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	More August 2014 events...

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Worldwide current events · Sports events

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The 41st Chess Olympiad concludes with China winning the open section and Russia winning the women's section of the tournament.
Mathematicians Artur Avila, Manjul Bhargava, Martin Hairer, and Maryam Mirzakhani are awarded the Fields Medal; Mirzakhani is its first female recipient.
Actor and comedian Robin Williams (pictured) dies at the age of 63.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wins Turkey's first direct presidential election.
Sepahan Airlines Flight 5915 crashes near Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, Iran, killing 39 people.
Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan are found guilty of crimes against humanity by a UN-backed tribunal.

Recent deaths: B. K. S. Iyengar

August 20, 2014 (Wednesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
- Six hours after the rockets fired from Gaza broke a cease-fire, Israeli airstrikes kill 11 Palestinians including the wife and infant son of Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif - the first deaths in a week - while Hamas launched over 180 missiles at Israel since the negotiations broke down. No Palestinian group has yet claimed responsibility for violating the cease-fire. (BBC), (AP via Fox News) (Reuters), (Times of Israel)

Disasters

At least 27 people have been pronounced dead after landslides in Japan's Hiroshima prefecture with another ten missing. (BBC), (CNN)

Science and technology

A new species of tarsier is discovered in Dinagat, Philippines. (National Geographic)

Sports

Seventeen past and present players with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks National Rugby League team have been issued with doping show-cause notices after participating in a controversial supplements program in 2011. (AAP via Sports Fan)

August 19, 2014 (Tuesday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Donbass:
- An American volunteer in the Donbas Battalion, identified only under his nom de guerre of "Franko", becomes the first officially acknowledged foreign casualty on the Ukrainian side of the military conflict against pro-Russian insurgents in eastern Ukraine. (Kyiv Post)
- Ukrainian government forces enter the center of Stanytsia-Luhanska after having recaptured full control of a strategically important section of the M-04 highway near Luhansk from pro-Russian insurgents. (Interfax)
2014 Israel-Gaza conflict
- Hours before the expiration of the latest cease-fire Hamas claims responsibility for firing over 29 rockets into Israel reaching Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Israel responds with airstrikes as the peace talks break down. (CNN)
2014 American intervention in Iraq and Syrian civil war:
- American journalist James Wright Foley, kidnapped in 2012, has reportedly been beheaded by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. (News Limited viDaily Telegraph)

Arts and culture

Iranian poet and one of the most prominent figures of modern Persian literature, Simin Behbahani dies at the age of 87. (IBNA)

Disasters

Four Italian Air Force crew members are missing after two Tornado jets collide in central Italy. (Euro News)

Politics and elections

Pakistan protests
- The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the third largest party in Pakistan, announces that it will resign its seats in the National Assembly in order to force Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign. (Reuters via Radio Australia)
- Imran Khan and cleric Tahir ul-Qadri lead protest rallies containing tens of thousands in Islamabad as 150 supporters are arrested in towns in Punjab province. (LBC)

August 18, 2014 (Monday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Donbass:
- Ukrainian forces say they recapture control of Mala Ivanivka and Andrianivka from pro-Russian insurgents, effectively isolating the rebel controlled city of Horlivka. (Reuters)
2014 Israel–Gaza conflict:
- Israeli Defence Forces destroy the homes of the three suspected murderers of the kidnapped teenagers on the West Bank. (Jerusalem Post)

Disasters

At least 160 people are reported dead in floods and landslides following days of heavy rain in northern India and Nepal. (BBC)

Law and crime

Death of Michael Brown:
- The Governor of the US state of Missouri, Jay Nixon, dispatches the Missouri National Guard to the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson following a week of often violent protest after the shooting of Michael Brown. (Washington Post)
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is wanted on rape charges in Sweden, says that he will leave his refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London "soon". (The Guardian)
Jackie Chan's son Jaycee and Taiwan star Kai Ko are arrested and detained in Beijing over drug-related charges. (The Straits Times) (New York Times)

August 17, 2014 (Sunday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Islamist insurgency in Nigeria:
- Chadian troops rescue 85 hostages from Boko Haram who had been kidnapped in Nigeria and taken over the border into Chad. (CNN)
Iraqi insurgency (2011–present):
- Kurdish forces, supported by U.S. airstrikes, retake control of the Mosul Dam after its capture by IS militants. (BBC)
A suicide bombing at a UN patrol base in Mali results in the deaths of 2 UN peacekeepers and the injury of at least 7 others. (BBC) (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

