Question for written answer E-002751/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Dimitris Tsiodras (PPE)
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognises that ensuring access to affordable fluoride toothpaste is a key public health measure for reducing tooth decay across the population.
The French health and safety agency has recently proposed a harmonised classification of sodium fluoride as a category 1 material for its reproductive toxicity and endocrine-disrupting properties.
If confirmed, this classification would automatically prohibit the use of sodium fluoride in cosmetic products such as toothpastes and mouthwashes, unless an exemption is granted under Article 15 of the Cosmetic Products Regulation[1].
This would significantly restrict EU consumers’ access to essential oral-care products that are widely recognised by scientists, healthcare professionals and public health authorities worldwide as both safe and effective.
1.In the event that fluoride toothpastes cease to be available in the EU, what public health measures is the Commission considering to prevent the potential increase in dental caries among the EU population?
2.How does the Commission assess the potential loss of competitiveness and jobs in the EU’s oral care industry, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises, in comparison to global competitors, and what support measures are being planned for companies and workers affected by this proposed classification?
Submitted: 7.7.2025
[1] Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 of 30 November 2009 on cosmetic products (OJ L 342, 22.12.2009, p. 59, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2009/1223/oj).
Question for written answer E-002753/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Nikolaos Anadiotis (NI)
According to reports in the international press, France and the United Kingdom are negotiating a ‘one in, one out’ deal, meaning that for each irregular migrant returned to France from the Channel, an asylum seeker from France will be accepted for family reunification in the UK[1]. The five countries of first entry (Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Malta) have expressed their opposition, noting that this agreement could circumvent European law and place a strain on the southern states.
The planned approach appears to be at odds with the principles of the new regulation on asylum management (Regulation (EU) 2024/1358) and Article 78 TFEU on a common European asylum system.
In view of the above, can the Commission answer the following:
1.What is its legal assessment of the UK-France agreement under negotiation, in relation to EU asylum law?
2.What measures will it take to ensure that countries of first entry, such as Greece, are not placed under additional strain?
3.Does it intend to call for transparency or approval for such bilateral agreements when they affect the very heart of European immigration policy?
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4
Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at the reception in celebration of 2025 Bastille Day today (July 14):
Consul General Christile Drulhe (Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macau), Deputy Commissioner Li Yongsheng (Deputy Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Bon soir. Good evening.
It’s a great pleasure to be here with you, tonight, in honour of Bastille Day, a day of surpassing joy throughout France, and one that resonates far beyond its borders, including right here in Hong Kong.
Tonight is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the strong and deepening ties between France and Hong Kong. They are thriving, and in so many promising ways.
France remains one of Hong Kong’s most important trading partners in the European Union, with our bilateral trade in goods reaching around EUR9 billion last year. And Hong Kong, I must say, is a passionate admirer of French products. French elegance is quite literally everywhere in this city, especially when you count the handbags carried and the fashion worn by men and women in this city.
And of course, our enduring love for Bordeaux and Burgundy wines, champagnes and, increasingly, fine French liquors and spirits, continues to flourish, as the Consul General rightly mentioned earlier.
We are also seeing a growing interest from French companies and professionals in the opportunities here in Hong Kong. Last year, around 350 French companies operated here, spanning a wide range of industries. French technologies and expertise have long contributed to Hong Kong’s development in such areas as smart mobility, energy efficiency, construction engineering and waste management.
I believe more are on the way. Notably, a global leader in aeronautical services from France will establish facilities in Hong Kong for aircraft dismantling, parts recycling, and manpower training. This investment aligns with our vision of becoming a regional hub for aircraft parts processing and trading. The company also has plans to set up ancillary operations in Zhuhai. It shows how we are joining hands to bring French industrial excellence into the Greater Bay Area.
In the innovation and technology sector, France ranks among the top three international sources of start-up founders in Hong Kong. It not only reflects French entrepreneurial spirit, but also the vast potential of our tech co-operation.
And I’m pleased to note that in the first half of this year alone, over 74 000 French visitors came to Hong Kong, a 9 per cent year-on-year increase. We hope many more will follow.
Looking ahead, I am confident that the relationship between Hong Kong and France will continue to grow from strength to strength, especially in the broader context of the ever-deepening China-France relationship.
Last year, our country became the largest Asian investor in France, and Hong Kong continues to be a vital conduit for Mainland investments into Europe, and as a springboard for Mainland companies expanding into the continent. At the same time, we remain the gateway of choice for French and European enterprises seeking opportunities in China and across Asia.
That role is more important than ever today. In a world beset with uncertainty – geopolitical risks, tariff chaos, and the rise of protectionism and unilateralism – we stand to support and benefit from stronger co-operation between China and France, and between Asia and Europe.
Hong Kong stands as a steadfast “super connector”, a reassuring beacon of free and open trade, a champion of cross-border investment, and an international city of stability, diversity and opportunity.
This is evident in our financial markets. Last year, the Hong Kong stock market recorded an 18 per cent gain, and has grown by another 20 per cent so far this year. This year, we raised around EUR14 billion through IPOs so far, putting us the leading IPO market in the world. International investors, including European ones, are playing key roles as cornerstone participants. And since last September, waves of capital from the US and Europe flowed into our markets, as global investors recognised that they might have under-weighted their allocations to the Greater China region, particularly in the technology and green energy sectors.
In short, the world, and its capital, has turned to Hong Kong as a safe, welcoming and reliable haven.
More and more, the international community are rediscovering the strengths of Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” framework. A cornerstone of it is our unwavering commitment to the rule of law, underpinned by the common law system and a judiciary exercising powers independently. Over the past few years, the restoration of stability as well as law and order has not only safeguarded the rights and freedoms of our people, but also reinforced Hong Kong’s appeal as a safe and world-class business destination.
This is reflected in our rising position in various international competitiveness rankings and positive feedback we continue to receive from foreign businesses operating here.
Ladies and gentlemen, as the Consul General noted earlier, there is so much more that Hong Kong and France can do together – in technology, housing, education, arts and culture, and in celebrating the many pleasures of life. I look forward to more exchanges and deeper collaboration between our two communities.
And that should include a visit by the Champions League winners, or better yet, Les Bleus, to our world-class Kai Tak Stadium.
Let us continue to build lasting bonds between Hong Kong and France, France and Hong Kong.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Rachel Engler-Stringer, Professor, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan
This spring, as part of a sabbatical project, I had the privilege of visiting school food programs and meeting with school food researchers in six cities in France, England and Scotland.
I got to eat school lunches, visit central kitchens in two cities where meals are prepared for thousands of children, visit school kitchens and discuss school food with the countries’ leading experts.
2) One important benefit of school food programs globally is to encourage picky eaters to try new foods due to the social pressure of all kids eating the same foods together. In three cities in France I visited, and one in England, school lunches look like home-cooked meals. One main dish with meat is served (and in England, a vegetarian alternative), and kids can choose if and how much of the side vegetables and fruit to take.
In the other two locations in England and Scotland, kids choose from multiple main dishes — something that adds cost to the program and does less to encourage kids to try new foods, given one choice is always something basic like a cheese sandwich.
Kids need to have some autonomy when it comes to eating, but school food programs should not be facilitating eating the same food every day. Nor should school food programs aspire to a model where broad choice is afforded from a large menu.
3) With care, planning and sufficient resources, centralized kitchens can prepare thousands of servings of a main dish daily. The French central kitchens I visited prepare 6,000 to 10,000 servings a day of high-quality food following strict food safety protocols.
I ate two simple yet delicious meals cooked in municipally owned central kitchens. In the three cities in France where I visited, they used central kitchens where main dishes were prepared and chilled to be delivered for heating at the school level. Central kitchens also delivered the salads and sides (like chopped veggies, bread, cheese and fruit) and dressings.
In the small school kitchens, the salads were dressed, and the cheese and fruit were cut for service.
The central kitchens were also used in at least one city to prepare food for daycares and for seniors who were home-bound — something to consider for Canadian cities.
Centralizing kitchens can reduce costs and provide a way for high-quality food to be produced from basic ingredients without commercial kitchens in every school capable of preparing meals for hundreds of children at a time.
4) When designed with requirements for purchasing foods from local farmers and other Canadian producers, school food programs can benefit the agricultural sector and multiply their benefits to communities beyond direct school food jobs. In France, for example, there are specific percentages to be purchased from local and sustainable sources. Percentage requirements for local and sustainable purchasing should be enacted now in Canada as its program establishes itself, perhaps beginning with 20 per cent and growing over time.
I have many more reflections from my visits, both positive and negative, but the four I have discussed are important for Canada to learn from as it begins to design the National School Food Program to meet the needs of diverse communities from coast to coast to coast.
Rachel Engler-Stringer receives funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada and received a University of Saskatchewan International Travel Award for program visits. She sits on the Steering Committee of the Coalition for Healthy School Food.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Rachel Engler-Stringer, Professor, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan
This spring, as part of a sabbatical project, I had the privilege of visiting school food programs and meeting with school food researchers in six cities in France, England and Scotland.
I got to eat school lunches, visit central kitchens in two cities where meals are prepared for thousands of children, visit school kitchens and discuss school food with the countries’ leading experts.
2) One important benefit of school food programs globally is to encourage picky eaters to try new foods due to the social pressure of all kids eating the same foods together. In three cities in France I visited, and one in England, school lunches look like home-cooked meals. One main dish with meat is served (and in England, a vegetarian alternative), and kids can choose if and how much of the side vegetables and fruit to take.
In the other two locations in England and Scotland, kids choose from multiple main dishes — something that adds cost to the program and does less to encourage kids to try new foods, given one choice is always something basic like a cheese sandwich.
Kids need to have some autonomy when it comes to eating, but school food programs should not be facilitating eating the same food every day. Nor should school food programs aspire to a model where broad choice is afforded from a large menu.
3) With care, planning and sufficient resources, centralized kitchens can prepare thousands of servings of a main dish daily. The French central kitchens I visited prepare 6,000 to 10,000 servings a day of high-quality food following strict food safety protocols.
I ate two simple yet delicious meals cooked in municipally owned central kitchens. In the three cities in France where I visited, they used central kitchens where main dishes were prepared and chilled to be delivered for heating at the school level. Central kitchens also delivered the salads and sides (like chopped veggies, bread, cheese and fruit) and dressings.
In the small school kitchens, the salads were dressed, and the cheese and fruit were cut for service.
The central kitchens were also used in at least one city to prepare food for daycares and for seniors who were home-bound — something to consider for Canadian cities.
Centralizing kitchens can reduce costs and provide a way for high-quality food to be produced from basic ingredients without commercial kitchens in every school capable of preparing meals for hundreds of children at a time.
