The conflict between Iran, Israel and the United States widened sharply on Monday, with missile strikes, drone attacks and retaliatory bombardments rippling across the Middle East – raising fears that a regional war is no longer a distant possibility but an unfolding reality.

Iran and its allied militias launched missiles at Israel and several Arab states, with one apparent strike hitting the US Embassy compound in Kuwait City. Fire and smoke were seen rising from inside the complex as alarms sounded, though there were no immediate reports of casualties. The attack came shortly after US authorities warned Americans in Kuwait to take cover.

The escalation has quickly drawn in Western powers. Britain, France and Germany signalled their readiness to support efforts to curb Iran’s attacks, aligning themselves with Washington as the conflict deepens. While their role remains framed as supportive rather than directly combative, the statements underline how rapidly the crisis is pulling in key European players alongside the US.

At the same time, Israel and the US continued a sustained campaign of airstrikes across Iran, targeting missile facilities and naval assets. President Donald Trump claimed that nine Iranian warships had been sunk and that the navy’s headquarters had been largely destroyed, while US officials confirmed the use of B-2 stealth bombers dropping 2,000-pound bombs on strategic sites.

EU foreign ministers warn on impact of conflict in Iran after Khamenei’s death

Regional flashpoints multiply

The fighting is no longer confined to Israel and Iran. In Iraq, a pro-Iranian militia said it had carried out a drone attack on US troops at Baghdad airport, a day after claiming a similar strike on a base in Irbil. Cyprus, meanwhile, reported that an uncrewed drone caused limited damage at a British air base on the island – a sign that the Mediterranean is also edging into the conflict zone.

Hezbollah opened another front, firing missiles from Lebanon into Israel in response to the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Israel said most projectiles were intercepted or landed in open areas, but retaliatory strikes on Lebanon killed at least 31 people and wounded 149, according to Lebanese officials. Beirut was rocked overnight by explosions as Israeli warplanes flew low overhead.

Lebanon’s government convened an emergency meeting, reflecting growing alarm that the country is being pulled deeper into a confrontation it can ill afford. Israeli military officials warned that the intensity of strikes would increase, suggesting further escalation is imminent.

Across the Gulf, the impact has been immediate and unsettling. Iran’s counteroffensive has struck cities long seen as stable hubs, with fatalities reported in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain. Authorities said most incoming missiles and drones were intercepted, but some slipped through or caused damage as debris fell, hitting civilian areas.

France’s Macron insists on diplomacy to solve conflict in Iran and Middle East

Mounting casualties and uncertainty

Inside Iran, officials say more than 200 people have been killed since the start of the strikes. Tehran’s streets have largely emptied as residents shelter from bombardment, while the paramilitary Basij has set up checkpoints across the capital, tightening internal security at a moment of profound uncertainty.

The killing of Khamenei – Iran’s supreme leader for more than three decades – has created a significant power vacuum, adding another layer of instability. Senior Iranian official Ali Larijani struck a defiant tone, insisting Tehran would not negotiate with the US.

In Israel, missile strikes have hit multiple locations, including Jerusalem and a synagogue in Beit Shemesh, where nine people were killed and 28 wounded. The overall death toll in Israel has reached 11, according to rescue services.

Trump has warned that more casualties are likely, saying bluntly: “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends.” He has urged Iranians to “take over” their government while also hinting at possible dialogue with new leadership in Tehran – though he stressed that military operations would continue “in full-force” until US objectives are met.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization issued a stark reminder of the human cost, calling for the protection of civilians and healthcare facilities.

Yet with missiles crossing borders, militias activating across multiple countries, and major powers edging closer to direct involvement, the latest escalation now risks becoming a full-blown regional war, with consequences that could extend far beyond the Middle East.

(with newswires)

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to rule out any form of shared European control over France’s nuclear arsenal – while clarifying what Paris can offer allies who have doubts over the reliability of the United States’ nuclear umbrella under President Donald Trump.

Speaking on Monday at France’s Île Longue nuclear submarine base in Brittany, the French president is set to outline what aides have described as “fairly significant shifts and developments” in the country’s nuclear doctrine.

For decades, Europe’s security architecture has rested firmly on American guarantees. While France and Britain maintain independent nuclear arsenals, most European nations rely on Washington as the ultimate deterrent.

But recent geopolitical shifts, from Trump’s warmer tone towards Russia over Ukraine to sharper rhetoric directed at traditional allies, have prompted a rethink in capitals across the continent.

Macron has already suggested possible avenues for closer cooperation, including joint exercises, “shared security interests” with key partners, and even the potential deployment of French nuclear-capable aircraft in other European countries.

Germany has opened discussions with France on the possibility of a European nuclear deterrent, while Britain has signalled it is seeking to deepen nuclear cooperation with Paris. Some Nordic countries have also shown cautious interest.

Macron himself has framed the debate as part of a broader, more “holistic” approach to European defence and security.

Europe confronts ‘new nuclear reality’ as Macron signals broader deterrence role

Questions over capability

However, some European officials have privately questioned whether France’s nuclear arsenal – estimated at around 290 warheads – could credibly extend protection across the continent.

The questions are not just over scale, but structure too: who would pay, who would decide and how would such a system fit alongside existing NATO arrangements?

France currently spends €5.6 billion annually maintaining its deterrent. Expanding its role would require significant additional investment, at a time when many governments are struggling to boost conventional military capabilities.

Analysts argue that any future European deterrent built around French and British forces would need to grow in size or adapt its composition to remain credible.

NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte has warned that any attempt by Europe to go it alone would come at enormous cost, potentially weakening rather than strengthening overall security.

The United States, for its part, continues to station around 100 nuclear bombs across several European countries under NATO’s nuclear sharing arrangements – a strategy that remains central to collective defence, despite reassurances from Washington doing little to calm fears of unpredictability under Trump.

French officials are keen to stress that Paris is not seeking to replace the US umbrella. Rather, its doctrine is built on a different philosophy: not matching adversaries weapon for weapon, but maintaining a smaller force capable of inflicting unacceptable damage on key political, military and economic targets.

In theory, this approach requires fewer warheads to remain credible. Still, some allies remain unconvinced.

For eastern European states in particular, credibility is everything – and strategic ambiguity, long a cornerstone of France’s doctrine, can feel more unsettling than reassuring.

Franco-German defence project under strain as Berlin signals possible exit

France’s line in the sand

At the heart of Macron’s update is an effort to clarify what France’s deterrent can, and cannot, do for Europe.

Paris has drawn a firm line on one point: its nuclear forces will remain under exclusive national control, funded solely by France and ultimately commanded by the French president.

Senior French officials and former advisers have underlined that any form of shared launch authority would undermine credibility. “I can’t see us having 27 buttons,” former presidential military adviser Bernard Rogel said, reflecting concerns about decision-making across the European Union.

That position reflects a longstanding principle. While France has hinted that its “vital interests” extend beyond its own borders to include a European dimension, it has never committed to formal guarantees akin to those provided by the US.

Another key challenge lies in capability. Any meaningful expansion of Europe’s deterrence would likely require advanced deep-strike missile systems with ranges exceeding 2,000 kilometres – technology that Europe currently lacks.

Developing tactical nuclear weapons for battlefield use is seen as even less likely, given the political and legal sensitivities surrounding nuclear proliferation.

There is also a broader concern that increasing the number of nuclear weapons worldwide would ultimately make the world less safe. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has voiced this unease, reflecting a wider tension between the desire for stronger deterrence and the long-standing commitment to arms control.

Orion 26 drills prepare French army for high-intensity warfare in Europe

Macron’s speech comes at a moment of change. Since his last doctrine update in 2020, Russia has expanded its nuclear arsenal and sharpened its rhetoric, particularly following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The debate is also gaining traction among European publics, with growing support in several countries for strengthening a shared deterrent.

Still, the political risks remain high. With domestic tensions rising ahead of France’s 2027 presidential election, analysts warn that any move towards a more explicitly “European” nuclear posture could prove controversial at home.

The act of debating alternatives to the US umbrella in itself carries symbolic weight. European officials say it sends a signal to Moscow that the continent is taking its security more seriously – even if practical changes remain limited for now.

(with newswires)

“The Middle East stands to lose greatly from any drawn-out war,” said a joint statement issued after their video link rendez-vous.

“Iran’s attacks and violation of sovereignty of a number of countries in the region are inexcusable. Iran must refrain from indiscriminate military strikes. We express our solidarity with partners in the region that have been attacked or affected.”

Kaja Kallas, the foreign policy chief for the 27-nation bloc, convened the meeting on Saturday night after a day of strikes from Israeli and American air force planes that pounded Iranian targets killing Khamenei and two top military generals.

Before the meeting, the Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and the American president Donald Trump said their armed forces would continue with the attacks on Iranian targets.

“We call for maximum restraint, protection of civilians and full respect of international law, including the principles of the United Nations Charter, and international humanitarian law,” the joint statement added.

“The events unfolding in Iran must not lead to an escalation that could threaten the Middle East, Europe and beyond, with unpredictable consequences, also in the economic sphere.”

On Sunday, French president Emmanuel Macron held a second defence and security council session with his most senior politicians and advisors.

His first took place on Saturday night just hours before Netanyahu and Trump said Khamenei had been killed during Saturday’s wave of bombardments on the Iranian capital Tehran.

Iranian state media announced the 86-year-old’s death on Sunday morning.

“No one can believe that the issues of Iran’s nuclear programme, ballistic missile activity and regional destabilisation will be resolved simply by strikes and, of course, the legitimate rights of the Iranian people to make their voices heard,” said Macron on Sunday.

Ali Khamenei’s voyage: from boy cleric to Iran’s man with the final word

On Sunday in a televised address, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, called on Iranians to avenge Khamenei’s death.

“You have crossed our red line and must pay the price,” he said. “We will deliver such devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg.”

Trump, though, warned on social media that any retaliation would only lead to further escalation.

How America lit the fuse on Iran’s nuclear programme

“IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!” he posted.

In a sign of how the attack could foment regional unrest, nine people died during clashes with police and paramilitary forces after several hundred protesters stormed the US Consulate in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, authorities said.

Iran launches missiles and drones 

As Iranian targets came under a second day of bombing, its armed forces fired missiles and drones on Israel and nearby Arab Gulf countries hosting US forces.

