FOOD FIGHT

France tightens infant formula rules after toxin scare


By AFP
January 31, 2026


The infant formula industry has been rocked by several firms recalling batches that could be contaminated with cereulide, a toxin that can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea - Copyright AFP Fred TANNEAU

Mathilde DUMAZET

France has said it will impose stricter limits on the acceptable level of a toxin called cereulide in infant formula after potentially contaminated products were recalled in over 60 countries.

The infant formula industry has been rocked by several firms recalling batches that could be contaminated with cereulide, which can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea.

French authorities launched an investigation into the deaths in December and January of two babies who were thought to have drunk possibly contaminated powdered milk.

At this stage investigators have not established a direct link between the symptoms and the milk consumed.

The recalls have raised fresh questions about food safety challenges in the global supply chain.

There is no established safety limit for cereulide in infant formula.

“Protecting the health of infants is the top priority for health authorities,” the French agriculture ministry said late Friday.

The new threshold will be 0.014 micrograms of cereulide per kilogram of body weight, compared to 0.03 micrograms currently, it said.

This is the second lowering of a threshold in France in less than two weeks.

The recall of potentially contaminated infant formula has heaped scrutiny on Chinese firm Cabio Biotech, the supplier of an ingredient used in infant formula which is suspected of being tainted.

Headquartered in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Cabio Biotech is one of the world’s largest producers of ARA, a fatty acid used primarily in baby formula and food products.

The French authorities have referred to a single “Chinese supplier” without naming it.

This week the European Commission asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to establish a standard for cereulide in children’s products.

It will issue an opinion on February 2.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said it had received reports of diarrhoea cases in infants following consumption of the products in question, but “no severe cases have been reported”.



– Lawsuit –



Several manufacturers, including European giants like Nestle, Danone, and Lactalis, have issued recalls of infant formula in France and dozens of countries since December.

The toxin is rare and difficult to detect, and some recalls have been carried out as a precaution, some manufacturers said.

On Thursday, Nestle provided a detailed timeline of its recalls, acknowledging that around 10 days had passed between the first detection of cereulide in late November and the first recalls on December 10.

The Swiss food conglomerate argued that, in the absence of “European regulations on the presence of cereulide in food”, it had followed standard procedures.

The detection led to the precautionary recall of all products in contact with the production line where cereulide had been detected.

The group stressed that it was the first company to detect the problem.

Foodwatch, a European consumer association, has filed a lawsuit accusing manufacturers and the government of acting too slowly.

Eight French families, who said their babies suffered severe digestive problems after drinking formula named in the recall, have joined the lawsuit.

On Friday, Nestle refuted the accusations made by the watchdog, saying it reserved the right to respond in court “if Foodwatch continues to disseminate misleading information”.

“Testing for bacteria of the Bacillus cereus family is routinely offered,” Francois Vigneau of lab testing firm Eurofins said last week. He added however that tests for cereulide were “not part of standard checks”.

“In the current context of milk recalls, this test is currently being requested because all stakeholders in dairy products in general, and infant formula in particular, are concerned about the situation,” added Vigneau.

According to World Health Organisation estimates from 2019, 23 million people in Europe fall sick from eating contaminated food every year, and an estimated 4,700 people die.

FENTANYL CRISIS

‘It wasn’t working’: Canada province ends drug decriminalization


By AFP
January 31, 2026


A 2016 photo showing a mural in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, which remains an area home to drug users - Copyright AFP Deborah JONES

Nav Rahi with Ben Simon in Toronto

Over 35 years as a drug user, Vancouver resident Garth Mullins said he’s had “hundreds and hundreds” of interactions with police, and long believed drug decriminalization was smart policy.

“I was first arrested for drug possession when I was 19, and it changes your life,” said Mullins, who is now in his 50s and was an early backer of Canadian province British Columbia’s decriminalization program that ended on Saturday.

“That time served inside can add up for a lot of people. They do a lifetime jolt in a series of three‑month bits,” he told AFP.

BC’s three-year experiment with drug decriminalization, which launched in 2023 and shielded people from arrest for possession of up to 2.5 grams of hard drugs, was groundbreaking for Canada.

Many praised it as a bold effort to ensure the intensifying addiction crisis devastating communities across the country was treated as a healthcare challenge, not a criminal justice issue.

But on January 14, BC’s Health Minister Josie Osborne announced the province would not be extending the program.

“The intention was clear: to make it easier for people struggling with addiction to reach out for help without fear of being criminalized,” Osborne said.

The program “has not delivered the results we hoped for,” she told reporters.

For Mullins, the province’s desired results were never realistic.

The former heroin user, who currently takes methadone, is an activist and broadcaster who co‑founded the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), which advised BC’s government on decriminalization.

At VANDU’s office in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighborhood, home to many drug users, the walls are full of pictures honoring those who have died from overdose.

“The idea behind decriminalization was one simple thing: to stop all of us from going to jail again and again and again,” he said.

Breaking the cycle of arrests is crucial because criminal records make it more difficult to find work and housing, often perpetuating addiction, experts say.

But thinking decriminalization could help steer waves of users into rehab was misguided, and misinforming the public about the possible outcomes of the policy risked a backlash, Mullins said.

