Links to an open letter to the UN Security Council via Common Dreams; to commentary from Common Dreams; and to links to SIX reports: from the Cradle, the Associated Press, Reuters, and France 24; others are accessible by clicking on their names below. (Scroll down for IRAN 2-14-26, and up or down for GAZA, LEBANON, WEST BANK, and MEDIA.) — MCM

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An open letter to the UN Security Council, by Jeffrey Sachs | Common Dreams  The current threat of an attack by the U.S. did not begin with any failure by Iran to negotiate. On the contrary, it began with the United States’ repudiation of negotiations that had already succeeded. READ MORE . . .

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Happy Presidents Day to the squalid Epstein class, by Robert Reich | Common Dreams  These people are an interconnected world of hugely rich, prominent, entitled, smug, powerful, self-important (mostly) men. Trump is honorary chairman. READ MORE . . .

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Netanyahu doubles down on ‘conditions’ for Iran–U.S. deal. From the Cradle. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a statement on Sunday outlining Tel Aviv’s five conditions for any agreement between Iran and the U.S., chief among them the destruction of Iran’s nuclear program. READ MORE . . .

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Iran meets UN nuclear watchdog in Geneva ahead of a second round of U.S. talks, by Jamey Keaten and Stephanie Liechtenstein | AP  GENEVA — Iran’s top diplomat met with the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency today, ahead of a second round of negotiations with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others. Click HERE for report from Reuters.

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Iran says U.S. has developed ‘more realistic’ stance on nuclear issue ahead of Geneva talks. From France 24. Iran said today that the United States’s position on Iran’s nuclear programme “has moved towards a more realistic one,” a day ahead of a second round of U.S.-Iranian talks in Geneva. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for shorter version of report from RFI in French, and HERE for others.

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FROM FEB. 14  U.S. military preparing for potentially weeks-long Iran operations, by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali | Reuters  WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is preparing for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran if President Donald Trump orders an attack, according to two U.S. officials. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from the Cradle.

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Links to commentary from Common Dreams, and to FOUR reports: from the Cradle, Middle East Eye, and the Associated Press; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for WEST BANK 2-15-26, and up or down for GAZA, LEBANON, IRAN and MEDIA.) — MCM

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Happy Presidents Day to the squalid Epstein class, by Robert Reich | Common Dreams  These people are an interconnected world of hugely rich, prominent, entitled, smug, powerful, self-important (mostly) men. Trump is honorary chairman. READ MORE . . .

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NEWER  Palestinian security forces express ‘deep regret’ after killing two children in West Bank’s Tubas. From the Cradle. The Palestinian Authority’s security forces released a statement today expressing “deep regret” over its killing of two children in the occupied West Bank governorate of Tubas on Sunday night. READ MORE . . .

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PA forces kill Palestinian toddler and teenager in West Bank shooting, by Mera Aladam | Middle East Eye  Palestinian Authority forces shot dead a three-year-old girl and her teenage brother in the occupied West Bank city of Tubas on Sunday. READ MORE . . .

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FROM FEB. 15  Israel will begin contentious West Bank land registration in new step to deepen control, by Melanie Lidman | AP  TEL AVIV — Israel will begin a contentious land regulation process in a large part of the occupied West Bank, which could result in Israel gaining control over wide swaths of the area for future development, according to a government decision on Sunday. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others. Click HERE for report from Middle East Eye.

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Links to THREE reports: from the Associated Press and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their initials below. (Scroll down for MEDIA 2-15-26.  Scroll up for GAZA, LEBANON, IRAN and WEST BANK.) — MCM

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FROM FEB. 9  Landmark trial accusing social media companies of addicting children to their platforms begins, by Kaitlyn Huamani and Barbara Ortutay | AP  LOS ANGELES — The world’s biggest social media companies face several landmark trials this year that seek to hold them responsible for harms to children who use their platforms. Opening statements in one such trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court began on Feb. 9. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others.

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FROM FEB. 15  Tech trials on social media addiction seen through a mother’s eyes. Reported by Sarah Robbins, Emily Kwong, Gabriel J. Sánchez and Jordan-Marie Smith | NPR  With multiple tech addiction trials expected this year, Julianna Arnold of the parents group Parents Rise says the legal pressure is overdue for Big Tech. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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FROM JAN. 28  To keep AI out of her classroom, this high school English teacher went analog. Reported by Lee V. Gaines | NPR  Chanea Bond teaches at Southwest High School in the Fort Worth Independent School District, which serves mostly students from low-income backgrounds. She says going almost entirely analog is the best way she’s found to keep generative artificial intelligence out of her American literature and composition classes. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Links to a report from the Associated Press and to two articles of commentary: from Peoples Dispatch and the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for VENEZUELA 2-14-26 and 9/11 TRUTH, UKRAINE and MEDIA.) — MCM

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U.S. military boards another oil tanker in Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean, by Ben Finley | AP  WASHINGTON — U.S. military forces boarded another sanctioned tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the vessel from the Caribbean Sea in an effort to target illicit oil connected to Venezuela, the Pentagon said today. READ MORE . . .

