Portal:Current events/2020 February 25

February 25, 2020 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Somali Civil War (2009–present)
- A U.S. airstrike kills an employee of the telecoms Hormuud Telecom. It was aimed at Al-Shabaab in Jilib, Middle Juba. (Reuters)
Syrian civil war, Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020), Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War
- As fighting continues in the Idlib Governorate, the Syrian Army takes control of rebel-stronghold Kafranbel for the first time since 2012, and 18 nearby villages including Sheikh Dames and Sheikh Mustafa. (RFI)
- Turkish-backed rebels recapture the village of Nayrab, west of Saraqib, after days of heavy fighting which has left dozens dead, according to Turkish state media. (Al Jazeera)
Turkish military intervention in the Second Libyan Civil War
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan confirms the first Turkish Armed Forces casualties in Libya since beginning a military operation in support of the GNA government after two troops are killed. (BBC News)
North East Delhi riots
- Violent clashes in North East Delhi, India, between Hindu and Muslim protesters over the Citizenship Amendment Act continues leaving 13 people dead and at least 150 injured. (NDTV)

Business and economy

Steve Hasker, former company president of American data firm Nielsen Holdings, is appointed CEO of Thomson Reuters effective March 15. (Reuters) (The Wall Street Journal)
Bob Iger steps down as CEO of The Walt Disney Company, and is succeeded by Bob Chapek, former chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. Iger will continue to serve the company's "creative endeavors" as executive chairman. (Reuters)

Health and environment

COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
  - 93 more coronavirus cases are confirmed in Italy, bringing the number to 322. Four more virus-related deaths are confirmed, bringing the death toll to eleven. (Agenzia ANSA)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Austria
  - Two people from Lombardy, Italy, living in Austria's state of Tyrol, test positive for coronavirus. (The Guardian)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Croatia
  - Croatia confirms its first case of coronavirus. The patient had stayed in Milan, Italy, from 19 to 21 February, and was hospitalised in Zagreb, Croatia. (The Guardian)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
  - Iran's deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, tests positive for coronavirus. (CNA)
  - A member of the Iranian Parliament, Mahmoud Sadeghi, states on Twitter that he has been infected with the virus. (New York Times via MSN News)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
  - Hundreds of guests are locked down in a hotel in Tenerife, Spain, after a visiting Italian doctor tested positive for the virus. (BBC News)
  - The first case on the peninsula and the fourth in the country is confirmed in Barcelona, Catalonia. The wife of the Italian doctor becomes the fifth infected in Spain. A sixth case is reported in Villarreal. (La Vanguardia)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland
  - Switzerland confirms its first case of coronavirus: a case in Ticino, on the border with Italy. (The Guardian)
- Algeria confirms its first case of the coronavirus. The patient is an Italian man who arrived in the country a week ago. (Africa Times)
- Canada's largest airline Air Canada suspends all flights to China until April in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (CBC)

International relations

China–Sweden relations
- The Swedish Foreign Ministry summons the Chinese ambassador after the Chinese government sentences bookseller and Swedish citizen Gui Minhai to ten years in prison for espionage. (Reuters)

Law and crime

A man was revealed to have been arrested the previous day for attempting to blow up a car in The Pentagon parking lot. (NBC)
Aimee Anne Duffy, a Welsh singer who goes by Duffy, reveals she was raped, drugged and held hostage over some days resulting in her disappearance from the limelight in recent years. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

German Health Minister Jens Spahn declines to run for leadership of the ruling Christian Democratic Union party, and endorses North Rhine-Westphalia Minister-President Armin Laschet for the position. (Reuters)
The Saudi government appoints former energy minister Khalid A. Al-Falih to head a new investment ministry replacing the General Investment Authority, and sacks the media minister, among other changes to the cabinet. (Reuters)
Former Liberal Democrats leader David Steel resigns from the party and announces he will leave the UK House of Lords after a report accused him of “abdicat[ing] his responsibility” when he supported the knighthood of former party whip Cyril Smith, who is accused of child molestation. (The Guardian)