“For everybody out there, in society, sending fewer junkies to jail might not sound like a good thing to do.”



– Plan not ‘sufficient’ –



After the province announced the program’s expiration, Canadian media was filled with critics who said it had been mishandled.

Vancouver police chief Steven Rai said his force had been willing to support the plan, but “it quickly became evident that it just wasn’t working.”

Decriminalization “was not matched with sufficient investments in prevention, drug education, access to treatment, or support for appropriate enforcement,” he added.

Cheryl Forchuk, a mental health professor at Western University who has worked on addiction for five decades, said BC “never really fully implemented” decriminalization because the essential complementary programs — especially affordable housing supply — were never ramped up.

“It was like they wanted to do something, but then really didn’t put the effort into it and then said, gee, it didn’t work,” she told AFP.



– Public safety –



BC’s experience mirrors that in the US state of Oregon, which rolled back its pioneering drug decriminalization program in 2024 after a four-year trial.

Like in Oregon, BC’s program faced fierce criticism, with many saying public safety was threatened by a tolerance of open use.

A flashpoint moment in the western Canadian province was a 2024 incident where a person was filmed smoking what appeared to be a narcotic inside a Tim Hortons, the popular coffee shop chain frequented by families across the country.

Local politicians in Maple Ridge, BC, attributed the incident to a permissiveness about drugs ushered in by decriminalization.

But for Mullins, the incident spoke to broader misconceptions about the intent of the policy.

Decriminalization did not allow for drug use inside a restaurant, and the person could have been arrested.

Drug user advocates, he added, don’t want policy that makes the broader public feel threatened.

“We need something where everybody feels safe, right? If people who are walking with their kids don’t feel safe, that’s a problem for me,” he said.

But, he added, security also matters to users for whom “the world feels very scary and unsafe.”

Questions raised over 'unimaginable' Trump corruption scandal: 'Leaks coming from inside?'

David McAfee
February 1, 2026 

RAW STORY


U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a swearing-in ceremony for Alina Habba as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 28, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

A new report about a "secret" and "unprecedented" deal between Donald Trump and a "spy Sheikh" has analysts concerned.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "Four days before Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, lieutenants to an Abu Dhabi royal secretly signed a deal with the Trump family to purchase a 49% stake in their fledgling cryptocurrency venture for half a billion dollars, according to company documents and people familiar with the matter."

The article continues:

The buyers would pay half up front, steering $187 million to Trump family entities. The deal with World Liberty Financial, which hasn’t previously been reported, was signed by Eric Trump, the president’s son. At least $31 million was also slated to flow to entities affiliated with the family of Steve Witkoff, a World Liberty co-founder who weeks earlier had been named U.S. envoy to the Middle East, the documents said."

The report prompted outrage from political insiders and analysts.

Gregg Carlstrom of The Economist said, "To call this the most corrupt administration in American history doesn't really do it justice, because no prior president, Republican or Democrat, would have even conceived of a grift on this scale."

Ex-GOP lawmaker Barbara Comstock chimed in, "When the Trump corruption story is in the WSJ…are the leaks coming from inside the house?….."

Political scientist Brendan Nyhan added Sunday, "Corruption at a level that is unimaginable in any previous admin. People were mad that Hunter Biden sold some mediocre paintings."

The Tennessee Holler asked, "So… a bribe? Trump got $500 Million and U.A.E. got 'tightly guarded' A.I. chips. How is this not a bribe, exactly?"

Activist Garry Kasparov wrote, "Nearly every day brings a real Trump corruption scandal that is billions beyond even the most creative fantasies about Hunter Biden. US power and influence exchanged to enrich Trump and his family."

Foreign 'spy Sheikh' secretly bought 'unprecedented' stake in Trump's company: WSJ

David McAfee
February 1, 2026

RAW STORY

U.S. President Donald Trump greets a member of the United Arab Emirates' delegation, as he stands next to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at Qasr Al Watan, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, May 15, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

For the first time in American history, a foreign government official took "a major ownership stake in an incoming U.S. president's company," according to a report Saturday night.

According to the Wall Street Journal's reporting, a so-called "spy Sheikh" signed an "unprecedented" deal to buy part of Trump's company for half of a billion dollars.

According to the report, "Four days before Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, lieutenants to an Abu Dhabi royal secretly signed a deal with the Trump family to purchase a 49% stake in their fledgling cryptocurrency venture for half a billion dollars, according to company documents and people familiar with the matter."


The article continues:

"The buyers would pay half up front, steering $187 million to Trump family entities. The deal with World Liberty Financial, which hasn’t previously been reported, was signed by Eric Trump, the president’s son. At least $31 million was also slated to flow to entities affiliated with the family of Steve Witkoff, a World Liberty co-founder who weeks earlier had been named U.S. envoy to the Middle East, the documents said."


It further states that the "investment was backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an Abu Dhabi royal who has been pushing the U.S. for access to tightly guarded artificial intelligence chips, according to people familiar with the matter. Tahnoon—sometimes referred to as the 'spy sheikh'—is brother to the United Arab Emirates’ president, the government’s national security adviser, as well as the leader of the oil-rich country’s largest wealth fund. He oversees a more than $1.3 trillion empire funded by his personal fortune and state money that spans from fish farms to AI to surveillance, making him one of the most powerful single investors in the world."


