February 2, 2022 (Wednesday)

Turkish airstrikes target PKK and SDF positions in Northern Iraq and Syria, killing 12 people and injuring 17 others.

A video is shown of troops from the Armed Forces of Belarus and the Eastern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces conducting military drills and "combat cohesions" in Belarus amid ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby announces that the Pentagon will deploy 3,000 troops to Eastern Europe in order to defend its allies and counter Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló says that gunmen tried to kill him and his entire cabinet at the government palace yesterday during the coup d'état attempt. The heavy gunfire, which lasted for five hours, resulted in the deaths of at least four attackers and two guards. The attackers are said to be "linked to drug trafficking in the country".

Over 60 people are killed by CODECO militiamen during a mass stabbing at a camp for internally displaced people in Djugu, Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

CNN president Jeff Zucker resigns for failing to disclose that he was in a relationship with the network's executive vice president. The relationship was discovered during a misconduct investigation into the network's former anchor Chris Cuomo.

A power cable collapse kills at least 26 people in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Germany surpasses ten million COVID-19 cases.

The Czech Republic reports a record 66,970 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours.

France begins to lift the mandatory outdoor mask wearing and work from home orders despite a high number of COVID-19 cases.

Tonga enters a nationwide lockdown after the country reported its first locally transmitted COVID-19 cases.

Canadian Opposition Leader Erin O'Toole is removed from his leadership position in a 73–45 no-confidence vote by his party. Deputy Leader Candice Bergen is announced as the interim leader of the party.

Mass government-organized protests against the Yangulbayev family occur in the Russian city of Grozny, Chechnya. The Chechen government claimed that protests were spontaneous and gathered 400,000 men, "not counting women," though the total population of Grozny is 325,000 people. Despite the COVID-19 restrictions, Rospotrebnadzor did nothing because they "couldn't find protest organizers." Earlier a member of the Russian State Duma, Adam Delimkhanov, stated that he will rip the heads off of Yangulbayevs and those who translate his speech from the Chechen language to Russian.

Six players from the Danish men's national hockey team test positive for COVID-19 ahead of the upcoming Winter Olympics.

It is announced that Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin will miss the upcoming NHL All-Star game after testing positive for COVID-19.

It is announced that, starting in the 2022 NFL season, the Washington Football Team will be renamed as the Washington Commanders in order to replace the Redskins name, considered a racial slur, which was retired in mid-2020 following the nationwide George Floyd protests.