LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment

2026-04-30T07:04:05.430-07:00

'Only yes means yes' rape definition backed by EU lawmakers

On Tuesday, April 28, 2026, it was approved by a large majority of 447 to 160 votes in the European Parliament.

04/28/2026

The European Parliament voted for a consent-based definition of rape. But what constitutes rape under criminal law still varies significantly across the bloc.

After decades of arguing, the European Parliament agreed on a common definition of rape

Image: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa/picture alliance

About half of all women in the European Union have been sexually harassed at least once since their 15th birthday, according to the European Council.

In response, the EU has launched several measures to better protect women and girls from sexual assault. On October 1, 2023, it acceded to the Istanbul Convention, the world's most comprehensive set of rules for combating gender-based violence. In 2024, the bloc adopted a directive that criminalizes sexual harassment in the workplace, cyberstalking, and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images across the EU.

The new EU Gender Equality Strategy specifically targets cyberviolence, deepfakes, and digital violence against women. European countries invest hundreds of millions of euros annually in projects focused on violence prevention and victim protection.

Swedish parliamentarians led the initiative to accept "only yes means yes" as common European definition

Image: Panama Pictures/IMAGO

Cross-party initiative in the European Parliament

However, when it comes to defining what actually constitutes rape under criminal law, the 27 EU member states have been unable to reach a consensus for decades. A cross-party initiative in European Parliament aimed to push the European Commission to redefine the legal framework for this.

"The legislative initiative aims to create a uniform EU-wide regulation that ensures that in sexual relationships, only 'yes' truly means 'yes' and that all rape laws in the EU are based on the principle of consent," Evin Incir, a member of the European Parliament representing the Swedish Social Democratic Party and one of the initiators of the latest push, told DW.

In future, Incir added, the decisive factor should be "the absence of consent" and "not the fact that women have to fight back or show bruises to prove they said 'no!'"

The document also calls for alignment with international standards and stronger support for victims across all member states, including access to justice, specialized services, and healthcare.

On Tuesday, April 28, 2026, it was approved by a large majority of 447 to 160 votes in the European Parliament.

Criminal law differences within the EU

Currently, criminal law definitions of what is considered rape vary considerably across Europe.

Their legal models can be broadly divided into three categories. In several EU countries, an act is only considered rape if the perpetrator uses or threatens to use physical force. In other countries, including Germany, Austria, and Poland, the so-called "no means no" model applies: Rape is considered a crime if the act is committed against the victim's recognizable will, meaning they actively refuses to consent.

The "only yes means yes" model, on the other hand, means that any sex without explicit, voluntary consent is defined as rape. This model was first introduced in Sweden but is also in effect in numerous other EU countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Croatia, Greece, Spain and the Netherlands. France joined in November 2025, in the wake of the Gisele Pelicot case, which shocked the entire country. The introduction of this law is also currently being discussed in the Czech Republic.

Convictions at court remain low as rapes are often not reported

Image: Suvee Subyen/COLOURBOX

Sweden pioneers legislation to stop rape

The prosecution rate for rape cases remains extremely low. Only a fraction of rape crimes is reported at all, and trials often pit one person's word against another's word. Also, clear evidence of rape is difficult to establish. Some estimates suggest that across Europe, only a low single-digit percentage of actual rapists are actually convicted.

In Sweden, the EU country that was the first to introduce the "only yes means yes" rule in 2018, the number of convicted rapists has risen significantly. This is likely also due Stockholm simultaneously introducing the criminal offense of "grossly negligent rape." Under this provision, perpetrators can now be convicted if they did not ensure beforehand that their partner is voluntarily participating in the sexual act.

Nevertheless, proving a rape case in court remains difficult, and the overall conviction rate remains low. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International recognize the transition to the "only yes means yes" rule as an important step, also in terms of social change.

More European nations adopt similar rape laws

The "only yes means yes" rule was proposed for the second time as a Europe-wide standard. An earlier initiative failed in 2024 — in part due to France and Germany's obstruction in the European Council. The issue was less about a substantive rejection of the consensus principle and more about formal legal concerns.

Because rape is not explicitly listed in the EU treaties as a criminal offense with a cross-border dimension, countries have argued the EU lacks authority to establish a Europe-wide definition. Criminal law is considered one of the core areas of national sovereignty.

Germany and France expressed fears the European Commission would overstep its authority and that a corresponding directive could be overturned by the European Court of Justice.

"A lot has happened since 2024, when we first called for legislation on persistent rape," Swedish MEP Evin Incir told DW, highlighting that not only France has changed its position at the national level, but also Italy is currently working on a corresponding law.

Misogyny on social media 12:34

This article was originally published in German.

Thomas Latschan Author and editor with a focus on global politics

2026-04-30T06:58:00.694-07:00

Football: Afghan women's team recognized in blow to Taliban

Matt Pearson

DW

Banned from playing football and sent into exile, Afghanistan's women's team has had to fight to regain international status. That newly awarded recognition is a "hard slap to the face" of the Taliban, a player told DW.

Afghanistan will now be allowed to compete in the world's top football tournaments

Image: Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP Photo/picture alliance

After years of fleeing, fighting, advocating and training, Afghanistan's women have won the right to compete for football's biggest prizes as their country's official national team.

An unprecedented decision made by world football's governing body, FIFA, in Toronto on Tuesday paves the way for the current squad to try to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and then future World Cups and Asian Cups.

It is another huge step for a team who have had to fight for their right to play, with the Taliban-run football association refusing to sanction an Afghanistan national women's team.

"It's something really huge for us, to show the world that Afghan women and girls are capable of doing amazing things," national team goalkeeper Elaha Safdari told DW. "It's a hard slap to the face of the Taliban and those people who were against us.

Football and freedom: Afghan women against the world 12:34

"We are just showing that we are capable of doing amazing things through sports. And of course, we are still raising our voice for all the voiceless who are back home."
Afghan example may open the door for others

Safdari was one of the Afghanistan Women's United squad who took part in a small tournament called 'FIFA Unites Women's Series' in Morocco in 2025. The squad are made up of refugees who now live mostly in Australia and Europe and have faced a host of logistical and political challenges. They will likely form the bulk of the new national team.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the amendment made at the organization's Council was "momentous." He said it meant FIFA can now "approve the registration of a national or representative team under exceptional circumstances where a Member Association is unable to do so."

"This is a powerful and unprecedented step in world sport," he added. "FIFA has listened to these players as part of its responsibility to protect the right of every girl and woman to play football and to represent who they are."

Infantino also pointed to his organization's 'Strategy for Action for Afghan Women's Football, approved in 2025, as a key driver of the change.

Goalkeeper Elaha Safdari now lives in Engand and plays club football for Rotherham United

Image: Francois Nel - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

Andrea Florence, the Executive Director of the Sport and Rights Alliance advocacy group, pointed out that the precedent set by this amendment "demonstrates that governing bodies can adapt their rules to protect human rights when extraordinary circumstances demand it."

This will likely open the door for other national teams, often women's ones, who are denied the opportunity to play by their federations.
Big moment in Afghanistan and in exile

Khalida Popal, the former Afghanistan captain, who has become a figurehead for the new generation, sat next to Infantino when the news was announced as the current squad watched together online elsewhere.

"It means so much. The whole situation that Afghanistan women have is very emotional," she said. "This is our moment, this is our time and football is our voice and our platform."

Afghanistan won one of their three games at the FIFA Unites Women's Series 2025 and forged team spiritImage: Ann Odong/FIFA

For Safdari and her teammates, this is a chance to look ahead and build on the momentum and team spirit forged at the tournament in Morocco, in which the Afghans were not recognized as a full national team.

"Our situation is quite different from other teams but I feel like that's a big strength for us," Safdari said. "We've been training hard, we've been aiming for this, and it's a new hope for us. It shows our resilience and it just shows that if we work hard, we can definitely achieve [our goals]."

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Fight not over until Taliban are out

But with the brutal repression of women continuing back home, Safdari and the other players know that their fight is not fully won while the Taliban remain in power. Nevertheless, Safdari and the rest of the squad enjoy a rare platform as Afghan women international athletes. Now that their stage is even greater, they remain determined to shout from it for those back home.

"First of all I [thought of] my parents, who are still back home. They've already heard the news and are just proud of how far that I came personally. It's really something for me to play for my country and make my people, my family and my parents proud.

Dreams in the dust - The divided rise of Afghan cricket 12:34

"Of course, I've heard so many good things from friends and the people who are still back home. And we've seen how they were supporting us through this news on social media."

The squad, who are funded and supported by FIFA during international breaks, are set to get together in New Zealand for their first matches since the games in Morocco last October. They will play a match against the Cook Islands as part of an eight-day training camp before Olympic qualifiers are set to start, likely later this year. That will be followed, eventually, by World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers and all sorts of other opportunities afforded to them by their new status.

"It sounds really great [to hear Afghanistan can compete in those tournaments] and I still cannot believe it that we are finally official and we can play qualifiers," Safdari said.

With the team having barely been in the same country, let alone played together in recent years, there is plenty of work to do to catch up. But for players like Safdari who have had to forge new lives in foreign lands at a young age while fighting for their right to play football, that is not a daunting proposition.

Edited by: Janek Speight

Matt Pearson Reporter and editor@thisismpearson

2026-04-30T06:56:33.924-07:00

Iran crisis, World Cup tensions overshadow FIFA Congress in Vancouver

Football officials gather in Vancouver on Thursday for FIFA’s 76th Congress, weeks before the expanded World Cup kicks off in North America. War in Iran, logistics and Russia’s ban top the agenda. Iranian federation officials left Canada abruptly, casting a shadow over the meeting.

Issued on: 30/04/2026 -
By: FRANCE 24

FIFA President Gianni Infantino is juggling multiple issues ahead of the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver, the last major gathering of football's global governing body before the World Cup © Kent NISHIMURA, AFP

Football's power brokers meet in Vancouver on Thursday as FIFA convenes its 76th Congress, a high stakes gathering less than two months before the biggest World Cup ever opens across Canada, Mexico and the United States

The Iran war, World Cup logistical headaches and the unresolved question of Russia's international ban are set to feature in discussions among roughly 1,600 delegates from more than 200 member associations.

Iran's absence is already threatening to overshadow the meeting.

Officials from the Iranian football federation (FFIRI) abruptly left Canada after landing in Toronto earlier this week, abandoning their onward trip to Vancouver.

Iranian media said FFIRI president Mehdi Taj – a former member of Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – and two colleagues flew home after being "insulted" by Canadian immigration officers.

Canada, which designated the IRGC a terrorist organization in 2024, said Wednesday that individuals linked to the force were "inadmissible".

"While we cannot comment on individual cases due to privacy laws, the government has been clear and consistent: IRGC officials are inadmissible to Canada and have no place in our country," Canada's immigration agency said in a statement.

The episode adds fresh uncertainty to Iran's World Cup status, already clouded since the Middle East war erupted on February 28 with a wave of attacks by the United States and Israel.

Iranian football officials said last month they had suggested moving their three World Cup group games from the United States to co-hosts Mexico – a plan which was swiftly nixed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Infantino told AFP that Iran will play at the World Cup "where they are supposed to be, according to the draw."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted last week that Iran's footballers would be welcome to compete at the tournament.

But Rubio warned that the United States may yet bar entry to members of the Iranian delegation with ties to the IRGC.
Infantino under scrutiny

The FIFA boss heads into Thursday's meeting facing scrutiny following criticism over skyrocketing World Cup ticket prices and his close friendship with US President Donald Trump.

FIFA on Tuesday announced it had boosted World Cup financial distributions to nearly $900 million, up from the initial $727 million announced in December.

The move came after several World Cup-qualified teams reportedly warned that they risked losing money from competing at the sprawling tournament, citing the high cost of travel, taxes and overall operations.

Rights groups meanwhile have called for the football supremo to use his upcoming address to FIFA delegates to give assurances that World Cup visitors face no risk of being caught in the Trump administration's draconian immigration crackdown.

"FIFA President Gianni Infantino has yet to publicly outline how fans, journalists and local communities will be safe from arbitrary detention, mass deportations and crackdowns on free expression," Amnesty International's head of economic and social justice Steve Cockburn said Wednesday.

"This FIFA Congress should be the moment he does so, and the global football community must receive more than empty platitudes," Cockburn added in a statement.

Infantino is also facing calls to abolish the FIFA Peace Prize, which he awarded to Trump during last December's World Cup draw in Washington.

"We want to see (the prize) abolished," Norwegian football association president Lise Klaveness told reporters this week. "We don't think it's part of FIFA's mandate to give such a prize."

Thursday's Congress could also address the issue of Russia's ongoing ban from international football, which has been in force since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Infantino spoke in favor of lifting the ban on Russia earlier this year.

"We have to (look at readmitting Russia). Definitely," Infantino told Britain's Sky News.

"This ban has not achieved anything, it has just created more frustration and hatred."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Iranian football officials leave Canada before FIFA Congress due to airport 'insult'

A team of Iranian football officials left Canada before the start of this week's FIFA Congress due to the "inappropriate behaviour" of immigration officials at Toronto airport, Iranian media reported Wednesday. The Iranian federation's president is a former member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, which is a designated terror group in Canada.

Issued on: 29/04/2026 -
By: FRANCE 24

File photo of the 2026 World Cup logo on a screen outside Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles taken on May 17, 2023. © Jae C. Hong, AP

Top Iranian football officials left Canada before the start of the FIFA Congress because of the behaviour of officials during immigration checks at Toronto's international airport, Iranian media reported Wednesday.

The global football body's gathering of member nation representatives will be held this week in Vancouver, the British Columbia city which is also hosting seven matches in the World Cup that Canada will co-host with the United States and Mexico this summer.

