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• SuspectedIslamist militants kill at least 62 civilians in a series of massacres in easternDemocratic Republic of the Congo as killings of civilians intensify. The country'sarmed forces launch counter-offensives againstinsurgents of theAllied Democratic Forces.(Reuters)

• 400–500 people are left stranded at theSasquatch Mountain Resort inBritish Columbia,Canada, after the road to the resort was damaged from landslides caused by heavy rain. Train service betweenVancouver andSeattle was also suspended until Monday due to mudslides.(CTV News)(CTV News²)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • Kiribati becomes the latest country in the Pacific to blockChinese travelers by placing allvisa applications fromChina on hold and ordering all those coming from countries with confirmed cases of the virus to self-quarantine.(Radio NZ International)
  • Apple Inc. announces it will close all of its stores and offices in China until February 9 due to the pandemic.(Gizmodo)

• Trump peace plan
  • ThePalestinian National Authority cuts all ties with theUnited States andIsrael, including those relating to security, after rejecting a peace plan presented byU.S. PresidentDonald Trump.(Reuters)
• Foreign relations of the Maldives
  • TheMaldives returns to theCommonwealth of Nations as arepublic in the Commonwealth of Nations.(The Commonwealth)

• A court inEgypt sentences a former special forces officer and 36 others to thedeath penalty after being convicted on charges ofterrorism, court officials say.(Reuters)
• Police inSouth Africa launch a manhunt for the killers of nine illegalminers who were stoned to death in westernJohannesburg. All nine killed were fromLesotho.(BBC News)

• 2019–2021 Iraqi protests
  • Former Communications MinisterMohammed Tawfiq Allawi is appointedPrime Minister of Iraq byPresidentBarham Salih. Protestors reject his appointment, seeing him as part of the establishment.(Al Jazeera)

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• 2020 Streatham stabbing
  • Three people are injured after a man attacked people with amachete inStreatham High Road,London,United Kingdom. The attacker is shot dead by police. The incident is declared asterrorism-related.(BBC News)
• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020),Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  • More than 200Turkish Armed Forces vehicles cross theSyria–Turkey border into rebel-heldIdlib Governorate in an effort to halt theSyrian Army advance on the city ofSaraqib.(The Washington Post)(Al Masdar News)
• Sinai insurgency
  • Islamist militants bomb agas pipeline betweenEgypt andIsrael in the northernSinai Peninsula.(Ynet news)

• Groundhog Day
  • Punxsutawney Phil doesn't cast a shadow and predicts an early spring.(Fox News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
    • The firstcoronavirus death outside China is reported in thePhilippines. The victim was aChinesetourist, also infected withStreptococcus pneumoniae andinfluenza B, who recently arrived in the country.(CNN Philippines)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand,Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • New Zealand closes its borders to all foreign visitors fromChina and bolsters screenings at its airports in response to the pandemic. The travel ban will be in place for at least fourteen days.(The Guardian)

• Iran–Saudi Arabia relations
  • According to IranianForeign Ministry,Saudi Arabia has blockedIran from anOrganization of Islamic Cooperation meeting inJeddah after Saudi authorities refuse to issuevisas to Iranian officials.(Reuters)

• A female attacker stabs four people inGhent,East Flanders,Belgium in different locations. The victims were injured, two of whom in critical conditions. The suspect is shot and wounded byBelgian police.(The Brussels Times)

• Japan sendsa destroyer to theGulf of Oman amid heightening tensions in the region. Thegovernment says it is prepared to authorize the use of force to protect Japanese interests if needed.(Reuters)

• 2019 NFL season
  • InAmerican football, theKansas City Chiefs defeat theSan Francisco 49ers 31–20 to winSuper Bowl LIV, the team's first Super Bowl win since1970.(ESPN)

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• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020),Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  • Syrian Army shelling killsTurkish military personnel inIdlib Governorate, prompting retaliation by Turkish forces. A pro-opposition war monitor says the Turkish retaliation killed 13 Syrian soldiers, which Syria denies. TheRussian Ministry of Defence saysTurkey moved troops "inside the de-escalation zone [...] without notifying theRussian side".Turkish PresidentErdoğan says the Syrian shelling killed five Turkish soldiers and three civilian personnel, with nine others injured, and that the Russians "need to stand aside".(AP News)(SANA)(NPR)
• Agendarme is stabbed and wounded inMetz,Grand Est,France, by asoldier who shoutedIslamic extremist slogans and declared that he is anIslamic State member. He was shot and wounded.(Le Figaro)
• Gunmen open fire in anamusement arcade inUruapan,Mexico, killing at least nine people, including three children. Police say the gunmen were searching for specific targets but then opened fire indiscriminately on customers.(The Guardian)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • The globalCruise Lines International Association bans trips tomainland China and says that it "will deny boarding to any individual, whether guest or crew, who has travelled from or through mainlandChina within the previous 14 days".(Al Arabiya English)
  • Thailand announces the possible discovery of a "cure" for thecoronavirus after a confirmed coronavirus patient tested negative for the virus 48 hours after being given an "anti-HIV" drug.(Filipino Times)(Daily Sabah)(IB Times)
  • Huoshenshan Hospital, opening after ten days of construction, admits the first patients of the pandemic.(SCMP)(AP)
• HIV/AIDS research
  • The United StatesNational Institutes of Health stops its trial of an experimentalHIV vaccine (HVTN 702) amidst poor results. The trial involved more than 5,000 people inSouth Africa.(BBC News)

• Post-Brexit,United Kingdom–European Union relations
  • European UnionnegotiatorMichel Barnier says a future trade deal is possible only if theUnited Kingdom "abides by EU standards".British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson says the UK would not be bound by EU rules in any post-Brexit agreement.(NBC News)
• Israel–Uganda relations
  • Ugandan PresidentYoweri Museveni says he is "studying" the possibility of opening an embassy inJerusalem asIsraeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu promises to open an embassy in Uganda if such a move takes place.(Reuters)
• European migrant crisis
  • Greek police on the island ofLesbos firetear gas to disperse migrants and refugees protesting about conditions in the camps and the slow pace of processingasylum requests.(Reuters)

• List of mass shootings in the United States in 2020
  • Amass shooting on aGreyhound bus headed fromLos Angeles toSan Francisco leaves one dead and five wounded; the motive remains unknown.(CBS News)(NBC News)
  • A shooting at a dormitory atTexas A&M University–Commerce, leaves two dead and one wounded.(Politico)(NBC News)

• Aftermath of the2019 Malawian general election
  • The Constitutional Court ofMalawi annuls the result of the country's last general election due to various irregularities.New elections are being scheduled to be held within 150 days.(Aljazeera)
• 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries,2020 Republican Party presidential primaries
  • The first nominating contest in theDemocratic Party andRepublican Party primaries takes place in the U.S. state ofIowa. Eleven Democratic Party candidateswill challenge for 49 delegates, while incumbentPresidentDonald Trump willface two Republican challengers for 40 delegates, regarding the2020 United States presidential election(BBC News)
  • Significant irregularities in the Democratic Party process are reported with an app being blamed for widespread confusion and delayed results.(Vox)(The Washington Examiner)
• Impeachment trial of Donald Trump
  • Closing statements are delivered before theUnited States Senate.(The New York Times)
  • Democratic SenatorJoe Manchin asks his colleagues to considercensuring Trump, as an alternative toimpeachment, for his efforts to pressureUkraine to investigate domestic political rivals. Senator Manchin is considered friendly with the White House.(The Washington Post)

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• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020),Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  • Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan says Turkey will not allowSyria's military to gain more ground in the rebel-heldIdlib Governorate, as theSyrian Army captures several more villages near the city ofSaraqib. Turkish officials say intermittent clashes between Turkish and Syrian troops have continued since Monday.(BBC News)

• A magnitude 5.0earthquake hits 20 kilometers south ofGuánica, Puerto Rico.(CNN)(National Earthquake Center)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in China
    • COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
      • ChineseForeign Ministry spokeswomanHua Chunying reports the death toll has surpassed 400 with over 20,000 people infected, and requests theUnited States "not to overreact".(Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
      • The secondcoronavirus death outsidemainland China is reported inHong Kong. The victim was a 34-year-old Hongkonger who had recently travelled toWuhan, the center of the pandemic. TheHospital Authority said the victim suffered from "preexisting health conditions", but did not give details.(Los Angeles Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships
    • COVID-19 pandemic on Diamond Princess
      • TheDiamond Princess cruise ship isquarantined and tested for coronavirus cases as it is docked inYokohama, Japan. Passengers and crew are now required to stay on board until at least Tuesday night. Between 3,500 and 3,700 passengers are tested.(CNN)

• Algerian PresidentAbdelmadjid Tebboune pardons more than 3,000 prisoners serving sentences of less than six months imprisonment as he seeks to win support after months of political turmoil.(Reuters)
• First Lady ofLesotho,Maesiah Thabane, is arrested and charged in connection to the 2017 murder ofLipolelo Thabane, ex-wife of currentPrime MinisterTom Thabane.(The Guardian)
• Gunmen kill 9 people, including 3 children, in a video arcade inUruapan,Mexico.(ABC News)

• 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries,2020 Republican Party presidential primaries
  • Donald Trump receives overwhelming support in theIowa Republican caucuses while the results of theIowa Democratic caucuses are delayed because of problems with the use of amobile app for reporting.(CNN)
• 2020 State of the Union Address
  • U.S. PresidentDonald Trump delivershis third State of the Union Address to the116th United States Congress in the chamber of theHouse of Representatives. It was Trump'sfourth and final speech to ajoint session of the United States Congress.(CNN)

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• 2020 Van avalanches
  • Avalanches inVan Province, easternTurkey, kill at least 38 people, leaving more trapped.(BBC News)
• Winter Storm Kade brings heavy snowfall to much of theUnited States, with 14 inches of snow recorded as far south asTexas. Dozens of car accidents are reported inOklahoma City as a result of difficult driving conditions due to the storm.(Weather.com)
• Pegasus Airlines Flight 2193
  • Aplane crashes after overrunning the runway atSabiha Gökçen International Airport,Istanbul, Turkey, killing 3 people and injuring 155 others.(BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • Around 3,700 people aboard acruise ship namedDiamond Princess arequarantined after ten passengers test positive for the illness at theport of Yokohama, Japan.(Reuters)
  • A baby is diagnosed with the virus 30 hours after birth, in the first recorded case of the virus in a newborn.(New Straits Times)

• Mexico establishes diplomatic relations with theCentral African Republic, resulting in Mexico having diplomatic relations with allAfrican states.(Government of Mexico)

