The day

Thursday 26 February 2026

7 stories, biggest first.

1. 1

   Politics2026 Gorton and Denton by-election

   Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer wins the constituency of Gorton and Denton in Greater Manchester, England, in the party's first by-election win.

2. 2

   News2026 Afghanistan–Pakistan war

   Afghanistan announces attacks against Pakistani military positions along their shared border in response to Pakistani air strikes launched 4 days prior. Pakistan, in turn, says its forces have responded.

3. 3

   PoliticsCorruption in Albania

   Albanian prime minister Edi Rama dismisses deputy prime minister and infrastructure minister Belinda Balluku after anti-corruption prosecutors indicted her on suspicion of interfering in the award of two public construction contracts worth more than €200 million.

4. 4

   News2026 Zona da Mata floods

   The death toll from the floods across Minas Gerais, Brazil, rises to 54 people, with fourteen more still missing.

5. 5

   Crime2022 Greek surveillance scandal

   A Greek court sentences four individuals, including Intellexa's Israel-based founder Tal Dilian, to eight years in prison for breaching data and violating privacy laws after they deployed the Predator spyware, targeting the mobile phones of more than 90 politicians, journalists, businesspeople, and military officials in 2022.

6. 6

   Politics2026 Danish general election

   Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen calls a snap election for March 24 amid the Greenland crisis.

7. 7

   News

   Seven people are killed and 25 others are injured after a gas cylinder explodes inside a house in Chaman, Pakistan.

Stories adapted from Wikipedia’s Current events portal for 26 February 2026, by Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.