Tuesday, April 14, 2026

The pioneering project integrating drones into air traffic control

In partnership with
By Aurora Velez
Published on 13/04/2026 - EURONEWS

Piloted aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, drones... How do we make sure that all of these aircraft can fly in the same airspace without colliding? At Odense airport, Denmark, full-scale tests are being carried out.

The coordination tower at Odense International Airport HCA International Airport, Denmark is unlike any other for one special reason: it gives not only planes their flight orders, but drones too, over the 1,900 km2 airspace of the Danish International UAS Centre. It is one of Europe’s best places for experimenting with drones of different types, uses and sizes, bringing together cutting-edge technology and startups for commercial and defence purposes. Tomorrow's airspace is being prepared here with the project NextGen Innovation.
“Today you are not allowed to fly both a drone and an airplane in the same airspace, and that's what we are trying here to pioneer, integrating drones and manned air traffic. With the sensors we have, and with the radar from the project, we know where everyone is within a very large area. We are a mirror of how it could be in Europe in five or ten years.”
Michael Larsen
Head of UAS Denmark Test Center
With the world going through rapid geopolitical transformation, time is short. Coordinating aircraft and drones of different sizes, uses and ranges is essential for defence, emergency material transport and critical infrastructure surveillance.
August Mader's company, AirPlate, has installed a "drone box" at the airport: eight sensors capable of detecting drones within a radius of more than fifteen kilometres.
“Drones are transmitting radio signals and the antennas are listening to drones, and with those we can find out the position of the drone, how high it is, how far it is flying, as well as the position of the pilot. Our system detects a drone two times every second, so it's quite fast.”
August Mader
CEO AirPlate
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The equation: academia, startups, cutting-edge tech, essential for testing

At Hans Christian Andersen Airport in Odense, there is an application available that visualises the position of each drone, the pilots and the flight history in real time. Around 15 specialised companies are located within the airport grounds, including the UAS Drone Centre of the University of Southern Denmark (SDU-UAS), which analyses the project data and works closely with the companies. Experiment, crash and learn is their motto.
Jes Hundevadt Jepsen, a researcher at SDU-UAS, explains that they work with hundreds of drones. None of them look like a finished product because the bodywork is missing, but this is precisely what they are looking for: “The good thing about this platform is that everything is exposed. So, if I want to integrate something on it, I can do it right away. If I crash my drone in the morning, I then can replace everything from hardware to, so both the arms itself, but also three different new parts, and then have it up and flying in the afternoon as well. For our drone centre, a lot of our research is in collaboration with companies and that is what the drone industry needs, a close collaboration with academia to actually mature this technology.”
The total budget of the project is more than €9 million, of which 40% has been financed by the European Union's cohesion policy.
According to Interpol data, the global drone market is currently worth €59 billion and will exceed €127 billion by 2036.

BAN DEEP SEA MINING

U.S. Interest In Seabed Mining In International Waters: Background And Recent Developments – Analysis

Proposed Machinery and Technology for Collecting Seabed Minerals. Credit: CRS

April 14, 2026
By Caitlin Keating-Bitonti
The Congressional Research Service (CRS)

In 1980, Congress passed the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA; 30 U.S.C. §§1401 et seq.) as an interim measure to allow the United States to proceed with seabed mining activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) until an international regime was in place (i.e., the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS]). DSHMRA established a framework for authorizing U.S. citizens (e.g., individuals, corporations) to explore for and recover minerals from the seabed in ABNJ. In general, exploration means the at-sea observation, evaluation, and taking of seabed minerals as needed to design and test mining equipment, and commercial recovery means the actual at-sea mining and processing of seabed minerals for the primary purpose of commercial use (30 U.S.C. §1403).

On April 24, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order (E.O.) 14285, “Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources,” which directed certain federal agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to advance seabed mining activities as part of a broader national effort to secure reliable supplies of critical minerals. This In Focus discusses the actions of NOAA and U.S. companies related to seabed mining in ABNJ as well as congressional interest in the topic. The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and its regulation of mineral-related activities is beyond the scope of this In Focus.

UNCLOS and the International Seabed Authority

UNCLOS was adopted in 1982, establishing a comprehensive international legal framework to govern activities related to the global ocean, including seabed mining. In 1994, the Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (commonly known as the 1994 Agreement) substantially modified the seabed mining provisions of UNCLOS to address concerns held by many industrialized nations. After the adoption of the 1994 Agreement, UNCLOS received the necessary number of signatories for UNCLOS to enter into force. The United States is not a party to UNCLOS or the 1994 Agreement.

