Macron warned Monday that a widening war between the United States, Israel, and Iran risks spilling over to Europe’s borders, as he unveiled a new strategy for France’s nuclear deterrence.

The Middle East conflict, which began on Saturday, “brings and will continue to bring instability and a possible conflagration to our borders, with Iran’s nuclear and ballistic capabilities still intact”, he said.

Macron’s presentation of the country’s updated nuclear doctrine comes as Russia’s war against Ukraine grinds into a fifth year, prompting worry among NATO allies about Washington’s wavering commitment.

European nations, which have relied on the US nuclear deterrent throughout the Cold War and in the decades since it ended, are increasingly debating whether to bolster their own atomic arsenals.

“We must strengthen our nuclear deterrent in the face of multiple threats, and we must consider our deterrence strategy deep within the European continent, with full respect for our sovereignty,” Macron said in his speech given at France’s Ile Longue nuclear submarine base in Brittany.

He announced “the gradual implementation of what I would call advanced deterrence”.

Macron announced a series of concrete measures in a bid to bolster Europe’s security as France’s allies are concerned that a possible win by the eurosceptic far-right National Rally party of Marine Le Pen in next year’s presidential election could undermine cooperation in Europe.

“An upgrade of our arsenal is essential,” Macron said. “That’s why I ordered an increase in the number of nuclear warheads in our arsenal.”

Macron added however that France would no longer be disclosing details on its nuclear stockpile.

France maintains the world’s fourth-largest nuclear arsenal, estimated at around 290 warheads. Britain, which is no longer a member of the European Union, is the only other European nuclear power.

By contrast, the United States and Russia, the world’s two main atomic powers, have thousands of nuclear warheads each.

EU ministers push for joint defence fund to secure a more self-reliant Europe

Macron said eight European countries had agreed to participate in the “advanced” nuclear deterrence scheme proposed by France, including Germany, Britain and Poland.

These countries – also including the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Sweden and Denmark – will be able to host French “strategic air forces”, which will be able to “spread out across the European continent” to “complicate the calculations of our adversaries”, he said.

The scheme could also involve “the conventional participation of allied forces in our nuclear activities,” such as recent military exercises in which British forces were involved, Macron added.

Europe’s defence dilemma: autonomy or dependence?

France and Germany also released a joint statement on Monday to announce the creation of a “nuclear steering group”, in an arrangement they said would “add to, not substitute for, NATO’s nuclear deterrence”.

“France and Germany have agreed to take first concrete steps beginning this year, including German conventional participation in French nuclear exercises and joint visits to strategic sites as well as development of conventional capabilities with European partners,” the statement said.

(with newswires)

The weekend strikes carried out jointly by the US and Israel against Iran and Tehran’s subsequent retaliation have disrupted air travel over much of the region, leaving tens of thousands of French citizens and – residents and visitors alike – unable to depart.

French Foreign Minister Jean‑Noël Barrot has declared their safety his “absolute priority”, mobilising embassies, consulates and a 24/7 crisis hotline that has already fielded nearly 5,000 calls.

The Middle East is home, temporary or permanently, to a substantial amount of French expatriates. Official crisis tallies from the Quai d’Orsay, cited in recent press briefings, put the number of French nationals (residents or passing through) in the dozen directly affected countries at nearly 400,000.

This includes long‑term expatriates, dual nationals, business travellers and tourists. Israel alone accounts for 221,000, with another 38,000 in Jerusalem and the West Bank, driven by strong historical and familial ties.

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

In the Gulf states – economic hubs for many French professionals – the figures are substantial: 64,000 in the United Arab Emirates (home to the largest French community in the Arab world, with around 30,000 – 45,000 registered residents), 9,200 in Qatar, 8,400 in Saudi Arabia, 2,400 in Oman, 1,400 in Bahrain and 1,100 in Kuwait.

Lebanon hosts 24,400, Jordan 3,100, Iran 1,000, Iraq 600 and Syria 550 – still not very popular as a result of recent wars and rebellions there. 

Special hotline

France’s response is multifaceted: 15 diplomatic posts are coordinating security updates, local evacuations where feasible (often by land) and assistance for the most vulnerable.

