When Marie Mallevialle arrived at the Geneva University Hospital in 2023, she feared she was “losing her mind”.

Two years earlier, the Franco-Swiss woman had lost her son to a brain tumour. “I was sleeping maybe an hour a night. I had dissociation, lots of flashbacks and reliving,” she explained.

Doctors diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder. Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy helped her work through her traumatic memories, but despite medication, the insomnia continued and the sadness remained overwhelming.

“I was stuck in the past,” Mallevialle said.

While researching her condition, she came across psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, where patients receive substances such as LSD or psilocybin under strict medical supervision – treatments in which Switzerland is often cited as a pioneer.

“Antidepressants, LSD and psilocybin were all born in Switzerland. And contrary to what people think, research never really stopped,” said Daniele Zullino, head of the addiction medicine department and the psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy programme at Geneva University Hospital.

For around a decade, carefully selected patients have been treated with these substances in highly controlled settings.

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Increasing use

Elsewhere in Europe, the landscape is also beginning to shift. Since January, the Czech Republic has become the first European Union country to allow psilocybin in supervised psychotherapy.

The move follows years of work by institutions including the Czech National Institute of Mental Health, in a country that was a pioneer of psychedelic research in the 1950s and 1960s, before international prohibition halted the field in the 1970s.

As in Switzerland, recreational use remains illegal and psilocybin is still classified as a narcotic. Treatments are strictly regulated.

In Australia, authorised psychiatrists have been able to prescribe psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression since July 2023. In Canada, access exists on an exceptional basis under tight conditions.

In the US state of Oregon, supervised psilocybin services have been available to adults since 2023, outside the traditional medical system. In New Zealand, the medicines authority gave a highly restricted green light in June 2025 for authorised psychiatrists to prescribe psilocybin for resistant depression.

At Geneva University Hospital, some 600 patients have already undergone psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and demand remains strong.

“We’ve had up to 800 people on the waiting list,” Zullino said. Each case requires approval from Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health. “They require psychotherapeutic support before and after.”

Treatment protocol

After a year and a half on the waiting list, Mallevialle received authorisation in April 2025 and has just completed her treatment. “It’s not miraculous. You need a lot of therapeutic work beforehand, but it’s quite promising,” she said.

The standard protocol is three sessions, spaced three months apart, but Mallevialle had four.

On the day, patients arrive early in the morning. The setting is adapted “to soften the hospital feel,” she said. A psychiatrist and nurse check the patient’s state of mind and confirm consent.

The psilocybin – 25 milligrams for the usual dose – is taken in capsule form. The patient lies down, wearing an eye mask and headphones. Music is a core part of the therapy.

“Some choose Bach, others AC/DC,” Zullino said. The session lasts six to eight hours.

“The molecule takes about 30 minutes to act, then you go on your journey,” Mallevialle explained. “You’re accompanied all day, but you’re the one doing the work.”

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‘It’s not a party’

Describing what follows is difficult, Mallevialle said. “It’s like a series of short films. There’s music, colours, symbols, concepts. You move from a film about your childhood to one about illness, then motherhood, death. You receive messages, information,” she said.

She described moments of ecstasy and others that were deeply trying. “I was in a boxing ring against injustice, illness,” she said.

The day after each session, a psychotherapy meeting helps put the experience into words, with another follow-up a month later.

Her account echoes those of other patients.

Bernard, who asked that his full name not be used, is undergoing psychedelic-assisted therapy in a private Swiss practice for anxiety disorders. In his second year of treatment, he attends four or five sessions a year.

“Antidepressants are… a crutch to get through hard times, but they’re a plaster. You don’t heal the wound,” he said. “With psilocybin, you go back and clean the wound deeply.”

His sessions take place in a house in the countryside, in small groups. Bernard stressed that the experience has nothing to do with recreational drug use. “It’s not a party. It can be frightening, even terrifying, but for me it’s worth it,” he said.

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France remains cautious

Long associated with counterculture and so-called bad trips, hallucinogenic mushrooms were excluded from medical research for decades. Over the past 15 years, scientific interest has returned, with studies exploring the potential for treatment of depression, addiction, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In France, psilocybin remains confined to clinical trials.

In Paris, psychiatrist Lucie Berkovitch is taking part in an international trial on treatment-resistant depression at Sainte-Anne Hospital. “There’s a profound difference in mindset between France and Switzerland,” she said.

“In Switzerland, they didn’t wait for full authorisation to treat individual cases. In France, we wait for results to be confirmed before bringing psychedelics into routine care.”

One attraction of psilocybin, she said, is the speed and durability of its effects. “It’s an unusual timeline in psychiatry,” she said, where antidepressants can take weeks to work.

She explained that psilocybin acts on a serotonin receptor known as 5-HT2A. “The substance binds to this receptor and activates it very strongly, which triggers the psychedelic experience,” she said.

Beyond the experience itself, she said psilocybin also appears to have longer-lasting effects on brain connectivity and neuroplasticity, which are altered in depression and chronic stress.

“Psilocybin seems to restore, at least in part, these lost connections,” she said. “The brain becomes more flexible, more receptive to change.”

Studies published in the United States in 2025 reported striking results. One study involved military veterans with treatment-resistant depression who received a dose of psilocybin. Half of the 10 volunteers were in remission six months later.

Although that figure fell to 30 percent one year after treatment, the results were considered encouraging.

Another study followed 18 patients with severe depression who received two doses of psilocybin as part of their therapy. Five years later, 67 percent were in remission.

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Addiction and end of life

Beyond depression, addiction is one of the most closely studied areas.

A study published in the journal Addiction and conducted at Nîmes Hospital involved patients with both alcohol use disorder and depressive symptoms. After 12 weeks, abstinence rates were higher in the group that received a high dose of psilocybin at 25 milligrams than in the group given a very low dose, at 55 percent compared with 11 percent.

The study involved 30 patients, but the findings support those of a larger US study.

End-of-life care is another area under discussion. At Paris Public Hospitals, physician Benjamin Wyplosz wants to launch a trial on the use of psilocybin to relieve psychological suffering in terminally ill patients, but has encountered strong resistance.

“Studies conducted in the United States show that psilocybin reduces distress and anxiety in 70 to 80 percent of cases in palliative care patients, often after a single dose,” Wyplosz said. “No medication today achieves such an effect so quickly.”

The suffering experienced by people facing incurable illness is not depression in the classical psychiatric sense, but a form of demoralisation recognised by the international classification of diseases, and poorly treated by existing drugs.

“And that responds poorly to antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications,” he said. The rapid action of psilocybin is therefore crucial when “time is limited,” Wyplosz said.

Specialists nevertheless urge caution.

“A substance that massively alters perception of self and the world for several hours is bound to worry people,” explained Berkovitch, of Sainte-Anne Hospital. “But we shouldn’t miss care opportunities because of clichés.”

Zullino also calls for humility in the face of sometimes striking results. “For depression, we see miracles, we have to say,” he said. But outcomes vary. “A third are really well after two months. A third improve. A third could be better.”

For Mallevialle, the changes are already tangible. She sleeps better, no longer takes psychiatric medication, has regained weight and is making plans. “I think it’s changed my life, and the way I’m in the world.”

This article has been adapted from the original version in French by Aurore Lartigue.

Armed men on motorcycles attacked Diori Hamani International Airport, outside Niger’s capital Niamey, shortly before midnight on Wednesday.

Niger’s state broadcaster reported loud explosions and heavy gunfire at the airport, which also hosts a military base.

The defence ministry said four members of the security forces were injured, 20 attackers were killed and 11 people were arrested during what security sources described as a terrorist attack.

State television said one of the attackers killed was a French national, without providing evidence.

Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on ​Friday, according to SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks jihadist activity ‍and communications worldwide.

It described the assault as a “surprise and coordinated attack” that inflicted “significant damage”, but provided no details.

Threats of retaliation

After visiting the air base, Tiani thanked Russia for helping repel the attack.

“We commend all the defence and security forces, as well as Russian partners who defended their security sector with professionalism,” he said on state radio.

He accused French President Emmanuel Macron, Benin’s President Patrice Talon and Cote d’Ivoire’s President Alassane Ouattara of backing the attackers.

“We remind the sponsors of these mercenaries, notably Emmanuel Macron, Patrice Talon and Alassane Ouattara: we’ve heard them bark, they should be ready to hear us roar,” he said.

Wilfried Leandre ‍Houngbedji, spokesperson for Benin’s government, said on Friday: “[Tiani] is the only one to believe that nonsense.”

Defence Minister Salifou Modi said on state television that the attackers targeted the air base for “about 30 minutes” before an “air and ground response” was launched.

Public television broadcast images showing several bloodied bodies on the ground and repeated that a French national was among those killed, without providing evidence.

Concerns mount as Russian troops take over US base in Niger

Uranium and drones

Analysts said the attackers may have been trying to destroy military drones stationed at the base.

Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said drones had become central to the conflict between armies and jihadist groups.

“Drones have become a game changer for both sides, army and jihadists, so the attackers wanted to eliminate the latest Turkish arms deliveries,” he told the Associated Press.

Niger has recently acquired Turkish drones, according to local media.

The attackers may also have been drawn to a shipment of uranium that has been stuck at the airport amid legal and diplomatic disputes with France.

Niger is a major uranium producer.

Authorities moved uranium oxide concentrate, known as yellowcake, late last year from the Somair mine in Arlit to the Niamey base after taking control of the mine from French nuclear group Orano.

Security sources told Reuters the uranium was not affected by the attack.

Niger embraces Russia for uranium production leaving France out in the cold

Regional tensions

Niger’s military seized power in a July 2023 coup and has since been battling jihadist violence, like neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali.

All three countries have cut ties with Western partners and turned to Russia for military support.

Relations between Niger, France and Benin remain tense, with Niger’s authorities regularly accusing both countries of trying to destabilise the country, accusations they deny.

The Islamic State affiliate in the region has been linked to high-profile attacks in ​Niger in recent months, killing over 120 people in the Tillaberi ​region in September and abducting an American pilot in October.

(with newswires)

Clashes have taken place in recent days between Tigrayan forces and the Ethiopian federal army in the remote area of ​​Tsemlet, western Tigray.

Occupied by the authorities of the neighbouring Amhara region since the war, this territory has been regularly plagued by fighting since 2023.

Diplomatic and government sources acknowledged that the clashes broke out in the disputed western Tigray earlier this week.

In a letter addressed to the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, the Tigrayan interim administration calls for “immediate action to avoid an imminent war”.

“The repercussions of a new conflict would be catastrophic and irreversible” and “would plunge the region into a wider conflict,” it said.

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Shortage of cash

“Everyone is scared and still traumatised by the war,” one resident of Mekele told RFI’s correspondent, who had seen local people rushing to grocery stores to stock up.

Another resident, a 26-year-old man, told news agencies that he had unsuccessfully tried to send a package by air to his sister in Addis.

“I was told that flights have been cancelled starting from this morning. There is also a shortage of cash,” he said, adding he had tried to withdraw money from a cash machine but that most were not working.

Ethiopian Airlines cancelled flights to Tigray on Thursday. “As of today, all flights have been cancelled,” the official for Ethiopia’s national carrier told news agencies, without giving a reason.

A senior Tigrayan official said the regional government had reached out to the federal capital Addis Ababa to seek an explanation for the flight cancellations, but had received no response.

