Ending Trump’s Tariffs Won’t End the Bipartisan War on the Working Class

A political economy of corporations and the wealthy lobbying for and receiving increased government help to snag higher profits and market share has ruled the roost of US society.


US President Donald Trump delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled “Make America Wealthy Again” at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2025.  (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/ AFP via Getty Images)

Seth Sandronsky
Jan 01, 2026

Common Dreams

As 2025 ended, one thing was as plain as day. American small businesses and their customers are paying a price for global trade tariffs, an import tax, courtesy of President Donald J Trump. How this economic fact plays out legally and politically is an open question, connected with long-running trends.

On the legal front, small businesses, over 700 of them at last count, have joined together as part of an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) to the US Supreme Court with their testimonies against President Trump’s tariffs on foreign imports (Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, Inc. and Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump).

Recall that the president promised to use tariff revenue on foreign imports to increase American manufacturing. Why the need for tariff revenue to grow private-sector manufacturing across the US?

Corporate America has been disinvesting in industrial production stateside for decades. Shifting manufacturing abroad and eliminating unionized employment for reasons of higher profits has been one of the hallmarks of the US economy under Democratic and GOP administrations. That’s a bipartisan consensus.

Centering kitchen table issues of labor and living conditions can garner working class support in rural and urban America in 2026. The Democratic and Republican parties have billions of reasons to fight such a working-class agenda.

Looking at this trend with a class and politics lens, it’s a kitchen table issue. Material reality, such as wage income and prices for groceries and rent, shapes ideology and systemic thinking about the political economy of living and working. The current moment of social tumult has been gathering steam since the end of the Vietnam War, which heralded the sunset of a postwar US economy of broad-based prosperity, with blue collar, family-wage employment for male workers.

Dubbed neoliberalism under successive Democratic and Republican presidents, a political economy of corporations and the wealthy lobbying for and receiving increased government help to snag higher profits and market share has ruled the roost of US society.

That government intervention, from copyrights and patents to misnamed free-trade pacts, favors big business and investors to the detriment of the working class. This trend ushered in the growth of the “working poor.” To be fair, President Trump didn’t begin this class war of a few against the many.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court with a conservative majority is expected to issue a decision on a “demand for restitution” from businesses paying the Trump tariffs soon. The case challenges the president’s authority to impose tariffs due to a “large and persistent annual US goods trade deficits,” creating a national emergency.

Persistent implies a long-standing trend. This economic emergency of an imbalance in American exports and imports is a symptom of the corporate agenda. It’s driving both political parties support to deindustrialize America.

Political resistance to this agenda exists, but it’s weak. Think of the rise and fall of the anti-corporate globalization movement decades ago.

On that note, Public Citizen does magnificent work to advance the kitchen table issues of the working majority. However, the other side has unlimited cash to buy politicians, a major reason the corporate agenda barrels ahead.

Centering kitchen table issues of labor and living conditions can garner working class support in rural and urban America in 2026. The Democratic and Republican parties have billions of reasons to fight such a working-class agenda. The parties rely in part upon division to bolster their power and privilege.

Countering such a strategy of the ruling class is a tall order, but a necessary step. There will be many opportunities to build unity against the bipartisan consensus of war and Wall Street and for peace and social justice in the new year.


Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.


Seth Sandronsky
Seth Sandronsky is a Sacramento journalist and member of the freelancers unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild.
Full Bio >

GOP/MAGA FAMILY VALUES

‘Scorched-Earth Attack’: Trump Admin Cuts Off Childcare Funds to All States

“My team and I are exploring all our legal options to ensure that critical childcare services do not get abruptly slashed based on pretext and grandstanding,” said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.


Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison speaks at a vigil in Minneapolis on August 27, 2025.
(Photo by Christopher Mark Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Jake Johnson
Jan 01, 2026

COMMON DREAMS


The Trump administration on Wednesday froze federal childcare funding to every state in the US after initially suspending funds for Minnesota earlier this week, a move that the state’s Democratic attorney general condemned as a “hasty, scorched-earth attack” on key social services.

