World News Roundup: Azerbaijan's president says France will be to blame if new conflict starts with Armenia; Voters in Hesse, Bavaria seen dealing mid-term blow to Scholz's coalition and more

The Saturday quakes in the west of the country hit 35 km (20 miles) northwest of the city of Herat, with one of 6.3 magnitude, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. Israel pounds Gaza after deadly Hamas raid as conflict threatens to spiral Israel battered Gaza on Sunday, a day after suffering its bloodiest attack in decades when Hamas fighters rampaged through Israeli towns, killing hundreds and abducting an unknown number of others, threatening a major new war in the Middle East.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Azerbaijan's president says France will be to blame if new conflict starts with Armenia

Azerbaijan's president scolded the European Union and warned that France's decision to send military aid to Armenia could trigger a new conflict in the South Caucasus after a lightening Azerbaijani military operation last month. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev last week pulled out of an EU-brokered meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at which Brussels said it was standing by Armenia.

Voters in Hesse, Bavaria seen dealing mid-term blow to Scholz's coalition

Germany's opposition conservatives are expected to win another term in the Hesse and Bavaria state elections on Sunday, seen dealing a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left coalition and attesting to the rise of the far-right. Worries about national issues like migration, the cost of the green transition and stagnation in Europe's largest economy have overshadowed the campaigns in both states, home together to around 20 million people - more than many European countries.

Thai mall shooting victim's mother bids emotional farewell at cremation

Among the hundreds mourning Moe Myint on Sunday was the mother of the Burmese victim of last week's shooting rampage at a Bangkok mall, seeming dazed at the cremation ceremony on the outskirts of the Thai capital. Tears streaking her face, Khin Win was revived with smelling salts as she sat at the Buddhist ceremony. People rubbed her hands for comfort as she bade farewell to her 31-year-old daughter.

Afghan earthquakes kill 2,053, Taliban say, as death toll spikes

More than 2,000 people were killed in earthquakes in Afghanistan and more than 9,000 injured, the Taliban administration said on Sunday, in the deadliest tremors to rock the quake-prone mountainous country in years. The Saturday quakes in the west of the country hit 35 km (20 miles) northwest of the city of Herat, with one of 6.3 magnitude, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

Israel pounds Gaza after deadly Hamas raid as conflict threatens to spiral

Israel battered Gaza on Sunday, a day after suffering its bloodiest attack in decades when Hamas fighters rampaged through Israeli towns, killing hundreds and abducting an unknown number of others, threatening a major new war in the Middle East. In a sign the conflict could spread beyond Gaza, Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militia exchanged artillery and rocket fire, while in Alexandria, two Israeli tourists were shot dead along with their Egyptian guide.

Analysis-In striking Israel, Hamas also took aim at Middle East security realignment

When Islamist group Hamas launched a spectacular attack against Israel, it also took aim at efforts to forge new regional security alignments that could threaten Palestinian aspirations for statehood and the ambitions of the group's main backer Iran. Saturday's assault, the biggest incursion into Israel in decades, coincides with U.S.-backed moves to push Saudi Arabia towards normalising ties with Israel in return for a defence deal between Washington and Riyadh, a move that would slam the brakes on the kingdom's recent rapprochement with Tehran.

Israel's envoy to Turkey says too early to talk mediation, calls for end of Hamas presence

Israel's Ambassador to Turkey, Irit Lillian, said on Sunday it was too early to talk about mediation offers between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas, adding the attacks showed that Hamas should not have any presence in Turkey or elsewhere. On Saturday, Hamas launched an attack against Israel, for which Israel vowed "mighty vengeance" in response. Hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis have been killed, in what Israel has said is a war.

Israel's security forces face questions after Hamas attack lays bare intelligence gaps

As Israel reeled from a deadly attack by Hamas militants who broke through barriers around Gaza and roamed at will, killing scores of civilians in Israeli towns, defence chiefs faced growing questions over how the disaster could have happened. A day after the 50th anniversary of the start of the 1973 Yom Kippur war, when Israeli forces were caught off guard by Syrian and Egyptian tank columns, the military appeared once again to have been surprised by a sudden attack.

DNA and prayers: Israelis desperate for word on missing kin from Hamas attack

Hundreds of stunned Israelis filed into a central police station on Sunday hoping for word on the fate of loved ones lost in the wake of a mass Palestinian infiltration from the Gaza Strip. Though long used to war, Israel was blindsided by the multi-pronged attack by Hamas gunmen in which hundreds were killed.

Israel, Hezbollah exchange artillery, rocket fire

Israel and Lebanon's powerful armed group Hezbollah exchanged artillery and rocket fire on Sunday following the deadliest attack in years by Palestinian gunmen on Israel. There were no immediate reports of casualties in either Lebanon or Israel from Sunday's exchanges of fire.