In October, Beijing announced provisional tariffs on European Union brandy imports, part of an escalating trade row between Beijing and Brussels.

Most Chinese imports of the spirit come from France and the country’s cognac makers have begged Paris to put an end to the spat, describing themselves “hostages”.

Speaking to journalists in Shanghai on Monday, French Foreign Trade Minister Sophie Primas said: “France is in favour of negotiations, obviously. We are not in an escalating trade war, so we need to enter negotiations.”

This followed an hour-and-a-quarter-long meeting Primas had with China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao on Sunday evening ahead of a major trade show.

Primas underlined that she had told Wang France was prepared “to take all possible technical and legal measures”.

“We don’t want it to come to that,” she stressed.

“The window for negotiation… is clearly open,” she said, adding that she expected high-level talks to take place soon.

EU – China tariff spat

In a post on social media, Primas said she had conveyed “one simple thing” to Minister Wang: “Europe refuses trade escalation, continues its exchanges, but will not yield to pressure on essential points.”

France maintains that the measures against brandy are political, designed to put the European Union under pressure after the bloc imposed tariffs of up to 35.3 percent on Chinese electric vehicles over unfair competition claims. 

The EV measures reportedly featured prominently in Primas and Wang’s discussions.

A second phase of consultations over the measures between the EU and China recently began.

“France, as an important member state of the EU, should play an active role in urging the European Commission to show sincerity,” Wang was quoted as saying in a readout from his ministry.

Beijing files WTO complaint over EU’s new taxes on Chinese EVs

As well as the provisional brandy tariffs, Beijing has also launched anti-dumping probes into some European pork and dairy imports.

Brussels is also investigating Chinese subsidies for solar panels and wind turbines.

Primas said she had come to China with a message of “both openness and firmness”. 

“Our manufacturers and farmers have been working with China for a very, very long time… we want these bilateral relations to continue to exist and to continue to grow and strengthen,” she said. 

“On the other hand… we have firm positions in favour of acting in a commercial world of free competition and under fair and reciprocal conditions,” she said. 

(With wires)

The jury needed just one round of voting to award the coveted prize to Algerian writer Daoud for his novel Houris about what has become known as Algeria’s “black decade”.

Daoud reacted on social media by dedicating the prize to his deceased father and his mother, who is still alive, but who no longer remembers anything, thanking them for their support, and posting a photo of his parents.

The writer – the first Algerian to win the Goncourt in France – is known for stirring controversy with his analyses of society in Algeria and elsewhere in the Arab world.

The title Houris is a reference to beautiful, virginal companions for faithful Muslim men in paradise. It tells the story of a young woman who loses her voice when an Islamist cuts her throat as she witnesses her family being massacred during the civil war.

She later shares her experiences with her unborn child through an internal monologue.

 “With Houris, the Goncourt Academy has crowned a book in which lyricism duels with tragedy and which gives a voice to the suffering linked to a dark time in Algeria, especially for women,” said Goncourt president Philippe Claudel.

France’s ever tighter ties with Morocco leave Algeria seeking other allies

However, the subject appears to challenge Algeria’s continuing reluctance to address the civil war from 1992 to 2002 in public.

The conflict between Islamist groups against the Algerian army killed tens of thousands of people, with some estimates as high as 200,000.

Since then, Algeria has implemented a charter for peace and national reconciliation, which prohibits the evocation of the “wounds of the national tragedy”.

The novel is banned in Algeria and its French publisher Gallimard was blocked from this month’s Algiers international book fair.

Banned in Algeria

Publishing Houris was only possible “because I came to France”, Daoud told reporters. “Because this is a country that granted me the freedom to write,” said the 54-year-old who left his Algerian home city of Oran for France “because of circumstances” and was given citizenship.

Daoud became known internationally for his 2013 debut novel The Meursault Investigation, a retelling of Albert Camus’ The Stranger, from an opposite angle. He won the First Novel category of the Goncourt prize with this book.

In 2016 – following numerous cases of sexual assault on women by Arab migrants in Cologne, Germany – he wrote an op-ed piece published in the New York Times called “The Sexual Misery of the Arab World”.

He said that “in some of Allah’s lands, the war on women and on couples has the air of an inquisition”, concluding that “sex in the Muslim world is sick”.

Algerian writer wins world French literature prize

From Algeria to Rwanda

Daoud’s main rival for this year’s edition was Gaël Faye; writer, composer and rapper, 42, whose novel Jacaranda deals with the rebuilding of Rwanda after the 1994 genocide.

Faye was handed the Prix Renaudot, another coveted prize awarded during the French literary competition season, on Monday while losing the Goncourt to Daoud.

Jacaranda is the second novel by Faye, born in Burundi to a Rwandan mother and a French father, who has lived in Kigali for about ten years.

Like his previous one, Petit Pays, (Small country) this novel retales the lives of Rwandans in the shadow of the massacres of 1994.

The prestigious prizes usually spark book sales in the hundreds of thousands for the winning authors.

Released in 2016, Faye’s first novel Petit Pays won, among other prizes, the Goncourt des lycéens, then sold 1.5 million copies, got translated around the world, has been adapted into a comic book, and later a film.

President Emmanuel Macron, congratulated both writers on social media platform X, saying that “thanks to their voices, our French language expresses beauty, tragedy and universality even better”.

 (with newswires)

In a report released this Monday, the Revers de la médaille collective reported that 260 “informal” living sites – camps, shanty towns and squats – were cleared between 26 April 2023 and 30 September 2024.

Over the same period, at least 19,526 people were evicted from their homes – an increase of 33 percent compared to between 2021 and 2022.

The report also highlighted the number of minors on the streets has increased significantly, with at least 4,550 children evicted from their dwellings – three times more than during the 2021-2022 period.

In a recent post on social media, the collective documented the eviction of minors from their camp in the tunnel near Paris’s Les Halles shopping district, stating: “Police but no solution. The wandering continues”. 

‘Stain’ on Olympics legacy

Paul Alauzy, coordinator of Médecins du Monde and spokesman for the collective referred to the past year as exceptional in terms of the number of evictions.

Alauzy said the rise in evictions would leave an “indelible stain” on the legacy of the 2024 Olympics. 

Prior to the Paris Olympics, the collective pushed for a round of consultations with all the parties involved in organising the Games.

The aim was to draw up a joint plan for the Olympics that would help combat social exclusion and deliver on Paris 2024’s promise of an unprecedented positive social legacy.

However – despite numerous meetings and a series of concrete proposals with figures – no concerted plan was ever drawn up.

• Charities slam ‘social cleansing’ ahead of 2024 Paris Olympic Games
• Migrant transfers from Paris ahead of Olympics anger French mayors and NGOs

With a view to the hosting of the Olympics in the future, the associations are recommending the “systematic consultation of host populations, access to balanced, free and high-quality information, and the organisation of open consultations with civil society much earlier than the Games”.

“The simple fact of organising the Games every year in the same place … rather than inviting the whole world to go [to the host city] for such a short time could address many problems, from social cleansing to gentrification and ecological factors,” the collective added.

He was surrounded by family at his home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel Air at the time of his death on Sunday, his publicist Arnold Robinson said in a statement that did not specify a cause.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” his family said, according to the statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

A jazz musician, composer and tastemaker, his studio chops and arranging prowess connected the dots between the 20th century’s constellation of stars.

From Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, jazz to hip-hop, Jones tracked the ever-fluctuating pulse of pop over his seven-decade-plus career – most often manipulating the beat himself.

Boundless love

“Through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones’ heart will beat for eternity,” his family said.

Born in 1933 on the south side of Chicago, Quincy Delight Jones Jr. discovered a knack for the piano at a recreation center and became teenage buddies with Ray Charles.

Jones briefly studied at the Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts before joining bandleader Lionel Hampton on the road, eventually relocating to New York, where he gained attention as an arranger for stars including Duke Ellington, Dinah Washington, Count Basie and, of course, Charles.

He played second trumpet on Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel, teaming up with Dizzy Gillespie for several years before moving to Paris in 1957, where he studied under the legendary composer Nadia Boulanger.

‘Black Lives Matter’, and songs are showing it’s a fact

Jones later expanded into Hollywood, scoring films and television shows.

Among entertainment’s most decorated figures, Jones won virtually every major achievement award, including 28 Grammys.

In 1967, Jones was the first Black composer to be nominated in the original song category of the Oscars, for the film Banning.

Tributes

Musicians and music lovers paid tribute to Jones overnight on social media. 

“An icon”, wrote South African anti-apartheid hero Sipho Mabuse, “no musician of his generation moved so effortlessly —collaborating with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson to Miles Davis. What a remarkable career and brilliance.” 

