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2025 February 19

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Kivu conflict
  • M23 campaign
    • 2025 Uvira offensive
      • Widespread civil disorder arises in Uvira, South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo amid M23 rebel advances from Bukavu. At least thirty deaths are reported, along with looting and a prison break of 228 Congolese soldiers imprisoned for desertion. (Reuters)
    • Following a meeting between Chadian president Mahamat Déby and a diplomatic envoy of Congolese president Félix Tshisekedi, the Congolese government formally requests military support from Chad in their ongoing conflict against the M23 movement. (Anadolou Agency)
    • The United Nations Security Council holds an emergency meeting in response to rapid territorial gains made by M23 rebels, with U.N. special envoy for Congo Bintou Keita saying the council needed to take “urgent and decisive steps to avert a wider regional war.” (AP)
• Islamic State insurgency in Puntland
  • Puntland counter-terrorism operations
    • Puntland police capture several IS–Somalia militants accused of involvement in extortion and bombings in Bosaso, the capital of the Bari Region, amid ongoing military operations in the Cal Miskaad mountains. (Garowe Online)
• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure
    • At least one person is killed and 14 others are injured in Russian missile and drone strikes across Ukraine, including a large drone attack on energy infrastructure in Odesa that leaves 160,000 residents without heating and electricity. (The Kyiv Independent)
• Boko Haram insurgency
  • The Chad National Army announces the end of its four-month Operation Haskanite, an offensive in the Lake Chad area against Boko Haram, and that 297 terrorists and 27 soldiers have been killed. (The Hindu)

Disasters and accidents

• Two light aircraft, a Lancair 360 MK II and a Cessna 172S, collide midair at Marana Regional Airport near Tucson, Arizona, United States, killing two people. (NBC News)

International relations

• Peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Ukraine–United States relations
    • Amid deteriorating relations between both countries, U.S. President Donald Trump calls Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator” and says he has done a “terrible job” while warning “he is not going to have a country left” soon. (BBC News)
  • Russia–United States relations
    • Russian President Vladimir Putin praises the high-level talks with the U.S. in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as a “first step” towards restoring full diplomatic ties with the United States. (The Moscow Times)
• Belgium–Rwanda relations
  • Rwanda suspends a humanitarian aid pact with Belgium after Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot criticized Rwanda’s military support for the M23 rebel movement in Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Euro Weekly News)

Law and crime

• 2020s European re-armament
  • Denmark announces 50 billion kroner in defense spending over the next two years, citing an increased threat from Russia, bringing the country’s total defense spending to the highest in more than 50 years. (BBC News)
• Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is formally charged with leading the 2022 Brazilian coup plot, which attempted to overthrow current President Lula da Silva. (Reuters)

Science and technology

• Polish police inspects several tanks from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that crashed in the country after its reentry into the atmosphere during the night. (BBC) (TVN24)
• Apple Inc. announces the iPhone 16e, discontinuing all remaining Lightning port iPhones and the home button third-generation iPhone SE. (9to5Mac)

Sports

• 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite
  • In association football, Chinese club Shandong Taishan withdraw from the AFC Champions League Elite several hours before their match against South Korean club Ulsan HD. (ESPN) (South China Morning Post)

2025 February 18

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Kivu conflict
  • M23 campaign
    • 2025 Uvira offensive
      • Rwandan-backed M23 rebels advance on the city of Butembo, North Kivu, and capture Kamanyola in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo after defeating Congolese forces. Local officials say M23 forces are now preparing to advance on Uvira. (AP)
      • Burundi initiates the withdrawal of its military forces from the eastern DRC following M23 advances. Between 10,000 and 15,000 Congolese civilians cross into Burundi to avoid violence, with several drowning in the Ruzizi River. (Reuters)
• Gaza war, Middle Eastern crisis
  • 2025 Gaza war ceasefire
    • Hamas accuses Israel of carrying out at least 266 attacks in the Gaza Strip since the agreed ceasefire on January 19, killing at least 132 Palestinians and wounding 900 others. (Newsweek)
• Sudanese civil war
  • Al-Kadaris and Al-Khelwat massacres
    • Rapid Support Forces militants kill at least 433 people in the villages of Al-Kadaris and Al-Khelwat, White Nile State, Sudan. (Reuters)
• Israeli invasion of Lebanon
  • Israel partially withdraws troops from Lebanon as the deadline for their withdrawal expires. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

• Tomb of Thutmose II
  • A joint Egyptian-British archaeological mission announces the discovery of the tomb of King Thutmose II. (CBS News)
• Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 amasses a total box office of ¥12.3 billion (US$1.69 billion), surpassing Inside Out 2 as the highest-grossing animated film globally. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• German economic crisis
  • German automotive parts company Continental AG announces it will lay off over 3,000 research and development positions and end operations at its factory in Nuremberg, Bavaria, by 2026. (DW)
• Brazilian minister of mines and energy Alexandre Silveira announces that the country will join OPEC+. (AP)

