'OMG!' Trump stuns observers with flippant remark on Japanese WWII sex trafficking

Sarah K. Burris
August 25, 2025 
RAW STORY

U.S. President Donald Trump meets with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the Oval Office, at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 25, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

President Donald Trump made remarks about sex trafficking and forced prostitution on the Korean peninsula, but the term he chose shocked many and sparked questions about his mental state.

Speaking to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Trump talked about "comfort women," a term from just before and during World War II, in which the Japanese government trafficked women, girls, and boys into its occupied territories to satisfy soldiers, according to History.com.

The movement began in 1932 and lasted until 1945. Scholars estimate that there could be anywhere from 20,000 to nearly 500,00 women and children who were trafficked into sex slavery, abused, raped, and infected with venereal disease. The term comes from a Japanese word that literally translates to "comforting, consoling woman," said the Association for East Asian Studies.

"The whole issue of the women. Comfort women. Very specifically. We talked and that was a very big problem for Korea, not for Japan. Japan was, wanted to go, they want to get on. But Korea was very stuck on that," Trump said.

The comments prompted questions from observers, given Trump’s past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct from numerous women.

The cultural marketing company, Mallination, formerly Warner Music, posted on X, "Finally a topic he knows something about."


Actress Morgan Fairchild exclaimed, "OMG!"

"Interesting that this happens to be one of the few historical events that @realDonaldTrump seems to actually know something about," quipped Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway.

"Comfort women? Dude is def on the way out, haven’t heard that term in conversation since the 60s," asked one videographer.

"This is the systematic rape of women and girls he shrugs off," remarked Doug McNamara, a plaintiffs' attorney in consumer, drug, and product defect cases.

See the clip below or at the link here.

New school year in Washington marked by fear of anti-migrant raids

By AFP
August 25, 2025


A welcome back note on the first day of school in Washington -- a show of support as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids increase in the city - Copyright AFP PETER PARKS

Maria DANILOVA

Neighbors, volunteers and parents escorted children to the first day of the new school year across Washington on Monday, vowing to protect students from Donald Trump’s deportation drive.

At one elementary school in the US capital, crowds blew whistles, shook tambourines and cheered children on their way to class, ready to fend off any law enforcement action and to support a neighborhood with a high Latino population.

Throughout the city, chaperone groups, carpools and patrols were organized over fears that immigration agents, who have stepped up arrests and sweeps, could target school campuses.

Resident Helena Bonde, 36, showed up at the elementary school in her wheelchair to support immigrant families who she says have been terrorized by raids, with some neighbors afraid to go to the grocery store.

“Nobody’s trying to arrest a disabled white woman right now, so I just figured I’ll be wherever I can be,” Bonde told AFP.

“Everybody really just wanted to help out in a way that could feel concrete and useful and help make our local families feel a little safer.”

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency said it would not target Washington schools on Monday.

But it has not ruled out activity on school campuses to conduct welfare checks on undocumented and unaccompanied children that the Trump administration says need to be rescued from sex trafficking and forced labor rings.

On Monday “you are not going to see ICE officers doing a raid or a sweep,” ICE chief Todd Lyons told NBC News last week.

“But our goal… is finding those 300,000 undocumented children and those minors that came here through the last administration.”

– ‘It’s about how you look’ –

Selene, a Mexican-American community organizer, admitted that the thought of not sending her daughter to school crossed her mind because even Latino families residing in the United States legally have been targeted and detained.

“This is not about status. It’s about how you look, right? If you look Latino on the street, you’re a target, unfortunately,” Selene, who declined to give her last name, told AFP.

In the end, encouraged by her neighbors, Selene walked her daughter to school and urged others to do the same.

“The community is here for you, don’t be afraid, and we’re going to keep up the great work. We’re going to keep helping our community members. Our kids who come to school need to feel safe, and we can do that together,” she said.

Others, however, were too frightened.

Blanca, a middle-aged immigrant from El Salvador who stood near the school entrance with a sign that read “Every day is an opportunity” in English and in Spanish, said some families had kept their children home, at least temporarily, out of fear of being deported.

“Because they are scared,” Blanca, who declined to give her last name for safety reasons, told AFP. “We are scared to go out. We don’t know what’s going to happen to us. We’re not safe.”

– Compulsory education –

According to the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, the US capital was home to about 25,000 undocumented migrants in 2023.

While city schools do not collect citizenship information on students, a 2022 Washington Post report quoted a DC council member as estimating that there are from 3,000 to 4,000 undocumented students in Washington schools.

