Current events: 2026-02-12

[Wikipedia Current Events]

Business and economy

• German economic crisis
  • Lufthansa staff conduct a one-day strike to protest the airline's cost-cutting measures, grounding at least 460 flights and affecting nearly 70,000 passengers. (DW) (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025–26 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
  • At least 31 people are killed, 36 others are injured, and several are missing as Cyclone Gezani makes landfall in Madagascar. (DW)

Health and environment

• Greenhouse gas emissions by China
  • The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air reports that China's carbon dioxide emissions remained flat or declined slightly in 2025 by about 0.3%, marking the first full calendar year in which emissions in China did not rise despite increasing energy demand, largely due to expanded renewable energy capacity. (AFP via France 24)

International relations

• China–Japan relations
  • 2025–2026 China–Japan diplomatic crisis
    • The Japanese fisheries agency seize a Chinese fishing vessel and arrest its captain after the vessel failed to stop for inspection within Japan's exclusive economic zone off Nagasaki Prefecture, marking the first such seizure since 2022. (AFP via Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• Kenya–Somalia relations, Somali Civil War
  • Kenyan president William Ruto announces the reopening of the country's Mandera border post with Somalia in April, ending a 15-year closure imposed in 2011 following attacks attributed to al-Shabaab, after earlier reopening plans were delayed due to renewed violence near the border. (AFP via Daily Sabah)

Law and crime

• Connections of Jeffrey Epstein
  • Former Norwegian prime minister Thorbjørn Jagland is charged with gross corruption over connections with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

• 2026 Bangladeshi general election
  • Bangladeshis vote to elect members of the Jatiya Sangsad. (BBC News)
• 2026 Barbadian general election
  • Projections of early morning results indicate that incumbent Barbadian prime minister Mia Mottley will win a third term in office, with the Barbados Labour Party securing all 30 seats in the House of Assembly for the third election in a row. (Reuters)

Sports

• 2026 Winter Olympics
  • The International Olympic Committee disqualifies Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych from competing due to his helmet, which has images of Ukrainian athletes killed by Russian Armed Forces. (NPR)

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