Top world news | Blinken arrives in Cairo, begins his official tour in Middle East

Olaf Scholz, German chancellor, has warned against a bidding war among western allies over military aid to Ukraine, as he firmly ruled out sending fighter jets and ground troops to Kyiv.

In an interview with the German newspaper Tagesspiegel, Scholz said that “no one is even asking” about sending combat aircraft.

“The fact we’ve only just made a decision [on sending tanks] and already the next debate is firing up in Germany, that just seems frivolous, and undermines people’s trust in government decisions,” he said. “I can only advise against entering a bidding war over weapons systems.”

On Sunday, Pope Francis criticised the increase in violence in the Middle East, as he called out Israel and Palestine to engage in a "sincere search for peace” to end their conflict.

"The death spiral that increases day by day only closes the few glimmers of trust that exist between the two peoples," the pope stated, after holding his traditional Angelus prayer in St Peter's Square.

"Since the beginning of the year, dozens of Palestinians have been killed in clashes with the Israeli army. I appeal to the two governments and the international community to find other ways without delay, including dialogue and the sincere search for peace,” the pope added.
 

Iran stated that its defence ministry site was targeted by a night-time drone attack on Sunday, at a time when tensions have heightened over the country's nuclear programme and Russia has been engaged in a war in Ukraine.

The ministry stated that one drone was destroyed by an anti-aircraft system and two others exploded, further stating that no casualties have been reported and the site suffered only minor damage in Isfahan's central province.

Nadhim Zahawi posted a letter on social media, extending his support to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after the chairperson of the Conservative Party was fired over a tax scandal.

"Your five priorities are the right priorities, and I will do whatever I can to help you deliver them," read the letter addressed to the prime minister, posted by Zahawi.

Sunak fired his senior ally Zahawi after it was found in an investigation that the minister had not sufficiently opened up about a tax investigation which was settled by him while he was the finance minister.

"As a result, I have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position in His Majesty’s Government," wrote Sunak in a letter released publically.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday landed in Cairo, Egypt, which is his first stop in the official visit to the Middle East. The Secretary of State will be addressing the increase in Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Blinken is also scheduled to meet Egypt's president and a top diplomat before he departs for a visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah on Monday.

Russia said on Sunday it will not hold annual talks with Japan on renewing a pact that allows Japanese fishermen to operate near disputed islands, saying Japan has taken anti-Russian measures.

The islands, off the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, are known in Russia as the Kurils and in Japan as the Northern Territories and have been at the core of decades of tension between the neighbours.

"In the context of the anti-Russian measures taken by the Japanese government ... the Russian side informed Tokyo that it could not agree on the holding of intergovernmental consultations on the implementation of this agreement," the RIA state news agency reported, citing Russia's foreign ministry.
 

Pakistan Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday morning announced an Rs35 increase in the prices of petrol and diesel, which will be applicable from 11am today. In a televised address, Dar said that speculation was rife on social media regarding an Rs50 increase in the prices of petrol and diesel. “Because of this, we have received reports of artificial shortages in the market.”
 

Strong tremors of the earthquake have been felt in Islamabad and surrounding areas.
Strong earthquake tremors were also felt in Rawalpindi.
The tremors of the earthquake were so intense that people came out of their houses reciting Kalima Tayyaba. No loss of life or property has been reported in the earthquake so far.
According to the seismological center, the intensity of the earthquake was recorded at 6.3 on the Richter scale, strong tremors were felt in Islamabad and Rawalpindi for a few seconds.
The tremors of the earthquake were felt in Iran and Afghanistan, including Pakistan, the depth of the earthquake was 150 km and the epicenter was in Tajikistan.

The Israeli security cabinet has announced measures to revoke certain rights of "terrorist families" after two attacks in east Jerusalem, one of which killed seven people near a synagogue.

Ahead of the meeting late Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised a "strong" and "swift" response to the attacks carried out by two Palestinians from annexed east Jerusalem.

Afterwards the security cabinet announced measures to revoke the rights to social security of "the families of terrorists that support terrorism". It also said there will be a discussion Sunday by the council of ministers over a bill to revoke their Israeli identity cards.

The measures announced are in line with proposals from Netanyahu's far-right political partners which enabled him to return to power at the end of December, following elections the previous month.

As Sudan's economic crisis drags on, grocer Hassan Omar keeps busy cleaning packaged food items that have been gathering dust for months as his dwindling customer base make fewer purchases.

"People can no longer afford to buy all their needs," Omar, 43, told AFP at his grocery store in the capital Khartoum.

"Purchasing power has significantly declined over the past six months," he said, noting that his sales had plummeted from 500,000 Sudanese pounds ($877) to 200,000 pounds ($350) per day over that period. 

His plight reflects Sudan's spiralling economic crisis which has forced many households to tighten their belts as nearly one third of the 45 million population face acute hunger.

Some 65 percent of the population live below the poverty line, according to a 2020 report by the United Nations.

At least 40 people died when a bus plunged off a bridge in southwestern Pakistan and burst into flames, a government official said on Sunday.

"The dead bodies...are beyond recognition," Hamza Anjum, a senior official of Lasbela district in Balochistan province, said at the accident site.

Anjum said three survivors had been rescued and the bus was reportedly carrying 48 passengers when it hit a pillar on the bridge and careened off course earlier on Sunday.

It had been travelling overnight between Balochistan's provincial capital of Quetta and the southern port city of Karachi.

"It is feared that the driver may have fallen asleep," Anjum said, also mentioning the possibility the driver had been speeding during the long-distance trip.

A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck northwest Iran near the border with Turkey late Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring 816, state media said.

The shallow quake hit the city of Khoy in West Azerbaijan province at 9:44 pm (1814 GMT), the Seismological Center of the University of Tehran said.

"This incident has left 816 injured and three dead," West Azerbaijan governor Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency, revising up an earlier toll of two dead and 580 injured.

Following the quake, Iran's minister of interior, Ahmad Vahidi, travelled to Khoy to observe the situation, IRNA reported.