UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher held Tuesday what he called "constructive" talks with Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to ensure life-saving aid reaches all corners of the war-ravaged country.
Since April 2023, the war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly 12 million, creating one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.
On the streets of Damascus on Tuesday, Syrians viewed their leader's visit to Washington as a shift towards the West that could pave the way to reviving the country's war-battered economy.
On Monday, Donald Trump received Ahmed al-Sharaa, a first for a Syrian head of state since independence in 1946 and a crowning achievement for the former jihadist, whom Washington once sought to arrest in return for a $10 million bounty.
"God willing, this visit will be a new beginning for Syria and an opening to the world after years of isolation," law student Boushra Abdel Bari said.
Installations by renowned international artists including Italy's Michelangelo Pistoletto and Portugal's Alexandre Farto have been erected in the sand under the great pyramids of Giza outside Cairo.
The fifth edition of the contemporary art exhibition "Forever is Now" is due to run to December 6.
The 92-year-old Pistoletto's most famous work, Il Terzo Paradiso, comprises a three-metre-tall mirrored obelisk and a series of blocks tracing out the mathematical symbol for infinity in the sand.
By Saeed Shah and Asif Shahzad
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -A suicide bomber killed 12 people in Pakistan's capital on Tuesday in a sharp escalation of militant violence that the defence minister said had pushed the country into a "state of war".
Pakistani government ministers accused neighbouring Afghanistan of complicity in the bloodshed -- an accusation Kabul denied -- and vowed retaliation if Afghan authorities failed to rein in the militants Islamabad says were responsible.
GAZA (Reuters) -Palestinian mother Hanan al-Joujou, 31, has to feed her three children in the dark with a flashlight as there is no electricity in Gaza even after last month's Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
When they cannot afford to charge the flashlight, they go without food.
"We stay in the darkness - once the sun sets and the Maghrib prayer is called," al-Joujou said, referring to the Muslim sunset devotion. "If the light of the flashlight is available, we light it. If not, we go to sleep without dinner or light."
By Tuvan Gumrukcu
ANKARA (Reuters) -A Turkish C-130 military cargo plane with at least 20 personnel on board crashed in Georgia after taking off from Azerbaijan on Tuesday, as authorities reported an unspecified number of casualties and said rescue workers were headed to the site.
President Tayyip Erdogan interrupted a speech in Ankara to offer condolences for "our martyrs" - a term he regularly uses to describe not only combat deaths but also service personnel killed in the course of their general duties.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The Israeli military accused Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on Tuesday of seeking to rebuild its combat abilities in south Lebanon to the point of threatening Israel's security and undoing last year's ceasefire deal.
Military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said the Iranian-backed Hezbollah was operating south of the Litani River in violation of the truce accord and that Israeli forces were conducting strikes on Hezbollah targets in that area.
When Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr gives an order, his supporters listen. On Tuesday, as many Iraqis lined up to cast their votes for a new parliament, that order was to skip the election entirely and spend the day with family instead.
The effects of the influential preacher's directive were on full display in his Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City, where residents said they were spending a pointedly normal day.
DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Six ancient statues have been stolen from the National Museum of Damascus, which is one of the Middle East's oldest cultural institutions and houses a collection showing Syria's archaeological and artistic heritage.
A source at the museum told Reuters that a thief broke a glass display case on Monday and apparently stayed inside the building until evening.
Authorities have launched an investigation, according to the head of internal security in Damascus, Osama Mohammad Khair Atkeh.
By Olivia Le Poidevin
GENEVA (Reuters) -UNICEF said on Tuesday essential items including syringes to vaccinate children and bottles for baby formula are being denied entry into Gaza by Israel, preventing aid agencies from reaching those in need in the war-devastated territory.
As UNICEF undertakes a mass children's vaccination campaign with a fragile ceasefire in place, it said it faces serious challenges getting 1.6 million syringes and solar-powered fridges to store vaccine vials into Gaza. The syringes have awaited customs clearance since August, UNICEF said.