French Defence Minister Catherine Vautrine confirmed that a French military base in the United Arab Emirates was hit in an Iranian drone attack targeting the port of Abu Dhabi.

“The damage is limited and only material,” Vautrine said. “No injuries have been reported.”

Continued conflict could rattle global markets, say analysts particularly if Iran were to make the Strait of Hormuz unsafe for commercial traffic. 

Around 20 percent of the world’s traded oil passes through the waterway. The EU ministers said disruption along the channel must be avoided.

On Sunday, the shutdown of airports in Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi which were hit as part of the Iranian retaliation, created travel chaos for hundreds of thousands of passengers who were unable to pass through the hubs for flights between Europe, Africa and Asia.

Cirium, an aviation analytics firm, estimated that at least 90,000 people alone change flights daily in the airports in Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi on three airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways.

“The EU and its member states are taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety of EU citizens in the region,” said the joint statement which also urged Iran’s new leaders to end the country’s nuclear programme and curb its ballistic missile programme.

“The EU will continue to contribute to all diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and to bring about a lasting solution to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.” they added.

(with newswires)

“Diplomatic efforts must resume their rightful place,” said Macron after two hours of talks at the Elysée Palace in Paris with Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, and Catherine Vautrin, Minister of Defence.

“I hope that we can take all necessary steps to ensure that diplomatic efforts resume.” 

Israeli and American armed forces launched air strikes on targets in Iran on Saturday morning.

In a video address, the US president, Donald Trump, made clear the goal of the assaults was destruction of the Islamic republic’s military and removal of the authorities who have been in power since the 1979 revolution.

On Saturday night, just before an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters that the residence of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been destroyed. 

“We have begun the operation to end this [Iranian] threat,” said Netanyahu who warned Israelis that the war would last as long as necessary.

“Do not miss this opportunity to liberate yourselves,” Netanyahu added in an echo of Trump’s call earlier on Saturday to Iranians to exploit the strikes to force a change of regime. “The help you have been hoping for has arrived,” said Netanyahu.

Israeli media reported on Saturday night that Khamenei had been killed in an air strike. Trump also said that Khamenei was dead. However, there was no independent verification of the 86-year-old’s demise nor confirmation from Iranian authorities.

Fate of French prisoners in Iran unclear after French court convicts Iranian woman

Iran responded to the initial wave of assaults with strikes on neighbouring states Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates who host US military bases.

“France will stand alongside countries that are affected by or threatened by Iran’s response,” said Macron.

Before the defence council’s meeting, Macron spoke by telephone with counterparts in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait as well as the president of the autonomous region of Kurdistan. 

He was also in contact with the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz.

“Iran must refrain from indiscriminate military strikes,” the European troika said in a joint statement. “We call for the resumption of negotiations and urge Iranian leaders to seek a negotiated solution.”

During an intense day of diplomatic activity, Macron spoke about a dangerous escalation in the region following the attacks. He confirmed that France had not been warned of the bombings.

“The priority is the safety of our nationals in all the countries that are currently under attack,” said Macron. “As well as the security of our military and diplomatic bases and, of course, security on our national territory,” Macron added.

Nunez warned the country’s police chiefs to be on alert for potential protests against the American and Israeli strikes.

Former PM Attal says France should lead coalition to topple Iran’s leadership

In a communiqué seen by the French news agency, Agence France-Presse, Nunez said  increased security should be increased around diplomatic missions.

“You will pay particular attention to gatherings related to the international situation that may take place in the coming days,” he added.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of La France Insoumise, criticised the offensive.

He claimed the strikes were aimed solely at securing oil supplies and controlling the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions

Fabien Roussel, the leader of the Communist party, saId: “My support goes to the Iranian people, caught in a vice between the dictatorship of the mullahs, the provocations of Benjamin Netanyahu and the warmongering policies of Donald Trump.”

In his video address from his Florida home and posted to his Truth Social platform, Trump said: “We are going to destroy their [Iranian] missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground.

 “It will be totally – again – obliterated. We’re going to annihilate their navy.”

How America lit the fuse on Iran’s nuclear programme

Just after the strikes were launched, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah voiced confidence that the end was nigh for Iran’s rulers.

“We are very close to final victory,” Reza Pahlavi said in an online video address.

Pahlavi, who lives in the Washington area in the United States, added: “I want to be by your side as soon as possible so that together we can take back and rebuild Iran.”

“The momentum has now been set,” said France’s Olympic committee chief Amelie Oudéa-Castéra, after a lavish celebration to welcome home the delegation that harvested 23 medals during the 16-day event.

“This grand return marked the real start of our journey towards 2030,” she said.

Around 6,500 well-wishers packed into the Olympic Hall in Albertville, south-eastern France, to hail the returning athletes.

France scoops up 10 medals in first week of 2026 Winter Olympics

“I haven’t had much time to take it all in,” said Mathis Desloges, who won three silver medals – all of them behind Norway’s Johannes Hosflot Klaebo, who became a Winter Olympics legend by claiming all six events he contested in cross-country skiing.

“What happened during those two weeks of the Olympics was just crazy,” Desloges added. “I’m still on cloud nine.”

Sweet 16: Biathlon triumph takes France to record medal haul at Winter Olympics

Quentin Fillon Maillet returned as the most successful French athlete at a summer or winter Games.

His three gold medals and a bronze from Milano Cortina were added to his two golds and three silvers from Beijing in 2022, allowing him to eclipse the feats of fencers Roger Ducret and Philippe Cattiau in the 1920s and 1930s.

“What I remember most about the Games are the medals, of course,” said the 33-year-old. “But above all it was the emotions, especially those shared in the relays. Becoming the most decorated French athlete in Olympic history is a source of immense pride and a joy that is difficult to describe.”

French biathlete Julia Simon finds golden touch at 2026 Winter Olympics

Oudéa-Castéra’s public rallying call came two days before a round of executive bloodletting was disclosed.

Cyril Linette, one of the top operators on the 2030 Winter Olympics organising committee (Cojop), stepped down after a bust-up with committee supremo Edgar Grospiron.

“At the meeting of the board in Milan, Cojop and other interested parties took note of the departure of chief executive Cyril Linette,” said a Cojop statement.

Handpicked by Grospiron, the 55-year-old former sports journalist had been in post since last April and was the fourth senior manager to leave in the past two months.

Bertrand Meheut, the chair of the organising team’s compensation committee, was the first to depart. He was followed by director of operations Anne Murac and the communications chief Arthur Richter.

“These difficulties we are experiencing must be looked at clearly,” Grospiron told a French Senate committee convened to discus the issues affecting the leadership.

“Their existence cannot be denied. In order to get over them we have to act methodically, rigorously, and as a team.”

French ice hockey chiefs ban player from Winter Olympics after gesture to crowds

Grospiron, who won the freestyle skiing gold for France in the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, refused to divulge the reasons for the split and conceded the crisis had prompted delays in organising sponsorship deals, finalising venues and the choice of additional sports for the 203o extravaganza.

“The delays we have had for these subjects has absolutely no impact on the delivery of the Games,” Grospiron insisted.

“All of them are progressing. We are in a very positive dynamic,” the 56-year-old added.

The 2030 Winter Games, scheduled to take place between 1 and 17 February 2030, will receive full backing from the government, said France’s Prime Minister Sébastian Lecornu at Monday night’s welcoming ceremony.

“Those who want the 2030 Olympic Games in the French Alps to fail will be ignored,” he said. “Every time we have the same people who come along and sow doubt, saying: ‘We won’t make it.’ And yet, every time, we do make it.“

Speedskating outside France in 2030

Cojop has confirmed that it will follow International Olympic Committee, guidelines and stage speed skating in 2030 outside France.

Venues in Turin in northern Italy and in Heerenveen in northern Netherlands have been earmarked as potential sites.

“This decision has already been taken,” said Grospiron. “So the organising committee has to go on what has already been decided.

“For the first time we will have a Games with a discipline in another European country. We will see if other Games do it.”

Under current plans, the events in France will be spread across clusters in Nice, the Haute-Savoie, Savoie, and Briançon.

The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix in south-eastern France in 1924. France hosted the sports fest again in 1968 in Grenoble and for a third time in Albertville.

The toxin cereulide, which can cause nausea and diarrhoea, was first detected in December in batches of formula containing arachidonic acid oil, triggering recalls in dozens of countries.

The deaths of three infants are suspected to be linked to the consumption of recalled infant formula in France where authorities have launched a probe.

The European Commission said in its Official Journal that it was “necessary to provide for an increased level of official controls and special conditions in relation to the importation of consignments of arachidonic acid oil from China”.

Consignments entering the bloc from China will need an official certificate showing they have been tested and found to be cereulide toxin-free.

To account for shipments that may have already left China, the commission said for the next two months half of the consignments entering the bloc from the Asian powerhouse should be physically checked.

Manufacturers including European giants like Nestle, Danone and Lactalis, have recalled formula  in more than 60 countries including several EU states since December.

Two EU agencies last week said the risk of exposure was now low.

Justifying its move, the commission said follow-up investigations showed the acid originating in China and used in the manufacture of powdered milk “constitutes the source of contamination”.

“Those elements provide evidence that arachidonic acid oil imported from China is likely to constitute a serious risk for human health,” it said.

The EU did not name any company but the Wuhan, China-based firm Cabio Biotech has come under scrutiny as the supplier of the ingredient suspected of being tainted.

2008 China milk powder scandal

It is not the first time that China is mentioned in relation to baby milk safety standards. The 2008 Chinese baby milk powder scandal laid bare deep flaws in that country’s food safety oversight and corporate responsibility.

In September that year it emerged that infant formula, chiefly produced by the Sanlu Group, had been adulterated with melamine, an industrial chemical added to diluted milk to falsify protein readings in quality tests.

More than 300,000 infants were affected, tens of thousands were admitted to hospital with kidney stones and other renal damage, and at least six deaths were officially linked to the contamination.

Investigations later showed that Sanlu had received consumer complaints months earlier but failed to halt production or swiftly inform higher authorities, while regulators did not detect or disclose the problem in time.

The scandal triggered a massive recall, the withdrawal of thousands of tonnes of dairy products, and import bans on Chinese dairy, severely undermining confidence in the country’s food exports.

In the aftermath, Chinese parents increasingly turned to foreign-made baby formula, prompting China to import large quantities of baby milk powder and contributing to shortages and rationing measures in several European countries.

