A SUICIDE car bomber attacked police headquarters in the south-eastern Iranian port city of Chabahar on Thursday, killing at least two people and wounding 15, state TV reported.
No-one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, though a semi-official news agency blamed a Sunni jihadi group for the assault.
State television broke into its regular broadcast to report the attack as such assaults are rare in the Islamic Republic.
Rahmdel Bameri, a provincial official, said a suicide attacker driving a vehicle loaded with explosives drove up to the police headquarters.
READ MORE: Vox's right-wing surge in Andalusia rings alarm bells in Catalonia
He said police officers blocked the vehicle and started firing at the driver, who then detonated his explosives.
State TV reported that two police officers were killed, lowering an initially reported death toll of three without explanation.
Trump fails to deliver on campaign pledge as deficit hit 10-year high
RECORD imports in October drove the US trade deficit to the highest level in 10 years.
The Commerce Department said that the gap between what the United States sells and what it buys from foreign countries rose to $55.5 billion (£43.5bn) in October, the fifth straight increase and the highest since October 2008.
The goods gap with the European Union widened 65.5% to a record $17.6bn (£13.8bn).
President Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to slash America’s trade deficit.
UN-led Yemen peace talks get under way in Sweden
REPRESENTATIVES from Yemen’s warring sides sat in the same room in Sweden as UN-sponsored peace talks for the war-torn Arab country got under way.
Sweden’s foreign minister, Margot Wallstrom, opened the talks, wishing the Yemen adversaries strength to find “compromise and courage” as they embark on the difficult task ahead.
“Now it is up to you, the Yemini parties,” she said. “You have the command of your future.”
The UN envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths said the coming days were a milestone and urged the parties not to “to deliver a message of peace”.
He announced the sides have agreed on a prisoner exchange as a first step toward building confidence.
He said both sides have signalled they were serious about de-escalating the fighting through calls they have made in recent weeks and urged them to work to further reduce the violence.
UN officials have sought to downplay expectations from what they aim to gain from the talks.
Acquittal for Rwandan president’s rival
RWANDA’S high court has acquitted the country’s most prominent opposition figure, Diane Rwigara, of all charges against her.
The judge said the prosecution failed to provide evidence of insurrection and forgery.
Rwigara’s mother, Adeline, 59, was also acquitted of inciting insurrection and promoting sectarianism. Both women had denied the charges.
Diane Rwigara, 37, was arrested after challenging longtime president Paul Kagame in last year’s election with her case drawing global attention.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here