Russia’s FSB security service said it had launched a case against “foreign journalists Simone Traini and Stefania Battistini, who illegally crossed the State Border of the Russian Federation”, according to the RIA news agency.

It said the journalists had “carried out video shooting in the territory of the settlement of Sudzha”, a town in the region that Ukraine’s forces claim to control.

Russia had summoned Italy’s ambassador to Moscow, Cecilia Piccioni, to protest the report on Friday.

Piccioni explained during the meeting that RAI, “and in particular the editorial teams, plan their activities in a totally free and independent way”, an Italian foreign ministry spokesman.

Italy’s foreign ministry said its ambassador Cecilia Piccioni had also explained to the Russian authorities that RAI and its news teams acted independently and autonomously.

Reporting ‘illegally’

Kyiv has been carrying out a major cross-border ground assault in the Kursk region in Russia since 6 August.

And the Italian public broadcaster RAI aired a report on Wednesday 14, showing the journalists drive into the region accompanied by Ukrainian military.

The Italian reporters were shown in an armoured vehicle past Russian road signs before arriving in Sudzha, around 10 kilometres from the border, where a journalist spoke to local people.

Russia also said on Saturday that it had repelled Ukrainian forces near the town of Korenevo and the villages of Russkoye and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye, in the Kursk border region.

Ukraine‘s attacks “were repelled in the direction of the settlements of Korenevo, Russkoye and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye”, the Russian defence ministry said.

Uncertain situation

RAI planned to get the journalists back to Italy from Sunday evening.

“The company decided to make journalist Stefania Battistini and cameraman Simone Traini return temporarily to Italy, solely to ensure personal safety and security,” RAI added.

The two reporters were scheduled to fly back to the northern Italian city of Milan on Sunday.

“Journalism is not a crime,” RAI union Usigrai and Italy’s national press union FNSI said in a joint statement. “The Moscow authorities’ possibility of putting Stefania Battistini and Simone Traini on trial is unacceptable. Reporting is not done with prior authorisations.”

 (with newswires)

“Ukraine has nothing to do with the Nord Stream explosions,” Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said in reaction to a report by The Wall Street Journal that claimed Ukraine’s top military commander, Valery Zaluzhny, oversaw a plan to blow up the pipelines.

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which ran from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, started leaking in September 2022 – seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine.

They had already stopped delivering gas to Europe when investigators concluded that the leaks were caused by explosions set deliberately as sabotage.

“Such an act can only be carried out with extensive technical and financial resources… and who possessed all this at the time of the bombing? Only Russia,” Zaluzhny said.

Blame game

Russia has blamed the blasts on Ukraine as well as the United States and Britain, which denied the accusation.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Ukraine had discussed blowing up the pipelines at a meeting of senior military officers and businessmen in May 2022, soon after Russia’s invasion.

The reporting, published Wednesday, said six people directly took part in the privately financed operation, which involved a rented yacht that sailed out to the pipelines carrying divers who lay down explosives.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who reportedly approved the operation at first, called it off when the CIA asked him to stop it, but Zaluzhny said it was already underway.

Germany seeks suspect

Shortly before The Wall Street Journal’s report was published, Poland said it had received a German arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man who investigators suspected helped plant explosive devices on the pipeline.

Polish prosecutors said the man, named as Volodymyr Z, had crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border in early July.

(with newswires)

Abbas received a standing ovation in the Turkish Parliament on Thursday, where he addressed an extraordinary session. Deputies wore scarves adorned with Turkish and Palestinian flags as a show of solidarity.

With Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan watching from the balcony, Abbas praised Turkey’s unwavering support for the Palestinian cause.

“We highly appreciate Turkey’s pioneering role under the leadership of President Erdogan for its courageous and unwavering positions in defense of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to freedom and independence,” declared Abbas.

Increasing isolation

Erdogan is attempting to position himself at the forefront of international opposition to Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, even as Turkey finds itself increasingly sidelined from global efforts to resolve the conflict.

China’s recent hosting of Palestinian faction leaders highlights Erdogan’s diminishing influence.

“Erdogan was hoping to reconcile Palestinian factions, but China stole the spotlight and acted preemptively. China had more political clout over the parties,” Selin Nasi, a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics contemporary Turkish studies department, told RFI.

Abbas’s visit to Russia on Tuesday further underscores the growing importance of other nations in efforts to address the Gaza conflict.

Domestic message

Erdogan’s invitation to Abbas also serves as a way to reinforce his pro-Palestinian credentials with his domestic conservative base.

“He’s trying to keep his base intact domestically,” Sezin Oney, a commentator on Turkey’s Politikyol news portal, told RFI.

“Once upon a time, Erdogan resonated with the Arab public in general.

“The Arab Street, as it was called back then, and the Muslim population in general saw him as connected with international grassroots movements. But he doesn’t have that appeal anymore; he’s lost that appeal.”

Turkey a bridge?

Erdogan has long claimed to be a bridge between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

“This is an issue that Erdogan personally invested a lot of time and energy in,” said Selin Nasi.

However, Erdogan’s influence with Hamas has waned, particularly after the assassination of its leader Ismail Haniyeh last month, and his replacement by Yahya Sinwar, who is relatively unknown in Turkey.

“They cannot host [Sinwar], they cannot contact him, nor do they have the kind of relations that they had with Haniyeh. So they have to settle with Mahmoud Abbas at this point,” Oney said.

Abbas, however, appears to show little interest in Turkey’s playing a larger role in resolving the conflict, and Erdogan’s strong support of Hamas and his fiery rhetoric against Israel is increasingly isolating him from countries seeking to end the fighting.

The landings in Provence, often overshadowed by the Normandy landings two months earlier, were crucial to the final stages of World War II in Europe.

On 15 August, 1944, around 100,000 American, British and Canadian troops landed on the beaches of the Var region along the French Riviera. They were soon joined by 250,000 Free French soldiers, predominantly recruited from France’s overseas colonies in Africa.

Their mission was to recapture the key port cities of Marseille and Toulon from German occupiers.

The Allied forces met their objectives within two weeks, facing only limited resistance from a German army that was both underequipped and exhausted.

France’s Macron launches season of WWII commemorative events

Forced march

One notable incident occurred on 16 August 1944, when Resistance fighters attacked German forces in the coastal town of Lavandou, resulting in one death and four injuries.

According to a vivid account on the Bormes-les-Mimosas town hall website, the Germans had mined the port’s piers to prevent the Allies from establishing a docking zone.

