February 18th, 2025

• Middle East latest: Israelis and Palestinians mark 500 days of war in Gaza with more uncertainty
• World Bank to release damage assessment for Gaza in coming days
• Netanyahu reveals AI vision for Gaza's transformation after Trump's 'Riviera' call
• Graham: 'Very little appetite' for US to take over Gaza
• Head of hawkish ZOA group cheers Trump plan to clear Gaza, but wants Strip for Israel
• Trump's Gaza proposal will jeopardize Israel's future, warns head of liberal JCPA group
• Rubio discusses Trump's Gaza plan with MBS before Saudi summit on 'Arab alternatives'
• In Israel, US senators dismiss Trump's Gaza plan, expect alternative from Arab states
• Egypt said to propose Gaza 'secure areas' where Palestinians will live as Strip rebuilt
• Katz announces new panel tasked with advancing 'voluntary' emigration of Gazans
• Biden's Mideast czar says Trump 'right to stand firmly by Israel' on hostage deal
• Israel preparing for Hamas to return bodies of 4 hostages on Thursday, as stipulated in hitherto unpublished part of deal
• Israel and Hamas in talks to double the number of hostages released this weekend
• Chikli tells US Jewish leaders he will vote against stage 2 of hostage release deal
• Two days after release, ex-captive warns remaining hostages 'don't have any more time'
• UK funding to UNRWA under review after 'concerning' claims by Emily Damari that she was held captive in UNRWA facilities
• IDF: Strike in Lebanon's Sidon kills top Hamas commander planning terror attacks
• FM Sa'ar to US senators: Turkey cooperating with Iran to smuggle money to Hezbollah
• As Deadline for Withdrawal Lapses, Israel Says It Will Stay in Southern Lebanon
• IDF to remain in five strategic posts in south Lebanon after Tuesday withdrawal
• Lebanon extends Iran flight ban after US says Israel might shoot down planes
• IDF Arrests 20 Men Crossing Lebanon Border to Visit Talmudic Rabbi's Grave
• Violation of peace deal? Israel's US envoy warns Egypt is 'reinforcing Sinai bases' - Leiter called it a "clear violation of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel - after some 45 years."
• State Department 'Diversity' Fellows Launched an Internal 'Resistance' Against Israel - and Blinken's Staff Offered Them a Meeting, Emails Show
• Netanyahu testimony likely to take another 9 to 14 months, court told
• Florida Jew opens fire, injures 2 Israeli tourists mistaken for Palestinians
• 'We are all Hamas': Sky News Australia reveals widespread anti-Jewish sentiment among Australian medical professionals, extending beyond the nurses' controversial video
• Netanyahu vows to 'finish the job' against Iran with support from Trump
• Mike Waltz: Trump Is 'Deadly Serious' About Stopping Iran From Obtaining Nuclear Weapons - Waltz's comments come after reports from last week revealed Israel is planning an imminent strike on Iran
• Surviving Myanmar's Military Junta: Inside the Relentless War on Burma's Karenni State - One of Three Christian-Majority States
• Taiwan Considering Multi-Billion Dollar Arms Purchase From US, Sources Say
• China rebukes US over State Dept website change on Taiwan independence
• US prisoner Kalob Byers freed in Russia, Kremlin confirms - Byers was detained in Moscow on Feb. 7 and charged with drug smuggling
• Trump admin to begin peace talks with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia Tuesday
• Top Russian, U.S. Officials to Hold Ukraine Peace Talks as E.U. Struggles to Find a Role
• Germany to reject Starmer's plan for troops in Ukraine as Europe splits over peace deal
• Macron's 'Emergency' Ukraine Summit in Paris Fails to Produce Unified European Strategy, as Poles and Germans Balk at Deploying Troops
• European countries clash over sending troops to Ukraine - Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland express reluctance after Britain says it is prepared to commit forces
• Trump on potential EU food imports ban over "reciprocal" tariff policy: 'Let them do it'
• Trump's Threats Against Canada Upend Conservative's Playbook
• Conservative portion of blue state looking to break off and join neighboring red state - Decades-long calls for Staten Island to secede from NYC are growing louder again, too
• Fetterman: DOGE Causing 'Chaos and Confusion'
• Trump Voters Splinter Over His Rapid Shake-Up of Washington - Some core supporters love his no-holds-barred approach, but several swing voters are taken aback at his early moves
• Commentary: 'This is a coup': Trump and Musk's purge is cutting more than costs, say experts - In slashing staff and disabling entire agencies the administration is lacerating the structures of US democracy
• Klobuchar: If Trump Administration Doesn't Follow Court Orders, People Will Go to Jail
• Federal Judge Who Issued Order Against President Trump's Funding Freeze Allegedly Has "Major Potential Conflict of Interest"
• Trump administration blasts 'unprecedented assault' on its power in first Supreme Court appeal
• Judge expected to rule in 24 hours in case that aims to sharply curtail Musk's DOGE
• Judge appears inclined to deny request to block DOGE's mass firings
• Judge rules against federal employees suing Trump admin for privacy concerns
• 'Five alarm warning': Possible DOGE access to private taxpayer data sparks outcry
• DOGE Investigation Uncovers Massive Discrepancies in Social Security Database
• Stephen Miller Exposes Foreign Fraud Rings: Foreign Nationals Use Fake SSNs to Steal Billions in Taxpayer Benefits Through IRS - Full Scope Unknown Until DOGE Accesses Records
• Elon Musk's DOGE Team Uncovers Over 25 Million People Ages 100+ in Social Security Database, Some Older Than the Constitution: "There are a Lot of Vampires Collecting Social Security"
• Social Security Fraud: Nearly 1.5 Million Americans Listed as Over 150 Years Old, 1,041 Over 220 Years Old
• Acting head of Social Security quits after clash with DOGE over data: Report
• Department of Education cancels another $350M in 'woke' spending for contracts, grants
• DOGE Caucus senator pushes to end 'slush fund' for presidential candidates: 'Welfare for politicians' - 'This Presidents Day I am fighting for the integrity of the office,' said Sen. Ernst
• GOP Rep. Tim Burchett Says Democrats Are "Terrified" Because DOGE is Going to Find a "Paper Trail" of Money That Went Overseas and Ended Up Back Into Pockets of Lawmakers
• DOGE Reveals $4.7 Trillion of Taxpayer Money Went Into Government Black Hole and is Untraceable
• Jeff Bezos-Owned Washington Post Turns Down Ad Campaign That Asked, 'Who's Running This Country: Donald Trump Or Elon Musk?'