Citizens are urged to check the French foreign ministry’s website daily and register on its Fil d’Ariane page for alerts.

While no French casualties have been reported, the government vowed “no effort spared” to bring its people home safely.

For French nationals residing in Iraqi Kurdistan (in northern Iraq) which borders Iran, the French embassy in Baghdad has advised nationals to leave that region via Turkey.

Air France said Monday it was extending its suspension of flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Dubai and Riyadh until Thursday due to “the security situation” in the region. 

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

Dubai Airports said “limited” flights would resume on Monday evening, for companies such as Emirates and low-cost carrier flydubai, while Etihad Airways, which operates flights from Abu Dhabi, said it would resume flights on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, other countries have also begun coordinating their response to rescue their nationals.

Germany said Monday it would send civilian planes to Saudi Arabia and Oman to collect some 30,000 citizens stuck in the region.

Crisis teams have been sent to Muscat, Doha and Dubai to explore the possibility of evacuating Germans from these locations, including overland, the foreign ministry said, adding that a team from the German embassy in Cairo was assisting with border crossings from Israel.

(with newswires)

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog said on Monday there is no evidence so far that Iran’s nuclear facilities have been damaged following recent US and Israeli strikes, offering a note of cautious reassurance amid a tense backdrop.

Opening an extraordinary session of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors on Monday, director general Rafael Grossi said the agency had seen “no indication” that key sites – including the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant and the Tehran Research Reactor – had been hit.

“Up to now, we have no indication that any of the nuclear installations … have been damaged or hit,” Grossi said, while stressing that the situation remains fluid and under close observation.

Macron urges calm as Iran halts nuclear cooperation amid IAEA row

No major damage seen

Grossi acknowledged that communication with Iranian authorities has been patchy since the strikes began. The IAEA has attempted to reach Iran’s nuclear regulatory bodies but has so far received no response.

“We hope this indispensable channel of communication can be reestablished as soon as possible,” he said.

Despite the lack of direct contact, the agency has been analysing satellite imagery and other available data. Speaking to reporters, Grossi said there were no signs of significant military activity targeting nuclear facilities.

“There might be something there, but not significant or comparable in any way to what we saw last time,” he noted, referring to strikes during a 12-day conflict in June last year that did hit key sites including Natanz.

However, Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, told reporters that the Natanz facility – a central part of Iran’s nuclear programme – had been attacked. He did not provide further details on the extent of any damage.

Najafi also criticised Washington’s long-standing accusations that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, calling them “just the pretext to attack and invade”.

IAEA inspectors are not currently in Iran, and access to sites such as Natanz has been restricted since last year’s conflict, further complicating efforts to independently verify conditions on the ground.

UN nuclear body asks Iran to explain uranium enrichment levels

Restraint and diplomacy

Grossi described the broader regional situation as “very concerning”, pointing to the risks posed by military activity in areas with operational nuclear infrastructure.

“Iran and many other countries in the region… have operational nuclear power plants and nuclear research reactors… increasing the threat to nuclear safety,” he said.

Even so, his message struck a measured tone – urging restraint while keeping the door open for diplomacy.

Grossi called for negotiations between Iran and the US to resume “as quickly as possible”, noting that recent Oman-mediated talks in Geneva had failed to produce a breakthrough.

“An understanding eluded the parties this time,” he said. “We are, quite understandably, feeling a strong sense of frustration.”

The extraordinary meeting of the Vienna-based agency was convened at the request of Russia, following a similar appeal from Iran. It comes just ahead of a scheduled regular session of the IAEA’s 35-member board.

The diplomatic impasse reflects deeper divisions. Western countries – led by the US and Israel – accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, while Tehran insists its programme is strictly for civilian use.

(with newswires)

Across the African continent, reactions have been pouring in since the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday evening and the subsequent retaliation which saw Iran attack several countries across the Middle East.

Most African countries have called for de-escalation and respect for international law, while others support Tehran’s right to respond.

The African Union (AU) said in a statement that the military strikes and Iran’s subsequent response, “represent a perilous and deeply troubling escalation – one that marks a serious intensification of hostilities in the Middle East and threatens to engulf the entire region in an uncontrollable cycle of violence, suffering, and pain.”

