ENFORCEMENT AND POLICING NEEDED

Conservationists call for more data to help protect pangolins

Pangolins are the world's only scaly mammals 

Geneva (AFP) – All eight known pangolin species remain at high risk of extinction due to over-exploitation and loss of habitat, conservationists warned Wednesday, warning knowledge gaps were hampering protection efforts.


Issued on: 28/08/2025 - RFI

A white-bellied pangolin rescued from local animal traffickers in Uganda. All eight known pangolin species remain at high risk of extinction © Isaac Kasamani / AFP

The scale of the threat faced by the world's most heavily-trafficked mammals is not yet fully understood, said the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Found in the forests, woodlands, and savannas of Africa and Asia, pangolins are small, nocturnal creatures known for their distinctive appearance, slow and peaceful demeanour, and habit of curling into a ball when threatened.

The world's only scaly mammals, often likened to walking pinecones, have keratin scales that are coveted in traditional medicine, while their meat is also considered a delicacy in some regions.

"Today, they are under immense pressure due to exploitation and habitat loss," warned IUCN director general Grethel Aguliar.

A baby Chinese pangolin on a weighing scale at Prague Zoo. 

Pangolins are the world's only scaly mammals © Michal Cizek / AFP

Pangolins, which use their long, sticky tongues to feast on ants and termites, "are one of the most distinctive mammals on Earth and are among the planet's most extraordinary creatures: ancient, gentle, and irreplaceable," Aguliar said in a statement.

"Protecting them is not just about saving a species, but about safeguarding the balance of our ecosystems and the wonder of nature itself."
'Highly organised' trafficking

A report prepared for CITES by IUCN experts called for more robust and targeted conservation measures, particularly involving local and indigenous communities as the first line of defence.

Pangolins use long, sticky tongues to feast on ants and termites

 © Isaac Kasamani / AFP


Under CITES, international commercial trade in wild pangolins has been banned since 2017.

Despite a sharp decline in legal trade since then, trafficking remains "extensive and highly organised", IUCN said.

Between 2016 to 2024, seizures of pangolin products involved more than an estimated half a million pangolins across 75 countries and 178 trade routes, it said, with scales accounting for 99 percent of confiscated parts.

"However, while seizure records provide useful indicators, they capture only a fraction of the overall trade as not all illicit consignments are detected or seized by law enforcement," said IUCN.

Pangolin scales are coveted in traditional medicine 

© CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN / AFP

Besides international trafficking, demand for pangolin meat and other products persists.

Matthew Shirley, who co-chairs the IUCN Species Survival Commission's pangolin specialist group, suggested "even pangolin consumers" and those in the supply chain should be brought onboard to help devise conservation solutions.

"Ongoing pangolin trafficking and population declines underscore that trade bans and policy changes alone are not enough," he said.

© 2025 AFP

Pipeline dispute shows Central Europe’s struggle to cut ties with Russian oil

Central Europe has been plunged into fresh energy anxiety after a series of Ukrainian drone strikes disrupted the flow of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline, igniting a war of words between Kyiv, Budapest and Bratislava.

The refinery plant at the receiving station of the oil pipeline Druzhba in Szazhalombatta, 30km south of Budapest. AFP - ATTILA KISBENEDEK

Jan van der Made
Issued on: 27/08/2025 - RFI

In 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, the European Union imposed a ban on most oil imports from Russia.

But the Druzhba pipeline was temporarily exempted from this, in order to give landlocked Hungary and Slovakia time to diversify their supply.

But when Ukrainian drone strikes hit a "fuel infrastructure facility" in Russia's Unechsky district in mid-August, according to Aleksandr Bogomaz, the governor of the country's western Bryansk region where the district is located, this forced temporary shutdowns of pumping stations, bringing crude deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia to a halt.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó responded by accusing Ukraine of using an "attack on [Hungary's] energy security" as a threat to sovereignty.

"The war, to which we have no connection, is not a legitimate justification for violating our sovereignty," Szijjártó posted online.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that he had complained to United States President Donald Trump after Ukraine's military actions against Russia's invasion disrupted oil supplies.

