February 24, 2026
Mexican authorities say Jalisco cartel boss Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera died after a raid. Suspected operatives from El Mencho’s cartel launched coordinated reprisals, prompting shelter‑in‑place alerts. 🇲🇽 Fallout from cartel violence for Mexico residents and tourists
Much of the Northeastern U.S. is buried in snow after a record-setting bomb-cyclone nor’easter hammered the region on Sunday and Monday. ❄️ How the storm has impacted travel and where it has wiped out power
President Trump will deliver the State of the Union tonight. It’s a key moment for Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
🇺🇸 What the White House says we can expect from the president’s address
Read on for more on the Meta-AMD deal, new tariffs, and how you can stay in the “Heated Rivalry” cottage. Stay up-to-date on developing stories in the Particle app.
Meta will buy AI chips from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to help power the social media giant’s data centers. The multi-year deal will give Meta the opportunity to acquire up to 10% of AMD’s stock. ➡️ What the Meta-AMD deal means for Nvidia and the rest of the booming AI chip market
Anthropic is accusing three Chinese AI labs of creating 24,000 fraudulent accounts to generate more than 16 million exchanges with Claude to train rival systems. ➡️ Anthropic’s plea to the government to prevent Chinese companies from distilling American AI models
A new Pew survey reveals a sizable gap between how many teens use AI chatbots versus how many parents think their teens use AI chatbots. ➡️ Details on how teens are using these chatbots and experts’ push for parents to learn more about the technology
After the Supreme Court ruled that President Trump exceeded his authority when he bypassed Congress to impose global tariffs, Trump used another law to replace the voided measures with a 10% tariff on most imports. ➡️ How American companies and trade partners are responding
A new round of indirect negotiations between the U.S. and Iran is slated for Thursday in Geneva. President Trump said he prefers a deal but warned Iran of a "very bad day" if talks fail. ➡️ Iran’s threatened retaliation to any strike
It’s been four years of war between Russia and Ukraine. More than a dozen senior European officials traveled to Kyiv for commemorations. ➡️ Where U.S.-brokered peace negotiations stand
A call between President Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel from the locker room after the USA men’s hockey team won gold at the Winter Olympics has gone viral. In it, Trump invites the men’s team to the State of the Union, then jokes that he has to invite the women’s team (who won gold, too) unless he wants to be impeached. ➡️ Why the women’s hockey team declined their SOTU invitation
Speaking of hockey… You will soon be able to live out your “Heated Rivalry” dreams. The Barlochan Cottage Hits Airbnb next month. ➡️ How to score a stay at Shane Hollander’s cottage
“Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model” came out on top in its first week streaming: It ranked as Netflix’s number one TV title from Feb. 16-22. ➡️ All the fallout from bold claims made by Tyra Banks, judges, contestants, and producers in the docuseries