Lithuania on Monday said it had finished building a fence along its border with Belarus to fight illegal immigration which the West accuses Minsk of orchestrating.

Illegal immigration has soared in EU member Lithuania this year, with around 4,200 migrants mainly from the Middle East and Africa crossing the border from neighbouring Belarus.

The West has accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's regime of manipulating the migrant flows with its ally Russia as part of "hybrid" warfare, which Minsk denies.

Residents of Libya's capital expressed shock and apprehension after weekend clashes between rival militias that left more than 30 people dead and reignited fears of a renewed conflict.

"It was a real war," said local resident Manal, whose name has been changed for security reasons.

"I was afraid for my family... My baby woke up many times because of the bombardments. I didn't know when it would end," said the woman in her 40s, adding that she feared fighting would resume.

When he raises his index finger and frowns, Iraq holds its breath. The mercurial Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr has yet again showed his strength in Iraqi politics, able to mobilise his loyalists with a tweet.

On Monday, in a short message, he announced his "definitive retirement" from politics and the closure of all institutions linked to his movement.

Shortly thereafter, thousands of his supporters mobilised, storming the government palace in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone and prompting the army to declare a curfew.

Ten Yemeni soldiers were killed in an overnight rebel attack near the blockaded city of Taez, Yemen's government said on Monday, calling it a "dangerous escalation" after a months-long ceasefire.

The assault, which also left several soldiers wounded, was aimed at cutting off a key route to the southwestern city of about two million, the government said.

The Iran-backed Huthi rebels have blocked main roads into Taez since 2015, the same year that a Saudi-led coalition intervened in the conflict.

Iran's president said Monday that reviving a 2015 atomic deal with world powers would be pointless unless the UN nuclear watchdog put an end to its probe of undeclared sites in the country.

Ebrahim Raisi's comments came as Tehran reviews the US response to its suggestions on a "final" text put forward by the EU to salvage the landmark deal.

The United States had been adamant that Tehran cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to clear up suspicions about earlier work at three undeclared sites.

Iraqi supporters of powerful cleric Moqtada Sadr withdrew Tuesday from Baghdad's Green Zone after he demanded an end to fighting between rival Shiite forces and the army that left 30 dead and hundreds wounded.

The clashes that erupted on Monday pitted Sadr loyalists against Shiite factions backed by neighbouring Iran -- violence that prompted Iraq's president to push for early elections and the prime minister to threaten to resign.

Striking geometric shapes that recall 20th century abstract art are not what you would expect to see adorning a handmade Iranian rug.

But changing tastes and increased competition from Asia have forced some in the trade to redesign and resize a tradition dating back more than 2,000 years.

"A revolution is underway," said Ahad Azimzadeh, 65, who calls himself "the biggest exporter of Persian carpets in the world".

An Iraqi museum is using computer technology and virtual reality headsets to turn back time, so visitors can explore heritage sites destroyed by jihadist fighters and in battles to defeat them.

Islamic State group fighters captured a third of Iraq in a lightning offensive in 2014, seizing the northern city of Mosul as their stronghold and vandalising or destroying a swathe of cultural sites across the country.

Japan will cooperate closely with African countries to promote "more resilient" economies, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told the final session of an investment conference in Tunisia on Sunday.

He also promised Japan would use its place on the United Nations Security Council next year to push for a permanent African seat on the world body, a day after announcing $30 billion in public and private finance for the continent.

An economic crisis spurred by the Ukraine war is casting darkness upon Egypt's streets, as the government dims lights to free up energy for export and bolster hard currency reserves.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine had an immediate impact on Egypt, the world's biggest wheat importer which has relied on the ex-Soviet states for over 80 percent of its grain.

Egypt, which turned to the International Monetary Fund for a loan after the war erupted, is pumping more natural gas abroad to increase its foreign currency reserves -- a move that has come in for criticism.