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Guillaume Tarpi indicated that OM had signed a second consecutive victory in the league and had temporarily climbed into the top half of the standings. He added that the club would visit Sturm Graz on Thursday and needed to win. #TeamOM https://t.co/HIF2BQFjuS #OM #Ligue1 #football (translated)

Jarno Widar, aged 20, won the last stage and the overall classification of the Tour of Guangxi on Sunday, achieving his first two successes in WorldTour with Lotto-Intermarché, while expressing his joy by stating that he felt like he was still dreaming. #TourDeGuangxi #JarnoWidar #Cyclisme (translated)

The Gruppetto indicated that Jarno Widar, a 20-year-old Belgian rider from Lotto-Intermarché, had won the sixth and final stage of the Tour of Guangxi ahead of Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), then the overall classification of the WorldTour event. Louis Barré (Visma-Lease a Bike) had finished third. #TOG2026 https://t.co/Gxapky5NAQ #Cyclisme #TourDuGuangxi #WorldTour (translated)

Actu Foot reported, citing L’Équipe, that João Neves had temporarily fallen down the hierarchy at PSG after a decline in performance. The media indicated that the Portuguese player had only played 15 minutes against Manchester City (4-2) and had scored only one goal with Paris throughout the year 2026. He was also ranked 12th among Parisians for passes breaking a line, behind Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz, and Warren Zaïre-Emery. Actu Foot added that in the national team, João Neves was also surpassed by Vitinha, whose profile would better meet the expectations of coach Jorge Jesus. According to the media, PSG, however, considered this setback to be temporary, particularly due to the need to manage the player's physical alerts. #PSG #JoãoNeves #Football (translated)

After another defeat for OM in the Europa League, Actu Foot relayed the concerns of the Marseille press and expressed doubts about the team's ability to play on two fronts. Le Phocéen questioned the value of a European campaign with a squad it deemed limited. La Provence pointed out that OM would be at the top of Ligue 1 and the Europa League if encouraging defeats were counted. L’Équipe indicated that the stands were starting to find the wait long. Le Phocéen also suggested that the Europa League risked becoming a burden for an already complicated season and warned against using it as an excuse, reminding that some players were expected to do better. A supporter interviewed by Maritima claimed that players were cramping in the 75th minute while OM was trailing, adding that he had never seen that before. #OM #LigueEuropa #Marseille (translated)

Actu Foot officially presented the ranking of the Europa League and indicated that Juventus, Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica, Besiktas, Bournemouth, Omonia, Lyon, Sunderland, and Olympiakos had achieved a 6/6. The account added that Rennes was in 13th place and OM in 32nd. https://t.co/oyWXWgbsyn #EuropaLeague #Football #Classement (translated)

Actu Foot indicated that Lyon had defeated Crystal Palace and recorded two victories in two matches to start their Europa League campaign. The account added that the club was temporarily in third place in the overall standings. https://t.co/9oKf8EhbBL #wyscout #UEFA #EuropaLeague (translated)

Actu Foot reported that José Mourinho once again criticized the refereeing during a press conference after the mixed zone. He stated that a player had learned two hours before the match that he would receive a four-match suspension. Mourinho considered this decision abnormal and claimed that a Spanish team had just brought three points to Spanish football, to its ranking and prestige. He also accused the officials of now acting without shame and openly. https://t.co/NbJzmajD59 #Mourinho #Arbitrage #Football (translated)

Instant Foot wrote that Jonathan Calderwood, gardener of PSG recruited in 2013 to make the pitch at Parc des Princes a reference, could be dismissed after 13 years of service. According to the account, he had been summoned to a preliminary interview that could lead to dismissal after the first match of this season's Ligue 1 against Rennes had to be postponed due to the pitch being unplayable. Instant Foot also stated that management was not pleased with the club finishing fourth in the Ligue 1 pitch ranking last season. #PSG #Ligue1 #Football (translated)

Actu Foot reported, citing L'Équipe, that Jonathan Calderwood, the head of the PSG pitches since 2013, had been summoned for a preliminary interview that could lead to his dismissal. According to the report, the summons was notably related to the state of the pitch at Parc des Princes, which had led the club to reverse its match against Rennes at the beginning of the season, which ended with a score of 2-2. Actu Foot also indicated that PSG had received a fine of 150,000 euros and that its pitch had finished fourth in the Ligue 1 standings the previous season, behind those of Nice, Metz, and Nantes. #PSG #Football #Ligue1 (translated)

