NB
- Dates are Greenwich
Mean Time - actual events may therefore have taken place local times
the day before or after those given
January
February
21st
* * * Greece avoids a "nightmare scenario" by agreeing to
an EU bailout * * *
Syria steps up Homs bombardment * * * Iran says pre-emptive strike
on 'enemies' possible
20th
*
* * Iran to hold military drills 'to protect nuclear sites' * * *
Nigeria forces 'kill Islamist Boko Haram militants' * * * Price of
oil reaches its highest level since June last year due to rising tensions
over Iran's nuclear programme
19th
*
* * Iran
'halts oil sales to France and Britain' * * * Iraq gun and bomb attacks
hit Baghdad and Baquba * * * The UN says the number of Malian refugees
fleeing to neighbouring countries to escape fighting between Tuareg
rebels and the military has doubled over the past 10 days.
18th
*
* * Iran 'may boost nuclear output' * * * Syria 'disintegrating under
crippling sanctions' * * * Iranian warships have entered the Mediterranean
Sea for only the second time since the 1979 revolution
17th
*
* * German president quits in scandal * * * Robbery at Ancient Olympia
museum * * * Italian prosecutors break up an organised crime ring
that was hiding trillions of dollars of fake US bonds * * * UK signs
a deal with France to strengthen co-operation in the development of
civil nuclear energy
16th
*
* * Resolution condemning human rights violations in Syria and calling
for President Assad to stand down passed by the UN General Assembly
** * Group of Iranians detained after explosions in Thailand's capital
Bangkok were intending to target two Israeli diplomats, say Thai police
* * * Spain's economy contracts as recession fears grow * * * Wall
Street close reaches pre-crisis high
15th
*
* * Honduras President Porfirio Lobo has pledged a "full and
transparent" investigation after a fire at a jail killed more
than 300 inmates * * * Iran loads 'first domestically-made nuclear
fuel' * * * Fresh Somalia fighting forces thousands to flee
14th
*
* * Eurozone leaders 'call off Greece crisis talks' * * * Obama hosts
China's heir apparent * * * The US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln
has sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, close to the coast of Iran,
for the second time in recent weeks * * * A tropical cyclone hits
the island of Madagascar, with winds of up to 194km/h (120mph) * *
* Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will increase the
energies of the bunches of subatomic particles called protons that
it smashes together.
13th
*
* * Abu Qatada, accused of being one of the UK's most dangerous extremist
preachers, is freed on bail * * * Bombers have targeted staff at Israeli
embassies in India and Georgia * * * Nigerians living in poverty rise
to nearly 61%
12th
*
* * Buildings set alight in Athens and police fire tear gas to disperse
protesters as MPs debate austerity bill * * * Turkey bombs Iraq hideouts
of Kurdish rebels PKK
11th
*
* * Syrian general killed by "terrorists" says state media
* * * Crowds mob Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as she
campaigns for the first time * * * Singer, Whitney Houston dies, age
48.
10th
*
* * Argentina accuses the UK of sending a nuclear-armed submarine
to the South Atlantic * * * Syria unrest: Aleppo bomb attacks 'kill
28' * * * Greece's cabinet approves a draft bill committing to austerity
reforms
9th
*
* * Greece's planned new austerity measures may not be enough to win
a 130bn euro bailout * * * Shelling 'kills dozens' in Homs
8th
*
* * Syrian opposition groups say Homs has come under the heaviest
shelling in days * * * Russian scientists report success in their
quest to drill into Lake Vostok, a huge body of liquid water buried
under the Antarctic ice * * * Researchers build efficient lasers just
100 billionths of a metre across
7th
*
* * Syria crisis: Gulf Arab states expel Syrian ambassadors * * *
Iran's parliament has summoned the president for questioning for the
first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution * * * Europe freezeing
weather: Emergencies in Italy, Greece and Serbia
6th
*
* * Syria artillery onslaught on Homs * * * Mahmoud Abbas to head
interim Palestinian government * * * ExoMars co-operation between
Nasa and Esa near collapse * * * Nigeria unrest: Blasts rock Kano
and Maiduguri * * * Romania spy chief nominated to replace PM Emil
Boc
5th
*
* * US anger at Syria veto 'travesty' * * * Egypt says it is to put
on trial 43 people - including Americans and other foreigners - over
the funding of non-governmental organisations * * * Afghanistan: Nine
dead in Kandahar car bomb attack
4th
*
* * Arab and Western-backed resolution condemning the violent crackdown
in Syria vetoed at the UN Security Council by Russia and China * *
* Moscow: Thousands join pro- and anti-Putin protests * * * Freezing
weather hits transport hubs across Europe, closing airports, blocking
roads and halting trains
3rd
*
* * US job numbers show strong growth * * * Cold weather kills 100
in Ukraine * * * Famine conditions in Somalia have ended, UN says
* * * At least 37 people killed in South Sudan during a shoot-out
at a peace meeting
2nd
*
* * Heavy snow leaves at least 11,000 people cut off in remote areas
of Serbia as Europe's cold snap claims more than 130 lives * * * Demonstrators
angered by the deaths of 74 people after a football match clash with
police in Cairo * * *
Head of Deutsche Bank warns of a "social time bomb" from
wealth and income inequality
1st
* * * At least 73 people killed in clashes between rival fans following
a football match in the Egyptian city of Port Said * * * Heavy snowcauses
disruption across Europe, carpeting much of Italy to the south and
Turkey to the east.