• TheUnited Kingdom'sDepartment for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport begins apublic consultation ondecriminalizing the failure to pay thetelevision licence fee. Currently, failure to pay the fee while using a television can result in fines and imprisonment.(BBC News)
• Bayard Rustin, a black and gay African American civil rights activist who worked withMartin Luther King Jr., is posthumouslypardoned byCalifornia GovernorGavin Newsom for anti-gay charges.(NBC News)
• Denmark jails three men for potentially spying forSaudi Arabia.(ABC News)
• LGBT rights in Nigeria
  • A court inNigeria grants 47 men another delay in their trial overhomosexuality and public displays of affection with members of the same sex. Judge Rilwan Aikawa says it is the last accepted delay at theLagos court. The men face up to 10-year imprisonment if convicted in a closely watched trial.(Reuters)

• Impeachment trial of Donald Trump
  • TheUnited States Senate votes on whether to acquitU.S. PresidentDonald Trump. By a vote of 52–48 almost entirely along party lines, theRepublican-majority Senate acquits Trump on the first article of impeachment,abuse of power, and acquits him on the second charge,obstruction of Congress, in a separate 53–47 vote.Utah SenatorMitt Romney casts the sole Republican guilty vote, against party lines, on the first article.(The New York Times)
• TheRomanian minoritygovernment led byLudovic Orban is toppled by avote of no confidence. The event could lead to anearly election.(DW)

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• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • TwoPalestinians are killed and seven others are wounded byIsraeli soldiers in the occupiedWest Bank. In a separate incident, twelve Israeli soldiers are injured in acar-ramming attack by aPalestinian inJerusalem, while apolice officer was shot and wounded in another attack in the city.Airstrikes in theGaza Strip also occurred.(BBC News)
• Syrian civil war,Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian Civil War
  • Israeliwarplanes fire missiles nearDamascus,Syria. A pro-opposition war monitor says army positions andIran-backed militias are targeted, killing 12 fighters. Syria says eight fighters are wounded and Israel intends to "save the armedterrorist organisations which have been collapsing inIdlib and westernAleppo Governorate in front of the strikes of theSyrian Army".(BBC News)
  • TheSyrian Army'sTiger Forces withRussian air support enters and takes control of the city ofSaraqib, and the nearby town ofSarmin, after rebel forces withdrew from the area.(The Washington Post)(Anadolu Agency)
• AnAustralian and twoChinese citizens, one of whom was a tourist, are stabbed and injured byISIL sympathisers inHulhumalé,Maldives. The attackers are arrested.(The Guardian)
• Brexit Day bomb plot
  • ThePSNI announce they foiled a plot, allegedly by thedissident republicanCIRA, to detonate atruck bomb in theUnited Kingdom on the dayBrexit occurred.(BBC News)
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
  • AU.S. civil contractor is kidnapped by theTaliban in easternAfghanistan'sKhost Province. A Taliban leader who declined to be named tellsReuters they had kidnapped anAmerican in Khost but did not provide further details.(Reuters)
• Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)
  • U.S. PresidentDonald Trump announces that theUnited States military has killedal-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leaderQasim al-Raymi in adrone strike inYemen.(BBC News)

• Winter Storm Kade
  • Severaltornadoes are reported across the southernUnited States as Winter Storm Kade continues to cross the country, with more than 200 reports of damaging winds acrossMississippi,Alabama andNorth Carolina.(Weather.com)
  • Heavy rainfall causes severe flooding in southern states, particularly westernSouth Carolina and westernVirginia, where several flash flood emergencies have been declared.(Weather.com)
• Livraga derailment
  • Atrain crash inLivraga,Lombardy,Italy, kills 2 people and injures all the other 31 on board.(The Independent)

• United States–Venezuela relations
  • Venezuelan security forces move sixAmericanCitgo executives fromhouse arrest toEl Helicoide prison inCaracas, prompting condemnation from the United States. The move comes shortly after Venezuelan opposition leaderJuan Guaidó met with U.S. PresidentDonald Trump at theWhite House.(Reuters)

• Algerian PresidentAbdelmadjid Tebboune pardons a further 6,000 prisoners after doing the same to another 3,000 two days ago. The mass pardons this week follow an offer of dialogue with the protesters, the release of detainees arrested at demonstrations, the formation of a committee to amend the constitution and meetings with opposition figures.(Reuters)
• A man is charged withraping a five-year-old girl inside of theUnited States embassy inNew Delhi. The high-security mansion in the Indian capital is one of the most secure inDelhi, with multiple layers of manned and electronic security.(The Guardian)

• Minister-President of the centralGerman state ofThuringia,Thomas Kemmerich, resigns under national pressure after his controversial election to the position with the help of thefar-right partyAlternative for Germany.(BBC News)

• Christina Koch returns toEarth from theInternational Space Station after a continuous 328 days in space, longer than any woman in history.(CNN via MSN)

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• Credit SuisseCEOTidjane Thiam resigns after a spying scandal.(CNN)
• Batterygate
  • Apple Inc. is fined€25 million byFrenchregulatory agencyGeneral Directorate of Competition, Consumption & Repression of Frauds for deliberately slowing down olderiPhone models. The fine amounts to less than 0.003% of Apple Inc.'s current worth.(BBC News)

• Winter Storm Kade
  • High winds, gusting up to 90 miles per hour, strikeNew England as Winter Storm Kade intensifies upon its exit into the Atlantic Ocean.(Weather.com)
  • Heavy snowfall blankets much of the north-easternUnited States. More than 1 foot of snowfall is reported widely, with up to 2 feet recorded in parts ofMaine andVermont.(Weather.com)
• Five people are killed in aplane crash in WesternAlaska,United States.(NBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Mainland China
    • General Secretary of the Communist Party of ChinaXi Jinping declares "people's war" on thecoronavirus pandemic.(The National)(Reuters)
    • Li Wenliang, the doctor who tried to issue the first warnings about the pandemic, dies after contracting the virus.(BBC News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    • Italy confirms that anItalian man has contracted the virus, after he visited his girlfriend inWuhan.(Il Messaggero)
  • Royal Caribbean Cruises bansChina,Hong Kong orMacau passport holders from boarding its ships amid concerns over the pandemic.(Reuters)
• Esperanza Base on theAntarctic Peninsula reaches a temperature of 18.3 °C (64.9 °F), thehottest on record for continental Antarctica.(The Guardian)(The Washington Post)
• It is reported January 2020 was the warmest January ever on record in Europe.(The Washington Post)(Time)

• Russia repatriates 26Russian children from aSyrian refugee camp.(ABC News)

• Manish Shah, ageneral practitioner in theUnited Kingdom, is given threelife sentences at theOld Bailey for 90sexual assaults on 24 of his female patients.(BBC News)
• Patrick Crusius, accused of perpetrating the2019 El Paso shooting, is charged with 90 counts of federalhate crimes. Under the new charges, he could face thedeath penalty.(BBC News)

• U.S. PresidentDonald Trump firesNational Security Council advisorLt. Col. Alexander Vindman andE.U. ambassadorGordon Sondland, who both testified as witnesses at theimpeachment inquiry into him. Vindman's twin brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, anArmy JAG officer also part of the National Security Council staff, is also fired.(New York Times)(Politico)
• 2020 Republican Party presidential primaries
  • FormerIllinoisrepresentativeJoe Walsh suspends hispresidential campaign, following his poor performance in theIowa caucuses.(The Hill)

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• Nakhon Ratchasima shootings
  • A soldieropens fire in amilitary camp and a shopping center inNakhon Ratchasima,Thailand, killing 29 people and injuring 58 others before being shot dead bypolice the next day. It is considered the deadliest mass shooting in the country's history.(Bangkok Post)(USA Today)
• At least ten people have been killed and dozens have been injured in ethnic clashes inKazakhstan betweenKazakhs andDungans. About 30 houses and 15 commercial properties were destroyed during the clash.(BBC News)
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
  • Ashootout duringjoint exercises withU.S. andAfghan soldiers inNangarhar Province leaves between four and six Americans, and six Afghans dead. It is unknown if theTaliban orrogue Afghan forces were responsible.(Reuters)

• Argentine Vice PresidentCristina Fernández de Kirchner declares that thegovernment will not pay back itsUS$57 billion debt to theInternational Monetary Fund until the country exits itsrecession.(Reuters)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • Two people – oneJapanese and oneAmerican – die from coronavirus inWuhan. They are the first foreigners (excludingHong Kong andMacau) to die from it.(NBC News)

• Syria–Turkey relations
  • IranianForeign MinisterMohammad Javad Zarif offers to mediate betweenSyria andTurkey over escalating conflicts between the two nations following therecent offensive in the Idlib Governorate.(Reuters)

• 2020 Irish general election
  • Citizens ofIreland head to the polls in the country's latestgeneral election.(The Guardian)
  • Exit polls show therepublicanSinn Féin, the rulingFine Gael, and main opposition partyFianna Fáil in a virtual tie.(The Guardian)

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• 92nd Academy Awards
  • At this year'sOscars,South Korean filmParasite wins the most awards, includingBest Picture andBest International Film. It becomes the first foreign-language film to win Best Picture.(The Hollywood Reporter)

• Storm Ciara
  • Winds gusting up to 100 miles per hour have been recorded over much of theUnited Kingdom andIreland, causing widespread damage and disruption.(BBC News)
  • Thousands of homes and businesses have been flooded acrossnorthern England after Storm Ciara brought sustained heavy rainfall to the region. Worst affected were theCalder Valley settlements ofTodmorden,Hebden Bridge andMytholmroyd inYorkshire.(BBC News)
  • A man inHampshire was killed when a tree fell onto his car on theA33 road as a result of high winds.(BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • The death toll of the coronavirus outbreak surpasses the death toll of the2002–2004 SARS outbreak, at 910 deaths.(The Guardian)(Al Jazeera)

• Cross-Strait relations
  • Taiwan scrambles itsair force to interceptChinese jets after they circled the island during a combat drill. The drill is denounced by theTaiwanese Defense Ministry as a violation of its sovereignty.(Reuters)
• Israel–Palestine relations
  • Israel blocks all Palestinian export of agricultural products from the occupied West Bank following Palestinian limitations on imports of Israeli cattle.(Al Jazeera)(Haaretz)

