CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has received a phone call from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss the ongoing fighting in Sudan.

Deadly clashes have been taking place for days in Khartoum and elsewhere in a power struggle between Sudan’s army and paramilitaries, and Egypt’s leader fears the conflict could quickly escalate if the violence cannot be brought to a swift end.

TEHRAN: Iran has sentenced 10 members of the armed forces to prison after finding them guilty of involvement in the downing of a Ukrainian airliner, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reported Sunday.
Iranian forces shot down Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 shortly after its takeoff from Tehran on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 people on board. Most were Iranians and Canadians, including many dual nationals.
Mizan reported that a commander received the heaviest penalty of 10 years in prison for having defied orders in shooting down the plane.

BAGHDAD: Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is expected in Baghdad on Monday on his first visit to Iraq since Russia invaded his country, the foreign ministry said.
Kuleba is due to hold talks with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein as well as Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
They will discuss “bolstering bilateral ties, as well as regional and international” issues, said the statement quoting foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Al-Sahhaf.

BEIRUT: Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived in Algeria on Saturday for an official visit, Syrian state media reported.
Mekdad’s visit reinforces Damascus’ openness to the Arab world after it was isolated for more than a decade, and the minister will be welcomed by Algerian foreign minister, Ahmed Ataf, Algerian state radio said.

JERUSALEM: Christian worshippers thronged the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem on Saturday to celebrate the ceremony of the “Holy Fire,” an ancient, mysterious ritual that has sparked tensions this year with the Israeli police.