Trump says US will halt $4 billion in aid to Israel after end of the year

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that the United States will stop $4 billion in funding to Israel after the end of this year. While speaking to Fox News' Fox and Friends, the US president added that Israel no longer needed the aid from Washington, and that some politicians were using the funding to criticise Republicans.


Issued on: 03/11/2026
By: FRANCE 24

A file image of President Donald Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 29, 2025. © Alex Brandon, AP

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he made a deal with Israeli Prime ​Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington would stop $4 billion in funding to Israel after the end of this year.

Speaking to Fox News' Fox and Friends, Trump said Israel no longer needed the funding and that some Democrats ​and left-wing politicians ‌were using the US financial support to Israel as a talking point ⁠to criticise Republicans.

"Now, as far as paying Israel, Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that we give Israel $4 billion a year, ‌and we made a deal months ago that we're stopping," Trump told Fox ⁠News' Fox and Friends.

"We've already agreed that by the end of this year we won't be paying Israel. Now we'll help Israel if they need it," he said.

There was no ​immediate comment from Netanyahu's office on Trump's remarks.

It was not immediately clear which ‌exact funding Trump meant.

A memorandum of understanding that provides $3.8 billion annual US military aid to Israel is approaching its expiration date in 2028 and conversations have been under way on how Washington's assistance to Israel would evolve ‌beyond that date.

"They can buy whatever they want. They can buy whatever they want. So can Europe. We make the greatest weapons ​in the world," Trump added on Tuesday.

Netanyahu said in a May interview with CBS that he hoped to wean Israel off US military support within a decade.

In a June letter to a US ​congressman he wrote that the time had come for Israel "to move from aid recipient to ​partner".

US public support for Israel has fallen since the Gaza war began ​in 2023, particularly among Democrats.

A June Quinnipiac University poll found 48 percent of voters and 66 percent of Democrats believe the United States is too ​supportive of Israel, up from 16 percent and 20 percent when the question was first asked in 2017.

Support for Israel among Democratic voters has plummeted, candidates critical of Israel are winning Democratic primaries and even moderate lawmakers are increasingly willing to challenge decades of US support for Israel.

"The left uses the $4 billion payment that ⁠everybody knows about, well it's no secret, as a signal of unfairness, and we can't allow that to happen," Trump said.

"We ⁠were giving them ​$4 billion, we are, but it gets cut off at the end of the year," he said. "Why? Because they don't need it."

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)

Trump cuts Israeli military aid: $3.8 billion in security assistance slashed


Issued on: 03/11/2026 - FRANCE24



US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, November 3, said he made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for Washington to stop providing $3.8 billion in funding to Israel after the end of this year. 

FRANCE 24's Jerusalem correspondent, Noga Tarnopolsky, has more.

Nations commit to get nature goals back on track at COP17 summit

Yerevan (AFP) – Nearly 200 nations struck hard-fought agreements Friday at a UN biodiversity summit, but the outcome was accompanied by disappointment over missed opportunities to address humanity's destructive toll on nature.


Issued on:  31/10/2026 -  RFI

Delegates cheered as the crucial texts were approved in overtime

 © Karen MINASYAN / AFP



Delegates cheered as crucial texts were approved in overtime but the celebrations were tempered by acrimonious debates and regret over limited progress on some of the most contentious issues.

The COP17 summit in Armenia sought to revive a landmark commitment to halt and reverse the destruction of nature by 2030 after global efforts to meet that goal fell short.

Over two bruising weeks in Yerevan, nations were urged to correct course to keep the pact alive and protect the plants, animals and ecosystems that sustain life on Earth.

The United Nations had warned that progress was insufficient to meet the goals of the 2030 target including protecting 30 percent of Earth's land and oceans, tackling pollution and invasive species, and boosting money for conservation.

"And that's it. Perfect," said COP17 president Hambardzum Matevosyan in Armenia as he brought down the gavel on two major texts, the final versions of which were still not available early Saturday.

But the outcome was "not commensurate" with the crisis engulfing the natural world, said French Ecological Transition Minister Monique Barbut on Saturday.

"The progress we failed to achieve here is a series of missed opportunities to speed up our response to the loss of biodiversity," Barbut said in a lengthy statement sent to AFP, stressing that "nature will not wait for the pace of our negotiations."

Cop17 races for desertification deal as report warns half world’s soils under threat

'Step forward'

The final plenary stretched through Friday night and well into the next morning, with negotiations turning sour as the hours dragged on.

Even as some delegates left to catch flights, others stayed behind to argue technical points.

Veteran COP observer Juliette Landry from the IDDRI think tank told AFP "there was a lot of push and pull in every direction" throughout the summit and "in that context, it's hard to get things accepted".

UN biodiversity chief Astrid Schomaker said the summit had achieved some "quite remarkable things at a moment when multilateralism is supposedly not functioning."

"Some of these more difficult subjects, we could not expect to have strong negotiated commitments. That was never the plan," she told reporters after the summit's close.

In a draft agreement of one closely watched text, nations were urged to "accelerate" their efforts and warned that "increased action" was needed to tackle the forces driving biodiversity loss.

This "represents a positive outcome... and though there are weaknesses, particularly on harmful subsidies, it does represent a step forward," Guido Broekhoven from WWF International told AFP.

Tackling subsidies and other incentives that encourage activities harmful to nature – such as fossil fuels, intensive agriculture and overfishing – was one of the most politically fraught agenda items at the summit.

"Even though the agreed decision text expresses it in weak terms, COP17 saw important political momentum to address harmful financial incentives, including subsidies," An Lambrechts from Greenpeace International told AFP.

A rare fight over science cast a pall over the summit, with a number of countries accused of undermining efforts to approve key reports in scenes that shocked even seasoned negotiators.

"We regret the increasing instances in which scientific evidence and its uptake has been challenged or constrained" by politics, said Swiss negotiator Gabriela Blatter in a statement on behalf of dozens of countries.

"Our delegations fully respect every state's right to safeguard national interest but science is not negotiable".

Nations accused of undermining science at UN nature talks

The final, agreed, version of the document was not immediately available

 © STRINGER / AFP

Finance feud

A separate row revolved around finding new cash sources to fund conservation efforts – another hot-button issue with public budgets under strain amid an energy crisis and conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

The European Union led a charge for wealthy emerging economies such as China to contribute to global conservation efforts, a contentious issue at COP17.

In a sign of possible compromise, another draft text that circulated Friday invited countries outside the developed-country donors to voluntarily join the group.

Outstanding questions over the design of the Cali Fund – a UN mechanism that hoped to attract billions of dollars in corporate contributions but is close to empty – were left unresolved.

"By punting essential decisions to two years from now, parties have all but ensured the fund remains empty until then," said Pakhi Das from the nonprofit organisation Plant-for-the-Planet.

The COP17 summit decided early Saturday that Ecuador would host the next biodiversity talks in 2028 after the South American nation defeated rival candidate Panama in a secret vote.

US and Russia block competing UN resolutions on Western Sahara

The mandate for a UN-led peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara is set to end on Saturday after Russia and the United States vetoed each other's draft resolutions on extending the 35-year-old mission.


Issued on: 31/10/2026 - RFI

MINURSO personnel, seen here in 2020, are now in limbo since their mandate to continue a peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara expired on 31 October. © Fadel Senna / AFP

The peacekeeping force, known by the acronym MINURSO, was established in 1991 to oversee a ceasefire and settlement plan between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front.

