wikinews

2026 February 08

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war
    • A 65-year-old man accused of shooting and critically injuring lieutenant general Vladimir Alekseyev on February 6 is detained in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is deported to Moscow, Russia. (Sky News)
• Nigerian bandit conflict
  • One person is killed in a shooting attack by heavily armed bandits in a community in Kwara State, Nigeria. (The Punch)
• Sudanese civil war
  • Three people are killed when an airstrike carried out by the RSF hits a humanitarian aid vehicle in North Kordofan, Sudan (Sudan Tribune)
• Myanmar civil war
  • Sixty homes and a Buddhist Dharma hall are damaged, and 3 civilians die in airstrikes carried out by the SAC in Chin State, Myanmar (Burma News International)

Business and economy

• United States embargo against Cuba
  • Cuba suspends refueling for airliners at its airports, including José Martí International Airport, saying it has exhausted the country’s fuel supply due to the U.S. blockade of the island and the end of fuel supplies from Venezuela. (First Post)

Disasters and accidents

• More than 30 people are killed and many others are seriously injured in a traffic accident in Gezawa, Kano State, Nigeria. (The Punch)
• Fifteen people are killed and eight others are injured when two adjoining five-story residential buildings collapse in Tripoli, Lebanon. (Reuters)
• Five people are killed and three others are injured when their truck crashes into a fence in Valencia, Bukidnon, Philippines. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• Three people are killed and three others are injured in a multi-vehicle crash in Al Batinah North Governorate, Oman.(Gulf News)

International relations

• Cuba–Nicaragua relations
  • Nicaragua terminates visa-free entry for Cubans, revoking a policy that previously allowed thousands to transit through the country on their way to the United States. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• 2026 political prisoner release in Venezuela
  • Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa is released from prison after more than eight months of incarceration in Caracas. (AP) Several hours later he is kidnapped by heavily armed men in civilian clothing.
• Censorship in Iran
  • An Iranian court sentences 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to seven years and six months in prison and two years of internal exile in South Khorasan for collusion and propaganda-related charges, with the penalties running concurrently. (AFP via GMA News)
• Human trafficking in Senegal
  • Senegalese gendarmerie arrest 14 people in Dakar and Kaolack who are allegedly involved in a human trafficking network run by a French national. (AP)

Politics and elections

• Connections of Jeffrey Epstein
  • Relationship of Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein
    • Morgan McSweeney, the chief of staff to British prime minister Keir Starmer, resigns over his role in Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the U.S. (The Guardian)
  • Mona Juul, Norway’s ambassador to Iraq and Jordan, resigns after the foreign ministry opened an inquiry into her past contacts with Jeffrey Epstein, amid media reports that Epstein left money to her children. (AFP via Daily Tribune)
• 2026 Spanish regional elections
  • 2026 Aragonese regional election
    • In Aragon, Spain, the ruling People’s Party wins the election, albeit without a majority and losing two seats, while the Socialists’ Party comes second matching its worst result ever and the far-right Vox party doubles its votes and seats. (elDiario.es)
• 2025–26 Republika Srpska presidential election
  • Independent Social Democrat candidate Siniša Karan wins a partial rerun of the Republika Srpska presidential election held after irregularities in the November vote, defeating Serb Democratic Party candidate Branko Blanuša in balloting limited to 136 polling stations. (Reuters)
• 2026 Japanese general election
  • Japanese citizens vote to elect all 465 seats in the House of Representatives, with the conservative ruling Liberal Democratic Party winning an overwhelming majority. (AP)
• 2026 Portuguese presidential election
  • Socialist Party candidate António José Seguro is elected President of Portugal, defeating CHEGA leader André Ventura in the second round. (Reuters)
  • The postponement of elections in some municipalities is expected due to recent windstorms, including impacts from Storm Kristin. (AFP via RFI) (Politico)
• 2026 Thai general election, 2026 Thai constitutional referendum
  • Thai citizens vote to elect all 500 seats in the House of Representatives, with the conservative Bhumjaithai Party winning the most seats. Voters also approved the beginning of a multi-stage drafting process to replace the current constitution. (AP) (DW)
• Politics of Australia
  • The Liberal–National Coalition of Australia reforms in Opposition following its second split in the span of a year. (The Guardian)

Sports

• Super Bowl LX
  • In American football, the Seattle Seahawks defeat the New England Patriots, 29–13, to win their second Super Bowl, and their first in 12 years. Seahawks running back (RB) Kenneth Walker III is awarded MVP, the first RB to receive the award in 28 years. (ABC News) (NFL)

2026 February 07

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Israeli–Palestinian conflict
  • Gaza war
    • An Israeli airstrike destroys a residential building outside the areas controlled by Israel in Zaytun Quarter, Gaza Strip, Palestine. (Al Jazeera)
  • Israeli settler violence
    • Three Palestinians are injured when Israeli settlers attack residents in the northern Jordan Valley. (Al Jazeera)
• Kivu conflict
  • Allied Democratic Forces insurgency
    • The Allied Democratic Forces attack a village in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least 20 people. (AP)
• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure, Ukrainian energy crisis
    • Ukraine schedules emergency power outages across the country citing Russian attacks on thermal power stations. (The Kyiv Independent)
• Sudanese civil war
  • Kordofan Campaign
    • At least 24 people are killed, including eight children, in a drone strike by the Rapid Support Forces on a vehicle carrying displaced families near Er Rahad, North Kordofan, Sudan. (CTV News)
• 2026 Islamabad mosque bombing
  • Pakistani security forces arrest four people allegedly associated with the Khorasan Islamic State, accusing them of bombing the Shia mosque in Islamabad yesterday. (AP)
• Nigerian bandit conflict
  • Armed men kill three people and kidnap eleven others, including a Catholic priest, in Kaduna State, Nigeria. (AP)

Business and economy

• Saudi Arabia–Syria relations
  • Saudi Arabia and Syria sign agreements covering a joint low-cost carrier, a new international airport in Aleppo, and a US$1 billion telecommunications project as part of broader investment efforts following the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria. (AFP via The Straits Times)

Disasters and accidents

• Fifteen people are killed after a minibus veers off a road and crashes into a valley near Badakhshan province, Afghanistan. (The Express Tribune)
• Eight people are killed in an explosion at a biotechnology factory in Shanyin County, Shanxi, China. (Xinhua)
• Seven people are killed in a mining accident at a gold mine in Zhaoyuan, Shandong, China. (Xinhua)
• Six people are killed and three are injured after a truck rams into a bus on the Yamuna Expressway, Uttar Pradesh, India. (The Hindu)
• Two people are killed, nine others are injured, and several are trapped, including students, when a three-story restaurant collapses in Kota, Rajasthan, India. (The Times of India) (CNN-News18)
• Three skiers are killed in avalanches in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Lombardy, Italy. (Reuters)
• The bodies of six men killed in a coal mine explosion in Colombia are recovered. (ABC News)

International relations

• Algeria–United Arab Emirates relations
  • Algeria begins formal procedures to terminate its 2013 air transport agreement with the United Arab Emirates. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• 2026 Winter Olympics
  • Suspected saboteurs damage rail infrastructure in different locations near Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, disrupting journeys on the first full day of the Winter Olympics. (CBC News)
  • Anti-Olympics protestors and police clash in Milan, Italy, with officers and their vans being targeted with fireworks and firecrackers. (CNN)
• Bashkir State Medical University attack, Neo-Nazism in Russia
  • Seven people are injured, including the perpetrator and four Indian nationals, in a mass stabbing at the Bashkir State Medical University in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia. (The Hindu)
• Police arrest a woman and seize over 10,500 blasting gelatin sticks, wires, and detonators from a lorry carrying onions parked at a bricks manufacturing unit in Chemmad, Kerala, India. (PTI)
• Police detain 313 people involved in a raid on the Aristotle University campus in Thessaloniki, Greece, after they attacked a group of riot police. (AP)

Politics and elections

• Haitian crisis
  • The mandate for the Transitional Presidential Council in Haiti expires, with the powers of the presidency transferred to Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, who survived a removal attempt by the council two weeks ago. (AFP via RFI) (The New York Times)

2026 February 06

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Middle Eastern crisis
  • Gaza war
    • Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip
      • An Israeli airstrike hits a building in Gaza City, Palestine. (Al Arabiya English)
  • Iraqi insurgency
    • The Iraqi Air Force carries out airstrikes on Islamic State hideouts near Hatra in northern Nineveh Governorate, Iraq, using F-16 fighter jets, killing four militants and destroying logistical facilities. (Shafaqna)
    • An Islamic State suicide bomber detonates explosives at a hideout in Al-Qa’im District, Iraq, during an attempted arrest, killing himself and injuring two security officers. (AP)
• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war
    • The deputy head of Russian military intelligence, lieutenant general Vladimir Alekseyev, is shot and critically injured in Moscow, Russia. (BBC News)
• Sudanese civil war
  • Kordofan Campaign
    • One person is killed and three others are injured in drone strikes by the Rapid Support Forces on a humanitarian convoy of the World Food Programme in Allah Karim near El-Obeid, North Kordofan, Sudan. (AA)
• 2026 Islamabad mosque bombing
  • Thirty-two people are killed and 170 others are wounded in a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan. The Islamic State – Pakistan Province claims responsibility. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

