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.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for EMOTIONAL PLAGUE

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.

PETITE BOURGEOIS LANDOWNERS

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.”

Instagram CEO to testify at social media addiction trial


By AFP
February 11, 2026


Starting December 10, some of the world's largest social media platforms will be forced to remove all users under the age of 16 in Australia. © AFP/File David GRAY

Benjamin LEGENDRE

Instagram’s CEO Adam Mosseri takes the stand Wednesday in a landmark trial that could determine whether social media giants knowingly hooked children on their platforms for profit.

YouTube-owner Google and Meta — the parent company of Instagram and Facebook — are defendants in a blockbuster trial that could set a legal precedent regarding whether social media giants deliberately designed their platforms to be addictive to children.

Mosseri will be the first major Silicon Valley figure to appear before the jury to defend himself against accusations that Instagram functions as little more than a dopamine “slot machine” for vulnerable young people.

His testimony precedes the highly anticipated appearance of his boss, Mark Zuckerberg, currently scheduled for February 18, with YouTube CEO Neal Mohan expected the following day.

The civil trial in California state court centers on allegations that a 20-year-old woman, identified as Kaley G.M., suffered severe mental harm after becoming addicted to social media as a young child.

She started using YouTube at six and joined Instagram at 11, before moving on to Snapchat and TikTok two or three years later.

Opposing lawyers made opening remarks to jurors this week, with an attorney for YouTube on Tuesday insisting that the video platform was neither intentionally addictive nor technically social media.

“It’s not social media addiction when it’s not social media and it’s not addiction,” YouTube lawyer Luis Li told the 12 jurors during his opening remarks.

YouTube is selling “the ability to watch something essentially for free on your computer, on your phone, on your iPad,” Li insisted, comparing the service to Netflix or traditional TV.

On Monday, the plaintiffs’ attorney Mark Lanier told the jury YouTube and Meta both engineer addiction in young people’s brains to gain users and profits.

Meta and Google “don’t only build apps; they build traps,” Lanier said.

– ‘Gateway drug’ –

Stanford University School of Medicine professor Anna Lembke, the first witness called by the plaintiffs, testified Tuesday that she views social media, broadly speaking, as a drug.

She also said young people’s brains were undeveloped, which is why they “often take risks that they shouldn’t,” Lembke testified, comparing YouTube to a gateway drug for kids.

The trial is currently scheduled to run until March 20.

Social media firms face more than a thousand lawsuits accusing them of leading young users to become addicted to content and suffer from depression, eating disorders, psychiatric hospitalization, and even suicide.

Kaley G.M.’s case is being treated as a bellwether proceeding whose outcome could set the tone for a wave of similar litigation across the United States.

Two further test trials are planned in Los Angeles between now and the summer, while a nationwide lawsuit will be heard by a federal judge in Oakland, California.

In New Mexico, a separate lawsuit accusing Meta of prioritizing profit over protecting minors from sexual predators began on Monday.

New drones provide first-person thrill to Olympic coverage


By AFP
February 11, 2026


A drone hovers as UK's Makayla Gerken Schofield competes in the freestyle skiing women's moguls during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Aerials & Moguls Park - Copyright AFP Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV

Whether chasing skiers as they fly down the mountain or tracking the luge as it tears around bends, new drone-mounted cameras are offering Winter Olympics viewers a wild ride.

So-called “first person view” (FPV) drones have made their Winter Games debut this year, with 15 deployed across the Milan-Cortina events, offering an exhilarating experience.

Traditional drones, which have been used in live broadcasting for more than a decade, are piloted by an operator looking up at the machine.

But FPVs are piloted by a driver wearing goggles and holding a controller, allowing incredibly precise guidance.

The downside for TV viewers is the constant buzzing, which disrupts the stillness of the mountains.

But many athletes say they are not bothered — even when it looks from afar like the drones are getting too close.

“I saw on the replay that I nearly got hit by it but I wasn’t aware of it while I was doing it,” Australian snowboarder Ally Hickman told 7News.

– Pretty cool –

The drones are particularly useful on the sliding track — for luge, bobsleigh and skeleton — where they help avoid having cameras positioned at every turn.

German luger Felix Loch, a triple gold medallist competing in his fifth Olympics, said he had no problem with the drones.

“No, you don’t notice something like that,” he told AFP’s German sports subsidiary SID, praising the use of the technology.

“They’re definitely different images. It really looks pretty cool. You have to say, it’s really, really a nice thing what the guys are doing there,” he said.

