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British Royal Arrested, Trump Promotes Pesticide & Celebrating Failure - Friday, February 20, 2026
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Today is Friday, February 20th. We'll tell you about authorities arresting a member of the royal family in a case likely linked to the Epstein files. Also why some refugees living in the US could be at risk of arrest. And new details about funding for the Board of Peace for Gaza. Plus why President Trump is now promoting a type of pesticide that so called Maha supporters are not okay with. Which Olympian got a gold medal and gave a diamond ring and a museum dedicated to failure. Those stories and even more news coming up. Welcome to the Newsworthy. All the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica. Mandy, thanks so much for being here. Let's do this. For the first time in nearly four centuries, a member of Britain's royal family has been arrested. Former Prince Andrew was taken into police custody, escalating the fallout over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Authorities didn't get into exact details, just that he was arrested on suspicions of misconduct in public office, though they had already confirmed they were looking into the latest batch of Epstein files that suggested the former prince shared confidential government documents with Epstein while serving as a British trade envoy. He was held for questioning for 11 hours while authorities searched his properties. Then he was released, which is common under British law before charges are filed. Andrew has consistently said he never did anything wrong when it came to his friendship with Epstein, specifically denying the long standing allegations of sexual assault. But so far he hasn't publicly addressed the allegations over sharing confidential material. Many analysts say this investigation shows how respect for the monarchy has faded in recent years in a country where authorities used to try to shield royals from embarrassment. But King Charles has also moved to insulate the royal family from the fallout. King Charles last year stripped his brother of his royal titles and evicted him from the Royal Lodge. And yesterday, the king took the unusual step of issuing a statement on the arrest, promising to support and cooperate with the investigation. President Trump's new Board of Peace has started getting commitments for a new Gaza relief package. During its inaugural meeting Yesterday, Trump announced nine members of the board agreed to pledge a combined $7 billion toward reconstruction. Of course, that represents a small fraction of what's needed. It's estimated it will cost $70 billion to rebuild the Palestinian territory that's been decimated by nearly two years of war. Trump also said the US was pledging $10 billion for the board, but he didn't say what that money would be used for or where it would come from. On top of the rebuilding effort, five countries agreed to deploy troops as part of an international stabilization force or isf, and Trump announced American military experts have already been laying the groundwork for the ISF to operate. Now, keep in mind, all of this depends on whether the terror group Hamas will fully disarm, either voluntarily or by force. Plus, Trump says a lot depends on Iran. Throughout yesterday's meeting, the president repeatedly described Iran as a threat to the entire region's stability, saying it boils down to the fact that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. As we told you, the US has built up an arsenal in the Middle east large enough to sustain weeks of attacks against Iran if necessary. And yesterday, Trump gave Iran a deadline, saying it must make a deal over its nuclear program within 10 to 15 days. And if it doesn't, quote, really bad things will happen. Iran has threatened to retaliate if it does get attacked, specifically against American military bases in the region. Meanwhile, a couple of U.S. congressmen say they're hoping to vote next week to limit President Trump's ability to attack Iran with congressional approval. But it's not expected to go very far since a similar effort failed last summer. To be continued. A policy shift at the Homeland Security Department has put legal refugees on notice. A new DHS memo says federal immigration agents should arrest refugees who have been in the US for at least a year but have not gotten a green card yet, and that they should be detained indefinitely for rescreening right away. That puts tens of thousands of people at risk. To be clear, refugees are already supposed to apply for a green card after being in the US For a year. But what's changing is they could now face arrest for not doing so on time or while their applications are pending in a backlogged system. And advocates say an arrest could turn into long term detention and possible deportation. The Trump administration says the change is needed to prevent immigration fraud, identify national security threats, and vet people for criminal histories. But the policy change sparked backlash from advocates for refugees who say they've already been through extreme vetting while fleeing war and persecution. Plus, they point out how the Trump administration has cut off key funding to organizations that help refugees resettle in the US including services to help