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New Delhi’s difficult decision serves as a masterclass in how personal diplomacy can trap a major power.

Depuis plusieurs années, dans des églises et cathédrales françaises, on peut croiser des religieuses biélorusses vendant des icônes, des matriochkas ou du miel. Elles viennent du monastère Sainte-Élisabeth de Minsk et présentent ces ventes comme un moyen de financer leurs œuvres caritatives. Mais ce monastère affiche aussi son soutien à la guerre menée par la Russie en Ukraine et a participé à des collectes de matériel destiné aux soldats russes.

C’est le livre d’enquête phare de cette rentrée, Le tsar en personne, l'enquête russe sur le vrai Vladimir Poutine est un livre décapant sur les années Poutine... de la corruption au mensonge en passant par la guerre. Roman Badanine est avec Mikhail Roubine, un des deux journalistes russes, à l’origine de cette investigation qui est publiée aux éditions des Arènes. Il est notre invité aujourd'hui. 

SOEP/DIW Berlin (zusammen mit ZBW, WZB, RWI und Lab²) freut sich, bekannt zu geben, dass die Anmeldung für den „3. Leibniz Open Science Day 2026: Scientific Rigor and Collaborative Research in the Age of AI“ ab sofort möglich ist. Die Veranstaltung findet am 17. November 2026 in den Räumen der ...

Le processus de recrutement des inspecteurs chargés de l'appui-conseil et de l'assistance aux organismes de prévoyance sociale au sein de la Conférence interafricaine de la prévoyance sociale (CIPRES) est annulé.

L'appel à candidatures ouvert le 31 juillet 2026 pour le de recrutement des inspecteurs chargés de l'appui-conseil et de l'assistance aux organismes de prévoyance sociale au sein de la Conférence interafricaine de la prévoyance sociale (CIPRES) a été suspendu.

Selon un communiqué du ministère chargé du Budget et de la Fonction publique, le Président par intérim de la Commission de surveillance de la Prévoyance sociale de la CIPRES a informé le ministre de l'annulation de cet avis, à la suite d'instructions de la Présidente en exercice du Conseil des ministres de l'organisation.

Les candidats concernés sont invités à se rapprocher du cabinet du ministre chargé du Budget et de la Fonction publique pour récupérer leurs dossiers.

Le ministère remercie les postulants pour leur compréhension et les invite à rester attentifs aux prochaines communications officielles concernant d'éventuelles opportunités de recrutement au profit de la CIPRES.

Selon le « Times », l’ancienne vedette du football camerounais a reçu, en 2023, des versements suspects de la fédération russe. « Le Monde » révèle que des matchs amicaux joués par le Cameroun en Corée du Sud et aux Etats-Unis ont également donné lieu à des transferts d’argent suspects.

One important mantra for the RBAirF: Don’t try to run before you can walk.

« L'Éternel est près de ceux qui ont le cœur brisé, et il sauve ceux qui ont l'esprit dans l'abattement. »
Psaume 34, verset 19

Les grandes familles CAPO-CHICHI, TRAORE, COULIBALY, SIDIBE, SOULAMA et alliées,

Les grandes familles SANGA, KINDA, ZOROME, SAWADOGO, OUEDRAOGO et alliées

M. CAPO-CHICHI Yves Léopold Bertrand
Ses enfants : Maria Vincianne, Marc-Aurel, James-Darrel et Rhys-Mael.

profondément touchés par les nombreuses marques de soutien, de solidarité et de compassion qui leur ont été témoignées à l'occasion du rappel à Dieu de leur regrettée épouse, mère, fille, belle-sœur et sœur,

Madame CAPO-CHICHI née SANGA Diane,

décès survenu le 24 septembre 2026 à Ouagadougou, inhumée le 26 septembre 2026 au cimetière de Kouritenga.

Nos sincères remerciements à vous tous qui de près ou de loin l'avez connu, aimé et estimé, à vous qui êtes venus si nombreux témoigner votre sympathie par votre présence, vos prières, vos envoie de fleurs, vos messages, vos dons matériels et financiers pour lui rendre hommage.

Une profonde gratitude à la communauté Béninoise du Burkina Faso ainsi qu'aux voisins de la defunte.

