Portal:Current events/2016 February 23

Current events of February 23, 2016 (2016-02-23) (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian Civil War
  • Battle of Aleppo (2012–present)
    • ISIL militants cut off the Syrian Army's main supply route to the city of Aleppo and capture the village of Khanasir, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2015–16 South Pacific cyclone season
  • Cyclone Winston
    • The death toll from Cyclone Winston in Fiji rises to 29. (BBC)
• Water supply is restored to the Indian city of Delhi as repairs are made to the vital Munak canal after the Jat reservation agitation is resolved. (BBC)
• 2015–16 Australian bushfire season
  • Emergency warnings are issued after bushfires threaten the Victorian towns of Mount Bolton and Addington northwest of Ballarat as well as the town of Somerville, Victoria, on the Mornington Peninsula. (ABC News Australia)
• Dalfsen train crash
  • A train derails near the Dutch town of Dalfsen with reports of at least one death and several injured. (BBC), (AAP via News Limited)
• 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)
• Tornadoes of 2016
  • At least two people are dead and 30 injured after a suspected tornado hits a trailer park near the village of Convent, Louisiana. At least one other person has died in the Deep South of the United States. (WWL TV), (Fox News)
• A 4.8 magnitude earthquake strikes near Wasco, California, about 25 miles northwest of Bakersfield. There are no reports of damage or injuries. (Los Angeles Times)

Health

• Zika virus outbreak (2015–present)
  • The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating 14 cases where the Zika virus may have been sexually transmitted. (NBC News)

International relations

• Foreign relations of Lebanon
  • The United Arab Emirates (UAE) bans its citizens from traveling to Lebanon, just hours after Saudi Arabia issued a warning to its citizens to leave Lebanon in retaliation for Lebanon choosing to side with Iran in the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict and Hezbollah's influence on the Lebanese government. (Middle East Eye)
• South China Sea disputes
  • China reportedly deploys several J-11 and Xian JH-7 fighter jets to the disputed Woody Island in the South China Sea. (Fox News)

Law and crime

• The President of the United States Barack Obama announces plans to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. Obama made similar statements during his first presidential campaign in 2007 and had previously stated that the camp would be closed by 2010. (CNN)

Politics and elections

• 2016 United States presidential election
  • Republican Party voters, in precinct gatherings, hold the Nevada caucuses with Donald Trump winning, Marco Rubio coming second, and Ted Cruz finishing in third place. (ABC 7), (Washington Examiner), Oregon Live)