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Hideki Sato, who led the design of Sega's beloved consoles from the '80s and '90s, died on Friday, according to the Japanese gaming site Beep21. He was 77. Sato worked with Sega from 1971 until the early 2000s, but he's best known for his involvement in the development of the Sega arcade games and home consoles that defined many late Gen X and early millennial childhoods, starting with the SG-1000 to the Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast.  

https://t.co/hClrxLODFU

— Beep21 (@Beep2021) February 14, 2026

Sato went on to serve as Sega's president from 2001 to 2003. In the post announcing his death, Beep21, which interviewed Sato numerous times over the years, wrote (translated from Japanese), "He was truly a great figure who shaped Japanese gaming history and captivated Sega fans all around the world. The excitement and pioneering spirit of that era will remain forever in the hearts and memories of countless fans, for all eternity." Sato's passing comes just a few months after that of Sega co-founder David Rosen, who died in December at age 95. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/hideki-sato-known-as-the-father-of-sega-hardware-has-reportedly-died-230634768.html?src=rss

Rishi Sunak was the UK's last ever Tory PM. At least we hope that's the case, anyway.

After leaving office, Sunak did what most successful politicians do now, and swanned off to work with the worst that the private sector has to offer. This has now seen standards activist Hugh Grant accuse Sunak and the Times of blatant malpractice:

I think that if you're going to write a piece in the Times urging the government to use and boost more AI, the fact that you are paid by a major AI company should be in the first sentence, or at least first paragraph.
I also think that the best scenario for AI is that it… pic.twitter.com/XZ9f0Ltwu1

— Hugh Grant (@HackedOffHugh) February 14, 2026

Every CEO can do one

First things first, CEOs don't exist to improve quality; they exist to improve profitability (as Sunak well knows):

Rishi Sunak (now employed by an AI company) implies that AI must have value, just because "CEOs are talking about it"

Putting the merits (or not) of AI aside, I'm 37yrs into an engineering career and I've yet to hear of a CEO who wasn't an uninformed, meddling idiot. pic.twitter.com/YrS1IthcWi

— Carl Doran

Javier Milei is the libertarian leader of Argentina. If you're unfamiliar with 'libertarianism', it's the childlike belief that everyone can just get their own way all the time, and that people shouldn't look out for one another - just for themselves.

In practice, libertarianism means cutting 'red tape' for businesses so they face no restrictions on how poorly they can treat their workers. This is how that's currently working out in Argentina (complete with quotes from the UK leaders who wish to emulate this chaos):

Nigel Farage on Milei "Doing all the things he's done, that's leadership, he is amazing"

Kemi Badenoch "Javier Milei would be 'template' for my government"

He just cut holiday days to 0, employers can pay in food and 12 hour work days. The result: pic.twitter.com/WgoFxN9EX9

— Jake

Palestinian political prisoners in Ofer prison, near Ramallah in the West Bank, have been brutally abused by the Israeli occupation's repression units. This happened under the instruction and in the presence of criminal far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.

Ben Gvir gives orders for Palestinian political prisoners to be abused while wearing a hangman's noose badge on shirt

The units fired stun grenades and broke into the cells. They violently assaulted the Palestinian hostages, throwing them onto the ground after confiscating their mattresses and bed sheets. Ben Gvir was wearing a hangman's noose badge on his shirt at the time, aiming to show Palestinians, once again, that the Israeli occupation has control over them.

February 2026 figures from the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) show the total number of arrests in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, since the start of the genocide in Gaza has risen to approximately 22,000. These arrests are ongoing and escalating.

On 9 February, Israeli occupation forces detained over 20 Palestinians during a large-scale detention campaign across the occupied West Bank. From the night of 11 February 2026 until the morning of 12 February alone, occupation forces arrested at least 40 civilians across the West Bank.

Between 6 and 12 February 10 Palestinian women were arrested, including one minor across the occupied West Bank. This brings the total number of Palestinian female political prisoners in Israeli occupation jails to 66, including three minors. Since  October 2023, more than 680 women have been arrested in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.

Most common reason for arbitrarily detaining women is "incitement" via social media

According to the PPS, the most common "charge" against Palestinian women is "incitement"' via social media posts. Most female prisoners are held in Damon prison. In addition to the usual abuse suffered by prisoners at the hands of the occupation, they are also denied contact with their children and families, adding to their trauma. Since the start of the genocide in Gaza, female prisoners endure increased humiliation, including forced nostrils searches

The PPS claims these arrests are accompanied by unprecedented crimes and violations. These include "severe beatings, systematic acts of terror against detainees and their families, widespread destruction of homes, confiscating of vehicles, money and gold jewellery, demolition of  prisoner's family homes, and the taking of family members as hostages."

44 Palestinian journalists from the West Bank, occupied Jerusalem and Gaza, are currently being detained  by the occupation. Most are being held without charge and trial, under what the occupation calls "administrative detention". These detention orders are indefinite, and renewed every six months.

Israeli occupation's policy of daily arrests aimed at undermining any form of resistance

Arrests are exploited as a cover to expand settlement activity in the West Bank and, according to the PPS, the policy of daily arrests is "one of the most prominent colonial tools employed by the 'Israeli' system, to target Palestinians and undermine any form of mobilisation or resistance." This policy has affected all segments of Palestinian society.

Under international law, Palestinians have a legal right to resist their occupier, in any way they wish, including by using armed resistance. These resistance fighters are fighting against Zionist colonisers who are intensifying their campaign of illegally displacement, imprisonment, ethnic cleansing and killing against Palestinians. And their struggle against illegal occupation and repression is more important than ever before.

Prisoner's,  released prisoners, and their families are also targeted by discriminatory legislation. Netanyahu has recently signed deportation orders against two Jerusalem Palestinians. The first was released from prison in 2024, after serving 23 years in Israeli occupation prisons. The second is still currently in prison, serving an 18 year sentence, and is set to be deported once released.

The decision is based on a racist law, which aims at undermining Palestinian presence in the territories occupied in 1948 and in occupied Jerusalem. This is known as the Citizenship and Residency Revocation Law, approved by the occupation in 2023. The announcement marks the first time that this law is being implemented  to remove citizens from the state of 'Israel'.

Palestinian detainees are subjected to systematic torture,  medical neglect and deliberate starvation. And the Israeli occupation is now preparing to implement the so called "prisoners execution law". The Palestinian Centre for  Prisoner's Advocacy says that proposing the death penalty under occupation lacks fair trial guarantees, and contravenes international restrictions governing the use of capital punishment.

Thousands of Palestinian prisoners' lives threatened by "prisoner execution law", thanks to Ben Gvir

According to the Hebrew News Channel 13 "Implementation of the law will initially apply to Nukhba [Palestinian resistance fighters and Palestinian hostages] who were involved in the 7 October "attack", and will later apply to those [Palestinian resistance fighters and Palestinian hostages] "convicted of serious attacks" [against colonial Zionist settlers and the Israeli occupation army] in "Judea and Samaria" [the West Bank]."

Channel 13 also said the Israeli Prisoner's Service is expected to travel soon to a country in East Asia to "study the legal and organisational aspects of implementing the [death] penalty." Thousands of Palestinian detainees lives will be threatened by this dangerous escalation.

The systematic torture of these prisoners is an extension of the genocide and ethnic cleansing that occurs openly, on a daily basis against Palestinians. And it is the silence of the international community which empowers the Zionist regime to continue committing these crimes. Urgent action is needed to ensure the Israeli occupation is held to account. International silence only ensures the continuation of this never ending cycle of violence.

Featured image via the Canary

By Charlie Jaay

Yet another UK institution has caved in to the bullying of the Israel lobby. The British Museum has removed the word "Palestine" from its displays after demands from the notorious "apartheid lobby" group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI).

The British Museum caves to the Zionist lobby

Like its fellow lobby group CAA, UKLFI is under investigation for using vexatious lawsuits for political ends. The group was humiliated in January 2026 in its tenth attempt to get Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu-Sitta struck off the medical register. The malicious case failed. But that wasn't all.

The case judge derided UKLFI's argument as biased, unreasonable and unevidenced - adding for good measure that it couldn't even meet the lowest legal standard.

But despite this discrediting judgment, the British Museum folded rather than stand its ground against racist intimidation. UKLFI boasted that the museum is in the process of changing its displays to replace "Palestinian" with "Canaanite". The group's ludicrous argument was that using "Palestine" is "historically inaccurate" and:

erases historical changes and creates a false impression of continuity…

…For example, the information panels in the Levant gallery, covering the period 2000-300 BC, have all been updated to describe in some detail the history of Canaan and the Canaanites and the rise of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel using those names. A revised text devoted to the Phoenicians was installed in early 2025.

Supposedly, the British Museum changes are for "neutrality". Zionists, who support the racist colony established in 1948 by violently expelling at least 700,000 Palestinians from their homes ancestral lands, claim that Palestine never existed. Its adherents even claim that the indigenous people simply simply "abandoned" their homes in 1948.

