The Petersburg Post
Top News Stories for Thursday, February 26th 2026
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
In his State of the Union Tuesday night, Donald Trump claimed that he had secured $18 trillion in foreign investments for the United States. But his own website says that isn't true. "I secured commitments for more than $18 trillion, pouring in from all over the globe," Trump said in the speech, complete with a graphic on the official White House stream to drive home the point. NBC News was quick to point out that ...
Source: newrepublic.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
"Women aren't less than, and their achievements shouldn't be overshadowed by anything else other than how great they are." Both the U.S. men's and women's hockey teams left the 2026 Winter Olympics at Milano-Cortina with gold medals. Both programs captured their third Olympic gold after defeating Canada in overtime by identical 2-1 scores. But, in the aftermath of Team USA's triumph on the ice in Italy, much ...
Source: boston.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
: 5 phones you should seriously consider instead of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra The Galaxy S26 Ultra delivers strong performance and new privacy tools, but its steep price will make these alternatives look better. Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Samsung recently held its first Unpacked event of 2026 in San Francisco. As expected, the spotlight was firmly on the new ...
Source: zdnet.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
In today's newsletter: With the latest supreme court ruling exposing the president's tariff plans as unlawful, US politicians and the American people have found them to be unworkable. Where does Trump go from here? Good morning. Let's delve into the two Ts shaping the global economy right now: tariffs and Trump. Last week, the US supreme court ruled that Donald Trump had unlawfully used executive powers to impose ...
Source: theguardian.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
By W hen officials at Harvard University in 2019 launched a review of sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein's influence on their institution, they had every reason to fear what they would unearth. Epstein had given the university $9.1 million, kept his own office at a Harvard lab, and was famously photographed with a wide grin in one of Harvard's signature sweat shirts. But Harvard officials contained the fallout at the ...
Source: bostonglobe.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
Climate action advocates and energy experts alike said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's "ratepayer protection pledge," introduced during his State of the Union address Tuesday night, will do little to alleviate rising household electricity costs brought on by the White House's mandated artificial intelligence expansion and the construction of thousands of hulking data centers across the country. During his ...
Source: commondreams.org
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
The dominant narrative around artificial intelligence has centered around its novelty and potential for disruption. But new research from the February 2026 edition of "The Agentic AI Report" from PYMNTS Intelligence suggests the AI market has already crossed a more consequential threshold. Consumers are no longer merely sampling AI but are beginning to rely on it. According to the study, roughly half of U.S. ...
Source: pymnts.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
Feb. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. surgeon general nominee Casey Means told Congress on Wednesday that she wants the United States to move away from being a "reactive sick care system" as senators pressed her on previous comments she's made criticizing vaccines and birth control. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee held a confirmation hearing for Means to serve as surgeon general, which heads the U.S. ...
Source: upi.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice has not released summaries and notes from three separate interviews the FBI conducted with a South Carolina woman who alleged she was a sexual assault victim of Jeffrey Epstein and also made sexual abuse allegations against President Donald Trump , according to an NBC News analysis of the Epstein files and information provided by a source familiar with the investigation. ...
Source: nbcnews.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
In July 2025, San Francisco-based AI start-up Anthropic signed a $200 million contract with the Pentagon to provide the military with frontier AI technology. Under the agreement, Anthropic's Claude would be deployed within the military's classified systems, where it was viewed as a state-of-the-art platform. The deal represented a growing push by the company as it readied itself for a public offering to court ...
Source: foreignpolicy.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
Billionaire Microsoft co-founder calls it a 'huge mistake' to spend time with Epstein but that he 'did nothing illicit' Bill Gates apologized to staff of the Gates Foundation over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, admitting he made mistakes that had cast a cloud over the philanthropic group while insisting he didn't participate in Epstein's crimes. In a town hall on Tuesday, ...
Source: foxbusiness.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
David Ellison is taking his bid for Warner Bros. Discovery into Washington, pairing a higher cash offer with a political strategy aimed at outflanking Netflix in what could become the defining media acquisition of the decade. Paramount Skydance , the company Ellison leads after his Skydance Media acquired Paramount last year, raised its offer yesterday (Feb. 24) to $31 per share, up from $30, to buy all of WBD. ...
