Europe hopes to join competitive AI race with supercomputer Jupiter


With the launch of supercomputer Jupiter, the biggest artificial intelligence machine in Europe, on Friday, the continent hopes to join the AI training models race after lagging behind the US and China.


Issued on: 05/09/2025 - 
By: FRANCE 24

Jupiter is housed in a centre covering some 3,600 metres (38,000 square feet) – about half the size of a football pitch – containing racks of processors, and packed with about 24,000 Nvidia chips, which are favoured by the AI industry 

© Thomas Samson, AFP/File

Europe's fastest supercomputer Jupiter is set to be inaugurated Friday in Germany with its operators hoping it can help the continent in everything from climate research to catching up in the artificial intelligence race.

Here is all you need to know about the system, which boasts the power of around one million smartphones.
What is the Jupiter supercomputer?

Based at Juelich Supercomputing Centre in western Germany, it is Europe's first "exascale" supercomputer – meaning it will be able to perform at least one quintillion (or one billion billion) calculations per second.

The United States already has three such computers, all operated by the Department of Energy.

Jupiter is housed in a centre covering some 3,600 metres (38,000 square feet) – about half the size of a football pitch – containing racks of processors, and packed with about 24,000 Nvidia chips, which are favoured by the AI industry.

Half the 500 million euros ($580 million) to develop and run the system over the next few years comes from the European Union and the rest from Germany.

Its vast computing power can be accessed by researchers across numerous fields as well as companies for purposes such as training AI models.

"Jupiter is a leap forward in the performance of computing in Europe," Thomas Lippert, head of the Juelich centre, told AFP, adding that it was 20 times more powerful than any other computer in Germany.

How can it help Europe in the AI race?

Lippert said Jupiter is the first supercomputer that could be considered internationally competitive for training AI models in Europe, which has lagged behind the US and China in the sector.

According to a Stanford University report released earlier this year, US-based institutions produced 40 "notable" AI models – meaning those regarded as particularly influential – in 2024, compared to 15 for China and just three for Europe.

"It is the biggest artificial intelligence machine in Europe," Emmanuel Le Roux, head of advanced computing at Eviden, a subsidiary of French tech giant Atos, told AFP.

A consortium consisting of Eviden and German group ParTec built Jupiter.

Jose Maria Cela, senior researcher at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, said the new system was "very significant" for efforts to train AI models in Europe.

"The larger the computer, the better the model that you develop with artificial intelligence," he told AFP.

Large language models (LLMs) are trained on vast amounts of text and used in generative AI chatbots such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini.

Nevertheless with Jupiter packed full of Nvidia chips, it is still heavily reliant on US tech.

The dominance of the US tech sector has become a source of growing concern as US-Europe relations have soured.

What else can the computer be used for?

Jupiter has a wide range of other potential uses beyond training AI models.

Researchers want to use it to create more detailed, long-term climate forecasts that they hope can more accurately predict the likelihood of extreme weather events such as heatwaves.

Le Roux said that current models can simulate climate change over the next decade.

"With Jupiter, scientists believe they will be able to forecast up to at least 30 years, and in some models, perhaps even up to 100 years," he added.

Others hope to simulate processes in the brain more realistically, research that could be useful in areas such as developing drugs to combat diseases like Alzheimer's.

It can also be used for research related to the energy transition, for instance by simulating air flows around wind turbines to optimise their design.
Does Jupiter consume a lot of energy?

Yes, Jupiter will require on average around 11 megawatts of power, according to estimates – equivalent to the energy used to power thousands of homes or a small industrial plant.

But its operators insist that Jupiter is the most energy-efficient among the fastest computer systems in the world.

It uses the latest, most energy-efficient hardware, has water-cooling systems and the waste heat that it generates will be used to heat nearby buildings, according to the Juelich centre.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

China to impose temporary duties on EU pork over 'dumping'

Beijing (AFP) – China said Friday it would impose temporary anti-dumping duties on European Union pork imports, delivering another blow to shaky ties between the economic powerhouses.

Issued on: 05/09/2025 - FRANCE24

Chinese authorities launched the probe into European pork imports last year during scrutiny by Brussels of Beijing's state subsidies for the domestic electric vehicle industry

 © Pedro PARDO / AFP/File

Beijing and Brussels have navigated a challenging relationship in recent years, complicated greatly by Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Chinese authorities launched the probe into European pork imports last year during scrutiny by Brussels of Beijing's state subsidies for the domestic electric vehicle industry.

