Netanyahu: Hamas 'will pay full price' for not returning body of Shiri Bibas

 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.

Willl Trump send the US Hockey team to Siberia?

 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.”

3 buses explode in Bat Yam, Holon in suspected strategically planned terror attack

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/3-buses-explode-in-bat-yam-holon-in-suspected-strategically-planned-terror-attack/

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

Mr. President: Putin is THE dictator and 9 other Ukraine-Russia war truths we ignore at our peril

 https://nypost.com/2025/02/20/opinion/putin-is-the-dictator-and-9-other-ukraine-russia-war-truths-we-ignore-at-our-peril/

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.

Children's bodies identified, the third body is not that of Shiri Bibas

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/404258

IDF representatives inform the Bibas family that Ariel and Kfir Bibas have been identified. They were brutally murdered while in captivity in November of 2023. The additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas. IDF: A violation of utmost severity by Hamas.

Trump’s flood of false claims about Ukraine

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/20/trump-ukraine-fact-checker/

In remarks and social media posts, the president echoed Russian talking points.

Trump’s declaration was shocking. Mike Pence, his former vice president, posted on X: “Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. The Road to Peace must be built on the Truth.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Trump of living in a Russian-made “disinformation space” — and then Trump shot back with an attack on Truth Social.

‘An especially insane and rich accusation’

Trump calling Zelenskyy a 'dictator' scrambles GOP confronted on the Hill

‘Breathtaking reversal in US foreign policy’

Emil Bove could not find a single attorney to represent Trump’s DOJ in court today

Trump is King

A Trump outrage that stands apart

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/02/19/ukraine-zelensky-trump-peace-talks/

Tuesday was a dark day for the United States. President Donald Trump and his administration embraced Russia as a peace partner without demanding that it pay any price for its illegal invasion of Ukraine. And then, in a statement that turned morality upside down, the president blamed Ukraine for causing the war.

Trump is an outrage-generating machine. He appears to take perverse pleasure in saying things that shock, and I normally ignore the daily presidential detonation. But this time was different. The tragic loss of life in Ukraine will mean nothing — and a true resolution of the conflict will be impossible — if we can’t distinguish between the attacker and the victim.

Poll Shows Dip in Trump’s Approval as He Concedes ‘Inflation Is Back’

 https://time.com/7259417/trump-poll-approval-inflation/

The poll found a majority of Americans don’t like how Trump is handling the economy, with 54% disapproving, and foreign trade, with 53% who disapprove. (The Gallup poll is based on telephone interviews with 1,004 adults during the two week period ending Feb. 16, and its margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.)

Despite his historically low support among Americans more broadly, Republican voters remain strongly behind Trump. His job approval among Republicans is 93%, while his approval among Democrats is 4%. Among independent voters, Trump has 37% approval. 

MAGA Cheers on ‘King’ Trump Dropping Pretense of Democracy

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-cheers-on-king-trump-dropping-pretense-of-democracy/

President Donald Trump declared himself king and MAGAworld eagerly bent the knee.

Conservatives cheered on Trump’s victory lap Wednesday after announcing the termination of New York City’s controversial congestion pricing program, which came into effect last month as part of a bid to raise funds for improving the city’s mass transit system.

“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had initiated legal proceedings to push back against the Trump administration’s termination of the program.

“We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king,” she said in a statement. “We’ll see you in court.”

Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said his loyalty remained with the nation.

“We don’t have kings in America, and I won’t bend the knee to one,” he said.