France is seeking to expand its €5.42 billion trade relationship with Vietnam, focusing on energy, infrastructure and technology.

More than 30 agreements are expected to be signed during the visit, including collaborations in nuclear energy and satellite development.

According to the latest EU figures, Vietnam is France’s 17th biggest trade partner outside the EU, while French exports to Vietnam value €1.6 billion against €3.7 billion of imports from Vietnam. More than 2,000 French companies currently export to Vietnam.

Vietnam’s efforts to diversify foreign investment – particularly in transport and renewable energy – align with France’s ambitions to counterbalance China’s growing influence in the region.

Although France ranks only 16th among Vietnam’s foreign investors, Macron’s delegation aims to position French firms as credible alternatives to Chinese infrastructure financing.

‘Bamboo Diplomacy’

Meanwhile, Vietnam is actively strengthening its own multilateral partnerships to hedge against Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea and economic coercion.

China asserts control over vast areas beyond internationally recognised maritime boundaries, militarising the region by establishing bases on shoals and atolls, sometimes claimed by other countries such as the Philippines, and frequently encroaching on waters claimed by Vietnam.

France’s Indo-Pacific strategy sees Vietnam as critical for securing maritime routes and ensuring supply chain resilience.

In October 2024, France became the first EU country to upgrade ties with Vietnam to a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” after more than 50 years of diplomatic relations.

This approach aligns closely with Hanoi’s so-called “bamboo diplomacy”, which has recently seen Vietnam upgrade its relations with the US, Japan, and now France.

Macron’s subsequent visits to Indonesia and Singapore underscore broader European efforts to re-engage with ASEAN amid ongoing US-China tensions.

Macron outlines France’s vision for Asia-Pacific relations, rejects confrontation

The show goes on

Following his stop in Vietnam, Macron will travel to Indonesia from 27 to 29 May, where he is set to meet President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta and Yogyakarta.

On the program: defence cooperation, nuclear energy and economic ties. Macron will then proceed to Singapore, where he will participate in a series of official meetings and investor roundtables before delivering a keynote address at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier defence summit. 

His message will highlight France and Europe as trustworthy partners offering cooperation “with no strings attached”, as Southeast Asia navigates intensifying US-China rivalry and seeks to diversify its economic and security partnerships

Macron urges trade cooperation with China ahead of South East Asia tour

Shadows of the past

The legacy of France’s colonial past looms over the Vietnam visit. Between 1858 and 1885, France conquered Vietnam through a series of military campaigns, establishing Indochina as a colony.

The 1954 Battle of Dien Bien Phu, where Viet Minh forces defeated French troops after a 56-day siege, brought an end to colonial rule but left enduring cultural ties.

The French withdrawal was followed by an increasing US presence, culminating in the Vietnam War, which claimed the lives of around two million people.

France played a significant diplomatic role in ending the Vietnam War in 1973 by hosting the peace negotiations that led to the Paris Peace Accords, signed at the Majestic Hotel on Paris’ Champs-Elysées.

Macron is unlikely to address France’s colonial history and its aftermath directly, but Vietnam’s enduring French architectural influences and the presence of some 30,000 francophone residents reflect the complex postcolonial relationship.

Human rights

Macron also faces pressure to address Vietnam’s deteriorating human rights record.

“Vietnam is waging an unprecedented and really brutal crackdown on civil society,” said Penelope Faulkner, president of the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR).

In a press release signed by four human rights organisations – including the FIDH, the VCHR and Global Witness – activists called on Macron to press for the release of human rights defenders during his visit to Vietnam.

The organisations addressed an open letter to Macron, attaching a list of 40 individuals currently serving prison sentences of up to 20 years.

“Most of them are bloggers, independent journalists, environmental activists, people who are really not calling for the regime change, but wanting a better life for the people of Vietnam,” Faulkner told RFI.

The list includes independent journalist Pham Doan Trang, serving nine years for writing critical articles on environmental issues, environmental lawyer Dang Dinh Bach, who is serving a five-year sentence on charges of tax evasion, and Pham Thi Nhung, who received a 15-year sentence after calling on the European Parliament to postpone ratification of an EU-Vietnam trade agreement pending “concrete human rights progress” in Vietnam.

Faulkner said the current US–China trade dispute and tensions between China and the EU have shifted Western focus to Vietnam, with governments now less inclined to criticise Hanoi’s rights record.

“Vietnam is one of the countries which is receiving most of foreign direct investment” in Asia, said Faulkner, pointing out that Western companies are keen to move operations to the country because of its low wages, which are “at least one third lower than other countries in Southeast Asia”.

She added: “Vietnam is becoming known as a cheap labour destination. And that’s very detrimental to the people’s lives.”

Meanwhile, UN experts have condemned Vietnam’s use of torture and arbitrary detention ahead of its 2025 bid for re-election to the Human Rights Council.

A few days before the trip that took him to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Trump reportedly floated the idea of renaming the Persian Gulf the “Arabian Gulf”.

It echoed an earlier decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” in an executive order signed hours after he took office in January.

In the end, Trump gave up on the idea during his week in the Middle East, resorting to realpolitik – perhaps wary of upsetting the Iranians even if it meant disappointing his Arab partners.

The sea – bordered by Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and the Musandam Peninsula (an exclave of Oman) on one side, and Iran on the other – has been at the centre of a naming dispute for decades.

Centuries of use

The 251,000 km² gulf in the Indian Ocean has been known as the Persian Gulf since at least the time of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. The name refers to the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire in history.

Greek and Roman geographers, including Ptolemy in the 2nd century, later referred to the Persian Gulf or the Persian Sea. Renowned Arab historians such as Ibn Al-Athir and Ibn Khaldun used this toponymy in their history books in the 12th and 15th centuries AD.

By the 18th and 19th centuries, the name Persian Gulf appeared in treaties signed by regional leaders and the British, who dominated the area at the time.

France sues Iran at top UN court over citizens detained in Tehran

Arab nationalism in the 20th century gave rise to the term Arabian Gulf – even though when the Egyptian Gamal Abdel Nasser came to power in the early 1950s, the slogan “One nation from the Atlantic Ocean to the Persian Gulf” was all the rage.

The term Arabian Gulf also appeared earlier in history. The Greek historian Strabo used it in the 1st century AD, but he was referring to what is now known as the Red Sea, on the western side of the Arabian Peninsula.

In today’s Arab press, the Persian Gulf is usually referred to as Al-Khaleej, which means simply “the Gulf”. The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman – all use the term Arabian Gulf.

Today, Google Maps uses the term Persian Gulf, with Arabian Gulf in brackets. For years, the US military has unilaterally referred to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf in its statements and images.

‘A denial of history’

The body of water is linked to the Indian Ocean by the Strait of Hormuz and holds around 60 percent of the world’s oil reserves and 40 percent of its gas. The area is a vital shipping route and has seen many disputes between Arab states and Iran.

In 1970, a journalist from the French monthly newspaper Le Monde Diplomatique wrote an article in which he used the term Arabian Gulf when reporting on the latest clashes in the region between “traditionalist elements and revolutionary forces”.

The Iranian embassy in France responded with a letter calling the term “a denial of history”.

The letter said: “The gulf in question has been called the Persian Gulf for over 2,000 years… All the geographers and historians of antiquity knew the Gulf only as the Persian Gulf… From the 16th century onwards, in the great atlases… it was referred to exclusively as the ‘Sinus Persicus’ [Persian Gulf in Greek]. 

The statement noted that until around 1960, even Arab schoolbooks used the Farsi name Kha-Lidj Al Farsi – Persian Gulf. It ended with the question: “So why the change in terminology?”

Back at Cannes, Iran filmmaker Panahi defies repression

Iran has taken strong action against publications and organisations using the term Arabian Gulf. In 2004, National Geographic was banned after placing “Arabian Gulf” in brackets next to “Persian Gulf”. The Economist faced a similar ban in 2006.

In 2010, Iran cancelled the Islamic Solidarity Games – a Saudi-led initiative – after it emerged that the medals and logos would say Persian Gulf. That same year, Iran warned that foreign airlines using the term Arabian Gulf could be banned from its airspace.

National pride

In 2006, a commission of UN experts, geographers, geologists, archaeologists and historians concluded, after analysing more than 6,000 maps of the area, that the term Persian Gulf was historically the most widely used designation.

It remains the term officially recognised by the UN, the International Hydrographic Organisation and the International Maritime Organisation.

For Iran, it is not just about history – it is a matter of national pride.

“Politically motivated attempts to alter the historically established name of the Persian Gulf are indicative of hostile intent toward Iran and its people, and are firmly condemned,” foreign minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X after Trump’s intentions were revealed.

He added: “I am confident that @realdonaldtrump is aware that the name PERSIAN Gulf is centuries old and recognised by all cartographers and international bodies… any short-sighted step in this connection will have no validity or legal or geographical effect. It will only bring the wrath of all Iranians from all walks of life and political persuasion in Iran, the US and across the world.”

Iran mulls moving capital to ‘lost paradise’ on southern coast

Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi also weighed in on X. “The Persian Gulf is not just a name but a historical reality… The reported decision by President Trump to abrogate history, should it be true, is an affront to the people of Iran and our great civilisation.”

With nuclear negotiations under way between Tehran and Washington, Trump’s decision to back down on renaming the Gulf has been seen in Iran as a sign of restraint.

This article was adapted from the original version in French.

A widespread power outage plunged much of Cannes and the surrounding area into darkness on Saturday, cutting electricity to 160,000 homes.

But despite the disruption, the much-anticipated closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival will go ahead as planned, organisers have confirmed.

The blackout, which struck the western Alpes-Maritimes region, was first reported on social media by local authorities and electricity grid operator RTE.

The cause appears to be a two-pronged blow to the power network: a suspected arson attack at a high-voltage substation in Tanneron during the night, followed by the collapse of a pylon on a major transmission line later in the morning.

Emergency crews were quick to respond, with seven fire engines and 20 firefighters tackling the blaze, which was brought under control by 7 am.

Unfortunately, the damage had already destabilised the network, leading to a cascading failure just hours later.

Postcard from Cannes #5: Zooming in on talented cinematographers

The show must go on

In Cannes, the effects were immediate. Traffic lights went dark, shops shuttered, and telecommunications became patchy.

Even the iconic Palais des Festivals – the heart of the festival – experienced a brief interruption to screenings around 10 a.m.

However, the show must go on – and it will. Festival organisers reassured the public that the venue had switched to a dedicated generator system, ensuring all scheduled screenings and the closing ceremony – including the prestigious Palme d’Or presentation – will proceed without a hitch from 6:40 pm local time.

The annual Prix Angénieux prize, now in its 12th year, was established to bring image experts – without whom cinema would not exist – into focus. 

Many films released recently have benefited from the high-quality lenses made by the French company, named after Pierre Angénieux, who founded it 90 years ago. 

These include the 2024 Palme d’Or winner Anora by Sean Baker, and Jury Prize Emilia Perez by Jacques Audiard, among many others.

The 2025 recipients are Australia’s Dion Beebe, who won the Prix Angénieux tribute award and South Korea’s Eunsoo Cho, who won the Prix Angénieux Encouragement Award. 

They were invited to the Cannes Film Festival to attend an award ceremony and a gala dinner on Friday.

Known for stylised, highly saturated colour palettes and an experimental approach to high-speed digital video, Beebe has collaborated with top names in Hollywood from Jane Campion (Holy Smoke) to Michael Mann (Collateral and Miami Vice). 

One of his key artistic partnerships over the years has been with American director Rob Marshall, who he credits with having “taught” him so much about camera work and the “language of movement”.  