• The wreckage of an Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante operating a cargo flight for Agape Flights that went missing yesterday is found in Jérémie, Grand’Anse, Haiti. Both pilots were killed. (BAAA-ACRO) (Miami Herald)
• At least 53 people are killed or missing, including two babies, and two others are rescued when a rubber boat capsizes north of Zuwarah, Tripolitania, Libya. (Al Jazeera)
• Three men, including the pilot, are killed when a light aircraft crashes into the ocean off Goolwa South, South Australia. (Reuters)

International relations

• Greenland crisis
  • Canada–Denmark relations, Denmark–France relations, Foreign relations of Greenland
    • Canada and France open consulates in Nuuk, Greenland, to reinforce support for the Danish Realm against United States president Donald Trump’s threats to unilaterally annex the territory. (DW)
• Iran–United States relations, International sanctions against Iran
  • The United States Department of State issues sanctions on 14 oil tankers that are used to transport oil to Iran. (The New Arab)

Law and crime

• 2012 Benghazi attack
  • One of the “key participants” behind the 2012 attack on two United States government facilities in Benghazi, Libya, that killed ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, is arrested, charged with murder, arson and terrorism and brought to the United States. (Al Jazeera)
• Cannabis in North Macedonia
  • North Macedonian police seize 28 tonnes of cannabis, the largest such haul in the country, from former industrial sites in Skopje and Strumica, link the operation to a recent five-tonne seizure in Serbia, and state that the material originated from licensed medicinal-growing facilities but was diverted for unauthorized use. (Reuters)
• Capital punishment in North Korea, Mass media in North Korea
  • Amnesty International reports that North Koreans are being executed for watching the South Korean series Squid Game and listening to K-pop. (Sky News)
• Deaths and misconduct in Mother and Baby homes in the Republic of Ireland
  • A further 22 sets of infant remains are recovered from the former site of the Tuam Mother and Baby home in County Galway, Ireland, bringing the total to 33 sets of remains. (RTÉ)
• Ipswich serial murders
  • English serial killer Steven Wright, who killed five women in 2006, receives another life sentence after he admitted to murdering a 17-year-old girl in 1999. (Reuters via CTV News)
• Organized crime in France
  • At least six people, including a child, are injured in a grenade attack at a beauty salon in Grenoble, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. (Xinhua News Agency) (Le Parisien in French)
• Schellenberg smuggling incident
  • China overturns the death sentence of Canadian citizen Robert Lloyd Schellenberg after he was detained on drug trafficking charges in 2014. (AFP via CTV News)
• TikTok controversies
  • The European Commission, in a preliminary statement regarding their ongoing investigation into TikTok, finds evidence of “addictive design” in its app, which could affect children and vulnerable adults, in possible violation of the European Union’s Digital Services Act. (RTÉ)
• Bodies and remains are found in an area where search and rescue operations are ongoing for 10 missing workers kidnapped from a Canadian gold and silver mine in Sinaloa, Mexico, on January 28. Four people are arrested. (CP24)
• A funeral home owner is sentenced to 40 years in prison for abusing 189 corpses and giving their families fake ashes in Penrose, Colorado, United States. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

• Corruption in China
  • Former vice president of the Bank of China Lin Jingzhen is expelled from the Chinese Communist Party following an investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection that found “serious violations of discipline and laws”. (Reuters)

Sports

• 2026 Winter Olympics
  • The opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, is held. (NBC News)