4) When designed with requirements for purchasing foods from local farmers and other Canadian producers, school food programs can benefit the agricultural sector and multiply their benefits to communities beyond direct school food jobs. In France, for example, there are specific percentages to be purchased from local and sustainable sources. Percentage requirements for local and sustainable purchasing should be enacted now in Canada as its program establishes itself, perhaps beginning with 20 per cent and growing over time.
I have many more reflections from my visits, both positive and negative, but the four I have discussed are important for Canada to learn from as it begins to design the National School Food Program to meet the needs of diverse communities from coast to coast to coast.
Rachel Engler-Stringer receives funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada and received a University of Saskatchewan International Travel Award for program visits. She sits on the Steering Committee of the Coalition for Healthy School Food.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
News story
UK and Czechia to lead global race on small modular reactors
British workers will further benefit from a new generation of nuclear power.
Golden age of nuclear receives a major new boost, as the Prime Minister and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala sign first of a kind partnership at Downing Street today
both countries will now work closer together on small modular reactors to seize export opportunities, support highly-skilled jobs, boost economic growth and deliver clean, homegrown energy as part of the Plan for Change
follows government backing for new nuclear at the Spending Review, including selection of Rolls-Royce SMR as the preferred bidder to build the UK’s first small modular reactors and £14.2 billion investment to build Sizewell C
British workers will further benefit from a new generation of nuclear power, as the government signs a landmark agreement with Czechia to kickstart the next chapter in the UK’s golden age of nuclear and secure high-skilled jobs.
Today’s agreement, set to be signed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala at Downing Street, will unlock new opportunities for industrial collaboration and the potential for the UK and Czechia to export small modular reactors to other countries in Europe.
It will also support the delivery of up to six new reactors in Czechia by Rolls-Royce SMR, potentially worth billions of pounds.
It comes after Rolls Royce SMR and the Czechia’s largest public company, ČEZ, agreed last year to partner on SMR, with ČEZ acquiring a 20% stake.
The leaders will also host a business roundtable as part of the visit to drive closer trade and investment links between the UK and Czechia to support working people.
Building more nuclear will help drive the UK’s energy security, as part of the government’s mission to protect family finances by replacing the UK’s dependency on fossil fuel markets controlled by dictators with clean power that we control.
Small modular reactors are also smaller and quicker to build than traditional nuclear plants, with costs likely to come down as units are rolled out, helping to delivering clean, homegrown energy for British billpayers.
The government’s clean energy mission is the only route to energy security, lower bills and good jobs for the country. Investment is already booming, with over £40 billion of private investment in clean energy announced since last July.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
This agreement is about delivering for Britain – cleaner energy, better jobs, and greater security.
By working with our Czech partners on small modular reactors, we’re backing British engineering, strengthening our industrial base, and putting the UK in a leading position to export the technologies of the future.
This is our Plan for Change in action, taking practical steps to rebuild our economy, bring down bills, and give working people a stake in our clean energy transition.
Peter Fiala, Prime Minister of Czechia, said:
Nuclear energy holds significant potential for the coming years, as the sector is undergoing a true renaissance. That is why I am especially pleased that ČEZ and Rolls-Royce will cooperate on the development and production of small modular reactors. This collaboration will bring tangible benefits to both Czech and British economies, including job creation.
The Czech Republic and the United Kingdom share a common approach to energy policy, and we have a very similar vision of what the future of energy should look like. We see the ideal energy mix as a combination of large nuclear power plants, small modular reactors and renewable energy sources.
I am confident that this partnership with the United Kingdom will help us ensure energy security and affordable energy for future generations — a key priority of our government.
UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:
This government is driving to make the UK a clean energy superpower, replacing our dependence on fossil fuel markets controlled by petrostates with clean homegrown power we control.
Nuclear power is an essential part of that, which is why this government is ending years of a no-nuclear status quo to seize the benefits of a nuclear golden age for Britain.
This agreement will put the UK back where it belongs – at the very forefront of the global race on nuclear, working in lockstep with our Czech partners to deliver economic growth, clean energy and highly-skilled jobs for both nations.
According to the International Energy Agency, the global SMR market is projected to reach up to nearly £500 billion by 2050, with today’s announcement giving the UK and Czechia the competitive advantage as frontrunners in the global race to build and export new nuclear technology.
This follows Rolls-Royce SMR being selected as the preferred bidder to partner with Great British Energy – Nuclear to develop small modular reactors, subject to final government approvals and contract signature – unlocking a new golden age of nuclear in the UK.
As part of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy to revive Britain’s industrial heartlands, the government has pledged over £2.5 billion for the overall small modular reactor programme – with this project potentially supporting up to 3,000 new skilled jobs and powering the equivalent of around 3 million homes with clean, secure homegrown energy.
Great British Energy – Nuclear is aiming to allocate a site later this year and connect projects to the grid in the mid-2030s. Once small modular reactors and Sizewell C come online in the 2030s, combined with the new station at Hinkley Point C, this will deliver more nuclear to the grid than over the previous half century.
Last week, during the President Macron’s State Visit to the UK, French energy giant EDF confirmed it will take a 12.5% stake in Sizewell C, taking the project one step closer to being given the green light. At peak construction, Sizewell C will support 10,000 jobs, and thousands more in the nationwide supply chain, and create 1,500 apprenticeships.
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Ted Palys, Professor of Criminology, Associate Member of Dept. of Indigenous Studies, Simon Fraser University
The contemporary internet has been with us since roughly 1995. Its current underlying economic model — surveillance capitalism — began in the early 2000s, when Google and then Facebook realized how much our personal information and online behaviour revealed about us and claimed it for themselves to sell to advertisers.
Perhaps because of Canada’s proximity to the United States, coupled with its positive shared history with the U.S. and their highly integrated economies, Canada went along for that consumerist ride.
The experience was different on the other side of the Atlantic. The Stasi in the former East Germany and the KGB under Josef Stalin maintained files on hundreds of thousands of citizens to identify and prosecute dissidents.
This has fuelled the motivation of Canada both internally and in co-operation with western European governments to seek greater independence in trade and military preparedness by diversifying its relationships.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has begun promoting “nation-building projects,” but little attention has been paid to Canada’s digital infrastructure.
Three recent developments suggest Canada would be well-advised to start paying close attention:
1. The current U.S. administration has raised concerns about its reliability as a partner and friend to Canada. Most of the concerns raised in Canada have been economic. However, Curtis McCord, a former national security and technology researcher for the Canadian government, has said the current situation has created vulnerabilities for national security as well:
“With Washington becoming an increasingly unreliable ally, Mr. Carney is right to look for ways to diversify away from the U.S. But if Canada wants to maintain its sovereignty and be responsible for its national security, this desire to diversify must extend to the U.S. domination of Canada’s digital infrastructure.”
2. Silicon Valley is exhibiting a newfound loyalty to Trump. The photo of the “broligarchy” at Trump’s inauguration spoke volumes, as their apparent eagerness to appease the president brings the data gathered by the internet’s surveillance-based economy under state control.
3. Trump’s recent executive order entitled “Stopping waste, fraud and abuse by eliminating information silos” is alarming. The order became operational when the Trump administration contracted with Palantir, a company known for its surveillance software and data analytics in military contexts. Its job? To combine databases from both the state and federal levels into one massive database that includes every American citizen, and potentially any user of the internet.
Combining multiple government databases is concerning. Combining them with all the personal data harvested by Silicon Valley and providing them to a government showing all the hallmarks of an authoritarian regime sounds like Big Brother has arrived.
Civil liberties groups such as the Electronic Freedom Foundation, academics and even former Palantir employees have raised alarms about the possibilities for abuse, including the launch of all the vendettas Trump and his supporters have pledged to undertake.
The appeal of Eurostack
European governments have attempted to rein in Silicon Valley’s excesses for years. Trump’s re-election and his moves toward potentially weaponizing internet data have further boosted Europe’s resolve to move away from the U.S.-led internet.
One newer effort is Eurostack. A joint initiative involving academics, policymakers, companies and governments, it envisions an independent digital ecosystem that better reflects European values — democratic, sovereign, inclusive, transparent, respectful of personal privacy and innovation-driven.
Spokesperson Francesca Bria explains the “stack” arises from the idea that a digitally sovereign internet needs to have European control from the ground up.
Bria discusses Eurostack in May 2025. (re:publica)
That includes the acquisition of raw materials and manufacture and operation of the physical components that comprise computers and servers; the cloud infrastructure that has the processing power and storage to be operational at scale; the operating systems and applications that comprise the user interface; the AI models and algorithms that drive services and its policy and governance framework.
Prospective gains to Europe are considerable. They include greater cybersecurity, promoting innovation, keeping high-end creative jobs in Europe, promoting collaboration on equitable terms and creating high-skilled employment opportunities.
Canada receives no mention in the Eurostack proposal to date, but the project is still very much in the developmental phase. Investment so far is in the tens of millions instead of the billions it will require.
Canada has a lot to offer and to gain from being part of the Eurostack initiative. With the project still taking shape, now is the perfect time to get on board.
Ted Palys does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
In the early morning, the fields stretch as far as the eye can see, bathed in the soft light of the rising sun. In Kwilu, Kasai, and Tshopo provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), rural communities are reclaiming their land with renewed energy. Here, every furrow in the earth tells a story of resilience and hope.
These fertile lands have long been trapped in a vicious circle of poor-quality seed, limited access to fertilizers, outdated farming techniques, low yields, and unstable incomes. A tradition of subsistence farming has confined families to day-to-day survival, leaving them vulnerable to climate shocks and food crises.
That has changed thanks to the deployment of the Emergency Food Production Project (https://apo-opa.co/3TDmJmU) (PURPA in the French acronym), which is being implemented by the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) as part of the African Emergency Food Production Facility (https://apo-opa.co/4kAFbr2). The project aims to restore food production in the most vulnerable rural areas of the DRC as rapidly as possible.
Large-scale distribution of seeds and other agricultural inputs lies at the heart of the project and has delivered a decisive impact:
More than 325 tonnes of rice, 388 tonnes of maize and 1.4 million linear metres of cassava cuttings have been distributed, far exceeding initial forecasts.
49,749 farming households have been reached, primarily women, who are often on the front line in the battle to feed their families.
Villagers in the communities covered by the project are enthusiastic, reflecting a rebirth of hope as the fields come back to life. The seed is in the ground and local people believe the harvest should be sufficient to meet their families’ needs while leaving a surplus for sale on the market.
Beyond the distributions, PURPA has strengthened the capacities of agricultural research stations such as the one at Kiyaka in Kwilu province in the centre of the country, enabling local production of improved maize and rice seeds. Over 100 tonnes of maize seed, 33 tonnes of rice and 2.55 million cassava cuttings have been produced. The distribution of 334 tonnes of fertilizer also offers a guarantee of suitable and affordable seeds for future seasons.
