Portal:Current events/2019 February 5

February 5, 2019 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian Civil War
- The United Kingdom Minister for Security, Ben Wallace, says he has reason to believe British photojournalist John Cantlie is still alive and is being held hostage by surviving Islamic State militants. (BBC News)
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- The Taliban kill over 40 people in three separate attacks while Afghan-Taliban peace talks are taking place in Moscow. 12 others were injured. (Al Jazeera)
- Two Afghan journalists are killed by gunmen in an attack on a radio station in Taloqan, Takhar province. (Reuters)
Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
- A Burkinabé military operation reportedly kills 146 jihadists after the Al-Qaeda-linked militants killed 14 people in other attacks. (News24)
Central African Republic Civil War
- The Government of the Central African Republic sign a peace deal with 14 rebel groups. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

Several homes have been damaged in an uncontrolled bushfire near the New Zealand city of Nelson. (Stuff)

International relations

2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis
- Eleven Lima Group member states support a declaration recognizing Juan Guaidó as interim President of Venezuela, while three members of the Lima Group, Guyana, Mexico and Saint Lucia, did not back the declaration. (BBC News)
- Portuguese bank Novo Banco blocks the transfer of $1.2 billion of Venezuelan government financial assets to Uruguay. The move was requested by the Nicolás Maduro government. (Reuters)

Law and crime

February 2019 Paris fire
- A fire in an apartment block in Paris, France, kills ten and leaves over 30 wounded. The incident is being treated as possible arson. A woman was arrested on suspicion of setting the fire. (BBC News) (The Guardian)
Pope Francis makes a public statement acknowledging that some priests and bishops in the Catholic Church have been sexually abusing nuns. (CBS-6)

Politics and elections