The group is also being investigated by lawyers' professional body the SRA for "vexatious and baseless" threats to silence support for Palestine.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

This week, our first place winner on the insightful side is MrWilson with a comment about MAGA doing things "for the children":

If conservatives stopped thinking about children so much, the children would be better off and much safer.

In second place, it's an anonymous comment inserting a little optimism into the fear that Section 230 is not long for this world:

Keep in mind that a lot of commenters here did just the same at the 25th anniversary. (Myself included, but not publicly.) All is not yet lost.

For editor's choice on the insightful side, we start out with the comment that sparked the first place winner above, which was actually a reply to Heart of Dawn's comment listing some examples:

Between this, Epstein and his cohorts, being anti-vax and anti-science, doing nothing about gun control, preventing queer kids from learning about themselves and getting support, the abolishment of the Department of Education- when these people "think of the children" it's in the most cruel and callous way possible.

Next, it's a comment from Citizen about the 5th circuit ruling that only citizens get due process rights:

Catch-22?

So if ICE grabs me and whisks me off to a detention center in Texas, how exactly would I go about proving my citizenship and getting released? According to ICE in this hypothetical scenario, I'm not a citizen, and according to the Fifth Circuit, that means I have no due process rights, meaning I can't contest ICE's claim, correct? Unless I'm missing something here, in this hypothetical scenario, any citizen grabbed by mistake-or, God forbid, grabbed by "mistake"-can only be released if ICE chooses to admit that they're a citizen.

Over on the funny side, our first place winner is Mars42 with a comment about the disastrous data leak by an AI toy company:

I have always been told that the "S" in IOT stands for security.

In second place, it's an anonymous comment from one of several people who were not a fan of a guest post from R Street this week:

How do we flag an article for being trolling/spam?

For editor's choice on the funny side, we start out with another anonymous comment, this time on our post about RFK Jr. apparently lying to congress about his 2019 trip to Samoa:

Maybe it will save time to just note when the US government tells the truth

Finally, it's Thad with a quip on our post about NBC hiding the crowd reaction that JD Vance garnered at the Winter Olympics:

Fake boos.

That's all for this week, folks!

If you've been wondering what's next for Netflix's Terminator Zero in the time since its first season, we finally have an update, and it's a bummer. Responding to a fan on social media, showrunner Mattson Tomlin said this weekend that the show has been canceled. Despite being generally well received, Tomlin noted that "at the end of the day not nearly enough people watched it."

It was cancelled. The critical and audience reception to it was tremendous, but at the end of the day not nearly enough people watched it. I would've loved to deliver on the Future War I had planned in season's 2 and 3, but I'm also very happy with how it feels contained as is. https://t.co/Dh7G6gkBF7 pic.twitter.com/dqCSXHIytg

— mattson tomlin (@mattsontomlin) February 13, 2026

Season one of Terminator Zero was released in August 2024 and focused on the events around Judgment Day — August 29, 1997, as established in Terminator 2 — and its aftermath, jumping forward to 2022, more than two decades into a war between humans and machines. In the post about the show's cancellation, Tomlin wrote, "I would've loved to deliver on the Future War I had planned in season's 2 and 3, but I'm also very happy with how it feels contained as is."

Tomlin went on to praise the marketing team in additional replies for "trying to really make the show work," as well as the hundreds of people who worked on the show. Offering a bit of insight, Tomlin wrote, "Generally speaking, anime audiences skew younger. Terminator audiences skew older. Terminator Zero asked them to meet in the middle, and they didn't in the way the corporation needed to justify the spend to continue. I'm extremely grateful to the people who have watched it."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/terminator-zero-showrunner-confirms-the-netflix-anime-has-been-canceled-after-one-season-211656840.html?src=rss

At a staggering starting price of $6,999, you have a better chance of buying a bicycle in Cerulean City than getting your hands on the official Pokémon pinball machine. The collaboration between The Pokémon Company International and Stern Pinball is undoubtedly nostalgic, letting you battle with a team that includes Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle and Pikachu, as well as catch up to 182 different Pokémon, mostly from the Kanto region, with more to be added.

Besides catching 'em all and tracking your growing Pokédex on Stern Pinball's dedicated app, you can do Gym Battles in four different biomes and eventually face off against Team Rocket. The pinball machine draws a lot of inspiration from the original cartoon, including a monitor that plays clips from the show, an animatronic Pikachu, and speakers that can play the iconic theme song.

Stern Pinball developed Pro, Premium and Limited Edition models, which can cost all the way up to $12,999. For the most expensive option, you'll get one of the 750 limited edition machines that include a Master Ball plunger, a numbered plaque and a signed certificate of authenticity. For Pokémon fans that can't afford to spend that much money on a pinball machine, you can soon find them at arcades and bowling alleys instead.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/the-official-pokemon-pinball-machine-has-an-animatronic-pikachu-and-a-master-ball-plunger-204915013.html?src=rss

A Palestinian community, which lives in the village of Deir al Dik al-Tahta in the Tel al Samrat area of Jericho, has been attacked by Israeli colonial settlers and expelled from their homes.

Israeli settlers attack another village near Jericho

The attack, which occurred on 11 February and lasted most of the daylight hours, involved around 30 masked settlers. They arrived in ATVs, cars, and tractors, and stole 120-150 sheep, a car and a tractor:

According to the community, although they called both the Palestinian and Israeli occupation police, no one came to their assistance. The settlers, who are all armed by the government, pointed guns at the heads of the Palestinians, even children, and told them to leave or they would all be killed. They threw stones and assaulted members of the community. 10 Palestinians were beaten and injured, including women and children, and one person needed stitches in his head.

The settlers bulldozed and destroyed 19 buildings, including 15 residential homes, and stole jewellery and money. All 15 families, including 15 children, have been evacuated to temporary accommodation. They are currently too afraid to return to what is left of their homes:

Just above the community is an illegal outpost and a military camp:

So for the past two years, as in the rest of Palestine, settlers and the Israeli occupation army have joined forces and terrorised the community. There is no accountability or justice for Palestinians, and the occupation can literally get away with murder. They aim to ethnically cleanse the occupied West Bank of Palestinians.

No justice

Tel al Samrat is in the Jordan Valley. This sparsely populated agricultural area of the West Bank is rich in resources, and the Israeli occupation has wanted to annex the region since 1967. In the past two years settlers violence has increased considerably. So have demolitions of residential and agricultural structures. Large areas are also being declared so called "state land" or "military firing zones", to prevent Palestinians from accessing their land. An Israeli law is then implemented, confiscating land from Palestinians.

The Israeli occupation recently expanded its control over Palestinian lands, by changing rules to land registration in the occupied West Bank. The changes will mean, among other things, it will be easier for illegal settlers to buy Palestinian land.

Featured image and additional images via the Canary

By Charlie Jaay

The hardest choice to make for building your next MacBook might be selecting a color. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple has tested colors including light yellow, light green, blue and pink for its next entry-level MacBook that's aimed at students and enterprise users.

Beyond the more vibrant colors, Gurman said that Apple has also trialed its classic silver and dark gray colorways for its cheaper laptop. Gurman added that not all of these six colors will make it to the final product, but Apple has recently shown it's not afraid to dip into flashier options. Apple refreshed the iMac in 2024 with a total of seven colors and swapped out the space gray option for sky blue for the latest MacBook Air.

Color choices aside, the latest rumors point to the upcoming MacBook having a price tag that's anywhere between $699 and $799. To achieve that lower price point, Apple is expected to port over its chips designed for iPhones, like the A18 Pro that we first saw with the iPhone 16 Pro Max. We're also anticipating Apple will compromise on specs, ports, or even the display, but Gurman reported that the company won't be skimping when it comes to the shell. According to Gurman, Apple will employ a new manufacturing process to craft aluminum shells for the affordable MacBook, instead of opting for a cheaper material like plastic to cut costs. We may not have to wait long to see the official colors of the budget MacBook, as Gurman reported that it will be announced during an event in March.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/apple-may-be-adding-a-splash-of-color-to-its-upcoming-budget-friendly-macbook-192740002.html?src=rss

We're still waiting for Apple CarPlay compatibility for Tesla EVs, but it's been pushed back thanks to a slight hitch with iOS 26, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said that Tesla's plans to adopt CarPlay have been delayed due to app compatibility issues as well as low adoption rates for iOS 26.

It's been a long wait for Tesla drivers who want CarPlay compatibility, especially since initial rumors indicated a late 2025 rollout and Bloomberg reported that Tesla was testing CarPlay in its vehicles in November. However, Gurman's latest newsletter revealed that there were some compatibility issues between Apple Maps and Tesla's in-house navigation software, which also supports the self-driving features.

