The decision was taken last summer during a visit by President Emmanuel Macron to Greenland and comes as the autonomous Danish territory faces growing pressure from Washington.

Barrot said France wanted to be more visible in Greenland at a time of rising political tension.

“For my part, I went there at the end of August to plan the consulate, which will open on 6 February,” he told RTL radio. “It’s a political signal linked to a desire to be more present in Greenland, including in the scientific field.”

The announcement comes as the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers are due to meet US Vice President JD Vance at the White House later on Wednesday, following weeks of sharp remarks from Trump about Greenland’s future.

Since returning to office nearly a year ago, Trump has repeatedly said the United States should take over Greenland, arguing that the island is vital to US security interests.

‘American? No!’ says Greenland after latest Trump threat

Political signal

Barrot rejected that position, saying Greenland’s choice was clear.

“Greenland does not want to be owned, governed or integrated into the United States,” he said. “Greenland has chosen Denmark, NATO and the European Union.”

Greenland’s leaders have also said the island intends to remain an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.

Barrot also criticised Washington’s language, urging the US to end what he described as pressure on a NATO ally.

“Attacking another NATO member would make no sense and would even run against the interests of the United States,” he said. “This blackmail must obviously stop.”

Trump has said the US needs Greenland to prevent Russia or China from expanding their influence in the Arctic. Both countries have increased activity in the region as ice melts, although neither claims Greenland.

The US has long maintained a military base on the island.

Trump dismissed Greenland’s opposition when asked by reporters on Tuesday about comments from Greenland’s prime minister.

“That’s their problem. I disagree with them,” he said. “I don’t know who he is, but that’s going to be a big problem for him.”

Why Greenland’s melting ice cap threatens humanity, and could serve Trump

‘Not for sale’

Denmark and Greenland have both said the island is not for sale and have described US threats as reckless. Several European Union countries have publicly backed Denmark.

Denmark will reinforce its military presence in Greenland and push within NATO for more exercises and a stronger presence in the Arctic, Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in a statement sent to the French news agency AFP.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said the most difficult phase of the dispute over Greenland’s future may still lie ahead.

(with newswires)

The Uganda Communications Commission on Tuesday ordered all service providers to suspend internet access, citing public safety concerns. It said the measure was aimed at preventing online misinformation, disinformation, electoral fraud and the incitement of violence.

The move contradicts earlier assurances from the authorities.

Earlier this month, the commission dismissed reports of a possible blackout as “mere rumours”, insisting its role was to guarantee uninterrupted connectivity nationwide. The government had also promised that the internet would remain accessible during election day.

The shutdown comes amid an intensified crackdown on the opposition as President Yoweri Museveni seeks to extend his four-decade rule.

The 81-year-old leader, who has been in power since 1986, is widely expected to win a seventh term, having maintained tight control over state institutions and the security forces.

Entrenched presidency

Uganda’s elections on Thursday are expected to be a duel between Museveni and singer-turned-opposition leader Bobi Wine, who is running for president for a second time with strong backing from young voters.

Around 21.7 million people are registered to vote, according to Uganda’s Electoral Commission.

With campaigning ending on Tuesday, on Monday Museveni took his message to the Kasese district, in the far west of the country.

Speaking to a crowd of several thousand people wearing the yellow colours of his National Resistance Movement (NRM), Museveni defended his record, focusing on the political stability he said had been restored since he took power in 1986, following decades of political turmoil.

“The NRM rejected ethnic or religious politics because they are sterile, they make no sense,” he told the crowd. “The NRM rejected sectarianism. That is why we created a strong national party and were able to build strong national institutions – the army, the police, the civil service… It is thanks to this that we now have peace.”

His final rally was held in Kampala on Tuesday. If reelected, he will be serving his seventh mandate. 

Facing Museveni are seven other candidates, but the most prominent by far is the leader of the National Unity Platform (NUP), Wine, aged 43 – real name Robert Kyagulanyi.

Arbitrary arrests

Rights groups and international monitors have accused Uganda‘s authorities of arresting opponents and candidates, abductions and media intimidation in the run-up to the election.

Amnesty International on Monday said that Ugandan security forces had used torture and arbitrary arrests to intimidate the opposition before the election. That included security officers beating and using tear gas against NUP supporters, the global rights monitor said.

Crackdown on Uganda’s opposition intensifies as elections draw near

Wine, who has been repeatedly arrested in the past, campaigned in a flak jacket, saying the race has become a “war”.

“They cannot abduct all of us,” he said at an NUP rally last week. “The jails are already full and we are still millions of change-seeking Ugandans out there.” 

Many see in Wine the last hope for a regime change, as entire generations have only known Museveni as President.

The historic opposition leader Kizza Besigye is still in prison after having been kidnapped in November 2024 while in Kenya. He endorsed Wine at the weekend. 

Kenya slammed as ‘rogue state’ over Ugandan opposition leader kidnap

Wider democratic erosion

Ugandans also fear a repeat of the violence surrounding the 2021 elections in a similar climate, when many people lost their lives.

“The army chief and the spokesperson issued warnings urging voters not to linger near polling stations after casting their ballots,” Godber Tumushabe, of the Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies, told RFI.

“And one particularly disturbing comment came from a senior officer in the army’s Fourth Division in Gulu. He warned that Ugandans who remained near polling stations after voting could be arrested… or shot.”

Concerns of a wider erosion of democracy in East Africa are high, after elections in neighbouring Tanzania in October descended into violence amid rigging allegations, with hundreds of protesters killed by security forces.

Dozens of anti-government protesters have also been killed in protests in Kenya since 2024.

“Museveni brandishes the slogan ‘protect the gains’, but you don’t protect a military regime,” human rights lawyer Tito Magoti told RFI.

“I urge him to renounce violence. As the election approaches, the state wants to exclude citizens from governing their country. And this could end badly.”

In the 2021 election around 59 percent of registered voters cast a ballot, with 10.7 million participating out of 18.1 million registered. Population growth and a booming young generation make voter engagement more unpredictable this year.

Tractors from the FNSEA, France’s main farmers’ union, and the Jeunes Agriculteurs, which represents younger farmers, started leaving the capital around 4am after spending about 24 hours positioned near the National Assembly.

The departure followed overnight talks with the government after days of mobilisation over farm debt, costs and regulation.

FNSEA vice-president Luc Smessaert said a delegation met Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard shortly before midnight.

“The agriculture minister gave us details and commitments on cash-flow loans and restructuring for the most indebted farmers,” he told the French news agency AFP.

Hundreds of tractors roll into Paris as farmers protest EU-Mercosur trade deal

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced on Tuesday that an emergency agricultural law would be presented to the cabinet in March and examined by parliament before the summer.

He said the bill would focus on water, predation by wolves and production tools.

Farmers say the EU-Mercosur trade deal would expose them to cheaper agricultural imports from South America produced under lower standards, putting French producers at a disadvantage.

The government’s announcements closely match demands made by the FNSEA and Jeunes Agriculteurs, the dominant alliance in French farm unionism whose regional branches around Paris launched tractor convoys into the capital.

Promises to calm the crisis

Lecornu also called for a moratorium on decisions linked to water policy, including a suspension of rules setting water withdrawal volumes until September. He asked for meetings to examine possible exemptions from the EU nitrates directive, which regulates fertiliser use.

These steps add to a €300 million support package promised on Friday, combining budget measures subject to a parliamentary vote with other measures already announced to respond to the agricultural crisis.

While tensions eased in Paris, mobilisation continued elsewhere.

In Toulouse, around 40 farmers from the Coordination Rurale union entered the city centre overnight despite a prefectural ban, parking their tractors close to the prefecture before being blocked by security forces.

EU countries green-light Mercosur trade deal despite France’s opposition

“This is the state’s response when we have been given no answers, apart from the signing of Mercosur,” said Vincent Arbusti, a spokesperson for the Coordination Rurale in the Gers department, who confirmed that five people were arrested.

Police later removed the tractors. Farmers then set up a checkpoint near Toulouse-Blagnac airport, where about 10 tractors disrupted traffic on a roundabout.

Early Wednesday, farmers blocked a major motorway near Toulouse, cutting traffic in both directions and causing serious disruption.

Another slow-moving tractor protest was also under way on a main road in the Var region.

(with newswires)

The appeal comes after a French court last year barred Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), from running for office for five years over a European Parliament fake jobs scam.

It found her, along with 24 former European Parliament lawmakers, assistants and accountants as well as the party itself, guilty of operating a “system” from 2004 to 2016 using European Parliament funds to employ RN staff in France.

I had “no sense of having committed the slightest offence when, in 2004, 2009, and 2014, we hired our assistants,” the 57-year-old former European lawmaker said as her appeal trial opened in Paris.

The three-time presidential candidate, who has always maintained her innocence, instead sought to shift any blame.

“If indeed any wrongdoing was committed, the European Parliament did not play the warning role it should have,” she said.

It “was aware of the overall elements making up these contracts. We concealed nothing”.

French far-right leader Le Pen in high-stakes trial ahead of presidential race

The appeal hearings are to last a month, with a decision expected this summer.

If the court upholds the first ruling, Le Pen will be prevented from running in the 2027 election, widely seen as her best – and possibly last – chance to win the country’s top job.

Le Pen was also handed a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended, and fined 100,000 euros ($116,000) in the initial trial.

She now again risks the maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a one-million-euro ($1.16 million) fine if the appeal fails.

She could, however, still be a candidate if she is sentenced to a shorter ban and has no time to serve under house arrest.

Risk of reoffending

Twelve of the accused, including Le Pen, as well as the far-right party itself, have appealed against the verdict.

Another 12 people, including one of Le Pen’s sisters, have decided to accept their convictions without appealing. Another person sentenced has since died.

The initial verdict dealt a heavy blow to Le Pen and the RN, which has surged in French politics in recent years.

Le Pen walked out of the courtroom during the sentencing, later slamming the verdict as a “political decision”.

The judges defended the decision to bar her from running, saying elected officials should not benefit from “preferential treatment” and citing the risk of reoffending.

The news sparked shock among Le Pen supporters in France, while US President Donald Trump and the Kremlin expressed concern.

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said last week he hoped that Le Pen could run for president despite her legal troubles so her election could help “break” the European Union.

Bardella in the wings

Le Pen took over the former National Front (FN) from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011 and has since sought to clean up the party’s image.

Her father, who died last year, was often accused of making racist and antisemitic comments.

