Central and Eastern European countries are increasingly questioning the multicultural ideals promoted by Western Europe, the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) conclude.

Their report, published on Wednesday, suggests that these countries, which joined the EU more recently, are challenging the bloc’s self-image by highlighting a more ethnic and nationalist view of European identity.

Entitled Welcome to Barbieland – a nod to the rose-tinted “Barbieland” in Greta Gerwig’s 2023 blockbuster film – the report identifies three key “blind spots” across the bloc and argues their intersection risks eroding or radically altering EU sentiment.

Euroscepticism might stem from a sense of humiliation at having to conform to Western standards, the report’s author, Pawel Zerka, told RFI – adding this sentiment has evolved significantly in recent years.

“It’s as if Central and Eastern Europe had to prove that they’re sufficiently European, and as if it were Brussels, Paris and Berlin that had to say, ‘Yeah, you are good Europeans now, because you have reformed your countries like we told you to’.”

Goodbye UK, hello Ukraine

The war in Ukraine has reinforced certain views about Russia and NATO while increasing scepticism towards Western European foreign policy, Zerka added.

“It has proved to people in Poland and the Baltic states that they were right when it comes to their perception of Russia, the importance they attached to NATO and the scepticism that they had towards Paris and Berlin regarding foreign policy.”

As a result, these countries are now more engaged in the EU’s Migration Pact by welcoming Ukrainian refugees, a shift from their stance during the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis.

The departure of the United Kingdom from the EU has shifted the concept of “Europeanness” towards a more ethnically homogeneous view. Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are now being considered for EU membership, further altering the bloc’s demographic landscape.

Lack of diversity

Zerka criticises the exclusion of non-white and Muslim Europeans from political representation, pointing to the recent rise of far-right parties in the European Parliament.

This underrepresentation, coupled with rising xenophobia, has exacerbated feelings of alienation among minority groups, particularly in France, where systemic discrimination and anti-immigrant sentiment are prevalent.

“I find it troubling that non-white Europeans – as well as Muslim Europeans – very often serve as scapegoats for Europe’s problems,” he said.

France’s Muslim population has also found itself grappling with how the EU’s alignment with Israel and the repression of pro-Palestinian protests contrasts with the lived experiences of many of its citizens.

The ‘anti-boomer’ generation

The report highlights growing disillusionment among younger Europeans, who are increasingly turning to non-mainstream and radical parties.

Like other EU member states, France must also confront the reality that younger generations may be losing faith in the European project that was founded by the “baby-boomer” generation.

France’s under-35 population has shown low voter turnout in recent elections. However, in this year’s European elections, younger French voters were also increasingly drawn to the National Rally and other non-mainstream alternatives.

• Macron says Europe must ‘wake up’ to counter rise of the far right

Zerka is calling for a reinvigoration of the EU’s core values of diversity and inclusivity, urging leaders to resist far-right rhetoric and to foster broader political participation.

Concerning the younger electorate, which represents one-sixth of the voting population, there are two potential scenarios, he said: “Either they will no longer find the European Union interesting, because the main parties in the EU simply do not show any interest in their concerns … or young people could increasingly veer towards voting for the far-right.”

Lure of alternative parties

The rise of young, radical leaders, such as Jordan Bardella of the National Rally, poses a significant challenge for mainstream political parties in France. These new faces of populism are effectively engaging young voters, especially through digital platforms.

“Bardella not only made it to the European Parliament but also brought several other young people with him,” said Zerka, adding that the National Rally has brought the largest number of under-30s to the Strasbourg-based assembly.

• French far right makes immigration focus of EU election campaign

However, young people across France and other countries are not only flocking to the far right but also showing support for other non-mainstream parties, such as the radical left in France or green and libertarian parties elsewhere.

This shift does not necessarily indicate that young people are inherently anti-European or xenophobic, Zerka said. Rather, it reflects their disillusionment with traditional political structures that seem unresponsive to their concerns.

Zelensky’s trip to the White House is set to feature the announcement of a surge in US support, although it is unclear whether he will get the green light he wants for Ukraine to fire US-made long-range missiles into Russia.

Republican presidential contender Trump, who faces Democratic Vice President Harris in November’s close election, had also been due to meet Zelensky but their talks now appear to be on ice.

Trump accused Zelensky on the eve of the visit of refusing to strike a deal with Moscow and once again questioned why the United States was giving billions of dollars to Kyiv.

Biden will host Zelensky in the Oval Office at 1:45 pm local time, the White House said. The Ukrainian leader and Harris will deliver remarks at 3:05 pm before their meeting in the vice president’s office.

Zelensky was also due to visit the US Congress.

During a meeting at the United Nations on Wednesday, Biden “informed president Zelensky that he has directed a surge in US security assistance to Ukraine, which will be announced publicly” on Thursday, the White House said.

Zelensky gave a defiant address at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday in a bid to rally international support amid an increasingly difficult situation on the battlefield.

The Ukrainian has for several weeks touted the so-called “victory plan” he will present to Biden, but has given no details of his proposals to end the war, which is now in its third year.

Biden pledges $225m in fresh aid for Ukraine at Paris talks with Zelensky

‘Greatest salesman’

The United States has provided around $175 billion in both military and economic assistance to Ukraine during the war, despite frequent opposition from Republicans.

The Biden administration announced another $375 million on Wednesday, including munitions for HIMARS precision rocket launchers, cluster munitions and light tactical vehicles.

But Zelensky has been pushing the United States hard to give the green light for Ukraine to fire long-range missiles into Russian territory – permission Biden has so far refused.

Russia has strongly warned against such a step. President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday unveiled new rules meaning Moscow would consider using nuclear weapons in response to a massive air attack.

Kyiv has relied on the United States as its main military backer, but the knife-edge US election on November 5 means that support may now hang in the balance.

Trump has echoed many of Putin’s talking points about previous US policy being to blame for the Russian invasion, and has been critical of Zelensky for years.

Zelensky urges West to do more for ‘fair peace’ after D-Day

At an election rally on Wednesday, the Republican called the Ukrainian president “probably the greatest salesman on Earth.”

“We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal, Zelensky,” he said.

Republicans were livid after Zelensky told The New Yorker magazine this week Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance did not understand the war’s complexity.

Trump has claimed that he could arrange a peace deal within 24 hours if elected, but Kyiv fears it would involve ceding swathes of territory seized by Russia.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has declined a meeting with Zelensky in Congress, called on the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States to quit on Wednesday after Zelensky visited an arms factory in the battleground state of Pennsylvania with the state’s Democratic governor.

Johnson accused the ambassador of having deliberately excluded Republicans.

During the trip, his second since his visit in 2018 for a G7 summit, Macron will hold several meetings with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa and then in Montreal.

For France, “Canada is an extremely close country, one of the closest outside the European Union,” the French presidency said in a statement ahead of the trip.

Macron will discuss the promotion of the French language and culture in Canada beyond the Francophone province of Quebec.

Macron will have an official meeting with Trudeau in Ottawa, followed by a lunch devoted to artificial intelligence, and then a joint news conference in Montreal, which has a large French community of nearly 200,000 people.

French Senate rejects EU-Canada free trade agreement

Already active in the AI sector, Canada is of particular interest to Macron ahead of a summit on the technology in France in February.

Macron is also expected to praise “the attractiveness of France” to Canadian investors, according to the Elysee Palace.

Macron and Trudeau, who embodied a new generation of young leaders when they came to power, are now experiencing similar political setbacks.

Macron lost the legislative elections that he called this year and is now forced to share power with a right-wing Prime Minister.

