• An attempt to break up a fistfight between two women incited a deadly stampede at a Chicago nightclub in the early hours of Feb. 17, killing 21 and injuring more than 50 people. A lawyer for the city of Chicago said that the popular hip-hop club was in violation of a court order that had demanded that it be shut down, while the club's attorney said that the order was subject to interpretation. The club was at twice its permitted occupancy when the melee occurred, officials said. Mayor Richard Daley requested a court hearing for alleged defiance of the order that is scheduled for March 7
• The biggest snow storm to nit the northeast in seven years came just in time for Monday's holiday, burying cities in the U.S. Northeast with up to two feet of snowfall. Winds of up to 55 miles an hour dropped as much as an inch per hour of snow on New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Skis and sleds were the only form of transportation available as travelers by car, train and plane experienced excessive delays Numerous traffic accidents and multiple deaths resulted from the storm. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the New York Times that despite being "very pretty," it was also "very inconvenient and very expensive." The city is already coping with a serious financial crisis.
• Despite the biggest worldwide peace rallies since the Vietnam War last Saturday, Feb. 15, in which millions marched on capitals around the globe, President Bush is standing firm in his felt obligation to defend the world against Saddam Hussein's wrath. White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer resisted comparisons of these protests to those during Vietnam, choosing instead to compare them to the 1983 protests against NATO's missiles positioned towards West Germany—a policy that, Fleischer said, led to the end of the Cold War. Bush said at a Tuesday press conference that he respected the rights of the protesters to voice their opinions, but likened listening to their concerns to "deciding … public policy based upon a focus group." A Brookings Institution analyst told the New York Times that at the very least, the level of global opposition makes forging a military strike in the near future somewhat more challenging for the administration.
• A man officials described as mentally unstable set of a homemade bomb in the subway station in Taegu, South Korea, setting fire to two trains during rush hour the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 19. As of Wednesday morning, the death toll was at 120 and 142 people were classified as injured. Passengers wrestled the arsonist to attempt to prevent him from igniting the bottle of paint thinner that he held with a cigarette lighter. Despite their struggle, the bottle ignited into a tremendous explosion that knocked out power and froze the train with passengers inside. Another train pulled into the station five minutes later and was taken up by the blaze.