The two sides have disputed control of Western Sahara for 50 years.

Morocco claims sovereignty over the former Spanish colony; Polisario Front separatists, supported by Algeria and who represent the indigenous Sahrawi people, are seeking to establish an independent state called the Sahrawi Republic.

As of June this year MINURSO comprised 359 civilian and military personnel, according to its website.

US and Russia vetoes

On Friday, the United States tabled a draft resolution a the UN Security Council to extend the mission until 30 April, 2027. It would have put a Moroccan autonomy plan at the centre of efforts to settle the conflict and cut the mission's military component.

It would also have changed the name of the force from MINURSO to MINUSO, dropping the "R" that refers to a referendum on the territory's self-determination.

Eleven of the council's 15 members voted in favour, and three countries including China and Pakistan abstained.

However Russia, a permament council member, used its veto to block the US proposal, slamming it as a "unilateral approach". Moscow proposed the mission's mandate be renewed under the same terms as before.

"We stress the fact that the Security Council cannot automatically pre-determine matters relating to sovereignty," Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, said.

"The Security Council must not give a blessing to such a one-sided approach. Therefore we were compelled to block the adoption of ⁠the draft."

The US then vetoed the Russian proposal, and the countries that supported the American resolution abstained.

"Some members of this council have used their veto to preserve the letter 'R' – for the referendum – and the name that the United Nations hasn't even been preparing to hold for decades," said US Ambassador Mike Waltz.

The representative of France, Jerome Bonnafont, denounced "Russia's obstruction".

Ceuta and Western Sahara at heart of US-Morocco rapprochement

Satisfaction

Morocco's Royal Cabinet on Friday welcomed the nonrenewal of the peacekeeping mandate and said this "should mark the end of the Security Council's involvement and the removal of this issue from its agenda".

Algeria's representative to the UN, Amar Bendjama, thanked Russia "as well as all the countries that chose not to be associated with such a blatant injustice".

Bendjama affirmed that Algeria would continue to promote "a solution that guarantees the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination".

The Polisario Front's representative in New York, Sidi Omar, also expressed his "satisfaction" following the rejection of the US resolution.

Last year, the Security Council under US leadership gave unprecedented support to Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara, deeming it the "most feasible" solution, despite Algeria's hostility.

A Spanish colony until 1975, mineral-rich Western Sahara is largely controlled by Morocco but is considered a non-self-governing territory by the UN.

INTERVIEW


'Working in Russia is like being a deep-sea diver', BBC's man in Moscow tells RFI

How does one report, from its capital, on the reality of Russia at war? Based in Moscow for more than 30 years, the BBC's Russia correspondent Steve Rosenberg is one of the few Western journalists still working in the country. He spoke to RFI about his daily life as a reporter in Russia and why he has chosen to stay, despite the Kremlin's increasing hostility to foreign media.


Issued on:  02/11/2026 - RFI

Steve Rosenberg, the BBC's Russia correspondent since 2003, is one of the few Western journalists still working in the country. © BBC

Rosenberg is well known in Russia. The fame he has gained asking Russia's political leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, direct and unflinching questions during televised press conferences means he is often approached in the street – encounters he says are overwhelmingly positive.

"Very often, people come up to shake my hand or ask for a selfie... it says a lot about what's happening in the country," he said. "In my view, it shows that the massive wave of anti-Western propaganda disseminated by state media hasn't reached the entire population."

On a recent visit to France to attend the Bayeux Calvados-Normandy Award for War Correspondents – which held a screening of the BBC documentary Our Man in Moscow, following a year in Rosenberg's life reporting from Russia – he sat down with RFI.

RFI: How has it felt being out of Russia in Western Europe, in France?

Steve Rosenberg: Every time I leave Russia, which isn't very often, and arrive in Europe or go back home to the UK, I initially find it strange to step out of this bubble I live and work in. But I think it's important to leave Russia every few months, take a step back, and look at what's happening there from a distance before going back.

In a way, working in Russia today is a bit like being a deep-sea diver. You descend below the surface, into a very strange environment where the pressure is intense. After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, I felt as if a huge wave had engulfed the Russia I knew.

And so, from time to time, it's important to surface – remove your regulator, if you like – and breathe before diving again. When I leave the country, I want to return because it fascinates me and I want to know what will happen. But it's important to release the pressure from time to time.

France ‘dismayed’ over Russia’s ban on Reporters Without Borders

RFI: You first arrived in Russia in 1991, initially to teach English, later becoming a BBC correspondent. Do you remember a moment when the Russia you knew truly changed? Was there a turning point, or was it something that unfolded gradually?

SR: When you're in the midst of a tornado, it's difficult to see everything that's happening. It's only in retrospect that you realise, "ah, that was the precise moment when something changed".

Looking back, I feel like I've known four different Russias. I saw the end of Soviet Russia – I spent a year studying in Moscow in 1990. So I experienced the last gasps of the Soviet Union. Then I witnessed its collapse in 1991.

And I saw 1990's Russia, the first decade of independent Russia, which was full of chaos, full of hope, as well, that Russia and the West were going to be friends, and this would be a new era of peace, but also an era of chaos, many Russians get impoverished, the wars in Chechnya..."

Then there was Putin's Russia, the first version. His rise to power in 2000 marked a different Russia. There were worrying signs from the start, but it seemed Putin wanted to improve relations with Europe and the West. The economy was growing. Oil prices were high. Then, gradually, the country became more authoritarian.

Finally, I've experienced post-2022 Russia, which I often call Z-Russia. The Z is one of the symbols of what the Kremlin calls the "special military operation" in Ukraine. It's a very different Russia, much more authoritarian, with more repressive laws. A country at war with its neighbour and with ever-increasing internal repression.

RFI: Were you surprised that Putin went so far as to invade Ukraine?

SR: Yes, absolutely. I didn't think he would make that decision. It was a belligerent show of force by the Kremlin. That day I was on air all day, until late into the night. When I finished my last live broadcast, I sat down and, for the first time, I truly grasped the magnitude of what had just happened. I understood that life would never be the same again. Not only for Russia, but also for Europe, for the West.

And I'm certain Putin didn't think it would be a war. I'm certain he must have been convinced that in a matter of days, or weeks at most, the Ukrainian government would collapse in Kyiv, a pro-Moscow regime would be installed and the whole thing would remain a military operation. But the authorities clearly miscalculated.

On a street in Moscow, a screen shows an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin behind an electronic board promoting contract military service in the Russian army, 19 December 2024. © Shamil Zhumatov / Reuters

RFI: Let's talk about how you do your job in Moscow for the BBC. You have to renew your visas and accreditations every three months, how does that affect the way you work?

SR: Previously, we received one-year visas and accreditations, multiple-entry visas... But since the invasion of Ukraine, journalists from so-called "unfriendly countries" only receive three-month visas. And the UK is on that list. So we have to renew our visas and accreditations every three months.

At first, as the expiration date approaches, you inevitably wonder if they will renew it or not. I imagine that's exactly how the authorities want us to feel. But I've come to understand that there's no point in worrying. I can't do anything if one day they decide not to renew my visa, I won't be able to influence their decision. So there's no point in worrying or keeping a suitcase packed.

RFI: Since 2022, you also have to think differently about the people you meet, where you meet them and how you interact with them. Tell us about that.

SR: We obviously have to think very carefully about who we talk to and who we put on air or show. After February 2022, a whole series of repressive laws were passed in Russia to silence dissenting voices and punish those critical of the authorities and the war. So we have an obligation to ensure the safety of the people we put on air.

When I conduct [interviews with ordinary people in the streets] I don't directly ask people: "are you for the war or are you against the war?", because that could get them into trouble. But there are many other questions that allow us to gauge public opinion and understand what's happening.

There are also places we can no longer go that we used to. For example, for the past two or three years, the BBC hasn't been granted permission to go to the Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk regions bordering Ukraine – where bombings and drone attacks obviously generate a lot of stories. Now you need special permission to go to these regions, which isn't being granted. We keep applying, but for now we can't go.

I read the Russian press and regularly publish a review of it, because the newspapers say a lot about what's happening in the country. Even in a highly controlled media environment, they reflect the developments taking place in Moscow. And the authorities can't accuse me of spreading propaganda if I report what's in the newspapers.

Headlines in Russia media on 22 February 2022, as Putin announced the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. © AP - Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr

RFI: Is it difficult now trying to convince people to talk to you?

SR: We used to have a very long list of contributors, experts and commentators we could contact to talk about all sorts of topics: culture, music, politics, economics. And then after 2022 – actually, this had started before the full-scale invasion – some people began refusing our interview requests. That long list became extremely short.

Some people are afraid to speak to the BBC. They don't want to risk being accused of associating with a major Western media outlet. Others have left the country.

What surprises me is that ordinary people always agree to talk to us in the street. Wherever we go, in cities, small towns or villages, we stop passersby. I always introduce myself, specifying that I work for the BBC. Of course, not everyone agrees to talk, but if you stop people on Oxford Street in London, not everyone will answer your questions either. Many people agree to talk to us, and that's encouraging.

RFI: Freedom of the press is virtually non-existent in Russia today. When you ask Putin a question during his annual December press conference, is the question sometimes more important than the answer?

SR: First of all, there's no guarantee I'll get the floor. But when I do have the opportunity, I know it's a huge responsibility. I have to think about the question I'm going to ask, and what the Russians watching live across the country will hear.

It's not easy because you rarely get a follow-up question – once the question is asked, they take the microphone away. But even a single question to Putin and a single answer can shed light on his way of thinking.

One time [after I had asked a question], the next day the security guard in our building said: "Steve, the question you asked our president yesterday is a question we're all asking ourselves." It teaches you something about what people are thinking.

I would love to be able to conduct a real interview with Putin. So far, my attempts have failed. I've interviewed [Belarusian President Aleksandr] Lukashenko twice, in lengthy sessions. He's a very different character from Putin. He answers everything and seems to enjoy a kind of duel during the interview.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds his annual end-of-year press conference in Moscow on 19 December 2025. © AFP - ALEXANDER KAZAKOV/POOL

RFI: Why do you think it's important to be there on the ground?

SR: Being there in person has real value. If you're not there, if there are no more foreign correspondents, everything becomes black or white. All Russians seem black, and the whole country too. But when you're there, we can see the nuances.

I'll give you an example. I was returning to Moscow after a reporting trip and we stopped at a petrol station about 200 kilometres from the city. I wanted to buy some biscuits. As I was approaching to pay, another customer recognised me. He came up to me and asked if I was a reporter. I replied yes. He told me: "I saw your reports somewhere, maybe on YouTube." And he said he wanted to pay for my biscuits. I told him he didn't have to, that it was very kind but not necessary. He insisted, and he paid. Then he came to shake my hand with a big smile before leaving. It's these small interactions that teach us a lot about what's going on.

It's not just about knowing what the president says and thinks, but also what ordinary Russians say and think.

RFI: You've been reporting from Russia for more than 25 years now. In Our Man in Moscow, you say you want to stay to tell the end of this story. Is it important for you to see it through to the end?

SR: Yes, I tell myself that all the time, but is it realistic? When will this story end? In a way, Russia resembles a vast Tolstoy novel – it's War and Peace. Unfortunately, more war than peace in this moment. We turn the pages wondering how the novel will end, but it seems to go on forever. It just keeps going. One Russia replaces another, then another.

This interview has been adapted from the original version by RFI's French service and edited for length and clarity.

INTERVIEW

'African leaders are not naive, they will partner with whoever makes the best offer’

The third Russia-Africa Summit took place in Moscow this week, with 48 African nations sending delegations. It comes as Moscow grapples with sanctions and isolation over its Ukraine offensive, while African governments turn to it for security assistance. However, geopolitical analyst Priyal Singh tells RFI that despite this, Russia still lags behind China in its influence on the continent.


Issued on: 31/10/2026 - RFI

Vladimir Putin with, to his right, Evariste Ndayishimiye, president of Burundi and African Union chair, at a meeting with leaders of African organisations at the 2026 Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow. © Reuters/Maxim Shipenkov

By: Zeenat Hansrod


Addressing African leaders in Moscow, Russia's President Vladimir Putin described a partnership with Russia as an alternative to traditional allies – who he referred to as a "narrow bloc of states" which determine "the destinies of entire continents".

This narrative of breaking away from old allies or former colonial powers is one that has also been deployed by China. However, Chinese trade with African countries dwarfs Russia's – at $348 billion recorded in 2025 compared to $27 billion.

Priyal Singh, a geopolitical analyst at risk advisory firm Signal Risk and senior research consultant at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, told RFI why the two powers cannot be compared in terms of their relationships with African countries, and how Africa leverages these for its own gain.

RFI: Do China and Russia have rival interests in Africa?

Priyal Singh: China and Russia structurally are two very different international actors and represent two very different types of partners for most African countries.

China, of course, has incredibly deep pockets. It has an incredibly extensive network of commercial engagements with many African states that go back many years. Whereas the story of Russia is quite different because following the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia largely retreated from the African continent to focus on its more immediate pressing political, security and strategic interests closer to home.

And during much of that period, a whole set of other global actors and global powers kind of stepped into that void and made considerable headway. Russia then pivoted back towards the African continent. It began in earnest in the late 2000s amongst a handful of African countries, but we saw a much more acute and targeted engagement with African countries in very recent years, particularly in the wake of its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

I think Moscow looks towards the African continent as a critical theatre for it to reestablish its presence and to deepen its engagements, as a concerted effort to circumvent Western isolation and Western sanctions. But materially, Russia is still very, very much playing catch-up to the likes of China. I mean, let alone the likes of China – other global powers like India, for example, you'd often find have far more substantial and deeper commercial engagements across the African continent.

Vladimir Putin pictured with African leaders at the third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow on 29 October. © Reuters/Anastasia Barashkova

And one clear distinction I'd make is that Russia's game plan for strategic influence and engagements across the African continent is quite distinct in different parts of the continent.

In the Sahel region, Russia plays a far more overt security role, working with those governments in the Sahel, providing arms, military support, technical training and, of course, the role and influence of its state-backed private security providers are also very pronounced in those regions. In Southern Africa, however, Russia maintains far more longstanding liberation-era ties to many of the ruling parties in this part of the world, and its engagements are far less security-orientated. It's far more commercially orientated.

Nevertheless, those engagements lag far behind the likes of China.

RFI: So Russia and China are not in competition, trying to carve up Africa between them?

PS: Not at all. I don't think there is that kind of overt competition between China and Russia in Africa. I think the competition is much more centred around Russian competition with Western actors, particularly the European Union, individual European member states, and, of course, the United States. But China, I would not see as being a major competitor for Russia, for it to try and displace and win influence across the African continent.

RFI: Russia uses language where it seems to be seeking to identify with the Global South. But the African leaders at this summit are not naive. What do they seek to gain from Russia?

PS: African leaders are not naive. For most African leaders, it's very clear that Russia is very much a major world power that has a seat at the United Nations Security Council, just like China does, and they are not a developing nation.

So, what do African countries want from Russia? Well, African countries want investment. They want partnerships that will spur on their own industrialisation. And most African countries will take that investment and will take that partnership from whoever is making the best offer. So whether it's coming from the United States or it's coming from Europe or China or Russia or India or Brazil, African countries are open to that kind of partnership.

And an additional factor is that all of these competing offers to help African countries develop their local industries, to diversify their critical mineral supply chains and so on, all ultimately work in favour of African countries because they can play one offer against the other.

Leaked files reveal Russia's blueprint to expand African Sahel alliance

RFI: Is Russia succeeding in extending its influence beyond the Sahel region, where it is firmly established?

PS: You're correct in saying that the real centre of Russia's security influence across the continent is centred in the Sahel region. I think Russia has found it quite difficult to expand beyond this hard security focus through arms sales, through technical cooperation.

But we have seen Russia attempt to branch out, especially in the provision of nuclear energy and infrastructure through Rosatom, a state nuclear energy corporation. And we've seen a lot of commitments around energy development.

But a lot of these remain largely framed as broad commitments. We haven't seen these commitments translate into firm agreements that have taken off on the ground. So there's still a large implementation gap in terms of what Russia can do outside of its security focus in the Sahel.

Russian President Vladimir Putin during the plenary session of the third Russia-Africa summit, an event first held in 2019. © AP/Ivan Sekretarev

RFI: Russia has been weakened by the Ukraine war. On the economic front, does it have the means to invest significantly in Africa?

PS: Russia often is able to extract greater dividends from a relatively more meagre investment, be it diplomatic investments or economic investments. And this is because Russia has pursued a very kind of targeted strategy to gain access and influence, particularly in the Sahel, particularly across West Africa and into Central Africa and into East Africa and the Horn of Africa.

Those kinds of very targeted engagements in which Russia doesn't necessarily play by the same playbook as most Western actors have allowed it to basically gain access and influence with a much smaller cheque book. And it doesn't necessarily need to make the massive multi-million or multi-billion dollar infrastructural investments that its larger peers are able to do in Africa.

RFI: In that context, what appeal does Russia have for African nations?

PS: Maybe not looking towards African nations as a whole but political elites within a very select handful of certain African countries, Russia can bring those political elites into the fold. It can put very attractive offers on the table, providing security cooperation in exchange for access to critical minerals, to energy and so on.

And this is something that not many Western actors are able to do because Western actors have to abide by their own normative commitments. So Russia is able to provide an alternative avenue for political elites in Africa to engage with.

RFI: Can Russia's relations with some African states be summarised as military support in exchange for access to natural resources?

PS: Absolutely. I think a defining feature of Russia's security engagements – with most Sahel countries, with most West African and Central African countries – is largely transactional in nature. It's tit-for-tat security deals that allow African countries to barter influence and access to their critical minerals, their gold, their energy resources in exchange for regime security and support.

RFI: And with little regard for human rights?

PS: Absolutely.

RFI: This is the third Russia-Africa summit, held this year in Moscow. What is different this time round?

PS: During the time of the first summit [in 2019] much of the Western world still believed that its efforts to diplomatically isolate Moscow could work, and that African states would largely lend their support to Western actors in cutting off ties from Russia. I think where we are in 2026, it's a very different story.

That hope that many Western actors had has clearly proven [unfounded]. African countries are willing to work with all actors from all corners of the world – be it China, Russia, Gulf actors, Turkey, India and so on – so long as they are able to get the best possible deal, and then leverage all of these competing offers against one another.

African states really have no qualms about choosing one partner to displace another, so long as it is more attractive and it leads to perhaps more expeditious outcomes on the ground. So, I think that has been the fundamental change.

And the second fundamental change has, of course, been the United States and the second Trump administration, which has taken a very different approach in engaging with Russia. And again, that kind of isolation that Western Europe was perhaps hoping for is no longer seen as a very viable option in light of the fact that you have Washington and you have most of the global South not playing by the same playbook.

INTERVIEW

'Protecting the Congo's forests means protecting people's lives'

The forests of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are a haven for some of the world's rarest species – but despite being protected areas, they are under threat from conflict, poaching and deforestation. After global decision-makers gathered at the United Nations' Cop17 biodiversity summit this week, Emmanuel Bahati Lukoo, a ranger at Kahuzi-Biega National Park, says people on the frontline of wildlife protection deserve greater recognition.


Issued on: 01/11/2026 - RFI

Guides lead tours in the forest of Kahuzi-Biega National Park, a few kilometres outside the city of Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 13 February 2022. © AFP - GUERCHOM NDEBO

Now assistant park manager at Kahuzi-Biega, Lukoo was formerly a ranger at nearby Virunga, the oldest national park in Africa.

From tropical forests to extinct volcanoes, snowfields to swamps and lava plains, the region is home to an exceptional range of habitats.

Yet its natural wealth makes it vulnerable to exploitation, whether from armed groups battling the national government or impoverished local communities struggling to survive.

Hundreds of rangers work to protect the parks and their wildlife, sometimes at risk to their own lives.

Lukoo, who also founded a football academy to engage young people in conservation and has written a memoir about his experiences, told RFI about the challenges of preserving nature in a conflict zone – and why he wishes rangers got more respect.

Emmanuel Bahati Lukoo, ranger and assistant park manager at Kahuzi-Biega National Park in Democratic Republic of Congo, pictured earlier this year. © Courtesy of Emmanuel Bahati Lukoo

RFI: Why is conservation work so important in your view?

Emmanuel Bahati Lukoo: These forests are part of Congolese heritage, but they also belong to the world. We're not just protecting them for ourselves, but for future generations – so they'll have the chance to come and experience the same thing we can.

It's also a source of income for the country: tourists come to visit the park and pay to see this biodiversity. Money comes in, and everyone benefits.

The climate is changing too. A few years ago, you couldn't just wear a shirt, you needed a sweater. That's no longer the case. We're also seeing rivers drying up, agricultural production declining, landslides. If we can breathe fresh air, it's because of all these forests and this biodiversity that we're protecting. We're protecting an ecological balance. Without trees there's no rain, no rivers.

Protecting the forests in the [DRC] means protecting people's lives. It's a huge responsibility.

RFI: In the DRC, rangers undergo intense training, similar to military recruits. Were you drawn to that aspect of the job?

EBL: I didn't start out wanting to be in the military. I've been passionate about nature ever since I was very young. Being in the Scouts taught me how to live in the forest, alongside animals. And I was born right next to a protected area. From a very young age, I witnessed the wonders of conservation. After completing my studies in humanitarian aid, I went to university and got a degree in environmental management.

You learn a lot when you're training to be a ranger: what conservation means, all about the protected area you'll be working in, how to navigate the forest without a compass, how to live alongside animals, who they are, why they need to be protected... But you also learn how to handle weapons. Eastern DRC has been a conflict zone for a long time. Rebel groups take refuge in protected areas.

As a result, park managers give rangers thorough paramilitary training so they can confront armed groups. This training is gruelling.

Nature conservation in the Congo isn't the same as elsewhere. For us, it's like being at war. When you go out on patrol, you don't think about coming back... Being a ranger in the east of the DRC is complicated. But you learn to love it.

RFI: Your role sees you handle everything from fighting off armed groups and poachers to tracking gorillas. What is ultimately the core of your mission?

EBL: It's protecting the territorial integrity of the reserve, the habitat and everyone who lives there against numerous threats – for instance, poaching and wildlife trafficking. To take a baby gorilla and traffic it, you first have to kill the mother. Our mission isn't to wage war against armed groups, but to defend when they attack.

There's also deforestation and illegal logging. In some areas, it has reached a particularly alarming scale. Trees are cut down to produce charcoal – known locally as makala – for energy, but also to make furniture.

Other threats include the illegal occupation of land for farming and the expansion of pastures, as well as illegal mining.

This aerial photograph, taken in September 2019, shows an area in Kahuzi-Biega National Park devastated by logging. © AFP - ALEXIS HUGUET

Deforestation falling worldwide but Congo Basin losses grow, report finds

RFI: How are these illegal activities carried out?

EBL: Not everyone who enters a park illegally has the same motives. Some groups are pursuing political or military objectives, while others are seeking to control territories or trade routes, or to exploit natural resources to finance their activities.

Others, however, live in extreme poverty on the outskirts of the park and depend on these resources.

Armed groups set up camp in protected areas and draw from these communities – sometimes by force. Often, they use young people to mine minerals and produce charcoal. The communities transport the goods to illegal markets and hand over the money to the groups exploiting them.

RFI: In your memoir, you write that the political situation in the DRC complicates conservation efforts, notably corruption. What problems does this pose when managing a national park?

EBL: There are a lot of land disputes. Some communities see nature reserves as a problem. Certain politicians support these communities in illegal activities in order to get elected. Others use armed groups to attack ranger posts so that the rangers cannot do their jobs.

RFI: What could help reduce the pressure on national parks?

EBL: All parties must respect the integrity of protected areas, because everything starts with the violation of their boundaries.

But we have to look at the bigger picture. As long as local communities do not have access to affordable energy sources and enough economic opportunities, forests are likely to remain under pressure.

Next, we need to protect wildlife rangers. They are subject to arbitrary arrests and attacks. Everyone talks about human rights and protecting biodiversity, but I've never heard anyone mention rangers' rights. And yet they work day and night, spending 90 percent of their time in the forest, far from family and friends.

RFI: The International Union for Conservation of Nature rates the conservation outlook at Virunga as 'critical'. Do you share that assessment?

EBL: It's hard to say what the state of the protected area is because there's no scientific research being conducted at the moment. A very large portion – the south and the centre – is occupied and is no longer under the park's control. These are areas where rangers no longer go.

Today, it's a matter of survival and protecting the animals has become very complicated. After the war, we'll have to take stock.

A male Grauer's gorilla, a critically endangered species, in the forest of Kahuzi-Biega National Park in September 2019. © AFP - ALEXIS HUGUET

The challenges of protecting wildlife from war in eastern DRC

RFI: You've written about the personal toll that the job takes on rangers. How has it affected you?

EBL: Rangers are motivated and passionate but they don't get recognition, that's what saddens me the most. Their sacrifice isn't acknowledged, even internationally. They aren't valued as they deserve to be. It's not fair because without forests, the world wouldn't exist. You see the results of these people's work, but you don't show them the respect they deserve in return.

We also need to reconsider their pay, which isn't enough to live on in cities where everything costs more. They rely on this salary to cover rent, tuition, food... The children of rangers end up on the streets, either because their father doesn't have enough money to pay for their education or because he died protecting a World Heritage Site.

RFI: Is that why you set up your football academy?

EBL: Yes. The Virunga Football Academy came from the fact there was a lot of mistrust between young people living near the park and the rangers. When we arrest some of them, their friends see us as the bad guys. We wanted to find a way to build a connection with them. Football is the simplest way.

We started in 2021 with about 50 young people in Rumangabo in North Kivu province. Then we got lots more requests, and today we work in Goma, Kiwanja, Kirumba and Kasindi... There are around 400 young people in the school. More are always applying, but we don't have the the resources to take them in.

Young players in Kasindi train at the Virunga Football Academy, which was founded to promote peaceful coexistence between communities living near Virunga National Park. © Doyi Kanega/Virunga Football Academy

RFI: How does it work?

EBL: Every week after school, boys and girls aged 8 to 17 come to practice, just like at any other football academy. When they play together, it builds bonds. They stop thinking about getting into trouble in the park. It also fosters peaceful cohesion between them, even though there are many intercommunal conflicts in the area.

In addition, we organise educational activities to help them understand the importance of nature reserves, education and living together.

In Rumangabo, young people's tendency to engage in illegal activities has really gone down. They're busy playing football. It's far from being all young people, and these are also the ones who want to do something. But we've reached the most vulnerable ones.

The football academy giving South Sudan's youth an alternative to gang life

RFI: In April 2018, you and five other rangers were ambushed by militiamen. You were the only one to survive. What drives you to keep going after the trauma of that experience?

EBL: Firstly, to honour the friends who died protecting the park. There have been others since then. We lost 13 rangers in Rumangabo in 2020 to an ambush. It would be a great act of cowardice to leave.

Secondly, I see conservation as a way to help communities develop without contributing to the destruction of the park.

As a ranger, what drives me to keep going is hope – even in the midst of danger and armed conflict. Far from discouraging me, this situation strengthens my resolve. Despite my fear, I continue to defend our country's natural wealth with courage and conviction. I am still convinced our mission is essential for the future of our region, and for the future of generations to come.

This article was adapted from an interview in French by Géraud Bosman-Delzons. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

A year after the fall of El Fasher, Sudan's war has left a ghost town in its wake

A year after paramilitary forces at war with the Sudanese army captured the strategic city of El Fasher, survivors and aid workers report that the capital of North Darfur state remains largely abandoned. Some residents are too scared to return, while thousands are still missing – many held in deplorable conditions in overcrowded prisons.


Issued on: 01/11/2026 - RFI

In this satellite photo provided by Planet Labs PBC, El Fasher is seen from above on 26 October, 2025, as paramilitary forces seized control of the city after a siege that lasted months. © AP - Planet Labs PBC

On 26 October, 2025, after 500 days of siege, El Fasher fell to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an armed group that has been fighting Sudan's army since April 2023.

It marked one of the darkest chapters of the conflict. The paramilitaries pledged to "cleanse" the city and explicitly called for the elimination of non-Arab communities – notably the semi-nomadic Zaghawa and the Fur, Darfur's largest ethnic group.

International investigators have found evidence of widespread atrocities, including mass killings and sexual violence. The United Nations has estimated that some 6,000 people were killed, but researchers studying satellite imagery suspect the death toll is much higher – in the tens of thousands.

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), nearly 100,000 people managed to flee. Thousands more civilians are missing, having died while trying to escape or been captured by the RSF.




In January, under the supervision of the city's new authorities, humanitarian organisations were able to visit El Fasher for the first time since the paramilitaries seized control. They described "a ghost town, with few civilians remaining".
Contested repopulation

"My house was destroyed," says Salwa, who did not want to be identified by her full name. Born in El Fasher, she fled a few days before the city fell.

"They smashed everything and threw all our things into the street. My father's house is still standing, but they've put people we don't know in it."

Like many residents who fled, she believes the new authorities are seeking to replace the city's original inhabitants – mainly Zaghawa and Fur – with members of nomadic Arab tribes, from which the RSF draws its leadership and most of its fighters.

Sudan's RSF paramilitaries accused of crimes against humanity in El Fasher

A screengrab from a video shared on the Rapid Support Forces' social media shows RSF fighters celebrating in the streets of El Fasher after capturing the city on 26 October, 2025. © AFP - -

"They're bringing in people from outside and giving them our homes. They're even giving them documents to prove they're the owners. These people will never leave. On top of that, they're filming them for propaganda and claiming that the residents of El Fasher have returned."

Tasis, a coalition of civilian and armed groups led by the RSF and governing in parallel from the city of Nyala in South Darfur, has called for displaced residents to go back to El Fasher and says it is helping civilians to return.

"These aren't residents of El Fasher, but people who were brought in to repopulate the city," Salwa protests.
Lingering trauma

Solidarités International, a French humanitarian organisation that has returned to work in El Fasher, estimates that between 40,000 and 60,000 people have either returned or come and go regularly, out of a pre-war population of at least 300,000.

"They come to seek aid, to see their neighbourhood, their home. They've heard that an NGO is here, that the paramilitary-linked government's humanitarian aid office is organising food distributions," Renaud Douci, the organisation's field coordinator in Sudan, told RFI.

But returnees are often put off by what they find, he said. "When the market where you used to get food is now a meagre affair with a few stalls and exorbitant prices, those aren't conditions under which you can return with your family."

Others are kept away by the memory of the siege. "For now, because of the trauma and violence of those 500 days, people don't feel at all ready to return," Douci said.

Women victims of Sudan's war bear scars of 'indescribable' violence

A displaced woman in Tawila, Darfur, pictured on 28 October, 2025, after fleeing El Fasher following the city's fall to the Rapid Support Forces. © AFP

Laura Mills, a researcher at Amnesty International, shares his assessment. "Only a fraction of the population has returned; people are too afraid," she told RFI.

"Humanitarian workers tell us there are pockets of houses still standing. And between each pocket, the streets are deserted. The city is still abandoned."

For her, the hesitation is understandable. "The residents of El Fasher are traumatised by what they've been through. Why would they return when the paramilitaries are still there and have never been held accountable for their actions? Why return when you risk being arrested and tortured at any moment?"
Prison of horror

The RSF took thousands of people prisoner during the capture of El Fasher: not only members of the armed forces but civilians – soldiers' families, teachers, doctors, journalists, civil society activists and others they accused of supporting the Sudanese army.

Ibrahim (not his real name), a journalist with El Fasher Radio and Television, was taken by the paramilitaries a few weeks before the city fell, according to his wife, who wanted to remain anonymous.

"One morning he went out to look for food, because at the time there was nothing left to eat. He left in the morning and didn't come back that evening or the next day," she told RFI.

A Sudanese man who says he was imprisoned and tortured in RSF prisons before fleeing El Fasher sits in a makeshift shelter in the town of Tawila in the Darfur region, 2 March 2026. © AFP - -

His wife believed he was wounded or dead until she learned that he had been captured by the RSF and sent to Dagris, a notorious prison outside Nyala that has been described as a "site of horror".

"The conditions were terrible," she said. "The detainees were crammed into small cells. Sometimes they would go entire weeks without seeing the sun. Occasionally, they'd be taken outside so they could air their belongings, dry their clothes and get rid of insects and fleas. And their toilets were right inside the cells. The sanitary conditions there are disgusting."

Sick, emaciated and having lost his sight in one eye, Ibrahim was finally released nine months later upon payment of $2,000. Numerous accounts report demands for ransom are common.

'They took my family'

According to human rights organisations, between 13,000 and 19,500 people were being held at Dagris earlier this year – several times the prison's official capacity of 4,500.

Zamzam, a journalist originally from the El Fasher region who now lives in exile, says her relatives were among them, arrested as punishment for her coverage of the conflict.

"The RSF contacted me to tell me to stop writing, they even offered me money. But I refused, so they took my family," she told RFI.

Her cousin, a doctor at a hospital in El Fasher who chose to stay throughout the offensive, remains incommunicado. Zamzam has heard only that he is working in construction.

"They use prisoners as labourers in construction, to do laundry, to clean the homes of RSF fighters' families," she claimed.

Conditions at Dagris prison are inhumane and in some cases life-threatening, according to Mohamed Faisal, a member of the Sudan Doctors Network.

"The detainees have no rights and no contact with their families," he said. "The cells are overcrowded. There are lots of diseases, such as cholera and dengue fever, and we are seeing a sharp rise in mortality. A few months ago, there were four deaths every week. And when prisoners die, their families aren't even notified."

An estimated 73 medical personnel are being held in Dagris and Kober, another prison in South Darfur, the network believes. Several journalists are also detained, including Muammar Ibrahim, a correspondent for Al Jazeera's Arabic news channel who had been covering the conflict since it began in April 2023.

Today, Darfur is almost entirely under the control of the paramilitary forces. The fighting has shifted to the Kordofan region, where the UN has warned El Fasher's grim history could be repeated.

This article was adapted from the original version in French by Alexandra Brangeon.

Thousands join Indian opposition protest



Issued on: 01/11/2026 - FRANCE24


India’s opposition parties staged major protests in New Delhi on Sunday against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and a nationwide voter list review that has fuelled demonstrations since the summer, led by the youth movement Cockroach Janta Party.

 Eliza Herbert reports.

Europe's Gen Z protesters unite over living costs, housing and employment uncertainty

Although French high schoolers may have taken the lead in the youth protests that have since spread to Belgium, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain, they acted like "a catalyst" for their shared concerns over their future, researchers say, pointing to higher living costs, unaffordable housing and the uncertainty of their employment prospects.


Issued on: 03/11/2026 

By: FRANCE 24

Video by: Charlotte HUGHES

Cover image: Young Europeans have increasingly lost trust in the state. © Kirill Kudryavtsev, AFP
01:35

Countries across Europe have been swept by a wave of protests by young people angry at the spiralling cost of living who have little trust in traditional institutions.

While local grievances have fuelled the fire, the movements that brought hundreds of thousands to the streets of France, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Germany at the weekend are all linked by shared continent-wide issues such as sky-high housing costs, poor pay and the climate crisis.

Schools, universities

School and university students have found themselves at the front line of these protests.

The spark was lit in mid-September, when French high school students took to the streets to demand better and more facilities, and an end to an opaque university admissions system.

"It's a European movement but France served as the catalyst," said Sylvain Boulouque, a historian of social movements.

After weeks of rallies, the French protests drew at least 550,000 people on October 17, with the largely peaceful demonstrations swiftly eclipsed by episodes of looting, arson and clashes with the police.

