‘Working-Class-Centered Politics’ Is Key to Defeating ‘Scourge of Authoritarianism’: AOC in Munich

“It is of the utmost urgency that we get our economic houses in order and deliver material gains for the working class.”

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) listens as President of the European People’s Party Manfred Weber speaks at a panel on populism at the 62nd Munich Security Conference on February 13, 2026 in Munich, Germany.
(Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Brad Reed
Feb 13, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday made a pitch for a “working-class-centered politics” as the key to defeating the kind of authoritarian populism embodied by President Donald Trump.

Speaking at a panel at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said that decades of government failures such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the 2003 Iraq War had opened the door for demagogues such as Trump among working-class voters.



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The only way to defeat this, she said, is to reorient progressive politics around social class.

“We have to have a working-class-centered politics if we are going to succeed,” she said, “and also if we are going to stave off the scourge of authoritarianism, which provide political siren calls to allure people into finding scapegoats to blame for rising economic inequality, both domestically and globally.”

Elsewhere during the panel, Ocasio-Cortez elaborated on the way economic inequality fuels the demand for authoritarian leaders.

“We’re seeing, in economy across economy around the world, including in the United States,” she said, “that extreme levels of income inequality lead to social instability and drives in a sense in authoritarianism, right-wing populism and very dangerous domestic internal politics. And that is a direct outcome of, not just income inequality, but the failure of democracies over decades to deliver, the failure to deliver higher wages, the failure to rein in corporations.”

The New York Democrat argued that the situation had grown so dire that many corporate CEOs now had more power and influence than democratically elected leaders.

“When massive corporations begin to consume the public sector and gobble up public spending, they start to call the shots,” she said. “And we’re starting to see this with some members of the billionaire class throwing their weight around in domestic and global politics.”

Given this situation, Ocasio-Cortez added, “it is of the utmost urgency that we get our economic houses in order and deliver material gains for the working class,” or else “we will fall into a more isolated world governed by authoritarians who also do not deliver for working people.”

AOC to Offer ‘Perspective Not Often Heard’ at Munich Security Conference

The progressive US congresswoman “is expected to decry the influence of billionaires and oligarchic interests at the expense of the working class,” according to one journalist.


Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks at a rally at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas on October 1, 2024.
(Photo by Sergio Flores for the Washington Post via Getty Images)

Brett Wilkins
Feb 12, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

Amid growing speculation that Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could parlay her rising clout in the Democratic Party into a run for higher office, the New Yorker is set to speak Friday at a key annual international security summit in Germany.

Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) will address the 62nd Munich Security Conference as one of numerous representatives of the Democratic Party. In addition to other members of Congress, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, two names frequently floated as possible 2028 presidential candidates, are also speaking at the conference.



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According to NBC News, the democratic socialist congresswoman is slated to speak on two panels—one concerning the “future of US foreign policy” and the other about the “rise of populism.”

Ocasio-Cortez is expected to offer a very different vision of US global leadership from that of President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the latter of whom will lead the American delegation in Munich.

“She is expected to decry the influence of billionaires and oligarchic interests at the expense of the working class,” Washington Post reporter John Hudson said Thursday on X.

Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy an an informal adviser to Ocasio-Cortez, told the Washington Post Thursday that the congresswoman “brings an understanding of the way that oligarchy and corruption are part of the problem in our foreign policy and have been for a long time.”

“This is an opportunity to hear from a progressive leader who represents a perspective not often heard at the Munich Security Conference,” he added.



In a separate interview with NBC News, Duss said of Ocasio-Cortez:
Trump has obviously turned the US into an antagonist of Europe. We’ve seen right-wing populism grow in Europe and around the world. Since her first days in Congress, she’s been sounding the alarm that people are hurting. Governments are failing. When people can’t find jobs or afford basic needs like housing and healthcare, they will turn to easy solutions like blaming immigrants, blaming LGBTQ people. This is driving right-wing populism.

Last year, another progressive US lawmaker, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), spoke at the Munich Security Conference, urging his audience to “stand tall against right-wing extremism” in a sharp rebuke of Vice President JD Vance’s admonition to European leaders to accommodate far-right parties like the neo-Nazi-rooted Alternative for Germany, or AfD.

Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) welcomed Ocasio-Cortez’s trip to Munich, telling NBC News: “I’ve always said that she is a national and an international voice. She’s young, articulate, clear-headed, represents not only the present but the future.”

“I predict someday she will become president of the United States,” Espaillat added. “I’ve called her ‘madam president’ before.”

Ocasio-Cortez has faced mounting speculation and calls to consider a future primary challenge to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) or even a White House run.

For Trump and Rubio, Colonizing Cuba Is Not 

About Freedom—It’s About Their Own Egos

For Trump, regime change in Cuba will cement his legacy. For Rubio, it will mark the culmination of his childhood dream. In their equation, they win and Cuba—like Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Hawai’i, Guam, and so many nations before it—loses its independence and freedom.

