Feb. 23, 2026 - Day News Digest
On this day: in 1778,Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to help train the Continental Army.
QOTD: "Today, our party is faced with heavy and urgent historic tasks of boosting economic construction and the people's standard of living and transforming all realms of state and social life as early as possible," Kim said.
EU/RUSSIA/HUNGARY - EU fails to pass new sanctions targeting Russia due to Hungary’s objection
https://apnews.com/article/brussels-ukraine-hungary-russia-sanctions-druzhba-d2519443e9542593f9a70cd22f18a6ab
The European Union failed to pass new sanctions on Russia at a meeting on Monday after surprise objections from Hungary, the bloc’s top diplomat said.
“Unfortunately, we did not reach an agreement on the 20th sanctions package,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief. “This is a setback and a message we did not want to send today.”
European diplomats had been scrambling to finalize new sanctions on Russia and a massive new loan for Kyiv ahead of the fourth anniversary of a war that has left an estimated 1.8 million Russian and Ukrainian soldiers dead, wounded or missing.
But they did not persuade Hungary to support the latest EU efforts to help Ukraine and to make Russia pay an economic price for the all-out war that it launched against its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022, and which shows no signs of ending.
Hungary, seen as the most pro-Russian member of the EU, threatened on the weekend to hold up both the sanctions and a major loan meant to help Kyiv meet its military and economic needs for the next two years.
RUSSIA/UKRAINE - 4 years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a look at the war by the numbers
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-numbers-f023cd82917ccb29ad2dda54ea589249
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago launched Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, causing immense suffering for civilians and harrowing ordeals for soldiers while rewriting the post-Cold War security order.
The fighting enters its fifth year on Tuesday, and it shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.
The U.S. hAs brokered talks with delegations from Moscow and Kyiv as part of the Trump administration’s yearlong push for peace. But reconciling key differences, such as the future of Russian-occupied Ukrainian land and postwar security for Ukraine, has thwarted progress.
Meanwhile, thousands of each countries’ troops have died on the battlefield, and Ukrainian civilians have been battered by Russian aerial strikes that have brought years of power outages and water cuts.
Here’s a look at the conflict, by the numbers, since the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN/MIL/SEC - Pakistan claims to have killed at least 70 militants in strikes along Afghan border
https://www.npr.org/2026/02/22/nx-s1-5722854/pakistan-border-strikes-afghanistan-70-killed
Pakistan's military killed at least 70 militants in strikes along the border with Afghanistan early Sunday, targeting what it described as hideouts of Pakistani militants it blamed for recent attacks inside the country, the deputy interior minister said.
Talal Chaudhry, Pakistan's deputy interior minister, told Geo News that at least 70 militants were killed in the strikes. He offered no evidence. Pakistan's state-run media later reported that militant casualties from the strikes jumped to 80.
The Afghan defense ministry said in a statement that "various civilian areas" in the provinces of Nangarhar and Paktika in eastern Afghanistan were hit, including a religious madrassa and multiple civilian homes. The statement called the strikes a violation of Afghanistan's airspace and sovereignty.
Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid earlier on X said the attacks "killed and wounded dozens, including women and children."
Mawlawi Fazl Rahman Fayyaz, the provincial director of the Afghan Red Crescent Society in Nangarhar province, said 18 people were killed and several others wounded.
DPRK - Kim Jong Un re-elected leader of North Korea's ruling Workers’ Party
https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20260222-north-korea-kim-re-elected-ruling-party-congress
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been re-elected as the general secretary of the ruling Workers' Party at a rare congress, state media said Monday.
The decision was made Sunday -- day four of the congress -- "in accordance with the unshakable will and unanimous desire of all the delegates", the Korean Central News Agency said.
Under the leadership of Kim, "the war deterrence of the country with the nuclear forces as its pivot has been radically improved," the KCNA report said.
Held just once every five years, the days-long party congress offers a rare glimpse into the workings of a nation where even mundane details are shrouded in secrecy.
NETHERLANDS/POL - Rob Jetten sworn in as youngest-ever Dutch prime minister
https://www.dw.com/en/netherlands-gets-youngest-first-openly-gay-pm/a-76088361
Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Monday swore in a new minority coalition government, with centrist Rob Jetten as prime minister.
Jetten becomes the youngest-ever and first openly gay prime minister in the Netherlands.
His party, pro-EU D66, won the October's election, narrowly defeating the far-right populist Party for Freedom (PVV) led by Geert Wilders.
To form the new coalition, D66 joined forces with the center-right Christian Democrats and the right-wing VVD, holding just 66 of 150 seats in the lower house.
The Netherlands is usually led by majority coalitions, but a heavily fractured political landscape has made it increasingly difficult to assemble one. Former Prime Minister Dick Schoof's government collapsed just 11 months into its term.
The new coalition also lacks a majority in the Senate, meaning it will need opposition support to pass key legislation.
GIFT LINK : MEXICO/SEC - Gunmen Wreak Chaos in Mexican Coastal Retreat After Cartel Killing
https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/gunmen-wreak-chaos-in-mexican-coastal-retreat-after-cartel-killing-882c0cc2?st=YzM6U6&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
It was a typical quiet Sunday morning in the Pacific coast city of Puerto Vallarta—until the gunfire rang out.
Jim Vawter, a 76-year-old Iowan who is one of thousands of American retirees living in Puerto Vallarta, was lounging with a coffee at the Bean and Brick cafe when a commotion erupted at 9 a.m. in the street outside.
“I heard a couple gunshots,” he said. “And then we started hearing sirens.”
The Bean and Brick quickly closed, and Vawter stepped outside and into the middle of chaos. Gunmen from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel were on a rampage in a violent response to the Mexican military’s killing of their chieftain, Nemesio “Mencho” Oseguera.
The cartel is considered the country’s most powerful organized crime group, one that doesn’t shy away from conspicuous violence to send a message. And on Sunday, its gunmen shattered the peace in Mexico’s premier Pacific beach destination, among the wealthiest places in Jalisco state.
American retirees normally spend the day walking the boardwalk or enjoying the cafes and restaurants in the Zona Romantica. On Sunday, they were huddling at home, peeking out of their windows at the unfolding violence.
IRAN/SEC - Iran Students Protest for Second Day Despite State Crackdown
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/world/middleeast/iran-student-protests.html
A second day of antigovernment protests erupted on university campuses in Iran’s two largest cities, according to student and human rights groups as well as videos, which were verified by The New York Times, despite a deadly state crackdown on unrest.
The protests took place on at least seven university campuses in Tehran, the capital, and in the northeastern city of Mashhad, according to accounts from student groups. They come as Iran’s clerical leaders struggle to manage uprisings at home and a looming risk of war with Washington.
They are also some of the first protests since security forces violently put down nationwide protests in January, killing thousands of people. Since then, the government has arrested around 40,000 people, according to several rights groups, and has seized the assets of people supportive of the protests, which called for an end to the rule of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Still, many Iranians have continued to signal their dissent with events commemorating slain protesters, signing petitions, and organizing sit-ins. But they had largely refrained from protesting again.