UNCLOS also established the International Seabed Authority (ISA), an autonomous organization that regulates parties to UNCLOS conducting mineral-related activities in ABNJ. The ISA came into existence with the adoption of the 1994 Agreement and became fully operational in 1996. The United States participates as an observer state in the ISA but, as a nonparty, has no vote in ISA business and cannot apply for or obtain a contract for seabed mining exploration or exploitation through the ISA. To date, the ISA has issued 31 exploration contracts, of which 17 are located in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). The CCZ is a 1.7-million-square-mile area of the seafloor in the Pacific Ocean that is estimated to contain more cobalt, manganese, and nickel—identified by the U.S. Geological Survey as critical minerals—than all known land deposits combined. The ISA is working toward finalizing exploitation regulations and has not issued any exploitation contracts (DSHMRA uses the term commercial recovery permits, which would serve a similar purpose to exploitation contracts issued by ISA).

Exploration Licenses Issued by NOAA

DSHMRA authorized the NOAA administrator to issue exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits to U.S. citizens for seabed mining activities in ABNJ (30 U.S.C. §1412). In 1984, NOAA issued exploration licenses for four sites located in the CCZ. NOAA issued exploration licenses to four U.S. mining consortia, three of which were multinational private sector consortia with participating American companies. NOAA issued the following:USA-1 to Ocean Minerals Company, comprising Cyprus Minerals and Lockheed Martin Corporation (American companies);
USA-2 to Ocean Management Inc., comprising Schlumberger Technology (an American company) and Canadian, German, and Japanese companies;
USA-3 to Ocean Mining Associates, comprising Essex Minerals Co. and Sun Ocean Ventures, Inc. (American companies) and Belgian and Italian companies; and
USA-4 to Kennecott Consortium, comprising Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation (an American company) and British, Canadian, and Japanese companies.

NOAA issued these licenses 10 years before UNCLOS entered into force and 12 years before the ISA became operational. NOAA has not issued exploration licenses since 1984. The agency has approved extension requests following the initial 10-year periods of the licenses. A license can be extended for five-year periods (30 U.S.C. §1417(a)). NOAA has not issued any commercial recovery permits.

Two of the four exploration licenses issued by NOAA (USA-2 and USA-3) were relinquished in the late 1990s (64 Federal Register [FR] 3563). USA-1 and USA-4 remain the only active exploration licenses issued by NOAA pursuant to DSHMRA. Lockheed Martin holds both licenses. It became the sole holder of the licenses by different means. In 1993, Kennecott Consortium relinquished USA-4 to NOAA (58 FR 33933). Ocean Minerals Company, the consortium including Lockheed Martin, applied for USA-4 (58 FR 34782), and NOAA issued the license in 1994 (59 FR 66942). In 1995, Cyprus Minerals withdrew from Ocean Minerals Company, leaving Lockheed Martin as the sole company overseeing USA-1 and USA-4.

USA-1 and USA-4 are expected to remain in effect through June 2, 2027 (87 FR 52743). In 2021, the ISA designated an area of the CCZ that partially overlaps with USA-1 as an Area of Particular Environmental Interest. The designation precludes UNCLOS parties from seabed mining activities in the area. This action appears to question whether NOAA-issued exploration licenses have international recognition. Because the United States is not a party to UNCLOS, any future NOAA-issued licenses and permits that may (or may not) overlap with ISA designations could have similar uncertainty. According to a 2017 NOAA notice, “any rights a U.S. company may have domestically are not secured internationally.”

Lockheed Martin may submit an extension request to NOAA at least six months prior to June 2, 2027, to retain USA-1 and USA-4. If the licenses are not extended, U.S. entities can request NOAA transfer USA-1 and/or USA-4, pursuant to 15 C.F.R. §970.516.

Pending Applications to NOAA

E.O. 14285 directed NOAA, in consultation with the Departments of State and the Interior, to expedite the process for reviewing and issuing licenses and permits under DSHMRA, among other actions. NOAA reportedly has received “over 10 applications” since the E.O. was issued. Once NOAA determines an application to be fully compliant with DSHMRA, the agency will publish a notice in the Federal Register (15 C.F.R. §970.212 and 15 C.F.R. §971.212). As of the date of this publication, NOAA has determined that four applications are fully compliant with DSHMRA (90 FR 60064 and 91 FR 13822):
The Metal Company’s (TMC’s) U.S. subsidiary, TMC USA, submitted two exploration license applications (A and B). TMC, a Canadian company, has two other foreign subsidiaries: Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI) and Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (TOML). Through sponsorships with Nauru and Tonga (both UNCLOS parties), NORI and TOML each hold one ISA exploration contract in the CCZ. TMC USA’s applications to NOAA overlap with portions of Nauru’s and Tonga’s respective ISA exploration contract areas.
American Metal Resources (AMR) submitted one exploration license application. It overlaps with some ISA-designated reserved areas in the CCZ as well as a portion of another company’s application to NOAA.
SeaX (a subsidiary of AMR) submitted one exploration license application. It overlaps with some ISA-designated reserved areas in the CCZ.

A fully compliant application does not mean an application will be certified and that a license or permit will be issued.