with green card and citizenship applications, making the process that much more difficult. Of course, it's not just refugees being targeted by the immigration crackdown, Reuters reports. Under the Trump administration, the number of people in ICE detention reached about 68,000 this month alone. That's up 75% from when Trump took office last year. But courts have ruled not all of those people should be detained. The Reuters review actually went back to October and found since then, more than 400 federal judges have ruled ICE illegally detained migrants in nearly 4,500 cases. The Justice Department has also been cited multiple times for ignoring court orders over those detentions and for continuing to jail people indefinitely. Again, though, the Trump administration says all it's trying to do is deliver on the president's promise to enforce federal immigration law, despite what it calls activist judges trying to stand in the way. And the White House is not deterred. In fact, it's working on creating much more detention space by buying and converting warehouses, as well as expanding current facilities. The largest detention centers will now have the capacity to hold as many as 10,000 people at a time, mostly those set to be deported. A federal arts commission voted to approve President Trump's planned White House ballroom. It wasn't a huge surprise, since all the members of the Commission of Fine Arts were picked by Trump himself since he returned to office a year ago. The decision came after a single hearing. Despite an ongoing legal case and public backlash, the commission received more than 2,000 comments about the design, far more than it's gotten on any project in its 116 year history. 99% of those comments were negative. They cited concerns about the ballroom project ignoring historic preservation standards, or that there wasn't enough transparency when it came to the funding or contracts. Among other things, the ballroom is said to cost as much as $400 million. President Trump said it will be funded by outside donors and that at this point, it's too late to stop the project. Meanwhile, the administration is working on revamping the presidential jet. The US Air Force released a rendering of the new version of Air Force One this week. It shows it will be painted in the president's preferred red, gold and navy blue color scheme, the same colors that decorate his private jet, referred to as Trump Force One, meaning no more of the robin, egg blue and white design from the Kennedy era. The new design will roll out over the next few months. More news is still coming up, but first, a break for our sponsor. I've realized something about my skincare. It's if it's complicated, I'm not really going to stick with it. And I don't want trendy ingredients that might irritate my skin. I want something that's rooted in science, feels good, and actually fits into my real life. That's why I keep using one Skin. I use their face moisturizer, eye cream and the lip treatment every day. And what stands out to me most is how simple yet effective it is. Everything is clear cut, layers easily, and leaves my skin feeling smoother, more hydrated and just healthier overall. I also love that Oneskin was founded by an all woman team of longevity Scientists with PhDs in stem cell biology and skin regeneration and that it's certified safe for sensitive skin dermatologists, tested and free from over 1500 harsh ingredients, which gives me peace of mind. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin's OS1 peptide is proven to target the visible signs of aging, helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. For a limited time, try OneSkin with 15% off using the code Newsworthy at Oneskin co. Newsworthy that's 15% off OneSkin Co with the code Newsworthy. After you purchase they'll ask you where you heard about them. So please support our show and tell them we sent you. Now back to the news. President Trump is now ordering his government to release any files related to UFOs or extraterrestrial life. Trump made the announcement hours after he accused former President Obama of disclosing classified information when he recently suggested aliens were real. Though remember, Obama later clarified, saying he saw no evidence during his time as president that aliens have made contact with humans, that instead he just believed they likely exist because the universe is so vast. Either way, Trump said the possibility of extraterrestrial life is extremely interesting and important, so he wanted all files made public. President Trump signed an executive order to boost production of the controversial active ingredient in Roundup weed killer. That comes despite ongoing legal battles we told you about this week, as well as concern from the Make America healthy again base. MAHA advocates have long praised Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. For standing up to the makers of Roundup. RFK Jr. Has said the exact chemical is, quote, contaminating the U.S. food supply. But Trump's recent order says that without widespread access to it, American farming could be jeopardized, putting pressure on the food system. So he's supporting more production of the pesticide and legal protection for companies that make it. And now the health secretary says he actually supports it since national security comes first. It's also worth