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Police arrest 18-year-old suspect for allegedly running at U.S. Capitol with shotgun - Axios

2026-02-17T20:54:58.000Z

The U.S. Capitol Police arrested a person with "what appears to be a gun" near the Capitol, according to an email sent out to congressional offices.

What they're saying: "Our officers just arrested an unnamed person with what appears to be a gun near the West Front of the U.S. Capitol building," says the email, copies of which were obtained by Axios.

The email advised staff to "avoid the area."

The latest: The Capitol Police said in a subsequent post on X that they have temporarily closed several streets near the Capitol as they investigate.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Password managers' promise that they can't see your vaults isn't always true - Biz & IT – Ars Technica

2026-02-17T20:43:01.000Z

Over the past 15 years, password managers have grown from a niche security tool used by the technology savvy into an indispensable security tool for the masses, with an estimated 94 million US adults—or roughly 36 percent of them—having adopted them. They store not only passwords for pension, financial, and email accounts, but often cryptocurrency credentials, payment card numbers, and other sensitive data.

All eight of the top password managers have adopted the term “zero knowledge” to describe the complex encryption system they use to protect the data vaults that users store on their servers. The definitions vary slightly from vendor to vendor, but they generally boil down to one bold assurance: that there is no way for malicious insiders or hackers who manage to compromise the cloud infrastructure to steal vaults or data stored in them. These promises make sense, given previous breaches of LastPass and the reasonable expectation that state-level hackers have both the motive and capability to obtain password vaults belonging to high-value targets.

A bold assurance debunked

Typical of these claims are those made by Bitwarden, Dashlane, and LastPass, which together are used by roughly 60 million people. Bitwarden, for example, says that “not even the team at Bitwarden can read your data (even if we wanted to).” Dashlane, meanwhile, says that without a user’s master password, “malicious actors can’t steal the information, even if Dashlane’s servers are compromised.” LastPass says that no one can access the “data stored in your LastPass vault, except you (not even LastPass).”

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4 Inputs Driving the Rising Cost of Rebuilding - Visual Capitalist

2026-02-17T19:39:13.000Z

Published

56 seconds ago

February 17, 2026

Julia Wendling

Graphics & Design

Athul Alexander

4 Inputs Driving the Rising Cost of Rebuilding

Key Takeaways

The cost of disaster recovery have surged since 2019, driven by higher material and labor prices.
Construction inflation is structural, not temporary, with rebuilding now far more expensive even after supply chains normalized.
Higher costs widen the recovery gap, increasing insurance exposure and long-term economic loss after disasters.

Rebuilding after disasters, from hurricanes and floods to wildfires and tornadoes, is becoming significantly more costly across America. Which inputs are driving this trend?

This visualization, created in partnership with Inigo, provides visual context to the rising cost of rebuilding, using data from FRED.

Why Rebuilding Is Getting More Expensive

According to Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), prices for key construction inputs for new houses and buildings have climbed sharply since 2019. Fabricated metals are up 46.8%, cement 47.4%, and labor costs 31.5%.

Input	Change since Jan 2019 (%)
Fabricated metals	46.8
Cement	47.4
Lumber	26.5
Labor	31.5

While the pandemic initially triggered these increases through supply chain disruptions and shortages, prices have remained elevated due to sustained demand for skilled labor, climate-driven rebuilding, and ongoing geopolitical tensions.

What This Means for Property Risk

These higher costs are reshaping recovery timelines and insurance exposure. In many cases, federal requirements (such as rebuilding to current codes to qualify for FEMA funding) push costs even higher.

For property risk teams, the implication is clear: each insured dollar now rebuilds less than it did just a few years ago. That widening recovery gap amplifies the economic impact of every disaster, making accurate valuation, coverage limits, and risk pricing more critical than ever.

Explore the data behind emerging global property risks.

After Super Bowl ad, consumers rethink the tradeoffs of home surveillance tech - Axios

2026-02-17T18:48:08.000Z

Sentiment around widely used home surveillance tools is souring as high-profile cases reveal just how deeply law enforcement can tap the data they generate.

Why it matters: What once felt like a personal security upgrade now feels to many like participation in a broader law enforcement apparatus they didn't sign up for.

New AI advancements have made it easier to search, cross-reference and retain massive amounts of video and license plate data, raising the stakes of what once felt like localized neighborhood tools.

Driving the news: A Super Bowl ad for Amazon's Ring doorbell camera touting the ability of the device's new Search Party feature to locate lost dogs has spurred widespread backlash.

But many viewers assumed the tool was also able to track and identify people who walk by their front doors.
Customers posted about destroying their Ring doorbell cameras. Reddit users claimed they were requesting refunds from Amazon.
Even a popular social media account that rates dog photos posted a video accusing the company of pushing a "lucrative mass surveillance network" that turns "private homes into surveillance outposts."

In a statement, Ring spokesperson Yassi Yarger said that the company is focused on "giving camera owners context about critical events in their neighborhoods," and that Search Party "doesn't process human biometrics or track people" and is only designed to track lost dogs.

"Camera owners have always been able to share their videos with others if they choose," Yarger said. "We're using AI to give camera owners relevant context about when sharing might help those in their community — while keeping that choice in their hands, not ours."

By the numbers: In the week after the ad aired, nearly 50% of the social media conversations about Ring were considered negative, vs. 14% that were positive, according to data shared by PeakMetrics.

The big picture: The Super Bowl ad came at a time of simmering concerns around the partnerships personal surveillance tools have with law enforcement.

Earlier this week, FBI Director Kash Patel said agents investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie were able to "actually excavate material that people would think would normally be deleted and no one would look for" from her Nest smart doorbell camera.
Flock Safety, the AI-powered license plate reader that's been rapidly expanding across American cities, is reportedly allowing ICE to tap into its databases — prompting some cities to postpone or cancel their contracts. On Thursday, Amazon canceled its partnership with Flock Safety. The companies said the partnership would "require significantly more time and resources than anticipated." "This integration was never live, and no videos were ever shared between these services," Yarger said.
Protesters have also been calling on Palantir, which provides AI surveillance technologies, to end its contracts with ICE. (Palantir CEO Alex Karp has argued that protesters should be "protesting for more Palantir.")

Catch up quick: For years, consumers largely accepted the privacy tradeoffs that came with internet-connected cameras.

