Portal:Current events/2014 August 3

Current events of August 3, 2014 (2014-08-03) (Sunday)

Armed conflicts and attacks 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine: War in Donbass: The pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk, who are now in great danger of being encircled by the Ukraine government forces, renew their calls for Russia to send troops and arms to their aid. (AP via Guardian) A military spokesman of the Ukrainian government forces says the army has now recaptured three-quarters of the territory the pro-Russian rebels once controlled in their self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic rebellion. (Reuters via New York Times) 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict A UNRWA-run school in Rafah is hit by an Israeli air strike. At least seven people are thought to have been killed, and at least 30 injured. (The Guardian). UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon condemns in strong terms the attack as 'moral outrage and criminal act'. (UN News Centre) Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, 2014 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes: Four Azerbaijani soldiers are killed in fresh clashes with Armenian groups near the border of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) Syrian Civil War The Islamic State loses control of three towns in the area around Al-Asharah to local tribesmen. (BBC) 2014 Northern Iraq offensive The Islamic State seizes the Yazidi-dominated town of Sinjar. (BBC) It also seized control of the Mosul Dam, which is Iraq's biggest dam, the Ain Zalah oil field, and two more towns. (Reuters) Business and economy The Bank of Portugal takes control of Banco Espirito Santo SA in a 4.9 billion bailout package. (Bloomberg via Business Week) Disasters and accidents A magnitude 6.1 earthquake kills at least 367 people and injures more than 1,700 in Yunnan, China. (BBC) International relations In a joint ceremony at the Hartmannswillerkopf cemetery, French President François Hollande and his German counterpart, Joachim Gauck, commemorate the 100th anniversary of Germany's declaration of war on France in the beginning of World War I. (France24) Science and technology Danish scientists find a genetic variant among Greenlanders that dramatically increases the risk of developing type-2 diabetes. (ScienceNordic)