August 7, 2014 (Thursday)
Conflicts and attacks
- 2014 Northern Iraq offensive:
- The Islamic State captures a range of cities inhabited primarily by Assyrian/Chaldean Christians in Northern Iraq, notably Bakhdida, Bartella, Qaraqosh, Tel Keppe, Karamlish and Tel Isqof; thousands flee, while many Yazidis are caught in the newly-captured city of Sinjar. (BBC) (Al-Jazeera)
- The President of the United States, Barack Obama, delivers a statement promising increased humanitarian and military assistance including air strikes. (NBC News) (Washington Examiner)
- Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen:
Health
- 2014 West Africa ebola outbreak:
- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the President of Liberia, declares a state of emergency over the outbreak which has claimed the lives of 282 Liberian people so far. (BBC)
Disasters
- 2014 Pacific hurricane season:
- Residents in the US state of Hawaii prepare for the impact of Hurricane Iselle expected to hit the island of Hawaii as a Category 1 hurricane before weakening to a tropical storm when it hits the islands of Maui and Oahu. (AP via Yahoo! News)
Law and crime
- A United Nations backed war crimes tribunal sentences former Khmer Rouge leaders Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea to life imprisonment for their roles in the Cambodian genocide that claimed a quarter of the population between 1975 and 1979. (AP)