Une grande Messe faisant office de funérailles sera célébrée le dimanche 04 octobre 2026 à 09h00, à l'église Christ Roi de Pissy. L'occasion de se réunir dans la prière pour le repos de l'âme de la regrettée.

Que le Seigneur Tout-Puissant vous récompense abondamment et vous rende au centuple tous vos bienfaits.

Union de prière !

Sarada Murlidharan, Photo: Supplied

By Kumkum Chadha
NEW DEHLI, Sep 28 2026 (IPS)

As a young girl, Sarada Murlidharan cringed at the thought of going to school. It was not the studies but the taunts of ‘being black’ or having dark skin, where fair skin was considered preferential, that made her unhappy.

It was not a one-off: it was there as a constant, often unsaid but equally piercing. She was not one of them but one apart, and that too in the negative sense.

Back home in the silence of the night, she would often cry, something she refused to admit in her adult years: “I don’t remember if I actually cried, but yes, I used to be anxious; in fact, torn apart … my insides eaten away … Yes, I went through all that,” Murlidharan told IPS in an exclusive interview.

Those were the days, and in later years of life too, Murlidharan often questioned her destiny and the curse of her darkness; she often wished she could go back to her mother’s womb and come out “all fair and pretty.” To this day, she shudders at the painful memory of having actually asked her aunts and cousins about the soap they used “to look fair and lovely.”

Etched deep in memory are also her teenage years when her father served as a warden in an engineering college down south. A disciplinarian, he took a strong stand against a group of senior students ragging freshers.

In the Indian context, ragging is a serious issue in higher educational institutions. Even with laws in place, colleges still see numerous cases of “violent fun.” When a first-year university student was brought home in a body bag in a city in eastern India, his parents were initially unaware that a 120-minute ragging session had ended his life.

But back to Murlidharan and her father, who had rusticated students on charges of ragging. Sarada recalls how every time that she and her sister stepped out, there were catcalls referring to her dark skin: “We heard it every single day. Words like ‘irrutu murali’ and ‘kurutte budhi’ … continue to haunt me.”

In Malayalam, which is spoken in the southern part of India, ‘irrutu’ means ‘pitch dark’. Roughly translated, ‘irrutu murali’ and ‘kurutte budhi’ mean someone who is pitch dark and has a devious mind.

Memories run deep: the bitter ones are often buried not to surface again. But this memory did surface, thanks to a social media post that created havoc in India. It brought alive an issue that was kind of buried within deep recesses.

The stigma of being dark stung yet again. It also brought an issue out in the open: one that had until now been private to those battling the curse of being dark-skinned.

When Muraleedharan woke up that morning when she was still serving in the state government in a senior position, it was like any other day, unaware that a storm awaited.

A Facebook post had allegedly commented on her skin colour. Worse still, it was a peg to compare her work with that of her husband, Venu Vasudevan.

“Heard an interesting comment yesterday on my stewardship as Chief Secretary — that (someone wrote that she) is as ‘black’ as my husband’s was ‘white’,” she wrote. “I need to own my blackness … I was hurt, yes … it was about being labelled ‘black’, as if it was something to be ashamed of … I need to own my ‘blackness’.”

Both Murlidharan and her husband were senior administrative officers. Like her husband, Sarada served as administrative head of the state of Kerala in South India: a coveted post.

Murlidharan also made history, given that she succeeded her husband. It was the first time that a husband-wife duo had held the top bureaucratic post in the state in succession.

But back to being dark-skinned and to Murlidharan’s story.

“Incidentally, my husband is fair-skinned,” she said, adding that she was calling out those who harboured a colour bias. “I felt it was time to own my blackness … to understand that there is beauty, except it is of a different kind, and it is not always that being fair means being beautiful. Even we who are dark can be beautiful.”

Ostensibly, Murlidharan may have worked around all these issues, but within, she was torn apart.

“The realisation of not being good enough; not being the right colour and the constant feeling that there was something wrong in the way I was born and that ‘black’ is not a good colour to be. I wanted to change it all,” she said.

It is a battle that she has fought all by herself, confronting “our demons”, as she calls her internal strife, her private hell.

“Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose,” she said.

Murlidharan is not alone. There are others who have faced and continue to face colour bias, but unlike Murlidharan, they did not fight it out.

