Argentina in talks to extend China currency swap even as repayments near completion

The issue has become entangled in broader geopolitical tensions between United States and China.

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By bnl editorial staff May 20, 2026

Argentina is negotiating an extension of its currency swap agreement with China even as it moves to repay most of the activated funds under the facility by mid-2026, according to statements from the country’s central bank and local media reports.

The remaining balance of the activated portion of the swap has fallen to about $675mn, down from a peak of around $5bn, while officials expect repayment to be completed by the middle of next year, South China Morning Post reported.

Banco Central de la República Argentina president Santiago Bausili said the government was in talks with Chinese authorities to renew the agreement, rejecting speculation that the administration planned to terminate the arrangement when it expires at the end of July.

“We are talking with them to extend it. There are no plans to eliminate it,” Bausili said during a press conference, Ámbito reported.

The swap framework, first signed in 2009 and renewed in 2023, provides a credit line of up to CNY130bn, equivalent to roughly $19bn, though only a portion has been activated by Argentina in recent years to bolster foreign reserves and facilitate trade with China.

According to the central bank’s 2025 financial statements, Argentina owed the equivalent of $3.1bn at the end of 2024. That figure declined to $1bn by late December and then to $675mn by mid-January after accelerated repayments.

The outstanding amount represents only the active tranche, while the broader agreement functions as a contingency line rather than a direct debt obligation. If the framework is not renewed, Argentina would lose access to that liquidity backstop rather than face immediate repayment of the full $19bn.

The issue has become entangled in broader geopolitical tensions between United States and China. SCMP reported that Washington pushed President Javier Milei during 2025 to reduce reliance on Beijing’s financial support as a condition for broader backing.

The report said US officials linked support for Argentina’s international financing efforts to a gradual unwinding of the Chinese credit line, while the US Treasury later signed a separate $20bn swap facility with Argentina’s central bank.

Bausili also said Argentina’s export outlook remained strong, citing market forecasts for record exports of $96bn this year, and downplayed risks from speculative foreign inflows, which he said amounted to between $2bn and $2.5bn.

 

Dangote plans major Atlantic port project in southwest Nigeria to support oil, fertiliser exports

Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man, is expanding his refining, fertiliser and cement businesses across the continent / Dangote GroupFacebook

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By bne IntelliNews May 20, 2026

Dangote Industries Limited has begun preliminary work on a proposed deep-sea port project at the Olokola Free Trade Zone in southwestern Nigeria, as the conglomerate expands further into logistics and maritime infrastructure to support its other operations and export ambitions, The Punch reports.

The project, which spans more than 10,000 hectares across parts of Ogun and Ondo states, forms part of the group’s Vision 2030 strategy aimed at strengthening its position in manufacturing, logistics and export-led industrialisation.

The proposed port would be located in Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of Ogun State, extending towards Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State along the Atlantic coastline. Dangote Industries said the facility is intended to serve as a logistics and industrial hub for imports, exports and regional trade.

Dangote Industries, the parent company of the 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) Dangote Petroleum Refinery, as well as fertiliser and cement businesses, said the port would support exports of fertilisers, petrochemicals and refined petroleum products, while also facilitating imports of heavy industrial equipment and potentially future liquefied natural gas exports.

The Lagos refinery, which has been expanding exports of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel across African markets, is projected to double its output to 1.4mn bpd within 30 months. 

“The Olokola Port project is a major step in opening up Nigeria’s economic potential, strengthening trade, reducing pressure on existing ports, and supporting industrial growth,” said MD for Infrastructure and Logistics Capt Jamil Abubakar, as quoted by The Punch.

“With its strategic location, Olokola would serve as a key gateway for exports and imports, boosting Nigeria’s competitiveness in regional and global trade,” he added.

Abubakar said the proposed facility had been designed as part of an integrated industrial and logistics ecosystem intended to strengthen regional commerce and supply chains across Africa. He added that Dangote Industries would maintain engagement with host communities throughout implementation.

Apart from creating jobs and attracting foreign direct investment and, the company said it would support Nigeria’s export diversification strategy and strengthen participation in intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, president of the conglomerate, said last week he is considering Kenya as the preferred location for a proposed 650,000 bpd refinery in East Africa, shifting focus away from an earlier plan centred on Tanzania.