Chinese courts eventually imposed severe penalties, including death sentences and life imprisonment, on individuals involved, as Beijing sought to demonstrate a tougher stance on food safety.

(With newswires)

Lapses of discipline in both play-off games for a place in the last 16 reduced Monaco to 10 men at crucial junctures.

At 2-2 in the first leg at the Stade Louis II on 17 February, Monaco midfielder Aleksandr Golovin was given a straight red card early in the second half for his hack on the PSG midfielder Vitinha.

PSG went on to score a third goal to take a wafer-thin lead to the return leg at the Parc des Princes on 25 February.

That advantage was wiped out when Maghnes Akliouche struck for Monaco on the stroke of half time at the Parc des Princes to make it 3-3 on aggregate.

Champions League: PSG boss Enrique says no resting on laurels against Monaco

But within five second-half minutes, Mamadou Coulibaly was booked twice for fouls on Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi.

PSG scored twice soon after Couliblay’s departure to turn the tie. Though Jordan Teze netted a second for Monaco in stoppage-time, Monaco could not force another to take the game into extra time as PSG advanced 5-4 on aggregate.

“Of course, we need to take lessons from the match,” said Akliouche. “In particular regarding our mindset and the quality of our play, in order to finish the season strongly. We also need to learn from our mistakes to improve, that’s the goal.”

PSG and the title

Monaco beat Angers 2-0 on Saturday to maintain their hunt for Ligue 1 berths that lead to a place in the group stages of the 2026-2027 Champions League.

PSG, meanwhile are tussling for the title with Lens who lost the Ligue 1 lead following a 3-2 loss to Monaco on 21 February as PSG swept past Metz.

Lens drew 1-1 at Strasbourg on Friday night. On Saturday evening, PSG took full advantage with a 1-0 win at Le Havre to go four points clear at the top with 10 games of the season remaining.

Monaco might be able to do Lens a favour if they were to beat PSG in their Ligue 1 match on 6 March.

PSG boss Enrique plays down injury woes as Atalanta loom in Champions League

“We will give everything once more,” added Akliouche who featured in the France team that won silver at the 2024 Olympics before breaking into the senior squad.

“There are a lot of young players in the Monaco side and we need to use these kinds of matches in the Champions League to perform better next time.”

In last season’s Champions League, PSG had to negotiate the play-offs before dispatching three English Premier League outfits in the last 16, quarters and semi-finals en route to glory at the expense of Inter Milan in the final.

PSG and Chelsea

On Friday, PSG were paired with Chelsea in the last 16.

Should the holders emerge from that tie, they will face Liverpool or Galatasary in the quarter-finals.

Elsewhere in the draw for the last 16 of European football’s most prestigious competition, Real Madrid take on Manchester City and Bayern Munich will play the Italian outfit Atalanta.

The Norwegian side Bodoe/Glimt, who are making their debut in the last 16, tackle Sporting Portugal while Barcelona are pitted against Newcastle.

Atletico Madrid will vie with a Tottenham Hotspur squad fighting for Premier League survival under the former Marseille coach Igor Tudor and Arsenal, beaten in the semis last year by PSG, will play Bayer Leverkusen.

Iranian state media announced the 86-year-old’s death on Sunday morning.

On Saturday night, the American leaders Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump had crowed about his demise after their countries’ air forces had earlier struck targets in Tehran.

“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.”

He warned Khamenei’s successors they would face even more violence if they attempted to avenge his death with strikes on US interests in neighbouring countries.

Ali Hosseini Khamenei was born in Mashhad, northeast Iran, in April 1939 to Javad Khamenei and Khadijeh Mirdamadi (daughter of Hashem Mirdamadi in Mashhad. He was the second of eight children.

His religious commitment was clear when he became a cleric at the age of 11. He studied in Iraq and in Qom, Iran’s religious capital.

His father, a religious scholar of ethnic Azeri descent, was a traditionalist cleric opposed to mixing religion and politics. In contrast, his son embraced the Islamist revolutionary cause.

“He [Khamenei’s father] came across as a modernist or progressive cleric,” said Mahmoud Moradkhani, a nephew who opposes Khamenei’s rule and lives in exile. “He was not a part of the fundamentalists.”

EU foreign ministers meet as Iran announces death of supreme leader Khamenei

In 1963, Khamenei served the first of several prison terms when he was detained for political activities.

Later that year he was jailed for 10 days in Mashhad, where he underwent severe torture, according to his official biography.

After the shah’s fall in 1979, Khamenei took up several posts in the Islamic Republic under the first supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

As deputy minister of defence, he became close to the military Guards and was a key figure in the 1980-88 war with neighbouring Iraq, which claimed an estimated total of one million lives.

A skilled orator, Khomeini appointed him as a Friday prayer leader in Tehran.

How America lit the fuse on Iran’s nuclear programme

He won the presidency in 1981 with Khomeini’s support – the first cleric in the post – and was a surprise choice as Khomeini’s successor.

“Khamenei was an accident of history who went from a weak president to an initially weak supreme leader to one of the five most powerful Iranians of the last 100 years,” said Karim Sadjadpour, a policy analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

As ayatollah, Khamenei criticised the US throughout his rule, continuing the stance of his predecessor.

The position, though, thwarted the ambitions of a succession of independent-minded elected presidents who sought more open policies to reform conditions at home and perceptions of the country from abroad.

Expanding Iran’s influence

His control over a vast financial empire founded by Khomeini allowed him to expand Iranian influence in the region, empowering Shi’ite militias in Iraq and Lebanon, and propping up President Bashar al-Assad by deploying thousands of soldiers to Syria.

He spent billions over four decades on these allies – the “Axis of Resistance”, which also included Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group, and Yemen’s Houthis – to oppose Israeli and US power in the Middle East.

In 2024, the alliances began to unravel. Assad was ousted and Israel hit at Hezbollah command structures in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

In June 2025, Israel’s military deployed hundreds of fighter jets to strike at Iranian nuclear and military targets as well as senior military and scientists.

French citizens ‘a priority’ as Israel and US strike at Iran – defence chief

The surprise attack unleashed a torrent of missiles in both directions. The US joined the air offensive on Iran, which lasted 12 days.

The assaults came amid negotiations to reach a deal over Iran’s nuclear programme.

In 2015, Khamenei supported the deal between the government of President Hassan Rouhani and world powers that curbed Iran’s nuclear programme in return for fewer sanctions on Iran’s oil and shipping industries.

In 2018, two years into Trump’s first occupation of the White House, the US withdrew from the nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions.

Saturday’s wave of strikes came, like the attacks in June 2025, as negotiators attempted to cut a deal between Iran and the US over the nuclear programme.

That accord will be at the top of the to-do list for Khamenei’s successor as well as how to calm the anti-government protests since December 2025 hat have led to an estimated 20,000 deaths.

Legacy of violent control

Khamenei blamed such unrest on Western-backed agitators. In 2022, he authorised the crackdown on demonstrators enraged by the death of Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, 22, who died in the custody of morality police.

Faced with some of the most intense turmoil since the 1979 revolution, he authorised the hangings of protesters and the display of their bodies, suspended from cranes.

In France, Socialist party chief, Olivier Faure, called on Sunday for the involvement of the United Nations once the fighting has stopped in Iran.

“It is urgent that the transition process be placed under the auspices of the UN in order to prevent chaos from following tyranny,” Faure said on social media.

“The executioner Khamenei is dead,” he added. “We will not mourn the man who, without hesitation, ordered the shooting of Iran’s courageous youth in order to retain his power.”

(With newsires)

The PPE3 energy roadmap, unveiled earlier this month, lays out a nuclear‑heavy future for France.

The plan raises nuclear’s contribution to around 380-420 TeraWatt/hour (TWh) a year by 2035 – 1 Twh could power around 200,000–300,000 European homes for a year.

The plan scraps ideas of closing reactors and confirms six new EPR2 units, entrenching France’s status as Europe’s nuclear backbone even as its traditional uranium hinterland in the Sahel slips away. 

PPE3 formalises what Macron has been signalling for several years: nuclear remains the cornerstone of France’s decarbonisation and energy sovereignty strategy.

The government wants a higher share of low‑carbon power, while keeping most of its 56‑reactor fleet running longer and eventually adding new large reactors, with the nuclear power plant near Flamanville, northwestern France, finally joining the nuclear power grid after numerous delays.

Construction of Flamanville began in 2007, with initial commercial operation planned for 2012, but the project faced some 12 major delays due to technical issues and was only connected for the first time in December 2024, with full capacity reached in December 2025.

France’s Macron calls for a nuclear power ‘renaissance’, building at least 6 reactors

For investors and policymakers across Europe, France is the poster child for how a country with limited fossil resources can harness nuclear power.

“France has built this nuclear energy fortress,” according to former geologist James Cooper, now investment director at Fat Tail Investment Research. “It’s built a moat within Europe, which is starved of energy.”

As France’s 56 reactors easily fulfil local demand, it could export excess energy to neighbours such as Germany, where energy costs soared after Berlin began closing down their own reactors and coal plants as a result of policy proposed by the Green Party.

Cooper notes that PPE3 aligns France with other countries that have stuck with nuclear power, including China and the United States, rather than retreating in the wake of scares such as the Fukushima incident of 2011, which spooked Germany as well as Japan.

The long half-life of France’s nuclear tests in Polynesia

Anti-Western backlash

But France’s atomic energy fortress has a vulnerable spot: uranium supply.

For decades, France’s nuclear fuel came mostly from former French colony Niger, where the state-backed company Orano (formerly Areva) ran operations including the Somaïr mine, providing roughly 20 percent of Paris’s uranium imports over the past decade – or around 1,200–1,600 tonnes of uranium (tU) annually.

This trade came to an abrupt end when Niger’s 2023 military coup ousted pro-Western President Mohamed Bazoum.

The ruling junta revoked Orano’s permits, nationalised Somaïr in June 2025 amid accusations of unequal profit-sharing and blocked exports, leaving France with stranded assets worth around $210 million and a gaping supply hole.

Cooper sees this as symptomatic of a broader anti-Western backlash in West Africa’s mineral-rich Sahel region.

“Niger is definitely on a nationalistic agenda. It’s already taken [Orano’s] operations and brought them under state control,” he explains.

Neighbouring Mali’s junta has followed suit, targeting foreign miners. Both now tilt towards Russia and China, who offer engineers, infrastructure and fewer political strings than Western firms.

