Thousands without lifesaving aid in DRC, says UN agency

Thousands are without lifesaving aid in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo due to critical funding gaps, the United Nations Refugee agency says.

Congolese refugees, displaced by ongoing clashes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, gather to receive soft drinks from a social worker after their registration at a refugee transit camp in Gihanga, on 17 February 2025. © Tchandrou Nitanga / AFP

By:  RFI

Issued on: 22/03/2025


"Critical funding gaps are severely hampering humanitarian efforts in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and beyond, leaving thousands without lifesaving aid and pushing an already dire humanitarian situation closer to catastrophe", Eujin Byun from UNHCR told reporters in Geneva on Friday.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been internally displaced, while more than 100,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries in less than three months due to fighting between the M23 group and Congolese army, according to the UNHCR.

Shelters that previously housed some 400,000 people forced to flee the fighting in and around the city of Goma in North Kivu province have been destroyed, leaving families stranded without shelter or protection, UNHCR added.

"Due to funding cuts, humanitarian partners are struggling to rebuild shelters, leaving displaced people with few options for survival", the agency said.

No ceasefire

The leader of a rebel alliance that has seized swathes of east Congo told Reuters on Thursday that insurgents were not bound by a ceasefire call from Congo and Rwanda's presidents and cast any minerals-for-security deal with the US as "treachery".

Democratic Republic of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame met in Doha on Tuesday for the first time since the latest M23 advance that has seen the rebels seize more territory than ever before.

Tshisekedi and Kagame meet in Qatar for crisis talks on eastern DRC

The meeting came one day after M23 pulled out of direct talks with Tshisekedi's government that were expected to take place in Angola, and as its fighters pushed deeper into Congolese territory.

Rwanda says cutting diplomatic ties with Belgium, as EU announces sanctions

The conflict in Congo's east is rooted in the fallout from Rwanda's 1994 genocide and competition for mineral riches. It has spiralled since January, raising fears of a regional conflict akin to those between 1996-2003 that left millions dead.

"We have nothing more to lose. We will fight until our cause is heard," Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance (AFC) that includes M23, told Reuters on Thursday when asked about the group's plans.

"We are defending ourselves. So if the threat continues to come from (DR Congo capital) Kinshasa, unfortunately, we will be forced to go and eliminate the threat because the Congo deserves better," he said during an interview in Goma, eastern Congo's main city.

"In the meantime, what happened in Doha, as long as we don't know the details, and as long as it doesn't solve our problems, we'll say it doesn't concern us."

Rwanda has denied supporting M23 and said its military has been acting in self defence against Congo's army and militias hostile to Kigali.

(Reuters)

PSG fans' petition keeps spotlight on Rwanda's role in DRC and cash to top clubs

Fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has thrown into sharp focus sponsorship deals involving the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the French football champions Paris Saint-Germain as well as Bayern Munich and Arsenal.

Some 600,000 people have been displaced by the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo since November, according to UN agencies. REUTERS - Stringer

By: Paul Myers
RFI
 15/03/2025

All three teams advanced on Tuesday and Wednesday to the quarter-finals of the Champions League to continue the projection of the RDB's "Visit Rwanda" logo in European club football's most prestigious competition.

PSG progressed at the expense of Liverpool following a penalty shoot-out at Anfield. Bayern cruised past Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen 5-0 on aggregate and Arsenal spanked the Dutch outfit PSV Eindhoven 9-3 over two legs.

In the last eight, PSG will play Aston Villa, Bayern will take on Inter Milan and Arsenal will face defending champions Real Madrid.

While the clubs battle for supremacy, their association with the RDB is coming under increasing scrutiny due to rows over the involvement of Rwandan troops in the M23 group which is fighting soldiers from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Human rights groups as well as the United Nations say they have evidence that Rwanda is actively bolstering the M23 in its sweep through Goma and Bukavu in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu.

Authorities in Kigali deny providing arms and troops to M23 rebels. They say Rwandan forces are acting in self-defence against the Congolese army and militias hostile to Rwandans, especially Tutsi.
Possible deal

But as Angolan officials attempt to broker a peace deal between the Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi and M23 leaders, campaigners in Europe have called on the football clubs to terminate their contracts with a brand that they claim has become tarnished.

"Ideally, the contract should end immediately," said Jordan Madiande who launched a petition in January with his cousin Lionel Tambwe calling for PSG's deal with the RDB to be severed.

Arsenal’s association with "Visit Rwanda" began in May 2018. Its logo appears on the shirt sleeves of Arsenal’s men’s, women’s and youth teams and can be seen on boards at the Emirates Stadium in north London and on interview backdrops.

PSG signed its initial contract with the RDB in 2019. It was renewed in May 2023 and is scheduled to end after the 2025 season.

Under the PSG deal with the RDB, the logo "Visit Rwanda" appears on the training and warm-up kits of the men's teams. Rwandan tea and coffee is also served at kiosks and in the suites at the PSG stadium. In both instances current and former players travel to Rwanda for promotional tours.

