The Petersburg Post
Top News Stories for Friday, February 20th 2026
Friday, Feb 20th, 2026 -
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... By PAN PYLAS LONDON (AP) — Police continued on Friday to search the former home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, a day after he was arrested and held in custody for the best part of 11 hours on suspicion of misconduct in public office linked to his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein . Following one of the most tumultuous days in the modern ...
Source: orlandosentinel.com
Friday, Feb 20th, 2026 -
U.S. President Donald Trump has given Iran "10 to 15" days to make a meaningful deal over its nuclear program — or "really bad things" will happen. Oil prices held at six-month highs on Friday morning as energy market participants continue to closely monitor heightened geopolitical tensions. Strategists at Barclays said "if conflict is imminent it is likely to be short lived, in our view." In this article US ...
Source: cnbc.com
Friday, Feb 20th, 2026 -
SODA SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Crews hope to resume efforts Friday to recover the bodies of eight people killed and one still missing in an avalanche in California's Sierra Nevada after days of dangerous weather that has hampered safe access to the area. Six of the people who died were part of a close-knit group of friends who were experienced backcountry skiers and knew how to navigate the alpine wilderness, ...
Source: apnews.com
Friday, Feb 20th, 2026 -
United States President Donald Trump said he is directing federal agencies, including the defence department, to begin "identifying and releasing" government records related to unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and alien life forms. Trump did not specify whether classified documents would be released to the public, but added that the files should include "any and all other information connected to these highly ...
Source: aljazeera.com
Friday, Feb 20th, 2026 -
Property taxes around the U.S. have long been a lightning rod for debate, with political leaders perpetually balancing the need to fund their budget priorities against the risk of alienating homeowners and businesses. This week, for example, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sparked an uproar by proposing to close a budget hole by sharply raising property taxes . Although the move was widely interpreted as a ...
Source: cbsnews.com
Friday, Feb 20th, 2026 -
MILAN — It was only fitting that Hilary Knight was in the middle of it all. As the United States women's hockey team prepared to receive their gold medals Thursday after a 2-1 win over Canada in overtime, the players lined up in numerical order. There was No. 21 in the center, with 12 teammates on one side and 10 on the other. Knight was in the middle of it an hour earlier, too, when a shot from Laila Edwards ...
Source: bostonglobe.com
Friday, Feb 20th, 2026 -
– Ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday remained defiant in his first reaction to a for rebellion handed down by a Seoul court the previous day. In a statement released by his lawyers, Yoon maintained that his abrupt and short-lived declaration of martial law in December 2024 was done "solely for the sake of the nation and our people," and dismissed the Seoul Central District Court as biased ...
Source: news4jax.com
Friday, Feb 20th, 2026 -
The Boeing-built craft was on its first crewed test flight to the International Space Station when its thrusters failed, leaving it dangerously out of control. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the two NASA astronauts "stranded" in space, came close to catastrophe because their spacecraft wasn't ready to fly, according to a scathing report by the space agency. The investigation classed the incident as a ...
Source: news.sky.com
Friday, Feb 20th, 2026 -
You can now listen to Fox News articles! Ex-Victoria's Secret mogul Les Wexner's lawyer was caught on a hot mic jokingly threatening to "kill" him if he continued giving long answers to questions during his deposition on Jeffrey Epstein by the House Oversight Committee. The moment was caught after the committee released its full, nearly five-hour deposition of 88-year-old Wexner as part of its ongoing probe into ...
Source: foxnews.com
Friday, Feb 20th, 2026 -
News , via Wikimedia Commons West Virginia attorney general sues Apple over encryption, child porn West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey filed suit against Apple on Thursday, arguing that the company turned a blind eye to iCloud encryption methods that facilitate mass transmission of child pornography. The suit focuses on Apple iCloud and its use of end-to-end encryption, which makes digital files ...
Source: jurist.org
Friday, Feb 20th, 2026 -
The U.S. federal agency that enforces workplace civil rights is suing a regional Coca-Cola bottler for sex discrimination, alleging the company discriminated against male employees by only inviting women to a company-sponsored networking event. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the lawsuit on behalf of a male employee of Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast who complained about a two-day networking ...
Source: wbur.org
Friday, Feb 20th, 2026 -
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA took another crack at fueling its giant moon rocket Thursday after leaks halted the initial dress rehearsal and delayed the first lunar trip by astronauts in more than half a century. For the second time this month, launch teams pumped more than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) of supercold fuel into the rocket atop its launch pad. They counted all the way down to the ...
