Portal:Current events/2013 February 4

Current events of February 4, 2013 (2013-02-04) (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian civil war:
  • At least 20 people die in Aleppo, Syria, after an apartment complex was struck by a rocket belonging to the forces of Bashar Assad. (NBC News) (Toronto Star)
• Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
  • A suicide bomber attacks a government building in Taji, 15 kilometres north of the capital Baghdad, killing 22 and injuring 44 others. Nineteen of the dead are members of the Sahwa militia opposed to al-Qaeda in Iraq, who were waiting for their monthly salaries. (Reuters) (The New York Times)
• Senkaku Islands dispute:
  • The Japan Coast Guard claims that two government ships from the People's Republic of China have entered waters near the disputed Senkaku Islands. (AAP via News Limited)

Arts and culture

• Exhumation of Richard III of England: The University of Leicester holds a media conference to announce that a skeleton found in Leicester last year during an archaelogical dig is that of former King Richard III of England. (BBC) (The Telegraph) (NBC News)
• The remains of King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia who died on 15 October 2012 are cremated in Phnom Penh. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

• Eight people are killed and thirty others are injured after a bus is struck by two vehicles and flips over in Yucaipa, California, United States. (Los Angeles Times) (NBC San Diego) (KTLA)
• A collision between a truck and a bus carrying Bangladeshi workers kills 22 people and injures 24 others in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.(Reuters) (Travelers Today) (The Australian)

International relations

• President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou confirms that French special forces are protecting one of the country's biggest uranium mines, owned by the French company Areva. They are also said to be "strengthening security". (BBC)

Law and crime

• Former UK government Minister Chris Huhne pleads guilty to perverting the course of justice over claims he caused his ex-wife to accept speeding points he had incurred. He also announces his intention to resign his House of Commons seat. (BBC)
• Three people are injured after a stabbing on a subway platform in the Parsons/Archer subway station in Queens, New York City, United States. (Daily News) (NBC New York)
• The death of Jimmy Lee Dykes results to the end of the 2013 Alabama hostage standoff. (ABC)

Politics and elections

• Fidel Castro makes his first public appearance in several months to vote in Cuba's parliamentary elections; he spends an hour talking to voters and the media and a crowd gathers around his car to cheer him. (BBC)
• The President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces his desire of becoming the first Iranian astronaut after the sucessful lauching and returning of a monkey sent by its national scientific space program. (Al Jazeera)
• The Kremlin announces that Russia will hold the 2014 G8 summit in its southern Black Sea resort of Sochi, the host of the 2014 Winter Olympics. (RIA Novosti)
• In the Liechtenstein parliamentary election the Progressive Citizens' Party wins a plurality of seats in the Landtag. (AFP via France24) (AP via Edmonton Journal)

Sport

• Europol announces that a total of 680 football matches are under investigation for match fixing. Of these, 380 are in Europe, including World Cup and European Championship qualifying matches as well as Champions League matches in England. (CNN) (BBC) (ESPN) (The Guardian)
• Italian football club Palermo fires coach Gian Piero Gasperini following a disappointing run of form in the 2012–13 Serie A. (ESPN) (FIFA) (AP va Fox Sports)
• Former Sevilla coach Míchel appointed as new manager of Greek football club Olympiacos. (AP via FIFA) (Reuters via Yahoo!)