Portal:Current events/2012 February 8

Current events of February 8, 2012 (2012-02-08) (Wednesday)

Armed conflict and attacks

• Pakistani officials claim that US drone missiles have killed ten people in Spalga village in North Waziristan. (AP via Google News), (Reuters)
• The Syrian government has launched an offensive in Homs, with tanks reported in neighbourhoods and dozens of people reported as dying over the past few hours. (Al-Jazeera), (BBC/AFP via ABC Online)
• The Islamist group Al-Shabab claims responsibility for a car bombing in the Somalian capital Mogadishu which claims at least ten people and injures at least 20. (BBC)

Business and economy

• Histadrut, Israel's trade union organisation, calls a nationwide strike with Ben Gurion Airport to be closed until midday. (AP via Google News)
• Air France cancels long-haul flights due to a strike by staff. (AFP via Sydney Morning Herald)
• Airbus announces that it will inspect the wings of all Airbus 380 aircraft for cracks. (BBC)

Disasters

• The death toll from a factory collapse in Lahore, Pakistan, rises to 21. (AP via MSNBC)
• The New Zealand Royal Commission on the Pike River Mine disaster hears that a collapse in the coal extraction area was the most likely cause of the fatal blast in the mine on November 19, 2010 that claimed 29 lives. (TV New Zealand)
• Early 2012 European cold wave: The death toll throughout Europe rises to over 400 with the Danube River freezing over for 170 km. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Politics

• The new President of the Maldives Mohammed Waheed Hassan calls for the formation of a national unity government while supporters of former President Mohamed Nasheed riot. (AP via Herald-Sun), (AP via Christian Science Monitor)
• Three Bharatiya Janata Party Ministers in India's Karnataka state - Laxman Savadi, C C Patil and J. Krishna Palemar - are forced to resign after footage is shown of them watching a pornographic video in the Legislative Assembly. (Reuters)

Sport

• English football:
  • Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp is cleared of tax evasion at a London court. (BBC News)
  • Fabio Capello resigns as the Manager of the England national football team following the sacking of John Terry as captain. (Sky News)
  • The Football Association announces a press conference to be held at Wembley tomorrow noon. Telegraph
• The semi-finals of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations take place in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. (BBC Sport)