Written by India Trivikraman
Edited by Annika Lilja
Top Story from Europe: Ukrainian troops withdraw from frontline city Avdiivka
On Saturday, February 17, Ukrainian troops withdrew from the eastern city of Avdiivka to avoid enclosure, giving Russia its biggest symbolic victory after Kyiv’s failed counter-offense.
Most of Adviivka has been destroyed but around 1,000 of its original 34,000 residents still remain. It not only has important symbolic value, but Moscow hopes its capture will make bombing Donetsk more difficult for Ukraine.
This is the biggest change to the frontlines since May of last year. Army chief Oleksandr Syrski said he was driven to “preserve the lives and health of servicemen” in a Facebook post the day before following the intensification of attacks and ammunition shortages.
Syrsky emphasizes in his Facebook post that the soldiers “performed their military duty with dignity” and did everything they could but with the enemy having a ten-to-one shelling advantage and advancing over corpses of fallen soldiers "this is the only right decision."
Top Story from Asia: Ceases fire negotiations resume in Cairo amidst Rafah crisis
Senior officials from Israel, Egypt, Qatar, and the US are meeting to resume ceasefire and hostage negotiations.
Israel is facing immense international pressure to stop its attacks on the Southern Gaza city of Rafah. 1.5 million people are packed into this town on the border of Egypt compared to 250,000 people before the war. As such, tensions have escalated in fear of an Israeli ground offensive.
Netanyahu, the Israeli president, has stated that he has ordered the military to draw up plans of evacuation for civilians, but many Palestinians and international aid groups disagree with this saying that moving people from a main entry point for vital aid could worsen matters and instead push for a hold on fire.
Martin Griffiths, the UN’s humanitarian affairs chief, stated on Tuesday the 13th of February that “Military operations in Rafah could lead to a slaughter in Gaza,” and that "This war must end." Israeli leaders remain adamant in their plans to launch a ground invasion of Rafah and the Ministry of Health in Gaza has put the death toll since October 7th at 29,000 with thousands still missing and injured.
Historical events that week:
94 years ago: Feb 18, 1930- Clyde Tombaugh, the 24 yr old American with no formal training in astronomy, discovered the dwarf planet Pluto
2419 years ago: Feb 15, 399 BCE- Greek philosopher Socrates was sentenced to death by the city of Athens for impiety (rejecting the city’s gods) and corrupting the youth
Where we got our information from, and where you can go to for more information:
Top Story from Europe:
Top Story from Asia: