DAILY NEWS Stream – February 7, 2026

Gaza’s Rafah crossing has partially reopened, allowing small numbers of sick and wounded Palestinians to leave for medical treatment, as a US-brokered cease-fire continues, with negotiations ongoing over future governance arrangements (New York Post)

Laura Fernández wins Costa Rica’s presidency in a decisive first-round victory, positioning herself to continue outgoing President Rodrigo Chaves’ hardline security agenda as the country confronts surging drug cartel-linked violence and broader regional shifts toward conservative leadership (The Guardian)

Tens of thousands of public transport workers across Germany stage a major strike that shuts down buses and trams in about 150 cities as union Verdi presses for shorter shifts, longer rest breaks and higher pay after stalled negotiations, warning of more action if talks on Feb. 9 fail (Reuters)

A former dog-person meat seller in Đồng Nai [Âu Lạc (Vietnam)] says his income has dropped since closing his shop and switching to selling vegetables, but he and his family feel far more at ease after leaving the dog-person meat trade behind (Thanh Niên)

The European Union will introduce a bloc-wide ban on cash payments above €10,000 starting in 2027, replacing national rules with a single limit aimed at curbing money laundering and tax evasion, a shift that will force major purchases across all 27 member states to move to traceable electronic payments (EuroWeekly News)

Researchers in Bangladesh have detected the bat-borne Pteropine orthoreovirus (PRV) in five patients who had Nipah virus-like symptoms but tested negative for Nipah. All had drank fresh date-palm sap which is also a vehicle for transmitting Nipah (Báo Lao Động)

A study finds psychotic disorder diagnoses surged 60% among those aged 14-20 in Canada’s Ontario province between 1997 and 2023, possibly linked to drug use, especially cannabis, and different life stressors (Daily Mail)

Experts warn that millions of Americans overlook subtle prediabetes signs like persistent fatigue, unusual thirst, and temporary blurred vision after sugary meals. Doctors diagnose the condition through specific A1c [three-month average blood sugar levels] or fasting glucose thresholds. Officials urge high-risk individuals to seek regular blood tests, emphasizing that early detection allows for reversal through immediate lifestyle changes (Thanh Niên)

Heart disease remains the state of Arkansas [US]’s leading killer, claiming 8,531 lives in 2024. Health officials warn of signs like: -Chest discomfort -Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach -Shortness of breath - Other indicators: nausea, cold sweat, lightheadedness, or unusual fatigue – especially in women

Emergency services should be contacted immediately for care. Experts recommend lifestyle changes [being active, quitting smoking, etc.], blood pressure management, and learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation [CPR] to address the state’s high mortality rate and save lives (Kark)

Morocco evacuates 50,000 residents from Ksar El-Kebir as severe flooding forces emergency measures. The heavy rains displace half the city but replenish reservoirs, easing a seven-year drought (VOV)

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [OCHA] reports 67% of Afghanistan faces drought and water scarcity. The UN agency urgently seeks US$163.3 million to aid millions lacking safe water and sanitation access (Hasht-e Subh Daily)

Thailand braces for scorching heat as summer [February to May] forecasts predict temperatures exceeding 42°C. The Meteorological Department warns of severe storms and drought starting late February (VTV News)

A volatile new sunspot, AR4366, unleashes an extraordinary barrage of 18 M-class and three X-class flares between February 1 and 2, 2026. The peak X8.3 eruption causes immediate radio blackouts. Experts monitor the region as it turns toward Earth, threatening further severe geomagnetic activity (Thanh Niên)

Millions of residents in New Delhi [India] are going days without clean water as high ammonia levels in the Yamuna River force most of the city’s major treatment plants to shut down, leaving neighborhoods with only brief supplies of foul, discolored water (VTV)