On January 21, 2026, NOAA issued a final rule that revised its seabed mining regulations to include a “consolidated license and permit application process in which applicants could meet both exploration license requirements, to establish priority of right, and permit requirements simultaneously” (91 FR 2642). The final rule is reflected in 15 C.F.R. §971.214. On January 22, 2026, TMC USA submitted a consolidated application, and on March 9, 2026, the company announced that NOAA determined the application to be in substantial compliance.

Some companies also have publicly announced applications that they have submitted to NOAA while awaiting NOAA’s determination, including Deep Sea Rare Mineralsand American Ocean Minerals Corporation.

Recent Congressional Interest

Congress may continue to consider seabed mining issues in the context of E.O. 14285 and U.S. industry interest in acquiring NOAA exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits for seabed mining in ABNJ. Some Members have introduced legislation in the 119th Congress that would codify E.O. 14285 (e.g., H.R. 3803) or mandate that certain federal entities act on aspects of the E.O. (e.g., H.R. 4018, S. 2860). These bills reiterate that “the United States faces unprecedented economic and national security challenges in securing reliable supplies of critical minerals independent of foreign adversary control” as stated in the E.O. Some Members have questioned how seabed mining could address these challenges given no commercial-scale processing facilities for seabed minerals exist. Some experts contend that “much more needs to be done before the seabed can help secure America’s supply chains.”

The three bills also would direct NOAA to expedite the authorization of U.S. seabed mining activities in ABNJ under DSHMRA. According to the ISA, however, authorization of seabed mining activities outside the UNCLOS framework (e.g., via DSHMRA) “may incur legal, diplomatic, economic, security, financial and reputational risks.” Congress may weigh in on the extent to which the issuance of new NOAA licenses and permits might present geopolitical disagreements. Views on the potential for such disagreements vary. While the four fully compliant applications overlap with ISA-designated areas, TMC, AMR, and SeaX each stated in their applications to NOAA that they do not anticipate any conflicts. In contrast, the Secretary-General of the ISA stated that “any unilateral action … sets a dangerous precedent that could destabilize the entire system of global ocean governance.”

U.S. accession to UNCLOS may reduce the potential for geopolitical disagreements, at the cost of replacing U.S. government decisionmaking with that of an international body. Weighing the advantages and disadvantages of giving U.S. entities access to ISA contracts through U.S. accession to UNCLOS is an ongoing issue for Congress. S.Res. 331 calls for the Senate to take up UNCLOS. Some experts argue the United States has the authority to mine ABNJ.

Other Members have introduced legislation (H.R. 664) to prohibit NOAA from authorizing seabed mining activities in ABNJ until more is known about its environmental impacts. Separately, H.R. 663 would instruct the President to call for an international seabed mining moratorium until the ISA adopts a regulatory framework. As of April 2026, 40 countries have announced their opposition to deep-seabed mining.

About the author: Caitlin Keating-Bitonti, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy

Source: This article was published by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS has been a valued and respected resource on Capitol Hill for nearly a century.

A journey to the bottom of the ocean, beneath Paris’s skyscrapers

An interactive exhibition underneath the streets of Paris's La Défense business district reveals another hidden world – that of the darkest depths of the ocean. Bringing together art and science, it shows the beauty and vulnerability of Earth's final frontier.

Issued on: 12/04/2026 - RFI

Spheres of bioluminescence, using photobacteria from the depths of the ocean, in a sculpture created by artist Jérémie Brugidou. © Augustin Detienne
02:41
By:Ollia Horton
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Beneath the Grande Arche de la Défense, in Paris’s business district, visitors equipped with headphones and pocket torches are plunged into darkness.

The "Under the Horizon" exhibition sees four artists take over this hidden urban space to bring to life another hidden world – that of the depths of the ocean.

Covering 70 percent of the Earth's surface, oceans provide more than half our oxygen and absorb excess heat caused by climate change. Home to a hive of microscopic activity, their darkest depths, reaching 2,000 metres beneath the surface, remain largely unexplored.

What are the main ocean threats?

The "Under the Horizon" exhibition takes place in an underground space in Paris's La Défense business district, from 3-26 April. © Augustin Detienne

Creatures of the deep

As visitors enter the exhibition, a high-pitched crackling noise can be heard. These are translations of "conversations" of phytoplankton, captured by sound designer Antoine Bertin.

These tiny micro-organisms constantly send and receive chemical "messages" called metabolites, measured by biologists.

Meanwhile in the "midnight zone", artist Ugo Schiavi explores what forms human pollution might take if left to accumulate in the depths of the ocean.

His hybrid, mutant sculptures made of recycled items lurch out from the gloom, inspired by the strange creatures that inhabit this realm.

Beyond a creative interpretation, Schiavi raises the issue of the vulnerability of this part of the ocean – which contains coveted minerals including nickel, cobalt and copper, which are crucial to renewable energy technology.

Researchers and environmentalists have long warned that deep-sea diving risks destroying habitats and species that are little understood, and could upset delicate processes in the ocean that affect climate change.