The Iranian football federation (FFIRI) president, secretary general and deputy secretary general "returned to Turkey on the first flight due to the inappropriate behaviour of the immigration officials at the airport and the insult to one of the most honourable organs of the Iranian Armed Forces", several outlets reported, without providing further details.

In 2024, Canada designated Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) a terror group, barring its members from entering the country.

The Iranian federation's president Mehdi Taj is a former IRGC member.

The Iranian reports said the officials had travelled to Canada with "official visas" before turning around.

The incident underscores the practical and political obstacles surrounding Iran's participation at the World Cup, the most politically ‌sensitive item on FIFA's agenda since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran in February.

Iran's ⁠qualification has not removed hurdles tied to travel, visas and security in a tournament staged in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said it could not comment on specific cases due to privacy but added: "IRGC officials are inadmissible to Canada."

Doubts over Iranian team's attendance

While FIFA has insisted fixtures will proceed as scheduled, the delegation's withdrawal deepens doubts over whether Iranian players, officials and supporters will be able to move freely across borders during the tournament.

The officials – ‌who had travelled to Canada to attend Thursday’s Congress in Vancouver – returned on the next available flight, according to the Tasnim report, which added that the incident involved an insult directed at one of the most decorated branches of Iran's armed forces.

FIFA has since contacted the Iranian ‌delegation to express regret over the incident and indicated that president Gianni Infantino would arrange a meeting with them at the organisation’s headquarters, the report added. FIFA did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters. A source at the FIFA Congress told Reuters FIFA had sent a representative to mediate in Toronto but their efforts were in vain.

Doubts have risen over the Iranian team's attendance at the World Cup because of the Middle East war that began on February 28 with a massive wave of US-Israel attacks.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted last week that Iran's footballers would be welcome at the global spectacle.

But he warned that the United States may yet bar entry to members of the Iranian delegation it judged to have ties to the Revolutionary Guard, which is also designated a terrorist organisation by Washington and several other governments.

No one "from the US has told them they can't come", Rubio said.

'Visa issues'

Sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that the Iranian officials were also unable to attend Tuesday's Asian Football Confederation Congress, which was also held in Vancouver, due to visa issues.

“If it's like this in Canada where it's supposed to be easy, how is it going to be for the World Cup in the US?" a delegate at the AFC Congress told Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Concerns over security, travel restrictions and the broader geopolitical climate have prompted officials in Tehran to seek guarantees for the Iran team at the World Cup and, in some cases, explore the possibility of ⁠alternative venues for their matches in the United States.

FIFA has so far resisted any changes, reiterating that participating teams are expected to adhere to the established match ⁠schedule.

The Congress – bringing together more than 200 member associations – was already expected to focus on operational and financial questions linked to the first 48-team World Cup.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)

2026-04-30T06:42:23.133-07:00

How Iranian diplomats turned embassy accounts into viral meme machines

Memes, humour, and trolling of American politicians: This is how a handful of Iranian embassies have become superstars on “X”, attracting millions of views. But how did the old-fashioned and largely ignored accounts of Iran’s diplomats in South Africa, Thailand, and the United Kingdom suddenly turn into Gen Z-style viral feeds, with millions of views?

Issued on: 29/04/2026 -
By: The FRANCE 24 Observers

Iran’s embassy in Ghana published a meme on April 20, 2026 mocking US President Donald Trump by portraying him as Forrest Gump, central character in the 1994 film. Similar memes published by Iranian embassies have garnered hundreds of millions of views around the world. © Observers

When US and Israeli jets and missiles started attacking Iran on February 28, another battle – a propaganda war – opened up on social media. Official US accounts, including those of the Pentagon and the White House, started publishing clips of their attacks on Iran, mixed with footage from Hollywood films, video games, and cartoons.

Iran’s regime launched a counterattack online. Mocking and trolling posts from Iranian embassy accounts have targeted the US administration, notably President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, and the broader war narrative promoted by the US government.

While the US administration’s combative messaging on the war with Iran has largely failed to gain traction online, the Iranian embassy's memes and humorous content have gone viral, sometimes attracting millions of views and reposts.

This meme of a toy steering wheel posted on X by Iran’s embassy in South Africa on March 23, 2026 mocks Donald Trump after he suggested in a post that he could share control of the Strait of Hormuz with Iran’s leadership. The meme gathered nearly 4 million views. © Observers

The embassy accounts were, until recently, little-followed feeds recycling statements from Iran’s foreign minister, other state officials, and routine embassy activity. In early March, they started reposting humorous tweets by other X users mocking the US’s war on Iran, and by the end of the month, they were posting humorous tweets of their own.

Reaction of of Iran’s diplomatic mission in Zimbabwe to a post by Trump that had set a deadline for Iran, to open the strait of Hormuz. © Observers

On March 23, Iran’s embassy in South Africa posted a photo of a toy steering wheel after Trump suggested the US could share control of the Strait of Hormuz with Iran. The post had 3.9 million views on X. On April 6, after Trump posted a message appearing to extend a deadline for Iran to open the strait before “Tuesday, 8:00 am Eastern Time”, the Iranian embassy in Zimbabwe posted a message with more than 6 million views, asking him to change it to between 1 and 2 pm.

Iran’s embassies have posted Internet-famous memes showing close knowledge of global pop culture, as well as references to popular films and series such as Friends and Pirates of the Caribbean, prompting British tabloid the Daily Mail to describe them as “jaw-dropping”.

© Observers

The war emergency put younger diplomats in charge

Ali Pourtabatabaei, an Iranian journalist with inside knowledge of the Iranian administration, explains how this abrupt shift was decided and how it was implemented:

When the war started, the older generation of Iranian diplomats – who normally run these accounts – realised their point of view had no voice among non-Iranian audiences. So they turned to a younger generation of diplomats who understand social networks. This new generation was more easily granted freedom and authority during wartime to take control of these accounts.

For multiple reasons, this younger generation of Iranian diplomats has been trained more in public diplomacy and communication than in other areas. They are young and, naturally, more familiar with contemporary pop culture.

Another important point is that this new PR strategy was not applied to all accounts at once. One or two embassies started as a test, and when it proved successful, others followed.

© Observers

And despite what many might suspect, the diplomats behind these accounts are not based in Tehran in the same room; they are all located in their respective countries of assignment.

The combination of a wartime emergency and the very positive reaction they received on social media led to this shift, with permission granted to this younger generation to cross traditional diplomatic PR red lines.

Old clichés and outdated management no longer work

The embassies have also reposted satirical videos portraying Trump as an animated Lego character. The videos are produced by young Iranians, such as a group calling themselves “Explosive Media”. In an interview with the FRANCE 24 Observers, the group’s spokesperson confirmed the shift towards a younger generation:

When war breaks out, people become convinced that old clichés and outdated methods can no longer work.

Young people like us have taken charge, and with God's help and the inspiration he provides, we are able to produce work at a global standard across different fields.

I don’t think that, once the war started, a single group or team was suddenly created to take control of all these accounts.

According to a study by the “Institute for Strategic Dialogue”, in the first 50 days of the war, posts from Iran’s embassies and other official accounts collectively gained approximately 900 million views and 22 million likes, around 14 and 30 times more, respectively, than in the same period before the war.

2026-04-30T06:41:53.769-07:00

How the Iran war is bringing back 'citizenship as a weapon'

Cathrin Schaer

04/27/2026

Some Gulf states, trapped between Iran, Israel and the US in the current war, have started revoking the citizenship of locals considered "traitors." But is it about security — or a way to suppress political dissent?

Anti-government protests in Bahrain went from 2011 until 2013 and saw hundreds arrested and as many as 85 killed after a brutal crackdown

Image: Hasan Jamali/AP Photo/picture alliance

Jawad Fairooz found out that he no longer had a country while watching television.

"I was on a short trip to London," Fairooz, a former politician in Bahrain's parliament, told DW, "when the Ministry of Interior decided to revoke the nationality of people in the opposition. They read 31 names on TV. Mine was one. It was such a shock because I never called for the government to be overthrown."

That was in November 2012. Fairooz had resigned from parliament in protest at security forces killing demonstrators during the so-called Arab Spring. He was arrested, tortured, and then had his citizenship revoked. And he was not alone. Bahraini authorities would eventually withdraw citizenship from close to 990 people.

Made stateless, Fairooz applied for asylum, became a UK citizen and now runs the organization, Salam for Democracy and Human Rights. But he's worried that what happened to him is about to happen to many more Bahrainis, as a result of the Iran war.

Jawad Fairooz, left, pictured in 2011 when he was in the opposition, says there are long-running attempts to bring about demographic change more supportive of the Sunni royal familyImage: Mazen Mahdi/dpa/picture alliance

Weaponizing citizenship

The war began in late February when Israel and the US attacked Iran. But besides Israel, it was Gulf states like Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia that Iran targeted in response.

Politically, Bahrain is in a particularly difficult position. Like other Gulf states, the country is a monarchy and represses most political dissent. But in contrast to other Gulf countries, Bahrain's royal family are Sunni while estimates suggest the majority of the population — just over 50% — is Shiite.

Fairooz says Bahrainis having their citizenship revoked are mostly Shia, while those being given citizenship are mostly Sunni, many who moved to Bahrain from elsewhere

Image: Tetiana Chernykova/Zoonar/picture alliance

Iran is a Shiite theocracy, and in March, there were as many as 250 arrests in Bahrain of people who allegedly posted anti-war messages online, expressed "sympathy" with Iran or participated in demonstrations. Bahrain says it also arrested spies working for Iran.

Then, in late April, the government said it would be reviewing the citizenship of anybody "disloyal" to the country. Fairooz believes Bahrain is weaponizing citizenship again for security reasons, but also because authorities know they can use it to suppress dissent.

"I am hearing about arrests of citizens perceived as siding with the enemy state," said another Bahraini who lives in the US but whose family remains in Bahrain, which is why they could only comment anonymously. "In particular, people of Persian, or mixed Arab and Persian descent, are being associated with Iran, regardless of their actual views on the conflict. These dynamics affect a range of communities — not only Shia minorities, but also Sunni citizens of Persian descent."

Kuwait could be one of the worst offenders. In March 2024, the Kuwaiti government launched a campaign to revoke citizenship and sources say it's highly likely that, since then, over 70,000 Kuwaitis have lost their nationality. The true number could be as high as 300,000 because dependents like wives, children or grandchildren also lose Kuwaiti citizenship.

If correct, that's almost one-fifth of the native population, as there are only around 1.56 million Kuwaiti citizens. In mid-April, Kuwait issued another set of changes to its citizenship law and over 2,000 more people lost Kuwaiti nationality.

"Kuwait's evolving nationality regime reveals how citizenship can be transformed ... into a political instrument of control," the research network Global Citizenship Observatory wrote in aFebruary 2026 report on Kuwait.

"It is potentially too early to identify if there is an increased trend related to the recent conflict with Iran," said Thomas McGee, the Observatory's expert on the Middle East. "What we are seeing now is a number of Gulf states potentially using the Iran war as justification to intensify existing citizenship and nationality controls, rather than inventing the practice from scratch."

Kuwait's emir Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah says citizenship irregularities are changing the country, but his critics say new nationality rules are meant to regulate who has political power

Image: Jaber Abdulkhaleg/AP Photo/picture alliance

Another Gulf state, Oman, changed its citizenship laws in February 2025. Parts of the law say Omani nationality could be withdrawn if citizens "committed a verbal or physical offense against the Omani Sultanate or the Sultan himself," or joined an organization that might harm the country.

Rights activists argue that because there's no definition of those acts or organizations, the government can use the law against its opponents.

The UAE was recently accused of doing similar things to Iranians who live there. Some found their residency permits had been revoked. Emirati authorities denied this, saying the expats were part of their community — but media outlets like The New York Times interviewed Iranians who had had permits rescinded.

There are warnings of similar action in Iran. Last week, a politician there threatened to strip diaspora Iranians of citizenship if they were seen cooperating with "hostile countries."

Europe and US also use citizenship as a tool

This kind of activity is not limited to the Middle East. Last week in the US, the Trump administration again pushed its Justice Department to denaturalize hundreds of Americans and has issued new guidelines on vetting political opinions of people seeking residency.

In the UK, there's been furious debate about the decision to strip Shamima Begum, who joined the extremist 'Islamic State' group in Syria at the age of 15, of British citizenship

Image: GMB/ITV/PA Wire/picture alliance

Last year, Human Rights Watch criticized a leaked working paper on migration by conservative political parties in Germany. This suggested dual nationals could be stripped of German passports if they were deemed "supporters of terrorism, antisemites and extremists."

Experts say citizenship is being weaponized because, over the past two decades, it's become more acceptable to treat it as a privilege, not a right.

This was not the case after World War II, when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was first written. Article 15 says nationality is a fundamental human right, partly a response to the Nazis making tens of thousands of Jews and political opponents stateless with their 1933 "denaturalization law."

"States have been weaponizing citizenship for a long time," said Lindsey Kingston, a professor of international human rights at Webster University in the US state of Missouri. "But the nature of that weaponization is changing."

A 2022 study by the Global Citizenship Observatory and the Netherlands-based Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, or ISI, found that in the two decades after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US, "the use and scope of citizenship revocation on security grounds has expanded."

"Terror attacks like 9/11 prompted many people to rethink ideas about legal nationality," Kingston told DW. "People began to see citizenship as impermanent, something that had to be earned and continually justified."

Stripping a person of citizenship became more acceptable, she said, "even when it was in blatant violation of human rights laws."

Iran war's impact

While the weaponization of citizenship is not new, the Iran war seems to be making things worse, experts say.

The conflict has resulted in a slowing of reforms in Gulf countries, analysts at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace argued in early April. The war has upset "the fragile balance that had been emerging in the Gulf between controlled reform and political stability," they wrote.

This includes the weaponization of citizenship, observers say.

