February 5, 2015 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian Civil War
- The United Arab Emirates suspends air strikes against the Islamic State after a video of a Jordanian air force pilot being burned alive is published online. The suspension involves concerns over a lack of coalition search and rescue capabilities in Syria to recover downed pilots. (NBC News)
- State news agency SANA claims that insurgent group Jaysh al-Islam has conducted a rocket attack on Damascus with at least eight people injured. (Reuters Trust)
Arts and culture
- A Paul Gauguin painting, Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When Will You Marry?), sells to a Qatari buyer for close to $300 million. (The New York Times)
Business and economy
- American pharmaceutical company Pfizer announces plans to acquire Hospira at a cost of $17 billion. (Street Insider)
- American electronics retailer RadioShack files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. (Reuters via CNBC)
Disasters and accidents
- A China shopping mall fire started by a nine-year-old boy at the city of Huizhou in Guangdong province kills at least 17 people. (BBC)
Law and crime
- Eddie Ray Routh goes on trial for the alleged murder of American Sniper Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield in the Texas town of Stephenville. (CBC)
- The jury at Southwark Crown Court convicts British 70s glam rock star Gary Glitter on child sexual abuse charges with the prospect of life imprisonment. (The Telegraph)
Politics and elections
- Tunisia gets a unity government led by Habib Essid and consisting of ministers from the big-tent secular party Nidaa Tounes, the two liberal parties UPL and Afek Tounes, and the moderate Islamist Ennahda as well as independents; 166 of the 217 legislators in the Assembly of the Representatives of the People approves of it. (Deutsche Welle) (Al Jazeera)