Portal:Current events/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)