Read it here.

Trump threatens legal action against Grammy host over Epstein comment

THIN SKINNED TYRANT THREATENS COURT JESTER

By AFP
February 2, 2026


South African comedian Trevor Noah hosting the 68th Annual Grammy Awards - Copyright AFP VALERIE MACON

Donald Trump threatened legal action on Monday against the host of the 68th Grammy Awards over the comedian’s comment on the US president and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

After congratulating Billie Eilish for winning the Grammy for Song of the Year for her track “Wildflower,” host Trevor Noah brought up Trump and Epstein.

“Wow. That’s a Grammy that every artist wants — almost as much as Trump wants Greenland,” he quipped, referring to the president’s threats to seize the autonomous Arctic territory.

Noah then added: “Which makes sense because, since Epstein’s gone, he needs a new island to hang out with Bill Clinton.”

Noah, who announced that this will be his final year hosting the Grammys after six turns as emcee, has been light on political commentary in previous years.

His comments drew the ire of the president, who took to his Truth Social platform first saying that the “Grammy Awards are the WORST and virtually unwatchable,” before criticizing Noah.

“I can’t speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island, nor anywhere close, and until tonight’s false and defamatory, statement, have never been accused of being there, not even by the Fake News Media,” Trump asserted.

The Republican then branded South African Noah a “total loser” who needs to “get his facts straight.”

“I’ll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C. … Get ready Noah, I’m going to have some fun with you!” Trump added.

Trump, who moved in the same social circles as Epstein in Florida and New York, has fought for months to prevent the release of a vast trove of documents about the disgraced financier and has given varying accounts of why he eventually fell out with Epstein.

More than three million documents were released on Friday that included mention of numerous powerful figures, including the 79-year-old president, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Bill Clinton and former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Gavin Newsom's press office mocks Trump's Grammy tirade with 'participation prize' jab

Ewan Gleadow
February 2, 2026 

RAW STORY

California Governor Gavin Newsom, along with local congressional representatives, state officials and supporters, speaks as he announces the redrawing of California's congressional maps, calling on voters to approve a ballot measure, in response to a similar move in Texas being supported by U.S. President Donald Trump, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., August 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Gavin Newsom's Press Office has released a mocking statement over Donald Trump's comments on the Grammy Awards.

The president made his distaste for this year's music awards show known with a lengthy Truth Social post earlier today. Governor of California Newsom's press office

A statement written in capital letters, posted to Governor Newsom's Press Office X account, reads, "I can't believe very talented artists like Kid Rock and Nicki Minaj were snubbed again and will be walking home with zero (0) Grammys.


"The haters will say they are 'trash' artists who are just desperate for attention. Wrong!!! They are okay artists who are desperate for attention. Their recent PR 'performances' are strong enough to earn a participation prize at minimum.

"Because the Grammys failed, I will be awarding Kid and Nicki the California Music Participation Peace Prize (at the Newsom Kennedy Center), a very prestigious award decided by my 'peace' board, which I alone appoint. This restores fairness to music. Thank you for your attention to this matter. - Governor GCN."

The mocking statement from Newsom's Press Office comes shortly after Trump made his own post to Truth Social criticizing Trevor Noah and suggesting his legal team may get involved over a joke about Epstein's Island.

Trump wrote, "The Grammy Awards are the WORST, virtually unwatchable! CBS is lucky not to have this garbage litter their airwaves any longer. The host, Trevor Noah, whoever he may be, is almost as bad as Jimmy Kimmel at the Low Ratings Academy Awards. Noah said, INCORRECTLY about me, that Donald Trump and Bill Clinton spent time on Epstein Island.

"WRONG!!! I can’t speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island, nor anywhere close, and until tonight’s false and defamatory statement, have never been accused of being there, not even by the Fake News Media. Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight, and get them straight fast.

"It looks like I’ll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C., and suing him for plenty$. Ask Little George Slopadopolus, and others, how that all worked out. Also ask CBS! Get ready Noah, I’m going to have some fun with you! President DJT."

Trump denies visiting Epstein Island in Truth Social post criticizing Grammy Awards

Ewan Gleadow
February 2, 2026 
RAW STORY


U.S. President Donald Trump listens to remarks during a swearing-in ceremony for Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz in the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 18, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

Donald Trump has denied he ever visited Epstein Island in a Truth Social post criticizing this year's Grammy Awards show.

The president posted a lengthy statement on February 2 regarding a joke made by Trevor Noah. Trump has since suggested he will contact his legal team over the comment made by show host Noah.

Trump wrote, "The Grammy Awards are the WORST, virtually unwatchable! CBS is lucky not to have this garbage litter their airwaves any longer. The host, Trevor Noah, whoever he may be, is almost as bad as Jimmy Kimmel at the Low Ratings Academy Awards. Noah said, INCORRECTLY about me, that Donald Trump and Bill Clinton spent time on Epstein Island

"WRONG!!! I can’t speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island, nor anywhere close, and until tonight’s false and defamatory statement, have never been accused of being there, not even by the Fake News Media. Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight, and get them straight fast.

