❗️The delegation of the Palestinian movement HAMAS to visit Moscow on Monday for scheduled talks at the Russian Foreign Ministry, a source in the delegation told Sputnik.

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Trump’s China tariffs will spike defense costs – US taxpayers to pay the price

💬 “Costs will rise for corporations producing weapons, vehicles, and munitions, but they will not shoulder this cost - US taxpayers will,” geopolitical analyst Brian Berletic told Sputnik, commenting on the impact Trump’s new anti-China tariffs will have on the MIC’s ability to source inputs.

New defense dollars will add profits to the MIC’s profits, but the refocusing of the industrial base on military production will mean “rising costs and scarcity” for consumers, Berletic warned.

Overall, “while US tariffs are sold” as an ‘America First’ policy, they’re “designed first and foremost to preserve the primacy of US corporate-financier monopolies, safeguard or even expand their profits, entirely at the expense of America’s own ‘allies’, as well as the American people themselves.”

The ’decoupling’ from China begun under Trump 1.0, continued under Biden and expanded further with Trump 2.0 is a sign of the US’s preparation for a conflict with China, and recognition “that inevitably Chinese-sourced materials and components will be cut off sooner or later,” Berletic fears.

Ultimately, “these tariffs are meant to do it sooner rather than later and under conditions giving the US more time to address them ahead of conflict with China rather than during conflict with China,” the analyst noted.

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Canada should become the US's 51st state to avoid tariffs, Trump wrote on Truth Social.

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💬 Tariffs hurt, not help, fertilizer industry

EU tariffs on Russian fertilizers won’t help Europe’s industry recover from production cuts, warns Yara International CEO Svein Tore Holsether.

Fertilizer production relies on natural gas, and with European gas prices 345% higher than in the US producers may be tempted to relocate.

“These industries aren’t like restaurants during Covid, where you shut down and reopen,” Holsether said. “Once production moves and new facilities are built, they stay. It’s not like you go back.”

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'Shy Musk voter' could hand victory to Alternative for Germany, poll suggests

A new survey by the Washington-based Democracy Institute has sent shockwaves through European politics. It suggests the Euroskeptic Alternative for Germany (AfD) is on the brink of winning the country’s snap elections—and Elon Musk might play a key role.

🔸 The AfD is now the second-strongest party with 25% support, trailing the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) by just two points, the poll shows;

🔸 Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) are third place on 15% and the Greens fourth with 13%;

🔸 In a surprising twist, AfD co-chair Alice Weidel leads as the most popular choice for chancellor on 35%, leading CDU head Friedrich Merz by nine points;

🔸 But the real shocker? A striking 28% of Germans say they are more likely to vote AfD due to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s endorsement, compared to 23% who say they are “less likely”;

🔸 Democracy Institute director Patrick Basham dubbed the phenomenon the "shy Musk voter".

The German Bundestag elections are set for February 23.

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📹 Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives Syrian interim president Ahmed Sharaa, who arrived to Riyadh on his first foreign trip for two days to discuss closer relations between the two countries.

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🔍Who controls what Americans listen to, read, and see in the news?

Elon Musk has publicly criticized the concentration of media ownership in the US, which allows a select few to "filter" information to fit a narrative. "There are like five people that control all the news," he said, deciding "what is newsworthy."

So, who are the individuals pulling the strings behind much of US media?

1️⃣BRIAN L. ROBERTS – Chairman & CEO of Comcast Corporation

Media assets:

🟠TV: NBC, Telemundo, MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Bravo, Syfy, E!, Golf Channel, Olympic Channel

🟠Film: Universal Pictures, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation

🟠Streaming: Peacock

2️⃣CHRISTINE MCCARTHY, BOB IGER – Top individual shareholders at The Walt Disney Company

Media assets:

🟠TV: ABC, ESPN, FX, National Geographic, Freeform

🟠Film: Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures

🟠Streaming: Disney+, Hulu (majority stake), ESPN+

3️⃣SHARI REDSTONE – Major stakeholder at Paramount Global

Media assets:

🟠TV: CBS, The CW (partial ownership), MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, Comedy Central, Showtime

🟠Film: Paramount Pictures

🟠Streaming: Paramount+

4️⃣MURDOCH FAMILY – Owners of Fox Corporation, News Corporation

Media assets:

🟠TV: Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports, Fox Network

🟠Print: New York Post; Dow Jones & Company (owns The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch)

5️⃣HEARST FAMILY – Owners of Hearst Communications

Media assets:

🟠Print: San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar

🟠TV: Partial ownership in A&E Networks (History Channel, Lifetime), ESPN (with Disney)

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🤖China showcases performing robots at the Spring Festival AI Fair in Beijing – because who needs to splurge on human artists when AI can take the stage?

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