A snow storm in the United States is affecting multiple regions in
Colorado,
California and elsewhere, with more than 70,000 people in southern California losing power.
(AccuWeather)
Chinese authorities arrest 21 people involved in the Ezubao online finance scheme accused of allegedly defrauding 900,000 people of 50bn yuan ($7.6bn; £5.3bn) in a
Ponzi scheme.
(BBC)
Two men are sentenced to death for the murder of
Tibetan religious leader
Akong Rinpoche, his nephew and his driver in 2013.
(Reuters)
Negotiators for the
European Commission and the
United States agree on a pact protecting data transfers across the North Atlantic by companies such as
Google and
Amazon, imposing on such companies certain privacy shield obligations.
(Reuters)
Three
Palestinian assailants launch a shooting and stabbing attack near the
Damascus Gate in
Jerusalem, killing one
policewoman and seriously injuring another, and lightly injuring a civilian, before being shot and killed by other security forces at the scene. Pipe bombs were discovered on their bodies.
(The Times of Israel)
Two
Hamas militants die after a tunnel they were digging from the
Gaza Strip into
Israel collapses.
(AP)
At least 15 people are killed and 58 injured after rockets reportedly fired by rebels hit pro-government neighborhoods in the southern city of
Daraa.
(RT)
Japan puts its military on alert to shoot down any
North Korean rocket that threatens it following an announcement by North Korea of a planned "Earth observation launch".
(Reuters)
South Korea warns
North Korea of "searing consequences" if it doesn't abandon plans to launch a long-range rocket that violates
United Nations Security Council resolutions that prohibits the country from engaging in any ballistic activities.
(Fox News)
Russia's
Ministry of Defence accuses
Turkey of preparing a military incursion into northern
Syria, saying it had registered "a growing number of signs of hidden preparation of the
Turkish Armed Forces for active actions on the territory of Syria". Tens of thousands of Turkish troops are active on the border of Syria involved in fighting the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
(Reuters)
German police arrest two
Algerian men suspected of having links to the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and planning terror attacks in the country. One of the men detained, reported to be aged 35, had been living in a refugee shelter in the town of
Attendorn, east of
Cologne.
Police say "investigations show that he has been trained militarily in
Syria".
(BBC)
Clashes between local tribal forces and
Sudanese fighters in
Libya's southeastern
Cyrenaica region around the town of
Kufra leaves around 30 dead.
(Reuters)
Puerto Rico declares a state of emergency due to the ongoing
Zika virus outbreak. At least 22 people have been reported to have been infected with the Zika virus in the
U.S.territory.
(ABC News)
Law and crime
A shooting at a boxing match
weigh-in between
Jamie Kavanagh and Antonio João Bento in
Dublin,
Republic of Ireland, leaves one person dead and two others injured. The gunmen were reportedly dressed as police officers and armed with
AK-47s.
(BBC)
Tunisia completes the construction of a 200km (125 mile) barrier along its border with
Libya, intended to keep out terrorists trained in Libya.
(Reuters)
The death toll from yesterday's earthquake in
Taiwan rises to at least 29, with at least 120 trapped under collapsed buildings in
Tainan, while 198 people have been rescued.
(AP)(Taipei Times)
A man is killed and three other employees are injured following a suspected
meteorite strike in a garden outside the
Bharathidasan Engineering College in
Tamil Nadu,
India. Witnesses say they saw a mysterious object fall from the sky. If confirmed, this would be the first recorded fatality from a meteorite strike.
(Metro)(The Indian Express)
Japan's
NHK news reports the rocket passed over the southern Japanese island of
Okinawa.
Japanese Prime Minister,
Shinzō Abe, condemns the launch and says, "We absolutely cannot allow this. We will take action to totally protect the safety and well-being of our people". The Japanese government says no rocket debris fell on Japanese territory and there are no reports of damage. The rocket reportedly falls into waters southwest of
Jeju Island.
(ABC News)(Yonhap)
South Korea's intelligence agency claims that North Korea is preparing for another nuclear test.
(Yonhap)
One person is killed and seven others are injured in a shooting outside a
Rochester, New York sports bar.
(ABC News)
Hamas reports it has executed one of its commanders, Mahmoud Eshtewi, for “moral and behavioral violations.”