noting Roundup's parent company says its products are safe. At this point, most studies showing the link between the pesticide and cancer have only been done in rats. Still, the EPA is doing an updated review of the chemical safety, and the US Supreme Court is taking up a case later this year about regulations for Roundup's parent company. Stay tuned. For the first time, Amazon's annual sales surpassed every other company in the world, even Walmart. That's held the top spot for more than a decade. It's a milestone the retail giants have seen coming. Over the past decade, Amazon's revenue has increased at almost 10 times the pace of Walmart's, underscoring a shift in customer spending from stores to websites. Of course, there's some crossover too, and Walmart is having more success in e commerce than Amazon is in creating physical stores. But what really puts Amazon over the top is its quickly growing cloud computing business, a business Walmart does not even operate in. Also, despite these impressive sales numbers, Nvidia is still the world's most valuable company with a market capitalization of four and a half trillion dollars. That's more than double Amazon's and more than four times larger than Walmart's. American women have now made history at the Milan Cortina Olympics in figure skating. The self proclaimed Blade Angels made an especially impressive showing on behalf of Team usa. They competed in the individual free skate yesterday, which was their final event, and Alyssa Liu won it all, becoming the first American woman to claim gold in 24 years. In another highly anticipated event, the U.S. women's hockey team also won gold by beating Canada 2 to 1 in overtime of their final match. One of the two points was scored by Hilary Knight, who with that goal became the all time leading scorer in U.S. women's hockey history at the Olympics. Besides breaking that record and winning the gold medal, she has even more to celebrate. This week she got engaged to Olympic speed skater Brittany Bowe. The two actually met for the first time at the 2018 Olympics and went on their first date during the 2022 Olympics. Now, at the 2026 Olympics, there was a proposal. This is the final Olympic Games for both of them and it's almost over. This Sunday is the closing ceremony. Of course there's a lot of competition before then. Team USA is still in contention for more medals in skiing, speed skating, curling, men's hockey and more. That's it for the main news today. So now it's time for Feel Good Friday when we bring you one extra Feel Good or positive news story before the weekend. But first, this episode is sponsored by Home Chef. It's been so great getting Home Chef because I don't have to think about what's for dinner and scramble at the last minute to figure it out. And at the same time, we're getting some great unique meals that I otherwise would never be able to make. Yet with Home Chef, I feel confident in the kitchen. On the menu lately, Pecan crusted salmon with bacon mashed potatoes, then easy chicken Gyros with Tzatziki and Lemon Garlic Naan. Yum. Home Chef has worked with chefs like Gordon Ramsay and there are always new ones to discover to bring restaurant quality recipes straight to your kitchen. I love knowing I'm feeding my family with exciting, delicious and nutritious meals and yet it's still really convenient and fun for me. Other people really love it too. Home Chef is rated number one by users of other meal kits for quality, convenience, value, taste and recipe ease. For a limited time, Home Chef is offering my listeners 50% off, half off and free shipping for your first box, plus free dessert for life. Go to homechef.com newsworthy that's homechef.com newsworthy for 50% off your first box and free dessert for life. Homechef.com newsworthy you must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert okay, now back to Feel Good Friday if one exhibition can teach us anything, it's that there's no shame in defeat. We're talking about the Museum of Personal Failure, a collection of things in people's lives that just did not work out. It all started with one truck driver who creates art projects in his free time. He wanted to connect with others who experienced failure like he felt he did after a couple of breakups. So he put posters around his city of Vancouver that said failure's wanted and submissions poured in. He got so many, he set up the Museum of Personal Failure and made admission free. Some of the items on display included a can of spilled paint, a dress made out of rejection letters, and a blurry photograph. Most artifacts were paired with brief descriptions written by the people who submitted them. Others spoke for themselves, and some actually proved beauty is in the eye of the beholder, like a painting. One artist wasn't satisfied with that, actually got positive feedback once it was seen in a different light. The museum was popular, with visitors saying they found it to be deeply relatable, and some said it reinforced how just trying something is enough reason to celebrate. Thank you so much for listening today. We'll be back tomorrow with our special edition Saturday episode about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and what it will take to end it as the war enters its fourth year. Then we'll be back on Monday with the latest news. For now, have a great weekend.