• 2020 Azerbaijani parliamentary election
  • Azerbaijan holds asnap election afterPresidentIlham Aliyev dissolved theNational Assembly last December. The opposition accuses Aliyev of limiting their ability to campaign, and calls for boycotts against the election.(Reuters)(France24)
• 2020 Cameroonian parliamentary election
  • After having been postponed twice,parliamentary elections are held inCameroon. The ongoingAnglophone Crisis overshadows the process, with supporters ofAmbazonia calling for a boycott of the election.(DW)
• 2020 Irish general election
  • Counting of the first preference votes showSinn Féin leading with 24.1% of the vote, ahead of ruling partyFine Gael and main opposition partyFianna Fáil, each with 22.1%. Sinn Féin leaderMary Lou McDonald claims victory, declaring that Ireland "is no longer a two-party system", and hopes to form a coalition government.(The Guardian)
• 2020 Swiss referendums,LGBT rights in Switzerland
  • Swiss voters head to the polls to vote on a proposal to mandate quotas for affordable housing in new residential development projects, and whether to criminalize discrimination on the basis ofsexual orientation.(BBC News)(Irish Times)
  • The proposal to mandate quotas is rejected, the proposal to criminalize discrimination on the basis ofsexual orientation passes.(BBC News)
• President of El SalvadorNayib Bukele breaks into theLegislative Assembly with the Army and occupies the chair of the Speaker to demand the approval of a financial measure which couldn't pass earlier as there was no quorum. In a public release, the Presidency department calls for calm after a "demand of insurrection". The opposition accuses the president and the army of intimidation and a "self-coup".(El País)(BBC News)(The Washington Post)(The New York Times)

• TheUnited Launch Alliance successfully launches theEuropean Space Agency'sSolar Orbiter (SolO) satellite fromCape Canaveral Air Force Station. The probe will study theSun, and in particular its innerheliosphere.(BBC News)

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• Auno attack
  • Boko Haram militants kill at least 30 people, burning them to death while they were sleeping in their vehicles inBorno State,Nigeria. Women and children arekidnapped.(BBC News)
• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020)
  • Turkey saysSyrian shelling killed five ofits troops at an observation post atTaftanaz Military Airbase inIdlib Governorate. The Turkish government says it "retaliated against the attack to destroy all enemy targets and avenging our fallen troops".(AP News)(BBC News)
  • Russian andSyrian Air Force warplanes carry out airstrikes on civilian settlements inAleppo andIdlib provinces, killing at least 17 to 25 civilians including six children.(AA)(MSN)(DW)
  • Acar bomb kills four people and injures 15 others in the Turkish-occupied cityAfrin, inAleppo Governorate.(France 24)

• Climate change mitigation,Individual and political action on climate change
  • Dozens ofclimate activists surround the offices ofAmericaninvestment management companyBlackRock in centralParis and vandalize the building, demanding theydisinvest from the fossil fuel industry.(Reuters)
• Brexit
  • UK government ministerMichael Gove says an IT system for the prospective "smart" border will not be ready before 2025.(The Independent)(Financial Times)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of theWorld Health Organization, warns that overseas cases of the virus could be the "tip of the iceberg".(Yahoo! News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Mainland China
    • In a rare public appearance and wearing a mask,Xi Jinping visits a hospital inBeijing, and urges "more decisive measures" to combat the virus.(BBC News)

• A court inIsrael sentencesSheikhRaed Salah to 28 months in prison for "inciting toterror".(Al Jazeera)
• Chinese cyberwarfare
  • Afederal grand jury in the United States charges four members ofChina’sPeople's Liberation Army with the2017 Equifax hack.(CNN)
• Mohiussunnath Chowdhury is convicted of planning terrorist attacks inLondon.(BBC News)
• TheU.S. Justice Department files lawsuits againstKing County,Washington and the state ofNew Jersey over their use ofsanctuary cities.(Reuters)

• The president ofGermany'sCDU party,Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, announces that she will resign as the party's president and not be a candidate for thefederal chancellorship in thenext election.(Der Spiegel)(The Guardian)
• Theadministration of Philippine PresidentRodrigo Duterte moves to cancel the franchise ofABS-CBN, the Philippines' largest broadcast media network, by lodging a complaint against it to theSupreme Court of the Philippines. Members of the Philippine press condemn the actions in moving for the cancellation of the franchise of ABS-CBN.(The New York Times)(Rappler)(GMA News Online)

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• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020)
  • TheSyrian Army and allied militia groups secure the entire length of the strategicM5 Motorway, connectingDamascus andAleppo, for the first time since 2012.(Reuters)
  • ASyrian Air ForceMi-17 helicopter is shot down byTurkish-backed rebel forces near the village ofNayrab inIdlib Governorate, killing both pilots.(Haaretz)
• February 2020 Kabul bombing
  • Asuicide bombing inAfghanistan's capitalKabul kills six people and injures twelve others.(The Guardian)
• 2020 Iranian attack on U.S. forces in Iraq
  • The Pentagon confirms that the number ofU.S. troops who sufferedtraumatic brain injuries from theIranian attacks in January is higher than previously stated, now being at 109.(DW)
• 2019–20 Lebanese protests
  • Lebaneseprotesters attempt to block aconfidence vote, and 400 people are injured. The Lebanese Cabinet wins the vote.(MSN)(NBC)

• Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
  • Siba, a standardPoodle, winsBest in Show Award.(Fox News)(ESPN)(The Guardian)

• New York v. Deutsche Telekom
  • Victor Marrero, aU.S. District Judge for theSouthern District of New York, approves the $26 billionUSD merger ofT-Mobile US andSprint Corporation.(NBC)
• UK Prime MinisterBoris Johnson approves theHigh Speed 2 railway project, after many delays and the project going billions ofpounds overbudget.(The Guardian)
• Softbank, the Japaneseventure capital giant, announced fourth quarter results. They were dismal, due especially to Softbank's losses on itsVision Fund.(Reuters)

• Storm Ciara kills six people in Europe.(MSN)
• A boat carryingRohingya refugees capsizes in theBay of Bengal while trying to reachMalaysia. Fifteen are confirmed dead and dozens are missing, aBangladesh Coast Guard official says.(Reuters)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Mainland China
    • The death toll of thecoronavirus pandemic inChina surpasses 1,000.Hubei province reported 103 deaths in a single day, the highest single-day toll of the pandemic.(DW)

• Philippines–United States relations
  • ThePresident of the PhilippinesRodrigo Duterte terminates theVisiting Forces Agreement with theUnited States.Foreign SecretaryTeodoro Locsin Jr. confirms that theEmbassy of the United States, Manila, has been formally notified. The termination will take effect after 180 days.(Reuters)(The Guardian)
• Aftermath of theSudanese Revolution
  • Sudan's ruling military council agrees to hand over ousted dictatorOmar al-Bashir to theInternational Criminal Court inThe Hague to face charges ofcrimes against humanity inDarfur.(The Guardian)

• Love v Commonwealth
  • TheHigh Court of Australia finds thatAboriginal Australian people are not "aliens" under theAustralian Constitution, even if they were not born in Australia and do not haveAustralian citizenship, and they cannot bedeported.(ABC News)(SBS News)
• Venezuela makes itscivilian militia a new branch of thearmed forces.(Reuters)

• 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries,2020 New Hampshire Democratic primary
  • RegisteredDemocrats andindependents in theU.S. state ofNew Hampshire vote in the first official Democratic presidentialprimary of theelection year. It comes after thecontroversial Iowa caucuses that occurred a week earlier.(CBS News)
  • VermontSenatorBernie Sanders narrowly defeats formerSouth Bend,Indiana mayorPete Buttigieg to win the primary.(Vox)
  • EntrepreneurAndrew Yang suspendshis presidential campaign.(PBS)
  • Colorado SenatorMichael Bennet suspendshis presidential campaign.(NBC News)

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• Syrian Civil War
  • United States Armed Forces open fire and kill aSyrian after a group ofgovernment supporters attempted to block aU.S.convoy in protest at acheckpoint nearQamishli,Al-Hasakah Governorate.(MSN)(BBC News)

• Pope Francis rules againstordaining married men aspriests, a possible measure to counter the shortage ofCatholic priests. He also ruled against allowingwomen to be ordained asdeacons.(BBC News)
• TheMinistry of Culture of Colombia designates theSpanish galleonSan José as an asset of cultural interest, thus protecting it from commercial exploitation.(RCN)

• TheOffice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights publishes a list of 112 companies linked to activities related toIsraeli settlements in theoccupied West Bank.(BBC News)(Al Jazeera)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • TheUnited States Postal Service suspends time guarantees for all shipments toChina andHong Kong.(South China Morning Post)
  • TheGSM Association decides to cancel this year'sMobile World Congress inBarcelona,Spain, amid coronavirus concerns. The event would have been held between February 24 and 27. This is the first time that themobile communications trade show has been cancelled.(CNBC)
  • MSWesterdam, with more than two thousand people on board, is finally granted permission to disembark inCambodia after several countries deny it permission.(USA Today)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
    • Tonga refuses entry to fourcruise ships due to health warnings following the pandemic.(RNZ)

• Nissan begins aUS$90 million lawsuit against its former chairmanCarlos Ghosn.(The Guardian)
• More than half ofMalta'straffic police officers, including its chief, are arrested for overtime fraud and misuse of public resources.(Reuters)
• Trial ofMaesiah Thabane
  • Lesotho begins a murder investigation of First Lady Maesiah Thabane for themurder of former first ladyLipolelo Thabane and ex-wife of Prime MinisterTom Thabane.(CNN)
• TheU.S. Department of Education launches an investigation intoHarvard andYale for allegedly accepting billions of dollars in undisclosed gifts from numerous foreign governments, including those fromSaudi Arabia, China, andRussia.(BBC News)

• 2020 U.S. Democratic Party presidential primaries
  • FormerMassachusettsgovernorDeval Patrick suspendshis presidential campaign.(ABC News)
  • Iowa Democratic Party chairmanTroy Price resigns for his handling of this year'sIowa caucuses.(CNN)
• TheItalian Senate allows formerMinister of the Interior and current senatorMatteo Salvini to be tried in a criminal case for illegally detainingmigrants last summer.(BBC News)

• Brazilian scientists announce the discovery of a newamoebic "Yaravirus" inLake Pampulha. The strain was found to be significantly smaller than any known amoebic virus, and 90% of its genome appears to be genes that have never been seen before in any life-form.(The Independent)(bioRxiv)(Science magazine)
• WhatsApp hits two billion users, becoming the second largestsocial media platform in terms of userbase behindFacebook.(Reuters)

