The Petersburg Post
Top News Stories for Wednesday, February 18th 2026
Wednesday, Feb 18th, 2026 -
Stephen Colbert isn't backing down in an extraordinary public dispute with his bosses at CBS over what he can air on his late-night talk show. On "The Late Show" Tuesday, Colbert said he was surprised by a statement from CBS denying that its lawyers told him he couldn't show an interview with Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico — which the host said had happened the night before. He then took a ...
Source: apnews.com
Wednesday, Feb 18th, 2026 -
Authorities announced late Tuesday night that six people who survived a backcountry avalanche had been rescued, though the search remained for nine others who had been swept up in the slide near Truckee. Search and rescue teams worked through a record-breaking storm after the slide was reported about 11:30 a.m. near Castle Peak in Nevada County. The severity of injuries for those who had been plucked out of the ...
Source: bradenton.com
Wednesday, Feb 18th, 2026 -
Feb. 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. military has killed 11 people in recent strikes on three boats allegedly transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea. The boats were attacked late Monday, U.S. Southern Command said in a statement , which alleged that the three boats were operated by designated terrorist organizations. No proof was provided. A 39-second video published online by Southern Command ...
Source: upi.com
Wednesday, Feb 18th, 2026 -
Australia bans citizen trying to return from IS camp in Syria Australia has barred a citizen linked to the Islamic State (IS) group from the country for up to two years. The person is among the group of 34 Australian women and children who tried to head home after being released from a Syrian camp earlier this week, only to be turned back by Syrian authorities for "technical reasons". The ban was issued "on advice ...
Source: bbc.com
Wednesday, Feb 18th, 2026 -
The European Union is going after Shein for hooking customers with what it calls "addictive design." In a press release on Tuesday, the European Commission announced that it had launched a probe into Shein under its Digital Services Act. The Commission said it would investigate Shein for "addictive design, the lack of transparency of recommender systems, as well as the sale of illegal products, including child ...
Source: businessinsider.com
Wednesday, Feb 18th, 2026 -
We might have assumed that gravity always remains steady and unchanging. But that might not be true after all. The strength of gravity actually changes from place to place across Earth. Scientists have found that one of the weakest spots is beneath Antarctica. In a new study published in Scientific Reports , researchers state that the "gravity hole" formed due to the rock's extremely slow movements deep inside the ...
Source: greenmatters.com
Wednesday, Feb 18th, 2026 -
Users reported seeing a blank black screen with only the sidebar visible, or a "Something went wrong" message accompanied by pixel art. YouTube experienced an outage affecting thousands of users in the United States and other countries on February 17, 2026. The issue began around 8 PM Eastern Time and was reported by users in Canada, India, the Philippines, Australia, and Russia. Downdetector recorded 338,000 ...
Source: techbriefly.com
Wednesday, Feb 18th, 2026 -
The Hollywood star is accused of hitting one man with closed fists and punching another in the nose in the city's French Quarter Reading Time: 2 minutes US actor Shia LaBeouf's Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans allegedly took a violent turn on Tuesday morning, landing him in hospital and facing charges of battery. The New Orleans Police Department confirmed that officers arrested the Megalopolis and Honey Boy ...
Source: scmp.com
Wednesday, Feb 18th, 2026 -
Scientists tested the antibiotic resistance of an ancient bacterium found within 5,000-year-old ice layers . According to the study published in Frontiers in Microbiology , the bacterium called Psychrobacter SC65A.3 was extracted from Scărișoara Ice Cave in Romania from about 82 feet below. After testing the strain against 28 antibiotics, the researchers found that it was resistant to 10 of them, across 8 ...
Source: greenmatters.com
Wednesday, Feb 18th, 2026 -
A free press depends on people who believe in it. As more outlets cave to the administration's demands to quiet opposing voices, our members enable reporting that holds firm to its values and serves the public interest. Already a member? NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump family company has filed to trademark the use of the president's name on airports but says it doesn't plan on charging a fee — at least for a ...
Source: huffpost.com
Wednesday, Feb 18th, 2026 -
News , via Wikimedia Commons US state trial begins for Georgia father of teenage school shooter The trial for the father of the teenager accused of the 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School began Monday, as prosecutors argue the father is culpable for giving his son the gun despite having notice of his son's previous threats. The father, Colin Gray, faces 29 counts, including two counts of second-degree murder, ...
Source: jurist.org
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
A trailblazer in the civil rights movement and Democratic politics, Jackson championed the rights of Black, poor and working-class people with his 'rainbow coalition' The Rev Jesse Jackson , the civil rights campaigner who was prominent for more than 50 years and who ran strongly for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, has died. He was 84. "Our father was a servant leader – not only to our family, ...
Source: theguardian.com
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
NEW YORK (AP) — Warner Bros. Discovery is briefly reopening takeover talks with Skydance-owned Paramount to hear the company's "best and final" offer, while the Hollywood giant continues to back the studio and streaming deal it struck with Netflix. In a Tuesday regulatory filing, Warner said it had received a waiver from Netflix to reopen talks with Paramount for the next seven days, or ...
Source: pbs.org
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
LOS ANGELES — Robert Duvall, the Oscar-winning actor of matchless versatility and dedication whose classic roles included the intrepid consigliere of the first two "Godfather" movies and the over-the-hill country music singer in "Tender Mercies," has died at age 95. Duvall died "peacefully" at his home Sunday in Middleburg, Virginia, according to an announcement from his publicist and from a statement posted ...
