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2026-02-14 Lead Newly released documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein have prompted a wave of consequences across Europe while producing comparatively limited political fallout in the United States. In Britain and several European countries, royals, ministers and senior officials have lost posts, faces public investigations or resigned after their names appeared in the files. In the … Read more
Lead A recent synthesis published in the journal One Earth warns that multiple planetary systems are nearer to collapse than earlier estimates suggested. Researchers say components including the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, boreal permafrost, and the Amazon rainforest face heightened risk of destabilisation, which could trigger cascading failures. If those cascades take hold, … Read more
Updated Feb. 14, 2026 — Gallup announced on Feb. 11, 2026 that it will stop publishing individual presidential approval and favorability ratings, ending a continuous public-service dataset that began in 1938. The move—framed by Gallup as an organizational refocus—reopens questions about how Americans measure presidential performance. Longstanding Gallup figures show Harry S. Truman recorded the … Read more
Lead: At the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Feb. 14, Canadian curler Marc Kennedy rejected accusations that he deliberately broke curling rules and suggested Sweden may have mounted a “premeditated” effort to catch his team. The dispute followed Canada’s 8-6 round-robin victory and video circulated online that appears to show Kennedy contacting his … Read more
Lead: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used his Munich Security Conference address to accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of being a “slave to war,” and warned that Russian strikes have hit every power plant in Ukraine. Speaking days before the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s February 2022 invasion, Zelensky urged faster delivery of Western air-defence systems and … Read more
The Federal Communications Commission reviewed complaints about Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime performance after Republican lawmakers raised objections and found no indecency violations, according to reporting. The review focused on whether uncensored explicit language aired during the NBC broadcast; regulators concluded radio edits removed references to sexual acts from the three songs performed and suspended … Read more
Lead: The European Central Bank announced on Saturday it will make its euro liquidity backstop permanently available to central banks worldwide from the third quarter of 2026, aiming to strengthen the euro’s international standing. The standing facility will offer up to €50 billion in euros against high‑quality collateral, widening access beyond the handful of mainly … Read more
At the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on Saturday in Milan, 21-year-old Jordan Stolz of the United States won the men’s 500m speedskating title in an Olympic-record 33.77 seconds, claiming his second gold of the Games. In ice hockey pool play the U.S. men beat Denmark 6-3, with six different American skaters scoring and a … Read more
Lead Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán delivered his annual assessment at Várkert Bazár on 14 February 2026, warning that 21st-century Europe faces humiliation while casting Brussels — not the East — as the principal danger. He coined the term “Putining” to dismiss Western framing of Russia as an existential menace and accused the European Commission … Read more
Former President Barack Obama publicly expressed support for protesters in Minneapolis who confronted a large-scale Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation, telling progressive interviewer Brian Tyler Cohen on Saturday that citizen action shaped the outcome. Obama described the agency’s tactics in the Twin Cities as having an “unprecedented” character and said the national response would … Read more
Lead: Karim Aïnouz’s Rosebush Pruning premiered in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, delivering a deliberately provocative black comedy that tests the limits of taste and genre. Set partly on a Spanish beach and centered on a dysfunctional family recently relocated from New York to Catalonia, the film follows young Edward and his increasingly … Read more
The Storm Prediction Center raised the severe-weather outlook for Southeast Texas on Saturday, prompting a Weather Impact Alert for the entire day across the Houston area. The highest concern is in the evening: new model guidance places a convective line near Brenham by about 5 p.m., downtown Houston around 8 p.m., and Galveston near 10 … Read more
Lead On Feb. 14, 2026 in Milan, Marie-Philip Poulin returned from a right-knee absence to help Canada beat Germany 5-1 in the Olympic quarterfinals and move into the semifinals. Poulin, playing limited minutes as she eased back, made a pivotal defensive play early and scored her 18th Olympic goal, tying Hayley Wickenheiser’s Canadian record. The … Read more
Lead: Governor Gavin Newsom has increased international travel this year—appearing at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 14 after recent trips to Brazil and Switzerland—prompting renewed scrutiny about who picks up the bills. California’s governor says he is representing the state abroad, while his office says many official travel costs are covered by the California … Read more
Lead On Feb. 14, 2026, demonstrators calling for regime change in Iran staged large rallies on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference and in cities around the world, including Melbourne, Athens, Tokyo and London. Organizers and officials said roughly 200,000 people gathered in Munich, where exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi and U.S. Senator Lindsey … Read more
