Portal:Current events/2015 August 17

• 2015 Attock bombing
  • The U.S. offers to assist Pakistan with its investigation into the suicide bombing attack on Sunday that killed at least 19 people, including Shuja Khanzada, the interior minister of the Punjab Province. (The Daily Pakistan)
• 2015 Ratchaprasong bombing
  • A bomb explodes near the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, killing at least 19 people and injuring 123 others. No one claims responsibility. Thai Society president Songvut Manoonpong says that parties opposing the Thai military government are responsible. (Sky News), (Reuters), (The Bangkok Post), (The New Zealand Herald), (Al Jazeera)

• 2015 Tianjin explosions
  • Protesters in Tianjin demand answers and compensation from the government. (Radio New Zealand Online), (Al Jazeera), (BBC)
• A heat wave affecting the Middle East causes almost 100 deaths in Egypt. (Al Jazeera)
• Trigana Air Service Flight 257
  • Indonesian authorities reveal that the crashed plane was transporting US$470,000 in cash for the poor. (The Telegraph)

• Experiments at the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory map brain signalling processes at an atomic level, in this case, the SNARE complex (neuronal SNAREs and synaptotagmin-1), which influences the control and release of neurotransmitters.(Science Daily)

• South Korea and the United States commence a joint military exercise despite threats from North Korea. (AFP via Yahoo)
• The United Arab Emirates approves plans for the construction of the first Hindu temple in that country, after a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Al Jazeera)
• The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves a statement backing intensive talks on key issues aimed at restoring peace in Syria. (AP via SFGate)

• The U.S. Internal Revenue Service, which announced an extensive computer data breach in May 2015, reveals that the breach is much deeper and more serious, exposing an additional 220,000 individuals. The thieves had infiltrated a now-deactivated online system called "Get Transcript." (AP via MSN), (USA Today)
• Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi approves a controversial anti-terrorism law. Proponents say it will help fight terrorism, and opponents say the legislation will jeopardize civil rights including freedom of the press. (Al Jazeera), (BBC)
• Authorities charge a former police officer with second degree murder, in connection with the on-duty shooting death of John Geer in Fairfax, Virginia, U.S., in August 2013. (NBC Washington)
• American actor Emile Hirsch takes a plea for 15 days in jail for an assault on a Paramount Pictures executive at the Sundance Resort in Utah. (Deadline)

• Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2015
  • Voters in Sri Lanka go to the polls for a general election with the ruling United National Party holding on to power. (BBC) (Al Jazeera), (AFP via Yaho)