And Trudeau on Wednesday survived a vote of no confidence as the popularity of his Liberal government has waned after nine years in office.

Presidents Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York late Wednesday as they voiced fears that the conflict, after a year of bloodshed in Gaza, would escalate into a full-blown regional war.

The situation in Lebanon has become “intolerable” and “is in nobody’s interest, neither of the people of Israel nor of the people of Lebanon”, a joint statement released by the White House said.

“We call for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy towards the conclusion of a diplomatic settlement.”

The statement was issued jointly with Western powers, Japan and key Gulf Arab powers – Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot earlier unveiled the proposal at an emergency Security Council session.

“There has been important progress in the past few hours,” Barrot said.

“We’ve been working since the start of the week in New York on a diplomatic solution with our American friends in particular.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and warned that “hell is breaking loose”.

Israel said it welcomed diplomacy on Lebanon but did not commit to a ceasefire, vowing to pursue its goal of degrading Hezbollah.

“We are grateful for all those who are making a sincere effort with diplomacy to avoid escalation, to avoid a full war,” Israel’s envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told reporters before entering the session.

• France calls for emergency UN meeting amid Middle East crisis as Israeli strikes continue

“We will use all means at our disposal, in accordance with international law, to achieve our aims.”

The violence comes after the failure to reach a ceasefire in Gaza where Israel for nearly a year has been seeking to wipe out another Iranian ally, Hamas, which carried out the deadliest attack ever on Israel.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Tehran, which in recent weeks has held back on retaliatory strikes on Israel after attacks targeting Iranian interests, may no longer be restrained.

“The region is on the brink of a full-scale catastrophe. If unchecked, the world will face catastrophic consequences,” he told reporters.

Hezbollah holds powerful influence within long-turbulent Lebanon. The country’s foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, asked by reporters if a ceasefire was possible, said: “Hopefully yes.”

(with newswires)

Since M23 captured Sake and moved closer to Goma earlier this year, artillery and rocket fire have hit camps and densely populated areas around the city at least five times, the organisation said.

The fighting around Goma has seen both sides commit abuses, including killing and raping civilians and blocking humanitarian aid, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published on 26 September.

The violence has affected over half a million displaced people seeking shelter in the area.

In January 2024, the Rwandan Defence Force (RDF) and M23 advanced towards Sake, cutting off key supply routes to Goma, which is just 25 kilometres away.

Since then, M23, backed by Rwanda, has gained more control in North Kivu, marking its largest territorial expansion since resurfacing in 2021, HRW said.

On 3 May, between 10 and 11am, at least three rockets hit camps 15 kilometres west of Goma. HRW reports that the shelling came from positions held by the Rwandan army and M23 northwest of Sake in the DRC. Seventeen civilians were killed, including 15 children.

“As fighting between Rwandan and Congolese forces with their allied militias, edges closer to Goma, civilians and displaced populations are increasingly trapped in the crossfire and deprived of vital aid,” said Clémentine de Montjoye, an Africa researcher with HRW.

“Both Rwanda and Congo must cease support for armed groups that violate the laws of war and ensure the protection of civilians.”

• Slim prospects for peace as DRC-Rwanda ceasefire comes into effect

Between May and July 2024, HRW researchers visited several camps around Goma, including Bulengo, Bushagara, and Mugunga, interviewing 65 people, including survivors and witnesses. They also reviewed satellite images, photos, and videos of the attacks to analyse artillery positions and assess the damage to civilian areas.

HRW submitted its findings to both Rwandan and Congolese authorities but did not receive a response.

As the violence escalates, the number of displaced people in North Kivu has soared to about 2.4 million. The use of heavy artillery by the Rwandan military and M23 rebels has led to indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, raising concerns about violations of international humanitarian law.

In August, Médecins Sans Frontières reported that more than one in 10 young women in Goma’s displacement camps had been raped between November 2023 and April 2024, with that figure reaching 17 percent in some camps.

(with newswires)

The clashes began at dawn, several residents reported, in what appeared to be the army’s first major offensive in months to regain parts of the capital controlled by its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Sudanese army forces were “waging fierce fighting against the rebel militia inside Khartoum“, a source in the military told AFP, referring to the RSF.

The source, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media, said army forces had crossed three key bridges over the Nile River – which had separated parts of the capital held by the army from those under RSF control.

Since April 2023, when war broke out between the forces of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, the paramilitaries had pushed the army nearly all the way out of Khartoum.

UN Security Council extends arms embargo on Sudan’s Darfur

Following its last major offensive in February, the army regained much of Omdurman, the capital’s twin city just across the river, and part of greater Khartoum.

Several residents of Omdurman reported “intense artillery shelling” which started early on Thursday, with bombs falling on residential buildings while military warplanes flew overhead.

Since the war began, much of its worst fighting has been in densely populated areas, with both sides accused of indiscriminately bombing residential areas.

The war has already killed tens of thousands of people, with estimates ranging from 20,000 to 150,000 and most of the dead unaccounted for, according to medics.

It has also displaced more than 10 million people – a fifth of Sudan‘s population – and created one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent memory, according to the United Nations.

Native Americans from French Guiana and Suriname were recently in Paris to demand the restitution of the remains of six of their ancestors who died after being exhibited in so-called human zoos. Corinnne Toka Devilliers, whose great-grandmother Moliko was exhibited at the capital’s Jardin d’Acclimatation in 1892 but survived, describes holding a shamanic ceremony at the Museum of Mankind to prepare her fellow Kali’na for the voyage home. But there are still legal obstacles to overcome before the remains can leave the Parisian archives where they’ve spent the past 132 years. (Listen @3’30”)

Until recently, French villages with fewer than 2,000 residents did not need to name their streets – but legislation that came into effect this summer now requires them to identify roads to make it easier for emergency services and delivery people to find them. While not all villages have jumped at the opportunity, we joined residents in a hamlet in the south of France as they gathered to decide their new street names. And geographer Frederic Giraut talks about how the law is impacting the culture and heritage of small, rural localities. (Listen @21’53”)

The closely watched trial of a man accused of drugging his wife and inviting others to rape her while she lay unconscious at their home in southern France has become a rallying cry for those who say society needs to change the way it thinks about sexual assault. Fifty years ago, another rape case caused similar outcry – and led to changes in how France prosecutes and defines rape. (Listen @13’25”)

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompéani. 

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

China’s Defence Ministry had announced the rare trial on Wednesday, saying that the missile was carrying a dummy warhead and “fell into expected sea areas”.

The launch sparked protests from countries in the region, with Japan saying it had not been given advance notice, and Taiwan expressing “solemn condemnation”.

Australia said it was seeking an explanation, while New Zealand called the launch “an unwelcome and concerning development”.

French Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson earlier told AFP that “the missile fell not far from … the Marquesas Islands”, an archipelago that is part of its exclusive economic zone.

“The Chinese authorities previously notified their French counterparts of this test,” the French High Commission said in a statement – adding that France would make its position on the test known.

The Pentagon also said the United States received “some advanced notification of this ICBM test”, describing this as “a step in the right direction” that would help prevent “misperception or miscalculation”.

China’s military on Thursday released imagery of the missile, showing the projectile soaring into the air in a plum of smoke from an undisclosed location.

The Chinese Defence Ministry described the test launch as a “routine arrangement in our annual training plan” than is “in line with international law and international practice and is not directed against any country or target”.

Analysts said the imagery suggested the launch could be of a Dongfeng-31 AG ICBM, unveiled during a military parade in 2017.

• China expands military might as far as French borders with Solomon Islands pact.

Nuclear development

Beijing has stepped up its nuclear development and boosted defence spending in recent years, with the Pentagon warning last October that China was developing its arsenal more quickly than the United States had anticipated.

