August 14, 2014 (Thursday)
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
- 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)