February 28
Armed conflicts and attacks
The United States is taking part in the attack on Iran with President Donald Trump announcing a "major U.S. combat operation" targeting Iranian missile facilities and naval assets is now underaway in Iran and calls on the Iranian military to overthrow supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
2026 Iran–United States crisis2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran2026 United States military buildup in the Middle East
Source:
Ynet
Explosions are reported in Tehran, as U.S.-launched Tomahawk missiles strike regime targets.
2026 Iran–United States crisis2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran2026 United States military buildup in the Middle East
Source:
AP
Iran launches ballistic missiles at a United States Navy facility in Bahrain, targeting the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet. The Bahraini interior ministry urges citizens and residents to seek nearest safe locations.
2026 Iran–United States crisis2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran2026 United States military buildup in the Middle East
Source:
Al Khaleej
Iran launches missiles at Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. embassies in Bahrain and Qatar instruct their personnel to shelter in place.
2026 Iran–United States crisis2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran2026 United States military buildup in the Middle East
Source:
Wafa
At least two people are killed and five more are injured when an unidentified airstrike targets the Popular Mobilization Forces headquarters in Jurf al-Nasr, Iraq.
2026 Iran–United States crisis2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran2026 United States military buildup in the Middle East
Source:
An-Nahar
Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, and Qatar close their respective airspace to civilian flights as a precautionary measure, while the UAE partially closes its airspace.
2026 Iran–United States crisis2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran2026 United States military buildup in the Middle East
Source:
Hindustan Times
Yemen's Ansar Allah (Houthis) will resume attacks on Red Sea shipping routes and on Israel in support of Iran.
2026 Iran–United States crisis2026 Israeli–United States strikes on Iran2026 United States military buildup in the Middle East
Source:
AP
February 27
Science and technology
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei rejects a U.S. Department of Defense request to loosen security safeguards on the Claude large language model for potential use in mass surveillance and autonomous weapons systems.
Source:
SRF
Law and crime
A court in Jakarta, Indonesia, sentences nine individuals, including two former chief executives of subsidiaries of state-owned energy company Pertamina, to prison terms ranging from nine to 15 years in a corruption case involving alleged unlawful oil terminal leasing and crude oil imports that prosecutors say caused significant state losses.
Source:
Reuters
The Supreme Court of Israel issues an interim order suspending a government ban on 37 foreign non-governmental organizations operating in Gaza and the West Bank, allowing them to continue their operations while the court reviews a petition challenging the revocation of their legal status.
Source:
AFP via France 24
A Tunisian court sentences former prime minister Ali Laarayedh, who has been detained since 2022, to 24 years in prison for facilitating the travel of Tunisian nationals to Syrian conflict zones during his premiership, while seven co-defendants, including former interior ministry officials, receive prison terms ranging from three to 24 years.
Source:
Reuters
Disasters and accidents
Seven people are killed and 19 others are injured in a blast and fire at a café in Shchuchinsk, Kazakhstan.
Source:
Reuters
Six people are killed and several others are injured after a sleeper bus collides with a trailer on National Highway 25 in Rajasthan, India.
Source:
News18
Armed conflicts and attacks
Israeli air and drone strikes kill at least five people and injure several others in central and southern Gaza, despite an ongoing United States-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas.
Source:
The Hindu
Clashes break out on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with Pakistan launching airstrikes on several locations in Afghanistan, including the capital of Kabul, targeting Taliban government forces directly, in what Pakistani defense minister Khawaja Asif describes as "open war".
Source:
Al Jazeera
February 26
Law and crime
A Greek court sentences four individuals, including Intellexa's Israel-based founder Tal Dilian, to eight years in prison for breaching data and violating privacy laws after they deployed the Predator spyware, targeting the mobile phones of more than 90 politicians, journalists, businesspeople, and military officials in 2022.
Source:
Times of Israel
Politics and elections
Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer wins the constituency of Gorton and Denton in Greater Manchester, England, in the party's first by-election win.
Source:
The Washington Post
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen calls a snap election for March 24 amid the Greenland crisis.
Source:
AP via NBC News
Albanian prime minister Edi Rama dismisses deputy prime minister and infrastructure minister Belinda Balluku after anti-corruption prosecutors indicted her on suspicion of interfering in the award of two public construction contracts worth more than €200 million.
Source:
Reuters
Armed conflicts and attacks
Afghanistan announces attacks against Pakistani military positions along their shared border in response to Pakistani air strikes launched 4 days prior. Pakistan, in turn, says its forces have responded.
Source:
Al Jazeera
Disasters and accidents
The death toll from the floods across Minas Gerais, Brazil, rises to 54 people, with fourteen more still missing.
Source:
AFP via France 24
Seven people are killed and 25 others are injured after a gas cylinder explodes inside a house in Chaman, Pakistan.
Source:
Daily Times
February 25
Armed conflicts and attacks
The Cuban coast guard trades fire with an American marked speedboat registered in Florida 1 nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) off of Cuba. According to Cuban government sources, the boat's occupants fired on coast guard personnel who approached it for identification, and injured a coast guard commander in the shootout, with returning fire killing four and injuring six unidentified gunmen.
Source:
CBS News
Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) fighters allegedly attack Iranian security forces near Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's headquarters in Tehran. Both MEK and Iranian government sources claim dozens of MEK fighters were killed or arrested, though MEK additionally asserts that government forces also suffered "heavy losses" during the alleged clashes.
Source:
Jerusalem Post
Law and crime
The Supreme Federal Court of Brazil sentences former Rio de Janeiro legislators Chiquinho and Domingos Brazão to 76 years and three months in prison each for ordering the 2018 killing of city councilor Marielle Franco and her driver, convicting them of double aggravated homicide, participation in an armed criminal organization, and attempted murder.
Source:
AFP via France 24
International relations
The United States announces that it will ease certain restrictions to permit Venezuelan oil exports to Cuba's private sector for commercial and humanitarian purposes amid an energy shortage.
Source:
Reuters
Israel's Knesset speaker Amir Ohana awards Indian prime minister Narendra Modi the newly established Medal of the Knesset to honor him for his "significant contributions to the State of Israel and the Jewish people."
Source:
Times of Israel
Business and economy
South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index surpasses 6,000 points for the first time, crossing the threshold shortly after the opening of trading.
Source:
AFP via BSS
Disasters and accidents
Source:
NOS