02.08.2024 thursday [i complete]

Friday,  February 9th, 2024 

At least 340 members of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police flee into neighboring Bangladesh and are disarmed and detained by Border Guard Bangladesh in the past week amidst continued fighting against the Arakan Army(ABC News) 

The Federal Court of Malaysia in a landmark ruling declares several Islamic legislation passed by the State Government of Kelantan as unconstitutional. (CNA) 

Four people are killed and one is injured during a mass shooting at a market in Rustavi, Georgia. The gunman is arrested. (Reuters) 

Thursday, February 8th, 2024 

Trump v. Anderson The US Supreme Court hears arguments on whether former US President Donald Trump is ineligible to run for a second term as president, for allegedly violating Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. (CBS News) 

NASA‘s PACE mission is launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States, to study Earth’s ocean and atmosphere. (Ars Technica) 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismisses Valerii Zaluzhnyi from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, following months of rumors about a conflict between Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyi. Ground Forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi is appointed Commander-in-Chief to replace Zaluzhnyi. (BBC News) 

Icelandic officials declare a state of emergency after a new volcanic eruption cuts off hot water for approximately 20,000 people south of Reykjavík. (NU) 

The death toll from a landslide in Baghdati, Imereti, Georgia, increases to nine, following the conclusion of search operations. (RFE/RL)

Five United States Marines are confirmed dead after a Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter, which crashed yesterday in San Diego County, California, United States, is located. (NBC News) 

Pakistanis elect members of the 16th National Assembly. (Reuters) 

Mobile phone services are temporarily suspended and thousands of troops are deployed to protect polling stations during the 2024 Pakistani general election as five policemen are killed in a bombing targeting a patrol in Kulachi and two children are killed in a bombing at a polling station in Balochistan. (Reuters) 

Meta suspends the Instagram accounts of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for violating its “Dangerous Organizations & Individuals policy”. (Middle East Eye) 

Wednesday, February 7th, 2024 

A USAF MQ-9 Reaper kills three Kata’ib Hezbollah militants in a precision airstrike using a Hellfire missile, including a high ranking commander, in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP) 

Pakistan closes all border crossings with Afghanistan until further notice in response to the attacks. (Pajhwok) 

Naranjal city councilwoman Diana Carnero is shot and killed by unknown gunmen immediately following a city council meeting. (El Universo) 

It is announced that former Chilean president Sebastián Piñera will receive a state funeral with the wake lasting until February 9. (Emol) 

Five United States Marines are missing after a Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashes in San Diego County, California, United States(NBC News) 

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia confirms that eight people have been killed and another is missing, following a landslide in Baghdati, Imereti, on February 6, the same day that two more have also been killed in separate events in Adjara(Agenda.ge) 

Nicaragua grants political asylum to former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli after he requests protection at the Nicaraguan embassy in Panama City, Panama(Reuters) 

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is re-elected for a fifth term in office. (Reuters) 

The End Friday 

Below posted 

Russian forces launch a wave of missile and drone strikes across Ukraine, killing at least three civilians and wounding 11 others, including two in Kyiv. Cruise missiles are reported over Lviv, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk. (BBC News) 

Twin bombings outside electoral offices kill at least 29 people and injure dozens more in Balochistan, Pakistan, ahead of tomorrow’s general election. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. (AP) 

The Government of Thailand and Muslim separatists from the southern part of the country agreed a possible peace process to stop an insurrection which started in 2004. (AP) 

The Greek island of Aegina is left without drinking water after an explosion disables a 12-kilometer-long (7.5-mile) undersea fresh water pipeline. Greater Athens governor Nikos Hardalias calls it an act of sabotage. (AP) 

Ten people are killed and 20 others are injured in an explosion at a market in Mogadishu, Somalia. (Al Jazeera) 

Former Chilean president Sebastián Piñera dies in a helicopter crash in Ranco Lake, Chile. (Reuters) 