He did not directly name the pipeline, but an important pumping station for Druzhba -- Russian for "friendship" -- is in the district and has been targeted many times.

"I asked for the help of the American president. The Ukrainians keep shelling the Friendship oil pipeline," Orban said, according to a Facebook post by his Fidesz party on Friday. He added that Trump had replied, expressing support.

Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar called on Brussels to intervene and guarantee stable energy supplies, saying: "The attacks by the Ukrainian army on the Druzhba oil pipeline not only contradict the national interests of Slovakia, but they do not benefit Ukraine itself."
Soviet symbol

The Druzhba pipeline was completed in 1964 as a symbol of Soviet bloc unity and strategic control, and is one of the world's longest oil pipelines and one of its largest oil pipeline networks.

Stretching more than 5,500 kilometres from Russia to Central Europe, it has survived the Cold War, the collapse of the USSR and decades of shifting energy policy to remain an energy backbone for Hungary and Slovakia.

Construction of the Friendship II Oil Pipeline © wikimedia commons


Yet the reliability of Druzhba is increasingly called into question – most recently by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who suggested on Sunday that the pipeline’s future depends on Hungary’s position regarding Ukraine’s EU accession.

“We always supported the friendship between Ukraine and Hungary. And now the existence of the friendship depends on what Hungary’s position is,” Zelensky said — in a possible indication that pipeline attacks may serve as leverage in the increasingly complex diplomacy surrounding Ukraine’s place in Europe.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Viktor Orban hold a meeting in Kyiv on 2 July, 2024. © Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP


Analysts see Ukraine’s strikes as part of a wider campaign to dent Russia’s war chest.

“Every disruption is not just about shortages, but about leverage, in Brussels and Moscow alike,” said Radovan Potocar, a Slovak energy analyst in an interview with Radio Slovakia International.

Hungary and Slovakia, for now, continue to insist that Russian energy is crucial and resist broader EU moves to phase out Moscow’s oil and gas by 2027.
Nord Stream II

The attacks on the Druzhba are not the first time during the Russia-Ukraine conflict that crucial Russian energy infrastructure has been targeted.

In 2022, the explosion of the Nord Stream II gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea reverberated across Europe. An investigation by German weekly Der Spiegel pointed at Ukrainian involvement, which was supported by German and Swedish intelligence services.

Gas bubbles from the Nord Stream 2 leak surface on the Baltic Sea near Bornholm, Denmark, 27 September, 2022. via REUTERS - DANISH DEFENCE COMMAND


American journalist accuses US Navy of Nord Stream pipeline attack

While the investigation implicated Ukrainian special forces, the Ukrainian government denied involvement, and the report noted the attack was allegedly conducted without the knowledge of President Zelensky

That attack, like the recent Druzhba strikes, highlighted the vulnerability of cross-border energy networks, and the ability of energy warfare to reshape Europe’s strategic landscape.

(with newswires)

Argentina's Milei pelted with stones on campaign trail amid corruption protests

Argentine President Javier Milei was pelted with stones by protesters near Buenos Aires on Wednesday while campaigning amid a corruption scandal, AFP reported. His motorcade was attacked but Milei was unhurt and swiftly evacuated by security, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said on X.


Issued on: 28/08/2025 
By:FRANCE 24

Argentine President Javier Milei (2nd left) shortly before being targeted by projectiles, in Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, on August 27, 2025 © Juan Mabromata, AFP

Argentine President Javier Milei was pelted with stones while campaigning near the capital Buenos Aires on Wednesday by demonstrators protesting a corruption scandal, AFP reporters said.

Milei, who was whisked from the scene by his security detail, sustained no injuries after his motorcade was attacked, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni wrote on X.

Milei, who is campaigning for October mid-term elections, was riding in the back of a pickup truck and greeting his supporters in the city of Lomas de Zamora, 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Buenos Aires, when protesters began throwing plants, rocks and bottles at his vehicle, AFP journalists at the scene confirmed.

The vehicle carrying the president and his sister, Karina Milei, along with other officials, hastily left the scene.

© France 24
01:32





Afterwards, scuffles broke out between supporters and opponents of the libertarian leader.

