“I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza,” Macron told broadcaster France Inter in an interview aired on Saturday but recorded earlier this week.

“France is not delivering any,” he added.

The president expressed frustration over the ongoing conflict, which is approaching its one-year anniversary despite international calls for a ceasefire.

“I think we are not being heard,” Macron said. “I think it is a mistake, including for the security of Israel,” he said, arguing that the conflict was leading to “hatred” in the region and beyond.

Macron also said avoiding an escalation in Lebanon, where Israel has carried out raids against Hamas and Hezbollah, was a “priority”.

“The Lebanese people must not be sacrificed in turn, Lebanon cannot become another Gaza,” he said.

From protector to onlooker: how France lost its influence in Lebanon

Arms exports continue

France maintains that it exports only defensive military equipment to Israel, though it has supplied components for lethal weapons.

The United States provides the equivalent of around €2.7 billion in weapons to Israel each year, making it by far the country’s biggest supplier. Washington has so far declined to cut off exports, despite acknowledging that they have been used against civilians.

Germany, which accounts for an estimated 30 percent of major arms exported to Israel, has also continued to send weapons.

Several other Western countries have moved to restrict sales, including third-biggest supplier Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, which said last month it was suspending some arms exports because of a “clear risk” that they could be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law.

Opinion split after three European countries recognise Palestinian state

Tense anniversary

The Israeli military has indicated it is preparing fresh assaults around the anniversary of the 7 October attacks by Hamas that triggered its retaliatory operation.

The confirmed death toll from the attacks, including hostages killed in captivity, has reached 1,205 on the Israeli side, most of them civilians, news agency AFP tallies based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has so far killed at least 41,825 people, a majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory.

Protests in support of Palestinians have been called this weekend in cities across the world to mark the anniversary, including Paris, London, Rome, Berlin and Cape Town.

(with AFP)

RFI: Why did you create a French-speaking village in Mitahato?

Chris Mburu: I wanted the children of my village to learn French very early. I learned French late, and though it helped me tremendously, I believe my career could have gone in a better direction had I learned it sooner.

So I want the kids in my village to have this advantage. They can get jobs in francophone countries and go to university. And they have an added advantage because they already speak English. 

In Kenya, most children already speak three languages because there’s the mother tongue, there’s Swahili, which is the national language, and there’s English. If you add French, you have four languages, and that’s extremely important for the world today. 

RFI: You are based in DR Congo with the UN. Do you need to speak French for your job?

CM: Yes. I would not have gotten this job if I didn’t speak French because nobody speaks English in my teams. It is a huge advantage. A lot of anglophones cannot get this kind of job because they do not speak French.

So this is another example of why I keep preaching this whole idea of bilingualism. 

Inside Mitahato, the Kenyan village where residents speak French

RFI: You were invited to Paris this week to talk about Mitahato. What’s next for your French language initiative in Kenya?

CM: I really hope that the children in my village learn this language and use the village as a prototype, an experimentation of how French can be expanded nationwide.

Many Kenyans can be encouraged to learn French and seek opportunities in the francophone world… in France, but also in francophone Africa. 

What people don’t realise is that there’s more French spoken in Africa than English, so it’s extremely important, even for our own African integration, for people to learn French. 

RFI: What about French in East Africa? 

CM: In East Africa, there is a big initiative to have people speak French, and I’m glad to see governments encouraging that. It’s practical given we have a number of neighbouring countries that are francophone. 

Two years ago, the DRC became a member of the East African Community. That’s huge. There are 100 million people [in the DRC], many of whom speak only French. So there are big opportunities. Trade, education and career – opportunities for everybody.

The importance of French cannot be underestimated in East Africa because we are in a moment of change. There are so many things happening, integration is going on and we cannot be isolated. 

It’s extremely important that not only governments encourage the learning and teaching of French, but also try to join organisations like the OIF, the International Francophonie Organisation, to get the benefits that come with that.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

A French vessel responded to a distress call on Saturday morning, according to a statement from the Pas-de-Calais prefecture in northern France.

It picked up 14 people from the dinghy, the statement said, some injured and others already dead. 

“Yet again, several migrants lost their lives trying to reach Britain by crossing the Channel,” the prefecture said.

According to French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, the victims included a child who was “trampled to death”. 

“The smugglers have the blood of these people on their hands and our government will intensify the fight against these gangs who enrich themselves by organising these deadly crossings,” he posted on social media.

French officials said the accident was not a shipwreck and the dead child had been found in the boat, not in the water.

Local reports estimated the child’s age at around four years.

Death toll

The dinghy continued towards British waters with the rest of its passengers, the prefecture said.

Other rescue operations were underway in the Channel on Saturday afternoon, it told broadcaster Franceinfo.

The latest tragedy comes after eight people died in mid-September when their overcrowded vessel capsized while trying to cross the Channel.

Around 50 people have died in its waters this year so far.

French minister says EU, UK need ‘migration treaty’ after Channel deaths

The French and British governments have sought to stop the flow of undocumented migrants, who may pay smugglers thousands of euros per head for the passage from France to England aboard small boats.

France’s new right-wing prime minister, Michel Barnier, said earlier this week that the country needed a stricter immigration policy.

He vowed to be “ruthless” with people traffickers, who he said “exploit misery and despair”.

(with AFP)

At a cafe in Tunis’s bustling Bab Souika, a group of young men lean over sports betting slips. With presidential elections just days ahead, they are instead focused on Champions League scores – a sign of common indifference in a country many wish to leave.

Mohamed, a 22-year-old who chose not to give his full name for fear of “imprisonment”, told AFP that he and his friends were not going to vote because it was “useless”.

“We have nothing to do with politics,” he said. “We try to live our lives day by day. It doesn’t concern us.”

About a third of the nearly 10 million Tunisians set to cast their ballots Sunday are under 35, according to official figures.

Yet the election appears to have created a mood of resignation among young people, most of whom would rather leave the country, according to a recent study.

Published by the Arab Barometer in August, the study found that seven out of 10 Tunisians aged between 18 and 29 wished to emigrate.

Tunisia now leads Arab nations measured by the desire to migrate, it said, with an estimated 46 percent of the whole population wanting to live abroad.

“If you provide three boats right now, no one here will stay,” Mohamed added, looking around him at the busy cafe.

Nearly 60 percent of African youth want to emigrate because of corruption

‘Hard to consider a future’

Each year, thousands of Tunisians, mainly young men, attempt to make the perilous sea crossing to Europe in search of a better life.

Others try to do it by overstaying tourist visas or through study-abroad programmes.

The Arab Barometer said the new figures contrasted with the 22-percent rate it had recorded in Tunisia overall in 2011.

That year, a revolution – which later swept through the region – ousted longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and sparked hope among young people.

But over a decade later, they are faced with dimmed prospects, grappling with a stagnant economy, soaring unemployment, and dwindling rights.

Official figures show 41 percent of young Tunisians are unemployed – even as 23 percent of them hold university degrees.

Ghaith, a high-schooler who also chose not to provide his last name for fear of retribution, said he was thinking about leaving too.

“I’m only 17, and when I see older people who haven’t done anything with their lives, I ask myself: what will I do?” he said.

Next to him, his 19-year-old friend, also named Mohamed, said he wanted to learn German and move to Berlin, but that it was too expensive.

“This country has let us down,” he told AFP. “It’s become hard to consider a future.”

