Alexanda Kotey, part of the Islamic State kidnap-and-murder cell known as the "Beatles," was sentenced to life in prison Friday, with relatives of victims addressing him and another member directly in the US court.

Kotey, a 38-year-old former British national, pleaded guilty in September, admitting his role in the deaths of four American hostages in Syria as well as the kidnapping and torture of other journalists and relief workers.

Three people were killed Friday in Sudan's restive Darfur region, witnesses and an aid group said, as the United Nations condemned recent clashes that have left over 200 dead.

West Darfur state, the arid region of Sudan bordering Chad, has for the past week been gripped by deadly violence between members of the Massalit community and Arab fighters.

On Friday, gunmen opened fire in a fruit market in West Darfur's state capital El Geneina, said Adam Regal from the General Coordination for Refugees and Displaced in Darfur, a Sudanese independent aid group.

Alexanda Kotey, part of the Islamic State kidnap-and-murder cell known as the "Beatles," was sentenced to life in jail by a United States court on Friday.

Kotey, a 38-year-old former British national, pleaded guilty in September, admitting his responsibility for the deaths of four American hostages in Syria as well as the kidnapping and torture of some 20 other journalists and relief workers.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have vowed to reset relations, to end a conflict between the two regional heavyweights since the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Erdogan -- in his first visit since the 2018 killing of Khashoggi in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate, which drove a wedge between the two countries -- met with the kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to "develop" relations.

Libya is losing tens of millions of dollars a day from the shutdown of its oil facilities, while global prices are at their highest in years, the country's oil minister told AFP.

Oil is the lifeblood of the North African country trying to move past a decade of conflict since the fall of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising.

But since mid-April, Libya's two major export terminals and several oil fields have been held hostage to the country's latest political schism.

The United Arab Emirates announced Friday it will send an astronaut on a six-month mission to space, as it seeks to become a major player in the industry.

The wealthy Gulf country signed "a new agreement to send the first Arab astronaut on a long 180-day mission to the International Space Station", tweeted UAE's vice president, Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.

"Proud of the UAE's youth," he added.

Negotiations between the Taliban and a Qatar-Turkey consortium for operating Afghanistan's five airports, including in the capital, have hit a deadlock after the Islamists insisted their fighters will guard the facilities, officials said.

Kabul's only airport was trashed in August when tens of thousands of people rushed to evacuate on any available flight as the United States wrapped up its withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.

More than 3,000 people died in the Mediterranean and Atlantic while trying to reach Europe last year -- double the toll from 2020, the United Nations said Friday.

A fresh report from the UN refugee agency demanded urgent action to combat surging deaths among refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants trying to reach Europe.

Last year, a total of 3,077 people were lost while trying to cross the Mediterranean and Atlantic routes to the continent, the report showed, up from 1,544 in 2020.

Thousands of Iranians took to the streets Friday to join annual pro-Palestinian rallies, as Israeli-Palestinian clashes in Jerusalem left dozens injured.

The Quds (Jerusalem) Day commemorations, which are held on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, were launched in 1979 by Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Across Iran, flag-waving protesters chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel", the state broadcaster IRIB reported.

A Palestinian man and an Israeli guard were killed in separate West Bank incidents following clashes on Friday between Palestinians and Israeli police at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque.

The guard was attacked at the entrance of the Ariel settlement, the army said, adding that they were pursuing the "terrorists".

The Islamist Hamas movement hailed the killing as a "heroic operation", with spokesman Hazem Qassem declaring it a response to the "attacks on Al-Aqsa," the mosque which has been one of the focal points for weeks of violence.