Canadian passport holders can travel to China visa-free starting this week | CBC News Canadian passport holders can travel to China visa-free starting this week Policy will be in effect until Dec. 31, according to China's Foreign Affairs Ministry Benjamin Lopez Steven · CBC News · Posted: Feb 15, 2026 10:34 AM PST | Last Updated: February 15 Listen to this article Estimated 2 minutes Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing on Jan. 16. (Sean Kilpatrick/Pool/Reuters) Canadian passport holders can travel to China visa-free starting Tuesday until the end of 2026, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Affairs Ministry announced Sunday — marking another step in Canada's thawing relationship with the Chinese government. In a statement posted to the Chinese ministry's website , the spokesperson said Canadian passport holders will be "exempted from visa to enter China and stay for up to 30 da...

  The TrumpRx launch. On Thursday, the Trump administration  rolled out  TrumpRx, a government website offering consumers discounted prices for common prescription drugs. The platform functions as a hub for consumers, connecting them to manufacturers’ sites or offering coupons for purchases at pharmacies. President Donald Trump said TrumpRx will create millions in consumer savings, with those savings likely concentrated among the uninsured. Back up: In September, President Trump  announced  TrumpRx as part of a series of initiatives to bring down prescription drug costs. In the first year of his second term, the president  negotiated  agreements with several major pharmaceutical companies to sell their products at lower prices in the U.S., in some cases pegged to the prices they charge in other countries (known as Most-Favored Nation pricing). Prior to striking those deals, Trump  threatened  to cap how much drug manufacturers could earn from...

Good Luck Banning Smart Glasses Good Luck Banning Smart Glasses Smart glasses bans are reasonable, important, and damn near impossible. BY JAMES PERO PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 18, 2026 READING TIME 3 MINUTES © Raymond Wong / Gizmodo READ LATER COMMENTS (73) If there’s one thing that has people concerned about the growing wave of smart glasses , it’s privacy . Sure, we’ve had cameras at our sides for ages now, but never on our faces in a discreet form factor that makes it hard (sometimes impossible) to recognize when someone is recording. Because of that potential shift, people are reacting accordingly to protect spaces that should remain at least relatively private. By that, I mean they’re restricting smart glasses or just banning them outright. The latest ban comes courtesy of the cruise liner, Royal Caribbean , which now prohibits the use of any glasses that can record video and take pictures in various parts of its ships. Altogether, the partial ban sounds pretty reasonable, disallowing ...

RFK Jr. follows a carnivore diet. That doesn’t mean you should. MIT Technology Review · 4 days ago by Jessica Hamzelou · Biotechnology and health Americans have a new set of diet guidelines. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken an old-fashioned food pyramid, turned it upside down, and plonked a steak and a stick of butter in prime positions. Kennedy and his Make America Healthy Again mates have long been extolling the virtues of meat and whole-fat dairy, so it wasn’t too surprising to see those foods recommended alongside vegetables and whole grains (despite the well-established fact that too much saturated fat can be extremely bad for you). Some influencers have taken the meat trend to extremes, following a “carnivore diet.” “The best thing you could do is eliminate out everything except fatty meat and lard,” Anthony Chaffee, an MD with almost 400,000 followers, said in an Instagram post. And I almost choked on my broccoli when, while scrolling LinkedIn, I came across an interview with ano...

   Private equity’s insatiable appetite for restaurants McAlister’s Deli Subway, Dunkin’, Arby’s, P.F. Chang’s, Denny’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John’s, Hardee’s/Carl’s Jr., Auntie Anne’s, Baskin-Robbins, Cinnabon, Moe’s, Panera, and Bob Evans all share a common ingredient: private equity (salt, too, probably). Between 2014 and 2024, PE firms invested $94.5 billion in bars and restaurants, CNBC reported, citing PitchBook data. And while that cash can be a much-needed boon for a growing restaurant chain, it can also be a major source of indigestion. The upsides of private equity:  At its best, a PE investment can be like making a deal on  Shark Tank . You get a big capital infusion, as well as some expertise on how to scale the business, operate more efficiently, and grow the brand. One of PE’s biggest  success stories  has been fast-casual eatery McAlister’s Deli. Per Restaurant Business Online: McAlister’s was acquired by PE firm Roark in 2005. By 2025, ...

  You’re not as invested in sports as PE is Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images The New England Patriots made the type of history this year that you only read about in LinkedIn updates from your former frat bro in B2B sales: They became the first team backed by private equity to reach the Super Bowl (and the first team backed by PE to get bullied in a Super Bowl). Whether it’s professional, college, or youth sports, private equity is getting into all areas of the game: There are 74 major professional US sports teams with ties to private equity. The NBA has the largest proportion of teams backed by PE (20 of 30), while the NFL and NHL have the lowest, with 10 of their 32 teams, respectively, having PE connections. PE made its first venture into college sports in December, when Otro Capital struck a deal with the University of Utah. Youth sports have also garnered attention, with PE investing in facilites, leagues, and uniform manufacturers. The attraction of pro sports is eas...

