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NEWS - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2025 - NEWS
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was headed to the Munich Security Conference, which begins Friday, along with Vice President JD Vance. CBS
The illicit drug haul came from 11 interceptions of suspected drug smuggling vessels in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. CBS
Organizations that receive funding from USAID and other agencies sued after they were cut off from federal funding for foreign assistance programs. CBS
VOA VIEW: Aid is not contractual.

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The House is pursuing one massive package, while the Senate plans to divide its work into two. CBS
VOA VIEW: Count on the one big plan.
The uncertainty of the future and the broader economy may be leading people to splurge on holidays. CNBC
VOA VIEW: Saving would be more prudent.
Trump's all-caps post on Truth Social announcing the presser offered no details about the plan for new tariffs. CNBC
VOA VIEW: A good plan.
TikTok has returned to the Apple and Google app stores. CNBC
VOA VIEW: TIK TOK should be vanished.
American-Israeli citizen Keith Siegel has released a video message heaping praise on President Donald Trump after he was freed from captivity by the terrorist group Hamas two weeks ago. FOX News
The Department of Veterans affairs dismissed more than 1,000 employees in order to shrink the size of the federal workforce and save money for resources for healthcare. FOX News
VOA VIEW: As they should.

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The office of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., hosted a live webinar advising migrants in her district about their rights if they come face to face with ICE agents looking to deport them. FOX News
VOA VIEW: AOC is an idiot.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky questioned Friday the credibility of peace efforts by the Trump administration to end Russia's war on Ukraine, saying he could not "see a ready U.S. plan." UPI
VOA VIEW: There has been too much possible talk.
A Russian attack drone struck the shelter surrounding the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said early Friday. UPI
VOA VIEW: Putin does not seem to want peace.
Customs and Border Protection agents seized nearly 162,000 counterfeit U.S. Forever Stamps at the Chicago International Mail Branch, the agency announced Thursday, intercepting a total of 8 shipments of fakes. UPI

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Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has filed a multi state lawsuit seeking to stop Elon Musk from what she calls an unlawful delegation of executive power, her office announced Thursday. UPI
VOA VIEW: Liberals are going mad.
Hamas Friday named the three Israeli hostages who are to be released Saturday, after agreeing to resume hostage releases agreed to in its cease-fire deal with Israel. UPI
VOA VIEW: Hamas better get it act together - they have a Noon Saturday deadline from Trump.
According to a Friday U.S. Census Bureau report, retail sales for January were down 0.9% from the December. But total sales for November 2024 - January 2025 were up 4.2%. UPI

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P.O. Box 10307
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COMMENTARY OF THE DAY
By
Robert Namer
Voice Of America
©2018 All rights reserved
February 16, 2025

       Staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development were instructed to stay out of the agency’s Washington headquarters on Monday, according to a notice distributed to them, after Tesla founder Elon Musk announced that President Donald Trump had agreed with him to shut down the agency.  “At the direction of Agency leadership, the USAID headquarters at the Ronald Reagan building in Washington, D.C. will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, February 3, 2025,” an email sent to staff overnight said, according to a copy obtained by NBC NewsA good move.

   The message said agency personnel who normally work at USAID’s headquarters “will work remotely tomorrow” except for people who perform essential on-site and building maintenance duties. “Further guidance will be forthcoming,” it said.  “It became apparent that it’s not an apple with a worm in it,” Musk said in a live session on X Spaces early Monday. “What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair.”  “We’re shutting it down,” he said.

       Meanwhile, the Trump administration is considering placing USAID under the State Department’s authority, according to officials who are involved. As of Monday, USAID’s website no longer loads on the web, resulting in a message that its server IP address cannot be found. In 1961, USAID was established by President John F. Kennedy and has been the U.S. government’s main international humanitarian and development arm. According to the most recent Congressional Research Service report, over 10,000 people work at the agency, with about two-thirds serving overseas. In recent years, USAID has “provided significant humanitarian, development, and economic support to Ukraine and countries affected by Russia’s war in Ukraine, as well as humanitarian assistance in Gaza and elsewhere,” the report says.

      Over the weekend, the Trump administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to Musk’s government inspection teams, a current and a former U.S. official told the.