05/03/2025
March newsletter
Empowering women, for women and for everyone
Honouring women's achievements and empowerment on 'IWD' seems timelier than ever, in this age of masculinist tech bros. Here are my feminine stories from beyond the West.
Empowering women, for women and for everyone
Honouring women's achievements and empowerment on 'IWD' seems timelier than ever, in this age of masculinist tech bros. Here are my feminine stories from beyond the West.
04/03/2025
Nahel: French police officer should stand trial for murder of teenager, prosecutors say
Big news here in France for the fight against police's brutality and impunity:
French police officer should stand trial for murder of teenager, prosecutors say
PARIS, March 4 (Reuters) - Prosecutors have requested that a French police officer stands trial for murder after the deadly shooting of a teenager in 2023 that sparked violent protests across the country, the Nanterre prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.
In a statement, prosecutors said they had concluded their investigation into the shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M. by a police officer on June 27, 2023 in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, an incident over which two officers were investigated.
They requested that one of the officers faces a court trial.
It is now up to a judge to decide whether a trial will take place. Murder complicity charges against the other officer were dropped.
The police officer who was charged with murder fired at Nahel after the latter failed to comply with an order to stop his car. The boy of North African descent subsequently died from his wounds.
The police officer's lawyer wasn't immediately available for comment.
A video shared on social media, verified by Reuters, showed two police officers beside the car, a Mercedes AMG, with one firing his weapon as the driver pulled away.
death and the video were shared on social media, drawing widespread anger and provoking several nights of unrest in Nanterre and other cities across France.
At the heart of the unrest were long-standing accusations by rights group of systemic racism in the police.
The lawyer for Nahel's family wasn't immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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For background, my piece from 2023:
03/03/2025
UN rights chief deeply worried about 'fundamental shift in direction' in US
Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council, Volker Turk voiced his strongest rebuke to date of the dramatic about-face seen in the United States in recent weeks.
"We have enjoyed bipartisan support from the United States of America on human rights over many decades," he said, before adding: "I am now deeply worried by the fundamental shift in direction that is taking place domestically and internationally", the UN rights chief, Volker Turk, said on Monday.
He voiced deep concern over the United States' "fundamental shift" in direction since the last election, and decried the "unchecked power" of "unelected tech oligarchs".
Without naming Trump, he decried that "policies intended to protect people from discrimination are now labelled as discriminatory".
'Fear and anxiety'
Since returning to the White House on 20 January, President Donald Trump has signed a whopping 79 executive orders touching on issues from foreign policy to transgender rights.
With his Republican Party only holding narrow majorities in Congress, and seeking to move quickly to remake the US government, Trump has brandished his pen as a weapon targeting trade, civil rights and federal bureaucracy.
"This is generating fear and anxiety among many," Volker Turk warned. "On these issues and more, my office will continue building on our long history of constructive engagement."
"Progress is being rolled back on gender equality. Disinformation, intimidation and threats, notably against journalists and public officials, risk undermining the work of independent media and the functioning of institutions, Turk also lamented adding that "divisive rhetoric is being used to distort, deceive and polarise".
'Oligarchs'
Without mentioning anyone by name, Turk expressed concern over the growing influence wielded by "a handful of unelected tech oligarchs", who have people's data.
The US President has also made X and Tesla owner Elon Musk his cost-cutter-in-chief, as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
In comments not limited to the situation in the United States, Turk warned that such tech oligarchs "know where we live, what we do, our genes and our health conditions, our thoughts, our habits, our desires and our fears".
"They know us better than we know ourselves. And they know how to manipulate us."
Turk stressed that "any form of unregulated power can lead to oppression, subjugation, and even tyranny: the playbook of the autocrat".
He called on countries everywhere to "adapt -- fast".
"States must fulfil their duty to protect people from unchecked power, and work together to achieve this," he said.
26/02/2025
UK is cutting aid... to fund defence spending
Charities are appalled by UK's cut to aid budget... to fund defence spending
Humanitarian charities said they were "stunned" and "appalled" by Britain's decision to cut its international aid budget to boost defence spending, warning it would damage UK influence and have a devastating impact on those they support.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday he would increase Britain's annual defence spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027, with a target to hit 3 percent at a later date, a move he said was needed to provide Ukraine and Europe with support in a "new era".
To fund the move, Britain will cut its aid budget from 0.5 percent of gross national income, to 0.3 percent.
David Miliband, a former foreign secretary from the governing Labour Party and now head of the International Rescue Committee charity, said the move was "a blow to Britain's proud reputation as a global humanitarian and development leader".
Britain is the fifth largest international aid donor, giving over 19 billion dollars in 2023, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The United States tops the ranking, followed by Germany, European Union institutions and Japan.
Later, this week Starmer will meet US President Donald Trump, whose advisor Elon Musk has boasted of gutting Washington's own foreign aid agency by "feeding USAID into the wood chipper".
Nick Dearden, director of campaign group Global Justice Now, thinks that "to appease Trump, he will cut aid to its lowest level in a generation. It is a day of shame for Britain."
United Nations children's agency Unicef said the British aid cut would "undoubtedly risk lives". Oxfam accused Starmer of "bending to populist pressures".
Changing course
Britain used to devote 0.7 percent of its gross national income to overseas development before it was cut by the previous Conservative government to 0.5 percent in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Starmer's government had pledged to restore the aid budget back to 0.7 percent before it sharply changed course.
"This is a short-sighted and appalling move," said Romilly Greenhill, CEO of London-based Bond, a network for humanitarian organisations. "Slashing the already diminished UK aid budget to fund an uplift in defence is a reckless decision."
ActionAid described it as a political choice that could have devastating consequences for people affected by humanitarian crisis, such as in Gaza, the Democratic Republic of Congo and even Ukraine.
But Starmer's announcement on aid was met with little immediate political criticism in the House of Commons.
Sarah Champion, Labour lawmaker and chair of the International Development Select Committee, was a rare voice opposing the move, saying aid spending could prevent wars.
"Aid vs defence isn't a realistic narrative for keeping the world safe," she said.
(Reuters)
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Read my work on this issues in South Africa here:
South Africa faces HIV crisis as Trump’s aid freeze halts treatment and research
All about DRC here:
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan arrives in DRC amid escalating eastern conflict
There:
DRC president suggests unity government to respond to the crisis in the east
And there:
Rwandan-backed M23 gains in eastern DRC spark UN warnings and regional fears
More on Kenya soon.
22/02/2025
DRC: Increasing diplomatic pressure on Rwanda
Diplomatic pressure on Rwanda is increasing.
The Rwandan ambassador in Brussels was summoned by the services of the head of European diplomacy, while until now the Europeans had not yet shown their unity on the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The M23 has captured the two largest cities in eastern Congo and stoked fears of a wider war.
And at the UN, the Security Council is calling on Rwanda to withdraw its troops from the DRC.
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Meanwhile, in Africa, the chiefs of Staff of the East Africa Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union call for the creation of a hybrid force to secure territories under M23 occupation in the DRC.
A new meeting of the two regional organisations is scheduled for Monday 24 February, in Dar es Salaam.
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Finally, the U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday imposed sanctions on a Rwandan government minister and a senior member of an armed group for their alleged role in the conflict in the eastern DRC.
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Fore more on the previous weeks and the context, check my newsletter:
Why the war in eastern DR Congo matters
As the global leaders look at the future of Ukraine from DC to Paris and Johannesburg, the two-decade old country at the heart of Africa gets neglected... Is this fair in today's world?
21/02/2025
Newsletter: February's new post, on the DR Congo
Details below
Why the war in eastern DR Congo matters
As the global leaders look at the future of Ukraine from DC to Paris and Johannesburg, the two-decade old country at the heart of Africa gets neglected... Is this fair in today's world?
Raphael Barontini exhibition @ Palais de Tokyo, Paris
The @raphaelbarontini show @palaisdetokyo 🌟:
« Quelque part dans la nuit, le peuple danse »
21 février - 11 mai 2025
Selected images
« Quelque part dans la nuit, le peuple danse »
21 février - 11 mai 2025
Selected images
20/02/2025
DRC: update on a potential UN resolution and on fighting
Congolese Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayi Kwamba Wagner addressed the members of the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
"This Council observes, this Council condemns, but this Council does not act," she said.
She criticised the lack of a clear resolution to end the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
And she also called for "the adoption of sanctions against Rwandan political and military leaders involved in this aggression, an embargo on natural resource exports from Rwanda, as well as an end to the fighting and the withdrawal of Rwandan troops."
Blaming Rwanda as the aggressor
"The Rwanda is preparing an open-air massacre with a brutality reminiscent of the darkest hours of our history. On 26 January, I had warned. Today, these words have become reality. In just 48 hours, more than 4,000 people have died in Goma. This is what happens when a terrorist group takes control of a city and imposes its criminal administration under the watch of this Council. Enough excuses, enough cultural relativism used as a pretext for inaction with tragic consequences. The time for endless compromises is over. It is time to act."
The members of the Security Council acknowledged the urgency of the situation and once again condemned the actions of the M23 rebels and Rwanda’s involvement.
The French ambassador mentioned a draft resolution currently under discussion.
But for now, no text appears to have sufficient support to be put to a vote or adopted.
M23 moves forward
Meanwhile, M23 rebel advance causes panic in Congolese border town Uvira.
Volleys of gunfire rang out in Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern border town of Uvira on Wednesday, local sources told news agency Reuters, as clashes broke out among allied forces amid the advance of Rwanda-backed rebels.
Residents and officials described scenes of looting, bodies lying in the street, and government soldiers commandeering boats to flee across Lake Tanganyika.
The local prison was also emptied, they said. The M23 rebels have been moving south towards Uvira, which shares a lake border with Burundi, since they seized the provincial capital Bukavu over the weekend - the heaviest loss for Congo since the fall of the region's largest city Goma in late January.
Over 500 Congolese police officers fled across the border to Burundi, where they were disarmed, a security source, a diplomatic source and a local official said. The interior ministers of Burundi and Congo did not respond to requests for comment.
Burundi is also having to deal with the largest movement of refugees in 25 years, people fleeing the escalating conflict in the DR Congo, the United Nations refugee agency said.
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For more on the context, my two podcast episode:
Spotlight on Africa
Spotlight on Africa
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