عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

France Celebrates Napoleon's 200th Death Anniversary with Documentaries

A bronze statue of Napoleon Bonaparte in uniform displayed at Osenat auction house before being put on auction, in Fontainebleau, near Paris, France, April 30, 2021. (Reuters)
A bronze statue of Napoleon Bonaparte in uniform displayed at Osenat auction house before being put on auction, in Fontainebleau, near Paris, France, April 30, 2021. (Reuters)
TT
TT

France Celebrates Napoleon's 200th Death Anniversary with Documentaries

A bronze statue of Napoleon Bonaparte in uniform displayed at Osenat auction house before being put on auction, in Fontainebleau, near Paris, France, April 30, 2021. (Reuters)
A bronze statue of Napoleon Bonaparte in uniform displayed at Osenat auction house before being put on auction, in Fontainebleau, near Paris, France, April 30, 2021. (Reuters)

On the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's death, French TV channels are dedicating their airtime to screen documentaries, programs and special evenings that explore unknown, and sometimes dark sides, of the late emperor's life.

On April 13, France 2 TV inaugurated its commemoration of Napoleon's death with a special episode of the "Laissez-vous Guider" program with Stéphane Bern and Lorànt Deutsch, who took the audience on a journey following "the steps of Napoleon" from Paris to the Aix Island.

The episode included new 3D reconstructed scenes. The evening was concluded with a report from the Grand Napoleon Exhibition at "La Grande Halle," Paris.

On April 19, Bern dedicated his program, "Secrets d'Histoire," to highlight the last years of the emperor, who was toppled and exiled.

The "La Premiere" network, affiliated with France TV, is set to introduce a "different reading" on Napoleon's marriage to Josephine, the heiress of a land and slave owner in the Martinique, who revived slave trade in 1802. Another documentary dubbed "Bonaparte, the Dark Side" exposed this forgotten chapter in the history of France.

The French-German Arte network also prepared two documentaries for the occasion: one was screened on May 1, and the second is scheduled for the eighth.

The first, "Napoleon: Faith and Death," voiced by actor and scriptwriter of Greek origins Denis Podalydès, highlighted the mental state of the emperor, who escaped death on six occasions. The second, entitled "Napoleon – Metternich: Beginning of the End" voiced by actor and director Philippe Torretone, explores the long meeting between Napoleon and Metternich, the Austrian foreign minister in Dresden in 1813.

Histoire TV has planned to air various programs this month that will conclude on May 7, with a documentary series, produced by the BBC, and a special episode of the "C'est un Complot" program that investigates different historic versions and explores a theory that Napoleon was assassinated.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Urban Mosquito Sparks Malaria Surge in East Africa

Bed nets -- up to now the prime weapon against malaria -- may be much less effective against the urban mosquito. YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP/File
Bed nets -- up to now the prime weapon against malaria -- may be much less effective against the urban mosquito. YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP/File
TT
TT

Urban Mosquito Sparks Malaria Surge in East Africa

Bed nets -- up to now the prime weapon against malaria -- may be much less effective against the urban mosquito. YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP/File
Bed nets -- up to now the prime weapon against malaria -- may be much less effective against the urban mosquito. YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP/File

The spread of a mosquito in East Africa that thrives in urban areas and is immune to insecticide is fueling a surge in malaria that could reverse decades of progress against the disease, experts say.
Africa accounted for about 95 percent of the 249 million malaria cases and 608,000 deaths worldwide in 2022, according to the most recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO), which said children under five accounted for 80 percent of deaths in the region, AFP reported.
But the emergence of an invasive species of mosquito on the continent could massively increase those numbers.
Anopheles stephensi is native to parts of South Asia and the Middle East but was spotted for the first time in the tiny Horn of Africa state of Djibouti in 2012.
Djibouti had all but eradicated malaria only to see it make a slow but steady return over the following years, hitting more than 70,000 cases in 2020.
Then stephensi arrived in neighboring Ethiopia and WHO says it is key to an "unprecedented surge", from 4.1 million malaria cases and 527 deaths last year to 7.3 million cases and 1,157 deaths between January 1 and October 20, 2024.
Unlike other species which are seasonal and prefer rural areas, stephensi thrives year-round in urban settings, breeding in man-made water storage tanks, roof gutters or even air conditioning units.
It appears to be highly resistant to insecticides, and bites earlier in the evening than other carriers. That means bed nets -- up to now the prime weapon against malaria -- may be much less effective.
"The invasion and spread of Anopheles stephensi has the potential to change the malaria landscape in Africa and reverse decades of progress we've made towards malaria control," Meera Venkatesan, malaria division chief for USAID, told AFP.
'More research is needed'
The fear is that stephensi will infest dense cities like Mombasa on Kenya's Indian Ocean coast and Sudan's capital Khartoum, with one 2020 study warning it could eventually reach 126 million city-dwellers across Africa.
Only last month, Egypt was declared malaria-free by WHO after a century-long battle against the disease -- a status that could be threatened by stephensi's arrival.
Much remains unknown, however.
Stephensi was confirmed as present in Kenya in late 2022, but has so far stayed in hotter, dryer areas without reaching the high-altitude capital, Nairobi.
"We don't yet fully understand the biology and behavior of this mosquito," Charles Mbogo, president of the Pan-African Mosquito Control Association, told AFP.
"Possibly it is climate-driven and requires high temperatures, but much more research is needed."
He called for increased funding for capturing and testing mosquitos, and for educating the public on prevention measures such as covering water receptacles.
Multiplying threats
The spread of stephensi could dovetail with other worrying trends, including increased evidence of drug resistant malaria recorded in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Eritrea.
"The arrival of resistance is imminent," said Dorothy Achu, WHO's head of tropical and vector-borne diseases in Africa.
WHO is working with countries to diversify treatment programs to delay resistance, she said.
A new malaria variant is also evading tests used to diagnose the disease.
"The increased transmission that stephensi is driving could potentially help accelerate the spread of other threats, such as drug resistance or another mutation in the parasite that leads it to be less detectable by our most widely-used diagnostics," said Venkatesan at USAID.
Another added challenge is the lack of coordination between African governments.
Achu said WHO is working on "a more continental approach".
But Mbogo in Kenya said "more political will" was needed.