Human Rights Watch, contacted by Eshtewi’s family, had been monitoring the case.
(AP via The Washington Post)
Politics and elections
Politicians in
Haiti agree to a process to select an interim
President to replace
Michel Martelly. Presidential elections will be held on April 14 with the winner to be sworn in on 14 May.
(BBC)
The
South Korean Navy fires warning shots at a
North Korean patrol boat after it crossed the
Northern Limit Line in the
Yellow Sea and entered South Korean-controlled waters. As of 2016, North Korea refuses to recognize the so-called Northern Limit Line, that was drawn up at the end of the
Korean War.
(Reuters)
The death toll from Saturday's earthquake in
Taiwan rises to 41 with 109 people missing.
(Focus Taiwan)
Taiwan authorities arrest three construction company executives of the Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building, which collapsed Saturday, on suspicion of
negligent homicide. Almost all of those killed have been recovered from the rubble from this building; the 100-plus missing are likely buried in the debris.
(Reuters)(AP via The Washington Post)
Two passenger trains collide in the German town of
Bad Aibling in the state of
Bavaria. At least ten people are dead, one person is missing and presumed dead, about 80 are injured, and 17 are seriously or critically injured. The rescue is difficult – resembling a mountain-type rescue – because of a nearby river and a steep incline and a curve in the tracks; rescue helicopters had to be used. It is one of
Bavaria's and
Germany's deadliest-ever railroad accidents. Human error is being examined as a possibility.
(BBC)(CNN)
Clashes break out and turn into a riot in the
Mong Kok district of
Hong Kong on the pretext that the
police try to close down illegal food vendors. Nearly 90 police officers are injured.
(The Straits Times)
The owners of
Liverpool F.C. scrap a controversial £77 ticket pricing plan for the 2016–17 season following a backlash by the club's supporters and a mass walkout during last week's game with
Sunderland A.F.C. at
Anfield.
(Sky News)
A
Hellenic Navy helicopter crashes while taking part in a military exercise in the
Aegean Sea, near the
Greek island of
Kinaros, three Greek naval airmen are feared dead.
(Reuters)
The death toll from the earthquake rises to 94 with 550 people injured, and at least 30 more missing and believed buried in the apartment complex rubble in
Tainan.
(CNN)
The discontinuance of electricity and water into the
Kaesong area impacts area residents who lose their steady supply of water. The public received about 60 percent of the 17,000 tons of water
South Korea pumped north each day.
(AP via Fox News)
China has announced it will back a
United Nations resolution to make North Korea "pay the necessary price" for the recent rocket launch.
(Reuters)
In
Cairo, thousands of doctors protest against
police impunity following the assault, allegedly by
Egyptian police officers, of two doctors in a hospital last week. Protests here are rare since enactment of a law limiting demonstrations to those with prior police approval. Another protest is planned across all hospitals for February 20.
(Reuters)
The death toll from the earthquake rises to 113 with four people still in the rubble of the Weiguan Golden Dragon high-rise tower in
Tainan.
(AP via Philly News)
At the 52nd
Munich Security Conference in
Germany, NATO Secretary-General
Jens Stoltenberg says that NATO and Russia are "not in a cold-war situation but also not in the partnership that we established at the end of the Cold War" while the
Russian Prime MinisterDmitry Medvedev says tensions between
Russia and
NATO have sent the world spiralling into a "new
Cold War", blaming
U.S. and European leaders for the souring of relations with Russia. He also rejected accusations that Russian warplanes have bombed civilians in
Syria, saying it is "just not true".
(Sky News)(BBC)
The
United Nations reports that civilian casualties reached a record level in 2015; at least 3,545
non-combatants were killed and 7,457 injured.
(Reuters)
Authorities in the Chinese city of
Tianjin after an inquiry into
the explosions last year found that the chemical plants were too close to residential areas.
(AP)
Ukraine bans
Russian cargo trucks from transiting its territory after Russia's
Ministry of Transport barred Ukrainian cargo trucks because armed groups had been blocking some Russian trucks from entering Ukraine.
(Reuters)
Former
Prime Minister of IsraelEhud Olmert starts a 19-month prison sentence for bribery and obstructing justice. In the last decade, he was found or admitted guilty in four different corruption investigations.