Targeted training programmes have also been launched. The Project financed the training of 300 managers and administrative staff, 30% of whom were women, using the “farmers’ field-school” approach with a focus on seed production and technical itineraries. These initiatives not only improve yields but also strengthen the capacities of women and agricultural cooperatives.
A final push to distribute fertilizer and seed produced by the research centres is scheduled for the coming months. Multiple outcomes are expected: increased farm incomes through the sale of surpluses; the creation of new economic opportunities, particularly for women and young people; significant improvement in food security with a reduction of lean periods; and the development of more autonomous agriculture that is less dependent on external aid.
Local authorities in several provinces are also observing a reduction in rural exodus as young people return to their towns to participate in this new-style agriculture, attracted by more promising prospects.
For these communities, the Emergency Food Production Project is not just a response to the global food crisis. It is a veritable “school of resilience” where solidarity, local know-how and agricultural innovation support and encourage each other.
In these regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, farming is no longer just about survival. In these newly seeded fields, it has become a means of development, investment, and heritage. Much remains to be done, but the transformation is underway. In these once fragile rural lands, a conviction is taking root: change, from now on, comes from here.
– on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).
Zohran Mamdani takes photos with union members during a campaign rally at the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council headquarters in New York on July 2, 2025. AP Photo/Richard Drew
When Zohran Mamdani announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City, political observers noted his progressive platform and legislative record. But understanding the Democratic candidate’s background requires examining the rich cultural tapestry woven into his very surname: Mamdani.
He takes the name from his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a prominent academic who was raised in Uganda and whose work focuses on postcolonial Uganda. I studied the history of the Khoja community for my doctoral work and have helped develop Khoja studies as an academic discipline. The Mamdani surname tells a story of migration, resilience and community-building that spans centuries and continents.
The Khoja history
Mamdanis in Uganda belong to the Khoja community, a South Asian Muslim merchant caste, that shaped economic development across the western Indian Ocean for centuries.
The name originates from greater Sindh, a region in South Asia that today includes southeastern Pakistan and Kachchh in western India.
Its etymology is twofold. Mām is an honorific title in Kachchhi and Gujarati languages, meaning kindness, courage and pride. Māmadō is a local version of the name Muhammad that often appeared in surnames in Hindu castes that converted to Islam, such as the Memons.
The Khoja were categorized by the British in the early 19th century as “Hindoo Mussalman” because their traditions spanned both religions.
Over time, the Khoja came to be identified only as Muslim and then primarily as Shiite Muslim. Today, the majority of Khoja are Ismaili: a branch of Shiite Islam that follows the Aga Khan as their living imam.
The Mamdani family, however, is part of the Twelver community of Khoja, whose Twelfth Imam is believed to be hidden from the world and only emerges in times of crisis. Twelvers believe he will help usher in an age of peace during end times.
Around the late 18th century, the Khoja helped export textiles, manufactured goods, spices and gems from the Indian subcontinent to Arabia and East Africa. Through this Western Indian Ocean trading network, they imported timber, ivory, minerals and cloves, among other goods.
Khoja family firms were built on kinship networks and trust. They built networks of shops, communal housing and warehouses, and extended credit for thousands of miles, from Zanzibar in Tanzania to Bombay – now Mumbai – on the western coast of India.
Cousins and brothers would send money and goods across the ocean with only a letter. The precarious nature of trade in this period meant that families also served as insurance for each other. In times of wealth, it was shared; in times of disaster, help was available.
Khoja contributions in Africa
The Khoja became instrumental in building the commercial infrastructure of eastern, central and southern Africa. But the Khoja contribution to the development of Africa extended far beyond trade.
In the absence of colonial investment in public infrastructure, they helped build institutions that formed the foundation of the modern nation-states that emerged after colonization. The institutions both facilitated trade and established permanent communities.
For example, the first dispensary and public school in Zanzibar were constructed by a Khoja magnate, Tharia Topan, who made his wealth through the ivory and clove trades. Topan eventually became so prominent that he was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1890 for his service to the British Empire in helping to end slavery in East Africa.
The Khoja community continues to invest in East Africa. The most famous example is the Aga Khan Development Network, whose hospitals and schools operate in 30 countries. In places such as Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, they are considered the best.
Khoja in Uganda
Like in other parts of Africa, the Khoja settled in Uganda as a liaison business community to develop a market to serve both African and European needs. The linguistic and cultural knowledge, developed over centuries, helped facilitate business despite the challenges of colonization.
Ugandan President Idi Amin and his wife, Sarah, in Rome on Sept. 10, 1975. AP Photo
However, in 1972, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin expelled all Asians – approximately 80,000 – forcing families like the Mamdanis into exile. These included indentured laborers, who were brought in to help build the railroad and farm during the British colonial period, and free traders, like the Mamdani family.
Amin saw them all as the same and famously said: “Asians came to Uganda to build the railway. The railway is finished. They must leave now.”
The experience was a bitter one. Families lost everything, and many left with only the clothes on their backs.
Mahmood Mamdani, who came from a Khoja merchant family, was 26 when he was exiled. Yet, unlike most Ugandan Asians, he chose to go back. At Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, Mamdani set up the Institute for Social Research, which helped to provide rigorous social science training to Ugandan researchers trying to improve their society.
While the earlier generations of the Khoja tended to choose business or adjacent professions, such as accounting, the subsequent generations – particularly those educated in the West – embraced the knowledge economy as professionals, academics and nonprofit leaders.
Several of Mahmood Mamdani’s generation of Khoja academics conducted path-breaking work on Afro-Asian solidarity – a way of thinking about the world beyond colonial categories, such as the category of religion as a separate domain from the secular. These scholars, such as Tanzania’s Issa Shivji and Abdul Sheriff, worked on creating solidarity among the newly independent states of the Global South.
Mahmood Mamdani is known for his influential post-9/11 academic work, “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim,” which examined how Muslim identities are stereotyped. He argued that these identities are complex and varied, shaped by accumulated history and present experiences.
Interfaith identity
The Khoja community – known globally as the Khoja Shia Ithnasheri Muslim Community – has developed strong transnational connections. Today, they are concentrated in the United Kingdom, Canada, United States and France. However, Khoja can be found in almost any country in the world. In 2013, I met members of the community in Hong Kong.
The Khoja community plays an important role in interfaith dialogue and global development initiatives. A prominent Ismaili Khoja, Eboo Patel, the founder of Interfaith America, has dedicated his life to pluralism and mutual understanding through building up civil society.
Zohran Mamdani’s mother, acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair, is Hindu by birth. This interfaith marriage exemplifies the flexibility, diversity and tolerance of Khoja Islam, which has historically navigated between Hindu and Islamic traditions.
Whether Mamdani’s policies prove practical remains to be seen, but his background offers something valuable: a deep understanding of how communities build resilience across generations and geographies.
Iqbal Akhtar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Zohran Mamdani takes photos with union members during a campaign rally at the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council headquarters in New York on July 2, 2025. AP Photo/Richard Drew
When Zohran Mamdani announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City, political observers noted his progressive platform and legislative record. But understanding the Democratic candidate’s background requires examining the rich cultural tapestry woven into his very surname: Mamdani.
He takes the name from his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a prominent academic who was raised in Uganda and whose work focuses on postcolonial Uganda. I studied the history of the Khoja community for my doctoral work and have helped develop Khoja studies as an academic discipline. The Mamdani surname tells a story of migration, resilience and community-building that spans centuries and continents.
The Khoja history
Mamdanis in Uganda belong to the Khoja community, a South Asian Muslim merchant caste, that shaped economic development across the western Indian Ocean for centuries.
The name originates from greater Sindh, a region in South Asia that today includes southeastern Pakistan and Kachchh in western India.
Its etymology is twofold. Mām is an honorific title in Kachchhi and Gujarati languages, meaning kindness, courage and pride. Māmadō is a local version of the name Muhammad that often appeared in surnames in Hindu castes that converted to Islam, such as the Memons.
The Khoja were categorized by the British in the early 19th century as “Hindoo Mussalman” because their traditions spanned both religions.
Over time, the Khoja came to be identified only as Muslim and then primarily as Shiite Muslim. Today, the majority of Khoja are Ismaili: a branch of Shiite Islam that follows the Aga Khan as their living imam.
The Mamdani family, however, is part of the Twelver community of Khoja, whose Twelfth Imam is believed to be hidden from the world and only emerges in times of crisis. Twelvers believe he will help usher in an age of peace during end times.
Around the late 18th century, the Khoja helped export textiles, manufactured goods, spices and gems from the Indian subcontinent to Arabia and East Africa. Through this Western Indian Ocean trading network, they imported timber, ivory, minerals and cloves, among other goods.
Khoja family firms were built on kinship networks and trust. They built networks of shops, communal housing and warehouses, and extended credit for thousands of miles, from Zanzibar in Tanzania to Bombay – now Mumbai – on the western coast of India.
Cousins and brothers would send money and goods across the ocean with only a letter. The precarious nature of trade in this period meant that families also served as insurance for each other. In times of wealth, it was shared; in times of disaster, help was available.
Khoja contributions in Africa
The Khoja became instrumental in building the commercial infrastructure of eastern, central and southern Africa. But the Khoja contribution to the development of Africa extended far beyond trade.
In the absence of colonial investment in public infrastructure, they helped build institutions that formed the foundation of the modern nation-states that emerged after colonization. The institutions both facilitated trade and established permanent communities.
For example, the first dispensary and public school in Zanzibar were constructed by a Khoja magnate, Tharia Topan, who made his wealth through the ivory and clove trades. Topan eventually became so prominent that he was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1890 for his service to the British Empire in helping to end slavery in East Africa.
The Khoja community continues to invest in East Africa. The most famous example is the Aga Khan Development Network, whose hospitals and schools operate in 30 countries. In places such as Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, they are considered the best.
Khoja in Uganda
Like in other parts of Africa, the Khoja settled in Uganda as a liaison business community to develop a market to serve both African and European needs. The linguistic and cultural knowledge, developed over centuries, helped facilitate business despite the challenges of colonization.
Ugandan President Idi Amin and his wife, Sarah, in Rome on Sept. 10, 1975. AP Photo
However, in 1972, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin expelled all Asians – approximately 80,000 – forcing families like the Mamdanis into exile. These included indentured laborers, who were brought in to help build the railroad and farm during the British colonial period, and free traders, like the Mamdani family.
Amin saw them all as the same and famously said: “Asians came to Uganda to build the railway. The railway is finished. They must leave now.”
The experience was a bitter one. Families lost everything, and many left with only the clothes on their backs.