Nevada holds its Republican Party presidential primary. However, the Republican Party boycotts the primary and will award no delegates to the winner. The party plans to hold a presidential caucus on February 8 to award its delegates. (Al Jazeera) 

Eleven people are killed and 150 others are injured in a fire at a fireworks factory in Harda, India. (AP) 

At least seven people are killed in a landslide in Maco, Davao de Oro, Philippines. Search operations are ongoing for 48 others missing, which include mine workers. (AFP via The Philippine Star) 

Two Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front shooters open fire outside Turkey’s Istanbul Justice Palace, killing one and wounding five, before being killed in a shootout with police. (Al Jazeera) 

The Dutch owner of Yandex, a Russian multinational technology company and search engine, Yandex N.V, announces the sale of the company to a “fully-Russian owned entity” for 475 billion rubles ($5.2bn), marking its withdrawal from the country. (BBC News) 

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., United States, rules that former President Donald Trump does not have presidential immunity, and thus can be prosecuted for attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. (BBC News) 

A drone attack against a U.S. military base in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Syria, kills seven Syrian Democratic Forces fighters and injures 18 others. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claims responsibility. (Al Jazeera) (AP) 

Ten police officers are killed and six others are injured during an attack by Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan militants against a police station in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Al Jazeera) 

A landslide kills at least 20 people, 13 in Davao de Oro and seven in Davao del Norte, Philippines, and leaves at least two others missing. (Reuters) 

Hungary’s ruling party Fidesz boycotts an extraordinary National Assembly session called by opposition groupings to speed up the approval of Sweden’s NATO membership bid. (Politico) 

King of the United Kingdom Charles III is diagnosed with cancer after a medical examination. (BBC News) 

Four people are killed in a shooting in Chilpancingo, Mexico. (AP) 

Thirty-seven people are killed during fights over a suspected land feud in the disputed region of Abyei on the border between South Sudan and Sudan(AP) 

Miley Cyrus wins her first Grammy Award for her 2023 single “Flowers“. (CBS News) 

Taylor Swift wins Album of the Year for Midnights and announces she will be releasing a new album, The Tortured Poets Department, on April 19, 2024. (Variety) 

The death toll from major wildfires in Valparaíso, Chile, increases to at least 112 people, with between 3,000 and 6,000 houses damaged in the fires. (BBC News) 

Salvadorans vote to elect the president, vice president, and Legislative Assembly. With over 80% of the popular vote, Nayib Bukele wins re-election in a first-round landslide. (BBC News) (Reuters) 

President of Namibia Hage Geingob dies at the age of 82, and is succeeded by Vice-President Nangolo Mbumba on an acting basis. (The Namibian) 

The United States and United Kingdom launch airstrikes against 36 Houthi targets in Yemen, including underground weapons storage facilities, missile systems, radars, and command and control centres. (Reuters) 

The End

pumpkin soup

Protesters throw pumpkin soup at the Mona Lisa in the Louvre in Paris, France. The painting is protected by bulletproof glass and was not damaged. (BBC News) 

American neurotechnology company Neuralink announces it has implanted its brain–computer interface in a human brain for the first time, and that the person is “recovering well” with “initial results showing promising neuron spike detection”. (The Guardian) 

Chinese property sector crisis  – The High Court of Hong Kong orders Evergrande Group into liquidation after the real estate developer fails to restructure a debt amount in excess of US$300 billion. (AP) 

Kata’ib Hezbollah suspends operations against the U.S. military in Iraq, in order to “prevent embarrassment of the Iraqi government”. (Reuters) 

The Ukrainian Air Force launches a wave of Storm Shadow cruise missile strikes on Russian military infrastructure in Crimea, with explosions reported near Sevastopol International Airport. Russia says it shot down 20 Ukrainian missiles over the Black Sea. (The Telegraph) 

The European Union formally approves a €50 billion financial support package for Ukraine after Hungary withdraws its veto. The package is expected to help the Ukrainian government pay pensions, salaries and other costs over the next four years with the first funds being released in March. (BBC News) 

