TV News LIES

As Donald Trump seemed to endorse regime change in Iran, embracing a long-term goal of his ally, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Reuters reports that the US military “is preparing for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations” against Iran’s theocratic government.

When Trump was asked on Friday: “Do you want regime change in Iran?” the president replied: “Well, it seems like that would be the best thing that could happen.”

Trump then pointed out that the US had deployed a large force to the region. “We have tremendous power has arrived, and additional power, as you know, another carrier is going out shortly, “ he said.

“If we could get it settled for once and for all, that’d be good,” the president said, after describing casualties Iran’s government was responsible for, without saying where.

Asked, “Who would you want to take over?” Trump said: “I don’t want to talk about that.”

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President Donald Trump met for more than two hours behind closed doors with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and said he'd insisted that negotiations with Iran continue as the U.S. pushes for a nuclear deal with Tehran

Netanyahu entered the White House out of the view of reporters and left without issuing a statement on what was said. But Trump, in a subsequent post on his social media site, called it "a very good meeting" but said "there was nothing definitive reached, other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated."

"If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference," Trump wrote. "If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be."

He added, "Last time Iran decided that they were better off not making a Deal" and were hit by U.S. strikes.

"Hopefully this time they will be more reasonable and responsible," Trump wrote.

The visit from Netanyahu — their seventh meeting in Trump's second term — comes as both Tehran and Washington are projecting cautious optimism after holding indirect talks in Oman on Friday about how, once again, to approach negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.

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Russian infantry assaults against Ukrainian positions fell off moderately following loss of access to the tactically critical Starlink satellite communications system by Kremlin forces and the widely-used Telegram messaging app – but they have not stopped, news and field reports, and official statements over the past week have shown.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX company on Feb. 4 shut down gray and black market Starlink terminals operating in Russia and Ukraine, following a Ukrainian government request.

The switch-off did not significantly damage the ability of the Ukrainian military, widely using white market Starlink terminals, to digitally share battle intelligence and targeting information instantaneously, and in some sectors it gave piloted strike drones immune to jamming.

The access denial at the same time turned hundreds of gray and black market Starlink terminals used by Russian combat units for their own enciphered information-sharing and drone operations in Ukraine, into useless junk.

On Tuesday, Russian users of the Telegram messaging app reported critical slowdowns in access and data transfer speed, following a reported Russian state move to pressure Russian Telegram-users to shift to the state-developed app Messenger Max.

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Israeli authorities have arrested several people and charged two on suspicion of using classified information to place bets about military operations on the popular prediction market platform Polymarket.

Prosecutors say a civilian and a military reservist have been indicted for bribery and obstruction of justice, with an undisclosed number of others also arrested for placing Polymarket wagers based on classified information, according to a statement released Thursday by officials in Tel Aviv.

While the names of those charged and the specific bets they made were not disclosed, the announcement comes weeks after Israeli media reported that security agencies were probing whether military officials were turning secret intelligence about military strikes into Polymarket bets.

Kan News, Israel's public broadcaster, reported last month that government investigators were examining Polymarket bets on an Israeli strike on Iran in June 2025, when the countries fought a 12-day war.

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Pressure is mounting on Israel to scrap its plans to expand settlements in the West Bank ahead of a meeting between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

The Israeli prime minister has authorised steps that would make it easier for Israeli settlers to buy land in the occupied West Bank, while granting Israel broader powers in an area the Palestinians see as the heartland of a future state.

Eight U.S. Democratic senators on Tuesday urged Trump to oppose the settlements, which they said would go against the country’s longstanding policy on the issue, as well as the president’s own position.

The group’s statement reads: “We have long expressed our concern that these reckless moves make the possibility of a two-state solution, where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace and security, further out of reach.

“We urge Prime Minister Netanyahu to reverse course. When President Trump meets with Prime Minister Netanyahu this week, we also urge the president to clearly reinforce the opposition of the U.S. government to Israeli government actions that set the conditions for irreversible annexation.”

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Ukrainian forces repelled major Russian assaults in a single day in the Pokrovsk direction (Donetsk region), killing around 90 Russian soldiers.

In a Jan. 31 Telegram report, the Spartan National Guard brigade said it had jointly repelled a Russian assault alongside the “Ptakhy Madyara” unit and adjacent forces, as Moscow committed up to 90 assault troops to the attack.

“The enemy attempted an offensive in the Pokrovsk direction. Under the cover of fog, the enemy tried to advance using cars, motorcycles, and ATVs,” the report said.

Ukrainian units stopped the assault completely, destroying Russian manpower and equipment.

“Spartan, together with adjacent units, repelled the enemy assault - almost four platoons of Russians were destroyed in a single day,” the brigade said.

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