To address this, Apple released an iOS 26 update that would better synchronize the two navigation apps, especially when a driver would use Tesla's autonomous driving options. Still, Tesla is reportedly concerned enough about the low adoption rates of iOS 26 to delay delivering CarPlay to its vehicles. Gurman also noted that iOS 26 adoption rates were lower than usual, but are already going up, citing Apple's latest numbers that 74 percent of all iPhones released in the last four years are running iOS 26. 

There's still no official date for when CarPlay arrives in Teslas, but including the beloved in-car feature could be a way to boost sales for the company. According to the January registration estimates in the US, Tesla saw sales slip for the fourth month in a row.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/tesla-carplay-is-coming-but-its-reportedly-being-held-back-by-low-ios-26-adoption-numbers-173812736.html?src=rss

Celebrated Indian academic and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy has withdrawn from the Berlin International Film Festival in protest. She described this as a reaction to the jury's refusal to address Israel's two-year-long genocidal war in Gaza.

Roy said her exit was prompted by "unconscionable" statements, as she described, from the festival jury about the need to keep art and politics separate. She outright rejected their position. In her view, it was an attempt to silence debate about the crimes Israel is perpetrating in Gaza. These are "unfolding before the eyes of the world," she said.

False neutrality

The 76th session of the Berlin Film Festival, which began last Thursday, featured more than 200 films, with 22 competing for the "Golden Bear" award.

This year's jury is headed by the multi-award winning German director Wim Wenders. During a press conference, Wenders warned artists and filmmakers against wading into politics, stating that:

We have to stay away from politics, because if we make films of a purely political nature, we enter the arena of politics. We represent a counterweight to politics, indeed its opposite, and we must serve the interests of the people, not the interests of politicians.

Another juror peddling the same line is Polish producer Eva Puszczynska. She objected to a question about Israeli aggression on Gaza and German support for Israel, sheepishly stating that:

Many other wars in which genocide crimes are committed and not talked about.

Puszczynska downplayed the question as "very complex," suggesting that it would not be fair for the committee to provide an answer — Roy vehemently disagrees.

Art is political

Roy explained that while her participation had been inspired by the political solidarity from the German public towards Palestinians, she changed her decision after hearing the jury's statements. Furthermore, she said that she was disturbed by the position adopted by the German government and cultural institutions towards Palestine.

She held the view that the jury was using the claim 'art is not political' to:

silence any discussion about a crime against humanity.

She stressed that artists, writers, and filmmakers have a moral responsibility to:

do everything in their power to stop what is happening.

Roy has consistently characterised events in Gaza represents as a genocide against Palestinian people. She held the governments of the United States, Germany and other European countries responsible for supporting and financing Israel, considering them "complicit" in these crimes.

She concluded by saying that she was shocked and disgusted, adding that history would hold accountable anyone who chose silence.

Featured image courtesy Arundhati Roy

By Nazli Tarzi

The big scoop on Sunday 15 February has been that Labour Together paid investigators to spy on journalists. The problem is that this 'scoop' actually came out months ago:

If you've seen the Sunday Times today you'll know Labour Together were secretly hiring people to investigate journalists. Sadly you won't know that The National exclusively broke this story six months ago, since our work is not credited at all. https://t.co/cbvK1Di18Z

— Laura Webster (@LauraEWebsterr) February 15, 2026

Labour Together

In the National article highlighted above, Peter Oborne and Richard Sanders wrote:

Labour Together, the Labour Party grouping that helped propel Starmer to power, hired the individuals to find information on Paul Holden, the journalist whose book The Fraud was the source for revelations that resulted in the downfall of Paul Ovenden earlier this month.

It also explored Holden's personal life, sought points of "leverage" that could be used against him and tried to place stories in the media that would damage his reputation.

Reporting on the Times' story for the Canary, Skwawkbox reported:

'Labour Together' — the sabotage outfit that brought down Jeremy Corbyn and conned Labour members into choosing Keir Starmer — paid investigators to spy on, and smear two Times journalists. Unsurprisingly, the pair — Harry Yorke and Gabriel Pogrund — have publicised their experience as unique.

@Gabriel_Pogrund and I were the subject of a disgraceful smear campaign — just for doing our jobs

I'm proud that The Sunday Times is calling it out on the front page tomorrow

Labour activists paid for smear campaign against journalistshttps://t.co/Uw9UjNJtzm

— Harry Yorke (@HarryYorke1) February 14, 2026

Labour Together is a pressure group within the broader Labour Party. Morgan McSweeney is the man who used to run this operation; he's also the guy who recently resigned in disgrace as Starmer's chief-of-staff.

It's been known for years that Labour Together target journalists. McSweeney actually went after the Canary, and the mainstream media cheered him on, because these people are scum:

The man pulling Starmer's strings has resigned in disgrace

McSweeney said the Labour right needed to "Kill the Canary - before the Canary kills us".

Guess we're the last bird standing.https://t.co/G3YuBIYAnM

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) February 8, 2026

This is how we reported McSweeney's downfall:

As journalist Paul Holden covered in The Fraud, the Labour Together schemer Morgan McSweeney was the man who spent the last decade manoeuvring to:

• Bring down Jeremy Corbyn.
• Position the Labour right as the leaders of the Labour Party.
• Return to government.

To 'bring down Corbyn', McSweeney worked to ensure that Labour lost the 2017 and 2019 elections. Because we have more than two brain cells, we understood that a group which will work against their own party will work against anyone.

For whatever reason, proper journalists like Yorke and Pogrund didn't think the vicious Labour Together would target them. What a shock it must have been to find out they're not special:

Let me be more explicit about this: Gabriel Pogrund is scum who should be hounded and pelted with rotting fruit through the streets like Cersei Lannister for reading out the shite he was sent by Morgan McSweeney as a national emergency. He knew exactly what he was doing then. https://t.co/qBhdlsyYLb

— Flying_Rodent (@flying_rodent) February 15, 2026

Yorke literally engaged in the same sort of smears as Labour Together:

Journalist Harry Yorke was "smeared" by the Labour Right as "part of a Russian conspiracy".

Now, where have I seen such "disgraceful" tactics before?

Outside the City of Hebron is the largest Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank. It is called Kiryat Arba, and is thought to house more than 10,000 illegal settlers, although exact numbers are unknown. These large settlements have everything that settlers might need, including schools, health centres and shops. They also have their own roads and buses, which Palestinians are obviously not permitted to use.

But Hebron is unique in Palestine, as it is also the only occupied West Bank city with settlements inside its centre - within Palestinian neighbourhoods. Five settlements, which are all illegal under international law, are within the Old City. Known as H2, this area makes up around 20 per cent of the Hebron centre. It is under full 'Israeli' military control, as opposed to H1, which is under Palestinian Authority administration:

A total of about 500 settlers live in the Old City settlements and are protected by around 1500 Israeli occupation soldiers. Both settlers and the military have made life extremely difficult and dangerous for the 33,000 Palestinians living in H2.

Hebron: increasing the Jewish presence

The Old City of Hebron used to be the commercial centre for the Southern West Bank, but the economy has now collapsed in the area. While the occupation is attempting to drive Palestinians away and erase the Islamic identity of Hebron, it aims to increase Jewish presence in the city. And while Palestinians endure severe military restrictions and daily violence, settlers travel to Hebron every Saturday for a tour of the Old City. They are, of course, protected by large numbers of Israeli occupation soldiers.

The tours, which are surveilled using US-made MQ-9 Reaper drones, start at the al-Ibrahimi Mosque, and allow these settlers to walk around the city and maintain their presence in the area:

The aim is to intimidate Palestinians and show them these Zionist colonisers are in control. It also sends a message to these settlers that Palestinian land and property are there to be taken. Young settlers are encouraged to take back their homes and land that was supposedly promised to them by God thousands of years ago.

In these photos, the settlers can be seen concluding their tour by passing through the gate onto Shuhada Street. This street, once the main commercial centre in the whole of Hebron, is now closed to Palestinians. The building these settlers enter used to be a Palestinian school, until the occupation turned it into a Jewish one.

Ethnic cleansing

Hebron is a significant religious place for both Muslims and Jews. It is one of the four holy cities in Judaism, and Jews consider the city the birthplace of the Jewish people.

In Arabic, Hebron is known as Al Khalil, meaning 'the friend,' referring to Abraham, who is considered a prophet in Islam and whose remains are believed to be buried in the Ibrahimi Mosque. Muslims also believe Hebron was a stopping point during the Prophet Muhammad's night journey to Jerusalem.

Settlers have a five-star lifestyle for free. They are paid a salary, do not need to work and have everything provided to them by the Israeli occupation government, including weapons. They work with the Israeli occupation's government, military and police, making life as difficult as possible for Palestinians.

The aim of the Zionist project is displacement and ethnic cleansing in occupied Palestine, and Jewish supremacy in occupied Palestine. These ambitions are enabled by the unconditional support governments around the world give to the criminal state of 'Israel'.

Featured image via the Canary

By Charlie Jaay

Umm al Kheir is in the South Hebron Hills. It is one of 12 communities that make up Masafer Yatta, in the Israeli-controlled area of the West Bank known as Area C. The village is home to 37 Bedouin families, approximately 300 people. These Palestinians were originally herders in the Negev, but were forcibly displaced from their land by the Israeli occupation during the Nakba of 1948. The community then settled in Masafer Yatta, and has written documents proving ownership of their land.

Illegal colonial settlers are stealing more and more of Umm al Kheir

But since 1981, with the arrival of the first illegal Jewish settlers to the area, the community has suffered immense hardship, which has intensified today. The settlers stole a large area of village land to build the illegal Carmel settlement, where they live today. They regularly terrorise the community and have blocked all entrances to the village for Palestinians, except for one.

Last year, seven settler families stole yet more land, close to the community centre in Umm al Kheir. They are currently living in mobile homes on this land, have fenced off any available grazing, and have recently erected Israeli flags along the whole of its perimeter.

Khalil Hathaleen is Head of the village Council in Umm al Kheir. He tells the Canary about some of the problems the village has been facing.

https://www.thecanary.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/WhatsApp-Video-2026-02-08-at-8.46.48-PM.mp4

 

Last year, Khalil's much-loved brother, Awdah, was fatally shot by an illegal settler, Yinon Levi.

Levi had driven through Umm al Kheir in a bulldozer to carry out infrastructure work at what is now the illegal outpost, next to the community. The killing, which happened in broad daylight, resulted in the occupation arresting Palestinians from Umm al Kheir on stone-throwing charges, while Levi walked free.

Levi, who is sanctioned by the UK, owns a company called Eyal Hari Yehuda Company Ltd, or Eyal Judaean Mountains Company Ltd, which is known for its work demolishing Palestinian homes in both the West Bank and Gaza.

The loss of Awdah was a huge blow to the community, but it was intentional

Awdah was father to three young children, one of whom is still severely traumatised by the killing of his father and is unable to sleep at night.  His wife, Hanady, tells us that Awdah is irreplaceable.

She says:

It's really hard to see the settlers getting on with their daily lives, while here they have destroyed a whole community. They destroyed a family; they destroyed my sons. I don't see any life for me now that they have killed my husband. All the happiness and goodness have gone with him. Awdah was loved by everyone, and he made everything easy when he was here.

You thought there were no problems when he was with us. He would solve all the problems and show the world what life was like in Masafer Yatta. They killed him on purpose.

More than 100 structures have been demolished in the village over the years. In October 2025, more homes, the community centre, and the children's playground were all issued final demolition orders. The Israeli occupation is expected to come at any time, to flatten these structures, make families homeless and further destroy the fabric of this community.

Khalil says:

Before 7 October, our community had around 5000 goats and sheep. Now there are around 800, and they are kept inside all the time. The animals are now in jail, and this has destroyed the families here. Now there is no source of income for them.

The Israelis have made them very poor. Some cannot afford basic food, let alone milk, for their kids. Any money from the goats and sheep is now used to cover the food, as they cannot go out to graze at all. This is all happening because of the occupation and the violence from the settlers. The settlers killed my brother. Where is the justice in the world?

The occupation's government, military and police all work together with the settlers, to forcibly displace Palestinians in Umm al Kheir

Recently, a settler went into Umm al Kheir with his sheep. This action was obviously an attempt to intimidate residents of the village and show them that settlers are in control. When activists- who were from the Centre of Jewish Non-Violence, objected to his presence, the police were called out and arrested them, instead of the settler.

There has also been nighttime activity on the stolen land of the outpost, with armed Jewish settlers and their children digging along to music. The occupation's military and police see these actions but do nothing to stop these Zionist colonisers. Instead, they attempt to stop and arrest those who witness and document the occupation's many crimes.

Bedouins are herders and traditionally moved with the seasons to the best grazing areas. Due to the Israeli occupation, this is no longer possible, but their livestock are still an extremely important part of their life and an essential source of income.

But in Umm al Kheir, as in other communities in Masafer Yatta and elsewhere in the West Bank, they have been unable to graze their sheep and goats because of the presence of settlers and the theft of their land.

There are now only 800 animals in Umm al Kheir, down from 4000 several years ago, and they are costing money to keep because they can no longer graze outside. As a result, the community has lost their only source of income and has been left with nothing.

"What's happening in the West Bank is a slow genocide"

Mahmoud Hathaleen, a resident of Umm al Kheir, and a cousin of Awdah, tells the Canary:

Settlers claim that we exist illegally here, and have asked the Israeli government to make more pressure on us, so we leave. They are confiscating our land, demolishing our homes and attacking us in the night, to make pressure on us to leave this land. The outpost built last year has a new road across our land, to connect it to all the settlements.

They made this road in the night, and was supported by the IDF ( Israeli occupying forces), the civil administration and the police. Sometimes these settlers also work in the IDF.There is no light at the end of the tunnel for us. All Palestinian people have lost hope, We all feel there is no solution, no future.

Nobody cares for Palestinian life - not the Arab league, not Europe or the US. What's happening in the West Bank is a slow genocide, killing Palestinians slowly.

The international presence is welcome in Umm al Kheir. This not only plays an essential role in non-violent resistance against the Israeli occupation but is urgently needed. Do not be put off from visiting the West Bank. Palestinians in communities across the territory are extremely welcoming and need our help, right now.

https://www.thecanary.co/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/WhatsApp-Video-2026-02-08-at-9.24.14-PM.mp4

 

The occupation has only one aim - to colonise and drive Palestinians from their land. This forcible displacement is implemented through violence and land theft by illegal settlers and is happening throughout Area C of the West Bank. These settlers have the full support and backing of the 'Israeli' government, work together with the occupation's military and police, and are protected by them.

Occupation's Security Cabinet has now approved measures to tighten 'Israeli' control over West Bank and make it easier for settlers to purchase Palestinian land

They receive a salary, have no living expenses, and pay no tax. They are all armed by the occupation and given vehicles. In the case of Umm al Kheir, the settlers have also been given sheep and goats. Pylons have also been erected on the village land to provide the settlements with electricity. Whilst Umm al Kheir are not permitted to be connected to the grid, the settlers' chicken factory has electricity 24 hours a day.

Settlers all over the West Bank use "security" issues as an excuse to push the government and the army to expel Palestinians and declare their land a closed military zone. Palestinians are unable to access this land, but settlers are still allowed to move freely in these areas. Several years later, it becomes their own property.

After the signing of the Oslo Accords, in the 1990s, the West Bank was divided into Area A, B and C. Area C makes up more than 60 per cent of the entire West Bank, and is the most fertile, resource-rich land in the occupied territory. But 'Israel' controls everything in area C, including 'security' and planning.

On 8 February 2026, the "Security Cabinet" also approved measures pushed by Ministers Katz and Smotrich, to deepen the de facto annexation of the West Bank. The 'Israeli" government has described these as steps towards the "normalisation " of Jewish life in the West Bank.

These approved decisions will bring far-reaching changes to land registration and will make it much easier for settlers to acquire Palestinian land and build settlements.

According to the Jerusalem Post, a Jordanian-era law has also been repealed, which barred the sale of land to Jews. The approved decisions also allow the Israeli occupation to demolish buildings owned by Palestinian families in Area A.

Despite constant fear and uncertainty, the people of Umm al Kheir remain steadfast. Every demolished home is rebuilt; every fenced-off patch of land becomes a reminder of what they refuse to relinquish — their right to exist on their own ancestral soil. Each act of resistance is a refusal to disappear.  Despite everything, the community of Umm al Kheir still believes in freedom.

Featured image and additional images via the Canary

By Charlie Jaay

Imagine if you will, for just one moment, having the fucking brass neck to (falsely) boast that you booted Jeremy Corbyn out of the Labour Party while that utterly vile specimen, Epstein's best pal, Mandelson, was up to his eyeballs in nonce-worshipping. Corbyn's Labour certainly had its faults, but it never recruited Peter Mandelson. No shadow cabinet appointments, no diplomatic roles, Crony Mandelson was persona non grata.

Keir Starmer's government is a gutless, corporate-kowtowing betrayal of everything the Labour Party was supposed to stand for under Jeremy Corbyn. A Corbyn premiership would have been a revolutionary upgrade, not this tepid, right-leaning bullshit we're stuck with.

I guess it's easy to think about what could've been.

What could have been

Corbyn's Labour would have built solidarity with global struggles rather than bowed to NATO warmongers and US hegemony. Starmer's Labour is a whitewashed, Zionist-appeasing machine that silences dissent and props up imperialism.

Corbyn's Labour would have prioritised aid over arms and cooperation over conquest, turning the UK into a force for global equity, not another lapdog for empire. Starmer's Labour has escalated tensions with Russia and China to please the Atlanticist overlords and ramped up military spending to 2.5% of GDP while nurses line up at food banks.