Mahmood Mamdani, who came from a Khoja merchant family, was 26 when he was exiled. Yet, unlike most Ugandan Asians, he chose to go back. At Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, Mamdani set up the Institute for Social Research, which helped to provide rigorous social science training to Ugandan researchers trying to improve their society.
While the earlier generations of the Khoja tended to choose business or adjacent professions, such as accounting, the subsequent generations – particularly those educated in the West – embraced the knowledge economy as professionals, academics and nonprofit leaders.
Several of Mahmood Mamdani’s generation of Khoja academics conducted path-breaking work on Afro-Asian solidarity – a way of thinking about the world beyond colonial categories, such as the category of religion as a separate domain from the secular. These scholars, such as Tanzania’s Issa Shivji and Abdul Sheriff, worked on creating solidarity among the newly independent states of the Global South.
Mahmood Mamdani is known for his influential post-9/11 academic work, “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim,” which examined how Muslim identities are stereotyped. He argued that these identities are complex and varied, shaped by accumulated history and present experiences.
Interfaith identity
The Khoja community – known globally as the Khoja Shia Ithnasheri Muslim Community – has developed strong transnational connections. Today, they are concentrated in the United Kingdom, Canada, United States and France. However, Khoja can be found in almost any country in the world. In 2013, I met members of the community in Hong Kong.
The Khoja community plays an important role in interfaith dialogue and global development initiatives. A prominent Ismaili Khoja, Eboo Patel, the founder of Interfaith America, has dedicated his life to pluralism and mutual understanding through building up civil society.
Zohran Mamdani’s mother, acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair, is Hindu by birth. This interfaith marriage exemplifies the flexibility, diversity and tolerance of Khoja Islam, which has historically navigated between Hindu and Islamic traditions.
Whether Mamdani’s policies prove practical remains to be seen, but his background offers something valuable: a deep understanding of how communities build resilience across generations and geographies.
Iqbal Akhtar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
A journalist who was on the Rainbow Warrior voyage to Rongelap last night condemned France for its “callous” attack of an environmental ship, saying “we haven’t forgotten, or forgiven this outrage”.
David Robie, the author of Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior, said at the launch that the consequences of almost 300 US and French nuclear tests – many of them “dirty bombs” — were still impacting on indigenous Pacific peoples 40 years after the bombing of the ship.
French saboteurs had killed “our shipmate Fernando Pereira” on 10 July 1985 in what the New Zealand prime minister at the time, David Lange, called a “sordid act of international state-backed terrorism”.
Although relations with France had perhaps mellowed over time, four decades ago there was a lot of hostility towards the country, Dr Robie said.
“And that act of mindless sabotage still rankles very deeply in our psyche,” he said at the launch in Auckland Central’s Ellen Melville Centre on the anniversary of July 10.
About 100 people gathered in the centre’s Pioneer Women’s Hall for the book launch as Dr Robie reflected on the case of state terrorism after Greenpeace earlier in the day held a memorial ceremony on board Rainbow Warrior III.
“One of the celebrated French newspapers, Le Monde, played a critical role in the investigation into the Rainbow Warrior affair — what I brand as ‘Blundergate’, in view of all the follies of the bumbling DGSE spy team,” he said.
Plantu cartoon “And one of the cartoons in that newspaper, by Plantu, who is a sort of French equivalent to Michael Leunig, caught my eye.
“You will notice it in the background slide show behind me. It shows François Mitterrand, the president of the French republic at the time, dressed in a frogman’s wetsuit lecturing to school children during a history lesson.
“President Mitterrand says, in French, ‘At that time, only presidents had the right to carry out terrorism!’
Tahitian advocate Ena Manurevia . . . the background Plantu cartoon is the one mentioned by the author. Image: Asia Pacific Report
He noticed that in the Mitterrand cartoon there was a “classmate” sitting in the back of the room with a moustache. This was none other than Edwy Plenel, the police reporter for Le Monde at the time, who scooped the world with hard evidence of Mitterrand and the French government’s role at the highest level in the Rainbow Warrior sabotage.
Dr Robie said that Plenel now published the investigative website Mediapart, which had played a key role in 2015 revealing the identity of the bomber that night, “the man who had planted the limpet mines on the Rainbow Warrior — sinking a peace and environmental ship, and killing Fernando Pereira.”
Jean-Luc Kister, a retired French colonel and DGSE secret agent, had confessed to his role and “apologised”, claiming the sabotage operation was “disproportionate and a mistake”.
“Was he sincere? Was it a genuine attempt to come to terms with his conscience. Who knows?” Dr Robie said, adding that he was unconvinced.
Hilari Anderson (right on stage), one of the speakers, with Del Abcede and MC Antony Phillips (obscured) . . . the background image shows Helen Clark meeting Fernando Pereira’s daughter Marelle in 2005. Image: Greenpeace
French perspective Dr Robie said he had asked Plenel for his reflections from a French perspective 40 years on. Plenel cited three main take ways.
“First, the vital necessity of independent journalism. Independent of all powers, whether state, economic or ideological. Journalism that serves the public interest, the right to know, and factual truths.
“Impactful journalism whose revelations restore confidence in democracy, in the possibility of improving it, and in the usefulness of counterbalancing powers, particularly journalism.”
Secondly, this attack had been carried out by France in an “allied country”, New Zealand, against a civil society organisation. This demonstrated that “the thirst for power is a downfall that leads nations astray when they succumb to it.
“Nuclear weapons epitomise this madness, this catastrophe of power.”
Eyes of Fire 10 years ago . . . same author, same publisher. Video: Pacific Media Centre
Finally, Plenel expressed the “infinite sadness” for a French citizen that after his revelations in Le Monde — which led to the resignations of the defence minister and the head of the secret services — nothing else happened.
“Nothing at all. No parliamentary inquiry, no questioning of François Mitterrand about his responsibility, no institutional reform of the absolute power of the president in a French republic that is, in reality, an elective monarchy.”
‘Elective monarchy’ trend Dr Robie compared the French outcome with the rapid trend in US today, “a president who thinks he is a monarch, a king – another elective monarchy.”
He also bemoaned that “catastrophe of power” that “reigns everywhere today – from the horrendous Israeli genocide in Gaza to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, from Trump to Putin to Netanyahu, and so many others.”
The continuous Gaza massacres were a shameful indictment of the West that had allowed it to happen for more than 21 months.
Dr Robie thanked many collaborators for their help and support, including drama teacher Hilari Anderson, an original crew member of the Rainbow Warrior, and photographer John Miller, “who have been with me all the way on this waka journey”.
He thanked his wife, Del, and family members for their unstinting “patience and support”, and also publisher Tony Murrow of Little Island Press.
Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior . . . published 10 July 2025. Image: David Robie/Little Island Press
Launching the book, Greenpeace Aotearoa programme director Niamh O’Flynn said one thing that had stood out for her was how the legacy of the Rainbow Warrior had continued despite the attempt by the French government to shut it down 40 years ago.
“We said then that ‘you can’t sink a rainbow’, and we went on to prove it.
“When the Rainbow Warrior was bombed in Auckland harbour, it was getting ready to set sail to Moruroa Atoll, to enter the test exclusion zone and confront French nuclear testing head-on.”
So threatened The French government had felt so threatened by that action that it had engaged in a state-sanctioned terror attack to prevent the mission from going ahead.
“But we rebuilt, and the Rainbow Warrior II carried on with that mission, travelling to Moruroa three times before the French finally stopped nuclear testing in the Pacific.
“That spirit and tenacity is what makes Greenpeace and what makes the Rainbow Warrior so special to everyone who has sailed on her,” she said.
“It was the final voyage of the Rainbow Warrior to Rongelap before the bombing that is the focus of David Robie’s book, and in many ways, it was an incredibly unique experience for Greenpeace — not just here in Aotearoa, but internationally.
“And of course David was a key part in that.”
O’Flynn said that as someone who had not even been born yet when the Rainbow Warrior was bombed, “I am so grateful that the generation of nuclear-free activists took the time to pass on their knowledge and to build our organisation into what it is today.
“Just as David has by writing down his story and leaving us with such a rich legacy.”
Greenpeace Aotearoa programme director Niamh O’Flynn . . . “That spirit and tenacity is what makes Greenpeace and what makes the Rainbow Warrior so special to everyone who has sailed on her.” Image: APR
Other speakers Among other speakers at the book launch were teacher Hilari Anderson, publisher Tony Murrow of Little Island Press, Ena Manuireva, a Mangarevian scholar and cultural adviser, and MC Antony Phillips of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
Anderson spoke of the Warrior’s early campaigns and acknowledged the crews of 1978 and 1985.
“I have been reflecting what these first and last crews of the original Rainbow Warrior had in common, realising that both gave their collective, mostly youthful energy — to transformation.
“This has involved the bonding of crews by working hands-on together. Touching surfaces, by hammer and paint, created a physical connection to this beloved boat.”
She paid special tribute to two powerful women, Denise Bell, who tracked down the marine research vessel in Aberdeen that became the Rainbow Warrior, and the indomitable Susi Newborn, who “contributed to naming the ship and mustering a crew”.
Manuireva spoke about his nuclear colonial experience and that of his family as natives of Mangareva atoll, about 400 km from Muroroa atoll, where France conducted most of its 30 years of tests ending in 1995.
He also spoke of Tahitian leader Oscar Temaru’s pioneering role in the Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP) movement, and played haunting Tahitian songs on his guitar.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
More than 270 delegates from over 20 countries, regions and international organizations praised China’s Beijing-Zhangjiakou High-Speed Railway, the world’s first smart high-speed railway operating at 350 kmh, after riding the line on July 11.
Representatives from various countries, regions and international organizations ride the CR400BF-GS Fuxing train in Beijing, July 11, 2025. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]
“Extremely smooth!” said Iñigo Aguas Ardaiz from France. “I didn’t feel at all that the speed had reached 350 kmh! The riding experience is comfortable and easy, and this technology is a masterpiece.”
Ali Abdollahi, a representative from Iran, praised the service quality: “Everything is so comfortable, and the carriages are clean and tidy. I think China has the most advanced high-speed railway system in the world, which is really amazing!”
The China Academy of Railway Sciences and China Railway Beijing Group organized the technical visit for officials from the International Union of Railways (UIC), foreign diplomats, business executives and journalists.
A guest films inside the CR400BF-GS Fuxing train in Beijing, July 11, 2025. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]
The Beijing-Zhangjiakou High-Speed Railway is the world’s first high-speed railway to fully integrate smart technology into its construction, equipment and daily operations. The railway uses advanced technologies, including big data analysis, artificial intelligence and China’s Beidou Satellite Navigation System, throughout the entire line.
The railway’s Fuxing trains feature automatic driving capabilities that reduce energy consumption by 7.77% per train, according to the operators.