Meanwhile, he is targeting a valuation of around $50bn for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery ahead of a planned stock market listing later in 2026, which could sell up to a 10% stake through the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).

South Korean labour minister to mediate talks as Samsung faces strike threat

South ​Korea's ​labour minister will personally mediate talks ​between ‌Samsung ⁠Electronics and ‌its South Korean ⁠union, the ministry announced Thursday after the union threatened a strike following the collapse of talks on bonus payouts.


Issued on: 20/05/2026 
By: FRANCE 24

A visitor walks past a Samsung Electronics logo at the Korea Electronics Show 2025 in Seoul on October 22, 2025. © Jung Yeon-je, AFP (File)


South Korea's labour minister is set to mediate talks between Samsung and its union, the labour ministry announced Wednesday in a bid to prevent a strike called for Thursday.

The threatened strike is expected to dwarf a 2024 walkout that drew about 6,000 workers at the world's top memory chipmaker.

The dispute centres on profit-sharing at a key player in the global semiconductor supply chain, with its chips widely used in artificial intelligence systems and consumer electronics.

The tech giant's shares have surged nearly 400 percent over the past year on the back of an AI boom, and saw its market capitalisation top $1 trillion for the first time in May.

The union had called for the scrapping of a bonus cap set at 50 percent of annual salaries and for 15 percent of operating profit to be allocated to bonuses.

"Around 10:00 pm on May 19, the labor union agreed to the mediation proposal put forward by the National Labor Relations Commission; however, management expressed its refusal," it said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The labour union will lawfully commence a general strike tomorrow as scheduled."

According to the union's lawyer, around 50,500 workers are set to walk off production lines for 18 days from Thursday following the breakdown of negotiations with management.

Samsung's management said the talks failed because "acceding to the labour union's excessive demands would risk undermining the fundamental principles of the company's management".

"Under no circumstances should a strike take place," it said.

Concerns are growing within the South Korean government that a prolonged union strike could hurt the export-driven economy, with chips making up about 35 percent of exports.

South Korea's presidential office voiced "deep regret" over the collapse of the talks, urging both sides to keep working toward an agreement given the strike's "potential repercussions for the Korean economy".

Some experts say even a partial halt in Samsung's operations could prove damaging – though the union argues that production stoppages have already occurred in the past for reasons related to maintenance and equipment inspections.

The government could invoke emergency mediation powers – a measure that could halt strikes or other industrial action and trigger mediation if they are deemed a threat to the national economy.

Limited impact?

But Tom Hsu, an analyst at Taipei-based research firm TrendForce, said the strike's potential impact may be limited.

"Due to the high level of automation in front-end facilities, TrendForce expects Samsung's DRAM and NAND Flash production to remain at full capacity," he told AFP.

"Any potential impact from the strike is likely to be confined to non-memory business segments."

A Suwon court this week granted Samsung Electronics an injunction requiring staffing and operations to be maintained at normal levels during any walkout.

Kim Sung-hee, director of Workers' Institute for the Industrial and Labour Policy, said that while the strike could cause losses, "they are unlikely to be irreversible".

The strike does not mean it would "automatically trigger an economic crisis", he told AFP.

AI boom

Samsung is a major producer of chips used in everything from artificial intelligence to consumer electronics, raising the prospect that the planned strike could cause severe disruption and losses.

The company said this year it had begun mass production of next-generation high-bandwidth memory chips, HBM4, seen as a key component for scaling up the vast data centres needed for AI development.

The dispute unfolds against the backdrop of an AI boom that is benefiting South Korean tech groups, boosting national growth and the stock market.

Both Samsung and its domestic rival SK hynix posted record profits in the first quarter, driven by global demand for AI chips.

Long staunchly anti-union, late founder Lee Byung-chul once vowed never to allow unions "until I have dirt over my eyes".

Samsung Electronics' first labour union was formed in the late 2010s.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)

Los Angeles World Cup workers vow strike if ICE deployed at stadium

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Issued on: 20/05/2026 - FRANCE24

Workers at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium vowed Monday to go on strike if federal immigration enforcement agents are deployed at the venue when it hosts World Cup matches next month. The UNITE HERE Local 11, representing around 2,000 hospitality employees, is demanding federal guarantees that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will not be used in any of the eight WorldCup matches scheduled to take place at the stadium.

