America Increases Military Power In The Middle East: America has increased its military strength in the Middle East. In the last 24 hours, America has sent more than 50 fighter jets to the area. This step has been taken at a time when new diplomatic talks are going on between America and Iran regarding Tehran’s nuclear program. American officials say that this deployment is to strengthen both air and naval power. Axios first reported this information and a US official confirmed the deployment of the jets.

Independent air surveillance and flight tracking data have recorded multiple F-22, F-35 and F-16 jets in flight. Air refueling tankers have also been seen along with them, indicating readiness for long-term operations. An American official said that more than 50 fighter jets have been sent in the last 24 hours.

Second aircraft carrier strike group on the way

Meanwhile, USS Gerald R. The Ford Aircraft Carrier Strike Group has left the Caribbean and is now in the mid-Atlantic and moving towards the Middle East. A Navy official said that it is accompanied by three guided missile destroyers – USS Mahan, USS Bainbridge and USS Winston Churchill. However, considering its current situation, this group may take more than a week to reach Iran. Already, USS Abraham Lincoln and other significant US naval and air forces have been deployed to the area.

Positive momentum seen in talks

Despite increasing military power, both the US and Iran have adopted an optimistic stance regarding diplomacy. According to American officials, progress has been made in the meeting held in Geneva, but many issues still remain to be discussed. Iranian representatives have said that they will return with a more detailed proposal in two weeks. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the talks as “serious, constructive and positive”. He said that compared to the last meeting, good progress has been made and now a clear path is visible. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who brokered the talks, said the talks ended with good progress and helped identify common goals and technical issues.

New Delhi. There will be a match on Wednesday (February 18) at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo that will decide the fate of Pakistan. It is necessary for Pakistan to win the match against Namibia in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, because in case of defeat, Salman Ali Aga’s team will have to be eliminated from the tournament in the group stage itself. Salman Ali Aga’s team is in a difficult situation after losing its third Group A match against India by 61 runs on Sunday, February 15.

Due to this defeat, Pakistan’s Net Run Rate (NRR) also fell, due to which it has come below America. America is the team which Pakistan had defeated in the first tournament, but now it is above Pakistan in the points table. If Pakistan loses to Namibia, the US will qualify by being tied on four points with a better net run rate as they have also defeated Netherlands and Namibia earlier.

Colombo weather forecast

There is a possibility of cloudy weather during the Pakistan-Namibia match, but there is not much chance of rain. The match will start at 3 pm local time. The temperature will be around 24-28 degrees Celsius, humidity in the area can reach around 80 percent and the wind will blow at a speed of 10-15 km/hour.

What will happen if the match is washed out due to rain?

According to the current situation of the points table in Group A, if the match gets canceled due to rain, Pakistan will reach 5 points. America, which is at second position, has four points. If the match against Namibia is not held, Pakistan will benefit from it. Both teams will be given 1 point each. Just like Australia was out after the match between Zimbabwe and Ireland was washed out due to rain, similarly UAE’s hopes will be dashed.

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Aga (captain), Babar Azam, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq, Fakhar Zaman, Naseem Shah, Salman Mirza, Khawaja Nafay.

Namibia: Lauren Steenkamp, ​​Jan Frylink, Jan Nicol Lofty-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus (c), JJ Smit, Zane Green (wk), Malan Kruger, Ruben Trumpelman, Bernard Scholtz, Ben Shikongo, Max Hingo, Dylan Leichter, Jack Brassell, Jan Balt, Willem Myburgh.

Texas Democrat James Talarico took a swipe at CBS for “selling out” to the Trump administration as the network denied an explosive claim made by its outgoing “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert.

Colbert told viewers Monday his network blocked his interview with Talarico from airing as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) cracks down on its longstanding equal time policy, something CBS itself disputes. 

Fox News Digital previously reported Talarico’s appearance on ABC’s “The View” earlier this month triggered a probe into the daytime talkshow.

“Do you mean to cause trouble?” Colbert asked Talarico in the interview, which was released on the show’s YouTube page.

“I think that Donald Trump is worried that we’re about to flip Texas,” Talarico responded, sparking massive cheers from the liberal audience.