(AP via Yahoo! News)
Officials are counting ballots from Sunday's presidential election. The final results of the run-off are not expected for several weeks.
(Special Broadcasting Service)
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) reports three people are found alive in the rubble of a hospital in northwest
Syria hit by
Russian airstrikes Monday.
(UPI)
Iran says that it plans to increase its
crude oil output until it achieves
pre-sanction levels, although that contravenes
OPEC efforts to restrain output.
(Reuters)
Germany calls for a
no-fly zone in northern
Syria which could, among other things, reduce the number of displaced Syrians. Similar requests have been made by
Turkey and others throughout the 5-year-old war. Russia rejects this strategy without Syria's consent.
(AP via The Washington Post)(Macau Daily Times)
Russia's Finance Ministry sues
Ukraine in London's
High Court of Justice over a $3 billion debt. Payment was due December 21, 2015. Negotiations between
Kiev and
Moscow have not reached an agreement. Over the last 6 months Ukrainian government officials repeatedly stated they refuse to pay the debt.
(UPI)
Law and crime
Maldives jails opposition leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla for terrorism. It is claimed that he urged the overthrow of the government in a speech.
(BBC)
Egyptian authorities order the closure of the Egyptian branch of the
International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), a prominent
NGO that documents alleged human rights abuses and treats torture victims.
Amnesty International condemns the closure of the Nadeem centre, saying the NGO gives a lifeline to hundreds of victims of torture and families of people subjected to enforced disappearances.
(Reuters)
Colombian authorities are investigating the discovery of at least 100 dismembered bodies in a
sewer system underneath
La Modelo prison in
Bogotá. Officials say the practice of killing, dismembering, and tossing body parts into drains might have also happened at prisons in other cities, e.g.,
Popayán,
Bucaramanga and
Barranquilla. The victims include inmates, visitors, and others.
(CNN)
Voters in
Uganda go to the polls for a general election to elect a new
President of Uganda as well as for parliamentary and local elections. The Presidential race with eight candidates including incumbent
Yoweri Museveni and seven challengers is tipped to be the closest in the nation's history.
(BBC)
Kizza Besigye, the main opposition presidential candidate, is "briefly" arrested after the polls close in
Naguru, trying to get into a police command center in the capital
Kampala. Besigye, who's challenged President Musveni in the last three elections, has been repeatedly arrested, roughed up, or confined to house arrest during that time.
(AP via Sky News Australia)(The Globe and Mail)(The New York Times)
Italian author and philosopher
Umberto Eco dies at the age of 84.
(BBC)
Business and economy
Yahoo Inc. says that it has created a committee of independent directors that will explore strategic alternatives, notably the sale of its core internet business.
(Reuters)
Serbia closes its southern border with
Macedonia to migrants from countries not affected by war as part of measures to prevent illegal immigration.
(RT)
Opposition leader
Kizza Besigye is arrested again just before a planned press conference. Police raid Besigye's
Forum for Democratic Change party headquarters and fire tear gas at the FDC supporters. Partial results from the electoral commission show a lead for incumbent president
Yoweri Museveni.
(BBC)
At least 14 people are killed and 32 wounded in battles in the eastern city of
Benghazi, most in the Boatni neighborhood, between the
Libyan National Army and
Islamist militants.
(Reuters)
Hundreds of evacuation centres are activated in
Fiji as
Cyclone Winston makes landfall in
Fiji's outer islands and heads towards islands with higher population.
(ABC News Australia)
A
curfew of 6pm is introduced with power out in many areas of
Fiji.
(ABC)
A "state of natural disaster" is declared for the next 30 days with Cyclone Winston classified as the strongest storm on record in the
Southern Hemisphere.
(Slate)
Jat protesters shut down 70% of
Delhi's water supply meaning the
Indian city could run out of water by the end of the weekend. At least nine people are killed in fighting.
(The Times of India)(BBC)
French authorities give up to 1000 migrants, mostly
Syrians and
Iraqis, until 8 p.m. local time on 23 February to leave the
Calais jungle camp. Those who refuse to leave will be forcibly removed by police.
(Sky News)
Kalamazoo County, Michigan, authorities say last evening's
shooting spree resulted in six deaths with two others seriously wounded. Each victim was shot multiple times. Police acknowledge that an earlier report that a 14-year-old girl died is incorrect; she is alive, but "severely, gravely" injured. The suspect, a 45-year-old man who is an
Uber driver without a prior criminal record, was taken into custody without a struggle.
