The confirmed deaths came on Petite-Terre, the smaller of Mayotte’s two major islands, a security source told AFP.

Also on Petite-Terre, the Pamandzi airport “suffered major damage, especially to the control tower,” acting Transport Minister Francois Durovray said on social media.

Air traffic “will be restored initially with military aid planes. Ships are on the way to ensure resupply,” he added.

Across Mayotte, France’s poorest department 500 kilometres (310 miles) east of Mozambique, “many of us have lost everything,” said prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville.

Chido had proved to be “the most violent and destructive cyclone we’ve seen since 1934,” he added.

France’s newly-installed Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, who has yet to name his cabinet, will hold a crisis meeting in Paris on Saturday evening, his office said.

Mayotte’s alert level has been lowered from violet — the highest- — to red to allow emergency responders to leave their bases.

But “the cyclone is not over,” prefect Bieuville warned, urging Mayotte’s roughly 320,000 people to remain “locked down”.

Communications with Mayotte are largely interrupted.

A resident on the main island of Grande Terre, Ibrahim Mcolo, had earlier described fallen electricity masts, roofs ripped off homes and trees uprooted as the first gusts struck.

“There is no more electricity,” he told AFP from his home, where he had barricaded himself in.

“Even in our house, which is well protected, the water is getting in. I can feel it trembling.”

“It is a time of emergency,” President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, telling Mayotte residents that “the whole country is by your side” and thanking emergency responders.

Acting Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau posted that 140 fresh troops and firefighters would be sent to the scene on Sunday to help with recovery, more than doubling the deployment sent earlier in the week.

Clearing the roads

Retailleau’s office said he had spoken to the prefect by phone and ordered “full mobilisation” of police and security services to help residents and “prevent any possible looting”.

Around 1,600 police are on the ground in Mayotte, they added.

“Technical services are clearing the roads so that emergency responders can get through,” said Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, mayor of Mayotte’s capital Mamoudzou in the north-east of major island Grande-Terre.

“We have enormous material damage,” he told the BFM news channel.

Authorities had turned more than 70 schools and gyms into shelters, urging the 100,000 residents assessed as living in the most vulnerable homes to use them.

Mayotte’s many shanty towns, built on exposed slopes, were especially vulnerable to the high winds, fire union chief Abdoul Karim Ahmed Allaoui told BFM.

The eye of Cyclone Chido swept across the north of the archipelago from east to west on its way towards Mozambique on the African mainland.

It brought gusts of at least 226 kilometres per hour to some places, although weather conditions have “improved rapidly” since the cyclone moved away in late afternoon, weather authority Meteo France said.

Chido remains “extremely dangerous for the coming 18 to 24 hours” and could threaten Mozambique, it added.

More than 15,000 homes in Mayotte were without electricity, acting Environment Minister Agnes-Pannier-Runacher posted on X.

The violet alert posted on X by the local prefecture had ordered “strict lockdown for the whole population, including emergency services” from 7 am, with road traffic also banned and the archipelago’s main airport Dzaoudzi closed.

“It’s an unprecedented event, extremely violent, the winds may exceed 180 kilometres (112 miles) per hour,” Governor Francois-Xavier Bieuville said.

The warning went into force at 7am (4 GMT), two hours before the eye of the storm was due to pass over northern Mayotte.

 (AFP)

The 87-year-old Argentine pontiff will be driven in his Popemobile through Ajaccio, where thousands of faithful are expected to throng the streets, with 2,000 extra security personnel on hand to manage the crowds.

Pope Francis’s one-day trip to Corsica will be the first papal visit to the island, where 90 percent of the population of 350,000 is Catholic, according to the local Church, and where religious traditions remain deeply rooted.

The visit to was championed by the popular and media-friendly Bishop of Ajaccio, Francois-Xavier Bustillo, who was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in September 2023.

“Corsica has been preparing to welcome him for a long time”, Bustillo told French news agency AFP earlier this week. “The diocese is poor, the Corsican region is not rich” but thanks to the generosity of businesses and the faithful “we will pull off a welcome worthy of the pope”, he said.

Anti-Semitic and anti-French graffiti condemned in Corsica

Renovations

The facade of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta of Ajaccio has been repainted for the occasion, and an access ramp is being built to allow Pope Francis, who uses a wheelchair, to enter through the main door.

New pews have just been delivered and yellow and white papal flags have been placed behind the altar.

Near the cathedral, a colourful fresco by Ajaccio artists depicts Pope Francis against a backdrop of stained glass windows and a map of Corsica.

The pope is making the visit for a Catholic conference on “popular religiosity in the Mediterranean”. It will be attended by bishops from the nearby Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia, as well as from Spain and France.

Francis has repeatedly emphasised the value of practising devotion through local, time-honoured traditions such as colourful processions, pilgrimages, songs, dance and feast days.

“Popular piety that knows how to pray creatively, that knows how to sing creatively… is the ‘immune system’ of the Church”, and prevents faith from becoming a dry, intellectual exercise, the Pope said in 2018.

Notre-Dame reopening

Francis, who will celebrate his 88th birthday on 17 December, has been to France twice since becoming head of the worldwide Catholic Church in 2013, visiting Strasbourg and Marseille.

His visit to Corsica comes one week after the grand reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, which he chose not to attend in person.

Instead, he sent a message which was read out during the ceremony. In it, he referred to his opposition to a proposition from the French Ministry of Culture to charge an entry fee for tourists.

The “immense” numbers set to visit the freshly refurbished house of worship should be welcomed “generously and free of charge”, he said.

People who risk drowning at sea ‘must be rescued’, says Pope in Marseille

But he is yet to make an official state visit to France, or to fellow populous European nations such as Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany. The Argentine pontiff prefers visiting smaller or less established Catholic communities, from Malta to Mongolia.

In the Mediterranean, he has favoured islands – Sicily and Greece’s Lesbos – for trips focusing on the priorities of his pontificate, such as the treatment of migrants, the effects of global warming, or dialogue between religions.

Corsica will be the 47th overseas visit for Pope Francis and his third this year, after a long tour of the Asia-Pacific region in early September and a trip to Belgium and Luxembourg the same month.

Pope Francis ends troubled Belgium visit saying church should not hide abuse

(with AFP)

Talks due Sunday between the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to end conflict in the eastern DRC were called off, the Angolan presidency said.

“Contrary to what we expected, the summit will no longer be held today,” the presidency’s media officer Mario Jorge told journalists.

Joao Lourenco, the African Union mediator to end the conflict, was meeting alone with DRC leader Felix Tshisekedi, Jorge said.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame had been expected at the meeting but it was not clear if he was in Angola.

There had been hopes the talks would reach an agreement to end conflict in the eastern DRC, where the Rwanda-backed M23 militia has seized swathes of territory, displacing thousands and triggering a humanitarian crisis.

The Congolese presidency said that negotiations had hit deadlock over a Rwandan demand that DRC hold direct dialogue with the M23 rebels.

Ongoing conflict

Since its reemergence in 2021 the Kigali-backed M23 militia, which claims to defend ethnic Tutsis, has seized swathes of DRC territory, displacing thousands and triggering a humanitarian crisis.

In early August, Angola mediated a fragile truce that stabilised the situation at the front line, but both sides continued to exchange fire and clashes have intensified since late October.

Angolan President Joao Lourenco, appointed by the African Union as a mediator, voiced hope Thursday that the summit in Luanda could lead to a peace deal.

“We are optimistic that this meeting eventually will produce all the signing or the decision for soon signing a long-lasting peace agreement between the two neighbouring countries,” Lourenco said during a visit to South Africa.

Kigali confirmed that Rwandan President Paul Kagame would attend the summit on Sunday, joined by his foreign minister Olivier Nduhungirehe.

The Congolese presidency also confirmed that Felix Tshisekedi would participate, despite the DRC’s previous refusals to negotiate with Rwanda and its calls for international sanctions against its neighbour.

“Our country continues to face persistent rebellions, including the aggression by the Rwandan army and the M23 terrorists,” Tshisekedi said in parliament Wednesday, calling the militants and Rwanda “enemies of the Republic”.

The capital of DRC’s North Kivu province Goma, home to about one million people and another million displaced by war, is now nearly surrounded by M23 rebels and the Rwandan army.

Ninety days

Early in November, the two central African neighbours launched a committee to monitor ceasefire violations, led by Angola and including representatives from both the DRC and Rwanda.

Kinshasa and Kigali a few weeks later approved a concept of operations document setting out the terms by which Rwandan troops will disengage from Congolese territory.

A previous draft dated in August listed the dismantling of a militia created by ethnic Hutus involved in the Rwandan genocide in 1994 as a precondition for Rwanda’s withdrawal.

Often portrayed by Kigali as a threat to its security, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) is one of various disparate militias fighting alongside the Congolese army against the M23.

The August draft was rejected by the DRC, which demanded that the withdrawal occur at the same time as the FDLR’s dismantling.

The final strategic document, seen by AFP, plans for a period of 90 days to “conclude the neutralisation of the FDLR and the lifting of Rwanda’s defensive measures”.

The two presidents last saw each other in October in Paris but did not speak, though they have maintained dialogue through the mediation of Luanda.

Home to a string of rival armed groups, the mineral-rich eastern DRC has been plagued by internal and cross-border violence for the past three decades.

 (AFP)

The blockade, enforced by the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), began on 29 November. 

Léré, roughly 60 kilometres from the Mauritanian border, now faces restricted access, with the effects rippling through the region. 

JNIM‘s strategy mirrors tactics used against other population centres, including a major blockade of Timbuktu city one year ago. 

Supply routes cut 

“Trucks were stuck at the town’s entrance, and eventually turned back,” said several residents of Lere and the surrounding area. 

A regional transporter said the road connecting Léré’s to Niono and further south to the capital, Bamako, had been completely severed.  

