Europe-based social networks launch bid to challenge tech giants


New schemes to launch Europe-based social networks face a steep, rocky road to seduce users away from American and Asian giants in the sector. Founders, nevertheless, see opportunity in the disillusionment and distrust of major platforms that have spiked alongside transatlantic tensions under Donald Trump's second presidency.


Issued on: 10/05/2026 - 
By: FRANCE 24

A new crop of European social media apps want to find room in a crowded market dominated by established American and Asian apps 

© Saeed KHAN / AFP/File

A flurry of new schemes to launch Europe-based social networks faces a steep, rocky road to seduce users away from American and Asian giants in the sector.

Founders, nevertheless, see opportunity in the disillusionment and distrust of major platforms that have spiked alongside transatlantic tensions under Donald Trump's second presidency.

"We think the timing is perfect, in a context where relations between Europe and the US are still deteriorating," said Gregoire Vigroux, co-founder of Croatia-based network eYou.

"It's time for Europe to equip itself with its own social networks," he added

Opening to users on Tuesday, eYou is one of a number of efforts on the old continent, including W -- a would-be competitor to X announced in January -- or Eurosky, a platform for accessing independent social networks launched last month.

Bulle (French for "bubble") also launched in January, promising a "healthy social network" while Monnett -- a hybrid of TikTok and Instagram -- is set for full release in July.

"The rejection targeting the (American) platforms is still stronger today" than in the past, said Romain Badouard, a researcher at France's Inria computing institute specialising in social networks.

He suggested that a "conservative turn in Silicon Valley" had proved unpopular with European users seeing the likes of X owner Elon Musk or Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) chief Mark Zuckerberg cosying up to Trump.
'Enormous graveyard'

At W, "the idea is to bring back what was once Twitter in the good old days", said founder Anna Zeiter ahead of the Saturday launch.

Some interest is apparent among investors and users in the new crop of networks.

In a second fundraising round, eYou garnered €300,000 ($353,000) in late 2025 while Monnett claims more than 65,000 users on the beta version of its app.

But such figures would be rounding errors to the giants of the sector, which count in hundreds of millions of users and billions in revenue.

The dominance of incumbent players has left little space for challenge beyond niche offerings like Mastodon or BeReal.

© France 24
09:17


"The world of social networks is an enormous graveyard," eYou's Vigroux acknowledged, adding that "99 percent of European social networks launched in the last 10 years have fallen flat".

Badouard pointed to the "network effect" that powered the snowballing of major platforms' user numbers as a factor now shielding them from competition.

For users on Instagram and TikTok, "all the people they know and the accounts they follow" are on the existing networks.

But the "technological maturity" of the latest wave of challengers could still count in their favour, he said.

"They're answering to a lot of the expectations users have," Badouard said.
Out of the algorithm?

There is a familiar litany of criticisms levelled at the big players, including sorting users into "filter bubbles", unevenly-enforced moderation and addictive design.

European would-be competitors see those as openings to vaunt their own virtues.

W promises to keep all but verified human users from posting, while eYou says it will "promote users sharing content considered trustworthy".

"It's really important for us that it's not an algorithm that determine what's on your screen, but yourself," said Christos Floros of Monnett, which is aiming to hit a million users this year.

Such commitments could steepen the path to profitability for the new arrivals, in a market where financial success is still largely determined by raking in advertising sales.

Zeiter said W would have "no crazy hyper-targeted advertising".

"Right now we are all trying out different business models and different approaches," she said.

"Maybe in one or two years we see what's most successful and then we can team up."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Data centers: Tech boom with downsides

Thomas Latschan  

DW

Data centers are energy-intensive engines of growth, the backbone and hub of digitalization. Thousands of them are being built all around the world. The Iran war has shown how vulnerable societies are as a result.

An Amazon Web Services data center in the US: Massive server capacity is needed to fuel increasing internet demand

Image: Noah Berger/REUTERS



Dietzenbach is a small German town with a population of around 35,000. Locally it is best known for its open-air forest swimming pool and an architecturally unusual observation tower from which, on a clear day, you can see Frankfurt, some 12 kilometers away.

