RIYADH, Oct 8 (Reuters) - OPEC heavyweights said on Sunday oil and gas should not be stigmatised in the climate debate and that the industry had a role to play in an orderly energy transition.

Energy ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, the three largest members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), have gathered in the Saudi capital Riyadh for the U.N. MENA climate week.

ISTANBUL, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that Türkiye is ready to do its part to stop the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reduce escalated tension.

"Türkiye is ready to do its best to stop the clashes as soon as possible and reduce the tension that has escalated with the recent incidents," Erdogan said at the inauguration ceremony of a Syriac Orthodox Church in Istanbul.

He said the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the root of the problems in the region, and lasting peace is only possible through a final settlement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans in Wisconsin are threatening to impeach a recently elected state Supreme Court justice and raised the possibility of doing the same to the state’s election director.

A Georgia Republican called for impeaching the Fulton County prosecutor who brought racketeering charges against former President Donald Trump. Republicans in the Pennsylvania House have already impeached the top prosecutor in Philadelphia.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Powerful earthquakes killed at least 2,000 people in western Afghanistan, a Taliban government spokesman said Sunday. It’s one of the deadliest earthquakes to strike the country in two decades.

The figures couldn’t be independently verified, but if correct, the toll would eclipse that of an earthquake that hit eastern Afghanistan in June 2022, striking a rugged, mountainous region, flattening stone and mud-brick homes and killing at least 1,000 people.

BERLIN, Oct 8 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned on Sunday against violence spreading like wildfire "with incalculable consequences for the whole region" following the biggest attack on Israel in years by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

"We warn everyone against fueling and spreading terror in this situation," he said, noting he would hold a discussion with U.S. President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the topic later on Sunday.

MOSCOW, Oct 8 (Reuters) - 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.

CAIRO, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II on Sunday discussed efforts to halt the ongoing deadly Palestinian-Israeli escalation over phone talks, said the Egyptian Presidency in a statement.

The talks came a day after a massive deadly conflict erupted between the Palestinians and the Israelis in the Gaza Strip that left heavy casualties on both sides.

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Two terrorists were killed during an army operation in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province, the army has said.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan army, said security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in Zerber area of Kech district of the province on Saturday.

During the operation, an intense exchange of fire took place between security forces and terrorists, the ISPR said, adding that two terrorists were killed in retaliatory fire.

AMMAN, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Jordan's King Abdullah said on Sunday there was a need to intensify diplomatic efforts to prevent escalating Israel-Palestinian violence with "dangerous repercussions" for the region's security.

In comments made on state media, Abdullah said contacts with regional and international parties were underway to discuss "urgent international action to avoid an escalation and prevent the region from the consequences of a new round of violence."

BEIJING, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Israel expected to see a "stronger condemnation" of Hamas from China, a country it views as its friend, Yuval Waks, a senior official at the Israeli embassy in Beijing, said on Sunday.

"When people are being murdered, slaughtered in the streets, this is not the time to call for a two-state solution," Waks told reporters.

HONOLULU (AP) — The area around the Maui town largely destroyed by wildfire two months ago was scheduled to welcome back travelers on Sunday as the mayor and Hawaii’s governor pushed ahead to restart tourism to boost the economy despite opposition from some Lahaina residents.

HELSINKI, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- The natural gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia was temporarily closed Sunday following a suspected leak, the Finnish operator Gasgrid Finland reported.

Gasgrid Finland said the state of the Finnish gas network is stable, and the causes of the leak are being investigated. Finland, during this break, relies on the liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal near Helsinki.