After coming third in the 2012 presidential polls, Marine Le Pen made the run-off in 2017 and 2022 but was beaten by Emmanuel Macron on both occasions.

Yet 2027 could see a different outcome for the far right, with Macron barred from standing again under France’s constitution.

Some 42 percent of French people said they agreed with “ideas defended by the RN”, up from 29 percent before the 2022 vote, according to a poll by consultancy firm Verian for Le Monde published on Sunday.

If she cannot be a candidate, Le Pen has said her top lieutenant Jordan Bardella, the RN party’s president who is not a defendant in the trial, can run in her place.

“Bardella can win instead of me,” Le Pen said in December.

A poll in November predicted that Bardella would win the second round of the 2027 elections, no matter who stands against him.

But Bardella said on Monday that a ruling preventing Le Pen from running “would be deeply worrying for democracy” and insisted he was not so far a candidate for president but prime minister.

The slowdown comes as appetite for climate action flags and major economies in Europe and elsewhere struggle to make good on their pledges to reduce planet-warming pollution.

France’s emissions were estimated to have declined 1.6 percent year-on-year, said Citepa, a non-profit organisation tasked by France’s ecology ministry with tallying the country’s greenhouse gas inventory.

The reduction of 5.8 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent was “far below the pace needed to reach 2030 targets” which would require cuts nearly three times larger, Citepa said.

“The decrease in emissions is confirmed for 2025. This is an encouraging sign, but it is not enough. We must collectively remobilise with all emitting sectors,” Monique Barbut, France’s Minister for Ecological Transition, said in a press release.

Record surge in CO2 puts world on track for more long-term warming

France, often seen as a leader in transitioning to a low-carbon future, unveiled in December its updated pathway for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

To stay on track, greenhouse gas emissions need to fall 4.6 percent on average every year until 2030.

After France slashed its output by 3.9 percent in 2022 and 6.8 percent in 2023, the rate slowed sharply to 1.8 percent in 2024.

Citepa had earlier predicted a decline of just 0.8 percent in 2025 but said fresh data and updated methods of calculation had allowed a “more accurate” estimate for the full year.

Urgency to phase out fossil fuels

Big polluting nations most responsible for climate change are under pressure to make faster and deeper cuts to the emissions driving record-breaking global temperatures and more extreme weather events.

Scientists say the last three years have been the hottest globally on record.

The result in France echoes a slowdown in neighbouring Germany, where emissions fell just 1.5 percent in 2025, the Agora Energiewende expert group said in its annual report last week.

France encouraged energy conservation after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but since then has faltered in decarbonising some of its most polluting industries.

EU carbon border tax redraws rules for trade in carbon-heavy goods

While improvements were recorded in 2025 in heavy-emitting sectors such as industry, agriculture and transport, they remained virtually flat in energy and waste treatment, Citepa said.

The latest assessment highlighted the urgency for France to phase out its use of fossil fuels, said Anne Bringault, a director at Climate Action Network France.

“It is high time to take seriously the climate risk but also the geopolitical risk of making us suffer from our dependence on fossil fuels, which are overwhelmingly imported,” she told AFP.

The European Union has pledged to cut its net greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2040 compared to 1990 levels. It had already achieved a 37 percent reduction by 2023.

(with AFP)

Regragui, a former Morocco international, says the timing of the tournament as well as playing surfaces in the slickly refurbished stadiums around the land have led to more flowing football and permitted the top teams to flourish.

“At the last Cup of Nations, when we played against the Democratic Republic of Congo, we played at 1.30 in the afternoon in something like 40-degrees heat with 80 percent humidity. In those kind of conditions, it’s definitely more difficult to win a match.

“There were criteria that made it difficult for the teams so that they couldn’t play their best football,” he added.

Diaz and Saibari take Morocco past Cameroon into the semis at Cup of Nations

“But once the conditions were created for the best teams to play their best football, we’ve had nothing but big games even before these semi-finals.

“And now we can see that the best teams are rising to the occasion.”

Before Morocco, who are Africa’s top ranked side, take on Nigeria at the 68,000-seat Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat, seven-time champions Egypt face the 2021 champions Senegal at the 70,000-seat stadium in Tangier.

“Both places will be full,” Regragui added. “It’s the best publicity we could have for African football.”

Regragui played in the Morocco side that lost the Cup of Nations final to Tunisia in 2004.

And before the clash against Nigeria, he urged his players to take pride in becoming the first squad from Morocco to feature in the last four at the tournament since his vintage.

“Morocco has been climbing back up the rankings for four or five years to become one of the leaders in Africa,” said Regragui who led the team to the last four at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Morocco boss Regragui warns players to expect Mali reaction at Cup of Nations

“I think future African tournaments will evolve from this tournament in Morocco.

“We will have better conditions, there will be fewer and fewer surprises and we will have more and more big games, more entertainment. We will be able to sell the TV rights abroad as we will be putting on a better show for our continent.

“And at that point, as an African, I will be the happiest of coaches because that is what we want. We want our continent and our football to be respected.”

Morocco will take on a Nigeria side who have scored 14 goals in their five games. However, they will be without influential skipper Wilfred Ndidi who is suspended.

“I won’t say his absence is going to help us because in Nigeria‘s squad there are players who can fill the position and then they have the likes of [Victor] Osimhen and [Ademola] Lookman.

Nigeria midfielder Iwobi hails team of brothers ahead of Morocco test

“The important thing is not to look at just one player … they’re like us. They have the means and the resources to change their systems.”

Morocco entered the tournament on the back of a 19-match winning streak. That sequence ended with a 1-1 draw against Mali on 26 December. Nigeria could terminate the 23-game unbeaten run.

“The game against Nigeria may be one of the most important matches in our history since the World Cup semi-final,” claimed Regragui.

“At the World Cup, it was more of a surprise. Now we’re where we belong but it’s our goal is to make history.

“What matters to me is that a new generation sees Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations final. And we know it’s going to be difficult to get there.”

Since mass protests erupted across Iran demanding an end to the clerical system in power since 1979, the authorities have responded with a severe and brutal crackdown. Activists say that at least 648 people have been killed, though the true figure remains unclear owing to an internet blackout.

France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said on Tuesday afternoon that he had summoned Iran’s ambassador in Paris to protest against what he described as the “unrestrained use of state violence against peaceful protesters” in Iran.

“I conveyed this condemnation to the Iranian foreign minister,” Barrot said. “It will also be reiterated to the Iranian ambassador to France, whom I summoned today to the Quai d’Orsay,,” he told members of parliament during questions in the National Assembly.

“But we will not stop there. There can be no impunity for those who turn their guns on peaceful protesters,” he added.

President Emmanuel Macron made similar remarks the previous day.

At around the same time on Tuesday, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the European Union would “quickly” propose new sanctions against those responsible for the repression of protests in Iran.

France’s Iranian diaspora divided over deadly protests back home

UK, EU summoning

The UK government  also summoned on Tuesday the Iranian ambassador in London “to answer for the horrific reports” emerging from Iran amid a deadly crackdown on protests, British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said.

“The minister for the Middle East, at my instruction, has summoned the Iranian ambassador to underline the gravity of this moment and to call Iran to answer for the horrific reports that we are hearing,” she told MPs in a statement to parliament.

Cooper added she was “fearful that the reports that we have seen may underestimate the full scale of the horror as further evidence and testimony reaches the outside world”.

Finland and Denmark summoned Iran’s representatives to their countries as well on Tuesday, because of Tehran‘s nationwide shutdown of the internet and violent crackdown on protests. 

“Iran’s regime has shut down the internet to be able to kill and oppress in silence,” Finland‘s Minister of Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen wrote on social media X.

“This will not be tolerated. We stand with the people of Iran – women and men alike”, she said, adding that she would “summon the Iranian ambassador this morning”.

Valtonen said the Nordic country was also “exploring measures to help restore freedom to the Iranian people” together with the EU.

Denmark’s foreign ministry also announced that it had summoned Iran‘s charge d’affaires, as the ambassador was currently away, “to express the government’s condemnation of the Iranian regime’s use of violence against demonstrators”.

The ministry said in a statement that it has also urged “Iran to comply with its international obligations, including the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly.”

“This also applies to ensuring free and unhindered access to the internet,” the statement said.

Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said Monday that the violent crackdown on a wave of protests in Iran has killed at least 648 people.

But it warned the death toll was likely much higher, “according to some estimates more than 6,000”.

A nationwide shutdown of the internet by authorities in Iran, which activists fear is aimed at masking the scale of a crackdown, has now lasted over 108 hours, a monitor said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said also on Tuesday that Iranians should continue nationwide protests, take over institutions and record names of “killers and abusers,” as authorities there cracked down on mass demonstrations.

 (with AFP) 

The blackout is making it far harder for protesters to communicate and for images and eyewitness accounts to reach the outside world. It has also disrupted daily life in Iran, where banking, payments and many basic services rely on digital networks.

For more than two and a half days, Iran has been largely cut off from the outside world and from itself. The flow of information inside the country and abroad has slowed to a trickle, with most Iranian websites inaccessible from outside Iran.

The nationwide shutdown began late on Thursday and quickly spread across the country. The independent monitoring group NetBlocks said the blackout had lasted for more than 60 hours, with national connectivity stuck at around 1 percent of normal levels.

“This censorship measure represents a direct threat to the safety and wellbeing of Iranians at a critical moment for the country’s future,” the organisation said.

Data published by the US-based internet infrastructure company Cloudflare also showed a massive collapse in online traffic coming out of Iran.

France’s Iranian diaspora divided over deadly protests back home

Protesters targeted

The demonstrations began on 28 December in Tehran, triggered by shopkeepers protesting against the rising cost of living and the collapse of the national currency. In the early days of the movement, the authorities focused their restrictions on urban areas and centres of unrest.

In Tehran, internet cuts targeted neighbourhoods known for protests, including Narmak, Molavi and the Grand Bazaar. The severity of the restrictions varied depending on location and internet provider.

In an analysis published by Filter Watch, a project that monitors online censorship in Iran, Nargès Keshavarznia from the human and digital rights group Miaan described how the shutdowns were closely synchronised with moments of mobilisation.

Internet access dropped sharply during protest gatherings and sometimes eased when streets emptied.

Earlier in the protests, Iran’s National Information Network, a domestic intranet developed since 2016 to allow the country to function while disconnected from the global internet, often remained accessible.

