February 6, 2016 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- An al Qaeda affiliate has freed Jocelyn Elliott, an Australian woman kidnapped in Burkina Faso along with her husband. (ABC News Australia)
- Syrian Civil War
- Northern Aleppo offensive (2016)
- The Syrian Army, backed by the Russian Air Force, takes control of the town of Ratyan in the Aleppo Governorate, after defeating Al-Nusra Front and Ahrar ash-Sham fighters. (Xinhua)
- Northern Aleppo offensive (2016)
- Ten people are killed and more than 40 injured when a suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up near a Pakistani security forces truck in Quetta, Pakistan. (The Nation) (CNN)
Arts and culture
- Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan gives birth to a son, the heir apparent of the Bhutanese throne. (Kuensel)
Disasters and accidents
- 2016 Taiwan earthquake
- A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck southern Taiwan. Taiwan's official Central News Agency reported that 14 people were killed and 484 injured. (CNN) (Metro) (AP) (AFP/Reuters via ABC News Australia)
- The earthquake toppled two high-rise buildings in the city of Tainan with at least 160 people rescued and many more trapped inside. (AP)
- Five people are killed in an avalanche that buried 17 Czechs in Austria. (NBC News)
- Twin brothers are killed and six others injured in a sledding accident on an Olympic bobsledding course at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta. (CNN)
International relations
- North Korea brings forward the date of a potential satellite launch to as early as tomorrow. (BBC)
- Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
Law and crime
- Twitter claims to have closed down 125,000 accounts linked to ISIL. (Reuters via ABC News Australia)
- The Vatican commission on sexual abuse announces that Peter Saunders, a sexual abuse survivor from the U.K., is suspended from commission proceedings. "I am not leaving my position," Saunders said, adding only the person who appointed him, the Pope, can dismiss him. (Buenos Aires Herald) (Patheos) (Al Jazeera)
Politics and elections
- Opposition to immigration, Anti-Islamism
- Protesters rally against Islam and immigration in several European cities amid growing tensions over the massive influx of asylum-seekers to the continent. (NY Daily News)
Sports
- American football:
- The Pro Football Hall of Fame announces its induction class of 2016, consisting of eight figures: players Brett Favre, Kevin Greene, Marvin Harrison, Orlando Pace, Ken Stabler, and Dick Stanfel; coach Tony Dungy; and owner Edward DeBartolo, Jr., to be inducted as a contributor. The induction ceremony will take place on August 6 at the Hall of Fame complex in Canton, Ohio. (CNN)
- At the NFL Honors Show in San Francisco, the league announces major individual awards for the 2015 season, as chosen by the Associated Press. (ESPN – Newton, Rivera) (ESPN – Watt)
- Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is named MVP. Newton becomes the first black quarterback to win the award outright (Steve McNair shared the award in 2004 with Peyton Manning).
- Panthers head coach Ron Rivera is named Coach of the Year.
- Houston Texans defensive tackle J. J. Watt is named Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in four years. Watt joins Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor as the only three-time winners of the award.