In response, the Nazis arrested 180 people – men, women, and children – accusing them of harbouring Resistance fighters and threatening them with immediate execution.

The hostages were forced to march over the hills to the inland village of Bormes-les-Mimosas, where their fate would be decided by the Kommandantur, the highest local German authority, which had set up its headquarters in the Grand Hotel.

The hostages spent the night in the homes of local families, and were to be executed on 17 August, with the Nazis warning that any escape attempt would result in the execution of the “host” family.

However, in the early morning, American paratroopers descended on the village, supported by African commandos on the ground.

Surrender

The Nazis surrendered and the hostages from Lavandou, along with their “hosts” from Bormes, were freed unharmed.

A special three-day programme has been organised to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Provence and the role of Bormes-les-Mimosas.

On 16 August, visitors can participate in a reenactment of the 40-minute walk that the 180 hostages were forced to take from Lavandou to the center of Bormes.

Macron marks 84 years since de Gaulle’s call to resist Nazi occupation

On Saturday, there will be a military parade and an air show featuring American Dakota DC3 and T6 planes, along with a jazz concert inspired by WWII icon Glenn Miller.

President Macron is expected to arrive in Bormes-les-Mimosas for his annual speech, travelling from his holiday residence at Fort de Brégançon, just 10 kilometres away.

He will be accompanied by Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Nice mayor Christian Estrosi, and military veterans.

The dispute centers on a controversial deal in which Somaliland would lease a portion of its coastline to Ethiopia for the establishment of a marine force base, in exchange for Ethiopia potentially recognising Somaliland’s independence.

The deal, agreed in January, has heightened tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia, with Somalia viewing it as a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Somalia, which considers Somaliland part of its territory, has strongly opposed the agreement and has even suggested that it is prepared to take drastic measures to defend its claims.

In response to the growing tensions, Turkey has stepped in as a mediator, hosting talks between the two nations to find a peaceful resolution.

“I am pleased to announce that the number and extent of issues we discussed, has increased significantly, compared to the first round,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in a video message on Tuesday.

Fidan said both sides had shown a willingness to engage on the technical details of the dispute.

“We believe that a collaborative and constructive solution is within reach,” he said.

Fidan made the comments at the end of a second round of talks between the foreign ministers of Somalia and Ethiopia that are being mediated by Turkey.

Flanked by his counterparts from Ethiopia and Somalia, Fidan added that a third round of talks would be held on Sept. 17.

• Somalia’s spat with Ethiopia deepens over naval base plans in Somaliland

Fidan, who has held meetings with his Ethiopian counterpart, Taye Atske Selassie, and Somalia’s Foreign Minister Ahmed Moallim Fiqi since Monday, did not provide details on the discussions.

However, last week he told reporters that he had proposed an arrangement that would ensure Ethiopia’s sea access via Somalia. In return, Ethiopia would acknowledge Somalia’s territorial integrity and political sovereignty, he said.

In the video, Selassie thanked Turkey for its mediation and reaffirmed Ethiopia’s wish to “secure dependable access to and from the sea.”

“We look forward to having continued engagement that will ultimately help us resolve current differences and restore normal relations,” he said.

Fiqi said progress was made in the latest round of talks, and expressed hope that the momentum will result in a solution.

“Somalia remains committed to protecting its sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity,” he said.

A first round of talks was also held in the Turkish capital in July.

Turkey has forged close ties with Somalia, and recently signed deals toward cooperation in defence and oil and gas exploration. It also has economic and trade ties with Ethiopia.

(with newswires)

The figure accounts for three strains of the virus, of which one is the new more deadly and more transmissible Clade 1b which prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday to declare an international health emergency, the agency’s highest alert.

To date, 3,101 confirmed and 15,636 suspected cases have been reported from 12 African Union member states, resulting in 541 deaths — a fatality rate of 2.89 percent, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement.

From the DRC to Burundi

The hardest hit country, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where the new Clade 1b strain was first detected in September 2023, has reported 1,005 cases (222 confirmed, 783 suspected) and 24 deaths in one week.

All 26 provinces in the DRC, home to some 100 million people, have reported cases.

Neighbouring Burundi reported 173 cases — 39 confirmed and 134 suspected — which marks a rise of 75 percent in one week.

More cases have been reported since the beginning of the year than all of 2023, which saw a total of 14,383 cases, according to the Africa CDC.

World alert

The first cases of the mpox outside of Africa were recorded this week, in Sweden and Pakistan.

• Why the latest mpox outbreak has global health authorities so alarmed

The WHO will soon publish its first recommendations by its emergency committee and, along with NGOs, has also called for the ramping up of vaccine production.

Mpox is a viral disease that can spread from animals to humans, but also human-to-human through sexual or close physical contact. Symptoms include fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions

The Clade 1b causes skin eruptions all over the body, whereas previous variants caused localised lesions around the mouth, face or genitals.

The disease, formerly known as monkeypox, was first detected in humans in the DRC in 1970.

The deadlier Clade 1 has been endemic in the Congo Basin in central Africa for decades.

 (with AFP) 

This new strain has already caused a surge in cases across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is spreading to neighbouring countries, prompting the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency (PHEIC).

Thursday health officials confirmed the first infection detected outside of Africa.

The PHEIC declaration aims to raise awareness and secure funding to contain and treat the disease.

Mpox, a virus formerly called monkeypox, infects humans and animals, and is similar to smallpox. It causes fevers, rashes and puss-filled lesions all over the body.

In severe cases, mpox provokes sepsis – a life-threatening response to infection that requires immediate medical attention.

Deadlier variant

Public health authorities are worried about mpox because of the way it spreads through direct contact with an infected person, or with contaminated materials or animals.

Someone can transmit the disease one to four days before symptoms appear.

The 2022 outbreak was triggered by clade II, one of two types of mpox, which is milder and less transmissible than clade Ib, which is behind the most recent outbreak and can kill up to ten percent of people infected.

Most cases in the 2022 outbreak were in gay or bisexual men, and containment efforts focused on changing the behavior of men having sex with men after it was established that the virus was spread through sexual contact.

The most recent outbreak has been affecting predominantly children.

The WHO has reported that 70 percent of DRC’s cases in children under the age of 15 who contracted the disease through contact with infected family members or at school.

DRC on brink

The charity Save the Children is reporting that newborn babies are getting infected in overcrowded hospitals in the DRC, and doctors have reported high rates of miscarriage among pregnant women.