Its location is probably one of the main reasons why the US tech giant Google chose to invest several billion dollars in a new, high-performance data center. The greater Frankfurt area is one of the most important data center regions in Europe.

DE-CIX Frankfurt is the world's leading internet exchange. At peak times, it handles more than 17 terabits of data traffic. This equates to the amount of data processed if almost 3.5 million people streamed a high-definition film simultaneously. Seventy-six such data centers are already operating in the greater Frankfurt region. Worldwide, there are about 12,000 of these complexes and many more are being built.

The DE-CIX (Deutsche Commercial Internet Exchange) in Frankfurt is the biggest of its kind in the world

Image: Andreas Arnold/dpa/picture alliance

Growing importance of data centers

The internet is now an indispensable part of modern global society, and becoming ever more so. The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence, in particular, demands greater volumes of data. Massive server capacity is required to process and store this data and enable the smooth operation of cloud services and internet applications. Consequently data centers are the backbone of the modern internet.

They are also fundamentally significant for the national security of modern industrialized countries, whose economies and societies could barely function without them. Essential procedures for the provision of power and health systems, financial management, transport logistics and many other services are processed through these internet exchanges.

This is why data centers in Germany are classified as part of the country's critical infrastructure and afforded special protection. In March 2026, the federal government published a new national Data Center Strategy, illustrating how significant they are. It plans to double Germany's data center capacity by 2030 and will also aim to reduce its dependence on non-European providers.

AI Bubble incoming?   19:46

Vulnerable hubs

The fact that almost everything online now passes through data centers also makes these complexes a prime target. There has been a sharp increase in cyberattacks in recent years. In January 2026, the German Federal Bank reported that it records more than 5,000 cyberattacks every minute on its own IT systems alone. Data centers are usually well protected against attacks like these and also against possible saboteurs.

Data center building complexes are generally secured with video cameras, fences and barbed wire. And with good reason: In Strasbourg in March 2021, a major fire in one of Europe's largest data centers demonstrated that physical damage to the hubs can also have far-reaching consequences. More than 3.6 million websites went down and many customers lost their data forever because their backups had been stored in the same building.

Strategic targets for attack?

Data centers have also become strategic targets in military conflicts. In the war in Ukraine, for example, IT infrastructure has been specifically targeted with the aim of blocking military operations and massively disrupting civilian supply lines.

Data centers in the Persian Gulf have also come under attack. In the US-Israeli war with Iran, Tehran has fired drones and rockets at three complexes in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. These belonged to the American cloud service provider Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the attacks caused huge disruption to banking, payment platforms and other systems.

Shortly afterward, the Iranian leadership published a list on Telegram with up to 30 other potential targets that are part of America's IT technology infrastructure in the Gulf. They included data centers, research facilities and the offices of various tech giants such as IBM, Google, Palantir and Oracle. There has been considerable discussion since then about how data centers can be better protected by air defense.

Big investment, big concerns

That's why it is becoming increasingly important to find suitable locations where new data centers can be constructed and reliably secured. However, the people living near these projects are often not at all happy about them.

They are critical of the vast amounts of energy and water data centers require to operate their servers and cool the facilities. Their hardware also wears out very quickly, producing large quantities of electronic waste. Researchers around the world are under pressure to find ways of making the centers more efficient, utilizing the waste heat and powering them with renewable energy.

It is also regarded as problematic that, although investors are often pumping billions of dollars into the construction of the centers, hardly any jobs are created in the region. Data centers often cover tens of thousands of square meters but usually have fewer than 100 people actually working in them. The economic benefit they provide is more likely to be indirect: for example, if other companies that depend on this IT infrastructure decide to locate close by.

Data centers are generally well protected against intruders; they must also be protected against air strikes

Image: Google Handout/dpa/picture-alliance

There have already been protests in various parts of the world. In Chile in 2024, an environmental group successfully demonstrated against the construction of a data center for AI applications. And in April 2026, the legislature in the US state of Maine voted in favor of a moratorium on data centers with a capacity of more than 20 megawatts, citing concerns about the effects on the economy and environment. Janet Mills, the state governor, had to exercise her veto to stop the bill being signed into law.

Germany doesn't always give the go-ahead for new data centers either.

