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KHARTOUM — Standing in his dimly lit projection room, Ali Al Nur longs for the days when Sudanese filmgoers filled the rows of plush red seats below, enthralled by American blockbusters, Egyptian comedies and Bollywood extravaganzas.

The Palace of Youth and Children where Nur, 55, works is one of just three functioning cinemas left in a city of 4.6 million people.

Today few visit the squat, concrete hall, its outside plastered with sun-faded posters for the years old Indian action films it screens.

Although Khartoum's upmarket Afra mall has a screen, the palace is a rare survivor of the heyday of the capital's cinemas.

Many stand empty after closing their doors because of the economic hardship and government policies that followed the 1989 Islamist-backed coup that brought President Omar Al Bashir to power.

Nur started working in the cinemas as a teenager in his hometown of El Obeid, before studying film engineering in Cairo and arriving in Khartoum in 1983, where he worked in three other cinemas. At the time Khartoum had some 15 cinemas, all packed on weekends.

"In the past, people used to call to reserve tickets and in the week there was a programme with English-language films on Sunday, Arabic on Tuesday," Nur says amid the whirr of his projection room.

Today the Palace fills just a handful of seats and many of its customers are young couples seeking somewhere private to talk rather than the delights of the silver screen.

"Cinema's in a bad state now. There's no cinema really," Nur sighs.

Economic woes 

The Sudanese economy suffered badly after 1989, particularly when the United States imposed a trade embargo in 1997 over allegations that included rights abuses, and cinemas struggled to afford foreign releases, prompting many to buy cheaper Indian films.

The capital's open-air movie theatres — auditoriums with hundreds of seats laid out in front of huge screens — were worst hit. Fearful of demonstrations, Bashir's regime imposed a curfew around the capital for several months.

"All the screenings were in the evening, so they stopped," says Suleiman Ibrahim, a senior member of the Sudan Film Group.

He helped set up the association to promote cinema in Sudan in April 1989, but the hardline Islamists who came to power with Bashir took a dim view of cinema.

"They did not outright say cinema was haram [religiously forbidden] or banned, but they took steps to decrease screenings," Ibrahim said, including closing the state cinema institution, a final blow for many cinemas.

One of the open-air cinemas, the Halfaya, limped on until 2005. Built in 1955, its peeling green facade looms over a quiet street. The only people using its 180cm screen are the children of its caretaker, who use it as a goal as they play football.

They live in what was once the ticket office, with smouldering Indian film stars looking down from tattered posters. Above the lobby, the cinema's 60-year-old projectors are still intact, covered in droppings from the pigeons that have made the room their home.

Abdallah Halfaya, the cinema's director when it closed, started working there in 1970.

"It was a very, very good time," he says. A black-and-white portrait still hanging in the cinema's office shows Halfaya in the 1970s, wearing a floral shirt and smiling out from under a frizzy mass of hair.

"At the moment, the cinemas are shut, for many reasons," he says, adding he is optimistic they can reopen and has heard the governor of Khartoum met key figures from the film industry, although he admits it's a distant hope.

'In love with film' 

With more than 60 per cent of Sudan's population under the age of 24, many young people have no memory of their country's love for cinema. Talal Al Afifi hopes to change that.

He runs the Sudan Film Factory based out of an airy house in the upscale Khartoum 2 neighbourhood, and he and his team give training and equipment to prospective filmmakers.

They also started the Sudan Independent Film Festival, and are already planning to hold its third edition soon.

Afifi, now in his 30s, grew up in Khartoum's Kobar area, opposite the Al Wihda open-air cinema.

It "spread voices, songs and light to the whole neighbourhood”, he remembers.

"Since those days, I can say, I was in love with films".

And although the SFF has focused on helping young directors and producers hone their talents in making film, he is also aiming to have Sudanese films screened in the capital's movie theatres again.

DUBAI — Saudi Arabia's elderly King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz was admitted to a hospital in Riyadh on Wednesday for medical tests, state media reported on Wednesday, citing a royal court statement.

King Abdullah, who took power in 2005 after the death of his brother King Fahd, is thought to be 91, although official accounts are unclear. He has undergone surgery in the past few years related to a herniated disc.

