Courage à nos correspondants

 

De l'ACORFI, l'Association de correspondants français à l'étranger

« Un journal sans mots, une radio sans voix. » La plume dans la plaie, notre confrère et ami Arthur Sarradin, que nous félicitons pour son prix Albert-Londres, a profité de sa tribune pour rappeler une réalité : pour les correspondants à l’étranger, vivre de leur métier devient quasiment impossible.

Vous ne les voyez jamais, mais vous les entendez souvent sur les ondes de Radio France Internationale (RFI). Ils s’appellent Théophile, Rolf, Claire, Najet ou encore Jean-Jacques. Ils racontent les pays où ils vivent avec sensibilité et rigueur journalistique. Et travaillent, bien souvent, dans la précarité.

Cent euros le reportage à Radio France ; l’autre grande radio du service public, RFI, ne dit pas mieux. Leurs droits de salariés sont attaqués quotidiennement (suppression des cotisations santé et retraite, bulletins de salaire illisibles, difficultés d’accès à leurs droits au CSE), et leurs conditions sont de plus en plus précaires: les frais de reportage sont difficilement remboursés, le soutien sur les terrains compliqués est minimal - au mieux.

Nous, l’Association des correspondants à l’étranger de RFI (ACORFI), militons pour une couverture sociale des journalistes français à l’étranger. Un projet de loi mort-né porté par Mélanie Vogel (Les Écologistes) en avril 2024, finalement jamais débattu au Sénat et rejeté comme amendement par l’Assemblée nationale en 2025.

Avec ses 400 correspondants en français et en langues étrangères, RFI dispose d’un réseau exceptionnel – sa force et sa raison d’être. Encore faut-il donner à ces journalistes les moyens de vivre de leur métier dans des conditions dignes.

Nous remercions Arthur d’avoir éclairé le grand public, et nous espérons être enfin entendus, après deux ans de réunions qui n’ont débouché sur rien sur tous ces dossiers, pour que nos droits les plus basiques soient respectés par la direction de France Médias Monde.

‘Journalism That Matters’

 

Substack newsletter - new post:

‘Journalism That Matters’

When political crises get compounded by personal setbacks, silencing and passive-agressive tensions can ruin journalism. But I found someone who inspired me to act.

- By Melissa Chemam & Henry Mhango

https://melissa.substack.com/p/journalism-that-matters

Dear friends and readers,

I hope this post finds you well.

I’ve been quite silent here since the summer… mostly because… I’ve felt silenced myself. And it made me sick… literally. I had to take a break.

I did go and see art however, friends, I did go to students’ protests, did sleep during the day as I suffered from insomnia and anxiety at night…

And then I found a message I needed to read.

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Read on here:

‘Journalism That Matters’

When political crises get compounded by personal setbacks, silencing and passive-agressive tensions can ruin journalism. But I found someone who inspired me to act.

- By Melissa Chemam & Henry Mhango

France: A man died in police custody in Saint-Ouen

 

The General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN)—the “police of the police”—has been called in following the death of 44-year-old Mauricio K. on Tuesday, 27 October, 2026, at the Saint-Ouen police station (Seine-Saint-Denis), near Paris.

An investigation into the causes of death was opened this Wednesday, 28 October, 2026.

Mauricio K. was found unconscious in his cell in a state of cardiorespiratory arrest, and could not be resuscitated by the firefighters.

The victim’s father filed his complaint this Wednesday with the Bobigny public prosecutor for “intentional violence resulting in death.” 

He has requested the appointment of an investigating judge, and the IGPN (National Police Inspectorate) has been tasked with the investigation.

In a document, seen by the daily newspaper Le Parisien, his lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, asserts that “serious acts of violence were committed during the arrest and potentially within the police station where he died.”

The lawyer maintains that Mauricio K. “did not suffer from any serious illness that could explain this sudden death,” and writes that “it is therefore reasonable to believe that acts of violence could be the cause of his death.”

“The complaint concerns intentional acts of violence that resulted in death—without the intent to kill—committed by a person in a position of public authority; such an offense is punishable by twenty years of criminal imprisonment,” Le Parisien continues. It argues that “it is essential that an investigating judge be assigned to the case.”

Mr. Bouzrou denounces “the deafening silence from the Bobigny public prosecutor’s office and the police oversight body.”

“For the moment, the public prosecutor’s office refuses to provide any information, which we find completely shocking,” he added in comments to our colleagues.

According to him, an autopsy was performed this Wednesday morning, yet “the IGPN [national police oversight body] refuses to even state the cause of death.” Furthermore, both the public prosecutor’s office and the IGPN have reached out to the father to question him, “but refuse to provide any details regarding the death.”

Outside a French mosque: calls for the murder of Muslims

 

In France: A mosque in Lodève, in the Hérault department, west of Montpellier, has been targeted by Islamophobic hatred. A dead bird was also found in front of the place of worship.

The messages were written in red and include phrases such as "the suitcase or the coffin" and "Islam out" (which was used during the Algerian war...).

The incident comes a few days after the racist and Islamophobic attack in Trappes, which left one person dead from gunshot wounds.

"Unfortunately, Lodève has not been spared from hatred," wrote Sébastien Rome—a former LFI (La France Insoumise) deputy for the Lodève constituency in the Hérault department—earlier today.

"Following the attacks in Trappes, fascism continues to pursue its goals of terror everywhere," he added.

The discovery has caused shock, local press reported.

A gathering took place this Wednesday, 28 October, at 5pm in front of the mosque on Quai de la Mégisserie to support the community, denouncing "deeply shocking acts and messages" that target "residents, families, and children—people who live here and should be able to practice their religion in peace, free from fear or threats."