A year after the ceasefire in Tigray, Ethiopia is little closer to peace

Fear of renewed conflict

Ethiopia’s national army fought fighters from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front for two years until late 2022, in a conflict that researchers say killed hundreds of thousands of people, and caused famine and the collapse of healthcare.

The war ended with a peace pact in November 2022, but disagreements have continued over a range of issues, including contested territories in western Tigray and the delayed disarmament of Tigrayan forces.

Western Tigray is claimed by both Amhara and Tigray as part of their region, although it is now controlled by Amhara forces and the Ethiopian military.

A journalist in Mekele told news agencies “there is increasing anxiety” but said they did not know the “intensity of fighting so far”.

Senior officials from the Ethiopian and Tigrayan governments said they hoped for a de-escalation of tensions.

(with newswires)

Royal, who now heads up the France-Algeria Association, an organisation that promotes friendship and cooperation between the two countries, met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Friday morning, before visiting Gleizes.

She had received permission to visit the French journalist following his transfer from a prison in Tizi Ouzou in the region of Kabylie to Koléa prison, close to Algiers.

“I met someone with great inner strength, who is determined to keep going,” Royal told newspaper Le Parisien shortly after their meeting on Friday.

“He is being treated well, reads a lot, exercises, and follows the news. He wants to continue pursuing journalism, his passion, as soon as possible.”

Gleizes’ mother, Sylvie Godard, described Royal’s visit as “quite exceptional”.

The sports journalist is serving a seven-year sentence on charges of “glorifying terrorism” over his alleged ties to the separatist movement, the Movement for the Self-determination of Kabylie (MAK), which Algiers has declared a terrorist organisation.

His conviction, which was upheld on appeal, followed his arrest in May 2024 while he was carrying out an investigation into a Kabyle football club.

It has drawn criticism from human rights groups and sparked outcry in France. Gleizes’ parents have called on Tebboune to pardon their son.

Tensions between Algeria and France escalated after France recognised a Moroccan autonomy plan for Western Sahara in 2024. Algeria, which supports the Polisario Front’s independence movement, saw France’s stance as an affront.

Apart from Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco, Royal is the first public figure to meet with Gleizes in prison.

She sees her visit as a step towards rebuilding trust, telling reporters she was “very honoured” to talk with the Algerian leader and that he was open to discussions “when respect and consideration are present”.

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‘Feeling powerless’

On Thursday, family, friends and supporters of Gleizes gathered for a concert at the Bataclan in Paris to push for his release. The benefit concert was organised by NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Godard read out a message from her son: “Thanks to you, I do not feel alone, and we’ll soon be reunited.”

Gleizes, a contributor to the French magazines So Foot and Society, was arrested on 28 May last year and has been imprisoned in Algeria since the end of June 2025.

“At the time, we were promised that he would be back within the week. And now, actually, it’s been a long time,” said Franck Annese, director of So Foot magazine. “It would be good if people got moving a bit – and people in higher places too. Because we feel very powerless.”

Vikash Dhorasoo, a former international football player, was among those at the benefit concert.

“What I would really like is for other major footballers to speak out. You know which important players could bring a lot of weight to his fight?” he asked the crowd.

The audience fired back with the name Zinedine Zidane – the French footballing legend, who has Kabyle ancestry.

With Franco-Algerian relations at an all-time low, can they get back on track?

Algeria has invited France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez for talks with his counterpart, but these are yet to materialise.

“We are reaching out to Algeria on a number of issues. We must seize this opportunity,” the minister told France Inter radio on Friday.

“We are expecting significant progress on two issues,” he said, citing Gleizes’ situation and the repatriation of undocumented Algerians from France.  The government says it is open to overhauling a 1968 migration agreement, which followed decolonisation, allowing Algerians to easily obtain French residency. 

Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby held talks with Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace on Thursday, after the French president personally welcomed him in the palace courtyard.

The two leaders pledged what they called a “revitalised partnership, based on mutual respect and shared interests”, according to a joint statement issued after their meeting.

Relations between Paris and N’Djamena cooled sharply in 2025, after Chadian authorities scrapped a military cooperation agreement between the two countries.

That decision led to the withdrawal of the last French troops from Chad by 31 January 2025, when they completed the handover of their final base.

Thursday’s meeting was presented by both sides as an attempt to turn the page and rebuild the relationship on new foundations.

The statement said the two leaders had “agreed on a series of orientations that will serve as the guiding thread for revitalising the Franco-Chadian partnership in areas of shared interest”.

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Economic reset

Chad is seeking financial support and new investors, a priority highlighted by N’Djamena after the talks. That approach aligns with France’s desire to adopt “an economic and cultural prism” in its relations with African countries, the Élysée said.

No specific financial commitments were announced, and no public statements were made on security issues, but both countries said their interests remain aligned.

France sees Chad as a partner on the African continent, and in a region viewed as particularly unstable.

For Chad, the relationship provides support from a reliable ally, at a time when the diversification of its security partnerships has not produced the expected results.

As thousands flee, Sudan’s war spills over into humanitarian crisis in Chad

Sudan crisis

Macron and Deby also discussed the conflict in Sudan, described in the joint statement as the main regional crisis.

They urged the warring parties to implement the humanitarian truce proposed by the so-called Quad group – made up of the United States, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

France declined to comment on Chad’s role, while both leaders called for “an international environment conducive to a resolution of the conflict, preserving the unity and territorial integrity of the country”.

The statement said talks between France and Chad would continue, to ensure the implementation and monitoring of commitments made on both sides.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) banned Thiaw for five of its matches and fined him $100,000, it announced on Thursday.

In a statement it said the coach was guilty of  “unsporting conduct” and “bringing the game into disrepute” during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) decider in Rabat on 18 January – where Senegal’s players left the field during play, apparently after a signal from Thiaw.

Senegal – which won the match 1-0 after extra time – says it intends to appeal the decision.

“Everything that can be done to mitigate this sanction, we will do,” the country’s Minister for Youth and Sports, Khady Diene Gaye, told reporters following the announcement. “I don’t think it’s in the interests of our team for its coach to be sitting on the bench – in the stands, that is – for five CAF matches, on top of a financial penalty.”

TV coverage of the final showed Thiaw gesturing toward his players when Morocco were awarded a penalty in extra time. The gesture was widely interpreted as him telling his team to leave the field, which they did.

Gaye said the coach had “acted as a true patriot”, and that they would “stand by him”.

The Senegalese Football Federation can appeal the sanctions either before a CAF commission or the Court of Arbitration for Sport. 

Victorious Senegal returns home

Fundraiser launched

Pape Bouna Thiaw remains a hero in the eyes of Senegalese supporters, having led the Lions to the second continental title in their history, RFI’s correspondent in Dakar reports.

Fans have launched a fundraiser online to help the coach pay the fine, raising 2 million CFA francs of the 54 million needed within hours.

Shortly after, Pape Thiaw requested supporters redirect the money towards more essential causes.

“Your solidarity since the announcement of the sanctions has touched me deeply,” Thiaw wrote on his Instagram account.

“However, I humbly ask you not to organise fundraisers in my name. While I understand and appreciate this outpouring of generosity, I invite you to redirect these funds towards more urgent causes, for the benefit of those who truly need them.”

Coaches Regragui and Thiaw have suffered AFCON final heartbreak

Federations fined

Senegalese forwards Illiman Ndiaye and Ismaïla Sarr, who both play in the English Premier League, also received two-match bans for “unsporting behaviour towards the referee”.

The Senegalese Football Federation was fined a total of $615,000 for various offences during the final. A fine of $15,000 was levied for “disciplinary misconduct by the national team”, $300,000 for criticism of the CAF by its president Abdoulaye Fall, and a further $300,000 for “inappropriate behaviour of its supporters”.

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation, meanwhile, was fined $200,000 for the “inappropriate behaviour of the stadium ball boys”.

Moroccan forward Ismael Saibari was handed a three-match ban and a fine of $100,000, while the team’s captain and defender Achraf Hakimi was suspended for two matches.

The bans on Thiaw and four players relate only to CAF matches and will not affect preparations by Senegal and Morocco for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The head of Lawyers Without Borders France (Avocats sans frontières France), Matthieu Bagard, met 13 of the detainees during a visit to Iraq this week. He returned to Paris on Wednesday.

Bagard told RFI all of the men he met described harsh detention conditions and said they had been tortured.

“They are suffering from extraordinary deprivation,” he said. “Some of them still have shrapnel in their bodies, some who were kidnapped, others who were not.”

He said several detainees were losing their sight and had been cut off from the outside world for years.

“They have had no news from the outside world since 2017 for the first group, and since 2019 for those who were arrested after the fall of Baghuz. This was the first time they were able to get information about their families, their children who had been repatriated to France.”

Transfer of IS prisoners to Iraq puts renewed pressure on European governments

Trials and death sentences

Iraqi authorities are seeking to obtain confessions linking the men to Islamic State activities in Iraq, in order to try them in Iraqi courts. Eleven French nationals were tried there in 2019.

Iraqi courts have handed down hundreds of death sentences and life terms to people convicted of terrorism offences, including foreign fighters.

Bagard and his colleague Marie Dosé said on Tuesday that the transfer of the French detainees from Syria to Iraq was illegal. They accused Paris of complicity and warned of what they described as an imminent security disaster.

“We are completely outsourcing the judicial fate of these nationals,” Bagard said. “We are passing the buck to the Iraqi authorities by saying: ‘It will be up to you to try them, and it will be up to you afterwards to keep them in your prisons for the duration of their sentences’. Whereas we could legally have them transferred to France.”

Syrian Army seizes northeast as US abandons Kurdish-led forces

Pressure on governments

Other groups are also calling for the detainees to be returned to France. Arthur Dénouveaux, head of an association representing victims of the 13 November Paris attacks, said the men should be tried in France.

About 7,000 suspected Islamic State detainees have been transferred from Syria to Iraq over the past week under a US plan to relocate them there.

The detainees, including Iraqis and Europeans, have been distributed across at least three prisons in Iraq.

Backed by US-led forces, Iraq declared the defeat of Islamic State in 2017. Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) later defeated the group in Syria in 2019.

The SDF went on to detain thousands of suspected jihadists and tens of thousands of their relatives in camps.

This month, the United States said the purpose of its alliance with Kurdish forces in Syria had largely expired, as Damascus pressed ahead with an offensive to take back territory long held by the SDF.

Amnesty International has urged the United States to “urgently put in place safeguards before making any further transfers” and called on Iraq to hold “fair trials, without recourse to the death penalty”.

(with AFP)

Having left the Russian port of Taman on 21 August, 2025, the Mersin – a tanker operated by Turkish shipping company Besiktas – first stopped in Togo before arriving in Senegalese waters.

In a video seen by RFI, filmed the day after the incident on 28 November 2025, damage to the hull of the Mersin can be seen in four places – two on the port side and two on the starboard side – which caused the ship to take on water in its engine room.

The holes, the largest of which is more than a metre wide, reveal the ship’s partially damaged piping.

The images suggest the ship was sabotaged using strategically placed explosive devices.

According to several military experts, the precise nature of the holes, their location below the waterline and the spread of micro-cracks around the main impact points all point to the use of magnetic mines planted by trained divers.

The hull is dented inwards at the breach points, also confirms that the shock wave came from outside the ship.

Around 5 kilograms of explosives would have been needed for each hole in order to pierce the ship’s hull, which is made of steel plates “between 15 and 20mm thick”, according to an engineer specialising in the offshore oil sector, consulted by RFI.