German alpine skier Emma Aicher, the 22-year-old who has won two silver medals at the Milan-Cortina Games, also said the drones didn’t affect her concentration as she shot down the piste.

“For us, it’s really cool footage. I don’t notice the drone, it’s so far away,” she said.

Yiannis Exarchos, the head of Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), who supply the images to the broadcasters for Olympics, said they had worked with athletes in designing the system.

“We didn’t want this to become a factor affecting them. We wanted this to become a factor enhancing them,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

Drone cameras made their debut in the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, in 2014, while FPV were first introduced in Paris in 2024, providing live images of mountain biking.

Exarchos said that technology had moved on hugely.

Now, it is possible to “achieve safely speeds like some of the athletes do. A few years ago this was not possible”, he told reporters.

– Fast and noisy –

The noise depends on the size of the propeller, which in turn depends on how fast they are going, according to one expert involved in the Olympics who asked not to be named due to commercial confidentiality.

Each drone is custom built, with the smallest measuring just ten centimetres (four inches) and weighing less than 250 grams (half a pound).

“If you are going to chase something super fast, you go for a small system that is super powerful — and that’s going to be really noisy,” he told AFP.

One issue for operators during the Olympics is the cold, which drains the batteries quickly, according to another drone operator.

“There’s a constant change of battery, every race,” he told AFP.

TotalEnergies can do without Russian gas: CEO


By AFP
February 11, 2026


The Yamal LNG plant is located in the Arctic circle, some 2500 km from Moscow - Copyright AFP/File Maxim ZMEYEV

French fossil fuels giant TotalEnergies said Wednesday it will abide by a European ban on imports of Russian liquefied natutral gas (LNG) due to come into force next year and said it can easily replace the supplies.

The company still holds a 20-percent stake in the massive Yamal natural gas field in Siberia and ships LNG from there to Europe.

“We’ve always clearly stated that we’ll follow regulations which are adopted,” chief executive Patrick Pouyanne told journalists.

“We’ll no longer have the right to import LNG from Russia” into Europe, he added, “but we’ll remain a shareholder in Yamal”.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, most Western companies have sold off their Russian operations and holdings, or at least isolated them, as Western sanctions have made trading in most goods difficult.

Pouyanne confirmed that TotalEnergies continues to receive “dividends” from its stake in Yamal, but cannot incorporate them into its earnings. The funds remain in Russia, he added.

While EU nations cut their imports of Russian natural gas by pipeline, some of that was replaced by LNG imports.

Last December, EU states and lawmakers reached an agreement to ban all Russian natural gas imports from the autumn of 2027 in order to deny Moscow a key source of funding for its war effort in Ukraine.

Russian gas has fallen from 45 percent of total EU natural gas imports in 2021 to 19 percent in 2024.

“We were criticised for continuing to import (Russian) LNG, but we did it to ensure supply security and avoid prices rising sky high” during the energy crisis provoked after the start of the war in 2022, said Pouyanne.

Numerous new LNG projects are set to go online in 2027 and 2028, which should ensure better supplies and lower prices, something Pouyanne said was “good news for European consumers”.

This means TotalEnergies “can do without this LNG” from Russia, he added.

Earlier Wednesday the company reported a 17 percent drop in net profit last year to $13.1 billion due to declining oil and gas prices.

The company, which has faced criticism from environmental campaigners over its continued focus on climate-warming fossil fuels, has designated natural gas as one of its strategic priorities.

Berlin Film Festival to open with a rallying cry ‘to defend artistic freedom’


By AFP
February 12, 2026


Image: — © AFP Odd ANDERSEN

Jastinder KHERA with Antoine GUY in Paris

The Berlin Film Festival will kick off on Thursday evening with an eclectic selection of films reflecting current upheavals, and with Wim Wenders, one of Germany’s most illustrious directors, heading the jury.

Against the backdrop of polarisation and repression, “it’s more critical than ever that we defend our artistic freedom”, festival director Tricia Tuttle told AFP.

German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer said the 76th edition of the festival would be a testament to the fact that “screenplays, cameras and screens are not mere artistic tools, but weapons in the fight for freedom and human dignity”.

“We must not allow the despots in Tehran or Caracas to win,” he said in a statement.

Berlin is the first major international festival in the world’s film calendar and has a reputation for topical and progressive programming.

This year’s edition takes place against the backdrop of international tensions, the bloody crackdown on protests in Iran and global threats to human rights.

The opening film, “No Good Men” by Iran-born Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat, tells the story of Naru, a reporter at a Kabul TV station separated from her husband on account of his infidelities who questions her beliefs about men during a fateful assignment.

