February 5, 2016 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian Civil War
- The Syrian Army and its allies capture the town of Ataman, near the city of Daraa. (Reuters)
- Fifteen thousand Syrians mass at the border with Turkey as a result of the Syrian Government offensive in the Aleppo Governorate. (BBC)
- Northern Mali conflict
- The United Nations mission in Mali confirms that the Malian armed forces had retaken a UN Police base in Timbuktu from unknown assailants that attacked it earlier in the day. (The Daily Star)
- War in Somalia
- al Shabaab militants claim to have captured the port of Merca (Marka) after African Union and Somali Armed Forces withdraw. (AAP via News Limited)
- Second Libyan Civil War
Business and economy
- The new president of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, makes a $6.5 billion cash offer to holdout creditors to settle liabilities arising out of a 2002 default. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- The President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe declares a state of disaster in most rural parts of the country due to a prolonged drought. (AAP via News Limited)
- One person is killed, and two are seriously injured when a construction crane collapses in Lower Manhattan's Tribeca district. (NY Daily News)
- Japan's Sakurajima volcano erupts prompting the Japan Meteorological Agency to issue a warning not to approach it. The volcano, located in the southern Kagoshima Prefecture, is situated 50km from the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant. (RT)
- At least 37 people die in the Indian state of Gujarat after a passenger bus plunges off a bridge over the Purna River. (Hindustan Times)
- Three miners are missing but dozens have been rescued following a gold mine collapse in South Africa. (ABC)
- At least 13 killed in a hotel fire in Erbil, Iraq. All of the victims are Filipino workers. (CNN Philippines)
Health
- Zika virus outbreak in the Americas (2015–present)
- Three people die in Colombia after contracting the Zika virus and developing Guillain–Barré syndrome. (AFP via Daily Star)
- Puerto Rico declares a state of emergency due to the ongoing Zika virus outbreak. At least 22 people have been reported to have been infected with the Zika virus in the U.S. territory. (ABC News)
Law and crime
- A shooting at a boxing match weigh-in between Jamie Kavanagh and Antonio João Bento in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, leaves one person dead and two others injured. The gunmen were reportedly dressed as police officers and armed with AK-47s. (BBC)
Politics and elections
- Wei Hong is removed as the Governor of China's Sichuan province due to perceived disloyalty to the Communist Party. (AP via Las Vegas Sun)[permanent dead link]
- White supremacists in the U.S. state of New Hampshire create a super PAC to support U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's presidential campaign. (CNN)