Portal:Current events

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Nuclear risk during the Russo-Ukrainian war
    • The Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia accuses France and the United Kingdom of preparing to supply Ukraine with a nuclear weapon, prompting the Russian foreign ministry to warn that such a move would lead to a direct conflict between NATO states and Russia. (TRT World) (Reuters)
• Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Five police officers are killed by Pakistani Taliban during two ambushes in Kohat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (AP)

Business and economy

• AI boom
  • American technology company Meta agrees to purchase millions of artificial intelligence chips from AMD, with AMD committing to supply up to six gigawatts of graphics processing units and issuing Meta warrants convertible into 160 million shares as part of a long-term partnership. (AFP via The Peninsula Qatar)

Disasters and accidents

• Fourteen people are killled and at least 440 others are displaced from their homes after heavy rain triggers flash flooding in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil. (Reuters)
• Four people are killed and several others are injured when an Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation Bell AH-1 SuperCobra crashes into a fruit market in Dorcheh, Isfahan province, Iran. (Reuters) (JFeed)

International relations

• Hungary–Ukraine relations
  • Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán announces that Hungary has ended all support for Ukraine, including through European Union framework, until Ukraine resumes oil transfers via the Druzhba pipeline. (AA)

Law and crime

• Two people are killed, including the suspect, and two others are injured in a suicide bombing near the Savyolovsky railway station in Moscow, Russia. (AFP via Arab News) (Xinhua)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Mexican drug war
  • 2026 Jalisco operation
    • The death toll among Mexican National Guard troops in Jalisco rises to at least 25 with dozens more wounded amid clashes with Jalisco New Generation Cartel gunmen. (BBC News)
    • Hugo César Macías Ureña, alias “El Tuli”, a right-hand man of El Mencho, who coordinated attacks after his death, is confirmed killed in a shootout with authorities. (The Guardian)
• Operation Southern Spear
  • United States strikes on alleged drug traffickers during Operation Southern Spear
    • Three people are killed in an airstrike by the United States Southern Command on an alleged drug vessel in the Caribbean Sea. (Al Jazeera)
• Religious violence in Nigeria
  • Islamic extremism in Northern Nigeria
    • Nigerian Army troops kill five suspected Lakurawa insurgents near Mayama Hill, Kebbi State, Nigeria, and recover a cache of weapons. (Channels TV)
• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Russian attacks on civilians in the Russo-Ukrainian war
    • Russian forces launch a wave of missile and drone strikes across Ukraine, killing four people, including two civilians in Odesa. (Al Jazeera)
• Sudanese civil war
  • Chad–Sudan relations
    • Chad closes its border with Sudan after five Chadian soldiers and three civilians are killed, and 12 others are injured, in clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and militia groups affiliated with the Sudanese government. (Reuters)
  • Darfur campaign
    • At least 28 people are killed and 39 others are injured in an attack by the Rapid Support Forces in Misteriha, North Darfur, Sudan. (AP)
• Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Three security personnel are killed and six others are injured, including some seriously, in an ambush on ambulances by unidentified gunmen in Karak District. (AA)
• Ecuadorian conflict
  • In Ecuador, seven people are killed in a mass shooting in a rural area in Jama, while two people are killed at a seaside resort of San Vincente. (Xinhua)
• Syrian conflict
  • Four security personnel and an Islamic State gunman are killed in a shootout at a checkpoint in Raqqa, Syria. (AFP via Asharq Al-Awsat)

