August 21, 2014 (Thursday)
Armed conflict and attacks
- 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict
- Israeli airstrikes kill three senior military commanders of Hamas. (AP)
- A senior Hamas official speaking in Turkey praises the Al-Qassam Brigades for the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers. In response an Israeli NGO calls on the United States Attorney General to force Turkey to extradite the official as one of the teenagers was an American citizen. (Israel National News)
- Syrian civil war:
- The Syrian opposition accuses the Syrian army of launching a chemical attack on the Jobar neighborhood of Damascus, killing at least six people. (Arabnews)
Disasters and accidents
- A Bell 206 helicopter carrying 5 Guatemalan Military officers crashes in Huehuetenango department, killing all on board. (Reuters)
- 36 people are killed by landslides in Hiroshima, Japan, after a night of heavy rain. (Reuters)
International relations
- The governments of Romania and Hungary sign a framework agreement for opening 20 cross-border roads, strengthening traffic links with the entire European Union. (Nine O'Clock)
Law and crime
- The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau in Taiwan is investigating former deputy minister Chang Hsien-yao of the Mainland Affairs Council on suspicions of treason for allegedly leaking classified information to China. (Taipei Times)
Politics and elections
- Brazilian presidential election, 2014
- The internationally-acclaimed environmental campaigner Marina Silva replaces Eduardo Campos, who died in a plane crash on August 13, as the presidential candidate of the Brazilian Socialist Party, with polls suggesting she could surpass Aecio Neves in the first round and current president Dilma Rousseff in the second. (BBC)
- Slovenian parliamentary election, 2014
- The outgoing prime minister Alenka Bratušek and her alliance is barred from entering the new government due to "ethical concerns", notably her self-nomination as the country's EU commissioner, a decision currently being investigated by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption. (Slovenia Times)
- 2014 Thai coup d'état
- The National Assembly of Thailand elects coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha as Prime Minister. (Sky News Australia)
- The Turkish Justice and Development Party chooses foreign minister Ahmet Davutoğlu as its leader meaning that he will become the new Prime Minister. (New York Times)