February 22, 2014 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Euromaidan:
- The Ukrainian parliament votes to free Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister jailed for more than two years for what supporters say are politically tainted charges. She is released later in the day. (The Irish Times) (BBC News)
- Protesters claim control of the capital Kyiv with reports that President Viktor Yanukovych has fled to eastern Ukraine. (AP)
- The Ukrainian parliament votes to remove President Viktor Yanukovych from his position. From his current base in Kharkiv, Yanukovych denounces the events in Kyiv as a "coup". (USA Today)
- Ukrainian economist and writer Oleksandr Turchynov is voted Speaker of the Parliament, and in that capacity acting President of Ukraine. (Kyiv Post)
Arts and culture
- Pope Francis creates 19 new cardinals in a ceremony at St Peter's Basilica in Rome. In addition, the Pope emeritus Benedict XVI makes his first public appearance at the Vatican since his resignation in 2013. (BBC News)
Disasters and accidents
- One person is dead and 28 are ill from a carbon monoxide leak at the Walt Whitman Shops in Huntington, New York. (NBC)
Law and crime
- The Sinaloa cartel drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera, also known as "El Chapo", is arrested in Mexico. (BBC News)
Politics and elections
- Matteo Renzi is sworn in as the Prime Minister of Italy. (BBC News)
- Tens of thousands of people gather in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas to protest against the government of Nicolás Maduro. (Los Angeles Times)
Sport
- 2014 Winter Olympics:
- Marit Bjørgen of Norway becomes the most successful female Winter Olympian of all time when she wins a sixth gold medal in the Women's 30 kilometre freestyle cross-country skiing event. She has won ten Olympic medals in total. (AP via Yahoo! News)