NEW YORK, Feb 26, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Stock markets in Asia and Europe reached record highs Wednesday while Wall Street indices continued to advance on easing worries about the AI sector and ahead of chip behemoth Nvidia releasing its earnings. Seoul, Tokyo, London, and Paris exchanges each beat their previous intraday highs, also in reaction to well-received company updates. Global equities gained "as the apocalyptic AI narrative takes a small step back", noted Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. Investors have adopted a more sanguine view following a presentation by AI company Anthropic that emphasized the compatibility of its technology with existing programs. A surge in shares in big tech firms deploying AI helped drive equity markets to record highs last year.

The Justice Department has released millions of pages from files connected to notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein under a transparency law enacted last year. But public broadcaster NPR found gaps in the files tied to one woman's 2019 assault complaint against Trump. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, arguing that the DOJ's so-called "Epstein Files" release exonerated him. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said he reviewed unredacted evidence logs at the Justice Department and reached the same conclusion. The Justice Department argues that any material not posted falls within categories allowed under the law, including duplicates, privileged records or documents tied to an ongoing federal investigation.

MADRID, Feb 26, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Human-driven climate change intensified torrential downpours that killed dozens and forced thousands of people from their homes across Spain, Portugal and Morocco earlier this year, a network of climate scientists said Thursday. Precipitation during the region's wettest days now entail around one-third more rainfall compared with the pre-industrial climate, which was 1.3C cooler, according to a report by the World Weather Attribution (WWA), whose scientists study the link between extreme weather events and climate change. The WWA estimates that rainfall intensity is now about 11 percent higher in northern Portugal and northwestern Spain than in pre-industrial times. The researchers were unable to quantify the exact impact of climate change on rainfall in southern Iberia and northern Morocco, as the available data show regional variations. The WWA is a pioneer in attribution science, which uses peer-reviewed methods to quickly assess the possible influence of climate change on extreme weather events.

UNITED NATIONS, United States, Feb 26, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The UN Security Council has announced sanctions on four Sudanese paramilitary commanders for atrocities committed in the October takeover of the Darfur city of El-Fasher. They are RSF deputy commanders Abdelrahim Hamdan Daglo and Gedo Hamdan Ahmed, Brigadier General Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris and field commander Tijani Ibrahim. "Abu Lulu has filmed himself smiling and killing people while they begged for mercy, as well as videos where he makes ethnically targeted executions," the Security Council said. A special Security Council committee with representatives of all 15 member countries makes decisions on such sanctions. Following the Darfur war of the early 2000s, where the RSF's predecessor the Janjaweed committed similar atrocities at the behest of the Khartoum government, the Security Council in 2005 established a Sudan sanctions regime.

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Review of Trade Agreement with the United States Underway: Commerce Minister Staff Correspondent, Dhaka (Wednesday, February 25, 2026)Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muqtadir has said that issues related to the United States’ retaliatory tariffs and the bilateral trade agreement are still evolving. Speaking to journalists after a meeting at the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday, the minister said the agreement is sensitive, as is the country involved. The United States Supreme Court has declared the retaliatory tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump illegal. The Ministry of Commerce held a meeting with business leaders to determine the next course of action regarding these tariffs and the trade agreement signed between Bangladesh and the United States. He also noted that the interim government recently signed a trade agreement with the United States, but it is still too early to comment on it.

BASSETERRE, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Feb 26, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that a new security force for violence-wracked Haiti was taking shape well, while voicing optimism that elections could finally take place after a decade. The elections would be the first in Haiti since 2016, with voting since then repeatedly delayed due to security concerns or political chaos. Rubio said that the anti-gang force would improve security and help "hold elections perhaps later this year -- maybe not in the middle of summer when it's rainy season, but later this year." Rubio praised contributions by Canada and Japan to support the anti-gang force but said the United States was still seeking more from donor nations. Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, has been ravaged by years of intersecting security, political and health crises.