"If it's not renewed, that will be acceptable," added Madiande whose parents came to France from the DRC in the 1980s. "It will still be a victory."

The 32-year-old social worker's petition states that as an internationally respected club, PSG has an important role to play in promoting positive values.

It adds: "However, by maintaining this partnership with "Visit Rwanda", our club could be perceived as ignoring the geopolitical and humanitarian realities of this situation, and risk giving the impression that it is turning a blind eye to human rights violations."
Comment

PSG has yet to comment publicly on the petition which has amassed 73,000 signatures nor has there been a response to a letter from the DRC's minister of foreign affairs, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner.

In January, she called on PSG's bosses as well as their counterparts at Arsenal and Bayern Munich to review their sponsorship deals.

"At a time when Rwanda is waging war, Rwanda's guilt in this conflict has become indisputable," wrote Kayikwamba Wagner. "Your sponsor is directly responsible for this misery."

Arsenal have maintained their links with the RDB so too Bayern Munich who dispatched a fact-finding team to Rwanda.

Congo's government says at least 7,000 people have died in the fighting since January. According to the UN humanitarian affairs office (Ocha), at least 600,000 people have been displaced by the fighting since November.

"Maybe before, PSG's executives didn't really know what was going on or they didn't understand the scale of it," said Madiande.

"But new things are happening. Bukavu was taken since the petition began. There are the UN reports that say what is happening and there are international reports from human rights organisations. We didn't invent it. So the question is now, can PSG go on with this?"
Contract

The controversy surrounding the 15 million-euro a year contract has also illuminated the extent and depth of Rwanda's footprint in the world of sport.

Rwanda and South Africa are both bidding to stage a Formula 1 grand prix in 2027 – potentially the continent's first such race since 1993. A state-of-the-art track is being built to F1 standards close to Kigali's new Bugesera airport in the case of success.

In September, Rwanda will welcome the world cycling championships – the first time since its inception in 1921 that the planet's elite operators will compete in Africa.

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame was also one of the strongest advocates for the establishment in 2021 of the Basketball Africa League. Critics say such promotion is sportswashing – using sporting events to gloss over official clampdowns on political opponents and human rights abuses.

"It is very much part of Kagame's toolkit," said Michela Wrong, author of several books on the region including Rwanda Assassins sans frontierès. "He does sportswashing superbly well.

"And it's because it works in his favour, He's also genuinely an Arsenal fan, so he likes to go and watch the matches himself.

"Rwanda is managing to get its its message out to a very particular audience. It's a young audience. It's a trendy audience. It's an audience that possibly isn't that well informed about the niceties of African politics over the last 30 years and one that can't really be bothered to read up on that sort of detail.

"So it's a way of sort of going over the heads of people like me and journalists. Rwanda goes over our heads and reaches a young audience that really doesn't want to engage with those issues. So I think it's a very effective way of marketing a certain kind of message.

"This is sportswashing taken to quite a very high level, a level that I don't think you can see anywhere else in Africa."

In February, the RDB, responded to queries about its sponsorship deals on social media. It claimed the DRC was undermining its international partnerships through misinformation and political pressure.


"These efforts threaten regional peace, stability, and economic cooperation," said the message on X. "These collaborations transcend borders, inspire millions across Africa, and contribute to the continent’s socioeconomic progress."

Madiande, a life-long PSG fan, said he would wait to see if the PSG sponsorship deal were to be renewed before deciding if the campaign should be escalated.

"We think that clubs are intelligent and that they will understand that this is serious," he said.

"We think that with the values defended by PSG, Arsenal and Bayern Munich and especially with their histories, that it's going to stop. But if it doesn't, there will be further action. It will be more visible."

Ligue 1 pacesetters PSG host arch rivals Marseille at the Parc des Princes on Sunday night. Victory over the visitors, who occupy second place, would extend PSG's lead to 19 points with eight games remaining.

"I've been a PSG fan for as long as I can remember," said Madiande. "But if their approach doesn't change, I'll have to ask myself lots of questions. That will be hard. I've supported them when they nearly went down to the second division and I'm still a supporter now when things are going better.

"They really can't need this money from this source. There must be many organisations out there willing to be associated with the club."

Tens of thousands in France protest against racism and far-right

Tens of thousands of people in Paris and other French cities on Saturday rallied against racism and the rise of the far right, with some taking aim at the administration of Donald Trump in the United States and others carrying Palestinian flags.


RFI

22/03/2025 - 

A protestor holds a sign reading "Trump, Musk = Nazi, Bardella & Macron accomplices" during a demonstration on Place de la République in Paris on 22March, 2025, as part of the international day against racism and fascism. AFP - BERTRAND GUAY

Several scuffles between police officers and demonstrators took place in Paris.

The rallies took place amid the rightward shift in French politics, with the government pledging to tighten immigration policies and border controls. Around 62,000 people protested across France, according to police.

Many pointed to the growing strength of reactionary political forces, in France but also in the United States.

In the French capital, thousands of people took to the streets.

"Fascism is gangrene from Washington to Paris," read one placard.

