International report

The Robin Hood Army is a group of volunteers who collect excess food from restaurants and hotels and distribute it to those in need in India and 14 other countries. Every week volunteers meet in 159 cities across the world to provide food for the poor and needy, collecting and re-distributing the surplus that would otherwise go to waste. At busy traffic intersections, on sidewalks and slum clusters, the food collected is served out systematically by volunteers of the Robin Hood Army (RHA) to...

India has kicked off a flurry of tests of a supersonic cruise missile against a background of border tensions with China. The military is hard at work to add speed, range and accuracy to the country’s most advanced projectile, developed jointly with trusted ally Russia. The latest test in December involved a naval variant of the BrahMos cruise missile, another sign of India’s growing reach in one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors in the Indian Ocean. “We need a weapon of this...

Turkish exporters say they have become collateral victims of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's aggressive foreign policy. Ankara's push to exert its influence in the Middle East and Africa has provoked a strong reaction from the likes of Saudi Arabia and Egypt. But the increasingly high economic cost being paid by Turkey could be the impetus for a diplomatic reset. Turkey's ties are strained across the Middle East. Ali Eren says relations with Saudi Arabia and with Egypt are poor. Eren is the...

Zehra Dogan, a 31-year-old Kurdish artist who spent almost two years in jail in Turkey, is earning growing international plaudits for her work. A recent exhibition in Istanbul of the work she produced while in prison marks the first time she has been shown in Turkey. Some of the images which accompany this article are disturbing. Dogan's deeply unsettling works combine themes of resistance and feminism. Her paintings have already won a series of European prizes and widespread acclaim. She...

Turkey is set to be one of the thorniest issues facing US president-elect Joseph Biden. Biden has pledged to restore international alliances and traditional ties with America's friends in Europe. But Nato member Turkey's deepening relations with Moscow are casting doubt over its loyalties to Washington. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan belatedly sent Joe Biden a brief note on his success, while sending a warm message to Donald Trump thanking the out-going US leader. Under Trump,...

A group of 200 rich Canadians, members of a group called Resource Movement, are in favour of higher wealth taxes to help reduce inequalities between the most fortunate and the rest of the population. As Covid-19 continues to ravage Canada, these rich millennials say it is urgent to tax them more. "As wealthy people, we recognise that we and our peers must step up and do our fair share," they reiterated in a press release in early November. The members of Resource Movement are calling for the...

The Voices of Tunisian Black Women, launched early this year, is a group offering a safe space for self-expression so that black women can speak out about the racial discrimination and abuse they face in Tunisian society. The feminist group started off with collecting testimonies, then expanded its scope by organising group discussions on matters affecting black females on a daily basis. The 400-member Facebook group is run by four founders of the collective, allowing interactions and...

The war of words between France and Turkey over cartoons portraying Islam's Prophet Muhammad is the latest ugly spat between the two Nato members. But underlying the simmering diplomatic tensions is an increasingly bitter rivalry for influence in Africa. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month accused Western countries of seeking to "relaunch the Crusade". Erdogan was targeting French President Emmanuel Macron's defense of the publication of cartoons of Islam's prophet Muhammad,...

India plans to push up the legal marriage age of women from 18 years at present to 21, the same as for men, in the hope the measure will steer more women into the nation’s labour force and slow down the baby boom. The Indian government in June set up a task force to prescribe the appropriate minimum age for marriage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi drew applause last month when he promised to act swiftly. “Discussions are on to decide on what should be the right marriage age for girls,” he said...

India tragically tops the global charts when it comes to acid attacks targeting women. Despite stricter laws and harsher punishments, the number of such attacks continues to increase on the subcontinent. In India, acid attacks are a gender-based crime, often associated with relationship, marriage or dowry issues. This contrasts with the United Kingdom where males are the usual victims, and where attacks usually result from gang-based activities. In either case, the attacks are designed to...

Turkish-made drones are at the forefront of Azerbaijan's fight to reclaim the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave from ethnic Armenian control. Azerbaijan claims success with the Turkish weapons and is touting the drones as a potential game-changer in the decades-long, on-off conflict. "They are very modern sophisticated weapons," said Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev in a recent interview with France 24. "And I can tell you, only by the drones which we acquired from Turkey, we destroyed...

Australian sheep and the huge woollen industry that depends on them are among the less-likely collateral victims of the Covid crisis. The shearing shed at Tubbo Station, a sprawling 27,000 hectare property in Australia's Riverina region, is abuzz with the deafening hum of electric clippers. The shearers move in unison; a methodical but back-breaking dance that runs like clockwork, as over the next couple of weeks, the property's 15,000 sheep will need to be stripped of their fleece. Across...

Six years can feel like a lifetime: Scotland, more than any other nation in the United Kingdom, certainly knows about it. It was only in 2014 that the nation chose to stay in the United Kingdom in a historic referendum. Many said it was a once-in-a-generation opportunity to debate Scotland’s place in the United Kingdom. Six years later, the constitutional debate is as far from being settled as it has ever been. The past eight polls have showed that now up to 55 percent of Scots would choose...

A toxic patriarchal system combined with societal attitudes and a non-responsive judicial machinery has contributed to India’s rape problem. Vasu Primlani, herself a victim, now an activist, explains how. The recent rapes of young girls in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh left the nation shocked, not just by the brutality of the crimes but the grim reminder of how deep-rooted and rampant sexual violence is in the country. Vasu Primlani, now 47 years old, a child rape survivor...

A project to reward police officers hunting for missing kids in India’s capital city may have paid off, but millions of children run the risk of slipping into slavery as the coronavirus pandemic has increased pressure on families to put their sons and daughters into forced labour in the south Asian nation. The police said the number of children rescued tripled in August in Delhi, where 20 children vanish without a trace every day. Indian Nobel peace laureate Kailash Satyarthi warned such...

For five years now, the Beethoven Foundation for Art and Culture in Germany has been organizing "Sonotopia", an international artistic residence in three countries that revolves mainly around the sound identity of a city’s every day sounds and how they are perceived by the listeners. What do these noises say about a city? Is a there another message behind the sounds? This year two students from Luxembourg and Germany were able to spent one month in Dakar with two Senegalese artists to create...

In a novel way to educate Liberian citizens about the Covid-19 pandemic, President George Weah has released a song to raise awareness about coronavirus. Weah hopes to appeal to music lovers across the nation of some 4.5 million people to ensure Covid-19 does not spread further than the three cases already confirmed in the capital Monrovia. With the aftermath of the 2014 Ebola outbreak that killed over 4,000 Liberians, the authorities are not taking the situation lightly. Correspondent...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could be facing the biggest ever threat to his power.It comes from two former close allies who’ve formed new political parties and are calling for a more democratic Turkey. With Turkey in the economic doldrums, a situation that is likely to be exacerbated by the coronavirus epidemic, Erdogan is seen as more vulnerable than ever. But, as correspondent Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the new parties are themselves facing formidable challenges. Click...

Female students at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, in Mexico City, are occupying faculties and schools to protest gender violence. Authorities have asked protesters to return control of the buildings as coronavirus cases rise across the country. The students say that won’t happen until more is done to keep them safe from violence and sexual harassment. According to official figures, the number of homicides in Mexico climbed to a new high in 2019, reaching more than 34,000. Ed...

Kenya’s tourism sector has been hard hit by the deadly coronavirus sweeping the world. Vacant rooms and visitor cancellations have forced many hotels to close their doors, leading to staff layoffs. Correspondent Joseph Jira reports from Mombasa. Click the 'play' button above to listen to the audio report, or subscribe to our podcast by searching 'RFI international report.