https://www.newsweek.com/canada-us-relations-enemy-poll-tariffs-2034766
According to the Leger poll conducted between February 14 and 17, 27 percent of Canadians now consider the U.S. an enemy, while 30 percent still see it as an ally. Another 27 percent view it as neutral. The poll surveyed 1,500 Canadians and 1,000 Americans. It was not assigned a margin of error as it was conducted online.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/22/politics/ukraine-war-us-proposes-un-resolution/index.html
The draft US resolution is brief. It mourns “the tragic loss of life throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict” and “implores a swift end to the conflict and further urges a lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia.”
In a new rift, Washington and Kyiv pitch competing texts, with Europe backing Ukraine and the U.S. refusing to blame Russia for the war
Igros Moshe (YD I #139) This that you took a job as a principal at a school for young children under the auspices of heretics and you were told by one of my principals that it was inappropriate. The fact is that even if the job was kosher such as teaching them G-d’s Torah and praying with them properly. In another location it would be proper to have such a job since it is necessary to teach Torah to their children so that perhaps they will grow up to keeping Torah and mitzvos as proper Jews. However it is still inappropriate to accept this position which involves also being a teacher there because it is possible that the students there will come to view their school as a legitimate place to learn since they have such a nice religious teacher and this can lead to serious damage. However this that you write that they pray an inappropriately abbreviated pray and they don’t say all the Berachos in the Amida and consequently instead of educating them properly in prayer and mitzvos you are teaching them that which is prohibited. That is because all the Berachos of the Amida are required. It is surely a problem if the beracha they say has been altered from the original text it would certainly be prohibited to take this job. Even if it is possible that you might be able to influence some of the students to be better. But the possibility similarly exists that it is more likely that the opposite is true that this will cause some to not be properly religious. That is because heresy is attractive and thus must be avoided.
Igros Moshe (YD II #107) To take a job as teacher and principal in a religious school of the Conservatives in something which is displeasing to Sages. However you can not say it is prohibited if he is allowed to teach G-d’s Torah and to pray properly and that the school is located away from their synagogue. Consequently don’t object against those who need a livelihood and want to take such a job. .It is also a positive thing since the children of the Conservative Jews need to learn G-d’s Torah and perhaps this will aide them to acquire Torah as proper Jews. However because of this possibility it doesn’t make taking the job something pleasing to the Sages. That is because it is uncertain whether he will have a positive influence on them and this means he will be closely associating with heretics. Our Sages have stated that we should distance ourselves from heresy and to be greatly concerned with their danger even if it is only a small problem. Therefore this can only be tolerated if needed for a livelihood. So in this case where the job is sought not because of livelihood but for idealistic reasons you were correct to object and his time better spent with helping children who are properly observant and already attend a proper shul. While it is important to attract those children of the irreligious but not to take an official position with them.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-843267
The forensics team that identified Shiri Bibas's body confirmed that she did not die in an Israeli airstrike as Hamas had previously claimed.
"We were met with depths of evil and malice that could not be conceived," Dr. Chen Kugel, a leading forensic scientist from the National Center for Forensic Medicine, said on Saturday. "Our examination showed no evidence of injury from the bomb."
"This is a difficult day for us and for all citizens of Israel," he concluded.
https://time.com/7260499/alice-weidel-far-right-afd-germany-musk-vance-trump/
The country’s main intelligence service has labelled some branches of the AfD as extremist groups and placed several of its leaders under surveillance. In the European Parliament, an alliance of right-wing groups expelled the party last spring for being too radical. One AfD official had suggested the Nazi SS were “not all criminals.” Another has called the Holocaust a mere speck of “bird sh-t” on the glorious sweep of German history.
None of this has stopped the Trump Administration from embracing the AfD. In mid-February, Vice President J.D. Vance met with Weidel during his first official tour of Europe. The cornerstone of his trip was an appearance at the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of leaders from around the world. As an establishment outcast, the AfD was not invited, and Weidel was not allowed in the venue. So her meeting with Vance took place in the basement of the Westin Grand, where he spent the night.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/404306
Shiri Bibas was murdered in the first weeks of the war, together with her children Kfir and Ariel. 'She was beloved by everyone who knew her, but above all, she was a dedicated mother.'