  The holidays belong to candy Getty Images Nearly every holiday involves candy. Just ask the poor souls at Reese’s who have to contort peanut butter cups into a thousand festive shapes like they’re balloon animals. But not all holidays are created equal. Three of them stand out on the candy calendar: Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and Easter. (No disrespect to candy canes or gelt.) Trick Treat or Treat. If you’re celebrating Halloween, candy’s a part of the picture. Every October, Americans spend billions on the sweet stuff, and the most popular activity on the big day is handing out candy. But that’s a relatively new phenomenon . According to the Sugar Association trade group: Modern trick-or-treating didn’t really take off in the US until the late 1940s. Even then, children would frequently get things like cookies, coins, and toys. Wrapped candy became popular in subsequent decades due to (mostly unfounded) concerns about poisoning. Powered by hugs and kisses: This Valenti...

  And the latest AI winner is glass The Washington Post/Getty Images Like everyone in the elevator at the end of Willy Wonka , US-based Corning is riding glass to new heights. The 175-year-old company’s stock hit an all-time high on Friday and is up more than 130% over the past year because it’s a surprising AI winner. Window to the future: Corning has long been an innovator, producing everything from Edison’s first light bulbs to Pyrex bakeware. Then, in 1970, the company’s researchers developed fiber-optic wire. But over time, that glass fiber product started to look like it needed Windex. In 2018, Corning focused on making thinner, tougher glass cables that performed especially well in data centers. When the AI boom hit, the company was perfectly positioned to help build out the infrastructure: Late last month, Corning signed a $6 billion fiber-optic cable contract with Meta. The glassmaker expects other AI “hyperscalers” to follow suit. Glass bubble? Corning was on a ...

  Candy IP that could outlast a Gobstopper Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images Simple, sweet, and never leaving. These three candy-themed properties have stood the test of time and are here to stay. Candy Crush This addictive game is the newest candy-coated product on our list, but it’s a dinosaur in the staring-at-your-phone category. Swedish game developer King rolled out Candy Crush , a match-three puzzle game where players try to advance to the next level, in 2012 on Facebook and as a standalone mobile game later that same year: The game popularized the “freemium” model, in which users can play for free or make in-game purchases on things like extra moves for one of the 17,000+ (and growing) levels. It hit its peak in 2015, garnering around 327 million monthly players. In 2016, Activision Blizzard bought the company behind the game for $5.9 billion. And while those jackpot-esque pings aren’t as popular as they once were on your morning commute, roughly 180 million pla...

  What else does private equity own? Gilbert Flores/Getty Images You might think you’re pretty good at following the money through the ruins of a Red Lobster, but PE firms have expanded their investment portfolios to include things you didn’t even know were for sale, such as vital ferry lines for the Isle of Wight and gas pump screens . Here’s what else you didn’t know private equity owned: Font libraries. In 2019, private equity firm HGGC bought Monotype—the company behind pretty much every iconic font you can think of—for $825 million. Monotype has since hoovered up other typeface companies, like its 2023 acquisition of Fontworks, which was popular among Japanese game developers. Last year, Monotype discontinued its $380 yearly licensing plan and rolled out a new one for $20,500. Your tunes. The quickest way to substantial cash for megastars is selling their music catalog. OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder sold a majority stake in his 500+ songwriting catalog to PE fi...

  The hottest (and coldest) US housing markets Getty Images Just like you when you tan poolside, housing markets often take a dip after getting scorching hot. Many of the regions that enjoyed soaring demand and booming home values during the Covid-19 pandemic are now yelling “cannonball!” Regions cooling down: The Southeast and Southwest (aka the Sun Belt)—where remote workers and other Covid adapters previously flocked en masse—is now swamped. Some of those markets, especially in Texas and Florida, now have the highest rates of underwater properties, which means an owner owes more on their mortgage than the home is worth. This rate is growing overall, according to data from the Intercontinental Exchange: About 2.1% of US homeowners with a mortgage were underwater by the end of 2025, equalling 1.1 million people. That’s the largest underwater portion of borrowers since 2018, and it represents a 60% increase from the beginning of 2025. How the pendulum swings: Hot housing m...

  Neil Sedaka, Legendary Singer-Songwriter Behind ‘Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,’ ‘Bad Blood’ and ‘Love Will Keep Us Together,’ Dies at 86 By  Jem Aswad ,  Payton Turkeltaub Neil Sedaka,  legendary singer-songwriter behind hits like “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” “Bad Blood,” “Laughter in the Rain” and “Calendar Girl,” has died, a rep confirms to Variety. He was 86. “Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather,  Neil Sedaka ,” a statement from the family reads. “A true rock and roll legend, an inspiration to millions, but most importantly, at least to those of us who were lucky enough to know him, an incredible human being who will be deeply missed.” Related Stories 'Vladimir' Trailer: Sexy Netflix Drama Puts Rachel Weisz and Leo Woodall in a Forbidden Love Affair 'The Mummy 4' With Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz Gets May 2028 Release Date A Brooklyn native and a veteran of the legendary “Brill Building” hit factory ...