US import tariffs on Mexican goods SUSPENDED for a month

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum broke the news a press conference following her conversation with Donald Trump on Monday.

She added that she spoke with her US counterpart for about 45 minutes, during which several agreements were reached on immigration, security and economic issues.

Over the next month, while the 25% tariffs imposed by Trump are suspended, negotiations and joint efforts between the US and Mexico will take place, Sputnik’s correspondent reports.

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USAID: Soros' secret cash cow

🔸 US conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation claimed in 2017 that George Soros' Open Society Foundations (OSF) had been made "the main implementer of USAID’s aid" since at least 2009.

🔸 But the Soros-USAID collaboration began much earlier. A 1993 USAID document shows the agency signed an agreement with the Soros Foundations’ Management Training Program to train 30 "professionals" from Bulgaria, Estonia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

🔸 In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a series of color revolutions shook Eastern Europe, with George Soros' network of NGOs playing a central role in the unrest.

🔸 In 2003–2004, Soros’ International Renaissance Foundation partnered with USAID to support Ukraine's ‘Orange Revolution’. Prior to that, the US spent $54.7 million in 2003 and $34.11 million in 2004 on "democracy programs" in Ukraine through various agencies, including USAID

🔸 The US legal watchdog Judicial Watch revealed in April 2018 that USAID sponsored Soros’ globalist agenda in Guatemala. In total, OSF reportedly spent around $100 million fomenting unrest in Latin America between 2015 and 2018.

🔸 In October 2018, the watchdog obtained documents indicating that USAID partnered with Soros to fund radical left-wing activists in Albania. In 2016, USAID reportedly allocated $9 million to a campaign overseen by Soros’ East West Management Institute.

🔸 To illustrate the scale of funds managed by Soros-linked initiatives, in 2024, then-President Joe Biden requested nearly $30 billion for USAID in FY2025.

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Israeli authorities have issued arrest warrants for over a thousand ultra-Orthodox Jews who failed to report for military service, Israeli media report.

Israel’s Supreme Court ruled last summer that there were no longer legal grounds for exempting students at religious seminaries from connoscription.

Following the decision, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv, clashing with police.

They argue that studying sacred texts is their way of contributing to the strength and security of Israel. For decades before the ruling, they had been exempt from military service.

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USAID's billion-dollar support for Ukraine’s color revolutions unveiled

Disguised as funding ‘civil society’ and ‘democracy promotion’, USAID was used to fuel civil unrest for US-backed regime change – including the 2004 ‘Orange Revolution’ and 2014 Euromaidan coups in Ukraine.

Euromaidan (2013-2014):

🔸 Directed by the US State Department through NGOs and private foundations

🔸 USAID, in collaboration with the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), supported Ukrainian NGOs organizing protests against the halt of EU integration policies

🔸 The US funneled $1.09 billion into ‘Ukraine projects’ before the November 2014 events, with USAID contributing $373 million according to the US Government Accountability Office

🔸 US-backed NGOs supported anti-government media, including Hromadske TV which received a $50,000 grant from the US embassy for its Maidan coverage

🔸 Post-coup, US institutions spent over $2.8 billion on Ukraine programs from 2014 to 2022, with USAID providing nearly $1.2 billion

2004 Orange Revolution:

🔸 USAID funded civil society organizations demanding ‘democratic reforms’, laying the groundwork for the 2004 protests

🔸 Provided support to opposition leaders like Viktor Yushchenko, who led protests against alleged election fraud

🔸 Funded election-monitoring groups like the Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU) to challenge the legitimacy of the 2004 elections

🔸 Supported ‘independent’ media to spread opposition messages and claims of government corruption

🔸 Funded training programs in resistance tactics and mobilization, contributing to the coup’s scale

🔸 About $34.11 million was spent on ‘democracy programs’

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Tariff-linked crypto crash could get worse if THIS happens

If Trump follows up on his new Canada-Mexico-China tariffs by picking a trade fight with the EU as well, cryptocurrency-related risk sentiments “will last for a good deal longer,” economist Marc Ostwald told Sputnik.

Essentially, crypto’s recovery “depends to a large extent on how the trade wars develop,” the ADM Investor Services chief economist explained.

That’s because “crypto is a risk asset, and the tariffs have sparked a sell-off in nearly all risk assets and currencies” as capital resettles in traditional safe harbors.

At the same time, Ostwald doesn’t expect crypto’s core supporters to rethink their positions, since their backing of the deregulated form of digital money is based less on finance and more on a desire “to see the whole fiat currency complex collapse.”