"Military conflict can be a catalyst," Luuk van der Baaren, a legal researcher at the European University Institute who focuses on citizenship law, confirmed. "A long-standing ground for citizenship stripping is treason and this logic is now being invoked in some Gulf countries." The same has been seen in Russia and Ukraine, he added.

Additionally, citizenship policies often follow strong regional patterns, the researcher told DW. "Countries tend to adopt similar approaches to their neighbors, which may explain recent changes across countries of the Arab Gulf."

Amal de Chickera, co-director of the ISI, believes it's important to look at the bigger picture.

"If you look at Bahrain, there was a spike in citizenship strippings post-2013, and then there was a lot of international pressure that the Bahraini government should right those wrongs," he explained. "And they did course correct, to a degree."

Now it seems Bahrain is going back to that practice. But, as de Chickera argued, that may not be surprising.

"I think a wider lens is needed," he said. "With Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, invasion of Lebanon and the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, with the way Western nations have doubled down to afford Israel a degree of impunity and their unwillingness to hold America accountable, we are seeing a shredding of international law."

The International Court of Justice in the Netherlands has been investigating Israel's conduct in Gaza since South Africa launched a case in December 2023, alleging that it amounts to genocide. Israel's conduct in the war has been found by many international rights organizations and a United Nations commission to be a genocide. Israel has denied this.

De Chickera thinks all that is connected: "In a world in which international law means nothing, the Bahraini government has probably calculated it can get away with this again."

Edited by: Rob Mudge
Cathrin Schaer Author for the Middle East desk.

2026-04-30T06:35:42.533-07:00

Whale 'Timmy' reaches Denmark in rescue effort — in pictures

Kate Hairsine

DW with dpa, AP, Reuters

30/04/2026

A barge carrying a humpback whale stranded in Germany for weeks has reached Danish waters on its journey to the North Sea.

The young humpback whale is being towed to the North Sea in a rescue attempt

Image: Philip Dulian/dpa/picture alliance

A barge carrying 'Timmy', the humpback whale stranded in Germany since early March, is expected to reach the open ocean by Friday.

The tugboat pulling the water-filled barge entered Danish waters Wednesday afternoon.

It was located between the Danish islands of Samso and Sjaelland at 2 a.m. German time (0000 GMT) on Thursday, according to the Vessel Finder tracking website.

The tugboat and barge containing the humpback whale has crossed into Danish waters

Image: Philip Dulian/dpa/picture alliance

Environment minister for the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Till Backhaus, said that if everything went well, the whale would be in the North Sea by Friday.

"The very worst is already behind him now," Backhaus told Germany's Bild newspaper on Wednesday.

Backhaus said the animal was "doing well" and had made sounds during the night.

Rescuers managed to get Timmy onto the barge, has a water-filled hold and is usually used to carry other boats

Image: Jens Schwarck/Rettungsinitiative/dpa/picture alliance

Stranded whale Timmy was coaxed onto barge in complex rescue

The whale, nicknamed 'Timmy' by Germany media, was towed from the shallows of the island of German island of Poel to the barge through a specially dredged channel on Tuesday.

Rescuers then pulled the whale onto the specially converted freight barge using straps.

Rescuers guided Timmy from shallow waters through a specially dug channel

Image: Jens Büttner/dpa/picture alliance

"I'm truly relieved," Backhaus on Poel.

"I was even on the verge of jumping into the water to help him over the last few meters."

Rescuers pull Timmy the humpback (not visible) into the barge using straps

Image: Schwarck/NonstopNews/REUTERS

The young humpback was first spotted swimming near Germany's Baltic Coast on March 3, far from its natural habitat in the Atlantic Ocean.

Timmy's health deteriorated as the juvenile whale, thought to be between four and six years old, became repeatedly stranded in shallow waters.

The idea to coax the whale onto a barge and tow it to the North Sea was hatched after their initial attempt to save the whale with inflatable cushions and pontoons was unsuccessful.
Whale rescue attempt sparks heated debate

Some scientists warned that this latest attempt may be too much for the animal.

Some scientists have criticized this latest rescue attempt saying it will cause stress to the already sick whale

Jens Schwarck/Rettungsinitiative/dpa/picture alliance

Thilo Maack, a marine biologist at Greenpeace, told the Associated Press earlier this month that efforts to save Timmy have caused the animal severe stress.

"I believe the whale will die very soon now," he said. "And I would also like to raise the question: What is actually so bad about that? Animals live, animals die. This animal is really, really very, very, very sick."

Whale specialists say Timmy the humpback's chance of survival are small

Image: Daniel Müller/Greenpeace Germany/dpa/picture alliance

The International Whaling Commission called the rescue "inadvisable."

It said the whale "appeared to be severely compromised" and "unlikely to survive."

The rescue initiative is being privately financed by two German multimillionaires.

Edited by: Zac Crellin
Kate Hairsine Reporter and senior editor

2026-04-30T06:35:11.841-07:00

'Marine unicorns' aren't loving Arctic noise

Martin Kuebler

04/28/2026

Narwhals are fleeing Canada's far north. Researchers suspect a link to noise pollution from increasing ship traffic.

When the winter ice begins to melt, the speckled gray narwhals leave Baffin Bay and head toward the safe waters off Mittimatalik for the summer

Image: John E Marriott/All Canada Photos/picture alliance

For Alex Ootoowak, watching the speckled gray narwhals migrate in the icy waters of the Arctic during hunting season is a cherished childhood memory.

"It felt like a never-ending, looped-over scene of whales just constantly swimming past you all in the same direction, all migrating throughout the day, sometimes more than a day," said Ootoowak, who lives in Mittimatalik, also known as Pond Inlet, in Canada's far north. "You're always taught to be extra, extra quiet and careful […] because they're so sensitive."

The world's 80,000-plus narwhals mainly live in northeastern Canada and Greenland. For Ootoowak and others in Canada's Inuit communities, narwhal meat has been key to their survival for at least 1,000 years. It's an important source of protein, iron and vitamin C, and hunting is regulated by the government.

Climate change in the Arctic: Canada's melting permafrost 07:42

"This is our means of staying healthy and connected to the land and our culture," Ootoowak told DW. "It's not something we do just to kill and take animals for sport."
Narwhal numbers dwindling

But Ootoowak hasn't seen a migration like those of childhood for a long time. Over the last 20 years, hunters have noticed that the whales have become skinnier and harder to catch. By 2021, there were only about 2,000 left in the area — a 90% drop from more than 20,000 in the early 2000s.

Narwhal whale blubber and skin, sometimes eaten raw, is an important part of Inuit culture

Image: Yvette Cardozo/Visually/picture alliance

It's not clear why the whales are disappearing, and what's driving them away. Researchers suspect climate change may be playing a role, with the Arctic region warming four times faster than the rest of the planet.

"A whole host of things are changing — not just the ice, the water temperature, species, all the way from the bottom of the food chain all the way up," said Kristin Westdal, a marine mammal expert with Canadian marine conservation network Oceans North.

But she said the effects of climate change are gradual, and the drop in the whale population came over a relatively short time period. "And the only thing that changed that quickly in that habitat was the volume of ships coming through."

In 2015, a local mine run by a company called Baffinland opened a port nearby. Within two years, roughly 4 million tons of iron ore were shipped through the waters off Mittimatalik — and noise pollution increased dramatically.

Noise pollution may be driving whales away

Concerned about what the new noise was doing to the narwhals, Ootoowak and Westdal set up two listening stations in Milne Inlet, to the west of Mittimatalik. Within a couple of years, they were able to expand their acoustic monitoring program by collaborating with acoustics experts at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, based in San Diego.

By lowering special microphones called hydrophones through holes in the ice and 800 meters (nearly half a mile) down into the water, they've listened to the Arctic seascape 24/7 — marine life like barking seals and clicking narwhals foraging for food, but also rumbling engines from growing ship traffic. And they've found that these ship noises may be behind the drop in narwhal numbers.

The long tusk of the male narwhal, roughly 2 meters (6 feet) in length, is often mistaken for a horn

Image: Visually/picture alliance

The monitoring team published a study in 2025 which found that "narwhals appear to either move away or stop vocalizing" when vessels came within 12 to 24 miles (20 to 40 kilometers). And the whales were responding to noises below the threshold of 120 decibels — like a loud thunderclap, or a roaring chainsaw — which is considered the disturbance threshold for midsized whales like the narwhal.

Hunters, too, have noticed that narwhals begin behaving differently when a ship is nearby.

"As soon as the ship starts their engines, they move away or stop feeding, stop doing their deep dives where they're feeding on fish at the bottom of the ocean," said Ootoowak. Whales, he said, have learned to avoid the heavily traveled shipping channel when boats are in the area.

Are narwhals heading to Greenland?

Ootoowak said it wasn't clear where the whales were going, but he has a theory. On a visit to northern Greenland in 2024, to the east across Baffin Bay — where narwhals usually spend the summer months — he spoke with local hunters who told him of whales that had started showing up in their waters, right around the time shipping increased off Mittimatalik.

"They said narwhals that were appearing were 'foreign' because they were longer and skinnier and behaved very different to their narwhal," said Ootoowak. The hunters, he added, said the whales were easier prey and tasted different, too.

Outi Tervo, a senior scientist at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, has also been researching narwhals and noise pollution. She has observed that noises from shipping and oil and gas exploration can cause narwhals to stop foraging for food, which lines up with Ootoowak's observation of seeing skinnier narwhals.

Tervo said she hasn't seen any evidence that the whales have relocated from Canada to Greenland, but said an increase in unfamiliar sounds could be pushing them to migrate.

Climate change in Greenland brings eco concerns, opportunity 04:38

For narwhals, who rely on echolocation to communicate and hunt, she said the ability to hear is what the ability to see is to humans. So just as bright headlights or a flashlight to the eyes would temporarily blind us humans, sounds that interfere with narwhal echolocation profoundly disrupt their activity and push them to be "ready to escape," she said.

Tervo said habitats for narwhals are limited, and they've adapted to life in the Arctic. "They can't swim to the Caribbean and spend the winter there," she pointed out. "So I do think that it's very important to take the needs of the animals into consideration and try to make some safe havens for them."

Noise a growing concern as Arctic opens up

The good news, however, is that the sound monitoring project spearheaded by Ootoowak and Westdal has raised awareness about noise pollution in Canada's Arctic.

The local mining company, Baffinland, has lowered its shipping speed to 9 knots and is using fixed routes. It's also agreed to stricter rules for when icebreakers can be deployed. Cruise ships have also been quick to get on board, agreeing to speed limits and no-go zones.

As ice retreats in the Arctic, the region is seeing increased maritime traffic

Image: Adrian Wyld/AP Photo/picture alliance

"I would say it's generally positive," said Ootoowak, pointing out that the 2025 hunt was the first time in a decade that people were happy with what they caught during the fall migration. "It's going to take some time working with industry, working with government to get these things moved forward into policy."

Westdal said stronger oversight, cooperation with local communities and much more data would be key to keeping noise pollution under control, especially as companies eye the increasingly ice-free waters of the Northwest Passage for international shipping.

"We are seeing a slow and steady increase of people showing interest and trying to get through there, whether it be cruise ships, pleasure vessels or the occasional commercial vessel," she said. "And I think that having policies and regulations in place in the Arctic is going to be really important in getting ahead of what's coming."

This article was based on an episode of Living Planet produced by Kathleen Schuster.

Edited by: Sarah Steffen
Martin Kuebler Senior editor and reporter based in Brussels, with a focus on environmental issues

2026-04-30T06:25:57.676-07:00

Why Ghana walked away from a US health deal

Cai Nebe

29/04/2026

Talks between Ghana and the US over a bilateral healthcare deal have stalled, after Accra voiced concerns regarding sensitive data sharing. Several African countries have pushed back on the deals, while some have signed.

Concerns over the sharing of sensitive health data have reportedly led Ghanaian officials to abandon a health deal worth millions of dollars proposed by the United States .

As part of the Trump Administration's "America First" strategy, which has shifted focus onto bilateral deals rather than multilateral aid, the new US model aims to transition funding responsibility for health commodities and services to Ghana.

This means Accra would have to increase its own investment in health systems. Previously, this was largely supported by US-contracted NGOs. However, since Trump's dismantling of USAID in 2025, there is far less development funding available.

However, a source told DW that Ghana would not sign a multi-year deal, reportedly worth around US$109 million (€93 million), because Ghana would have to waive key aspects of its health sovereignty. This includes sharing control over its health care decisions, data, and resources with US authorities.

Is the US-Ghana health deal dead?

For Ghana, this would violate domestic law, including the Data Protection Act and the Public Health Act. The deal also requires Ghana to bypass parliamentary ratification, a constitutional requirement for bilateral agreements.

A government source, who spoke anonymously to the AFP, said the deal is "dead" after US negotiators allegedly became "hostile" and piled "pressure" on Ghana, which pushed back on the demand for personal data. Additionally, the funds offered to Ghana are considerably less than those in similar proposed deals with Kenya and Nigeria, which were offered $2.5 billion and US$2.1 billion, respectively.

Ghana's government has yet to release an official statement on the deal, but Ghanaians who spoke to DW said they were concerned about the US demands for data sharing. "Sharing the health data of individuals is very critical," a young professional said, adding that it shouldn't be allowed.

"Health data is a personal document. What actually is making them ask for health data?"

Another man said he disagreed with sharing that information with other countries "because it might go against us."

Some African nations reject US health deals

The US has pursued a similar strategy in other African countries. According to the US State Department, at least 32 such deals worth about $20.6 billion have been signed under the America First Global Health Strategy with nations including Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Lesotho and eSwatini.

Some countries are treating the US strategy with suspicion. In February, Zimbabwe rejected a similar proposal, saying the terms threatened its autonomy, while a deal with Zambia has not moved forward after Washington demanded access to mineral rights and data.