"It looks like I’ll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C., and suing him for plenty$. Ask Little George Slopadopolus, and others, how that all worked out. Also ask CBS! Get ready Noah, I’m going to have some fun with you! President DJT."

Trump was named more than 3,000 times in the Justice Department’s release Friday of around 3.5 million files on Jeffrey Epstein, and on Saturday, he vowed vengeance against author Michael Wolff and potentially Epstein’s estate for what the president alleged was a conspiratorial effort to damage him politically.

“Wolff, who’s a third-rate writer, was conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to hurt me politically or otherwise and that came through loud and clear,” Trump told reporters Saturday, The Independent reported Sunday. “So we’ll probably sue Wolf on that… maybe the Epstein estate, I guess. I don’t know. But we’ll certainly sue Wolff.”

Despite the newly unearthed allegations, Trump has and is not facing any criminal charges related to his past relationship with Epstein, and has denied any and all wrongdoing.

New Epstein docs reveal 'nauseating' details about Trump's next Fed pick: GOP analyst

Robert Davis
February 1, 2026 
RAW STORY



FILE PHOTO: Kevin Warsh, Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution and lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, speaks during the Sohn Investment Conference in New York City, U.S., May 8, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

The new Jeffrey Epstein files released on Friday include "nauseating" details about President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Federal Reserve, according to one GOP analyst.

Rick Wilson, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, wrote in a new Substack essay on Sunday that the January 30 Epstein files dump included details about Kevin Warsh, who Trump recently announced as his pick to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in May. Wilson argued that Warsh's name appeared in the files "like a bad penny."

"It is a bit of timing so on-the-nose it would be rejected by a mediocre political thriller," Wilson wrote. "Warsh, a man whose resume reads like a checklist for the Davos-and-Hamptons set, isn’t just a “Wall Street veteran” or an Estée Lauder heir by marriage; he is now a recurring character in the Epstein ledger."


Several high-profile figures in the Trump administration and people who have known the president personally for years were implicated in the latest Epstein files release. The files include allegations that the president forced teenage girls to perform oral sex on him, emails showing Trump ally Elon Musk visited the infamous Epstein island, and details about Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's friendship with the disgraced financier, which Lutnick has denied.

Wilson argued that the release paints a "nauseating" pitcure of the people in controls of the levers of power.


"While the DOJ is quick to point out that proximity isn’t a crime, the visual is nauseating: the man who will soon hold the literal keys to the American economy was once just another name on a spreadsheet for a monster’s social calendar," he added. "It is the ultimate 'loyalty test' for the new regime: appointing a man who rubbed elbows with the abyss to oversee the Federal Reserve, proving once again that in this administration, the only disqualification is a conscience."


Read the entire essay by clicking here.

Hedonism’s Dance: How the Governing Classes Fell for Jeffrey Epstein

by Binoy Kampmark / February 2nd, 2026

How did he generate so much paperwork, traffic and comment? New York financier, mountebank, all purposes conman and dedicated rake that he was, Jeffrey Epstein continues to nag living figures from beyond the grave and place them in a tight spot of bother. His correspondence with these individuals runs into the millions, a figure suggesting his only work in life was being a pimp for pleasure and valet to the rotten.

The press vultures have been feeding most excitedly on the latest carrion released by the US Department of Justice on January 30 in response to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, comprising some 3.5 million pages with more than 180,000 images and 2,000 videos. “Today’s release marks the end of a very comprehensive document identification and review process to ensure transparency to the American people and compliance,” stated Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Leaving aside Blanche’s perky claim to thoroughbred compliance, those found corresponding or engaging with Epstein have had to qualify any engagement with the late financier as utterly innocent and certainly unconnected to the sexual trafficking arm he operated with the incarcerated Ghislaine Maxwell, herself the daughter of that mighty confidence trickster, serial litigant and press mogul, Robert Maxwell. What did not seem to bother Epstein’s vast network of correspondents, foolish confidants and dissolute playmates was a conviction for soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl in 2008. The sinner always knows best.

The list of the dishonourable is long and impossible to enumerate without expectorating. A handful of rummy specimens will suffice. We have the morally stunted tech brat billionaire Elon Musk discussing travel to Epstein’s properties for reasons of entertainment. “What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?”, he asks in one yearning inquiry. Musk continued to press the financier for information of any planned parties, claiming that he needed to “let loose”. “I’ve been working to the edge of sanity this year and so, once my kids head home after Christmas, I really want to hit the party scene in St Barts or elsewhere and let loose.”

In 2009, despite Epstein serving a prison sentence at the time, the emails reveal the financial provision of a loan to Lord Peter Mandelson’s husband Reinaldo Avila da Silva regarding an osteopathy course. Mandelson, the Mr Fixit of Britain’s New Labour, had his tenure as UK ambassador to Washington terminated once the cloacal gatherings of his association with Epstein proved too hard to ignore.