Construction has begun in Dietzenbach but plans for a similar project in Gross-Gerau, around 30 kilometers away, have fallen through. The US investor Vantage Data Centers wanted to spend €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion) building another data center here but a majority of the town council voted against. They argued that the project was too big and the effects on environment and society too unclear.

This article was translated from German.

Thomas Latschan Author and editor with a focus on global politics

Harmful AI datacentres appear to be creating their own microclimates

06.05.2026, DPA

Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/dpa

A new preprint study warns AI data centers can heat up surrounding areas by an average of 2°C. As projects surge in California’s Imperial Valley, will regulators treat the local risks as collateral damage?

By Ariana Bindman, SFGate, San Francisco

As global temperatures rise, datacentres for artificial intelligence are creating "heat islands" that could have significant impacts on communities and their surrounding environments in the years to come, a March 2026 study shows, raising alarm among international researchers.

The preprint of the study, which has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, looked at data from 2004 to 2024.

Researchers from multiple institutions, including the University of Cambridge and Nanyang Technological University, used satellite data from that time to assess rising land surface temperatures at AI datacentres worldwide. After conducting an analysis, they estimated that surrounding surface areas typically increase by an average of 2 degrees Celsius — or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit — once AI centers start operating, suggesting that the datacentre heat island effect "is real and significant, especially in the context of global warming and climate transformation." Overall, "our results show that the data heat island effect could have a remarkable influence on communities and regional welfare in the future," researchers said in the study.

The implications also suggest that building AI datacentres in heat-stricken areas of California could have dire consequences on local communities.

In Southern California, developers have already invested billions of dollars in constructing AI datacentres in the Imperial Valley, a rural desert community with a poverty rate of 19.5%. The region, which borders Mexico and reaches temperatures of 110 degrees during the summer, is now in another battle to protect natural resources from major corporations.

"We are one of the hottest places on Earth," Anahi Araiza, the head of policy and community research for Imperial Valley Equity and Justice, previously told Californian news website SFGATE. "It's mind-boggling to believe that these projects won't have an impact on our water and energy infrastructure or significantly contribute to air pollution and noise pollution."

Trump's Environmental Protection Agency, however, seems eager to plow ahead on AI development. When SFGATE shared the study with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) press department and asked specific questions about datacentres' potential impacts, a representative said that under Lee Zeldin's leadership, the agency plans to fulfill Trump's goal to make the United States "the AI capital of the world" as part of the "'Powering the Great American Comeback' initiative."

"The Trump EPA understands that we can both protect the environment and grow the economy, fulfilling our core mission and first pillar: ensuring clean air, land, and water for every American," EPA representatives said.

However, just this past week at a congressional hearing, Democrats accused Zeldin's EPA of abandoning its core values to protect humans and the environment, the Guardian reported. Last summer, more than 150 staffers sent a letter to Zeldin expressing concern about his leadership, the New Yorker said, and on April 30, the publication described Zeldin spending his time "gutting the agency he runs."

In February, the EPA revoked a key finding that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health — a key underpinning for the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.

Under the Trump administration, Zeldin has made efforts to roll back at least 66 environmental policies, an analysis from the Guardian shows. In April of this year, he proposed cutting the agency's budget in half. Per the outlet, the agency's staffing levels are already the lowest they've been in decades.

(c) 2026 dpa Deutsche Presse Agentur GmbH

 

AI models can hack computers and self-replicate onto new machines, new research finds

Copyright Canva

By Roselyne Min

Published on 09/05/2026 - EURONEWS

Scientists who observed AI chatbots copying themselves and launching hacking attacks in an experiment say ‘autonomous AI self-replication is no longer hypothetical’.

Artificial intelligence models can break into computers, copy themselves, and use the new copies to keep attacking other machines, according to new research said to be the first known demonstration of autonomous AI self-replication.

The discovery could make cyberattacks far harder to stop, researchers say, because shutting down one infected computer would not be enough if the AI had already made working copies elsewhere.

The study conducted by Palisade Research, in the United States, tested models including OpenAI’s GPT 5, 5.1, and 5.4, Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4, 4.5, and 4.6 and Alibaba’s Qwen against computers which had deliberately planted security flaws that allowed outsiders to gain access.

