August 20, 2017 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Iraqi Civil War
- Battle of Tal Afar (2017)
- Iraqi security forces, along with Shi'ite volunteers and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, launch a ground offensive to take the city of Tal Afar back from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants. The city has been isolated from the rest of the ISIL-held territory since the recent Mosul liberation. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
- Battle of Tal Afar (2017)
- Syrian Civil War
- A rocket hits and injures several people at the Damascus International Fair. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says five people have died. (Daily Mail) (BBC)
Arts and culture
- Deaths in August 2017
- American comedian and Muscular Dystrophy Association chairman Jerry Lewis dies in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 91. (Yahoo!)
Disasters and accidents
- Disasters in South Korea
- An explosion at a South Korean shipyard owned by STX Offshore & Shipbuilding kills four workers. (Reuters via The Australian)
Law and crime
- Philippine Drug War
- The Philippine Catholic Church condemns the killings in the Philippines after anger erupts due to the death of 17-year old Kian Loyd delos Santos.(Reuters) (BBC)
- Death of Jennifer Laude
- The Court of Appeals of the Philippines has junked U.S. Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton's motion for reconsideration, re-affirming its decision last April upholding the 2015 homicide ruling of the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court; citing the defendant's arguments as mere "rehash of issues". The Court of Appeals also upheld the payment of ₱ 4.32 million to Jennifer Laude's family for "loss of earning capacity". Pemberton faces 10 years in prison. (Rappler)
Politics and elections
- Politics of Iran
- Iranian MPs approve 16 out of 17 cabinet members nominated by recently re-elected President Hassan Rouhani. (The Washington Post)
- Media of North Korea
- The director of the BBC World Service says it is prepared for the North Korean government's reaction over the targeted launch of a radio service on North Korea in September, despite the recent international tensions. The North Korean embassy in London has already told the BBC "in no uncertain terms" that Pyongyang does not want any such service. (The Guardian)