DAILY NEWS Stream – February 20, 2026

US President Donald Trump announces that member states of His recently formed Board of Peace plan to pledge more than US $5 billion in humanitarian and reconstruction aid for Gaza (Fox News)

A Taiwanese (Formosan) delegation led by Representative Harry Tseng visits the Haida Gwaii archipelago [Canada] to explore Indigenous-tourism cooperation with local Haida leaders, highlighting shared economic initiatives and growing interest in cultural, ecological and Mandarin-language tourism links between Taiwan (Formosa) and Canada (Taiwan News)

China begins allowing visa-free entry for ordinary-passport holders from the UK and Canada starting Feb. 17, 2026, permitting stays of up to 30 days for travel, business, family visits or transit as part of Beijing’s push to expand people-to-people exchanges and bilateral cooperation (Báo Tin tức)

Nearly four years into the Ukraine (Ureign) conflict, Russia’s oil-export revenues fall to a five-year low as tightening Western sanctions, reduced Indian buying and new European Union restrictions push down the price of Urals crude — Russia’s main export-grade oil — and force Moscow to rely on higher taxes and domestic borrowing to fill its budget gap (VnExpress)

Human rights groups warn that Iran is operating secret “black box” detention sites where thousands of people are held off-record, tortured and effectively disappear (Fox News)

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong urges Singaporeans to actively renew the nation’s hard-won multicultural harmony as He uses His Lunar New Year message to highlight shared values and the need to strengthen social cohesion across generations (Channel News Asia)

Larry the cat-person marks 15 years at 10 Downing Street, continuing his role as the UK’s longtime “Chief Mouser” through six prime ministers and becoming a symbol of stability amid political change (VnExpress)

Âu Lạc (Vietnam) cultural experts explain the meaning behind traditional New Year wishes for the Year of the Horse, highlighting how expressions such as “Mã đáo thành công” — literally “When the horse arrives, success follows” — symbolize speed, strength, decisive beginnings and swift achievement (Thanh Niên)

Countries across East and Southeast Asia — including China, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan (Formosa) and Âu Lạc (Vietnam) — welcome the Year of the Horse with parades, lantern festivals and family reunions, as millions travel home for Lunar New Year celebrations (France 24)

A fast-spreading measles outbreak in northeast London [UK] is affecting children under 10 in Enfield, with several hospitalized, as health officials report low local MMRV [Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Varicella (chickenpox)] vaccine uptake and warn that upcoming Easter travel could help the virus spread more widely across the city (The Guardian)

Swedish health experts report that far fewer young children die from congenital heart defects as improved prenatal ultrasound detection and concentrated specialist care dramatically raise survival rates, with 97% of affected children now reaching adulthood (Sweden Herald)

A US nationwide recall is issued for one lot of Initiative Foods’ “Tippy Toes” Apple Pear Banana baby fruit purée after federal testing finds elevated levels of the toxin patulin, with the Food and Drug Administration reporting no illnesses as consumers are advised to discard or return products marked “BB 07/17/2026” and code “INIA0120” (Fox Business)

McKinney, Texas [US], skyrockets cardiac arrest survival from 10% to 47% by syncing police and fire response. Following Seattle [US]’s model, the city deploys hundreds of AEDs [Automated External Defibrillators] to neighborhoods, aiming to become a premier “4-minute city” [AEDs are never more than four minutes away from any cardiac event].

Proactively changing postures and using support accessories helps you eliminate neck and lower back pain throughout your long-distance train or car journey. Traditional Medicine expert Dr. Huỳnh Tấn Vũ of Âu Lạc (Vietnam) recommends packing light, using C-shaped pillows, and placing lumbar support to maintain natural spinal curvature. Choose aisle seats for easy movement, recline slightly to reduce disc pressure, and apply warm compresses or massages for post-trip recovery (VnExpress)

A Columbia University [US] study reveals that accidental drug overdoses, homicides, and suicides now lead US maternal deaths [pregnant and post-partum], exceeding medical causes like hemorrhage. With firearms involved in more than 75% of violence cases, researchers urge a shift toward multidisciplinary care and improved mental health and safety screenings (SciTech Daily)

Pacific storms slam California [US] with extreme snowfall, dumping up to 2.4 meters in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, creating dangerous travel conditions. Additionally, flash flood risks have prompted evacuation warnings near Los Angeles County burn scar areas (The Watchers)

Cyprus enforces strict water cuts, with farmers required to lessen irrigation by 30%, as the island battles its worst drought since 1901, with reservoirs dropping to critical lows amid soaring temperatures (The Guardian)

Deadly avalanches strike the Alps, derailing a train in Switzerland and claiming lives of skiers in France and Italy as heavy snow creates dangerously unstable conditions (The Guardian)

Indonesia takes emergency action to protect the critically endangered Mahakam dolphin-people as officials suspend polluting companies, designate new conservation villages and push cross-sector coordination after monitoring shows the river population has fallen to just 62 animal-individuals (Antara News)

Healthful plant-based diets reduce breast cancer risk by 11% and mortality by 28%. Researchers identify key micronutrients as vital factors in lessening cancer risk and improving survival outcomes for women, according to journal Frontiers in Nutrition (News-Medical.Net)

Vegan brands like NOMO, Ombar, and Moo Free launch their largest-ever UK Easter collections months early for 2026. Available at major British supermarkets, the ranges feature innovations like Crispy Toffee filling eggs and “world-first” vegan coffee eggs, meeting high demand for inclusive treats (Plant Based News)

Brazilian researchers develop a tara fruit and seaweed biopolymer that shields hair from heat and pollution. The vegan film improves shine and smoothness, though it slightly alters natural keratin elasticity (American Chemical Society)

