Current events: 2025-02-18

[Wikipedia Current Events]

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 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)
• Kivu conflict
  • M23 campaign
    • 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)
• Israeli invasion of Lebanon
  • Israel partially withdraws troops from Lebanon as the deadline for their withdrawal expires. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• German economic crisis
  • German automotive parts company Continental AG announces it will layoff 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 the OPEC+ oil cartel. (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 accuses Ukraine of starting the war and calls for new a presidential election to be held in Ukraine as part of a peace deal with Russia. (The Telegraph) (NBC News)

Law and crime

• 2025 Istanbul alcohol poisonings
  • Over 124 people are killed over the last six weeks and dozens are still hospitalized. A total of 28 suspects are arrested. (Haarlems Dagblad)
• 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 criticised for its treatment of the dogs. (BBC News)
• Iran–United Kingdom relations
  • An Iranian court charges a British couple who were arrested and jailed last month with espionage. (DW)

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)

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