August 31, 2014 (Sunday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- Syrian Civil War:
- Thirty-two United Nations peacekeepers from the Philippines were evacuated under fire from the Golan Heights border checkpoint between Syria and Israel, while others remain under fire from groups including the Al-Nusra Front. (Sky News)
- Iraqi insurgency
- Iraqi security forces reach the town of Amerli which had been besieged by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant forces. (BBC)
- At least three people have been killed in clashes between the Pakistani police and opponents of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. (New York Times)
Disasters
- An explosion in an apartment building in the Paris suburb of Rosny-sous-Bois results in four deaths, 11 people injured and five unaccounted for. (AFP via SBS)
Politics and elections
- China's parliament decides Hong Kong cannot freely choose its next leader in 2017. (Reuters)
- Denmark's deputy prime minister and Minister of Economic Affairs and the Interior, Margrethe Vestager, is nominated as the Danish candidate for EU commissioner, bringing the number of female commissioners in the Juncker Commission up to five with only three countries left to nominate a candidate. (Reuters)
Sports
- In athletics, Anita Włodarczyk of Poland set a new world record in the women's hammer throw of 79.58 metres at the ISTAF Berlin meet. (AP via Yahoo! News)