2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Background
Freetown suffers from long-term issues involving poor urban development programs. According to Jamie Hitchen of the Africa Research Institute "the government is failing to provide housing for the poorest in society", and when attention is paid to issues such as unregulated construction, it is received only after a crisis. Because a moratorium on housing construction was not enforced, unorganized settlements and municipal works encroached on flood plains, resulting in narrower water passageways. During floods, Freetown's drainage systems are often blocked by discarded waste, especially in the city's poorer communities, contributing to higher levels of surface runoff.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Background
The construction of large homes in hillside areas and unrestricted deforestation for residential purposes weakened the stability of nearby slopes and caused soil erosion. Within a decade leading up to the disaster, Sierra Leone cleared approximately 800,000 hectares (2,000,000 acres) of forest cover – the country's civil war, fought between 1991 and 2002, was also a cause of deforestation. The nation's Environmental Protective Agency launched a reforesting mission in the region two weeks prior to the floods and mudslides, which was ultimately unsuccessful.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Mudslides
According to the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center, Sierra Leone experienced a particularly wet rainy season, with the capital city of Freetown, in the Western Area of the country, experiencing 41 inches (1,000 mm) of rainfall from July 1, 2017, leading up to the mudslides – nearly tripling the area's seasonal average. Sierra Leone's meteorological department did not warn residents to leave areas prone to flooding in time; from August 11 to 14, Freetown faced three consecutive days of rain, which led to severe flooding in the city and its surrounding suburbs. Flooding is an annual threat for the area: in 2015 floods killed 10 people and left thousands homeless.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Mudslides, Affected regions
Overlooking Freetown, Sugar Loaf mountain partially collapsed, triggering mudslides in the early morning of August 14, which damaged or completely submerged several houses and structures, killing residents – many still asleep – who were trapped inside. The collapse of the mountainside took place in two stages – with the lower slope sliding into the Babadorie River Valley and, 10 minutes later, the upper portion collapsing, resulting in a "tidal wave" of landmass and debris. Highly mobile, the saturated debris flow from the collapse of the upper mountainside, carrying mud, large boulders, tree trunks, and other material, advanced toward the main river channel, Lumley Creek, with a wall of flood water leading in front.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Mudslides, Affected regions
Another mudslide struck the Regent suburban district. A mountainous settlement 15 miles (24 km) east of Freetown, Regent was covered by mud and debris when nearby hillsides collapsed around 6:00 GMT. The suburban districts of Goderich and Tacuguma were also hit by mudslides, but the under-developed areas did not sustain significant damage to infrastructure or loss of life.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Mudslides, Aftermath
The disaster caused damage to property in an area equal to 116,766 square metres (1,256,860 sq ft).


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Mudslides, Aftermath
Accessibility between communities was lost: eight pedestrian roads and bridges connecting Kamayama and Kaningo took moderate or severe damage, and two road bridges on the Regent river channel were impacted; in total, the damages to pathways amounted to US$1 million in costs. Power outages occurred in several communities, partly due to the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority's (EDSA) temporarily taking certain areas off the grid to avoid electrical incidents. The damage to EDSA's infrastructure totaled $174,000.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Mudslides, Aftermath
More than 3,000 people were left homeless by the disaster. An initial estimate of the death toll placed the number at 205, but rescue and aid workers cautioned that the survival rates for many of the 600 people still missing were slim. By August 27, local government and ministry officials reported 1,000 fatalities during religious services honoring the victims. The final official death toll declared 1,141 dead or missing.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Response
Local organizations, military personnel, and the Red Cross of Sierra Leone contributed to immediate excavation and recovery efforts, working amid rainfall. The continued downpours and damaged passageways disrupted relief efforts, as did the topography of affected areas. The Red Cross and the federal government contributed fifteen vehicles, including three ambulances, to assist in traveling to isolated areas, while the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) sent a joint team of forensic officers and specialized rescue units with trained dogs.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Response
The Connaught Hospital mortuary in Freetown was overwhelmed by nearly 300 bodies in the first day alone, forcing workers to lay victims on floors and outside the building to be identified. Due to the lack of manpower and threat of disease, bodies were buried in mass graves on August 15 at two sites in Waterloo.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Response
Sierra Leone's Office for National Security (ONS) advised survivors to evacuate flood-prone areas. Additional evacuations took place when aerial images of a hillside adjacent to Sugar Loaf revealed the threat of another mudslide which could impact a much wider area. Response teams were deployed to two voluntary relocation centers, the Old Skool compound in Hill Station and Juba barracks in Lumley, where workers distributed sanitation and medical supplies. By August 16, workers in Regent and Kaningo began constructing emergency latrines and four 10,000-liter water harvesting systems.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Response
Unsanitary waters raised fears of cholera; however, workers provided storage tanks, purification tablets, and instructional courses on hygiene to help prevent an outbreak of waterborne diseases. The government of Sierra Leone also launched its first ever cholera vaccination campaign on September 15, targeting over 500,000 citizens in the Western Area. After the disaster, affected areas faced water shortages; as a result, UNICEF distributed 26,000 liters of drinking water each day.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Response
President Ernest Bai Koroma addressed Sierra Leone in a national broadcast August 15, declaring a state of emergency and announcing the establishment of a relief center in Regent. He urged the nation, still recovering from the aftermath of the Ebola outbreak, to remain unified: "Our nation has once again been gripped by grief. Many of our compatriots have lost their lives, many more have been gravely injured and billions of Leones' worth of property destroyed in the flooding and landslides that swept across some parts of our city". He also addressed the coordination of registries in Freetown that provided aid for residents left without shelter. On August 15, the president declared seven days of national mourning, which would begin immediately.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Response, Foreign assistance
Koroma made an appeal to the international community for relief. Already in the country, numerous international organisations acted immediately, providing basic supplies and services – from food and shelter to personal counselling and mobile phones. Among others, Action Against Hunger, CARE International, GOAL, Handicap International, Muslim Aid, Plan International, Red Cross, Save the Children, Streetchild, Trocaire, UK Aid, World Visionand various UN agencies were involved.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Response, Foreign assistance
Several European countries responded with donations: the United Kingdom provided £5 million for clean drinking water and medicine, Ireland donated €400,000, Spain donated €50,000 and assembled a technical forensic team, and Switzerland spent CHF400,000 to provide sanitation and first-aid kits . West African country donations included $500,000 from Togo, medical supplies distributed by Liberia, and pledges for support by Guinea and Nigeria. Other governments such as China donated $1 million through their embassy in Freetown, and Israel sent an envoy supplying food and medical supplies.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Response, Foreign assistance
In response to the disaster, the United Nations (UN) arranged contingency plans to mitigate potential outbreaks of waterborne diseases. The UN's migration agency allocated $150,000 in initial-response aid and mobilized personnel in Sierra Leone to assist in rescue operations and distribute supplies to survivors. The World Food Programme (WFP) provided rations for 7,500 people. The European Union (EU) authorized €300,000 for humanitarian aid on August 16. On August 17, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) approved CHF4.6 million worth of aid to be distributed through the Sierra Leone Red Cross agency for use over a 10-month period.


2017 Sierra Leone mudslides, Response, Foreign assistance
Three months removed from the disaster, the Sierra Leone government announced the closure of emergency camps, which housed many families awaiting financial assistance. About 98 families from the UK-Aid and World Food Programme-sponsored camps received assistance, yet nearly 500 families housed in informal refuges had not prior to the November 15 deadline.


2017 Silverstone Formula 2 round
The 2017 Silverstone FIA Formula 2 round was a pair of motor races held on 15 and 16 July 2017 at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, United Kingdom as part of the FIA Formula 2 Championship. It was the sixth round of the 2017 FIA Formula 2 Championship and was run in support of the 2017 British Grand Prix.


2017 Sinai mosque attack
At 1:50 PM EET on 24 November 2017, the al-Rawda mosque was attacked by roughly 40 gunmen during Friday prayers. The mosque is located in the village of Al-Rawda east of the town of Bir al-Abed in Egypt's North Sinai Governorate. It is one of the main mosques associated with the Jaririya Sufi order, one of the largest Sufi orders in North Sinai. The Jaririya order is named for its founder, Sheikh Eid Abu Jarir, who was a member of the Sawarka tribe and the Jarira clan. The Jarira clan resides in the vicinity of Bir al-Abed. The attack killed 311 people and injured at least 122, making it the deadliest attack in Egyptian history. It was the second-deadliest terrorist attack of 2017, after the Mogadishu bombings on 14 October. The attack was universally condemned by many world leaders and organizations.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Attack
Al-Rawda Mosque, which is located on Sinai's main coastal highway connecting the city of Port Said to Gaza, belongs to the local Jarir clan, of the Sawarka tribe, who follow the Jaririya (Gaririya) Sufi order—an offshoot of the movement of Abu Ahmed al-Ghazawi, of the broader Darqawa order. The mosque is on the road between El Arish and Bir al-Abed. The mosque has a smaller zawiyah, a Sufi lodge, attached.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Attack
According to local media, attackers in four off-road vehicles planted three bombs; the attackers used the burning wrecks of cars to block off escape routes. After their detonation, they launched rocket propelled grenades and opened fire on worshippers during the crowded Friday prayer at al-Rawda near Bir al-Abed. When ambulances arrived to transport the wounded to hospitals, the attackers opened fire on them as well, having selected ambush points from which to target them. Local residents quickly responded, bringing the wounded to hospitals in their own cars and trucks, and even taking up weapons to fight back.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Attack, Casualties
311 adults were killed in the attack, 27 children, and at least 122 other people were wounded. Many of the victims worked at a nearby salt factory and were at the mosque for Friday prayers.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Responsibility
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, although there were reports that the attack appeared to be the work of Islamic State's Wilayat Sinai branch. On 25 November, the Egyptian public prosecutor's office, citing interviews with survivors, said the attackers brandished the Islamic State flag.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Responsibility
Islamist militants have been active in the Sinai since July 2013, killing at least 1,000 Egyptian security forces personnel. According to The New York Times, in January 2017 an interview of an insurgent commander in Sinai appeared in issue five of the Islamic State magazine Rumiyah, where the commander condemned Sufi practices and identified the district where the attack occurred as one of three areas where Sufis live in Sinai that Islamic State intended to "eradicate." The community had been repeatedly threatened to refrain from Sufi practices.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Responsibility
Jund al-Islam, an al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group in Sinai who were formerly affiliated with ISIL, declared their innocence and condemned the attack on the al-Rawda mosque.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Reactions
Egypt declared three days of national mourning following the attack. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said the attack "shall not go unpunished". The President also ordered the government to allocate funds for compensating families of the dead.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Reactions
The Muslim Brotherhood wrote on Twitter and Facebook that it "condemns in the strongest words" the attack and that those responsible should "renounce extremism and violence". Al-Azhar University, Egypt's oldest accredited university, issued a statement condemning the attacks, adding "terrorism will be routed".


