The U.S. shot down an Iranian drone that approached the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza reopened to pedestrians after remaining closed since 2024,and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of Egypt's military capabilities, saying they need to be "monitored."Meanwhile, the U.S.-Russia New START treaty expired, marking the first time in more than half a century that the two countries lack binding limits on their strategic nuclear arsenals, U.S. President Donald Trump said Russia's Vladimir Putin had "kept his word" on not striking Ukraine's energy infrastructure, Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. reported progress in peace negotiations after a fresh round of talks in the United Arab Emirates,and a senior Russian intelligence officer was shot in Moscow by an unknown assailant.This comes as Russia accused France of orchestrating coup plots in Africa, claiming Paris is seeking "revenge" amid shifting alliances, the U.S. deployed military officers to Nigeria to strengthen security cooperation and counter regional threats, Colombia killed seven National Liberation Army Guerrillas in a strike operation in the Catatumbo region,and a suicide bomber killed at least 31 people at a mosque in Pakistan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump held a phone call that saw them discuss Taiwan and trade, South Africa signed a trade deal with China providing duty-free access for its exports, Trump announced a trade deal with India to reduce tariffs from 25% to 18%,and the EU signaled openness to strengthening trade ties with the U.K., though Downing Street rejected any plans to rejoin the customs union.Meanwhile, the U.S. and Iran held indirect talks in Oman regarding Tehran's nuclear program, Trump signed an order to establish a framework to impose sanctions on countries that import Iranian goods, Iran launched a portal for citizens to submit any names missing from the government’s official casualty list after recent protests,and Cuba confirmed ongoing "communications" with the U.S. to ease bilateral tensions.Elsewhere, Trump met with Colombia's President Gustavo Petro, marking the first official face-to-face encounter between the two leaders, pro- and anti-government protests were held across Venezuela to mark one month since Washington's capture of Nicolás Maduro, Maduro ally Alex Saab was allegedly arrested in Venezuela amid an apparent internal power struggle,and the U.S. returned $500 million to Venezuela from the first sale of oil under a deal between Caracas and Washington.This comes as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi won a landslide victory in Japan's snap election,with Trump endorsing her earlier in the week,Venezuela's opposition leader María Corina Machado predicted that elections could be held as early as November,and Canada and France opened consulates in Greenland, with Paris becoming the first EU country to do so.In separate developments, a U.S. judge blocked the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians a day before the program was set to expire,and the son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, was killed at his residence.In other news, former U.K. ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson quit the Labour Party following scrutiny of his alleged links to Jeffrey Epstein,with the Metropolitan Police launching a criminal investigation into him over allegations that he leaked sensitive financial and government information to Epstein, a second woman alleged that Epstein sent her to the U.K. for a sexual encounter with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,and British MP Dan Norris was arrested for a second time on sexual assault charges.

Trump called for nationalizing voting procedures, advocating federal control over elections, the Supreme Court allowed California's new congressional map to take effect, upholding the redrawn districts after challenges over racial gerrymandering claims failed,and Tulsi Gabbard investigated Puerto Rico's voting machines last May in a probe that reportedly saw her office seize an unspecified number of machines.In other news, several Epstein victims reached a deal with the government after their identities were exposed in the newly released files,which appeared to reveal an alleged Bill Gates-linked pandemic finance and planning scheme long before the start of COVID,and Hillary and Bill Clinton agreed to testify in the House Oversight Committee's Epstein inquiry.Meanwhile, the Trump administration recalled 700 immigration officers from Minnesota, leaving around 2,000 federal personnel in the Twin Cities area, federal officers in Minneapolis were ordered to wear body cameras following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti,and a judge temporarily barred federal officers from using tear gas in Portland unless faced with a direct and immediate threat.Elsewhere, Trump sought $1 billion in damages from Harvard University amid allegations of antisemitism against the Ivy League institution, the American Association of University Professors filed a lawsuit challenging Trump's $1 million "Gold Card" visa program,and Trump posted a video that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama with their faces on the bodies of monkeys.

Spain moved to ban social media for children under the age of 16,and Snapchat blocked 415,000 underage accounts in Australia following the country's Social Media Minimum Age law.Meanwhile, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons recommended delaying gender surgery to the age of 19,and Olympic Gold boxer Imane Khelif agreed to undergo genetic testing for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.In other news, China executed four Myanmar nationals convicted of running a $4.2 billion telecom fraud scam.

Ryan Routh was sentenced to life in prison for the 2024 attempt on Trump's life, Jill Biden's ex-husband was charged with murder in the death of his wife,and NBC's "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie pleaded for the safe return of her mother, who has been missing for over a week.Elsewhere, eight Canadian police officers were arrested in an organized crime probe,and Norway's crown princess' son pleaded not guilty to rape charges.

The Washington Post announced plans to lay off 30% of its staff, with cuts concentrated in sports, local news and international coverage,and Disney reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of approximately $26 billion, representing a 5% increase compared to the previous year.Meanwhile, SpaceX acquired xAI in a record-breaking $1.25 trillion mega-merger, French police raided X's Paris offices amid an investigation into content moderation and compliance with EU regulations,and Meta's New Mexico child safety lawsuit advanced to trial, with the state alleging the company created a marketplace for child predators.This comes as Uber was ordered to pay $8.5 million to settle a sexual assault case, Disney named Josh D'Amaro as its next CEO, with a start date of March 18,and PepsiCo cut its snack prices by up to 15% following criticism of its previous increases.

Trump signed a $1.2 trillion spending bill, ending a partial government shutdown,and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed that the Federal Reserve has lost the public's trust due to record inflation.Meanwhile, gold prices plunged in a record decline following Trump's nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair,and Bitcoin dropped below $70,000, marking its lowest level since November 2024.Elsewhere, France's 2026 budget was adopted with the goal of reducing the public deficit to 5% of GDP,and the European Central Bank and Bank of England kept their interest rates steady at 2% and 3.75%, respectively.

The Trump administration launched TrumpRx.gov where consumers can purchase discounted prescription drugs,and South Carolina's measles outbreak reached over 900 cases, with reports of some children developing encephalitis.This comes as U.S. National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya testified before a Senate committee, stating that there's no evidence that vaccines cause autism,and Health Canada delayed a freedom-of-information request on vaccines by 15 years, citing administrative backlog.Meanwhile, a new study suggested that most cholesterol-lowering statins are safer than previously thought and do not cause the commonly cited side effects, a study linked the Mediterranean diet to an 18% lower stroke risk in women after following 105,614 participants for decades,and a Barcelona hospital performed the world's first face transplant from a donor who underwent assisted dying.

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter in the annual Groundhog Day tradition,and record snowfall in Japan killed at least 30 people and prompted the deployment of military aid for rescue and relief efforts.Meanwhile, Canada scrapped its electric vehicle sales mandate that would have required all new vehicles sold to be electric by 2035,and renewable energy sources reached 50% of Australia's electricity generation in the fourth quarter of 2025.

A crypto engineer launched a website allowing AI to hire humans for real-world physical tasks,and Sam Altman said that AI could eventually replace him as OpenAI CEO in an exclusive interview with Forbes.Meanwhile, OpenAI launched GPT-5.3-Codex, its "most capable" agentic coding model to date,and OpenAI released Frontier — a new enterprise platform to help organizations manage AI agents.

Fifteen migrants died following a collision between their boat and a Greek coast guard vessel off the island of Chios.

NASA delayed the Artemis II crewed Moon mission to March after detecting a propellant leak during testing.

The 2026 Winter Olympics opened at Milan's San Siro Stadium.

A report warned that international humanitarian law has reached a "critical breaking point" due to widespread violations.