Portal:Current events/2012 August 17

August 17, 2012 (Friday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian civil war:
- Fighting continues in major cities as Lakhdar Brahimi is named as the new United Nations envoy for Syria. (Al Jazeera) (Reuters)
War on Terror:
- Afghanistan: ISAF announces two U.S. soldiers are killed by an Afghan policeman. The shooter is also killed. (BBC)
- Afghanistan: Mullah Mohammed Omar orders the Taliban to avoid civilian losses in the conflict. (Reuters)
Turkey urges its citizens not to travel to Lebanon after the kidnapping of two Turkish nationals. (AP via The Washington Post)
More than 60 fishermen are rescued after being abducted by pirates in the Bay of Bengal. (Bangkok Post)
The president of Gabon Ali Bongo calls for calm following clashes between police and anti-government protesters and a subsequent attack on an opposition television station. (IOL)
North Caucasus insurgency: 4 police officers are killed in an attack near Grozny, the capital of the Russian North Caucasus republic of Chechnya. (RIA Novosti)

Environment

An unusual spider discovered in 2010 is described as a separate family, the Trogloraptoridae. The single species will be named Trogloraptor marchingtoni, after Neil Marchington, a deputy sheriff, amateur biologist and local cave explorer who helped with the discovery. (San Francisco Chronicle)

International relations

Law and crime

Russia:
- A Moscow court convicts three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred and enmity" and jails them for two years. (Al Jazeera)
- Gay pride events are banned in Moscow for 100 years. (BBC)
The death toll following yesterday's clash between South African police and Lonmin striking miners in Marikana, Rustenburg, rises to 34. South African President Jacob Zuma announces an inquiry. (Mail and Guardian) (BBC)
The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany rules that the German constitution allows its military to start operations inside Germany, for the first time since 1945. (BBC)