PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, February 25: Has the bromance been revived? We look at European press reactions to Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump’s meeting in Washington. Also: troubled waters for Elon Musk? Tesla sales are in freefall and his curbing of the US federal administration comes under scrutiny. Plus: France’s “starchitect” Jean Nouvel is embroiled in an embezzlement scandal. Finally, fancy a summer holiday on Mars? Scientists discover evidence of sandy beaches on the Red Planet.
French daily Le Parisien headlines with “Macron, Europe‘s spokesman in the face of Trump”. Emmanuel Macron met with the US president to plead Europe’s case on Ukraine. The article says there was a mix of camaraderie and rivalry as the two leaders met in the Oval Office.
The Daily Telegraph’s front page discusses France‘s nuclear shield for Europe, explaining how France is ready to use its nuclear deterrent. French fighter jets carrying nuclear weapons could be deployed to Germany, but the move would only be made if the Americans withdrew their forces from the continent.
In Italy, La Stampa chooses to go for a science fiction reference by titling their article “The war of the worlds”, referring to H. G. Wells’ novel of the same name. The article says that the drift between the two parties was evident as they disagreed on how to secure lasting peace in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, La Croix looks at the state of electric vehicle giant Tesla, saying that it is suffering from “the provocations of its boss Elon Musk“. The article says that both Tesla’s sales and popularity are in freefall in a number of countries, due to the billionaire’s apparent support of far-right parties, his ruthless cuts to US government operations and his attempts to influence European elections. January sales in France were down 63 percent compared to the same period last year and similar drops can be seen in Germany and Spain.
Musk has also come under increasing criticism following what The Washington Post calls his “latest stunt”. He issued an ultimatum saying that US government workers would have to resign if they did not submit a five bullet point list of their recent achievements. The article says that the backlash not only comes from Musk critics, but also from within what they call the MAGA universe and the Trump administration.
An interesting investigative piece in Libération looks into the French architect Jean Nouvel. The article says that an embezzlement scandal worth €25 million has plagued France’s most famous “starchitect”, who is best known for having designed the Paris Philharmonic, the Cartier Foundation or the Abu Dhabi Louvre, among others. The scandal is not the first of Nouvel’s career, but this time, the article says he could be found guilty of corruption on a “massive” scale.
Finally, in more other-worldly news, a Mashable article explains that a Chinese rover has made a discovery on Mars. China‘s Zhurong rover has found evidence of buried beaches. Using ground-penetrating radar, researchers found evidence that of tides, waves and sand. Unfortunately for holidaymakers, the article explains that it probably would have been pretty chilly.
You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.
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