“These skulls entered the national collections in circumstances that clearly violated human dignity and in a context of colonial violence,” said French Culture Minister Rachida Dati at a ceremony to send the relics home.

Her Madagascan counterpart, Volamiranty Donna Mara, described the return of the skulls as an “immensely significant” gesture. 

“Their absence has been for more than a century an open wound in the heart of our island,” Mara added.

Scientists confirmed the skulls were from the Sakalava people in western Madagascar. They said one was most likely that of King Toera, who was killed in his royal capital Dembi along with several hundred of his subjects.

“It is not clear whether he was killed by gunfire, and then his head was cut off, or whether he died because he was beheaded,” historian Klara Boyer-Rossol told RFI.

“But his head disappeared. And so the descendants were deprived literally of the royal head of their ancestors.”

Boyer-Rossol, an expert on the slave trade and slavery in the western Indian Ocean, said written records describe what happened in detail.

“We have quite extensive written archives which state very clearly that King Toera had laid down his arms and surrendered and so when he was attacked by Commander Augustin Gérard’s troops, he was unarmed, which is why we refer to it as a massacre,” he said.

France and Madagascar wrangle over sovereignty of Scattered Islands

Skulls kept in museums

The skulls have been in Paris museums since 1897. They are being returned under a 2023 French law that makes it easier to hand back relics and artefacts.

“The fact that we have been able to reconstruct a context of colonial violence, identify them at least in part, link them at least to territorial group identities, and also agree that their presence in French museum reserves undermines the human dignity of their descendants,” said Boyer-Rossol.

“All of this allows or justifies restitution, even if the individual identity of the head to be returned could not be formally established on a scientific level.”

France has taken steps to face its colonial past by returning artefacts and human remains from its museums to countries of origin.

Since his election in 2017, President Emmanuel Macron has acknowledged French abuses in Africa.

Madagascar’s master artisans sail through time to revive lost ships

During a visit to Antananarivo in April, Macron spoke of seeking forgiveness for France’s colonisation of Madagascar, which declared independence in 1960 after more than 60 years of colonial rule.

“Our presence here is not innocent, and our history has been written… with deeply painful pages,” Macron said at a remembrance ceremony at the former royal palace.

“Only you can make this journey of forgiveness,” he said after touring the palace with Princess Fenosoa Ralandison Ratsimamanga.

“But we are creating the conditions for it, by making it possible… to mourn what is no longer.”

Boyer-Rossol said some might see the return of the skulls as a form of reparation.

“In my position as a historian and researcher, I hope that this restitution will shed light on the history of these collections of human remains in French museums and also encourage support for provenance research so that we can find out more about their history.”

The Kick platform has come under scrutiny in France after a 46-year-old Frenchman died during a 12-day live streaming marathon on his channel, which specialised in him enduring abuse or humiliation dished out by other participants.

“Kick did not do everything possible to stop the broadcast of dangerous content,” Digital Affairs Minister Clara Chappaz said, accusing the platform of breaking a 2004 law regulating online content.

A post-mortem examination found that the man – real name Raphael Graven, known online as “Jean Pormanove” or “JP” – was not killed by trauma or by someone else.

Investigators probe death of French streamer broadcast live

In a separate announcement on Tuesday, French prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into the platform.

This probe will examine whether Kick “knowingly” broadcast “videos of deliberate attacks on personal integrity”, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.

Investigators will also examine whether the streaming platform is in compliance with the European Union’s Digital Services Act on content moderation.

Offenders risk up to 10 years in prison and a fine of €1 million.

‘Creating a buzz’

Last week Chappaz called Graven’s death “an absolute horror” and said she had referred the matter to Arcom, the regulatory authority that oversees streaming platforms, as well as to the Pharos platform, which investigates illegal content and behaviour online. 

After a post-mortem examination, two forensic doctors confirmed they found no “internal or external traumatic injuries” or burns, only a few bruises and healed lesions.

Nice prosecutor Damien Martinelli said Graven may have suffered from heart problems and was undergoing medical treatment for his thyroid gland.

EU countries push for stricter rules to keep children off social media

Graven first won an online following commentating on video games, such as Fortnite and FIFA, with an angry and provocative tone that became his trademark.

He then built a following of hundreds of thousands by putting on live shows which “were staged and aimed at creating a buzz,” he told an inquiry in January, adding he made “sums of €6,000”.

He denied being the victim of any violence.

Kick said all co-streamers involved in the event had been banned from the platform pending the outcome of the investigation.

It said it was also running a “complete re-evaluation” of its French content.

The platform is seen as having less stringent user terms than those of its livestreaming rival Twitch.

(with AFP)

The vote on 8 September comes just two days before mass protests against austerity. Unions and activists are calling for a nationwide shutdown on 10 September in response to Bayrou’s plan for €44 billion in savings.

Bayrou insists the burden will not fall on workers alone. He has pledged to target “unjust” tax breaks that benefit the wealthy and large companies, and to ask higher earners to make what he called a “specific effort”.

“From now on everyone will be accountable,” Bayrou said on Monday, giving lawmakers “13 days” to choose “between chaos or responsibility”.

His proposals include cuts to public sector hiring, a pension freeze and the scrapping of two public holidays. With no majority in the National Assembly, Bayrou is asking lawmakers to share responsibility for reining in the deficit.

Risky gamble

The move carries clear political risks. Last year President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament after the far-right National Rally topped the European elections. The outcome was not stability but a weakened presidency and an even more fractured parliament.

Bayrou defended his approach. “It’s risky, but it’s even riskier not to do anything,” he said.

The National Rally, France Unbowed, the Greens and the Socialists have already pledged to vote against the government. Socialist leader Boris Vallaud told BFM television that Bayrou “is not choosing dialogue, he is choosing liquidation”.

With so many parties opposed, Bayrou’s fate may rest on a small group of MPs who could be swayed either by the urgency of tackling debt or by the risk of another government collapse.

Test of public support

If Bayrou loses, Macron could again dissolve parliament and call elections. He said in June that he had no appetite to repeat last year’s snap poll, but the option remains open.

The protests planned for 10 September will also weigh heavily. The scale of disruption will be seen as a test of public support for or against the government’s reforms.

Bayrou says the confidence vote is not about the detail of the 2026 budget, but about the broader question of whether France faces a “national emergency” on public finances.

If lawmakers agree, “the government is confirmed”, he said. If not, “the government falls”.

In a statement published on its website, the organisation urged “anyone who may have seen the suspect or has information about his movements or acquaintances” to contact investigators or reach out directly to the organisation.

The bodies of four men were found floating in the Seine in Choisy-le-Roi, a suburb around 10 kilometres south-east of Paris, on 13 August.

On Sunday, a murder investigation was opened and a homeless man in his twenties indicted in connection with all four killings and placed in pre-trial detention.

According to prosecutors, his identity remains “uncertain” and he is being identified only as “Monji H”.

Homeless man charged after four bodies discovered in the River Seine

One of the victims, a 48-year-old Frenchman identified by Stop Homophobia as “Franz”, was a resident of Créteil, and openly gay.

The group said that, according to the victim’s relatives, Franz was known to frequent the area where the bodies were discovered – a site known as a meeting place for sexual encounters between men.

This detail has also been confirmed by the public prosecutor’s office.

Among the other victims were two young homeless men – a 21-year-old Algerian and a 26-year-old Tunisian – as well as another 21-year-old Algerian man, who lived in Choisy-le-Roi.

Two of the bodies were partially naked when pulled out of the river. Two showed signs of having been strangled.

“Every witness statement could prove crucial to establishing a timeline and preventing further tragedies,” said Terrence Khatchadourian, secretary-general of Stop Homophobia.

Toxic climate blamed for rise in LGBTQI+ attacks in France

While the motive has not been officially confirmed, multiple sources close to the investigation suggest that the accused may have harboured hostility toward homosexuality, possibly influenced by an extremist religious ideology.

“This is not just an isolated incident,” added the group’s lawyer, Etienne Deshoulières. “Initial findings indicate this may be an expression of systemic violence targeting gay men.”

(with AFP)

Brussels has adopted a powerful legal arsenal aimed at reining in tech giants – namely through its Digital Markets Act (DMA) covering competition and the Digital Services Act (DSA) on content moderation.

The EU has already slapped heavy fines on US behemoths including Meta and Apple under the new rules, which have faced strong pushback from Trump’s administration.

The bloc’s trade chief Maros Sefcovic insisted last week that Brussels successfully “kept these issues out of the trade negotiations” with Washington – and that the bloc’s “regulatory autonomy” was not up for debate.

But while he did not explicitly name the EU, the US leader cast new doubt on the status quo Monday by threatening fresh tariffs on countries with regulations that sought to “harm” American technology.

Here is a look at the EU rules drawing Trump’s ire:

Digital Services Act

Rolled out in stages since 2023, the mammoth Digital Services Act forces online firms to aggressively police content in the 27 countries of the European Union – or face major fines.

Aimed at protecting consumers from disinformation and hate speech as well as counterfeit or dangerous goods, it obliges platforms to swiftly remove illegal content or make it inaccessible.

Companies must inform authorities when they suspect a criminal offence that threatens people’s lives or safety.

And the law instructs platforms to suspend users who frequently share illegal content such as hate speech – a provision framed as “censorship” by detractors across the Atlantic.

EU begins rollout of new AI rules with tech giants split on compliance

Tougher rules apply to a designated list of “very large” platforms that include US giants Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Microsoft and Snapchat.

These giants must assess dangers linked to their services regarding illegal content and privacy, set up internal risk mitigation systems, and give regulators access to their data to verify compliance.

Violators can face fines or up to six percent of global turnover, and for repeated non-compliance, the EU has the power to ban offending platforms from Europe.

Digital Markets Act

Since March 2024, the world’s biggest digital companies have faced strict EU rules intended to limit abuses linked to market dominance, favour the emergence of start-ups in Europe and improve options for consumers.

Brussels has so far named seven so-called gatekeepers covered by the Digital Markets Act: Google’s Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok parent ByteDance, Facebook and Instagram parent Meta, Microsoft and travel giant Booking.

In a bid to limit the ability of online giants to snuff out potential rivals, the rules require all buyouts to be notified to the European Commission, the EU’s competition regulator.

Gatekeepers can be fined for locking in customers to use pre-installed services, such as a web browser, mapping or weather information.

How technology is helping African countries fight malaria from the skies

The DMA has forced Google to overhaul its search display to avoid favouring its own services – such as Google flights or shopping.

It requires that users be able to choose what app stores to use – without going via the dominant two players, Apple’s App Store and Google Play.

And it has forced Apple to allow developers to offer alternative payment options directly to consumers – outside of the App Store.

The DMA has also imposed interoperability between messaging apps WhatsApp and Messenger and competitors who request it.

And it imposes new obligations on the world’s biggest online advertisers – namely Google’s search engine and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram – by forcing them to reveal much more to advertisers and publishers on how their ads work.

Failure to comply with the DMA can carry fines in the billions of dollars, reaching 20 percent of global turnover for repeat offenders.

Trump announced during his electoral campaign that he intended to deport “one million people a year”. But while imposing new global tariffs, the White House is also scrambling to find countries willing to take in those who Washington is forcing out.

Liberia, Senegal, Mauritania, Gabon and Guinea-Bissau have all refused to cooperate. The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration even approached Ukraine, without success.

Some proposals, however, have found takers in Latin America and Africa. But are these agreements motivated by lucrative rewards, or made under duress?

On the American continent, Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, Venezuela and El Salvador have agreed to take in individuals deported by the US. For most, the economic balance tips in Washington’s favour, with the 2004 CAFTA free trade agreement between Central America, the United States and the Dominican Republic serving as the main lever.