If none of the youngsters interviewed by AFP wished to disclose their last names, it was because authorities have stepped up cracking down on dissent.

‘Patterns from past’

Saied was democratically elected in 2019 but orchestrated a sweeping power grab two years later, enshrining what many see as one-man rule.

New York-based Human Rights Watch recently said that more than “170 people are detained in Tunisia on political grounds or for exercising their fundamental rights”.

A number of his critics have been prosecuted under Decree 54, a law he enacted in 2022 to combat “false news”.

Slim, a 31-year-old gig worker who also chose not to give his full name out of fear, said he hasn’t “gained anything” under Saied.

“I like him,” he said. “He fought corruption, but I didn’t personally benefit from it.”

“What’s in it for me if I still can’t find eggs, milk, coffee and other necessities?” he added.

“We’re tired, seriously,” he pleaded. “Why do you think people keep leaving the country? They take to the sea knowing they might die.”

This week, 15 Tunisians were found dead after their boat capsized as two boats bearing dozens were intercepted.

Tunisia’s presidential campaign continues amid protests over restricted freedoms

Some, however, choose to stay.

At a recent protest near the parliament in Tunis, Souhaieb Ferchichi, a 30-year-old activist, called for boycotting the election which rights groups have said wasn’t fair.

Many of Saied’s challengers have been barred from running, with some even jailed.

Salma Ezzine, a 25-year-old protester and doctor, said Tunisia was “noticing patterns from the past”.

“This is how dictatorships are born,” she said.

Unlike more than 1,000 doctors who left Tunisia last year according to labour figures, Ezzine said she has to stay and chip into bettering the country.

“Leaving the country can be a short-term solution,” she said. “But people need to realise that it adds to the problem. If no one stays, who is going to make the change?”

(AFP)

The grand opening of the 60-hectare Domaine Evremond vineyard, situated on a quiet hillside in the county of Kent, received the royal seal of approval, with the Duchess of Edinburgh in attendance. 

The winery, a joint venture between Taittinger and its importer in the United Kingdom, Hatch Mansfield, has been a decade in the making.

The land was purchased in 2015, in a region often referred to as the “Garden of England”, and the apple trees that grew on these hillsides gave way to vines.  

The first 100,000 bottles of the estate’s English sparkling wine will be sold in the UK from March 2025 for around £50, approximately €59.

‘Elegant, but not champagne’

It will be “very elegant, but with no comparison with champagne”, said Vitalie Taittinger, president of the French wine house and great-granddaughter of its founder. 

It cannot be called a champagne due to strict European Union rules that limit the name to sparkling wines produced within the Champagne region, east of Paris.

Taittinger says it is the first champagne brand to take on such a project “from scratch” in the UK, even if it is not the only one to have made moves into British terrain. 

The Pinglestone estate, which extends over 40 hectares in Hampshire, southern England, belongs to the champagne house Vranken-Pommery. 

This is where the company produces its “Louis Pommery England”, a sparkling white wine that is only available in the UK, and whose sales increased by 9 percent in 2023. 

As temperatures climb, is the future of French wine in England?

‘Positive side’ of climate change

The soil in Kent is chalky, which promotes water drainage and prevents excessive humidity, making it ideal for growing Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay grapes. 

It is similar soil to that in Champagne, which makes it easier for French houses to adapt, even if Kent’s coastal air and windy climate bring more acidity to the wine. 

With the global rise in temperatures, vines have been able to flourish in the region, the sunniest in England.

“There is no right side of climate change but you could argue that here we are on the sort of more positive side,” said Patrick McGrath, co-founder of Domaine Evremond. 

The harvest should begin in two weeks, with the grape juice then set to ferment in a dozen gleaming stainless steel vats in the basement of the vineyard’s modern building.

Bad year for champagne

On the other side of the Channel, where the harvest is almost complete, French wine production is expected to be down by 18 percent in 2024 due to unfavourable climatic conditions, according to the French Ministry of Agriculture.

Production at Champagne’s vineyards is expected to fall by 16 percent. 

In the cellars of Maison Ruinart, the oldest champagne producer in France

“Increasingly intense extreme weather events, such as heat waves or torrential rains, are causing significant damage” and no French region is spared, the Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment said in March 2024. 

Meanwhile industry organisation WineGB reported in July that the sales of English sparkling wines have jumped 187 percent since 2018.

The popularity of sparkling wines among Brits and other northern Europeans is whetting the appetites of continental winemakers, who have been exploring new lands in the UK for the past several decades.  

Southern England and Wales are now home to more than 1,000 vineyards and a wine-growing area that has more than doubled in 10 years, now standing at 4,200 hectares. 

(with AFP)

French decrees, the latest from February of this year, have restricted the use of names such as “bacon”, “escalope”, “ham”, “filet” and “prime rib” to products of animal origin.

Yet in a ruling issued on Friday, the Court of Justice of the European Union said member states cannot ban the use of commonly used terms if they do not have legal definitions.

The decision follows a tussle between the meat industry and vegetarian associations, who had already persuaded France’s top administrative court to suspend the ban pending the EU ruling. 

“This is a very welcome victory,” said La Vie, a French maker of plant-based proteins, one of the parties backing the case alongside the Vegetarian Association of France and the European Vegetarian Union.

They argued consumers were already familiar with terms like “vegetarian sausage” and banning them would hurt producers’ business interests. 

Yet the meat industry claims such labels are confusing and threaten traditional foods.

In response to Friday’s ruling, Interbev, a lobbying organisation that represents France’s cattle and livestock industries, said it “deplores this decision that validates the usurpation of natural products to commercialise ultra-transformed foods”.

France falls behind as other countries master ‘cultured meat’

The livestock industry was instrumental in persuading French authorities to pass the labelling ban, which would have fined companies up to €7,500 for breaking the rules.

The penalties had not had time to come into force before France’s Council of State administrative court suspended the legislation and referred it to EU judges.

It only applied to French producers, meaning that manufacturers elsewhere in the EU could continue to sell vegetarian food with meat names in France.

It was the first ban of its kind in the EU, though Interbev and other lobbyists were pushing for it be extended throughout the bloc.

(with AFP)

Just two days after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was shot dead in Lebanon in an Israeli air strike, France’s new Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot headed to Beirut.

“France stands alongside Lebanon during its most difficult moments,” he said, exhorting Hezbollah and Israel to commit to a 21-day ceasefire plan laid out by France and the US.

Ten days earlier, President Emmanuel Macron had addressed Lebanese people directly in a video posted on social media.

“Lebanon is struck by grief and fear,” he declared, flanked by French and Lebanese flags. Without mentioning Hezbollah, he said he was working on a diplomatic solution in the light of France’s values and “fraternal feelings” for Lebanon.

While France has provided its former protectorate with humanitarian aid – including 12 tonnes of medicines and medical equipment, and 10 million euros – its diplomatic efforts appear to have had little impact as Lebanon lurches closer to an all-out conflict on its soil.

“Emmanuel Macron and Jean-Noel Barrot are first and foremost involved in a communications exercise,” says Middle East specialist Fabrice Balanche.

“Since the president lost power on the domestic front, he has to exist on the international scene. And Barrot, who is completely unknown to the public, is looking to make a name for himself.”

The bottom line, Balanche notes, is that France has lost its political clout in Lebanon: “In 10 years French influence has collapsed.”

