mission

Beyond armies and violence, France built its empire through language, schooling and cultural influence. This film explores how assimilation became a method of rule and a source of resistance.

At the heart of French colonial rule was the mission “civilisatrice”, a doctrine that claimed to lift up colonised societies through education, administration and the French language. In practice, this system sought to reshape colonised people’s identities, loyalties and cultures, replacing local traditions with French norms while maintaining strict political and economic control. Schools, legal systems and bureaucracies became tools of empire as powerful as armies.

Through case studies in Algeria, Indochina and West Africa, the documentary shows how colonial administrations operated on the ground. In Algeria, settler colonialism and mass repression led to war. In Indochina, education and bureaucracy coexisted with exploitation and nationalist resistance. In West Africa, language policy and indirect rule reshaped social hierarchies and governance.

This episode examines how resistance movements challenged the promise of civilisation, forcing France to confront the contradictions at the heart of its empire. Anticolonial struggles, intellectual movements and armed uprisings not only weakened imperial rule but reshaped French politics, culture and identity itself.

The documentary also places French colonial strategies in a broader modern context. In the contemporary world, the United States projects influence less through formal empire and more through soft power. Hollywood cinema, television and digital platforms circulate American values, lifestyles and narratives globally, shaping cultural imagination in ways that echo earlier imperial projects. At the same time, US dominance in higher education, academic publishing and institutional standards helps define what knowledge is valued, taught and legitimised worldwide.

It also draws direct connections between French colonialism and the modern world. Contemporary debates over language, immigration, secularism and inequality are deeply rooted in colonial systems designed to classify, discipline and extract. Many modern state institutions, education models and economic relationships reflect structures first imposed under empire.

By tracing how cultural control, education and administration functioned as instruments of power, the documentary reveals how the legacy of French colonialism continues to shape modern capitalism, global inequality and postcolonial relations today.

The fact quarterback Luke Fahey of Mission Viejo High signed with Ohio State is impressive enough. Then look at his 2025 statistics and you begin to realize he’s going to be next in line to continue Southern California’s success in developing top quarterbacks.

Over 11 games, he only had three passes intercepted while completing 71% of his passes. He threw for 3,199 yards and 25 touchdowns. He ran for six touchdowns. He had a school-record 569 yards passing against Los Alamitos. He made a clutch touchdown pass in the second half to beat eventual Southern Section Division 1 champion Santa Margarita 7-6 in the season opener.

He clearly performed at his best when the pressure was on and Mission Viejo needed him to lift up his teammates.

“He’s the best leader I’ve had in 25 years of coaching. He’s the total package,” coach Chad Johnson said.

Fahey has been selected The Times’ back of the year.

Before this season, he was sharing time at quarterback, showing incredible unselfishness while putting his trust in the process that everything would work out when it was his time to be the full-time starter. And it did.

“He’s always been real good,” Johnson said. “He was sharing reps and didn’t allow everyone to see his greatness and what he could be. Ohio State saw it. It’s going to be crazy what he can do at the next level.”

There’s one memory Johnson won’t soon forget. It was in the visiting locker room after a game at St. Paul. Fahey stayed behind as the last person to pick up trash to leave the locker room clean. Then he headed to the bus. Only the head coach saw it. The best player on the team doing work others ignored.

“Remarkable,” Johnson said.

Dec. 10 (UPI) — The United States late Wednesday called on Yemen-based Houthis to release all current and former staff the rebels have kidnapped, amid ongoing legal proceedings alleging international spy cells operating in the Middle Eastern country under the cover of humanitarian aid.

It was unclear how many current and former staff, all Yemeni nationals, of the U.S. Mission to Yemen were in Houthi custody. The United Nations has said 59 of its staff and dozens of diplomatic mission, NGO and civil society personnel have been detained by the Iran-proxy militia.

“The Iran-backed Houthis, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, have intensified their campaign of intimidation and abuse against Yemeni citizens affiliated with international organizations and foreign governments,” State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott said in a statement.

“The Houthis’ arrests of those staff, and the sham proceedings that have been brought against them, are further evidence that the Houthis rely on the use of terror against their own people as a way to stay in power.

“We call for the immediate and unconditional release of the Mission staff.”

The Houthis have detained and are trying the workers they allege are members of foreign espionage cells linked to United States, Britain, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Late last month the Houthi-controlled Foreign Ministry warned the United States against interfering in its judicial independence, saying it only confirms Washington’s involvement in espionage against them.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is “gravely concerned” about the arbitrary detention of his 59 personnel and the dozens of others in Houthi captivity and condemns their referral to a special criminal court.

Some of the U.N. personnel have been held by the Houthis for years without any due process and in violation of international law, he said, adding that they are immune from legal process for all acts performed in their official capacity.

In late August, 11 U.N. employees were abducted by Houthi-controlled authorities after they raided World Food Program facilities in the capital Sanaa. The raid followed Israeli airstrikes that killed the Houthis’ prime minister, Ahmed al-Wawai, along with several other ministers.

Hans Grundberg, U.N. special envoy for Yemen, said then that there were 23 U.N. workers in Houthi captivity.

On Tuesday, Volker Turk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said one of his colleagues who has been detained by the Houthis since November 2021 has been presented before the Special Criminal Court on “fabricated charges of espionage connected to his work.”

“This is totally unacceptable and a grave human rights violation,” he said.

“Our colleagues, along with dozens of other U.N. and humanitarian staff, have been detained while bravely carrying out their work assisting the people of Yemen, and held in intolerable conditions ever since,” he said in a statement.

The U.N., he said, has received reports that numerous detained staff have been mistreated.

“Their suffering, and that of their families, has gone on far too long,” he said. “Their safety and well-being are at grave risk.”

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. secretary-general, told reporters during a Tuesday press conference that they have not been able to speak with any of their detained staff but are in constant communication with the Houthis trying to secure their release.

“We don’t want them to be in this court, and we want them to be released,” he said.

The U.S. Embassy in Yemen said Wednesday that the “sham trials” are evidence of the Houthis’ weakness.

“The Houthis continue to use intimidation to distract from their inability to govern legitimately,” it said on X.

“We call for the immediate release of these unjustly held Yemeni citizens, so that they can return to their families after years of illegal detention.”

The U.N., along with humanitarian and non-governmental organizations, operate in Yemen as its 12-year civil war between the Houthi militants and the internationally recognized Yemeni government has made it one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.