Law enforcement has been using footage from the devices to aid investigations for years. Some deals allow users to voluntarily share their videos with law enforcement, and others require officials to submit formal legal requests.
But despite the privacy concerns, adoption of doorbell cameras has continued to rise across the United States as users seek to protect their homes from break-ins and other crimes.
The same month in 2019 that reports found that hackers were breaking into Ring doorbells, the company reported record sales.
Flock Safety, which was founded in 2017, is in more than 6,000 communities and cities across the United States, according to a company fact sheet.

The other side: Law enforcement argues these technologies help to speed up criminal investigations.

While announcing the Flock partnership cancellation, Ring reiterated that users have full control over whether they want to share specific videos with law enforcement.
The blog post also included a celebration of those who opted to share videos in response to the December shooting at Brown University. "One video identified a new key witness, helping lead police to identify the suspect's vehicle and solve the case," the company wrote.

Yes, but: Privacy advocates have argued the data shared through surveillance technologies are being used in some cases to prosecute protesters and surveil activists.

What to watch: Even as some consumers ditch the technologies, the surveillance ecosystem they helped build isn't going away.

Go deeper: Protesters go digital against ICE

Visualized: How Cyberattackers Gain Access - Visual Capitalist

2026-02-17T18:46:38.000Z

Published

13 minutes ago

February 17, 2026

Ryan Bellefontaine

Graphics & Design

Abha Patil

How Cyberattackers Gain Access

Key Takeaways

Identity weaknesses show up in 90% of Unit 42 investigations, so identity is a top control point.
Identity-driven techniques drive 65% of initial access, led by social engineering and credential misuse.
Excess permissions and token abuse help attackers move faster, so least privilege and session hardening matter.

Most breaches don’t start with a rare software exploit. Instead, attackers often gain access by taking over identity and using it like a master key.

This graphic, in partnership with Unit 42 by Palo Alto Networks, shows how cyberattackers gain access by exploiting identity paths, based on data from Unit 42 incident-response investigations.

Identity Is the Practical Perimeter

Here is a table that summarizes the main identity-driven routes attackers use to gain access.

Initial Access 1	Initial Access 2	Initial Access 3	Percentage
Other	Other	Other	35%
Identity-based techniques	Identity-based social engineering	Identify-based phishing	22%
Identity-based techniques	Identity-based social engineering	Other social engineering	11%
Identity-based techniques	Credential misuse and brute force	Credential misuse	13%
Identity-based techniques	Credential misuse and brute force	Brute force	8%
Identity-based techniques	Identity policy and insider risk	Insider threats	8%
Identity-based techniques	Identity policy and insider risk	IAM misconfigurations	3%

In the past year, Unit 42 found identity weaknesses played a material role in 90% of investigations. As SaaS and cloud use grow, identity now acts as the perimeter.

Here, “identity-driven” specifically means abusing credentials, sessions, multi-factor workarounds, or permissions to look legitimate. Because that activity blends in, defenders often lose precious time.

The Way In: Identity-Driven Initial Access

Identity-based techniques drive 65% of initial access in Unit 42’s casework. However, many organizations still focus more on patching than authentication, and many still repeat common cybersecurity mistakes that attackers exploit.

Social engineering leads at 33%, including phishing designed to bypass MFA and hijack sessions. Meanwhile, credential misuse and brute-force attacks account for 21%, and policy or insider abuse accounts for 11%.

The Way Through: Identity Turns Access Into Impact

Once attackers log in, they can escalate privileges and move laterally with fewer alarms. In turn, Unit 42 found 99% of 680,000 cloud identities held excessive permissions.

Token theft and risky OAuth grants also let adversaries persist without repeated logins. Consequently, one over-privileged human or machine identity can expand the blast radius quickly.

Countermeasures That Disrupt Identity Attacks

Start with phishing-resistant MFA such as passkeys or FIDO2 keys for high-value roles. Next, rotate machine credentials, shorten sessions, and shift admins to just-in-time elevation.

You can also connect identity telemetry across cloud and SaaS to spot unusual access chains sooner.

See why cyberattacks are getting 4x faster

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Zelensky says Ukrainian public won't let him hand Russia territory - Axios

2026-02-17T18:44:21.000Z

The Ukrainian people would reject a peace deal that involves Ukraine unilaterally withdrawing from the eastern Donbas region and turning it over to Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky told Axios in an interview Tuesday.

Why it matters: As Zelensky was speaking to Axios, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators were meeting for a third round of direct talks in Geneva. The main sticking point is control of the Donbas, around 10% of which is still in Ukrainian hands.

Zelensky said U.S. mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have told him Russia genuinely wants to end the war, and that he should coordinate with his own negotiating team on that basis ahead of the talks.
But Zelensky made clear he's much more pessimistic. He also advised Witkoff and Kushner that they shouldn't try to force him to sell a vision of peace his own people would see as an "unsuccessful story."

Friction point: Zelensky said it was "not fair" that President Trump kept publicly calling on Ukraine, not Russia, to make concessions for peace.

He contended that, while it might be easier for Trump to pressure Ukraine than the much larger Russia, the way to create a lasting peace is not "to give victory" to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump said twice in recent days that the onus was on Zelensky to make concessions. "I hope it is just his tactics and not the decision," Zelensky told Axios.
He also thanked Trump for his peacemaking efforts, and said his conversations with Kushner and Witkoff don't involve the kind of pressure Trump uses in public. "We respect each other," he said, adding that he was "not such a person" who folds easily under pressure.

Data: ISW/CTP; Map: Axios Visuals

Zelensky reiterated that the best way to find a breakthrough on territory is for Putin to meet him face to face. He said he'd told his team to raise a future leader-level meeting in Geneva.

Driving the news: The U.S. mediators have proposed that Ukrainian forces withdraw from the parts of the Donbas they currently hold and allow that area to become a demilitarized "free economic zone." Washington has not taken a position on which country would hold sovereignty there.

Zelensky is prepared to discuss a troop withdrawal, but has called for Moscow to pull its troops back an equivalent distance — and has rejected Russia's claim to sovereignty over the zone.
Zelensky claimed that in the second round of talks, Russian officials promised to consult with Moscow and return with a detailed position on the territorial question.

What he's saying: In his 37-minute phone interview with Axios, Zelensky noted that Washington and Kyiv have agreed that any deal must be put to the Ukrainian people in a referendum.

