TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan does not plan to recognise a Palestinian state at U.N. meetings this month, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said on Friday.

But he also said that for Tokyo, which supports a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, it is not a matter of whether to recognise a Palestinian state, but when to recognise it.

"I'm aware voices calling for the recognition as a state are getting louder in the international community as well as in Japan," Iwaya told a press conference.

By Thomas Escritt

BERLIN (Reuters) - A 30 million euro one-time payment to the Palestinian Authority that Germany was hoping to announce next week to coincide with European allies' formal recognition of a Palestinian state has been held up by sceptical legislators, Bild newspaper reported.

British trip-hop group Massive Attack announced they are joining a new music industry initiative to block their music in Israel and have also asked for their songs to be removed from Spotify.

The Bristol natives said they had joined "No Music for Genocide", a collective of musicians modelled on the "Film Workers for Palestine" group, which has also called for a cultural boycott of Israel over the war in Gaza.

Palestinian authorities have arrested a key suspect in an antisemitic attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris which left six people dead in 1982, French prosecutors said on Friday, as France gears up to recognise a Palestinian state.

The deadliest antisemitic atrocity in France since World War II was blamed on the Palestinian militant Abu Nidal Organization which was categorised as a terror group by the US and Europe.

By Andrew Mills

DOHA (Reuters) - An elderly British couple detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan in February were released and flying to Doha on Friday after Qatari mediation, an official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Barbie and Peter Reynolds' family had been concerned for their health and their ability to survive Taliban custody.

An elderly British couple detained in Afghanistan for almost eight months arrived in Qatar after their release by Taliban authorities on Friday amid concerns for their health, an AFP journalist reported.

Taliban officials have declined to say why they arrested Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, in February as they were returning to their home.

"We've been treated very well. We're looking forward to seeing our children," said Barbie, in a red headscarf, standing next to her bearded husband, near a plane on the tarmac at Kabul airport.

The Israeli military warned on Friday it would operate with "unprecedented force" in Gaza City, telling residents to flee as it presses its ground offensive on the territory's largest urban centre.

Israel has pummelled Gaza City with air strikes and tank fire in its bid to seize it, nearly two years into the war that has devastated the Palestinian territory and left Gaza City gripped by a UN-declared famine.

The assault comes ahead of a planned move by several Western governments, including Britain and France, to recognise a Palestinian state at a UN summit next week.

By Saeed Shah and Maha El Dahan

ISLAMABAD/DUBAI - With many Arab nations feeling a rising threat from Israel, the Saudi-Pakistan defense pact announced this week brings Pakistan - and its nuclear umbrella - into the region's security equation.

The "Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement" signed between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday effectively marries Riyadh's money with Pakistan's giant nuclear-armed military, analysts said.

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said on Friday his government supported the efforts made by the European Commission to monetize underlying frozen Russian assets held in the EU to help finance the Ukrainian government.

"From Spain, we've been advocating for increasing as much as possible the financing for Ukraine..." Cuerpo said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. "We are advocating to actually look at creative ways to also use those immobilized assets."

By Maha El Dahan and Muayad Hameed

DUBAI/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's attempt to ease its chronic power shortage with gas from Turkmenistan routed through neighbouring Iran has failed under U.S. pressure, leaving Baghdad scrambling for alternatives to keep the lights on.

Oil-rich Iraq has struggled to provide its citizens with power since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, forcing many to rely on expensive private generators, causing economic hardship and sparking social unrest.