Nearby, Jérémie Brugidou’s sculptures use bioluminescence produced by Phosphorus ANT-2200, a deep-sea bacteria. This form of light is used by organisms to attract prey, send signals and provide camouflage.

It also provides important information for scientific research. Molecules and proteins from bioluminescent and fluorescent species have enabled advances in imaging, molecular biology and physiology.

The big blue blindspot: why the ocean floor is still an unmapped mystery

Ritual and reassurance

After visiting the darkest parts of the ocean, visitors are led into a reproduction of a sea cave, where they can make an offering to the sea goddess Yemaya, a major deity in the West African Yoruba religion.

Here, artist Shivay La Multiple has created a bubble – "somewhere in between one universe and another" – where science meets spirituality.

She says the ocean is linked to rituals in many places, as well as having sustained livelihoods in cultures across the world since the beginning of time.

"Where I grew up has definitely had an influence on my work. I was lulled by the ocean and inspired by what was around me," she told RFI, pointing to her childhood in Kanaky-New Caledonia, one of France’s overseas territories.

"These practices make us feel reassured, they help up explain the unexplainable," she says of the shrine to Yemaya, adorned with shells and flowers.

The sea goddess Yemaya is seen in an artwork by Shivay La Multiple at the "Under the Horizon" exhibition. © RFI / Ollia Horton

'Life outside the office'

The exhibition is part of a wider cultural plan to bring art and environmental issues to this urban area, Noellie Faustino, director of events for La Défense, told RFI.

It’s important to show that there’s "life outside of the office", she says, adding that this can be found in unexpected places – such as the hidden space beneath the la Grande Arche.

"By offering access to normally inaccessible spaces, it sparks curiosity and allows for the creation of unique exhibitions."

Faustino added that La Défense has put in place measures to significantly reduce carbon emissions by 2030, including standards for construction and the way public spaces are developed.

The "Takis" sculpture in La Défense, Paris's business district.

© PLD-Benedite Topuz

"We are currently creating a park at the Esplanade, right in the heart of the business district. It will be the first park in France built on a concrete slab, allowing users to enjoy tree-lined public spaces with grass."

As well as transforming the public space visually, Faustino says the park will reduce heat-related issues.

For Lauranne Germond, co-curator of "Under the Horizon" La Défense is the perfect setting to show the contrast between two very different worlds.

"On the surface of La Défense, activity and efficiency reign. There's a frenetic pace of productivity [while the exhibition is] an experience of slowing down, of letting go. It is the idea of letting oneself be carried away, of letting oneself float."

"Sous l'Horizon" ("Under the Horizon") is on until 26 April.

An artistic journey to the bottom of the ocean

Issued on: 10/04/2026 -

What can be found in the abyss, thousands of metres below the surface of the ocean? In the interactive exhibition "Under the Horizon" (Sous l'horizon), four artists merge science and imagination to explore the mysteries of the deep, all while raising awareness of this fragile environment. RFI took the plunge into a secret underground space in Paris's business district to find out more.

France's prostitution law helps victims, but clients vanish behind closed doors

In the ten years since France passed a law decriminalising prostitution, but making it illegal to pay for sex, investigators have shifted their approach to sex workers to consider them as victims and not criminals. But it has become difficult to identify clients, who increasingly operate online, behind closed doors and not in public.

Issued on: 13/04/2026 - RFI

Protesters hold a banner reading "Human beings are not commodities" during a demonstration organised on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the prostitution law in France, in front of Pantheon in Paris, 12 April 2026. © Ian Langsdon/AFP

A decade after France passed a law criminalising the purchase of sexual services, authorities insist they are taking a tough approach to prostitution networks.

Adopted on 13 October 2016, after intense debate, the law punishes clients of sex workers with fines of €1,500 and up to €3,500 for repeat offences.

The 2016 law also decriminalised soliciting and set up support for people to leave prostitution.

Prostitution moving online

Ten years on, however, habits have changed. Once highly visible in public spaces, prostitution has shifted to private locations – short-term rental flats or hotel rooms – organised via online platforms, making it difficult for authorities to identify clients breaking the law.

"Clients are ordinary men," the Central office for the fight against human trafficking, OCRETH noted. "Clients are of all ages and from all social backgrounds."

Claire Quidet, spokesperson for the Mouvement du Nid, a sex worker advocacy group, points to the low number of sanctions against clients, and their uneven distribution around France: only 11,000 acts have been penalised, and 60 percent of them in the Paris region.
Hard to identify victims

It is also harder to identify sex workers in order to help them.

"Victims are increasingly invisible. They are regularly moved, from one week to the next, from one city to another, one apartment to another, to evade authorities, neighbours or associations," Lénaïg Le Bail, former head of the OCRETH, told the French AFP news agency.

According to official estimates, more than 40,000 people, the vast majority of whom are women, are involved as prostitutes in France. And the number of minors has increased sharply, up 43 percent between 2021 and 2025, according to Miprof, the Interministerial mission to protect women against violence and human trafficking.

