February 28, 2006 (Tuesday)
- Al Askari Mosque bombing:
- Sixty-eight people have been killed so far today in Baghdad, Iraq. Car bombs and mortar barrages rocked Baghdad streets, as news pundits speculate about the possibility of Iraq becoming embroiled in a full-fledged civil war. (MSNBC)
- Baghdad's primary morgue says that the death toll resulting from violence after the Al Askari Mosque bombing has surpassed 1,300, contrary to earlier information from most news media and the United States military. (Washington Post)
- The High Court of England and Wales grants the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, an order that delays a four-week suspension from his post ordered by an administrative tribunal last week. (Reuters)
- For the first time in Europe, a domesticated cat is found infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus. The dead cat was found on the island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. (AP), (Handelsblatt), (Reuters AlertNet)
- Congolese government forces and United Nations peacekeepers (part of the MONUC mission) engage militia fighters in the wartorn Ituri district in a battle to retake the town of Tchei. The operation is in conjunction with a more aggressive disarmament policy by the U.N. peacekeepers in the region. (CNN)