Three African nations – South Sudan, Eswatini and Rwanda – have also agreed to take in US deportees. According to Thierry Vircoulon, of the French Institute of International Relations think tank, these are countries that want to “get into Washington’s good books”. “Most of them also want to avoid being victims of a total visa ban,” he added.

However, motivation to answer Trump’s call looks different for each of the three.

South Sudan

On 8 July, South Sudan received eight men – only one of whom was South Sudanese – who had been deported from the US. Juba has expressed its willingness to accept more deportees, but has reportedly set certain conditions, according to Politico.

A legal challenge in the US had halted their removal, but a Supreme Court ruling cleared the way.

The country is asking Washington to reverse the revocation of visas for its nationals, which came into effect in April 2025.

South Sudan is also seeking the lifting of sanctions on several senior officials, including Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel, who has been accused of corruption by the US.

It has further requested American support in prosecuting First Vice President Riek Machar, accused of inciting rebellion to block elections due in December 2026.

None of these demands have yet been met, but South Sudan continues to present itself as an ally of the US – with accepting deportees from the US seen as one way to do this.

South Sudan turns US deportations to its diplomatic advantage

Eswatini

The small monarchy of Eswatini has followed South Sudan’s lead by signing a similar agreement with the US, announced on 16 July. Only five people have so far been sent to this landlocked state in Southern Africa.

The five deportees – who are originally from Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos – are all said to be criminals “of unparalleled barbarity”, said Tricia McLaughlin, spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security.

The men are being held in solitary confinement until they can be deported to their home countries, which could take up to a year.

The government of Eswatini, like South Sudan, cited its close ties with the US as a key motivator for the agreement.

According to Jean-Claude Katende, lawyer and vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the country is seeking to “polish its image in the eyes of the United States and also attract financial income”.

Outcry mounts in Eswatini over ‘illegal aliens’ deported from US

Rwanda

Rwanda is preparing to receive 250 people deported by the US – but this is not Kigali’s first attempt at such an agreement.

In 2022, a similar deal with the United Kingdom was announced, but was then invalidated the following year by the UK Supreme Court, which ruled it unlawful. This did not prevent Rwanda from receiving part of the promised financial compensation – some €280 million.

According to Katende, there is a similarly “purely financial reason” for Kigali to accept the US proposal, but also an interest in “benefitting from an easy workforce paid low wages”.

Rwanda agrees to take migrants from US in deal that includes cash grant

According to Vircoulon, Kigali is also “trying to appease the Trump administration in the context of negotiations between Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United States” to end the conflict between the DRC and Rwanda – negotiations in which Rwanda is far from being in a position of strength.

“It’s about giving Trump something, while the Congolese government is offering him access to its mining sector,” said Vircoulon.

South Sudan, Eswatini and Rwanda, he added, “are among the poorest countries in the world and are also the source of migratory flows“.

“It goes without saying that the deportees they take in will leave these ultra-poor countries and return to the illegal immigration trails.”

Uganda

The latest country to sign an agreement with Washington, a Ugandan Foreign Ministry official announced on Thursday that the country had agreed to accept third-country nationals who had not been granted asylum in the US but were unable to return to their home countries.

However, there are some caveats. Uganda stressed that this was a temporary arrangement and that it would not accept anyone with a criminal record or unaccompanied minors.

It also added in its statement Uganda would prefer to receive people with African nationalities.

Uganda, a US ally, is home to 1.8 million refugees – the largest number on the African continent – mostly hailing from neighbouring South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, although Sudan’s civil war has in the past year triggered a sharp spike in arrivals.

The US embassy in Uganda declined to comment on what it called diplomatic negotiations, but the US State Department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken by phone with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni about migration.

The department said the call focused on “migration, reciprocal trade and commercial ties” and that Rubio had “thanked Uganda for providing a model of regional stability including its valuable contributions to peacekeeping in East Africa”.

Ugandan opposition MP Muwada Nkunyingi suggested that the deal with the US would give the Ugandan government legitimacy ahead of elections, and urged Washington not to turn a blind eye toward what he described as human rights and governance issues in Uganda.

Uganda’s leaders will rush into a deal to “clear their image now that we are heading into the 2026 elections,” he said.

Uganda has had challenges with the US after it passed an anti-homosexuality bill in 2023 that punishes consensual same-sex conduct with penalties including life imprisonment. Washington threatened consequences and the World Bank withheld some funding.

In May 2024, the US imposed sanctions on Uganda’s parliamentary speaker, her husband and several other officials over corruption and serious abuses of human rights.

Human rights lawyer Nicholas Opio likened the deportee deal to human trafficking, and said it would leave status of the deportees unclear. “Are they refugees or prisoners?” he said.

“The proposed deal runs afoul of international law. We are sacrificing human beings for political expediency, in this case because Uganda wants to be in the good books of the United States,” he said. “That I can keep your prisoners if you pay me… how is that different from human trafficking?”

(with newswires and partially adapted from this article by RFI’s French service)

The meeting comes after a first round of discussions in Istanbul on 25 July. During the June conflict, the United States carried out strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran suspended cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog following the war with Israel, accusing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of failing to condemn Israeli and US strikes on its facilities.

The unprecedented Israeli bombing and Iran’s retaliation during the 12-day war halted Tehran’s nuclear talks with Washington.

Macron urges calm as Iran halts nuclear cooperation amid IAEA row

The European trio have threatened to trigger a “snapback mechanism” under the 2015 nuclear deal which would reimpose UN sanctions that were lifted under the agreement, unless Iran agrees to curb its uranium enrichment and restore cooperation with IAEA inspectors.

Iran disputes the legality of invoking the clause, accusing the Europeans of not honouring their commitments under the accord.

Britain, France and Germany, along with China, Russia, and the United States, reached an agreement with Iran in 2015 under a deal formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA.

Sanctions relief

The deal provided Iran with sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon – something it has always denied wanting to do.

But Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term in office, and the reimposition of biting economic sanctions prompted Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments, particularly on uranium enrichment.

At the time of the US withdrawal, London, Paris and Berlin reaffirmed their commitment to the agreement and said they intended to continue trading with Iran. As a result, UN and European sanctions were not reinstated, even as Trump restored US sanctions.

Iran says it will not halt nuclear enrichment ahead of European talks

But the mechanism envisaged by European countries to compensate for the return of US sanctions has struggled to materialise, and many Western companies have been forced to leave Iran, which is facing high inflation and an economic crisis.

The deadline for activating the snapback mechanism ends in October, but according to the Financial Times, the Europeans have offered to extend the deadline if Iran resumes nuclear talks with Washington and re-engages with the IAEA.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that the Europeans have no right to do so.

Russian support

Meanwhile, Russia’s Vladimir Putin held a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian, the Kremlin said Monday, in which the pair “touched on the situation around Iran’s nuclear programme”.

It did not elaborate on what the pair discussed.

The Iranian presidency said Pezeshkian had thanked Putin for supporting Tehran’s “right to enrichment” and said Iran was “not seeking, and will never seek to build nuclear weapons”.

The two countries have bolstered political, military and economic ties during Russia’s military offensive on Ukraine.

Iran has regularly sought to coordinate its position with both Russia and China before key nuclear talks with the United States and Europe during the current stand-off.

(with AFP)

European and US military chiefs last week reportedly presented ideas to their national security advisers on how to guarantee Ukraine’s security if there is a peace deal with Russia.

The discussions followed a summit of European leaders in Washington with US President Donald Trump on ending the conflict.

“It’s going to be a big challenge, but they will find ways of tackling that challenge without the US troops on the ground,” said Serhat Guvenc, professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.

“It will be a novelty because Europe has never carried out any peacekeeping or stabilization operation of this magnitude before.”

Turkey, with NATO’s second-largest army, is seen as a possible option.

“Turkey is an option, you know. And it seems that there is some talk of Turkish contribution,” Guvenc added.

Armenia and Azerbaijan peace deal raises hopes of Turkish border reopening

Ankara signals readiness

On the same day, French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss Ukraine’s security.

Ankara has already signalled it could take part in monitoring any peace deal, but Moscow’s approval would be necessary.

“If the parties agree, Turkey may send our troops to peacekeeping operations,” said Mesut Casin, a former presidential adviser and professor at Istanbul’s Yeditepe University.

Casin pointed to Turkey’s past record in UN operations.

“Turkey joined many UN peacekeeping operations in the former Yugoslavia, Somalia, and Korea, and in many other peacekeeping operations. The Turkish army is very powerful,” he said.

“Also, remember Putin is talking many times with Erdogan, and at the same time, Zelensky is visiting Ankara.”

Turkey and Italy boost cooperation in bid to shape Libya’s political future

Balancing Moscow and Kyiv

Since the start of the war, Erdogan has kept good relations with both Russia and Ukraine.

Ankara has refused to apply most international sanctions on Moscow, while at the same time selling vital military hardware to Kyiv. That balancing act has raised questions among European partners.

“Turkey ought to have been at the Washington meeting,” said Soli Ozel, an international relations scholar at the Institute for Human Studies in Vienna.

Even though Turkey borders both Ukraine and Russia, Erdogan was excluded from this month’s summit between Trump and European leaders.

“The fact that it wasn’t backs the observation that the bigger players or the major partners are not bringing Turkey center stage, they’re sidelining it,” Ozel added.

Despite this, Ankara remains strategically important.

“They keep it in the play, it’s important because if you’re going to need troops, you’re going to need Turkey. If you’re going to talk about the Black Sea security, you need Turkey. And so you cannot really dismiss Turkey,” Ozel said.

But he warned that mistrust is limiting Ankara’s role.

“You’re not making it part of the process that will hopefully lead to a conclusion or a peace treaty between Ukraine and Russia. There is a lack of trust, and I think that has something to do with the way Turkey has conducted its diplomacy,” Ozel said.

Peace or politics? Turkey’s fragile path to ending a decades-long conflict

Doubts over influence

Some analysts suggest Ankara hopes Europe’s reliance on Turkish forces or its navy for Black Sea security could help restore influence. But others see limited gains.

“There is no automatic increase in Turkey’s influence and credibility as a result of taking part in such operations,” said Guvenc.

“It does have a certain impact, but on the other hand, such contributions do not change other Western partners’ views of Turkey.”

Rather than a reset with Europe, Guvenc sees a continuation of the current dynamic.

“What might happen is yet another manifestation of transactionalism on both sides. And if Turkey contributes to peacekeeping in Ukraine, probably President Erdogan expects concrete benefits that will help him manage the deteriorating economic situation in Turkey.

“Therefore, you cannot build a comprehensive and sustainable relationship built on that transactionalism on both sides.”

Grape harvests in France are starting on average three weeks earlier than in the 1980s, according to the National Institute for Agricultural, Food and Environmental Research (Inrae).

Rising temperatures – which scientists confirm are due to human-driven climate change – are accelerating vine growth, with grapes ripening earlier. 

In Alsace, eastern France, the harvest has never started so early. The harvest of grapes that make the sparkling white wine crémant officially began on Tuesday – 10 days ahead of 2024, according to the Winegrowers’ Association (AVA).

Harvest dates for winemakers depend on the region and the variety of grape, and adhere to a calendar fixed by the National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO).

Nationwide trend

In Champagne, in eastern France, the grape harvest officially started last Wednesday.

David Chatillon, co-president of the Champagne Committee said that although the harvest was early due to the intense heat of recent weeks, he was expecting “a very good vintage” this year.

“The vineyard is in remarkable condition, which allows us to approach this harvest with confidence and serenity,” the committee’s press release said.

Early harvests are now being seen across all of France’s wine-growing regions.

Bordeaux saw the first pruning last Monday in plots dedicated to crémant, according to the Bordeaux Wine Interprofessional Council (CIVB).

The harvest is expected to be around 10 September for other white and red wines – which make up 85 percent of production.