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Reactions
One week after the attack, Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb, along with Grand Mufti Shawki Allam and Religious Endowments Minister Mokhtar Gomaa, performed Friday prayers at al-Rawda mosque.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Reactions
The attack was widely condemned by the international community, with many world leaders issuing official statements and social media posts. Turkey declared one day of national mourning on 27 November.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Reactions
The Supreme Council for Sufi Orders cancelled street celebrations of Mawlid throughout Egypt as a sign of mourning.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Reactions
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights strongly condemned the attacks, and weeks later issued a report that considered the massacre an attempt of genocide against the Sufi Muslim community of the Sinai Peninsula. EOHR also called upon the Egyptian government to provide adequate protection for minorities.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Reactions
A three-day opening of the border crossing into Gaza from Rafah, Egypt, scheduled for 25–27 November, was cancelled due to security concerns. The Cairo International Film Festival stated in a press release its intention to continue with the festival, and condemned the attacks.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Reactions
The Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality building, the Library of Birmingham, the Kuwait Towers and the CN Tower were illuminated with the colors of the Egyptian flag as a sign of solidarity. The lights of the Eiffel Tower were extinguished as well. The Royal Hashemite Court flew the Jordanian flag at half-mast.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Reactions, Military response
President el-Sisi vowed to respond with "the utmost force". In the days immediately after the attack the Air Force announced that it had pursued and destroyed of some of the militants' vehicles and weapons stocks. Airstrikes were also conducted in the neighboring mountains.


2017 Sinai mosque attack, Reactions, Military response
In February 2018, Egypt responded to this attack with major air strikes and land assaults against terrorist positions in Sinai.


2017 Singapore Community Shield
The 2017 Singapore Community Shield (also known as the Great Eastern Community Shield for sponsorship reasons) was the 10th edition of the Singapore Community Shield held on 26 February 2017 at National Stadium, between the winners of the previous season's S.League and Singapore Cup competitions. The match was contested by 2016 Singapore Cup winners Albirex Niigata (S) and 2016 S.League runners-up Tampines Rovers.


2017 Singapore Community Shield
This was the first time whereby a Shield match was played at the new National Stadium after opening in 2014.


2017 Singapore Community Shield
Albirex Niigata (S) won the Shield for the second consecutive time after defeating Tampines Rovers 2–1.


2017 Singapore Cup
The 2017 Singapore Cup (also known as the RHB Singapore Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the 20th edition of Singapore's annual premier club football knock-out tournament organised by the Football Association of Singapore. Albirex Niigata (S) are the defending champions, having won their first trophy the previous year.


2017 Singapore Cup
This will be the first time in the competition's history where both finalists are both non-Singaporean clubs.


2017 Singapore Cup, Teams
A total of 12 teams participate in the 2017 Singapore Cup. 8 of the teams are from domestic S.League while the other four are invited from Cambodia and the Philippines. Young Lions will not be participating in this edition of the Singapore Cup.


2017 Singapore Cup, Format
Eight teams were drawn for the preliminary round while the other four seeded teams received a bye for that round. The eight teams will play against one another in a single-legged knockout basis. Winners of this round will progress and advance to the quarter-finals. Thereafter, matches are played in two legs with the exception of the one-match final.


2017 Singapore Cup, Format
For any match in the knockout stage, a draw after 90 minutes of regulation time is followed by two 15 minute periods of extra time to determine a winner. If the teams are still tied, a penalty shoot-out is held to determine a winner.


2017 Singapore Cup, Preliminary round
The draw for the preliminary round was held on 9 May 2017 at Connaught Drive. Eight teams involved in this round will play in a single leg knockout basis. The matches will be played from 29 to 21 June 2017. Winners of this round will progress and advance to the quarter-finals.


2017 Singapore Cup, Quarter-finals
The 4 winners from the preliminary round will join DPMM FC, Tampines Rovers, 2016 runner up, Albirex Niigata (S) and 2016 winner, Home United in the draw.


2017 Singapore Grand Prix
The 2017 Singapore Grand Prix (formally known as the 2017 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 17 September 2017 at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore. It was the fourteenth round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship, and marked the eighteenth running of the Singapore Grand Prix, the tenth time the race had been held at Marina Bay.


2017 Singapore Grand Prix
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton entered the round with a three-point lead over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in the World Drivers' Championship, with Valtteri Bottas third. In the Constructors' standings, Mercedes led Ferrari by 62 points, while Red Bull Racing were third.


2017 Singapore Grand Prix
The race was won by Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton who took the lead on the first lap following a significant collision between Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen and Kimi Räikkönen. Daniel Ricciardo finished second with Valtteri Bottas taking third. This result increased Hamilton's lead in the Drivers' Championship to 28 points and increased Mercedes's lead in the Constructors' standings to 102 points.


2017 Singapore Grand Prix, Report, Practice
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo went fastest in first practice with a time of 1:42.489. He was followed by the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and his teammate Max Verstappen while championship leader Lewis Hamilton was only fourth fastest. Ricciardo was also quickest in second practice, followed by Verstappen and Hamilton.


2017 Singapore Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
Max Verstappen was quickest in both Q1 and Q2 as Red Bull seemed to have the advantage over Mercedes and Ferrari. However, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel took pole in the final session with a lap time of 1.39.491, ahead of Verstappen and teammate Ricciardo. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton could only take fifth on the grid with teammate Bottas sixth.


2017 Singapore Grand Prix, Report, Race
Rainfall prior to the race start meant that the race would be the first night-time Grand Prix staged under wet conditions in Formula One history. Despite this, the race was started under normal racing conditions without the safety car as per 2017 rule changes. At the start, Räikkönen had an excellent start compared to his teammate Vettel and Verstappen of Red Bull. Vettel and Räikkönen had Verstappen in the middle of them with him nowhere to go.


2017 Singapore Grand Prix, Report, Race
Verstappen's tyres touched with Räikkönen as a result sending Räikkönen out of control and he hit left sidepod of his teammate Vettel's car, causing significant damage to both, and then also hit Verstappen's car again going into turn 1. This caused the immediate retirement of both Räikkönen and Verstappen. Vettel was initially able to continue despite noticeable damage, followed by Hamilton, who had a good start with Ricciardo behind. However, Vettel soon spun due to the damage and subsequently retired. This marked the first occasion in Formula One history when both works Ferraris were eliminated on the opening lap.


2017 Singapore Grand Prix, Report, Race
Alonso had also sustained damage as a result of the incident in turn 1 and eventually retired on lap 9. The collisions on the opening lap brought out a safety car that led the field until lap 4. At the restart Lewis Hamilton continued to lead, followed by Daniel Ricciardo in second and Nico Hülkenberg in third. Hamilton then was able to pull away and establish a comfortable lead over Ricciardo.


2017 Singapore Grand Prix, Report, Race
There were two further safety car periods over the course of the race. One on lap 11, after Daniil Kvyat crashed at turn 7, and one on lap 38 after Marcus Ericsson spun. Bottas managed to get up to third and Carlos Sainz to fourth after the first safety car period as those on full wets ahead of them pitted for inters, the tyres Bottas and Sainz were already on. Hamilton was again able to get away well at both restarts.


2017 Singapore Grand Prix, Report, Race
Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg - from 4th position after passing Sainz in the second safety car period - would both retire later in the race with mechanical issues. Hamilton won the race from Ricciardo, and Valtteri Bottas took the final podium place, while Sainz achieved his then career-best finish of 4th place. Jolyon Palmer came home in 6th place for his first points finish of the season, on the same weekend it was announced he would be replaced by Sainz at the end of the season. The drivers did not complete the scheduled race distance of 61 laps due to the 2-hour time limit being reached, so the chequered flag was shown on lap 58.


2017 Singapore League Cup
The 2017 Singapore League Cup (known as The New Paper League Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the 11th edition of the Singapore League Cup, Singapore's premier club football tournament organised by the Football Association of Singapore. Albirex Niigata (S) are the defending champions, having won their third trophy the previous year. The tournament was held from 7 to 21 July 2017.


2017 Singapore League Cup, Teams
A total of 8 teams participate in the 2017 Singapore League Cup with all clubs coming from the S.League. Young Lions will not be participating in this edition of the Singapore League Cup.


