Portal:Current events/2019 February 8
{{Current events|year=2019|month=02|day=08|content=
;Disasters and accidents
- 2018–19 North American winter
- Washington Governor Jay Inslee declares a state of emergency as a winter storm that could bring up to {{convert|8|in|cm}} of snow begins to affect the state. [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/snow-storm-wallops-pacific-northwest-people-rescued-sierra-nevada-n969681 (NBC News)]
- A fire at Flamengo sports club's youth training camp in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, leaves ten people dead and three injured. [https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/08/football/flamengo-training-ground-fire-youth-team-spt-intl/index.html (CNN)]
- A train collision near Barcelona, Spain, leaves one dead and 100 injured. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/spain-1-dead-8-injured-in-train-crash-near-barcelona/2019/02/08/669e421c-2bd1-11e9-906e-9d55b6451eb4_story.html (The Washington Post)]
;Law and crime
- 2010–2017 Toronto serial homicides
- Bruce McArthur is sentenced to life imprisonment for eight murders in Toronto, making him the oldest known sexually motivated serial killer in Canadian history. [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/bruce-mcarthur-sentence-parole-eligibility-1.5009291 (CBC News)] [https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/01/29/police-met-mcarthur-shortly-after-his-first-three-murders-his-age-may-have-helped-him-hide-in-plain-sight-experts-say.html (Toronto Star)]
;Politics and elections
- 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, Crisis in Venezuela, United States–Venezuela relations
- A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, reveals that the United States government is holding direct communications with members of Venezuela's military urging them to abandon Nicolás Maduro. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-military-exclusive/exclusive-u-s-in-direct-contact-with-venezuelan-military-urging-defections-source-idUSKCN1PX22L (Reuters)]
- Accession of Macedonia to NATO
- In a 153–140 vote, the Parliament of Greece ratifies the NATO accession protocol for North Macedonia. [https://www.rferl.org/a/greek-parliament-ratifies-north-macedonia-nato-protocol/29758337.html (RFE/RL)]
- Spanish constitutional crisis
- The Spanish government announces that it is breaking off dialogue with the government of Catalonia, escalating the regional crisis. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-spain-politics-catalonia/spain-says-catalan-separatists-rejected-talks-needed-for-budget-idUSKCN1PX1Q0?il=0 (Reuters)]
- 2019 Thai general election
- Thai Princess Ubolratana conveyed a message of thanks to Thais on Saturday morning after King Vajiralongkorn issued a royal announcement late on Friday night saying political involvement by a senior royal is inappropriate. [https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1626498/princess-ubolratana-says-thanks-to-thais (Bangkok Post)]
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