What issues immediately
1 Rev. Jesse Jackson dies at 84 — Civil rights icon, MLK protégé, and two-time presidential candidate dies Tuesday morning surrounded by household in Chicago; Trump calls him “a pressure of nature”; public commemorations to be held in Chicago; nation mourns amid politically charged second
2 Geneva twin diplomacy — US-Iran nuclear talks produce “guiding ideas” settlement; Russia-Ukraine Spherical 3 opens underneath shadow of 71-missile, 450-drone in a single day strike; Witkoff and Kushner mediate each tracks from identical metropolis on identical day
3 Carney launches $6.6B Defence Industrial Technique — Canada’s first-ever defence procurement overhaul prioritises home suppliers; targets 70% home procurement share from 33%; 125,000 new jobs over decade; 5% GDP defence goal by 2035
4 Wall Road slides on AI disruption fears — Nasdaq -1%, S&P 500 -0.7% as SaaS shares crater; Danaher acquires Masimo for $9.9B; DHS shutdown Day 4 as Congress on recess; Common Mills cuts 2026 outlook; Nvidia earnings Feb 25 looms; BTC ~$68,500
Vital
Iran — Geneva Nuclear Talks
“Guiding ideas” agreed Tue; Witkoff/Kushner mediate; Iran presents 2-week return with textual content; 2nd service group + 18 F-35s deployed; IRGC Hormuz drills shut lanes; zero enrichment vs curbs hole
Vital
Ukraine — Geneva Spherical 3
Umerov vs Medinsky; 71 missiles + 450 drones in a single day; Odesa devastated; Trump: “come to the desk quick”; territory impasse; June deadline; continues Wed
Escalating
DHS Shutdown — Day 4
Congress on recess till Feb 23; 90% of 272K staff exempt however unpaid; Dems demand ICE physique cameras, use-of-force reform post-Pretti capturing; no indicators of compromise over Presidents’ Day weekend
Tense
US-Canada Commerce & Defence
Carney launches $6.6B “Purchase Canadian” defence technique; 5% GDP by 2035; CUSMA assessment pending; new Chief Commerce Negotiator to US named; strategic autonomy doctrine deepens
The Man Who Made America Look, and the Market That Regarded Away
Jesse Jackson died on Tuesday morning in Chicago, and the nation he spent six many years making an attempt to alter paused, briefly, to acknowledge the loss. He was Martin Luther King’s protégé, the person who stood on that Memphis balcony, the primary Black candidate to show a presidential main into a real contest, the inventor of the Rainbow Coalition as each a metaphor and a political machine. Trump known as him “a pressure of nature.” Sharpton known as him “a motion unto himself.” The tributes crossed partisan traces — as they do for the lifeless — however arrived in a rustic extra divided over the questions Jackson spent his life asking than at any level because the motion he helped lead. In the meantime, the equipment of American energy floor on in Geneva, the place Witkoff and Kushner mediated each the Iran nuclear and Russia-Ukraine tracks from the identical Swiss metropolis — producing “guiding ideas” with Tehran whereas presiding over a horseshoe desk the place Umerov and Medinsky confronted one another beneath the shadow of 521 Russian munitions launched in a single day. Wall Road returned from Presidents’ Day to promote expertise shares with accelerating conviction: the Nasdaq dropped over 1%, the S&P fell under its 50-day transferring common, and the AI disruption thesis — as soon as a progress engine — is now consuming the businesses it was imagined to empower. Oracle, Salesforce, CrowdStrike, AMD: the casualty listing grows weekly. North of the border, Carney unveiled Canada’s most bold defence technique in a era — a $6.6 billion “Purchase Canadian” plan to rework army procurement from 33% home to 70%, with a 5% GDP defence goal by 2035. The message to Washington was unmistakable: Canada is constructing strategic autonomy, not as a result of it needs distance from the US, however as a result of it will possibly now not afford to depend upon it.
