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Worldwide current events · Sports events

Topics in the news

Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov (pictured) is assassinated in Moscow.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission votes to reclassify Internet broadband as a utility, enforcing net neutrality rules for the service.
Avijit Roy, a secularist activist and blogger, is murdered in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
British soldier Joshua Leakey is awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in the war in Afghanistan.
A gunman kills eight people and commits suicide in the Czech town of Uherský Brod.
Birdman wins four Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, at the Academy Awards.
In stock car racing, Joey Logano wins NASCAR's Daytona 500.

Recent deaths: Leonard Nimoy

March 1, 2015 (Sunday)

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February 28, 2015 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- A series of car bombs kill 19 people in Balad Ruz, east-central Iraq. (AP via News 24)

International relations

Lithuania–United States relations:
- Lithuania signs a trade agreement to buy liquified natural gas from the United States in a move aimed at reducing the EU Baltic state's heavy dependence on Russian gas deliveries. (Reuters)

Law and crime

The municipal intermediate people’s court for the eastern city of Dongying convicts Ni Fake, former Vice-Governor of Anhui province in China, on charges of bribery and "amassing wealth of unclear origin", and sentences him to seventeen years in prison. (The Guardian)

February 27, 2015 (Friday)

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Arts and culture

American actor Leonard Nimoy, best known for his role as Spock from the Star Trek franchise, dies at the age of 83 from complications of COPD. (MSN.com)

Law and crime

Avijit Roy, an American writer and blogger from Bangladesh, is hacked to death by unknown attackers in Dhaka. (The Telegraph)
A gunman kills eight people then himself in a series of shootings in Tyrone, Missouri. (NBC News)
In Moscow, an unidentified attacker assassinates leading Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, the former Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation and current member of regional parliament of Yaroslavl Oblast. (euronews) (BBC)
An elderly man shoots and kills three people and then himself in the South Korean city of Hwaseong. (Yonhap News) (The Korea Herald) (Los Angeles Times)
Mexican security forces arrest drug lord Servando Gómez Martínez in Morelia, Michoacán. (AP)

February 26, 2015 (Thursday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan
- A Taliban suicide bomb attack on a Turkish government vehicle in Kabul kills at least one person. (BBC), (NBC News)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- "Jihadi John", an ISIL terrorist featured in many beheading videos, is identified as Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born man who lived in the United Kingdom and was on a terrorism watch list. (The Washington Post), (The New York Times), (CBS News)
- ISIS posts a video showing the destruction of Mosul Museum, the second largest in Iraq and rich in artifacts from thousands of years of Iraqi history. (National Post)

Art and Culture

Internet phenomenon The Dress, which is a photograph of a dress that can be viewed as two different colors, goes viral worldwide.

International relations

French actress Marion Cotillard, actress Mélanie Laurent, and French President François Hollande begin their two-day state visit to the Philippines, where they are to discuss climate change. (GMA News)

Law and crime

Norwegian police raid the offices of the Catholic Church’s diocese in Oslo, charging the church administration with serious fraud under the suspicion of wrongfully claiming as much as NOK 50 million in state support by presenting fraudulent membership statistics. (NewsInEnglish.no)
The Guardian publishes articles alleging that the Chicago Police Department have been running a black site at Homan Square for detained Americans; former justice officials call for investigation. The CPD denies the allegations. (The Guardian) (The Guardian) (Chicago Sun-Times)
A United Nations report claims that a North Korean shipping company has been renaming and reflagging its vessels to avoid an arms embargo. (BBC)
Effective midnight, Washington, D.C. joins Alaska, Colorado, and Washington state as the only places in the United States that locally purport to override federal law and allow the use of marijuana for recreational purposes. (Huffington Post)

Politics and elections

The US Federal Communications Commission votes to classify internet service providers as public utilities, creating net neutrality rules. The FCC also votes to preempt state laws in North Carolina and Tennessee that effectively prevent municipal broadband providers from expanding outside their existing service areas. (AP)

February 25, 2015 (Wednesday)

