The National Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime (Pnaco), which was established by the anti-narcotics law adopted in June, gives investigators additional tools.

These include the ability to remotely activate mobile phones for surveillance, and investigators are allowed to keep certain details and investigation techniques from being disclosed from suspects using a so-called “sealed file”.

Preventing drug, human trafficking

Prosecutor Vanessa Perrée said these new methods are needed because organised crime involves “extremely dangerous individuals” who “undermine social order”.

“Like jihadist groups, traffickers increasingly recruit young minors via social media,” she told the French news agency AFP at the launch of the Pnaco, adding that they are lured by “derisory sums of money to take a human life”.

The new prosecutor’s office will initially take over 170 cases that include drug trafficking, human trafficking, pimping and armed robbery.

It will take over investigations into the 2024 prison escape of drug trafficker Mohamed Amra, in which two prison officers were killed, as well as the deadly shipwreck in the English Channel in 2021 that claimed the lives of 31 migrants and a series of kidnappings in 2025 linked to cryptocurrencies.

More resources

These cases had previously been handled by the National jurisdiction for the fight against organised crime, which was created in 2019 with the same aims.

The Pnaco benefits from closer cooperation with local prosecutors and increased resources, including sixteen magistrates – six specialising in organised crime and six in financial crime. Another ten magistrates are due to join in September.

Lawyers have raised concerns about how the new measures could infringe defendants’ rights. But Perrée said they are all are lawful and subject to judicial oversight.

“We operate within the rule of law,” she said, stressing that all procedures must be authorised by a judge.

“Yes, custody periods are longer and we use special investigative techniques, but they are proportionate to the stakes, the resources involved and the danger of these traffickers.”

What France can learn from Italy’s fight against organised crime

Follow the money

One of the central challenges is money. Drug trafficking in France involves an estimated €6 billion a year, and tracking financial flows is essential, particularly given the risk of corruption.

“We have seen cases involving court clerks and prison officers,” Perrée noted.

Organised crime is increasingly transnational, underlining the importance of closer cooperation with other countries.

“We still have a lot of work to do with the Emirates,” Perrée said, particularly when it comes to tracing “cash and crypto-funded property purchases”.

She also highlighted the “necessary cooperation with countries in the Maghreb”, with the aim of making the Pnaco France’s “single point of contact” internationally for these complex cases.

(with AFP)

Half of the victims of the fire in Crans-Montana were teenagers, Wallis canton police said Sunday.

They ranged in age from 14 to 39 years old, and included 21 Swiss nationals, nine French (including one Franco-Swiss and one 14-year-old who held French, Israeli and British nationalities), and six Italians.

Other victims came from Belgium, Portugal, Romania and Turkey.

The Swiss government said on Sunday that 35 patients have been transferred from hospitals in Switzerland to specialised clinics France as well as Belgium, Germany, and Italy.

Mourning

Hundreds of people walked in silence on Sunday to a small chapel near the bar, following a memorial service for the victims and the 119 people injured.

Pastor Gilles Cavin noted that “many of the victims were apprentices, high school students, and university students”.

The fire was one of the worst disasters in recent Swiss history and has led to an outpouring of grief in Switzerland, which will hold a national day of mourning on 9 January, national president Guy Parmelin said on Sunday

“In this moment of reflection, everyone in Switzerland can personally remember the victims of the disaster,” Parmelin told newspaper Sonntagsblick.

Investigation

Authorities believe the fire was likely caused by sparklers attached to champagne bottles held too close to soundproofing foam on the ceiling of Le Constellation bar, which ignited and quickly spread.

The Wallis cantonal prosecutor’s office said initial witness statements “describe a fire that spread rapidly, generating a large amount of smoke and intense heat”.

The blaze began around 1:30am on Thursday in a packed basement of the bar that was crammed with young partygoers.

The French couple who ran the bar, Jacques and Jessica Moretti, are under criminal investigation on suspicion of offences including homicide by negligence, police said on Sunday.

The mayor of Crans-Montana, Nicolas Feraud, told Swiss public broadcaster RTS that there had been no negligence on the municipality’s part.

(with newswires)

Self-employed practitioners and doctors in private clinics will begin a ten-day strike on Monday aimed at denouncing a range of measures in the 2026 Social Security Budget Law.

Unions are calling for private practices to close and consultations to be cancelled or postponed. Operating theatres in private clinics are expected to be shut down, with potential repercussions for public hospitals.

The Confederation of French Medical Trade Unions (CSMF), says it expects the movement to be “extremely well followed”, with 85 per cent of its members saying they plan to strike.

Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said on Sunday that steps had been taken “to organise continuity of care with the regional health agencies, healthcare facilities and professionals themselves, so that our fellow citizens are not put at risk during this mobilisation”.

“We can also resort to requisitions, if necessary,” she said in an interview with La République du Centre, adding that she would ensure that patients can be treated, while respecting the right of professionals to strike.

French government survives cliffhanger vote on social security

Dispute over fees and controls

The new Social Security financing law introduces mechanisms to regulate tariffs and supplements to fees charged by liberal doctors, particularly those who exceed base reimbursement rates.

The government wants to control healthcare spending by giving the health insurance fund (CNAM) the power to adjust “excessively profitable” fees  and limit how much extra GPs can charge.

Self-employed doctors are opposed to such tighter controls as well as changes to sick leave prescriptions, which from 1 January are limited to a maximum of one month in the first instance. 

They claim the authorities are behaving “in an authoritarian manner”, by “bypassing” social dialogue.

They also oppose new digital management tools seen as bureaucratic and poorly adapted to their daily work, and which they deem will worsen workload and contribute to so-called “medical deserts” where healthcare provision is already sparse.

Overall, they claim the changes threaten the viability of private practice and access to care.

Doctors in England begin their longest strike in NHS history

The health minister has defended the government’s approach, citing what she described as an “exponential” rise in extra billing in recent years.

“Even if abuses concern only a minority of doctors, we cannot leave the situation as it is,” she said, “because some of our fellow citizens are giving up treatment for financial reasons.”

Egypt have won the trophy a record seven times and have been beaten finalists on three occasions since the inception of the Cup of Nations in 1957. Benin have reached the quarter-finals once in four previous visits to Africa’s most prestigious national team football tournament.

“To go far, we need to stay focused and disciplined,” said Egypt boss Hossam Hassan on the eve of the clash in Agadir on Monday.

“The match against Benin will be difficult,” added the 59-year-old who won three Cup of Nations crowns with Egypt during his 21-year international career.

“They are a competitive, well-organised team, and we have the utmost respect for them.”

Football fans far from home in Paris come together for the Africa Cup of Nations

Gernot Rohr, Hassan’s Benin counterpart, conceded his side would start the match at the Stade Adrar as underdogs.

“We’re expecting an extremely difficult match against a top-level opponent, added the 72-year-old German.

“We’ve gained some experience against the big teams,” Rohr said. “I hope it will help us rise to the occasion and give it our all.

Ambitions

“We know we are not the favourites. That doesn’t mean we don’t have the ambition to play well and to qualify.”

Benin gained their first victory at a Cup of Nations in the pool game against Botswana.

“Winning that match gives the players confidence,” added Rohr. “It gives the staff confidence but it doesn’t make us feel like we’ve become someone else.

“We know where we come from. We know that our human resources are not the same as those of our opponents.”

Pressure of coaching Nigeria ‘on another level’, says Chelle

 

Nigeria go into their last-16 clash at the Stade de Fes as one of only two teams at the 2025 tournament who waltzed through the pool stages with 100 percent records.

 

In their opening match, they beat Tanzania 2-1 and followed that up with a 3-2 success over Tunisia. For the final game in Group C, a side sporting several changes to the starting line-up saw off Uganda 3-1.

“Since I took the Nigeria job, I’ve been under pressure,” said Nigeria head coach Eric Chelle.

“Game after game after game, we want to show our ambitions so we’re only thinking about the game against Mozambique.

Milestone

“We’ve done a lot of good things to get to this point but we did some bad things too. We have analysed all of it and are trying to continue to improve.”

While a team from Nigeria seeks a fourth continental crown, Mozambicans are savouring the knockout stages for the first time during their sixth visit to the competition.

“It is a historic milestone for us,” said coach Chiquinho Conde.

“Of course, we are all very happy and satisfied. We are not even aware yet of the impact this has had on our society.

“We just have to keep playing for a country that is suffering. And now a country that has football as the opium of the people has this opportunity to be happy.”

Following early-morning air strikes on Caracus on Saturday, the US captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. The US administration says the deposed president is now in prison in New York awaiting trial on drug-trafficking and weapons charges.

In an official statement published on X, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that while Maduro had “gravely violated” the rights of Venezuelans, the military operation that led to him being grabbed “contravenes the principle of non-use of force, which underpins international law”. 

“No lasting political solution can be imposed from the outside”, he said, warning that “the increasing violations” of this principle by permanent UN Security Council members “will have serious consequences for global security, sparing no one”.

But on Saturday evening President Emmanuel Macron appeared to take a different line.

“The Venezuelan people have today been freed from the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro and can only rejoice,” he wrote on X.

“By confiscating power and trampling on fundamental freedoms, Nicolás Maduro inflicted a grave affront on the dignity of his own people,” Macron insisted, without mentioning the US attacks.

Macron’s entourage said shortly afterwards that “note had been taken of the American operation”, but France’s leftwing parties roundly slammed the president’s comments as a “disgrace” and accused him of pandering to the United States.

What we know about the US attacks on Venezuela

A ‘dark day’ for France

“Macron’s position is not the voice of France. He shames us,” said Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France’s hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI). “He is abandoning international law. A dark day for our country,” he wrote on X.

Manuel Bompard, a fellow LFI MP, said France was “reduced to congratulating Trump’s coups de force”.

Socialist Party secretary, Olivier Faure, also expressed indignation. “France is not a vassal state of the USA and our president cannot behave like a mere spokesperson for the White House”, he said.

Patrick Kanner, the head of the Socialists in the senate said Macron was “trampling this evening on our entire diplomatic history. A disgrace”.

Communist party leader Fabien Roussel described Macron’s position as an “ultimate disgrace”, adding France had been “downgraded to the rank of the USA’s 51st state”.

US allies, foes alarmed by toppling of Venezuela’s Maduro

Leftwing demonstration in Paris

More than a thousand people, some waving Venezuelan flags, gathered at Place de la République in Paris on Saturday afternoon to protest the US attack.

“It’s to express our revolt, our rage,” said Maria, one of the protestors, carrying a Colombian flag. “We don’t agree with Trump’s invasion of Venezuela. It’s always the same  –  the biggest powers have all the power, and we only have the right to keep quiet,” she told Franceinfo.

Another demonstrator Harald, from Nantes, said he was worried about normalising attacks where a country can invade and depose a leader “a bit like what they did in Iraq.. and we see it too with China and Taiwan“.

“If everyone allows themselves to invade for their own interests, there would be no limits any more,” he said.

“We know very well that all this is about oil, it’s not about anything else, it’s not about the Venezuelan people. Donald Trump doesn’t give a damn.”

Trump has said that the United States will “run” Venezuela until a “safe” political transition can take place.

Speaking at the demonstration, Mélenchon said it was necessary “to unequivocally demand the release and immediate return of Nicolás Maduro, free, to Venezuela”.

Is the United States after Venezuela’s oil?

French support for ‘peaceful, democratic transition’

Venezuela’s Supreme Court has appointed Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as interim president.

Macron has said that Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia should help oversee ​the change in power.

Urrutia ran as a last-minute stand-in for opposition figurehead Maria Corina Machado, who was barred from contesting last year’s election, and lives in exile in Madrid.

“The transition to come must ​be peaceful, democratic, and respectful of the will of the Venezuelan people. We hope that President Edmundo González Urrutia, elected in 2024, will be able to ensure this transition as ‍quickly as possible,” Macron wrote in his post on X.

In ​a subsequent message, he said he had spoken to 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner Machado.

“I fully support ‍her call for the release and protection of the political prisoners of Nicolás Maduro’s regime. Like all Venezuelans, she can count on France’s support to carry the voice of ‍a peaceful, democratic transition that fully respects the sovereign ‌will ​of the Venezuelan people. 

Trump takes huge political gamble in Venezuela regime change

‘Sovereignty’ never negotiable

Other French political figures were forced into a balancing act on Saturday – torn between the desire to denounce the US attack without appearing to support the leftist dictator Maduro.

“Not a tear for the plutocratic dictator Maduro, but we must realise that we are entering a world without international law, where the law of the strongest prevails,” said social-democrat MEP Raphaël Glucksmann.

Gabriel Attal, leader of Macron’s Renaissance parliamentary group, said he did not regret the departure of this “dictator”. He described the US operation as “a further sign that the world is now governed by force” and urged Europeans to adapt so as not to be confined to the role of “powerless spectators”.

The leader of the far-right National Rally, Marine Le Pen, said there were “a thousand reasons to condemn Nicolás Maduro’s regime: communist, oligarchic and authoritarian”, but that “state sovereignty is never negotiable”.

