Carney poaches Conservative MP, putting a majority within reach

 POLITICO 

Floor-crossing hands Pierre Poilievre a fresh embarrassment — and raises new questions about his grip on Conservative caucus.

By Mickey Djuric      02/18/2026 

OTTAWA — Canada’s Conservatives continue to bleed seats to Mark Carney’s Liberals, who are another step closer to forming a majority government.

No Breakthrough: U.S.-brokered trilateral talks in Geneva confirm the chasm between Moscow and Kyiv

The Greek Courier

Sources: BBC, France 24

The U.S.-brokered trilateral talks in Geneva between Russia, Ukraine, and the U.S. concluded without a significant breakthrough, confirming the deep divisions between Moscow and Kyiv, reports Laura Gozzi from the BBC. After the trilateral session, Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky met privately with the Ukrainian side for about 90 minutes, with no details released.

Is Iowa the Senate Race No One Saw Coming?

by Philip Elliott,

Senior Correspondent

Feb 17, 2026

Something might be happening in Iowa

Despite its reputation as a solidly Republican state, Iowa is increasingly coming up in conversations of Senate races to watch this year. And that glimmer of optimism is playing out in the fight for the Democratic nomination, which saw a significant shift Monday evening, with one of three contenders announcing he was stepping aside and endorsing state Rep. Josh Turek, a paralympian gold medalist and state lawmaker.

Fact-checking speculation that Nancy Guthrie's abduction is linked to the Epstein files

This article originally appeared on PolitiFact.
By Maria Briceño, PolitiFact

After Nancy Guthrie's Feb. 1 abduction from her Tucson, Arizona, home, her daughter "Today" host Savannah Guthrie put out a call on social media for tips on her mother's whereabouts, pleading for her safe return.

20% of U.S. jobs are highly vulnerable to robots and automation, economists say

By Megan Cerullo
February 17, 2026 / 3:31 PM EST / CBS News
Robots and other automation technologies could replace 20% of U.S. jobs over the next two decades, according to economists.

Judge declares mistrial during jury selection in Prairieland ICE shooting case

By Emerson Clarridge

Updated February 17, 2026, 6:01 PM

U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman on Tuesday declared a mistrial after a defense attorney wore a T-shirt on which there were photos of Civil Rights Era protesters while questioning potential jurors in the trial of nine defendants indicted in connection with a shooting at a North Texas ICE detention center.

Mamdani floats increasing New York City property taxes as part of $127B budget plan

The mayor says increased property levies could be harmful, but argues they’ll be necessary if the state doesn’t enact 

a new tax on millionaires

By Chris Sommerfeldt and Joe Anuta

02/17/2026

NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani proposed raising New York City’s property taxes Tuesday as part of this year’s budget — the democratic socialist’s latest gambit to pressure Albany to hike taxes on the wealthy.

Scientists Spotted Particles in Another Dimension. They Could Change Fundamental Physics.

In our 3-dimensional space, elementary particles neatly filter into either bosons or fermions. But in lower dimensions, that distinction gets a bit murky.

BY DARREN ORF

Published: Feb 17, 2026 

CBS Didn’t Want Colbert to Talk to This Democratic Candidate. He Did It Anyway.

• 

  Katie Herchenroeder

  Contributing WriterBio

This is the party that ran against cancel culture,” Texas state Rep. James Talarico said about the Trump administration.

Executives at CBS News made it clear to Late Show host Stephen Colbert: he wasn’t to interview Texas state Rep. James Talarico last night, nor was he to discuss how he wasn’t supposed to talk to the Democratic US Senate hopeful. But Colbert, who only has months left of his tenure on the show after being ousted by Paramount Global, didn’t listen.

NAACP Honors the Life and Legacy of Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., A Son of the Movement

Press Statement February 17, 2026
Rev. Jesse Jackson
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 17, 2026
Contact: Chyna Fields, cfields@naacpnet.org

WASHINGTON – The NAACP mourns the passing of Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., a transformative leader whose life's work is deeply woven into the history, mission, and enduring impact of our Association and the nation.

Companies set to unleash sweeping price hikes thanks to Trump

💵💵💵

Levi Strauss and Columbia Sportswear are among those citing the president as a reason they are raising prices.

Ewan Palmer 

Reporter

Updated Feb. 16 2026 5:34PM EST Published Feb. 16 2026 8:29AM EST 

Companies have been forced to implement price hikes as businesses across the country are affected by Donald Trump’s sweeping import tariffs.

Hunter S. Thompson "Big Sur: The Tropic of Henry Miller"

By Hunter S. Thompson

"Big Sur: The Tropic of Henry Miller"

Originally published Oct. 1961, 

Rouge magazine 

"If half the stories about Big Sur were true, the vibrations of all the orgies would have collapsed the entire Santa Lucia mountain range, making the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah seem like the work of a piker. And, if justice were done, a whole army of tourists and curiosity-seekers would perish, too.

Signal sniffer to detect Nancy Guthrie's pacemaker deployed, sources say

Story by Emily Mae Czachor
February 16, 2026

A device that could detect signals emitted from Nancy Guthrie's pacemaker is among the tools investigators are using as their search for her continues into its third week, law enforcement sources told CBS News.

China's Lunar New Year travel rush is world's biggest annual migration

By Reuters

February 15, 20265:04 PM PST

Updated February 15, 2026

BEIJING, February 16 - Hundreds of millions of people criss-cross China during Lunar New Year holidays each year to reunite with families in their hometowns or for sight-seeing in an extended festive period, making it the world's largest annual human migration.

Let the revelry begin: Rio mayor hands city’s key to King Momo as Carnival kicks off

Rio’s raucous Carnival kicks off in Brazil for 5 days of partying. City Hall expects about 6 million revelers to participate in the street parties, where groups made up of musicians, percussionists and stilt artists draw thousands of partygoers, many scantily dressed and covered in glitter.

By ELÉONORE HUGHES Associated Press
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The mayor of Rio de Janeiro gave King Momo the key to the Brazilian city on Friday, ushering in the symbolic Carnival monarch’s five-day reign over the festivities.

While MAGA faces challenges at home, Rubio seeks to export it abroad

Analysis by Stephen Collinson

President Donald Trump often seems frustrated that many Americans don’t appreciate that they are living in his “golden age.”

But that’s not stopping him from trying to export his ideology by intervening in politics and elections abroad to promote or preserve right-wing populist leaders. This explains Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s mission this week to bolster Hungary’s pro-Russia Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ahead of April’s general election.

You *Can* Do Something To Hurt the Oligarchs

Boycotts, strikes, and the Abstinence Fallacy

Jonathan V. Last

Feb 16, 2026

Warning: If you still have vestigial conservative leanings, I’m going to stretch your tolerance today. It’s not super comfortable for me, either. Let’s go.

Trump warns Iran of consequences ahead of Geneva nuclear talks

 

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah and an Iranian opposition figure, delivers a speech accompanied by his wife Yasmine Pahlavi, during a demonstration organised by The Munich Circle, against the Iranian government under the motto 'Freedom for Iran', during the Munich Security Conference (MSC), in Munich, Germany, February 14, 2026. © Thilo Schmuelgen, Reuters

MIDDLE EAST

President Donald Trump cautioned Iran over potential repercussions if it fails to reach a deal with the United States, as negotiations mediated by Oman resume in Geneva. Tehran expressed cautious optimism over Washington’s “more realistic” stance on its nuclear programme.