International briefs

Quake warning

PARIS: A huge wave-generating quake capable of killing as many people as in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami could strike off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and the city of Padang is in the firing line, a team of seismologists said on Sunday. The group — led by a prominent scientist who predicted a 2005 Sumatran quake with uncanny accuracy — issued the warning in a letter to the journal Nature Geoscience. The letter gave no timeframe for this event.

Free Suu Kyi: Japan

TOKYO: Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada urged Myanmar on Sunday to release democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and to hold a fair election, the Japanese foreign ministry said. Okada told Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win more aid could be available if a free election were held, during a 20-minute discussion on the sidelines of a gathering of foreign ministers from Asia and Latin America.