“In a press conference broadcast on television in Moscow, Sudanese foreign minister Ali Yusef Sharif announced that an agreement had been reached to create a Russian Naval Base in Sudan. … Russia has developed ties with both sides of Sudan’s civil war that has lasted almost two years. Russian officials visited Port Sudan, the wartime capital for the army in recent months. A top Sudanese General said last year that Russia asked for a fuel station at the Red Sea as a trade for arms and ammunition.” (02/14/25)
“An explosion caused a fire overnight at the site of the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Friday. The agency said the blast was reported at the New Safe Confinement, a dome which protects the remains of reactor 4. It said no casualties were reported. ‘Radiation levels inside and outside remain normal and stable. IAEA continues monitoring the situation,’ the agency said in a statement on X. … Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the explosion was caused by a Russian drone attack. He said the fire had been extinguished but that there was significant damage to the site’s protective dome.” (02/14/25)
“President Trump signed off on proposed reciprocal tariffs that he says will crack down on unfair and discriminatory tariffs from adversaries and allies alike. The tariffs will be tailored to each foreign trading partner across five different areas: Tariffs the nation imposes on U.S. products; unfair taxes imposed; cost to U.S. businesses and consumers from another country’s policies; exchange rates; and any other practices the trade representative’s office determines is unfair. The import taxes won’t be immediately imposed, but by signing of the presidential memorandum, Trump paves the way for his administration to begin a review process to initiate them.” [editor’s note: Never forget that it will be YOU who pays these new taxes – TLK] (02/13/24)
“Hamas said on Thursday that it was committed to a ceasefire deal with Israel in Gaza and would continuing freeing Israeli hostages as set out in the agreement. The announcement appeared to reverse a threat issued by the Palestinian militant group this week to suspend releases of hostages ‘until further notice.’ In response, Israel threatened to resume the war if the next group of hostages were not freed as scheduled on Saturday. Hamas justified the threatened suspension by accusing Israel of failing to stick to the ceasefire agreement, including by not allowing the agreed amounts of humanitarian aid — in particular tents — into Gaza. But on Thursday, Hamas said that after talks with mediators it had received assurances that they would remove the ‘obstacles’ to the deal.” (02/13/25)
“The Senate voted on Thursday to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Health and Human Services secretary, a victory for President Donald Trump after Kennedy faced intense scrutiny over his controversial views on vaccines and public health policy. The 52-48 vote was largely along party lines, though Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky once again joined with Democrats to oppose the nomination. McConnell has now voted against three of Trump’s Cabinet nominees, more than any other Republican senator.” (02/13/25)
“The top federal prosecutor in New York and two senior federal prosecutors in Washington have resigned after they refused to follow a Justice Department order to drop the corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, multiple officials said Thursday. The resignations amount to a stunning public rebuke of the Trump administration’s new Justice Department leadership in one of the country’s highest-profile criminal cases. The prosecutors resigned after Emil Bove, the acting U.S. deputy attorney general, issued a memo Monday ordering federal prosecutors in New York to drop the case against Adams, arguing, in part, that it hampered his ability to tackle ‘illegal [sic] immigration and violent crime.’ … After [Danielle R. Sassoon, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York] informed Bove of her resignation, he sent her a blistering eight-page letter in which he blasted her refusal to immediately drop the charges.” (02/13/25)
“The remains of London’s earliest Roman basilica have been discovered under an office block, in what archaeologists have described as one of the most significant recent discoveries in the capital. The almost 2,000-year-old structure was part of the forum, the Roman capital’s social and administrative centre, and built around the late 70s or early 80s AD, just a few decades after the Romans invaded Britain and 20 years after Boudicca sacked and burned the city in AD60. … Archaeologists have long known of the location of the forum but were surprised to find extensive foundations and walls made of flint, ragstone and Roman tile, in some areas extending more than 10 metres long, 1 metre wide and 4 metres deep. The scale of the remains led the site’s developers, Hertshten Properties, to revise its plans to include a public exhibition and event space, for which it intends to submit a revised planning application.” (02/13/25)
“The CEO of Jeff Bezos'[s] Blue Origin announced in an all-hands call on Thursday company-wide layoffs of ‘about 10 percent’ of its employees, a sweeping readjustment of its space and launch business. The layoffs affect roughly 1,400 of the company’s nearly 14,000 employees and comes as Blue Origin aims to ramp up production of its giant New Glenn rocket, which had its first long-awaited debut launch last month.” (02/13/25)
“New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she will not comply with a request to extradite to Louisiana a New York doctor who faces a criminal charge there for allegedly prescribing abortion-inducing drugs despite a near-total abortion ban. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) on Tuesday signed an extradition warrant for the New York doctor, Margaret Daley Carpenter, after a Louisiana patient was allegedly found to have taken abortion medication. … New York is among the Democratic-led states that have enacted ‘shield laws’ to protect doctors who prescribe abortion medication to patients who live in states where abortion is restricted. New York law prohibits any state or local government worker from cooperating with out-of-state authorities regarding any health-care practice that is legal in New York.” (02/14/25)
“Close to 100,000 protesters thronged the center of Brussels on Thursday while airports and public transport were largely paralyzed as trade unions took their ire to the streets over drastic plans of the new center-right government to revamp some of the foundations on which the nation’s welfare state was built. Reductions in pensions and cuts for public service personnel were central themes as the country’s three main unions joined hands to confront the new government of Prime Minister Bart De Wever, whose program to take on massive government debt includes measures that weigh heavy on the lower-income working classes.” (02/13/25)
