February 28, 2013 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- South Thailand insurgency:
- Israeli–Palestinian conflict:
- 2013 Rishon LeZion car bombing: At least 2 people are killed in a car bombing in Rishon LeZion near Tel Aviv, Israel. (RT)
- Syrian civil war:
- The United States announces that it will provide $60 million of food and medical aid, but not weapons, to rebel fighters. (BBC) (The Washington Post)
- 2013 Bangladesh protests:
- At least 35 people are killed across Bangladesh in violent demonstrations sparked when Islamic political leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi was sentenced to death for war crimes. (The New York Times) (BBC)
- Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
- At least 23 people are killed and 60 others injured in a series of bombings in Shiite districts of Baghdad and surrounding suburbs. (AFP via France24) (Al Jazeera)
Arts and culture
- The Cannes Film Festival board of directors announce that Steven Spielberg will head the 2013 Cannes Film Festival jury. (USA Today)
Business and economy
- Revised data indicates that the United States economy grew 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2012. (The New York Times)
- India enacts new rules designed to make it more difficult for foreign investors to use the country as a tax dodge. (Bloomberg)
- Girls Gone Wild files for bankruptcy protection citing $16 million in debts. (Reuters) (The Independent)
Disasters and accidents
- At least eight people are killed and several are missing after a restaurant boat sinks in the Tigris, in central Baghdad, Iraq. (Fox News) (BBC)
Health and environment
- A study finds common genetic links between five major psychiatric disorders: autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia. (Science World Report)
Law and crime
- The war crime convictions of Momčilo Perišić are overturned by a war crimes tribunal in The Hague. The Serbian general had been convicted and sentenced in 2011 for atrocities perpetrated both during wars in Croatia and Bosnia. (ICTY) (BBC)
- A suspect dies after South African police chained the man to the back of a van and drove off. (AP via USA Today)
- Bruce Reynolds, the mastermind of the Great Train Robbery, dies in the United Kingdom at the age of 81. (NPR)
- Ammar Harris, a suspect wanted in connection with a shooting and following car crash that killed three people and wounded five others on the Las Vegas Strip, is detained in Los Angeles, California. (BBC) (KLAS-TV)
- United States v. Manning: Bradley Manning pleads guilty to 10 counts out of 22 against him for leaking classified material in the WikiLeaks case. (BBC) (Reuters) (CBS News)
Politics and elections
- Parliament of Slovenia ousts Prime Minister Janez Janša amid corruption allegations. Opposition leader Alenka Bratušek is tasked to form a new government. (BBC)
- Haruhiko Kuroda is selected by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe to lead the Bank of Japan. (CNN)
- Voters go to the polls in the Eastleigh by-election following the resignation of former UK Cabinet Minister Chris Huhne with Liberal Democrat candidate Mike Thornton retaining the seat for his party. (BBC) (The Guardian)
- Jack Lew is sworn in as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. (Reuters)
Religion
- Pope Benedict XVI completes his last day of work before he starts his retirement. (BBC) (The Telegraph)
Science and technology
- A temporary third radiation belt is discovered around planet Earth by NASA's twin Van Allen Probes. (Space.com)
- A Duke research scientist announces that he has successfully connected the brains of two rats in such a way that they share information. (The New York Times)
Sport
- Sacramento, California mayor Kevin Johnson announces that a local investor will head a group that will seek to buy the NBA's Sacramento Kings, and a second investor will finance a new downtown arena, in an attempt to stop the team's proposed move to Seattle. (AP/ESPN)
- ESPN reports that the seven Catholic schools that have announced plans to leave the Big East Conference will do so in July 2013, and will keep the "Big East" name. Butler University and Xavier University will reportedly leave the Atlantic 10 Conference to join the new Big East, and Creighton University may leave the Missouri Valley Conference to join as well. (ESPN)