Among other tributes was one from British actor Michael Caine, who was born on the same day as Jones, 14 March 1933, and his long-time friend. “My celestial twin Quincy was a titan in the musical world,” Caine wrote. “He was a wonderful and unique human being, lucky to have known him.”

In a post on Instagram, US rapper LL Cool J said Jones was “a father and example at a time when I truly needed a father and example. Mentor. Role model. King.”

Fearless

Jones started a label, founded a hip-hop magazine, and produced the 1990s hit television show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, discovering Will Smith.

He also wrote his own hits, like the addictively cacophonous Soul Bossa Nova, while also arranging at a breathless pace for dozens of stars across the industry.

But he was perhaps best known as the producer of Michael Jackson’s albums Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad.

“You name it, Quincy’s done it. He’s been able to take this genius of his and translate it into any kind of sound that he chooses,” jazz pianist Herbie Hancock told PBS in 2001.

“He is fearless. If you want Quincy to do something, you tell him that he can’t do it. And of course he will – he’ll do it.”

(with AFP)

In a statement released on Sunday, Air France confirmed “as a precautionary measure, it has decided to suspend overflight of the Red Sea area until further notice.”

“This decision follows the observation by a crew of a luminous object at high altitude in the Sudan area,” it added.

The French national carrier said that the itinerary of some of its flights had been changed and that some aircraft had turned around and returned to land at their departure airport.

Flights between Paris and the Indian Ocean territories of Reunion Island and Mauritius reportedly operated as normal, having their itinerary changed and extending their flight time, the French airline said.

However, two flights that had taken off to Kenya and Madagascar returned to Paris.

The airline has said they will depart again “as soon as possible”.

Red Sea ‘highly unstable”

Air France has pointed out that the safety of its customers and crews “is its absolute imperative” and that it constantly monitors developments in the geopolitical situation of the territories served and overflown by its aircraft “in order to ensure the highest level of flight safety”.

Air France is the only airline to have taken this precautionary measure, although the airspace over the region has not been closed.

The Red Sea has been highly unstable since November 2023, as the Houthi rebel group – who control large swathes of Yemen – have carried out missile and drone attacks against ships they believe to be linked to Israel.

The Iran-backed Houthis maintain they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which has been in the grip of a deadly war between Hamas and the Israeli army since 7 October 2023.

Israel hits Iranian military sites in retaliatory strike amid escalating tensions

Attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden have severely disrupted maritime traffic in this key waterway for world trade.

In a separate incident last month, Air France said it had launched an inquiry into how a jet on a Paris-Dubai flight went over Iraq as Iranian missiles taking part in an attack on Israel went through the same airspace on 1 October.

Iran said it launched 200 missiles at Israel, following the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on 27 September by an Israeli missile in Beirut.

The LCI television channel, which first reported the incident, said the pilots saw the missiles in the night sky from their cockpit and that Iraqi air traffic control had wished them “good luck.”

The airline did not confirm whether the pilots had seen the missiles, which fly at an altitude generally higher than that of commercial airliners.

Paty, 47, was beheaded on 16 October 2020 outside the secondary school in Conflans, northwest of Paris, where he taught history and geography.

His killer, Abdoullah Anzorov, claimed he murdered Paty to “punish” him for showing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed in a lesson on free speech.

Anzorov, 18, was later shot dead by police during an attempted arrest.

Before the attack, Paty faced a wave of online harassment after a lesson on social codes at the Collège du Bois-d’Aulne.

A 13-year-old student – who did not atttend the class – claimed the lesson discriminated against Muslims.

Her accusations went viral, and the girl, along with five former classmates, was sentenced in a juvenile court in December 2023 to suspended terms ranging from 14 months to two years. 

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

‘Targeted campaign’

Monday’s hearing will involve adults between 22 and 65.

The defendants include Brahim Chnina, 52, father of the girl whose claims sparked the controversy, and Abdelhakim Sefrioui, 65.

Prosecutors say on 7 and 8 October, Chnina posted videos stigmatising Paty and singling him out as a target, along with precise information about his identity and place of work.

They allege that Chnina had nine telephone contacts with Anzorov. He and Sefrioui face 30 years in prison if found guilty.

Complicity charges

Azim Epsirkhanov, 23, is charged with complicity in Paty’s murder for allegedly helping Anzorov buy weapons.

Prosecutors say he and 22-year-old Naïm Boudaoud took Anzorov to a cutlery shop in Rouen to buy a knife matching one found near his body.

Boudaoud is also accused of driving Anzorov to Cergy, outside Paris, to purchase Airsoft pistols and steel balls on the day of the murder.

French school to be renamed after history teacher slain by Islamist in 2020

Yusuf Cinar, 22, is charged with spreading jihadist propaganda, including posting Anzorov’s claim of responsibility and images of Paty’s body. He is also accused of sharing videos honouring Anzorov after his death.

Another defendant, Ismaïl Gamaev, 22, allegedly exchanged jihadist messages with Anzorov, encouraging his plans to attack Paty. Louqmane Ingar, 22, is accused of being a member of the same online group.

The only woman on trial, Priscilla Mangel, 36, is accused of persuading Anzorov that attacking Paty was justified. Prosecutors say her online interactions with Anzorov emboldened him in the days before the killing.

On 14 October, nearly four years after Paty’s death and one year after another extremist killed teacher Dominique Bernard, schools across France observed a minute’s silence for pupils aged 11 to 18.

The election in the ex-Soviet republic that lies between Ukraine and the European Union has been overshadowed by allegations of meddling by Moscow.

The key vote took place just two weeks after a referendum backed joining the EU by a razor-thin margin.

Sandu stood at 54.94 percent of the vote against 45.06 percent for Alexandr Stoianoglo, who is supported by the pro-Russian Socialists and whom Sandu fired as prosecutor general last year, according to near-complete results published by the election commission.

“Today, dear Moldovans, you have given a lesson in democracy, worthy of being written in history books… Freedom, truth, and justice have prevailed,” Sandu declared.

French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Sandu on her claim to have won the country’s presidential election, saying it represented a “triumph for democracy”.

“I congratulate Maia Sandu on her re-election to lead Moldova. Democracy has triumphed over interference and manoeuvres from outside. France will continue to stand beside Moldova on the country’s European path,” Macron said in a post on social media. 

‘Honest vote’

Earlier, the 52-year-old former World Bank economist thanked jubilant supporters for “their honest vote”.

Her rival Stoianoglo, urged people “to remain calm, regardless of the figures”.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Sandu on her re-election victory and the country’s “European future“, saying it took “a rare kind of strength to overcome the challenges you’ve faced in this election”.

Like in Georgia – another ex-Soviet country where the ruling party won a contested parliamentary election last weekend – Russia has been accused of seeking to sway voters.

Moscow has denied the allegations.

Moldovan authorities reported “attacks, provocations and attempts at destabilisation” on Sunday.

Police said they were investigating Russia’s alleged use of “organised transportation” to Belarus, Azerbaijan and Turkey so people living in Russia could vote at Moldovan missions in those countries.

Cyberattacks and fake bomb threats also reportedly targeted out-of-country voting operations.

• Moldova’s vote on EU membership in deadlock as president cites ‘foreign interference’
• France says it will support Moldova amid fears of Russian destabilisation

EU aspirations

Sandu applied for Moldova to join the EU after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Accession negotiations formally opened in June.

In the October 20 referendum, 50.35 percent backed EU membership, with Sandu blaming “foreign interference” for the narrow result in the country of 2.6 million people.

Police said they uncovered a Russian vote-buying scheme that could have affected up to a quarter of the ballots.

Casting his vote on Sunday, Stoianoglo said he had “no relations with the Kremlin”.

While he also favours joining the EU, he boycotted the referendum.

A large diaspora and the capital mostly favour joining the EU, while rural areas and the pro-Russian separatist regions of Transnistria and Gagauzia are against.

Election results have shown Sandu lost in the territory of Moldova itself, with her owing her victory to the diaspora.

“This is what tipped the election,” said Florent Parmentier, a political scientist at Paris-based Sciences Po, noting Sandu’s “dependence on the outside”.

(With AFP)

“I thought he was going to beat me up,” says Ben. Sporting a bright red jacket and holding a gigantic blue hand with the index finger pointing upwards, he was standing next to 15th Street, a central artery in Philadelphia that passes in front of the iconic town hall.

A motorist had driven close to him, he says, and made an obscene gesture. But in the end he just sped away in his pick-up, and nothing happened.

Ben is approached by an elderly man. “Finally somebody normal here,” he says.

“This town is full of liberals.”

A discussion follows about the Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney, the daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney

“Harris is a drunk,” says the older of the two men. “She’s cooperating with that traitor Liz Cheney.

Claims

“She’s a warmonger,” he adds. “Look at all the wars her father got us into. Iraq, Afghanistan. The list is endless.”

