Family members from three generations were huddled on the back of a pickup truck for what started as a joyful ride through the Syrian countryside for Abdulaziz al-Oqab and his relatives.

They were planning to sample the long-forgotten peacetime pleasure of a simple family picnic when a landmine brought a bloody end to their outing, and to the lives of 21 family members.

Oqab walked away with relatively light wounds that day in February 2019, but the blast killed his wife, two of his sons, four of his siblings, an uncle and other family members, and left others maimed.

Having branded Saudi Arabia a "pariah" over the murder of a dissident, US President Joe Biden is now readying to meet the country's leaders on a delicate visit to the Middle East.

Biden begins his tour in Israel on Wednesday, but all eyes are on his trip to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on Friday.

Air Force One will make an unprecedented direct flight between the Jewish state and the conservative Gulf kingdom that does not recognize its existence. Donald Trump had made a historic trip, in 2017, in the other direction.

Diplomats at the United Nations held last-ditch discussions on extending Syrian cross-border aid Sunday, as residents of the country's rebel-held northwest feared life-saving supplies could soon halt.

The lack of an agreement threatens to upend assistance to more than two million people.

The aid delivery mechanism across Turkey's border into rebel-held Syria at the Bab al-Hawa crossing is the only way UN assistance can reach civilians without navigating areas controlled by Syrian government forces.

Expanding joint action to counter Iran will top the agenda during US President Joe Biden's upcoming visit to Israel, Prime Minister Yair Lapid said Sunday, demanding sanctions against Tehran.

The premier urged a "decisive" response to Tehran's nuclear ambitions, ahead of Biden's arrival in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

The visit "will focus first and foremost on the issue of Iran," said Lapid, addressing his second cabinet meeting since taking office on July 1.

A mineral spa in northern Iraq is regaining popularity as renovation work has brought back visitors, in a city once ruled by jihadists who carried out mass executions.

Hisham Khaled often visited the Hamam al-Alil baths as a child with his father but since the facility's restoration he comes alone.

His father, a policeman, was executed near the baths by the Islamic State (IS) group in 2016.

Supporters of prominent Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, who on Sunday will mark 100 days on a hunger strike, are calling on Washington to help secure his release, a statement said.

A major figure in the 2011 revolt that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, Abdel Fattah was sentenced in December to five years in prison after he was convicted along with two others of "broadcasting false news".

Residents of embattled northwest Syria warned Saturday of a deepening humanitarian crisis following a Russian veto at the UN Security Council that threatens to end cross-border aid deliveries critical to their survival.

Friday's veto of a resolution that would have extended authorisation for UN aid deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Syrian-Turkish border by one year came on the eve of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday.

Residents of embattled northwest Syria warned Saturday of a "catastrophe" following a Russian veto at the UN Security Council that threatens to end cross-border aid deliveries critical to their survival.

Friday's veto of a resolution that would have extended authorisation for UN aid deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa crossing on the Syrian-Turkish border by one year amounted to a "siege and famine policy that Russia resorts to across Syria", charged Mazen Allouch, a border crossing official.

Sudanese protesters celebrated Eid al-Adha among barricades on Saturday during a sit-in against military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his October coup.

Protesters have continued to press the army chief to resign, days after he vowed to make way for a civilian government -- an offer quickly rejected by the country's main civilian umbrella group as a "ruse".

Burhan's surprise move has been met with wide scepticism, and pro-democracy groups announced on Thursday the formation of a "revolutionary council" as protests held firm.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Saturday took part in Eid al-Adha prayers on the second day of his first visit to ex-rebel-stronghold Aleppo in over a decade, state media reported.

Assad began the highly symbolic visit on Friday to Syria's second city, formerly held by rebels and jihadists before it was recaptured in 2016 with crucial Russian backing, marking a major turning point in the country's 11-year war.

"President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday performed Eid al-Adha prayer at Sahabiy Abdallah bin Abbas mosque in Aleppo city," state news agency SANA reported.