We find Britain’s founder of Virgin Group, Richard Branson, expressing his pleasure at meeting Epstein before adding “Any time you’re in the area would love to see you. As long as you bring your harem!” (The company hurriedly tried to dispel any needless assumptions of prurience: “harem” in this case was a reference to three adult members of the Epstein team.)

As is already known, royalty is not exempt from the turd lined trough. Recently deprived of his status as prince for scouring Epstein’s fleshpots with rutting glee, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, known as “The Duke” in the correspondence, is most accommodating to Epstein in emails sent in September 2010. “We could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy,” suggests Epstein. The reply: “Delighted for you to come here to BP [Buckingham Palace]. Come with whomever and I’ll be here free from 1600ish.”

The matter gets even more squalid with Mountbatten-Windsor’s former wife, Sarah Ferguson, calling Epstein the “brother” she “had always wished for”. (The provision of £15,000 to pay off her debts probably helped.) Showing how liberal his house arrest conditions were, Ferguson implies that the pair had lunch. An August 2009 exchange points to a meeting between Epstein and her daughters, Prince Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. “I have never been more touched by a friends [sic] kindness than your compliment to me in front of my girls.”

Showing that the royals of other countries also slid into the honeypot, Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit had extensive contact with Epstein between 2011 and 2014. From what can be gleaned from the correspondence, the financier had made quite an impression, being “soft hearted” and “such a sweetheart”. In one message dated November 1, 2012, the crown princess responds to a message of sheer gibberish discussing the protective facilities of nature and the problems of unnatural products. “You always make me smile,” she reflects. “Because you tickle my brain.”

The timing was most unfortunate for Mette-Marit, as her son, Marius Borg Høiby, is facing 38 criminal charges, including allegations of rape of four women including assault and drug offences. “I showed poor judgment and I deeply regret having had any contact with Epstein,” she said in a statement, conjuring up contrition. “It is simply embarrassing.”

Figures from the world of sports are not exempt. “We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition we discussed movies, philanthropy and investments,” claimed New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, mentioned over 400 times in the files. “I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.”

To keep Tisch in sporting company is chairman of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, Casey Wasserman. In his case, it was an enduring infatuation with Epstein’s collaborator in vice, Ghislaine. “I think of you all the time,” he says in a charged exchange in 2003. “So what do I have to do to see you in a tight leather outfit?” A statement from Wasserman on the matter expressed “regret” for correspondence “which took place over two decades ago, long before her horrific crimes came to light.”

A generous assessment of these files would suggest the sense of sheer beguilement shown by Epstein’s correspondents, who seemed to be playing fools during much of their acquaintanceships. But the cosmic expansiveness of it all at the highest social and political level points to the ethically desiccated nature of the governing classes and their willingness to be depraved and blinded. Operating in the realm of power and influence, these figures have shown themselves to be dunces and cavorters before hedonism’s dance, utterly indifferent to the prospect that they would, eventually, be found out.

Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: [email protected]. Read other articles by Binoy.

Trump's Groundhog Day nightmare

Nick Anderson.

 Raw Story
February 2, 2026



Nick Anderson/Raw Story

Nick Anderson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist.

Thousands join Danish war vets’ silent march after Trump ‘insult’


By AFP
January 31, 2026


The protest was held under the banner 'No Words' -- describing how many felt about US President Donald Trump's dismissal of Danish soldiers' sacrifice

 - Copyright Ritzau Scanpix/AFP Emil Helms
Camille BAS-WOHLERT

Between 8,000 and 10,000 people joined an emotional silent march in Copenhagen on Saturday organised by Denmark’s Veterans’ Association to protest Donald Trump’s comments downplaying the role of non-US NATO troops in Afghanistan.

The association had expected well over a thousand people to take part, and Danes braved subzero temperatures en masse to support their veterans and the 44 Danes who died in Afghanistan.

Police told AFP they estimated the number of demonstrators were “at least 10,000”, while organisers put the turnout at between 8,000 and 10,000.

Trump sparked outrage in Denmark and across Europe on January 22 when he said European NATO troops “stayed a little back, a little off the front lines” during the 20-year conflict in Afghanistan.

The Scandinavian country fought alongside US forces during the Gulf War as well as Afghanistan and Iraq.

Gathering in Copenhagen’s Kastellet, or citadel, a brief ceremony was held at the monument to fallen soldiers before the procession began.

“The demonstration is called #NoWords because that really describes how we feel. We have no words,” the vice president of the association, Soren Knudsen, told AFP.

“Obviously, we also want to tell Americans that what Trump said is an insult to us and the values that we defended together.”

Some demonstrators waved red-and-white Danish flags and others were dressed in military uniform, as they marched quietly — no slogans or chanting — to the US embassy about two kilometres (1.2 miles) away.

Most were sombre, others were visibly emotional with tears streaming down their cheeks.

“We’re very happy that so many people turned out,” Knudsen told AFP outside the US embassy, pleased that veterans from the US and across Europe had also joined in.

“What Trump said was very insulting,” Henning Andersen, who served as a Danish UN soldier in Cyprus, told AFP.

“I have friends who were down there. Some of them were wounded, and they carry the war with them even today,” the 64-year-old said, four military medals pinned to his black veterans’ jacket.