The bloc urged all parties to “act fully in accordance with international law and the United Nations Charter to safeguard international peace and security.”

Economic strain

The pan-African body’s head, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf called “for restraint, urgent de-escalation and sustained dialogue”.

“Further escalation risks worsening global instability, with serious implications for energy markets, food security, and economic resilience – particularly in Africa, where conflict and economic pressures remain acute,” he stressed.

The Chair also condemned on Saturday evening the Iranian missile and drone attacks against its neighbours Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.

The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has also expressed its deep concern regarding the escalating hostilities in the Gulf. Ecowas emphasised that “any prolonged disruption in the Persian Gulf would threaten global oil and gas flows,” according to Afrik.com.

“A surge in energy prices would have an immediate impact on West African economies, already weakened by inflation and dependence on refined product imports,” the organisation added.

It also underlined risks to food security, as many African states rely on imports of cereals and agricultural inputs transiting through sensitive trade routes. 

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

Fraternal compassion

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa was the first African leader to react individually. He said on Saturday that the US and Israeli strikes on Iran violated international law.

“Anticipatory self-defence is not permitted under international law and self-defence cannot be based on assumption or anticipation,” he said in a statement, calling for “maximum restraint”.

South Africa was until recently the only African member of the BRICS economic group, which includes Iran, Brazil, Russia, India and China, but recently accepted a few new members from the Arab world and beyond (Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates).

Mindful of its ties with Tehran, the South African government reacted in a measured manner, calling on all parties to exercise restraint.

But other political parties were more vocal, like Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). The radical left-wing group insisting that Iran “has the right to defend itself” and denounced a Washington-Tel Aviv alliance “resolutely determined to defend Israeli interests throughout the region, whatever the human cost.”

Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby expressed his country’s “fraternal compassion to Ayatollah Khamenei, as well as to the entire brotherly people of Iran in the face of this adversity that has struck a sister nation.”

N’Djamena however clarified later that it also “condemned with equal firmness” the Iranian attacks against brotherly countries.

The Kingdom of Morocco, closer to Israel since the signature of the Abraham Accords, denounced in a statement the “abhorrent Iranian missile attacks that violated the integrity and security of brotherly Arab states.”

Other nations, such as Senegal, Algeria, Kenya, and Ghana, have been calling for an immediate ceasefire since Saturday, while urging their citizens to exercise caution.

African media, like Seneplus in Senegal, TSA in Algeria and Ledjely in Guinea note that populations in Africa sympathise with Iran and its strategy to counteract the USA’s dominance, but fear retaliation.

Africans in the Arab peninsula

African nationals living abroad are concerned for their safety, notably in Dubai, where Iranian missiles have already caused damage, including at the international airport.

“This morning, I was woken up by a missile that exploded over my neighborhood,” Ibrahima, a young Senegalese man who lives in Dubai, told RFI. “We’re trying to keep our families informed, and they’re keeping us updated through the news channels. 

He added the situation is quite stressful. “We get alert messages on all our phones when the missiles are approaching. We see and hear the intercepted missiles coming from Iran. It’s true that it’s quite dramatic and stressful, all day long.”

A Cameroonian woman contacted by RFI said: “The instruction given so far is to stay home, not to go out onto balconies or look out of windows, because the missile debris that has been falling since last night is serious.”

A five-star hotel was hit overnight and large shopping centers are closed because of the debris.

The authorities in Cameroon, through their diplomatic missions, called on the entire Cameroonian diaspora residing in countries of the region to strictly adhere to the preventive security measures issued by their host governments.

Ghanaian authorities also called their citizens residing in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to stay home as much as possible and “comply with directives issued by local authorities.”

The escalation marks a decisive step for the Shiite political and military movement. When Israel and the United States launched military action against Iran on Saturday morning, Hezbollah faced a crucial choice – remain on the sidelines or get involved. By dawn on Monday, it had made its choice.

Hezbollah said in a statement that it had fired a salvo of long-range missiles and sent a squadron of drones towards targets south of the city of Haifa. The operation, it added, was carried out to avenge the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The Israeli offensive began around two hours later. The heaviest strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs at dawn, RFI’s correspondent in the capital Paul Khalifeh reported. Numerous air-to-ground missiles struck the area, while powerful explosions echoed across the city.

Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 31 people were killed and 149 wounded. Around 15 towns and villages both south and north of the Litani river were also hit by air raids or artillery and tank fire.

Hezbollah, an armed movement founded in 1982 with backing from Iran, has maintained close ties with Tehran since its creation. Giant portraits of Khamenei have been displayed for decades in Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon.

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

Israel signals escalation

Israel’s military issued evacuation orders to residents of around 50 villages in southern Lebanon and in the eastern Bekaa valley.

Overnight from Sunday to Monday, Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said residents in northern Israel had been informed that the strikes on Lebanon would continue for at least several days.

“The strikes are continuing and their intensity will increase,” Rafi Milo, head of Israel’s northern command, wrote in an army statement on Telegram. He said Hezbollah would “pay a heavy price” for its support for Tehran.

The movement is widely seen as severely weakened after its military confrontation with Israel since 2024. It has suffered heavy losses and its main leaders have been killed. Since last year, Lebanon’s authorities have been engaged in a process aimed at disarming Hezbollah. Despite its historic weakening, it has refused to lay down its weapons.

Tens of thousands displaced

The raids and evacuation calls triggered a large and chaotic movement of people fleeing their homes. The exodus began at dawn and intensified in the early hours of Monday.

Hundreds of families who fled Beirut’s southern suburbs spent the night in freezing cold conditions under bridges or in parks in the capital. As Israeli calls to evacuate villages spread, tens of thousands more people left southern Lebanon.

Many headed further north, causing heavy traffic along the coastal highway.

Macron hosts Lebanon’s PM to discuss ceasefire, Hezbollah disarmament

Schools and universities remained closed on Monday. Motorists rushed to petrol stations to fill up their tanks, and supermarkets were crowded as residents stocked up on food in anticipation of a long war.

The authorities said Lebanon has enough fuel and food reserves to last two months. Around a dozen public schools in Beirut and its suburbs were converted into shelters for displaced families.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam described the developments as “an irresponsible act”. President Joseph Aoun said he regretted that Lebanon was once again being used as “a platform for wars that do not concern it”.

Speaking at a press conference in Paris on Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called for “Lebanon to be spared from this regional escalation”.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Monday that Paris stood in full solidarity with countries caught up in a conflict they “did not choose”, after Iran launched strikes across the Gulf in retaliation for US–Israeli attacks over the weekend.

Those earlier strikes reportedly killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, marking a dramatic escalation that has sent shockwaves through the region and beyond.

Western powers signal support for US as war spreads after strikes on Iran

A broad show of support

Addressing the situation, Barrot stressed France’s backing for a wide group of partners – including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan – all of which have faced Iranian strikes.

He said France was prepared to act under existing defence agreements and the principle of collective self-defence recognised in international law.

Barrot added that Israeli and US “unilateral” attacks in ​Iran ‌should have ⁠been debated in bodies that uphold international law, such as the ​United Nations.

“Everyone could have ‌taken their responsibilities, because it is only by ‌going before the (UN) ​Security Council that the use of force can acquire ​the necessary legitimacy,” Barrot ​told reporters.

French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid and expressed support for Iran’s effort to avoid the conflict, Barrot said.

The minister also highlighted the significant French presence in the region, noting that around 400,000 French citizens are either living in or visiting Gulf countries – a factor that adds urgency to Paris’s response.

France is not alone in signalling readiness. Alongside Germany and the United Kingdom, it issued a joint statement on Sunday warning that Iranian actions posed a direct threat to allied nations, as well as to military personnel and civilians stationed across the Gulf.

The three countries said they were prepared to take “necessary and proportionate” defensive measures – potentially including action aimed at disabling Iran’s ability to launch further missile and drone attacks.

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

Strikes ripple across the Gulf

Despite international warnings, the situation on the ground remains volatile. Fresh strikes were reported across several Gulf cities on Monday, including Dubai, Doha and Manama, fuelling concerns that the conflict could widen further.

Iran’s military said it had deployed 15 cruise missiles, targeting a US air base in Kuwait as well as vessels in the Indian Ocean. The attacks form part of what Tehran has framed as retaliation against US forces in the region.

