RFI English

Bernadette Chirac, the formidable former first lady of France who spent 12 years at the Élysée Palace beside President Jacques Chirac while forging her own political identity and transforming a children’s hospital charity into a national institution, has died aged 93.

With no recorded cases of Ebola, many Kenyans are struggling to understand why their government is allowing the United States to build an Ebola facility in their country to treat US citizens. Despite protests and criticism, the Kenyan government has vowed to press on.

Pope Leo XIV has begun a weeklong visit to Spain, bringing the American pontiff to one of Europe’s historic centres of Christianity at a moment of political tension, social change and renewed curiosity about faith.

The world can raise income, reduce inequality and limit global warming, according to an ambitious roadmap presented this week by economists in France. Making the case for a radical transformation of economies and lifestyles, they call on rich countries to slow growth, phase out fossil fuels and tax the wealthiest to help poorer countries fund development and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Second seed Alexander Zverev beat the 26th seed Jakub Mensik in four sets on Friday to advance to the men's singles final at the French Open in Paris where he will play 10th seed Flavio Cobolli.

In Nantes, France's largest slave port, the descendant of a slave-trading family has joined forces with a man whose ancestors were enslaved to help repair the enduring legacy of slavery from the grassroots up.

South Africa is once again facing a rise in anti-migrant tensions, with vigilante groups reportedly going door to door demanding that undocumented foreign nationals leave the country by the end of June. Post-apartheid specialist Cécile Perrot tells RFI the violence reflects deeper social and economic problems and that migrants have increasingly become scapegoats for poverty and unemployment.

Forty-nine people died of dehydration in a remote part of the Sahara desert in north-west Niger after the truck transporting them broke down, authorities said on Thursday.

Mali's military government has offered a €3 million reward for information that leads to the arrest or killing of Iyad Ag Ghali, head of the Sahel branch of al-Qaeda that launched a major offensive in April.

France's government was on Friday assessing possible judicial failings, after allegations that investigators could have prevented a 11-year-old girl's disappearance by better dealing with previous sexual abuse complaints.

French billionaire Pierre-Edouard Stérin has used his first appearance before lawmakers to lay bare his "meta-political" campaign to bring free-market and conservative ideas into power to battle "socialism, wokism, Islamism and immigration", less than a year before France’s presidential election.

EU and Western Balkan leaders are gathering in the Adriatic port town of Tivat in Montenegro on Friday, alongside heads of Europe's largest economies including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Amad Diallo scored a late winner as Cote d'Ivoire stunned France 2-1 in a World Cup warm-up match in Nantes on Thursday.

Maja Chwalinska beat the 25th seed Diana Shnaider on Thursday to make history as the first qualifier to reach the French Open final since tennis was opened up to professional players in 1968.

A former prime minister goes after a whistleblower and what that means for those who dare to speak out. Why a natural ingredient that could cover up to 40 percent of France's fertiliser needs is currently being flushed down the loo. And France's halting steps towards adopting daylight savings time.

Hungarian prosecutors said Thursday they had dropped charges against organisers of last year's Pride marches, citing a landmark ruling from the EU's top court.

French start-up Quobly secured €115 million in funding this week as it pursues an ambitious goal: building quantum computers using the same manufacturing techniques as ordinary computer chips.

Franco-Iranian author and film director Marjane Satrapi, best known for the graphic novel and film Persepolis, has died aged 56.

France's parliament has overwhelmingly approved a bill to curb exposure to cadmium, a toxic heavy metal found in phosphate fertilisers, setting up a political clash with the government and raising fresh questions about France's links to Moroccan phosphate imports.

France's parliament has unanimously acknowledged the state's role in a pesticide scandal that contaminated most people in Guadeloupe and Martinique and has been linked to cancer and other health problems. The vote marks a significant moment in a decades-long fight over chlordecone, a toxic chemical that continued to be used in the French Caribbean after it was banned in mainland France.