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2026 February 28

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2026 Iran war
  • Israel launches an attack on Iran, calling it a preemptive strike, killing several Iranian high-ranking officials including supreme leader Ali Khamenei. (CNN) (NBC News)
  • The United States takes part in the attack on Iran with president Donald Trump announcing a “major U.S. combat operation” targeting Iranian missile facilities and naval assets, and calls on the Iranian military to overthrow Khamenei. (Iran International) (Ynet)
  • Explosions are reported in Tehran, Iran, as U.S.-launched Tomahawk missiles strike Iranian targets, including the supreme leader’s office. Satellite imagery confirms the destruction of Khamenei’s compound. (The Times of Israel) (AP) (Middle East Online) (BBC News)
  • Iran launches ballistic missiles at a United States Navy facility in Bahrain, targeting the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, and Iranian drones strike residential areas of Manama. The Bahraini interior ministry urges citizens and residents to seek nearest safe locations. (AP) (AFP via Al Khaleej) (Defense Mirror)
  • The Cabinet of Israel declares a state of emergency related to the strikes on Iran. Israel closes all border crossings with the Gaza Strip, citing security measures, and suspends the rotation of humanitarian personnel. (The Times of Israel) (AAP via The Canberra Times)
  • Iran launches missiles at Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE state that they have intercepted Iranian missiles. The U.S. embassies in Bahrain and Qatar instruct their personnel to shelter in place. (AFP via L’Orient–Le Jour) (Middle East Eye) (Reuters) (Wafa)
  • ​At least two people are killed and five more are injured when an unidentified airstrike targets the Popular Mobilization Forces headquarters in Jurf al-Nasr, Iraq. (AFP via The Times of Israel) (An-Nahar) (The National)
  • Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, and Syria close their respective airspaces to civilian flights as a precautionary measure, while the UAE partially closes its airspace. Later, the UAE indefinitely suspends all flights from the Al Maktoum and Dubai international airports. (The Independent) (Gulf News) (Hindustan Times)
  • Iranian Shahed drones strike Kuwait International Airport resulting in minor injures to several airport workers as well as damage to the main airport terminal. (The Times Kuwait)
  • Iran says it has launched a ballistic missile attack on Dubai with reports of multiple missiles striking the city. At least one hotel on the Palm Islands is hit and is ablaze, injuring at least four people. The Burj Khalifa is evacuated. An Iranian drone strikes the luxury hotel Burj Al Arab causing a fire. (News.az) (Hindustan Times) (BBC News) (The Mirror)
  • Iranian defence minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohammad Pakpour, and Expediency Discernment Council member Ali Shamkhani are killed by Israeli strikes. (AFP via BSS) (Reuters)
  • The IRGC Navy announces the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to all vessels. (News18) (Reuters)
  • The Iranian Red Crescent Society reports 201 people have been killed and 747 others have been injured so far in Israeli and American strikes on Iran. (AP)
  • At least 180 people, mostly schoolgirls, are killed in an airstrike on an elementary school in Minab, Hormozgan province, Iran. (Al Jazeera) (EFE) (France 24) (The New Arab)
  • At least 21 people, including four children, are killed in an airstrike on a sports hall in Lamerd, Fars province, Iran. BBC Verify and The New York Times determined that a U.S. Precision Strike Missile was used in the attack. (NHK World-Japan)
  • An Iranian missile strikes Tel Aviv, killing a woman, and wounding at least 22 other people, including several seriously, and badly damaging several buildings. Search and rescue efforts are underway. (Ynet News) (The Times of Israel)
  • One person is killed and seven others are wounded in an Iranian airstrike on Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, while four are injured in a similar airstrike on Dubai International Airport. (Newswire) (AFP via Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• Red Sea crisis
  • Yemen’s Houthis announce the resumption of attacks on Red Sea shipping routes and on Israel in support of Iran. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

• At least 21 people are killed and eight others are injured in an explosion at a firecracker factory in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India. (AFP via CTV News)
• Six people, including Parliament of Kenya legislator Johana Ng’eno, are killed when an Airbus Helicopters H125 crashes in Nandi County, Kenya. (Aviation Safety Network) (Reuters)
• Five people are killed when an ammunition and missile depot belonging to the National Guard detonates in Suwayda, Sweida Governorate, Syria. (AFP via LBCI) (Arabi21 in Arabic)

Law and crime

• Human rights in Cuba
  • Cuban authorities arrest ten Panamanian nationals in Havana, accusing them of creating anti-government signs in exchange for being paid US$1,000–1,500 and charging them under laws that prohibit propaganda against the constitution, offenses that carry prison terms of three to eight years. (AFP via Jamaica Observer) (Reuters)