The rapid succession of strikes – and the number of countries affected – highlights how quickly the conflict has expanded beyond its initial flashpoints. Yet, despite the escalation, European powers are presenting a united front, emphasising defence, deterrence and support for regional stability.

(with newswires)

This recent development could yet delay proceedings, with French judges set to decide whether to postpone the case after hearing submissions from all parties.

The trial had been scheduled to run until 27 March before a panel of professional judges, with Ramadan facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Ramadan, who denies the allegations, has been admitted to hospital in Geneva since Saturday, according to his lawyer Marie Burguburu. She requested a postponement, arguing that her client must be “fit to appear” before the court.

The academic, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, had reportedly been travelling frequently to Geneva in recent months to visit his 93-year-old mother.

However, the presiding judge noted that his judicial supervision required him to reside in Saint-Denis, near Paris, and not near the Swiss border.

For some of the civil parties, the timing raised eyebrows. “We understand that the idea is to avoid the debate that is due to start today,” said David-Olivier Kaminski, lawyer for one of the complainants, Henda Ayari.

Islamic Scholar Tariq Ramadan convicted of rape on appeal in Switzerland

A long-running and complex case

The trial marks the latest chapter in a case that has unfolded over several years and drawn widespread attention in France and beyond. In June 2024, the Paris Court of Appeal ordered Ramadan to stand trial for three alleged rapes.

The charges relate to separate incidents: an alleged aggravated rape in Lyon in October 2009 involving a woman identified as “Christelle”; a second allegation in Paris in 2012 involving Ayari, a former Salafist who later became a secular activist and whose complaint in 2017 triggered the investigation; and a third alleged assault in 2016.

Initially, a fourth case involving Mounia Rabbouj had also been included. However, the Court of Appeal ultimately dismissed that charge.

The court also rejected the notion that Ramadan exercised “control” over the women in a way that deprived them entirely of free will. Instead, judges pointed to accounts that placed emphasis on alleged violence.

Tariq Ramadan accuser seeks ban on book about rape allegations

Allegations of violence and a shifting defence

According to investigators, the complainants described particularly brutal encounters. Their accounts included claims of physical force, restraint, and behaviour framed by domination and submission – elements the court said were central to the case.

Ramadan initially denied any sexual relationship with the women. However, in 2018, he acknowledged that relationships had taken place, describing them as adulterous, consensual, and marked by a degree of domination – a significant shift that reshaped the proceedings.

Since then, his legal team has pursued multiple procedural challenges, seeking to reopen investigations and delay the trial, arguing that new expert evidence supports his innocence.

The case also carries an international dimension. In Switzerland, Ramadan was acquitted at first instance before being sentenced on appeal in September 2024 to three years in prison – including one year without parole – for the rape of a woman in a Geneva hotel in 2008.

He has said he will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights and has also requested a review of that judgment, which is currently under consideration by Swiss courts.

(with newswires)

Khamenei, 86, had held power since 1989 and left no officially designated heir. The government announced 40 days of national mourning following his death on Saturday.

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf sought to project confidence, telling state television that Iran had prepared for “all scenarios”, including the death of its leader.

The constitutional machinery has been set in motion. Authorities said a provisional leadership council would be formed, as required by the constitution, to steer the country while a successor is chosen.

It is made up of President Massoud Pezeshkian, judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and cleric Alireza Arafi, a member of the Assembly of Experts and the Guardian Council.

The Assembly of Experts must appoint a new supreme leader “as soon as possible”.

That person could be chosen “within one or two days”, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera.

Observers say authorities are likely to apply the law strictly to demonstrate stability.

“You can expect Iran to apply the law rigorously to show that the country is not fragile – one leader goes, others are there,” Iran specialist Bernard Hourcade told RFI, adding that other senior Iranian officials were also killed in the strikes.

Lebanon rocked by Israeli strikes as Hezbollah joins Iran war

‘A lock that has been broken’

Khamenei’s death marks an unprecedented moment for the political order he shaped for more than three decades.

“The American-Israeli strikes have destabilised the country, and the elimination of Ali Khamenei is clearly a lock that has been broken,” Hourcade said.