The investigation has "preliminarily determined that imports of relevant pork and pig by-products originating in the European Union are being dumped", a statement from China's commerce ministry said.

Authorities have decided to implement "provisional anti-dumping measures in the form of deposits", it added.

The import duties range from 15.6 percent to 62.4 percent and will enter into force on September 10, the statement continued.

The provisional measures are still subject to the commerce ministry investigation, which had already been extended until December.

China -- the world's leading consumer of pork -- imported 4.3 billion yuan ($604.3 million) in pork products from major European producer Spain alone last year, according to official Chinese customs data.
Testy relations

Beijing's move comes on the heels of a diplomatic blitz that saw President Xi Jinping meet face-to-face with several prominent adversaries of Western governments, including Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

Top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas on Wednesday criticised the three leaders' joint appearance at a parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II as "a direct challenge to the international system built on rules".

The statement by Kallas drew choice words from a spokesman for China's foreign ministry, who said Thursday that "remarks made by a certain EU official are full of ideological bias".

Much to the chagrin of EU leaders, Beijing has never denounced Russia's war nor called for it to withdraw its troops.

Many of Ukraine's allies believe that China has provided support to Moscow, repeatedly calling on Beijing to exert pressure on Putin to end the war.

China insists it is a neutral party, regularly calling for an end to the fighting while also accusing Western countries of prolonging the conflict by arming Ukraine.

Earlier on Friday, Beijing's foreign ministry said it "strongly opposes" calls by US President Donald Trump for European leaders to put economic pressure on China over the war in Ukraine.

Recent years have seen entrenched political disagreements between Beijing and Brussels threaten their strong economic relationship.

The current trade spat erupted last summer when the European Union moved towards imposing hefty tariffs on EVs imported from China, arguing that Beijing's subsidies were unfairly undercutting European competitors.

Beijing denied that claim and announced what were widely seen as retaliatory probes into imported European pork, brandy and dairy products.

© 2025 AFP

Western troops in Ukraine would be ‘legitimate’ target for Russia, Putin warns

Any Western troops deployed to Ukraine would be a "legitimate" target for Moscow's army, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday, a day after 26 countries pledged to deploy protective troops on Ukrainian soil if a ceasefire is reached.


Issued on: 05/09/2025
By: FRANCE 24
Video by: Fraser JACKSON

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on September 5, 2025. © Alexander Kazakov, via pool, AFP
01:43


Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that any Western troops deployed to Ukraine would be a "legitimate" target for Moscow's army, a day after Kyiv's Western allies said they had committed to a troop presence in the event of a peace deal.

"If some troops appear there, especially now during the fighting, we proceed from the premise that they will be legitimate targets," Putin said at an economic forum in the far east city of Vladivostok.

He added that the deployment of a Western force was not conducive to long-term peace.

Putin's comments came the morning after more than two dozen countries pledged to join a "reassurance" force to deploy in the wartorn country after any eventual peace deal with Moscow.

A force to deter Russia from again attacking its neighbour is a key pillar of the security backstop a coalition of mainly European countries want to offer to Ukraine if the war ends via a peace deal or a ceasefire.

The extent of any US involvement remains uncertain, even after European leaders spoke to President Donald Trump via video conference following the Paris summit at which the "coalition of the willing" pledged its force.

The Paris summit was hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and attended by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, while others, like British premier Keir Starmer, participated remotely.

France's President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky arrive to chair the Coalition of the Willing Summit, at The Elysee presidential Palace in Paris, on September 4, 2025. 

© Ludovic Marin, AFP
01:49

The meeting represented a new push led by Macron to show that Europe can act independently of the United States after Trump launched direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The United States was represented by Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, who also met with Zelensky separately.

Trump said after his call with European leaders that he would speak to Putin soon, with Peskov confirming Friday that such a call could be organised swiftly.
'First concrete step'

Europe has been under pressure to step up its response over three and a half years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

"We have today 26 countries who have formally committed – some others have not yet taken a position – to deploy as a 'reassurance force' troops in Ukraine, or be present on the ground, in the sea, or in the air," Macron told reporters, standing alongside Zelensky.