"The far right is on the rise everywhere in Europe, it's scary because in France we see far-right ideas becoming more and more commonplace, even among ministers in this government," said Evelyne Dourille, a 74-year-old pensioner.

One American protester said similar demonstrations should be taking place in the United States.

"America is sliding towards fascism," said the 55-year-old woman.

Aurelie Trouve, a lawmaker for the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, pointed to the growing popularity of the far-right party of Marine Le Pen in France.

"Far-right ideas are contaminating even the government," she said.

(link)

In the southern port city of Marseille, some 3,300 people took to the streets, while 2,600 protested in Lille in the north, according to police.

"Against state Islamophobia" and "Tesla is the new swastika," said some of the placards.

Family's 'relief' as riot officer charged over death of 80-year-old in Marseille

Ines Frehaut, a student who took part in her first demonstration, said some of the statements of France's hardline interior minister worried her.

"When you see what has said about Islam, Algeria and the wearing of the veil, it's serious!" she said.

The protests took place a day after the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

"The situation is serious," the Human Rights League (LDH) said, pointing to an "alarming increase" in racist acts.

"There is a global reactionary offensive against foreigners and their children, against Muslims," added Dominique Sopo, head of of SOS Racisme, also pointing to increasing racist and anti-Semitic acts.

French far-right leader's presence at Israel anti-Semitism conference stirs controversy

In the run-up to the rallies the LFI party caused an uproar in France by publishing the image of Cyril Hanouna, one of the most influential stars of right-wing media in the country, as part of a campaign calling on people to turn out for the anti-racism protests.

The image pictured Hanouna, who was born into a Jewish family that had immigrated to France from Tunisia. Critics accused the LFI of imitating the anti-Semitic tropes of the Third Reich. Key LFI figures admitted publishing the image was a "mistake" and it was withdrawn.

(AFP)

Many animal 'geomorphs' under threat, study warns

Paris (AFP) – More than a quarter of our planet's natural "geomorphs" -- animals such as beavers and hippos that, collectively, can reshape entire landscapes -- are threatened or have shrinking populations, a new study says.


Issued on: 12/03/2025 - 

Beavers are among the most famous of nature's architects, renowned for building dams that redirect rivers and reshape wetlands © Bohumil FISER / AOPK CR/AFP/File

The research, by Queen Mary University of London, found the scale of the impact these animals had on habitats -- by building dams, trampling new river courses, excavating earth and other activities -- rivals that caused by major floods.

Yet "more than a quarter (28 percent) of zoogeomorphic species are vulnerable to future population decline or regional or global extinction," the study's authors warned.

Their research, published mid-February, identified more than 600 species of land and freshwater animals that worked to redesign their ecosystems.

While beavers, of dam-building fame, and hippopotamuses and elephants, which in herds can flatten stretches of earth, are the best-known, there are many others -- often overlooked -- that could also be dubbed animal architects.


Termites in Brazil are known for building high mounds connected by tunnels across vast stretches of land © Jaime Sampaio / SCIENTIST ROY FUNCH/AFP/File

Among them are Brazilian termites, which have built high mounds connected by tunnels that cover an area larger than Iceland.

Others identified by the researchers included Australian marsupials, South American shrimp, Asian ants, as well as salmon, moles, earthworms and freshwater insects.

"What we tend to do is overlook the smaller animals that are less visible to us. Perhaps they're living underground or they're living underwater, but those animals can be really kind of important as well," one of the authors, Gemma Harvey, told AFP.
'Big cumulative effect'

Harvey, a professor in biogeomorphology and landscape rewilding, said: "People can underestimate the effects of small animals, because individually their effects are small, but collectively they tend to be more abundant in the landscape so they can have a big cumulative effect."

She added that "it's the collective importance of the animals that is being discovered right now".

She noted the study did not look at marine ecosystems, and that "there will be many more animals that have not yet been studied or perhaps not even been discovered yet".

Of the more than 600 species identified in the research, 57 were classed as endangered, vulnerable or near-threatened on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.

Many others were at risk of declining populations.

"As we lose species from our landscapes, we lose those unique processes" of reshaping the habitats, Harvey said.

And the power these landscaping animals possess is staggering.

Harvey said her team's study estimated that the species they had identified together exerted 76,000 gigajoules of energy each year -- equivalent to that of "hundreds of thousands of extreme floods".

She said much was still unknown about the animals' geomorphing processes and she planned to further her research, notably by factoring in the effects of climate change.

"We're also interested in thinking kind of back in time in the past, about what we've already lost, you know, from our landscapes as species have become extinct or reduced a lot in terms of their population," she said.

© 2025 AFP

On the Mongolian steppe, climate change pushes herders to the brink

Kharkhorin (Mongolia) (AFP) – Over a year after a devastating winter wiped out virtually his entire sheep flock, herder Zandan Lkhamsuren is still reckoning with the damage wrought by Mongolia's increasingly erratic extreme weather.

Heavy snowfall and frozen ground means livestock cannot find food © Jade GAO / AFP

13/03/2025 - 

The vast country is one of the most affected by climate change, by some counts warming three times faster than the global average.

