February 21, 2018 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Operation Barkhane
- Two French soldiers are killed after their armoured vehicle hits a roadside bomb in Mali. (France 24)
- Boko Haram insurgency
- The Nigerian military rescues 76 schoolgirls taken on Monday during a Boko Haram raid on the village of Dapchi, Yobe State. The bodies of two girls were recovered, and at least thirteen other students remain missing. (Reuters) (Daily Trust)
- 2018 Lashio bombing
- A bomb explodes at a bank in Lashio, Shan State, in northern Myanmar, killing two employees and injuring 22 others. (The New York Times) (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- A coach transiting the Pan-American Highway plunges off the road in Arequipa, Peru, killing 44 people. (BBC)
- A ferry explosion at the Playa del Carmen's pier in Mexico injures 18 people. None of the injuries appear to be life-threatening. (CBS News via MSN)
International relations
- Foreign relations of South Korea
- South Korea signs free trade agreements with the Central American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama to eliminate duties on about 95% of traded goods and services. (Reuters)
Politics and elections
- Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
- U.S. President Donald Trump meets in the White House State Dining Room with parents and friends of young people killed in school shootings to discuss what needs to be done. Suggestions for the president included a number of items to make schools safer, and for Trump to "put politics aside" and back gun control measures. (NBC News) (AP via Star Tribune)