Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri has been named Morocco’s first female prime minister – another first for the 50-year-old lawyer, who became the first female mayor of Marrakesh 17 years ago. But who is the woman now tasked with leading Morocco’s government?

Organisers of the 2027 Rugby World Cup on Wednesday promised a massive party during the first 24-team tournament, which starts next October in Perth, Western Australia.

Eiffel Tower director Patrick Branco Ruivo will step down at the end of the year, the tower’s operator has announced, after female staff were excluded during a visit by a Hindu religious group – an incident that triggered a strike that closed the Paris landmark for a day.

French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed British Prime Minister Andy Burnham's reopening of the debate over the United Kingdom's relationship with the European Union, responding to the possibility of the UK eventually rejoining the bloc with a simple message in English: “Welcome back.”

Ghana head coach Carlos Queiroz on Wednesday refused to resign after his side's calamitous 4-2 defeat at home to Gambia in qualifiers for next year's Africa Cup of Nations in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Burkina Faso on Wednesday marks four years since military strongman Captain Ibrahim Traoré took over in a coup. Comparing himself to anti-colonial icon Thomas Sankara, Traoré promised a "progressive and popular" revolution. RFI spoke to Inoussa Ouédraogo, a publishing director who now lives in exile about the country's fading human rights record.

Iraq is closing a major chapter in its post-2003 history as the US-led coalition against Islamic State ends its mission – more than two decades after France opposed the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Heatwaves, wildfires and human-caused emissions exposed a third of the world’s population to extremely high ozone pollution in 2026, with Asia worst hit and wildfire smoke crossing oceans, an EU report said on Wednesday.

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday lifted restrictions on the deportations of immigrants to countries that are not their own, while agreeing to hear the issue on its merits in December.

Mali’s armed forces and Russian Wagner Group personnel committed war crimes including killings and torture of civilians during joint operations between 2023 and 2025, Amnesty International has said in a new report documenting abuses across several regions of the country.

Jordan Bardella, a key ally of French far-right presidential frontrunner Marine Le Pen, on Tuesday said allegations he made antisemitic comments in 2013 marked part of a "total war" against their National Rally party ahead of the 2027 polls. Backed by fellow party members, Bardella announced that he had filed a complaint for defamation.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are stepping up their joint media push with Tafouk TV, a new television channel aimed at challenging Western coverage and promoting the three military-led Sahel states’ own account of events.

France prosecutors on Monday sought two years with an electronic tag and a five-year ban on public office for ex-culture minister Rachida Dati in a trial on corruption charges linked to dealings with the Renault-Nissan group. Her lawyers have slammed the severity of the recommendations which will be announced in January next year. 

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has warned against an escalation of the demonstrations in secondary schools, which have broken out ahead of a nationwide strike by public-sector workers. More than 100 pupils were arrested on Monday during violent clashes with police. It comes amid mounting anger over the national budget, which is due to be unveiled on Thursday.

Continental powerhouses Egypt, Ghana and Senegal will attempt to get their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaigns back on track on Tuesday after opening round setbacks last week.

Teachers, healthcare workers, local government staff, tax officials and firefighters in France are on strike Tuesday to pressure the government ahead of the 2027 budget debates which could see public sector salaries frozen for a fourth straight year.

Michael Olise came off the substitutes bench on Monday night to score a sensational late goal for France against Belgium to give new boss Zinedine Zidane his second victory in two matches.

Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has vowed to push on with his fight against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, despite a US visa snub to attend the UN General Assembly and mounting pressure for a ceasefire. RFI spoke to a Sudanese researcher about why such a step was taken and how far the stand-off could go.

Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was awarded the Council of Europe’s Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize on Monday for her work defending activists, journalists, minorities and opponents of the death penalty.

The right to terminate a pregnancy was formally enshrined in the French Constitution in 2024, but women are finding it harder to gain access due to geographical inequalities and lack of information but also rising prejudice, France's family planning movement has said. 

Addis Ababa has accused Sudan and Eritrea of backing armed groups fighting its federal forces in the north, claims Khartoum has rejected as renewed clashes raise fears of a return to full-scale conflict.

An association founded by the daughter of Gisèle Pelicot, who was drugged by her ex-husband and raped by him and dozens of other men, has launched an awareness campaign on chemical submission.

French firefighters, who have been on strike since 8 September, set up camp at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Sunday to draw the government’s attention to a lack of resources following a scorching summer marked by a surge in wildfires. They are also due to join a public-sector strike planned across France on Tuesday.

France head coach Zinedine Zidane called on his players to relish playing for the national team as his squad went through its final preparations without injured skipper Kylian Mbappé for Monday night's Nation's League tie against Belgium in Brussels.

French victims of clerical abuse called their meeting with Pope Leo XIV on Sunday "extraordinary", praising him for listening deeply to their experiences. The Pope said he was committed to preventing further harm.

Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to adopt a more restrictive form of neutrality, championed by the hard right, which would have blocked their ​country from cooperating with NATO or impose sanctions.

Pope Leo XIV will use the final day of his visit to France on Monday to pay tribute to Robert Schuman – the French foreign minister who was one of the architects of European integration – in a message expected to focus on peace, unity and the principles that shaped post-war Europe.

France's far-right National Rally (RN) party and its allies emerged from Sunday polls with a record 14 seats in the right-wing dominated Senate, effectively quadrupling its number in the 348-seat chamber just months before a presidential election. 

Go anywhere in Madagascar and you'll find gony – large woven polypropylene sacks used to transport and store everything from vanilla to cement. For the past 50 years, these hard-wearing bags have been manufactured and sold by a family-run business outside the capital. Now the company finds itself seeking new ways to resist cheaper imports from Asia.

British counterterrorism police Sunday were reportedly probing a major incident near a base used by the US Air Force after several men were arrested on suspicion of explosives offenses.

A €800 million facelift of the Montparnasse Tower has been shelved, reviving a decades-old debate over the future of one of Paris’s most divisive landmarks.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnam urged "calm" Sunday as thousands of people gathered in a Northern Irish town seeking to halt a contentious pro-British Protestant march from passing through a mainly Catholic and nationalist area for the first time in 28 years.

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen announced Saturday the bloc was releasing 710 million euros to help people hit by crises, natural disasters or conflict, most of it for Africa.

A collection of art built up inside a Paris psychiatric hospital is challenging one of the most persistent myths about mental illness – that it fuels creative genius. Paintings and drawings made over more than a century at Sainte-Anne hospital are being presented not as medical curiosities but as works of art, reflecting changing attitudes towards psychiatric patients.

Munich will bid to bring the Olympics back to Germany for the first time in more than 60 years after seeing off a rival bid from Cologne to become the focus of the country's push to host a Summer Games.

Millions of cigarette butts are discarded on the streets of Paris every day, creating a stubborn litter problem that costs the city millions of euros a year to clean up. As authorities threaten irresponsible smokers with fines, volunteers are taking to the streets to tackle their waste.

The United States had yet to publicly respond on Saturday after Iran offered a plan to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz, though reports indicated that President Donald Trump had rejected the proposal.

The European Union is making a new move to tackle the continent's housing crisis, with the European Commission’s Affordable Housing Act designed to authorise cities to curb soaring housing costs.

China and the United States agreed to set up a "communication channel" for artificial intelligence incidents, both sides said, after a Washington summit short on breakthroughs.

For a brief period at the end of the 18th century, France had the most liberal divorce laws in Europe. Before a conservative backlash brought it down, the legislation allowed thousands of couples to leave marriages for no other reason than wanting to – and became a touchstone for opponents and supporters of divorce alike.

Powerhouse outfits Nigeria and Morocco launched their campaigns to reach the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals with victories over Madagascar and Gabon respectively on Friday night as World Cup participants Senegal and Egypt were held to draws.

Kylian Mbappé scored his 67th international goal on Friday night to propel France to a 1-0 victory over Turkey in the 2027 Nations League and successfully launch Zinedine Zidane's reign as head coach.

France’s continuing reliance on Russia for part of its nuclear fuel cycle is facing a new legal challenge, with Greenpeace seeking to force French state electricity company EDF to address the environmental, health and human rights implications of its dealings with Russian state nuclear group Rosatom.

Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has thrown his weight behind his predecessor and former political rival Macky Sall to become the next United Nations secretary-general. No one is better placed to fight for Africa's place at the table, he told RFI and France 24.

Pope Leo XIV will on Saturday visit Maison Bakhita, a church-run centre for migrants and other marginalised groups in the north of Paris, bearing a message of charity and acceptance. Part of his four-day state tour of France, the visit comes just months before a presidential election set to be dominated by anti-immigration rhetoric.

Seven-time champions Egypt and heavyweight outfits Nigeria, Morocco and Senegal begin their qualifying campaigns on Friday for next year's Africa Cup of Nations. 

Authorities are investigating online racial abuse and harassment targeting French judo star Teddy Riner, after he expressed his concern over the rise of the far right in the country. 

Hervé Renard launched his second spell as Côte d’Ivoire head coach with a 2-0 victory over Ghana in the first qualifying game for next year's Africa Cup of Nations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

France's new head coach Zinedine Zidane has played down his own star status and put the focus firmly on his players as they prepare for his first match in charge against Turkey in Izmit on Friday night.

Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron will welcome Pope Leo XIV at the airport on Friday as the 71-year-old pontiff lands in France, the first state visit by a head of the Catholic Church in 18 years. Artificial intelligence and the faith of young people are expected to dominate his trip. Follow our liveblog for updates on his visit over the weekend