Researchers connected underlying AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Alibaba to custom software, known as an agent harness, that allowed them to carry out commands and interact with other computers, rather than using public chatbot apps.

The experiment worked in two ways. Alibaba’s models were asked to copy themselves. In the GPT and Claude tests, the models were asked to break in and install Qwen, because GPT and Claude’s own model files are not publicly available for transfer.

In each test, the AI had to find a security flaw in a computer system, use it to get inside, steal login details, transfer the files it needed to run, and start a working copy of itself on the new machine.

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Once a copy was running, it could be used to attack another computer without human help.

At each stage, the AI found a different security flaw, took control of the next computer, moved over its software and instructions, and launched a new copy that continued the chain.

Alibaba’s Qwen3.6-27B, a smaller version of its Qwen AI model that can run on a single high-end graphics processor, spread across four computers in Canada, the United States, Finland, and India, after being given just one prompt, completed the chain without human help in 2 hours and 41 minutes.

The research team stopped the experiment after three stages, but said the final copy was still working and could have attacked further systems.

What were the results?

The models succeeded at varying rates. Alibaba’s Qwen3.5-122B-A10B, a larger and more powerful model of Qwen, created working copies of itself in 19% of attempts.

A smaller Qwen model, Qwen3.6-27B, reached 33% while running on a single high-end graphics processor.

Commercial AI systems performed even better when used to install Qwen model files.

Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6 succeeded in 81% of tests, while OpenAI’s GPT-5.4 reached 33%.

Researchers say the results raise new concerns about control over powerful AI systems.

The report comes as Anthropic last month unveiled Claude Mythos Preview, which it said is "too dangerous” to release to the public citing its capacity to facilitate cyberattacks of unprecedented scale and sophistication.

While a lot of computer viruses can already copy themselves onto new computers, the research team says this is likely the first time an AI model has been shown capable of exploiting vulnerabilities to copy itself onto a new server.

OpenAI, Anthropic, and METR, a non-profit group that studies risks from advanced AI systems, have also previously flagged self-replication as a warning sign because systems that can spread may become harder to control.

However, researchers stressed that the experiment was carried out in a controlled setting using intentionally vulnerable systems. Real-world networks often have stronger protections, such as security monitoring and tools designed to block attacks.

Even so, they said the results show that autonomous AI self-replication is no longer hypothetical.

AI used to make portrait of Pompeii victim in final moments

28.04.2026, DPA

Photo: Italian Culture Ministry/dpa

Visitors at Pompeii can expect entirely new visual insights into life at the time of the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, thanks to the use of AI to reconstruct both the appearance of victims and their final moments.

The Archaeological Park at Pompeii published an AI-generated image on Monday which shows a man running in a crouched position, holding a vessel over his head. In the background, the volcano can be seen spewing lava, along with a shower of rock.

The image is based on the recent discovery of a man’s skeleton by archaeologists during excavations at the Porta Stabia necropolis. 

Next to him, the researchers found a large terracotta vessel, which he is assumed to have used as protection while fleeing the erupting volcano almost 2,000 years ago.

It is believed that the man attempted to flee to the coast during the eruption but was killed by a rain of volcanic rock. The vessel found next to the skeleton showed clear signs of breakage. Researchers also found a small oil lamp with him, which he probably used to find his way in poor visibility, as well as bronze coins.

The city at the foot of Vesuvius was covered by ash, mud and lava in 79 AD after several volcanic eruptions. The preserved remains of death and devastation provide insight into life at that time to this day.

However, the Archaeological Park believes AI reconstructions like this could help bring archaeological research to life for non-specialist audiences.

The park’s director, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said "when used correctly, AI can contribute to a renewal of classical studies by telling the story of the classical world in a more immersive way."

Pompeii was rediscovered in the 18th century and archaeologists continue to make spectacular discoveries at the site. Today, the park is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy.

In 2024, the park introduced a 20,000 daily visitor limit aimed at controlling the masses of visitors, which have reached a record 4 million. Apart from the visitor cap, the park introduced personalized tickets.

