UN climate chief says ‘new world disorder’ hits cooperation


By AFP
February 12, 2026


One of the most climate-threatened corners of the planet, scientists fear Tuvalu will be uninhabitable this century - Copyright AFP/File TORSTEN BLACKWOOD

Hazel Ward with Laurent Thomet in Paris

The UN’s climate chief on Thursday urged countries to unite against an “unprecedented threat” to international cooperation from pro-fossil fuel forces — issuing the appeal as US President Donald Trump rattles the global order.

Simon Stiell, the head of the United Nations climate body, spoke in Istanbul as Turkey prepares to host the COP31 climate summit on its Mediterranean coast later this year, with Australia leading the negotiations.

“COP31 in Antalya will take place in extraordinary times. We find ourselves in a new world disorder,” Stiell said in an address alongside the president-designate of COP31, Turkish environment minister Murat Kurum.

“This is a period of instability and insecurity. Of strong arms and trade wars. The very concept of international cooperation is under attack,” he said.

Stiell made his plea as climate action is competing with concerns over security and economic growth around the world.

Trump has championed oil, gas and coal while moving to withdraw the United States from the UN’s bedrock climate treaty after pulling out of the Paris Agreement, the landmark deal reached in 2015 on curbing global warming.

The American leader, who has called global warming a “hoax”, was poised Thursday to revoke a landmark scientific finding that underpins US regulations aimed at curbing planet-warming pollution.

Trump has also rattled European allies with his desire to acquire Greenland, as shrinking Arctic sea ice is turning the region into a strategic battleground.



– ‘Antidote to the chaos’ –



Other nations have resisted moving away from oil, gas and coal.

The COP30 summit in Brazil late last year ended with a modest deal that lacked any explicit mention of fossil fuels amid opposition from oil giants such as Saudi Arabia, coal producer India and others.

The United States, the world’s top economy and second-biggest polluter after China, shunned COP30.

The last three years have been the hottest globally on record, driven by rising greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change.

Stiell warned that international climate cooperation was “under unprecedented threat: from those determined to use their power to defy economic and scientific logic, and increase dependence on polluting coal, oil and gas”.

“Those forces are undeniably strong. But they need not prevail. There is a clear alternative to this chaos and regression,” he said.

“And that is countries standing together, building on all we have achieved to date, to make it (international global cooperation) go further and faster.”

He noted that investment in clean energy was more than double that of fossil fuels last year, while renewables overtook coal as the top electricity source.

Stiell urged nations to deliver on their 2023 agreement at COP28 in Dubai to triple clean energy capacity by 2030 and transition away from fossil fuels, and for the most ambitious to form “coalitions of the willing”.

“Climate cooperation is an antidote to the chaos and coercion of this moment, and clean energy is the obvious solution to spiralling fossil fuel costs, both human and economic,” he said.

ECO CRIMINALS

Here's why Trump is dangerously wrong about how climate change threatens our health

The Conversation
February 14, 2026 

The Trump administration took a major step in its efforts to unravel America’s climate policies on Thursday, when it moved to rescind the 2009 endangerment finding — a formal determination that six greenhouse gases that drive climate change, including carbon dioxide and methane from burning fossil fuels, endanger public health and welfare.

But the administration’s arguments in dismissing the health risks of climate change are not only factually wrong, they’re deeply dangerous to Americans’ health and safety.

As physicians, epidemiologists and environmental health scientists, we’ve seen growing evidence of the connections between climate change and harm to people’s health. Here’s a look at the health risks everyone face from climate change.
Extreme heat

Greenhouse gases from vehicles, power plants and other sources accumulate in the atmosphere, trapping heat and holding it close to Earth’s surface like a blanket. Too much of it causes global temperatures to rise, leaving more people exposed to dangerous heat more often.

Most people who get minor heat illnesses will recover, but more extreme exposure, especially without enough hydration and a way to cool off, can be fatal. People who work outside, are elderly or have underlying illnesses such as heart, lung or kidney diseases are often at the greatest risk.

Heat deaths have been rising globally, up 23 percent from the 1990s to the 2010s, when the average year saw more than half a million heat-related deaths. Here in the U.S., the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome killed hundreds of people.

Climate scientists predict that with advancing climate change, many areas of the world, including U.S. cities such as Miami, Houston, Phoenix and Las Vegas, will confront many more days each year hot enough to threaten human survival.

Extreme weather

Warmer air holds more moisture, so climate change brings increasing rainfall and storm intensity and worsening flooding, as many U.S. communities have experienced in recent years. Warmer ocean water also fuels more powerful hurricanes.

Increased flooding carries health risks, including drownings, injuries and water contamination from human pathogens and toxic chemicals. People cleaning out flooded homes also face risks from mold exposure, injuries and mental distress.

Climate change also worsens droughts, disrupting food supplies and causing respiratory illness from dust. Rising temperatures and aridity dry out forests and grasslands, making them a set-up for wildfires.
Air pollution

Wildfires, along with other climate effects, are worsening air quality around the country.