Business and economy

• Panama's canal authority assumes control of the Balboa and Cristóbal ports on the Panama Canal after the Supreme Court annulled the concessions held by Hong Kong–based CK Hutchison, with an 18-month transition period and a new international tender process planned. (AFP via France 24)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Redbird Airways Beechcraft King Air crash
  • Seven people are killed when an air ambulance Beechcraft King Air crashes in Chatra district, Jharkhand, India. (Hindustan Times)
• Electricity sector in the Dominican Republic
  • A nationwide power outage occurs in the Dominican Republic, which the Ministry of Energy and Mines attributes to a transmission line switch malfunction that triggered system protection mechanisms. Power generation begins to recover later in the day, reaching about 30 percent of normal capacity. (AFP via Jamaica Observer) (Reuters)
• A bus plunges off a mountainous section of the Prithvi Highway near Benighat, Nepal, killing 19 people and injuring 25 others. (BBC News) (AP)
• A Mil Mi-17 helicopter of the Peruvian Air Force that went missing the previous day is found crashed near Chala, Peru. All 15 people on board are confirmed dead. (AFP via Gulf News)
• Six people are killed in a fire at a three-story residential building in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India. (Hindustan Times)
• Five people are killed and 45 others are injured when a double-decker bus overturns on the Purvanchal Expressway in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. (NDTV)
• A body of one of the three people that were reported missing after a garbage mound collapsed at a landfill in Rodriguez, Rizal, Philippines, three days ago, is recovered. The claims of up to 50 people missing are dismissed. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Health and environment

• Brazil announces that it will revoke a decree expanding the waterways in the Amazon rainforest under a federal privatization program following protests by Indigenous groups. (Reuters)

International relations

• Slovakia–Ukraine relations
  • 2026 Slovak–Ukraine oil dispute
    • Slovak prime minister Robert Fico announces the suspension of emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine amid the Russo-Ukrainian war unless oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline resumes, following a disruption that Slovakia attributes to Ukraine. (Al Jazeera)
• France–United States relations
  • France restricts United States ambassador Charles Kushner's direct access to government ministers after he skipped a meeting requested by foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot to address comments concerning the killing of Quentin Deranque. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Connections of Jeffrey Epstein
  • British politician Peter Mandelson is arrested on charges of misconduct in public office related to his links to convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. (BBC News)
  • Canadian-American author and former researcher Peter Attia resigns from CBS News following backlash after lewd messages between him and Jeffery Epstein were released. (CNN)
• Crime in Ukraine
  • Seven police officers are injured, including two seriously, in a seperate bombing targeting police vehicles at a filling station in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 1981 Spanish coup attempt
  • Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez announces the declassification of the documents relating to the attempted coup that took place in the Congress of Deputies in 1981. (RTVE in Spanish)
• 2025–2026 Dutch cabinet formation
  • Rob Jetten is sworn in as the new prime minister of the Netherlands, becoming the country's youngest and its first openly gay prime minister. (Politico) (BBC News)
• Hernando de Soto is announced as the new prime minister of Peru. (Gestión in Spanish)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Mexican drug war
  • 2026 Jalisco operation
    • Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), and six other gunmen are killed during a security operation carried out by the Mexican Armed Forces near Tapalpa, Jalisco. In response, CJNG members launched coordinated retaliatory attacks, including road blockades involving burning vehicles and improvised checkpoints across multiple states. (N+) (AP)
    • At least seven National Guard troops are killed in clashes with CJNG forces in Western Mexico. (AP)

Arts and culture

• 79th British Academy Film Awards
  • At the 2026 BAFTA Awards, the American film One Battle After Another wins the most awards with six, including Best Film. Hamnet became the most-nominated film by a female director and Sinners became the most-nominated film by a Black director in BAFTA history. (AP) (Rolling Out) (The Hollywood Reporter)

Disasters and accidents

• February 2026 North American blizzard
  • In the United States, a major nor'easter snowstorm hits the East Coast, causing blizzard conditions and major transportation disruptions. (CNN)
• Search and rescue operations begin for three individuals who have been reported missing after a collapse of a landfill in Rodriguez, Rizal, Philippines, two days prior. There are other claims that up to 50 people are feared missing from the incident. (Kahleej Times) (Manila Bulletin)

International relations

• Iran–Russia relations
  • The Financial Times reports that Iran had signed a confidential €500 million (US$589 million) arms agreement with Russia in December 2025 to buy 500 9K333 Verba man-portable air-defense systems and 2,500 associated missiles, with deliveries scheduled between 2027 and 2029 under a contract negotiated between Iran's defence ministry and the Rosoboronexport. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Secret Service and police officials kill an armed 21-year-old man who entered Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's estate in Palm Beach, Florida, United States. (BBC News)
• A suspect is injured in a shootout with a United States Border Patrol agent near the Canada–United States border in Pittsburg, New Hampshire, United States. The Federal Bureau of Investigation says they are investigating. (CTV News)

