Both Canadians and Americans to feel “pinch” of tariffs
[unable to retrieve full-text content] “Trade barriers don’t create winners, protectionism hurts both sides, they lead to shared losses.”
Spain’s Hermoso says no consent given for World Cup kiss at Rubiales trial
Jenni Hermoso says at the trial of ex-Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales that the kiss ‘stained’ her 2023 World Cup victory. Spain star Jenni Hermoso told the trial of disgraced ex-football chief Luis Rubiales that the forced kiss he gave her in 2023 “shouldn’t happen in any social or work setting”. Prosecutors are seeking two and a half years in prison for Rubiales for sexual assault and coercion after his kiss on Hermoso following the 2023 Women’s World Cup final sparked global outrage. Rubiales, 47, denies the charges. He has called the kiss an innocuous “peck between friends celebrating” and denied any coercion. “I felt it was totally out of place and I then realised my boss was kissing me, and this shouldn’t happen in any social or work setting,” Hermoso told the court on the opening day of the trial on Monday. “A kiss on the lips is only given when I decide so,” she added. Luis Rubiales arrives at the court of San Fernando de Henares on February 3, 2025 [Thomas Coex/AFP] The scandal that rocked Spanish football and wrecked the career of Rubiales came moments after Hermoso and her teammates had clinched World Cup glory, beating England in the final in Sydney. Advertisement As Hermoso joined her teammates in collecting their winners’ medals, Rubiales clasped her head and kissed her on the lips before letting her go with two slaps on the back. The act unleashed a public outcry at what critics deemed an abuse of power and made Hermoso an icon of the fight against macho culture and sexism in sport. A recent reform of the Spanish criminal code classifies a nonconsensual kiss as sexual assault. “As a woman, I felt disrespected. It was a moment that stained one of the happiest days of my life,” Hermoso said at the trial. “For me, it is very important to say that at no point did I seek that act, let alone expect it.” The trial at the National Court in San Fernando de Henares near Madrid is scheduled to run until February 19. Rubiales (R) kisses Hermoso during the medal ceremony of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia 2023 final match between Spain and England on August 20, 2023, in Sydney [Noemi Llamas/Eurasia Sport Images via Getty Images] Adblock test (Why?)
Germans protest at conservative cooperation with far right on migration
Protesters say CDU head Friedrich Merz broke post-Nazi norm of never passing any rule with the support of far-right parties. Tens of thousands of people came out to protest against a conservative push for tougher migration laws backed by a far-right party in Germany. Angry protesters came out in droves in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and Leipzig on Sunday to oppose Friedrich Merz and the move by his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to pass a resolution in parliament with the support of the far-right nationalist Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party. Many critics say that it broke Germany’s anti-far-right ‘firewall’, an unwritten post-Nazi promise by all democratic parties to never pass any rule with the support of far-right parties. The CDU and the AfD successfully passed a non-binding resolution on Wednesday in an attempt to block undocumented foreigners at the border, including asylum seekers. However, on Friday, they failed to pass a contentious bill to further restrict immigration. Merz, whose CDU is running ahead of the governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the polling for the upcoming February 23 federal election, is facing unwanted attention over his attitude towards the far right and the AfD. Advertisement The AfD has itself been polling in second place, ahead of the SPD. People light up their mobile phones during a protest against the migration plans of the CDU party leader and top candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, in Berlin, Germany [Christian Mang/Reuters] Hundreds of protesters temporarily blocked offices of the CDU in different cities, with some 160,000 people pouring into the streets of central Berlin, a police spokesman told the AFP news agency. Organisers said that more than 200,000 people turned out. In separate protests on Saturday, more than 220,000 people protested across the country, according to figures compiled by public broadcaster ARD. “[We want to] make as much noise as possible to call for the self-described ‘democratic’ parties to protect this democracy,” Anna Schwarz, who attended Sunday’s rally in Berlin, told AFP. The 34-year-old said she was joining a political rally for the first time as “we can no longer avert our gaze, it’s too serious”. In Cologne, people protested on 350 boats on the Rhine River, German news agency dpa reported, with people waving slogans such as “No racism” and “For democracy and diversity”. Breaking the ‘firewall’ Merz took on the bill following a deadly knife attack last month by a rejected asylum seeker. The CDU leader has been accused by protesters and politicians on the left of breaking a taboo and endangering mainstream parties’ “firewall” against AfD. He insists his position is unchanged and that he didn’t and won’t work with the party. Advertisement Polls show the centre-right CDU, which put forward the migration proposal and bill, leading with around 30 percent support, while AfD is second with about 20 percent, and the SPD and Greens further down. The AfD party – which was formed 12 years ago – first entered the national parliament in 2017, benefitting from then-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision two years earlier to allow large numbers of migrants and refugees into the country. A year ago, hundreds of thousands also protested in weeks-long rallies all over Germany against the rise of the far right and purported plans to deport millions of immigrants, including some holding German passports. Adblock test (Why?)
