France positions aircraft carrier for possible mission in Strait of Hormuz

France is moving its aircraft carrier strike group towards the Red Sea as preparations gather pace for a possible French-British maritime security mission in the Strait of Hormuz.

Issued on: 07/05/2026 - RFI

A fighter jet takes off from the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Mediterranean Sea  © AFP - ERIC FEFERBERG

France's nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, accompanied by its escort vessels, is being repositioned as part of a broader mission championed by Paris and London, aimed at restoring maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz.

The move, announced by President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, places French warships closer to one of the world’s most strategically vital waterways.

The effective closure of the strait amid the conflict in Iran has left hundreds of vessels stranded and prompted what the International Energy Agency has described as the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.

French officials stressed that the proposed European-led operation would remain defensive in nature and separate from the US military operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which began on Monday before being paused by President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening.

Macron said the initiative could help reassure the global shipping industry. “It may help restore confidence among shipowners and insurers,” he wrote on X. “It remains distinct from the parties at war.”

The French president, who also held talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday, said he intended to discuss the situation with Trump in the coming days.

“A return to calm in the Strait will help advance negotiations on nuclear issues, ballistic matters, and the regional situation,” Macron wrote. “Europeans … will play their part.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told RTL radio on Wednesday that France opposed lifting “the slightest sanction” on Iran while the Strait of Hormuz remained blocked.

Security risks

French military officials underlined that any deployment in the strait would only move forward once security risks had eased.

Colonel Guillaume Vernet, spokesperson for the French armed forces chief of staff, said operations would not begin until two conditions had been met: the threat level to commercial shipping must fall, and the maritime sector must regain enough confidence to resume transits through the strait.

Vernet also said any operation would require the backing of neighbouring states, including Iran itself. Iran effectively closed the strait after the conflict erupted on 28 February following attacks by the United States and Israel, subsequently targeting and threatening vessels in the region.

While Vernet did not provide a timeline for the Charles de Gaulle’s arrival, he said the carrier group was being positioned so it could respond quickly should conditions improve.

The crisis has had a dramatic impact on maritime insurance costs. Industry estimates suggest war-risk premiums for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz have climbed to four to five times their pre-conflict levels.

According to Vernet, the current financial risks remain too severe for most operators. “For now, insurance premiums are so high that not a single ship will jeopardise their trip or go there,” he said.

Alice Rufo, France's junior minister for the armed forces and veterans, told BFMTV on Thursday that a recent incident involving a French-flagged container ship underlined how “extremely grave and tense” the regional situation had become.

The vessel was reportedly attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, injuring crew members and damaging the ship.

Rufo added that France stood ready to escort ships through the strait.

European coalition

Washington has not participated in the French-British planning effort. Analysts have compared the emerging Hormuz mission to the “coalition of the willing” assembled by Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in support of Ukraine.

A senior French official, speaking anonymously, said the operation was intended to demonstrate Europe’s ability to safeguard a critical global trade route.

“We want to send the message that not only are we ready to secure the Strait of Hormuz, but that we are also capable of doing so,” the official told the Associated Press.

France had pushed for a multinational initiative from the early days of the conflict. Macron and Starmer hosted representatives from dozens of countries at a Paris summit on 17 April, while military planners from more than 30 nations later worked through operational details for a potential deployment.

The Charles de Gaulle was originally redirected from the Baltic Sea to the eastern Mediterranean shortly after the war began. French officials described the move as part of an “unprecedented” mobilisation that also includes eight frigates and two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships.

France has additionally been strengthening its Gulf presence through air operations based at Al Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates. French Rafale fighter jets stationed there have intercepted Iranian drones and missiles over the Gulf state since the start of the conflict under a longstanding defence agreement with Abu Dhabi.

(with newswires)

Amazon ramps up French operations with €15bn expansion and 7,000 jobs

Amazon will invest more than €15 billion in France over the next three years and create more than 7,000 permanent jobs, the US e-commerce giant said, as it expands its logistics network, cloud services and artificial intelligence operations.


Issued on: 06/05/2026 - RFI

Amazon says it will invest more than €15 billion in France over the next three years. REUTERS - PASCAL ROSSIGNOL

The investment is Amazon’s biggest in France so far. It will fund new logistics sites, develop cloud and AI services and strengthen the company’s existing network, Amazon said in a statement on Tuesday.