In California, home to the largest immigrant population in the United States, ICE raids that began after Trump’s return to the White House in January have caused a spike in student absences, according to the National Education Association.

Jeffrey Freitas, president of the California Federation of Teachers, cited a landmark 1982 Supreme Court ruling that established that states cannot prevent undocumented children from attending public schools.

“What they’re doing, this is inhumane. This is trying to put fear into these communities,” Freitas told AFP.

“Education is compulsory for every student in the United States. That’s what we have to go by.”

Lora Ries, of the conservative Heritage Foundation, confirmed that “kids are, no matter what their immigration status, under the Supreme Court decision, able to go to public schools, so they are not at risk.”

But, she added, “If someone is here illegally, then they should get right with the law.”

Typhoon death toll rises in Vietnam as downed trees hamper rescuers


By AFP
August 26, 2025

Typhoon Kajiki downed trees and tore roofs off thousands of homes in Vietnam

 - Copyright AFP Nhac NGUYEN

Tran Thi Minh Ha

The death toll from Typhoon Kajiki rose to three in Vietnam on Tuesday, as rescue workers battled uprooted trees and downed power lines and widespread flooding brought chaos to the streets of the capital Hanoi.

The typhoon hit central Vietnam on Monday with winds of up to 130 km/h (80 mph), tearing roofs off thousands of homes and knocking out power to more than 1.6 million people.

Authorities on Tuesday said three people had been killed and 13 injured, and warned of possible flash floods and landslides in eight provinces as Kajiki’s torrential rains continue to wreak havoc.

On the streets of Vinh, in central Vietnam, AFP journalists saw soldiers and rescue workers using cutting equipment to clear dozens of trees and roof panels that had blocked the roads.

“A huge steel roof was blown down from the eighth floor of a building, landing right in the middle of the street,” Tran Van Hung, 65, told AFP.

“It was so lucky that no one was hurt. This typhoon was absolutely terrifying.”

Vietnam has long been affected by seasonal typhoons, but human-caused climate change is driving more intense and unpredictable weather patterns.

This can make destructive floods and storms more likely, particularly in the tropics.

“The wind yesterday night was so strong. The sound from trees twisting and the noise of the flying steel panels were all over the place,” Vinh resident Nguyen Thi Hoa, 60, told AFP.

“We are used to heavy rain and floods but I think I have never experienced that strong wind and its gust like this yesterday.”

Flooding has cut off 27 villages in mountainous areas inland, authorities said, while more than 44,000 people were evacuated as the storm approached.

– Chaos in Hanoi –

Further north in Hanoi, the heavy rains left many streets under water, bringing traffic chaos on Tuesday morning.

“It was impossible to move around this morning. My front yard is also flooded,” Nguyen Thuy Lan, 44, told AFP.

Another Hanoi resident, Tran Luu Phuc, said he was stuck in one place for more than an hour, unable to escape the logjam of vehicles trapped by the murky brown waters.

“The flooding and the traffic this morning are terrible. It’s a big mess everywhere,” he told AFP.

After hitting Vietnam and weakening to a tropical depression, Kajiki swept westwards over northern Laos, bringing intense rains.

The high-speed Laos-China railway halted all services on Monday and Tuesday, and some roads have been cut, but there were no immediate reports of deaths.

In Vietnam, more than 100 people have been killed or left missing from natural disasters in the first seven months of 2025, according to the agriculture ministry.

In September last year Typhoon Yagi battered northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, triggering floods and landslides that left more than 700 people dead and causing billions of dollars’ worth of economic losses.

burs-pdw/mtp

Vietnam evacuates tens of thousands as Typhoon Kajiki hits


By AFP
August 25, 2025


Rain falls above the buildings and a street in Vinh city on August 25, 2025, before Typhoon Kajiki makes landfall in Vietnam - Copyright AFP -

Tran Thi Minh Ha

Vietnam evacuated tens of thousands of residents from coastal areas on Monday as Typhoon Kajiki made landfall, lashing the country’s central belt with gales of more than 130 kilometres per hour.

The typhoon — the fifth to affect Vietnam this year — roiled the Gulf of Tonkin with waves of up to 9.5 metres (31 feet) before hitting shore around 3:00 pm (0800 GMT).

Nearly 30,000 people were evacuated from the region as 16,000 military personnel were mobilised and all fishing boats in the typhoon’s path were called back to harbour.