• Archaeological Park, in Italian
• La Repubblica post on X, with photo

(c) 2026 dpa Deutsche Presse Agentur GmbH

White House lashes out at ‘sick’ Star Wars actor Mark Hamill for AI post of dead Donald Trump

Copyright AP Photo - bsky screenshot Mark Hamill

By David Mouriquand

Published on 08/05/2026 - EURONEWS

The White House has called Mark Hamill a “sick individual” after the Star Wars actor posted an image of Donald Trump in a grave on social media.

The Trump administration has lashed out at Star Wars actor Mark Hamill for posting an image on social media of Trump dead in a grave.

The White House claims that the image and rhetoric inspire security threats.

“Mark Hamill is one sick individual,” the White House wrote in a post on X. “These Radical Left lunatics just can’t help themselves. This kind of rhetoric is exactly what has inspired three assassination attempts in two years against our President.”

The Luke Skywalker actor posted what appeared to be an AI image of Trump on Bluesky, featuring the president in an open grave. The image included the caption “If Only” and a headstone showing his date of death as 2024.

“If Only - He should live long enough to witness his inevitable devastating loss in the midterms, be held accountable for his unprecedented corruption, impeached, convicted & humiliated for his countless crimes,” Hamill wrote in an accompanying post. “Long enough to realize he'll be disgraced in the history books, forevermore. #don_TheCON.”

Hamill deleted the image and issued further clarification: “Accurate Edit for Clarity: ‘He should live long enough to... be held accountable for his... crimes,’” Hamill wrote on Bluesky. “Actually, I was wishing him the opposite of dead, but apologize if you found the image inappropriate.”

The image comes after a man was charged with the attempted assassination of Trump in a shooting at the White House Correspondent’s Association dinner last month.

Days after the shooting, Melania Trump demanded that talk show host Jimmy Kimmel be fired, as the comedian joked days prior to the incident that the first lady had a "glow like an expectant widow".

Kimmel responded to criticism of his joke by saying it was merely a reference to the couple's age difference.

Melania Trump’s comments massively backfired online, with many accusing her of hypocrisy and pointing out a massive double standard, as Trump frequently lashes out with violent rhetoric and images aimed at his opponents.

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Recently, during the course of the Iran war, he posted an image of himself holding a machine gun and threatened that a “whole civilization will die” unless Tehran agrees to his demands.

Last year, he shared an AI-generated video of himself bombing No Kings protestors and an AI image riffing on the war film Apocalypse Now.

Elsewhere, and Star Wars related, Trump posted another unsual image on May 4 – Star Wars day.

The White House shared an image of Trump as the Mandalorian (with Grogu in tow, looking like he wants to be anywhere else). Trump holds an American flag in one hand (which notably has only 11 red and white stripes as opposed to 13) and is pictured without the Mandalorian helmet on his head (a big no-no in the Mandalorian code, if Trump knew anything about the cultural references he was riffing on).

"In a galaxy that demands strength - America stands ready," the White House wrote. "This is the way. May the 4th be with you."

The post was met with backlash, with Star Wars fans blasting Trump.

"This has caused a major disturbance in the force today. Yikes," someone wrote online, while another said: "Please tell me there will be a lawsuit."

This wasn’t the first time the White House shared Star Wars-inspired imagery of Trump. Last year, they posted an image of a distressingly muscular Trump holding a red lightsaber.

"Happy May the 4th to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting so hard to bring Sith Lords, Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, & well known MS-13 Gang Members, back into our Galaxy. You’re not the Rebellion - you’re the Empire," the caption read.

Once more, Trump and his administration failed to fully grasp the cultural implications of the image, as red is the chosen colour of the villainous Sith Lords. Star Wars creator George Lucas once said regarding lightsaber colours: “Good guys are green and blue, bad guys are red.”

Hardly rocket science.

As one X user pointed out: “The lack of self awareness and hypocrisy by calling the left ‘the empire’ while showing Trump with a Sith lightsaber.”

Blonde, fervent and fake: Can AI-generated

Trump fans boost him in the midterms?

Clad in swimsuits or sometimes military fatigues, the mostly blonde women lavish praise on US President Donald Trump and vilify his rivals. But these Trump fans are AI-generated, flooding tech platforms with fervent but fake political messaging ahead of the November US midterm elections.