The film is set in the run up to the Taliban’s seizure of power in 2021, which led Sadat herself to leave the country. She now lives in Hamburg.

“It’s about Afghan women’s experience, which you wouldn’t see if it wasn’t for Shahrbanoo’s work,” Tuttle said.

– ‘Biting satire’ –

The festival’s opening ceremony, starting at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT), will honour Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, who won the Best Actress Oscar in 2023 for “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once”.

More than 200 films will be shown over the 10 days of the festival, of which 22 will be in competition for the Golden Bear, which last year was scooped by Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud’s film “Dreams”.

Stars will be hitting the red carpet at the 76th Berlinale – Copyright AFP RALF HIRSCHBERGER

As was the case last year, a majority of the films being shown this year were made by women directors, as were nine of the 22 films in official competition.

In comparison with Cannes or Venice, Berlin attracts fewer big productions with A-list-heavy casts.

But that is not to say there are no big names on the programme.

“The Weight” features Russell Crowe and Ethan Hawke in a tale of a man forced to smuggle gold through the lethal wilderness of Depression-era rural Oregon.

Southern Germany stands in for the US Northwest in the film, one of an increasing number of American productions choosing to shoot abroad to save on costs.

In the official competition section, one of the most eagerly awaited films is “Rosebush Pruning” from Berlinale favourite Karim Ainouz, billed as “a biting satire about the absurdity of the traditional patriarchal family”.

The cast boasts Elle Fanning, Callum Turner, Jamie Bell and Pamela Anderson, who are sure to be some of Saturday’s red-carpet highlights.

German actress Sandra Hueller, who attracted international acclaim for her roles in “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest”, stars in “Rose”, in which she plays a woman passing herself off as a male soldier returning to a German village in the early 17th century.

Also in the competition section, Amy Adams stars as a woman leaving rehab and confronting buried trauma in Kornel Mundruczo’s “At The Sea”, while in Beth de Araujo’s “Josephine”, Channing Tatum plays the father of a child traumatised by witnessing a violent crime.

WHO urges US to share Covid origins intel


By AFP
February 11, 2026


The Covid-19 pandemic killed millions, shredded economies and turned people's lives upside-down - Copyright AFP Sergei SUPINSKY

Robin MILLARD

The World Health Organization on Wednesday urged Washington to share any intelligence it may be withholding on the Covid-19 pandemic’s origins, despite the United States quitting the WHO.

The global catastrophe killed an estimated 20 million people, according to the UN health agency, while shredding economies, crippling health systems and turning people’s lives upside-down.

The first cases were detected in Wuhan in China in late 2019, and understanding where the SARS-CoV-2 virus came from is seen as key to preventing future pandemics.

On his first day back in office in January 2025, US President Donald Trump handed the WHO his country’s one-year withdrawal notice, which cited “the organisation’s mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic”.

Trump’s administration has officially embraced the theory that the virus leaked from a virology laboratory in Wuhan.

But the WHO said Washington did not hand over any Covid origins intelligence before marching out the organisation’s door.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recalled that some countries have publicly said “they have intelligence about the origins — especially the US”.

Therefore, several months ago, the UN health agency wrote to senior officials in the United States, urging them to “share any intelligence information that they have”, he told a press conference on Wednesday.

“We haven’t received any information,” Tedros lamented.

“We hope they will share, because we haven’t still concluded the Covid origins,” and “knowing what happened could help us to prevent the next” pandemic.

The WHO’s investigations have proved inconclusive, pending further evidence, with all hypotheses still on the table.

Tedros asked any government which had intelligence on the Covid-19 pandemic’s origins to share the information so that the WHO will be able to reach a conclusion.



– Critical information ‘obstructed’ –



Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s epidemic and pandemic threat management chief, said: “We continue to follow up with all governments that have said that they have intelligence reports, the US included.

“We don’t have those reports to date,” she said, other than those in the public domain.

As the US notice countdown expired on January 22, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the WHO had “obstructed the timely and accurate sharing of critical information that could have saved American lives”.

They also claimed the WHO had “tarnished and trashed everything that America has done for it”.

“The reverse is true,” the WHO said in reply.

The WHO constitution does not include a withdrawal clause.

But the United States reserved the right to withdraw when it joined the WHO in 1948 — on condition of giving one year’s notice and meeting its financial obligations in full for that fiscal year.

The notice period has now expired but Washington has still not paid its 2024 or 2025 dues, owing around $260 million, according to data published by the WHO.