“Better to keep it hidden than call it out,” said Pratibha, a second-year university student in southern India.

The sentiment, rather than rejection, resonates with what Murlidharan’s husband, Vasudevan, has said.

“My sister is not ‘fair’, and she has had to endure snide remarks from the family.”

Whether or not he stood up for his sister, Vasudevan has clearly supported his wife, Murlidharan.

Defending her outburst, he said, “It was a pensive reflection of a personal experience on a matter she felt deeply about and had endured for many years. The obsession with fair complexion is deep-rooted, fed by the general discourse in a society that worships it. There is only one word for this: ridiculous.”

Ridiculous it surely is, yet this reality is deep-rooted, unspoken, and abhorred.

Colourism, now popularly known as colour discrimination, is gender-specific. The intersection of colour and gender is a double whammy. It hits women hard and is tougher on them than it is on men.

“I cannot not be a woman, and I cannot not be dark. The problems that I have had for having to prove myself for being both woman and dark do not go” Murlidharan said, underlining that men being dark is acceptable, but when it comes to women, it is frowned upon, particularly in India, where there is widespread discrimination in terms of caste, gender and, of course, colour.

Even as women are coming into their own professionally and personally, men still get the better of them on the issue of colour.

Weekends are particularly dreadful given that large matrimonial advertisements stare one in the face. The catchline: Wanted a fair-skinned bride…

Occasionally they may say ‘caste no bar’, but they never say ‘colour no bar’. The prerequisite, decidedly, is fair skin, which in India is synonymous with being pretty.

However, this statement suggests that awareness has indeed dawned upon working women. They have not only opposed the fair skin demand, which until some years ago was kind of non-negotiable, but have also protested and, in many cases, changed the status quo.

In this context, what stands out is the campaign by well-known Indian film star and producer Nandita Das, who says she is “tired of being called dark and dusky.”

UNESCO handpicked her and launched a campaign called “India’s Got Colour.”

The campaign was a take-off from an initiative launched some years ago by the founder of Women and Worth, popular as WOW in India, Kavitha Emmanuel, titled Dark is Beautiful. The India’s Got Colour campaign was a significant advance in the fight against colourism.

Once Das got actively involved, other film personalities also got involved, including Bhumi Pednekar, another well-known name in the Indian film industry. To make this clear, Pednekar had intentionally appeared in a trailer of one of her films with make-up that showed her up as darker than she actually is.

For her part, Das has faced several situations during her film career when her skin tone has been lightened simply because she is playing the role of an educated upper-class woman, quite the opposite of when she is playing the role of a slum dweller.

Das has also faced situations when her makeup man reportedly told her, “Don’t worry. I am an expert in making people look fair.” She could then have torn her hair apart.

In addition to individuals, some top brands in the corporate sector were also facing backlash on this issue.

A well-known brand, Hindustan UniLever, had to rework its campaign after a furore over its Fair and Lovely ad. And advertisements wooing women to use fairness cream were nothing new. It had been in the market for over two decades until reality struck. And once it did, there was a backlash against the company for promoting colourism and racism.

The advertisement in question relied on a narrative that portrayed dark skin as ugly and fair skin as acceptable. Over the years several complaints were filed and penalties imposed. The government too stepped in and proposed a ban on such products till companies like Hindustan Unilever rebranded and dropped Fair from its brand name. Amid clamour for the cream’s withdrawal from the market, the company renamed it Glow and Lovely.

But is that enough? Does the rebranding and name change end the bias? Or does it also apply to colourism as well? Do pro-dark-skinned campaigns make life easier for dark-skinned women in India? Or is it mere eyewash, clearly just to grab eyeballs?

Sadly, little has changed in practice. Murlidharan may have taken up cudgels against the bias, and film stars may have backed the Black is Beautiful campaigns, but the truth is that when it comes to Indian society judging women, dark-skinned is considered unattractive, and light-skinned continue to rule.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

 

 

 

Im November 2026 kehrt unsere Online-Seminarreihe "SOEPcampus: Learn to use the SOEP over lunch" mit einem letzten Online-Workshop zurück. Der Workshop bietet eine umfassende, praxisnahe Einführung in die Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP). Die Teilnehmenden lernen den Inhalt der Studie, ...