The harvest now begins “10 or 15 days” earlier than it did 40 years ago due to climate change, according to the interprofessional association.

In Saint-Emilion, near Bordeaux, the harvest has begun around 15 September since 2010, instead of 26 September as seen in most of the 20th century, according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

As temperatures climb, is the future of French wine in England?

Vine cycle affected

At the Beaunes grape harvest in Burgundy, in recent years Pinot Noir has begun on the 6 September on average.

However, from the end of the Middle Ages up to 1988, this harvest usually took place around 27 September, according to a study that compiled data going back to 1354, cited by Le Monde newspaper.

This database has become a historical indicator of climate change, also cited in the sixth report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Hervé Quénol, a research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) told Franceinfo that, in reality, “it is the entire cycle of the vine that is earlier, from the budding [the opening of the buds] which occurs earlier and earlier in the spring, and therefore makes it more vulnerable to the frosts of late winter”.

Climate change helps France’s Beaujolais wine find its sweet spot

Maximum daily temperatures during the grape growing season have increased by around 3C since 1980, according to an Inrae ​​study published in May.

This phenomenon means grapes are gaining in alcohol content (the sugar content that will become alcohol) and acidity.

In Languedoc, for example, wines have had an average alcohol content of nearly 14 percent since 2015, compared to 11 percent in the 1980s, according to Inrae.

Loss of crops

Climate change caused by carbon emissions from fossil fuels has been linked to an increase in extreme weather events including intense heat, drought and heavy rains, which can destroy crops and even plots of land, particularly due to erosion, Inrae ​​notes.

Production drops can be drastic – up to 50 percent in the Hérault and Gard departments in southern France in 2019, for example, when grapes were burned by a heatwave.

Dilemma for French winemakers as alcohol content rises while consumption falls

Heat also brings an increase in vine diseases and pests, due to humidity. This was the case in Gironde, southwest France, in 2020, when mildew attacked Bordeaux vineyards, which had been flooded by heavy rains in May.

More frequent and larger wildfires also directly affect vines, as seen in early August when several hundred hectares burned in Aude, in the south of France.

According to a study published in 2024 in the journal Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, if global warming exceeds +2C compared to the pre-industrial era, 90 percent of coastal and lowland wine regions in southern Europe could be unable to produce quality wine at economically sustainable yields by the end of the century.

(with newswires)

The pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), led by President Maia Sandu, hopes to win a new mandate to push ahead with European Union accession.

But Moldova’s Intelligence and Security Service has warned of Russian disinformation campaigns, vote-buying and wider destabilisation efforts designed to block its pro-EU path.

Outside allies

These threats have amplified the need to bolster Moldova’s defences, and the country is seeking outside allies.

However, this does not include pursuing NATO membership, which is ruled out due to the fact that under its constitution, Moldova is officially a “neutral” state.

“NATO has a very negative image in Moldova,” said Veaceslav Ionita, an expert on economic policy with the IDIS Viitorul think tank and a former MP for the pro-EU Liberal Democratic Party PLDM.

He attributes this to “many years of [Russian] manipulation”, adding: “No party is ready to discuss seriously a NATO membership.”

Moldovan strategists are trying to circumvent political reluctance to join NATO by making deals with individual countries.

In March 2024, Sandu signed a landmark defence cooperation agreement in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron. The move marked a significant deepening of bilateral ties between the two countries, aimed at reinforcing Moldova’s sovereignty and security in the face of Russian “threats, pressure and intimidation,” according to Ionita.

The pact covers a broad range of defence cooperation measures: training Moldovan military personnel, intelligence sharing, joint consultations, enhanced airspace control capabilities, military telecommunications, logistics support and financial oversight of defence spending.

It also opens the door for the transfer of French military technology – as illustrated by Moldova’s acquisition of the Ground Master 200 radar system from French defence firm Thales, giving Chisinau improved aerial surveillance capabilities.

France strengthens support for Moldova as Russian destabilisation efforts persist

According to Ionita, France is currently regarded as the country that is most concerned for Moldova.

“France is number one,” he told RFI. Its popularity, he believes, is also in large part due to Macron’s close relationship with Sandu.

“For many years, polls [showed] that people favoured Russian President Vladimir Putin as the most important foreign leader to trust.”

But he had to yield to Angela Merkel – when “German investment [came] to Moldova and German companies created lots of jobs,” according to Ionita. 

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky became the most popular foreign leader in Moldova. But today, it is Macron.

“Nobody knows here who the [new] German leader is,” according to Ionita. “They [believe] that France is now the only big country having Moldova on its agenda.”

France’s engagement with the country builds on cooperation dating back to 1998, but has taken on a new urgency against the backdrop of Russia’s war in Ukraine and its continued military presence in the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria. 

Aside from France, Moldova has forged military alliances with Romania and the United States, to strengthen its capacity to respond to both conventional and hybrid threats.

Its only cooperation with NATO takes the form of joint exercises, civilian emergency preparedness and technical assistance. While Chisinau is being cautious not to breach the country’s constitutional neutrality, it views such partnerships as essential to shoring up its defence in the absence of a formal alliance guarantee.

Frequent cyber attacks

Moldovan authorities have accused the Kremlin of orchestrating or supporting political movements aimed at derailing the country’s pro-Western policies.

Frequent cyberattacks, propaganda operations and economic pressure have contributed to a perception of an ever-present Russian threat.

Viewed in this light, the defence pact with France is about more than military hardware, t’s also about resilience – from cyberspace to public institutions.

In May 2024, Moldova formalised its “Security and Defence Partnership” with the EU, designed to fight hybrid threats, improve cyber-resilience, and safeguard democratic processes. The agreement reflects a recognition in Brussels that Moldova’s democratic stability is deeply entwined with its security.

‘Unprecedented interference’: how Russia is attempting to shape Moldova’s future

EU ambitions

But the country’s larger ambition – at least in some political quarters – is full EU membership, which would increase the level of security against possible Russian threats.

For Moldova, EU membership would also provide a massive boost to its economy.

In 2000, Chisinau began opening up free economic zones – areas where foreign companies can operate under a lower tax regime than in the rest of the country. These attracted mainly German investment.

“The biggest growth [since Moldova became independent from the USSR in 1991] took place between 2010 and 2019,” according to Ionita, the period in which the free economic zones started to flourish.

A second boost to the country’s economy came in 2014, after Russia banned the import of Moldovan fruits and agricultural products, and Chisinau then signed a free trade agreement with Brussels.

The Association Agreement, which includes the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), was signed in June 2014 and has been in full effect since July 2016. It forms the basis of Moldova’s current trade relations with the EU.

“Everyone understands that EU membership means industry development, good salary, good infrastructure and quality of life,” says Ionita. 

Moldova hosts first EU summit as leaders tackle Russia’s interference threat

Since being granted EU candidate status in June 2022, Moldova has undertaken sweeping reforms in governance, its judiciary and anti-corruption mechanisms – steps that are preconditions for accession talks.

In June 2024, Brussels formally opened accession negotiations with Chisinau, but the overall accession process remains lengthy and politically sensitive.

Sandu has tied her political project firmly to EU membership, seeing it as the only viable path to long-term security and prosperity. The government plans to press ahead with reforms irrespective of political turbulence, but the outcome of the 28 September elections will be decisive in determining the pace – and perhaps the viability – of Moldova’s European course.

However, opposition to EU membership remains strong. According to Ionita, even if there is a majority in favour, the pro-Russian parts of the country remain vocal.

Around one third of Moldova’s population is pro-Russian, with stronger support in certain regions – the separatist Transnistria region, where Russian troops are stationed; the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia in the south, and parts of northern Moldova.

Around half the population is pro-EU – with the rest either centrists, or undecided.

RFI: How were you able to travel to Afghanistan?

Chela Noori: I travelled to Afghanistan with my British passport. I didn’t need a visa because my country of birth on my passport is Afghanistan.

I had never attempted to travel under the Taliban regime before. I didn’t know if it would work out or not. In the end, it did. I had no problems at the airport. What I wanted to do was to assess the psychological and humanitarian situation by travelling around the country a little. I visited 15 cities and major provinces and I interviewed many women, but not just women. I also spoke to little girls, little boys, men… I wanted to get everyone’s point of view. 

What kind of restrictions did you encounter?

Officially, the burqa is mandatory, but in reality this is not always the case. I went there wearing a veil and a long black tunic, and many Afghan women were dressed like that. I was also always accompanied by a “mahram” [a male relative who acts as a chaperone].

Taliban mark fourth year in power in Afghanistan

Did you sense any resistance among Afghan women? 

For me, resistance in Afghanistan comes from women – that’s clear. Here in France, what we hear is that Afghan women are forbidden from leaving their homes unless accompanied by a mahram. But people said to me: “You know the character of Afghan women, they couldn’t keep us all locked up at home.”

So some manage to go out anyway, even if they don’t have a mahram. The Taliban tolerate it, let’s say. But the Amr bil-Maroof [the morality police], not at all.

Who are the Amr bil-Maroof? 

There are lots of videos circulating on social media showing them beating women in public because they didn’t wear their face coverings properly, for example. They find any excuse to reprimand them. There are also kidnappings.

I came face to face with them in Bamyan. I really wanted to visit Band-e-Amir Lake. They made us pay and let us in, but while my mahram was parking, I acted like a typical European and ran over to look because the place is so beautiful. I took out my phone and called my children. I wasn’t paying attention and suddenly I realised that someone was talking to me. I saw one of these men looking at me with a murderous expression and repeating in a loud voice: “According to the Amr bil-Maroof, women are not allowed here.”

Suddenly, my whole body started shaking. I told him I was with my nephew. But he repeated the same thing. You’re not supposed to stand up to them, you’re not supposed to talk to them. I turned around politely, and they followed me to the car.

A window into the hidden lives of Afghan women cut off from society

You weren’t allowed to be outside alone as a woman, right?

It’s not even just that – it’s that all leisure facilities are off limits to women. I tested this everywhere, in Kabul, in Kandahar…

What was the state of mind among the women you met? 

I interviewed about 15 young girls and women. The young girls are in a very bad way psychologically, because they are thinking, at 13, we will be banned from school, it will be over [since the return of the Taliban, girls are no longer allowed to go to school beyond primary level].

They start crying because they have no future at all. People are thinking of marrying them off. Since there is no future, it’s the only option for them. Those who were studying or working are all extremely depressed. They told me, look, we are at home all day, we get up, we cook, we clean… the only thing we can do is go out to do the shopping or visit each other. But apart from that, there’s nothing else to do from morning to night. And since they’re not allowed to go out, the children are all at home too.

Can they consider leaving? 

All they dream of now is leaving. But it is very difficult to obtain a passport. Since 2023, Pakistan has been sending all Afghans back, and the visa that used to cost $800 (€682) can now cost up to $5,000. Everything is being done to prevent Afghans from leaving the country.

‘Collective heroism’: French film recounts evacuation amid Taliban takeover

Did you meet any women who have continued to work or study?

I haven’t seen any women studying. Women who work, yes. Everywhere you look, it’s women – because it’s women who have to search women. At the airport too, at the immigration desk, it was women.

Children are suffering under this regime too, of course… 

Yes, what struck me most were the children. Because we talk a lot about women, but very little about the youngest who are suffering.

It’s important to note that there are almost no jobs in Afghanistan. So all the adults are unemployed. I noticed that all the streets were spotless everywhere, and it’s actually the children who clean them. I asked a few of them about this, and they explained that their parents weren’t working, so they had to pay the rent. So they’re out there working in the sun all day, without hats, without protection – for, let’s say, 50 cents a day.

The humanitarian situation is dire. There are no jobs, so people live on credit. Everyone goes into debt to pay the rent, which is forbidden in Islam. And it’s a vicious circle. So when the children manage to find a little work, they bring home money to pay the rent.