CHICAGORev. Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Large and King Protégé, Dies at 84
The Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson, the towering civil rights chief whose ethical imaginative and prescient and fiery oratory reshaped the Democratic Social gathering and American political life, died Tuesday morning on the age of 84. His household confirmed he handed peacefully, surrounded by family members. Jackson had been dwelling with progressive supranuclear palsy and Parkinson’s illness and had been hospitalised since November. Born in Greenville, South Carolina in 1941, Jackson was ordained in 1968 and labored alongside Martin Luther King Jr. till King’s assassination on the Memphis motel balcony the place Jackson stood. He based Operation PUSH in 1971 and later the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which turned a cornerstone of American civil rights organising. His two presidential campaigns — ending third in 1984 and a robust second in 1988, successful 13 states and seven million main votes — registered greater than one million new voters and proved a Black candidate might construct a nationwide coalition. President Trump praised him as “a pressure of nature like few others earlier than him.” Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries known as him “a voice for the unvoiced.” The Rev. Al Sharpton described Jackson as his mentor and “a motion unto himself.” Bernice King posted {a photograph} of Jackson alongside her father with the phrases, “Each now ancestors.” Public commemorations will likely be held in Chicago. Jackson is survived by his spouse Jacqueline and 6 kids, together with former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.
GENEVAWitkoff and Kushner Mediate Twin Negotiations as Geneva Turns into Diplomatic Epicentre
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner mediated each the Iran nuclear and Russia-Ukraine peace tracks from Geneva on Tuesday — a logistical and diplomatic feat with out trendy precedent. On the Iran observe, the second spherical of oblique talks concluded with what Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi known as “a normal settlement on a set of guiding ideas.” Iran supplied to return inside two weeks with detailed proposals. The US maintains its demand for zero enrichment and 0 nuclear weapons; Iran insists on its proper to counterpoint for civilian functions, providing a brief pause slightly than a everlasting ban. The Pentagon has deployed two service strike teams and an extra 18 F-35 fighter jets to the Center East, whereas Iran’s IRGC concurrently carried out naval workout routines within the Strait of Hormuz, closing transport lanes. On the Ukraine observe, Umerov and Medinsky sat throughout a horseshoe desk as Russia launched the biggest mixed aerial strike of 2026 in a single day — 71 missiles and 450 drones throughout 12 Ukrainian areas. Odesa’s DTEK power services suffered what the corporate described as devastation. Trump informed reporters on Air Drive One which Ukraine had “higher come to the desk quick.” The territory impasse persists: Russia calls for the remaining 20% of Donetsk; Kyiv refuses. Navy chiefs are discussing ceasefire monitoring mechanisms. Talks proceed Wednesday.
MONTRÉALCarney Launches Canada’s First Defence Industrial Technique — $6.6B “Purchase Canadian” Overhaul
WALL STREETTech Rout Deepens as AI Disruption Fears Unfold; Danaher Acquires Masimo for $9.9B
US shares fell on Tuesday because the AI disruption thesis broadened past chip makers to engulf SaaS corporations, monetary expertise, and logistics. The Nasdaq 100 dropped greater than 1%, the S&P 500 fell 0.7% and slipped under its 50-day transferring common, whereas the Dow shed roughly 250 factors. Oracle, Intuit, and Salesforce fell between 3% and 5% on fears that AI automation instruments would displace demand for enterprise software program. CrowdStrike plummeted 7% after Mizuho minimize its suggestion. AMD fell greater than 4%. Nvidia, reporting February 25, traded decrease regardless of a bullish notice from Citi projecting outperformance within the second half. The session’s marquee M&A announcement got here from Danaher, which agreed to amass pulse oximetry specialist Masimo for $180 per share in money — a 38% premium — valuing the deal at roughly $9.9 billion together with debt. Masimo shares surged 34%. On the buyer facet, Common Mills minimize its 2026 gross sales outlook, citing “weak client sentiment, heightened uncertainty, and important volatility.” Southwest Airways rose practically 2% after UBS upgraded to Purchase. The ten-year Treasury yield fell to a contemporary two-month low of 4.03%, supporting rate-sensitive sectors whilst expertise bled. Fed minutes Wednesday will likely be intently watched.
