News from the Note…
A round up of the day’s news that might be of interest to you.
This is an OPEN THREAD, folks. Chat about any of the stories listed, share links to stories that caught your eye today, and generally have a good time discussing whatever you want.
US and Russian participants met in Switzerland for unofficial talks about the Ukraine war in recent months, including as recently as last week, three sources with knowledge of the matter said reut.rs/4ic373v
— Reuters (@reuters.com) February 21, 2025 at 8:40 AM
[image or embed]
Exclusive: Russia could agree to using $300 billion of sovereign assets frozen in Europe for reconstruction in Ukraine but will insist that part of the money is spent on the one-fifth of the country that Moscow's forces control, three sources told Reuters reut.rs/4gQvNhk
— Reuters (@reuters.com) February 21, 2025 at 9:21 AM
[image or embed]
Israel identified the remains of child hostages but said another body from Hamas was not their mother as claimed. And near Tel Aviv, explosions hit threes buses, but no injuries were reported.
— NPR (@npr.org) February 21, 2025 at 1:02 PM
[image or embed]
President Trump sparred with Maine’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills during a meeting of governors at the White House, with Mills telling the Trump, “We’ll see you in court,” over his push to deny federal funding to the state over transgender athletes.
— NBC News (@nbcnews.com) February 21, 2025 at 3:42 PM
[image or embed]
BREAKING: Acting ICE director removed after a month on the job amid Trump's anger at the rate of deportations.
— NBC News (@nbcnews.com) February 21, 2025 at 3:00 PM
[image or embed]
The Trump administration told Congress on Thursday that it believed President Trump had the constitutional power to summarily fire administrative law judges at will, despite a statute that protects such officials from being removed without a cause like misconduct.
— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) February 21, 2025 at 8:39 AM
[image or embed]
Some House lawmakers are raising “deep alarm” over DOGE’s interactions with NASA and potential conflicts of interest in a new letter released Friday. cnn.it/3Qw2GVG
— CNN (@cnn.com) February 21, 2025 at 3:33 PM
[image or embed]
The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday that it would dismiss a case against Elon Musk’s SpaceX, in which the rocket company had been accused of discriminating against people based on their citizenship status.
— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) February 21, 2025 at 9:23 AM
[image or embed]
Waving a chainsaw before the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Elon Musk boasted of slashing through the federal government on Thursday. It comes as the IRS begins to layoff over 6,000 employees during tax season. Follow live updates: abcnews.link/s8PtSKT
— ABC News (@abcnewsgo.bsky.social) February 21, 2025 at 6:15 AM
[image or embed]
A federal judge has vacated the upcoming corruption trial date for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, but declined to immediately dismiss the charges.
— CNN (@cnn.com) February 21, 2025 at 1:13 PM
[image or embed]
Acting U.S. attorney in Florida moves to dismiss unrelated felony charge against Jan. 6 defendant Daniel Ball.
— CBS News (@cbsnews.com) February 21, 2025 at 3:35 PM
[image or embed]
French far-right leader Jordan Bardella canceled planned remarks at CPAC today, after ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon made a "gesture referring to Nazi ideology," according to a statement to French news agency Agence France-Presse.
— Axios (@axios.com) February 21, 2025 at 11:41 AM
[image or embed]