2017 Singapore Sevens
The 2017 Singapore Sevens was the eighth tournament of the 2016–17 World Rugby Sevens Series. The tournament was played on 15–16 April 2017 at the Singapore National Stadium in Singapore. This was the sixth time that the Singapore Sevens had a spot on the World Rugby Sevens Series. In an exciting final, Canada completed the 'Miracle on Grass' by jumping out to an early lead and then scoring the decisive try with 2 minutes remaining to beat the United States 26-19 and win its first-ever World Series tournament. Earlier in the day, Canada had triumphed over New Zealand and England while the US defeated Fiji and Australia to set up the first Cup final featuring both North American teams.


2017 Singapore Sevens, Format
Sixteen teams were drawn into four pools of four teams each. Each team played all the others in their pool once. The top two teams from each pool advanced to the Cup quarter finals. The bottom two teams from each group advanced to the Challenge Trophy quarter finals.


2017 Singapore Super Series
The 2017 Singapore Super Series was the fourth Super Series tournament of the 2017 BWF Super Series. The tournament takes place in Singapore from April 11–16, 2017 with a total purse of $350,000.


2017 Singaporean presidential election
The Singaporean presidential election of 2017 was held to elect the next President of Singapore with Halimah Yacob as the winning candidate due to an uncontested election.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Background
The President is the head of state of Singapore. Following the Westminster system, the position is largely ceremonial, but enjoys several reserve powers including withholding presidential assent on supply bills and changing or revoking civil service appointments. The current system of holding elections for the Presidency began with the 1993 election, with the election of Ong Teng Cheong. Before then, the President was selected by Parliament.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Background
There are strict requirements for prospective presidential election candidates, and whether a candidate meets the qualifications or not is decided by the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC), who are given the task of issuing a certificate of eligibility (COE) to prospective candidates.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Background
The Presidency is, by the rules of the Constitution, required to be nonpartisan. However, Halimah had, until her presidential campaign, ties with the People's Action Party. She was a member of the party's Central Executive Committee, as well as the chair of the party's Seniors Group. She was also an elected PAP Member of Parliament and Speaker of Parliament prior to her resignation in 2017.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Background
Following amendments to the Constitution of Singapore, the election was the first to be reserved for a particular racial group under a hiatus-triggered model. The 2017 election was reserved for candidates from the minority Malay community, who had not held the presidential office since 1970.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms
In his speech to Parliament on 27 January 2016, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that it was timely to review the eligibility criteria of the Elected Presidency. On 10 February 2016, a Constitutional Commission consisting of nine individuals and chaired by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon was formed. In its report released on 7 September 2016, the Commission recommended the following key changes:


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms
The government announced in a White Paper published on 15 September 2016 that it has accepted some of the recommendations, including the first three changes above. The government raised the financial requirements for private sector candidates while keeping the requirements of public sector candidates constant, stating it is adopting a "cautious" approach given the other concurrent changes to other aspects of eligibility criteria. On 8 November 2016, PM Lee, under the advice from Attorney-General, announced that the 2017 Presidential Election will be reserved for candidates from the Malay community.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms
"We have taken the Attorney-General's advice. We will start counting from the first President who exercised the powers of the Elected President, in other words, Dr Wee Kim Wee. That means we are now in the fifth term of the Elected Presidency." ~Lee Hsien Loong on 8 November 2016


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms
The rules for campaigning have also been modified. Rally sites will no longer be designated for the candidates. All candidates are required to apply for police permit on their own to hold a rally. Also, candidates are required to sign a statutory declaration to affirm that they understand the roles of a President. These rules are purportedly made to ensure that the candidates campaign in a "dignified" manner.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Constitutional challenges
On 5 May 2017, Tan Cheng Bock, a former Member of Parliament (MP) from the People's Action Party (PAP) who contested in the Singaporean presidential election of 2011, filed a constitutional challenge to determine whether it is correct to set the Presidential Election 2017 as a reserved election under the newly introduced amendments to the Elected Presidency. His challenge was dismissed by Justice Quentin Loh in High Court, explaining that "Article 164(1)(a) provides for Parliament to specify the first term of office of the President to be counted under Art 19B(1) ("First Term")." He then filed an appeal, heard by the Court of Appeal on 31 July 2017. On 23 August 2017, his appeal was unanimously dismissed by the court of five judges which ruled that the Parliament has full discretion to set the First Term.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Constitutional challenges
On 28 August 2017, the Workers' Party filed an adjournment motion on the election to debate on the issue in the next Parliament sitting on 11 September. On 5 September, the Workers' Party was informed that their motion was not selected for mention as Murali's topic on community sentencing won the ballot.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Constitutional challenges
The Workers' Party eventually raised their query in Parliament on 3 October through its chairperson Sylvia Lim, who challenged why the PAP government uses AGC's advice as a "red herring" to evade justifying its own decision of starting the count from President Wee Kim Wee instead of the first elected President Ong Teng Cheong. She quoted instances where PM Lee Hsien Loong, DPM Teo Chee Hean and Minister in Prime Minister's Office Chan Chun Sing spoke on the matter in parliament, when they stated that the AGC's advice was taken for deciding the starting count.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Constitutional challenges
In response, Law Minister Shanmugam said that the Government sought the AGC's advice on whether there would be "legal impediments" to start the count from President Wee, and that the timing of when to trigger the reserved election was a "policy decision" that was not based on the AGC's advice, as parliament has full discretion on this issue. He insisted that the Government has not misled the public by giving the impression that the decision was a legal one, and pointed to some unnamed individual, "not from the PAP", who was deemed by the court to be misleading the Parliament.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Constitutional challenges
In a Facebook post, Tan Cheng Bock highlighted Shanmugam's apparent contradiction when he was quoted saying in Parliament, "once we get the (AGC's) advice, we will send it out". Shanmugam responded by accusing Tan of "splicing and rearranging" his words, insisting that "it" refers to the government's position instead of AGC's advice. He even engaged in ad hominem by calling Tan "bitter".


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Constitutional challenges
On 22 May 2017, human rights lawyer M. Ravi filed a constitutional challenge, stating that the amendment to the Elected Presidency Scheme "deprives citizens of the right to stand" for the office of the Elected Presidency, is "discriminatory on the grounds of ethnicity", and that it contradicts article 12(2) of the Constitution. On 15 June 2017, his application was dismissed by the High Court with cost. Judge See Kee Oon said during the hearing that Ravi had not shown how his personal rights were violated by the changes that were made to the scheme.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Constitutional challenges
See added that Ravi therefore had "no standing" as a private citizen to mount the challenge. Ravi has since filed an appeal against the court's verdict. His appeal was scheduled to be heard on 31 July. Ravi's challenge was dismissed by Justic See Kee On, a high court judge on grounds that Ravi as a private citizen had "no standing" to mount a challenge.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Criticisms
The People's Action Party has been accused of using the Presidential office's imperative of preserving racial peace as a way to circumvent democracy and shore up its political power. The government has relied on a survey jointly conducted by online publication Channel NewsAsia, and National University of Singapore's Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), both with ties to the Singapore government, to support its case that Singaporeans are voting along racial lines. This is seen by some [who?] as a farcical attempt at combating voters' racial bias which, at every election, has been proven to have no impact on election results.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Criticisms
The reserved Presidential election is also seen as an elaborate plan to block the candidacy of Tan Cheng Bock, who lost by a thin margin of 0.35% in the 2011 Presidential elections to Tony Tan Keng Yam, a former deputy prime minister. Some social media users have mockingly referred to the move as "Tan Cheng Block". The Singapore government has denied the accusation.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Criticisms
A 16-member Community Committee was appointed by the Prime Minister, based on the nominations given by the Presidential Council for Minority Rights, to assess whether a candidate belongs to a particular racial group. Former MP Inderjit Singh questions why a different yardstick is used for determining the race of an individual instead of adopting the existing standards practised by ethnic self-help organisations SINDA and MENDAKI. In a forum held at IPS on 8 September 2017, law professor Kevin Tan pointed out that the Community Committee's ultimate power to decide a candidate's race, instead of using the court, is unconstitutional.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Criticisms
Norshahril Saat, a fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, criticised the racial classification process which relies on the judgement of a few prominent individuals, as elitist. Questions were raised on the implications if the committee were to, in a hypothetical situation, reject a Malay candidate because he is Christian and not Muslim, as it could be seen as an infringement on a person's constitutional rights to religious freedom. Cabinet Minister Chan Chun Sing responded that it is up to individual racial communities to determine whom to accept as one of them, and no one would dispute the decision. MP Janil Puthucheary suggested that in such a case, the hypothetical non-Muslim Malay individual could still contest in the next open election.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Criticisms
Law professor Eugene Tan argued that as a reserved election prevents participation of qualified candidates from other races, the principle of meritocracy is not exercised fully. Tan also proposed that a race-based election can give rise to the belief that a racial community is entitled to have one of its own to be elected President, leading to the expectation for other public offices to be rotated amongst the races as well. Critics have highlighted that the more influential position of the prime minister has been held by the Chinese since Singapore's independence.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Criticisms
When asked if the role of prime minister should be reserved for minorities at the IPS forum, Law Minister K. Shanmugam responded that Singapore has chosen "a mixed system", and that whether the country should "go all the way is a question of... what is doable, what the people will accept and also whether you need it... to strengthen our multiracial environment."