“To renounce this principle today for Venezuela, for any state, would be to accept our own servitude tomorrow,” she added.

The president of the rightwing Republicans, Bruno Retailleau, appeared more conciliatory towards Trump, arguing that drug trafficking requires “a firm response”, even if Venezuelan sovereignty “remains sacred”.

(with newswires)

French farmers have been protesting over a ​planned European trade deal with the South American Mercosur bloc, and other issues ‍including measures to contain outbreaks of lumpy skin disease which have led to the culling of livestock.

Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard said Sunday that the tighter checks would make sure food coming from ​outside the EU did not include substances banned in food produced in ​the bloc.

A decree would be issued soon announcing the suspension of imports of some food products already known to contain those substances, she added.

“Imports, regardless of from where they come in the world, must comply with our standards. France is setting an example in Europe by issuing this unprecedented decree that concerns more than a dozen food products,” wrote Genevard on X.

“Melons, apples, apricots, cherries, strawberries, grapes, potatoes: ‍they will only be on sale in France if they show no residue of these substances banned in our ​country. Other products from South America such as avocados, mangos, guavas, or certain citrus fruits from elsewhere will only be allowed in if they comply with our standards,” she added.

What to know about the EU-Mercosur deal

‘Protecting’ French farmers

Prime ‌Minister Sebastien Lecornu said earlier that any imported product showing traces of these weed and fungus killers – namely mancozeb, glufosinate, thiophanate-methyl, and carbendazim ‍which are banned in Europe – will not be allowed in France.

The deal between the 27-member European Union and Mercosur countries Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay was agreed on in 2019, but has stalled as it moves through approval votes in individual countries.

Germany and Spain back the deal, but opponents in France say the trade arrangement would lead to cheap imports of South American commodities, notably beef, that do not meet the European Union’s environmental and food safety standards.

“Protecting our farmers, guaranteeing the health of French people and standing up to any form of unfair competition while making ‍sure our rules are respected – this is non-negotiable. It is up to the European Commission to make ‌sure this is generalised ​across the board. If necessary, we will do it again,” added Genevard.

A number of diplomats in Brussels have told reporters that the EU is working towards signing the Mercosur deal on 12 January in Paraguay, which is set to take over leadership of Mercosur from Brazil.

(with newswires)

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral-rich east has been ravaged by three decades of conflict.

Since taking up arms again in 2021, the M23 rebel group, backed by Rwanda, has seized swathes of territory, leading to a spiralling humanitarian crisis.

Although Congolese and Rwandan leaders signed a peace deal in Washington on 4 December, fighting has continued. DRC authorities have accused Rwanda of killing more than 1,500 civilians in the Congolese east since early December in their latest offensive.

Boys recount ‘torment’ at hands of armed rebels in DR Congo

According to the United Nations, more than 80,000 people have fled across the border to Burundi, while at least half a million have been internally displaced within South Kivu province alone.

But there are those who refuse to leave their posts. They include some of the rangers in national parks like Maiko, on the border of North Kivu and Maniema provinces.

This vast natural haven, stuck in the middle of the conflict, is home to an extraordinary range of animals that park rangers are keen to save at any cost. 

RFI: Alain Mukiranya, you are a forest ranger in Maiko National Park, in eastern DRC. How do you protect the park’s animals in the middle of a war?

Alain Mukiranya: It’s a huge challenge… The population, the authorities and even my fellow park rangers were on the verge of fleeing. In fact, people were already fleeing towards Kisangani [capital of Tshopo province, in north-eastern DRC], further west.

And what I did was go back to join our teams in the field. We joined forces to protect the park. We did this against the flow of the population, at our own risk.

RFI: Instead of leaving, you stayed with a team and managed to persuade some colleagues to stay with you?

AM: That was the mission I received from the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN): to return, revitalise the teams in the field, boost their morale, encourage them, and continue to monitor and protect the park. I convinced them. Together, we patrolled, and none of us left.

RFI: Did your presence in the park deter people from poaching?

AM: Yes, when people see us there, they can no longer risk prohibited acts like poaching or looting the equipment and other conservation assets we have in the park.

Our presence has also reassured some of the local communities. Some even sought refuge with us because that’s where they felt safe. When the chaos erupted, the army was heading west. We stayed, and our presence reassured them. So not everyone in the local community fled. Some took refuge with us, at the park headquarters, and at another station in the area.

RFI: Did you clash with any fighters who tried to enter the park?

AM: The threat was significant, with militias needing to get their hands on weapons and ammunition. We have some here because we use them to protect the park. They wanted to come and seize our equipment to use in their war effort. But we are non-belligerent, apolitical. In times of peace or conflict, we stay and continue our work.

RFI: Did you give them your weapons in the end or not?

AM: We categorically refused. The equipment we have is for protecting wildlife and plants, and nothing else. We categorically refused, despite threats, despite pressure, and we tried to raise their awareness, to make them understand that we are here to do our job and not to interfere in politics or other situations prevailing in the area.

Zimbabwe’s elephant boom fuels conflict alongside conservation wins

RFI: In peacetime, what is the main threat to the animals in your park like gorillas and elephants? Is it professional poachers or is it the local population?

AM: In peacetime, it is poaching carried out by local communities and others who come from elsewhere, who come looking for ways to capture animals for trafficking. It all goes hand in hand.

RFI: As we begin a new year, what do you hope for in 2026?

AM: My wish for this year is the return of peace and good living and working conditions for the people living around Maiko National Park, and for all the Congolese people. For peace to return and the authority of the state to be restored.

My wish is to see the populations of gorillas, okapis, chimpanzees and elephants thrive and continue to multiply so that life can return. Tourism will also help to develop the surrounding communities, because many things will come with it, and even the local economy will benefit.

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This article is based on an original interview in French and has been lightly edited for clarity.

Trump rebooted

Returning to the White House in January, Donald Trump launched his protectionist second term agenda at breakneck speed, ordering mass deportations of undocumented migrants, imposing sweeping budget cuts and dismantling large parts of the United States’ federal government.

Trump also deployed the National Guard in Democrat-led cities, sought to intimidate the media and freely threatened his opponents with legal action.

‘Ceasefire’ in Gaza

Under pressure from Washington, a ceasefire was agreed between Israel and Hamas, two years after the start of the war in Gaza following the 7 October, 2023 attacks. It allowed the return to Israel of the last living hostages and most of the bodies of those killed, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

But the truce remains fragile. Negotiations on the second phase of the peace plan have stalled, with both sides accusing each other almost daily of violating the agreement.

Ukraine peace efforts at a standstill

Trump’s return to the White House revived efforts to end the war in Ukraine, but talks have failed to deliver a breakthrough. The US president made repeated reversals before putting forward a draft plan widely seen as favourable to Moscow.

International discussions continue on that basis, while Russia appears unwilling to compromise and continues its slow and costly advances on the ground.

Tariffs trigger global showdown

Trump imposed tariffs on imports and on entire sectors deemed strategic, triggering a trade conflict that shook the global economy. Difficult negotiations led to numerous agreements, with uneven consequences depending on the country in question.

Talks with neighbouring Mexico and Canada continue to drag on while relations with China, above all, are extremely tense.

AI’s explosive rise

Technology giants and investors spent vast sums to fuel the rapid growth of artificial intelligence. Markets fear a speculative bubble and concerns are mounting, with AI accused of driving disinformation and copyright violations.

Many companies cited it to justify mass lay-offs too. As the technology expands rapidly, the full consequences are difficult to assess.

Gen Z in revolt

Nepal, Indonesia, Peru, Madagascar, Morocco, Bulgaria… across the world, mass movements led by people under 30 emerged in protest at poor living conditions, social media censorship and elite corruption.

They adopted the pirate flag from the manga comic One Piece as a symbol, both on the streets and online, and while their success and impact varied from country to country, together they reflected the anger of a generation.

Climate warnings fall flat

It was another bleak year for the climate. Deadly floods struck Vietnam, while hurricanes and typhoons devastated the Caribbean and the Philippines. Across Europe, temperatures surged and forest fires intensified.

Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, more deadly and more destructive because of climate change. Despite this, Cop30 – held in Belém, in the Amazon – resulted in only a minimalist agreement.

Former leaders behind bars

The year was also marked by the imprisonment of several former presidents. In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro began serving a 27-year sentence for an attempted coup. In France, Nicolas Sarkozy was jailed for 20 days after his conviction for criminal conspiracy.

In South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol is in detention and on trial for insurrection and abuse of power. In the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte was arrested and transferred to The Hague under a warrant from the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

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This retrospective was translated from the original version in French

A tear rolls down Jessica’s cheek as she leaves Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Inside, she and her brother had lit a small candle in tribute to their father, who passed away earlier in 2025.

“These are happy tears, because it was a joyful experience. This building is magnificent. The way it was built, the artwork inside, the stained glass windows, the statues, the paintings… everything is incredible. It was one of my dreams, so I’m glad I came,” explains this tourist from California. “It fills me with joy.”

2025 was a record-breaking year for visitors to the cathedral, with more than 11 million worshippers and tourists welcomed – crowning Notre-Dame France’s most visited monument.

Notre-Dame’s dual role

In the queue for entry, every language of the world can be heard. Foreign tourists account for a third of visitors.

Their number has been bolstered by the resumption of guided tours last June. “The slots fill up so quickly that we are forced to turn people away,” said Théo Abramowicz, president of the National Federation of Interpreters and Tour Guides.

He mostly organises tours for foreigners, but says he’s noticed renewed interest among French visitors.

“I’m seeing more and more people coming from other regions of France and setting aside a whole day just to visit Notre-Dame, which is something new.”

Pompidou Centre in Paris closes until 2030 for extensive renovations

Mass at the cathedral attracts up to a thousand worshippers and, according to the diocese, there have never been so many pilgrimages, with more than 600 in 2025.

However, Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, rector-archpriest of Notre-Dame de Paris, seeks to temper this enthusiasm.

“The cathedral is not seeking to attract large numbers,” he says, explaining that high visitor numbers pose a major challenge in terms of managing the flow of people. “The aim is to allow worship to take place amid the flow.”

In order to reconcile the different roles of Notre-Dame – place of worship versus tourist attraction – a few adjustments have had to be made.

“We limit entry during services to 30 people per minute in the cathedral, compared to 50 outside of services,” explains Ribadeau Dumas.

Does Paris’s most picturesque neighbourhood need protecting from overtourism?

A new attraction

Welcoming fewer people in order to provide a better experience was also the choice made for visits to Notre-Dame’s two towers, which almost collapsed in the fire.

The summit of the south tower is at the top of 420 steps, where those who make the climb are rewarded with a 360-degree view of Paris.

The annual visitor limit has been lowered to 400,000, compared to 450,000 before the disaster. The tour has also been completely redesigned to improve the visual and audio experience, explains Julie Schafir, project manager at the Centre des Monuments Nationaux, which is responsible for managing the two towers.

“We offer visitors a more comfortable experience, a chance to marvel even more and the impression of having the monument all to themselves.” 

Microsoft to create digital twin of Notre-Dame ‘to help support maintenance’

The revised tour also offers a new experience: a meeting with Emmanuel, Notre-Dame’s largest bell. The second largest in France, he weighs 13 tonnes.

“Previously, you could only see the bells from a distance, but now we’ve decided to take visitors underneath them,” explains Schafir. “Don’t worry, they’re securely fastened,” she smiles.

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This article was adapted from the original version in French by Baptiste Coulon.

Shot dead at the age of 20 while parking his car in Marseille, Mehdi Kessaci was not involved in trafficking. Investigators believe he was targeted because of his brother Amine’s outspoken anti-drugs activism – a warning, they fear, aimed at silencing opposition.

His murder, the 15th drug-related killing in the Marseille region in 2025, was described by Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez as a “turning point” and a “crime of intimidation”. It also reignited a debate about how France should respond to criminal networks whose annual turnover is estimated at between five and six billion euros.

New legislation adopted in June last year expands surveillance powers, makes it easier to seize criminal assets and has created a dedicated national prosecution service against organised crime, due to become operational in January.

But some campaigners argue that citizens themselves also have a role to play – and point to Italy’s long experience of fighting the mafia as a model.

“Italy is the country of mafia, but anti-mafia too,” says Fabrice Rizzoli, an academic specialising in geopolitics and organised crime. 

Repurposing criminal assets

A decade ago, Rizzoli co-founded Crim’HALT, an association that encourages civic engagement against organised crime. Inspired by an Italian law adopted in 1996 to allow property confiscated as part of prosecutions to be reallocated to social projects, it set out to develop a similar system in France.

Following sustained advocacy, a law adopted in France in 2021 made it possible to reuse confiscated assets for public good. Around eight buildings across the country have since been handed over to associations.

Rizzoli points to a house in Marseille, confiscated from a cocaine trafficker, that is now used by an organisation supporting women victims of violence. In the overseas territory of Guadeloupe, another confiscated building is being used to house male perpetrators of domestic violence, allowing women to remain in the family home.

