March 4, 2014 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attack
- 2014 Crimean crisis:
- Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a press conference, saying that “force isn’t needed right now” after deploying roughly 16,000 troops to Crimea. (Reuters)
- Swedish foreign secretary Carl Bildt compares the ousted Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych to Norwegian traitor Vidkun Quisling after Yanukovych asked Russia to intervene to restore "law and order" in the country. (Dagens Næringsliv)[permanent dead link]
- Russia's UN ambassador says to the UN Security Council that Ukraine's fugitive former President Viktor Yanukovych requested Russian soldiers in the strategic Crimea region "to establish legitimacy, peace, law and order," contradicting the president's own comments last week. (Times of India)
- Vladimir Putin orders troops near the Ukraine border to return to their bases with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling the military exercises a "success". (Telegraph)
- Islamist unrest in Egypt (2013–present):
- An Egyptian court bans the Palestinian group Hamas and orders its offices in the country to be shut down and all dealings with the group suspended. The court also brands it as a terrorist organization. (DW) (International Business Times)
Business and economy
- A New York gold and gold futures trader files a lawsuit against the international banks involved in the twice-daily teleconferences that set the price of that metal. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- Smog caused by haze from forest fires on Indonesia's Sumatra island leaves 30,000 people ill. (AFP via News Limited)
- Italy releases 2m euros to save the ancient city of Pompeii after flooding causes walls to collapse. (BBC News)
Law and crime
- A New Jersey judge has ruled that the parents of their 18-year-old daughter do not have to pay for her college education after the teen filed a lawsuit against them seeking support and alleging abuse. (CBS)