Sunday, February 12th, 2023 

A United States Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon shoots down an unidentified flying object over Lake Huron near the Canada–United States border. Officials describe the object as being octagon-shaped, and was flying at roughly 20,000 feet. (Forbes) 

China says it has detected an unidentified flying object over the Yellow Sea, and warns that it is prepared to shoot down the object. The Qingdao Marine Development Bureau issues an alert to fishermen in the waters to be “on alert” and “avoid risks”. (South China Morning Post) 

Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen orders the closure of one of the country’s last independent news outlets, saying that its publications hurt him and his son. (Reuters) 

Cypriots head to the polls for a run-off vote for president between Nikos Christodoulides and Andreas Mavroyiannis. (AFP via France 24) 

NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg announces that he will not extend his mandate to serve a fourth term and is expected to step down from the office in October. (AFP via South China Morning Post) 

Konkoly Observatory, Hungary discovers a 1-metre (3.3-foot) asteroid predicted to fall harmlessly as a fireball over the English Channel at 3:00 AM UTC, making it the seventh asteroid to be discovered before impacting Earth. JPL Center for NEO Studies 

Saturday, February 11th, 2023 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau orders the takedown of an unidentified flying object over Yukon, which is later shot down by a United States Air Force F-22 Raptor using a AIM-9X Sidewinder. The Canadian Armed Forces have been deployed to collect and analyze the object. (CNN) 

A UFO over Havre, Montana, is detected by NORAD, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a NOTAM over the area. Montana Representative Matt Rosendale says that efforts to “observe and ground” the object would continue. (Reuters) 

Seven police officers are killed and another is injured when their vehicle is ambushed in Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro, Peru, in a suspected attack by remnants of Shining Path. (Infobae) 

The Alican border crossing between Armenia and Turkey briefly reopens to allow the passage of humanitarian aid following the Turkey–Syria earthquake for the first time since 1988. (AFP via Al Arabiya) 

Moldovan President Maia Sandu names pro-European Union academic Dorin Recean as the next Prime Minister of Moldova. (Politico) 

In association football, Spanish club Real Madrid win a record fifth FIFA Club World Cup title and eighth club world championship after defeating Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal 5–3 in the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup final at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, Morocco. With eight goals, the match was the highest scoring final in Club World Cup history. (Reuters via The Guardian) 

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Friday,  February 10th, 2023 

Two Israelis, a 20-year old man and a six year old child, are killed in a car-ramming attack in Ramot, Jerusalem. (Times of Israel) 

Thursday, February 9th, 2023 

Russia launches drone and cruise missile strikes across the south and east of Ukraine with large explosions reported in the Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. (The Guardian) 

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) suspends its operations in north-west Burkina Faso following the killings of two of its Burkinabé aid workers near Dédougou. (Africanews) 

The death toll from the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria increases to 21,051. (AFP via RFI) 

Four people are killed and several houses and buildings are destroyed by a 5.1 magnitude earthquake in Papua, Indonesia. (Xinhua via The Star) 

Poland announces the closure of a major border crossing with Belarus “until further notice” amid heightened tensions between the two countries. There are currently only two checkpoints open between the two nations. (Reuters) 

Three inmates are killed and 12 others are injured after soldiers open fire during a prison riot in Hatay Province, Turkey. The prisoners were demanding to see their families who were affected by the recent earthquake. (Gazete Duvar) 

The government of Nicaragua releases 222 political prisoners and sends them to the United States. (Reuters) 

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Wednesday, February 8th, 2023 

A court in Minsk, Belarus, sentences Polish–Belarusian activist Andrzej Poczobut to eight years in prison for criticising president Alexander Lukashenko. (RFE/RL) 

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the United Kingdom in his second trip outside Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, meeting with King Charles III and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and addressing Parliament at Westminster Hall. (Reuters) 

Following his UK visit, Zelenskyy visits France to meet President Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz. (AFP via RFI) 

Lee Sang-Min, the Minister of the Interior and Safety of South Korea, is impeached for his handling of the 2022 Seoul Halloween crowd crush. He is the first cabinet member of South Korea to be impeached. (AP) 

The Supreme Court of Nigeria postpones the demonetization of the old naira banknotes initially scheduled for January 31, then later rescheduled to February 11, citing a supply shortage of the redesigned banknotes. (CNN) 