A window into the hidden lives of Afghan women cut off from society

And what did the men you met say about all of this?

I saw anger in the eyes of an impoverished father, who told me: “My dream was that my three daughters wouldn’t have to struggle, that they would get an education and make something of themselves, that they wouldn’t have to depend on a husband. But in the end, they’ll become as dependent as my wife. I hoped they would become doctors and get a good education.” And he started to cry.

Are people resigned to their powerlessness, or is there hope for them?

They say, if we lose hope, we will commit suicide. So we hope. We hope – but in the long term. Four years without being able to study is already a big loss in the long term. The message they wanted me to convey here is that we should put pressure on this regime to let them work, let them study.

You mentioned mental health, but physical health is also an issue. If girls can no longer be treated by male doctors and women are no longer being trained as doctors, soon there will be no one left to treat women.

Yes, it’s a lost generation. There won’t be any more female doctors. For now, there are a few who are still working. But in the long term, there won’t be any more female doctors. Everything is being done to ensure that there are no more.

Calls for France to recognise all Afghan women and girls as refugees

You went to Kabul, but also to other parts of the country, such as Kandahar, Jalalabad and Herat. Did you notice any differences between the capital and the provinces?

What’s incredible is that I saw the same situation, the same atmosphere, everywhere I went. Whether in big cities, large provinces or small villages, it was the same thing. They have established a form of security – but the insecurity only existed because of them. When they took power, they established this form of peace through dictatorship.

You mentioned pockets of resistance. Did you see any other forms of resistance or solidarity among Afghan women?

Today, all beauty salons and hairdressers are closed. However, I noticed that there were still many lavish weddings taking place, so I asked about this. They explained that they were all going to one person’s house to do their makeup. They are doing what they used to do, but hidden away at home. That is our form of resistance.

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

Click here to read more about Afghan Women of France (in French).

The best known structures are in the town of Carnac, where nearly 3,600 stones stretch in long rows across six kilometres of land. They were erected about 7,000 years ago.

Carnac’s mayor Olivier Lepick called them “the first experience of human-built structures”. He says the Unesco label will help protect the site and attract more visitors.

Tourists already come in summer for the beaches, but Lepick expects the recognition to bring people year-round.

“They will also come in the spring and autumn seasons which will be very good for the business and the economy of the city,” he says.

Inside France’s perfectly preserved prehistoric Cussac cave

Mysterious function

Experts are still unsure why the vast fields of stone were built. “We don’t see any understandable function,” Lepick says.

“We believe this is related to religion, probably to gods. But there were no writings at this time. So, it’s only a hypothesis.”

The Carnac site is the first in Brittany to be fully inscribed on the World Heritage list. The Vauban Tower in Finistère already appears, but only as part of a wider group of 12 fortifications across France.

France now counts 54 sites on the Unesco list. Spain and China each have 60, and Germany has 55.

At Sainte-Anne hospital in Paris, psychiatric emergency services report seeing more patients during heatwaves. For French psychiatrists, this is a warning sign of what lies ahead as summers get hotter.

“You may think you’re not affected because you’re young. But it will affect the healthy population as much as other groups,” Suzana Andrei, secretary-general of the French Federation of Psychiatry, told RFI.

People already living with a mental health condition are at the greatest risk.

“Even if it is mild, it will be made worse by a heatwave that consumes a person’s physical and mental coping resources,” Andrei added.

A study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, published in July, found that people with bipolar disorder are more likely to see their condition suddenly worsen during heat spikes.

Medication too can be affected by hot weather, Andrei warns. “Dehydration is never far away. So the medicine becomes more concentrated in the blood and side effects can be felt in a much more unpleasant way than usual.”

Biggest French wildfire since 1949 a ‘catastrophe on an unprecedented scale’

Climate anxiety

When temperatures climb, physical reactions can include sweating, headaches and faster breathing – symptoms that can trigger anxiety even in people with no prior history of it.

The body also reacts by producing cortisol – the stress hormone – to help cope with danger.

“Cortisol normally helps us adapt to temperature changes. But when the heat is very intense and lasts for several days, cortisol production can’t keep up, and the body’s stress system gets overwhelmed,” Andrei said.

This summer has seen periods of extreme heat across Europe, with June and July ranked among the hottest ever recorded – which are feeding eco-anxiety.

“It can affect people with no previous mental health issues – sometimes those very active in public life and committed to their community’s future. This fear can trigger a wider anxiety disorder,” Andrei explained.

Young people are particularly vulnerable to anxiety over climate change. In a 2023 European study, 45 percent of people aged 16 to 25 said that eco-anxiety had a significant impact on their daily lives.

The impact of heat affects some more than others, given that access to insulated housing, a cool workplace or a psychologist is determined by a person’s income and status. People in precarious situations often lack these protections, putting them more at risk of heat stress.

France rolls out plan to prepare for 4C temperature rise by end of century

Increase in domestic violence

Researchers also warn of the effect of extreme heat on social issues, including domestic violence.

A report from the United Nations Spotlight Initiative – a global project aimed at ending violence against women and girls – links each 1C of warming to a 4.7 percent rise in intimate partner violence.

At 2C, that would mean 40 million more women and girls facing such abuse every year by 2090.

A separate study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in June, found consistent connections between higher temperatures and violence against women worldwide.

Scientists say heat-induced stress can reduce self-control and increase irritation – one reason extreme heat is linked with higher incidences of aggression and violence.

And direct exposure to extreme climate events can magnify this effect, as France’s psychiatry federation observed during the wildfires around Marseille in early summer 2025.

“It causes acute stress for people living in the area. Vulnerability, psychological distress that can be long term, even post-traumatic stress,” said Andrei.

With Europe warming faster than any other continent, psychiatrists expect more heat-linked stress in summers ahead – from spikes in emergency visits to longer-term anxiety and trauma.

Partially adapted from this article by RFI’s French service

World number 85 Kamilla Rakhimova beat the 31-year-old 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in two hours and 17 minutes to bring the curtain down on a 14-year career.

Following her last match as a professional, Garcia was presented with a trophy celebrating her time on the circuit by the US Open tournament director Stacey Allaster and Gilles Moretton, the boss of the French tennis federation (FFT).

“Tennis brought me so much,” Garcia told spectators on Court 6 at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows.

“There were some great emotions and some tough ones but it shaped me to become the person I am today.

“I am at peace with the decision to say goodbye to tennis … at least in competition and the suffering that goes with it. I cannot handle it any more.”

Soon after the defeat, the FFT published a video tribute to Garcia and Moretton hailed her contribution to French tennis.

“Congratulations on a magnificent, career,” said Moretton on social media. “You’ve been a determined, talented and inspirational player.”

Teenage talent at French Open

In 2011, a 17-year-old Garcia was invited by Moretton’s predecessors to play in the main draw.

In the second round, the then world number 188 led seventh seed Maria Sharapova 6-3, 4-1.

But the Russian reeled off 11 consecutive games to claim the encounter 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Garcia’s game and attitude brought compliments from pundits and players including the men’s fourth seed Andy Murray who posted on his social media account during the match on Centre Court: “The girl Sharapova is playing is going to be number one in the world one day … what a player.”

Murray’s prediction never came true.

But Garcia went on to win 11 singles titles including the 2022 WTA end-of-season championships which propelled her back to a career high of number four in the world rankings.

But since that peak, injuries, poor form and disillusion with the game led to a fall to 174.

“It was a great run,” Garcia told journalists after the match. “I did great things on court and I achieved what I could achieve.

‘You can always achieve more’

“Obviously you can always achieve more and I was dreaming of achieving more but I’m happy to be at peace with my decision and move forward with my life and end my chapter as a tennis player.”

In February 2024, Garcia launched the Tennis Insider podcast with her partner Borja Duran. Guests have included Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa, who spoke about their lives on the circuit and their ambitions.

“Obviously I want to keep going with the podcast,” Garcia added. “Little by little it is growing. We believe we are doing some good things and giving back to tennis by looking behind the scenes with the players and coaches.

“If the podcast can help some young players out there, it would be the best reward I could get. Now I see a future for myself in tennis and 12 months ago it wasn’t the case.”

Though she failed to brandish a singles crown at one of the four Grand Slam tournaments in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York, Garcia became an accomplished doubles player.

She won eight titles with various partners including the 2016 and 2022 French Open with Kristina Mladenovic.

On Tuesday, Diane Parry, one of the contenders to be France’s top female player, eliminated Petra Kvitova 6-1, 6-0, in what was the Czech player’s last match.

Kvitova won 31 singles titles including Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014. Parry, the world 107, will play Renata Zarazua from Mexico on Wednesday for a place in the third round.

On Tuesday, the French number one Lois Boisson will play her first match in the main draw at the US Open.

The 22-year-old, who reached the semi-finals at the French Open in June, takes on the Swiss player Viktorija Golubic.

Health authorities have focused on Vitrolles, a suburb of Aix-en-Provence, where 33 locally transmitted cases have been confirmed – the largest outbreak ever seen in mainland France.

A total of 27 outbreaks involving 154 cases have been recorded in mainland France this year, according to the national health agency SPF.

France’s Reunion Island has been facing a deadly outbreak of the tropical disease since 2024, with one third of the population estimated to have been infected, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

The virus has been spreading in mainland France as temperatures in northern Europe have warmed, and winters are no longer cold enough to kill off the tiger mosquitoes.

The mosquito, which also carries dengue fever, which is also on the rise, is now present in over 80 of France’s 101 departments, and mosquito control measures are being stepped up in areas with infections.

Chikungunya virus outbreak kills six on France’s Réunion Island

Vaccine suspended in US

Meanwhile, US health authorities have suspended the license for Ixchiq, a vaccine against chikungunya, made by the French company Valneva, following reports of “serious adverse events”, particularly in elderly patients.

Valneva obtained US approval for the vaccine in 2023, but reports of side effects have prompted reviews, including by the European Medicines Agency this year.

“As we determine potential next steps, and as the clear threat of chikungunya continues to escalate globally, Valneva remains fully committed to maintaining access to our vaccine as a global health tool,” chief executive Thomas Lingelbach said in a statement.

Ixchiq is one of just two vaccines against chikungunya approved for use in the US and in Europe.

Chikungunya is rarely fatal, though there is an increased risk of death for babies and the elderly, and symptoms, which include high fever and severe joint pain, are often debilitating.

In July, the WHO warned of the risks of a major chikungunya epidemic, calling for urgent action.

(with newswires)

Strikes hit Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, a large medical complex in the south of Gaza that is a known gathering place for displaced journalists, according to the press freedom group Reporters without borders (RSF).

Hossam al-Masri, a freelance photographer for the Reuters news agency died in a first drone strike on the hospital Monday morning.

A second strike, eight minute later, killed three other journalists who had arrived at the scene to cover rescue efforts.

They included Mariam Abu Daqqa, a freelance journalist for the Associated Press news agency; Moaz Abu Taha, a correspondent for the American broadcasting network NBC; and Mohamad Salama, a photojournalist for Al Jazeera.

Freelance journalist Ahmad Abu Aziz died soon after of injuries.

Freelance photographer Hatem Khaled was wounded in the second strike, according to Reuters, as was Palestine TV journalist Jamal Bemdah, according to RSF.

RSF said the journalists were “deliberately targeted” and called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to ensure the protection of journalists in Gaza and “that concrete measures are taken to end impunity for crimes against journalists, protect Palestinian journalists, and open access to the Gaza Strip to all reporters”.

France’s top diplomat calls for foreign press access to Gaza

Shocking indifference

The United Nations insisted that journalists and hospitals should never be targeted.