If that deal involves the Ukrainian side simply pulling out of Donbas — sacrificing sovereignty and the citizenship of the people who live there — he believes it would be voted down.
"Emotionally, people will never forgive this. Never. They will not forgive... me, they will not forgive [the U.S.]," Zelensky said, adding that Ukrainians "can't understand why" they would be asked to give up additional land.
"This is part of our country, all these citizens, the flag, the land," Zelensky said.

The flipside: If the deal simply freezes the current battle lines in the Donbas, as is the plan in two other regions where Russia holds territory, Zelensky thinks the Ukrainian people would accept it.

"I think that if we will put in the document ... that we stay where we stay on the contact line, I think that people will support this [in a] referendum. That is my opinion."
But Russia insists it will take the full Donbas either through talks or by force.
Addressing the dispute in a way that both sides can accept is the primary focus for Witkoff and Kushner in this week's talks.

The intrigue: The Russian delegation has a new leader: Putin adviser Vladimir Medinsky.

Given the change in leadership, Zelensky worries the Russian delegation will try to turn the talks into a meet and greet, or return to square one to buy more time for Russia on the battlefield.
He also noted that, like Putin, Medinsky likes to philosophize about the "historical roots" of the war. "We don't have time for all this shit. So we have to decide, and have to finish the war," Zelensky said.

State of play: While the political dialogue has been slow-going, Zelensky said military-to-military talks with Russia in Abu Dhabi were more productive.

The sides largely agreed on a U.S.-led mechanism to monitor a ceasefire using drones, should one be reached, he said.
But while Ukraine also wants European countries involved, the Russians are opposed.

What to watch: Zelensky said nothing is settled, but it's possible new presidential elections will be held alongside a referendum.

Zelensky told Axios in September that once the war was over, he would step away from politics.
But in Tuesday's interview, he suggested that any election may have to take place during a fragile ceasefire, and that he may be a candidate in such a scenario. "It will depend on the people. We will see what they want."
He also noted that, for now, Russia has only agreed on a one-day ceasefire for Ukraine to organize and hold a national vote, rather than the 60 days Zelensky thinks are needed.
He saw the Russian position as absurd, and a possible indication that Moscow is not prepared for genuine peace.

What's next: Trilateral talks in Geneva are expected to continue on Wednesday.

Most VMware users still "actively reducing their VMware footprint," survey finds - Biz & IT – Ars Technica

2026-02-17T18:38:10.000Z

More than two years after Broadcom took over VMware, the virtualization company’s customers are still grappling with higher prices, uncertainty, and the challenges of reducing vendor lock-in.

Today, CloudBolt Software released a report, "The Mass Exodus That Never Was: The Squeeze Is Just Beginning," that provides insight into those struggles. CloudBolt is a hybrid cloud management platform provider that aims to identify VMware customers’ pain points so it can sell them relevant solutions. In the report, CloudBolt said it surveyed 302 IT decision-makers (director-level or higher) at North American companies with at least 1,000 employees in January. The survey is far from comprehensive, but it offers a look at the obstacles these users face.

Broadcom closed its VMware acquisition in November 2023, and last month, 88 percent of survey respondents still described the change as “disruptive.” Per the survey, the most cited drivers of disruption were price increases (named by 89 percent of respondents), followed by uncertainty about Broadcom’s plans (85 percent), support quality concerns (78 percent), Broadcom shifting VMware from perpetual licenses to subscriptions (72 percent), changes to VMware’s partner program (68 percent), and the forced bundling of products (65 percent).

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Charted: U.S. Pension Retirees Now Outnumber Active Workers - Visual Capitalist

2026-02-17T18:17:21.000Z

See more visuals like this on the Voronoi app.

Use This Visualization

U.S. Pension Retirees Now Outnumber Active Workers

See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Key Takeaways

U.S. public pension retirees have outnumbered active workers since 2012.
This shift means fewer contributors supporting a growing number of beneficiaries.
Pension systems are increasingly reliant on investment returns to close the gap.

In 2012, America’s public pension system reached a demographic tipping point: retirees began to outnumber the active workers funding them.

More than a decade later, that reversal remains in place. As Americans live longer and public workforce growth slows, pension systems are paying out more in benefits than they collect from contributors, increasing their reliance on investment returns to stay funded.

This visualization, using data from the Equable Institute, tracks the number of active public employees contributing to pension systems versus retirees receiving benefits from 2001 to 2024.

2012: A Historic Turning Point

In 2001, there were 12.7 million active workers supporting 7.6 million retirees. However, by 2012, retirees (13.3 million) surpassed active workers (13.2 million).

Since then, the gap has widened. By 2023, there were 19.5 million retirees compared to 13.7 million active workers. Although 2024 shows a modest rebound in active workers to 14.5 million, retirees still significantly outnumber contributors.

Year	Active Workers (Millions)	Retirees (Millions)
2001	12.7	7.6
2002	12.9	8.0
2003	13.0	8.7
2004	12.9	9.3
2005	13.2	9.9
2006	13.2	10.6
2007	13.5	10.9
2008	13.7	11.3
2009	13.7	11.8
2010	13.7	12.3
2011	13.4	12.7
2012	13.2	13.3
2013	13.0	13.9
2014	13.1	14.3
2015	13.3	14.7
2016	13.3	15.3
2017	13.6	15.5
2018	13.5	16.3
2019	13.2	16.6
2020	13.5	16.6
2021	13.1	17.6
2022	13.4	18.8
2023	13.7	19.5
2024	14.5	18.8

Why the Worker-to-Retiree Ratio Matters

Pension systems rely on three main funding sources: employee contributions, employer contributions, and investment income. When active workers decline relative to retirees, contribution inflows shrink while benefit payments rise.

This creates a funding gap: benefit payments exceed contributions from active workers. To cover the difference, pension funds must rely more heavily on investment returns, increasing exposure to market volatility.

Longer Lives, Greater Pressure

Longer retirements mean benefits are paid out for more years per beneficiary. At the same time, slower public workforce growth limits the base of contributors supporting those payments. Even strong investment years may not fully offset this structural shift.

For policymakers, the challenge is balancing sustainability with benefit security. Options often include contribution adjustments, benefit reforms, or changes to investment strategies.