January
31st
*
* * The UN Security Council debates its response to escalating violence
in Syria, with Qatar urging members to act to stop the "killing
machine" * * * Iran says it has ended three days of "positive
and constructive" talks with UN nuclear inspectors * * * Skin
cells have been converted directly into cells which develop into the
main components of the brain, by researchers in California * * * Eurozone
unemployment hits new record
30th
*
* * Czechs and UK refuse EU agreement * * * US says Syria's Assad
'will go'
South Sudan: Cattle raid in Warrap state 'kills 74' * * * Spanair
collapses, stranding 20,000 people
29th
*
* * Afghan President Hamid Karzai 'plans talks with Taliban' * * *
Crackdown
on rebels in Damascus * * * UN nuclear inspectors visit Iran * * *
Facebook 'prepares to go public'
28th
*
* * Arab League halts Syria mission * * * Inappropriate spending cuts
could "strangle" growth prospects, the head of the IMF has
warned.
27th
*
* * The Arab League's monitoring chief has warned of an escalation
of violence in Syria in recent days * * * UN considers Syria crisis
action * * * Spain's unemployment total passes five million * * *
Asteroid makes near-miss fly-by
26th
*
* * US to cut almost 100,000 troops * * * The Arab League is to ask
the United Nations Security Council to back its plan to end the violence
in Syria * * * Nuclear row: Iran President Ahmadinejad offers talks
* * * The FBI is seeking to develop an early-warning system based
on material "scraped" from social networks.
25th
* * * UN concern over Libyan militias * * * Fiji declares a state
of disaster over severe flooding * * * For the first time researchers
achieve the "cloaking" of a three-dimensional object to
make it invisible as viewed from any angle.
24th
*
* * Global economy 'in danger zone' * * *
Syria extends Arab League mission * * * McDonald's income jumps 11%
in fourth quarter
23rd
*
* * UK scientists use radar satellites to measure a huge dome of freshwater
that is developing in the western Arctic Ocean * * * Tokyo quake 'more
likely soon' * * * * Biggest solar storm since 2005 pummels Earth
22nd
* * * Saudis to quit Syria monitoring * * * Veteran president 'leaves
Yemen' * * * Cruise ship body takes toll to 13 * * * Greek debt talks
hit snag * * * Libya ruling council deputy quits
21st
*
* * Co-ordinated attacks by Islamist militants in the northern Nigerian
city of Kano on Friday killed about 150 people * * * Magnitude 6.2
earthquake hits off Mexican coast * * * The final results in Egypt's
first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections confirm an overwhelming
victory for Islamist parties * * * Scientists who created a potentially
more deadly bird flu strain to study the virus's spread halt work
amid fears it could be used by terrorists
20th
*
* * Deadly blasts rock Nigeria's Kano * * * Libya's Muammar Gaddafi
had chemical weapon cache * * * The new European-led NEOShield project
will assess the threat posed by asteroids or comets and look for solutions
to protect Earth from an impact * * * Somalia's al-Shabab hit by major
Amisom offensive
19th
*
* * Bank shares lift European stock markets * * * Bangladesh army
'foils coup' against Sheikh Hasina * * * A decision on whether to
abolish the leap second - the occasional, extra second added to the
world's time - deferred to 2015 * * * A senior Palestinian politician
and member of the militant group Hamas arrested by the Israeli army
in the West Bank.
