April 17, 2009 (Friday)
- An airplane crash kills 11 people in Papua, Indonesia. (UPI)
- American Sterling Bank in Sugar Creek, Missouri, is closed. (MarketWatch)
- The Bangladesh Police arrest 31 suspected Hizb ut-Tahrir members for planning terrorism. (AFP via Sydney Morning Herald)
- The Irish political party Fianna Fáil departs the Alliance for Europe of the Nations and joins the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party. (EurActiv)
- Two earthquakes kill 22 people in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. (Sky News)
- Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm, and Carl Lundström of The Pirate Bay are found guilty of copyright infringement and imprisoned until 2010. (New Zealand Herald)
- People's Alliance for Democracy leader Sondhi Limthongkul is injured in an apparent assassination attempt in Bangkok, Thailand. (Los Angeles Times)
- A recount in Moldova's parliamentary election confirms an "emphatic win" by the Communist Party. (Russia Today)
- The trial of Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasāb resumes. (Al Jazeera)
- Serbian President Boris Tadić visits Kosovo. (Deutsche Welle)
- The Czech Republic invites Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko to a European Union summit in May. (RIA Novosti)
- Botswana will reduce its output of diamonds by more than 50% in 2009. (AFP)
- Malagasy President Andry Rajoelina issues an arrest warrant for former President Marc Ravalomanana. (News 24)
- South Africa's Army enters KwaZulu-Natal province to prevent violence during the upcoming general election. (BBC)
- Canada restores citizenship to foreigners in an amendment to the Citizenship Act of 1977. (Wall Street Journal)
- The Fifth Summit of the Americas begins in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. (Barbados Advocate)