Vehicles from Mauritania face the same issue.  

“Goods must be transported by pinasse boats from Mopti via the river,” said the transporter, adding that rising water levels have further complicated the situation. 

Multiple local sources confirmed the severity of what they described as a “total blockade”. 

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Market impact 

While the city has avoided complete shortages, residents report scarcities of essential items including milk, pasta and fuel, along with rising prices.  

Some trucks from Algeria have reportedly managed to enter the city, according to certain sources. 

The blockade’s effects extend to the regional capital Timbuktu, particularly affecting civilians.  

“It has greatly reduced bus movement,” said a Timbuktu community leader.

Vehicles travelling to southern Mali must now take a lengthy detour via Douentza and Mopti. 

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Official silence 

Local and national authorities have remained silent on the crisis.  

“They’re treating it as a non-event,” said one Timbuktu resident. 

Despite the official silence, at least one military escort was organised last week to secure vehicles, according to multiple witnesses.  

The blockade follows an earlier JNIM attack on 23 November, when militants destroyed the Dabi bridge connecting Lere to Niafunke. 

Neither the Malian army nor the Timbuktu governorate responded to RFI’s requests for comment. 

This story was translated from the original version in French by David Baché

The project, overseen by Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi, includes 22 short films spanning documentary, animation, and drama.

The films aim to share the voices of people living through the conflict in Gaza, offering a glimpse into their fears, dreams and hopes.

“The idea for From Ground Zero came immediately, in the second month of this ongoing war, to try to pick up films and stories from Gaza,” Masharawi told RFI.

He explained that the goal was to give filmmakers in Gaza the chance to make their own films.

As a recent report from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) underlines the toll of the war on Palestinian journalists, RFI spoke with him and his team in Paris.

RSF says Israel responsible for one-third of journalist deaths in 2024

The shorts, ranging from three to six minutes, are “a mix between fiction, documentaries, video art and even experimental films,” he said.

“We are filmmakers, we are dealing with cinema. Even if it’s a catastrophe, it’s very tough with all the massacres. But we were also trying to make cinema, to add life, to be optimistic and to add hope.”

The 112-minute collection is presented as a feature film in two parts. Contributors include Reema Mahmoud, Muhammad Al Sharif, Tamer Nijim and Alaa Islam Ayou.

From film festivals to the Oscars

After premiering at the Toronto Film Festival in September, From Ground Zero toured film festivals across Europe, North Africa and South West Asia in November and December.

Screenings have taken place at the French Arab Film Festival near Paris, the Bristol Palestine Film Festival and in London. Additional showings are scheduled for Morocco and Egypt.

Earlier this year, Masharawi held an outdoor screening of the film during the Cannes Film Festival to protest its exclusion from the event.

Now, the collection has been selected to represent Palestine at the Oscars in March 2025, with hopes of a wider release in the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

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Emerging voices

The project was made possible by the Masharawi Fund for Gaza Filmmakers, launched in November 2023 to support creative talent from the territory.

Masharawi, who is from Gaza, is one of the first Palestinian filmmakers to have directed cinema projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.

His first film, Travel Document, was released in 1986, followed by The Shelter in 1989 and Long Days in Gaza in 1991.

The executive producer of the film, Laura Nikolov, who is French and based in France, is travelling with Masharawi to promote the film around the world.

“It’s a very unique project,” she told RFI. “We have now translated it into 10 different languages. We made this to allow the voices of the Gazan people [to be heard] and it’s working. I think we’ve reached more than 60, perhaps 80 screenings and festivals.”

With its selection for the Oscars, Nikolov is hopeful that the film will reach even wider audiences.

“This means it will be shown in cinemas in the United States,” she said, adding that they hope to expand its reach across Europe and the Middle East.

An electoral college, controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party and boycotted by the opposition, elected Mikheil Kavelashvili with 224 votes as the country’s next figurehead leader for a five-year term, central election commission chair Giorgi Kalandarishvili said.

The sitting president Salome Zurabishvili has declared the vote “illegitimate” and refused to step down.

Protests

The Black Sea nation has been in turmoil since the governing Georgian Dream party claimed victory in contested October parliamentary elections.

Its decision last month to delay European Union membership talks ignited a fresh wave of mass rallies.

The opposition has denounced Saturday’s election as “illegitimate” and said sitting President Salome Zurabishvili remains the country’s sole legitimate leader.

Pro-Western Zurabishvili, who is at loggerheads with Georgian Dream, has refused to step down and is demanding new parliamentary elections, paving the way for a constitutional showdown.

On Saturday morning, protesters began gathering outside the parliament building, which was cordoned off by police forces.

“Georgia never loses its sense of humour, celebrating the election of a footballer as president,” Zurabishvili wrote on social media.

She shared video footage of protesters playing football in the snow — a clear jab at Kavelashvili.

One of the protesters, 40-year-old Natia Apkhazava, said she arrived early “to protect our European future”.

“Our (parliamentary) election was rigged. We need new elections,” she said.

“We have been protesting here for 16 days… and we’ll keep fighting for our European future.”

Protests are scheduled to take place at a dozen of different locations in Tbilisi.

Thousands of pro-EU demonstrators filled the streets of the capital Tbilisi on Friday, before gathering outside parliament for the 16th consecutive day.

A former diplomat, Zurabishvili is a hugely popular figure among protesters, who view her as a beacon of Georgia’s European aspirations. 

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‘Unprecedented constitutional crisis’ 

“What will happen in parliament tomorrow is a parody. It will be an event entirely devoid of legitimacy, unconstitutional and illegitimate,” Zurabishvili told a press conference on Friday.

Opposition groups accuse Georgian Dream of rigging the October 26 parliamentary vote, backsliding on democracy and moving Tbilisi closer to Russia — all at the expense of the Caucasus nation’s constitutionally mandated bid to join the European Union.

Kavelashvili, 53 — the sole candidate for the largely ceremonial post — is known for his vehement anti-West diatribes and opposition to LGBTQ rights.

Georgian Dream scrapped direct presidential elections in 2017.

With Zurabishvili refusing to leave office, opposition lawmakers boycotting parliament and protests showing no signs of abating, Kavelashvili is likely to see his presidency undermined from the onset.

One author of Georgia’s constitution, Vakhtang Khmaladze, has argued that all decisions by the new parliament are void.

This is because it ratified the mandates of newly elected lawmakers before the outcome of a court case filed by the incumbent president contesting the elections, he explained.

“Georgia is facing an unprecedented constitutional crisis,” Khmaladze told AFP.  

It remains unclear how the government will react to Zurabishvili’s refusal to step down after her successor is inaugurated on December 29.

Western hesitation

Police have fired tear gas and water cannons during more than two weeks of demonstrations and arrested more than 400 protesters, according to the Social Justice Centre NGO.

On Friday, Amnesty International said protesters had faced “brutal dispersal tactics, arbitrary detention and torture.”

There have also been raids on the offices of opposition parties and arrests of their leaders.

As international condemnation of the police crackdown mounted, French President Emmanuel Macron told Georgians their “European dream must not be extinguished”.

“We are by your side in supporting your European and democratic aspirations,” he said in a video address.

Earlier this week, Macron called Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili — the tycoon widely considered to be Georgia’s real power broker.

His decision to call Ivanishvili rather than Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze is indicative of the West’s hesitancy to recognise the legitimacy of Georgian Dream’s new government.

Washington has also imposed fresh sanctions on Georgian officials, barring visas for around 20 people accused of “undermining democracy in Georgia”, including ministers and parliamentarians.

(AFP)

Schuster is a member of a dwindling ethnic German minority in Romania, descendants of Saxons who were recruited by the Hungarian kings to settle in Transylvania from the 12th century onwards.

“We had to save the school, which was in ruins,” Schuster, who is now in her 60s, told French news agency AFP. Alongside her husband Michael Lisske, she has been carefully restoring the historical heart of Cincsor for more than a decade, and transforming some of the buildings into guesthouses in a mission to revive the village.

“Other buildings have also been restored and the village once again revolves around its Protestant church,” which still holds services for its seven remaining parishioners, Schuster said.

Britain’s King Charles III – who claims descent from the notorious 15th-century Transylvanian prince known as Vlad the Impaler – also owns a number of properties nearby, renting out some to tourists.

Transylvania gears up for King Charles III’s first post-coronation visit

‘Belated victory’

Before the Second World War, Romania was home to a Saxon community of up to 300,000 people. Today, there are only around 10,000 remaining, many of them having emigrated in the 1970s and 80s to escape persecution under the Communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu.

Transylvania’s abandoned Saxon villages were gradually repopulated by Romanians, who often had no connection to the region’s 800-year history.

But the unique atmosphere of these historic villages at the foot of the Carpathian mountains never fully faded, with many of their fortress-like churches listed as Unesco World Heritage sites.

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“In the 15th century, they fortified their churches so they could serve as a refuge for the inhabitants in the event of an attack,” explained 71-year-old Lisske. “The Hungarians had promised the Saxons freedom in exchange for bringing them here, so they had no royal protection,” the former history teacher said.

For Schuster, preserving the Saxon heritage symbolises a “belated victory” over “inhumane and contemptuous” treatment during Ceausescu’s Communist rule that “did everything to erase it”.

Tourism boost

Schuster’s year-round guesthouses have become the village’s main employer, she said, boosting tourism in a region heavily dependent on agriculture and farming.

Ramona Amariei is one of 15 locals who has found work there as a chambermaid and waitress, and a seamstress during the off-season. “There is no discrimination,” said Amariei, who has Roma roots, and feels proud to be part of the “family”. “Mrs Schuster is trying to integrate pretty much all types of people.”

Adrian Boscu, a chef, says he is committed to putting a modern twist on “old Saxon recipes” to revive them, incorporating local produce as much as he can.