Politics and elections

• 2026 Laotian parliamentary election
  • Laotians vote in a parliamentary election to elect the 175 members of the tenth National Assembly. The only legal party in Laos contesting the election is the Lao People's Revolutionary Party. (AFP via France 24)
• 9th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea
  • North Korea's supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, is re-elected as the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, the most powerful position in the one-party state. (AFP via France 24)

Sports

• 2026 Winter Olympics
  • 2026 Winter Olympics closing ceremony
    • The Winter Olympics conclude with Norway as the highest-ranked team in the medal table. The Olympic flag is handed over to the organizers of the 2030 Winter Olympics to be held in the French Alps. (France 24)
  • Ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics
    • The United States defeats Canada 2–1 during overtime, winning gold in the men's tournament in ice hockey for the first time since 1980, exactly 46 years after the Miracle on Ice. (KNBC-TV)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war
    • Ukrainian forces launch long-range FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles, striking the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant in Votkinsk, Udmurtia, Russia. Another missile strikes a natural-gas processing plant in Samara Oblast. (The Telegraph) (DW)
  • Eastern front of the Russo-Ukrainian war
    • Russian forces capture the village of Karpivka in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, as they attempt to advance towards Lyman. (Devdiscourse)
• Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • 2026 Afghanistan–Pakistan conflict, 2026 Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan
    • Pakistan conducts intelligence-based strikes on seven locations along the Durand Line in the Nangarhar and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan targeting alleged camps of the Pakistani Taliban and an affiliate of the Islamic State, resulting in dozens of fatalities and injuries. (NDTV) (AFP via The Straits Times)
  • Two soldiers and five militants are killed in a shootout in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Reuters)
• Jonglei clashes
  • Up to 22 people are killed, including women and children, and several others are injured when Agwelek Forces gunmen open fire on villagers in Ayod County, Jonglei State, South Sudan. (CTV News)
• Syrian conflict
  • The Islamic State claims responsibility for two attacks on security personnel in northern and eastern Syria, in which a soldier and a civilian were killed. (Reuters)
• Terrorism in Ukraine
  • A policewoman is killed and at least 15 others are injured, including some seriously, in two explosions at a shop in Lviv, Ukraine. The attacks are being treated as terrorism. (TRT World)

Arts and culture

• 76th Berlin International Film Festival
  • At this year's Berlin Film Festival, İlker Çatak's Yellow Letters wins the Golden Bear. (AFP via The Philippine Star)

Business and economy

• Tariffs in the second Trump administration
  • United States president Donald Trump raises the global tariff on imports from 10% to 15% under emergency powers that permit the measure for up to 150 days after the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a 1977 law does not authorize the imposition of his earlier country-specific tariffs. The administration states that the new rate applies broadly, with exemptions for certain sectors and goods covered by existing trade agreements. (AFP via France 24)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025–26 Australian bushfire season
  • The state emergency service of Victoria, Australia, issues the highest-level emergency evacuation warning for areas surrounding the A1 Mine Settlement of Gaffneys Creek, as an uncontrolled bushfire burns the settlement. (Reuters)
• Libyan crisis
  • At least five bodies of refugees wash ashore near Tripoli, Libya. Residents also observe a child's body carried back to sea by strong waves, prompting a coast guard search operation. (Reuters)
• Six people are killed, including a five-year-old, and three others are injured when a boat capsizes and sinks on the Grande River in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Xinhua)
• The death toll from the truck explosion on a highway in Santiago, Chile, on Thursday, rises to six, with 15 others still hospitalized with serious injuries. (Xinhua)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Middle Eastern crisis
  • Hezbollah–Israel conflict
    • At least 12 people are killed and 33 others are injured in multiple Israeli strikes targeting members of Hezbollah and Hamas across Lebanon. One Hezbollah leader has been reported deceased. (Al Jazeera) (IMEMC) (AFP via Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• Russo-Ukrainian War
  • Crimea attacks
    • One person is killed and several buildings are damaged in Ukrainian drone strikes in Sevastopol, Crimea. (Reuters)
• Operation Southern Spear
  • United States strikes on alleged drug traffickers during Operation Southern Spear
    • Three people are killed in a strike by the United States Southern Command on an alleged drug trafficking vessel in an area of the eastern Pacific Ocean. (Al Jazeera)
• Nigerian bandit conflict
  • At least 50 people are killed and women and children are abducted in overnight attacks by gunmen on a village in Bukkuyum LGA, Zamfara State, Nigeria. (Reuters) (Xinhua)