In calling the outbreak a PHEIC, the WHO is opening up funding and research into the clade Ib variant to better understand how it is transmitted and how to contain it.

Authorities are concerned about the spread of the disease in areas around Goma, in the northeast of the DRC, which has reported the vast majority of cases, and which is already facing a humanitarian crisis, with millions of people displaced and moving around from camp to camp.

Goma’s international airport has allowed the virus to spread abroad.

The WHO has also alerted to the fragile state of the DRC’s healthcare system, which had been strained by past outbreaks of Ebola and Covid-19, and has been struggling to keep up with the surge in mpox cases.

Vaccines

Vaccines are an important part of controlling outbreaks, and two vaccines have been recommended for use against mpox.

Vaccines were a large part of the containment of the 2022 outbreak in the West, but barely any vaccines were available in Africa.

Last week the WHO asked vaccine manufacturers to submit requests for emergency approvals in order to ramp up vaccine production and distribution.

On Wednesday the African CDC signed an agreement with the European Commission’s health emergency authority and Bavarian Nordic, the manufacturer of Jynneos, a vaccine used against mpox, for 215,000 doses.

This is much less than the 10 million doses the needed in Africa, according to Africa CDC director-general Jean Kaseya, who this week said there was a plan to secure more by the end of the year.

“We will leave no Africans behind,” he said.

(with newswires)

This year’s Shanghai Ranking has placed French universities in the spotlight, with Paris-Saclay achieving the highest ever score for a French institution.

The move, praised by President Emmanuel Macron, reflects the growing international recognition of French academic standards.

France now has 25 universities in the global top 1,000, with 18 in the top 500. Notable movers include Université Paris Sciences Lettres, up to 33rd place, the Sorbonne at 41st, and Paris City University, which climbed to 60th.

Aix-Marseille, Strasbourg, and Grenoble Alpes also feature in the top 150.

Macron credits these improvements to recent reforms and investments in French higher education, including the Research Programming Law and the France 2030 initiative.

• Paris remains most expensive French city for university students

With this year’s ranking, France has become the third most-represented country in the top 20, a significant development noted by Higher Education Minister Sylvie Retailleau, who pointed out the growing interest from international students.

The Shanghai Ranking, initiated in 2003 by Shanghai Jiaotong University, focuses heavily on research achievements, such as Nobel laureates, Fields medalists, and publications in top journals like Science and Nature.

This year, Harvard, Stanford, and MIT continue to dominate the top spots, with Cambridge and Oxford also in the top 10.

More than 2,500 institutions were evaluated to determine the global top 1,000.

Roadblocks remain widespread across New Caledonia, and police continue to clash with independence activists, who began protesting three months ago against a proposed reform of voting rights.

Indigenous Kanaks argue that the reform would dilute their voting power, making it harder to achieve independence in any future referendum.

Macron has defended the reform as necessary for improving democracy, even as the government declared a state of emergency in response to protests that escalated into violence, looting and arson.

Despite deploying thousands of police and gendarmes, the French government has struggled to fully quell the violence. On Thursday, police shot dead a suspected gunman during clashes in the eastern town of Thio, marking the 11th fatality since the unrest began.

• Deadly unrest in New Caledonia tied to old colonial wounds

Push for dialogue

In late July, Macron told a delegation of New Caledonian lawmakers that he would hold discussions with all parties involved to address the situation, but only after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and once France has a new government.

In June, Macron suspended the electoral reform after dissolving parliament to hold elections that ended without a clear majority in the National Assembly, leaving France in political uncertainty.

Even with a new government, it remains unclear what France can offer either side in New Caledonia. Macron’s decision to suspend the voting reform in June, halting its passage but not removing it entirely, satisfied neither pro- nor anti-independence groups.

Sinking economy

Meanwhile, New Caledonia’s economy has taken a hit from the violence, with the government reporting €2.2 billion in damage. Hundreds of businesses and public buildings have been destroyed by fire or looted, leaving thousands unemployed.

One in four residents is now receiving full or part-time unemployment benefits, and a growing number of people are leaving the territory. In 2024 alone, some 6,000 people – around 2.5 percent of the population – left New Caledonia, David Guyenne, president of the local chamber of commerce, told FranceInfo on Friday.

Tourism, a key revenue source, has plummeted, and one of the territory’s three nickel factories announced it would close at the end of the month, laying off 1,200 workers.

Money can’t solve crisis

The French state has provided funding for businesses affected by the looting and has lent millions of euros to the local government, which was already in debt before the crisis began.

However, financial aid alone is unlikely to address the deeper issues plaguing New Caledonia.

“The answer is not just to inject liquidity, it is to rebuild differently,” pro-independence MP Emmanuel Tjibaou told Nouvelle-Calédonie La Première local radio on Monday.

“If we think the answer is just about cash flow, we will end up with the same issues in 30 years.”

Weeks after legislative elections which produced a lower-house National Assembly with no clear majority, France still does not have a new prime minister.

Macron said in July he would seek to name a new prime minister after the Paris Olympics, which ended on 11 August, stressing that parties in a fractured parliament must come together to build a broad coalition first.

While the successful Olympic Games have lifted what was a morose mood in France, analysts say that it is far from certain this could boost Macron’s embattled fortunes.

Macron must face political truths as Olympics euphoria wears off

On Friday, the Elysee presidential office said Macron invited party leaders to take part in “a series of discussions” on 23 August, with a view to attempting to form a government.

The appointment of a prime minister will follow on from these consultations and their conclusions,” the presidency said in a statement.

Noting that the French people had expressed “a desire for change and broad unity”, the Elysee hopes that the consultations will help move towards “the broadest and most stable majority possible.”

Macron dismisses left-wing demand for new PM, urges post-Olympics unity

In late July, Macron dismissed a left-wing alliance’s push to name a new prime minister.

The left-wing New Popular Front, which emerged as the largest faction post-election, has said it wants the economist Lucie Castets, 37, to be the new premier.

The government of Macron allies, under Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, has carried on in a caretaker capacity throughout the Games.

In June, Macron shocked the nation by dissolving parliament and calling snap elections. Seats in the 577-strong assembly are now divided between three similarly-sized blocs.

The exercises featured the US Navy’s USS Dewey, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, and the French Navy’s FS Bretagne, an Aquitaine-class frigate, the US 7th Fleet said in a statement.