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/elon-musk-doge-federal-savings-claims-783b9507?mod=hp_lead_pos7
The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency touts cuts of $55 billion in federal spending, often citing canceled DEI and climate contracts. However a Wall Street Journal analysis of government contract data showed a much different picture: “woke” cuts were a tiny fraction of the total, and many claims of savings were overstated.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been Health and Human Services secretary for all of a week, but he’s already pressing what looks like an anti-vaccine agenda. Mr. Kennedy never did disavow his vaccine views in the runup to Senate confirmation. He merely said he wouldn’t take away anyone’s vaccines. But the HHS secretary has many tools to undermine vaccines, and his early moves are revealing.
News reports this week say he’s preparing to sack members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. This is the group that decides whether and how to recommend vaccines for the public. Its recommendations help determine which vaccines are covered under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/21/politics/trump-ukraine-mineral-deal-analysis/index.html
Donald Trump isn’t the only president who knows a bad deal when he sees one.
Volodymyr Zelensky’s refusal to sign away nearly half of his country’s rare earth minerals for very few future guarantees is one of many reasons why Trump has been driven into a rage at his counterpart in Kyiv.
As with his plan to relocate all Palestinians out of Gaza so the US can build a “riviera” of beach resorts, the president’s motives appear to be rooted more in extracting the best potential monetary return for the United States than in equitably solving a murderous conflict that endangers the world. Trump is reflecting skepticism among his base voters toward the tens of billions of dollars of military and financial aid that the Biden administration sent to Ukraine after it was illegally invaded by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces three years ago. But Trump’s transactional approach represents a shattering of foreign policy values pursued by the United States for decades, including the principle that mighty nations should not invade smaller ones, which Washington enshrined in the United Nations charter.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-843151
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Friday morning that Hamas would "pay full price" after it was confirmed that one of the slain hostage bodies, returned by the terror group, was not that of Shiri Bibas, as agreed to in the hostage-ceasefire deal.
"Hamas will pay the full price for this cruel and wicked violation of the agreement," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu also said that the body of a Gazan woman was instead put in Shiri's coffin.
https://time.com/7260170/canada-usa-hockey-4-nations-face-off-trump-recap-analysis/
Connor McDavid broke America’s heart.
The Canadian hockey superstar, a three-time NHL MVP who also won the NFL playoff MVP last season even though he played for the losing Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Finals, took a centering pass and beat American goaltender Connor Hellebuyck with a laser shot to give Canada a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over the U.S. in the final of the inaugural—and highly successful—4 Nations Face-Off. The tournament—which pitted teams from the U.S., Canada, Finland, and Sweden against each other as a replacement for the NHL’s usually low-wattage All-Star festivities—drew record viewership, in large part due to a burgeoning U.S.-Canada geopolitical rivalry that spilled out onto the ice.
Trump has adopted the U.S. team as his own. He posted on Truth Social Thursday that, although he wouldn’t be able to attend the game because of a prior commitment, he wanted to “to spur them on towards victory tonight against Canada, which with FAR LOWER TAXES AND MUCH STRONGER SECURITY, will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important, Fifty First State.” He’s taken to calling Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “governor”—and relished another chance to get under his skin. Trump wrote that “he’d be watching and that if Governor Trudeau would like to join us, he would be most welcome.”
Buses empty, nobody hurt; bombs may have been intended for Friday morning but had timers incorrectly set; 2 more devices found on buses nearby; police suspect West Bank terror cell
President Trump is absolutely right in wanting to end the bloodshed in Ukraine. The suffering has been appalling and the stalemate brutal. But in the furious mix of wild opinions this week from the White House down, there are at least 10 truths which every American voter must hang onto.
In Trump’s rush to end the bloodshed, these are also the truths against which any deal will be judged and will define him when the history books are written.
To ignore them or not treat them with the gravity they deserve will also have enormous consequences for decades to come:
Vladimir Putin started this war, despite what President Trump said days ago.
