World News Roundup: New Caledonia set for independence vote; Japan defense war game; Italian storms claim 17th life

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Fearing 'angry mob', lawyer of freed Christian woman leaves Pakistan

The Pakistani lawyer who helped a Christian woman overturn her death sentence for blasphemy said on Saturday he had left the country in fear of his life after her acquittal earlier this week sparked street protests by Islamists. Leaders of the ultra-Islamist Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP) group blocked main roads in Pakistan's biggest cites for three days, calling for the murder of the Supreme Court judges who acquitted Asia Bibi on Wednesday -- urging their cooks and servants to kill them.

U.S. carrier leads warships in biggest ever Japan defense war game

U.S. fighter jets darted over the Western Pacific on Saturday as the nuclear powered USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier joined Japanese destroyers and a Canadian warship for the biggest combat readiness war game ever staged in and around Japan. Japan and the United States have mobilized 57,000 sailors, marines and airmen for the biennial Keen Sword exercise, 11,000 more than in 2016, with simulated air combat, amphibious landings and ballistic missile defense drills. Japan's contingent of 47,000 personnel represents a fifth of the nation's armed forces.

Erdogan says Turkey discussing Halkbank with U.S. after Trump call

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday he and President Donald Trump had discussed Turkey's Halkbank, which faces potential U.S. fines after an executive was convicted of taking part in a scheme to help Iran evade U.S. sanctions. Erdogan gave few details but his comments come amid indications that Washington and Ankara are trying to mend relations which plunged into crisis this year, and he welcomed what he said was the start of negotiations over the bank.

Russia to host talks with Afghan leaders, Taliban delegation

Russia said on Saturday that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had agreed to send a group of senior politicians to peace talks in Moscow, at which a delegation representing the Taliban would be present. Russia in August proposed holding multilateral peace talks in Moscow and invited 12 countries and the Taliban to attend a summit the following month. But the meeting was postponed after Ghani rejected the invitation on the grounds that talks with the Taliban should be led by the Afghan government.

U.N. aid trucks reach remote Rukban camp in Syria: local source

A United Nations aid convoy on Saturday reached the Rukban refugee camp in Syria where thousands of people are stranded in the desert, close to the border with Jordan, a member of the camp's local council said. "The first convoys have entered the camp," said Abu Abdullah, a member of the civilian council that runs the camp and has coordinated with the U.N. on humanitarian aid convoys.

U.S. armed forces member killed in Afghanistan insider attack: NATO

A member of the U.S. armed forces was killed and another was wounded on Saturday in an apparent insider attack in the Afghan capital Kabul, the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said. The attack is the latest in a series of "green-on-blue" attacks in which members of the Afghan forces have killed the U.S. or coalition advisers this year and follows the death of a Czech soldier in the western province of Herat last month

Senior Indonesian rescue diver dies in jet crash search

An Indonesian rescue diver died in a search operation for a jet that crashed early this week near Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board, the search and rescue agency (Basarnas) said on Saturday. Syachrul Anto, 48, died on Friday while diving to search for victims of the crashed Lion Air aircraft, the agency said on Saturday.

Iran's Khamenei says the world opposes Trump's decisions: TV

Iran's top leader said on Saturday U.S. President Donald Trump's policies face opposition across the world as Washington prepared to reimpose sanctions on Iran's vital oil-exporting and financial sectors, state television reported. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also said Iran's arch-adversary the United States had failed to reassert its domination over Iran since the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah.

Italian storms claim 17th life and 14 million trees

Heavy rain and gales devastating parts of Italy have claimed two more lives, taking the overall death toll to at least 17, and laid waste to vast swathes of forest. A German tourist died on Friday when hit by lightning on the island of Sardinia while another person struck by lightning several days ago died in hospital, Italy's Civil Protection Agency said on Saturday.

After long separatist struggle, New Caledonia set for independence vote

New Caledonia, a French archipelago in the South Pacific, votes on Sunday whether to become the world's newest state in a referendum on independence that is the result of a 30-year long decolonisation process. It is the first auto-determination vote to be held in a French territory since Djibouti in the Horn of Africa voted for independence in 1977. Tensions have long run deep between pro-independence indigenous Kanaks and descendants of colonial settlers who remain loyal to Paris.

(With inputs from Reuters)