🇺🇸🇸🇾⚡- "The greatest opportunity for the Kurds in Syria right now lies in the post-Assad transition under the new government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa. This moment offers a pathway to full integration into a unified Syrian state with citizenship rights, cultural protections, and political participation— long denied under Bashar al-Assad’s regime, where many Kurds faced statelessness, language restrictions, and systemic discrimination," - US Envoy Tom Barrack.

🇺🇸🇸🇾🇷🇺⚡- "Historically, the US military presence in northeastern Syria was justified primarily as a counter-ISIS partnership. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by Kurds, proved the most effective ground partner in defeating ISIS’s territorial caliphate by 2019, detaining thousands of ISIS fighters and family members in prisons and camps like al-Hol and al-Shaddadi.

At that time, there was no functioning central Syrian state to partner with—the Assad regime was weakened, contested, and not a viable partner against ISIS due to its alliances with Iran and Russia," - US Envoy Tom Barrack.

🇺🇸🇸🇾⚡- "Today, the situation has fundamentally changed. Syria now has an acknowledged central government that has joined the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, signaling a westward pivot and cooperation with the US on counterterrorism.

This shifts the rationale for the US-SDF partnership: the original purpose of the SDF as the primary anti-ISIS force on the ground has largely expired, as Damascus is now both willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities, including control of ISIS detention facilities and camps," - US Envoy Tom Barrack.

🇺🇸🇸🇾⚡- "We have engaged extensively with the Syrian Government and SDF leadership to secure an integration agreement, signed on January 18, and to set a clear pathway for timely and peaceful implementation.

The deal integrates SDF fighters into the national military (as individuals, which remains among the most contentious issues), hand over key infrastructure (oil fields, dams, border crossings), and cede control of ISIS prisons and camps to Damascus," - US Envoy Tom Barrack.

🇺🇸🇸🇾⚡- "In Syria, the United States is focused on:

1) ensuring the security of prison facilities holding ISIS prisoners, currently guarded by the SDF;

2) facilitating talks between the SDF and the Syrian Government to allow for the peaceful integration of the SDF and the political inclusion of Syria’s Kurdish population into a historic full Syrian citizenship," - US Envoy Tom Barrack.

🇺🇸🇸🇾⚡- "The US has no interest in long-term military presence; it prioritizes defeating ISIS remnants, supporting reconciliation, and advancing national unity without endorsing separatism or federalism," - US Envoy Tom Barrack.

🇸🇾⚡- The Syrian government announces a four day ceasefire effective from 8pm tonight, local time, to give the SDF an opportunity to implement the new Damascus-SDF deal.

🇪🇺🇺🇸⚡️- The European Union has frozen the procedure to sign last year's trade agreement with the USA.

🇪🇺🇺🇸⚡️- The social-democrats (S&D) and conservative members (EPP) of the EU Parliament have reached an agreement to support the freeze of all EU-US trade negotiations alongside the indefinite freeze of the ratification of the 2025 trade agreement.

Even certain members of the far-right groups (PfE/ECR) are supporting this measure according to various statements.

🇪🇺🇺🇸⚡️ – European parties have yet to reach an agreement on further measures.

The right-wing PPE group has refused to join the initiative to trigger the EU's anti-coercion measures, which would limit U.S. companies' access to the European market. The measures are currently supported only by left-wing groups and centrists from Renew Europe, after Emmanuel Macron openly advocated for their use.

🇺🇸⚡️- “The Trump Administration and I are here to make a very clear point: globalization has failed the West and the United States of America. It’s a failed policy and it has left America behind.” - Secretary of Commerce H. Lutnick at the World Economic Forum.

🇺🇸⚡️- Trump Administration is still awarding Federal Contracts using Biden era DEI rules. The Small Business Association in 2025 had its highest spending ever on its 8(a) program for so called "disadvantaged business initiatives."

This program has not rewarded a White male owned business in the better part of a decade.

🇺🇸⚡️- President Trump's approval is at the lowest its been this term clocking in at only 37% approval.

🇸🇾🇮🇱⚡- "US Special Envoy Tom Barrack accused the Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, of attempting to drag Israel into Syria's internal affairs," - Middle East Eye.

🇺🇸🇮🇱⚡- "Prime Minister Netanyahu is expected to travel to America at the end of February to participate in the AIPAC conference in Washington, and may meet with President Trump again during the visit," - Yediot Ahronoth.

🇹🇷🇬🇷🇮🇱⚡- "Anyone [Turkey] who dreams of taking the region back or re-establishing an empire at the expense of sovereign states will face a solid alliance of free and strong nations [Greece-Cyprus-Israel] capable of defending themselves," - Israel Katz, Defense Minister of Israel, while on a visit to Athens, Greece.

🇺🇸⚡️- Usha Vance is pregnant with a 4th child on the way. The baby boy is expected in late July.

🇺🇸🇻🇪⚡- BREAKING: "Through Operation Southern Spear, the Department of War is unwavering in its mission to crush illicit activity in the Western Hemisphere in partnership with the US Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department.

This morning, U.S. military forces, in support of the Department of Homeland Security, apprehended Motor Vessel Sagitta without incident. The apprehension of another tanker operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean demonstrates our resolve to ensure that the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully. As the joint force operates in the Western Hemisphere, we reaffirm that the security of the American people is paramount, demonstrating our commitment to safety and stability.

These operations are backed by the full power our elite joint force team deployed in the Caribbean," - SOUTHCOM.

🇺🇸🇻🇪🇷🇺 - SARGITTA is the 7th tanker seized by the US Coast Guard since the start of Operation Southern Spear.

The tanker belongs to the Russian ghost fleet, making it the 4th ship operated by Russian pirates that has been boarded by the USCG. The ship was flying under a false flag, and was seized in international waters – in complete compliance with international law.

SARGITTA is under sanctions by the US, the UK, the EU, and Ukraine. The tanker is tied to a known Hong Kong firm that manages multiple other Russian shadow vessels.

🇪🇸⚡️- Another accident occured in Spain, this time in near Gelida, Catalonia.

Another train hit a wall. The train conductor is dead according to initial reports and multiple people are wounded.

🇾🇪⚡- Southern Transitional Council's President Aidarus al-Zubaidi, who's living in exile in the UAE, calls on Yemenis to protest in Aden on Friday against the takeover of the city by the Saudi-backed Homeland Shield Forces.