Zelensky hailed the move: "I think that today, for the first time in a long time, this is the first such serious concrete step."

The troops would not be deployed "on the front line" but aim to "prevent any new major aggression", the French president said.

Macron added that another major pillar was a "regeneration" of the Ukrainian army so that it can "not just resist a new attack but dissuade Russia from a new aggression".

Macron said the United States was being "very clear" about its willingness to participate in security guarantees for Ukraine.

However, the US contribution remains unclear.

There are also divisions within the coalition, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urging more pressure but remaining cautious about the scope of involvement.

"Germany will decide on military involvement at the appropriate time once the framework conditions have been clarified," a German government spokesman said after the summit.

Taking a similar line, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reiterated that her country will not send troops to Ukraine, but could help monitor any potential peace deal.

There is also growing concern that Putin is not interested in a peace accord, with alarm intensifying after his high-profile visit to China this week.
'Play for time'

Frustration has been building in the West over what leaders say is Putin's unwillingness to strike a deal to end the conflict.

Zelensky said the call with Trump discussed sanctions on Russia and protecting Ukraine's airspace.

"We discussed different options, and the most important is using strong measures, particularly economic ones, to force an end to the war," Zelensky said on social media.

The White House said it urged European countries to stop purchasing Russian oil "that is funding the war".

A Russian rocket attack Thursday on northern Ukraine killed two people from the Danish Refugee Council who were clearing mines in an area previously occupied by Moscow's forces, the local Ukrainian governor said.

Macron warned that if Russia continued refusing a peace deal, then "additional sanctions" would be agreed in coordination with the United States.

He accused Russia of "doing nothing other than try to play for time" and intensifying attacks against civilians.

The gathering followed Putin's high-profile trips to China and the United States, where he met with Trump in Alaska last month.

Speaking Wednesday in Beijing, where he attended a massive military parade alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin hailed his forces' progress in Ukraine, adding that Russian troops were advancing on "all fronts".

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Afghanistan earthquake death toll tops 2,200, rescue efforts 'still ongoing'

The death toll from the devastating earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan over the weekend has risen to more than 2,200, officials said Thursday. The deadliest quake to hit the country in decades has also stymied the emergency response as the cash-strapped country contends with overlapping humanitarian disasters.


Issued on: 04/09/2025 - 
By: FRANCE 24

An Afghan man looks for his belongings amidst the rubble of his collapsed house after a deadly magnitude 6 earthquake that struck Afghanistan on Sunday, at Lulam village, in Nurgal district, Kunar province, Afghanistan, September 3, 2025.

 © Sayed Hassib, Reuters


The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck eastern Afghanistan at the weekend rose sharply to more than 2,200 on Thursday, according to a new toll, making it the deadliest in decades to hit the country.

The vast majority of those killed in the magnitude-6.0 earthquake that jolted the mountainous region bordering Pakistan late Sunday were in Kunar province, where 2,205 people died and 3,640 were injured, according to a Taliban government toll.

Another 12 people were killed and hundreds injured in the neighbouring provinces of Nangarhar and Laghman.

The toll had been expected to rise as volunteers and rescuers were still pulling bodies from the rubble.


Read more Hope dwindles for survivors days after deadly Afghan quake

"Hundreds of bodies have been recovered from destroyed houses during search and rescue operations," deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat wrote on X on Thursday, announcing the new toll, adding that "rescue efforts are still ongoing".

Limited access to the hardest hit areas of mountainous Kunar province has delayed rescue and relief efforts, with rockfalls from repeated aftershocks obstructing already precarious roads etched onto the side of cliffs.

Various countries have flown in aid, but hundreds of villagers in the hard-hit Nurgal district were still stranded in the open air, squeezing multiple families under pieces of tarp pulled from the rubble and unsure of where they would get a morsel to eat.

A fight broke out over food when some finally reached the field in Mazar Dara where hundreds of people were camped out, little aid having reached them.

"Yesterday, some people brought some food, everyone flooded on them, people are starving, we haven't had anything to eat for a long time," Zahir Khan Safi, 48, told AFP.
'Every hour counts'

Poor infrastructure in the impoverished country, still fragile from four decades of war, has also stymied the emergency response.