Source: militarytimes.com
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Capitol Police in Washington, D.C., arrested an 18-year-old man Tuesday after he ran from his vehicle toward the west side of the Capitol Building armed with a shotgun. Capital Police Chief Michael Sullivan said the man, identified as Carter Camacho of Smyrna, Georgia, was arrested after he parked a Mercedes SUV near the Capitol, got out and ran "several hundred yards" toward the ...
Source: wfla.com
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
GENEVA — Delegations from Moscow and Kyiv met in Geneva on Tuesday for another round of U.S.-brokered peace talks , a week before the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor. However, expectations for any breakthroughs in the scheduled two days of talks in Switzerland were low, with neither side apparently ready to budge from its positions on key territorial issues and future ...
Source: military.com
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
Thomas Pritzker admits 'terrible judgment' in maintaining contact with convicted sex trafficker and Ghislaine Maxwell Hyatt Hotels Executive Chairman Thomas Pritzker announced Monday that he is stepping down effective immediately after documents released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein . The executive, 75, told the company's board ...
Source: foxbusiness.com
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is stepping in to stop what it calls an "onslaught" of state-level regulation of prediction markets. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said Tuesday in a video posted on X that the agency has filed a "friend of the court brief" in support of Crypto.com in its escalating legal battle with regulators in Nevada. The move is significant because it marks the first time under ...
Source: nbcnews.com
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... By DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Agrochemical maker Bayer and attorneys for cancer patients announced a proposed $7.25 billion settlement Tuesday to resolve thousands of U.S. lawsuits alleging the company failed to warn people that its popular weedkiller Roundup could cause cancer. The proposed settlement comes as the U.S. Supreme Court ...
Source: orlandosentinel.com
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
In an interview at the Munich security conference, Clinton urged the Trump administration to 'get the files out' Hillary Clinton has accused the Trump administration of a "cover-up" over the Epstein files, while claiming that she and her husband are being forced to testify before Congress to deflect scrutiny from Donald Trump. In an interview with the BBC , Clinton said the US Department of Justice was ...
Source: theguardian.com
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
Jesus H. Christ on a Jet Ski, how does this horrible person still have a job? Okay, rhetorical question. But still. From NBC News : The tension between some Coast Guard officials and [Kristi] Noem began after a 23-year-old Coast Guardsman went overboard into the Pacific Ocean from the cutter Waesche on Feb. 4 last year, shortly after the Senate confirmed Noem into her role, according to the two U.S. officials, the ...
Source: esquire.com
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
The person who opened fire Monday during a youth hockey game at a Rhode Island ice rink was specifically targeting family members, killing an ex-wife and son as many fans dived for cover while a handful rushed the shooter to stop the attack, authorities said. Pawtucket Chief of Police Tina Goncalves said the shooter's ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan and adult son Aidan Dorgan were killed and three others were injured: Rhonda ...
Source: wbur.org
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
A free press depends on people who believe in it. As more outlets cave to the administration's demands to quiet opposing voices, our members enable reporting that holds firm to its values and serves the public interest. Already a member? President Donald Trump on Tuesday reacted to the death of the Rev. Jesse Jackson by taking a dig at Democrats and former President Barack Obama . Trump started his statement by ...
Source: huffpost.com
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
Fresh negotiations get under way in Geneva, Switzerland, between the United States and Iran to resolve their long-running nuclear dispute. Donald Trump has warned Iran of "consequences" if a new phase of talks on Tehran's nuclear facilities does not produce an agreement. Washington has sent a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East and is preparing for a possible military campaign if the negotiations in Geneva, ...
Source: news.sky.com
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
The Trump administration was sued over the Feb. 9 abrupt removal of the Pride rainbow flag from the Stonewall National Monument in New York City. The monument is across from the Stonewall Inn, the site of the 1969 uprising that ignited the gay rights movement in the United States. The suit calls the Pride flag's removal "a textbook example of an arbitrary and capricious act." A person secures the flags during a ...
Source: cnbc.com
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
Contrary to what password managers say, a server compromise can mean game over. Over the past 15 years, password managers have grown from a niche security tool used by the technology savvy into an indispensable security tool for the masses, with an estimated 94 million US adults—or roughly 36 percent of them—having adopted them. They store not only passwords for pension, financial, and email accounts, ...
Source: arstechnica.com
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
's activities in the UK. Essex Police became the fourth force in recent days to confirm that it was examining allegations laid bare in the release of the Epstein files. Detectives are 'assessing information' that has emerged from the bombshell trove which suggests the paedophile financier trafficked sex victims to the UK on private flights via Stansted airport. The latest line of inquiry will heap further pressure ...
Source: dailymail.co.uk
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
Geek Life: Fun stories, memes, humor and other random items at the intersection of tech, science, business and culture. Seattle-based real estate company Zillow has partnered with the company behind the long-running online game World of Warcraft in order to showcase players' creativity by exhibiting their virtual homes. A new microsite, " Zillow for Warcraft ," allows users to explore an assortment of designs for ...
Source: geekwire.com
Tuesday, Feb 17th, 2026 -
X is facing mounting criticism from foreign watchdogs over its generative AI chatbot, Grok. The Irish Data Protection Commission said Tuesday that it had opened an inquiry into Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter. The commission said in a press release that the inquiry was linked to the creation and publication of non-consensual, sexualized images of European Union residents on X using Grok's generative AI ...
Source: businessinsider.com