France to return bodies of Indigenous people exhibited in colonial ‘human zoos’

French senators have unanimously passed a bill allowing for the remains of people who were exhibited in colonial-era “human zoos” in Paris to be returned to their ancestral lands in French Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America. The draft law meets a long-standing demand of Indigenous communities in France’s overseas territories, acknowledging a dark chapter from the country’s past.


Issued on: 19/05/2026 - 
FRANCE24
By: Benjamin DODMAN

 A ritual ceremony featuring the remains of Indigenous Kalina community members who died in 19th-century "human zoos" at Paris's Musée de l'Homme, September 17, 2024. © JC Domenech, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle

A leisure park with more than 150 years of history, the Jardin d’acclimatation in Paris owes its distinctive name to a 19th-century fascination for exotic species shipped in from across the French Empire and beyond.

But it was not only plants and animals that were “acclimatised” to grey skies and cold winters in this leafy corner of the French capital.

Between 1877 and 1931, the amusement park hosted numerous “ethnological shows” displaying Indigenous groups from colonised lands in “traditional” dress, which drew huge crowds of visitors from Paris and across Europe.

Among the “exhibits” were 33 children, teenagers and young adults from the Kalina and Arawak people of modern-day French Guiana and neighbouring Suriname, whose 1892 ordeal in the Paris amusement park was the subject of a solemn vote held in the French Senate on Monday.

A picture from the 1892 exhibition of indigenous Kalina and Arawak people at the Jardin d'acclimatation on the western edge of Paris. © Bonaparte Roland, Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac


In a rare display of unity, the upper chamber of parliament voted unanimously to return the remains of six Kalina members who died of sickness contracted during the colonial exhibition, backing a bill sponsored by a trio of lawmakers from left, right and centre.

Several senators spoke of their “shame” at the horror inflicted on Indigenous communities from what is now a full-fledged overseas department of France located on the northeastern coast of South America.

“We are talking about men and women, human beings torn from their land, their people, and their dignity,” said centrist lawmaker Catherine Morin-Desailly, who co-authored the bill with colleagues from the Communist Party and the right-wing Les Républicains.
‘Restoring their humanity’

The Senate bill – which the lower-house National Assembly is expected to approve – concerns six sets of remains that were exhumed for anthropological purposes in the late 19th century and have remained in public collections ever since. They will be returned to the Kalina’s ancestral lands more than 7,000 kilometres away, along with eight casts of parts of the deceased’s bodies also held at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, the Paris natural history museum.

Among the 33 Amerindians who were exhibited at the Jardin d’acclimatation in 1892 was 12-year-old Moliko, whose great-great-grand-daughter Corinne Toka-Devilliers has spearheaded efforts to repatriate the remains of those who never made it back. She spoke of her relief and joy at hearing the names of her ancestors ring out in the Senate chamber.

“Naming them restores their humanity,” she said. “It restores an identity to people who were kept in a museum for more than 130 years, nameless and unknown to all but their loved ones back home.”

Toka-Devilliers heads the association Moliko Alet+Po, which translates as "Moliko’s descendants" in the Kalina language. Its aim is to seek recognition and reparation for a colonial practice that stretched over multiple decades but has been largely silenced since.

Despite drawing condemnation from some quarters, including in Moliko’s day, "human zoos” continued in Europe well into the 1950s. Historians estimate that around 35,000 people from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Oceania were exhibited for the “education” and amusement of European and US citizens between the 19th and 20th centuries.

“Acknowledging this history and the fact that men and women from an overseas French territory were exhibited in this way is a major step forward for the French state – and for all those who have been colonised,” said Toka-Devilliers. She described the French government’s support for the bill voted in the Senate as a “victory for our ancestors and for Indigenous people”.

Legislative loophole

Addressing his Senate colleagues ahead of the vote, conservative lawmaker Max Brisson, another of the bill's co-authors, said the case of the Kalina remains underscored “the urgent need to recognise the dehumanisation that underpinned the creation of certain (museum) collections”.