The 174-kilometer line passes through major engineering projects such as the Juyongguan Great Wall Tunnel and crosses the Guanting Reservoir Grand Bridge. The engineering works illustrate China’s capabilities in smart railway construction across challenging landscapes.
Since opening in 2019, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou High-Speed Railway has carried more than 67 million passengers, according to operator data. The improved transport capacity and services have strongly promoted the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
The line connects to Taizicheng Station in Zhangjiakou, which served as a transportation hub during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Visiting representatives said they were impressed by the station’s facilities and operation systems.
After touring the “Winter Olympics Eye” landmark — a distinctive feature at the Taizicheng Station — and a cultural exhibition hall, international delegates said they appreciated features including tunnel engineering and dispatching systems.
Guests film scenery from a CR400BF-GS Fuxing train traveling from Qinghe Railway Station in Beijing to Taizicheng Station in Zhangjiakou, July 11, 2025. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]
International representatives traveled on a CR400BF-GS Fuxing train from Qinghe Railway Station in Beijing to Taizicheng Station. During the journey, they viewed presentations about China’s high-speed rail network and the Beijing-Zhangjiakou line. Train specialists and conductors also briefed the delegates on the railway’s equipment, construction and operations.
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department “France: Financial System Stability Assessment”, IMF Staff Country Reports 2025, 180 (2025), accessed July 14, 2025, https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229017428.002
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Summary
The French financial system has proven resilient to the shocks of the last five years but faces headwinds from domestic and external policy uncertainty and high fiscal consolidation needs. Bank-insurance conglomerates that include four Global Systemically Important Banks dominate the financial landscape, and financial markets have become increasingly complex in the post-Brexit environment. Banks’ capital and liquidity buffers remain high, but with low profitability versus peers.
The French economy has demonstrated resilience in 2024 despite high uncertainty, bolstered by the summer Olympics in Paris. The disinflationary process is progressing well, and the labor market remains robust. However, high and rising public debt, combined with significant domestic and external headwinds to the recovery, highlights the urgent need to strengthen public finances and pursue structural reforms to foster sustainable growth. While the political compromise on the 2025 budget reached in February marked a positive step forward, it will be essential for the authorities to continue building consensus to further advance fiscal and structural reforms.
Keywords:Aging,Anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT),Fiscal consolidation,Labor markets,Pension spending,Productivity,Structural reforms
A series of atrocity sites of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia have been formally entered onto the World Heritage list, as part of the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee.
This is not only important for Cambodia, but also raises important questions for atrocity sites in Australia.
Before this, the World Heritage list only recognised seven “sites of memory” associated with recent conflicts, which UNESCO defines as “events having occurred from the turn of the 20th century” under its criterion vi. These sat within a broader list of more than 950 cultural sites.
In recent years, experts have intensely debated the question of whether a site associated with recent conflict could, or should, be nominated and evaluated for World Heritage status. Some argue such listings would contradict the objectives of UNESCO and its spirit of peace, which was part of the specialised agency’s mandate after the destruction of two world wars.
Sites associated with recent conflicts can be divisive. For instance, when Japan nominated the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, both China and the United States objected and eventually disassociated from the decision. The US argued the nomination lacked “historical perspective” on the events that led to the bomb’s use. Meanwhile, China argued listing the property would not be conducive for peace as other Asian countries and peoples had suffered at the hands of the Japanese during WWII.
Heritage inscriptions risk reinforcing societal divisions if they conserve a particular memory in a one-sided way.
Nonetheless, the World Heritage Committee decided in 2023 to no longer preclude such sites for inscription. This was done partly in recognition of how these sites may “serve the peace-building mission of UNESCO”.
Shortly after, three listing were added: the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory, a former clandestine centre for detention, torture and extermination in Argentina; memorial sites of the Rwandan genocide at Nyamata, Murambi, Gisozi and Bisesero; and funerary and memory sites of the first world war in Belgium and France.
A number of legacy sites associated with Nelson Mandela’s human rights struggle in South Africa were also added last year.
Atrocities of the Khmer Rouge
The recently inscribed Cambodian Memorial Sites include prisons S-21 (now known as Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum) and M-13, as well as the execution site Choeung Ek.
These sites were nominated for their value in showing the development of extreme mass violence in relation to the security system of the Khmer Rouge in 1975–79. They also have value as places of memorialisation, peace and learning.
The Khmer Rouge developed its methods of disappearance, incarceration and torture of suspected “enemies” during the civil conflict of 1970–75. It established a system of local-level security centres in so-called “liberated” areas.
One of these centres was known as M-13, a small, well-hidden prison in the country’s rural southwest. A man named Kaing Guek Eav – also called Duch – was responsible for prisoners at M-13.
Shortly after the entire country fell to the Khmer Rouge in April 1975, Duch was assigned to lead the headquarters of the regime’s security system: a large detention and torture centre known as S-21.
Under his instruction, tens of thousands of people were detained in inhumane conditions, tortured and interrogated. Many detainees were later taken to the outskirts of the city to be brutally killed and buried in pits at a place called Choeung Ek.
The sites operated until early 1979, when the Khmer Rouge was forced from power.
The S-21 facility and the mass graves at Choeung Ek have long been memorialised as the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre.
However, the former M-13 site shows few visual clues to its prior use, and has only recently been investigated by an international team led by Cambodian archaeologist and museum director Hang Nisay. The site is on an island in a small river that forms the boundary between the Kampong Chhnang and Kampong Speu provinces.
Further research, site protection and memorialisation activities will now be supported, with help from locals.
From repression to reflection
The Cambodian memorial sites have been recognised as holding “outstanding universal value” for the way they evidence one of the 20th century’s worst atrocities, and are now places of memory.
In its nomination dossier for these sites, Cambodia drew on findings from the Khmer Rouge Tribunal to verify and link the conflict and the sites.
In 2010, the tribunal found Duch guilty of crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions. Duch was sentenced to 30 years in prison (which eventually turned into life imprisonment). He died in 2020.
While courts such as the International Criminal Court have previously examined the destruction of heritage as an international crime, drawing on legal findings to assert heritage status is an unusual inverse. It raises important questions about the legacies of former UN-supported tribunals and the ongoing implications of their findings.
The recent listings also raise questions for Australia, which has many sites of documented mass killing associated with colonisation and the frontier wars that lasted into the 20th century.
Might Australia nominate any of these atrocity sites in the future? And could other processes such as truth-telling, reparation and redress support (or be supported by) such nominations?
Rachel Hughes has consulted to UNESCO Cambodia.
Maria Elander does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
A journalist who was on the Rainbow Warrior voyage to Rongelap last night condemned France for its “callous” attack of an environmental ship, saying “we haven’t forgotten, or forgiven this outrage”.
David Robie, the author of Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior, said at the launch that the consequences of almost 300 US and French nuclear tests – many of them “dirty bombs” — were still impacting on indigenous Pacific peoples 40 years after the bombing of the ship.
French saboteurs had killed “our shipmate Fernando Pereira” on 10 July 1985 in what the New Zealand prime minister at the time, David Lange, called a “sordid act of international state-backed terrorism”.
Although relations with France had perhaps mellowed over time, four decades ago there was a lot of hostility towards the country, Dr Robie said.
“And that act of mindless sabotage still rankles very deeply in our psyche,” he said at the launch in Auckland Central’s Ellen Melville Centre on the anniversary of July 10.
About 100 people gathered in the centre’s Pioneer Women’s Hall for the book launch as Dr Robie reflected on the case of state terrorism after Greenpeace earlier in the day held a memorial ceremony on board Rainbow Warrior III.
“One of the celebrated French newspapers, Le Monde, played a critical role in the investigation into the Rainbow Warrior affair — what I brand as ‘Blundergate’, in view of all the follies of the bumbling DGSE spy team,” he said.
Plantu cartoon “And one of the cartoons in that newspaper, by Plantu, who is a sort of French equivalent to Michael Leunig, caught my eye.
“You will notice it in the background slide show behind me. It shows François Mitterrand, the president of the French republic at the time, dressed in a frogman’s wetsuit lecturing to school children during a history lesson.
“President Mitterrand says, in French, ‘At that time, only presidents had the right to carry out terrorism!’
Tahitian advocate Ena Manurevia . . . the background Plantu cartoon is the one mentioned by the author. Image: Asia Pacific Report
He noticed that in the Mitterrand cartoon there was a “classmate” sitting in the back of the room with a moustache. This was none other than Edwy Plenel, the police reporter for Le Monde at the time, who scooped the world with hard evidence of Mitterrand and the French government’s role at the highest level in the Rainbow Warrior sabotage.
Dr Robie said that Plenel now published the investigative website Mediapart, which had played a key role in 2015 revealing the identity of the bomber that night, “the man who had planted the limpet mines on the Rainbow Warrior — sinking a peace and environmental ship, and killing Fernando Pereira.”
Jean-Luc Kister, a retired French colonel and DGSE secret agent, had confessed to his role and “apologised”, claiming the sabotage operation was “disproportionate and a mistake”.
“Was he sincere? Was it a genuine attempt to come to terms with his conscience. Who knows?” Dr Robie said, adding that he was unconvinced.
Hilari Anderson (right on stage), one of the speakers, with Del Abcede and MC Antony Phillips (obscured) . . . the background image shows Helen Clark meeting Fernando Pereira’s daughter Marelle in 2005. Image: Greenpeace
French perspective Dr Robie said he had asked Plenel for his reflections from a French perspective 40 years on. Plenel cited three main take ways.
“First, the vital necessity of independent journalism. Independent of all powers, whether state, economic or ideological. Journalism that serves the public interest, the right to know, and factual truths.
“Impactful journalism whose revelations restore confidence in democracy, in the possibility of improving it, and in the usefulness of counterbalancing powers, particularly journalism.”
Secondly, this attack had been carried out by France in an “allied country”, New Zealand, against a civil society organisation. This demonstrated that “the thirst for power is a downfall that leads nations astray when they succumb to it.
“Nuclear weapons epitomise this madness, this catastrophe of power.”
Finally, Plenel expressed the “infinite sadness” for a French citizen that after his revelations in Le Monde — which led to the resignations of the defence minister and the head of the secret services — nothing else happened.
“Nothing at all. No parliamentary inquiry, no questioning of François Mitterrand about his responsibility, no institutional reform of the absolute power of the president in a French republic that is, in reality, an elective monarchy.”
‘Elective monarchy’ trend Dr Robie compared the French outcome with the rapid trend in US today, “a president who thinks he is a monarch, a king – another elective monarchy.”
He also bemoaned that “catastrophe of power” that “reigns everywhere today – from the horrendous Israeli genocide in Gaza to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, from Trump to Putin to Netanyahu, and so many others.”
The continuous Gaza massacres were a shameful indictment of the West that had allowed it to happen for more than 21 months.
Dr Robie thanked many collaborators for their help and support, including drama teacher Hilari Anderson, an original crew member of the Rainbow Warrior, and photographer John Miller, “who have been with me all the way on this waka journey”.
He thanked his wife, Del, and family members for their unstinting “patience and support”, and also publisher Tony Murrow of Little Island Press.
Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior . . . published 10 July 2025. Image: David Robie/Little Island Press
Launching the book, Greenpeace Aotearoa programme director Niamh O’Flynn said one thing that had stood out for her was how the legacy of the Rainbow Warrior had continued despite the attempt by the French government to shut it down 40 years ago.
“We said then that ‘you can’t sink a rainbow’, and we went on to prove it.
“When the Rainbow Warrior was bombed in Auckland harbour, it was getting ready to set sail to Moruroa Atoll, to enter the test exclusion zone and confront French nuclear testing head-on.”
So threatened The French government had felt so threatened by that action that it had engaged in a state-sanctioned terror attack to prevent the mission from going ahead.
“But we rebuilt, and the Rainbow Warrior II carried on with that mission, travelling to Moruroa three times before the French finally stopped nuclear testing in the Pacific.
“That spirit and tenacity is what makes Greenpeace and what makes the Rainbow Warrior so special to everyone who has sailed on her,” she said.
“It was the final voyage of the Rainbow Warrior to Rongelap before the bombing that is the focus of David Robie’s book, and in many ways, it was an incredibly unique experience for Greenpeace — not just here in Aotearoa, but internationally.
“And of course David was a key part in that.”
O’Flynn said that as someone who had not even been born yet when the Rainbow Warrior was bombed, “I am so grateful that the generation of nuclear-free activists took the time to pass on their knowledge and to build our organisation into what it is today.
“Just as David has by writing down his story and leaving us with such a rich legacy.”
Greenpeace Aotearoa programme director Niamh O’Flynn . . . “That spirit and tenacity is what makes Greenpeace and what makes the Rainbow Warrior so special to everyone who has sailed on her.” Image: APR
Other speakers Among other speakers at the book launch were teacher Hilari Anderson, publisher Tony Murrow of Little Island Press, Ena Manuireva, a Mangarevian scholar and cultural adviser, and MC Antony Phillips of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
Anderson spoke of the Warrior’s early campaigns and acknowledged the crews of 1978 and 1985.
“I have been reflecting what these first and last crews of the original Rainbow Warrior had in common, realising that both gave their collective, mostly youthful energy — to transformation.
“This has involved the bonding of crews by working hands-on together. Touching surfaces, by hammer and paint, created a physical connection to this beloved boat.”
She paid special tribute to two powerful women, Denise Bell, who tracked down the marine research vessel in Aberdeen that became the Rainbow Warrior, and the indomitable Susi Newborn, who “contributed to naming the ship and mustering a crew”.
Manuireva spoke about his nuclear colonial experience and that of his family as natives of Mangareva atoll, about 400 km from Muroroa atoll, where France conducted most of its 30 years of tests ending in 1995.
He also spoke of Tahitian leader Oscar Temaru’s pioneering role in the Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP) movement, and played haunting Tahitian songs on his guitar.
A journalist who was on the Rainbow Warrior voyage to Rongelap last night condemned France for its “callous” attack of an environmental ship, saying “we haven’t forgotten, or forgiven this outrage”.
David Robie, the author of Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior, said at the launch that the consequences of almost 300 US and French nuclear tests – many of them “dirty bombs” — were still impacting on indigenous Pacific peoples 40 years after the bombing of the ship.
French saboteurs had killed “our shipmate Fernando Pereira” on 10 July 1985 in what the New Zealand prime minister at the time, David Lange, called a “sordid act of international state-backed terrorism”.
Although relations with France had perhaps mellowed over time, four decades ago there was a lot of hostility towards the country, Dr Robie said.
“And that act of mindless sabotage still rankles very deeply in our psyche,” he said at the launch in Auckland Central’s Ellen Melville Centre on the anniversary of July 10.
About 100 people gathered in the centre’s Pioneer Women’s Hall for the book launch as Dr Robie reflected on the case of state terrorism after Greenpeace earlier in the day held a memorial ceremony on board Rainbow Warrior III.
“One of the celebrated French newspapers, Le Monde, played a critical role in the investigation into the Rainbow Warrior affair — what I brand as ‘Blundergate’, in view of all the follies of the bumbling DGSE spy team,” he said.
Plantu cartoon “And one of the cartoons in that newspaper, by Plantu, who is a sort of French equivalent to Michael Leunig, caught my eye.
“You will notice it in the background slide show behind me. It shows François Mitterrand, the president of the French republic at the time, dressed in a frogman’s wetsuit lecturing to school children during a history lesson.
“President Mitterrand says, in French, ‘At that time, only presidents had the right to carry out terrorism!’
Tahitian advocate Ena Manurevia . . . the background Plantu cartoon is the one mentioned by the author. Image: Asia Pacific Report
He noticed that in the Mitterrand cartoon there was a “classmate” sitting in the back of the room with a moustache. This was none other than Edwy Plenel, the police reporter for Le Monde at the time, who scooped the world with hard evidence of Mitterrand and the French government’s role at the highest level in the Rainbow Warrior sabotage.
Dr Robie said that Plenel now published the investigative website Mediapart, which had played a key role in 2015 revealing the identity of the bomber that night, “the man who had planted the limpet mines on the Rainbow Warrior — sinking a peace and environmental ship, and killing Fernando Pereira.”
Jean-Luc Kister, a retired French colonel and DGSE secret agent, had confessed to his role and “apologised”, claiming the sabotage operation was “disproportionate and a mistake”.
“Was he sincere? Was it a genuine attempt to come to terms with his conscience. Who knows?” Dr Robie said, adding that he was unconvinced.
Hilari Anderson (right on stage), one of the speakers, with Del Abcede and MC Antony Phillips (obscured) . . . the background image shows Helen Clark meeting Fernando Pereira’s daughter Marelle in 2005. Image: Greenpeace
French perspective Dr Robie said he had asked Plenel for his reflections from a French perspective 40 years on. Plenel cited three main take ways.
“First, the vital necessity of independent journalism. Independent of all powers, whether state, economic or ideological. Journalism that serves the public interest, the right to know, and factual truths.
“Impactful journalism whose revelations restore confidence in democracy, in the possibility of improving it, and in the usefulness of counterbalancing powers, particularly journalism.”
Secondly, this attack had been carried out by France in an “allied country”, New Zealand, against a civil society organisation. This demonstrated that “the thirst for power is a downfall that leads nations astray when they succumb to it.
“Nuclear weapons epitomise this madness, this catastrophe of power.”
Finally, Plenel expressed the “infinite sadness” for a French citizen that after his revelations in Le Monde — which led to the resignations of the defence minister and the head of the secret services — nothing else happened.
“Nothing at all. No parliamentary inquiry, no questioning of François Mitterrand about his responsibility, no institutional reform of the absolute power of the president in a French republic that is, in reality, an elective monarchy.”
‘Elective monarchy’ trend Dr Robie compared the French outcome with the rapid trend in US today, “a president who thinks he is a monarch, a king – another elective monarchy.”
He also bemoaned that “catastrophe of power” that “reigns everywhere today – from the horrendous Israeli genocide in Gaza to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, from Trump to Putin to Netanyahu, and so many others.”
The continuous Gaza massacres were a shameful indictment of the West that had allowed it to happen for more than 21 months.
Dr Robie thanked many collaborators for their help and support, including drama teacher Hilari Anderson, an original crew member of the Rainbow Warrior, and photographer John Miller, “who have been with me all the way on this waka journey”.
He thanked his wife, Del, and family members for their unstinting “patience and support”, and also publisher Tony Murrow of Little Island Press.
Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage and Legacy of the Rainbow Warrior . . . published 10 July 2025. Image: David Robie/Little Island Press
Launching the book, Greenpeace Aotearoa programme director Niamh O’Flynn said one thing that had stood out for her was how the legacy of the Rainbow Warrior had continued despite the attempt by the French government to shut it down 40 years ago.
“We said then that ‘you can’t sink a rainbow’, and we went on to prove it.
“When the Rainbow Warrior was bombed in Auckland harbour, it was getting ready to set sail to Moruroa Atoll, to enter the test exclusion zone and confront French nuclear testing head-on.”
So threatened The French government had felt so threatened by that action that it had engaged in a state-sanctioned terror attack to prevent the mission from going ahead.
“But we rebuilt, and the Rainbow Warrior II carried on with that mission, travelling to Moruroa three times before the French finally stopped nuclear testing in the Pacific.
“That spirit and tenacity is what makes Greenpeace and what makes the Rainbow Warrior so special to everyone who has sailed on her,” she said.
“It was the final voyage of the Rainbow Warrior to Rongelap before the bombing that is the focus of David Robie’s book, and in many ways, it was an incredibly unique experience for Greenpeace — not just here in Aotearoa, but internationally.
“And of course David was a key part in that.”
O’Flynn said that as someone who had not even been born yet when the Rainbow Warrior was bombed, “I am so grateful that the generation of nuclear-free activists took the time to pass on their knowledge and to build our organisation into what it is today.
“Just as David has by writing down his story and leaving us with such a rich legacy.”
Greenpeace Aotearoa programme director Niamh O’Flynn . . . “That spirit and tenacity is what makes Greenpeace and what makes the Rainbow Warrior so special to everyone who has sailed on her.” Image: APR
Other speakers Among other speakers at the book launch were teacher Hilari Anderson, publisher Tony Murrow of Little Island Press, Ena Manuireva, a Mangarevian scholar and cultural adviser, and MC Antony Phillips of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.
Anderson spoke of the Warrior’s early campaigns and acknowledged the crews of 1978 and 1985.
“I have been reflecting what these first and last crews of the original Rainbow Warrior had in common, realising that both gave their collective, mostly youthful energy — to transformation.
“This has involved the bonding of crews by working hands-on together. Touching surfaces, by hammer and paint, created a physical connection to this beloved boat.”
She paid special tribute to two powerful women, Denise Bell, who tracked down the marine research vessel in Aberdeen that became the Rainbow Warrior, and the indomitable Susi Newborn, who “contributed to naming the ship and mustering a crew”.
Manuireva spoke about his nuclear colonial experience and that of his family as natives of Mangareva atoll, about 400 km from Muroroa atoll, where France conducted most of its 30 years of tests ending in 1995.
He also spoke of Tahitian leader Oscar Temaru’s pioneering role in the Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP) movement, and played haunting Tahitian songs on his guitar.
The European Union has already prepared a list of tariffs worth 21 billion euros ($24.52 billion) on U.S. goods if the two countries fail to reach a trade deal, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a newspaper interview on Monday.