The growing retiree population reflects broader aging trends across the U.S., which are reshaping public finances at both the state and local level.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Which States Have The Highest Share of Retirement-Age Workers? on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

There's a lot of big talk about sovereign launch—who is doing something about it? - Science – Ars Technica

2026-02-17T16:47:11.000Z

No one will supplant American and Chinese dominance in the space launch arena anytime soon, but several longtime US allies now see sovereign access to space as a national security imperative.

Taking advantage of private launch initiatives already underway within their own borders, several middle and regional powers have approved substantial government funding for commercial startups to help them reach the launch pad. Australia, Canada, Germany, and Spain are among the nations that currently lack the ability to independently put their own satellites into orbit but which are now spending money to establish a domestic launch industry. Others talk a big game but haven't committed the cash to back up their ambitions.

The moves are part of a wider trend among US allies to increase defense spending amid strained relations with the Trump administration. Tariffs, trade wars, and threats to invade the territory of a NATO ally have changed the tune of many foreign leaders. In Europe, there's even talk of fielding a nuclear deterrent independent of the nuclear umbrella provided by the US military.

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Ranked: U.S. States by AI and Data Center Jobs - Visual Capitalist

2026-02-17T15:22:22.000Z

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Ranked: U.S. States by AI and Data Center Jobs

See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Key Takeaways

There are nearly half a million jobs in the AI-infrastructure and data center categories in the United States.
California has the most jobs at 81,577, about 17% of the country total.
There are 11 states that have fewer than 1,000 jobs in this subsector. Alaska has the fewest of any state at just 119.

The AI boom isn’t just about chatbots and software. It’s also creating thousands of jobs tied to the physical infrastructure that powers large-scale computing.

As companies race to build data centers and expand AI capacity, employment tied to AI infrastructure has climbed to 482,716 jobs nationwide, according to 2025 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

This map ranks all 50 states by AI and data center employment, highlighting where this fast-growing segment of the tech economy has taken root—and which states have built the deepest talent bases.

The AI and Data Center Boom: Jobs by State

California leads the nation with 81,577 AI and data center jobs, accounting for about 17% of the U.S. total.

While California dominates in total jobs, Washington ranks first on a per capita basis, with 289.8 roles per 100,000 residents. This is partially thanks to being home base to companies like Microsoft and Amazon.

Rank	State	Data Center and AI Jobs (2025)	Per capita (Jobs per 100k population)
1	California	81,577	204.5
2	Texas	48,029	148.2
3	Florida	28,682	118.0
4	New York	27,849	138.4
5	Georgia	24,137	211.5
6	Washington	23,650	289.8
7	Virginia	20,434	228.0
8	Illinois	16,625	129.4
9	New Jersey	16,047	164.7
10	Missouri	14,520	229.7
11	Colorado	13,290	219.0
12	Pennsylvania	13,060	98.9
13	Ohio	13,016	108.5
14	North Carolina	12,439	109.3
15	Arizona	10,936	140.2
16	Michigan	10,214	99.6
17	Massachusetts	10,128	139.2
18	Wisconsin	8,377	139.1
19	Utah	8,276	228.3
20	Tennessee	7,918	107.2
21	Oregon	7,653	177.6
22	Minnesota	7,313	124.5
23	Maryland	5,491	86.4
24	Connecticut	4,408	117.9
25	Arkansas	4,048	129.5
26	South Carolina	4,010	70.8
27	Indiana	3,931	56.1
28	Alabama	3,791	72.4
29	Kentucky	3,684	79.0
30	Iowa	3,545	107.8
31	Louisiana	3,234	70.0
32	Nevada	3,045	90.3
33	Kansas	2,537	84.3
34	Nebraska	2,205	108.1
35	New Hampshire	2,128	149.6
36	Oklahoma	1,650	39.7
37	District of Columbia	1,636	233.7
38	Idaho	1,271	61.6
39	West Virginia	1,195	67.6
40	Mississippi	1,132	38.5
41	New Mexico	998	46.5
42	Maine	809	57.1
43	Rhode Island	696	61.6
44	Hawaii	534	36.7
45	Delaware	516	47.6
46	Montana	516	44.9
47	Vermont	484	74.7
48	South Dakota	404	43.1
49	North Dakota	313	38.6
50	Wyoming	216	36.4
51	Alaska	119	15.9
--	U.S. Totals	482,716	139.2

More populous states like Texas (48,029), Florida (28,682), and New York (27,849) are all at the top of the leaderboard in absolute terms. That said, the latter two (Florida and New York) are actually below average in per capita terms.

Silicon Slopes and the Data Center Capital of the World

When sorting the list in per capita terms, the states Utah, Missouri, and Virginia stand out—all making the top five.

Virginia has the world’s largest concentration of data centers (Northern Virginia’s “Data Center Alley”), driven by hyperscalers, federal demand, and dense fiber connectivity.

Utah is known in the tech industry as “Silicon Slopes”, with a budding startup ecosystem, strong SaaS presence, and tax-friendly policies for data center investment.

Finally, Missouri is an emerging Midwest tech hub with growing cloud, geospatial intelligence, and defense-tech activity, supported by low-cost power and central U.S. connectivity.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

Learn more about data center electricity demand by region in this visualization on Voronoi.

Iran's negotiator claims progress on potential nuclear deal with U.S. - Axios

2026-02-17T15:16:36.000Z

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday claimed that the U.S. and Iran have agreed on the "guiding principles" for a potential nuclear deal.

The big picture: After three hours of negotiations in Geneva with President Trump's envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, Araghchi gave an upbeat and optimistic readout of the talks. Meanwhile, the U.S. is amassing more forces in the Middle East for possible military action against Iran.

In recent days, Trump has sent a second aircraft carrier strike group to the region. More than 50 F-35, F-22 and F-16 fighter jets have moved to the region over the last 24 hours, according to open source flight radar data and a U.S. official.

What they're saying: Araghchi said the talks were "serious, constructive and positive" and claimed "good progress was made compared to the previous meeting, and we now have a clearer path ahead."

"Various ideas were presented and discussed seriously. Ultimately, we were able to reach a general understanding on a set of guiding principles, on the basis of which we will move forward from now on and begin working on the text of a potential agreement. This does not mean that we can reach an agreement quickly, but at least the path has begun," Araghchi told Iranian state television.

The other side: Asked about the talks, a U.S. official said they went "as expected."

What to watch: The Iranian foreign minister said both sides agreed to work on drafts of a potential agreement, exchange texts and then determine a date for the third round of negotiations.