Saudi stocks dipped on the news, which will also be of wider interest as Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil exporter and the top US ally in the Gulf region. Global oil prices did not appear to be immediately affected.

"The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, may God keep him, entered today, Wednesday, ... the King Abdulaziz Medical City of the National Guard in Riyadh to undergo some medical tests," the statement said, according to state news agency SPA.

Saudi Arabia's stock market, which was already down more than 1 per cent due to sliding oil prices, droped to 5 per cent lower in the minutes after the news. It later recovered slightly to be 3 per cent lower.

King Abdullah named his half-brother, Prince Salman, 13 years his junior, heir apparent in June 2012 after the death of Crown Prince Nayef Bin Abdulaziz. Earlier this year he appointed Prince Muqrin Bin Abdulaziz as deputy crown prince, giving some assurance on the kingdom's long-term succession process.

In November 2012, the king underwent an 11-hour operation at the same Riyadh hospital. He had a similar operation in October 2011 and had back surgery twice in the United States in 2010 for a herniated disc, spending three months outside Saudi Arabia recuperating.

GAZA CITY — Hamas civil servants went on strike Wednesday after the Palestinian government said it would rehire thousands of Gaza staff who were laid off when the Islamist movement seized power in 2007.

Hundreds blocked the entrance to the Gaza City headquarters of the consensus government, a day after it pledged to rehire tens of thousands of workers laid off seven years ago, potentially threatening the livelihood of the 50,000 or so people Hamas hired to replace them.

Government spokesman Ihab Bseiso said an unspecified number of the Hamas government's employees would also be taken on but only in case of ministerial "need".

The protest took place as ministers from the West Bank-based government were on a working visit in Gaza in only their second trip to the war-torn territory since taking office in June.

"The government is renewing its commitment to reintegrate its former employees," Bseiso said on Tuesday, referring to 70,000 people who had worked for the government prior to June 2007 when Hamas forced out its rivals in Fateh, the movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

After Hamas took over, it hired more than 50,000 new people, whose fate have been up in the air since the government was sworn in. Of their number, around 24,000 are civil servants while the rest are employed in security functions.

Their fate has been at the heart of a bitter dispute between Hamas and the new government of prime minister Rami Hamdallah, which was set up as a result of a spring reconciliation agreement between the Islamist movement and its Fateh rivals.

Hamas, which technically stepped down in June but has remained the de facto power in Gaza, has demanded that the government take responsibility for its employees.

But they have not been paid in seven months.

By contrast, the 70,000 workers laid off in 2007 have remained on the Palestinian Authority's payroll, despite being unemployed.

Standing outside the government's temporary headquarters, protesters held up banners reading "Puppet government" and "Enough of the lies and the procrastination”.

Union boss Mohammed Siyyam told a press conference "there will never be any stability in Gaza as long as the question of the workers is not sorted out. We will continue our protests”.

SANAA — A suicide bomber killed at least 23 people in central Yemen on Wednesday when he blew himself up at a cultural centre where students were celebrating the Prophet Mohammad's birthday, state news agency Saba said.

At least 48 people were also injured, including many women and children, the deputy director of the provincial health department said, according to Saba. The celebration, in the city of Ibb, was organised by the Houthis, the group that controls most of Yemen.

No one claimed responsibility for attack, but it resembles bombings carried out by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which operates in Yemen. AQAP regards Shiites, the sect of Islam to which the Houthis belong, as heretics.

Tensions have increased in Yemen since the Houthis captured Sanaa in September and expanded south and west of the capital. The Western-allied country, which shares a long border with the world's top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, had been trying to overcome an Al Qaeda threat before the Houthi advance.

Medics and residents earlier put Wednesday’s death toll at 33, saying that 20 bodies were transferred to Al Thawra Hospital and 13 others were taken to another hospital.

A local resident said the final death toll was likely to rise and might be more than 33. The resident, who declined to be identified, said the director general of the Ibb governorate was among the dead, but the governor, who was reported to have been wounded, had escaped unharmed.

President Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi, in a condolence message to the Ibb governor and families of the victims, condemned “the terrorist and criminal” attack and instructed the government to ensure the wounded receive full medical attention, Saba said.

TUNIS — Anti-Islamist Beji Caid Essebsi, 88, was sworn in Wednesday as Tunisia's first freely elected president vowing to work for national reconciliation, four years after an uprising that sparked the Arab Spring.

The election of Essebsi, a veteran of previous regimes, is seen as a landmark for the North African nation, where longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was toppled in 2011.

Essebsi's victory over outgoing president Moncef Marzouki capped Tunisia's sometimes troubled transition to democracy and has won praise from Western leaders.

Essebsi told parliament after a swearing-in ceremony that he would be "the president of all Tunisians" and "the guarantor of national unity".

"There is no future for Tunisia without consensus among political parties and members of civil society," he said.

"There is no future for Tunisia without national reconciliation."

Essebsi also attended a handover ceremony at the presidential palace where he was embraced by the outgoing leader.

Marzouki, an exiled human rights activist during Ben Ali's rule, was elected president at the end of 2011 by an interim assembly under a coalition deal with the then-ruling moderate Islamist movement Ennahda.

Essebsi's Nidaa Tounes movement, which includes many members of Ben Ali's old ruling party, won landmark parliamentary elections in October.

Even so, the anti-Islamist lawyer has vowed a fresh start for Tunisia.

Essebsi took 55.68 per cent of the presidential vote in a December 21 runoff against Marzouki — the first time Tunisians have freely elected their head of state since independence from France in 1956.

In a presidential statement, Essebsi resigned as head of Nidaa Tounes on Wednesday in line with the constitution, and called for its deputy leader, Mohamed Ennaceur, to name a candidate to set up a new government.

Nidaa Tounes will need to form a coalition as with 86 MPs it fell short of an absolute majority in Tunisia's 217-seat parliament. Ennahda, which came second, has not ruled out joining a governing coalition.

Incumbent Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa remains at his post until the formation of a new Cabinet.

Opponents have accused Essebsi of seeking a return to the era of Ben Ali, who clung to power for 23 years, combining authoritarian rule with a degree of prosperity and stability for his people.

During campaigning Essebsi accused Marzouki of representing the Islamists, whom he says have “ruined” the country since the revolution, and many voters appeared to be seeking a return to stability.

Following independence, Essebsi became an adviser to the country’s founding father and first president, Habib Bourguiba, holding a number of key jobs under him and then Ben Ali.

He later returned to the public stage as a supporter of the 2011 uprising and served as prime minister briefly after Ben Ali’s ouster while elections were organised for the interim assembly.

Big challenges ahead 

The revolution that began in Tunisia spread to many parts of the Arab world, with mass protests in Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen.

In every country except Tunisia the revolution was followed by violent turmoil or, as in Syria’s case, a devastating civil war.

Essebsi and the new government will face major challenges.

Tunisia’s economy is struggling to recover from the upheaval of the revolution and there is a growing threat from militants long suppressed under Ben Ali.

Essebsi said it was his duty to address economic problems “to realise the promises of the revolution: dignity, employment, health and regional equality”.

Tunisian newspapers urged the new leadership to uphold the dreams of the revolution.

“All the vicissitudes of history during the past 40 years show the importance of respect for human rights,” Le Temps said.

It said there was “no question of backtracking on respect for freedoms”.

La Presse said Tunisia’s experience showed that “democracy is compatible with Arab-Muslim culture”.

It added: “Now we must demonstrate that this democracy can be turned into economic opportunity and prosperity.”

BEIRUT — Kurdish forces have regained control of around 70 per cent of the Syrian town of Kobani near the Turkish border after pushing back Islamic State fighters that have spent months besieging it, a group monitoring the war said on Wednesday.

Backed by US-led air strikes, Kurdish forces made significant advances overnight on Tuesday after violent clashes with Islamic State (IS) in the south of the town, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Known as Ain Al Arab in Arabic, the town has became a symbol in the fight between the ultra hardline IS and its enemies in Iraq and Syria. Hundreds of IS fighters launched a sustained attack on the town more than three months ago.

US-led forces have bombed IS positions around the predominantly Kurdish town almost every day this month.

