The Latest Breaking News from Radio France Internationale

Nigeria head coach Eric Chelle urged his squad to focus on beating Lesotho in their penultimate game in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, not on the permutations emerging from the other fixtures in the pool.

Six million foreigners live legally in France, new statistics show. Foreign residents made up just under 9 percent of the French population in 2024 – a proportion that remains below the European Union average.

As countries mark World Day Against the Death Penalty on Friday – a day after France honoured Robert Badinter, the man who ended it in the country – experts say capital punishment is still failing to stop crime and instead fuels violence.

Robert Badinter, the justice minister who ended the death penalty in 1981, was inducted into the Pantheon in Paris on Thursday as France paid tribute to his lifelong fight for justice – with President Emmanuel Macron praising the abolitionist's “essential and unfinished battles”.

French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that expanding Israeli settlements threatened a Palestinian state and US-led peace efforts, as France hosted Arab and European ministers to find ways to boost the Palestinians after a Gaza ceasefire deal was announced.

A man convicted of raping Gisèle Pelicot, who survived years of assaults orchestrated by her husband while she was drugged unconscious, has lost his appeal against the verdict. A court in southern France also stiffened his sentence to 10 years in prison.

The proposal to tax the ultra-rich that could address some of France's budget woes. The last paperboy in Paris, who has been hawking newspapers for nearly 50 years, tells of challenges and successes from Pakistan to Paris. And the man who ended the death penalty in France enters the Panthéon.

The world is at a “tipping point” for press freedom, the French NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned as it marked its 40th anniversary ahead of unveiling a memorial stone in Bayeux, Normandy, in honour of journalists killed in the line of duty.

Luca Zidane, the son of France football legend Zinedine Zidane, spoke of his pride after he was selected for the Algeria squad for 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Somalia and Uganda.