Joan Larroumec stated that a report from the IGF revealed that social contributions charged to civil servants, which could reach 80% of their salary, inflated public budgets and, according to him, masked the pension deficit. He argued that this method also distorted international comparisons and hindered the measurement of the burden of civil servants' pensions, which could soon become the largest expense for the state. According to him, France ranked low in terms of sovereign expenditures because it devoted the majority of its resources to pensions. He added that he had created graphs to illustrate his point. #Retraites #Économie #France (translated)

The French Mileistes have established a ranking of the annual spending cuts announced for 2032: David Lisnard topped the list with 200 billion euros, according to intentions whose figures had not been disclosed, followed by Bruno Retailleau with 177 billion, the exact amount of which had not yet been detailed. They then cited Éric Zemmour and Sarah Knafo with "at least 140 billion," Marine Le Pen with 140 billion, Gabriel Attal with 75 billion, and Édouard Philippe with 35 billion. They indicated that Jean-Luc Mélenchon proposed, in their view, an increase in spending of 250 billion per year and labeled the entries of Philippe and Mélenchon as clowns. The group specified that the figures came from political leaders and their parties. They considered many of them fanciful, claimed they would contest them during the campaign, and excluded the possibility that a tax increase could be deemed a saving. They stated that the deficit currently stands at 170 billion euros per year and would reach 270 billion by 2032 without measures, due to rising costs of interest, health, and retirement. According to them, reducing taxes would therefore require at least 200 billion euros in savings. They urged Lisnard to publish his figures quickly, believing that his first place would otherwise be illusory. #Economie #Politique #Déficit (translated)