Old friends

An estimated 23,000 French citizens live in Lebanon and more than 300,000 Lebanese reside in France.

The two countries’ close historical and cultural ties were cemented as early as 1860, when Napoleon III sent 6,000 troops to rescue Maronite Christians from Ottoman oppression.

Under the 1916 Sykes-Picot accords that carved up the Middle East, the area of Lebanon and Syria was put under French control. Greater Lebanon was created in 1920 and remained a French protectorate until 1943.

That period left a huge impact on Lebanese culture, economy and politics. For decades France enjoyed close relations not only with the country’s Christian community, but also Shia and Sunni Muslims.

Ties were particularly strong during the 1995-2007 presidency of Jacques Chirac – a close friend of Lebanon’s then prime minister and Sunni Muslim billionaire Rafic Hariri.

France invested heavily in construction in Lebanon and French business interests flourished.

At that time France also weighed heavily within the EU.

”The Franco-German relationship was strong, EU funds were invested in Lebanon in line with French interests,” Balanche notes. “There was a kind of agreement with Germany that Lebanon was the preserve of France.”

Why France and the Middle East have such a deep and lingering past

The Syria ‘fiasco’

Hariri’s assassination in 2005 plunged Lebanon into its worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. 

But the real turning point  came in 2015-2016 with the war in Syria, argues Balanche, author of an award-winning book on the Syria crisis. He describes France’s policy as “a fiasco”.

“We believed Bachar al-Assad would fall, we backed the rebels and the country fell into civil war,” resulting in more than a million Syrian refugees heading to Europe. The majority ended up in Germany.

“Germany paid the price for this French fiasco, and from then on the Germans began taking real power within Europe,” says Balanche.

Germany put a stop, he says, to France’s policy of using European funds to favour its foreign policy, notably in Lebanon.

France “no longer has a say” there – the foreign powers that matter are now Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United States.

Supplanted by the US

France’s diminishing influence was illustrated in August 2020, when Macron visited Lebanon to push for reconstruction efforts following a deadly explosion in the port of Beirut.

“France will never abandon the Lebanese, never. Our destinies are inextricably linked by the ties of time, spirit, soul, culture and dreams,” the French president said.

His call for solidarity helped raise a much-needed 250 million euros in aid worldwide. But Macron’s other message, that he was “ashamed for Lebanese politicians” and that the ruling elite had to introduce political and economic reforms, went down badly.

“In giving orders to Lebanese leaders, saying they had to agree on reforming the country, elect a president and so on, he talked down to them,” comments Balanche. “Lebanese leaders were up in arms.”

Meanwhile the president’s insistence that Lebanese leaders had to speak with Iran-backed Hezbollah upset the Americans.

Balanche recalls how envoy David Schenker, then in charge of Near East affairs at the US State Department, told the Lebanese on a visit to Beirut: “‘Don’t forget! It’s the Americans and the Saudis who sign the cheques.'”

France’s Macron says Lebanon must change leadership to break deadlock

‘Disoriented’ diplomacy

Other experts, however, say France holds a different kind of sway. 

French diplomacy prides itself on being able to speak to all sides, including Hezbollah. Middle East analyst Karim Bitar said this helps make France a possible broker in the current conflict.

“The French still have a degree of influence in Lebanon because of their communication channels with Hezbollah,” the researcher told German media.

He added that France could play a “modest but not insignificant role” moving forward, though it would “require US cover for it to be successful”.

Yet Balanche says it’s not enough to talk to everyone – governments need to defend a clear line.

“We can’t tell the Israelis on Friday: ‘You have the right to defend yourselves, we’re going to create an international anti-Hamas coalition modelled on the anti-ISIS coalition.’ And then tell the Arab countries: ‘What Israel is doing in Gaza is scandalous.’”

If France weighed more in Lebanon during Chirac’s presidency, it’s partly because he had a clear, pro-Arab policy, Balanche argues.

“You may or may not agree with it, but he had a clear line, which meant we could talk with Arab countries.”

Suppression of diplomatic corps could leave France without professional diplomats

More broadly, drastic cuts in France’s diplomatic corps have not helped shore up influence abroad.

A recent book by a former senior French diplomat painted a grim picture of the state of French diplomacy in Ukraine, the Middle East and on the African continent, describing it as “disoriented”.

The author, three-time ambassador Jean de Gliniasty, called for France to revive its traditional values such as respect for sovereignty, national differences and aspirations, “to give France its full place” in a changing world.

French language in decline

It’s hard to see how France can claw back influence in Lebanon. While there remains a certain nostalgia for “France the protector” that built modern-day Lebanon, the Lebanese are under no illusions.

“They saw that with the economic crisis in 2019, the explosion of the port, that France didn’t have the means to protect the country, so there’s disappointment of course,” says Balanche. “And for your average Shia Muslim, talk of France means next to nothing.”

Balanche, who worked at the Institut Français in Beirut from 2003 to 2007, has also noticed a dramatic drop in the use of French.

“If you went to bars where middle-class youth gathered, you’d hear Arabic or French. If you go there now you’ll hear Arabic and English – people under the age of 30 don’t speak French.”

A lack of investment in France’s cultural institutions in Lebanon is partly responsible, with far fewer staff employed in French cultural cooperation programmes. Meanwhile those who are sent over are more likely to be interns than professors.

“It’s cheaper,” Balanche regrets. “All of that has played a role in the collapse of a French presence in Lebanon.”

A year ago, the night that gunmen showed up at Ami G’s village near Titao, in northern Burkina Faso, she and her six children left everything behind and fled on foot, walking for several days.

“There was a baptism that day. Suddenly, we heard gun shots,” said the young woman, who belongs to the Mossi ethnic group, which makes up about half of the Burkinabe population.

“The jihadists killed our husbands and threatened to do the same to us on their next visit,” she said.

“They had already come and forced us to wear long black dresses. Then, they threatened us with reprisals, because we had been speaking with soldiers. There, it is war, they even murder children,” she said, wiping a tear from her face.

After a journey of more than 600 kilometres, Ami G found safety in Ouangolodougou, a city in northern Cote d’Ivoire where she is being hosted by a camp for asylum seekers in Niornigue.

Abidjan does not recognise those fleeing Burkina Faso as refugees.

Adama M, another newcomer at the camp, wearing a blue headscarf and a yellow skirt, recalled the day that armed militants looted her home.

“They killed my aunt with a bullet in the head and tied up and kidnapped my older brother. They told us not to cry,” she said, after having travelled 900 kilometres from Gorom-Gorom, a town in the north of Burkina, near Mali and Niger.

The ACLED non-governmental group, which tracks conflict, has counted more than 26,000 people killed – soldiers, militiamen and civilians – in Burkina Faso since the start of the conflict in 2015.

An estimated two million people have been forced to flee their homes.

Former Ivorian president Gbagbo agrees to run in 2025 election

Militia violence

As well as insurgent violence, another kind of abuse is pushing Burkinabes to flee – the terror spread by the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDP), a force made up of civilians recruited by the army to fight alongside troops but who do not hold military status.

The militia, which was formed to defend villages against jihadist attacks, has scaled up since junta chief Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power in the West African country in a 2022 coup.

He vowed to regain control over a nation plagued by armed groups, mainly affiliated with Al-Qaeda but some with the Islamic State group.