Editor's note: This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Scientists hunting mammoth fossils found whales 400 km inland - Science – Ars Technica

2026-02-17T15:14:27.000Z

In a recent study, University of Alaska Fairbanks paleontologist Matthew Wooller and his colleagues radiocarbon-dated what they thought were pieces of two mammoth vertebrae, only to get a whale of a surprise and a whole new mystery.

At first glance, it looked like Wooller and his colleagues might have found evidence that mammoths lived in central Alaska just 2,000 years ago. But ancient DNA revealed that two “mammoth” bones actually belonged to a North Pacific right whale and a minke whale—which raised a whole new set of questions. The team’s hunt for Alaska’s last mammoth had turned into an epic case of mistaken identity, starring two whale species and a mid-century fossil hunter.

“The first signs that something was amiss”

The aptly named Wooller and his team have radiocarbon-dated more than 300 mammoth fossils over the last four years, looking for the last survivors of the wave of extinctions that wiped out woolly mammoths and other Pleistocene megafauna at the end of the last Ice Age. Two specimens stood out immediately. Based on the radiocarbon dates, two mammoths had lived near Fairbanks as recently as 2,800 and 1,900 years ago. Wooller and his colleagues had been looking for the youngest woolly mammoth specimen in Alaska but were completely mystified.

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Mapped: What Powers Each U.S. State and Canadian Province? - Visual Capitalist

2026-02-17T13:06:36.000Z

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Mapped: What Powers Each U.S. State and Canadian Province?

See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Key Takeaways

Renewables generate 67% of Canada’s electricity, compared to just 22% in the U.S.
Natural gas is the top power source in most U.S. states, while hydro dominates in Canada.
Coal, nuclear, wind, solar, and even petroleum still lead in select regions.

What powers your state or province?

The answer depends heavily on where you live. While natural gas dominates much of the United States, Canada generates two-thirds of its electricity from renewables, largely thanks to hydro power.

This map shows the single largest source of electricity generation in every U.S. state and Canadian province and territory, as of September 2025. The data for this visualization comes from the Canadian Centre for Energy Information and Ember.

Overall, renewables account for 67% of the power mix in Canada, compared to 22% in the United States.

Natural Gas Dominates the U.S. Map

Natural gas is the leading source of electricity in over half of U.S. states. From Texas and Florida to Pennsylvania and Virginia, gas-fired power plants anchor local grids.

This shift reflects the shale boom of the past 15 years, which made gas abundant and relatively cheap. As coal plants retired, natural gas stepped in as a flexible replacement. While cleaner than coal, it remains a fossil fuel and a major source of emissions.

U.S. State	Biggest Electricity Source
Alabama	Natural Gas
Alaska	Natural Gas
Arizona	Natural Gas
Arkansas	Natural Gas
California	Solar
Colorado	Natural Gas
Connecticut	Natural Gas
Delaware	Natural Gas
Florida	Natural Gas
Georgia	Natural Gas
Hawaii	Petroleum
Idaho	Hydro
Illinois	Nuclear
Indiana	Coal
Iowa	Wind
Kansas	Wind
Kentucky	Coal
Louisiana	Natural Gas
Maine	Natural Gas
Maryland	Nuclear
Massachusetts	Natural Gas
Michigan	Natural Gas
Minnesota	Natural Gas
Mississippi	Natural Gas
Missouri	Coal
Montana	Coal
Nebraska	Coal
Nevada	Natural Gas
New Hampshire	Nuclear
New Jersey	Natural Gas
New Mexico	Wind
New York	Natural Gas
North Carolina	Natural Gas
North Dakota	Coal
Ohio	Natural Gas
Oklahoma	Natural Gas
Oregon	Hydro
Pennsylvania	Natural Gas
Rhode Island	Natural Gas
South Carolina	Nuclear
South Dakota	Wind
Tennessee	Nuclear
Texas	Natural Gas
Utah	Coal
Vermont	Hydro
Virginia	Natural Gas
Washington	Hydro
West Virginia	Coal
Wisconsin	Natural Gas
Wyoming	Coal

Coal still leads in several states, including West Virginia, Wyoming, and Kentucky—regions historically tied to coal mining and production.

Hydro Power Anchors Canada

In Canada, hydroelectricity dominates much of the map. Provinces such as British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec, and Newfoundland & Labrador generate most of their electricity from large-scale hydro projects.

Canadian Province	Biggest Electricity Source
Alberta	Natural Gas
British Columbia	Hydro
Manitoba	Hydro
New Brunswick	Nuclear
Newfoundland & Labrador	Hydro
Northwest Territories	Petroleum
Nova Scotia	Coal
Nunavut	Petroleum
Ontario	Nuclear
Prince Edward Island	Wind
Quebec	Hydro
Saskatchewan	Natural Gas
Yukon	Hydro

Hydro’s strength comes from geography. Abundant rivers and elevation changes allow Canada to produce stable, low-carbon power at scale. As a result, Canada’s power mix is significantly lower in carbon intensity than that of the United States.

However, fossil fuels still play a role. Alberta and Saskatchewan rely primarily on natural gas, while Nova Scotia remains coal-dependent.

Nuclear and Wind Carve Out Regional Strongholds

Nuclear power leads in several key regions. Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, Tennessee and South Carolina are the U.S. states where nuclear is the largest source of electricity, while Ontario and New Brunswick also rely heavily on nuclear generation in Canada.

Wind also stands out across the U.S. Midwest. States like Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, and New Mexico generate more electricity from wind than any other source. Prince Edward Island is Canada’s lone wind-dominant province.

Meanwhile, solar leads in California, reflecting years of aggressive renewable energy policy and large-scale solar investment.

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In photos: Jesse Jackson's life, activism and politics - Axios

2026-02-17T10:46:49.000Z

The Rev. Jesse Jackson died Tuesday after a career in activism and politics during a national transformation in civil rights and inequality, where he worked alongside Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and made a historic presidential run.

Through the lens: Here's a look at some of Jackson's most memorable moments, from rallying Black residents devastated by riots in Los Angeles to meeting Nelson Mandela after being released from prison.

