• Piracy in Somalia:
  • The Greek-owned oil tanker MT Smyrni is released along with its 26 crew members for a reported ransom of $9.5 million after being held hostage for 10 months. (Reuters)

• Tropical Cyclone Sandra forms in the Coral Sea off the coast of the Australian state of Queensland. (The Courier-Mail)
• Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers is injured in a car accident and rushed to a hospital with minor injuries. (NOS) (Telegraaf)

• North Korea ends all peace pacts with South Korea and closes the main Panmunjom border crossing inside the Korean Demilitarized Zone. North Korean generals affirm they are aiming their long range missiles at the U.S. mainland in retaliation for the recently approved U.N. sanctions. (BBC) (CNN)

• Former Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond is set to be paid about £2m ($3m) in July, a year after he left the bank following its Libor interest rate fixing scandal. (News24)

• Sinn Féin's Francie Molloy wins the Mid Ulster by-election, holding onto the seat vacated by Martin McGuinness at the end of 2012. (BBC)
• Following the state funeral of former President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez, Vice President Nicolás Maduro is officially sworn in as Interim President. (BBC)

• The Vatican announces that the 2013 papal conclave to select a new pope will begin on March 12. (The Washington Post)

• Russian scientists announce they have found a wholly new type of bacteria in the mysterious subglacial Lake Vostok in Antarctica. (RIA Novosti) (AFP via Discovery News)

• Shane Flanagan is stood down as coach of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks as the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority continues its investigation of alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs by the club during the 2011 NRL season. (News Limited)