Cheney, who worked with George W Bush between 2001 and 2009, belonged to the same Republican party as Donald Trump.

At the other side of the town hall, half a dozen people have gathered. “Do you notice that Republicans are the only ones with the American flag?” one scowls.

“Democrats just have the rainbow flag.”

Their leader, a Chinese-American woman, who gives her name as Stephanie, says that they are here to “wake up America.”

“Why?” she asks the few passers-by who look rather shocked. “Because too many people are still sleeping while Trump is fighting for them.

“They hate him. But that is because they don’t know the truth.”

Reason

The reason, according to Stephanie: they follow the mainstream media who have been bought by globalists and the deep state which she deems the enemies of the people.

Her words echo the standard rhetoric of the Trump campaign.

John, an older white man who is holding a large, American flag, declares: “Trump is going to win the elections. This will bring some changes in the country that will affect the vast majority of the American people.”

Ben is optimistic too. “This is supposed to be Dems country, but I feel it is a little less so now.”

Stephanie says she is convinced that Trump is going to win in a landslide.

“But only if they are not going to rig the elections,’ she says.

“If they rig, we won’t know the result,” she adds. “But I think that this time, it is too big to rig.”

The third seed won 6-2, 6-2 in 74 minutes to lift a seventh crown at a Masters event considered the most prestigious on the men’s circuit after the four Grand Slam tournaments in Melbourne Paris London and New York.

“First of all sorry,” said Zverev drily after receiving the trophy from the French former Olympic swimming champion Florent Manadou.

“To win this title here in Paris means the world to me,” he added.

“I know that 99.9 percent of the people here wanted another result but even still it’s such fun to play here and at the French Open.”

Humbert received raucous cheers from the 16,000 fans in the stadium as he strode onto centre court ahead of his first final at a Masters tournament.

Goal

In theory, he had nothing to fear after dispatching the world number two Carlos Alcaraz in the last-16.

But within 10 minutes, the facts offered a different narrative.

Serving for a 2-1 lead, Humbert’s forehand went wayward. A cross court drive landed in the tramlines to offer Zverev a break point and another ended in the net after a 17-stroke rally to cough up the game to the German.

The 27-year-old, the runner up at the French Open in Paris in June, powered on to lead 3-1 after 17 minutes.

Humbert’s next attempt to cut the deficit failed too. In a revealing vignette of his faltering abilities, after a forehand slumped into the net to give Zverev a break point, he saved it with a sumptuous backhand cross court winner.

Inconsistency

A double fault was followed by an ace

But eventually two errors off the forehand wing in the next two points sealed his fate and Zverev, playing with languid ferocity, rolled on to pocket the opener after 36 minutes.

Humbert returned from a toilet break to encounter the same savagery.

Zverev broke the 26-year-old in the opening game and held his own serve easily to take control of the match.

After Humbert lost his serve for a second time to give Zverev a 3-0 advantage, ELO’s ultimate feel good tune Mr Blue Sky boomed out over the weapons-grade public address system.

Dark clouds hovered for Humbert after another lightning service game from Zverev.

Though Humbert eventually got on the board, Zverev cruised to the title.

“I’d like to congratulate Ugo,” said Zverev who will rise to number two in the world in the ATP rankings after his week at the tournament.

“He really does the work off the court and if he continues that way, it won’t be long before he is lifting trophies like this.”

Humbert conceded that Zverev was too strong. “He served really well and gave me nothing. Sometimes with him you can get something off his second serve or his forehand but there was nothing going.

“I tried my best but he dominated.”

“Get out! Get out!” and “Killers!” shouted several in the crowd in Paiporta as King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia were forced to take cover behind bodyguards.

Mud hit the king and queen in the face and on their clothes as they tried to calm the crowd.

King Felipe said after his visit that Spain had to understand the anger and frustration of people affected by the floods.

In a video released on social media, he called on the public to support the victims. “We need to give them hope and the guarantee that the state in its entirety is present.”

On Tuesday, a year’s amount of rain fell in eight hours in the eastern part of the country. Road and rail links were severed in the resulting floods.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was also forced to cut short his visit to the area.

On Saturday, he ordered the deployment of 10,000 extra soldiers and police into the region to help the rescue and clear-up operation.

The move came as Sanchez and the regional leader Carlos Mazon faced increasing fire over the lack of warnings and slow response to the disaster.

“I understand the anger and, of course, I am here to receive it,” said Mazon on social media. “This is my political and moral obligation.”

Response

However, even though power has been restored to many home, thousands remain without drinking water nearly a week after the floods swept through the towns.

Stores and supermarkets lie in ruins in Paiporta where wrecked cars and layers of mud litter once bustling streets.

“I want to express all my government’s solidarity and its acknowledgement of the anguish, suffering, uncertainty and the needs of the residents of Paiporta and the region of Valencia,” Sánchez said.

On Friday morning, Spanish football authorities said games taking place this weekend would publicise a Red Cross fundraising campaign over the public address systems.

“Spain’s professional football joins the condolences and expresses its solidarity with the families of the victims and the missing,” La Liga said in a statement.

Real Madrid, which came under fire for poor sportsmanship for boycotting the Ballon d’Or award ceremony in Paris on Monday night, announced it would offer one million euros to the Red Cross.

“Real Madrid has decided to support this campaign to help the many families who are in a critical situation and need all our help and solidarity,” Madrid said in a statement.

Under pressure to reduce France’s mammoth deficit, the new government is looking for ways to save billions of euros on social security – and raising duties on potentially unhealthy food and drink looks set to be part of the plan. 

Members of parliament have proposed amendments to the funding bill that would target alcohol and processed sugar, and specifically high-strength, sweetened beers. 

The farthest-reaching proposal would expand the “social security contribution” levied on certain products and allocated to funding national health insurance. Currently applied only to drinks with an alcohol content of 18 percent or more, the revised tax would be collected on all alcohols, including wine and beer. 

Another amendment would see a new duty introduced on beers stronger than 5.5 percent, while a further proposal seeks to tax flavoured, sweetened beers containing the equivalent of at least 20 grams of sugar per litre. 

What’s in France’s belt-tightening budget and can it win support?

Brewing backlash 

Parliament’s social affairs committee has already approved the proposals, which MPs are now debating before a vote on the budget bill next week. 

Proponents argue they would help prevent excessive alcohol consumption – especially among young people drawn to sweet, strong drinks – as well as financing the health system that treats the fallout.  

Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq has expressed support for a sugar tax, telling La Tribune that manufacturers have “a collective responsibility, and I would like to see them find solutions to change their recipes”.  

She stressed, however, that “it’s not about penalising craftspeople”. 

The brewing industry disagrees, with unions warning that extra taxes could drive up costs and put hundreds of companies out of business. 

Jérôme Gervais, who runs micro-brewery Brewbaix in the northern city of Roubaix, estimated that the extra levies would add 70 cents to the retail price of its bottled lager, taking it to 6 euros for 75cl.  

Speaking to BFMTV, he questioned: “Will consumers be prepared to pay that much to enjoy their beer?” 

Podcast: Is craft beer competing with wine in France?

Industry protests 

A levy on stronger beers would “protect and promote industrial beers” at the expense of craft brews, which tend to contain more alcohol, said Jean-François Drouin, president of the National Union of Independent Breweries (SNBI). 

Industry association Brewers of France argued the combined new taxes would “definitively compromise the economic viability of breweries” throughout the country.  

In an industry already struggling to absorb higher energy prices and raw material costs, one brewery shuts down every week on average, the group said, and added tax “would amplify this phenomenon”. 

If the lower house of parliament approves the proposals, they will next be reviewed by the Senate. Some brewers told the press they were urging their local MPs to vote against them, warning of the impact on local jobs. 

Makers of non-alcoholic energy drinks, chocolate, ice cream and other products that risk being affected by any new levies on processed sugar have also protested, while Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard cautioned against placing extra burdens on French companies competing in global markets. 

“This guy is going to win,” screams the man. He is wearing a black baseball cap with the inscription: “Trump 2024 – Make America Great Again.” Loud rock music blasts from a loudspeaker in his backpack. He is carrying a Trump-lookalike puppet, wearing a read cap and a shirt with “45” and “47” pointing at Trump being the 45th US President, and, so he hopes, the 47th as well.

But it won’t be without a fight, says the Trump-fan, who does not give his name. He stands out in the cheerful Halloween crowd of witches, pirates, Darth Vaders and zombies that populate the streets of central Philadelphia.

“They’re gonna play with us. There’s gonna be a cyber attack. The internet may go down. It’s bad.”

But the passers-by in this predominantly Democrat-voting stronghold hardly pay attention to him.