The World Health Organization warned that local healthcare services were "under immense strain", with shortages of trauma supplies, medicines and staff.

The agency has appealed for $4 million to deliver lifesaving health interventions and expand mobile health services and supply distribution.

"Every hour counts," said WHO emergency team lead in Afghanistan Jamshed Tanoli. "Hospitals are struggling, families are grieving and survivors have lost everything."

The loss of US foreign aid to the country in January this year has exacerbated the rapid depletion of emergency stockpiles and logistical resources.

NGOs and the UN have warned that the earthquake creates a crisis within a crisis, with cash-strapped Afghanistan already contending with overlapping humanitarian disasters.

Filippo Grandi, head of the UN's refugee agency, said the quake had "affected more than 500,000 people" in eastern Afghanistan.

The country is contending with endemic poverty, severe drought, and the influx of millions of Afghans forced back to the country by neighbours Pakistan and Iran since the Taliban's 2021 takeover.

Even as Afghanistan reeled from its latest disaster, Pakistan began a new push to expel Afghans, with more than 6,300 people crossing the Torkham border point in quake-hit Nangarhar province on Tuesday.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Deadly land dispute in northern Ghana displaces nearly 50,000 people


At least 31 people have been killed and nearly 50,000 displaced following violent communal clashes in Ghana's Savannah Region, sparked by a land dispute in the village of Gbiniyiri. The conflict, which erupted in August, has forced more than 13,000 Ghanaians to seek refuge in neighbouring Ivory Coast, with authorities now racing to restore calm, provide aid and investigate the root causes of the unrest.


Issued on: 04/09/2025 
By: FRANCE 24

A Ghanaian soldier takes part a counter-terrorism training session during the Flintlock 2023 military training hosted by the International Counter-Terrorism Academy with United States Special Forces in a makeshift village in Daboya,Ghana.

 © Nipah Dennis, AFP


Communal clashes in northern Ghana that started late last month have killed at least 31 people and displaced nearly 50,000, officials said Thursday, with more than 13,000 fleeing across the border into Ivory Coast.

The violence in Ghana's Savannah Region broke out on August 24 in the village of Gbiniyiri, near the Ivorian border, the result of an escalating land dispute that has engulfed a dozen communities.

The conflict began when the local chief sold a parcel of land to a private developer, without broader community consent. When the developer attempted to access the land to begin work, residents resisted violently.

Frustration reached a peak when the chief's palace was set on fire.

Communal conflicts over land and chieftaincy disputes are recurrent in Ghana's north, though displacement on this scale is rare.

Interior Minister Mubarak Muntaka said in a radio interview Thursday that 13,253 Ghanaians had crossed into Ivory Coast, citing figures from Ivorian authorities.

Philippe Hien, president of the Bounkani regional council, told AFP that "there are 13,000 people who have arrived in 17 villages" in the area, which is already home to 30,000 refugees from conflict-hit Burkina Faso.

Ghana's National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) said around 48,000 people had been forced from their homes, mostly women and children.

"For the past five days we haven't had any gunshots, killings or attacks," Savannah Regional NADMO Director Zakaria Mahama told AFP, adding that many displaced are beginning to return home.

Both Mahama and Muntaka confirmed the toll of 31 dead.

Some families are sheltering several dozen relatives in cramped rooms, while those in makeshift displacement camps often only have one meal a day, Mahama said.

On the security front, Muntaka said more than 700 military and police officers had been deployed and a curfew instituted.

Savannah Regional Minister Salisu Bi-Awuribe said calm was gradually returning as chiefs and elders worked with security agencies to prevent further clashes.

Authorities fear food shortages after families abandoned farms and livestock during the exodus.

An investigative committee is being set up with traditional rulers and the National Peace Council to probe the causes and promote reconciliation.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Indonesian president faces continued nationwide strikes over inequality

Issued on: 04/09/2025 -

Play (05:52 min)

From the show

PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, September 4:

 Indonesia's president continues to face nationwide protests over a government priviledge scandal. But first: the international press continue to focus on China and President Xi Jinping's elaborate Victory Day celebrations. Does this symbolise a new world order? Also, Chinese fast retailer Shein is accused of using the image of an alleged killer as one of its models. Plus: a new study shows scrolling on the toilet could lead to increased chances of haemorrhoids.

