CONTINENTAL DRIFT

Steep climb to citizenship

Malian migrant Mamoudou Gassama has been hailed as a hero after saving a four-year-old boy dangling from a balcony in Paris. Gassama, now dubbed “Spider-Man”, was cheered on by spectators as he climbed from balcony to balcony, all the way to the fourth floor, and plucked the boy to safety. French President Emmanuel Macron has promised him French citizenship and given him a job as a trainee firefighter.

France makes an ass of itself

France has donated 10 donkeys to a nongovernmental organisation in Burundi to help women and children transport items such as water and wood, but the gesture has sparked a furious debate over its meaning. A presidential adviser labelled the donation an “insult to the nation”, and another senior official wrote that the French “were taking us for donkeys”. The beasts of burden have been quarantined by the country’s agricultural ministry.

Blogger’s appeal

Algerian blogger Merzoug Touati is appealing a 10-year jail term after he was convicted last week of providing intelligence to “agents of foreign power”. His prosecutors had wanted to give him a life sentence. Touati has been in prison since January 2017 after he called for protests against new financial laws and published a video interview with an Israeli spokesperson. His lawyer is urging the court to dismiss the charges.

Barrow pays his dues