A few days after the incident, the Port Authority of Dakar said divers would inspect the ship, but as yet no official conclusion on the cause of the incident has been made public.

Neutralise not sink

This deliberate targeting of the Mersin’s engine room demonstrates a desire to neutralise the ship rather than sink it, along with the 39,000 tonnes of fuel on board.

According to a naval specialist, only a country with advanced diving capabilities and resources would be capable of carrying out such a meticulous operation.

Dark vessels: how Russia steers clear of Western sanctions with a shadow fleet

This is the first time that a ship suspected of belonging to the Russian “shadow fleet” – vessels used to circumvent Western sanctions – has been targeted in African waters.

The Mersin remains moored some 20 kilometres from Senegal‘s capital, where it has been since the suspected attack.

According to the Port Authority of Dakar, the tanker is now stabilised, after initial fears that the damage could have provoked an oil spill. The breaches have been sealed and the engine room, which was flooded, is being pumped out. However, the fuel on board has not yet been removed.

Going dark

Russia has reportedly built up a flotilla of ageing oil tankers under opaque ownership to circumnavigate sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States and the G7 group of nations over Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The EU lists 598 vessels that are banned from European ports and maritime services. The US – which seized a Russian-flagged tanker in the north Atlantic early in January – lists 183 vessels and asserts an extraterritorial right to act against them.

Shadow fleet targeted as EU advances frozen assets plan for Ukraine

According to experts, and a briefing paper by the European Parliament, the “shadow fleet” obscures the ownership of vessels, and ensures the companies managing them are outside Russia and fly flags of convenience – or even sometimes falsely claimed flags.

In addition, the vessels have been observed turning off their Automatic Identification System, to go “dark” at sea, where ship-to-ship transfers of Russian oil occur.

According to the Kyiv School of Economics, which runs a Russian Oil Tracker, “the top three flags used by Russian shadow-fleet vessels transporting crude oil are false/unknown flag, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon”.

It said management companies for the vessels were located in the United Arab Emirates, the Seychelles, Mauritius and the Marshall Islands, among others.

With newswires, and partially adapted from this article in French by Pauline Le Troquier, RFI correspondent in Dakar.

Torrential rains and floods have killed more than 100 people in South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Eswatini since December, and displaced hundreds of thousands of others.

Some areas received “over a year’s rain in just days”, said World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international team of scientists studying the link between climate change and extreme weather.

The intensity of such extreme rainfall events has increased by 40 percent since pre-industrial times, according to the group – a sign that warmer ocean temperatures linked to greenhouse gas emissions are partly to blame.

“Data confirms a clear move toward more violent downpours,” WWA said.

The La Niña weather phenomenon also worsened things. “This effect was compounded by the current La Niña, which naturally brings wetter conditions to this part of the world, but is now operating within a more moisture-rich atmosphere,” the report said.

Oceanic and temperature shifts

Flooding in south-eastern Africa has become more frequent and severe as climate change makes storms in the adjacent Indian Ocean more powerful.

La Niña involves the temporary cooling of temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. The World Meteorological Organisation has predicted a weak La Niña in this cycle, but warned that warmer-than-normal sea temperatures linked to climate change are increasing the chance of floods and droughts.

“Human-caused climate change is supercharging rainfall events like this with devastating impacts for those in its path,” said Izidine Pinto, a senior climate researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and co-author of WWA’s report.

“Our analysis clearly shows that our continued burning of fossil fuels is increasing the intensity of extreme rainfall, turning [it]… into something much more severe.”

South Africa floods declared national disaster after storms pound east coast

Food shortages in Mozambique

In Mozambique, more than 180,000 hectares of farmland have been flooded, leaving food hard to come by.

“Before the floods, a bag of rice cost 1,600 meticals, or 20 euros; today it costs 2,300, or 30 euros,” said Marta Josè Bila, head of a emergency shelter in Xai Xai, capital of the hard-hit southern province of Gaza.

“Charcoal costs 1,500 meticals – 19 euros – whereas before it cost 750, so less than 10 euros,” she said.

In shelters like this one, set up to host displaced people, community kitchens share what food remains. 

“Today, we prepared two pots of rice, two pots of ugali, and one pot of chicken. It’s a lot of work, but because we’re doing it together, it becomes easy,” said Melusi Ernesto Cosamanti, the 64-year-old in charge. She and her fellow cooks serve more than 1,700 meals a day.

Lora Salvador Mondlane has been living at the shelter with her children since losing her home. “We eat what we can,” she said. “We either have breakfast or dinner. The portions are small, not enough for everyone. But we have no choice.

“Everything was washed away, including our food.”

Deforestation seen as aggravating Zimbabwe, Mozambique flood crisis

South Africans ‘cut off from the world’

In South Africa, burst rivers forced the closure of Kruger National Park, one of the country’s main tourist draws. The damage is expected to take years to repair and cost millions of dollars.

Fifteen tourist camps are still closed, with some completely inaccessible, said the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Willie Aucamp. Hundreds of people were evacuated and no lives were lost.

While animals instinctively move to high ground to escape the floods, people living nearby are at risk as crocodiles sweep beyond their usual habitats.

South Africa’s northern regions were under a red weather warning for over a week. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed, and the army has deployed helicopters to rescue people sheltering on rooftops and in trees.

“Some areas are inaccessible,” Ali Sablay, head of mission for the NGO Gift of the Givers, which is assisting victims with essential supplies, told RFI.

“Many bridges and roads have been washed away. Communities are completely cut off from the world. They have no electricity. All their food is contaminated, and there is no drinking water.”

This article has been partially adapted from reporting in French by RFI correspondants Gaëlle Laleix in Mozambique and Joséphine Koeckner in South Africa, with newswires.

For decades, the Euopean Union – the world’s largest trading bloc – has operated within an international order anchored by close economic and security ties with the United States.

However, Washington’s renewed willingness to wield tariffs, security guarantees and diplomatic pressure as bargaining tools has reinforced a growing conviction in Brussels that Europe must broaden its partnerships and reduce its exposure to political shock waves.

Depsite being heckled as weak and irrelevant by the White House, the EU has responded with an outward-looking strategy.

Over the past year, the bloc has struck or revived trade deals across Asia and Latin America, upgraded ties with key partners in the Indo-Pacific and pushed ahead with negotiations in the Gulf. 

EU and India seal ‘mother of all trade deals’ as leaders meet in New Delhi

Trade diversification gathers pace

Of late, European leaders have been frank about what is driving this shift. Speaking at the European Parliament last week, Cyprus president Nikos Christodoulides – who currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency – said the assumptions underpinning Europe’s prosperity could no longer be taken for granted.

“The international order we relied upon for decades is no longer a given,” he said. “This moment calls for action, decisive, credible and united action. It calls for a union that is more autonomous and open to the world.”

Shifting up a gear – into a faster, more assertive trade agenda – the EU has finalised a sweeping agreement with India, concluded its first trade deal with Indonesia and signed a long-delayed pact with the Mercosur nations of South America.

The Mercosur deal alone creates the prospect of a free trade area covering more than 700 million people.

Talks are also advancing with partners in the Gulf, including the United Arab Emirates.

EU seeks stability after Trump steps back on Greenland and tariffs

Despite transatlantic tensions, these agreements are more of a recalibration rather than a total rupture. Analysts say Europe’s drive to diversify was already under way, shaped by concerns over China’s ever-growing economic clout. 

“This movement towards diversification, looking for new partners as well as building self-reliance, was driven home by the fracture of the transatlantic partnership,” according to Garima Mohan, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund. “The timing of these deals says something about the world we live in.”

The unpredictability of US policy has played a key role. Even when tariff threats are later withdrawn, they have underscored how quickly trade can become entangled with unrelated political disputes.

For Brussels, spreading risk across multiple partners is increasingly seen as simple prudence.

“There is a hope that things will change, given the importance of the US for us,” says Ivano di Carlo, a senior policy analyst at the European Policy Centre. “But there is also a realisation now that we are a bit more alone in this world.”

Trump reverses course on Greenland, drops tariff threat, citing ‘deal’

From trade to strategic autonomy

Trade policy is only one part of a wider shift that also spans defence and energy. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine exposed weaknesses in Europe’s security architecture, while criticism from the Trump administration over low defence spending injected new urgency into long-running debates.

EU leaders have since agreed to raise defence budgets, with €150 billion in loans earmarked for areas ranging from air and missile defence to drones, cyber systems and artificial intelligence.

France has been a leading advocate of greater “strategic autonomy”, a concept that has gained ground as Washington has signalled its security priorities lie elsewhere.

EU countries give final approval to Russian gas ban, commit to wind power

As the EU cut its reliance on Russian supplies, it increased imports from the United States. Today, over 14 percent of EU oil imports and 60 percent of liquefied natural gas come from the US – improving short-term security while creating new dependencies.

“We do not want to replace one dependency for another – we need to diversify,” said Dan Jørgensen, the European commissioner for energy and housing, speaking in Hamburg this week.

For policymakers, the links between trade, defence and energy are becoming clearer.

As Garima Mohan put it, “Decoupling is easier said than done.” But by leaning into its strength as the world’s largest trading bloc, the EU is betting that diversification offers the best way through a more fragmented global order.

(with newswires)

Their experiment is La Ménardière, a shared living project in the village of Bérat, 40km from Toulouse. 

On a Saturday lunchtime, six of the 12 current members gather around a large oak table in the kitchen. They’ve all helped prepare the meal. A fire crackles in the hearth.

Over roast chicken, pumpkin and a glass or two of red wine, the conversation turns to the subject that brought them together – the desire to avoid a nursing home.

“It’s like a prison for old people,” says 66-year-old Sylvie Vetter, who moved in a year ago.

Geneviève Ducurty, who spent years working as a nurse in care homes, nods in agreement. “There isn’t enough time or money, you can no longer take care of people properly.”

Their comments echo recent research that found as many as 80 percent of people in France have a negative image of retirement homes, reflecting what the authors describe as “collective anguish” about growing old in a system seen as “ill adapted, dehumanised and on its last legs”.

Alternative to institutional care

This kind of shared anxiety is what led to the setting up of La Ménardière. The project is the brainchild of Anne-Marie Faucon and Michel Malacarnet, who 30 years ago founded the Utopia cooperative of independent cinemas. 

Their aim is simple and radical: to live and grow old together, contributing to society for as long as possible, and to delay – or avoid – the moment when people are forced into institutional care.

The idea emerged in 2018. “There was an article in Le Monde saying France mistreats its elderly,” says Faucon.

A few months later, after a public showing of the film All Together, a comedy about an alternative living experiment in which a group of ageing friends move in together, she and Malacarnet sprang into action.

In 2019, they took out loans to buy La Ménardière – a late 18th-century, three-storey mansion in the centre of Bérat, a small town of 3,000 people – for €1.1 million.

Listen to a report on La Ménardière in the Spotlight on France podcast

France’s law to ensure people ‘age well’ falls short of expectations

‘A place where we move forward’

The ground floor is communal, with a kitchen, sitting rooms, a meeting room, a library and a cinema screening room. Upstairs are individual apartments. The 2.5-hectare grounds include a swimming pool, gym and vegetable garden and are home to a few chickens.