Disasters and accidents

• February 2025 North American storm complex
  • The death toll from flooding in Kentucky, United States, rises to 14, amid the threat of an imminent winter storm in the region. (NBC News)

International relations

• Peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia–United States relations
  • The United States and Russia start talks in Saudi Arabia about the war in Ukraine without European or Ukrainian participation. (The New York Times) (BBC News)
  • The delegations agree to start the negotiating process for ending the war, create high-level teams, and normalize diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries. (AP)
  • U.S. President Donald Trump calls for a new presidential election to be held in Ukraine as part of a peace deal with Russia. (The Telegraph) (NBC News)
  • Russia rules out any peacekeepers from NATO member states being stationed in Ukraine as part of any peace agreement. (BBC News)

Law and crime

• 2025 Istanbul alcohol poisonings
  • Over 124 people have been killed over the last six weeks from consuming bootleg alcohol, with dozens still hospitalized. Twenty-eight people are arrested in connection with the production and distribution of the alcohol. (Haarlems Dagblad) (CBS News)
• Animal welfare in the United Kingdom
  • The Welsh Government announces a ban on Greyhound racing in Wales following cross-party calls for a ban on the sport which has been criticized for its animal cruelty. (BBC News)
• Iran–United Kingdom relations
  • An Iranian court charges a British couple who were arrested and jailed last month with espionage. (DW)
• $Libra cryptocurrency scandal
  • A judge in Argentina orders investigations into potential fraud by President Javier Milei following his brief social media promotion of a cryptocurrency that collapsed in value hours after promotion. (AP)

Politics and elections

• Second cabinet of Donald Trump
  • The United States Senate confirms businessman Howard Lutnick as the Secretary of Commerce in a 51–45 vote. (AP)

Science and technology

• NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies announces that the chances of asteroid 2024 YR4 impacting Earth on 22 December 2032 has increased to 3.1% (1-in-32) following further observations of its orbital trajectory. It has now surpassed the threat of 99942 Apophis which once had a 2.7% chance of hitting Earth during 2004 before later being ruled out. (Live Science) (CNN)

2025 February 17

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Eastern Ukraine campaign
    • 2024 Kharkiv offensive
      • Russia says its forces have captured the village of Fyholivka in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. (Reuters)
• Israeli invasion of Lebanon
  • 2024 Israel–Lebanon ceasefire agreement
    • Mohammad Shahin, a senior Hamas commander, is assassinated in an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in Sidon, Lebanon. (Anadolu Ajansı)
• War against the Islamic State
  • Islamic State insurgency in Puntland, American military intervention in Somalia
    • In a coordinated operation, the United States and United Arab Emirates launch joint airstrikes targeting IS–Somalia militants in Bari Region, Puntland, Somalia. (Garowe Online) (Garowe Online) (Garowe Online)
• Mexican drug war
  • An attack with an explosive drone in the locality of El Capire, Apatzingán left one National Guard and a police wounded, while they were on reconnaissance rounds in the area. Hours later, two agents of the Attorney General of Mexico were kidnapped and found dead in the town in Cenobio Moreno, located on the outskirts of Apatzingán. (El Debate) (El Universal)

Business and economy

• American airline company Southwest Airlines announces it will lay off 1,750 jobs, 15% of its corporate workforce, for cost reduction. This is the company’s first mass layoff since operating in 1971. (CNBC)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025 Kerdasa building collapse
  • Ten people are killed and eight others are injured when a three-story residential building collapses in Cairo, Egypt. (Washington Post) (Voice of America)
• Delta Connection Flight 4819
  • Twenty-one people are injured, including three critically when a Delta Airlines Bombardier CRJ900LR, crashes after catching fire and flipping over at Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. (NPR) (CBS News) (Al Jazeera)
• February 2025 North American storm complex
  • Eight adults and one child are killed in flooding caused by heavy rains in the eastern United States. (DW)
• 2025 Yocalla bus crash
  • A bus crashes and falls 800 m (2,600 ft) down a cliff in Yocalla Municipality, Bolivia, killing 31 people and injuring fourteen others. (Reuters)

International relations

• Peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Weimar+
  • European leaders gather in France for a summit on Ukraine after the U.S. administration announced the opening of peace talks with Russia on ending the Ukrainian war without European participation. (CNN)
  • Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov says that Europe has no role in any peace negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine. (BBC News)

Law and crime

• Syrian security forces arrest three former Assad regime officers responsible for the Tadamon massacre, which occurred in south Damascus in 2013. (The New Arab)
• Singaporean Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh is convicted of two counts of perjury to the Committee of Privileges and is fined S$7,000 per count, but is not disqualified as a member of parliament. (CNA)

Politics and elections

• Protests against Donald Trump
  • Protests against the second presidency of Donald Trump
    • Demonstrations take place at state capitols around the United States, including at Union Square in Washington, D.C., as part of the 50501 movement to protest against the second administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, and Project 2025. (NPR) (USA Today)
• 2025 Indonesian student protests
  • Student groups and the Civil Social Coalition party launched a protest in several cities in Indonesia against the government. (Tempo)

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)

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