“You can see that we are able to transform criminal power to public interest, to citizen power,” Rizzoli says. “We can say to people, ‘you see, change is possible’.”

Listen to a report on Crim’HALT on the Spotlight on France podcast:

France triples drug user fines during Marseille trafficking crackdown

More recognition for victims

Beyond material assets, campaigners argue that organised crime must also be challenged symbolically – by recognising and honouring its victims. Since 2017, Italy has officially marked 21 March as a Day of Remembrance and Commitment for Innocent Victims of Mafia, reading out the names of more than 1,000 victims nationwide.

“Violence is so efficient for organised crime,” Rizzoli says. “When they killed Mehdi Kessaci, of course, it was a message” – a warning that if people fought back against the traffickers, they would pay the price.

But defending the memory of innocent victims takes the focus away from the criminals, he argues, and strengthens civil society. It also provides much needed support to victims’ families who say they often feel abandoned.

Thanks to funding by the EU’s Erasmus+ programme, Crim’HALT takes groups of French citizens – including bereaved families – to southern Italy each year to witness this culture of remembrance. One of them is Hassna Arabi, whose cousin Sokayna Jean, 24, was killed by a stray bullet in Marseille in September 2023 while studying in her bedroom.

Arabi recalls strong official support in the immediate aftermath. “I remember thinking it was great that everyone is here two weeks after, but what about in a year?” A silent march organised a month later drew fewer than 200 people. “I wondered what we could do to make people feel that everyone was concerned.”

In Italy, she found a very different, and welcome, response. “What struck me is the way the entire society has been involved in standing up to drug trafficking,” she says. “Every day I would call Sokayna’s mum… I wanted her to see that we mustn’t lose hope, because in the end, that’s all we have left.”

Fight against drug crime top of the agenda as Macron visits Marseille

‘Silence kills too’

That sense of collective mobilisation is also what struck Jean-Toussaint Plasenzotti, whose nephew Massimu Susini, an environmental activist, was murdered in Corsica in 2019.

After Mehdi Kessaci’s killing, some in France have said they no longer dare speak out. Plasenzotti understands the fear – but rejects silence.

“You imagine that by keeping quiet you’ll ward off the danger,” he says. “But our analysis shows you don’t ward it off. You have to face the danger head on. You have to name it, understand it, and then find the tools to make it go away.”

In Corsica, the anti-mafia Massimu Susini collective he founded recently organised demonstrations under the slogan: “The mafia kills, silence kills too”. “We gathered 5,000 people in two demonstrations, it was a record,” he says.

Inspired by the trips to Italy, Plasenzotti lobbied alongside Rizzoli for tougher rules on asset confiscation. He’s also managed to get anti-mafia education introduced in high schools in Corsica.

“Education – teaching and informing young people about this criminal system – is essential,” Plasenzotti says, to counter the promises of “money, pleasure, impunity”.

‘Silence kills’: Thousands march against the mafia in Corsica protests

Changing the narrative

Rizzoli is calling for France to formally recognise innocent victims of organised crime, starting with an official commemoration on 21 March, like in Italy. “The police narrative is that [gang members] kill each other… while the public is saying ‘it’s not our problem’,” he says. “But the violence of organised crime can be against us all. It can impact anyone. We have to change the narrative.”

Naming child victims such as 10-year-old Fayed, killed in Nîmes in 2023 by a stray bullet while in the car with his uncle, or 14-year-old Rayanne Begue, shot dead in Marseille in August 2021 after going out to buy a sandwich, challenges that complacency. 

Rizzoli argues that naming a school after innocent victims like Socayna, Fayed or Rayanne would send out a message to drug traffickers that they cannot behave with impunity.

Crim’HALT also advocates for legal reforms, based on Italy’s tried and tested experience. They include extending asset confiscation to civil courts, which would allow authorities to seize assets from drug traffickers’ family members; extending witness protection to murderers so they could denounce their accomplices; and creating a specific legal status for innocent victims and their families, particularly siblings, to help them access education or work.

“We don’t have to be naive,” Rizzoli says. “It’s not only social anti-mafia citizen power that will reduce violence.”

But if politicians, public institutions and citizens work together more closely, “we’ll be our strongest against organised crime”. 

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Listen to a report on the work of Crim’HALT on the Spotlight on France podcast, episode #136.

Ghizlane Sahli’s latest project, called “Les flux qui nous tissent” (The flows that bind us), illustrates this creative collaboration between artists and artisans.

Born in Meknes, Sahli is now based in Marrakesh, where she works with local artisans who use the famous sabra silk thread made from the fibres of desert cactus plants.

Her exquisite wall hangings of three-dimensional organic shapes are made from recycled waste such as plastic bags, caps and bottles, delicately embroidered together with strands of sabra and wool.

Shedding pollution

She finds inspiration in the magical, regenerative capabilities of nature as well as the intricate workings of the female body – capable of giving and sustaining life.

“I always wanted to talk about the pureness and the essence of us as human beings. And for me, it’s talking about nature,” Sahli told RFI in Paris, where she was taking part in the Also Known as Africa contemporary art fair (AKAA) in October.

The rich reds and whites of the shapes in her works are reminiscent of alveoli – the tiny air sacs of the lungs. But from another angle, they look like coral reefs, shells or algae. The works appear to be alive, moving, breathing. 

Paris fair celebrates modern African artists reinventing traditional crafts

Sahli explains that she came to the art scene late in life, after a career as an architect and raising four children. She used to make clothes for them, decorated with embroidery.

As well as a commentary on waste and the need to recycle, there is a secondary layer of meaning in Sahli’s work. It’s a subtle metaphor of humanity that absorbs pollution, albeit of a different kind.

“I really want to talk about universal things, as I always had that idea of a big hand taking our body and shaking it and cleaning it from all the pollution that we have during our life,” she says.

“By pollution, I mean the things that we learn through our education, through culture, through religion.”

Nature the creator

Nature is also at the heart of Zineb Mezzour’s creative universe.

Water in all its forms is a constant inspiration in her work, especially the way it interacts with different materials and transforms them. The 28-year-old artist loves to experiment with fractals, geometric patterns with endless tiny repetitions and variations, like snowflakes.

In her workshop in Marseille, she spends time recreating these natural patterns using ceramic, paper and fabric.

One of the works is a long wall hanging made up of dozens of small ceramic disks, each handmade and woven together. Each one has a pattern in blue made from a drop of cobalt oxide which disperses differently depending on the surface where it lands.

Morocco: bridging Africa and the world through contemporary art

Nearby is a long, flowing curtain in earthy tones that resembles the inside of a cave lined with stalactites and stalagmites, grown over centuries one drop at a time.

Mezzour describes her work as in “symbiosis with nature, arriving at this little moment of magical creation”.

Like Sahli, Mezzour draws parallels with human beings and their life experiences: like snowflakes, no two people are alike.

“Over time, a tiny drop of water will create something majestic,” she says. “I think each of us has our inner world with our stories, our wounds, our successes, which create something quite unique.”

Circle of life

Kinetic energy fills the wooden sculptures of Bouchra el Menjra, an artist from Casablanca who discovered woodwork about five years ago and hasn’t looked back.

Spectators seem intrigued by her pieces that sway, rock or spin gently, unsure if they’re allowed to touch them or not (they are).

Moroccan artist’s fusion of heritage and herbalism provides soft return to earth

The sculptures represents the circular pattern of life and its challenges, el Menjra explained. “The colours are earth colours, colours of fire – precisely to speak of this fire that is within us, that pushes us to create, to rise again, to always remain in motion.”

Their hypnotic movements reflect a philosophy.

“It’s a metaphor to express that in life, to move things forward, we need to get our hands dirty, we need to act so that things can evolve and things can be in motion,” the artist said.

Fun fashion

The lesson is borne out in the playful designs of Sophia Kacimi, who turned to her Moroccan roots for inspiration after a career in the French fashion industry.

Having spent years working in Paris, she was looking for a new project that could incorporate traditional artisanal skills and bring an aspect of her family’s homeland into the limelight.

That’s how Zoubida was formed. It’s a creative, collective platform where she sources fabric traditionally used for upholstery in Morocco.

Kacimi works hand in hand with local artisans to transform this colourful fabric into clothing such as jackets and dresses, as well as home accessories and furniture pieces.

“I feel as an artist, we have a duty to engage and to bring something to the world that is positive,” she told RFI. “I think it’s an extension of who I am in the end. I’m a very adult child, and I like to see people playing with my pieces and not be serious with it.”

She agrees that a new generation of artists is emerging, with women like herself at the forefront: unafraid to experiment, to fuse cultural backgrounds and turn traditions in the art world on their head.

Yahia, 17, Algeria fan

“The Africa Cup of Nations in Barbès is a celebration of football, especially when you are supporting Algeria, Morocco or Tunisia. In fact, these are my three favourite teams,” said 17-year-old Yahia, a student who was watching Algeria play against Equatorial Guinea in Barbès, a predominantly north-African neighbourhood in the north of Paris.

“My parents are Algerian and Tunisian, I was born in France but my heart is with the Maghreb countries for this football competition. I come to Barbès for the crowd, the party atmosphere. And it will be even more fun as we near the finals.”

Riad, 29, Algeria fan

“I am an Algerian from Algiers and I am a die-hard fan of the Algerian team. So much so that I am wearing the Algerian jersey underneath my shirt. I even went to work like this,” said 29-year-old Riad, who teaches German in Paris.

He came to Barbès to watch the match but couldn’t find anywhere indoors, so he and his friends resorted to standing in the cold watching on a big TV screen behind the window of a closed United Youth International cultural centre.

But, he said: “Even if it means standing in minus 10 degrees, it does not matter, we have to support our country.”

He added: “Watching the Africa Cup of Nations in Algiers is something else. Very different from here in Paris. Back home it’s bombastic. There are wide TV screens to watch the matches, everybody is on the streets when Algeria is playing – old people, kids, families.

“Everybody is out to have a good time, eating, drinking and have fun. When we are nearing the semi-finals, people will even stop work to watch the matches. This year, I believe the odds are in favour of Algeria.”

Oumar, 56, Senegal fan

“The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations so far has been interesting with good games to watch. I am Senegalese and support Senegal, but Côte d’Ivoire is next and then Mali. They’re my top three sides,” said 56-year-old Oumar, who stays in an African workers’ social residence. He shares a studio there with a friend.

For Oumar, there is no comparison between watching the tournament in Paris and watching it back home in Senegal.

“I have much more freedom to express myself at home. While watching a match I can shout, jump around, eat, drink, have lots of my friends over. Here in this small studio, I am very much restricted. There is such an ambiance back home – the music, the food, the people, old and young, all rooting for Senegal. I miss that a lot.”

Oumar said that the matches are shown on big screens in towns across Senegal, making it easy for people to watch together.

“We argue a lot too. In Senegal, everybody is a coach, they all know better. We are as passionate about football as we are about politics.”

He added: “I’m convinced Senegal will win the Africa Cup of Nations 2025. We have great players like Sadio Mané, Ibrahim Mbaye, Lamine Camara, Krépin Diatta. And the best player trophy will go to 17-year-old Ibrahim Mbaye.”

Elise, 40s, Côte d’Ivoire fan

“I am a football fanatic who is closely following the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. I am from Côte d’Ivoire and obviously a die-hard fan of the Côte d’Ivoire team,” said Elise, who is in her forties and was watching the Côte d’Ivoire versus Gabon match with friends at an African restaurant.

“This Africa Cup of Nations gave us quite a few surprises. Who could have predicted that the Democratic Republic of Congo would play so well and score up. I thought Cameroon would have been a tougher side.

“I am thoroughly enjoying the matches even though we were on tenterhooks during this match. That’s Côte d’Ivoire, the capacity to change the odds, fight back and grab victory at the last minute.”

Elise too says watching the tournament in France is not the same, as she feels constrained.

However, when the match ended in a Côte d’Ivoire victory and the Ivorian restaurant owner began blasting coupé-décalé music, she didn’t hesitate to break out some dance moves among the tables with her fellow supporters.

RFI: Bardot was very young when she started her film career. It was ultimately quite short but very intense, and left its mark. In what way do you think she embodied an era?

Antoine de Baecque: Brigitte Bardot represents a little piece of France that is disappearing. She embodied several moments in cinema, several eras – between her appearance in the late 1950s, which coincided with the emergence of a new style of cinema, the New Wave, and then on to films that were huge successes, both in the United States and in France. Then she said goodbye to it all very young – she ended her film career at the age of 40, in the early 1970s.

Bardot was always a kind of reflection, a mirror… that reflected the developments of the moment. And that’s what’s so powerful about Bardot in cinema, it’s that way she has of signifying something – like a phenomenon, like an apparition.

Remembering Bardot: ‘sex symbol’, ‘crazy cat lady’ and far-right supporter

RFI: Her appearance in Roger Vadim’s And God Created Woman in 1956 caused a sensation in the film industry and she was elevated to the status of a symbol, a sex symbol.