Mahalia Jackson, left, sings "We Shall Overcome," with civil rights leaders the Rev. Martin Luther King, third left, Jesse Jackson, second from right, and Albert Raby, right, on Aug. 4, 1966. Ray Foster/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Jackson, interviewed by reporters at Chicago's O'Hare Airport the day after Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination in Memphis, in April 1968. Jackson was standing next to King before he was shot. Photo: Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Getty Images

As he walks through O'Hare Airport, Jackson holds a copy of the Daily Defender newspaper, which features the headline 'King Murdered!,' on April 5, 1968. Photo: Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Getty Images

Jackson, director of Operation Bread Basket, a unit of the Southern Christian Leadership, salutes people attending a Newark City Council meeting in Newark, N.J., in July 1970. Photo: Patrella/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

An advertisement for the documentary "Wattstax," a music festival in Los Angeles in 1972 that drew 100,000 people, and where Jackson gave his famous "I Am Somebody" speech. Photo: LMPC via Getty Images

Jackson announces in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 3, 1983, that he is running for president as a Democrat to challenge President Reagan. Photo: Jean-Louis Atlan/Sygma via Getty Images

The marquee at the Apollo Theater advertises a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Jackson on Feb. 1, 1984. Photo: Jacques M. Chenet/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

In a hotel room during the 1984 Democratic National Convention, American pop singer Michael Jackson attends a press conference with Jackson in San Francisco, July 1984. Photo: Robert R. McElroy/Getty Images

South African activist Nelson Mandela, center, with Jackson, right, and New York City Mayor David Dinkins in New York City, 1990. Photo: David Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

Jackson speaks to the press during the Los Angeles riots in 1992. Photo: Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

Jackson shaking hands with residents of the Oglala Lakota Nation during a July 1999 visit by President Clinton, the first U.S. president to visit a Native American reservation since Presidents Coolidge and Roosevelt. Photo: Dirck Halstead/Getty Images

The image of a weeping Jackson is projected onto a large screen as CNN announces the victory of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Nov. 4, 2008, during Obama's election night rally at Grant Park in Chicago. Photo: Stan Honda/AFP via Getty Images

A frail (and in a wheelchair) Jackson took part in a prayer (his hand is being held by U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters) when the marchers stopped on the bridge in Selma, Alabama, in March 2025 to remember the marchers and John Lewis, who took part in the Bloody Sunday event 60 years before. Photo: Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Go deeper: Civil rights icon Jesse Jackson dies at 84

Civil rights icon Jesse Jackson dies at 84 - Axios

2026-02-17T10:29:32.000Z

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights icon who spent his career fighting against racial inequality and injustice, and who made two historic runs for the presidency, died Tuesday, his family said in a statement, multiple outlets reported. He was 84.

The big picture: Jackson leaves behind an expansive legacy, starting with his time alongside Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to founding Operation Rainbow PUSH on the South Side of Chicago.

Jesse Jackson (left) with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1966. Photo: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

While Jackson is not from Chicago, he will always be linked to the city and the causes he championed.

The family's statement did not address Jackson's cause of death. He had been suffering from several illnesses for years.

"Rev. Jackson is my superhero. While other boys my age wanted to be Michael Jordan, I wanted to be Jesse Jackson," the Rev. Jamal Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in metro Atlanta, tells Axios.

What he said: "Part of what makes America great is the right to fight for your rights," Jackson told Axios' Justin Kaufmann on WGN Radio in 2015. "You can change America. It's like putty. You can reshape it."

Flashback: The civil rights pioneer grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and after college joined King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Jackson was known for mobilizing young civil rights activists and organizing marches, taking part in famous events himself, including the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March.
Jackson quickly became part of King's trusted inner circle. He was talking to King from the hotel courtyard just minutes before he was assassinated in Memphis in 1968.

Friction point: Jackson later butted heads with other civil rights leaders after King's assassination and started his own community outreach organization in Chicago in 1971.

Operation Rainbow PUSH (now Rainbow PUSH Coalition) is dedicated to improving the economic conditions of Black communities.

In 1972, Jackson helped organize the Los Angeles festival Wattstax — a celebration of Black musicians and entertainers to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the 1965 Watts Rebellion.

Before 100,000 people at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Jackson gave his famous "I Am Somebody" speech. Excerpts would be used by hip hop artists, from Public Enemy to Jurassic 5.

Jackson and activist Rosa Parks raise their hands triumphantly during a speech in 1965. Photo: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images

Zoom out: Jackson was an international mediator throughout his career, including helping to secure hostage releases from Cuba, Iran and Iraq. In 1973, he negotiated the release of an American pilot being held captive in Syria.

Jackson famously ran for president in 1984 and 1988, becoming the first major Black candidate to mount a nationwide campaign, finishing second to Michael Dukakis in the 1988 Democratic primary.

Jackson leads a protest to boycott the ChicagoFest concert in August 1982. Photo: Steve Kagan/Getty Images

Zoom in: From his perch in Chicago, Jackson was able to run effective campaigns against racial injustice and inequity, using threats of boycotts against major companies as a tool to fight back.

In 1982, he led a boycott against Anheuser-Busch over discriminatory hiring practices, and in 1986, he ran a successful boycott campaign against CBS 2 Chicago after it passed over a popular Black anchor for a promotion.
"Chicago is the best city," Jackson said on WGN in 2015. "It's like a bunch of little cities living together. So we have the burden, which is not always a pleasant one, of trying to convince people of the value of living together and not living apart."

Fun fact: Jackson was one of the two people elected in 1990 as the first "shadow senators" representing Washington, D.C. In this role, he and other "shadow" officials worked to lobby for D.C. statehood but did not have official recognition or congressional power.

In recent years, Jackson hosted cable news shows, appeared on various television and radio shows and helped his sons Jesse Jackson Jr. and Jonathan Jackson win congressional elections, all while running Rainbow PUSH until last year.

He also played a pivotal role in Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2008.
"The night when President Obama was declared the winner, I stood there and cried, in part because we'd won the big one, but also because it was the movement that made it possible," Jackson reflected in 2015.
"The same place [Grant Park] where there was tear gas in 1968, there was this huge celebration in 2008. That's America at its best, going from deep, deep down to high up. That's America."

Jackson was initially diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2015, but his diagnosis was later revised to a rare neurological disorder called progressive supranuclear palsy. He had been confined to a wheelchair in recent years.

The bottom line: Jackson will go down in history as one of this country's most influential civil rights leaders and is one of the last from the civil rights generation.