Postcard from Cannes #4: Call for music prize as Desplat and del Toro talk synergy

Their first project together was the film musical Chicago, released in 2002.

It was the first musical in 34 years to win the Academy Award for Best Movie, along with awards for Best Supporting Actress (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and four technical Academy awards. 

“Rob is an amazing storyteller and has a wonderful sense showmanship and spectacle,” Beebe tells RFI in Cannes. 

Language of movement

“Every time an actor walks in a room and the camera is in the room with them, there’s choreography. The movement for him is crucial. When actors pick something up, he looks at the height of that table they pick it up from, because that affects movement.”

When asked about how he works with actors, he said that is an important part of the cinematographer’s work. 

“Protecting and looking after the actors is really such an important part of the cinematographer’s role. There really has to be a lot of trust,” Beebe told RFI. 

He recounts the rumours about working with a “difficult” Christian Bale, with whom he worked on Equilibrium by Kurt Wimmer (2002). 

Compassion

He says that more compassion is needed on set to help the actor get to “a vulnerable place” in order to be convincing in their role. 

“The truth is for an actor in a role, it’s incredibly tough to create this sort of belief that you’re in their world. Everything we see, of course, as the viewer, as the cinematographer is the perfect view of this movie, but what the actor sees is just a mess. It’s not as immersive as we might think for the actor.”

Tom Cruise returns to Cannes with Mission Impossible finale

Winner of numerous awards over the past thirty years; he received the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and a BAFTA in the same category for his work on Rob Marshall’s Memoirs of a Geisha in 2006. 

He is currently finishing a film with Antoine Fuqua, Michael, a biopic about Michael Jackson. 

Eunsoo Cho is a graduate of the Korean National University of Arts and the University Of Southern California School Of Cinematic Arts.

She has shot numerous fiction and documentary shorts in Africa, Asia, and North America. 

Inspired by Tim Burton growing up – she says she decided to be a cinematographer because she wanted to “have the director’s ear”.  

“I didn’t know what they really did besides standing behind the cameras. Later on, I gradually learned what it is and it was even more fascinating,” she told RFI. 

Postcard from Cannes #5: Indian cinematographer bags coveted prize

Although animal documentaries were her first preference, she has loved filming people and helping them tell their stories, such as her most recent project – The Last of the Sea Women – by Sue Kim (2024). It profiles the Haenyeo, a community of female divers on South Korea’s Jeju Island who have harvested seafood without oxygen tanks for centuries. 

Her work beside acclaimed documentary cinematographer Iris Ng for this film won the Best Cinematography award at the 9th Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. 

‘Art of emptiness’

For her, cinematographers are the “shadows that complete the existence” of a film – always present but never seen. 

She says that her Korean cultural heritage has guided her in her filmmaking approach, particularly when it comes to using space. 

“I’m not sure I can speak for Koreans or Korean culture in general but I think we naturally try to do less. We don’t try to fill every corner and every space,” Cho says, adding this is concept comes from Korean paintings. 

“I try to do less. I try not to use many lights. I try not to use many objects in the frame. I try to concentrate on a few and emphasise them.”

Cho’s encouragement prize includes a special endowment allowing her to use optimal Angénieux technologies to capture the images of her next project, which is about to be signed off – but for now – Mum’s the word.

More than 10,000 square metres of solar panels have been installed across the area. Along with energy upgrades and new technologies, the project has turned this working-class part of central France into a model for sustainable living.

Around 8,000 people live in Fontaine d’Ouche, with some 1,100 residents in the main renovation zone where social housing units are now fitted with solar panels.

The energy produced is shared and partly owned by the community.

“We produce 118 percent of our energy needs,” says Massar N’Diaye, deputy mayor in charge of social economy and jobs, who grew up and still lives in the neighbourhood. “So we’re producing more than we consume and the rest can be sold on.”

Low-tech living in Paris: A four-month journey to suburban self-sufficiency

Officially inaugurated on Friday, Fontaine d’Ouche is France’s first positive energy neighbourhood (PED).

The pilot project is being co-led by Dijon and the Finnish city of Turku. It forms part of the European Union’s Green Deal and long-term goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

“We’re proving that a human-scale city can be at the forefront of ecological innovation,” said François Rebsamen, head of Dijon Métropole and the city’s former mayor.

“This is not just about technology, it’s about giving every neighborhood a stake in the energy transition,” he told FranceInfo.

A €36m green investment

The overhaul of Fontaine d’Ouche cost €36 million. This includes €6.2 million in EU subsidies, €13.8 million in public investment and €16.7 million from social housing providers.

In total, 4,500 solar panels have been added to rooftops – not only on social housing, but also on schools and sports centres. These generate 2 megawatts of power, N’Diaye told RFI.

Buildings have been retrofitted to be more energy efficient and homes equipped with smart thermostats, sensors and automated heating systems. This has cut energy use by up to 38 percent  improving comfort all year round.

Hemp, the ‘green gold’ that France hopes will help cut carbon emissions

Local residents are already feeling tangible benefits.

“The increase in purchasing power exists. Residents live in homes that have been renovated and that gives them better protection from the cold,” said N’Diaye, whose mother lives in one of the renovated buildings. 

The innovation goes far beyond solar panels. The neighbourhood now boasts a district heating system fuelled by 83 percent renewable energy. Surplus electricity is stored in recycled EV batteries and hot water tanks. 

“Residents can control their energy consumption remotely via applications and people are teaching them how to use these new tools,” he adds. “When a project like this finally becomes concrete, you say to yourself ‘I’m the pilot of what  may affect others tomorrow’.”

Macron revives climate council as French emissions targets fall short

Positive energy all round

N’Diaye says there’s a sense of local pride that a working-class community like theirs is at the forefront of the ecological transition.

“When you live in a priority urban district, you are often stigmatised but now we’re being watched by Europe as an example of positive energy production.”

He continued: “In the end we also produce positive energy in the community and we’re showing that we too, as residents of the city’s priority zones, are at the heart of the fight against global warming and respect for our planet.”

Altogether, 30,000 square metres of buildings in Fontaine d’Ouche are energy positive, resulting in a 75 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, making Dijon a pioneer in France’s climate transition.

The EU is aiming for 100 positive energy districts by 2025. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This week’s quiz: On 26 April, I asked you a question about the late Pope Francis, who’d died earlier that week. As the Vatican prepared to elect a new pope, we published an article about the men who were responsible for electing the next head of the Roman Catholic Church.

You were to re-read our article “What happens now after the death of Pope Francis?” and send in the answer to this question: What are the nationalities of the 135 cardinal electors who will elect the next pope?

The answer is, to quote our article: “Currently there are 135 so-called cardinal electors, 108 of whom were appointed by Francis. Of these, 53 are from Europe, 20 are from North America, 18 are from Africa, 23 from Asia, four from Oceania, and 17 from South America.”

As you know, the cardinals elected Robert Francis Prevost, the first American to hold the post. He took the name Leo XIV as his papal name, and he was formally inaugurated to serve the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics on 18 May.

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, which was inspired by the long-running BBC program “Desert Island Discs”. You were to write in with the names of the three records, or audio recordings, that you would take with you to an uninhabited island.

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Christian Ghibaudo from Tende, France. Christian is also the winner of this week’s bonus question. Congratulations, Christian,on your double win.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are A. K. M. Nuruzzaman, the president of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, and Paresh Hazarika, a member of the United RFI Listeners Club in Assam, India, as well as RFI Listeners Club members Shadman Hosen Ayon from Kishoreganj, Bangladesh, and Hans Verner Lollike from Hedehusen, Denmark.

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme:  “Mother” by Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd; “A Mighty Fortress is our God” by Martin Luther, played by Kaleb Brasee; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and Buenos Aires Symphony in Three Movements by Astor Piazolla, performed by the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Leonardo Garcia Alarcon.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read our article “EU and UK reunite in London for talks on diplomacy and defence”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 23 June to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 28 June podcast. When you enter, be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

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

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Diminished by foot and abdominal injuries, Nadal retired from the ATP circuit last November, boasting 22 trophies from the four Grand Slam tournament venues in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York.

To honour his exploits, most notably in Paris, French Open organisers will allot him pride of place at the end of the first day of play on centre court on Sunday.

“Rafa made history at Roland Garros,” said tournament director Amélie Mauresmo. “And his 14 titles will perhaps remain unequalled at any Grand Slam tournament.”

“We want to have a vision for the future. But we want to celebrate those who have thrilled us in the past. For Rafa, we want the celebration to be exceptional and special.” 

‘I don’t miss tennis’ says Nadal

‘A love story’

In May 2005, aged 18 and sporting pirate shorts, a gilet and a bandana, Nadal fought his way through a field that included the world number one Roger Federer.

Two days after turning 19, he came back from a set down in the final to overpower the Argentine Mariano Puerto and claim the crown.

His 2006 showdown against Federer followed the same pattern. Nadal beat the Swiss in four sets in 2007 and crushed him in the 2008 final 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 to notch up his fourth title.

Robin Soderling from Sweden ended his winning streak in the last-16 in 2009.

But Nadal came back in 2010 to rekindle his supremacy. And there were four more successes to take him to nine. A run of four from 2017 propelled him to 13.

Tennis star Djokovic ends coaching partnership with Murray as French Open looms

His 14th title in 2022 was the stuff of legend.

In the quarter-final, he saw off the top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic in an epic four-hour battle.

Clearly under the cosh against Alexander Zverev in the semi-final, he advanced to his 14th final when the German twisted his ankle chasing a shot and was forced to retire.

An expected storm which would have forced the closure of the centre court roof and given a slight advantage to Casper Ruud in the final failed to materialise. Nadal wrapped up proceedings an hour or so before the heavens opened.

“It’s difficult to describe the feeling,” Nadal said afterwards. “At 36, playing in the most important court of my career and still competitive. I just want to say thank you to everyone here in Paris.”

Gratitude too perhaps to the weather gods who held off the conditions that neutralise Nadal’s arsenal of wicked spins that force the ball to rear up high after bouncing on the clay. 

“Rafael Nadal and Roland Garros is a love story,” said Gilles Moretton, president of the French Tennis Federation, which organises the only Grand Slam tournament on clay courts.

“I think it is important to put it in terms like that because he has a profound respect for the surface of clay and we have the same respect for the player.”

Other tributes will follow during the French Open fortnight. Mary Pierce – the last French player to win a singles title at the tournament – will be hailed for her achievement in 2000.

There will also be an adieu to the French veteran Richard Gasquet, who will retire from the circuit after his last match at the tournament. The 38-year-old reached a career high of seventh in the world in July 2007 and claimed 16 titles during his 23 years on the ATP tour.

The closest he came to emulating Yannick Noah – the last Frenchman to lift the 1983 French Open – was a quarter-final appearance in 2016.

French hopes

None of his younger compatriots figure among the favourites to succeed the 2024 champion Carlos Alcaraz, who will launch the defence of his singles title against the Japanese veteran Kei Nishikori.

Top seed Jannik Sinner will start against the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech and third seed Zverev, who lost in the 2024 final, will play Lerner Tien from the United States.

Tien’s fellow American, Taylor Fritz, seeded fourth, will play Daniel Altmaier from Germany.

Fourteenth seed Arthur Fils will experience the 2025 tournament for the first time as France’s top player following a solid campaign in the warm-up tournaments.

He lost to Alcaraz in the last eight in Monte Carlo and the semis in Barcelona. Zverev saw him off in the last 16 at the Italian Open.

However, Ugo Humbert, the French number two, has fared less favourably. The 26-year-old injured his right hand in a freak accident in his hotel room during a tournament in Nimes, southern France, and has staggered through events.

