February 27, 2011 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Six people are killed in a failed coup attempt on the presidential palace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Reuters)
- State television is taken off air in the city of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, during clashes between forces loyal to incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo and rival groups. (Reuters) (CP)
- At least 115 people are killed in a government offensive against Al-Qaeda linked militants in Somalia. (Straits Times)
- Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport in the US city of Birmingham, Alabama is evacuated following the discovery of a suspicious package. (Fox News Alabama)
Arts and culture
- Academy Awards
- The 83rd Academy Awards are held to honor the best films in 2010 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. (Academy Awards), (AP via Fox News)
- The King's Speech wins the Academy Award for Best Picture. (Los Angeles Times)
- Colin Firth wins the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in The King's Speech. (Los Angeles Times)
- Natalie Portman wins the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Black Swan. (Los Angeles Times)
- Tom Hooper wins the Academy Award for Best Director for The King's Speech. (Indy Posted)
- Christian Bale wins the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Fighter. (ABC News America)
- Melissa Leo wins the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Fighter. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Business and economy
- The Government of Egypt announces that the Egyptian stock market will reopen on Tuesday. (New York Times)
Disasters
- A landslide hits La Paz, Bolivia, after rains killed 44 people. (CNN International) (Media with Conscience) (Nazarene Communications Network)
International relations
- North Korea warns it will take military action against South Korea if it continues to distribute information regarding the unrest in the Middle East to its citizens. (Washington Post) (Yonhap) (Bloomberg)
- The Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon claims that Belarus has broken an international arms embargo on the Ivory Coast by delivering three attack helicopters to military forces supporting the President of the Ivory Coast Laurent Gbagbo. (Canadian Press via Google News)
- Bahrain: Thousands of anti-government protesters demonstrate in the capital Manama, as 18 opposition MPs submit their resignations. (AFP via Google News)
- Lebanon: Hundreds of protesters demonstrate in the capital Beirut against the country's sectarian political system. (Reuters)
- Libya:
- The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 1970, imposing sanctions on Muammar Gaddafi's regime. (Washington Post)
- Anti-government forces seize the town of Zawiya, 30 miles west of the capital Tripoli. (BBC) (CBC)
- Oman: Police clash with anti-government protesters in Sohar, leaving two people dead. (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
- Sudan: Riot police break up a demonstration against election fraud in the capital Khartoum. (Reuters)
- Tunisia:
- Beji Caid el Sebsi is announced as the new Prime Minister. (The Guardian)
- Tunisian Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi announces his resignation in a speech on state TV. (BBC News)
- Clashes take place at a demonstration calling for the resignation of former members of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's regime in the interim government. (AFP via Google News)
- Yemen: President Ali Abdullah Saleh says that protests against his rule are an attempt to split the nation. (Al Arabiya) (AFP via Google News)
Politics and elections
- Irish general election, 2011:
- PBPA candidate Richard Boyd Barrett of the United Left Alliance, and son of actress Sinéad Cusack, defeats former minister and deputy Fianna Fáil leader Mary Hanafin in the Dún Laoghaire constituency. This leaves Fianna Fáil with one representative in the capital city (Brian Lenihan Jnr) and no Fianna Fáil women at all in the 31st Dáil. (The Irish Times) (Evening Echo)
- Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny receives international congratulations from Angela Merkel, David Cameron and José Manuel Barroso, with Cameron inviting him to 10 Downing Street. (RTÉ)
- Large numbers of police and security forces are deployed in Chinese cities after calls for protests inspired by events in North Africa and the Middle East. (Financial Times) (Sify India)
- For a second day, Croatian war veterans gather in the thousands to protest, this time in Split. (Index)
- The Wisconsin AFL–CIO warns that hundreds of unionists will risk arrest in trying to prevent police clearing the Wisconsin State Capitol in the US city of Madison. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel), (CNN)
- Anonymous targets Koch Brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity to demonstrate against its support of anti-union legislation in Wisconsin and the influence of money in US politics. (USA Today) (MSNBC)
- The head of the Arab League Amr Moussa announces that he will run as a candidate in the Egyptian presidential election. (AP via Houston Chronicle)