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2025 February 16

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Kivu conflict
  • M23 campaign
    • 2025 Bukavu offensive
      • Local officials and residents report that Rwanda-backed M23 forces have taken over the center of Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu in eastern DR Congo. (Al Jazeera)
      • The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo acknowledges the fall of Bukavu to M23 rebels and urges its roughly two million residents to shelter in place. (BBC News)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Mykolaiv strikes, Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
    • Russia launches drone strikes across Ukraine, injuring at least one person and damaging a thermal power station in Mykolaiv, leaving 46,000 people without heat. Ukraine says that it shot down 95 of 143 drones while disrupting 46 others by electronic countermeasures. (Reuters)
• Yemeni civil war, Red Sea crisis
  • The U.S. military announces that the Yemen Coast Guard had successfully intercepted an Iranian weapons shipment on its way to the Houthi movement in Yemen on 12 February. (i24 News)

Arts and culture

• 78th British Academy Film Awards
  • The BAFTAs are held at the Royal Festival Hall in London, England. The Brutalist and Conclave win the most awards, with four each, while the latter also wins Best Film. (Los Angeles Times)

International relations

• Russia–United States relations, Peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio leads a delegation that includes National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for initial talks with Russia. A Russian source reports that the meeting will occur on 18 February and that the Russian delegation is expected to include Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov, and SVR Director Sergey Naryshkin. (AP) (Kommersant)

2025 February 15

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Kivu conflict
  • M23 campaign
    • 2025 Bukavu offensive
      • Mass looting and sporadic gunfire is reported in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, as M23 rebels advance into the city. Mobs loot several facilities, including a World Food Programme depot. (BBC News)
      • The Congolese military withdraws from Bukavu heading south towards Tanganyika Province. (AP)
  • Ituri conflict
    • General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, Chief of the Ugandan military, claiming to act with the authority of his father, President Yoweri Museveni, threatens to invade the Democratic Republic of the Congo and take control of Bunia, the capital of Ituri Province, unless local forces surrender their weapons within 24 hours. Kainerugaba alleges that the Hema people are being killed. (Reuters)
• Gaza war
  • 2025 Gaza war ceasefire
    • Hamas releases three Israeli hostages in exchange for the Israeli government releasing 369 Palestinian prisoners, most without criminal charges or convictions, as part of the first stage of the 2025 ceasefire. (Al Jazeera) (AP)
• 2025 Munich car attack
  • A 37-year-old woman and her two-year-old child die as a result of injuries sustained in a vehicle-ramming attack in Munich, Germany, on Thursday. (Stern)
• 2025 Villach stabbing attack
  • A 14-year-old boy is killed and five other people are injured in a mass stabbing on a street in Villach, Carinthia, Austria. A 23-year-old man, an Islamic State member, is arrested. (AP) (DW)

Business and economy

• Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda conflict
  • Congolese Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner calls on Western sporting firms such as the National Basketball Association, Formula One, and Arsenal F.C. to cut sponsorship deals with Rwanda amid the conflict in Kivu. (ESPN)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025 New Delhi railway station stampede
  • A crowd crush kills at least 18 people, including three children, and injures ten others at New Delhi railway station in New Delhi, India. (BBC News) (CNN) (Al Jazeera)
• At least 49 people are killed and several others are injured when a gold mine collapses in Kéniéba, Mali. (AP) (Bloomberg)

International relations

• Russia–United States relations
  • Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speak by telephone about the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Gaza war, the sanctions against Russia, and removing restrictions on each country’s diplomatic missions. They also discuss preparations for a high-level summit in Saudi Arabia. This is the first time the U.S. and Russia had contact at the foreign minister level in almost two years. (Financial Times)
• South Africa–United States relations
  • Hundreds of White South Africans hold a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, in support of U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims that the South African government is discriminating against the country’s white minority. (AP)
• Weimar+
  • French President Emmanuel Macron announces an emergency summit in Paris, France, between European leaders following a controversial speech given by U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference in which he criticized European leadership as the worst threat to Europe, particularly for imposing too much censorship and too little control over migration. (Ukrinform) (BBC News) (Voice of America)

Law and crime

• 2025 Beirut attack on UN convoy
  • The Lebanese Armed Forces arrest over 25 people on suspicion of attacking a UNIFIL convoy and United Nations peacekeepers near Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut. (Al Jazeera)
• Muhsin Hendricks, the first openly gay imam, is assassinated by two unidentified assailants while driving near Gqeberha, South Africa. (CTV News) (BBC News)
• A man is shot dead at the Clemenceau metro station in Brussels, Belgium. The shooting is connected to the ongoing drug war in the city since the start of the year, which has already killed another person and wounded three more. (The Brussels Time)