Most of them probably don’t care. Pennsylvania was one of the US states where early voting was encouraged.

Swing states

According to CBS news, as many as 65 million Americans had voted before 31 October – five days ahead of Election Day.

An array of opinion polls show Trump and Harris running neck and neck, with the outcome hinging on who manages to win across the seven “swing states”.

“People become obsessed with these polls,” warns J. Wesley Leckrone, a political scientist with Widener University located south of Philadelphia. “It is almost like a sporting event,” he told RFI. “We treat elections like sporting events nowadays.”

But he added that leading news organisations have “polling trackers” which give a summary of sometimes dozens of surveys by different opinion polling stations. “It gives an idea what the general trend is within a state.”

In Pennsylvania, one of the seven “swing states,” where any prediction about a winner is too close to call, the combined polling surveys indicate that Trump surpassed Harris in the last couple of days and leads now with 47.9 percent against Harris with 47.7 percent.

“We’ve seen this over the last month,” says Leckrone, who calls Pennsylvania probably the most important “swing state”.

“It is pretty much a dead heat,” he says. The red and blue lines on the polling charts represent the massive divide in US society.

The increasing polarisation in US politics worries political scientists. “We have a ‘duopoly,’” says Leckrone.

Different from European countries where elections can result in coalition governments with sometimes up to four different parties, the two major US parties have set the rules of the game, leaving no place to third players, who sometimes try, but always fail, to gain a solid foothold in the political arena.

According to Daniel Hopkins, chair of the political science department of the University of Pennsylvania, the two parties have dominated the landscape since 1870.

“Those two parties are moving apart from each other to try and satisfy their core base voters especially today when Republicans and Democrats really disagree on a whole lot of issues,” he explains.

Traditionally, the most contentious issue, he says, was the racial divide and how to deal with it.

“In the 1950s and 1960s, the south went through an arduous process of desegregation. And while, on paper, equal rights were granted to everybody, significant divisions remained.

“Today issues on race are just part of a growing gap of opposing opinions about same-sex marriage, firearms and immigration.”

• Abortion debate puts women voters at the centre of US election race

Divisive media

Meanwhile, voters who already decided their camp seem to be stuck in their own universe.

Democrats watch MSNBC and CNN and read the New York Times, while Republicans stick to Fox News, read the New York Post and listen to Talk Radio and right-wing influencer Tucker Carlson.

“The media reflect such a divided society,” says Leckrone. “Politics in many ways has become a form of entertainment.

“So I pick the news channels that I watch on the basis of what my ideology is. People want to hear things that confirm their own, personal bias, they are watching the news to confirm the things that they already have beliefs about,” he adds.

On Friday, both Trump and Harris campaigned in Milwaukee, the most populous city of another “swing state”, Wisconsin.

Trump held a rally at the same venue where he celebrated the Republican Party nomination over the summer, delivering a triumphant acceptance speech just days after the 78-year-old had narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.

And as the battle reaches its final days, Trump has stepped up his provocative attacks on Harris in a bid to draw more voters to the ballot boxes.

On Thursday, at an event with Tucker Carlson – fired by Fox News in ….. for his extreme opinions, Trump called Harris, a “sleaze bag” and Biden a “stupid bastard,” while claiming, that polls are already being rigged in the biggest swing state Pennsylvania.

He reserved his harshest attacks for Liz Cheney, daughter of the former Vice-President under Republican President George W. Bush, Dick Cheney. She is one of the rare Republicans who is openly critical of Trump.

“She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? Let’s see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face,” Trump said.

Cheney responded. “This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death.”

“Election-related violence”

While rhetoric is reaching a boiling point, Michael Wahid Hanna, the US program director for the Brussels-based NGO International Crisis Group said: “Warnings that Trump could again foment election-related violence are not idle speculation.

“It remains possible that Trump will encourage supporters to sow chaos around vote counting and certification processes, thus attempting to call the results into question and create a pretext for extraordinary procedures to resolve a disputed election in his favour.”

In anticipation of potential unrest over the upcoming elections, some businesses and offices in downtown Washington have boarded up windows.

The capital witnessed violence four years ago when then-president Trump whipped up a crowd of supporters who stormed Congress in an attempt to halt certification of Biden’s victory.

• Trump tells Capitol storming mob of supporters to go home peacefully

According to the New York Times, five people died during the 6 January 2022 Capitol Hill siege, an officer was beaten, a rioter was shot, and three others died of heart failure.

Around the streets of economically depressed North Philadelphia, such savagery has become routine fare, says Jessica Beard, a gun trauma surgeon at Temple University Hospital which takes in the largest number of shot wound cases in Pennsylvania.

“We’re not on extra alert for the next few days,” she says. “Violence and shootings are common around our hospital. It’s sad to say, but because of gun violence, American trauma centres are always prepared for mass casualty events.”

Erdogan has avoided commenting on the US election, but Ankara sees the outcome of the 5 November vote as key for Turkish-US relations.

Each of the contenders, Vice-President Kamala Harris and Trump, are expected to take significantly different approaches to Turkey’s long-time leader.

“During the past Trump presidency, the political relationship at the highest level between Erdogan and Trump was a strong one,” says Sinan Ulgen, head of the Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, an Istanbul think tank.

Ties with President Joe Biden have been notably less friendly, however, if Harris were to win the relationship with Erdogan is likely to be a much more shallow one, Ulgen believes.

Face-to-face time

Erdogan met Trump nine times during his 2017-21 presidency, including on a state visit to Washington.

In contrast, he met Biden only briefly on the sidelines of international summits, with US-Turkish relations mainly conducted at foreign-minister level.

“Erdogan has been in power for more than 20 years and Biden is the only US president who has refused to meet him in an official capacity, either in the US capital or in the Turkish capital,” says international relations professor Serhat Guvenc of Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.

“For Erdogan, leader-to-leader talks are key to achieving his goals. And probably, he thinks deep down that he can sort out many things through personal contact, connections or personal engagement.”

Such interaction, especially with the most powerful person in the world, is also seen as vital to Erdogan’s status at home.

“It’s very important for his domestic standing and legitimacy,” says Asli Aydintasbas, a political commentator and visiting fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

“He has built a personalised system but also convinced voters, particularly his base, that he is a consequential leader, that Turkey is rising, that he is very important, he is on par with the US president and the Russian president, that everybody is looking up to Erdogan.”

Turkey and Russia closer than ever despite Western sanctions

Lack of chemistry?

Aydintasbas questions how easy it would be for Erdogan to develop a relationship with Harris, even if she were ready to engage more directly than Biden.

“I cannot imagine what type of chemistry Harris and Erdogan would have. They don’t come from similar backgrounds. It’s difficult to imagine the two developing a very close personal relationship, to be honest,” the analyst says.

Erdogan has often spoken warmly of his relationship with Trump – despite the fact he got hit by sanctions during his time in the White House over the detention of an American pastor, prompting the Turkish lira to crash in 2018.

Trump once even vowed to “totally destroy and obliterate” the Turkish economy over Turkey’s threats to attack US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces.

“We have memories of the threats and sanctions,” warns Murat Aslan of the pro-government Seta Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research in Ankara.

Invoking the 2018 crisis, Aslan said: “Rather than words, I think deeds are important.”

Erdogan hopes a U-turn can salvage Turkey’s floundering economy

High-risk candidate

The Middle East is another potential sticking point.

Trump is calling for more support for Israel in its wars against Hamas and Hezbollah, and analysts say differences could again emerge between the US and Turkish leaders.

“Trump’s approach to the Middle East and the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel could actually escalate the tension in the Middle East to the extent that a regional war could be unavoidable,” warns Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, who directs the German Marshall Fund’s office in Ankara.

“So yes, a Trump presidency has many opportunities for Turkey – but at a very high risk.”

Meanwhile, though there has been little direct contact between Biden and Erdogan, Turkish-US relations have shown signs of improvement in recent months.

With the two Nato allies increasingly cooperating and better managing their differences, Aydintasbas suggests, there are merits for Ankara to both candidates.

“A Kamala Harris administration would mean more continuity, but the promise of stability in Turkish-US relations,” she says. “Whereas Trump is so unpredictable that it could be very good one day, very bad one day.”

With the Middle East war continuing to rage, Trump’s unpredictability remains a risk to Ankara – but Erdogan will likely still covet the opportunity to renew his relationship with the US strongman.

In August, Indian textile tycoon S.P. Oswal, chairman of the Vardhman Group, paid €770,000 to scammers posing as federal agents who accused him of money laundering.

The 82-year-old was placed under video surveillance at home and threatened with arrest until he paid the ransom.

This “digital arrest” scam has ensnared other high-profile victims, including court judges, doctors and army officers.

Between January and March alone, victims transferred roughly €1.3 million to scammers despite campaigns against the fraud.