CBS DENIES IT BLOCKED COLBERT FROM BROADCASTING TALARICO INTERVIEW AFTER HOST CLAIMED NETWORK LAWYERS HALTED

CBS denied blocking Stephen Colbert’s interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico from airing amid the FCC’s crackdown of the broadcast networks. (Scott Kowalchyk ©2026 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

“This is the party that ran against cancel culture. And now they’re trying to control what we watch, what we say, what we read. And this is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top,” he continued. “They went after ‘The View’ because I went on there. They went after Jimmy Kimmel for telling a joke they didn’t like. They went after you for telling the truth about Paramount’s bribe to Donald Trump.”

“Corporate media executives are selling out the First Amendment to curry favor with corrupt politicians and a threat to any of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all of our first rights,” Talarico added.

COLBERT FUMES AT CBS, SAYS IT BARRED HIM FROM INTERVIEWING TEXAS DEM AMID FCC CRACKDOWN

Colbert provided a “fact check” to Talarico, citing CBS’ decision to cancel his show as purely a financial one and that he “remains very grateful for the last 11 years.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a CBS spokesperson said, “THE LATE SHOW was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico. The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled. THE LATE SHOW decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”

Representatives for the FCC nor the Talarico campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Talarico accused CBS and others of “selling out the First Amendment” to the Trump administration. (Scott Kowalchyk ©2026 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Last month, the FCC announced it will require the broadcast networks to adhere to the “statutory equal opportunities requirement,” citing the Communications Act of 1934, “including their airing of late-night and daytime talk shows.” The talk shows were previously exempt from the policy when classified as “bona fide” news programs.

The policy requires all legally-qualified candidates who appear on the ballot to receive equal airtime. In Talarico’s case, his Democratic rivals — which are Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett and little-known candidate Ahmad Hassan, should receive the same airtime ahead of the primary in March.

Talarico’s appearance on “The View” marked one of the first candidates to appear on the three broadcast networks since the FCC announced its policy push.

FCC CHAIR BRUSHES OFF KIMMEL, COLBERT OUTRAGE OVER LATEST POLICY PUSH

Talarico’s appearance on “The View” earlier this month triggered an FCC probe into the ABC daytime talk show. (ABC/TheView)

“On my watch, we’re going to enforce this regulation,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr previously told Fox News Digital in an interview. “There’s lots of ways of distributing programming these days that you don’t need to comply with this regulation. If you’re a cable channel, it largely doesn’t apply. If you’re a podcaster, no. If you are a streamer, no.”

Colbert, who called Carr’s policy push an effort to silence him and his liberal colleagues in late night, put his own network on blast for halting the Talarico interview from airing.

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“Let’s just call this what it is — Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV because all Trump does is watch TV, OK? He’s like a toddler who has had too much screen time,” Colbert said, later adding, “”At this point, [Carr has] just released a letter that says he’s thinking about doing away with the exception for late night. He hasn’t done away with it yet, but my network is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had. But I want to assure you, this decision was purely for financial reasons.”

Fox News Digital’s Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.

The cold that started in February in the capital Delhi and the scorching heat within a few days had already surprised the people that now the chances of rain are also visible. On February 17, the highest temperature of this year was recorded in Delhi at 30.9 degrees Celsius, 6.5 degrees above normal, while the minimum was 12.4 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, today on February 18, scattered rains along with strong winds are being predicted. According to India Meteorological Department, the weather may change suddenly in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Changing weather pattern in Delhi-NCR

At present, strong sunshine and mild warmth is being felt in the capital. However, there is a possibility of light rain in the afternoon of 18th February. There may be lightning along with thunder and strong winds at a speed of 30 to 40 kilometers per hour. The Meteorological Department says that rain will cause a temporary drop in temperature and people may get some respite from the heat. But after this there are signs of rapid rise in temperature again.

Alert across the country, chances of snowfall in the mountains

The weather will change in many states in the next 24 to 48 hours, there may be strong winds and rain in some places. Snowfall is also possible in hilly areas. Due to active Western Disturbance, clouds have started appearing in many states. Due to strong sunlight during the day the temperature is being felt high. There is also a possibility of sudden rain, hailstorm and lightning.