The international press is still focusing heavily on China's Victory Day celebrations. The photos from those elaborate celebrations continue to dominate the front pages, in particular those of Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. The Australian refers to them as "despots at arms" on its front page. Beijing's massive show of strength and military might is intended to signal a new world order. The leaders are also on the front of the Spanish daily El Pais. In his speech, Xi warned that the world is facing a choice between war and peace. The British daily The Guardian, in its editorial, says one man is to blame for the emergence of this new world order: Donald Trump. Nonetheless, the paper notes that with the celebrations now over, Xi, Putin and Kim may eye a new world order but their domestic issues may well take the focus away from those ambitions.

The Jakarta Post reports that Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto made a quick trip to Beijing to attend the Victory Day commemorations, but he's facing a storm of controversy back home. Anti-government have spread across the country. On Wednesday, hundreds of women dressed in pink joined in. They brandished brooms and carried slogans like "Your sweet promises cause diabetes". The South China Morning Post reminds us that the unrest comes after the revelations that MPs receive housing allowances that are 10 times higher than the minimum wage. The protest movement has become a broader expression of public anger against government privilege and inequality. In a rare concession, Prabowo announced a freeze on MPs' overseas travel and cut housing allowances. He also reinforced security and instilled temporary suspensions on protests to quell the anger. His trip earlier this week to China aimed to strengthen ties with Xi, who offered support in restoring order and security in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the Chinese fast retailer Shein has come under fire for using a model resembling Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing a health insurance CEO last year in New York. Newsweek reports that a product listing featuring a man who looked a lot like Mangione went viral, prompting some to speculate it was AI-generated or photo-edited. Mangione is currently detained in the US, charged with 11 counts, including first degree murder, after the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year. In a statement, Shein said they are investigating what happened. The company has previously come under fire over alleged forced labour and its environmental impact. Mangione, for his part, has been the subject of intense public fascination since his arrest.

Finally, a new study warns of the effects of prolonged periods of time spent looking at your phone on the toilet! Consider this your friendly public health warning of the day. The Guardian reports that a medical study let by a gastroenterologist in Boston examined 125 people for haemorrhoids during colonoscopies for a bowel cancer screening programme. The same participants also had to answer questions about their lifestyle, including how much time they spent on the toilet. The results? Those who scroll on the loo are more prone to haemorrhoids … simply because they spend far more time on the toilet than others. The doctors' advice? Leave your phone outside because when you go in, you have just one job and you should focus on that job! Or in social media parlance, she says: keep to a two TikTok limit while scrolling on the toilet!

  

Did Xi Jinping snub Narendra Modi during his visit to China?

Issued on: 04/09/2025 - FRANCE24

From the show

In the wake of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization summit in Tianjin, which was attended by more than 20 world leaders earlier this week, some internet users are claiming that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was snubbed by Chinese President Xi Jinping during the event. But videos alleging to portray Xi refusing to shake Modi's hand were taken out of context in a bid to mislead viewers, as FRANCE 24's Charlotte Hughes explains.

By: Charlotte HUGHES

05:03 min

 

Venezuela claims Trump's deadly strike on alleged 'drug boat' is AI-generated

Issued on: 03/09/2025 

04:26 min
From the show

A Venezuelan government official claims footage showing a strike on a vessel allegedly carrying illegal narcotics bound for the US – first shared by Donald Trump – is AI-generated. Though he didn't substantiate with evidence, he attached screenshots of a conversation with an AI chatbot. In this edition of Truth or Fake, Vedika Bahl explains why AI chatbots, and even specific AI detection tools, are never 100% reliable in verifying synthetic content.

By: Vedika BAHL

MSM

Trump’s assault on federal worker union rights is just the beginning

Analysis

Since returning to office, US President Donald Trump has signed executive orders stripping more than a million federal workers of their right to collective bargaining – a move that unions warn likely heralds a similar assault on workers employed in the private sector.


Issued on: 04/09/2025 -
FRANCE24
By: Paul MILLAR

People participate in the Labor Day Workers Over Billionaires rally in solidarity with unions and advocacy groups on September 1, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. 