Activities included formation sailing, combined communications, and simulated refueling, underscoring the commitment of both nations to enhance maritime interoperability.

“The US 7th Fleet takes regular steps to advance our interoperability with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific, as we did during this week’s bilateral operation with our longstanding French Navy allies,” Vice Admiral Fred Kacher, the Fleet’s commander, was quoted as saying.

“The work we do together strengthens the combined capabilities of our professional maritime forces and enhances our ability to deter conflict in the region.”

Dispute

The Philippines and China are entangled in a decades-long dispute over territory.

In 2016 the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague rejected Chinese claims over vast sea areas, but Beijing did not accept the ruling, and instead ramped up patrols of the waters and reefs in the South China Sea and built artificial islands that it has militarised.

Meanwhile, France has shown increased interest in participating in war games with allies in the Pacific, where it has overseas territories such as the islands and archipelagos of New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna and French Polynesia.

Some 7,000 defence personnel, 15 warships and 38 aircraft are deployed to the region. France’s Navy is the largest force in the Pacific Islands.

France joins forces with India, US in China’s Pacific backyard

Like Australia and the US, France is concerned about China’s growing military presence there.

In a 2021 strategic update, the French defence ministry warned that China had “doubled its defence budget since 2012, making it the second largest in the world, while expanding its nuclear arsenal and showing new ambitions in terms of power projection”.

Maritime activities

Before going to the Philippines, the FS Bretagne took part in RIMPAC 2024, the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise that is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii.

And earlier this year, the French Navy already took part in joint maritime activities between Manila, Paris, and Washington in the South China Sea during the Balikatan 2024 exercises, the largest annual drill held between the US and Philippines militaries.

Balitakan was a first for the French Navy. The Floréal-class frigate FS Vendémiaire was the French participant. 

France’s official line is that its presence has nothing to do with the perceived China threat.

“Vendémiaire’s action will fall within the areas of maritime security and HADR (humanitarian assistance and disaster relief: relief to populations in the event of a natural disaster),” according to a statement by France’s Indo-Pacific Command before that exercise.

The drill lasted three weeks and took place in Palawan and Batanes, close to Taiwan and the South China Sea.

French and US military cooperation took a beating when the US, the UK and Australia launched their AUKUS alliance, resulting in the cancellation of a billion dollar submarine deal that involved the sales of French submarines to Canberra.

Relations however have since recovered.

(with newswires)

Most of those dead and missing in Chad are believed to be foreign informal gold miners working in the province, said Brahim Edji Mahamat, head of a local association.

The flooding, which followed rainfall from last Friday to Wednesday, has swept away thousands of shops and vehicles.

The torrential rains are a climate event that strikes the region every five to 10 years, said Idriss Abdallah Hassan, head of the national meteorological agency. He added that the area usually struggles to receive 200 millimetres of rain annually.

Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti is a vast, mountainous desert region spanning three northern regions of Chad, reaching up to the border with Libya.

Officials in Chad are appealing for international assistance to help save thousands of people affected by the ongoing floods.

Climate disruption

Over the past three days, some 53,000 people have been forced to flee several towns and villages in the Sila region, a southeastern province of Chad bordering Sudan and the Central African Republic.

In Niger, the entire country is now affected by heavy rains, which are typical in the south during the rainy season but have been exacerbated this year by global warming and the El Nino phenomenon.

The excess rainfall ranges from 50 to 400 millimetres above normal levels, in areas where it usually rains between 100 and 600 millimetres per year.

Many roads have been blocked, according to RFI’s correspondent in Niger. Authorities have reported 94 deaths and more than 135,156 people affected since June, when the rainy season began.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Cameroon is facing the opposite problem – severe drought – with officials there also seeking assistance.

Appeal for help

Over the course of March and April, torrential rains already killed one person and injured 45 more in the southern Chadian provinces of Mandoul and Logone Oriental.

Local authorities reported that 650 households (3,760 people) were affected, with 692 houses collapsing, 20 classrooms damaged, 700 trees uprooted, 2,000 sacks of cereals ruined, and 130 heads of cattle missing.

Initial assessments by local authorities identified urgent needs for food, shelter, and other essential items.

UN agencies have identified securing food assistance as the most critical gap.

Heavy rains and river flooding, typically affecting the southern provinces, have become increasingly volatile and severe due to climate change.

The 2023 season was marked by critically low rainfall, significantly reducing crop production. However, in 2022, over 1.9 million people were affected by nationwide flooding, including nearly 750,000 in the southern provinces.

Authorities estimate that one million people will face food insecurity during the 2024 lean season (June to August) in these regions.

This number could increase dramatically without emergency assistance and livelihood support.

The UN said it hopes to provide critical humanitarian aid to over 1.6 million people in Chad’s southern provinces.

Hello everyone!

Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday. This week, you’ll hear what Rodrigo Hunrichse, your fellow RFI English listener, has found to be true in his life. Don’t miss it!

Here’s Rodrigo’s essay:

Seize the moment, cherish loved ones, make a good impression, avoid toxicity, plant seeds, harvest in time, write/ report regularly, study/ inform yourself, make good, love, find someone to love you back, question important things, rest regularly, good deeds should return, bad ones too, don’t judge until having good understanding of facts, don’t take their words for a fact: verify, don’t mind popular opinion, save for the uncertainty, remember good/bad people in your life so you’ll be remembered similarly, find a belief and a belonging so you have peers to support and be supported, no one is perfect especially you that know yourself, take care of yourself so to age with dignity, it’s never too late!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “People Are Strange”, by Jim Morrison and Robby Krieger, performed by The Doors. 

The quiz will be back next Saturday, 24 August. Be sure and tune in! 

War has raged since April 2023 between the Sudanese army under the country’s de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The brutal conflict has unleashed one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Tom Perriello, the US special envoy for Sudan, said the talks’ leadership group was speaking to both sides, bashing the phones to reach the Sudanese armed forces (SAF), while the RSF’s delegation is on the ground in Switzerland.

The talks are co-hosted by the United States, Saudi Arabia and the Swiss, with the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations acting as a steering group.

The negotiations, which began on Monday and could last around 10 days, are being held behind closed doors in an undisclosed location.

“We’re working the phones. The fact is, in this day and age, everyone in this diplomatic coalition can speak to SAF leadership and RSF leadership,” Perriello told AFP.

“We, every day, are in communication with RSF and SAF leadership, the two sides of this war.”