Condition of Delhi-NCR and AQI status

Even in Delhi-NCR Season There are signs of change. On February 17, winds blew at a speed of 8 to 10 kilometers per hour. Between February 19 and 23, the maximum temperature is expected to be 27 to 31 degrees and the minimum will be 13 to 15 degrees Celsius. The average AQI recorded in the capital till 4 pm on February 17 was 249, which falls in the poor category, while the air quality at nine monitoring centers was in the very poor category.

Police are arresting 1,000 suspected paedophiles every month as the threat of child sex abuse worsens, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has warned.

Rob Jones, the NCA’s director of general operations, said online groups had resulted in offenders’ behaviour being “rationalised”, as “like-minded” abusers are brought together by algorithms.

While they are collaborating on the dark web, they are using mainstream social media as “discovery” platforms to “identify and abuse vulnerable children”.

And with youngsters increasingly reliant on the internet themselves, they are at even greater risk.

Mr Jones described the situation as “incredibly damaging”, and warned: “We want society to push back and people to confront their offending – that is the opposite of what happens in the online world.”

The amount of material referred to the authorities by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children has roughly doubled over the past three years, according to the NCA.

Arrests have risen from between 500 and 800 per month a few years ago to 1,000.

During a single week in January, the NCA and forces across the UK made 252 arrests, including 118 people who were then charged. Another 35 people were sentenced in court and 407 children were safeguarded.

Offences that are becoming more prevalent include abusers paying on demand for the abuse of children to be livestreamed – sometimes for as little as £20.

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The NCA also warned of “Com groups” – sadistic groups that gamify abuse which were recently highlighted by a special report from Sky News.

Mr Jones said members of these communities “egg each other on” to commit “even more horrendous crimes”.

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‘Sadistic online network of children targeted my son’

Tech companies must ‘act with urgency’

Becky Riggs, the National Police Chiefs’ lead for child protection and abuse investigation, said officers were working “relentlessly” to target abusers.

But she said tech firms must “act with urgency to make their platforms hostile environments for offenders”.

Parents, guardians, carers, and teachers should also learn the signs that a child is being abused.

“The trusted adults around them […] need clear, accessible guidance so they can recognise the signs of harm, have open conversations, and know where to turn for help,” Ms Riggs added.

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PM to go ‘into battle’ against AI chatbots

The NCA’s warning comes after the government announced a sweeping crackdown on tech companies to protect children from illegal content.

It will include measures to eliminate “vile illegal content created by AI”, and could even open the door to an Australia-style age limit on social media, a Number 10 spokesperson said.

FIRST ON FOX: One of the world’s largest and most influential scientific societies held its annual conference last weekend, which a Fox News Digital review found was littered with examples of progressive messaging, criticisms of the Trump administration, and “woke” workshops.

Attendees who showed up at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) event, held at the Phoenix Convention Center from Feb. 12-14, were immediately greeted at registration with identifier stickers that used gender pronouns such as “they/them,” “xi/xer,” “xe/xem,” and other descriptors that critics have alleged have little to do with science and biology.

During the meeting’s opening night, shortly after a 10-minute hoop dance routine from traditional Native American dancers, AAAS CEO Dr. Sudip Parikh told the audience that it’s been a “hard” and “tough year for science and scientists in this country.”

Parikh went on to blame DOGE for the “devastation” of “some of our science agencies” and the “president’s budget request” that “cut science by half” and, in his opinion, amounted to “forfeiting the future.”

DOCTORS ON KEY US HEALTH TASK FORCE ACCUSED OF PRIORITIZING DEI OVER EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE

The 2025 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

“What happened over the course of the last year is a rupture. We’re not going back, it’s not possible, too much damage has been done, too much has changed. There’s an entire generation of scientists that have a scar, a scar that is not going to go away,” Parikh explained, adding that scars can “make us tougher” and “become almost shields” that “build resilience.”