Four new distribution centres are planned across northern, eastern and central France. Job creation will begin in 2026 with the opening of the first three sites.

New sites and jobs

The first wave will create 1,000 permanent jobs in Illiers-Combray, south-west of Paris, another 1,000 in the northern city of Beauvais and 3,000 near Lyon in southeastern France.

A fourth distribution centre is due to open near the German border in Ensisheim, in eastern France, at the end of 2027, creating another 2,000 permanent jobs.

The company has already invested more than €30 billion in France since 2010.

The investment would bring “faster deliveries, a wider choice and low prices accessible across France, as well as a reduced environmental footprint thanks to a local logistics network”, Amazon France chief executive Jean-Baptiste Thomas said.

Amazon's French warehouses fined €32m over employee surveillance

France expansion

Amazon said the investment would also directly benefit local areas and French businesses using Amazon’s marketplace, technology, cloud and AI services.

“More than 7,000 permanent jobs will be created, and French companies that rely on our marketplace, our technologies and our cloud and AI solutions to grow will also benefit directly,” Thomas added.

Amazon was founded in 1994 and entered the French market in 2000.

France was the third country outside the United States where Amazon launched operations, after Germany and the United Kingdom.

The company has previously faced criticism in Europe over warehouse working conditions and anti-union practices.

More than 25,000 people now work for Amazon in France on permanent contracts across more than 35 sites, including logistics centres and offices.

(with newswires)

French supermarkets still hooked on plastic despite waste goals: report

French supermarkets are still relying heavily on plastic packaging despite laws requiring them to cut single-use plastic waste – with bottled water, wrapped fruit and vegetables and ready-to-cook produce sold in plastic remaining common on shelves across the country, an investigation published Wednesday found.


Issued on: 06/05/2026 - RFI

Single-use plastic packaging remains widespread in French supermarkets despite laws aimed at phasing it out by 2040, with bottled drinks accounting for nearly 40 percent of the sector’s plastic waste. AFP - OLIVIER MORIN

Most major retailers have made little progress towards targets set under France’s anti-waste laws, the survey by consumer group Que Choisir Ensemble and NGO No Plastic In My Sea said.

Volunteers visited 1,659 stores from 11 major chains including Carrefour, Lidl, E.Leclerc, Intermarché and Auchan between 7 and 21 February.

France’s AGEC anti-waste law, adopted in 2020, requires single-use plastics to be phased out by 2040. A second law passed in 2021 aims for 20 percent of supermarket products to be sold without packaging by 2030.

“There is a gap between the commitments being displayed and the reality on supermarket shelves,” Lucile Buisson, environment officer at Que Choisir Ensemble, said. “Plastic remains omnipresent.

France’s first advanced chemical recycling plant opens, to criticism from NGOs

Bottled water boom

The water and drinks section accounts for nearly 40 percent of all single-use plastic in supermarkets, the survey found. Sales of bottled water rose by 3.3 percent in 2025.

“No retailer has put in place a real strategy to reach the legal target of cutting plastic bottles by 50 percent by 2030,” the report said.

Mini-format bottles were singled out as one of the worst examples.

Evian sells packs of 24 bottles of 33 centilitres while Hépar sells packs of eight. The groups said the products use large amounts of plastic for small quantities of water. Mini-format bottles were found in 81 percent of stores surveyed.

“Numerous alternatives exist,” Muriel Papin from No Plastic In My Sea said, pointing to reusable glass bottles along with filtration and carbonation systems for tap water.

Only Biocoop was praised in the report after ending sales of still bottled water in 2017.

“It’s an issue we have been aware of for a long time,” Philippe Joguet from the Federation of Commerce and Distribution, a retail industry body, said.

Reducing plastic use requires action from everyone involved, from packaging makers to consumers, he added.

France delays plastic cup ban by four years as alternatives fall short

'Economy of laziness'

Fruit and vegetables also remain heavily packaged despite rules designed to reduce plastic waste. Of five common fruit and vegetables surveyed, 60 percent were sold packaged in conventional supermarkets.

Organic produce was even more likely to be wrapped. The survey found only 9 percent of organic fruit and vegetables were sold loose, while nearly half were packaged in plastic.

Another growing trend identified by the groups was the sale of peeled and chopped vegetables wrapped in plastic. Nearly one supermarket in two now offers ready-to-cook vegetables packaged in plastic.