Jim O’Neill, deputy secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), said in a statement posted to social media that he has “activated our defend the spend system for all [Administration for Children and Families] payments” to states, alleging “fraud that appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country.” As evidence, O’Neill cited a viral video by Nick Shirley, a right-wing influencer who recently visited Somali-owned Minnesota daycare sites at the direction of state Republicans.
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In order to receive Administration for Children and Families (ACF) funding going forward, O’Neill said Thursday, states will have to provide “a justification and a receipt or photo evidence.” States with childcare centers that the Trump administration suspects of fraud will have to jump through additional hoops, according to an HHS spokesperson.

The Trump administration’s decision to cut off childcare funds to all states—not just Minnesota—on the dubious grounds of fighting fraud came after Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accused President Donald Trump of politicizing the issue to advance a broader assault on the social safety net.

“While Minnesota has been combating fraud, the president has been letting fraudsters out of jail,” Walz wrote in a social media post on Thursday, apparently referring to the president’s commutation of the seven-year prison sentence of David Gentile, a former private equity executive convicted of defrauding more than 10,000 investors.

“Trump’s using an issue he doesn’t give a damn about as an excuse to hurt working Minnesotans,” Walz added.

“If we allow this funding freeze to happen, all Minnesotans are going to suffer.”

In a statement on Wednesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said that the Trump administration “is threatening funding for the essential childcare services that countless families across Minnesota rely on—apparently all on the basis of one video on social media.”

“To say I am outraged is an understatement,” he said. “We’ve seen this movie before. In mid-December, the Trump administration gave four counties in Minnesota one month to conduct in-person interviews with almost 100,000 households that receive [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits to reverify their eligibility.”

“My team and I are exploring all our legal options to ensure that critical childcare services do not get abruptly slashed based on pretext and grandstanding,” Ellison added.

Minnesota state Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn (D-49B), co-chair of the Legislature’s committee on children and families, warned that “if we allow this funding freeze to happen, all Minnesotans are going to suffer.”

Obsessed Trump derails New Year's Eve party with rant on 'Somalia fraud'

Robert Davis
December 31, 2025 

RAW STORY


U.S. President Donald Trump stands next to Vanessa Horabuena as he auctions her speed painting of Jesus of Nazareth during a New Year's Eve party with members and guests at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 31, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Erns

President Donald Trump raged about alleged social services fraud committed in Minnesota during a brief appearance at his New Year's Eve party at Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday.

The debate about social services fraud in Minnesota reappeared this week after a right-wing YouTuber posted a video alleging he found $100 million in child care fraud at Somali-run child care centers. A top Republican in the state has admitted she steered the YouTuber to the centers, all of which had recently had their operations paused.

"We're back! I didn't think it could happen this fast, but it did," Trump said. "Faster than anybody thought possible. We have a lot of leaders here. Great leaders, like Tom Emmer, whom I saw on television today. He was talking about the Somalia fraud. He was talking about the Somalian population and not very nicely."

Trump and his allies have gravitated toward the Somali fraud story in recent days in an attempt to distract from the recently released Jeffrey Epstein files, some of which painted Trump's relationship with Epstein in an unscrupulous light.

"We're going to take back our country," Trump continued. "Can you imagine, they stole $18 billion. That's just what we're learning about."

"That's peanuts," he continued. "California is worse. Illinois is worse. And, sadly, New York is worse."

'Witch hunt!' Trump under fire as Maryland sees staggering number of job losses

Maryland lost almost 15,000 federal jobs in 2025, a 9% drop in the workforce, state data shows

Donald Trump holds a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington. 

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst


by Nicole Pilsbury,

Maryland Matters
December 31, 2025

Maryland ends the year with almost 15,000 fewer federal jobs than it had at the start of the year, according to the latest estimates from the Maryland Department of Labor.

The department reported this month that the state lost another 700 federal jobs in September, the most recent month for which estimates were available. That continued an eight-month string of falling federal employment numbers and maintained Maryland’s spot as the state with the most federal jobs lost this year.

Maryland has lost about 9% of its federal workforce since January, falling from an estimated 163,100 federal jobs in the state then to about 148,500 as of September, the department said.