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FROM FEB. 14  The war on drugs or the war on the poor? by Laura Capote | Peoples Dispatch  The so-called “War on Drugs” seeks to achieve a facade for the development of various mechanisms of imperialist intervention that since the 1970s have involved a combination of methods ranging from military financing to countries in the region, installation of military bases, and explicit support for certain candidates in electoral contests. READ MORE . . .

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FROM FEB. 12  This newsletter will make you angry. From the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research. Cauca, Colombia, is home to coca-growing campesino (peasant) communities, where families do not plant coca out of choice but because dispossession and state abandonment have closed off dignified livelihoods for them. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same article in Spanish, and HERE for others.

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A link to a report — a second news release — from Exposing 9/11; others are accessible by clicking on its name below. (Scroll down for 9/11 TRUTH 2-9-26, and up or down for VENEZUELA, UKRAINE and MEDIA.) — MCM

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FROM FEB. 11  A statement of principles, by Craig McKee | Exposing 9/11  Last week, I created this page for Exposing 9/11 and posted a first article to introduce the group and its core members. In this follow-up is our mission statement and a statement of 13 principles that guide our efforts. In the weeks ahead . . . READ MORE . . .

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A link to a report from the Associated Press; others are accessible by clicking on its initials below. (Scroll down for UKRAINE 2-12-26, and up or down for VENEZUELA, 9/11 TRUTH and MEDIA.) — MCM

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Ukrainian drone strike sparks fires at Russian Black Sea port ahead of U.S.-brokered peace talks. From AP. A Ukrainian drone strike ignited fires at one of Russia’s Black Sea ports, officials said today. Meanwhile, falling debris from Russian drones damaged civilian and transport infrastructure in Ukraine’s Odesa region, officials said. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others.

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Links to commentary from the New York Times and to a performance by Leonard Cohen and company via YouTube; other published material or at least headlines are accessible by clicking below on the newspaper’s or the singer-songwriter’s name. (Scroll down for MEDIA 2-13-26.  Scroll up for VENEZUELA, 9/11 TRUTH and UKRAINE.) — MCM

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FROM c. FEB. 7  What Trump is best at, hands down, by Nicholas Kristof | The New York Times   The Wall Street Journal broke the story, reporting that on the eve of Trump’s inauguration, the Emiratis purchased 49% of a Trump family cryptocurrency company for $500 million. READ MORE . . .

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FROM 2013  ‘Everybody knows,’ by Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson; performed in Dublin by Cohen, Robinson, Charley and Hattie Webb, and anonymous instrumentalists | YouTube. EVERYBODY KNOWS was printed on cardboard on one of the handmade signs that 20 or so anti-ICE demonstrators were holding on Saturday at the corners of West Housatonic, East Housatonic and South streets in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Whether any of the demonstrators knew about the song is not known. Click HERE for video of Dublin performance.

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Just one link: to a report from National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on its initials below. (Scroll down for VENEZUELA 2-12-26 and GAZA, UKRAINE and IRAN.) — MCM

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FROM FEB. 13  Venezuela debates sweeping amnesty for political prisoners, by John Otis | NPR  BOGOTA — Legions of Venezuelans are in legal limbo. The country’s jails hold hundreds of political prisoners, while thousands of former detainees have criminal charges hanging over their heads. Click HERE to listen and read.

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A link to just one report: from the Associated Press; others are accessible by clicking on its initials below. (Scroll down for GAZA 2-13-26, and up or down for VENEZUELA, UKRAINE and IRAN.) — MCM

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FROM FEB. 13  Diplomat overseeing Gaza ceasefire says violations threaten transitional governance, by Ibrahim Hazboun and Wafaa Shurafa | AP  DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The top diplomat overseeing the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal in Gaza said Friday that continued violations of the agreement pose major obstacles to the Palestinian committee expected to oversee postwar governance and reconstruction. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others.

Links to TWO reports: from the Associated Press and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their initials below. (Scroll down for UKRAINE 2-12-26, and up or down for GAZA and IRAN.) — MCM

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Drone strikes in Ukraine and Russia kill 2 ahead of peace talks, by Samya Kullab and Elise Morton | AP  KYIV — Drone strikes killed one person in Ukraine and another in Russia, officials said today, ahead of fresh talks next week aimed at ending the war. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for same AP report in Spanish, and HERE for others. 

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FROM FEB. 13  View from Ukraine. Reported by Karen Zamora, Mary Louise Kelly and Courtney Dorning | NPR  Kelly speaks with Chrystia Freeland, former Canadian deputy prime minister and current economic adviser to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. Click HERE to listen and read.

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