But removing one man does not necessarily dismantle the structure around him.

Iran is “a system” with institutions, a structured security apparatus and a network of political and economic elites, particularly around the Revolutionary Guards, which Hourcade described as the backbone of the regime.

“Eliminating a few leaders will not change the system.”

Power extends well beyond the office of the supreme leader. The structure includes the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Iran’s elite military force, the Basij, a volunteer paramilitary group, the Guardian Council, which vets election candidates and legislation, and administrative and security networks that reach into provinces and smaller towns.

The regime has been “beheaded”, but it retains a “capacity for self-regeneration”, said Sébastien Boussois, a Middle East researcher at the European Geopolitical Institute.

“It is not because you eliminate the symbolic head of a regime and bomb a country that the country falls ipso facto.” He pointed to two precedents: al-Qaeda survived the killing of Osama bin Laden, and the Islamic State group outlasted the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

That view is echoed by others analysing the crisis. Since the strikes, many have repeated that no regime has ever been destroyed from the air. Whether this one survives, they argue, will depend on what happens inside the country.

“There will be no overthrow of the regime unless it is the Iranian population that takes its destiny in hand,” Admiral Alain Coledefy, a former inspector general of the French armed forces, told RFI.

France mobilises to help 400,000 nationals stranded due to Middle East war

A nation divided

Reactions inside Iran have been mixed. Soon after state television announced Khamenei’s death, cries of joy were heard in some neighbourhoods of Tehran and other cities, RFI’s correspondent reported.

Videos circulating on social media showed people dancing in the streets and women celebrating with their hair uncovered. In southern Iran, a crowd toppled a monument bearing Khamenei’s image as people chanted and set off fireworks.

Similar scenes were observed within the diaspora, from Europe to Los Angeles – home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran.

But there were also signs of grief and anger. A crowd gathered at Enghelab Square in central Tehran on Sunday morning. Prompted by a speaker with a microphone, people shouted “Death to America!” while beating their chests in rhythm, following Shia mourning traditions.

“There is no doubt that a large majority of Iranians have had enough of the Islamic Republic and want change,” Hourcade said. But bombing a country while claiming to liberate it, he added, remains an ambivalent approach.

Whether people will return to the streets as they did during January’s protest movement – which was met with a crackdown that left thousands dead according to provisional tolls – remains uncertain.

Military pressure is for now preventing mobilisation, people are not going out and schools are closed, RFI’s correspondent said. The authorities have also warned against any mobilisation or collaboration with what they call enemies.

There has so far been no violent action by citizens that could lead to an internal overthrow, such as taking control of the presidency or the government. “We are absolutely not there,” Boussois explained, pointing to the absence of a structured opposition.

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

Risk of regional escalation

Beyond Iran’s borders, the confrontation is widening.

Tehran has promised a “terrible” response, but its immediate military capacity appears limited. “The Iranian authorities are not capable, militarily, of facing it,” Coledefy said.

That does not mean Iran lacks other means of retaliation.

“We have not yet seen the reactions of its proxies,” Admiral Alain Oudot de Dainville, a member of the French Naval Academy, and former chief of staff of the French navy, told RFI – referring in particular to the Houthis in Yemen.

Iran carried out new strikes on American bases in the Gulf and in Iraq’s Kurdistan region on Sunday. Blasts were reported in several Gulf cities, including Doha and Dubai.

The position of Gulf monarchies is especially sensitive, Boussois warned. Several are viewed by Tehran as “traitor states”, he said – pointing to the 2020 Abraham Accords, which established diplomatic ties between Israel and several Arab states, as well as the presence of major American bases in the region.

Tehran could seek to “stoke tensions” to push those states into turning against the United States, he said.

Oman, which had been acting as a mediator in indirect talks between Washington and Tehran and had until then avoided being drawn into the conflict, was targeted by Iranian drones on Sunday.

The nature of the confrontation has shifted, Bertrand Besancenot, a former French ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, told RFI.

On the American and Israeli side, the aim is to destroy the leadership of the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij and to neutralise ballistic missile installations, in the hope that weakening the regime could trigger a popular uprising.