The loss of 14,600 federal jobs in Maryland is part of the larger effort by the Trump administration to slash the size of the federal workforce. Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor wrote in a Nov. 21 blog post that while the government had hired “roughly 68,000 people this year … approximately 317,000 employees left the government,” a loss rate of more than 4 to 1.

“This is the first time we’re under this kind of threat,” said Paul Schwartz, a retired federal worker and regional vice president for NARFE, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association. Schwartz cover Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., for the organization.

The District, Maryland and Virginia lost a combined total of 34,100 federal jobs from January to September. Many Maryland residents work federal jobs in the DMV area — 269,000 Maryland residents were employed by the federal government in 2023, according to a Maryland Labor Department report.

Trump finalizes 1% federal pay raise for 2026, smallest since 2021 — also under Trump

“This Administration started a witch hunt against our civil servants on Day 1, disproportionately impacting Marylanders,” Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) said in a statement. “These men and women have worked under Democratic and Republican presidents. Their only allegiance is to the American people they serve.”

The loss in Maryland could have been worse: The Bureau of Labor Statistics, where the Maryland Labor Department draws its data, revised its August data that originally reported a loss of 2,500 federal jobs in Maryland to a loss of 1,300 federal jobs.

But the numbers are not likely to get better. The September data did not include the deferred resignations that were scheduled to take effect Oct. 1. The so-called “fork in the road” option, offered to federal employees in January, gave them the choice to receive pay and benefits through Sept. 30, according to an email sent to federal employees.


The most recent numbers also do not reflect any effect of the 43-day government shutdown, from October through mid-November, the longest shutdown in U.S. history.

Because of the shutdown, employment data was not collected by BLS in October. The state Labor Department said its next report, on November, would be available in January.

“The ongoing loss of federal jobs stands to have a substantial impact on Marylanders who have spent their careers in public service as well as people across the country who count on the services our federal government provides,” Maryland Labor Secretary Portia Wu said in a statement.


The department has provided support to federal workers throughout both the government shutdown and the shrinking of the federal workforce, offering job fairs, workshops and a $700 emergency loan for laid-off federal workers, among other support, Wu’s statement added.

Schwartz thinks the shrinking of the federal workforce will hurt more than just the affected workers.

“There are three different groups of victims with what’s going on now: It’s the federal employees who lost their jobs, it’s the federal employees who kept their jobs, but are seeing their benefits eradicated, and it’s everyone else who doesn’t understand what they’re going to be losing when they have a federal workforce that isn’t as experienced as you need it to be to be effective,” he said.

Competition for new jobs among federal workers will pose another problem for those who were laid off, Schwartz said. Many skills are niche to specific roles in the government, making the transition to a new role difficult.

“A lot of these jobs that are in the government — you can work your way up based on your skills, but they don’t translate into the private sector as well,” Schwartz said.

The loss of federal jobs is also a blow to Maryland’s economy, as those looking for jobs are not paying as many taxes, he added.

Schwartz was told when he started in the federal workforce in 1973 that he would not be wealthy, but he would have security and benefits from his job. Federal workers today are still not wealthy, he said, but now they don’t have security, either.

“The federal government is there to provide a service, not to make a profit,” Schwartz said. “It’s a dismantling of the federal government that I worked hard for.”

Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org.

'Is this a serious post?' MAGA fans turn on Trump as White House brags of big 2025 'wins'

Daniel Hampton
December 31, 2025

RAW STORY


U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on the U.S. economy and affordability at the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, U.S. December 9, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Fans of Donald Trump were left scratching their heads on Wednesday as the White House attempted to brag about key "wins" for his administration this year.

In a post to X, the official White House account wrote in all capital letters, "2025 MAGA wins: Foreign Affairs." Accompanying the post was a photo touting Trump's foreign policy accomplishments, including the misleading claim that he has ended eight wars. It also touted a deal for NATO members to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP and Trump's dozens of meetings with foreign leaders.

The seemingly innocent boast was met with derision, however, from Trump's own fans.

X user Patriot911replied, "I love Trump but is this a serious post?"

"Do nothings is all you are," wrote the account 100MillionSats, attaching a photo of an elephant looking in a mirror and pointing at itself with the caption, "You get out there and waste another majority."

X user John, whose account touts "Christ is King" and states "America First" bemoaned on X, "You mean lSRAEL FIRST don’t you?"

