December 17, 2019 (Tuesday)
Business and economy
- Shandong, the first fully domestically built Chinese aircraft carrier, enters naval service. (CGTN)
Law and crime
- Musharraf high treason case
- Former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf is sentenced to death in absentia for high treason, by a 2-1 majority. He is described as a dictator who seized power in a 1999 coup, imposed a 2007 state of emergency and resigned in 2008 to avoid impeachment. (CNN) (Reuters)
- 2016–present purges in Turkey
- Turkish police arrest 191 people, including a mayor, accused of links with the Gülen movement (named by Turkey as FETÖ, a terrorist group) and of using ByLock, an encrypted messaging application. (Daily Sabah)
Science and technology
- Climate change in Australia
- A temperature of 47°C (116.6F) is recorded in the remote outback town of Oodnadatta, South Australia, marking Australia's hottest day on record with average temperatures of 40.9°C, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. (Sky News)