After retiring from his second round match at the Italian Open, Umbert announced he would skip the Hamburg Open to rest his wrist before his home Grand Slam, where as 22nd seed he will face Chris O’Connell from Australia in the opening round.

The current crop of Frenchwomen appear light years away from eclipsing Pierce’s feats. 

At 65 in the WTA rankings, Varvara Gracheva leads the pack. The 24-year-old will play the 2020 runner-up Sofia Kenin in the first round.

Diane Parry, the French number two, will take on the unseeded American Robin Montgomery and Léolia Jeanjean, the French number three, will begin against the experienced Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu.

French tennis chiefs seek new skipper for women’s team to replace Benneteau

Caroline Garcia, who won the WTA end-of-season championships in 2022 to rise to number four in the world, has slumped to 145 in the rankings.

A day after she was drawn to play Bernarda Pera in the first round, the 31-year-old Frenchwoman announced on social media that the 2025 French Open would be her last.

“That said, it’s not quite over yet,” Garcia added. “I still have a few tournaments to play. After 15 years competing at the highest level and more than 25 years devoting almost every second of my life to this sport, I feel ready to turn the page and open a new chapter.”

Garcia will be remembered for a bold attacking game that brought her 11 singles titles and two French Open doubles crowns.

‘Every year is different’

The Russian 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva is expected to eclipse such exploits.

Earlier in the season, she arrived at Indian Wells in the United States with the crown from the Dubai Open – one of the most prestigious on the tour.

In the Californian desert, she outwitted the world number two and number one – Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka respectively – to add that title to her burgeoning trophy cabinet.

“Winning Dubai and Indian Wells, that was progress,” said Andreeva’s coach Conchita Martinez. “She’s getting stronger and now I feel like she can compete with the top girls.”

Jasmine Paolini beat Andreeva in last year’s semi-finals before going down to Swiatek in the final. A year on, Paolini, who claimed the 2025 Italian Open singles and doubles crown, appears far more likely than the Pole to feature in the women’s singles final on the last Saturday of the tournament.

Since raising the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen on centre court last June, Swiatek has not brandished any trophies and fallen to number five in the rankings.

After her third round elimination at the Italian Open, the 23-year-old dismissed her chances of a fifth French Open title in six years.

‘People don’t know me’, says defiant Swiatek ahead of French Open defence

“It would be stupid to expect too much because right now, I’m not able to play my game,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what I achieved in Paris before — every year is different,” she added.

Coco Gauff, who lost to Swiatek in the 2022 French Open final, discounted Swiatek’s pessimism as she surged to the runners-up spot at the Italian Open.

“I think for sure it changes some things when you see someone who won the French Open that many times not having the best results.”

“But you also have to respect that she’s a four-time champion. I always think if someone wins a tournament that many times, regardless of what shape they’re in, they can definitely figure out a way to win again.”

Swiatek’s hero, Nadal, wrote the book on that.

The High Seas Treaty, adopted in June 2023 by 193 countries, aims to protect international waters that cover nearly half the planet.

These areas lie beyond any country’s control and remain largely unregulated, despite being vital for marine biodiversity, carbon storage and climate stability.

But the treaty cannot take effect until it is ratified by 60 countries. So far, only 21 have done so.

“What’s the point of negotiating a historic treaty if we leave it in a drawer? A signed treaty protects nothing, but a ratified treaty changes everything,” Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, France’s ambassador for the poles and oceans, told reporters this week.

Once the 60-country threshold is reached, a 120-day countdown begins before the treaty enters into force.

It would then allow countries to set up marine protected areas in international waters and require environmental checks on potentially harmful activities, such as fishing or deep-sea mining.

Spain and France were the first two European Union countries to ratify the treaty, doing so in early February 2025.

Other major maritime nations – including the United States, Australia, Russia, the United Kingdom and Japan – have signed the treaty but have yet to ratify it.

Poivre d’Arvor urged these top maritime powers to “take responsibility” and help bring the agreement into force.

Climate-driven changes to ocean colour fuel urgency ahead of UN summit

Why the treaty matters

The high seas cover more than 60 percent of the world’s oceans, but just 1 percent is currently protected.

A 2021 UN report estimated that 3 billion people rely on the ocean for their livelihoods. Ocean-based industries are worth $2.5 trillion a year and employ some 40 million people.

The treaty provides legal tools for protecting marine ecosystems, regulating access to genetic resources and boosting scientific cooperation.

It also supports the global target of protecting 30 percent of the world’s land and sea by 2030 – known as the “30×30” goal, adopted in 2022 under the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

The UN Ocean Conference opens in Nice on 9 June. It is expected to bring together dozens of heads of state and 2,000 scientists from over 100 countries.

France hopes the event will generate political momentum and persuade more countries to ratify the deal.

A ceremony on the opening day will be “a unique opportunity to reaffirm our collective political commitment” Sandrine Barbier, head of the French delegation, said.

France has been clear that visibility alone won’t be enough. Even if more European countries ratify the treaty before the summit, Poivre d’Arvor warned that failure to reach the 60-country threshold by the end of the year would “signal a major failure”.

New Caledonia bans ‘dangerous’ seabed mining for half a century

A test of political will

Two weeks of talks in New York earlier this month saw movement on how the treaty would function once in force.

“There was a lot of love in the room,” said Rebecca Hubbard, director of the High Seas Alliance, a coalition of more than 50 NGOs working to protect international waters.

She called the agreement “one of our best opportunities to deliver action to protect the ocean”.

Others also noted signs of progress. Nichola Clark, of the Pew Charitable Trusts – a US-based research and policy organisation – said negotiators had moved “one step closer to shaping the institutional backbone” of the deal.

Still, the absence of the United States raised concern.

Washington signed the treaty during Joe Biden’s presidency but has not ratified it. It was also absent from talks in New York.

At the same time, opposition to stricter ocean protections has resurfaced. President Donald Trump this month issued an executive order backing commercial deep-sea mining in international waters.

“This is a clear sign that the US will no longer be a global leader on protecting the oceans,” said Arlo Hemphill, who leads Greenpeace’s campaign against deep-sea mining in the United States.

France sees the treaty as a building block for the first UN Ocean “Cop” and a chance to show leadership in global ocean governance.

“This is not just a treaty,” Poivre d’Arvor said. “It’s a test of our collective commitment to the ocean.”

Dan, a pro-European centrist, defeated far-right leader George Simion in Sunday’s run-off vote. The result was clear-cut – but the campaign exposed how fractured Romania has become.

“We’re relieved, because we dodged the bullet,” says Claudiu Nasui, an MP for the Save Romania Union party. “A Simion presidency would have been potentially disastrous for Romania.”

But, he warns, now is the time to look ahead.

“Romania has a huge deficit problem, huge economic problems – we need to solve those problems [before] the next elections, if we don’t want to just be dodging bullet after bullet.”

The state of Romania’s economy could require the new government to take unpopular measures, such as increasing taxes and cutting spending – while the far-right opposition will be eager for the chance to garner more popular support if such measures are seen as too harsh.

Reflecting on the outcome, Nasui said: “People are tired of being ignored by the political class,” speaking to RFI in the cavernous central hall of the parliament building in Bucharest, designed by communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

Sorin Ionita, political scientist and director of the public policy think tank Expert Forum in Bucharest, described the scale of Dan’s victory as unexpected.

“It was surprising in terms of magnitude, we didn’t expect a seven points difference after the first round, when the winner ended up 20 percent behind. But still this happened and it shows how volatile the situation was.” 

During the first round, the turnout was 53.2 percent, but the second round saw a historic 64.7 percent, the highest in 25 years. “The turnout made all the difference,” says Ionita. 

Romania at a crossroads: confronting communist nostalgia on election day

That the pro-EU candidate won by a comfortable margin means that “when the stakes are very high [Romanians] felt it is about something more than just one party or the other, or one coalition versus the other,” says Ionita. “It was an existential issue: security and identity. What is the geostrategic direction of Romania? So it’s not just about left or right with more taxes or less taxes.”

‘Simion became ridiculous in the eyes of voters’

Aside from domestic economic challenges, Dan also faces hurdles in foreign policy.

His rival, Simion – leader of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians and a self-proclaimed Trumpist who wanted to “make Romania great again” – may have been better placed to deal with the United States president, but Dan will continue to try and strengthen Romania’s crucial NATO connection and its growing integration within the European Union.

Why are Romanians abroad voting for far-right candidate Simion?

“Trump doesn’t care very much for ‘small leaders’ no matter how sycophantic they are. They don’t give you an exception on tariffs, so you don’t benefit much by copying the MAGA discourse. By doing that, Simion became ridiculous in the eyes of the Romanian people and the voters,” said Ionita.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Europe has sought to beef up its eastern flank, and France leads NATO’s multinational battle group in Romania of 1,200 troops.

But Simion, speaking two days ahead of the second round 18 May vote, accused French President Emmanuel Macron of interference in the Romanian election.

The AUR leader spent the last day of his election campaign in Paris. During a joint press conference with French far-right MEP Marion Maréchal, broadcast live on his Facebook page, he denounced what he called Macron’s “dictatorial tendencies”, shouting: “Hands off!”

Romanian far-right candidate accuses Macron of election interference

On Sunday, 18 May, Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of the Telegram messaging service, also published bombastic claims accusing the head of the French secret service of seeking to meddle in the Romanian election.

“This spring at the Salon des Batailles in the Hotel de Crillon, Nicolas Lerner, head of French intelligence, asked me to ban conservative voices in Romania ahead of elections. I refused,” Durov, 40, said on X (formerly Twitter). “We didn’t block protesters in Russia, Belarus, or Iran. We won’t start doing it in Europe.”

The French intelligence service on Monday rejected Durov’s claims.

The wing will form part of a $450 million prison announced in 2017, which is expected to be completed by 2028 and hold 500 inmates.

The prison is to be built in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, a town bordering Suriname that once received prisoners shipped by Napoleon III in the 1800s, some of whom were sent to the notorious Devil’s Island off the coast of French Guiana.

French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin announced plans to build the high-security wing during an official visit to French Guiana on Saturday, saying: “I have decided to establish France’s third high-security prison in Guiana.”

Drug trafficking

Darmanin was quoted by French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche as saying that the prison also aims to keep suspected drug traffickers from having any contact with their criminal networks.

French prison attack probe shifts from terrorism to drug gangs

“We are seeing more and more drug trafficking networks,” he told reporters. “My strategy is simple – hit organised crime at all levels. Here in Guiana, at the start of the drug trafficking route. In mainland France, by neutralising the network leaders. And all the way to consumers. This prison will be a safeguard in the war against narcotrafficking.”

Darmanin, who forged a reputation for a tough stance on drugs in his previous role as interior minister, added that the prison’s location “will serve to permanently isolate the heads of drug trafficking networks” since “they will no longer be able to contact their criminal networks”.

He also said in a Facebook post that 15 of the wing’s 60 spaces would be reserved for Islamic militants.

French media, quoting the Justice ministry, reported that people from French Guiana and French Caribbean territories would be sent in priority to the new prison.

‘Astonishment and indignation’

The announcement has angered many across French Guiana, a French overseas territory situated north of Brazil.

Jean-Paul Fereira, acting president of French Guiana’s territorial collective, an assembly of 51 lawmakers that oversees local government affairs, said the announcement came as a surprise, as the plan had never been discussed with them.

“It is therefore with astonishment and indignation that the elected members of the Collectivity discovered, together with the entire population of Guiana, the information detailed in Le Journal Du Dimanche,” he wrote in a statement posted on social media on Sunday.

France to seize drug users’ phones in crackdown on prison attacks

Fereira said the move was disrespectful and insulting, noting that the agreement French Guiana signed in 2017 was for the construction of a new prison meant to alleviate overpopulation at the main prison.

