1. Trump
Donald Trump just held one of the most extraordinary press conferences modern political watchers might see. I tried my best to live tweet it but at times lost track of his ramblings. [Twitter]
Today's media performance kicked off with a long, wide-ranging, often contradictory, rambling monologue about his administration running like a "fine-tuned machine," despite him sacking his National Security Advisor just days ago and losing his Labor Secretary nominee who withdrew and was replaced today. [CNN]
The list of things he falsely claimed are too long to detail here but main take-outs, he says "nobody that I know of" had contact with Russia after repeatedly being pressed, and repeatedly avoiding answering questions about his team's connections and contacts with Russia. Trump said he's done nothing for Russia and has no deals there.
He ranted on and on and on and on about the media then said the headlines would say tomorrow "Donald Trump rants and raves." Well quite. [Politico] Memorably, he said: "The leaks are real. The news is fake." [NBC News]
Trump is planning a review of the intelligence agencies to be conducted, naturally, by a close ally. [The New York Times]
He said he was shocked when his conversations with Australia and Mexico were leaked, although at one stage he appeared to confuse Australia with Argentina.
He defended Wikileaks by saying Julian Assange didn't publish classified information.
And we've been waiting for a Trump tweet about being on the cover of Time magazine again, given we know he documents so he can brag about how many times he's front page.
TIME’s new cover: Inside Donald Trump's White House chaos https://t.co/hctIFEcOSG pic.twitter.com/1hSQNrY6JQ
— TIME (@TIME) February 16, 2017
2. Russia
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Photo: AP
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the US will stand up to Russia when required and has urged Moscow to honour its commitments to Ukraine. [Politico]
And buyer's remorse? The Kremlin has reportedly ordered Russian state media to cut back their fawning coverage of Trump. [Bloomberg]
3. Peace talks over, says Hezbollah
President Donald Trump with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister. Photo: Bloomberg
Lebanon's Hezbollah said the President effectively signalled the end of peace negotiations when he said he could live with a one-state solution. Hezbollah, which fought Israel in 2006 during a month-long war, says "for the Israeli's there's no such thing as Palestine." [John Davison/Reuters]
If you're not an expert on the Israel-Palestine conflict (who is?!) Sarah Wildman has written an excellent piece on why it's in neither Palestine or Israel's interests for a one-state solution. [Vox]
To Syria:
Turkey says it believes the US will not insist the Kurds must be part of the fight against Islamic State in the Syrian city of Raqqa, which would be a major win for Ankara. [Mohamed Mostafa/Iraqi News]
"Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan is waiting for a clear signal from US President Donald Trump about his Syria strategy to revise his own," writes Murat Yetkin. [Hurriyet Daily]
4. Aust politics
Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott. Photo: Angus Mordant
Tony Abbott is reminding Malcolm Turnbull that Liberals don't raise taxes. (Cough, deficit, cough, levy, cough.) [James Massola/Fairfax]
This came after a torrid day for the government, following Philip Coorey's report yesterday that the government was preparing to partially adopt Labor's policy which it opposed at the election and curb capital gains tax concessions. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann ruled it out on Thursday morning but it took Malcolm Turnbull until his fifth question in Parliament later that afternoon to say the Government has no plans or intention of adopting the policy. Coorey didn't get it wrong but the government sure did, writes Laura Tingle. [Financial Review]
Treasurer Scott Morrison with a lump of coal during question time on Thursday. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
Michelle Grattan perfectly captures the zeitgeist and has fascinating detail on the ongoing tension between Turnbull and the coal-touting Treasurer Scott Morrison. The PM was not impressed with the lump-of-coal in parliament stunt, she writes. [The Conversation]
John Howard has endorsed the Liberals getting into bed with One Nation reprising the 'they're just as bad as the Greens' line. [WA Today]
One Nation chalks up another win over the Nationals. I'm starting to think the Liberals haste to embrace One Nation is more about revealing how they've really felt about their coalition partners all these years...[Philip Coorey/Financial Review]
Ross Cameron appears on Sky News on Friday to defend his speech. Photo: Sky News
Sky News commentator Ross Cameron could be kicked out of the New South Wales Liberal party for describing the state branch as a gay club. [Aaron Patrick/Financial Review]
5. Fox
This is a story to watch with interest.
The US attorney's office is investigating payments Fox News made to women at the centre of sexual harassment cases, to test whether investors were misled. [The New York Times]
And in Britain, where Murdoch is bidding to buy out BSkyB, the reaction has been swift. Ed Miliband says the UK authorities need to investigate "the fitness of the Murdochs" to own BSkyB. [Political Scrapbook]
6. Jurassic Woolly Park
After being extinct for 4000 years, some believe the return of the woolly mammoth is nearing. Photo: AP
Harvard University researchers believe they could bring the woolly mammoth back from extinction within years by using DNA taken from preserved species in the Arctic. [Sarah Knapton/Telegraph]
And that's it from me today, you can follow me on Facebook for more. Have a great weekend.