“He’s saying things he doesn’t know the full truth about.”

One 58-year-old member of Denmark’s home guard, who gave her name only as Orum, also expressed anger over Trump’s remarks.

“How can he even say that? It’s insulting,” she said, clad in khaki fatigues and green beret.


– 44 flags –


Protesters at the front of the march carried a large red banner reading “NoWords”, while others carried hand-drawn signs. One said “Trump is so dumb”, while another held by a child read “Say sorry, Trump”.

In response to Trump’s claim, 44 Danish flags, which carried the names of the 44 Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan, were placed on Tuesday in planters outside the US embassy in Copenhagen.

The embassy removed the flags, before apologising and replacing them.

“We have nothing but the deepest respect for Danish veterans and the sacrifices Danish soldiers have made for our shared security. There was no ill intent behind the removal of the flags,” the embassy said in a post on its Facebook page.

It noted that the planters were embassy property and not in the public domain, and the initial planting of the flags had not been coordinated with the embassy.

On Friday, the US ambassador placed 44 Danish flags in the flowerbeds.

On Saturday, 52 additional Danish flags were added, with names inscribed on them: 44 for the Danes who died in Afghanistan, and eight others for those killed in Iraq.

A minute of silence was also observed outside the embassy. One person laid down a wreath of red and white flowers.

Denmark has traditionally been an ardent US ally, and continues to call Washington its “closest ally” despite tensions over Trump’s recent interest in taking over Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.

Trump revises Greenland plot with scheme to take it by 2029: insider

Ewan Gleadow
February 2, 2026

RAW STORY

Donald Trump has not let up on his plan to subsume Greenland into US territory, according to an insider.

Though the president has cooled off his rhetoric over taking the sovereign nation into U.S. control, an administration official speaking to Zeteo confirmed there is still an active interest in the country.

"He still wants it," the insider told Asawin Suebsaeng, who reported there is a plan in place to take Greenland into American control by 2029.

Writing in First Draft, Suebsaeng claimed, "But the damage has already been done – and the threat has not actually gone away. It, like Trump at a meeting, is only napping.

"Additionally, one Trump administration official relays that the president is willing to negotiate, but that Trump has recently expressed some wariness that the Europeans are trying to placate him with the military-base status quo that the Americans already enjoy on the territory.

"Other Trump advisers tell me that, when it comes to Greenland, the president is willing to take his foot off the MAGA-imperialism gas for now, but that little has changed with Trump’s desire.

"In recent conversations, since the crisis temporarily cooled, Trump has said he still believes Greenland should be an American territory, no one else’s, and that he wants it figured out by the end of this term in office, his advisers recount."

Jacob Funk Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics repeated claims that Trump wants Greenland for reasons of national security and raw mineral resources.

Speaking to CNN, he said, "If there was a ‘pot of gold’ waiting at the end of the rainbow in Greenland, private businesses would have gone there already.

"If given enough taxpayer dollars, private business would be willing to do almost anything. But is that a good foundation on which to purchase a territory? The answer is no in Greenland, just as it’s no in Venezuela."

Suebsaeng also claimed U.S. and European officials are "making nice again in public" though it appears to be more a chance for Trump to back down from bad publicity rather than anything else.

He wrote, "NATO gift-wrapped Trump a temporary, face-saving reprieve from his own blundering imperialism.

Mockery abounds after Trump's latest Kennedy Center proclamation: 'He’s East-Winging it'

Robert Davis
February 1, 2026 
RAW STORY


U.S. President Donald Trump gestures while he poses for a picture at the presidential box at the Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 17, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Mockery abounded on Sunday night after President Donald Trump announced that the embattled Kennedy Center would close for two years as a wave of performers cancelled their dates.

Trump has been trying for several months to rebrand the Kennedy Center as the "Trump-Kennedy Center," even though the building was named by federal law. His efforts to add his name to the center, which was built in honor of the late President John F. Kennedy, sparked outrage among artists and performers.

In a lengthy Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said his decision to close the Kennedy Center came after consulting with experts and is "totally subject to Board approval."

"I have determined that the fastest way to bring The Trump Kennedy Center to the highest level of Success, Beauty, and Grandeur, is to cease Entertainment Operations for an approximately two year (sic) period of time, with a scheduled Grand Reopening that will rival and surpass anything that has taken place with respect to such a Facility before," Trump proclaimed.

Political analysts and observers reacted on social media.

"So he’s announcing the demolition of the Kennedy Center, correct? He’s East-Winging it," lawyer Will Stancil posted on Bluesky.

"Just like his casinos and other businesses, the Kennedy Center went out of business after he put his name on it," Brett Meiselas, co-founder of MeidasTouch, posted on X.

"We had to destroy the Kennedy Center in order to save it," historian Kevin Kruse posted on Bluesky.

"Trump officially killed the Kennedy Center," lawyer Bradley Moss posted on Bluesky.


"He’s not mad about cancellations, just following advice from unnamed Highly Respected Experts," Mother Jones reporter Dan Friedman posted on X.

"Trump ruined the Kennedy Center so quickly and completely that he's going to close and 'renovate' it for most of the rest of his second term," journalist Mike Rothschild posted on X.