“The killing of journalists in Gaza should shock the world – not into stunned silence but into action, demanding accountability and justice,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees Philippe Lazzarini described the strike as “silencing the last remaining voices reporting about children dying silently amid famine“, adding on social media platform X: “The world’s indifference and inaction is shocking.”

Following the strike, the Israel-based Foreign Press Association called for an “immediate explanation” from the military and prime minister’s office.

“We call on Israel once and for all to halt its abhorrent practice of targeting journalists,” the group said in a statement.

The Israeli foreign ministry said on X that troops carried out a strike in the area around the hospital, which has targeted several times since the start of the war.

The military said will conduct an “initial inquiry as soon as possible”, the ministry said, adding that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such”.

Recognition for journalists who bear burden of showing world the Gaza war

Media restrictions

Earlier this month an Israeli air strike killed four Al Jazeera staff and two freelancers outside Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

The Israeli military alleged that one of those killed, Anas al-Sharif, headed a Hamas “terrorist cell” and was “responsible for advancing rocket attacks” against Israelis.

The Committee to protect journalists and RSF slammed that strike, saying journalists should never be targeted in war.

According to the CPJ and other media watchdogs, over 200 journalists have been killed in nearly two years of war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, many of them while exercising their profession.

However, media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

(with newswires)

Yuliia Panina, Maryna Berezniatska and Svitlana Holovan made their way to the stage to loud applause from the audience of a few dozen, gathered for a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

The three women were introduced by Liudmila Huseynova, director of the NGO Numo Sisters and herself a survivor of Russian prisons, having endured three years of torture in the illegal Izolyatsia detention centre.

She told the audience: “Not long before joining us, [these women] wondered if they would ever be able to speak Ukrainian again, after being forced to speak Russian throughout their captivity.”

In Russian detention centres, prisoners are forbidden from speaking their own language, under threat of torture.

‘Tears and joy are all mixed together’

The three women, all civilians, were arrested in 2019 in their respective cities, facing unfounded charges of espionage, extremism and terrorism.

Yuliia Panina was abducted by Russian security services while taking her 13-year-old daughter to school in the city of Donetsk.

She was the first to speak, sharing her first impressions after her release: “When we crossed the border and arrived in the Chernihiv region, we saw Ukrainian flags. People were waving at us. It was wonderful to see that – a huge relief.”

Yuliia too was held at Izolyatsia, a former cultural centre in the city of Donetsk, now used as a prison – a place where Russian guards commit atrocities against Ukrainian prisoners of war.

“For us, it was a miracle, and we are here. But back there, in detention, there are still women, at least six, who have been held for a long time,” she said.

Svitlana Holavan, a worker in a fish-curing factory in Novoazovsk, a town on the Russian border a few kilometres from Mariupol, on the shores of the Sea of Azov, was arrested at her home – because some of her relatives live in independent Ukraine.

This was enough to mark her as suspicious in the eyes of the illegal occupation authorities.

France accuses Russia of stalling peace efforts as massive strikes hit Ukraine

“I still can’t believe that this hell, which has ruled my life for six years, is over. When I saw all the people who welcomed us when we arrived by bus, I felt positive emotions that I hadn’t felt in six years,” she said.

“I prayed so hard for this to happen, and my ordeal is finally over. We waited a very long time for this moment, survived torture, but hope always endured. Soon, I will be able to see my children again, who have grown so much, which is why my emotions – tears and joy – are all mixed together.”

Svitlana’s daughters, Anna and Sofia, first found refuge in Mariupol then in the west of the country and finally in Germany, where they are still living. A family reunion is planned for the coming days.

Interrogations, isolation and sexual abuse

Maryna Berezniatska, who was the director of a dog shelter, was arrested on suspicion of cooperating with Ukrainian secret services.

She said: “I’m still trying to come to terms with everything that happened. When I was released, I couldn’t express my feelings, and I still can’t. It’s hard to immediately understand that it’s true, that it’s all over, that a new life is beginning, that all of that is behind us. The worst part was the suffering of our families while they waited. We were all strong, but it was difficult.”

All three spoke in hushed tones about the torture they endured – although without going into detail.

What they were unable to put into words, others – including Liudmyla – have spoken about before: endless daily interrogations, isolation, humiliation, physical and sexual abuse, mock executions, and deprivation of the most basic rights such as access to water, food, hygiene and medicine.

French researcher imprisoned in Russia faces new charges of espionage

They also testified as to what they need now – and what is lacking.

Liudmyla highlighted the urgent practical support required for the three women, and many other former detainees.

“You have to build yourself up psychologically and physically. I remember that for the first six months after my release, I still had adrenaline rushes. You feel strong, you think you can overcome it on your own, but after a few months, all the physical and mental health problems start, and they overwhelm you,” she said.

“Psychologists help us, and I’m grateful for that, but when you have nowhere to sleep, it doesn’t help… People have been coming back from captivity for 11 years and this problem still hasn’t been solved.”

From the audience, representatives of various organisations supporting former prisoners promised help, while Viktor Missak, the representative of the attorney general, took the floor to assure the women that justice will be done.

“We are doing everything we can to record and bring to justice all those responsible. Many people have committed war crimes, including Russian soldiers and the directors of illegal detention centres,” he said.

“We are identifying them and charging them in absentia, and one day they will sit in the dock before a Ukrainian or international court and be tried.”

‘Russia appears to have abandoned the rulebook’

Since 2022, more than 60 prisoner exchanges have taken place between Russia and Ukraine.

The most recent exchange saw “146 Russian servicemen” and “146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces” transferred on Sunday, according to the Russian defence ministry – although Kyiv did not confirm any figures for the release.

But while Ukraine has opened the doors of its detention centres to international institutions, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, to show that the human rights of prisoners are being respected, in accordance with international conventions, the fate of thousands of Ukrainian prisoners – men and women, civilians and military personnel – in Russia remains extremely precarious.

Russia has been accused of systematically torturing civilians in occupied regions of Ukraine.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Alice Jill Edwards, last week sent a dossier of torture allegations to Russia – highlighting in particular the use of sexualised torture and detailing the cases of 10 Ukrainian civilians abused in occupied regions of Ukraine.

The cases involved rape, threats of rape, and electric shocks administered to the genitals. The 10 civilians – four women and six men – were also beaten, kicked, blindfolded and subjected to simulated drownings and mock executions.

Russia and Ukraine exchange POWs, civilians

“They represent however only a small snapshot of a wider, well-documented pattern of risks of torture to civilians in occupied areas,” Edwards said in a statement.

“A rudimentary rule of international warfare is that civilians are to be protected. Russia appears to have abandoned the rulebook entirely. It is high time that they were held to account for these unlawful practices and more pressure brought to bear by all States with influence over them.”

Edwards also noted that arbitrary arrests and detentions and enforced disappearances were being used in Ukraine’s occupied territories – particularly in Kherson, Kharkiv and Zaporizhia.

One of the women concerned remains detained in Russia and an appeal for her urgent release has been launched, according to the statement.

Ukraine is demanding the return of all its prisoners, but so far Russia has not agreed to an “all for all” exchange. For now, Yuliia, Svitlana and Maryna are among the lucky ones.

(with newswires, and adapted from this story and this story by RFI’s French service)

Lanier gave notice of his potential in August 2024, when he tore through the field to claim the Japan Open and become the first Frenchman to win a World Tour Super 750 event – one of the most coveted trophies on the circuit.

The 20-year-old confirmed that promise at the European championships in April in Denmark where he claimed the gold medal at the expense of compatriot Toma Junior Popov. 

The Popovs combined during the championships in Horsens to claim gold. They will be in action together on Monday night at the world championships at the Adidas Arena in the men’s doubles. Christo, ranked 10th and Toma Junior, the 15th seed, will also play in the singles.

Lanier starts his singles campaign on Monday afternoon against Kantaphon Wangcharoen from Thailand.

Mixed doubles pair Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue are seeded eighth at the world championships and start their quest for glory on Tuesday under what Gicquel admitted were new psychological pressures following their victory at the Indonesian Open in June.

The triumph made them the first French duo to win a Super 1000 tournament.

“I don’t think we’ve ever been so much in the spotlight before a world championships,” beamed Gicquel as he finished preparations for the world championships.

The 26-year-old, who has been partnering Delrue for eight years, added: “So there will be more pressure. But it also gives us a lot of confidence and it really makes us want to do well especially when you’re in front of all the French fans, in front of your family and friends, it changes a lot of things.”

World championships a year after Olympic Games

“‘We hope it will be like at the Olympic Games, packed and with incredible support,” added Delrue. “We hope to relive the same emotions as last year, and that it will carry us through the whole week.”

The 9,000 seat Adidas Arena in La Chapelle, northern Paris, was the only venue inside the city built specifically for the 2024 Games.

The seats inside the arena were made from recycled plastic bottle caps while the solar panels adorning the roof help to provide electricity for the sports complex which also housed para badminton during the 2024 Paralympics.

The Popovs, like Delrue and Gicquel, also basked in the energy emitted from stands while competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics where France won 16 gold medals to finish as the top European nation.

Success at the world championships would be a continuation of the recent impressive results of French players which has been an outcome of the way the sport is administered in France.

“It started many years ago with a new structure, more professionalism and the creation of a huge system that helps from the bottom to the best players and with a lot of financial help,” Toma Junior said.

High hopes

He and his sibling will also compete in men’s singles. In doubles, they are ranked 19th while in singles Christo is ranked 10th while Toma Junior is ranked 15th.

Toma Junior said they work a lot on their physical fitness to compete in both categories.

“There are two different kinds of gameplay and two different kinds of mental setup,” he added. “The more serious part is the men’s singles, while doubles is the more enjoyable part.“

Lanier and the Popovs – aided by a vociferous hometown crowd – will have to wade through a talented field.

Top seed Shi Yu Qi will be aiming to translate his recent dominance into a first prize at the circuit’s most prestigious tournament after the Olympic Games.

Shi, who opens his campaign on Monday afternoon against India’s Lakshya Sen, won three of four HSBC BWF World Tour Super 1000 tournaments in the run-up to the championships.

The successes propelled the 29-year-old Chinese star to the top of the world rankings. He is seeded to play Anders Antonsen from Denmark in the final.

Antonsen will carry his country’s hopes of glory in the absence of his compatriot Viktor Axelsen.

The two-time world champion and double Olympic champion withdrew after failing to recover from surgery on his back in March.

In the women’s draw, a year after claiming gold at the Olympics, top seed Se-young An from South Korea starts the defence of the singles crown she won in Copenhagen in 2023 against Clara Lassaux from Belgium.

Zhiyi Wang will begin against Agnes Korosi from Hungary and Anna Tatranova, France’s only woman in the singles, plays the fourth seed Yufei Chen.

Kabila’s PPRD permanent secretary, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary called it “a political decision” that will be given “a judicial guise” by the judges of the High Military Court.

“It is an unfair, unjust, even less balanced trial, which is also a non-event. We see hatred oozing from it towards someone who gave you everything,” he told RFI’s Kinshasa correspondent.

“This decision makes Joseph Kabila even stronger and more resilient forever. That is why I limit myself to asking our PPRD leaders and activists and all Kabilists to remain calm until democratic victory, because there is nothing.”

Kabila himself has rejected the case as “arbitrary” and called the courts “an instrument of oppression”.

Congolese opposition leader Moïse Katumbi, through his party Together for the Republic, also denounced in a statement a “cynical political manoeuvre” intended to “silence a major player” and “sow terror” in the country.

Criminal charges

General Lucien Rene Likulia called on judges at the latest hearing last Friday, to condemn Kabila to death for war crimes, treason and organising an insurrection.

The trial against the former president, 53, began in his absence in July for his alleged support for Rwanda-backed M23 militants.

Likulia said Kabila, in coordination with Rwanda, had been trying to carry out a coup against President Felix Tshisekedi.