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• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
  • U.S. Defense SecretaryMark Esper says that the U.S. and theTaliban havenegotiated a proposal for a seven-day reduction of violence inAfghanistan.(Reuters)
• Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian Civil War
  • TheIsraeli Air Force launches an air raid onIranian targets in theSyrian capitalDamascus. Syrianstate media says theAir Defense Force intercepted several missiles.(The Jerusalem Post)
• Around two dozen heavily armed men dressed in military fatigues storm a court building inEl Progreso, north-westernHonduras, freeing Alexander Mendoza, a senior leader of theMS-13gang and killing four police officers. Honduran PresidentJuan Orlando Hernández offers a $80,000 reward for information leading to Mendoza's recapture.(BBC News)

• 45th César Awards
  • The entire board ofFrance'sCésar Awards resigns following controversy over theAcademy givingRoman Polanski'sAn Officer and a Spy 12 award nominations, the most out of any film this year.(BBC News)

• Americannewspaper publisherMcClatchy, whose assets include theMiami Herald andThe Sacramento Bee, files forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection.(The Hill)
• Canadian airplane manufacturerBombardier sells its remaining stake in theA220 model, previously called the C-Series, toFrance'sAirbus, effectively closing its commercial aviation line of business.(CBC)
• Cannabis in the United Kingdom
  • TheFood Standards Agency gives producers ofCannabidiol-related products until March 2021 to register their goods, or they will be pulled from the market.(BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Mainland China
    • Chinese officials report 15,152 new confirmed cases of the2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease (COVID-19) and 254 new deaths inmainland China, the largest single day increase since the pandemic began. However, the number ofconfirmed cases now also includes the number ofclinically diagnosed patients inHubei province.(CNBC)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    • Japan'sMinistry of Health, Labour and Welfare reports the country's first death related to the COVID-19 pandemic, a woman in her 80s.(The Japan Times)

• Sudan–United States relations
  • As part ofgovernment efforts to remove the country from alist of State Sponsors of Terrorism, Sudan agrees to compensate the families of sailors killed in anal-Qaedaattack against the USSCole.(Reuters)
• United States–Venezuela relations
  • Venezuelan Foreign Affairs ministerJorge Arreaza announces that his government, led byNicolás Maduro, will take the U.S. to theInternational Criminal Court for alleged "crimes against humanity".(Washington Post)

• TheIndonesian government declares that all nationals who joinISIL automatically losetheir citizenship, and refuses torepatriate fighters captured in Syria.(The Jakarta Post)

• 2020 British cabinet reshuffle
  • Amid acabinet reshuffle byPrime MinisterBoris Johnson,Sajid Javid resigns as theUnited Kingdom'sChancellor of the Exchequer after reportedly refusing to sack his adviser team. Javid is replaced byChief Secretary to the TreasuryRishi Sunak, who becomes the firstHindu to hold the senior position.(Sky News)(The Yorkshire Post)
  • TheAttorney General for England and WalesGeoffrey Cox is sacked by Johnson.(The Independent)
  • Secretary of State for Northern IrelandJulian Smith,Business SecretaryAndrea Leadsom andEnvironment SecretaryTheresa Villiers all leave thegovernment.(BBC News)
• TheU.S. Senate votes 55–45 to pass a measure requiringPresidentDonald Trump to win approval fromCongress before takingfurther military actions against Iran.(Al Jazeera)

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• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020)
  • ASyrian Air Force helicopter isshot down by asurface-to-air missile over theAleppo countryside, killing both pilots. It is the second Syrian helicopter to be shot down this week byTurkish-backed forces.(Middle East Eye)(Xinhuanet)
• Remains of 6,032 people are found with thousands of bullets in sixmass graves inKaruzi Province,Burundi, the largest find yet of an excavation project into atrocities of theBurundian Civil War.(Reuters)
• Ntumbo attack
  • At least 22 people are killed in an attack on a village inNorthwest Region,Cameroon.(BBC News)

• NepaleseSherpas condemn theNepalese government's plan to use thearmy to clear rubbish from the top ofMount Everest and five otherHimalayan peaks, saying only experienced Sherpas can reach those places. An army spokesman says the army will be able to reach all those summits.(BBC News)

• Facebook andInstagram amend their advertising policies so that politicians are allowed to useinfluencers to promote their campaigns, in response to U.S. presidential candidateMichael Bloomberg using them to advertisehis candidacy without being subjected to both sites' regulations on political ads.(Politico)(The Guardian)
• Twenty-oneU.S. states reject aUS$18 billion settlement offer by pharmaceutical manufacturers, such asMcKesson Corporation andJohnson & Johnson, for their role in theopioid crisis.(Al Jazeera)
• TheU.S. Federal Aviation Administration allowsU.S. airlines to resume flight paths over much of thePersian Gulf and theGulf of Oman, after suspending it last month due to escalating military tensions withIran.(Reuters)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt
    • The first case of coronavirus infection in theAfrican continent is reported inEgypt.(Al Jazeera)

• Belarus–Russia relations
  • Belarus threatens to take oil from theDruzhba pipeline which carriesRussian oil to centralEurope across its territory, if Russia does not supply it with the required volumes ofcrude oil.Russian oil supplies to Belarus have not been agreed for 2020 and shipments have dwindled to 500,000 tonnes, down from a planned 2 million tonnes.(Reuters)
  • Belarusian PresidentAlexander Lukashenko says Moscow hinted at an energy supply deal in exchange for Belarus merging with Russia, which caused talks to collapse.(Reuters)(The New York Times)
• Sri Lanka–United States relations
  • TheU.S. State Department sanctionsSri LankanArmy CommanderShavendra Silva for allegedhuman rights violations during thefinal phase of theSri Lankan Civil War.(Reuters)
• Kosovo–Serbia relations
  • Kosovar PresidentHashim Thaçi andSerbian PresidentAleksandar Vučić agree to connect the capitals of their respective countries by rail and roads, in a deal brokered by theUnited States.(Al Jazeera)

• Terrorism in Germany
  • Twelve men are arrested inGermany for attempting to start afar-right organization aimed at carrying out attacks against politicians,asylum seekers, andMuslims.(Al Jazeera)
• A court inIstanbul, Turkey, acquits novelistAslı Erdoğan of charges ofterrorist group membership and "undermining national unity". She was one of several staff members of the pro-Kurdish newspaperÖzgür Gündem accused of having ties to Kurdish militants.(Reuters)

• 2019–20 Algerian protests
  • Thousands ofAlgerians march in the capital ofAlgiers as the first anniversary of the protests nears, repeating their calls for overhauling the political system and ending corruption.(Reuters)
• Indigenous land claims in Canada
  • Canadian National suspends operations of its railroad network in eastern Canada, andVia Rail cancels most passengerinter-city rail service in Canada, in response to a blockade byFirst Nations activists, in support of theUnistʼotʼen Camp inWetʼsuwetʼen First Nation territory inBritish Columbia protesting theCoastal GasLink Pipeline project.(CBC News)

• Manchester City F.C. is banned from European club competition, among which theUEFA Champions League, for two seasons, and is fined€30 million, for deliberately inflating the value of their sponsorship deals to get around theUEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations. The club says it will appeal to theCourt of Arbitration for Sport.(BBC Sport)

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• Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
  • TheHouthis accuseSaudi Arabia ofairstrikes that killed 30 people, including civilians, inAl Jawf Governorate. The Houthis say women and children were among those killed in the strike, which was said to be a retaliation for the downing of a coalition plane the previous day.(Reuters)

• Storm Dennis
  • TheBritish Army is deployed to help with rescue efforts as thebomb cyclone kills two people.(UPI)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in France
    • The first death from the disease insideEurope occurs inFrance. He was an 80-year-oldChinesetourist who had arrived inParis with symptoms of the illness on January 16.(BBC News)

• Australia–United Kingdom relations
  • Several seniorAustralian MPs cancel a planned trip to theUnited Kingdom next month due to the latter allowingHuawei to help build its national5G network. Australia had banned the Chinese telecom from participating intheir network due tosecurity concerns.(BBC News)
• India–Turkey relations
  • Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesmanRaveesh Kumar tellsTurkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan to "not interfere inIndia's internal affairs" after he andPakistani Prime MinisterImran Khan issued a joint declaration yesterday condemning thelockdown inJammu and Kashmir.(Al Jazeera)

• 2020 Labour Party leadership election
  • Shadow First Secretary of StateEmily Thornberry is eliminated from theUK Labour leadership race after falling two nominations short of advancing to the next round.(BBC News)

• Microsoft removes a security update four days after its release, upon receiving complaints that the update has been responsible for system freezes, boot problems, and installation issues forWindows.(Bleeping Computer)

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• South Sudanese Civil War
  • SPLM-IO leader and formerVice PresidentRiek Machar rejects a peace proposal by PresidentSalva Kiir Mayardit. While Machar welcomes the provision to reduce the number ofstates from 32 to 10, he opposes the creation of three administrative areas.(Al Jazeera)
• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–present)
  • Backed byRussianairstrikes,Syrian Army troops take control of most of theAleppo countryside, including the towns ofAnadan,Haritan andKafr Hamrah and over 30 villages amid a collapse in rebel defences. Much of the area has been under rebel control since 2012.(Reuters)(NBC News)
• Pansi church shooting
  • Islamist gunmen kill at least 24 people, including apastor, in amass shooting on a church duringmass in Pansi,Yagha Province,Sahel Region,Burkina Faso.(Deutsche Welle)

• TheUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri rules that chemical companiesBayer andBASF are accountable for the adverse effects of theirDicamba-basedherbicides on American farmlands, and awards the plaintiff, apeach farmer,US$265 million in damages. Bayer announces it will appeal.(Reuters)
• AGerman court ordersTesla, Inc. to temporarily halt construction of new manufacturing plantGiga Berlin inGrünheide,Brandenburg, due to the threat it poses to the local wildlife and water supplies.(BBC News)

• Storm Dennis
  • Thebomb cyclone claims another victim, bringing the death toll to three. 198flood warnings have been placed acrossEngland.(CNN)

• Azerbaijanipolice detain three opposition party leaders and more than 100 activists for attempting to protest the results of last week'sparliamentary election.(Reuters)
• Ninehomeless drug users are shot dead while sleeping rough in theAfghan capitalKabul.(Al Jazeera)

• 2020 Paris municipal election
  • French Health MinisterAgnès Buzyn announces she will run for theParisian mayoral position on theLa République En Marche! ticket, after the party's original candidateBenjamin Griveaux withdrew yesterday due to asexting scandal.(Reuters)
• 2020 North Macedonian parliamentary election
  • TheAssembly of North Macedonia votes 108–12 to dissolve itself afterthe country failed to startaccession talks with the European Union, and sets the parliamentary election date for April 12.(Reuters)

