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Virtual museum preserves Sudan's plundered heritage

Destroyed and looted in the early months of Sudan's war, the national museum in Khartoum is now welcoming virtual visitors after months of painstaking effort to digitally recreate its collection.

At the museum itself, almost nothing remains of the 100,000 artefacts it had stored since its construction in the 1950s.

Only pieces too heavy for looters to haul off, like the massive granite statue of the Kush Pharaoh Taharqa and frescoes relocated from temples during the building of the Aswan Dam, are still present on site.

Sudan's national museum was plundered by looters at the start of the war in 2023

Iran says no leniency for 'rioters' as protests persist

Iran will offer no leniency to "rioters", though the public has a right to demonstrate, the head of the country's judiciary said on Monday, following more than a week of sometimes-deadly protests.

The remarks came after US President Donald Trump warned Iran would "get hit very hard by the United States" if the authorities killed more demonstrators.

Protests erupted on December 28 when shopkeepers in capital Tehran staged a strike over high prices and economic stagnation. They have since spread to other cities and expanded to include political demands.

Protests have also taken place among the Iranian diaspora following more than a week of sometimes-deadly protests

Turkey to stress 'strategic priority' of Black Sea security at Ukraine meeting in Paris

ANKARA, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Turkey's foreign minister will stress the "strategic priority" of maintaining security in the Black Sea at a summit on Ukraine in Paris this week, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said on Monday.

French President Emmanuel Macron convened a meeting of the "Coalition of the Willing" on Tuesday. The group, led by Britain and France, includes more than 30 nations.

The source said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan would attend the meeting and would repeat Turkey's position on the need for "results-oriented" steps to end the war.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during an interview with Reuters at the 23rd edition of the annual Doha Forum, in Doha, Qatar, December 6, 2025. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

'I can't walk anymore': Afghans freeze to death on route to Iran

Habibullah set off from his home in western Afghanistan determined to find work in Iran, only for the 15-year-old to freeze to death while walking across the mountainous frontier.

"He was forced to go, to bring food for the family," his mother, Mah Jan, told AFP at her mud home in Ghunjan village.

"We have no food to eat, we have no clothes to wear. The house in which I live has no electricity, no water. I have no proper window, nothing to burn for heating," she added, clutching a photo of her son.

Gul Ahmad (centre) along with his deceased stepbrother Habibullah's son Waheed (right) and Saeed offering prayers over his grave in Ghunjan

Swiss police: last 16 victims of New Year's bar fire have been identified

ZURICH, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The last 16 people who died in the New Year's Eve bar fire at the Swiss mountain resort of Crans-Montana have been identified, police said on Sunday.

This means all 40 victims of the blaze, which broke out at the Constellation bar early on January 1, have now been identified, Swiss police said.

Police said they would not give details of their identities.

(Reporting by John RevillEditing by Ros Russell)

People visit a makeshift memorial outside the "Le Constellation" bar, after a deadly fire and explosion during a New Year's Eve party in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana in southwestern Switzerland, January 4, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

114 killed in week of attacks in Sudan's Darfur: medical sources

Attacks by Sudan's army and its paramilitary foes on two towns in the western Darfur region over the past week have killed 114 people, medical sources told AFP Sunday.

Since April 2023, Sudan has been gripped by a war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which in October seized the army's last holdout position in Darfur.

The RSF has since pushed west to the Chadian border and east through the vast Kordofan region, where a drone strike on the North Kordofan capital of El-Obeid on Sunday caused a blackout in the key army-controlled city.

After more than two years of war 11 million Sudanese have been forced from their homes and many are reliant on humanitarian aid

Yemeni government accuses separatists of Aden restrictions

By Ahmed Elimam and Maha El Dahan

DUBAI, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Yemen's Saudi-backed government on Sunday accused UAE-backed southern separatists of cutting off the port city of Aden and warned it would "take all necessary measures" after recapturing territory from them in the east on Saturday.

The separatists denied having restricted movement into Aden, but the government accusations indicate that hostility between the sides persists despite proposals for a dialogue that had raised hopes of a negotiated solution to the crisis.

A flag of the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) flutters on a military patrol truck, at the site of a rally by STC supporters in Aden, Yemen, January 1, 2026. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman

New clashes in Iran as protests enter second week: rights groups

New deadly clashes between protesters and security forces erupted in Iran, rights groups and local media said Sunday, as demonstrations first sparked by anger over the rising cost of living entered a second week.

At least 12 people, including members of the security forces, have been killed since the protests kicked off with a shopkeepers' strike in Tehran on December 28, according to a toll based on official reports.

Protests by shopkeepers and traders in the capital Tehran erupted last week and have now spread to other Iranian cities

Radio frequency loss grounds flights in Greece, stranding thousands

Jan 4 (Reuters) - Flights across Greece were grounded on Sunday after a collapse of radio frequencies crippled air traffic communication, stranding thousands of travellers and bringing airport operations to a halt.

There was little clarity on what caused the disruption, which began early Sunday and quickly escalated. Some overflights across Greek and regional airspace were still being serviced, but restrictions were imposed on airport operations for safety reasons, Greece's civil aviation authority said.

A flight radar map shows almost empty airspace over Greece, after airports across Greece suspended arrivals and departures due to unspecified issues affecting radio frequencies, according to the Greek aviation authority, in this screengrab obtained from the internet on January 4, 2026. FLIGHTRADAR24.COM via REUTERS

Rights group says at least 16 dead in Iran during week of protests

By Elwely Elwelly

DUBAI, Jan 4 (Reuters) - At least 16 people have been killed during a week of unrest in Iran, rights groups said on Sunday, as protests over soaring inflation spread across the country prompting violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

Deaths and arrests have been reported through the week both by state media and rights groups, though the numbers have differed. Reuters has not been able to verify the figures independently.

People walk past closed shops following protests over a plunge in the currency's value, in the Tehran Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, December 30, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS