Smokejumper and union leader aims to win in Montana by focusing on workers 20. February 2026 (14:00) Sam Forstag, who parachutes from planes to fight wildfires, believes pro-worker polices can flip district from Trump allySam Forstag is used to launching himself into heated territory.As a smokejumper, his job is to jump out of airplanes 3,000 feet in the air and parachute down into the Montana wilderness. Going by air is often the easiest way to access the remote wilderness and combat the wildfires that burn an average of 7.2 million acres a year in the state. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Anger as Trump FDA retreats from plan to ban artificial colors in food 20. February 2026 (14:00) Experts say new labeling could deceive consumers as dangerous substances still allowed under new rulesIn a further retreat from its pledge to ban artificial dyes from food, Donald Trump’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it would loosen labeling requirements to allow companies to state “no artificial colors”, even though products may contain some dangerous substances such as titanium dioxide.The FDA in early February announced it would allow food makers to claim “no artificial colors” as long as the dyes are not petroleum-based, but health experts say even some naturally based additives present health risks, and the labeling would deceive consumers. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Osaka stunned by anonymous gift of gold bars to fix ageing water pipes 20. February 2026 (13:24) Mayor says Japanese city will respect donor’s specification that £2.7m gift must be used to repair dilapidated systemOsaka has received a hefty gift of gold bars worth 560m yen (£2.7m) from an anonymous donor and a request for its specific use: to fix the Japanese city’s dilapidated water pipes.The gold bars, weighing a total of 21kg (46lb), were given to the Osaka City Waterworks Bureau in November by the donor who wants to help improve ageing water pipes, the mayor, Hideyuki Yokoyama, told reporters on Thursday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Texas congressional candidate with extremist views backed by hard-right donors 20. February 2026 (13:00) After tech billionaire Peter Thiel and others donated to Jace Yarbrough’s campaign, Donald Trump endorsed himA rookie congressional candidate in a nine-way Texas primary has received the imprimatur of wealthy hard-right donors including tech billionaire Peter Thiel, Claremont Institute board chair Thomas Klingenstein and Charles Haywood, who once expressed a desire to be a “warlord”, according to new Federal Election Commission filings showing early donations to his campaign.In a recent candidate forum, Jace Yarbrough unapologetically staked out a series of extremist positions, saying that critics may call his approach to politics “bigoted and backward and oppressive and Nazi-ish”, but that he is “past trying to placate that in any way, shape or form”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Aston Martin issues another profit warning and sells F1 naming rights for £50m 20. February 2026 (13:00) Struggling British carmaker says earnings for 2025 will be worse than City forecasts as US tariffs hit salesAston Martin has warned that its losses will be worse than expected and sold its permanent naming rights to its Formula One team, as the struggling British carmaker battles to stabilise its finances.The luxury carmaker, majority-owned by the Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, said its earnings for 2025 would be worse than City forecasts, its fifth profit warning since September 2024. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Hinkley Point C nuclear plant delayed to 2030 as costs climb to £35bn 20. February 2026 (12:57) French utility company EDF says operations in Somerset will start a year later as delay costs firm €2.5bnBritain’s first new nuclear plant in a generation at the Hinkley Point C site will face further delay, at a cost of €2.5bn to the French utility company EDF.EDF said the first reactor at the site in Somerset will begin operations in 2030, a year later than planned – almost 13 years after construction work began – after a series of delays to the project. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘A momentous watershed’: Europe’s papers react to arrest of former prince Andrew 20. February 2026 (12:15) Agreement across continent that Mountbatten-Windsor’s detention has put monarchy in unprecedented dangerAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor – latest updatesEurope live – latest updatesNeither the shock nor the historical significance of the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was lost on the European press. And if there was one thing that correspondents and leader writers around the continent could agree on, it was that the former prince’s detention had plunged the British monarchy into a place of unprecedented danger and vulnerability.“Despite all the scandals that have shaken the British royal family over the decades, it’s no exaggeration to say that the arrest of King Charles III’s brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor represents a momentous watershed for the Windsor monarchy,” El País said in a leader on Friday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Andrew arrest does not signify there will be justice for trafficking victims, says top US lawyer 20. February 2026 (12:03) Gloria Allred says allegations concerning sharing of state trade secrets while trade envoy given priority over sexual assault claimsAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor – latest updatesA lawyer working for some of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims has said she does not believe there will be “any real justice” for those trafficked and abused by him and his high-profile associates, despite the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.Gloria Allred, a women’s rights lawyer for 50 years, said although the UK had acted quickly on the allegation that the former prince had shared confidential documents with the disgraced financier while he was a trade envoy, there did not appear to be as much movement on sexual assault allegations against him. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Asos co-founder dies in fall from 18-storey building in Thailand 20. February 2026 (11:39) Police in Pattaya confirm autopsy on body of British retail entrepreneur Quentin Griffiths found no signs of foul playQuentin Griffiths, the co-founder of the online fashion retailer Asos, has died after falling from an apartment building in the Thai resort city of Pattaya.An unnamed police investigator told the BBC that officers were called on 9 February after a man was found dead, having fallen from an 18-storey condominium in Pattaya, on Thailand’s eastern Gulf coast. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Man in Sicily trained his dog to illegally dump rubbish, say police 20. February 2026 (11:30) City of Catania calls ruse to avoid CCTV cameras installed to stop fly-tipping ‘as cunning as it is doubly wrong’A man in Catania, Sicily, trained his dog to dump bags of rubbish by the roadside in an attempt to evade surveillance cameras installed to combat fly-tipping, municipal police have said.The episode was detailed in a post on the city of Catania’s official Facebook page. Accompanying a video of the dog was a remark from the police that “inventiveness can never become an alibi for incivility”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
