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US President Donald Trump realises that Israel is “illogically” upping its demands in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, an Egyptian official has said.

“The mediators are aware of these aspects. We are now in the real stages, and Trump knows the negotiations are difficult and that the Israeli side is raising its demands to a point that may seem illogical,” Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS), told Al-Qahera News…

An island in the middle of Sudan’s capital that used to draw crowds to its Nile River farms now stands nearly deserted after two years of war, its homes ransacked and once-lush fields left fallow.

Nestled at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile rivers, Tuti Island has been devastated by two years of war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with residents subjected to violence and looting.

When fighting broke out on April 15, 2023, RSF fighters…

A sandstorm swept through Iraq, filling the air with choking dust that closed airports and put more than 3,700 people in hospital with breathing difficulties, the health ministry said Tuesday.

Visibility fell to less than one kilometre (barely half a mile) in central and southern cities as the storm cloaked the region in an eerie orange haze, AFP photographers reported.

Basra and Najaf airports both closed for the duration of the storm, which began to dissipate on Tuesday morning.

Health…

More than 6,500 Israeli academics and teachers, along with about 1,000 parents, signed petitions on Monday evening demanding that the Israeli government should ensure the return of the hostages in Gaza, even if it means ending the war against the Palestinians in the enclave.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that about 3,500 academics in Israel signed a petition supporting a previous letter from Israeli Air Force reservists demanding the return of the captives…