The talks, which also involve experts and civil society representatives, are aimed at achieving a cessation of hostilities, ensuring humanitarian access and implementing understandings accepted by both sides.

As for monitoring mechanisms to ensure agreements are implemented, Perriello insisted there were “many proposals”.

“We are seeing a tremendous amount of momentum and energy to try to get those mechanisms agreed upon, and in place.”

Proximity format

Despite the Sudanese army’s no-show so far, the special envoy said the talks were having some success, simply by casting international focus on Sudan at a time “when the world was turning its attention away”.

The meeting is proceeding using a proximity talks format – where the brokers speak to each side separately, rather than the two sides talking directly.

“The really exciting thing is that we’re having what you call virtual proximity talks, which is that we are already actively engaged every day with both the RSF and SAF,” said Perriello.

He said the Egyptians, Saudis, Emiratis, the UN and the AU were “helping out to lead so much on the mediation”.

The envoy admitted progress on a ceasefire and humanitarian access would be “easier… in person. But with the magic of telephones and other things, we are not being held back by that refusal to show up.”

Opening the gates

The fighting has forced one in five people to flee their homes, while tens of thousands have died.

More than 25 million people across the country – more than half its population – face acute hunger. Famine has been declared in a Darfur displacement camp.

Burhan’s authorities have announced that Sudan’s western Adre border crossing with Chad was set to reopen for three months for humanitarian deliveries.

The closure of the crossing has been a longstanding concern for aid groups struggling to get food and supplies into Sudan’s Darfur region.

“We are really continuing to see progress on the humanitarian side,” said Perriello.

Opening the crossing “has been an essential demand for months now, to move humanitarian aid into some of the parts of Darfur that have had the most acute starvation and hunger.

“We’re hoping to get commitments from the RSF to respond accordingly with things like making sure they have unhindered safe access going in.

“We’re seeing results each day on progress that’s going to mean more food and medicine for more people,” the envoy said.

“But we have so much more to do – and it would be easier if the army showed up.”

Five times more Paralympic ticket were sold after the Olympic games than before, Tony Estanguet, president of the committee organising the Paris Olympics and Paralympics told France Inter, echoing what other organisers have been saying in the past days, welcoming the boost from disappointing sales this spring.

At the start of this week about a million of the 2.5 million were still available, some selling for just 15 euros.

Six of the 22 sporting events to be held from 28 August to 8 September are already sold out, many of them to be held in some of the more iconic venues highlighted during the Olympics.

Wheelchair fencing and para taekwondo, both in the spectacular glass atrium of the Grand Palais, are sold out, according to Le Monde, as is blind football at the base of the Eiffel Tower and equestrian events at the Versailles palace.

For the rest of the tickets, organisers are pointing to the spike in sales between the Olympics and Paralympic Games in Rio in 2016 and London in 2012.

An advertising campaign titled “Game is not over” spotlights French paralympic athletes, to try to convince those returning from summer holidays, who may have regretted leaving Paris during the Olympics.

“India will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to organise the Olympics in India in 2036,” Modi said in his 11^th annual address to the South Asian nation.

“This is the age-old dream of 140 crore (1.4 billion) Indians … it is their aspiration … This dream has to be built with your cooperation and support,” the 73-year-old added.

The declaration of intent came on the heels of India initiating a dialogue with the Future Host Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in a first step towards the bidding process, the government has told parliament.

Modi’s pitch

Modi, kicking off India’s 78th Independence Day celebrations, argued the country’s successes in hosting global events established its capacity.

“India organising the G20 Summit (last September) has proven that we have the capability to organise large-scale events,” he said in Hindi language as the day was celebrated in several countries.

Besides India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, which hosted the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Turkey are strong contenders for the 2036 Games.

Modi’s potential bid is expected to draw the backing of India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani who runs the 100-billion-euro Reliance Industries group,  media reported.

IOC President Thomas Bach has said India had a “strong case” to stake its claim for the 2036 Games.

The 2028 Games will be held in Los Angeles while Brisbane will host the 2032 fixture.

India’s image took a battering during the shambolic 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi amid allegations large scale corruption was a cause for the chaos.

India offer jobs and perks worth billions in first budget after polls

India’s struggle

A total of 117 Indian athletes competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics but won a single silver and five bronze while the hunt was on for 69 medals in 16 sporting events.

Analysts say India must sponsor unproven talent to transform into a sporting nation before hosting the Games 12 years from now.

“Our elite athletes now get the facilities that they want… while at the grassroots level, sport still craves for attention and support..” sports writer Sashank Shekhar said in comments published in the Times of India a day after the Paris Games ended on 11 August.

In 2017, Modi set up centres in 679 districts and handed out millions of euros to promote sports in cricket-crazy India, which has so far won 41 Olympics medals with athlete Norman Pritchard opening the account with dual silver in Paris 1900.

Modi also extended his wishes to athletes scheduled to participate in the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games which kicks off on 28 August.

India fields its largest-ever contingent of 84 athletes who will compete in 12 events.

2047 dream

On Thursday, Modi also pledged to continue on his government’s “path of reform” to turn India into a developed nation by 2047 – the year the country marks its 100^th year of freedom from British colonial rule.

“Before independence, 400 million Indians showed courage, dedication and bravery and broke the shackles of colonial rule despite all adversaries.

“If 400 million Indians could do this, then 1.4 billion Indians could do wonders. Despite all challenges we can make India into a developed nation by 2047,” he added in a 90-minute speech that stressed India’s economic boom.

Last year, India overtook Britain as the fifth largest economy and it is set to surpass Japan and Germany and grab the third slot by 2027, according to Morgan Stanley global financial services firm.

But critics say a brutal lockdown during the pandemic, reckless project in 2016 to trash 86 percent of cash and taxes have pushed unemployment to record heights, crashed small businesses, hit India’s middle class and pushed the poor deeper into poverty.

“We are all worried about the regional situation,” Sejourne said after meeting parliament speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.

France “supports Lebanon, and in this context and in the context of regional peace, we hope for the ceasefire… in the Gaza Strip, which… will be necessary to guarantee peace in the region,” he said.

Hezbollah has traded near daily fire with the Israeli army since the Palestinian militant group Hamas‘s 7 October attack on Israel sparked the Gaza war.

Fears of an all-out conflict have spiralled since an Israeli strike killed a top Hezbollah commander last month.

Hours later, an attack blamed on Israel killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, prompting both Hezbollah and Iran to vow retaliation.