The link between rising temperatures and extreme weather –- ranging from droughts and floods to heatwaves and cold snaps –- is well-established.

In Mongolia the effects are stark.

Among other consequences, deep freezes like the one that killed Zandan's herd -- known as dzuds -- have been growing more frequent and intense.

"Last year's winter was the hardest I've ever known," the 48-year-old told AFP, describing daytime temperatures of minus 32 degrees Celsius (minus 25.6 degrees Fahrenheit) that plunged to minus 42C at night.

Heavy snowfall and frozen ground meant his sheep could not find food, and all except two of his 280-strong flock perished.

Across Mongolia, more than seven million animals were killed, over a tenth of the country's total.

"Our livestock used to cover all of our expenses, and we used to live very nicely," Zandan told AFP as he served hot salted milk tea in his traditional ger home.

Permafrost distribution in Mongolia © Nicholas SHEARMAN / AFP

But the loss of his animals and the loans he took out to keep feeding a smaller, hardier herd of goats mean he now struggles to make ends meet.

Both his daughters were supposed to start university in the capital Ulaanbaatar last year, but the family could not afford their tuition fees.

"Now my strategy is just to focus on what I have left," Zandan said.

Next to the ger's coal burner, a persistent bleating came from a box containing a sickly week-old goat.

- 'Difficult to predict' -

As the setting sun cast long shadows over the steppe, Zandan pulled on a thick green brocade jacket and strode outside, whistling as he shepherded his indignant charges into a shelter for the night.

He said he was keeping a positive mindset -- if he could boost his goat numbers, he might be able to fund his daughters' studies further down the line.

"It's just one downside of herders' lives," he said stoically. "But I'm sure we can recover."

Mongolian herder Enebold Davaa's family lost more than 100 goats, 40 sheep and three cows last winter © Jade GAO / AFP

The problem for Zandan -- and other agricultural workers that make up a third of Mongolia's population -- is that dzuds are happening more often.

They used to occur about once every 10 years, but there have been six in the last decade or so, according to the United Nations.

And while overgrazing has long contributed to desertification on the steppe, climate change is making things even worse.

Droughts in the summers have made it harder to fatten animals and stockpile fodder for winter.

"Like many other herder men, I always look at the sky and try to predict the weather," Zandan told AFP.

"But it's been getting difficult," he said. "Climate change is happening."
Uncertain future

His motorbike kicking up clouds of dust, 36-year-old Enebold Davaa shared those concerns as he chased his herd across the plain.

Enebold's family lost more than 100 goats, 40 sheep and three cows last winter.

"It's our main source of income, so we felt very heavy, it was very hard for us," he said.

Herder Zandan Lkhamsuren puts up a piece of cloth to keep goats warm at night in central Mongolia © Jade GAO / AFP

This year's milder winter had allowed the family to recover some of their losses, but Enebold said he viewed the future with trepidation.

"Of course we are anxious, but there's nothing we can predict now," he said.

Local official Gankhuyag Banzragch told AFP most families in the district lost 30 to 40 percent of their livestock last winter.

As herding became more difficult, many families were moving away, he added.

A quarter of Mongolians still lead nomadic lives, but in recent decades hundreds of thousands have left the steppe for urban centres, particularly the capital.

As she boiled horsemeat dumplings, Enebold's wife said they too might consider a move if they lost more livestock.

"The main challenge is accessibility of education for our children in the city," she said.

Her husband had a more fundamental reason for staying.

"I want to keep herding my livestock," he said. "I want to keep the same lifestyle as now."

© 2025 AFP

'Paris Noir' exhibition showcases work made in French capital by black artists

The 'Paris Noir' exhibition at the Pompidou Centre brings together works by African, American, Caribbean and Afro-descendant artists who lived and worked in Paris between the 1950s and the end of the 1990s.

Curator Eva Barois De Caevel presents the new exhibition 'Paris Noir' at the Pompidou Centre, 18 March, 2025. © RFI/Melissa Chemam

By:Melissa Chemam
RFI

Issued on: 22/03/2025 - 

ifredo Lam, Beauford Delaney, Ernest Breleur, Skunder Boghossian, Christian Lattier, Demas Nwoko, Edward Glissant, Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Grace Jones... These are just some of the artists whose paintings, film and audiovisual works have gone on display at the Pompidou Centre.

And then there are the American creators famed for their work produced in Paris, including Faith Ringgold, Josephine Baker and author James Balwin. Countries from Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica to Martinique, Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal are also among those represented.

An exhibition like 'Paris Noir' has been long awaited at Paris's flagship modern art museum, despite a strong black, African and Caribbean presence in the French capital, for centuries.

It includes displays on the creation of the seminal magazine Présence Africaine (now also a publishing house) and that of Revue noire, which chronicled the presence and influence of black artists in France between the 1950s and 2000s.

The Pompidou Centre has also included new works by contemporary artists from Transatlantic African American and European communities, such as Jon One, Valérie John, Nathalie Leroy Fiévee, Jay Ramier and Shuck One.