A tourist boat sinks near the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, with at least 10 foreign tourists and 5 Indonesian crew members missing. (BBC)

Health

2014 West Africa Ebola virus outbreak:
- Protesters loot an Ebola quarantine centre in the Liberian capital of Monrovia, resulting in the escape of 17 patients and the theft of blood-stained bedding and medical equipment. (BBC)

Law and crime

Death of Michael Brown:
- A private autopsy shows that Michael Brown was shot six times as violent protests continue in Ferguson, Missouri. (NBC News)

Sports

Rwandan international footballer Daddy Birori is found to be a Congolese player using a fraudulent passport. Rwanda is disqualified from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification competition as a result. (CAF)
Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela Jayawardene plays his final test innings for Sri Lanka, scoring 54. Upon retirement, he has a total of 11814 test runs, and is 6th on the all time run-scorer's list. (BBC)

August 16, 2014 (Saturday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Donbass:
- Ukrainian government forces recapture control of the city of Zhdanivka from pro-Russian insurgents. (Kyiv Post)

Arts and culture

Pope Francis beatifies 124 Korean Catholics who died for their beliefs in the 19th century in Seoul. (New York Times)

Law and crime

Shooting of Michael Brown:
- Governor Jay Nixon declares a state of emergency and curfew in the town of Ferguson, Missouri following nights of rioting. (USA Today)

Sports

The 2014 Summer Youth Olympics open in the Chinese city of Nanjing. (Reuters)

August 15, 2014 (Friday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

Islamist insurgency in Nigeria:
- Suspected Islamist Boko Haram fighters have abducted dozens of boys and men in Doron Baga, a remote, sandy fishing village in the northeast, in Borno State, near Lake Chad. (MSN)

War in Donbass:
- A column of at least 23 Russian armoured vehicles and military trucks crosses the border from Russia into Ukraine, in the first confirmed sighting of such an incident by Western journalists. (Daily Telegraph)
  - According to the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, Ukrainian artillery destroyed a large part of the column of armored vehicles that had crossed into Ukraine from Russia during the night. (The Wall Street Journal)

2014 Israel-Gaza conflict:
- An Egyptian newspaper leaks the proposed plan for a long lasting truce compromising 11 articles which is now being reviewed by both sides. (Times of Israel)

Arts and culture

A ceremony is held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Panama Canal. (BBC)

Business and economy

Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd., a unit of the giant Chinese e-commerce firm, finds accounting irregularities in its books. (Reuters)

Law and crime

Texas Governor Rick Perry is indicted on felony charges for abuse of power. He is accused of coercing a District Attorney who had been convicted of drunk driving to resign by threatening to veto funding for state public corruption prosecutors. (ABC News)

International relations

Two Japanese cabinet ministers Keiji Furuya and Yoshitaka Shindo visit the Yasukuni Shrine to mark the 69th anniversary of Japan's surrender at the end of World War 2. This visit upsets China and South Korea as the shrine contains the graves of war criminals. (BBC)

Politics and elections

The Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front reach a consensus regarding the creation of Bangsamoro. (Bloomberg)
Several influential Iraqis, including Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Ali Hatem al-Suleiman, and a group of six leaders from Sunni provinces, state that they are willing to work with the new Prime Minister of Iraq, Haider Al-Abadi, if certain conditions are met. (BBC)

August 14, 2014 (Thursday)

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Armed conflicts and attacks

War in Donbass:
- Igor Girkin, a Russian citizen from Moscow and military commander of the Donetsk People's Republic rebellion, resigns, making it the third change at top of the rebel leadership of the past week. (Reuters)
2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
- Israel and Hamas agree upon a fresh five-day ceasefire. (BBC)
Iraqi insurgency (2011–present)
- The United Nations declares its highest state of emergency in Iraq following the advance of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. (BBC)
- Sunni militants and the Iraqi Army clash west of Baghdad, Iraq leaving 4 children dead. (AP via Standard Journal)
- President Obama announces that U.S airstrikes broke the IS siege of Mount Sinjar, allowing thousands of Yazidi refugees to escape, and declares plans for further airstrikes against IS forces. (BBC)
Taliban insurgency:
- A roadside bomb detonates next to a police car in Laghman Province, Afghanistan killing 3 police officers and injuring another 4. (AP via The World (Coos Bay))