While international traffic was heavily restricted, some internal services continued to operate. That changed on Thursday night.

“Overall, all communication is impossible,” Amir Rashidi, an Iranian expert on cybersecurity and digital rights, told RFI, saying conditions had sharply worsened.

“It’s not just the internet that’s cut, but also phone communications, whether mobile or landline, inside the country and to or from abroad.”

Rashidi said the situation was constantly changing from one region to another, but making a phone call had become extremely difficult. “Sometimes you dial a number, you hear ‘beep, beep, beep’, and then nothing,” he said.

‘We’re fighting a daily battle’: Iranian women dare to shed hijab in public

 Shutdown unprecedented

To get around the restrictions, more Iranians have turned to Starlink, a satellite internet service that allows users to connect without relying on local networks. In recent days, however, these devices appear to have been targeted by jamming attempts.

“Iran seems to have strengthened its ability to control these techniques for restricting internet access,” Valère Ndior, a law professor at the University of Western Brittany and a specialist in digital governance, told RFI.

Iran has repeatedly shut down communications during periods of unrest, notably during the 2019 protests, in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini – a 22-year-old woman who died in custody after being arrested by Iran’s morality police – and during the conflict with Israel in June 2025.

But Rashidi said the current blackout goes further than anything seen before. Even the National Information Network is down, he said, a situation without precedent.

“This national internet was one of the key tools of control for the Iran,” Rashidi said. Usually, he explained, people could still move within a closed internal network even if access to the outside world was blocked.

“Normally you can’t leave the building, but you can still move from room to room,” he said. “Now you’re stuck in a single room. You can’t even change rooms.”

The authorities are therefore accepting the paralysis of their own infrastructure to shut down every channel of communication, a sign that they believe “their survival is at stake”, Rashidi added.

South Africa’s joint drills a show of influence in the Indian Ocean

Unseen repression

Despite the blackout, protests have continued. A small number of videos circulating on social media, likely shared via satellite connections, show crowds marching in Tehran, Mashhad and other cities. The images could not be fully verified.

The digital silence has heightened fears of a violent crackdown taking place out of sight.

The Centre for Human Rights in Iran, a US-based non-profit, warned on Sunday that “a massacre is under way in Iran”, saying it had received “direct testimonies and credible reports” of hundreds of protesters killed.

The Norway-based group Iran Human Rights also reported that at least 192 demonstrators had been killed over two weeks of protests.

Other NGOs have warned the true number of deaths may be even higher, with some hospitals reporting more than 500 fatalities and rights advocates warning that the blackout is hindering efforts to document casualties accurately.

Beyond repression, the blackout is hitting daily life and the economy. “Cash machines don’t work, banks aren’t operating normally, people can’t cash cheques or access their money,” Rashidi said.

Ndior said it was still too early to measure the full impact, but warned that “the economic cost could run into hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars”.

Meanwhile, the X account of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, continued to post messages. On Saturday evening, he wrote: “If God wills it, soon God will spread a feeling of victory in the hearts of all the Iranian people.”

This article was adapted from the original version in French by RFI’s Aurore Lartigue

Barely one week after being sworn in, Touadéra is confronting an armed challenge in Haut-Mbomou prefecture, where deadly clashes have erupted between government forces and the Azandé Ani Kpi Gbè militia, known as the AAKG.

The security situation remains far calmer than in 2016, when Touadéra first came to power amid a civil war that left most of the country under rebel control. But fresh fighting has flared since the presidential election on 28 December.

Since that day, Haut-Mbomou has been rocked by violence. The AAKG, drawn from the Zandé community, was originally supported by Russia’s Wagner network before rebelling against authorities in Bangui.

No official death toll has been released. The clashes are believed to have killed dozens of people and forced thousands to flee their homes.

Central African Republic President Touadera wins re-election, results show

Violence in Haut-Mbomou

In the town of Zémio, gunfire has been heard almost every night since the start of the year. On Tuesday 6 January, residents again fled to the Catholic mission, which now resembles a makeshift displacement camp, or sought refuge at the local hospital.

The hospital was attacked two days earlier and is no longer functioning. It is now guarded by UN peacekeepers.

“There are about 2,000 people here,” a religious source told RFI. “Others have already crossed the border to join the thousands sheltering in the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

Local officials have been under UN protection since election day. On 28 December, the AAKG launched an offensive on the border town of Bambouti, reportedly with backing from across the border in South Sudan.

The attack prevented voting. A local government official, a gendarme and an electoral worker were abducted. The electoral worker was later executed.

The UN mission Minusma said around 2,500 people, most of Bambouti’s population, have fled into the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Russian mercenaries accused of rights abuses, hindering peacekeepers in CAR

Shift to open rebellion

“The choice of the election date was no coincidence,” explains Fulbert Ngodji, a researcher with the International Crisis Group and author of a report on the AAKG. “By attacking state symbols, the militia is showing its strength. It looks like the beginning of a shift from an ethnic self-defence group to a rebel movement openly opposing the government.”

Haut-Mbomou lies more than 1,300 kilometres from Bangui and has long been neglected by the state. Over the years, it has been targeted by armed groups ranging from Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army to the Séléka coalition and later the Union for Peace in the Central African Republic, known as the UPC, led by Ali Darassa.

In 2023, Zandé self-defence groups united under the AAKG banner, a name meaning “too many Zandé have died”. They pushed the UPC out of Bambouti but were later accused of abuses against civilians and of treating Muslims as rebel fighters.

In 2024, around 200 AAKG fighters were recruited, armed and briefly trained by Russian mercenaries before being integrated into the national army. Known locally as the “Wagner Zandé”, they initially scored victories against the UPC.

Discipline soon collapsed amid complaints over unpaid wages and reckless tactics. The militia later turned on government troops, their Russian trainers and civilians, particularly Muslims and Fulani. At least 200 people were killed, including soldiers, Russians and a UN peacekeeper.

Rape, looting and kidnappings followed. In spring 2025, the government’s decision to sign a peace deal with the UPC marked a turning point. The AAKG saw it as a betrayal.

Calls for dialogue

The fighters’ integration into the army was suspended, but some kept their weapons and went underground. Violence escalated and peaked on election day.

According to Monsignor Aurelio Gazzera, the Bishop of Bangassou, dialogue is now essential. “The militiamen must stop this carnage affecting civilians,” he told RFI. “But the authorities must also listen. This region has been abandoned for decades – no roads, no infrastructure. Development is urgently needed.”

Ngodji warned the government is now facing “the monster it created”, as inter-communal and religious tensions deepen.

“Caught between a militia that claims to defend them and loyalist forces that see them as rebels, the people of Haut-Mbomou are trapped,” Gazzera said, warning that the violence could spread across the wider south-east.

This article has been adapted from the original version in French by RFI’s Carol Valade

Tabouret was selected by a special committee to create contemporary windows for Notre-Dame, in collaboration with the Reims-based glassmaking studio Simon-Marq.

Notre-Dame reopened on 7 December 2024 after a five-year restoration following the devastating fire of 2019.

Some heritage groups have criticised the decision to introduce new windows. Among them is Didier Rykner, head of the cultural heritage website La Tribune de l’Art, who opposes the project on the grounds that the original windows were not damaged in the fire.

Tabouret’s designs, expected to be installed by late this year, will replace six of the seven windows on the south aisle of the cathedral, originally designed by 19th-century architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.

RFI: What were your thoughts when you were entrusted with this historic project?

Claire Tabouret: I immediately wanted to get to work. It’s true that this is a project that instills great humility, because I’m part of an extremely long timeframe. There was a lot to do.

RFI: What is the theme for the stained-glass?

CT: The theme, already set out in the call for projects, is Pentecost. At this time, magnificent gatherings take place between people, despite their differences. This theme is reflected in six key moments. This is something we discover here at the Grand Palais, in a scenography where we truly see the horizontal dimension of the story unfolding before our eyes.

RFI: The exhibition presented here is called “D’un seul souffle” (“In a Single Breath”). Is this an echo of the Holy Spirit?

CT: Yes, of course, there’s the breath of the Holy Spirit. There’s also the breath of the glass. It’s true that all the glass panes in these stained-glass windows were mouth-blown. And I almost forgot, there’s also the breath of the wind. We can indeed see that tree bending in the wind.

From ashes to innovation: 3D scanning powers Notre-Dame’s restoration

RFI: It seems that you have made the choice of using very bright colours?

CT: These stained-glass windows will be installed on the south side of Notre-Dame, so they’ll be in quite bright light. Therefore, we needed fairly intense colours to allow that light to penetrate and shine through. Another specific requirement of the project was the need to maintain a white light. The colour balance is absolutely perfect.

Each colour is used in equal quantities and on equal surfaces, ensuring that when the light passes through the stained glass, it won’t create a large pool of red or blue on the floor of Notre-Dame, but rather, it will maintain the harmony of the cathedral’s natural light.

RFI: Did you have complete freedom or did you have to work within a framework?

CT: By choosing to take part in this project, I chose to serve a framework. There’s the constraint of the architecture itself, which must be fully considered in the compositions. And then there’s also the need to integrate seamlessly with what surrounds us in Notre-Dame, which predates these stained-glass windows, ensuring a pleasant and harmonious transition.

Each bay window illustrates a phrase at a key moment of Pentecost. They were all gathered together in one place. In the first bay of Saint Joseph, we see his apostles gathered together, holding hands in prayer. But it’s also the interior of the house, the house of God, because we have stained-glass windows within the stained-glass windows.

That’s where the idea came to me to reference Viollet-le-Duc in my own compositions, creating a kind of echo of these ornaments in the background of the composition, making us feel that these figures are within it. And then, that idea came back in every bay window like a leitmotif [recurrent theme] until the end of the story.

Notre-Dame revival drives return to ancient French craftsmanship

RFI: In France, there was a bit of a controversy over the stained-glass windows, which some called the “stained-glass windows of discord”. What do you make of that?

CT: I understand that this is a topic for discussion, and the more I read about this project, the more I wanted to see it happen because it seemed absolutely invigorating. How are we going to continue living here in France, with our heritage, with all these buildings, these historical monuments? We can’t freeze them in time. We have to keep moving forward. And this is about the vitality of the church, but also of our country, of our culture.

This article was based on an interview in French by RFI’s Isabelle Chenu and slightly edited for clarity.