China held more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023 and is likely to have more than 1,000 by 2030, the Pentagon said.

But analyst Benjamin Ho, of Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said Beijing was clearly trying to signal its strength.

“It sends a signal to the US and its allies… that China has the military ability to react in the event of any escalation of tensions between the United States and China,” he told the French press agency AFP.

(with newswires)

Over three days this week, ‘Inaat ne Kanaky’ – the National Council of Kanak High Chiefs – held its assembly on New Caledonia’s eastern Maré Island, for the institution’s most important ceremony since its creation in September 2022.

Nearly 200 people – including 17 Grand Chiefs, numerous Kanak dignitaries and a number of representatives of the Fijian, Maori and Vanuatu peoples – gathered for an Assembly of the Kanak People, the high point of which was a proclamation of sovereignty by 28 chiefdoms. 

The date chosen for the declaration was anything but a coincidence, as 24 September is the day on which France took possession of New Caledonia in 1853.

It is also an occasion when a “Festival of Citizenship” is held, which has been a source of security concern for French authorities in light of the recent violence across the territory.

A new era or a symbolic act?

The aim of the proclamation – which was not, however, supported unanimously by the Kanak authorities – is to obtain specific resources to implement public policies on Kanak land.

However, supporters of French rule in the archipelago have expressed fears of a unilateral declaration of independence and the expulsion of non-Kanak peoples.

The President of the Council, Hippolyte Htamumu Sinewami, has reportedly assured both Kanak and non-Kanak alike: “There is no question of talking about exclusion. We have already made our common destiny. We have children and grandchildren from several cultures”.

According to Albert Wahoulo, former mayor of the commune of Bélep, speaking on behalf of his chiefdom: “This is a new beginning for the Kanak countries. This new beginning will require a reorganisation of the chiefdoms, which have been ‘damaged’ by colonisation, as stated in the Declaration of Sovereignty“.

• Anniversary of French occupation exposes rifts over New Caledonia’s future

‘Colonial debt’

The initiative is also in response to the difficulties encountered by the Customary Senate.

This institution, created under the 1998 Nouméa Accord, is supposed to represent the customary authorities, but the Council of Grand Chiefs has often pointed out that it essentially functions as “a government department” at the service of local political parties.

The question nevertheless arises as to how to ensure autonomy for the chiefdoms and enable the funding of projects designed to “contribute to economic recovery and find solutions for marginalised Kanak youth,” one grand chief, Cyprien Poaero Kawa, explained to reporters.

Council president Sinewami insists that the move is “a strong message to the State”, having already submitted a request for financial support under “colonial debt” reparations in 2023, which was not acted upon.

• Can New Caledonia’s first female congress president bridge the divide amid civil unrest?

‘Crumbs’

If financial support is not forthcoming, the Council – which now sees the chiefdoms as a community of states – is underlining its ability to cultivate direct relations with neighbouring countries in the Pacific region.

There is also the question of managing the resources of each customary or ancestral land, above and beyond local and national regulations.

Here, the importance of nickel – one of the archipelago’s main sources of wealth – is under the spotlight. 

“[Our] heritage is being exploited, but the tribes to whom it once belonged have nothing to live on, or just crumbs.

“Clans have been displaced and settled on uncultivable land,” laments Hippolyte Sinewami, advocating economic development plans that serve the people.

This week’s proclamation will be followed by two major events: from 7 to 14 October, a delegation from the Customary Council and Senate will travel to the UN headquarters in New York for a hearing. 

Then, at the beginning of November, a meeting will be held on New Caledonia’s Grande Terre island to continue discussions on the “customary governance model” and to win the support of chiefdoms that have not yet responded to this week’s proclamation of sovereignty.

(with newswires)

The complaints, submitted on Wednesday in Paris, target Nestlé Waters for using illegal processing methods – including UV disinfection and activated carbon filters – on its bottled water brands Perrier, Vittel, Hépar and Contrex.

Alma, which produces Cristaline and other brands, is accused of similarly violating regulations with its water treatment processes.

The move by Foodwatch comes after Nestlé avoided further prosecution in September through a €2 million settlement, which included an agreement to “repair the ecological damage” caused in Vittel and Contrexéville – two towns in northeastern France known for their mineral springs, where Nestlé extracts water for its bottled brands.

“We have material evidence, including orders from Alma and invoices for the purchase of iron sulfate, photos of CO2 cylinders, and internal email exchanges,” said Foodwatch’s lawyer, François Lafforgue.

He criticised the judicial settlement with Nestlé, describing it as a way for the company to “escape by simply paying”, and demanded “the urgent appointment of an investigating judge, and the end of impunity or exemplary sanctions”.

Foodwatch’s latest complaints also target Alma, which is accused of “injecting carbon dioxide into naturally sparkling Chateldon water” and the use of “iron sulfate to reduce arsenic” at its St-Yorre and Vichy Célestins sites.

The watchdog says these actions, coupled with a lack of transparency, pose serious health risks.

Nestlé Waters avoids trial with €2m fine for illegal water drilling in France

Forever chemicals

Beyond the illegal treatment practices, Nestlé and Alma are also facing accusations of allowing toxic “forever pollutants” – such as coliform bacteria, E. coli, and enterococci – to contaminate their water.

Tests revealed frequent contamination in brands inclusing Hépar, Vittel, Contrex and Perrier.

Meanwhile Lafforgue has questioned the French government’s role in the affair, arguing authorities were aware of the violations but chose to remain silent.

Foodwatch said the government allowed the company to continue using illegal micro-filters without oversight from health agencies such as Anses, the Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety.

The watchdog, which had previously turned down financial offers from Nestlé, says it is determined to pursue the matter through the courts.

More than 16,000 people have signed a Foodwatch petition demanding accountability.

Macron met with Masoud Pezeshkian, who has positioned himself as a reformist within Iran’s clerical regime, on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

He urged Pezeshkian to leverage Iran’s influence to reduce tensions in Lebanon, where Israel is targeting Hezbollah, a group backed by Tehran.

Macron also raised concerns about Iran’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

He reiterated France’s condemnation of aggression against Lebanon and called for the release of three French nationals imprisoned in Iran due to their involvement in the 2022 riots.

France involved in multilateral diplomacy to prevent Iran from attacking Israel

First meeting

Macron had already spoken twice with Pezeshkian by phone about avoiding further military escalation. In August he urged restraint from Iran after Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh‘s death during an Israeli operation in Tehran.

The New York meeting, however, was the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders.

Pezeshkian on Monday claimed Iran had restrained from retaliating after Western discussions hinted at progress towards a Gaza ceasefire.

He also dismissed allegations that Iran supplied missiles to Russia – a claim that has led to European sanctions targeting air links with Tehran.

The United States has publicly voiced skepticism about dealing with Pezeshkian, who has cast himself as a moderate.

The US doubts how much influence he carries in a system where Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ultimately calls the shots.

(with newswires)

The 35-year-old, originally from southern France, is accused of enslaving a teenage Yazidi girl in Syria in 2015 while living with her ex-husband Abdelnasser Benyoucef, a key figure in IS’s external operations.

Benyoucef is believed to be dead, though an arrest warrant has been issued for him.

The investigating judge has ordered a trial for Benyoucef on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and complicity in these crimes, as well as directing a criminal terrorist association.

Sonia Mejri’s lawyer, has reportedly disputed the charges throughout the pre-trial investigation.

‘Inhuman acts’

According to the committal order, the judge has requested that the former couple be tried before a specially composed jury court for slavery, imprisonment, torture, rape or complicity in rape, persecution and inhuman acts committed against the Yazidi minority.

