is right around the corner, and I know you want to be a part of our annual New Year celebration, where, with special guests, we read your New Year’s resolutions. So start thinking now, and get your resolutions to me by 15 December. You don’t want to miss out! Send your New Year’s resolutions to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

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 27 September, I asked you a question about Paul Myers’ article “Dembélé and Bonmati win Ballon d’Or as PSG take team and coach prizes”. The French Ballon d’Or award is awarded every year to the top football players in Europe, both men and women.

You were to send in the answer to these three questions: What is the name of the football prize for strikers, who won the men’s, and for which teams does he play?

The answer is, to quote Paul’s article: “In other awards, Viktor Gyokeres received the Gerd Müller Trophy to honour the striker of the year. Playing for Sporting Lisbon and Sweden, he netted 54 goals in 52 matches to top the scoring charts across the continent.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?”, which was suggested by Rafiq Khondaker, the chairman of the Source of Knowledge Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh.

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

The winners are: RFI English listener Rafiq Khondaker, the chairman of the Source of Knowledge Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh. Rafiq is also the winner of this week’s bonus question – and the listener who asked the question!

Congratulations on your double win, Rafiq, and thanks for all the bonus question ideas you regularly send to us.  

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Nafisa Khatun, the president of the RFI Mahila Shrota Sangha Club in West Bengal, India, and Ras Franz Manko Ngogo, the president of the Kemogemba RFI Club in Tarime, Mara, Tanzania.

There are RFI Listeners Club members Zenon Teles, who’s also the president of the Christian – Marxist – Leninist – Maoist Association of Listening DX-ers in Goa, India, and last but assuredly not least, Shaira Hosen Mo from Kishoreganj in Bangladesh.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Mathar”, mixed by Brendan Lynch and performed by the Indian Vibes Ensemble; “Carnival De Paris” by Dario G, performed by the Dario G Ensemble; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Hurt” by Trent Reznor, sung by Johnny Cash.

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 “Paris police hunt Louvre thieves after priceless jewels vanish in daring heist”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 17 November to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 22 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. 

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)

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 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.

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.