“They probably have business which is not so constrained like in the West,” says Cooper.

Niger lacks the expertise to run these technically demanding mines solo, creating “a window of opportunity for those BRICS nations to get into West Africa”, he added.

Paris prosecutor opens investigation into missing uranium in Niger

Scramble for new sources

To plug the gap, Macron is trying to find alternatives. His state visits to Kazakhstan, the world’s largest producer of uranium, and Mongolia demonstrate his determination to do so.

Meanwhile, France’s Orano is working on a potential restart of the Trekkopje uranium mine in Namibia, the world’s third largest producer, and also holds an ownership stake in uranium production at the Cigar Lake mine and the associated McClean Lake mill in Canada.

Orano has also recently established a presence in Australia, focusing on grassroots exploration for in-situ recovery amenable uranium deposits – particularly in South Australia.

However, Cooper says there are obstacles in his path. “From a geological perspective, there’s a large lag… you’re looking at 10 to 15 years before an undeveloped mining project actually enters production.”

Uranium mining is notoriously capital-intensive and technically tricky, over and above the challenges of putting permits in place and the construction needed.

And while Kazakhstan dominates global supply at 43 percent, its Soviet-built infrastructure and Chinese stakes in its key projects worry Cooper.

“Kazakhstan is probably going to be more aligned with the former Soviet Alliance and also China,” he warns. Deepening ties there “simply [create] dependence on a system which centres around Russia,” he says.

As for Mongolia, Cooper says it is not a known province for uranium mining and that the country is just at exploration stage. “Investment there is a bit of a long shot,” he adds.

Namibia, he says, offers a decent middle leve.

Australia’s Paladin Energy recently restarted a major mine in the country, but Chinese firms dominate operations, with Orano holding only modest exploration assets.

Cooper urges a pivot to Australia and Canada – “Western-aligned countries” – in order to break the “Russia-China grip”. Canada has proven reserves in the Athabasca Basin, while Olympic Dam in South Australia contains 26 per cent of the world’s low cost uranium resources and is the world’s largest uranium deposit.

Belt and Road

Meanwhile, China’s nuclear surge casts the longest shadow. The country has more than 20 nuclear reactors under construction, and is planning a 50 percent fleet expansion.

Beijing leverages investments from its multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative – a massive global infrastructure programme launched in 2013 that funds and builds roads, railways, ports, and energy infrastructure across Asia, Africa, and Europe – to secure lucrative resource deals and advance infrastructure projects in Kazakhstan, Mongolia and across Africa.

“China will probably dominate uranium pricing as it emerges as the world’s largest nuclear power,” says Cooper.

If Europe were to follow France’s model – whether that took the form of a German U-turn on nuclear policy or buildouts by the United Kingdom or Italy, overall demand could hit 87,000 tU by 2030 against today’s 60,000 tU mine output, according to the World Nuclear Association’s World Nuclear Fuel Report 2025. 

The UK nuclear sector currently operates five ageing power stations, producing around 12 percent of its electricity, with life extensions under way and new construction such as Hinkley Point C progressing. Italy, meanwhile, has had no active reactors since 1990 but is planning a revival through advanced technologies and small modular reactors, targeting significant capacity by 2050.

Uranium reserves do exist worldwide, says Cooper, but he added: “It’s actually the money, the capital and the time that it takes to get it out of the ground which is going to be the difficulty for [any country] looking at restarting their nuclear reactors.”

According to French domestic intelligence services, there are 3,300 individuals currently involved with one of the three main factions of the extreme right in the country: identitarians, revolutionary nationalists and monarchists.

The ethno-nationalist identitarian movement emerged in the early 2000s, before being represented on a national scale by the small group Génération Identitaire from 2012 onwards.

Its supporters advocate an “ethnic definition” of identity based on a “triptych of identity”, explained Marion Jacquet-Vaillant, a specialist in the movement, to French news agency AFP. “For example, an individual is from Nice, French and European.”

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Revolutionary nationalist ideology is anti-parliamentarian and neo-fascist. It has long been represented in France by the Groupe Union Défense, better known by its acronym GUD.

This neo-fascist movement made headlines in 2013 when the young anti-fascist activist Clément Méric was beaten to death by skinheads linked to a small group close to this movement, which was subsequently dissolved by the government.

“Revolutionary nationalism is a movement that claims to be social, popular, anti-bourgeois and internationalist,” said Lebourg.

The third and final movement is that of the monarchists, whose main incarnation in France is the group Action Française. Founded in 1898, it originally advocated for a return to the monarchy to restore traditional values and national unity. It is now focused on cultural identity and Euroscepticism.

While the group share ideological similarities, their approach to violent action differs.

The monarchists of Action Française make little or no use of violent methods.

The identitarian movement, meanwhile, has resorted to violence in the past – most prominently the attempted assassination of then President Jacques Chirac in 2002 by Maxime Brunerie, an identitarian activist. Since then, this movement has favoured shock tactics, such as occupying mosques or displaying banners with racist connotations, such as the one targeting singer Aya Nakamura.

Among revolutionary nationalists, violence is in the movement’s DNA. Lebourg notes: “Seventy-five percent of their violent acts since 2017 have been assaults.”

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A changing landscape

The landscape of the far right in France has been changing over the past decade, mainly as a result of the French government ordering the dissolution of several groups.

Macron’s time in office has seen the dissolution of more political groups than during any other administration, and since 2017 half of those dissolved have been far-right groups. Génération Identitaire was banned in March 2021, and the GUD in June 2024.

However, with the disappearance of these national structures, small collectives have reformed at the local level, both in cities and rural areas – sometimes with as few as 15 members. The online media outlet StreetPress lists 141 such groups on its website.

The effectiveness of banning these groups is disputed by academics, who argue that dismantling larger national organisations means intelligence services lose track of certain activists.

It also reinforces the sense of belonging among members to the same ostracised movement, explains political scientist Jean-Yves Camus.

“These activists say to themselves, since repression affects us all, why do we continue to divide ourselves? There is a widespread feeling of ‘what unites us is stronger than what divides us’, despite ideological and historical differences.”

How did Lyon become France’s capital of political violence?

Camus says the march organised in Lyon on 21 February in tribute to Deranque demonstrated this new unity between the various factions of the far right – as did Deranque himself, having rubbed shoulders with identitarian and monarchist groups as well as revolutionary nationalists.

Of the three factions of the far right, the ideology of the identitarians is increasingly dominating the other two – in particular its adherence to the racist conspiracy theory of the “Great Replacement”.

Popularised by Renaud Camus, a theorist of the radical far right in France, it argues that there is an orchestrated plot to replace white European populations with non-white immigrants, primarily from Muslim-majority countries and advocates the forced return of immigrants to their countries of origin.

Thus, Lebourg says: “[With] the obsession with the ethnic question, we have a great simplification of the movement that has been under way since 2015,” adding that there has effectively been a collapse of the “ideological barriers” that once divided the far right. 

This article has been adapted from the original version in French by Baptiste Coulon.

Sasha Zhylyaev, a sergeant with Khartiia, one of the most popular units in the Ukrainian military, is in charge of communications, marketing and fundraising. In his pre-war life, Sasha, who was also a DJ in his spare time, had opened a small café and worked in marketing for companies including Comfy, an electronics store, and Multiplex, a cinema chain.

Originally from Kyiv, he joined this Kharkiv-based unit more than a year ago.

Dmytro, his colleague from Kharkiv, was a freelance journalist for 10 years before he joined. The two men chose Khartiia over other units precisely because it would allow them to continue using their civilian skills in the service of the army.

Dmytro explains: “Here, there aren’t just combat positions, there are also jobs that involve interacting with civilians.”

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In 2022, he found himself at the heart of the war: “When the invasion began, I was reporting from the front line and talking about the occupied territories. Then I thought it was time for me to get involved.”

He added: “We are fortunate to have an excellent communications team at Khartiia, with designers, photographers, people from the world of communications – in short, specialists. I have always thought of Kharkiv as a capital for this kind of expert, and it is of course a shame that they have arrived here in such circumstances, but it is also great to have the best people working with us in the army.”

From billboards to charity events

Founded in 2022 by Ukrainian businessman Vsevolod Kozhemyako, the Khartiia brigade has successfully adopted marketing strategies to encourage men and women from worlds far removed from the military to join.

Significant resources have been deployed, with billboards visible on most major Ukrainian roads and charity events organised across the country to raise funds.

As Ukraine this week marks four years since the large-scale invasion, Sasha Zhylyaev is in Berlin attending the Café Kyiv conference, which brings together supporters of Ukraine, to talk about his brigade.

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Dmytro confides: “My main goal was to stay in my hometown, so in that sense I’m lucky. But the transition from civilian to military life was a bit complicated at first, especially during training. But once you get past that, you get used to it and here you feel like family. As soldiers, we share a common language.”

In this vein, one of his recent projects was to show soldiers from Khartiia living their daily lives.

“We collaborated with one of Ukraine’s best photographers, Roman Pashkovskiy, and instead of simply presenting portraits of our men and women, we showed them during their downtime, at home, and asked them to talk about their feelings and how their service in the army has changed them.”

He believes projects like this can change preconceptions about the military. “It’s a cliché to say that soldiers just sit in the trenches. There are lots of jobs outside combat zones too.”

Four lives changed by four years of Russia-Ukraine war

Becoming a brand

“We have a strategy: to be present in all formats in people’s lives. We want to become a recognised name, like a brand. To do this, we organise concerts, we have our own radio station and we are very active on social media,” explains Sasha.

Khartiia recently called on one of the most famous of Kharkiv’s residents, writer and singer Serhii Zhadan.

“He runs our radio station, and we invite well-known personalities to appear on it – such as Ai Weiwei recently, with whom Zhadan discussed war and art through war.”

This communication strategy extends internationally – and with success. The unit contains a large number of South American soldiers, particularly Colombians and Brazilians, as well as a few Europeans.

The families searching for African recruits lost in the Ukraine war

And the 13th Brigade is just one example. Other units, among the most popular in Ukraine, employ similar methods.

These include the 414th Brigade Birds of Magyar – formed in January 2024 under the command of the popular Robert Brovdi, head of the Ukrainian Army’s Unmanned Systems Forces since June 2025 – and the 429th Achilles Brigade, created in 2022 and upgraded from a group to a battalion, then to a regiment, before becoming a fully fledged brigade.