Vetter, who moved in after her divorce, has 31 square metres to herself – a small kitchen, a bathroom and a large room. “I also have access to the entire garden, the whole ground floor and the swimming pool,” she says. “I was looking for a new life project, really. I wasn’t thinking about old age. When I arrived here, what mattered to me was building something.”

That isn’t just about growing old together in shared housing. The community also works on cultural projects, and there’s an explicitly political dimension.

“We’re trying, perhaps, to change the world a little – to give people ideas and to create connections. It is not just a project for older people; it is for society as a whole.”

Malacarnet, who at the age of 83 is the oldest of the residents, moves slowly between the rooms, but his fighting spirit is undimmed. He describes La Ménardière as a house “on the offensive”.

“The concept of retirement implies defeat, whereas until now we’ve always been on the offensive, and that’s synonymous with victory,” he says. “This isn’t a retirement home. It’s a place where we move forward, where we want to help build a new world.”

The Babayagas’ house, a feminist alternative to old people’s homes, opens in Paris

Fairer economic model

The 2023 book Les Fossoyeurs (“The Gravediggers”), which exposed abuse of the elderly in some of France’s biggest care homes, reinforced Faucon and Malacarnet’s conviction that there had to be an alternative to the profit-driven care home industry.

“The book showed there’s a real problem in France, money is being made off the backs of old people. Very often, many care homes offer services that simply don’t live up to the prices they charge,” says Faucon.

“So our idea was to think about an economic model that’s fairer, more respectful of people and that allows those who don’t necessarily have a lot of money to have something better and more pleasant.”

Each member pays an entry fee of €20,000, plus €70,000 to help repay the loans and fund renovation. That sum is returned when they leave, or to their family in the event of their death. Accommodation is rented at €14 per square metre per month.

Eric and Brigitte Cabot have opted to build their own home on one of the plots in the park. 

“We’ve never lived in an apartment so I think it would be too difficult for us,” says Eric. Their house will cost them around €1,100 a month to rent, which he says is “a competitive rate for this area”. 

The couple were drawn to the project after watching their own parents die in difficult conditions.

“It was very stressful, we wanted to spare our own children the same thing,” says Eric. “When one of us goes, we won’t be alone, there’ll be a community there,” adds Brigitte.

Everyone is expected to contribute to running La Ménardière according to their abilities. Eric, a former engineer, brings his skills in mechanics, electricity, maintenance, the internet and accounting. Brigitte is a keen gardener.

She’s realistic about the challenges of shared living. “We have disputes, but we try to find solutions, we are tolerant of one another’s differences.”

Charity warns of elderly isolation after 32 ‘solitary deaths’ recorded in France

Open to the community

La Ménardière isn’t an isolated enclave and residents engage with the wider community. Two rooms are rented out on a bed and breakfast basis, bringing in much needed revenue. Schoolchildren come and do cross country running in the park, and the outdoor stables are used for concerts, plays and monthly film screenings in the summer. In winter, the events move inside.

A major study in 2024 showed an estimated 12 percent of people in France said they felt lonely, and increasingly so with age. Malacarnet says reaching out is also part of their mission.

“Some of the people who come and see us seem to be suffering so deeply from loneliness that we tell ourselves we’re fighting for them too, so that they have the right to exist. So this is also a project against loneliness.”

The residents, however, are under no illusion about what lies ahead. Illness and loss of independence are inevitable. Ducurty, the former district nurse, says the location was chosen carefully with this in mind.

“We deliberately chose a place in a town that isn’t isolated, where there’s a medical centre, a pharmacy and home care services. We’re aware that we’ll need outside help and won’t be able to do everything ourselves,” she says.

But they want to delay the nursing home option for as long as possible. “The idea is that, in this place, we’ll support one another,” she says. “When Michel or Brigitte can no longer come to film screenings, we’ll go and play cards or watch films with them in their rooms.”

Two million French seniors live in poverty: charity report

‘A utopian dream’

La Ménardière can house up to 20 residents. The selection process to become one is rigorous. Candidates stay for trial weekends and, if they decide to join, then complete a six-month probation period.

Anna Gilmartin, a 74-year-old former social worker from the UK with an Irish passport, is strongly tempted by the project and spent a week there in November.

“I’ve lived in Buddhist communities in England and in France, I like community living. The cultural side of La Ménardière is also a major pull.” 

However she’s still hesitating. “I’m not sure what I could bring to the project. I’m not very robust and they need robust people.” The lack of public transport in Bérat, she adds, is “also an issue”.

For Faucon, this uncertainty is all part of the experiment. “It’s a modest and slightly crazy dream. A utopian dream, really,” she says.

“Will we succeed? We don’t know. But what matters is trying to move towards the best possible relationships, and to support one another for as long as we can, so that the end of life is a gentle one.”

One year after the attack by the AFC-M23 group and its Rwandan allies, no one can say for certain how many people were killed.

Humanitarian groups say several hundred people died in the fighting. The Congolese Red Cross and the ICRC alone buried more than 900 bodies following the clashes. 

Furaha lost several family members on 27 and 28 January 2025. 

“The soldiers were firing randomly into houses that weren’t locked,” she tells RFI. “They came into my plot and shot my husband. A young neighbour and my son tried to help us, they were hit.”

Both her husband and the young neighbour were killed. “My husband left me with nine children. It’s hard to feed them and send them to school now.”

Furaha’s house was destroyed in the fighting and she’s calling for compensation.

So is Tumusifu, another bereaved mother. She’s praying for peace to return.

“You can ask God to help us,” she says in a tired voice. “So that the war does not happen again. We saw very grave things.”

While families mourn their dead, others, like Rachel, are struggling with painful wounds.

She heard the fighting very close by and hid under her bed. But an explosive device fell on her house, leaving her with shrapnel in her body.

“Half of the fragments were removed and the rest remained. I can’t walk long distances for now,” she says.

Living without banks

Those who escaped injury have had to adapt their daily routine.

After the city fell to the rebels, the Congolese authorities suspended activities of the provincial branch of the Central Bank of Congo, effectively cutting Goma off from the banking system. All commercial banks closed and cash machines stopped working.

The economy, however, didn’t ground to a halt and over the following months Goma’s residents organised ways to cope with the cash shortage, at a price.

The quickest way to get money is via mobile money transfers, which have surged. But to withdraw cash, people have to go through informal exchange agents who take a fee on each transaction – up to 8 percent in April 2025. 

Under pressure, the M23 ordered fees to be cut. They’ve gone down to 3 or 4 percent, though that’s still high, especially for civil servants who are now paid by phone.

To justify the high rates, agents cite “transport costs” involved in getting hold of dollars.

Some now have to travel to cities outside rebel control, such as Beni or Butembo, or send money there through intermediaries who carry it back.

Others cross the border to Gisenyi in Rwanda, where banking fees are high. Larger traders face the same problem when trying to access their accounts or receive payments.

‘Business is good’

In April, the M23 tried to relaunch the local branch of the Caisse générale du Congo (CADECO). The initiative has had little success – Kinshasa has declared it illegal and it faces cash shortages too.

Trade with the border city of Gisenyi has, however, surged. From 6am, when the Petite Barrière crossing opens, hundreds of small traders crowd the border. There’s a constant flow of goods – fruit, cereals, vegetables, meat and manufactured products.

Traders use motorbikes or bicycles known as “handicaps” to move goods across.

“Business is good,” says Evon Kasereka, who imports flasks and plastic buckets from Rwanda. “When our goods reach the border, the bicycle owners collect them. They pay the taxes and bring them across. I can move up to 20 boxes a month.”

Thousands without lifesaving aid in DRC, says UN agency

According to Déo Bengeya Machozi of Goma’s business school (ISC), trade volumes have risen by more than 30 percent due to smoother crossings and fewer obstacles, with imports from Rwanda increasing the most.

Ten days after taking Goma, the AFC-M23 movement began setting up a parallel administration. Over the weeks, it appointed a “governor of North Kivu“, organised tests to select judges and spoke of issuing visas. In August 2025, it announced the creation of the “Congolese Revolutionary Police” force.

A report by the UN Group of Experts on DR Congo found that the force includes members of the Rwandan Defence Forces and has carried out operations involving “arbitrary detention and the forced recruitment of boys and men”. UN experts said they’d spoken to “witnesses of acts of torture and inhuman treatment”.

Ongoing struggle

Some of those who fled Goma are struggling elsewhere. Christian, who fled the rebel advance in January 2025, reached Tanganyika province and now shares a tent with relatives in a displacement camp near the capital Kalemie.

“I’ve been here since February,” he says. “I received help from the World Food Programme (WFP) and then UNHCR when I arrived, but since then we’ve had no assistance. Health conditions are poor. We have no drinking water, our children are anaemic, we have no mosquito nets so we catch malaria. We’ve lived like this for almost a year.”

When a new wave of displaced people arriving recently, he says they “tried to share what little we have, but we almost have nothing”.

Who are the armed groups ravaging the eastern DRCongo?

A man called Espoir (meaning hope) left Goma after the city fell. After hiding for a few days, he got out disguised as a trader and crossed the country in fear to reach Kinshasa  – more than 2,600km away.

Now living with a host family, he appeals to the authorities.

“There’s no question of going back to Goma now. The fact the airport is closed makes travelling difficult. Many people from Goma living in Kinshasa used to travel back and forth to see family. How do they do that now the airport is closed?

“This war has affected family ties and the economy. Many families are separated against their will. That’s why we are calling for the war to end as soon as possible so people can start moving around normally again.”

This article, based on the original in French, has been lightly edited for clarity.

Strikes have intensified in southern Ukraine in recent weeks, prompting the government to order the evacuation of civilians, including around 40 children, from villages near Zaporizhzhia, as Moscow’s forces advance.

But on the outskirts of Mykolaiv, a city by the Black Sea, the Beykush estate continues to make wine – 10 kilometres from Russian positions.

To reach the vineyard now requires a military escort and passing through several checkpoints.

For security reasons, visiting the vines themselves is not always possible. Attacks are launched regularly from across the river, shaping how and when work can be done.

The pressure on Ukraine’s wine sector began back in 2014, when Russia’s annexation of Crimea wiped out more than half of the country’s national production.

Ukrainians responded by turning to local wines, a patriotic reflex that helped new vineyards emerge. That has continued since Russia’s invasion in 2022, helping sustain producers such as Beykush.

Ukraine war videos raise questions over Russia’s recruitment of Africans

‘Working is a way of holding on’

At the estate, production was stopped for just one month, even as nearby Mykolaiv was caught up in intense fighting. Since then, work has continued under constant threat.

“At the beginning of the war, work was the only thing that helped keep our spirits up,” winemaker Ola Romanenko told RFI.

“It gave us something to focus on instead of thinking about the constant danger. And even today, working is a way of holding on, of not thinking about everything else.”

The estate has not been hit directly, but drones often fly overhead before crashing nearby or heading towards Odesa. The team has had to adapt quickly to the risks.

Only four people now handle production at the winery. Romanenko lives on site, while the other employees are neighbours. During the harvest, local residents also help out so the work can be done as quickly as possible.

The winery has also set up shelters.

“We have a basement for our barrels, which is very safe,” she said. “We also have an old tasting room that is almost underground and works as a shelter. If the noise is too loud or the danger too high, we go there.”

The team stays in constant contact with the army, and helps to support it financially.

“For security, we make donations,” she said. “Some QR codes on our bottles allow people to support the rehabilitation of soldiers. Several of our employees are also serving in the army and we help them.”