Wildfire smoke is a toxic soup of microscopic particles (known as fine particulate matter, or PM2.5) that can penetrate deep in the lungs and hazardous compounds such as lead, formaldehyde and dioxins generated when homes, cars and other materials burn at high temperatures. Smoke plumes can travel thousands of miles downwind and trigger heart attacks and elevate lung cancer risks, among other harms.

Meanwhile, warmer conditions favor the formation of ground-level ozone, a heart and lung irritant. Burning of fossil fuels also generates dangerous air pollutants that cause a long list of health problems, including heart attacks, strokes, asthma flare-ups and lung cancer.
Infectious diseases

Because they are cold-blooded organisms, insects are directly influenced by temperature. So with rising temperatures, mosquito biting rates rise as well. Warming also accelerates the development of disease agents that mosquitoes transmit.

Mosquito-borne dengue fever has turned up in Florida, Texas, Hawaii, Arizona and California. New York state just saw its first locally acquired case of chikungunya virus, also transmitted by mosquitoes.

And it’s not just insect-borne infections. Warmer temperatures increase diarrhea and foodborne illness from Vibrio cholerae and other bacteria and heavy rainfall increases sewage-contaminated stormwater overflows into lakes and streams. At the other water extreme, drought in the desert Southwest increases the risk of coccidioidomycosis, a fungal infection known as valley fever.

Other impacts

Climate change threatens health in numerous other ways. Longer pollen seasons increase allergen exposures. Lower crop yields reduce access to nutritious foods.

Mental health also suffers, with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress following disasters, and increased rates of violent crime and suicide tied to high-temperature days.

Young children, older adults, pregnant women and people with preexisting medical conditions are among the highest-risk groups. Lower-income people also face greater risk because of higher rates of chronic disease, higher exposures to climate hazards and fewer resources for protection, medical care and recovery from disasters.

Policy-based evidence-making

The evidence linking climate change with health has grown considerably since 2009. Today, it is incontrovertible.

Studies show that heat, air pollution, disease spread and food insecurity linked to climate change are worsening and costing millions of lives around the world each year. This evidence also aligns with Americans’ lived experiences. Anybody who has fallen ill during a heat wave, struggled while breathing wildfire smoke or been injured cleaning up from a hurricane knows that climate change can threaten human health.


Yet the Trump administration is willfully ignoring this evidence in proclaiming that climate change does not endanger health.

Its move to rescind the 2009 endangerment finding, which underpins many climate regulations, fits with a broader set of policy measures, including cutting support for renewable energy and subsidizing fossil fuel industries that endanger public health. In addition to rescinding the endangerment finding, the Trump administration also moved to roll back emissions limits on vehicles – the leading source of U.S. carbon emissions and a major contributor to air pollutants such as PM2.5 and ozone.
It’s not just about endangerment

The evidence is clear: Climate change endangers human health. But there’s a flip side to the story.

When governments work to reduce the causes of climate change, they help tackle some of the world’s biggest health challenges. Cleaner vehicles and cleaner electricity mean cleaner air — and less heart and lung disease. More walking and cycling on safe sidewalks and bike paths mean more physical activity and lower chronic disease risks. The list goes on. By confronting climate change, we promote good health.

To really make America healthy, in our view, the nation should acknowledge the facts behind the endangerment finding and double down on our transition from fossil fuels to a healthy, clean energy future.

By Jonathan Levy, Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Health, Boston University; Howard Frumkin, Professor Emeritus of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington;

Jonathan PatzProfessor of Environmental Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Vijay LimayeAdjunct Associate Professor of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

This article includes material from a story originally published Nov. 12, 2025.

US lawmaker moves to shield oil companies from climate cases


By AFP
February 12, 2026


Dozens of cases against oil copmanies modeled on successful actions against the tobacco industry in the 1990s are playing out in state and local courts -- including claims of injuries, failure-to-warn, and even racketeering

 - Copyright AFP/File Patrick T. Fallon

Issam AHMED

A US lawmaker is drafting legislation to block a wave of state and local climate-damage lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, advancing a top priority of the oil and gas industry.

Republican Representative Harriet Hageman announced the effort during a hearing on Wednesday, following a letter last year from a group of attorneys general from conservative-led states urging the creation of a federal “liability shield” similar to the one Congress granted gunmakers in 2005.

Hageman also targeted so-called climate “superfund” laws, enacted in New York and Vermont and under consideration in other states, which require fossil fuel companies to help cover the costs of climate-related damages tied to the destabilization of the global climate system.

“Clearly, this is an area in which Congress has a role to play,” Hageman, of the oil-rich western state of Wyoming, told Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“To that end, I’m working with my colleagues in both the House and Senate to craft legislation tackling both these state laws and the lawsuits that could destroy energy affordability for consumers.”

Dozens of cases modeled on successful actions against the tobacco industry in the 1990s are playing out in state and local courts — including claims of injuries, failure-to-warn, and even racketeering, meaning acting like a criminal enterprise.

Michigan last month sued oil majors in federal court, alleging they had acted as a cartel in an unlawful conspiracy by preventing meaningful competition from renewable energy.

