February 28, 2020 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war, Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020)
- Turkey calls for the establishment of a no-fly zone over Syria. (Yeni Safak)
- NATO holds an emergency meeting after Turkey formally triggers Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty. (Euronews)
- Turkish MoD states that last night 329 Syrian Army troops were "neutralized" and asserts that five helicopters, 23 tanks, 10 armored vehicles, 23 artillery and howitzers, five ammunition trucks, one SA-17 and one SA-22 air defense systems, three ammunition depots, two inventory depots and one headquarters building belonging to Syria's military were destroyed. (NTV)
- Russia deploys two frigates, Admiral Makarov and Admiral Grigorovich, armed with Kalibr cruise missiles to the Eastern Mediterranean off the Syrian coast. (Reuters) (The Moscow Times)
- Turkey deploys MIM-23 Hawk surface-to-air missiles to its border with Syria. (STAR)
- A Turkish drone strike kills 11 Syrian government soldiers on the M5 highway near Idlib. (SOHR)
- Syrian attacks on Marat al-Nasan leave more Turkish soldiers wounded, some of them seriously. (SOHR)
Arts and culture
- Roman Polanski wins three César Awards, also for best director, for his movie An Officer and a Spy (French: J'accuse). Several women walk out in protest. Les Misérables wins four Césars, one of them for best film. (Reuters) (Variety)
Business and economy
- Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Global stock markets have lost US$6 trillion in value over the last six days. (CNBC)
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average drops 800 points at opening, continuing the worst week since the financial crisis of 2007–08. This week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped 13% and 4,000 points. (MSNBC) (NBC News)
- The Geneva Motor Show is cancelled due to the Swiss ban on gatherings larger than 1000 people. (Fox News)
- The ITB Berlin, the world's largest tourism trade fair, is cancelled after authorities imposed the restriction that each participant would have to prove they are not a risk. (ITB Berlin)
- American investment management firm Elliott Management Corporation buys a significant stake in Twitter, and announces it will seek to make several changes to their management, including possibly replacing CEO Jack Dorsey. (Bloomberg)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
- 464 more coronavirus cases are confirmed in Italy, bringing the number to 888. Four more virus-related deaths are confirmed, bringing the death toll in the country to 21. (Il Sole 24 Ore)
- Belarus, Monaco, Iceland, Azerbaijan, New Zealand, Lithuania, Mexico and Nigeria confirm their first cases of coronavirus. (BNO News)
- Cyprus closes four of its checkpoints along the border with Northern Cyprus for the first time since 2003 due to coronavirus concerns. The checkpoints are expected to be reopened within a week. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
International relations
- Syrian civil war, Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020), European migrant crisis
- Nearly 300 migrants including Syrians arrived in Edirne province, Turkey, on the border with Greece in a bid to go to Europe. Another group of migrants arrived on the coast of Ayvacik in Çanakkale, western Turkey, and wanted to go to the Greek island of Lesbos by boats. Turkish officials announced that the security forces will not intervene to prevent the crossing of any migrants, including those from Syria and other countries like Afghanistan and Iran. (France 24) (Daily Sabah)
Law and crime
- Doping in China
- Chinese Olympic Swimmer Sun Yang is banned from swimming for eight years after being found guilty of doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. (News AU)
- Immigration policy of Donald Trump
- The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco temporarily block the Remain-in-Mexico policy. (Fox News)
Politics and elections
- 2020 Guinean legislative election
- Guinea's president Alpha Condé announces a postponement of both the general election and referendum slated for March 1. A new date isn't given yet. (BBC News)
- 2019–20 Hong Kong protests
- Hong Kong Police arrest entrepreneur Jimmy Lai, owner of the newspaper Apple Daily, and former lawmakers Yeung Sum and Lee Cheuk-yan for their involvement in anti-government protests. (SCMP) (CBC) (CNN)
Science and technology
- Pope Francis, in tandem with IBM and Microsoft, calls for AI technologies that risk violating human rights, such as facial recognition software, to be regulated. (Reuters)
- A meteor explodes over Croatia. The Croatian Astronomical Union say the meteor disintegrated at an altitude of at least 30 kilometers above sea level. The meteor was likely roughly 2 meters across. (Xinhuanet) (The Dubrovnik Times) (JPL)