ADB: It’s a paradoxical story, that God created Roger Vadim’s woman, because for Vadim [this film] was first and foremost his way of creating a woman: here is the Nouvelle Vague girl. This young woman who is going to be a bit of a model for her era.

And it wasn’t necessarily very well received. And God Created Woman was not a huge success when it was first released in France. In fact, it was when it reached the United States that the Bardot phenomenon took off in 1958.

RFI: Two years later…

ADB: Exactly, the film is French and is received [in France] with very mixed reviews. It is considered very shocking for its nude scenes, for its very transgressive nature compared to the young leading ladies of French cinema in the 1950s, which was still a fairly restrictive, very moralistic cinema.

And then the film is released in the US where it became a real phenomenon, in the sense that American youth elected Bardot as the sex symbol of her time.

RFI: The British press said Bardot in the film was the biggest shock since the French Revolution in 1789. It immediately took on a global dimension, it wasn’t just France.

ADB: Of course, [this shock] was seen in the US and the UK and even Italy. And it was this international [reaction] that, in a sort of boomerang effect, came back [to France] and on its second French release, it was a huge success.

Bardot… was truly a new [type of woman] in cinema, with this very frank, very free way of showing her body, this completely new way of choosing her men, compared to the customs of the time. She was no longer the prey, she was the predator, in a way. And that was something completely new.

Bardot: the screen goddess who gave it all up

RFI: She became an international megastar. And yet it wasn’t until 1963 that she starred in a true masterpiece, Le Mépris (Contempt).

ADB: Bardot can only be herself. That’s her greatness – she can only play herself, she can only speak in her own way, she can only appear in her own way. And so she will always struggle with cinema which wants to give her characters to play.

In Le Mépris, Jean-Luc Godard really uses her as a plant, as he says – she is a beautiful plant and there is something almost objective about it. Particularly, of course, in the famous scene that opens the film, which was actually shot later on, when Godard, in response to his producers who wanted Bardot, said: “Well, here you go, I’ll give you Bardot.” So we get a nude scene that would become a legendary scene in world cinema.

RFI: Was she a great actress, in your opinion?

ADB: No, I don’t think she was an actress. She didn’t really like cinema herself. You know, she was there, but she didn’t consider herself an actress. What she liked was being with her friends, partying or relaxing at home, in her refuges at La Madrague, [her beach house] in Saint-Tropez or [her home in] Bazoches [near Paris].

But Bardot knew very well that cinema was necessary. It was the means to become famous, the means to conquer the world. And she did it. But not as an actress. She wasn’t an actress, she was a phenomenon.

She loved to sing. She had passions. She always loved animals. That was an instinctive [thing] she always had – that is, taking in animals and defending them, and attacking very vehemently those who mistreated animals. And singing was something she did a lot, with people who wrote songs for her. La Madrague is a song that was written for her in the early 1960s. And then, of course, there was the meeting with Serge Gainsbourg…

First and foremost, it’s a love story. A passionate story of three months of mad love in the autumn of 1967, which resulted in these masterpieces of French chanson: Harley Davidson, Comic Strip, Bonnie and Clyde. And then, of course, Je t’aime… moi non plus, the legendary song recorded on 10 December 1967 – which was about Bardot at a time when she was involved in a love affair [with Gainsbourg]. [The record was shelved because Bardot didn’t want her husband at the time, Gunter Sachs, to find out.] It [was then] covered by Jane Birkin [Gainsbourg’s subsequent love interest] before we even got to hear Bardot’s version.

Jane Birkin, an English chanteuse who left her mark on French pop

RFI: Bardot said that Initials BB, a song Gainsbourg wrote about her, was the most beautiful declaration of love she ever received.

ADB: Yes, that’s absolutely right. I think that between Bardot and Gainsbourg, it’s both mythology and at the same time something that they shared intimately. No one can ever take that away from them. It’s truly a love story that became songs.

And that’s something that is also Bardot’s strength: that she chooses. At one point, she wanted to choose Gainsbourg because she loved the way he looked at her, the way he desired her, and she chose Gainsbourg over everyone else, over everything – her husband, convention, social norms, what people might say.

And the song Je t’aime… moi non plus is the embodiment of this passion. Bardot may have had a passion for certain men but, in a way, passion itself her true love – this way of loving that was very shocking for the times she lived in, being free to love and then to throw that love away. I think that’s the very essence of Bardot, that choice.

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This article has been adapted from an interview in French by RFI’s Charlotte Idrac and edited for clarity.

2025 marked the 200th anniversary of Louis Braille‘s invention of the six-dot tactile writing system that opened the door to literacy for millions of blind people.

Two centuries on, Braille is still used by around a third of France’s estimated two million blind and visually impaired people.

Yet access to reading material remains limited. Of the roughly 100,000 books published in France each year, only about 3 percent are transcribed into Braille. And just one institution systematically follows contemporary literary trends – the Centre de transcription et d’édition en braille (CTEB), based in Toulouse in south-west France.

Founded in the late 1980s, following earlier research into Braille transcription software at Toulouse University, the CTEB became France’s main centre for transcribing, editing, printing and distributing Braille books, magazines and documents.

Today its catalogue contains around 2,000 titles, with between 200 and 250 new books added each year – from Harry Potter and Disney stories to self-help manuals and recent literary prize winners.

“Our collection has books for children from the age of four. And then it’s really all styles,” says CTEB director Adeline Coursant.

“Thrillers, novels, biographies, but also practical books like recipes, computing… We even produced the first books on sexuality, with illustrations in relief, which didn’t exist before. So there’s a bit of eroticism. And the current trend is towards personal development, spirituality and so on. So we keep abreast of the latest literary trends.”

Listen to a report from the CTEB on the Spotlight on France podcast:

A costly endeavour 

Producing books in Braille is expensive. They require around three times more paper than standard editions, and the paper itself is more costly.

The process is also labour-intensive. Texts must be cleaned, page layouts simplified, and illustrations redesigned before transcription using specialist software.

Every letter and character of the transcriptions are then checked by the CTEB’s reading committee of blind volunteers.

“I’m re-reading the books, testing the transcription,” says 42-year-old Sophie Renault, who recently joined the 60-strong team.

She works in tandem with her friend Virginie, touching the design of the books the graphics department produces “to see if they are compatible or accessible for blind people and how they can be improved”.

The pair have different, but complementary, profiles. “I was born blind so I’m very bad at mental and spatial representation. Virginie is very good at manual things.”

Given all the additional work involved, the average cost of producing a Braille book is between €700 and €900. And for children’s books where intricate details of the  illustrations have to be rendered tactile, the price can rise to €1,500.

“We adapt all the drawings in the books so they’re understandable to the touch, while retaining the original illustrator’s style,” Coursant says. “You can’t ‘see’ a character in profile on a drawing… so we have to rework all the drawings.”

French woman allowed to daydream again thanks to guide dog

Service providers

Alongside books printed out on large machines known as embossers, the centre also generates its own revenue by producing Braille versions of bank statements, tourist brochures, theatre programmes, festival guides and newspapers.

Agnès Cappelletto, one of the centre’s 12 employees, is in charge of transcribing and editing such documents. After receiving the PDF versions on her computer, she uses Duxbury software for the transcription into Braille and then prints them off page by page from a small embosser on her desk.

Today she’s processing an order for a Braille version of a lengthy Christmas Eve restaurant menu from a customer who wanted her blind father to be able to read what he would be eating.

“They can read the menu separately and discuss it afterwards,” Cappelletto says. “It wouldn’t have been the same experience for the father if his daughter had had to read the menu to him. 

“I like being of service to people,” she adds.

Making movies accessible to blind people

Paper vs digital

Given the high cost of producing Braille books, and with audio books and digital Braille available at a fraction of the cost, some question whether paper Braille has a future.

Renault is very digitally connected and says she accesses Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube on her phone, using a voice-activated screen reader. Even so, she recognises it’s not for everyone.

“I prefer to read on my computer, but people still need to have paper Braille. It’s like you, when you ‘see’. Some people need to have the book in their hand. Some people like turning pages.”

For CTEB president Blandine Gallo, who lost her sight at the age of six, it’s not just a matter of preference. Paper Braille helps people, not least children, to become literate, she argues.

“Many people oppose paper Braille and digital Braille, but we shouldn’t pit the two against each other, we need both,” she says. “We need paper Braille because it’s important to have the knowledge of the page, with the lines, with the end of the line. Children who have never ‘seen’ can’t know how a book is organised.”

While audio and digital Braille books have their place, she says paper Braille remains crucial for learning spelling, grammar and spatial organisation – skills that underpin literacy and encourage independence.

Cricket World Cup for blind women helps change attitudes

Equality at a price

Until recently, the CTEB sold Braille books to libraries and bookshops at roughly three times the price of the original, reflecting their greater length and production costs. But in January 2023, Coursant decided to apply France’s fixed book-pricing law, introduced in 1981 by then culture minister Jack Lang.

The institution, which used to sell works from its catalogue between €60 and €122, began pricing them between €11 and €30.

“It’s about equality,” she says. “There’s no reason why a blind person should have to pay three times more because they have a disability.”

The centre is now operating at a considerable loss. “On average, we’re losing €680 per book,” Coursant explains. With up to 250 titles a year, that amounts to more than €130,000 annually. The cumulative funding gap now stands at €300,000.

“We’re in difficulty because we’re not supported enough,” she says. They’ve requested funding from the culture ministry but despite promises, it has not materialised.

“We’re not asking for a huge sum, €300,000 a year. It would allow us to supply not only all blind people in France, but also all French-speaking media libraries.”

Coursant has also floated a novel idea: adding a ten-cent solidarity contribution to every book sold in France to fund accessible publishing for people with disabilities, including those with dyslexia or who just need larger print. 

The CETB sent all of France’s MPs and senators a card in Braille this Christmas, drawing attention to their cause. As Coursant says: “It’s time the state considered blind people as French citizens.”

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Listen to a report from the CTEB on the Spotlight on France podcast, episode #137.

Diaz scored once in each of three group matches and his 64th-minute strike against the Tanzanians created history as he became the first Moroccan to find the net in four consecutive AFCON matches.

The goal came after Morocco squandered numerous scoring chances while stretching an unbeaten run in competitive and friendly matches to 23. Their last loss was to South Africa at the 2024 AFCON.

Morocco will face South Africa or Cameroon, who meet later on Sunday at a different Rabat venue, in the quarter-finals on Friday.

Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi, set up the last-16 winner for Diaz, while making his first start in the tournament after coming off the bench in a victory over Zambia last Monday.

The 2025 African player of the year suffered a serious ankle injury playing for PSG against Bayern Munich in the Champions League two months ago.

But Morocco lacked Azzedine Ounahi, who arrived at the stadium using crutches and wearing a medical boot on his left foot. Bilal El Khannouss took his place in midfield.

Morocco were favourites for several reasons, including home advantage, the backing of close to 70,000 supporters, and lying 101 places above Tanzania in the world rankings.

Teen Mbaye seals AFCON last-16 victory for Senegal over Sudan

First chance 

However, it was Tanzania who had the first chance in the third minute, but Saimon Msuva misconnected with a Selemani Mwalimu cross.

Morocco had the ball in the net after 15 minutes as Ismael Saibari nodded a Abdessamad Ezzalzouli free-kick past goalkeeper Hussein Masaranga.

The assistant referee immediately raised his flag for offside and a VAR review confirmed that the PSV striker had strayed too far forward.

Ayoub El Kaabi was the next Moroccan to come close, heading over before being injured in a collision with Masaranga. Both players resumed after treatment.

A Diaz shot was too high from the edge of the box and El Kaabi headed wide as the host nation continued their pursuit of the opening goal, but the first half ended goalless.

Football fans far from home in Paris come together for the Africa Cup of Nations

In a lively start to the second period, Ezzalzouli and El Kaabi headed wide then, in a rare Tanzanian raid, Feisal ‘Fei Toto’ Salum fired over with only goalkeeper Yassine Bounou to beat.

As Moroccan pressure mounted, Hakimi rifled a free-kick against the crossbar from just outside the box on the hour mark.

A goal seemed inevitable given the relentless pressure from the host nation, and it came thanks to Hakimi and Diaz.

The full-back passed to the forward, who beat Masaranga at his near post with an angled shot from close range.

In a small town near Mahajanga, chants of the Sakalava, one of Madagascar’s ethnic groups, drift through the open windows of a house where around 60 guests, mostly young people, are gathered in a living room filled with incense and music.

During the ceremony, some participants fall into a trance, their bodies believed to be temporarily inhabited by ancestral spirits.

At one point, five people are possessed at the same time. Some bodies tremble beneath cloths, while others suddenly grow still. A woman inhabited by a male spirit removes her clothing before slowly returning to her normal state.

Watching closely is Josiane Lazare, 30, seated on a mat in the room.