“After cut fruit and vegetables packaged for snacking, we are now seeing mushrooms or courgettes ready to cook, sliced and peeled under ever more plastic wrapping,” Buisson said.

“It costs much more and benefits the consumer very little.”

The report described the trend as an “economy of laziness” that runs against waste reduction efforts.

The mammoth task of mapping and removing plastic waste from Aldabra atoll

Bulk sections in retreat

The proportion of supermarkets with dedicated bulk sections fell from 57 percent in 2023 to 38 percent in 2026, the survey found. The average number of bulk items available also dropped sharply.

Discount chains Aldi and Lidl offered almost no bulk options, while organic retailers maintained stronger bulk ranges.

Bertrand Swiderski from Carrefour said the retailer had already reduced its packaging by 10 percent, equal to 20,000 tonnes over three years, and planned to remove another 15,000 tonnes by 2030.

The two organisations called on retailers to introduce clear timetables for reducing single-use plastics and abandon what they described as the most wasteful practices, including wrapped produce and mini-format bottles.

They also urged the French government to maintain the reduction targets set out under the AGEC law.

(with newswires)

West Bank settlements prompt call for sanctions from European political figures

Hundreds of former diplomats, ministers and senior officials have urged the European Union to take immediate action against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, warning that a controversial new construction project could further undermine prospects for a future Palestinian state.


Issued on: 07/05/2026 - RFI

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich displays a map of an area near the settlement of Maale Adumim, a land corridor known as E1, outside Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, 14 August, 2025. AFP - MENAHEM KAHANA

By: David Coffey with RFI


In an open letter published on Wednesday, 448 signatories – including former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt – called on the EU and its member states to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities involved in Israeli settlement expansion.

The appeal comes as Israel prepares to move ahead with the E1 settlement project, a plan covering around 12 square kilometres east of Jerusalem that includes roughly 3,400 housing units.

Critics say the development would effectively split the occupied West Bank in two, further isolating east Jerusalem from the Palestinian territories.

According to the letter, the Israeli government intends to publish detailed tenders for the project on 1 June.

“The EU and its member states must take immediate measures,” the signatories wrote, “to deter Israel from pursuing its illegal annexation of Palestinian land in the West Bank.”

'Violation of our values'

The former officials are urging Brussels to adopt targeted sanctions including visa bans and business restrictions against those linked to settlement activity, and the E1 project specifically.

Potential targets mentioned in the letter include political figures, settlement leaders, the Israeli Land Authority, local officials, urban planners, architects, engineers, developers, contractors and financial institutions involved in the scheme.

The signatories also pressed the EU to act ahead of the bloc’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 11 May, arguing that delaying action would weaken Europe’s commitment to international law.

Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, who served as the EU’s ambassador to the Palestinian territories and Gaza between 2020 and 2023, said support for the initiative had grown significantly over the past year.

“It’s the eighth time we’ve launched an open declaration,” he told RFI. “We started in July last year with around 20 signatories. Today, we have 450, which is quite impressive.”

He said the growing number reflected mounting concern among former European officials that the EU is risking abandoning its principles.

“There is a growing concern among former officials like myself who believe the European Union is founded on values and principles of international law and human rights,” he said. “A failure to act would be a blatant violation of our own values and interests.”

UN raises concerns of 'ethnic cleansing' amid record displacement in West Bank

Settler violence

The E1 project was approved by Israel in August 2025 and has drawn strong international criticism.

United Nations secretary-general António Guterres, through a spokesman, warned that the plan would pose an “existential threat” to the viability of a contiguous Palestinian state.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israeli settlers now live in the territory alongside 3 million Palestinians. The settlements are considered illegal under international law by the United Nations.

According to a recent UN report, the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank reached its highest recorded level in 2025 since the organisation began tracking the data in 2017.

Settlement growth has accelerated sharply under Israel’s current government, particularly since the outbreak of the Gaza war following Hamas’s 7 October, 2023 attack on Israel.

Violence in the West Bank has also intensified. Palestinian officials and the UN say attacks by Israeli settlers have surged in recent months, with clashes involving settlers, Palestinian residents and Israeli forces becoming increasingly frequent and, at times, deadly.