Four days later in Greece, more than 10,000 people rallied across several cities, with some bearing placards with slogans written in both Greek and French.

"The problems are shared between various European countries," insisted one protester, Filippos Armen, a physics student at Thessaloniki's Aristotle University.
'Uncertainty'

Across the continent, many people have found themselves face-to-face with "a model that has run out of steam", said Belgian sociologist Geoffrey Pleyers.

"What they're being offered is, at best, a job, and for many, a precarious one," said the specialist in social movements at the Catholic University of Louvain.

At the same time, their studies no longer guarantee the standard of living their parents enjoyed, as a result of high housing costs and the risks linked to the climate crisis.
Rising rents

In many of the protests, as in Spain, Portugal and Greece, housing is "a central element" because it is directly tied to purchasing power and "an ever-more unequal distribution of wealth", the researcher added.

On the other hand, political scientist Mariam Martinez-Bascunan argued that "discontent is fuelled more by uncertainty than by poverty".

Speaking to Spain's RTVE television, the professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid pointed to the "contagion effect" of images of protests in France and of tent encampments of housing rights activists in Portugal.
'Sacrificed' generation

For Boulouque, "young people are acutely conscious of the weight of the debt and environmental problems" left by previous generations and have "the feeling of being sacrificed" as a result.

Boulouque, who also teaches in a high school, pointed to an unexpected side effect of the ban on mobile phones in French classrooms: "Students began to socialise again and lifted their heads to see just how far their working conditions have worsened".

In Germany, the possible reintroduction of military service at a time of tensions with Russia has also led many young people to join the protests.
Inequalities

The youth protests have struck a nerve with the wider public, at a time when Europe is gearing up for a wave of key elections in Spain, France, Italy and Greece over the coming year.

The French students were joined by the yellow vest movement, which organised a previous round of protests against the cost of living in 2018-19, while in Italy, drivers and farmers opposed to the high price of petrol joined the young demonstrators at Friday's rallies.

Another shared grievance is the widespread feeling of not being listened to, which is leading to an increasing "distance" and "dissociation" between ordinary people and the state, said Pleyers.

On top of that is the sense that society has become unequal and unfair.

"Young people whose parents live comfortably have a more comfortable life and, conversely, those who come from more precarious backgrounds have a much harder life today," Pleyers added.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Students blockade French schools, universities as trade unions prepare for nationwide strike

Students blockaded at least 48 high schools in France on Tuesday, according to local authorities, as the country's trade unions prepare for a nationwide strike planned for November 5. The USL student union said 500 schools were blocked, while thousands of students also marched in Paris and several other cities.


Issued on: 03/11/2026 
By: FRANCE 24

Students are calling on authorities to renovate dilapidated schools, reduce class sizes and create more university places. © Kenzo Tribouillard, AFP


Students blockaded dozens of high schools and universities across France on Tuesday to maintain pressure on the government over education reforms as trade unions prepared for a nationwide strike.

After returning from a two-week autumn break, some students resumed their protest campaign Monday, calling on the authorities to renovate dilapidated schools, reduce class sizes and create more university places.

READ MORESome 320,000 demonstrators take part in largely peaceful protests across France

Authorities said Tuesday that 48 out of France's 3,700 high schools were blocked amid tight security, including in Paris, Rennes and Lyon. The USL student union said 500 schools were blocked.


Fifty-one higher education institutions out of 184 were also disrupted, officials said.

The USL union denounced what it called heavy-handed tactics, with "young people pinned against walls and riot police units deployed" outside schools.

A union representative said the authorities appeared to want to blunt a new day of blockades on Thursday when trade unions have called a nationwide strike.

"We don't even have the right to vote, we can't do anything, so this is our only way of expressing ourselves," a high school student in northwestern Paris said on condition of anonymity.

Thousands of students also marched in Paris and several other cities.
'Nothing else worked'

Education Minister Édouard Geffray spoke out against the action, saying students needed to study and prepare for exams.

The USL student union said 500 high schools were blocked. © AFP

"Preventing them from entering their school deprives them of a fundamental right: the right to an education," he said on X, adding that some staff members had "once again been subjected to violence".

In the northwestern city of Rennes, around 30 students blocked the Brequigny High School, one of the country's largest secondary schools.

Tensions quickly flared between students and the school administration.

"You are not the majority," a staff member protested.

"If we're doing this, it's because everything we've tried before hasn't worked," a student replied.

At a school in the southwestern city of Toulouse, students brandished placards, one saying "Angry, not far right".

"Young people are sticking it to the education system," read another, in a nod to the lyrics of a popular protest song against the far right.

With the European Union's second-largest economy on the brink of recession, authorities have little room to quell student anger with additional spending © Thibaud Moritz, AFP

The school protests have fuelled a nationwide movement against soaring prices and inadequate public services, which has drawn hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets over the past three weekends.

On October 17, it also led to some of the worst unrest seen in France in years.

The school movement has inspired students in other European countries, including Italy and Spain, where the French word "blocus" (blockade) has become a hashtag.

Last week, the French government unveiled measures aimed at addressing some of the students' demands, including the replacement of the university admissions platform, which has been criticised for a lack of transparency.

Students say the proposals do not go far enough, demanding €10 billion in investment.
Three minors arrested

With the European Union's second-largest economy on the brink of recession and under pressure to reduce its debt, authorities have little room to quell student anger with additional spending.

Student union L'Union Etudiante said one university in two was affected Tuesday and that over 50 campuses had been blockaded.

At the University of Lille in the north, around 40 students used bicycles and trash bins to block the campus, leading to the cancellation of classes.

Some students resumed their protest campaign after returning from a two-week autumn break © Mehdi Fedouach, AFP

"There's a massive national mobilisation under way," said Gauthier Capiez, a third-year political science student.

"If next year we manage to get rid of Parcoursup, among other things, then it will all have been worth it," he said, referring to the university admissions platform.

Some schools have been damaged since the student movement emerged in September.

On Tuesday, authorities said three minors had been arrested after a school in the western city of Nantes was set on fire in October, on the margins of the protests.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

France braces for fresh protests as students to resume school blockades

France is readying for another week of protests after the head of a student group said a campaign of high school blockades would restart Monday, ahead of a nationwide day of strikes and protests on Thursday.


Issued on: 02/11/2026 - RFI

A masked high school student holds a placard reading "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. Except for us, apparently" during a blockade of the Lycee Voltaire high school in Paris on 6 October. REUTERS - Tom Nicholson

A nationwide day of strikes and protests across the public and private sectors is planned for Thursday.

The Union Etudiante (Student Union), said Saturday that blockades of universities and high schools would take place on both Tuesday and Thursday.

But some high schools will be blockaded from Monday, when students return from a two-week holiday, said Pierre Sourzat, head of the "Lyceens!" group.

"We're calling for blockades... starting on Monday ... that's the principle when you go on strike, it's to cause disruption," he told RMC radio on Sunday.

High school pupils began blockades in mid-September.

President Emmanuel Macron has called for classes to resume in a calm manner, arguing that "young people have been heard".

"No, we're not all going back to class," Sourzat said, "[the president] hasn't heard us, he's given us almost nothing."

'Smoke and mirrors'

Hundreds of thousands of people, including high school and university students, took to the streets across France on Saturday for a third consecutive weekend of protests over soaring prices, inequality and poor conditions in schools.