Because many ethnic Fulani people, a community of mainly semi-nomadic herders, have joined the ranks of the jihadists, the community as a whole has become a target of the VDP, sources told AFP.

Abdoulaye D, 79, fled his home in Bobo-Dioulasso with his grandchildren after armed men in military uniforms killed his two sons and stole his cattle.

“They tied up all the Fulanis and executed them with a rifle,” he told AFP, holding his one-year-old granddaughter in his arms.

When asked about Captain Traore, his expression turned to anger.

“What those in power are doing is ethnic differentiation,” said Abdoulaye, who arrived in Cote d’Ivoire four months ago.

“There is no more Burkina for me, even when I die, I don’t want my body to be sent there.”

Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger to issue biometric passports from new alliance

‘Killed my entire family’

Other stories in the community echo Abdoulaye’s.

Aminata S left the northwestern town of Nouna in January 2023 after the VDP killed her husband and parents in a massacre Amnesty International blamed on the “army’s proxy forces”.

“They came on a Friday and killed my entire family. There were three Fulani camps – they fired everywhere and killed 31 people,” said Aminata, adding that she did not want to hear about Traore.

“I don’t want to go back to Burkina,” she said.

A Ivorian resident of Ouangolodougou who spoke on condition of anonymity said Fulani traders, whom locals were used to seeing in the city, had been killed by the VDP.

“They said they were supplying the jihadists,” the resident said. “They target people who go back and forth between the two countries.”

“In the bush in Burkina, if you are Fulani, people say you are a jihadist. If they see you, you’re dead. It is ethnic targeting,” said Moussa T, a Fulani refugee.

In the Niornigue refugee camp, 98 percent of the population is Fulani. Many Mossis – the majority ethnic group in Burkina Faso – did not stay, officially citing a desire to make a living out of farming land.

But for one woman who fled Burkina Faso and took refuge in the camp seeking asylum, said there was more to it.

“Many left because they did not want to live with Fulanis,” she said.

“When they see them, they are reminded of jihadists. But for me, living together is good, these people haven’t done anything to me.”

Critics say the outcome of the vote is a foregone conclusion, with no real electoral rallies or debates and very few campaign posters, most of which feature only Saied.

International organisations like the Crisis Group have raised concerns about the election, while Vincent Geisser, a researcher at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), told RFI the result would be a demonstration of the president’s autocratic rule.

Saied’s approach to power is highly personal and differs from that of former President Ben Ali, who at least tried to legitimise his rule, says Geisser – who is also director of the Institute for Research and Studies on the Arab and Muslim Worlds (Iremam).

“Saied doesn’t even bother,” he says.

Candidate jailed

In the last week of the campaign, one of the election’s three candidates was sentenced to 12 years in prison just five days before the election.

Ayachi Zammel, a former MP who leads the opposition Azimoun party, was jailed on charges of falsifying documents, including voter signatures on his candidacy paperwork.

“The verdict is unfair and a farce,” said Abdessattar Massoudi, Zammel’s lawyer.

Zammel had already received two prior prison sentences this year, but despite his imprisonment, he is still allowed to stand in the election.

However, his political future looks uncertain.

With Zammel imprisoned, only one other candidate – Zouhair Maghzaoui, also former leader of an Arab nationalist party – will challenge Saied.

However, Maghzaoui has faced criticism for his previous support of the president, and there is little enthusiasm among Saied’s opponents for his candidacy.

Tunisian opposition candidate arrested amid ‘dictatorial’ pre-election climate

Climate of fear

The timing of Zammel’s sentence comes amid growing unrest in Tunisia, where opponents accuse Saied of using the judiciary to crush dissent.

Several other high-profile opposition figures were barred from running, and protests have erupted over the arrests of political opponents, lawyers and journalists.

Tunisians, who overthrew their dictator in 2011, are planning more mass protests on Friday against what they describe as Saied’s authoritarian rule.

While many people believed the fear from the Ben Ali dictatorship wouldn’t come back, “Tunisians are even more afraid and cautious now”, Geisser says.

Year of elections has Africa poised for political shake-up in 2024

Saied has repeatedly used accusations of conspiracy coming from abroad as an argument to silence the opposition and civil society.

According to Geisser, “anyone who interacts with foreign journalists or NGOs is seen as conspiring against the president”.

Tunisians feel resigned and don’t believe the opposition’s promises of change, he says – adding the country’s weak economy and social problems make people feel they can’t fight this level of authoritarianism.

Amnesty International‘s research has also shown that there is a significant rollback of human rights in Tunisia, especially in the last couple of years.

The organisation told RFI it has documented six waves of arrests targeting political opponents and critics of the authorities.

Since late 2022, more than 70 people – including political opponents, lawyers, journalists, activists and human rights defenders – have been unfairly prosecuted or detained, according to its count.

The European Commission – which provisionally approved the step in June after an inquiry found that Beijing’s state aid to auto manufacturers was unfair – now has free rein to impose steep tariffs for five years from end October.

Ten member states including France, Italy and Poland supported imposing the tariffs of up to 35.3 percent, coming on top of existing duties of 10 percent, European diplomats told AFP.

Only five including Germany and Hungary voted against while 12 abstained including Spain and Sweden.

Although the tariffs did not win support from a majority of states, the opposition was not enough to block them – which would have required at least 15 states representing 65 percent of the bloc’s population.

That leaves the choice on moving ahead in the hands of the European Commission which “can be expected to decide in line with its proposal”, an EU diplomat said.

China has slammed the new tariffs as “protectionist” and warned they would trigger a trade war.

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France vs Germany

The extra duties also apply, at various rates, to vehicles made in China by foreign groups such as Tesla – which faces a tariff of 7.8 percent.

Brussels says it aims to protect European carmakers in a critical industry that provides jobs to around 14 million people across the European Union but does not benefit from hefty state subsidies like in China.

Canada and the United States have in recent months imposed much higher tariffs of 100 percent on Chinese electric car imports.

The EU duties have pitted France and Germany against each other, with Paris arguing they are necessary to level the playing field for EU carmakers against Chinese counterparts.

But Germany, renowned for its strong auto industry and its key manufacturers including BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes heavily invested in China, says the EU risks harming itself with tariffs, and has urged for negotiations with Beijing to continue.

In an indication of fears spreading in Europe, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez reversed course and asked Brussels last month to “reconsider”, despite Madrid’s initial support.

Beijing launches probe in response to EU investigation into Chinese subsidies

EU’s tightrope

Hungary has also been vocal in its opposition and before the vote, Prime Minister Viktor Orban lambasted the tariffs as “the next step in the economic cold war”.

Beijing has threatened to retaliate forcefully and has already opened probes into European brandy, dairy and pork products imported into China.

China tried in vain to stop the duties, hoping to resolve the issue through dialogue, but talks have so far failed to lead to an agreement that satisfies the EU.

The commission has said that any duties could be lifted later if China addresses the EU’s concerns.

Trade tensions between China and the EU are not limited to electric cars, with inquiries launched by Brussels also targeting Chinese subsidies for solar panels and wind turbines.

The bloc faces a difficult task as it tries to foster its clean tech industry and invest in the green transition without sparking a painful trade war with China.

With six 900MW reactors, the Gravelines nuclear power plant on the Channel coast is already the most powerful in Western Europe.

EDF’s proposal to build two additional new generation pressurised water reactors (EPR2) of 1600 MW each is part of President Emmanuel Macron’s nuclear revival programme.

The new reactors are currently the subject of public debate. If they pass safety criteria laid down by France’s nuclear safety authority (ASN), construction would begin in 2031 and they could be on stream by 2040.

While they would be built on a 11-metre-high platform, Greenpeace claims there is a significant safety risk.

“The entire power plant site could find itself – during high tides and when there is a 100-year surge – below sea level” by 2100, it warned in a report published Thursday.

EDF refutes their calculations.

“The height of the platform chosen for the EPR2 reactors at Gravelines provides protection against “extreme” flooding, taking into account the effects of IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] scenarios, which are among the most penalising with regard to sea-level rise”, EDF said in a statement to RFI.

Why the nuclear option is still an explosive subject at climate talks

Protective measures

Greenpeace argues that EDF’s calculations are outdated and do not fully account for the realities of global warming.

“We can’t think as if the current situation were going to remain stable and that sea levels were just going to rise a little”, says Pauline Boyer, Greenpeace’s energy transition campaigner.

The NGO has therefore based its projection on the IPCC’s most pessimistic scenario, which assumes that no action will be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2100.

Nuclear power accounts for most of France’s electricity, and the Nuclear Energy Society (Sfen) defends it as a low-carbon energy source.

French electricity company discovers deep crack in nuclear plant cooling system

“What’s important today is to take protective measures in line with our current scientific knowledge, while adding margins,” says Sfen’s Ludovic Dupin.

“If they’re not up to scratch, we’ll then have to upgrade them on a very regular basis”, in line with the 10-yearly inspections.

Still, Boyer believes a comprehensive risk study, factoring in climate change, “should govern the choice of site”, and be carried out before the public debate ends on 17 January.

While Greenpeace’s report centres on Gravelines, Boyer warned that climate change threatens other nuclear plants, with risks tied to rising temperatures and extreme weather events like storms.

She also pointed to potential conflicts over access to river water needed to cool reactors. 

Dozens of leaders of French-speaking countries gather on Friday and Saturday for the “Francophonie” summit – the first time the event has been held in France for 33 years.

France’s sway in Africa has been badly eroded by successive coups in Mali in 2021, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023 which saw Paris-friendly governments replaced by juntas who turned to Russia.

Meanwhile the crisis in France’s former protectorate Lebanon, which is targeted by daily Israeli bombardment and now a ground incursion as Israel attacks the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, has shown up France’s diminished influence in the Middle East.

The summit comes as Macron’s standing at home has taken a drubbing after his party lost legislative elections in July, leading him to nominate rightwinger Michel Barnier as head of a minority government.

One of Macron’s key guests at the summit is Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who is himself facing a political crisis after seeing off two no confidence votes in as many weeks.

Macron kicked off a day of bilateral talks on Thursday, meeting Georgia’s President Salome Zurabishvili, a former French diplomat and staunch opponent of a new law in her country seen as silencing dissent.

The summit will use different venues on each day, with leaders gathering on Friday at a chateau in Villers-Cotterets northeast of Paris where Macron last year inaugurated a centre for the French language. On Saturday, proceedings will move to Paris.

Macron and Trudeau pledge common front on economy, language

‘A space for mediation, dialogue’ 

Louise Mushikiwabo, secretary general of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) that groups 88 member states, acknowledged that the body had a “modest” influence.

The OIF is not able to “resolve the complicated crises of the world, but can make things move forward,” she told France’s AFP news agency in an interview.

While key African leaders such as Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi will be present, those of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have not been invited.

A prominent guest is Chad President Mahamat Idriss Deby, an ally of France and regular visitor to Paris, whose Sahel nation still hosts French troops even after their departure from Mali, Burkina and Niger.

Guinea has been invited despite its junta under General Mamady Doumbouya taking power in a 2021 coup. A delegation from Lebanon is coming but not its prime minister.

French-speaking bloc examines unrest in Africa

Macron told l’Union newspaper he sees the Francophonie as “a space for mediation”, “a space for dialogue to resolve political differences”, citing a territorial dispute between the DRC and Rwanda on which he hopes to make progress at the summit.

The OIF’s missions are to “promote the French language”, “peace, democracy and human rights”, “support education” and “develop economic cooperation”.

It estimates the number of French speakers at 321 million across five continents, making it the 5th most spoken language in the world.

(with AFP)

Peter Cherif, 42, had been on trial in Paris since mid-September for “belonging to a criminal terrorist association” while fighting for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen from 2011 to 2018.

During that time he is suspected of training his Paris childhood friend Cherif Kouachi, who along with his brother Said perpetrated the January 7, 2015 massacre at Charlie Hebdo‘s offices in the French capital – for which AQAP later claimed responsibility.

The trial judge on Thursday sentenced Cherif to life behind bars, with a minimum of 22-years to be served.

The president of the court said the decision had been taken “in view of the seriousness of the acts” for which Cherif was convicted.

Prosecutors had called him the “architect” of the first in a string of attacks carried out by radical Islamists that hit France in the late 2010s.

The 12 killings at the magazine shocked the world and led to an international outpouring of political and popular support under the motto “Je Suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”).

French weekly Charlie Hebdo sued for defamation by a Muslim school in Valence

Cherif also was accused of being part of a criminal gang that held three French aid workers hostage for five months in Yemen in 2011.

Calling the accused a “jihadist through-and-through” who was the “cornerstone of planning” for the Charlie Hebdo attack, prosecutors on Wednesday had requested a life sentence.

Cherif declined to answer questions throughout most of the trial.

But he admitted standing guard over the aid workers and serving as an interpreter between them and Yemeni Al-Qaeda members.

Cherif has consistently denied playing any role in the attack on Charlie Hebdo or knowing it would happen.

Prosecutors believe he was in on the plan and remained in contact with Cherif Kouachi once the attacker returned to France.

“I feel like I’ve taken part in a rigged match,” Cherif’s defence lawyer Nabil El Ouchikli said on Thursday, pointing out that the defendant was not charged with complicity in the Charlie Hebdo attack.

He argued that prosecutors had resorted to the catch-all charge of terrorist association because “they didn’t have the proof” for specific offences.

Cherif himself on Thursday said that he had “nothing to add” after his representatives’ closing arguments.

A constitutional amendment that would extend voting rights to tens of thousands of long-term French residents in New Caledonia ignited five months of violent protests – leading to multiple deaths, mass unemployment and over a billion euros in damages.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier this week axed the plan, citing the need to restore calm. He told the National Assembly on Tuesday that “avoiding further unrest” was a priority.

He also postponed a local election scheduled for December for a year.

Barnier made no public commitment on extra funding for reconstruction and rebuilding that had been sought by the New Caledonian Congress.

Words, not action

The decision to suspend the voting reform, which was originally proposed by President Emmanuel Macron in June, has drawn mixed reactions.

Emmanuel Tjibaou, an indigenous Kanak MP, said Barnier’s speech was a “sign” that the French state was looking to end the crisis and resume political talks.

“For the moment, I have heard the words, I am waiting for action,” he told journalists.

However some loyalists in the territory were critical of the decision to drop the voting reform, while Kanaks expressed concerns it could resurface once political tensions eased.

Kanak chiefs proclaim sovereignty over New Caledonia’s ancestral lands

Loyalist politician Nicolas Metzdorf told FranceInfo radio that Barnier was giving in to violence.