On the Iranian side, the authorities believe this time it is a fight to the death and are using every tool available, he said. They are no longer only striking Israel or American bases, but widening their list of targets.

Despite the escalation, Hourcade does not expect a regional war. “I don’t think it will trigger a regional war – nobody wants it and nobody can afford it,” he said.

This story has been adapted an updated from the original version in French

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.

Stigma and sisterhood: how one Kenyan woman knitted a healthcare revolution

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.”

Kenya: The accidental librarian keeping Kibera’s kids in books

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.”

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.”

Nine arrested as Lyon activist killing becomes flashpoint in French politics

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.”

From Washington to Warsaw: how MAGA influence is reshaping Europe’s far right

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.”

‘Considered a traitor’: Life of an anti-war Ukrainian in Russia

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.

Moscow war against Ukraine ‘triple failure for Russia’, Macron says

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.

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.

Epstein files: ‘Releasing documents in their raw state can be counterproductive’

‘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 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)

Around 20 protestors carrying signs reading “Stop toxic contracts” and “Solidarity with Ukrainians”, blockaded the Mikhail Dudin at the northern port of Dunkirk early on Monday morning, to prevent it from unloading its cargo, a journalist from French news agency AFP observed.

French authorities then arrested four individuals, Dunkirk police told AFP, adding that the blockade was lifted around 9am local time.

Greenpeace has repeatedly accused France of maintaining ties with Russia’s state-owned energy company, Rosatom, despite President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Activists, some on kayaks, had impeded the ship while a large banner stretched across the lock read, “Uranium: EDF loves Putin” – a jab at the French state-owned energy giant.

In 2018, France’s EDF signed a 600-million-euro deal with a Rosatom subsidiary, Tenex, for reprocessed uranium from French nuclear power plants to be sent to Russia to be converted and then re-enriched before being reused in power production.

Greenpeace claims French resumption of nuclear trade with Russia

Rosatom has the only facility in the world – in Seversk in Siberia – capable of carrying out key parts of the conversion of reprocessed uranium to enriched reprocessed uranium.

“This trade, which indirectly fuels Putin’s war, must stop,” said Pauline Boyer, an energy campaigner for Greenpeace France on Monday.

The environment group alleges it has “on numerous occasions” observed the Mikhail Dudin unloading Russian natural and enriched uranium in France.

An AFP analysis of Global Fishing Watch tracking data shows the Mikhail Dudin has made more than 20 round trips between Dunkirk and the Russian ports of Vistino, Ust-Luga and Saint Petersburg since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February, 2022.

The Baltiyskiy-202 – another vessel that Greenpeace alleges has transported uranium between France and Russia – has completed more than 15 round trips during the same period.

Both sail under the Panamanian flag and are owned by companies registered in Hong Kong, according to the International Maritime Organisation’s register.

EDF did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.

Greenpeace steals Macron wax figure from Paris museum for anti-Russia protest

In 2022, France ordered EDF to halt its uranium trade with Rosatom when Greenpeace first revealed the contracts in the wake of Russia’s invasion.

But in March 2024, Jean-Michel Quilichini, head of the nuclear fuel division at EDF, said the company planned to continue to “honour” its 2018 contract.

France in March 2024 said it was “seriously” looking at the possibility of building its own conversion facility to produce enriched reprocessed uranium.

AFP analysis of French customs data shows that in 2025, France imported at least 112 tonnes of enriched uranium and its compounds from Russia, accounting for a quarter of total purchases by volume – a level stable compared to 2024.

These imports however fell significantly between 2022 and 2024.

(with AFP)

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.

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.”

‘Climate whiplash’: East Africa caught between floods and drought

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.

US vows €1.7bn for UN humanitarian aid, lower than previous years

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.

DRC: M23 says it will withdraw from key city of Uvira

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.

Trade and aid to return to South Kivu as DRC-Burundi strategic border reopens

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.

Senegal to appeal Confederation of African Football sanctions over CAN final

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. 

Morocco jails 18 Senegal fans for hooliganism at Cup of Nations final

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.

Nigeria’s Fela Kuti first African to receive lifetime Grammy award

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.”

French DJ wins Grammy for Lady Gaga remix

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.”

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)

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

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

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

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

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.