Portal:Current events/2018 February 20

February 20, 2018 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War, Turkish military operation in Afrin
- Pro-Syrian government forces are sent to help the Kurds fight against Turkey and its allies in the Afrin Region. This action opens up a new front in the war. (Independent)

Disasters and accidents

2017–18 South Pacific cyclone season
- Seven provinces in New Zealand declare states of emergency as Cyclone Gita makes landfall. (Newshub)
Iran Aseman Airlines Flight 3704
- Iranian forces have spotted the wreckage of the missing Aseman Airliner 30 meters below a hilltop on mount Dena. Helicopters could not land yet at the crash site due to weather and topographical conditions. 65 people are feared dead. (PressTV)

Law and crime

Corruption in Latvia
- Latvia will ask the European Central Bank not to renew the mandate of ECB Governing Council member Ilmārs Rimšēvičs, the head of the central Bank of Latvia since 2001, amid an ECB payment moratorium and an U.S. graft investigation into Latvia's third-largest lender, ABLV. On 19 January, Rimšēvičs was released on bail. (Bloomberg)
Judiciary of Thailand
- A court in Thailand awards a Japanese man paternity rights over 13 of his children from Thai surrogate mothers. (BBC)