August 17, 2016 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Federal Security Service (FSB) officers kill at least four suspected North Caucasus Islamic militants during a counter-terrorism raid on an apartment building in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
Arts and culture
- With a Moto Proprio, Pope Francis announces the establishment of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. The Prefect of the new Dicastery is the Irish-born Bishop Kevin Joseph Farrell, currently serving as Bishop of Dallas. (Vatican Radio)
Business and economy
- Cisco announces a cut of 5,500 jobs in their shift from switches to software. (Reuters)
- Energy Future Holdings, a Texas electric utility, asks a bankruptcy court in Delaware to confirm a plan that would allow it to exit Chapter 11 after more than two years. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- Eight people are seriously injured when a passenger train collides with a tree that had fallen across the railway line at Saint-Aunès, Hérault, France. (BBC News Online)
- All 511 passengers and crew are evacuated from the ferry Caribbean Fantasy which caught fire off San Juan, Puerto Rico. (World Maritime News)
- An unusual kiting incident in India leaves three people dead. 500 birds were also injured in similar incidents. (CNN)
International relations
- The governments of Papua New Guinea and Australia confirm that the Manus Regional Processing Centre will close following a ruling by the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea. (ABC News)
- North Korean defectors
- North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom, Thae Yong-ho, defects with his family to South Korea. (Reuters) (BBC)
Law and crime
- A Malaysian oil tanker, MT Vier Harmoni, is hijacked off the coast of Malaysia and is believed to have been taken to Indonesian waters near the island of Batam, according to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. The identity of the hijackers is not yet known. (BBC)
- Judge Keyla Blanc, of Brazil's Special Tribunal for Fans and Major Events, orders Brazil police to question U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte over inconsistencies describing the armed robbery of himself and three other American Olympians. Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger are later removed from a plane returning to the United States. (Reuters), (Daily Telegraph)
- The U.S. National Security Agency's website goes down amid hacking fears. (FOX News)
Science and technology
- The Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander 10 hybrid airship makes its maiden civil flight. (BBC News Online)