Portal:Current events/2017 December 17

• 2017 Quetta church attack
  • A suicide bomb and gun attack on a Methodist church in Pakistan kills nine people. (BBC) (Dawn)
• Second Libyan Civil War
  • Gunmen shoot dead the Mayor of Misurata, Libya, Mohamed Eshtewi, and wound his brother, after they chase down his car. (Reuters)
• Syrian Civil War
  • A Russian airstrike using napalm kills at least ten civilians, including four children and six women from one family, in Idlib's town of Khan Shaykhun, according to the leader of the White Helmets. (Anadolu Agency)

• Russia–Venezuela relations
  • Venezuela and Rosneft sign agreements on gas exploration and exploitation. (Marine Link)
• Bitcoin reaches an all time high at $19,783.06 USD per BTC. (Fortune)

• Six people are killed in a multiple-vehicle collision in Birmingham, England. (BBC)
• A power failure at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport results in the cancellation of more than 1,100 flights, and leaves hundreds of passengers stranded. (The New York Times)

• Positions on Jerusalem
  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of Turkey says "the day is close when officially, with God's permission" his nation will open an embassy to Palestine in East Jerusalem. (The Hill)
  • Eighty-thousand Muslims demonstrate in Jakarta, Indonesia, against the U.S recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. (Voice of America)
• China–Russia relations
  • The Russian Ministry of Defense says that Russia and China concluded a five-day computer-generated air defense drill in Beijing. (Newsweek)
• 2017 St. Petersburg raid
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin thanks U.S. President Donald Trump for sharing intelligence from the Central Intelligence Agency which they say helped prevent a terrorist attack in Saint Petersburg. (Los Angeles Times)

• Australia–North Korea relations
  • Australian Federal Police arrest naturalized North Korean Chan Han Choi for violating UN and Australian sanctions by acting as an economic agent for North Korea. (BBC)

• Chilean general election, 2017
  • Voters choose Sebastián Piñera over Alejandro Guillier as their next president in a run-off election. (Deutsche Welle) (CNN)
• Ukrainian crisis
  • Several hundred people take part in clashes between Ukrainian police and anti-Petro Poroshenko protesters (led by opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili) demanding the president's resignation at the October Palace in Kiev. (VOA)

• Sailing
  • François Gabart from France sets a new solo around the world sailing record after he circumnavigates the globe in 42 days and 16 hours in his trimaran Macif. This is six days faster than the previous record held by fellow Frenchman Thomas Coville. (The Guardian)