Pakistan to Host Saudi, Türkiye, Egypt for Talks on Mideast Warhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5256222-pakistan-host-saudi-t%C3%BCrkiye-egypt-talks-mideast-war
Pakistan to Host Saudi, Türkiye, Egypt for Talks on Mideast War
Iranian firefighters work on a damaged residential building in southern Tehran, Iran, 27 March 2026.EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Pakistan's prime minister said he had a "detailed" call with Iran's president on Saturday, as foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Türkiye prepared to meet in Islamabad for talks on the war in the Middle East.
Top diplomats from Riyadh, Cairo and Ankara are due in the Pakistani capital Sunday and Monday for "in-depth discussions on a range of issues, including efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region", the Pakistan foreign ministry said.
They will be hosted by their Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, and a meeting with Sharif is also planned, a statement read.
Egypt also confirmed the talks.
Late on Friday, Ankara's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told the private A Haber broadcaster that the meeting was initially planned to be held in Türkiye.
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said earlier on Friday he expected a direct US-Iran meeting in Pakistan "very soon", without revealing his source.
While Tehran has refused to admit to holding official talks with Washington, Iran has passed a response to Trump's 15-point plan to end the war via Islamabad, according to an anonymous source cited by the Iranian Tasnim news agency.
World Entering ‘Age of Climate Extremes’, Warns UN Chiefhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5339220-world-entering-%E2%80%98age-climate-extremes%E2%80%99-warns-un-chief
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at the UN headquarters, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP)
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World Entering ‘Age of Climate Extremes’, Warns UN Chief
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at the UN headquarters, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP)
The world is entering a new reality where climate extremes are the norm, the United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned Monday, urging leaders at the COP31 climate conference in Türkiye to "get serious".
"A supersized El Nino is colliding with a planet already superheated by manmade climate change," the UN secretary general said in a statement.
"We have entered a new age of climate extremes."
As leaders gathered in Antalya for the UN climate summit, Guterres called on them to "get serious by cutting emissions faster, accelerating a just transition from fossil fuels and delivering the finance and protection vulnerable countries need".
His statement came as the UN's World Meteorological Organization released a report indicating that 2026 has continued a streak of exceptional global temperatures, melting ice and rising sea levels.
Each of the past 12 years have been among the hottest 12 years on record, the agency said, with this year expected to be among the hottest ever.
- 'Off the charts' -
"What we are seeing gives new meaning to the phrase off the charts," WMO chief Celeste Saulo told reporters in Geneva, cautioning that the current exceptionally strong El Nino could unleash more heat and extreme weather well into next year.
"We should prepare for another record-breaking year in 2027."
The global average surface temperature between January and September this year was around 1.47 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, the WMO said.
And this year's El Nino -- expected to be the strongest since 1950 at least -- could push the figure higher by the end of the year.
Houses damaged by recent flash floods stand amid thick layers of sludge, mud and debris in Nepal's Nuwakot district, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP)
Preliminary data shows 2026 figuring among the four hottest years on record, WMO climate information chief John Kenned told reporters, adding though that "with the El Nina developing, we might see when the final numbers come in that we're close to the top".
The naturally occurring weather phenomenon releases heat from the ocean, which this year has been the warmest ever measured, Saulo pointed out.
El Nino is declared when the sea surface temperature is half a degree above average in the tropical Pacific, but from now through January, WMO forecasts "it may be 3.8C above average", she said.
The WMO also reported that the global sea level was the highest on record, freshwater was dwindling and glaciers were continuing a long-term retreat.
In 2025, the annual mass loss of ice was enough to fill five Olympic pools every second that year, it said.
At the same time, "we are supercharging our weather and El Nino will be a risk multiplier", Saulo said, warning that "heatwaves, tropical cyclones, and rainstorms are intensifying faster than our historical baselines prepared us for".
On a positive note, the WMO hailed a significant increase of countries with essential multi-hazard early warning systems in place, from 55 in 2015 to 136 last year.
It urged the COP31 to ensure more investment in the sustained global observations, data-gathering and forecasting needed for such systems to work.
"We cannot afford to fly blind," Saulo said.
China Urges Return to Stability in Middle Easthttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5339219-china-urges-return-stability-middle-east
Iranians wave flags during an anti-US and anti-Israel rally in Tehran's Enqelab Square on November 4, 2026. (AFP)
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China Urges Return to Stability in Middle East
Iranians wave flags during an anti-US and anti-Israel rally in Tehran's Enqelab Square on November 4, 2026. (AFP)
China is willing to pursue stronger ties with Iran, China's special envoy to the Middle East Zhai Jun said in talks with Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
Zhai met Kani in Iran, according to a readout from China's foreign ministry on Monday. He is visiting Iran and Oman this month, as China steps up efforts to ease tensions in the Middle East.
There needs to be a "focus on political solutions with a rational and pragmatic spirit, and promote the early restoration of stability and development in the region," Zhai said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said all parties in the Middle East conflict should focus on political solutions rather than resorting to arms again.
President Xi Jinping has also previously said China was willing to work with African countries to address the spillover effects of the Middle East conflict.
Krakow Mass Shooting Assailant Dies in Hospital, Polish Police Sayhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5339213-krakow-mass-shooting-assailant-dies-hospital-polish-police-say
A closed store in the Main Market Square following the Saturday mass shooting in Krakow, Poland, November 9, 2026. (Reuters)
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Krakow Mass Shooting Assailant Dies in Hospital, Polish Police Say
A closed store in the Main Market Square following the Saturday mass shooting in Krakow, Poland, November 9, 2026. (Reuters)
A young gunman who killed six people in central Krakow on Saturday in an unprecedented Polish mass shooting has died in hospital, police said on Monday.
Very little information has come out about the shooter, who was shot by police officers and arrested minutes after he opened fire at people from his car in Krakow's historic main square.
The government had said the assailant, a 24-year-old from the town of Ostrowiec Swietokrzyski in southeastern Poland, may have been inspired by far-right ideology, without providing further details.
However, officials appeared to backtrack from the earlier comments as nationalist opposition politicians questioned the grounds on which the interior minister had said far-right ideology was the motive.
"Until the matter is fully clarified and the authorities are in possession of complete information, it is best to refrain from making comments, even if there are some initial indications," government spokesman Adam Szlapka told TVN24.
Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek said on Monday that despite the death of the shooter, the investigation will continue, aiming to establish if he acted alone or was inspired by any group.
"Evidence is being collected, but I will not show or disclose it. I ask for restraint," Zurek told Radio Zet.
An interior ministry spokeswoman said earlier on Monday that there were many different emblems on the perpetrator’s clothing that had already been partially examined and interpreted.
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