• CNN admits Dems are 'powerless' amid GOP takeover of federal government
• Trump officials struggled to reinstate nuclear weapons staff after firing hundreds
• X challenges German court decision that forces it to share election data
• Online meme leads to armed police raid in Germany, JD Vance calls it 'Orwellian'
• Moulton: VP Vance Used 'Same Language that Hitler Used to Justify the Holocaust'
• Dem rep claims he was 'embarrassed' by Vance calling out Europeans for censorship, compares him to Hitler
• Downloads of DeepSeek's AI apps paused in South Korea over privacy concerns
• Will Israel's AI supercomputer spill sensitive secrets? Red flags mount
• Israeli AI cybersecurity startup valued at $1.1 billion after major funding round
• 'City-killer' asteroid 2024 YR4 could hit the moon instead of us, scientists say
• 5.1 magnitude earthquake hits near Oia, Greece
• 5.1 magnitude earthquake hits near Ohonua, Tonga
• 5.1 magnitude earthquake hits near Amorgos, Greece
• 5.0 magnitude earthquake hits near Fira, Greece
• Permian Basin pipeline ruptures after M5.0 earthquake hits Texas
• Over 200 earthquakes recorded during earthquake swarm in Campi Flegrei, Italy
• Greece to build escape port on Santorini as quakes continue, says minister
• Ruiz volcano in Colombia erupts to 19,000ft
• Semeru volcano in Indonesia erupts to 15,000ft
• Mt Etna volcano in Italy erupts to 13,000ft
• Crews 'Heroically' Perform 50 Rescues as Floodwaters Slam Kentucky Town
• Winter storm to dump heavy snow from Plains to North Carolina, including flood-stricken areas
• Deadly Cold: At least 11 dead as entire US braces for 'arctic outbreak' and coldest temps yet after cars found Frozen in flood waters
• 'Disaster amnesia': The Los Angeles wildfires revealed a deeper, more vicious cycle that has plagued California for decades
• Runway Horror: Delta plane crashes & flips on its Roof at Toronto airport with 19 victims rushed to hospital after crawling from wreck
• NBC Reporter Ties President Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE to Plane Crash in Toronto with Canadian Air Traffic Control
• Trump Admin Fires Hundreds of FAA Employees Amid Reports DEI Policies Led to DCA Crash
• Embattled Mayor Adams balks at resigning during sermon speech - claims he's on a mission from God: 'I am going nowhere'
• Half of NYC's deputy mayors dramatically resign in wake of Eric Adams' controversial reprieve from Trump DOJ
• NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams calls for Eric Adams to resign as chaos engulfs City Hall
• NYC mayor labels calls for him to resign a 'modern-day Mein Kampf'
• Wall Street banks scrub DEI language from websites in latest retreat from corporate wokeness: report
• NAACP lists companies that dump DEI in its tactical spending guide for Black Americans
• Tom Hanks faces backlash over offensive MAGA skit on SNL's star-studded anniversary; viewers furious over his racist performance, call for ban
• House report: 60 Chinese espionage cases, 224 espionage incidents in three years - Espionage threats increased as more than 176,000 Chinese illegally entered U.S. under Biden
• Nolte: Border Czar Tom Homan Says Illegal Daily Encounters Down to 229 from 11,000
• Trump Admin Reforms 'Unaccompanied Alien Children' Policy to Prevent Trafficking
• North Carolina Married Mother of Two Charged with 80 Child Sex Crimes
• Trans terror cult leader, member wanted for killing of Vermont Border Patrol agent arrested in Maryland
• FDA Staff Reviewing Musk's Neuralink Included in DOGE Firings: Sources
• Trump's USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins on Lowering Egg Prices: 'We're On It,' 'Going to Do Everything We Can to Address It'
• Wyoming woman hospitalized with bird flu after virus kills her chickens
• Wheat crops are dying, and scientists just found out why - Researchers have found a protein that causes disease in wheat crops and is one the most significant contributors to crop yield declines
• WSJ asks Kennedy to cast aside 'antivax hooey' amid Texas measles outbreak
• WHO Chief: 'Now or Never' for Pandemic Accord
• Doctors and Hospitals Look to Drones to Deliver Drugs, Supplies - and Even Organs
• Pope will remain hospitalized as doctors treat a complex respiratory tract infection, Vatican says
• 'Complex Clinical Picture': Pope Francis Has His Hospitalization Extended, as Concerns Mount Over His Decaying Health
• Pope Francis, sensing he is close to death, moves to protect his legacy - The battle to succeed Pope Francis is likely to be highly politicized