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Arts and culture

2015 Brit Awards
- American entertainer Madonna falls off stage while performing "Living for Love" at the 2015 Brit Awards. (PA via WA Today)
- Mark Ronson wins Best British single for "Uptown Funk" featuring American singer Bruno Mars. (The Guardian)
- Ed Sheeran wins Best British album for x. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

At least 187 people are killed in avalanches in northeastern Afghanistan (BBC News)

Health

The Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), were so concerned about a study released today in The New England Journal of Medicine, that they are launching another new study about why so many people are becoming infected by or exposed to the potentially deadly Clostridium difficile ("C. diff.") bacterium after going to the doctor's or dentist's office. (CNN) (CDC) (NEJM)

Law and crime

An arrest warrant is issued for Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, after she fails to show up to face graft charges. (BD News)
Film director Roman Polanski testifies at a closed to the media court hearing in Kraków, Poland, regarding a US request for his extradition over a 1977 child sex crime conviction. The hearing is later postponed until April. (The Guardian) (CNN)
Morgan Stanley agrees to pay $2.6 billion to settle with the United States Department of Justice over its sale of residential mortgage backed securities. (Bloomberg)
The Austrian Parliament passes a bill, partly aimed at tackling Islamist radicalism, that gives Muslims more legal security but bans foreign funding for mosques and imams. (BBC)
A United States district court judge orders documents turned over to hedge fund NML Capital with regard to the flow of funds in a February 9 issuance of Argentina dollar denominated sovereign bonds. (Reuters)

International relations

The Argentine National Congress approves installation of a Chinese satellite tracking station in Patagonia. (AP)

Politics and elections

Faure Gnassingbé, the President of Togo, announces his candidacy for the forthcoming election in April. (AFP via Yahoo! News)

February 24, 2015 (Tuesday)

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Armed conflict and attacks

Military intervention against ISIL
- John Key, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, announces plans to deploy up to 143 New Zealand Defence Force personnel to Iraq on a training mission to last no more than two years. (New Zealand Herald)
- A wave of bombings in Baghdad kills at least 37 people. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that ISIL kidnapped at least 150 people from Assyrian Christian villages in Syria in a series of February 23 raids. (Reuters)
The Congolese Army launches an offensive against FDLR rebels in South Kivu. (AP via ABC News)
War in Donbass
- Up to 75 British Armed Forces personnel will be sent as military advisors to the Ukrainian Army. (PA via Wandwsorth Guardian)
Boko Haram
- Chadian soldiers kill over 200 Boko Haram fighters in a clash near the town of Garambu, close to Nigeria's border with Cameroon. One Chad Army soldier is killed and nine wounded. (Reuters)
- Suicide bombers target two crowded bus stations in Potiskum and Kano in northern Nigeria, killing at least 27 people in nearly daily violence in the embattled region. There is no claim of responsibility for either blast, but both bore the hallmarks of militant group Boko Haram. (Voice of America)

Business and economy

Greece submits a list of eleven reforms it will proceed with to secure a loan extension. (BBC)
Barack Obama, the President of the United States, vetoes a bill approving the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline between Canadian oil sands and refineries on the Gulf of Mexico. (Los Angeles Times)

Disasters and accidents

2015 Oxnard train derailment
- A Metrolink train derails in Oxnard, California, following a collision with a truck, leaves more than 30 injured with four in critical condition. (Los Angeles Times) (MSN), (Los Angeles Times)

International relations

Dr Rajendra Pachauri resigns as head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change due to involvement in a sexting scandal. (The Times via The Australian)

