Ready to promote inter-Korean cooperation: Putin
Moscow, April 29: Russian President Vladimir Putin told his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in on Sunday that Russia was willing to promote cooperation between the two Koreas as Seoul and Pyongyang are seeking reconciliation.
During their phone conversation, Moon informed Putin of the detailed outcome of his meeting with the top leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un on Friday in Panmunjom, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the Kremlin.
Putin and Moon positively assessed the agreements reached at the meeting, it said in a press release.
The Russian President confirmed Russia's readiness to promote the establishment of practical cooperation between South Korea and North Korea, in particular through the implementation of major tripartite infrastructure and energy projects.
Putin stressed the importance of continuing the efforts of all parties involved toward a political and diplomatic settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue following a roadmap proposed by China and Russia.
The roadmap suggests that North Korea suspend its nuclear and missile tests and the US and South Korea stop their joint annual military drills on the peninsula. It also proposes a dual-track approach involving the establishment of a peace mechanism while achieving denuclearisation.
Tensions on the peninsula have eased dramatically since the beginning of 2018, leading to the historic summit between Moon and Kim on Friday.
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At least 19 killed as methane leak causes explosion at eastern Iran coal mine, state TV reports
Tehran (AP/PTI): A methane leak sparked an explosion at a coal mine in eastern Iran, killing at least 19 people and injuring another 17, Iranian state television reported Sunday.
The report said the deaths happened at a coal mine in Tabas, some 540 kilometers (335 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran.
Authorities were sending emergency personnel to the area after the blast late Saturday, it said. Around 70 people had been working there at the time of the blast.
Oil-producing Iran is also rich in a variety of minerals. Iran annually consumes some 3.5 million tons of coal but only extracts about 1.8 million tons from its mines per year. The rest is imported, often consumed in the country's steel mills.
This is not the first disaster to strike Iran's mining industry. In 2013, 11 workers were killed in two separate mining incidents. In 2009, 20 workers were killed in several incidents. In 2017, a coal mine explosion killed at least 42 people.
Lax safety standards and inadequate emergency services in mining areas are often blamed for the fatalities.