German Development Minister, Reem Alabali Radovan, who attended the World Health Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, said it was important for Germany to show it was a reliable partner

Image: Eva Krafczyk/dpa/picture alliance

Meanwhile, Kenya,which this week hosted the World Health Summit in Nairobi, initially agreed to such a bilateral proposal in December 2025. However, the the country's courts suspended the deal over concerns around personal data.

German minister seeks to reassure Kenya

Germany's Development Minister, Reem Alabali Radovan, was in Nairobi to reassure the East African nation of Germany's continued commitment to Kenya. She described Germany's relationship to Kenya, which has the biggest economy in East Africa, as "strong."

"We see a lot of potential when it comes to German investment, especially when it comes to health care and also Kenya as a strategic partner for us when it comes to multilateralism," Radovan told DW.

In contrast to the United States, Germany has continued to promote multilateral initiatives and institutions such as the World Health Organization , despite also cutting aid.

"The cuts from the US government, especially in the global health sector, are very painful," Radovan said. "We can see them looking at multilateral funds like Gavi and the Global Fund, which are combating malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis, and we cannot fill the gap alone."

She said Germany intends to place a strong focus on global health, vowing that Berlin would not pull out of it. "It's important to show our partners in the regions that we are a reliable partner, especially when it comes to African countries," she added.

Sella Oneko in Nairobi and Eric Egbeta in Accra contributed to this article

Edited by: Chrispin Mwakideu

Cai Nebe Producer, podcaster and editor for DW Africa

2026-04-30T06:12:28.002-07:00

US top court weighs ending Syrians, Haitians protections

Rana Taha

DW with AFP, Reuters

29/04/2026

The Trump administration is appealing lower court orders that blocked it from immediately ending temporary protected status for people from Haiti and Syria.

Syrians have been granted protective status in the US since 2012, when the civil war was raging [FILE: Nov 6, 2023

]Image: GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday leaned toward ruling in favor of moves by the Donald Trump administration to strip Haitians and Syrians living in the country of humanitarian protections.

While hearing arguments in the case, several of the court's conservative justices appeared sympathetic toward moves to strip over 350,000 Haitians and 6,100 Syrians of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation.
What to know about the TPS status for Syrians and Haitians

TPS gives migrants whose countries were struck by war, natural disaster or other catastrophes the right to live and work in the US as long as it is unsafe for them to return to their home countries.

The State Department currently advises against all travel to either Haiti or Syria, with a level 4 travel advisory, the highest level, for both countries.

Haitians earned the TPS designation after a major 2010 earthquake, whereas Syrians were added to the list in 2012 after their country descended into civil war.

The Trump administration has been trying to revoke the TPS designation of 13 of the 17 countries designated.

During his election campaign, Trump vowed to rescind TPS for Haitians, falsely claiming they were eating household dogs and cats in Ohio.

US Supreme court votes against second majoriy-Black district in Louisiana

Also on Wednesday, in a separate case related to voting rights, the Supreme Court sharply limited the use of race in drawing electoral districts, with the justices ruling in favor of a challenge to a map that creates a second majority-Black district in the southern state of Louisiana.

The decision could alter congressional maps nationwide in favor of the Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections.

The court's ruling found that the map in question amounted to an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito said that compliance with the Voting Rights Act (VRA) "could not justify" the use of race in this case, arguing that Section 2 of the act does not require states to draw districts primarily on racial lines.

"That map is an unconstitutional gerrymander, and its use would violate the plaintiffs' constitutional rights," he said, referring to the group of non-Black voters who brought the case.

Justice Elena Kagan, one of the three liberal-leaning justices at the top court, warned in a dissent that the decision would have sweeping consequences, saying it risked letting states "systematically dilute minority citizens' voting power" without legal redress.

It is unclear how much the ruling would impact the November midterms, with a primary election slated for May 16 in white-majority Louisiana, where Black people make up roughly a third of the population.

Black people and other minorities tend to support Democratic candidates.

Both the Republicans and Democrats are trying to redraw electoral maps, in ways that could potentially shift the balance of power in the currently Republican-dominated Congress.

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

2026-04-30T06:01:09.670-07:00

GENERALISMO BONESPURS

Trump threatens US troop cuts in Germany

The US has more forces in Germany than anywhere else in Europe.

Kate Hairsine

DW with AP, Reuters

30/04/2026

Donald Trump says the US is considering a "possible reduction" of its forces in Germany just days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the US was being "humiliated" by Iran's leadership.

US President Donald Trump has said the United States will shortly decide whether to cut its forces in Germany, where it maintains a major military presence.

"The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday afternoon, Washington time.

The US has more forces in Germany than anywhere else in Europe.

As of December 2025, more than 36,000 active service members were stationed in Germany, according to the US Defense Manpower Data Center.

This includes personnel at Ramstein in southwestern Germany, regarded as the US's largest overseas air force base.

After Germany, which is home to five of the seven US garrisons in Europe, the United Kingdom and Italy have the biggest presence of US personnel on the continent.

The Ramstein base has also played a pivotal role in US operations in the Middle East

Image: Oliver Dietze/dpa/picture alliance

Why did Merz say Iran was 'humiliating' the US?

In the past months, news outlets have reported on rumors of possible US troop withdrawals from Germany.

However, Trump's Truth Social post comes just days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the US was being "humiliated" by Iran's leadership.

On Monday, Merz said the "Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skillful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result.

"An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards. And so I hope that this ends as quickly as possible."

After Merz's comments, Trump hit back on his Truth Social platform to say that Merz "doesn't know what he's talking about!"

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul later clarified Merz's comments in an interview with DW.

"It was addressing the behavior of Iran," Wadephul told DW's Berlin bureau chief Max Hoffmann in New York City.

"They are, as I said, misunderstanding their position and overplaying their role, so this is what the chancellor said," Wadephul stressed.

Edited by: Zac Crellin

2026-04-30T05:53:14.368-07:00

Ecuador starts fracking in Amazon rainforest

Kate Hairsine

DW with AFP, EFE

30/04/2026

Ecuador is pushing to increase its production of crude oil but faces a backlash from environmentalists and Indigenous groups.

Eduador is expanding its oil production in the Amazon

Image: Laurent Davoust/Zoonar/picture alliance

Ecuador has started fracking in the Amazon rainforest for the first time, state oil company Petroecuador said Wednesday.

The new hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, project is in the Amazonian province of Sucumbios on Ecuador's border with Colombia.

The fracking at a new well on Block 57 - Shushufindi Libertador represents "milestone " for oil production in the country, the Ministry of Environment and Energy said in a statement released on Wednesday.

The new well is in full production, producing more than 930 barrels a day, the ministry of said.

The project is being jointly conducted with a subsidiary of China's national petroleum corporation, CCDC.

What is fracking?

Fracking entails extracting natural gas and petroleum from subterranean bedrock.

It is criticized for using industrial quantities of water to break open rocks as well as causing chemical contamination and provoking micro-earthquakes.
Ecuador pushing to ramp up oil production

Ecuador's crude oil production fell to around 466,000 barrels a day in January 2026, a 13% drop from the same period a decade earlier. Analysts point to aging infrastructure and years of underinvestment as part of the problem.

Oil revenues make up a significant amount of Ecuador's export earnings.

Government plans to expand oil exploration in Ecuador has led to Indigenous protest, like this one in 2025

Image: David Arcos/REUTERS

The government of President Daniel Noboa has promised more funds for oil exploration and infrastructure and to attract greater foreign oil investments.

At the same time, his government's push to expand oil exploration, particularly in the Amazon, has alarmed environmentalists and Indigenous leaders.

Edited by: Zac Crellin
Kate Hairsine Reporter and senior editor

2026-04-30T05:49:16.660-07:00

North Korea faces food shortages as drought threatens crops

Mahima Kapoor

DW with AFP, Reuters

30/04/2026

The country's state-run news has said much of the country has been hit by an unusually severe drought. The largely isolated country, with a population of over 26 million, was already facing food shortages.

North Korea has long struggled with food shortages

Image: Jacky Chen/REUTERS

North Korea is rushing to shield its crops from a "severe" drought that has hit the country, its state news agency reported on Thursday.

The largely isolated country, with its lack of strong infrastructure, is particularly susceptible to the impacts of natural disasters.

North Koreans have long struggled with food insecurity due to extreme weather, worsened by sanctions, border closures, and limited farm inputs.
What did North Korea say about its drought?

"An unusual drought has recently persisted across much of the country, a phenomenon rarely seen in previous years," Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

"Workers across various regions are concentrating all efforts on protecting early-season crops from the drought," it added.

KCNA reported that North Korean cities and counties were carrying out "repairs to the gates of reservoirs and waterways," and implementing "technical measures" to boost drought resistance of wheat and barley.

In February, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights, Elizabeth Salmon, had said that food shortages were already a key concern. UN agencies say millions in North Korea are undernourished and vulnerable to disasters such as droughts and floods.

North Korea is ramping up efforts to prevent a prolonged drought from damaging crop production ahead of the rice planting season

Image: Yonhap/picture alliance

Crop-protection measures

In another report, KCNA said North Korean Premier Pak Thae Song went for on-site inspections at farms in South Pyongan and North Hwanghae provinces to check on the "countermeasures to minimize drought damage."

Pak called for farm workers to identify and efficiently use all water resources available. He emphasized that a successful harvest hinged on overcoming this year's drought, KCNA said.

South Korea was also hit by a drought last year, affecting the Gangneung province. It also recorded its hottest summer. Both the north and the south had their hottest Junes on record.

North Korea's frequent power shortages also meant people lacked access to air conditioning to cool themselves down.

Climate change, caused primarily by human emissions of CO2, has increased the frequency and intensity of extreme weather.

Edited by: Alex Berry
Mahima Kapoor Digital journalist based in New Delhi

2026-04-30T05:49:04.915-07:00

ROGUE CRIMINAL STATE

Israel stops Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters

Muna Turki

DW with AFP and Reuters

30/04/2026

More than 20 ships were intercepted in a mission aimed at challenging the blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel dismissed those on board as "attention-seeking agitators."

Ships set off in recent weeks from Marseille in France, Barcelona in Spain and Syracuse in Italy

Image: Joan Mateu Parra/AP Photo/dpa/picture alliance

Isreal has intercepted more than twenty aid ships with 175 activists on board, Israel's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The ships were on their way to the Gaza Strip before being stopped in international waters near Greece.

This flotilla mission carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza comes after a fleet of around 45 boasts was intercepted last year.

Palestinians and international aid bodies say supplies reaching the Gaza strip are not sufficient.

What do we know about the Gaza flotilla interception?

Israeli military boats seized 15 ships near Crete, hundreds of miles from Gaza, according to the mission organizer, Global Sumud Flotilla.

"Our boats were approached by military speedboats, self-identified as Israeli, pointing lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons ordering participants to the front of the boats and to get on their hands and knees," the organization said in a post on X.

"This is piracy," the group said in the statement. "This is the unlawful seizure of human beings on ‌the open sea near Crete, an assertion that Israel can operate with total impunity, far beyond its own borders, with no consequences," the group added.

Israel's UN envoy Danny Danon said the flotilla "was stopped before reaching our area," calling the flotilla members on board "attention-seeking agitators."

This spring flotilla mission included more than 50 boats, in what the organizers said was the largest coordinated civilian maritime action for the Palestinian territories to date.

Why was the international flotilla heading to Gaza?

Last year, the Freedom Flotilla missions were the most ambitious and largest maritime attempts to reach Gaza. The crew members were arrested on the way and later expelled by Israel.

"The goods on these flotillas do not meet the needs of the Palestinians in Gaza, but they draw international attention to what is happening in Gaza," Nathan Brown, professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, told DW at the time.

Israel set up the naval blockade on Gaza in 2007 after Hamas took over as Gaza's governing body. Israel argues the blockade is necessary to prevent the Islamist militant group, which is categorized as a terror organization by the US, EU and many others, from importing arms.

In the view of many human rights organizations and NGOs, however, the blockade constitutes collective punishment, which is illegal under international law.

Gaza's already dire humanitarian situation has further deteriorated since the start ofIsreal-Hamas war, which was triggered by the Hamas-led terror attacks of October 7, 2023, against Israel. Despite a declared ceasefire on October 25, Israeli attacks have continued to kill hundreds of Palestinians in the enclave.

UN officials and others have said that as part of its ongoing military campaign, Israel is committing war crimes, including ethnic cleansing and deliberate starvation. Some have warned of genocide and famine.

More than 72,000 Palestinians, including at least 21,000 children, are reported to have been killed since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Edited by: Alex Berry

2026-04-30T05:48:35.206-07:00

'Israel destroyed houses, roads, even trees': People return to destruction in southern Lebanon

Many videos document the Israeli army’s destruction of houses and infrastructure in southern Lebanon, where it is creating a buffer zone along the border. Our Observers, many of whom wanted to return home after a ceasefire was announced, describe empty villages and razed homes.

Issued on: 28/04/2026 - FRANCE24

By:
The FRANCE 24 Observers
Djamel BELAYACHI/
Ahmed ALMASSALMAH

Israeli bulldozers can be seen demolishing Bernard Farhat’s house in Naqoura, a village in southern Lebanon, in this photo taken on April 13, 2026. His home is located within the military zone demarcated by the Israeli army’s so-called Yellow Line. © Observers

Bulldozers ram the walls of a house in Naqoura, a Lebanese village on the border with Israel, in a video filmed on April 13, 2026. After just a few minutes, the home collapses in a cloud of dust.

This home belonged to a man named Bernard Farhat, who fled his hometown of Naqoura for Beirut as the Israeli army advanced. He watched the footage of his home collapsing on his phone, powerless to save it.

‘It took my parents ten years to build this house’

"It’s not the first time that we’ve lost a home. My family was displaced back in the 80s. I was born in Naqoura in 1987. For me, Naqoura isn’t just a village – it’s a refuge, it’s my entire childhood. It took my parents ten years to build that house, little by little, each week.