Source: observer.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The FBI served search warrants Wednesday at the Los Angeles Unified School District's headquarters and the home of its leader, a former Superintendent of the Year who was knighted by Spain for his work. Federal officials would not give details of the nature of the investigation involving the nation's second-largest school district and Superintendent Alberto Carvalho's home. The district ...
Source: apnews.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
Discord, the popular platform for gamers to communicate online, is postponing its controversial age verification policy after receiving swift backlash from users with concerns about their privacy. The global rollout of the system is now delayed to the second half of 2026, Discord's chief technology officer and co-founder Stanislav Vishnevskiy wrote in a Tuesday blog post acknowledging that the company "missed the ...
Source: bostonglobe.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
By Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) stock has lost about 18% in the past month, at the time of writing, Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 25, according to Yahoo Finance . Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 index ( SPY ) is up about 0.4% in the same period. The stock crashed following its Q4 earnings report on February 3. It closed at $242.11, and the following day it closed at $200.19, losing about 17% in a single day. I covered ...
Source: miamiherald.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
The UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a multimillion-pound fine to Reddit for GDPR non-compliance, but experts have warned that its rules pose a risk to user security and privacy. The UK's data protection regulator said on February 24 that its £14.47m ($19.6m) fine was levied for two main reasons. First, Reddit failed to put "robust" age verification measures in place, which meant it did ...
Source: infosecurity-magazine.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
Court to search devices itself instead of letting government have full access. A federal court will conduct a search of devices seized from a Washington Post reporter after a magistrate judge decided yesterday that the Department of Justice cannot be trusted to perform the search on its own. US Magistrate Judge William Porter criticized government prosecutors for not including key information in a search warrant ...
Source: arstechnica.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
Washington — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a Department of Homeland Security policy that allows immigration authorities to deport migrants to "third countries" that are not their own, without first giving them notice or the opportunity to object, is unlawful. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Massachusetts sided with a group of noncitizens who filed a class-action lawsuit against the Department ...
Source: cbsnews.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
With the administration challenging the Court and Congress, independent reporting is the only thing standing between you and the noise. Your membership funds the courage to ask the hard questions. Don't let the truth be sidelined, join Huff Already a member? WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance announced Wednesday that the Trump administration would "temporarily halt" some Medicaid funding to the state ...
Source: huffpost.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
Ornate packaging paired with enticing advertisements that claim expensive shampoos are elixirs to all hair woes can leave one wondering: Are the higher prices really worth it? Should I abandon my $8 drugstore mainstay for a $42 premium brand? Experts say affordable shampoos and conditioners found in grocery stores and pharmacies can do the job as well as the pricey versions with tempting messaging and testimonials ...
Source: apnews.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
President Trump said during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night that he wants to fix a "gross disparity" in America's retirement system by creating new accounts for the roughly 56 million Americans who lack an employer-sponsored savings plan. "[H]alf of all of working Americans still do not have access to a retirement plan with matching contributions from an employer," Mr. Trump said. The plan will be ...
Source: cbsnews.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Swipe for next article Tony Gonzales allegedly asked his staffer what her 'favorite position' and asked her to send him a 'sexy pic' Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales has hit back at calls for him to resign, as more details continue to emerge about an alleged affair with a staffer who later died by ...
Source: independent.co.uk
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
President Donald Trump presented Chief Warrant Officer Five Eric Slover, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot wounded in the audacious raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro , with the Medal of Honor on Tuesday during his State of the Union address. As Slover, 45, and his wife entered the chamber, they received a standing ovation while chants of "USA, USA, USA" rang out. The scene struck a bipartisan ...
Source: militarytimes.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives a speech at the Knesset Plenum on Feruary 25, 2025. (source: GPO) praised the shared bond between Israel and India during a Knesset plenum address on Wednesday, while outlining plans to strengthen relations by working together in innovation, technology, and economic advancement. "The friendship between Israel and India remains a source of strength in an uncertain ...