'Paris Noir' is on until 30 June at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, ahead of the five-year closure of the museum for renovations. © RFI/Melissa Chemam

Black consciousness

Eva Barois De Caevel is one of the exhibition curators. "This in-depth work, a historiographical challenge, is now presenting more than 300 works and even more objects and artefacts," she told RFI.

The event is the result of two years of work by the Pompidou Centre's contemporary and prospective creation department, led by Alicia Knock.

Contemporary African culture centre to open in Paris after four-year delay

Knock was particularly insistent on including the works of artists who came to Paris in the 1950s, during the period of anti-colonial struggle which was "organised through alliances between the Americas and Africa", thanks to methods of resistance born in the Caribbean since the Haitian revolution.

Head curator Alicia Knock during the press viewing of 'Paris Noir' on 18 March, 2025. © RFI/Melissa Chemam

"We could have called the show 'Paris, Dakar', 'Paris, Lagos', 'Paris, Johannesburg', 'Paris, Havana', 'Paris, Fort-de-France', or 'Paris, Port-au-Prince'... But this would have been a bias that didn't interest us," De Caevel added.

Instead, the museum sought to focus on the idea of a black consciousness, referencing The Black Atlantic, the seminal book by British sociologist and cultural studies academic Paul Gilroy, published in 1993, an exploration of the "double consciousness" of black people in the western world during the modern period.

The curators have included artistic representations of the experience of enslavement and the slave trade, which De Caevel called "unprecedented in the history of humanity, which gives us a common base".

Equally vital to include was the experience of racism, including institutional racism. "This means that these artists were ignored," added De Caevel, "and not considered by institutions – until very recently, or even until today."

Visitors view the work of pioneering Cuban painter Wifredo Lam at 'Paris Noir'.

 © RFI/Melissa Chemam
Political context

The show is an archive of an immensely rich part of Paris's history, according to the British photographer Johny Pitts, who worked for more than a decade documenting "black Europe" in his book Afropeans.

"It reminds us that, as well as the art, it is important to show the conditions of production of the art, the politics behind the art, the intellectual movements that have helped to spearhead many black artistic traditions," he told RFI. "And I'm really glad because sometimes I feel like that gets lost."

British photographer Johny Pitts, author of 'Afropeans', at the opening of 'Paris Noir'. 

© RFI/Melissa Chemam

Beyond appreciating the visuals, for him the exhibition helps to highlight the political context in which the art was made.

Post-colonial artists reimagine the future in new Pompidou exhibition in Metz

"I think it's a very important intervention," he added. "I loved seeing the collection of Présence Africaine, the books all displayed, and also the work of photographers like Haitian Henri Roy, who's one of my favourite photographers and has been going for a long time: here, finally, he gets his credit. There's a lot of work in here that I have seen for the first time, and then artists whose work I actually didn't know. It's just so powerful."

Pitt's photographs were recently exhibited in the French capital by Little Africa, an art space in Paris's Goutte d'or neighbourhood founded by a group of African cultural players.

Curated with Little Africa, numerous art, cultural and educational shows have been scheduled in venues across Paris and the Île-de-France region as parallel events reflecting "black Paris" to run intended with the Pompidou Centre's exhibition.

'Paris Noir' is at the Pompidou Centre in Paris until 30 June, 2025.

Algerian girls take up boxing after Khelif's Olympic gold

Azazga (Algeria) (AFP) – In a gym in northern Algeria's Kabylia, 15-year-old Cerine Kessal was driving her fists into a punching bag. The two-time national champion was dreaming of greater feats after Algerian Imane Khelif won Olympic gold last year.


Issued on: 13/03/2025 

A young woman practices boxing drills at a sports complex in Algier © - / AFP


Khelif's victory generated newfound interest among Algerian girls and women in the male-dominated sport, with gyms across the North African country witnessing a surge in memberships.

She had emerged from the Paris Olympics as a trailblazer for aspiring women athletes in Algeria, despite a gender controversy over her eligibility.

"I want to compete in African and world championships," Kessal said, speaking in a blend of Arabic, French and Tamazight, the language of the Amazigh people, also known as Berbers.

The small gym, refashioned from a former municipal slaughterhouse with the help of local families, now trains 20 women boxers, said Ourhoun.

The young girls' "hunger for results" has often sparked "competitiveness, even jealousy, among their male counterparts," he said.

"I want to be like Imane Khelif and win an Olympic gold medal," said Kessal.

In 2023, the International Boxing Association barred Khelif from its world championships after it said she had failed gender eligibility tests for carrying XY chromosomes.

The 25-year-old champion denounced the IBA's "false and offensive" allegations and vowed last month to keep fighting "in the ring" and "in the courts".

"I have seen adversity before," she said in a statement, "but I have never stayed down".

'Shattered taboo'

Cerine Kessal triumphed at the recent National Junior Boxing Championship

 © - / AFP

In Bejaia, further east of Algiers, clubs such as Dream Team and Sidi Ayad Boxing Club have also welcomed more women and girls.

Lina Debbou, a former boxer and now sports adviser, said this momentum started right after the Olympics.