An average adult carries up to half a kilogram of bacteria in their body, most of it in the intestines. These microbes develop shortly after birth and help digest food, breaking down fibre that the body cannot process on its own.

Scientists now say this vast community of bacteria, known as the microbiome, plays a role that goes well beyond digestion.

“We really rediscovered the gut microbiome over the last 10 to 20 years as a forgotten, or critical organ – a part of our body that really counts for our health,” explains Patrick Veiga, research director at MetaGenoPolis, a microbiome research lab near Paris.

A visit to the microbiome lab and more on the French gut microbiome in the Spotlight on France podcast:

Because a large number of immune cells are in the intestines, they interact closely with bacteria. People with immune disorders appear to have different gut microbes.

Scientists are working to understand why that is the case, especially because industrialised countries, including France, have seen an increase in chronic, immune-related diseases like Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, and diabetes.

“We’re seeing an increase of these non-communicable diseases,” Veiga tells RFI, pointing also to neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.

“Sometimes these can be explained by age – we are ageing. But some of these are not explained by these factors, and we believe that the gut microbiota can be a missing piece of the puzzle.”

World Alzheimer’s Day: Is France’s once world-renowned care falling behind?

Le French Gut

In 2023 Veiga’s lab became the operational hub for Le French Gut, a national study aiming to collect faecal samples from 100,000 people across France to identify gut bacteria and track long-term health outcomes.

The project is France’s contribution to the global Million Microbiome from Humans Project, which is looking to gather 1 million samples worldwide.

Le French Gut has already collected 30,000 samples, which arrive at Veiga’s lab in batches of  1,000 from hospitals running the clinical trial.

Machines extract DNA from about 2,000 samples each month, and the DNA is then run through genetic sequencers to identify the hundreds of different species of bacteria that can be present in the human gut.

Participants also fill out questionnaires about their health and what they eat. Because researchers can access data from France’s public health system, they can follow participants for decades to see whether certain diseases develop and whether earlier changes in the microbiome could have predicted them.

“The ones who will develop diseases or eventually those who will die, maybe the data will allow us to find a pattern that could explain the disease that happened five or 10 years after they enrolled in the study,” Veiga says.

Diet and diversity

A healthy microbiome is one with many different kinds of bacteria, and it is strongly impacted by diet. As a result, gut microbiomes vary across countries and cultures.

France offers a particularly interesting case because of its geographical and cultural diversity.

“France has this large territory with different cultures and diets,” Veiga explains. “There are also different climates. So it’s interesting to look at different regions in France to look at the impact of different local diets on the gut microbiome.”

The French diet includes fermented foods such as yogurt and cheese, as well as wine.

“This can make a difference on the gut microbiome,” says Veiga. “So I think we will see signatures in this project that we will not see elsewhere.”

Other factors that influence the microbiome include antibiotic use, physical activity and stress, which vary between individuals and regions.

Recruiting kids

Study participants have so far skewed female – 70 percent are women between the ages of 40 to 60 years old.

“Maybe they’re more generous than the men?” mused Veiga, who said there is an under-representation of older people and those under 30, which is why the study has started reaching out to kids.

Through public service announcements, social media posts and games, researchers hope to recruit children who might overcome their squeamishness about the subject matter and be drawn in by the science behind the project.

“Teenagers have a different motivation and maybe lack of motivation in some cases. And to recruit them will be really another challenge than recruiting infants or younger children,” Veiga says.

Initial results

While the full results will take years to come out, Veiga says there are early findings, including a confirmation of previous research showing differences in the microbiomes of healthy people versus those with diseases, with specific bacteria profiles linked to specific diseases.

Some conditions, such as cancer, can alter the gut microbiome before symptoms appear, which could provide early warning signs and improve treatment.

“The idea would be to use this information to better diagnose or understand the disease,” Veiga says.

“Maybe we can try to find novel cures targeting the gut microbiome, to treat and to prevent disease.”

More on the French microbiome, and a visit to Le French Gut’s lab in the Spotlight on France podcast, episode 137. Listen here.

Review your classics

Matisse 1941-1954

This major show features more than 230 paintings, drawings, books and other documents tracing the rich final years of Henri Matisse’s career.

At nearly 80 years old, Matisse reinvented himself through the medium of intensely coloured paper cut-outs, which he elevated to an autonomous visual language.

Visitors will get a chance to see a range of works borrowed from Paris’ Pompidou Centre – closed for renovation until 2030 – and international collections, including the famous Blue Nudes and the 1946-48 Vence Interiors series. 

Matisse 1941-1954 is at the Grand Palais from 24 March to 26 July.

Renoir and Love

For the first time in Paris since 1985, the Musée d’Orsay is bringing together some of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s greatest masterpieces for an exhibition dedicated to themes of love and human relationships.

Regarded as one of the 19th century’s great impressionist painters, Renoir’s light, fluid manner of painting captures scenes from everyday life between the mid-1860s and the 1880s.

The collection of 50 paintings takes the viewer into the theatres, restaurants, guinguettes, boulevards and gardens where Renoir depicted changing interactions between men and women in an era when strict conventions still governed romantic relationships. 

Renoir and Love is at the Musée d’Orsay from 17 March to 19 July.

Africa then and now

Benin round trip: Perspectives on Dahomey in 1930

This exhibition offers a reinterpretation of films and photographs produced during a mission led by French missionary Francis Aupiais and photographer Frédéric Gadmer to Dahomey (present-day Benin) from January to May 1930.

With around 300 items on display, this immersive experience questions the way non-European cultures are viewed within the context of colonial rule and the birth of ethnography.

Historical images are presented in contrast to works by contemporary artists from Benin and the African continent, such as Ishola Akpo, Sènami Donoumassou and Roméo Mivekannin.

Benin round trip: Perspectives on Dahomey in 1930 is at the Musée Albert-Kahn until 14 June.

Kwame Akoto: Almighty God Art Works

The Musée du Quai Branly is celebrating the career of Kwame Akoto, a major figure in the Ghanaian art scene, whose unique work combines brightly coloured painting with a spiritual edge.

Born in Kumasi in 1950, the artist had an unusual career path. In 1972, he opened his own studio, where he began as a sign painter.

He quickly moved beyond commercial works to develop a personal style blending faith, social commentary and humour under the name Almighty God.

Kwame Akoto: Almighty God Art Works is at the Musée du Quai Branly from 31 March to 13 September.

Hats off to Marilyn and Martin

Global Warning

British photographer Martin Parr, known for his humorous documentation of modern life, died in December at the age of 73. 

Through some 180 works spanning over 50 years of production and ranging from his early black-and-white pieces to recent images, the exhibition addresses the chaos of contemporary society.

Parr not only gently pokes fun at our consumerist excesses, he captures subjects related to environmental destruction, including mass tourism, overconsumption and the omnipresence of plastic in daily life.

Global Warning is at the Jeu de Paume from 30 January to 24 May.

Marilyn Monroe: 100 years

Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe would have celebrated her 100th birthday in 2026, and French film museum the Cinématheque Française is marking the occasion with an exhibition in her honour. 

Monroe starred in more than 30 films, but her technical skill was often eclipsed by her looks and personal life.

This exhibition commemorates her greatest film performances and investigates what the enduring fascination with the star says about the public’s relationship with Hollywood and celebrity.

Marilyn Monroe: 100 years is at the Cinémathèque Française from 8 April to 26 July.

Game on

Video Games and Music

This interactive exhibition at the Philharmonie concert hall explores the history of video game music, from early sound chips to modern audio landscapes. 

Twenty installations investigate the powerful connection between music, storytelling and technology in the world’s most iconic games. 

Alongside the exhibition, concert-goers can buy tickets for orchestral performances of scores from popular games, including Final Fantasy and Assassin’s Creed. 

Video Games and Music is at the Philharmonie de Paris from 2 April to 1 November.

La Cavern du Pont Neuf (The Pont Neuf Cave) by JR

The French street artist known as JR has decided to take on Paris’s oldest bridge by transforming it into a giant cave.

The installation is inspired by the rocks used to create the bridge’s stone bricks, in a modern nod to Paris’s traditional architecture.

It is also an homage to artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who famously wrapped the bridge in 41,800 square metres of fabric back in 1985. 

Visitors will be able to walk across the bridge for free, or pass underneath on boats, while the artwork is in place. 

La Caverne du Pont Neuf will be open to the public from 6 to 28 June. 

Since declaring independence in 1991, Somaliland has tried for decades to gain international recognition.

Yet no country acknowledged it as a sovereign state – until Israel did so on 27 December 2025.

Authorities in Somalia, who want to keep their territory intact, have decried Israel’s decision and rallied the African Union and other African countries for support.

But Israel and Somaliland are moving forward with their “strategic partnership”. Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, visited Somaliland on Tuesday, 7 January, meeting the region’s president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, and discussing ways to enhance bilateral ties. 

Next week, Somaliland’s president will head to Jerusalem.

Somalia’s Foreign Ministry denounced an “unauthorised incursion” into the country. It criticised Saar’s visit as “a serious violation of Somalia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political unity”, and “unacceptable interference in the country’s internal affairs”.

Why are Israel and Somaliland willing to court international disapproval for the sake of this alliance?

UN ambassadors condemn Israel’s recognition of Somaliland

Torn history  

Somaliland lies in north-western Somalia, in the Horn of Africa along the strategic Gulf of Aden in the Red Sea. It shares land borders with Ethiopia, Djibouti and the rest of Somalia.

Up until the 18th century, the Somali region consisted of independent sultanates and clan-based societies, with limited Ottoman influence along parts of the coast. Eventually, European powers started establishing ports and trade agreements in the region too.

Following the Berlin Conference of 1884-85 and the “Scramble for Africa“, France, Britain and Italy moved to formalise their presence in the Horn of Africa.

Britain declared a protectorate over north-western Somalia – today’s Somaliland – in 1887, while Italy established control over southern and north-eastern Somalia from 1889. France’s influence centred around the Gulf of Tadjoura, now part of Djibouti.

Meet the Kenyan man shaping a francophone future in East Africa

Somaliland remained a British protectorate for the first part of the 20th century, but Somali nationalist movements grew in the 1940s and ’50s. When Somaliland declared independence on 26 June 1960, followed by Italian-controlled Somalia on 1 July, they formed one country.

But over the years, Somalilanders had kept their English-speaking habits and different administrative rules. And under the increasingly authoritarian regime of Siad Barre, the military commander who seized power in 1969, Somalilanders were victims of repression.