Politics and elections

• 2025 African Union Commission Chairperson election
  • Government leaders of the member states of the African Union elect Djiboutian foreign minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf as the organization’s chairperson, succeeding Chadian Moussa Faki. (AP) (Reuters)

2025 February 14

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Kivu conflict
  • M23 campaign, Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda conflict
    • 2025 Bukavu offensive
      • M23 rebels and Rwandan troops seize control of Kavumu Airport in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (DW)
      • M23 forces and Rwandan troops enter the city of Bukavu, according to local security and humanitarian officials. There are no reports of resistance as most Congolese troops withdraw. (Digital Journal)
      • Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi cancels his participation in an upcoming African Union summit to end the conflict due to the “situation on the ground”. Tshisekedi accuses Rwanda of invading the country to seize its mineral-rich regions. (RFI)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant drone strike
    • A drone strikes the New Safe Confinement structure housing the site of the Chernobyl disaster. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy states that a Russian combat drone caused significant damage to the structure, but did not produce an increase in external radiation levels. (CNN)
• Insurgency in Balochistan
  • Eleven coal miners are killed and five others are wounded when a bomb hits a truck in Harnai, Balochistan, Pakistan. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

• At least six people are killed and seven injured in a fire at a construction site in Busan, South Korea. (Al Jazeera)
• Ten people are killed and 19 others are injured in a collision between a car and a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims heading to Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India. (DW)
• A shop explosion and fire in Oudomxay province, Laos, kills four people and injures others. (Radio Free Asia)

2025 February 13

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Kivu conflict
  • Kasanga massacre
    • Militants from an IS–Central Africa-aligned faction of the Allied Democratic Forces enter the village of Mayba in Lubero Territory, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, abducting and beheading at least 70 Christian civilians. (Genocide Watch)
  • M23 campaign
    • 2025 Bukavu offensive
      • M23 rebels capture Kalehe Territory and Ihusi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, leading to several civilian casualties and the mass evacuation of residents. (BBC Gahuza)
• War against the Islamic State
  • Islamic State insurgency in Puntland
    • Puntland counter-terrorism operations
      • More than thirty IS–Somalia fighters are killed in airstrikes on positions in the Sheebaab area of the Cal Miskaad mountains in northern Bari Region, Puntland, Somalia. (Hiiraan Online) (Anadolu Agency)
• Gaza war
  • 2025 Gaza war ceasefire, Gaza war hostage crisis
    • Hamas says it will resume the release of hostages according to the terms of the ceasefire and hostage release deal with Israel. (CBS News)
• 2025 Munich car attack
  • At least 28 people are injured by a vehicle-ramming attack during a demonstration by the ver.di trade union in Munich, Germany. Police arrest the vehicle’s driver, a 24-year-old man, at the scene on suspicion of Islamic terrorism. (Sky News) (New Arab) (PBS)

Business and economy

• German economic crisis
  • German automotive manufacturer Porsche announces it will cut 2,000 jobs over the next five years, reducing its workforce by 15%, primarily affecting its assembly plants in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen and Weissach in Baden-Wurttemberg. (DW)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025 Taichung Shin Kong Mitsukoshi gas explosion
  • Four people are killed and thirty-two others are injured by a gas explosion at a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store in Taichung, Taiwan. (Central News Agency)
• At least 21 people are injured, including 10 seriously, in a fire inside of a costume factory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha)
• Three people are dead and 114 others fall ill, including two in critical condition, after a gastroenteritis outbreak at four hospices in Florence, Italy. (Ansa)
• At least one person is killed and three others are injured by an explosion at the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing compound in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Taliban government alleges that it was a suicide attack, while no party has claimed responsibility. (DW)
• The US Navy Sixth Fleet announces that the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman was involved in a collision at sea with the merchant vessel Besiktas-M on February 12 while operating in the vicinity of Port Said, Egypt, in the Mediterranean Sea. (U.S. Sixth Fleet Public Affairs)
• 24 people are killed and 30 others are injured when a bus and truck crashed into eachover in Beitbridge, Zimbabwe.