Munster Technological University in the Republic of Ireland confirms that the incident affecting its computers is a ransomware attack. (The Journal) 

Two children are killed and six others are injured when a bus crashes into a daycare centre in Laval, Quebec, Canada. The driver is arrested and charged with homicide and dangerous driving. (La Presse) 

A data center outage leaves Twitter users in the United States and Canada unable to send messages and receiving an error message informing them that they have “exceeded the daily limit for sending tweets”. (Fortune) 

The UK Competition and Markets Authority has provisionally concluded that the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft will likely lead to substantial loss of competition in the console market and might strengthen Microsoft’s position in cloud gaming. (CNBC) 

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Wednesday, February 8th, 2023 

The UK Competition and Markets Authority has provisionally concluded that the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft will likely lead to substantial loss of competition in the console market and might strengthen Microsoft’s position in cloud gaming. (CNBC) 

The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, visits the United Kingdom in his second trip outside Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion. (Reuters) 

Tuesday,  February 7th, 2023 

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak carries out the first significant reshuffle of his majority government. The reshuffle filled the vacancy left by Nadhim Zahawi after he was dismissed as Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio on 29 January 2023. (BBC News) 

Police use tear gas to disperse protesters after the governor of Malaita province, Daniel Suidani, is removed in a no-confidence vote. Suidani was one of the strongest critics of the government’s approach to China. (The Guardian) 

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the 2023 State of the Union address to the 118th United States Congress. It was Biden’s second State of the Union Address, and his third speech to a joint session of the United States Congress. (CNN) 

The Peruvian environment ministry reports that the H5N1 influenza A virus has killed 585 sea lions and more than 55,000 birds within its protected areas in “recent weeks”. (AFP via Hindustan Times) 

The Federal Police arrest the military police officer in charge of security during the January 8 attack against the Brazilian Congress. (Reuters) 

The Free Papua Movement led by Egianus Kogoya burn a Susi Air plane, and take 15 passengers hostage, in Paro Airport, Nduga Regency, Highland Papua, Indonesia. (SCNOW) 

During a regular-season game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, LeBron James records his 38,388th career NBA point, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA all-time scoring leader. (ESPN) 

Tuesday,  February 7th, 2023 

At least 2,316 people are killed in Turkey and more than 1,340 others are killed in Syria as a magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes Gaziantep Province. (Al Jazeera) (BBC) 

A second earthquake of magnitude 7.5 occurs in Kahramanmaraş nine hours after the first quake. (Bloomberg) 

The Peruvian environment ministry reports that the H5N1 influenza A virus has killed 585 sea lions and more than 55,000 birds within its protected areas in “recent weeks”. (AFP via Hindustan Times) 

The Federal Police arrest the military police officer in charge of security during the January 8 attack against the Brazilian Congress. (Reuters) 

The Free Papua Movement led by Egianus Kogoya burn a Susi Air plane, and take 15 passengers hostage, in Paro Airport, Nduga Regency, Highland Papua, Indonesia. (SCNOW) 

During a regular-season game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, LeBron James records his 38,388th career NBA point, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA all-time scoring leader. (ESPN) 

The Federal Police arrest the military police officer in charge of security during the January 8 attack against the Brazilian Congress. (Reuters) 

Two of four Japanese gang leaders based in the Philippines are deported on suspicion of ordering around 2,300 cases of robberies and phone fraud activities worth ¥3.5 billion (US$26.4 million) in Japan. (AFP via The Manila Times) 

Police use tear gas to disperse protesters after the governor of Malaita province, Daniel Suidani, is ousted in a no-confidence vote. Suidani was one of the strongest critics of the government’s approach to China. (The Guardian) 

Monday,  February 6th, 2023 

The largest trial for the national security law against 47 pro-democracy activists begins in Hong Kong two years after their arrest. (DW) 

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church announces that the church will switch to the Revised Julian calendar on 1 September 2023 following the decision by the Synod of Bishops. (UGCC) 

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif orders the ban on Wikipedia to be lifted, after it was banned three days ago for alleged anti-Muslim and blasphemous content. (ProPakistani) 

Five Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades members are killed, three more injured and eight arrested during a raid by Israeli soldiers and subsequent gunbattle at a refugee camp near Jericho, in the occupied West Bank. (BBC News) 

The End