Such efforts are well underway in many of France’s leading museums, said Toka-Devilliers, who thanked the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac and the Musée de l’Homme, part of the Muséum d’Histoire naturelle, for their help in identifying the remains.

Two years ago, the Musée de l’Homme hosted a group of shamans and other Indigenous leaders from French Guiana and Suriname, who gathered around their ancestors’ identified remains for a ritual ceremony designed to “appease their souls”.“Such museums have also evolved in recent years, coming to terms with their own history,” said Toka-Devilliers, who attended the ceremony. “It shows that a lot of work has been done to change attitudes towards France’s colonial past,” she added.

Representatives of the Kalina people gathered at the Musée de l'Homme in Paris, in September 2024. © J.-C. Domenech, Musée national d'Histoire naturelle

While France has recently stepped up its efforts to return artworks and other precious items plundered during colonial times, a legislative loophole has so far hindered groups like Moliko Alet+Po from obtaining redress.

A framework law passed in December 2023 allowed for the return of human remains by making an exception to the principle that public collections are inalienable. But this procedure is reserved for requests from foreign states and therefore does not apply to France's overseas territories.

As she welcomed the Senate vote on Monday, Culture Minister Catherine Pégard expressed support for new legislation to “facilitate the repatriation of human remains to overseas territories” and respond to future requests – a demand backed by Moliko Alet+Po.

“Our people are ready to return home – and our land is ready to welcome them,” said Toka-Devilliers. “But we need a law that works for everyone, because there are many others like us who are still waiting to lay their ancestors to rest.”

Israel far-right finance minister says ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrant against him


Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Tuesday the International Criminal Court prosecutor had sought an arrest warrant against him, blaming the Palestinian Authority for the move. 

Smotrich said Israel would respond by ordering the evacuation of the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank.


Issued on: 20/05/2026
By: FRANCE 24

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would force the evacuation of a Palestinian community in the occupied West Bank after hearing that he was to be targeted by an ICC arrest warrant © Ilia YEFIMOVICH, AFP

Israel's far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said Tuesday that the International Criminal Court prosecutor has requested an arrest warrant against him, accusing the Palestinian Authority of pushing for the move.

Smotrich said he would retaliate by ordering the evacuation of the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank.

"Last night I was informed that the criminal prosecutor of the antisemitic court in The Hague has filed a request for an international arrest warrant against me," Smotrich told a news conference broadcast on his X account Monday.

"As a sovereign and independent state, we do not accept hypocritical dictates from biased bodies that time and again take a stand against the State of Israel," he added, without disclosing the charges for which the warrant has been requested.


The ICC prosecutor's office said it was "unable to comment on media speculation or questions related to any alleged application for a warrant of arrest".

In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, to face accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity over Israel's actions during its war against Hamas in Gaza.

'Declaration of war'

"Immediately upon the conclusion of my remarks here, we will sign an order to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar," Smotrich said, calling the warrant request "a declaration of war".

More than 750 people live in the community of Khan al-Ahmar, around 10 kilometres east of Jerusalem's Old City in the central West Bank and surrounded by Israeli settlements.

The Palestinian Authority's Settlement and Wall Resistance Commission urged the international community to stop the move.

"Targeting Khan al-Ahmar is part of a long-term strategic settlement project... through which Israel seeks to create complete settlement contiguity that would separate the northern West Bank from its south," the commission's minister, Muayad Shaaban, was quoted as saying.

Peace Now, an Israeli settlement watchdog, also denounced the move.

"The Minister of Expulsion and Annexation seeks to take revenge on The Hague and the international community at the expense of one of the most vulnerable communities," it said.

Khan al-Ahmar sits near land Israel plans to use for its controversial E1 development project that would facilitate settlement expansion in the area near Jerusalem.

Smotrich, who lives in a settlement himself, is a staunch proponent of Israel annexing the West Bank.

"Under this government, we see that for the first time they've approved the very sensitive and significant plan of E1, and they're going ahead with plans to annex that entire region," Lior Amihai, Peace Now's executive director, told AFP.