18th
* * * International Monetary Fund wants to increase its resources
by $500bn (£325bn) to help stabilise the global economy * *
* Russian foreign minister warns that a Western military strike against
Iran would be "a catastrophe" * * * Killer fungus ravages
5.7m bats in US and Canada
17th
*
* * Cruise ship - confirmed death toll raised to 11 * * * EU opens
legal action against Hungary over new laws * ** South Sudan clashes:
Dozens killed in Jonglei state * * * Tuberculosis which appears to
be totally resistant to antibiotic treatment is reported for the first
time by Indian doctors * * * Chinese economy slows at year end
16th
*
* * S&P downgrades EU's bailout fund * * * Pakistan's Supreme
Court has issued a contempt order against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza
Gilani, raising the prospect of his prosecution * * * A weekend of
clashes in Libya has left at least two people dead and more than 40
injured.
15th
*
* * Somali famine 'will kill tens of thousands' * * * Syria 'grants
uprising amnesty' * * * Orbital tracking reports suggest Russia's
failed Mars probe, Phobos-Grunt, fell back to Earth on Sunday, to
be destroyed over the Pacific.
14th
*
* * Emergency teams race to find about 70 people who remain unaccounted
for after a cruise ship ran aground off Italy with 4,000 on board
* * * Syria crisis: Qatar calls for Arabs to send in troops * * *
Iraq suicide attack kills dozens * * * Greece debt write-off talks
stall
13th
*
* * France loses AAA rating as euro governments downgraded * * * US
to resume full Burma relations * * * Syria troops enter protest town
* * *
US President Barack Obama has laid down the gauntlet to Republicans
by asking Congress for the power to shrink the federal government
* * * IBM makes 12-atom magnetic memory
12th
*
* * Piracy 'boosts Somalia's economy' * * * Syria halts aid convoy
at border * * * Afghan drugs: Opium price rises by 133% * * * At least
two of four US Marines shown in a video appearing to urinate on Taliban
corpses have been identified
11th
*
* * Pakistan army warns PM Gilani over criticisms * * * Study says
every star has planets * * * EU threatens action against Hungary over
deficit * * *
The Doomsday Clock, a symbolic gauge of nuclear danger, is moved a
minute closer to midnight because of inadequate progress on nuclear
and climate issues.
10th
* * * Indonesia issues a tsunami warning after a powerful
earthquake struck off Aceh province * * * Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad blames a foreign conspiracy for trying to destabilise Syria
* * * Alaska towns frozen by extreme winter * * * North Korea announces
prisoner amnesty
9th
*
* * Iran enriching uranium at Fordo plant near Qom * * *
Researchers show the largest map of dark matter ever assembled, detailing
the mysterious material that makes up three-quarters of the Universe's
mass * * * Carbon emissions 'defer Ice Age' * * * Nigeria paralysed
by fuel strike * * * At least 14 people are killed by car bombs in
Baghdad
8th
*
* * Arabs urge end to Syria bloodshed * * * China accused by Philippines
of intrusion into its waters * * * North Korea airs 'birthday' documentary
of new leader * * * Worm 'steals Facebook passwords'
7th
*
* * Nigeria hit by string of attacks by Islamist militant group *
* * Syria pledges 'iron fist' response to Damascus bombing * * * Kenyan
troops 'kill 60 al-Shabab fighters' in Somalia. Fears that a terrorist
attack in Nairobi is imminent * * *
Head of the Russian Orthodox Church says the Kremlin should heed the
recent mass protests over ballot-rigging and adjust its policies.
6th
*
* * Syria unrest: Damascus blast and clashes kill many * * * China
warns US on Asia strategy * * * South Asia's smog getting worse *
* * First "mixed embryo" monkeys born * * * Italy's Mount
Etna rumbles back to life
5th
*
* * Suu Kyi foresees democratic Burma * * * Iraq bombings leave scores
dead * * * Greek prime minister warns of March default * * * Hungary's
forint falls to record euro low * * * Obama unveils smaller US military
4th
*
* * Mitt Romney narrowly wins first vote by Republican Party supporters
in USA * * * Syria "deceiving" Arab monitors
3rd
*
* * Militias clash in Libyan capital * * * Hungarians protest against
new Fidesz constitution * * * Burma frees 32 political inmates * *
* Taliban back Western proposal to open Qatar office * * * Oil
price rises on global economy hopes
2nd
*
* * Two Koreas at a turning point - South Korean president * * *North
Korea urges Kim Jung-un loyalty * * *UN warns South Sudanese to flee
deadly ethnic vendetta * * * Iranians test-fire more missiles * *
*Deadly
Chile forest fires spread
1st
*
* * Europe
leaders warn of grim 2012 * * * Iran
test-fires medium-range missile in the Gulf * * * An
advisory body to the Arab League calls for the organisation's monitors
to be withdrawn from Syria because of the continuing crackdown on
protests * * *First
of Nasa's Grail gravity twins enters Moon orbit
