Sudan and Israel said they agreed on Thursday to move towards normalising relations during the first official visit by an Israeli foreign minister to Khartoum.

Sudan in January 2021 formally agreed to normalise relations with Israel in a quid pro quo for the United States removing it from its list of "state sponsors of terrorism", but ties were never formalised.

Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, then the intelligence minister, led that same month the first official delegation to the Muslim-majority northeast African country.

The second Emirati to journey into space, martial arts enthusiast Sultan AlNeyadi, weighed up Thursday performing Ramadan in orbit -- and promised to pack his jiu-jitsu suit for the ride.

AlNeyadi, 41, dubbed the "Sultan of Space" by his alma mater, will blast off on February 26 for the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

During his six months in orbit -- a record time for any Arab astronaut -- AlNeyadi said he would like to observe the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims typically fast from dawn to sunset.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday denounced the "headlong rush" of Iran's nuclear programme after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in Paris to seek a stronger European stance against Tehran.

In a statement released after a dinner meeting in the Elysee Palace, Macron warned that Tehran continuing with the atomic project "would inevitably have consequences".

Iraq's foreign minister on Thursday called for more economic cooperation with Saudi Arabia, namely in investment and electricity, during a visit to Baghdad by his Saudi counterpart.

Fuad Hussein made no mention of resuming talks between Saudi Arabia and arch-rival Iran -- previously mediated by Iraq -- during a joint press conference.

"This important visit comes at a time marked by great challenges, so it is essential to talk and discuss these challenges which affect the region as a whole," Hussein said, alongside Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who has been jailed for the last six months, said he has begun a hunger strike to protest his continued detention, according to a statement published by his wife Thursday.

Panahi, whose films have won prizes at all of Europe's main film festivals, was arrested in July even before the current wave of protests that have shaken the regime started in September.

There were expectations last month that the judiciary could order his release, but he remains behind bars in Tehran's Evin prison.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron Thursday, hoping to gain support against Iran's nuclear programme but shadowed by an upsurge of violence in the region.

Israel's Paris embassy said the pair would discuss "the international effort to stop the Iranian nuclear programme".

Netanyahu hopes that Iran's role supplying drones to Russian invaders in Ukraine as well as the crackdown on protests at home will prompt Western allies to drop any pursuit of a revival of the 2015 deal over its atomic drive.

The European Parliament on Thursday lifted the immunity of two lawmakers targeted in a Belgian probe into suspected bribery linked to Qatar and Morocco.

The vote stripping Belgian MEP Marc Tarabella and Italian MEP Andrea Cozzolino of their protection from prosecution followed a demand by Belgian authorities, who have four people in custody as part of their probe.

Tarabella attended the parliament session and voted in favour of his immunity being lifted.

Ramadan Abu Saif looked on as bulldozers ploughed into his neighbour's Gaza City home, knowing his could be next as an infrastructure project surges forward in the impoverished Palestinian enclave.

Last month, Hamas Islamists who govern Gaza began demolishing 62 houses at Al-Shati refugee camp as they widen the territory's main coastal road, with Egyptian and Qatari funding.

Most of the affected residents accepted financial compensation totalling some $3 million in exchange for giving up their homes, Hamas government spokesperson Salameh Maarouf said.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez kicked off a visit to Morocco on Wednesday, on a trip aimed at mending ties following a deep diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

"The better the relations are between Morocco and Spain, the better it is for Spain, for Morocco, for Europe, for business, and for the citizens of both countries," Sanchez said at an economic forum in Rabat.

He and a dozen ministers are set to meet with top members of the Moroccan government on Thursday.

The discovery of dozens of beakers and bowls in a mummification workshop has helped reveal how ancient Egyptians embalmed their dead, with some "surprising" ingredients imported from as far as Southeast Asia, a study said Wednesday.

The exceptional collection of pottery, dating from around 664-525 BC, was found at the bottom of a 13-metre (42 feet) well at the Saqqara Necropolis south of Cairo in 2016.