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The guesthouse business has been booming and the idea is spreading, with other nearby villages also restoring their centuries-old heritage to revitalise their economies. 

“I think it’s catching on,” said Schuster. “There are lots of people who have interesting projects.”

The house next door has also been renovated. Its Romanian owner, Nicolas Mioque, returned from France after 57 years. Schuster and her husband “have breathed new life into this village,” he said, noting that Cincsor without the guesthouses would be “sad”.

This dramatic end to the Assad family’s half-century rule over Syria marks a significant shift in the region’s balance of power, with analysts predicting that Turkey’s influence in Syria could now grow at the expense of its regional rivals.

“Turkey emerged… by proving its relevance, importance and its strength… out of these latest developments in Syria… as the clean, clear winner,” says Aydin Selcen, a former senior Turkish diplomat who served in the region and is now a foreign policy analyst for Turkey’s independent Medyascope news outlet.

“And Iran is definitely the loser. And Russia also is pushed aside.”

Success of rebel groups in Syria advances Turkish agenda

The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army played a role in the overthrow of Assad. However, it was the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahir Al Sham – or HTS – that led the offensive. And that, analysts say, will be a cause for apprehension in Ankara.

“Despite all the jubilation of the Turkish press and the government and the circles that support the government about the collapse of the Assad regime in general, I would think there is some uneasiness,” says Hasan Unal, professor of international relations at Ankara’s Baskent University.   

“I can see it through lots of problematic issues that would be coming out of what’s going to happen,” he added, “because of the ideological Islamist leanings of the incumbent government and… the Islamic jihadist terrorist groups associated with it.”

Support and protection

However, Turkey may not be entirely without influence over Syria’s new Islamist leaders. For years, it provided support and protection to the Idlib region of Syria, where HTS was based. 

Analyst Aydin Selcen suggests Ankara could retain significant influence if recent statements by HTS leadership calling for an inclusive Syrian government are honoured.  

“If pragmatism prevails, that’s perhaps where Turkey and Ankara may come in. And also Ankara definitely will be viewed as a positive outside contributor by these new Syrian rulers, because of the fact that we here in Turkey are hosting over 5 million Syrians and also that Turkey helped protect Idlib.”

Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan, addressing an international conference in Doha last Sunday, 8 December, said that Turkey is committed to helping secure a politically inclusive new Syria. 

Turkey’s Syrian refugees 

A stable Syria is also key to Ankara’s goal of sending home millions of Syrian refugees now living in Turkey. Public resentment over their presence has grown, as the country has grappled with an economic crisis over the past few years.

However, such a return may not be simple, predicts Sezin Oney, a commentator on Turkey’s independent Politikyol news site.

“The refugees, the Syrians you have in Turkey, are mostly women and children. So it has to be a [new Syrian] government, an administration, friendly to women and children, especially women.”

“But we don’t know if these Islamic jihadist groups will be really friendly towards these groups,” he added.

“There might be a Taliban 2.0 arising just across the border; we don’t know what kind of administration HTS and surrounding groups will be. It’s a big security risk; I don’t see Syria settling down to become a safe clash-free place.” 

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For now, Erdogan is celebrating the overthrow of Assad as a Turkish triumph, with European leaders and Washington queuing up to speak to him as Turkey positions itself as a key player in shaping Syria’s future.

But the sudden demise of the Assad regime underscores how quickly fortunes can change in the region, and the future of Syria – and Turkey’s role in it – are today more uncertain than ever. 

Since Sunday, 8 December, several European countries have suspended the processing of asylum claims from Syrians – the largest group of asylum seekers in Europe. 

Sweden, Norway, Italy, Denmark and Germany – which has taken in more than 712,000 Syrian refugees and asylum seekers since the war began in 2011 – are among those that have paused applications.  

For Syrians already in these countries, applications will not be processed until Syria’s new leadership and security conditions become clearer.

Austria, the United Kingdom, Greece and Belgium have also suspended the process, arguing that since the majority of Syrian asylum seekers were fleeing Assad’s regime, there is no longer justification for not returning to Syria. 

France’s support for Syrian transition hinges on respect for minority rights

France cautious

France, however, is taking a more measured approach.

While the Interior Ministry says it is working on suspending Syrian asylum applications, the decision ultimately lies with Ofpra, an asylum seekers’ protection agency which is under the financial and administrative supervision of the ministry but operates independently of the government.

The organisation is currently reviewing 700 cases, with 45,000 Syrians having sought refuge in France since 2011. 

For many long-term Syrian residents in Europe, return seems impossible, despite the changing situation in Syria.

“For me personally, I believe it’s too late. I have a good business, I am engaged to a French woman and I have already applied for naturalisation. At my age, I know France better than Syria,” Iyad Alzorkan, who arrived in France in 2010, told RFI. 

Spainhas chosen to maintain its existing asylum policy, confirming that it will continue processing Syrian applications. 

Syrians hold rallies in Paris and across Europe to celebrate fall of Assad

Political divisions 

Europe’s far-right political parties are pushing for more aggressive measures. Germany’s AfD party argues that Syrians in Germany celebrating Assad’s fall have no reason to stay and should return to Syria. The CDU, Germany’s conservative party, has proposed offering €1,000 to those willing to go back. 

In Denmark, far-right leader Morten Messerschmidt said he hoped Syrians living in the country would soon return home, which he said “will improve rape statistics in Denmark”.

Meanwhile, the government in Vienna announced plans to review the cases of 40,000 Syrians granted asylum in the last five years, aiming to prepare for potential deportations.

For many refugees, this is an alarming prospect.

“Many Syrians are well integrated here, they work here. I myself have two daughters who were born in Austria, they can’t even read Arabic,” said Abdulhkeem Alshater, a 43-year-old who fled Homs and was granted asylum in Austria in 2015. 

“And this announcement comes too early, Syria is not yet safe, not yet stable. I find it inhumane to announce this. People are desperate and angry today.” 

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Lukas Gahleitner-Gertz of the NGO Asylkoordination criticised the Austrian government’s decision as politically motivated, rather than practical.  

“If the situation in Syria becomes stable, there could be processes to revoke refugee status. But right now, this is premature and misleading,” he said. 

EU response 

The European Commission is urging member states to coordinate their approaches. 

While asylum policies remain under national jurisdiction, the European Union is working with the United Nations’ refugee agency to organise voluntary returns. 

“Most Syrians in the diaspora dream of returning home, but the decision must be an individual one,” said Commission spokesperson Anouar El Anouni. 

Interior ministers from across the EU are set to meet in Brussels this week, with further discussions scheduled for 16 December among foreign ministers. 

France welcomes fall of Syria’s Assad, calls for peaceful transition

This story was adpated from RFI’s original version in French

France’s news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP), was founded 80 years ago on 20 August, 1944, just a few days before the liberation of Paris.

In October last year, AFP journalist and photo editor Laurent Kalfala was looking for ideas for ways to mark the anniversary.

Leafing through a history of the agency from the 1990s, he came across a small photograph of a young woman in uniform standing in front of a vehicle with the Cross of Lorraine – symbol of the French resistance and Charles de Gaulle’s Free French movement. The caption read: “1944, Marcelle Poirier, from AFP, first French female war correspondent.”

“There were two or three lines in the book saying that she was with de Gaulle when he entered Paris in August 1944, and she also reported from Adolf Hitler‘s Eagle’s Nest in the Bavarian Alps,” said Kalfala. “I found it strange I’d never heard of her before.”

Apparently neither had the organisers of the Bayeux War Correspondents awards, which in 2023 devoted an exhibition to the journalists who covered the Normandy Landings.

Kalfala recalls one of his journalism students returning from the exhibition and telling him she had done a report on female WWII correspondents. “I can picture her saying, you know what? There weren’t any French women.”

“So I took out my phone and showed her the photo of Poirier from the book and asked her if she was in the exhibition. She said no. I realised she had disappeared, something had happened.”

He decided it was time to correct this injustice and put Poirier back in the picture.

Listen to an interview with Laurent Kalfala in the Spotlight on France podcast

‘Equal in heroism’

His initial enquiries with older AFP journalists failed to deliver. Likewise, delving into the agency’s extensive archives proved complicated since most agency journalists signed with their initials rather than their full name, and some of the archives from 1944 had been lost.

He trawled through AFP’s in-house magazines, but while there was “a lot about all the men who came from London, there was nothing about a woman. At one point, I said, OK, maybe she never existed”.

Turning to the archives of the BNF – France’s national library – he finally began to come across articles by Poirier from 1944 and 1945. One in particular, dated September 1944, convinced him she was no ordinary journalist.

Entitled “Equal in heroism, women will now play a major role in French politics”, it was written just a few weeks after Paris was liberated and only five months after French women won the right to vote.

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“I was really blown away,” Kalfala recalls. “She was somebody – really tough, a feminist.”

The internet proved to be a dead end but Kalfala was convinced that Poirier, as a journalist, must have written the story of de Gaulle’s arrival in Paris at some point, somewhere.

The discovery that she had been married to a Welsh journalist – who had been AFP’s bureau chief in Beijing, Hong Kong and Sydney – provided a pointer on the trail, and in December 2023 he found her story in a magazine in Australia.

‘Into Paris with de Gaulle’

The article, Into Paris with de Gaulle, had been published in 1984 for the 40^th anniversary of the liberation of Paris.

Poirier describes following de Gaulle’s plush vehicle in an old van, from Brittany all the way to Paris. 

“450 kilometres of crowds who flung flowers, kissed us, hugged us and wept over us. I kissed more babies than any political candidate has ever been called upon to do, and I could not stir without being mobbed, as I was the first French woman in uniform in these parts.”