Charlie Hargrave, a proud vaccine skeptic, chided on X, "That's nice. But none of those wars being stopped helped America First."

User Kyle shot back at the White House, "You focused on foreigners and foreign countries the first year...We'll see how much you mean about 'America First' you f---ing corrupt pieces of s---. It should have always been America First and only."

Foreign bribery cases have 'fallen off a cliff' under Trump's DOJ: report

Tom Boggioni
January 1, 2026
RAW STORY

DID YOU HEAR HOW I GOT MY NICKNAME 'BONESAW'


Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman laugh.

 REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

A shift in Department of Justice priorities since Donald Trump's return to office has led to reduced enforcement of white-collar financial crimes, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported on New Year's Eve that significant changes at the DOJ have fundamentally altered white-collar crime enforcement operations.

Most notably, the Trump administration's focus on attracting foreign investment to support the struggling economy has prompted both the DOJ and SEC to scale back enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Only six FCPA cases have been filed this year compared to an annual average of 33 since 2015, with the Journal describing enforcement actions as having "fallen off a cliff."

The Journal reports, "The Justice Department, focused on White House priorities such as immigration enforcement and violent crime, has stepped back from the kinds of complicated investigations into foreign bribery, money laundering and public corruption that former department leaders often cited among their greatest successes."

President Trump himself has requested a six-month enforcement freeze, believing restrictions cripple U.S. companies operating internationally.

In response, Justice Department officials have closed nearly half of open foreign-bribery investigations and directed that future cases be connected to U.S. strategic interests, including transnational drug cartel operations.

Current and former Justice Department officials attribute the decline in white-collar enforcement partly to prosecutors and investigators being reassigned to other law enforcement priorities within the government.

You can read more here.

Ex-CIA chief details Putin’s manipulation of 'incredibly naïve'  STUPID Trump'

Alex Henderson
January 1, 2026 

RAW STORY



FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin before a joint news conference following their meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS

During the final months of his life, the late conservative Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) wasn't shy about attacking U.S. President Donald Trump over his dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. McCain viewed Putin as a dangerous authoritarian and believed that Trump was allowing himself to be manipulated by the former KGB agent.

Rob Dannenberg, former chiefs of operations for the CIA Counterterrorism Center and an ex-CIA station chief in Moscow, during the 1990s, has similar views.

In an interview with the UK-based iPaper published on New Year's Day 2026, Dannenberg emphasized that Putin is great at identifying one's weaknesses and was trained to be a master of manipulation.

Dannenberg told the iPaper, "Those of us who served in Moscow understood Putin maybe a little bit better early on than others did…. I dealt with the KGB my entire life. I understand how this guy thinks."

Trump's ego, Dannenberg argues, is a vulnerability that Putin knows how to exploit —and Trump, the CIA veteran fears, is "incredibly naïve" where the Russian president is concerned.

Danneberg told the iPaper, "Putin looks at Trump and sees a weak guy, vain, with huge ego…. He's being manipulated in the way that a good case officer like Putin would manipulate this guy. He's not monogamous, he's greedy, he's fascinated by gold — all these are things that, if I were a case officer, I would be leveraging to get this guy to do what I want him to do. When that happens to align with Trump's ambition to get a Nobel Peace Prize, so much the easier, right? You're pushing on an open door."


Read the iPaper's full interview with Rob Dannenberg at this link.

Opinion: Did the world end in 2025? Should it have? A weird year.


ByPaul Wallis
EDITOR AT LARGE

DIGITAL JOURNAL
January 1, 2026


Globally, the last 12 months are expected to be the third hottest ever recorded after 2024 and 2023. — © AFP Sergei GAPON

Nobody will be asking 2025 to come back for an encore. It was a disruptive, infuriating year for the world in general. Not much was achieved.

If it were a choice between America the Beautiful and America the Futile, the former is much in demand. The latter is far beyond any attempt at ridicule.

Then there’s China, untroubled by the mess in the West. Its client state Russia is basically out on its feet. China is doing fine. The much-hyped disruption to world trade has worked entirely in its favor.

The Middle East continues to be its adorable and downright cute self. A millennia or so of constant war and human misery are looking for work outside, it seems.