© Audrey Richardson, Getty Images via AFP

The chainsaw is back up and roaring. In August alone, more than 445,000 federal employees were stripped of their collective bargaining rights as government agencies followed twin executive orders from US President Donald Trump removing union protections from more than a million public-sector workers. The second order was signed on August 28, just days before US workers took to the streets to march in the country’s annual Labor Day parades.

For many of the hundreds of thousands of federal workers targeted by the move, their unions will no longer be able to fight back against contract violations committed by the agencies, and the employees themselves could lose hard-won benefits around parental leave and rest periods. While the orders are still before the courts, nine federal agencies, including the Department of Veterans' Affairs, have already terminated union contracts covering just shy of half a million workers.

The executive orders, which mark the largest removal of union protections in US history, draw upon decades-old presidential powers to deny federal workers the right to collective bargaining on national security grounds.

In the past, this power has been used sparingly to restrict collective bargaining rights among certain employees working for US intelligence agencies such as the CIA or the National Security Agency.


The new orders extend this logic to employees at more than two dozen government agencies, including the departments of Veterans’ Affairs, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, the Patent Office and the Environmental Protection Agency. Law enforcement services such as the police were explicitly left out of the orders.

Labor Day protests against Trump and billionaires amid growing inequality

© France 24
02:08

Although framed as a national security push, “fact sheets” published by the White House make outright reference to union pushback against Trump’s efforts to radically downsize the federal workforce, accusing “certain Federal unions” of having “declared war” on the president’s agenda.

Unions representing workers at several of the agencies named in the executive orders have sued the Trump administration over what they maintain are violations of their members’ contracts, including the attempted mass firing of thousands of probationary workers.

The backbone of the labour movement

Eunice Han, associate professor at the University of Utah’s Department of Economics, said that the federal workforce stood out as a stronghold of collective action in the US.

“Public sector unions really are the backbone of the labour movement in America,” she said. “While private-sector union membership has steadily declined since its peak during the 1960s, public sector unions have held relatively steady – today, only about 6 percent of private-sector workers are unionised, compared with over 30 percent in the public sector.”

Han said that Trump’s executive orders had to be understood in part as a response to a reawakening labour movement across the US.

“Historically, unions have leaned toward the Democratic Party, which has often resisted Trump’s agenda for various reasons,” she said. “At the same time, we’ve seen a national surge in unionisation during the 2020s – many industries experienced a new wave of organising, and public approval ratings for unions hit record highs. In that environment, Trump’s executive orders look less like a response to national security and more like part of a broader pushback against the resurgence of organised labour.”

According to a September 2024 Gallup poll, 70 percent of Americans approve of labour unions, marking the highest support since the 1950s. Petitions for union elections at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) doubled between 2021 and 2024, with as many as 60 million workers reportedly saying they would vote to unionise if they could. Despite this, the percentage of workers represented by unions continues to stagnate.

White nationalist agenda? Minorities in front line of Trump policy targets

 FRANCE 24
40:04

Lynn Rhinehart, a senior fellow at the Economic Policy Institute and former general counsel at the AFL-CIO, the country’s largest labour union federation, said that Trump’s executive orders marked the beginning of a longer campaign against organised labour.

“Trump's real motivation is clear – the executive order is a retaliatory action against federal employee unions who are standing in the way of Trump's union-busting agenda,” she said.

That agenda doesn’t stop with executive orders. Trump fired NLRB chair Gwynne Wilcox in January, saying that her opinions had “unduly disfavoured” employers. The decision – which Wilcox continues to fight in the courts – leaves the country’s top labour watchdog without the quorum it needs to hear cases and issue decisions.

Trump in July nominated two new board members, including Boeing’s chief labour counsel Scott Mayer, to restore a quorum. If confirmed by the Senate, the appointments will leave the five-member board with a Republican majority.

Spillover

While the scale of Trump’s efforts to strip federal workers of collective bargaining rights has no equal in US history, labour historians have drawn comparisons with then-president Ronald Reagan’s decision to fire and permanently replace some 11,500 striking air traffic controllers in 1981, breaking the back of a growing movement of public sector worker mobilisation.

“Both of these actions showed a president telling the world – and more particularly, telling employers – that it was open season on workers' collective bargaining rights,” Rhinehart said. “After Reagan fired the air traffic controllers, employers in the private sector were emboldened to replace strikers, hire union busters, and engage in other tactics to defeat union organising drives.”

