The United States and Iran on Monday swapped five prisoners each in one of the arch-foes' first deals in years as Tehran gained access to $6 billion in frozen funds.

The five Americans freed by Iran, including one held for eight years, flew out of Tehran in a Qatari jet, hours after the unblocked funds were deposited in accounts also managed by Qatar.

The freed prisoners walked in the setting sun on the tarmac and within hours a separate US government plane shuttled them to Washington, where some will undergo medical check-ups.

Flames gripped the Sudanese capital Sunday and paramilitary forces attacked the army headquarters for the second day in a row, witnesses reported, as fighting raged into its six month.

"Clashes are now happening around the army headquarters with various types of weapons," one Khartoum resident, who declined to be named, told AFP.

Other witnesses in southern Khartoum said they heard "huge bangs" as the army targeted bases of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitaries with artillery.

UNESCO inscribed the prehistoric site of Tell al-Sultan, near the Palestinian city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank, on its World Heritage List Sunday, in a move criticised by Israel.

Tell al-Sultan, which predates Egypt's pyramids, is an oval-shaped tell, or mound, in the Jordan Valley, and contains the prehistoric deposits of human activity.

The decision by the United Nations cultural organisation, which it posted on X, formerly Twitter, was taken at its 45th world heritage committee meeting held in Riyadh.

In her earthquake-hit Moroccan town, Zina Mechghazzi has improvised a sink by placing a pink bucket and a bar of soap on the dusty ground amid the ruins.

"I haven't taken a shower in seven days," said the woman from Amizmiz at the foot of the High Atlas range, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) southwest of Marrakech.

"I've only washed my armpits and changed my clothes."

Over a week since a 6.8-magnitude quake devastated parts of central Morocco, many worry that the dire living conditions and poor hygiene spell new threats for the survivors.

Solar panels soak up blinding noontime rays that help power a water desalination facility in eastern Saudi Arabia, a step towards making the notoriously emissions-heavy process less environmentally taxing.

The Jazlah plant in Jubail city applies the latest technological advances in a country that first turned to desalination more than a century ago, when Ottoman-era administrators enlisted filtration machines for hajj pilgrims menaced by drought and cholera.

Hundreds of protesters rallied in Libya's disaster-hit Derna on Monday, accusing the authorities of neglect after a huge flash flood devastated the coastal city and swept thousands to their deaths.

Demonstrators gathered outside the city's grand mosque and chanted slogans against the parliament in east Libya and its leader Aguilah Saleh.

"The people want parliament to fall", "Aguila is the enemy of God", "The blood of martyrs is not shed in vain" and "Thieves and betrayers must hang", they shouted.

Libya's deadly floods have sparked a surge of solidarity and transcended political differences in a country wracked by division ever since the 2011 revolution that overthrew Moamer Kadhafi.

"As soon as we heard about this awful tragedy, people began a spontaneous campaign in Tajoura to help, with no state backing at all," said Mohannad Bennour in the eastern suburb of Tripoli, the capital.

He said that since Monday, donations of "nearly 70,000 dinars (13,500 euros) have been sent in, more than 20,000 dinars on Friday alone".

The United Nations nuclear watchdog on Saturday condemned the "disproportionate and unprecedented" move by Iran to withdraw accreditation from several of its most experienced inspectors.

Iran's foreign ministry said in response that the move was in retaliation for "political abuses" by the United States, France, Germany and Britain.

But IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said that this would seriously hamper the ability of the International Atomic Energy Agency to carry out its work.

Mitra Hejazipour, one of the greatest chess players Iran has ever produced, knows what courage is after removing her headscarf in defiance of the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women at a tournament.

Now living in exile in France after being expelled from the Iranian team at the time, she says she is in awe of the bravery of Iranians who poured into the streets one year ago after the police custody death off Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the dress code.

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has met with families of security personnel killed during mass protests sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini last year, state media reported Saturday.

Raisi has been holding the meetings since Thursday during a visit to the northeastern city of Mashhad, ahead of Saturday's first anniversary of Amini's death.

Iran was gripped by nationwide demonstrations following Amini's death days after her arrest by Tehran's morality police for an alleged breach of the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.