Environmental advocates see such lawsuits as crucial means for climate accountability as President Donald Trump’s second term has seen the United States go all-in to boost fossil fuels and block renewables.

Some cases have been dismissed, and none have yet gone to trial — though crucially, the conservative-dominated Supreme Court has repeatedly declined to intervene and block them.

Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute, the industry’s largest trade group, spoke out against the cases in a keynote address last month.

Material on API’s website confirms the group wishes to “Protect US energy producers and consumers from abusive state climate lawsuits and the expansion of climate ‘superfund’ policies that bypass Congress and threaten affordability.”

Richard Wiles, president of the nonprofit Center for Climate Integrity, said in a statement the announcement was proof “the fossil fuel industry is panicking and pleading with Congress for a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

Any legislation however could face an uphill battle since Republicans only enjoy a slim majority in the House of Representatives and bills normally require 60 votes in the Senate, where they hold 53 seats of the 100 seats.

Greece’s Cycladic islands swept up in concrete fever


By  AFP
February 12, 2026


Milos Mayor Manolis Mikelis has called the construction project on the island an 'environmental crime' - Copyright AFP Aris MESSINIS

Yannick PASQUET

On the sloping shoreline of the Greek Aegean island of Milos, a vast construction site has left a gaping wound into the island’s trademark volcanic rock.

The foundations are for a hotel extension that attracted so much controversy last year that the country’s top administrative court ended up temporarily blocking its building permit.

Construction machinery still dots the site for a planned 59-room extension to the luxury resort, some of whose suites have their own swimming pools.

Milos Mayor Manolis Mikelis calls the project an “environmental crime”.

“The geological uniqueness of Milos is known worldwide. We don’t want its identity to change,” he told AFP in his office, adorned with a copy of the island’s most famous export, the Hellenistic-era statue of the love goddess Venus.

Fuelled by a tourism boom, real estate fever has broken out across the Cyclades archipelago, threatening to destroy iconic landscapes of whitewashed houses and blue church domes.

In December, several mayors from the Cyclades as well as the Dodecanese — which includes the highly touristic islands of Rhodes and Kos — sounded the alarm.

“The very existence of our islands is threatened,” they warned in a resolution initiated by the mayor of Santorini, Nikos Zorzos.

Tourism has become “a field for planting luxury residences to sell or rent,” said Zorzos, whose island — a top global destination — welcomes roughly 3.5 million visitors for a population of 15,500.



– Rejecting ‘plunder’ –



The “Cycladic islands are not grounds for pharaonic projects”, the mayors continued.

V Tourism, the company operating the hotel, argues that the expansion was approved in 2024 with “favourable opinions from all competent authorities”.

But Mikelis, the mayor, noted that there are legislation “loopholes” when it comes to construction.

Like Santorini, Milos is a volcanic isle that is home to one of Greece’s most unique beaches, Sarakiniko.

With its spectacular white formations rounded by erosion, the so-called ‘moon beach’ has bathers packed tighter than an astronaut’s suit during summertime.

Yet Sarakiniko is not protected under Greek law.

Another hotel project there was blocked last year, and the environment ministry has given the owners a month’s time to fill in its construction dig.



– ‘Voracious’ –



Ioannis Spilanis, emeritus professor at the University of the Aegean, says what is happening in the Cyclades “is voracious, predatory real estate”.

Once marginal land intended for grazing “have become lucrative assets. (Locals) are offered very attractive prices that are still low for investors.”

“Then you build or resell for ten times more,” he said.

In Ios, a small island with a vibrant nightlife, a single investor — a Greek who made a fortune on Wall Street — now owns 30 percent of the island, the mayors said in their December statement.

Tourism contributes between 28 and 33.7 percent of GDP, according to the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE), making it a key sector that has propped up the country’s economy for decades.

Arrivals have been breaking record after record with more than 40 million visitors in 2024, a performance that was likely surpassed in 2025.

In Milos, which has more than 5,000 inhabitants, 48 new hotel projects are currently underway, according to the mayor, and 157 new building permits were awarded from January to the end of October 2025, according to the state statistical body.

On Paros, which has also experienced a real estate frenzy for several years, 459 building permits were granted over the same period, and on Santorini, 461.

The most ambitious projects in Greece are classified as “strategic investments”, a fast-track procedure created in 2019 to facilitate investments deemed priorities.

But “there’s often no oversight,” said Spilanis, the academic.



– Golden goose –



And many of the new constructions are far removed from traditional Cycladic architecture.

But the tourism industry is a vital source of income on islands which are usually deserted in winter, and offering few other job prospects.

“This island is a diamond, but unfortunately in recent years it’s become nothing but money, money, money,” fumes a resident who spends half the year in Germany.

“But if I say that in public, everyone will jump down my throat!” she said.

In a 2024 report, the state ombudsman of the Hellenic Republic stressed the deterioration in quality of life on islands where residents can no longer find housing, as many owners prioritise lucrative short-term rentals, while waste management and water resources are also under major strain.

But there are signs of a slowdown in the Cyclades.

Santorini last year saw a 12.8-percent drop in air arrivals between June and September, while Mykonos had to settle for a meagre 2.4-percent increase.

