Portal:Current events/2023 August 9

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Bombing of Zaporizhzhia
      • At least two people are killed and seven others are injured in a Russian missile strike on a residential area in Zaporizhzhia. (Reuters)
• North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un appoints Vice Marshal Ri Yong-gil to replace General Park Su-il as the chief of the General Staff Department of the Korean People's Army, and calls for enhancing war preparations, including increased weapons production and more drills. (AFP via Arab News)

Disasters and accidents

• 2023 Hawaii wildfires
  • Parts of western and upcountry Maui island in Hawaii, United States, are evacuated as wildfires fueled by Hurricane Dora causes power outages and disruption to emergency services in western Maui and other parts of Hawaii including Oahu and the Big Island, with at least six people being killed. (AP)
  • A large part of the historic Lahaina town, including the Waiola Church and the Lahaina Hongwanji Mission Temple, is destroyed by the wildfires. (NBC News) (Maui News)
• 2023 Tunisia migrant boat disasters
  • Forty-one people are killed when a boat carrying 45 migrants from Sfax, Tunisia, capsizes and sinks in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy. (BBC News)
• Storm Hans
  • After several days of heavy rain in Norway, a dam collapses into the Glomma river in Braskereidfoss. Locals are evacuated. (NRK)
• At least 27 people are found dead in the western desert of Libya near the border with Tunisia. (AP)
• Eleven people are killed in a fire at a guesthouse accommodating disabled people in Wintzenheim, Alsace, France. (AFP via Le Monde)
• One person is killed and more than 50 others are injured in an explosion at the Zagorsk Optical-Mechanical Plant in Sergiyev Posad, Moscow Oblast, Russia. (BBC News)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • The World Health Organization classifies the EG.5 variant of COVID-19 as a variant of interest. The variant has been spreading rapidly in the United States. (DW via ABS-CBN)

International relations

• Global Affairs Canada announces new sanctions against Belarus on the three-year anniversary of the 2020 Belarusian presidential election. (Global News)

Law and crime

• A man in Provo, Utah, United States, who made threats against President Joe Biden is shot and killed by FBI agents. (AFP via The Manila Times)

Politics and elections

• 2023 Ecuadorian general election
  • Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio is assassinated by gunmen at a campaign rally in Quito. (El Universo) (BBC News)