411 stories · Page 14 of 42
On 13 Feb 2026 Washington and Taipei signed the final text of a reciprocal trade agreement that locks U.S. tariffs on Taiwanese goods at 15 % and, in exchange, commits Taiwan to slash or remove almost all tariffs on U.S. products and to buy tens of billions of dollars of U.S. energy, aircraft and power equipment.
On 10 Feb 2026 Washington issued a sweeping general license letting U.S. companies ship equipment and services to start exploring, developing and producing Venezuelan oil and gas—marking the first formal opening of the country’s fields to American operators since sanctions began in 2019.
U.S. headline inflation slowed to 2.4 % year-on-year in January—down from December’s 2.7 %—sending short-term Treasury yields lower and rekindling bets on two Federal Reserve rate cuts later in 2026.
On 11 Feb 2026 the European Parliament, two weeks ahead of schedule, approved a €90 billion joint-EU loan for Ukraine—clearing the way for first disbursements in Q2 2026 and ensuring Kyiv does not run out of cash by April.
On 11 Feb 2026 President Trump signed an executive order compelling the Department of Defense to sign long-term power-purchase deals with U.S. coal-fired plants, reversing their planned retirements and injecting federal demand into a fuel now at a 16 % share of the U.S. grid.
On 11 Feb 2026 Chris Wright became the first U.S. cabinet official to enter Venezuela since Nicolás Maduro’s January capture, hours after Treasury issued General License 48 letting U.S. firms repair the country’s crippled oil infrastructure.
In the same week of February 2026, new data showed China’s emissions dipping amid a 610-km² mega-solar farm, the EU confirmed wind-and-solar overtook fossil power in 2025, while President Trump issued an executive order requiring the U.S. Defense Department to lock in long-term purchases from coal plants and touted fresh export deals.
The Labor Department’s January 2026 release showed employers added 130,000 jobs even as its annual benchmark revision wiped 898,000 positions from last year’s books, slashing 2025 job growth to just 181,000.
On 11 Feb 2026, Energy Secretary Chris Wright arrived in Caracas for a three-day inspection tour, inaugurating Washington’s hands-on $100 billion plan to revive Venezuela’s oil sector only five weeks after U.S. forces ousted Nicolás Maduro.
In less than 24 hours on 9-10 Feb 2026, Alphabet sold about $32 billion in dollar, sterling and Swiss-franc bonds—including a rare £1 billion 100-year tranche—to bankroll a planned $185 billion AI capex surge.
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