When I first saw the videos of homes destroyed, I thought to myself that it was perhaps linked to the Israeli army’s activities. And then one day, I saw my own home in one of these videos. On April 13, I received videos that showed three bulldozers demolishing it – two in front and another on the side, breaking it piece by piece. The area was already empty – everyone left. Only the Israeli army has been there since late March.

This home, it wasn’t just made of stones. It was also my memories, the place where I found refuge and certainly the last link that I had with my father, who died in 2019. But now, there is nothing left – just stones."

The Israeli army has been carrying out ground operations in southern Lebanon since early March 2026, as tensions continue to escalate with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Officially, Israel says that it wants to create a barrier between Hezbollah fighters and its border and prevent them from re-establishing any military positions. However, Israel’s operations in the area have included the destruction of many civilian homes in several border towns. The army claims that it is targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, which they claim is often located within civilian zones.

In spite of the ceasefire, the Israeli army has continued to destroy dozens of civilian homes in the town of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army announced on April 19 that it was setting up what it called a "Yellow Line" in southern Lebanon, which they say demarcates a “security zone” meant to prevent any Hezbollah presence near the Israeli border.

Images posted online show explosions in buildings in Naqoura and the nearby villages of Bint Jbeil, Ainata and Rabb el-Thalathine – explosions taking place far from the zones of active combat.

In fact, even residential buildings located right next to the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Naqoura were destroyed in recent weeks. UN surveillance cameras captured images of several seaside homes being destroyed on April 4, sending debris flying into the deserted streets.

Several videos show demolitions taking place in a number of southern villages, including Ainata, Jubbayn and Rab el-Thalathine.

‘Hezbollah fighters told us to go to leave them space’

After the ceasefire was announced on April 16, some people wanted to return to their homes. One of them was our Observer Samar, who is from the Tyr region.

"We left Beirut at 6am on April 18, 2026 and we only arrived in Tyr around 4pm because of the traffic jams. We crossed the Qasmiyeh bridge, which had been bombed. There was still an enormous hole that had been filled in. However, I didn’t recognise the south when I got there! I saw lots of portraits of Hezbollah fighters as well as Hezbollah and Iranian flags – there were even vendors selling them alongside the road. I didn’t see any Lebanese flags.

The south is nearly empty. There is no longer any normal life. There are very few services. You can only get electricity a few hours a day. The Hezbollah fighters told us to go, to leave them space. Some people left, others refused. I decided to stay, in spite of everything.”

The Israeli army has destroyed four different main bridges on the Litani River, which crosses southern Lebanon. The most recent is Qasmiyeh bridge, the bridge that our Observer had to take to return home.

‘A drone ordered us to turn around’

Abu Karim, a farmer from the border city of Houla in southern Lebanon, tried to return to his home just after the ceasefire was put in place.

"As soon as they announced the ceasefire, I wanted to return home. I love this land: I’m a farmer, my whole life is here. When the truce was called, they said that the roads were open and that the army had secured them. But in reality, the bridges had been destroyed. I crossed the damaged Qaquaiya bridge and there was no one there to organise the traffic. We had to take alternative roads and it took us hours.

My village, Houla, was more than 70 percent destroyed: homes burned, the burnt-out carcasses of cars and impassable roads. Even the agricultural land was ravaged. The destruction is indescribable. The farthest I got was to the villages of Shaqra and Majdal Selm. At that point, an Israeli drone spoke to us in Arabic, telling us that we needed to turn around or they would open fire. We didn’t have a choice, so we left. There’s no real ceasefire, it’s just on paper.

When I was in Shaqra, I saw Israeli equipment including bulldozers and tanks. They were destroying and burning down homes, roads and infrastructure. They even destroyed the trees about two kilometres from Houla. They are completely altering the terrain.

They speak of a ‘Yellow Line’, but that doesn’t exist for us. It’s our land. Today, there are entire villages that no one can access.

They can destroy homes and burn trees, but they can’t take our will away from us. We’ll come back. We’ll rebuild and replant. This land is ours.”
‘Destruction that goes beyond military objectives’

According to several sources, the area that the Israeli army wants to clear includes between 55 and 70 villages. Some of the villages are still partially inhabited, Lebanese sociologist Ahmed Baydoun says.

This is a map of the military zone established by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon on April 19, 2026. © FMM graphics studio

Baydoun says that the destruction that has been observed can’t be explained by just military objectives:

"The Israeli army says that they are destroying Hezbollah infrastructure but, in reality, we are seeing entire villages being destroyed including Bint Jbeil and Ainata. In some cases, the destruction is systematic. We’ve also seen that in some villages with majority Christian populations, the residents have remained.

No one knows how long the situation will last, but it’s worth asking if Israel wants this region to remain empty of residents or even de facto integrate it into Israel, like what happened with Syria’s Golan Heights. We feel as if the Israelis are applying the Gaza model - of having a buffer zone emptied of its population - to southern Lebanon."

Israeli sources reported that several hundred structures are thought to have been destroyed in this region.

This article has been translated from the original in French by Brenna Daldorph.

2026-04-30T05:29:14.865-07:00

Why UAE's OPEC exit is a blow to Saudi Arabia

Nik Martin

30/04/2026

The United Arab Emirates is leaving OPEC to pump more oil on its own terms. The break strips Saudi Arabia of a key partner and adds to growing uncertainty over the cartel's future.

The UAE, then part of the Trucial States, joined the OPEC oil cartel in 1967

Image: Karim Sahib/AFP

Why has the UAE decided to quit OPEC now?

OPEC, the global cartel of oil-producing nations, operates a quota system that limits how much oil each member can produce.

For years, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has clashed with Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s most powerful member, over these quotas. The UAE has invested heavily to expand its oil industry and grow its market share, but OPEC limits have repeatedly held it back.

Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei told the New York Times on Tuesday: "The world needs more energy. The world needs more resources, and [the] UAE wanted to be unconstrained by any groups."

The UAE is now betting it can sell more oil once the Iran war and Strait of Hormuz crisis ends, both in the medium and the longer term. Analysts, meanwhile, see the move as a calculated step by a producer ready to act independently.

"Losing a member with 4.8 million barrels per day of capacity, and the ambition to produce more, takes a real tool out of the group's [OPEC] hands," said Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at research consultancy Rystad Energy.

"With demand nearing a peak, the calculation for producers with low-cost barrels is changing fast, and waiting your turn inside a quota system starts to look like leaving money on the table."

The UAE, which joined OPEC in 1967 through Abu Dhabi, will leave both OPEC and the wider OPEC+ alliance, which includes Russia, on May 1.

The UAE currently produces roughly 3.2 to 3.6 million barrels per day (bpd) under quotas but holds spare capacity of nearly 4.8 million bpd, Reuters news agency reported. Plans call for a hike in output toward 5 million bpd by next year.

How does the UAE's exit weaken OPEC and Saudi Arabia’s leadership?

The UAE's exit removes one of the few OPEC members with meaningful spare oil capacity, leaving Saudi Arabia unable to easily share the burden of output adjustments.

The Gulf Kingdom has traditionally managed oil prices by cutting its own production and enforcing discipline across the group. With the UAE gone, Saudi Arabia will have to rely much more on its own oil production cuts to stabilize prices.

This will make defending oil prices more expensive and less effective for Riyadh. It also weakens the Kingdom's ability to manage and discipline the wider OPEC group.

David Oxley, chief climate and commodities economist at the London-based Capital Economics research house, called the move "the thin end of the wedge," warning in an analysis its website that "the ties binding OPEC members together have loosened."

Saudi Arabia needs high oil prices — around $90 (€77) per barrel — to fund government spending and its ambitious Vision 2030, a set of huge infrastructure projects to cut the Kingdom's reliance on fossil fuels. These include a $500 billion futuristic city named NEOM.

Every extra barrel the country holds back means lost revenue, which hurts the country's ability to grow its economy.

The exit also exposes long‑standing tensions inside OPEC, especially the perception that Saudi Arabia dominates decision-making.

The move also comes at a time when OPEC's overall influence has been shrinking. The cartel once controlled more than half of global supply; today, it commands less than a third.

What does the UAE exit mean for global oil prices?

The UAE's departure is unlikely to cause major immediate swings in global oil prices, largely because the ongoing disruption in the Strait of Hormuz already dominates the market.

Much of the region's oil exports remain blocked and the UAE is redirecting about 1.8 million bpd to its Fujairah port on the Gulf of Oman coast via a pipeline that is running at maximum capacity. Any additional production the country plans to bring online cannot reach markets right away.

As a result, the announcement had little immediate effect on prices, with Brent crude largely unchanged on Tuesday.

"In the short term, I don't expect it [the exit] to have major impacts because what's happening in the Strait of Hormuz dominates the whole global oil picture in a way that renders this news from OPEC as kind of a minor thing," Jeff Colgan, an expert on OPEC at Brown University, told DW

Once the situation in the Hormuz situation normalizes, the UAE could add several hundred thousand extra barrels per day to the market. In the longer term, the exit points to modestly lower and more volatile oil prices.

OPEC will have 11 remaining members after the UAE's exit

Image: Maxim Shemetov/REUTERS

Could the UAE prompt other producers to reconsider OPEC?

Some oil industry analysts say the UAE's exit adds to longer-running doubts about OPEC's future cohesion.

"It is possible that we could see the whole organization fall apart," Colgan told DW, adding that he believes Saudi Arabia will likely try to keep the group together as "the key anchor to the whole organization."

The UAE's exit does, however, highlight growing frustrations with OPEC's quota system and exposes rifts, especially with Riyadh.

OPEC has already been under strain from repeated quota breaches by members such as Iraq and Nigeria, and from Russia's inconsistent compliance within OPEC+. The UAE's departure adds to that sense of fragmentation.

In his analysis for Capital Economics, Oxley warned that, in the medium term, if other producers with spare capacity "see the UAE successfully gaining flexibility and market share" outside OPEC, "others may follow."

For now, most members lack the UAE's production capacity or economic diversification, so a mass exodus is unlikely.

The UAE is not the first OPEC member to leave. Qatar exited in 2019, while Angola, Ecuador, Gabon and Indonesia have also departed in recent years, often due to disagreements over quotas.

Edited by: Ashutosh Pandey

2026-04-30T04:40:39.859-07:00

Mali: France urges citizens to leave amid Tuareg advance

Matt Ford

DW with Reuters, AFP

29/04/2026 -

With Tuareg-led rebels saying the ruling junta in Mali will fall "sooner or later" and demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops, the French Foreign Ministry has called on French nationals to leave the country.

Paris says the security situation in the former French colony remains 'volatile'

Image: AFP

France has urged its nationals in Mali to leave the country "as soon as possible" amid continuing attacks by Tuareg-led rebel forces who have claimed that the ruling junta will "fall sooner or later" and demanded that Russian forces also withdraw from "all of Mali."

The French Foreign Ministry said the security situation in the former French colony remains "volatile" following a coordinated assault by Tuareg-dominated separatists allied with the al-Qaeda-linked Jihadist Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).

In the largest attacks in Mali in nearly 15 years, the rebel alliance, the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), has captured the strategic northern desert town of Kidal and killed Defense Minister Sadio Camara, seen as the mastermind behind the military government's pivot away from the West and towards Russia in recent years.

Mali: Russian Africa Corps admits losses

Russian troops from Moscow's Africa Corps, who have provided security for the junta, admitted they have "sustained losses" but provided no further details.

"Our objective is for Russia to withdraw permanently from Azawad and beyond," said FLA spokesman Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, referring to the northern part of Mali in which the rebels would like to declare an independent state.

"We have no particular problem with Russia, nor with any other country," he said. "Our problem is with the regime that governs [in the capital] Bamako."

Nevertheless, he said the Russian troops were still viewed negatively for their role in "supporting people who committed serious crimes and massacres."

In Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that Africa Corps fighters had been forced to withdraw from Kidal, with Ramadane saying they had been escorted out of town.

"The Russians found themselves in danger; there was no way out," he said. "When they realized they could not hold out against our forces and our firepower, they requested this withdrawal."

Mali junta 'will fall sooner or later,' say rebels

Ramadane, who was set to meet French security and defense officials in Paris on Wednesday, claimed that FLA troops had won "all the confrontations we had with the Russians" who he said were no match for Tuaregs who are defending their homeland.

"Even if they are a powerful force, they will not be able to stand up to the Azawadians, the masters of the terrain," he said.

The leader of Mali's military government vowed on Tuesday to "neutralize" those responsible for the attacks, but Ramadane said that the FLA also intends to "liberate" the towns of Gao and Timbuktu along the River Niger.

"To achieve peace, to find stability in Azawad, in Mali and beyond in the Sahel, the first thing is to get rid of this junta," he said. "The regime will fall, sooner or later."

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

Matt Ford Reporter for DW News and Fact Check

ANTI IMPERIALIST UNITED FRONT

Insurgent alliance strikes at heart of Mali’s junta, exposing limits of Russian protection

Mali’s ruling junta was reeling on Monday after coordinated attacks by separatists and al Qaeda-linked jihadists sparked two days of fierce fighting across the country. It was the most serious challenge to Mali's central government since a 2012 rebel offensive was pushed back by the intervention of French forces.

Issued on: 27/04/2026
By: Barbara GABEL/Benjamin DODMAN

Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) celebrate in Tidal after seizing control of the northern Malian city, on April 26, 2026. © Abdollah Ag Mohamed, AFP

Mali has been plunged into its worse security crisis in more than a decade after Tuareg separatists and al Qaeda-linked jihadist fighters joined forces to launch sweeping attacks on Saturday, delivering a huge setback for its ruling military junta and its Russian allies.

