Important Takeaways:
- Ukraine gave up its Cold War-legacy nuclear arsenal in the 1990s “for nothing” and would seek to acquire nuclear bombs again if it wasn’t able to quickly join NATO in the aftermath of the present war or a ceasefire, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.
- The Ukrainian president told British broadcaster Piers Morgan in an interview published on Tuesday night that, from his perspective, letting Ukraine into the NATO alliance would be a considerably better deal for its members because it would be so much cheaper. With NATO membership, Russia would not dare invade, he believes, but the level of security guarantees required to keep Moscow polite otherwise would be ruinously expensive.
- To keep Ukraine secure without NATO would mean Ukraine’s allies funding a million-man army, including troop “contingents” from Western nations as peacekeepers or reinforcements, funding missile systems to keep the skies clear, and Ukraine acquiring its own nuclear deterrent.
- He said, per the Piers Morgan show’s translation: “If not NATO, we will need to sustain a million [man] army, but the hundreds of thousands that we have will not be enough, they are on the offense and we do not have enough… That is huge money… so that’s why I think NATO is the cheapest option. If not NATO, then we must [build] this huge army with huge money, that means contingents from our partners, and undoubtedly that is a big deterrence missile package against the Ruskis”
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Important Takeaways:
- The U.S. will “take over the Gaza Strip,” level it and rebuild the area, President Donald Trump said during a press conference Tuesday evening after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
- “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” Trump said Tuesday evening in a joint press conference with Netanyahu. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexplored bombs and other weapons on the site.”
- “Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area,” he said. “Do a real job. Do something different. Just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has for 100 years.”
- “I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East and maybe the entire Middle East,” Trump said.”
- “Developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent in a really magnificent area that nobody would know. Nobody can look because all they see is death and destruction and rubble.”
- Netanyahu, when also asked about the Gaza Strip, reiterated to the media that he has three goals, one of which is to “make sure that Gaza never poses a threat to Israel again.”
- “President Trump is taking it to a much higher level,” the Israeli leader said. He sees a different future for that piece of land that has been the focus of so much terrorism, so much, so many attacks against us, so many, so many trials and so many tribulations. He has a different idea, and I think it’s worth paying attention to this.”
- The pair’s White House meeting included discussing the current ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group and its future, Iran’s grip on the Middle East and resettling Gaza residents in other nations.
- “In our meetings today, the prime minister and I focused on the future, discussing how we can work together to ensure Hamas is eliminated and ultimately restore peace to a very troubled region,” Trump said during the press conference. “It’s been troubled, but what’s happened in the last four years has not been good.”
- The Israeli leader continued that his nation’s victory would also be a win for America.
- “Israel’s victory will be America’s victory,” Netanyahu said. “We will not only win the war working together, we will win the peace. With your leadership, Mr. President, and our partnership, I believe that we will forge a brilliant future for our region and bring our great alliance to even greater heights.”
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Important Takeaways:
- President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday withdrawing the United States from the UN Human Rights Council, UNRWA, and UNESCO – ending funding to the UN agency which deals with Palestinian refugees.
- Trump had previously withdrawn from the UNHRC and ended funding to the UNRWA in 2018…
- The UNHRC, according to the group, is “responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them.”
- The United States has given the most money of any country to UNRWA. In 2023, the United States gave the group $422 million.
- However, critics say that UNRWA is a breeding ground for hatred toward the Jewish state through its schools and that Hamas uses its facilities to store weapons, including rockets, and hold hostages.
- UNRWA has refuted the criticisms.
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Important Takeaways:
- President Donald Trump says rumors of conflict with Iran ‘are greatly exaggerated’
- Trump made the statement on social media Wednesday morning, reaffirming the U.S. position that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon. It comes just one day after Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
- “I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” Trump wrote.
- “I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper. We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!” he added.
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Important Takeaways:
- The FOX Forecast Center is monitoring the development of a powerful winter storm that has tens of millions of people across at least 22 states from the Midwest to the Northeast on alert for a widespread threat of freezing rain that has already led to numerous reports of icy roads and crashes.
