Portal:Current events
Topics in the news
- In Australia, a ban on the use of certain social-media platforms by under-16s comes into effect.
- In motorsport, Lando Norris (pictured) wins the Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
- In a military offensive, the Southern Transitional Council seizes most of southern Yemen from the government.
- In Benin, a coup attempt by members of the armed forces is thwarted.
- Architect and designer Frank Gehry dies at the age of 96.
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Insurgency in Balochistan
- Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency
- Three members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are killed after an ambush by gunmen in Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran. (AP)
- Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency
- M23 campaign, Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda conflict
- 2025 Uvira offensive
- M23 rebels take control of Uvira, South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (AP via ABC News)
- 2025 Uvira offensive
- Myanmar conflict
- At least 30 people are killed and 70 more injured in a Tatmadaw's airstrike against a hospital in Mrauk U, Rakhine State, Myanmar. (Al Jazeera)
- 2025 United States naval deployment in the Caribbean
- Operation Southern Spear
- The United States Coast Guard seizes an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. (CNBC) (Reuters)
- Operation Southern Spear
Arts and culture
- Eurovision Song Contest 2026, Boycotts of Israel
- Iceland announces that it will join several other countries in boycotting next year's Eurovision Song Contest in Austria in protest of Israel's participation. (Reuters)
Business and economy
- Tourism in the United States
- The U.S. Customs and Border Protection files a proposal to request mandatory checks on email and social media accounts for all future Visa Waiver Program applicants. (Nine News Australia) (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
- 2025 Fez buildings collapse
- At least one person is killed and two others are injured when a 1,500-square-meter fire engulfs a large market in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Daily Mirror)
International relations
- Bolivia–Israel relations
- Bolivia and Israel formally restore diplomatic relations, which were severed in 2023 under the Bolivian president Luis Arce in response to the Gaza war. (AP)
Law and crime
- 2025 Beninese coup attempt
- Benin's government reports that Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri, identified as the leader of the failed coup attempt, has fled to Togo and is now the subject of an extradition request following arrests linked to the plot. (Reuters)
- 2025 Louvre heist
- The French cultural ministry reports to the Senate that the Louvre's closed-circuit television camera captured the October jewel theft but was not being monitored at the time, citing delayed zoom activation, insufficient screens, and a malfunctioning nearby camera. The ministry adds that these lapses form part of a wider inquiry into procedural and equipment failures that may have facilitated the suspects' escape. (ABC News)
- Flood control projects scandal in the Philippines
- Philippine president Bongbong Marcos announces the cancellation of former Ako Bicol representative Zaldy Co's passport and directs government agencies to facilitate Co's return to the Philippines as investigators examine his alleged involvement in a large-scale flood control corruption scheme. (Gulf News)
- Terrorism in Canada
- Canada designates 764, Islamic State – Mozambique Province, Terrorgram, and Maniac Murder Cult as terrorist entities. (CBC News) (Reuters)
- Former Bolivian president Luis Arce is arrested as part of an investigation into alleged embezzlement during his tenure as economy minister. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Bulgarian budget protests
- Tens of thousands of people hold nationwide protests in Bulgaria, calling for Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov's government to resign over alleged corruption and dissatisfaction with proposed fiscal measures. (AP)
- 2025 Honduran general election
- Supporters of the ruling Liberty and Refoundation party protest across Honduras, demanding the results of the presidential election to be annulled after prolonged delays in the vote count and allegations of fraud, and calling for a rerun of the election. (AAP via The Canberra Times)
- Arrest of Jair Bolsonaro
- The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies approves a bill that reduces penalties for certain crimes, including attempted coup, which could significantly shorten former president Jair Bolsonaro's 27-year prison sentence. (AFP via France 24)
- Censorship in Vietnam
- The Vietnamese National Assembly adopts amendments to its press and state secrets laws that expand government authority to compel journalists to disclose sources and broaden the range of information classified as state secrets. (Reuters)
Science and technology
- Brazil–China relations
- Brazil and China begin constructing a joint laboratory for radio astronomic technology with the Federal University of Campina Grande and the Federal University of Paraíba to support space research as both countries work on the BINGO radio telescope. (Reuters)
Sports
- 2025 SEA Games
- Cambodia withdraws its entire delegation from the SEA Games, citing security concerns arising from its escalating border conflict with the host nation Thailand. (AFP via France 24)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- M23 campaign, Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda conflict