International relations

• International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Israeli leaders
  • The United States Treasury Department sanctions Karim Ahmad Khan, the top prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, over his decision to investigate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant regarding their conduct during the Gaza war. (U.S. Treasury Department)

Law and crime

• Investigations into the Eric Adams administration
  • Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon and five other U.S. Justice Department officials resign after being ordered by the second Trump administration to drop a federal corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. (CNN)
• The Royal Thai Army announces that 260 foreigners have been rescued from online scam centers in Myanmar near the two countries’ border, where they were trafficked to and forced to work in. (AP)
• A van carrying members of the Union of Indigenous Communities of the Isthmus Region is ambushed near Río del Sol, in the limits of the municipalities of Santo Domingo Petapa and San Juan Mazatlán, leaving three local activists dead. The attack happened during the escalation of a local agrarian conflict. (Revista Proceso)

Politics and elections

• Second cabinet of Donald Trump
  • Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is confirmed as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services by a Senate vote of 52–48. (NPR)

2025 February 12

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russo-Ukrainian War
  • Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Kyiv strikes
      • Russian forces launch an overnight ballistic missile attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, killing one person and injuring four others. (Reuters)
    • United States and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
      • After holding a telephone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin, U.S. president Donald Trump says negotiations to end the war will start immediately. (CNN) (Euronews)
• Sudanese civil war
  • Darfur campaign
    • The Rapid Support Forces storm the Zamzam Refugee Camp in North Darfur, Sudan, the country’s largest displacement camp. The situation inside the camp, which holds around 500,000 people, is described as “catastrophic”, with an unknown number of casualties. (BBC News)
• Students–People’s uprising
  • United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk reports that over 1,400 people were killed last year during violent crackdowns on protests against the government of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by the military and police, with over 78% of the casualties having been shot. (DW)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025 Hamburg train accident
  • The casualty total from yesterday’s collision between an Intercity Express train and a semi-trailer truck in Hamburg, Germany, increases to one person killed and 25 injured. (EuroWeekly)
• A fishing trawler capsizes off South Korea’s Jeju Island, with five crew members reported missing. Five others are rescued by the Korea Coast Guard. (AP)

International relations

• Russia–Sudan relations
  • Sudanese foreign minister Ali Yousif Sharif reports that an agreement has been reached for the creation of a Russian naval base in Sudan. (Al Arabiya)

Law and crime

• Foreign relations of the United States
  • Belarus–United States relations
    • U.S. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announces that Belarus has released three detainees, including an American citizen. (Al Arabiya)
  • Russia–United States relations
    • The Trump administration agree to send convicted money launderer Alexander Vinnik back to Russia in exchange for the release of American teacher Marc Fogel, who was serving a 14-year sentence for entering the country with 17 grams of medical cannabis. (Reuters) (NBC News)
• 2025 Grenoble attack
  • A man throws a grenade into a bar in Grenoble, France, injuring 15 people, some of whom are in critical condition. (Times Now)

Politics and elections

• 2025 Greek presidential election
  • Konstantinos Tasoulas is elected President of Greece by the Hellenic Parliament in the fourth and final round of the presidential election. (Ekathimerini)
• Senate’s President Ilie Bolojan becomes acting President of Romania following Klaus Iohannis’ resignation on 10 February. (Reuters)

Science and Technology

• Neutrino detection
  • Researchers at the KM3NeT collaboration, published their results on the highest energy neutrino ever detected. The infrastructure, located at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, recorded an event 30 times more energetic than the previous record holder. (Nature), (AP)

2025 February 11

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Kivu conflict
  • M23 campaign
    • 2025 Bukavu offensive
      • Rwandan-backed M23 rebel forces initiate advances towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), following a two-day unilateral ceasefire. (Al Jazeera)
  • Ituri conflict
    • CODECO insurgents kill at least 52 people and injure eight others in attacks across Ituri Province, DRC. At least 30 civilian homes were burned down during the attacks, according to Radio Okapi. (Anadolu Ajansi)
• War against the Islamic State
  • Islamic State insurgency in Puntland
    • Puntland counter-terrorism operations
      • At least 27 Puntland soldiers and more than 70 ISIL militants are killed or wounded in fighting around the Togga Jacel area of the Cal Miskaad mountains in Puntland’s Bari Region. This is the deadliest attack since Puntland launched an offensive in December 2024 against Islamic State in Somalia hiding in the Golis Mountains. (VOA) (Reuters) (Garowe Online)
• Gaza war
  • 2025 Gaza war ceasefire, Gaza war hostage crisis
    • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that if Hamas does not release Israeli hostages by noon on Saturday, the ceasefire will end and the IDF will resume offensive operations in the Gaza Strip. (Reuters)
• Islamic State–Taliban conflict
  • Five Taliban members are killed and seven others are injured during a suicide bombing outside New Kabul Bank in Kunduz, Afghanistan. (Arab News)