Trump announces two-year closure of embattled Kennedy Center

Robert Davis
February 1, 2026 
RAW STORY

President Donald Trump poses on the red carpet for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 7, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the embattled Kennedy Center will close for two-years as it undergoes renovations.

"After a one year review of The Trump Kennedy Center, that has taken place with Contractors, Musical Experts, Art Institutions, and other Advisors and Consultants, deciding between either Construction with Closure and Re-Opening or, Partial Construction while continuing Entertainment Operations through a much longer period of time, working in and around the Performances, I have determined that The Trump Kennedy Center, if temporarily closed for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding, can be, without question, the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World," Trump wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post on Sunday.

The president made the announcement at a time when the Kennedy Center's bookings had dried up in protest of the Trump administration. Artists ranging from Béla Fleck to Issa Rae and The Cookers have all cancelled their Kennedy Center dates.

The Kennedy Center is scheduled to close on July 4, according to Trump's post.

Opinion: President of bad taste — The Arc de Sleaze in Washington will probably be golden


By Paul Wallis

EDITOR AT LARGE

DIGITAL JOURNAL
January 31, 2026

If Donald Trump is remembered for anything, it’ll be his obsession with landmarks commemorating himself. The useless White House ballroom, and the inexcusable demolition of the rose garden, the renaming of the Kennedy Center, and the golden tat adorning the White House apparently aren’t enough.

The arch will supposedly be 250 feet tall. Modelled roughly on the Arc de Triomphe, this thing will be timed to coincide with America’s 250th anniversary. It will be funded by “leftover donations” to the much-reviled ballroom.

You’ve probably heard of brutalist architecture. It’s useless and ornamental. It reflects the bad taste of its proponents.

This is brattish architecture. Many despots, notably Louis the 14th, the mass-murdering king who bankrupted France with his many wars, liked monumental architecture rather than competent architecture. The Palace of Versailles was built with no regard for sanitation, for example.

In the case of the US, however, there’s something grotesque about even the theory of a triumphal arch. What could possibly be less appropriate?

The United States is no longer anything like the beacon of hope it was from inception. The lack of originality and any specifically American characteristics of the proposed arch are absurd but typical of this administration.

What triumph is this useless arch commemorating? The worst living conditions since the Great Depression? An America at war with itself? An America that refuses to modernize or recognize the rights of its own citizens? Rampant criminality and corruption? The last mad bleat of an ex-superpower? The triumph of disgusting parasites pumping the life and identity out of America?

The best name for this new absurdity would be the Arc de Sleaze.

It’ll be a last-minute token of pseudo-patriotism, like the rest of Trump’s horrible facades. Stick a red cap made in China on it, and you’ve got your American icon.

Suggestion – Tear this insult down ASAP.

_________________________________________________________

Disclaimer

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

TRUMP LIES

US talking deal with ‘highest people’ in Cuba: Trump


By AFP
February 1, 2026

Vehicles wait in line to refuel at a gas station in Havana, with Cuba's communist government accusing US President Donald Trump of trying to 'asphyxiate' the island's economy - Copyright AFP/File ADALBERTO ROQUE

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Washington was negotiating with Havana’s leadership to strike a deal, days after he threatened Cuba’s reeling economy with a virtual oil blockade.

“Cuba is a failing nation. It has been for a long time, but now it doesn’t have Venezuela to prop it up. So we’re talking to the people from Cuba, the highest people in Cuba, to see what happens,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

“I think we’re going to make a deal with Cuba.”

Trump gave no indication what such a deal might entail.

His second administration has been ratcheting up pressure on the communist-run island nation off south Florida since the January 3 US ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, whose country was a close ally of Havana and a crucial source for oil exports to Cuba.

On Thursday, the Republican president signed an executive order threatening to impose additional tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba.

The following day, Cubans were queueing up in long lines at gas stations in Havana.

Mike Hammer, the US charge d’affaires to Cuba since 2024, said during a visit this weekend to Trinidad province in central Cuba that he encountered residents who “shouted some insults” at him.

“I think they belong to a certain party, but I know they do not represent the Cuban people, the ordinary Cubans,” Hammer said in a video posted to X, in reference to the Cuban Communist Party.

Meanwhile, the US State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs said in a statement on X: “The illegitimate Cuban regime must immediately stop its repressive acts of sending individuals to interfere with the diplomatic work of CDA Hammer and members of the @USembcuba team.”

“Our diplomats will continue to meet with the Cuban people despite the regime’s failed intimidation,” the agency added.

Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Miami-born son of Cuban exiles, have made no secret of their desire to bring regime change in Havana.

After Maduro’s fall, the US president warned Havana to “make a deal soon” or face unspecified consequences.

“NO MORE OIL OR MONEY FOR CUBA: ZERO!” Trump had stated earlier, claiming Cuba was “ready to fall.”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Sunday her administration was planning to send humanitarian aid to Cuba, including “food and other products,” while working on a diplomatic solution to continue sending oil to the island despite Trump’s threatened tariffs.

“We never discussed with President Trump the issue of oil with Cuba,” Sheinbaum added, after the two leaders had spoken by phone Thursday.

