February 7, 2026 - Short News

185 Million Dollars - Spare Parts Instead of Peace!

The US government has approved the sale of military spare parts worth 185 million dollars to Ukraine. It is not about new weapons, but so called Class-IX parts - engines, transmissions, tires, brakes - in other words, the components that make vehicles operational in the first place. While Washington continues to speak of talks and diplomatic efforts, Russia is intensifying its attacks. In recent months, airstrikes have deliberately targeted the power grid. Entire regions are struggling with blackouts, heating failures and disrupted water supplies - in the middle of winter. The war is heading into its fifth year. A breakthrough in the most recent talks is not in sight. The spare parts are not a signal of de escalation, but a sign that this war continues to be fought through attrition. Vehicles are repaired, front lines held, structures temporarily stabilized. Peace looks different.

Departure Without an Answer

Donald Trump leaves the White House bound for Florida. On the driveway he briefly stops, speaks about stock prices and allegedly falling crime rates. Journalists call out questions about the racist video that depicted the Obamas as apes. He does not respond. Instead, he answers questions about elections and rising housing costs. The video had previously been defended. There was talk of “false outrage.” Later it was deleted. After that, it was said that a staff member had posted it. Now comes silence.

Some Republicans are calling for an apology. Criticism is also coming from within his own camp. The president remains silent. No explanation, no distancing. At Joint Base Andrews the same image repeats itself. Before departing on Air Force One, he again does not comment on the incident. While the issue is being publicly debated, the president chooses to look away.

Boos in the Ice Arena

At the opening ceremony of the Winter Games in Italy, Vice President JD Vance is booed. As he waves small US flags together with Usha Vance and greets the American team, loud boos can clearly be heard in the stadium. Commentators speak of a frosty reaction, and the camera quickly shifts back to the athletes. Vance himself speaks of “friendship” and “competition by the rules” and announces talks with the Italian government. But the moment does not belong to diplomatic phrases, but to the sound from the stands.

When asked by a journalist whether he noticed the boos, Donald Trump replies only: “That surprises me, because people like him.” There is no further explanation. Between the reality in the stadium and the perception in the White House there is a gap that cannot be waved away.

Kick During an Operation Against a Small Dog

A recording from Memphis shows a deputy of the US Marshals kicking a small dog away during an operation. The animal runs barking toward the officers. The deputy takes a step forward and pushes it away with his foot. It later becomes known that the dog suffered a broken rib. The owner is stunned. The operation took place as part of the Memphis Safe Task Force, a nationwide initiative launched last summer. Several officers are on site, including a K-9 unit. The US Marshals defend their employee. The kick was not carried out out of malice. The images nevertheless show a moment in which state authority meets a defenseless animal. It is a brief movement that remains.

October 16, 1973 - The Old Allegation Against the Young Trump

On October 16, 1973, the New York Times reported on a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice against the Trump Management Corporation. The allegation: systematic discrimination against Black rental applicants in housing complexes in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. More than 14,000 apartments were part of the company’s portfolio at the time. The defendants were Donald Trump, then president of the company, and his father Fred C. Trump as principal responsible party. The government accused the company of denying apartments to Black applicants or imposing different conditions than on white tenants. The basis was the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which prohibits discrimination in the housing market. Trump rejected the allegations and spoke of unfounded accusations.

In 1975, the case ended with a settlement. There was no admission of guilt, but a commitment to refrain from future discrimination and to implement measures to ensure equal treatment. The date remains documented. The allegations as well. It is part of the early history of a man who later became president. Anyone who today speaks about rhetoric, about “Law and Order” and about alleged fairness cannot ignore these files.

New Flags in the Arctic Wind - Canada and France Move Closer to Greenland

For years, the US representation in Nuuk was a small red office with a star spangled banner, more symbol than power factor. Now the picture is changing. Canada has officially opened its consulate, France is sending a consul general for the first time. Two new flags in the Arctic wind, shortly after Donald Trump publicly spoke about bringing Greenland under American control. For Canada, the presence is obvious. The Inuit in northern Canada and the predominantly Inuit population of Greenland are historically and culturally closely connected, the coasts lie only a few kilometers apart. At the opening, representatives on both sides spoke of kinship, of shared self determination in the High North. Ottawa emphasized long term cooperation in defense, security and climate policy.

France’s move appears more political. Only a few French citizens officially live in Nuuk, yet Paris clearly positions the new representation as a European signal. Greenland is neither up for grabs nor for sale, the French foreign minister stated. The message is directed less at Nuuk than at Washington. In Greenland itself, the situation is sensitive. A poll at the end of January showed that a clear majority does not want to join the United States. Many even expressed concern about military pressure. Against this background, the new consulates are understood as reassurance: the island does not stand alone. Canada is also thinking strategically. Prime Minister Mark Carney recently spoke of a lasting disruption of the international order and called on middle powers to chart their own course. The new presence in Nuuk fits that.

Between Canada and Denmark, to whose kingdom Greenland belongs, there are close ties in any case. Even the decades long dispute over the small Hans Island in the Nares Strait was pragmatically settled in 2022. What once began with flags and abandoned whiskey and schnapps bottles ended with a soberly drawn border line. Greenland is thus no longer just a remote outpost. It has become a geopolitical point on the map where it becomes clear how states react to pressure - with new flags, new alliances and clear words.

Arrests at the Gates of Columbia - Professors Stand Up to ICE

At the gates of Columbia University, faculty, staff and students sat down on the roadway of Broadway and blocked traffic for almost an hour. Around a dozen of them were arrested Thursday afternoon after refusing to comply with police orders. The action was directed against the tightened deportation policy of the Trump administration and against what many perceive as a hesitant stance by the university leadership. About 150 people took part in the protest. Some wore shirts reading “Sanctuary Campus Now.” The arrests proceeded calmly, without the show of force Columbia has often seen in recent years. Those involved are accused of failing to comply with a police order and blocking traffic. A few hours later they were released, and a court date has been scheduled.

Among those arrested was lecturer Mila Rosenthal. She referred to the events in Minneapolis and spoke of fear being carried into communities through ICE operations. Jennifer S. Hirsch, professor of sociomedical sciences, also deliberately allowed herself to be arrested. She criticized that the university had not clearly enough rejected earlier arrests of students. A large portion of the student body comes from abroad. Many are worried about their immigration status and about checks in everyday life. Students report that friends now carry their documents with them at all times. The university leadership rejects accusations of cooperating with ICE and emphasizes that it acts within the law and does not request operations on campus.

The conflict has been simmering since the protest waves of recent years. New security rules, closed campus gates and a controversial deal to resume research funding have left mistrust behind. Columbia is once again a scene of a larger dispute: how far does the protection of a university extend when federal authorities rely on deterrence.

Without a Safety Net - Trump Lets New START Expire

For five decades, Washington and Moscow at least held onto a thread when it came to nuclear weapons. Treaties were extended, arsenals limited, inspections made possible. From around 70,000 warheads in the 1980s, the number worldwide fell to about 12,500. That line has now snapped. The last major agreement, New START, which since 2011 limited strategic weapons to 1,550 deployed warheads each, has expired - without extension. Donald Trump instead announces a “new, improved and modernized” agreement. His assistant secretary of state for arms control, Thomas DiNanno, spoke in Geneva of a multilateral approach in which, in addition to Russia, other nuclear powers are to be involved. China is in focus. Beijing has already declared that it will not currently participate in disarmament negotiations.

The idea of bringing all nuclear states to the table sounds ambitious. In reality, the arsenals are unevenly distributed: the United States possesses around 3,700 warheads, Russia about 4,300, China around 600 with a rising trend. Other states such as India, Pakistan, Israel or North Korea also play a role, but are not part of the previous architecture. Each additional party makes negotiations more complicated, more prolonged and politically risky. Added to this is that Washington in recent years has withdrawn from several arms control agreements and itself relies on new technologies such as hypersonic and space weapons. Without binding upper limits, a vacuum emerges. And in this vacuum, the temptation grows to rearm rather than to limit. What is being sold as “modernization” could in the end be a restart of the nuclear competition - only without the safety net that for decades at least prevented worse.