(with newswires)

Tennis stars raise French Open boycott threat in fight for more prize money

Tennis stars campaigning for more prize money at the Grand Slam tournaments in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York raised the prospect of boycotting the French Open to force organisers to share more of the money generated by the international circuit's most prestigious competitions.


Issued on: 07/05/2026 - RFI

Coco Gauff received €2.55 million for winning the 2025 French Open women's singles event. The 2026 women's champion will brandish the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen and a pocket a cheque for €2.8 million. © Pierre René-Worms / RFI

By: Paul Myers

"When you see the number and you see the amount the players are receiving ... I feel like the show is on us," said women's world number one Aryna Sabalenka as she prepared for her second-round match on Thursday against Barbora Krejcikova at the Italian Open in Rome.

"I feel like without us there wouldn't be a tournament and there wouldn't be that entertainment," Sabalenka added. "I feel like definitely we deserve to be paid more percentage. What can I say?"

Bosses at the French Open announced a 9.53 percent increase in the 2026 purse to €61.273 million compared to €56.352 in 2025 when outlining details of the tournament which starts at the Stade Roland Garros in western Paris on 18 May.


Prize money dispute

A player losing in this year's first round of the main draw will receive €87,000. In 2025, they went away with €78,000.

The 2026 men's and women's singles champions will pocket €2.8 million, a 10 percent increase on the €2.55 million handed to Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff following their wins over Jannik Sinner and Sabalenka respectively in the 2025 finals.

Alcaraz, Sinner, Sabalenka and Gauff were among the world's 20 best players who signed an open letter that was sent on Monday to the French Tennis Federation (FFT) which stages the French Open.

In it, they said they were collectively disappointed with the prize money offered by the French Open, which is nicknamed Roland Garros.

“Roland Garros generated €395m in revenue in 2025, a 14 percent year-on-year increase, yet prize money rose by only 5.4 percent, reducing players’ share of revenue to 14.3 per cent,” the statement read.

“With estimated revenues of more than €400 million for this year’s tournament, prize money as a percentage of revenue will likely still be less than 15 percent, far short of the 22 percent that players have requested to bring the Grand Slams into line with the ATP and WTA tours.

"As Roland Garros looks to post record revenues, players are therefore receiving a declining share of the value they help create."

Growing solidarity

During a press conference to present innovations at the 2026 French Open, tournament director Amélie Mauresmo said FFT officials wanted to give more prize money to players who come through three rounds of qualifying and those who lose in the early rounds of the main draw.

In 2026, a first-round loser in the qualifying tournament will get €24,000 and there will be €33,000 and €48,000 for losses in the second and third rounds respectively.

In 2025, the sums for the three qualifying rounds were €21,000, €29,500 and €43,000.

"A particular effort has been made for the first three rounds of the singles draw in the main tournament with an increase of between 11.11 and 11.54 percent," an FFT statement said.

"As for the prize money for the doubles events – women’s, men’s and mixed – it has increased by 3.90 percent compared to last year."

The FFT said prize money allocated to this year’s wheelchair and quad tennis competitions would rise to €1,018,500 – a 14.55 percent increase.

Gauff said there was growing solidarity among players over demands for a larger share of tournament revenues.

"I definitely agree with her on that standpoint,” Gauff said. “I think a few other players agree, too.”

The 22-year-old American highlighted the campaign by women basketball players in the United States who fought WNBA administrators for more than a year before eventually signing a new collective bargaining agreement that brought them nearly 20 percent of league revenue.

“If everyone were to move as one and collaborate, I can 100 percent see that,” Gauff added. “It’s not about me.

"It’s about the future of our sport and the current players who aren’t getting as much benefits as even some of the top players are getting, when it comes to sponsorship and things like that. We’re making money off court."

Slam comparisons

Gauff said it was unfortunate that players between 100 and 200 in the world rankings were often struggling financially.

“If we all collectively agree, then yes … I think that a boycott is something us as players have to talk amongst ourselves and do it, and talk within each other and decide what’s best."

The Australian Open offered prize money of A$111.5 million in 2026, up from A$96.5 million, while the US Open paid out $90 million in 2025 and Wimbledon Championships gave players a total of £53.5 million in 2025.

Wimbledon, which starts on 29 June in south-west London, has yet to announce prize money for the 2026 championships.

Police raids across 90 countries seize fake and illegal medicines worth €14m

Interpol says nearly 270 people suspected of drug trafficking have been arrested and 66 criminal groups dismantled following a major international police operation spanning 90 countries.


Issued on: 07/05/2026 - RFI

Nearly 270 suspected drug traffickers were arrested during a global Interpol operation targeting counterfeit and illicit medicines across 90 countries in March 2026. AFP - OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE

The operation, known as “Pangea XVIII”, was carried out in March across every continent and resulted in the seizure of more than six million illicit medicines worth over €14 million, the Lyon-based international police organisation announced on Thursday.

Among the counterfeit or unlicensed medicines confiscated were drugs for erectile dysfunction, sedatives, painkillers, antibiotics and smoking-cessation products.

The scale of the haul showed the continued expansion of illegal pharmaceutical markets, particularly online, Interpol said.

“Thanks to online markets and informal supply chains, criminals can exploit loopholes in controls and target people seeking quick or affordable treatments,” Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza said in a statement. He warned that such products could have “serious, even fatal” consequences for consumers.

Interpol seizes thousands of fake Covid-19 jabs in South Africa and China

Veterinary medicines

Interpol expressed particular concern over what it described as a sharp rise in the seizure of anti-parasitic medicines, especially deworming products authorised only for veterinary use.

The organisation said these products are increasingly being marketed online as “dietary supplements” or promoted as part of so-called alternative cancer therapies, despite there being no scientific evidence to support such claims.

Interpol noted that misuse of anti-parasitic drugs had already become visible during the Covid-19 pandemic, when certain unproven treatments gained traction on social media and alternative health forums.

Authorities also said demand for “performance-enhancing” and “lifestyle” pharmaceuticals – including steroids and peptides – continued to rise, driven in part by bodybuilding and fitness communities.

Factory raids

The operation led to major seizures in several countries. In Bulgaria, police dismantled an illicit drug manufacturing facility where millions of tablets, ampoules and injectable products were recovered.

In Burkina Faso, authorities confiscated 384,000 antibiotic capsules, while in Côte d’Ivoire investigators discovered a tonne of counterfeit ibuprofen hidden inside a vehicle.

Interpol said the success of the operation reflected growing international co-operation against pharmaceutical crime, but warned that counterfeit medicines remain a fast-moving and highly profitable global trade.

(with newswires)

FASCIST KLEPTOCRAT

EU prosecutors probe alleged misuse of funds linked to France's Bardella

Paris (France) (AFP) – European Union prosecutors have launched a probe into a possible misappropriation of EU funds, after a complaint alleged France's far-right National Rally had used European grants to benefit its leader Jordan Bardella, a source close to the case told AFP Thursday.


Issued on: 07/05/2026 - RFI

Bardella dismisses the allegations against him, said the National Rally. © SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP

The complaint, filed in Paris last December by anti-graft association AC!!Anti-Corruption, was forwarded by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) to the European Public Prosecutor's Office for assessment.

"Following a preliminary review, an investigation has been opened on suspicion of fraud," said the source.

The launch of the probe comes as Bardella's mentor, Marine Le Pen, is seeking to overturn a court ruling that convicted her of embezzlement in 2025 and could derail her presidential bid next year.

If an appeals court in July bars the 57-year-old from public office over an alleged fake jobs scam in European Parliament, Bardella, 30, is expected to run in her place.

Bardella is head of the Patriots for Europe group, the EU legislature's third-largest bloc that was co-founded by former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban.

Contacted by AFP, a spokesman for the Luxembourg-based EPPO said: "It is the European Public Prosecutor's Office's policy not to comment on ongoing investigations."

'Defamation'

A representative of the RN party told AFP: "Jordan Bardella naturally denies these accusations levelled against him in the current political climate, and reserves the right to take legal action for defamation and slander."

The anti-corruption association had filed a complaint in December 2025 over the misappropriation of public funds, following an article in French investigative weekly Le Canard Enchaine.

The association suspects the RN of having used European funds to train its members, and in particular its current president Bardella, to address the media during the 2022 French presidential election campaign.

Le Pen made it to the second round of the presidential election in 2022 but was defeated by Emmanuel Macron, who won five more years as president.

Bardella was then acting leader of the far-right party.

Funds held by members of the National Rally in their capacity as MEPs were allegedly used "for purposes other than those for which they were allocated", said the complaint seen by AFP.

The media training coach had been hired to "prepare National Rally MEPs for media appearances", the anti-corruption group said in its complaint to the PNF, the French judicial authority specialising in tax fraud and serious economic and financial crime.

The coach was "paid by the European Parliament from the budget allocated to MEPs", the complaint added.

The association cites an article in Le Canard Enchaine which "reveals that from September 2021" the coach was tasked with assisting Bardella "not with regard to his knowledge of European current affairs but with a view to preparing for the French presidential election in 2022".

Officially established in 2021, the European Public Prosecutor's Office is an independent EU body responsible for combating fraud against the Union's funds and any other offences affecting its financial interests.

Inside Iran’s new two-tier internet access, as blackout drags on

Iran is giving privileged internet access to a small group of approved users, while most of the population remains offline during a prolonged nationwide blackout. More than 60 days into one of the longest shutdowns in its history, authorities are moving from blanket censorship to a system that selects who can connect – raising concerns over inequality, economic damage and tighter control of dissent.


Issued on: 07/05/2026 - RFI

Two women use a smartphone in northern Tehran, Iran. Authorities have introduced a system that gives fuller internet access to selected users while much of the population remains under heavy restrictions. AP - Vahid Salemi

That control has now reached an unprecedented level. The current shutdown has lasted more than 60 days, making it the longest internet cut since Libya lost access for nearly six months during the Arab Spring.

It follows years of increasing control by the authorities after repeated unrest. Iran clamped down on communications during the Green Movement in 2009, the fuel price protests in 2019 and the demonstrations after the death of Mahsa Amini in custody in 2022.

This repression increased again after American strikes in June 2025, protests at the end of that year and a deadly crackdown in early 2026.

Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi told news channel Al Jazeera in January that the shutdown was a response to “terrorist operations” launched “from abroad”. The war declared by the United States and Israel on 28 February compounded the controls.


However, monitoring group NetBlocks noted in mid-April that regime figures and approved influencers were still posting freely on social media, while a population of 90 million people had effectively been silenced.

Alongside this unpublished whitelist, authorities have introduced a system known as “Internet Pro”. Tehran has not denied that selected users are being allowed online, but the number of people involved is not known.

Whitelist access

Internet Pro is a paid service with several levels of priority, offering faster and more stable connections to those who qualify. Both the paid system and the whitelist amount to a selection of users, allowing some to access the web.

The system relies on tight control of internet traffic across the country. Access can be cut on one side of a street and maintained on the other, or limited to specific categories of users.

“Very often, this strategy is applied at an economic level: if you pay more, you get a higher speed and access to services others do not have,” Kavé Salamatian, a computer science professor at Université Savoie Mont-Blanc and a specialist in Iran, told RFI.

“Doing this at the scale of a country, and not at the scale of a company or a single operator, is more or less new. The main question is how the Iranian regime can implement it. The authorities have put in place a very precise system to control internet traffic.”

Applicants for Internet Pro must present identity documents, as well as proof of their profession or recommendations. Business leaders, shopkeepers, doctors, academics and teachers are among those eligible.

The Iranian news agency ISNA, which is partially funded by the government, described the system as “an expert solution that offers a stable connection for professional activities”.

Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani confirmed the policy during a press conference in March, saying: "Measures have been put in place to give more resources to people who can make our voice heard more widely."

How Iran is enforcing an unprecedented digital blackout to crush protests

Economic cost

Along with Pakistan, Russia and Myanmar, Iran imposes strict limits on internet access in the name of regime survival. In these states, a two-speed internet has been common for years, and IP addresses are often closely monitored.

But such control comes at a cost. Restricting access may reduce what authorities see as security risks, but it also weakens the digital economy, which depends on open internet access.

NetBlocks estimates financial losses from the shutdown at $37 million per day. Around 10 million Iranians are directly or indirectly affected in terms of their income.

“The question of censorship in the country has for a very long time been controversial for economic reasons and economic arguments,” said Salamatian. “It is a political issue.”

Bombing outages

In January, French legal think tank Le Club des Juristes said Iran had relied on its highly centralised network and strict control over domestic providers to enforce these restrictions.

Most Iranians now rely on the National Information Network, or NIN, a tightly controlled domestic network that has been in development for more than 15 years. Using a VPN or satellite services such as Starlink remains extremely risky.