Among these inhuman acts, the order highlights “forced conversion or the couple’s attempt to achieve it”, such as “ablutions after rapes” attributed to Benyoucef on the teenager.

France charges IS official’s ex-wife with crimes against humanity

Abdelnasser Benyoucef – alias Abou Mouthana – has already been convicted in-absentia in France for an aborted attack in the southern Paris suburb of Villejuif in 2015.

He is believed to have been in 2016 in the Syrian-Iraqi border region under IS control in coalition air strikes.

​​​​​Testimony of Yazidi ‘slave’

Sonia Mejri is also to appear in court on charges of membership of a criminal terrorist association.

Imprisoned upon her return to France from Syria, Mejri had given evidence in trials for defendents charged with terrorist crimes – evidence that her legal council, Nabil Boudi, maintains proves her to be a “convinced repentant”.

The investigations against her are based in particular on the testimony of a Yazidi woman – now aged 25 – who was 16 when she was bought by Abdelnasser Benyoucef.

The lost childhood of traumatised Yazidi children abducted by IS

According to elements of the investigation, the Yazidi woman recounted a daily pattern of mistreatment.

She claimed that she had been held for more than a month in spring 2015 in Syria, and that she could not drink, eat or shower without Mejri’s permission. 

Mejri is accused of raping her twice and of knowing that her husband was raping her.

The prosecuting judge has ordered that Mejri also stand trial for aiding and abetting rape as a crime against humanity.

(with newswires)

Freshly picked conservative Prime Minister Michel Barnier finally presented his government on Saturday. 

Dominated by centrists and fellow right-wingers, former EU commissioner Barnier is nonetheless aware of the challenges in getting a deeply fractured National Assembly to agree on thorny issues like a budget, immigration, tax hikes and possible adjustments to President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reform. 

“We’re going to make compromises. I know the culture of compromise quite well. That’s how I managed to unite the 27 countries of the European Union during the Brexit negotiations,” Barnier said in a television interview on Sunday.  

“We have to seize this culture of compromise, it’s not about giving in,” he said. Rather, he insisted it was a question of uniting people who “don’t come from the same place, who are not necessarily heading to the same place, but who, over a period of time, compromise to help the country progress and to serve the people”. 

Analysing Barnier’s comments, French journalist Renaud Dély remarked wryly: “Compromise is not a word we often hear in French political life.”   

It isn’t. Nor does France have the tradition of coalition building more commonly found in Germany, Switzerland and Nordic countries. 

“The idea of deliberation – organised, reasoned debate in the form of an exchange of arguments – has never had the force and legitimacy in France that it has in other countries,” social scientist Loïc Blondiaux told Le Monde.  

“A specific trait of our political culture is, on the contrary, contempt for consensus. Compromise is often seen as synonymous with giving in and weakness.”  

Barnier promises to tackle France’s most pressing problems swiftly

Conflict rather than consensus

“It’s difficult to say that France lacks a culture of compromise in absolute terms,” according to Laure Gillot-Assayag, a researcher in political science and philosophy, who nonetheless acknowledges that the French political landscape has often been shaped over the centuries by conflict rather than consensus.

“The French Revolution, but also more recent events like the Gilets Jaunes [Yellow Vest] protests, social movements and strikes in general, mean France is often seen as a country where social and political tensions are resolved through direct action rather than negotiation.”

The framework of the Fifth Republic – designed in 1958 by its first president Charles de Gaulle to strengthen the executive – is not conducive to compromise either. 

“De Gaulle wanted to put an end to the regime of parties of the Fourth Republic because he saw that as a factor of instability due to constant shifting alliances,” says Gillot-Assayag.

“So it was aimed at making the National Assembly an extension of the president’s will.”

Listen to a conversation on political compromise on the Spotlight on France podcast: 

Imagined instability

Supporters of de Gaulle, past and present, have justified the concentration of presidential powers as a way of avoiding the instability of both the Third Republic (1870-1940) and Fourth Republic (1940-1958), each of which had a series of coalition governments. Some survived less than two months.

And yet politicians of the time defended a tradition of parliamentary compromise.

“We’ve given a very caricatural vision of these regimes because de Gaulle wanted to concentrate power,” says Marie-Anne Cohendet, a professor of constitutional law.

“But some wonderful things happened under the Third and Fourth Republics. And beyond ministerial reshuffles, there was great stability in terms of political staff.” 

What’s more, presidents “presided” and prime ministers “governed” in a way that closer resembles the system of governance in several EU states today.  

France celebrates Fifth Republic in stormy European waters

Top-down government? 

The 7 July parliamentary election delivered three main political forces, with the broad left-wing NFP alliance coming out on top, followed by Macron’s centrist Ensemble coalition and the far-right National Rally (RN) in a close third place. None won a sufficient majority to govern alone. 

“There are 11 political groups in the National Assembly, it’s a record,” Gillot-Assayag points out, deeming that “a culture of compromise is more necessary than ever” if the government is to function in such a deeply divided political landscape.

She takes inspiration from the late French philosopher Paul Ricoeur, who conceptualised compromise as a founding principle of democracy.

“Ricoeur offers a strong and original take on compromise,” she explains, in which a difficult balance has to be maintained between what the theorist calls the vertical axis of authority and a horizontal axis of living together.

“When one of the axes takes over the other, we fall into violence and authoritarianism. In simple terms it means that democracy cannot only be about participation, but neither can it be summed up by a vertical decision-making process – authority needs to be recognised, authored by citizens.”

It turns out Macron was one of Ricoeur’s former pupils and has often cited the philosopher’s influence on his “en même temps” (“at the same time”) approach to politics. 

But by dissolving parliament and calling snap elections without consulting his prime minister or cabinet members, and then flatly refusing to appoint a premier from the left-wing alliance that won those elections – preferring to name a conservative whose party won just 7 percent – Macron appears to have skipped one of his mentor’s lessons. 

“President Macron is not seen as a president who easily compromised,” says Gillot-Assayag. “He’s been accused of authoritarianism” – notably from the left, who saw his appointment of Barnier as “a denial of democracy but also a denial of compromise”.

Battle of wills

Macron is not alone in wanting to impose his will.  

“What we’re seeing, rather than a lack of culture of compromise, is the real obstacles to make it work,” Gillot-Assayag notes. “It’s a problem of individuals.”

Opposition parties such as the hard-left France Unbowed, led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and the far-right National Rally, led by Jordan Bardella, are fundamentally opposed to the government’s agenda, she analyses. “It reflects a broader tendency towards radical dissent, rather than compromise.”

Mélenchon’s France Unbowed – the main component in the left-wing NFP alliance – insisted Macron accept its pick for premier and apply the left-wing manifesto in its entirety.

Bardella, meanwhile, ruled out any form of compromise from the get-go, saying ahead of the elections he would only take up the role of prime minister if RN won an absolute majority.

One of the problems is that French politics now revolves around individual leaders rather than parties.

Macron created his centrist Republic on the Move movement (later renamed Renaissance) in 2016, the same year as Mélenchon founded France Unbowed. Marine Le Pen put her mark on her father’s National Front party in 2018, rebranding it the National Rally. 

“We see today that political leaders are polluting the capacity for compromise that existed in the Third and Fourth Republics,” says historian Jean Garrigues. “They all have their eyes fixed on [presidential elections] in 2027.”

Appetite for compromise

Yet while figures like Napoleon Bonaparte and Charles de Gaulle may have “familiarised the French with the idea of authoritarian leaders”, Garrigues told French public radio, “French society is evolving”.

