Real Madrid's Champions League match against Benfica was halted after a racist slur was allegedly directed at Vinicius Junior, while Russia will compete under its own flag at the Paralympics for the first time since 2014, and Syria has begun evacuating the Al-Hol camp housing thousands linked to ISIS, according to multiple reports on Tuesday, February 17, 2026.
The Real Madrid game in Lisbon, Portugal, was stopped for 11 minutes after Vinicius Junior told the referee he suffered racial abuse from a Benfica player, according to Sky News. The match was halted five minutes into the second half, shortly after Vinicius gave the away side a 1-0 lead in the first leg of the knockout playoffs.
Meanwhile, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced that Russia's National Paralympic Committee had been awarded six slots in the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games, allowing Russian athletes to compete under their own flag for the first time since 2014, as reported by Sky News. The IPC's decision followed Russia's previous bans from the games, first in 2016 over a state-sponsored doping scheme, and then in 2022 due to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In Syria, government forces began evacuating the remaining residents of Al-Hol camp, home to the relatives of suspected ISIS fighters, according to Euronews. Government forces captured the camp from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) last month. Al-Hol, located in the northeastern Hasakeh province, had been Syria's largest camp housing family members of suspected IS militants.
In other news, the United Nations warned that migrants in Libya face severe risks, including torture, rape, and forced labor, according to Al Jazeera. The UN Human Rights Office report released on Tuesday stated that migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees are being forcibly abducted and jailed for long periods until they are sold or kidnappers receive ransom from relatives.
Finally, tensions in the Middle East appeared to be escalating, with Donald Trump moving warships and Iran dropping any subtlety in its response, according to Sky News. Iran conducted exercises in one of the world's most strategic waterways, leaving little doubt of its capabilities with missile strikes on dummy targets and simulated tanker seizures.
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