February 1, 2020 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Suspected Islamist militants kill at least 62 civilians in a series of massacres in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as killings of civilians intensify. The country's armed forces launch counter-offensives against insurgents of the Allied Democratic Forces. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- 400–500 people are left stranded at the Sasquatch Mountain Resort in British Columbia, Canada, after the road to the resort was damaged from landslides caused by heavy rain. Train service between Vancouver and Seattle was also suspended until Monday due to mudslides. (CTV News) (CTV News²)
Health and environment
- COVID-19 pandemic
- Kiribati becomes the latest country in the Pacific to block Chinese travelers by placing all visa applications from China on hold and ordering all those coming from countries with confirmed cases of the virus to self-quarantine. (Radio NZ International)
- Apple Inc. announces it will close all of its stores and offices in China until February 9 due to the pandemic. (Gizmodo)
International relations
- Trump peace plan
- The Palestinian National Authority cuts all ties with the United States and Israel, including those relating to security, after rejecting a peace plan presented by U.S. President Donald Trump. (Reuters)
- Foreign relations of the Maldives
- The Maldives returns to the Commonwealth of Nations as a republic in the Commonwealth of Nations. (The Commonwealth)
Law and crime
- A court in Egypt sentences a former special forces officer and 36 others to the death penalty after being convicted on charges of terrorism, court officials say. (Reuters)
- Police in South Africa launch a manhunt for the killers of nine illegal miners who were stoned to death in western Johannesburg. All nine killed were from Lesotho. (BBC News)
Politics and elections
- 2019–2021 Iraqi protests
- Former Communications Minister Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi is appointed Prime Minister of Iraq by President Barham Salih. Protestors reject his appointment, seeing him as part of the establishment. (Al Jazeera)