Go deeper: The legacy of Rev. Jesse Jackson in Chicago

How Trump saved TikTok: Backstory of a 2-year campaign - Axios

2026-02-17T10:13:36.000Z

President Trump had just won reelection and was basking in the parade of congratulatory pilgrimages to Mar-a-Lago. On this day in November 2024, an old friend and a first-time visitor were meeting privately with Trump. They wanted something, and they brought something.

Charlie Kirk — a beloved Trump confidant who had just led a smashingly successful turnout drive among young voters — was shepherding TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. A law banning the Chinese-owned TikTok in the U.S. was scheduled to kick in the same week Trump was inaugurated. They wanted him to stall the ban and eventually kill it.

Knowing Trump responds best to visual stimuli, Kirk had coached the company to spin up four pages of infographics, "Trump on TikTok," showing his campaign's tens of billions of views on the now-threatened app.

A chart (shown above) on the first page jumped out at Trump, who had backed a TikTok ban in his first term. "I'm more popular than Taylor Swift," he crowed. Many in Trumpworld heard he quickly called Barron, his youngest son, to savor the stat.

On Day 1 of his second term, Trump signed an executive order to punt the TikTok ban.

Why it matters: The Mar-a-Lago meeting was a pivotal victory in a campaign by several Trump insiders to overcome furious opposition to TikTok from China hawks on the Hill and in his political orbit who had national-security concerns.

These insiders helped convince Trump's campaign to launch a TikTok account in June 2024, when he was looking for ways around traditional media.

Then the insiders patiently engineered a complex deal, which closed last month, to sell TikTok's U.S. operations to a joint venture controlled by American investors — the death of the ban.

How it happened: The campaign was born in early 2024, according to sources familiar with the internal deliberations. Tony Sayegh, a Treasury and White House official in Trump's first term, became a key man in the TikTok triumph. Sayegh was on a ski vacation when he saw President Biden declare in March 2024 that he'd sign a TikTok ban if Congress passed one.

Sayegh — dubbed "TikTok's Trump Whisperer" by a Wall Street Journal article shortly after Trump's election — phoned a TikTok executive and suggested the very solution that eventually came to pass: If Trump won, he could sign an executive order thwarting the ban.
"Impossible," the TikTok official said. "Can't happen."

But it did, thanks to an aggressive political and legal strategy, paired with some lucky breaks. Some TikTok executives were skittish about going all-in with Trump, but Sayegh often told the company's D.C. team that Trump was the only person who could save TikTok in America. Chew warmed to the strategy.

The biggest U.S. investor in ByteDance, TikTok's China-based parent company, is Susquehanna International Group, where Sayegh is head of public affairs.

Jason Miller — a senior adviser to Trump during the campaign, who remains in close touch with him — told me that Trump "always recognized the power of TikTok, because he saw the impact it had with younger voters."

"He'd say all the time: 'You guys are missing it! These young people, they love TikTok. They're on it all day long.' And he'd recount stories of Barron talking about it, and also younger people who work with him and for him."

Behind the scenes: To counter fears among some top Republicans about China's control of TikTok, Sayegh, Miller and others amped up outside allies — including Kirk, Tucker Carlson and Kellyanne Conway — to give Trump cover to take the plunge.

Miller says Kirk "was massively, massively influential because Charlie was as MAGA as you get. This is one of the countless examples since the president entered public life where he said: 'I'm going to follow my gut, and I'm going to do this.' You also had a bit of boomer-splaining going on — people looking at TikTok purely as a public-policy decision as opposed to a lifestyle [for] younger voters."

Kirk earlier had his own issues with TikTok, which had flagged a Turning Point USA account for violating community standards. "Kirk received a call from Tony Sayegh ... who was now lobbying for a group that represented ByteDance," Robert Draper reported in a New York Times Magazine profile of Kirk, seven months before he was assassinated.

Sayegh told Kirk: "We want to prove to you that we're for free speech." Kirk's digital team "began to meet over Zoom with TikTok officials, who described how to avoid AI-generated content moderation," Draper wrote.

Once Trump's campaign joined TikTok, the account quickly surpassed President Biden's. Senior leaders remained involved in the strategy for the app. A young staffer known as "TikTok Jack" was contracted by the campaign to shoot and edit video.

Alex Bruesewitz — who was the architect of the campaign's podcast strategy, and continues as a Trumpworld social-media guru — told us: "TikTok was an incredible platform for us to reach the youth. [Trump] is naturally cool and had the rizz and aura necessary to become an overnight TikTok star."

What's next: Heading into the next presidential election, Democrats and Republicans are racing anew to capture TikTok eyeballs. Get ready for the TikTok primary of 2028.

The AI trade is swallowing the market - Axios

2026-02-17T10:00:05.000Z

AI is concentrating stocks, bonds, private credit — and even the broader economy — around a single bet.

Why it matters: Tech companies are projected to issue over $1 trillion in debt to fund their AI goals this year. Yet there's little evidence the technology can be monetized at a scale that justifies the bet.

State of play: Hyperscalers — the AI data-center giants — could spend up to $700 billion from their balance sheets on AI this year, while issuing eye-popping debt to access even more capital, according to UBS.

The eight largest companies, all tech firms with AI ambitions, make up nearly half of the S&P 500.
More than half of invested venture-capital dollars went to AI firms in 2025, per PitchBook.
Private credit could supply half of the $1.5 trillion needed for data-center buildouts, according to Morgan Stanley. That will further concentrate AI into the alternatives market.

Between the lines: AI is sucking up all the oxygen, and dollars, making it harder to hedge exposure to the trade.

"It has been very, very hard for investors to diversify," Sonali Basak, chief investment strategist for iCapital, told Axios. She said diversification is a key topic in all her meetings with investors.

Zoom in: Anthropic recently raised $30 billion at a $380 billion post-money valuation, making it the world's fourth-most valuable private tech company.

The Claude creator hit a $14 billion revenue run rate this month, growing 10x annually over the past three years.
But CEO Dario Amodei has warned that sales may not keep up with the compute treadmill, as next-generation models could eventually cost up to $100 billion to train.
For investors, it isn't about whether AI is real or effective. It's whether monetization can sustainably outrun a $100 billion training bill.