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Criticisms
In addition, Professor Tan contends that a reserved election might just reinforce the alleged tendency of Singaporeans to vote along racial lines since the system will automatically produce a minority-race President at regular intervals if one is not elected. As noted by critics, the reserved election would generate unnecessary tension and lead to racial divide amongst Singaporeans.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Criticisms
An online petition circulated on the internet, calling for the election to be made open to all races.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Protest
A planned protest against the reserved Presidential election at the Speaker's Corner was abruptly cancelled as organiser Gilbert Goh believed that a police permit is required and he may not be granted one since the protest revolves around race issues, which, according to National Parks Board, may contravene the Public Order Act which stipulated that speakers must not speak about matters that may cause ill-will between different racial or religious groups.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Parliamentary reforms, Protest
Following his unsuccessful protest, Goh began organizing a silent sit-in protest to be held on 16 September 2017 at Hong Lim Park.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Candidates
On 9 November 2016, Parliament passed an amendment to the Singapore Constitution. The amendment's passage meant that the 2017 presidential election would be reserved for members of the Malay community, who must be certified as such by a Community Committee. Applications for the presidential election opened on 1 June 2017, and were scheduled to close five days after the writ of election is issued in August, ahead of the elections in September.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Candidates
The Elections Department declared Halimah Yacob to be the only eligible presidential candidate on 11 September.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Candidates
Applications for the Certificate of Eligibility closed on 4 September 2017.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Nomination day
On 11 September 2017, the Presidential Elections Commission announced Halimah Yacob as the only candidate issued with both the certificate of eligibility, and a community certificate.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Nomination day
As the only eligible candidate for the presidency, Halimah Yacob was declared the President-elect on Nomination Day, 13 September, after her nomination papers were found to be in order. The returning officer, Ng Wai Choong, declared on 12.04 p.m.,


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Nomination day
Presidential Elections 2017. Results of nominations. Halimah Yacob is the only candidate, who has been nominated. I declare Halimah Yacob as the candidate elected to the office of president of the Republic of Singapore.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Nomination day
Speaking to her supporters at the Nomination Centre, Halimah remarked that it was a "proud moment for multi-culturalism, multi-racialism," and " multiculturalism is not just a slogan ... it really works in our society. Everyone has the chance to reach the highest office of land." She also said that she would strive to be a president for everyone, and even though it was a reserved election, she was not a reserved President.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Nomination day
Farid Khan, Salleh Marican and Tan Cheng Bock had congratulated her on her presidency.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Nomination day
Halimah was sworn in as Singapore's eighth President on 14 September at the Istana.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Nomination day, Reactions
Global media monitoring house Meltwater observed an increase in negative sentiment on social media surrounding the Presidential Elections from 11 to 12 September 2017, after the Elections Department announced that Halimah Yacob was the only candidate to be declared eligible for the election, effectively making the contest a walkover. The data shows 83% of negative sentiment and 17% of positive sentiment. In addition, critical backlash on the internet has led to the widespread use of the hashtag #NotMyPresident in Singapore. The Straits Times also reported on a counter-hashtag #halimahismypresident for Halimah's supporters.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Nomination day, Reactions
Political analyst Eugene Tan believed that while the online criticisms were not directed at Halimah, the electoral process and the government was "seen as exclusive and disenfranchising". Along with Gillian Koh, deputy director of research at IPS, Tan believed that a contested presidency would have added to Halimah's legitimacy. Writer and political commentator Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh commented that Singaporeans are "unhappy that meritocracy and electoral fairness, core Singaporean values, have been eroded to fulfil perceived political goals." The Association of Women for Action and Research congratulated Halimah Yacob, the first female head of state of the country, but noted the tightening of the eligibility criteria for presidential candidates.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Nomination day, Reactions
Political commentator and former Straits Times journalist Bertha Henson noted that the government had "opened the can of worms" as the elections have raised questions on Malay racial purity, in a country that often suppresses such discussions in fear of upsetting racial harmony. Others, such as former Nominated MP Calvin Cheng, lamented that eligible Malay candidates have failed to contest the election.


2017 Singaporean presidential election, Nomination day, Reactions
Activists called for a silent sit-in protest against the electoral process.


2017 Sioux City Bandits season
The 2017 Sioux City Bandits season is the team's seventeenth as the Sioux City Bandits, eighteenth overall and third as a member of Champions Indoor Football (CIF). One of 14 teams in the CIF for the 2017 season, they play in the 7-team North Conference.


2017 Sioux City Bandits season
The Bandits play their home games at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa, under the direction of head coach Erv Strohbeen. The team's offensive coordinator is Jarrod DeGeorgia, the defensive coordinator is John Zevenbergen, and the assistant coaches include Dave Croston and Paul Dacres.


2017 Sioux City Bandits season, Awards and honors
Each week of the regular season, the CIF names league-wide Players of the Week in offensive, defensive, and special teams categories.


2017 Sioux City Bandits season, Roster
Rookies in italics updated June 6, 201723 Active, 3 Inactive


2017 Sioux Falls Storm season
The 2017 Sioux Falls Storm season was the team's eighteenth season as a professional indoor football franchise and ninth in the Indoor Football League (IFL). One of ten teams that competed in the IFL for the 2017 season, the Storm were members of the United Conference.


2017 Sioux Falls Storm season
Led by head coach Kurtiss Riggs, the Storm played their home games at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.


2017 Sioux Falls Storm season, Roster
Rookies in italics updated June 15, 201725 Active, 6 Inactive


2017 Six Nations Championship
The 2017 Six Nations Championship was the 18th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. The tournament was also known as the RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.


2017 Six Nations Championship
It was contested by defending champions England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Including the competition's previous iterations as the Home Nations Championship and Five Nations Championship, it was the 123rd edition of the tournament.


2017 Six Nations Championship
For the first time the 2017 tournament used the bonus point system common to most other professional rugby union tournaments. As well as the standard four points for a win and two for a draw, a team scoring four tries in a match received an additional league table point, as did a team losing by seven or fewer points. Additionally, to ensure that a team winning all of its five matches (a Grand Slam) would also win the Championship, three bonus points were to be awarded for this achievement.


2017 Six Nations Championship
For the second successive year, the championship was won by England with a round to spare. However, they were denied the Grand Slam and Triple Crown in the final game by a defeat to Ireland in the final round, the fifth time this has happened to England in the Six Nations era (2000, 2001, 2011, 2013 and 2017) and the third time at the hands of the Irish (the other two being 2001 and 2011).


2017 Six Nations Championship, Participants
1 Except the round 2 match against Italy, when Best was a late withdrawal due to illness and Jamie Heaslip took over the captaincy. 2 Replaced original captain Greig Laidlaw, who was ruled out of the Championship after sustaining an injury during Scotland's game against France in round 2.


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 1
Touch judges:Jaco Peyper (South Africa)Nick Briant (New Zealand)Television match official:Glenn Newman (New Zealand)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 1
Touch judges:Glen Jackson (New Zealand)Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)Television match official:Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 1
Touch judges:John Lacey (Ireland)Craig Maxwell-Keys (England)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 2
Touch judges:Angus Gardner (Australia)Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 2
Touch judges:Pascal Gaüzère (France)Nick Briant (New Zealand)Television match official:Glenn Newman (New Zealand)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 2
Touch judges:John Lacey (Ireland)Luke Pearce (England)Television match official:Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 3
Touch judges:JP Doyle (England)Matthew Carley (England)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 3
Touch judges:Luke Pearce (England)Dan Jones (Wales)Television match official:George Ayoub (Australia)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 3
Touch judges:Mathieu Raynal (France)Andrew Brace (Ireland)Television match official:George Ayoub (Australia)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 4
Touch judges:Jérôme Garcès (France)Matthew Carley (England)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 4
Touch judges:Nigel Owens (Wales)JP Doyle (England)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 4
Touch judges:Romain Poite (France)Marius Mitrea (Italy)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 5
Touch judges:Nigel Owens (Wales)Luke Pearce (England)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 5
Touch judges:Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)Matthew Carley (England)Television match official:Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Fixtures, Round 5
Touch judges:Mathieu Raynal (France)Marius Mitrea (Italy)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2017 Six Nations Championship, Statistics
A record eight players were joint top try scorers, with Ireland flanker CJ Stander the first forward in the Six Nations era to score a hat-trick in a single match, against Italy. Stander's compatriot Craig Gilroy's own hat-trick in the same game set a new record – a replacement scoring three tries despite playing only 33 minutes in the entire tournament.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads
This is a list of the complete squads for the 2017 Six Nations Championship, an annual rugby union tournament contested by the national rugby teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England are the defending champions.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads
Note: Number of caps and players' ages are indicated as of 4 February 2017 – the tournament's opening day.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, England
On 20 January, head coach Eddie Jones named a 35-man squad.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, England, Call-ups
On 20 February, Mako Vunipola returned to the squad following injury while Henry Slade was an addition to the team ahead of Italy.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, England, Call-ups
On 28 February, Paul Hill was an addition to the training squad during the week off between Rounds 3 and 4.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, England, Call-ups
On 7 March, Billy Vunipola returned to the squad following injury.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, France
On 18 January 2017, Novès called up a 32-man squad in preparation for the tournament.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, France, Call-ups
On 22 January, Henry Chavancy was called up to the squad as an injury replacement for Wesley Fofana.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, France, Call-ups
On 23 January, Mathieu Bastareaud and Xavier Chiocci were called up as injury cover following injuries to Henry Chavancy and Eddy Ben Arous.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, France, Call-ups
On 24 January, Christopher Tolofua was called up to the squad as an injury replacement for Camille Chat. Raphaël Lakafia also withdrew from the squad but was not replaced.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, France, Call-ups
On 5 February, Gabriel Lacroix was called up to the squad to replace the injured Yann David.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, France, Call-ups
On 20 February, Brice Dulin, Paul Jedrasiak, Bernard Le Roux and Charles Ollivon were called up to the squad.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, France, Call-ups
On 5 March, Jonathan Danty and François Trinh-Duc were called up to the squad ahead of the round 4 clash with Italy.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, France, Call-ups
On 9 March, Antoine Dupont was a late call up to the squad following an injury to Maxime Machenaud in training.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, Ireland
On 23 January 2017, Joe Schmidt named a 40-man squad for the opening two rounds of the championship.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, Ireland, Call-ups
On 31 January, Ian Keatley was called up to the squad as injury cover for Jonathan Sexton who was ruled out of the opening round of the Championship.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, Ireland, Call-ups
On 19 February, Quinn Roux was named in an extended squad ahead of the third round clash against France.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, Italy
On 13 January 2017, head coach Conor O'Shea named a 32-man squad.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, Italy, Call-ups
On 22 February, Michele Rizzo was named in the team to face England in round 3.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, Italy, Call-ups
On 1 March, uncapped duo Luca Sperandio and Matteo Minozzi were called up to the squad, with Minozzi providing cover for Tommaso Allan.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, Scotland
On 18 January, Vern Cotter named a 37-man squad ahead of the tournament.


2017 Six Nations Championship squads, Wales
On 17 January 2017, caretaker head coach Rob Howley named a 36-man squad.


2017 Six Nations Under 20s Championship
The 2017 Six Nations Under 20s Championship, was the 10th series of the Six Nations Under 20s Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Wales were the defending champions. The competition was won by England, who completed a Grand Slam by winning all their five matches.


2017 Six Nations Under 20s Championship
For the first time, the 2017 tournament used the bonus point system common to most other professional rugby union tournaments. As well as the standard four points for a win and two for a draw, a team scoring four tries in a match received an additional league table point, as did a team losing by seven or fewer points. Additionally, to ensure that a team winning all of its five matches (a Grand Slam) would also win the Championship, three bonus points were awarded for this achievement.


2017 Six Nations Under 20s Championship, Table
* England were awarded an extra 3 table points for achieving the Grand Slam.


2017 Six Nations Under 20s Championship, Broadcasting rights
Some of the matches are  broadcast on television by France 4 and Sky Sports.


2017 Six-red World Championship
The 2017 SangSom Six-red World Championship was a six-red snooker invitational tournament held between 4 and 9 September 2017 at the Bangkok Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand. The tournament was reduced from 48 players to 32.


2017 Six-red World Championship
Ding Junhui was the defending champion, but he lost 1–6 to Marco Fu in the last 16.


2017 Six-red World Championship
Mark Williams won the title, beating Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 8–2 in the final.


2017 Six-red World Championship, Prize money
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:


2017 Six-red World Championship, Round-robin stage
The top two players from each group qualified for the knock-out stage. All matches were best of 9 frames.


2017 Skate America
The 2017 Skate America was the sixth event of six in the 2017–18 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held in Lake Placid, New York on November 24–26. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2017–18 Grand Prix Final.


2017 Skate America, Entries
The ISU published the preliminary assignments on May 26, 2017.


2017 Skate America, Results, Men
Nathan Chen, skating with a left blade that had a nick in the outside edge, won the short program by a 15-point margin over Adam Rippon.


2017 Skate America, Results, Men
Rippon ranked first in the next segment, finishing 5.6 points ahead of Chen. Before skating, Rippon assisted in removing various insects on the ice. Having replaced the nicked blade, Chen stated, "I think that was a bad call. It was a little too sharp on the inside edge, and every time I pressed into it for sal(chow), toe and even flip, it would catch into the ice way harder than I was used to."


2017 Skate America, Results, Men
Kovtun withdrew due to a foot injury incurred during the short program and Samohin withdrew after dislocating his left shoulder when he fell on a quad Salchow. Rippon had some pain in his right shoulder after falling on a quad Lutz but was able to continue. Jin skated on two sprained ankles, but still achieved a free skate score and placement high enough to qualify for the Grand Prix final. Chen finished first overall by 9.43 points, Rippon won silver, and Voronov took bronze, with Rafael Arutyunyan coaching the top two.


2017 Skate America, Results, Ladies
Miyahara placed first in the short program, Sakamoto was second with a 1.32-point deficit, and Daleman third.


2017 Skate America, Results, Ladies
Miyahara, first in the free skate, won gold with a 3.44-point margin over Sakamoto, who won her first Grand Prix medal (in her second appearance on the senior series). Making her senior Grand Prix debut, Tennell rose from fourth after the short program to take the bronze medal. Wagner withdrew due to a skin infection on her ankle.


2017 Skate America, Results, Pairs
Duhamel/Radford won the short program with a 1.7-point lead over Yu/Zhang.


2017 Skate America, Results, Pairs
In the free skate, Savchenko/Massot scored a personal best to win the title although Massot continued to be troubled by back pain. Yu/Zhang took the silver medal while Duhamel/Radford dropped to third.


2017 Skate America, Results, Ice dance
In the short dance, most teams received lower levels than they expected, with the exception of the Shibutanis, who scored a personal best and placed first with a 6.48-point lead over Cappellini/Lanotte.


2017 Skate America, Results, Ice dance
The Shibutanis also ranked first in the free dance (by a margin of 6.14 points) and won the gold medal by over 12 points. Cappellini/Lanotte struggled with a lift but finished second overall and qualified to the Grand Prix Final along with the winners.


2017 Skate Canada International
The 2017 Skate Canada International was the second event of the 2017–18 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series, held at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan from October 27–29. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2017–18 Grand Prix Final.


2017 Skate Canada International, Records
The following new ISU best scores were set during this competition:


2017 Skate Canada International, Entries
The ISU published the preliminary assignments on May 26, 2017.


2017 Sky Blue FC season
The 2017 Sky Blue FC season is the team's eighth season as a professional women's soccer team. Sky Blue FC plays in the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.


2017 Sky Blue FC season, Review
After a 7th-place finish in 2016, Sky Blue FC finished the 2017 season in 6th place, five points out of playoff contention. Sam Kerr scored a league-record 17 goals, won the league's Golden Boot award, and was named MVP, the first time a player on a non-playoff team had won the award.


2017 Sky Blue FC season, Review
Raquel Rodriguez set the NWSL record for fastest goal scored with a 25-second strike against Portland Thorns FC on June 17.


2017 Sky Blue FC season, Review
Head coach Christy Holly resigned mid-season on August 16, and was replaced by four assistant coaches, Jill Loyden, Dave Hodgson, Paul Greig, and Maria Dorris. A full-time replacement for Holly was not announced until November 15, 2017, when Sky Blue FC hired Washington Spirit assistant coach and former Jersey Sky Blue head coach Denise Reddy.


2017 Sky Blue FC season, Review
Soon after Holly's resignation, center back and team captain Christie Rampone announced that she would miss the rest of the season due to an accumulation of injuries.


2017 Sky Blue FC season, Team, First-team roster
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2017 Skyrunner World Series
The 2017 Skyrunner World Series was the 16th edition of the global skyrunning competition, Skyrunner World Series, organised by the International Skyrunning Federation from 2002.


2017 Skyrunner World Series
In this edition is deleted the Vertical Kilometer title, but returns the overall title (absent from 2012).


2017 Slovak Cup Final
The 2017 Slovak Cup Final (known as the Slovnaft Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the final match of the 2016–17 Slovak Cup, the 48th season of the top cup competition in Slovak football. The match was played at the NTC Poprad in Poprad on 1 May 2017 between MFK Skalica and ŠK Slovan Bratislava.


2017 Slovak Cup Final, Road to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).


2017 Slovak Open
The 2017 Slovak Open was a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 18th edition of the tournament which was part of the 2017 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Bratislava, Slovakia between 6 and 12 November 2017.


2017 Slovak Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2017 Slovak Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following player received entry into the singles main draw using a protected ranking:


2017 Slovak Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following player received entry into the singles main draw as an alternate:


2017 Slovak Open – Doubles
Ken and Neal Skupski were the defending champions and successfully defended their title, defeating Sander Arends and Antonio Šančić 5–7, 6–3, [10–8] in the final.


2017 Slovak Open – Singles
Norbert Gombos was the defending champion but lost in the first round to Jerzy Janowicz.


2017 Slovak Open – Singles
Lukáš Lacko won the title after defeating Marius Copil 6–4, 7–6(7–4) in the final.


2017 Slovak regional elections
Elections were held in Slovakia's 8 self-governing regions on 4 November 2017.


2017 Slovak regional elections
In 2017, deputies of the Slovak National Council voted to extend the term of governors from 4 years to 5 years, and change from a 2-round election to only 1 round.


2017 Slovak regional elections
The turnout was around 30%, biggest in the history of Slovak regional elections.


2017 Slovenian Football Cup Final
The 2017 Slovenian Football Cup was the final match of the 2016–17 Slovenian Football Cup to decide the winner of the 26th edition of the Slovenian Football Cup, Slovenia's top knockout tournament. It was played on 31 May 2017 at Bonifika Stadium in Koper and was won by Domžale, who defeated Olimpija Ljubljana, winning their second cup title.


2017 Slovenian Football Cup Final, Background
The final was played between Domžale and Olimpija Ljubljana, both competing in the Slovenian PrvaLiga. This was the first time that Domžale and Olimpija met in the cup final. Domžale previously competed in two finals, winning the competition once, when they defeated Maribor in the 2010–11 edition. Olimpija never competed in the cup final since the club's establishment in 2005.