A female Milei supporter suffered rib injuries and was taken away by ambulance.

The skirmishes arose amid a scandal in Argentina over alleged corruption at the public disability agency involving Karina Milei, her brother's right-hand woman and presidential secretary.

Minutes beforehand, the president had addressed the scandal that erupted following the leak of audio recordings by the the former head of the disability agency, Diego Spagnuolo.

In the recordings, Spagnuolo claimed that Karina Milei pocketed funds destined for people with disabilities.

"Everything (the agency head) says is a lie," President Milei said.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Argentina hunts Nazi-looted painting revealed in property ad

Buenos Aires (Argentina) (AFP) – Argentine police hunted Wednesday for a 17th century painting which was allegedly stolen by the Nazis from a Dutch Jewish art collector and resurfaced this week in a property ad, only to disappear again.


Issued on: 28/08/2025 - 

Argentine police raided a house in Mar del Plata for a suspected Nazi-looted artwork seen in a for-sale ad © Mara Sosti / AFP

The painting, believed to be "Portrait of a Lady" by Italian baroque portraitist Giuseppe Ghislandi (1655-1743) was identified by the Dutch newspaper AD on Monday in a picture of a house for sale in the seaside resort of Mar del Plata.

The authenticity of the artwork cannot be proven until it is recovered but it is believed to have been stolen from Amsterdam art dealer Jacques Goudstikker during World War II.

In the for-sale notice of the house in Mar del Plata, published by Robles Casas & Campos realtors, the painting of a noblewoman in a gilded frame was seen hanging in the living room, above a green sofa.

After AD journalists spotted it, Argentine prosecutor Carlos Martinez ordered a search of the residence.

But while firearms were seized during Tuesday's raid, the painting had disappeared.

"The painting is gone. Only a carbine and a .32-caliber revolver were seized," the prosecutor told reporters.

The property has also been removed from the website of Robles Casas & Campos, who did not respond to AFP's request for comment.

The international police agency Interpol is assisting in the investigation.

The Mar del Plata house is believed to belong to Patricia Kadgien, daughter of the late Friedrich Kadgien, a senior SS officer who fled to Argentina after the war.

Kadgien has not been charged in the affair.

Her lawyer, Carlos Murias, told La Capital, a local newspaper in Mar del Plata, that she and her husband would cooperate with the authorities.

Goudstikker's heirs are determined to recover the painting, which appears on an international list of missing artworks.

"My search for the artwork of my father-in-law, Jacques Goudstikker, began in the late 1990s and I have not abandoned it to this day," Goudstikker's daughter-in-law, Marei von Saher, 81, told AD.

The Netherlands' cultural heritage agency, dedicated to the identification, tracking, and restitution of cultural objects stolen by the Nazis, also lists the painting as missing on its website.

Jacques Goudstikker, a leading dealer of Italian and Dutch 16th- and 17th-century masters during the wars, fled the Netherlands days after the Nazi invasion in 1940.
Hundreds of missing paintings

He died while escaping on board a ship to Britain after falling through a hatch.

His wife and son traveled on to the United States.

Goudstikker left behind an extensive art collection of over 1,000 paintings.

Top German officials, led by Gestapo founder Hermann Goering, divvied up the collection.

After the war the Dutch state retrieved some 300 works from the collection, most of which it later returned to Goudstikker's heirs.

In 2011, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles returned a 17th century Dutch painting from Goudstikker's collection.

Many other works remain scattered around the globe.

© 2025 AFP

The Bright Side: Smiling figurine thought to be first 'portrait' of a Viking

Denmark's National Museum has unveiled what it calls the first true "portrait" of a Viking. The remarkably detailed 10th-century figurine challenges popular notions of the Norse as wild, unkempt warriors, instead revealing a figure of refinement and style – and with a smile.

Issued on: 27/08/2025 
By: FRANCE 24

Denmark's national museum curator Peter Pentz shows a gaming piece which is believed to be the first portrait of a Viking, on August 26, 2025 in Copenhagen. © Camille Bas-Wohlert, AFP

Denmark's National Museum unveiled Wednesday what it described as the first "portrait" of a Viking: a miniature 10th-century figurine depicting a man with an imperial moustache, braided beard and neatly-groomed hairstyle.

