International report

The Turkish government gave Syrians living in Istanbul until the end of October to return to the province where they originally registered.

Legally, refugees cannot leave that province without permission, but it’s believed 1 million Syrians live in Istanbul, where they often work in the informal economy.

In June, the Turkish government quietly began arresting Syrians, and other nationalities, as well.

Haitham was among them, he is now living in a camp in Idlib province, like 3 million other Syrians. His wife and children are now on their own in Istanbul, and they’ve made the decision to return to Syria to be with him.

Shona Bhattacharyya, Ludovic de Foucaud and Shadi Türk bring you this report.

The Turkish government says Syrians living in Istanbul have until 30 October to return to the province where they are registered. Legally, refugees cannot leave that province without permission, but it’s believed one million Syrians live in Istanbul, where they often work in the informal economy.

In June, the Turkish government quietly began arresting Syrians and other nationalities, as well.

Late in August, Hayat Tahrir ash-Sham, the Islamist group that controls Idlib province in Syria, was reporting Turkish busses had driven close to 8,000 Syrians over the border and left them to their fates.

Shona Bhattacharyya and Asma Al Omar report on the extraordinary fate of Zarkaria and Amir, two young men who were deported and who were allowed to come back to Turkey.

Among the 3.6 million Syrians living legally in Turkey, many arrived as children of school-going age. Others were born in Turkey. For these young people, growing up abroad by no fault of their own, their identities act as a barrier in social and professional interactions.

This in a country with a strong nationalist bent (in both politics and culture) where foreigners are treated with suspicion.

On the outside, Abdulhadi and Abdulsalam have fully integrated into Turkish society. But they told Shona Bhattacharyya and Asma Al Omar, they continue to feel like outcasts in this first report of a five-part series.

You may not know the name Lipa Schmeltzer, but in the Jewish community around the world he is a household name, famous for his unique style of Jewish music.

From Brooklyn, New York, Lipa Schmeltzer has been credited with revolutionising music in the extremely conservative Hasidic world... so much so that the New York Times referred to him as the 'Lady Gaga of the Jewish World'.

But not everyone is a fan of Lips's music, the older, more orthodox generation see his modern beats as a threat to their culture and the formation of its youth.

Correspondent Colm Flynn went to visit Lipa in New York and began by asking him about his childhood.

The crisis in the Gaza Strip, where nearly two million Palestinians live in precarious circumstances, was among the key issues in the recent Israeli parliamentary elections, and will remain a major challenge for any in-coming coalition.

As correspondent Isra Namey reports from Gaza, there are a variety of options facing the new administration in the Jewish state, but there's not much hope for positive change on the Palestinian side.

During the recent Turkish military operation against Kurdish militia in Syria, Turkey’s mainstream media slavishly supported Ankara’s initiative.

This is not particularly surprising, given the extent of government control of the media.

Now, new regulations for internet broadcasting have come into force in Turkey, where the authorities have already blocked more than 24,000 websites.

The government says all broadcasters must abide by the same rules. Critics claim the new measures are an attempt to silence the last platform for independent journalism.

Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.

The popularity of Halloween in France is steadily rising, as indicated by an orchestral music workshop held at the Paris Philharmonic. Using instruments from all over the world, children and adults create an improvised soundtrack for a scene from Nosferatu, a classic horror film from the silent era.

Listen to Arnab Béranger's report by clicking on the 'Play' button above.

In the Democractic Republic of Congo, the Ebola epidemic continues in the northeastern part of the country, but has moved into the Ituri region as cases in North Kivu are slowly starting to decrease. The deadly disease has been killing residents for more than a year-- why did it take so long to get the problem of Ebola under control? RFI's Laura Angela traveled around North Kivu and spoke people involved in the Ebola response to better understand the initial animosity it provoked in local people:

While the focus on Ebola,  the deadly hemorrhagic virus is typically health, food is an important part of the process, whether keeping up your strength or preventing the spread of the disease by receiving food from the World Food Programme's Ebola response in North Kivu, and now, Ituri regions. And food can also help with stigma, too, for Ebola survivors. RFI's Laura Angela Bagnetto was in Beni and Butembo in the DRC to find out how the food distributions worked:

In Cameroon in late 2016, English-speaking lawyers and teachers peacefully protested against the use of French in the nation's courts and schools. Their demands were met with a crackdown by security forces.

The following year, some disgruntled English-speakers took up arms against the state, to fight against what they describe as years of marginalisation by a central government dominated by French speakers.

On 1 October 2017, they symbolically declared the independence of Ambazonia. Since then, more than half a million people have fled their homes and about 3,000 have died as a result of the violence, according to the International Crisis Group.

The displaced are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

Some of them have been sharing their stories with our correspondent Alphonse Tebeck, RFI's correspondent in Bamenda, the largest city in English-speaking Cameroon.