Deadly toolkit

According to Faisal Kawoosa, chief analyst at technology consultancy firm Techarc, the scam appears to be evolving.

“The government and regulatory bodies have come up with measures to make it difficult for scammers to use traditional means such as phishing, so they have found this new technique,” Kawsoosa told RFI.

“But these have limited shelf-life as everybody eventually comes to understand that a scam like this exists,” he added.

A report from May found that 46 percent of cyber attacks targeting India originated from Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia, prompting Indian officials to engage in talks on cross-border cybercrime in Southeast Asia.

State-run Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (ICCC) estimates Indians who endured various forms of online attacks lost 18 billion rupees – approximately 2 billion euros – in four months at the beginning of this year. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged students to back state campaigns under hashtag #SafeDigitalIndia.

“No government agency threatens you on the phone like this, neither inquires nor demands money on a video call like this…” Modi said in a radio interview on the subject of digital arrest.

According to ICCC, India registered some 741,000 cybercrime complaints in the first four months of 2024 – a jump of 113 percent from 2021 to 2023.

• India wages war on online scammers with new cybercrime centre
• Paralysed French hospital fights cyber attack as hackers lower ransom

‘Held hostage’

TV journalist Richa Mishra – who was a victim of digital arrest – conceded she was bewildered and anxious during her hours-long ordeal on 5 October.

“At one point I was thinking of ending my life,” said Mishra, who was accused of drug trafficking when she was held hostage by online imposters.

Mishra later said it took her several hours to register a complaint with portals set up as security beacons.

Police recently arrested a man in a Delhi suburb for allegedly laundering €100,000 on behalf of scammers.

The role of banks in facilitating these transactions has come under scrutiny, with revelations that while scammers funnel billions of rupees through banks, less than 2 percent of stolen funds is recovered.

Online financial fraud has surged 1,000 percent over the past five years in India, with 955 million internet users and 536 million WhatsApp subscribers – key targets for cybercriminals.

From January to April this year alone, India registered over 700,000 cybercrime complaints following 1.5 million reports in 2023.

From the Bounty to the Soleil Royal and Superbe, these legendary ships – which once carried admirals, merchants and kings across the world’s oceans – are now recreated in exquisite detail by the Village’s 30 skilled model makers. 

With his scraper in hand, Rafah Ralahy meticulously smooths the hull of the Soleil d’Orient, a 17th-century French merchant vessel that belonged to the French East India Company.  

His fingers glide over the rough wood, searching for imperfections.  

“My work is about being completely faithful to the plan. At each stage, we make adjustments to ensure the model we create is identical to the ship designed centuries ago,” says Ralahy, his eyes fixed on the enormous plan spread across his workbench. 

Across the room, Tovo-Hery Andrianarivo shapes the balustrades of an 18th-century warship’s sterncastle, his chisel moving with careful precision.  

Like most of his colleagues, Andrianarivo brings three decades of experience to his craft.  

“I love my job because it’s art. I’m proud to see our models travel around the world,” he explains. 

“Once, my former boss showed me a documentary about the ship Hermione returning to sea. Behind the museum curator who was speaking, there was our model. The feeling I had that day was incredible.” 

Porridge is staving off child malnutrition in Madagascar – for nine cents a bowl

A family tradition 

The Village is more than a workshop – it’s a clan. Its employees come from about 15 different families living in the same neighbourhood.  

Most were trained in-house by the founder, a French naval model maker who has since sold the business. The youngest artisans are often children of the “old hands”. 

Despite Madagascar‘s repeated economic and social crises, the workshop has weathered the storms.  

“It’s thanks to the unique quality of our artisans’ work,” said Grégory Postel, who has owned the Village since 2023. 

“We’re among the best in the world, and we’re not afraid to say it. It’s our trademark. There are other competitors who make beautiful pieces, but none as refined as ours.” 

In the trade, this exceptional standard is known as “museum finish” – a level of excellence that demands painstaking attention to detail. 

Meet the tiny tuft-tailed saviour of Madagascar’s endangered baobabs

Royal clientele

“I think that’s what attracts the royal families, who are really looking for the pure, perfect product that resembles what their ancestors owned when they were kings of their countries in the 1600s and 1700s,” Postel says.  

The workshop’s list of prestigious clientele includes Prince Albert of Monaco, the Spanish royal family and Pope Francis. 

Special orders come alongside catalogue offerings, such as the Soleil Royal. At 1.2 metres long, this particular model is in its final stages, with four rigging workshop artisans completing the installation of 10 metres of beeswax-hardened cordage and hoisting the miniature flags.  

This exceptional piece, sold to a private collector in France for €5,300 plus shipping costs, represents more than 800 hours of work by 15 people. 

The detailed craftsmanship and historical accuracy of its miniature fleet have earned the Village, an otherwise modest Malagasy workshop, a reputation among foreign collectors as a guardian of maritime heritage. 

This story was adapted from the original article reported in French by RFI correspondent Sarah Tétaud.

Rosselli is one of these discreet, soft-spoken artists who prefers to let her artworks do the talking.

“To be an artist, you need to exist in silence. In a silent world,” she says quoting French painter Louise Bourgeois.

But her latest shows in Europe this summer have required exactly the opposite of her and she admits to be a little out of her comfort zone.

Her first adventure has been sharing her work with an inquisitive, international audience at the Venice Biennale, where she is one of six artists (and the only white woman) chosen to represent Zimbabwe pavilion, open until 24 November.

“I see it as such a privilege that my story is interesting and matters as well,” she told RFI.

Born in 1962, Rosselli studied at the University of Cape Town, and her work combines figurative and abstract elements to explore socio-political issues, nature and the legacy of colonialism.

Breaking down barriers

For the pavilion’s theme of “Undone”, she explored the concept of walls – both physical and metaphorical.

During a three-month Vienna residency, she created four large acrylic panels: “Heritage is a Pattern”, “Interfering Memories”, “Mapping Memories” and “Yesterday Aligns Tomorrow”.

“I wanted to break down barriers, break down walls,” she said, incorporating wall segments seen across Europe.

“The wall pieces are metaphors for inclusivity,” said Rosselli, noting that these “non-tangible” barriers represent discrimination based on factors like sexual orientation, race, ethnicity and economic inequalities.

Rosselli’s other European journey brought her to Paris for the AKAA art fair in October, where she exhibited a series titled “After the Rain”, represented by Cape Town’s THK Gallery.

Her voice fills with emotion as she evokes the inspiration behind her the work. “There hasn’t been any rain for six months. And the first rains fell on Zimbabwe two days ago. There’s tremendous excitement,” she recounts.

African feminism pumps the heart of Benin’s debut at Venice Biennale

Painting from memory

Rain holds deep meaning for her because “the majority of people depend on agriculture and sustainable living,” Rosselli explains. The drought has led to widespread hunger and a national disaster declaration.

She points to a large painting called “Light in Landscape” that stands out due to its array of vivid pink and brown shades.

It captures the dramatic moment when the force of the rain sprays the blossoms of the jacaranda trees onto the ground, forming a carpet of petals – and the parched ground begins to soak up the water.

French-Algerian artist Kader Attia explores colonial wounds, creative restoration

Rosselli spends a lot of time outdoors, walking, observing, in communion with nature. Then she paints from memory, her brush strokes recreating a vision, an emotion, even a smell. One of her works is called “Petrichor”, in other words “the smell of rain”.

Climate change and its impact are central concerns for Rosselli, who has documented the seasons’ shifts in her artwork over many years.

Even natural beauty, she says, can hide a dark side. She points to a painting inspired by Mutirikwi Lake, near her home, which is now threatened by the invasive Kariba weed.

While the hyacinth looks beautiful, Rosselli says, it is slowly choking the lake and damaging the ecosystem.

When asked how Zimbabwe has influenced her beyond her attachment to the land, Rosselli emphasised her connection to her country’s artistic community.

Zimbabweans are warm, friendly, generous people, she says – a “close-knit community”. Even in Vienna, when she felt a little homesick, she came across a community of Zimbabwean artists who helped her settle in.

“I guess with so much hardship, you all come together in this very close community and that is amazing to be part of,” she says. “A community that really helps each other.”

Rosselli is deeply inspired by Zimbabwean resilience and creativity.

“Incredible artists come out of Zimbabwe. We have amazing painters, sculptors…Zimbabweans are just so creative. They are all really like sponges. If there’s any opportunity to be creative, in whatever way, they do so, even with such limited resources.”

The Venice Biennale is open to the public until 24 November, 2024

The report, released this week by the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, exposes the alarming scale of sexual violence gripping Sudan’s 18-month-old conflict.

Abductions for sexual slavery have reportedly become common, with victims ranging from girls as young as eight to elderly women.

