US & Canada

Anti-abortion groups are promoting ‘baby boxes’ in the US, facilities where vulnerable mothers can surrender their newborns anonymously. Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle explains the initiative.

Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged European countries to collaborate with the US to build a “new Western century”, describing US-Europe ties as “civilisational”.

“We are part of one civilisation – Western civilisation,” he said.

His rallying speech comes after more than a year of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric about mass immigration in Europe and his administration’s latest National Security Strategy, which warns of “civilisational erasure” in Europe.

Last year, US Vice President JD Vance also lambasted European “liberal values” in his first address at the security conference.

As European leaders grapple with the rise of far-right political parties, how will they respond to this new demand from the US, and what does it mean for the future of transatlantic relations?

What did Rubio say?

The top US diplomat focused on several key areas he views as imperative for Europe to address, which included ending “liberalist” policies the Trump administration views as responsible for Europe’s “post-war decline”, creating new supply chains to reduce reliance on countries such as China, and ending mass migration, which he said is leading to the erasure of Western “civilisation”.

“The work of this new alliance,” Rubio said, “should not be focused just on military cooperation and reclaiming the industries of the past. It should also be focused on, together, advancing our mutual interests and new frontiers, unshackling our ingenuity, our creativity, and the dynamic spirit to build a new Western century.”

Liberalism and mass migration

Rubio argued that the “euphoria” of the Western victory in the Cold War had led to a “dangerous delusion that we had entered ‘the end of history’”, where every nation would be a liberal democracy and “live in a world without borders, where everyone became a citizen of the world”.

He used this as a plank to lash out against opening “doors to an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture, and the future of our people”.

“Mass migration is not, was not, isn’t some fringe concern of little consequence. It was and continues to be a crisis which is transforming and destabilising societies all across the West,” he said.

Taking aim at liberalist policies, he added that, to “appease a climate cult, we have imposed energy policies on ourselves that are impoverishing our people”.

New supply chains

Rubio said the US and its allies should bring more industry and jobs back home, not just to build weapons but to lead in new, high‑tech fields.

He added that the West should control key minerals and supply chains, invest in space travel and artificial intelligence, and work together to win markets in the Global South.

In particular, he said, is the need for a “Western supply chain for critical minerals not vulnerable to extortion from other powers”.

Earlier this month, Trump hosted ministers from dozens of countries for a critical minerals conference in Washington. The meeting was the first of a new Critical Minerals Ministerial, a US initiative to build alliances aimed at countering China’s control over critical mineral supply chains around the world.

What does a ‘new Western century’ mean?

While the overarching message of Rubio’s speech was that the US still seeks a partnership with Europe, said Trita Parsi, executive vice president of think tank Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, his remarks revealed, “The US will entirely set the parameters of that partnership and that it will be based on ideas Europe long has abandoned: An embrace of empire and colonisation.”

Rubio’s remarks at the conference suggest that the US under Trump wants Europe to accept “a civilisational divide of the world in which the ‘West’ must restore its dominance over other civilisations”, Parsi told Al Jazeera.

“In essence, Rubio listed the criteria for how Europe can become well-behaved vassals of the United States,” he said.

How did European leaders react to Rubio’s speech?

European leaders appeared to welcome Rubio’s speech at the conference; it was followed by a standing ovation. However, while lauding his call for stronger ties with the US, they notably did not address his comments about migration and liberal values.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference: “We know that in the [Trump] administration, some have a harsher tone on these topics. But the secretary of state was very clear. He said, ‘We want [a] strong Europe in the alliance’, and this is what we are working for intensively in the European Union.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot responded to Rubio’s speech: “Referring to [our] common legacy can only be welcomed with applause in Europe.”

“We will deliver a strong and independent Europe,” he said. “Independent, of course, irrespective of the speeches that we hear at the Munich Security Conference, however right they may be.”

Calling Rubio a “true partner”, German Foreign Minister John Wadephul said: “[It was] a very clear message from Secretary Rubio that we have … to stay and stick to our international rules-based order, which is, of course, in [the] first line the United Nations. This is our Board of Peace. We have to make it more effective, as Rubio said this morning.”

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said she was “very satisfied with the tone” and the content of Rubio’s speech.

What does this mean for Europe?

European leaders have been facing a dilemma – particularly over migration and defence – for some time, for a number of reasons. The mass migration crisis prompted by unrest in other parts of the world has already caused far-right parties to surge in popularity. Now, the Trump administration has voiced support for many of these parties and is also urging Europe to take stronger action on migration and defence.

Therefore, many European leaders have already started taking action in these areas.

For instance, most European countries are already working on boosting their defences and cracking down on migration.

Last year, the United Kingdom announced plans for a big boost in defence spending in advance of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s meeting with Trump early last year amid fears the US would withdraw support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Notably, Rubio skipped a meeting about Ukraine with European leaders at the Munich conference.

Many countries have also tightened controls over immigration. Denmark has led the way in implementing increasingly restrictive policies in its immigration and asylum system, with top leaders aiming for “zero asylum seekers” arriving in the country. Recently, the UK said it was studying the Danish model as well.

Europe is also working to make its energy and technology supply chains more sovereign, reducing dependence on foreign suppliers, particularly in the face of Trump’s trade war, which has seen him impose reciprocal trade tariffs on many countries around the world.

Many European leaders have come under increasing pressure from the rise in popularity of far-right parties calling for greater restrictions on immigration, as well.

In recent years, far-right, anti-immigration sentiment has been increasing in countries like the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and France. In 2023, the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), led by Geert Wilders, won the election in the Netherlands. France’s National Rally (RN), led by Marine Le Pen, won the snap election in 2024. The same year, Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK party made significant inroads in the general elections and, last year, a YouGov poll placed Reform as the UK’s most popular political party.

Besides this, ideas which were once far-right fringe notions, such as remigration – the notion of forcibly expelling non-white European citizens – are gaining traction among far-right conservatives in Europe. The idea has been promoted by Herbert Kickl, the leader of Austria’s far-right anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPO) and Alice Weidel, the leader of the AfD in Germany.

While some European leaders have geared up to resist the rise of far-right politics – partly by appeasing them with new, more restrictive migration policies – Trump has, however, embraced it.

What does this mean for US-Europe relations?

All this ultimately means that “Europe has a choice to make”, said Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the think tank Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. “It can pursue strategic autonomy and seek to find a balance between the great powers, and within that seek a dignified partnership with America in which it is not subjugated into vassalage.”

“[Or] Europe can continue on its current path in which it subordinates itself slowly but surely fully to Washington’s interests, priorities, impulses, and ideas about civilisational empire,” he told Al Jazeera.

Parsi pointed to the standing ovation at the conference that followed Rubio’s speech, simply for offering to remain partners with Europe.

“Whether they disregarded Rubio’s parameters, did not understand them, or simply found it unimportant because Europe desires to be a junior partner to the United States regardless of the parameters, remains to be seen,” he said.