Investigators are focusing on trafficking networks and criminal gangs, even though many women work with one or two people, via online platforms like Onlyfans ou Mym.

"This requires almost no initial investment, and quickly becomes lucrative," noted an expert report submitted to the government in 2021.

Support to leave prostitution

The law has changed how law enforcement approaches sex workers. They are now considered victims, and support systems have been set up to help them leave prostitution.

Victims are entitled to two years of support to find alternatives, including training and jobs. For those who are not French, this includes a work permit, and Quidet points out that this is significant, as most sex workers are foreigners.

However, the programme is not widely implemented

"After ten years of the law, there about 2,000 exits from prostitution across France, which is positive, but far too few," Quidet told RFI at a demonstration Sunday calling for the abolition of prostitution in France and worldwide.

"We call on all police prefectures to be much more open to exit schemes, as these efforts are also hindered by immigration policies."

The sex workers’ union Strass held discussion groups and debates in Paris on Sunday to encourage alternative approaches, as the 2016 has had a "disastrous impact" on the precariousness and security of sex workers.

(with newswires)

Government backtracks on plans allowing more work on 1st May holiday in France

The French government has temporarily abandoned a proposed law that would have allowed certain job sectors to operate on the traditional May Day holiday. Welcomed by trade unions and the left, the move has been heavily criticised by centrist and right-wing MPs.

Issued on: 14/04/2026 RFI

The proposed law wanted to lift restrictions on working on 1 May, including in bakeries. ASSOCIATED PRESS - CHRISTOPHE ENA

“The government is aware of the particular sensitivity of this issue,” said labour minister Jean-Pierre Farandou on Monday evening, following a meeting with trade union reps.

“It is Workers’ Day – the only public holiday that is a paid day off. This general principle must continue to prevail, even if certain exemptions are possible.”

The bill proposed to allow employees in shops such as bakeries, greengrocers, florists and butchers, as well as in cultural venues such as cinemas and theatres, to work on 1st May provided they volunteer.

Currently, only sectors that cannot be interrupted – such as hospitals, hotels, cafes, food stores and transport – can open on 1st May and all employees are paid double. Shop owners can open but cannot ask their staff to work.

The government was due to summon a joint parliamentary committee of MPs and senators this week to draft a bill to enable parliament to adopt the legislation in time for this year's public holiday.

But following an outcry from unions and threats by left-wing parties to bring a motion of no-confidence before parliament, the government agreed to put the proposed legislation on hold.

Farandou said the aim was to find a solution “before 1 May 2027 to address the current legal uncertainty”.

The government will now put forward "short- and medium-term" proposals for local shopkeepers who wish to employ staff on 1 May, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Monday evening, adding that he would receive affected sectors "as early as this week".

The right to work, or not to work

The bill had angered French trade unions, for whom the right not to work on May 1st, introduced in 1948, is sacrosanct.

Union leaders welcomed the government’s decision. Sophie Binet, head of the hard left CGT union, said the minister had “heard the warnings of trade unions”.

Cyril Chabanier, president of the reformist CFTC union said it marked both a victory and “a return to reason”.

“We were able to agree that there is no real economic case for opening on 1 May," he said. "It will not change France’s GDP. Purchasing power is improved through dynamic wage negotiations – not by working on a public holiday."

The hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI) warned that “although we have obtained assurances that this law will not be enforced in 2026, vigilance and mobilisation remain crucial”.

The President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, criticised the government for having “had a year to negotiate with the trade unions regarding work on 1 May and failing to do so”, describing the failure as “symptomatic” of the lack of consultation in France.

Former prime minister Gabriel Attal, head of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance group in parliament, and who had pushed for the loosening of France's employment legislation, criticised the decision to drop the bill saying the government has "not kept its commitments".

In a social media post, the head of the conservative Republicans party, Bruno Retailleau wrote: "Once again, faced with pressure from unions and the left, the executive is backing down. France needs political courage, not repeated capitulations”.

Macron’s party calls for further easing Sunday work laws

Lecornu leads a fragile government, with no clear majority in the lower house. Appointed as prime minister in September 2025, he resigned after just 26 days, before being reappointed by Macron the following month. His mission was to end the political crisis and restore stability following Macron's decision to dissolve the National Assembly in June 2024.

"The government wants in-depth social dialogue with social partners... reforms are possible: with respect and a methodical approach," the prime minister wrote on X.

Sudan drone strikes have killed nearly 700 civilians in three months, UN says

As the conflict between the army and paramilitary groups in Sudan enters its fourth year, “the world has failed to meet the test of Sudan”, United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher said on Tuesday. The civil war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 11 million.

Issued on: 14/04/2026 - RFI

A man watches as smoke billows after a drone strike on the port of Port Sudan on 6 May, 2025. © AFP

"In the first three months of this year, nearly 700 civilians were reportedly killed in drone strikes," Fletcher said in a statement, adding that three years of civil war had created the "world's largest humanitarian crisis".

In recent months, near-daily drone strikes have disrupted life across Sudan, particularly in the southern Kordofan region, now the war's main battleground, and in parts of the west, including Darfur, controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

"Millions have been driven from their homes across Sudan and beyond its borders, with entire communities emptied and families uprooted time and again. The risk of wider regional instability is high," said Fletcher.

The UN aid chief said three years of war had torn apart a country with immense promise, with almost 34 million people – almost two in every three – needing humanitarian support.

He said hunger was on the rise as the lean season closes in, while hundreds of thousands of children were acutely malnourished and millions had been deprived of education.

Women and girls are facing systemic and brutal sexual violence, he added.

Response 'critically underfunded'

Fletcher said that last year, humanitarians reached 17 million people with support, and this year woud try to help 20 million.

However, "the response is critically underfunded", he said. "We need action now – to stop the violence, protect civilians, ensure access to communities in greatest danger, and fund the response. This grim and chastening anniversary marks another year when the world has failed to meet the test of Sudan."

Denise Brown, the UN's resident coordinator in Sudan, said on Monday that the UN appeal to raise $2.9 billion (€2.45 million) for Sudan this year is only 16 percent covered, as international aid contributions from member countries decline.

Donors will gather in Berlin on Wednesday for a conference on the conflict, aimed at reviving faltering peace talks and mobilising aid for the humanitarian crisis.

(with AFP)

Exiled cartoonists give a voice to Iran's silenced millions

Paris (AFP) – Exiled Iranian cartoonist Mana Neyestani has a huge following back home for his biting humour. And one of his recent sketches sums up the "dilemma created by the regime" over the US-Israel bombing of his homeland and how it divides Iranians.

Issued on: 12/04/2026 RFI

Iranian cartoonist Sanaz Bagheri. © JOHN THYS / AFP

Two men hold a banner with the words "No to war". But one is in a balaclava and is also holding a gallows with a man hanging from it.

"It's difficult to work right now," said the Paris-based artist. "You either get labelled as a lover of the war or of the Islamic Republic."

Three exiled Iranian cartoonists who talked to AFP said they were walking the same thin line, with Sanaz Bagheri – who has been working from Amsterdam for the last seven years – insisting that they "are doing everything we can to be the voice" of those who cannot speak back home.

Artists have used satire throughout Iran's turbulent history to circumvent the threat of persecution.

Huge following: exiled Iranian cartoonist Mana Neyestani © Martin LELIEVRE / AFP

Khamenei and women

Another of Neyestani's drawings – taking a dig at Tehran's internet ban – shows Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sitting on the head of a man tied up below a no WIFI sign while declaring: "I am the voice of Iranians."

"Social media is the only way I can communicate with my audience," said the 52-year-old cartoonist, who has close to a million followers on Instagram alone.

"It's one of the only ways people inside Iran can stay informed. All official news sources inside Iran only present the government's narrative."

But that audience is now effectively cut-off by a near total internet shutdown since the start of the war in February, keeping roughly 90 million Iranians in digital darkness.

French teachers Kohler and Paris describe 'daily horror' of Iran detention

In a central Paris gallery a selection of Neyestani's works currently hangs alongside another award-winning Iranian cartoonist, Kianoush Ramezani, who works from exile in Helsinki.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, killed on February 28 at the start of the US-Israel bombing, is a frequent target of their satire.

Women feature prominently, inspired by the "Women, Life, Freedom" demonstrators sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in state custody in 2022.

Sketches include a woman with long flowing hair standing on Khamenei's burning turban, while another shows hijab-less schoolgirls ripping his portrait from their classroom wall.

"This system is built on sanctifying the supreme leader and other figures within it. They have invested enormous effort and resources to construct this sense of sanctity, and a simple cartoon can undermine it," Ramezani said.

Mana Neyestani was held in Tehran's notorious Evin prison

© Martin LELIEVRE / AFP

'Dangerous'

"Iranians are sarcastic and are good with humour, but they take political cartoons extremely seriously and that is a problem for us because when they take it too seriously," he said. "Then it becomes dangerous for us."

After periods of repression under the Shah's feared Savvak intelligence services in the 1970s, and the "sacred defence" era declared by the Islamic authorities during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, satire enjoyed a brief respite with a proliferation of reformist newspapers in the 1990s.

But the election of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005 turned the tide, with a wave of cartoonists leaving the country after mass protests against Ahmadinejad in 2009, and again with the crackdown on the Women, Life, Freedom Movement.

Kharg Island, the fragile oil lifeline behind Iran’s war economy

In a tale of Kafkaesque irony, it was a cockroach that drove Neyestani into exile in 2006.

An award-winning author of eight works, he told the story of his nightmarish fall from grace in a graphic novel, "An Iranian Metamorphosis", including his time in Tehran's notorious Evin prison over a cartoon of a young boy talking to a cockroach.

Interpreted as a slur to the Iranian Azeri community, from which Neyestani ironically hails, the drawing sparked massive riots and forced him to leave the country.

Picking up a pen has gotten no less riskier since.

Ramezani feels the threat of Tehran's long arm 4,000 kilometres away from his hometown of Rasht on the Caspian Sea.

"They spend a lot of money to make this kind of cyber army and they systematically attack you, harass you," he said, reporting cartoonists to social media platforms, claiming their content was insulting or inappropriate.

It is designed to put you in "a shadow ban to decrease your visibility," he said.

Pope visits Algeria, with calls for a 'dynamic, free' civil society

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday began the second of a two-day visit to Algeria, the first leg of his landmark African tour. He called it an opportunity to "promote peace". Several rights groups are calling on the leader of the Catholic Church to raise the issues of human rights and religious freedom with the authorities.

Issued on: 14/04/2026 - RFI

Pope Leo XIV visits the Great Mosque of Algiers "Djamaa El Djazair" with the Rector of the Great Mosque of Algiers, Mohammed Al-Mamoun Al-Qasimi Al-Hassani, on 13 April , 2026. AFP - ALBERTO PIZZOLI

The pope called his trip to Algeria "a very precious opportunity" to promote "peace and reconciliation with respect and consideration for all peoples".

The US-born pope began his visit with a call for forgiveness in a speech paying tribute to victims of the country's war of independence from France (1954-1962).

"In this place, let us remember that God desires peace for every nation," he said at the Algerian Martyr's Memorial in the capital. "This peace, which allows us to face the future with a reconciled spirit, is possible only through forgiveness."

The remarks, his first since arriving in the North African nation, come at a time of heightened tensions between Algeria and France, and follow his meeting days ago with French President Emmanuel Macron in the Vatican.

Algeria is home of Saint Augustine (354-430), an influential Christian theologian, who laid the foundations for the 13th-century Augustinian order to which Leo belongs, one based on communal living and service.

Pope Leo sets off on African tour focused on peace and unity

In Algiers, the atmosphere of celebration pervaded the air, with walls repainted, roads repaved and green spaces adorned with plants and flowerpots.

On his first stop, the pope met with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and was also set to address diplomats.

Monday's itinerary also included a visit to the Great Mosque of Algiers, home to the world's highest minaret, and the Basilica of Notre-Dame d'Afrique, overlooking the Bay of Algiers.

On Tuesday, Leo will visit the northeastern city of Annaba, formerly the ancient Roman city of Hippo, the one-time home of the saint whose autobiographical Confessions is a seminal work within the Christian tradition.

Leo also plans to pray privately in the chapel dedicated to 19 priests and nuns murdered during Algeria's 1992-2002 civil war.

The pope will not, however, visit the Tibhirine monastery, whose monks were kidnapped and murdered in 1996 in an event still shrouded in mystery.
Calls on Algeria to promote 'dynamic, free' civil society

Pope Leo XIV urged authorities in Algeria on Monday "not to fear" greater public participation in political life, calling for a "vibrant, dynamic and free civil society".

Although Algeria's constitution guarantees freedom of worship, subject to conditions, human rights groups say the repression of religious minorities is continuing.

Since the pro-democracy Hirak protests in 2019, which called for sweeping reforms and greater transparency, human rights groups have reported shrinking freedoms and greater controls over public space.

"The true strength of a nation lies in the cooperation of everyone in pursuing the common good," the pope said during the first day of his visit to the Muslim-majority country.

"Authorities are called not to dominate, but to serve the people and foster their development. Political action thus finds its guiding criterion in justice, without which there can be no authentic peace," he added.

Algeria continues to face questions over murder of French monks, 30 years on

Three human rights groups had called on Leo last week to push the issue during his visit. Human Rights Watch alongside EuroMed Rights and MENA Rights Group urged Leo to raise the issues of human rights and religious freedom with the authorities.

In a joint letter addressed to the pope, they were "writing to bring your attention to key pressing human rights concerns in the country".

"We call on you to use your good offices to raise these concerns with the Algerian authorities in private as well as in your public communications surrounding the visit and call on them to uphold their obligations under international human rights law," the letter said.
Foreign policy

The pope has also criticised as "unacceptable" Donald Trump's threats against civilians in Iran, although he did not name the US president, and he has also previously criticised the administration's "inhuman" treatment of migrants.

Trump called the pontiff "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy", suggesting that cardinals only elected Leo pope in May 2025 because he was American, and a potential bridge to Washington.

Leo responded with: "We're not politicians, we're not looking to make foreign policy as he calls it with the same perspective that he might understand it."

The papal visit to Africa will continue in Cameroon on Wednesday, followed by Angola and Equatorial Guinea, and will cover more than 18,000 kilometres between 13 and 23 April.

(with AFP)

Algeria hit by two suicide attacks during Pope Leo XIV's visit, sources say

By Gavin Blackburn

Published on 14/04/2026 - EURONEWS

No link has yet been established between the attacks and the pope's visit to the country, which was conducted under tight security.

Twin attacks rocked a city outside Algeria's capital on Monday as Pope Leo XIV started a historic visit to the country, a source with knowledge of the case said and video images verified by the AFP news agency showed.

"There were two security incidents yesterday afternoon in Blida, incidents of a terrorist nature. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up and were killed," the source told AFP on Tuesday, referring to the city some 45 kilometres southwest of Algiers.

Video images verified by AFP showed two bodies in the street in Blida.

The videos were released a few hours after the pope's arrival in Algiers. It was not clear when they were filmed.

The American pontiff on Monday became the first pope ever to visit Algeria, the first stop on a tour of four African nations.

No link has yet been established between the attacks and the pope's visit to the country, which was conducted under tight security.

Algeria's army regularly announces the arrests or deaths of "terrorists," the authorities' term for armed Islamists who are still active since the North African country's 1992-2002 civil war.

But attacks and bombings by militants are rare.

The most recent recorded suicide attack in Algeria was in February 2020. It targeted a military base and killed a soldier in the south of the country near the Malian border, and was claimed by the so-called Islamic State (IS) group.

The African Union on Tuesday condemned what it had said was an attempted double attack before retracting its comments.

AU spokesman Nuur Mohamud Sheekh said this was because the information on which the statement was based had "not been corroborated by official sources."

Algerian authorities have not confirmed the attack or commented on the African Union's statement, which was later removed from the regional body's official webpage and social media accounts.

In the original AU statement, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, had said he "condemns in the strongest possible terms the double attack that occurred on April 13, 2026, in Blida."

"He extends his sincere condolences to the families of the victims, expresses his deepest sympathy, and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured," the statement said, before it was deleted.

In March, the army said it had killed seven jihadists and lost three soldiers in an operation in the east of the country near the Tunisian border.

Celebrities speak out against Donald Trump’s AI image of himself as Jesus

By David Mouriquand

Published on 14/04/2026 - EURONEWS

It’s the now-deleted AI image that has sparked heated criticism and accusations of blasphemy, with Jon Stewart calling out Trump for the explanation behind the image, and Jack White slamming Christians who continue to support Trump – dubbing him the “worst American of all time.”

It’s been described as the “crazy” and “blasphemy”.

Yesterday, Donald Trump posted an AI-generated photo of himself.

It’s not the first time he has stooped to “memetic warfare” and rage-baiting via AI. However, this time was different.

The image sees Trump seemingly dressed as Jesus Christ, and came shortly after he criticised Pope Leo XIV as “weak” and claimed that "if I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican".

His comments on the Pope as well as the AI image drew immediate criticism from... well, everyone – from his own MAGA base to prominent members of the Catholic Church.

“Not even Hitler or Mussolini attacked the Pope so directly and publicly,” Massimo Faggioli, an expert on the papacy, said in a statement to Reuters.

“Seriously, I cannot understand why he’d post this. Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this?” conservative influencer Riley Gaines posted on X. “Either way, two things are true. 1) a little humility would serve him well 2) God shall not be mocked.”

Former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi said the AI image was "crazy" and as a Catholic he thinks it is "blasphemous", while The Knights Templar International wrote in a post that they “demand that this offensive and blasphemous image be removed forthwith! We supported President Trump in 2016 and 2024… However we are deeply offended by this and have no other choice but to condemn it wholeheartedly and ask for a public apology to the Christian brethren who have been deeply upset by this depiction.”

Trump deleted the image – a rare occurrence – and insisted that the image was “supposed to be me as a doctor making people better."

No one bought the explanation and several celebrities have also spoken out against Trump’s use of AI.

On this week’s episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart said about Trump’s excuse: “Do you even care about lying to us anymore? Is this over? Has this relationship gone stale? Your lies used to have a real spark. ‘They’re eating the cats and dogs! Venezuela stole the 2020 election!’ And now the best you’ve got is, ‘Eh, no, I wasn’t Jesus. I’m a doctor!’ You need to go back and find your happy place and fast.”

Elsewhere, rock star and vocal Trump critic Jack White issued a scathing critique of Trump and his Christian supporters.

"How can any so called Christian support him after this blasphemy?" White posted on Instagram. "How could any Catholic support him after he attacks the character of their Pope multiple times? How did so many millions of people fall for this conman?"

White went on to chastise Trump's evangelical Christian supporters for standing with him despite his "felonies, epstein files, rapes, bombing of schoolchildren, gestapo ICE agents attacking his own citizens, threatening to invade Greenland, Cuba, Venezuela and Iran."

White added: “He’s already got worst President in the history of America on lock, but I’m gonna go ahead and take the honor of pronouncing trump ‘Worst American of All Time’.”