The ACTUAL NEWS: Thursday, February 13th 2025 Recap

Feb 13

"Today in History" and the Latest National and Global News

TODAY IN HISTORY

1542: King Henry VIII of England had his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, beheaded on charges of adultery.

1649: English author John Milton published his first political tract, The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, in response to the execution of King Charles I.

1689: Following the Glorious Revolution, William and Mary were proclaimed king and queen of England, ruling jointly as King William III and Queen Mary II until her death in 1694.

1692: Scottish soldiers under Archibald Campbell, 10th earl of Argyll, slaughtered members of the MacDonald clan of Glencoe after their chief, Alexander MacDonald, missed the deadline to swear allegiance to King William III.

1960: France detonated its first atomic bomb in the Sahara desert.

1997: The Dow Jones Industrial Average first surpassed the 7,000 mark, closing at 7,022.44.

2000: The last Peanuts comic strip was published in newspapers, just hours after the death of creator Charles Schulz.

2002: The Scottish Parliament passed the Protection of Wild Mammals Bill, making it illegal to hunt wild mammals with dogs, effectively outlawing foxhunting in Scotland.

2008: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized to the Australian Aboriginal peoples for the abuses they suffered under previous administrations.

2016: American jurist Antonin Scalia, known for his strong legal conservatism as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, died in Shafter, Texas.

QUICK ACTUAL NEWS

NATIONAL

U.S. inflation rose to 3 percent in January, surpassing expectations.
Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil and gas company, plans to lay off up to 20 percent of its workforce worldwide.
Democratic U.S. Senator Tina Smith announced she will not seek re-election in 2026, leaving an open seat in Minnesota, which could complicate her party’s hopes for regaining control of the Senate.
The Trump White House recently sent termination notices to some U.S. Attorneys appointed by President Joe Biden. The emails, reviewed by Reuters, stated that their positions were being terminated at the direction of President Trump.
To secure Fogel's freedom, the Trump administration agreed to release Alexander Vinnik, a Russian citizen and co-founder of the Bitcoin exchange BTC-e, which U.S. authorities claim was used by criminals for ransomware attacks, identity theft, and drug trafficking. Vinnik, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, has left $100 million worth of digital assets in the U.S. as part of the deal, according to NBC. Vinnik, convicted of cybercrime, was released by U.S. authorities as part of a prisoner exchange and arrived in Moscow on Thursday, as reported by state news agency RIA.
A federal judge cleared the way for the Trump administration’s buyout program for federal workers, with at least 75,000 workers applying before it was closed to new entrants.
Musk’s allies have accused journalists of “doxxing” for reporting on his DOGE team.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department plans to purchase $400 million worth of armored vehicles from Tesla, owned by Elon Musk.
House Republicans released a budget plan that includes significant cuts to Medicaid and trillions in tax reductions.
Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is running for governor of New Mexico.
Manhattan’s U.S. attorney and two public integrity officials resigned after the Justice Department ordered the dismissal of corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
RFK Jr. was sworn in as Health Secretary and immediately began leading the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission, which "focuses on addressing the root causes of America’s health crisis".
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has requested Boeing’s CEO come to Washington, D.C., to discuss quality and safety concerns at the company.
On the environmental front, U.S. senators reintroduced a bipartisan bill to allow year-round sales of gasoline with higher ethanol blends, supported by a leading oil trade group.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the enforcement of Trump’s order to end federal funding for healthcare aiding gender transitions for people under 19.
In other federal actions, all probationary staff at the Office of Personnel Management were fired in a sudden conference call.
Researchers have found increases in infant mortality in U.S. states that enacted abortion bans or severe restrictions after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark decision guaranteeing the right to an abortion.
The White House is renegotiating U.S. CHIPS and Science Act awards, with potential delays to semiconductor funding. The Trump administration is reviewing current requirements, with "concerns about union labor and affordable childcare stipulations".
In foreign policy, the Trump administration has instructed U.S. embassies to prepare for staff cuts, as part of a broader overhaul of the U.S. diplomatic corps.
President Trump announced a potential extension of the 75-day delay in enforcing the TikTok ban but noted he didn’t think that would be necessary.
Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of life-saving medical supplies remain stranded due to Trump’s freeze on foreign aid.
A Texas state judge on Thursday ordered a New York doctor to pay a penalty of at least $100,000 and cease providing abortion pills to women in the state. This ruling represents a victory for Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

GLOBAL

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the U.S. and India have reached an agreement for India to import more U.S. oil and gas, aimed at reducing the trade deficit between the two countries.
President Donald Trump has vowed to dismantle Mexican cartels and end the U.S. fentanyl crisis. However, his freeze on foreign aid has temporarily halted U.S.-funded anti-narcotics programs in Mexico, which have been working for years to curb the flow of synthetic opioids into the United States.
INTERPOL Washington Director Jeffrey A. Grimming and National Central Bureau Ottawa Director Marie-Josee Homsy signed a historic Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) to strengthen cross-border law enforcement collaboration against Tren de Aragua (TdA), one of the world's most dangerous transnational criminal organizations.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed "the need for bold diplomacy" to end the Russia-Ukraine war during a call on Thursday with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, according to the State Department.
President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would love to see Russia rejoin the Group of Seven nations, calling the expulsion "a mistake"... after Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Elon Musk will face consequences for his involvement in Germany's election campaign, said Friedrich Merz, the frontrunner to become the next German chancellor, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Thursday that any peace agreement in Ukraine must be lasting and must involve Ukraine in the negotiations. "It is crucial that whatever comes out of those talks, it is durable, it is enduring," Rutte told reporters in Brussels ahead of talks with the alliance's defense ministers.
Dmitry Medvedev, a Russian "security official", claimed Europe is upset about the phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, believing it reflects Europe's declining power on the global stage.
China has proposed hosting a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump in an effort to help end the Ukraine war, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Sudan has signed a 25-year agreement with Russia to establish a naval base on the Red Sea coast, with a potential 10-year extension. This agreement would allow Russia to transport weapons, ammunition, and equipment through Sudanese ports and airports for its naval forces, strengthening Russia's influence in Africa and impacting the Middle East.
North Korea is reportedly treating injured Russian soldiers and hosting orphaned Russian children.
South Korea's Acting President Choi Sang-mok stated on Thursday that the country should be able to negotiate with President Donald Trump's administration over tariffs, given South Korea's substantial investment in the U.S.

A suicide bomber killed one person and injured three in an attack near government offices in Kabul on Thursday, according to an official spokesman. This marks the second explosion in Afghanistan this week.

U.S. intelligence has warned that Israel is likely to launch a preemptive attack on Iran's nuclear program by midyear. Such an attack could delay Iran’s nuclear program by weeks or months while escalating tensions in the region, potentially risking a wider conflict.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica announced it would not refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
At a February 10 editorial meeting of Hungarian investigative outlet Atlatszo, journalists discussed how to raise funds after their grants from USAID intermediaries were halted due to President Donald Trump's efforts to shut down the agency.
The Trump administration has transferred dozens of Venezuelan migrants to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a facility that previously held Al Qaeda suspects. The migrants are being guarded by troops, rather than immigration officers.
El Salvador's Congress voted on Wednesday to allow minors convicted of crimes related to organized crime to be housed with adults in prisons, though they will be kept in separate areas. This measure applies to gang members under 18 convicted of serious crimes such as homicide, kidnapping, and arms trafficking.

PENTAGON

House Republicans on February 11 revealed a budget resolution that would allocate $100 billion in defense funding, one-third less than the Senate blueprint, which proposes a $150 billion increase in defense spending.
A Navy EA-18G Growler jet crashed into San Diego Bay on February 12 while attempting to land. The Navy confirmed in a statement that the incident occurred at 10:15 a.m. local time. Fortunately, both aviators aboard the jet managed to eject before the crash.
B-52H Stratofortress bombers have arrived in England to begin the U.S. Air Force’s first European bomber deployment of the year, service officials confirmed on February 12. Some of the B-52s have already conducted joint flights with French Dassault Rafales, Swedish Saab JAS-39 Gripens, and Finnish F/A-18 Hornets.
The U.S. Air Force is delaying the start of the promotion testing cycle for technical sergeants by two weeks. This delay is attributed to the need to remove study materials containing content on diversity, equity, and inclusion, in order to comply with executive orders issued by President Donald Trump.
House lawmakers were briefed on February 11 regarding the Defense Department’s plan to enhance its cyber warfighting capabilities. The briefing, led by Gen. Timothy Haugh, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, and Ashley Manning, acting assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy, marked the first update for House members on the approved framework for the initiative known as CYBERCOM 2.0.

