August 2013

2013
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August 2013 was the eighth month of that common year. The month, which began on a Thursday, ended on a Saturday after 31 days.

Portal:Current events

This is an archived version of Wikipedia's Current events Portal from August 2013.

August 1, 2013 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Business and finance
International relations
Law and crime
Politics
August 2, 2013 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Disasters and accidents
International relations
Politics and elections
Science and technology
August 3, 2013 (Saturday)
Armed conflict and attacks
Disasters and accidents
  • A man crashes his car into a crowd of pedestrians in Venice Beach, California, U.S., injuring eleven people and killing one. The driver fled the scene and was being sought by authorities, but later turned himself in. (CNN) (CBS Los Angeles)
Crimes
  • 16-year-old Hannah Anderson was abducted after cheerleading practice from Sweetwater High School in National City, California. The suspect was later identified by authorities as 40-year-old James Lee DiMaggio, owner of a home in Boulevard, California. The bodies of her mother Christina and brother Ethan Anderson and the family's dog, Cali, were found in DiMaggio's burned home. DiMaggio was later killed by FBI agents during a shootout at the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho, where he had been camping with Hannah Anderson.
Politics and elections
Sport
August 4, 2013 (Sunday)
Armed conflict and attacks
Arts and culture
Politics and elections
August 5, 2013 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Disasters and accidents
Law and crime
Media
Politics and elections
Science
  • The world's first bovine stem cells lab-grown burger is cooked and eaten at a news conference in London. (BBC)
Sports
August 6, 2013 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Disaster and accidents
  • A gas explosion in an apartment block kills five people and injures a dozen in the Argentine city of Rosario. (USA Today)
  • A hot Air Balloon carrying an American family crashes killing one person and injures four in the Swiss town of Montbovon. (Huffington Post)
Law and crime
Politics and elections
August 7, 2013 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Business and economy
Disasters and accidents
International relations
Politics
August 8, 2013 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Disasters and accidents
  • A bus carrying 31 passengers, while crossing the Truc Khe Bridge that was under repair in in Cam Lộ (Quảng Trị, Viet Nam), falls into a river, leaving 17 passengers injured. (Tuoitrenews)
International relations
Law and crime
  • A shooting spree in Dallas, Texas, U.S., kills 4, wounds 4 and the gunman is subsequently arrested. (CNN)
August 9, 2013 (Friday)
Armed conflict and attacks
Disasters and accidents
Law and crime
Politics and elections
Sports
August 10, 2013 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Disasters and accidents
Law and crime
Sports
August 11, 2013 (Sunday)
Armed conflict and attacks
  • War in Afghanistan (2001-present):
    • Three U.S. soldiers are killed in an attack in Afghanistan's eastern Paktia province. (Al Jazeera)
  • Suspected Al-Qaeda militants kill five Yemeni soldiers in an attack on a gas terminal in Southern Yemen. (BBC)
  • Syrian civil war
Disasters and accidents
  • Flash floods in Afgahanistan's Kabul province kill 22 people. (BBC)
  • A coach crash in southern France kills two tourists and injures 30. (Euro News)
Politics and elections
Sport
August 12, 2013 (Monday)
Armed conflict and attacks
Disasters and accidents
International relations
Law and Crime
  • American mob boss Whitey Bulger is convicted of racketeering. (Boston.com)
  • U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, in a major policy shift in the War on Drugs, announces that the federal government, following some states' stances, will direct its prosecutors to no longer insist on automatic mandatory minimum prison sentences for non-violent, low-level, non-repeat offender drug offenses where the defendant is not involved with gangs and/or cartels. (MSN)
Politics and elections
Sports
August 13, 2013 (Tuesday)
Arts and culture
Attacks and conflicts
Law and crime
  • American politician and former House Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. is sentenced to 30 months in prison for spending $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items, and will serve his sentence first before his wife, former Chicago alderman Sandi Jackson, who was given a one year term for tax fraud. (NBC)
Business and finance
International Relations
  • 2013 Israeli-Palestinian peace talks start amid controversy over Israeli settlement expansion and the release of 26 Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis. (Reuters)
August 14, 2013 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Business and economy
Disasters and accidents
  • The Indian submarine INS Sindhurakshak (S63) sinks in Mumbai following a pair of onboard explosions killing 18 Indian Navy sailors. (Washington Post)
International relations
Law and crime
Health
  • A group of researchers led by a team at the University of Milan unveils a device which uses a magnetic pulse to stimulate the brain and measure the resulting electrical waves in order to more accurately assess the remaining level of brain function and consciousness in brain-damaged individuals. (NBC) (Bloomberg)
