February 21, 2020 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), Afghan peace process
- A seven-day "reduction of violence" between United States troops, Afghan troops, and the Taliban is due to start at midnight local time (19:30 UTC). If the partial truce is successful, a US–Taliban agreement on withdrawing American troops would be signed on February 29. (NBC News)
- Kashmir conflict
- India and Pakistan have engaged in a military confrontation across the de facto border in Kashmir; Indian and Pakistani forces exchanged fire near the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara district, Jammu and Kashmir. One Pakistani soldier died in the exchange of fire. (Hindustan Times)
- A 64-year-old woman was killed after being attacked by a man with a hammer in Toronto, Canada. The victim was chosen at random. The attacker left a note on the victim's body, expressing support for terrorism. He was arrested and charged with terrorism offences. (Canada.com)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
- Italy confirms 18 more coronavirus cases in the country, bringing the confirmed cases to twenty-one. All eighteen are Italian citizens. (Corriere della Sera)
- COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Italy
- Eleven municipalities of the province of Lodi are put on lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic, leaving around 50,000 people affected. (Metro)
- Israel and Lebanon report their first cases of 2019-nCoV coronavirus. (Al Jazeera)
- North Korea cancels this year's Pyongyang Marathon due to concerns about coronavirus. (Al Jazeera)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
Law and crime
- Prime Minister of Lesotho Tom Thabane fails to appear in court for the murder of his former wife, and his son says he has traveled to South Africa to see a doctor. Police warn that if he does not return, they will issue an arrest warrant. (Reuters) (Independent Online)
- The Constitutional Court of Thailand orders the Future Forward Party to be dissolved. (ABC News)
- Mexico extradites Rubén Oseguera González, the son of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, to the United States to face drug charges. Cervantes is the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. (ABC News)
- Wells Fargo is set to pay $3 billion over their 2016 scandal of creating fake accounts in customers' names. (NBC News)
Politics and elections
- 2020 Dominican Republic municipal elections
- The major opposition party PRM asked for protection for its presidential security chief. (Dominican Today)
- The Protest in Black continues into the fourth day. (Dominican Today)
- Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez Sánchez launches a plan to sequester the Justice Ministry for partisan purposes. (Dominican Today)
- 2020 Iranian legislative election
- Parliamentary elections are being held in Iran. The election is criticized for the barring of around 9,000 candidates, thus raising the concerns of an unusual low voter turnout. (DW) (The Guardian)