The US labour movement has still not recovered from the blow. Fewer than one in 10 workers now belongs to a union – a number that’s fallen by half since 1983.

Read more' Enough is enough': Thousands of Boeing defence workers strike over pay and conditions

Han said that Trump’s assault on public-sector unions would likely also set off shockwaves across their counterparts in the private sector.

“Unlike private-sector unions … public-sector unions operate under different state-level rules – some states allow bargaining and strikes, while others ban them entirely,” she said.

“If the federal government starts weakening public sector bargaining rights, it sets a precedent that makes it easier for states to follow suit. And if public sector unions lose their standing, it will almost certainly spill over into the private sector, either through changes in federal labour law or through broader adoption of right-to-work legislation.”

Bridging the divide

But whether federal employees fighting to keep their hard-won union protections are able to draw support from the wider working public remains an open question. With private-sector union membership in freefall as employers fought tooth and nail to stop their workers organising, public servants found themselves more and more isolated within a labour movement now dominated by federal employees.

And as the Great Recession triggered by the 2008 financial crisis deepened the country’s yawning gulf between rich and poor, highly skilled professionals found themselves less hard-hit by the widespread job losses that fell heaviest on middle-skilled blue- and white-collar workers.

It is this reserve of potential resentment that conservative and libertarian groups have attempted to draw on to paint federal workers not as underpaid civil servants working for the common good, but an elite caste of privileged white-collar workers shielded from the ravages of the worsening economy by taxpayer dollars. At its heart, though, Han said the picture bore little likeness to the lives of most federal workers.

“That’s been a common talking point from anti-union groups, but the reality is more complicated,” she said. “Take teachers’ unions – the largest public-sector unions in the country. Our public-school teachers are underpaid, and teacher shortages are a serious issue in most major cities. In fact, about 40 percent of teachers can’t even bargain collectively despite being union members. During the wave of teacher strikes in 2018 and 2019, the public showed overwhelming support. I think that could happen again under the right conditions.”

Researchers maintain that more highly educated public sector workers tend to be underpaid compared to those working for private employers. Federal workers with a high-school education or less – such as groundskeepers, janitors and other custodial staff – are by contrast better paid than their private-sector counterparts.

Watch more What role do unions play in the US presidential election?

But Han said that Trump’s re-election had exposed some of the cracks within the labour movement.

“I do think there’s a divide,” she said. “Traditionally, the private-sector industries with the highest union membership – manufacturing and construction – have been hit hard by globalisation and outsourcing. Trump’s promise to ‘bring jobs back’ resonated strongly with those workers.”

While much of the US’s labour union leadership backed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential race, the base showed itself to be more divided on polling day. One CNN exit survey on the night of the election suggested that as many as 45 percent of union households may have cast their vote for Trump and his programme of economic protectionism.

“Public sector unions, on the other hand, tend to be more highly educated and remain strongly aligned with the Democratic Party,” Han said. “For Democrats to bridge that divide, they need to speak more directly to economic concerns – investing in infrastructure and R&D, helping workers transition into new technologies and addressing inequality at the top.”

Despite Trump’s efforts to brand himself as a pro-worker president, Rhinehart said, the Republican’s “existential” war on federal workers’ collective bargaining rights told a very different story.

“Trump's attacks on labour are detrimental to all workers, because unionisation raises wages and improves benefits for all workers, both union and non-union,” she said. “Unions are an important check on corporate power. Without unions, Trump and his corporate billionaire allies can run roughshod over workers and their rights.”

Tears and applause: Gaza tragedy recreated in film that stuns Venice


Issued on: 04/09/2025 - 

Play (12:18 min)

From the show

In this episode of arts24, we begin at the Venice Film Festival, where a harrowing film about a five-year-old girl killed during an Israeli assault on Gaza, entitled "The Voice of Hind Rajab", received a 23-minute standing ovation. Directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania and executive produced by Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix and others, the film uses real phone recordings to reconstruct the child's final moments, leaving audiences visibly shaken and critics calling it the most urgent entry of the festival.

Also in the spotlight: a real-life case of art imitating life. Chloe Malle has been named the new editor of Vogue, succeeding the legendary Anna Wintour. Malle is the daughter of actress Candice Bergen – who, in a surreal twist, once played Vogue's fictional editor on "Sex and the City".