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• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020)
  • Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad gives a televised speech on themilitary offensives in north-western Syria, saying the offensives inAleppo Governorate andIdlib Governorate will continue regardless ofTurkey's threats while adding that the recentSyrian Army victories are a prelude to the opposition's "final defeat, sooner or later".(Al Masdar News)(Reuters)
• February 2020 Quetta bombing
  • At least 10 people are killed by asuicide bomber on a motorcycle inQuetta,Balochistan,Pakistan.(Reuters)

• General Motors pulls out ofright-hand drive markets, ending theHolden brand inAustralia.(9 News)
• Emirati port operating firmDP World returns to being whollystate-owned by theDubai government, after itssovereign wealth fundDubai World buys back the company's remaining stakes. DP World is subsequently delisted from theNASDAQ Dubai exchange.(Reuters)
• TheAleppo International Airport inAleppo,Syria, opens to the public for the first time since 2013. Syrian Transport MinisterAli Hammoud says regular commercial flights will begin within days, starting withCairo,Egypt.(Reuters)(Al Masdar News)

• Storm Dennis
  • The lower reaches of many rivers, including theSevern atShrewsbury, continue to rise as a result of excess runoff from upstream. TheRiver Wye inHereford has now reached its highest level in recorded history.(BBC News)
• At least 20 people, mostly women and children, are killed in astampede during a rush to collect aid supplies upon the opening of the gates to an aid facility inDiffa, south-easternNiger.(BBC News)

• Sagamihara stabbings
  • Prosecutors inJapan announce they are officially seeking thedeath penalty againstSatoshi Uematsu for stabbing 19disabled people to death in 2016.(CNA)
• Terrorism in Germany
  • Investigations into afar-right organization whose members were arrested inGermany three days earlier reveal a plot, inspired by theChristchurch mosque shootings in March 2019, to carry out simultaneous, large-scale attacks on mosques across the country during prayers.(The Guardian)

• Andrew Sabisky, an advisor toUK Prime MinisterBoris Johnson, resigns after the resurfacing ofracist,sexist, and pro-eugenics comments, allegedly attributed to him.(BBC News)

• 2020 Daytona 500
  • Denny Hamlin wins his second consecutive Daytona 500, and his third overall, becoming the first driver to win the race consecutively sinceSterling Marlin did so between 1994 and 1995.Ryan Newman is hospitalized with serious but non-life threatening injuries after an airborne crash coming to the finish.(WESH)

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• Syrian civil war
  • TheUNHCHRMichelle Bachelet says she is "horrified" by the deliberate targeting of civilians in the recentoffensive in northwesternSyria and accuses the parties involved.(Al Jazeera)

• An emptysarcophagus is discovered by archeologists while excavating theRoman Forum. It appears to be dedicated toRomulus, the founder ofRome.(Fox News)

• TheBoy Scouts of America file forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection as the result of multiplesex abuse lawsuits.(The Wall Street Journal)(Scouting Newsroom)
• American retailerMacy's announces it will close 125 stores over the next three years, citing competition from online sellers, includingAmazon.(USA Today)
• International sanctions during the Venezuelan crisis
  • TheU.S. State Department addsRussian oil companyRosneft Trading S.A. to its financial blacklist for helping facilitate the sale ofVenezuelan oil.(ABC News)

• A fire at a library inPorterville, California leaves one firefighter dead and another missing.(NBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • Chinese state media reports that the director of the centralWuhan Wuchang Hospital has died from the virus.(Reuters)
  • Russia says it will temporarily block Chinese citizens beginning on February 20 from entering its territory as authorities look to stem the spread of the pandemic.(Radio Free Europe)

• Russian espionage in the United States
  • U.S. federal officials charge Hector Alejandro Cabrera Fuentes, a Mexican citizen, inMiami for allegedly acting on behalf of a Russian agent who recruited him to collect information about the U.S. government and met repeatedly with him in Moscow.(The New York Times)(Politico)

• Yukos shareholders v. Russia
  • A Dutch appeal court reinstates order forRussia to pay$50 billion overYukos.(NBC)
• A court inDenmark sentences a former public employee to six-and-a-half years in prison for embezzling $17 million inDanish government funds intended for the poor. She will not appeal the sentence, according to her lawyer.(Reuters)
• U.S. PresidentDonald Trump grants clemency to formerIllinois governorRod Blagojevich forattempting to sell former presidentBarack Obama'sSenate seat in 2008, and pardons formerNew York City Police CommissionerBernard Kerik,junk bond salesmanMichael Milken, and formerSan Francisco 49ers ownerEdward J. DeBartolo Jr. for their numerous felonies and frauds.(CNN)
• A shooting inFlint, Michigan leaves three people dead.(WJRT-TV)

• 2019 Afghan presidential election
  • Almost five months after the vote,Afghanistan's electoral institution declares incumbentPresidentAshraf Ghani as the winner of the election.(Reuters)
• Russian PresidentVladimir Putin signs a presidential order sacking senior adviserVladislav Surkov. Surkov was in charge of the Kremlin's policy on theUkrainian crisis and its relations with the separatist "people's republics" in theDonbass.(Voice of America)

• Archeologists announce an articulatedNeanderthal skeleton was unearthed inShanidar Cave,Iraq, the first discovery of its type in over a decade. They argue the find provided further proof that Neanderthalsburied their dead, as it was next to a site where similar bodies were found surrounded bypollen clumps.(BBC News)

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• Hanau shootings
  • Nine people are killed and five others injured in twomass shootings atshisha bars inHanau,Hesse,Germany. The attacker alsokills his motherandthen himself in their apartment. He expressedfar-right views in a letter of confession and video.(The Guardian)
  • TwelveSomali soldiers are killed when asuicide bomber and gunmen storm amilitary base inLower Shabelle. The militants briefly capture the base before it is reclaimed.Al-Shabaab claim responsibility.(Reuters)
• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020),Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  • Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan calls a Turkish intervention inSyria'sIdlib Governorate "imminent" after talks withRussia fail to reach what he describes as their "desired result". Erdoğan threatens to launch an operation in Idlib by the end of the month.Kremlin Press SecretaryDmitry Peskov callsTurkish involvement in the battle "the worst scenario". The countries support opposing sides in the war.(Al Jazeera)
• Second Libyan Civil War
  • Ceasefire talks between theTobruk-led government and theGNA are suspended as rocket attacks bombardTripoli.(BBC News)
• Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
  • A convoy carryingYemeni Defense MinisterMohammed Ali Al-Maqdashi inMa'rib Governorate strikes alandmine, killing six people. The Defense Minister survives the blast.(Anadolu Agency)

• The assets of Americanfast fashion chainForever 21 are purchased out of bankruptcy byreal estate companiesSimon Property Group andBrookfield Property Partners, andbrand management firmAuthentic Brands Group.(Reuters)
• The AmericanS&P 500 andNASDAQ Composite stock-market indexes hit all-time closing highs.(CNBC)

• Aftermath of theMalaysia Airlines Flight 370
  • FormerAustralian Prime MinisterTony Abbott says that high-ranking Malaysian officials believed pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah deliberately downed the plane.(Fox News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    • Iran reports its first two cases of the virus. Hours later, it was announced both infected people have died.(Times of Israel)(Al Jazerra)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
    • TheTokyo Marathon reduces the number of runners from 38,000 to an elite group of 200 due to the rising coronavirus fear.(NOJ)
    • Hundreds of passengers aboard theDiamond Princess are allowed to disembark the ship. The vessel has beenquarantined since docking inYokohama on 4 February. Criticism mounts against theJapanese government's handling of the quarantine.(Reuters)

• Murder ofBashar Barakah Jackson
  • Bashar Barakah Jackson, also known as ‘Pop Smoke’, is killed inLos Angeles,United States. The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds to his torso, inflicted by a teenager during a targeted home invasion that went wrong. Pop Smoke was a rising rapper fromBrooklyn, and had just released his second mixtape ‘Meet the Woo 2’. He rented anapartment in theHollywood Hills a few days prior to his murder for a simple vacation. The day before hishomicide, he accidentally leaked his address online via social media, giving the location to it’s murderers, which tragically ended his life the age of 20 years old.

(Pop Smoke Shot Dead)

• Murder of Hannah Clarke
  • A mother and her three children are killed in a car fire inBrisbane,Australia, in a targetedfamilicidecarjacking by formerNew Zealand Warriors player Rowan Baxter. He was the ex-husband of the woman and father of the children, and he committedsuicide at the scene.(News.com.au)
• China expels three journalists ofThe Wall Street Journal over an opinion piece called "China Is the Real Sick Man of Asia" that was deemedracist. Thegovernment demanded the newspaper apologize, which it declined. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesmanGeng Shuang says the journalists have five days to leave the country and says the article "denigrated" China's efforts to combat the virus.(BBC News)
• Brazilian SenatorCid Gomes is shot during a clash with strikingmilitary police officers inSobral, Ceará.(AP via Yahoo News)
• Corruption in Mexico,Operation Car Wash
  • Mexican law enforcement launches a corruption inquiry into formerPresidentEnrique Peña Nieto, as part of a larger investigation into bribery andmoney laundering by formerPemex CEOEmilio Lozoya Austin involvingBrazilian conglomerateOdebrecht.(Reuters)

• TheDominican Republic government fires 139Foreign Ministry officials.(Dominican Today)
• TheUnited Kingdom'sHome SecretaryPriti Patel announces a reform of the UK's immigration system. The changes includes the end offreedom of movement, a minimum requirement of migrants to speakEnglish, a minimum salary of between£20,480 and £25,600, while priority will be given to skilled workers over non-skilled migrants. The changes are effective from January 1, 2021.(BBC News)
• 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
  • A recanvass of the2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses showBernie Sanders andPete Buttigieg at an effective tie, with a margin of 0.0004 percentage points of state delegate equivalents between the two candidates. The Sanders campaign has requested a recount, which may change the initial outcome of the caucus.(AP)

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• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020),Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  • Turkish-backed rebels launch an offensive in theIdlib Governorate againstgovernment forces. A Russian air strike kills twoTurkish soldiers and injures five others, while Turkey says a retaliatory strike killed 50Syrian troops. Several tanks and armoured personnel carriers are destroyed near the village ofNayrab.(News AU)(Al Jazeera)
  • Turkey formally requests the deployment ofPatriotsurface-to-air missile systems by itsNATO allyUnited States on theSyria–Turkey border to deter Syrian andRussian air strikes on its troops.(The Telegraph)(Al Masdar News)

• An 18th-centuryEthiopian ceremonial crown, one of the 20 in existence, is returned toPrime MinisterAbiy Ahmed. It was discovered in theNetherlands in 1998, and was held by Dutch authorities until now so it could be returned when the country was more politically stable.(BBC News)

• Morgan Stanley purchaseselectronic trading firmE-Trade forUS$13 billion, in the largest banking deal since the2008 financial crisis.(The Guardian)

• 2020 Wallan derailment
  • AXPT train derails inVictoria,Australia, killing two people.(The Guardian)
• A 200-car pileup inLa Prairie,Quebec,Canada, kills two people and injures 69 others.(News AU)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
    • South Korea reports its first death fromCOVID-19.(Sputnik)
  • TwoJapanese passengers who were on board of theDiamond Princesscruise ship have died from the disease. Both, a man and a woman in their 80s, had underlying health conditions.(BBC News)
  • Australia extends its ban on travel fromChina for the fourth week in a row.(The Guardian)

• The Guardian reveals thatAustralian ambassador toMyanmar Andrea Faulkner met withCommander-in-chief of theBurmese Armed ForcesMin Aung Hlaing last month to discuss improving relations between the two nations and possibly training Hlaing's officers in Australia, among others.Human Rights Watch criticized this meeting as enabling Hlaing'sgenocide against theRohingya.(The Guardian)

• Weeks after the First Lady ofLesothoMaesiah Thabane was arrested and charged with the killing of former First LadyLipolelo Thabane, it is announced that currentPrime Minister of LesothoTom Thabane will also be charged with the murder in the upcoming hours. He also announced he will be stepping down at the end of July citing old age.(Reuters)
• Criminal charges brought in the Mueller special counsel investigation
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia JudgeAmy Berman Jackson sentencesRoger Stone, long-time adviser and ally to thePresident of the United StatesDonald Trump, to 40 months in federal prison for seven charges of obstruction, lying to Congress andwitness tampering.(CNN)(BBC News)
• New Mexican Attorney GeneralHector Balderas suesGoogle for allegedly collecting private information ofthe state's schoolchildren without parental consent.(Reuters)

• 2020 Dominican Republic municipal elections
  • Protests happen in majorDominican Republic cities over theelection problems.(Dominican Today)
  • Col. Ramón A. Guzmán and Claro telecom technician Manuel Antonio Regalado were arrested for the election sabotage.(Dominican Today)
• South Sudanese PresidentSalva Kiir Mayardit andSPLM-IO leaderRiek Machar agree to form a unity government by Saturday, in a major step to end theSouth Sudanese Civil War.(Al Jazeera)
• TheCalifornia State Legislature unanimously passes a resolution apologizing forthe state's role ininterning Japanese-Americans duringWorld War II.(The Guardian)
• Aftermath of the2020 Irish general election
  • The33rdDáil Éireann meets for the election of theTaoiseach (head of government) andCeann Comhairle (speaker of parliament).
  • Seán Ó Fearghaíl ofFianna Fáil is re-elected asCeann Comhairle. No candidate for Taoiseach attains the 80 votes required to form a government. The Dáil adjourns until March 5.(RTÉ)
  • Incumbent TaoiseachLeo Varadkar offers his resignation toPresidentMichael D. Higgins, but will remain as Taoiseach in a caretaker capacity until the formation of a new government.(Sky News)

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• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021),Afghan peace process
  • A seven-day "reduction of violence" betweenUnited States troops,Afghan troops, and theTaliban is due to start at midnight local time (19:30 UTC). If the partialtruce is successful, a US–Taliban agreement on withdrawing American troops would be signed on February 29.(NBC News)
• Kashmir conflict
  • India and Pakistan have engaged in a military confrontation across thede facto border inKashmir;Indian andPakistani forcesexchanged fire near theLine of Control (LoC) inKupwara district,Jammu and Kashmir. One Pakistani soldier died in the exchange of fire.(Hindustan Times)
• A 64-year-old woman was killed after being attacked by a man with a hammer inToronto,Canada. The victim was chosen at random. The attacker left a note on the victim's body, expressing support for terrorism. He was arrested and charged with terrorism offences.(Canada.com)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    • Italy confirms 18 more coronavirus cases in the country, bringing the confirmed cases to twenty-one. All eighteen are Italian citizens.(Corriere della Sera)
    • COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Italy
      • Eleven municipalities of theprovince of Lodi are put onlockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic, leaving around 50,000 people affected.(Metro)
  • Israel andLebanon report their first cases of 2019-nCoV coronavirus.(Al Jazeera)
  • North Korea cancels this year'sPyongyang Marathon due to concerns about coronavirus.(Al Jazeera)

• Prime Minister of LesothoTom Thabane fails to appear in court for the murder of his former wife, and his son says he has traveled toSouth Africa to see a doctor. Police warn that if he does not return, they will issue anarrest warrant.(Reuters)(Independent Online)
• TheConstitutional Court of Thailand orders theFuture Forward Party to be dissolved.(ABC News)
• MexicoextraditesRubén Oseguera González, the son ofNemesio Oseguera Cervantes, to theUnited States to face drug charges. Cervantes is the leader of theJalisco New Generation Cartel.(ABC News)
• Wells Fargo is set to pay $3 billion over their 2016 scandal of creating fake accounts in customers' names.(NBC News)

• 2020 Dominican Republic municipal elections
  • The major opposition partyPRM asked for protection for its presidential security chief.(Dominican Today)
  • The Protest in Black continues into the fourth day.(Dominican Today)
  • Attorney GeneralJean Alain Rodríguez Sánchez launches a plan tosequester theJustice Ministry forpartisan purposes.(Dominican Today)

• 2020 Iranian legislative election
  • Parliamentary elections are being held inIran. The election is criticized for the barring of around 9,000 candidates, thus raising the concerns of an unusual lowvoter turnout.(DW)(The Guardian)

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• Kashmir conflict
  • Two Kashmiri civilians alleged to beLashkar-e-Taiba militants are killed byIndian soldiers atAnantnag,Jammu and Kashmir, in acounter-terrorism operation.(DNA India)(ARY News)
• Fiveterrorists are killed inPeshawar,Khyber Paktunkhwa,Pakistan, by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in a heavy exchange of fire during a search operation.(Geo News)

• Daredevil andflat Earth conspiracy theoristMike Hughes dies after crashing in his homemade rocket nearBarstow, California. He was attempting to prove the Earth was flat as part of a documentary series withScience Channel.(BBC News)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    • Italy confirms that a 78-year-old man inPadua,Veneto, and a woman in her 70s inCodogno,Lombardy, have died after contracting the virus. They are the first two coronavirus deaths in Italy.(Tgcom24)
    • 58 more coronavirus cases are confirmed in Italy, bringing the number of cases to 79.(Open)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
    • South Korea confirms that 229 more people have contracted the coronavirus in the country, raising the total number to 433.(BBC News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • TheUnited States reports 34 confirmed cases of the illness and expects more.(The New York Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Iraq
    • The first coronavirus case is confirmed inIraq.(Anadolu Agency)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania
    • Samoa bans allcruise ships from visiting the country amid growing efforts to keep the virus away.(RNZ)

• France shuts down its firstnuclear powerreactor, at theFessenheim Nuclear Power Plant.(Deutsche Welle)

• Lesotho PMTom Thabane is granted sick leave until 27 February when he is due to appear in court for the murder of his former wife.(Reuters)

• 2020 Dominican Republic municipal elections
  • TheDominican Republic government wants theOrganization of American States to investigate what occurred in the controversial February 16 elections.(Dominican Today)
• 2020 Togolese presidential election
  • Voters inTogo head to the polls to elect the country'spresident. Incumbent presidentFaure Gnassingbé, accused of an authoritarian rule, seeks to run for a fourth term which was made possible by a constitutional amendment in 2019.(DW)
• 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
  • SenatorBernie Sanders wins theNevada Caucus.(CNN)

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• Israel kills two members ofIslamic Jihad in an aerial attack nearDamascus,Syria.(Al Jazeera)

• TheCarnival of Aalst inBelgium goes ahead despiteUNESCO withdrawing its recognition of the event as aMasterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity because ofJewish caricatures.(Reuters)(newsmonkey)

• 2020 Iran–Turkey earthquakes
  • Anearthquake inWest Azerbaijan Province,Iran, kills at least nine people and injures more than a hundred others.(Daily Sabah)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    • Seventy-six more coronavirus cases are confirmed inItaly, bringing the number of the cases in the country to 155.(La Repubblica)
    • A 68-year-old woman dies of coronavirus inCrema, Italy, bringing the number of deaths in the country to three.(Tgcom24)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
    • South Korea confirms that 169 more people have contracted the coronavirus in the country, raising the total number to 602.(BBC News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    • Pakistan closesits border fromTaftan with Iran due to increasing cases of coronavirus in Iran.(Geo News)
    • Turkey closes its border with Iran and halted incoming flights due to more cases of coronavirus in Iran.(Reuters)
    • Afghanistan suspends travel between it and Iran and reported three suspected virus cases inHerat.(TRT World)

• 2020 Comorian legislative election
  • The second round of the latest election inComoros takes place. The election is still boycotted by the political opposition.(RFI)
• 2020 Dominican Republic municipal elections
  • Protests begin inNew York andMassachusetts in the United States,Paris in France,Toronto in Canada,Madrid,Navarre, andBarcelona in Spain,San Juan, Puerto Rico, andLondon in England.(Dominican Today)
  • Protestors demand theCentral Electoral Board resign.(Dominican Today)

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• Volkmarsen ramming attack
  • Nearly 60 people are injured when a carrams civilians at a carnival parade inVolkmarsen,Hesse,Germany. A 29-year-old German national is arrested by police.(BBC News)
• Gaza–Israel conflict,Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • IsraeliPrime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu threatens theleadership of theGaza Strip with war ifrocket attacks continue.(News AU)
• Second Libyan Civil War,Libyan peace process
  • Both ofLibya's rival governments, theGovernment of National Accord andTobruk-basedHouse of Representatives, pull out ofUN-sponsored peace talks inGeneva.(Al Jazeera)
• North East Delhi riots
  • Violent clashes inNew Delhi,India, betweenHindu andMuslim protestors over theCitizenship Amendment Act duringU.S. PresidentDonald Trump's visit leave 13 people dead and at least 150 injured.(The Guardian)
• 2020 Toronto machete attack
  • A 17-year-old boy is arrested and charged with first-degree murder after stabbing two women, one of them fatally, at a massage parlor inToronto,Ontario, Canada.(Global News)