Europe has suddenly woken up to the fact that it’s not part of the US. That took 80 years.

The AI bubble refuses to burst and instead has found a use for itself as “adult AI”. Even non-existent sex is artificial, and people are prepared to pay for it, according to somebody. Trillions of dollars are following the logic of this macro-masturbation.

The global affordability disaster sails serenely on, much like the Titanic. Just browse this link for the latest in the obscene soap opera previously known as global economics. The global cost of living isn’t about “inflation”, which is an arbitrary periodic measure between ridiculous costs and insane costs. The world isn’t doing too well on that basis.

Organized crime is rattling along nicely, so you don’t need to send donations just yet. You’ve been doing that for decades anyway. Much good that does anyone.

The common denominator is that politics makes it all so much worse. Politics is usually the sole historical instigator of major crises. Now, there’s no restraint on the politics, and nobody is trying to fix the crises. It’s idyllic, isn’t it?

OK, so given that it took 305 words to cover the essentials, did the world end in 2025?

In some ways, it did. Total incompetence tends to be consistent.

The world went blind deliberately. It’s deaf to criticism and dumb to the point of making a house brick look like Einstein.

Thanks, global media, for blinding the world. When AI takes you over, nobody will be able to care. You’re now worthless. AI will do better without the gerontocracy, anyway.

There is no forward vision. Expectations are now only for the worse. Back in the Boomer days, the future, particularly this century, was supposed to be brilliant. The future is now a theoretical thing, unplanned and mismanaged on principle, and it only happens in calendars anyway.

There is no longer any such thing as a credible status quo. China could be totally poleaxed by a global depression. Global supply chains could fall to pieces with ease in a serious trade war. The credit markets can barely stand a strong breeze as it is. Hyperinflation could bankrupt the richest of the rich. This mess should end.

It’s not like the past was some Rhapsody in Realism either, but it wasn’t totally unsustainable, unlike this blocked and overflowing sewer of irrationality.

Should it have ended? The next few decades will tell. One thing is for sure, though – It’s survival that will ultimately dictate, not politics.

No more 2025s, thanks. One was enough.

_________________________________________________________

Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.

World bids farewell to 2025, a year of Trump, truces and turmoil


By AFP
December 30, 2025


New Year's Eve rehearsals in New York, which will see in 2026 16 hours after Sydney - Copyright AFP TIMOTHY A. CLARY

New Year’s Eve revellers will toast the end of 2025 on Wednesday, waving goodbye to 12 months packed with Trump tariffs, a Gaza truce and vain hopes for peace in Ukraine.

It was one of the warmest years on record, the stifling heat stoking wildfires in Europe, droughts in Africa and deadly rains across Southeast Asia.

There was a sombre tinge to party preparations in Australia’s Sydney, the self-proclaimed “New Year’s capital of the world” and one of the first major cities to see in 2026.

Barely two weeks have passed since a father and son allegedly opened fire on a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people in the nation’s deadliest mass shooting for almost 30 years.

Parties will pause for a minute of silence at 11 pm (1200 GMT) and the famed Sydney Harbour Bridge will be bathed in white light to symbolise peace.

“It has been a difficult year for so many people,” said Steph Grant, a 32-year-old Sydney resident.

“Here’s hoping the world looks like a brighter place in 2026,” said Grant, who works in advertising.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators are expected to cram Sydney’s foreshore as nine tonnes of fireworks explode on the stroke of midnight.

Security will be tighter than usual, with squads of heavily armed police patrolling the crowds.

– Truce and tariffs –

Labubu dolls became a worldwide craze in 2025, thieves plundered the Louvre in Paris in a daring heist, and K-pop heartthrobs BTS made their long-awaited return.

The world lost pioneering zoologist Jane Goodall, the Vatican chose a new pope, and the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk laid bare America’s deep political divisions.

US President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, launching a tariff blitz that sent global markets into meltdown.

From palm-fringed islands in the South Pacific to the sprawling factories of Shanghai, few escaped the trade assault unscathed.

And after two years of war that left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, US pressure helped land a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas.

Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians.

Israel retaliated to the deadliest attack since its formation with a military campaign that has killed more than 70,000 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the United Nations considers reliable.