Two domestic airports were shut and 35 flights cancelled before it landed between Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces.

Waterfront Vinh city was deluged overnight, its streets largely deserted with most shops and restaurants closed as residents and business owners sandbagged their property entrances.

“I have never heard of a typhoon of this big scale coming to our city,” said 66-year-old Le Manh Tung at a Vinh indoor sports stadium, where evacuated families dined on a simple breakfast of sticky rice.

“I am a bit scared, but then we have to accept it because it’s nature — we cannot do anything,” he told AFP, among only a few dozen people camped out at the evacuation site on Monday morning.

The typhoon made landfall packing windspeeds between 118 and 133 kilometres per hour (73 and 82 miles per hour), Vietnam’s National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said.

“Rain will continue today and tomorrow, and with that huge rainfall risks for floodings and flash floods on rivers are very high,” director Mai Van Khiem said.

– ‘Never this big’ –

Scientists say human-caused climate change is driving more intense and unpredictable weather patterns that can make destructive floods and storms more likely, particularly in the tropics.

“Normally we get storms and flooding, but never this big,” said 52-year-old evacuee Nguyen Thi Nhan.

The typhoon’s power is due to dramatically dissipate after it makes landfall.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said conditions suggested “an approaching weakening trend as the system approaches the continental shelf of the Gulf of Tonkin where there is less ocean heat content”.

China’s tropical resort island of Hainan evacuated around 20,000 residents on Sunday as the typhoon passed its south.

The island’s main city, Sanya, closed scenic areas and halted business operations.

In Vietnam, more than 100 people have been killed or left missing from natural disasters in the first seven months of 2025, according to the agriculture ministry.

Economic losses have been estimated at more than $21 million.

Vietnam suffered $3.3 billion in economic losses last September as a result of Typhoon Yagi, which swept across the country’s north and caused hundreds of fatalities.

China Evergrande Group delisted from Hong Kong stock exchange


By AFP
August 25, 2025


Once China's biggest real estate firm, Evergrande was worth more than $50 billion at its peak but defaulted in 2021 after struggling to repay creditors - Copyright AFP/File STR

Shares in heavily indebted China Evergrande Group were taken off the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday, capping a grim reversal of fortune for the once-booming property developer.

A committee at the bourse had decided earlier this month to cancel Evergrande’s listing after it failed to meet a July deadline to resume trading — suspended since early last year.

The delisting on Monday marks the latest milestone for a firm whose painful downward spiral has become symbolic of China’s long-standing property sector woes.

Once the country’s biggest real estate firm, Evergrande was worth more than $50 billion at its peak and helped propel China’s rapid economic growth in recent decades.

But it defaulted in 2021 after years of struggling to repay creditors.

A Hong Kong court issued a winding-up order for Evergrande in January 2024, ruling that the company had failed to come up with a suitable debt repayment plan.

Liquidators have made moves to recover creditors’ investments, including filing a lawsuit against PwC and its mainland Chinese arm for their role in auditing the debt-ridden developer.

The firm’s debt load is bigger than the previously estimated amount of $27.5 billion, according to a filing earlier this month attributed to liquidators Edward Middleton and Tiffany Wong.

The statement added that China Evergrande Group was a holding company and that liquidators had assumed control of more than 100 companies within the group.

Evergrande’s saga — and similar issues faced by other property giants including Country Garden and Vanke — have been closely followed by observers assessing the health of the world’s second-largest economy.

After a decades-long construction boom fuelled by rapid urbanisation, China’s property sector began to show worrying signs in 2020, when Beijing announced new rules to limit excessive borrowing.

With Evergrande’s default the following year and other complications across the industry continuing, a return to the boom years has proven elusive for policymakers.

The crisis has also dampened consumer sentiment at a time when economists argue that China must shift towards a new growth model driven more by domestic spending rather than investment.

New home prices in a grouping of 70 Chinese cities continued to drop in July, official data showed earlier this month.

FASCISM IS CORPORATISM

Trump advisor  APOLOGIST says US may take stakes in other firms after Intel

TV ECONOMIST LIKE KUDLOW

By AFP
August 25, 2025


Silicon Valley chip maker Intel says it cut about 15 percent of its 'core workforce' in the recently ended quarter - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP JUSTIN SULLIVAN

The US government could take stakes in other companies after doing so with chipmaker Intel, President Donald Trump’s top economic advisor Kevin Hassett said Monday.

Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, cited Trump’s plans for a sovereign wealth fund in a CNBC interview, saying “I’m sure that at some point there’ll be more transactions” in the semiconductor industry or others.

He was responding to a question on whether a recently announced deal for the US government to take a 10-percent equity stake in Intel was the start of broader efforts towards similar moves in other industries that authorities have been funding.

Under the agreement with Intel, the US government will receive 433.3 million shares of common stock, representing a 9.9-percent stake in the company, Intel said in an earlier statement.

This amounts to an $8.9 billion investment, funded partially by $5.7 billion in grants awarded but not yet paid under the CHIPS and Science Act — a major law passed under former president Joe Biden, which Trump has criticized. The other portion comes from a different award.

Hassett said on Monday that “in the past, the federal government has been giving money away” to companies.

Kevin Hassett, Director of the US National Economic Council, said the government could take stakes in other companies after Intel but plans to stay out of how firms are run – Copyright AFP/File ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS

But he maintained that under potential deals like that with Intel, “these are going to be shares that don’t have voting rights.”

He said the US government plans to stay out of how companies are run.

– Company risks –

Intel warned in a securities filing on Monday, however, that the government’s equity stake could limit its ability to secure grants from government entities in the future — among other risks.

It noted that the timing it would receive the funding, alongside its ability to fulfil conditions for the funds, “remain uncertain.”

Intel additionally noted that its international business could be “adversely impacted” by the US government being a significant shareholder.

Critics of the deal warn it could be bad for the company’s viability if politics are seen as driving business decisions.

In February, shortly after Trump returned to the presidency, the White House published a plan for the world’s biggest economy to set up a sovereign wealth fund.

A sovereign wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund that manages a country’s excess reserves, typically derived from natural resource revenues or trade surpluses, to generate long-term returns.

For now, Hassett noted that the specific deal with Intel came out of “a very, very special circumstance because of the massive amount of CHIPS act spending that was coming Intel’s way.”

The US government could take stakes in other companies after doing so with chipmaker Intel, President Donald Trump’s top economic advisor Kevin Hassett said Monday.

Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, cited Trump’s plans for a sovereign wealth fund in a CNBC interview, saying “I’m sure that at some point there’ll be more transactions” in the semiconductor industry or others.

He was responding to a question on whether a recently announced deal for the US government to take a 10-percent equity stake in Intel was the start of broader efforts towards similar moves in other industries that authorities have been funding.

Under the agreement with Intel, the US government will receive 433.3 million shares of common stock, representing a 9.9-percent stake in the company, Intel said in an earlier statement.

This amounts to an $8.9 billion investment, funded partially by $5.7 billion in grants awarded but not yet paid under the CHIPS and Science Act — a major law passed under former president Joe Biden, which Trump has criticized. The other portion comes from a different award.

Hassett said on Monday that “in the past, the federal government has been giving money away” to companies.

But he maintained that under potential deals like that with Intel, “these are going to be shares that don’t have voting rights.”

He said the US government plans to stay out of how companies are run.

– Company risks –

Intel warned in a securities filing on Monday, however, that the government’s equity stake could limit its ability to secure grants from government entities in the future — among other risks.

It noted that the timing it would receive the funding, alongside its ability to fulfil conditions for the funds, “remain uncertain.”

Intel additionally noted that its international business could be “adversely impacted” by the US government being a significant shareholder.

Critics of the deal warn it could be bad for the company’s viability if politics are seen as driving business decisions.

In February, shortly after Trump returned to the presidency, the White House published a plan for the world’s biggest economy to set up a sovereign wealth fund.

A sovereign wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund that manages a country’s excess reserves, typically derived from natural resource revenues or trade surpluses, to generate long-term returns.

For now, Hassett noted that the specific deal with Intel came out of “a very, very special circumstance because of the massive amount of CHIPS act spending that was coming Intel’s way.”

US Judge temporarily halts deportation of Salvadoran Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda

A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the deportation of Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda, halting a case tied to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Garcia, wrongly deported to El Salvador in March, was arrested again in Baltimore by ICE, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.


Issued on: 26/08/2025 - 
By: FRANCE 24

Kilmar Abrego Garcia speaks to the media before entering the Immigration Enforcement building in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 25, 2025. © Roberto SCHMIDT, AFP

A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the deportation to Uganda of a Salvadoran man at the center of a row over US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported to El Salvador in March and then sent back to the United States, was arrested in Baltimore on Monday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X.