She continues to welcome guests and serve drinks until well into the early hours. Lazare heads La Fac Madagascar, a platform dedicated to preserving Malagasy traditions, and plays a central role in the ceremony.

“We are searching for identity; especially young people,” she tells RFI. “This ritual allows us to interact with our ancestors, to find ourselves and understand where we come from and where we are going.”

Lazare says her generation is determined to keep traditions alive.

“We see ourselves as the ‘Gen Z of tradition’, fighting to preserve the values of our ancestors,” she explains.

Many young people feel excluded from decisions about the country’s future, she says, adding that communities where elders pass on ritual knowledge offer a different model.

“Among those who keep these traditions, there is mutual respect. Adults pass things on to us and encourage us to take our place.”

Madagascar’s Gen Z uprising, as told by three young protesters

Learning the rites

That transmission continues into the early hours of the morning.

After the sacrifice of a zebu, a type of cattle common in Madagascar, elders teach younger participants gathered around them how to cut the animal correctly. At around 3am, an elder gives instructions by the light of a headlamp.

“If you look at these horns, if we cut them properly, we’ll be able to hang the skull outside the house to honour the ancestors. Look, big brother, you need to cut a bit lower here,” he says.

A younger man struggles to follow the guidance. “There’s something I don’t understand. I followed your advice, but look, it’s not coming off, it’s too hard,” he replies.

The elder tells him to “cut even lower”.

As the sun rises, the ceremony moves into its final stages, with purification rites followed by a shared meal. Johnson Fierens, prince of Belmamoun, a local royal lineage, and host of the ceremony, gathers people in his living room to reflect on what they have witnessed.

“When you take part in something, you have to understand what it means,” he tells them. “This rite educates us, corrects us and shapes us. Respect for tradition is the key to developing our country.”

Fierens urges the younger generation to focus their energy carefully. “You are not going to learn the traditions of other countries. Use your strength for good,” he says.

A photographer’s journey into Malagasy ancestral rituals

A society under strain

The turn towards ancestral practices comes against a backdrop of deep social pressure. Malagasy society is under strain, with many young people facing poverty and lack of jobs. More than 40 percent of 18 to 35-year-olds are unemployed.

Those tensions were laid bare during a recent wave of anger among Generation Z, which led to a sudden change of government in October. Youth-led protests over electricity and water shortages spread nationwide, forcing the president to flee the country.

It is against this backdrop that some young people are turning back to their cultural roots.

Zeena Ranieri, an anthropologist and lecturer at the University of Antananarivo, says the movement reflects a society in transition.

“Every political, economic and cultural context has shaken Malagasy society,” she tells RFI. “It has become a society searching for identity and for ways forward.”

Young people, she says, feel disconnected from the paths laid out for them, education that does not lead to employment and social models that no longer offer stability or fulfilment.

“We cannot find work with what we learned. We cannot find happiness with the reference points we were given,” Ranieri says. “That’s why there is a break. We know we need a new identity and new reference points.”

For some young Malagasy, that search does not mean rejecting modern life but living alongside it. Ancestral rites offer defined roles, shared rules and a recognised place within the community.

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This story is based on a radio report in French by RFI correspondent Sarah Tétaud

“Craig, the legendary super tusker famed for its immense, ground-sweeping tusks and calm, dignified presence, passed on at the age of 54,” the Kenya Wildlife service said in a statement Saturday.

The bull elephant lived in Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya –  a favorite for safari tourism.

The Amboseli Trust for Elephants said Craig had died of natural causes and that it was grateful to everyone who worked to help the animal “live out his life naturally”.

Local broadcaster NTV aired a segment on the death of Craig, describing the elephant as a rare creature and “one of the last remaining elephants identified as super tuskers in Africa”.

The term describes a bull elephant with tusks that weigh over 45 kilograms each – so long that they scrape the ground as the elephant walks, according to the Tsavo Trust, a non-profit conservation group in Kenya.

Females that grow long tusks are called iconic cows, the group says. 

Top of the class: clever Kenyan elephants learn to use rail underpasses

Powerful bloodline

Craig the elephant was a major attraction in Amboseli National Park. The Kenya Wildlife Service described him as an “icon” of successful conservation and a “living monument to Africa’s natural heritage”.

In 2021, he was adopted by beer maker East African Breweries through its popular Tusker brand, reflecting his prominence but also underscoring collaboration between conservation groups and others in Kenya. 

Craig “fathered a number of calves, ensuring that his powerful bloodline and gentle character live on across generations,” the wildlife service said.

Kenya’s national parks and reserves are home to a variety of wildlife species and attract millions of visitors each year, making the country a tourism hotspot.

The elephant population has grown from 36,280 in 2021 to 42,072 in 2025, the latest official figures show. 

‘It’s about stopping harmful tourism’: the fight against Maasai Mara luxury hotel

In the Mwea National Reserve, a protected area east of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, the elephant population grew spectacularly, overwhelming the ecosystem and requiring the relocation of about 100 elephants in 2024. 

In June this year, Zimbabwe announced it would cull 50 elephants in an effort to manage soaring numbers in a southeastern game reserve, with meat from the operation to be distributed to nearby communities.

(with newswires)

Industrial materials are becoming more prominent in contemporary art, particularly in sculpture and installations, with artists experimenting with recycled metals to explore light, perception and movement – often blurring the line between craft, design and fine art. 

Steel, long associated with construction and heavy industry, has in recent years found its way into galleries and exhibition spaces. Francisco Serrato uses the industrial material to produce visual effects that change with their surrounding environment.

Growing up with a welder for a father meant that metal has always been a part of his life, but he has carved out a different path when it comes to using it.

“Steel has sentimental value for me. It speaks to me on an olfactory level, a tactile level, an auditory level,” Serrato told RFI.

“I think of it like a member of my family. I love steel and that’s why I try to showcase it as much as possible as I see it – not as something cold or utilitarian, but rather something that speaks to people.”

Hidden beauty

Serrato had spent some time working in an industrial setting, albeit in an office, and had dabbled in metalwork with his father, but he felt he needed to explore the possibilities further. 

His background feeds into a practice that sits at the crossroads of craft, art and industrial heritage. When the opportunity arose to do some professional training, he tried a variety of different trades, from woodwork to tapestry. 

But it was steel that caught his imagination as a medium, for its hidden visual beauty. 

Notre-Dame revival drives return to ancient French craftsmanship

“Steel is still a metal. It transmits energy, and not just physical energy. Metal can be used for electricity and for other things. It transmits heat, but it also transmits vibrations and the colours contribute to this vibrational aspect. You can see this deeper side of it.”

Hailing from France’s southern region of Provence, Serrato has always been spoiled when it comes to sunlight. One day while inspecting a work outside, he saw, to his surprise, a rainbow emerge from the otherwise flat surface.

From then on, he began to incorporate light fully into his artistic practice. 

He began experimenting with tools to create different designs on the surface of the steel sheets, producing a multitude of shapes and even optical illusions of movement – all thanks to light.

He noticed subtle changes when the works were hung next to a lamp or an open fire, or a television screen. He saw the potential for limitless “special effects” in contrast to those seen in natural sunlight.

Relinquishing control

His works sometimes look like they’ve been painted, but Serrato insists there are no chemicals used to make the colours – just hours and hours of polishing work.

“The colours emerge in the light. I heat them up which also makes them change colour. Sometimes colours form because of humidity or a slight draught when I’m using the heat. So anything can change, I don’t control the whole process.”

Serrato likens his sculptures to human characters, with no two alike. He gets a kick out of how each viewer sees a completely different work, depending on the time of day, the type of lighting or the absence of light.

His focus on process, chance and shifting perceptions echoes a wider interest in process-driven art, where artists deliberately relinquish some control over the final outcome.

“Human beings have many facets and my works are a little bit like people in that way. In the daylight they look a certain way and then in the evening light, they look different. If you turn off the lights and stand in front of the works, you’ll see them in a completely new way.”

Meet the experimental artist for whom mistakes can be magical

‘The human touch’

Environmental concerns have also increasingly shaped artistic practices, with more artists seeking to reduce waste by reusing off-cuts or repurposing industrial by-products.

Serrato is proud to say his works carry an “eco label”, meaning he uses recycled scraps of metal wherever possible. With the off-cuts from his work he has started a line of rings. He has also developed his own varnish made from orange blossom, so as to avoid using any harmful chemicals.

While he hails the progress artificial intelligence has brought to medicine and science, Serrato is also proud that his works are all handmade and that he doesn’t use computer-driven images to create his designs.

He is convinced that what draws people to art is “the human touch”.

“Even though artificial intelligence is wonderful, it makes beautiful things, people aren’t stupid. If they want something deeper, more human, they’ll inevitably turn to an artist who creates with their hands, who takes their time, who observes a landscape with their own eye.”

The British Ministry of Defence said it had cooperated with France on Saturday night to strike an underground facility in Syria that had likely been used by the Islamic State group to store weapons.

The ministry said there was no indication the bombing north of the ancient site of Palmyra had posed any risk to civilians.

“Royal Air Force aircraft have completed successful strikes against Daesh in a joint operation with France,” the ministry said in a statement, using the Arabic acronym for IS.

“This facility had been occupied by Daesh, most likely to store weapons and explosives. The area around the facility is devoid of any civilian habitation,” the statement added.

The French military command later Sunday confirmed on X that it had carried out “strikes against positions of the Islamic State terrorist group” to “prevent the resurgence of Daesh”, without giving further details.

The strikes were carried out as part of Operation Inherent Resolve – the international anti-jihadist coalition coordinated by the United States, the message said. 

British aircraft used Paveway IV guided bombs to target several access tunnels leading to the facility, the statement said, adding that a detailed assessment was currently underway but that initial indications showed that “the target was successfully hit”. It did not specify the role of French aircraft.

A year after Assad’s fall, Syrian hopes for transitional justice are fading

Ongoing presence

IS was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019 but still maintains a presence, particularly in the country’s vast desert.

Known to Syrians as the “Pearl of the Desert”, Palmyra was home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins before Syria’s 13-year war.

IS launched a campaign of destruction after capturing Palmyra, using its ancient theatre as a venue for public executions and murdering its 82-year-old former antiquities chief.

The jihadists blew up the shrine of Baal Shamin, destroyed the Temple of Bel, dynamited the Arch of Triumph, looted the museum and defaced statues and sarcophagi.

Last month, Washington said a lone IS gunman in Palmyra attacked American personnel, killing two US soldiers and a US civilian.

Trump vows revenge after troops in Syria killed in alleged IS ambush

US forces said they struck dozens of IS targets in Syria in retaliation.

(with AFP)

“We’re thinking about it very seriously,” Trump said when asked by a reporter about the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey during a visit this week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The sale has been blocked for years due to Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system. A recent Bloomberg report suggested Ankara may be prepared to return the missiles, though Turkish officials have denied this.

Political commentator Asli Aydintasbas, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, says that the strengthening relationship between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan means both sides are working to resolve the impasse.

“He [Trump] himself is working with Turkey through his very effective ambassador, Tom Barrack, to find a solution,” said Aydintasbas. “There will be stiff opposition from the Greek lobby, Israelis and other regional players. But we’ve seen Trump skirt such opposition when it came to the Saudi Arabia F-35 sale.”

Military edge

Israeli security experts warn that Turkey’s acquisition of F-35 jets poses a greater security risk to Israel than the Saudi deal due to the Turkish military’s expertise, which threatens to challenge Israel’s technological advantage.

Currently, Israel maintains a significant edge as the Turkish air force operates decade-old jets, a factor that is increasingly important amid rising regional tensions.

“There was definitely a concern in the spring that there might be a confrontation in the skies of Syria between Israel and Turkey,” said Gallia Lindenstrauss of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

Syria in crossfire as Turkish-Israeli rivalry heats up over Assad’s successors

She stresses the risk of confrontation has significantly diminished thanks to “de-confliction talks”, brokered by Azerbaijan. A Syria “hotline” now exists between Israel and Turkey to prevent what Lindenstrauss describes as “accidents between the Israeli Air Force and the Turkish Air Force”.

Yet the need for such measures underscores how strained ties are. “The fact that it exists, of course, does point to the fact that things are not necessarily calm,” Lindenstrauss acknowledged.

Provocative alliances

Israel’s conflict in Gaza has heightened tensions with Turkey. On New Year’s Day, hundreds of thousands protested in Istanbul in support of Palestinians.

Tensions escalated further as Israel increased military cooperation last month with Greece and Cyprus. Both Greece and Cyprus have unresolved territorial disputes with Turkey in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas.

“Israelis are provoking especially Greeks and Greek Cypriots,” said Murat Aslan of Seta, a Turkish pro-government think tank. “The Israeli pilots are educating and training Greek pilots. They are operating [drones] across the Aegean Sea. And they sold many complex missile systems. So that means Israelis are provoking Greece just to challenge Turkey here in the Aegean Sea.”