Each side has accused the other of flagrant truce violations, raising doubts about long-term calm.

The war in Ukraine — sparked by Russia’s invasion in 2022 — meanwhile grinds towards its four-year anniversary in February.

There were hopes a renewed burst of international diplomacy might produce a breakthrough this year, but Russia shot down any notion of a temporary ceasefire in the final days of 2025.

As envoys shuttle between Moscow, Washington and Kyiv, one major obstacle remains: Ukraine is reluctant to give up land, and Russia is unwilling to give it back.

– Sports, space and AI –

The coming 12 months promise to be full of sports, space travel and serious questions over artificial intelligence.

More than 50 years since the last Apollo lunar mission, 2026 looks to be the year that mankind once again sets its sights towards the moon.

NASA’s Artemis II mission, backed by Elon Musk, plans to launch a crewed spacecraft that will circle that moon during a 10-day test flight.

After years of unbridled enthusiasm, artificial intelligence is starting to face mounting scrutiny.

Nervous investors are already questioning whether the years-long AI boom might be starting to resemble something more like a market bubble.

Athletes will gather on Italy’s famed Dolomites to hit the slopes for the Winter Olympics.

And for a brief few weeks between June and July, nations will come together for the biggest football World Cup in history.

For the first time, 48 teams will compete in the world’s most-watched sports event, playing in venues across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

From the beaches of Brazil to the far-flung reaches of New Zealand, The tournament is expected to draw millions of fans.

Hoping for better year ahead, Gazans bid farewell to ‘nightmare’ of 2025

By AFP
December 31, 2025


After two years of war between Hamas and Israel, most Gazans have been displaced, with huge numbers living in tents - Copyright AFP Bashar Taleb
Youssef Hassouna

As 2025 draws to a close, Palestinians in Gaza are marking the new year not with celebration, but with exhaustion, grief and a fragile hope that their “endless nightmare” might finally end.

For residents of the battered territory, daily life is a struggle for survival.

Much of Gaza’s infrastructure lies in ruins, electricity remains scarce and hundreds of thousands of people live in makeshift tents after being repeatedly displaced by the two years of fighting that began with Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023.

“We in the Gaza Strip are living in an endless nightmare,” said Hanaa Abu Amra, a displaced woman in her thirties living in Gaza City.

“We hope that this nightmare will end in 2026 …The least we can ask for is a normal life– to see electricity restored, the streets return to normal and to walk without tents lining the roads,” she said.

Across Gaza, a territory of more than two million people, scenes of hardship are commonplace.

Children queue with plastic containers to collect water, while rows of tents stretch across streets and open spaces, sheltering families who have lost their homes.

What were once bustling neighbourhoods now bear the scars of bombardment, with daily activity reduced to the bare essentials.

For many, the end of the year is a moment to mourn as much as to hope.

In Gaza City, a teenager painted “2026” on his tent, while an AFP journalist observed a local artist sculpting the same in sand in Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza.

The outgoing year brought relentless loss and fear, said Shireen Al-Kayali.

“We bid farewell to 2025 with deep sorrow and grief,” she said.

“We lost a lot of people and our possessions. We lived a difficult and harsh life, displaced from one city to another, under bombardment and in terror.”



– Hope for 2026 –



Her experience reflects that of countless Gazans who have been forced to flee repeatedly, often with little warning, taking with them only what they could carry.

Entire families have been uprooted, livelihoods destroyed, and communities fragmented as the war dragged on for two years.

Despite the devastation, some residents cling to the belief that the new year might bring an end to the fighting and a chance to rebuild.

For many Gazans, hope has become an act of resilience, particularly after the truce that came into effect on October 10 and has largely halted the fighting.

“We still hope for a better life in the new year, and I call on the free world to help our oppressed people so we can regain our lives,” said Khaled Abdel Majid, 50, who lives in a tent in Jabalia camp.

Faten al-Hindawi hoped the truce would finally end the war.

“We will bid farewell to 2025, leaving behind its pain, and we hope that 2026 will be a year of hope, prayer, determination and success stories.”

Such hopes are shared widely across Gaza, even as conditions on the ground remain dire.

