Portal:Current events/2017 February 7

February 7, 2017 (Tuesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- A suicide bombing at the Supreme Court of Afghanistan in Kabul kills at least 20 people and injures 41 others, 10 of whom are in critical condition. (BBC) (NBC News)
Syrian Civil War
- A report by Amnesty International states that between 5,000 and 13,000 people, most of them civilians, were hanged at the military-run Sednaya Prison near Damascus between September 2011 and December 2015. (BBC)
- According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, airstrikes on the rebel-held city of Idlib kill at least 26 people, with the death toll expected to rise. (Al Jazeera)
Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
- Coalition troops take control of the strategic Yemeni port city of Mocha after driving out Houthi forces. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

Multiple tornadoes tear through New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and other parts of southeastern Louisiana, injuring at least 20 people; no deaths have been reported. The severe weather also delivers heavy rain and hail in Mississippi and Alabama. (AP) (Reuters)

Law and crime

Former President of France Nicolas Sarkozy is ordered to stand trial for alleged campaign finance fraud during his failed 2012 presidential election campaign. (AP via Fox News)
U.S. immigration suspension
- The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals holds a hearing, by telephone, for the U.S. Justice Department and plaintiffs (states of Washington and Minnesota) arguments whether or not to reinstate the travel ban suspended on Friday by U.S. District Court Judge James Robart. Judge Michelle Friedland states the court will work to deliver its decision quickly. (The Washington Post) (CBS News)
Women in Russia
- President of Russia Vladimir Putin signs into law the decriminalization of domestic violence. (CNN)

Politics and elections

Incumbent Australian Senator Cory Bernardi defects from the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia to establish his own minor party, the Australian Conservatives. (ABC News)
Cabinet of Donald Trump
- The U.S. Senate confirms, via Vice President Mike Pence's unprecedented tie-breaking vote, Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. (NPR) (NPR²)
- The U.S. Senate votes, along party lines (49-43), to not let Senator Elizabeth Warren participate in the debate about Senator Jeff Sessions's nomination to be the Attorney General in President Donald Trump's Cabinet because she violated Senate rule XIX when she was reading letters from the late Coretta Scott King and the late Senator Ted Kennedy that were critical of Sen. Sessions, thereby impugning his character. (The Washington Post)