🇺🇸🇺🇦 Trump wants elections in Ukraine before a peace deal

🔗 Visegrad24

🇺🇸🇵🇸 — The Trump administration has stopped all funding to the Palestinian Authority security forces.

— The Washington Post

🇪🇺🆓🚫🇷🇺 — 🇬🇧 Financial Times | EU agrees new Russia sanctions package | Move takes aim at the country’s aluminium industry and further tightens restrictions on its oil exports | February 19, 2025:

"EU capitals have agreed a fresh sanctions package against Russia, as Brussels vows to step up pressure on Moscow and support for Kyiv despite US-led negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

The bloc’s 16th package of sanctions against Russia since it launched its full-scale war takes aim at the country’s aluminium industry and further tightens restrictions on its oil exports.

The sanctions target 13 more banks, 73 more so-called shadow fleet tankers used by Moscow to export crude oil, and a “phased-in” ban on EU countries buying certain types of Russian aluminium products, according to people briefed on its contents.

The package, which the people said was endorsed by ambassadors from all the EU’s 27 countries on Wednesday morning, also targets more individuals and companies deemed to be helping Russia prosecute its war against Ukraine."

#Sanctions

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🇺🇸🇺🇦 Trump goes after Zelensky this morning, calling him a "dictator without elections" and saying "he refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden 'like a fiddle.'"

🔗 Natasha Bertrand

🇨🇴 — Gustavo Petro warns that drug traffickers have acquired two missiles to shoot down his plane and assassinate him.

🇧🇷⚖️👮🤝📱 — The messaging app Telegram provided information on 1,008 Brazilian users to authorities throughout 2024. This data, sourced from the platform’s transparency reports, was accessed in cases involving Brazilian jurisdiction

⛓ Last year alone, Telegram received 302 police or judicial requests for user details in Brazil. The data shared includes phone numbers or IP addresses and is only provided when official investigations are confirmed.

❗️ These disclosures mark a shift in Telegram's policy regarding cooperation with legal investigations. The platform was previously known for resisting or limiting the release of user data, even in cases involving criminal suspects.

This stance changed significantly after August 2024, when Telegram's co-founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France. Durov still faces six charges, including being an "accomplice in managing a platform that enabled illicit activities" and obstructing authorities’ access to user data despite legal procedures.

Shortly after his release, Durov announced policy changes, including increased moderation and expanded cooperation with law enforcement worldwide. Telegram has also intensified efforts to dismantle groups and channels distributing illegal content, including child abuse materials, in collaboration with specialized agencies.

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🇧🇷⚖️❌ 🇧🇷— LAWFARE: Alexandre de Moraes' strategy to persecute opponents

This report presents the studies of lawyer and researcher Enio Viterbo on how Alexandre de Moraes uses lawfare to persecute the Brazilian right and former president Jair Bolsonaro.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

🇺🇸🇲🇽 The U.S. has officially declared the following as Foreign Terrorist Organizations:

Tren de Aragua, MS-13, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the United Cartels, the Gulf Cartel, the Northeast Cartel, and the Michoacán Family.

⛓️‍💥 Rapid Response 47

🇺🇸▶️❗️🇧🇷⚖️ — Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has become the target of a lawsuit in the United States, filed by the Trump Media and Technology Group Corp., linked to the American president, and the video platform Rumble

📝 The companies accuse the Supreme Court justice of:

➡️illegally attempting to impose “Brazilian censorship laws” on companies based in the United States;

➡️violating freedom of speech, a right guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In the document, the companies state that Moraes ordered the suspension of accounts belonging to a Brazilian political commentator exiled in the U.S. The individual was not identified. They also cite the suspension of nearly 150 accounts critical of Lula;

➡️violating the CDA (Communications Decency Act). This legislation regulates internet content in the U.S. It includes Section 230, which exempts online service providers from liability for user-generated content;

➡️exercising jurisdiction beyond Brazil by attempting to regulate digital content in the United States. According to the companies, the gag orders issued by Moraes cannot be enforced in the U.S. “No extraterritorial decree or judicial overreach from abroad can override the freedoms protected by the U.S. Constitution and law,” they argue;

➡️violating U.S. sovereignty by attempting to impose sanctions and fines on American companies without adhering to international treaties between the two countries, such as the MLAT (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty).