Tafouk TV – how three Sahel military governments are building a common information system Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are no longer relying only on speeches, social media or their existing national broadcasters to shape the information environment around the Alliance of Sahel States. They are building a shared, permanent media infrastructure. At its centre is Tafouk TV, the confederal television channel of the AES, broadcasting from Bamako. Its creation was formally agreed by the three governments in December 2025, its governing structure was installed in 2026 and regular programming began in September. The project is explicitly presented by AES authorities as an instrument of “information sovereignty” and what Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop has called “narrative sovereignty”. A television channel built by three military governments Tafouk TV is fundamentally different from a covert bot network or a collection of anonymous propaganda accounts. Its ownership and political purpose are public. It is an institutional broadcaster created by the governments of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, all currently led by military authorities. Malian government documents describe the channel as a common media instrument intended to strengthen communication across the confederation, promote regional identities and respond to what the AES sees as hostile narratives and disinformation. The project sits alongside Daandè Liptako, a shared radio service, and broader plans to develop common information structures across the three states. That institutional architecture is important. A social-media influence network can disappear when accounts are suspended. A television channel, radio network and future news agency can develop journalists, archives, correspondents, distribution agreements and continuous daily output. The result is not a temporary campaign but potentially a long-term information system. Russia enters through RT The Russian connection is also public. In July 2026, Tafouk TV signed a cooperation agreement with RT, the Russian state-funded international broadcaster. The memorandum was signed by Tafouk TV director-general Salif Sanogo and Natalia Lebedeva, director of RT en français. It provides for content exchange, expertise-sharing and joint coverage of major events in Russia and the Sahel. RT described itself as Tafouk TV's first international partner. This makes Tafouk part of a much broader geopolitical realignment in the Sahel. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have reduced cooperation with France and other Western partners while deepening political, diplomatic and security relations with Moscow. But the distinction is important: there is no public evidence that Russia owns Tafouk TV, finances the entire channel or directly controls its editorial decisions. The most precise description is therefore a state-owned AES broadcaster with a formal partnership with Russian state media, rather than a Russian-controlled television station. The battle over the narrative AES officials make little attempt to hide the strategic role they expect the channel to play. During a visit to Tafouk TV shortly after regular broadcasting began, Abdoulaye Diop described communication as another strategic front alongside defence, diplomacy and development. He spoke of a geopolitical environment characterised by a “war of narratives” and said the AES needed its own media to defend its interests and strengthen its narrative sovereignty. Mali's government has similarly described Tafouk TV as an instrument of information sovereignty, regional cohesion and Sahelian identity. The first governing-board meetings emphasised digital distribution, national languages and the creation of a new generation of Sahelian journalists capable of carrying the confederation's message at home and abroad. Early reporting examined by the Financial Times found patriotic programming, interviews with officials and positive reporting from conflict zones. The newspaper described the project in the context of the three governments' attempts to challenge Western media narratives and strengthen their legitimacy while facing continuing jihadist insurgencies. Why this is not simply another disinformation operation It is important not to use propaganda and disinformation as synonyms. A state broadcaster can systematically promote the government's preferred interpretation of events without every story being false.Tafouk TV's significance therefore lies less in individual fabricated claims than in the information architecture being created around it: three governments operating a shared broadcaster, common radio infrastructure and potentially other confederal media, while cooperating with Russia's international state-media system. This development is taking place while independent media conditions across the three countries are deteriorating. Reporters Without Borders ranked Burkina Faso 110th, Niger 120th and Mali 121st in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index, pointing to arbitrary detentions, restrictions on journalists and suspensions of media outlets across the AES states. That context changes the importance of Tafouk TV. A new state broadcaster entering a diverse and competitive media environment is one thing. A common government-controlled broadcaster expanding while alternative sources face restrictions is another. From influence campaigns to permanent infrastructure Tafouk TV illustrates an important evolution in the information contest in the Sahel. Russian and pro-Russian influence in Africa has often relied on social-media networks, influencers, fake experts, local partners or apparently independent media outlets. Tafouk represents something more durable: formal state institutions can now carry many of the same geopolitical narratives openly and continuously. The audience figures are not yet sufficiently established to demonstrate how influential Tafouk TV will become. It may eventually reach far fewer people than some viral online operations, or its television, radio and digital infrastructure may give it far greater long-term significance. Sources Government of Mali — Tafouk TV governing board and strategic mission https://gouvernement.ml/conseil-dadministration-de-tafouk-tv-installe-a-bamako-le-ministre-alhamdou-ag-ilyene-trace-les-orientations-strategiques-de-la-chaine-confederale/ Government of Mali — Abdoulaye Diop and “narrative sovereignty” https://gouvernement.ml/communication-confederale-de-laes-sem-abdoulaye-diop-a-la-decouverte-de-tafouk/ Government of Mali — creation of Tafouk TV and Daandè Liptako https://gouvernement.ml/conseil-national-de-la-transition-le-cnt-adopte-deux-textes-majeurs-relatifs-a-la-creation-de-tafouk-tv-et-de-la-radio-daande-liptako/ Government of Mali — ratification and information-sovereignty objectives https://gouvernement.ml/2026/05/30/ Government of Mali — Tafouk TV board and Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga https://gouvernement.ml/television-de-lalliance-des-etats-du-sahel-tafouk-tv-les-membres-du-conseil-dadministration-prennent-les-orientations-et-conseils-du-premier-ministre-abdoulaye-maiga/ RT en français — cooperation agreement between RT and Tafouk TV https://rtenfrance.tv/news/136036-rt-devient-premier-partenaire-international-tafouk-tv-chaine-commune-aes APA News — Tafouk TV and Daandè Liptako common AES media infrastructure https://fr.apanews.net/communication/tafouk-tv-et-daande-liptako-le-mali-consolide-les-medias-communs-de-laes/ APA News — Tafouk TV begins regular programming https://fr.apanews.net/communication/aes-tafouk-tv-demarre-ses-programmes/ Financial Times — Sahel juntas launch Tafouk TV with Russian backing https://www.ft.com/content/259b49a1-8eda-4e8d-84c7-45323988b07b Reporters Without Borders — 2026 Press Freedom Index: Africa https://rsf.org/en/classement/2026/afrique Keywords #DISINFORMED #Episode18 #TafoukTV #AES #AllianceOfSahelStates #Sahel #Mali #BurkinaFaso #Niger #Russia #RussianInfluence #RussianMedia #RT #RussiaToday #StateMedia #StatePropaganda #InformationSovereignty #NarrativeSovereignty #InformationWarfare #InfluenceOperations #StrategicCommunication #MediaInfluence #MediaControl #Propaganda #Disinformation #ForeignInfluence #FIMI #Africa #WestAfrica #MilitaryGovernment #MilitaryRule #SahelMedia #DaandeLiptako #MediaInfrastructure #NarrativeControl #PressFreedom #MediaFreedom #Geopolitics #OSINT #WRLD