- 2025 Uvira offensive
- Media reports confirm that M23 has captured Sange, South Kivu, from the Congolese government and Burundian troops. (Al Jazeera) (SOS Media Burundi)
- The European Union and the United States call on the Rwandan military and the M23 rebels to stop their offensive. (Yahoo News)
- At least 20,000 people flee from Uvira across the Burundi–DRC border and reach Bujumbura. (Actualité in French)
- M23 fighters enter Uvira. (TRT World)
- 2025 Uvira offensive
- 2025 Cambodia‒Thailand conflict
- The Royal Thai Air Force carries out several airstrikes against Cambodia, killing nine civilians and wounding 20 more. (Al Jazeera)
- Three Thai soldiers are killed and 29 more injured during clashes with Cambodian soldiers. (Al Jazeera)
- Sudanese civil war
- Dozens of people are killed in a drone strike by the Sudanese Armed Forces on an oil field in Heglig, West Kordofan, Sudan. (AP)
Arts and culture
- 2025 Turner Prize
- British autistic artist Nnena Kalu wins the 2025 Turner Prize for her wrapped fabric sculptures, becoming the first artist with a learning disability to win the award. (AFP via The Sun Malaysia) (The Guardian)
Business and economy
- 2025 IndiGo disruption
- The Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India orders IndiGo, the country's largest airline, to reduce its flights by 5% following a scheduling crisis last week that caused thousands of cancellations. (DW)
- Pakistani economic crisis
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approves the release of US$1.2 billion to Pakistan to assist with recovery from an economic crisis. The country has already received $3.3 billion from the IMF since last year. (AP)
Disasters and accidents
- 2025 Terra Drone Building fire
- Twelve people are killed and four more are injured in a fire at a four-story building in Shantou, Guangdong, China. (AFP via Arab News)
- Seven people are killed when a Russian Air Force Antonov An-22 military transport aircraft crashes during a test flight following repairs in Ivanovo Oblast, Russia. (Reuters)
- A Sudanese Air Force Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft crashes while landing at an air base in Port Sudan, Red Sea State, Sudan, killing all crew members. (Al Jazeera)
Health and environment
- 2025 Catalonia swine fever outbreak
- The Catalan government in Spain announces a state of emergency due to the rapid spread of African swine fever virus in wild boars in a 12 km (7.5 mi) region to avoid spreading to other regions of Spain. (20minutos in Spanish)
International relations
- Belarus–Lithuania relations, Violations of non-combatant airspace during the Russo-Ukrainian war
- Lithuania declares a state of national emergency over security risks from Belarusian weather balloons violating Lithuanian airspace. (AP)
Law and crime
- War in Darfur
- International Criminal Court investigation in Darfur
- The International Criminal Court sentences Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kushayb to 20 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the war in Darfur. (Reuters)
- International Criminal Court investigation in Darfur
- Catholic Church sexual abuse cases
- Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York in the United States announces the archdiocese will set up a $300 million fund to compensate victims of sexual abuse who have sued the church. (AP)
- Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
- A court in Beijing, China, orders Malaysia Airlines (MH) to pay CN¥2.9 million (US$410,000) each to families of eight missing passengers of MH370, which disappeared after departing from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014. (AP)
- Operation Synytsia
- School violence in the United States
- One person is killed and another is critically injured in a shooting at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky, United States. A suspect is taken into custody. (BNO News)
- Australia's Online Safety Amendment takes effect, age-restricting social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter (X), TikTok, and YouTube, as well as accounts on the said sites registered to users under the age of 16. (CNN)
- The Nepalese Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority charges 55 people, including former ministers and officials, and a Chinese engineering company with fraud related to inflating expenses in the construction of Pokhara International Airport. (AP)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Czech parliamentary election
- Andrej Babiš of the opposition ANO party is appointed as Prime Minister of the Czech Republic for his second non-consecutive term. (Reuters)
- 2025 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état
- Guinea-Bissau's military junta adopts a one-year transitional charter that suspends the constitution, bars the interim leaders from contesting forthcoming elections, and assigns the junta authority over political and institutional reforms until new elections are held at the end of the transition. (Reuters)
- 2025 Honduran general election
- Honduran president Xiomara Castro denounces the manipulation of the election results, which are still being counted, and accuses U.S. president Donald Trump of interference. (AFP via France 24)
- The Slovak parliament votes to abolish the country's whistleblower protection office and replace it with a new body. (Reuters)
Science and technology
- Chinese space program
- Chinese astronauts install debris-shielding on the Tiangong space station following damage to the docked Shenzhou 20 reentry capsule from orbital debris, and the crew conducts a spacewalk to prepare the compromised spacecraft for an uncrewed return. (Reuters)