Law and crime

The President of Indonesia Joko Widodo says the execution of 11 convicts from overseas, most on drug charges, will not be delayed. A court has rejected the appeals of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, two Australians on death row. (Reuters), (Voice of America)
Former Prime Minister of Egypt Ahmed Nazif and former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly are cleared of graft charges in a retrial. (Al-Jazeera)
A Czech gunman opens fire at a restaurant in Uherský Brod, killing at least eight people. (AP)
The British Parliament's House of Lords gives final approval to a bill that earlier in February had been approved in the House of Commons, refusing to block the plan by a majority of 232, that would allow, through a modified form of in vitro fertilization (IVF), the creation of three-person babies, to treat certain mitochondrial disorders (mitochondria are parts of cells that convert nutrients into useful cellular energy to fuel vital processes), by using a very small segment of mitochondrial DNA from another woman to replace the mother's defective DNA; the U.K. is the first to authorize the still ethically controversial procedure. (MSN)
Eddie Ray Routh is found guilty of the 2013 murder of United States Navy SEALs' sniper Chris Kyle and Kyle's friend Chad Littlefield in Texas. Routh is automatically sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. (BBC), (AP)

Politics and elections

Chicago aldermanic elections, 2015
- Voters in the American city of Chicago, Illinois, go to the polls to elect a Mayor and 50 aldermen. In the mayoral election, there will be a runoff between incumbent Rahm Emanuel and Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia. (Chicago Tribune), (AP)
Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)
- Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi withdraws his resignation as President of Yemen after escaping from the custody of the Houthis. (Al-Arabiyah)
Former U.K. Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind steps down as chair of a parliamentary intelligence committee and said he won’t run for re-election as a Conservative member of parliament after becoming embroiled in an embarrassing cash-for-access sting. (Guardian)
U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald admits that he lied when he claimed that he served in the U.S. Army Special Forces. (AP)

Sports

In rugby league, the Australian-based National Rugby League takes over control of the Gold Coast Titans following five current players being charged with supplying cocaine. (ABC News Australia)

February 23, 2015 (Monday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Donbass
- The Ukrainian Army says it cannot withdraw its heavy weapons from the front, as it is still under attack from rebel forces despite the ceasefire. (Reuters)
- The President of Russia Vladimir Putin says a war with Ukraine is unlikely but refuses to hold more meetings with France, Germany and Ukraine over the ceasefire. (Daily Mail)
Second Libyan Civil War (2014–present)
- The internationally recognized Tobruk-based Parliament of Libya suspends participation in United Nations brokered talks. (AFP via Daily Mail)

Disasters and accidents

The death toll from the weekend ferry disaster in Bangladesh rises to 70. (AP)

Law and crime

Entertainer Rolf Harris is stripped of his Order of Australia honours following recent convictions in the United Kingdom for indecent assault. (ABC News Australia)
Egyptian political activist Alaa Abdel Fatah is sentenced to five years in jail for violating a rule against organising political protests without permission. (Al-Arabiyah)
The High Court of Kenya throws out key aspects of an anti-terrorism law following a legal challenge from the Opposition. (BBC)
Two young Thai playwrights, Patiwat Saraiyaem and Porntip Mankong, are sentenced to two years in prison for alleged lese majeste for a play set in a fictional kingdom. (AFP via Google News)

More February 2015 events...

Ongoing events
Economic Eurozone crisis Financial crisis in Russia Health Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa Political Syrian and Iraqi civil wars Military intervention against ISIL War in Afghanistan Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger More details on ongoing conflicts below edit sidebar