Europe’s most powerful rocket carries 32 satellites for Amazon Leo network into space


By AFP
February 12, 2026


With 175 satellites already in orbit, Amazon Leo aims to expand its constellation to 3,200 - Copyright AFP Paige Taylor White

The most powerful version of Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket Thursday carried 32 satellites into space for the Amazon Leo network, which aims to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink.

The launch from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America, is a first for Amazon Leo.

The largest number of satellites ever carried by an Ariane rocket successfully separated and set off toward their final orbit to applause from those following the event live at the control centre.

“What a day, what a launch!” exclaimed Arianespace CEO David Cavailloles, who said the operation proved the launcher’s ability to “carry out the most complex missions”.

“Amazon, your package has been delivered,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, speaking of a “European success”.

US firm Amazon, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, is the main commercial partner for the Ariane 6 despite the latter being touted as a symbol of European sovereignty in the sector.

To take on the 32 satellites, the Ariane 6 was upgraded with four strap-on boosters, instead of the two used on the first five flights.

The increased number marks “our largest payload that we have launched to date,” Martijn Van Delden, head of commercial development for Europe at Amazon Leo, told AFP.

With 175 satellites already in orbit, Amazon Leo aims to expand its constellation to 3,200.

Rival Starlink, meanwhile, has nearly 9,400 satellites.

“We’re looking to then increase the payload every time we have a new mission, especially as more powerful boosters come online on Ariane 6,” Van Delden said.

“Ariane 6 is a perfect launcher for constellations” of satellites, said Arianespace CEO Cavailloles during a press briefing.

He said the Amazon launches would help in training for a flagship multi-orbital constellation project of the European Union aimed at ensuring secure and sovereign connectivity, with deployment slated to begin in 2029.

– ‘Build market confidence’ –



Ludwig Moeller, director of the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), warned that “over time a sovereign European launcher cannot be primarily dependent on foreign markets”.

Foreign partners “may negotiate priority handling backed by economic power or which may become unpredictable or inaccessible without notice, given the current geopolitical environment and trade wars,” he told AFP.

But in the absence of European commercial customers — many of whom work with Musk’s SpaceX — the Amazon partnership is crucial.

Four out of five anticipated launches took place in 2025 following Ariane’s inaugural 2024 flight, unprecedented for a new launcher, according to ArianeGroup president Marc Sion.

Although Ariane 6 is eventually expected to carry out 10 launches per year, Pierre Lionnet, Eurospace research director, noted that at this stage this would not be possible without commercial customers like Amazon.

Long-term investment is expected to amount to billions of euros to the European space sector.

“If things go well here, it will help build market confidence,” said Philippe Clar, ArianeGroup’s head of launchers.

Drones, sirens, army posters: How four years of war changed a Russian city


By AFP
February 12, 2026


Voronezh is closer to the front line in eastern Ukraine than to Moscow - Copyright AFP TATYANA MAKEYEVA

Guillaume DECAMME

A drone whirred through a shopping centre in the Russian city of Voronezh as Shaman, an operator for the Russian army, showed shoppers one of the devices that have dominated the battlefield in Ukraine.

Hiding his face behind a balaclava, the 19-year-old told AFP he would soon leave to fight in the war, vowing “to defend my country” — which launched a large-scale offensive against its neighbour four years ago.

Around 500 kilometres south of Moscow, Voronezh — a city of one million people — is closer to the front line in eastern Ukraine than to the Russian capital.

From frequent Ukrainian retaliatory drone attacks to army recruitment adverts around the city, the conflict has gradually seeped into daily life.

Before heading off to the front, Shaman, his army call sign, was manning the stand of the “Berkut Military-Sports Cossack Club” in the shopping centre.

His goal was “not necessarily” to convince his fellow teenagers to enlist, he told AFP.

“Everyone chooses their own path, according to their interests,” he said, calling himself a “patriot”.

Over the last four years, the word has become politically charged — used to hail soldiers and, on the home front, those who loudly support President Vladimir Putin and his offensive.



– ‘I have hope’ –



Even the look of Voronezh has changed dramatically since February 2022.

On snowy roads leading to the suburbs, anti-aircraft systems peek out from behind camouflage nets.

In the city centre, murals honour soldiers killed on the battlefield.

Countless propaganda posters call for people to enlist with the army, crowding out adverts for a production of “Swan Lake” at the local theatre.

A recruitment centre offers future soldiers a lump sum of 2.5 million roubles ($32,500) if they sign-up — equivalent to three years of the average regional salary.

The riches on offer have allowed Russia to maintain a manpower advantage over Ukraine despite massive losses.

Last year, 422,000 people enlisted with the military, according to former president and Deputy Security Council Secretary Dmitry Medvedev — a six percent decrease compared with 2024.

For Lyudmila, 64 and with dark circles under her eyes, only one of those matters: her son, missing in action for the last four months.

“It’s very hard. I have hope, because without hope…” Lyudmila said, her eyes filling with tears and unable to finish the sentence.

Was he killed? Captured? She does not know.



– ‘Frightening’ –



Russia does not say officially how many of its fighters have been killed.

Tracking of local obituaries and family announcements by the BBC and independent Mediazona outlet has identified at least 168,000 Russian soldiers killed since Moscow launched its offensive.

To keep herself occupied, Lyudmila volunteers for an organisation sewing camouflage gear for soldiers.

Even with the small fortune on offer, the prospect of enlisting is a hard “Nyet” for tractor driver Roman, who like everybody AFP spoke to refused to give his surname.

“No, no. Not for any sum,” said the 48-year-old.

Nestled in a tent on the frozen river, he wants to “relax”, “switch off” and “think about fishing” — escaping the fear of Ukrainian drone attacks.

“I wake up more often because of the explosions,” he said.

“We have sirens and explosions every day. It’s frightening of course.”

Moscow has been firing daily barrages of missiles and drones at Ukraine for months. The latest wave crippled Kyiv’s energy system, leaving hundreds of thousands without heating as temperatures plunged to -20C.

In retaliation, Ukraine’s army has been firing drones at Russia, mostly targeting port and energy infrastructure.

Last month, one person in Voronezh was killed in an attack.



– Peace Street –



The Voronezh region, which surrounds the city and borders a part of Ukraine captured by Moscow, is one of the “most frequently” targeted in aerial attacks, Russian ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova said last month.

Amid the plethora of army posters across the city, there are some smaller signs that not everybody shares the patriotic pro-war fervour.

After Russia launched its offensive, artist Mikhail affixed little ceramic plaques to buildings and walls with calls for peace.

They resemble pro-peace plaques put up in Soviet times with messages like “Peace” or “Friendship” written on them — part of the propaganda of the era.

“I wanted to remind people of the narrative of our grandmothers, grandfathers and great-grandparents, who throughout my childhood said that war is terrifying,” the 28-year-old, who goes by the nickname Noi, told AFP.

“What we should always strive for is peace.”

But with anti-war activism essentially outlawed in Russia, his plaques have been taken down.

Except one — located on Voronezh’s Peace Street.

Cash-starved French hospitals ask public to pitch in


By AFP
February 13, 2026


Several French hospitals and nursing homes have appealed to ordinary people to help fund urgent needs - Copyright AFP Loic VENANCE

Elia Vaissiere

Cash-strapped and running out of options, a public hospital in southwestern France has turned to an unlikely source of rescue: potential patients.

This week, the Basque Coast Hospital Centre (CHCB) in Bayonne was the latest to appeal to the public to help fund urgent needs and purchase medicine, medical devices and vaccines through what it calls “citizen loans”.

Under the scheme, people lend money to public hospitals that later reimburse them, with interest.

The model has emerged in France over the past few years, with several hospitals and nursing homes inviting people to invest in their healthcare facilities.

The CHCB hopes to raise 1.5 million euros ($1.7 million), the largest sum ever targeted by a French medical facility in such an operation.

Supporters see the loans as an ingenious way to reconnect hospitals with the people they serve.

But critics say such loans are a symptom of a healthcare system under severe strain, with hospitals forced to pass the hat around the community.

The loan “offers citizens the opportunity to participate directly in financing its cash flow needs related to essential healthcare purchases: medicine, medical devices, vaccines, and sampling equipment”, the Basque Coast hospital said.

The hospital, which has several sites, notably in the towns of Bayonne and Saint-Jean-de-Luz, said it had received institutional funding but the payments were delayed, and it needed to fund its regular purchases.

A person can invest as little as one euro and will be reimbursed “at the end of 12 months” in a single payment, with interest set at 3.1 percent, a rate that exceeds that of France’s popular Livret A savings account.

The operation is being carried out via the start-up Villyz, a government-approved platform.



– ‘Useful, transparent, local’ –



The Basque Coast hospital praises what it calls a “virtuous” financing model that “diversifies” its funding sources and lets people invest their savings in a product that is “useful, transparent and local”.

But it comes against a backdrop of tight finances. In 2024, the CHCB recorded a deficit of 21 million euros on a budget of around 400 million euros.

Across France, hospitals’ accounts are in the red: the system’s overall deficit reached and estimated 2.7 billion to 2.9 billion euros in 2024, according to official data.

Villyz began offering the scheme to hospitals last year, claiming to be the only platform doing so.

It collects only “application fees that depend on the amount raised”, typically amounting to several thousand euros, said its president, Arthur Moraglia.

Through the scheme, a hospital in the northeastern town of Haguenau raised 100,000 euros to purchase new windows, and a hospital in Evreux in the northwest raised the same amount to add beds.

Two nursing homes in southeastern France have funded improvements, and another in the central town of Bourges plans to do so soon.

The Limoges University Hospital, which wants to open a women’s health centre dedicated to victims of domestic violence, with a total budget of 2.5 million euros, hopes to borrow one million from the public.



– ‘Hold out their hand’ –



Some hospitals had already turned to more traditional fundraising, including Paris’s Georges Pompidou Hospital, which sought donations to buy a scanner, and the Nantes University Hospital.

Critics including the Force Ouvriere union have denounced what they call the government’s austerity policies undermining public hospitals nationwide.

“Whereas France once prided itself on having the best healthcare system in the world, today public hospitals are forced to hold out their hand to survive,” the union said last year.

“Citizen loans, appeals for donations, corporate sponsorship, or any other ‘raffle’ scheme — this is now what part of the funding for our public hospitals boils down to.”

Jean‑Paul Domin, an economist at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, said the trend, emerging over the past three or four years, was symptomatic of a system in crisis.

“Hospitals need cash,” he said, and they are scrambling to find it.

Nicolas Sirven, an economist at the EHESP school of public health, said the loan scheme proved that people were willing to pay to fund the hospital system — even though the political class was reluctant to push for more social security contributions or taxes.

Compared with their overall budgets, the amounts hospitals seek are “marginal”, Sirven said.

But “should it be up to hospitals to manage the savings of the French?”

Fresh water leak adds to Louvre museum woes

SWIMMING WITH MONA LISA

By AFP
February 13, 2026


The water leak comes in the wake of the brazen jewellery heist at the Louvre which shocked France - Copyright AFP Julie SEBADELHA

Karine PERRET and Adam PLOWRIGHT

After a break-in, strikes and a ticket fraud scandal, the beleaguered Louvre museum in Paris said Friday it had suffered a water leak in its most-visited wing, the second flood in three months.

The fire brigade had to be called overnight after a burst pipe in the Louvre’s Denon wing, which houses some of the museum’s most valuable exhibits including the Mona Lisa, according to a statement.

While the space containing Leonardo Da Vinci’s masterpiece was not affected, the leak damaged a room of 15th-century Italian works and its decorative ceiling, painted by French artist Charles Meynier.

“The ceiling artwork shows two tears in the same area, caused by water, and lifting of the paint layer on the ceiling and its arches,” a statement from management said.

The cause of the damage was a heating-system pipe above the room, the statement added. Firefighters intervened shortly after midnight.

The water leak adds to a growing picture of structural and maintenance problems inside the world’s most visited museum, which suffered a hugely embarrassing robbery last October.

A water leak in late November damaged several hundred works in the Louvre’s Egyptian department, and management had to shut a gallery housing ancient Greek ceramics in October because ceiling beams above it threatened to give way.

The Louvre’s chief architect Francois Chatillon conceded in front of MPs in November that the building was “not in a good state”.

A message on the museum’s website Friday stated that “for reasons beyond our control, certain rooms are exceptionally closed”.



– Fraud scandal –



The news came just a day after revelations that police had dismantled a “large-scale” ticket fraud network at the Louvre that allegedly includes two museum employees and several tour guides.

The Paris prosecutor’s office estimates that the fraud, which involved Chinese tourists, could have cost the institution up to 10 million euros ($11.9 million).

Investigators believe several guides working with Chinese tourists were re-using tickets and entering the Louvre several times, bribing security staff to get their compliance.

Police have seized around a million euros in cash and 486,000 euros from different bank accounts linked to the gang.

The accumulation of problems has piled pressure on museum boss Laurence des Cars who faced calls to resign after the October 19 robbery in which thieves steal crown jewels worth more than $100 million.

Two intruders used a truck-mounted extendable platform to access a gallery containing the jewels, slicing through a glass door with disk-cutters in front of startled visitors before grabbing eight priceless items.

Disgruntled staff have also launched a wave of strikes since the start of the year demanding more recruitment and improved salaries, forcing management to shutter the former royal palace on several Mondays.

The Louvre welcomed nine million visitors last year.

WTO chief urges China to shift on trade surplus


By AFP
February 13, 2026


WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the WEF summit in Davos 

- Copyright AFP Fabrice COFFRINI

The head of the World Trade Organization on Friday urged China to change its growth model, arguing that its soaring trade surplus was ultimately unsustainable and risked sparking new trade barriers.

Beijing says it wants to support the multilateral trading system, “because it has benefited quite a bit from it”, WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told the Munich Security Conference.

However, “the export-led growth model that drove China’s growth for the past 40 years cannot drive China’s growth for the next 40,” said Okonjo-Iweala.

“And the $1.2 trillion trade surplus is not sustainable. Because the rest of the world cannot absorb it,” she added.

“And if China does not act, we will see more barriers.”

China’s trade surplus hit a record $1.2 trillion last year. This was despite a sharp decline in its trade with the United States, as a fierce trade war between the world’s two largest economies revived after President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Other trade partners more than filled the gap, increasing Chinese exports overall by 5.5 percent in 2025, while imports stayed flat in dollar terms.

China’s economy expanded five percent in 2025, Beijing said Monday, one of its slowest rates of growth in decades as the world’s second-biggest economy struggled with persistently low consumer spending and a debt crisis in its property sector.

In October, Trump reached a truce with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. But in January, he announced that he would impose tariffs on countries trading with Iran. China, which is at the forefront of these countries, has warned that it will defend its interests.

Other major markets for Chinese products, such as the European Union, are alarmed by the imbalance in their trade balance with China.

Europeans, concerned that their markets will serve as an outlet for Chinese production surpluses, are urging China to stimulate its domestic consumption, which has been sluggish for years.

The WTO is holding its ministerial conference, its biennial main gathering, in late March in Cameroon.

Conflicts turning on civilians, warns Red Cross chief


By AFP
February 13, 2026


ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric has condemned the disregard shown for the internationally-agreed laws of war - Copyright AFP Elodie LE MAOU

Conflicts are deliberately being turned into wars against civilians with drones and other technology and countries are flouting international law with impunity, the Red Cross chief said Friday.

“We count and classify more conflicts today than we did 15 years ago — twice as many; four times as many as we did 30 years ago,” Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, told the Munich Security Conference.

“But it’s not only the numbers: it’s the intensity, it’s the scale and it’s the fact that conflicts are over-layered with fast technological advancement — amplifying the negative impacts on civilians, on entire countries because they increase displacement at fast pace,” she said.

“There’s never a moment where drones fight against drones. Drones fight against the military and increasingly against civilians. Wars are turning into wars not against weapon-bearers but against civilians — deliberately.

“And that is the impact of the hollowing out of international humanitarian law.”

Spoljaric said the rule of law was only upheld by political will to respect universally-ratified international agreements.

International humanitarian law is a set of rules that seek to limit the effects of armed conflict. It protects people who are not or are no longer participating in hostilities and restricts the means and methods of warfare.

The ICRC acts as the guardians of international humanitarian law.

During a panel discussion on humanitarian assistance, Spoljaric said it was up to leaders to make such laws a political prority and adopt a protective interpretation of the laws, rather than a permissive one.

“Only then will we be able to curb” the number and scale of conflicts, and reduce the cost of humanitarian aid, she said.

She said international humanitarian law had to be tied to national security interests, “otherwise it will not become a priority”.

“Because if you dismantle the rules of war, if you say ‘I will win this war at all costs, no rules apply’, you are sending a signal to every arms bearer that everything is allowed, and it’s a question of time until a bomb explodes in your town.

“The new technologies, the spread of armed groups make this possible today.”

Mercedes-Benz net profit nearly halves amid China, US woes


By AFP
February 12, 2026


Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang says the AI chip titan is working with Mercedes to put self-driving capabilities into some of its electric cars - Copyright AFP Patrick T. Fallon

Louis VAN BOXEL-WOOLF

German carmaker Mercedes-Benz reported Thursday its lowest annual profit since the Covid pandemic, as it counted the cost of US tariffs and cutthroat competition in China.

Net profit for 2025 was 5.3 billion euros ($6.3 billion), Mercedes said, down almost 49 percent from 2024 but better than had been expected in a poll of analysts by financial data firm FactSet.

“Amid a dynamic market environment, our financial results remained within our guidance,” chief executive Ola Kaellenius said, adding that he saw hope in over 40 new model launches planned for the next three years.

“We are moving forward with a clear game plan and a very competitive product portfolio,” he said.

The firm expects a similarly difficult 2026, however, with revenue projected to be around last year’s level of 132.2 billion euros.

Its core profit should be “significantly above” the 2025 figure thanks to an absence of one-off restructuring charges.

But at its core car business, Mercedes sees a profit margin this year of three to five percent — potentially weaker than the five percent it achieved last year.

Mercedes-Benz shares opened down 4.5 percent in Frankfurt but later recovered a bit, trading down 2.6 percent at midday, making it one of the worst performers in Germany’s blue-chip DAX index.



– ‘Once-in-a-hundred years transformation’ –



A storied company that traces its history back to Carl Benz inventing the first motor car in 1885, Mercedes last year took a hit from US President Donald Trump putting tariffs on foreign carmakers.

Speaking on the earnings call, chief financial officer Harald Wilhelm said the duties introduced partway through last year had cost the company about 1 billion euros.

“It’s really a lot of money,” he said. “It’s going to go up in 2026 because we’ll have a full-year impact — It’s going to be a significant number.”

The duties came as the company was facing a triple whammy of cratering sales in China, stagnant demand in Europe and the costs of investing into electric cars despite patchy demand.

“The auto industry and our company, we’re in a once-in-a-hundred years transformation,” Kaellenius said on the call.

“It’s happening in an environment that is more dynamic than we have experienced in many, many years.”

China, the world’s biggest car market, has become a battleground for German carmakers amid a brutal price war and fierce competition from local players like BYD and Geely.

Mercedes-Benz’s sales by volume in China plunged 19 percent last year to their lowest level since 2016, helping drag overall worldwide sales down by 10 percent.

Wilhelm said that Mercedes-Benz expected to lose further sales in China despite new launches, and that difficulties in the market could further weigh on results.

“China is always, I think, unforeseeable in terms of the intensity of the competitive environment,” he said. “It could be an element which could bring us even further down.”

Ubisoft targets new decade of ‘Rainbow 6’ with China expansion

By AFP
February 13, 2026


Investors were happy with Ubisoft. — © AFP/File Dimitar DILKOFF

Tom BARFIELD

Troubled French games giant Ubisoft will strive to project confidence this weekend with a massive esports event for its shooter “Rainbow Six Siege”, while hoping a reorganisation and expansion to China can keep the money rolling in.