2026 February 05

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Sudanese civil war
  • Kordofan Campaign
    • At least 22 people are killed and eight others are injured in a bombing by the Rapid Support Forces at a military hospital in South Kordofan, Sudan. (AA)
• Middle Eastern crisis
  • Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy seizes two foreign oil tankers allegedly smuggling fuel in the Persian Gulf. Fifteen crew members onboard both tankers are taken into custody. (The Canadian Press via MSN)
• United States strikes on alleged drug traffickers during Operation Southern Spear
  • The United States Navy strikes a boat suspected of transporting illegal narcotics in the Eastern Pacific, killing two people. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2026 Pacific typhoon season
  • At least eight people are killed and more than 28,000 are displaced after Tropical Storm Penha makes landfall in the southern Philippines. (AP)
• An explosion at an illegal coal mine in East Jaintia Hills district, Meghalaya, India, kills at least 25 people. (Hindustan Times) (AP)
• Thirteen people are killed and 34 others are injured after a bus carrying wedding guests falls down a 200-meter slope near Kathmandu, Nepal. (AP)
• Ten people are killed and several others injured after a bus falls down a 100-meter ravine in Eliodoro Camacho Province, Bolivia. (Reuters)
• At least three people are killed and seven others are injured when a car crashes into a 99 Ranch Market in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United States. (KGO-TV)
• One person is killed and three others are injured when a double-decker bus strikes pedestrians in Dublin, Ireland. (Sky News)

International relations

• English Channel illegal migrant crossings
  • Angola, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo agree to take back foreign offenders and illegal migrants from the United Kingdom after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood threatened them with visa penalties. Around 3,000 people are expected to be returned following the deal. (BBC News)
• International sanctions against North Korea, United Nations and North Korea
  • The UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea approves exemptions for 17 humanitarian projects in North Korea, allowing international organizations and non-governmental groups to deliver humanitarian aid despite existing restrictions linked to the country’s nuclear program. (Reuters)
• Russia–United States relations
  • New START, the last treaty on limiting strategic nuclear weapons between Russia and the United States, expires. (BBC News) (swissinfo)
  • Russia and the United States agree to re-establish high-level military communication for the first time since it was suspended in 2021 under the Biden administration. (AP)
• The Moldovan parliament ratifies the United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty. (Parliament of Moldova)

Law and crime

• Kidnapping in Nigeria
  • The remaining 89 people kidnapped from three churches in Kaduna State, Nigeria, by criminal gangs on January 18, are released. (Africanews via MSN)
• Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
  • An Azerbaijani military court sentences 13 former Nagorno-Karabakh officials, including ex-leader Arayik Harutyunyan, to penalties ranging from 15 years to life imprisonment after convicting them of offences such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, terrorism, genocide, and attempting to seize power by force. (Reuters)
• Mexican drug war
  • The mayor of Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico, is arrested on charges of alleged extortion and organized crime. (Reuters)

Science and technology

• SpaceX deactivates Starlink terminals in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, preventing their use by Russian forces following pressure from Ukraine. (Reuters) (CNN)

Sports

• 2026 Winter Olympics
  • The match between Finland and Canada in the women’s ice hockey tournament at the Winter Olympics is postponed to February 12 after a norovirus outbreak affected 13 members of the Finnish team. (NBC)

2026 February 04

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Insurgency in Balochistan
  • 2026 Balochistan attacks
    • The Pakistan Armed Forces use drones and helicopters in an attempt to regain control of Nushki from Balochistan Liberation Army insurgents in Balochistan, Pakistan, after attacks across the province killed over 200 people. (Reuters via MSN)
• Gaza war
  • Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip
    • At least 23 Palestinians, including seven women, five children, and a paramedic are killed by Israeli military, airstrikes, and drone strikes in the Gaza Strip after a Palestinian militant attack injures an Israeli soldier. (AP) (Al Jazeera)
    • The Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Northern Gaza Brigade commander Ali al-Razayneh is killed in an airstrike on the Gaza Strip. (The Times of Israel)
• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Russian attacks on civilians in the Russo-Ukrainian war
    • Russian forces strike a market in Druzhkivka, Donetsk Oblast, with cluster munitions, killing at least seven civilians and injuring 15 others. (Kyiv Post)

Business and economy

• Decline of newspapers
  • American newspaper The Washington Post announces that it will lay off about 300 journalists, roughly one-third of its employees, particularly those who cover sports, local news, and world news sections as part of a major restructuring effort. (BBC News)

Disasters and accidents

• 2025–26 Asian winter
  • The death toll from severe weather in Japan, including heavy snowfall, rises to 35 with at least 400 others injured, according to the Japanese government. (Sky News)
• 2025–26 European windstorm season
  • One person is killed, another is injured, a girl is reported missing and thousands are evacuated during floods caused by Storm Leonardo in Portugal and Spain. (RTÉ) (CTV News)
• Nine city government employees are killed when a dump truck, also carrying crude oil, falls into a river in Bayawan, Negros Oriental, Philippines. (ABS-CBN News)

