February 6, 2018 (Tuesday)
Disasters and accidents
- 2018 Hualien earthquake
- Multiple earthquakes, including a magnitude 6.4 earthquake, strike near Hualien City, Taiwan. At least 9 people are killed and over 250 are injured, with extensive damage to many structures in the city. (The Independent)
Law and crime
- Weinstein effect
- In the United States, billionaire Steve Wynn, best known for his casino hotels and resorts, resigns as CEO of Wynn Resorts following sexual harassment reports, including a $7.5 million settlement with a former worker at his Las Vegas resort. (The New York Times)
Politics and elections
- Freedom of the press in Turkey
- Turkey detains nearly 600 people for social media posts and protests opposing the Afrin offensive in Syria. (Reuters)
- Politics of the Maldives
- Former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed calls from exile for other countries to intervene in a political crisis engulfing the island nation. Nasheed asks India to help release prisoners and the United States to curb leaders' financial transactions. (BBC)
- Amendment to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance
- Polish President Andrzej Duda ratifies a controversial Holocaust bill, despite angry protests from Israel and the United States. Duda defends the legislation, which will make it illegal to accuse the Polish state of complicity in the Holocaust during the Nazi occupation. (BBC) (Bloomberg)
Science and technology
- Falcon Heavy test flight
- SpaceX successfully launches its Falcon Heavy rocket, a feat the space company hopes will lead to increased commercial and national security missions. Both boosters were successfully landed and recovered. The core didn't land and was softly ditched in the water near the drone ship. The rocket launched Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster, playing "Life on Mars" by David Bowie, which is expected to be in an elliptic orbit of the sun, close to Mars, for several hundred million years. (Los Angeles Times)
- Ozone depletion
- Scientists (in the article published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics) warn that the ozone layer that protects people from the sun's ultraviolet radiation is recovering only over less populated areas. (The Guardian)