Source: jpost.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
Dr. Richard Axel, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist, said he is stepping down as co-director of Columbia University's Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute on the heels of his association with notorious sex predator Jeffrey Epstein drawing public attention. "My past association with Jeffrey Epstein was a serious error in judgment, which I deeply regret," Axel said. Axel won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine ...
Source: cnbc.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an emergency directive on Wednesday calling on federal civilian agencies to take immediate steps to secure Cisco Software-Defined Wide-Area Networking (SD-WAN) systems. The agency said the directive comes in response to "a significant cyber threat targeting federal networks utilizing certain Cisco systems and software." CISA is requiring agencies ...
Source: meritalk.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
but he now says the U.S. may have to bomb Iran again over its nuclear ambitions. in the region, he and his administration have offered varying assessments of Iran's military capabilities and intentions. In the latest turn after many zigzags, on Tuesday night Trump spelled out what he called the Islamic Republic's "sinister nuclear ambitions." These and other threats to the U.S. were quickly dismissed by Tehran as ...
Source: news.yahoo.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
Nvidia Corp. sailed past analysts' earnings expectations again as revenue in its core data center business jumped more than 75% from a year earlier, sending its stock higher in after-hours trading. Once again, the company delivered solid fourth-quarter results across the board. Net profit jumped 94% from a year ago, to nearly $43 billion, or $1.76 per share, easily beating Wall Street's target of $1.53 per share. ...
Source: siliconangle.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
NEW YORK – Light snow moved through parts of the Northeast on Wednesday as people heading to work and school were trying to navigate their way out of that dropped piles of powder on streets and sidewalks from Maryland to Maine. One to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.6 centimeters) of snow was expected — a far cry from — but any snow that melted likely froze overnight, resulting in patchy black ice to make for ...
Source: news4jax.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
A grand jury on Wednesday rejected indictments over the fatal shooting last year of a U.S. citizen by a federal immigration agent during a traffic encounter in Texas, prosecutors said. The shooting of Ruben Ray Martinez on March 15, 2025, by a Homeland Security Investigations agent wasn't publicly disclosed by the Department of Homeland Security until The Associated Press and other media outlets reported it last ...
Source: apnews.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
NASA has shed some light on what triggered the unprecedented medical evacuation of four astronauts from the International Space Station last month. On Wednesday the space agency identified longtime astronaut Mike Fincke, age 58, as having experienced the medical event that led to the decision to bring him and the other three members of NASA's Crew-11 mission home weeks ahead of schedule. "On Jan. 7, while aboard ...
Source: scientificamerican.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
An editor who works for YouTube's biggest creator, MrBeast, has been suspended from the prediction market platform Kalshi and reported to federal regulators for insider trading, Kalshi officials said on Wednesday. It's the first time the company has publicly revealed the results of an investigation into market manipulation on the popular app. The MrBeast employee, who Kalshi identified as Artem Kaptur , traded ...
Source: npr.org
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
In August 2021, YouTube started a pilot test for a new Premium Lite subscription in a few European markets. While the company eventually decided to phase it out for the current YouTube Premium experience, of its YouTube subscription in March 2025. Focused on providing ad-free viewing for most videos, it lacked two of the main features available on Premium: background play and the ability to download videos to play ...
Source: bgr.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
BEIJING (AP) — There are many things that China and Germany do not see eye-to-eye on — notably Russia's war in Ukraine — but the leaders of the world's second and third largest economies nonetheless pledged Wednesday to work to deepen ties in an era of global turbulence. Both countries have been buffeted by the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, who lauded his import tariffs in a State of ...
Source: apnews.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
A man convicted of killing a Palmetto grocery store owner during a 1986 robbery was executed Tuesday evening at Florida State Prison, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. Melvin Trotter, 65, received a lethal injection after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant last month . A medic declared him dead at 6:15 p.m., the department said. Trotter declined to make a final statement. About two dozen ...