She describes church bells ringing out in each village, farm labourers running across newly liberated fields to see the General pass. “Crowds blocked the roads to stop the cars and force the General to get out and walk down village streets, where flags were hung out and the road was carpeted with flowers.”

“After a few words he would start the Marseillaise and there was not a dry eye anywhere – including his.”

Kalfala explains that while there were many correspondents in the press cortege, Poirier wrote about de Gaulle from a far more personal perspective. “She was a woman and she was telling things differently, she was talking about de Gaulle as a man, as very human,” he said.

She also described how dangerous the situation remained upon arriving in Paris on 25 August.

“The roar that went up as de Gaulle reached the place [near les Tuileries] was so loud that no one heard that first sniper’s shot from the Hotel Crillon. But Rob Reid [the BBC’s correspondent] saw the smoke and pulled us down to the ground where we wriggled under a van.”

France remembers heroic liberation of Paris from Nazi occupation, 80 years ago

‘Smuggled into France’

So how did Poirier come to take part in “the triumphal drive from Rennes to Paris as official reporter attached to General de Gaulle’s cortege”?

Born to French and English parents, she grew up in the northern English city of Leeds and as a young journalist worked in both France and England.

When France capitulated to Germany in 1940, she took the last boat out of Le Havre and returned to Leeds to work for the respected daily newspaper The Yorkshire Post. A few days after D-Day she joined Gaulle’s Free French movement and began working in London as his press officer.

In August 1944, as de Gaulle was preparing to return to France via Algiers, three French Independent Agency war correspondents left London to join him. But a few days later, their Jeep was found empty with dark stains on the seats. It was presumed the men had been ambushed and killed.

It was essential to have a French reporter to replace them so Poirier, as head of the press office of the Military Administrative London Mission, was the obvious choice.

“It was a good try, but no luck,” she writes. “SHAPE [the Allied Command] rules did not allow women journalists within 50 miles of the front line. Not much good for an agency reporter.”

It was decided to incorporate Poirier into the French Army as an observer-officer, and she was promptly “smuggled into France” to join de Gaulle, but with no official role. 

No sooner had she landed than she was arrested by the military police, and locked up in a convent in Bayeux, Normandy.

She escaped, hitched a lift with some female ambulance drivers and caught up with de Gaulle’s cortege.

Women War Photographers celebrated in key Paris exhibition

An eye for a human story

Poirier continued working for AFP after the liberation, becoming an official war correspondent.

She followed French troops to Germany, Vienna and Trieste, bringing out the human side to war stories, with a particular focus on women.

“I found quite a few articles about women,” Kalfala says. “She was really telling the life of German women, of the French resistance. In Vienna, she wrote a very moving article about how people were getting into prostitution just to get a bit of food. And nobody cared.  She describes Germany and Austria in a very human way.”

There were many female war correspondents – around 200 of the 500 correspondents reporting on the Normandy landings were women – Kalfala explains. “But they were at the back, in the hospitals. They had the human stories. But the difference is that Marcelle Poirier was on the front line.”

Poirier wrote other unusual war-related stories, including a 1946 portrait of Hitler’s wife Eva Braun, through the eyes of her butler.

But after 1946, the trail went cold. Until Kalfala landed on two articles published in a women’s magazine – one about how ladies in the future will no longer be chained to the kitchen sink.

“It was also a bit feminist, because she said new inventions shouldn’t be about building weapons, but to help women in the home,” he said. “But it was a bit weird, after reporting on all these [war] stories, why did she work for a women’s magazine?”

‘Men took the power’

Poirier had no children – had she been a mother this might have explained why she turned her back on war reporting. But Kalfala suggests that, instead, she may have been pushed aside. 

A footnote to her Australian-published article noted that the three AFP war correspondents she had replaced had in fact “not been killed and the bloodstains in the Jeep were wine stains from bottles offered by people in the villages they had passed through. They had been ambushed, captured and transported to Germany by train”.

The three men returned to AFP, and took up where they left off. Some then became directors. “The men took the power at AFP, like everywhere,” Kalfala says. “So I think Marcelle Poirier was a bit pushed away, sidelined.”

Older AFP journalists also told Kalfala that since Poirier had married a bureau chief, there would probably have been pressure on her to sacrifice her career. 

Kalfala’s documentary on Poirier, who died in 1992, has restored her name to the ranks of war-time reporters in France. But for him the real injustice is that “there was this trace of her, in the book. She wasn’t forgotten. Nobody cared, that’s the thing. And that’s worse than being forgotten”.

According retired Australian navy admiral Peter Briggs, the Aukus submarine plan is flawed, and the only chance Australia has to sustain its submarine fleet is to buy French vessels after all.

“The solution being pursued under the current Aukus plan is not going to work,” said Briggs, former head of the Submarine Institute of Australia.

In the article published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), he paints a bleak future for Australia’s submarine fleet.

The Australian navy’s six current Collins-class conventional submarines – which are Australian-built – are to be replaced by eight nuclear attack submarines (Submersible Ship Nuclear or SSNs) of the United States-made SSN Virginia and the SSN Aukus class.

The latter will be jointly made by Britain’s BAE Systems and Australia’s ASC.

The plan is part of the Aukus alliance hammered out in 2021 between Australia, the United Kingdom and the US.

Pending construction of the new fleet, UK and US nuclear subs will increase their visits to Australia.

“The reality is that the US is unable to build enough submarines,” Briggs told RFI.

He added that, given that Australia is a ‘three ocean continent” it needs 12 submarines in order to properly defend itself, rather than the eight specified under the Aukus agreement.

France could build submarines for Australia, after all

No submarines available

In September 2023, the US Congress introduced the “Aukus Undersea Defense Act” providing “for the transfer of not more than two Virginia class submarines” to Australia.

In December, Congress confirmed this in its 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.

But according to Briggs, the US won’t be able to sell these subs. “The US are 17 short of submarines now. They haven’t ordered any extra to provide a surplus to allow the sale of some of their older submarines to us. So, the Virginias won’t be available for sale. And our submarine capability will die with the Collins class”.

On top of that, Briggs says, the projected SSN Aukus is “too big, too expensive”. Manning an SSN Aukus requires some 130 people. “We cannot afford to operate 12 of these large submarines, which is the minimum we need for an effective deterrent”.

His solution? Go back to the French, who were left high and dry by the Aukus deal.

France snubbed

In 2016, the Australian government and the French naval defence company Naval Group – which is majority state-owned – signed a €34 billion contract for the supply of 12 conventional Barracuda submarines, beating Japanese and German competition to the deal.

French commentators hailed it as “the contract of the century,” which would provide thousands of jobs in France alone.

But in 2021, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that he was terminating the contract, without notice – and that the US and the UK would supply the submarines instead, under the Aukus alliance.

His argument was that Australia would be better served by eight nuclear-powered submarines than the 12 conventional vessels ordered from the French.

Will Australia turn to France for backup amid Pacific arms race?

Room for manoeuvre

“The idea was cooked up by a very small team in Australia, not the normal defence process looking at requirements and how you might solve it,” says Briggs. “The prime minister of the day, Mr. Morrison, got it wrong. There was never a chance that it was going to work.”

He believes that Canberra should renege on the Aukus submarine plan, saying: “It remains in both countries’ interests to reverse and overcome the issues of the past and get on and build additional Barracuda/Suffren-class submarines for Australia.”

There may yet be room for manoeuvre for French and Australian policy makers.

In a meeting with current Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in July 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron – who was furious over the collapse of the previous deal – reportedly offered to supply Australia with four submarines.

Meanwhile, the Australian government agreed to pay €550 million in a settlement with Naval Group over the decision to scrap the French attack class submarine project.

India speeds up imports of French jets as part of Indian Ocean defence build-up

Paris – Canberra ties renewed

In September 2022, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles then travelled to France and met with France’s Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu.

“[The] ministers [are] committed to developing projects that will further enable the French-Australian defence relationship,” Defence Australia said in a statement on the visit.

By December 2023, Canberra and Paris appeared to have buried the hatchet entirely, cutting a deal to grant reciprocal access to military bases, training facilities and increase intelligence sharing, with Australia given “enhanced” access to France’s defence facilities in the Indo-Pacific region. 

For Briggs, Australia needs to capitalise on this renewal of friendly relations in order to procure the subs it needs.

“We now need some political fortitude and courage on both sides to move past the bad decisions of the past and produce a winning project for France and Australia”.

A veteran centrist, Bayrou raises hackles on the left – which is wary of him continuing the president’s policies – and on the right, where he is disliked by influential former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Macron has been under mounting pressure to choose a candidate capable of uniting a deeply divided parliament, and securing the passage of a budget to address France’s growing debt.

Bayrou will need to forge a consensus on how to tackle the country’s rising budget deficit, now at 6.1 percent – far above the 4.4 percent projected for the end of 2024.

His appointment follows two days of talks at the Élysée Palace, at which Macron met with party leaders to find a candidate capable of bridging divides and passing next year’s budget.

The far-right National Rally (RN) and hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) parties were not included in the discussions.

Macron had been widely expected to name the new prime minister on Thursday evening.

The delay underscores the political challenges posed by the fractured lower house of parliament, a result of July’s snap elections.

France unveils emergency budget law to prevent state shutdown

Divided parliament

The parliament remains split between a leftist alliance, the centrists and the conservatives, with the far-right RN complicating efforts to secure a stable government capable of surviving no confidence votes.

Speaking in a televised address last week, Macron rejected mounting calls for his resignation and vowed to serve his full term until 2027. 

Former prime minister Michel Barnier, whose government had support only from Macron’s centrist camp and his own conservative political family, was felled last week in a confidence vote over his cost-cutting budget.

His caretaker administration on Wednesday reviewed a bill designed to keep the lights of government on without a formal financial plan for 2025, allowing tax collection and borrowing to continue.

Lawmakers are expected to widely support the draft law when it comes before parliament on Monday.