"In order for them to annex the entire region, they need to also expel the Palestinian communities from there and Khan al-Ahmar is one of them," he added.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Help wanted: Australian conservation group seeks new koala rescue dog

Sydney (AFP) – An Australian animal welfare group is seeking a heroic dog with an appetite for adventure for a full-time position as a koala rescuer.

Issued on: 20/05/2026 - FRANCE24

Bear the koala rescue dog has retired, and an Australian animal welfare group is looking for his successor © Handout / International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)/AFP

The successful pooch will replace the world-famous Bear, credited with saving over 100 koalas from bushfires during a decade of service.

"Bear set the gold standard for koala detection dogs," the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Oceania head of programmes Josey Sharrad said.

"He's leaving very big boots to fill, but now it's time to find his successor to follow in his pawprints and keep protecting koalas."

The ideal candidate will be a rescue pup with a lot of energy and an "obsessive" personality -- attributes that might make it hard to find a home but which make it perfect for saving koalas, IFAW said.

"By only recruiting a rescue dog, it's a win-win -- giving a dog the chance of a new life while helping our iconic koalas," Innovation for Conservation director and handler Russell Miller said.

Other key attributes are a love of play, confidence and a gentle temperament towards fellow animals is crucial.

They must also be medium sized -- "not too small that they struggle in the bush, not too big that the handlers can't carry them when needed", according to the IFAW job ad.

Interviews were being held in eastern Australia's Sunshine Coast but applications by video are also welcome.

Bear's skills saved over 100 koalas as the Black Summer bushfires raged across Australia's eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020, razing millions of hectares, destroying thousands of homes and blanketing cities in noxious smoke.

The tail-wagging detective with a "joyful and goofy" personality retired with an extensive list of accolades -- including an Animal of the Year award and Puppy Tales Photos Australian Dog of the Year award.

© 2026 AFP

Around 10 'new' victims in France's Epstein probe, says prosecutor

Around 10 "new" suspected victims have come forward in a French probe into the network of late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a Paris prosecutor said Sunday.


Issued on: 17/05/2026 - RFI

Epstein's apartment near Paris's Champs-Elysees, where a former Dutch model, among others, has said women and girls were sexually abused. AFP/File

France opened a human trafficking investigation after the US Justice Department in January released the latest cache of files from the investigation into the disgraced financier, who died in prison in 2019 while facing charges of trafficking underage girls for sex.

French magistrates are seeking to investigate possible offences committed in France or involving French perpetrators who facilitated his crimes.

Top Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said around 20 suspected victims had made themselves known after she urged potential victims to speak up in February.

Some were already known to investigators, she told the RTL broadcaster.

"But we also had new victims come forward, ones we didn't know at all. There are around 10 of them," she added.

A timeline of the documented history and interactions between Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, featuring evidence drawn from the unsealed Epstein files at the Memorial Reading Room in New York City, May 8, 2026. REUTERS - David Dee Delgado

Listening to victims

"The choice we've made for the time being is to listen to these victims," she said.

"A certain number of them are abroad so the investigators are trying to set up meetings to suit when they are able to come to Paris."

Investigators were also scouring through the so-called Epstein files, and would be searching them for any names mentioned by alleged victims, she said.

"We have also got back out Mr. Epstein's computer, his telephone records, his address books," she said, adding her team would be "making requests for international assistance."

French former associate of Jeffrey Epstein found dead in Paris jail

French investigators searched Epstein's luxury Paris apartment in September 2019, more than a month after he was found hanged in his New York jail cell, after allegations that he procured young women to abuse in France.

"None of the people who could potentially be implicated have been questioned" so far, Beccuau said.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to procuring for prostitution a girl under the age of 18, and served 13 months in prison before being released on probation.

Botswana eases anti-LGBTQ laws as repression grows elsewhere in Africa

Botswana has formally repealed sections of its penal code criminalising same-sex relations, in a rare advance for LGBTQ rights in Africa. But several governments elsewhere on the continent are introducing harsher penalties for same-sex relationships.


Issued on: 17/05/2026 - RFI

LGBTQ activists in Botswana respond to the Coalition of Botswana Christian Churches against homosexuality, July 22, 2023 that protested legislation seeking to make same-sex relation legal. AFP - MONIRUL BHUIYAN

On 17 May 1990, the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses and since then many countries mark International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia on that day each year.