International relations

• Eswatini–United States relations, Deportation in the second Trump administration
  • Eswatini’s high court upholds an agreement with the United States that accepts third-country deportees in exchange for $5.1 million and at least 15 transfers initiated during the presidency of Donald Trump, rejecting claims that the deal requires parliamentary approval or greater disclosure. (Reuters)
• United States–Venezuela relations
  • Venezuelan businessmen Raúl Gorrín and Alex Saab, both allied with de jure president Nicolás Maduro, are arrested in Caracas during a joint operation with U.S. law enforcement agencies on bribery and money laundering charges, with Saab expected to be extradited to the U.S. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• 2024 Elbit Systems burglary
  • The Woolwich Crown Court finds three out of six members of Palestine Action not guilty of aggravated robbery relating to a raid on a building owned by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems in Bristol, England, United Kingdom, while charges on criminal damage and violent disorder received partial or no verdicts. Five are released on bail. (BBC News)
• 2025 North Sea ship collision
  • A cargo ship captain is sentenced to six years in prison for gross negligence after his ship collided with an oil tanker in the North Sea off the coast of East Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK, in 2025, killing one person. (BBC News)
• Attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Florida
  • Ryan Wesley Routh, the man who attempted to assassinate United States president Donald Trump while he was golfing at his club in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2024, is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. (The New York Times)
• Budapest Complex
  • A Hungarian court sentences German activist Maja T. to eight years in prison for participating in assaults on attendees of a far-right rally in Budapest in 2023, following her extradition from Germany despite later objections by Germany’s constitutional court. (AP via ABC News)

Politics and elections

• Epstein files
  • Relationship of Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein
    • Peter Mandelson steps down from the UK House of Lords amid allegations he passed market-sensitive information to Jeffrey Epstein. (RTÉ)
  • Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison’s longtime chairman Brad S. Karp resigns after emails between him and Jeffrey Epstein are published. (The New York Times)

2026 February 03

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Kyiv strikes, Kharkiv strikes
    • Following a brief moratorium on strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Russian forces launch strikes involving drones and cruise missiles, including Zircon missiles across Ukraine. The strikes target Kyiv, Kharkiv, among other regions. (The Independent) (Militarnyi)
  • Zaporizhzhia strikes
    • Two civilians are killed and eight others are wounded in a Russian drone strike in Zaporizhzhia. (Reuters)
• Middle Eastern crisis
  • 2026 United States military buildup in the Middle East
    • The U.S. military shoots down an Iranian Shahed 139 drone on approach to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln with an F-35 fighter jet. (Reuters)
    • Several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy gunboats attempt to stop and seize a U.S. tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. The tanker ignored the demands to stop and continued on its journey towards the Arabian Sea under escort of a United States Navy warship. (CBS News)
• Libyan crisis
  • Assassination of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi
    • Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi and presidential candidate, is assassinated outside his home in Zintan, Libya. Four gunmen reportedly fled the scene after the shooting. (Al Arabiya)
• Nigerian bandit conflict
  • 2026 Kwara State attacks
    • Armed bandits kill at least 170 people in the village of Woro in Kwara State, Nigeria, forcing residents to flee into surrounding areas with several missing. (Reuters)
• Sudanese civil war
  • Eight civilians are killed, including five children, and 11 others are injured in a drone strike by the Rapid Support Forces on a health center in Kadugli, South Kordofan, Sudan. (AA)
• Somali Civil War, Somalia–Turkey relations
  • Satellite images show Turkey has recently deployed at least three F-16 fighter jets to Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, to support Somali military operations against al-Shabaab and other militant groups. (Forbes)

Disasters and accidents

• At least 16 people are killed, including four children, and multiple others are injured when a bus returning from a religious festival veers off the road and overturns on a highway in São José da Tapera, Alagoas, Brazil. (Al Jazeera)
• Fourteen migrants are killed after their boat collides with a Hellenic Coast Guard vessel and capsizes off the coast of Chios, Greece. (Reuters)
• Three people are killed and dozens are injured after a bus plunges into a gorge in Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh, India. (The Indian Express)
• More than 1,000 houses are destroyed when a massive fire sweeps through an inlet in Tawi-Tawi, Bangsamoro, Philippines. (AA)

International relations

• Greenland crisis
  • Denmark–United States relations
    • Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announces that Massachusetts has signed a economic deal with Denmark amidst ongoing tensions between the United States and Greenland. (Taunton Daily Gazette)
• Myanmar–Russia relations
  • Myanmar and Russia sign a five-year military cooperation pact, which will last until 2030. (CNA)