"Imane Khelif brought so much to women's boxing," she told AFP. "More girls are joining the sport thanks to her."

Even in relatively more conservative parts of the country, like Djelfa in the Saharan Atlas range some 300 kilometres south of Algiers, more women are said to have taken up the sport.

"We first tried introducing women’s boxing in 2006, but it was not successful due to the region being conservative," Mohamed Benyacoub, the director of local club Ennasr, told AFP.

Now, "the women's sports movement began to revive," he said, adding that Khelif had "shattered the taboo that women can't box".

Nacim Touami, a boxing referee whose wife is also a professional boxer, said parents are playing a pivotal role in this "real obsession with boxing now".

"Parents used to prefer volleyball or swimming for their daughters," he said. "But after Khelif's gold medal, we've seen a real shift."

'The Khelif phenomenon'

The male-dominated sport has enjoyed a boom in interest from women and girls after Khelif's Olympic glory © - / AFP

Manel Berkache, a former national champion who also coaches at JSA, said it was mothers, in particular, who were driving the change.

"Mothers are now the ones who register their daughters and attend training and matches, and this is a beautiful thing," she said.

"She is the locomotive of women's boxing in Algeria," he said. "She gave us a strong momentum."

He said over 100 junior girl boxers had turned up at this year's national championship -- more than double the number from last year.

It was at this competition that Kessal won gold, sparring against athletes from clubs including the Tiaret Civil Protection Club where Khelif debuted.

Like Kessal, 14-year-old Hayat Berouali, who picked up boxing less than a month ago, dreams of becoming a champion, too.

"I liked boxing after watching fights at the Olympic Games, especially those of Imane Khelif, and my parents encouraged me," she said, smiling.

© 2025 AFP

All-women marching band livens up Taiwanese funerals

Changhua (Taiwan) (AFP) – At a funeral in rural Taiwan, musicians wearing pleated mini-skirts and go-go boots march around a coffin to the beat of the 1980s hit "I Hate Myself for Loving You".

Da Zhong women's group is part of a long tradition of funeral marching bands performing in Taiwan for families wanting to give their loved ones an upbeat send-off

 © I-HWA CHENG / AFP

 13/03/2025

The performance in a Changhua County farming community is a modern mash-up of ancient Chinese funeral rites and folk traditions, with saxophones, rock music and daring outfits.

Da Zhong women's group is part of a long tradition of funeral marching bands performing in mostly rural areas of Taiwan for families wanting to give their loved ones an upbeat send-off.

The band was composed mainly of men when it started 50 years ago and has evolved into an all-women ensemble.

"I constantly try to innovate, come up with new ideas, and adapt to modern times," said band manager Hsu Ya-tzu, 46, whose mother-in-law founded the group.

"I want to break away from rigid traditional mindsets to keep this profession relevant."

AFP journalists joined Da Zhong as they performed their choreographed routines in handmade white-and-sky-blue uniforms at three funerals over two days.

Starting before dawn, the women marched in formation playing their saxophones and a drum as the leader twirled her baton and blew a whistle.

Funeral director Chang Chen-tsai says marching band performances were supposed to 'liven up the atmosphere' of funerals © I-Hwa Cheng / AFP

The music was loud enough to wake the nearby living as they led the coffin and mourners to a cemetery or crematorium where traditional funeral rites were performed.

"It felt like a celebration, almost like a joyous occasion rather than a funeral," mourner Hsiao Lin Hui-hsiang, 74, told AFP as his family cremated an elderly relative.

"Since she lived past 90, it was considered a happy farewell."

Funeral director Chang Chen-tsai said marching band performances were supposed to "liven up the atmosphere" of funerals and were usually reserved for the old.

"It should be lively, it cannot be too quiet," said Chang, 64, who has been organising funerals for 40 years.

Lipstick, white boots

It was still dark out when Hsu pulled up in her van at a meeting point to collect other band members for an early morning gig.

The women aged from 22 to 46 applied lipstick and pulled on white boots before grabbing their instruments and walking to the covered courtyard venue where mourners gathered near the coffin.

Da Zhong band was composed mainly of men when it started 50 years ago and has evolved into an all-female ensemble © I-Hwa Cheng / AFP

Hsu's mother-in-law, Hung Sa-hua, recalls being one of the only women in the funeral marching band profession when she started her own group in 1975.

As the male performers got old and retired, she replaced them with women, which customers preferred, the 72-year-old said.

For Hung, the band was an opportunity to make some extra money after she married her husband and to get out of the family home.

"If I never went out and always stayed at home, I wouldn't have known what was happening in society," Hung told AFP.

- 'Constantly innovating' -

Taiwan's funeral marching bands are rooted in Chinese and folk rituals, and during the last century began using Western instruments, said Wu Ho-yu, 56, a high school music teacher who has studied the tradition.

"Since people appreciate its entertainment aspect, bands continue following this style, constantly innovating to offer something even better," Wu said.

Hsu said the band had changed with the times. Many years ago, for example, the women wore trousers but now super-short skirts were acceptable.

