Portal:Current events/2012 February 21

• 2011–2012 Syrian uprising:
  • The bombardment of Homs in Syria continues for an 18th successive day, killing over 100 people. (Reuters)
  • Syrian forces open fire on protesters in the capital Damascus. (Channel News Asia)
• US General John R. Allen, the head of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan commissions an inquiry into allegations that Qurans were burnt at an American Air Force base as Afghans protest. (AP via Google News)
• Thailand sends an extradition request to Malaysia for one of the five Iranian nationals suspected of involvement in the bombings in Bangkok earlier this month. (Bernama)
• Rioting inmates take control of Indonesia's Kerobokan Prison on the island of Bali. (Sydney Morning Herald)

• The 2012 BRIT Awards for British popular music are held in O2 Arena in London with Adele, One Direction, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay among the winners. (Capital FM) (BBC)

• Euro zone finance ministers reach an agreement on a second Greek bailout. (Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald)

• A blast at a steel plant in Liaoning, northeastern China, kills 13 people and injures 17. (Bangkok Post)

• Christian Life Movement spokesman Regis Iglesias Ramirez in Cuba announces the launch of a new Facebook page called “Waiting for Benedict XVI” to promote the pontiff's upcoming visit and defend the right of all Cubans to welcome him. (Catholic News Agency)

• The speaker of the South Korean National Assembly is charged with bribery. (Yonhap)
• Voters in Yemen go to the polls for a presidential election with current Vice-President Abd Rabbuh Mansur al-Hadi the only candidate on the ballot paper. (Wall Street Journal)
• Burma lifts restrictions on election campaigning. (BBC)
• Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan ends a 66-day hunger strike over his detention in a deal that will see him released in two months. (Daily Star Lebanon)
• Celebrations of Losar, the Tibetan Buddhist New Year, are cancelled in the People's Republic of China due to a wave of immolations. (The Telegraph)
• The President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez confirms that doctors in Cuba have found a lesion and he will have to undergo an operation. (BBC)
• Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg uses the 29-letter word “floccinaucinihilipilification“ in Parliament.