In his New Year’s address, Erdogan said he was closely monitoring what he describes as threats and provocations against Turkey and Turkish Cypriots. Aslan predicts Ankara will not remain passive. “If there is a pattern in the west of Turkey that Greeks and Israelis are cooperating, for the sake of Turkish security interests, for sure there will be a reaction,” he warned.

Israel talks defence with Greece and Cyprus, as Turkey issues Netanyahu warrant

Greece, which is also acquiring the F-35, has joined Israel in opposing Turkey’s purchase of the jet, warning it would alter the balance of power.

While Trump has expressed support for the Turkish sale, analyst Aydintasbas notes the US president is learning the limitations of his power when it comes to Israel.

“Trump is going through what a lot of US presidents have experienced: frustration, and a question – ‘wait a minute, who’s the superpower here?’” she said. “Because of the power dynamic in the US-Israeli relationship, it sometimes does point to a situation in which Israelis, though the weaker side technically, end up having the upper hand because of their enormous influence in the public space.”

Aydintasbas predicts that, despite Trump’s friendship with and admiration for Erdogan, the US president will be unwilling to pay the political price of securing the Turkish jet sale. “This is an issue on which Trump is not willing to fight the US Congress… and essentially ignore the US law,” she said.

For the self-described master dealmaker, it may prove a deal too far.

On Saturday, Trump ordered large-scale military strikes in Venezuela and announced that leftist leader Nicolas Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country.

The US Attorney General said Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores had been indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges including “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy,” conspiracy to import cocaine, and charges related to machineguns.

The European Union has called for international law in Venezuela to be respected.

“The EU has repeatedly stated that Mr Maduro lacks legitimacy and has defended a peaceful transition” in Venezuela, the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas wrote on X after speaking with her US counterpart Marco Rubio on Saturday.

“Under all circumstances, the principles of international law and the UN Charter must be respected. We call for restraint,” she wrote.

Undermining international law

Kallas said the EU was closely monitoring the fast-moving situation and that she had spoken to the bloc’s envoy to Venezuela, with the safety of EU citizens “our top priority”.

France condemned the American operation, saying it undermined international law while no solution to the country’s crisis can be imposed from the outside.

Maduro “gravely violated” the rights of Venezuelans, but the military operation that led to him being grabbed “contravenes the principle of non-use of force, which underpins international law”, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on X.

“No lasting political solution can be imposed from the outside”, he said, warning that “the increasing violations” of this principle by permanent UN Security Council members “will have serious consequences for global security, sparing no one”.

Earlier on Saturday, Spain offered to mediate in the crisis.

“Spain calls for de-escalation and restraint,” the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding it was “ready to help in the search for a democratic, negotiated, and peaceful solution for the country”.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said all countries should “uphold international law”, adding that “the UK was not involved in any way in this operation” as he urged patience in order to “establish the facts”.

Bombs away for Trump, self-proclaimed peace president

Election results contested

The EU refused to recognise the results of the disputed 2024 election that handed Maduro a third term in power, and has slapped sanctions on dozens of Venezuelan officials for undermining democracy in the country.

The 27-nation bloc has stopped short however of formally recognising opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela’s rightful leader, as the United States has done.

Gonzalez Urrutia ran as a last-minute stand-in for opposition figurehead Maria Corina Machado, who was barred from contesting last year’s election.

After the vote, Gonzalez Urrutia fled Venezuela for Madrid.

Venezuela’s Machado dedicates Nobel Peace Prize to fellow citizens and Trump

Where’s Maduro?

Venezuela has demanded an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the US attacks on the country, amid uncertainty over Maduro’s whereabouts.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello urged citizens to remain calm and to trust the country’s leadership and military. “The world needs to speak out about this attack,” Reuters reported him as saying.

The United States stands behind its decision to forcibly bring Maduro before the US courts.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Maduro and his wife have been indicted in the Southern District of New York, charged with “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States”.

“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi said.

Justifying Maduro’s capture, US Vice President JD Vance said that Venezuela ignored Trump’s offers to reach a settlement.

“The president offered multiple off ramps, but was very clear throughout this process: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States,” Vance said in a post on X.

Vance also doubled down on the US justification that Maduro was a fugitive from US law, saying: “You don’t get to avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas.”

Trump orders blockade of ‘sanctioned’ Venezuela oil tankers

‘Serious affront’ to sovereignty

Russia, an ally of Venezuela, has demanded “immediate” clarification about the circumstances of Maduro’s reported abduction.

“We are extremely alarmed by reports that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were forcibly removed from the country as a result of today’s US aggression. We call for an immediate clarification of the situation,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has also slammed the US attacks as a “serious affront” to the country’s sovereignty, echoing criticism made by fellow regional heavyweight, Mexico.

What happens now?

Jordi Canas, a Spanish former MEP with the Socialist party of Catalonia, welcomes the fall of Maduro.

“Those of us who have condemned Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorial Chavist regime, think it is good news that he is leaving power,” he told RFI, but the question of “how” still matters.

“The question is whether the intervention now by the United States is intended solely and exclusively to restore democracy, or whether its purpose is the return of a government that may be close to it and, as [Trump] himself has publicly stated in his endless press conferences, has the objective of reclaiming “its” oil. For Trump, Venezuelan oil is his oil… it’s not the oil of the Venezuelans, [he considers] it belongs to American companies.

Is the United States after Venezuela’s oil?

Canas wonders what Maduro’s departure – however welcome – will cost Venezuelans.

“Will Venezuelans regain control of their resources in order to grow economically, allow exiles to return to the country, and have a future of prosperity? Or will they fall under American oligopolies, with control of raw materials – oil, gold, mineral resources – without Venezuelans being able to use them for the benefit of the country as a whole?

“That’s the big question we now have to ask ourselves.”

(with newswires)

The 17-year-old Paris Saint-Germain forward represented France at age-limit levels before switching his international allegiance to Senegal, where his father was born.

Former champions Senegal will face Mali or Tunisia, who meet in Casablanca later on Saturday, in the quarter-finals.

Rattled by an early Aamir Abdallah goal for Sudan, Senegal recovered to lead 2-1 at half-time through a Pape Gueye brace. Mbaye then put the outcome beyond doubt after 77 minutes.

It was predicable result as Senegal are 99 places higher in the world rankings than Sudan, who were representing a country ravaged by civil war since April 2023.

Senegal made six changes to the team that started a 3-0 win over Botswana in their final group match. A notable absentee was suspended captain and centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly.

Ghana-born Sudan coach Kwesi Appiah retained only one of the team that began a 2-0 loss to Burkina Faso –⁠ forward Abdallah.

It was the first meeting of the countries at an AFCON tournament. They were in the same 2026 World Cup qualifying group, though, with Senegal winning at home and drawing away.

Sudan rocked Senegal by taking a sixth-minute lead through Abdallah, a semi-professional who plays for an Australian second-tier club in Melbourne.

It was a superb goal as the Sudan striker took possession just inside the area and curled the ball over former Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and into the net.

Sudan dreams of football glory as conflict rages at home

Ismaila Sarr unlucky

Sudan had qualified for the knockout stage as one of the best four third-placed nations despite failing to score in three group matches. An own goal brought victory over Equatorial Guinea.

A brave save from Monged Abuzaid on 29 minutes foiled Nicolas Jackson, who is on loan to Bayern Munich from Chelsea, but Senegal equalised almost immediately.

Former African player of the year Sadio Mane set up Pape Gueye, who equalised with a low shot into the corner of the net.

Senegal were attacking continuously while Sudan had little to offer going forward in a match watched by Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe from South Africa.

The Mauritanian referee pointed to the penalty spot after Ismaila Sarr was fouled by Abuzaid. However, the decision was reversed after a long VAR review revealed a Senegalese was offside in the build-up.

Senegal top AFCON group ahead of DR Congo as Tanzania make history

Ismaila Sarr from Crystal Palace then scored only to be ruled offside in another let-off for the Sudanese.

Abuzaid was constantly in action and did well to push away a Pape Gueye shot with an outstretched right hand as half-time approached.

There was still time for Pape Gueye to score again, however, and give Senegal a half-time advantage in the Mediterranean city.

The goal was brilliantly executed by the midfielder from La Liga club Villarreal three minutes into added time. He used his left foot to side-foot a cross into the net past Abuzaid.

Senegal introduced Mbaye midway through the second half as they sought the insurance of a third goal. He made an immediate impact, latching on to a long pass and beating Abuzaid at his near post.

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres called on Friday for Israel to end a ban on humanitarian agencies that provided aid in Gaza, saying he was “deeply concerned” at the development.

“This recent action will further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians,” said Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric in a statement.

Israel confirmed on Thursday it is suspending the licences of 37 international humanitarian organisations operating in the Gaza Strip. It accuses them of failing to provide the list of their employees’ names, which is now officially required for “security” reasons.

MSF called this demand a “scandalous intrusion” but Israel says is needed to stop jihadists from infiltrating into humanitarian structures.

“To work in Palestine, in the occupied Palestinian territories, we have to be registered … That registration expired on 31 December, 2025,” Isabelle Defourny, a physician and president of MSF France, told France Inter public radio.

“Since July 2025, we have been involved in a re-registration process and to date, we have not received a response. We still have 60 days during which we could work without being re-registered, and so we would have to end our activities in March” if Israel maintains its decision, she said.

‘Post-apocalyptic wasteland’: aid worker describes enduring horror in Gaza

‘Witness’ to violence

MSF has around 40 international staff in the Gaza Strip and works with 800 Palestinian staff across eight hospitals.

“We are the second-largest distributor of water (in the Gaza Strip). Last year, in 2025, we treated just over 100,000 people who were wounded, burned, or victims of various traumas. We are second in terms of the number of deliveries performed,” the president of MSF France said.

According to her, the Israeli decision is explained by the fact that NGOs “bear witness to the violence committed by the Israeli army” in Gaza.

French unions take Israel to court for restricting media access to Gaza

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since October, following a deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas’s unprecedented 7 October, 2023 attack on Israel.

In November, authorities in Gaza said more than 70,000 people had been killed there since the war broke out.

Nearly 80 percent of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged by the war, according to UN data.

About 1.5 million of Gaza’s more than two million residents have lost their homes, said Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network in Gaza.

(with AFP)

Some 1,300 kilograms of expired raw materials have been discovered at a Softcare factory, a subsidiary of a Chinese group specialising in the manufacture of baby nappies and sanitary towels.

On 8 December the Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (ARP) ordered the withdrawal from the market of the brand’s products, but reversed its decision a week later, stating that no expired materials had been used in the manufacture of the nappies.

‘Who is telling the truth?’

The ARP’s contradictory reports, coupled with accusations of attempts to bribe the agency’s inspectors, have fuelled doubts in Senegal. The opposition party FRAPP (Front for a Popular and Pan-African Anti-Imperialist Revolution) is calling for clarification.

“Who is telling the truth? On what scientific and technical grounds are these two contradictory statements based? asks Magor Dieng, a member of FRAPP. “And above all, were Senegal’s children exposed to potentially dangerous products or not?”

He underlines that nappies are not an ordinary product. “These are items in direct, prolonged and intimate contact with the fragile skin of infants. The slightest negligence can have serious consequences: irritation, infections, hormonal disorders or other long-term impacts,” he continues.

‘We want to be clear. We are not condemning any company without evidence, but we categorically refuse vagueness, silence and contradictions,” he told RFI’s correspondent in Senegal Léa-Lisa Westerhoff. “That is why we solemnly call for an official and definitive clarification from the Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency, based on verifiable facts.”

Still no conclusions

On 19 December, the Ministry of Health announced a joint mission with the Ministry of Trade to shed light on the affair. Two weeks later, the conclusions of that fact-finding mission have still not been made public.

For Dr Serigne Modou Babou, the management of the ARP must also be scrutinised.

“There have been reports for months, even for more than a year, of opaque and questionable management within the Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency,” he told RFI. “We recently submitted a letter requesting the publication of the ARP audit.”

More than 1,000 citizens have signed a petition calling for full transparency over the manufacture of Softcare products. A parliamentary inquiry has also been set up to inform MPs on the issue.

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This article was adapted from the original in French and has been lighted edited for clarity.

With no fewer than 10 presidential elections held across the African continent, the political stakes were high in 2025.

In several countries, elections reinforced entrenched leaderships rather than opening the door to political renewal.

One of the most notable cases was in Cameroon, where veteran president Paul Biya, aged 92, secured an eighth consecutive term. While the outcome was widely expected, it nonetheless triggered major protests and renewed questions about political succession and space for opposition voices.

There was similarly little surprise in Côte d’Ivoire, where 83-year-old Alassane Ouattara won a fourth term. The vote was marked by the absence of his main political rivals, many of whom were barred from running.

The most striking, however, was Tanzania, where President Samia Suluhu Hassan claimed an overwhelming 98 percent of the vote.

The landslide came against a backdrop of unprecedented violence. Opposition figures allege that hundreds or even thousands of people died during election protests, a claim the government disputes.