“His adaptation from Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid isn’t the easiest,” Drogba told RFI.

“But I’d rather have a difficult adaptation in Madrid than find myself in a situation where everything’s easier,” added the 46-year-old, who played 105 times for Côte d’Ivoire scoring a record 65 goals.

Mbappé moved to the Spanish giants in the summer after seven years and 15 trophies at PSG.

However he has failed to make the expected splash in La Liga and the Champions League since the Spanish season began on 15 August.

Recalling his own transfer in 2004 from Marseille to a Chelsea side backed by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, Drogba added: “I think Mbappé’s going to learn a lot from this experience. I think he’ll mature and that’s going to benefit the France team, of course, and it’s going to benefit him too.”

Mbappe says ‘dream has come true’ at Real Madrid inauguration

Mbappé’s transition hasn’t been without controversy.

During the break from domestic matches for international games in October, Swedish media linked him to the rape of a woman in a Stockholm hotel.

He denied the allegation and spoke publicly about it for the first time in an interview with broadcaster Canal + last Sunday.

“These are things that just happen, that you don’t see coming,” Mbappé told journalist Mouloud Achour. “I haven’t received a summons from the Swedish justice system but if I do, I will of course go there.”

What’s next in Swedish rape investigation into Mbappe?

On Thursday, Swedish authorities announced the case had been closed due to insufficient evidence.

Mbappé was on the scoresheet last Saturday in Madrid’s 3-0 win at Girona and he struck his side’s opener in Tuesday night’s Champions League game at Atalanta before succumbing to a thigh injury that is expected to keep him on the sidelines for a fortnight.

Madrid’s 3-2 victory in Italy took them to 20th place in the 36-team division in the group stages.

In the revised format of European football’s most prestigious competition, the top eight sides progress automatically to the last-16 knockout stages while the following 16 teams feature in a two-leg play-off for the other eight slots.

“Kylian is going through a difficult period,” said Drogba. “But he wanted to be there in Madrid and he’s ready for the challenge.

“The ups and downs are part of a player’s career. It’s like injuries, except these ones aren’t physical. But it can help you become another player, even a stronger one.”

Humanitarian work

Since retiring from football in 2018, Drogba has taken up a post as vice-president of the NGO Peace and Sport and continued to campaign and fundraise for his own economic development charity, the Fondation Didier Drogba.

Didier Drogba calls time on playing career

“That’s why I’m based in Abidjan,” said Drogba. “I lived away from the foundation for 15 years and when there’s something like that which carries your name, you need to be there at home to fully understand what’s at stake and to have more of an impact.”

Drogba has also forged a career as a football analyst and the quick-witted presenter of the Ballon d’Or footballing awards in Paris.

During the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony last month, when the Manchester City player Rodri was announced as the male winner, Drogba stepped off the stage and went into the stalls to help the injured midfielder negotiate his way on to the podium with his crutches.

It was as instinctive as it was impressive. Drogba later urged the Spaniard to remain on stage to bask in the limelight. “It’s your moment,” he told the 28-year-old.

Chelsea icon

A national hero at home and still venerated in Marseille, Drogba will also be forever feted in the royal blue corner of west London for his rampaging displays in the Chelsea teams that destroyed the Premier League-winning duopoly of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United and Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal.

In the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich, Drogba scored the last-minute equaliser that took the game into extra time and converted the final penalty in the shoot-out which furnished Chelsea with their first European Cup in their 107-year history.

More than a decade on from such delirium at the Allianz Arena in Munich for his sole English Premier League side, Drogba remains unabashed about his devotion to France’s equivalent Ligue 1, and the football in a country where he turned out for Le Mans and Guingamp before heading south for Marseille.

International sports stars join forces in Paris to promote peace

“Ligue 1 is one of the great European championships,” he said. “It has to be recognised, endorsed and there must be a sense of pride about it.

“It is where I started out and where I made my name … so obviously there’s a special attachment. It’s always a pride and an honour to talk about Ligue 1.”

He added: “I left for Chelsea as the best player in the French championship. Florent Malouda joined me at Chelsea having been best player in Ligue 1 and Michael Essien too. So it’s not a championship without talented players.

“It’s true there isn’t the same amount of money in France from TV broadcasting rights like in England or Spain, but the talent is there.”

By November 2024, Morocco had already welcomed nearly 16 million tourists, marking a 20 percent increase compared to the same period in 2023.

With these numbers continuing to climb, Moroccan authorities are optimistic about reaching a new milestone next year, aiming for 17.5 million visitors.

One of the most popular destinations within Morocco remains Marrakech, known as the “Red City.”

The city enjoys excellent connectivity, particularly with low-cost airlines, making it a top choice for both foreign visitors and Moroccan expatriates.

The remarkable rise in tourism can be attributed to Morocco’s extensive efforts to promote its diverse destinations.

France, Morocco sign deals worth €10bn on energy, infrastructure

Additionally, geopolitical factors have played a role, with some travelers opting for Morocco over other regional destinations.

For instance, a French tourist in Marrakech told RFI that they had initially planned to visit Lebanon but chose Morocco instead due to the worsening security situation in the Middle East.

Tourism contributes significantly to Morocco’s economy, accounting for 7 percent of its GDP.

In 2024, the sector has already generated 9.2 billion euros in revenue, and experts predict this figure will rise further, breaking records by the end of the year.

Strong ties to France

Marrakech’s popularity is reflected in its strong connections with France, with 34 direct flights between the two countries.

French nationals remain the largest group of foreign tourists, though British visitors are also increasing, with a 47 percent rise in 2024 compared to the previous year.

Other popular destinations include Agadir and Tangier, while Casablanca continues to draw business travellers.

CAF announce new dates for 2025 AFCON in Morocco

Africa Cup of Nations

As Morocco sets its sights on new tourism records, the country remains a key player in the global travel landscape, with expectations for continued growth and success.

The country’s tourism sector is set to become even more crucial in the coming years.

Morocco will host the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) in 2025, expected to attract around 500,000 visitors.

Additionally, Morocco’s bid to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup has been confirmed, which is anticipated to bring even more international attention to the country.

The project includes drilling for oil in Lake Albert in northwestern Uganda and constructing a 1,443-kilometre heated pipeline to transport crude oil to the Tanzanian port of Tanga.

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), championed by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, has faced years of opposition from environmentalists who warn it threatens fragile ecosystems and local communities.

A report released Thursday by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Civic Response on Environment and Development, and Lawyers Without Borders alleges “disproportionate security measures, repression, land rights violations, forced evictions and corruption” during the project.

It accuses Ugandan troops of beating and harassing fishing communities near the oil sites, with cases of sexual and gender-based violence reportedly committed by soldiers and company personnel.

The most serious abuses occurred around the Kingfisher oil fields, where the report described a “high level of fear”.

“There has been an acceleration in construction at the oil sites over the last two years, bringing a new wave of human rights abuses,” Sacha Feierabend, a senior researcher with FIDH, told RFI.

The report also highlights violations of workers’ rights and specific challenges faced by women in affected communities.

“There is intensifying repression of human rights defenders, climate and environmental activists, who are trying to make their voices heard regarding this project,” Feierabend added.

Since May, at least 96 activists have been arrested, with additional reports of break-ins, beatings, unlawful detentions and torture.

NGOs seek climate trial of French oil giant TotalEnergies

Environmental groups sue TotalEnergies over ‘devastating’ East Africa oil pipeline

‘Violation of international law’

The report claims some 12,000 families around the pipeline have been displaced, as have hundreds of households around Lake Albert.

The most serious case dates back to May 2020 during the Covid pandemic when 769 people from the villages of Kiina and Kyabasambu “were driven out at gunpoint and never returned”.

The NGOs condemned the evictions and said that without prior notice or compensation they constituted a “violation of international and constitutional law”.

There are also fears of inflation due to land speculation, as well as concerns over working conditions on the sites, where at least two people have died in labour-related incidents.

Those who still live in the immediate vicinity of the oil sites also complain “regularly of dust, noise, light pollution and vibrations”.

Oil spills are “a serious threat to the environment and public health”, the report said, while “the catchment areas of the two lakes [Albert and Victortia] are vital to tens of thousands of people across East Africa”.

‘Smear campaign’

Ugandan government spokesman Chris Baryomunsi dismissed the report as “ridiculous and unfounded,” describing it as a “smear campaign” against the project.

Baryomunsi urged anyone with evidence of human rights abuses to report it to the authorities.

TotalEnergies also rejected the claims, stating it “strongly disagrees” with the allegations.

“In Uganda, as elsewhere, TotalEnergies is transparent about its human rights commitments and their implementation,” the company said.

The research tracked over 45,000 former inmates and showed that more than one third reoffended within a year of release, with 15 percent doing so in the first four months.

The offences committed were not always the same as those that led to their original convictions, the ministry’s statistical service (SSER) said.

The study highlighted notable differences in reoffending rates based on age, gender and criminal history.

Young offenders

Younger ex-prisoners are almost three times more likely to commit new crimes than older ones.

“Young offenders, particularly those under 25, reoffend at much higher rates than those aged 55 and older upon release”, the study said.

The figures show 77 percent of young offenders return to crime, compared with 29 percent of those over 55.

Men were found to be more likely to reoffend than women, with rates of 64 percent and 42 percent respectively.

French prison population hits new record as overcrowding concerns grow

Unmarried prisoners also had a higher likelihood of reoffending than married inmates, though the study noted that “this disparity is not solely due to marital status, as married individuals tend to be older”.

Previous convictions also influence reoffending. Those with two prior convictions are twice as likely to commit new crimes as first-time offenders.

The study found that prisoners released early on parole or probation tend to reoffend less often than those who serve their full sentences.

However, the SSER said this difference might reflect the type of prisoner chosen for early release rather than the effectiveness of parole itself.