Cubans hold a banner against US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio during an “Anti-Imperialist” protest in front of the US Embassy against the US incursion in Venezuela, where 32 Cuban soldiers lost their lives, in Havana on January 16, 2026.
(Photo by Yamil Lage / AFP via Getty Images)

Jordan Liz
Feb 14, 2026

Common Dreams

The Trump administration’s total blockade on oil imports to Cuba is jeopardizing the lives of millions across the island. It is resulting in severe blackouts that are disrupting food production, hospitals, schools, public transport, and tourism.

Despite this, the people of Cuba remain defiant. As Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel remarks: “The collapse lies in the imperial mindset, but not in the mindset of the Cubans. I know we are going to live through difficult times, but we will overcome them together with creative resilience.”

Cuba Is Not A Threat—Trump Is

President Donald Trump alleges that Cuba poses “an unusual and extraordinary threat” for two reasons. First, its relationship with “hostile countries” and “transnational terrorist groups,” including Russia, China, Iran, and Hamas. Second, Trump alleges that Cuba’s “communist ideas, policies, and practices” are a threat to the region and endanger the lives of its citizens.

Neither of these is the real reason, however. In January 2026, Trump praised Canada’s trade deal with China as “a good thing.” He told reporters, “If you can get a deal with China, you should do that.” While Trump did threaten retaliatory tariffs against Canada a few days later, his own administration has boasted about the “historic agreement” it reached with China on trade. Trump himself raves about his “extremely good” relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He even invited Xi to join his Board of Peace.

For Trump, colonialism is not solely about exploitation and systematic theft—it is a means of reshaping the world in his self-obsessed image.

Likewise, Trump purports to have a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump has described Putin as a “genius” and a “strong leader,” and their relationship as “very, very good.” He even praised Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. During a radio interview, Trump said: “Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine—of Ukraine—Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful. He used the word ‘independent’ and ‘we’re gonna go out and we’re gonna go in and we’re gonna help keep peace.’ You gotta say that’s pretty savvy.” Despite his war crimes, Trump also invited Putin to be part of the Board of Peace.

Clearly, Trump has no issue forming close relationships with “hostile countries.”

Concerns about destabilizing the region or harms to the Cuban people are also false flags. The Trump administration has issued illegal military strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean that have killed at least 130 people; violated international law by invading Venezuela and kidnapping President Nicolás Maduro; threatened several nations in the region including Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Greenland, Canada, as well as Cuba and Venezuela. Compared to Cuba, the Trump administration is, in orders of magnitude, a significantly greater threat to regional stability.

Moreover, Trump does not care whatsoever about the well-being of Cubans. If he did, he would not have undone President Barack Obama’s attempts at normalizing US-Cuba relations. If he cared, then his administration would not have paused a humanitarian program that allowed Cubans to enter the US and remain here legally for two years. Rather than protecting a group that has overwhelmingly supported him, the Trump administration is mass deporting Cubans back to the very country it is now economically asphyxiating.

This vile disregard, however, is not surprising—Trump does not care about global stability. He does not care about American citizens. And he especially does not care about the peoples of Asian, African, Caribbean, and Latin American countries.

No, Trump’s blatant act of global terrorism against Cuba is not about national security, communism, or saving lives. This act of deprived cruelty masquerading as foreign policy is about narcissism, private interest, and personal grievances.
Donald Trump: Where Narcissism Meets Colonialism

According to a US official, Trump believes that successfully ending the Castro era would cement his legacy by accomplishing what presidents since John F. Kennedy have failed to do. This is among his chief motivations.

Whether it’s adding his name to the Kennedy Center, building the “Arch de Trump,” or whining about the Nobel Peace Prize he thinks he deserves, Trump is obsessed with himself and his legacy. At Turning Point USA’s 2025 AmericaFest Conference, conservative commentator Jesse Watters recounts asking Trump about why his “big, beautiful ballroom” is so extravagant—“four times the size of the White House.” Watters told the audience, “[Trump] said, ‘Jesse, it’s a monument. I’m building a monument to myself—because no one else will.’”

For Trump, colonialism is not solely about exploitation and systematic theft—it is a means of reshaping the world in his self-obsessed image. In his mind, colonized lands are monuments to his greatness and ego; another property upon which he can stamp his name and expand his golden empire; further proof that only he can bring peace and order to the world.

Trump’s narcissism is why he labelled himself the “Acting President of Venezuela” after his administration kidnapped Maduro—a blatant violation of international law reduced to self-aggrandizement.

This is why he posted a video of an ethnically cleansed “Trump Gaza” filled with palm trees, luxury buildings, and, of course, a towering golden statue of himself. Mass displacement and genocide are simply steppingstones in his pursuit of more self-praise.

Cuba will be no different. He will torture Cuba in the hopes of forcing them to submit to his will and cement his legacy. To force them to “make a deal, before it is too late.” For Trump, all this cruelty is business as usual. As he puts it, “Sometimes, part of making a deal is denigrating your competition.”

Marco Rubio’s Childhood Fantasy

That said, Trump’s is not the only ego at play here. Reportedly, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is deliberately blocking negotiations between high-level officials from Havana and Washington. This, despite both Trump and Díaz-Canel insisting that they are open to talks.