Carved out of ivory walrus tusk, the partially damaged representation of a head and torso measures just three centimetres (1.2 inches).

"If you think of Vikings as savage or wild, this figure is proving the opposite, actually. He is very well-groomed," curator Peter Pentz told AFP, holding up the piece with white-gloved hands.

"He has a centre parting up to the top of his head, and then in the neck his hair is cut," Pentz said.


He has a side wave that leaves the ear visible, and, in addition to a large moustache and a long, braided goatee, he also has sideburns.

During the Viking era, beautiful hair was a sign of wealth and status, Pentz explained.

"A hair design like his, which is very neat -- you can see a little curl or tuft of hair running over the ears -- (suggests) this guy is at the top."

"He could be the king himself, King Harald Bluetooth."

The artwork, which is believed to be an ancient board game piece representing a king, was originally found in the Oslo fjord in Norway in 1796.

It has been tucked away and forgotten in the archives of Denmark's National Museum ever since.

When Pentz stumbled upon the figurine in the museum's large collections a few years ago, he said it felt like the Viking was looking right at him.

Its detailed carvings contrast with other existing depictions of Vikings -- on things like coins -- that feature little or no individual details or facial expressions.

Viking Age art is known for its characteristic animal motifs, but rarely portrays humans.

"This is the first thing that comes close to a portrait from the Viking period that I've seen," Pentz said.

"The most surprising thing for me is his expression. Most Viking renderings of human figures are quite simple, and they are not really human-like," he said.

But this one is unique with its attention to detail.

"He looks devilish, some people say. But I think he looks more like he's just been telling a joke or something like that. He's smiling."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Moroccan feminist accused of 'offending Islam' denied medical release despite health concerns


Moroccan feminist Ibtissame Lachgar was denied bail Wednesday despite being treated for cancer, her lawyer said. Lachgar was arrested earlier August after she posted a picture of herself in a t-shirt that read "Allah is lesbian".


Issued on: 27/08/2025 - 
By: FRANCE 24

A Moroccan National Security force awaits in front of the Court of First Instance in Rabat where feminist activist Ibtissame Lachgar was brought on August 12, 2025. © Abdel Majid Bziouat, AFP archives


A Moroccan court rejected on Wednesday a request to release on bail activist Ibtissame Lachgar, who faces trial over "offending Islam", despite concerns about her health, a defence lawyer said.

Lachgar, a 50-year-old clinical psychologist, was arrested earlier this month after posting online in late July a picture of herself wearing a T-shirt with the word "Allah" in Arabic followed by "is lesbian".

Appearing on Wednesday before a judge for the first time, Lachgar seemed tired, wearing a medical brace on her left arm and smiling as she greeted supporters before the proceedings began at the courtroom in the capital Rabat, an AFP journalist said.

"She is being treated for cancer and is due to undergo critical surgery on her left arm in September," Lachgar's lawyer Naima El Guellaf said.

Read more Moroccan feminist activist accused of 'offending Islam' has trial postponed

Guellaf said her client's doctors have "warned of amputation if the surgery is not carried out".

Mohamed Khattab, another lawyer in her defence team, also said his client's health was "critical".

The defence team said they provided the court with medical documents and guaranteed that Lachgar would "not run away from trial", but the court rejected the request, Guellaf said.

A similar request was rejected last week.

The trial was adjourned until September 3 after two more lawyers joined the defence team.

Guellaf said her client was being kept in isolation and was "forbidden from speaking to other inmates".

Lachgar's social media post drew sharp backlash, with many calling for her arrest under a provision of the penal code that carries a sentence of up to two years in prison for "anyone who offends the Islamic religion".

That sentence can be raised to five years if the offence is committed in public, "including by electronic means".

In 2009, Lachgar founded the Alternative Movement for Individual Liberties (MALI), known for holding a picnic during Ramadan that year to challenge a law criminalising breaking the fast in public without a valid religious reason.

MALI has led several other campaigns protesting violence against women and child sexual abuse.