Despite the conditions, production has not fallen. Beykush produces around 19,000 bottles a year across 15 different wines, and output has even increased since 2022.

France now supplies most of Ukraine’s intelligence, Macron says

‘Identity is our strength’

The wines have also gained international recognition.

“This year, at the most prestigious competition in London, Larbinat won gold in the orange wine category,” Romanenko said. “L’Oca Deserta, a red, won silver. They sell so well that some are already sold out.”

In Mykolaiv, Marina Stepanova runs one of the city’s few remaining wine shops. With frequent air raid alerts, power cuts and a curfew, opportunities to go out in the evening are limited.

She told RFI that while foreign importers were keen to support Ukraine’s wine sector in 2022, that interest has since faded. Local producers are now relying mainly on Ukrainian customers.

At the entrance to Stepanova’s shop, one shelf is dedicated to wines from the Mykolaiv region, with more Ukrainian bottles further inside. A small room at the back is used for tastings.

Here, local architect Efren Polanco invites foreign colleagues to sample regional wines.

“When you introduce yourself and say you come from France, you have your identity, your personality,” he told the visitors. “For our wine, it’s the same. Identity is our strength.”

Pouring a glass from the Beykush estate, Polanco added: “This wine is like the blood of the Mykolaiv region.”

Outside, an air raid alert sounded. Inside, the small group clinked glasses.

This article is based on a report in French by RFI’s Accents d’Europe podcast.

Widely used by industry, PFAS – or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are now found across soil, water and food chains.

Exposure to PFAS is known to increase the risk of cancers, hormonal disruption and immune system disorders, as well as other health problems. Treating these illnesses carries costs that are ultimately borne by the public.

On Thursday, the European Commission published a study to measure the long-term environmental and health costs if pollution continues at current levels.

The report sets out what the Commission describes as a conservative estimate of the financial burden PFAS place on society. It examines several possible futures, looking at environmental damage alongside health impacts.

EU tightens rules on ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water

Cost of doing nothing

If regulations and standards remain unchanged, the study estimates that PFAS pollution would cost European society around €440 billion by 2050. This figure only covers health costs linked to a small number of currently regulated PFAS substances, out of the thousands that exist.

The report also finds that treating polluted water alone would cost more than €1 trillion if emissions continue at current levels. In contrast, cutting PFAS releases at the source by 2040 could save around €110 billion.

Because PFAS remain in the body and the environment for decades, the report said early action is essential to limit long-term damage.

The study identifies newborns, children, people living near contaminated sites and workers at those sites as the populations most exposed to PFAS pollution.

The commission said in a statement that it is committed to protecting these groups while also preventing wider social and economic consequences. It said a balanced approach is needed as alternatives to PFAS are developed for key industrial uses.

“Providing clarity on PFAS with bans for consumer uses is a top priority for both citizens and businesses,” said Jessika Roswall, the Commissioner for Environment.

“Consumers are concerned, and rightly so. This study underlines the urgency to act.”

‘A form of crisis profiteering’ – report slams rich nations over climate loans

Three possible futures

One scenario examined in the study assumes PFAS remain authorised but standards become stricter and more protective. Under this option, many contaminated sites would need to be cleaned up, pushing the total cost to around €1.7 trillion by 2050.

The most optimistic scenario is a complete ban on PFAS in Europe.

In that case, the chemicals would gradually disappear from people’s bodies over several years, leaving mainly the cost of cleaning up polluted sites. This would be the least expensive option overall, with an estimated bill of about €330 billion.

However, the report said this scenario may be overly optimistic, as a full ban faces strong opposition from many industrial sectors.

Several of the most harmful PFAS substances, including PFOS, PFOA and PFHxS, have already been banned in the European Union. In 2024, restrictions were extended to PFHxA and related substances in products such as consumer textiles, food packaging, cosmetics and some firefighting foams.

In October 2025, the EU introduced phased-in bans on all PFAS in firefighting foams. Under EU drinking water rules, all member states must also monitor PFAS levels to meet new safety limits.

The European Chemicals Agency is assessing a proposal for a universal PFAS restriction, with its opinion expected by the end of 2026.

European Union foreign ministers on Thursday agreed to the move targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Human rights groups estimate that security forces have killed thousands of protesters during unrest in Iran in December and January. Demonstrations began on 28 December over rising living costs and quickly spread nationwide.

“Repression cannot go unanswered,” the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas posted on social media. “Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise.”

Kallas said that the designation would place the Revolutionary Guard on the same footing as groups such as al-Qaeda, Hamas and Daesh, the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

“If you act as a terrorist, you should also be treated as a terrorist,” she said.

How much is China willing to risk to protect its ties with Iran?

Deadly crackdown

The protests were met with what witnesses described as a ferocious response. The scale of the violence only emerged after more than two weeks of an unprecedented nationwide internet blackout.

The EU also imposed sanctions on 15 Iranian officials, including senior commanders in the Revolutionary Guard, over their role in the repression.

Organisations placed on the EU terrorist list face measures including travel bans and asset freezes aimed at cutting off their support networks.

Iran had no immediate official reaction. In recent days, however, Tehran had criticised European countries as the move was being considered.

The Revolutionary Guard is Iran’s most powerful armed force. It was created after the 1979 revolution and plays a central role in the country’s security system.

French prosecutor seeks jail term for Iranian woman accused of terrorism

Diplomatic tensions

Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot described the crackdown as “the most violent repression in Iran’s modern history” and said there could be “no impunity for the crimes committed”.

France had previously been cautious about blacklisting the Revolutionary Guard over concerns it could sever remaining diplomatic contacts with Iran, but changed position on Wednesday to back a push led by Italy.

Kallas said she expected diplomatic channels with Tehran to remain open despite the decision.

The United States, Canada and Australia have already designated the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organisation.

The Islamic Republic also faces the threat of military action from US President Donald Trump in response to the killing of peaceful demonstrators. The US military has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers into the Middle East, although it remains unclear whether Washington will use force.

The cross-party bill, backed by more than 120 MPs, passed the National Assembly on Wednesday with 106 votes in favour and zero against.

It now heads to the Senate for approval.

The legislation amends the civil code to specify that living together does not create any obligation for spouses to have sexual relations.

While French law has never formally included a sexual duty within marriage, courts have at times interpreted the expectation that spouses will share a home as implying a shared bed.

That interpretation had concrete consequences. In 2019, a man obtained a divorce after judges ruled that his wife’s refusal to have sex amounted to a serious breach of marital duties.

French woman not ‘at fault’ for refusing sex with husband, European court rules

A case that changed the debate

The woman, now aged 69 and wishing to remain anonymous, challenged the ruling after the Versailles court of appeal granted the divorce entirely at her fault.

After failing in France’s highest court, she took the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

That court ruled in her favour, saying a spouse who refuses sex should not be considered at fault in divorce proceedings. In a unanimous judgement, the court said “any non-consensual sexual act constitutes a form of sexual violence”.

The judges rejected the argument that consent to marriage implied consent to future sexual relations, warning that such reasoning would strip marital rape of its criminal character.

“I hope this decision will mark a turning point in the fight for women’s rights in France,” the woman said in a statement sent by one of her lawyers.

Lawyer Lilia Mhissen added: “This decision marks the abolition of marital duty and an archaic vision of the family.”

France urged to act as rising masculinism flagged as security threat

Clearing the law

“The decision of today will bind French judges, who will no longer be able to consider that a community of life implies a community of bed,” said Delphine Zoughebi, another lawyer for the woman.

France’s civil code lists four duties attached to marriage – fidelity, support, assistance and cohabitation – but does not mention sex.

Lawmakers backing the bill say spelling this out removes any room for judges to revive older interpretations.

The bill is expected to be examined by the Senate next, with supporters aiming for it to become law before summer 2026.

Last year France added the principle of consent to its legal definition of rape, following countries including the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.

(with newswires)

Saying he wants to lower the price of medication in the United States, President Donald Trump has been putting pressure on French President Emmanuel Macron to raise the cost of an unspecified pill in France. But it’s the French public health system, not Macron, that negotiates with drug companies – keeping prices for patients in check. Sociologist Theo Bourgeron believes that Trump’s demand is not about improving care, but pressuring countries to weaken price controls and boost US pharmaceutical profits. (Listen @0′)

More than a third of the French claim they’re not drinking this month to mark Dry January. It’s part of a wider trend of falling alcohol consumption in France, particularly among young adults. But in a country famed for its wine and apéro culture, sobriety can be seen as irritating and “un-French”. We visit Le Social Bar in Paris, which has gone alcohol-free for January to show you don’t need to be tipsy to have a good time. Author Claire Touzard talks about her journey towards sobriety and why alcohol, far from encouraging conviviality, can end up excluding people. And journalist Vincent Edin argues that while France is becoming slightly more tolerant of non-drinkers, successive governments still struggle to recognise that alcoholism is a problem. (Listen @20’15”)

France conducted its final nuclear test on 27 January 1996, ending a programme that has left a lasting legacy of health problems in French Polynesia, the archipelago in the South Pacific that for 30 years was France’s nuclear testing ground. Hinamoeura Morgant-Cross, a member of the French Polynesian parliament, says the consequences of the testing have been “really traumatic for our people”. (Listen @13’50”)

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompeani.

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

The bill had easily passed the lower National Assembly last year but was heavily amended in the upper house after often angry and chaotic debate led by right-wing and centrist senators.

Supporters said the changes stripped the text of its purpose.

“The debate, which should have remained dignified and deeply humanist, has turned into a dogmatic and political battle,” Patrick Kanner, head of the Socialist Party in the Senate, said ahead of Wednesday’s vote.

Centrist senator Loic Herve said opponents of assisted dying could not be expected to support the text.

“You can’t ask senators who are opposed to euthanasia and assisted suicide to vote for an article like” the one adopted by the National Assembly, he said. The Senate rejected the amended bill by 181 votes to 122. The version put to the vote made no mention of assisted dying.

‘My life, my death’: French woman battles for right to die with dignity

Next steps

The draft law is set to return next month to the National Assembly. The government could allow the lower chamber to pass the legislation definitively without the Senate’s approval.

Laurent Panifous, the minister for relations with parliament, said the constitution gives the final word to the lower house.

President Emmanuel Macron promised to bring forward an assisted dying law after winning a second term in 2022. He has said a referendum could be held if the bill becomes blocked in parliament.

French parliament adopts long-debated bill to legalise assisted dying

The proposed change has been seen as one of the most significant social reforms since France legalised same-sex marriage in 2012.

A 2023 report found that most French citizens support legal end-of-life options in cases of extreme suffering. Polls show support has increased steadily over the past 20 years.

Assisted dying is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada. A similar law is currently being debated by the British parliament.

In a separate vote, the Senate passed a law to improve end-of-life care. That legislation had already been agreed by both chambers of parliament.

(with newswires)

“Now, more than ever, every child must be listened to, believed and protected. This abuse must not only be reported, but also made public,” Patrick Bloche, deputy mayor of Paris, announced on Wednesday, during a progress report two months after Paris City Hall launched a plan to combat sexual abuse of children.

In 2025, around 40 youth workers were suspended in Paris, including 20 on suspicion of sexual offences, against a backdrop of reports from distraught parents.

Beginning in January, the directors of extracurricular activities at some 620 Parisian schools have been required to undergo training designed to give them a better understanding of the mechanisms of sexual abuse.

