Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Meridian

Your daily news, distilled.

Power Shift
6.9
Top Signal

X Platform Faces Outages and Legal Scrutiny Over AI Deepfake Issues

Via Irishtimes, standardmedia, Washingtontimes, BreakingNews.ie, theregister, Lexology and Independent

  • •X experienced a global outage affecting users' ability to view posts for two hours.
  • •Ireland's Data Protection Commission is investigating X for potential GDPR violations linked to its Grok AI chatbot.
  • •The focus is on Grok's generation of nonconsensual deepfake images, raising significant privacy concerns.
  • •Legal actions in the U.S. highlight the rapidly evolving landscape of AI litigation related to unauthorized use of personal likenesses.
  • •The intersection of these outages and growing legal scrutiny could shape the future of AI usage on social media.
Power Shift
6.8

US Supports Hungary's Orbán as EU Parliament Prepares for Leadership Shift

Via Sydney Morning Herald, PBS NewsHour, politico.eu, Politico EU, The New York Times and New York Times

  • •U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Viktor Orbán, emphasizing shared success as Hungary approaches elections, according to Politico.
  • •Rubio's visit signals strong U.S. support for Orbán, a controversial figure in Europe due to his authoritarian policies and ties to Putin, reported PBS NewsHour.
  • •The European Parliament is preparing for a significant leadership reshuffle after the upcoming elections, with stakeholders already beginning to position themselves for influence, as detailed by Politico EU.
Power Shift
6.7

Philippine Central Bank Prepares for Key Interest Rate Cut Amid Economic Challenges

Via Thewest, NewsPublish and CNA

  • •The BSP is expected to lower interest rates to bolster an economy struggling with low growth and a corruption scandal.
  • •Remittances from overseas Filipinos reached a record high but provided only limited overall economic support.
  • •The Philippine peso strengthened to 57 per dollar, although sustainability is questioned without new economic drivers.
  • •Bank of America forecasts a rebound in the infrastructure sector's bond market as public spending normalizes.
  • •A Reuters poll indicates that the BSP will maintain the revised rate through 2026 to support domestic growth.
Market Signal
6.4

Presidents Day Sales Highlight Tech Discounts Amid Expected Apple Product Launches

Via Engadget, webpronews, Appleinsider, tomsguide, Wccftech, Techspot, 9to5mac, Digitaltrends and PCMag

  • •Discounts of up to 43% are available on tech products this Presidents Day, covering brands like Apple and Samsung.
  • •Apple's upcoming budget MacBook is expected to be priced below $1,000 and feature a colorful design, aimed at entry-level consumers.
  • •Developer betas for Apple's iOS 26.4 and macOS Tahoe have been released, indicating ongoing software updates alongside hardware launches.
  • •The anticipated March event may also unveil other new products, including a revised iPhone model.
  • •As tech sales rise during this holiday weekend, key market players like Dell are offering competitive discounts on PCs and accessories.

Get Meridian in your inbox

The stories that matter, every morning at 06:00.

Curated from 26 sources. Every summary is reviewed for accuracy, but may still contain errors. We always link to original sources for verification.