“While all local elected officials have long been calling for strong measures to curb the rise of organised crime in our territory, Guiana is not meant to welcome criminals and radicalised people from [mainland France],” he wrote.

Also decrying the plan was Jean-Victor Castor, a member of parliament in French Guiana. He said he wrote directly to France’s prime minister to express his concerns, noting that the decision was taken without consulting local officials.

“It’s an insult to our history, a political provocation and a colonial regression,” Castor wrote in a statement issued on Sunday, as he called on France to withdraw the project.

A spokesperson for France’s justice minister did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Cocaine use in France doubles as workplace pressures drive demand

Guiana has the highest crime rate of any French department relative to the size of its population, with a record 20.6 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023, nearly 14 times the national average.

Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is a strategic hub for so-called drug mules, mainly from Brazil, who attempt to board flights to Paris’s Orly Airport carrying cocaine originating from neighbouring Suriname.

(with newswires)

Upon hearing the news that the PKK was ending its war and disarming, Kurds danced in the streets of the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. The region bore the brunt of the brutal conflict, with the overwhelming majority of those killed being civilians, and millions more displaced.

From armed struggle to political arena

“It is a historic moment. This conflict has been going on for almost half a century,” declared Aslı Aydıntaşbaş of the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.

“And for them [the PKK] to say that the period of armed struggle is over and that they are going to transition to a major political struggle is very important.”

The PKK, designated as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and most of Turkey’s Western allies, launched its armed struggle in 1984 for Kurdish rights and independence. At the time, Turkey was ruled by the military, which did not even acknowledge the existence of Kurds, referring to them as “Mountain Turks.”

Nearly fifty years later, however, Turkey is a different place. The third-largest parliamentary party is the pro-Kurdish Dem Party. In its declaration ending its armed struggle and announcing its dissolution, the PKK stated that there is now space in Turkey to pursue its goals through political means.

However, military realities are thought to be behind the PKK’s decision to end its campaign. “From a technical and military point of view, the PKK lost,” observed Aydın Selcan, a former senior Turkish diplomat who served in the region.

“For almost ten years, there have been no armed attacks by the PKK inside Turkey because they are no longer capable of doing so. And in the northern half of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, there is now almost no PKK presence,” added Selcan.

Selcan also claims the PKK could be seeking to consolidate its military gains in Syria. “For the first time in history, the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the YPG, has begun administering a region. So it’s important for the organisation to preserve that administration.

“They’ve rebranded themselves as a political organisation.” Turkish forces have repeatedly launched military operations in Syria against the YPG. However, the Syrian Kurdish forces have reached a tentative agreement with Damascus’s new rulers—whom Ankara supports.

Kurdish leader Ocalan calls for PKK disarmament, paving way for peace

 Erdoğan’s high-stakes gamble

For Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is trailing in opinion polls and facing growing protests over the arrest of his main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, on alleged corruption charges, this could be a golden opportunity. “This is a win for Erdoğan, no doubt,” claimed analyst Aydıntaşbaş.

Along with favourable headlines, the PKK’s peace announcement offers a solution to a major political headache for Erdoğan. The Turkish president wants to amend the constitution to remove term limits, allowing him to run again for the presidency.

The pro-Kurdish Dem Party holds the parliamentary votes Erdoğan needs. “Yes, Erdoğan, of course, will be negotiating with Kurds for constitutional changes,” said Aydıntaşbaş.

“Now we are entering a very transactional period in Turkish politics. Instead of repressing Kurds, it’s going to be about negotiating with them. And it may persuade the pro-Kurdish faction—which forms the third-largest bloc in Turkish politics—to peel away from the opposition camp,” added Aydıntaşbaş.

However, Aydıntaşbaş warns that Erdoğan will need to convince his voter base, which remains sceptical of any peace process with the PKK. According to a recent opinion poll, three out of four respondents opposed the peace process, with a majority of Erdoğan’s AK Party supporters against it.

For decades, the PKK has been portrayed in Turkey as a brutal terrorist organisation, and its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, is routinely referred to by politicians and much of the media as “the baby killer.” Critics argue the government has failed to adequately prepare the public for peace.

“In peace processes around the world, we see a strong emphasis on convincing society,” observed Sezin Öney, a political commentator at Turkey’s PolitikYol news portal. “There are reconciliation processes, truth commissions, etc., all designed to gain public support. But in our case, it’s like surgery without anaesthesia—an operation begun without any sedatives,” added Öney.

Turkey looks for regional help in its battle against Kurdish rebels in Iraq

Political concessions?

Public pressure on Erdoğan is expected to grow, as the PKK and Kurdish political leaders demand concessions to facilitate the peace and disarmament process.

“In the next few months, the government is, first of all, expected to change the prison conditions of Öcalan,” explained Professor Mesut Yeğen of the Istanbul-based Reform Institute.

“The second expectation is the release of those in poor health who are currently in jail. And for the disarmament process to proceed smoothly, there should be an amnesty or a reduction in sentences, allowing PKK convicts in Turkish prisons to be freed and ensuring that returning PKK militants are not imprisoned,” Yeğen added.

Yeğen claimed that tens of thousands of political prisoners may need to be released, along with the reinstatement of Dem Party mayors who were removed from office under anti-terrorism legislation.

Turkey’s Saturday Mothers keep up vigil for lost relatives

Erdoğan has ruled out any concessions until the PKK disarms, but has said that “good things” will follow disarmament. Meanwhile, the main opposition CHP Party, while welcoming the peace initiative, insists that any democratic reforms directed at the Kurdish minority must be extended to wider society—starting with the release of İmamoğlu, Erdoğan’s chief political rival.

While the peace process is widely seen as a political victory for Erdoğan, it could yet become a liability for the president, who risks being caught between a sceptical voter base and an impatient Kurdish population demanding concessions.

According to Amnesty International, Donald Trump’s rise to the presidency has hastened trends already unfolding over the past decade.

Just one hundred days into his second term, President Trump has demonstrated a complete disregard for universal human rights, making the world both less safe and less just, the organisation’s latest report claims.

“His all-out assault on the very concepts of multilateralism, asylum, racial and gender justice, global health and life-saving climate action is exacerbating the significant damage those principles and institutions have already sustained and is further emboldening other anti-rights leaders and movements to join his onslaught,” Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, wrote.

While Africa’s armed conflicts caused relentless civilian suffering, including increasing levels of sexual and gender-based violence, and death on a massive scale, international and regional responses remained woefully inadequate.

The NGO also denounces global failures in addressing inequalities, climate collapse, and tech transformations that imperil future generations, especially in fragile zones. 

To discuss the implications for Africa in detail, this week, Spotlight on Africa’s first guest is Deprose Muchena, senior director for regional human rights impact at Amnesty International. 

Meanwhile, in South Africa, experts reflect on a recent visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as the country leads the G20 this year and tries to become a platform for peace talk.

Did Zelensky’s South Africa visit signal a diplomatic pivot by Pretoria?

We talked to the French business and veteran diplomat, Jean-Yves Ollivier, founder of the Brazzaville Foundation, who was a key actor in organising Zelensky’s meeting with South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Finally, we hear from Djiby Kebe, one of the founders of  Air Afrique magazine, created by and for young members of the African diaspora in Paris and Abidjan. Inspired by the once-successful Pan-African airline of the same name, the publication centres on culture and travel.

Episode mixed by Erwan Rome.

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

Promised the Sky opens Un Certain Regard

Franco-Tunisian director Erige Sehiri returns to Cannes with Promised the Sky, which opens the Un Certain Regard section. Her previous film, Under the Fig Trees, drew wide acclaim for its focus on women’s lives and quiet resilience.

Sehiri’s new story centres on Marie, an Ivorian pastor living in Tunis, who opens her door to two young women – Naney, a mother seeking a better life, and Jolie, a determined student. Their fragile household is shaken when they take in Kenza, a young girl who has survived a shipwreck.

Set against a backdrop of growing hostility towards sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia, the film explores themes of solidarity, migration and the search for identity.

Aisha Can’t Fly Away shows life in the margins

Morad Mostafa’s debut feature, Aisha Can’t Fly Away, also screens in Un Certain Regard. It follows Aisha, a 26-year-old Somali care worker living in Ain Shams, a working-class neighbourhood in Cairo with a large migrant population.

Violence between local gangs and different communities is a constant threat, with the authorities turning a blind eye. Based on Mostafa’s own experience growing up in the area, the film offers an intimate and sometimes unsettling view of daily life for migrants in Egypt.

Mostafa’s earlier short, I Promise You Paradise, was shown at Cannes Critics’ Week in 2023 and went on to win the Poulain d’Or prize at this year’s Fespaco festival. Aisha Can’t Fly Away marks Egypt’s first return to the Croisette since Clash in 2016.

Postcard from Cannes #1: Honouree De Niro unleashes attack on ‘philistine’ Trump

Indomptables brings Cameroonian noir to Cannes

French-Cameroonian actor and comedian Thomas Ngijol surprises audiences with Indomptables, a gritty thriller selected for the Directors’ Fortnight. The film follows Commissioner Billong as he investigates the murder of a police officer in Yaoundé.

Inspired by A Crime in Abidjan, a documentary by Mosco Levi Boucault, the story explores justice, corruption and personal limits in a violent and fractured society. Ngijol plays the lead role himself, and the film was shot entirely in the Cameroonian capital.

“The ensemble of the cast is perfect,” the selection team said. “Thomas Ngijol is absolutely extraordinary, not only as a director, but also as an actor.” The team described the film as a powerful and unexpected addition from Cameroon.

My Father’s Shadow marks a first for Nigeria

For the first time, a Nigerian film is part of the official competition at Cannes. My Father’s Shadow, by Akinola Davies Jr, is set during Nigeria’s 1993 presidential election – the country’s first attempt to return to civilian rule after years of military leadership.

That vote, widely seen as the fairest in the nation’s history, was annulled by General Ibrahim Babangida, triggering mass protests. Around 100 people died in the unrest that followed.

In the midst of that chaos, the film follows two brothers spending the day together in Lagos. Blending fiction and autobiography, Davies reflects on family, power and the weight of political memory.

Tom Cruise returns to Cannes with Mission Impossible finale

L’mina reveals Morocco’s hidden miners

In the Moroccan town of Jerada, coal mining never truly stopped despite the official closure of pits in 2001. In L’mina, French-Moroccan visual artist and filmmaker Randa Maroufi reconstructs the reality of this underground economy in a 26-minute short.

The film features Jerada residents who play themselves, acting out scenes drawn from their daily lives. This collaborative approach offers a raw and authentic glimpse into the community’s resilience and resourcefulness.

L’mina is screening in Critics’ Week and is Maroufi’s fifth short film.

Life After Siham explores grief and memory

Life After Siham, by Franco-Egyptian director Namir Abdel Messeeh, is an emotional documentary selected by ACID – a group that supports independent filmmaking at Cannes.

Following the sudden death of his mother, Siham, Abdel Messeeh revisits family archives, old home videos and childhood memories. Through an investigation into his family history between Egypt and France, the film becomes both a tribute and a personal journey into grief, memory and identity.

Messeeh’s earlier film, The Virgin, the Copts and Me, combined humour with cultural reflection. This new work strikes a more introspective tone.

Ukraine, Gaza and #MeToo in the spotlight as Cannes Film Festival opens

This article was adapted from the original version in French by RFI’s Yann Le Ny

“You know, everything in this life passes at an incredible speed. I didn’t see the time go by,” Salgado said, upon opening the exhibition at the Franciscaines cultural centre. “I’ve done a lot of things, I’ve travelled, I’ve captured images. And this morning, when I arrived here, I felt a summary of my life and it moved me deeply.”