Humanitarian agencies have warned that shortages of food, clean water and medical supplies persist, while winter conditions are worsening life in overcrowded displacement camps.

Amid the rubble and the tents, many Gazans say their aspirations are modest: safety, stability and dignity.

“I hope the reconstruction of Gaza begins in 2026. Gaza was beautiful, and we hope it returns to being beautiful again.”

CLOSING BARN DOOR...

France plans social media ban for children under 15

By AFP
December 31, 2025


France has had mixed success in restricting screen time for children - Copyright AFP Saeed KHAN

France will make a fresh attempt to protect children from excessive screen time, proposing a ban on social media access for children under 15 by next September, according to a draft law seen by AFP.

The initiative is backed by President Emmanuel Macron, who said earlier this month that parliament should start debating such a proposal in January. Australia this month imposed a social media ban on under 16s, in a world first.

“Many studies and reports now confirm the various risks caused by excessive use of digital screens by adolescents,” the French draft says.

Chidren with unfettered online access were exposed to “inappropriate content” and could suffer from cyber-harassment or experience changes to their sleep patterns, the government said.

The draft law has two articles. One would make illegal “the provision by an online platform of an online social media service to a minor under 15”. The second calls for a ban of mobile phone use in secondary schools.

Macron has said that the digital protection of minors is a priority for his government, but enforcement and compliance with international law have been issues.

An ban on mobile phone use in pre-schools and middle-schools came into force in 2018, but is rarely enforced.

France meanwhile ran foul of European Union rules with a law calling for a “digital legal age” of 15, passed in 2023, that has since been blocked.

The French upper house, the Senate, this month backed an initiative for the protection of teenagers from excessive screen time and social media access, which includes a requirement for parental authorisation for children between 13 and 16 to register with social media sites.

The Senate’s proposal has been submitted to the National Assembly which would need to approve the text before it can become law.

Leftist Mamdani begins first day as New York mayor

By AFP
January 1, 2026


Zohran Mamdani was sworn into office by New York Attorney General Letitia James (L) alongside his wife Rama Duwaji - Copyright POOL/AFP Amir Hamja

Ben Turner

Zohran Mamdani, the young star of the US left, started his first day as New York mayor on Thursday for a term sure to see him cross swords with President Donald Trump.

The 34-year-old Democrat — virtually unknown a year ago — was officially sworn in as mayor of the largest city in the United States just past midnight as New Yorkers rang in the new year.

New York’s first Muslim mayor took the oath of office during a private ceremony at a decommissioned subway stop under City Hall.

Later on Thursday, Mamdani is scheduled to take part in a larger, ceremonial inauguration with speeches from left-wing allies Senator Bernie Sanders and congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Around 4,000 ticketed guests are expected to attend the event outside City Hall. Mamdani’s team has also organized a block party that it says will enable tens of thousands of people to watch the ceremony at streetside viewing areas along Broadway.

“This is truly the honor and the privilege of a lifetime,” Mamdani told reporters after taking the official oath in the first minutes of New Year’s Day.



– Ambitious agenda –



But it remains to be seen if Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, can deliver on his ambitious agenda, which envisions rent freezes, universal childcare and free public buses.

Once an election is over, “symbolism only goes so far with voters. Results begin to matter a whole lot more,” New York University lecturer John Kane said.

How Trump behaves could be decisive.

The Republican, himself a New Yorker, has repeatedly criticized Mamdani, but the pair held surprisingly cordial talks at the White House in November.

Lincoln Mitchell, a political analyst and professor at Columbia University, said the meeting “couldn’t have gone better from Mamdani’s perspective.”

But he warned their relationship could quickly sour.

One flashpoint might be immigration raids as Trump wages an expanding crackdown on migrants across the United States.

Mamdani has vowed to protect immigrant communities.

Before the November vote, the president also threatened to slash federal funding for New York if it picked Mamdani, whom he called a “communist lunatic.”

The mayor has said he believes Trump is a fascist.



– New occupant of mayoral mansion –



Mamdani’s private swearing-in to start his four-year term was performed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted Trump for fraud.

