Russia rains missiles on Ukraine

"Russia bombarded Ukraine with missiles and struck its largest oil refinery, Kyiv said, while the head of the Wagner mercenary group predicted the long-besieged city of Bakhmut would fall within a couple of months." Aljazeera

ISIS leader Hamza al-Hosi is killed in helicopter raid in Syria that left four US servicemembers and a dog wounded

"ISIS leader Hamza al-Hosi has been killed in Syria in a helicopter raid carried out by US and
Syrian forces. 

Four active service members were injured, along with a dog, and all are receiving treatment in Iraq. 

They suffered blast injuries from an explosion. It's unclear what the cause of that explosion was. 

The raid comes a week after a separate raid by the US and SDF killed Ibrahim Al Qahtani, another ISIS official who planned to help ISIS prisoners escape from detention centers. 

In January, the US killed another top official and 10 of his lieutenants in a raid in Somalia." 

DailyMail

Germany Calls for Investigation Into Joe Biden Over Nord Stream Sabotage

"A German political party is calling for the removal of U.S. troops from Germany following accusations that the Biden was involved in the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is demanding an investigation into the claims made by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, and if the allegations are true, they want the U.S. military to leave the country." TP

The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, to give Ukraine nearly 100 Leopard tanks

"The Netherlands, together with Germany and Denmark, are planning to supply Ukraine with
about 100 Leopard main battle tanks.

This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky during a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports." UKRIN

China Blasts ‘Vanity Political Appointee’ Pete Buttigieg over Ohio Train Catastrophe

"Chinese state media continued having a field day with the Ohio train disaster on Tuesday and Wednesday, crowing that the calamity has become a viral sensation on Chinese social media because it exposes the corruption, incompetence, and hypocrisy of the U.S. government. 

Many netizens, when criticizing the U.S. for not properly handling the disaster, also questioned if the U.S. government is trying to deliberately withhold information, and hype a balloon incident involving China to divert domestic media attention, the state-run Global Times said on Tuesday, hammering Beijing’s favorite new talking point about how President Joe Biden’s administration targeted China’s harmless and lovable weather balloon to distract Americans from the Ohio disaster.

Chinese social media is reportedly buzzing with comparisons to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986, in which the Russian government was not exactly forthcoming with honest information about the dangerous situation around the reactor." Breitbart

US Deliberately Hushing Up Recent Train Wreck in Ohio, Moscow Says

"The United States is deliberately hushing up the recent derailment of a freight train in Ohio that resulted in the leakage of toxic chemicals, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said....

The spokeswoman added that the Biden administration is now using every method to avoid getting hit by informational attacks on the issue of the disaster.

On February 3, a freight train carrying hazardous cargo derailed in Ohio. The derailment led to a subsequent fire and an explosion. Toxic substances were released into the atmosphere as a result of the incident. Three days after the derailment, authorities burned vinyl chloride inside five tanker cars, which released hydrogen chloride and phosgene, according to media reports. ....local media reported that around 3,500 fish have died in waterways near the derailment and several residents have complained about feeling nauseous and experiencing headaches after toxic chemicals were released into the air." Sputnik

‘Falling tail’ issue grounds entire fleet of US Air Force tankers

"The United States Air Force has grounded hundreds of its decades-old KC-135 tankers, over concerns that a critical flaw could lead to their tails becoming separated from the fuselage mid-flight. Inspections have revealed that two dozen aircraft have so far been found to be affected by the fault." RT

Poll reveals German attitudes to warplanes for Ukraine

"Pollster Infratest dimap asked Germans this week if the country should accommodate
Ukraine’s latest request. The poll, which was commissioned by ARD-Morgenmagazin and involved 1,216 respondents, showed that 64% were against providing Kiev with fighter jets. Those in favor of the move numbered 23%, while the remaining 13% were undecided or declined to offer their opinion." RT

US governor trolled with Zelensky image

"Former US president Donald Trump’s son, Donald Jr, has shared an image trolling Ohio
governor Mike DeWine for failing to secure disaster assistance from the Biden administration, following a catastrophic train derailment that spilled hazardous materials near the town of East Palestine.

In the image, originally posted to Instagram by an account with the handle that_southern_dude, the governor is illustrated wearing a mask of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky with the caption: "Ohio’s governor after Biden denied his request for disaster assistance.”

On Thursday, the Biden administration turned down a request for federal disaster aid from the state of Ohio, stating it was not eligible for help as the incident does not qualify as a traditional disaster, such as a tornado or hurricane. That’s while the US continues to spend billions of dollars on military assistance to Ukraine." RT

US Leading Economic Indicators Tumble For 10th Straight Month, Signal Recession Imminent

"The Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) continued its decline in January,
dropping 0.3% MoM (vs -0.3% exp).

• The biggest positive contributor to the leading index was average workweek at 0.18
• The biggest negative contributor was ISM new orders at -0.28

This is the 10th straight monthly decline in the LEI (and 11th month of 13) -  the longest streak of declines since 'Lehman' (22 straight months of declines from June 2007 to April 2008)....." ZH

"Optimism Is Being Shaken": US Futures, Global Markets Slide Ahead Of $1.8 Trillion OpEx

"US futures and global equities extended Thursday's selloff as a global wave of risk aversion swept across the markets after two of the Fed's most hawkish (nonvoting) policymakers - Loretta Mester and James Bullard - signaled they may favor returning to bigger, 50bps rate hikes in the future, while European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel also warned that markets may be underestimating inflation, and the risk that the ECB “may have to act more forcefully”.....ZH

Illinois Hobby Club Believes Pentagon Shot Down Their $12 Pico Balloon

"After the Pentagon dispatched fighter jets to shoot down unidentified objects on February 10, 11, and 12 utilizing heat-seeking AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles at over $400,000 a pop, President Biden belatedly admitted that they could just be harmless weather balloons

"The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation, or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research," Biden said. 

But now an Illinois-based hobby group which uses $12 balloons with ham radios for a cheap high-altitude hobby says the object shot down over Yukon Territory on Feb. 11 likely belongs to them. NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden also sees this as the likely scenario...

please tell me the white house did not spend the month of february scrambling jets to fire $400,000 missiles at the local hobby club's TWELVE DOLLAR BALLOON  have mercyhttps://t.co/4D7DaTncvT

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden)" ZH