Portal:Current events/2014 August 28

• Syrian civil war:
  • A Syrian tribe in Deir Ezzor province faces genocide from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and appeals for the world to help. (The Times)
  • Syrian Air Force jets bomb rebel-held positions near the Israel-Syria border on the Golan Heights with heavy fighting on the ground and the IDF claims that members of a UNDOF peacekeeping force were abducted. (Reuters via Globe and Mail)
  • The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that dozens of Syrian government forces, captured after the loss of the Tabqa air base, were executed by IS militants. (BBC)
  • The United Nations says that 43 Fijiian peacekeepers have been captured on the Golan Heights with another 81 trapped. (Reuters), (AP)
• War in Donbass:
  • The Armed Forces of Ukraine claim that pro-Russian separatists backed by Armed Forces of Russia tanks and armored personnel carriers are fighting its forces on two fronts. (CNN)
  • The NATO officials state more than 1,000 Russian troops are operating in Ukraine as more air-defence systems, artillery, tanks and armoured personnel carriers are being delivered to pro-Russian insurgents. (Financial Times)
  • The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency session on Ukraine at the request of Lithuania. (CTV News)
  • Russian troops capture the key town of Novoazovsk, opening a new front that threatens to encircle and capture the port city of Mariupol. (Washington Post)

• American comedian Joan Rivers is rushed to the hospital after she stopped breathing during throat surgery. (TMZ)

• The Philippines economy grows by 6.4% in Q2 showing signs of recovery after it was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. (Washington Post)

• 2014 West Africa Ebola virus outbreak:
  • Health Ministers from the Economic Community of West African States will meet in Accra, Ghana to discuss the crisis. (BBC)

• Malaysia Airlines Flight 370:
  • Australia, Malaysia and the People's Republic of China reach an agreement about the costs and direction of the ongoing search for the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 which is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean southwest of Western Australia. (AP)
• Australia and Indonesia sign a code of conduct to govern diplomatic ties following revelations in late 2013 that Australia's Defence Signals Directorate had tapped the phones of the President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. (Channel News Asia)

• Sound supervisor Bryce Dion is accidentally shot and killed by police after being caught in the crossfire while working to film an episode for the reality series Cops. (New York Times)

• In association football, Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid wins the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award ahead of Manuel Neuer and Arjen Robben of Bayern Munich. (Daily Mail)