While much of the African continent remains hostile terrain for LGBTQ people, campaigners in Botswana say a years-long legal battle has begun to bear fruit.

In 2019, Botswana’s High Court ruled that laws criminalising same-sex relations were unconstitutional and the penal code was formally amended in March this year.

“We welcome with joy the decision by the government’s legal representative to formally repeal these sections of the penal code,” says Nozizwe Ntesang, head of the rights group Legabibo.

“It's encouraging for us, because this new government has clearly shown, from the beginning, that it stands on the side of human rights – rights which by definition concern everyone and therefore include LGBT people,” she told RFI's Claire Bargelès.

The legislation was passed despite opposition, backed by some religious groups.

Demonstrators from the Coalition of Botswana Christian Churches chants slogans against homosexuality and hold placards while marching toward the Parlament of Botswana on July 22, 2023 protesting against legislation seeking to make same-sex relation legal. AFP - MONIRUL BHUIYAN

Ntesang credits Botswana’s courts, as well as years of lobbying and dialogue with religious leaders, in overcoming opposition to same-sex relationships.

“I think Botswana is fortunate to have a strong judicial system, independent, and capable of examining human rights issues,” she said.

“These robust institutions, together with advocacy work and the possibility of engaging with partners such as religious representatives – all this helps explain these advances in Botswana, and I hope other countries and civil societies will manage to do the same, and begin dialogue around their local legislation.”

Gay Ugandan refugees Chris Wasswa and Kasaali Brian return after shopping for food in Nairobi, Kenya, 11 June, 2020. Uganda has some of the toughest anti-LGBT legislation on the continent while Nairobi is trying to introduce tougher penalties for same sex couples as part of the proposed 2023 Family Protection Bill but it has not yet been passed. © AP

Senegal toughens penalties

Elsewhere on the continent, several governments are going in the opposite direction.

In Senegal, a new law adopted in March doubled prison sentences for what the authorities describe as “acts against nature”. Same-sex relations, previously punishable by between one and five years in prison, now carry sentences of five to 10 years.

On Thursday, France said it was “concerned” by the tougher penalties introduced in Senegal and by new offences linked to so-called “promotion" of homosexuality which could affect organisations or activists campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights.

There have been several arrests since the new legislation was introduced. On 10 April, a court in Dakar sentenced a young Senegalese man to six years in prison after he was caught having sex with another man in the suburbs of the capital.

In a separate case, a French engineer in his thirties living in Dakar has been held since February. He faces charges including “acts against nature”, criminal conspiracy, money laundering and attempted transmission of HIV.

France says consular officials have visited him four times in detention.

A protestor chants anti-gay slogans during a demonstration against homosexuality in Dakar, Senegal, 6 March, 2026. AP - Misper Apawu

Nationalist rhetoric

Ghana’s parliament has passed a bill introducing harsher criminal penalties and encouraging people to report suspected homosexual activity, although the legislation has not yet been promulgated.

Burkina Faso and Mali have also tightened their laws.

Ghana activists denounce new bill that makes identifying as LGBTQ+ a crime

Rights groups say religious pressure and outside influence – from both American evangelical networks and Russia – have made their work increasingly difficult.

A Reuters investigation found that the US pro-family group MassResistance, known for its anti-LGBT+ stance, has helped the Senegalese collective And Samm Jikko Yi ("together, let us preserve our values"), which championed the law passed in mid-March.

Human rights groups also point to nationalist rhetoric, which claims that homosexuality is imported from the West, is increasingly being invoked to bolster homophobic discourse, in a bid to gain popular support.

“Governments and politicians use LGBT+ people as scapegoats,” says Alex Müller, director of the LGBT+ Rights Programme at Human Rights Watch. “This helps divert attention away from their potential failures," she told Le Monde.

According to France's equality watchdog (Observatoire des Inégalités), 31 African countries still criminalise homosexuality.

In some cases, the death penalty remains on the statute books, including in Mauritania, Nigeria, parts of Somalia and Uganda.