Russia and Ukraine conduct a prisoner exchange on the border, with 195 soldiers being returned to Russia, and 207 military personnel and civilians being returned to Ukraine, respectively. The deal was facilitated by the United Arab Emirates. (BBC News) 

Russia claims control of the village of Tabaivka in Kharkiv Oblast. However, Ukraine denies this claim. (Kyiv Independent) 

A hangar currently under construction collapses in Boise, Idaho, United States, killing three people and injuring nine. (ABC News) 

Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar of Johor becomes the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. (Reuters) 

Ukrainian forces say that they shot down a Russian Su-34 fighter jet over Luhansk Oblast. (Kyiv Post) 

The Lviv Oblast becomes the first oblast in Ukraine to remove all Soviet Union-era monuments. (Reuters) 

Four people are killed and 15 others are rescued after a boat capsizes while travelling between Cancún and Isla MujeresQuintana Roo, Mexico. (AP) 

A bus collides with a truck on a highway in Elota, Sinaloa, Mexico, killing 19 people and injuring 18 others. (AP) 

Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan is sentenced to ten years in prison for leaking state secrets. (BBC News) 

Balochistan Liberation Army separatists launch rockets against security forces in Machh, Balochistan, Pakistan, killing a police officer and injuring 15 others, in response to Pakistan’s Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar. Six militants are killed in the ensuing shootout. (AP) 

Four current National Hockey League players who took part in the 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships are charged with sexual assault in London, Ontario, Canada in connection with the 2018 investigation(CBC) 

Four men are executed in Iran after being convicted of planning a bomb attack ordered by Israel’s Mossad on a military equipment factory. (Al Jazeera) 

Baloch Liberation Army forces launch a multipronged attack dubbed “Operation Dara-e-Bolan” on Pakistani security forces, capturing checkpoints and Pakistani bases in Machh, and attacking other areas, including Kolpur(The Balochistan Post) 

Amazon terminates its proposed US$1.7 billion acquisition of consumer robot manufacturer iRobot Corporation after facing antitrust scrutiny from the European Commission. (AP) 

The man who claimed that he is the fugitive Satoshi Kirishima, a former member of the East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front who was wanted for his role in a series of bombings in the 1970s and who was arrested by Japanese police on January 25, dies in a hospital in TokyoJapan. However, it has not been confirmed if the man was actually Kirishima. (NHK World) 

Police arrest five people for the deaths of six people found in the desert near El MirageCalifornia, United States, over an illegal marijuana trade. The victims were shot dead, with the bodies of four of them being burned. (The Guardian) 

Former President of South Africa Jacob Zuma is suspended from the African National Congress, the party he led from 2007 to 2017. (BBC News) 

Three American soldiers are killed and 34 others are injured in a drone attack upon a U.S. base in RukbanMafraq Governorate, Jordan, near the border with Syria, by Islamic Resistance in Iraq militants. (CNBC) 

A Turkish man is shot dead by two masked gunmen at an Italian Roman Catholic church in Sarıyer, Istanbul, Turkey. The Islamic State claims responsibility. (AP) 

Piper PA-46 crashes in the rural area of ItapevaMinas Gerais, Brazil, killing all seven people on board. (O Globo) 

In Afghanistan, ten vehicles crash on the main highway linking Kabul and the eastern Nangarhar Province, killing 17 people and wounding ten others. Separately, 15 people are killed during four collisions in Laghman Province, near the end of the same highway. (AP) 

Six hundred hectares of forest are destroyed by fire in Los Alerces National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Patagonia, Argentina. (NOS) 

In tennis, Jannik Sinner defeats Daniil Medvedev in the final, 3–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–3, to win the men’s singles title at the 2024 Australian Open. It is Sinner’s first major singles title and the first for an Italian player at the tournament. (CNN) 

In American football, the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers defeat the Detroit Lions to advance to Super Bowl LVIII(USA Today)