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • TheDow Jones Industrial Average drops more than 3% as the coronavirus pandemic spreads outsideChina. This follows benchmarkindices falling sharply in Europe after steep declines across Asia.(Barrons)(Wall Street Journal)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    • Armenia has closed its border fromMeghri withIran and suspended all flights from Armenia to Iran for the next two weeks due to increasing cases of coronavirus in Iran.(Prime Minister of Armenia's Facebook page)
    • The General Authority ofOman's Civil Aviation announced the suspension of all flights between the sultanate and theIslamic Republic of Iran until further notice.(CNN)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    • Seventy-four more coronavirus cases are confirmed inItaly, bringing the number to 229. Four more virus-related deaths are confirmed, bringing the death toll to seven.(La Repubblica)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea
    • Vietnamese airlineBamboo Airways suspends flights toSouth Korea starting February 26.(CNN)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • The total number of infected in the United States is now 53 people, up from 34 two days ago.(CNN)
  • Pakistan International Airlines suspends flights to China until March 15.(Geo News)
  • A 300-bedisolation ward has been set up inIslamabad forChinese citizens returning to Pakistan after vacations.(ARY News)
  • Kuwait,Iraq,Afghanistan,Oman andBahrain confirm their first cases of coronavirus.(Gulf News)(Straits Times)(Fox News)
  • Spain confirms its third case inTenerife,Canary Islands, from an Italian tourist.(El Periódico)

• India–United States relations
  • U.S. President Donald Trump visits India and meetsPrime MinisterNarendra Modi to discuss the sale of American military jets to India.(NPR)(ARY News)

• The United States wants the United Kingdom to extraditeWikiLeaks creatorJulian Assange, who might face Americanespionage charges.(NBC News)
• Prime Minister of LesothoTom Thabane appears in court and hears the charges against him in a pre-trial hearing. He denies involvement in the murder of his former wife and requests immunity from the higher court.(Reuters)
• Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases
  • U.S. film producerHarvey Weinstein is found guilty of rape, and not guilty of predatory sexual assault.(The New York Times)
• TheUnited Kingdom bans Sonnenkrieg Division, the UK branch of the AmericanNeo-Nazi organizationAtomwaffen Division, as a terrorist group in response to theHanau shootings last week.(The Guardian)

• 2020 Dominican Republic municipal elections,Timeline of 2020 Dominican Republic Municipal Election Protests
  • TheOrganization of American States begins an audit of the suspended elections.(Dominican Today)
  • Protests inSanto Domingo continue for the fifth day.(Dominican Today)
• 2020 Malaysian constitutional crisis
  • Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad resigns.(CNN)

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• Somali Civil War (2009–present)
  • AU.S.airstrike kills an employee of the telecomsHormuud Telecom. It was aimed atAl-Shabaab inJilib,Middle Juba.(Reuters)
• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020),Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  • As fighting continues in theIdlib Governorate, theSyrian Army takes control of rebel-strongholdKafranbel for the first time since 2012, and 18 nearby villages includingSheikh Dames andSheikh Mustafa.(RFI)
  • Turkish-backed rebels recapture the village ofNayrab, west ofSaraqib, after days of heavy fighting which has left dozens dead, according to Turkish state media.(Al Jazeera)
• Turkish military intervention in the Second Libyan Civil War
  • Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan confirms the firstTurkish Armed Forces casualties inLibya since beginning a military operation in support of theGNA government after two troops are killed.(BBC News)
• North East Delhi riots
  • Violent clashes inNorth East Delhi,India, betweenHindu andMuslim protesters over theCitizenship Amendment Act continues leaving 13 people dead and at least 150 injured.(NDTV)

• Steve Hasker, formercompany president of American data firmNielsen Holdings, is appointed CEO ofThomson Reuters effective March 15.(Reuters)(The Wall Street Journal)
• Bob Iger steps down as CEO ofThe Walt Disney Company, and is succeeded byBob Chapek, former chairman ofDisney Parks, Experiences and Products. Iger will continue to serve the company's "creative endeavors" as executive chairman.(Reuters)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    • 93 more coronavirus cases are confirmed inItaly, bringing the number to 322. Four more virus-related deaths are confirmed, bringing the death toll to eleven.(Agenzia ANSA)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Austria
    • Two people fromLombardy,Italy, living inAustria's state ofTyrol, test positive for coronavirus.(The Guardian)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Croatia
    • Croatia confirms its first case of coronavirus. The patient had stayed inMilan, Italy, from 19 to 21 February, and was hospitalised inZagreb, Croatia.(The Guardian)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    • Iran's deputy health minister, Iraj Harirchi, tests positive for coronavirus.(CNA)
    • A member of theIranian Parliament,Mahmoud Sadeghi, states onTwitter that he has been infected with the virus.(New York Times via MSN News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    • Hundreds of guests are locked down in a hotel inTenerife, Spain, after a visiting Italian doctor tested positive for the virus.(BBC News)
    • The first case on the peninsula and the fourth in the country is confirmed inBarcelona,Catalonia. The wife of the Italian doctor becomes the fifth infected in Spain. A sixth case is reported inVillarreal.(La Vanguardia)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland
    • Switzerland confirms its first case of coronavirus: a case inTicino, on the border withItaly.(The Guardian)
  • Algeria confirms its first case of the coronavirus. The patient is an Italian man who arrived in the country a week ago.(Africa Times)
  • Canada's largest airlineAir Canada suspends all flights toChina until April in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.(CBC)

• China–Sweden relations
  • TheSwedish Foreign Ministry summons theChinese ambassador after the Chinese government sentences bookseller andSwedish citizenGui Minhai to ten years in prison for espionage.(Reuters)

• A man was revealed to have been arrested the previous day for attempting to blow up a car inThe Pentagon parking lot.(NBC)
• Aimee Anne Duffy, a Welsh singer who goes byDuffy, reveals she was raped, drugged and held hostage over some days resulting in her disappearance from the limelight in recent years.(The Guardian)

• German Health MinisterJens Spahn declines to run for leadership of the rulingChristian Democratic Union party, and endorsesNorth Rhine-Westphalia Minister-PresidentArmin Laschet for the position.(Reuters)
• TheSaudi government appoints formerenergy ministerKhalid A. Al-Falih to head a new investment ministry replacing theGeneral Investment Authority, and sacks themedia minister, among other changes to the cabinet.(Reuters)
• FormerLiberal Democrats leaderDavid Steel resigns from the party and announces he will leave theUK House of Lords after a report accused him of “abdicat[ing] his responsibility” when he supported the knighthood of formerparty whipCyril Smith, who is accused of child molestation.(The Guardian)

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• North East Delhi riots
  • Violent clashes betweenHindu andMuslim protesters over theCitizenship Amendment Act continue inNorth East Delhi,India, leaving 27 people dead and at least 180 injured.(NDTV)
• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–present),Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  • Turkey'sMoD says twoTurkish troops were killed in anairstrike inSyria'sIdlib Governorate.(Middle East Monitor)
  • Turkey's MoD claims 114Syrian Army troops were "neutralized" in retaliation. An air defense system, aZU-23-2AA gun, anantitank weapon, 3Tanks, an ammunition vehicle and 2engineering vehicles were destroyed while 3 tanks were captured.(Akşam)

• Bob Weighton, aged 111, ofAlton,Hampshire,England, is named theoldest living man in the world after the death of Chitetsu Watanabe ofJapan at the age of 112.(The Guardian)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    • 102 more coronavirus cases are confirmed inItaly, bringing the number to 424. Another virus-related death is confirmed, bringing the death toll in the country to 12.(Sky Tg24)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Austria
    • InJosefstadt,Vienna, students atAlbertgasse high school have been prohibited from leaving the school after one of their instructors was flagged as potentially carrying the virus since he had recently returned from a trip toNorthern Italy.(RT)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • InCalifornia,San Francisco declares a public emergency.Santa Clara andSan Diego counties have made similar declarations.(News AU)
  • The first case inLatin America is confirmed by theMinistry of Health ofBrazil inSão Paulo.(Al Jazeera)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Greece
    • Greece confirms its first case inThessaloniki.(Reuters)
  • Romania andGeorgia report their first cases.(Reuters)(Reuters)
  • A 62-year-old man inSeville becomes the first non imported infected case of coronavirus inSpain.(La Vanguardia)

• Six prisoners are shot dead byPapua New Guinea Police as they escape from prison inWestern Highlands Province. They were among 100 inmates who escaped during a mass breakout. Scores of others are captured.(RNZ)
• Germany repeals its 2015 ban on advertisements for professionalassisted suicide practices, after finding that its prohibition violated theGerman Constitution.Passive human euthanasia itself has beenlegal in the republic since 2014.(BBC News)
• Milwaukee brewery shooting
  • Six people, including the shooter, are killed in amass shooting at theMolson Coors Beverage Company inMilwaukee,Wisconsin, United States. The perpetrator, whocommitted suicide, was an employee who wasfired earlier in the day.(USA Today)(WGN-TV)
• There-election campaign ofU.S. PresidentDonald Trump files a libel suit againstThe New York Times over a 2019editorial piece that accused the Trump campaign ofstriking a deal with Russia during the2016 presidential election.(Reuters)

• 2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis
  • TheSpanish andCatalan government meets for the first time after breaking the talks one year ago in the named "Dialogue Board" as a way to solve the constitutional and political crisis between both governments that erupted in 2017.(La Vanguardia)
• Lynching in the United States
  • TheU.S. House of Representatives votes 410–4 to pass theEmmett Till Antilynching Act, which designateslynching afederal crime. This is the first time that anti-lynching legislation has ever passedCongress.(NPR)

• Astronomers at theCatalina Sky Survey inArizona,United States, say an object known as2020 CD3 has been captured byEarth's gravitational field and has been in orbit since 2017, becoming atemporarynatural satellite of Earth. TheMinor Planet Center confirms the findings and says "no link to a known artificial object has been found", implying the object is an asteroid.(New Scientist)