Insurgents struck the main army base outside the capital Bamako and killed General Sadio Camara, the country’s defence minister, further undermining the junta’s claim that it is restoring order to impoverished West African nation that has long battled Islamist militants and separatist rebellions. The violence also saw rebel forces drive Russian mercenaries out of the key northern city of Kidal.

It was the most sweeping rebel offensive since 2012, when Tuareg separatists joined forces with Islamist groups and eventually seized control of two-thirds of the country. As fighters advanced on the capital, Mali’s government appealed to former colonial ruler France for reinforcements. After France helped oust the Islamists, the subsequent presence of French troops and a UN peacekeeping mission helped ensure a wary peace over most of the next decade.

A 2020 military coup in Mali saw relations with France deteriorate, and by 2022 France had withdrawn the last of its troops despite a jihadist resurgence.

But history now appears to be repeating itself, with many of the same players on the ground – alongside some new elements that further complicate Mali’s search for stability.
· Defence minister killed, key town captured

Several strategic towns and areas around Bamako were targeted in Saturday’s dawn offensive by Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and the al Qaeda-linked jihadist Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).

Defence Minister Sadio Camara, seen as the military regime’s second-most-powerful figure and a key Moscow ally, was killed in an apparent suicide truck bombing on his residence in Kati, a garrison town near Bamako that serves as the junta’s headquarters.

JNIM fighters also struck near Bamako airport and in localities farther north, including Mopti, Sevare and Gao.

In another major blow to the junta, FLA rebels claimed “total” control of their historic northern bastion of Kidal, where they secured the withdrawal of junta-allied mercenaries from Russia’s Africa Corps, which has taken over from the Wagner paramilitary group in much of Africa.

General Assimi Goita, the military ruler who deposed Mali’s civilian government in a 2020 coup, has not been seen or spoken publicly since the start of hostilities.

“This is a dramatic setback for the Malian government and a new phase in the ongoing insurgency in the Sahel,” said Andrew Leibovich, a research fellow with the Clingendael Conflict Research Unit focusing on North Africa and the Sahel.

“The fact that they were able to assemble so many fighters, particularly in and around Bamako and Kati, without detection and without the government being able to stop them, indicates how tenuous the security situation is, even around the capital,” he added.
· JNIM and FLA: Who are the insurgent forces?

One of Africa's deadliest jihadist groups, JNIM formed in 2017 through the merger of five separate militant groups. It has been the main force behind a resurgence of jihadist attacks across several West African nations, including Mali’s neighbours Burkina Faso and Niger.

The group is believed to have around 6,000 fighters. Its leader is Iyad Ag Ghaly, the ethnic Tuareg head of the Ansar Dine Islamist group that took over the historic city of Timbuktu in northern Mali in 2012 and imposed sharia law there.

JNIM aims to establish Islamist governance across the Sahel. Its years-long insurgency broadened to economic warfare last year when it staged a fuel blockade that paralysed Bamako and large swaths of the country.

But experts have cast doubt on the group’s ability to govern.

“JNIM fighters don’t have the capacity to take and run a city like Bamako. What they are trying to do is to target major regime figures, destabilise the junta and perhaps spark an uprising,” said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel Program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Mali has been grappling with ethnic Tuareg rebellions since shortly after it gained independence from France in 1960. The Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), officially formed in November 2024, is just their latest iteration.

Present across the Sahara region, nomadic Tuaregs are fighting for an independent homeland they call "Azawad". In 2012, it was the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) that first swept through northern Mali until its campaign was hijacked by Islamist groups.

Mali struck a peace deal with Tuareg separatists in 2015, but the military junta withdrew from the agreement in 2024, leading to a resumption of hostilities.

In July 2024, Tuareg fighters attacked a convoy of Malian soldiers and Wagner fighters in the north, claiming to have killed 84 Russians and 47 Malian soldiers. Ukraine's military intelligence service then suggested it had helped the Tuareg rebels carry out the attack by providing intelligence, and Mali responded by cutting ties with Kyiv.
· ‘A shaky, ad hoc alliance’

Saturday’s coordinated attacks mark the first time since 2012 that jihadists and Tuareg separatists have cooperated on this scale, providing the most concrete evidence yet of a rapprochement negotiated more than a year ago, according to FRANCE 24’s expert in jihadist networks Wassim Nasr.

“We now have proof that there is genuine coordination across the country: all these attacks took place simultaneously,” Nasr explained.

“The aim was not to bring down Bamako, but to tie down the army in order to cut off the north and gain control of it,” he added. “There is a clear coordination to resume fighting against the Malian junta, but also against the Russians."

An FLA spokesperson confirmed the coordinated push on Sunday, stating that JNIM “is also committed to defending the people against the military regime in Bamako”.

However, analysts caution that the two groups have relatively little in common aside from a common enemy, suggesting theirs could be little more than an alliance of convenience.

“They both know they can’t really force regime change on their own – that's why they are teaming up the way they did in 2012,” said Laessing. “The jihadists eventually got rid of the Tuaregs back then, so this is a very shaky, ad hoc alliance, and not something that can run Mali.”

· Twin blows for the junta

Saturday’s brazen attacks on the heart of government, coupled with the fall of Kidal, constitute major setbacks for a military junta that seized power in 2020 on a promise to stabilise the country and assert the central government’s control throughout its territory.

Kidal had long served as a stronghold of the rebellion before being taken by junta forces and mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner. Its capture in late 2023 marked a significant symbolic victory for the junta and its allies in Moscow.

The attacks on Kati and Bamako, and the killing of Defence Minister Camara, are “an even greater blow to the junta’s confidence”, said Paul Melly, Consulting Fellow on the Africa Programme at Chatham House.

“The fact that they could even launch a truck bomb at the house of the regime’s number two shows the fragility of the regime’s military hold. Even in Kati, basically the headquarters of the junta, they could not guarantee the security of their most senior figures,” he said.

“The reason the military junta took over from civilian authorities was because of the mounting insecurity in the region, under the promise that they would quell the violence. But the data shows that insecurity in Mali and across the Sahel region has only worsened,” added Folahanmi Aina, a lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London.

He pointed to early signs of a “legitimacy crisis” for the regime.

“While part of the population remains supportive of the junta, we’re beginning to see an erosion of trust in its ability to address the situation on the ground and guarantee the safety and security of the Malian people,” Aina said.

· Russia's African ambitions undermined

The fall of Kidal and the failure to thwart attacks on Bamako and Kati have also exposed the limits of Russian military power in West Africa.

Russia’s Africa Corps confirmed its withdrawal from Kidal on Monday, acknowledging that “the situation in the Republic of Mali remains difficult”. Moscow also lost a key ally with the killing of Defence Minister Camara, a key architect of the rapid shift in alliances that saw the junta expel French and UN forces and turn to Russia for military support.

“The attacks show that Russian mercenaries only have a limited capacity, in stark contrast to the situation before the coup, when Mali had a military partnership with France and there was a very large UN peacekeeping force of 13,000-14,000 soldiers, many of them West African, which helped to maintain a basic degree of security and stability,” said Chatham House’s Melly.

“The French never really had a chance to pacify this vast country and the Russians even less so,” added Laessing. “In fact, they (the Russian mercenaries) made the conflict worse by being brutal and not distinguishing between civilians and combatants, which has made it easier for jihadists to recruit fighters.”

The regime’s political isolation – and that of allied juntas in Burkina Faso and Niger, which have also severed ties with France and left the ECOWAS group of West African states – has left them with few other options to confront the security emergency, he added.

“Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso are on a nationalist, anti-Western course and it is not clear who will want to engage with them,” Laessing explained. “I don’t think Europe or France will be willing or even welcome to put boots on the ground to help stabilise the situation, which is probably beyond a military solution anyway.”

Street battles and withdrawal of Russian mercenaries: Inside the 48-hour fall of Mali’s Kidal

The Azawad Liberation Front and the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) launched an offensive against several Malian towns on April 25. In the north, the city of Kidal was recaptured following a three-year presence of Russian and Malian forces. Verified footage offers a window into these two days of tensions.

Issued on: 27/04/2026 -
By: The FRANCE 24 Observers / Guillaume MAURICE

FLA rebels seen parading through Kidal after capturing the city. © Observers

Two and a half years later, the flag of Azawad – the Tuareg name for the northern region of Mali claimed by separatists of the FLA (Azawad Liberation Front) – is once again flying over the city of Kidal.

In November 2023, the Malian army seized the city alongside Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group, now rebranded as Africa Corps. On April 25, separatists raised their flag in the city’s central square, claiming to have regained control.

FLA fighters pose in Kidal’s main square after seizing control of the city on April 25. Location: 18°26'48.17"N 1°24'32.56"E Source: X / Wamaps_news / Guillaumem_MRC

The assault began at 6am. Six Malian cities found themselves under fire. In Kidal and Gao, the offensive was led by a coalition comprising the FLA and the al Qaeda-linked Jihadist Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM).

A morning of heavy fighting on the outskirts of Kidal

An FLA commander told the FRANCE 24 Observers team that checkpoints at the city’s entrance fell within the first hour of fighting. The Tuareg rebel, originally from the area, said that the city fell to the coalition by early afternoon.

Around noon, a video shows vehicles belonging to the JNIM or the FLA circulating freely past a military camp north of Kidal. With a Starlink receiver mounted on the hood of their car, the armed men drove past the building without stopping.

An account supporting the FLA independence movement shared a video showing militants bypassing a military camp north of Kidal. Location: 18°27'27.73"N 1°24'4.54"E Source: Facebook / AlkassimAgAhouchel.1990

Within the city, fighting was concentrated around the police station, where Malian Armed Forces (FAMA) soldiers had taken up defensive positions. The building’s perimeter was breached at approximately 2pm.

Footage published on April 25 shows armed FLA militants parading a Kidal police car they have captured. Source: X / XNewsUncensored

Symbolic sites

Another symbolic victory was claimed as the Kidal governorate fell into the hands of separatists. This building served as the administrative headquarters for General El Hadj Ag Gamou, the governor of the region, following the Malian junta’s return in 2023. As the leader of the Imghad Tuareg Self-Defence Group and Allies (Gatia), Gamou has remained loyal to the junta.

By late afternoon, a pro-FLA account released a video showing independence forces hoisting their flag atop the building.

Footage shows FLA members raising the group’s flag atop the Kidal governorate. Location: 18°26'58.81"N 1°24'12.59"E source: X / Guillaumem_MRC

The FLA and JNIM also claim to have captured soldiers from the Malian army.
The former UN base south of Kidal: a strategic stronghold

Located on the southern outskirts of the city, the former camp of MINUSMA, the former UN mission in Mali, served as a strategic stronghold. While encircled and entrenched within the base, Russian Africa Corps mercenaries were reportedly targeted by drone strikes and mortar fire from the FLA.

To organise their evacuation, negotiations between the FLA and Russian forces reportedly began as early as April 25, according to the pro-independence source the Observers team spoke to. Russian troops were evacuated from the former UN base the following day, at approximately 4 or 5pm.

A comparison of satellite imagery captured on April 10 (left) and April 25 (right) reveals potential signs of fighting or fires. © Sentinel- 2 Copernicus

However, resistance from Africa Corps mercenaries also persisted on the fringes of Kidal until the evening of April 25. Our source within the FLA said the mercenaries and Malian troops, entrenched in a turret with precision rifles, were finally evacuated to the MINUSMA camp the following day.

Withdrawal of Russian mercenaries

At 5pm, the Tuareg commander claimed that the independence fighters had taken control of the camp’s exit points. He said the Russian mercenaries burned several installations and vehicles before pulling out.

Our team geolocated a video showing a convoy of vehicles from the Africa Corps mercenaries and the Malian army departing the MINUSMA base and heading north. However, it’s currently impossible to determine where the forces previously stationed in Kidal are repositioning.

This video was published on April 25 by a pro-FLA account. It shows the evacuation of vehicles from the Africa Corps and the FAMA. Location: 18°26'10.28"N 1°24'29.34"E source:X / BayeAg1 / Guillaumem_MRC

The retreating Russian column included heavy weaponry, such as several BM-21 Grad multiple-rocket launchers, and truck-towed artillery pieces.

The total number of casualties remained unknown after a day of intense fighting. While footage emerged on April 25 showing the bodies of Malian soldiers in Kidal, none of the combatant groups has disclosed their losses. Meanwhile, the Malian Armed Forces stated that “the hunt for armed terrorist groups continues in Kidal, Kati, and other locations across the country”.

This article has been translated from the original in French.

2026-04-30T04:35:03.225-07:00

France investigates return of adult website linked to Pelicot mass-rape trial

French prosecutors are investigating the reopening of the adult website Coco, now renamed Cocoland, on which sex criminal Dominique Pelicot used a chatroom to find dozens of strangers to rape his sedated wife Gisèle Pelicot. The platform has also been linked to crimes including the sexual abuse of children and murder.

Issued on: 29/04/2026
By: FRANCE 24

The logo for the website "Cocoland", formerly "Coco", displayed on a smartphone in Paris on April 28, 2026. © Simon Wolhlfahrt, AFP

France has launched a probe into the reappearance of a website that enabled sex criminal Dominique Pelicot to recruit dozens of strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Authorities say the French-language platform Coco has been linked to crimes, including the sexual abuse of children, rape and murder. The website, which was registered abroad, was shut down in June 2024.

"The Paris public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the website's reopening," it told AFP.

The website, now operating under the name Cocoland and featuring a coconut-themed backdrop, was accessible on Tuesday.

France's commissioner for children, Sarah el Hairy, raised the alarm in mid-April.

"The reopening of the Coco site is a real slap in the face to the promise of protection we've made," she told broadcaster RMC at the time.

Such websites "exploit every loophole, they seek out prey, and that prey is children"? she said.

READ MOREFrance probes online platform for possible 'paedophile content'

"We will track them down, we will hound them, we will give them no respite."

