Top Stories — Thursday, April 16, 2026
What is trending in the USA today? Here is Breaking News:
- TSMC first-quarter profit rises 58%, beats estimates as AI demand fuels record run — CNBC
- UK economy grew 0.5% in February, beating economists' expectations by a long shot — CNBC
- Trump says Israel and Lebanon leaders to hold talks after first high-level meeting in decades — CNBC
TSMC first-quarter profit rises 58%, beats estimates as AI demand fuels record run
Source: CNBC • Published: 4/16/2026, 11:55:54 AM
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company on Thursday reported a 58% increase in first-quarter profit, beating estimates and hitting a fresh record as demand for artificial intelligence chips stayed strong.
Here are the company's results versus LSEG SmartEstimates, which are weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate:
TSMC's net income of NT$572.48 billion for the three months ended in March represented a fourth consecutive quarter of record profits.
Meanwhile, the company's revenue rose to NT$1.134 trillion, beating estimates. It had first reported the 35% year-on-year rise in first-quarter revenue last week.
TSMC, Asia's largest technology company by market capitalization, has maintained sustained demand for advanced semiconductors from its key customers, such as Apple, even as concerns persist about supply chain disruptions from the Middle East conflict and the potential impact on demand.
During an earnings call, TSMC executives said the company does not expect any near-term impact on its operations from recent disruptions to global energy supplies.
The company also said it was adding an advanced chip fabrication plant in Tainan, Taiwan, as it attempts to keep up with strong demand.
The chip giant has also benefited greatly from the proliferation of AI, producing advanced processors designed by the likes of Nvidia — now the company's largest customer — and AMD.
The company said advanced chips, with sizes 7-nanometer or smaller, accounted for about 74% of TSMC's total wafer revenue in the quarter. Meanwhile, TSMC's shipments of advanced chips under 3-nanometers accounted for 25% of total wafer revenue.
In semiconductor technology, smaller nanometer sizes signify more compact transistor designs, which lead to greater processing power and efficiency.
At its last earnings call in January, the company said it expected its capital spending this year to rise as much as 37% to between $52 billion and $56 billion, reflecting an expectation that demand will continue to grow.
UK economy grew 0.5% in February, beating economists' expectations by a long shot
Source: CNBC • Published: 4/16/2026, 11:52:30 AM
The U.K. economy grew by 0.5% in February, according to preliminary figures from the Office for National Statistics published Thursday.
Economists polled by Reuters expected U.K. gross domestic product (GDP) to have expanded by 0.1% month-on-month.
Services and production both grew by 0.5%, and construction grew by 1% in February.
The rebound came after the economy grew by 0.1% in January (the first estimate from the ONS suggested the economy had flatlined).
While the data for February was far better than expected, analysts said it will very much be viewed as backward-looking data given subsequent events in the Middle East, with the U.S. and Iran launching military operations against Iran on Feb. 28.
The International Monetary Fund warned earlier this week that the U.K. could see the biggest hit to growth from the Iran war of any major economy.
The IMF is now forecasting U.K. growth of just 0.8% in 2026, down from a previous forecast of 1.3%. that the IMF made in January
"Looking ahead, we expect growth to temper," Sanjay Raja, chief U.K. economist at Deutsche Bank, said in emailed analysis.
"Indeed, higher uncertainty would dampen spending and investment. Tighter financial conditions won't help either. With sentiment weakening, we expect output to also take a hit," he added.
As a net importer of energy, the U.K. is particularly vulnerable to global energy price shocks like the one being caused by conflict in the Middle East, which has put a stranglehold on oil and gas exports from the region.
Before the war began in late February, the Bank of England was expected to cut interest rates as inflation cooled to its 2% target. The war has put paid to those expectations, however.
Economists now expect U.K inflation to accelerate in March to 3.3%, from 3% in February, forcing the bank to hike interest rates at least once this year. The latest inflation data is due on April 22.
Patrick O'Donnell, chief investment strategist at Omnis Investments, noted that the February GDP data will likely have minimal impact on the Bank of England policymakers' thinking at their next meeting at the end of the month.
"With uncertainty high and multiple crosscurrents, we expect the BoE to sit on their hands. Looking beyond April, the market is split between 25 basis points and 50 basis points of hikes by the end of the year. With the BOE still viewing bank rate as being still in restrictive territory, currently, we think it is more likely that they remain on hold."
Trump says Israel and Lebanon leaders to hold talks after first high-level meeting in decades
Source: CNBC • Published: 4/16/2026, 11:50:08 AM
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that talks between Israel and Lebanon will begin Thursday, offering few details on the planned negotiations.
In a Truth Social post published just before midnight, Trump said he was "trying to get a little breathing room between Israel and Lebanon."
"It has been a long time since the two leaders have spoken, like 34 years," he added. Trump did not specify who would attend or where the talks would take place.
The announcement followed a trilateral meeting between U.S., Israeli and Lebanese officials on Tuesday, the first major high-level engagement between Israel and Lebanon since 1993. The three sides agreed to hold "productive discussions on steps toward launching direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon."
During the meeting, the U.S. called for talks to go beyond a 2024 agreement and work toward a comprehensive peace deal, adding that any agreement to cease hostilities must be reached between the two governments, brokered by the U.S., and not through separate channels.
In November 2024, Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire after a yearlong conflict between the Jewish state and the Iranian proxy. That conflict was triggered after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The 2024 ceasefire later unraveled when Hezbollah fired into Israel in March, dragging Lebanon into the Iran War. The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, killing its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In the weeks since, Tel Aviv launched multiple strikes against Iranian proxy Hezbollah — which has a stronghold in southern Lebanon.
Israel has since expanded its strikes beyond southern Lebanon to the capital, Beirut, displacing more than a million people.
The Qatar News Agency, citing the Lebanese health ministry, said that the death toll in the country stood at 2,164, with 7,061 wounded as of April 15.
The parallel campaign by Israel in neighboring Lebanon — alongside its strikes in Iran — had been a sticking point in peace negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
The speaker of Iran's parliament warned last Friday that negotiations to end the war cannot begin unless Israel halts attacks on Lebanon and unless the U.S. releases Tehran's frozen assets.
The negotiations, held in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, ended without the two sides reaching a deal, although Trump told the New York Post that fresh U.S.-Iran talks in Islamabad "could be happening over the next two days."
On April 7, the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, though it was unclear whether it applied to Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said Israel would negotiate with Lebanon "as soon as possible."
However, key differences remain between the two sides.
Israel had said it wants Lebanon to disarm all non-state terror groups and dismantle all terror infrastructure in Lebanon, including Hezbollah. However, Beirut has called for the full implementation of the 2024 agreement, under which Israel would withdraw from Lebanon's territory.
For complete details, visit the original sources linked above.
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