Lachgar has had previous run-ins with the authorities, having been arrested in 2016 for disturbing public order and in 2018 amid a campaign in support of abortion rights, though she was not prosecuted in those cases.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Trump holds post-war Gaza policy meeting with Blair and Kushner

GAZA BEACH FRONT PROPERTY DEAL

Israeli and US officials met in Washington on Wednesday to discuss post-war Gaza, as Israel’s military warned that evacuation of Gaza City was “inevitable” ahead of a new offensive. Anger mounted over a double strike on Nasser Hospital that killed 22, including journalists and medics, Gaza health officials said.


Issued on: 28/08/2025 
By:FRANCE 24

The Israeli military said troops were operating on the outskirts of Gaza City 

© Omar AL-QATTAA, AFP
01:42

President Donald Trump was presiding over a policy meeting on the Gaza war on Wednesday with input from former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Trump Middle East envoy Jared Kushner, a senior White House official said.

Trump, top White House officials, Blair and Kushner were discussing all aspects of the Gaza issue, including escalating food aid deliveries, the hostage crisis, post-war plans and more, the official told Reuters.

The official described the session as "simply a policy meeting," the type frequently held by Trump and his team.

Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, was a key White House adviser in Trump's first term on Middle East issues. Blair, who was prime minister during the 2003 Iraq war, has also been active on Middle East issues.

Read more Israel intensifies Gaza City operations as White House sets meeting on post-war plans

US special envoy Steve Witkoff previewed the meeting in an appearance on Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier" on Tuesday.

"It is a very comprehensive plan we are putting together on the next day (in Gaza) and many people are going to see how robust it is and how well meaning it is and it reflects President Trump's humanitarian motives here," Witkoff said.

Trump had promised a quick end to the war in Gaza during last year's presidential campaign but a resolution has been elusive seven months into his second term.

Trump's term began with a ceasefire which lasted two months, until Israeli strikes killed around 400 Palestinians on March 18. More recently, images of starving Palestinians in Gaza, including children, have shocked the world and fed criticism of Israel over the deteriorating conditions.

“President Trump has been clear that he wants the war to end, and he wants peace and prosperity for everyone in the region. The White House has nothing additional to share on the meeting at this time," a second White House official said.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

ANTI SEMITIC TROPE

Trump calls for racketeering charges against Soros and his son


US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that billionaire financier George Soros and his son should be charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act over their support of ‘violent protests’, reviving long-debunked conspiracy theories as his administration escalates attacks on perceived political enemies.


Issued on: 27/08/2025
By: FRANCE 24

Hungarian-American George Soros has for years been the subject of conspiracy theories touted by right-wing politicians in Europe and the United States © Fabrice Coffrini, AFP

US President Donald Trump called Wednesday for billionaire George Soros and his son to face criminal charges over unfounded claims that the family, a favorite target of the right, is behind "violent protests" around the country.

Trump did not specify what prompted his morning outburst, but it comes as his administration pursues multiple criminal investigations against his perceived enemies.

"George Soros, and his wonderful Radical Left son, should be charged with RICO because of their support of Violent Protests, and much more," the president wrote on his Truth Social platform, referring to a law against taking part in a criminal organization.

Trump's accusations against Soros and his son are "outrageous and false", the Open Society Foundations said on Wednesday.



"These accusations are outrageous and false. The Open Society Foundations do not support or fund violent protests," a spokesperson for the foundation, the philanthropic empire established by Soros, said in a statement to AFP.

Long-standing conspiracy theories involving the Soros family swirled again in June, as street protests broke out in Los Angeles against a ramp up of immigration raids.

Trump used the demonstrations as justification to deploy the National Guard and Marines into the Democratic-run city.

Fact-checkers including AFP debunked several images which circulated online at the time, purporting to show that nonprofit groups backed by the Soros family had strategically placed bricks to hurl at police.
'We're watching you!

Hungarian-born Soros, 95, has long been a bogeyman for the far right in Europe and the United States for his financial support of progressive causes and the Democratic Party.

