“The rise in oil prices has mainly been caused by the freezing polar vortex hitting the U.S., firing up heating demand, and spurring concern about a potential impact on oil production and trade,” said Jens Naervig Pedersen, an analyst at Danske Bank A/S in Copenhagen. Oil has risen for two years running as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia led a coalition of oil producers in cutting output. Prices have also been boosted by stoppages at pipelines in the U.K. and Libya. However, they are now at levels that are expected to help U.S. shale producers ramp up drilling, unlocking more crude and undermining OPEC’s efforts. Click Read More below for additional information.

On Tuesday, 17 February 2026, around 2 billion people will celebrate the start of a lunar new year. The lunar calendar marks each year with one of 12 animals, and 2026 moves from the Year of the Snake – a biodiversity hero in its own right – to that of the horse.   Horses have quietly shaped their environments for more than 50 million years and accompanied human development for the past 4 millennia. Every July, these creatures are honored on World Horse Day, and this year is also the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, recognizing specific types of communities and ecosystems that have been critically supported by horses. Horses are ecosystem engineers Horses improve the environment for other species – if managed sustainably Horses are resilience in action Horses are stronger together

A smaller-scale construction of the Sphere entertainment venue in Las Vegas may soon be taking shape across the Potomac River from the nation’s capital. Sphere Entertainment Co., the State of Maryland, Prince George’s County, and Peterson Companies recently announced their intent to develop a new Sphere venue at National Harbor, a premier destination in the Washington, D.C. Metro. It will be just the second Sphere in the U.S., and first to utilize a smaller-scale design model. It will hold 6,000 seats, making it about one-third the size of the Las Vegas Sphere.