Bulgaria and Romania, both members of the European Union since 2007, were partially integrated into the Schengen in March, opening up travel by air and sea without border checks. 

Austria’s withdrawal of its long-standing veto this week has cleared the path for the two countries to join the world’s largest border-free travel zone.

The breakthrough comes after a decade-long process of technical evaluations and political negotiations. 

“It is a historic moment to finally welcome Bulgaria and Romania,” said Hungarian Interior Minister Sandor Pinter, whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

Bucharest and Sofia fulfilled all technical criteria set out by Brussels in 2010, but spent more than a decade waiting to join the Schengen as various member states blocked their entry. 

‘Historic decision’

Romania and Bulgaria “strongly” welcomed their full entry.      

“This is a historic decision, marking the end of the process of accession of the two countries to the EU free movement area, a key objective of both Bulgaria and Romania since their accession to the European Union,” the two countries said in a statement. 

Since 2022, their applications have been held up by Austria, which had for years complained about hosting a disproportionate number of undocumented migrants as a result of poorly protected external Schengen borders.

Austria dropped its objections after the three countries signed a “border protection package” agreement in Budapest.

‘Air Schengen’: Austria to relax air, sea borders with Romania and Bulgaria

This agreement involves joint border guard deployments along the Bulgarian-Turkish border and temporary land border controls for an initial period of six months. 

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis hailed the decision as a “recognition of our years-long efforts,” emphasizing that the accession would “strengthen EU security and unity.” 

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said the accession meant “a major benefit for our economy and faster journeys home for the millions of Romanians living and travelling in the EU”. 

Border crossing waits

For travelers and businesses, the implications are significant.

Truckers and cross-border workers, who previously endured wait times of up to 20 hours at land crossings, will now enjoy seamless travel.  

Tourism operators are also jubilant, with Emil Abazov from the Bulgarian Tour Operators Association noting the move will place their business “on an equal footing with other EU countries.” 

Created in 1985, the Schengen zone comprises 29 members, allowing over 400 million people to travel freely across the zone.

This expansion represents more than just a bureaucratic achievement. As foreign policy analyst Stefan Popescu noted, admission to Schengen symbolises “a question of dignity, of belonging to the European Union”. 

(with AFP) 

Assad fled Syria after a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group and its allies, which brought a sudden end to five decades of repressive rule by his clan.

The collapse of Assad’s administration closes an era in which suspected dissidents were jailed or killed, and caps nearly 14 years of war that killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.

It has allowed Syrians to flood to prisons, hospitals and morgues in search of long-disappeared loved ones, hoping for a miracle, or at least closure.

“I turned the world upside down looking,” Abu Mohammed told French news agency AFP as he searched for news of three missing relatives at the Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus.

“But I didn’t find anything at all. We just want a hint of where they were, one percent.”

Sunni Muslim HTS is rooted in Syria’s branch of Al-Qaeda and designated a terrorist organisation by many Western governments, who now face the challenge of how to approach the country’s new transitional leadership.

The group has sought to moderate its rhetoric, and the interim government insists the rights of all Syrians will be protected.

“We respect religious and cultural diversity in Syria,” government spokesman Obaida Arnaout told AFP on Thursday.

He said the country’s constitution and parliament would be suspended during a three-month transition.

“A judicial and human rights committee will be established to examine the constitution and then introduce amendments,” he said, pledging that “rule of law” would be instituted.

“All those who committed crimes against the Syrian people will be judged in accordance with the law,” he added.

Desperate searches

Leaders of the G7, who will meet virtually at 1430 GMT Friday, said they were ready to support the transition to an “inclusive and non-sectarian” government in Syria.

They called for the protection of human rights, including those of women and minorities, while emphasising “the importance of holding the Assad regime accountable for its crimes”.

And they said they would “work with and fully support” a Syrian government that respected those principles.

In similar messaging, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a visit to Turkey, urged Syrian actors to take “all feasible steps to protect civilians, including members of minority groups”, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Inside much of Syria, the focus for now is on unravelling the secrets of Assad’s rule, and particularly the network of detention centres and suspected torture sites scattered across areas previously under government control.

UN investigators said they have compiled secret lists of 4,000 perpetrators of serious crimes in Syria since the early days of the country’s civil war.

And the US Justice Department on Thursday charged the former head of Damascus Central Prison, Samir Ousman Alsheikh, with torturing opponents of Assad.

Syria’s leadership said it is willing to cooperate with Washington in the search for US citizens disappeared under Assad, including US journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted in 2012.

Another American, Travis Timmerman, has already been located alive and Blinken said Washington was working to bring him home.

The search for other missing detainees has ended more painfully, with hundreds of Syrians gathering Thursday to bury outspoken activist Mazen al-Hamada.

In exile in the Netherlands, he publicly testified on the torture he was subjected to in Syrian prison.

He later returned to Syria and was detained. His body was among more than 30 found in a Damascus hospital morgue this week.

Kurdish fears

Assad was propped up by Russia – where a senior Russian official told US media he has fled – as well as Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group.

The rebels launched their offensive on 27 November, the same day a ceasefire took effect in the Israel-Hezbollah war, which saw Israel inflict staggering losses on Assad’s Lebanese ally.

Both Israel and Turkey, which backs some of the rebels who ousted Assad, have since carried out strikes inside Syria.

Speaking on Thursday in Jordan, Blinken stressed the importance of “not sparking any additional conflicts” after mentioning both Israeli and Turkish military activity in Syria.

Washington hopes to ensure that Syria is not “used as a base for terrorism” and does not pose “a threat to its neighbours”, added Blinken, whose country has hundreds of troops in Syria as part of a coalition against Islamic State group jihadists.

Israel on Sunday said it had ordered troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that separates Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, in a move the UN said violated a 1974 armistice.

And it has since carried out heavy strikes particularly targeting military facilities, including on Thursday night, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor.

Assad’s ouster has also given Turkey a golden opportunity to move against US-allied Kurdish forces that it sees as a major security threat, analysts say.

As the Islamist-led rebels marched on Damascus, Turkish-backed fighters began pushing into Kurdish-held areas. The fighting left at least 218 dead before a US-brokered ceasefire started Wednesday.

The semi-autonomous Kurdish administration that controls much of northeast Syria has adopted the opposition’s independence flag, but some Kurdish civilians acknowledged fears for the future of the country.

“We, the Kurds, as the second-largest ethnic group in this country, want it to be a federal state, not a dictatorship,” said Khorshed Abo Rasho in Qamishli.

“I still have bullets in my body from the war in this country, and I will not accept that it fails to become a democracy.”

Their country ravaged by war, sanctions and runaway inflation, Syrians also face a struggle for basic necessities.

More than a million people have been displaced since the rebel offensive began last month, and the UN’s World Food Programme is seeking $250 million (€230 million) for food assistance.

Jordan will host a Syria crisis summit on Saturday with foreign ministers from numerous Western and Arab nations as well as Turkey.

The helpline, known as the Reference Centre on Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault (or Crafs, its acronym in French), was launched by a Paris health centre on October 15.

That was in the middle of testimony at the rape trial of Dominique Pelicot and 50 other defendants, which has shocked the country, sparked mass protests and raised awareness in France about the use of drugs to commit abuse.

For years, Gisele Pelicot, Dominique’s now-former wife, had strange memory lapses and other health problems, consulting numerous doctors who could not pinpoint the cause.

Then police told her she had been drugged and raped for nearly a decade by her husband and dozens of strangers he recruited online.

Since its launch, the helpline has received a wave of calls from healthcare providers and victims seeking information about drug-related abuse, said Leila Chaouachi, a doctor who founded the service.

“The doctors who contact us say they, too, might not have noticed anything,” said Chaouachi, referring to Gisele Pelicot’s symptoms.

“What are the warning signs? They feel they don’t have enough training,” she added.

French justice minister favours adding consent to legal definition of rape

Symptoms and guidance

One of the services offered by Crafs is to provide information on the possible symptoms linked to drug-related abuse.

There are many indicators that someone could have been drugged, said Chaouachi: drowsiness, nausea, disorientation, blurred vision and amnesia, among others.

But some healthcare professionals tell Chaouachi they are worried they might overlook the signs or, if they do recognise them, are unsure of what to do next.

Crafs can also offer guidance on those possible next steps.

One doctor who contacted the centre worried that a patient – a victim of domestic violence – was also drugged by her partner, and wanted to know if a hair analysis should be prescribed to detect the presence of substances.

“Five centimetres of hair is like five months of history,” explained one of the CRAFS team of pharmacologists, who are also trained in sexual assault response.

Victims who call the hotline are encouraged to lodge a complaint to benefit from free drug detection kits.

In mid-November, Equality Minister Salima Saa announced an awareness campaign about the “new scourge” of using drugs to commit sexual abuse, which Chaouachi said can sometimes be misunderstood.

‘Speaking out’

There are “preconceived notions” around the use of drugs in sexual assault cases, Chaouachi told AFP.

“People think it’s about young girls drugged in a nightclub with GHB,” said Chaouachi, referring to a notorious “date-rape drug” often used in sexual assaults.

“However, our data shows that the victim is often drugged by someone around her who betrays her trust,” she said.

“It could be a woman of any age… an elderly person drugged to make them sign a paper extorting an inheritance, or a child drugged so someone doesn’t have to look after them. That is chemical abuse.”

In 2023, French police recorded more than 110,000 victims of sexual violence, 85 percent of them women.

For some, the hotline offers an opportunity to speak about what happened to them, even if the abuse was too long ago for medical detection.

“Even if they are old, these accounts are useful: they tell us how attackers operate,” Chaouachi said. “And speaking out and being heard is good for the victim.”