Supporting diplomacy

Before his arrival, Sejourne said in a statement on X that his visit aimed to “support ongoing diplomatic efforts towards de-escalation in the region”.

His trip comes a day after US envoy Amos Hochstein visited Beirut and said there was “no more time to waste” for a Gaza ceasefire, noting it would “also help enable a diplomatic resolution” in Lebanon and prevent a wider war.

In Beirut, Sejourne met with other senior officials including Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.

He said he carried a “very simple” message of de-escalation addressed to Lebanese authorities “and which will also be addressed to other countries in the region”.

France, Germany, Britain call for Gaza ceasefire ‘without delay’

Sejourne also expressed support for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, saying France was working to “reinforce and provide a mandate” for the peacekeepers for the next 12 months, as its expiry approaches at the end of August.

He also said France supported “reinforcing the Lebanese army” in the country’s south.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 ended a 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and called for the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers to be the only armed forces deployed in south Lebanon.

Calls have increased for the full implementation of the resolution as a way of ending the current violence.

The cross-border clashes since October have killed some 570 people in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including at least 118 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, 22 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed, according to army figures.

Two Rafale fighter jets returning to a military base after a supply mission to Germany crashed into each other around noon, according to the French Air and Space Force.

Two pilots in one of the aircraft were killed. They were identified as Captain Sebastien Mabire, a flight instructor, and Lieutenant Matthis Laurens, who was being trained.

The pilot of the other plane was able to eject and was found near the plane’s wreckage in Colombey-les-Belles, in north-eastern France.

French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu is expected to travel Thursday to the Saint-Dizier Air Force base, where all the pilots were based.

Accidents involving Rafale fighter jets, which France sells to militaries around the world, are rare.

In December 2007, a Rafale crashed near Neuvic in southwestern France after the pilot became disorientated, according to investigators.

Another pilot died in September 2009 when two Rafale jets went down as they were returning to the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier off Perpignan after a test flight.

(with newswires)

Thursday’s commemoration is an “unbreakable recognition” of the heroes of 15 August 1944, Macron said Thursday in a speech commemorating the 80th anniversary of Operation Dragoon, which has was overshadowed by the Normandy landings two months earlier, but that was key to ending World War II in Europe.

In Boulouris-sur-Mer, on the coast where close to 500 soldiers who died for France lay buried, Macron spoke to an audience that included African heads of state as part of an homage to the contribution of soldiers recruited, often forcibly, from France’s colonies.

Soldiers were “conscious of fighting for a cause much larger than the cliffs, the danger or their lives,” Macron said, adding that they were “ready to die so that France can live freely”.

• France honours overlooked heroes of 1944 Provence landings, 80 years on

‘Foreigners were key’

“There would not have been an Allied victory without the contribution of other people, without foreigners,” Cameroonian President Paul Biya said in a speech.

“Africans paid a large price for the Allied victories,” he said, adding that the fight was “fought together, to defend the universal values and ideals of peace and justice”.

Biya was one of only six African heads of state who accepted the invitation to attend the commemoration – Cameroon Central African Republic, Comoros, Gabon, Morocco and Togo – as several stayed away over diplomatic tensions, including Niger, Mali and Algeria.

Burkina Faso sent an envoy. Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal sent ministers, where as Chad and Benin sent their ambassadors.

The commutation was interrupted by the risk of violent storms along the coast, and nearly all of the events were cancelled, including a reenactment of the landing on Lido beach in Toulon and a parachutist landing.

Macron was to hold a working meeting with the heads of state after the ceremony.

(with newswires)

The unrest broke out over plans to expand the electoral roll, which indigenous Kanak people fear would diminish their chances for independence, leading to widespread protests, roadblocks, arson and looting.

Paris responded by deploying thousands of troops and police to the territory.

French police shot and killed an alleged gunman during clashes in New Caledonia on Thursday, local prosecutors said, upping to 11 the toll during three months of unrest in the French Pacific territory.

The shooting occurred in the eastern town of Thio as police were clearing a bridge, according to prosecutor Yves Dupas. 

An officer was hit in the face by a rock and then police were shot at several times, Dupas said.

• Deadly unrest in New Caledonia tied to old colonial wounds
• Key dates in New Caledonia’s history

‘Numerous investigations’

They shot back and wounded two protesters, one of whom died on his way to a hospital, he said, adding that “numerous investigations” have been opened into the incident and that he expected to announce more details later in the day. 

In mid-July another alleged gunman was killed in similar circumstances, when police allegedly came under gunfire while clearing roadblocks in the Mont-Dore district outside the capital Noumea and shot back, killing a man. 

Unrest broke out in mid-May in New Caledonia, almost 17,000 kilometres from Paris, over a planned expansion of the electoral roll that indigenous Kanak people fear would leave them in a permanent minority, crushing their hopes for independence.

Some barricaded roads and burned or looted cars, businesses and public buildings, prompting Paris to send thousands of troops and police in response.

The electoral change – which requires altering the French constitution – has effectively been in limbo since President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament for new elections that in July produced a lower house with no clear majority.

Arrests of pro-independence figures on June 19 have further stirred discontent and unrest.

The controversy has rapidly become a hot-button issue outside the ring, with politicians and celebrities including Donald Trump and Elon Musk weighing in.

The investigation was opened Tuesday into “cyberharassment” following the high-profile gender row at the Games, the Paris public prosecutor’s office told AFP.

The athlete’s lawyer Nabil Boudi said last week that Khelif, 25, had filed a complaint for online harassment, calling it a “fight for justice.”

“The investigation will determine who was behind this misogynist, racist and sexist campaign, but will also have to concern itself with those who fed the online lynching,” he said at the time.

The Central Office for Combating Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crimes has been tasked with the investigation.

‘Born a woman’

According to US magazine Variety, billionaire entrepreneur Musk and Harry Potter author JK Rowling have been named in the complaint.

Former US President Trump, who is the Republican party’s nominee in the 2024 presidential race, would also be part of the investigation, Variety said, citing the lawyer.

Khelif won the women’s 66kg final against China’s Yang Liu in a unanimous points decision, having been the focus of intense scrutiny in the French capital during the Olympics.

Together with Taiwan‘s Lin Yu-ting, who won the 57kg women’s final, Khelif was disqualified from last year’s world championships after they failed gender eligibility testing.

However they were cleared to compete in Paris, setting the stage for one of the biggest controversies of the Games.

