Hosta

Politics

• Burma announces a mass pardon for political prisoners, including student leader Min Ko Naing. (BBC)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Shia insurgency in Yemen: at least 20 die in Sunni-Shia fighting in north Yemen. (AJE)
• 2010–2011 Burma border clashes: The Burmese government signs a ceasefire with Karen rebels. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
• 2011–2012 Syrian uprising: The Arab League delays sending more observers to Syria; one of its observers also quits the mission. (BBC)

Law and crime

• The Supreme Court of Israel upholds a law banning Palestinians who marry Israelis from gaining Israeli citizenship. (BBC)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• The United States denies any involvement in a bomb blast that killed an Iranian scientist. (BBC)
• A French journalist is killed, along with eight others, by a mortar in the Syrian city of Homs. (CNN)

Law and crime

• Joran van der Sloot pleads guilty to killing a Peruvian woman. (msnbc)

Politics

• Israel is bracing for an increase of Syrian refugees into Golan Heights, according to Israel's military chief. (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Republican candidates for United States President are campaigning in South Carolina for the upcoming South Carolina primaries. (ABC News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• A bombing in Khyber Agency, Pakistan, kills at least 29 people and leaves over 50 others injured. (Vancouver Sun)

Law and crime

• Amir Mirza Hekmati is sentenced to death by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Court. (Wall Street Journal)

Politics

• The Scottish Government announces that it plans to hold the referendum on Scottish independence in the autumn of 2014, but Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore tells the House of Commons that the power to hold a referendum is "reserved" to Westminster. (BBC)
• Secretary of State for Transport Justine Greening gives the go-ahead for HS2, a £33bn high-speed rail line that will eventually link several major cities in the United Kingdom to London and enabling quicker journey times. (BBC)
• Early reports show that Mitt Romney wins the New Hampshire Republican primary with Ron Paul in second and Jon Huntsman in third. (CNN)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Insurgency in the North Caucasus: Clashes occur between the Russian forces and Islamist militants in the Vedensky District, Chechnya, with reportedly 8 killed and 16 wounded. (RIA)

International relations

• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meets with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on the first stop of Ahmadinejad's Latin American tour. (CNN)

Politics

• President Malam Bacai Sanhá of Guinea-Bissau dies at the age of 64 while undergoing treatment for an unknown ailment in Paris. (BBC)
• In the United Kingdom a disagreement emerges between the Westminster and Scottish governments over a referendum on Scottish independence, after Prime Minister David Cameron tells a Sky News interview that a quick decision is needed on the matter for the sake of the economy. (Sky News) (BBC)

Sport

• Alabama defeats LSU 21-0 to win the 2012 BCS National Championship, their second championship in three years, in the first shutout in BCS bowl history. (ESPN)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Piracy in Somalia: Georgia announces 15 Georgian sailors held hostage by pirates for over a year are released through the government's efforts. (AFP via Google News)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• At least 37 people are killed in two days of attacks in northeastern Nigeria, after radical Islamic group Boko Haram issues an ultimatum for all Christians to leave the north. (Reuters)
• Iran praises the United States Navy after American sailors rescued Iranian fishermen from armed pirates in the Arabian Sea. (CNN)

Arts and culture

• Several of Bosnia's leading cultural institutions are due to close following funding disputes. The affected institutions include the National Library, the National Museum, the Historical Museum and the National Gallery. (NPR)

Disasters

• A hot air balloon crashes near Carterton, New Zealand, killing all eleven onboard. The accident was reportedly caused by a collision with a power line. (BBC) (Fox News)