Kabila, who has been outside the DRC for two years faces charges including homicide, torture and rape linked to the M23 group.

DR Congo tries ex-president Joseph Kabila in absentia for treason

Other charges include “crime against the peace and safety of humanity” and “forcible occupation of the city of Goma”.

The M23 armed group has seized swathes of the resource-rich Congolese east with Rwanda’s help.

The violence committed by the M23 in the east of the country had caused “immense prejudice” to the country, for which Kabila had criminal responsibility, Likulia argued.

The DRC lifted a moratorium on the death penalty last year but no judicial executions have been carried out since.

Deputy Justice Minister Samuel Mbemba told reporters : “The courts do not negotiate, they will do their work independently.”

M23 denies Kabila ties

The charges described Kabila as “one of the initiators of the Congo River Alliance” (AFC), the M23’s political arm, accusing him of colluding with Rwanda to try to “overthrow by force the power established by law”, and of being responsible for atrocities committed by the movement in the North and South Kivu provinces in the mineral-rich east.

But the AFC and M23’s executive secretary Benjamin Mbonimpa distanced the movement from Kabila at a news conference in Goma in the end of July. 

Former DRC president Kabila visits rebel-held Goma for controversial talks

He said that the government should not “label him an AFC/M23 member” just because he had come to the city.

“As a Congolese citizen,” Kabila is “free to go wherever he likes”, he said, branding the trial part of a “malevolent strategy” against the ex-president.  

Kabila has branded his successor’s government a “dictatorship”.

He himself took power following his father Laurent Kabila’s assassination in 2001 and governed the DRC until 2019, before leaving the country in 2023.

The eastern DRC has been ravaged by conflict between various armed groups for more than three decades, with the unrest intensifying since the M23’s resurgence in 2021.

   (with newswires) 

In a statement, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said it had re-established communication with the ground troops that had been under threat by the jihadists.

The strike on four targets in the Kumshe area in Borno State had “intensified efforts” to dominate the battle field and “deny terrorists freedom of action”, said NAF spokesperson Ehimen Ejodame.

Insurgent resurgence

The Nigerian military has been fighting a resurgence of attacks from jihadist groups Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) since the beginning of the year in the northeast, which neighbours Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Both ISWAP and Boko Haram have taken over military bases, killing soldiers and seizing weapons.

The army, which says it is battling not just jihadist militants but also armed gangs in the northwest, known as “bandits”, last week said it had killed 592 militia members in eight months, since the start of the year, surpassing operational gains made in 2024.

US could supply arms

Last week the United States State Department approved the sale to Nigeria of $346 million (€291 million) in weapons, including bombs, rockets and munitions.

The Nigerian army said the weapons – whose sale is subject to Congressional approval – would “improve Nigeria’s capability to meet current and future threats through operations against terrorist organisations”.

Civilians have been caught in the crossfire of the insurgency, which has left more than 40,000 people dead and forced more than two million to flee their homes, according to the UN.

Hostages held by ‘bandits’ freed

Nigeria’s air force also helped to rescued at least 76 people kidnapped by bandits, including women and children, in northwestern Katsina state, according to local authorities.

The rescue on Saturday followed a precision air strike by the air force at Pauwa Hill as part of a manhunt for a bandit known as Babaro who has been linked to a mosque attack last week in a nearby town that killed 50 people.

One child captive died in the rescue operation.

Mass kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria’s northwest and central states, where armed gangs often target remote villages, stealing cattle and abducting residents, and leaving residents unable to farm and feed themselves.

The militias are motivated by financial gain, and have no ideological leanings, but officials and analysts have expressed concern over growing pragmatic alliances with jihadists from Nigeria’s northeast.

(with newswires)

France’s national postal service, La Poste, has announced it will suspend most parcel deliveries to the United States, as confusion swirls around new American import rules.

The move, which takes effect Monday, puts France among the growing list of European postal operators hitting pause on shipments across the Atlantic.

At the heart of the disruption is the end of the long-standing “de minimis” exemption, which has allowed packages worth under $800 to enter the US duty-free.

Last year alone over one billion such parcels arrived in the US under this rule, carrying goods worth nearly $65 billion.

But from this week, the exemption disappears – and with it, the certainty that has underpinned a thriving trade in low-value packages.

La Poste said US authorities had failed to give postal operators enough time or detail to prepare for the change. “Despite discussions with US customs services, no time was provided to postal operators to re-organise and assure the necessary computer updates to conform to the new rules,” the company explained.

For French senders, the suspension will be frustrating but not permanent. Mail without merchandise – such as letters and documents – will continue to be accepted. But gifts, e-commerce orders and other goods are caught in the limbo created by the new tariffs.

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

A Europe-wide pause

France joins Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Italy, which were among the first countries to suspend most merchandise shipments to the US as of Saturday.

Austria will follow the French timetable on Monday, while the UK’s Royal Mail has said it will stop US parcels from Tuesday. The aim is to ensure that items already in transit arrive before the tariffs bite.

“Key questions remain unresolved, particularly regarding how and by whom customs duties will be collected in the future,” DHL, Europe’s biggest shipping provider, said in a statement.

From Saturday, DHL stopped accepting parcels destined for the US from its European business customers.

In Italy, Poste Italiane confirmed that commercial shipments to the US would be suspended, although letters and non-merchandise mail are unaffected.

Sweden’s PostNord called its move “unfortunate but necessary,” while Dutch operator PostNL urged customers to send any urgent packages immediately, warning that US authorities still lacked a proper system to collect the new duties.

Trump unveils sweeping new global tariffs but delays deadline by a week

Shifting trade landscape

The new duties stem from a recent trade framework between Washington and Brussels, which sets a 15 percent tariff on the vast majority of EU-origin goods shipped to America. Crucially, packages under $800 – previously exempt – will now also be hit.

This follows an earlier step by the Trump administration in May to end the duty-free exemption for Chinese goods as part of its broader push to curb cheap imports. The extension to the rest of the world is the latest phase of that policy.

While private express services such as DHL Express can still deliver to the US, most European public postal operators say they have no choice but to suspend parcels until the rules become clearer.

PostEurop, the umbrella association for 51 postal services, has warned that if no solution emerges by 29 August, its entire membership may be forced to follow suit.

“The allegations from the ambassador are unacceptable,” said the French Foreign Ministry in a statement released Sunday in which it summoned the ambassador as a formal and public notice of displeasure.

In his letter dated August 25, but published in the Wall Street Journal Sunday, Kushner said Macron must enforce hate crime laws and tone down criticism of Israel, saying that a decision to recognise a Palestinian state has fuelled antisemitic incidents in France.

“I write out of deep concern over the dramatic rise of antisemitism in France and the lack of sufficient action by your government to confront it,” he said.

Kushner, who is Jewish, and whose son Jared is a former senior adviser to Trump and married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, said that antisemtiism “has exploded” since Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which prompted Israel’s bombing response on Gaza and the ongoing war.

• Trump taps Charles Kushner, father of his son-in-law, as envoy to France

Kushner said Macron’s critiques of Israel over the Gaza war and his plan to recognise the state of Palestine at the UN in September “embolden extremists, fuel violence, and endanger Jewish life in France”.

“France firmly refutes these latest allegations,” the Foreign Ministry said, hours after the letter’s contents were made public, adding that the comments “do not live up to the quality of the transatlantic relationship between France and the United States and the trust that should result between allies”.

Kusnher’s letter comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent similar critiques on Tuesday, saying antisemitism had “surged” in France following Macron’s announcement last month that he would recognize Palestinian statehood.

The presidency responded, calling the allegation “abject” and “erroneous”.

The incident adds to diplomatic tension between France and the US amid Trump’s trade war and disagreements on support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

France also has objected to the US push to wind down the United Nations peacekeeping operation in Lebanon, which is due for a Security Council vote on Monday.

(with newswires)

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed himself more firmly on the diplomatic stage, holding a conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday that touched on the war in Ukraine, the Middle East and other pressing global crises.

Posting on X, Macron said their discussion covered “the war of aggression waged by Russia against Ukraine in the context of Monday’s meeting in Washington, as well as the situation in the Great Lakes region”.

The two leaders agreed to meet again in September on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The exchange with Macron underlines Ramaphosa’s growing role as a mediator as he seeks to rally support from both the Global South and Europe.

Pretoria later confirmed that Ramaphosa, who currently chairs the G20, also spoke with Finnish President Alexander Stubb and will reach out to other European leaders in the weeks ahead.

Zelensky-Putin peace talks on the table after Washington summit

‘Oil and vinegar’

At the heart of his message is a call for a direct meeting between Kyiv and Moscow.

Earlier on Saturday, Ramaphosa held a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he pressed the urgency of “bilateral and trilateral meetings between the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and the United States as key to signal a firm commitment to ending the war”.

Zelensky reiterated his openness to “any format of meeting with the head of Russia”.

Yet he voiced frustration that Moscow was “once again trying to drag everything out even further”, urging the Global South to apply pressure to steer the Kremlin towards peace.

On Sunday – as Ukrainians celebrated Independence Day –  Zelensky struck a defiant note, declaring that his country would “never surrender”.

The intervention comes as momentum for a Russia–Ukraine summit appears to be stalling. US President Donald Trump, who earlier in the week suggested that Vladimir Putin and Zelensky had agreed to meet face-to-face, has since compared the pair to “oil and vinegar”.

On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov bluntly stated that “no meeting” was on the cards.

France accuses Russia of stalling peace efforts as massive strikes hit Ukraine

Balancing act

Despite his warm personal ties with Putin – whom he called a “dear ally” and “valued friend” at last year’s BRICS summit – Ramaphosa has gradually shifted South Africa’s stance.

For the first time since the war began, Pretoria this year voted in favour of a United Nations resolution describing Russia’s actions as a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

That balancing act – keeping dialogue open with Moscow while engaging with Western partners such as France – has made Ramaphosa an increasingly interesting figure in international diplomacy.

His latest round of calls suggests he intends to use his G20 presidency to keep the pressure on for talks, even as trust between Kyiv and Moscow remains scarce.

The mystery surrounding the grim discovery of four bodies in the River Seine earlier this month is beginning to clear, as French prosecutors have now charged a young homeless man with their murders.

The man, thought to be in his twenties and of North African origin, was brought before a judge in Créteil on Sunday morning following four days in police custody.

His precise identity and nationality remain unclear, but investigators believe he had been living rough along the river.

Prosecutors have asked for him to be held in pre-trial detention, launching a full judicial inquiry into what they describe as “murders committed in concert” – a classification that allows investigators to use extended questioning and special investigative techniques.

The suspect has so far said very little about his background and has declined to comment on the charges. His lawyer, Antoine Ory, has also refused to make a public statement.

Man arrested over murder of woman and four children near Paris

Tracing the links

Investigators say their inquiries have uncovered a link between the suspect and each of the four victims, around the time they went missing.

CCTV footage, phone records and witness testimony placed him near the riverbanks where the bodies were eventually recovered on 13 August.

Those same banks are known both as a spot frequented by local anglers and as a makeshift refuge for some of the homeless population.

Reporters visiting the area described abandoned technical buildings nearby that serve as rough shelters.

The suspect had already attracted police attention earlier this month.

On 5 August he was detained carrying identity papers that later turned out to belong to one of the victims, who at the time had not yet been reported missing.

He was released with a court summons for handling stolen goods. He was also due in court in September for a separate charge of theft from a vehicle.

Interpol seeks clues to solve cold case murders of women and girls

The victims

DNA analysis has now confirmed the identities of all four men. Two of them, aged 21 and 26 and originally from Algeria and Tunisia, were themselves homeless and known to spend time near the river.

A third, a 48-year-old Frenchman from Créteil who disappeared on 11 August, was believed to frequent the area, which is known locally as a meeting spot for brief homosexual encounters.