With the fall of Barre in January 1991 and the beginning of a civil war, the region declared independence again.

Strategic location, strategic timing  

Ever since, Somaliland has governed itself independently and organised its own elections.

It has long sought formal recognition as an independent state, signing bilateral agreements with a handful of foreign governments on investments and security coordination.

Since the election of President Abdullahi in December 2024, the region has made bolder attempts to pursue recognition from the international community, especially towards United States President Donald Trump.

This is when Israel started looking at a partnership with Somaliland, including recognition.

With a new president, Somaliland seeks international recognition

“Due to its strategic location on the shores of the Gulf of Aden, the territory of today’s Somaliland has drawn geopolitical attention from great powers for a long time,” writes Nasir M Ali, an international relations expert and former director of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Hargeisa, in a new handbook on Somaliland.

Analysts believe that an alliance between Israel and Somaliland is particularly advantageous for Israel because of its strategic position across the Red Sea from Yemen, where Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, have carried out numerous attacks against Israel since the beginning of the war in Gaza.

Ali told RFI that Somalilanders were overwhelmingly in favour of the partnership. “They’ve been waiting for recognition for decades, and now is the time,” he said. “The strategic reasons are strong, and others in the Muslim world have already re-allied Israel.”

‘Not in a position to choose’

Abdullahi had suggested last month that Somaliland join the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered by the Trump administration in 2020 that saw the United Arab Emirates – a close partner of Somaliland – Bahrain and then Morocco establish ties with Israel.

Israel’s decision to recognise Somaliland also follows two years of increasingly strained ties with many of its closest partners over its war in Gaza.

“Somaliland is and has been a stable democracy for almost 35 years,” the Israeli foreign minister said, and “it is pro-Western and a friend of Israel”.

Israel’s government has also advocated for what officials describe as voluntary Palestinian migration from Gaza. But Somaliland has denied that the Israel recognition agreement allows it to establish military bases, or to resettle Palestinians from Gaza in the region.

“We are not in a position to choose,” Hersi Ali Haji Hassan, chairman of the ruling Waddani party, told Al Jazeera this week. “We are in a state of necessity for official international recognition.

“There is no choice before us but to welcome any country that recognises our existential right.”

Israel’s recognition of Somaliland ‘is not an isolated initiative’: expert

A risky partner

Some analysts argue, however, that Israel’s support could harm Somaliland’s hopes for wider recognition.

After Saar’s visit to Hargeisa, the African Union called for the “immediate revocation” of Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, calling for respect of Somalia’s territorial integrity.

The European Union, China, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have also condemned the recognition, fearing growing insecurity in the Red Sea. 

“Israel’s recognition could be seen as not the best place to start among African and Muslim partners of Somaliland,” Ali suggests, “but it could also seduce countries like Ethiopia and other potential partners.”

That would be a game changer for Somalia, he says, for East Africa and for the entire region.

France, which now has 69.1 million inhabitants, recorded more deaths than births in 2025 for the first time since the end of the Second World War,  Insee announced in its report released on Tuesday.

As of 1 January 2026, the population increased by 0.25 percent compared with last year, France’s national statistics office Insee said on Tuesday.

But for the first time since 1944, this growth is due solely to net migration – the difference between the number of people entering and leaving the country – estimated at +176,000 people.

Natural population change, which measures the difference between births and deaths, has now turned negative, at -6,000 people. This situation is explained by two factors: a decline in births and a rise in deaths.

“What is striking is how, in just a few years, the natural balance has fallen due to the rapid decline in births,” said Sylvie Le Minez, head of demographic and social studies at Insee, at a press conference. As recently as 2015, the natural balance stood at +200,000 people.

Work, family life balance

In 2025, 645,000 babies were born in France, 2.1 percent fewer than the previous year, marking the lowest annual total since the end of the Second World War for the fourth consecutive year. This represents a 24 percent drop compared with 2010, described as “the last peak year for births”.

The decline is due to falling fertility, measured by the number of children per woman. The total fertility rate continued to decrease, reaching 1.56 children per woman, down from 1.61 in 2024 – the lowest level since the end of the First World War.

Why do French people want to have fewer children, or none at all?

This drop is also part of a medium-term trend: the index has been declining since 2010, when it stood at 2.02 children per woman in mainland France.

Demographers cite various explanations: people have aspirations other than starting a family, face obstacles such as difficulty finding stable employment or housing, or are held back by concerns including balancing work and family life and climate-related uncertainties.

Fear of lacking sufficient financial means emerged as one of the main barriers to having children during a recent citizen consultation carried out as part of a parliamentary mission on falling birth rates.

“Childcare is a huge expense for us – €800 a month – we couldn’t have two children,” said Océane, 32, the mother of a three-year-old and an executive at a company in Marseille. “Work, the home, children – I wouldn’t know how to manage everything at once.”

France’s ageing population is having fewer babies and living longer than ever

At 37, Jessica plans to have only one child with her partner, mainly because of her age. “My desire to start a family came late, we live very well and we are very happy together,” explains this Parisian, who works in communications and is also worried about “the cost of raising children”.

At the same time, Insee has observed a rise in deaths due to the large baby-boom generations reaching ages of higher mortality.

In 2025, 651,000 people died in France, an increase of 1.5 percent compared with the previous year. This rise is also explained by the winter flu epidemic, which was “particularly virulent in January,” according to Insee.

European statistics

In reaching this symbolic milestone, France is the last major EU country to tip into negative natural population growth.

According to figures compiled by Eurostat, the European Union’s natural population balance (including the United Kingdom until 2020) turned negative in 2015. Since 2020, the number of deaths in the EU’s 27 member states has exceeded the number of births by more than one million each year.

Since reunification in 1990, Germany has always recorded more deaths than births, while Italy’s natural balance turned negative in 1993, Poland’s in 2013 and Spain’s in 2015, Eurostat said.

In 2024, apart from France, only five countries still recorded a positive natural population balance, according to the same source: Ireland, Sweden, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta. Denmark was at equilibrium.

(with newswires)

Announced in December by Macron, this meeting aimed to “provide clarifications” on the so-called Bougival Agreement, which notably provides for the creation of a New Caledonian state enshrined in the French Constitution.

Approved in July by the entire anti-independence camp, it was nevertheless rejected by the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), which remains the main pro-independence movement in the territory located 17,000 km from mainland France.

“Paris is deaf and only understands the power dynamic, which is why we will not attend the meeting,” FLNKS President Christian Tein told a press conference in Nouméa.

France’s new overseas minister due in New Caledonia to revive dialogue

“The government is trying to confine us and all the Caledonian stakeholders to Bougival. We cannot endorse this,” he declared.

“Why go to Paris to discuss this agreement, which we reject and which is unacceptable to us?” he added, warning the government against forcing a solution.

“Beware of the timing of regrets,” he insisted, also questioning the willingness of those opposed to independence to negotiate, “since they say they won’t budge an inch on the Bougival agreement.”

“We can’t decide everything from Paris when the solutions must be found here,” Tein concluded.

Public consultation

To try to revive the process in an archipelago marked by serious violence in the spring of 2024, which left 14 dead and devastated the local economy, the French Minister for Overseas Territories, Naïma Moutchou, had proposed to organise an “early citizen consultation” in March 2026, before the adoption of the constitutional law necessary for its implementation.

But this prospect has raised concerns, even among supporters of the agreement.

The National Union for Independence (UNI) made its support conditional on amendments to the text, and the Caledonian Congress, consulted for its opinion on 8 December, confirmed that the project was deadlocked with 19 votes in favour, 14 against, and 19 abstentions.

Macron meets New Caledonian leaders to discuss future after riots

This choice by the FLNKS is “a disappointment” for Philippe Dunoyer, of the non-independence movement Caledonia Together (center-right), who also points to the impasse in which the draft agreement finds itself.

“There must be no reward for an empty chair,” also reacted Virginie Ruffenach, vice-president of the Rally-The Republicans (non-independence).

“This is proof of irresponsibility because New Caledonia is at the end of its rope and in this context, our responsibility is to finalise an agreement in Paris,” she said.

(with newswires)

Orsoni, 71, was shot while he was attending his mother’s funeral in the cemetery of Vero, in his family village located about thirty kilometers from Ajaccio, according to the city’s prosecutor.

“He was ​hit right in the heart by a single bullet from a long-range shot, ” prosecutor Nicolas ​Septe said. Local police confirmed the assassination.

The newly established National Prosecutor’s Office for Anti-Organised Crime (Pnaco), whose magistrate is expected on site Tuesday, quickly announced it would take up the case “particularly in light of the victim’s status and his ties to the Corsican underworld.”

It will conduct the investigation jointly with the Interregional Specialised Jurisdiction (JIRS) of Marseille, which specialises in cases of organised crime on the French island.

Orsini previously lead the separatist Corsican Movement for Self-Determination, which French police considered to be the legal front for the ‍armed group, the Corsican National Liberation Front-Traditional Wing (FLNC).

Authorities linked ​the Corsican National Liberation Front-Traditional Wing to a series of attacks on the island ‌in the 1990s, some of which the group claimed.

Years in exile

Orsoni had just arrived in Corsica on Sunday from Nicaragua where he had been living in exile and where he had set up activities in the gaming sector.

“He comes to bury his 91-year-old mother and they throw the son’s body on his mother’s coffin, it’s unspeakable, it’s despicable,” Jo Peraldi, close to Orsoni and former head of the clandestine FLNC movement, told French news agency AFP.

Father Roger Polge, who officiated at the funeral service, said it was during a moment of sorrow and grief.

“Suddenly we heard a gunshot, and Alain collapsed, dead,” he told France 3 Corse ViaStella channel. “What is happening in our home?”

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Tragedy and revenge have been a part of the Orsoni family’s lives for over 40 years.

After studying in Paris, Alain Orsoni became one of the leaders of the FLNC before founding the Movement for Self-Determination (MPA), later labelled by his opponents as the “Movement for Business.”

Orsoni was convicted and imprisoned in several cases over the years. He was convicted and later pardoned in connection with a machine gun attack on the Iranian embassy in Paris in 1980.

Series of murders

In 1983, Guy, Alain’s brother and a nationalist activist himself, was assassinated.

A year later, Alain’s son was born, whom he named Guy in his memory. Currently incarcerated, Guy is now considered a notorious figure in Corsican organised crime.

