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Portal:Current events/2012 August 17

{{Current events|year=2012|month=08|day=17|content=

;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. [http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/08/2012817112413251884.html (Al Jazeera)] [https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/17/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE8610SH20120817 (Reuters)]
  • War on Terror:
  • Afghanistan: ISAF announces two U.S. soldiers are killed by an Afghan policeman. The shooter is also killed. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19292745 (BBC)]
  • Afghanistan: Mullah Mohammed Omar orders the Taliban to avoid civilian losses in the conflict. [https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/17/us-afghanistan-taliban-idUSBRE87G05C20120817 (Reuters)]
  • Turkey urges its citizens not to travel to Lebanon after the kidnapping of two Turkish nationals. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkey-issues-travel-warning-for-lebanon-following-kidnapping-of-2-turks/2012/08/17/ba4466a4-e875-11e1-9739-eef99c5fb285_story.html (AP via The Washington Post)]
  • More than 60 fishermen are rescued after being abducted by pirates in the Bay of Bengal. [http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/308111/bangladesh-rescues-60-fishermen-from-pirates (Bangkok Post)]{{Dead link|date=August 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
  • 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. [http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/gabon-president-calls-for-calm-1.1365229#.UC6b9qOiE1A (IOL)]
  • North Caucasus insurgency: 4 police officers are killed in an attack near Grozny, the capital of the Russian North Caucasus republic of Chechnya. [http://en.ria.ru/crime/20120818/175289675.html (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. [http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/New-spider-family-identified-in-Oregon-3791910.php (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. [http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/08/2012817111157592391.html (Al Jazeera)]
  • Gay pride events are banned in Moscow for 100 years. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19293465 (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. [http://mg.co.za/article/2012-08-17-lonmins-burning-25-people-killed-in-shootout (Mail and Guardian)] [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19301690 (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. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19295351 (BBC)]

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