The proposal to mandate quotas is rejected, the proposal to criminalize discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation passes. (BBC News)
The United Launch Alliance successfully launches the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter (SolO) satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The probe will study the Sun, and in particular its inner heliosphere. (BBC News)
Thousands of homes and businesses have been flooded across northern England after Storm Ciara brought sustained heavy rainfall to the region. Worst affected were the Calder Valley settlements of Todmorden, Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd in Yorkshire. (BBC News)
Winds gusting up to 100 miles per hour have been recorded over much of the United Kingdom and Ireland, causing widespread damage and disruption. (BBC News)
The president of Germany's CDU party, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, announces that she will resign as the party's president and not be a candidate for the federal chancellorship in the next election. (Der Spiegel) (The Guardian)
Turkey says Syrian shelling killed five of its troops at an observation post at Taftanaz Military Airbase in Idlib Governorate. The Turkish government says it "retaliated against the attack to destroy all enemy targets and avenging our fallen troops". (AP News) (BBC News)
Auno attack Boko Haram militants kill at least 30 people, burning them to death while they were sleeping in their vehicles in Borno State, Nigeria. Women and children are kidnapped. (BBC News)
Chinese cyberwarfare A federal grand jury in the United States charges four members of China’s People's Liberation Army with the 2017 Equifax hack. (CNN)
COVID-19 pandemic Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World 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 in Beijing, and urges "more decisive measures" to combat the virus. (BBC News)
Mohiussunnath Chowdhury is convicted of planning terrorist attacks in London. (BBC News)
Russian and Syrian Air Force warplanes carry out airstrikes on civilian settlements in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, killing at least 17 to 25 civilians including six children. (AA) (MSN) (DW)
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, warns that overseas cases of the virus could be the "tip of the iceberg". (Yahoo! News)
A car bomb kills four people and injures 15 others in the Turkish-occupied city Afrin, in Aleppo Governorate. (France 24)
A court in Israel sentences Sheikh Raed Salah to 28 months in prison for "inciting to terror". (Al Jazeera)
Boko Haram militants kill at least 30 people, burning them to death while they were sleeping in their vehicles in Borno State, Nigeria. Women and children are kidnapped. (BBC News)
Climate change mitigation, Individual and political action on climate change Dozens of climate activists surround the offices of American investment management company BlackRock in central Paris and vandalize the building, demanding they disinvest from the fossil fuel industry. (Reuters)
COVID-19 pandemic in Mainland China In a rare public appearance and wearing a mask, Xi Jinping visits a hospital in Beijing, and urges "more decisive measures" to combat the virus. (BBC News)
Dozens of climate activists surround the offices of American investment management company BlackRock in central Paris and vandalize the building, demanding they disinvest from the fossil fuel industry. (Reuters)
In a rare public appearance and wearing a mask, Xi Jinping visits a hospital in Beijing, and urges "more decisive measures" to combat the virus. (BBC News)
2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2020 New Hampshire Democratic primary Registered Democrats and independents in the U.S. state of New Hampshire vote in the first official Democratic presidential primary of the election year. It comes after the controversial Iowa caucuses that occurred a week earlier. (CBS News) Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders narrowly defeats former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg to win the primary. (Vox) Entrepreneur Andrew Yang suspends his presidential campaign. (PBS) Colorado Senator Michael Bennet suspends his presidential campaign. (NBC News)
Colorado Senator Michael Bennet suspends his presidential campaign. (NBC News)
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang suspends his presidential campaign. (PBS)
Siba, a standard Poodle, wins Best in Show Award. (Fox News) (ESPN) (The Guardian)
Syrian civil war, Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020) The Syrian Army and allied militia groups secure the entire length of the strategic M5 Motorway, connecting Damascus and Aleppo, for the first time since 2012. (Reuters) A Syrian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter is shot down by Turkish-backed rebel forces near the village of Nayrab in Idlib Governorate, killing both pilots. (Haaretz)
Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show Siba, a standard Poodle, wins Best in Show Award. (Fox News) (ESPN) (The Guardian)
2019–20 Lebanese protests Lebanese protesters attempt to block a confidence vote, and 400 people are injured. The Lebanese Cabinet wins the vote. (MSN) (NBC)
A boat carrying Rohingya refugees capsizes in the Bay of Bengal while trying to reach Malaysia. Fifteen are confirmed dead and dozens are missing, a Bangladesh Coast Guard official says. (Reuters)
A suicide bombing in Afghanistan's capital Kabul kills six people and injures twelve others. (The Guardian)
A Syrian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter is shot down by Turkish-backed rebel forces near the village of Nayrab in Idlib Governorate, killing both pilots. (Haaretz)
Aftermath of the Sudanese Revolution Sudan's ruling military council agrees to hand over ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity in Darfur. (The Guardian)
COVID-19 pandemic COVID-19 pandemic in Mainland China The death toll of the coronavirus pandemic in China surpasses 1,000. Hubei province reported 103 deaths in a single day, the highest single-day toll of the pandemic. (DW)
COVID-19 pandemic in Mainland China The death toll of the coronavirus pandemic in China surpasses 1,000. Hubei province reported 103 deaths in a single day, the highest single-day toll of the pandemic. (DW)
February 2020 Kabul bombing A suicide bombing in Afghanistan's capital Kabul kills six people and injures twelve others. (The Guardian)
Lebanese protesters attempt to block a confidence vote, and 400 people are injured. The Lebanese Cabinet wins the vote. (MSN) (NBC)
Love v Commonwealth The High Court of Australia finds that Aboriginal Australian people are not "aliens" under the Australian Constitution, even if they were not born in Australia and do not have Australian citizenship, and they cannot be deported. (ABC News) (SBS News)
Softbank, the Japanese venture capital giant, announced fourth quarter results. They were dismal, due especially to Softbank's losses on its Vision Fund. (Reuters)
Storm Ciara kills six people in Europe. (MSN)
Sudan's ruling military council agrees to hand over ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity in Darfur. (The Guardian)
The death toll of the coronavirus pandemic in China surpasses 1,000. Hubei province reported 103 deaths in a single day, the highest single-day toll of the pandemic. (DW)
The High Court of Australia finds that Aboriginal Australian people are not "aliens" under the Australian Constitution, even if they were not born in Australia and do not have Australian citizenship, and they cannot be deported. (ABC News) (SBS News)
The Syrian Army and allied militia groups secure the entire length of the strategic M5 Motorway, connecting Damascus and Aleppo, for the first time since 2012. (Reuters)
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson approves the High Speed 2 railway project, after many delays and the project going billions of pounds overbudget. (The Guardian)
Venezuela makes its civilian militia a new branch of the armed forces. (Reuters)
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders narrowly defeats former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg to win the primary. (Vox)
Syrian Civil War United States Armed Forces open fire and kill a Syrian after a group of government supporters attempted to block a U.S. convoy in protest at a checkpoint near Qamishli, Al-Hasakah Governorate. (MSN) (BBC News)
COVID-19 pandemic in Oceania Tonga refuses entry to four cruise ships due to health warnings following the pandemic. (RNZ)
Former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick suspends his presidential campaign. (ABC News)
Tonga refuses entry to four cruise ships due to health warnings following the pandemic. (RNZ)
Brazilian scientists announce the discovery of a new amoebic "Yaravirus" in Lake 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)
Lesotho begins a murder investigation of First Lady Maesiah Thabane for the murder of former first lady Lipolelo Thabane and ex-wife of Prime Minister Tom Thabane. (CNN)
MS Westerdam, with more than two thousand people on board, is finally granted permission to disembark in Cambodia after several countries deny it permission. (USA Today)
Nissan begins a US$90 million lawsuit against its former chairman Carlos Ghosn. (The Guardian)
Pope Francis rules against ordaining married men as priests, a possible measure to counter the shortage of Catholic priests. He also ruled against allowing women to be ordained as deacons. (BBC News)
The GSM Association decides to cancel this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, amid coronavirus concerns. The event would have been held between February 24 and 27. This is the first time that the mobile communications trade show has been cancelled. (CNBC)