Known for his political acumen and composure, Alain Orsoni left Corsica in 1996, in the midst of a bitter internal conflict within the nationalist movement.

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

After 13 years in exile, he returned to Corsica in 2008 and, a few weeks later, survived an assassination attempt for which several members of the rival gang “Le Petit Bar,” named after a café in Ajaccio, were convicted in 2011.

In October 2012, his lawyer, Antoine Sollacaro, was gunned down. A month later, another close associate, Jacques Nacer, president of the South Corsica Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), was also murdered.

Orsini also presided over the AC Ajaccio football club from 2008 and intermittently until his official resignation in 2023, although he remained involved in the club’s affairs until the summer of 2025. The club, placed in receivership in August due to severe financial difficulties, is the subject of two investigations, notably for extortion, fraud, and forgery.

Corsica has a special status within the French administration and the question of the island’s autonomy has been at the heart of years of negotiations, launched after following the protests that broke out over the death of pro-independence militant Yvan Colonna.

The latest bill proposed in July 2025 would amend the 1958 French Constitution to enshrine Corsica’s autonomous status, taking into account its specific characteristics. It grants Corsica powers to adapt and set regulations.

It is awaiting debate by French lawmakers.

(with newswires)

The 29-year-old, who has featured in Nigeria teams for more than a decade, described the cameraderie as one of the key reasons for their impressive surge through the pool stages and the first two knockout ties.

The Super Eagles – as Nigeria are nicknamed – won all three games in their group and walloped Mozambique 4-0 in the last-16.

On  10 January in Fez, they suffocated an Algeria team that had also moved through the group stages with a 100 per cent record.

“Of course, at previous Cup of Nations we’ve done well,” said Iwobi, who plays his club football at the English Premier League outfit Fulham.

“But for me, I feel like the difference is the sense of brotherhood, the family environment that we’ve created for each other.”

Iwobi’s performances have been identified as one of the reasons for the progress. He has set up two goals in his four appearances at the competition in Morocco.

And he has been instrumental in dictating the pace and angles of Nigeria’s attacks too.

Uganda coach Put urges squad to take heart from underdog status against Nigeria

“The team have been so strong,” he added. “I feel like right now everybody’s entering their prime.

“Everyone’s doing well for their clubs, and you can see the joy and the chemistry that we have when we’re playing for our country.

“It’s not just on the pitch, it’s also off the pitch. There’s a big unity.”

Iwobi credited coach Eric Chelle who took over in January 2025 for creating the ethos within the squad.

“He has brought that brotherhood,” said Iwobi of the 48-year-old former Mali international.

“And it’s nice because it’s like one big family and you can see on the pitch that we’re fighting for each other.

“So I feel like that’s bringing out the best, not just in me, but in all the players.”

Morocco reached their first semi-final for 22 years following a 2-0 victory over Cameroon in Rabat.

Egypt and Nigeria enter last-16 fray as favourites against Benin and Mozambique

They came into the tournament as Africa’s top side in the Fifa rankings and on the back of a 19-match winning streak.

Though that sequence ended on 26 December in the 1-1 draw with Mali, they enter the semi-final at the Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah unbeaten in 23 games.”

“It’s been a long time since Morocco has been in the last four at a Cup of Nations,” said Morocco coach Walid Regragui who featured in the squad that played in the semis in Tunisia in 2004.

“So in the first instance, we’re happy to be back on that stage. But we’ll be up against one of the strongest nations on the continent that has featured regularly in semi-finals over the years. That shows their consistency and strength.

“It’s going to be a great match just like the other semi-final.”

That game in Tangier on Wednesday afternoon pits the seven-time winners Egypt against Senegal.

“We’re four of the best five teams in Africa,” Regragui added. “So that will be good for the profile of the continent that there are these kind of games.

“I hope we can all rise to the occasion.”

First announced in November 2025 by President Emmanuel Macron, the scheme is aimed at bolstering the country’s armed forces at a time of heightened security concerns across Europe.

Speaking at a press conference in Paris this Monday, the chief of staff of the armed forces, Fabien Mandon, said the programme was open to all French citizens aged 18 to 25 who are keen “to play a part in the nation’s capacity to resist in an uncertain environment”.

From September, around 3,000 volunteers will join the army, navy or air and space force for missions carried out exclusively on French soil.

Numbers are expected to rise to 4,000 in 2027 and to 10,000 a year by 2030, with a longer-term ambition of reaching 42,500 annual participants by 2035.

Combined with existing voluntary military service schemes and their overseas equivalents, that would bring the total to around 50,000 young people a year serving in uniform.

Legacy of conscription shapes France’s new version of military service

Counter-terrorism to drone operations

The service will last 10 months, beginning with an initial month of training followed by nine months in operational roles.

Tasks will range from helping out during natural disasters and providing support for counter-terrorism surveillance to more specialised jobs such as drone operation, mechanics, electrical work, baking or medical support.

Volunteers will be paid at least €800 a month and will receive accommodation, food and equipment.

The armed forces plan to begin selecting recruits as early as this month and around 80 per cent of those accepted will be 18- or 19-year-olds, for whom the service is intended to function as a kind of structured gap year before higher education.

This experience will be recognised within France’s Parcoursup university admissions system.

The remaining recruits, aged up to 25, will be chosen for specific skills and qualifications – including engineers, nurses and translators.

Macron unveils voluntary military service as concerns grow over Russia

Budget constraints

Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin said the programme reflected the “long-term evolution of the army towards a hybrid model”.

At the end of the 10 months, participants will be free to return to civilian life, join the military reserves or continue on a full-time career in the armed forces.

The gradual rollout is partly driven by budgetary constraints, as the scheme is expected to cost around €150 million in 2026, with total spending of roughly €2.3 billion between 2026 and 2030.

The launch also marks a quiet end to the universal national service (SNU), a flagship Macron pledge from his 2017 presidential campaign aimed at fostering national cohesion among 15- to 17-year-olds.

Introduced in 2019, the SNU was never fully rolled out and is now seen by the Elysée Palace as ill-suited to the strategic landscape reshaped by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

While France has not had compulsory military service since 2001, the new voluntary scheme underlines a broader shift across Europe, where governments are reassessing defence needs amid worries about Russia’s position and uncertainty over long-standing US security guarantees. 

(with newswires)

Hundreds of anaesthetists, surgeons and obstetricians donned surgical caps, white coats and packed small suitcases on Sunday as they left France for a symbolic three-day “exile” in Brussels, protesting against the government’s health policy and what they see as a sustained squeeze on private medicine.

Around 20 buses departed from Porte Dauphine in Paris bound for the Belgian capital, carrying doctors determined to make their point heard.

“We want the government to stop attacking private medicine,” said Philippe Cuq, president of Le Bloc doctors union, shortly before the convoy set off.

Once in Brussels, the aim is to get to work. “We are going to prepare around a dozen proposals that we want to submit to the [French] prime minister when we return,” Cuq told reporters, adding that there were “around 1,500 doctors” taking part in the action.

According to him, 1,936 had initially signed up, but “several hundred were requisitioned” by the authorities and ultimately could not join.

Cuq said the organisers were now “waiting for a meeting” with Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu.

“The head of government takes care of the farmers who feed the French people,” he remarked, “but we take care of the French people’s health.”

French doctors protest ‘medical desert’ reforms they say threaten independence

The battle over additional fees

At the heart of the doctors’ future proposals is the key issue of additional fees, which operating theatre practitioners argue are essential to keeping their work economically viable.

“Supplementary health insurance must reimburse these excess fees,” Cuq insisted. “Patients understand this, but they do not understand why supplementary health insurance rates are rising while reimbursements are falling.”

Several practitioners explained that official state reimbursement rates alone do not cover either their remuneration or the real costs of specialised procedures.

Dr Didier Legeais, president of the national union of urologists and a participant in the Brussels action, gave a concrete example: a nephrectomy – the removal of part of the kidney in cancer cases – is reimbursed at €506 by the national health insurance system. “It costs at least €600 if a robot is not used, and €1,200 if a robot is used,” he said.

Legeais added that additional fees also help finance care “for the 8 million patients” who do not pay them, including the 5.5 million people covered by the complementary health insurance scheme (CSS).

‘Massive investment’ doesn’t address France’s health crisis, critics warn

Knock-on effects for hospitals

The movement is already expected to have a significant impact at home. According to Lamine Gharbi, president of the Federation of Private Clinics (FHP), which backs the protest, “80 percent of private operating theatres” will be closed for the first three days of next week.

“It’s going to be tense,” he warned at Porte Dauphine, predicting increased pressure on public hospitals as patients unable to be treated in private clinics are redirected there.

The Brussels “exile” comes amid a broader wave of unrest among private doctors. Almost all organisations in the sector have called for strike action between 5 and 15 January.

Beyond fees, doctors are also angry about restrictions on sick leave prescriptions and measures they say undermine collective bargaining between the profession and the national health insurance system.

The scale of the discontent was on display on Saturday, when several thousand doctors marched through Paris – 20,000 according to organisers, and 5,000 according to police figures.

(with newswires)

The measures stem from the recast EU Drinking Water Directive adopted in 2020. They set two safety limits for PFAS in drinking water: one covering 20 of the most concerning chemicals, and another covering all PFAS combined.

The rules require authorities to act if those limits are exceeded.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a large group of human-made chemicals used in products such as pesticides, waterproof coatings and industrial materials. They break down very slowly and can remain in the environment for many years.

In France, the new EU rules follow a large national testing campaign carried out by Anses, France’s food and health safety agency, between 2023 and 2025. The aim was to get a clearer picture of PFAS contamination in drinking water before the EU deadline.

France cracks down on ‘forever chemicals’ in cosmetics, clothing

Nationwide snapshot

Anses screened for 35 PFAS substances in more than 600 samples of raw water and the same number of tap water samples. The testing covered mainland France and overseas territories.

Two-thirds of the samples were taken from areas where regional health agencies had identified a potential risk of PFAS pollution.

Of the 35 PFAS screened for, 20 were detected at least once in raw water and 19 in tap water.

Anses said that in the vast majority of samples, PFAS levels were below the regulatory limits that apply. Only a small number exceeded the EU threshold for the combined level of the 20 PFAS covered by the directive.

The agency said the results would help improve long-term monitoring and decide which substances may need closer attention in future.

For environmental group Générations Futures, the new rules mark a major change in how contamination is tracked nationwide.