2026 February 27

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Gaza war
  • Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip
    • Israeli air and drone strikes kill at least five people and injure several others in central and southern Gaza, despite an ongoing United States-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas. (AFP via The Hindu)
• 2026 Afghanistan–Pakistan war
  • Clashes break out on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Pakistan launching airstrikes on several locations in Afghanistan, including the capital of Kabul, targeting Taliban government forces directly, in what Pakistani defense minister Khawaja Asif describes as “open war”. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Bolivian Air Force Lockheed C-130 crash
  • Twenty people are killed and 30 more are injured after the crash of a Bolivian Air Force aircraft into a busy avenue in El Alto, Bolivia. (Reuters)
• Seven people are killed and 19 others are injured in a blast and fire at a café in Shchuchinsk, Kazakhstan. (Reuters)
• Six people are killed and several others are injured after a sleeper bus collides with a trailer on National Highway 25 in Rajasthan, India. (News18)
• Two people are killed and 49 more injured after a tram derails in Milan, Italy, and crashes into pedestrians and a building. (BBC News) (Rai News)

Law and crime

• 2025 Pertamina corruption case
  • A court in Jakarta, Indonesia, sentences nine individuals, including two former chief executives of subsidiaries of state-owned energy company Pertamina, to prison terms ranging from nine to 15 years in a corruption case involving alleged unlawful oil terminal leasing and crude oil imports that prosecutors say caused significant state losses. (Reuters)
• Humanitarian aid during the Gaza war
  • The Supreme Court of Israel issues an interim order suspending a government ban on 37 foreign non-governmental organizations operating in Gaza and the West Bank, allowing them to continue their operations while the court reviews a petition challenging the revocation of their legal status. (AFP via France 24)
• A Tunisian court sentences former prime minister Ali Laarayedh, who has been detained since 2022, to 24 years in prison for facilitating the travel of Tunisian nationals to Syrian conflict zones during his premiership, while seven co-defendants, including former interior ministry officials, receive prison terms ranging from three to 24 years. (Reuters)

Science and technology

• Artificial intelligence in government
  • Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei rejects a U.S. Department of Defense request to loosen security safeguards on the Claude large language model for potential use in mass surveillance and autonomous weapons systems. (BBC News) (SRF)
  • OpenAI announces that it has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense to deploy its technology on the latter’s network. (Politico)

2026 February 26

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2026 Afghanistan–Pakistan war
  • Afghanistan announces attacks against Pakistani military positions along their shared border in response to Pakistani air strikes launched 4 days prior. Pakistan, in turn, says its forces have responded. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Zona da Mata floods
  • The death toll from the floods across Minas Gerais, Brazil, rises to 54 people, with fourteen more still missing. (AFP via France 24)
• Seven people are killed and 25 others are injured after a gas cylinder explodes inside a house in Chaman, Pakistan. (Daily Times)

Law and crime

• 2022 Greek surveillance scandal
  • A Greek court sentences four individuals, including Intellexa’s Israel-based founder Tal Dilian, to eight years in prison for breaching data and violating privacy laws after they deployed the Predator spyware, targeting the mobile phones of more than 90 politicians, journalists, businesspeople, and military officials in 2022. (AFP via Times of Israel)

Politics and elections

• 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election
  • Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer wins the constituency of Gorton and Denton in Greater Manchester, England, in the party’s first by-election win. (The New York Times) (The Washington Post)
• 2026 Danish general election
  • Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen calls a snap election for March 24 amid the Greenland crisis. (AP via NBC News)
• Corruption in Albania
  • Albanian prime minister Edi Rama dismisses deputy prime minister and infrastructure minister Belinda Balluku after anti-corruption prosecutors indicted her on suspicion of interfering in the award of two public construction contracts worth more than €200 million. (Reuters)

2026 February 25

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war
    • Seven people are killed and ten others are injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on a fertilizer plant just outside of Dorogobuzh in Smolensk Oblast, Russia. (TRT World)
• 2026 Cuban crisis
  • 2026 Cuban boat incident
    • The Cuban coast guard trades fire with an American marked speedboat registered in Florida 1 nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) off of Cuba. According to Cuban government sources, the boat’s occupants fired on coast guard personnel who approached it for identification, and injured a coast guard commander in the shootout, with returning fire killing four and injuring six unidentified gunmen. (CBS News)
• 2025–2026 Iran internal crisis
  • Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) fighters allegedly attack Iranian security forces near Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s headquarters in Tehran. Both MEK and Iranian government sources claim dozens of MEK fighters were killed or arrested, though MEK additionally asserts that government forces also suffered “heavy losses” during the alleged clashes. (Jerusalem Post)

Business and economy

• Economy of South Korea
  • South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index surpasses 6,000 points for the first time, crossing the threshold shortly after the opening of trading. (AFP via BSS)

Disasters and accidents

• The death toll from the explosion of a truck on a highway in Santiago, Chile, on February 19, rises to 12. Nine people remain hospitalized, including five in critical condition. (Xinhua)
• A Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet crashes in western Turkey, killing the pilot. (NOS)

