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Lead: Google is said to be developing “Project Toscana,” a hardware-focused upgrade to face unlock that would appear on future Pixel phones and some Chromebooks, according to reporting on Feb. 17, 2026. The reports claim the system operates from a single hole‑punch camera cutout and performed “as quickly as” Apple’s Face ID in various lighting … Read more
Lead: On Feb. 17, 2026, Senate Democrats delivered a counterproposal to Republicans and the White House seeking changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lapsed. The move follows two fatal officer-involved shootings during a recent immigration operation in Minneapolis and … Read more
Lead: On Feb. 17, 2026 the Commodity Futures Trading Commission signaled it would assert federal authority over prediction markets as states press enforcement actions. New CFTC chairman Michael Selig said the agency filed an amicus brief in federal court and will act to block state-level bans on event contracts. The move follows wide litigation targeting … Read more
Feb 17, 2026 — A potent cold front swept across the San Francisco Bay Area early Tuesday, producing thunderstorms with lightning, heavy rain and scattered small hail across the North Bay and northern Contra Costa County. High-resolution models showed a concentrated band of intense showers moving through San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose in the … Read more
Lead Wendy Williams attended the funeral for her father, Thomas Williams, near Miami on Monday, February 16, 2026, and appeared visibly distraught as she left the service. Photographs from the event show Williams dressed in black and accompanied by her niece, Alex Finnie, and Finnie’s partner, Eric Houston. The appearance comes amid an ongoing, court-supervised … Read more
Lead Early voting opened on Tuesday across Texas as the state prepares for its 3 March primary elections, a contest that could reshape the 2026 Senate map. On the Republican side, four-term Senator John Cornyn faces a bruising challenge from Attorney General Ken Paxton, while an intra-party alternative, Representative Wesley Hunt, also seeks traction. Democrats … Read more
Lead: A powerful storm system drenched Southern California on Monday, producing flash flooding and debris-flow warnings across Los Angeles and nearby coastal valleys while a separate winter system is developing into a dangerous blizzard for the Upper Midwest. Northern Minnesota faces up to 24 inches of snow in places and wind gusts near 60 mph … Read more
Lead The 2026 franchise-tag window has opened — teams can apply the tag once per club between this Tuesday and March 3 — and a handful of notable players are in the crosshairs. Only two players were tagged in 2025 (Bengals WR Tee Higgins and Chiefs G Trey Smith), both of whom later secured long-term … Read more
Iran Says It Temporarily Closed Strait of Hormuz During Indirect U.S. Talks Lead: Iran announced on Tuesday that it briefly closed the Strait of Hormuz for live-fire drills as negotiators held another round of indirect talks with U.S. representatives in Geneva. The government said missiles were fired toward the waterway and that the strait would … Read more
Detroit — Ford Motor said on Feb. 17, 2026, that its next-generation electric pickup, built on a new Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform, will use a 48‑volt electrical architecture similar to the system Tesla introduced on the Cybertruck in 2023. The company described the move as part of a $5 billion investment to redesign vehicle … Read more
At the top of his March monologue, Stephen Colbert told viewers that Texas state representative James Talarico was meant to appear on The Late Show but was barred by CBS lawyers. Colbert said the network not only prohibited the booking but also told staff they could not disclose the ban on air, prompting Colbert to … Read more
In recent years a surge in Colombian coca cultivation and global cocaine supply has coincided with rising overdose deaths in the United States and heightened violence in transit and producer countries. Since about 2015, policy changes in Colombia and shifts in trafficking control have helped drive production upward, while U.S. law enforcement reports larger seizures … Read more
Lead: Investors behind Dave’s Hot Chicken are moving to scale birria nationally by backing Mike’s Red Tacos, a San Diego chain known for birria tacos. The backers — Bill Phelps and Andrew Feghali — made an early-2025 investment and will support a new franchising push to build hundreds of outlets across the U.S. Mike’s, founded … Read more
Lead A partial shutdown of the federal government began Saturday as Democrats and the White House failed to agree on legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through September. Lawmakers are clashing over new oversight and conduct rules for federal immigration officers after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in … Read more
Lead On Tuesday morning, Feb. 17, 2026, U.S. equity futures opened lower after the Presidents Day holiday, with Dow Jones futures edging down while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures slipped modestly. The move followed a choppy week in which major indexes retreated, and both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell below their 50-day moving averages. … Read more