Prior to the platform's re-emergence, the investigation into the Coco platform was "well advanced", according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

Isaac Steidl, the founder and manager of the Coco website, was in January 2025 charged with complicity in drug trafficking, possession and distribution of child pornography, corruption of a minor via the internet, and criminal conspiracy. He denies the charges.

His lawyer Julien Zanatta said Steidl had "nothing to do" with the new website.

The platform has been at the centre of several criminal cases, including the high-profile Pelicot trial.

Pelicot was sentenced in 2024 to 20 years in prison for aggravated rape, after he recruited dozens of strangers to rape his then-wife Gisele after drugging her in their home between 2011 and 2020.

He spoke to potential attackers on the website's chatroom called "A son insu" (literally, "Without his/her knowledge").

Two French women's rights groups called Tuesday for the authorities to launch a broader probe into other, similar websites and platforms.

The appeal came after a report by US news network CNN in March on so-called "Rape Academy" platforms, where men around the world exchange tips on drugging and raping their partners while filming the scenes.

"Given recent cases such as that of Gisele Pelicot, it is highly likely that French users are participating (on such sites) and that victims in France are involved," the Women's Foundation and the group M'endors pas (Don't Put Me to Sleep) said in a joint statement.

The latter group was co-founded by Gisele Pelicot's daughter, Caroline Darian.

"These are not isolated episodes but organised crimes by fully fledged communities that encourage and structure such violence," the groups said.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

2026-04-30T04:31:55.886-07:00

Abuse at French after-school programmes: Parents sound the alarm

Issued on: 29/04/2026 -

Play (12:15 min) From the show

In Paris, parents are now dropping their children off at school in a climate of anxiety. For several months, reports of physical and sexual abuse involving nursery school children have been mounting. These cases are said to have taken place during after-school care and lunch breaks, when the children are supervised by non-teaching staff. In 2026 alone, 78 youth workers were suspended in Paris, 31 of them on suspicion of sexual abuse. Warning: viewers may find this report disturbing.

While much media attention has focused on the scandal in Parisian schools, the abuse is a nationwide issue. Amid a culture of silence, denial, inadequate training for employees and flawed recruitment practices, how can such serious failures be explained?

Parents' warnings ignored

In April 2026, several dozen parents gathered for a demonstration in front of Paris's City Hall. Shaken by reports of the physical and sexual abuse of children during lunchtimes and after-school care, they were calling for decisive action from their representatives. "What we'd like is to restore trust as soon as possible so we can all get back to normal," said Lyna, a concerned mother who decided to withdraw her children from the after-school programme.

Since this scandal came to light, Nathalie has been plagued by guilt. Her son, now eight years old, attended one of the dozens of schools involved. "At the time, he was having very violent outbursts. We couldn't understand why. He wasn't well. He was always saying, 'I hate them. I don't like it. I don't want to go to the after-school club.'" Like other parents, she had tried to raise the alarm. But her concerns fell on deaf ears.

Olivier knew nothing about the situation at the school when his children started there last September. Soon, his daughter began having serious trouble sleeping, and his son would regularly come home with bruises and scratches.

In January, Olivier and his wife recognised their children's school in video clips circulating from a report on violence in after-school care. When the children returned from school, they questioned them. The family's life was turned upside down. "They obviously told us about the violence and the shouting, but they also told us about the sexual abuse, the behaviour, the inappropriate touching," says Olivier, who is devastated.

Several months after coming forward, the two children are still suffering from severe psychological after-effects, typical of victims of abuse.

Children's accounts often doubted

That trauma has been revisited and triggered by the inefficiencies of the justice system: the children had to repeat their accounts several times due to a lack of appropriate procedures.

In France, doubt is still too often cast over children's accounts. "These opinions go against the scientific data. Numerous studies show that in less than 1 percent of cases, the child is lying," explains Luis Alvarez, a child psychiatrist.

Overwhelming accounts of violence in after-school care have been flooding into the founders of the 'Afterschool programmes in crisis' association. Created by Anne and Elisabeth, this collective put out a call for testimonies in 2021. "We received over 80 testimonies in 10 days. That's when we realised it was systemic," explains Elisabeth.
Inadequate training and flawed recruitment processes

The majority of accounts reveal physical and psychological abuse, often downplayed by the adults in charge of the children. The whistleblowers point to a deeply flawed system. Inadequate recruitment, unsuitable training, precarious working conditions and the absence of a clear national framework: these are the main issues that, in their view, explain the violations.

Given the scale of these revelations, the City of Paris has launched a €20 million action plan to better protect children in after-school care. Measures include improving reporting procedures, training staff and setting up support groups for children who have been victims of abuse.

Initiatives to raise awareness of consent are also emerging, in order to better equip children to deal with violence.

More broadly, this scandal highlights the urgent need to listen to children more carefully, to protect them and take their accounts seriously.

BY:

Noémie ROCHE

Elodie RADENAC

Stéphanie CHEVAL

Olivia SALAZAR-WINSPEAR

2026-04-30T04:27:36.654-07:00

Yes, Trump's portrait will soon feature in some US passports

Issued on: 29/04/2026

TRUTH OR FAKE © FRANCE 24

04:30 min From the show

Since returning to office, US President Donald Trump has plastered his name, likeness and signature across a series of US government buildings and documents. The US State Department has now announced that to mark the US's 250th birthday, it is unveiling a limited-edition "patriot passport" featuring Trump's portrait. The announcement has sparked criticism of "megalomania" and "vanity" from US lawmakers and average Americans alike.

These special edition passports are to be issued only in Washington, featuring Trump's portrait on the inside cover, surrounded by the text of the Declaration of Independence and the US flag, with his signature – rendered in gold – underneath.

There are few precedents worldwide – let alone in a democracy – of having the sitting leader's portrait in its citizens' passports.

Currently, US passports depict historical scenes such as the Moon landing, or famous American symbols like the Liberty Bell or Statue of Liberty. Trump would be the first sitting president to have his image inside Americans' travel documents.

The launch is expected to coincide with the 250th anniversary of American independence on July 4, and it's not clear whether Americans will be able to opt out of this special edition.

How have Americans reacted to these commemorative passports?

The announcement sparked heavy criticism from US lawmakers and average Americans alike. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said Trump is "too busy trying to slap his face on everything to lower costs for working people or end his war in Iran."

California Representative Mike Levin blasted this as "not patriotism, it is vanity" and multiple lawmakers slammed the move as "megalomania".

California Governor Gavin Newsom – who often spars with Trump – went a step further in his criticism, with his press office sharing a parody California driving license featuring Newsom's own face, as well as an AI-generated passport design featuring Donald Trump and disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

American citizens also slammed the move and compared Trump to a dictator, saying that not "even Castro, Peron, Mussolini or Hitler did such a thing" and pointing out that even North Korea's passport doesn't feature longtime leader Kim Jong Il.
Latest in Trump's efforts to plaster his portrait on institutions and documents

Since his return to office last January, banners of Trump already grace multiple government buildings in the capital, as well as the Kennedy Center and US Institute for Peace both being renamed to feature him. The US Treasury announced last month that his signature will soon appear on paper currency, with Trump-class battleships also announced.

Vedika Bahl goes through what we know about these new passports in Truth or Fake.

2026-04-30T04:25:09.149-07:00

Powell to remain on Fed board after term ends, preventing Trump appointment

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday urged central bank independence as he nears the end of his term on May 15. He said he would remain a Fed governor, drawing criticism from President Donald Trump, who mocked the decision.

Issued on: 30/04/2026 -
By: FRANCE 24

© FRANCE 24

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made a fervent appeal Wednesday for central bank independence, as he prepares to cap an eight-year term at its helm marked by insults and legal action under the Trump administration.

Powell's chairman term ends on May 15, and at his last policy press conference as chief, he announced that he would continue serving as a Fed governor for some time – even after vacating the top job.

The decision swiftly drew ire from President Donald Trump, who charged that he was only staying as he "can't get a job anywhere else".

At his press briefing, Powell gave a lengthy explanation of why central bank independence was key to the economy and the general public.

"We just work directly for the American people," he said.

"We don't think, oh, I want to do this because the president says it's a good idea, or because there's an election coming up and I want to speed up or slow down the economy," Powell added.

"This isn't bipartisan. This is nonpartisan," he said.

The briefing, where Powell appeared more relaxed than previous news conferences, concluded with some applause.

"You want people to make monetary policy and set interest rates to benefit the general public, and try to achieve economic goals, which are maximum employment and price stability, and focus only on that, and ignore political considerations – completely ignore them," he said.

The Fed has come under sharp pressure from Trump during Powell's term, sparking concerns that its cherished independence could be eroded.

Trump has called Powell a "numbskull" and "moron", lashing out at the Fed chief for not slashing interest rates more aggressively.

His Justice Department also launched an investigation into the Fed and Powell over renovation cost overruns at the central bank's headquarters.

But the department said last Friday that it would drop the probe for now.

Powell noted Wednesday that the Justice Department has provided assurances that it would not reopen the probe without a criminal referral from the Fed's inspector general.

He stressed the need to keep the Fed insulated from politics.

Otherwise, he added, "we'd have no credibility".

"Markets would lose faith in us and our ability to control inflation and have any respect would be gone," he said.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

2026-04-30T04:15:46.408-07:00

TotalEnergies profits surge amid Iran war, sparking calls for windfall tax

TotalEnergies on Wednesday said its first quarter net profit rose 51 percent, boosted by a sharp spike in energy costs linked to the US-Israeli war on Iran. The announcement drew war-profiteering criticisms from climate groups and a call by France's opposition Socialist Party for a law on imposing a tax on crisis-related windfall profits.

Issued on: 29/04/2026 -
By: FRANCE 24

TotalEnergies reported a Q1 profit surge of more than 50 percent.

© Christophe Archambault, AFP (File

French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies said Wednesday net profit had risen 51 percent in the first quarter to $5.8 billion, boosted by higher oil prices linked to the war in the Middle East, drawing criticism from climate groups.

Growth in its oil and gas production in Brazil, Libya and Australia allowed the group to offset losses in the Gulf region, which is normally equivalent to 15 percent of its total oil and gas business, the company said in a statement.

It also highlighted its "ability to capitalise on rising prices".

The company's oil and gas production rose four percent in the quarter, with the amount of liquefied natural gas transported by sea gaining 12 percent.

TotalEnergies also said its trading arm had produced "a very strong performance".

In early April, the Financial Times reported that TotalEnergies had earned more than one billion dollars by buying almost all of the exportable oil cargoes in the Middle East, at a time when US-Israeli attacks on Iran had closed the key Strait of Hormuz and sent oil prices soaring.

"TotalEnergies' war profits highlight our persistent dependence on fossil fuels, whose soaring prices once again benefit shareholders at the expense of consumers," Antoine Bouhey, campaign coordinator at Reclaim Finance said in response.

Greenpeace France denounced a "cynical logic" while "households pay the high price at the pump".
New windfall profit tax proposed

Soaring gas prices have revived a political debate in Europe on taxing windfall profits made on high oil prices, an idea to which French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said in early April that he had "no objection in principle".

On Wednesday, Lecornu called on TotalEnergies to commit to redistributing windfall profits "one way or another".

"Exceptional ⁠results raise the question of an exceptional, proportionate redistribution ... one option being through fiscal means. No doors are closed," Lecornu told senators on Wednesday after the opposition Socialist Party proposed a law imposing a minimum 20% tax on crisis-related windfall profits.

Last year Total paid no French tax, as its trading profits are booked mostly in Switzerland while its French refineries were loss-making.

It has voluntarily capped prices ‌at the pump at its French service stations since the crisis began.

The company said it was already doing so by limiting the increase in prices at the pump.

"That's how we redistribute our profits," TotalEnergies told AFP.

TotalEnergies also said it had partially restarted its Satorp refinery in eastern Saudi Arabia in mid-April, after it had shut the facility following air strikes in early April.

The group increased its dividend to 0.90 euros a share from 0.85 euros.

Shares in TotalEnergies were up 0.2 percent in late afternoon trading in Paris, where the bluechip CAC40 index was down 0.5 percent.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

2026-04-30T04:12:53.503-07:00

Europe air quality improves but falls short of 2030 targets, European Environment Agency warns

Air quality in Europe is improving but further action is needed to meet the European Union’s 2030 targets, the European Environment Agency said on Thursday, noting pollution still exceeds limits at up to 20% of monitoring stations across 39 countries.

Issued on: 30/04/2026 -
By: FRANCE 24

Paris on December 28, 2016, during a period of increased air pollution

© Lionel Bonaventure, AFP

Air quality in Europe is improving but more effort is needed to reach the European Union's 2030 targets, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said in its annual report on Thursday.

"EU standards were mostly met in most regions across Europe for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and for nitrogen dioxide (NO2)," the EEA said in a statement.

However, in up to 20 percent of monitoring stations, "air pollution is still above current EU air quality standards, especially for smaller particulate matter with a diameter of 10 microns (µm) or less (PM10), ground level ozone (O3) and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP)", it said.

The EEA report covers 39 European countries, comprising the 27 EU member states and 12 countries associated to the agency, including Switzerland, Norway and Turkey.

EU moves to tighten rules on harmful pollutants: The invisible danger of 'forever chemicals'

According to the EEA, EU member states will have to implement their roadmaps if they are to meet the 2030 air quality limits, set in 2024.

"For most pollutants the distance to the 2030 target is significant and will likely require additional measures," the report said, stressing the need for efforts on fine particulate matter.

It can be politically difficult to gain acceptance for such efforts, as illustrated by France's recent rollback of low-emission zones (LEZs) targeting polluting vehicles.

Moreover, the EU's 2030 targets still fall well short of the World Health Organisation's recommendations, updated in 2021.

The European agency also emphasised the lack of significant progress on ground-level ozone levels, which "have not decreased significantly", and which caused 63,000 premature deaths in the EU in 2023.