The photographer, who has spent much of his life in Paris and in 2019 was given a place in France’s prestigious institution for artists, the Academy of Fine Arts, explained that he was feeling “a bit battered” due to medical reasons.

“The happiest day of my life was when I turned 80. I’ve lost so many friends. We were all together in Goma [Democratic Republic of Congo] for four years, four photographers were murdered, and I was there. So being alive at 80 is an immense privilege.”

For this exhibition, supported by the Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP), Salgado took part in selecting the photos, which are being displayed in smaller formats to offer a better vision of his work.

It is a body of work spanning more than 40 years, in which he travelled to all corners of the world, capturing themes as diverse as the precarious nature of manual labour amid the transformation of the industrial world – as seen in “The Hand of Man” – and human migration, as seen in “Exodus”.

‘An immense universe’

“As a photographer, we ask ourselves questions […] about security, legitimacy, ethics, and more generally about the world,” Salgado explained.

His work has taken him to more than 130 countries, photographing gold mines, oil fields in Kuwait during the Gulf War and the genocide in Rwanda. This, he says, was his most difficult assignment, and he eventually had to stop covering it on the advice of his doctor.

After this, he returned to Brazil with his family for three months and began reconsidering his work as a photographer.

“Before, I believed in one species: mine. What made me completely lose hope in my species was discovering that we are a terrible, violent, horrible species, that we are destroying our planet. And discovering other species, I fell that I was part of an immense universe of species.”

In 1998, he created the non-profit organisation Instituto Terra with his wife Lélia Wanick Salgado to restore the ecosystem in the Rio Doce Basin in Brazil.

‘The Amazon is paradise on earth’

For his series “Genesis” (2004-2011), Salgado traveled from the Galapagos to the Amazon, via Africa and the Arctic. “It’s perhaps one of the most interesting journeys of everything I’ve done in my life. Because the Amazon is paradise on earth,” he said.

“These Amazonian populations are the prehistory of humanity. They are us from 10,000 years ago. They live in such a pleasant, gentle way, in communion with nature. There are no lies, there is no repression.”

However, contemplating what he had learned from these trips, Salgado said: “I travelled for eight years across 32 countries or regions of the world, but the greatest journeys I’ve made are within myself.”

The exhibition Sebastião Salgado: The MEP Collection runs until 1 June, 2025 at the Franciscaines venue in Deauville.

Insee, France’s national statistics agency, examined migration trends between 2006 and 2023. The number of people moving to France rose steadily in that period – from 234,000 in 2006 to 347,000 in 2023.

The research also found that for the first time, Africa has overtaken Europe as the main region of origin for people immigrating to France – with 45 percent of new arrivals in 2023 coming from African countries.

Half of those were from the Maghreb – North African countries such as Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The rest were mostly from the Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal.

European immigration, once dominant, has fallen sharply.

Insee data shows that in 2006, 44 percent of immigrants came from Europe. By 2023, that number had dropped to 28 percent.

There has also been a slight shift in the gender balance, with Insee finding that women made up 53 percent of new arrivals in 2006. In 2023, they made up 51 percent.

France accused of failing migrant teens trapped in legal limbo

More diplomas

The biggest change observed was in education levels. Among immigrants aged 25 and over, 52 percent had a diploma in 2023 – up from 41 percent in 2006.

The share of those arriving without any qualifications also fell, dropping from 30 percent in 2003 to 22 percent in 2023. Insee included the 2003 figure to provide a longer-term comparison beyond the 2006 baseline used elsewhere in the study.

The strongest gains were seen among African immigrants.

In 2006, fewer than one in three held a higher education diploma. By 2023, that figure had risen to one in two.

One in three immigrants was able to find work within a year of arriving in France. Europeans were the most likely to enter the workforce quickly, with more than half employed within 12 months of arrival.

This article was adapted from the original version in French.

France’s interior minister told police on Thursday to “step up surveillance at sites linked to the Jewish community” after a gunman killed two Israeli embassy staff in the US capital on Wednesday.

Security measures must be “visible and dissuasive”, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said in a message sent to prefects. He called for more patrols around synagogues, schools, shops and media and cultural events.

Police and gendarmes were stationed in front of the Israeli embassy in Paris on Friday morning.

Representatives of France’s Jewish community, the largest in Europe, welcomed the measures.

“We’ve noticed an increase in patrols and law enforcement officers. There is a great deal of concern”, said Benjamin Allouche, head of security at the Crif – the umbrella body for Jewish institutions in France – speaking to FranceInfo.

Retailleau also called for “extreme vigilance” during upcoming Jewish holidays in France.

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

Israel-France tensions

The shooting took place during an annual reception organised by the American Jewish Committee for young Jewish professionals and diplomats in Washington.

The suspect, Luis Rodriguez, was born in Chicago and has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Washington is treating the crime as an anti-Semitic terror attack after Rodriguez shouted “free Palestine” in reference to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The conflict has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.  

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Thursday described the killings as “an abhorrent act of antisemitic barbarity”, while President Emmanuel Macron condemned what he called an “anti-Semitic attack”.

France pressures Israel to resume full humanitarian aid to Gaza

Tensions between Israel and France rose further on Thursday when Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused European governments of inciting anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli violence.

France rejected the accusation. “These are completely outrageous and completely unjustified remarks,” foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said.

“France has condemned, France condemns and France will continue to condemn, always and unequivocally, any act of anti-Semitism.”

Jewish communities in France have been on alert for months due to a rise in attacks and desecration of memorials since the Gaza war began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel.

France’s interior ministry recorded 1,570 anti-Semitic incidents so far in 2024 – a number similar to the previous year.

With global plastic production doubling in less than 10 years, reducing it is key for protecting the ocean, according to findings at the Reducing Plastics: A Vital Issue for the Ocean conference, held in Marseille on Monday.

French and European scientists and policymakers gathered at the Mucem museum in Marseille for the summit – organised by the Tara Ocean Foundation and the French branch of the Interparliamentary Coalition to End Plastic Pollution.

“Today, we are facing a plastic crisis, which is a major crisis affecting the oceans and the environment in all its dimensions – climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss,” Henri Bourgois-Costa, head of public affairs for the Tara Ocean Foundation, told RFI. 

French schooner Tara charts a course for change ahead of UN oceans summit

Recycling not (the only) solution 

Today, at a global level, 50 percent of plastics are landfilled, 14 percent are recycled, 17 percent incinerated and 19 percent are poorly managed, explained Fabienne Lagarde, an environmental chemist at Le Mans university.

“Recycling is the tree that hides the forest, because the end of life of plastic is also polluting,” she said.

Moreover, 98 percent of plastics today are not biodegradable, and two-thirds are not recyclable, Lagarde pointed out.

France pushes for action as high seas treaty hangs in the balance

“Most of our waste is either buried or incinerated, leading to a major environmental leak that originates primarily from land,” explained Jean-François Ghiglione, a researcher from the French National Centre for Scientific Research and the scientific director of the Tara Microplastics mission 2019, whose initial results were published in April. 

“And more than 80 percent of plastics that end up in the sea come from the land,” he added.

The study published last month, which focused on nine major European rivers, showed that 100 percent of these rivers were polluted by microplastics arriving directly from land.

“Microplastics come from the breakdown of large waste. A large piece of waste – through abrasion, friction and UV exposure – breaks into smaller and smaller pieces, almost infinitely,” explained Ghiglione. 

These microplastics measure between 0.025mm and 5mm, and are invisible to the naked eye.

Digital boom makes Marseille a global data hub – but at what cost?

The study also showed that 85 percent of plastics in the sea are in microplastic form. 

These microplastics are also found throughout the food chain, affecting 1.4 million birds and 14,000 mammals every year. Doctors are now investigating the consequences for human health.

“We absolutely must reach a global plastics treaty that reduces the quantity of plastics, because we have scientifically shown that the more plastic is produced, the more pollution there is. The relationship is linear,” concluded Ghiglione. 

Earlier this week, France urged countries around the world to ratify the landmark High Seas Treaty before the UN Ocean Conference, which opens in Nice on 9 June.

The treaty was adopted in June 2023 by 193 countries but cannot take effect until it is ratified by 60 countries. So far, only 21 have done so.

On Thursday, 88 senators voted in favour of lifting Kabila’s immunity; five opposed and three abstained.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi alleges Kabila conspired with the Rwanda-backed M23, whose recent offensive has intensified the more than three-decade-long conflict in the east of the country.

Kabila, who has been outside the country since 2023, was not present in the chamber at the time of the vote. 

By the vote, “the Senate authorises the prosecution and lifting of Joseph Kabila‘s immunity,” declared the upper house’s speaker Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde.

Kabila now faces the prospect of being tried in military courts for “treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity and participation in an insurrectionary movement”.

DRC seeks to remove ex-president Kabila’s immunity from prosecution

On leaving power, Kabila became the first former DRC leader to obtain the honorific title of senator for life and with it, parliamentary immunity.

To allow legal proceedings to move forward, the Congolese army’s public prosecutor lodged a request for the Senate to lift that privilege. 

The accusations against Kabila were based partly on testimony from opposition figure Eric Nkuba, who claimed to have overheard the former president urging M23 leaders to remove Tshisekedi via a coup.

Senior political researcher Ithiel Batumike of the Ebuteli research institute told AFP that confession was extracted under duress.

However, the army prosecutor told the Senate commission that the claims were “credible and constant”.

From 1960 to present day, 11 dates that explain the conflict in the DRC

‘No Congolese above the law’

Kabila has been out of the country since 2023. Recent reports claim he has returned to the town of Goma, which was seized by M23 in January. However, no evidence of his return has emerged.

The government has suspended his People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), while security forces have raided several of his properties.

In a social media post on Thursday Kabila called the Senate’s move “a desperate political manoeuvre in a climate of panic at the top of the state,” adding that it was made “without respect for institutional balance”.

The PPRD rejected the Senate’s authority to act alone.

“Joseph Kabila is not a senator like the others. As a former head of state, he falls under a special legal regime,” said PPRD spokesperson Ferdinand Kambere, describing the decision as a “witch hunt”.

Senator Jules Lodi of president Tshisekedi’s UDPS party underlined that the Senate’s vote did not constitute a conviction and that Kabila was presumed innocent,  but that “No Congolese is above the law”.

Fellow senator Jean Tshisekedi hailed the decision as “historic,” adding that the accusations against Kabila were “dangerous for the nation”.

“They touch the heart of every Congolese. We are here to set an example,” he said.

Water shortages can stunt the growth of crops such as wheat, corn, rapeseed and barley, Nicolas Guilpart, a lecturer in agronomy at the Agro Paris Tech research institute, told AFP.

Countries including France, Belgium, Britain and Germany have seen much lower levels of rainfall than usual in some areas this spring, leaving the soil parched and dusty.

The unusually dry weather has already delayed the life cycle of crops that would normally have sprouted by now.

Luke Abblitt, a farmer in eastern England, said he was “praying for the rain” as Britain suffers its driest spring in well over a century.

The weather is going from “one extreme to the other,” he told AFP.

“We’re having a lot of rain in the wintertime, not so much rain in the spring or summer time,” he said. “We need to adapt our cultivation methods, look at different varieties, different cropping possibly to combat these adverse weather conditions.”

According to the Environment Agency, levels in Britain’s reservoirs have fallen to “exceptionally low”.

Some farmers have begun irrigating their crops earlier than usual, the National Farmers’ Union said, calling for investments to improve water storage and collection systems.

Chocolate and rice among key EU imports facing climate threats

High sun levels

In the Netherlands, it has not been this dry since records began in 1906, and Germany’s environment minister warned in April of a high risk of forest fires and poor harvests due to a “worrying” lack of rain.