“There is no safe place in Sudan now,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the mission, highlighting the pervasive insecurity that has swept the country since the conflict erupted in April 2023.

Sudan’s army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been locked in a bitter struggle with the RSF, commanded by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The violence has created one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, with more than 25 million people – over half of Sudan’s population – facing acute hunger.

War crimes and atrocities

The UN investigation accuses both the Sudanese Army and RSF of severe human rights abuses, including acts that qualify as war crimes.

While both factions are charged with torture and blocking humanitarian aid, the RSF is mainly responsible for documented cases of sexual violence.

Allegations include gang rapes, sexual slavery and child recruitment, with brutal methods involving firearms, knives and whips.

Some attacks reportedly take place in front of victims’ families, underscoring the violence’s intent to terrorise civilians and crush opposition.

Othman, a former Tanzanian chief justice, called the scale of violence “staggering”, noting the systematic use of terror, especially in Darfur.

• UN mission calls for peacekeeping force in Sudan, suspects war crimes
• Sudan rejects UN’s call for ‘impartial’ force to protect civilians

Millions displaced

UN human rights chief Volker Turk warned this week that worsening violence in eastern al-Jazira state risks further atrocities.

Turk’s office has documented at least 25 cases of sexual violence during RSF raids on villages south of Khartoum, including the death of an 11-year-old girl and the abductions of women and girls.

The UN migration agency reported that over 11 million people are now internally displaced, with another three million having fled to neighbouring countries.

Amy Pope, head of the agency, described the situation as “catastrophic” and one of the most neglected globally, adding that funding shortages are hampering relief efforts.

The teenager, who has not been named, was hit in the head on Thursday night during a shootout linked to control for drug trafficking networks.

Four other youths aged 15 and 16, who were also shot in mass brawls involving up to 600 people in the city’s Les Couronneries district, were recovering from their injuries in hospital on Saturday.

“It started off with a shooting at a restaurant and it ended up with a clash between rival gangs which involved several hundred people,” French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told BFM TV.

Retailleau dispatched hundreds of extra police to the city on Friday after the violence.

He has vowed tougher action as part of an effort to undermine the rise of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party.

Fears

Concerns over delinquency and insecurity have been cited as reasons behind voters choosing Le Pen’s group which says it will do more than other parties to tackle crime.

Jean-Marie Girier, the top police commander for the Vienne region where Poitiers is located prefect, described the Les Couronneries quarter as the home of several major drug-dealing spots.

“What happens there means that police have to go in on a daily basis but it it remains relatively calm,” he said. “It’s not run by drug dealers, even if there can be tensions.”

On 26 October in Rennes, a five-year-old was hit by bullets in a spat between drugs gangs and is still in hospital.

“These shootings aren’t happening in South America, they’re happening here in France,” Retailleau told the French broadcaster RMC.

“We are at a tipping point and the choice we have today is between a general mobilisation against this kind of thing or the Mexicanisation of the country.”

“What was useful for me was learning how duties are divided between local councillors and mayors,” says Marie Rosalie Rahelisoa, who is seeking a seat on the city council in Morondava, on Madagascar’s west coast, when the country votes on 11 December.

She is one of 60 women who completed a recent training course in the capital, Antananarivo, organised by the National Women’s Council of Madagascar (CNFM).

Held over two days last week, it aimed to give participants – all candidates in the approaching elections – a grounding in electoral regulations, the roles of different public officials, campaign management, political communication and leadership.

“It gave me extra skills,” Rahelisoa told RFI.

Like many of the trainees, Lala Rasanjison – standing for mayor in the central city of Antsirabe – is a relative newcomer to politics.

“It’s my first time running for mayor,” she said. “You have to know what you’re getting into.”

Sierra Leone passes gender law reserving 30 percent of jobs for women

Gender gap

Like many countries, Madagascar has a long-standing gender gap when it comes to politics.

Just 26 of the country’s 163 members of parliament are women – the equivalent of 16 percent – down from an all-time high of 64 in 2011.

No seats are reserved for female MPs, nor is there a quota obliging parties to field a minimum percentage of women candidates – measures that several other countries in Africa have introduced in a bid to boost participation.

Podcast: Is Africa leading on women’s representation in parliament?

In Madagascar’s local elections, women make up 6 percent of candidates topping municipal lists, around 320 out of a total of nearly 5,400. 

“In Malagasy society, women’s place has always been considered inferior to men’s,” according to Estelle Andriamasy, president of women’s council CNFM.

“There isn’t really this culture of equality in the community. Decisions belong to men.”

While society continues to pressure women to stay out of public life, Andriamasy says, the belief that their place is at home ends up “somehow ingrained in women’s mentalities”.

The ultimate purpose of the CNFM’s politics training is to counteract such ideas and give female candidates the confidence to seek office, she explains.

Trainee Rahelisoa has taken the lesson on board. “The country’s future depends on us,” she told RFI. 

“We women have to feel responsible and take an active part in public life if we’re to make a difference.” 

This story is adapted from the original reported in French by RFI correspondent Guilhem Fabry.

An updated Red List of Threatened Species published this week at the UN’s Cop16 biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia, downgraded the hedgehog’s status from “least concern” to “near threatened”.

The next level on the list kept by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is “vulnerable,” then “endangered”.

The European hedgehog, expert Sophie Rasmussen told AFP, “is very close to being ‘vulnerable’, and it will likely go into that category the next time we evaluate it”.

Numbers of the tiny mammal have plunged by more than half in countries including Britain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria.

The estimated decline was between 35 and 40 percent of populations measured in Britain, Sweden and Norway in the last decade or so, said Rasmussen, a researcher with the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit.

In the Netherlands, it is already considered endangered.

The main killer of hedgehogs is cars – which the animals encounter more and more as they lose their natural habitat to human expansion.

“Humans are the worst enemies of hedgehogs,” said Rasmussen.

Cote d’Ivoire has lost ‘nearly 80 percent of its forest and wildlife cover’

‘Hedgehog highways’

To protect itself from predators such as badgers, foxes and owls at night, the hedgehog uses the strategy of standing completely still as it assesses the threat.

If the menace approaches, it runs as far as its little legs can carry it. But if there is no time, it rolls up into a ball – protected by as many as 8,000 spines, sharp to the touch.

“In front of a car, it is not a really good strategy,” Rasmussen, who calls herself Dr Hedgehog and speaks with great passion about the spiky mammals, told AFP in a video interview from Lejre in Denmark.

Other threats include pesticides used by farmers and gardeners, and a decline in the insects that make up a large part of the hedgehog’s diet.

Hedgehogs generally live for about two years, though some as old as nine or 12 have been documented.

They can start breeding from around 12 months of age, usually giving birth to three or five hoglets at a time.

“This means that many hedgehogs get to breed once, or twice perhaps if they’re lucky, on average before they die,” said Rasmussen – just enough “to keep the population going at some level.”

Soon, this may not be enough.

Zoologist Jane Goodall warns: ‘The world is a mess’ ahead of COP16

Rasmussen, whose research went into the Red List update, said the fight to save hedgehogs “is actually going to take place in people’s gardens” as forests and other wild areas are torn down.

She suggested people build “hedgehog highways” – basically a CD-sized hole in the outer fence to allow the animals to get in off the road, with bowls of water and nesting materials such as garden waste placed inside.

“The best thing you can do is to let your garden grow wild to attract … all the natural food items of the hedgehog” such as insects, worms, snails and slugs,” said Rasmussen.

She concedes: “It’s not like the world is going to end tomorrow if the hedgehogs are not there.”

However, “for a species so popular and so loved, can we really accept the fact that we are causing their extinction?

“And if we let it get so bad with a species we actually really care about, what about all the species we don’t care about?”

The new, updated Red List has evaluated 166,061 species of plants and animals in all, of which 46,337 – more than a quarter – are threatened with extinction.

Azerbaijan’s role as host marks the second consecutive year a country heavily reliant on fossil fuels will hold the world’s most prominent climate talks.

According to a report published by Transparency International and the Anti-Corruption Data Collective, Azerbaijan’s fossil fuel interests, entrenched levels of corruption and autocratic government put the UN-led climate process at risk.

The report emphasised that this risk isn’t unique to Azerbaijan, citing past and future Cop hosts with similarly strong fossil fuel ties.

“This report finds that in its current form, Cop – as the main global forum for setting the climate policy agenda – is at risk of being undermined by undue corporate influence and fossil fuel industry capture,” the report said.

“Corruption and kleptocracy, too, threaten the integrity of climate conferences, including the upcoming Cop29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.”

Azerbaijan under scrutiny

Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic bordering Russia and Iran, has faced criticism over its Cop29 hosting rights.