Recent deaths
February 2015 28: Yasar Kemal 27: Boris Nemtsov 27: Leonard Nimoy 25: Eugenie Clark 25: Terry Gill 24: Rakhat Aliyev 24: Gérard Ducarouge 24: Donald Keough 24: Dori J. Maynard 23: Mirjana Puhar 23: Rana Bhagwandas 23: John Rowlands 23: R. C. Sakthi 22: Carmine Schiavone 21: Robert O. Marshall 21: Bruce Sinofsky 21: Sadeq Tabatabaei 21: Clark Terry 21: Daniel Topolski 20: Frank Prendergast 20: Henry Segerstrom 20: John C. Willke 19: Harold Johnson 19: Yutaka Katayama 19: Harris Wittels 18: Cass Ballenger 18: Mele Carroll 18: Claude Criquielion 18: Jerome Kersey 17: Richard Alan Enslen 17: George Mackie, Baron Mackie of Benshie 16: Lesley Gore 16: Uri Orbach 16: Lorena Rojas 16: Evan Walker 15: Arnaud de Borchgrave 15: Barbara Darling 15: Wendell Kim 15: Steve Montador 14: Michele Ferrero 14: Alan Howard 14: Louis Jourdan 14: Philip Levine 14: Finn Nørgaard 13: John McCabe 13: Nguyễn Bá Thanh 12: Sam Andrew 12: Faith Bandler 12: David Carr 12: Movita Castaneda 12: John Piña Craven 12: Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat 12: Gary Owens 12: Ernest J. Sternglass 12: Steve Strange 11: Ray Hathaway 11: Anthony Low 11: Michael Raupach 11: Bob Simon 11: Jerry Tarkanian 10: Deng Liqun 10: Bill Enyart 10: Dane A. Miller 9: Jon Jerde 9: Marvin David Levy 9: Ed Sabol 8: Kenji Ekuan 8: Mario Vázquez Raña 8: Andrew Rosenfeld 7: Billy Casper 7: Robert Gavron, Baron Gavron 7: Joe B. Mauldin 7: Dean Smith 7: John C. Whitehead 6: André Brink 6: Assia Djebar 6: Kayla Mueller 6: Alan Nunnelee 5: K. N. Choksy 5: Henri Coppens 5: Stay Gold 5: Anne Moody 4: Ziad Khalaf Raja al-Karbouly 4: Sajida al-Rishawi 4: Norman Yemm 3: Frank Borghi 3: Koos Van Den Akker 3: Christophe Gbenye 3: Martin Gilbert 3: Mary Healy 3: Hay List 3: Charlie Sifford 2: Dave Bergman 2: The Jacka 2: Stewart Stern 1: Aldo Ciccolini 1: Udo Lattek 1: Ann Mara 1: Molade Okoya-Thomas 1: Monty Oum edit sidebar

Ongoing conflicts
Africa Algeria, Tunisia and Niger Maghreb insurgency Central African Republic Civil war Democratic Republic of Congo Kivu conflict ADF insurgency Katanga insurgency Ituri conflict Lord's Resistance Army insurgency Eritrea and Ethiopia Second Afar insurgency Ethiopia Ogaden insurgency OLF insurgency Libya Civil war Mali Northern Mali conflict Nigeria and Cameroon Boko Haram Conflict in the Niger Delta Somalia Civil war South Sudan South Sudanese Civil War Sudan War in Darfur South Kordofan conflict Sudanese nomadic conflicts Americas Colombian conflict Internal conflict in Peru Mexican War on Drugs Asia Afghanistan War Taliban insurgency China Xinjiang conflict India Naxalite–Maoist insurgency Insurgency in Northeast India India and Pakistan Kashmir conflict Pakistan War in North-West Pakistan Balochistan conflict Philippines Communist insurgency Moro insurgency Southeast Asia Internal conflict in Burma Papua conflict South Thailand insurgency Europe Georgia Abkhaz–Georgian conflict Georgian–Ossetian conflict Chechen-Russian conflict North Caucasus insurgency War in Ingushetia Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Ukraine War in Donbass Russian military intervention in Ukraine Middle East Arab–Israeli conflict Gaza–Israel conflict Israeli–Lebanese conflict Israeli–Palestinian conflict Egypt Sinai insurgency Iran Iran–PJAK conflict Iraqi civil war American-led intervention in Iraq Iranian intervention in Iraq Syrian Civil War American-led intervention in Syria Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon Turkey Turkey-PKK conflict Yemeni crisis Houthi rebellion Al-Qaeda insurgency South Yemen insurgency edit sidebar

