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Worldwide current events
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Airlander 10

The Airlander 10 hybrid airship (pictured), which is 92 metres (302 ft) long, makes its maiden civilian flight.
A wildfire in the U.S. state of California displaces more than 82,000 residents, burns more than 30,000 acres (120 sq. km) and threatens at least 34,500 structures.
The China National Space Administration successfully launches Quantum Experiments at Space Scale, the first spacecraft capable of quantum key distribution.
Edgar Lungu is re-elected President of Zambia.
In eSports, The International Dota 2 championships conclude with Wings Gaming defeating Digital Chaos in the final.

August 20, 2016 (Saturday)

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August 19, 2016 (Friday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Syrian civil war
- Russian warships in the Mediterranean Sea fire cruise missiles at sites near Aleppo. The Russian Defense Ministry claims the strikes targeted the Islamist militant group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. (Pravda) (Reuters)

Law and crime

A Defense Department audit reveals that the United States Army had manipulated its finances, making $6.5 trillion of improper accounting adjustments in order to balance the books in 2015. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

United States presidential election, 2016
- Paul Manafort resigns as chairman of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. (The Guardian)

August 18, 2016 (Thursday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Kurdish–Turkish conflict (2015–present)
- Three bombings targeting police and military kill at least 12 people and wound 219 in southeast Turkey. (BBC)
Syrian civil war
- The Syrian Arab Air Force bombs Kurdish-held areas of Al-Hasakah. (BBC)

Law and crime

Eddie Bauer reports that malware was used to access payment data for cards used at their stores; payments made via their website were reportedly unaffected. (Reuters)
U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentences former NFL player Darren Sharper to 18 years in prison in rape and drugging case involving as many as 16 women in several U.S. states. (BBC)
Mexico's National Human Rights Commission says 22 people were executed by federal police during the 2015 Ecuandureo shootout in the western state of Michoacán last year. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Proposal for a new flag of Fiji:
- Fiji prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama scraps plans to change the flag of Fiji (a defaced sky-blue "Blue Ensign") as the feel-good factor envelops the Pacific nation following a first Olympic medal, a gold in men's rugby sevens. (Guardian)
The Obama Administration says it wants to phase out the use of privately-owned federal prisons. The move would affect private prisons which house 22,660 federal inmates, out of a total of nearly 200,000. (BBC)

Science and technology

Twitter announces 235,000 terror-linked accounts have been suspended over the past six months amid increasing pressure on tech companies from the White House to censor extremists from groups like ISIS. (CBS News)

August 17, 2016 (Wednesday)

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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)

Business and economy

Cisco anounces 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)

August 16, 2016 (Tuesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

The Russian Air Force uses an Iranian airbase near Hamadan to launch airstrikes in Syria. (BBC)
Houthi shelling kills seven in Saudi Arabia; nine Yemenis from one family die from an airstrike by the Saudi-led alliance. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

Westfield World Trade Center opens on schedule, part of the World Trade Center Ground Zero redevelopment in New York City. (CBS NY)

Business and economy

Barnes & Noble fires CEO Ronald Boire after less than a year in the job. Executive Chairman and company founder Leonard Riggio, who is postponing his September retirement, will assume Boire's duties. (Reuters) (USA Today)
China successfully launches QUESS, the world's first ever quantum-communications quantum key distribution satellite. (The New York Times)(Space.com)

Disasters and accidents

2016 California wildfires
- The town of Wrightwood, California, is evacuated due to threats from the Blue Cut Fire burning in the Cajon Pass. (KTLA)
- The Governor of California declares a state of emergency in San Bernardino County due to the Bluecut Fire. (ABC 7)

Law and crime

California wildfires
- California authorities charge a Clearlake resident with 17 counts of arson in connection with the wildfires over the last two years. (The Los Angeles Times)
Medical marijuana
- A United States Court of Appeals rules that the Department of Justice, per the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, cannot spend money to prosecute federal marijuana cases if the defendants comply with state medical marijuana laws. (Washington Post) (Reuters)

August 15, 2016 (Monday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Yemeni Civil War
- An air strike by the Saudi-led coalition which hit a hospital in northern Yemen run by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) kills at least 11 people. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

2016 Louisiana floods
- At least seven people have died and thousands have been rescued in the American state of Louisiana. President of the United States Barack Obama has declared a federal emergency in the state. (BBC), (NBC News)
An Olympics aerial camera and its cables fall sixty-five feet, injuring seven people. (USA Today)
Heavy rainfall causes multiple bus crashes that kill at least 40 people and injure 86 in the Kavrepalanchowk bus crashes. (CNN)

Law and crime

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane is convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice. (WCAU-TV)
Former English Premier League player Dalian Atkinson dies after being tasered by police in Telford, Shropshire. (The Independent)
New York authorities charge a man with second-degree murder in the deaths of a New York Muslim imam and his assistant. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

The Obama administration transfers 15 Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United Arab Emirates. (BBC)

