TV News LIES

Donald Trump’s decision to order airstrikes against Iran will hinge in part on the judgment of Trump’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, about whether Tehran is stalling over a deal to relinquish its capacity to produce nuclear weapons, according to people familiar with the matter.

The president has not made a final determination on any strikes, as the administration prepares for Iran to send its latest proposal this week, ahead of what officials have described as a last-ditch round of negotiations scheduled for Thursday in Geneva.

Donald Trump’s decision to order airstrikes against Iran will hinge in part on the judgment of Trump’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, about whether Tehran is stalling over a deal to relinquish its capacity to produce nuclear weapons, according to people familiar with the matter.

The president has not made a final determination on any strikes, as the administration prepares for Iran to send its latest proposal this week, ahead of what officials have described as a last-ditch round of negotiations scheduled for Thursday in Geneva.

Those talks will be led by Witkoff and Kushner, whose assessment on the likelihood of a deal will shape Trump’s calculus. If there is no deal, Trump has told advisers he is considering limited strikes to pressure Iran and, failing that, a far larger attack to force regime change.

A US official said on Monday that Witkoff was part of the group advising Trump on his decision about how to proceed with Iran and had been involved in all meetings related to the matter.

Trump has received multiple briefings on military options, the people said, including most recently on Wednesday in the White House Situation Room. He has also solicited views from a broad range of officials in the West Wing in recent weeks on what he should do with Iran.

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The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs has barred U.S. Ambassador to France and Monaco Charles Kushner from meeting with government officials. 

A French official told The Hill Monday that Kushner did not show up to the foreign ministry when he was summoned, a breach of diplomatic protocol.  As a result, Kushner is now denied meetings with French ministers.

“It’s not primarily a bilateral issue, it’s a questioMore...n of the basic expectations attached to the mission of an ambassador,” the official said. 

“We just wanted to underline that he will not be granted direct access to ministers and members of the government, but he can carry out his duties [and present himself at the French ministry of foreign affairs],” the person added.

Last week, the U.S. Embassy in France expressed concern over the death of Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old French right-wing activist who was allegedly beaten on Feb. 12 by left-wing militants and died from brain injuries two days later.

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Tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered under heavy Israeli restrictions at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, including some who were allowed to enter from the occupied West Bank.

The Ramadan prayers at Al-Aqsa took place for the first time since a shaky ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect in October. It was the first opportunity many had to leave the West Bank and pray at the site in Jerusalem’s Old City since Ramadan last year.

Israel restricted the number of Palestinians allowed to enter from the West Bank to 10,000 on Friday, and only allowed men over 55 and women over 50 as well as children up to 12. It has imposed similar restrictions in the past, citing security concerns.

The hilltop, which Jews refer to as the Temple Mount, is the holiest site in Judaism and was home to the ancient biblical temples. Muslims call the site the Noble Sanctuary. Today it is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.

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A 23-year-old police officer was killed and 25 people were injured in what authorities described as a terrorist attack in Lviv overnight on Feb. 22, as officials confirmed the detention of a suspected perpetrator.

The blasts damaged a patrol vehicle and a civilian car, and prompted a large-scale response from law enforcement and emergency services.

According to Astra, citing regional authorities and police, the first explosion occurred after patrol officers arrived at a store on Danylyshyna Street following a report of unlawful entry. A second explosion followed when another patrol unit reached the scene.

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy described the incident as a terrorist act in a statement issued shortly after midnight.

“Lviv. This was a terrorist attack. At present, 14 injured have been hospitalized. Doctors are providing all necessary assistance. Law enforcement and all relevant services are working,” Sadovyi wrote.

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Top US trade negotiator Jamieson Greer insisted on Sunday that the Trump administration was set to persist with its tariffs policy, two days after the supreme court declared many of Donald Trump’s tariffs illegal.

The ruling issued on Friday by the highest US court was a sharp rebuke to the Republican president that toppled a key pillar of his aggressive economic agenda – even as it prompted Trump to announce a new global tariff using different statutes, albeit temporary.

“The reality is, we want to maintain the policy we have, have as much continuity as possible, make sure that business understands this is the direction we’ve been going. We’re going to continue going this way,” Greer told the ABC News Sunday politics show This Week.

ABC host Martha Raddatz asked Greer about the government’s persistence despite the unpopularity of the policy with the public, citing an ABC/Washington Post/Ipsos poll that showed 64% of those surveyed in the US disapproved of tariffs as an economic strategy.

“The policy hasn’t changed. The legal tools that implement that may change but the policy hasn’t changed,” he said, arguing that it gives US business “a lot of leverage” in world trade.

Greer also said in a separate interview with CBS that the US will not back out of tariff deals it has already sealed with a number of countries around the world including the UK, the EU, Japan, Switzerland and others, even though the supreme court ruled that tariffs imposed in those deals were illegal.

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Mexican drug lord Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, commonly known as "El Mencho," was killed in a military operation, officials announced on Sunday, Feb. 22, the latest victory in Mexico's war on drug cartels amid U.S. intervention threats.

Mexico's defense ministry said a shootout in Tapalpa, Jalisco, left Oseguera seriously injured, and he died during an air transfer to Mexico City. Six other cartel members were killed and two were arrested in the military operation.

"Various weapons and armored vehicles were seized, including rocket launchers capable of shooting down aircraft and destroying armored vehicles," Mexican officials said, adding that the authorities in the United States provided "complementary information."

A former police officer, Oseguera was the shadowy leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel, an outfit named for the western state that is home to one of Mexico's biggest cities, Guadalajara. Over a relatively short period of time, the cartel transformed into an international criminal enterprise rivaling former allies in the Sinaloa Cartel, the gang of captured kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, now in a U.S. prison.

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