The row in Paris erupted after Khelif won her bout against Italy‘s Angela Carini in just 46 seconds with two strong punches to the Italian’s nose.

Trump said he would “keep men out of women’s sports” and his running mate JD Vance described the bout as a “grown man pummelling a woman in a boxing match”.

Rowling also weighed in, saying on X that the Paris Olympics would be “forever tarnished by the brutal injustice done to Carini”.

The International Boxing Association’s Russian president and Kremlin-linked oligarch, Umar Kremlev, has targeted both athletes, claiming that Khelif and Lin had undergone “genetic testing that shows that these are men”.

Macron must face political truths as Olympics euphoria wears off

The IBA were responsible for the world championships in 2023 that Lin and Khelif were thrown out of, but the IOC cleared them to box in Paris.

Khelif said she is “a woman like any other”.

“I was born a woman, lived a woman and competed as a woman,” she told reporters about her eligibility.

“They hate me and I don’t know why,” she said of the IBA.

‘Defamation campaign’ 

Russia‘s team has been banned from the Paris Olympics over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

On Monday, Khelif received a hero’s welcome at Algiers airport, with crowds cheering the boxer with chants of “Tahia Imane” (Long live Imane).

An editorial in government daily El Moudjahid praised Khelif.

“Imane’s victory is also a victory for the oppressed and the excluded, but above all it is a victory for the law, which for too long has been trampled by the logic of the powerful, who are greedy for domination and adept at double-standard policies.”

Asked if the International Olympic Committee was prepared to consider reviewing the gender issue, its president Thomas Bach has said: “If someone is presenting us a scientifically solid system how to identify men and women, we are the first ones to do it.

“But what is not possible that someone is saying this is not a woman just by looking at somebody or by falling prey to a defamation campaign by a not credible organisation with highly political interest.”

Abbas received a standing ovation in the Turkish Parliament on Thursday, where he addressed an extraordinary session. Deputies wore scarves adorned with Turkish and Palestinian flags as a show of solidarity.

With Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan watching from the balcony, Abbas praised Turkey’s unwavering support for the Palestinian cause.

“We highly appreciate Turkey’s pioneering role under the leadership of President Erdogan for its courageous and unwavering positions in defense of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to freedom and independence,” declared Abbas.

Increasing isolation

Erdogan is attempting to position himself at the forefront of international opposition to Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, even as Turkey finds itself increasingly sidelined from global efforts to resolve the conflict.

China’s recent hosting of Palestinian faction leaders highlights Erdogan’s diminishing influence.

“Erdogan was hoping to reconcile Palestinian factions, but China stole the spotlight and acted preemptively. China had more political clout over the parties,” Selin Nasi, a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics contemporary Turkish studies department, told RFI.

Abbas’s visit to Russia on Tuesday further underscores the growing importance of other nations in efforts to address the Gaza conflict.

Domestic message

Erdogan’s invitation to Abbas also serves as a way to reinforce his pro-Palestinian credentials with his domestic conservative base.

“He’s trying to keep his base intact domestically,” Sezin Oney, a commentator on Turkey’s Politikyol news portal, told RFI.

“Once upon a time, Erdogan resonated with the Arab public in general.

“The Arab Street, as it was called back then, and the Muslim population in general saw him as connected with international grassroots movements. But he doesn’t have that appeal anymore; he’s lost that appeal.”

Turkey a bridge?

Erdogan has long claimed to be a bridge between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

“This is an issue that Erdogan personally invested a lot of time and energy in,” said Selin Nasi.

However, Erdogan’s influence with Hamas has waned, particularly after the assassination of its leader Ismail Haniyeh last month, and his replacement by Yahya Sinwar, who is relatively unknown in Turkey.

“They cannot host [Sinwar], they cannot contact him, nor do they have the kind of relations that they had with Haniyeh. So they have to settle with Mahmoud Abbas at this point,” Oney said.

Abbas, however, appears to show little interest in Turkey’s playing a larger role in resolving the conflict, and Erdogan’s strong support of Hamas and his fiery rhetoric against Israel is increasingly isolating him from countries seeking to end the fighting.

Hello everyone!

Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday. This week, you’ll hear what Rodrigo Hunrichse, your fellow RFI English listener, has found to be true in his life. Don’t miss it!

Here’s Rodrigo’s essay:

Seize the moment, cherish loved ones, make a good impression, avoid toxicity, plant seeds, harvest in time, write/ report regularly, study/ inform yourself, make good, love, find someone to love you back, question important things, rest regularly, good deeds should return, bad ones too, don’t judge until having good understanding of facts, don’t take their words for a fact: verify, don’t mind popular opinion, save for the uncertainty, remember good/bad people in your life so you’ll be remembered similarly, find a belief and a belonging so you have peers to support and be supported, no one is perfect especially you that know yourself, take care of yourself so to age with dignity, it’s never too late!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “People Are Strange”, by Jim Morrison and Robby Krieger, performed by The Doors. 

The quiz will be back next Saturday, 24 August. Be sure and tune in! 

In a ceremony attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, China’s BYD car company signed an agreement to build a billion-dollar factory in Turkey.

The factory will produce 150,000 vehicles annually, mainly for the European Union market.

Analysts say the July deal marks a turning point in Turkish-Chinese relations.

“The significance of this deal is Turkey would be considered as a transition country between China and the EU,” Sibel Karabel, director of the Asia Pacific department of Istanbul’s Gedik University told RFI.  

“This deal has the potential to reduce the trade imbalance, the trade deficit, which is a detriment to Turkey,” he adds, “Turkey also wants to reap the benefits of China’s cutting-edge technologies by collaborating with China.”

Sidestepping tariffs

China’s pivot towards Turkey, a NATO member, is also about Beijing’s increasing competition for global influence, especially with the United States.  

Karabel says the planned BYD factory offers a way for China to avoid the EU’s new tariffs on vehicles.

Turkey is already a part of China’s global investment strategy through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Beijing has shown interest in Turkey becoming a trade route from China to Europe through Ankara’s Middle Corridor Intiative.

But until now, such collaborations have until been just empty words, claims Ceren Ergenc a China specialist at the Centre for European Policy Studies.  

Turkey set on rebuilding bridges with China to improve trade

“When you look at the press statements after meetings, you don’t see Chinese investments in Turkey, and the reason for that is because China perceives Turkey as a high political risk country in the region,” Ergenc explains.

