Portal:Current events/2015 February 17

February 17, 2015 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Donbass
- The office of the President of Ukraine calls on the European Union and NATO to condemn the Russian-backed rebels for military action in Debaltseve. The self-proclaimed rebel government officials claim the town was not part of the recently established ceasefire. (AP) (New York Times)
Dissident Irish Republican campaign
- Police Service of Northern Ireland received a phone call in the early hours allegedly from a dissident republican group claiming to have planted an explosive in a Curryneirin neighborhood outside Derry, Northern Ireland. Police evacuated 12 homes before finding a device, describing it as "'It's a bomb and designed to kill".(Belfast Telegraph)
Around 20 Okba Ibn Nafaa Islamist militants attack a checkpoint in Tunisia's central Kasserine region, killing four police officers and stealing their weapons. (Reuters)

Business and economy

South Korean company Samsung Electronics says that they have $56 billion in cash and plan to use some of it for mergers and acquisitions. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Carnival festivities are cancelled after at least twenty people are killed in a float accident in Port-au-Prince. (Miami Herald)

International relations

North Korea says that it will respond "very strongly" to a conference held in Washington, D.C. about human rights abuses. (AP)

Law and crime

Chinese prosecutors say that they are investigating former top Communist Party official Su Rong for alleged corruption. (AP)
Chinese authorities also announce the indictment of former Guangdong official Zhu Mingguo, former Jinan CPC party chief Wang Min, and former Taiyuan party chief Chen Chuanping, all on charges of corruption. (SCMP)