He has been baselessly blamed for propagating migrant crises in Europe and on the southern border of the United States, as well as for orchestrating mass protests, including those against police brutality after the 2020 killing of George Floyd.

The years-long campaign against Soros, who is Jewish, is often accused of being motivated by antisemitism.

"Soros, and his group of psychopaths, have caused great damage to our Country! That includes his Crazy, West Coast friends," Trump wrote Wednesday on Truth Social.

"We're not going to allow these lunatics to rip apart America any more," he added, warning: "Be careful, we're watching you!"

Trump previously accused Soros of being behind his 2024 conviction for covering up hush money payments to a porn star, alleging that the financier controlled the public prosecutor who brought the charges.

Soros announced in 2023 that he would hand over control of his philanthropic empire, the Open Society Foundations, to his son Alex.

In the 2024 election, Alex Soros was a vocal supporter of Trump's Democratic opponent, vice president Kamala Harris.

Shortly before Joe Biden left office in January, he awarded the elder Soros a presidential Medal of Freedom, citing his support for "projects across the world that strengthen democracy, human rights, education and social justice."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Trump stamps 'dictator chic' on Washington

Washington (AFP) – From a gold-plated White House to a grandiose revamp for the capital Washington, Donald Trump is trying to leave an architectural mark like no American president has attempted for decades.


Issued on: 28/08/2025 - FRANCE24

BIG BROTHER 

Workers hang a large photo of US President Donald Trump on the facade of the Department of Labor headquarters in Washington © Drew ANGERER / AFP


"I'm good at building things," the former property magnate said earlier this month as he announced perhaps the biggest project of all, a huge new $200-million ballroom at the US executive mansion.

Trump made his fortune developing glitzy hotels and casinos branded with his name. Critics say the makeover Trump has given the White House in his second presidency is of a similar style.

Parts of it now resemble his brash Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, particularly the newly paved-over Rose Garden with its picnic tables and yellow and white umbrellas.

During Trump's first term the British style writer Peter York dubbed his style "dictator chic," comparing it to that of foreign autocrats.

But Trump has also recently unveiled a grand vision for the entire US capital.

And he has explicitly tied his desire to "beautify" Washington to his recent crackdown on crime, which has seen him deploy troops in the Democratic-run city, where just two months ago he held a military parade on his birthday.

"This is a ratcheting up of the performance of power," Peter Loge, director of George Washington University's School of Media, told AFP.

"That's what he does. Puts his name on bibles and casinos, so the logic makes complete sense. Except now he's playing with lives, the reputation of the United States and a democratic legacy."

Oval bling

US President Donald Trump converted the grass portion of the Rose Garden into a patio space, inspired by his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida © ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP


Trump is far from the first president to carry out major renovations at the White House in its 225-year history.

Franklin Roosevelt oversaw construction of the current Oval Office in 1934, Harry Truman led a major overhaul that ended in 1951 and John F. Kennedy created the modern Rose Garden in 1961.

The White House Historical Association put Trump's changes in context, saying the building was a "living symbol of American democracy, evolving while enduring as a national landmark."

Its president, Stewart McLaurin, said in an essay in June that renovations throughout history had drawn criticism from the media and Congress over "costs, historical integrity and timing."

"Yet many of these alterations have become integral to the identity of the White House, and it is difficult for us to imagine the White House today without these evolutions and additions," he wrote.

Trump's changes are nevertheless the furthest reaching for nearly a century.

Soon after his return he began blinging up the Oval Office walls with gold trim and trinkets that visiting foreign leaders have been careful to praise.

Then he ordered the famed grass of the Rose Garden to be turned into a patio. Trump said he did so because women's high-heeled shoes were sinking into the turf.

After it was finished, Trump installed a sound system and AFP reporters could regularly hear music from his personal playlist blaring from the patio.

Trump has also installed two huge US flags on the White House lawns, and a giant mirror on the West Wing colonnade in which the former reality TV star can see himself as he leaves the Oval.
'Big beautiful face'

Billionaire Trump says he is personally funding those improvements. But his bigger plans will need outside help.

The White House said the new ballroom planned for the East Wing by the end of his term in January 2029 will be funded by Trump "and other patriot donors."