Rubio has long since advocated for total regime change in Cuba. In his memoir American Son, Rubio writes about the profound impact his Castro-hating grandfather and President Ronald Reagan’s militant anti-communism had on his political beliefs. He writes that, as a child, “I boasted I would someday lead an army of exiles to overthrow Fidel Castro and become president of a free Cuba.” When applying to law school, his personal essay expressed his “intention to use [his] law degree one day to help construct a new legal and political system for a free Cuba.”

We were too late to stop Trump’s illegal invasion of Venezuela; but we can still save Cuba. From Argentina to Canada, we must unite.

Throughout his life, Rubio has expressed the same sentiment: For Cuba to be free, the Castro regime must end and be replaced with a new political system. For Rubio, Díaz-Canel is no different than Castro. As he sees it, “The dictatorship of Díaz-Canel follows the same tactics as the Castro regime, censoring and repressing members of the opposition.” As such, there can be no negotiations: “Every concession made to the [Díaz-Canel] regime is a betrayal of those who are fighting for freedom on the island.” Thus, Rubio opposed Obama’s attempts at normalizing relations with Cuba, warned against President Joe Biden recommitting to the “failed Obama Administration policy of rewarding Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel,” and is now actively blocking negotiations between the two nations. For Rubio, there is only one way forward. The current regime must end, and the era of President Rubio must begin—an illicit inauguration that Trump has already endorsed.

Beyond his own twisted personal desires, many of Rubio’s constituents and backers are also anti-Castro and anti-communist. As journalists Ryan Grim, Noah Kulwin, and José Luis Granados Ceja with Drop Site News write, “If Trump successfully lands a deal with the Cuban government that Rubio would have to sign off on, Rubio would be left to either betray his life’s cause and that of his backers in Miami, or resign in protest.”

The stakes are much higher and far more personal for Rubio than Trump. But in the end, neither care about Cuba nor its people. For Trump, regime change in Cuba will cement his legacy. For Rubio, it will mark the culmination of his childhood dream. In their equation, they win and Cuba—like Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Hawai’i, Guam, and so many nations before it—loses its independence and freedom.

America vs. Trump

Now is the time for nations across the Americas and the Caribbean to band together against Trump’s vile Donroe Doctrine. President Claudia Sheinbaum should be praised for her efforts to aid Cuba, but this is not a fight Mexico can win alone. Nor should it have to; this impacts all of us.

Let’s be clear: Regardless of current US relationships, no country is safe from Trump’s colonial aggression and narcissistic whims. Whether it’s betraying the Kurds in Syria or threatening NATO allies, Trump will do whatever it takes to satisfy his own ambitions. Trump’s allies in the region, like Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader and Argentine President Javier Milei, would do well to remember this.

We were too late to stop Trump’s illegal invasion of Venezuela; but we can still save Cuba. From Argentina to Canada, we must unite. We cannot allow ourselves to be at the mercy of Trump’s delusions of grandeur. We must act now to save Cuba.


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Jordan Liz
Jordan Liz is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at San José State University. He specializes in issues of race, immigration and the politics of belonging.
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UN Human Rights Chief Calls for End of Trump Oil Embargo on Cuba as Crisis Deepens

The demand came after a group of United Nations experts condemned the embargo as “a serious violation of international law and a grave threat to a democratic and equitable international order.”


A Mexican Navy ship arrives at Havana Bay with humanitarian aid on February 12, 2026.
(Photo by Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)

Jake Johnson
Feb 13, 2026
COMMON DREAMS

The United Nations’ human rights chief on Friday called on the Trump administration to lift its oil embargo against Cuba as the humanitarian crisis on the island deepens, with fuel shortages disrupting critical functions on the island and food and medicine shortages leaving families desperate for relief.

Marta Hurtado, a spokesperson for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, said in a statement that “we are extremely worried about Cuba’s deepening socio-economic crisis—amid a decades-long financial and trade embargo, extreme weather events, and the recent US measures restricting oil shipments.”

Pushing for Regime Change, Trump Accused of ‘Asphyxiating’ Cuba With Fuel Embargo

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“This is having an increasingly severe impact on the human rights of people in Cuba,” Hurtado said. “Given the dependence of health, food, and water systems on imported fossil fuels, the current oil scarcity has put the availability of essential services at risk nationwide. Intensive care units and emergency rooms are compromised, as are the production, delivery, and storage of vaccines, blood products, and other temperature-sensitive medications.”

The spokesperson noted that more than 80% of Cuba’s water-pumping equipment depends on electricity, which has been undermined by widespread power cuts stemming from fuel shortages.

“The fuel shortage has disrupted the rationing system and the regulated basic food basket, and has affected social protection networks—school feeding, maternity homes, and nursing homes—with the most vulnerable groups being disproportionately impacted,” said Hurtado. “Access to essential goods and services, including food, water, medicine, and adequate fuel and electricity, should always be safeguarded, as they are fundamental in modern societies to the right to life and the ability to enjoy many other rights.”

