American Alice Liu took first place in women's figure skating in the individual tournament at the 2026 Olympics in Italy. Based on the sum of the two programs, she received 226.79 points. Russian figure skater Adelia Petrosyan, performing as a neutral athlete, became sixth, she made a mistake while performing a quadruple sheepskin coat.

Attention! This news contains a description of torture and murder of people, as well as obscenities. If this is unacceptable to you or could harm you, please do not read this text. The investigative projects “Schemes” and “System” received an archive of personal correspondence of the Russian general Roman Demurchiev, who bragged to his relatives and colleagues about torture, executions and abuse of the bodies of Ukrainian military personnel, including those captured.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of Britain's King Charles III, left the police after nearly 12 hours of interrogation, The Guardian reported on February 19. Andrew was spotted in the back seat of a car leaving the grounds of Aylsham police station in Norfolk, England. Phil Noble / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA Police said Andrew was "released under investigation," meaning the investigation into him is ongoing.

US President Donald Trump extended for another year the restrictions imposed against Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine, according to data from the US Federal Register. We are talking about US sanctions imposed in 2014, 2018 and 2022. “The actions and policies [of the Russian authorities] addressed in these executive orders continue to pose an extraordinary and extraordinary threat to the national security interests and foreign policy of the United States,” the document says.

The first meeting of the Peace Council, which was invented by Trump, took place. That's what he said there This is a brief retelling of the statement US President Donald Trump made at the first meeting of the Peace Council , held in Washington on February 19. Today is an important day. We make peace. This is the most influential advice - nothing like this has ever happened before.

The Americans believe that there is no need to invite Ukraine to the alliance summit, writes Politico Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images US against NATO missions in Iraq and Kosovo The United States is putting pressure on NATO to curtail some of the alliance's operations, including in Iraq, Politico writes , citing sources. Washington views NATO as a “purely Euro-Atlantic defense alliance” - without the goal of expansion and building global partnerships with other countries.

Five countries sent their military to participate in the International Stabilization Force in the Gaza Strip, said the commander of this structure, Major General Jasper Jeffers, writes Reuters on February 19. “I am incredibly pleased to announce today that the first five countries have sent troops to serve in the International Stabilization Force - Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania.

The British authorities did not allow the United States to use Royal Air Force bases for strikes on Iran, The Times newspaper reports, without naming the source of the information. We are talking about British air bases in Fairford, Gloucestershire in England, and on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. According to the publication, the White House is developing a plan for an attack on Iran, which involves the use of these bases. Both bases were used by the US Air Force.

The authorities of St. Petersburg increased the lump sum payment by 500 thousand when concluding a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense - now it is 4.1 million rubles. This is the second increase in a week, Fontanka and Rotonda note. The day before, on February 18, the payment was increased by a million rubles - up to 3.6 million rubles. Thus, together with the federal payment of 400 thousand rubles, the person who signed the contract will receive 4.5 million rubles at a time .

The main opinion is that it will be big and long Zoe Simpson / US Navy / AFP / Scanpix / LETA On the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, February 3, 2026 Back in January, the United States sent significant forces to the Middle East - as many assumed at the time, to strike Iran to help protesters overthrow the ayatollahs' regime. But the protests were suppressed, and no American strikes followed. Instead, the US and Iran re-entered negotiations on a “nuclear deal”.

Belarusian political prisoner Nikolai Statkevich has been released, the Viasna human rights center reports, citing his wife Marina Adamovich. According to her, Statkevich suffered a stroke and is now recovering, but is still experiencing problems with speech. “Everything else is fine. “Everything will be fine,” Adamovich wrote, posting a photo with her husband. According to Radio Liberty, Statkevich suffered a stroke about a month ago, on January 21.

Artist-jeweler Alexander Dotsenko from Gatchina, convicted in the case of calls for terrorism, died in a hospital in St. Petersburg after suffering a heart attack, his support group reported. Dotsenko was 65 years old. Dotsenko was hospitalized with a massive heart attack on February 12. A few days later he became worse and doctors put him into a medically induced coma.

In Washington, at the Donald Trump Institute of Peace, on the morning of February 19, the first meeting of the Peace Council, created on the initiative of US President Donald Trump, opened. The event starts with opening remarks by Donald Trump and US Vice President J.D. Vance, writes Reuters.

The Armenian authorities will bury Chechen woman Aishat Baymuradova, killed in Yerevan, at the expense of public funds. The girl’s relatives never came to collect the body, which has been in the morgue for more than four months, reports Radio Azatutyun, the Armenian service of Radio Liberty. The date of the ceremony has not yet been determined, a representative of the Investigative Committee of Armenia told the publication.

Rapper Ganvest announced on February 19 that he had decided to “rework and censor 25 songs from the old catalog” in order to “fully comply with the requirements of Russian legislation.” According to him, he made this decision back in December 2025. Ganvest announced this two days after it became known that the St. Petersburg police began an administrative investigation against the rapper due to the promotion of drugs in his songs. The case began after the denunciation of Ekaterina Mizulina.