- …as the storm gathers strength, impacts will begin to be seen from the mid-Mississippi Valley on Wednesday and then into the Great Lakes region by Wednesday night.
- Because of this, the Thursday morning commute is expected to be extremely dangerous on untreated roads and highways in cities like Chicago, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Columbus and Cleveland in Ohio.
- Areas to the east will see the highest potential for significant icing – especially in portions of Maryland and into the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania.
- Power outages and tree damage are most likely in those locations, as ice accretions greater than a quarter-inch and maybe as high as a half-inch are possible.
- Ice Storm Warnings have been issued in four states, with the National Weather Service office in Charleston, West Virginia, issuing its first Ice Storm Warning in three years.
- “Travel is strongly discouraged,” forecasters warned. “If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. Prepare for power outages.”
- The FOX Forecast Center said a second, even stronger storm is expected this weekend.
- The storm is also expected to bring freezing rain to nearly the same areas that are getting impacted during this first storm.
- Heavy snow is looking increasingly likely on Saturday across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region.
- Cities like Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Detroit could see their biggest snowstorm so far this winter.
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Important Takeaways:
- China announced retaliatory tariffs on select American imports and an antitrust investigation into Google on Tuesday, just minutes after a sweeping levy on Chinese products imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump took effect.
- American tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico were also set to go into effect Tuesday before Trump agreed to a 30-day pause as the two countries acted to address his concerns about border security and drug trafficking. Trump planned to talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the next few days.
- This isn’t the first round of tit-for-tat actions between the two countries. China and the U.S. engaged in an escalating trade war in 2018 when Trump repeatedly raised tariffs on Chinese goods and China responded each time.
- This time, analysts said, China is much better prepared, announcing a slew of measures that go beyond tariffs and cut across different sectors of the U.S. economy. The government is also more wary of upsetting its own fragile and heavily trade-dependent economy.
- “It’s aiming for finding measures that maximize the impact and also minimize the risk that the Chinese economy may face,” said Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis Corporate and Investment Banking in Hong Kong. “At the same time … China is trying to increase its bargaining chips.”
- John Gong, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, called the response a “measured” one. “I don’t think they want the trade war escalating,” he said. “And they see this example from Canada and Mexico and probably they are hoping for the same thing.”
- China announced export controls on several elements critical to the production of modern high-tech products.
- They include tungsten, tellurium, bismuth, molybdenum and indium, many of which are designated as critical minerals by the U.S. Geological Survey, meaning they are essential to U.S. economic or national security that have supply chains vulnerable to disruption.
- The export controls are in addition to ones China placed in December on key elements such as gallium.
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Important Takeaways:
- Mexican drug cartels are ordering their members to target U.S. Border Patrol agents with kamikaze drones and other explosives amid a crackdown at the southern border by the Trump administration.
- An internal memo titled “Officer Safety Alert” cited social media posts and other sources for the warning to federal agents, the New York Post reported. Agents were reminded to be “cognizant of their surroundings” and should be wearing their ballistic armor and utilizing their long firearms.
- News Nation, which first reported the memo, reported TikTok posts and other social media sites used by Mexican drug cartels have also advised illegal immigrants to spit and urinate on ICE agents and defecate in their vehicles.
- Other posts have urged assassins to target border personnel.
- Last week, Border Patrol agents received gunfire from cartel members in Mexico while patrolling in Fronton, Texas, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. The cartel members fled Mexico because of a military presence and sought refuge on an island between Mexico and the U.S., DPS said.
- Cartel leaders have realized a proactive U.S. presence on the border could cut into their drug and human smuggling profits, the memo showed, according to the Post.
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Important Takeaways:
- Some 6,000 people have left the island by ferry since Sunday, according to local media, with emergency flights scheduled to leave on Tuesday.
- More than 300 earthquakes have been recorded in the past 48 hours near the island – and some experts say tremors may continue for weeks. Authorities have closed schools for the entire week and warned against large indoor gatherings, but Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has urged calm.