Taiwan's funeral marching bands are rooted in Chinese and folk rituals, and during the last century began using Western instruments 

© I-Hwa Cheng / AFP

Finding new performers was a challenge due to the early morning starts, said Hsu, who has expanded into birthday parties, company year-end events and grand openings.

"Nowadays, fewer and fewer people are willing to enter this industry," she said.

"We are all getting older, but this job needs young people to carry it forward, it requires energy, and only with energy can it truly shine."

Hsu said she introduced rock songs -- such as "I Hate Myself for Loving You" by US band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and "Leaving the Face of the Earth (Jump!)" by Taiwanese group Mayday -- into their repertoire to give their act a more contemporary sound.

Some elderly mourners initially objected, but younger ones embraced it.

"As long as it's a song the deceased wanted to hear, anything is okay," Hsu said.

"The old traditions, where certain songs were considered taboo, no longer apply."

© 2025 AFP

Less mapped than the Moon: quest to reveal the seabed

Tokyo (AFP) – It covers nearly three-quarters of our planet but the ocean floor is less mapped than the Moon, an astonishing fact driving a global push to build the clearest-ever picture of the seabed.


Issued on: 13/03/2025 -

Understanding the seabed is crucial for laying undersea cables, calculating tsunami paths and projecting sea level rises © Boris HORVAT / AFP/File


Understanding the ocean depths is crucial for everything from laying undersea cables and calculating tsunami paths, to projecting how seas will rise as the climate warms.

When Seabed 2030 launched in 2017, just six percent of the ocean floor was properly mapped.

The project has since boosted that figure to over 25 percent, harnessing historic data, sonar from research and industry vessels, and growing computing power.

"As we put more data together, we get this beautiful picture of the seafloor, it's really like bringing it into focus," said Vicki Ferrini, head of the project's Atlantic and Indian Ocean Centre.
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"You start to see the details and the patterns, you start to understand the (ocean) processes in a different way," added Ferrini, a senior research scientist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

Satellite technology means we can now zoom in on the surface of the Moon, or a neighbourhood half-way around the world, but when it comes to the ocean floor, there's a basic problem.

"It's physics," said Ferrini. "The water is in the way."

While instruments can peer through relatively shallow depths to the sea floor, for most of the ocean only acoustic methods are viable -- sonar that pings the seabed and returns data on depths.

In the past, most ships used single beam sonar, sending down a single echo and offering one data point at a time.

Nowadays, multibeam sonar is common, explained Martin Jakobsson, dean of earth and environmental science at Stockholm University and co-head of Seabed 2030's Arctic and North Pacific centre.

"You get a swathe, almost like a 3D view directly, and that's really what we want to map the ocean with."
'More geopolitical than ever'

But the availability of multibeam sonar did not translate into a central clearing house for data, and not all data collection is equal.

Different vessels collect at different resolutions, and data capture can be affected by the turbidity of the ocean and even the tides.

Collating, correcting and integrating that data is where Seabed 2030 has come in.

"We have this real patchwork," said Ferrini. "We do our best to weave it all together... making sure that we are normalising and justifying all of these measurements."

The project has set relatively coarse resolution targets for mapping -- grid cell sizes of 400 metres squared (4,300 square feet) for most of the ocean floor -- but even achieving that is a complicated process.

"It's a cost issue, it's also a 'people don't know why it's needed' issue," Jakobsson said.

"And right now it's more geopolitical than ever before," he added, particularly in the heavily contested Arctic.
'Just beautiful'

The project has benefitted from some technological advances, including the spread of multibeam sonar and growing computing power.

Machine learning helps with data processing and pattern recognition, and can even enhance imagery and try to fill in some gaps.

"As we start to bring together each trackline and paint the picture more completely... we start to see these incredible meandering channels on the seafloor that look just like what we see on land," said Ferrini.

It is "just beautiful," she added.

Part of the project, which is funded by the Japanese non-profit Nippon Foundation, has been finding the biggest gaps in seafloor knowledge, most often in the open sea and areas outside common shipping routes.

Autonomous platforms equipped with sonar that can float at sea could speed up data collection, although for now uncovering "hidden" data that is sitting unshared is helping fill many gaps.

The work comes as countries debate whether to open stretches of the seabed to the mining of minerals used in the energy transition.

It is a divisive question, and like many scientists Ferrini warns against proceeding without more research.

"We need to have the data so we can make data-informed decisions, and we don't yet."

© 2025 AFP

First brown bear to have brain surgery emerges from hibernation

London (AFP) – A bear cub that underwent pioneering life-saving brain surgery has come out of hibernation and appears to have made a "remarkable" recovery, UK zoo chiefs said on Thursday.


Issued on: 13/03/2025 

Vets have been waiting to observe how Boki would wake up to gauge the success of the surgery © Harding-Lee Media / WILDWOOD TRUST/AFP

The bear named Boki went under the knife for fluid on the brain in October just before going into hibernation.

Vets had been waiting to observe how Boki would wake up to gauge the success of the surgery, the first of its kind on a brown bear.

