Briefly

MIDDLE EAST

Qatar calls for Gulf dialogue with Iran

Qatar has called for Gulf Arab countries to hold talks with Iran, the country's foreign minister said in an interview aired on Tuesday, after Doha reconciled with its neighbors following a rift. Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who has previously called for dialogue with Iran, told Bloomberg TV he was "hopeful that this would happen and we still believe this should happen". "This is also a desire that's shared by other Gulf Cooperation Council countries," he said. It comes weeks after GCC members Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE reestablished ties with Qatar after breaking them off in June 2017 partly over allegations that Qatar was too close to Iran. Doha denied the accusations.

JAPAN

One killed after 134 cars crash on highway

At least 134 cars were involved in a series of crashes in Japan on Tuesday when a snowstorm struck a stretch of highway and one person was killed and a dozen hurt in the chaos. The crashes occurred on the Tohoku Expressway in the northern prefecture of Miyagi at around noon, on a stretch of road about 1 kilometer long, the government said. Authorities had imposed a speed limit of 50 km/h when heavy snow cut visibility but that was not enough to prevent disaster. Nearly 200 people were caught up in the crashes with 12 of them sent to hospital, the disaster management agency said. Parts of Japan have seen unusually heavy snow in recent weeks.

Agencies - Xinhua