NBI seeks Interpol Red Notice for former lawmaker Zaldy Co
February 18, 2026
Due to an ongoing boycott, four nations withdraw from Eurovision 2026.
February 25, 2026
A rare solar eclipse on Saturn, which will not happen again until 2038, was captured on camera by a 20-year-old astrophotographer from Shoreline, Washington. Using the Stellarium software to determine when Titan, Saturn's largest moon, will throw a shadow on the planet's surface, photographer Adam Smadi planned the shot days in advance and captured it on June 1. In order to allow the optics to cool to the outside temperature, Smadi set up his 9.25-inch telescope at around 1 a.m. PDT (08:00 UTC). This procedure aids in preventing air currents that could cause image blurring inside the telescope tube. Saturn was high enough above the horizon to start capturing pictures about 3:30 a.m. PDT (10:30 UTC). He used a ZWO ASI662MC astrophotography camera with an infrared filter. He created a single image by sorting and combining hundreds of sharp frames from continuous video streams using software. Consequently, the faint dark shadow of Titan crosses Saturn's pale surface. In the same view, three other moons—Dione, Tethys, and Enceladus—appear as minuscule dots near the rings. Adam Smadi initially shared the photos on his Instagram account. Some forum and social media users praised the image's clarity and the effort that went into it.
Iran is ready for a confrontation with the United States, according to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The action coincides with the United States' decision to deploy a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East. The USS Stennis was sent to the area, according to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, to "impress on Iran that the four-year war in Iraq has not made America defenseless." Ahmadinejad stated that Iran was ready for any scenario in the standoff with the West over its nuclear activities in reaction to the deployment of more troops.By God's grace, we have successfully navigated the difficult passages today and are prepared for anything that lies ahead. They want to intimidate Iran and make the Iranian people less resistant, but they will not be successful," Ahmadinejad said. The United Nations disagrees with Iran's claims that its nuclear program is only for peaceful reasons, and last year it placed limited sanctions on the country.Regretfully, some people within the nation attempt to spread false information and present a negative picture of Iran's tremendous accomplishments. They advocate for compromise and repeat the enemy's statements. Naturally, this will not have any impact," Ahmadinejad continued. Ahmadinejad's statement coincides with Iran's claim that it is ready to start installing almost 3,000 centrifuges at its nuclear plant, the Natanz uranium-enrichment complex. "Everything has been prepared for building the centrifuges at Natanz for the beginning of the industrial phase of enrichment," stated an unidentified European diplomat. The hardware has been installed. Additionally, Ahmadinejad stated that uranium enrichment at the Natanz facility will start "very soon" and "bit by bit."
At their home pitch in Meridan Plains, Australia, Caloundra defeated Brisbane Knights FC 4 goals to 2 on Saturday night to start their maiden season in the Football Queensland Premier League 2 (FQPL 2). Caloundra gamer Ethan Galbraith remarked, "Starting the game that quickly, it just makes life a lot easier." "It was both astounding and unexpected. We got off to a quick start, I believe. And we won. A team will undoubtedly find it difficult to reintegrate after you do that to them. However, they deserve praise. They certainly fought and made it hard for us in the second half with the man down. Clearly, it is a difficult place to visit. Take a weekend trip along the coast. The Brisbane Knights had a difficult away trip. Rob Shaw, their coach, said they had a slow and somewhat unruly first twenty minutes. Shaw remarked, "I believe that cost us in that first half." "In the second half, we underwent a transformation, as evidenced by the boys settling in and beginning to play football, albeit somewhat better game." In some ways, it was successful—even the man was defeated. The boys put forth a lot of effort. After the first half, it was a bit of a mountain to climb, but you can not blame the boys' effort." The Brisbane Knights will now host the Samford Rangers, while Caloundra will travel to play Moreton City Excelsior.Galbraith remarked, "I think they are a fairly tough team." "We are excited for the challenge, but we will face it next week. There are a lot of talented players there....
