December 17, 2016 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- 2016 Kayseri bombing
- At least 13 people are killed and 56 others are wounded in a car bomb attack on a bus carrying off-duty soldiers in Kayseri Province, central Turkey. (BBC) (The Guardian)
Business and economy
- The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro suspends plans to eliminate the 100 bolívar note from circulation, in a country where much of the population lives on cash, without bank accounts. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
- Tsunami warnings are issued for the Pacific region, including Indonesia and the Solomon Islands, following a 7.9 magnitude earthquake east of Papua New Guinea. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later reports the threat has largely passed. (Reuters) (Television New Zealand)
- 2016–17 North American winter
- Two people are killed and at least 15 are hospitalized following a 55-vehicle accident, involving a gas tanker explosion, on Interstate 95 in Baltimore, Maryland, as cold air causes rain and wet roads to freeze across the Eastern U.S. Three other deaths are reported from other accidents in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area. At least six people have been killed in total on icy roads. (AP) (The Baltimore Sun) (The Washington Post), (AAP via SBS)
International relations
- China–United States relations
- The Chinese Defense Ministry says it is in talks with the United States about returning an underwater drone taken Thursday from the South China Sea. The Pentagon says the drone, used for gathering weather and temperature data, is not armed. (Reuters) (USA Today)
Science and technology
- Ethiopia officially opens the Omo River Gibe III hydroelectric dam, one of the biggest in Africa, that is predicted to double the country’s electricity output. Critics are concerned about this dam's impact on locals, on the environment, including Kenya's Lake Turkana, and on neighboring countries. (AP) (The Indian Express)