Dans une enquête publiée lundi, le journal d'investigation Mediapart accuse Jordan Bardella d’avoir tenu des propos antisémites en 2013, lorsqu'il était jeune militant du Front national. Le président du RN conteste "formellement" ces accusations et dénonce des "faux grossiers". Il a annoncé que son avocat "a déposé une plainte en diffamation".

The country’s troubling relationship to China is at the center of its presidential campaign.

Dauer des Videos : 60'

Haftungsausschluss : Die Verdolmetschung der Debatten soll die Kommunikation erleichtern, sie stellt jedoch keine authentische Aufzeichnung der Debatten dar. Authentisch sind nur die Originalfassungen der Reden bzw. ihre überprüften schriftlichen Übersetzungen.
Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

Length of video : 60'

Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Decisions taken in Washington and Beijing increasingly shape European trade, technology, energy, and security.

Après plusieurs mois de tensions, les combats ont repris le 23 septembre entre les autorités fédérales et le Front de libération du peuple du Tigré, formation politique qui dirige illégalement l’Etat régional du Tigré.

Smaller generations are entering the workforce as larger generations retire and begin receiving pension benefits. Credit: Shutterstock

By Joseph Chamie
PORTLAND, USA, Sep 28 2026 (IPS)

Dozens of government-funded pension programs providing benefits to hundreds of millions of men and women face growing fiscal strain and long-term sustainability challenges. These pressures are largely driven by rapid demographic transitions, including ageing populations, declining fertility, rising life expectancy, and shrinking workforces.

Many state pension systems rely on current workers to finance benefits for current retirees. In countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United States, these systems face increasing financial pressure as the number of workers supporting each retiree declines, while retirees live longer and collect benefits for more years.

Smaller generations are entering the workforce as larger generations retire and begin receiving pension benefits. This demographic shift is placing growing pressure on pension systems and raising concerns about their ability to meet future obligations.

As a result of these significant demographic changes, relatively fewer workers are paying into pension systems to support growing numbers of retirees who are living longer and collecting benefits for more years.

At the same time, extended families, local communities, and other traditional forms of support for retirees are weakening. Moreover, formal pension systems, including government-backed programs, have proven to be difficult to reform and, in some cases, financially unsustainable. In a growing number of countries, government pension programs are also facing insolvency.

Global life expectancy at age 65, for example, has reached 18 years, a 50% increase from 12 years in 1960. At the same time, the share of the world’s population aged 65 and older has more than doubled, from 5% in 1960 to 11% today. Global fertility has also fallen sharply, from 4.7 births per woman in 1960 to 2.2 today. Moreover, these demographic trends are expected to continue well into the 21st century (Table 1).

Source: United Nations.

Population ageing is particularly evident in some more developed countries. For example, a quarter or more of the populations of Germany, Italy, and Japan are aged 65 and older.

Moreover, the proportion of older persons is expected to increase significantly in many countries in the coming decades. By mid-century, for example, about a third or more of the populations of China, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Spain are projected to be aged 65 and older (Figure 1).

Source: United Nations.

As a result of significant demographic changes in age structure, longevity, fertility, and the workforce, the number of pension beneficiaries is growing relative to the number of workers whose payroll taxes often finance these programs.

By 2050, the ratios of workers to retirees are expected to decline significantly in many of the world’s largest economies. In 2020, these ratios ranged from about 2 workers per retiree in Japan to about 5 in China. By 2050, the ratios are projected to fall to between 1 to 2 workers per retiree in these countries.

Furthermore, despite population ageing, increased longevity among older persons, and fewer workers per retiree, official retirement ages for receiving government pension benefits have remained largely unchanged.

Countries are moving closer to the point when their pension programs may be unable to pay full scheduled benefits. Unless governments take action, pension revenues will become insufficient in many countries to cover scheduled benefits, with financial shortfalls expected to grow substantially over the coming years

Consequently, pension costs are projected to rise as more workers reach retirement age, while slower population and economic growth constrain the tax bases that support many of the pension programs.

As the ratio of workers to retirees worsens, government officials face difficult choices about raising retirement ages, adjusting benefits, and increasing taxes.

Countries are moving closer to the point when their pension programs may be unable to pay full scheduled benefits. Unless governments take action, pension revenues will become insufficient in many countries to cover scheduled benefits, with financial shortfalls expected to grow substantially over the coming years.

