December 21, 2016 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Terrorism in Indonesia
- Indonesian police kill three people in a gunfight south of Jakarta after a bomb is found. Fourteen people are arrested in connection to alleged involvement in plans for suicide bomb attacks. (Reuters) (Reuters² via Free Malaysia Today)
- 2016 Berlin truck attack
- War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- Five people are killed in a Taliban attack on Afghan Member of Parliament Mir Wali's home in Helmand Province. At least three security guards and two civilians were killed in the assault; Wali and others were injured. The gunmen are holding a number of occupants hostage. (PressTV) (Reuters)
- Syrian Civil War
- Northern Raqqa offensive
- U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces advance to eight kilometers (five miles) from the largest prison held by ISIL near the Tabqa Dam. (Straits Times)
- Northern Raqqa offensive
Arts and culture
- Musician James Taylor cancels a concert in Manila to protest the ongoing drug war. (Billboard)
Business and economy
- The U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fines several companies, including Wells Fargo, RBC Capital Markets, and LPL Financial, a combined $14.4 million for record-keeping problems that could have allowed company and customer documents to be altered. (Reuters)
- Uber suspends tests of its self-driving cars in San Francisco, California, after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the registration of the vehicles in the state in response to two red-light violations. (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
- 2016 San Pablito Market fireworks explosion
- Authorities say the death toll is now 31, and that 47 of the 60 people injured remain hospitalized. (Los Angeles Times)
Health
- Sindh Government officials declare a health emergency in Malir, Karachi, as thousands of patients have been affected by the mysterious Chikungunya virus. The government states the aedes aegypti mosquito is responsible for spreading the Chikungunya virus in Pakistan's largest city. (Geo tv) (Daily Pakistan) (Dunya News tv)
International relations
- China–Mongolia relations
- Mongolia bans the 14th Dalai Lama from leisure in the country after China cancels a Mongolian loan. (The New York Times) (AP via ABC News)
- International recognition of Taiwan, One-China policy
- São Tomé and Príncipe breaks relations with the island country of Taiwan. (BBC)
- Russia–United States relations, 2016 United States election interference by Russia
- The Kremlin says almost all communications channels with the United States are frozen. The U.S. State Department says the dialogue with Russia continues despite their differences. (Reuters) (The New York Times)
Law and crime
- A bill protecting the rights of LGBT in the Philippines is finally up for debate 17 years after being first introduced in the upper legislature with the 2014 killing of a transwoman as the reason for its urgency. (Rappler)
- Operation Car Wash
- Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht and affiliated petrochemical company Braskem plead guilty of violating American foreign bribery laws in connection with the Petrobras deal. (Reuters)
- A federal jury orders DuPont to pay $2 million to a man with testicular cancer after finding the company liable for diseases linked to C8, a Teflon-making chemical. (Reuters) (CNBC)
Politics and elections
- Two activists are arrested in Indonesia for advocating West Papuan independence. (Radio New Zealand)
- 2016 Turkish purges
- Turkey suspends another 1,980 teachers and school employees for alleged connections to the coup attempt. (Reuters)
- Gambian presidential election, 2016
- Gambia's Chief Justice sets January 10, 2017, for the hearing by the Supreme Court, made up of judges from Nigeria and Sierra Leone, of President Yahya Jammeh's ruling party's legal challenge of the December 1 election results. (Reuters)
- Presidential transition of Donald Trump
- President-elect Donald Trump names Carl Icahn as the Special Advisor to the President on Regulatory Reform. (The Hill)
Science and technology