"Our first response must be one of fraternal solidarity—against this racist act, of course—but also, and primarily, a defense of freedom," Rome also said. 

"In France, everyone has the right to believe freely, without being harassed. This is the foundational principle of the law on secularism, which enshrines freedom of conscience."

Rhany Slimane, an opposition councilor for LFI (La France Insoumise) in the city of Montpellier stated: "These words are not mere graffiti. They are calls for the murder and deportation of our Muslim fellow citizens; they are death threats. They are sickening. In the face of this escalation, the responsibility is collective—but, first and foremost, it is political. Yes, the far right is responsible." 

He added that "the far right does not stand alone", however. "It is fueled, legitimised, and normalised by those within the political establishment who refuse to condemn Islamophobia, from the Les Républicains party to the Socialist Party, how many have chosen to remain silent? How many have twisted the concept of *laïcité* [secularism] to target Muslims?"

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More soon

'Life Support' documentary

 

IN CINEMAS SINCE 10 JULY Since October 2023, Gaza has been sealed from the world-except for one group, international doctors. While global media are barred from reporting and governments look away, doctors breach the blockade and what they find is not just a humanitarian crisis, but a calculated dismantling of life itself. Covering the entire two years of the genocide, their firsthand accounts and visceral footage offer a rare and vital chronicle of the daily struggles of healthcare workers as they navigate bombed-out hospitals, dwindling supplies, starvation and the overwhelming influx of casualties— predominantly women and children. Directed by DANIELE RUGO Produced by WILLIAM PARRY

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'Thirteen Kilometres' · Yasmine Hamdan Life Support ℗ Battle Box Released on: 2026-10-28

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Palestine (3D Remix)

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'Perfect Victims'

· 'Life Support' album ℗ Battle Box Released on: 2026-10-28

More to mourn: Racist attack in France kills Pengo Wangi

 

France - The victim of Friday's terrorist attack in the Yvelines, near Trappes, south west of Paris, was the MMA fighter:

PENGO BOSSIO WANGI

He was 26, was shot and killed.

He ws amateur MMA fighter, and trained in Aubervilliers, north of Paris, where he was loved and respected.

A 12-year-old girl was also struck by eight bullets and has been hospitalised.

The deails, according to Agence France Presse: On Friday morning, a man opened fire in the street, killing one person and wounding at least four others, including a 12-year-old child. 

The attack also left five people injured.

The suspect is a man believed to have targeted individuals with an immigrant background. According to the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT)—which took charge of the case—he had also rigged his apartment in Plaisir (located a few kilometers from the towns of Trappes and La Verrière, where the attack took place) with three gas canisters and electrical wires connected to a timer.

The mayor of the city of Trappes, Ali Rabeh, denounced a “racist terrorist attack”: it was "objectively an attack, with racist overtones, probably Islamophobic," he said. 

“This is likely one of the first—an initial attempt at a mass crime with Islamophobic and racist overtones,” the official added.

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Emmanuel Macron visited the scene that evening. He also recognised it was a “racist terrorist attack.”

The man has been arrested and taken into police custody, as has a member of his immediate family, the PNAT announced.

The PNAT has announced the opening of an investigation into "murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, with the aggravating circumstance that the acts were committed on the basis of actual or perceived membership in a specific race, ethnicity, nation, or religion."

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Sunday update:

A shooter suspected of the killing Wangi and wounding these five others on Friday near Trappes, has been put in custudy then had his police custody suspended for a 48-hour psychiatric observation, anti-terror prosecutors said Sunday. 

The 39-year-old man is believed to have had racist motivations behind the gun attack as most of the victims had foreign origins.

Partly identified as Kevin T., he was arrested Friday in possession of a submachine gun and tear-gas grenades in his car, shortly after the victims were shot as a vehicle drove through the working-class town of Trappes and neighbouring La Verrière.

Insight into AKAA Paris 2026

 

I love this art fair... 

A wonderful series led by Dagmar Van Weeghel with other African artists.

More on it soon

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Nu Barreto

 I previously wrote about Nu's work, notably here: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/article/20221012-the-slave-ship-in-a-london-courtyard

And posted previous artworks notablly here:

https://melissa-on-the-road.blogspot.com/2023/12/nu-barreto-new-exhibition.html

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Work from South African artist Zanele Muholi 

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And extra snapshots...

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More soon.

"We'll Be Marching On"

 

Irma - Black Sun (Acoustic - Official Video)

NAZA

 

I saw NAZA tonight with my Lebanese friend of 30 years and his new Cambodian friend...

It was a shock to the system, despite all we already know about this entreprise of massacres.

Here is the official trailer for the award-winning documentary produced by the Guardian that details the systems behind Israel’s mass killings in Gaza:

This critically acclaimed film was produced with the team behind the 'Zone of Interest' by Jonathan Glazer.

It is directed by Oscar-winning film-makers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, two Israeli directors of the four behind 'No Other Land', which won the Oscar for best documentary in 2025.

It includes testimony from 24 Israeli military insiders, shot at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv. 

It is being released in cinemas in more than 50 countries from the week, and then will stream on the Guardian’s website for free from late November.

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Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor with Aditya Chakrabortty

 

Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor’s new book, End Times Fascism, came out recently. The idea came after a special essay written by both of them in The Guardian in April 2025.

I recommend this conversation:

"Gaza is a moral tear in the universe" Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor  

 - Radical Thinking

'Radical Thinking' with Aditya Chakrabortty: In this new series from The Guardian, Klein and Taylor speak in an extended interview about Trump 2.0, the rise of the tech billionaire to Gaza and the ongoing climate emergency.

They both argue that we are not just lurching from crisis to crisis but in a new and dangerous moment in history. Yet, they haven’t given up hope of a fightback.