August 14, 2016 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Yemeni Civil War
- About 40 suspected Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters are killed as Yemeni forces, aided by Saudi-led airstrikes, fight their way into Zinjibar and Jaʿār in eastern Yemen. (Reuters) (Daily Mail)
Syrian Civil War
- Russian and Syrian government jets conduct 26 airstrikes across Idlib province, killing 122 civilians. (The Washington Post)
Beni massacre
- At least 64 to 100 people are killed in a massacre. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

Volkswagen emissions scandal
- Volkswagen gets approval from Germany's motor vehicle authority for technical fixes on 460,000 cars. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

A wedding bus carrying over 50 passengers falls into a ravine in Azad Kashmir, killing at least 25 people and wounding 20 more. Many people are critically injured, with the death toll expected to increase. (Anadolu Agency)
2016 California wildfires
- 100 homes are destroyed and thousands of people are forced to leave due to wildfire in Lower Lake, California. (WSJ)

Law and crime

American Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen are robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro by men posing as Brazilian police officers. (The New York Times)
HEI Hotels & Resorts, a firm that operates hotels for Hyatt, Intercontinental, Marriott, and Starwood, reports that malware designed to collect payment information was discovered on computers at 20 of their locations across the United States. (Reuters)
Sage, a British accounting software firm, reports a data breach; it is presently unclear what data was viewed or taken. (BBC)

Science and technology

SpaceX successfully launches Japanese communication satellite JCSAT-16 into geostationary orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Falcon 9 Full Thrust rocket used to place the satellite in orbit successfully landed on an autonomous spaceport drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. (RT)

Sports

2016 Summer Olympics
- Athletics
  - Usain Bolt of Jamaica becomes the first man to win three gold medals in the men's 100 metres. (CNN)
  - In the men's 400 metres, Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa breaks the world record set in 1999 by Michael Johnson en route to winning South Africa's first gold medal in a track event since 1928. (ESPN)
- In golf, England's Justin Rose, representing Great Britain, wins the first gold medal in the sport since 1904. (The New York Times)
- In tennis, Scotland's Andy Murray, representing Great Britain, defeats Argentine Juan Martín del Potro in the men's singles final for his second consecutive gold medal in the event. Murray becomes the first male tennis player ever to win two Olympic gold medals, whether consecutively or not. (ESPN)

More August 2016 events...

Ongoing events
Business Bangladesh Bank heist Brexit Panama Papers Venezuelan protests State of emergency in Venezuela Culture Pokémon Go phenomenon and backlash Disasters 2016 California wildfires 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire 2016 Portugal wildfires 2016 Pacific typhoon season 2016 Atlantic hurricane season 2016 Pacific hurricane season Health Flint water crisis Zika virus outbreak Law Philippines v. China Political War in Afghanistan Boko Haram insurgency Brazil protests Burundian unrest Ethiopian protests European migrant crisis (timeline) Iraqi and Syrian Civil War (map) Military intervention against ISIL Mosul offensive Israeli–Palestinian conflict Lebanese political deadlock Libyan Civil War Moldova protests Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Armenian–Azeri border conflict Philippine Drug War PKK rebellion Polish Constitutional Court crisis Sinai insurgency South China Sea disputes Turkish coup d'état attempt Turkish purges War in Donbass Yemeni Civil War Zimbabwe protests More details on ongoing conflicts below Sports 2016–17 Premier League 2016 Summer Olympics 2016 Formula One season 2016 ATP World Tour 2016 Major League Baseball season 2016 WTA Tour Technology Democratic National Committee email leak Philippine Commission on Elections data breach edit sidebar

Recent deaths
August 17: Arthur Hiller 16: Mauril Bélanger 16: João Havelange 16: John McLaughlin 16: Gurdial Singh 15: Dalian Atkinson 15: Bobby Hutcherson 14: Fyvush Finkel 13: Kenny Baker 13: Pramukh Swami Maharaj 12: Alison Piepmeier 12: Ruby Wilson 11: Hanif Mohammad 11: Thomas Steinbeck 11: Glenn Yarbrough 10: Neill Armstrong 10: John Saunders 9: Gerald Grosvenor 9: Aftab Ghulam Nabi Kazi 9: Jimmy D. Long 9: W. Carter Merbreier 9: Ernst Neizvestny 9: Kalikho Pul 9: Wang Tuoh 8: Edward Daly 7: John Boreland 7: Bryan Clauson 6: Helen Delich Bentley 6: Philip Bialowitz 6: Pete Fountain 5: Shamim Ara 4: Jean Antone 4: Patrice Munsel 4: Albert Nicholas 3: Shahram Amiri 3: Chris Amon 3: Mel Hurtig 2: Forbes Carlile 2: David Huddleston 2: Franciszek Macharski 2: Ahmed Zewail edit sidebar