“Once the competent authorities have declared the situation normal, the internet situation will also change,” government spokesperson Mohajerani said, adding that the government viewed internet access as a civic right and was listening to public demands.

Salamatian added that, in addition to the government measures, some internet outages are linked directly to the war. “It is important to remember that, for the three months Iranians have been at war, some of the outages are attributable to the bombing."

At the same time, he said, the conflict has allowed authorities to make security their top priority and tighten control over dissent. However, he expressed scepticism that such controls can last, saying the strategy could "work over a short period, but not over the long term”.

He added: “The Chinese built the Great Wall in the third century. A Chinese thinker said that no wall will ever be higher than people’s desire to cross it. That means every wall you build is destined to be bypassed.”

This article has been adapted from the original version in French by Anne Bernas.

Why experts say the cruise ship hantavirus utbreak is not another Covid

The World Health Organization has warned that more hantavirus cases could emerge after an outbreak linked to a cruise ship killed three passengers, though officials say the situation is likely to remain contained if health measures are followed.


Issued on: 08/05/2026 - RFI

A test tube labelled “hantavirus positive” and the World Health Organization logo are seen in this illustration taken on 7 May 2026. REUTERS - Dado Ruvic

The outbreak aboard the Dutch-operated MV Hondius has drawn global attention after passengers infected with the rare Andes strain of hantavirus travelled across several countries, prompting contact tracing efforts in Europe, Africa and South America.

Health experts say the virus behaves very differently from Covid-19 and is far less contagious.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday that five confirmed and three suspected cases had been reported so far, including the three deaths. Because the Andes strain can incubate for up to six weeks, he warned that “more cases may be reported”.

Even so, WHO emergency alert director Abdi Rahman Mahamud said he expected “a limited outbreak” provided “public health measures are implemented and solidarity shown across all countries”


The comments came as another infected passenger landed in Europe from the ship, which is heading towards Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands after being refused permission to dock in Cape Verde.

WHO members reach accord 'in principle' over how to tackle future pandemics

Rare virus

Hantavirus is a rare disease usually spread by rodents and can cause severe respiratory illness, cardiac complications and haemorrhagic fever. There is no vaccine and no specific cure.

Most hantavirus strains are not transmitted between humans. The Andes strain – first identified in South America – is one of the few exceptions, though scientists say transmission requires unusually close contact.

Researchers say this is why comparisons with Covid-19 are misleading.

“It cannot be compared at all because they are not from the same viral families, they do not necessarily have the same modes of transmission, they do not have the same infection rates, and they are not equally infectious,” Anne Lavergne, head of the laboratory associated with the National Hantavirus Center at the Pasteur Institute of French Guiana, told RFI.

Lavergne said Covid-19 could spread rapidly through casual contact, whereas Andes hantavirus spreads much less efficiently.

“With Covid cases, one person could infect ten others,” she said. “With hantaviruses at their most contagious – as documented for Andes – one person can infect only two others, and even then only in very specific situations, such as close contact with patients or individuals who have developed symptoms and have very high viral loads.”

Health authorities continue to describe the overall risk of a pandemic as low despite the international nature of the outbreak.

Tracing the source

Investigators are still trying to determine where the outbreak began.

Authorities in Argentina believe a Dutch passenger contracted the virus before boarding the MV Hondius in Ushuaia on 1 April. The man died aboard the vessel on 11 April. His wife later died in South Africa after also testing positive.

Argentine officials said the couple had travelled extensively across South America after arriving in Argentina in November last year, including visits to Chile and Uruguay before returning to Buenos Aires to join the cruise.

On Thursday, Argentina’s health ministry said “it is not possible to confirm the source of the infection” based on the information currently available from the countries involved.

The uncertainty has complicated efforts to identify where the original exposure took place.

Authorities consider it unlikely the couple became infected in Ushuaia because no hantavirus cases have been recorded there in three decades. Scientists are nevertheless being sent to Tierra del Fuego to retrace the couple’s movements and capture rodents for testing.

The mission will look for a “possible presence of the virus” among local rodent populations, which are the primary carriers of hantavirus.

Argentina, where the disease is endemic in some Andean regions, has also distributed 2,500 testing kits to countries involved in the outbreak response, including the Netherlands, Spain, Britain, Senegal and South Africa.

