1. Obama says sorry after spying charges

    U.S. President Barack Obama called Japan’s leader on August 26 to express regret over recent WikiLeaks allegations that the United States had spied on senior Japanese officials.

    Obama held a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on August 26, spokesman Yoshihide Suga said, adding that the pair agreed to work together on global economic issues in the wake of* a stock market meltdown*.

    “President Obama said he was very sorry... as the case caused a big debate in Japan,” Suga told a regular news conference, without confirming the spying claims.

    2. 14 suspected IS recruiters arrested

    Spain and Morocco on August 25 arrested 14 people on suspicion of belonging to a network that recruited* and sent fighters to the Islamic State (IS) group.

    One suspect was detained in Spain while the other 13 were arrested in cities across Morocco.

    “Those arrested formed part of a network whose main activity was to recruit and send foreign fighters to join the ranks of the terrorist organization in regions of Syria and Iraq under its control,” it said.

    3. Men in Afghan uniforms kill 2 troops

    Two men wearing Afghan security force uniforms opened fire on August 26 inside a military base in southern Afghanistan, killing two NATO service members before being shot dead themselves.

    NATO offered few details about the shooting in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, which appeared to be the latest so-called “insider attack” to target foreign troops or contractors in the country.

    In a statement, NATO said the two men in Afghan uniforms opened fire on a vehicle with international troops inside it. Both shooters were killed when NATO forces returned fire.

    4. Refugees found dead in Austria

    Up to 50 refugees* were found dead in a truck in Austria, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Balkan leaders gathered in Vienna to decide on how to tackle* the biggest migration crisis to hit Europe since World War II.

    Austria’s largest newspaper The Krone reported on August 27 that those on the truck may have suffocated*.

    The vehicle, which contained up to 50 bodies, was found on a parking strip off the highway in Burgenland state.

    5. TV reporter, cameraman shot dead

    Bryce Williams, a former employee of U.S. WDBJ-TV, shot two journalists on live TV before he shot himself on August 26.

    He wrote a chilling 23-page document to U.S. ABC News, according to the network. The shooter gunned down WDBJ-TV journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward.

    A woman the journalists were interviewing, Vicki Gardner, also was shot and is in stable condition after undergoing surgery.

    The shooter — a former reporter for the Roanoke station — is dead. He claimed in his document that he had been discriminated.

    6. Nazi gold train found in Poland

    A Nazi gold train has been found in Poland after the man who helped hide it at the end of World War II revealed its location in a deathbed* confession.

    Two men, a German and a Pole, last week claimed they had found the train — believed to contain treasure — close to the small town of Walbrzych in southwest Poland.

    On August 28, Poland’s Culture Ministry announced that a man who helped hide the train had revealed its location shortly before he died.(SD-Agencies)