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• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020),Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  • Syrian opposition groups backed byTurkey recapture the strategic city ofSaraqib, lift the siege on four Turkish observation points and cut theM5 highway.(SOHR)(Xinhua)
  • ATurkishsniper kills aSyrianlieutenant colonel in Syria'sTell Abyad countryside.(SOHR)
  • ThreeTurkish soldiers are killed in Syrian Army attacks inIdlib, bringing the number of Turkish soldiers killed in Syria to 21.(The Jerusalem Post)
  • 36 Syrian Army troops and 25 Turkish-backed rebels are killed, bringing the total death toll in Idlib since December to 1,186 opposition fighters and 1,136Syrian government soldiers.(SOHR)
  • Airstrikes kill at least 33Turkish troops and injures 39 others inJabal Zawiya,Idlib Governorate.(Daily Sabah)(BBC News)
  • Turkey says it has 'neutralized' 1,709 Syrian government elements in Idlib since 10 February 2020 and that it has destroyed 55tanks, 3helicopters, 18armored vehicles, 29howitzers, 21military vehicles, 4Docka anti-aircraft guns, 6ammunition depots and 7mortars in the operations.(Anadolu Agency)
  • Turkey opens itsborder with Syria and allowsSyrian refugees free passage toEurope effective immediately for the next 72 hours.(Middle East Eye)
  • Turkish Foreign MinisterMevlüt Çavuşoğlu andNATO Secretary GeneralJens Stoltenberg hold talks amid the escalation in Idlib with Syria andRussia.(AP)
  • Twitter,Facebook andInstagram are blocked in Turkey, whileYouTube andWhatsApp are partially restricted. It is understood that the measures are intended to protect details surrounding troop and equipment deployments.(Netblocks)
• A cyber attack inAustralia forces the cancellation of wool sales across the country.(ABC AU)

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • TheDow Jones Industrial Average enterscorrection territory after plunging 700 points at opening.(USA Today)
  • Markets are on pace for their worst week since the2008 financial crisis.(Market Watch)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    • Vice President for Family AffairsMasoumeh Ebtekar is infected with the novel coronavirus.(Washington Post)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    • 236 more coronavirus cases are confirmed inItaly, bringing the number to 655. Five more virus-related deaths are confirmed, bringing the death toll in the country to seventeen. Forty-five people recovered from the disease.(La Repubblica)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • A woman is diagnosed with the coronavirus after a possible person-to-person transmission. It would be the first case of transmission in the United States with no known contacts to overseas cases.(NBC)
  • Saudi Arabia temporarily suspends entry to the kingdom for theUmrah Islamic pilgrimage and visits to alAl-Masjid an-Nabawi inMedina due to fears over the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus.(Reuters)
  • Saudi Arabia blocks all foreign pilgrims from entering the country. This block happens just before theRamadan fasting.(ABC AU)
  • Prime Minister of JapanShinzo Abe announces that all junior and high schools will be asked to close from March 2 until their upcoming spring break to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.(Reuters)
  • Estonia confirms their first case.(Al Jazeera)
  • Greece confirms its second and third cases and cancels allCarnival-related events.(Reuters)
  • The first case inSan Marino is confirmed.(Alta Rimini)
• The decision to build athird runway atHeathrow Airport is found to be unlawful by theCourt of Appeal because theBritish government did not take into account its commitments under theParis Agreement tocombat climate change.(BBC News)

• European migrant crisis
  • A senior Turkish official tellsReuters that Turkey "will no longer stop Syrian refugees from reaching Europe".(Reuters)

• Astronomers discover the largest known explosion ever in thehistory of the Universe, which occurred in theOphiuchus galaxy cluster. It replacesMS 0735.6+7421. As space and ground telescopes that study radio emissions improve (which are better than X-ray observations for detecting these), more similar explosions, or "giant radio fossils", may be found.(Phys)(CNN)(Astrophysics via arXiv at Cornell University)

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• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020)
  • Turkey calls for the establishment of ano-fly zone overSyria.(Yeni Safak)
  • NATO holds an emergency meeting after Turkey formally triggersArticle 4 of theNorth Atlantic Treaty.(Euronews)
  • TurkishMoD states that last night 329Syrian Army troops were "neutralized" and asserts that fivehelicopters, 23tanks, 10armored vehicles, 23artillery andhowitzers, five ammunition trucks, oneSA-17 and oneSA-22 air defense systems, three ammunition depots, two inventory depots and one headquarters building belonging to Syria's military were destroyed.(NTV)
  • Russia deploys twofrigates,Admiral Makarov andAdmiral Grigorovich, armed withKalibr cruise missiles to theEastern Mediterranean off the Syrian coast.(Reuters)(The Moscow Times)
  • Turkey deploysMIM-23 Hawksurface-to-air missiles to itsborder with Syria.(STAR)
  • A Turkishdrone strike kills 11 Syrian government soldiers on the M5 highway near Idlib.(SOHR)
  • Syrian attacks on Marat al-Nasan leave more Turkish soldiers wounded, some of them seriously.(SOHR)

• Roman Polanski wins threeCésar Awards, also for bestdirector, for his movieAn Officer and a Spy (French:J'accuse). Several women walk out in protest.Les Misérables wins four Césars, one of them for best film.(Reuters)(Variety)

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Global stock markets have lostUS$6 trillion in value over the last six days.(CNBC)
  • TheDow Jones Industrial Average drops 800 points at opening, continuing the worst week since thefinancial crisis of 2007–08. This week, theDow Jones Industrial Average has dropped 13% and 4,000 points.(MSNBC)(NBC News)
  • TheGeneva Motor Show is cancelled due to the Swiss ban on gatherings larger than 1000 people.(Fox News)
  • TheITB Berlin, the world's largest tourism trade fair, is cancelled after authorities imposed the restriction that each participant would have to prove they are not a risk.(ITB Berlin)
• American investment management firmElliott Management Corporation buys a significant stake inTwitter, and announces it will seek to make several changes to their management, including possibly replacing CEOJack Dorsey.(Bloomberg)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
    • 464 more coronavirus cases are confirmed inItaly, bringing the number to 888. Four more virus-related deaths are confirmed, bringing the death toll in the country to 21.(Il Sole 24 Ore)
  • Belarus,Monaco,Iceland,Azerbaijan,New Zealand,Lithuania,Mexico andNigeria confirm their first cases of coronavirus.(BNO News)
  • Cyprus closes four of itscheckpoints along the border withNorthern Cyprus for the first time since 2003 due to coronavirus concerns. The checkpoints are expected to be reopened within a week.(Reuters)

• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020),European migrant crisis
  • Nearly 300migrants includingSyrians arrived inEdirne province,Turkey, on the border withGreece in a bid to go toEurope. Another group of migrants arrived on the coast ofAyvacik inÇanakkale, western Turkey, and wanted to go to the Greek island ofLesbos by boats. Turkish officials announced that the security forces will not intervene to prevent the crossing of any migrants, including those from Syria and other countries likeAfghanistan andIran.(France 24)(Daily Sabah)

• Doping in China
  • ChineseOlympic SwimmerSun Yang is banned from swimming for eight years after being found guilty of doping by theCourt of Arbitration for Sport.(News AU)
• Immigration policy of Donald Trump
  • The9th Circuit Court of Appeals inSan Francisco temporarily block theRemain-in-Mexico policy.(Fox News)

• 2020 Guinean legislative election
  • Guinea'spresidentAlpha Condé announces a postponement of both the general election and referendum slated for March 1. A new date isn't given yet.(BBC News)
• 2019–20 Hong Kong protests
  • Hong Kong Police arrest entrepreneurJimmy Lai, owner of the newspaperApple Daily, and former lawmakersYeung Sum andLee Cheuk-yan for their involvement in anti-government protests.(SCMP)(CBC)(CNN)

• Pope Francis, in tandem withIBM andMicrosoft, calls forAI technologies that risk violating human rights, such asfacial recognition software, to be regulated.(Reuters)
• Ameteor explodes overCroatia. TheCroatian Astronomical Union say the meteor disintegrated at an altitude of at least 30 kilometers above sea level. The meteor was likely roughly 2 meters across.(Xinhuanet)(The Dubrovnik Times)(JPL)

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• War in Afghanistan (2001–2021),Afghan peace process
  • American andAfghan Taliban leaders will meet at theSheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel inDoha,Qatar, ahead of a signing ceremony to bring an end to the 18-year war inAfghanistan, which is now the longest war in U.S. history. Taliban deputy leaderSirajuddin Haqqani says "everyone is tired of war, it has exhausted everyone", while thelongest-serving NATO Commander in Afghanistan, GeneralJohn Nicholson, describes the situation as a "stalemate".(Al Jazeera)
  • The U.S. and the Taliban signa deal.(Reuters)
• Syrian civil war,Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020)
  • A Turkish soldier is killed and six more are wounded by Syrian government artillery shelling nearTaftanaz.(SOHR)
  • Turkish bombing overnight kills 48 Syrian government troops and 14 members of the LebaneseHezbollah, and also destroys 13 military vehicles. According to local sources, among the killed were 11 officers including ageneral, abrigadier general, and acolonel.(Haber 7)(SOHR)
  • Turkey says it has destroyed achemical warfare facility at a scientific research center inAs-Safira, south ofAleppo withsurface-to-surface missiles. Syrian Government said Turkish statement regarding the chemical warfare facility was not true.(SOHR)(Al-Masdar News)
  • Turkey releases footage of targeting Syrian equipment including aPantsir-S1.(The Drive)
  • Turkish media said that drone and missile strikes targeted SyrianKuweires andAbu al-Duhur military airbases inAleppo Governorate, saying ahangar was destroyed.(STAR)

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • TheUnited Arab Emirates suspends all extracurricular school activities and orders nurseries closed until further notice as measures to prevent the spreading of the virus.(Al Arabiya English)
  • An elderly woman traveling fromSpain becomes the first case of coronavirus inEcuador.(Reuters)
  • The first case ofCOVID-19 is confirmed inIreland,Qatar andLuxembourg.(RTE.ie)(Reuters)(Al Jazeera)
  • A 78-year-old man evacuated from theDiamond Princess becomes the first death from coronavirus in Australia.(The Guardian)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • The first death from coronavirus in theUnited States is confirmed after a man dies in a hospital in theSeattle area.(The New York Times)(AP News)
    • The U.S. announces new travel restrictions toIran and increased warnings against traveling toSouth Korea andItaly.(NBC News)

• Eightymigrants cross toAegean IslandsLesbos andSamos overnight after Turkey opensits border withGreece.(Hürriyet)
• Turkish PresidentRecep Erdoğan says 18,000 refugees have crossed intoEurope as of this morning and that 25,000–30,000 more may cross today. Erdoğan reiterates that Turkey cannot handle another refugee wave fromSyria and that it will keep its borders open.(TRT Haber)

• 2020 Slovak parliamentary election
  • Voters inSlovakia head to the polls to elect the members of the country'sNational Council.(DW)
• 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries,2020 South Carolina Democratic primary
  • FormerVice PresidentJoe Biden wins the South Carolina primary.(NPR)
  • BusinessmanTom Steyer suspends his presidential campaign, after coming in a distant third.(NBC News)(The New York Times)

2020 events and developments by topic