Portal:Current events/2013 February 4

February 4, 2013 (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian civil war
- At least 20 people die in Aleppo, Syria, after an apartment complex is 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

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 in the end of the 2013 Alabama bunker hostage crisis. (ABC News)

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 successful launching 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