Portal:Current events/2026 February 4

February 4, 2026 (Wednesday)

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