Tanzania accused of hiding bodies of those killed in post-election protests

Military transition becomes lasting power

Beyond disputed civilian elections, 2025 also saw several military-led transitions harden into long-term rule.

In Guinea, General Mamadi Doumbouya claimed political legitimacy by winning a controversial presidential election, four years after taking power in a coup and promising to hand back over to civilian rule.

A similar pattern played out in Gabon, where General Brice Oligui Nguema – who had earlier overthrown the long-ruling Bongo dynasty – won the presidency with close to 95 percent of the vote.

In Guinea-Bissau, the military intervened directly to halt the electoral process, overthrowing the outgoing president and preventing the publication of results.

An attempted coup was reported in Benin, while in Madagascar a president forced out by street protests was replaced by a military officer.

Taken together, at least eight African countries are now governed by leaders with military backgrounds.

Madagascar’s Gen Z uprising, as told by three young protesters

‘Decline in democracy’

For Gilles Yabi, a researcher and president of West Africa-focused think tank Wathi, the common thread running through Africa’s 2025 elections is a growing normalisation of force.

He told RFI that leaders already firmly in power are using “all possible means” to stay there. These range from outright repression – as seen in Tanzania, where the human toll remains unclear but is believed to be extremely high – to mass arrests in countries such as Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire.

In Côte d’Ivoire, he noted, around a thousand people were detained and key opposition candidates excluded through legal and administrative manoeuvres.

In his view, 2025 illustrates “a real decline in democracy and the rule of law”.

Elections entrench the army

Asked whether some elections were designed primarily to keep the army in power, Yabi points to Gabon as a telling example.

Oligui Nguema, he pointed out, carried out his coup in the middle of an electoral process that was widely seen as lacking credibility and likely to cement the rule of Ali Bongo. Many Gabonese initially welcomed the military takeover, hoping it would finally close the chapter on decades of Bongo family rule.

“In the best-case scenario,” Yabi told RFI, “the person who carried out the coup would not have stood for election.” That, however, did not happen. Nguema ran, won, and is now an elected president. The hope, Yabi added, is that incremental steps over the coming years might still steer Gabon towards genuine democracy and respect for the rule of law.

By contrast, the situation in Guinea-Bissau sends what he described as an “extremely negative signal”.

There, the interruption of a presidential election by a military coup amounts to “a real affront” to voters who had turned out to choose a new president and parliament.

Guinea-Bissau general sworn in as transitional president following coup

A year of concern

For Yabi, there is little doubt that 2025 should be seen as a troubling year for democracy, in Africa and beyond.

The world’s major powers, he argues, are hardly setting an inspiring example. In the United States, he points to a weakening of institutions under President Donald Trump, while China continues under a one-party system.

This global backdrop, he believes, feeds into a broader contempt for international law that is increasingly visible at the African level.

“In all cases,” Yabi concludes, “we have the law of the strongest – and perhaps also the most cynical – which now seems to prevail almost everywhere.”

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This article has been adapted from the original in French by RFI’s Alexandra Brangeon.

Macron’s second and final term expires in 2027, and the search for his successor within the presidential camp remains unresolved.

His party, Renaissance, still dominates the governing alliance Ensemble, but enthusiasm has dwindled.

Macron’s approval ratings are low, hovering in the 20s. It reflects weariness with a presidency marked by pension reform protests, tensions over immigration and a reputation for technocratic detachment.

According to opinion pollster Gallup, based on its annual survey of public faith in institutions, trust in the French government dropped 13 percentage points to 29 percent in 2025, while confidence in the honesty of elections fell by the same margin to 51 percent. Trust in the judicial system and financial institutions was also down.

“No other European Union country has seen a bigger average drop in confidence across these four institutions in 2025 than France,” Gallup notes.

Moving towards a post-Macron era

As the 2027 vote looms, several figures within the centrist bloc are testing their national appeal – among them former prime minister Gabriel Attal, whose youth and communication skills contrast with Macron’s more aloof image.

Yet Attal faces the same structural weakness as his former mentor: the absence of a clearly defined ideological base. The centrist movement created by Macron for the 2017 presidential election was based largely around the leader himself rather than political doctrine.

Ensemble’s hold on parliament is fragile, forcing Macron’s team to rely on precarious alliances or the use of special constitutional powers to pass major legislation.

If 2025 was a year of constrained governance, 2026 looks set to test whether the Macron legacy can endure beyond the man himself. The president faces the delicate task of sustaining authority while preparing France – and his party – for a post-Macron era.

Macron vows to work until ‘last second’ of mandate in NYE address

Far right gathers its forces

Among those looking to replace the Macronistes, the faction mounting the most united opposition is the far right. 

Marine Le Pen and the National Rally (RN) enter 2026 with more confidence than ever. After a strong showing in the 2024 European elections and the party’s continued dominance in rural and working-class regions, the RN’s path to the presidency no longer seems impassable.

In February, Le Pen will learn whether she can run in the 2027 presidential election. Convicted last March alongside eight other members of the RN of embezzling EU funds, she was sentenced to a five-year ban on holding office and a four-year prison term.

She is appealing the verdict, with a second trial scheduled from 13 January to 12 February.

Does ‘politically dead’ Marine Le Pen still have a path to power?

If the court upholds her conviction, it could radically reshape the next presidential race. Rather than its veteran leader, the RN’s “plan B” candidate would be Le Pen’s protégé Jordan Bardella.

Bardella, now party president, has helped “normalise” the RN’s image, appealing to younger voters and middle-income professionals frustrated with mainstream politics.

Their message combines economic nationalism with promises to restore social order – a contrast to the perceived elitism of Macron’s centrists.

Left divided

On the other end of the spectrum, the French left remains divided.

The left-wing alliance known as Nupes, which once united Socialists, Greens, Communists and Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), has largely unravelled. A new coalition formed for the 2024 parliamentary elections, compromising roughly the same members, met a similar fate, riven by divisions between centre-leftists and the far left.

Mélenchon’s confrontational style continues to polarise, leaving space for new figures to claim the middle ground – such as the more moderate Socialist leader Olivier Faure, or Green politicians seeking to reframe the debate around environmental justice.

While strong locally, the Greens face a struggle to broaden their appeal beyond urban and educated voters.

Climate policy remains a central concern, particularly amid new EU-level goals for energy transition, but in a country grappling with inflation and anxiety over purchasing power, those themes risk being overshadowed.

Traditional right struggles for relevance 

For France’s traditional right, 2026 could prove a decisive year.

The conservative Les Républicains continue to struggle for relevance. Their local base remains sturdy, but nationally they lack both a clear leader and a message to distinguish them from the far right.

Some within the party, notably former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, are pushing for closer cooperation with Le Pen’s camp. In his newly published memoir, he declared an end to the cordon sanitaire that has traditionally kept mainstream parties from allying with the far right.

The Républicains’ leader Bruno Retailleau, a former interior minister who took a hard line on immigration and policing, has also wooed voters further to the right. 

But others in the party insist on preserving a centrist, pro-European identity – such as former minister Xavier Bertrand, who is one of several other hopefuls challenging Retailleau for the 2027 nomination.

Locked in power struggles and squeezed between the RN and Macron’s centrists, the party risks marginalisation.

Sarkozy prison memoir a bid to ‘control the story’ and protect image for political future

Local elections preview presidential campaign

In March, municipal elections across France will be the final nationwide vote before the 2027 presidential contest. They are expected to serve as a dress rehearsal, testing alliances and strategies and setting the tone for the presidential campaign.

Immigration debates and questions of secularism are likely to again dominate political rhetoric, reflecting divisions that cut across the party spectrum.

Domestic security also looms large, especially after a string of shootings linked to drug trafficking in French cities.

As for foreign policy, France remains influential in Europe, especially amid the EU’s green and defence transitions. But wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, continued tension with Russia, and uncertainty about relations with the United States all weigh heavily on Paris’s diplomatic agenda.

Macron’s call for greater European “strategic autonomy” still resonates, though critics say his vision lacks practical backing.

(with newswires)

Protests began on Sunday in the capital Tehran, with demonstrations by shopkeepers over the government’s handling of the economic crisis. Iran’s national currency has fallen sharply and prices have risen rapidly.

The unrest has since spread nationwide, intensifying into the largest wave of protests the country has seen in three years. Violent clashes have been reported between protesters and security forces in several cities.

Several people have been killed, according to Iranian media and rights groups.

The semi-official Fars news agency reported on Thursday that three protesters were killed and 17 injured during an attack on a police station in the western province of Lorestan.

Earlier, Fars and the Kurdish rights group Hengaw also reported deaths in Lordegan, in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. Authorities confirmed one death in the western city of Kuhdasht, while Hengaw reported another fatality in the central province of Isfahan.

Trump says US will ‘come to their rescue’ if Iran kills protesters

Pro and anti-royalists

While the demonstrations are smaller than the last major outbreak of unrest in 2022, triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini after her arrest for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women, they have once again underlined political divides within the Iranian diaspora in France.

There are no precise figures on the size of the diaspora, though some studies suggest France is home to more than 30,000 Iranian-born nationals – including elites from before the 1979 Islamic revolution, which saw the fall of the last shah, post‑revolution refugees, students and professionals.

Hilda Dehghani, a Franco-Iranian living in Paris, supports Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah, who lives in exile in the United States. She has once again unfurled the monarchy’s flag, which she had put away in recent years.

Dehghani believes he is best placed to lead the country.

“Very clearly, the Iranian population, across the country, in different places, is calling for him,” she told RFI. “Not only are they saying ‘Death to the dictator’, they are calling for his replacement, the one they want to see come.”

However, feminist film-maker Setareh Karimi, who is also living in exile in France, said the influence of royalists within the protests is being overstated, often at the expense of more progressive voices.

“There are pro-royalist sympathisers but they are not as numerous as royalist media claim. This represents a danger for demonstrators, who are not all royalists,” she said.

Son of late shah urges Iranians to break with Islamic republic

The battle over images

Persian-language satellite television channels and social networks are the main sources of information for the diaspora about events inside Iran. But they have also become vectors for misinformation and polarisation among exiled opponents of the Islamic Republic.

Some outlets have broadcast manipulated or misleading video footage that they claim shows pro-monarchy demonstrations. The origin of the images remains unclear.

Verifying such material to counter disinformation has become an increasingly important and time-consuming task for activists.

“We place a strong emphasis on the accuracy of information,” says Kian Habibian, co-founder in Paris of the association We Are Iranian Students.

“When we get a video, we put it through software to see whether it has been altered, to make sure it is the right date, the right place and that the information coming out is correct,” he told RFI.

‘Woman. Life. Freedom’: Paris marches in solidarity with Iran protests

Despite political disagreements, members of the Iranian diaspora in France say they share a profound admiration for the courage shown by protesters confronting Iran’s security forces.

According to Iran Human Rights Monitor, at least 1,956 executions were carried out in 2025, a 97 percent increase compared to the previous year. The majority were convicted of drug-related offences and murder.

Research by international rights group Amnesty found that many death sentences followed unfair trials, including use of “confessions” obtained under torture.

Amnesty said the surge in executions since the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests reflects the use of the death penalty as a tool of repression, combining mass executions for drugs with targeted executions of dissidents and minorities.

“We’re thinking about it very seriously,” Trump said when asked by a reporter about the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey during a visit this week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The sale has been blocked for years due to Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system. A recent Bloomberg report suggested Ankara may be prepared to return the missiles, though Turkish officials have denied this.

Political commentator Asli Aydintasbas, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, says that the strengthening relationship between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan means both sides are working to resolve the impasse.

“He [Trump] himself is working with Turkey through his very effective ambassador, Tom Barrack, to find a solution,” said Aydintasbas. “There will be stiff opposition from the Greek lobby, Israelis and other regional players. But we’ve seen Trump skirt such opposition when it came to the Saudi Arabia F-35 sale.”

Military edge

Israeli security experts warn that Turkey’s acquisition of F-35 jets poses a greater security risk to Israel than the Saudi deal due to the Turkish military’s expertise, which threatens to challenge Israel’s technological advantage.

Currently, Israel maintains a significant edge as the Turkish air force operates decade-old jets, a factor that is increasingly important amid rising regional tensions.

“There was definitely a concern in the spring that there might be a confrontation in the skies of Syria between Israel and Turkey,” said Gallia Lindenstrauss of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

Syria in crossfire as Turkish-Israeli rivalry heats up over Assad’s successors

She stresses the risk of confrontation has significantly diminished thanks to “de-confliction talks”, brokered by Azerbaijan. A Syria “hotline” now exists between Israel and Turkey to prevent what Lindenstrauss describes as “accidents between the Israeli Air Force and the Turkish Air Force”.

Yet the need for such measures underscores how strained ties are. “The fact that it exists, of course, does point to the fact that things are not necessarily calm,” Lindenstrauss acknowledged.

Provocative alliances

Israel’s conflict in Gaza has heightened tensions with Turkey. On New Year’s Day, hundreds of thousands protested in Istanbul in support of Palestinians.