Ukrainian (Ureignian) police and volunteers rescue 19 horse- and two dog-people, along with several puppies, and their caregiver from a dangerous Kharkiv frontline. Now at the Kharkiv Hippodrome, the animal-persons receive care and rehabilitation from local animal charity Animals 911 Ukraine (Mezha)

Florida [US] driver Casey Curtis rescues a mother and three children after their Jeep flips upside down into an Indiantown canal. Curtis pulls the children to safety and performs life-saving rescue, breathing into their unresponsive mother before first responders arrive (MySunCoast)

The Tân Phú Commune Military Command in Đồng Nai Âu Lạc (Vietnam) distributes over 10 tons of free donated vegetables. This “zero-cost” stall supports struggling families during the Lunar New Year, providing essential produce like pumpkins and tomatoes (Thanh Niên)

Uplifting quote of the day: “This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble.” Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) Renowned German composer and Pianist of the Classical period (BrainyQuote)

I’m no longer on the ceiling, but I’m in this white tunnel. And I was on my back, feet first, in this tunnel, all bright white light. And I could see it very, very bright at the end. And I heard that humming vibration sound again. And I felt nothing but joy. And I felt like I’m going home. I’m going home. Like I was excited to get to the end. In Part 1 of 2 of Connie Fusella’s near-death experiences, the American psychic medium shares how she says she died three times— and how she came to believe these experiences were meant to awaken her to her spiritual purpose.

Connie began seeing and hearing spirits at age four. She saw an old man in her basement and thought her stuffed animal was talking to her, though she was actually hearing spirits. When she started grade school, these abilities stopped, but she always had a knowing— she just knew things. This served her well through school, allowing her to ace tests without studying.

Her first near-death experience came in her early twenties from an allergic reaction to medication. At work in the middle of summer, coworkers kept commenting on how much sun she had gotten. When she looked in the bathroom mirror, she was beet-red and blotchy. She started having trouble breathing, and a coworker found her gasping for air on the bathroom floor and called 911.

I remember getting kind of checked in, and the next thing you know is I find myself in this big white space, kind of like the background I’m in right now, but it was very bright and glowing and no ceilings, floors, windows, walls, just a white space. And I was kind of floating in that space with my legs crossed in front of me, kind of sitting, even though there was no floor. And I kept hearing this, like this, I call it white noise, like this humming vibration sound that just went through my whole body. And all of a sudden, this nonhuman entity, this very tall being, walked towards me, all illuminated in light, and put this very big book in my lap. And as I looked down at the book, it just opened up, and the pages started flipping. And I could see from the time I was born till the present day, and I saw all memories and the people I interacted with and those emotions that I felt, and so everything — it was calm, it was beautiful, it was peaceful, I felt love, and then when it came to the present day I came out of it.

At the hospital, Connie says she had gone into anaphylaxis. When she told her mother about the “dream,” she described events from under age three with vivid detail—what was on the dining room table, what painting hung on the wall, who was there, what they wore. Her mother validated that these were real memories. This was the mid-1980s, and Connie had no idea she had experienced a near-death experience in the form of a life review.

After this first near-death experience, Connie started experiencing frequent episodes of sleep paralysis. She would see her spirit form rise out of her body and try to pull her physical body upward, hearing that white noise vibration sound and a voice repeating, “You need to raise yourself up.” Years later, as a medium, she understood this message— to connect with the afterlife, she needed to raise her vibration.

Her second near-death experience came a couple of years later. After arriving at work in New York City, she began feeling unwell— sweaty, clammy, dizzy, with a racing heart. Her coworker alerted her manager, who immediately called the company’s car service to rush her to the hospital. As I’m in the back of the car, my heart is like pounding and pounding. And I just knew I was going to go. I just felt it. And I took out a napkin that I had in my pocketbook and I wrote my parents’ names and the phone number on it and my coworker had come with me in the back of the car and I told her, “Call my parents and tell them that I love them,” because I thought, “I’m not going to make it.”

And so we get to the hospital, and I remember, people coming out, getting on a stretcher, being wheeled into the emergency room, and all lights and beeping and everybody all around me. And then the next thing you know is I’m floating on the ceiling in spirit form, watching my body on the stretcher and watching them stick the IV [intravenous line] in me, doing all sorts of stuff. And as I’m watching, I see the doctor grab the defibrillator paddles off the wall, and then he starts shocking my body and I see my body jumping off the table.

And then all of a sudden, I’m no longer on the ceiling, but I’m in this white tunnel. And the tunnel I always describe, if anybody’s had an MRI [magnetic resonance imaging scan], a closed MRI, that’s what it felt like to me. It was small for me. I was very enclosed in it. And it felt like if you’ve ever been to like Disney World, like a simulation ride, like kind of going like that, where you’re going fast, but you’re actually going slow type of feeling. And I was on my back, feet first, in this tunnel, all bright white light, and I could see it very, very bright at the end. And I was excited. And I heard that humming vibration sound again. And I felt nothing but joy. And I felt like I’m going home. I’m going home. Like I was excited to get to the end. As I got closer to the end, my feet sunk into that very, very bright light, which I call the glow. They kind of just imprinted in. And at that moment, it was like whoop. I got like zipped back and the defibrillators finally worked.

Connie’s near-death experiences didn’t end there. Another would take her somewhere entirely different. And the next thing you know, I’m in these rolling clouds, and then the clouds move away. I’m in this beautiful green meadow and beautiful flowers. The sun is bright. Everything is high-intensity color, just beautiful. Join us tomorrow for Part 2 of 2 of Connie Fusella’s near-death experiences. (IANDS Podcast)