From February 1 to April 13, Germany saw 40 litres of rainfall per square metre, the its lowest level since records began in 1931, according to the German Weather Service (DWD).

And in early May, the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) warned that the previous three months had been exceptionally dry, with just 63 millimetres of rainfall.

Since 1874, there have only been seven times when less rain fell during the period from February to April, it said.

Denmark has also seen above-average temperatures for the time of year.

The country’s drought index, which runs on a scale of one to 10, has been above nine since May 15, the first time this has happened so early in the year since the index was established in 2005.

The Federation of Swedish Farmers said it was “too early to say what the impact on farming will be this summer” but advised farmers to go over their water planning.

Ominous dead tree emoji brings climate anxiety to your phone

Irrigation

In France, groundwater levels remain satisfactory but plants need surface water to grow – and that means rain.

Northern France has been on drought alert since Monday after seeing the same rainfall between February and early May as it would normally see in a month.

Strong northeast winds have also dried out the soil, with farmers increasingly turning to irrigation.

Between March and May, the village of Beuvry-la-Foret saw eight times less rain than during the same period last year.

Chicory farmer Sebastien De Coninck told AFP that until five years ago, “irrigation was not even considered in the north” – but these days it can as much as double crop production.

Irrigation can help compensate for low rainfall, Guilpart said, but “you need the resources to do it”.

Water for irrigation is primarily obtained from surface water such as rivers, lakes and reservoirs or from groundwater using wells and aquifers.

In France, air temperatures have also been warmer than usual, meaning plants need more water from the soil.

The dry spell in northern Europe contrasts with southern Europe, including Spain and Portugal, where rainfall has been up to twice the usual amount for the time of year.

The court on Thursday indicted Moustapha Diop, who was the industrial development minister under Sall. He is accused of misusing some $4 million dollars from the West African nation’s fund for combating the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, the Dakar court charged Aissatou Sophie Gladima, Sall’s former mining minister, with embezzlement and placed her under a detention order, a source close to the case told French news agency AFP.

She is accused of embezzling more than 193 million CFA francs (approximately €295,000) from an aid fund intended for miners affected by the pandemic.

Senegal ruling party wins parliamentary majority, paving way for reforms

On Tuesday, the court charged former justice minister Ismaila Madior Fall with taking bribes and on Monday charged former women’s minister Salimata Diop with “complicity in embezzlement”. Diop was released after paying bail of about $97,750, according to a source close to the case and local media reports.

Former minister for community development Amadou Mansour Faye, Sall’s brother-in-law, is also accused of diverting around $4.5 million from a fund set up to tackle the effects of the pandemic in the west African nation in 2020-21, according to a national assembly report.

Who were the winners and losers of African democracy in 2024?

The High Court of Justice, a special court that began operating earlier this year and is empowered to try presidents and ministers for acts committed in the exercise of their functions.

For the director of the NGO 3D, Moundiaye Cisse, these cases demonstrate the proper functioning of institutions.

“It’s positive, because we have a justice system that tries to put everyone on an equal footing,” he told RFI’s correspondents in Dakar. “It’s a good instrument.”

Corruption crackdown

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was voted in last year, vowed to crack down on corruption, particularly by the previous administration under Sall.

He decided that Senegal would summon former president Sall himself to court after the country’s audit office unveiled irregularities in the treasury’s bookkeeping on his watch, a government spokesman said on 28 February.

Senegal ex-president Sall ‘could face charges’ following public finances report

Sall led Senegal from 2012 to 2024 and is accused of having presided over “catastrophic” mismanagement of the public purse, after an independent report invalidated official figures under his stewardship, revising both debt and the public deficit sharply upwards.

Sall, who has lived in Morocco since leaving office last year, has rejected the row over the report as “political”.

 (with AFP)

As he prepares to embark on a diplomatic tour of Southeast Asia, Macron held a strategic call with Xi, pressing for progress on a key trade dispute and backing closer cooperation on global flashpoints such as Ukraine and Gaza.

Although Macron won’t be heading to China himself – having made a state visit there in April 2023 – his outreach signals France’s intent to stay closely engaged with Beijing.

Thursday’s phone call centred around ongoing trade tensions between China and the EU, particularly those over Beijing’s tariffs on French cognac.

Since last October, Chinese authorities have slapped anti-dumping duties on European brandy, a move widely seen as retaliation for EU tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.

The dispute is hitting France hard – its €1.4 billion-a-year cognac exports to China have taken a €50 million monthly hit.

“Chinese investment is welcome in France,” Macron wrote on social media platform X after the call. “But our companies must enjoy fair competition in both countries.”

He added that the two leaders had agreed to push “as quickly as possible” to resolve the cognac issue – an encouraging sign for French producers eagerly awaiting a breakthrough.

Macron’s China visit reaps cultural, economic rewards but stalls on Ukraine

International cooperation

Beyond trade, the discussion covered broader international cooperation. Macron voiced support for dialogue on Ukraine and Gaza, reflecting France’s diplomatic stance that global challenges require multilateral solutions.

His criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza has become notably sharper in recent months, which French officials believe may resonate during the president’s upcoming visit to Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.

Macron’s tour – taking in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore – aims to position France and Europe as partners of choice in a region increasingly caught in the tug of war between Washington and Beijing.

Macron outlines France’s vision for Asia-Pacific relations, rejects confrontation

According to the Élysée Palace, the French leader will champion “rules-based” international trade and diplomacy, offering an alternative to what one official described as the “coercive or predatory” approaches seen elsewhere.

Macron is also expected to speak at the prestigious Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore – Asia’s top defence forum – where he will seek to “clear up misunderstandings” about Europe’s position on global conflicts.

(with newswires)

Ramaphosa said on Wednesday that South Africa and the United States would discuss the issue of critical minerals – after a first meeting with Trump that turned into a confrontation over the situation of white farmers in South Africa.

Ramaphosa has included two popular white South African golfers in his delegation on the visit to the US, as well as his agriculture minister, John Steenhuisen – who is a key member of his coalition with the Democratic Alliance (DA), as well as a white South African.

Trump ambushes South Africa’s Ramaphosa over ‘genocide’ accusation

The delegation is keen to open discussions on trade deals, notably on minerals, Claude de Baissac, director of geopolitical analysis company Eunomix told RFI on Thursday.

“South Africa cannot afford to alienate the US as a commercial partner,” he added, pointing out that the former’s economy has been struggling for the past 15 years and the US remains its second-biggest trading partner.

“[In South Africa] the business population, the business world, is still essentially in the hands of whites,” Baissac continued. “So there is still real economic apartheid. And its financing, businesses, trade, exchanges are mainly with Western countries – the European Union and the United States.”

‘Surreal’ attack

The South African president arrived prepared for an aggressive reception given Trump’s actions in recent months.

The US president has cancelled aid to South Africa, offered political refuge to white minority Afrikaners, expelled South Africa’s ambassador to the US and criticised the genocide charge Pretoria has brought against US ally Israel.

Throughout their meeting on Wednesday, Trump wanted only to discuss the treatment of white South Africans, playing a video and leafing through articles that he said proved his allegations.

“[Ramaphosa] didn’t do too badly though,” Baissac told RFI. “Everyone knew there would be an ambush. It took a somewhat surreal form but overall, from an objective point of view, knowing that there were indeed going to be fireworks, I think the South African team did better than we could have feared and perhaps less than we could have dared to hope.”

The Ambush Office: Trump’s Oval becomes test of nerve for world leaders

The South African president is surrounded by a team that represents the paradox, and the richness, of the country South Africa is today, Baissac said, citing the example of Steenhuisen, “who testified that there is no white or Afrikaner or farmers’ genocide in South Africa”.

“What for me was absolutely fascinating was Ramaphosa’s restraint,” he added. “That didn’t surprise me because he is someone who played a decisive role in the end of apartheid, and this is not his first confrontation with leaders. But it helped.”

‘A pointless exercise’

Meanwhile, at home, South Africans on Thursday expressed dismay at how Trump’s false claims of a white genocide had dominated the conversation.

“He didn’t get Zelenskyed,” Daily Maverick columnist Rebecca Davis, who is white South African, wrote in an opinion piece – in reference to a meeting at the White House in February at which Trump and Vice President JD Vance attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him “ungrateful”for US military aid.

Zelensky heatedly defended himself, which served to further alienate the Americans.

In contrast, Davis added, Ramaphosa “did not get personally insulted by the world’s most horrible duo of playground bullies”.

US expels South African ambassador, saying he ‘hates’ Trump

Foreign ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri also praised Ramaphosa’s handling of the encounter, saying it was important that the two leaders engaged.

“It’s not in [Ramaphosa’s] nature to be combative. [He] looks at issues calmly, matter-of-factly. I think that’s what we expect of our presidents,” he told new agency Reuters.

But others wondered if the South African president’s trip to Washington was worth the trouble.

“I don’t think it was the right call. I don’t think we need to explain ourselves to the USA,” Sobelo Motha, a 40-year-old member of a trade union, told Reuters on the streets of Johannesburg. “We know there’s no white genocide. So for me, it was pointless exercise.”

(with newswires)

The arrests, made between Monday and Thursday morning, follow a 10-month investigation led by Ofmin, France’s specialised child protection unit.

The suspects – aged 25 to 75 – come from a wide range of backgrounds. They include a priest, a grandfather, a music teacher, a paramedic and others described as “good family men”.

Some victims under 10

All were linked to convicted paedophiles already in prison since last summer.

“These men aren’t just faceless names on a screen,” said Commissioner Quentin Bevan, who leads Ofmin’s operational unit.

“They are people who live among us – colleagues, neighbours, and even those entrusted with the care of children. And yet, many were found exchanging, distributing and viewing child pornography – some involving victims under the age of 10.”

Some of the men had already appeared in court. Others are under investigation and could face charges in the coming weeks.

French surgeon on trial for 299 child abuse charges

Paedophile ‘platform of choice’

Investigators say some suspects shared disturbing messages, including talk of abusing children in their sleep. A few claimed they never acted on those messages.

One man denied wrongdoing but could not explain why he had bought lingerie for an eight-year-old girl he knew.

The operation has also put Telegram under scrutiny for its role in enabling abuse.

Commissioner Bevan described the app as a “paedophile hideout” and a “platform of choice” for offenders.

He said Telegram had made some improvements in cooperating with French authorities since the arrest of its founder Pavel Durov in Le Bourget last August. But he added that the platform still “barely fulfils its legal obligations”.

Durov, a 40-year-old Russian-born billionaire who became a French citizen in 2021, is under judicial supervision. He faces charges related to organised crime and failing to tackle illegal content.

French courts recently denied his request to travel to the United States, ruling the trip was neither “imperative” nor “justified”.

The man with four passports: Durov’s international network

‘Broader crackdown’

The arrests are part of a broader crackdown launched last summer, when police caught several men abusing children and sharing videos of their crimes on Telegram.

Those early arrests led to a complex investigation involving thousands of intercepted messages and forensic analysis of disturbing images. That work resulted in this week’s arrests.

With platforms like Coco Chat shut down in 2024 over similar concerns, offenders increasingly used Telegram to avoid detection, investigators said.

But there will be no safe haven, French authorities say. Prosecutors in 42 jurisdictions are now involved and more court proceedings are expected.

Besigye, 68, who appeared in court for the latest hearing of his treason trial on Wednesday, was abducted by armed men in the heart of the Kenyan capital Nairobi in November last year and re-emerged a few days later at a military court in Uganda.

He is being prosecuted for treason and faces the death penalty.