US President Donald Trump, seen here with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, has adorned the Oval Office with gold decor © Mandel NGAN / AFP


Trump meanwhile says he expects Congress to agree to foot the $2 billion bill for his grand plan to spruce up Washington.

On a trip to oil-rich Saudi Arabia in May Trump admired the "gleaming marvels" of the skyline -- and he appears intent on creating his own gleaming capital.

That ranges from a marble plated makeover at the Kennedy Center for the performing arts to getting rid of graffiti and -- ever the construction boss -- fixing broken road barriers and laying new asphalt.

But Trump's Washington plans also involve a crackdown by the National Guard that he has threatened to extend to other cities like Chicago.

He has repeatedly said of the troop presence that Americans would "maybe like a dictator" -- even as he rejects his opponents' claims that he's acting like one.

Trump's own face even looms above Washington streets from huge posters on the labor and agriculture departments.

"Mr President, I invite you to see your big beautiful face on a banner in front of the Department of Labor," Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said Tuesday at a cabinet meeting.

© 2025 AFP

THE GUNS OF AUGUST

German weapons-maker Rheinmetall opens Europe's largest munitions plant

German arms maker Rheinmetall opened Europe’s largest munitions plant in northern Germany on Wednesday, a move NATO chief Mark Rutte hailed as key to bolstering Western defenses. The facility, spanning 30,000 square metres, aims to produce 350,000 artillery shells annually by 2027.


Issued on: 28/08/2025 -
By: FRANCE 24

Artillery ammunition on display at the Rheinmetall production site in Unterlüss, Germany, on August 27, 2025. © Ronny HARTMANN, AFP



German weapons-maker Rheinmetall opened Europe's largest munitions plant on Wednesday, a move hailed as boosting Western defences by NATO chief Mark Rutte.

Taking up 30,000 square metres -- the size of five football pitches -- the factory in Unterluess in northern Germany will be able to produce 350,000 artillery shells a year by 2027.

"This is absolutely crucial for our own security and also to keep supporting Ukraine in its fight today and to deter any aggression in the future," Rutte said at an opening ceremony.

"We are being challenged" by China and Russia, he said, but added that Europe and the United States together are on course to "turn the tide on defence production".

Europe has moved to ramp up weapons production and military readiness following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, accelerating efforts as US President Donald Trump has urged Europe to take more responsibility for its own defence.

Artillery shell production across the continent is now six times greater than it was two years ago, Rutte said, and Germany earlier this year loosened strict debt rules so that it can borrow billions to pay for military equipment.

Speaking alongside Rutte at the ceremony, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that Europe could not confront security challenges if it did not develop its industrial base to convert spending promises into concrete capabilities.

"The miliary and armed forces only work as well as the country behind them," he said. "We need to be successful because we are faced with a threat."

Washington was watching closely to see if Europe could deliver on its promises to increase spending, Pistorius added.

"NATO has to become more European so that it can stay transatlantic," he said. "This is the demand before which we stand as Europeans."
'Turning point'

Praising Pistorius for his efforts, Rheinmetall chief Armin Papperger said that politicians taking defence increasingly seriously had helped ensure the plant could be built in as little as 14 months when it would ordinarily take two or three years.

"There has been a turning point here in Germany," he said.

The plant will help fill a record-breaking munitions order worth 8.5 billion euros ($9.3 billion at the time) placed by the German government in July 2024.

Read more Rearming France: The race is on

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to build Europe's "strongest conventional army".

Defence spending is projected to reach to reach 162 billion euros in 2029, more than triple the defence budget compared to its level before the war in Ukraine.

Rheinmetall's Unterluess site already makes guns and munitions for the Leopard 2 tank, which has been used by the Ukrainian army.

Papperger also signed a 550-million-euro deal on stage with Romania's economy minister for a plant he said would probably be completed within the next 18 months.

Separately, Germany's cabinet signed off a draft law on Wednesday that aims to boost armed forces recruitment and includes provisions for compulsory military service if there are not enough volunteers.

About 182,000 soldiers currently serve in the armed forces. Pistorius has said that should rise to 260,000.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY