February 20, 2013 (Wednesday)
Arts and culture
- The 2013 BRIT Awards are held in London with Ben Howard winning best British male artist and British breakthrough act, Emeli Sande winning best British female act and album of the year for Our Version of Events and Mumford & Sons winning Best British group. (The Daily Telegraph)
Business and economy
- Marius Kloppers announces that he will resign as the CEO of the world's largest mining company BHP Billiton in May to be replaced by Andrew MacKenzie. (Sydney Morning Herald)
- Japan records an unprecedented trade deficit of 1.63 trillion yen ($17.4 billion USD) for January 2013. (Bloomberg) (AP via Time)[permanent dead link]
- Estonia becomes the first country in the world to install a nationwide system of fast chargers for electric vehicles. (The Guardian) (Reuters)
International relations
- David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, visits the Indian city of Amritsar to express remorse for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on 13 April 1919. (Daily Mail)
- Japanese whaling vessels clash with Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Neptune's Navy boats in the Southern Ocean with the MY Steve Irwin and MY Bob Barker sustaining damage. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Law and crime
- The jury sitting in the case of R v Huhne and Pryce fails to reach a verdict on Vicky Pryce regarding driving licence penalty points she accepted on behalf of her former husband, Chris Huhne, requiring a retrial. (BBC)
- A United States federal grand jury in Georgia indicts four employees of bankrupt Virginia-based Peanut Corporation of America for the 2009 salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and infected hundreds. The 75–count indictment describes contaminated or misbranded food by company owner Stewart Parnell, his brother and company vice president Michael Parnell, and two company managers. The charges are conspiracy, wire fraud, and obstruction of justice. This infection triggered the most extensive food recall ever in United States history. (FoxNews)
Politics and elections
- Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands Benigno Fitial resigns from office ahead of a Senate trial on 18 articles of impeachment. Lt. Governor Eloy Inos is sworn in as Governor. Senate President Jude Hofschneider takes office as the new Lieutenant Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands. (Saipan Tribune)[permanent dead link] (Radio New Zealand International)
- 2013 Bulgarian protests: Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov says he will resign with all his cabinet due to widespread protests amid a financial crisis. (BBC)
Science and technology
- Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Sergey Brin of Google and venture capitalist Yuri Milner jointly establish the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences to reward excellence in life sciences with 11 individual prizes of $3 million. (The Guardian)
- Sony announces their eighth generation console, the PlayStation 4. (BBC) (IGN)
- NASA reports the discovery of Kepler-37b, the smallest exoplanet yet known. (NASA) (Science World Report)
Sport
- AC Milan defeat FC Barcelona 2–0 in the first leg of the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League round of 16, while Galatasaray S.K. and FC Schalke 04 draw 1–1. (BBC) (The Guardian)
- Lindy Ruff, the active longest tenured coach in the National Hockey League is fired by the Buffalo Sabres after serving as the team's head coach for fifteen seasons. Ruff leaves the Sabres as the franchise's all time leader in wins and games coached. Ruff's 571 victories with the Sabres, rank second to Al Arbour's 709 with the New York Islanders. (TSN)