More than 200 exhausted Iraqis evacuated from Sudan flew back to Baghdad on Thursday, with one saying he hadn't seen the sun in 10 days because of the fighting.

Among the 234 people who were flown to Baghdad International Airport from Port Sudan were 16 Syrians, the foreign ministry said.

It was unclear whether they would stay in Iraq or return home.

"Overnight the war happened," said 30-year-old Iraqi engineer Ahmed al-Baldawi, his eyes red with fatigue.

"There was no food, no water and no electricity. For 10 days we didn't see the sun."

Iran seized a US-bound oil tanker off Oman on Thursday, saying it had crashed into an Iranian vessel leaving two crew missing -- the latest disruptive incident in the crucial but troubled waterway.

The US Navy demanded the immediate release of the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, saying it was transiting international waters in the Gulf of Oman and slamming Iran's "continued harassment of vessels".

A statue of Buddha has been discovered in Egypt's ancient seaport of Berenice on the Red Sea, shedding light on trade ties with India under the Roman empire.

A Polish-US mission discovered the statue "dating back to the Roman era while digging at the ancient temple in Berenice", an antiquities ministry statement said on Wednesday.

The find has "important indications over the presence of trade ties between Egypt and India during the Roman era", the head of Egypt's supreme antiquities council Mostafa al-Waziri said.

Months after hundreds of thousands of football fans packed into its hotels and stadiums, Qatar is seeking to remedy a bout of the post-World Cup blues by hosting more international events.

Along with the departed football crowds, thousands of foreign workers left the Gulf state after Lionel Messi lifted the coveted trophy on December 18. Many of those who stayed on are counting the cost.

Luxury hotels built for the tournament have laid off hundreds of staff as rooms costing thousands of dollars a night during the tournament can no longer be filled.

Sudanese fighter jets pounded paramilitary positions in Khartoum on Thursday while deadly fighting and looting flared in Darfur, despite the army and a rival force agreeing to extend a ceasefire deal.

In the final hours of a repeatedly broken three-day ceasefire, due to end at midnight (2200 GMT), the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced a 72-hour extension following pressure from Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia and Urawa Red Diamonds finally meet in the Asian Champions League final on Saturday -- almost nine months after the Japanese side booked their place in the two-legged showdown.

The winter World Cup in Qatar and travel complications arising from the pandemic mean Asian football has yet to crown its 2022 champions more than a year after the competition began.

Before they went to war with each other, Sudan's rival generals rose to prominence under the regime of deposed strongman Omar al-Bashir. This week, that old guard has reappeared.

Wanted by the International Criminal Court, former top Bashir aide Ahmed Harun announced via Sudanese media on Tuesday that he and other former old regime officials had escaped Khartoum's Kober prison, where they had been since Bashir's ouster after pro-democracy protests in 2019.

A large fire caused extensive damage Wednesday at the Russian cultural centre in the capital of Cyprus, which is home to thousands of Russians as well as Ukrainian refugees.

The cause is under investigation.

Five fire engines responded to the blaze in central Nicosia at around 1:45 pm, the fire service said.

Witnesses saw a large plume of smoke as flames seemed to engulf the outside of the building.

Others said they heard explosions.

Sudan, which has descended into chaos with fierce fighting between rival generals, has lived through multiple civil wars since winning independence from Britain and Egypt in 1956.

- 1955-1972: first civil war -

Earlier this month, Wissam Moustafa travelled from the United States to Sudan to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr holiday with family, only to be caught up in fierce fighting between warring generals.

On Wednesday, after a harrowing overland journey and overnight boat trip across the Red Sea, she joined thousands of civilians who have fled to Saudi Arabia, grateful to have survived but wracked with guilt and worry for those she left behind.