“Michel Barnier is taking a step backwards for democracy; it’s a disagrace for the republic,” he added.

Metzdorf described Barnier’s speech as “completely disconnected”, with no announcement of financial support despite the territory enduring the “most serious economic, social and humanitarian crisis” in its history.

“The prime minister does not grasp the gravity of the situation on the ground,” he told broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la 1ère.

Ongoing divisions

While the Kanak independence movement continues to demand full self-determination, many French officials still see extending voting rights as essential for democratic fairness in the territory.

Divisions over New Caledonia policy have exposed the deeper challenges France faces in managing its overseas territories, where local populations often feel disconnected from Paris.

Macron has remained silent on the suspension of the reform, leading to speculation that he is seeking to distance himself from the backlash.

The president had previously called the amendment a “necessary step” in modernising New Caledonia’s electoral system​.

The patient is a young male from the Western North Region, about 475 kilometres from the capital, Accra. He is experiencing symptoms typical of mpox, including fever, rash and body pains.

Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, the director-general of Ghana Health Service (GHS), confirmed that the man has been isolated according to health protocols.

GHS has identified 25 contacts of the patient, who are currently being monitored. Additionally, there are around 230 other suspected cases under investigation in the country.

Ghana has previously recorded cases of mpox in 2022 and 2023.

Health officials are testing to find out if the clade Ib form of mpox virus, which is of global concern, is responsible for the current case.

This new strain spreads more easily through close contact, including sexual interactions, compared to the clade I variant, which is typically found in parts of West and Central Africa.

WHO declares second mpox international health emergency

Spreading virus

The World Health Organization declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years in August, following an outbreak of the viral infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to neighbouring countries.

Nearly 30,000 suspected mpox cases have been reported in Africa so far this year, most of them in central but also in West Africa, with a few cases reported in Europe and Asia.

Nigeria, South Africa, and Cote d’Ivoire have recorded multiple confirmed cases this year.

More than 800 people have already died this year of suspected mpox. 

A total of 2,082 confirmed cases were reported across the world in August alone, the highest since November 2022. 

The Gavi vaccine alliance has reached an agreement with Danish pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic to obtain 500,000 doses of mpox vaccine for African countries dealing with an outbreak.

The DRC received its first 200,000 doses of vaccine in September.

(with newswires)

This week, our focus shifts to the dynamics of Chinese-African-Western relations.

In September, as the United States pursued investments in nuclear energy projects in Ghana and Kenya, the China-Africa forum concluded with a series of new agreements between China and a number of African countries. These deals spanned key sectors, including industry, agriculture, natural resources, and renewable energy.

China’s new strategy in Africa: is the continent getting a fair deal?

Chinese President Xi Jinping also announced that Beijing will allocate $50 billion (€45 billion euros) to Africa over the next three years.

However, China’s overall investments in the continent have declined over the past year, creating an opening for both the US and Europe, who are both eager to re-establish their economic presence in Africa.

Russia has also entered the picture.

But what does Africa realy need?

To explore this, Jan van der Made and Melissa Chemam spoke with experts, including historians Daniel Large and Michael Dillon, as well as Igor Ichikovitz from the Ichikowitz Family Foundation.

Episode mixed by Erwan Rome 

Spotlight on Africa is a podcast from Radio France Internationale

Ethiopia’s reliance on fuel imports has been a drain on its economy. In 2023, the country spent over €5.5 billion on petrol and diesel imports, with more than half used for vehicles.

By banning fossil-fuelled cars – a move announced in February – the government hopes to cut this unsustainable expense.

Even diplomatic missions and NGOs aren’t exempt. 

Despite Ethiopia’s limited infrastructure and access to electricity, the new rules are set to have a profound impact on the country’s economy and its carbon footprint.

Trailblazing

Prime Minister Ahmed, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, has long supported environmental causes.

Ethiopia has undertaken massive reforestation projects, aiming to plant five billion trees by the end of 2024.

The country also has plenty of green energy, especially hydropower, thanks to large projects like the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

The switch to electric vehicles fits with Ethiopia’s wider environmental strategy, positioning it as a leader in Africa’s fight against climate change.

It will help reduce carbon emissions from transport, which has been a big source of air pollution in cities like the capital, Addis Ababa.

But there’s another important reason for the change: saving money.

“Ethiopia has been struggling for over a decade to increase its foreign currency generation,” Ethiopian business and economics expert Samson Berhane told RFI.

By cutting imports – especially those seen as “unnecessary” – the government will have extra foreign cash.

This move could have an economic boost for Ethiopia, which spends a lot of its foreign currency on importing fuel.

Berhane also points out that car ownership in Ethiopia is quite low.

“For a population of 130 million, there are not even 1.5 million vehicles in the country,” he says. “Only 70 percent are private vehicles, while 90 percent of those private cars are in Addis Ababa.”

Melting African glaciers an early casualty of global warming, say experts

Infrastructure hurdles

A lack of charging stations makes long-distance travel nearly impossible for EV drivers, while frequent power cuts coumpound the problem.

One of the most glaring issues is the lack of infrastructure to support EV adoption. As of this year, there is only one public charging station in the entire country, located in the capital.

There are only two specialised garages capable of servicing electric vehicles, and spare parts are difficult to come by.

These infrastructure problems are a major obstacle to the government’s plan to import 400,000 electric vehicles by 2030.

“People don’t have the confidence to buy electric cars”, Berhane says.

Another challenge is the high cost of electric vehicles. Even with lower import taxes, electric cars in Ethiopia are too expensive for most people.

A second-hand electric vehicle can cost over €32,000, while new models range from €35,000 to €100,000.

“When [Ethiopians] buy a car, they ask themselves whether they will be able to resell it,” Berhane says. “Once you buy an electric car, its value will decrease.”

As a result, electric vehicles remain out of reach for most Ethiopians, limiting the impact of the government’s policy to wealthier people.

Ethiopia starts generating electricity at controversial Nile dam

Looking Ahead

Ethiopia’s electric vehicle ban is a bold and risky move that reflects both the country’s urgent economic needs and its environmental goals.

While the switch to electric vehicles offers clear benefits in reducing fuel imports and cutting emissions, the government needs to tackle big infrastructure and affordability challenges to make it work.

“The majority of the Ethiopian population haven’t reached to a point where they can say that they want to use fuel-powered cars instead of electric cars, because 95 percent of the population still cannot afford to buy a car,” Berhane says.

“More than 75 percent of the population lives in rural areas. So [they are not] concerned whether the country bans fuel-powered cars or not.

If these hurdles can be overcome, Ethiopia could become a leader in electric transport, setting an example for other developing countries looking to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and embrace cleaner energy solutions.

For now, though, the road ahead is full of challenges. Ethiopia’s electric vehicle revolution is just beginning, and it’s not yet clear if the country’s ambitious goals will be achieved.

Since 2022, Quebec has brought in over a thousand foreign-trained nurses to tackle its healthcare labour shortage. Like many Western nations, including France, poor working conditions have driven nurses away from the sector, prompting Quebec to look abroad for solutions.

Under pressure from various countries concerned about losing their own nursing capacity, Quebec will cease recruitment from nearly all African nations.

Most of the nurses had been sourced from francophone countries like Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Morocco. Quebec will continue its recruitment programmes in Tunisia and from the Gulf region, Radio Canada reported.

Morocco welcomed the decision, with its ambassador to Canada Souriya Otmani calling it “just and fair”.

