Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1600 GMT, May 23

NEW DELHI -- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday confirmed that progress has been made in the talks with Iran.

Responding to a media query during his India visit, Rubio said that the United States "will have something to say" regarding the talks in the coming days. (India-U.S.-Iran Talks)

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JAKARTA -- Bad weather triggered a widespread power outage across parts of Indonesia's Sumatra island on Friday evening, disrupting the regional transmission system, state electricity company PT PLN said on Saturday.

The blackout began at 6:44 p.m. local time after disturbances along transmission lines caused a decline in system frequency and triggered cascading failures across several areas, PLN President Director Darmawan Prasodjo said in a statement. (Indonesia-Blackout)

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KABUL -- The Herat Municipality has officially inaugurated and put into operation five major urban development projects with a combined value of over 1.6 billion afghanis (over 25.4 million U.S. dollars) in western Afghanistan's Herat province, the provincial government said Saturday.

This significant investment underscores ongoing efforts to modernize urban infrastructure and stimulate economic growth in one of Afghanistan's key western cities, the statement said. (Afghanistan-Projects)

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ISLAMABAD, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Discussions between Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir and the Iranian leadership during Munir's official visit to Iran over the past twenty-four hours have resulted in encouraging progress towards a final understanding, the military said in a statement on Saturday. (Pakistan-Iran-U.S.) Enditem