Ongoing conflicts
Africa Algeria and Tunisia Maghreb insurgency ISIL insurgency in Tunisia Central African Republic Civil war Democratic Republic of the Congo Kivu conflict ADF insurgency Ituri conflict Lord's Resistance Army insurgency Libya Civil war Mali Northern Mali conflict Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger Boko Haram insurgency Somalia Civil war South Sudan Ethnic violence (South Sudanese Civil War) Sudan War in Darfur South Kordofan conflict Sudanese nomadic conflicts Americas Colombian conflict Internal conflict in Peru Mexican War on Drugs Asia Afghanistan Afghanistan War China Xinjiang conflict India Naxalite–Maoist insurgency Insurgency in Northeast India India and Pakistan Kashmir conflict Pakistan War in North-West Pakistan Balochistan conflict Philippines CPP-NPA-NDF rebellion Moro conflict Moro conflict in Sabah Southeast Asia Internal conflict in Burma Papua conflict South Thailand insurgency Europe Georgia Abkhaz–Georgian conflict Georgian–Ossetian conflict Chechen–Russian conflict North Caucasus insurgency Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Ukraine War in Donbass Russian military intervention in Ukraine Middle East Arab–Israeli conflict Gaza–Israel conflict Israeli–Lebanese conflict Israeli–Palestinian conflict Egypt Sinai insurgency Iran Iran–PJAK conflict Iraqi civil war American-led intervention in Iraq Iranian intervention in Iraq Syrian Civil War American-led intervention in Syria Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon Turkey Turkey–PKK conflict Turkey–ISIL conflict Yemeni Crisis Yemeni Civil War Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen Houthi rebellion Al-Qaeda insurgency South Yemen insurgency edit sidebar

Elections and Referendums
Recent August 7: São Tomé and Príncipe, President (2nd round) 7: Thailand, Constitutional referendum 11: Zambia, National Assembly, President, Constitutional referendum Upcoming August 27: Gabon, President September 4: Hong Kong, Legislative Council 8: Seychelles, National Assembly 11: Belarus, House of Representatives 11: Croatia, Parliament edit sidebar

Trials
Recently concluded Australia: Brett Peter Cowan, Craig Thomson, Robert Hughes, Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara Brazil: Mensalão scandal Canada: Luka Magnotta China: Ji Jianye, Li Chuncheng, Jiang Jiemin, Liao Shaohua, Ni Fake, Ling Jihua, Chen Baihuai, Zhou Yongkang, Gu Junshan Croatia: Ivo Sanader Egypt: Hosni Mubarak, Peter Greste, Mohamed Morsi Germany: Bernie Ecclestone, Uli Hoeness, Christian Wulff Iran: Mohammad Reza Rahimi Israel: Hussam Qawasmeh Jordan: Abu Qatada Philippines: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Romania: Liviu Dragnea, Dan Diaconescu, Gheorghe Ștefan, Gabriel Sandu, Dorin Cocoş, Dumitru Nicolae Russia: Leonid Khabarov, Eston Kohver, Vladimir Kvachkov South Africa: Shrien Dewani, Oscar Pistorius Turkey: Kenan Evren, Tahsin Şahinkaya United Kingdom: Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, Derek Rose, Stuart Hazell, Mark Bridger, Andrew Lancel, Dale Cregan, Ray Wilkins, Liam Adams, R v Grillo and Grillo, Ian Watkins, William Roache, Dave Lee Travis, Nicholas Jacobs, Nigel Evans, Max Clifford, Stuart Hall, Dappy, Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson, Rolf Harris, Tulisa Contostavlos, Chris Denning, Ray Teret, Gary Glitter, Fred Talbot, Adam Johnson United States: Abu Hamza al-Masri, Michael Grimm, Jesse Jackson Jr., Bob McDonnell, Vilma Bautista, Kermit Gosnell, Chelsea Manning, Whitey Bulger, Robert Bales, Nidal Malik Hasan, Jodi Arias, Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, James Eagan Holmes, Sheldon Silver, Dylan Quick International ECCC: Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan ICC: Germain Katanga ICTY: Momčilo Perišić, Mladen Markač, Ante Gotovina, Zdravko Tolimir, Radovan Karadžić Ongoing China: Yao Mugen, Guo Youming, Yang Weize, Zhu Zuoli Germany: Beate Zschäpe Iran: Babak Zanjani Netherlands: Geert Wilders Philippines: Andal Ampatuan, Jr., Jovito Palparan Romania: Darius Vâlcov, Dan Șova, Elena Udrea, Radu Mazăre, Gheorghe Nichita, Marian Vanghelie, Cătălin Voicu, Relu Fenechiu Russia: Alexei Navalny South Korea: MV Sewol crew members Spain: Lionel Messi United States: Dean Skelos International ICTY: Ratko Mladić Upcoming China: Wu Changshun Estonia: Edgar Savisaar Libya: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi United Kingdom: Max Clifford, Rolf Harris, Ched Evans United States: Paul Anthony Ciancia, Javaris Crittenton, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Aaron Hernandez, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Rick Perry, Bill Cosby International ICC: Laurent Gbagbo edit sidebar