WASHINGTONDHS Shutdown Enters Day 4 — Congress on Recess, No Deal in Sight
WASHINGTONRFK Jr. Indicators FDA Will Act on Kessler GRAS Petition — Processed Meals Struggle Escalates
Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed in a CBS “60 Minutes” interview aired Sunday — and amplified by an HHS assertion Monday — that the FDA will act on former Commissioner David Kessler’s petition to revoke the GRAS (Usually Acknowledged as Secure) standing of dozens of processed refined carbohydrates together with corn syrup, excessive fructose corn syrup, and refined flours. The petition, filed final August, argues that the protection classification of those substances relies on outdated knowledge and that they contribute to metabolic illness, weight problems, and hypertension. Kennedy known as the GRAS self-affirmation pathway a “loophole” that had been “hijacked” by meals producers, permitting practically 99% of recent meals chemical compounds since 2000 to enter the availability chain with out FDA assessment. Whereas Kennedy stopped in need of promising to control ultra-processed meals immediately, he mentioned he intends to shut the self-certification pathway if he will get White Home approval. The Client Manufacturers Affiliation mentioned the business “stands able to work with HHS and FDA.” Common Mills’ Tuesday steering minimize — citing weak client sentiment — underscored the enterprise sensitivity of any regulatory tightening.
GAZA / WASHINGTONTrump’s Board of Peace to Pledge $5B for Gaza at Thursday Assembly
President Trump introduced Sunday that members of his Board of Peace initiative will pledge greater than $5 billion for reconstruction or humanitarian efforts in Gaza on the board’s inaugural assembly on Thursday. Trump additionally mentioned members have dedicated hundreds of personnel towards a stabilisation pressure and native police. The announcement comes as Medical doctors With out Borders suspended noncritical operations at Nasser Hospital in Gaza because of what it described as safety breaches, together with armed males within the compound. The hospital disputed MSF’s account, attributing the armed presence to civilian police defending sufferers. The pledges signify the primary concrete monetary dedication from an initiative that had beforehand operated on the rhetorical degree, although particulars on implementation mechanisms, governance, and the position of the Palestinian Authority stay unclear. The Board of Peace met informally on the sidelines of the Munich Safety Convention final week.
A Nation Mourning Whereas Its Markets Right and Its Neighbours Rearm
Tuesday delivered a uncommon convergence of the symbolic and the structural throughout North America. Jesse Jackson’s demise at 84 is the form of loss that transcends politics — the person who stood on the Memphis balcony with King, who proved a Black candidate might win presidential primaries, who coined the Rainbow Coalition as each aspiration and equipment. The tributes crossing partisan traces had been real, however they arrived in a nation whose authorities is partially shut down over the conduct of its immigration brokers, whose markets are within the grip of an AI-driven correction that’s consuming the software program sector from the within, and whose diplomats are concurrently mediating nuclear talks with Iran and peace talks over Ukraine from the identical Swiss metropolis. The Geneva consequence was characteristically uneven: real progress with Iran, the place “guiding ideas” represents probably the most substantive framework because the JCPOA, and grinding stalemate on Ukraine, the place Russia launched 521 munitions in a single day whereas its negotiator sat on the horseshoe desk. Trump’s demand that Ukraine “come to the desk quick” lands in a different way when Odesa’s power grid is in rubble. Wall Road’s response to all of this was to promote tech. The Nasdaq’s 1% decline prolonged a sample that has remodeled the AI narrative from progress catalyst to existential menace: Oracle, Salesforce, CrowdStrike, AMD — the rotation out of software program and into rate-sensitive worth performs is accelerating. The ten-year Treasury at 4.03% suggests the bond market is pricing a Fed that might want to act earlier than the labour market deteriorates additional. North of the border, Carney’s Defence Industrial Technique is probably the most consequential Canadian coverage announcement of the 12 months: $6.6 billion, 125,000 jobs, a 70% home procurement goal, and a 5% GDP defence dedication by 2035. The strategic autonomy doctrine he articulated at Davos is now backed by concrete industrial coverage and a brand new institutional structure. The CUSMA assessment will decide whether or not this imaginative and prescient survives contact with the White Home’s transactional actuality. The week forward is dense with catalysts: Fed minutes Wednesday, SCOTUS opinion dates beginning Thursday, the Board of Peace’s $5 billion Gaza pledge, Walmart earnings, Core PCE on Friday, and Nvidia on the twenty fifth. However Tuesday’s lesson is already instructive: America can mourn a civil rights big, conduct dual-track diplomacy, and watch its tech sector right concurrently — and the system, for all its fractures, continues to perform. The query is whether or not functioning is identical as working.
USA & Canada Intelligence Temporary
Tuesday Version · February 17, 2026