“[People] are rediscovering a taste for deliberation, even the direct democracy of the beginning of the Third Republic.”

Meanwhile, Gillot-Assayag sees ways of integrating Ricoeur’s idea of compromise into policy-making, notably by inviting the public to have a say via citizens’ conventions.  

She also advocates training elected officials in the art of compromise. “Parliamentarians are also citizens after all,” she says, “so we need to make sure they understand their duties and rights as democratic actors in the political system.”

Despite the two-month political deadlock and ongoing mudslinging, “many political parties and the general public in France are beginning to realise that compromise is crucial for democracy”, she believes.

“It’s still quite new, but it’s a significant development.”

“This is an abominable crime,” said France’s interior minister Bruno Retailleau.

Retailleau, who on Monday took over from his predecessor Gerald Darmanin, has vowed to boost law and order, tighten immigration legislation and make it easier to deport foreigners convicted of crimes.

“It is up to us, as public leaders, to refuse to accept the inevitable and to develop our legal arsenal, to protect the French,” the leader of the conservative group of senators added.

“If we have to change the rules, let’s change them.”

On Saturday, the body of Philippine, a student at the Paris-Dauphine university, was discovered in the Bois de Boulogne park in western Paris. The student had last been seen at the university on Friday.

A Moroccan national was arrested on Tuesday in the Swiss canton of Geneva and was identified as a suspect in a murder committed in Paris, a spokeswoman for the Swiss justice ministry told French news agency AFP.

“The Federal Office of Justice then ordered detention for extradition purposes on the basis of an arrest request from France,” she added.

According to the prosecutors, in 2021 the man was convicted of a rape committed in 2019 when he was a minor and had been the subject of an order to leave France.

Deportation orders

The killing of the student has sparked outrage in the country, with both the far right and left-wing politicians urging tough measures.

“Philippine’s life was stolen from her by a Moroccan migrant who was under a removal order,” Jordan Bardella, the leader of the far-right RN, the largest single party in parliament, said on X Tuesday evening.

“Our justice system is lax, our state is dysfunctional and our leaders are letting the French live alongside human bombs,” he added.

Meet the key ministers shaping France’s new government

Former socialist president François Hollande also chimed in, saying deportation orders had to be enforced “quickly”.

Green MP Sandrine Rousseau said that this “feminicide” deserved “to be judged and punished severely”, adding that the far right would “try to take advantage of this to spread their racist and xenophobic hatred”.

France routinely issues deportation orders known under the French abbreviation ‘OQTF‘. Around seven percent of them are enforced, compared to 30 percent across the European Union.

(with AFP)

Armand stated that he would engage with economic stakeholders, including unions and employers’ organisations in an effort to reduce government overspending.

The deficit is expected to reach 5.6 percent or more of GNP this year – almost double the European Union limit.

“Apart from one or two one-off crisis years in the past 50 years, we have one of the worst deficits in our history,” Armand told broadcaster France Inter.

“On that level, the situation is grave.”

Parliamentary challenges

The new government, led by conservative Prime Minister Michel Barnier, faces a challenging parliamentary process in the coming months.

Ministers must try to get a 2025 budget that includes measure to repair public finances through the National Assembly lower house, which is currently divided into three groups after July’s inconclusive snap elections.

Barnier can count on support from conservatives and President Emmanuel Macron’s much-reduced camp, but the NFP left alliance and the far-right National Rally (RN) could topple the government at any time in a confidence vote if they joined forces.

In a Sunday interview, the prime minister brought “targeted” tax rises on “wealthy people or some large companies” into play as part of a plan to improve finances.

Barnier is expected to present his draft budget early next month, an unprecedented delay from the usual 1 October deadline after Macron took all summer to name a new government chief.

Spare working people

Increasing levies is a departure from policy under seven years of Macron-led governments, which sought to encourage economic activity by reducing taxes on companies, housing, and wealth.

The tax take was reduced by around two percentage points of GDP, to 43.2 percent, between Macron’s first election in 2017 and 2023, according to  the national statistics agency INSEE.

“It’s been seven years of not wanting to increase taxes. That can make sense, but you have to cover it by making an effort to reduce spending… otherwise you blow up the deficit,” said Thomas Philippon, an economist and professor at New York University who advises the French government.

Patrick Martin, head of bosses’ federation Medef, has said he is “open to discussion” about tax rises, as long as the state makes a much greater effort with companies.

Barnier was to meet Martin and the moderate CFDT union on Tuesday afternoon.

“My job is to make sure that any potential taxes that will exist do not hobble our growth, do not hobble job creation,” Armand said.

“We will not place a heavier tax burden on working people, people who belong to the middle class.”

(with newswires)

The decision, made this week at a meeting chaired by OIF Secretary-General Louise Mushikiwabo from Rwanda, comes with a call for the country to continue its efforts on human rights and freedoms.

It follows the presence of several experts in Guinea who have been supporting its transition process on issues such as electoral files and election organisation.

“What was decisive for the member states was noting Guinea’s commitment and willingness to emerge from the crisis and return to constitutional order,” OIF spokesperson Oria Kije Vande Weghe said.

“Guinea has always sought the Francophonie’s support. It is this willingness that was crucial for lifting the suspension.”

Guinea ex-dictator Camara jailed for 20 years over 2009 massacre

Precedent set

The OIF’s decision sets a precedent for other suspended nations and is intended to be applicable to all suspended countries.

Guinea’s reinstatement was thanks to its progress in the transition process and its strong international ties, including with the OIF, Vande Weghe added.

For now, he said, it’s the only country demonstrating the level of openness needed for this type of collaborative support.

OIF experts have been present in Guinea continuously working with local authorities, said Guinean Foreign Minister Morrissanda Kouyaté.

“The OIF supports us in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. When this is established, both parties can achieve results like those we have here,” he said.

(with newswires)

The board of directors of Le Bois d’Aulne college in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine voted on Monday to change the name of the establishment to Samuel Paty College.

The conservative mayor of the town Laurent Brosse, said it would send “a strong message”, as the school gears up to mark four years since Paty was assassinated.

The decision will now need to be formally validated by the municipal council as well as by the departmental council of Yvelines, northwest of Paris.

For Corinne Grootaert, president of the FCPE parents’ union, the move is in line with Paty’s family’s wishes.

“It is fundamental to honor the memory of Samuel Paty and to fight against obscurantism,” she said.

47-year-old Samuel Paty was stabbed then beheaded by Abdoullakh Anzorov, a Russian refugee of Chechen origin, on 16 October, 2020.

The 18-year-old radicalised Muslim, criticised Paty for showing caricatures of the Mohammed in class.

Before being killed by the police, he had claimed responsibility for his actions by congratulating himself on having “avenged the prophet”.

Court hearings

In April 2022, ten members of Paty’s family filed a complaint against different branches of the French administration, which they accuse of not having protected the professor.

A judicial investigation was opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office for failure to assist a person in danger and failure to prevent a crime.

Slain teacher Samuel Paty’s coworkers grapple with role of ex-pupils in attack

In this case, six former students of the establishment, aged 13 to 15 years old at the time of the assassination, were in  December, 2023, handed sentences ranging from 14 months in prison to six months in prison for their involvement in the assassination.

The trial of eight adults is also scheduled at a special court of Paris, from 12 November 20 December 2024.

Samuel Paty’s sister has also filed a separate legal complaint to have the State’s responsibility recognised in the death of her brother.

(with AFP)

“I have requested that an emergency meeting of the Security Council be held on Lebanon this week,” newly appointed French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, calling on all sides to “avoid a regional conflagration that would be devastating for everyone,” especially civilians.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesman said he was “gravely alarmed” and cautioned against “the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza.”