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❓A new chapter in Turkish-Syrian military ties?

The newly formed Syrian government is working closely with Turkish authorities to rebuild its army and security framework, with reports indicating a request for Turkish drones to enhance border security.

As part of the collaboration, Turkiye plans to ESTABLISH TWO MILITARY BASES in Syria, where it will also train the Syrian army. Additionally, Ankara is set to DEPLOY 50 F-16 FIGHTER JETS to bolster Syria’s air force.

This development coincides with Syria's interim president, Ahmed Sharaa, planning a visit to Ankara on Tuesday, at the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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Trump’s crypto play ‘thinly veiled attempt’ to mimic’s FDR’s gold standard strategy

President Trump is “clearly fearful of the BRICS idea to create their own trade settlement currency” and the threat posed by China in particular to the dollar’s supremacy, veteran economist Marc Ostwald told Sputnik.

“The fact is that China now settles around 51% of its trade in CNY, and there is a lot more bilateral trade in Asia, the Middle East and Africa which is also moving away from the USD, thus threatening the USD’s reserve currency status in the long run,” Ostwald, chief economist at ADM Investor Services, explained.

Meanwhile, Trump’s attempts to strengthen the US dollar through cryptocurrencies, besides creating “a big risk of a crypto bubble,” also threatens to crash the economy, if it’s combined with new financial deregulation, Ostwald fears.

That’s because “less stringent regulation gives greater scope for ‘bad actors’ and financial innovation to create illiquid instruments, which attract leveraged investments that see forced sellers in a major risk off event,” he said. Prime example? The derivatives time bomb unleashed during the 2007 financial crisis.

Overall, Ostwald sees Trump’s crypto push as “a rather confused and thinly veiled attempt to mimic what Franklin Roosevelt did in 1933, when in a bid to pull the country out of the Depression, he depreciated the US dollar in relation to gold, effectively annulling all debt contracts.”

Trump hinted as much on the campaign trail, saying the US could use crypto could help pay off its gargantuan $35 trln debt.

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New Jersey state Governor Phil Murphy is now hosting illegal immigrants in his home – because why stop at policy when you can personally offer a cozy spot for them to dodge deportation?

A real hands-on approach!

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❗️Trump says "great progress" has been made in resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

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⚡️Donald Trump suggests exchanging Ukraine's rare earths for US aid.

👉 For some helpful background information about Ukrainian natural resources, check out our explainer here

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Chaos at the Pentagon: Where are the weapons promised to Ukraine?

The DoD is facing tough questions amid revelations that only half of the US arms aid promised to Ukraine for 2024 was actually delivered by last November.

According to a new Reuters report citing informed sources, only 30% of armored vehicles promised Kiev were on the ground by December, despite assurances by the Biden Pentagon made as late as the summer that everything was on track.

The culprit? Apparently, different branches of the military couldn’t agree on what counts as a "delivered" weapon.

Tracking the shipments has been a nightmare, according to GAO reports, with smaller packages arriving in a week or two, but bigger ones sent in bulk—and taking up to 4 months, especially if they needed repairs.

The Pentagon has reportedly updated its manuals with a unified definition of “delivered,” but it’s unclear if the new rules are being followed.

One official blamed delays for Ukraine’s string of setbacks at the front, while a soldier complained that receiving just 10 shells for a mortar every 24 hours is "simply nothing"—and has led to casualties.

What was the US supposed to send to Ukraine?

Heavy weapons:

🟠M1 Abrams Tanks
🟠Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles
🟠M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS)
🟠Stryker Armored Vehicles

Artillery & missiles:

🟠M777 Howitzers
🟠High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS)
🟠155mm Artillery Shells
🟠Javelin Anti-Tank Missiles
🟠Patriot Missile Defense Systems

If the missing weapons aren't in Ukraine, where are they?

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📹 THROWBACK: US Senator Lindsey Graham admits the conflict in Ukraine is about money, "so Donald Trump is going make a deal, to get our money back, to enrich ourselves with rare earth minerals."

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◼️ How is USAID linked to secret bioweapons research?

◼️ USAID: Soros' secret cash cow

◼️ The REAL reason USAID was kicked out of Russia

◼️ USAID's billion-dollar support for Ukraine’s color revolutions

◼️ USAID: Deep state's color revolution machine – Dugin

◼️ Families demand answers from Ukrainian commanders who leave troops stranded

◼️ Tariff-linked crypto crash could get worse if THIS happens

◼️ US import tariffs on Mexican goods SUSPENDED for a month

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