President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the EU starting on Aug. 1, after weeks of negotiations with major U.S. trading partners failed to reach a comprehensive deal.
Tajani also told daily Il Messaggero that to help the euro zone economy the European Central Bank should consider a new “quantitative easing” bond-buying-programme, and more interest rate cuts.
The European Union said on Sunday it would extend its suspension of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until early August and continue to press for a negotiated settlement.
Tajani said the 21-billion-euro package of tariffs the EU has already prepared could be followed by a second set if a deal with the U.S proves impossible. He added, however, that he was confident that progress could be made in negotiations.
“Tariffs hurt every one, starting with the United States,” he said. “If stock markets fall that puts at risk the pensions and the savings of the Americans.”
He said the goal should be “zero tariffs” and an open market among Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday he would work intensively with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to resolve the escalating trade war with the United States.
The European Union has already prepared a list of tariffs worth 21 billion euros ($24.52 billion) on U.S. goods if the two countries fail to reach a trade deal, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a newspaper interview on Monday.
President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the EU starting on Aug. 1, after weeks of negotiations with major U.S. trading partners failed to reach a comprehensive deal.
Tajani also told daily Il Messaggero that to help the euro zone economy the European Central Bank should consider a new “quantitative easing” bond-buying-programme, and more interest rate cuts.
The European Union said on Sunday it would extend its suspension of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until early August and continue to press for a negotiated settlement.
Tajani said the 21-billion-euro package of tariffs the EU has already prepared could be followed by a second set if a deal with the U.S proves impossible. He added, however, that he was confident that progress could be made in negotiations.
“Tariffs hurt every one, starting with the United States,” he said. “If stock markets fall that puts at risk the pensions and the savings of the Americans.”
He said the goal should be “zero tariffs” and an open market among Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday he would work intensively with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to resolve the escalating trade war with the United States.
The European Union said on Sunday it would extend its suspension of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until early August and continue to press for a negotiated settlement as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration demanded more concessions from trading partners.
Trump said on Saturday he would impose a 30% tariff on most imports from the EU and Mexico from August 1, adding to similar warnings for other countries and leaving them less than three weeks to hammer out framework deals that could lower the threatened tariff rate.
White House Economic Adviser Kevin Hassett said on Sunday that countries’ trade deal offers so far have not satisfied Trump and “the tariffs are real” without improvements.
“The president thinks that deals need to be better,” Hassett told ABC’s This Week program. “And to basically put a line in the sand, he sent these letters out to folks, and we’ll see how it works out.”
Ursula von der Leyen, head of the EU’s executive Commission which handles trade policy for the 27 member states, said the bloc would maintain its two-track approach: keep talking and prepare retaliatory measures.
“We have always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution. This remains the case, and we will use the time that we have now,” von der Leyen told a press conference, adding that the bloc would extend its halt on countermeasures until August.
Von der Leyen’s decision to resist immediate retaliatory measures points to the European Commission’s desire to avoid a spiralling tit-for-tat escalation in the trade war while there remains a chance of negotiating an improved outcome.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday said he was “really committed” to finding a trade solution with the U.S., telling German public broadcaster ARD that he will work intensively on this with von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron over the next two and a half weeks.
Asked about the impact of a 30% U.S. tariff on Germany, Merz said: “If that were to happen, we would have to postpone large parts of our economic policy efforts because it would interfere with everything and hit the German export industry to the core.”
TEST OF UNITY
The latest salvo from Trump and the question of how to respond may test the unity of member states, with France appearing to take a tougher line than Germany, the bloc’s industrial powerhouse whose economy leans heavily on exports.
Macron said the Commission needed more than ever to “assert the Union’s determination to defend European interests resolutely”, and that retaliation might need to include so-called anti-coercion instruments.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said on Sunday the EU should be ready to take firm action if talks failed.
“If a fair negotiated solution does not succeed, then we must take decisive countermeasures to protect jobs and companies in Europe,” Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, also vice chancellor in the ruling coalition, told Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
While the EU has held back from retaliating against the U.S. in the months since Trump hit the bloc with tariffs, it has readied two packages that could hit a combined 93 billion euros of U.S. goods.
A first package, in response to U.S. levies of 50% on imported steel and aluminium that would hit 21 billion euros in U.S. goods, was suspended in April for 90 days to allow time for negotiations. The suspension had been due to expire on Monday before the extension was announced.
A second package in retaliation against Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs has been in the works since May and was set to target 72 billion euros of U.S. goods. These measures have not been made public and the final list requires approval by member states.
ANTI-COERCION INSTRUMENT
Von der Leyen said on Sunday that the use of the EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument was not yet on the table.
The instrument allows the bloc to retaliate against third countries that put economic pressure on EU members to change their policies.
“The (anti-coercion) instrument is created for extraordinary situations, we are not there yet,” she said.
Possible retaliatory steps could include restricting EU market access to goods and services, and other economic measures related to areas including foreign direct investment, financial markets and export controls.
In a sign of the EU’s desire to strike deals with more trading partners at a time of deepening uncertainty in trans-Atlantic relations, von der Leyen said a political agreement had been reached to advance an EU-Indonesia trade deal.
France’s cheese producers warned of the damaging consequences of a 30% tariff for the local dairy industry, which exports nearly half its produce, including to the United States.
“It’s a new environment we will have to get used to – I don’t think this is temporary,” Francois Xavier Huard, CEO of dairy association FNIL, told Reuters.
President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced a plan to push forward France’s defence spending, pledging to double the military budget by 2027 – three years earlier than originally planned – in response to a complex geopolitical moment.
France had aimed to double its defence budget from 2017 levels by 2030. However, Macron pledged to reach the target by 2027. A military budget that stood at 32 billion euros ($37.40 billion) in 2017 will rise to 64 billion euros by 2027, with an additional 3.5 billion euros allocated for next year and another 3 billion euros in 2027.
He said the accelerated spending, which comes as France is struggling to make 40 billion euros in savings in its 2026 budget, would be paid for by increased economic activity.
“Our military independence is inseparable from our financial independence,” he said. “This will be financed through more activity and more production.”
He said Prime Minister Francois Bayrou would provide more details in an address on his plans for the 2026 budget on Tuesday. Bayrou is facing an uphill battle to steer billions of euros worth of savings through a bitterly divided parliament, as France strives to lower its budget deficit to keep EU bean-counters and foreign investors at bay.
Cole Palmer produced a scintillating first-half masterclass as Chelsea demolished a flat Paris St Germain 3-0 to win a one-sided Club World Cup final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
The English attacking midfielder scored twice and provided an assist for Joao Pedro in a devastating display in the revamped tournament’s decider that left the European and French champions, who finished with 10 men, shell-shocked.
After a stunning season, PSG were heavy favourites, while Chelsea arrived in the U.S. after winning Europe’s third-tier Conference League and on the back of a domestic campaign in which they just managed a top-four Premier League finish.
Prior to the match, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said he was expecting a “game of chess” against PSG coach Luis Enrique, but what transpired was a quick checkmate for the Italian who gave a tactical masterclass.
Chelsea, who won the 2021 Club World Cup in its previous format, struck first in the 22nd minute when PSG fullback Nuno Mendes gifted possession to Malo Gusto. While his initial effort was blocked by Mendes, Gusto collected the rebound and found Palmer unmarked in the middle and the midfielder made no mistake, slotting a tidy finish just inside the left post.
Palmer doubled the lead after the 30th-minute cooling break with a goal of sublime quality. Latching onto a precise through ball from Levi Colwill, he cut inside before faking a pass to dummy a defender and firing into the bottom-left corner.
Palmer then turned provider, running up the channel before finding Joao Pedro, who took the ball in his stride and beat the offside trap before chipping his finish beautifully over keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
PSG’s misery was completed when Joao Neves was sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair in the 83rd minute, as PSG’s players grew in frustration as the match progressed.
The encounter turned ill-tempered at the end, with players going at each other after the final whistle, but the flare-ups quickly dissipated as Chelsea’s players went to celebrate with their fans.
‘GREAT FEELING’
“It’s a great feeling. Even better because everyone doubted us before the game, we knew that. To put a fight on like we did, it’s good,” Palmer said.
“The gaffer put a great gameplan out. He knew where the space was going to be. He tried to free me up as much as possible and I just had to repay him and score some goals.”
Maresca’s team employed a relentless high press and emulated the tactics used by Brazilian outfit Botafogo, who had beaten PSG 1-0 in the group stage and were the only team to score against Luis Enrique’s side in the previous eight games.
Their press caused PSG all sorts of trouble and when Maresca’s side couldn’t regain possession, they sat deep, frustrating the European champions, who were unable to play their usual game.
The direct and pacey football we had become used to seeing from PSG was Chelsea’s game on Sunday, with Palmer, Gusto and Joao Pedro picking apart the PSG defence, especially on the left side.
Other than an early golden opportunity forPSG’s Desire Doue that was wasted, the first half was all Chelsea’s and, after they opened their three-goal lead, the French side could never recover.
“Chelsea were more effective than us, they worked well on our slight weakness,” PSG captain Marquinhos said.
“Tactically, they caused us problems in the first half and we took a while to react. These are things we’ll need to change going forward. I think all teams will now study us closely to see what we do well and what we do badly. It’s up to us now to always be at the top of our game.”
Reigning champions England thrashed neighbours Wales 6-1 to reach the Women’s Euro 2025 quarter-finals on Sunday, securing second spot in Group D and cruising into the knockouts, where they will face Sweden, on a high note.
Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp, Alessia Russo, Beth Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones were all on target for England, who finished runners-up to France after their 5-2 victory over the Netherlands.
Sarina Wiegman’s team will next face a Sweden side, who won all three of their games to top Group C, in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
“It is going to be a difficult game. We watched (Sweden) the other night and they were really good. We need to be on our best game,” Toone said. “But we’re feeling confident, I think they should be scared.”
The second-place finish, however, could be a bonus as provided they get past the Swedes, England would potentially avoid world champions Spain in the semi-finals.
Stanway struck from the penalty spot in the 13th minute after a foul in the box, calmly sweeping her shot into the far-left corner past the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Olivia Clark to open the floodgates.
Toone found the back of the net with a scrappy goal eight minutes later. England capitalised on a sloppy clearance by Rhiannon Roberts, with the ball falling to Russo who nudged it into the path of Toone who fired home at the second attempt.
Hemp nodded a third inside 30 minutes after a clever pass from Lauren James to Toone near the byline. Toone found Hemp at the far post with a deep cross for an easy header.
Russo bagged her first goal of the tournament just before halftime when Toone made another dart to byline before cutting the ball back for Russo, who took one touch to control it before firing home and Mead cut inside a defender before slotting England’s fifth in the 72nd minute.
Hannah Cain pulled one back to the delight of the Wales fans, who celebrated by singing their national anthem, in the 76th minute, but England’s Beever-Jones replied in the 89th with her first goal in a major tournament, heading home Mead’s cross.
“We scored six goals and a big part of the game we dominated, a very good game,” Wiegman said. “Playing well is the most important, who scores is not that important.”
Much was made about the rivalry between the two nations, with Wales wanting nothing better than to spoil England’s party. Thousands of loud Welsh fans cheered and sang throughout Sunday’s match, despite the scoreline.
But Wiegman’s team, World Cup finalists in 2023, showed their vast experience against a Wales side making their major tournament debut.
“We were really good. It is always hard to play against a team that sits in a low block,” Toone said. “It was nice we got an early goal in the first half and we enjoyed the game.”
England have won 10 of the 11 meetings between the two teams, with Wales’ best result being a 0-0 draw in 2018.
“This is the beginning of a journey for us,” Wales midfielder Jess Fishlock said. “We’ve played three of the best teams in the world at this tournament and we’ve found out how big that jump is.”
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
PARIS, July 14 (Xinhua) — France will spend 6.5 billion euros (7.6 billion U.S. dollars) on its military over the next two years to bring its annual defense spending to 64 billion euros by 2027, French President Emmanuel Macron said in his annual address to the country’s armed forces on Sunday.
E. Macron noted that military spending “is and will remain a source of wealth for our GDP, our economy and our regions.”
The French president also announced plans to explore the possibility of creating a new national service initiative. –0–
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Headline: Panasonic launches The Barikan as new series of pro hair clippers to take on the global market
Osaka, Japan, July 14, 2025 – Panasonic Corporation (https://holdings.panasonic/global/) today announced that its Living Appliances and Solutions Company (Panasonic) has launched The Barikan as its newest series of professional clippers for hair and beauty practitioners to accelerate its development of a global market. The professional T-shaped trimmer ER-XT70 emphasizing superior cutting performance and ease-of use will be released in September in Japan and Europe as the first model of the series.
Panasonic’s involvement in professional hair clippers began 40 years ago, making use of its advanced technological capabilities refined through the development of electric shavers. Women hairdressers in particular highly appreciate Panasonic’s hair clippers for their quality and usability as tools for professionals, especially key features such as their lightness, ease of use, and precision cutting, allowing the brand to gain a top share in Japan and Europe (Germany, France, and Italy).
In recent years barbers have built up their influence and presence with the widespread acceptance of fade hairstyles for men in which the hair tapers down from the top of the head and is clipped short on the sides and nape. Panasonic has intensified its product development and marketing activities for barbers in response to this. The company provides simply the best tools that support barbers to thrive and fully express themselves while staying in tune with barber culture. Panasonic is opening up new demand for barbers beyond Japan and Europe in places like the United States and Asia, expanding sales in the global market.
These efforts seek to create a fusion of Japanese barber culture with those of other countries and build up collaborations with other industries, aiming to create new value for barbers. One such initiative is to train barbers in Ghana in cooperation with Mr. Brothers Cut Club, a Japanese barber shop that is redefining the timeless charm of classic American barber culture in a contemporary style and taking it worldwide. Panasonic has also signed ambassador agreements with the respective leading barbers of the original trend-setter, the United States, of Europe with its diverse sophisticated barber cultures in each country, and of Japan, the country where The Barikan was developed. Promotion content created in these three regions will be released worldwide.
Panasonic intends to expand The Barikan series over the next three years to make it the globally recognized number one brand for barbers.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
This undated photo shows the world’s most powerful direct-drive floating wind turbine in Fuqing, southeast China’s Fujian Province. (China Huaneng Group/Handout via Xinhua)
China has achieved a major breakthrough in clean energy technology with the rollout of the world’s most powerful direct-drive floating wind turbine.
Jointly developed by state-owned enterprises China Huaneng Group and Dongfang Electric Corporation, the 17-megawatt turbine officially rolled off the production line on Thursday in Fujian Province’s coastal city of Fuqing, China Huaneng Group confirmed to Xinhua on Saturday.
A single unit can generate 68 million kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually, enough to power approximately 40,000 households.
The turbine will undergo real-world testing in the waters off Yangjiang, in south China’s Guangdong Province, according to China Huaneng Group.
Boasting an operational availability rate exceeding 99 percent, the giant machine features a record-breaking 262-meter rotor diameter with a swept area of approximately 53,000 square meters, equivalent to 7.5 standard soccer fields. Towering 152 meters, its hub is almost as high as a 50-story residential building.
The turbine can withstand extreme maritime conditions, including waves over 24 meters and typhoons at level 17. Its unique stabilization technology enables continuous power generation even when the floating platform tilts at extreme angles.
Liu Xin, director of the offshore wind division at China Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute, highlighted the turbine’s adaptability, noting that its integrated intelligent sensing system enables holistic stability control for safe and efficient operation in complex deep-sea environments.
The project’s research and development team made technological breakthroughs in floating wind power system coupling simulation technology and high-fidelity model testing techniques.
Notably, all its core components, including blades, generators and transformers, are domestically produced, with China’s first large-diameter main shaft bearing incorporated into the design.
This technological breakthrough opens the door to harnessing China’s vast deep-sea wind resources. According to the energy research institute under the National Development and Reform Commission, while nearshore waters (5-50 meters deep) offer around 500 GW of technically developable wind capacity, deep-sea resources are estimated to be three to four times this volume.
Data from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) underscores the global significance, showing that over 80 percent of offshore wind resources are located in waters deeper than 60 meters.
Floating wind power generation technology and solutions are set to further unlock the potential of deep-water wind energy, according to GWEC.
By the end of 2024, the global installed capacity of floating wind power is expected to reach 278 megawatts, with Norway, the United Kingdom, China and France leading as the top four markets, GWEC said.
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 14, 2025.
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ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on July 14, 2025.
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Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner held off defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to win his first Wimbledon title on Sunday.
The top seed avenged his heartbreaking French Open loss to Alcaraz five weeks ago with a commanding performance, breaking the second-seeded Spaniard once in each set to secure his fourth Grand Slam title.
After failing to convert three championship points in the fourth set of the French Open final, Sinner made no mistake this time. Facing a similar scenario at Wimbledon, he sealed the match on his second championship point with a thunderous serve.
The Italian downplayed his win, saying he had benefited from fine margins.
“The differences are very small, and the margins are very tiny. Today I felt like that I got lucky couple of times. I know hitting some lines. The things what went his way in Paris went my way this time,” he said.
Sinner acknowledged the difficulty of bouncing back from his Paris defeat.
“Only me and the people who are close to me know exactly what we have been through on and off the court, and it has been everything except easy,” he said.
“I did a lot of intensity in every practice because I felt like that I could play very good. That’s why I also said after Roland Garros that it’s not the time to put me down, because another Grand Slam is coming up, and I did great here,” he added.
Alcaraz said he wasn’t surprised by Sinner’s turnaround.
“He didn’t surprise me at all because I know he’s a really nice player and a huge champion. Champions learn from the – I’m not going to say fearless – but they learn from the loses,” he said.
“I knew at the beginning that he was going to learn from that final, not going to make the same mistakes as they did in the French Open final,” he said.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dave Carter, Associate Professor, School of Music and Screen Arts, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
Was the recent Velvet Sundown phenomenon a great music and media hoax, a sign of things to come, or just another example of what’s already happening ?
In case you missed it, the breakout act was streamed hundreds of thousands of times before claims emerged the band and their music were products of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).
But Velvet Sundown is only the most recent example in a long history of computer generated and assisted music creation – going back to the 1950s when a chemistry professor named Lejaren Hiller debuted a musical composition written by a computer.
By the 1980s, David Cope’s Experiments in Musical Intelligence created music so close to the style of Chopin and Bach it fooled classically trained musicians.
At the same time, music companies, including Warner, Capitol and rapper-producer Timbaland, have since inked record contracts for AI-generated work.
GenAI-powered tools, such as those offered by Izotope, LANDR and Apple, have become commonplace in mixing and mastering since the late 2000s. Machine learning technology also underpins streaming recommendations.
Creativity and copyright
Despite this relatively long history of technology’s impact on music, it still tends to be framed as a future challenge. The New Zealand government’s Strategy for Artificial Intelligence, released this month, suggests we’re at a “pivotal moment” as the AI-powered future approaches.
In June, a draft insight briefing from Manata Taonga/Ministry for Culture & Heritage explored “how digital technologies may transform the ways New Zealanders create, share and protect stories in 2040 and beyond”.
One of the main issues is the use of copyright material to train AI systems. Last year, two AI startups, including the one used by Velvet Sundown, were sued by Sony, Universal and Warner for using unlicensed recordings as part of their training data.
It’s possible the models have been trained on recordings by local musicians without their permission, too. But without any requirement for tech firms to disclose their training data it can’t be confirmed.
Even if we did know, the copyright implications for works created by AI in Aotearoa New Zealand aren’t clear. And it’s not possible for musicians to opt out in any meaningful way.
This goes against the data governance model designed by Te Mana Raraunga/Māori Sovereignty Network. Māori writer members of music rights administrator APRA AMCOS have also raised concerns about potential cultural appropriation and misuse due to GenAI.
In Australia, GenAI has reportedly been used to impersonate successful, emerging and dead artists. And French streaming service Deezer claims up to 20,000 tracks created by GenAI were being uploaded to its service daily.
An Australian senate committee has recommended whole-of-economy AI guardrails, including transparency requirements in line with the EU. Denmark has gone even further, with plans to give every citizen copyright of their own facial features, voice and body, including specific protections for performing artists.
It’s nearly ten years since the music business was described as the “canary in a coalmine” for other industries and a bellwether of broader cultural and economic shifts. How we address the current challenges presented by AI in music will have far-reaching implications.
Dave Carter is a writer member of APRA AMCOS. He has received funding and contributed to projects funded by Manatū Taongao Ministry for Culture and Heritage, NZ on Air and APRA AMCOS.
Jesse Austin-Stewart has completed commissioned research for NZ On Air and participated in focus groups for Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. He has received competitive funding from Creative New Zealand, NZ On Air, Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture & Hertiage, and the NZ Music Commission. He is a writer member of APRA AMCOS and a member of the Composer’s Association of New Zealand and Recorded Music NZ
Oli Wilson has previously completed research in partnership with or commissioned by APRA AMCOS, Toi Mai Workforce Development Council, Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture & Heritage and the NZ Music Commission. He has also received funding, or contributed to projects that have benefited from funding from NZ on Air, the NZ Music Commission and Recorded Music New Zealand. He has provided services to The Chills, owns shares in TripTunz Limited, and is a writer member of APRA AMCOS.