International relations

• Cuba–United States relations
  • 2026 Cuban crisis
    • The United States announces that it will ease certain restrictions to permit Venezuelan oil exports to Cuba’s private sector for commercial and humanitarian purposes amid an energy shortage. (Reuters)
• India–Israel relations
  • Israel’s Knesset speaker Amir Ohana awards Indian prime minister Narendra Modi the newly established Medal of the Knesset to honor him for his “significant contributions to the State of Israel and the Jewish people.” (Times of Israel)

Law and crime

• Assassination of Marielle Franco
  • The Supreme Federal Court of Brazil sentences former Rio de Janeiro legislators Chiquinho and Domingos Brazão to 76 years and three months in prison each for ordering the 2018 killing of city councilor Marielle Franco and her driver, convicting them of double aggravated homicide, participation in an armed criminal organization, and attempted murder. (AFP via France 24)

2026 February 24

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)
• Myanmar Civil War
  • Conflict in Rakhine State
    • The Myanmar Air Force airstrikes on suspected rebel targets kill at least 17 in the Rakhine state. (Al Jazeera)
• M23 campaign
  • The governor of South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, reports the discovery of two mass graves containing at least 172 bodies in Uvira, South Kivu, following the withdrawal of the March 23 Movement (M23) from the city. Rights groups previously reported alleged killings during the M23’s presence. (Reuters)
• Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Five police officers are killed by the Pakistani Taliban during two ambushes in Kohat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (AP)
  • Four police officers are killed and three civilians injured in a suicide bombing at a checkpoint in Bhakkar District, Punjab, Pakistan. (Xinhua)
• Syrian conflict
  • Three Saraya al-Jawad gunmen and a soldier are killed in a shootout in Latakia, Syria. (Al Jazeera)
• Terrorism in Russia
  • Two people are killed, including the suspect, and two others are injured in a suicide bombing targeting a police car near the Savyolovsky railway station in Moscow, Russia. (AFP via Arab News) (Xinhua)

Business and economy

• AI boom, 2024–present global memory supply shortage
  • 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

• Thirty people are killed, 39 others are reported missing and at least 440 are displaced from their homes after heavy rain triggers flash flooding in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil. (AFP via France 24) (Reuters)
• Four people are killed and several others are injured when an Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation Bell AH-1 SuperCobra helicopter crashes into a fruit market in Dorcheh, Isfahan province, Iran. (Reuters) (JFeed)
• At least four people are killed and nine others are injured in an explosion at a house in Antonio Ante Canton, Imbabura Province, Ecuador. (Xinhua)
• Four people are killed and another is critically injured from carbon monoxide poisoning at an apartment building in Kursk Oblast, Russia. (Xinhua)
• The death toll from an explosion and fire at a six-story residential building in Chattogram, Bangladesh, rises to three. (News.Az)

International relations

• Bolivia–United States relations
  • Bolivia resumes operational cooperation with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to combat drug trafficking and organized crime after a 17-year suspension. Bolivia says the renewed collaboration will include efforts to address money laundering linked to the illicit drug trade. (Reuters)
• Guinea–Sierra Leone relations
  • Sierra Leone says that Guinea has detained several of its army and police personnel and seized their ammunition during construction work on border facilities in Sulima Chiefdom, Falaba District. (Reuters)
• 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)

Politics and elections

• Protests against the Russo-Ukrainian war
  • On the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, millions of people in the United States and Europe express solidarity with the people of Ukraine. (Euronews) (Kyiv Post)
• Denisse Miralles is sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Peru, succeeding Ernesto Álvarez Miranda. (Andina)

Science and technology

• The United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) fines American social media network Reddit £14.5m for “using the data of children under the age of 13 unlawfully”, and potentially exposing them to “inappropriate and harmful content”, including pornography. (The Guardian)

2026 February 23

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 “El Tuli” Macías Ureña, a right-hand man of El Mencho, who coordinated attacks after his death, is confirmed killed in a shootout with authorities. (The Guardian)
    • At least six soldiers and National Guards were wounded after an ambush in the Zamora–Carapan highway, Zamora Municipality, Michoacán. (Quadrantin)
• 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)
• 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)
• Jonglei clashes (2025–present)
  • 2026 Jonglei offensive
    • Militiamen suspected to be loyal to the South Sudanese government reportedly lure a dozen civilians from their homes with the promise of humanitarian aid and then shot them dead. (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)
• 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 Peruvian Air Force Mil Mi-17 crash
  • 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)
• 2026 Redbird Airways Beechcraft King Air crash
  • Seven people are killed when a Beechcraft King Air air ambulance 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)
• 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. (Reuters)
• 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)

2026 February 22

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. (Khaleej 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)
• Hernando de Soto is (falsely) announced as the new prime minister of Peru. (Gestión in Spanish). Two days later Denisse Miralles is sworn in to this office.

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)

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