ALEX BLOG

It was still a wrecking ball, albeit one wrapped in chocolate and warm fuzzies.

The febrile applauseUS Secretary of State Marco Rubioreceived at the Munich Security Conference whenhe saidthe US was Europe's "child" and their fates would always be "intertwined" belied his stark policy message. These were claps of relief and encouragement from a European audience bracing for a mauling like JD Vance's onslaught last year.

But Vance'sfalse accusations at last year's conference– that Europe is suppressing freedom of speech and democracy, and facing civilizational decline – are now enshrined inUS national security strategy. Rubio did not have to do much to sound friendly.

The United States is prepared to "rebuild" but only according to its values, Rubio said this year, while relentlessly evoking America's historical links to the continent. Those values include embracing Christianity and a shared cultural heritage, closing borders, and dropping climate crisis policies. The US needs to see a reformed Europe, he told decades-long allies – not justdetails of defense budgets, but a sea change in the continent's value system.

Europe and the US "belong together," he also said. But in this couples' therapy stage of an abusive relationship in decline, the message was clear: change or be dumped.

Conference organizers had warned that the world was in an era of "wrecking ball politics" that had left Europe on the sidelines, in a report published right before the conference. Now Rubio was telling liberal centrist foreign leaders that their entire outlook was wrong, echoing the far-right populist opponents who might well unseat them in upcoming elections.

The top US diplomat's speechwriters left no room forearlier arguments from key allieson the same Munich stage. A day prior, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said MAGA's culture wars were not ones Europe needed to fight. Emmanuel Macron equated territorial sovereignty with the rights of the French to police their own misinformation and democracy.

Two hours later, Ukraine's urgent plight – the defining security crisis of Europe's post-WW2 era - was passionately portrayed byPresident Volodymyr Zelensky, evoking the issue that should have been center stage breaking through the MAGA noise. A leader whose fourth appearance at the conference provided a startling reminder of Ukraine's boundless ability to survive and adapt to Russia's brutality, made the most powerful case at the summit for Europe having its own defense strategy.

Advertisement

Zelensky reminded the audience that everyUkrainian power plant had been hit, and that every kilometer Russia seized cost them 156 lives, by Ukraine's count. He spoke in English, in a tone that suggested he was less bothered about upsetting US President Donald Trump. He bemoaned the spirit of a peace process that seemed to put pressure for concessions on Ukraine – the four-year-long victim of an invasion – rather than on the aggressor Russia. He also mocked what Moscow has dubbed the "Anchorage spirit" – a term designed to suggest Putin and Trump made a secret deal when they met in Alaska last year.

As Zelensky spoke, video footage played on the wall behind him showing new Ukrainian technology taking outRussian drones– harsh reality contrasting with the policy wonkery in the room. He brought a purpose and urgency somewhat lacking in the beleaguered European leaders who preceded him.

It almost served to emphasize Rubio's point: Europe needs to shape up. His audience perhaps would prefer to replicate Ukraine's energy and resolve, rather than Hungary's.

Overall, European leaders' positive reception of Rubio's speech reflected how horrifically damaged the transatlantic relationship has been by the past year of turmoil over Ukraine, and month ofarson over Greenland.

The Danish territory got no mentions in the speech, as negotiations over its fate proceed slowly. Perhaps that sudden ellipsis – the vanishing of a crisis that nearly tore the alliance to shreds weeks earlier – was gift enough.

Rubio did mention Ukraine once in the questions that followed his speech and pandered to his audience's suspicions when he suggested the Trump administration still did not know whether Russia really wanted to make peace. (His boss, US President Donald Trump, has maintained that Putin wants to make a deal, and that Zelensky should cede diplomatic ground).

The Europe on show did not inspire. Rather, it seemed to lack the money to make good on its own ambitions, and be drowned out by internal political scandal, or the ticking clocks of leaderships coming to an end. Each year, Munich meets to hear European promises to do more. Each year, startling rises in defense spending seem nearer, but do not bring change.

