First lady makes clear she tells president her ‘own opinions’; NEWS BRIEFING; Staff and news services; Pompeo seeking allied unity; in dealing with North Korea ; Indonesia considering turning disaster areas into mass graves ; At least 50 dead, over 100 hurt in tanker truck fire in Congo ; Banksy artwork self-destructs after $1.4M sale; For Christian on death row, ; a final appeal in Pakistan

CAIRO - Melania Trump says she has, at times, told the president to put his phone down. And she says she doesn't always agree with what he tweets.

The first lady spoke briefly with reporters Saturday as she was wrapping up a four-country tour of Africa with a visit to the pyramids and the Great Sphinx in Egypt.

Standing in front of the Sphinx, Mrs. Trump said she makes her opinions clear with her husband.

"I don't always agree what he tweets," she told reporters. "And I tell him that. I give him my honest opinion and honest advice. And sometimes he listens and sometimes he doesn't. But I have my own voice and my opinions, and it's very important for me that I express what I feel."

As for whether she's ever told him to put his phone down, she said, "yes," with a laugh.

Melania Trump arrived Saturday in Cairo after a flight from Kenya.

She met with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and his wife, Entissar Mohameed Amer, before heading to the nearby city of Giza to see the pyramids and Sphinx to highlight U.S.-backed preservation efforts.

The U.S. Agency for International Development has been working with the Egyptian government for the past several years on a project to lower groundwater levels to prevent additional damage to the landmarks. Saline content in the water can erode their foundations.

The first lady described her tour, which took her to Ghana, Malawi, Kenya and Egypt, as "amazing" and said she hoped people would talk more about her visit and less about her fashion choices.

Pompeo seeking allied unity

in dealing with North Korea

TOKYO - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Saturday that the U.S. will coordinate with allies Japan and South Korea on efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

Pompeo met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the eve of the U.S. diplomat's fourth visit to North Korea. Pompeo was looking to arrange a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and chart a path toward denuclearization.

Japan has been wary of Trump's initiative, fearing it could affect its security relationship with the U.S. Pompeo said it was important to hear from the Japanese leader "so we have a fully coordinated and unified view."

Pompeo pledged that during his meeting with Kim, he would raise the cases of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea.

Indonesia considering turning disaster areas into mass graves

PALU, Indonesia - Search teams pulled bodies from obliterated neighborhoods in the disaster-stricken Indonesian city of Palu on Saturday as more aid rolled in and the government said it was considering making devastated areas into mass graves.

Indonesia's disaster agency said the death toll from the earthquake and tsunami climbed to 1,649, with at least 265 people still missing.

The dead were still being recovered more than a week after the double disaster. Eight victims in black body bags of the national search and rescue agency were arranged in a row in the crumpled Palu neighborhood of Balaroa, destined for a mass grave.

Relatives cried as people placed long pieces of white cloth, to represent a Muslim burial rite, inside the bags.

At least 50 dead, over 100 hurt in tanker truck fire in Congo

KINSHASA, Congo - At least 50 people were killed Saturday and more than 100 were badly burned when a tanker truck in Congo collided with another truck and, as villagers rushed to collect the leaking fuel, burst into flames, witnesses and officials said.

"We deplore the deaths," said the interim governor of Kongo-Central province, Atu Matubuana. Officials were identifying the charred bodies in preparation for burial, Matubuana said.

The accident occurred overnight in the village of Mbuba, not far from Kisantu city and 124 miles southwest of the capital, Kinshasa. The city is on the main highway between the capital and the country's Matadi seaport.

The fire spread to nearby homes. An investigation was under way into the cause of the accident.

Banksy artwork self-destructs after $1.4M sale

LONDON - Art prankster Banksy has struck again.

A work by the elusive street artist self-destructed in front of startled auction-goers Friday, moments after being sold for $1.4 million. In an Instagram post Saturday, Banksy claimed the dramatic artistic payoff had been years in the making.

The spray-painted canvas "Girl With Balloon" went under the hammer at Sotheby's in London, fetching more than three times its pre-sale estimate and equaling a record price for the artist. Then, as an alarm sounded, it ran through a shredder embedded in the frame, leaving half the canvas hanging from the bottom in strips.

A post on Banksy's official Instagram account showed the moment - and the shocked reaction of those in the room - with the words "Going, going, gone."

For Christian on death row,

a final appeal in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - A defense lawyer says Pakistan's top court will hear the final appeal of a Christian woman who has been on death row since 2010 after being convicted of insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

Asia Bibi's lawyer Saiful Malook said Saturday the Supreme Court will take up her appeal Monday.

Bibi's first appeal was dismissed by a Lahore High Court in 2014, but the Supreme Court stayed her execution in 2015.

Her case is being watched internationally and nationally as a test of Pakistan's tolerance for its minorities.

Bibi was arrested in 2009 after a quarrel with Muslim women and since then she has languished in prison. Pakistani Islamists have demanded her execution and two politicians, a governor and a minister of minorities, were killed in 2011 for supporting her.

In Kashmir: At least 20 people were killed and 16 others injured Saturday when a minibus fell into a gorge along a mountainous road near Ramban, a town in Indian-controlled Kashmir. In a separate accident, a truck carrying army soldiers skidded off a road in southern Shopian, injuring 16 military commandos, police said.

In Belarus: President Alexander Lukashenko has rejected prospective steps against domestic violence as Western "nonsense," saying that physical punishment could be useful in raising children. He said a draft bill criminalizing domestic violence needs more work. He said a "good belting could be useful for a kid."

Caption: First lady Melania Trump visits the pyramids and Great Sphinx on Saturday near Cairo.

Carolyn Kaster/AP