Issued on: 10/05/2026 
By: FRANCE 24

Researchers are warning against AI influencers that seek to influence US voters. © Chris Delmas, AFP



Hyper-realistic AI avatars parroting Donald Trump slogans like "America First" and echoing MAGA talking points on immigration are increasingly present on the American political scene, underscoring how new technologies can be used to energise and manipulate voters.

"Where are all my MAGA friends at? If you voted for Trump, say it loud in the comments and you've got yourself a new follower from Texas," an AI-generated woman sporting a red MAGA hat declares on TikTok.

"Trump is the future of America," reads text overlaid on another AI-generated TikTok video depicting a teenage girl on a beach, a US flag fluttering in the background.

In an Instagram clip set to the Village People's "YMCA", an avatar portraying a "MAGA patriot" says she "came out of the closet as a Trump supporter".


It's not clear who is behind the AI accounts and whether they are part of a coordinated influence operation ahead of the November elections that will determine whether Republicans maintain control of Congress.

Trump began really embracing AI-generated images last year, including pushing unfounded corruption allegations against California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and a blatantly racist post, later deleted, depicting former president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as apes.

'Shape public opinion'

US media have detected hundreds of AI-generated pro-Trump influencers in recent months – young men and women depicted in military fatigues or dressed as immigration agents – commenting on hot-button political issues including abortion and the Iran conflict.

The Governance and Responsible AI Lab (GRAIL) at Purdue University has also tracked numerous such accounts across TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.

"The growing wave of political AI influencers amid the 2026 elections is a glimpse into a future where hyper-targeted AI content can be used to shape public opinion," Andrew Yoon of CivAI, a nonprofit focused on AI's capabilities and dangers, told AFP.

Such content is "increasingly difficult to detect, especially when made by sophisticated operators", Yoon said.

As AI technology becomes more and more sophisticated, online manipulation using phony influencers could "become even more personalised and difficult to control", he added.

One AI influencer on Instagram – featuring a lifelike female soldier posing alongside Trump – amassed nearly a million followers before she was revealed to be AI and the account was suspended.

Referring to the synthetic soldier, Justine Moore, an AI-focused partner at Silicon Valley investor Andreessen Horowitz, wrote on X: "I'm genuinely floored by how many dudes are following influencers that are clearly AI."

These pro-Trump influencers slap lifelike human faces on disinformation – pairing them with realistic voices and talking points and thus creating the illusion of a legitimate political movement.
Political themes, financial motives

Disinformation typically surges around elections, propelled by automated bots, trolls and phony accounts that amplify false narratives and push them into mainstream political discourse.

The potential for manipulation is multiplying with AI. And few regulations exist to stop it.

Researchers warn that AI deepfakes – which have already been used to target global leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky – can influence voter turnout and distort geopolitical events.

While promoting Trump, some AI influencers also appear focused on boosting engagement, attracting followers and promoting commercial products.

The bio of one pro-Trump AI influencer on Instagram directed users to a website selling MAGA-themed artwork priced at up to $500.

"Many of them are driven by commercialisation goals, using politics as a means rather than an end," Daniel Schiff, an assistant professor at Purdue University and co-director of GRAIL, told AFP.

As election season approaches, Schiff said he expects a rise in AI-generated messaging. Despite the political themes, he says "financial profit" will likely be the primary goal behind generating digital influencers.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Malian filmmaker captures disappearing Tuareg culture and traditions

In Undertows: A Tuareg Tale, Malian film director Intagrist el Ansari captures the way of life of his people – the Tuaregs. Filmed over 10 years in nomadic settlements and refugee camps, the documentary bears witness to a world "that no longer quite exists".


Issued on: 10/05/2026 - RFI

In his documentary Undertows: A Tuareg Tale, filmmaker Intagrist el Ansari preserves the words of his elders. © Intagrist el Ansari / Prosodie Films

The stars of the documentary Undertows: A Tuareg Tale are between 60 and 90 years old – the uncles, friends and role models of the film’s director, Intagrist el Ansari, a descendant of the Kel Ansar, the ruling tribe of the Timbuktu region in northern Mali.

Released this week in France, the film is structured as a letter to his son, and traces the history, resistance and culture of the Tuareg people.

Nomads and herders deeply connected to the land, the Tuareg have inhabited the Sahara for centuries. Today, however, their traditional way of life is under threat from political instability, drought and forced settlement.

Undertows: A Tuareg Tale – Trailer

Les Filles de Illighadad strum out a unique Tuareg sound

Traditions under threat

“Clearly, the Tuareg world as it existed until the 1980s, as I knew it, can no longer survive in that form,” the filmmaker told RFI.

“All the children of this generation, born in exile and into a scattered Tuareg world, will at some point ask themselves who they are,” he says. “The film offers some answers.”

Over the course of two hours, the documentary explores Tuareg traditions, knowledge and ways of life – particularly their nomadic culture, increasingly eroded by drought and displacement.

Still from "Undertows: A Tuareg Tale". © Prosodie Films


Mali Tuareg peace deal raises hopes but faces challenges

“After the great era of caravan trade, the Tuareg world relied primarily on livestock farming,” el Ansari explains. “But the Sahel and Sahara were among the first regions to be clearly affected by climate change.

“And the major consequence for Tuareg communities has been the decimation of their herds. Without livestock, there is no longer any reason to follow the transhumance routes," he added, referring to ancient, seasonal migration paths used by shepherds.

But the erosion of Tuareg life did not begin with climate change. Colonisation and regional conflict also profoundly reshaped their society.

“There is a divide within the Tuareg world,” el Ansari says. “During colonisation, the Tuareg communities of the north were cut off from those of the south, as colonial powers reorganised Africa between North and West Africa. After decolonisation, that divide deepened further, as borders were drawn between the newly independent states.”

Undertows: A Tuareg Tale mourns this disappearing world, while displaying a determination to keep its memory alive. As el Ansari says, people disappear but their legends remain.

This article has been adapted from this article in French and this interview by Léa Boutin-Rivière.

Dozens killed in jihadist attacks in central Mali

Jihadist fighters launched a fresh wave of deadly attacks in central Mali that killed dozens of people, local and security sources said on Saturday. One local official said the latest attacks brought the death toll to more than 70 in recent days, as Islamist armed groups intensify assaults on villages across the region.


Issued on: 10/05/2026 - 
By: FRANCE 24 

Malian soldiers stand near a truck during a patrol following the attack on Mali's main military base Kati, outside the capital Bamako, in Kati, Mali, April 27, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. © Stringer, Reuters

A fresh wave of attacks by jihadist fighters in central Mali killed dozens of people, local and security sources said Saturday.

Friday's attacks were claimed by the al Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), who had already killed at least 30 people in attacks on villages on Wednesday.

One local official said the latest attacks by the armed groups had brought the toll to more than 70 in recent days.

Another local official put the death toll at 80.

"Our hearts are bleeding," one local youth leader said, accusing nearby army detachments of doing nothing to help, despite multiple calls.

One security source described the situation in the region as "worrying". "JNIM is targeting villages that refused to sign local agreements," the source added.

The latest attacks come after JNIM and the Tuareg-dominated Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) carried out an unprecedented assault against the ruling junta in Mali last month.

Since then, Mali's security situation has become critical, with several areas in the north now controlled by armed groups.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Togo’s fight against centuries-old map revives debate over African representation

A plan by Togo to ask the United Nations General Assembly in September to move away from the Mercator world map has revived a broader debate over how different projections can shape perceptions of Africa.


Issued on: 10/05/2026 - RFI

Africa’s representation on world maps is under renewed focus, as Togo challenges the use of a centuries-old projection. 

ASSOCIATED PRESS - Charles Rex Arbogast

By:Anne-Marie Bissada

The proposal was approved by the African Union in April after leaders raised the issue during the bloc’s February summit, backing a campaign to replace the long dominant Mercator projection with one that more accurately reflects the true size of the world's continents – especially Africa.

Faya Ndiaye, co-founder and deputy executive director of advocacy organisation Speak Up Africa, argues that distorting the true size of countries on maps can quietly shape how people view who matters in the world.