2017 Slovenian Football Cup Final, Road to the final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first.


2017 Slovenian Football Cup Final, Match details
Assistant referees:Tomaž KlančnikAndraž KovačičAdditional assistant referees:Rade ObrenovićRoberto PonisFourth official:Matej JugDelegate:Jože Tomšič


2017 Slovenian presidential election
EU Member State(Eurozone Member State)(Schengen Area Member State)NATO Member StateCouncil of Europe Member StateOECD Member State


2017 Slovenian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Slovenia on 22 October 2017. Nine candidates ran in the elections, including the incumbent President of Slovenia Borut Pahor. No candidate received a majority of the vote, resulting in a run-off between Pahor and Marjan Šarec that was held on 12 November 2017. Pahor won the run-off with 53% of the vote; voter turnout in the second round was 42.13%, the lowest in any presidential election since independence.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Electoral system
The President of Slovenia is elected using the two-round system; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, the top two candidates contest a runoff.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Electoral system
Under Slovenia's election law, candidates for president are required to meet one of three criteria:


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Candidates, Borut Pahor
The incumbent president Borut Pahor announced his intention to run for a second term in December 2016. A member of Social Democrats, he later stated he intends to run as an independent candidate. Pahor was seen from June as a clear frontrunner to win the election.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Candidates, Marjan Šarec
Marjan Šarec, the mayor of Kamnik, announced his candidacy in May. He had previously served two terms as mayor after a career as an actor and comedian. During his acting career, he imitated several famous people, including the second president of Slovenia, Janez Drnovšek. Nevertheless, Šarec stated his candidacy would be completely serious, as he took a break from his stage personas when he was elected mayor. Criticizing Pahor for treating the presidential function as a celebrity, Šarec was viewed as a potentially strong candidate. Backed by his party Lista Marjana Šarca - Naprej Kamnik, Šarec successfully collected the required 3,000 votes of support.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Candidates, Ljudmila Novak
In early August, Ljudmila Novak of New Slovenia announced her candidacy, as the first candidate supported by a major political party, Novak officially submitted the candidacy on 8 September. Novak served as the mayor of Moravče, got elected to the European Parliament in 2004 and led the party at the 2011 general election when the party returned to the National Assembly.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Candidates, Maja Makovec Brenčič
In September, the Modern Centre Party announced that their candidate would be Maja Makovec Brenčič, the minister of education, science, and sport. Before entering the politics, Makovec Brenčič was a professor at the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Candidates, Romana Tomc
The Slovenian Democratic Party announced the member of European Parliament Romana Tomc as their candidate. Tomc was also elected to the National Assembly in the 2011 election and was the vice-president of the Assembly.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Candidates, Boris Popovič
Boris Popovič, mayor of Koper, was backed by his party Slovenia Forever. Prior to the presidential election, Popovič served three terms as a mayor. He was involved in several legal cases.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Candidates, Angelca Likovič
Angelca Likovič was backed by the party Voice for Children and Families. Prior to retirement, Likovič was a teacher and the headmistress of an elementary school O.Š. Majda Vrhovnik in Ljubljana. Likovič is also known as a prominent opponent of the same-sex marriage law in the 2015 referendum and as a commentator in various reality shows.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Candidates, Andrej Šiško
Andrej Šiško was backed by the party United Slovenia. A former member of Slovenian Territorial Defence, Šiško was also the leader of the ultras group Viole, supporters of NK Maribor. He was convicted to a year and ten months in prison.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Candidates, Suzana Lara Krause
Suzana Lara Krause was backed by Slovenian People's Party. Krause graduated as a teacher of Slovenian and Russian languages, is self-employed and was not widely known in Slovenian politics prior to the election.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Candidates, Failed or withdrawn
Milan Jazbec, Slovenia's ambassador to Macedonia, announced already in April that he would run as an independent candidate. Jazbec stated that his decision was based on a promise to the late Slovenian statesman France Bučar that he would become actively involved with national politics. Due to lack of support, Jazbec dropped out of the race in September.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Candidates, Failed or withdrawn
Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti, a former member of the National Assembly and the president of the far right Slovenian National Party, announced he would run for office for the third time. Jelinčič previously ran in the 2002 election, where he finished 3rd with 8.49% of the vote, and in the 2007 election, where he finished fourth—but with a significantly higher vote share, at 19.16%.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Candidates, Failed or withdrawn
Some people announced their candidacies with support of non-parliamentary political parties, including sociologist Luj Šprohar (backed by Liberal Democracy of Slovenia).


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Candidates, Failed or withdrawn
Other people that announced their intention to run for office, including Milan Robič, Jožef Jarh, Ludvik Poljanec, Aleš Cepič, a comedian Žiga Papež, singers Damjan Murko and Dominik Kozarič, poet, dramatist, and actor Andrej Rozman-Roza, and sociologist Valerija Korošec.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, First round
The first round of the election was marked by the lowest voter turnout in a presidential election since 1992, at 44.2%. Despite most opinion polls predicting Pahor's victory in the first round (also, the exit polls predicted Pahor winning over 56% of the vote) Pahor only won 47.2%, resulting in the run-off against the second-placed Šarec. In his first reaction, Pahor called his result "encouraging given the general distrust in politics". Šarec stated he was happy with the result and with the fact that he made it to the run-off, he expressed hope that it will be possible to discuss topics that were not addressed in the first round campaign.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, First round
In the reactions to the results, media noticed that Pahor's failure to secure the victory in the first round was likely linked to the low turnout, the campaign was seen as "boring", foreign media also commented on Šarec's background as an actor. Commentators noticed that Tomc got almost twice as many votes as Novak, which some viewed as a victory of SDS over NSi. However, the candidates of the right-wing parties failed to more than a fifth of the vote, drawing comparison with Barbara Brezigar (SDS) who made it to the run-off in the 2002 election.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, First round
SDS viewed the result of Tomc as a success, given the late start of the campaign and the fact that she won more vote than the opinion polls predicted, while Janez Janša stated that there are no major differences between Pahor and Šarec anyway. The bad result of the SMC candidate, Makovec Brenčič, was seen as a major blow to the largest party in the government and a warning before the 2018 general election. Šiško's result was seen as a surprise, as he ran as an anti-establishment candidate and even placed fourth in Maribor electoral unit. The result of Likovič that finished last was seen as an indication that there is little actual support for ZaO party outside the referendum campaigns.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Second round
Pahor won the second round with 53% of the vote. Voter turnout was even lower than in the first round, at 42.1%. Pahor won in six electoral units while Šarec won in Kranj and Ljubljana Bežigrad. Šarec quickly conceded and congratulated Pahor.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Second round
In his first reaction, Pahor acknowledged that many votes he received in the 2012 election as votes against the incumbent president Danilo Türk while this time people who voted for him did so in support of his activities. He pledged to be more vocal in the next term but will continue to avoid divisions between the left- and right-side parties. Pahor's head of campaign saw the high percent that Šarec won as a result of the election turning out to be a "referendum against Pahor".


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Second round
Šarec expressed his satisfaction with the result, stating that it represents the desire of the people for a change. This should be a clear message to established politicians—as he ran as a grassroots candidate representing the younger generation. After being asked whether he plans to continue to carry on the political momentum into the upcoming general election in 2018, he refused to make commitments, although he said that several people had already asked him to run.


2017 Slovenian presidential election, Second round
Miro Cerar, the Prime Minister, whose SMC endorsed none of the candidates, and Milan Brglez, the Speaker of the National Assembly, both congratulated Pahor, as did the presidents of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen and Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. Janez Janša of SDS also send congratulations but warned of the low voter turnout, which was "below the legitimate level".


2017 Slovenian railway referendum
EU Member State(Eurozone Member State)(Schengen Area Member State)NATO Member StateCouncil of Europe Member StateOECD Member State


2017 Slovenian railway referendum
A referendum on a law governing the Divača-Koper rail upgrade was held in Slovenia on 24 September 2017. The referendum was marked by a low turnout; a majority of voters voted in favour of the proposed law. The results were annulled by the Supreme Court in March 2018, resulting in a new referendum being held in 13 May 2018.


2017 Slovenian railway referendum, Background
On 8 May 2017, the National Assembly of Slovenia passed a law that deals with the construction of the second railway track from Koper to Divača, in particular regarding the financial plans for the project. The second railway track should help the development of Port of Koper, a major port in the Northern Adriatic Sea, as the existing track was in bad condition and already nearing the traffic limits. The law was opposed by civil activist Vili Kovačič who, supported by several political parties and civil initiatives, called for a referendum to repeal the law. After collecting 40,000 voter signatures, the referendum was set to take place on 24 September 2017.


2017 Slovenian railway referendum, Background
Per article 90 of the Constitution, 40,000 voters can require the National Assembly to call for a referendum to reject a law that was ratified by the Assembly. The law is rejected if a majority of voters who have cast valid votes vote against the law, provided at least one fifth of all qualified voters have voted against the law. A minimum of 20% of the voters (around 343,000 voters of about 1.7 million registered voters) are required to cast a valid "no" vote for a negative result of the referendum to be valid.


2017 Slovenian railway referendum, Background
In the referendum campaign, both sides in principle agreed that the second track is required. Opinions differed on the details of the law. Among the concerns of the opponents were the alleged lack of transparency regarding the finances, questions regarding the proposed track route, and the involvement of Hungary as a potential partner in the construction project.


2017 Slovenian railway referendum, Background
Supporters of the law cited the already approved financial contribution of the EU, new job creation, the fact that the rejection of the law would result in the beginning of construction being delayed for several years, and the fact that the proposed route is optimal, based on a series of expert studies and agreed upon by all Slovenian cabinets since 2004. Among major political parties, the law was supported by the coalition partners Modern Centre Party and Social Democrats. DeSUS, also a coalition partner, remained neutral. Among the parties represented in the National Assembly, the law was opposed by the Slovenian Democratic Party, New Slovenia, and The Left. Numerous smaller political parties and civil initiatives took part in the referendum campaign on both sides.