On February 26, 2026, the Toronto Blue Jays confirmed that Major League Baseball pitcher Max Scherzer had signed a complete deal. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the arrangement calls for a salary of US$3 million with incentives of up to US$10 million. In 17 starts and 85 innings pitched with the Blue Jays last season, Scherzer recorded 5 wins, 5 losses, and an earned run average of 5.19. Scherzer has been named an All-Star pitcher eight times. On December 15, his eight-year-old daughter Brooke addressed a letter to the Blue Jays expressing her hope that they will welcome Dad back. In 2025, Scherzer signed a one-year contract to play for the Blue Jays. The letter from Brooke was shared on Instagram by Scherzer's wife, Erica May-Scherzer.
According to a social media statement by US President Donald Trump, the United States arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday at around 3 am UTC-4. Maduro was "in a residence that was more like a fortress" in Caracas, the nation's capital, Trump told reporters. Trump defended this move by asserting that Maduro is the head of the Cartel de los Soles and encouraging dangerous people to enter the country illegally. Following the attack, local authorities in Venezuela have asked for a meeting of the UN Security Council. According to the BBC, airstrikes in Caracas targeted Fort Tiuna, a military base where the US believed Maduro was situated, La Carlota, an airbase, and other locations. Although the precise figures are yet unknown, local officials report that there have been civilian fatalities and injuries. President Nicolas Maduro joins a rally marking the anniversary of the Battle of Santa...
Following the retirement of former Labour MP Andrew Gwynne, a by-election was held in Manchester's Gorton and Denton parliamentary district on Thursday. Hannah Spencer, the Green Party of England and Wales candidate, was proclaimed the winner. This election represents both the first Green Party election victory in the North of England and the first parliamentary by-election won by a Green Party candidate. With slightly less than 41% of the vote, Spencer will become the fifth current Green Party MP. This puts him 12% ahead of Reform UK's Matt Goodwin, who came in second with slightly less than 29%. Following several high-profile scandals in recent months, the election was eagerly awaited as a test of confidence for the incumbent Labour government. The Labour candidate lost 25% of the vote compared to 50% in the general election of 2024. The constituency had not been lost by a Labour Party candidate since 1931 and was formerly seen to be the sixth safest seat for the party in Britain. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, had submitted an application to run as the party's candidate, but it was rejected by the National Executive Committee due to concerns that Labour would lose the ensuing mayoral by-election and that he would challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer for leadership. "This result must be a wake up call," declared former Labour Party deputy leader and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner as the election added to the growing.
Mark Zuckerberg reaffirmed industry worries that energy supply would eventually emerge as the primary obstacle to the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) in a podcast released on Friday. Elon Musk's warning from last month that AI might surpass energy capacity as early as next year was echoed by these worries. AI technology is developing at an exponential rate, according to Musk, increasing by a factor of 10 every six months. Both the energy and chip manufacturing capacities are being strained by this rate of expansion. Large tech firms like Amazon.com, Microsoft, and Alphabet Inc. (Google) are moving into ever-larger data centers as a result of their quick development of AI capabilities. The three businesses are expected to invest more than US$120 billion in data center expansion by 2025, according to ArsTechnica. Energy demand will rise as a result of the rising need for data centers. Demand for energy may outpace supply at the current rate of expansion. Zuckerberg, a co-founder of the AI-development lab Meta AI, predicts that 1-gigawatt data centers—a capacity that has not yet been attained—will be required. It will take time to develop power plants to supply that quantity of energy, Zuckerberg said. "Powering a large plant would require a very long-term project. I believe that some people will achieve it, but I do not think it can be as magical as "you obtain a level of AI, get a bunch of funds, and put it in ." Government regulation is one of the obstacles to rapidly increasing the power supply, according to Zuckerberg. "You are talking about many years of lead time when you are talking about installing transmission lines that cross public or private land and building major new power plants or large build-outs." The AI business is in competition with the electronic vehicle (EV) market for energy supply, which exacerbates the problem. "I believe that the simultaneous growth of electric cars and AI, both of which require electricity and voltage transformers, is creating a tremendous demand for electrical equipment and for electrical power generation," Musk stated in a teleconference video for the Bosch Connected World conference. What implications might this have for EVs, AI, and the supply and demand of energy worldwide? Its impacts may already be felt by us. Customers of Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Ireland apparently encountered limitations while attempting to create new resources from its Irish data centers. The Register blames these limitations to Ireland's low electricity supply for AWS data facilities....