Hezbollah slain leader Nasrallah to be buried in Lebanon on February 23
Hassan Nasrallah received a temporary burial as hostilities with Israel did not allow for a funeral to take place. The funeral of longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah will be held on February 23, the group has said, months after he was killed in an Israeli air attack in Lebanon’s capital. Nasrallah, who had served as Hezbollah’s secretary general for more than 30 years, was killed on September 27 as Israel ramped up its air attacks on Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs. His successor Naim Qassem said in a televised address on Sunday that Nasrallah was killed “at a time when circumstances were difficult”, forcing the group to conduct a temporary burial for him according to religious tradition. Qassem said the group had now decided to hold “a grand funeral procession with a large public presence” for both Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, another top Hezbollah official killed in an Israeli strike nearly a week after Nasrallah. He also confirmed for the first time that Safieddine had been elected as Nasrallah’s successor but was killed before the announcement was made. He said Safieddine would also be buried with the title of secretary general. Advertisement Nasrallah will be buried on the outskirts of Beirut “in a plot of land we chose between the old and new airport roads”, while Safieddine will be buried in his hometown of Deir Qanoun in southern Lebanon, he said. Hezbollah announced on October 29 that Qassem, the group’s deputy leader, had been elected as its head, after the killings of many of the group’s top military commanders threw the group into disarray. A ceasefire agreed in late November ended hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel and set a 60-day deadline for Israeli troops to withdraw from southern Lebanon, Hezbollah to remove its fighters and arms from the area and Lebanese troops to deploy there. That deadline was extended last month until February 18. Israel has been accused of violating the terms of the ceasefire by refusing to leave Lebanon and continuing to carry out occasional air attacks in some parts of the country. Israel itself accuses Hezbollah of violating the terms of the ceasefire. Hezbollah faced one of its biggest challenges after the Iranian-backed group opened up a front against Israel to help relieve pressure on its ally Hamas in Gaza in October 2023. The group suffered losses after months of cross-border fighting and Israeli attacks that targeted the group’s leading figures. Adblock test (Why?)
Could conflict in eastern DR Congo expand across region?
M23 rebels have taken control of regional capital and advance deeper into the east. Hundreds of people killed and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes. A weeks-long offensive by Rwanda-backed rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is spiralling into a regional crisis. The United Nations estimated last year that close to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers are involved. Kinshasa says the March 23 Movement (M23) armed group wants control of the region, which is rich in minerals. Rwanda denies supporting the rebels and says it has deployed troops to stop the fighting from spreading into its territory. Leaders from southern and eastern Africa are trying to mediate between the two sides. Will their efforts succeed? Presenter: James Bays Guests: Nicodemus Minde – Researcher, East Africa Peace and Security Governance Program, Institute for Security Studies Crystal Orderson – Journalist, The Africa Report Yinka Adegoke – Editor, Semafor Africa Adblock test (Why?)