Tensions escalated further as Israel increased military cooperation last month with Greece and Cyprus. Both Greece and Cyprus have unresolved territorial disputes with Turkey in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas.

“Israelis are provoking especially Greeks and Greek Cypriots,” said Murat Aslan of Seta, a Turkish pro-government think tank. “The Israeli pilots are educating and training Greek pilots. They are operating [drones] across the Aegean Sea. And they sold many complex missile systems. So that means Israelis are provoking Greece just to challenge Turkey here in the Aegean Sea.”

In his New Year’s address, Erdogan said he was closely monitoring what he describes as threats and provocations against Turkey and Turkish Cypriots. Aslan predicts Ankara will not remain passive. “If there is a pattern in the west of Turkey that Greeks and Israelis are cooperating, for the sake of Turkish security interests, for sure there will be a reaction,” he warned.

Israel talks defence with Greece and Cyprus, as Turkey issues Netanyahu warrant

Greece, which is also acquiring the F-35, has joined Israel in opposing Turkey’s purchase of the jet, warning it would alter the balance of power.

While Trump has expressed support for the Turkish sale, analyst Aydintasbas notes the US president is learning the limitations of his power when it comes to Israel.

“Trump is going through what a lot of US presidents have experienced: frustration, and a question – ‘wait a minute, who’s the superpower here?’” she said. “Because of the power dynamic in the US-Israeli relationship, it sometimes does point to a situation in which Israelis, though the weaker side technically, end up having the upper hand because of their enormous influence in the public space.”

Aydintasbas predicts that, despite Trump’s friendship with and admiration for Erdogan, the US president will be unwilling to pay the political price of securing the Turkish jet sale. “This is an issue on which Trump is not willing to fight the US Congress… and essentially ignore the US law,” she said.

For the self-described master dealmaker, it may prove a deal too far.

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 and bonus questions, 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.

There’s no quiz this week – check in next week, 10 January, for the answer to the question about the gallery in the Louvre Museum that had to be closed.

Thanks to everyone who sent in their Resolutions – may you make good progress in keeping them! And many thanks to this week’s co-host, my daughter Mathilde Daguzan-Owensby, and for the contributions to the show from Olivia Morrow and Evan Coffey. And of course, hats off to the Magic Mixer Erwan Rome, who made this show sing! 

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Be Our Guest” by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman; the traditional “Auld Lang Syne” performed by the Glenn Miller Orchestra; “A House with Love in It” by Sid Lippman and Sylvia Dee, sung by Nat King Cole; “Winter Wonderland” by Felix Smith, performed by the Chet Baker Quartet; “Let it Snow” by Sammy Cahn, sung by Leon Redbone; “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy Anderson, performed by the Sam Bush Ensemble, and “We Wish you the Merriest” by Les Brown, sung by June Christie.

From the entire RFI English service, we wish you a Happy 2026!

Hello everyone!

This week on The Sound Kitchen, you’ll hear a “My Ordinary Hero” essay by listener Rasheed Naz from Faisal Abad, Pakistan.  I hope you’ll be inspired to write an essay for us, too!

If your essay goes on the air, you’ll find a package in the mail from The Sound Kitchen. Write in about your “ordinary” heroes – the people in your community who are doing extraordinarily good work, quietly working to make the world a better place, in whatever way they can. As listener Pramod Maheshwari said: “Just as small drops of water can fill a pitcher, small drops of kindness can change the world.”

I am still looking for your “This I Believe” essays, too. Tell us about the principles that guide your life … what you have found to be true from your very own personal experience. Or write about a book that changed your perspective on life, a person who you admire, festivals in your community, your most memorable moment, and/or your proudest achievement. If your essay is chosen to go on-the-air – read by you – you’ll win a special prize!

Send your essays to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

Or by postal mail, to:

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Here’s Rashid Naz’s essay:

Heroes are not always found in stories or movies. Sometimes they live among us, quietly working to make our world a better place. My “ordinary” hero is a community leader in our town, someone who has taught me that real heroism comes from serving others with kindness and courage.

Our community leader, Mr. Ahmed, is not rich or powerful, but he has a heart full of compassion. He organizes clean up drives, helps poor families, and encourages young people to stay in school. Whenever there is a problem – a sick neighbor, a broken road, or a family in need – he is the first to step forward. His actions remind us that small efforts can bring big changes.

What I admire most about him is his humility. He never seeks fame or reward. When people thank him, he simply says, “We are all responsible for our community.” Those words inspire me. He believes that leadership means service, not authority, and he proves it every day through his actions.

To many people, he might seem like an ordinary man. But to me, he is a true hero – a symbol of dedication, honesty, and hope. Because of him, I’ve learned that anyone can be a hero, not by wearing a cape, but by using their heart to make a difference.

That is why my “ordinary” hero is our community leader Mr Ahmed, a man whose quiet strength and selfless service continue to inspire us all.

 

 

Be sure and tune in next week for our annual New Year’s Resolutions program! Talk to you then!

Trump is due to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 29 December in Florida.

The meeting is the latest attempt to revive the Gaza plan, which aims to move from a ceasefire towards the creation of a new governing arrangement in Gaza, the deployment of an international force and the disarmament of Hamas.

On Friday, Turkish and Egyptian officials met their US counterparts in Miami.

With a ceasefire in place in Gaza, Washington is pushing the next phase of its plan, which would include Turkish troops in an International Stabilisation Force.

From Washington’s perspective, Turkey’s involvement is considered essential to the plan, said Asli Aydintasbas of the Brookings Institution.

Turkey and Iran unite against Israel as regional power dynamics shift

Israeli objections

Hamas disarmament depends on the creation of a new Palestinian governing entity and the presence of international peacekeepers, with Turkey acting as a guarantor, Aydintasbas said.

“Without Turkey in this process, decommissioning Hamas weapons would not occur. That is implicit in the agreement.”

Turkey’s close ties with Hamas are well known, with senior Hamas figures reportedly hosted in Turkey. While Turkey’s Western allies label Hamas a terrorist group, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said its members are liberation fighters.

Trump has publicly thanked Ankara for using its influence to encourage Hamas to accept the peace plan.

Israel opposes any Turkish military presence in Gaza, fearing Turkey would support Hamas rather than disarm it.

Israel is also concerned about cyber attacks attributed to Hamas operating from Turkish territory and doubts Turkey would act in Israel’s interests, said Gallia Lindenstrauss, a Turkey analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

“There’s a risk of an accident between Israeli and Turkish forces, given the already high tensions and suspicions. It’s hard to see a positive outcome,” she said.

Israel has struggled to persuade Trump to back its position. “The US has its own priorities, and is receptive to Ankara due to strong Trump-Erdogan relations,” Lindenstrauss added.

Turkey ready to help rebuild Gaza, but tensions with Israel could be a barrier

Turkey’s position

Erdogan, who has cultivated close ties with Trump, has said Turkey is ready to send soldiers to Gaza. Reports have claimed Turkey has a brigade on standby for deployment.

Turkey’s relationship with Hamas is a “double-edged sword”, said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, head of the German Marshall Fund office in Ankara. From Israel’s point of view, Turkey is too close to Hamas, but “if you want to contribute to disarming them, dialogue is needed”.

Any Gaza mission would be risky, but the Turkish army has decades of experience, Unluhisarcikli said. “It has a proven track record in terms of post-conflict stabilisation from the Balkans to Afghanistan. They have proven they can operate in such environments.”

Despite strained diplomatic ties, the Turkish and Israeli militaries still maintain open communication. The two countries operate a hotline to avoid clashes between their air forces over Syria, demonstrating continued military coordination despite political tensions.

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

Regional doubts

Egypt and Saudi Arabia distrust Turkey’s ties with Hamas and question its intentions in Gaza, Unluhisarcikli said, with concerns that echo memories of Ottoman-era rule.

On Monday, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack met Netanyahu in an effort to ease Israeli concerns. However, prospects for a breakthrough are likely to depend on this month’s meeting between Netanyahu and Trump.

Incentives may be offered to encourage Israel to accept Turkey’s role, but the issue is unlikely to be resolved that way, said Asli Aydintasbas of the Brookings Institution.

“Because this is such a fundamental and existential issue for Israel, I don’t think incentives will work,” she said.

“As to whether or not Trump would go so far as to withhold military or financial aid, it would be very unlikely. Rather, it may just let this situation sort of fester. I don’t think the Americans have a clear plan to push forward if the answer from Netanyahu is to say no.”

Hello everyone! Merry Christmas!

This is Alberto Rios’ poem, which you heard him read on the programme.

Christmas on the Border, 1929

1929, the early days of the Great Depression.

The desert air was biting, but the spirit of the season was alive.

Despite hard times, the town of Nogales, Arizona, determined

They would host a grand Christmas party

For the children in the area—a celebration that would defy

The gloom of the year, the headlines in the paper, and winter itself.

In the heart of town, a towering Christmas tree stood,

A pine in the desert.

Its branches, they promised, would be adorned

With over 3,000 gifts. 3,000.

The thought at first was to illuminate the tree like at home,

With candles, but it was already a little dry.

Needles were beginning to contemplate jumping.

A finger along a branch made them all fall off.

People brought candles anyway. The church sent over

Some used ones, too. The grocery store sent

Some paper bags, which settled things.

Everyone knew what to do.

They filled the bags with sand from the fire station,

Put the candles in them, making a big pool of lighted luminarias.

From a distance the tree was floating in a lake of light—

Fire so normally a terror in the desert, but here so close to miracle.

For the tree itself, people brought garlands from home, garlands

Made of everything, walnuts and small gourds and flowers,

Chilies, too—the chilies themselves looking

A little like flames.

The townspeople strung them all over the beast—

It kept getting bigger, after all, with each new addition,

This curious donkey whose burden was joy.

At the end, the final touch was tinsel, tinsel everywhere, more tinsel.

Children from nearby communities were invited, and so were those

From across the border, in Nogales, Sonora, a stone’s throw away.

But there was a problem. The border.

As the festive day approached, it became painfully clear—

The children in Nogales, Sonora, would not be able to cross over.

They were, quite literally, on the wrong side of Christmas.

Determined to find a solution, the people of Nogales, Arizona,

Collaborated with Mexican authorities on the other side.

In a gesture as generous as it was bold, as happy as it was cold:

On Christmas Eve, 1929,

For a few transcendent hours,

The border moved.

Officials shifted it north, past city hall, in this way bringing

The Christmas tree within reach of children from both towns.

On Christmas Day, thousands of children—

American and Mexican, Indigenous and orphaned—

Gathered around the tree, hands outstretched,

Eyes wide, with shouting and singing both.

Gifts were passed out, candy canes were licked,

And for one day, there was no border.

When the last present had been handed out,

When the last child returned home,

The border resumed its usual place,

Separating the two towns once again.

For those few hours, however, the line in the sand disappeared.

The only thing that mattered was Christmas.

Newspapers reported no incidents that day, nothing beyond

The running of children, their pockets stuffed with candy and toys,

Milling people on both sides,

The music of so many peppermint candies being unwrapped.

On that chilly December day, the people of Nogales

Gathered and did what seemed impossible:

However quietly regarding the outside world,

They simply redrew the border.

In doing so, they brought a little more warmth to the desert winter.

On the border, on this day, they had a problem and they solved it.

 

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: The traditional “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” sung by the Gracias Choir conducted by Eunsook Park, and “Santa Claus Llego A La Ciudad” by J.Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, sung by Luis Miguel.

Be sure and tune in next week, 27 December, for a “My Ordinary Hero” essay by your fellow listener Rasheed Naz.     

As France marks 200 years since Louis Braille invented his system of raised dots allowing blind people to read by touch, we visit the country’s only remaining Braille printing house. At the CTEB in Toulouse, a team of 12 staff and mainly blind volunteers transcribe more than 200 books each year for both adults and children, along with bank statements, brochures and other documents. Despite extremely high production costs, the centre sells its books at the same price as the originals to ensure equal access. Now deeply in debt, it’s calling for state aid to survive – arguing that, even in the age of digital Braille and audio books, turning a page is important in learning to read. (Listen @3’15”)

Scientists are increasingly convinced that the trillions of bacteria living in the human digestive system also contribute to health and wellbeing. Le French Gut is a large-scale study intended to track the connection between the microbiome and disease. Launched in 2023, it aims to recruit 100,000 French participants, to contribute samples and fill out health and diet questionnaires. Now the scientists are looking to get more children on board. Project director Patrick Vega shows the lab and biobank where the bacteria are being analysed, and talks about the discoveries in the gut that could help predict or even cure diseases. (Listen @21’20”)

Seventeenth-century French midwife Louise Bourgeois, the first woman in Europe to publish a medical book, was a pioneer in women’s health at a time when only men were allowed to be doctors and women delivered babies according to tradition, not science. (Listen @14’45”)

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompeani.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In partnership with Madhya Pradesh’s tourism board.

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

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

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

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

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

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