Top 5 US news stories
February 12 2026
Healthcare Jobs Drive Nearly All of January's Hiring as Aging Population Reshapes U.S. Labor Market
Pentagon Readies Second Aircraft Carrier for Middle East as Trump Weighs Military Action Against Iran
House Votes to Rescind Trump's Canada Tariffs as Six Republicans Break Ranks in Symbolic Rebuke
Democrat Accuses AG Bondi of Tracking Her Searches Through Epstein Files During Contentious Hearing
Energy Secretary Wright Visits Caracas to Press for Oil Revival and Democratic Transition After Maduro's Ouster
2026 Winter Olympics medal count
Healthcare Jobs Drive Nearly All of January's Hiring as Aging Population Reshapes U.S. Labor Market
Of the 130,000 new jobs added in January, nearly all were in healthcare or healthcare-related positions, underscoring a dramatic shift in the American labor market toward caring for the nation's aging population. While construction and manufacturing also added workers, employers cut jobs in government, finance, information, and transportation and warehousing, making healthcare far and away the dominant engine of job growth as other sectors continue to pull back.
WSJ
Pentagon Readies Second Aircraft Carrier for Middle East as Trump Weighs Military Action Against Iran
The Pentagon has directed a second aircraft carrier strike group to prepare for deployment to the Middle East as the U.S. military positions for a potential strike on Iran, according to three U.S. officials. President Trump said Tuesday he was considering sending the carrier to back up the USS Abraham Lincoln already in the region, and the deployment order could come within hours, though officials cautioned that no final decision had been made and the USS George H.W. Bush, currently training off Virginia, could expedite exercises to deploy within two weeks.
WSJ
House Votes to Rescind Trump's Canada Tariffs as Six Republicans Break Ranks in Symbolic Rebuke
The House voted 219-to-211 on Wednesday to rescind tariffs President Trump imposed on Canada last year, with six Republicans joining nearly all Democrats in the chamber's first formal challenge to the president's trade agenda since he returned to office. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Gregory W. Meeks of New York, is unlikely to become law given a near-certain presidential veto, but it reflects growing frustration among some GOP lawmakers over Congress ceding trade authority to the White House and concern that voters are bearing the cost of the levies.
NYT
Democrat Accuses AG Bondi of Tracking Her Searches Through Epstein Files During Contentious Hearing
Rep. Pramila Jayapal accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of "spying" on her search history after Bondi appeared at a combative congressional hearing Wednesday with a printed document labeled "Jayapal Pramila Search History," listing at least eight files the lawmaker had accessed from the Justice Department's trove of Jeffrey Epstein-related records. Photojournalists at the hearing captured images of the printout, which included file numbers and brief descriptions of their contents, escalating tensions between congressional Democrats and the attorney general over access to the Epstein documents.
CBS News
Energy Secretary Wright Visits Caracas to Press for Oil Revival and Democratic Transition After Maduro's Ouster
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the highest-ranking Trump administration official to visit Caracas since U.S. commandos captured strongman Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3, met Wednesday with interim president Delcy Rodríguez and declared "enormous progress" toward reviving Venezuela's decrepit oil industry while pressing for free elections within roughly 18 months. The visit underscored the administration's strategy of leveraging Venezuela's vast petroleum reserves to attract foreign investment, with Trump ally and energy magnate Harry Sargeant III calling the post-Maduro landscape "the greatest investment opportunity since the collapse of the Soviet Union."
WSJ
February 12 1999: President Bill Clinton acquitted on both articles of impeachment
NOTE FROM YESTERDAY'S ISSUE: Border officials shut down El Paso airspace after firing anti-drone laser at what turned out to be a party balloon, sources say. The action was not coordinated with the FAA. ELP has reopened.
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