The Italian Senate allows former Minister of the Interior and current senator Matteo Salvini to be tried in a criminal case for illegally detaining migrants last summer. (BBC News)
The Ministry of Culture of Colombia designates the Spanish galleon San José as an asset of cultural interest, thus protecting it from commercial exploitation. (RCN)
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights publishes a list of 112 companies linked to activities related to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. (BBC News) (Al Jazeera)
Trial of Maesiah Thabane Lesotho begins a murder investigation of First Lady Maesiah Thabane for the murder of former first lady Lipolelo Thabane and ex-wife of Prime Minister Tom Thabane. (CNN)
WhatsApp hits two billion users, becoming the second largest social media platform in terms of userbase behind Facebook. (Reuters)
Around two dozen heavily armed men dressed in military fatigues storm a court building in El Progreso, north-western Honduras, freeing Alexander Mendoza, a senior leader of the MS-13 gang and killing four police officers. Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández offers a $80,000 reward for information leading to Mendoza's recapture. (BBC News)
As part of government efforts to remove the country from a list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, Sudan agrees to compensate the families of sailors killed in an al-Qaeda attack against the USS Cole. (Reuters)
45th César Awards The entire board of France's César Awards resigns following controversy over the Academy giving Roman Polanski's An Officer and a Spy 12 award nominations, the most out of any film this year. (BBC News)
Iran–Israel conflict during the Syrian Civil War The Israeli Air Force launches an air raid on Iranian targets in the Syrian capital Damascus. Syrian state media says the Air Defense Force intercepted several missiles. (The Jerusalem Post)
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Julian Smith, Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom and Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers all leave the government. (BBC News)
The entire board of France's César Awards resigns following controversy over the Academy giving Roman Polanski's An Officer and a Spy 12 award nominations, the most out of any film this year. (BBC News)
The Indonesian government declares that all nationals who join ISIL automatically lose their citizenship, and refuses to repatriate fighters captured in Syria. (The Jakarta Post)
United States–Venezuela relations Venezuelan Foreign Affairs minister Jorge Arreaza announces that his government, led by Nicolás Maduro, will take the U.S. to the International Criminal Court for alleged "crimes against humanity". (Washington Post)
Venezuelan Foreign Affairs minister Jorge Arreaza announces that his government, led by Nicolás Maduro, will take the U.S. to the International Criminal Court for alleged "crimes against humanity". (Washington Post)
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says that the U.S. and the Taliban have negotiated a proposal for a seven-day reduction of violence in Afghanistan. (Reuters)
Amid a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Sajid Javid resigns as the United Kingdom's Chancellor of the Exchequer after reportedly refusing to sack his adviser team. Javid is replaced by Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak, who becomes the first Hindu to hold the senior position. (Sky News) (The Yorkshire Post)
Canadian airplane manufacturer Bombardier sells its remaining stake in the A220 model, previously called the C-Series, to France's Airbus, effectively closing its commercial aviation line of business. (CBC)
Cannabis in the United Kingdom The Food Standards Agency gives producers of Cannabidiol-related products until March 2021 to register their goods, or they will be pulled from the market. (BBC News)
Chinese officials report 15,152 new confirmed cases of the 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease (COVID-19) and 254 new deaths in mainland China, the largest single day increase since the pandemic began. However, the number of confirmed cases now also includes the number of clinically diagnosed patients in Hubei province. (CNBC)
COVID-19 pandemic COVID-19 pandemic in Mainland China Chinese officials report 15,152 new confirmed cases of the 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease (COVID-19) and 254 new deaths in mainland China, the largest single day increase since the pandemic began. However, the number of confirmed cases now also includes the number of clinically diagnosed patients in Hubei province. (CNBC) COVID-19 pandemic in Japan Japan's Ministry 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)
COVID-19 pandemic in Japan Japan's Ministry 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)
