A suicide car bomber kills 23 people, including Afghan’s deputy spy chief Abdullah Laghmani, at a mosque in the provincial capital of Mehtarlam, east of Kabul. The Taliban have taken responsibility for the blast.

Iraqi government figures indicate that August was Iraq’s deadliest month in over a year, with nearly 400 civilians dying in violent attacks. Two massive truck bombings at Iraqi ministries were responsible for more than a hundred of those deaths. Over 1,500 civilians were also wounded in bomb and mortar attacks in August.

In a statement posted to the Current TV website, journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee explain the events surrounding their arrest and sentencing to 12 years hard labor for illegally entering North Korea. The journalists say they entered the country briefly but were on Chinese soil when apprehended by North Korean soldiers. The two were released on August 4th after the intervention of former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

An earthquake measuring magnitude 7.3 kills over 32 people and damages over 1,300 homes on Indonesia’s main island of Java.

A member of an Islamic sect responsible for an uprising that killed 700 in northern Nigeria tells reporters that he trained in Afghanistan. If confirmed, the link would be the first to connect Nigerian and Afghan Islamists.