Kenya’s government had previously denied any involvement in his abduction, but in a TV interview on Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Secretary Musalia Mudavadi admitted: “Kenya cooperated with the Ugandan authorities.”

His lawyer, the Kenyan presidential candidate and former minister for justice Martha Karua, has denounced “illegal” arrangements between “rogue states” in East Africa.

She said she was “completely scandalised” by Mudavadi’s admission.

“Kenya is admitting to being a rogue state,” Karua added, as she described the “arrangements of having Kenya security agencies assist in the abduction and rendition” as “completely outside of the law”.

‘East African partners’

Mudavadi told Citizen TV: “[Uganda] is a friendly nation. [Besigye] was not seeking asylum. He had not come to say that he was seeking asylum. Had he said that, maybe the treatment would have been different.”

He added: “We have to partner with our East African states and sometimes we have to manage those relations very carefully for the broader national interest.”

Karua dismissed Mudavadi’s claims of cooperation, saying this “must be grounded in the rule of law”.

Kenya investigates alleged kidnapping of Ugandan opposition leader Besigye

Besigye is a former doctor to President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled Uganda for nearly 40 years, but turned against him and ran for the presidency on multiple occasions.

Rights groups say Besigye’s abduction and trial are linked to next January’s election, when Museveni, 80, will once again seek re-election.

Besigye’s case was moved to a civilian court after he went on hunger strike earlier this year.

But on Tuesday, Ugandan members of parliament passed a controversial bill authorising military tribunals for civilians, bypassing a Supreme Court ruling issued in January.

After a brief hearing on Wednesday, Besigye’s case was adjourned to 29 May.

Fears for citizens’ rights

Activists say the kidnapping and prosecution are part of a wider erosion of democracy across East Africa.

Tanzania‘s opposition leader Tundu Lissu is on trial for treason in his country ahead of elections in October. Several foreign activists attempted to attend his trial this week in but were detained and deported – including Karua.

Tension high in Tanzania ahead of opposition leader’s ‘treason’ trial

Karua accused Kenyan, Ugandan and Tanzanian authorities of “collaborating to oppress citizens” and “violating their rights”.

A Kenyan activist and a Ugandan journalist are still missing after being arrested by Tanzanian police.

 (with AFP)

The UK-Mauritius deal to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands has been dramatically revived after a British court lifted an injunction that had threatened to derail the deal at the last minute.

The High Court had initially blocked the agreement just hours before it was due to be signed on Thursday morning, following a legal challenge from two British-Chagossian women representing the islands’ original residents.

But after a rapid follow-up hearing, Judge Martin Chamberlain ruled the injunction should be removed and “no further interim relief” granted – effectively clearing the path for the handover to proceed.

The UK is now set to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, which was separated from Mauritius in 1965 when the latter was still a British colony.

The landmark deal will see the UK retain control of the strategically important Diego Garcia military base under a 99-year lease agreement with the United States.

Forced displacement

The legal challenge was brought by two women representing the interests of the Chagossians – the original islanders who were forcibly removed in the 1960s and 70s to make way for the construction of the military base.

Around 2,000 people were displaced, many settling in the UK.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, Judge Julian Goose had ruled that the UK must maintain its jurisdiction over the British Indian Ocean Territory “until further order” with a follow-up hearing scheduled for later in the day. 

That hearing saw Judge Chamberlain overturn the injunction.

Chagos Islands returned to Mauritius, but tensions over evictions persist

The move comes after months of diplomatic wrangling. The UK and Mauritius had reportedly finalised the draft deal in October, but progress stalled due to a change of government in Mauritius and disputes over financial terms.

Some reports have estimated the cost of the deal to the UK at £9 billion (€10.6 billion).

International backing

The deal has seen broad international backing. Both the previous and current US administrations have supported the arrangement, as have the United Nations and the International Court of Justice, which have consistently urged the UK to return the islands to Mauritius.

The deal also includes a proposed resettlement fund for displaced Chagossians, though details remain unclear.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer had been expected to join a virtual signing ceremony alongside Mauritian officials on Thursday morning – an event that has yet to be rescheduled. 

The Palestinian Authority accused troops of “deliberately” shooting at the delegation near the flashpoint city of Jenin. The Israeli military, already under pressure over its tactics in the Gaza war, said it regretted the “inconvenience”.

Palestinian news agency Wafa reported the delegation included diplomats from more than 20 countries including Britain, China, Egypt, France, Japan, Jordan, Turkey and Russia.

AFP footage from Jenin, a frequent target of Israeli military raids, showed the delegation and accompanying journalists running for cover as shots were heard.

A European diplomat said the envoys went to the area to see the destruction caused by Israeli military raids since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023.

The Israeli military said the diplomatic convoy strayed from the approved route and entered a restricted zone.

Troops fired “warning shots” to steer the group away, it said, adding that no one was wounded and expressing regret for the “inconvenience caused”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres‘s spokesman called the incident “unacceptable”.

“Diplomats who are doing their work should never be shot at, attacked in any way, shape or form. Their safety, their viability, must be respected at all times,” the spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, told reporters.

“These diplomats, including UN personnel, were fired at, warning shots or whatever… which is unacceptable.”

Countries condemn shooting

Several countries that had representatives in the group voiced outrage and demanded an investigation.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas urged Israel to hold those responsible “accountable”.

Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay summoned Israel’s ambassadors or said they would raise the issue directly.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called the incident “totally unacceptable” and pressed for an “immediate explanation”.

Carney added that Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand has summoned Israel’s ambassador to Ottawa.

Egypt denounced the shooting as a breach of “all diplomatic norms”, while Turkey demanded an immediate investigation.

Turkey’s foreign ministry said: “This attack must be investigated without delay and the perpetrators must be held accountable.”

Ahmad al-Deek, political adviser for the Palestinian foreign ministry who accompanied the delegation, condemned “this reckless act by the Israeli army”.

“It has given the diplomatic delegation an impression of the life the Palestinian people are living,” he said.

Japan’s government confirmed Thursday that its diplomatic staff participated, adding that it “deeply regrets” the incident.

“The Japanese government has protested to the Israeli side and requested an explanation and the prevention of a recurrence,” government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said in Tokyo.

‘Painful’ Gaza plight

The incident came as anger mounted over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Palestinians are scrambling for basic supplies after weeks of near-total isolation.

A two-month Israeli aid blockade on Gaza has been partially eased this week.

Israel stepped up its military offensive at the weekend, vowing to defeat Gaza’s Hamas rulers, whose 7 October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.

Israel has faced massive pressure, including from its allies, to halt its intensified offensive and allow aid into Gaza.

European Union foreign ministers on Tuesday ordered a review of the EU cooperation accord with Israel.

Sweden said it would press the EU to impose sanctions on Israeli ministers, while Britain suspended free-trade negotiations with Israel and summoned the Israeli ambassador.

Pope Leo XIV described the situation in Gaza as “worrying and painful” and called for “the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid”.

Hamas’s 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people in Israel, half of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also took 251 hostages, 57 of whom remain in Gaza including 34 the military says are dead.

Gaza’s health ministry said at least 3,509 people have been killed since Israel ended a ceasefire and resumed strikes on 18 March, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,655, mostly civilians.

 (AFP)

French MPs are shortly to vote on whether or not to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia. The draft legislation draws heavily on the work of the Citizens’ Convention on end-of-life care – a group of 184 people, randomly selected in late 2022 to reflect France’s diverse population. Though strangers to each other and to the subject, they spent four months in thoughtful debate, building a spirit of mutual respect despite deep differences of opinion. Economist Marc-Olivier Strauss-Kahn, one of the participants, talks about why this exercise in deliberative democracy was so enriching and valuable to society. Along with others, he’s helped launch an association to ensure the dialogue, and the social inclusion it fostered, continues beyond the convention itself. (Listen @0′)

This year’s Cannes film festival is taking the issue of sexual harassment in the movie industry more seriously than ever, just weeks after actor Gerard Depardiee was convicted for sexual assault. Ollia Horton talks about what’s changing. She also introduces a film about the life of Marcel Pagnol – one of France’s most cherished writers and a former Cannes jury president. (Listen @20’15”)

The annual fête des voisins, held on the last Friday of May, is an opportunity for neighbours to get to know each other. Launched 25 years ago in Paris by local councillor Atanase Périfan, it was aimed at bringing more solidarity into everyday life and it seems to be working. (Listen @14’10”)

Episode mixed by Cécile Pompeani

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This week’s quiz: On 26 April, I asked you a question about the late Pope Francis, who’d died earlier that week. As the Vatican prepared to elect a new pope, we published an article about the men who were responsible for electing the next head of the Roman Catholic Church.

You were to re-read our article “What happens now after the death of Pope Francis?” and send in the answer to this question: What are the nationalities of the 135 cardinal electors who will elect the next pope?

The answer is, to quote our article: “Currently there are 135 so-called cardinal electors, 108 of whom were appointed by Francis. Of these, 53 are from Europe, 20 are from North America, 18 are from Africa, 23 from Asia, four from Oceania, and 17 from South America.”

As you know, the cardinals elected Robert Francis Prevost, the first American to hold the post. He took the name Leo XIV as his papal name, and he was formally inaugurated to serve the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics on 18 May.

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, which was inspired by the long-running BBC program “Desert Island Discs”. You were to write in with the names of the three records, or audio recordings, that you would take with you to an uninhabited island.

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Christian Ghibaudo from Tende, France. Christian is also the winner of this week’s bonus question. Congratulations, Christian,on your double win.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are A. K. M. Nuruzzaman, the president of the RFI Amour Fan Club in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, and Paresh Hazarika, a member of the United RFI Listeners Club in Assam, India, as well as RFI Listeners Club members Shadman Hosen Ayon from Kishoreganj, Bangladesh, and Hans Verner Lollike from Hedehusen, Denmark.

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme:  “Mother” by Roger Waters, performed by Pink Floyd; “A Mighty Fortress is our God” by Martin Luther, played by Kaleb Brasee; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and Buenos Aires Symphony in Three Movements by Astor Piazolla, performed by the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Leonardo Garcia Alarcon.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read our article “EU and UK reunite in London for talks on diplomacy and defence”, which will help you with the answer.

You have until 23 June to enter this week’s quiz; the winners will be announced on the 28 June podcast. When you enter, be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number.

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

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

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

French MPs are shortly to vote on whether or not to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia. The draft legislation draws heavily on the work of the Citizens’ Convention on end-of-life care – a group of 184 people, randomly selected in late 2022 to reflect France’s diverse population. Though strangers to each other and to the subject, they spent four months in thoughtful debate, building a spirit of mutual respect despite deep differences of opinion. Economist Marc-Olivier Strauss-Kahn, one of the participants, talks about why this exercise in deliberative democracy was so enriching and valuable to society. Along with others, he’s helped launch an association to ensure the dialogue, and the social inclusion it fostered, continues beyond the convention itself. (Listen @0′)

This year’s Cannes film festival is taking the issue of sexual harassment in the movie industry more seriously than ever, just weeks after actor Gerard Depardiee was convicted for sexual assault. Ollia Horton talks about what’s changing. She also introduces a film about the life of Marcel Pagnol – one of France’s most cherished writers and a former Cannes jury president. (Listen @20’15”)

The annual fête des voisins, held on the last Friday of May, is an opportunity for neighbours to get to know each other. Launched 25 years ago in Paris by local councillor Atanase Périfan, it was aimed at bringing more solidarity into everyday life and it seems to be working. (Listen @14’10”)

Episode mixed by Cécile Pompeani

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

Upon hearing the news that the PKK was ending its war and disarming, Kurds danced in the streets of the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. The region bore the brunt of the brutal conflict, with the overwhelming majority of those killed being civilians, and millions more displaced.

