August 31, 2013 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
- Syrian civil war:
- American President Barack Obama says that he is ready to order a limited strike, but will seek approval from Congress. (CNN)
- The UN inspectors leave Damascus after concluding their inspection. (Los Angeles Times)
- Several countries advise their citizens against traveling to Lebanon as regional tensions grow over a possible US military strike on Syria. (Jerusalem Post)
Arts and culture
- Veteran British broadcaster Sir David Frost – who famously interviewed former U.S. President Richard Nixon – dies on board the MS Queen Elizabeth of a heart attack, aged 74. (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
- At least 15 people die after liquid ammonia leaks from a refrigeration unit at a cold storage plant in Shanghai. (AP via News24)
Law and crime
- A teenager is found guilty of taking part in the fatal gang rape of a woman on a Delhi bus last year and is sentenced to three years in juvenile detention. (BBC) (Reuters)