Insurgents launch an attack on the strategic city of Gao, capturing a police station and sparking a day-long firefight that included Malian troops, as well as French attack helicopters. (Al Jazeera)
An explosion in a vehicle at the Cilvegözü border gate kills 14 civilians (eleven Syrians and three Turks), and injures more than 25 others in Reyhanlı district of Hatay Province, Turkey. The gate is on the Turkish–Syrian border. (Hürriyet Daily News)
Disasters and accidents
Six top Guinean military officials, including the head of the Guinean armed forces, are killed in a plane crash in Liberia. (Reuters)
18 miners are killed in explosion at the Vorkutinskaya coal mine in Russia's Komi Region. (Al Jazeera) (RT)
Pope Benedict XVI announces his resignation, effective February 28 at 8pm CET (7pm UTC). He will become the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415. (BBC) (The Guardian) (The New York Times)