Sudan's army chief returned home Tuesday after visiting Egypt on his first trip abroad since the outbreak of war in April, with the latest violence killing dozens of civilians in battle-scarred Darfur.

As Abdel Fattah al-Burhan travelled for talks with key ally Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, medics and witnesses said 39 civilians were killed, most of them women and children, in shelling of Nyala, the South Darfur state capital where fighting between the army and paramilitary forces has intensified.

Air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on planet Earth than smoking or alcohol, with the threat worsening in its global epicenter South Asia even as China fast improves, a study showed Tuesday.

Yet the level of funding set aside to confront the challenge is a fraction of the amount earmarked for fighting infectious diseases, said the research from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).

Roberto Mancini said he hoped to lead Saudi Arabia to Asian Cup victory within months as he signed a multi-million dollar deal on Monday, just a fortnight after quitting as Italy coach.

The former Inter Milan and Manchester City boss held up a green shirt that read "Mancini 2027" after inking a contract to stay with the Green Falcons beyond the next World Cup.

Mancini, who has insisted that the oil-rich monarchy had "nothing to do" with his shock Italy exit, was reportedly offered more than $25 million to join the big-spending Saudis.

Iraq has hanged three people convicted for a 2016 bombing that killed more than 320 people in a Baghdad shopping district and was claimed by the Islamic State group, the prime minister's office said on Monday.

The bombing was one of the world's deadliest after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

At least 323 people were killed in the car bombing that sparked raging fires in Baghdad's Karrada shopping area early on July 3, 2016 as it teemed with people ahead of the Eid al-Fitr festival ending the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi inaugurated on Monday the last phase of the South Pars gas field, one of the world's largest natural gas condensate field and the country's biggest.

Iran shares the gas field with energy giant Qatar and there are 24 platforms on the side of the Islamic republic which has been developing it in the Gulf since the 1990s.

Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan told troops in Port Sudan on Monday time has come to "end the rebellion" by paramilitaries, promising victory four months into a brutal war.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces led by Burhan's deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo had besieged the army chief inside military headquarters in Khartoum for the past four months.

But last week, Burhan made his first public foray outside the headquarters to review troops in parts of the war-scarred country.

Libya's internationally recognised prime minister has sacked his top diplomat after she met her Israeli counterpart, with news of the encounter triggering protests in a country that does not recognise Israel.

Oil-rich Libya, which plunged into chaos after dictator Moamer Kadhafi was toppled and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising, has been divided since 2014 between the UN-supported government of Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah in Tripoli and a rival administration based in the country's east.

Israeli air strikes on Aleppo airport in northern Syria caused the grounding of flights on Monday, Syrian state news agency SANA reported, citing a military source.

During more than 12 years of civil war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its territory, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters as well as Syrian army positions.

Roberto Mancini was on Sunday named as the new coach of the Saudi Arabia national team on a deal reported to be worth more than $25 million a year after he controversially quit the Italy job earlier this month.

The Saudis, who beat eventual champions Argentina at last year's World Cup in Qatar, have been without a coach since Herve Renard left to take charge of France's women's team.

Mancini, 58, led Italy to the Euro 2020 title but failed to qualify for last year's World Cup.

The leader of Libya's government said Sunday that he had suspended his foreign minister after her Israeli counterpart announced he had held talks with her last week in Rome.

Najla al-Mangoush has been "temporarily suspended" and will be subject to an "administrative investigation" by a commission chaired by the justice minister, Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah said on Sunday evening in an official decision posted on Facebook.