The fourth victim, another 21-year-old Algerian based in Choisy-le-Roi, had been missing since 7 August.

Autopsy results point to strangulation in at least two of the cases, while another body bore a suspicious mark whose cause has yet to be established. Further forensic work is under way to confirm how each man died.

A second man, who was taken into custody last Thursday in connection with two of the victims, has been released without charge. Prosecutors say no evidence currently links him to the killings.

Although many questions remain unanswered, investigators now believe they have a clearer picture of how the victims and the suspect crossed paths along the Seine.

For local residents, the arrests at least mark the beginning of an explanation for a crime that shocked the Val-de-Marne.

Montmartre, once celebrated as a bohemian village within the French capital, is now one of its busiest tourist spots. Atop the hill, the white domes of Sacré-Cœur Basilica draw up to 11 million visitors a year – more than the Eiffel Tower.

The streets below are packed with tuk-tuks, guided tours and queues for photos, creating what some locals describe as an open-air theme park.

Black banners strung across balconies warn of growing frustration: “Behind the postcard: locals mistreated by the mayor,” one reads in English. Another, in French, declares: “Montmartre residents resisting.”

Protest groups say butchers, bakers and greengrocers are steadily vanishing, replaced by bubble-tea vendors, ice-cream stands and souvenir stalls.

Residents complain that the neighbourhood has been subject to a creeping “Disneyfication”, stripping away the daily life that once made it unique.

Nice to ban cruise ships in fight against overtourism and pollution

Over-tourism across Europe

Across Europe, similar pressures are reshaping historic cities.

Venice now charges day-trippers an entry fee and caps numbers. In Barcelona, thousands have marched against cruise ships and short-term holiday lets, some wielding water pistols. In Athens, authorities have imposed daily limits at the Acropolis to shield the ancient site from record visitor numbers.

Paris has also felt the strain. Staff at the Louvre Museum staged a strike in February last year over overcrowding, understaffing and worsening conditions. The gallery received almost 9 million visitors in 2024, more than twice what its infrastructure was built for.

Overall, the French capital welcomed just under 50 million tourists last year, a 2 percent rise from 2023. That dwarfs its permanent population of just over 2 million. Sacré-Cœur was the country’s most visited monument in 2024.

Authorities have promised tougher action against unlicensed short-term rentals and are stepping up efforts to regulate platforms.

Yet residents in Montmartre say everyday life is still being squeezed out. Urban planners warn that without careful balance, historic quarters risk becoming “zombie cities” – picturesque but hollowed out, serving visitors more than locals.

Louvre plagued by leaks and crumbling infrastructure, museum boss warns

Daily life ‘unmanageable’

Among those feeling the pressure is 56-year-old Olivier Baroin, who moved to Montmartre 15 years ago when, he said, it still felt like a village.

Now, he describes a neighbourhood dominated by tourists and stripped of essential services. “There are no more shops at all, so everything must be delivered,” he told Associated Press.

Baroin, who has a disability, said recent pedestrian-only measures have made daily life unmanageable. “I told myself that I had no other choice but to leave, since when you can no longer take your car, you have to call a taxi from morning to night.” He has now put his apartment up for sale.

Not everyone is dismayed. Visitors continue to revel in the atmosphere. “All of Paris has been pretty busy, but full of life, for sure,” said Adam Davidson, an American tourist from Washington DC. “I’d say this is full of life to a different degree.”

With the global middle class expanding, cheap flights proliferating and digital platforms funnelling millions of people towards the same landmarks, experts say the challenges will only grow.

UN forecasts suggest the world’s population will approach 10 billion by 2050, adding further momentum to international travel.

Irish rap group Kneecap are set to take the stage outside Paris on Sunday, performing at the Rock en Seine festival in Saint-Cloud despite mounting controversy, funding cuts and calls for their slot to be cancelled.

The trio, who blend political edge with swaggering humour, have never shied away from provocation. Known for backing the Palestinian cause and their outspoken criticism of Israel, they have turned concerts into political arenas as much as musical ones.

One member, Liam O’Hanna – stage name Mo Chara – is currently facing a British terror charge after allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag during a London show last November.

In June, he used the Glastonbury stage to declare: “Israel are war criminals.”

More recently, Kneecap were barred from Hungary and missed their planned performance at Budapest’s Sziget Festival – a decision widely seen as a nod to Hungary’s close ties with Israel.

Still, the controversy has not slowed them down. The group have already played in France twice this summer – at Eurockéennes in Belfort and at Cabaret Vert in Charleville-Mézières – without incident.

Kneecap rapper in court on terrorism charge over Hezbollah flag

Festival under pressure

Rock en Seine organisers faced a political storm after refusing to drop Kneecap from the line-up.

Local authorities in Saint-Cloud pulled their €40,000 subsidy, while the wider Île-de-France region also cancelled its funding for the 2025 edition.

Yet the festival, with a budget of around €16 to €17 million, remains financially solid.

Director Matthieu Ducos struck a optimistic tone, telling journalists: “We are confident that the group will perform in the correct manner.”

Kneecap are scheduled to hit the stage at 6:30pm local time – a slot the organisers have no intention of scrapping.

Interior Minister Retailleau calls for ‘extreme vigilance’ during Jewish holidays in France

Tensions in France

The show takes place against a tense national backdrop. Since the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the ensuing war in Gaza, France has wrestled with rising concerns over antisemitism.

Jewish groups have strongly objected to Kneecap’s appearance.

Yonathan Arfi, head of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF), accused the group of “desecrating the memory” of French victims of Hamas and Hezbollah.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has warned police to remain alert to “any comments of an antisemitic nature, apology for terrorism or incitement to hatred” during the concert.

France rejects Netanyahu’s antisemitism claim over recognition of Palestine

From Belfast to the world

Hailing from Belfast, Kneecap channel Irish republican themes and local slang into a swaggering rap style that has won them a cult following.

Even their name is a provocation: it refers to the notorious punishment shootings, or “kneecappings,” carried out by republican paramilitaries during the Northern Ireland conflict.

More than a quarter-century after the Good Friday Agreement, Kneecap’s blend of Irish identity, political theatre and dance-floor energy continues to stir debate.

Love them or loathe them, their brand of rebellious performance has carried them from the streets of Belfast to Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage, and now onto one of France’s most prestigious summer festivals.

France’s Overseas Minister, Manuel Valls, will extend his stay in New Caledonia until Monday, when he is set to once again bring together supporters of the Bougival agreement on the future of the archipelago, his office confirmed on Friday, following comments he made to local daily Les Nouvelles calédoniennes.

“We will hold a third meeting of the drafting committee on Monday morning, which will give me the chance to meet more people, to reaffirm my deep commitment to New Caledonia and, of course, to press ahead with the implementation of the Bougival agreement,” Valls told the paper.

The former prime minister, who arrived in the Pacific territory on Wednesday, had originally been due to return to mainland France on Saturday.

Valls presses case for independence deal in tense New Caledonia talks

Independence Front shuns meetings

The process has, however, been complicated by the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), which has chosen not to take part in the drafting committee.

The committee’s role is to transform the Bougival agreement – signed on 12 July in the Paris region – into a constitutional bill.

That deal, endorsed at the time by the Overseas Minister, independence leaders and non-independence parties alike, proposed that New Caledonia be recognised as a distinct State within the French constitution, with its own Caledonian nationality.

While the FLNKS grassroots later rejected the accord, all other political forces in the territory have stood by it and continue to participate in the drafting process.

The Front declined to attend Thursday’s first meeting of the committee, which is scheduled to gather again on Saturday.

Valls heads to New Caledonia in wake of collapse of independence deal

Valls unveils health measures

Earlier on Friday, Valls also announced a raft of measures aimed at revitalising the health sector, which has been under severe strain since the 2024 riots.

Triggered by proposed electoral reforms, the unrest left 14 people dead and caused damage estimated at more than €2 billion.

In the north, two local hospitals were forced to shut due to staff shortages. In May, a man tragically died outside Koumac hospital, after relatives had taken him there despite its closure.

Facilities that remain open are struggling to cope. The Bourail medical-social centre in the north of South Province, for example, has seen patient numbers jump by 30 percent in the space of a year, according to provincial health authorities.

To help plug the gaps, Valls announced the deployment of a mobile medical team in partnership with the Order of Malta.

The unit – comprising three doctors, a dentist and a midwife – will serve the hardest-hit areas suffering from a lack of healthcare professionals. The €1.4 million scheme will be fully funded by the French state.

European and US military chiefs last week reportedly presented ideas to their national security advisers on how to guarantee Ukraine’s security if there is a peace deal with Russia.

The discussions followed a summit of European leaders in Washington with US President Donald Trump on ending the conflict.

“It’s going to be a big challenge, but they will find ways of tackling that challenge without the US troops on the ground,” said Serhat Guvenc, professor of international relations at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University.

“It will be a novelty because Europe has never carried out any peacekeeping or stabilization operation of this magnitude before.”

Turkey, with NATO’s second-largest army, is seen as a possible option.

“Turkey is an option, you know. And it seems that there is some talk of Turkish contribution,” Guvenc added.

Armenia and Azerbaijan peace deal raises hopes of Turkish border reopening

Ankara signals readiness

On the same day, French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss Ukraine’s security.

Ankara has already signalled it could take part in monitoring any peace deal, but Moscow’s approval would be necessary.

“If the parties agree, Turkey may send our troops to peacekeeping operations,” said Mesut Casin, a former presidential adviser and professor at Istanbul’s Yeditepe University.

Casin pointed to Turkey’s past record in UN operations.

“Turkey joined many UN peacekeeping operations in the former Yugoslavia, Somalia, and Korea, and in many other peacekeeping operations. The Turkish army is very powerful,” he said.

“Also, remember Putin is talking many times with Erdogan, and at the same time, Zelensky is visiting Ankara.”

Turkey and Italy boost cooperation in bid to shape Libya’s political future

Balancing Moscow and Kyiv

Since the start of the war, Erdogan has kept good relations with both Russia and Ukraine.

Ankara has refused to apply most international sanctions on Moscow, while at the same time selling vital military hardware to Kyiv. That balancing act has raised questions among European partners.

“Turkey ought to have been at the Washington meeting,” said Soli Ozel, an international relations scholar at the Institute for Human Studies in Vienna.

Even though Turkey borders both Ukraine and Russia, Erdogan was excluded from this month’s summit between Trump and European leaders.

“The fact that it wasn’t backs the observation that the bigger players or the major partners are not bringing Turkey center stage, they’re sidelining it,” Ozel added.

Despite this, Ankara remains strategically important.

“They keep it in the play, it’s important because if you’re going to need troops, you’re going to need Turkey. If you’re going to talk about the Black Sea security, you need Turkey. And so you cannot really dismiss Turkey,” Ozel said.

But he warned that mistrust is limiting Ankara’s role.

“You’re not making it part of the process that will hopefully lead to a conclusion or a peace treaty between Ukraine and Russia. There is a lack of trust, and I think that has something to do with the way Turkey has conducted its diplomacy,” Ozel said.

Peace or politics? Turkey’s fragile path to ending a decades-long conflict

Doubts over influence

Some analysts suggest Ankara hopes Europe’s reliance on Turkish forces or its navy for Black Sea security could help restore influence. But others see limited gains.

“There is no automatic increase in Turkey’s influence and credibility as a result of taking part in such operations,” said Guvenc.

“It does have a certain impact, but on the other hand, such contributions do not change other Western partners’ views of Turkey.”

Rather than a reset with Europe, Guvenc sees a continuation of the current dynamic.

“What might happen is yet another manifestation of transactionalism on both sides. And if Turkey contributes to peacekeeping in Ukraine, probably President Erdogan expects concrete benefits that will help him manage the deteriorating economic situation in Turkey.

