News In Brief
AFP, Tehran
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Saturday there would be no meeting with the United States in the near future following Washington’s reimposition of sanctions. Asked by the conservative Tasnim news agency if there was any plan to meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Zarif said: “No, there will be no meeting.”
He said there were also no plans for a meeting with US officials on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next month, which both Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his US counterpart Donald Trump are due to attend.
Over 380 dead in Indonesia earthquake
AFP, Indonesia
An earthquake on the Indonesian island of Lombok has killed 387 people, authorities said on Saturday, adding hundreds of thousands of displaced people were still short of clean water, food and medicine nearly a week on.
The shallow 6.9-magnitude quake Sunday levelled tens of thousands of homes, mosques and businesses across Lombok, just one week after another tremor surged through the island and killed 17.
Japanese man detained in North Korea
Reuters, Tokyo
A Japanese man has been detained in North Korea, and government officials are trying to gather information on his safety, the Asahi Shimbun reported on Saturday.
The report, citing government sources, said that details of the middle-aged man’s detainment were unclear, and that he may be suspected of spying.
Gunmen kill 3 cops in Pakistan
AP, Islamabad
Pakistani officials say gunmen killed three police in an overnight attack, while a suicide bomber wounded three Chinese engineers and three paramilitary guards in a separate incident.
Faizullah Faraq, a spokesman for the local government of the northern Gilgit Baltistan territory, says one of the gunmen who attacked the police post was killed in the ensuing shootout late Friday.
Another two police were wounded in the attack.