Source: military.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
For years, social media companies have disputed allegations that they through deliberate design choices that addict kids to their platforms and fail to protect them from sexual predators and dangerous content. Now, these tech giants are getting a chance to make their case in courtrooms around the country, including before a jury for the first time. Some of the biggest players from Meta to TikTok are facing federal ...
Source: news4jax.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
FILE PHOTO: Tesla CEO Elon looks on next to U.S. President Donald Trump talking to the media, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 11, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo On Tuesday, New York City's new mayor Zohran Mamdani proposed raising property taxes in the city by nearly 10 percent — if he can't persuade New York Governor Kathy Hochul to raise income taxes on the wealthy. She's been ...
Source: rawstory.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
The UK is blocking President Trump from using its military air bases for a possible attack on Iran — because the lefty government believes such strikes could violate international law and doesn't want Britain implicated, according to a new report. Trump has already hit back by slamming the UK prime minister's plan to resolve a long-running dispute over a strategically crucial chain of islands in the Indian ...
Source: nypost.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Federal agents can now arrest and detain refugees who have been in the United States for one year if they have not yet applied for a green card, according to a memo submitted to a court by lawyers from the Department of Homeland Security. "When a refugee is admitted to the United States, the admission is conditional and subject to a mandatory review after one year," the memo said . It added that ...
Source: upi.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday pitched his country as a central player in the global artificial intelligence ecosystem, saying it aims to build technology at home while deploying it worldwide. "Design and develop in India. Deliver to the world. Deliver to humanity," Modi told a gathering of some world leaders, technology executives and policymakers at the India AI Impact ...
Source: apnews.com
Sudanese rebels' capture of Darfur city bears 'hallmarks of genocide', UN officials say | World News
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called for "urgent action" from the international community, including a criminal probe after more than half the city's population were killed. An 18-month siege and mass killings carried out by Sudanese rebels during their seizure of a city in Darfur bore the hallmarks of genocide, UN experts have said. The Rapid Support Force paramilitaries are said to have committed ...
Source: news.sky.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
As inventory challenges persist in some markets and have improved in others, economists generally point to a Spring market with increased buyers, provided average mortgage rates remain at their recent years-long lows. The latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), released by Freddie Mac Thursday, shows the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaging 6.01%, down from 6.09% the previous week and hitting ...
Source: rismedia.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... By MARIA SHERMAN Eric Dane, the celebrated actor best known for his roles on "Grey's Anatomy" and "Euphoria" and who later in life became an advocate for ALS awareness, died Thursday. He was 53. His representatives said Dane died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known also as Lou Gehrig's disease, less than a year after he announced his diagnosis. "He spent ...
Source: orlandosentinel.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
Feb. 19 (UPI) -- The Commission of Fine Arts has unanimously approved plans for President Donald Trump 's almost 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom plans, the first hurdle in starting the building project. The commission, whose members were all appointed by Trump , including his executive assistant, Chamberlain Harris, 26. The original architect of the ballroom recused himself from the vote. Trump fired all ...
Source: upi.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
A new investigation found proposals for data centers across southwest Ohio are coupled with apprehension from local communities. The facilities are resource-hungry and subsidized by tax breaks. (TNS) — When Angie Markham first heard that a data center was planned about half a mile from her home in Trenton, her first words to her husband were, "We're going to have to move." The plans, reviewed by this news ...
Source: govtech.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
EPA based rescission on reinterpretation of Clean Air Act section 202 On Feb. 12, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its final rule (published at 91 Fed. Reg. 7686) rescinding the 2009 Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases Under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act , 74 Fed. Reg. 66496 (Dec. 15, 2009) (Endangerment Finding) and all subsequent federal ...
Source: natlawreview.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
The Federal Communications Commission is investigating ABC's "The View" over possible violations of the requirement that broadcast stations give equal time to political candidates when they appear on-air, according to the head of the agency that oversees U.S. broadcast airwaves. "The FCC has an enforcement action underway on that," Chairman Brendan Carr told reporters after an agency meeting Wednesday, in response ...
Source: apnews.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
Scientists showed in a new study published Thursday that they could use blood draws to build a "clock" for Alzheimer's disease that could roughly predict when symptoms will develop, findings that could eventually transform how the illness is diagnosed and treated. A simple blood test can help diagnose Alzheimer's, but the study in the journal Nature Medicine shows how these kinds of tests could one day play a ...
Source: bostonglobe.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
All AI-generated music includes Google's SynthID watermark for identification, providing ethical safeguards while making music creation more accessible to everyday users. Google is launching music generation in its Gemini app via the new Lyria 3 model developed by Google Deepmind. The feature is in beta and allows you to create 30-second pieces of music based on text prompts and/or uploaded images and videos, says ...