International relations

Pope Francis begins a five day visit to South Korea. (AFP, Reuters via Sydney Morning Herald)

Law and crime

Shooting of Michael Brown
- The President of the United States Barack Obama orders an independent inquiry by the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation into the shooting of Michael Brown by the Ferguson Police Department. (Washington Post)
Police search a Berkshire property belonging to Cliff Richard in relation to an alleged historical sex offense. (BBC)

Politics and elections

Philippines President Benigno Aquino III announces that he plans to run for a second term in the 2016 election contrary to provisions on term limits in the constitution of the Philippines set up by his mother, Corazon Aquino. (Reuters)
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki withdraws both his candidacy and his complaint against President Fuad Masum for allegedly violating the Iraqi constitution. (AP via Fox News) (BBC)

Sports

In Major League Baseball, current MLB chief operating officer Rob Manfred is elected as the 10th Commissioner of Baseball. He will succeed the retiring Bud Selig in January 2015. (ESPN)

More August 2014 events...

Ongoing events
Disasters Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 search efforts Economic Eurozone crisis Greek government-debt crisis Environmental 2014 Atlantic hurricane season 2014 North Indian Ocean cyclone season 2014 Pacific typhoon season Health West Africa Ebola outbreak Political Garda Síochána phone-tapping scandal Global surveillance disclosures Israel–Gaza conflict Pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine Russian military intervention in Ukraine South Sudanese Civil War U.S. intervention in Iraq More details on ongoing conflicts below edit sidebar

Recent deaths
August 20: B. K. S. Iyengar 19: Simin Behbahani 19: Sam Foster 19: Dinu Patriciu 18: James Alexander Gordon 18: Jim Jeffords 18: Hashim Khan 18: Don Pardo 17: Wolfgang Leonhard 16: Vsevolod Nestayko 16: Fernand St. Germain 15: Licia Albanese 15: John Blake, Jr. 15: Jan Ekier 15: Jerry Lumpe 14: Jay Adams 14: Rick Parashar 13: Eduardo Campos 12: Lauren Bacall 12: Arlene Martel 11: Pierre Ryckmans 11: Robin Williams 10: Kathleen Ollerenshaw 9: Charles Keating 8: Menachem Golan 8: David Rosand 8: Peter Sculthorpe 7: Víctor Fayad 7: Henry Stone 6: Smita Talwalkar 6: Dharmesh Tiwari 5: Marilyn Burns 5: Harold J. Greene 5: Chapman Pincher 5: Yoshiki Sasai 5: Pran Kumar Sharma 5: Jesse Leonard Steinfeld 4: James Brady 4: Jake Hooker 3: Edward Clancy 2: Eroni Kumana 2: Barbara Prammer 2: Pete van Wieren 1: Michael Johns 1: Mike Smith edit sidebar

Ongoing conflicts
Global War on Drugs War on Terror Operation Active Endeavour Operation Enduring Freedom Terrorist incidents in 2014 Africa Lord's Resistance Army insurgency Maghreb insurgency OEF – Horn of Africa OEF – Trans Sahara Central African Republic Civil conflict Egypt Islamist unrest Sinai insurgency Libya Post-civil war interfactional fighting 2014 Libyan conflict Nigeria Niger Delta conflict Islamist insurgency in Nigeria Somalia Civil war Sudan and South Sudan Sudan internal conflict South Sudan internal conflict Americas Colombian conflict Mexican Drug War Asia Afghanistan War Military operations Taliban insurgency India Naxalite–Maoist insurgency Korea Korean maritime border conflict Pakistan Balochistan conflict North-West War Sectarian violence Philippines Communist insurgency Moro insurgency Russia North Caucasus insurgency Southeast Asia Cambodian–Thai border dispute Kachin conflict Papua conflict South Thailand insurgency Territorial disputes in the South China Sea Europe Dissident Irish Republican campaign Pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine 2014 insurgency in Donetsk and Luhansk Middle East Arab–Israeli conflict Gaza–Israel conflict Israeli–Lebanese conflict Israeli–Palestinian conflict Israel–Iran proxy conflict Iraqi insurgency Kurdistan Kurdish–Iranian conflict Syrian Civil War Yemen al-Qaeda crackdown Shia insurgency South Yemen insurgency edit sidebar