They share a common goal: to make society more open to the military by changing recruitment practices and highlighting the diverse profiles of the soldiers, at a time when the Ukrainian army is struggling with recruitment.

On the eve of the anniversary of Russia’s large-scale invasion, Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov promised to review a system that has failed to mobilise enough soldiers.

“We are currently working on a comprehensive reform of mobilisation. We will propose a systemic solution to resolve the problems that have accumulated over the years and, at the same time, preserve the country’s defence capabilities.”

This article was adapted from the original version in French by Emmanuelle Chaze in Kharkiv.

In the centre of Nairobi, where corrugated iron roofs shimmer under the afternoon sun and narrow footpaths weave through tightly packed homes, lives 23-year-old Sharon Achieng. Although there was a time when she thought she’d merely survive, rather than live.

She grew up in Kibera, one of the biggest slum towns on the African continent. Her mother sold vegetables by the roadside, while her father drifted in and out of casual jobs.

Sharon loved school – the order of writing in notebooks and the certainty of exams – but when she became pregnant at the age of 16, all that changed. Her classmates whispered, and teachers avoided making eye contact with her. Eventually, she stopped going to school.

“I felt like the world had decided my story,” Sharon says. “Teen mother. Failure. Finished.”

For months after her son Brian was born, she rarely left the house. With no income, no diploma and no plan, the weight of the responsibility pressed on her. What frightened her most was not poverty, it was the fear that nothing would ever change.

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Training over charity

Then a neighbour told her about a small organisation based nearby called the Passion to Share Foundation, which offers training for young mothers and girls who have dropped out of school.

Sharon was hesitant, having heard promises of help before. But then, walking through the gates of the organisation’s offices one Monday morning with Brian strapped to her back, she met founder Lydia Anyango.

She too, years earlier, had had to rely on sponsorship to complete her education and understood the humiliation women can feel when they need to ask for help. 

“When I started Passion to Share, I didn’t want charity,” Lydia explains. “I wanted transformation. I wanted girls to discover what they are capable of.”

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Founded in 2017, the organisation started life with little more than borrowed space and borrowed hope.

Lydia’s vision was simple: equip disadvantaged girls and young mothers with the practical skills that will allow them to earn an income – including fashion design, computer graphics and beauty therapy. She believes poverty is not just about lack of money, but lack of options.

Sharon enrolled in the fashion design programme, learning to measure fabric, cut clean lines and operate an industrial sewing machine.

She recalls that she felt overwhelmed, starting something new. But, surrounded by other young women with similar stories of young motherhood and dropping out of school, she no longer felt like an outsider.

Business loans

The Foundation also anticipates one of the biggest barriers young mothers face: childcare. Through its day care programme, infants as young as four months are supervised while their mothers attend training.

Knowing that Brian was being looked after left Sharon free to focus on the new skills she was acquiring as the months passed. 

Childcare solution springs up for Nairobi’s market trader mothers

As her confidence grew, she began designing dresses for her neighbours. Then she received her first paid order: matching outfits for a local church choir. She worked late into the night, stitching under a single bulb.

When the choir members appeared on in her creations, there was applause from the congregation. Sharon says it was the first time she had felt seen not for her circumstances, but for her skills.

The Foundation has launched a savings plan and an interest-free loan initiative to help graduates start micro-businesses – among them a roadside salon and a tailoring kiosk. Another graduate is now teaching digital design to secondary school students. Their successes have allowed them to not only pay their rent and buy textbooks for their children, but to shift the dynamics of their families.

‘Passion is persistence’

Sharon used the loan facility to buy her own sewing machine, which has allowed her to turn her skills into her livelihood.

Today, she runs a small but growing tailoring business from a rented stall. Brian, now six, wears school uniforms that his mother made.

But when asked what changed her life, she doesn’t mention the loan or the sewing machine: she says it was the belief that Lydia and Passion to Share showed in her.

“They looked at me and saw potential,” she says. “Before that, I only saw my mistake.”

Lydia tells her students that passion is not just excitement, it’s persistence – choosing to show up every day, even when resources are limited and outcomes uncertain.

In a community where challenges include unemployment, teenage pregnancy and limited access to education, Passion to Share does not claim to be able to solve every problem, but rather offers its service users what they need to carve out their own path. 

On one recent afternoon, Sharon returned to the Foundation as a guest speaker for a new group of young mothers.

“I thought my story ended at 16,” she told them. “But it was just a different beginning.”

Epstein had a close relationship with Karim Wade, who he considered a powerful figure in Africa, and contacts with Nina Keita, who helped connect him to her uncle, according to emails, scheduled meetings, investment projects and loans interviewed by the French news agency AFP.

The mention of a person’s name in the Epstein files does not imply wrongdoing, and exchanges with Karim Wade show no link to sex trafficking crimes, but they do reveal a close personal connection and that the two men had business ties.

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‘Important player’

Nicknamed the “Minister of Heaven and Earth” for the multiple portfolios he held including international cooperation, energy, and air transport, Karim Wade was a powerful figure in Senegal until April 2012, when his father’s bid for a third term as president sparked deadly riots.

Epstein described Wade as “one of the most important players in Africa”.

The two met in 2010 and quickly developed a rapport. After their first meeting in Paris, Epstein wrote to Wade on 15 November, 2010: “Thanks for coming. I think there are many things to consider… I feel confident that we will have fun.”

“Have a safe trip back to your paradise Island,” Wade replied.

Epstein put Wade in touch with close contacts, such as Ehud Barak, then Israel’s defence minister.

He also put him in touch with Chinese businessman Desmond Shum to discuss “offshore banking”, and the two met in Beijing in May 2011, according to the documents – the same month that Wade planned a tour for Epstein through Senegal, Mali and Gabon.

The friendship continued even after Abdoulaye Wade left office. When Senegalese authorities started looking into the family’s assets, Epstein proposed that Karim Wade use his house in Florida, writing: “You and your family are welcome to use my house in Palm Beach. Staff is there, pool etc. You will not suffer.”

Numerous files suggest Epstein became financially involved on Karim Wade’s behalf after Wade was arrested in 2013, and sentenced to six years in prison for corruption in 2015.

Other files suggest that Epstein covered at least $50,000 in fees for the US lobbying firm Nelson Mullins, which Wade’s entourage hired to secure his release.

‘Pretty girls’

The documents show that Nina Keita was close to both Epstein and Karim Wade, and that she acted as a regular intermediary while Wade was in prison.

Keita also helped put Epstein in contact with her uncle, the president of Cote d’Ivoire, and his team.

When Epstein traveled to Abidjan and met Ouattara in 2012, Keita booked him what she called the  “ministerial suite” of the luxury Hotel Ivoire.

Ahead of the visit, Epstein had said he hoped to see “very pretty girls there, as well as interesting places”.

Keita, a former model, replied: “You will!”

Emails show at least one instance when she sent Epstein photos and the phone number of a young woman who he met at the Ritz hotel in Paris in August 2011.

After the meeting he asked for photos of the woman’s sister. “I prefer under 25,” he wrote to Keita.

Now the deputy general director of an Ivorian petroleum stocks company, Keita appears in a February 2019 will in which Epstein requested that debts owed to him by a number of people be cancelled upon his death.

Epstein was found hanged in his New York jail cell in August 2019, while he was awaiting trial on charges of abusing girls at his Palm Beach home and on his private island in the Caribbean.

(with AFP)

The Horn of Africa country has been plagued by conflict and suffered two consecutive failed rainy seasons, as well as a drop in the amount of food aid available amid international funding cuts.

The population classified as being in a “crisis or worse” situation “has nearly doubled between February-March 2026 to a staggering 6.5 million people since early 2025”, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a UN-backed group that monitors hunger and malnutrition.

That includes more than two million people now in Phase 4, the “emergency” category, one step away from the “catastrophic” level, equal to famine, an IPC report said.

Food prices and insecurity

An estimated 1.84 million children under five are at risk of acute malnutrition in 2026, including 483,000 severe cases that require urgent treatment, the IPC said.

“This alarming deterioration is driven by worsening drought, rising food prices, and insecurity across central, southern, and parts of northern Somalia,” the report added.

“The situation is compounded by declining humanitarian assistance.”

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The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday it would have to stop humanitarian assistance in Somalia by April if it did not receive new funding.

The Rome-based agency said it had already been forced to reduce the number of people receiving emergency food assistance from 2.2 million in early 2025 to just over 600,000 today.

US funding shortfalls

In January, the United States suspended aid to Somalia following the destruction of a US-funded WFP warehouse in the capital Mogadishu’s port.

The US announced a resumption of WFP food distribution on 29 January.

However, all UN agencies have warned of serious funding shortfalls since Washington began slashing aid following President Donald Trump’s re-election last year.

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Levels of acute malnutrition in Somalia have risen for two consecutive years, the IPC report said.

Rainfall from April to June is likely to be near normal in most areas and above-normal in some, but “this will likely lead to only a modest improvement in overall food security“.

(with AFP)

On Thursday, Jean-Jacques Purusi, governor of the DRC’s South Kivu province, said two burial sites containing at least 171 bodies had been identified on the outskirts of Uvira, a strategic city near the Burundian border.

Speaking by phone, he described one grave in the Kiromoni neighbourhood holding around 30 bodies, and another in Kavimvira where 141 bodies were found.

The claims could not be independently verified, and M23 did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Even so, the reports have intensified scrutiny of the conduct of armed actors in a region already burdened by years of violence.

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Allegations and restricted access

A local civil society organisation, the Executive Secretariat of the Local Network for the Protection of Civilians, said it had sought access to the sites but had been prevented from doing so by the Congolese military. Its vice-president, Yves Ramadhani, said preliminary information suggested the victims had been killed by M23 fighters.

According to both the group and provincial authorities, those buried in the graves may have been targeted on suspicion of links to the Congolese army or allied militias. Such allegations, if confirmed, would add to a growing body of accusations against multiple parties in the conflict.

Rights organisations have repeatedly documented extrajudicial killings and abuses by both the Congolese military and M23 – a reminder that accountability remains a central challenge even as peace efforts gather pace.

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Conflict persists 

M23 seized Uvira in December following a swift offensive that left more than 1,500 people dead and displaced around 300,000, according to regional authorities.

The group later announced a withdrawal, describing it as a unilateral confidence-building step requested by the United States to support negotiations.