- Santorini is a popular tourist destination known for its whitewashed buildings, but most of those leaving are locals, as February is outside the peak tourist season.
- Several tremors, measuring up to magnitude 4.7, were recorded north-east of Santorini early on Tuesday.
- Though no major damage has been reported so far, emergency measures are being taken as a precaution.
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Important Takeaways:
- In a poll by the Barna Group, half of those who described themselves as Christians didn’t believe that Satan exists, and one-third were confident that Jesus sinned while He was on Earth.
- It seems to me that in the church today, there’s a rising biblical illiteracy among professed followers of Jesus. Our biblical IQ, if you will, never has been lower.
- As George Barna put it, “Growing numbers of people now serve as their own theologian-in-residence.”
- Biblically Thinking
- We need to think and act biblically, not emotionally. Far too many people today emote when it comes to God. They feel, but they don’t think. They say things like, “I don’t believe in a God of love judging anyone,” “My God would never do thus and so,” or the classic, “I’m not into organized religion; I’m just a really spiritual person.”
- We need to think carefully about these things. We neglect theology at our own peril, because experience is never to be the basis for theology. Rather, sound theology should be the basis for our experience.
- C.S. Lewis gave this warning: “If you do not listen to theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones.”
- The Wrong Jesus
- The apostle Paul wrote, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16).
- Yet, someone will say, “Well, I just love Jesus! Can’t we just set these things aside?” That is a nice sentiment, but here’s the problem: What if you end up loving the wrong Jesus?
- For instance, if the Jesus whom you supposedly love sinned while He was on Earth, as half of the self-described Christians in the Barna poll believe, then what kind of savior is that? If the Jesus you love is not the Jesus of the Bible, then effectively you’re an idolater. You’re worshiping another god.
- A. W. Tozer said, “Nothing twists or deforms the soul more than a low or unworthy conception of God.”
- We must have a proper understanding of the character and nature of God, and there is no better place to start than with God Himself. What does the Bible say about God?
- The Unchanging Lord
- People today are willing to accept the premise of God, but it seems they want a god in their own image. As Voltaire pointed out, “God made man in His image, and man returned the favor.” And that is what we largely have today: a generation that believes in a god of their own making.
- We customize a god that does what we want him to do and says what we want him to say.
- But that is not the way to know God. We don’t mold God into our own image; He wants to mold us into His. God said, “I am the Lord, and I do not change” (Malachi 3:6).
- Though times and circumstances change, God never does.
- When you believe God, it doesn’t necessarily change your circumstances, though sometimes it will. More often than not, it will change you. It will help you to view your circumstances properly.
- On the other hand, if we don’t understand who God is, if our view of God is warped, then it will affect us in the way that we live. Let’s make sure we are worshiping the true God as He is presented to us in the pages of Scripture.
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Important Takeaways:
- A series of earthquakes near the Greek island of Santorini have led authorities to shut down schools, dispatch rescue teams with sniffer dogs and send instructions to residents including a request to drain their swimming pools.
- Even though earthquake experts say the more than 200 tremors that have hit the area since early Friday are not related to the volcano in Santorini, which once produced one of the biggest eruptions in human history, locals are on edge
- The strongest earthquake recorded was magnitude 4.6 at 3:55 p.m. Sunday, at a depth of 14 kilometers (9 miles), the Athens Geodynamic institute said. A few tremors of over magnitude 4 and dozens of magnitudes 3 have followed. There were no reports of damage or casualties.
- Earthquake experts and officials from the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection and the fire service have been meeting daily and decided to close schools Monday on the island of Santorini as well as nearby Amorgos, Anafi and Ios.
- After Sunday’s meeting, they also advised residents and hotel owners in Santorini to drain their swimming pools over concerns that large volumes of water could destabilize buildings in case of a strong quake.
- Experts said it was impossible to predict whether the seismic activity could lead to a stronger tremor, but added that the area could potentially produce a 6-magnitude quake.
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