Elections
Recent: July 2: Lebanon, President (8th round; indirect [aborted]) 9: Indonesia, President 9: Cook Islands, General 13: Slovenia, Parliament 23: Lebanon, President (9th round; indirect [aborted]) Recent: August 10: Turkey, President (1st round) 12: Lebanon, President (10th round; indirect [aborted]) Upcoming: August 24: Abkhazia, President 24: Turkey, President (2nd round) 29: Sint Maarten, General edit sidebar

Trials
Recently concluded Australia: Brett Peter Cowan, Craig Thomson, Robert Hughes Canada: Michael Thomas Rafferty China: Bo Xilai Croatia: Ivo Sanader Germany: Breno Borges Italy: Silvio Berlusconi Jordan: Abu Qatada Netherlands: Ante Gotovina (ICTY), Mladen Markač (ICTY), Momčilo Perišić (ICTY), Germain Katanga (ICC) Russia: Leonid Khabarov, Vladimir Kvachkov, Pussy Riot Sierra Leone: Charles Taylor (SCFSL) South Africa: Chris Mahlangu Ukraine: Yulia Tymoshenko United Kingdom: Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, Levi Bellfield, Robert Black, Vincent Tabak, Ali Dizaei, Antoni Imiela, Brian Regan, Donna Air, Ched Evans, Clayton McDonald, Titus Bramble, Dan Penteado, John Terry, Iftikhar and Farzana Ahmed, Asil Nadir, Justin Lee Collins, Kweku Adoboli, Tony McCluskie, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, Chris Huhne, Nicola Edgington, Vicky Pryce, Derek Rose, Mick Philpott, Mairead Philpott, Paul Mosley, Kevin Liverpool, Junior Bradshaw, Aggro Santos, Stuart Hazell, Mark Bridger, Andrew Lancel, Dale Cregan, Ray Wilkins, Michael Le Vell, Liam Adams, R v Grillo and Grillo, Ian Watkins, William Roache, Dave Lee Travis, Nicholas Jacobs, Nigel Evans, Max Clifford, Stuart Hall, Dappy, Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson, Rolf Harris, Tulisa Contostavlos United States: Noshir Gowadia, Barry Bonds, Raj Rajaratnam, Casey Anthony, Conrad Murray, George Huguely, Allen Stanford, Roger Clemens, Jerry Sandusky, Jared Lee Loughner, Lauryn Hill, Kermit Gosnell, George Zimmerman, Chelsea Manning, Ariel Castro, Whitey Bulger, Robert Bales, Nidal Malik Hasan, Crystal Mangum, Abu Hamza al-Masri Ongoing Brazil: Mensalão scandal Cambodia: Khmer Rouge Tribunal Canada: Luka Magnotta China: Organized crime in Chongqing Egypt: Mohamed Morsi, Hosni Mubarak France: Church of Scientology Germany: Christian Wulff, Beate Zschäpe, Uli Hoeness, Bernie Ecclestone Hong Kong: Alfredo Lim Iran: Babak Zanjani Iraq: Supreme Criminal Tribunal Malaysia: Anwar Ibrahim Netherlands: Thomas Lubanga (ICC), Radovan Karadžić (ICTY), Ratko Mladic (ICTY) Palau: Tommy Remengesau Philippines: Andal Ampatuan, Jr., Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Janet Lim-Napoles, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., Imelda Marcos, Jovito Palparan Russia: Platon Lebedev South Africa: Oscar Pistorius South Korea: MV Sewol crew members Sudan: Lubna al-Hussein Thailand: Thaksin Shinawatra Turkey: Kenan Evren United Kingdom: Eddy Shah, Koo Stark United States: Jodi Arias Upcoming France: Éric Raoult Ivory Coast: Laurent Gbagbo Libya: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi United Kingdom: Dane Bowers, Dave Lee Travis, Gary Glitter, Andy Coulson, Chris Denning United States: Paul Anthony Ciancia, Javaris Crittenton, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Peter Madoff, Christian Gerhartsreiter, Dylan Quick, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, James Eagan Holmes, Aaron Hernandez, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley, Gary Schultz, Anas al-Libi, Bob McDonnell, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Rick Perry edit sidebar

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