Arts and culture

• The Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain, reaches its designed height of 172.5 metres (566 feet) after beginning construction in 1882, ahead of the completion of the main building expected later in 2026. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

• Seven people are killed, including a pregnant woman, two children are injured and 3,000 are displaced in three landslides in the provinces of Davao Oriental and Davao de Oro, Philippines. (CTV News) (Philippine Daily Inquirer) (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• Seven Chinese tourists are killed after their van sinks into a frozen-over section of Lake Baikal on Olkhon Island, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. One person managed to escape the vehicle and reach the surface. An investigation into criminal negligence and safety violations is opened. (The Moscow Times) (Reuters)
• Seven people are killed and two others are injured in a collision between a van and a truck in Valsad district, Gujarat, India. (Hindustan Times)
• Five people are killed, another is injured and power outages are reported during a major snowstorm in Linz and Tyrol, Austria. (AFP via Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Health and environment

• The French agriculture ministry authorizes the culling of around 200 wolves, raising the annual removal limit to 21% of the estimated population of over 1,000 animals, with a possible increase to 23%, citing rising livestock losses as wolf numbers expand into agricultural areas and regions near major cities. (Reuters)
• The Galápagos National Park releases 158 captive-bred juvenile giant tortoises onto Floreana Island in the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador, marking the species' return more than 180 years after its local extinction in the 1840s. (BBC News)

International relations

• 2026 Iran–United States crisis
  • Norway relocates some of its approximately 60 military personnel stationed in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East back to Norway and other regional locations, citing security concerns amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States. (Reuters)
• Chile–China relations, Chile–United States relations, China–United States trade war
  • The United States revokes the visas of three Chilean officials, including telecommunications minister Juan Carlos Muñoz, after Chile agreed to build a submarine cable with China. (Bloomberg)

Law and crime

• 2020–2021 Thai protests
  • A Thai court sentences activist lawyer Arnon Nampa, who has been detained since 2023, to an additional two years and eight months in prison for violating the country's lèse-majesté law over remarks made at a 2020 rally. (Reuters)
• Tariffs in the second Trump administration
  • The United States Supreme Court rules in Learning Resources v. Trump that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not grant the President the power to impose trade tariffs. (CNN)
  • U.S. president Donald Trump signs executive orders aimed at implementing tariffs using Section 122 and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• The Florida Legislature, in the United States, passes a measure to formally rename Palm Beach International Airport in Palm Beach County, Florida, as the "President Donald J. Trump International Airport". (The Guardian) (Bloomberg) (The Telegraph)

• Clashes in Tirana breakout between Riot Police and opposition party protesters demanding Edi Rama's resignation due to allegations of Belinda Balluku's corruption on the anniversery of Enver Hoxha's statue toppling. (Tirana Times) (Reuters)

Sports

• 2026 Winter Olympics
  • Norway breaks the record for most gold medals at a single Winter Olympics event after skier Johannes Dale-Skjevdal won the country's 17th gold medal in Milan–Cortina, surpassing their own record of 16 gold medals. (The Independent)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Sudanese civil war
  • Kordofan campaign
    • At least three aid workers are killed and four others are injured in a drone attack by the Rapid Support Forces and Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North on an aid convoy in South Kordofan, Sudan. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