Elections
Recent: January–February 25: Comoros, Assembly of the Union (1st round) 25: Greece, Parliament 28: Lebanon, President (18th round) 29–31: Italy, President (1st–4th rounds) 7: Slovakia, Referendum 16: Saint Kitts and Nevis, National Assembly 18: Greece, President (1st round) 18: Lebanon, President (19th round) 22: Comoros, Assembly of the Union (2nd round) Upcoming: February–March 28: Lesotho, National Assembly 1: Andorra, General Council 1: El Salvador, Legislative Assembly 1: Estonia, Parliament 1: Tajikistan, Assembly of Representatives 3: Micronesia, Congress 8: Switzerland, Referendum 11: Lebanon, President (20th round) 17: Israel, Knesset edit sidebar

Trials
Recently concluded Australia: Brett Peter Cowan, Craig Thomson, Robert Hughes Brazil: Mensalão scandal Canada: Michael Thomas Rafferty, Luka Magnotta China: Liu Tienan, Li Daqiu, Bo Xilai Croatia: Ivo Sanader Egypt: Hosni Mubarak, Peter Greste Germany: Bernie Ecclestone, Uli Hoeness, Christian Wulff, Breno Borges Iran: Mohammad Reza Rahimi Israel: Hussam Qawasmeh Italy: Silvio Berlusconi Jordan: Abu Qatada Malaysia: Anwar Ibrahim Russia: Leonid Khabarov, Vladimir Kvachkov, Pussy Riot South Africa: Shrien Dewani, Oscar Pistorius, Chris Mahlangu Turkey: Kenan Evren, Tahsin Şahinkaya United Kingdom: Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, Ali Dizaei, Antoni Imiela, Brian Regan, Donna Air, Ched Evans, Clayton McDonald, Titus Bramble, Dan Penteado, John Terry, Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed, Asil Nadir, Justin Lee Collins, Kweku Adoboli, Tony McCluskie, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, Chris Huhne, Nicola Edgington, Vicky Pryce, Derek Rose, Mick Philpott, Mairead Philpott, Paul Mosley, Kevin Liverpool, Junior Bradshaw, Aggro Santos, Stuart Hazell, Mark Bridger, Andrew Lancel, Dale Cregan, Ray Wilkins, Michael Le Vell, Liam Adams, R v Grillo and Grillo, Ian Watkins, William Roache, Dave Lee Travis, Nicholas Jacobs, Nigel Evans, Max Clifford, Stuart Hall, Dappy, Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson, Rolf Harris, Tulisa Contostavlos, Chris Denning, Ray Teret, Gary Glitter, Fred Talbot United States: Abu Hamza al-Masri, Michael Grimm, Bob McDonnell, Vilma Bautista, George Huguely, Allen Stanford, Roger Clemens, Jerry Sandusky, Jared Lee Loughner, Lauryn Hill, Kermit Gosnell, George Zimmerman, Chelsea Manning, Ariel Castro, Whitey Bulger, Robert Bales, Nidal Malik Hasan, Crystal Mangum International ECCC: Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan ICC: Germain Katanga, Thomas Lubanga ICTY: Momčilo Perišić, Mladen Markač, Ante Gotovina SCFSL: Charles Taylor Ongoing China: Ji Jianye, Ni Fake Egypt: Mohamed Morsi France: Dominique Strauss-Kahn Germany: Beate Zschäpe Iran: Babak Zanjani Philippines: Andal Ampatuan, Jr., Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Janet Lim-Napoles, Jovito Palparan, Joseph Scott Pemberton Russia: Alexei Navalny South Korea: MV Sewol crew members United Kingdom: Eddy Shah, Koo Stark United States: Jodi Arias International ICTY: Radovan Karadžić, Ratko Mladic Upcoming Libya: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Spain: Lionel Messi United Kingdom: Dane Bowers, Andy Coulson United States: Paul Anthony Ciancia, Javaris Crittenton, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Dylan Quick, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, James Eagan Holmes, Aaron Hernandez, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Anas al-Libi, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Rick Perry International ICC: Laurent Gbagbo edit sidebar

Events by month

2014: January; February; March; April; May; June; July; August; September; October; November; December

2013: January; February; March; April; May; June; July; August; September; October; November; December

2012: January; February; March; April; May; June; July; August; September; October; November; December

2011: January; February; March; April; May; June; July; August; September; October; November; December

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