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)