Abrego Garcia, 30, who was released last week from a jail in Tennessee, where he is facing human smuggling charges, and allowed to go home to Maryland pending trial, "will be processed for removal to Uganda," the Department of Homeland Security said.

Lawyers for Abrego Garcia immediately filed a lawsuit contesting his deportation and District Judge Paula Xinis temporarily blocked his removal from the country while she holds further hearings on his case.

Abrego Garcia was required to check in with ICE in Baltimore on Monday as one of the conditions of his release.

Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, one of Abrego Garcia's lawyers, told a crowd of supporters outside the ICE field office that his client was immediately taken into custody when he turned up for the appointment.

"Shame, shame," chanted the protestors, who were holding signs reading "Free Kilmar" and "Remove Trump."

The attempt to deport Abrego Garcia to Uganda adds a new twist to a saga that became a test case for Trump's sprawling crackdown on illegal immigration -- and, critics say, his trampling of the law.

Abrego Garcia had been living in the United States under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in his home country.

Then he became one of more than 200 people sent to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison in March as part of Trump's crackdown on undocumented migrants.

But Justice Department lawyers admitted that the Salvadoran had been wrongly deported due to an "administrative error."

He was returned to US soil only to be detained again in Tennessee on human smuggling charges.

'Completely unconstitutional'

Abrego Garcia denies any wrongdoing, while the Trump administration alleges he is a violent MS-13 gang member involved in smuggling of other undocumented migrants.

On Thursday, when it became clear that Abrego Garcia would be released the following day, government officials made him a plea offer: remain in custody, plead guilty to human smuggling and be deported to Costa Rica.

He declined the offer.

"That they're holding Costa Rica as a carrot and using Uganda as a stick to try to coerce him to plead guilty to a crime is such clear evidence that they're weaponizing the immigration system in a manner that is completely unconstitutional," Sandoval-Moshenberg said.

The case has become emblematic of Trump's crackdown on illegal migration.

Right-wing supporters praise the Republican president's toughness, but legal scholars and human rights advocates have blasted what they

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

TECH BROS

Musk’s xAI sues Apple, OpenAI alleging antitrust violations

By AFP
August 25, 2025


The latest meme, if you missed it, is AI action figures... generated by OpenAI's free ChatGPT service - © AFP/File PAU BARRENA

Elon Musk’s companies xAI and X filed a sweeping US antitrust lawsuit Monday against Apple and OpenAI, alleging the tech giants formed an illegal partnership to stifle competition in artificial intelligence and smartphone markets.

The 61-page complaint, filed in federal court in Texas, accuses Apple and OpenAI of entering an exclusive deal that makes OpenAI’s ChatGPT the only generative AI chatbot integrated into Apple’s iPhone operating system, while blocking rivals like xAI’s Grok.

“This is a tale of two monopolists joining forces to ensure their continued dominance in a world rapidly driven by the most powerful technology humanity has ever created: artificial intelligence,” the lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs claim Apple holds 65 percent of the US smartphone market, while OpenAI controls at least 80 percent of the generative AI chatbot market through ChatGPT.

Apple and OpenAI announced their partnership in June 2024, making ChatGPT the exclusive AI assistant accessible through Apple’s Siri voice assistant and other iPhone features.

The xAI lawsuit comes as Elon Musk publicly feuds with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman – Copyright AFP/File LISA O’CONNOR, JACK GUEZ

The lawsuit alleges this arrangement gives ChatGPT exclusive access to “billions of user prompts” from hundreds of millions of iPhone users.

The complaint also accuses Apple of manipulating App Store rankings to favor ChatGPT while delaying approval of updates to the Grok app.

Musk’s companies are seeking billions in damages and a permanent injunction to stop the alleged anticompetitive practices. They have demanded a jury trial.

“This latest filing is consistent with Mr Musk’s ongoing pattern of harassment,” OpenAI said in a statement to AFP.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit follows threats Musk made earlier this month that triggered a fiery exchange with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Altman called Musk’s accusation of ranking manipulation “remarkable,” charging that Musk himself “manipulates X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like.”

Musk called Altman a “liar” in the heated exchange.

Both men were original founders of OpenAI before Musk’s departure in 2018 and now have a highly conflictual relationship.

Musk founded xAI in 2023 to compete with OpenAI and other major AI players that have poured billions of dollars into AI since the blockbuster launch of the first version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022.