Uganda introduced some of the world’s harshest anti-LGBT legislation in 2023, with potential life imprisonment for same-sex relations and the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality" such as relationships under duress, involving a minor or a parent.

Shock threat by billionaire Bolloré's Canal+ group rocks French cinema

Cannes (France) (AFP) – The head of France's biggest film producer, Canal+, said Sunday that the group would no longer work with 600 industry professionals who signed a petition against right-wing billionaire owner Vincent Bolloré.


Issued on: 17/05/2026 - RFI

Actor Juliette Binoche was one of the 600 leading figures to warn against a "fascist takeover of the collective imagination" in a petition published last week in Libération daily. Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP - Vianney Le Caer

The announcement, made at the Cannes Film Festival, is likely to send shockwaves through the European industry at the annual gathering of the world's movie elite on the French Riviera.

"I experienced that petition as an injustice toward the Canal+ teams, who are committed to defending the independence of Canal+ and the full diversity of its choices," chief executive Maxime Saada said on Sunday in Cannes.

"I will no longer work with and I no longer want Canal to work with the people who signed that petition," he added.

The petition called people to mobilise against "the growing grip of the far right" on the film industry under the influence of Bolloré and the Canal+ group.


Signatories included French superstar Juliette Binoche as well as director Arthur Harari, who co-wrote the Oscar-winning "Anatomy of a Fall" in 2023 and is premiering his film "The Unknown" in the main competition in Cannes.

Emmanuel Marre, whose film "A Man Of His Time" about France's collaboration under Nazi rule, is also in the Cannes competition and also signed the petition.

Reshaping business

The tumult mirrors similar upheaval in the media and publishing worlds where Bolloré, a conservative close to far-right politicians, is reshaping businesses he controls from television channels to publishing houses.

In a sign of Bolloré's divisive reputation, the Canal+ logo was booed in Cannes at some screenings this year, including for the opening film "The Electric Kiss".

Last month more than 100 authors at the Bolloré-owned Grasset publishing group, home to some of the biggest names in French literature, said they would leave after the ousting of its long-time CEO.

Bolloré's aggressive expansion into the French media in recent years has been cheered by conservatives as rebalancing what they see as long-standing left-wing bias.

The billionaire, a devout Catholic who made his money in logistics, has been frequently compared by commentators to Australian-born US media mogul Rupert Murdoch, with the Bolloré-owned CNews news channel bearing similarities to US network Fox News.

French cinema faces reckoning as media mogul Bolloré blacklists stars for daring to challenge him


France's film industry is reeling after its biggest film financier – Canal+, whose main shareholder is right-wing billionaire Vincent Bolloré – announced it would no longer work with some 600 professionals who signed a petition opposing Bolloré and the "grip of the far right" on cinema. The fallout is highlighting some uncomfortable truths about the industry's reliance on one company.


Issued on: 18/05/2026 - 21:45Modified: 19/05/2026 - FRANCE24
By: Mehdi BOUZOUINA

This combination of pictures shows French businessman Vincent Bolloré attending an event to celebrate the 200 years of French daily newspaper Le Figaro at the Grand Palais in Paris on January 13, 2026, and the logo of French television channel "Canal Plus" (Canal+). © Julien de Rosa, Lionel Bonaventure, AFP

The blacklist was announced at Cannes, where one of the world's most prestigious film festivals was already under way, sending an immediate chill through the industry.

Chairman Maxime Saada said on Sunday that he no longer wanted Canal+ to work with the hundreds of industry professionals who had signed a petition accusing billionaire Vincent Bolloré, the main shareholder of Canal+, of leading a far-right "civilisational project".

Published in French daily "Libération" on the eve of Cannes' opening and signed by some of France's best-known filmmakers and actors – including Juliette Binoche, Cédric Klapisch and Gilles Lellouche – the petition denounced what it called the "growing grip of the far right" on French cinema, channelled largely through Bolloré.

The billionaire mogul "makes no secret of the fact that he is leading a reactionary, far-right 'civilisational project'", the signatories wrote, adding: "While the influence of this ideological offensive on the content of films has been discreet so far, we are under no illusions: it won't last."


The response was sweeping.

"I saw that petition as an injustice towards the Canal+ teams, who are committed to defending Canal+'s independence and the full diversity of its choices," Saada said on the sidelines of the festival on Sunday.