(USA Today)(CNN)
Australia issues a security alert, warning that terrorists may be planning attacks in and around the
Malaysian capital
Kuala Lumpur. It also recommended that Australians avoid travel to the coastal region of eastern
Sabah, where the beaches and islands are popular with foreign tourists.
(Reuters via Daily Mail)
Ashraf Rifi resigns as the Minister for Justice for
Lebanon in protest at
Hezbollah domination of the government which he claims is harming relations with Arab nations.
(AP)
The death toll in
Fiji rises to at least 17 as authorities continue to assess the damage. All schools in the country are closed for the week. A nationwide curfew remains in effect.
(Weatherzone)(CNN)
German Interior MinisterThomas de Maizière strongly criticizes
Austria's decision to put a daily cap on the number of refugees the country can accept. Austria has set a limit of dealing with 80 asylum applications a day, while letting thousands of others transit to Germany. Maiziere said this sends "the wrong signal" and is "unacceptable".
(AFP via Yahoo! News)
Jat protesters reach an agreement with the
Indian government on increased
reservations similar to those authorized for
economically disadvantaged lower castes. Authorities say at least 19 people have been killed in the three-day demonstrations. Protest leaders call for reopening blockaded roads in the northern state of
Haryana. Water restrictions, implemented after protesters damaged the water station's
New Delhi feed, remain in effect while engineers repair the equipment.
(The Indian Express)
Comoros authorities are counting ballots from Sunday's incident-free, presidential primary on
Grande Comore island. The presidency rotates between the nation’s three semi-autonomous islands, which also held
gubernatorial elections. Provisional results are due Wednesday. Then, on April 10, 2016, the three leading candidates will vie in a runoff.
(Bloomberg)
At least one person has been killed and three people remain missing following the partial collapse of a decommissioned turbine hall at
Didcot A Power Station in
Oxfordshire,
England.
(BBC)
A report by two
Israeli human rights groups,
B'Tselem and
HaMoked, states dozens of Palestinian detainees at the
Shin Bet'sShikma interrogation facility in
Ashkelon have been subjected to mistreatment, and in some cases torture. The report examined affidavits and personal accounts from 116
Palestinians held for security reasons at the facility between August 2013 and March 2014.
(AP via San Francisco Chronicle)(Jurist)
A family of five falls victim to a murder-suicide in
Phoenix, Arizona. 26-year-old Alex Buckner is identified by Phoenix police as the shooter, who was killed in a gunfight with police.
(AZCentral)
Fiji's known casualties are 42 dead, one missing, and more than 100 injured. Authorities say five percent of the country (45,245 people) is staying in
evacuation centers and about 80 schools have been damaged.
UNICEF reports at least 120,000 of Fiji's children have been affected. The current identified destruction is more than $1 billion. About 80 percent of the
plantations were damaged, especially
sugar fields. However,
tourism'sinfrastructure has escaped serious damage.
(La Prensa de San Antonio)(Daily Mail)(Fijivillage.com)
At an event hosted by
Center for Strategic and International Studies,
Foreign MinisterWang Yi expresses
China's concerns that the planned deployment of the
THAAD missile defense system and the
X band radar for which the
South Korea and the
United States have started talks to secure its approval in order to counter the growing threat of North Korea's weapons capabilities could jeopardize the country's "legitimate national security interests." At the Pentagon,
Harry Harris, the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, said that if China wanted to prevent consideration of the THAAD system's deployment, it should lean on Pyongyang saying, "If China wanted to exert a lot of influence on somebody to prevent THAAD from being considered going into Korea, then they should exert that influence on North Korea."
(Reuters)(Bloomberg)
Greece recalls its ambassador to
Austria in response to Austria's hosting of a meeting with
Balkan states, to which Greece was not invited, about
European migrant crisis policies that would make it harder for
migrants to head north across
Europe.
Greece's foreign ministry called the move an "unfriendly act." More than 100,000 migrants have entered the
EU illegally so far in 2016, nearly all of them arriving in Greece.
(BBC)(Reuters)
Morocco suspends contact with the
European Union over a European court ruling that invalidates the bloc's farm trade deal with
Rabat, and saying it should exclude the disputed Moroccan-controlled territory of
Western Sahara.