Source: bradenton.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
Even twisting an ex-employee's text to favor xAI's reading fails to sway judge. Elon Musk appears to be grasping at straws in a lawsuit accusing OpenAI of poaching eight xAI employees in an allegedly unlawful bid to access xAI trade secrets connected to its data centers and chatbot, Grok. In a Tuesday order granting OpenAI's motion to dismiss, US District Judge Rita F. Lin said that xAI failed to provide evidence ...
Source: arstechnica.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
Man, 32, shot dead by deputy after stabbing attack was the subject of domestic violence protection orders A man shot dead by a sheriff's deputy after he fatally stabbed four people outside his mother's home near Gig Harbor, Washington, on Tuesday morning was the subject of domestic violence protection orders recording mental health and substance abuse issues stretching back at least five years. Records reviewed by ...
Source: theguardian.com
Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2026 -
Driven by rising rates in high blood pressure, nearly 6 in 10 women in the U.S. will have some type of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the next 25 years, according to a new scientific statement published today in Circulation , the peer-reviewed, flagship journal of the American Heart Association, a global force changing the future of health for all. Forecasting the Burden of Cardiovascular ...
Source: news-medical.net
Tuesday, Feb 24th, 2026 -
After four years leading his country in war, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is very frustrated. Russia may have been thwarted in its immediate bid to sweep aside the Ukrainian president and swallow its neighbor whole. But after months of U.S.-led negotiations , and as the conflict enters its fifth year Tuesday, there has been little clear progress on key sticking points in peace talks. Now, Zelenskyy's defiance of the ...
Source: nbcnews.com
Tuesday, Feb 24th, 2026 -
Trigger Warning : This article mentions suicide. Hilary Duff is paying tribute to her Lizzie McGuire dad . Robert Carradine died on Feb. 23 at the age of 71, as his family announced in a statement to Deadline. The actor took his own life following a decades-long battle with bipolar disorder. "In a world that can feel so dark, Bobby was always a beacon [of] light to everyone around him," his family wrote. "We are ...
Source: bustle.com
Tuesday, Feb 24th, 2026 -
What time is Trump's State of the Union – and how can I watch? The US president will deliver his State of the Union address this evening – here's what you need to know Donald Trump will deliver the State of the Union in Washington on Tuesday, his second major address to Congress this term and the last before the 2026 midterms. It's also the first time Trump will be confronted with the supreme court ...
Source: theguardian.com
Tuesday, Feb 24th, 2026 -
London - British media personality and former comedian Russell Brand pleaded not guilty to two new charges of rape and sexual assault at a London court on Tuesday. Brand, once a left-leaning political campaigner who has rebranded himself as a conservative guru to millions of social media followers, arrived at Southwark crown court carrying a copy of the Bible, with several pages bookmarked. He wore a fedora, a ...
Source: cbsnews.com
Tuesday, Feb 24th, 2026 -
Consumer confidence edged higher in February as Americans expressed a more optimistic view of the labor market and other facets of the economy, a new survey shows. The Conference Board, a nonprofit research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index increased by 2.2 points in February, rising to 91.2. That's an improvement over January , when confidence fell sharply amid concerns over ...
Source: cbsnews.com
Tuesday, Feb 24th, 2026 -
The Trump administration on Tuesday sued the University of California, alleging that UCLA administrators have "routinely ignored" and "failed to report" employee complaints of antisemitism since the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel's war in Gaza spurred a surge in pro-Palestinian campus activism. The Department of Justice alleged in court documents that UCLA has an ongoing, "severe and pervasive" antisemitism ...
Source: latimes.com
Tuesday, Feb 24th, 2026 -
Ozempic and Wegovy prices will drop by 35% and 50%, respectively, in 2027 as company faces growing competition from cheaper alternatives Novo Nordisk on Tuesday announced plans to cut the list price of its popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy by as much as 50% in the U.S. next year. The Danish drugmaker indicated the price cuts will be effective on Jan. 1, 2027, and the timing will ...
Source: foxbusiness.com