“I think it’s important to note that maps are not neutral," she told RFI.

Of the widely used Mercator map, she said: “Greenland appears almost as large as Africa, when in reality Africa is 14 times larger."

Shaping perceptions

For Africa, Ndiaye said, being shown as smaller than its true size can send a damaging message about the continent’s importance – and even cause it to be sidelined in negotiations.

The African Union published a decision during its February summit backing the use of the Equal Earth wall map – despite the Mercator outline still appearing in its own logo.

“The Mercator cartographic projection distorts the real size of the African continent, influences perceptions, and negatively affects the objective assessment of Africa’s economic viability,” it said in a statement.

The Equal Earth map. © Tom Patterson


Geography remains one of several enduring markers that continue to shape perceptions of Africa, said Carlos Lopes of the Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Lopes – one of the academics behind the Correct the Map project, which was established in 2025 with Africa No Filter, a group focused on changing global narratives about Africa – says the way the continent is viewed is still influenced by how the world is drawn.

“There are some markers that continue to be used that influence the views about the continent,” he told RFI. “One of those markers is the way we look into geography.”

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Mercator legacy

Still widely used around the world, the Mercator projection was first drawn in 1569 by Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator. It transformed navigation by helping sailors chart more direct routes across oceans, by representing compass directions as straight lines.

Its design was a major scientific breakthrough at the time, but critics say its lasting dominance also reflects the values of a period in which European powers placed themselves at the centre of a colonial world view.

“Maybe [the Mercator map] was not meant to minimise Africa, but we know that it was important for European powers to place Europe as the centre of the of the world,” Ndiaye said.

In the 1500s, its creation was “amazingly progressive," said Lopes, describing it as an ambitious effort to design a map that brought the world together.

“But that’s the 16th century, it’s not today,” he added. “It can only be justified in the name of comfort and in the name of the power dynamics of that time. Keeping the same mentality in today’s world is not acceptable because we know better.”

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Gall-Peters Projection

The debate over map projections is linked to wider efforts to correct narratives about Africa.

During struggles for independence by colonised African countries in the 1950s and '60s, efforts to reduce colonial markers often focused on changing the names of streets and even the countries themselves.

In 1957, for example, when the British colony known then as the Gold Coast gained its independence, it took the name Ghana to honour its ancient Ghana empire. Following its independence from the United Kingdom in 1980, Zimbabwe changed its name from Rhodesia, and the name of its capital from Salisbury to Harare.

But the debate over how Africa as a whole was represented largely remained within academic circles, said Ndiaye.

That changed when cartographers proposed the Gall-Peters Projection. James Gall, a Scottish clergyman and cartographer, had first outlined the map in 1855, but Arno Peters, a German historian, revived the idea and brought it to international attention in the early 1970s.

Peters argued that the Gall-Peters map was a socially just projection because it preserved equal-area projection – the true relative size of landmasses.

He pushed the name "Peters World Map", saying it was easier to brand, and tied this directly to his campaign to change the world map.

The Peters projection map of the world. © By Strebe (Wikimedia Commons)


“The Peters Projection was actually quite popular with the UN,” said Lopes. “A lot of UN agencies [began] producing maps using the Peters Projection.”

Peters officially presented his map in 1973, including on it a legend to help people understand why it looked different from the more familiar Mercator version.

It was adopted throughout the mid-1970s and 1980s by agencies including the UN's Unesco and Unicef and the World Council of Churches, and remains widely used by schools across the United Kingdom and in parts of the United States.

However, while the Peters World map fixed one problem – land area distortion – it introduced another: shape distortion. For example, countries near the equator such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia appear tall and narrow, while high-latitude countries such as Canada and Russia appear flattened and widened.

While UNESCO and UNICEF continue to use the Peters projection, there has been pushback against it since the 1980s.

In 1989, several geographic organisations, including the National Geographic Society in the US, the American Cartographic Association (now the Cartography and Geographic Information Society) and the National Council for Geographic Education, came together to call for a ban on all rectangular coordinate maps, including Peters projection.

Today’s campaign, Ndiaye said, aims to move the debate beyond academia and into public discussion so Africans can “take full ownership over how our continent is being represented globally”.