Prosecutors have sought a maximum 20-year jail term for Dominique Pelicot, and 10 to 18 years in prison for 49 of the 50 co-defendants accused of rape or attempted rape, with a four-year punishment requested in only one case.

A verdict is expected on 19 or 20 December.

Speaking during a joint press conference with Macron in Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he discussed the possibility of stationing foreign troops in Ukraine in case of a ceasefire with Russia, but that Poland was not currently “planning any such actions”.

During Macron’s visit, Tusk underlined: “I would like to take this opportunity to end speculation about the potential presence of troops from one country or another in Ukraine once a ceasefire or peace has been agreed. The president [Macron] knows this, we discussed it, any decision on Polish actions will be taken in Warsaw and only in Warsaw. For the moment, we are not planning any such actions”.

“We will work with France on a solution that will, above all, protect Europe and Ukraine from resuming the conflict if an agreement can be reached,” he added.

Trump, Zelensky meeting in Paris

Thursday’s bilateral talks follow a meeting at the Elysée Palace between Macron, Trump and Zelensky on Saturday, that has been described as “brief but important”. 

Donald Trump – who will take office at the White House on 20 January – has called for an immediate ceasefire and for negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine, the day after his Paris meeting with Zelensky.

However, in an interview published in Time Magazine this Thursday Trump said he disagrees “very vehemently” with Ukraine firing US-supplied missiles deep into Russia.

But the US president-elect insisted he would not abandon Ukraine as US support for Kyiv would be key leverage in efforts to bring the war to a close.  

Trump returns to world stage at Notre-Dame Cathedral reopening in Paris

Winter peace talks?

Tusk has recently mooted that peace talks on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine could begin this winter.

The Polish prime minister – who is a staunch backer of neighbouring Ukraine and will take over the rotating EU presidency from Hungary next month – also announced a series of upcoming talks with foreign officials.

“Our [EU] presidency will notably be co-responsible for what the political landscape will look like, perhaps how the situation will look during [peace] negotiations, which could begin – though there are still question marks – in the winter of this year,” Tusk told reporters on Tuesday.

Poland has been a strong Ukraine supporter since Russia invaded nearly three years ago and serves as a crucial logistics hub for Western military aid to Kyiv.

EU and Mercosur trade bloc finalise free trade deal opposed by France

Opposition to Mercosur deal

Meanwhile, Macron and Tusk also discussed the controversial trade deal between the EU and the South American Mercosur bloc, with the French president hammering home his opposition to the agreement concluded in Uruguay last week, stressing that European farmers could not be “sacrificed in the name of the principles of the past century”.

Both France and Poland are opposed to the trade agreement which aims to create a vast market of more than 700 million consumers, but still needs the approval of at least 15 member states representing 65 percent of the EU’s population, and then a majority in the European Parliament.

Thursday’s meeting in Warsaw came ahead of a forthcoming EU summit on 19 December and Poland’s presidency of the EU Council on 1 January.

Sweden’s prosecution authority announced two months ago that it was investigating an alleged incident that occurred at an upscale Stockholm hotel on 10 October, without mentioning the suspect by name.

The 25-year-old forward with Real Madrid – one of the highest-profile players in world football – was in the Swedish capital from 9 to 11 October with a group of people after he was not selected by France for a Nations League match. 

Several Swedish media outlets, including newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen and public broadcaster SVT, identified Kylian Mbappé as the suspect.

Mbappé ‘not involved’

In a statement released this Thursday, prosecutor Marina Chirakova said: “My assessment is that the evidence is not sufficient to proceed and the investigation is therefore closed,” although she did not mention Mbappé by name.

Chirakova said the suspect had “not been notified of suspicion of a crime”.

In October, Mbappé said that he was “shocked” to see his name linked to the investigation.

Speaking for the first time about the case on Sunday, he told French television show Clique he was “not involved”.

“I haven’t received anything, no summons … I’m not involved,” he said.

• Mbappé to take legal action for libel over Swedish rape investigation

According to Aftonbladet, Mbappé and his entourage dined at a restaurant one evening before going on to a nightclub. 

Aftonbladet said the complaint was filed on October 12 after the alleged victim had sought medical attention.

Meanwhile, Expressen reported that police had seized some clothing as evidence, saying it consisted of women’s underwear, a pair of black trousers and a black top.

Photographs showed police officers leaving the hotel with brown bags.

• Mbappé fights off-field drama buoyed by support of Madrid fans

Difficult season

Mbappé joined Madrid this summer after seven years at Paris Saint-Germain and has stayed clear of scandal in his private life.

The forward – who is known for carefully managing his image through a close network of family, lawyers and spokespeople – has become one of the world’s highest paid players after a stellar career that began when he was barely into his teens.

Mbappé won the World Cup as a teenager in 2018 in Russia and scored a hat-trick in the 2022 final in Qatar which France lost on penalties to Lionel Messi’s Argentina. 

He has had a difficult season since moving to reigning European champions Real Madrid from PSG in the summer, failing to find his top form.

However the Frenchman scored in Madrid’s 3-2 win against Italian side Atalanta on Tuesday, which revived Real’s flagging bid to regain their Champions League title.

The project, overseen by Palestinian filmmaker Rashid Masharawi, includes 22 short films spanning documentary, animation, and drama.

The films aim to share the voices of people living through the conflict in Gaza, offering a glimpse into their fears, dreams and hopes.

“The idea for From Ground Zero came immediately, in the second month of this ongoing war, to try to pick up films and stories from Gaza,” Masharawi told RFI.

He explained that the goal was to give filmmakers in Gaza the chance to make their own films.

As a recent report from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) underlines the toll of the war on Palestinian journalists, RFI spoke with him and his team in Paris.

RSF says Israel responsible for one-third of journalist deaths in 2024

The shorts, ranging from three to six minutes, are “a mix between fiction, documentaries, video art and even experimental films,” he said.

“We are filmmakers, we are dealing with cinema. Even if it’s a catastrophe, it’s very tough with all the massacres. But we were also trying to make cinema, to add life, to be optimistic and to add hope.”

The 112-minute collection is presented as a feature film in two parts. Contributors include Reema Mahmoud, Muhammad Al Sharif, Tamer Nijim and Alaa Islam Ayou.

From film festivals to the Oscars

After premiering at the Toronto Film Festival in September, From Ground Zero toured film festivals across Europe, North Africa and South West Asia in November and December.

Screenings have taken place at the French Arab Film Festival near Paris, the Bristol Palestine Film Festival and in London. Additional showings are scheduled for Morocco and Egypt.

Earlier this year, Masharawi held an outdoor screening of the film during the Cannes Film Festival to protest its exclusion from the event.

Now, the collection has been selected to represent Palestine at the Oscars in March 2025, with hopes of a wider release in the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

UN rapporteur says Israel’s war in Gaza is ’emptying the land completely’

Emerging voices

The project was made possible by the Masharawi Fund for Gaza Filmmakers, launched in November 2023 to support creative talent from the territory.

Masharawi, who is from Gaza, is one of the first Palestinian filmmakers to have directed cinema projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.

His first film, Travel Document, was released in 1986, followed by The Shelter in 1989 and Long Days in Gaza in 1991.

The executive producer of the film, Laura Nikolov, who is French and based in France, is travelling with Masharawi to promote the film around the world.

“It’s a very unique project,” she told RFI. “We have now translated it into 10 different languages. We made this to allow the voices of the Gazan people [to be heard] and it’s working. I think we’ve reached more than 60, perhaps 80 screenings and festivals.”

With its selection for the Oscars, Nikolov is hopeful that the film will reach even wider audiences.

“This means it will be shown in cinemas in the United States,” she said, adding that they hope to expand its reach across Europe and the Middle East.

This dramatic end to the Assad family’s half-century rule over Syria marks a significant shift in the region’s balance of power, with analysts predicting that Turkey’s influence in Syria could now grow at the expense of its regional rivals.

“Turkey emerged… by proving its relevance, importance and its strength… out of these latest developments in Syria… as the clean, clear winner,” says Aydin Selcen, a former senior Turkish diplomat who served in the region and is now a foreign policy analyst for Turkey’s independent Medyascope news outlet.

“And Iran is definitely the loser. And Russia also is pushed aside.”

Success of rebel groups in Syria advances Turkish agenda

The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army played a role in the overthrow of Assad. However, it was the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahir Al Sham – or HTS – that led the offensive. And that, analysts say, will be a cause for apprehension in Ankara.

“Despite all the jubilation of the Turkish press and the government and the circles that support the government about the collapse of the Assad regime in general, I would think there is some uneasiness,” says Hasan Unal, professor of international relations at Ankara’s Baskent University.   

“I can see it through lots of problematic issues that would be coming out of what’s going to happen,” he added, “because of the ideological Islamist leanings of the incumbent government and… the Islamic jihadist terrorist groups associated with it.”

Support and protection

However, Turkey may not be entirely without influence over Syria’s new Islamist leaders. For years, it provided support and protection to the Idlib region of Syria, where HTS was based. 

Analyst Aydin Selcen suggests Ankara could retain significant influence if recent statements by HTS leadership calling for an inclusive Syrian government are honoured.  

“If pragmatism prevails, that’s perhaps where Turkey and Ankara may come in. And also Ankara definitely will be viewed as a positive outside contributor by these new Syrian rulers, because of the fact that we here in Turkey are hosting over 5 million Syrians and also that Turkey helped protect Idlib.”

Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan, addressing an international conference in Doha last Sunday, 8 December, said that Turkey is committed to helping secure a politically inclusive new Syria. 

Turkey’s Syrian refugees 

A stable Syria is also key to Ankara’s goal of sending home millions of Syrian refugees now living in Turkey. Public resentment over their presence has grown, as the country has grappled with an economic crisis over the past few years.

However, such a return may not be simple, predicts Sezin Oney, a commentator on Turkey’s independent Politikyol news site.

