current Events/2023 February 3

• Tigray War
  • Tigrayan peace process
    • Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed meets with officials of the Tigray People's Liberation Front for the first time since the signing of a peace treaty in November. (AFP via RFI)

Business and economy

• The FTSE 100 Index, the main share index of the 100 most highly capitalized companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, reaches a record intraday value of 7,906.58 points, surpassing the previous highest intraday value of 7,903.50 points recorded on May 22, 2018. (AFP via Barron's)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Chile wildfires
  • Chile expands its state of emergency due to wildfires that have killed at least 23 people and burned up to 8,000 hectares and also declares a catastrophe in the Biobío region amid a summer heat wave. (Reuters)
• Three people are killed and several others are injured when a bus overturns near Murska Sobota, Prekmurje, Slovenia. (AP)
• At least seventeen people are killed in a head-on collision between a bus and a truck in Kohat District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (AP)
• 2023 Ohio train derailment
  • A train carrying 20 cars of hazardous material derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The material was burned, which released hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the air, causing an evacuation of all residents within a one-mile radius of the crash and an emergency response across three states.

International relations

• High-altitude object events in 2023
  • 2023 Chinese balloon incident
    • China–United States relations
      • The United States accuses China of "a clear violation of sovereignty" after a suspected meteorological high altitude balloon is noted hovering over Montana. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken postpones his official visit to Beijing, initially scheduled for February 5, in response to the incident. (The Independent) (The Guardian) (Al Jazeera)
      • The United States Department of Defense reports that a second high altitude balloon has been discovered flying over Latin America. (NBC News)

Law and crime

• Corruption in South Korea
  • A court in South Korea sentences former justice minister Cho Kuk to two years in prison after convicting him on charges of abuse of power and for helping his children enter prestigious schools using fake credentials. (The Washington Post)

Science and technology

• The Brazilian Navy scuttles the decommissioned aircraft carrier São Paulo into the Atlantic Ocean, following the rejections of injunctions from the Ministry of the Environment and the Federal Public Ministry. (AFP via RFI)