‼️ The companies claim that if Rumble does not comply with the order, Moraes could pressure companies like Apple and Google to remove the Rumble app from their stores, harming the platform’s global operations.

🖥 Although not directly affected, Truth Social, Trump's social media network, states that it relies on Rumble’s technology for video hosting, which would negatively impact it if the platform’s operations were disrupted.

⚖️ Here are the requests made in the lawsuit:

➡️ a declaration that Moraes’ orders cannot be enforced in the U.S.;

➡️a ban on companies like Apple and Google removing the Rumble app due to orders from the Supreme Court;

➡️egal protection to ensure that Rumble and TMTG are not forced to comply with foreign censorship.

Source 🖇

🇺🇸▶️❌🇧🇷⚖️ — The CEO of the video platform Rumble, Chris Pavlovski, made a post on the social network 𝕏 following the revelation that his company is filing a lawsuit alongside former President Donald Trump’s media conglomerate against Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes:

"Hello, Alexandre [de Moraes]. Rumble will not comply with your illegal orders. Instead, we will see you in court. Sincerely, Chris Pavlovski."

💬 The businessman refers to court orders he considers "illegal," which were issued under secrecy by Moraes against his company. These orders involved the blocking of accounts linked to Brazilian journalist Allan dos Santos and other digital influencers.

➡️ Among other measures, Rumble faced the risk of heavy fines and service interruptions in Brazil if it failed to comply or disclosed the details of the rulings. In 2023, the company decided to cease operations in the country but recently resumed its activities.

➡️ Trump's media company and Rumble are suing Moraes for allegedly "violating American sovereignty" through his rulings in the Brazilian judicial system.

Chris Pavlovski (@chrispavlovski) 🖇

🇺🇸🇪🇺❗️🪨☢️❌🇷🇺🇨🇳 — 🇬🇧 Financial Times | US and European energy groups at risk from uranium supply crunch | Metal used to power reactors faces shortages as demand for nuclear power rises | February 17, 2025:

"US and European energy companies are at growing risk from a uranium supply crunch as demand surges for nuclear power to fuel everything from household electricity to data centres, industry figures have warned.

The threat of future shortages comes as the world’s biggest producer of the metal used to power nuclear reactors, Kazakhstan, sells more to Russia and China while less is going to the US and Europe.

“Russian and Chinese players have been very keen to secure access to resources in central Asia and Africa, creating a very aggressive competitive environment,” said Benjamin Godwin at Prism Strategic Intelligence."

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🇷🇺🤝🇸🇾🕊📍🇸🇾 — 📰 Bloomberg | Russia Set to Keep Reduced Military Presence in Post-Assad Syria | Continued presence in Syria has been strategic goal for Putin | Putin spoke to Syrian counterpart for first time last week | February 17, 2025:

"Russia will likely keep a reduced military presence in Syria, achieving a key objective for President Vladimir Putin after the downfall of the Assad regime he backed, according to people familiar with the matter.

Moscow is close to a deal with the new Syrian government that would allow it to maintain some staff and equipment in the country, the people said, asking not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

One of the people said Russia hopes to keep the same naval and air bases it used in Syria until current President Ahmed Al-Sharaa led a rebel onslaught that toppled Bashar al-Assad last year.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov didn’t reply to a request seeking comment. It wasn’t immediately possible to verify the information with officials in the transitional government in Syria.

There is no guarantee the current talks will result in an agreement but a phone call between the Syrian president and Putin — the first one ever — on Wednesday shows the momentum is building. A final deal would mark Russia’s second major foreign policy victory just this month after the US said it would start peace talks with Moscow over how to end the war in Ukraine."

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🇮🇹🇺🇸🇽🇰 Italy is preparing for a possible U.S. troop withdrawal from Kosovo, leaving European allies to manage escalating tensions with Serbia alone.

— BILD