Russia is actively expanding its influence in Africa through instruments of “soft power”: the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has opened parishes in more than 30 African countries, Moscow is creating cultural and language centers, and thousands of African students are receiving scholarships to study at Russian universities, writes Bloomberg.

Armenia deported a 48-year-old resident of Chechnya who allegedly planned to kill his daughter. As CivilNet reports with reference to Artur Sakunts, head of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly branch in Vanadzor, the Russian citizen is prohibited from entering Armenia. According to Sakunts, this became possible thanks to the joint work of the police and human rights activists. The girl will be under guard for some time.

The Spanish government has ordered the Attorney General's Office to investigate whether Twitter (X), Meta and TikTok committed criminal offenses by allowing the creation and distribution of child pornography using artificial intelligence - deepfakes and manipulation of real photographs.

Scientists have obtained the first maritime evidence that Singapore was a major trading center five hundred years before the arrival of the British. A study of the 14th-century shipwreck, published in the Journal of International Ceramic Studies, found that the ship was carrying a cargo of rare Chinese porcelain to the city - the largest collection of Yuan Dynasty era items ever discovered at a shipwreck.

On the second anniversary of the death of FBK founder Alexei Navalny on February 16, at least 15 people were detained in Russia, The Insider calculated. An administrative protocol was drawn up against one of them, and another may face administrative arrest. Update: According to OVD-Info, at least 19 people were detained at rallies in memory of Navalny. The court ordered administrative arrest for three people detained in St. Petersburg.

News The Insider February 17, 2026 #Military report In today's summary: On the Seversky ledge, the Russian military is expanding the zone of control on the right bank of the Seversky Donets In the Konstantinovsky direction, units of the Russian Armed Forces consolidated their positions on the southwestern outskirts of Konstantinovka In the Pokrovsk direction, Russian troops almost completely occupied the residential buildings of Mirnograd In the southern Donetsk direction, a ground drone of the

The United States plans to deploy more advanced missile systems and other weapons in the Philippines to deter China in the South China Sea, the State Department said following annual talks between American and Philippine officials in Manila, The Wall Street Journal reports . In a joint statement, the two sides condemned Beijing's "illegal and misleading" actions in the South China Sea.

After the regime’s harsh crackdown on the January protests, repression continues in Iran: mass arrests, raids, executions, and pressure on detainees’ families. But although the widespread popular uprising appears to have lost momentum, resistance continues. Many Iranians still hope for a U.S. military strike, seeing outside intervention as the only way to end the ayatollahs’ reign.

In different cities of Russia, protests have been taking place outside Roskomnadzor buildings for a week now amid restrictions on the work of Telegram. On February 16, a cardboard figure of the chairman of the A Just Russia party, Sergei Mironov, appeared at the entrance to the Roskomnadzor office in Irkutsk. As blogger Denis Bukalov reported, it was he who installed “Cardboard Mironov” as a sign of protest against the slowdown and blocking of Telegram.

On February 17, the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine chose a preventive measure for former Energy Minister German Galushchenko. He was sent into custody for 60 days - until April 15 - with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of 200 million hryvnia. As reported by HACS, the court partially granted the prosecutors' request. The prosecution insisted on a bail of 425 million hryvnia.

MAHSA / Middle East Images / AFP / Getty SOCIETY Alexander Leonidovich , Maria Volokh 17 February 2026 After the regime’s harsh crackdown on the January protests, repression continues in Iran: mass arrests, raids, executions, and pressure on detainees’ families. But although the widespread popular uprising appears to have lost momentum, resistance continues. Many Iranians still hope for a U.S. military strike, seeing outside intervention as the only way to end the ayatollahs’ reign.

On the tenth day of the Olympic Games, athletes from Georgia, Anastasia Metelkina and Luka Berulava, won a silver medal in pairs figure skating. For Georgia, this is the first Winter Olympics medal in the country's history. Competitions in pairs figure skating took place the day before, on February 16, in Milan. Based on the sum of two programs - short and free - Metelkina and Berulava received 221.75 points.

Former governor of the Kursk region Alexei Smirnov, who has been in a Moscow pre-trial detention center since April last year, was registered as suicidal. This characterization was announced by the state prosecutor in the Leninsky Court of Kursk during a meeting on the extension of the preventive measure for the former governor, TASS reports . The defendant took part in the hearing via video link.

The results of the tender were challenged by another participant - the company Opera Laboratori Fiorentini SpA, which took second place. The plaintiff argued that the contract with Scudieri International Srl violated Article 5k of EU Regulation No. 833/2014 , which prohibits the award of government contracts to persons acting "on behalf of or at the direction of" Russian citizens or companies.

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan officially registered his marriage with his long-term companion Anna Hakobyan. This conclusion can be drawn from a message on Hakobyan’s Facebook page. “Dear compatriots, I want to inform you that my civil marriage with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is completed. I ask everyone to exercise restraint and correctness when discussing this topic,” Hakobyan wrote, accompanying the post with hearts.