Arts and culture

• The accession ceremony is held for Prince Rahim al-Hussaini as the 50th Imam of Nizari Isma’ilism, succeeding his late father Aga Khan IV. (Islamabad Post)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025 Hamburg train accident
  • Twelve people are injured, including two critically, when an Intercity Express train collides with a semi-trailer truck in Hamburg, Germany. (AP)

International relations

• Foreign relations of South Korea, Foreign relations of Syria
  • The South Korean Foreign Ministry announces that the country will move to establish diplomatic relations with Syria. (Korea Herald)
• Jordan–United States relations
  • King Abdullah II of Jordan meets U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. for talks focusing on the president’s proposal for the removal of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and a subsequent United States takeover of the region, with President Trump threatening to withhold aid from Jordan and Egypt if they do not agree to the proposal. (ABC News)
• Russia–United States relations
  • Russia releases U.S. citizen Marc Fogel, after talks with Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff. (The New York Times)

Law and crime

• Antisemitism in Australia, Clinical incidents in Australia
  • Two nurses in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia are stood down after claiming on video that they allegedly both refused to treat and intentionally mistreated Israeli patients. (The Guardian)
• Belarus–European Union border crisis
  • The European Court of Human Rights says it will consider three cases involving irregular migrants allegedly having been pushed back across the border into Belarus from EU countries. (Forbes)
• Italian police arrest around 150 people across Sicily in the biggest anti-Mafia raid since 1984. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

• Politics of Vanuatu, 2025 Vanuatuan general election
  • Jotham Napat is elected Prime Minister of Vanuatu by parliament. Napat, who received 50 votes, was elected unopposed. (RNZ Pacific)
• Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States announce sanctions on a Russian bulletproof hosting services provider that is allegedly ignoring law enforcement requests, along with two Russians who are operating the network. (AP)
• The Government of Spain announces it will grant residency and work permits to up to 25,000 immigrants affected by the floods in the Valencian Community in 2024. (AP)

Science and technology

• Google Calendar confirms it has removed Black History Month, Pride Month and other cultural events from its service, saying the holidays were “not sustainable” for Google’s new business model which is rolling back an emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). (The Guardian)

Sports

• 2025 Asian Winter Games
  • South Korea at the 2025 Asian Winter Games
    • Biathlete Ekaterina Avvakumova wins the first gold medal for South Korea in biathlon at the Asian Winter Games. (Korea JoongAng Daily)

2025 February 10

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Gaza War
  • Gaza war hostage crisis
    • 2025 Gaza war ceasefire
      • Hamas delays the release of further hostages under the ceasefire agreement, accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire. (BBC News)
    • United States support for Israel in the Gaza war
      • In response to Hamas’ announcement, U.S. President Donald Trump issues an ultimatum, saying that if all remaining hostages are not released by Saturday then “all hell will break loose” in the Middle East. (Sky News)
• War against the Islamic State
  • Islamic State insurgency in Puntland
    • Puntland counter-terrorism operations
      • Puntland forces announce that, over the past 24 hours, airstrikes targeting Islamic State hideouts have killed more than 13 foreign militants in the Dhasaq area of Bari Region, Puntland. (Anadolu Agency)

Business and economy

• Second Trump tariffs
  • United States President Donald Trump signs an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on all aluminium and steel imports. (NBC News)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025 Guatemala City bus crash
  • A bus veers off a bridge and falls into a ravine in Guatemala City, Guatemala, killing 56 people and seriously wounding others. The government declares three days of national mourning. (CBS News) (Prensa Libre)
• One person is killed and four others are injured when a Learjet 35A aircraft veers off the runway and crashes into a Gulfstream G200 aircraft at Scottsdale Airport in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. (The Arizona Republic) (KNXV-TV)

International relations

• North Korea–South Korea relations, Korean conflict
  • South Korea opposition leader Lee Jae-myung calls for renewed dialogue talks with North Korea and emphasizes the need to maintain strong military readiness amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. (NK News)

Law and crime

• 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement
  • Police in Bangladesh arrest over 1,300 people amid riots and pro-Sheikh Hasina protests. (DW)

Politics and elections

• 2025 Romanian presidential election
  • Romanian President Klaus Iohannis announces his resignation. (DW)
• Artificial Intelligence Cold War, 2025 in artificial intelligence
  • French President Emmanuel Macron tells major world leaders gathered at an AI summit in Paris that France is “back in the AI race”. His remarks came following the announcement that the country would be receiving AI private investments worth a total of €109 billion (US$112 billion) over the coming years. (France 24) (The New York Times) (AP)

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