1. S. Korea holds live-fire drills with US

    South Korea announced on August 12 a series of military drills with the United States as part of a response to a recent landmine* attack blamed on North Korea.

    “This will show our preparedness* to retaliate* against any provocative acts, including such a treacherous* act of aggression as the landmine attack,” a ministry spokesman said. The first drill took place on August 12, with the last one conducted toward the end of the month.

    2. Man sets self on fire in anti-Japan rally

    A South Korean man set himself on fire during an anti-Japan protest in Seoul on August 12, but police said he appeared to have avoided life-threatening injuries.

    The 80-year-old sustained third-degree burns on his upper body and arms and was breathing when he was carried into an emergency vehicle. The man’s motives weren’t immediately clear.

    The rally in front of the Japanese Embassy was attended by hundreds of people demanding justice for South Korean women who were forced to work as sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War II.

    3. Japanese emperor expresses remorse

    Emperor of Japan Akihito on Saturday expressed his “deep remorse*” over the past war at an annual national memorial service for the first time.

    “Reflecting on our past and bearing in mind the feelings of deep remorse over the last war, I earnestly hope that the ravages of war will never be repeated,” 81-year-old Akihito said at the memorial service marking the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.

    Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, however, stopped short of mentioning “reflection” at the memorial service for the third consecutive year. In a statement released on August 14, the premier reiterated previous governments’ apologies over Japan’s past wartime actions, but refrained* from offering a fresh apology himself.

    4. IS claims bomb attack in Sadr City

    At least 76 people were killed and 212 wounded on August 13 in a blast claimed by Islamic State in Baghdad’s Sadr City.

    A statement circulated online by supporters of Islamic State said the blast had targeted what it called a stronghold* of the “charlatan army” and Shiite* Muslim militias.

    The market in the Shiite neighborhood is one of the biggest in Baghdad and sells wholesale food items.

    Smoke rose from charcoaled* debris. Rescuers pulling bodies from the rubble stumbled over sheet metal that previously formed the walls and roofs of vendors’ stands.

    5. Singer sings through brain surgery

    A Slovenian opera singer shared video of himself singing Schubert while undergoing brain surgery in the Netherlands.

    Ambroz Bajec-Lapajne posted a video to YouTube showing himself performing the first and last couplets of Schubert’s “Gute Nacht” while undergoing surgery for a brain tumor* allowing doctors at University Medical Center Utrecht to monitor his ability to sing and recognize key changes.

    Bajec-Lapajne said the surgery was more than a year ago and he is “doing fine, continuing my professional singing career.”

    6. Crashed plane was carrying cash

    An Indonesian passenger plane that crashed with 54 people on board in Papua Province was carrying cash worth around US$470,000 for remote villages, a post office spokesman said on Monday.

    The Trigana Air Service ATR 42-300 plane crashed on Sunday.

    Earlier, a search and rescue plane spotted debris* believed to be from the aircraft in the heavily forested Bintang Mountains district.

    There were 44 adult passengers, five children and infants and five crew. All those on the plane were Indonesian nationals.(SD-Agencies)