For its part, Cuba’s government has accused Trump of seeking to economically strangle the island, where daily power cuts are intensifying and lines at gas stations keep getting longer.

STRANGE FRUIT
Iguanas fall from trees in Florida as icy weather bites southern US


By AFP
February 1, 2026


A cold-stunned green iguana lies on the ground on February 01, 2026 in Miami Beach, Florida - Copyright AFP/File TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA
Matthew PENNINGTON

Iguanas stunned by cold temperatures dropped from trees in usually balmy Florida on Sunday as icy conditions blasted southern US states, dumping nearly a half-meter of snow in some areas and whipping up high winds that caused traffic chaos.

The heaviest snows were reported in North Carolina — a state that rarely sees snow other than in its highest elevations. The city of Lexington saw 16 inches (40 centimeters), and Faust in the state’s Walnut Mountains got 22 inches (56 centimeters).

State Governor Josh Stein reported 1,000 road collisions and two fatalities on Saturday and Sunday, and urged people to stay off the roads. He also advised citizens to be aware of the symptoms of frostbite.

The latest bout of extreme weather came about a week after a monster storm pummeled a wide swath of the United States, killing more than 100 people and leaving many communities struggling to dig out from snow and ice.

While Florida did not see snow like the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and the southern part of Virginia, it saw record low temperatures, with the mercury touching 24F (-4C) in Orlando, the lowest recorded in February since at least 1923. Typically at this time of year, the temperature ranges between daily lows of 12C and highs of 23C.

Florida’s WPLG 10 TV network, based in Miami, reported that it was “raining iguanas” on Sunday morning, as the cold-blooded reptiles fall from trees when the temperature gets too low.

Videos posted on social media showed the stunned creatures on sidewalks after falling from trees in southern parts of the state.

Jessica Kilgore, who runs a service called Iguana Solutions that removes invasive species, told WPLG 10, she has collected hundreds of pounds worth of the lizards, both alive and dead, during the cold snap.

Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission issued an executive order, seen by AFP, allowing people to transport iguanas — which run wild in the state but can’t be owned without a permit — to commission offices.

The National Weather Service predicted that heavy snows would taper off in the Carolinas on Sunday but forecast high winds to spread up the east coast of the United States as an intense cyclone “slides out to sea.”

Governor Stein said that the highway running through North Carolina’s Outer Banks — a sliver of land filled with beach homes that juts out from the Atlantic coast — saw overwash from the ocean due to heavy winds and high tides and could take a while to reopen.

The weekend storm forced more than 800 flight cancellations on Sunday at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, a major hub for American Airlines, data from the tracker FlightAware showed.

About 158,000 customers remained without power Sunday, mostly in the south, according to poweroutage.us, with Mississippi, Tennessee, Florida and Louisiana hardest hit.

BAN DEEP SEA MINING

Japan says rare earth found in sediment retrieved on deep-sea mission

By AFP
February 1, 2026


Japan's deep-sea drilling vessel Chikyu has retrieved sediment containing rare earth at a depth of 6,000 metres - Copyright AFP/File TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA

Sediment containing rare earth was retrieved from ocean depths of 6,000 metres (20,000 feet) on a Japanese test mission, the government said Monday, as it seeks to curb dependence on China for the valuable minerals.

Japan says the mission was the world’s first bid to tap deep sea rare earths at such a depth.

“Details will be analysed, including exactly how much rare earth is contained” in the sample, government spokesman Kei Sato said, calling it “a meaningful achievement both in terms of economic security and comprehensive maritime development”.

The sample was collected by a deep-sea scientific drilling boat called the Chikyu that set sail last month for the remote island of Minami Torishima in the Pacific, where surrounding waters are believed to contain a rich trove of valuable minerals.

It comes as China — by far the world’s biggest supplier of rare earths — ramps up pressure on its neighbour after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November that Tokyo may react militarily to an attack on Taiwan, which Beijing has vowed to seize control of by force if necessary.

Beijing has blocked exports to Japan of “dual-use” items with potential military uses, fuelling worries in Japan that Beijing could choke supplies of rare earths, some of which are included in China’s list of dual-use goods.

Rare earths — 17 metals difficult to extract from the Earth’s crust — are used in everything from electric vehicles to hard drives, wind turbines and missiles.

The area around Minami Torishima, which is in Japan’s economic waters, is estimated to contain more than 16 million tons of rare earths, which the Nikkei business daily says is the third-largest reserve globally.

These rich deposits contain an estimated 730 years’ worth of dysprosium, used in high-strength magnets in phones and electric cars, and 780 years’ worth of yttrium, used in lasers, the Nikkei said.

“If Japan could successfully extract rare earths around Minami Torishima constantly, it will secure domestic supply chain for key industries,” Takahiro Kamisuna, research associate at The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), told AFP.

“Likewise, it will be a key strategic asset for Takaichi’s government to significantly reduce the supply chain dependence on China.”

Beijing has long used its dominance in rare earths for geopolitical leverage, including in its trade war with US President Donald Trump’s administration.

China accounts for almost two-thirds of rare earth mining production and 92 percent of global refined output, according to the International Energy Agency.