Law and crime

• Criticism of Twitter
  • Europol, the public prosecutor office in Paris, France, and a cybercrime investigation unit search the Paris office of Twitter in relation to allegations about biased algorithms distorting the operation of a data processing system, denial of crimes against humanity, sexually explicit deepfakes and child sexual abuse material. (France 24)
  • The United Kingdom’s Ofcom announces that it is continuing its investigation of Twitter-owned chatbot Grok, and that the Information Commissioner’s Office has opened its own investigation. (BBC News)
• Epstein files, Relationship of Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein
  • The Metropolitan Police of Greater London, UK, launches an investigation into House of Lords peer Peter Mandelson following allegations of misconduct in public office. (BBC News)

Politics and elections

• Hungary under the Orbán regime
  • Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán issues a decree ordering courts to terminate the Budapest city court’s lawsuit over the disputed state “solidarity tax”. (Reuters)
• Myanmar civil war
  • Myanmar’s military junta announces the creation of a five-member Union Consultative Council with authority over security and legislative matters, allowing Min Aung Hlaing to assume the presidency while retaining control of the armed forces. (Reuters)

2026 February 02

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Syrian conflict
  • SDF–Syrian transitional government clashes
    • 2026 northeastern Syria offensive
      • As part of a ceasefire agreement with the Syrian government, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces formally hands over control of Al-Hasakah to government forces. (Reuters)
• Gaza war
  • Blockade of the Gaza Strip
    • Israel partially reopens the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which has been closed since May 2024, allowing 150 people to leave Gaza and 50 to enter per day. (The Guardian)
  • At least five people, including a 3-year-old boy, are killed in Israeli attacks according to the Gaza Health Ministry, including two at the Nuseirat refugee camp and one each in Al-Mawasi, Khan Yunis, and Jabalia. The Israeli military says it targeted “militants operating near the demarcation line”. (Haaretz)
• Sudanese civil war
  • Darfur campaign
    • Clashes erupt between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and a tribe formerly allied to it in East Darfur. Prior to the fighting, local sources claim that the tribe abducted relatives of a senior RSF commander over allegations of them allegedly collaborating with the Sudanese Armed Forces. At least five fighters have been reportedly killed on both sides, including the said RSF commander and the tribe’s leader. (Sudan Tribune)
• Russo-Ukrainian war
  • Attacks in Russia during the Russo-Ukrainian war
    • A Ukrainian drone strike kills two people in Stary Oskol, Belgorod Oblast, Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry says 22 Ukrainian drones were shot down during the overnight attack, which also caused several regional airports to suspend flights. (The Moscow Times)

Business and economy

• China–Japan relations
  • 2025–2026 China–Japan diplomatic crisis
    • Japan announces it has begun successfully drilling and retrieving deep-sea sediment containing rare earth minerals near the remote island of Minamitorishima in the Pacific Ocean, as the country seeks to reduce its reliance on China for critical minerals for use in its defense industry and automotive industry. (Asahi)

Disasters and accidents

• Five workers are killed when an under construction bridge collapses in Xiangshui County, Jiangsu, China. (SCMP)
• Five children are killed and six are injured when a bus collides with a truck in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. (APA)
• Three people are killed when a DA40 Diamond Star light aircraft crashes in Orsk, Orenburg Oblast, Russia. (Qatar News Agency) (Aviation Safety Network)
• More than 50,000 people in Ksar el-Kebir, Larache Province, Morocco, are evacuated as flooding from heavy rain and controlled dam releases caused the Loukkos River to overflow, prompting school suspensions, power cuts, and military rescue operations across nearby areas. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Epstein Files, Relationship of Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein
  • Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor leaves Royal Lodge to move to the Sandringham Estate as a result of the controversy about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. (BBC)
• Kidnapping in Nigeria
  • Nigerian police state that at least 80 people abducted from Christian churches in Kaduna State on January 18 return to their homes after fleeing during the abduction, but the Christian Association of Nigeria disputes the figure and says most of the 177 worshippers seized remain missing. (Reuters)
• A ban on using mobile phones in classrooms enters into force in Bolivia in an effort to “increase the attention span of students” and “reduce distractions”. The ban applies to all public and private schools. (AP)

Politics and elections

• A South African separatist group, Boervolk of the Orange Free State, files a formal claim in a government gazette seeking land in KwaZulu-Natal, citing historical transactions with Zulu rulers and invoking a United Nations decolonization resolution. (Reuters)

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