More than 700 killed as DR Congo military fights M23 rebels
At least 773 people have been killed in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) largest city of Goma and its vicinity in a week, amid fighting with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who captured the city in a serious escalation of a decade-long conflict, authorities said. “These figures remain provisional because the rebels asked the population to clean the streets of Goma. There should be mass graves and the Rwandans took care to evacuate theirs,” Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya told a briefing on Saturday in capital Kinshasa, adding that the death toll could be higher. M23 is the most potent of more than 100 armed groups vying for control in DRC’s mineral-rich east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the world’s technology. They are backed by about 4,000 troops from neighbouring Rwanda, according to United Nations experts. The rebels’ advance into other areas was slowed by the central African nation’s military, which recovered some villages from them. The military was weakened after it lost hundreds of troops, however, and foreign mercenaries surrendered to the rebels after the fall of Goma. Advertisement Meanwhile, hundreds of Goma residents began returning to the city on Saturday after the rebels promised to restore basic services, including water and power supply. They cleaned up neighbourhoods littered with debris from weapons and filled with the stench of blood. UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix on Friday said M23 and Rwandan forces were about 60km (37 miles) north of South Kivu’s provincial capital of Bukavu. Lacroix said the rebels “seem to be moving quite fast”, and capturing an airport a few kilometres (miles) away “would be another really significant step”. Goma’s capture has brought humanitarian operations to “a standstill, cutting off a vital lifeline for aid delivery” across eastern DRC, said Rose Tchwenko, country director for the Mercy Corps aid group. “The escalation of violence toward Bukavu raises fears of even greater displacement, while the breakdown of humanitarian access is leaving entire communities stranded without support,” she said. Adblock test (Why?)
Real Madrid beaten by Espanyol after late Romero goal
The LaLiga leaders upset by Carlos Romero’s 85th minute strike that snatched victory for the relegation-battling hosts. LaLiga leaders Real Madrid were stunned at lowly Espanyol after losing 1-0 thanks to a late Carlos Romero goal. The result means Real, on 49 points, are one point clear of Atletico Madrid, who beat Mallorca 2-0, before next weekend’s Spanish capital derby at Santiago Bernabeu. Third-placed Barcelona, who play Alaves on Sunday, are on 42 points. Vinicius Jr appeared to have given Real the lead in the 21st minute on Saturday after latching onto Kylian Mbappe’s pass. However, the goal was disallowed after the Frenchman had fouled Espanyol’s Pol Lozano in the build-up. The hosts kept Real at bay in the second half, with Lucas Vazquez, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham all having efforts brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Joan Garcia. The visitors were aggrieved when, on a breakaway attack, Romero fouled a running Mbappe from behind, but was only shown a yellow card as the Real players appealed for a VAR review. “This foul is inexplicable, the decision they made, the referee, the VAR. The most important thing is to take care of the player and protect him. It was a very bad tackle that risked injury, which fortunately did not happen,” said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. Advertisement The Italian manager brought on Luka Modric, Brahim Diaz and Raul Asencio, but they failed to conjure any magic and it was Romero who broke the deadlock in the 85th minute. The defender latched onto Omar El Hilali’s through-ball and fired home to lift Espanyol to 17th on 23 points, one place above the relegation zone. “I think this gives us life, we were playing good matches, competing, we had to suffer … Our people give us an edge and at home we have to be strong, it’s going to be very difficult to take points away from us here,” Romero told DAZN. Rodrygo (centre) of Real Madrid reacts with teammates Kylian Mbappe (R) and Jude Bellingham following Espanyol’s first goal, scored by Carlos Romero (not pictured) during the LaLiga match at RCDE Stadium on February 1, 2025 in Barcelona, Spain [Alex Caparros/Getty Images] Adblock test (Why?)
