The mayor of Suakin dreams of a rebirth for his town, an ancient Red Sea port spared by the wars that have marked Sudan's history but reduced to ruins by the ravages of time.
"It was called the 'White City'," for its unique buildings made of coral stone taken from the seabed, said mayor Abu Mohamed El-Amin Artega, who is also the leader of the Artega tribe, part of eastern Sudan's Beja ethnic group.
Jan 31 (Reuters) - Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met with top Iranian security official Ali Larijani in Tehran and reviewed efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region, Qatar's foreign ministry said on Saturday in a statement.
(Reporting by Hatem Maher; Writing by Enas Alashray; editing by Diane Craft)
Jan 31 (Reuters) - Iraq's alliance of Shi'ite political blocs, the Coordination Framework, reaffirmed on Saturday its support for former premier Nouri al-Maliki to lead the next government, despite a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump that Washington would no longer help Iraq if Maliki returned to power.
The bloc, which holds a majority in parliament, picked Maliki, Iraq's first elected prime minister after a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, as its nominee for the post following an election.
By Saleem Ahmed
QUETTA, Pakistan, Jan 31 (Reuters) - At least 92 militants were killed on Saturday battling Pakistan's security forces in multiple cities across the southwestern province of Balochistan, four security officials told Reuters.
Pakistan's military said in a statement sent by text message that 15 security personnel were also killed during clearance operations, while militants targeted civilians in several areas, killing at least 18 people, including women and children.
By Soren Jeppesen and Tom Little
COPENHAGEN, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Danes gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen on Saturday in support of veterans who said they had been insulted by President Donald Trump's comment that European allies had kept "off the front lines" in the Afghanistan war.
Denmark, with a population less than 2% the size of the United States, was one of the major combat allies in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, losing 44 service members killed, a per capita death toll on par with that of the Americans themselves.
Jan 31 (Reuters) - An explosion occurred at Iran's southern port of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, Iranian media reported, without giving a cause for the blast.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency said that social media reports alleging that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander was targeted in the explosion were "completely false".
Iranian media said the blast was being investigated but gave no further information. Iranian authorities could not immediately be contacted for comment.
Iran's top security official said Saturday that progress had been made towards negotiations with the United States, even as the Islamic republic's army chief warned Washington against launching military strikes.
US President Donald Trump confirmed the two sides were talking, while keeping the threat of an attack in the foreground.
Washington has deployed warships led by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier off Iran's shores, after Trump threatened to intervene in the wake of Tehran's deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.
GAZA, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed at least 12 people, the Palestinian health ministry said, with children reported to be among the fatalities in the latest violence rattling a tenuous ceasefire.
One airstrike hit an apartment in Gaza City killing three children and two women, according to a family member and the official Palestinian news agency WAFA. Another airstrike hit a tent in Khan Younis, further south, according to WAFA.
By Muhammad Amin Afridi and Saad Sayeed
BARA/KARACHI, Pakistan, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people have fled a remote mountainous region in northwestern Pakistan in recent weeks, residents said, after warnings broadcast from mosques urged families to evacuate ahead of a possible military action against Islamist militants.
Jan 31 (Reuters) - Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that U.S., Israeli and European leaders had exploited Iran's economic problems, incited unrest and provided people with the means to "tear the nation apart” in recent protests.
The two-week long nationwide protests, which began in late December over an economic crisis marked by soaring inflation and rising living costs, have abated after a bloody crackdown by the clerical authorities that U.S.-based rights group HRANA says has killed at least 6,563, including 6,170 protesters and 214 security forces.