One of the main factors widely cited for Beijing’s reluctance to invest in Turkey is Ankara’s strong support of China’s Muslim Uyghur minority.

Ankara has been critical of Beijing’s crackdown on Uyghurs, offering refuge to many Uyghur dissidents. Their Turkish supporters fear Beijing’s billion-dollar investment in Turkey could be part of an extradition deal struck during Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s recent visit to China.

“There are rumors, of course, that the Chinese side is pressing for the ratification of this extradition agreement, that they would want Uyghurs in Turkey, some of them at least, to be returned to China to be tried in China,” warns Cagdas Ungor of Istanbul’s Marmara University, referring to people China considers to be dissidents or “terrorists”.

Common ground over Gaza

Elsewhere, Ankara and Beijing are finding increasing diplomatic common ground, including criticism of Israel’s war on Hamas.

“If you take, for instance, the Gaza issue right now, Turkey and China, and even without trying,” observes Ungor, “they see eye to eye on this issue. Their foreign policies align, overlap, and their policy becomes very much different from most of the other Western countries.”

Carmakers unhappy after EU hits China with tariffs on electric vehicles

For example, Ankara welcomed last month’s decision by Beijing to host Palestinian leaders amid an escalation of threats and bombardment by Israel.

Such a move can provide common ground, Ungor suggests, and this could be the basis for future cooperation.

“There are certain issues at a global level, at the regional level, that China seems to be a much better partner(to Turkey) than the Western countries,” he concludes.

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday. This week, you’ll hear musical requests from your fellow listeners Hossen Abed Ali, Karuna Kanta Pal, and Jayanta Chakrabarty.

Be sure you send in your music requests! Write to me at thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “How Long”, written and performed by Jackson Browne; “Top of the World” by John Bettis and Richard Carpenter, performed by The Carpenters, and “Mademoiselle Chante le Blues” by Didier Barbelivien, sung by Patricia Kaas.

Be sure and tune in next week for a “This I Believe” essay written by RFI Listeners Club member Rodrigo Hunrichse.   

In this episode we hear from the artist and from Hoor Al-Qasimi, director of the Sharjah Art Foundation and the president of the Africa Institute, Sharjah, UAE, who helped organise the London retrospective.

Jantjes’s formative years in Cape Town coincided with the early years of South African apartheid, and his journey has since embodied a quest for artistic emancipation, with a freedom not bound by the Eurocentric gaze or expectations of black creativity.

For Jantjes, this quest has meant a life of itinerant exile manifesting in multiple careers.

Structured into chapters, To Be Free! explores his engagement with anti-apartheid activism from the 1970s to the mid-1980s, his transformative role at art institutions in Europe, his compelling figurative portrayals of the global black struggle for freedom, and his recent transition to non-figurative painting.

This retrospective also provides insights into Jantjes’ curatorial initiatives, written contributions, and wider advocacy, which had a significant impact on both African and African diaspora art on the global contemporary art scene.

It coincides with the 30th anniversary of the end of apartheid in South Africa.

The exhibition is at the Whitechapel Gallery, London (12 June – 1 September 2024), after opening at the Sharjah Art Foundation from 18 November 2023 to 10 March 2024, and was organised in collaboration with The Africa Institute, Sharjah.

Episode mixed by Erwan Rome. 

Spotlight on Africa is a podcast from Radio France Internationale. 

July saw major military drills in Armenia between Armenian and United States forces.

“Politically, it is exceptionally relevant; they are four or five times larger than last year,” explains Eric Hacopian, a political analyst in Armenia, who notes the range of US divisions mobilised for the drills. “It’s not about peacekeeping.”

The military exercise, dubbed “Eagle Partner“, is part of Yerevan’s wider efforts to escape its Russian neighbour’s sphere of influence, Hacopian believes.

“These are serious exercises, and they were followed up with the news that there is going to be US permanent representation in the Ministry of Defence of Armenia as advisors to join the French who are already there,” he noted.

“Essentially, there is no other play but to join the West.”

France, Russia stand on opposite sides of Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict

Armenia is also seeking to reduce its economic dependence on Russia, pressing Turkey to open its border and providing a new gateway to Western markets for the landlocked country.

Ankara closed the frontier in 1993 after ethnic Armenian forces seized the contested Azerbaijani enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, with Azerbaijani forces recapturing the enclave last year, analysts say the opening of the border could now align with Turkey’s goals to expand its regional influence.

“The normalisation of the relationship with Armenia would allow Turkish policy in the Cacasus to acquire a more comprehensive dimension today. That’s the missing element,” said Sinan Ulgen, an analyst with the Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, a think tank in Istanbul.

“Turkey obviously has very strong links to Azerbaijan and very good relations with Georgia, but not with Armenia,” he explained. “And that’s a predicament, as we look at Turkey’s overall policy in the Caucasus.”

Leverage

Washington is working hard to broker a permanent peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “A deal is close,” declared US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of July’s NATO summit in Washington.

Last week, Turkish and Armenian envoys held their fifth meeting aimed at normalising relations. However, with critical issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan unresolved, Baku sees Turkey’s reopening of the Armenian border as important leverage.

In principle, both Azerbaijan and Turkey are in favour, claims Farid Shafiyev, an Azeri former diplomat and now chair of the Centre of Analysis of International Relations in Baku.

“However, we believe at this stage, as we have not signed a peace agreement, it might send a wrong signal to Yerevan and Armenia that we don’t need to come to an agreement about the core issues – the mutual recognition of territorial integrity,” he said.

Can Turkey tip the balance of power in the Caucasus conflict?

Meanwhile Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has developed close ties with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, and is ruling out opening the border until Baku’s demands are met.

Turkish arms were key to Azerbaijan’s recent military successes against Armenian-backed forces. “Azerbaijan is where it is, in good part because of Turkey’s military assistance, intelligence assistance and all that,” argues Soli Ozel, who teaches international relations at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.

But Ozel says Baku is dictating Ankara’s Caucasus policy. “It is befuddling to me that Turkey cannot open the borders with Armenia, which Armenia both needs and wants, because of Azerbaijan’s veto,” he said. “Especially if indeed Azerbaijan, for one reason or another, believes that its interests are once more in turning toward Russia.”

With Azerbaijan’s Socar energy company Turkey’s biggest foreign investor, Baku retains powerful economic leverage over Ankara – meaning any hope of reopening the Turkish-Armenian border appears dependent on the wishes of Azerbaijan’s leadership.

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.