"Climate change is expected to worsen ozone pollution in Europe because of increased frequency and intensity of heat-related meteorological conditions that enhance ozone formation," the EEA said.

It warned that action at local and national levels "may not be sufficient", since ozone and its precursors can travel over long distances.

"Effective mitigation also depends on stronger European and international cooperation to tackle transboundary air pollution," the agency said.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

2026-04-30T04:08:23.435-07:00

GEMOLOGY

New York's Mamdani calls on King Charles to 'return' Koh-i-Noor diamond taken from India

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday called on King Charles III to "return" the Koh-i-Noor diamond, a 105.6 carat gem that was mined in India and is now the star of Britain's crown jewels. The diamond has been in British hands since 1849 but its ownership is contested with several countries laying claim.

Issued on: 30/04/2026
By: FRANCE 24

King Charles III and Queen Camilla met with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani during a state visit. © Getty Images North America, pool via AFP

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called for King Charles to "return" the prized Koh-i-Noor diamond, which the British Empire took from the Indian subcontinent in the 1800s, on the third day of the monarch's state visit on Wednesday.

Before greeting Charles and Queen Camilla at a 9/11 memorial event, Mamdani was asked what he would discuss with the king if he had the chance.

"If I was to speak to the king, separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond," the leftist mayor said, adding that his focus would be honoring those killed in the terror attacks.

It's unclear whether Mamdani followed through and brought up the contentious subject with Charles when the two met.

The monarch was seen laughing with Mamdani and having a brief conversation after they shook hands.

Housed in the Tower of London, the massive 106 carat stone is the star of Britain's crown jewels, adorning the Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

The Koh-i-noor, or "mountain of light," diamond, set in the Maltese Cross at the front of the crown made for Britain's late Queen Mother Elizabeth, is seen on her coffin on April 5, 2002. © Alastair Grant, AP

The ownership of the jewel has been contested over the centuries, passing through the hands of Mughal emperors, Iranian shahs and Sikh maharajas before the Kingdom of Punjab gave it to Queen Victoria in 1849 as part of a peace treaty.

India has repeatedly and unsuccessfully sought the return of the priceless jewel.

While there is little doubt it was mined in India, its history thereafter is a mixture of myth and fact, with several countries including Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan also laying claim to the gem.

A politician from the anti-immigration Reform UK party was quick to slam the comments as an "insult to our King."

"This beautiful diamond is currently on display in the Tower of London," the party's home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said in an X post. "That is where it will stay."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

gutenberghttps://www.gutenberg.org › files › 155 › 155-h › 155-h.htm

The Moonstone | Project Gutenberg

The generations succeeded each other; the warrior who had committed the sacrilege perished miserably; the Moonstone passed (carrying its curse with it) from...

2026-04-30T03:59:19.067-07:00

European rocket blasts off with Amazon internet satellites

Kourou (AFP) – Europe's most powerful rocket Ariane 6 launched on Thursday carrying a second batch of 32 satellites into space for Amazon's internet constellation, which is bidding to rival Elon Musk's giant Starlink.

Issued on: 30/04/2026 - FRANCE24

The rocket blasted off into overcast skies at 5.57 am local time (0857 GMT) from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America, an AFP correspondent said.

It was the second Ariane 6 launch carrying 32 satellites for Amazon Leo, the internet constellation of the giant US company founded by US billionaire Jeff Bezos.

The launch also marked the second Ariane 6 mission using four boosters, its most powerful configuration.

The satellites are scheduled to separate an hour and 54 minutes after launch. They will be released into low-Earth orbit in small batches of twos and threes.

Amazon Leo plans to intially deploy 3,200 satellites into space that will form a network to provide internet back on Earth.

However after delays there are currently just 239 in orbit, including some launched by the rival SpaceX company of fellow billionaire Musk, according to data provided to AFP on Wednesday by Look Up, a French startup specialising in space surveillance.

In March, Musk's Starlink internet constellation crossed the symbolic threshold of 10,000 satellites -- and now has 10,162 in orbit, the startup added.

The French company Arianespace, which operates the rocket, will carry out a total of 18 launches for Amazon Leo, its main commercial customer.

Amazon Leo has become crucial for keeping Europe's relatively new Ariane 6 rocket competitive, because many European commercial customers have opted to rely on SpaceX for launches.

© 2026 AFP

2026-04-30T03:47:12.211-07:00

Global press freedom falls to lowest level in 25 years, RSF warns

Freedom of the press has fallen to its lowest level in a quarter of a century, NGO Reporters without Borders (RSF) warned Thursday as it released its annual global ranking. The group reported a worldwide decline in media freedom, citing factors ranging from US President Donald Trump’s “systematic” attacks on the press to actions in Saudi Arabia, where a journalist was executed in 2025.

Issued on: 30/04/2026
By: FRANCE 24

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he hosts the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 6, 2026, in Washington, DC. © Brendan Smialowski, AFP

The NGO's annual ranking, which was established in 2002, uses a five-point scale to asses the level of press freedom in a country, ranging from "very serious" to "good".

This year's index reveals a global trend towards restricting press freedoms.

"For the first time in the index’s 25-year history, more than half the world’s countries now fall into the 'difficult' or 'very serious' categories for press freedom," RSF said.

The proportion of the population living in a country where the press freedom situation is "good" has plummeted, falling from 20% to "less than 1%", it said.

Only seven countries in northern Europe are ranked "good", with Norway receiving the highest rating. France ranks 25th, with a ‘"satisfactory" score.

“In 25 years, the average score for all the countries studied has never been so low,” the NGO said.

The United States, received a "problematic" rating and has dropped seven places to 64th, between Botswana and Panama.

The organisation said US President Donald Trump's attacks on the press had become “systematic” resulting in such incidents as the the detention and subsequent deportation of the Salvadoran journalist Mario Guevara, who was reporting on the arrests of migrants in the United States.

Trump has also overseen a drastic reduction in funding for US international broadcasting.

Judge orders Trump admin to restore 1,000 Voice of America jobs and resume broadcasts

RSF also highlighted the dramatic falls of El Salvador (143rd), which has dropped 105 places since 2014 following the launch of a war against the Maras criminal gangs, and Georgia(135th), which has fallen 75 places since 2020 due to an “escalation of repression”.

The sharpest decline in 2026 is attributed to Niger (120th, down 37 places) due to the “the deterioration of press freedom in the Sahel over several years”, amid “attacks by armed groups and (the) ruling juntas”, RSF said.

Saudi Arabia (176th, down 14 places), where the columnist Turki al-Jasser was executed by the state in June – “a unique occurrence in the world” – sits alongside Russia, Iran and China at the very bottom of the ranking, which is rounded out by Eritrea (180th).

By contrast, Syria (141st) has leapt 36 places following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Reporters Without Borders head on group's list of 'press freedom predators'

Issued on: 03/11/2025 - FRANCE24

09:30 min
From the show

The director general of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has spoken to FRANCE 24 about the "series of crises" affecting journalism. Thibaut Bruttin hit out at the "return of violence against journalists" and the "erosion of support" for the protection of journalism. Bruttin was speaking to us to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. This year, his organisation is unveiling what it calls a list of 34 "press freedom predators" who attacked journalists and the right to information in 2025.

BY: Stuart Norval

World press freedom hits new low as authoritarianism rise

Rodrigo Menegat Schuinski

29/04/2026

With three in four countries "problematic" or worse, the 2026 World Press Freedom Index offers a bleak picture for global media. The conditions for press freedom are rated "satisfactory" in only a few dozen countries.

All data, methodology and code behind this story can be found in this github repository.

DATA GRAPHICS World press freedom hits new low as authoritarianism rises

In many countries around the world, working as a journalist has become increasingly dangerous

Image: Ibrahim Ezzat/NurPhoto/picture alliance

The ability of journalists to work safely and independently is under threat globally, according to the 2026 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

The NGO, which has reported on the state of worldwide journalism annually since 2002, defines press freedom as "the ability of journalists as individuals and collectives to select, produce, and disseminate news in the public interest independent of political, economic, legal, and social interference and in the absence of threats to their physical and mental safety."

RSF now classifies the press freedom environment as "problematic" or worse in about three-fourths of the 180 countries evaluated. Conditions for media are classified as "difficult" to "very serious" in over half of the countries, RSF found.

In 2013, conditions in fewer than one-third of countries were classified as "difficult" to "very serious." The press freedom environment in seven-tenths was classified as "problematic" or worse.

Though there's a global downward trend, press freedom varies by region. Generally, the freest countries — including the top four: Norway, Estonia, the Netherlands and Denmark — can be found in Europe, while journalists in parts of Africa and Asia face the harshest conditions.

Discrepancies within regions can also be pronounced. In Europe, for example, there's a strong divide between the Southern and Eastern regions, where challenges to press freedom are higher, and the Northern and Western regions, where countries are generally ranked as "satisfactory" to "good." Similarly, journalists in North Africa are, in general, less free than their counterparts in the Southern region of the continent.

Poland and Slovakia take different paths

One example of an interregional divide can be found in the heart of Europe: The press in Poland has become freer, while hostility toward the media is growing in Slovakia. Both countries are classified as "satisfactory," but they are trending in different directions

According to RSF, the turning point for Poland was a change in government. After the Law and Justice party (PiS), which opposed abortion and LGBTQ+ rights and pushed anti-migration policies, was ousted from power in late 2023, the new government toned down verbal attacks and judicial actions against the press.

An election that year also served as a turning point in Slovakia, where, after years in the opposition, Robert Fico began his fourth term as prime minister in 2023.

"He has a long career behind him, and it was always his narrative that journalists are his enemy," said Lukas Diko, the editor-in-chief of the Investigative Center of Jan Kuciak (ICJK), an independent news organization named after a journalist murdered during Fico's third term.

Kuciak had been investigating connections between organized crime groups and businesses in Slovakia that were linked to members of Fico's ruling party. Though Kuciak's killing led to a wave of anti-corruption protests that helped bring down Fico's government in 2018, Diko said attacks on the press had escalated since the prime minister returned to office.

"It's really without any rules," he said.

Diko said the fear caused by the murder of a young journalist and the hostile official rhetoric had discouraged people from careers in reporting.

"Not many young people want to become journalists anymore," he said. "The murder of Kuciak is still something that tells them not to do it — but they also don't want to be verbally attacked on a daily basis."

Attacks on press as a political strategy

Argentina is another country that has sharply dropped in the index. Media advocates say anti-press smear campaigns waged by President Javier Milei, whose hard-right policies favor financial freedoms above all others, have created a hostile climate for journalists. He often uses social media to attack critics, and claims that journalists are "not hated enough."

"When Milei insults a journalist, he is not doing that as Milei, the economist, or Milei, an ordinary citizen," said Fernando Stanich, the president of the Argentine press forum FOPEA, an organization that defends freedom of expression and promotes quality journalism. "He is doing that as the main representative of the Argentinian state. "

Stanich said previous Argentine governments had been hostile to the press — the Peronist Cristina Kirchner had frequently sparred with the media as president from 2007 to 2015 — but, according to FOPEA's monitoring, the current level of verbal attacks on journalists is unprecedented.

Like Argentina's Milei and Slovakia's Fico, US President Donald Trump has insulted and threatened the press since his first campaign for office in 2016. Coincidentally, the United States has also seen a significant drop in its standing in the World Press Freedom Ranking, along with other countries where leaders follow the same playbook — such as El Salvador.

Argentina, Slovakia and the United States show how quickly countries considered relatively stable and democratic can become hostile to journalists. The press has never been free in Eritrea, China, North Korea and Iran, which have long been ruled by authoritarian regimes that silence independent reporting.

According to the RSF report, "armed conflict is the primary reason for [the] decline in press freedom" in countries such as Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan and Yemen. Since Israel launched its war in Gaza following the Hamas-led terror attacks on October 7, 2023, more than 220 journalists have been killed by the Israeli army, including at least 70 while working, the report states.

Networks fight threats to press freedom

Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova, a professor in the Department of Communication and Media at the University of Liverpool, said societal threats to press freedom fell into three main categories. The use of political structures to intimidate or harm journalists, including verbal attacks by public officials and threats of violence and incarceration, is the most obvious indicator of press freedom in decline. But societal and economic factors, such as the targeting of journalists for their gender, race or sexual orientation and the pressures of a precarious media labor market, can also curtail press freedoms.

Slavtcheva-Petkova said journalists could fight such challenges by banding together, as well as by collaborating with organizations that share their values, including rights activists and academics.

"Knowing that there is somebody you can rely on for support is very important," Slavtcheva-Petkova said. "When journalists don't have that, when they don't know whom to turn to for help ... then they feel that what they're experiencing might even be their own fault."

With most journalists worldwide now working in conditions that are problematic at best, as the 2026 RSF World Press Freedom Index demonstrates, such networks are likely to take on increased importance in the coming years — both within countries and internationally. Only 17 countries improved their press freedom scores from 2013 to 2026; conditions in 163 got worse.

South Africa is one example of a country with robust networks to fight for press freedom. The country has maintained its "satisfactory" rating since 2013, resulting in a steady climb in the rankings as other nations' scores have slipped.

Glenda Daniels, a journalist and professor of media studies at Wits University in Johannesburg, said a strong civil society had helped South Africa maintain its status as press freedom declines globally. Despite challenges common to journalists across the world — including biases against and threats to women in the media and a shrinking labor market — Daniels said strong networks had helped preserve press freedom in South Africa.

Daniels herself serves as secretary-general of the South African National Editors’ Forum, which defends journalists' right to conduct their work. "SANEF is loud and noisy," she said. "It makes a difference to have a strong civil society approach, advocacy and activism."

Edited by: Gianna Grün and Milan Gagnon

All data, methodology and code behind this story can be found in this github repository. More data-driven stories by DW can be found on this page.
Rodrigo Menegat Schuinski Data journalist