“We’re stepping things up a lot for 2026 with China coming aboard,” said Francois-Xavier Deniele, head of marketing and esports for the franchise.

“The balance is going to change, we know that when they arrive in a game, they’re extremely competitive”.

Chinese internet giant TenCent has climbed aboard as an investor in “Rainbow Six” and Ubisoft’s other top-selling titles “Assassin’s Creed” and “Far Cry”.

The mega-franchises are stabled together in one of a string of new “creative houses”, supposed to offer the group’s development teams more financial and creative freedom after several years of financial woes, job cuts and a tumbling share price.

China is “a very, very mature market, a lot more mature even than (the West) for this kind of game,” Deniele said.

But TenCent’s billion-euro investment in exchange for a 26-percent stake in Vantage, finalised last November, suggests it believes in Ubisoft titles’ ability to hold their own.

With a $3-million prize pool, this weekend’s Ubisoft-organised invitational event in Paris for top teams is “a heck of a signal” that “shows we’re capable of packing the Adidas Arena,” Deniele said.

The Paris venue’s 8,000 seats are more often filled by basketball or music fans.

Chinese internet giant TenCent is investing in some of Ubisoft’s top games 

– Copyright AFP/File BERTRAND GUAY

In China, “it’s totally natural for the new generation to watch esports matches and play with their friends in PC bangs (cybercafes)… very similar to Korea,” Deniele said.

This year’s busy esports season for “Siege” follows on from last year’s revamp of its systems and graphics, which “laid the foundations for the 10 years ahead,” he added.

A team first-person shooter in the vein of genre classics like “Counter-Strike”, “Rainbow Six Siege” is one of Ubisoft’s biggest titles, rewarding coordinated tactical play and deft use of destructible environments.

– Fierce competition –

“Siege” has not escaped wobbles of its own in recent months.

Hackers gained access in December to systems that allowed them to ban or restore large numbers of accounts and manipulate the game’s cosmetic item marketplace — a key source of revenue.

In such cases “the community needs to be reassured very quickly”, Deniele said, crediting the “ultra-fast” reaction of the development team for the fact that “people came back to the game and were happy with what we were able to do”.

Developers must also ensure a steady pipeline of fresh content for today’s long-lived online games, with “Rainbow Six” facing competition from incumbents such as “Call of Duty”, “Valorant” or “Overwatch”.

New challengers are also constantly emerging onto the unforgiving field.

Wildlight Entertainment, developers of fantasy shooter title “Highguard”, which launched in January to great fanfare, on Wednesday announced layoffs from its small development team — leaving only a “core group” to maintain the game.

At this weekend’s “Rainbow Six” event “we’ll be announcing a quicker release schedule for content, because people want more and more”, Deniele said.

“It’s a game people play every day, so we have to get faster.”

‘Avatar’ and ‘Assassin’s Creed’ shore up troubled Ubisoft


By AFP
February 12, 2026


Ubisoft's star has fallen with investors in recent months

 - Copyright AFP GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT

Strong performances from major franchises including an “Avatar” tie-in game and juggernaut “Assassin’s Creed” buttressed struggling French games giant Ubisoft’s third-quarter results, the company said Thursday.

Revenue at 318 million euros ($380 million) in October-December had made for a “solid” period “exceeding our expectations” chief executive Yves Guillemot said in a statement.

Ubisoft’s star has fallen with investors in recent months, as it has weathered mixed reception for some new titles and announced a far-reaching restructuring and cost-cutting drive.

Shares in the group have lost almost 95 percent of their value in five years, booking their worst single-day performance in January with a 40-percent collapse.

Ubisoft reported Thursday that its preferred “net bookings” yardstick, which excludes revenue from deferred sales, climbed 12 percent year-on-year to almost 340 million euros in its third quarter.

The pace was still higher over the first nine months of the financial year, adding 17.6 percent to reach 1.1 billion euros.

Major contributors to sales growth included the latest instalment in the Assassin’s Creed series, released last year, and the “Avatar” film tie-in game — updated to coincide with the release of the James Cameron saga’s latest episode in December.

Ubisoft confirmed its January forecast of an operating loss of around one billion euros for the full financial year, sapped by multiple delays and cancellations announced alongside details of its restructuring.

Bosses’ woes are far from over, as the company this week faced a three-day strike by several hundred of its 3,800 French employees.

Triggers for the walkout included an end to work-from-home provisions.

Ubisoft’s restructuring will farm out many of its dozens of studios worldwide into an industry-first system of five “creative houses”, each dedicated to developing a different genre of game.

It also said in January that it was launching a third round of cost-cutting aimed at finding 200 million euros of savings over two years.

The company said the same month that it would look to slash up to 200 of around 1,100 positions at its Paris headquarters.

Such cuts follow studio closures elsewhere in its global network, including San Franciso, Osaka, Stockholm, Leamington in Britain and Canada’s Halifax.

France’s biggest games company, Ubisoft today has around 17,000 employees worldwide after shedding more than 3,000 in recent years.