The gap between the value of goods imported into the US and American products sold to other countries widened by 2.1% compared to 2024 despite Trump's tariffs, hitting roughly $1.2 trillion (890m), official figures show.
The US president's renewed criticism of the Chagos deal is reportedly because he is being blocked from using UK bases for a strike on Iran.
Feb 18, 2026
In this conversation, Andy Boreham and Dr. Warwick Powell discuss the recent advancements in humanoid robotics showcased during China's Spring Festival Gala.
They explore the impressive capabilities of these robots, the changing perceptions in Western media regarding China's technological achievements, and the implications of these advancements on global competition.
Dr. Powell emphasizes the importance of governance in technology and speculates on the future applications of humanoid robots in society.
Kathryn Ruemmler, who resigned last week as the top lawyer at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., corresponded with Jeffrey Epstein about a prostitution scandal that engulfed the US Secret Service during her tenure as White House counsel under former President Barack Obama. In a dozen or so exchanges that were sent months after Ruemmler left her White House position in 2014, she complained to Epstein about "this secret service crap" and forwarded to him a draft email that contained detailed, nonpublic information about the behind-the-scenes role the White House Counsel's office played in investigating the 2012 prostitution scandal. Read more
Years before they were convicted sex offenders, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell used his wealth to gain access to a prestigious boarding school for young artists in Michigan, using a rental lodge Epstein donated to the school as a base from which to recruit some of their earliest victims, according to Department of Justice records and former campus administrators.
In December 2024, then-South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol made a botched attempt at imposing military rule to reassert his leadership. That was overturned six hours later, after lawmakers defied armed police and military to gather inside parliament and vote down the decree. Yoon was subsequently impeached by parliament, arrested and charged with multiple offences. Thursday's verdict - on the charge of leading an insurrection - was in relation to the most serious of those charges. He still faces further trials from aiding an enemy state to violating campaign law. Other officials were also found guilty of offences; our earlier post has the full list, which includes his defence minister Kim Yong-hyun, as well as an ex-police chief.
As vehicles become platforms for software and subscriptions, their longevity is increasingly tied to the survival of the companies behind their code. When those companies fail, the consequences ripple far beyond a bad app update and into the basic question of whether a car still functions as a car.
The FBI spoke at least four times with a woman who credibly accused Trump of sexually assaulting her when she was a minor, Trump-Epstein files show. That document is no longer accessible on the DOJ website.
Donald Trump's tariffs are sharply escalating costs for midsize US companies, sparking fresh concern about the president's flagship policies as he embarks on a campaign to revive Americans' dim view of his economy. A new report from the JPMorgan Chase Institute showed tariff payments by mid-market US businesses tripled over the past year, the latest sign of domestic fallout from Trump's bid to reshape the global trading order. The study showed midsized companies " which lack the heft of their larger counterparts to dictate terms and shift supply chains " continued to buy foreign goods in 2025 even as duty payments surged to as much as 316 per cent of their pre-election level.
South Korea's former President Yoon Suk-yeol has been found guilty of masterminding an insurrection and sentenced to life in prison over his imposition of short-lived martial law in 2024. "The declaration of martial law resulted in enormous social costs, and it is difficult to find any indication that the defendant has expressed remorse for that," Presiding Judge Ji Gwi-yeon told the court on Thursday. "As to defendant Yoon Suk-yeol, the crime of insurrection leadership is established," the judge said. "We sentence Yoon to life imprisonment." The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Yoon was the leader of the December 3, 2024 insurrection in a case where prosecutors had sought the death penalty for the disgraced ex-president, who was impeached and removed from office over his declaration of martial law.
On Monday, the Washington State House Democrats voted to raid $4 billion from the law enforcement and firefighter pension plan to cover their deficit caused by out-of-control spending. Democrats in the Washington State House of Representatives have approved House Bill 2034, authorizing the transfer of approximately $2.5 billion, with projections of up to $4 billion over time, from the Law Enforcement Officers' and Fire Fighters' (LEOFF) Plan 1 retirement system. The legislation passed on a 55"39 vote, with every Republican voting against it.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is in custody after being arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. * A breaking story * Read more
Eric Trump, the son of the Chairman of the Board of Peace Donald Trump, is investing in a $1.5bn merger between Israeli drone maker Xtend and Florida-based JFB Construction Holdings.
Press Release
Within months of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis handpicking him as Florida's new attorney general last winter, James Uthmeier landed a lucrative side gig: a $100,000-a-year teaching assignment at University of Florida's law school for just two hours of instruction per week.
Link
Three federal immigration agents accidentally shot themselves in the leg during routine training exercises within two days last year, according to internal documents reviewed by Newsweek. A fourth incident involved an accidental taser discharge inside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office. All three firearm discharges occurred during quarterly training sessions while agents were holstering their weapons, a routine but potentially high-risk moment in firearms handling.
Police are investigating a suspected arson on Tuesday night at the memorial for Renee Good in south Minneapolis. Good was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7. Since then, a community-curated memorial for her has stood at the site of her death on the 3300 block of Portland Avenue. The Minneapolis Police Department said it received a report of a suspicious fire at the memorial around 8:46 p.m. Investigators say someone set fire to a pile of wood, damaging some of the items at the site. The fire had been put out by the time officers arrived.