That diplomatic track has not stalled entirely. A deal between the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda – alongside ongoing talks involving rebel groups – signals a shared interest in easing tensions. Still, the situation on the ground remains volatile.

Kinshasa, Washington and United Nations experts have long accused Rwanda of backing M23, which has expanded significantly in recent years, growing from a few hundred fighters in 2021 to roughly 6,500 today, according to UN estimates.

The eastern Congo remains one of the world’s most complex humanitarian crises. More than 100 armed groups operate in the mineral-rich region, competing for territory and influence. The United Nations refugee agency estimates that more than 7 million people have been displaced.

(With newswires)

The International Football Association Board’s (Ifab) move follows the chaotic denouement to the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations on 18 January in which the Senegal team left the field following a decision to award a stoppage-time penalty to Morocco.

The game was delayed for nearly 20 minutes before the spot kick was taken. With effectively the last action of regulation time, striker Brahim Diaz fluffed the chance to furnish Morocco with only their second Cup of Nations trophy. Senegal went on to claim the crown after extra-time.

On 17 February during a Champions League tie, Benfica striker Gianluca Prestianni put his shirt over his mouth before addressing the Madrid forward Vinicius Junior. The Brazilian told referee Francois Letexier that Prestianni had racially abused him. The last-16 play-off clash at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon was held up for 10 minutes as Madrid players decided whether they wanted to carry on.

“The Ifab agreed that consultation will be held to develop measures,” said a statement following their 140th annual meeting held in Hensol, Wales, in honour of the Welsh Football Association which is celebrating its 150th anniversary.

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In an effort to speed up the flow of a match and to stamp out gamesmanship, a new rule will allow referees the power to award possession to the opposing side if a player takes too long to take a throw-in.

Equally, if a goalkeeper dithers over a goal kick, a corner will be awarded to the other team.

In another innovation, substitutes will be given 10 seconds to leave the field.

If they were to dawdle, they will still have to leave the hurly-burly but their replacement will have to wait for a minute.

And in a change designed to discourage tactical injury delays, players who receive treatment on the field or whose injury causes play to stop, will have to leave the pitch once play resumes and remain off for one minute. 

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The lawmakers also agreed to three changes to how video assistant referees (VAR) operate.

When clear evidence exists, Ifab decided that VARs will now be allowed to intervene in three additional situations: red cards resulting from an incorrect second yellow; cases of mistaken identity; and corner kicks that have been clearly awarded in error.

The laws will come into effect from 1 July in domestic championships but they will be in operation during the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico which starts on 11 June.

An Ifab spokesperson said: “These decisions mark a decisive and forward-looking step in ensuring that football remains fast, fair and dynamic.”

Having left Cameroon for France at the age of 12, Minali-Bella describes the EP as “a return to her African roots”. Okali, she explains, means “pay attention to others”.

“It’s the name that I used up until I was adopted, and it’s coming back to life today.”

Minali-Bella provides vocals in English, French, and the Cameroonian dialect Eton, while Sorin takes care of the beats, in a musical style that mixes African music, trip hop and dub.

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Reconnection

Minali-Bella’s native tongue, Eton, is associated with the Beti ethnic group. Growing up with her French adopted family, she says she progressively forgot how to speak it, but that it came back to her once she started making music.

“Music helped me rediscover my dialect, my origins and, inevitably, my history and my childhood memories,” she said.

“It felt natural to sing in all of these different languages that ​​I had heard since I was a child. So it wasn’t a conscious decision, it came from the heart. I don’t express myself the same way in my dialect as when I sing in French or English. The feelings aren’t the same. But that’s precisely what blending cultures is all about.”

She recalls that music has always been a part of her daily life, beginning when she was a little girl in Cameroon.

“I discovered Western music once I arrived in France. A sort of melodic fusion occurred, adding to my Cameroonian musical background.”

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Pushing the boundaries

For his part, Sorin says he is inspired by the trance-like patterns found in Afrobeat and Jamaican reggae.

“I’ve had the opportunity to go to Africa, to Cameroon a few times. That experience really struck me.”  

The duo’s other musical inspirations are wide-ranging – from the Bristol trip hop collective Massive Attack to Icelandic singer Björk, by way of Radiohead, Tracy Chapman, Cameroonian musician Manu Dibango and metal band Tool.

They will be touring France and Switzerland this summer – just don’t expect to hear exactly what you hear on the album. 

“We love having free rein in our interpretations on stage,” Minali-Bella said. “On CDs or vinyl the music is fixed, but live we like to push the boundaries a bit.

“I don’t always do the same vocal versions, I don’t always use the same structure. That’s what’s so great about it.”

The severed part was accompanied by a poster bearing Estrosi’s image on which was drawn a Star of David and an insult.

Estrosi, 70, who is married to a Jewish woman, returned on Friday night from an evening out with his wife to find the objects.

The former Grand prix motorcycle racer turned politician described the gesture as despicable.

“Everything I have always fought against in the city is now knocking at the door,” he said on social media.

Estrosi is set to run for a fourth term as mayor in March in the municipal elections.

Eric Ciotti, his chief rival in the race for the job, on Saturday offered his support following the incident.

“It’s a serious violation of human dignity and a direct attack on the fundamental values of the Republic,” said the Union of the Right for the Republic leader.

Nice mayor bans ostentatious foreign flags during world cup

The Nice public prosecutor said inquiries were underway into threats and insults against a person in a position of public authority as well as incitement to hatred and violence on the grounds of religion.

Regional police chief Laurent Hottiaux added: ’‘The police are doing everything in their power to find, arrest and bring to justice the perpetrator of this act as quickly as possible.”

In 2021, Estrosi authorised the hanging of an Israeli flag outside Nice city hall after supporting a ban on pro-Palestine protests.

In June 2025, a French court ordered Estrosi to remove Israeli flags from the city hall. Judges decided that the flags violated the “principle of neutrality” in public services since it constituted a political message.

During the coronavirus pandemic in February 2021, Estrosi called for tourists to stay away from the city and urged a weekend lockdown to stem one of the highest Covid-19 infection rates in France.

“We need strong measures that go beyond the nationwide 6pm curfew, either a tighter curfew, or a partial and time-specific lockdown,” Estrosi told French broadcaster Franceinfo.

According to the tracking website covidtracker.fr, Nice had registered 740 new cases per week per 100,000 residents.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen announced the bloc would go forward with agreement pending the EU top court’s ruling on its legality after Argentina and Uruguay ratified the agreement Thursday.

“The commission will now proceed with provisional application,” von der Leyen said in Brussels, recalling that member states had given the EU executive power to do so.

Mercosur deal in sight as EU chief von der Leyen pushes past French objections

“Provisional application is, by its nature, provisional,” she added, saying: “The agreement can only be fully concluded once the European Parliament has given its consent.”

She hailed the ratification by the two South American countries as “good news”.

European parliament’s role

The deal still needs a green light from lawmakers in the European Parliament, which referred it to the EU’s top court within days of being inked in January.

France has led opposition to the deal and unsuccessfully attempted to block it over worries for its farmers, who fear being undercut by cheaper goods from Brazil and its neighbours.

French President Emmanuel Macron called the decision a “bad surprise” that ignored the European Parliament, but Germany and Spain welcomed the step.

“Companies and people from both continents can finally benefit from more prosperity and growth,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said.

EU ’empowered’ to decide

Provisional application will begin on “the first day of the second month following the date on which the EU and Uruguay (as first Mercosur country to ratify) exchange notes verbales”, EU trade spokesman Olof Gill later clarified.

French agriculture minister Annie Genevard said the decision was “very damaging to the functioning of our institutions and, above all, to the spirit of our European institutions”.

But Gill said EU states had “empowered” the commission to take such a decision.

The deal will provisionally apply to the Mercosur countries that have ratified it, Gill told reporters, adding the commission anticipated remaining members Brazil and Paraguay would do so “soon”.

Reacting to von der Leyen’s announcement, French EU lawmaker Celine Imart accused the commission of “showing contempt” for farmers.

EU Commission endorses Mercosur deal despite French reservations

“We will continue to fight with determination to ensure that this provisional application never becomes permanent,” she told AFP.

Agriculture worries

The deal between the EU and the four founding members of the Mercosur bloc — Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay — was a quarter century in the making.

The accord creates one of the world’s biggest free trade zones and eliminates tariffs on more than 90 percent of trade between the two blocs, which together account for 30 percent of global GDP and over 700 million consumers.

Farmers across Europe remain unconvinced and are up in arms, including in Spain where they staged a protest against the deal in Madrid earlier this month.

The European Commission, however, insists it has fully addressed their concerns by approving a series of safeguards for its producers.

Von der Leyen stressed the deal offered “countless opportunities”.

Major exports from the South American grouping to the EU include agricultural products and minerals, while the 27-country bloc would export machinery, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals with smaller levies.

burs-ob-raz/rl

Dati, 60, resigned late on Wednesday to focus on her bid to become mayor of Paris. She is running as the mainstream conservative candidate in municipal elections scheduled for March, and wasted no time making headlines as she launched her campaign.

Rachida Dati resigns as France’s culture minister to focus on Paris mayor campaign

Within hours of stepping down from government, Dati accused her Socialist rival Emmanuel Grégoire of “social racism”, igniting a fierce political exchange.

The dispute followed a social media post by Grégoire warning that Paris was “threatened” by an “extreme right” alliance and that a “brown wave” could sweep through the capital. Dati – whose father was Moroccan and mother Algerian – reacted angrily.

“Do you find this acceptable when you know my life and my background?” she asked in an interview with BFMTV.

She went on to accuse her opponent of reinforcing barriers in French society.

“There’s a glass ceiling in this country when it comes to accessing high-level positions,” she said, criticising what she described as an “insular left” that preferred to see people like her “as victims”.

Grégoire dismissed the accusations as “ridiculous”, calling instead for a more measured political debate.

“We can have debates and confrontations of ideas without resorting to insults,” he said, adding that Dati’s background should be seen as “a source of pride for our country”.

Dati and Ghosn to stand trial over corruption and influence peddling

Tight race in Paris

Despite the early clash, the contest for Paris city hall is shaping up to be a closely fought race. Opinion polls currently place Grégoire in the lead with around 32 percent of support, but Dati has gained ground in recent weeks and is now polling at roughly 30 percent.