For their part, European leaders appeared to place the greatest importance on repairing US-Europe relations above all else at the Munich Security Conference.

During his address at the conference on Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on the US and Europe to “repair and revive transatlantic trust together”. “Let me begin with the uncomfortable truth: A rift, a deep divide has opened between Europe and the United States,” he said.

“Vice President JD Vance said this a year ago here in Munich. He was right in his description,” Merz said, as he called for a “new transatlantic partnership”.

Iran’s top diplomat says he hopes to ‘achieve a fair and equitable deal’ before high-stakes talks are held on Tuesday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has arrived in Geneva for high-stakes second round of nuclear talks with the United States aimed at reducing tensions and avert a new military confrontation that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned could turn into a regional conflict.

“I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal,” Araghchi wrote on X on Monday. “What is not on the table: submission before threats.”

Iran and the US renewed negotiations earlier this month to tackle their ⁠decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme as US deploys warships, including a second aircraft carrier, to the region as mediators work to prevent a war.

Araghchi met with Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on Monday, after saying his team nuclear experts for a “deep technical discussion”.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog has been calling for access to Iran’s main nuclear facilities that were bombed by the US and Israel during the 12-day war in June. Tehran has said there might be a risk of radiation, so an official protocol is required to carry out the unprecedented task of inspecting highly enriched uranium ostensibly buried under the rubble.

Speaking to state-run IRNA news agency on Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the IAEA will play “an important role” in upcoming mediated talks between Iran and the US. But he also renewed Tehran’s criticism of Grossi for the director’s refusal to condemn military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites that are protected under agency safeguards as part of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Araghchi also said he would meet his Omani counterpart, Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi, who mediated the first round of talks between Iran and the US since the war earlier this month.

Iran has repeatedly emphasised that it will not agree to Washington’s demand for zero nuclear enrichment, and considers its missile programme a “red line” that cannot be negotiated.

Meanwhile, the US continues to build up its military presence in the region, with President Donald Trump saying a change of power in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen” and sending in a second aircraft carrier.

Trump is again likely to send his special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner to represent the White House in the Geneva talks. Brad Cooper, the most senior US military commander in the region, had unexpectedly joined the US delegation during the Muscat talks on February 6.

The talks also come over a month after Iran’s deadly crackdown against nationwide protests, with Iranian officials claiming “terrorists” and “rioters” armed and funded by the US and Israel were behind the unrest.

The UN and international human rights organisations have blamed Iranian authorities for the widespread use of lethal force against peaceful protesters, which killed thousands, mainly on the nights of January 8 and 9.

But the hardliners in Tehran are more concerned about any potential concessions that could be given during upcoming talks with the US.

Addressing an open session on Monday, one of the most hardline lawmakers in Iran’s parliament cautioned security chief Ali Larijani against giving inspection access to the IAEA befire ensuring Iran’s territorial integrity, the security of nuclear sites and scientists, and use of peaceful nuclear energy for civilian purposes under the NPT.

“When US warships have opened their arms to embrace Iranian missiles, US bases have opened arms to take our missiles, and the homes of Zionist military personnel are anticipating the sound of the air raid sirens, it is obvious that such conditions cannot be met at the moment,” said Hamid Rasaei, a cleric close to the hardline Paydari (Steadfastness) faction.

In the other diplomatic track pursued in Switzerland on Tuesday, officials will be discussing ways of ending the Ukraine war, which is approaching the end of its fourth year after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

But no immediate breakthrough appears in sight, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy telling the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday that Kyiv has “too often” been asked to make concessions.

Hollywood groups say the AI video tool uses the likeness of actors and others without permission.

China’s ByteDance has pledged to address concerns over its new artificial intelligence video generator, after Hollywood groups claimed Seedance 2.0 “blatantly” violates copyright and uses the likenesses of actors and others without permission.

The company, which owns TikTok, told The Associated Press news agency on Sunday that it respects intellectual property rights and pledged action to strengthen safeguards.

The tool, called Seedance 2.0, is available only in China for now and lets users generate high-quality AI videos using simple text prompts.

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) said last week that Seedance 2.0 “has engaged in unauthorized use of US copyrighted works on a massive scale”.

“By launching a service that operates without meaningful safeguards against infringement, ByteDance is disregarding well-established copyright law that protects the rights of creators and underpins millions of American jobs. ByteDance should immediately cease its infringing activity,” Charles Rivkin, chairman and CEO of the MPA, said in a statement on February 10.

Screenwriter Rhett Reese, who wrote the Deadpool movies, said on X last week, “I hate to say it. It’s likely over for us.”

His post was in response to Irish director Ruairi Robinson’s post of a Seedance 2.0 video that went viral and shows AI versions of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Actors union SAG-AFTRA said on Friday it “stands with the studios in condemning the blatant infringement” enabled by Seedance 2.0.

“The infringement includes the unauthorized use of our members’ voices and likenesses. This is unacceptable and undercuts the ability of human talent to earn a livelihood,” SAG-AFTRA said in a statement.

“Seedance 2.0 disregards law, ethics, industry standards and basic principles of consent. Responsible AI development demands responsibility, and that is nonexistent here.”

ByteDance said in response that it has heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0.

“We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorised use of intellectual property and likeness by users,” it told the AP.

Jonathan Handel, an entertainment journalist and lawyer, told Al Jazeera the developments mark “the beginning of a difficult road” for the film industry.

Until courts make a significant ruling, AI-generated videos will have major implications on the film industry,” he said.

“Digital technology moves a lot quicker, and we are going to see in several years full-length movies that are AI-generated,” he said.

These tools are trained primarily on unlicensed data, Handel said, and the output could resemble faces and scenes from famous movies, “and so you’ve got copyrights, trademarks, all of those rights are implicated here”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has outlined the conditions he considers necessary for any prospective deal between the United States and Iran, including the dismantling of all of Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure.

His comments on Sunday came as Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi headed to Switzerland for a second round of nuclear talks with the US.

Speaking at the annual Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Netanyahu said he was sceptical of a deal, but had told US President Donald Trump last week that any agreement must include several elements.

“The first is that all enriched material has to leave Iran,” he said.

“The second is that there should be no enrichment capability – not stopping the enrichment process, but dismantling the equipment and the infrastructure that allows you to enrich in the first place”.

The third, he said, was resolving the issue of ballistic missiles.

Netanyahu also called for sustained inspections of Tehran’s nuclear programme.

“There has to be real inspection, substantive inspections, no lead-time inspections, but effective inspections for all of the above,” he said.

Iran and the US resumed nuclear negotiations in Oman on February 6, months after previous talks collapsed when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran last June, which started a 12-day war.

The US joined in the attacks, bombing three Iranian nuclear sites.

Netanyahu’s comments mark the first time he has spoken publicly on the discussions with Trump in Washington, DC, last Wednesday. The meeting was their seventh since Trump returned to office last year.

Trump told reporters afterwards that they had reached no “definitive” agreement on how to move forward with Iran, but that he had “insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a deal can be consummated”.