The observatory, which gathers its information from sources in Syria, said Kurdish fighters now control southern and central parts of the town as well as most of the west in an area stretching up to the border.

Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the observatory, said Kobani was the only clear example of US-led forces cooperating with fighters on the ground in Syria to push back IS.

“There are air strikes every day, they have destroyed many IS bases in Kobani. If there had been no air strikes then I think Kobani would have been controlled by IS by now,” he said. He added Kurdish forces were close to controlling all of the town, thanks to the overnight gains in strategic positions.

The United States says it wants to train and equip “moderate” rebel groups to fight IS on the ground elsewhere in Syria but rebels say there is much uncertainty surrounding the plans.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed on to 20 international agreements on Wednesday, including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), a day after a bid for independence by 2017 failed at the United Nations Security Council.

The move which angered Israel and seemed likely also to draw US condemnation, paves the way for the court to take jurisdiction over crimes committed in Palestinian lands and investigate the conduct of Israeli and Palestinian leaders over more than a decade of bloody conflict.

“They attack us and our land every day, to whom are we to complain? The Security Council let us down — where are we to go?” Abbas told a gathering of Palestinian leaders in remarks broadcast on official television.

In the months leading up to Tuesday’s failed UN bid, Sweden recognised Palestinian statehood and the parliaments of France, Britain and Ireland passed non-binding motions urging their governments to do the same.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Abbas’ action would expose the Palestinians to prosecution over support for what he called the terrorist Hamas Islamist group, and vowed to take steps to rebuff any potential moves against Israel.

Israel and Hamas fought a July-August war in which more than 2,100 Palestinians, 67 Israeli soldiers and six civilians in Israel were killed.

“We will take steps in response and defend Israel’s soldiers,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

Palestinians seek a state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem — occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East War.

Momentum to recognise a Palestine has built up since Abbas succeeded in a bid for de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly in 2012, which made Palestinians eligible to join the ICC.

Other agreements approved by Abbas included several articles on the court’s jurisdiction, commitments against banned weapons and cluster munitions along with less controversial pledges on the political rights of women, navigation and the environment.

AMMAN — Jordan will remain at the forefront of advocates for the Palestinian cause, the Kingdom’s Permanent UN Representative Dina Kawar said late Tuesday.

She made the remarks during a voting session that ended with the failure of a Palestinian bid to secure a UN resolution setting an end date to the occupation at the UN Security Council (UNSC).

Kawar told the meeting that Jordan filed the request for vote in compliance with “pan-Arab consensus” and support for a decision made by the Palestinian leadership, represented by President Mahmoud Abbas.

Kawar had advised Palestinians and representatives of 20 more Arab countries two days earlier, “not to rush things” and to work for a resolution that might win the approval of the 15 members of the UNSC.

China, France and Russia were among the eight countries that voted in favour of the text, but the resolution fell short of winning the nine "yes" votes necessary for adoption within the 15-member council, Agence France-Presse reported. 

Australia and the United States voted against, and five other countries abstained, including Britain.

The failure to win nine votes also spared Washington from having to wield its veto in a move which would have caused it major embarrassment with its Arab allies, AFP said.

The Palestinian-drafted resolution, which was backed by Arab states, would have paved the way for an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. 

Kawar said Jordan believes that the UNSC should respond to the Palestinians’ demands to restore their legitimate rights to live in freedom and dignity in their independent, sovereign and viable state within the pre-1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The proposal set a 12-month deadline for Israel to reach a final peace deal with the Palestinians and called for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian territories by the end of 2017.

The council’s rejection of the resolution was hailed by Israel, which said the Palestinians would achieve their dream of statehood only through bilateral negotiations, rather than through “unilateral” moves at the United Nations. 

But Russia, one of the three permanent members of the Security Council which voted in favour, said the failure to pass the resolution was “a strategic error”.

“Russia regrets that the UN Security Council did not manage to adopt the draft resolution,” said Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin after the vote, accusing Washington of “monopolising” decades of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and leading them “to a dead end”. 

