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Worldwide current events
Sports events

Topics in the news

Julian Edelman

In American football, the New England Patriots defeat the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl (MVP Julian Edelman pictured).
In association football, the AFC Asian Cup concludes with Qatar defeating Japan in the final.
Both the United States and Russia suspend the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
A cold wave impacts North America, killing at least 21 people.

February 4, 2019 (Monday)

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Armed conflicts and attack

Iraqi insurgency (2017–present)
- Seven Iranian pilgrims were shot by gunmen in central Iraq. (AP)
Somali Civil War (2009–present)
- A car bomb attack kills 11 and injures 10 in an attack on a mall in Mogadishu, Somalia. (CNN)
- A Maltese port manager was killed at a fish market by Islamic militants disguised as fishermen. (BBC)

International relations

2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
- Several European Union states, including the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain officially recognize Juan Guaidó as interim President of Venezuela after Nicolás Maduro rejected the European ultimatum to call new a snap election. (BBC)

Science and technology

A 1.8-mile (2.9 km) highway tunnel in Seattle, Washington, U.S., opens to traffic. It was bored using Bertha, the world's largest tunnel boring machine. (Washington Post)

February 3, 2019 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

At the request of Chadian authorities, French Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jets strike a convoy of around 40 pickups of an armed group that entered northern Chad from Libya. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

2019 Piper PA-46 Malibu disappearance
- The wreckage of the Piper PA-46 Malibu light aircraft, which went missing on January 21, 2019, with two people on board, including Cardiff City F.C. record signing Emiliano Sala, is discovered on the seabed of the English Channel. (Sky News)

International relations

Pope Francis arrives in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, becoming the first pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula. (Reuters) (The New York Times)

Law and crime

Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage is taken into custody by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), accusing him of actually being a British national who has been in the United States unlawfully since his visa expired in July 2006. (Fox 5 Atlanta)

Politics and elections

2019 Salvadoran presidential election
- Former San Salvador mayor Nayib Bukele of the Grand Alliance for National Unity is elected President of El Salvador with over 50% of the ballots cast. (Al Jazeera) (BBC Mundo)

Sports

Super Bowl LIII
- In American football, the New England Patriots defeat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII by a score of 13–3. (CBS Sports)

February 2, 2019 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks and they were dancing

Moro conflict
- Patikul, Sulu shootout
  - Five soldiers and three militants die in an attack that also injured several others in Patikul, Sulu, in The Philippines. (Al Jazeera)
Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency
- An Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member is killed and five others are injured at an Iranian paramilitary base in Nik Shahr. (Al Jazeera)
Somali Civil War
- Two people are killed and at least five others injured by a suicide car bombing that targeted an African Union Mission base in Somalia. Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for the attack. (AA)

Law and crime

Crime in Cincinnati
- A sheriff's deputy is killed and another wounded during a 12 hour standoff in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The suspect has been taken into custody. (NBC News)

Disasters and accidents

A collapse of a building damaged by the war in Aleppo, Syria, kills 11 people. (BBC)

International relations

Russia–United States relations, Cold War II
- Russian President Vladimir Putin suspends Russia's involvement in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and will now start developing new missiles, in response to the United States' decision to withdraw from the Cold War-era treaty. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Crisis in Venezuela, 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
- Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro supports a proposal by the 2017 Constituent National Assembly to hold early legislative elections, which is seen as an attempt to eliminate the threat posed by the opposition-controlled National Assembly. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence tells a Florida rally that the time for dialogue "had ended" and "all options were on the table." (RTE)
- Venezuelan Air Force general Francisco Yáñez becomes the first high-ranking general to publicly support Juan Guaidó after he denounced the "dictatorship" of Maduro and recognized Guaidó's claim as the nation's legitimate leader. (Fox News)
- Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan people take to the streets to protest socio-economic and political situation of the country and to demand a better economic situation. Large competing anti-Maduro and anti-Guaidó rallies are held in Caracas. (The Washington Post)
Governor of the U.S. state of Virginia Ralph Northam says he will not resign from office because he does not believe that he appears in a controversial photograph from his 1984 medical school yearbook showing one person wearing blackface and another person wearing Ku Klux Klan attire. However, Northam later admits to wearing blackface during the same time period for a dance contest, in order to imitate musician Michael Jackson. (Post and Courier) (The Washington Examiner)