According to a report by Axios, the two leaders agreed to intensify economic strangleholds on Iran, mostly on its oil sales to China. More than 80 percent of Iranian oil exports current go to China.

The report, which cited US officials, said Netanyahu and Trump agreed in their meeting on the necessary end state: an Iran without the capability to obtain nuclear weapons. But they disagreed about how to get there.

Netanyahu told Trump it would be impossible to make a good deal, while Trump said he thought it was possible. “Let’s give it a shot”, Trump said, according to Axios.

Iran has long denied any intent to produce nuclear weapons, but has said it is prepared to discuss curbs on its atomic programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. It has ruled out linking the issue to missiles, however.

The CBS broadcaster, meanwhile, reported on Sunday that Trump had told Netanyahu during a meeting in Florida in December that he would support Israeli strikes on Iran’s ballistic missile programme if the US and Iran could not reach a deal.

The network cited two sources familiar with the matter.

There was no immediate comment from the US or Israel on the CBS report.

The renewed push for diplomacy comes after Trump threatened new attacks on Iran and sent a US aircraft carrier to the region, citing a deadly crackdown on antigovernment protesters in January.

Tensions in the region remain high, meanwhile.

On Friday, Trump said he was sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, and openly discussed changing Iran’s government.

Asked if he wanted a government change in Iran, Trump responded that it “seems like that would be the best thing that could happen”.

Asked why a second aircraft carrier was headed to the Middle East, Trump said: “In case we don’t make a deal, we’ll need it … if we need it, we’ll have it ready.”

For its part, Iran has promised to retaliate to any attack, saying it will strike US bases in the Middle East.

The continued tensions have sparked fears of a wider regional war.

Hasan Piker has built one of the largest online political audiences, reaching millions without newsroom oversight or traditional editorial constraints. In this episode of Talk to Al Jazeera, the influential streamer reflects on bias, accountability, wealth, bans and the blurred line between journalism and digital influence. As algorithms replace editors and engagement supplants verification, we examine who shapes political narratives in the age of streaming and what responsibilities accompany that power.

The Republican Party currently controls the White House and both houses of Congress in the United States. But will that change in November?

Among Republican voters, US President Donald Trump is still wildly popular, despite criticism over uneven economic conditions and brutal anti-immigration tactics. And within the Democratic Party establishment, there is no sign of a desire to shift towards a more progressive, less centrist platform – even as left-leaning Democratic Socialists make gains.

Host Steve Clemons asks Republican strategist John Feehery and Amy Dacey, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, about Trumpism and the election prospects of both parties.

Foreign minister says regional powers have been ‘far more effective’ than European countries.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has derided the Munich Security Conference as a “circus”, accusing European powers of “paralysis and irrelevance” in efforts to revive nuclear negotiations with the United States.

Iranian officials were not invited to the annual security meeting in the German city.

“Sad to see the usually serious Munich Security Conference turned into the ‘Munich Circus’ when it comes to Iran,” Araghchi wrote on X on Sunday.

“The paralysis and irrelevance of the EU/E3 is displayed in the dynamics surrounding the current talks over Iran’s nuclear program. … Once a key interlocutor, Europe is now nowhere to be seen. Instead, our friends in the region [the Gulf] are far more effective and helpful than an empty-handed and peripheral E3.”

The E3 – which included France, the United Kingdom and Germany – were key players in the previous round of nuclear negotiations between world powers and Iran. That process culminated in 2015 with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a landmark agreement aimed at limiting the scope of Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

The US under the first administration of President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 and ramped up sanctions on Iran. Since then, the process has largely stalled. Still, the E3 maintained a role as a go-between with Tehran and Washington.

But since negotiations resumed last year, Gulf countries, such as Oman and Qatar, have taken the lead in facilitating talks between the US and Iran.

Araghchi made the remarks before leaving Tehran to lead a diplomatic and technical delegation to Geneva for a new round of nuclear talks with the US. The talks follow last week’s indirect negotiations in Oman, which is mediating the process, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

During his visit, Araghchi is expected to meet his Swiss and Omani counterparts, as well as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, and other international officials.

Abas Aslani, a senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies, said Araghchi’s comments “indicate a policy shift from the Iranian side that the E3 mechanism … is no longer a valid channel for resolution”.

“This nuclear mediation has moved from Europe to the region, and now the heavy lifting in diplomacy is done by regional players,” he said.

On Tuesday, Oman is to host talks between the US and Iran in Geneva after previous indirect negotiations in Muscat on February 6. Those talks were attended by US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner.

US and Iranian officials previously held several rounds of talks in the Omani capital to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme last year. But that process was halted as Israel launched a 12-day war with Iran in June, which the US briefly joined by bombing three Iranian nuclear facilities.

The new rounds of negotiations come as tensions in the region remain high, with Trump moving more US military assets to the Middle East. On Friday, the US president said he was sending a second aircraft carrier to the region while openly talking about a change in Iran’s government.

Despite the new push for diplomacy, the two sides have maintained their positions. Iran has shown flexibility in discussing its nuclear programme, but the US wants to widen the talks to include Iran’s ballistic missiles and its support for regional armed groups – two issues that Tehran says are nonnegotiable.

Thousands of Western nationals joined the Israeli military amid its genocidal war in Gaza, raising questions over international legal accountability for foreign nationals implicated in alleged war crimes against Palestinians.

More than 50,000 soldiers in the Israeli military hold at least one other citizenship, with a majority of them holding US or European passports, information obtained by the Israeli NGO Hatzlacha through Israel’s Freedom of Information Law has revealed.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 72,061 people in military actions that have been dubbed war crimes and crimes against humanity by rights groups.

Rights organisations around the world have been trying to identify and prosecute foreign nationals, many of whom have posted videos of their abuse on social media, for their involvement in war crimes, particularly in Gaza.

So, what does the first such data reveal about the Israeli military? And what could be the legal implications for dual-national soldiers?

Which foreign nationals enlist most in the Israeli military?

At least 12,135 soldiers enlisted in the Israeli military hold United States passports, topping the list by a huge margin. That is in addition to 1,207 soldiers who possess another passport in addition to their US and Israeli ones.

The data – shared with Al Jazeera by Israeli lawyer Elad Man, who serves as the legal counsel for Hatzlacha – shows that 6,127 French nationals serve in the Israeli military.

The Israeli military, which shared such data for the first time, noted that soldiers holding multiple citizenships are counted more than once in the breakdown.

The numbers show service members enlisted in the military as of March 2025, 17 months into Israel’s devastating war in Gaza.

Russia stands at third, with 5,067 nationals serving in the Israeli military, followed by 3,901 Ukrainians and 1,668 Germans.

The data revealed that 1,686 soldiers in the military held dual British-Israeli citizenship, in addition to 383 other soldiers who held another passport in addition to their British and Israeli ones.

South Africa, which brought a case of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also had 589 of its citizens serving in the Israeli military ranks.

