Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the latest effort Friday to ensure that drivers understand English well enough to read road signs and communicate with law enforcement officers. Florida already started administering its tests in English.
because so little of their life feels tangible'
By Michael Liedtke and The Associated Press February 20, 2026, 12:02 PM ET
There seems to be a deep-seated association between sounds and shapes.
The French security outlet Intelligence Online has reported that a squadron of veteran U.S. Air Force and Royal Netherlands Air Force pilots are flying F-16 fighters for the Ukrainian Air Force.
A shortage of trained Ukrainian pilots was identified at an early stage as the main obstacle to integrating F-16s into the Air Force, which has throughout its history operated only Soviet origin fighter types.
Seven-year-old Ethan had just learned to ride a bike. Now, he may never ride again. After contracting measles, the unvaccinated boy developed encephalitis, a serious complication that caused paralysis. He nearly died and remains unable to move from his hospital bed. Despite witnessing her child's life-threatening illness and its lasting consequences, his mother Kristina maintains that she made the right decision in declining the measles vaccine " a vaccine that has saved an estimated 94 million lives worldwide since it first started being used 50 years ago.
Butler Mayor Wesley Dingus faces allegations of voyeurism after authorities say he was caught on a hidden camera sniffing a teen girl's underwear. A report from the Richland County Sheriff's Office outlines the allegations against Dingus, with the claims being made by a juvenile who had been in his home. Richland County Children's Services relayed the reports to law enforcement on the day the incident is said to have taken place, with a deputy eventually interviewing the accuser at her school. Read more
Gross domestic produce rose at an annualized rate of just 1.4%, according to Commerce Department numbers adjusted for seasonality and inflation. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a 2.5% gain. At the same time, inflation held firm in December, according to the gauge most closely watched by Fed officials. The core personal consumption expenditures price index, which excludes food and energy, rose 3% in December, according to a separate release. That matched the consensus forecast but kept the pivotal inflation measure well above the Fed's 2% target.
Hundreds of wild bird deaths reported across seven counties, prompting park closures Officials suspect bird flu killed more than 1,100 wild birds, mostly Canada geese Hundreds of geese have reportedly died in New Jersey, and bird flu is suspected to be the culprit. More than 1,100 dead or sick wild birds " almost all of them Canada geese " were reported between Feb. 14 and Feb. 16 across seven counties, according to New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Read more
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) arrested a woman at Harry Reid International Airport after she allegedly tied her dog to a baggage sizer at a JetBlue ticket counter and then abandoned him.
Sadists of a Feather
Chairman of the Board of Peace POTUS Donald J. Trump:
Stolen Valor
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