We also look at how the animated feature backed by Netflix, "KPop Demon Hunters", has become the platform's most-streamed film to date.

By:

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Laura DI BIASIO

Magali FAURE

Sonia PATRICELLI

Marion CHAVAL

Israel's army says it controls 40 percent of Gaza City

Israel's army Thursday claimed that it currently controls 40 percent of Gaza City, the besieged enclave's largest city. The news comes as Israel faces international condemnation and backlash for its decision to expand an ongoing offensive in the Palestinian territory.


Issued on: 04/09/2025 - 
By: FRANCE 24
Video by: Monte FRANCIS

A picture shows a view of the destruction to the west of Gaza City 

on September 4, 2025. © Omar Al-Qattaa, AFP
01:52


The Israeli military on Thursday said it controls 40 percent of Gaza City, the largest urban centre in the Palestinian territory which it is preparing to conquer after nearly two years of devastating war.

Israel has intensified in recent days its bombardments of the area of Gaza City, in the territory's north, ahead of the planned offensive, despite mounting international pressure to halt the campaign.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes on Thursday killed more than 30 people in the city, out of at least 64 Palestinians killed across the Gaza Strip.

As concern grows over the dire humanitarian conditions for Gaza's population of more than two million, one of the European Union's top officials called the war a "genocide" – a term strongly rejected by Israel, but which several governments and numerous rights groups have adopted.


In a televised briefing, Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said that "we hold 40 percent of the territory of Gaza City", adding that the offensive "will continue to expand and intensify in the coming days".

Netanyahu calls Israelis protesting Gaza war ‘fascists’

© France 24
02:01


Defrin vowed to "increase the pressure" on Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 2023 attack on Israel sparked the war, "until it is defeated".

With the vast majority of Gazans already displaced at least once during the war, a senior Israeli military official told journalists on Wednesday that authorities expected the new offensive to push an estimated one million Palestinians south, away from Gaza City.

The United Nations last month declared a famine in and around Gaza City, where it estimates nearly one million people live.

Basic services 'collapse'

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that an Israeli air strike on Thursday hit a tent sheltering a displaced Palestinian family in Gaza City, killing five people including three children.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said forces had targeted "a Hamas terrorist", adding that it "regrets any harm caused to uninvolved civilians".

In Tel al-Hawa, the neighbourhood where the strike reported by the civil defence took place, AFP footage showed Palestinians outside damaged tents, clearing up scattered belongings.

A pair of blood-stained pink slippers lay among the debris.

Israa al-Basous, who lives there, recounted seeing the tent next to hers on fire.

"My children and I were sleeping in the tent when we heard the sound of bombing. Shrapnel fell on us, and my four children started screaming," she told AFP.

At Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital, where the dead and wounded were being received, bodies wrapped in white shrouds lay on the floor of the hospital's morgue.

One woman stroked the head of her dead son as his body lay outside on a stretcher.

"Who are you leaving me to, son? Why? Why?" she wept.

UNICEF spokeswoman Tess Ingram, briefing journalists from a visit to the Gaza Strip, said that "the unthinkable in Gaza City has already begun", with escalating military operation leading to "the collapse of essential services".

"Without immediate and increased access to food... more children will starve," she said.

"Palestinian life is being dismantled here, steadily but surely."
'Destroyed'

European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera, speaking in Paris, called the war a "genocide" and slammed the 27-nation bloc for failing to act to stop it.

"The genocide in Gaza exposes Europe's failure to act and speak with one voice," Ribera said, in remarks slammed by Israel as serving "Hamas propaganda".

Top EU officials have so far shied away from calling Israel's actions a "genocide".

In central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, the civil defence said another Israeli air strike killed seven people including three children.

The Israeli military said it was "not aware" of a strike there.

AFP footage showed Yousef Suleiman, who said he lost relatives in the pre-dawn strike, walking through a bombed-out shelter where tattered scraps of material hung from tent poles.

"The entire tent was destroyed, along with everyone inside," he told AFP.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

Hamas's October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,231 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

A Hamas statement meanwhile said that top officials from the group, which is backed by Iran, met in Doha with Tehran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to discuss efforts to bring the war to an end.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)