Furthermore, 1,686 soldiers hold Brazilian citizenship, 609  Argentine, 505 Canadian, 112 Colombian, and 181 Mexican, in addition to their Israeli nationality.

Israel’s military comprises an estimated 169,000 active personnel and 465,000 reservists – of whom nearly eight percent hold dual or multiple citizenships.

Can dual nationals be tried for war crimes in Gaza?

Ilias Bantekas, a professor of transnational law at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera that “war crimes incur criminal liability under international law, irrespective of what the law of nationality says”.

Otherwise, Nazi Germans, whose law allowed and obliged them to commit atrocities, would incur no liability, Bantekas added. “Dual nationality is immaterial to criminal liability,” he said.

However, the major issue in prosecuting the accused “is getting [them] on your territory and putting them before a court”, he noted.

Bantekas also added that there is no difference in the question of liability between native soldiers and those of dual nationalities.

Dual nationals, in fact, “may in addition be liable under laws that prevent military service in foreign conflicts or joining armies of other nations”, the professor said.

Prosecuting foreign nationals has been “pretty much the norm”, he noted.

“Think of Nazi Germans tried by Allied war crimes tribunals after World War II, Japanese officers tried by US military courts, and crimes committed during the Bosnian conflict where alleged offenders were tried by various courts in Europe,” Bantekas told Al Jazeera.

Last May, the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office said that allegations of war crimes should be submitted to the Metropolitan Police.

“The UK recognises the right of British dual nationals to serve in the legitimately recognised armed forces of the country of their other nationality,” it said. “Allegations of war crimes should be submitted to the Met Police for investigation.”

Have foreign nationals been tried for Gaza war crimes?

Nationals with dual or multiple citizenships have not yet been arrested for committing war crimes in Gaza. But rights groups, including lawyers, are trying to get them prosecuted.

In the UK last April, the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and the UK-based Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) filed a 240-page report to the Metropolitan Police.

Accusations against the 10 British individuals, whose names have not been publicly disclosed, include murder, forcible transfer of people, and attacks on humanitarian personnel, between October 2023 and May 2024.

In September last year, a case was filed in Germany against a 25-year-old soldier, born and raised in Munich, for participating in the killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, by PCHR, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), Al-Haq, and the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights.

The sniper, with shootings documented near Gaza’s al-Quds and Nasser hospitals between November 2023 and March 2024, was a member of a unit known as “Refaim”, “ghost” in Hebrew.

Legal proceedings against members of the same unit are also under way in France, Italy, South Africa, and Belgium.

The Belgian public prosecutor’s office also opened a judicial investigation last October into a 21-year-old Belgian-Israeli citizen, a member of Refaim.

The mandatory military service law in Israel exempts dual nationals residing abroad, making the enlistment a voluntary act, an important distinction when such crimes are tried in foreign courts. Lawyers have reportedly noted that the voluntary nature of the soldiers’ service makes them more liable for alleged crimes.

What does international law say about soldiers in foreign wars?

South Africa brought its case to the ICJ in December 2023, arguing that Israel’s war in Gaza violates the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

While a final ruling could take years, the ICJ issued provisional measures in January 2024 ordering Israel to take steps to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza and to allow unimpeded access for humanitarian aid. But Israel has continued curb the supply of aid into Gaza in violation of the ICJ interim order.

Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, countries that are party to the treaty have a binding obligation to prevent and punish genocide. Countries can investigate and prosecute individuals who may have committed or been complicit in this crime.

In March last year, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) announced the “Global 195” campaign to hold Israeli and dual-national individuals accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The coalition aims to work simultaneously within multiple jurisdictions to apply for private arrest warrants and initiate legal proceedings against those implicated, including the Israeli military members and the entire Israeli military and political command in its scope.

For countries that are parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), there is an additional layer, where the ICC can assert its jurisdiction. Palestine has been a state party since 2015.

The State of Palestine is recognised as a sovereign nation by 157 of the 193 UN member states, representing 81 percent of the international community. Most recently, it has been recognised by France, Belgium, Canada, Australia, and the UK.

A foreign national, whose country considers Palestine a “friendly state”, would also be vulnerable to prosecution for participating in the Israeli military’s war crimes in Gaza.

How is the Hind Rajab Foundation tracking alleged war criminals?

The Hind Rajab Foundation – named to honour a five-year-old Palestinian girl whose killing by Israeli soldiers on January 29, 2024 became emblematic of Israel’s genocide in Gaza – has been amassing troves of data with identifiable information about Israeli soldiers.

The Belgium-based foundation is the force behind an international effort for accountability over war crimes in Gaza – and has since filed several cases, including a landmark challenge targeting 1,000 Israeli soldiers.

The foundation identified numerous individuals with dual citizenship, including 12 from France, 12 from the US, four from Canada, three from the UK, and two from the Netherlands, in the complaint.

The foundation has scoured TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, where the Israeli soldiers boast about atrocities in Gaza, to collect information on the soldiers. It has been using those pieces of evidence to pursue the trail of the accused for war crimes.

“We are in possession of many more profiles of dual nationals beyond the 1,000 soldiers named in our complaint to the ICC. We will be pursuing legal action against all of them in the national courts of their respective countries,” the foundation had said in October 2024. “Impunity must end, everywhere.”

The Hind Rajab Foundation says it pursues criminal accountability for Israeli war criminals, from those who planned and ordered operations to those who executed them, including foreign nationals who have participated in or financed these crimes.

Its founder, Dyab Abou Jahjah, was also threatened by Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli, who told him to “watch your pager” in a post on X, an allusion to deadly attacks on Hezbollah members’ communication systems in September 2024. At least 12 people were killed and more than 3,000 people were wounded when thousands of pagers were detonated by Israeli operatives during those attacks.

In January last year, a complaint filed by the Hind Rajab Foundation led to a Brazilian judge ordering an investigation into an Israeli soldier vacationing in the country. The soldier had to flee, prompting the Israeli military to order all troops who participated in combat to conceal their identities.

“Criminal liability under international law cannot be dissolved by time bars. It extends forever, and no statute of limitations is applicable,” said Bantekas of Hamad Bin Khalifa University.

However, prosecuting Israeli military members “is practically difficult for two reasons”, he said, noting the difficulty of obtaining firsthand evidence and the wariness of national prosecutors who may fear political or other repercussions.

“If public opinion and political opinion in Europe shifts far more in favour of Palestine than it is now, then national prosecutions will feel more at ease to initiate prosecutions,” he told Al Jazeera.

French filmmaker Frank Barat is among 100 artists, including Mark Ruffalo, who’ve signed an open letter in support of Francesca Albanese who faces growing calls from European governments to step down as UN rapporteur. It comes after a fake video of her sparked allegations of anti-Semitism.

Limits to pardon powers

But there are limits to presidential clemency, and already, Trump has brushed against them.

In December, Trump announced that he would pardon Tina Peters, a former county clerk in Colorado who supported Trump’s false claims of voter fraud during the 2020 election.