The longer governments delay necessary reforms, the larger the adjustments are likely to be to close these financing gaps. Such adjustments could involve changes to revenue, benefits, retirement ages, or other program provisions.

Despite repeated warnings from pension officials and approaching financial shortfalls, pension reform has received relatively little government attention. Policymakers have generally avoided proposing comprehensive legislation to ensure the long-term financial solvency of their pension programs.

The growing pension peril underscores the urgency of addressing these financial challenges well before programs reach their projected insolvency dates. Acting sooner would give policymakers more time to make gradual changes and restore long-term financial balance.

As some countries have done in the past, governments could establish national commissions to examine the long-term finances of their pension programs. These commissions could develop recommendations and present them to government officials well before projected insolvency dates, giving policymakers adequate time to consider and implement reforms.

Governments have several options for addressing expected pension shortfalls. Policymakers could eliminate or raise the ceiling on earnings subject to payroll taxes, increase payroll tax rates paid by employers and employees, reduce cost-of-living adjustments for high-income beneficiaries, and gradually raise the retirement age as life expectancy increases.

Many of these measures, however, are politically difficult and unpopular with much of the public. Some countries, for example, are considering raising their official retirement ages, but such proposals are opposed by large proportions of the public.

Opinion surveys also indicate a preference for lower retirement ages. For example, respondents in 18 mostly middle-income countries say, on average, that the best age to retire is around 58 (Figure 2).

Source: Pew Research Center.

In sum, many national pension systems are in peril. Significant demographic changes – especially population ageing, increased longevity, declining fertility, and shrinking workforces – are placing growing financial pressure on many government pension programs and threatening their long-term sustainability.

Despite these well-known challenges and the prospect of growing financial shortfalls, government leaders have shown limited willingness to make the difficult policy choices needed to address them. Unless policymakers act, many national pension programs could face serious funding gaps, potentially leading to significant reductions in scheduled benefits for retirees and other beneficiaries.

Joseph Chamie is a consulting demographer, a former director of the United Nations Population Division, and author of many publications on population issues.

Le Basket Club Génération Espoir de Lubumbashi a remporté, dimanche 27 septembre, son tout premier titre de la Coupe du Congo de basket-ball chez les hommes, à l’issue de la 43e édition de la compétition disputée au gymnase jumelé du stade des Martyrs, à Kinshasa. Chez les dames, le BC Caisse nationale de sécurité sociale (CNSS ) a confirmé sa domination en conservant son titre national.

En Turquie, un tribunal d’Istanbul a condamné, ce lundi 28 septembre, le célèbre humoriste Deniz Göktas à un peu plus de 19 mois de prison. Emprisonné depuis début juillet, il a toutefois été remis en liberté à l’issue de l’audience. Il comparaissait notamment pour « insulte » au chef de l’État, en raison de propos prononcés lors de son dernier spectacle. Au tribunal, Deniz Göktas a dû défendre ses blagues autant que le droit à l’humour dans la Turquie de Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Le produit net bancaire de la Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC Bénin) a progressé de 4,9 % en 2025, à 21,915 milliards de FCFA. Le résultat net atteint 17,914 milliards de FCFA, quasiment au même niveau qu'en 2024.

Les revenus de l'activité bancaire de la CDC Bénin ont progressé en 2025 sans entraîner une hausse équivalente du résultat final.

Le produit net bancaire atteint 21,915 milliards de FCFA, en hausse de 4,9 %, tandis que le résultat net ressort à 17,914 milliards FCFA, en baisse de seulement 0,3 % par rapport à 2024.

L'amélioration du revenu généré par l'activité n'a pratiquement pas changé le niveau du résultat final à cause des charges d'intérêts. Elles ont atteint 30,711 milliards de FCFA, contre 25,744 milliards un an plus tôt, soit une progression de 19,3 %.

Le coût des ressources rémunérées a donc augmenté beaucoup plus rapidement que les produits tirés des intérêts.

Dans le même temps, les intérêts et produits assimilés sont passés de 46,494 à 47,378 milliards de FCFA, soit une hausse limitée à 1,9 %. Conséquence : le résultat net d'intérêts recule de 20,750 à 16,667 milliards de FCFA, soit une baisse de 19,6 %.

M. M.