"He's looking brilliant, happy and healthy and we haven't seen any negative signs from him," said Jon Forde, head of bears at British conservation charity Wildwood Trust near Canterbury in southeastern England where Boki is kept.

"All his personality traits are still there -- he's still the same old Boki that we love," he said.

Boki, who turned three during hibernation, had been suffering from seizures.

He was given medication to deal with the swelling and build up of fluid, but vets feared he was unlikely to make it through hibernation without surgical intervention.

A decision to operate was taken, resulting in world-leading veterinary surgeon Romain Pizzi fitting a stent between Boki's brain and abdomen to help pass the excess fluid.

Staff at the Wildwood Trust, which also runs a second wildlife park in southwestern Devon, are now focused on helping Boki to build up his strength.

"Boki did well for his first ever winter sleep. He lost around 30 kilos (66 pounds) -- we think a lot of this because he's actually grown while he was asleep so a lot of energy has been used for that," Forde said.

"Our first job will be to put some weight back on him," he added.

Boki was adopted from another UK wild animal reserve in December 2022 after he was rejected by his mother and had to be hand-reared by keepers there.

Wildwood, renowned for its work with brown bears, had been helping him to learn bear behaviours, partly by integrating him with two adult bears named Fluff and Scruff.

That had to stop as a result of the seizures but keepers would potentially resume the process soon.

Reintroducing him to the other two bears would likely involve "boisterous play" which could be harmful so soon after hibernation but the signs were "very positive", said head of zoo operations Mark Habben.

"We will monitor him very closely and, at some point over the coming months, we will conduct that introduction if everything continues to go well," he said, adding that Boki's transformation had been "remarkable".

© 2025 AFP

WAIT, WHAT?!

Japan, China, and South Korea restate goal of peace and stability on Korean peninsula

The foreign ministers of Japan, South Korea and China agreed Saturday that peace on the Korean peninsula was a shared responsibility, Seoul's foreign minister said. The ministers met as US trade tariffs loom over the region, and amid concerns over North Korea's weapons tests and its deployment of troops to support Russia's war in Ukraine.


22/03/2025
By: FRANCE 24

The foreign ministers' meeting follows a rare trilateral summit in May in Seoul. © Rodrigo Reyes Marin, AFP


Japan, South Korea and China agreed Saturday that peace on the Korean peninsula was a shared responsibility, Seoul's foreign minister said, in a meeting of the three countries' top diplomats in which they pledged to promote cooperation.

The talks followed a rare trilateral summit in May in Seoul where the neighbours -- riven by historical and territorial disputes -- agreed to deepen ties and restated their goal of a denuclearised Korean peninsula.

But they come as US trade tariffs loom over the region, and as concerns mount over North Korea's weapons tests and its deployment of troops to support Russia's war against Ukraine.

"We reaffirmed that maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula is a shared interest and responsibility of the three countries," South Korea's Cho Tae-yul said Saturday.


"Additionally, I stressed that illegal military cooperation between Russia and North Korea must be immediately halted," he said.

Seoul and Tokyo typically take a stronger line against North Korea than China, which remains one of Pyongyang's most important allies and economic benefactors.

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said he, Cho, and China's Wang Yi "had a frank exchange of views on trilateral cooperation and regional international affairs... and confirmed that we will promote future-orientated cooperation".

"The international situation has become increasingly severe, and it is no exaggeration to say that we are at a turning point in history," Iwaya said at the start of Saturday's meeting.

"In this context, it has become more important than ever to make efforts to overcome division and confrontation through dialogue and cooperation", he said.

Wang said that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and "only by sincerely reflecting on history can we better build the future".

Strengthening cooperation will allow the countries "to jointly resist risks" as well as promote "mutual understanding" between their populations, he added.

New economic opportunities

Ukraine was also on the agenda Saturday, with Iwaya warning that unilaterally changing the status quo by force was unacceptable anywhere.

"On the situation in Ukraine, I emphasised the need for the international community to unite in calling out that any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force will not be tolerated anywhere in the world," he told reporters.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stressed the importance of 'pragmatic diplomacy'. © Franck Robichon, AFP

Climate change, ageing populations and trade were among the broad topics officials had said would be discussed on Saturday, as well as working together on disaster relief and science and technology.

China and to a lesser extent South Korea and Japan have been hit by tariffs put in place by US President Donald Trump in recent weeks, but none of the ministers addressed the issue directly in their statements to the press.

Iwaya said the trio had "agreed to accelerate coordination for the next summit" between the countries' leaders.

The foreign minister will also hold bilateral talks with both counterparts Saturday, while Japan and China will have their first so-called "high-level economic dialogue" in six years.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi joined the trilateral talks in Tokyo © Franck ROBICHON / POOL/AFP

Patricia M. Kim, a foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said that while "trilateral dialogues have been ongoing for over a decade", this round "carries heightened significance" due to the new US position.

"Their leaders are under growing pressure to diversify their options and to seek alternative economic opportunities," she told AFP.

Beijing "has been working actively to improve relations with other major and middle powers amid growing frictions with the United States", she added.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)