In the face of the growing humanitarian catastrophe, Turk “reiterates his call on all states to lift unilateral sectoral measures, given their broad and indiscriminate impact on the population,” Hurtado said.

“Policy goals cannot justify actions that in themselves violate human rights,” she added.

The US has been economically suffocating Cuba for decades, but the Trump administration intensified the assault last month by cutting the island off from its primary source of oil—Venezuela—and threatening to slap tariffs on countries that send fuel to the beleaguered Caribbean nation, which has long been in the crosshairs of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other right-wing supporters of regime change.

“Cuba is ready to fall,” US President Donald Trump declared in early January after his administration kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

In a statement on Thursday, a group of UN human rights experts said that Trump’s January 29 executive order imposing a fuel blockade on Cuba represents “a serious violation of international law and a grave threat to a democratic and equitable international order.”

“It is an extreme form of unilateral economic coercion with extraterritorial effects, through which the United States seeks to exert coercion on the sovereign state of Cuba and compel other sovereign third States to alter their lawful commercial relations, under threat of punitive trade measures,” the experts said. “A democratic international order cannot be reconciled with practices whereby one State claims the authority to dictate the internal policies and economic relations of others through threats and coercion.”

Golfers take swing at Trump over ‘unlawful assault’ on public golf course

Alexander Willis
February 14, 2026 
RAW STORY




U.S. President Donald Trump holds scissors to cut the ribbon during the opening ceremony for Trump International Golf Links near Aberdeen, Scotland, Britain July 29, 2025. Alastair Grant/Pool via REUTERS

Two Washington-area golfers have launched a legal challenge against the Trump administration over its efforts to transform a public golf course into what one described as “yet another private playground for the privileged and powerful,” The Washington Post reported Saturday.

In December, the Trump administration terminated the lease of a nonprofit organization that managed Washington, D.C.’s public golf courses, including the well-known East Potomac Golf Links. Since then, President Donald Trump has suggested that plans are underway to transform the course into a “beautiful, world-class, U.S. Open-caliber course,” the Post reported.

However, the two aforementioned Washington-area golfers, Dave Roberts and Alex Dickson, have since filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to halt those efforts, and were joined by several organizations in their legal challenge, including the DC Preservation League, Democracy Defenders Fund, and the Democracy Forward Foundation.

“East Potomac Golf Links is a testament to what’s possible with public land and why public spaces matter,” Roberts said, according to the Post. “It deserves better than becoming a dumping ground for waste and yet another private playground for the privileged and powerful.”

The Post reached out to the Trump administration for response, and was told that Trump was, in fact, hoping to “redevelop” Washington, D.C.’s public golf courses – which White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers called “decrepit” – in order to restore “glamour and prestige.”

Skye Perryman, president and chief executive of Democracy Forward, accused the Trump administration of waging an “unlawful assault” on Washington, D.C.’s public spaces, and vowed to fight alongside the two golfers in their legal challenge against Trump.

“We are acting to save this priceless part of our national park system from being another casualty of a reckless administration,” Perryman told the Post. “We are honored for the partnership of our plaintiffs in fighting back against this unlawful assault on our cherished public space.”

Advocates sound alarm over GOP’s environment-destroying ‘monstrosity’

Jessica Corbett,

 Common Dreams
February 14, 2026 





FILE PHOTO: Jake Guse, a crop scout on the Pro Farmer Crop Tour, collects corn samples from a corn field as scouts travel across the midwest trying to gauge the size of the corn and soybean crop that farmers will harvest in the fall, in northwest Indiana, U.S. August 19, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

Advocates for animal welfare, environmental protection, public health, and small family farms fiercely condemned various “industry-backed poison pills” in the long-awaited Farm Bill draft unveiled Friday by a key Republican in the US House of Representatives.

“A new Farm Bill is long overdue, and the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 is an important step forward in providing certainty to our farmers, ranchers, and rural communities,” said House Committee on Agriculture Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.) in a statement.

While Thompson has scheduled a markup of the 802-page proposal for February 23, critics aren’t waiting to pick apart the bill, which aligns with a 2024 GOP proposal that was also sharply rebuked. The panel’s ranking member, Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), said that from what she has seen so far, the new legislation “fails to meet the moment facing farmers and working people.”

“Farmers need Congress to act swiftly to end inflationary tariffs, stabilize trade relationships, expand domestic market opportunities like year-round E15, and help lower input costs,” Craig stressed. “The Republican majority instead chose to ignore Democratic priorities and focus on pushing a shell of a farm bill with poison pills that complicates if not derails chances of getting anything done. I strongly urge my Republican colleagues to drop the political charade and work with House Democrats on a truly bipartisan bill to address the very real problems farm country is experiencing right now—before it’s too late.”

Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, similarly blasted the GOP legislation on Friday, declaring that “this Republican Farm Bill proposal is a grotesque, record-breaking giveaway to the pesticide industry that will free Big Ag to accelerate the flow of dangerous poisons into our nation’s food supply and waterways.”

“This bill would block people suffering from pesticide-linked cancers from suing pesticide makers, eviscerate the EPA’s ability to protect rivers and streams from direct pesticide pollution, and give the pesticide industry an unprecedented veto over extinction-preventing safeguards for our nation’s most endangered wildlife,” he said, referring to the Environmental Protection Agency.

“If Congress passes this monstrosity, it will speed our march toward the dawn of a very real silent spring, a day without fluttering butterflies, chirping frogs, or the chorus of birds at sunrise,” Hartl warned. “No one voted for Republicans to allow foreign-owned pesticide conglomerates to dominate the policies that impact the safety of the food every American eats. But this bill leaves no doubt that’s exactly who is calling all the shots.”

Food & Water Watch (FWW) managing director of policy and litigation Mitch Jones also sounded the alarm about industry-friendly poison pills, arguing that any draft containing the “Cancer Gag Act” that would shield pesticide companies from liability or the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression Act—which would block state and local policies designed to protect animal welfare, farm workers, and food safety—“must be dead on arrival.”

Sara Amundson, president of Humane World Action Fund—formerly called Humane Society Legislative Fund—also made a case against targeting state restrictions for animals like Proposition 12 in California, which the US Supreme Court let stand in 2023, in response to a challenge by the National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation.

“Once again, the House Agriculture Committee Republican majority is bending to the will of a backwards-facing segment of the pork industry by trying to force through a measure to override the preferences of voters in more than a dozen states, upend the decisions of courts all the way up to the Supreme Court, and trample states’ rights all at the same time,” Amundson said Friday.

The National Family Farm Coalition highlighted that “instead of addressing the widespread concerns of family-scale farmers—ensuring fair prices for farmers, improving credit access, addressing corporate land consolidation, and creating a trade environment that benefits producers—this draft perpetuates the status quo that enriches and empowers corporate agribusiness. The result is an accelerating farm crisis that continues to hollow out rural communities across the US.”

Thompson also faced outrage over other policies left out of the GOP legislation—particularly from those calling for the restoration of $187 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump forced through last year with their so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act (HR 1).

“HR 1 shifts unprecedented costs to already cash-strapped states, expands time limits, and strips food benefits away from caregivers, veterans, older workers, people experiencing homelessness, and humanitarian-based noncitizens,” noted Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research & Action Center.

“HR 1 is an unforgiving assault on America’s hungry, deliberately dismantling our nation’s first line of defense against hunger,” she continued. “Yet, when given the opportunity to correct this harm in the latest Farm Bill proposal, Chairman Thompson unveiled a package that will only deepen hunger instead of fixing it. Hunger is not something Congress can afford to ignore.”

Jones of FWW said that “families and farmers are hungry for federal policy that supports small- and mid-sized producers and keeps food affordable. Instead, Chairman Thompson appears poised to check off industry’s cruel wish list.”

“America needs a fair Farm Bill,” he emphasized. “It is imperative that this Farm Bill repeal all Trump SNAP cuts and restore full funding to this critical nutrition program; stop the proliferation of factory farms; and support the transition to sustainable, affordable food.”

Zelenskyy knocks Trump admin for hitting Ukraine with demands ‘too often’: report

Alexander Willis
February 14, 2026 

RAW STORY

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump pose for a picture during their meeting while Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner enters a room, at the sidelines of the 56th annual World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2026. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took aim at the Trump administration on Saturday after accusing it of pressing Kyiv for concessions in its ongoing efforts to end the war, while sparing Russia from comparable demands, NBC News reported

“The Americans often return to the topic of concessions,” Zelenskyy said, speaking Saturday at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, according to NBC News. “Too often those concessions are discussed in the context only of Ukraine, not Russia.”

Having been waged since 2014 and escalated in 2022 with Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Russo-Ukrainian War has led to tens of thousands of deaths and as many as 1.5 million casualties. President Donald Trump has long sought to negotiate an end to the war, having previously pledged to do so in “one day.”

Trump has failed, however, to help bring an end to the war, and as his persistence to end the war grows, so too have his demands of Ukraine, including demands that they make significant territorial concessions.

Zelenskyy has resisted the Trump administration’s calls for sweeping territorial concessions, and on Saturday, expressed fears that future negotiations could revive those same demands.

“We truly hope that the trilateral meetings next week will be serious, substantive, [and] helpful for all of us,” Zelenskyy said. “But honestly, sometimes it feels like the sides are talking about completing different things.”

Zelenskyy and Trump have long butted heads over the war in Ukraine, starting with the explosive Oval Office meeting last year in which Trump scolded Zelensky for not respecting the United States. Trump has also reportedly had other heated exchanges with Zelenskyy, including a vulgar “shouting match

” in which Trump demanded Zelenskyy cede territory to Russia or face destruction.

Swiss bar owners face wrath of bereaved families


By AFP
February 12, 2026


Gulcin Kaya, who lost her son Taylan Kaya in the fire confronted Jacques Moretti on the street in Sion - Copyright AFP Maxime SCHMID

Charlene PERSONNAZ

Bereaved relatives on Thursday angrily confronted the owners of a Swiss bar that caught fire during New Year celebrations, heckling them as they arrived to face questions over the fatal tragedy.

Ten or so relatives were outside the hearing venue in Sion, waiting for French couple Jacques and Jessica Moretti, who own Le Constellation in the ski resort of Crans-Montana.

The bar caught fire in the early hours of January 1, with 41 people, mostly teenagers, losing their lives, and another 115 injured in the blaze, most of whom remain in hospitals and rehabilitation clinics.

Prosecutors believe the fire started when champagne bottles with sparklers attached were raised too close to the ceiling in the bar’s basement level, igniting the sound insulation foam.

Gulcin Kaya, the mother of an 18-year-old who died in the fire, approached the Morettis in the scrum as they arrived, shouting at them: “Where is my son? Where is he?”

Jacques Moretti replied: “We will take responsibility, we will face up to it, we promise you, we are here for justice,” while his wife, in tears, struggled to make her way inside.



– Families ‘destroyed’ –



“You killed my big brother, you bitch, do you understand! Look me in the eyes: you killed my brother,” shouted 14-year-old Tobyas, the brother of Trystan Pidoux, 17, who died in the fire.

He told reporters: “I’d like her to see how she destroyed families. Not only did she kill people, but she destroyed the families behind them.”

He said of his brother: “I can’t believe I’ll never see him again.”

The boys’ father Christian Pidoux wore a t-shirt bearing a picture of his deceased son.

“We’re doing this so that it never happens again. That’s our goal: never again,” he told reporters.

“It’s only so that they see the eyes of the fathers, brothers, sisters,” he said.

“Some children melted — they no longer have a face, a nose, a mouth, an ear.”

Samhare Saleh, a friend of the Pidoux family, said: “We demand justice, we demand the truth for all those children who have died and those who are still in the hospital, who are between life and death.”

Switzerland’s Federal Office for Civil Protection told AFP that as of Monday, 39 patients were being treated in burns centres abroad, while Swiss news agency ATS said 25 remained in Swiss hospitals, with further patients in rehabilitation clinics.



– Call for calm –



The Morettis are under criminal investigation, facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence.

Two others are also under criminal investigation — Crans-Montana’s current head of public safety and a former fire safety officer in the town.

Lawyer Romain Jordan, who represents several families, called for “dignity, serenity and respect” all round.

He said the deputy public prosecutor had “appealed for calm”, adding: “I believe that call was heard.”



– ‘No forgiveness’ –



Trystan Pidoux’s mother Vinciane Stucky went inside and witnessed Thursday’s interview.

During the hearing, “Jacques Moretti tried to ask me for forgiveness, but I told him to look away and stare at the floor, because you don’t ask for forgiveness for things like that,” she said.

During a break on Wednesday, the Morettis met with Leila Micheloud, the mother of two daughters injured in the blaze. They spoke for around 20 minutes.

“There was no forgiveness… I do not forgive them, I listened to them and that’s where it stops,” Micheloud said Thursday on Facebook, adding that the meeting was “impromptu”.

Alain Viscolo, a lawyer representing two victims, said it was time for the investigation to start considering the role of the authorities, “namely those who had the power to oversee fire safety”.

He told AFP that a complaint had been filed against the president of Crans-Montana commune.

Canada PM to mourn with grieving BC town, new details emerge on shooter

By AFP
February 13, 2026


A memorial for the victims the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, Canada - Copyright AFP Paige Taylor White

Ben Simon

A grief-stricken community in northern Canada will mourn with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday, who is headed to the remote town of Tumbler Ridge to honor victims of a mass shooting.

Carney is travelling to the Rocky Mountain mining town with the heads of all opposition parties, a show of national solidarity after one of the deadliest outbursts of violence in Canadian history.

In the days since Tuesday’s killings at the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, more information has emerged about both the victims and the shooter, an 18-year-old transgender woman named Jesse Van Rootselaar.

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer remained stationed outside Van Rootselaar’s home on Friday.

The modest brown house on a quiet, unassuming street was cordoned-off with police tape. Two overturned bicycles rested against the snow in the front yard.

Van Rootselaar killed her 39-year-old mother and 11-year-old stepbrother in the house before heading to the school, where she shot dead six more people — five students and a teacher — then killed herself.

The shooter’s estranged father, Justin Van Rootselaar, has sent a statement to the public broadcaster CBC, offering condolences for a “senseless and unforgivable act of violence.”

“As the biological father of the individual responsible, I carry a sorrow that is difficult to put into words,” the statement said, according to the CBC.

The RCMP on Friday released a photo of the shooter — who was known to have mental health issues. She is shown wearing a hoodie with an expressionless face.



– Vigil at town hall –



Carney is expected to lead a vigil for the victims outside the town hall in Tumbler Ridge, which was built 45 years ago, 1,180 kilometers (733 miles) north of Vancouver.

The town was quiet early Friday and residents have voiced weariness over the influx of media attention following the tragedy.

A sign ordering media to stay out was taped at the entrance of the community center on Friday.

But inside the center on Thursday, there were hints of life inching back towards normal, including an ice rink packed with children playing hockey or working on their skating.

In the evening, the mother of a victim, Sarah Lampert, addressed the media at the center, saying she wanted to speak for 12-year-old daughter Tacaria who had “a beautiful, strong voice that was silenced.”

“She is forever my baby, because that’s what she was. She was a baby,” Lampert said, fighting to contain her tears as she addressed a room full of cameras.

Also killed at school was 12-year-old Zoey Benoit.

“She was so resilient, vibrant, smart, caring and the strongest little girl you could meet,” a statement from her family said.

Peter Schofield’s 13-year-old grandson Ezekial was one of the six murdered students.

“Everything feels so surreal. The tears just keep flowing,” he posted on Facebook.

Carney made an emotional address to parliament after the shootings, saying “these children and their teachers bore witness to unheard-of cruelty.”

He described Tumbler Ridge as a town of miners, teachers and construction workers who represent “the very best of Canada: resilient, compassionate and strong.”

The prime minister had been scheduled to attend the Munich Security Conference to discuss transatlantic defense with allies, but cancelled his plans following the shooting.

Canada stunned by deadliest school shooting in decades


By AFP
February 11, 2026


Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke to media in the aftermath of a rare mass shooting - Copyright AFP Dave Chan

Ben Simon

Canada was in mourning Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said, after a lone shooter killed at least nine people, including seven at a school, and injured dozens more in a remote western town.

An emotional Carney said in brief remarks to reporters that “the nation mourns” with British Columbia’s Tumbler Ridge after Tuesday’s shooting. “Canada stands by you.”

He said he had requested flags to be lowered to half-mast for seven days over the tragedy, among the deadliest shootings in Canada’s history, and that numerous world leaders had reached out to offer their condolences.

Tumbler Ridge, a small town of about 2,400 residents, lies in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies near the provincial border with Alberta, hundreds of kilometers from any major city.

Emergency responders found six people shot dead at the town’s secondary school on Tuesday, while a seventh person died in transit to hospital, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.

Two others were killed at a nearby residence, while at least 25 people sustained injuries in the attack.

The suspect, described by police in an initial emergency alert as a “female in a dress with brown hair,” was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at the school.

Police have not yet released any identifying information about the shooter or the victims.

“We will get through this. We will learn from this. But right now, it’s a time to come together, as Canadians always do in these situations, these terrible situations, to support each other, to mourn together and to grow together,” Carney said.

King Charles, the monarch of Canada, said in a statement that he and Queen Camilla were “profoundly shocked and saddened” to learn of the attack.

“In a such a closely connected town, every child’s name will be known and every family will be a neighbour,” he said.

While several mass killings have occurred in recent years in Canada, deadly attacks on schools are very rare, especially compared to the neighboring United States.

In 1989, a self-described anti-feminist man killed 13 female students and a secretary at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique.

After the country’s deadliest shooting attack, which left 22 people dead in Nova Scotia in 2020, Canada banned some 1,500 models of assault weapons.



– ‘Off the rails’ –



Tumbler Ridge student Darian Quist told public broadcaster CBC that he was in his mechanics class when there was an announcement that the school was in lockdown.

He said that initially he “didn’t think anything was going on,” but started receiving “disturbing” photos about the carnage.

“It set in what was happening,” Quist said.

He said he stayed in lockdown for more than two hours until police stormed in, ordering everyone to put their hands up before escorting them out of the school.

Trent Ernst, a local journalist and a former substitute teacher at Tumbler Ridge, expressed shock over the shooting at the school, where one of his children has just graduated.

He noted that school shootings have been a rarity occurring every few years in Canada compared with the United States, where they are far more frequent.

“I used to kind of go: ‘Look at Canada, look at who we are.’ But then that one school shooting every 2.5 years happens in your town and things… just go off the rails,” he told AFP.

Ken Floyd, commander of the police’s northern district, said Tuesday: “This has been an incredibly difficult and emotional day for our community, and we are grateful for the cooperation shown as officers continue their work to advance the investigation.”

Floyd told reporters the shooter was the same suspect police described as “female” in a prior emergency alert to community members, but declined to provide any details on the suspect’s identity.

The police said officers were searching other homes and properties in the community to see if there were additional sites connected to the incident.

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Dutch court orders investigation into China-owned Nexperia


By AFP
February 11, 2026


Nexperia plays a critical role in the global economy - Copyright ANP/AFP ROB ENGELAAR

A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered a formal investigation into alleged mismanagement at Nexperia, a Chinese-owned chip firm at the centre of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology.

The firm, based in the Netherlands but whose parent company is China’s Wingtech, has been the subject of a standoff between Beijing and the West, which threatened to hobble car manufacturers that rely on its chips.

“(The court) finds that there are valid reasons to doubt the sound policy and conduct of business at Nexperia and orders an investigation,” said the Amsterdam-based Enterprise Chamber in a statement.

The investigation is expected to take several months.

The court had previously played a key part in the row over Nexperia in October when it suspended the Chinese CEO Zhang Xuezheng, also known as Wing, citing concerns over his management.

These measures remain in force with the opening of the probe, the court said.

“The director remains suspended. The appointment of a temporary director at Nexperia and the transfer of the shares in Nexperia remain in effect,” said the court in a statement.

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Tractors hit Madrid to protest EU’s trade deal with South America


By AFP
February 11, 2026


Hundreds of tractors take part in a protest by Spanish farmers in Madrid against the European Union’s trade deal with four South American countries - Copyright AFP Oscar DEL POZO

Hundreds of honking tractors rolled into Madrid on Wednesday as Spanish farmers staged a protest against the European Union’s trade deal with four South American countries.

The tractors arrived in five convoys from across Spain, converging on the city centre and moving from Plaza Colon to the Ministry of Agriculture, bringing traffic to a standstill.

Protesters carried banners reading “No to our ruin” and “The Spanish countryside is not for sale”.

Miguel Angel Aguilera, president of agricultural organisation Unaspi, warned the deal with the Mercosur bloc would affect all citizens.

“People will consume lower-quality products, we will lose food sovereignty, and there will be no competition,” he said.

Madrid authorities reported 367 tractors and around 2,500 protesters took part in the demonstration.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez defended the agreement in parliament, calling it “extraordinary news” for Europe.

He promised compensation for affected farmers and safeguards to limit imports if domestic producers were harmed.

The long-delayed deal, signed last month, would create one of the world’s largest free-trade areas, boosting commerce between the 27-nation EU and the Mercosur bloc, which includes Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay.

The pact still requires approval from lawmakers in the European Parliament, which has referred it to the EU’s top court.

Farmers in Spain and other countries fear being undercut by a flood of cheaper goods from Brazil and its neighbours.

Major Mercosur exports to the EU include agricultural products and minerals, while the EU would export machinery, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals with lower tariffs.

Johannesburg residents ‘desperate’ as taps run dry


By AFP
February 11, 2026


Several parts of South Africa's economic capital -- from wealthy areas to the poorer ones -- have been gripped by weeks-long water shortages - Copyright AFP Ilaria Finizio

Julie BOURDIN

Sitting in the middle of a Johannesburg road as traffic snaked around her, Susan Jobson banged empty bottles to protest the water cuts that have upended her life for nearly three weeks.

The 63-year-old, who struggles to walk and lives alone in a small cottage, said she joined a demonstration Wednesday by residents of the city’s upmarket Melville suburb because the lack of water had left her “completely desperate”.

“I’m not walking that well, which means it’s difficult to get water,” she told AFP, while more than 100 protesters chanted next to her and passing motorists honked in support.

“It’s difficult to fill up the toilet, washing doesn’t get done, and I’ve got to make plans around food,” she said.

Several parts of South Africa’s economic capital — from wealthy areas to the poorer ones — have been gripped by weeks-long water shortages as decades of infrastructural decay and lack of maintenance push the system to the brink.

In other areas of the country, including the southern city of Cape Town, shortages due to prolonged droughts were last week declared a national disaster.

This meant restrictions could be imposed to avoid a dreaded “Day Zero”, when the taps run dry.

But in Johannesburg, residents are “living a Day Zero every single day”, despite full dams and heavy rains in the past months, said Ferrial Adam, executive director of advocacy group WaterCAN.



– ‘National disaster’ –



Around 30 percent of the city’s water supply is lost to leaks, Adam said, and municipal plans to repair infrastructure and install new reservoirs have been slow to come to fruition.

In some other regions, such as the touristy coastal town of Knysna, this rose to 50 percent, she said.

“Our municipalities across the country are failing, both in supply of water and sanitation,” said Adam, who wanted the government to step in and declare the crisis a national disaster.

“If declaring it a national disaster is the one way we can get all politicians, national government, provincial government, local government, to actually focus on water and sanitation, then that is what needs to happen,” she told AFP.

Under mounting pressure after months of water protests across the city, mayor Dada Morero rejected claims that Johannesburg as a whole faced a “Day Zero” and defended municipal efforts to “push and balance the water distribution”.

Morero is from the African National Congress (ANC), which has come under fire for mismanagement since it took power in 1994. Anger over failures in the supply of basic services was in part responsible for support plunging to 40 percent in the 2024 national elections.

The party is expected to take another bashing over the same complaints at local government elections due later this year.

Hoping to portray a hands-on approach to the crisis that would win over voters, the second-largest party in South Africa’s ruling coalition, the Democratic Alliance, said Wednesday it would take legal action to compel the city to deliver water.

Down the road from Wednesday’s protest, a pre-primary school had already taken matters into its own hands by investing about 15,000 rand ($944) in a water tank.

But even that reserve had run dry after 23 days without municipal supply, principal Arifa Banday told AFP, and the school now had to rely on deliveries from private water trucks.

“We try as best as possible to keep going, especially because we’re in charge of caring for so many little ones,” she said, as parents dropped their toddlers off in the leafy playground.

Protester Simon Banda said the lack of support for affected residents was a “tragedy”.

“We don’t expect them to produce miracles. There’s supposed to be a water truck almost at every corner, but there is nothing like that,” he told AFP. “That, to me, is unforgivable.”