2017 Slovenian railway referendum, Results
Early voting began on 19 September. 14,201 voters (0.83%) took part in early vote, which was a considerably smaller number than in the previous referendum on same-sex marriage that took place in 2015. In the early vote, 54.14% supported the law and 45.86% opposed it.


2017 Slovenian railway referendum, Results
The referendum was marked by a low turnout. By 4:00 p.m., only 14.3% voted. Early results showed that the majority of people supported the law. At 9 p.m., with over 98% of the ballots counted, there were 53.3% of supporters. Commenting on the results, the Prime Minister Miro Cerar stated that the results reflect the fact that the voters support the project and that they are fed up with political intrigues.


2017 Slovenian railway referendum, Results
He also stressed that this project will not turn into "another Teš 6", referring to the construction of a new power plant in Šoštanj which was marred by a series of corruption affairs. Peter Gašparič, the Minister of Infrastructure, labeled the referendum as an "unnecessary experiment". The Slovenian Democratic Party stated that they will keep closely monitoring the project and that the positive outcome of the campaign was that the estimated project costs were significantly reduced. The project was expected to open first public tenders for construction in 2018.


2017 Slovenian railway referendum, Aftermath
Following the results of the referendum, Vili Kovačič contested the results in the Supreme Court, claiming that the law regulating referendums and civil initiatives were not compatible with the constitution, citing the fact that the government had used €97,000 of public funds on the campaign in support of the proposed law.


2017 Slovenian railway referendum, Aftermath
On 14 March 2018 Supreme Court delivered a judgement, annulling the results and ordered a new vote, which was set for 13 May.


2017 Slovenian railway referendum, Aftermath
The railway link was the biggest project of the Cerar cabinet. On the same day, Cerar announced his resignation as the Prime Minister, months before the conclusion of his term in office. Cerar stated that the court verdict was "one blow too far" by those who wanted to block the development of Slovenia, mentioning tensions in the coalition among reasons for his resignation.


2017 Slovenian railway referendum, Aftermath
The referendum was repeated on 13 May 2018, and a slight majority of voters chose no (50.06%). However, the number of registered voters choosing no was too low (at 7.50%), meaning the law remained in force.


2017 Snooker Shoot Out
The 2017 Coral Snooker Shoot Out was a professional ranking snooker tournament which took place at the Watford Colosseum in Watford from 23 to 26 February 2017. It was played under a variation of the standard rules of snooker. In 2017 it was extended from 64 to 128 players, and became a ranking tournament for the first time in its history. It was the 15th ranking event of the 2016/2017 season.


2017 Snooker Shoot Out
Robin Hull was the defending champion, but he lost 18–25 to Fergal O'Brien in the second round.


2017 Snooker Shoot Out
Anthony McGill won his second ranking title, beating Xiao Guodong 1–0 in the final (67–19).


2017 Snooker Shoot Out
This was the first time that no century break was made in the competition. The highest break was a 96 from Graeme Dott.


2017 Snooker Shoot Out, Prize fund
The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below.


2017 Snooker Shoot Out, Prize fund
The "rolling 147 prize" for a maximum break stood at £15,000.


2017 Snooker Shoot Out, Draw
Matches and session times are listed below. Matches began within approximately ten minutes intervals. Random draws were conducted prior to each round.


2017 Social Christian Unity Party presidential primary
The Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC) presidential primary of 2017 or Social Christian National Convention as is known in Spanish was an electoral process for the selection of the party's presidential candidate for the 2018 Costa Rican general election and was scheduled for June 4, 2017.


2017 Social Christian Unity Party presidential primary
The two main pre-candidates were previous presidential candidate, former PUSC's Secretary General and president of the Costa Rican Department of Social Security Rodolfo Piza, and then deputy, former President of Congress and former president of Liga Deportiva Alajuelense football team Rafael Ortiz.


2017 Social Christian Unity Party presidential primary, Candidates
Piza, a lawyer and businessman, was PUSC's candidate on the 2014 election ironically after losing the election to the winner of the previous primary, physician Rodolfo Hernández, due to Hernadez’ resignation as candidate motivated by internal party fighting. Hernández selected Piza as his running mate and Piza took over the nomination once Hernández left.


2017 Social Christian Unity Party presidential primary, Candidates
Piza is generally seen as part of the Liberal faction inside PUSC, a more right-wing fiscally conservative and socially liberal faction lead by former president Miguel Angel Rodríguez, in favor of small government and lower taxes. Whilst Ortiz on the contrary claims to be representative of the traditional Calderonista faction, a more left-wing Social-Christian pro-Welfare State and more socially conservative faction inspired by Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia's Social Reform. Ortiz also has the support of former president Abel Pacheco, whilst the only other former president from PUSC, Rafael Angel Calderón Fournier (Guardia's son) left PUSC altogether and formed his own new party with Hernández as candidate.


2017 Social Christian Unity Party presidential primary, Candidates
Piza has the support of most of PUSC's parliamentary faction, except for two deputies (Humberto Vargas and Jorge Rodríguez, both of them endorsed Ortiz) and two former ministers; Esmeralda Britton and Patricia Vega, and of course of Rodríguez.


2017 Social Christian Unity Party presidential primary, Contested candidates
Two more figures tried to be candidates; former president of the Costa Rican Railroad Institute Miguel Carabaguíaz and pro-marijuana activist Gerald Murray. Both were denied participation due to not having the minimal time of membership (two years) in the party (Carabaguíaz was member, for a while, of Calderón Fournier's party but resigned after Hernández was selected candidate instead of him and Murray is a newcomer). Carabaguíaz did not appeal PUSC's decision but Murray did, presenting an appeal into Costa Rica's Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones that was rejected.


2017 Social Christian Unity Party presidential primary, Costs
The cost for inscription as pre-candidate was 40 million colones. A sum that was appealed by all pre-candidates except Piza arguing it was disproportionate, especially as other major parties like National Liberation and Citizens' Action had much lesser amounts for their respective primaries. Carabaguiz and Murray did not paid as their candidacies were denied. The Electoral Court did reduce the amount to 35 million.


2017 Social Democratic Party of Finland leadership election
The 2017 Social Democratic Party of Finland leadership election was held on 4 February 2017. 495 voting attendees of the 45th Social Democratic party convention, held in Lahti, elected the incumbent chair Antti Rinne for a second term as the chair of Social Democratic Party. MP Timo Harakka finished second and MP Tytti Tuppurainen finished third.


2017 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras season
The 2017 season was the 103rd in Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras existence. This season Palmeiras participated in the Campeonato Paulista, Copa Libertadores, Copa do Brasil and the Série A.


2017 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras season, Players, Squad information
Squad at the end of the season. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2017 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras season, Players, Copa Libertadores squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2017 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras season, Competitions, Campeonato Paulista, First stage
The draw was held on November 1, 2016. Palmeiras was drawn on Group C.


2017 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras season, Competitions, Copa Libertadores, Group stage
The draw of the tournament was held on 21 December 2016, 20:00 PYST (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL Convention Centre in Luque, Paraguay. Palmeiras was drawn on the Group 5.


2017 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras season, Competitions, Copa Libertadores, Knockout stage
The draw for this round was held on June 14. As Palmeiras finished first in his group, they hosted the second leg.


2017 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras season, Competitions, Copa do Brasil
As a team that disputed the Copa Libertadores, Palmeiras entered in the round of 16. The draw was held on April 20, 2017.


2017 Soeratin Cup
The 2017 Soeratin Cup (also known as the Pertamina Soeratin Cup for sponsorship reasons) season is a football competition which is intended for footballers under the age of seventeen and fifteen. The national round started on 14 October 2017.


2017 Soeratin Cup
Persab Brebes are the defending champion for U-17. PKN Penajam Utama won the title of U-17 on 28 October 2017 after defeating Persita Tangerang 3–2 at the final. Askot Bandung won the title of U-15 on 28 October 2017 after defeating PSSA Asahan 4–1 at the final.


2017 Soeratin Cup, Format
Each Provincial Association only given one representative to the national round. 30 teams will perform in the national round of under-15 and 32 teams in under-17, consist of teams of provincial competition winners. National round took place in Magelang, Central Java and Special Region of Yogyakarta.


2017 Soeratin Cup, National Round
National round took place in Magelang, Central Java and Special Region of Yogyakarta. Two teams from each group will advance to the knockout round.


2017 Soeratin Cup, National Round, U-17, Group Stage
32 teams from each provincial association will compete. Matches for the Group Stage will be played from 14 October 2017. All group will play half season round-robin.


2017 Soeratin Cup, National Round, U-17, Group Stage
This group will be held in Sultan Agung Stadium, Bantul.


2017 Soeratin Cup, National Round, U-17, Group Stage
This group will be held in Moch. Soebroto Stadium, Magelang.


2017 Soeratin Cup, National Round, U-17, Group Stage
This group will be held in Gemilang Stadium, Magelang Regency.


2017 Soeratin Cup, National Round, U-17, Knockout Stage
As Persiter Ternate disqualified from the tournament, PSS Sleman won third-place position automatically.


2017 Soeratin Cup, National Round, U-15, Group Stage
30 teams from each provincial association will compete. Matches for the Group Stage will be played from 15 October 2017. All group will play half season round-robin.


2017 Soeratin Cup, National Round, U-15, Group Stage
This group will be held in Dwi Windu Stadium, Bantul.


2017 Soeratin Cup, National Round, U-15, Group Stage
This group will be held in Abu Bakrin Stadium, Magelang.


2017 Soeratin Cup, National Round, U-15, Group Stage
This group will be held in Yogyakarta State University Stadium, Yogyakarta.


