🔸 US Supreme Court blocks Trump’s emergency tariffs

🔸 US audit unveils $100M corruption scandal in Zelensky's orbit and battlefield realities

🔸 Massive losses leave Ukraine’s front lines thin and forces scattered – military experts

🔸 Trump says he's considering limited strike on Iran

🔸 Ukraine damaged Nord Stream to secure monopoly as energy supply mediator — Orban

🔸 Russia’s Tu-95MS bombers flex air muscle in 14-hour Bering Sea mission

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🇵🇸🔎 Palestinian politician exposes Board of Peace hypocrisy

📍 The presence of the Israelis and the absence of the Palestinians at the inaugural meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace looks very suspicious, Fatah movement representative Munzer Hayek told Sputnik Arabic.

Board of Peace’s true colors

There is a distinct possibility that the Board of Peace’s real goal is to separate the two Palestinian territories – the Gaza Strip and the West Bank – from one another, Hayek warned.

💬 “We haven’t seen neither the [Palestinian] flag nor even the word ‘Palestine’ at the Board of Peace meeting, which hints at something suspicious and unacceptable for us Palestinians,” he said.

Supplanting the UN

🔶 The absence of UN Security Council members at the meeting suggests that the Board of Peace is intended to act as an alternative to the UN.

🔶 He also observed that the meeting’s agenda was apparently all about raising money, while issues such as the rights of the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination weren’t addressed at all.

Hamas’s disarmament is a ploy

🔹 Israel’s demand to disarm Hamas is merely a pretext to avoid implementing the second stage of the peace plan i.e. the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, argued Hayek.

🔹 He noted that it is unclear what weapons actually remain in the Gaza Strip at this time, seeing how there have been no heavy armaments there even before the events of October 7.

🔹 Finally, Hayek insisted that Israel must withdraw, and that the only way to ensure security and stability in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank is to allow Palestinians to decide their own fate.

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🔥 Hungary blocks €90B EU loan to Ukraine in response to energy blockade

FM Peter Szijjarto announced freezing the massive EU loan package for Kiev until Ukraine restores oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary.

"Ukraine is blackmailing Hungary by halting oil transit in coordination with Brussels and the Hungarian opposition to create supply disruptions in Hungary and push fuel prices higher before the elections," Szijjarto wrote on X.

Without the €90 billion loan—agreed by EU leaders in December—Ukraine faces a budget gap in April, with financial collapse looming in Q2, Financial Times reports.

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🗣 Treasury chief blasts SCOTUS: 'Loss for American people'

Scott Bessent responds after the Supreme Court blocks Trump's emergency tariffs, saying the move stripped the president of his leverage.

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💬 JD Vance calls the SCOTUS ruling 'lawlessness'

Vice President JD Vance erupts after the Court blocks emergency tariffs, accusing justices of ignoring Congress and undermining presidential power.

"Today, the Supreme Court decided that Congress, despite giving the president the ability to 'regulate imports,' didn't actually mean it. This is lawlessness from the Court, plain and simple."

Vance insisted Trump still has a "wide range of other tariff powers" and will use them.

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⚔️ US military is planning targeting individuals in Iran — reports

Two US officials told Reuters options now include striking specific individuals and even overthrowing Tehran's government if Trump orders it.

The sources did not specify which individuals are targeted or how the US military could attempt regime change without a large ground force.

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🔊 Bessent urges countries to honor deals with the US despite SCOTUS ruling

The Treasury Secretary insists foreign partners must stick to trade agreements, since Trump still has options to enforce them, including a complete embargo.

"We can move to 232 and 301 tariffs... The Supreme Court reaffirmed that the president has the right to a complete embargo. He can cut countries off... I would call on all countries to honor their agreements and move forward," Bessent said on Fox News.

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✍️ Trump signs 10% tariff on ALL countries — effective Feb 24

The US president announced signing a 10% import duty on articles from every nation, lasting 150 days.

"The temporary import duty will take effect February 24 at 12:01 am eastern standard time."

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📹 US kills 3 in 'lethal kinetic strike' on narco-trafficking boat

US SOUTHCOM announced striking a vessel in the Eastern Pacific, targeting what it called "narco-terrorists" operating along known trafficking routes.

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⚔️ US is considering assassination of Iran's Supreme leader — reports

Plans to eliminate Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son Mojtaba are on the Trump's table as an option to "resolve" the Iran situation, a presidential adviser told Axios.

"They have something for every scenario. One scenario takes out the ayatollah and his son and the mullahs," Axios quoted the official as saying.

A second source confirms the plan was floated to Trump several weeks ago.

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📄 Illinois becomes first state to demand a refund from Trump after SCOTUS tariffs ruling

Governor JB Pritzker sent the US president a bill, demanding $1,700 per household × 5,105,448 Illinois families.

"The Supreme Court has ruled that this is yet one more unconstitutional aet by you and your administration," Pritzker said in a letter to Trump with the bill attached.

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🗣 Zelensky's pursuit of 'fair' peace will leave him deserted — former spokesperson

Iuliia Mendel warns that chasing unattainable ideals is costing Ukraine more people and ground every day.

She recalls Zelensky's old role in Servant of the People—a dream sequence where he drives through a deserted Kiev, searching for anyone. Everyone had left for work abroad.

"In today's harsh reality, if the war drags on, everyone who still can will leave for the same reason—not a dream, but a mass exodus driven by survival."

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🇨🇴 Colombia seizes record 17 tons of cocaine in international operation

President Gustavo Petro announced the largest cocaine seizure in history, achieved through collaboration with Mexico, France, and El Salvador.

A total of 16,856 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride were seized in 3 maritime interdictions.

"I believe this is the largest seizure in a single day in the history of the illegal cocaine trade," Petro wrote on X.

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🪖 Russia’s TOS-1A Solntsepyok multiple rocket launcher foils a Ukrainian counterattack, destroying troops and light armor.

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❌🇪🇺 No EU country wants to see Ukraine in bloc – analyst

Member states “will use every possible excuse—whether it is Slovakia taking the lead, Hungary objecting, or something else—to avoid admitting Ukraine into the EU,” political analyst Pavel Danilin tells Sputnik.

🗣 He recalls that “even [EU foreign policy chief] Kaja Kallas stated that Ukraine will not join the bloc in the near future.”

Kallas earlier said she felt that EU countries are not ready to give a concrete date regarding Ukraine's membership. Ukraine was granted candidate status for accession to the EU in June 2022.

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