Peters, however, was also convicted of state-level crimes, after she used her office to allow an unauthorised person to access her county’s election software.

A president may only pardon federal charges, not state ones. Peters continues to serve a nine-year prison sentence. Still, Trump has sought to pressure Colorado officials to release her.

“She did nothing wrong,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “If she is not released, I am going to take harsh measures!!!”

While Trump has argued that presidents have the “complete power to pardon”, legal experts have repeatedly affirmed that clemency is not without bounds.

Pardons, for example, cannot be used to avoid impeachment or to undercut the Constitution, nor can they be used to absolve future crimes.

Still, the question remains how to enforce those limits — and whether new bulwarks should be created to prevent abuse.

Love points to the state pardon systems as models to emulate. Delaware, for example, has a Board of Pardons that hears petitions in public meetings and makes recommendations to the governor. More than half of the petitions are granted.

Like other successful clemency systems, Love said it offers public accountability.

She measures that accountability by certain standards: “Can people see what’s going on? Do they know what the standards are, and is the decider a respected and responsible decision-maker?”

Trump’s sweeping actions, however, have prompted calls for presidential pardons to be limited or eliminated altogether.

Osler cautions against doing so: It would be a “permanent solution to a temporary problem”.

“If we constrain clemency, we’ll lose all the good things that come from it,” Osler said.

EXPLAINER

The dawn-to-dusk fast lasts anywhere from 11.5 to 15.5 hours, depending on where in the world you are.

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan is set to begin on February 18 or 19, depending on the sighting of the crescent moon.

During the month, which lasts 29 or 30 days, Muslims observing the fast will refrain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk, typically for a period of 12 to 15 hours, depending on their location.

Muslims believe Ramadan is the month when the first verses of the Quran were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad more than 1,400 years ago.

The fast entails abstinence from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual relations during daylight hours to achieve greater “taqwa”, or consciousness of God.

Why does Ramadan start on different dates every year?

Ramadan begins 10 to 12 days earlier each year. This is because the Islamic calendar is based on the lunar Hijri calendar, with months that are 29 or 30 days long.

For nearly 90 percent of the world’s population living in the Northern Hemisphere, the number of fasting hours will be a bit shorter this year and will continue to decrease until 2031, when Ramadan will encompass the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.

For fasting Muslims living south of the equator, the number of fasting hours will be longer than last year.

Because the lunar year is shorter than the solar year by 11 days, Ramadan will be observed twice in the year 2030 – first beginning on January 5 and then starting on December 26.

Fasting hours around the world

The number of daylight hours varies across the world.

Since it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, this Ramadan, people living there will have the shortest fasts, lasting about 12 to 13 hours on the first day, with the duration increasing throughout the month.

People in southern countries like Chile, New Zealand, and South Africa will have the longest fasts, lasting about 14 to 15 hours on the first day. However, the number of fasting hours will decrease throughout the month.

Fasting times around the world

The table below shows the number of fasting hours, suhoor and iftar times on the first and last days of Ramadan 2026. Use the arrows or search box to find your city.

Ramadan greetings in different languages

Muslim-majority nations have various greetings in their native languages for Ramadan.

“Ramadan Mubarak” and “Ramadan Kareem” are the most common greetings exchanged in this period, wishing the recipient a blessed or generous month, respectively.

Iraqi authorities confirm the transfer, saying detainees of 61 nationalities have arrived in the country.

The United States has announced the completion of the transfer of more than 5,700 suspected ISIL (ISIS) detainees from Syria to Iraq.

“The 23-day transfer mission began on Jan 21 and resulted in US forces successfully transporting more than 5,700 adult male ISIS fighters from detention facilities in Syria to Iraqi custody,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on X on Saturday.

The operation was completed after a night flight from northeastern Syria to Iraq took place on February 12, “to help ensure ISIS detainees remain secure in detention facilities”, CENTCOM added.

The US had previously announced it would transfer about 7,000 detainees.

The detainees from some 60 countries had for years been held in Syrian prisons run by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) before the recapture of surrounding territory by the Syrian government prompted the US to step in.

ISIL swept across Syria and Iraq in 2014, committing massacres and forcing women and girls into sexual slavery.

Backed by US-led forces, Iraq proclaimed a victory over ISIL in the country in 2017, and the SDF ultimately defeated the armed group in Syria two years later.

The SDF went on to jail thousands of suspected fighters and detain tens of thousands of their relatives in camps.

Iraq’s National Centre for International Judicial Cooperation (NCIJC) said 5,704 ISIL detainees of 61 nationalities had arrived in Iraq. They include 3,543 Syrians, 467 Iraqis, and another 710 detainees from other Arab countries.

There are also more than 980 foreigners, including those from Europe, Asia, Australia and the US.

“We appreciate Iraq’s leadership and recognition that transferring the detainees is essential to regional security,” said CENTCOM head, Admiral Brad Cooper. “Job well done to the entire Joint Force team who executed this exceptionally challenging mission on the ground and in the air.”

The NCIJC said Iraq’s judiciary will interrogate the detainees before taking legal action against them.

Last month, Syrian troops drove the SDF from swaths of northern Syria, prompting questions over the fate of the ISIL prisoners. Lingering doubts about security pushed the US to announce it would transfer them to Iraq to prevent “a breakout” that could threaten the region.

Iraq has issued calls for countries to repatriate their nationals among the ISIL detainees, though this appears unlikely.

For years, the SDF also called on foreign governments to take back their citizens, but this was done on a small scale and remained limited to women and children held in detention camps.

Most foreign families have left northeast Syria’s al-Hol camp, which is the largest camp holding relatives of ISIL fighters, since the departure of the SDF, which previously guarded it, humanitarian sources told the AFP news agency on Thursday.

Al Jazeera’s Assad Beig said the al-Hol camp, established in 2019 after ISIL was defeated in Syria, developed a “notorious reputation” over the years.

“Aid workers documented the killings and underground ISIL enforcement groups, while security officials warned it was a breeding ground for future armed groups,” he said.

Palestinian Columbia protester Leqaa Kordia says she was chained to a hospital bed in “dehumanising” conditions after having a seizure in ICE custody and was kept from her lawyers and family for days. Advocates say authorities are going to “extraordinary lengths” to detain her.

Tehran, Iran – Iran and the United States are presenting clashing views before expected talks as diaspora Iranians rally across the world to demand action after thousands were killed during last month’s nationwide protests.

Amid reports that a second round of mediated talks may take place over the coming days, Washington has maintained it wants to limit Iran’s missile programme and end all its nuclear enrichment. Iran has consistently rejected both demands, saying it could dilute highly enriched uranium – all said to be buried under rubble after being bombed by the US in June – in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

US President Donald Trump said at the White House on Friday that he is sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, adding that “regime change” in Iran would be the “best thing that could happen”.

Speaking at a conference in Tehran on Saturday aimed at attracting regional investment for railroad projects, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian thanked the leaders of Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and others for mediating to prevent a US military attack.

“All of these countries are working so that we can resolve our own problems with peace and calm, and we are able to do this. We do not need a custodian,” Pezeshkian said, warning that a war would impact the entire Middle East.

Major rallies in US, Europe

A large number of Iranians abroad who are opposed to the theocratic establishment governing Iran since a 1979 revolution participated in rallies across the world on Saturday to demand an end to religious rule.

Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran’s US-backed shah who was deposed in the revolution, called on Iranians living abroad to be part of a “global day of action” aimed at “taking Iran back” from the Islamic Republic. He also addressed the Munich Security Conference in Germany and met with leaders such as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and senior US Senator Lindsey Graham.

The three main cities designated for the protests were Munich, Los Angeles and Toronto. Iranians also marched in cities in Australia, including Sydney and Melbourne.

A similar rally last month in Toronto saw more than150,000 people in attendance and no adverse incidents, according to city police. About 100,000 people registered early to attend the Munich rally on Saturday.

The rallies are some of the largest ever held by the Iranian diaspora and the biggest since demonstrations in solidarity with the deadly 2022-2023 nationwide protests in Iran, triggered by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, for allegedly wearing the mandatory hijab for women improperly.

The latest protests were held days after the Iranian establishment organised demonstrations and burned the flags of Israel and the US to mark the 47th anniversary of the 1979 revolution.

“They killed my innocent girl for a few strands of hair and nobody was held accountable, but now they record women with bare heads and so-called unconventional attire in their official ceremonies and nobody yells that Islam is in danger,” Amini’s father wrote in an Instagram story after state television interviewed a pro-establishment woman without a hijab.

Since the killing of thousands of protesters last month, mostly carried out on the nights of January 8-9, similar rallies have been held to raise awareness in dozens of cities across the globe, including The Hague, Zurich, Rome, Budapest and Tokyo.

The United Nations and international human rights organisations said they documented widespread use of lethal force by state forces against peaceful protesters. But the Iranian government rejected all their allegations, claiming “terrorists” and “rioters” armed and funded by the US and Israel were behind the killings across Iran.

Families united in grief, strength

From Kuhchenar county in southern Iran’s Fars province to central Arak and Mashhad in the northeast, families continue to release footage online to commemorate their loved ones killed during the demonstrations.

Behesht-e Zahra, a cemetery in Tehran, was crowded on Friday as people gathered in solidarity with multiple families holding mourning ceremonies to mark “chehelom”, or 40 days since the killing of their loved ones.

Bereaved relatives somberly clapped, played music and showed the “victory” sign in an attempt to express pride, strength and defiance despite their losses.

Among those remembered were Ayda Heydari, 21, a medical student, and Zahra “Raha” Behloulipour, who attended Tehran University. Both were shot and killed with multiple live rounds in separate incidents.

The state-run Mehr news agency reported Heydari was “a victim of Mossad agents in recent riots” and released a short clip of an interview with her family. Heydari’s mother said her daughter was not a “munafiq”, a term the Islamic Republic uses to describe dissidents.

Mohammad-Hossein Omid, head of Tehran University, last week told the semiofficial ISNA news agency that “most” of the people taking part in the nationwide demonstrations were “protesters not terrorists”.

Concerns for prisoners

The Iranian judiciary confirmed on Saturday that a number of senior reformist politicians arrested last week for criticising the establishment were released on bail while others remained behind bars to face previous charges.

Vahid Shalchi, a deputy science minister, cited judiciary officials as saying “a considerable” number of arrested students will be released soon but did not say how many are being held.

Tens of thousands of people have been arrested during and after the protests, and human rights organisations said some are in immediate danger of being executed – allegations the Iranian judiciary has rejected.

Amnesty International said 18-year-old wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi has been sentenced to public execution in Qom after being forced to make confessions about being involved in the death of a security agent.

Mai Sato – UN special rapporteur on Iran, who previously said more than 20,000 civilians may have been killed during the demonstrations – said three other people face execution and “What is happening now is not new.”

“The same patterns documented in those individual cases are being replicated on a mass scale after the nationwide protests,” she said.

A specific casualty toll from the demonstrations is unknown as information remains extremely limited because of ongoing heavy internet filtering.

Two of curling’s best men’s teams, Sweden and Canada, involved in fiery and controversial match at Winter Olympics.

The often sedate world of curling has gotten heated at the Winter Olympics as cheating allegations and audible swear words overshadowed a feisty match between two of the best men’s teams.

Canada’s Marc Kennedy got offended when he was accused by Swedish rival Oskar Eriksson of “double-touching” – essentially, touching the rock again after initially releasing it down the sheet of ice – during Canada’s 8-6 win in round-robin play late on Friday.

Kennedy repeatedly used expletives to deny he broke any rules. The match came to a brief standstill as fingers were pointed and Kennedy argued with members of the Swedish team across the ice.

“I don’t like being accused of cheating after 25 years on tour and four Olympic Games,” the 44-year-old Kennedy said.

“So,” he added, “I told him where to stick it. Because we’re the wrong team to do that to.”

Eriksson said he simply wanted everyone to “play by the same rules”.

“We want a game that is as sportsmanlike, honest and clean as possible,” he said, “so we call it out as soon as I see that the Canadian No 2 is, in my eyes, there poking the stone.”

The rules state that a stone must be delivered using the handle that sits on top of the rock and that it must be released from the hand before it reaches the hog line. At the Olympics, that is the thick green line at each end.

Replays appeared to show Kennedy releasing the stone using the handle, then touching it again with an outstretched finger as it approached the hog line.

In the early ends of the match, Sweden notified the officials of their complaints. An official then remained at the hog line to monitor Canada’s curlers, and no action was taken. Curling does not use video replays.

World Curling did not take any action against either team.

Cable seen by Al Jazeera says the US ‘strongly objects’ to the island nation seeking support for ICJ’s landmark climate ruling.

The United States is urging governments to pressure Vanuatu to withdraw a United Nations draft resolution supporting a landmark International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that countries have a legal obligation to act on climate change.

A US State Department cable seen by Al Jazeera on Saturday says that the Trump administration “strongly objects” to the proposed resolution being circulated by the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu in support of last year’s ruling by the ICJ – the UN’s top court.

The Associated Press news agency, which also reported on the cable, said that it was circulated to all US embassies and consulates this week, shortly after Vanuatu announced it was putting forward the draft UN resolution for consideration.

“We are strongly urging Vanuatu to immediately withdraw its draft resolution and cease attempting to wield the Court’s Advisory Opinion as a basis for creating an avenue to pursue any misguided claims of international legal obligations,” a copy of the cable seen by Al Jazeera states.

The ICJ’s 15 judges considered tens of thousands of pages of written submissions and two weeks of oral arguments during the court’s biggest-ever case, before delivering their verdict last year that states have a legal obligation to act on the “existential threat” of climate change.

The ICJ case took place after Vanuatu won the support of 132 countries in the UN General Assembly, which can request opinions from The Hague-based court.