Corbyn's Labour would have ended the failed neoliberal austerity policies that have hollowed out Britain for decades. Rail, mail, water, and energy would've been back in public hands where they belong, rather than lining the pockets of fat cat shareholders. Starmer's Labour ruthlessly ditched those Corbyn-lite pledges faster than a rat fleeing a sinking ship. His "fiscal responsibility" rhetoric is simply code for continuing Tory-lite cuts, cosying up to big business with tax breaks for the filthy rich while public services crumble to the fucking ground.

Starmer's Britain

Starmer's Britain is still a playground for billionaires, while Corbyn would have taxed them into oblivion to fund the NHS properly, not this half-arsed patching-up.

Starmer's "growth" is a euphemism for gangrenous decay. NHS waiting lists are stagnating, schools are falling apart and councils are on the brink of bankruptcy, all while he funnels your billions into private health vultures and arms dealers.

Keir Starmer isn't building Britain, he's burying it alive, six-feet-deep in austerity's grave, like a gravedigger with a knighthood.

You see, Jeremy Corbyn wasn't just a better option, he was the perfect antidote to the poisonous, soul-sucking capitalist rot that Keir Starmer is peddling as "change".

So next time you hear or see the oligarchs plaything taking a swipe at his predecessor, just remember the Labour Party didn't have a place for an honourable, decent man like Jeremy Corbyn, but it has plenty of room for paedo-enablers, Tel Aviv bootlickers, corporate shills and Blairite zombies.

And that's just Peter Mandelson.

Decency???

To be honest, I am absolutely sick of hearing the liberal media tell us that Keir Starmer is a beacon of decency, a steady hand rescuing Britain from Tory chaos. In reality, the BBC and Guardian's insistence on Starmer's decency is just cover for their own complicity in propping up a system that chews up poor and working class people.

Starmer is anything but decent. If you have read the last five hundred words you might even agree with me, wherever you place yourself on the Overton Window.

Starmer's entire rise reeks of deceit and opportunism.

Starmer won the Labour leadership in 2020 by pledging a raft of left-wing Corbyn-lite policies such as scrapping tuition fees, nationalising utilities, and defending migrants rights. But once in power, they were abandoned faster than a bad date.

That isn't decent, it's calculated betrayal.

What about the freebies? I haven't forgotten about that, and I doubt you have either. More than £100,000 of freebies from the elite — more than every other Labour leader combined — while pensioners freeze and children go hungry under Labour's austerity-lite regime.

If that's decent, I'm a devoted Faragist.

Authoritarian thuggery

Then there's Starmer's vicious purge of the Labour left, which the liberal media whitewashes as "professionalising" the party. Starmer and his former enforcer, Morgan McSweeney, have systematically expelled or marginalised anyone with a whiff of socialism under the guise of rooting out antisemitism, but really to crush dissent and drag the party to the right to the delight of their elitist paymasters.

Decency? No. Authoritarian thuggery? Yes.

On Gaza, his slow-footed, mealy-mouthed response to Israel's actions has been a national embarrassment and a fucking disgrace and has truly exposed his lack of moral spine.

Complicit Keir Starmer is a jellyfish, drifting with the tides of power rather than boldly standing against injustice.

Even the ultra-Blairite, Wes Streeting privately thinks Israel is a "rogue state" committing "war crimes" and "calculated brutality", yet publicly it's business as usual for this dreadful, callous government.

Remember, "decent" Starmer rolled out the red carpet for Israel's war criminals, licensed the tools of their barbaric, criminal slaughter, and suppressed the movement demanding accountability, only to be told it was unlawful.

Maybe someone in the liberal media can explain to me how supplying military equipment to a baby-killing regime is in any way, "decent"?

Haven't the actions of this vile, discredited Prime Minister caused enough harm to children already? Their blood is on your grubby hands, Keir Starmer.

Starmer: a gutless fraud

Less than two years into the age of beige, Starmer is the most unpopular PM on record, with polls tanking and chants calling him a "wanker" echoing from football grounds to darts halls across the country.

We are not fooled. Keir Starmer isn't a fighter for the people, he is a doormat for the establishment.

Keir Starmer isn't decent, he is a man without conviction and the embodiment of everything that is so very wrong with centrist politics — hollow, elitist, and utterly treacherous.

Starmer's diabolical legacy was secured some time before the latest Peter Mandelson scandal.

History will not remember Keir Starmer as a decent Prime Minister, it will remember him for the gutless fraud that he is.

Featured image via the Canary

By Rachael Swindon

New York City's public hospital system is paying millions to Palantir, the controversial ICE and military contractor, according to documents obtained by The Intercept.

Since 2023, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation has paid Palantir nearly $4 million to improve its ability to track down payment for the services provided at its hospitals and medical clinics. Palantir, a data analysis firm that's now a Wall Street giant thanks to its lucrative work with the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence community, deploys its software to make more efficient the billing of Medicaid and other public benefits. That includes automated scanning of patient health notes to "Increase charges captured from missed opportunities," contract materials reviewed by The Intercept show.

Palantir's administrative involvement in the business of healing people stands in contrast to its longtime role helping facilitate warfare, mass deportations, and dragnet surveillance.

In 2016, The Intercept revealed Palantir's role behind XKEYSCORE, a secret NSA bulk surveillance program revealed by the whistleblower Edward Snowden that allowed the U.S. and its allies to search the unfathomably large volumes of data they collect. The company has also attracted global scrutiny and criticism for its "strategic partnership" with the Israeli military while it was leveling Gaza.

But it's Palantir's work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that is drawing the most protest today. The company provides a variety of services to help the federal government find and deport immigrants. ICE's Palantir-furnished case management software, for example, "plays a critical role in supporting the daily operations of ICE, ensuring critical mission success," according to federal contracting documents.

"It's unacceptable that the same company that is targeting our neighbors for deportation and providing tools to the Israeli military is also providing software for our hospitals," said Kenny Morris, an organizer with the American Friend Service Committee, which shared the contract documents with The Intercept.

Established by the state legislature, New York City Health and Hospitals is the nation's biggest municipal healthcare system, administering over 70 facilities throughout New York City, including Bellevue Hospital, and providing care for over a million New Yorkers annually.

New York City Health and Hospitals spokesperson Adam Shrier did not respond to multiple requests to discuss the contract's details. Palantir spokesperson Drew Messing said the company does not use or share hospital data outside the bounds of its contract.

Palantir's contract with New York's public healthcare system allows the company to work with patients' protected health information, or PHI. With permission from New York City Health and Hospitals, Palantir can "de-identify PHI and utilize de-identified PHI for purposes other than research," the contract states. De-identification generally involves the stripping of certain revealing information, such as names, Social Security numbers, and birthday. Such provisions are common in contracts involving health data.

Activists who oppose Palantir's involvement in New York point to a large body of research that indicates re-identifying personal data, including in medial contexts, is often trivial.

"Palantir is targeting the exact patients that NYCHH is looking to serve."

"Any contract that shares any of New Yorkers' highly personal data from NYC Health & Hospital's with Palantir, a key player in the Trump administration's mass deportation effort, is reckless and puts countless lives at risk," said Beth Haroules of the New York Civil Liberties Union."Every New Yorker, without exception, has a right to quality healthcare and city services. New Yorkers must be able to seek healthcare without fear that their intimate medical information, or immigration status, will be delivered to the federal government on a silver platter."

Palantir has long provided similar services to the UK's National Health Service, a business relationship that today has an increasing number of detractors. Palantir "has absolutely no place in the NHS, looking after patients' personal data," Green Party politician Zack Polanski recently stated in a letter to the UK's health secretary.

Some New York-based groups feel similarly out of distrust for what the firm could do with troves of sensitive personal data.

"Palantir is targeting the exact patients that NYCHH is looking to serve," said Jonathan Westin of the Brooklyn-based organization Climate Organizing Hub. "They should immediately sever their contract with Palantir and stand with the millions of immigrant New Yorkers that are being targeted by ICE in this moment."

"The chaos Palantir is inflicting through its technology is not just limited to the kidnapping of our immigrant neighbors and the murder of heroes like our fellow nurse, Alex Pretti," said Hannah Drummond, an Asheville, North Carolina-based nurse and organizer with National Nurses United, a nursing union. "As a nurse and patient advocate, I don't want anything having to do with Palantir in my hospital—and neither should any elected leader who claims to represent nurses."

Palantir's vocally right-wing CEO Alex Karp has been a frequent critic of New York City's newly inaugurated democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Health and Hospitals operates as a public benefit corporation, but the mayor can exert considerable influence over the network, for instance through the appointment of its board of directors. Its president Dr. Mitchell Katz was renominated by Mamdani, then the Mayor-elect, late last year.

The mayor's office did not respond in time for publication when asked about its stance on the contract.

The post Palantir Gets Millions of Dollars From New York City's Public Hospitals appeared first on The Intercept.

But that doesn't mean AI is ready to dispense justice

ai-pocalypse Legal scholars have found that OpenAI's GPT-5 follows the law better than human judges, but they leave open the question of whether AI is right for the job.…

If you're wondering how Reform plan to tackle poverty, we now have an answer to that. The plan is to deny it even exists

Zia Yusuf claims that "real poverty does exist in this country."
@TrevorPTweets challenges Reform UK's head of policy on his comments #TrevorPhillipshttps://t.co/LFPXoeri6h pic.twitter.com/lqN76RkQ1q

— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 15, 2026

Denial

In the clip above, Zia Yusuf says:

So firstly, it's really important people understand when the term poverty is used primarily by left-wing politicians, let's define that term. It is… a relative term, which means that you could literally - this is a mathematical fact - you could increase everybody's incomes tenfold and that statistic would stay the same.

Oh my god, shut the fuck up, you oily, little nerd.

'I can tell you mathematically what poverty is'.

You sound like a Star Trek android, and not the good one.

We can tell you what poverty is, Zia, because most of us here at the Canary have experienced it.

Poverty is not having enough to get by.

Poverty is watching your outgoings outpace your incomings.

Poverty is spending hours a week figuring out how to make the money go around.

Poverty is constantly worrying about bills and life choices.

Poverty is fear and anxiety.

Poverty is the feeling that things will only get worse.

Yusuf thinks it's a mathematical equation, because he has no idea what the fuck he's talking about; he's just another ex-Tory, ex-Goldman Sachs rich boy who wants to gut the welfare state to give his billionaire mates handouts.

Too much will never be enough for these people.

They will take more than they can ever spend, and they will shit, and piss, and moan as they bite the hand that feeds them.

Yusuf continued:

But the most important thing is that Reform, we are fiscally prudent, and we wanted to make sure anything we announced was going to be fiscally neutral.

"Fiscally prudent", is it?

If you're familiar with Curb Your Enthusiasm, start imagining the end credits now as you read the following headlines:

• Reform grifters charging candidates £250 to stand as MP.
• 'Simply making it up' — Reform-led council invented supposed £40m saving.
• Reform called out for spaffing £600k on eight parking spots for councillors.

Reform have totally let the cat out of the bag about who they are.

Zia Yusuf lecturing that poverty and peoples everyday struggles with rising bills and rent is exaggerated.

A party of the failed status quo, funded and representing big corporate interests. https://t.co/G000aCvbLl

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) February 15, 2026

Social bullshittery

Phillips asked Yusuf if poverty measures are all made up, to which Yusuf responded:

No, it's worse than that, because real poverty does exist in this country, Trevor. And absolute poverty does exist in very, very small pockets. If you actually want to do the right thing for as many people as possible in this country, then you need to create social mobility. That has been crushed by the Tory government and now this Labour government.

To be clear, 'social mobility' is not the phenomenon in which everyone becomes more affluent. It's the phenomenon in which some working class people land middle class jobs. This is great for sly politicians like Yusuf, because it allows them to point at the fortunate few and say:

See - it is possible for you layabouts to earn more — anyone on poverty wages is just lazy.

If you're old enough, you will remember the UK's middle class did indeed expand in the 90s. Social mobility was happening on a larger scale, and we got the 'lower middle class' — i.e. working class families who could afford to alternate between taking their kids on holiday to Menorca and Butlin's Pwllheli (if that seems oddly specific, I'm talking from experience).

This phenomenon happened because we took advantage of the cheap labour of countries like China, allowing us to live beyond our previous means. We could have locked in that progress, and ensured the country's wealth was evenly distributed. We didn't do that; instead we got runaway capitalism, with the rich claiming more wealth and authority, and the rest of us losing our rights and purchasing power.

Now, we're at a point where social mobility can't happen because even the middle class are fucking struggling. Tinkering around the edges or making savings here or there won't cut it; we need to hobble the billionaire class, and we need to rob them of their power and influence.

Only then can we have a society in which people can live day to day without dreading tomorrow.

Bootstrapping

You've probably heard the phrase 'pull yourself up by the bootstraps', but did you know where it comes from? As Useless Etymology report:

The phrase "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" originated shortly before the turn of the 20th century. It's attributed to a late-1800s physics schoolbook that contained the example question "Why can not a man lift himself by pulling up on his bootstraps?"

So when it became a colloquial phrase referring to socioeconomic advancement shortly thereafter, it was meant to be sarcastic, or to suggest that it was an impossible accomplishment.

It's literally impossible for everyone in a capitalist system to be well off and content, because it's a tornado designed to pull everything up to the top.

In other words, beware of geeks bearing false grifts.

Featured image via the Canary

By Willem Moore

Zack Polanski has appeared on the 15 February edition of Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips. If you're unfamiliar with Phillips, he has a decades' long history in Labour Party politics. As such, it wasn't surprising to see him denying the creeping authoritarianism which is happening under Keir Starmer's government:

Phillips "This is not a country where people get thrown in jail for things they say"@ZackPolanski: 2,700 people have been arrested for holding up signs

And well done to Zack for challenging Phillips smear that 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' is antisemitic pic.twitter.com/fuEDYQJa9K

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) February 15, 2026

Labour liar, pants on fire

In the clip above, Phillips says:

In the press release today, you talk about a 'Big Brother Britain'. I'm assuming that you're talking about George Orwell's oppressive state rather than the telly programme. Isn't this going over the top a bit? I mean, this is not a country where people get thrown in jail for things… they say, at least not very often.

If you're a regular reader of the Canary, you'll know this is complete horseshit from Phillips. Thankfully, Polanski explained why for us:

Well, I think we're spiralling down that road. First of all, we saw 2,700 people potentially imprisoned, some of them waiting trials, a lot of them for holding up signs saying, I oppose a genocide. We have seen a genocide happen in Israel now for the last couple of years.

To add some specificity, the signs in question said this:

I oppose #GenocideInGaza I support #PalestineAction https://t.co/6j08nAMQNS

— Steve Mackie (@1SteveMackie) February 14, 2026

The government proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, which allowed them to arrest those who support the group. The people who held these signs got arrested for speech, albeit in written form.

As we reported on 13 February, a court has now overturned the proscription. Polanski also touched on this:

"The govt have been completely shamed in court & I'm proud the entire Green MP group all voted against proscription of Palestine Action"@ZackPolanski on the high court declaring the proscription unlawful pic.twitter.com/XUqaelUN8o

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) February 15, 2026

Back to the interview, Phillips responded:

No, that's not the signs that they're being arrested for. It is signs which say things like, from the river to the sea, a sign which imply elimination of the State of Israel, which are at some sense antisemitic and intimidating.

This simply isn't true; Trevor Phillips is a fucking liar.

He's not just any liar, either; he's a liar who picked Peter Mandelson of all people to be the best man at his wedding.

The 2,700 in question relates to those arrested for supporting Palestine Action. Additionally, the 'River to the Sea' chant is a call for the Palestinians to no longer be contained in an open air prison — not anything else.

Polanski responded:

Well, as a Jewish person, I don't find that antisemitic. And in fact, Benjamin Netanyahu himself has used that phrase.

I'm one of only five people in British history who have been Jewish and lead a political party. So antisemitism needs to be taken really seriously in the same way that Islamophobia or any form of racism or hate crime needs to be taken seriously.

But criticism of the Israeli government, I would say, is a moral responsibility when we're seeing what they are doing to innocent people day in, day out. And our government is not just complicit in that. They are actively enabling it.

So for people who are protesting against the genocide, I would say those people are actual patriots of this country who are saying, let's have a world where we make sure we're standing for human rights.

It's not just Palestine action, though, by the way. We've seen authoritarianism over the prime minister wanting mandatory ID cards. We've seen the authoritarianism of scrapping jury trials. Pattern over pattern shows that Keir Starmer is a deeply desperate caretaker prime minister who is clinging on to power by trying to crush dissent.

Things took a turn for the ridiculous later on, by the way:

So Phillips moved from talking about thousands of people arrested under terrorism legislation for holding up signs to criticising the idea that the UK is becoming an oppressive police state & then declaring the solution to fly tipping is more surveillance. He really is woeful.

— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) February 15, 2026

In bed

As Novara's Aaron Bastani highlighted, the New Labour types have a lot of support in broadcast media:

The press broadly backs the Tories. But why does the Labour right get such easy treatment from broadcast media?

The answer is political sympathies. Just look at who is married to who. TV news, and New Labour, until recently, went together like sun and shadow. pic.twitter.com/zwPZJOkUNl

— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) February 5, 2026

Haven't seen many/any videos of the broadcast media harassing Mandelson outside his house. Was constant during Corbyn leadership - and indeed for some time after.

I'd say 'curious', but it's because basically the whole of broadcast media (except GB News) swings New Labour.

— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) February 10, 2026

Phillips perverting reality as he did above is a clear example of this.

Featured image via the Canary

By Willem Moore

As we reported on 14 February, Reform-reject Rupert Lowe has formed his own party called 'Revive'.

Or was it 'Repeat'?

Hang on a minute…

…oh, it's actually 'Restore'.

We're sure it won't cause a problem that the 'Reform' and 'Restore' are basically the same word.

And sarcasm aside, it does look like the Lowe vehicle has legs:

This the first opinion poll, hypothetical or otherwise, to show the Green Party polling at 20%

'Labour Together' — the sabotage outfit that brought down Jeremy Corbyn and conned Labour members into choosing Keir Starmer — paid investigators to spy on, and smear two Times journalists. Unsurprisingly, the pair — Harry Yorke and Gabriel Pogrund — have publicised their experience as unique.

@Gabriel_Pogrund and I were the subject of a disgraceful smear campaign — just for doing our jobs

I'm proud that The Sunday Times is calling it out on the front page tomorrow

Labour activists paid for smear campaign against journalists https://t.co/Uw9UjNJtzm

— Harry Yorke (@HarryYorke1) February 14, 2026

Labour Together pursues journalists

The Sunday Times, which covered the story, reported that:

The group that helped to get Sir Keir Starmer elected as Labour leader hired lobbyists to investigate the personal, political and religious background of a Sunday Times journalist behind an article about secret donations that funded its work.

Labour Together paid £36,000 to Apco, a US public affairs firm, to examine the "backgrounds and motivations" of reporters behind a story before the general election.

The aim was to discredit The Sunday Times's reporting by falsely suggesting its journalists might be part of a Russian conspiracy or had relied on emails hacked by the Kremlin.

Apco produced a 58-page report including almost ten pages of deeply personal and false claims about Gabriel Pogrund, the Sunday Times Whitehall editor. He and Harry Yorke, the newspaper's deputy political editor, were named as "persons of significant interest".

Old news

But Pogrund and Yorke only stand out for being the only 'mainstream' hacks known to have been targeted by Labour Together. The pressure group was formerly run by disgraced Starmer adviser Morgan McSweeney and other 'red Tories' in Starmer's faction. But these latest revelations and labour Together'S spying activities is not new — not in any real sense. Their not-so-covert operations have been in the public domain for months.

In fact, news of the spying broke on the Canary in September 2025. McSweeney's outfit set investigators on Paul Holden, the author of The Fraud. This exposes Labour Together's dark tactics and Starmer's dishonesty. Furthermore, the book has been serialised by the Canary.

Labour Together did the same to Andrew Feinstein, the author and former Mandela government minister. He stood against Starmer in the 2024 general election and decimated his majority. Moreover, it did the same to journalists John McEvoy, Khadija Sharife and Peter Geoghegan.

Labour Together's spies targeted Pogrund for being Jewish — ironic given their weaponisation of supposed 'Labour antisemitism' against Corbyn and the left. But they did the same to the Jewish Feinstein. They smeared Pogrund and Yorke as being linked to Russia — they'd done the same to Feinstein and Holden.

In fact, not even the 'news' about Yorke and Pogrund is new. The Canary reported it last week. No wonder McSweeney and his cadre are scared of the Canary. They have tried and failed to destroy it while Corbyn was still leading Labour.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

The by-election in Gorton & Denton is looking like a two-way race between the Green Party and Reform UK, but Labour are still fighting to win.

According to a new report in the Telegraph, Labour are throwing the kitchen sink at the race. Or, to be more specific, they're using the sink — and everything else in the kitchen — to prepare delectably illegal meals for potential voters (allegedly):

Labour referred to police over freebie gala dinner for 600 Gorton & Denton voters - attended by senior Labour figures including deputy leader Lucy Powell
Electoral law bans using food and drink to corruptly influence voters
Paywall-free link in replies

Independent progressives have launched their local election campaign to defeat what they call the "Labour-Tory coalition council" in the West Yorkshire borough of Kirklees. They say the "corrupt" council has "bowed the knee" to London's austerity agenda. And they're fighting back with a promise to stop destructive cuts and closures once and for all.

The Canary went along to the campaign launch to find out more.

Kirklees independents challenge Labour-Tory coalition

Campaigners, trade unionists, and politicians across Kirklees have been working together for months now to oppose cuts, racism, and war. They form the People's Alliance for Change and Equality (PACE), and have received the support of Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn of Your Party.

PACE has consistently highlighted the serious issues facing local communities, supporting community campaigns against controversial council decisions. And in October, it showed the power of grassroots organisation with an impressive march through the town of Huddersfield.

On 7 February, PACE held its election campaign launch in Huddersfield. And at the end of the event, the Canary spoke to:

• • Mohammed Abubakar
  • Mike Forster
  • Alison Gaughan
  • Waseem Naeem

Mohammed Abubakar

Abubakar will be standing as an independent candidate in the Crosland Moor ward, where he grew up. And he's making it very clear to voters that he's "not in it for a career or for money", because he has promised to donate:

at least £200 every month from my personal allowance to local projects.

He stressed that:

Poverty has been on the increase, whereas we're one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

And in particular, he said:

Young people have been neglected so much in our area.

The underfunding of schools and closure of youth centres has coincided with problems with crime. And as Abubakar asserted:

When you have kids picking up knives or guns and we have teenagers going into this gang culture, they're not to blame. We are.

He wants to act as "a servant" to local people, listening to them and voicing their concerns. And apart from issues like fly-tipping, potholes, and restoring parks, people have told him about a family becoming homeless following a parent's death or an employee needing food-bank support despite being in work.

Abubakar's values have driven him to take action. As he told us:

The best of mankind are those who benefit mankind the most. And so, if I'm not benefiting people, then I've just wasted my life.

He already participates in the running of a "young leaders programme" and a food bank — supporting the distribution of hot meals to the community since 2021. Speaking to the Canary, a longstanding member of the community emphasised how:

things have just got worse and worse and worse.

He added:

I think a lot of people have lost hope in politics, and rightly so. But I think the solution, the answer to that isn't to step away… we still need to carry on fighting and supporting candidates that are there for the community.

Mike Forster

Forster will be standing as a PACE candidate in the Ashbrow ward. And he insisted:

Our priority is twofold in this area. One, we have to stop Reform. That has to be our number one priority. And the second will be that we've got to kick out this corrupt Labour council. And for that to happen, there will need to be cooperation between the independents, PACE and any other candidates who we would see as being progressive left, and they hopefully will have the power. We, by our arithmetic, then we think that we will have the majority of the councillors who will be able to form a group within the council who can hopefully run affairs.

On the council, Forster would prioritise opposing attempts to privatise dementia homes, stopping a local property development causing a public health crisis due to the presence of asbestos and other toxic substances, reversing the closure of leisure centres, and preventing ongoing rises to council taxes.

He also clarified what PACE will be pushing for, saying:

We're advocating what we call the needs budget. That is that the budget should be led by the needs of the people of Kirklees and not by the budget that's imposed by a centralised government. And that will mean having to stand up to the government and demanding more resources for Kirklees. I'm not afraid to do that.

This Labour council has bowed the knee because it is a Labour government and they're too afraid to speak out for themselves and for the people of Kirklees, and that's why they've got to go.

A "clique" of around four people run the council today, he said, and "yes people" in the cabinet just "go along with everything that they say":

And when Labour needs the votes, they reach out to the Tories, who are only too happy to go into coalition with Labour in order to force through cuts.

This is why they "need to go", he insisted:

They need to fight for the local communities and not for their own party labels or their own careers.

Unity on the left

Many candidates, Forster asserted:

would have stood under the Your Party banner if we'd got our act together.

And it's "very disappointing" that this didn't happen on time, he lamented. But PACE isn't about sitting around and waiting. It's about getting on with organising on the ground, as:

we've demonstrated through PACE over the last year with our demonstration, our founding conference, and all the campaigns that we have supported.

Addressing the topic of unity on the left, he said there have been conversations with the Green Party and, hopefully, "an electoral agreement" will eventually come. He added that current Green councillors have locally "been supportive of what we've been doing" and asserted:

we will continue to work with them in whatever way we can.

Regarding progressive independent candidates Abubakar and Naeem, meanwhile, he stressed that they're:

founding members of PACE and have supported everything that we've done, and they will be standing on the programme that PACE stands for as well.

He also asserted:

We've already started work in the areas where we're standing… and the response we've already been getting on the doorsteps is encouraging.

Alison Gaughan

Gaughan is a trade unionist and disability rights campaigner, and she has also been active in PACE. She will be supporting the local election campaign in Kirklees against what is:

effectively a Labour-Tory coalition council that is failing the people of Kirklees

The council, she said:

is pushing through cuts, blaming them on the government. But really, they just don't care about the effect it has on working-class people. There's a lack of democracy in the council — all the decisions are made in backrooms by a small group of councillors.