Telegram’s Durov blasts French probe one year after arrest


By AFP
August 25, 2025


The 40-year-old was detained in Paris in 2024 

- Copyright GETTY IMAGES/AFP Andrew Harnik

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has criticised France’s investigation into illegal content on his messaging app, saying authorities were “struggling” to find evidence of wrongdoing a year after his high-profile arrest.

“One year ago, the French police detained me for four days because some people I’d never heard of used Telegram to coordinate crimes,” Durov wrote on his Telegram channel Sunday evening.

“A year later, the ‘criminal investigation’ against me is still struggling to find anything that I or Telegram did wrong,” he said.

The Russian-born entrepreneur, 40, was sensationally detained in Paris in 2024 and is under formal investigation by French authorities over the popular platform’s alleged complicity in criminal activity.

Durov, who holds French and Russian passports, has been accused of complicity in running an online platform that allowed illicit transactions, images of child sex abuse and other illegal content.

He has denied the allegations and condemned his arrest as doing “massive damage to France’s image as a free country”.

“Arresting a CEO of a major platform over the actions of its users was not only unprecedented — it was legally and logically absurd,” Durov wrote, pledging to “keep fighting”.

The tech founder has accused French authorities of failing to follow proper legal procedures when submitting content moderation inquiries.

“Our moderation practices align with industry standards, and Telegram has always responded to every legally binding request from France,” Durov said.

During initial questioning in December 2024, the tech entrepreneur acknowledged a growing criminal presence on the platform, and pledged to strengthen content oversight.

Durov, who was initially banned from leaving France, had his judicial control relaxed in July, allowing him to reside in the United Arab Emirates, where Telegram is based, for a maximum of two weeks at a time.

“I still have to return to France every 14 days, with no appeal date in sight,” he said.

US studio unearths fossilized dinosaur game ‘Turok’

The original arrow-twanging Turok was a character in 1950s comic books, who made his way to Nintendo 64 consoles in a series of successful games in the late 1990s and then to other consoles in the 2000s. After that, its eponymous native American adventurer was largely forgotten

FIRST NATIVE AMERICAN CHARACTER IN COMICS 

AS A STAND ALONE HERO

By AFP
August 25, 2025


Gamescom in Germany got a preview of 'Turok: Origins' -- a game pitting players against dinosaurs, whose release date is still not set - Copyright AFP Lionel BONAVENTURE

Everything old is new again, especially for gamers at the Gamescom trade fair, who got a preview of upcoming video game “Turok: Origins” — a third-person shooter pitting the player against dinosaurs and aliens.

The original arrow-twanging Turok was a character in 1950s comic books, who made his way to Nintendo 64 consoles in a series of successful games in the late 1990s and then to other consoles in the 2000s.

After that, its eponymous native American adventurer was largely forgotten — until US studio Saber Interactive dug him up for “Turok: Origins” and developed him into a game that looks like a blend of the “Jurassic Park” and “Predator” movie franchises.

When Universal Studios — producer of the “Jurassic Park” movies — tapped Saber in 2020 to develop its Turok intellectual property (IP), the gaming company was “shocked”, its studio head, Jesus Iglesias, told AFP.

“It’s been sleeping for a long time,” he noted.

But Saber — founded in Russia but now based in Florida in the United States — had a track record of reviving some memorable but neglected titles.

“Saber Interactive is known for taking, from time to time, some dead IPs and rebooting them, like we did with (Warhammer 40,000’s) ‘Space Marine’, we did with ‘Evil Dead’,” Iglesias said.

– ‘Turok’ reboot –

The result is “Turok: Origins”, part of which was presented at Gamescom in Germany, one of the biggest gaming trade shows in the world, which ended on Sunday after welcoming more than 357,000 visitors.

The game, which Iglesias said had 250 people working on it at the peak of its development, offers single-player and multi-player modes to tackle AI-controlled enemies.

Whereas the original run of Turok was reminiscent of early-stage Lara Croft in a prehistoric setting, the “Origins” reboot promises a fluid, fast-moving and more cinematic experience, as demanded from today’s players.

“We are being respectful with the originals, especially with Turok 1 and Turok 2, and also adding some elements that help to make the universe a little bit more consistent,” Iglesias said.

“The games that they released after the first one, they were, in a way, going away from the original one. And that ended up in the game that was released in 2008 that was almost a disaster.”

That 2008 game, simply called “Turok”, had aimed to reboot the series but it got a mixed reception. A 2019 Turok title followed, but it was unconnected to the main series.