It also came as the Trump administration has sought to undo US action on climate change, both at home and at the UN.

The US cable claims that Vanuatu’s proposed UN resolution in support of the ICJ opinion was based on “speculative climate models to fabricate purported legal obligations that seek to assign blame and encourage baseless claims”.

Louis Charbonneau, Human Rights Watch’s director at the UN, urged support for Vanuatu’s draft resolution on Friday, saying “governments should live up to their obligation” to protect human rights around the world by protecting the environment.

“Responsible governments shouldn’t allow themselves to be bullied by those that reject the global scientific consensus and continue to support reliance on harmful fossil fuels,” he said.

Vanuatu’s UN Ambassador Odo Tevi, who said his country wants a vote on the resolution by the end of March, has stressed that it would ensure that the clarity in the ICJ ruling “strengthens global climate action and multilateral cooperation”.

An article in Vanuatu’s Daily Post newspaper said that the draft resolution has been endorsed by countries including Barbados, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Jamaica, Kenya, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Netherlands, Palau, the Philippines, Singapore and Sierra Leone.

Many of these countries are already experiencing the worsening effects of climate change, including increasingly severe storms.

Trump, who has promised to “drill, baby drill” for oil in his second term, has withdrawn the US from UN climate bodies, including the UN’s top climate change treaty body, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Trump has also threatened to impose sanctions on diplomats who voted for a levy on polluting shipping fuels at the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

New opinion poll finds seven in 10 US adults disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of Greenland issue.

Denmark’s prime minister and Greenland’s premier met ⁠with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio and agreed that talks would be pursued on the running of Greenland, the semi-autonomous Danish territory that President Donald Trump has threatened to take over.

Rubio held a 15-minute meeting with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s Premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday.

Greenland’s leader Nielsen said in a post on social media that during the meeting with Rubio, “it was emphasised that the conversations being made are the right way forward and the interests of Greenland were once again clearly highlighted”.

Prime Minister Frederiksen said on X after the meeting: “Constructive talk with Secretary of State Marco Rubio together with Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Chairman of Naalakkersuisut, at the Munich Security Conference.”

“Work will continue as agreed in the high-level working group,” she said.

The meeting between the Danish and Greenlandic leaders and the US state secretary comes amid severely strained ties between Europe and Washington, and NATO allies, amid President Trump’s repeated threats to take over Greenland and criticism of European nations as “decaying” and “weak”.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump said, “We’re negotiating ‌right ‌now for Greenland.”

“I ‌think Greenland’s going to want us, but we get along very well with Europe. We’ll see how it all works out,” he said.

After months of bellicose language regarding the US’s necessity to acquire Greenland, Trump abruptly stepped back from his threats last month, saying that he had reached an understanding with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte that would give the US greater influence in the mineral-rich Arctic territory.

Late last month, the US, Denmark and Greenland also launched talks to find a diplomatic path out of the crisis.

Poll finds most US adults disapprove of Trump’s Greenland plan

The US administration has cited key national security concerns related to Russia and China to justify its demand to take control over Greenland and has accused Denmark, and Europe more broadly, of being unable to defend the strategic territory.

But, according to a new opinion poll conducted by The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, Trump’s push to seize control of Greenland has gone down badly with the US public and members of his own party.

The survey, conducted between February 5-8, found that about seven in 10 US adults disapprove of how Trump is handling the Greenland issue – a higher disapproval rating than the share of those who dislike how he is handling foreign policy generally.

Even among Republican supporters, about half disapprove of his attempt to turn Greenland into US territory, according to the poll.

Sweden said on Thursday that it would send fighter jets to patrol Greenland as part of a newly launched NATO mission in the Arctic aimed at placating Trump’s concerns over the threats posed by Moscow and Beijing.

The government said in a statement that Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets would patrol Greenland as part of the newly-launched NATO mission, Arctic Sentry.

“As a NATO ally, Sweden has a responsibility to contribute to the security of the entire territory of the Alliance. The Arctic region is becoming increasingly important from a strategic perspective,” Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said.

In a separate statement, the Swedish Armed Forces said the fighter jets would be based out of Iceland, where six aircraft have been stationed since early February as part of the rotating incident response force, NATO Air Policing.

Swedish special forces would also be sent to Greenland to take part in training exercises for a couple of weeks, the military said.

A fire at a key fuel refinery in the capital comes amid Cuba’s mounting fuel emergency due to US-imposed restrictions.

A fire broke out at a key fuel processing plant in the Cuban capital Havana, threatening to exacerbate an energy crisis as the country struggles under an oil blockade imposed by the United States.

A large plume of smoke was seen rising above Havana Bay from the Nico Lopez refinery on Friday, drawing the attention of the capital’s residents before fading as fire crews fought to bring the situation under control.

Cuba’s Ministry of Energy and Mines said the fire, which erupted in a warehouse at the refinery, was eventually extinguished and that “the cause is under investigation”. There were no injuries and the fire did not spread to nearby areas, the ministry said in a post on social media.

“The workday at the Nico Lopez Refinery continues with complete normalcy,” the ministry said.

The location of the fire was close to where two oil tankers were moored in Havana’s harbour.

Cuba, which has been in a severe economic crisis for years, relied heavily on oil imports from Venezuela, which have been cut off since the abduction of the country’s leader Nicolas Maduro by United States forces last month.

US President Donald Trump has also threatened Cuba’s government and passed a recent executive order allowing for trade tariffs on any country that supplies oil to the island.

The country has seen widespread power outages due to the lack of fuel. Bus and train services have been cut, some hotels have closed, schools and universities have been restricted, and public sector workers are on a four-day work week. Staffing at hospitals was also cut back.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned last week of a humanitarian “collapse” in Cuba if its energy needs go unmet.

On Thursday, two Mexican navy vessels carrying more than 800 tonnes of humanitarian aid arrived in Havana, underscoring the nation’s growing need for humanitarian assistance amid the tightening US stranglehold on fuel.

Experts in maritime transport tracking told the AFP news agency that no foreign fuel or oil tankers have arrived in Cuba in weeks.

Cuba can only produce about one-third of its total fuel requirements.

Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos de Cossio accused the US of carrying out “massive punishment” against the Cuban people in a post on social media Friday.

Cuba requires imports of fuel and “the US is applying threats [and] coercive measures against any country that provides it”, the deputy minister said.

“Lack of fuel harms transportation, medical services, schooling, energy, production of food, the standard of living,” he said.

“Massive punishment is a crime,” he added.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has said her government seeks to “open the doors for dialogue to develop” between Cuba and the US and has criticised Washington’s oil restrictions as “unfair”.

A United States court has ordered the administration of President Donald Trump to facilitate the return of a Babson College student, Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, who was wrongfully deported last year.

In his ruling on Tuesday, US District Judge Richard Stearns gave the government two weeks to take steps to bring Lopez Belloza back.

