Portal:Current events/2008 January 31

• War in Afghanistan:
  • A suicide bomber at a mosque in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan kills the deputy governor of Helmand Province, Pir Mohammad, and five others. (AP via the San Jose Mercury News)
  • Western officials and al-Qaeda websites claim Abu Laith al-Libi, a senior al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan, has been killed in recent fighting. (BBC News)

• Internet failure affects parts of Asia and Africa after two undersea cables, SEA-ME-WE 4 and FLAG, are damaged. (CNN)

• A new disease, progressive inflammatory neuropathy (PIN), is found in pig slaughterhouse workers in southeastern Minnesota. (CDC)

• All government ministers in French Polynesia resign en masse in solidarity with one of their colleagues, who was fined for corruption. (Radio New Zealand)

• 2008 United States presidential election: Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama hold the first two-person debate. (CNN)

Kobe Bryant tied the Los Angeles Lakers franchise record for most turnovers in a single game with 11, in a loss to the Detroit Pistons. https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200801310DET.html