Japan The Japanese space agency, JAXA, launches the space explorer "Hayabusa2" from the Tanegashima Space Center on a six-year roundtrip mission to the asteroid (162173) 1999 JU3 to collect rock samples.
General election Less than three months after winning the general election, Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Löfven calls a snap general election after parliament rejected his government's budget proposal.
Israel The Israeli parliament- the Knesset votes to dissolve the government and hold early election on March 17.
Italy Italian police arrest a mix of mafia gangsters, corrupt politicians, and one former terrorist in a corruption scandal exploiting migrants and gipsies.
Transparency International Transparency International issues its 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index with Denmark achieving the highest rating and North Korea and Somalia tied with the lowest ranking.
NATO Foreign ministers from members of NATO attend a summit in Belgium to discuss the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant insurgency.
Somali civil war A suicide bomber attacks a United Nations convoy near Aden Adde International Airport killing six people.