CARTOONS OF THE DAY

TWEETS OF THE DAY

VIDEO QUICK NEWS

Trump: Ukraine needs to make peace. It wasn’t a good war to go into (NOTE: UKRAINE WAS INVADED)

Putin is coming to the White House.. after they meet in Saudi Arabia.

(NOTE: Since then, China offered to host the first meeting)

HEGSETH claims there was “no conflict” between 2016-2020 ignoring the ongoing war in Donbas, Luhansk

Trump: I’d love to have Russia back at G7

Trump: the war in Ukraine started after Biden invited Ukraine to join NATO (NOTE: this is FALSE)

Scholz calls on parliament to impose a state of emergency due to "the events of the last 24 hours and the statements made by the U.S. government" about Ukraine.

Inflation Data Signals Fed May Hold Off on Rate Cuts, Economic Concerns Grow

New economic data released yesterday reveals a concerning rise in inflation, dampening expectations that the Federal Reserve will soon reduce interest rates. According to the Department of Labor, consumer prices increased by 0.5% from December to January, driven by higher costs for fuel oil, food, used cars, and auto insurance. This marks the fastest monthly increase since August 2023 and exceeded the expected 0.3% rise.

Full-year inflation climbed to 3%, slightly higher than the 2.9% rate recorded in December, which economists had hoped would hold steady. One notable driver of inflation was the price of eggs, which surged by 15.2% in January—its largest jump in nearly a decade—accounting for about two-thirds of monthly grocery inflation. Over the past year, egg prices have spiked by 53%.

Core consumer prices, which exclude volatile food and energy costs, also saw their highest monthly increase in nearly two years, reaching a 3.3% year-over-year inflation rate. This exceeded the majority of forecasts, as 68 out of 73 Bloomberg-sourced projections were surpassed.

In response to these numbers, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled that the central bank would not rush to cut interest rates, despite progress in tackling inflation. "We are close, but not there on inflation," Powell stated during a congressional hearing yesterday. As a result, traders are now pricing in a 30% chance that the Fed won't cut rates this year, up from 20% earlier in the week. Economists believe that rates may remain steady between 4.25% and 4.5% through the summer if inflation continues to persist.

Looking ahead, the Federal Reserve is taking a cautious wait-and-see approach. Economists, along with figures like Senator Mitch McConnell, have warned that President Donald Trump’s recent tariffs could further contribute to rising consumer prices. The 10% import tax on all Chinese goods, which took effect this past Sunday, is expected to affect consumers by April, potentially raising prices at local stores. This raises concerns about how the combination of rising inflation and tariffs could impact the broader economy in the coming months.

Legal Battle Looms Over Musk's Government Cost-Cutting Team's Access to Sensitive Data

Two federal judges are set to decide on Friday whether Elon Musk's government cost-cutting team, known as DOGE, should be allowed access to Treasury Department payment systems and sensitive data at U.S. health, consumer protection, and labor agencies.

Musk's team has been sweeping through government agencies since Republican President Donald Trump appointed him to root out wasteful spending, part of a broader overhaul of the government.

In Manhattan, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer will consider a request by Democratic state attorneys general to extend a temporary block on DOGE. The block, initially placed on Saturday, prevents Musk's team from accessing Treasury systems that handle trillions of dollars in payments. The states argue that Musk's team has no legal authority to access these systems, which contain sensitive personal information of millions of Americans. They also warn that Musk's actions could disrupt federal funding for crucial programs, including health clinics, preschools, and climate initiatives, and could further Trump's political agenda.

In Washington, U.S. District Judge John Bates will review a request by unions to prevent DOGE from accessing sensitive records at the Department of Health and Human Services, the Labor Department, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Although Bates ruled in favor of the Trump administration last week, unions have renewed their request after amending their lawsuit.

While some of Trump's initiatives have been blocked by the courts, including mass firings of government workers and drastic cuts to foreign aid programs, many of the actions have been focused on initiatives opposed by conservatives. Musk and other Trump allies have criticized the judiciary for blocking these efforts, calling for judges to be impeached, though President Trump has stated he will abide by court orders.

TODAY'S COVER PHOTO

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Elon Musk and the UAE artificial intelligence minister, Omar al-Olama, attend a plenary session titled ‘Boring cities, AI, and Doge’ at the World Government Summit

That's all from me for now. Thank you for reading.

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