Portal:Current events/2017 February 20

February 20, 2017 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Gunmen attack a Vietnamese vessel near Tawi-Tawi, Philippines, killing at least one sailor and abducting seven others, according to the Philippine Coast Guard. Abu Sayyaf militants are suspected of being behind the attack. (Reuters)
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- At least 11 people, all belonging to the same family, are killed in a grenade attack on their home in Laghman Province, according to provincial officials. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Second Libyan Civil War
- A motorcade carrying prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj of the internationally recognized Government of National Accord, is attacked by unidentified gunmen in Tripoli. There were no injuries reported. (Al Jazeera)
Syrian Civil War
- The ISIL-affiliated Syrian opposition group Jaysh Khaled bin Waleed overwhelms Tahrir al-Sham and Southern Front militants, capturing the towns of Tasil and Saham al-Jawlan, along with two other villages and a hill in Daraa Governorate. (Al Masdar News) (Reuters)

Arts and culture

British journalist Milo Yiannopoulos's invitation to speak at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference is rescinded, and publication of his book Dangerous by Simon & Schuster is cancelled after a video is posted allegedly containing statements of his condoning sexual relations with boys as young as thirteen. (New York Times via MSN)

Business and economy

Seattle-based Amazon.com says it will create 15,000 new full-time jobs across Europe by the end of 2017, increasing its European workforce by approximately 30 percent. (AndroidHeadlines.com) (Euronews)

Disasters and accidents

2017 South Sudan famine
- The World Food Programme (WFP) and other United Nations agencies declare that there is a famine in parts of Unity State, South Sudan, with 100,000 facing starvation and another million on the brink of famine. (The Guardian) (Al Jazeera)
Severe storms, from the weather system that hit Southern California Friday, reach southwest Texas injuring several people and damaging at least 100 homes with one confirmed tornado in San Antonio. Heavy rains continue today with flash floods likely as the storm moves to eastern Texas and southern Louisiana. (USA Today) (Weather Channel)

International relations

Malaysia–North Korea relations, Death of Kim Jong-nam
- Malaysia recalls its ambassador from North Korea amid an ongoing dispute over the alleged assassination of Kim Jong-nam by North Korean agents in the country. (BBC)
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the global transfer of weapons between 2012 and 2016 has been higher than any other five-year period since the end of the Cold War, with the Middle East increasing its weapon imports by 212%, second only to India, who accounted for 13% of the world's imports. (The Guardian)
Montenegro–Russia relations
- A Montenegrin prosecutor accuses Russian authorities of being involved in the October 2016 coup plot in order to halt Montenegro's accession to NATO. Russian officials dismiss the allegations as "absurd." (The Guardian)

Law and crime

Antisemitism in the United States
- The Ronald Gardenswartz Jewish Community Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico is evacuated for the second time this year following a bomb threat, after a wave of threats against Jewish institutions in the United States. (Albuquerque Journal)

Politics and elections