Science and technology
August 15, 2013 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
International relations
Law and crime
Politics and election
Sports
August 16, 2013 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Arts and culture
Business and economy
  • The Indian rupee hits new record low against the US dollar. The rupee fell to 62.03 rupees against the dollar. (BBC)
Disasters and accidents
International relations
Politics and election
Technology and science
Law and crime
  • Australian native and East Central University (Oklahoma) Tigers senior baseball player Christopher Lane, 22, is shot and killed in Ada, Oklahoma, while jogging during a visit to his girlfriend. Two teenagers, James Francis Edwards, Jr., 15, and Chancey Allen Luna, 16, were then arrested and charged with first-degree murder with no bail; Michael Dewayne Jones, 17, was charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact. They stated they did it purely out of boredom. (NBC)
August 17, 2013 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Business and economy
  • The Indian rupee hits new record low against the US dollar. The rupee fell to 62.85 rupees against the dollar. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
Law and crime
  • While they are not yet ready to say they are reopening the case after the 2008 inquiry jury's final verdict and report (faulty driving and unlawful killing), the Metropolitan Police Authority Specialist Crime and Operations Command in London is investigating the credibility and accuracy of supposedly new information from an unspecified source regarding the August 1997 Death of Diana, Princess of Wales. (NBC)
August 18, 2013 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Arts and Culture
  • Chiribiquete National Park, in Colombia, is expanded from its previous 1.2 Million Hectares to 3 Million Hectares becoming one of the largest protected zones in the Amazon. This announcement was made by the Colombian government after Ecuador decided to open up Yasuni National Park to oil drilling after a six year initiative to protect the rain forest.
Law and crime
August 19, 2013 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Business and economy
Disasters and accidents
International relations
Law and crime
Politics and election
August 20, 2013 (Tuesday)
Attacks and conflicts
Disasters and accidents
International relations
Law and crime
Assassinations
Politics
  • United States Senator Ted Cruz of Texas announces that he wants to renounce his Canadian citizenship, fueling speculation about a presidential run in 2016. (Washington Post)
August 21, 2013 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Business and economy
  • JC Penney reports a notable decrease in third quarter income. (Forbes)
Disasters and accidents
International relations
Law and crime
August 22, 2013 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Business and economy
  • The American electronic stock exchange NASDAQ shuts down for 3 hours due to a computer problem. (FOXBusiness)
Disasters and accidents
Law and crime
  • The UK government's independent reviewer of terrorism laws is to probe the arrest of David Miranda. (BBC)
Politics and elections
  • Tunisian Islamists agree in principle with a transition plan to hold new elections. (Reuters)
  • Former Egyptian President Hosni Mobarak is released from Tora prison and transferred to a military hospital. (Los Angeles Times)
Sports
August 23, 2013 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Arts and culture
  • Real estate developers are reported to have severely damaged the UNESCO world heritage site of Cyrene, Libya. (France 24)
Business and economy
Law and crime
  • Former U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hassan is convicted of multiple murder and attempted murder counts in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting. (CNN)
  • Former U.S. Army Sergeant Robert Bales is sentenced to life in prison without parole for the killing of 16 Afghan civilians in March 2012. (NBC News)
Politics and elections
August 24, 2013 (Saturday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
Arts and culture
Disasters and accidents
Law and crime
Sports
  • The African Diaspora Maritime Corp. withdraws from the America's Cup amid controversy over being denied an opportunity to be the American defender in the competition based on ethnicity. (San Francisco Appeal)
August 25, 2013 (Sunday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
  • Syrian civil war:
    • The Syrian government allows UN inspectors to visit the site of suspect chemical weapons attack outside the outskirt of Damascus. (BBC)
  • Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
    • A wave of bomb attacks kill 41 people in Iraq. (BBC)
  • A bomb explodes in a bus carrying Yemeni Air Force personnel to a base near the capital Sana'a, killing at least one officer and injuring others. (Reuters)
Disasters and accidents
August 26, 2013 (Monday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
  • Newly declassified CIA documents show that top officials in the Reagan administration agreed to give Iraq information on the location of Iranian troops during the Iran-Iraq War despite awareness of Saddam Hussein's intention to use chemical weapons. (Daily Mail) (New York)
  • Syrian civil war:
    • The U.N team in charge of the investigation on the alleged recent chemical attacks in Syria comes under fire from snipers; none of the U.N. delegates are injured and the team reaches one of the alleged hit sites. The U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry describes the attack as "a shame and an offense to the world and humanity that deserves the proper punishment". (CNN)
    • Khalaf Muftah, a former Syrian assistant information minister, warns that if Syria was attacked, his country would retaliate against Israel. (Times Of Israel)
    • The Guardian newspaper raises the 1999 NATO Kosovo intervention as a precedent for humanitarian intervention into Syria, given the absence of a UN Mandate. (The Guardian)
  • Clashes erupt in the West Bank after three Palestinian men are shot dead during an early morning raid by Israeli troops in the Palestinian refugee camp of Qalandia. (The Washington Post)
Politics and elections
Education
August 27, 2013 (Tuesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
  • Syrian civil war
    • The Russian foreign ministry warned that an attack on the Syrian government could be "catastrophic" and told Western countries to show "prudence" over the crisis happening there. (France 24)
    • Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said he rejects "utterly and completely" that Syrian government forces used chemical weapons, while the U.S. and its allies prepare their forces for an alleged imminent attack, which is said to be "well defined in time and space", limited to targeting command and control, airfields and artillery. (BBC) (NBC)
    • French President François Hollande says France is "ready to punish" those responsible for the chemical attacks. (Fox News)
    • The Syrian government is believed to be behind the recent Tripoli bombings in Lebanon after a suspect confesses to Lebanese police. (Daily Star)
    • British Prime Minister David Cameron recalls the UK Parliament from its summer recess to discuss the UK's response to the chemical weapons attack. (BBC)
    • Russia has begun to evacuate its citizens from Syria. (Telegraph)
Disasters and accidents
Law and crime
August 28, 2013 (Wednesday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
  • Syrian civil war:
    • Moscow evacuates nationals; Iran dismisses "ridiculous" reports of Assad in Tehran; UN inspectors return to site of alleged chemical attack. (The Times Of Israel)
    • The Saudi army is on full alert after the US-led West increased the level of its threats and said a strike on Syria may come within the next few days. (Fars News)
    • Russia: UN response to alleged attack still premature; Jordan says no Syria strike from its soil. (Haaretz)
    • United Nations Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi says any military action against Syria in response to apparent chemical attacks must be taken after a decision by the United Nations Security Council. "What they [American administration] will decide I don't know, but certainly international law is very clear," he adds. (Reuters)
    • US Vice President Joe Biden says there "is no doubt that Syria's government was responsible for a recent chemical attack in Damascus". (Al Jazeera)
    • British Prime Minister David Cameron says the UK's National Security Council has agreed that the "world should not stand by" after the "unacceptable use" of chemical weapons by the Syrian government. However, a full report from the UN investigation on the chemical attack is expected before taking any measure. (BBC)
    • Syrians in the capital Damascus race against time to prepare for a foreign strike, with many hoarding supplies and others scrambling to find accommodation further away from potential military targets. (Reuters)
    • Russian and Chinese officials walk out of the UN Security Council meeting in New York after U.S. Permanent Representative Samantha Power calls for immediate action on Syria. (Itar Tass)
    • Downing Street publishes the UK government's motion on Syria, which proposes waiting for a UN Security Council decision before MPs vote on any military action. (BBC)
    • UN chemical weapons inspectors resume their investigations in Syria (BBC)
    • Syria's deputy foreign minister says that the United States, Britain and France helped "terrorists" use chemical weapons in Syria, and that the same groups would soon use them against Europe. (Reuters)
    • Syria's ambassador to the United Nations accuses Britain of conspiring with rebel forces to carry out the chemical attack that killed hundreds of Syrian civilians last week. (Telegraph)
  • Iraqi insurgency (post-U.S. withdrawal):
    • At least 51 people are killed and dozens wounded in a series of bombings and attacks in and around Baghdad. (Sky News)
Arts and culture
  • The eastern span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge closes forever as construction crews finish the replacement. The new span is scheduled to open Tuesday. (ABC)
Law and crime
  • Former U.S. Army Major and psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan is sentenced to death for the November 5, 2009, Fort Hood massacre that killed 13 and wounded 32 others. He will be granted an automatic appeal; the Army general (convening authority) who will review the case can grant him life without parole; any eventual military execution would need presidential approval. (CNN)
  • Iran pursues the 1953 Iranian coup d'état case, which was orchestrated by US and Britain, in the international courts at The Hague. CIA officially admitted role in the coup in 20 August 2013. (Fars News)