France’s ongoing struggle to protect child victims of domestic violence

Sébastien Brochot, a prevention specialist at the Resource Centre for Professionals Working with Sexual Offenders (CRIAVS) told French news agency AFP: “This violence exists everywhere, regardless of country, social background or level of education.”

He added: “The challenge is to raise awareness among youth workers so that they can better identify, report and manage all situations in which a child may be a victim of violence.”

Common misconceptions

The training also aims to dispel common misconceptions, including the idea that there is a minimum age for victims, the perception of differing impact on girls and boys before puberty, and the idea that women are not among the perpetrators. 

It also addresses the fact that half of all assaults are committed between minors.

“This helps to put things into perspective,” says Stéphane, who has been an after-school programme manager for 25 years. Since September, he has made three reports of suspected domestic violence.

According to the Commission on Sexual Violence Against Children (Ciivise), one in 10 children is a victim of sexual abuse, most often within the family.

In a bid to address this, the training will also emphasise identifying profiles that are overrepresented among perpetrators – such as those who are vulnerable, depressed or suffering from low self-esteem.

Survivors decry failures exposed in France’s biggest paedophilia trial

According to Brochot, when a child who is a victim of sexual abuse asks an adult for help, the adult does nothing “in half of all cases”.

The majority of children also find it difficult to realise that they have been victims.

“Children rarely clearly verbalise what they are going through. Instead, they alert adults through their behaviour,” he said. Sudden changes in attitude, weight gain or loss and bed-wetting are all warning signs.

For Sophie Fady-Cayrel, director of the Department of School Affairs (Dasco): “The priority is to put the child’s interests before all other considerations.”

This is particularly true when a child’s words incriminate a staff member who has been at the school for a long time.

Staff are also encouraged not to “paraphrase a child’s words” and even to “bypass” their superiors if they think “they won’t do the job”.

Former French child protection officer on trial, accused of raping Filipino boys

Politically motivated

In addition to training, the action plan also includes setting up a helpline for parents, the recruitment of activity leaders in pairs and mandatory two-day training for temporary staff before they take up their posts.

Despite the announcement, unions remain critical.

“These measures are largely insufficient and extremely late,” says Nicolas Léger of the Paris administrative staff union SUPAP-FSU, who points to “a lot of communication to reassure families without additional human resources”.

He also criticised the fact that training is only being provided to extracurricular activity directors, who are then responsible for “passing it on to the 12,000 activity leaders based on what they have retained”.

Élisabeth Guthmann, co-founder of the SOS périscolaire collective against violence against children in after-school programmes, which provides support for parents and activity leaders, believe the move is politically motivated.

“For four years, Mr Bloche has been saying that violence is isolated, whereas we consider it to be systemic. Things are moving forward, but in the context of an election campaign.”

(with AFP)

France still has in its possession tens of thousands of artworks and other prized artefacts that it looted from its colonial empire.

The new law will make the restitution process easier by setting clear rules based on a scientific review of requests, involving the countries making them. 

The bill was voted unanimously by all French political groups in committee last week and will next be sent to the National Assembly lower house before it can become law.

Senator Catherine Morin-Desailly has initiated several bills related to the right of restitution. For her, this is the culmination of a process that took nearly 20 years.

France returns skulls to Madagascar 127 years after colonial massacre

“I have noticed that attitudes have changed enormously, including in our own museums, where we are now addressing issues of traceability, how we view our history, and how to re-establish dialogue with the requesting states, most of which were formerly colonised – with whom we also have the opportunity to… engage in a very fruitful cultural dialogue beyond restitution.” 

This bill concerns property whose illegal appropriation can be established with certainty, thanks to evidence from available historical sources. The artefacts must also originate from the current territory of the requesting state and have been acquired between 1815 and 1972.

How an RFI investigation helped return an ancient treasure to Benin

Benin’s God Gou 

Thirteen countries, most of them African, have already submitted requests for restitution that could benefit from this new law. Among them is Benin, which wants to recover the famous Gou God – a hammered iron sculpture made in the Kingdom of Dahomey in 1858 and stolen by French colonial troops.

‘Dahomey’ film invites colonial past to speak through Benin’s stolen treasures

For Beninese historian Alain Godonou, special advisor to the President of the Republic of Benin on heritage and museums: “Its rightful place is in the Musée international du vodou.”

He added: “If you come to Benin today and go to Porto-Novo, at the entrance to the city, you will see this museum already built, majestic, which is already in itself something very important in the urban planning of the city. This museum is eagerly awaiting the famous God Gou.”

Algeria is demanding the return of objects and personal effects of the religious and military leader Abd El Kader, while Senegal is requesting the objects from the Ségou treasure, captured by French colonial troops and Mexico is requesting the restitution of two Aztec manuscripts. 

With AFP, and adapted from this article in French by Clothilde Hazard.

France’s National Assembly on Tuesday once again rejected two motions of censure aimed at bringing down Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s government, clearing the way for the 2026 state budget to be adopted at a new reading.

After a brief examination by the Senate, the bill is expected to be definitively approved early next week, bringing months of parliamentary debate closer to an end.

The debate gave the prime minister an opportunity to defend what he described as a “breakthrough” budget, saying he was committing his responsibility “before history”.

Central to the plan is a €6.5 billion increase in defence spending, alongside a broader call to look beyond the immediate horizon of 2026.

The session was marked by sharp exchanges, with the head of government taking aim at critics on both the right and the left.

After PM forces through finance bill, what’s next in France’s budget battle?

Opposition divided

The joint motion of censure tabled by France Unbowed, the ecologist group and the GDR group – which includes the Communists and overseas MPs – was backed by 267 deputies.

This fell short of the 289 votes required to topple the government. A second motion brought by the far-right National Rally and its ally, the UDR group led by Eric Ciotti, garnered just 140 votes.

Both camps condemned the prime minister’s decision to invoke Article 49.3 of the Constitution, which allows a bill to be passed without a vote unless a motion of censure succeeds.

Opposition MPs accused him of breaking a promise made to parliament in October to refrain from using the mechanism.

French PM ditches parliamentary override in push for budget deal

Sharp criticism

Criticism of the budget’s content was sharp, particularly from the Greens. Their spokesperson, Christine Arrighi, accused the government of relegating ecological policy “to the very bottom of the list”.

She pointed to the “collapse” of the Green Fund, which supports local ecological transition projects, saying its budget would fall from €2.5 billion in 2024 to €850 million in 2026.

The National Rally attacked the budget, saying that it would increase taxes by “at least €9 billion” while continuing to drive up public debt.

As in previous votes, however, neither the Socialist Party nor the conservative Republicans supported the motions. Both cited the need for political stability and for France to finally adopt a state budget.

The Senate is expected to reject the bill on Thursday, allowing it to return quickly to the Assembly.

The prime minister could then once again stake his government’s responsibility, with final motions of censure likely to be voted down in early February, closing four months of parliamentary wrangling.

(with newswires)

“I am urging Capgemini to shed light, in an extremely transparent manner, on the activities it carries out, on this policy, and no doubt to review the nature of these activities,” economy minister Roland Lescure said in response to a question from a member of parliament.

According to information published last week by the association L’Observatoire des multinationales and reported on Monday evening by public broadcaster France 2, Capgemini supplied ICE with a tool for identifying and locating foreign nationals.

In a message posted on Sunday on the social network LinkedIn, Capgemini chief executive Aiman Ezzat said he had learned “from public sources” of the signing in December of a contract between the group’s US subsidiary and ICE.

US immigration force ICE to help with security at Winter Olympics in Italy

He said the subsidiary operated independently under US law, with strict separation from the group’s central management.

The subsidiary “takes decisions autonomously, has segregated networks, and…the Capgemini group is unable to access any classified information or classified contracts,” he said, adding that a review of the content and scope of the contract had been launched.

Speaking in the National Assembly, Lescure said he had raised the matter with the company, stressing that this explanation was insufficient and that a group must know what is happening within its subsidiaries.

‘Immediate and public cessation’

Capgemini’s CGT trade union called for “the immediate and public cessation of any collaboration with ICE”, saying such partnerships were contrary to the group’s stated values and made it complicit in serious human rights violations.

Against this backdrop, lawmakers from La France insoumise (LFI) announced on Tuesday that they had tabled a non-binding resolution against ICE.

The text calls on the French government to publicly condemn alleged human rights violations by the agency, request the opening of an international investigation, freeze European assets of ICE agents and officials identified as perpetrators or instigators of abuses, and ban those individuals from entering the European Union.

‘Supremacist militia’

At a press conference at the National Assembly, LFI lawmaker Hadrien Clouet sharply criticised what he described as a “supremacist militia disguised as a federal immigration service”, accusing the agency’s leadership and supervising ministers of guaranteeing impunity for its agents.

“It is time for France to assume its responsibilities,” Clouet said, also deploring the fact that “private French companies collaborate and work with ICE”, referring to press reports about Capgemini’s US subsidiary developing software to detect and locate foreign nationals.

LFI parliamentary leader Mathilde Panot said her group hoped the resolution would be adopted.

The federal immigration police and border police have been implicated in the deaths of two demonstrators shot dead in Minneapolis, Minnesota, prompting a wave of outrage in the United States.

According to the city’s mayor, federal agents deployed there were due to begin leaving the city on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump sought to ease tensions.

An ICE spokesperson told AFP that federal agents would also be deployed on support missions abroad, including in Italy for the Winter Olympic Games, scheduled to take place from 6 to 22 February.

France will stage a prominent display of European solidarity on Wednesday, with President Emmanuel Macron welcoming Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen to Paris for talks focused on Arctic security and Greenland’s long-term development.

The Élysée Palace said the meeting would take the form of a “working lunch”, during which Macron will “reaffirm European solidarity and France’s support for Denmark, Greenland, their sovereignty and their territorial integrity”.

The talks come just days after United States President Donald Trump backed away from threats to seize Greenland, a vast, mineral-rich Arctic island that is an autonomous territory within the Danish kingdom.

Macron warns of ‘cascading consequences’ if US seizes Greenland

United European front

According to the French presidency, discussions will focus on security challenges in the Arctic as well as the economic and social development of Greenland – areas where France and the European Union have signalled their readiness to provide concrete support.

Paris has already positioned itself at the forefront of this diplomatic effort and is planning to open a consulate in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, next month.

The Paris meeting caps a busy diplomatic tour for Frederiksen and Nielsen, who have spent the week rallying European allies amid heightened tensions over the island.

On Tuesday they were in Hamburg and Berlin for talks with German leaders, including Chancellor Friedrich Merz, before heading to Paris.

Their push for European backing underlines a broader effort to reinforce cooperation within the continent, at a time when traditional alliances have been tested.

Danish officials have said the meetings will address the “current foreign policy situation” and the need for a stronger, more self-reliant Europe.

Europe won’t yield to ‘bullies’ Macron warns as Trump pushes Greenland claim

From confrontation to diplomacy

Trump had earlier this month openly threatened to take control of Greenland and to impose tariffs on European countries – including France, Germany and the United Kingdom – should they oppose him.

The rhetoric alarmed European capitals and raised questions about the stability of long-standing alliances.

Those tensions eased somewhat last week when Trump publicly ruled out taking Greenland by force, after meeting with NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte.

The two men spoke of an agreed “framework”, although no details have been disclosed. Trump has since said the US had secured broad access to Greenland through cooperation with NATO. The alliance’s officials have stressed the need for members to strengthen Arctic security in response to perceived threats from Russia and China.

