Feb. 20, 2026 - Daily News Digest
On this day in 1839, US Congress made dueling in Washington DC a felony punishable by up to 10 years of hard labor.
QotD: "Japan faces its most severe and complex security environment since World War Two,” Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi said on Friday.
US/TARIFFS/COURTS – Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s sweeping tariffs, upending central plank of economic agenda.
https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-tariffs-trump-0485fcda30a7310501123e4931dba3f9
The Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs on Friday, handing him a significant loss on an issue crucial to his economic agenda.
The 6-3 decision centers on tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law, including the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs he levied on nearly every other country.
It’s the first major piece of Trump’s broad agenda to come squarely before the nation’s highest court, which he helped shape with the appointments of three conservative jurists in his first term.
The majority found that the Constitution “very clearly” gives Congress the power to impose taxes, which include tariffs. “The Framers did not vest any part of the taxing power in the Executive Branch,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.
“The tariffs at issue here may or may not be wise policy. But as a matter of text, history, and precedent, they are clearly lawful,” Kavanaugh wrote in the dissent.
The tariffs decision doesn’t stop Trump from imposing duties under other laws. While those have more limitations on the speed and severity of Trump’s actions, top administration officials have said they expect to keep the tariff framework in place under other authorities.
CHINA/GERAMY/TRADE – China overtakes US to become Germany’s top trading partner.
https://www.dw.com/en/china-overtakes-us-to-become-germanys-top-trading-partner/a-76057129
China has overtaken the US as Germany's most important trading partner, according to figures released by Germany's Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Friday.
The sum of exports and imports between the two countries last year totaled €251.8 billion (roughly $296.6 billion), a 2.1% increase, according to Destatis.
China was Germany's most important trading partner from 2016 all the way through to 2023. In 2024, the US briefly held the title.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also set to visit China next week, where he is set to discuss trade and other topics.
Germany last year imported goods worth €170.6 billion from China, an 8.8% increase from the year earlier. Chinese imports to Germany were mainly data processing equipment, electrical equipment and machinery.
Meanwhile, German exports to China last year totaled €81.3 billion, down 9.7% from the year earlier.
The US was Germany's next top business partner last year, with a foreign trade turnover of €240.5 billion, a 5% drop from the year before.
US/IRAN/MIL – Trump warns Iran of ‘bad things’ if no deal made, sets deadline of 10-15 days.
President Donald Trump warned Iran on Thursday it must make a deal over its nuclear program or "really bad things" will happen, and set a deadline of 10 to 15 days, drawing a threat from Tehran to retaliate against U.S. bases in the region if attacked.
Amid a massive U.S. military buildup in the Middle East that has fueled fears of a wider war, Trump said negotiations with Iran to end the tense standoff were going well but demanded that Tehran reach a "meaningful" agreement.
"Otherwise bad things happen," Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to attack Iran, told the first meeting of his Board of Peace in Washington.
Trump spoke of the U.S. airstrikes carried out in June, saying Iran's nuclear potential had been "decimated," adding "we may have to take it a step further or we may not."
"You’ll be finding out over the next probably 10 days," he said. Asked later to elaborate, he told reporters aboard Air Force One: "I would think that would be enough time, 10, 15 days, pretty much maximum.”
But he declined to be specific, except to warn again of "really bad things" and insist that Iran would have to make a deal one way or another.
BRITAIN/MONARCHY/EPSTEIN – Former Prince Andrew arrested and held for hours on suspicion of misconduct over ties to Epstein.
The former Prince Andrew was arrested and held for hours by British police Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his links to Jeffrey Epstein, an extraordinary move in a country where authorities once sought to shield the royal family from embarrassment.
It was the first time in nearly four centuries* that a senior British royal was placed under arrest, and it underscored how deference to the monarchy has eroded in recent years.
King Charles III, whose late mother lived by the motto “never complain, never explain,” took the unusual step of issuing a statement on the arrest of his brother, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
“Let me state clearly: the law must take its course,’’ the king said. “As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter.’’
QC: King Charles I was arrested in 1647 during the English Civil War after being defeated by Parliamentarian forces.
JAPAN/CHINA/MIL – Japan PM Takaichi warns of China ‘coercion’, vows security overhaul.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi warned of growing Chinese "coercion" in her first post-election speech to parliament on Friday, pledging to overhaul defence strategy, ease curbs on military exports and strengthen critical supply chains.
Takaichi's four-month tenure has been marked by a diplomatic dispute with China after she said Japan could use military force to respond to any attack on Taiwan that also threatened Japanese territory.
Fresh from turning a fragile majority into a landslide victory in this month's lower house election, Takaichi outlined an agenda to counter what she sees as a mounting economic and security threat from China and its regional partners.
With her ruling coalition now holding more than two-thirds of seats, she faces little political resistance.
"Japan faces its most severe and complex security environment since World War Two," Takaichi said, pointing to China's widening military activity and closer security ties with Russia, as well as North Korea’s growing nuclear missile capability.
She said the government would revise Japan's three core security documents this year to produce a new defence strategy and would accelerate a review of military export rules to expand overseas sales and strengthen defence companies.
US/FRANCE/STATE – US State Department flags terrorism concerns in French activist killing.
The U.S. State Department said it is watching closely the case of a French far-right activist killed by suspected hard-left militants, suggesting it might count as terrorism, in comments that may stir fresh tensions between Paris and Washington.
The State Department's Bureau of Counterterrorism said it was monitoring the case, warning in a Thursday post on X that "violent radical leftism was on the rise" and should be treated as a public safety threat. "We ... expect to see the perpetrators of violence brought to justice," it said.
Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers, a public diplomacy official who has taken the lead in a series of attacks on European governments, said in a post on X on Friday that she, too, was keeping close tabs on the case.
"Democracy rests on a basic bargain: you get to bring any viewpoint to the public square, and nobody gets to kill you for it. This is why we treat political violence - terrorism - so harshly," she wrote.
ARGENTINA/LEGISLATURE – Argentina’s lower house passes labor reform despite strike.
Argentina's lower house of Congress approved on Friday a contentious labor reform bill backed by libertarian President Javier Milei, despite a nationwide strike a day earlier by unions opposing the changes.
Lawmakers debated amendments until the early hours on Friday before passing the bill by 135-115 votes and sending it back to the Senate for a final vote.
Investors have been closely watching the legislation to see whether Milei has the power to continue implementing his free-market agenda.
The government says the bill, backed by the ruling party and its center‑right allies, will spur investment and boost formal employment.
"What good is an entire library of labor legislation if, at the end of the day, the system it establishes doesn’t serve to create jobs?" ruling party lawmaker Lisandro Almiron asked during the debate on the bill.
However, unions say the proposed overhaul threatens long‑standing worker protections, including the right to strike.
The powerful umbrella union CGT called a 24‑hour stoppage on Thursday by transport workers, public sector staff and bank employees. Argentina, one of the world's leading food exporters, also saw its grain exports affected on Wednesday and Thursday by a maritime workers' protest.
BOARD OF PEACE/GAZA – Trump gets pledges for Gaza reconstruction and troop commitments at inaugural Board of Peace talks.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-board-of-peace-first-meeting-22e587df67e27cd1e1d96e446cb88378
President Donald Trump announced Thursday at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting that nine members have agreed to pledge $7 billion toward a Gaza relief package and five countries have agreed to deploy troops as part of an international stabilization force for the war-battered Palestinian territory.
While lauding the pledges, Trump faces the unresolved challenge of disarming Hamas, a sticking point that threatens to delay or even derail the Gaza ceasefire plan that his administration notched as a major foreign policy win.
The dollars promised, while significant, represent a small fraction of the estimated $70 billion needed to rebuild the territory decimated after two years of war between Israel and Hamas. While Trump praised allies for making the commitments of funding and troops, he offered no detail on when the pledges would be implemented.
“Every dollar spent is an investment in stability and the hope of new and harmonious (region),” Trump said. He added, “The Board of Peace is showing how a better future can be built right here in this room.”
Trump also announced the U.S. was pledging $10 billion for the board but didn’t specify what the money will be used for. It also was not clear where the U.S. money would come from — a sizable pledge that would need to be authorized by Congress.
DPRK/POL/MIL – Kim Jong Un opens North Korea’s 9th party congress, highlights economic gains.
North Korea has opened a key party congress, state media said Friday, a once-in-five-years showcase that analysts say will outline a wide range of national priorities, including nuclear objectives.
The Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea "opened with great ceremony in Pyongyang" on Thursday, the Korean Central News Agency said.
The congress is the ruling party's top gathering, a grand political set-piece that reinforces the regime's authority and can serve as a platform for announcements of policy shifts or elite personnel changes.
Since the 2021 event, North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear arsenal, repeatedly test-launching intercontinental ballistic missiles in defiance of bans ordered by the UN Security Council.
Pyongyang has also developed deep ties with Moscow during its war in Ukraine, with North Korean soldiers sent to fight alongside Russian forces.
In 2024, the two countries signed a treaty including a mutual defence clause.
Pyongyang's leader Kim Jong Un touted a newly built street of flats for families of soldiers killed supporting Russia's war against Ukraine, state media reported Monday.
Observers have been scouring satellite imagery for any signs of the vast military parades that have marked previous gatherings.
US/CUBA/BLOCKADE – A new US blockage is strangling Cuba.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/world/americas/cuba-oil-blockade-trump.html
Cuba is confronting the United States’ first effective blockade since the Cuban Missile Crisis and running out of fuel fast, pushing the nation toward a humanitarian crisis and its government to the edge of collapse, according to a New York Times analysis of shipping data and satellite images.
Cuban tankers have hardly left the island’s shores for months. Oil-rich allies have halted shipments or declined to come to the rescue. The U.S. military has seized ships that have supported Cuba. And in recent days, vessels roaming the Caribbean Sea in search of fuel for Cuba have come up empty or been intercepted by the U.S. authorities.
Last week, a tanker linked to Cuba burned fuel for five days to get to the port in Curaçao but then left without cargo, according to ship-tracking data. Three days later, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted a tanker full of Colombian fuel oil en route to Cuba that had gotten within 70 miles of the island, the data showed.
While President Trump has pledged to halt any oil headed to Cuba, the Trump administration has stopped short of calling its policy a blockade.
But it is functioning as one.
Mr. Trump signed an executive order last month threatening to impose tariffs on countries that provide oil to Cuba. That has succeeded at scaring other nations, like Mexico, into sitting on the sidelines despite their desire to help Cuba.