Three people have died in an explosion at a petrol station in Damascus, capital of Syria. The Syrian interior minister ruled out a terrorist attack, and said the tyre of the bus exploded as it was being pumped. The bus was carrying Iranian pilgrims visiting the Sayyida Zeinab shrine for Shia Muslims.

Dubai World outlined its plans to restructure $26bn in debt, following last week’s request for a six-month delay on debt payments. The issue raised fears in the Gulf region and hit global stockmarkets. Abu Dhabi, Dubai’s Emirate neighbour, was reluctant to intervene immediately with a bail-out, and said to review situations on per-case basis.