Last week, the European Parliament condemned Azerbaijan’s human rights abuses, calling them “incompatible” with the summit.

In October, dozens of US lawmakers demanded the release of political prisoners ahead of the climate talks in Baku, where President Ilham Aliyev has ruled since 2003.

Azerbaijan’s plans to increase fossil fuel production also challenge the global transition away from oil and gas set out in Cop28 in Dubai.

Aliyev has publicly called the nation’s gas reserves a “gift of the gods”.

• Azerbaijan names former oil executive to head Cop29 climate talks
• Cop28 draft climate deal drops mention of fossil fuel ‘phase-out’

‘Fossil fuel diplomacy’

Cop29 president Mukhtar Babayev, a former executive of Azerbaijan’s national oil company SOCAR, has come under scrutiny, with the report alleging that SOCAR officials may be using the conference to negotiate oil and gas deals.

The watchdogs noted that COP29 risks becoming “another forum for fossil fuel diplomacy and dealmaking”.

The United Arab Emirates, which hosted COP28 in November 2023, faced similar accusations, with the summit president also director of the Emirates national oil company ADNOC.

Azerbaijan, alongside the UAE and Brazil – the next Cop host – forms a “troika” promoting climate action, yet all three countries are moving ahead with new oil and gas ventures.

The report argued that “some members of this troika can use Cop events as diplomatic showcases to support their domestic oil industries, sign new fossil fuel deals and sanitise their records of human rights abuses and environmental harms”.

It also raised concerns that certain members of the Cop29 organising team have been implicated in “high-profile corruption scandals” and that the event may be used to promote companies linked to Azerbaijan’s ruling family.

Erdogan has avoided commenting on the US election, but Ankara sees the outcome of the 5 November vote as key for Turkish-US relations.

Each of the contenders, Vice-President Kamala Harris and Trump, are expected to take significantly different approaches to Turkey’s long-time leader.

“During the past Trump presidency, the political relationship at the highest level between Erdogan and Trump was a strong one,” says Sinan Ulgen, head of the Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, an Istanbul think tank.

Ties with President Joe Biden have been notably less friendly, however, if Harris were to win the relationship with Erdogan is likely to be a much more shallow one, Ulgen believes.

Face-to-face time

Erdogan met Trump nine times during his 2017-21 presidency, including on a state visit to Washington.

In contrast, he met Biden only briefly on the sidelines of international summits, with US-Turkish relations mainly conducted at foreign-minister level.

“Erdogan has been in power for more than 20 years and Biden is the only US president who has refused to meet him in an official capacity, either in the US capital or in the Turkish capital,” says international relations professor Serhat Guvenc of Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.

“For Erdogan, leader-to-leader talks are key to achieving his goals. And probably, he thinks deep down that he can sort out many things through personal contact, connections or personal engagement.”

Such interaction, especially with the most powerful person in the world, is also seen as vital to Erdogan’s status at home.

“It’s very important for his domestic standing and legitimacy,” says Asli Aydintasbas, a political commentator and visiting fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

“He has built a personalised system but also convinced voters, particularly his base, that he is a consequential leader, that Turkey is rising, that he is very important, he is on par with the US president and the Russian president, that everybody is looking up to Erdogan.”

Turkey and Russia closer than ever despite Western sanctions

Lack of chemistry?

Aydintasbas questions how easy it would be for Erdogan to develop a relationship with Harris, even if she were ready to engage more directly than Biden.

“I cannot imagine what type of chemistry Harris and Erdogan would have. They don’t come from similar backgrounds. It’s difficult to imagine the two developing a very close personal relationship, to be honest,” the analyst says.

Erdogan has often spoken warmly of his relationship with Trump – despite the fact he got hit by sanctions during his time in the White House over the detention of an American pastor, prompting the Turkish lira to crash in 2018.

Trump once even vowed to “totally destroy and obliterate” the Turkish economy over Turkey’s threats to attack US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces.

“We have memories of the threats and sanctions,” warns Murat Aslan of the pro-government Seta Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research in Ankara.

Invoking the 2018 crisis, Aslan said: “Rather than words, I think deeds are important.”

Erdogan hopes a U-turn can salvage Turkey’s floundering economy

High-risk candidate

The Middle East is another potential sticking point.

Trump is calling for more support for Israel in its wars against Hamas and Hezbollah, and analysts say differences could again emerge between the US and Turkish leaders.

“Trump’s approach to the Middle East and the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel could actually escalate the tension in the Middle East to the extent that a regional war could be unavoidable,” warns Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, who directs the German Marshall Fund’s office in Ankara.

“So yes, a Trump presidency has many opportunities for Turkey – but at a very high risk.”

Meanwhile, though there has been little direct contact between Biden and Erdogan, Turkish-US relations have shown signs of improvement in recent months.

With the two Nato allies increasingly cooperating and better managing their differences, Aydintasbas suggests, there are merits for Ankara to both candidates.

“A Kamala Harris administration would mean more continuity, but the promise of stability in Turkish-US relations,” she says. “Whereas Trump is so unpredictable that it could be very good one day, very bad one day.”

With the Middle East war continuing to rage, Trump’s unpredictability remains a risk to Ankara – but Erdogan will likely still covet the opportunity to renew his relationship with the US strongman.

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.

It’s time for you to start thinking about your New Year’s resolutions for our annual New Year’s Day show. If you’ve already made up your mind about what you’ll aim for in 2025, go ahead and send it to us … if not, be sure you send us your resolution – or resolutions if you are really ambitious! – by 15 December.

Mark your calendars now for 12 December, 6 PM Paris time – that’s when the winners of the ePOP video competition will be announced, live on the ePOP Facebook page. My good pals Max Bale and Gaël Flaugère, who run the Planète Radio department that sponsors ePOP, invited me to come on the show and talk to you for a few minutes, in English. So plan to stay up late or get up early on 12 December, beloved listeners! And we are so pleased that “one of our own” has made it into the running: Saleem Akhtar Chadhar, the president of the RFI Seven Stars Listeners Club, is one of the 10 nominees in the RFI Clubs category! 

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

Remember, podcasts are radio, too! As you see, sound is still quite present in the RFI English service. Please keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our 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 30 September, Marine Le Pen – the leader of the French far-right party the National Rally – along with her father and 25 colleagues went on trial over alleged misappropriation of European funds.

They’re accused of using European parliamentary funds to pay for assistants, who actually worked for her National Rally party, formerly called the National Front, rather than on European affairs.

If found guilty, Le Pen could face a maximum of ten years behind bars and a 1 million euro fine – and a possible five-year ban on standing for public office. 

You were to re-read our article “French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on trial for misuse of EU funds”, and send in the answer to this question: How many euros has the European Union Parliament estimated that Le Pen and her colleagues in the National Rally party allegedly embezzled?

The answer is, to quote our article: “The EU Parliament estimated in 2018 that 6.8 million euros had been embezzled. Marine Le Pen has always denied any wrongdoing.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “Can you remember the first time you received new clothes from your parents?”, which was suggested by Ratna Shanta Shammi from Naogaon, Bangladesh.

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Deepita Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India. Deepita is also the winner of this week’s bonus question. Congratulations, Deepita, on your double win!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Hasina Zaman Hasi, a member of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, and RFI Listeners Club members Nasyr Muhammad from Katsina State, Nigeria, as well as Sakawat Hossain from Sylhet, Bangladesh.

Last but assuredly not least, RFI English listener Bidhan Chandra Sanyal from West Bengal, India. 

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Hadouk” by D. Malherbe and L. Ehrlich, played by Kosinus; “The Entertainer” by Scott Joplin, performed by the composer; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “We Swing (The Cypher)” by Jean Baylor, Marcus Baylor, Eric Scott Reed, Keith Loftis, and Dezron Douglas, performed by The Baylor Project.

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-listen to Melissa Chemam’s 18 October Spotlight on Africa podcast, “Ghana grapples with crisis caused by world’s throwaway fashion”, or re-read her article of the same name, both of which will help you with the answer.

You have until 25 November to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 7 December podcast. When you enter be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

Click here to 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.   

October and November are set to host a series of events celebrating African art across the continent, in Europe and even farther afield.

Spotlight on Africa dives into perspectives from diverse African cultures, focusing on the voices and visions of the diaspora.

RFI journalists Ollia Horton and Melissa Chemam take us to the heart of two major art fairs: Paris’s Also Known As Africa (AKAA) and London’s 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair.

Listeners will hear from Victoria Mann, founder and director of AKAA, and artist Christelle Clairville, whose work brings Caribbean influences to the dialogue around African identity.

French-Belgo-Congolese artist Tiffanie Delune, exhibiting in London, shares her journey through the art world.