How white nationalists infiltrated the wellness movement
Fostering ‘white wellbeing’ Kohne is a sandy-haired, well-groomed man in his early 40s. Hate movement watchers like Beirich consider him a key figure in the white nationalist streaming and podcasting ecosystem. He’s claimed on his shows that he’s been a “pro-white advocate” since he was a preteen in the early 1990s, but he seemingly started gaining recognition across the wider white nationalist world from 2017 to 2018 when he began livestreaming and uploading videos of himself monologuing, often while driving, to social media under the name NoWhiteGuilt. Eventually, he abandoned the car in favour of a home studio and started writing books as well. Little is known about his private life because, as he has explained in livestreams, he avoids sharing details to minimise his risk of being doxxed. But based on public records leaked by two disgruntled white nationalists, Barry and other researchers believe Kohne is a prison guard – or at least was at some point – and was briefly a co-defendant in a lawsuit over the 2006 asphyxiation death of an inmate. Kohne and other guards named as co-defendants with the prison were dropped from the suit on procedural and technical grounds. He claims he once corresponded with William Luther Pierce III, a physics professor turned neo-Nazi who in 1974 founded the National Alliance, which became the premier US white supremacist group but faded after Pierce’s death in 2002. Pierce also published The Turner Diaries in 1978, a story about white nationalists rising up against the supposedly Jewish-controlled US government through attacks that spiral into a world war, a white nationalist victory, the genocide of all nonwhite peoples and executions of white “race traitors”. Timothy McVeigh, the perpetrator of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, handed copies of the book out to friends. Elements of McVeigh’s attack directly mirrored the text. In 2019, Kohne praised Pierce’s contributions to white people and mused about “how tall will [his] statue be when we regain our destiny”. Kohne describes “antiwhitism” as the “greatest threat facing Western civilisation”. Antiwhite policies, according to him, include efforts to address historic racial injustices and embrace equity and diversity, which he sees as abandoning “excellence”; media coverage of violent white nationalist rallies, which he claims are staged by “antiwhite” interest groups to demonise white people and justify attacks against them; and depictions of interracial relationships, which he sees as promoting “miscegenation” and “white erasure”. But unlike more stereotypical white nationalists, Kohne usually avoids slinging slurs at other races or calling for violence. “No race is the enemy, and genetics don’t make you virtuous,” he argues. Members of other races can be “pro-white”, he adds, and thus allies, just as white people can promote “antiwhitism” and thus be foes. Instead, he argues, white people need to give up on mainstream institutions that supposedly fail or harm them and turn inward to foster what he calls “white wellbeing”. Nurturing a sense of “purpose, safety and happiness” within insular white communities, he believes, will create a wall of inner and communal strength that “antiwhite” forces cannot penetrate, helping white people reclaim the power he believes they’ve lost. Those ideas have an audience: Kohne has amassed tens of thousands of followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Gab, Telegram, Spreaker and more niche right-wing platforms as well as several sites he operates. In 2018, he became a regular contributor to the weekly livestream show of Mark Collett, who founded PA, the prominent British far-right group, in 2019. Collett invited Kohne to speak at PA’s first major conference in 2020. Simi, who has followed Kohne’s career since about 2020 says “his approach to white nationalism is gaining salience” even if it’s unclear whether he is gaining prominence as a leader. By 2019, No White Guilt flyers, banners and signs began to crop up in towns and at protests across the US. In 2022, a community of “White Wellbeing” advocacy groups emerged on social media, amplifying Kohne’s rhetoric. In 2023, an independent game-development studio, Dynostorm, announced it was working on a game reportedly based on Kohne’s ideas. Previews suggest that it involves players killing atheists, journalists and furries to save Western civilisation. And in 2024, his followers created a Foundation for White Wellbeing to facilitate giving money to Kohne and his allies. Kohne’s rise coincided with a wave of backlash against traditional, aggressive, outward-looking white nationalist groups and figures after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, one of the largest white nationalist gatherings in recent US history. Members of a wide array of far-right groups, including open white nationalists, gathered in the city to protest against the planned removal of a Confederate statue and find ways to unify their movements. The rally descended into violent clashes with counterprotesters and reporters. The rally’s aftermath triggered a series of investigations into far-right groups, including RAM, and spurred social media platforms, online payment processors, web hosts and other services to ban far-right groups and individuals linked to them. These blows led white nationalists to re-evaluate how to organise and present themselves, explains Kurt Braddock, a professor at American University in Washington, DC, who studies white nationalist rhetoric. Some moved towards “accelerationism”, the idea that seemingly random acts of racial violence by decentralised cells that are unable to sell each other out if their members are arrested can trigger enough unrest to bring about a power vacuum for white nationalists to then fill. The Christchurch mosque shooter, who killed 51 people and injured more than 40 in New Zealand in 2019, referenced accelerationism in writings before the attacks. But many white nationalists turned inward, focusing on strengthening their own communities while making themselves seem innocuous, even acceptable, to outsiders. Kohne’s language exemplifies this trend, explains Barry, who’s monitored the far-right ideologue’s content for several years. Kohne has also made clear that he wants to appeal to an audience that has traditionally been sidelined within white nationalist movements by creating a way for them to “contribute”: women. Adblock test (Why?)
Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa to visit Saudi Arabia on Sunday
Syria’s leader will be in Saudi Arabia for two days and is expected to discuss bolstering relations between the two countries. Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was named president of the transitional government earlier this week, is set to visit Saudi Arabia for his first foreign trip after taking office. Sources in Syria told Al Jazeera on Saturday that al-Sharaa will be in Saudi Arabia for two days and is expected to discuss bolstering relations between the two countries. Al-Sharaa’s appointment came after opposition forces led an offensive against Bashar al-Assad last December and ended his rule. As president, al-Sharaa has also been authorised to form a temporary legislative council for the transitional phase which will carry out its task until a new constitution is adopted. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent congratulatory messages to al-Sharaa after his appointment as president and wished him success. Last month, al-Sharaa told Al Arabiya TV that Saudi Arabia “will certainly have a large role in Syria’s future”, pointing to “a big investment opportunity for all neighbouring countries”. Advertisement Last week, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan visited Damascus, promising help to secure the lifting of international sanctions imposed during al-Assad’s rule. During a news conference after his meeting with al-Sharaa, Prince Faisal added that Riyadh is engaged in “active dialogue with all relevant countries, whether the United States or the European Union, and we are hearing positive messages.” Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also travelled to Riyadh last month. Adblock test (Why?)
Twelve killed in Russian missile, drone attack on Ukraine
Twelve civilians die in Russian missile attack on Ukraine, targeting residential buildings and energy infrastructure. At least 12 people have been killed after Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine that targeted residential buildings as well as energy infrastructure. On Saturday, Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 123 drones and more than 40 missiles. It managed to shoot down 56 of the drones and redirected 61, it said, without providing figures on how many missiles were intercepted. Ukraine’s Emergency Services said a missile struck a residential building in the central city of Poltava, about 120km (75 miles) from the border, killing eight people, including a child, and injuring 17. About 18 buildings, a kindergarten and energy infrastructure were damaged. In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, the mayor said a woman was killed and four people were wounded in a drone attack. Sumy regional officials also said three police officers were killed as they patrolled a town during the attacks. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said damage was caused in six regions – Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy and Zaporizhia. Advertisement “Last night Russia attacked our cities using various types of weapons: missiles, attack drones, and aerial bombs,” he wrote on the Telegram app. “Each such terrorist attack proves that we need more support in defending ourselves against Russian terror. Every air defence system, every anti-missile weapon, saves lives.” Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces launched attacks aimed at Ukraine’s gas and other energy infrastructure and had shot down 108 Ukrainian drones in the last 24 hours. Fighting in the nearly three-year war has shown no signs of de-escalating, despite US President Donald Trump’s promise to enact a ceasefire within “24 hours” of taking office on January 20. Both Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have said they are ready for talks on ending the war, but neither side has said when or how. Trump has been critical of the billions Washington has spent arming Ukraine, while threatening to impose additional sanctions on Russia if Putin does not reach a “deal” to end the war. Since March 2024, Russia has launched multiple missile and drone attacks on Ukraine’s power sector and other energy infrastructure, knocking out about half of the country’s available generating capacity and forcing rolling blackouts. Adblock test (Why?)