DAILY NEWS Stream – February 17, 2025

US President Trump says Russia’s Putin and Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy both want to “make a deal” to end the war in Ukraine following phone calls with each (Sky News Australia)

Vice President Vance warns US will use sanctions, possibly military action against Russia if Putin doesn’t agree to Ukraine peace deal (Fox News)

US Vice President Vance visits Dachau concentration camp in Germany ahead of the Munich Security Conference and says it has opened his eyes seeing it in person and that we should be committed to ensuring a Holocaust “never happens again” (Fox News)

US President Trump meets with India’s Prime Minister Modi and hold a news conference at the White House, where Mr. Modi said his vision is to “Make India Great Again” [“MIGA”] and partner with the US for prosperity (Sky News Australia)

“Today is the big one”: President Trump announces reciprocal tariffs on countries that levy duties on American imports, aiming to correct longstanding imbalances in international trade by charging other countries the same amount they charge the US - “no more, no less” (Sky News Australia)

US will be “flooded with jobs” as foreign nations avoid tariffs, President Trump says, predicting that overseas businesses will start building factories in the US to avoid import taxes (Fox News)

President Trump’s reciprocal tariff threats “level the trading field,” Fox Business hosts say (Fox News)

President Trump calls the Canadian Prime Minister “Governor Trudeau” as he reiterates Canada ought to become the 51st US state, saying it’s in their best interest as Canadians would pay “much less tax” and benefit from “perfect military protection” (Fox News; Sky News Australia)

“He’s a very bitter guy”: President Trump blasts Republican Senator Mitch McConnell for voting no on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s successful nomination even as every other Republican voted yes, saying He feels “sorry” for the former Republican leader, but that he’s “not equipped mentally” to lead and “wasn’t equipped ten years ago” either (Sky News Australia)

US: Congress Republicans advance framework for President Trump’s “big, beautiful” tax and immigration agenda bill, aiming to pass it through the House of Representatives by the end of February 2025 (New York Post)

President Trump roasts CNN’s White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins during press conference, getting laughs from other reporters as He says the leftwing network has “no credibility” (New York Post)

US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signals ending the “childhood chronic disease epidemic” will be his top priority, saying: “For 20 years, I got down every morning on my knees and prayed that God would put me in a position where I can end childhood chronic disease epidemic in this country… God sent me President Trump” (New York Post)

US Efficiency Commissioner Elon Musk calls for the closure of state-funded news outlets Radio Free Europe and Voice of America to save money, saying “Europe is free now” and nobody listens to them anymore. It’s just radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching US$1 billion/year of US taxpayer money” (Dân Trí)

President Trump and Efficiency Commissioner Musk’s mass government downsizing has begun as the President dismisses more than 1,000 employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs and over 3,000 at the US Forest Service (Reuters; Sky News Australia)

Roughly 75,000 federal employees agree to President Trump’s buyout offer, choosing to quit in exchange for seven months’ paid leave and benefits as the President streamlines the over-bloated federal workforce (Fox News)

US: New York City Mayor Adams to reopen ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] office on Rikers Island prison following meeting with President Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan (Sky News Australia)

“We will find you”: US Attorney General Pam Bondi’s chilling warning to federal government workers who leak ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] operations, saying they will be arrested and prosecuted, as their actions “jeopardize lives” (Sky News Australia)

Impeachment threat hits judge who blocked President Trump’s federal funding freeze: Representative Andrew Clyde [Republican-Georgia] is drafting articles of impeachment against District Judge John McConnell Jr., who Mr. Clyde says is “a partisan activist weaponizing our judicial system to stop President Trump’s funding freeze on woke and wasteful government spending. We must end this abusive overreach” (Fox News)

Outrage after Biden-appointed federal judge Lauren King blocks President Trump’s order to restrict transgender surgeries and hormone therapy for children under 19, which was intended to save impressionable misguided children from being physically and chemically mutilated for life. The President’s order is restrained until February 28, 2025 at the earliest (Sky News Australia)

At least 57 lawsuits filed against President Trump’s policies just three weeks since He took office as Democrats pledge to fight the President in the courts and “in the streets” (Fox News)

UN finishes restoring 800-year-old bell tower of Al Nouri Mosque and other religious sites in Mosul [Iraq] damaged under Islamic State [ISIS] rule around 2017, with renovations funded primarily by the United Arab Emirates [UAE] and EU (The Art Newspaper)

Venice [Italy] extends tourism tax for 2025 to address overtourism, designating 54 days in the year when visitors will have to pay in advance to enter, up from 29 days in 2024 (VTV.vn)

Nearly 170 passengers and crew stricken with norovirus on Holland America cruise, marking seventh outbreak in 2025 on a US-docked cruise ship (New York Post)

Brazil: Intense heatwave in southernmost state Rio Grande do Sul forces schools to postpone end of summer break for at least a week (The Guardian)

Tân Trạch commune [Long An, Vietnam] struggles with serious shortage of fresh water for daily life as local pipeline fails to meet dry season demand (Thanh Niên)

9 die from alcohol poisoning after drinking event in West Java [Indonesia] (VTV.vn)

China: Road patrol workers spark outrage for eating lost pet dog named Yi Yi, who escaped from boarding center after fleeing fireworks during Lunar New Year and was struck by a car. Yi Yi’s caregiver says she was the “most cherished member” of her family and has vowed to sue the patrol workers and donate all compensation received (VnExpress)

Brain wave study finds strong anti-alcohol video messages “sync” viewers’ brain activity more than weak messages, indicating a scientific way to test health messages’ effectiveness (MedicalXpress)

Kent [UK] animal sanctuary will open rescue center in March 2025 to provide home for five Ukrainian lions (ITV)

Meditative quote of the day: “Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.” – Marcus Aurelius