Sports
- 2025 SEA Games
- The 2025 SEA Games opens at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, with heightened security for Cambodian athletes and staff due to the ongoing Cambodia–Thailand conflict. (AFP via France 24)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Yemeni civil war
- 2025 Hadhramaut offensive
- The Southern Transitional Council (STC) captures all eight southern governorates of Yemen, opening possibilities for it to claim independence. Saudi Arabia withdraws all of its troops from Aden. (The Guardian)
- Yemen's airspace briefly closes as a result of the STC offensive. (AP)
- 2025 Hadhramaut offensive
- 2025 Cambodia‒Thailand conflict
- A Thai soldier is killed and eight others are injured after Cambodia shells Ubon Ratchathani province, Thailand. (Bangkok Post)
- Thai F-16 jets carry out airstrikes on Cambodian military targets in Oddar Meanchey province and Preah Vihear, killing four Cambodian civilians and wounding ten more. (Al Jazeera)
- Israel–Hezbollah conflict
- Israel carries out a wave of airstrikes in southern Lebanon, allegedly targeting Hezbollah's site. (Al Jazeera)
- Sudanese civil war
- The Rapid Support Forces capture Heglig, Sudan's largest oilfield, after the Sudanese Armed Forces withdraw from the area. (Al Jazeera)
Arts and culture
- 83rd Golden Globe Awards
- Nominations for the Golden Globe Awards honoring productions in 2025 are released, with One Battle After Another topping the film categories with 9 nominations, while The White Lotus tops the television categories with 6 nominations. This is also the first year the awards will have a Best Podcast category. (Al Jazeera) (AP)
Business and economy
- Czech Republic–Turkey relations
- Turkish low-cost airline Pegasus announces an agreement to acquire Czech Airlines and its subsidiary Smartwings, the largest Czech airline, for €154 million (US$180 million). (AP)
- Economy of China
- China's trade surplus passes US$1 trillion for the first time despite significant pressure from U.S. tariffs. (NPR)
Disasters and accidents
- 2025 Sanriku earthquake
- A Mw 7.6 earthquake strikes off the coast of Aomori Prefecture, Japan, causing some public services to be suspended. (Mainichi) (CNBC)
- Four tourists are killed and one other is missing when a wave hits a seawater pool in Los Gigantes, Tenerife, Spain. The victims had previously ignored the warnings and the closure of the seawater pool. (AP)
International relations
- Hungary–Turkey relations
- Turkey agrees to guarantee the transit of Russian natural gas to Hungary through the TurkStream pipeline. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Corruption in Cuba
- Cuba's Supreme Court sentences former economy minister Alejandro Gil to life imprisonment for espionage and multiple economic-related offenses, and in a separate case imposes a 20-year term for bribery, influence peddling, and tax evasion. (AFP via CTV News)
- Corruption in Ecuador
- An Ecuadorian judge orders former president Lenín Moreno to stand trial on bribery charges linked to alleged payments made during the construction of the Coca Codo Sinclair Dam. (Reuters)
- Corruption in Mexico
- In Mexico, former Chihuahua governor César Duarte Jáquez is arrested for allegedly laundering more than Mex$96 million (US$5 million) in public funds. (Reuters)
- Nine women are killed and ten others are injured when Nigerian Army soldiers open fire on a group of protestors in Adamawa State, Nigeria.
- The Honduran attorney general issues an international arrest warrant for former president Juan Orlando Hernández, whom U.S. president Donald Trump recently pardoned after serving part of a 45-year sentence for drug trafficking. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Honduran general election
- The Honduran electoral council resumes releasing updated presidential election results following an extended pause to conduct technical reviews and address inconsistencies in tally sheets, with the latest count showing National Party candidate Nasry Asfura narrowly ahead. (Reuters)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2025 Beninese coup attempt
- Elements of the Benin Armed Forces, led by Pascal Tigri, announce a coup d'état against president Patrice Talon and the creation of a military junta, the Military Committee for Refoundation, after seizing state television. The coup attempt is ultimately unsuccessful. (Al Jazeera)
- The Nigerian Air Force launches precision airstrikes against pro-coup forces in Cotonou in support of the Beninese government, killing several putschists. (Sahara Reporters) (Zagazola)
- ECOWAS announces the deployment of ground troops to Benin from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. (Sahara Reporters)
- France provides military intelligence, surveillance aircraft, and logistical assistance to Benin and shares intelligence with Nigeria to help thwart the coup attempt. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- 2025 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
- Cyclone Ditwah
- The death toll from the floods and landslides caused by heavy rains in Sri Lanka increases to 618. (Al Jazeera)
- Cyclone Senyar
- The death toll from the floods in Indonesia increases to 908, while 410 people remain missing. In Thailand, at least 216 people are also confirmed killed. (Al Jazeera)
- Cyclone Ditwah
- A Fire and Rescue NSW firefighter is killed and dozens of homes are destroyed as bushfires spread across parts of New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Papiri kidnapping