Cross-border tracking

The international dimension of the outbreak has increased concern among health authorities.

Passengers and crew from the Hondius disembarked at several locations during the voyage, including Saint Helena, where nearly 30 passengers left the ship.

WHO officials said 12 countries had been alerted that their nationals had travelled aboard the vessel.

One infected passenger flew commercially from Saint Helena to Johannesburg while symptomatic, leading South African authorities to trace 82 passengers and six crew members from the flight.

Confirmed or suspected cases are now being managed in Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and South Africa.

Oceanwide Expeditions, the company operating the ship, said there were currently no symptomatic passengers on board as it sails towards Tenerife.

Some passengers, however, have reportedly criticised what they see as exaggerated media coverage.

(with newswires)

MIGRATION

South Africa rejects xenophobia claims over anti-migrant protests

South Africa has pushed back against accusations of xenophobia, following a wave of anti-migrant protests that has unsettled communities across the country and drawn criticism from elsewhere on the African continent.


Issued on: 08/05/2026 - RFI

A march protesting against undocumented migrants in Durban on 6 May, 2026. 

AFP - RAJESH JANTILAL

In recent weeks, demonstrations targeting foreign nationals have erupted in several major South African cities, at times turning violent.

The unrest has prompted concern from countries including Nigeria, Ghana and Mozambique, while United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres has also voiced alarm.

Speaking at a press briefing this week, presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya insisted that South Africa should not be labelled xenophobic, arguing that the protests reflect broader tensions surrounding migration, crime and economic pressures rather than hostility towards foreigners as a whole.

“South Africa is not xenophobic. South Africans are not xenophobic,” Magwenya said. “What is happening is that we have several pockets of protest, which is permitted under our Constitution. We must also take into account the fact that the issue of immigration is a source of tension.”

South Africa remains the continent’s most industrialised economy and a major destination for migrants seeking work and stability. According to the national statistics institute, the country is home to more than 3 million immigrants.

South African president Ramaphosa slams anti-immigrant protests

Calls for continental dialogue

The South African government has acknowledged growing unease in other African countries over the situation. Nigeria, in particular, has reacted sharply after reports of attacks against its citizens and businesses.

Magwenya said criticism from African governments should open the door to a broader discussion about migration pressures across the continent.

“The condemnations we have received from various countries on the continent should not be limited to mere condemnation, but should also be accompanied by a willingness to engage in constructive dialogue on the problems and factors driving people to leave their home countries,” he said.

The comments reflect Pretoria’s attempt to reframe the crisis as part of a wider African challenge linked to unemployment, insecurity and uneven economic development, rather than solely as a domestic issue.

However, the recent demonstrations have highlighted long-standing frustrations inside South Africa, where high unemployment, rising living costs and crime have frequently fuelled resentment towards migrants. Similar outbreaks of anti-immigrant violence have occurred several times over the past two decades.

Nigeria repatriates first group of nationals fleeing South Africa

Nigerians request repatriation

There have been a number of violent incidents involving Nigerian nationals in South Africa in recent weeks.

Abuja summoned South Africa’s acting ambassador on 4 May to explain what it described as the “mistreatment of Nigerian citizens and attacks on their businesses”.

Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, said two Nigerians had recently died in separate incidents involving South African security personnel. According to the minister, one man was allegedly “beaten by soldiers” in Port Elizabeth on 25 April, while another was found dead in Pretoria following “an alleged interaction with members of the Metropolitan Police”.

“These crimes are absolutely reprehensible and unacceptable,” Odumegwu-Ojukwu said in a situation report published on X (formerly Twitter).

Buhari weighs response to Ramaphosa’s apology for xenophobic attacks

The minister also warned Nigerians living in South Africa to remain vigilant, as further protests are expected this week.

At least 130 Nigerians have now requested voluntary repatriation, according to the Nigerian government. Abuja has organised evacuation operations during previous waves of anti-immigration violence in South Africa.

Despite the tensions, Nigerian officials have sought to underline the importance of maintaining diplomatic ties between Africa’s two largest economies.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu praised South African political leaders for publicly condemning the attacks, while South Africa’s foreign minister has held talks with his Nigerian counterpart to reaffirm relations between the two countries.

This article has been adapted from the original version in French by RFI's correspondent in Johannesburg, Joséphine Kloeckner.