“Finally, we are going to have data on the presence of the 20 main PFAS in tap water for the whole of France,” François Veillerette, spokesperson for Générations Futures, told France Culture radio.

Until now, monitoring had been uneven.

“In 2025, we had data in some regions, but not everywhere,” Veillerette said, adding that the new system would allow comparisons between regions, tracking over time and identification of areas most at risk.

French tap water tainted by widespread forever chemicals, study finds

A chemical left out

One substance stood out in the Anses campaign. Trifluoroacetic acid, known as TFA, was detected in 92 percent of both raw and mains-supplied water samples. Its concentration varied widely from place to place.

TFA is not included in the list of 20 PFAS covered by the new EU limit.

“It will be monitored next year, but we would have liked it to be included from 2026,” said Veillerette.

He warned that once PFAS pollution becomes established, treating drinking water becomes expensive. “If these substances settle in and increase, it will cost a lot to filter and treat the water,” he said.

Three more skiers were killed by avalanches in the French Alps on Sunday, taking the death toll over the weekend to six as exceptionally unstable snow conditions continued to claim lives despite repeated warnings from the authorities.

The latest fatalities came a day after three men were swept away while skiing off-piste in Savoie.

Throughout the weekend, the Alpine massifs were classified as high risk because of an unstable snowpack following heavy snowfall.

Speaking on Sunday evening, Vanina Nicoli, the prefect of Savoie, expressed her regret that off-piste skiing – which had been “strongly discouraged” since Friday – had once again resulted in deaths and put both skiers and rescuers in danger. The avalanche risk across much of the region stood at 4 out of 5.

She stressed that the alert issued by Météo-France on Friday, along with the prefecture’s call for “extreme caution”, remains in force for the coming days. Off-piste skiing, she reiterated, is strongly discouraged until the snowpack has stabilised.

Snowy winter spells better skiing in French Alps, but for how long?

Fatal incidents across the Alps

In the Alpine resort of La Plagne, a British skier in his 50s was buried by an avalanche in the early afternoon while skiing off-piste.

A major rescue operation was launched, involving 52 rescuers, avalanche dogs and a helicopter.

Despite their efforts, it took 50 minutes to locate him beneath over 2 metres of snow, and he could not be resuscitated.

Earlier in the day, another off-piste skier was killed in Courchevel, where he was found dead after being buried by an avalanche late in the morning.

Further north in neighbouring Haute-Savoie, a 32-year-old man died after an avalanche struck in the Vallorcine area in mid-afternoon.

The snow slide swept him away while he was skiing off-piste and hurled him against a tree.

He later succumbed to his injuries, according to the Chamonix High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon, which responded to the incident.

The previous day had already been marked by tragedy. Despite repeated warnings, three off-piste skiers died in two separate avalanches in Savoie – two men in Val d’Isère and another in Arêches-Beaufort.

The two men in Val d’Isère were not equipped with avalanche transceivers and could only be located via their mobile phones, buried under 2.5 metres of snow.

By the time they were found, it was too late.

French ski resorts warned fake snow will only worsen climate impacts

High risk set to continue

Looking ahead, Prefect Nicoli warned that avalanche danger will remain high in the coming days.

The warning comes at a particularly busy time for resorts. After the Christmas holidays, ski areas tend to remain crowded throughout January, increasing the pressure on both slopes and rescue services.

Heavy snowfall on Friday and Saturday also caused widespread disruption.

Around 800 people were forced to spend Saturday night in gymnasiums in Moûtiers, a key transport hub for Savoie’s ski resorts.

Another 29 people were accommodated overnight in an emergency centre, while about 40 people spent part of the night stranded on a bus on the road to the Arc 2000 resort, according to the gendarmerie.

(with newswires)

Kristersson said in a speech on Sunday that the rules-based world order was under greater threat than for many decades.

“We are highly critical of what the United States is now doing and has done in Venezuela, in regards to international law, and probably even more critical of the rhetoric that is being expressed against Greenland and Denmark,” he said at an annual security conference in northern Sweden.

“On the contrary, the United States should thank Denmark, which has been a very loyal ally over the years.”

President Donald Trump said on Friday that the US needs to own Greenland to prevent Russia or China from occupying it in the future. He has repeatedly said that Russian and Chinese vessels are operating near Greenland, something Nordic countries have rejected.

‘American? No!’ says Greenland after latest Trump threat

Sweden to invest $1.6 billion in air defence systems

Sweden will spend 15 billion Swedish crowns ($1.6 billion) on air defence aimed at primarily protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure, the government said on Sunday.

Sweden has, like most European countries, invested heavily in defence following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, Sweden’s vast territory has remained vulnerable to aerial threats.

“The experience from the war in Ukraine clearly shows how crucial a robust and resilient air defence is,” Defence Minister Pal Jonson told reporters at a security conference in northern Sweden.

He said Sweden would buy short-range air defence systems to protect cities, bridges, power plants and other critical infrastructure.

On Sunday Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson criticised the US administration’s 

“threatening rhetoric” against Greenland and Denmark, saying the US should thank Denmark for being a loyal ally.

French military chief backs Macron over possibility of sending troops to Ukraine

‘International law applies to everyone’

Meanwhile, German Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil said on Sunday that the principles of international law apply to everyone, including the United States, in reference to President Trump’s threats to seize Greenland.

“It is solely up to Denmark and Greenland to decide about Greenland’s future. Territorial sovereignty and integrity must be respected,” Klingbeil said ahead of his departure to Washington for a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven advanced economies.

Germany reiterated its support for Denmark and Greenland ahead of meetings in Washington on Monday.

A US military seizure of the mineral-rich Arctic island from Denmark, a long-time ally, would send shockwaves through NATO and deepen the divide between Trump and European leaders.

“We increase security in the Arctic together as NATO allies, not in opposition to one another,” Klingbeil said.

 (Reuters)

Boisson shot up the rankings last spring following her surge to the last four at the French Open in Paris but said on social media this week that she did not want to rush back into action.

“I know it was the right decision to make, even though it was difficult,” she added.

Given an invitation by the French Tennis Federation to appear in the main draw of the circuit’s most prestigious clay court tournament, she beat top 10 players Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva in the last-16 and quarter-finals respectively before the world number two Coco Gauff terminated her run.

The string of victories not only bolstered Boisson’s bank balance with nearly €700,000 but catapulted her 300 places up the rankings and also brought her a list of accolades.

She became the first Frenchwoman and only the fifth player since tennis was opened up to professionals in 1968 to reach the last four during her debut appearance at one of the four Grand Slam tournaments in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York. 

Complicated period

“I’ve been going through a very complicated period for several months,” Boisson said.

“It has been a difficult time mentally and physically with these injuries that prevent me from being where I would like to be and doing what I love most.”

Boisson refreshes partisans’ thirst for glory at French Open

Boisson has never featured at the season’s first Grand Slam tournament which starts on Sunday at Melbourne Park.

The draw for the competition will take place on Thursday. Carlos Alcaraz and defending champion Jannik Sinner will lead the men’s section while Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek will be seeded to meet in the women’s singles final on 31 January. 

In Boisson’s absence in Melbourne, Elsa Jacquemot, at 58 in the world, will be the highest-ranked French female player. 

Just before the tournament, Australian tennis federation bosses revealed that the men’s and women’s champions will receive a €2.38m cheque for winning one of the most coveted prizes in the sport.

Conflicting reports emerged from the city, as authorities announced a halt to the fighting and said they had begun transferring Kurdish fighters out of Aleppo, but Kurdish forces denied the claims shortly after.

An AFP correspondent saw at least five buses on Saturday carrying men leaving the Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsud district, accompanied by security forces.

While the authorities said they were fighters, the Kurdish forces insisted they were “civilians who were forcibly displaced”. AFP could not independently verify the men’s identities.

Another correspondent saw at least six buses entering the neighbourhood and leaving without anyone on board, with relative calm in the area.

US envoy Tom Barrack met Saturday with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and afterwards issued a call for a “return to dialogue” with the Kurds in accordance with an integration agreement sealed last year.

A statement from the European Union called for an end to fighting in and around Aleppo to protect the civilian population.

“We urge all parties to implement the ceasefire announced today and to return urgently to a political dialogue for a political solution,” the statement added.   

Civilians killed    

The violence in Aleppo erupted after efforts to integrate the Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration and military into the country’s new government stalled.

Since the fighting began on Tuesday, at least 21 civilians have been killed, according to figures from both sides, while Aleppo’s governor said 155,000 people had been forced to flee their homes.

On Saturday evening, state television reported that Kurdish fighters “who announced their surrender…were transported by bus to the city of Tabaqa” in the Kurdish-controlled northeast.

A Syrian security source had told AFP the last Kurdish fighters had entrenched themselves in the area of al-Razi hospital in Sheikh Maqsud, before being evacuated by the authorities.

Kurdish forces said in a statement that news of fighters being transferred was “entirely false” and that those taken included “young civilians who were abducted and transferred to an unknown location”.

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

Residents waiting to return 

On the outskirts of Sheikh Maqsud, families who had been unable to flee the violence were leaving, accompanied by Syrian security forces, according to an AFP correspondent.

Men carried their children on their backs as women and children wept, before boarding buses taking them to shelters.

Dozens of young men in civilian clothing were separated from the rest, with security forces making them sit on the ground before being taken by bus to an unknown destination, according to the correspondent.

A Syrian security official told AFP on condition of anonymity that the young men were “fighters” being “transferred to Syrian detention centres”.

At the entrance to the district, 60-year-old resident Imad al-Ahmad was waiting for permission to return home.

“I left four days ago…I took refuge at my sister’s house,” he told AFP. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to return today.”

Nahed Mohammad Qassab, a 40-year-old widow also waiting to return, said she had left before the fighting to attend a funeral.

“My three children are still inside, at my neighbour’s house. I want to get them out,” she said.

The clashes, some of the most intense since Syria‘s new Islamist authorities took power, present another challenge as the country struggles on a new path after the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Both sides have blamed the other for starting the violence in Aleppo.   

‘Fierce’ resistance 

A flight suspension at Aleppo airport was extended until further notice.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) control swathes of the country’s oil-rich north and northeast, much of which they captured during Syria’s civil war and the fight against the Islamic State group.

But Turkey, a close ally of neighbouring Syria’s new leaders, views its main component as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which agreed last year to end its four-decade armed struggle against Ankara.

Turkey has launched successive offensives to push Kurdish forces from the frontier.