“The refugees, the Syrians you have in Turkey, are mostly women and children. So it has to be a [new Syrian] government, an administration, friendly to women and children, especially women.”

“But we don’t know if these Islamic jihadist groups will be really friendly towards these groups,” he added.

“There might be a Taliban 2.0 arising just across the border; we don’t know what kind of administration HTS and surrounding groups will be. It’s a big security risk; I don’t see Syria settling down to become a safe clash-free place.” 

‘Imperative’ to work against IS in Syria, Blinken tells Turkey

For now, Erdogan is celebrating the overthrow of Assad as a Turkish triumph, with European leaders and Washington queuing up to speak to him as Turkey positions itself as a key player in shaping Syria’s future.

But the sudden demise of the Assad regime underscores how quickly fortunes can change in the region, and the future of Syria – and Turkey’s role in it – are today more uncertain than ever. 

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 winners’ 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.

The RFI English team is pleased to announce that Saleem Akhtar Chadhar, the president of the RFI Seven Stars Listening Club in District Chiniot, Pakistan, won the RFI / Planète Radio ePOP video contest, in the RFI Clubs category. Bravo Saleem! Mubarak ho!

There are just two days left for you to be a part of our New Year’s Day show – get your New Year’s resolutions and/or wishes to me by this coming Monday, 16 December. Send them to me at thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We have a new RFI Listeners Club member to welcome: Zahurul Islam Joy from Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Welcome, Zahural!

This week’s quiz: On 9 November, I asked you a question about the American composer and musician Quincy Jones, who died earlier that week.

You were to re-read our article “Tributes roll in for beloved musician and producer Quincy Jones, who died at 91”, and send in the answer to this question: What is the name of the legendary Frenchwoman with whom Jones studied in Paris in 1957?

The answer is: Nadia Boulanger, arguably the single most important composition teacher of the 20th century.  

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: What is the best way to flatter a mother-in-law?

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Pradip Chandra Kundu from West Bengal, India. Pradip is also this week’s bonus question winner. Congratulations, Pradip!

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are RFI Listeners Club members Zenon Teles, the president of the Christian – Marxist – Leninist – Maoist Association of Listening DX-ers in Goa, India, and Ataur Rahman Ranju, the president of the Alokito Manush Cai International Radio Listeners Club in Rangpur, Bangladesh. Rounding out the list of this week’s winners are RFI English listeners Shatrudhan Sharma from Rajasthan, India, and Mahfuz from Cumilla, Bangladesh.

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Tamasha” by Aamer Shafiq, Farhan Bogra, Shiraz Khan, and Sparlay Rawail, performed by Khumaariyan; “No Bones at All” by Quincy Jones, performed by the Quincy Jones Ensemble conducted by the composer; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and the traditional Mexican huasteco “La Huasanga”, performed by Xochicanela.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate.After you’ve listened to the show, re-read our article “France’s support for Syrian transition hinges on respect for minority rights”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 20 January to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 25 January podcast. When you enter be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

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

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

Kolawole Osinowo, CEO of Baobab Plus in Nigeria – a French-Nigerian energy distribution company – highlighted the challenges of energy access in the country.

“A lot of people in Nigeria don’t have access to electricity, so we’re supporting the government by bridging the gap,” Osinowo told RFI.

“There’s a connection in terms of technological and financial support that is key.”

Osinowo said he hopes to shift Africa-Europe relations from being aid-driven to investment-focused, aiming to boost Nigeria’s economy and create jobs.

“This is essential so that people don’t have to migrate and cause different migration issues around the world,” he said.

Creative partnerships

Uchenna Pedro, founder of the lifestyle platform Bella Naija and named one of Forbes Africa’s 50 Most Influential Women, emphasised France’s potential as a partner in Nigeria’s creative industries.

“French industries in my domains bring high value, and France’s belief in the arts makes it a great partnership,” said Pedro. Her platform already collaborates with French companies like L’Oréal in the beauty and fashion sectors.

Pedro is also a member of the French Africa Foundation’s young leaders group, which supports initiatives connecting France with African nations.

Nigerian businesses court French investors during Tinubu’s landmark visit

France as a cultural hub

Singer-songwriter and activist Chioma Ogbonna, known as Cill, also praised France’s prioritisation of the arts and its thriving creative industry.

“Because of how the arts and the creative industry thrive here in France and how it is prioritised, it is an important destination for Africans and Nigerians especially,” she said.

Tinubu’s visit underscored the potential for deeper collaboration between Nigerian businesses and French investors, particularly in energy, culture, and creative sectors.

Episode recorded and mixed by Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is a podcast from Radio France Internationale.

The lightning offensive of Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, which has seen the rebels capture several major Syrian cities in less than two weeks, gives Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leverage over his Syrian counterpart President Bashar al-Assad.

“Turkey can easily stop both [rebel] entities and start a process. Turkey does have this strength, and Assad is well aware of it,” said Murat Aslan of the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, a Turkish pro-government think tank. 

Until now, Assad has rejected Erdogan’s overtures for dialogue to end the civil war peacefully. “The Turkish intention politically is not to escalate in Syria [but to] start a political, diplomatic engagement with the Assad regime, and come to the terms of a normal state, and that all Syrians safely return to their homes,” Aslan noted.

Syrian rebels surround Hama ‘from three sides’, monitor says

Syrian refugees an issue

Erdogan is seeking to return many of the estimated 4 million Syrian refugees living in Turkey, amid growing public unease over their presence in the country.

“According to the opinion polls here, yes, the Syrian refugees [are] an issue. For any government, it would be a wonderful win to see these Syrians going back to Syria of their own will,” explained Aydin Selcen, a former senior Turkish diplomat who served in the region and is now a foreign policy analyst for Turkey’s Medyascope news outlet.

However, Moscow has a lot to lose in Syria, as a key military backer of Assad, who in turn has granted Russia use of a key Syrian naval base. “For Moscow, it’s of crucial importance that the personality of Assad remains in power,” said Zaur Gasimov, a professor of history and a Russia specialist at the University of Bonn.

Syria rebel leader says goal is to overthrow Assad

Gasimov warns that Turkey could be facing another humanitarian crisis. “Russia would definitely use the military force of its aerospace forces, that can cause a huge number of casualties among civilians. Which means a new wave of migrants towards Turkish eastern Anatolia.”

With more than a million Syrian refugees camped just across the Turkish border in the rebel-controlled Syrian Idlib province, analysts warn a new exodus into Turkey is a red line for Ankara.

“If they refresh their attacks on the captured areas by indiscriminate targeting… well [we can] expect further escalations in the region,” warned Aslan of the pro-government SETA think tank. “And for sure there is a line that Turkey will not remain as it is, and if there is a development directly threatening the interests or security of Turkey, then Turkey will intervene.”

Pushing back the YPG

With the Syrian rebel offensive also making territorial gains against the US-backed Kurdish militant group, the YPG, Ankara is poised to secure another strategic goal in Syria. Ankara accuses the YPG of having ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is fighting the Turkish state.

France joins Germany, US and Britain in call for de-escalation in Syria

“Without putting up a fight, and without getting directly involved, they [Ankara] have achieved one of their goals – for YPG to pull back from the Turkish frontier towards the south,” explained Selcen. “I think Ankara now is closer to that goal.”

With Syrian rebel successes appearing to advance Ankara’s goals in Syria, some analysts are urging caution, given the rebels’ links to radical Islamist groups. “The crashing down of the Assad regime is not in the interest of Turkey, because there will be chaos,” warned international relations professor Huseyin Bagci, of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

“Who is going to rule? What type of [governing] structure are we going to have?” he asked. “They are radicals, and another Daesh-style territory would not be in the interest of Turkey – in Turkish prisons, there are thousands of Daesh people.”

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 winners’ 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.

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

It’s time for you to get your New Year’s resolutions – or wishes – in the mail for our annual New Year’s Day show. We need your resolutions and/or wishes by 15 December.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We have a new RFI Listeners Club member to welcome: Zahurul Islam Joy from Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Welcome, Zahural!

This week’s quiz: On 2 November, I asked you a question about Ghana – Melissa Chemam had just published her Spotlight on Africa podcast, where she shined the light on textile waste in Africa from fast fashion – and how Ghana has become a dumping ground for the world’s unwanted textiles, with devastating consequences for local ecosystems.

You were to send in the answer to these questions: How much second-hand clothing arrives in Ghana each week, and what happens to the unsellable clothes?

The answer is, to quote Melissa: “About 15 million items of second-hand clothing arrive in Ghana each week. Nearly half cannot be resold. The unsellable clothes end up in informal dumps or are burned in public washhouses, contaminating the air, soil and water.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question:  “Which of the 13 overseas French territories would you visit, if you had the chance?”, which was suggested by Hans Verner Lollike from Hedehusen, Denmark.

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

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

Also on the list of lucky winners this week is a long-lost RFI Listeners Club member: Arne Timm from Harjumaa, Estonia. Welcome back to the Kitchen, Arne – don’t be such a stranger!

There’s also Ekbal Hossain, who’s a member of the RFI International DX Radio Listeners Club in West Bengal, India, and our brand-new RFI Listeners Club member Zahurul Islam Joy from Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Rounding out the list of lucky winners this week is RFI English listener Kadija Akter, also from Rajshahi, Bangladesh.

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Set Me Free” by Dominique Guiout and Manu Vergeade; “Life is Just a Party” by Kiala Pepple, performed by Ghetto Blaster; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer; “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, and “Motor Head Baby” by Johnny “Guitar” Watson and Mario Delagarde, played by Johnny “Guitar” Watson.

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 Myer’s article “Small island nations lead fight for climate justice at UN’s top court”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 13 January to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 19 January podcast. When you enter be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In partnership with Madhya Pradesh’s tourism board.

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

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

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

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

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

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