The movement emerged in mid-September with high school students angry over overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings, which they blame on years of underinvestment.

Last Monday, the government announced a series of measures, including replacing the university admissions platform, known as Parcoursup, which is criticised for its lack of transparency, and providing loans for school renovations.

Sourzat said the proposed overhaul of Parcoursup failed to address the shortage of places in higher education.

He also dismissed the government's plan to reduce class sizes as insufficient, noting that it would apply only to 10th-grade classes.

"We were asking for all year groups," he said, describing the government's proposals as "smoke and mirrors".

"There's a bit of polish on the surface, but once you scratch beneath it, there's nothing there."

High school pupils block the lycée Buffon in Paris on 2 October. AFP - THOMAS SAMSON


Calls for action

France is the eurozone's second-largest economy but is struggling with mounting debt and the government has limited scope to appease student protesters through additional spending.

Several trade unions also say the government's proposals do not go far enough and are calling for a large turnout on Thursday.

"This time, we're close to concrete progress so that tomorrow can be better than today," Thomas Vacheron, a national official at the hardline CGT union told BFMTV.

The CGT wants an increase in the minimum wage, higher pay grades for civil servants and pay rises for all workers.

"The government must respond to the protests now. It's the one that holds the key," Vacheron said.

'Robust' security operation

Turnout at Saturday's protests was around 320,000, including 70,000 people in Paris, the Interior Ministry said, though organisers put the figure at half a million.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez had warned that Saturday was a "high risk" day and deployed 70,000 police and gendarmes nationwide.

In Paris, the only authorised march was outside the city centre.

Police arrested 779 people, the interior ministry said on Sunday, adding there had been "no major incidents".

The operation helped avert a repeat of the widespread looting and vandalism seen on 17 October when more than 1,300 people were arrested and an estimated €1 billion of damage caused to shops and public property..

"The arrangements put in place, robust and flexible, allowed authorised demonstrations to take place, guaranteeing freedom of expression while preventing the actions of those who sought to make the marches degenerate," Nunez wrote on X.

Prosecutors announced Sunday they had launched an attempted murder probe after a petrol bomb was thrown at security forces during the protest in Paris, leaving one officer with second-degree burns.

Several hundred rioters had attacked security forces with projectiles, including a Molotov cocktail, the prefecture said.

(with newswires)

Some 320,000 demonstrators take part in largely peaceful protests across France

Around 320,000 protesters took part in a third mass protest over living costs across France on Saturday, the interior ministry estimated, while organisers counted nearly half a million. Tensions flared ​at the end of marches in ​some cities but authorities reported that most demonstrations were largely peaceful.


Issued on: 01/11/2026
By: FRANCE 24

A protestor waves a French flag among tear gas smokes while taking part in a nationwide demonstration in Lyon, France, on October 31, 2026. © Jeff Pachoud, AFP


Scuffles broke out in Paris and other French cities ​on Saturday evening at the end of nationwide demonstrations driven by anger over living costs and strained public services, while authorities warned of possible further violence overnight with Halloween celebrations under way.

The protests, which were largely peaceful through the afternoon, continued for a third weekend after riots and looting on October 17 that caught security forces off guard, leaving a trail of damage to shops, public buildings and businesses across the country.

Riot police charged to disperse small groups ​of rioters at the end of ‌the Paris march, and fired tear gas in Lyon, France's third-largest city, and in Toulouse in the southwest. There were also tensions at the end of unauthorised protests ⁠in Marseille, but calm had returned as night fell.

"Security forces held their ground and protected city centres. Public order was maintained," Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told reporters after the marches, adding that police had faced "a great deal of violence". He said authorities were now bracing for scattered unrest later in the evening, amid what ‌he said were calls for insurrection on Halloween night.

"The day is not over. We are ready for those looking for a fight tonight, and we will respond firmly," ⁠Nuñez added.

The protests in France have inspired youth-led "Gen-Z" protests across Europe, with demonstrations in several German cities on Saturday. There were also protests in Italy.

The marches brought together students – who began mobilising in September – with trade unions and a smaller contingent of anti-establishment Yellow Vest protesters, united by complaints over the cost of living, high fuel prices, rising inflation and President Emmanuel Macron's government.

"The French economy ​is doing badly no matter what happens, because today we're being run by a group of incompetents who juggle billions, while families are struggling with a few cents," protester ‌Jerome Rodriguez said during the Paris march.

"That's why we're here, to keep shouting our demands louder and louder and hopefully get a response from the government, although that seems very unlikely."

Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, whose ratings have risen in recent weeks ahead of next April's presidential election, marched at the head of the Paris demonstration. France's top administrative court had upheld a ban on a march between the landmark Paris squares of Nation and Bastille, rejecting a challenge from unions. Authorities instead authorised ‌a route along boulevards on the eastern edge of the capital, away from central shopping districts.

Europe's wave of anger: How far will youth-led protests go?

Cover image: THE DEBATE © FRANCE 24
44:05

Turnout was lower than for the previous two Saturdays of protests, with 320,000 protesters nationwide, including 70,000 in Paris, the interior ministry said, while organizer's turnout estimates are nearly half a million. That compares with 410,000 the week before and 550,000 on October 17.

The interior ministry said ​in a statement that "radical elements" intent on damage and looting had attempted to break away from marches in cities including Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lyon and Marseille, but were thwarted by security forces.

It added that security checks at railway stations and roads had uncovered people carrying objects that could be used as weapons.

Authorities have warned that Halloween masks could be used to conceal the identities of rioters. Nuñez has vowed ​to prevent a repeat of the October 17 violence, noting that existing laws allow police to prohibit face coverings when public order is threatened.

The unrest comes at a delicate moment for the government. On Friday, ratings ​agency Fitch unexpectedly revised the outlook on French debt to negative, underscoring investor concerns over the country's finances. With public debt nearing 120 percent of economic output and ​borrowing costs rising, Macron's government faces mounting pressure to curb spending, limiting its room for manoeuvre.

The US Embassy advised travellers to avoid areas where demonstrations or large gatherings were planned.

Protests began with students

The protests gathered momentum in late September as Macron's minority government opened talks on its 2027 budget. Students angered by the deteriorating state ​of schools, overcrowded classrooms and a university admissions system widely viewed as unfair have since been joined by trade unions and a resurgent Yellow Vests movement demanding action on living costs.

The French government's promises to reform education and ease fuel costs have failed to calm discontent.

"When I was little, I was told young people were the future," said Aaron Berthier de Grandry, a 15-year-old high school student in the Paris suburb of Nogent-sur-Marne, who was planning to join his third consecutive weekend of protests.

"Well, if we, as the future of France, lack resources, that means France will end up collapsing."

The unrest has handed a political boost to far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who leads opinion polls ⁠ahead of April's presidential election, while potential centrist successors to Macron remain divided.

The troubles are the latest blow to an economy which data on Friday showed was already shrinking in the third quarter.

The Chamber of Commerce estimates that losses to retailers during the three weeks of unrest ⁠has exceeded €1 billion ($1.1 billion). Other estimates put ​the total at double that when including uninsured damage and lost revenue.

Along Paris' main shopping boulevards, early Christmas lights glowed around boarded-up windows and security grilles.

Among the shops targeted in the unrest of previous weekends were outlets belonging to luxury brands including Hermès, Louis Vuitton and Burberry.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)