At next year's Munich conference,British Prime Minster Keir Starmermay be gone, Macron's France will be facing presidential elections, and Trump will have had to weather the midterms. However these races go, it is likely transatlantic squabbling will soak up much of the oxygen. Ukraine can only hope that by that time, a sustainable and just peace has broken out – but more likely, it will have to argue to be heard over another episode in Europe and America's convoluted, bitter on-off estrangement.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

CAIRO (AP) — Observant Muslims the world over will soon be united in a ritual of daily fasting from dawn to sunset as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan starts. For Muslims, it's a time for increased worship, religious reflection and charity. Socially, it often brings families and friends together in festive gatherings around meals to break their fast.

Ramadan is followed by the Islamic holiday ofEid al-Fitr.

First day of Ramadan expected around Feb. 18-19

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar; the month cycles through the seasons.

The start of the month traditionally depends on the sighting of the crescent moon. This year, the first day of Ramadan is expected to be on or around Feb. 18 or 19. The actual start date may vary among countries and Muslim communities due to declarations by multiple Islamic authorities around the globe on whether the crescent had been sighted or different methodologies used to determine the beginning of the month.

This year, the start of Ramadan is expected around the same time as Ash Wednesday, a solemn day of fasting and reflection that signals the start of Lent, the most penitential season of the church calendar for Catholics and many other Christians.

Fasting is one of the pillars of Islam

Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, along with the profession of faith, prayer, almsgiving and pilgrimage.

Muslims see various meanings and lessons in observing the fast.

It's regarded as an act of worship to attain piety and one of submission to God. The devout see benefits, including practicing self-restraint, cultivating gratitude and empathizing with people who are poor and hungry.

The daily fast in Ramadan includes abstaining from all food and drink — not even a sip of water is allowed — from dawn to sunset, before breaking the fast in a meal known as "iftar" in Arabic.

Muslims typically stream into mosques for congregational prayers and dedicate more time to religious contemplation and the reading of the Quran, the Muslim holy book.

Charity is a hallmark of Ramadan. Among other ways of giving, many seek to provide iftar for those in need, distributing Ramadan boxes filled with pantry staples, handing out warm meals alongside such things as dates and juice or helping hold free communal meals.

Muslims eat a predawn meal, called "suhoor," to hydrate andnurture their bodiesahead of the daily fast.

Exemptions from fasting

There are certain exemptions, such as for those who are unable to because of illness or travel. Those unable to fast due to being temporarily ill or traveling need to make up for the missed days of fasting later.

Cultural and social traditions associated with Ramadan

Muslims are ethnically and racially diverse and not all Ramadan traditions are rooted in religion. Some customs may transcend borders, while others can differ across cultures.

Many social rituals center on gathering and socializing after the daily fast. Some Muslims decorate their homes, put out Ramadan-themed tableware and centerpieces or throng to markets and Ramadan bazaars.

In Egypt, Ramadan is typically a festive time. Colorful lanterns, in different shapes and sizes, dangle from children's hands and adorn homes. Ramadan songs may be played to welcome the month.

Ramadan's soundscape in Egypt has traditionally included the predawn banging on drums by a "mesaharati" who roams neighborhoods, calling out to the faithful, sometimes by name, to wake them up for the suhoor meal.

New TV shows and communal meals

A lineup of new television series is another social fixture of the month in some countries, and advertisers compete for viewers' attention.

In various regions, some Muslims worry that the month is getting commercialized, and say an emphasis on decorations, TV shows, outings or lavish iftar banquets can detract from Ramadan's religious essence. Others say that a balance can be struck and that, in moderation, such rituals are part of the month's festive spirit.

In Indonesia, Ramadan rituals vary across regions, reflecting the diversity of cultures. In deeply conservative Aceh province, animals are slaughtered during Meugang festivities, the meat cooked and shared with family, friends, poor people and orphans.

Hundreds of residents in Tangerang, a city outside the capital, Jakarta, flock to the Cisadane River to wash their hair with rice straw shampoo and welcome the fasting month with a symbolic spiritual cleansing.

Across the island of Sumatra, after evening prayers, many boys and girls parade through the streets, carrying torches and playing Islamic songs.

In the United States, where Muslims make up a racially and ethnically diverse minority, gathering at mosques and Islamic centers when possible for iftar meals and prayers provides many Muslim families with a sense of community. Some Muslims also organize or attend interfaith iftar meals.

Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP'scollaborationwith The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — A month afterclashes rockeda Kurdish-majority neighborhood inSyria's second-largest city of Aleppo, most of the tens of thousands of residents who fled the fighting between government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have returned — an unusually quick turnaround in a country where conflict has left many displaced for years.

"Ninety percent of the people have come back," Aaliya Jaafar, a Kurdish resident of the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood who runs a hair salon, said Saturday. "And they didn't take long. This was maybe the shortest displacement in Syria."

Her family only briefly left their house when government forces launched a drone strike on a lot next door where weapons were stored, setting off explosions.

The Associated Press visited the community that was briefly at the center of Syria's fragile transition from years of civil war as the new government tries to assert control over the country and gain the trust of minority groups anxious about their security.

Lessons learned

The clashes broke out Jan. 6 in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the SDF reached an impasse in talks on how to merge Syria's largest remaining armed group into the national army. Security forces captured the neighborhoods after several days of intense fighting during which at least 23 people were killed and more than 140,000 people displaced.

However, Syria's new government took measures to avoid civilians being harmed, unlike during previous outbreaks of violence between its forces and other groups on the coast and in the southern province ofSweida, during which hundreds of civilians from the Alawite and Druze religious minorities were killed in sectarian revenge attacks.

Before entering the contested Aleppo neighborhoods, the Syrian army opened corridors for civilians to flee.

Ali Sheikh Ahmad, a former member of the SDF-affiliated local police force who runs a secondhand clothing shop in Sheikh Maqsoud, was among those who left. He and his family returned a few days after the fighting stopped.

At first, he said, residents were afraid of revenge attacks after Kurdish forces withdrew and handed over the neighborhood to government forces. But that has not happened. A ceasefire agreement between Damascus and the SDF has been holding, and the two sides have made progress toward political and military integration.

"We didn't have any serious problems like what happened on the coast or in Sweida," Sheikh Ahmad said. The new security forces "treated us well," and residents' fears began to dissipate.

Jaafar agreed that residents had been afraid at first but that government forces "didn't harm anyone, to be honest, and they imposed security, so people were reassured."

The neighborhood's shops have since reopened and traffic moves normally, but the checkpoint at the neighborhood's entrance is now manned by government forces instead of Kurdish fighters.

Residents, both Kurds and Arabs, chatted with neighbors along the street. An Arab man who said he was named Saddam after the late Iraqi dictator — known for oppressing the Kurds — smiled as his son and a group of Kurdish children played with a dirty but friendly orange kitten.

Other children played with surgical staplers from a neighborhood hospital that was targeted during the recent fighting, holding them like toy guns. The government accused the SDF of taking over the hospital and using it as a military site, while the SDF said it was sheltering civilians.

One boy, looking pleased with himself, emerged from an alleyway carrying the remnant of an artillery shell.

Economic woes remain

On Friday, SDF leader Mazloum Abdi said he had held a "very productive meeting" with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani on the sidelines of asecurity conference in Munichto discuss progress made on the integration agreement.

While the security situation is calm, residents said their economic plight has worsened. Many previously relied on jobs with the SDF-affiliated local authorities, who are no longer in charge. And small businesses suffered after the clashes drove away customers and interrupted electricity and other services.

"The economic situation has really deteriorated," Jaafar said. "For more than a month, we've barely worked at all."

Others are taking a longer view. Sheikh Ahmad said he hopes that if the ceasefire remains in place and the political situation stabilizes, he will be able to return to his original home in the town of Afrin near the border with Turkey, which his family fled during a 2018 Turkish offensive against Kurdish forces.

Like many Syrians. Sheikh Ahmad has been displaced multiple times since mass protests against the government of then-President Bashar Assad spiraled into a brutal 14-year civil war.

Assad was ousted in November 2024 in an insurgent offensive, but the country has continued to see sporadic outbreaks of violence, and the new government has struggled to win the trust of religious and ethnic minorities.

Hopes for reconciliation

Last month, interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa issued a decree strengthening the rights of Syria's Kurdish minority, including recognizing Kurdish as a national language along with Arabic and adopting Nowruz, a traditional celebration of spring and renewal marked by Kurds around the region, as an official holiday. Kurds make up about 10% of Syria's population.

The decree also restored the citizenship of tens of thousands of Kurds in northeastern al-Hasakeh province after they were stripped of it during the 1962 census

Sheikh Ahmad said he was encouraged by al-Sharaa's attempts to reassure the Kurds that they are equal citizens and hopes to see more than tolerance among Syria's different communities.

"We want something better than that. We want people to love each other. We've had enough of wars after 15 years. It's enough," he said.

LONDON (AP) — In turbulent political times, stability comes with four legs, whiskers and a fondness for napping.

Britain Larry The Cat

Larry the catcelebrates 15 years on Sunday as the British government's official rodent-catcher and unofficial first feline, a reassuring presence who hasserved under six prime ministers. Sometimes it seems like they have served under him.

"Larry the cat's approval ratings will be very high," said Philip Howell, a Cambridge University professor who has studied the history of human-animal relations. "And prime ministers tend not to hit those numbers.

"He represents stability, and that's at a premium."

The gray-and-white tabby's rags-to-riches story has taken him from stray on the streets to Britain's seat of power, 10 Downing St., where he bears the official title Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office.

Adopted from London's Battersea Dogs and Cats Home by then-Prime Minister David Cameron, Larry entered Downing Street on Feb. 15, 2011. According to a profile on the U.K. government website, his duties include "greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defenses and testing antique furniture for napping quality."

Larryroams freelyand has a knack for upstaging world leaders arriving at 10 Downing St.'s famous black door, to the delight of news photographers.

"He's great at photo-bombing," said Justin Ng, a freelance photographer who has come to know Larry well over the years. "If there's a foreign leader that's about to visit then we know he'll just come out at the exact moment that meet-and-greet is about to happen."

Larry has met many world leaders, who sometimes have to step around or over him. It has been observed that he is largely unfriendly to men, though he took a liking to former U.S. President Barack Obama, and he drew a smile from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on one of the Ukrainian leader's visits to London.

When U.S. President Donald Trump visited in 2019, Larry crashed the official doorstep photo and then took a nap under the Beast, the president's armored car.

Reports of Larry's rodent-catching skills vary, though he has been photographed snagging the occasional mouse — and, once, a pigeon, which escaped.

Advertisement

"He's more of a lover than a fighter," Ng said. "He's very good at what he does: lounging around and basically showing people that he's very nonchalant."

Larry has cohabited, sometimes uneasily, with prime ministerial pets including Boris Johnson's Jack Russell cross Dilyn and Rishi Sunak's Labrador retriever Nova. He is kept well away from currentPrime Minister Keir Starmer'sfamily cats, JoJo and Prince, who inhabit the private family quarters while Larry rules the working areas of Downing Street.

He had a volatile relationship withPalmerston, diplomatic top cat at the Foreign Office across the street from No. 10. The pair were caught tussling several times before Palmerston retired in 2020. Palmerston died this month in Bermuda, where he was serving as"feline relations consultant"to the governor.

Meanwhile, Larry abides. He is 18 or 19, and has slowed down a bit, but continues to patrol his turf and to sleep on a window ledge above a radiator just inside the No. 10 door.

He is British soft power in feline form, and woe betide any prime minister who got rid of him.

"A cat-hating PM, that seems to me to be political suicide," said Howell.

He said Larry's status as nonpartisan "official pet" sets him apart from the Americanpresidential pets– most often dogs – that U.S. leaders have sometimes deployed to soften their image.

"The fact that cats are less tractable is part of the charm, too," Howell said. "He's sort of whimsically not partisan in a political sense, but he tends to take to some people and not to others and he won't necessarily sit where you want him to sit and pose where you want him to pose.

"There is a certain kind of unruliness about Larry which I think would endear him, certainly, to Brits."

Associated Press video journalist Kwiyeon Ha contributed to this story.

LONDON (AP) — Photos look back at 15 years of Larry the cat as Britain's Chief Mouser at 10 Downing Street, where the former stray has become a familiar presence through years of political change. Adopted in 2011, Larry has served under six prime ministers, earning a reputation for greeting dignitaries, lounging in the spotlight and remaining a constant at the heart of British government.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

SYDNEY, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Australia said on Sunday it would spend A$3.9 billion ($2.76 billion) to progress construction of a ‌shipyard that will help deliver nuclear-powered submarines under the trilateral ‌AUKUS defence pact with the U.S. and Britain.

Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Minnesota (SSN-783) off the coast of Western Australia

Announced in 2021, AUKUS is Australia's ​largest-ever defence investment and will see U.S.-commanded Virginia-class submarines based in Australia from 2027, several Virginia submarines sold to Australia from around 2030, and Britain and Australia building a new class of AUKUS nuclear-powered ‌submarine.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony ⁠Albanese described the A$3.9 billion as a down payment to deliver the new shipyard in Osborne, a suburb ⁠of Adelaide in South Australia state.

"Investing in the submarine construction yard at Osborne is critical to delivering Australia's conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines," Albanese ​said in ​a statement.

Official projections put the total ​cost of the build ‌at A$30 billion "over coming decades", he said.

Advertisement

Osborne is where Australia's ASC and Britain's BAE Systems will jointly build Australia's fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, the core component of the AUKUS pact. Until that work begins later this decade, the shipyard is where much of the ‌maintenance is performed on the country's existing ​Collins-class submarine fleet.

South Australian Premier Peter ​Malinauskas said the down payment ​would be spent on building enabling infrastructure for ‌the shipyard. "This is just the beginning," ​Malinauskas said in ​the statement.

In December, a Pentagon review of the AUKUS project found areas of opportunity to put the deal on the "strongest ​possible footing," including ‌ensuring that Australia is moving fast enough to build its ​nuclear submarine capacity.

($1 = 1.4138 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Sam McKeith ​in Sydney; Editing by Jamie Freed)

Anti-Iran regime protestersgathered in major cities across the globe Saturday calling for a leadership change in a Global Day of Action Rally.

Over 250,000 protesters rallied in Munich, Germany, Saturday with the Munich Security Conference as a backdrop.

"With the number of participants recorded, this gathering is one of the largest rallies held in Munich in recent years," the Munich Police reported in a press release. "The peaceful atmosphere is particularly noteworthy, despite the high number of participants in the meeting."

Iran Regime Reportedly Issued Nationwide Shoot-to-kill Orders As Protest Death Toll Surges

Crowds reportedly chanted "change, change, regime change" and "democracy for Iran" with green, white and red flags with lion and sun emblems waving in the air with a few "Make Iran Great Again" red hats spotted.

Exiled Iranian Crown PrinceReza Pahlavi was among the hundreds of thousands protesting, telling Reuters a possible attack on Iran will either weaken the regime or accelerate its fall.

Read On The Fox News App

"It's a matter of time. We are hoping that this attack will expedite the process, and the people can be finally back in the streets and take it all the way to the ultimate regime's downfall," said Pahlavi.

He said he hopesPresident Trumpwill have the United States intervene and "have the people's back."

Uproar After Iran Named Vice Chair Of Un Body Promoting Democracy, Women's Rights

On Friday, President Trump said regime change in Iran would be the "best thing" to happen while speaking to troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

"People are hoping that, at some point, the decision will be made that there's no use, there's no point, we're not going to get anywhere with negotiations," said Pahlavi. "Intervention is a way to save lives."

Sen. Lindsey Graham,R-S.C., was present in Munich for the security conference and echoed a similar sentiment in a sideline interview  Friday.

Advertisement

Nikki Haley Urges Trump To Make Iran Action A 'Legacy-defining Moment' Before Leaving Office

"There's no negotiating with these people in my view. They're hell-bent on enacting an agenda based on religion that teaches them to lie, teaches them to destroy in the name of God," said Graham.

He shared that the regime is the weakest it has been since 1979, adding, "It is a regime with American blood on its hand." And he called on protesters to "keep protesting."

The senator also took the stage at the Global Day of Action, speaking to the crowd and holding up a black "Make Iran Great Again" hat.

Large demonstrations were also held in Toronto, Melbourne, Athens, Tokyo, London and Los Angeles.

An estimated 350,000 people marched on the streets of Toronto, the city's police spokesperson, Laura Brabant, told The Associated Press.

Iranian American activist and Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Sheila Nazarian told Fox News Digital the protests across the globe represent a universal truth.

"When regimes silence their people, the people eventually find their voice. Whether in the streets of Tehran or in diaspora communities around the world," she said.

Nazarianleft Iranwhen she was 6 years old along with her family.

Click Here To Download The Fox News App

"As someone who came to this country from Iran, I know firsthand that these protests are not about politics. They're about basic human dignity, women's rights and the fundamental freedom to live without fear," she added.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Original article source:Global protests call for Iran regime change in major cities worldwide after bloody crackdown