From Copenhagen and Nuuk, the message has been firm but measured. Denmark and Greenland have said they are open to discussing a wide range of issues with Washington, from defence to economic cooperation, but insist that their red lines on sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected.

(with newswires)

At least 32 elderly people in France were found dead in their homes in 2025 weeks, months or even years after they had died – a stark illustration of what one charity describes as the most extreme form of social isolation.

The figures were published on Tuesday by the charity Petits Frères des Pauvres, which compiled the cases from reports in regional media.

The deaths were recorded in towns and cities across France – including Évreux, Nice, Le Mans, and Montpellier – and are described by the organisation as “the ultimate consequences of extreme loneliness”.

Some of the cases underline just how invisible many elderly people have become. In Bordeaux, the skeleton of a woman in her seventies was discovered in her garden in March 2025, nearly two years after her death.

In the suburb of Montrouge, south of Paris, a decomposed body was found in a social housing studio in September – three years after the man had died – when a bailiff entered the flat as part of an eviction procedure, according to Le Parisien daily.

Half a million elderly people live in isolation in France – report

An underestimated phenomenon

The charity believes the true scale of the problem is far greater.

“This figure is underestimated,” it said, arguing that France currently lacks any reliable way of measuring the number of so-called solitary deaths each year.

While many public bodies, community organisations and funeral service professionals share that assessment, “no one is able to reliably quantify the annual number of lonely deaths in France,” the charity noted.

After failing to persuade public authorities to act, Petits Frères des Pauvres now plans to create its own national “observatory of solitary deaths” by the end of the year.

Yann Lasnier, the charity’s general delegate, told reporters that a scientific committee would be established in the first half of 2026.

It will bring together researchers, sociologists, geriatricians, frontline workers, representatives of local authorities and funeral directors, with the aim of developing a shared framework for understanding the phenomenon.

Two million French seniors live in poverty: charity report

Towards a national observatory

One of the first challenges, Lasnier said, is agreeing on a definition. Solitary deaths can include people who die on the streets, unclaimed bodies in morgues or hospitals, and those who pass away at home with no one present at their funeral – categories that are currently treated separately.

The committee will be tasked with establishing a common definition, exploring ways to prevent and detect such deaths earlier, and identifying practical solutions.

The charity estimates that around 750,000 elderly people in France have no meaningful social ties, with little or no interaction across five key social networks – family, friends, work, associations and neighbours.

The future observatory aims to collect reliable data on how often solitary deaths occur and in what circumstances, analyse risk factors, and make concrete recommendations to public authorities and social organisations.

Early findings already suggest an over-representation of men, particularly among those aged between 60 and 75.

By shining a clearer light on an often hidden tragedy, the charity hopes the initiative will not only improve understanding, but also help reconnect older people before isolation becomes fatal.

(With newswires)

After a year marked by a lack of major successes for French cinema in 2025, the César Academy revealed on Wednesday the list of nominees for its 51st ceremony.

Nouvelle Vague, a film by American director Richard Linklater, leads the way with ten nominations, including for Best Film and Best Director, followed by three other films with eight nominations. 

Filmed in black and white and in French, Nouvelle Vague brings back to life several legendary figures of French cinema such as Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut and Jean-Paul Belmondo.

Linklater, a leading figure in American independent cinema (Boyhood, the Before trilogy), follows the director’s first steps on the set of Breathless, a masterpiece of cinema shot in 1959 in twenty days with only a rough draft of the script.

For his first film role, Guillaume Marbeck, who plays the young Godard, was nominated for the César Award for Most Promising Actor – a prize he won at last week’s Lumières Awards.

Postcard from Cannes #3: Surfing a wave of French cinematic nostalgia

Carine Tardieu’s feature film L’Attachement (The ties that bind us), which tells the story of a relationship that develops between a woman in her fifties and a recently bereaved family living on the same floor, has received eight nominations, as have Dominik Moll’s Dossier 137 (Case 137) and Stéphane Demoustier’s L’Inconnu de la Grande Arche (The Great Arch).

La Petite Dernière (The Little Sister), directed by Hafsi Herzi, received seven nominations, including Best Promising Actress for Nadia Melliti.  

It Was Just an Accident by Jafar Panahi, winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year and representing France at the Oscars, only received two nominations.

Cannes 2025 ends on a high as director Jafar Panahi claims the Palme d’Or

Leïla Bekhti, the actress in one of the few box office hits of the year, Ma Mère, Dieu et Sylvie Vartan (My Mother, God and Sylvie Vartan) (1.5 million tickets sold), is nominated in the “Best actress” category. 

And with his flamboyant portrayal of photographer François-Marie Banier in La femme la plus riche du monde (The Richest Women in the World), Laurent Lafitte is nominated in the “Best actor” category. 

A César d’Honneur will also be awarded to US actor Jim Carrey for his career.

The ceremony, initially scheduled for 27 February, has been brought forward to 26 February, according to a statement released by French broadcaster Canal+. Camille Cottin, the actress best known for 10% TV series, will chair the event.

(with newswires)

The death in August 2025 of Raphael Graven live on the 200,000-follower video channel he shared with two other streamers on the Australian platform Kick shocked France and drew the ire of government ministers.

Owen Cenazandotti, 26, and Safine Hamadi, 23, have denied responsibility for 46-year-old Graven’s death, which followed a 12-day live marathon of physical and verbal abuse against him in August last year.

But the two men are now being held on charges including assault, incitement to hatred, abuse of a vulnerable person and recording and broadcasting violent images, said Nice prosecutor Damien Martinelli.

Investigators probe death of French streamer broadcast live

Prosecutors first opened an investigation against the group in December 2024, months before Graven’s death, when they encountered footage of him being insulted and struck, having his hair pulled and being shot with paintball guns.

‘Trash streaming’

Graven – known online as Jean Pormanove, or JP – had built a following on the platform by participating in live “trash streaming”, in which he was physically assaulted or humiliated as viewers watched live and sometimes donated money.

All three streamers were then held in January last year but released after they insisted the on-screen violence was all part of “an act aimed at creating buzz so as to earn money”.

Graven died on 18 August during a livestream in which he was struck and insulted by his younger colleagues, though an autopsy has since ruled out “intervention by a third party” playing a role in his death.

Ministers in August announced separate legal action against the Kick platform, which is also under investigation by Paris prosecutors.

(with AFP)

Saying he wants to lower the price of medication in the United States, President Donald Trump has been putting pressure on French President Emmanuel Macron to raise the cost of an unspecified pill in France. But it’s the French public health system, not Macron, that negotiates with drug companies – keeping prices for patients in check. Sociologist Theo Bourgeron believes that Trump’s demand is not about improving care, but pressuring countries to weaken price controls and boost US pharmaceutical profits. (Listen @0′)

More than a third of the French claim they’re not drinking this month to mark Dry January. It’s part of a wider trend of falling alcohol consumption in France, particularly among young adults. But in a country famed for its wine and apéro culture, sobriety can be seen as irritating and “un-French”. We visit Le Social Bar in Paris, which has gone alcohol-free for January to show you don’t need to be tipsy to have a good time. Author Claire Touzard talks about her journey towards sobriety and why alcohol, far from encouraging conviviality, can end up excluding people. And journalist Vincent Edin argues that while France is becoming slightly more tolerant of non-drinkers, successive governments still struggle to recognise that alcoholism is a problem. (Listen @20’15”)

France conducted its final nuclear test on 27 January 1996, ending a programme that has left a lasting legacy of health problems in French Polynesia, the archipelago in the South Pacific that for 30 years was France’s nuclear testing ground. Hinamoeura Morgant-Cross, a member of the French Polynesian parliament, says the consequences of the testing have been “really traumatic for our people”. (Listen @13’50”)

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompeani.

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

Within days, Syrian government troops swept aside the SDF and took control of vast areas of territory. The offensive followed the collapse of talks on integrating the SDF into the Syrian Army.

Washington’s shift proved decisive.

“The game changer was the American permission, the American green light to [Syrian President] Ahmed al-Sharaa. That opened the door to Damascus launching the offensive,” said Syria expert Fabrice Balanche, of Lyon University.

The SDF had been a key US ally in the fight against Islamic State and relied on American support to deter an attack by Damascus. But with Islamic State now weakened and Sharaa joining Washington’s alliance against the group, the Kurds lost their leverage.

“Trump viewed the relationship as temporary, not a true alliance,” said Balanche, a municipal councillor with France’s rightwing Republicans party.

French journalist arrested in Turkey while covering pro-Kurdish protest released

US withdrawal and rapid collapse

As Washington ended its support, many Arab tribes quit the Kurdish-led coalition. They aligned with Damascus, allowing government forces to advance quickly in Arab-majority areas.

Several prisons holding Islamic State members fell to government control, with reports that hundreds escaped. Fears of wider instability pushed Washington to broker a ceasefire between the SDF and the Syrian government.

Under the deal, SDF forces are to disband and merge into Syrian government units, a move backed by Ankara.

Turkey has strongly supported the Damascus offensive. It accuses Kurdish elements within the SDF of links to the PKK, which has fought a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.

“Turkey is certainly behind all these operations,” said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. “The Turkish defence minister, General Chief of Staff, has recently been in Syria. So there is probably a common action.”

Turkey blocks calls for regime change in Iran as protests escalate

Kurdish tensions inside Turkey

The assault has triggered protests by members of Turkey’s large Kurdish minority in support of Syrian Kurds. It has also coincided with talks between the pro-Kurdish Dem Party, the Turkish government and the outlawed PKK aimed at ending the conflict.

The PKK declared a ceasefire and pledged to disband last year, but talks stalled months ago. Ankara has blamed the deadlock on the SDF’s refusal to join the PKK’s disarmament commitment.

The fighting in Syria could deepen Kurdish disillusionment with the peace process, political analyst Sezin Oney, of the Politikyol news portal, warned.

“They pictured this peace process as a big win for the PKK that finally all these rights, all the political rights, cultural rights, everything would be recognized, and a new era would begin,” Oney said.

“It’s not that, and it won’t be that there is nobody in Turkey on the side of the government who was envisioning such a change or anything of the sort.”

The Dem Party had few options left. “The only thing Dem can do is rally the Kurdish public in Turkey, and it is just going to be disbursed,” Oney added.

Syrian army offensive in Aleppo draws support from Turkey

Risk of wider bloodshed

Turkish police have broken up many pro-SDF protests using water cannon and gas, carrying out hundreds of arrests.

French journalist Raphael Boukandoura was detained and later released, in a move rights groups said was meant to intimidate foreign media.

Without US intervention, Damascus would push further into Kurdish-held areas, Balanche warned. “Sharaa will seize everything.”

The risk of large-scale violence, he added, was growing in a region marked by tribal rivalries and years of war.

“Northeastern Syria is a very tribal area. The tribal leaders who are mobilizing their groups, their fighters, and they’re attacking,” Balanche said.

“Because of 10 years of civil war, you have a lot of vengeance that was under the table, and now everything is exploding. So it could be very bloody.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This week’s quiz: On 6 December, I asked you a question from Jan van der Made’s article and interview with Claudiu Nasui, a former Romanian economy minister and a current member of parliament in the pro-European Save Romania Union party. You were to re-listen to, or re-read, Jan’s “On NATO’s eastern flank, Romania finds itself at the crux of European security”, and send in the answer to this question: What does Nasui think is the core issue for defence spending? What does he think the EU needs to do?