Delegates to the first African Protected Areas Congress, held in Kigali, Rwanda, adopted the Kigali Call to Action on Saturday, pledging nations to increase their investments in environmental preservation. In order to examine the opportunities and challenges in the protection of nature and animals throughout Africa, Rwanda, the International Union for protection of Nature, and the African animals Foundation organized the conference, which took place from July 18–23. There were more than 2300 delegates in attendance, representing nations, businesses, indigenous communities, and environmental organizations. A Pan-African Conservation Trust was established as one of the initiatives, and African nations were urged to support its creation. In order to finance all 8,500 of Africa's protected areas indefinitely, a $200 billion pan-African trust fund would be established. The Kigali Call to Action, which commits nations to allocating 1% of their GDP to funding biodiversity initiatives and expanding partnerships between the public and private sectors, was adopted by delegates as Congress came to an end. Additionally, the Call to Action demanded that local communities' and indigenous peoples' rights be strengthened.
At the Fridman Gallery in New York City, double bassist Mark Dresser and flutist Robert Dick performed together. In the 1980s, Dick and Dresser began performing together, either as a duo or with different musicians. The audience had the opportunity to view Alina Grasmann's House of Spirits art show, which ran from October 29 to December 6, prior to the performance. "Magical realist paintings investigate modernist architecture, mixing the architectural aspects of individual locales with their history," the gallery said of Grasmann's work. Nearly every seat in the gallery was occupied as Dick and Dresser began to perform. The duration of the concert was roughly fifty-two minutes. Dick played the piccolo, bass flute, and a flute with a Glissando Headjoint—a modified headjoint he invented that enables controlled glissandi—during the performance. He used a variety of extended methods, such as air noises, key percussion, glissandi, and multiphonics. When playing the double bass, Dresser used a variety of methods, including as two-handed tapping and percussion sounds, using both his fingers and different bows. "Mark and I first improvised together in the 1980s, performing multiple times as a duo," Dick said in response to an email inquiring about the partnership following the performance. With the addition of drummer Gerry Hemingway, we grew into a trio. With the addition of pianist Denman Maroney, we formed a quartet, which we dubbed Tambastics to reflect our passion for musical color and timbres.
Israel's participation in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest was confirmed by the European Broadcasting Union on Thursday. In response, four nations—Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Slovenia—withdrew from the 2026 competition, citing the humanitarian effects of the Gaza War and a "loss" of neutrality. Ireland's broadcaster, RTÉ, declared that it was "unconscionable" to compete in the 2026 edition because of the "humanitarian situation" in Gaza and the high death toll there. According to Taco Zimmerman, CEO of AVROTROS, the Dutch broadcaster, "Culture unifies, but not at any expense." "What transpired at the EBU Assembly demonstrates that Eurovision is not a song contest but a festival governed by geopolitical interests," stated José Pablo López, president of Spain's broadcaster, RTVE.The president of Slovenia's broadcaster, Radiotelevizija Slovenija, Natalija Gorňak, stated that the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was "not a true" one because of continuous losses. In the meantime, Icelandic broadcaster RÚV pondered if Iceland ought to enter the 2026 competition. Politico claims that the four withdrawals caused significant unrest; CNN pointed out that Spain is one of the "Big Five," which are the competition's top five financial producers. The departures were the biggest "upheaval" in the Eurovision Song Contest, according to Newsweek. Additionally, according to the broadcaster for Radiotelevizija Slovenija, they, along with Spain, the Netherlands, Montenegro, Turkey, Algeria, and Iceland, asked for a secret vote, but it was not conducted. Rather, Geneva officials enacted new regulations that prevent states from influencing the outcomes.
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