February 1, 2019 (Friday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Dissident Irish Republican campaign
- Two people were shot and injured in two individual attacks in Londonderry.(BBC)
- Ammunition and a mortar tube was found at the Irish border in County Louth. (BBC)

Arts and culture

The Associated Press and Snopes say they are no longer providing fact-checking services for Facebook. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

January 2019 North American cold wave
- The death toll from a North American cold wave caused by a polar vortex rises to at least 21 people. (BBC)
Three students at a school in Johannesburg, South Africa, are killed after a footbridge connecting the main school administration to various class rooms collapses. (AA)

A large-scale natural gas shortage in the U.S. state of Michigan is averted following the compliance of an emergency request from Consumers Energy for state residents to lower thermostats, after a fire at a natural gas compressor station threatened to halt the delivery of gas to consumers. The public's observance of the request resulted in a 10 percent decrease in natural gas usage across the state. (WNEM-TV) (Associated Press)

International relations

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Cold War II, Russia–United States relations
- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces that the United States is suspending its role in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, an agreement made in 1987 with the USSR (and, by extension, its successor state Russia) banning both countries from possessing or testing nuclear and conventional intermediate-range missiles, as well as their launchers, citing Russian non-compliance with the treaty. (CNN)

Politics and elections

2020 United States presidential election, 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
- U.S. Democratic New Jersey Senator Cory Booker announces that he is running for the office of the presidency in the 2020 presidential election. (CNN)
Republican and Democratic leaders call for the resignation of Virginian Governor Ralph Northam after a 1984 yearbook photograph apparently featuring Northam surfaces showing one person wearing blackface and another person wearing Ku Klux Klan attire. (The Hill)

Science and technology

A meteorite strikes near the Cuban town of Viñales, in the western province of Pinar del Río, after sightings of a fireball over the Florida Keys. The last confirmed meteorite to hit Cuba was in 1994. (DW)

Sports

2019 AFC Asian Cup
- Qatar defeats Japan 3-1 to win the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, earning them their first continental championship title. (The Guardian)
American Olympic alpine skier Lindsey Vonn announces she will retire after the 53rd Alpine Ski World Cup in Sweden, which is currently taking place and will conclude in March. (Time)

January 31, 2019 (Thursday)

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Arts and culture

American singer Mariah Carey performs her concert in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, despite Saudi women's rights activists calling for her to cancel it. (ABC News)

Kurdish-Iranian refugee Behrouz Boochani, incarcerated for nearly 6 years in the Australian-run Manus Regional Processing Centre, is awarded Australia's richest literary prize, the Victorian Prize for Literature and the Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction. (BBC News)

Business and economy

Italy's economy falls into recession for the third time in a decade after declining GDP growth in late 2018. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte blames the recession on external factors, including trade tensions between the United States and China. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

January 2019 North American cold wave
- Several cities in the Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada reach record low temperatures for the third consecutive day as a polar vortex continues to affect the region. (The New York Times)

Politics and elections

2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
- The European Parliament votes to recognize Juan Guaidó as interim President of Venezuela. (The Independent)
- Colombian, Spanish and French journalists are arrested and detained by SEBIN agents in Caracas. All four work for Spanish news agency EFE. The arrests follow the deportation of two Chilean journalists yesterday. (Reuters)
Abdullah of Pahang is elected the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. (Asia News)

Science and technology

Astronomers announce, through the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society journal, the accidental discovery of dwarf spheroidal galaxy Bedin I in the Pavo constellation in September 2018. (Space Telescope)

January 30, 2019 (Wednesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

A grenade is lobbed in a Zamboanga mosque in the Philippines, killing two people and injuring four others. No group has claimed responsibility. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

Foxconn's Wisconsin plant
- Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn announces that the company is reconsidering their plan to manufacture LCD panels in a promised Wisconsin plant because of a changed global marketplace, and the high cost of United States labor. Foxconn said, earlier in January, that it still planned to create 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin. The State of Wisconsin pledged subsidies worth more than $3bn. (BBC) (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

