Portal:Current events/2017 February 8

February 8, 2017 (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Donbass
- Donetsk People's Republic commander Mikhail Tolstykh, better known by his nom de guerre "Givi", is killed in a bomb blast in Makiivka, Donetsk Oblast. DPR officials blame the Security Service of Ukraine for the attack. (BBC)
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- Six Afghan Red Cross workers are shot dead by suspected ISIL militants in the northern Jowzjan Province. Two other Red Cross workers are reportedly abducted. (BBC)
Somali Civil War (2009–present)
- Unknown gunmen storm a hotel in Bosaso, leaving at least four guards and two militants dead. It is unclear who carried out the attack. An official blames Al-Shabaab, though the group denies having any involvement. (Al Jazeera)
Syrian Civil War
- Syrian rebels, with backing from the Turkish Armed Forces, advance on ISIL-held al-Bab, capturing the outskirts of the town. (Reuters)
Yemeni War
- Yemen reassesses its permission to the United States to run special operations ground missions against suspected terrorist groups because of the civilian deaths in the January 29 raid. Earlier reports indicated permission had been suspended. (The New York Times) (The New York Times²)

Arts and culture

Archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem announce the discovery of another cave that used to have Dead Sea Scrolls. (The Times of Israel)

Business and economics

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia blocks health insurer Anthem Inc.'s proposed $54 billion merger with rival Cigna because it would have exacerbated an already highly concentrated market and likely raised prices. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

More than 10,000 people are left homeless after a fire ravages a densely populated neighborhood of the Philippines capital Manila. (The Telegraph)

Law and crime

2016–17 Turkish purges
- The Turkish government dismisses more than 4,400 public servants from their jobs in the latest purge within the country following a failed coup attempt last year. (The Guardian)

Politics and elections

2017 Romanian protests
- The government of Prime Minister of Romania Sorin Grindeanu survives a no-confidence motion over proposed decriminalisation of certain corruption offences, with 161 MPs voting in favor of the motion, short of the 232 votes needed for it to pass. (AP) (Al Jazeera)
- Also that day, the Constitutional Court rejected two pleas made by President Iohannis and the Supreme Council of the Magistracy (CSM) that claimed an institutional conflict between the Parliament, respectively the CSM on one hand, and the Government on the other, in a move that surprised the critics of the PSD-led cabinet and the protesters. The next day it rejected the final plea made by the Ombudsman on reasons of inadmissibility. (The Romania Journal)
Somali presidential election, 2017
- Somali politicians gather inside a high-security compound at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu to elect a President for the country, with current president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud running for a second term. (The Guardian)
- In a surprise result, former Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed is chosen as President. (BBC)
Cabinet of Donald Trump
- The United States Senate, in a 52 to 47 vote, confirms the nomination of Jeff Sessions as United States Attorney General. (The Guardian)

Science and technology