“International challenges are moving faster than our ability to solve them,” he said ahead of the gathering in New York.

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said that the escalating clashes between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah threaten to plunge the Middle East into all-out war. 

“We’re seeing more military strikes, more damage, more collateral damage, more victims. I can say we are almost in a full-fledged war,” Borrell said, adding “everybody has to put all their capacity to stop this”.

His comments came after Lebanese authorities said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 492 people on Monday, including 35 children.

Procrastination

On Gaza, Borrell said “despite all the diplomatic capacity that we have deployed, nothing has been able to stop the war,” accusing both sides of “procrastinating”.

The war erupted after Hamas and other Palestinian militants launched the unprecedented 7 October attack on Israel, drawing in Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups.

Israel said on Monday it killed a “large number” of Hezbollah militants when it hit about 1,300 sites in southern and eastern Lebanon, including a “targeted strike” in Beirut.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was acting to change the “security balance” in the north.

Hezbollah early on Tuesday morning said it had launched several attacks on Israeli military targets, including an explosives factory 60 kilometres into Israel, with the “Fadi” series of rockets.

Devastating consequences

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged the United Nations and world powers to deter what he called Israel’s “plan that aims to destroy Lebanese villages and towns”.

The United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon warned “any further escalation of this dangerous situation could have far-reaching and devastating consequences”.

Qatar, a mediator in Gaza ceasefire talks, said Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon “puts the region on the brink of the abyss”, while Turkey said the strikes threatened “chaos” and Jordan urged an immediate end to the escalation “before it is too late”.

UN holds ‘Summit of the Future’ to tackle global crises

The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the strikes and ordered Palestinian medical staff in Lebanon to provide support for the wounded.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has called for an urgent meeting of Arab leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Iran’s newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, accused Israel of seeking “to create this wider conflict”.

US focus on de-escalation

US President Joe Biden, who will address the assembly on Tuesday, said Washington was “working to de-escalate in a way that allows people to return home safely”.

The Pentagon said it was sending a small number of additional US military personnel to the Middle East after thousands were deployed earlier alongside warships, fighter jets and air defence systems.

The US is Israel’s main ally and weapons supplier.

Blinken in Israel to push for Gaza ceasefire after Franco-British visit

G7 foreign ministers said in a joint statement that “no country stands to gain” from escalating conflict, warning of “unimaginable consequences” if a regional war broke out.

More than 100 heads of state and government are scheduled to speak during the UN’s centerpiece event, which will run until Monday.

On Tuesday, representatives of Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, Iran and Algeria are slated to take the podium to press for a Gaza ceasefire after nearly one year of war.

Ukraine will also be on the agenda Tuesday when President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses a UN Security Council meeting on Russia’s war on Ukraine.

(with AFP)

According to report carrid by the investigative documentary series Vert de rage (Green with Rage), produced by public French television, of 22 samples of fruits and vegetables purchased in large French supermarket chains, seven contained pesticide residues banned in Europe.

Banned substances

One example was a grapefruit from China which contained two banned products: chlorpyrifos (recognised as neurotoxic, toxic for reproduction and an endocrine disruptor, and propiconazole (recognised as toxic for reproduction).

Within the EU, chlorpyrifos has been banned since 2020, propiconazole since 2009.

Grapes from Peru contained residues of imidacloprid (part of the neonicotinoids family – known to be harmful to bees), and myclobutanil, a fungicide, which was withdrawn from the market within the EU in 2021.

Elsewhere, an orange from Tunisia contained malathion, a pesticide classified as “probably carcinogenic”, banned in the EU since 2008.

ESA research

The documentary cites research done by the NGO network Pesticide Action Network Europe (PAN Europe) which analysed data from the European Food Safety Authority.

It found that pesticides banned in Europe were more prevalent in certain families of products such as coffee, tea, spices and some vegetables.

Tahitian limes, passion fruit and plums are the most affected, while rice, zucchini and plantain bananas were also found to contain pesticides.

Experts weed out flaws in France’s revamped plan to cut pesticides

PAN Europe says that products from elsewhere do not systematically carry pesticides (or residues) banned in the European Union, but the risk of detecting them is higher.

“Imported foods are twice as likely to contain pesticides banned by the EU as foods grown in the EU,” the organisation said.

In France, in 2022, the French public agency in charge of food safety Directorate General for Food (DGAL) issued 2,446 food recalls. 328 of them were linked to the presence of pesticides.

Among them, 296 contained at least one banned pesticide or pesticide residue “exceeding the maximum limit authorised in food”, the documentary reports.

In 2022, the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), a European alert system which reports problems relating to agri-food products, reported that pesticide residues were the leading cause of food warnings.

French food authority finds traces of banned pesticide in drinking water

Among the products distributed in France, 104 out of 114 notifications concerned the presence of banned pesticides. 

In 2023, RASFF issued 292 notifications for products containing pesticides, of which 77 contained at least one banned pesticide or pesticide residue.

The documentary authors underline that in three years, “26.46 percent of products distributed in France containing banned pesticides came from India”, making this country “the most frequent origin” for this type of problem.

Vert de rage also discussed pesticides that have been withdrawn from the European market, but which are still produced in France to be exported to countries where they remain authorised.

According to Swiss NGO Public Eye, the top five destinations for French-made pesticides in 2023 were Brazil, followed by Ukraine, the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom.

Despite the ban on sales in France, there are concerns that the production of these pesticides is affecting drinking water, surface water and groundwater in the towns where the factories are located.

S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a key gauge of the overall health of the economy – dropped to 48.9 in September, down from 51 in August.

Any reading below 50 indicated contraction.

“The eurozone is heading towards stagnation. After the Olympic effect had temporarily boosted France, the eurozone heavyweight economy, the Composite PMI fell in September to the largest extent in 15 months,” said Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank.

“Considering the rapid decline in new orders and the order backlog, it doesn’t take much imagination to foresee a further weakening of the economy.”

The survey showed that Germany and France, the eurozone’s top two economies, were largely responsible for driving the slump in the 20-country single currency area.

Olympics just a ‘blip’

French private sector output returned to contraction after the shot in the arm from the Olympics, while German business activity dropped the fastest since February.

The “big decline” in eurozone PMI “suggests that the economy is slowing sharply, that Germany is in recession and that France’s Olympics boost was just a blip”, said Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe economist at London-based research group Capital Economics.

“With France’s new minority government now planning to tighten fiscal policy significantly, prospects for growth in France look increasingly poor,” he said.

Barnier promises to tackle France’s most pressing problems swiftly

President Emmanuel Macron named a new government led by Prime Minister Michel Barnier Saturday, 11 weeks after an inconclusive parliamentary election.

The eurozone PMI data showed the manufacturing sector was down across the board, falling for the eighteenth month in a row.

Messy manufacturing

“Manufacturing is getting messier by the month,” de la Rubia said.

“Looking ahead, the sharp drop in new orders and companies’ increasingly bleak outlook for future output suggest that this dry spell is far from over.”

The decline in business activity could add impetus to calls for the European Central Bank (ECB) to cut its key interest rate again in October.

The bank for the 20 countries that use the euro cut its deposit rate by a quarter point to 3.50 percent this month – the second decrease since June.

The ECB had hiked rates at record pace from mid-2022 to tame surging consumer prices but has started easing the pressure as inflation drifts back down towards its two-percent target.

(with AFP)

The number of migrants arriving in the UK by crossing the English Channel in small boats has topped 25,000 since the start of the year.

The provisional figures published on Monday come as the new Labour government – like the previous Conservative administration – struggles to reduce illegal cross-Channel arrivals.

