Armed conflicts and attacks

• Papua conflict
  • Indonesia cuts off Internet in the provinces of Papua and West Papua. (The Guardian) (RTÉ)
• War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
  • A ninth round of peace talks between the United States and the Taliban starts in Doha, Qatar. (Al Jazeera)

Disasters and accidents

• At least four people are dead and more than 100 injured after lightning strikes the summit of Giewont in the Tatra Mountains, Poland. Another person is also dead in Slovakia. (tvn24.pl) (gazeta.pl) (BBC)

International relations

• Japan–South Korea relations, GSOMIA
  • South Korea decides against extension of the General Security of Military Information Agreement. South Korean officials express that the exclusion from Japan's preferred trade list on 12 August eliminated any benefit to maintaining the agreement. (NHK)

Law and crime

• 2018 Chemnitz protests
  • A Syrian man is jailed for manslaughter after a stabbing in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany last year. The crime sparked far-right rioting. (BBC)
• Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez murder
  • Philippine Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director-General Nicanor Faeldon said that former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez is not eligible under a 2013 law that credits good conduct time allowance (GCTA) for an early release from prison. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Politics and elections

• 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries
  • Washington governor Jay Inslee drops out of the presidential primaries to focus on his re-election bid. (The New York Times)

Science and technology

• The second GPS IIIA satellite is successfully launched by a Delta IV Medium rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It is the last launch of the Delta IV Medium vehicle. (Orlando Sentinel)
• The uncrewed Soyuz MS-14 mission to resupply the International Space Station commences. Its launch was a successful test of a Soyuz spacecraft atop a Soyuz-2 launch vehicle, which will replace the Soyuz-FG as the carrier rocket for Soyuz spacecraft starting in 2020. (NASASpaceFlight.com) (Space.com)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
  • A United States MQ-9 military drone is reportedly shot down in Yemen's Dhamar Governorate. A Houthi spokesperson claims responsibility and adds they used a locally-developed missile. (Reuters)
• War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
  • 17 August 2019 Kabul bombing
    • The death toll of a suicide bombing during a wedding in Kabul, Afghanistan, four days ago, increases to 80. (Al Jazeera)

Business and economy

• United States federal budget
  • The Congressional Budget Office forecasts a deficit of US$1 trillion in 2020, up from the previous estimate of $892 billion. (The New York Times)

International relations

• 2019 Persian Gulf crisis, Australia–United States relations
  • Australia announces that it has agreed to join the United States' coalition, along with the United Kingdom and Bahrain, to prevent Iran from targeting ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz. Australia will deploy a Boeing P-8 Poseidon and a frigate. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Denmark–United States relations
  • Queen Margrethe II of Denmark expresses surprise at U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt cancellation of his planned visit to her country. Experts on the royal house call the move an act of "disrespect" as illness was not the apparent cause. (TV2)
• Iceland–United States relations
  • The office of the Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín Jakobsdóttir confirms she will not meet the Vice President of the United States Mike Pence on his visit in September, citing "prior commitments". (AP News)

Law and crime

• Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Australia
  • The Supreme Court of Victoria rejects an appeal made by Cardinal George Pell against a six-year jail sentence for child sexual abuse. (The Guardian)
• China–United Kingdom relations
  • The Foreign Ministry of China confirms that United Kingdom consulate in Hong Kong employee Simon Cheng, who was reported missing, is administratively detained for 15 days by Shenzhen police. (CNN)
• Indian senior opposition Rajya Sabha MP and former Cabinet Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram is arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on charges of corruption and money laundering during his term as Minister of Finance. Chidambaram has said to the Supreme Court that the government is practicing a "politically-motivated vendetta" against him and his son Karti, who is also an opposition MP. (BBC)