Reuters World News Summary

The threat of open warfare erupting between the arch Middle East foes and dragging in the United States put the region on edge, triggering calls for restraint from global powers and Arab nations to avoid further escalation. Cyprus suspends Syrian asylum applications as it struggles with arrivals spike Cyprus has suspended the processing of asylum applications from Syrians following a sharp increase in irregular arrivals this month, authorities said on Sunday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Iranian notice of attack may have dampened escalation risks

Turkish, Jordanian and Iraqi officials said on Sunday Iran gave wide notice days before Saturday's drone and missile attack on Israel allowing mass casualties and rampant escalation to be averted, but a U.S. official denied this. Most of the hundreds of drones and missiles launched by Iran in a retaliatory strike were downed before reaching Israeli territory, though a young girl was critically injured and the region remains braced for further escalation.

US to announce additional $100 million in aid to respond to Sudan conflict

The United States on Sunday will announce an additional $100 million in aid to respond to the conflict in Sudan, according to a statement seen by Reuters, as Washington seeks to spur international response ahead of Monday's anniversary of the war. U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power in the statement said the additional funding, first reported by Reuters, would go toward emergency food assistance, nutrition support and other life-saving aid.

Gulf states, vulnerable but influential, seek to stop new Iran-Israel war

Gulf states are pushing to stop a full-blown regional war after Iran's unprecedented retaliatory strikes on Israel, sources in the region said, fearing new escalation could put them on front lines of a conflagration and ruin plans to reshape the region. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in particular may be well placed to triangulate between Iran, Israel and the United States after diplomatic advances in recent years that benefited all those countries.

Sudan's uprooted millions pay price for year-long war

After fleeing from the war in Sudan to Egypt, Mohamed Ismail says his ambitions are limited to putting food in the mouths of his five children from a meagre monthly salary of about $100 earned at a paper factory in Giza. One seven-year-old son sleeps in his arms because of the trauma of hearing explosions before they fled from the outskirts of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, in January.

Chad interim president Deby kicks off campaign for vote set to end junta rule

Chad's interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby kicked off his presidential campaign on Sunday for an election next month meant to end three years of military rule on a promise to strengthen security and boost the economy. Deby's government is one of several juntas that seized power in West and Central Africa since 2020, drawing concerns of a democratic backslide.

UN chief calls for maximum restraint after Iran's attack on Israel

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday warned members not to further escalate tensions with reprisals against Iran, while the U.S. warned the Security Council it would work to hold Tehran accountable at the U.N. Guterres, speaking to a meeting of the U.N. Security Council, told member states that the U.N. charter bars the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state as he also condemned Iran's attack on Israel.

US will not take part in any Israeli retaliatory action against Iran

President Joe Biden warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the U.S. will not take part in a counter-offensive against Iran, an option Netanyahu's war cabinet favors after a mass drone and missile attack on Israeli territory, according to officials. The threat of open warfare erupting between the arch Middle East foes and dragging in the United States put the region on edge, triggering calls for restraint from global powers and Arab nations to avoid further escalation.

Cyprus suspends Syrian asylum applications as it struggles with arrivals spike

Cyprus has suspended the processing of asylum applications from Syrians following a sharp increase in irregular arrivals this month, authorities said on Sunday. More than 1,000 people have arrived in Cyprus on boats from Lebanon since the start of April amid deepening tensions in the Middle East. It has triggered calls from Nicosia to its European Union partners to do more to assist Lebanon, as well as reconsider the status of war-torn Syria, which is at present considered unsafe to repatriate asylum seekers.

Ukraine's top commander says Russia aims to capture Chasiv Yar by May 9

Ukraine's top commander said on Sunday Russian forces aimed to capture the town of Chasiv Yar by May 9, setting the stage for an important battle for control of high ground in the east where Russia is focusing its assaults. The fall of the town west of the shattered city of Bakhmut by the date Moscow marks the Soviet victory in World War Two would indicate growing Russian battlefield momentum as Kyiv faces a slowdown in Western military aid.

Iran's attack on Israel stirs admiration among Gaza Palestinians

Iran's attack on Israel drew applause from many Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday as rare payback for the Israeli offensive on their enclave, although some said they suspected Tehran had staged the assault more for show than to inflict real damage. "For the first time, we saw some rockets that didn't land in our areas. These rockets were going into the occupied Palestine," said Abu Abdallah, referring to land that became Israel in 1948 rather the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)