Asylum requests slump as EU borders tighten following shift to far right

Some 717 migrants crossed the Channel from northern France on Sunday, taking the cumulative number of arrivals so far in 2024 to 25,052, according to Britain’s interior ministry.

A similar number, 707, also made the crossing on Saturday.

The total represents a four percent rise on the equivalent figure at this point last year, but a 21 percent drop on 2022.

Stopping the small boat arrivals on England’s southern shores was a key issue in Britain’s general election in July.

‘Smash the gangs’

Within days of taking power, Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer scrapped the Conservatives’ controversial scheme to deport migrants to Rwanda. 

Instead Starmer pledged to “smash the gangs” of people smugglers who organise the perilous crossings and are paid thousands of euros by each migrant.

UK uses funds from scrapped Rwanda deportation plan to boost border security

Some 46 migrants have lost their lives attempting to reach the British coast in overloaded rubber dinghies so far this year.

Last month, interior minister Yvette Cooper announced that the government aims over the next six months to achieve the highest rate of deportations of failed asylum seekers in five years.

Native Americans from French Guiana and Suriname were recently in Paris to demand the restitution of the remains of six of their ancestors who died after being exhibited in so-called human zoos. Corinnne Toka Devilliers, whose great-grandmother Moliko was exhibited at the capital’s Jardin d’Acclimatation in 1892 but survived, describes holding a shamanic ceremony at the Museum of Mankind to prepare her fellow Kali’na for the voyage home. But there are still legal obstacles to overcome before the remains can leave the Parisian archives where they’ve spent the past 132 years. (Listen @3’30”)

Until recently, French villages with fewer than 2,000 residents did not need to name their streets – but legislation that came into effect this summer now requires them to identify roads to make it easier for emergency services and delivery people to find them. While not all villages have jumped at the opportunity, we joined residents in a hamlet in the south of France as they gathered to decide their new street names. And geographer Frederic Giraut talks about how the law is impacting the culture and heritage of small, rural localities. (Listen @21’53”)

The closely watched trial of a man accused of drugging his wife and inviting others to rape her while she lay unconscious at their home in southern France has become a rallying cry for those who say society needs to change the way it thinks about sexual assault. Fifty years ago, another rape case caused similar outcry – and led to changes in how France prosecutes and defines rape. (Listen @13’25”)

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompéani. 

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

In Istanbul’s conservative Uskudar district overlooking the Bosphorus waterway, activists from the group 1,000 Youth for Palestine recently gathered to protest the killing by Israeli security forces of the Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.

But along with chants condemning Israel, the demonstrators also attacked Erdogan and his government for Turkey’s continuing trade with Israel.

“I am here to force the Turkish government to stop the oil trade with Israel and to stop genocide,” declared Gulsum, a university academic who only wanted to be identified by her first name for security reasons.

“This is not just a public demand. It’s also a legal obligation for Turkey to stop genocide.”

Since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, the student-based group has directed its protests at the export of Azerbaijani oil to Israel by way of a Turkish port.

It also targets Turkish companies – many of which have close ties to Erdogan – that it accuses of circumventing the trade embargo by using third parties.

Turkey talks tough on Israel but resists calls to cut off oil

Unifying cause

The group uses social networks to broadcast its message, getting around government-controlled media.

The activists say they have received broad support that crosses Turkey’s traditional divides of religious and secular.

“When it comes to Palestine, it is a story that we all unite about,” said Gizem, a university student and 1,000 Youth for Palestine member.

“There are those who define themselves as socialists and those who define themselves as Islamists. There are also apolitical youth who say ‘I don’t like politics’, but still join us.”

While Erdogan presents himself as a stalwart defender of the Palestinian cause, police are cracking down on the protests.

One of the group’s Palestinian members was arrested after activists disrupted a panel discussion on Israel hosted by the state broadcaster. She now faces deportation in a case that has provoked further protests.

Images of police arresting headscarf-wearing members of the group further embarrassed Erdogan and his religious base.

Protests escalate in Turkey over Azerbaijani oil shipments to Israel amid embargo

‘Divide and rule’

Sezin Oney, a commentator for Turkey’s Politikyol news portal, says the group’s diversity poses a problem for Erdogan, given he has often sought to exploit the deep divisions between religious and secular voters when facing attack.

She argues that 1,000 Youth for Palestine’s ability to bridge those gaps is indicative of a wider change in Turkish society.

“It’s actually portraying the current youth of Turkey – you don’t have monolithic circles in the grassroots,” explains Oney.

“You have a mixture: hybrid groups of conservatives, conservative-looking, but very progressive,” she says. “Such hybrid groups are coming together because of a cause, but ideologically or background-wise or social class-wise, they may be very diverse.

“And that’s something threatening for the government. Because the government is embarking on divide and rule.”

Persistent political headache

Erdogan lost heavily in local elections earlier this year, a defeat widely blamed both on economic problems and anger over Turkey’s ties to Israel.

The 1,000 Youth for Palestine activists say they hope to continue to build on those results. 

“The reason for our success is that we put our finger on the right spot. We expose the hypocrisy of both the capitalists, the corporations and the government,” claims Murat, a university student who belongs to the group.

“People also saw this hypocrisy and thought that someone should speak out, and they supported us a lot because of that,” he added. “We will unite as the people of Turkey and continue to stand in the right place in history to stop the massacre in Palestine.”

The diversity of 1,000 Youth for Palestine is seen as its main strength, which is why it will likely continue to pose a political headache for Erdogan. Yet it may also offer hope that the deep divides in Turkish society can be bridged.

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

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

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

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”. According to your score, you’ll be counselled to the best-suited activities for your level.

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

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 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. 

Another idea for your students: Br. Gerald Muller, my beloved music teacher from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, has been writing books for young adults in his retirement – and they are free! There is a volume of biographies of painters and musicians called Gentle Giants, and an excellent biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., too. They are also a good way to help you improve your English – that’s how I worked on my French, reading books that were meant for young readers – and I guarantee you, it’s a good method for improving your language skills. To get Br. Gerald’s free books, click here.

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

This week’s quiz: On 24 August, I told you a story about a sign I saw on a French highway this summer. On most highways across France, there are illuminated signboards that tell you if there’s an accident ahead, encourage you to take a break from driving, or remind you of the speed limit. The messages change according to what information is deemed necessary for drivers.

During the Olympic games, the signs said: “Remember: 130 kilometres per hour … speed is for Léon”. You were to write in and tell me who Léon is, and why the French said speed was OK for him.

The answer is: Léon is that French human fish, Léon Marchand. He won four Gold Medals in swimming this year … the 200-meter medley, 200-metre breaststroke, the 200-metre butterfly, and the 400-metre medley. He became the sixth Olympic swimmer to win four gold medals at a single Games.

Léon Marchand is the world record holder in the long course 400-metres individual medley; the Olympic record holder in the 200-metres butterfly, the 200-metres breaststroke, and the 200-metres individual medley; and the French record holder in the long course 200-metre individual medley, 200-metre butterfly and 200-metre breaststroke.

The young man is fast – watching him swim was incredible. See why the French government would tell us to be careful with our speed, but Léon could go as fast as he wished?

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by Hans Verner Lollike from Hedehusene, Denmark: “The Paris 24 Olympic Games are over, but if you had a chance to win a Gold Medal, in which sport would it have been?”

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Alan Holder from the Isle of Wight, England. Alan is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations, Alan!

Saleem Akhtar is a winner this week. Saleem is the president of the RFI Seven Stars Radio Listeners Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan.

Pakistan! Congratulations on your amazing javelineer, Arshad Nadeem. Nadeem made history for Pakistan by becoming the first Pakistani to win an individual Olympic gold medal. Not only that, but he set an Olympic record with his throw of 92.97 meters… the sixth-longest throw in history. Mubarak, Arshad! Mubarak, Pakistan!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are RFI Listeners Club members Rodrigo Hunrichse from Ciudad de Concepción, Chile; Helmut Matt from Herbolzheim in Germany, and Father Steven Wara, who lives in the Cistercian Abbey in Bamenda, in Cameroon’s North West Region.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Imagine” by John Lennon; the waltz op. 64 No. 1 in D flat, the “Minute Waltz” by Frédéric Chopin, performed by Arthur Rubinstein; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Pocket Piano” by DJ Mehdi.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read our article “France’s foreign ministry unveils two-year gender equality strategy”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 14 October to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 19 October 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

or

By text … You can also send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen mobile phone. Dial your country’s international access code, or “ + ”, then  33 6 31 12 96 82. Don’t forget to include your mailing address in your text – and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Click here to learn how to 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,  

While floods are devastating West Africa, about 68 million people in southern Africa are suffering the effects of an El Nino-induced drought which has wiped out crops across the region. 

Nearly 68 million suffering from drought in southern Africa

Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho, Namibia, and Zambia are facing severe drought conditions, leading to widespread devastation. The impact is stalling economic growth and raising serious concerns about food security in the region. 

Zimbabwe to cull elephants to tackle drought, food shortages

In Zambia, the drought that has gripped southern Africa since early this year has led to rolling power cuts in a country that relies heavily on hydropower.

Some inhabitants, however, have already turned to solar power as an alternative.

To discuss how it can help, we speak this week with John Keane, CEO of the UK-based charity SolarAid, from the Zambian capital Lusaka. 

He explains how sales of solar products have increased by more than 540 percent since the beginning of 2024, and what the social enterprises are doing to spread awareness among Zambians and avoid the use of charcoal or candles.     

Episode mixed by Nicolas Doreau  

Spotlight on Africa is a podcast from Radio France Internationale

“We must have a strong and effective navy to live in peace on our lands,” said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after commissioning the latest of six planned submarines.

Along with a new helicopter carrier, frigates and over a dozen warships under construction, this is part of Erdogan’s push to bolster the Turkish navy.

“It fits Erdogan’s political agenda of exerting influence overseas, from Qatar to Somalia to Libya,” said Serhat Guvenc, a professor of international relations at Kadir Has University in Istanbul.

“For the navy, it means a greater role in the defence of the country – no longer just territorial, but forward defence from overseas.”

New course

The change has transformed the navy’s mission.

“Turkish sailors used to sail off to sea, but they would come back on the same day to their home bases and spend the night in their homes. That’s no longer the case,” Guvenc says.

“The Turkish navy is evolving into a major regional power.”

Turkey’s military presence abroad includes bases in Qatar, Libya and Somalia, with naval agreements in place. Ankara claims its expansion addresses growing threats around the region.

“When you look at the conflicts in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Red Sea, they are all around Turkey,” said Mesut Casin, a Turkish presidential adviser and professor at Yeditepe University.

He also pointed to Turkey’s NATO role: “The naval modernisation benefits NATO and the security of Western allies, especially in terms of oil and navigation security.”

Ankara has been quick to flex its new naval muscles. Four years ago, Turkish warships allegedly targeted a French NATO vessel enforcing an arms embargo on Libya.

Turkey and Egypt bury the hatchet with a dozen new bilateral deals

Regional concerns

Greece, with longstanding territorial disputes with Turkey in the Aegean and Mediterranean, has voiced particular concern. Israel, too, has raised alarms over Turkey’s naval growth, including military drones deployed in Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus.

“Some of Turkey’s naval moves, like the UAV base in Northern Cyprus, could be aimed at Israel,” said Gallia Lindenstrauss, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

“This doesn’t mean again there will be a direct confrontation, but it does mean that it is something that the Israeli army has to calculate for.”

Greece is also modernising its navy in response to what it sees as the Turkish threat. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently reaffirmed the need for a “deterrent power” against Turkey.

Growing military buildup in Azerbaijan and Armenia a concern for peace talks

Meanwhile, Israel’s growing naval presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, including the deployment of advanced naval assets and joint military exercises with regional partners, is adding to Turkish concerns.

“The Turkish military has begun to feel concerned about the deployment of its [Israel’s] nuclear missile capable submarines in the Mediterranean,” said naval expert Guvenc.

“As long as they were in the Red Sea or Indian Ocean, it wasn’t a problem. But once they shifted to the Mediterranean, it became a potential threat.”

Guvenc is warning that escalating regional suspicions risks spiraling out of control.

“It’s a vicious circle. Turkey builds a new navy to address threats, and now its neighbours feel threatened by Turkey’s naval growth. This is how arms races start, and they don’t tend to end well.”

Turkish shipyards are working at full capacity to meet the country’s growing naval demands. Analysts say this will likely only deepen fears and tensions with its neighbours.

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

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

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

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”. According to your score, you’ll be counselled to the best-suited activities for your level.

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

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 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. 

Another idea for your students: Br. Gerald Muller, my beloved music teacher from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, has been writing books for young adults in his retirement – and they are free! There is a volume of biographies of painters and musicians called Gentle Giants, and an excellent biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., too. They are also a good way to help you improve your English – that’s how I worked on my French, reading books that were meant for young readers – and I guarantee you, it’s a good method for improving your language skills. To get Br. Gerald’s free books, click here.

Independent RFI English Clubs: Be sure to always include Audrey Iattoni (audrey.iattoni@rfi.fr) from our Listener Relations department in 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 15 July, Rwandans were voting for their next president, as well as the members of the country’s 80-seat lower house of parliament.

There was little doubt that the current president, Paul Kagame, would win his fourth term. And he did, with 99.18 percent of the vote. 

There actually were two opposition candidates, which you read about in our article “Rwanda heads to the polls to likely re-elect Kagame for fourth term”.

You were to send in the answer to this question: What are the names of the two opposition candidates who ran against the incumbent president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, in the 15 July polls?

The answer is: Democratic Green party leader Frank Habineza and the independent Philippe Mpayimana.

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by Rodrigo Hunrichse from Ciudad de Concepción, Chile: “What do you think young people should do? Should they work, save, ensure their future, and put off traveling until they are more established? Or should they ‘seize the day’ and go while they’re young?”

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Radhakrishna Pillai from Kerala State, India. Radhakrishna is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations on your double win, Radhakrishna.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are two RFI Listeners Club members from Bangladesh: Sharifa Akter Panna from Kishoreganj, and Faruq Ahmed from Dhaka. There’s also Club member Zenon Teles from Goa, India – Zenon is also the president of the Christian – Marxist – Leninist – Maoist Association of Listening DX-ers.

Last but not least, there’s RFI English listener Zannatul Zuthi from Narayanganj, Bangladesh.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Allegro vivo” from the Symphony in C major by Georges Bizet, performed by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic; “La Campanella” by Nicolo Paganini, performed by Igor Oistrakh; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Day Tripper” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, performed by Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66.  

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 Melissa Chemam’s article “High expectations as Algeria’s President Tebboune begins new mandate”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 7 October to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 12 October 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

or

By text … You can also send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen mobile phone. Dial your country’s international access code, or “ + ”, then  33 6 31 12 96 82. Don’t forget to include your mailing address in your text – and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Click here to learn how to win a special Sound Kitchen prize.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In partnership with Madhya Pradesh’s tourism board.

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

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

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

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

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

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