He framed the order as an opportunity to correct a “mistake” – but he did not rule out holding the government in contempt if it failed to take the necessary actions.

“Wisdom counsels that redemption may be found by acknowledging and fixing our own errors,” Stearns wrote.

“In this unfortunate case, the government commendably admits that it did wrong. Now it is time for the government to make amends.”

A surprise trip turned deportation

Lopez Belloza, 19, was arrested on November 20 by immigration agents at Boston’s Logan airport.

The college freshman had been preparing to board a flight home to her family in Texas to surprise them for the Thanksgiving holiday.

She has since told The Associated Press news agency that she was denied access to a lawyer after her initial detention at the airport. The immigration agent told her she would need to sign a deportation document first, according to Lopez Belloza, who said she denied the offer.

For the next two nights, she said she was kept by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a holding room with 17 other women, without enough room to lie down.

Then, she was loaded onto a deportation flight, which took her to Texas, then to her native Honduras, on November 22.

“I was numb the whole plane ride,” Lopez Belloza told the AP. “I just kept questioning myself. Why is it happening to me?”

Her lawyers, however, had obtained during that time a court order barring her removal from Massachusetts for 72 hours. Lopez Belloza’s deportation violated that court order.

She has remained in Honduras for the last two and a half months, while legal challenges over her case proceeded.

A legal battle

In court, the Trump administration has apologised for the error in Lopez Belloza’s case, acknowledging that a mistake was indeed made.

“On behalf of the government, we want to sincerely apologise,” prosecutor Mark Sauter told the court.

But Sauter rejected accusations that the government wilfully defied the 72-hour court order, saying that Lopez Belloza’s deportation was the mistake of one ICE agent and not an act of judicial defiance.

The government has also argued that Lopez Belloza was subject to a removal order before her November 20 arrest and therefore should not be returned to the US.

Lopez Belloza was brought to the US from Honduras when she was eight years old, and in 2016, she and her mother were ordered to be deported.

But the college freshman said she had no knowledge of any deportation order and has told the media that her previous legal representation had assured her there was no removal order against her.

Nevertheless, the Trump administration has rejected efforts to bring Lopez Belloza back to the country, even on a student visa.

In a February 6 court filing, US Attorney Leah B Foley wrote that a student visa “is unfeasible as the Secretary of State lacks authority to adjudicate visa applications and issue visas”.

“In any event,” Foley added, “Petitioner appears ineligible for a student visa.” She explained that Lopez Belloza “would remain subject to detention and removal if returned to the United States”.

The filing ended with a warning to the court to “refrain from ordering Respondents to return Petitioner to the status quo because this Court lacks authority”.

The Trump administration has questioned the authority of federal courts to intervene in immigration-related matters.

A series of mistakes

Critics, meanwhile, have accused the Trump administration of repeatedly failing to heed court orders it disagrees with.

Lopez Belloza’s case is not the first instance of an immigrant being wrongfully deported since the start of Trump’s second term.

Trump had campaigned on a pledge of mass deportation, and he has followed through with that promise, leading a series of controversial immigration crackdowns that have been accused of violating due process rights.

One of the most high-profile cases came in March 2025, when his administration wrongfully deported a Salvadoran father named Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who lived in Maryland with his wife, a US citizen.

Abrego Garcia had been subject to a 2019 court order barring his removal from the US on the basis that he could face gang violence in El Salvador.

But he was nevertheless sent back to the country and was briefly held in El Salvador’s Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT), a maximum-security prison.

On April 10, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration must “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return, largely upholding a lower court’s decision.

But the Trump administration initially argued Abrego Garcia was outside of its power. Then, on June 6, it abruptly announced Abrego Garcia had been returned, only to file criminal charges against him and seek his deportation a second time.

Another case involved a Guatemalan man, identified only by his initials OCG.

He had been under a court protection order that barred him from being returned to Guatemala, for fear that his identity as a gay man would subject him to persecution.

But the Trump administration detained and deported him instead to Mexico, which in turn sent him back to Guatemala. He subsequently went into hiding for his safety.

In June, OCG was returned to the US after a court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return. It also noted that OCG’s deportation “lacked any semblance of due process”.

Lopez Belloza continues her studies at Babson College remotely from Honduras as she awaits the outcome of her legal proceedings.

Trump did not give a timeline for trip, which would make him the first US president to visit the country since 1997.

Donald Trump has said he plans to become the first sitting United States president to visit Venezuela in nearly three decades.

Trump made the statement to reporters on Friday as he departed White House for the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina, where he met soldiers involved in the US abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3.

“I’m going to make a visit to Venezuela,” Trump said. He offered few details on the planned visit, telling reporters “we haven’t decided” on a date.

Still, the trip would make Trump the first sitting US president since Bill Clinton in 1997 to visit the South American country, which Trump had targeted with crippling sanctions from his first term of 2017 to 2021.

Earlier this week, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright became the first member of Trump’s cabinet to visit Venezuela and meet the government led by Maduro’s replacement, Delcy Rodriguez.

Trump has repeatedly praised Rodriguez, Maduro’s former deputy, while downplaying the prospect of supporting an opposition figure in the wake of Maduro’s abduction.

“They’ve done a great job,” Trump again said on Friday. “The oil is coming out, and a lot of money is being paid.”

For her part, Rodriguez has overseen several concessions to the US, including freezing oil shipments to Cuba, supporting a law to open the state-controlled oil industry to foreign companies, and releasing hundreds of political prisoners.

On Thursday, lawmakers in Venezuela’s parliament debated a bill that would grant amnesty to political prisoners, although it had not passed by Friday.

Easing of sanctions

Also on Friday, the US Department of the Treasury announced it was easing some sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector, the largest reprieve since Maduro’s abduction.

The department issued two general licences, including one that allows Chevron, BP, Eni, Shell, and Repsol to conduct further oil and gas operations in Venezuela. The companies identified already have offices in the country and are among the main partners of state-run oil company PDVSA.

The second licence allows foreign companies to enter new oil and gas investment contracts with PDVSA in Venezuela.

Any contracts would be contingent on separate approval from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and do not extend to Russia, Iran, China or entities owned by nationals of those countries.

Trump has said he is seeking $100bn in foreign investments in Venezuela, while Energy Secretary Wright said early this week that Venezuelan oil sales since Maduro’s capture had hit $1bn ⁠and would reach $5bn in months.

Wright said the US will control the proceeds ⁠from the sales until a “representative government” in Venezuela is established.

UN experts have criticised US influence over the country’s natural resources as a violation of citizens’ right to self-determination.

Speaking during his address on Fort Bragg, Trump also took time to praise the operation to abduct Maduro.

Legal experts have called it a flagrant violation of international law and Venezuela’s sovereignty, regardless of whether Washington viewed Maduro as the country’s legitimate elected leader following disputed elections in 2024.

“Everybody was running for the hills,” Trump said of the January 3 attack, which killed more than 100 Cuban and Venezuelan security personnel, “and that’s what we have. We have the strongest military in the world by far.”