Portal:Current events/2015 August 19

Current events of August 19, 2015 (2015-08-19) (Wednesday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Boko Haram insurgency
  • At least 151 were killed in a Boko Haram attack last week on a northeastern Nigerian village, Yadin Kukuwa. News of the attack was slow to emerge because the militants destroyed telecom masts around the village. (Independent) (AFP via Times Live)
• Destruction of cultural heritage by ISIL, Syrian Civil War
  • Islamic State militants behead 82-year-old antiquities scholar Khaled Asaad, who worked for over 50 years as head of antiquities in Palmyra. (Reuters) (BBC)
• Iraq War (2014–present)
  • A suicide bomber kills at least 20 Iraqi Army troops in the city of Baiji. (Al-Arabiyah)
• South Sudanese Civil War
  • Fighting resumes in South Sudan after the failure to reach a deal between tribes loyal to the president and tribes loyal to the former vice-president. (AP via Fox News)
• Turkey-PKK Conflict
  • At least eight soldiers were killed in a bomb detonated by Kurdish militants. (NY Times) (Independent)

Business and economy

• Greek government-debt crisis
  • The Bundestag votes to approve a third bailout for Greece. (The Guardian)
• Samsung Bioepis Co a drug development arm of global giant Samsung, picks four banks to manage an IPO it plans for the United States in 2016. Reuters attributes this news to "a person with direct knowledge of the matter." (Reuters).

Disasters and accidents

• A brush fire burning near the American town of Twisp, Washington, kills three firefighters, injures as many as four others and forces the evacuation of the towns of Twisp and Winthrop. (KREM), (Seattle Times)

International relation

• Estonian-Russian relations
  • A court in Russia has sentenced Estonian security official Eston Kohver to 15 years in prison for espionage. (BBC)
• South Sudan–United States relations
  • United States announces that it is proposing sanctions against those connected to the South Sudan conflict, unless a ceasefire is reached promptly. (Al Jazeera English Online)

Law and crime

• Following a July 15 hacking, user data of the infidelity-promoting dating website Ashley Madison is leaked with over 30 million users having their information compromised. (BBC)
• Police in the American city of St. Louis, Missouri make nine arrests and use tear gas to disperse protesters after a killing of an armed man allegedly aiming a gun at police officers earlier in the day. (CNN)

Politics and elections

• The United States Navy SEALs announce a plan to allow women to register, the first time in history. (Navy Times)

Sport

• The International Association of Athletics Federations elects former British Olympic champion runner Lord Sebastian Coe as its new President, replacing Lamine Diack of Senegal. Ukrainian pole vault champion Sergey Bubka was the other contender for the position. (BBC) (Al Jazeera English Online)