The country had described the recruitment scheme as a “dead loss” and has raised concerns about the cost of training nurses who subsequently leave for jobs elsewhere, impacting its own healthcare system.

Serious shortages

The World Health Organization has warned that 55 countries, 37 of which are in Africa, face serious healthcare worker shortages, urging Western nations to support these systems.

For context, Cameroon has 1.9 nurses per 10,000 residents, while Quebec boasts nearly 100, according to the WHO.

However, those recruited in Quebec often face challenges adapting to the healthcare system. Many struggle to pass exams and find themselves in lower-paying jobs in care homes.

Cultural barriers and instances of racism exacerbate these difficulties.

Since 2017, over 1,900 healthcare workers, including nurses and midwives from 24 African, Latin American, and European countries, have been recruited to work in Canada.

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 7 September, I asked you a question about the Paris Paralympics 2024. You were to re-read our article “Golden glory for French para-triathletes despite delays over Seine water quality” and send in the answers to these two questions: How many medals did the French Paralympians win in the triathlon events that were held on 2 September, and: What are the three sports that make up a triathlon?

The answer is: French Paralympians won four medals in the triathlon events. Alexis Hanquinquant and Jules Ribstein both won gold in their divisions, Thibaut Rigaudeau and Antoine Perel won bronze in the competition for visually impaired athletes.

And which three sports make up a triathlon? Swimming, bicycling, and running. 

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “What is the scariest creature you have ever encountered?”, which was suggested by Alan Holder from the Isle of Wight, England.  

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Swapan Kumar Chandra from Kolkata, India – who is back in the kitchen with us after a long break … welcome back, Swapan! Swapan is also this week’s bonus question winner – congratulations!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are A. K. M. Nuruzzaman, the president of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, and Rasheed Naz, the chairman of the Naz RFI Internet Fan Club in Faisal Abad, Pakistan. There’s RFI Listeners Club member Radhakrishna Pillai from Kerala State in India, and last but certainly not least, RFI English listener Shihab Ali Khondaker from Naogaon, Bangladesh.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: Le Boeuf sur le Toit by Darius Milhaud, performed by the Ulster Orchestra conducted by Yan Pascal Tortelier; “Love Me Do” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, played by The Beatles; “Les Jours Heureux” by Cyrille Aufort; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer; “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, and “At The Centerline” by Brian Blade, performed by the Brian Blade Fellowship Band.

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 “French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on trial for misuse of EU funds”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 28 October to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 2 November podcast. When you enter be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

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,  

The prize winners will be announced between October 7 and 14.

For the Peace Prize, the most prestigious of the six Nobels, experts say it is harder than ever to predict the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s pick, to be revealed on October 11.

Swedish philanthropist Alfred Nobel created the prizes in his 1895 will, stipulating that they go to those who have “conferred the greatest benefit on humankind”.

But given the bleak state of world affairs, perhaps no one should get the Peace Prize this year, suggested Dan Smith, the head of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

“Maybe this is the time to say, ‘Yes, many people are working very hard, but it’s not getting there and we need more people and world leaders to wake up and realise that we are in an extremely dangerous situation,'” he said.

“We have now over 50 armed conflicts around the world. The lethality of those armed conflicts has increased dramatically in the past two decades,” he said.

‘A worthy candidate’

Not awarding a Peace Prize would be viewed as an acknowledgement of failure by the award committee, and is therefore deemed unlikely.

“I’m confident there will be a worthy candidate for the Peace Prize this year as well,” the secretary of the committee, Olav Njolstad, told AFP.

Last year, the award went to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran.

A total of 286 nominations are known to have been submitted for the Peace Prize this year, though the committee keeps the names sealed for 50 years.

Those entitled to nominate are however allowed to reveal their picks.

Among those known to be on the list are some actors involved in the Middle East, such as the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA; Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq; its Israeli counterpart B’Tselem and the International Court of Justice.

Given the existential risks to humanity posed by weapons systems that can operate autonomously without human control, several Nobel-watchers have cited the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots as a possible laureate.

The Nobel Prize in Literature, to be announced on October 10, likewise generates frenzied speculation every year.

Several pundits believe Chinese author Can Xue will be the Swedish Academy’s choice this year — and she has the lowest odds on several betting sites.

An avant-garde fiction writer often likened to Kafka, her experimental style flips between utopia and dystopia and transforms the mundane into the surreal.

“I think it will be a woman from a language zone outside Europe,” Bjorn Wiman, culture editor at Sweden’s newspaper of record Dagens Nyheter, told AFP.

The last Chinese author to win was Mo Yan in 2012.

Nobel winner Yunus brings ‘social business’ mantra to Olympics

Surprise name for literature?

With no public shortlist, it is always difficult to predict which way the 18-member Swedish Academy is leaning.

Names making the rounds in Stockholm’s literary circles include Australian novelist Gerald Murnane, Britain’s Salman Rushdie, Antiguan-American writer Jamaica Kincaid, Canadian poet Anne Carson, Hungary’s Laszlo Krasznahorkai, Mircea Cartarescu of Romania, Kenya’s Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Japan’s Haruki Murakami.

Last year, Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse took home the honour.

The Academy often shines a spotlight on relatively unknown writers.

“I think they’ve gone to great pains to find some writer that will catch the culture commentariat with their pants down,” Wiman said.

The Nobel season kicks off on Monday with the Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Analytics group Clarivate, which monitors potential science laureates, speculated that award could go to research on the genetics of lipid metabolism, which has led to new drugs to treat cardiovascular diseases.

Another candidate could be studies of the basal ganglia, which are parts of the brain associated with motor control and emotions.

Or the prize could go to the discovery of genomic imprinting, which has increased our understanding of epigenetics and mammalian development.

Last year, the Prize in Physiology or Medicine went to researchers Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for their work on messenger RNA technology that paved the way for groundbreaking Covid-19 vaccines.

The Prize in Physics follows on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s Prize in Chemistry. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences then wraps up the 2024 Nobel season on Monday, October 14.

This year’s laureates will take home the prized sum of 11 million kronor ($1 million) per discipline, to be shared if there is more than one winner.

Thursday’s squad announcement was the first Deschamps’ first since Griezmann, the team’s vice captain, retired from international football earlier in the week.

In his absence, English-born Bayern Munich midfielder Michael Olise was called up. He won his first two caps against Italy and Belgium last month.

Also returning to the squad is Chelsea’s Christopher Nkunku, who won the last of his 10 caps in June last year.

Mbappé, who has been struggling with a thigh injury, and who appeared as a substitute in the surprise 1-0 defeat at Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday, has been left out of the team’s Nations League matches against Israel and Belgium later this month.

“He has a problem that is not serious. I’m not here to take risks, which is why Kylian isn’t on the list,” Deschamps told a press conference.

Les Bleus are second in Group A2 with three points from two games, three points behind Italy. They face Israel in Budapest on 10 October, and Belgium in Brussels four days later.

(with AFP, Reuters)

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 7 September, I asked you a question about the Paris Paralympics 2024. You were to re-read our article “Golden glory for French para-triathletes despite delays over Seine water quality” and send in the answers to these two questions: How many medals did the French Paralympians win in the triathlon events that were held on 2 September, and: What are the three sports that make up a triathlon?