Dati has centred her campaign on security, taking aim at the current Socialist-led administration. She has pledged to install 8,000 CCTV cameras across the capital’s 7,000 streets, arguing that stronger surveillance is needed to tackle crime, including sexual violence.

Her departure from government comes at a challenging time for President Emmanuel Macron’s administration, which has been struggling in the polls.

Alongside Pégard’s appointment, the presidency announced several additional changes to the cabinet.

Sabrina Roubache is set to return as deputy education minister, government spokeswoman Maud Bré­geon will take on a deputy energy role and Camille Galliard-Minier has been named deputy minister for people with disabilities.

(with newswires)

Carrey has starred in box office hits such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask and How the Grinch Stole Christmas which showcased his talent for timing and energetic physical comedy.

But he also showed his range with films like The Truman Show, for which he won a Golden Globe in 1998, and garnered critical acclaim for his portrayal of a lovelorn man who has all memories of his former girlfriend erased in 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

“As an actor, each character you play is like clay in the sculptor’s hands, which you shape to your heart’s desire,” Carrey said. “How fortunate I have been to share this art with so many people who have truly opened their hearts to me.”

The actor, 64, has stepped back from movie-making to focus on painting and personal projects, after disclosing his struggles with depression.

Cinema and politics collide at Berlin Film Festival in row over Gaza war

French director Michel Gondry, who directed Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, introduced the former stand-up comic on stage at the L’Olympia concert hall in central Paris at the César awards ceremony on Thursday evening.

Canadian Carrey recounted the story of one of his ancestors, Marc-François Carré, who was born in Saint Malo in north-eastern France and emigrated to Canada 300 years ago.

“Tonight with this magnificent honour, this square [carré in French] has come full circle,” Carrey quipped.

He added: “So, how was my French? Almost mediocre, right? Forgive me, I didn’t speak French, but I’m just learning it. My tongue is tired.”

From TikTok and AI to colonial abuses, film festival highlights African vision

In the main awards, L’attachement won best film, while Léa Drucker claimed best actress for her role in Case 137 and Laurent Lafitte took the best actor prize for The Richest Woman in the World.

Veteran actor and comedian Franck Dubosc won his first César, for the screenplay for the film Un ours dans le Jura. Dubosc, 62, directed and also starred in the film.

Richard Linklater took home the best director award for the film Nouvelle Vague, about the shooting of Jean-Luc Godard’s French New Wave classic Breathless.

French cinemas project optimism for 2026 after disappointing year

Tribute was paid to Brigitte Bardot, who died in December at the age of 91. Following a string of era-defining films in the 1950s and 1960s, she withdrew from the film world to concentrate on her sanctuary for animals. Several whistles and catcalls accompanied the tribute, due to Bardot’s support for far-right political views.

France’s new Culture Minister Catherine Pégard attended the gala, having been appointed earlier that day after Rachida Dati resigned the role to focus on her campaign for Paris mayor.

(with newswires)

Clinton is set to face questioning from a Congressional panel on Friday over his links to the late financier, as Democrats seek to redirect attention towards Donald Trump’s connections to the convicted sex offender, who died by suicide in 2019.

Clinton appears extensively in the latest tranche of Epstein-related documents released by the US Department of Justice. The former president has repeatedly maintained that he severed ties with Epstein well before the billionaire’s 2008 conviction for sex offences.

Inclusion in the files does not imply wrongdoing, and Clinton has neither been accused of a crime nor formally investigated.

His testimony follows that of his wife Hillary, who spent more than six hours answering questions behind closed doors on Thursday in Chappaqua, New York.

In a defiant opening statement, she said she had “no idea” about Epstein’s or Ghislaine Maxwell’s crimes and did not recall ever encountering Epstein.

“Like every decent person, I have been horrified by what we have learned about their crimes,” she said.

Members of France’s political and cultural elite named in Epstein files

Conspiracy theories

Hillary Clinton used her appearance to firmly deny any knowledge of Epstein’s activities while also offering additional context about her limited interactions with those involved.

She reiterated that she had never flown on Epstein’s plane nor visited his private island.

While she acknowledged meeting Maxwell at Clinton Foundation events, she described her as no more than an acquaintance and said Maxwell had attended her daughter Chelsea’s 2010 wedding as someone else’s guest.

She told reporters that, at one stage in the questioning, a Republican lawmaker had pressed her on what she described as “vile, bogus conspiracy theories” – which have resurfaced since the release of the Epstein files.

The session was briefly disrupted when a Republican lawmaker sent a photograph from the closed-door proceedings to a conservative influencer, prompting renewed Democratic calls for the release of full transcripts and video. Committee chair James Comer later said he would move quickly to make those materials public.

Political tensions

Clinton also used her testimony to challenge the direction of the investigation itself, accusing Republicans of conducting a one-sided probe.

“This institutional failure is designed to protect one political party and one public official,” she said, renewing calls for President Trump to testify under oath.

Democrats argue that the inquiry is being weaponised to target Trump’s political opponents, rather than to carry out a genuine investigation. At the same time, pressure for transparency around Epstein has become a powerful force across party lines.

The Clintons had initially resisted subpoenas, offering instead to provide sworn statements. However, they agreed to testify after Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress – a move that also drew support from some Democrats, seeking to demonstrate a commitment to accountability.

France opens twin Epstein inquiries and calls on victims to testify

Rare spectacle

Attention now turns to Bill Clinton, who is seen by Republicans as a central figure in the political battle over Epstein’s legacy.

Unlike his wife, he has acknowledged multiple interactions with Epstein, including several flights on the financier’s private jet in the early 2000s linked to Clinton Foundation humanitarian work. He has consistently denied ever visiting Epstein’s Caribbean island.

Newly released materials have added to the scrutiny. Previously unseen photographs included in the Justice Department files show Clinton reclining in a hot tub and another image appearing to place him alongside Maxwell.

Epstein, who cultivated relationships with powerful figures across politics, business and entertainment, was convicted in 2008 for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14. He died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, with his death ruled a suicide.

Epstein files reveal links to Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire circles of power

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee is seeking to understand not only Epstein’s network but also how he amassed his wealth and avoided more serious federal charges for years.

David Markus, an attorney for Maxwell, has said both Clinton and Trump are “innocent of any wrongdoing”.

Dozens of journalists have gathered in Chappaqua, New York state, for the rare spectacle of a former president compelled to testify before Congress, with security tightened around the venue.

Comer signalled a more pointed line of questioning ahead, saying after Hillary Clinton’s testimony that lawmakers had “a lot of questions for her husband tomorrow”.

(with newswires)

The destruction of the city of Aghdam in the contested enclave of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh is among the most visible signs of the decades-long conflict between Azerbaijanis and ethnic Armenians. Now efforts are underway to bring the city back to life.

A loud explosion breaks the winter silence as the latest disposal of collected mines takes place. ‘We’ve cleared three hundred thousand square meters and found more than ten thousand landmines,” proudly declares Elnur Gasimov, head of mine clearance operations in Aghdam.

The dangerous work, done in freezing weather, carries significant risk. Gasimov’s right hand is missing several fingers.

“We have more than 10 deminers who have lost their legs, and we lost two deminers during the explosive disposal,” Gasimov told RFI.

He explains that, with Aghdam once close to the frontline in fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces, the area was among the heaviest mined during the conflict.

Azerbaijan lifts Armenia border restrictions, but hurdles to peace remain

Clearing the mines

Nagorno-Karabakh was historically home to a predominantly ethnic Armenian population. In 1993, they broke away from Azerbaijan, declaring a breakaway Republic of Artsakh. But in 2023, during a lightning war, Azerbaijani forces recaptured the region.

With access to Aghdam still tightly controlled since the end of the fighting, RFI joined a small group of journalists on a trip organised by the Azerbaijani authorities.

The city of Aghdam was once home to 40,000 people, predominantly Azerbaijani. Long a cultural centre of the region, the city was also home to Azerbaijan’s most famous football club – Qarabag – which now plays out of the capital, Baku.

Today, not a single house remains standing – all were razed to the ground, and even the trees didn’t escape the conflict. It’s a barren wasteland.

The historical Juma mosque was one of the few buildings that survived, partially intact, and was used as a shelter for farm animals by ethnic Armenians.

Imam Mehman Nesirov, 45, is the proud custodian of the fully restored mosque, where up to 100 worshippers now attend Friday prayers as life slowly returns to the city.

Nesirov fled Aghdam in 1993 as a child: “We were forced to leave because of the sound of fighting, which was getting closer and closer. Everyone was terrified and panicked.”

Nesirov explained to RFI that he and his family spent the first years of their lives living in a railway wagon. “I will never forget those years. We always prayed to God that one day we could return and pray at this mosque,” said Nesirov. “We can’t put into words how we feel that dream we had as a child, a teenager, and an adult is finally realised.”

Azerbaijan must allow ‘safe’ return to Nagorno-Karabakh: UN court

Returns and ruptures

Around a thousand people have returned to Aghdam, all housed in new state-built accommodation, as the city itself remains uninhabitable. While Azerbaijanis are slowly returning, ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh have now become refugees following the victory of Azeri forces in 2023.

“What we saw within 24 hours was the forced expulsion of the remaining 110,000 Armenians from their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh,” said Richard Giragosiyan, director of the Regional Studies Center, a Yerevan think tank.

“They were leaving behind whole homes, personal possessions, family graves, and coming to Armenia, which was more of a foreign country than many people understand,” added Giragosiyan.

However, Giragosiyan claims that Azerbaijan’s forces’ success in Nagorno-Karabakh opened the door to a “diplomatic breakthrough,” with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan committing themselves to improving relations in the aftermath of the conflict. Baku in January opened its border to allow oil and grain from Kazakhstan to reach Armenia, which is important for Yerevan as it tries to rely less on Russia and move closer to Europe.

In Aghdam’s newest hotel, manager Aykhan Jabbarov welcomes rapprochement efforts between Yerevan and Baku.

Jabbarov, a veteran of the last Nagorno-Karabakh war whose family fled Aghdam thirty years ago, looks forward to a time when Azerbaijanis and Armenians can again live together in the city. “If we look to history, we lived together before now, every leader talks about peace … We have to build a good relationship. It will help both countries’ economy, people’s social life and the regional economy, everything.”