Curators Grada Kilomba and Helio Menezes weigh in from the Sao Paulo Biennial in Brazil. Meanwhile, ahead of the Dakar Biennale, French-Algerian artist Dalila Dalleas Bouzar discusses her preparation and the importance of the event to her work.

Episode mixed by Hadrien Touraud and Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is a podcast from Radio France Internationale.

More than 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza are experiencing extremely critical levels of hunger, according to the UN. Seventy percent of crop fields and livelihoods have been destroyed during the Israeli military offensive.

The war, which has claimed 42,000 lives in Gaza and left hundreds of thousands wounded, has also spread to the West Bank and Lebanon. Civilians as well as UN peacekeepers have been targeted by Israel’s forces.

“I used the word ‘catastrophe’ for the first time back in October 2023,” Albanese told RFI, “when Israel had killed 8,000, 6,000 people in the first weeks of the conflict and destroyed entire neighbourhoods, bakeries, churches, and targeted UN buildings and universities.

“This is not the way wars are conducted.”

Albanese was speaking as she prepared to launch her latest report on the situation in Gaza and the other Palestinian territories, which she presented to the UN General Assembly earlier this week.

In it, she takes a long view of the current conflict, arguing that Israel’s military actions form part of a systematic attempt to displace Palestinians that goes back decades – and which she calls a genocide.

“Israel occupies that land, according to the International Court of Justice, unlawfully,” Albanese said. 

“So Israel unlawfully occupies a territory, oppressing its people, who of course retaliate. Then they wage a war against them. It doesn’t work that way.”

Hamas attack, one year on – a view from Gaza

‘Emptying the land’

Albanese acknowledges the deadly violence inflicted on Israelis by the attacks of 7 October last year, and she has advocated for the investigation and prosecution of crimes committed against civilians by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.

But she warns that the trauma of 7 October has deepened Israeli animosity towards Palestinians and spurred calls for vengeance, providing the government with an opportunity to escalate its actions in the occupied territories with the goal of making them unliveable.

“As we speak, Israel is running extermination raids neighbourhood per neighbourhood in the areas that were already forcibly evacuated, ethnically cleansed of nearly 1 million people in northern Gaza,” Albanese told RFI.

“Only 400,000 people remained, who have been starved, abused and bombed. What the people in Gaza have gone through is really unspeakable, and now it is emptying the land completely.”

Hamas attack, one year on – a view from Israel

Israel and UN at odds

The war has brought Israel’s already tense relations with the United Nations to a low point, with the Israeli parliament this week approving a controversial bill to ban the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA – considered a lifeline for Gaza – from operating on Israeli territory.

Israel claims many of the agency’s staff belong to Hamas or other terrorist groups, and accused some of them of involvement in the 7 October attacks.

The UN says it investigated the allegations and identified problems with neutrality, but no proof of terror links. It warns that restricting UNRWA will have a devastating effect on aid supply chains into Gaza.

More broadly, UN leaders have called for a ceasefire and denounced starvation, mass displacements, atrocities, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Albanese has proved an especially controversial figure, calling for the UN to consider suspending Israel as a member state over its actions. 

Her stance has drawn accusations of bias and antisemitism from Israel’s allies, notably the United States, which cancelled a briefing she was due to give the US Congress this week.

Washington and others argue that Israel has the right to defend itself – though Albanese questions whether its military operations are truly making it safer.

“Is it protection?” she asked. “How is what Israel is doing going to make its citizens protected? This is the question. And the blindness at the political level is mind-blowing.”

Libya resumed oil exports this month after a pause caused by a dispute over control of the country’s central bank, which oversees oil exports.

“This was a serious crisis,” said Jalel Harchaoui from the Royal United Services Institute. “And while it’s partly fixed, there are still issues that need attention.”

The row between Libya’s two rival administrations which led to the temporary halt, was only resolved by intense negotiations, but Harchaoui claims the conflict’s repercussions continue.

Newly reconciled, Turkey and Egypt could be a force for stability in Africa

“A lot of players, including armed groups in Tripoli, are trying to take advantage of whatever has happened over the last several weeks. So I’m not describing a scenario of war, but I’m describing a more volatile environment,” he said.

Turkish-Egyptian relations

However, a recent rapprochement between Egypt and Turkey could offer hope of easing Libyan tensions.

“We agreed to consult between our institutions to achieve security and political stability,” pledged Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at a press conference last month in Ankara with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

Libya once was a point of Turkish-Egyptian rivalry, with Cairo backing the eastern Libyan administration in Benghazi of Khalifa Haftar and Ankara supporting the western Tripoli-based Government of National Unity. Now, Egyptian-Turkish collaboration is key to resolving the latest Libyan crisis.

“Both countries can push the Tripoli-based government at least to accept something or come to the least terms that they can agree,” said Murat Aslan of the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, a pro-Turkish government think tank. “So it’s a win-win situation for both Egypt and Turkey.”

Economic crises

With both the Turkish and Egyptian economies in crisis, the economic benefits of cooperating in Libya are seen as a powerful force behind the country’s rapprochement and Libyan collaboration.

Fighting between rival militias in Libya kills dozens

“These two countries are very important to one another,” said Aya Burweila, a Libyan security analyst

“They’ve figured out a way to divide spheres and work together. Even in the east now, Turkish companies have cut lucrative deals, infrastructure deals, just as Egypt has.

“So economy and money drive a lot of these political friendships and reapportionment.”

Ankara is looking to Cairo to use its influence over Hafta to support an agreement it made with the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity to explore widely believed energy reserves in Libyan waters.

Libya’s stability at greater risk with turmoil in Niger and Sudan, UN warns

At the same time, Cairo is pressing to remove Ankara-supported Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh of Libya’s Government of National Unity. Despite differences, Harchaoui says Cairo and Ankara are committed to cooperation.

“What has already been decided is that they are going to speak and they are going to speak on a daily basis,” said Harchaoui.

“And then at every crucial moment, they are going to make sure and Turkey, specifically, is going to make sure that Egypt is on board.

“But we need more tangible results from the dialogue that has already been in place,” he added.

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.

It’s time for you to start thinking about your New Year’s resolutions for our annual New Year’s Day show. If you’ve already made up your mind about what you’ll aim for in 2025, go ahead and send it to us … if not, be sure you send us your resolution – or resolutions if you are really ambitious! – by 15 December.

Mark your calendars now for 12 December, 6 PM Paris time – that’s when the winners of the ePOP video competition will be announced, live on the ePOP Facebook page. My good pals Max Bale and Gaël Flaugère, who run the Planète Radio department that sponsors ePOP, invited me to come on the show and talk to you for a few minutes, in English. So plan to stay up late or get up early on 12 December, beloved listeners!

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

Remember, podcasts are radio, too! As you see, sound is still quite present in the RFI English service. Please keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our 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 Alison Hird and Sarah Elzas’ Spotlight on France podcast no 115, Alison produced a piece on France’s current governmental crisis, and the lack of an ability in the French political landscape to compromise – as Alison noted: “France does not have the tradition of coalition building more commonly found in Germany, Switzerland and the Nordic countries.”

As social scientist Loïc Blondiaux told Le Monde: “The idea of deliberation – organised, reasoned debate in the form of an exchange of arguments – has never had the force and legitimacy in France that it has in other countries … a specific trait of our political culture is, on the contrary, contempt for consensus. Compromise is often seen as synonymous with giving in and weakness.”

I asked you to re-listen to Alison’s report, and send in the answer to this question: How many political groups are there in France’s National Assembly?

The answer is: As Laure Gillot-Assayag, a researcher in political science and philosophy told Alison: “There are 11 political groups in the National Assembly, it’s a record … a culture of compromise is more necessary than ever if the government is to function in such a deeply divided political landscape.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “What is the most wonderful thing you’ve ever seen in a museum?”

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

The winners are: Saleem Akhtar, the president of the RFI Seven Stars Radio Listening Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan. Saleem is also the winner of this week’s bonus question. Congratulations, Saleem!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Sakirun Islam Mitu, a member of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, Bangladesh; also from Rajshahi, RFI English listener Sumaiya Akter, a member of the World Dx International Radio Fan Club.

Rounding out this week’s list of lucky winners are Ferhat Bezazel, the president of the RFI Butterflies Club Ain Kechera in West Skikda, Algeria, and finally, RFI English listener Abdul Rehman, a member of the International Radio Fan and Youth Club in Khanewal, Pakistan.

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Take a Hike” by Rik Carter and Phil Brown; “Galerie” by Bruno Letort; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Identité” by Gaël Horellou, performed by Horellou and his ensemble.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read Amanda Morrow’s article “Ecosystems hang in the balance as Colombia hosts crucial biodiversity talks”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 18 November to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 23 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In partnership with Madhya Pradesh’s tourism board.

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

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

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

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

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

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