From armed struggle to political arena

“It is a historic moment. This conflict has been going on for almost half a century,” declared Aslı Aydıntaşbaş of the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank.

“And for them [the PKK] to say that the period of armed struggle is over and that they are going to transition to a major political struggle is very important.”

The PKK, designated as a terrorist organisation by the European Union and most of Turkey’s Western allies, launched its armed struggle in 1984 for Kurdish rights and independence. At the time, Turkey was ruled by the military, which did not even acknowledge the existence of Kurds, referring to them as “Mountain Turks.”

Nearly fifty years later, however, Turkey is a different place. The third-largest parliamentary party is the pro-Kurdish Dem Party. In its declaration ending its armed struggle and announcing its dissolution, the PKK stated that there is now space in Turkey to pursue its goals through political means.

However, military realities are thought to be behind the PKK’s decision to end its campaign. “From a technical and military point of view, the PKK lost,” observed Aydın Selcan, a former senior Turkish diplomat who served in the region.

“For almost ten years, there have been no armed attacks by the PKK inside Turkey because they are no longer capable of doing so. And in the northern half of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, there is now almost no PKK presence,” added Selcan.

Selcan also claims the PKK could be seeking to consolidate its military gains in Syria. “For the first time in history, the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the YPG, has begun administering a region. So it’s important for the organisation to preserve that administration.

“They’ve rebranded themselves as a political organisation.” Turkish forces have repeatedly launched military operations in Syria against the YPG. However, the Syrian Kurdish forces have reached a tentative agreement with Damascus’s new rulers—whom Ankara supports.

Kurdish leader Ocalan calls for PKK disarmament, paving way for peace

 Erdoğan’s high-stakes gamble

For Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is trailing in opinion polls and facing growing protests over the arrest of his main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, on alleged corruption charges, this could be a golden opportunity. “This is a win for Erdoğan, no doubt,” claimed analyst Aydıntaşbaş.

Along with favourable headlines, the PKK’s peace announcement offers a solution to a major political headache for Erdoğan. The Turkish president wants to amend the constitution to remove term limits, allowing him to run again for the presidency.

The pro-Kurdish Dem Party holds the parliamentary votes Erdoğan needs. “Yes, Erdoğan, of course, will be negotiating with Kurds for constitutional changes,” said Aydıntaşbaş.

“Now we are entering a very transactional period in Turkish politics. Instead of repressing Kurds, it’s going to be about negotiating with them. And it may persuade the pro-Kurdish faction—which forms the third-largest bloc in Turkish politics—to peel away from the opposition camp,” added Aydıntaşbaş.

However, Aydıntaşbaş warns that Erdoğan will need to convince his voter base, which remains sceptical of any peace process with the PKK. According to a recent opinion poll, three out of four respondents opposed the peace process, with a majority of Erdoğan’s AK Party supporters against it.

For decades, the PKK has been portrayed in Turkey as a brutal terrorist organisation, and its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, is routinely referred to by politicians and much of the media as “the baby killer.” Critics argue the government has failed to adequately prepare the public for peace.

“In peace processes around the world, we see a strong emphasis on convincing society,” observed Sezin Öney, a political commentator at Turkey’s PolitikYol news portal. “There are reconciliation processes, truth commissions, etc., all designed to gain public support. But in our case, it’s like surgery without anaesthesia—an operation begun without any sedatives,” added Öney.

Turkey looks for regional help in its battle against Kurdish rebels in Iraq

Political concessions?

Public pressure on Erdoğan is expected to grow, as the PKK and Kurdish political leaders demand concessions to facilitate the peace and disarmament process.

“In the next few months, the government is, first of all, expected to change the prison conditions of Öcalan,” explained Professor Mesut Yeğen of the Istanbul-based Reform Institute.

“The second expectation is the release of those in poor health who are currently in jail. And for the disarmament process to proceed smoothly, there should be an amnesty or a reduction in sentences, allowing PKK convicts in Turkish prisons to be freed and ensuring that returning PKK militants are not imprisoned,” Yeğen added.

Yeğen claimed that tens of thousands of political prisoners may need to be released, along with the reinstatement of Dem Party mayors who were removed from office under anti-terrorism legislation.

Turkey’s Saturday Mothers keep up vigil for lost relatives

Erdoğan has ruled out any concessions until the PKK disarms, but has said that “good things” will follow disarmament. Meanwhile, the main opposition CHP Party, while welcoming the peace initiative, insists that any democratic reforms directed at the Kurdish minority must be extended to wider society—starting with the release of İmamoğlu, Erdoğan’s chief political rival.

While the peace process is widely seen as a political victory for Erdoğan, it could yet become a liability for the president, who risks being caught between a sceptical voter base and an impatient Kurdish population demanding concessions.

The impact of Donald Trump’s second term in the White House is being felt far beyond US borders. Observers say this ripple effect can be seen across Europe, not just in policy but in the continent’s political culture itself.

For Dr Célia Belin of the European Council on Foreign Relations, the stakes are nothing less than the future of European liberal democracy.

In her latest ECFR report, MAGA Goes Global: Trump’s Plan for Europe, Belin warns that what might appear to be chaotic decisions from the Oval Office are, in fact, part of an ideological project.

“There’s actually a strong direction, a clear destination,” Belin told RFI. “Trump, surrounded by loyalists and MAGA Republicans, is ready to implement his plan – to push back on liberal democracy, and to push back on Europe.”

According to her, he sees Europe as “an extension of his political enemies – liberals and progressives” and views its institutions as bureaucratic hurdles rather than allies in global leadership.

Culture wars without borders

Trump’s administration – bolstered by figures including Vice President JD Vance and media mogul Elon Musk – has also made overtures to Europe’s far right.

They have voiced support for Germany’s far-right AfD party and France’s Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, including on Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter) – helping to disseminate nationalist and populist rhetoric across the continent.

“We’re seeing a systematic attack on the liberal model that Europe represents,” said Belin. “This ‘Trumpian wave’ has fired up nationalist opposition in Europe, even if it hasn’t created a united front.”

‘Free Le Pen’: US conservatives rally behind French far-right leader

Non merci to MAGA

However, some of the European political parties that share Trump’s scepticism of liberal institutions are treading carefully when it comes to embracing his brand of politics.

While leaders such as Viktor Orbán in Hungary openly welcome MAGA-style backing, others see it as a double-edged sword.

Following her recent legal conviction, Le Pen received support from MAGA-aligned figures. But her party responded with conspicuous silence.

“They don’t want or need this Trumpian support,” Belin noted. “Their political strategy is not about aligning with MAGA America – it’s more French, more sovereignist.”

Embracing Trump too openly could risk undermining years of effort to mainstream the National Rally’s image. “Nationalists are realising that now – it brings fuel to the fire, yes, but it also complicates their own domestic positioning,” said Belin.

Trump’s first 100 days: Revolution or destruction? The view from France

Europe responds

French President Emmanuel Macron was among the first European leaders to sound the alarm on the changing nature of the US-European alliance. 

“I want to believe that the United States will stay by our side but we have to be prepared for that not to be the case,” he said in a televised address to the nation in March.

I January, in a speech to French ambassadors, he said: “Ten years ago, who could have imagined it if we had been told that the owner of one of the largest social networks in the world would support a new international reactionary movement and intervene directly in elections, including in Germany.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz followed suit, criticising Musk’s decision to give the AfD a platform just weeks before Germany’s federal elections.

However, Belin points out that the European response is still taking shape. “It’s brand new as a phenomenon,” she said. “Europeans were prepared to be challenged on trade, on security – even on Ukraine. But this cultural challenge is unprecedented.”

Meloni positions herself as Europe’s ‘trump card’ on visit to White House

Still, as Belin notes, Trumpism is not a winning formula everywhere. “Turning fully Trumpist would derail Marine Le Pen’s strategy. It’s not a winning strategy in France,” she said. “But in more insurgent political systems, it might be.”

And there is concern too that Trumpism could outlive Trump himself.

“There’s been a transformation in the perception of America’s global role,” Belin said. “And that will stick around. It will be pushed by some of the nationalist parties in our countries. That is the Trumpist legacy”.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This week’s quiz: On 19 April, I asked you a question about Mario Vargas Llosa, a Nobel Prize-winning author from Peru. You were to re-read Paul Myers’ article “Nobel prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa dies aged 89”, and send in the answers to these questions: In which year did Llosa win the Nobel Prize for Literature, and what did the Nobel Committee write about his work?

The answer is, to quote Paul’s article: “His Nobel Prize in 2010 came 51 years after The Cubs and Other Stories. The Nobel committee said the accolade was an award for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual’s resistance, revolt, and defeat.”

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, “What are the obstacles that impede your happiness?”, which was an idea from Erwan Rome, who suggested we look at the philosophy questions asked on the French baccalaureate exams, the French leaving-school exam. This one was for the 2018 students.

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

The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Father Stephen Wara from Bamenda, Cameroon. Father Steve is also the winner of this week’s bonus question. Congratulations, Father Stephen,on your double win.

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are RFI Listeners Club members Samir Mukhopadhyay from West Bengal, India – who noted Vargas is one of his favorite Latin American writers; Mahfuzur Rahman from Cumilla, Bangladesh; Niyar Talukdar from Maharashtra, India, and last but not least, RFI English listener Tanjim Tatini from Munshiganj, Bangladesh.

Congratulations, winners!

Here’s the music you heard on this week’s programme:  “En route à Bengal” inspired by traditional Bengali folk music, arranged and performed by the Hamelin Instrumental Band; Traditional Peruvian Cumbia; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children’s Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “The Loud Minority” by Frank Foster, performed by the the Loud Minority Big Band.

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

This week’s question … you must listen to the show to participate. After you’ve listened to the show, re-read Ollia Horton’s article “Ukraine, Gaza and #MeToo in the spotlight as Cannes Film Festival opens”, which will help you with the answer.

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

Send your answers to:

english.service@rfi.fr

or

Susan Owensby

RFI – The Sound Kitchen

80, rue Camille Desmoulins

92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

France

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

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

According to Amnesty International, Donald Trump’s rise to the presidency has hastened trends already unfolding over the past decade.

Just one hundred days into his second term, President Trump has demonstrated a complete disregard for universal human rights, making the world both less safe and less just, the organisation’s latest report claims.

“His all-out assault on the very concepts of multilateralism, asylum, racial and gender justice, global health and life-saving climate action is exacerbating the significant damage those principles and institutions have already sustained and is further emboldening other anti-rights leaders and movements to join his onslaught,” Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, wrote.

While Africa’s armed conflicts caused relentless civilian suffering, including increasing levels of sexual and gender-based violence, and death on a massive scale, international and regional responses remained woefully inadequate.

The NGO also denounces global failures in addressing inequalities, climate collapse, and tech transformations that imperil future generations, especially in fragile zones. 

To discuss the implications for Africa in detail, this week, Spotlight on Africa’s first guest is Deprose Muchena, senior director for regional human rights impact at Amnesty International. 

Meanwhile, in South Africa, experts reflect on a recent visit from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as the country leads the G20 this year and tries to become a platform for peace talk.

Did Zelensky’s South Africa visit signal a diplomatic pivot by Pretoria?

We talked to the French business and veteran diplomat, Jean-Yves Ollivier, founder of the Brazzaville Foundation, who was a key actor in organising Zelensky’s meeting with South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Finally, we hear from Djiby Kebe, one of the founders of  Air Afrique magazine, created by and for young members of the African diaspora in Paris and Abidjan. Inspired by the once-successful Pan-African airline of the same name, the publication centres on culture and travel.

Episode mixed by Erwan Rome.

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

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.