In a first for the city, Mamdani is using several Korans to be sworn in as mayor — two from his family and one that belonged to Puerto Rico-born Black writer Arturo Schomburg, The New York Times reported.

The new job comes with a change of address as he swaps his rent-controlled apartment in the borough of Queens for Gracie Mansion, the luxurious mayor’s residence on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Some had wondered if he would move to the official mansion given his campaigning on affordability issues. Mamdani said he was doing so mainly for security reasons.

Born in Uganda to a family of Indian origin, Mamdani moved to New York at age seven and enjoyed an elite upbringing with only a relatively brief stint in politics, becoming a member of the New York State Assembly before being elected mayor.

Compensating for his inexperience, he is surrounding himself with seasoned aides recruited from past mayoral administrations and former US president Joe Biden’s government.

Mamdani has also opened dialogue with business leaders, some of whom predicted a massive exodus of wealthy New Yorkers if he won. Real estate leaders have debunked those claims.

As a defender of Palestinian rights, he will have to reassure the city’s Jewish community — the largest in the US — of his inclusive leadership.

Recently, one of his hires resigned after it was revealed she had posted antisemitic tweets years ago.

‘Welcome to a New Era for NYC’: Zohran Mamdani Sworn In as New York City Mayor

“This is truly the honor and privilege of a lifetime,” the new mayor said.

Zohran Mamdani is sworn in as New York City’s 112th mayor by New York Attorney General Letitia James, alongside his wife Rama Duwaji, in the former City Hall subway station on January 1, 2026.
(Photo by Amir Hamja-Pool/Getty Images)

Jake Johnson
Jan 01, 2026
COMMON DREAMS


Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as New York City’s mayor early Thursday inside an abandoned subway station, capping off the rise to power of a former state assembly member whose laser focus on affordability, willingness to challenge establishment corruption, and adept use of social media inspired the electorate—including many previous nonvoters.

Mamdani’s choice of location for the swearing-in ceremony, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, symbolized his commitment to restoring a city “that dared to be both beautiful and build great things that would transform working people’s lives,” the mayor said in a statement.




Mamdani Inauguration Set for Site Befitting Public Transit Champion



Mamdani Taps ‘Unafraid and Unbought’ Julie Su as First NYC Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice

During his campaign, Mamdani pledged to pursue a number of ambitious changes that he and his team will now begin the work of trying to implement, from fast and free buses to a $30 minimum wage to universal childcare—an agenda that would be funded by higher taxes on large corporations and the wealthiest 1% of New Yorkers.

“Happy New Year to New Yorkers both inside this tunnel and above,” Mamdani said in brief remarks at the ceremony. “This is truly the honor and privilege of a lifetime.”



Much of Mamdani’s agenda would require action from the city legislature. But in the weeks leading up to his swearing-in, members of Mamdani’s team scoured city statutes looking for ways Mamdani could use his mayoral authority to lower prices quickly.

In an interview with Vox earlier this week, Mamdani said that enacting his agenda is “not just critically important because you’re fulfilling what animated so many to engage with the campaign, to support the campaign, but also because of the impact it can have on New Yorkers’ lives.”

“There’s a lot of politics where it feels like it’s a contest around narrative, that when you win something, it’s just for the story that you can tell of what you won, but so many working people can’t feel that victory in their lives,” he said. “The point of a rent freeze is you feel it every first of the month. The point of a fast and free bus is you feel it every day when you’re waiting for a bus that sometimes never comes. The point of universal child care is so that you don’t have to pay $22,500 a year for a single toddler.”

Prior to Thursday’s ceremony, former Democratic Mayor Eric Adams spent his final hours on a veto spree, blocking 19 bills including worker-protection legislation.

City & State reported that “among the 19 pieces of legislation that received a last-minute veto was a bill that would expand a cap on street vending licenses, a bill that aims to protect ride-hailing drivers from unjust deactivations from their apps, a bill that would prohibit federal immigration authorities from keeping an office at Rikers Island, and a bill that would grant the Civilian Complaint Review Board direct access to police body-cam footage.”

Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, said in a statement that “Mayor Adams’ last stand to steal protections from workers can’t dampen our hope for a better New York City under the leadership of Zohran Mamdani... and his pro-worker appointees, including Julie Su.”