International report

In the mid 1960s, the first women's magazine published in French-speaking Africa and produced entirely in Dakar, was created by a group of  intellectuals. For the first time black women in Senegal had a magazine just for them that dealt with critical thinking, women's political engagement, gender inequalities, education and entertainment in sub-Saharan Africa.

The magazine ran for nine years. Every edition has now been digitized and is accessible online at awamagazine.org.

An art exhibition showcasing the magazine’s artworks and content is on show in the capital Dakar until January.

Emmanuelle Landais reports from Dakar.

Thousands of visitors from around the world turned out this weekend for the public opening of what’s being called the ‘Louvre in the Sand’: it’s a new Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and it’s the first museum to bear the name 'Louvre' outside France. Its mission, it says, is to bridge cultures and civilisations. One of the first visitors was RFI’s Amanda Morrow, who reports from the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

While much attention has been focused on the glossy inauguration of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, on the city’s lavish Saadiyat Island, a few kilometres down the road artists from the region were putting on a performance of their own – at the Abu Dhabi Art fair. RFI’s Amanda Morrow went along.

Under the Soviet Union, Georgia’s state-owned vineyards supplied wine to the entire USSR. High-yielding grape varieties led to the gradual extinction of unique Georgian grapevine varieties. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia has come to embrace its 8,000 year old winemaking culture and heritage.

The last quarter of the century has seen a transition from pumping out tons of mass commodity wine to meet Soviet quotas, to a revival in natural organic wine production and consumption.This is thesecond report in a two-part series on wine-making in Georgia.

At the crossroads of Europe and Asia, nestled between the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea is the small country of Georgia. In nearby Turkey, Iran and Armenia, archaeological digs have uncovered wine-making deposits.

But thanks to genomic research, within the field of molecular biology, wine residue was discovered on the inner surface of an 8,000 year old ceramic jar found in Georgia, making the small country the cradle of wine-making. This two part series looks at wine-making in Georgia.

Since the 1980s, one of Senegal’s big exports has been Octopus – but today the octopus stocks in Senegal’s waters have fallen by up to 90 percent.

In a fishing village south of the capital Dakar, called Joal-Fadiouth, fishermen saw their livelihoods starting to disappear ten years ago and have started to change how they fish.

Emmanuelle Landais has this report.

A court in the US state of California has upheld a 2004 ban on foie gras. That’s a French delicacy but because foie gras is made from the liver of a duck or goose that has been force-fed, it’s banned in California – making foie gras is seen as animal cruelty.

While the ban was introduce in 2004, following an eight year grace period, it is has only been enforced since 2012.

But fans of foie gras in the US are unhappy about the ban and say it’s a violation of the US constitution. Ryan Thompson reports.

In the Gaza Strip, female actors have been struggling to find thier place in theatre  the territory. Among the leading female artists, three have recently launched their own first-ever women's theatre company. After 15 years they are now training young actors and actresses.

Zimbabweans live in constant fear of openly discussing their political and economic challenges, dreading reprisals from their political leaders. But, as a result of those fears, they have turned to comedians who have mastered the art of comedy which relates to the country’s woes. Jeffrey Moyo has this report from Harare.

Gambia has the highest number of people trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Italy, than any other country in Africa, according to the United Nations.

The government of Adama Barrow has promised that it will work to revert this trend which affects mostly young people.

There will aslo be input from those who have returned via Libya and begun to share their experiences to try and discourage people from leaving.

Claire Bargelès has this report from Banjul.