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. (The 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
- Mount Sinabung has a massive eruption, completely destroying the volcano's peak, as well as ash reaching 7 kilometres in the air. Ash has covered much of the ground surrounding the area. (QUARTZ)
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)
Politics and elections
- Special Counsel investigation (2017–present), Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
- Authorities charge attorney Alex van der Zwaan with making false statements to the FBI during the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. Specifically, the charges are that he lied to investigators about his interactions with political consultant and lobbyist Rick Gates. (The New York Times)