2017 Sogndal Fotball season
The 2017 season is Sogndal's second season back in the Tippeligaen since their relegation at the end of the 2014 season.


2017 Sogndal Fotball season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2017 Sogndal Fotball season, Squad, Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2017 Sogndal Fotball season, Transfers, Winter
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2017 Sogndal Fotball season, Transfers, Winter
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2017 Sogndal Fotball season, Transfers, Summer
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2017 Sogndal Fotball season, Transfers, Summer
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2017 Solheim Cup
The 2017 Solheim Cup was the 15th edition of the Solheim Cup matches, held August 18–20 at the Des Moines Golf and Country Club in West Des Moines, Iowa. The Solheim Cup is a biennial team competition between the top women professional golfers from Europe and the United States. It is a three-day match play event between teams of twelve players with a similar format to the Ryder Cup. Juli Inkster captained the U.S. team for the second time and Annika Sörenstam captained the European team for the first time.


2017 Solheim Cup
The United States won by a score of 161⁄2 to 111⁄2, retaining the cup they won in 2015.


2017 Solheim Cup, Course layout
The Solheim Cup did not use either of the venue's two courses, North and South, in the configurations played by club members. Instead, it used a composite course, made up of nine holes from each of the two courses, that played to 6,894 yards (6,304 m) par 73. The average elevation is approximately 950 feet (290 m) above sea level.


2017 Solheim Cup, Format
The Solheim Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The format is as follows:


2017 Solheim Cup, Format
With a total of 28 points, 141⁄2 points are required to win the Cup, and 14 points are required for the defending champion to retain the Cup. All matches are played to a maximum of 18 holes. If the score is even after 18 holes, each team earns one-half point.


2017 Solheim Cup, Team qualification and selection, Eligibility criteria
The United States and European teams have different eligibility criteria:


2017 Solheim Cup, Team qualification and selection, Eligibility criteria
Team USAMembers of the United States team must be current members of the LPGA Tour and meet one of these three citizenship criteria:


2017 Solheim Cup, Team qualification and selection, Team selection
The United States and European teams are selected by different methods.


2017 Solheim Cup, Team qualification and selection, Team selection
Team USATeam USA consisted of the leading eight players from the LPGA Solheim Cup points rankings, the top two players in the Women's World Golf Rankings not already qualified via the points rankings and two chosen by the team captain. LPGA Solheim Cup points were earned for top-20 finishes on the LPGA Tour over a two-year period beginning with the 2015 Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic and ending with the 2017 Women's British Open. Points were doubled in major championships and top-20 finishes during the 2017 LPGA Tour season earn more points than those in 2015 and 2016.


2017 Solheim Cup, Team qualification and selection, Team selection
Team EuropeTeam Europe consisted of the top four players from the LET Solheim Cup standings, followed by the top four LET members on the Women's World Golf Rankings who were not already qualified via the Solheim Cup standings, and four captain's selections.


2017 Solheim Cup, Teams
Creamer replaced Jessica Korda, who withdrew with a forearm injury after finishing fifth in points. Ages on first day of matches, August 18; Rolex rankings at team selection on August 7.Captain's picks shown in yellow.


2017 Solheim Cup, Teams
^ Matthew, previously named an assistant captain, replaced Suzann Pettersen, who withdrew with a back injury after qualifying for the team by her Rolex ranking. Ages on first day of matches, August 18; Rolex rankings at team selection on August 7.Captain's picks shown in yellow.


2017 Solheim Cup, Day one, Morning foursomes
In the opening match, Europe was dormie-2 before Cristie Kerr and Lexi Thompson won the last two holes to halve the match. In the last match, the United States was two up after 12 holes until Karine Icher and Catriona Matthew won three of the next four holes and won the match by 1 hole.


2017 Solheim Cup, Day one, Afternoon four-ball
The United States won all four matches of the afternoon session. The Europe pairs never led at any stage in any of the matches. This was the first time United States swept a session in Solheim Cup history.


2017 Solheim Cup, Day two, Morning foursomes
After heavy defeats in the first two matches, Europe recovered to level the session by winning the last two matches. The two European pairings who had won their foursomes matches on the first day were also the winning pairs in the second foursomes session. By winning her match, Kerr became the leading United States points scorer, with 19, passing the 18.5 of Juli Inkster.


2017 Solheim Cup, Day two, Afternoon four-ball
The United States won three of the four matches to take a commanding lead, needing just 31⁄2 points in the singles to retain the Solheim Cup. Kerr and Thompson were paired together for the sixth time (3 in 2015 and 3 in 2017), and remained undefeated as a pair, with four wins and two draws. In 16 holes, the two posted a combined score of 12 under par.


2017 Solheim Cup, Day three, Singles
In the opening singles matchup, Anna Nordqvist won the first four holes against Thompson and held a four-hole advantage with nine holes remaining. Thompson rallied to take a late 1-up lead, shooting eight under par over the following seven holes. Her run included eagles at the 11th and 15th holes. On the 18th hole, Nordqvist hit her approach shot within a foot of the hole for a birdie that earned Europe a half-point.


2017 Solheim Cup, Day three, Singles
In the next two matches, Paula Creamer defeated Georgia Hall by a 1-up margin and Kerr concluded an undefeated week with a 2 and 1 victory over Melissa Reid. Americans Lizette Salas and Angel Yin went dormie in their matches, ensuring that the U.S. would win the 14 points necessary to retain the Solheim Cup. Yin and Karine Icher went on to halve their match, while Salas won against Jodi Ewart Shadoff to clinch an outright victory for the U.S.


2017 Solheim Cup, Individual player records
Each entry refers to the Win–Loss–Half record of the player.


2017 Somali drought
As of February 2017 a drought ravages Somalia that has left more than 6 million people, or half the country's population, facing food shortages with several water supplies becoming undrinkable due to the possibility of infection.


2017 Somali drought
According to the Humanitarian Information Unit of the U.S. Government,over 2.9 million people in Somalia face crisis or emergency level acute food insecurity and need emergency food aid, as a result of below average to failed rains in many areas in 2016 that reduced crop production and harmed livestock. Somalia is currently facing its seventh consecutively poor harvest and food stability is a major issue. In the April-June rainy season little to no rainfall occurred across much of Somalia in April, but rain has begun and is forecasted in May.


2017 Somali drought
Lack of potable water has accelerated an acute watery diarrhea-cholera outbreak with an estimated 32,000 cases reported since the beginning of the year. 1.4 million children are projected to need treatment for acute malnutrition in 2017, according to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). FEWS NET expects 2.9 million people will remain in crisis and emergency levels of acute food insecurity through at least June 2017. In March 2017, 1.75 million people received international food assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).


2017 Somali drought
An estimated 1.1 million IDPs currently live in Somalia, and at least 548,000 additional people have been displaced since November 2016 due to the drought. Most people displaced by drought left rural parts of Bay, Lower Shabelle, and Sool and settled in urban areas such as Mogadishu and Baidoa. Displacement numbers continue to rise as more people leave their homes and displacement monitoring increases. IOM and other UN agencies estimate that the number of IDPs, a highly vulnerable group in Somalia, will rise to 3 million by June if the April-June rains are below average or fail entirely. Additionally, since January 2016, about 56,000 former Somali refugees have returned from Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp to Somalia through UNHCR's voluntary repatriation program and have settled in Gedo, Bay, Lower Jubba, and Banaadir.


2017 Somali drought, Causes
Main causes of the drought and its impact are said to be instability, conflict and climate change with severe weather conditions potentially also playing a part. El Niño may be the drought's cause.


2017 Somali drought, Humanitarian situation
On 4 March, Somalia's prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire announced that at least 110 people died due to hunger and diarrhoea in Bay Region alone.


2017 Somali drought, Humanitarian situation
The FAO Representative for Somalia, noted that the situation in many rural areas, particularly Bay, Puntland is starting to look "worryingly like the run-up to famine in 2010-2011".


2017 Somali drought, Humanitarian situation
The International Organization for Migration also warns that if "action is not taken immediately, early warning signals point towards a growing humanitarian crisis in Somalia of potentially catastrophic proportions".


2017 Somali drought, Humanitarian situation
Hassan Saadi Noor, Save the Children's Country Director in Somalia states:


2017 Somali drought, Humanitarian situation
We're on the verge of a catastrophe similar to 2011 – or worse, as conditions now are markedly worse than in the lead-up to that event. A quarter of a million lives were needlessly lost then, and we know that action at this stage can make a difference. The international community must step up to ensure that tragic moment in history isn’t repeated.


2017 Somali drought, Humanitarian situation
In addition to drought and famine, diseases, such as cholera and measles are beginning to spread.


2017 Somali drought, Humanitarian situation
As of March 2017, more than 8,400 cases of the cholera have already been confirmed since January, which have claimed 200 lives. On 20 March 2017, at least 26 people died from hunger in the semi-autonomous Jubaland region of southern Somalia in the past 36 hours, according to the state media.


2017 Somali drought, Humanitarian situation
As of July 2017, unclean drinking water has caused over 71,000 cases of cholera or severe diarrhea in 2017, resulting in nearly 1,100 deaths.


2017 Somali drought, Calls for response, Immediate response
On 2 February 2017 a senior United Nations humanitarian official in Somalia warned of a famine in some of the worst drought-affected areas without a massive and urgent scale up of humanitarian assistance in the coming weeks. He also stated that the omission of such an immediate response "will cost lives, further destroy livelihoods, and could undermine the pursuit of key State-building and peacebuilding initiatives". On 8 March 2017 United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged a massive scale up in international support to avert a famine.