Elham Ahmad, a senior official in the Kurdish administration in Syria’s northeast, accused Syrian authorities of “choosing the path of war”. But he said the Kurds remained committed to agreements reached with Damascus.

The March integration agreement was meant to be implemented last year, but differences, including Kurdish demands for decentralised rule, stymied progress as Damascus repeatedly rejected the idea.

Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the renewed clashes cast doubt on the government’s ability to unite the country after years of civil war.

Syria’s authorities have committed to protecting minorities, but sectarian bloodshed rocked the Alawite and Druze communities last year.

 (AFP)

About 8 million registered voters are expected to choose 109 MPs along with their local representatives, the election commission said.

This double election precedes a third: the presidential election, scheduled for 12 April, 2026.

These are the first elections since a failed coup attempt in early December against President Patrice Talon. The army said it had foiled the plot by a group of soldiers and later said it had regained control. Authorities said the president was safe.

Talon will not run in April. Two candidates are set to contest the presidency. The presidential coalition has nominated Economy Minister Romuald Wadagni, while Paul Hounkpè will stand for the Cauris Forces for an Emerging Benin, known as the FCBE.

Benin authorities say coup attempt foiled, President Talon safe

Revised rules

The vote comes three years after the last legislative elections in January 2023, after Benin revised its election calendar so all elections now take place in a single year.

MPs are now elected for seven-year terms instead of five, following a constitutional change adopted in November. Voters will also elect municipal councillors.

Twenty-four seats in parliament are reserved for women, one in each of Benin’s electoral districts.

Five parties are contesting the legislative elections. Three belong to the presidential coalition – the Progressive Union for Renewal, the Republican Bloc and Moele-Benin.

The other two are the Democrats, the main opposition party linked to former president Thomas Boni Yayi, and the FCBE, described as a moderate opposition party.

For the local elections, only three parties are running – the Progressive Union for Renewal, the Republican Bloc and the FCBE. The Democrats are absent after the election commission ruled their candidate lists inadmissible.

The Democrats will also not field a presidential candidate. The withdrawal of an endorsement by one of their elected officials led to their disqualification.

Benin pro-government parties win parliamentary majority

Muted campaign

“The campaign atmosphere was rather dull and lacking in excitement, even if it was peaceful and relatively good-natured,” governance expert Joël Atayi Guedegbe said.

“It remains to be seen whether most voters are interested. We are in a festive atmosphere, especially with the Vodun Days festival. What will be the impact of this? It’s difficult to know.”

Another specialist on Benin, who asked not to be named, told RFI the campaign took place “without much enthusiasm compared to what we have experienced in the past”. He said the local elections did not seem “inclusive” enough to many voters.

Turnout will be closely watched and could be low.

Young voters may be the hardest to mobilise. Work is their priority, one student said, while another added: “Creating jobs, giving value to jobs for young people.”

Threshold concerns

New rules require parties to win at least 20 percent of the vote in each of Benin’s 24 electoral districts to gain seats.

That threshold drops to 10 percent for parties that reached a parliamentary agreement before the vote. For these elections, only the Democrats did not reach such an agreement.

Experts say many fear Benin could be heading towards a single-party parliament, as in 2019.

This article includes reporting from RFI correspondent Magali Lagrange in Benin

Egypt took the lead in the fourth minute at the Stade Adrar.

Côte d’Ivoire captain Franck Kessié lost the ball in midfield after a poor touch and Odilon Kossounou fell over instead of cutting out Emam Ashour’s pass for Omar Marmoush who exploited the blunders to slot home past the Ivorian goalkeeper Yahia Fofana.

Ramy Rabia doubled the advantage just after the half hour mark and though an Ahmed Fotouh own-goal halved the deficit in the 40th minute, Salah restored the two-goal cushion just after the restart.

“We just fight for our country,” said the 33-year-old. “And hopefully we will go through after the next game as well.”

Morocco boss Regragui confirms Hakimi’s return for Cup of Nations pool clash

Guéla Doué’s goal in the 73rd minute set up a grandstand finish but the Egyptians – hunting for a record-extending eighth Africa Cup of Nations title – held on to advance to a semi-final appointment with Senegal who beat them in the 2021 Cup of Nations final in Cameroon.

“It’s a tough opponent, of course,” said Salah of the clash on 14 January in Tangier. “But we will give our best.”

The other semi-final on 14 January in Rabat pits hosts Morocco with the 2023 beaten finalists Nigeria who crushed Algeria 2-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Victor Osimhen scored one goal and set up the other for Akor Adams against a lacklustre Algeria side who only shone in the final 15 minutes of the tie.

“There are a lot of young players who are featuring in their first Africa Cup of Nations,” said Algeria skipper Riyad Mahrez after the defeat at the Grand Stade de Marrakech.

“They have to go through these types of games to improve. Nigeria have more players who have played at Cup of Nations tournaments and they have played with their young generation a bit more than us.

“They deserved to go through,” he added. “It’s fine. We’ll recover and look forward to the World Cup.”

Aleppo has seen its worst fighting in years, as the Syrian army moved to oust the SDF from two large, mainly Kurdish neighbourhoods in the north of the city. The clashes began in late December and continued into January, forcing many civilians to flee.

The SDF controls a large swathe of northern and eastern Syria. The offensive comes as efforts to integrate the SDF into the Syrian army stalled.

“This is a warning. It is a kind of pressure on the SDF to come to a conclusion quickly, rather than to kick the can down the road with Damascus,” Aydin Selcen, a former senior Turkish diplomat who served in the region, told RFI.

Turkey’s backing

Ankara, which has recently reopened channels with Damascus after years of strained relations, strongly backs the offensive and has signalled its readiness to provide military support against the SDF.

“Turkey has the military advantage there, and I believe the SDF should take these warnings seriously,” Selcen said. He is now an analyst for the Turkish news portal Medyascope.

Turkey accuses the SDF of links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK, which has fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for decades.

The PKK is designated a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union. Turkey is also pursuing a renewed peace initiative with the PKK and sees the integration of the SDF into the Syrian army as key to stabilising northern Syria.

US pushes Israel to accept Turkish role in Gaza stabilisation force

Stalled integration

In March last year, the SDF signed an agreement in Damascus to integrate with the Syrian army. The deal set out broad principles but left key questions unresolved.

“There was a discrepancy from the beginning in what the parties understood integration to mean,” said Sezin Oney, of the Turkish Politikyol news portal.

“In Turkey’s case, they mean integration in such a way that it melts into the Syrian army. But the SDF understands it as integrating while protecting its inner core and identity. Remaining as the SDF, but operating under the umbrella of the Syrian army.

“Unless one of the parties backs down and makes concessions, we are likely to see a bigger military operation.”

International stakes

On Thursday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa held telephone talks with his French and Turkish counterparts on the security situation. The discussions focused on containing the fighting and preserving the ceasefire.

Despite its precarious position, the SDF retains influential supporters. Israel, an increasingly vocal critic of Turkey’s regional role, has expressed support for the group. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned Damascus’s operations in Aleppo.

The SDF remains a key partner of the United States Central Command in operations against the Islamic State group in Syria.

“The SDF lost a lot of troops, at least 10,000 fighters, in the fight against ISIS since 2014,” said Turkish international relations expert Soli Ozel.

“It’s a complicated picture. But from the American side, I do not yet see signs they would allow an attack on the SDF at this moment.”

According to Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and Washington’s envoy on Syria, diplomatic efforts are under way to extend the Aleppo ceasefire and allow SDF fighters to withdraw from contested areas.

Turkey fears Ukraine conflict will spill over on its Black Sea shores

Pressure on Washington

The duration of US support for the SDF remains uncertain, especially after last year’s agreement between Washington and Damascus to step up cooperation against the Islamic State group.

The issue has taken on added significance following President Donald Trump’s meeting with Syrian President al-Sharaa in Washington.

Given President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s strong relationship with Trump, time may not be on the SDF’s side, Oney said.

“They want to have the northern part of Syria, at least, but also Syria more broadly, as their backyard,” she added. “Turkey is the most influential country in Damascus. They want the SDF to melt away into the new Syrian state and its army.”

Turkey could face domestic political fallout for targeting the SDF. Protests have erupted in the country’s predominantly Kurdish southeast, which borders Syria, in response to the clashes in Aleppo.

Any further military action against the SDF could jeopardise the fragile peace process with the PKK. 

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

World Radio Day is just around the corner, so it’s time for you to record your greetings for our annual World Radio Day program!

WRD is on 13 February;  we’ll have our celebration the day after, on the 14 February show. The deadline for your recordings is Monday 2 February, which is not far off!

Try to keep your greeting to under a minute. You can record on your phone and send it to me as an attachment in an e-mail to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

Be sure to record your greeting from underneath a blanket. Then the sound will be truly radiophonic – I mean, you want everyone to understand you, right?

Don’t miss out on the fun. 2 February is just around the corner, so to your recorders!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This week’s quiz: On 22 November, I asked you a question about the world’s most visited museum – the Louvre here in Paris. The museum was back in the news, due to an architectural audit that turned up structural weaknesses in some of the beams in the building. 

You were to re-read our article “Louvre Museum in Paris shuts gallery over structural safety fears”, and send in the answer to these two questions: What is the name of the gallery that has been closed, and what artworks are in that gallery?

The answer is: The Campana Gallery, which houses nine rooms dedicated to ancient Greek ceramics. 

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: What are your unique relationship rules?  

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Kashif Khalil from Faisalabad, Pakistan. Kashif is also the winner of this week’s bonus question. Congratulations on your double win, Kashif.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Nuraiz Bin Zaman, a member of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, and RFI Listeners Club member Nasyr Muhammad from Katsina State, Nigeria.

Last but not least, RFI English listeners Murshida Akhter Lata, the co-chairman of the Source of Knowledge Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh, and Miss Shuno, a member of the International Radio Fan and Youth Club in Khanewal, Pakistan.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Barkley’s Bug” by David Grishman, performed by the David Grishman Quintet; Traditional Greek music produced by Visual Melodies; the “Rondo” from Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto no. 1, performed by Krystian Zimmerman and the Polish Festival Orchestra; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer; “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, and “Guinnevere” by David Crosby, arranged and performed by Miles Davis and his ensemble.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read Paul Myers’ article “Nigeria power past Mozambique into quarterfinals at Africa Cup of Nations”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 2 February to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 7 February podcast. When you enter, be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

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

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

“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.”

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.