“Therefore, you cannot build a comprehensive and sustainable relationship built on that transactionalism on both sides.”

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday. This week, you’ll hear musical requests from your fellow listeners Heimer Sia, Hossen Abed Ali, and Debashis Gope. 

Be sure you send in your music requests! Write to me at thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Angelina” by Pierre Perez-Vergara, Stéphane Planchon, and Yassine Dahbi, performed by PSY; “Like Jesus to a Child”, written and performed by George Michael, and the traditional 18th-century French drinking song “Chevaliers de la Table Ronde”, sung by the Quatre Barbus with André Popp and his ensemble.

The ePOP video competition is open!

The ePOP video competition is sponsored by the RFI department “Planète Radio”, whose mission is to give a voice to the voiceless. ePOP focuses on the environment and how climate change has affected “ordinary” people.

The ePOP contest is your space to ensure these voices are heard.

How do you do it?

With a three-minute ePOP video. It should be pure testimony, captured by your lens: the spoken word reigns supreme. No tricks, no music, no text on the screen. Just the raw authenticity of an encounter, in horizontal format (16:9). An ePOP film is a razor-sharp look at humanity that challenges, moves, and enlightens.

From June 12 to September 12, 2025, ePOP invites you to reach out, open your eyes, and create a unique bridge between a person and the world.

Join the ePOP community and make reality vibrate!

Click here for all the information you need.

https://concours.epop.network/en/

We expect to be overwhelmed with entries from the English speakers!

The quiz will be back next Saturday, 30 August. Be sure and tune in!

The deal, brokered by US President Donald Trump, commits both countries to respect each other’s territorial integrity – the issue at the centre of bloody wars.

The agreement is seen as paving the way for Turkey to restore diplomatic ties with Armenia.

“Ankara has been promising that once there is a peace agreement, it will open the border,” says Asli Aydintasbas, of the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

“There was a brief period in the post-Soviet era when it [the border] was opened, but that was quickly shut again due to the Armenian-Azeri tensions.”

Aydintasbas says reopening the border could have wide-reaching consequences.

“Armenia and Turkey opening their border and starting trade would be a historical moment in terms of reconciliation between these two nations, which have very bitter historic memories,” she adds.

“But beyond that, it would help Armenia economically because it’s a landlocked country entirely dependent on Russia for its protection and its economy.”

Turning point

In June, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul. The meeting was seen as a turning point in relations long overshadowed by the memory of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, which Ankara still officially denies.

“There’s now a degree of personal chemistry between the Armenian prime minister and Erdogan. This was seen in a June historic meeting, the first ever bilateral contact, a face-to-face meeting,” says Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Centre, a think tank in Yerevan.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 after ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan seized the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.

The enclave was retaken by Azerbaijani forces in 2022. Giragosian says the peace deal, along with warmer ties between Pashinyan and Erdogan, could now help Yerevan reach a long-sought goal.

“In the longer perspective for Turkey and Armenia, this is about going beyond the South Caucasus. It’s about Central Asia. It’s about European markets, potentially a new Iran in the future,” he says.

Erdogan congratulated Pashinyan on Monday over the deal, but made no official pledge on reopening the border. That decision may lie with Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev.

“They [Ankara] will be looking to Baku. Baku is basically able to tell Turkey not to move on normalisation with Armenia, not to open the border,” says Aydintasbas.

“Part of the reason is that Turkey has developed an economic dependency on Azerbaijan, which is the top investor in Turkey. In other words, little brother is calling the shots, and I think that Ankara, to an extent, does not like it, but has come to appreciate the economic benefits of its relationship with Azerbaijan.”

Azerbaijani demands on Armenia

Azerbaijan is also pushing for changes to Armenia’s constitution, which it claims makes territorial claims on Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The Armenian constitution refers to the Declaration of Independence of Armenia, which has a clear clause on the unification with Armenia, with Nagorno-Karabakh,” says Farid Shafiyev of the Centre for Analysis of International Relations, a Baku-based think tank.

Shafiyev warned that without reform, the peace deal could unravel.

“Let’s say, imagine Pashinyan losing elections, a new person says: ‘You know, everything which was signed was against the Armenian constitution.’ For us, it is important that the Armenian people vote for the change of the constitution,” Shafiyev says.

Analysts note that changing the constitution would require a referendum with more than 50 percent turnout – a difficult and time-consuming process.

Time, however, may be running short. Russia is seen as the biggest loser from lasting peace in the Caucasus. For decades Moscow exploited the conflict to play Armenia and Azerbaijan against each other.

Pashinyan is now seeking to move away from Russian dominance and closer to Europe.

Giragosian warned that Armenia’s window of opportunity is limited.

“There is a closing window of opportunity – that is Russia’s distraction with everything in Ukraine. We do expect a storm on the horizon, with an angry, vengeful Putin reasserting or attempting to regain Russia’s lost power and influence in the region.”

Weakening Russia’s grip remains key, he adds. “Armenia, after all, is still a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Russian-dominated trade bloc.

“But it’s also a country that has a Russian military base. Russia still manages the Armenian railway network, for example. This is why, for Armenia, the real key here is going to be Turkey and normalising relations with Turkey.”

At present, Armenia’s only open land borders are with Georgia and Iran – both close to Russia. Opening the Turkish border would give Armenia a vital new route, while also benefiting Turkey’s economically depressed border region.

But for now, Azerbaijan may seek further concessions before allowing any breakthrough.

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday. This week, you’ll hear three different versions of a song requested by Jayanta Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India.

Be sure you send in your music requests! Write to me at thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” by Brenda Holloway, Patrice Holloway, Frank Wilson, Berry Gordy, in three versions: Brenda Holloway, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Alton Ellis.

The ePOP video competition is open!

The ePOP video competition is sponsored by the RFI department “Planète Radio”, whose mission is to give a voice to the voiceless. ePOP focuses on the environment and how climate change has affected “ordinary” people.

The ePOP contest is your space to ensure these voices are heard.

How do you do it?

With a three-minute ePOP video. It should be pure testimony, captured by your lens: the spoken word reigns supreme. No tricks, no music, no text on the screen. Just the raw authenticity of an encounter, in horizontal format (16:9). An ePOP film is a razor-sharp look at humanity that challenges, moves, and enlightens.

From June 12 to September 12, 2025, ePOP invites you to reach out, open your eyes, and create a unique bridge between a person and the world.

Join the ePOP community and make reality vibrate!

Click here for all the information you need.

We expect to be overwhelmed with entries from the English speakers!

Earlier this month, the leaders of Italy, Turkey and Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) met in a tripartite summit – the latest sign of growing cooperation between the three Mediterranean nations.

“Turkey and Italy have both differing interests, but interests in Libya,” explains international relations professor Huseyin Bagcı of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.

“Particularly, the migration issue and illegal human trafficking are big problems for Italy, and most of the people are coming from there [Libya], so they try to prevent the flow of migrants.

“But for Turkey, it’s more economic. And Libya is very much interested in keeping the relations with both countries.”

Turkey and Italy consider teaming up to seek new influence in Africa

Migration, legitimacy concerns

Turkey is the main backer of Libya’s GNA and still provides military assistance, which was decisive in defeating the rival eastern-based forces led by strongman Khalifa Haftar. An uneasy ceasefire holds between the two sides.

Libya security analyst Aya Burweilla said Turkey is seeking Italy’s support to legitimise the Tripoli government, as questions grow over its democratic record.

“What it means for the Tripoli regime is very positive. This is a regime that has dodged elections for years,” she says.

“Their job was to have democratic elections, and one of their ways to make sure they stay in power was to get foreign sponsors, like Turkey… Now, with this rubber stamp from Meloni in Italy, they can keep the status quo going at the expense of Libyans.”

Years of civil war and political chaos have turned Libya into a major hub for people smugglers. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, elected on a pledge to curb irregular migration, sees stability in Libya as key to that goal.

“The migration issue has become very, very urgent in general for Europe, but of course for Italy too,” says Alessia Chiriatti of the Institute of International Affairs, a think tank in Rome.

Trump and Erdogan grow closer as cooperation on Syria deepens

Mediterranean ambitions

Chiriatti said Meloni’s partnership with Turkey in Libya also reflects broader foreign policy goals.

“There is another dimension – I think it’s directly related to the fact that Italy and Meloni’s government want to play a different role in foreign policy in the Mediterranean space,” she says.

“Italy is starting to see Africa as a possible partner to invest in … But what is important is that Italy is starting to see itself as a new player, both in the Mediterranean space and in Africa, so in this sense, it could have important cooperation with Turkey.”

She points out that both Italy and Turkey share a colonial past in Libya. That legacy, combined with the lure of Libya’s vast energy reserves, continues to shape their diplomacy.

Ending the split between Libya’s rival governments is seen as vital for stability. Moscow’s reduced military support for Haftar, as it focuses on its war in Ukraine, is viewed in Ankara as an opening.

“Russia is nearly out, and what remains are Turkey and Italy,” says Bagcı.

He added that Ankara is making overtures to the eastern authorities through Haftar’s son Saddam, a senior figure in the Libyan military.

“The son of Haftar is coming very often to Ankara, making talks. It’s an indication of potential changes… But how the deal will look like I don’t know, we will see later. But it’s an indication of potential cooperation, definitely.”

Turkey steps into EU defence plans as bloc eyes independence from US

Shifting alliances

Libya was discussed when Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo on Saturday.

Sisi backs Haftar’s eastern government. Libya had been a source of tension between Turkey and Egypt, but with relations thawing, both say they will work together on the country’s future.

Turkey’s position in Libya is strengthening, says Burweilla.

“Saddam is pro-Turkey – there is a huge difference between son and father – and the younger generation is pro-Turkey,” she says.

Such support, Burweilla said, stems from Ankara allowing Libyans to seek sanctuary in Turkey from fighting in 2011, when NATO forces led by France and the United Kingdom militarily intervened against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

“I think the Europeans underestimated the political capital that gave Turkey. Turkey is winning the game in Libya,” Burweilla says.

She adds that Ankara’s rising influence is also due to a shift in tactics towards the east.

“What they [Ankara] realised was that you can’t conquer the east of Libya by force; they tried and they failed. And the Turkish regime is very much motivated by business… They don’t care about anything else, and they’ve realised they want to make a business,” Burweilla says.

They’ve reached out more to the east, and the east, in turn, has realised that if they don’t want to be attacked by Turkey and its mercenaries, they need to make peace with Turkey as well.”

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday. This week, you’ll hear musical requests from your fellow listeners Hossen Abed Ali from Rangpur, Bangladesh and a composition written by SB Leprof from Winneba, Ghana.

Be sure you send in your music requests! Write to me at thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s program: “Epitaph” by Robert Fripp, Ian McDonald, Greg Lake and Michael Giles, to lyrics by Peter Sinfield, performed by King Crimson, and “Ginger Milk” by SB Leprof.

The ePOP video competition is open!

The ePOP video competition is sponsored by the RFI department “Planète Radio”, whose mission is to give a voice to the voiceless. ePOP focuses on the environment and how climate change has affected “ordinary” people.

The ePOP contest is your space to ensure these voices are heard.

How do you do it?

With a three-minute ePOP video. It should be pure testimony, captured by your lens: the spoken word reigns supreme. No tricks, no music, no text on the screen. Just the raw authenticity of an encounter, in horizontal format (16:9). An ePOP film is a razor-sharp look at humanity that challenges, moves, and enlightens.

From June 12 to September 12, 2025, ePOP invites you to reach out, open your eyes, and create a unique bridge between a person and the world.

Join the ePOP community and make reality vibrate!

Click here for all the information you need.

We expect to be overwhelmed with entries from the English speakers!

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.