Portal:Current events/2014 February 17

• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • At least 25 people are killed and dozens wounded in bombing attacks across Baghdad; three bombs exploded in public markets and a fourth outside a Shiite mosque. (The New York Times)
• Taliban militants in Pakistan say they have killed 23 captured Pakistani security force members, in a setback to peace talks aimed at ending the Islamist insurgency. (VOA)
• Ethiopian Airlines Flight 702 between Addis Ababa and Rome is diverted to land at Geneva in an attempted hijacking by the co-pilot who claims to be seeking political asylum. (The Houston Chronicle)

• American late-night show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon premieres on the National Broadcasting Company, with Jimmy Fallon succeeding Jay Leno as host. (AP)

• Winter storms of 2013–14 in the United Kingdom:
  • Floods in the United Kingdom continue to worsen as the Met Office issues severe rain weather warnings for southwest England. (BBC News)
• Nepalese police find the wreckage of a missing Nepal Airlines plane in the mountainous West with all 18 passengers and crew dead. (AFP via Yahoo! News)

• The Vatican head of state, Pope Francis, renews his Argentine passport, reportedly asking not to enjoy any privilege. (La Nación)
• A United Nations report accuses North Korea of atrocities and calls for an investigation by the International Criminal Court. (Al Jazeera) (BBC News)
• Iran's ambassador to Russia says that Russia could build a second reactor at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant in exchange for Iranian oil, under an oil-for-goods deal being negotiated that has alarmed the United States. (Reuters) (News 24)
• Venezuela orders the expulsion of three US consular officials amid rising tensions over anti-government protests after accusing the US of working with the opposition to undermine President Nicolás Maduro's government. (The Times of India)

• The legality of private gambling is taken before the United States Supreme Court. (KTVU)
• A riot at the Australian Government's immigration detention facility on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea results in one death and 77 injuries. (The Australian)

• Mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, is given a mandate by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano to form a new government as Italy’s prime minister-designate. (Bloomberg)
• Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond says that blocking a post-independence Scotland from a currency union could damage businesses in the rest of the United Kingdom. (BBC News)

• A large near-Earth asteroid, 2000 EM26, passes by the Earth safely with no threat of collision at 8.8 times further from the Earth than the Moon. (NBC News) (Space.com)

• 2014 Winter Olympics:
  • The United States garners its first medal in two-man bobsled since the 1952 Winter Olympics. (NBC)
  • Meryl Davis and Charlie White become the first Americans to win Olympic gold in ice dancing. (CBS)