There is no release date yet for “Turok: Origins”, which will be available on Xbox, Playstation and PC.

I COLLECTED TUROK STILL HAVE THEM IN MY COMIC COLLECTION!

Bolivia right-wing candidate pledges to scrap lithium deals with China, Russia

BUT NOT SCRAPING THEM ENTIRELY

Bolivian right-wing presidential candidate Jorge Quiroga vowed on Monday to cancel multi-billion-dollar lithium extraction agreements signed by the outgoing government with Russia and China if elected president in October, saying he would seek alternative investment partners.


Issued on: 26/08/2025 
By: FRANCE 24

Jorge 'Tuto' Quiroga, Bolivia's presidential candidate for the Alianza Libre coalition, takes a photo with a supporter after voting at a school in La Paz on August 17, 2025. © Jorge Bernal, AFP

Bolivian right-wing presidential hopeful Jorge Quiroga on Monday vowed to scrap billion-dollar lithium extraction deals struck by the outgoing government with Russia and China if elected leader.

"We don't recognise (outgoing President Luis) Arce's contracts... Let's stop them, they won't be approved," the US-educated Quiroga, who has vowed a major shake-up in Bolivia's alliances if elected president in October, told AFP in an interview.

Quiroga came second in the first round of Bolivia's August 17 presidential election with 26.7 percent, behind center-right senator Rodrigo Paz on 32 percent.

The Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), in power since 2006, suffered a historic rout, with voters punishing the party founded by iconic ex-president Evo Morales over a deep economic crisis.

Quiroga and Paz now face a second-round duel for the presidency on October 19.

The fate of Bolivia's lithium deposits -- among the world's largest of the metal used in smartphone and electric vehicle batteries -- is a hot topic in the campaign.

The so-called Lithium Triangle, spanning parts of Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, is home to 60 percent of the world's lithium reserves, according to the US Geological Survey.

But in the case of Bolivia, nearly all of it is still trapped underground, at an altitude of 3,600 meters (12,000 feet) in the vast Salar de Uyuni salt flat, one of the country's top tourist attractions.

In 2023 and 2024 Arce's government signed deals with Russia's Uranium One and China's CBC, a subsidiary of battery manufacturer CATL, to extract lithium from the salt pan.

Worth a combined $2 billion, the deals were intended to help Bolivia catch up in the race to mine the mineral.

But they were blocked in Congress by infighting in the ruling party.

Indigenous groups meanwhile went to court to have them scrapped on environmental grounds.

Quiroga claimed Uranium One and CATL were selected "behind the back" of local authorities and said he would propose a new law on mineral deposits that precluded "favoritism."

From gas to lithium

Bolivia enjoyed over a decade of strong growth under Morales (2006-2019), who nationalized the gas sector and ploughed the proceeds into anti-poverty programs.

But underinvestment in exploration caused gas revenues to implode, eroding the government's foreign currency reserves and leading to acute shortages of imported fuel, widely-used dollars and other basics.

Inflation rose to 24.8 percent year-on-year in July, its highest level since at least 2008, causing voters to desert the left in droves.

Quiroga, who served briefly as president in the early 2000s, has pledged a radical overhaul of Bolivia's big-state economic model if elected, including steep spending cuts.

His challenger Paz, who has campaigned as a moderate, on Monday ruled out strict austerity measures to rescue the country from the brink of bankruptcy.

"There will be a stabilization process, we're not calling it an adjustment," the 57-year-old senator told AFP.

He nonetheless revealed he would cut $1.2 billion in annual fuel subsidies -- a major drain on the public purse -- and save another $1.3 billion in unspecified "superfluous spending."

Paz added that he would create tax incentives to get Bolivians to bank any dollars hidden under their mattress but would not initially seek an international bailout, as proposed by Quiroga.

"People understand that we have to get our house in order first," said Paz, whose father Jaime Paz Zamora led Bolivia from 1989 to 1993.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Norway wealth fund divests from Caterpillar over Gaza 'rights violations'

Oslo (AFP) – Norway's sovereign wealth fund said Monday that it had divested from US construction equipment firm Caterpillar over purported involvement in rights violations in the Israel-Hamas war.


Issued on: 26/08/2025 - RFI

An Israeli military bulldozer demolishes a home at the Nur Shams Palestinian refugee camp in the Israeli occupied West Bank on June 23, 2025 © Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP/File

Fuelled by Norway's vast energy revenues, the fund is the world's biggest, with a value of nearly $2 trillion and investments in more than 8,600 companies across the globe.

The fund had held a 1.2 percent stake in Caterpillar, valued at 24.4 billion krone ($2.4 billion), as of the end of last year.

The Norwegian central bank, which manages the fund, said it had decided to exclude Caterpillar as it posed "an unacceptable risk... to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict".

The fund said it had based its decision on a recommendation by its council on ethics.

In a statement, the council said that "bulldozers manufactured by Caterpillar are being used by Israeli authorities in the widespread unlawful destruction of Palestinian property".

"There is no doubt that Caterpillar's products are being used to commit extensive and systematic violations of international humanitarian law," the body said.

It added that the company had "not implemented any measures to prevent such use".

AFP has contacted Caterpillar for comment.

The fund said it had also withdrawn from five Israeli firms for financing the construction of illegal settlements in the Israel-occupied West Bank.

They included First International Bank of Israel, FIBI Holdings, Bank Leumi Le-Israel, Mizrahi Tefahot and Bank Hapoalim.

Earlier this month, the fund said it was selling out of 11 Israeli companies following reports that it had invested in an Israeli jet engine maker even as the war in Gaza raged.

The revelations led Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store to ask Finance Minister and former NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg for a review.

© 2025 AFP

Hundreds of filmmakers urge Venice Film Festival to take a stronger stand on Gaza

Copyright AP Photo

By David Mouriquand
Published on 25/08/2025

A group of international filmmakers are urging the Venice Film Festival, which starts this week, “to be more courageous and clear in condemning the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”


The 82nd Venice Film Festival kicks off on Wednesday and both Italian and international filmmakers have called on the festival to condemn what they describe in an open letter as genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza.

The appeal, under the banner of Venice4Palestine, was sent to the Venice Film Festival's umbrella organisation the Biennale di Venezia, as well as the festival's Venice Days and International Critics’ Week sections.

The group urges the festival to avoid becoming “a sad and empty showcase”. To be better, the group asks the festival to take a “clear and unambiguous stand”, to provide “a place of dialogue, active participation, and resistance, as it has been in the past” and highlight Palestinian narratives to better address “ethnic cleansing, apartheid, illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, colonialism and all the other crimes against humanity committed by Israel for decades, not just since October 7.”

Signatories include Italian actor Toni Servillo, Italian actress and director siblings Alba and Alice Rohrwacher, French directors Céline Sciamma and Audrey Diwan (who won the Golden Lion for Happening in 2021), British filmmaker Ken Loach (who won the Honorary Golden Lion in 1994) and British actor Charles Dance, as well as Palestinian directorial duo Arab Nasser and Tarzan Nasser - who won best director in Cannes Un Certain Regard this year for their film Once Upon A Time In Gaza.

Audrey Diwan with the Golden Lion in 2021 AP Photo

In the letter, they write: “As the spotlight turns on the Venice Film Festival, we’re in danger of going through yet another major event that remains indifferent to this human, civil, and political tragedy. ‘The show must go on,’ we are told, as we’re urged to look away - as if the ‘film world’ had nothing to do with the ‘real world.'”

“We must interrupt the flow of indifference and open a path to awareness,” they add, stating that “there is no cinema without humanity.”

The letter concludes: “Let us ensure that this Mostra has meaningful values and does not turn into a sad and shallow vanity fair once more. Let’s do it all together – with courage, with integrity. Free Palestine!”

Ken Loach AP Photo

The Biennale was quick with their response, saying they and the Venice Film Festival “have always been, throughout their history, places of open discussion and sensitivity to all the most pressing issues facing society and the world.”

They cite as evidence “the works that are being presented”, citing the case of the film The Voice of Hind Rajab by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, which is in competition this year and centres on the killing of a 5-year-old Palestinian girl in a car that had been attacked by Israeli forces in Gaza in 2024.

In its statement, the Biennale further noted that last year’s Venice line-up featured Israeli director Dani Rosenberg’s film Of Dogs and Men shot in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

“The Biennale is, as always, open to dialogue,” the statement concluded.

Both statements from Venice4Palestine and the Biennale come as the global hunger monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, announced last week that people in the Gaza Strip are officially facing “a man-made” famine in the territory – despite what the Israeli government has said.

The statements also come prior to the upcoming United Nations meeting in September, with many nations including Britain, France and Canada saying that they are preparing to officially recognize a state of Palestine.

The 82nd Venice International Film Festival runs from 27 August to 6 September.