Parikh told the crowd that he warned last year that Robert F. Kennedy Jr was the “wrong person” for Health and Human Services secretary and said, “I still feel that way,” which prompted laughter and applause from the crowd.

“It’s going to take protests, it’s going to take politics, it’s going to take the ability to not speak gibberish, all of that has got to come together if we’re going to fight for the inheritance of the enlightenment to continue to make this world a better place,” Parikh said.

Workshops at the event, which provided gender-neutral washrooms, included a session titled “Mao-Mei Liu: Nurturing Diversity in Science is Resistance,” and another called “Investigating the Role of Race in Clinical Decision-Making.”

“Who Gets to Belong? Disability, Power, and Participation in Higher Education,” another workshop was called. 

TOP MEDICAL SCHOOL MOVED DEI OFFICE TO SECRET LOCATION AS IT TRIES TO ‘EVADE ACCOUNTABILITY’: LEGAL GROUP

The 2026 annual AAAS conference provided guests with an all-gender washroom and gender pronoun stickers. (Fox News Digital)

Dr. Theresa A. Maldonado, a world-renowned expert in electrical engineering, delivered the president’s address at the conference and also lamented what a difficult year 2025 was for science and suggested climate change was responsible for the devastating southern California wildfires last year.

AAAS, the publisher of the highly respected Science magazine, posted several more videos over the course of the next few days, many including speakers who criticized the Trump administration and injected politics into discussions. 

“Colonial Legacies, Climate Crises, and the Erosion of Mobility Choice” was another workshop that scientists at the conference were offered and in an interview with “climate justice scholar” Jola Ajibade, she explained how climate change has benefited a “few wealthy people” while “low-income communities are displaced.”

“At the center of my work is giving a voice but also bringing to the attention of everyone the impact of a slew of climate solutions, the impact of those solutions on low-income communities, on Black communities, on indigenous, on Latino communities as well,” Ajibade explained, adding that she is focused on finding a “decolonial” approach. 

Listed sponsors of the event included the Science Philanthropy Alliance, a group tied to the progressive consulting behemoth Arabella Advisors through the New Venture Fund, a nonprofit that pushes a variety of progressive causes. 

“The whole thing that is sad for me is that when I attended these conferences in the first Trump administration there was plenty of liberal nonsense, but it still was a celebration of science and the achievements of the year, and you left excited,” an event attendee told Fox News Digital.

“This year felt like a funeral, with nothing but griping and moaning. Why would people want to keep coming back year after year with something like that? I suspect that is why their attendance greatly suffered this year compared to the pre-COVID years. Their constant pleas to keep politics out of science are completely undercut by their perpetual whining and endorsing utter craziness. They’re happy for science to be political, as long as it’s leftist.”

Additionally, as lawmakers in the United States continue to warn about the growing threat posed by China and what they believe is the CCP’s infiltration of top institutions in the United States — particularly in the medical and science fields — the AAAS conference opted to allow the Beijing-based research institute Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to operate a booth at the event. 

The state-run Chinese academy, which has faced controversy over its ties to China’s government and military, has collaborated with a Chinese medical technology firm linked to a 2013 U.S. bribery case involving NIH-funded research. The company has also installed equipment in leading American research labs.

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Protesters are seen outside a rally held by President Donald Trump at Macomb County Community College in Warren, Michigan. (Getty Images/Dominic Gwinn)

“The AAAS says that their organization wants to ‘inspire’ future scientists and engineers, but session topics and material from their meeting actually discourage participants from relying on their effort and merit and turns the focus to race and ethnicity,” Johnathan Butcher, acting director of the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. 

“These are the very same kind of racist ideas inspired by DEI that have been prohibited in universities, state governments, and the federal government, because the ideas violate state and federal civil rights laws,” Butcher added. “Policymakers should be aware of what this organization is doing and make sure the association is not promoting racial preferences in hiring, promotion or research awards in academia or anywhere else.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, an AAAS spokesperson said, “A broad spectrum of the scientific enterprise attends the meeting. The topics covered were wide-ranging across scientific disciplines and are proposed by scientists. AAAS respects their First Amendment right to free speech.”