Thursday 12th February 2026. NATO Arctic mission. Norway Nobel release. Russia START treaty. Kenya cult arrests. Madagascar cyclone...

Good morning. This is Send 7. World News in 7 minutes. I'm Juliet Martin and today is Thursday, the 12th of February, 2026. Starting in year-it, NATO has launched a new Arctic mission with the aim to defuse tensions caused by United States President Donald Trump's plans to acquire Greenland. The Arctic Century will involve greater NATO military presence in the region. Secretary General Mark Ritter announced the mission. Arctic Century leverages the strengths of the Alliance by bringing together NATO and allied activities in the high north into one overarching operational approach to the region. Initially it will bring together exercises like Denmark's Arctic and Jurens and Norway's cold response. Activities involving tens of thousands of personnel and equipment they need to operate successfully in Arctic conditions. Norway's Nobel Committee has asked Iran to immediately release Nagas Mohamedi from prison. Mohamedi is a women's rights activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023. She was sentenced to another seven and a half years in prison last week according to reports. The committee said Mohamedi's ordeal is yet another example of the brutal repression that has followed the mass protests in Iran. Work out this women and men have risked their lives to demand freedom, equality and basic human rights. Russia has said that it will continue to abide by the new start nuclear treaty which expired on the 5th of February if the United States does too. United States President Donald Trump has said that he wants a new improved and modernised treaty rather than extending the old one. Africa. In Kenya, cult leader Paul McKenzie and seven others have been charged with additional crimes. The members of the Doomsday sect already faced charges including murder and terrorism after more than 400 bodies were recovered from the Shakahola forest. According to prosecutors, the cult ordered followers to starve themselves to death before the world ended. They are now charged in relation to the deaths of 52 more people whose bodies were found in shallow graves last year. In Madagascar at least 31 people have been killed and another four are missing after tropical cyclone Gershani struck on Tuesday. More than 2,740 people were evacuated from coastal areas and a total of 250,460 people have been classified as disaster victims. 10 days earlier tropical cyclone fightier killed 14 people and displaced over 31,000. Asia. Kazakhstan will hold a referendum on a new constitution on 15th of March. The proposed constitution would maintain the seven year term limit for the Kazakh president but it could create the possibility of President Kasim Jormar Tokyev staying in power after his term ends in 2029. It would reduce the parliament to one chamber from two, reduce the number of lawmakers and reinstate the vice president position. Cambodia's government says it has closed almost 200 scam centres in recent weeks. Cambodia's commission for combating online scams told Reuters that 173 senior crime figures had been arrested and 11,000 workers had been deported in the campaign that began late last year. In Pakistan five police officers were killed by militants yesterday according to police. The militants were hiding in a forest and began shooting at a police patrol. Four of the militants were killed by the police. The Americas. In Barbados Prime Minister Mia Motley will seek a third term in the general election. She faces opposition leader Ralph Thorn in the vote. At the time of recording this podcast, voting was underway. In Mexico at least 28 people have died from a measles outbreak that began last year according to the health ministry. Official figures state that there have been 9,074 cases of measles. The country has 28 million vaccines available which President Claudia Shainbaum has said will be more than sufficient. And in Brazil, the free Copacabana festival will be held on 2 May. In a post on social media, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Pais posted a video of Shakira suggesting that she might be the festival's headliner. Lady Gaga had lined last year and more than 2 million people attended. Madonna was the headliner the year before. That's your world news in 7 minutes. If you enjoy this podcast, please tell your friends about us. You can get in touch with us in a voice message at cens7.org or by sending an email to [email protected]. I'm Juliet Martin. Tomorrow you will be with Stephen Devanchancy. Have a great day. Hi, this is Stephen. Before today's news, I just want to tell you about another podcast that I listen to and I think that you will love too. In the Jordan Harbinger show, Jordan interviews people that I would love to talk to, like Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, and World Historian Yvonne Harrari. Another episode I loved recently was with the demographer Dean Spears talking about the world's coming depopulation. To listen, search in your podcast app for the Jordan Harbinger show or go to jordanharbinger.com/subscribe.