Portal:Current events/2015 February 24

February 24, 2015 (Tuesday)

Military intervention against ISIL
- John Key, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, announces plans to deploy up to 143 New Zealand Defence Force personnel to Iraq on a training mission to last no more than two years. (New Zealand Herald)
- A wave of bombings in Baghdad kills at least 37 people. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that ISIL has kidnapped in a series of raids on February 23 at least 90 people from Assyrian Christian villages in Syria. (Reuters)
The Congolese Army launches an offensive against FDLR rebels in South Kivu. (AP via ABC News)
War in Donbass
- Up to 75 British Armed Forces personnel will be sent as military advisors to the Ukrainian army. (PA via Wandwsorth Guardian)
Boko Haram
- Chadian soldiers kill over 200 Boko Haram fighters in a clash near the town of Garambu, close to Nigerias border with Cameroon. One Chad Army soldier was killed and nine wounded. (Reuters)

Greece submits a list of eleven reforms it will proceed with to secure a loan extension. (BBC)
Barack Obama, the President of the United States, vetoes a bill approving the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline between Canadian tar sands and refineries on the Gulf of Mexico. (Los Angeles Times)

A Metrolink train derails in Oxnard, California following a collision with a truck. Initial reports indicated that there were "multiple casualties". More than 30 have been injured. (Los Angeles Times) (MSN)

The President of Indonesia Joko Widodo says the execution of 11 convicts from overseas, most on drug charges, will not be delayed. An Indonesian court has rejected the appeals of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, two Australians on death row. (Reuters), (Voice of America)
Former Prime Minister of Egypt Ahmed Nazif and former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly are cleared of graft charges in a retrial. (Al-Jazeera)
A Czech gunman opens fire at a restaurant in Uherský Brod killing at least eight people. (AP)

Chicago aldermanic elections, 2015
- Voters in the American city of Chicago, Illinois go to the polls to elect a Mayor and 50 aldermen. (Chicago Tribune)
Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)
- Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi withdraws his resignation as President of Yemen after escaping from the custody of the Houthis. (Al-Arabiyah)
Former U.K. Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind steps down as chair of a parliamentary intelligence committee and said he won’t run for re-election as a Conservative member of parliament after becoming embroiled in an embarrassing cash-for-access sting. (Guardian)

In rugby league, the Australian-based National Rugby League takes over control of the Gold Coast Titans following five current players being charged with supplying cocaine. (ABC News Australia)