"I will no longer work with, and I no longer want Canal to work with, the people who signed that petition."

Canal+ is France's largest film and TV production company. Its in-house subsidiary StudioCanal is Europe’s leading film and television studio, with worldwide distribution.

Bolloré's media empire also includes the CNews television station and Europe 1 radio, two outlets frequently criticised for amplifying far-right narratives.

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Saada's announcement quickly prompted comparisons to one of Hollywood's darkest periods.

"This kind of blacklist recalls McCarthyism in the 1940s, when the studio system sidelined anyone suspected of holding 'un-American' views and derailed or ended careers," says FRANCE 24 culture journalist Olivia Salazar-Winspear.

"Excluding these people from Canal+ productions would have major consequences for the future of the industry."

Bolloré is often described as France's answer to Australian-American mogul Rupert Murdoch, a comparison Salazar-Winspear considers fitting. "He is firmly right-wing, and if you look at the media outlets he owns – CNews, Europe 1 – these are platforms that do not shy away from giving airtime to far-right voices," she said.

READ MORE How Bolloré, the ‘French Murdoch’, carried Le Pen’s far right to the brink of power

The industry's biggest player

The threat from Canal+ carries particular weight because of its outsized role in French cinema, underscoring the industry's dependence on its funding decisions.

According to figures from the CNC, France's national film funding body, in 2024 the Canal+ group received 43.6 percent of all investments made in French broadcasting and streaming content. The group pre-bought the rights to 74 percent of French feature films produced that year, with an average contribution of €1.3 million per film. A new three-year agreement signed in 2025 commits Canal+ to investing at least €480 million in French cinema through 2027.

Film journalist Estelle Aubin described the scale of the group's influence in stark terms. "Canal+ is the leading financier of French cinema," she said. "They invest huge sums in films before they are even made, paying producers upfront. Without that, the entire ecosystem is at risk."

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Aubin noted that the latest controversy follows a tense stand-off last year between Saada and producers over the rules governing when streaming platforms can show films after their theatrical release. When Disney+ secured a shorter exclusivity window, Saada threatened to reduce Canal+'s investment commitments.

"He issued an ultimatum," Aubin said. "The whole sector was frightened. Films would simply stop being made."
‘Wake-up call’

Bolloré's ambitions in cinema extend beyond Canal+. Last year, the group acquired a 34 percent stake in UGC, France's second-largest cinema chain, with a path to full ownership by 2028.

For Salomé Gadafi, deputy secretary-general of the CGT Spectacle entertainment union, the strategy is clear. "He is trying to control the entire production chain," she said. "What is happening now is a wake-up call for the sector, just as it was in the press and publishing industries."

The comparison is telling. French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche was shaken by strikes in 2023 after a Bolloré-backed editor took over. The Éditions Grasset publishing house has also faced turmoil since entering Bolloré's orbit. Each time, the same pattern: an acquisition followed by a gradual editorial shift.

READ MORETurmoil at publisher owned by French billionaire Bolloré sparks exodus of top authors

At Canal+, direct intervention has so far remained limited – but visible. Bolloré, a practising Catholic, reportedly blocked the acquisition of "Grâce à Dieu" (By the Grace of God), a film about clerical sexual abuse directed by François Ozon, despite prior approval by Canal+ executives. He also reportedly pushed writers on the Canal+ series "Paris Police 1905" to remove references to France's 1905 law separating church and state.

CGT’s Gadafi argues that the fears of professional retaliation are palpable. "In our sector, blacklisting is something very real – we've seen lists circulating with people labelled as ... ‘difficult’ because they asked to be paid money they were owed," she says.

"But you cannot blacklist an entire profession. This is the moment for people to stand together."

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For culture reporter Aubin, the timing of Saada's remarks was significant. "Cannes is cinema's international shop window," she said. "It's the moment when the industry reflects on itself. That's why this debate is erupting here."

For now, no major filmmaker or producer has publicly said they will stop working with Canal+. The financial reality makes such a break difficult to imagine. But in Cannes, a subject long discussed only in private has now burst into the open – and the French film industry may find it harder to look away.