Threat level: If AI can't be monetized effectively, investors will quickly move to reprice the value of Big Tech, reverberating across:

The stock market: AI stocks were responsible for about 70% of the S&P 500's 2025 gains, according to JPMorgan. If those stocks fall, so does the market.
The economy: AI capex drove over 90% of economic growth in the first half of 2025, Harvard economist Jason Furman says. If investors sell shares of these companies, that could weigh on their stocks, forcing executives to slow spending, which could then weigh on GDP.
Entire financial systems: Private credit's heavy exposure to AI is no longer isolated. As the sector takes up a larger share of bank, insurance, and retail investments, Moody's warns that a hit to AI could trigger a wider "contagion" across the entire financial system.

Yes, but: Nobody wants to be the one who sat out: Basak said investors are still looking for an attractive entry into the AI trade.

High risk, high reward, etc.

The bottom line: The first rule of investing is diversification. AI is making that nearly impossible — and few are pricing in what happens if the bet doesn't pay off.

The narrow slice of data that worries biosecurity experts - Axios

2026-02-17T09:50:05.000Z

Researchers from Johns Hopkins, Oxford, Stanford, Columbia and NYU are calling for guardrails on certain infectious disease datasets that could enable AI to design deadly viruses.

Why it matters: Once high-risk biological data hits the open web, it can't be recalled — and regulation won't matter if the knowledge itself is already widely distributed.

Driving the news: An international group of more than 100 researchers has endorsed a framework to govern certain biological data the same way we handle sensitive health records.

The debate comes as the Trump administration pushes an aggressive "move fast" AI agenda.
The White House's Genesis Mission — announced in late 2025 — aims to build AI systems trained on massive scientific datasets to speed research breakthroughs.

What's inside: The proposed framework isn't meant to slow science. The authors argue that most biological data should stay open.

Only a narrow band that materially increases potential misuse should be protected, they say.
"Responsible governance and scientific progress are not contradictions," according to the framework.

How it works: Right now, AI systems can only create applications based on what's in their training data.

Training models on datasets that link viral genetics to real-world traits — like transmissibility or immune evasion — could lower the barrier to designing dangerous pathogens.

Zoom in: The concern isn't about off-the-shelf versions of ChatGPT and Claude, says Jassi Pannu, assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and one of the authors of the framework.

Some AI models for biological research use architectures similar to large language models — but trained on DNA instead of text. Researchers found that systems built to understand human language can also learn the "language" of genetics.
Some developers voluntarily decided not to train their models on virology data because they were worried about putting that capability into the world.

Zoom out: If the data still exists on the web, third parties who may not follow the same safeguards can take those models and fine-tune them on the data that's out there.

"Legitimate researchers should have access," Pannu said. "But we shouldn't be posting it anonymously on the internet where no one can track who downloads it."

The intrigue: "Right now, there's no expert-backed guidance on which data poses meaningful risks, leaving some frontier developers to make their best guess and voluntarily exclude viral data from training," Pannu says.

The report warns that new biological AI models are often released "without conducting basic safety assessments" that would be standard in other life-science research.
Governments should regularly reassess any restrictions, the authors write, and refine them as the science evolves.

What they're saying: "It's been shown time and time again that we don't do a good job of predicting AI capability trends," Pannu says.

"We're constantly surprised. And so I would argue that for these large-scale, consequential risks, we should try and prevent these worst-case scenarios and be prepared for them," she told Axios.
"It's not necessarily that I'm saying that I think this will happen and I know exactly when it will happen, but I think … it's worth trying to prevent [the worst case scenario], even if we're unsure exactly when it might happen."

The bottom line: Researchers say there's a window of opportunity to protect dangerous data and prevent bad actors from using AI tools to create bioweapons or other harmful applications.

New Mexico lawmakers launch sweeping investigation into Epstein ranch - Axios

2026-02-17T03:42:15.000Z

New Mexico lawmakers launched an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's former Zorro Ranch Tuesday over allegations the late convicted sex offender trafficked and sexually abused girls and women at the nearly 10,000-acre property outside Santa Fe.

The big picture: It's "critical" that the first full investigation into what happened at the ranch provides a platform to "uncover the truth" about what happened there and for survivors to see justice, state Rep. Andrea Romero (D) tells Axios.

Driving the news: It's "extremely important" that lawmakers learn what happened at the ranch after the case had for "many years" been "mishandled and pushed out of the purview," said Romero, a co-sponsor of the bipartisan bill that unanimously passed in the N.M. House Monday, in a phone interview.

This "Truth Commission" is seeking testimony from survivors at the ranch that's some 30 miles south of the state capital and Romero vowed that the committee would publicly name suspected perpetrators.
"There were clearly activities that took place here under the guise of Jeffrey Epstein ... and other perpetrators," Romero said.
The bipartisan nature of the committee "allows us to be extremely objective," per Romero.

What we're watching: A goal of the committee will be to gather information that could be used in a court of law, according to Romero.

Romero noted that the statute of limitations may have passed in some instances related to the case, but said state lawmakers were already looking at changing legislation in regards to this "to help survivors see justice."

Editor's note: This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Axios' Russell Contreras contributed reporting.

Trump and Maryland Gov. Moore trade barbs over Potomac River sewage spill blame - Axios

2026-02-17T01:23:51.000Z

President Trump sparked a blame game over the massive sewage spill into the Potomac River, attacking Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D), who in turn blamed the feds.

Why it matters: The major sewage pipe that burst on Jan. 19 caused one of the worst raw sewage spills in U.S. history.

The big picture: Trump directed FEMA to assist in the cleanup on Monday afternoon after denouncing state and local officials for not requesting help, but Moore said the federal government had failed to act over the spill.

What they're saying: "There is a massive Ecological Disaster unfolding in the Potomac River as a result of the Gross Mismanagement of Local Democrat Leaders, particularly, Governor Wes Moore, of Maryland," Trump posted on Truth Social.

"It is clear Local Authorities cannot adequately handle this calamity."

The other side: "The President has his facts wrong — again," said a spokesperson for Moore, noting that the broken pipe is managed by DC Water, an independent utility established by the federal and local D.C. government.

"For the last four weeks, the Trump Administration has failed to act," the spokesperson said.

State of play: DC Water is using bypass pumps to prevent further spills into the river while a permanent fix is finished.

Crews this month hit a large rock blockage in the aging line, prolonging repair efforts by 4-6 weeks.
The public is urged to stay away from the river — no pets, fishing, or boating. The area's drinking water is drawn upstream from the spill and remains safe.

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In photos: Jesse Jackson's life, activism and politics - Axios

Civil rights icon Jesse Jackson dies at 84 - Axios

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