She added:

I teach young people from some of the most deprived wards in Kirklees, and really there's just been let down after let down for these communities.

A key slogan for PACE, she asserted, is:

we're against cuts and closures

And while collaboration and unity on the left is essential, she said cuts and closures are absolutely "our red line". So in terms of working with Greens or other progressives:

if they stay the right side of [that line], yeah, we'll work with them.

Waseem Naeem

Naeem will be standing as an independent in the Greenhead ward. He emphasised his desire for:

Love and peace to everyone

But he also told us:

I'm not afraid of saying what needs to be said… Change is not going to happen by being as nice as pie.

Having grown up on a council estate at a time when it "was a bit of a taboo for Pakistani Asians", it wasn't always easy. As he said:

I remember coming home, saying to my mum, why am I this colour? Why am I being called this?

But he added:

I'm very, very thankful that my mum got me the right ethics and values into my mind where she always said 'we've got it bad now, but there are far more good people than bad people'. So my whole life has revolved around knowing that there are far more good people who are quiet than bad people who are loud.

And remembering the nice people around him growing up, he insisted:

We need that community cohesion back. It doesn't matter where you're from, what you've done, but we need to listen to one another so we can eradicate the fears that people have got and put hope into one another that 'you know what? That person walking down the street, my next door neighbour, we're all here to live peacefully at the end of the day and work for one another and we all want everyone to be happy.

For young people in particular, he stressed, many just want hope:

Recently it's kind of nosedived because they're thinking 'well, there's nothing for us to do'…

Following a "spate of knife crime", he said:

I helped to set up the Safe Zone Project… [which] has all been about community spirit.

And as he asserted:

If we have somewhere that the youth know they can go to, as a youth club primarily… it will open a floodgate and it will deal with a lot of stuff. Knife crime will go down itself, gang culture will go down itself, and there will be that community cohesion.

If he gets into the council, he insisted, the local people will be the boss.

Featured image via the Canary

By Ed Sykes

In a message posted to his Truth Social account, president Donald Trump has announced a plan which will surely repress the vote in the Midterm Elections:

"there will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!"

Trump's authoritarian takeover and interference in the midterm elections under the guise of "election integrity" has begun. pic.twitter.com/FHYYKQ3u3h

— Melanie D'Arrigo (@DarrigoMelanie) February 13, 2026

Given Trump's dire polling, however, simply repressing the vote may not be enough.

Trump thanks you for your "attention"

The president's post reads in full:

The Democrats refuse to vote for Voter I.D., or Citizenship. The reason is very simple — They want to continue to cheat in Elections. This was not what our Founders desired.

I have searched the depths of Legal Arguments not yet articulated or vetted on this subject, and will be presenting an irrefutable one in the very near future. There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not! Also, the People of our Country are insisting on Citizenship, and No Mail-In Ballots, with exceptions for Military, Disability, Illness, or Travel.

Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

He has, in his own words:

searched the depths of Legal Arguments not yet articulated or vetted on this subject.

We'll be honest…we're not sure what this means. At the same time, we're confident he hasn't done it.

Can you really imagine the tycoon-turned-politician searching the depths of anything? The man has all the depth of a contact lens.

Recently, Trump claimed the US is the only country which allows mail in ballots. This may shock you, but the truth is actually somewhat different to what president Trump suggests:

"We're the only country with Mail In Ballots"

- Donald Trump

Fact Check: 70-80 countries worldwide
Roughly one-third of the world's countries allow some form of postal voting. pic.twitter.com/f69uDu5BlJ

— Bricktop_NAFO (@Bricktop_NAFO) February 13, 2026

He has also threatened to deploy his masked ICE goons to disrupt voting:

There are 39 other countries with mail-in voting.
Trump's plan is simple. If you block mail-in ballots, all ICE has to do is disrupt, intimidate and assault at polling places in blue areas to insure Trump remains King forever.
It's really that simple pic.twitter.com/3DdF782K8T

— BigBlueWaveUSA2026®

It must be that fresh mountain air

Bork!Bork!Bork! Just picture it. You're at a Swiss train station, looking for information on your connecting line. You peer up at the platform sign hoping to find out how long you'll be waiting and whether you're standing in the right place. But instead of helpful info, you see "* Installation log files are stored in /tmp." Gee, thanks a lot!…

What is the automotive equivalent of Word, and where does Copilot fit?

In the Venn diagram of car owners whose vehicles have a certain amount of "character" and individuals who use Microsoft's applications, there is an intersection of people who accept a quirk or two but not an unexpected explosion.…

Airbnb plans to double down on artificial intelligence to improve its user experience for both guests and hosts. During a fourth-quarter earnings call, Airbnb's CEO, Brian Chesky, said the company is building an "AI-native experience" aimed at helping guests book trips, assisting hosts with their listings, and running the company more efficiently. According to Chesky, there's an AI search tool to help guests book trips that's live for a small percentage of users right now.

In a shareholder letter posted on Airbnb's website, the company said it's conducting early testing with an AI-powered search that is "focused on giving guests a more natural way to describe what they're looking for, and ask questions about the listing and location." The letter added that the AI search tool will become "a more comprehensive and intuitive search experience that extends through the trip," but the company didn't offer a definitive date on when it would be available to the public.

While it may feel like Airbnb is late to incorporating AI into its ecosystem, it introduced an AI chatbot that handles customer service requests last year. While the AI agent is only available to users in North America currently, Airbnb said that it already handles a third of customer requests without the need for human intervention, as reported by TechCrunch. Chesky also said during the earnings call that the AI chatbot would tackle "significantly more" customer tickets a year from now and that it would roll out to the rest of the world.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/airbnb-is-testing-out-ai-search-with-a-small-percentage-of-users-203054011.html?src=rss

Five Years Ago

As you probably know, we marked the 30th anniversary of Section 230 this week, so it's not surprising that this same week in 2021 we were celebrating its 25th anniversary with a special online event where we were joined by Chris Cox and Ron Wyden. We also wrote about the many reasons to celebrate the law and explained how it lets tech companies fix content moderation issues, and how to think about 230 in the context of online advertising. Plus, we celebrated the matching anniversary of the Declaration Of The Independence Of Cyberspace by John Perry Barlow. Of course, none of that stopped the GOP from rolling out a dumb new talking point saying 230 should be killed if net neutrality happens, nor did it stop Orrin Hatch from telling flat out lies about what 230 does.

Ten Years Ago

This week in 2016 we were, of course, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Section 230 and doing the same for the aforementioned Declaration. We also looked at the impact of Title II regulation a year after the many doomsayer predictions about it. Meanwhile, Warner/Chappell had to pay up in the lawsuit over the Happy Birthday copyright while the plaintiffs began seeking to declare the song in the public domain, Honda got hit with the Streisand Effect in its attempt to get Jalopnik to dox a commenter, a judge changed their mind and allowed James Woods to unmask a Twitter user who made fun of him, and Techdirt received (and rebuffed) yet another bogus legal threat from Australia.

Fifteen Years Ago

This week in 2011, while Righthaven was going after a new target that had a strong fair use case, we wondered what the shutdowns of ACS:Law and MediaCAT meant for the future of the US Copyright Group, just as the latter was teaming up with the producers of The Expendables to shake down thousands of people. Meanwhile, a report from IP Czar Victoria Espinel was little more than a list of lobbyist talking points, the MPAA filed a surprisingly weak billion dollar lawsuit against Hotfile, the US Chamber of Commerce was calling for more censorship and more IP protectionism, and a bizarre opinion piece in NME claimed the recent takeover of EMI by Citigroup was proof that file sharing had "murdered the music business".

Disney is going after another generative AI tool, accusing ByteDance and its recently released Seedance 2.0 of using its copyrighted material without permission. As first reported on by Axios, the Walt Disney Company sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, claiming the Chinese company developed its Seedance tool "with a pirated library of Disney's copyrighted characters from Star Wars, Marvel, and other Disney franchises, as if Disney's coveted intellectual property were free public domain clip art."

The letter, which was obtained by Axios, included examples of Seedance videos featuring copyrighted Disney characters, including Spider-Man, Darth Vader, Peter Griffin and more. Even though ByteDance just released Seedance 2.0 on Thursday, it's already earned praise, but also indignation from Hollywood studios, when it comes to its AI-generating capabilities.

With the strong early momentum, Seedance has already found itself in hot water with one of the largest media companies in the world. However, it's not the first time that Disney has threatened legal action against an AI company, since Character.AI received a cease-and-desist letter for the same offense in September. A few months later, Disney even accused Google of copyright infringement when training its AI models. On the other hand, Disney partnered with OpenAI in a three-year licensing agreement that allows the AI giant to generate images and videos using that highly sought-after intellectual property.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/disney-accuses-bytedance-of-virtual-smash-and-grab-when-using-copyrighted-works-to-train-its-ai-191116136.html?src=rss