(Reuters)
A series of shootings in and near the American town of
Hesston, Kansas, results in at least four deaths, including the shooter, at an Excel Industries building, with up to 20 people injured. The shooter is Cedric Ford, a convicted felon.
(KWCH)(USA Today)(KAKE)[permanent dead link]
Philippine security forces kill as many as 42
ISIL-linked militants, and captures their stronghold in the predominantly
MuslimLanao del Sur province. Three
Philippine Army soldiers were also killed during the fighting.
(Reuters)
Dow Chemical agrees to pay $835 million to settle a decade-long,
price-fixing,
class-action dispute. Dow states that the uncertainty about the U.S. Supreme Court makeup following
Justice Antonin Scalia's death means there is an "increased likelihood for unfavorable outcomes for business involved in class action suits." The urethane chemicals case, from 2005, was against a number of companies; Dow had been the only defendant not to settle.
(Reuters)(Reuters via Winnipeg Sun)
A federal appeals court rules in favor of
Samsung on several issues arising out of that company's long-running
patent dispute with
Apple, overturning a $120 million jury verdict in Apple's favor in
2014.
(Reuters)
The Syrian cessation of hostilities truce is in effect, as of midnight, Saturday, local
Syrian time (10:00 p.m. UTC Friday/5:00 p.m. EST Friday).
(Reuters)
A gunman from a rural area near
Belfair, Washington (U.S.), kills four members of his family, including two children, and, after a multi-hour
standoff with police, also kills himself. A 12-year old girl, who was not shot, is alive.
(The Seattle Times)
A truce is in effect, as of midnight.
Russian Air Force attacks on opposition positions were reported to have been intensified before the truce took effect.
(BBC)
Counting begins of the votes cast yesterday with exit polls indicating that the existing coalition will not gain enough votes to govern without reaching a deal with other parties.
(BBC)
Counting of votes begins in
Iran after polling hours in yesterday's
election were extended by six hours due to a heavy turnout. Reports indicate that
reformist candidates are doing well in the early count.
(Reuters via Swiss info)(AP)
Thirty-six people are believed to have died at a coal mine where a
methane gas ignition triggered three explosions and the collapse of the mine in
Vorkuta,
Russia.
(NDTV)
A man fatally stabs 14 family members before taking his own life in the
Indian city of
Thane.
(India Today)
A
Virginia police officer is killed during her first day on the job (and another two are wounded) in a domestic related shooting in
Lake Ridge, Virginia.
(CNN)
South Korean opposition lawmakers' anti-terrorism bill filibuster, which stops all other legislative business, extends its world record to 115 hours Sunday afternoon, easily besting
Canada's 58-hour session in 2011. The major issue is giving
South Korea's intelligence agency powers to monitor private communications. This
parliamentary session is set to end March 11, with elections on
April 13.
(Reuters)
Swiss citizens vote on four
referenda, including one, proposed by the right-wing
Swiss People's Party, that would automatically expel
foreigners who commit two minor crimes. Current law calls for deportation of non-citizens convicted of murder or sexual violence.
(BBC)(AFP via The Guardian)
At least 40 people are killed and 58 others injured following a suicide bombing at a
Shi'ite funeral in the city of
Miqdadiyah,
Diyala Governorate.
ISIL claim responsibility for the attack.
(Reuters)
Business and economy
China says it expects to lay off 1.8 million state workers in the
coal and
steel sectors, or about 15 percent of the industries' workforce, as part of efforts to reduce industrial overcapacity.
(Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
One person has died and hundreds of people have been evacuated after heavy rain in the
Indonesian capital
Jakarta.
(Jakarta Post)
Clashes break out inside the
Calais jungle camp in the port city of
Calais between migrants and
riot police as officials attempted to evict hundreds of migrants from the southern section of the camp. Several tents and wooden shacks were set on fire by migrants.
(The Telegraph)
In the United States, a 14-year-old shoots two students, who were hospitalized in stable condition, in the
Madison Local School cafeteria. Two other teenagers are injured, none seriously. The southwestern
Ohio school, which had practiced for such an event, immediately went into
lockdown; Tuesday classes are cancelled.
(AP via The Citizen)(UPI)(School website)