- Nigerian authorities secure the release of 100 of the 315 students and staff abducted from a school in Niger State, while more than 160 others remain unaccounted for. (AFP via The Guardian)
- Ecuadorian security crisis
- Thirteen suspected Los Lobos gang members are killed in a prison riot following two explosions in Machala, El Oro Province, Ecuador. (BNO News) (AP)
- Brazilian police report that two armed individuals stole eight Henri Matisse engravings and five works by Candido Portinari from the Mário de Andrade Library in São Paulo after threatening a security guard and visitors. (AFP via France 24)
Politics and elections
- 2025 Hong Kong legislative election
- Hong Kong citizens vote for the members of the Legislative Council. (Reuters)
Sports
- 2025 FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup
- In futsal, Brazil wins the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup after defeating Portugal 3–0 in the final held in Metro Manila, Philippines. Emilly is awarded the tournament's Golden Ball. (GMA News)
- 2025 Formula One World Championship
- In auto racing, McLaren's Lando Norris wins his first Formula One World Drivers' Championship after outscoring the defending champion, Red Bull's Max Verstappen, by two points at the end of the season's final race in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (BBC)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2025 Afghanistan–Pakistan conflict
- Five civilians are killed and eight more are injured in a shootout between Pakistani soldiers and Afghan soldiers at the border. (AP)
- Terrorism in Mexico
- At least five people are killed and 12 others are injured in a suspected car bombing terrorist attack when a vehicle explodes outside of a police station in Coahuayana, Michoacán, Mexico. (BNO News)
- Colombian conflict
- At least thirteen people are injured in a motorcycle bombing at a café near a police station in Balboa, Cauca Department, Colombia. (Blu Radio in Spanish) (Infobae in Spanish)
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Two Palestinians are killed and a soldier is injured when Israel Defense Forces soldiers open fire on a car speeding toward troops in Hebron, West Bank. (The Times of Israel)
Business and economy
Disasters and accidents
- 2025 Arpora nightclub fire
- At least 18 people are killed and two others are critically injured when a dinghy carrying migrants sinks off Crete, Greece. (Greek Reporter)
International relations
- International sanctions against Afghanistan
- Australia imposes economic sanctions and travel bans on four Afghan government officials over their involvement in human rights violations, particularly the Taliban's treatment of women. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- 2025 Saulsville shooting
- Twelve people are killed, including three children, and 13 others are injured in a mass shooting at an unlicensed bar in Saulsville, Gauteng, South Africa. (AP)
- Four protesters from Take Back Power are arrested after they threw custard on a display case containing the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London in England. (DW)
Sports
- MLS Cup 2025
- In soccer, Inter Miami defeats the Vancouver Whitecaps 3–1 to win its first MLS Cup title. (USA Today)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Afghanistan–Pakistan clashes
- Sudanese civil war
- War crimes during the Sudanese civil war
- Fifty people are killed, including 33 children, after the Rapid Support Forces strike a kindergarten in South Kordofan, Sudan. (AP)
- War crimes during the Sudanese civil war
- Colombian conflict
- Colombia and the Clan del Golfo agree in Doha, Qatar, that the group's combatants will begin assembling in three designated zones in Chocó and Córdoba starting March 1, with arrest and extradition orders suspended during the process. Colombia also designates additional municipalities for pilot peace programs as part of broader negotiations aimed at reducing violence. (Reuters)
- Myanmar civil war
Business and economy
- Proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. by Netflix
- Netflix, Inc. agrees to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for US$72 billion in one of the largest takeovers in entertainment industry history. (BBC News)
Disasters and accidents
- A car strikes pedestrians during Christmas festivity preparations in Sainte-Anne, Guadeloupe, France, injuring 19 people, including seven children. (Le Monde)
International relations
- Canada–Syria relations, Terrorism in Canada
- Canada removes Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham from its list of terrorist entities following a review of the Syrian transitional government. (Reuters)
Law and crime
- Epstein files
- United States federal judge Rodney Smith orders the release of grand jury records from the 2006–2007 investigations into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, ruling that the recently enacted Epstein Files Transparency Act supersedes federal grand jury secrecy rules. (The Guardian)
- Flood control projects scandal in the Philippines
- Philippine president Bongbong Marcos orders the interior department and the national police to pursue contractor Sarah Discaya and others accused of involvement in a ghost project in Davao Occidental. (Rappler)
- The European Union fines social media platform X €120 million (US$140 million) for breaching the Digital Services Act. (DW)
Politics and elections
- Conscription in Germany
- The German Bundestag approves a government plan to expand military recruitment through mandatory questionnaires and medical screenings for young men while keeping conscription suspended. (Reuters)
- Pensions in Germany