The answer is, to quote Jan’s article: “It’s also about spending efficiency. We should buy more European – like the SAM-T and other weapon systems – to achieve economies of scale.

For cheap, efficient weapon systems, you need economies of scale, which we won’t get if we don’t buy European. So it’s about more than just investing money – how you invest matters.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by RFI Listeners Club member Debashis Gope from West Bengal, India. Debashis asked: “What is the most precious thing in life?”

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

The winners are: RFI English listener Khondaker Rafiq ul Islam from Naogaon, Bangladesh. Khondakar is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations on your double win, Khondakar.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Najimuddin, the president of the RFI International DX Radio Listeners Club in West Bengal, India; Bithi Begum, a member of the Shetu RFI Listeners Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh, and RFI Listeners Club member Debashish Gope from West Bengal, India. Last but not least, there’s RFI English listener Abdul Mannan from Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh. 

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Vavavoum” by Romane and Stocchelo Rosenberg, performed by the Rosenberg Ensemble; the Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 op. 11 by George Enescu, performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Cristian Măcelaru; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Doktharake Julideh” by Mohammad Reza Shajarian and Sa’di, performed by Mohammad Reza Shajarian and the Aref Ensemble.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read Paul Myers’ article “Senegal outwit Morocco to claim 2025 Africa Cup of Nations”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 16 February to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 21 February podcast. When you enter, be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

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

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Over 21 million Ugandan citizens were called to the polls last Thursday in the country’s general elections.

Incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, 81, stood for a seventh term following 40 years in power. He faced seven challengers, including Robert Kyagulanyi, known to most as Bobi Wine, who garnered substantial support but fell short of unseating the veteran leader. Museveni was declared the winner on Saturday 17 January, securing over 76 per cent of the vote.

In this edition of Spotlight on Africa, you’ll hear from Bobi Wine’s international lawyer, Robert Amsterdam, about the formidable obstacles facing opposition candidates during the campaign.

‘He represents a population desperate for change’, Bobi Wine’s lawyer tells RFI

Jeffrey Smith, executive director of the think tank Vanguard Africa, joins us to examine the aftermath of these elections and the future of politics in Uganda, and more broadly across East Africa and other parts of the continent where democracy is severely undermined.

Somaliland, Israel and the Horn of Africa

The state of Israel recognised the independence of Somaliland from Somalia in the final days of December, prompting widespread concern and questions in an already turbulent region, and drawing largely condemnatory responses.

The risky calculations behind Israel’s recognition of Somaliland

Faisal Ali is a Somali British independent journalist. He looks with us at the motivations behind this move for every state involved. 

Episode edited by Melissa Chemam and mixed Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is produced by Radio France Internationale’s English language service.

One year after Donald Trump returned to the White House, his second administration has wasted little time putting trade at the forefront of policy.

Tariffs, the US president insists, are delivering an economic renaissance. Inflation has supposedly all but vanished. The stock market is booming. Trillions of dollars are said to be pouring into the Treasury, with the promise of tariff-funded cheques soon landing in American letterboxes. Critics, Trump has declared, are “fools”.

Strip away the slogans, however, and the picture looks far less flattering.

According to Gerald Friedman, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Trump’s tariff-driven revival is built on shaky foundations – economically incoherent, politically vindictive and geopolitically destabilising.

EU readies response to new US tariffs, France braces for fallout

The numbers don’t add up

From an economist’s perspective, Friedman says, Trump’s claims barely survive contact with reality. “Almost nothing” in the president’s upbeat assessment is true. Yes, the stock market is high, but only because a small group of technology giants dominates the indices. Remove them, and the wider market is essentially flat.

The idea that tariffs are generating vast new revenues is equally illusory. Tariffs face an unavoidable contradiction: set them high enough to block imports and they raise little money; set them low enough to generate revenue and they fail to protect domestic industry. Either way, the notion that they are filling federal coffers with “trillions” is “fantasy”.

Friedman notes that “virtually no economists outside of those being paid through Donald Trump … support his tariff regime”, particularly given its random and unsystematic application. What is billed as strategic economic policy looks more like improvisation.

Trump’s first 100 days: Trade, diplomacy and walking the transatlantic tightrope

Illusion of tariff-funded cheques

The administration’s proposal to issue tariff-funded “refunds” – between $1,000 and $2,000 per household in early 2026 – has clear populist appeal. Economically, Friedman argues, it makes little sense.

The US already runs a federal deficit of roughly $1.7 trillion a year, around 6 per cent of GDP. Washington does not need tariffs to send out cheques; it can simply borrow more. The real question is whether it should, particularly after extending large tax cuts for the wealthy that continue to inflate the deficit.

There is a deeper irony. Tariffs, Friedman points out, already constitute “the biggest tax increase as a share of GDP that this country has had since the early 1990s”, adding roughly $1,500 a year to household costs through higher prices. Refunding some of that money would merely hand back what had just been taken – while leaving the underlying economic damage untouched.

Inflation, eggs and everyday living

Trump has repeatedly pointed to falling egg prices as proof that inflation is under control. Friedman underlines that egg prices surged because of bird flu, not economic policy, and fell as the outbreak eased. They are down by about half, not by the 85 per cent the president boasts about – “one of the smaller lies”, as Friedman puts it.

Elsewhere, tariffs are doing exactly what economists expect: pushing prices up. Imports such as coffee and bananas cannot realistically be replaced by domestic production. Taxing them feeds directly into the cost of living. Households are paying more, not less.

The impact does not stop at consumer prices. Retaliation and uncertainty are quietly undermining export industries. China has cut back on US soybean imports, hurting farmers. Canada is actively reducing its reliance on the US market, deepening ties with Europe and China.

Even sectors untouched by tariffs are suffering. Higher education – one of America’s largest export earners – is losing foreign students as visas tighten and the country’s tourism has also slumped.

The combined effect, Friedman warns, is “higher prices and a reduction in employment and wages… ultimately, devastating to the US economy”.

Europe’s ‘Truman Show’ moment: is it time to walk off Trump’s set?

Gunboat diplomacy, with grudges attached

For Friedman, Trump’s economic policy cannot be separated from his personality. Tariffs have become instruments of pressure and punishment, often driven by personal vendettas rather than strategic calculation. Hostility towards Canada’s former prime minister Justin Trudeau, for example, owed as much to personal dislike as to trade policy.

This is where economics merges with geopolitics. The US, Friedman argues, is drifting away from the postwar, rules-based order it once championed towards something far older and harsher – “pre-1940”, rather than merely pre-1945. Trade policy is wielded like a weapon, diplomacy reduced to threat and coercion.

“Nobody wants to be the one who sticks his head up,” to speak out, Friedman says. Corporate leaders and officials see what happens to dissenters and keep their heads down for fear of investigations, legal costs and political retaliation. 

Occupy Wall Street protestors clash with police outside New York Stock Exchange

A symptom of deeper failures

None of this, Friedman stresses, emerged from nowhere. Echoing arguments made by Greek economist and former left-wing finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, he sees Trump as both cause and symptom. Decades of rising inequality, deindustrialisation and attacks on unions hollowed out large parts of the working class, particularly in the US and Europe.

The 2008 financial crisis was explosive. Banks were rescued, executives kept their bonuses, and almost nobody went to jail.

The lesson, Friedman says, was clear: the powerful play by different rules. Regions once loyal to centre-left parties – coal country in West Virginia, manufacturing towns across the Midwest – became some of Trump’s strongest supporters.

Trump did not invent these grievances, but he has channelled them into a politics driven less by repair than by ego and confrontation.

Trump says Venezuela’s Maduro captured in ‘large scale’ US strike

Judging Trump in 2026

So how should Trump’s second presidency be judged as it heads into 2026? Friedman offers a stark metric. Ignore the rhetoric and watch the behaviour of those with real power. Do Republican lawmakers rediscover a spine? Do corporate leaders decide that long-term stability matters more than short-term fear?

If they do not, the outlook is bleak. “It’s not only the America First agenda,” Friedman says, “it’s Trump’s personal, ego-driven agenda.”

Protests may continue to swell, but without resistance from political and economic elites, the consequences will stretch far beyond the US.

In 2026, the results will be difficult to spin away. Tariffs promise strength and sovereignty. What they are delivering, Friedman argues, is higher prices, weaker alliances and a dangerous slide towards a world the US once helped consign to history.

Since protests began across Iran almost three weeks ago, Turkey has tried to play down the scale of the unrest. It has distanced itself from Western allies calling for regime change and avoided offering explicit support for those demands.

The protests began on 28 December after a currency collapse triggered demonstrations by merchants and traders in Tehran. The unrest quickly spread nationwide. Activists say more than 2,000 protesters have been killed.

Alongside Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar, Turkey has lobbied Washington against any military response to the killings. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said such a move would worsen the situation.

“We oppose military intervention against Iran; Iran must resolve its own problems,” Fidan said. “We want the issue resolved through dialogue.”

France summons Iran envoy over ‘unrestrained’ protest crackdown

Fear of regional collapse

According to The Guardian newspaper, US President Donald Trump’s decision to step back from attacking Iran was influenced by Turkey and its Arab allies – who warned of regional chaos if an attack went ahead.

Turkey fears that Iran could descend into civil war similar to Iraq after the collapse of its regime, said Serhan Afacan, head of the Ankara-based Center for Iranian Studies, adding the consequences would be more severe due to Iran’s size and diversity.

“Iran has a population of about 90 million, including many ethnic minorities such as Turks, Kurds, Arabs and Baluchis,” Afacan explained.

“If a conflict erupts among these groups, it could result in a prolonged civil war. Any resulting immigration from Iran to Turkey could reach millions.”

Turkey and Iran unite against Israel as regional power dynamics shift

PKK security fears

Turkey already hosts about three million refugees. Experts say Ankara’s biggest security concern is the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has fought Turkey for an independent Kurdish state and has an Iranian affiliate, PJAK.

Although the PKK announced a ceasefire last year and pledged to disband, Ankara fears unrest in Iran could give the group new opportunities, said Iranian expert Bilgehan Alagoz, of Marmara University.

“Day by day, we have started to see the PKK groups in certain cities of Iran demanding some separatist demands, and this is the main concern for Turkey,” he said.

Ankara also accuses Israel of exploiting the situation in Iran.

“Israel has targeted all these PKK groups and tried to motivate the PKK groups inside Iran,” Alagoz said. “Any instability inside Iran can create a space for the PKK.”

Fidan has also accused Israel of manipulating the protests.

Turkey is already confronting another PKK-linked group in Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces, which controls large parts of the country. Ankara accuses Israel of supporting the SDF, adding Iran to a broader Israeli-Turkish regional rivalry.

France’s Iranian diaspora divided over deadly protests back home

Energy pressure

Turkey could also clash with Washington over Iran if the protests continue. Trump has warned that countries trading with Tehran could face 25 percent tariffs.

Iran supplies Turkey with about one-fifth of its gas needs, according to Atilla Yesilada, an analyst at the Global Source Partners think tank. “Iran pumps 10 billion cubic metres of gas to Turkey every year, roughly one-fifth of total consumption,” he said.

That supply could theoretically be replaced by liquefied natural gas imports, but Yesilada warned that Turkey is already struggling to cut its dependence on Russia, its main energy supplier.

“Combine this with increasing American and EU pressure to cut gas purchases from Russia, and Turkey is in a very difficult situation,” he said.

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.