Portal:Current events/2015 August 17

Current events of August 17, 2015 (2015-08-17) (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2015 Attock bombing
  • The U.S. offers to assist Pakistan with its investigation into the suicide bombing attack on Sunday that killed at least 19 people, including Shuja Khanzada, the interior minister of the Punjab Province. (Daily Pakistan)
• 2015 Ratchaprasong bombing
  • A bomb explodes near the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, killing at least 19 people and injuring 123 others. No one has claimed responsibility. Thai Society president Songvut Manoonpong said parties opposing the Thai military government were likely responsible. (Sky News) (Reuters) (Bangkok Post) (NZ Herald) (Al Jazeera English Online)

Disasters and accidents

• 2015 Tianjin explosions
  • Protesters in Tianjin demand answers and compensation from the government. (Radio New Zealand Online) (Al Jazeera English Online) (BBC)
• A heat wave affecting the Middle East causes almost 100 deaths in Egypt. (Al Jazeera English Online)
• Trigana Air Service Flight 257
  • Indonesian authorities reveal that the crashed plane was transporting $US470,000 in cash for the poor. (The Telegraph)

International relations

• South Korea and the United States commence a joint military exercise despite threats from North Korea. (AFP via Yahoo News)
• The United Arab Emirates approves plans for the construction of the first Hindu temple in that country, after a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Al Jazeera English Online)
• The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves a statement backing intensive talks on key issues aimed at restoring peace in Syria. (AP via SFGate)

Law and crime

• The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which announced an extensive computer data breach in May 2015, has revealed that the breach is much deeper and more serious than previously thought, exposing an additional 220,000 individuals. The thieves had infiltrated a now-deactivated online system called "Get Transcript." (AP, via MSN) (USA Today)
• Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi approves a controversial anti-terrorism law. Proponents say it will help fight terrorism, and opponents say the legislation will jeopardize civil rights including freedom of the press. (Al Jazeera English Online) (BBC)
• A former police officer is charged with second degree murder, in connection with the on-duty shooting death of John Geer in Fairfax, Virginia, U.S., in August 2013. (NBC Washington)
• American actor Emile Hirsch is jailed for 15 days for an assault on a Paramount Pictures executive at the Sundance Resort in Utah. (Deadline)

Medicine and health

• Experiments at the the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have made major progress in mapping brain signalling processes at an atomic level, in this case, the SNARE complex (neuronal SNAREs and synaptotagmin-1), which influences the control and release of neurotransmitters.(Science Daily)

Politics and elections

• Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2015
  • Voters in Sri Lanka go to the polls for a general election with the ruling United National Party holding on to power.. (BBC) (Al Jazeera English Online), (AFP via Yahoo! News)