The answer is: French Paralympians won four medals in the triathlon events. Alexis Hanquinquant and Jules Ribstein both won gold in their divisions, Thibaut Rigaudeau and Antoine Perel won bronze in the competition for visually impaired athletes.

And which three sports make up a triathlon? Swimming, bicycling, and running. 

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “What is the scariest creature you have ever encountered?”, which was suggested by Alan Holder from the Isle of Wight, England.  

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Swapan Kumar Chandra from Kolkata, India – who is back in the kitchen with us after a long break … welcome back, Swapan! Swapan is also this week’s bonus question winner – congratulations!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are A. K. M. Nuruzzaman, the president of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, and Rasheed Naz, the chairman of the Naz RFI Internet Fan Club in Faisal Abad, Pakistan. There’s RFI Listeners Club member Radhakrishna Pillai from Kerala State in India, and last but certainly not least, RFI English listener Shihab Ali Khondaker from Naogaon, Bangladesh.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: Le Boeuf sur le Toit by Darius Milhaud, performed by the Ulster Orchestra conducted by Yan Pascal Tortelier; “Love Me Do” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, played by The Beatles; “Les Jours Heureux” by Cyrille Aufort; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer; “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, and “At The Centerline” by Brian Blade, performed by the Brian Blade Fellowship Band.

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 “French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on trial for misuse of EU funds”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 28 October to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 2 November podcast. When you enter be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

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,  

This week, our focus shifts to the dynamics of Chinese-African-Western relations.

In September, as the United States pursued investments in nuclear energy projects in Ghana and Kenya, the China-Africa forum concluded with a series of new agreements between China and a number of African countries. These deals spanned key sectors, including industry, agriculture, natural resources, and renewable energy.

China’s new strategy in Africa: is the continent getting a fair deal?

Chinese President Xi Jinping also announced that Beijing will allocate $50 billion (€45 billion euros) to Africa over the next three years.

However, China’s overall investments in the continent have declined over the past year, creating an opening for both the US and Europe, who are both eager to re-establish their economic presence in Africa.

Russia has also entered the picture.

But what does Africa realy need?

To explore this, Jan van der Made and Melissa Chemam spoke with experts, including historians Daniel Large and Michael Dillon, as well as Igor Ichikovitz from the Ichikowitz Family Foundation.

Episode mixed by Erwan Rome 

Spotlight on Africa is a podcast from Radio France Internationale

At the UN, Erdogan again compared Israel to Hitler, calling for an “international alliance of humanity” to stop Israel as it did Hitler 70 years ago. However, such fiery rhetoric is finding a shrinking audience.

“It’s more conveying a message to their own base”, said Sezin Oney of the Turkish news portal Politikyol. “There isn’t an audience that really sees Turkey or Erdogan as the vanguard of Palestine rights anymore. On the contrary, that ship sailed long ago.”

Erdogan attempted to boost his image as a powerful regional player by meeting with the Lebanese and Iraqi Prime Ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. But Ankara is increasingly finding itself sidelined as a regional diplomatic player.

“Ankara‘s pro-Hamas approach has only marginalised Turkey in the international arena,” said international relations expert Selin Nasi of the London School of Economics. “So we see Egypt and Qatar receiving credits for their roles as mediators. And Turkey is locked out of international diplomatic efforts.”

Since Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent Gaza campaign, Ankara has tried to position itself among international mediating efforts to end the fighting, given its close contacts with Hamas.

Turkish youth finds common cause in protests against trade with Israel

Mediation efforts

“Turkey was asked by the United States to speak with Hamas people”, said international relations expert Soli Ozel at Vienna’s Institute for Human Studies.

However, Ozel says the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran denied Erdogan his diplomatic trump card.

“One big blow to Turkey has been the murder of Haniyeh, with which Turkey did have very close relations. For all I know, he may even have had a Turkish passport”, said Ozel.

“And I really don’t think Turkey has any relations or contacts with Yahya Sinwar, who is officially and effectively the leader of Hamas”.

With Israel already alienated by Erdogan’s fiery rhetoric along with Turkey imposing an Israeli trade embargo, Gallia Lindenstrauss of Tel Aviv‘s National Security Studies says Turkey has nothing to offer.

Turkey flexes naval muscles as neighbours fear escalating arms race

“There are two main mediators in this conflict: Egypt and Qatar. They’re the two actors that have leverage over Hamas. Turkey, despite its very open support of Hamas, has very little leverage on Hamas’s decisions,” said Lindenstrauss.

“So Turkey is not effective – it doesn’t have the money to push Hamas in a certain direction, it doesn’t have the political leverage over Hamas to push it in the right direction. In practice …Turkey is not very efficient.

“So I don’t think it’s a mistake that Turkey is not part of this [mediation] process.”

Ankara has been quick to point out that existing mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel have achieved little, with the conflict now spreading to Lebanon.

However, some experts claim Ankara’s diplomatic sidelining has a broader message of Arab countries pushing back against Turkey’s involvement in the region.

“None of the Arab countries would like to get Turkey involved in this process,” said international relations expert Huseyin Bagci, of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

“Turkey could be considered by their views as the enemy of Israel, but it is artificial. The Middle East Arab-Israeli conflict since 1948 has been an Arab-Israeli conflict, not a Turkish-Israeli conflict.”

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

Regional ambitions

For more than a decade, Erdogan has sought to project Turkey’s influence across the Middle East, often referring to the years of Ottoman rule as the halcyon days of peace and tranquillity.

But the latest Middle East war has ended such dreams, analyst Ozel said.

“The Turkish government thought that they could dominate the Middle East. They played the game of hegemony seeking, and they lost it,” Ozel explained.

“When they lost it, Turkey found itself way behind [the position] it had prior to 2011 when their grandiose scheme of creating a region which would be dominated by Turkey began.”

As the Israel-Hamas war threatens to escalate across the region, Erdogan’s rhetoric against Israel will likely continue. But analysts warn that outside of the leader’s conservative base at home, few others in the region will be receptive.

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 29 August, I asked you a question about the 2024 Paris Paralympics Games, which had just opened with a parade on the Champs-Élysées and a grand show on Place de la Concorde, designed by the Games artistic director Thomas Jolly. You were to re-read our article “Paralympic torch arrives in France ahead of opening ceremony” and send in the answer to this question: How many athletes will compete in how many events?

The answer is, to quote our article: “During the Games, around 4,400 athletes will compete in 549 events, which will take place in 18 competition sites, including 16 identical to their Olympic counterparts.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “With whom do you feel the happiest, and why?”, suggested by Jayanta Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India.

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

The winners are: Razia Khalid, who’s a member of the RFI Seven Stars Radio Listeners Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan. Razia is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations, Razia!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are M. N. Sentu, a member of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, and RFI Listeners Club member Kashif Khalil from Faisalabad, Pakistan.  

Last but certainly not least, two RFI English listeners from Bangladesh: Shahanoaz Parvin Ripa, the president of the Sonali Badhon Female Listeners Club in Bogura, and Shihab Uddin Khan from Naogaon.

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: Traditional music from the Middle Ages; the Allegro from the Piano Sonata K. 545 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by Gabriel Tacchino; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, sung by Cécile McLorin Salvant.

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, listen to Alison Hird’s report on political compromise in France on the Spotlight on France podcast no. 115, or consult her article “Where did France’s culture of political compromise go, and is it coming back?”, both of which will help you with the answer. 

You have until 21 October to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 26 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,  

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.

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.