Portal:Current events/2018 February 14
February 14, 2018 (Wednesday)
Arts and culture
- High-level delegations from the Vatican and the Patriarchate of Moscow meet in Vienna discussing the gains in ecumenical work in the two years since Pope Francis met in Havana with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. (AsiaNews)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian Civil War
- Russian aircraft carry out airstrikes in Ma'arrat Hurma village in Idlib, Syria, killing seven civilians and injuring 10 others. (TRT World)
Business and economy
- Economy of the European Union
- Eurozone GDP rises by 2.5% in 2017, a pace not seen since 2007, and industrial production is up 5.2% year-on-year. The production of durable consumer goods is up 7.4% and capital goods, indicating investments, are up 7.6%. (Reuters via Arab News)
Disasters and accidents
- A car crash at the headquarters of the United States National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland, injures three people. Police officers shoot at the driver, who they say was attempting to attack the building. (The Verge)
Law and crime
- Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
- A shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, leaves 17 people dead (14 of whom were teenagers), and 17 others wounded. The suspect is apprehended and identified as 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz. This is the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history. (CNN)
- Crime in South Africa
- The residence of the Gupta family is raided by the South African Police Service's elite Hawks unit and three people are arrested. (BBC)
- Stormy Daniels–Donald Trump scandal
- Michael Cohen, the private lawyer of U.S. President Donald Trump, says he made a "lawful" US$130,000 payment to porn star Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels, from his own private funds. The statement to The New York Times comes after the Common Cause organization on January 22, 2018, filed a complaint about the payment with the Federal Election Commission. (ABC News)
- Crime in Pakistan
- Pakistan moves to ban two charities linked to terrorist Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. (Reuters)
- November 2015 Paris attacks
- After the first trial on the attacks, Jawad Bendaoud is acquitted. Bendaoud rented an apartment to two of the attackers but denied knowing what they planned. Mohamed Soumah is sentenced to five years in jail for acting as an intermediary, and Youssef Ait-Boulahcen to three years for failing to inform authorities. (Digital Journal)
- Disappearance of Maëlys de Araujo
Politics and elections
- Ukrainian crisis
- Mikheil Saakashvili, leader of the opposition Movement of New Forces party, who was deported from Ukraine to Poland, relocates to the Netherlands. (NOS) (Xinhua)
- Politics of South Africa
- Jacob Zuma resigns as President of South Africa effective immediately, following an ultimatum issued the day prior by African National Congress that ordered Zuma to step down as head of state or face a vote of no confidence by the South African Parliament to remove him from power within 48 hours of the declaration. Cyril Ramaphosa takes over as Acting President. (News24)
- Zimbabwean general election, 2018
- Morgan Tsvangirai, opposition politician in Zimbabwe, dies of colon cancer at the age of 65, only months before a presidential election. (Al Jazeera)
Sports
- Concerns and controversies at the 2018 Winter Olympics
- A man is caught impersonating Kim Jong-un after walking through North Korea's cheerleading squad. (Business Insider)