January 2019 North American cold wave
- Several hundred flights are cancelled in Chicago amidst an extreme cold wave bringing temperatures of −22 °F (−30 °C) to the region. Amtrak, Metra and South Shore Line have also cancelled services. (WBBM-TV) (NBC News)
- Ten deaths have been reported across the midwest due to the record breaking low temperatures. (NBC News)
- After a fire at a Consumers Energy natural gas compressor station, Michigan residents are asked to turn down their heat to conserve natural gas. (MLive.com), (WEYI-TV)
Two overcrowded boats carrying migrants capsize off the coast of Djibouti, leaving at least 28 people dead and over 130 others missing, according to the International Organization for Migration. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

Suspicious items, later discovered to be incendiary devices, are found near a police station in Eugene, Oregon. An investigation is ongoing. (KVAL), (KEZI)

International relations

Canada–Cuba relations, Havana syndrome
- Canada announces that it will withdraw half of its embassy staff in Cuba following the fourteenth confirmed illness since 2017 of a Canadian diplomat in the country. (BBC)

Science and technology

Cancer research
- An Israeli team of scientists claim to have developed a cure for cancer. This claim is criticized by other scientists, who say it is likely faked. (Times of Israel)

January 29, 2019 (Tuesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

2019 Loralai attack
- Nine people, including civilians and policemen, are dead and 22 others are injured after gunmen and suicide bombers attacked a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) office in Pakistan's Loralai. The Tehrik-i-Taliban claim responsibility for the attack. (Express Tribune)
Somali Civil War
- Two people were killed and five others were injured in a car bombing near the Somali Petroleum Ministry and the responsibility was claimed by Al-Shabaab. (Daily Nation)
A double bombing injures three police officers in Tehran, Iran. (The Seattle Times)

Business and economics

2017 California wildfires, 2018 California wildfires
- Pacific Gas and Electric Company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for its recent roles in the California wildfires. (Reuters) (CBS News)

Disasters and accidents

January 2019 North American cold wave
- Major midwestern cities, including Minneapolis, Detroit, Chicago and Milwaukee, are under severe wind chill advisories with wind chills approaching −55 °F (−48 °C) at night. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers declare states of emergency due to the record low windchill temperatures. (Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Sun-Times) (WDJT-TV) (WBBM-TV) (WILX-TV) (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Two lions, two hyenas, a rhino and a giraffe are killed at Kruger National Park, South Africa, after storms topple a power cable. (BBC)
Aviation accidents and incidents
- An air ambulance crashes in Ohio, killing three crew members. The aircraft had been headed to Pomeroy to pick up a patient.(ABC News)
- A second air ambulance, traveling from Anchorage, Alaska to the village of Kake, in Southeast Alaska, was reported missing. The aircraft had a crew of three onboard. (KTUU)

Law and crime

Asia Bibi blasphemy case
- Asia Bibi's blasphemy acquittal is upheld by Pakistan's Supreme Court. She may seek asylum. (The Guardian)
Foreign fighters in the Syrian and Iraqi Civil Wars
- About 130 French citizens who joined the Islamic State are expected to be returned to France by their Kurdish captors to face trial. (Bloomberg) (Middle East Monitor)
Toronto serial homicides
- Bruce McArthur, a Toronto landscaper charged on January 18, 2018, in this decade-long investigation, pleads guilty in Ontario Superior Court to murdering eight men. (BBC)
Brumadinho dam disaster
- Police arrest five men, three from the mining company Vale and two engineers from a subsidiary company, in connection with the mine collapse. (BBC)
Belgian authorities order DNA tests of children recently adopted from the Democratic Republic of the Congo following reports that several parents thought they were sending their children to a Kinshasa holiday camp not an orphanage. (Reuters via BBC)

Politics and elections

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Al-Hamdallah, along with his unity government, resign from President Mahmoud Abbas's government. (Reuters)
Brexit negotiations
- Votes in parliament call for a no-deal outcome to be avoided, but do not support any delay in the Brexit timetable, and ask for the proposed customs arrangements in Ireland to be renegotiated, which the EU rejects. (CNN)
2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
- Following a request by Venezuelan Prosecutor General Tarek William Saab, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice bars the National Assembly-backed President Juan Guaidó from leaving the country and freezes his bank accounts and assets. (The Washington Post)