However, diplomatic efforts to restore relations and normalise Armenian-Azerbaijani ties still have plenty of work ahead. With repercussions of the past never far away, Ruben Vardanyan, a leading member of the breakaway Armenian administration captured by Azeri forces, was convicted this week of war crimes and sentenced to 20 years in jail by an Azerbaijani court.

In what could mark a major turning point in the history of arms control, New Start expired on 5 February. Neither US President Donald Trump nor his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has shown interest in renewing it. 

The treaty was signed between the United States and Russia on 8 April 2010 and came into force on 5 February 2011. Initially planned to last 10 years, it was extended for another five in 2021.

Its goal was to limit each side to 800 missile launchers and 1,550 nuclear warheads, with the two countries authorised to inspect each other’s stockpiles.

It was never a global treaty. Other countries signed up to the broader Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which came into force in 1970 and now has 191 parties, including the US and Russia.

But Washington and Moscow also had bilateral arms control agreements in place continuously since 1972 – until now, notes Benoît Pelopidas, an expert on nuclear threats at Sciences Po university in Paris.

“But it would be false to deduce from that that the arms race has not started yet and might start now,” he tells RFI. 

“There are reasons to think that the arms race started as early as the spring of 2010.”

Europe confronts ‘new nuclear reality’ as Macron signals broader deterrence role

‘Possible acceleration’

Even before New Start expired, implementation of the treaty deteriorated over time, culminating in Russia suspending its participation in 2023.

“And now we’re at a full level where it’s no longer implemented at all,” says Pelopidas. “It’s new diplomatically, and it enables the possible acceleration of an ongoing arms race.”

NATO called for “restraint and responsibility” after the treaty expired.

“Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and coercive signals on nuclear matters reveal a posture of strategic intimidation,” an official told French news agency AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“NATO will continue to take the measures necessary to ensure its credibility and the effectiveness of its overall deterrence and defence position.”

The Kremlin had proposed continuing to comply with New Start’s limits until February 2027, but the White House did not respond.

Moscow considers the treaty’s expiration “a negative development”, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We express our regret in this regard.”

China shuns calls to enter nuclear talks after US-Russia treaty lapses

Disarmament still possible

According to Pelopidas, disarmament is possible and has been partially achieved before, especially in the early 1990s after the end of the Cold War. 

“In 1991, we had 58,000 nuclear weapons on the planet. And we’re now at a level of roughly 12,000 in 2025, which is a massive decrease,” he says. 

“We have, between 1986 and today, dismantled or retired over 80 percent of the existing arsenal in the world. So it is not materially impossible to dismantle or disarm.”

The world’s remaining nuclear stockpile still has the potential to wreak huge destruction, he stresses, a fact that he believes should drive all nuclear powers to work towards de-escalation.

“If the theory of nuclear winter is correct, a so-called limited nuclear war between India and Pakistan that led to the explosion of 100 Hiroshima-sized bombs – that is, roughly 1 percent of the existing arsenal – would lead to the death of 2 billion people by starvation due to its indirect consequences over two years,” Pelopidas says.

“That’s how destructive the capacity of the existing arsenal is.”

Episode mixed by Erwan Rome.

The African continent is rich in resources that are critical to the energy transition, as well as to the electronics and high-tech industries. Africa holds vast reserves of coltan, gallium, cobalt, tantalum, lithium, nickel, and many other strategic minerals that sit at the heart of this global competition.

The Trump administration is seeking to counter China‘s growing dominance over the continent’s metals and mining sectors.

DR Congo weighs price of security in minerals deal with US

For the moment, Trump is focused on a  US – DRC agreement, which would prioritise American interests in the central African country’s supply chain. The DRC sits on vast mineral wealth and is currently engaged in a peace process with Rwanda, brokered by the United States.

DRC takes on Apple: can conflict mineral mining be stopped?

To help us analyse the context of these deals, we are joined today by three guests.

First, Clionadh Raleigh, head of ACLED – the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. We also have Akin Adegoke, Chief Digital Officer at Lotus Bank, who brings experience in driving technology-led, inclusive banking.

And finally, Frédéric Mousseau, Policy Director at the California-based Oakland Institute, who argues that, that under the guise of peace and development, the US–DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement rewrote Congo’s laws to favour American mining interests.”

Delegates also gathered at the Cape Town International Convention Centre for the 32nd edition of the African Mining Indaba, the continent’s largest conference on the sector.

You’ll also hear reactions from people on the ground in the DRC, as well as from leaders in South Africa and Zambia, on what has already been dubbed the new scramble for Africa.

Episode edited by Melissa Chemam and mixed by Erwan Rome.

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

In a conspicuous display of military strength, Turkish F-16 fighter jets roared over the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in late January.

According to Turkish officials, the deployment was aimed at protecting Turkish interests and supporting Somali efforts to counter an insurgency by the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab. 

It follows Israel’s recognition of Somaliland in December, which Ankara condemned as a threat to Somalia’s territorial integrity.

Turkish international relations expert Soli Ozel said the jets send a message to Israel: “Don’t mess with our interests here.”

Somalia is poised to become the latest point of tension between the countries, he predicts. “I don’t think they will fight, but they are both showing their colours. Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and the Turks sending F-16s and drones are attempts to set limits to what the other party can do,” he said.

“Could it get out of hand? I don’t know. It may.”

The risky calculations behind Israel’s recognition of Somaliland

Mutual suspicion

The episode reflects broader strains in Israeli-Turkish relations, which remain fraught over Ankara’s support of Hamas and Israel’s war in Gaza.

“It’s a new chapter in the competition between the two countries, which are now the dominant military powers in the Middle East,” said Norman Ricklefs, CEO of geopolitical consultancy Namea Group.

According to Gallia Lindenstrauss, an Israeli foreign policy specialist at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, Israel is not seeking to challenge the interests of Turkey or Somalia.

Instead, she argues Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and its commitment to deepening cooperation are motivated by the breakaway’s state strategic location facing Yemen, where Houthi rebels launched attacks against Israeli cities last year.

“The Houthis were the last ones who were still launching missiles against Israel, from the Iranian proxies. This is the most major threat for Israel,” she said. 

However, Lindenstrauss acknowledges that both sides increasingly view each other’s actions with suspicion. “What Israel sees as defence, Turkey sees as something against Ankara.”

Rival blocs

Turkey’s suspicions could grow if Israel deploys military hardware in Somaliland to counter threats from Yemen, a move an anonymous Israeli expert suggested is Israel’s aim.

Ricklefs warns Israel needs to tread carefully, given the significant investments Turkey had made in Somalia over the past 15 years. Turkey has its largest overseas military base and embassy in Somalia, while Ankara has signed agreements with Mogadishu to explore potential energy reserves, as well as a naval accord.

“Turkey is running the [Mogadishu] port, counterterrorism training, charities, NGOs, and all that kind of stuff. So it appears very important to Turkey’s regional strategic ambitions,” said Ricklefs. He noted that Somalia’s location on the Horn of Africa, with coastlines in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, makes it “key for regional influence”.

With Somalia naval deal, Turkey steers into strategic but volatile region

Lindenstrauss observed that the Turkish-Israeli rivalry over Somalia is further complicated by the emergence of two competing axes: “On the one hand, you see Greece, Cyprus, Israel, the UAE. On the other hand, you see Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt and Qatar,” she explained.  

“They are loose axes, but you do see that on many issues, these two axes think differently. And that’s also a cause of the rising tensions.”

Ricklefs noted that tensions have already spilled over into confrontation elsewhere. “We’ve already seen the pretty strong competition leading to violence in Libya, between blocs aligned with the Emirates and, on the other side, blocs aligned with Turkey in Libya,” he said.

As for whether the same could happen in Somalia, Ricklefs said he doesn’t believe the situation has yet reached that point. 

“I don’t think we’re there just yet with Somaliland and Somalia,” he said. “And frankly, the only party that can play a mediating role, a conflict-reducing role, in this situation is the United States.”

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. You’ll hear the winner’s names announced and the week’s quiz question, along with all

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This week’s quiz: On 17 January, I asked you a question about our article “France launches recruitment for 10-month voluntary national military service”. You were to send in the answer to these two questions: How many volunteers will be accepted into the 2026 program, and what will their jobs be? 

The answer is, to quote our article: “From September, around 3,000 volunteers will join the army, navy, or air and space force for missions carried out exclusively on French soil.

Tasks will range from helping out during natural disasters and providing support for counter-terrorism surveillance, to more specialized jobs such as drone operation, mechanics, electrical work, baking, or medical support.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: What is the most romantic thing that has ever been said to you? Or the most romantic action? Or the most romantic gift?

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

The winners are: RFI English listener Murshida Parveen Lata, who is the Co-Chairman of the Source of Knowledge Club in Naogaon, Bangladesh. Murshida is also the winner of this week’s bonus question Congratulations on your double win, Murshida.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Ashraf Ali, a member of the International RFI DX Radio Listeners Club in West Bengal, India; Sumara Sabri, a member of the RFI Online Visitors Club in Sahiwal, Pakistan; Sameen Riaz – also from Pakistan, this time from Sheikupura city – Sameen is a member of the RFI Listeners Club in that fair city, and last but not least, RFI Listeners Club member Sami Mossad from Giza, Egypt.

Congratulations winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme: “Fast Bob” by Romane and Stochelo Rosenberg, played by the Rosenberg Ensemble; “La Marseillaise” by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, arranged by Claude Bolling and performed by the Claude Bolling Big Band; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “You’re the Top” by Cole Porter, sung by Ella Fitzgerald.  

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 “Cambridge University Museum set to return Benin bronzes to Nigeria”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 9 March to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 14 March 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

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Recent data shows one in two university students in France are skipping a meal each day and relying on food handouts. In response, the government is extending a 1-euro meal scheme – introduced during Covid for those on bursaries – to all university students as of May. Student union rep Marian Bloquet outlines why the problems go far beyond food. We also report from the Cop1ne community kitchen in Paris. Run by students for students, it provides cheap, home-cooked food, but also company and solidarity.  (Listen @3’20”)

As France prepares to ban children from social media, kids weigh in on their use of the platforms and how they would like to see them regulated. Cybersecurity expert Olivier Blazy considers the technical challenges and privacy issues raised by such a ban. (Listen @20’20”)

The adventurous life of the French explorer Alexandra David-Néel, who in the winter of 1924 became the first European woman to reach Lhasa, Tibet’s “forbidden city”. (Listen @14’10”)

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompeani.

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

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.