Sudan has seen a surge in extreme violence in recent weeks as the warring military and paramilitary push for a decisive victory, with no political solution in sight.

Fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has intensified since late October, with reports of attacks on civilians including sexual violence against women and girls raising alarm.

The war that erupted in April 2023 has created what the UN calls the world's worst displacement crises, with more than 11 million people forced from their homes.

Iran hanged a 26-year-old man for a second time Wednesday months after a previous execution was halted half a minute in, an NGO said.

Ahmad Alizadeh was arrested in October 2018 on a murder charge, which he denied, and was sentenced to death, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR), which tracks executions in Iran, said in a statement.

For centuries, hammams were central to Ottoman society, and while they mostly fell out of use with the advent of running water, many in Turkey are being restored to revive an ancient ritual bathing tradition.

A mainstay of old Turkish films, hammam scenes were highly entertaining, a free space where women would socialise, eat, drink and even dance.

Last year, Istanbul's 500-year-old Zeyrek Cinili Hammam -- built during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent by the celebrated Ottoman architect Sinan -- reopened after a painstaking 13-year restoration.

After fleeing Iran and making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean, Kurdish activist Maysoon Majidi did not expect to be jailed in Italy for people smuggling.

But the day after arriving on a boat last December, she was arrested and held for 10 months -- a victim, her supporters say, of a migration clampdown by Giorgia Meloni's government.

"I tried to say who I was, that I am a political refugee, that I have done nothing wrong," the 28-year-old told AFP by telephone from Calabria, in southern Italy, where she was recently released.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi is set to visit Tehran on Wednesday for crucial talks on Iran's nuclear programme, warning just ahead of his trip that room for manoeuvre is narrowing.

His visit comes only two days after the defence minister of Iran's nemesis Israel warned the Islamic republic was "more exposed than ever to strikes on its nuclear facilities".

Israel has long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, a claim Tehran denies.

A top UN official on Tuesday condemned "daily cruelty" in Gaza, describing "acts reminiscent of the gravest international crimes" as Israel continues its daily bombardment of the Palestinian territory.

Speaking to the Security Council, Joyce Msuya, interim chief of the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA), described civilians driven from their homes and "forced to witness their family members killed, burned and buried alive" in Gaza, which she called "a wasteland of rubble."

Saudi Arabia announced Tuesday that it was replacing the chief executive of its futuristic mega-city NEOM as scepticism mounts over the Gulf kingdom's most ambitious development projects.

"Following the departure of Nadhmi al-Nasr", who had served as the project's chief executive since 2018, "Aiman al-Mudaifer has been appointed as interim CEO", NEOM said in a statement.

The company said that Mudaifer brought with him a "deep and strategic understanding of NEOM" after serving as head of a property arm of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund since 2018.

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday he had nominated Mike Huckabee as US ambassador to Israel under his incoming administration, putting a stalwart supporter of that country's government in a key role.

"Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years," Trump said in a statement, referring to the Christian pastor-turned-politician.

"He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him."

A federal jury on Tuesday ordered a US defense contractor to pay $42 million in damages to three Iraqi men who were tortured at Abu Ghraib prison, their lawyers said.

CACI Premier Technology Inc was found liable at the conclusion of a long-running trial for its role in the torture of the three men at the notorious prison in 2003 and 2004, the Center for Constitutional Rights said.

Suhail Al Shimari, a middle school principal, Asa'ad Zuba'e, a fruit vendor, and Salah Al-Ejaili, a journalist, were each awarded $14 million in damages, the center said in a statement.

The United States said Tuesday that Israel was not violating US law on the level of aid entering Gaza even as aid agencies said it was still not enough.

Israel had announced the opening of an additional aid crossing into Gaza, just hours before the deadline set by outgoing President Joe Biden's administration to improve the humanitarian conditions in Gaza or risk a cut to military assistance.

Gaza has been in the grips of a dire humanitarian crisis since the outbreak of war following Hamas's unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.