Source: pcworld.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
Deal agreed to acquire British secondhand fashion resale app from Etsy as eBay attempts to fend off Amazon The online retailer eBay has agreed to buy the British secondhand fashion resale app Depop from Etsy for about $1.2bn (£890m) in cash, as eBay targets younger fashion-loving consumers. The deal comes at a time when secondhand marketplaces continue to soar in popularity , especially among gen Z shoppers ...
Source: theguardian.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
At the January 2026 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the voting body chose to leave interest rates unchanged . The Federal Reserve's dual mandate of price stability and maximum employment have been at crossroads the past few months; inflation has trickled up, but the labor market shows signs of softness. At the January meeting, concerns about inflation won, as documented in the now-published ...
Source: rismedia.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
The US trade deficit in goods expanded to a new record in 2025, government data showed Thursday, despite sweeping tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed during his first year back in the White House. The US goods deficit stood at $1.24 trillion for all of last year, widening slightly from 2024's level to its biggest in Commerce Department figures dating back to 1960. But the trade gap in goods with China ...
Source: digitaljournal.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
Alysa Liu completed a stunning comeback to competitive figure skating by winning the first Olympic women's figure skating gold medal for the United States in 24 years on Thursday night. The 20-year-old from Clovis, California, who vanished from the sport nearly four years ago uncertain if she'd ever return, delivered a career-best long program to overtake Japanese rivals Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai. Skating in a ...
Source: theguardian.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
The Chicago Bears' potential move to Indiana took another step forward on Thursday when a key committee approved a plan to create an agency that would help get a stadium built. The Indiana House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee passed a bill establishing a Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority to finance, construct and lease a stadium by a 24-0 margin. The Bears are looking at a tract of land near Wolf ...
Source: theguardian.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tariffs paid by midsize U.S. businesses tripled over the course of past year, new research tied to one of America's leading banks showed on Thursday — more evidence that President Donald Trump 's push to charge higher taxes on imports is causing economic disruption. The additional taxes have meant that companies that employ a combined 48 million people in the U.S. — the kinds of ...
Source: apnews.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
The latest Gemini model makes impressive strides in benchmarks, but forthcoming models could give it a reality check. Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Model capabilities are ultimately relative, one expert said. Another week, another "smarter" model -- this time from Google, which just released Gemini 3.1 Pro. Gemini 3 outperformed several ...
Source: zdnet.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Swipe for next article The luxury jet can hold 18 people and sleep 14, according to the report ICE is looking to purchase a luxurious $70 million jet equipped with a bedroom, showers and even a bar — claiming it's needed for cabinet officials' travel itinerary and deporting migrants, according to ...
Source: independent.co.uk
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
Bad Bunny to make lead acting debut in film inspired by Puerto Rican revolutionary Singer Bad Bunny is to take on his first lead acting role, starring in a film alongside Javier Bardem and Edward Norton. Porto Rico, described as a love letter to the 31-year-old's home of Puerto Rico, will be directed by rapper René Pérez, known as Residente. The film, which has been in development since 2023, is ...
Source: bbc.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
A British couple detained in Iran since January 2025 have been sentenced to 10 years in jail for espionage, their family announced on Thursday, prompting condemnation from the UK government. Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both in their 50s, were arrested while travelling through the country on an around-the-world motorcycle journey, according to relatives, and have consistently denied Tehran's spying claims. They are ...
Source: digitaljournal.com
Thursday, Feb 19th, 2026 -
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An exhibit detailing the lives of nine people enslaved by President George Washington in Philadelphia is being reinstalled on Thursday, despite an ongoing legal fight between the city and the Trump administration. last month following an executive order by President Donald Trump. The city subsequently sued for the exhibit to be rehung and a federal judge set a for its full restoration. ...
Source: news.yahoo.com
Wednesday, Feb 18th, 2026 -
Dr. Vinay Prasad is currently the FDA's top vaccine regulator. He's also one of many medical goons hand-picked by RFK Jr. to help lead his decidedly anti-vaxxer movement. In fact, the last time we discussed Prasad, it was over his selective censorship attempts at avoiding public criticism for his anti-vaxxer nonsense. If you show clips of Prasad spewing his anti-vaxxer views to critique them, he'll have your ...
Source: techdirt.com
Wednesday, Feb 18th, 2026 -
Behind the scenes, real journalism faces real resistance. We keep reporting anyway. Member support protects our independence and keeps tough stories in the light. Join today to help defend a free press. Already a member? Feb 18 (Reuters) - Traffic was disrupted at Newark Liberty International Airport on Wednesday after a Florida-bound JetBlue flight suffered an engine failure on takeoff and returned to the airport, ...
Source: huffpost.com