Selectboard Chair Mike Pelczar, left, and Vice Chair Steve Aiken, center, voice opposition to changing the town government from manager oversight to administrator during Monday's meeting. Selectboard member Jeanie Forrester, right, spoke about the differences between the two forms of government. (Bob Martin/The Laconia Daily Sun photo)

On February 23, American Idol left La La Land behind for the show’s pivotal Hollywood Week and shifted gears to Music City for the first part of Hollywood Week. This is the best total viewer audience since American Idol‘s season premiere back in January, when it nabbed 6.22 million viewers. In addition to the show’s weekly boost, Idol was also up +27% in total viewers over last season’s Hollywood Week kickoff episode. According to Nielsen, American Idol‘s stellar performance boosted ABC to a win for the night on broadcast and cable with 4.63 million total viewers. American Idol, Season 24, Mondays, 8/7c, ABCMore Headlines:

UBA, Brazil, Feb 26, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Despair hung over two cities in outheastern Brazil on Wednesday as rescuers and residents searched for 21 people missing after torrential rains unleashed flooding and landslides that killed at least 46. More heavy rain was forecast for Juiz de Fora this week, and firefighters told AFP it was unlikely any more victims would be found alive. "Our family is desperate," said Josiane Aparecida, a 43-year-old cook in Juiz de Fora. He told AFP he had suffered up to five million reais (almost $1 million) in losses from water that reached two meters high. The mayor of Juiz de Fora, Margarida Salomao, said the municipality had experienced its wettest February on record.

Rubio says US, China at 'strategic stability' ahead of Trump tripBASSETERRE, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Feb 26, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The United States and China have reached "stability" in their long-fractious relationship, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday ahead of President Donald Trump's visit to the Asian power. "I think we've reached a point at least of a sort of strategic stability in the relationship," Rubio told reporters. Rubio said that the United States would keep raising concerns including seeking to diversify from China's dominance in supply chains. He also vowed to keep pushing China to negotiate a three-way nuclear deal with the United States and Russia. China's nuclear arsenal has been growing rapidly, although it remains well below those of Russia and the United States.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb 26, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Sparks fly and metal groans in a cavernous workshop on the outskirts of Islamabad, where Pakistani artist Ehtisham Jadoon fuses discarded car parts into colossal pieces inspired by "Transformers" movies and dinosaurs. "I have always been fascinated by metal objects," Jadoon told AFP after assembling the 14-foot (4-metre) "Transformers" character, his biggest creation yet. It took Jadoon and his team months of welding and warping to fashion his Optimus Prime, with over 90 percent of its parts sourced from discarded vehicle pieces. - 'Waste becomes valuable' -Jadoon, a former martial artist who once worked in the steel fabrication business, has never formally studied art. Every week, Jadoon tours scrapyards in Islamabad, sifting through tons of discarded metal in search of pieces that fit into his imagination and then become sculptures.

Kyiv residents pool together for solar panels and batteries amid Russian strikesKYIV, Ukraine, Feb 26, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - When Russian strikes cut off the power, heating and water to swathes of the Ukrainian capital in -20C temperatures, Denys Biletsky was prepared. The 400-odd residents pooled 700,000 hryvnias ($16,200) to buy and install them, along with the batteries and other required equipment. Russian missile and drone barrages have pushed Kyiv into its most serious energy crisis of the war. "They say to me: 'Denys, I don't need your lifts, your backup power, your batteries, I'm fine' ... We can't force anyone." When outages drag on for hours, the back-up batteries don't have time to recharge, forcing Biletsky to cut the lift off to prioritise water pumps.

HAVANA, Feb 26, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Cuba said it thwarted gunmen trying to infiltrate from the United States as its coastguard fired Wednesday on a Florida-registered speedboat in an exchange of fire near its shores, killing four people and wounding six. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that people arrested after the firefight said they "intended to carry out an infiltration for the purposes of terrorism." The ministry said assault rifles, handguns, Molotov cocktails and other military-style gear were found on the vessel and the 10 attackers were all Cubans living in the United States.