AI [artificial intelligence] is rapidly taking on central decision-making and execution roles in a growing range of industries. Finance is increasingly guided by algorithmic advisers that rebalance portfolios and stress-test investments without emotional bias. Coding is becoming a supervisory job as AI generates, tests, and debugs large portions of software. Scientific discovery is accelerating as machine learning explores vast hypothesis spaces, identifies new materials, and models biological structures. Drug development is being reshaped by AI-designed molecules that reach clinical trials faster by eliminating early-stage failures. Across industries, autonomous digital workers now run support queues, update databases, and manage operations with minimal oversight. And at the top of the stack, small businesses are adopting “AI CEOs”—systems that coordinate sales, marketing, and operations to make rapid, data-driven decisions. The result is a world where speed, scale, and optimization— not headcount—define competitive advantage (AI Uncovered)

Organizers are to launch seven vegan fairs across Wales, UK, in 2026 to promote compassionate living. The free events feature ethical shopping and workshops to reduce environmental impact and animal-people suffering (Nation CYMRU)

UK organic tofu leader The Tofoo Co acquires German seitan maker Topas, owner of the Wheaty brand. The strategic deal expands Tofoo’s protein portfolio and fuels its 2026 European expansion (The Plant Base)

Berlin [Germany] chef Sophia Hoffmann (vegan) celebrates HAPPA’s third anniversary, cementing her Kreuzberg district restaurant as a vegan, zero-waste staple. The milestone highlights her commitment to accessible, climate-friendly dining and community-focused sustainability (The Berliner)

Young Americans drink less as Gen Z prioritizes savings and self-investment, as shown by 24-year-old US law student Sharmarke Mohamud redirecting around US$1,000 monthly from alcohol toward his health, education, and entrepreneurship (Reuters)

A 13-year-old swims four hours to save his family after they drift offshore on kayaks and paddleboards near Quindalup town [Western Australia, Australia]. After reaching shore, he alerts rescuers who later find his mother and siblings clinging to a paddleboard far out at sea (VnExpress)

Seven-year-old San Mengru captures hearts after single-handedly caring for her hospitalized father in Heilongjiang, China. Following millions of online views, the family receives massive donations and reduced medical fees. Her father is now recovered and discharged after the viral ordeal (VnExpress)

Enlightening quote of the day: “Aversion is a form of bondage. We are tied to what we hate or fear. That is why, in our lives, the same problem, the same danger or difficulty, will present itself over and over again in various prospects, as long as we continue to resist or run away from it instead of examining it and solving it.” – The Venerated Enlightened Master Patanjali (vegetarian) (AZ Quotes)

My personality, my body, my story as Amanda was like in that car in the accident, and I was like the best of me was up here with the best parts of these beings. Canadian paramedic Amanda Wideman shares how she believed she was going to die in a car accident and discovered a realm where she was known and loved by beings who had connected with her through many lifetimes.

Amanda was 35 years old, working as a paramedic in a mountainous region of Canada. In 2017, she was the passenger in a car driving on a high mountain road. Another car came into their lane, causing them to lose control and swerve onto the gravel shoulder. The car spun, hit another vehicle, and flipped upside down, landing wheels up with the roof crushed on the concrete guardrail, teetering over the edge of a cliff. As soon as our car lost control, it was a very split second, but I had the 101% belief that we were going to go over the cliff. I had worked as a paramedic in that area for a long time, and it was very well known that if there’s a bad crash, the car just flies over the edge of the cliff. Everyone dies. I closed my eyes, and I leaned back in my seat, and I relaxed all my muscles, and I just decided in that split second, I’m going to die peacefully.

Though the accident lasted only seconds in Earth time, Amanda experienced what felt like a complete pause as she left her body. I first lost my hearing. It was as though someone put earplugs in my ears. My eyes were closed, but there was almost like a deep, denser darkness that kind of set in. And there was a lightness where there was no sensation in the body. There’s no heaviness, density, contraction, tension, all the things that are just so normal to being human. It felt like I was out of the body and floating in this beautifully comfortable, secure, safe, pillowy, feathery black, a contained cave, I guess you could say. And as soon as I got there, I had the deepest sense of peace and just all security, all safety. Everything was suddenly perfect. At first, it was just this real sense of familiarity, the sense of familiarity like I’ve been here before. I’ve been here before, and I’ve passed through this place many times in between lives. It was like a greeting room, almost like a waiting room, a place where you get to be welcomed and reunited.

Amanda then sensed she was surrounded by many beings who knew her intimately. I had this feeling as though I was being surrounded by many. It was like a knowing that I was being surrounded by many, and it felt like a presence, a presence of many, many, many people, or maybe many beings, because I couldn’t quite make them out. It was very dark in there, but I was definitely not alone. And as I started to take that in, and again, this is happening in like a few seconds, but Earth time was paused, and there was this whole situation. I started to feel the emanation, the kind of like telepathic welcome, you could say, of all of these beings, and it was like just so much joy in seeing me and reconnecting with me. There was a sense of familiarity as though I knew all of these beings. Maybe they were soul family. I was known by these beings. These beings knew me more than just, say, one lifetime. These are people, angels, beings that I’ve been connected to through many, many, many, many lives. There was like an unbelievable acceptance and deep knowing of each other that surpassed any kind of human relationship I’ve ever had in this life as Amanda. It was like these people actually know me. It was like they could see inside to my soul, and they could see not just like this life as Amanda, but they could see all of the different characters that I’d ever been. To be seen not just like your physical appearance, but to be like seen at a soul level by so many people that have loved you so many times is like a very overwhelming experience that can change someone’s life forever.

Amanda experienced these beings not as superior, but as equals meeting at the soul level. When I was in that place, it was the higher self, the higher aspect of who I was. My personality, my body, my story as Amanda was like in that car in the accident, and I was like the best of me was up here with the best parts of these beings. It was literally just like the essences of God, the qualities of Divinity in each one of us, although individual and unique. Like, not a bunch of blobs of oneness. Like literally like our stories weave together, and in a higher perspective like that, I could sense like the appreciation for like all of the lives and the circumstances and the relationships that we’d had together in many Earth lives, and just how meaningful it actually all had been to develop our souls. Special to my experience was like a knowing of who I really was beyond my Earth incarnation, knowing that there was actually so much more than just my job, just the things I had done, good or bad, just the way that I looked, just the way that I went about in the world as Amanda, that there was actually just so much more that is part of all my lives, same with everybody else, that goes with us from life to life, which is the soul, and those things are eternal.

Then Amanda was back. Suddenly, I was awake, and I was upside down in my car, looking at upside-down trees going straight down like 700 feet [213 meters], and my hearing started to come back. I could hear metal crunching and crashing, people yelling, and basically, my five senses returned, but I was still pretty blissed out, to be honest. So it was like one of the most dangerous days of my entire life, if not the most, and yet I’m hanging upside down in this car, and I’ve just been like home, or on my way home with this greeting committee from my true home.

The experience completely transformed Amanda’s priorities and her understanding of death. Suddenly, there was really like an extra comfort and an extra trust around the topic of death. All of these shifts started to happen in me. Like I no longer was worried about a lot of the little worries that you worry about in life. Like I just knew that no matter what happened, everything would be OK.

In the year following the accident, I started to make a lot of changes in my life. I started volunteering at a hospice. I wanted to talk to people who were dying. Different preferences started to set in really quickly. I didn’t care so much about accumulating material items, and I didn’t care so much about competition and comparing myself to other people. I ended up leaving my partner in that year. We were just no longer on the same page, and we had been together for 13 years. And then I sold the house, and I gave away and sold most of the belongings in that house. For the next two years, I lived in my RV [recreational vehicle] and spent a lot of time camping.

I know that this experience, even though it was so brief, it changed so many things, and I never really went back to the way that I was before. So still at it, still learning, still growing, but holding on to what I learned in that experience about surrendering, at the moment where something is out of my control and letting go of the outcome as often as possible, and not attaching too tightly to the material world, the physical things of this world, just being grateful for having my needs met. (Life & Beyond)