• Eighteen people are killed and three others are injured when two trucks collide head-on near Port Said, Egypt. (Egypt Today)
• Sixteen people are killed and several others are injured after a gas explosion which then caused the building to collapse in Karachi, Pakistan. (Al Jazeera)
• Six firefighters are killed and another is injured when a fire engine plunges off a cliff in Xinhua County, Hunan, China. (Xinhua)
• At least four people are killed and 17 others are injured when a truck transporting liquid gas crashes and explodes in Santiago, Chile. (Reuters)
• A person is killed and five others are injured in Pétion-Ville, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, when a high-voltage power line breaks and falls into a public market. (Reuters)
• Five miners are trapped underground and presumed dead in a diamond mine after a mudslide in Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa. (AP) (Reuters)

Law and crime

• 2026 political prisoner release in Venezuela
  • Acting Venezuelan president Delcy Rodríguez signs a general amnesty bill into law, enabling the release of hundreds of political prisoners, including former National Assembly vice president Juan Pablo Guanipa. (AFP via Business Recorder) (AP)
• Arrest of Yoon Suk Yeol
  • Former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of leading an insurrection when he declared martial law on December 3, 2024. (The Korea Herald) (Reuters)
• Connections of Jeffrey Epstein
  • In the United Kingdom, police arrest royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on charges of misconduct in public office related to his links to convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He is later released from police custody. (AP) (BBC News)

Politics and elections

• Andrey Gyurov is sworn in as Prime Minister of Bulgaria. (AP)
• United States president Donald Trump says he has ordered defense secretary Pete Hegseth and other relevant department heads to "begin the process" of releasing classified government files related to extraterrestrial life and UAPs. (AFP via France 24) (The Wall Street Journal)

Sports

• 2026 Winter Olympics
  • Ski mountaineer Oriol Cardona wins the men's sprint event and captures Spain's first Winter Olympics gold medal in 54 years. (NBC)

Science and technology

• Scientists discover new dinosaur species (Spinosaurus mirabilis) deep in the Sahara Desert. (ABC News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Middle Eastern crisis
  • Syrian conflict
    • United States intervention in Syria
      • The United States announces that it will withdraw all remaining military troops from Syria, formally ending its 12-year military presence in the country. (The Wall Street Journal)
  • A security officer is killed and another is injured in an attack by the Islamic State in Raghib, Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria. (Reuters)
• Cambodian–Thai border dispute
  • Cambodian prime minister Hun Manet claims that Thai forces are occupying Cambodian territory beyond Thailand's claimed territory. (Al Jazeera)
• Ecuadorian conflict
  • Four people are killed and two others are injured in a drive-by shooting outside of a school in Guayaquil, Guayas Province, Ecuador. (Xinhua)
• Gaza war
  • Two Palestinians, including one child, are killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza. (Al Jazeera)
• Myanmar civil war
  • The state-run Myanmar Alin newspaper reports that Bo Nagar, leader of the anti-government Burma National Revolutionary Army, surrendered to the Burmese military after clashes with other rebel groups. (AP)

Business and economy

• American e-commerce company eBay announces it will acquire Depop from Etsy for $1.2 billion, merging two of the largest secondhand e-commerce platforms in the world. (Hypebeast)

Disasters and accidents

• A gas explosion at a lead mine in Bashar, Plateau State, Nigeria, kills at least 38 miners working underground and injures 27 others. (AFP via Arab News)
• Twelve people are killed in an explosion and fire at a fireworks shop in Xiangyang, Hubei, China. (CBC News)

International relations

• China–Poland relations
  • Poland bans all Chinese-made vehicles from entering its military sites, citing data security concerns regarding onboard sensors. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Terrorism in Australia
  • Australia issues a temporary exclusion order barring one citizen held in a Syrian detention camp from returning to the country under counter-terrorism legislation, citing the citizen's possible links to Islamic State members. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2026 Japanese general election
  • Sanae Takaichi is re-appointed Prime Minister of Japan by the House of Representatives after winning the legislative election. (AP)
• 2028 Philippine presidential election
  • Philippine vice president Sara Duterte announces her candidacy in the next presidential election. (AFP via France 24) (Reuters)
• Censure of José Jerí
  • Following two rounds of voting, José María Balcázar succeeds the removed José Jerí as interim President of Peru. (AP)

Science and technology

• Human rights in Gabon
  • Gabon indefinitely suspends access to social media platforms YouTube and TikTok citing concerns they undermine social cohesion and threaten national security. (Reuters)