August 29, 2013 (Thursday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
  • Syrian civil war:
    • The French frigate Chevalier Paul leaves the port city of Toulon, though the shipping authorities declined to confirm a media report that it was headed to Syria. (Reuters) (Voice of Russia)
    • The Parliament of the United Kingdom defeats a government motion supporting intervention in the war by 13 votes, effectively ruling out British military involvement in an international response to the chemical attacks. (BBC)
    • French President François Hollande says "political solution" is the ultimate goal for Syria, sounding more cautious than earlier. "Everything must be done for a political solution but it will only happen if the coalition is able to appear as an alternative with the necessary force, notably from its army," he said. (Reuters)
    • Russia sends two warships to the eastern Mediterranean. (Reuters)
    • Lebanon and Jordan say the Lebanese air space and the Jordanian territories would not be made available for military intervention in Syria. (Xinhua)
    • Allegations are made that the lines between Hezbollah and the Syrian regime are so blurred that Israel will hold Damascus responsible if Hezbollah bombards Israel in the coming days. (Jerusalem Post)
    • A Kuwaiti newspaper reports that Gulf leaders have been in touch with Israel, and have asked that Israel act “with restraint” in the event of an attack by Western nations on Syria. (Israel National News)
    • Britain is sending six Typhoon fighter jets to Cyprus to guard against potential retaliation by the Assad regime in the event of air strikes against Syria. (The Telegraph)
    • Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee concludes it is "highly likely" that the regime of Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the chemical weapons attacks in Syria last week that have prompted moves towards launching military strikes. (The Guardian)
  • Aftermath of the 2013 Korean crisis:
Business and economy
Disasters and accidents
Health
  • 8.6 million Americans take prescription sleeping pills to catch some sleep, according to the first federal health study to focus on actual use. (NBC)
  • Scientists at Vienna's Institute of Molecular Biotechnology and Edinburgh University's Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh, Scotland, clone a human mini-brain (a cerebral organoid), using stem cells; the first time brain tissue development has been replicated in three dimensions – which could help with schizophrenia and autism neurological research. (MSN)
Law and crime
Natural disasters
Politics and elections
  • Members of the UK's Fire Brigades Union vote to take industrial action in a dispute over pensions, threatening the country's first national firefighters' strike since 2002. (BBC)
August 30, 2013 (Friday)
Armed conflicts and attacks
  • Syrian civil war:
    • British Prime Minister David Cameron says that a "robust response" to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria is needed despite UK military action being ruled out. (BBC)
    • Defence Secretary Hagel says US still building "international coalition", despite UK and Germany ruling out action. (Al Jazeera)
    • The United Nations team of chemical weapons inspectors has headed out on the last day of its probe into a deadly poison gas attack in Syria. (The Guardian)
    • U.S Secretary of State John Kerry has said Syrian government forces killed 1,429 people in the chemical weapons attack last week. (BBC)
    • Damascus said Friday that a US intelligence report concluding that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons in an onslaught that killed close to 1,500 people was "entirely fabricated". (France 24)
    • U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the five permanent Security Council members that it may be two weeks before final results of an analysis of samples experts collected at the site of a chemical weapons attack last week in Syria are ready, diplomats said on Friday. (Yahoo! News)
  • Political violence in Egypt (July 2013–present):
    • Protests in Cairo and other cities, led by supporters of deposed President Morsi, follow Friday prayers. (Al Jazeera)
  • M23 rebellion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
    • M23 rebel chief says fighters to withdraw from frontline of fighting in country's east, as violence spikes. (Al Jazeera)
Arts and culture
Disasters and accidents
Law and crime
  • Indonesia's highest court has upheld the death sentence for Lindsay Sandiford, a British woman convicted of smuggling $2.5 million worth of cocaine into the resort island of Bali, a court official has said. (Al Jazeera)
  • Lebanon has charged five men, including a Syrian army officer and a Sunni cleric close to the Syrian government, over bomb attacks on two mosques in the northern city of Tripoli last week that killed at least 47 people (Al Jazeera)
  • A 15-year-old student is shot and wounded at Carver High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S. An 18-year-old student is arrested and charged. (Huffington Post) (Winston-Salem Journal)
Science
  • Scientists discover an 800km long canyon that is up to 800m deep in places beneath the ice sheet that covers Greenland. (BBC)
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
Disasters and accidents
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)
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