Jordan had requested the vote on Tuesday despite opposition from Washington, which said the resolution did not address Israel’s security concerns and set arbitrary deadlines.

“This resolution sets the stage for more division, not for compromise,” US Ambassador Samantha Power told the council, saying it only addressed the concerns “of just one side”. 

“Peace will come from hard choices and compromises that must be made at the negotiating table,” she said.

Ahead of the vote, Secretary of State John Kerry had spoken to 13 foreign ministers to explain the US position. 

In the event, the resolution failed to garner nine “yes” votes. 

Argentina, Chad, Chile, Jordan and Luxembourg joined China, France and Russia in supporting the resolution.

Lithuania, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Korea abstained along with Britain. 

Diplomatic sources said Nigeria had been expected to support the resolution and changed its stance at the last minute. 

The vote capped a three-month campaign by the Palestinians at the United Nations to win support for the resolution that would have set a time frame for ending the Israeli occupation.

After the vote, Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour accused the council of failing to shoulder its responsibilities and vowed to seek other venues to gain recognition.

“The Palestinian people and the world can no longer wait. That message, despite the regrettable outcome today, is especially clear,” he said. 

The Palestinians had repeatedly warned that if the resolution failed, they would seek to join international organisations, including the International Criminal Court, where they could sue Israeli officials for war crimes in the occupied territories.

France’s envoy said he backed the resolution because of an “urgent need to act” and vowed to continue pressing for a UN role in reviving peace talks.

“Our efforts must not stop here. It is our responsibility to try again, before it’s too late,” said Francois Delattre.

TEHRAN — Iran is to help Iraq rebuild its army under an agreement that could formalise Tehran's military support for its neighbour, which remains under assault by the Islamic State (IS) group.

No details of the pact were released but state television said the two sides had "agreed to continue cooperation in the defence arena with the creation of a national army to protect the territorial integrity and security of Iraq".

The memorandum of understanding was signed late Tuesday in Tehran where Iraqi Defence Minister Khaled Al Obaidi is holding talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Dahqan.

"The two sides stressed the need for consultations to ensure security, because terrorism affects not only security in Iraq but security throughout the region," the statement added.

The Iraqi military melted in the face of the jihadist surge in June, with many soldiers simply abandoning their weapons and uniforms, allowing IS to seize large areas of the country.

Within days, Shiite Iran sent military advisers to Iraq, which is also predominantly Shiite, to help train and equip troops and allied militias for a counteroffensive against IS.

Iran has also armed Kurdish forces in northern Iraq and several Iranian military personnel have been killed in Iraq and Syria, whose government Tehran also supports.

However, IS remains in control of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, and much of the Sunni Arab heartland north and west of Baghdad.

Iran has consistently denied having combat troops on the ground in Iraq and was never invited to join the US-led military coalition assembled against IS, dismissing allied air strikes in Iraq and Syria as ineffective.

But earlier this month the Pentagon said Iranian F-4 Phantom jets — acquired from the United States before the 1979 Islamic revolution — had started attacking IS fighters in eastern Iraq's Diyala province.

Tehran refused to confirm or deny the US military's report.

Diyala lies on Iran's border and Iranian officials have underlined the threat they believe that the IS advance into the province poses for its own security.

They have also said repeatedly that they will not allow any move by IS against the Shiite holy places in Iraq, including the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad, where an Iranian military adviser was killed last week.

Speaking at the funeral Monday of Revolutionary Guards Major General Hamid Taghavi, a top security official said that if IS was not tackled in Iraq, Iran itself would be targeted.

"If people like Taghavi don't give their blood in Samarra, we must shed our blood... in Shiraz, Isfahan," Supreme National Security Council secretary Ali Shamkhani said, naming two Iranian cities.

"The enemy will certainly seek to create insecurity in our country," he added.

TAJI BASE, Iraq — As Sergeant Michael Lair went from base to base in 2011, moving American gear to Kuwait ahead of the US withdrawal from Iraq, it seemed unlikely he would be returning.

The United States' nearly nine-year war in the country was winding down, and the devastating violence that killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and thousands of American troops was at its lowest level in years.

But three years later, Lair is on his third Iraq deployment, this time as part of a mission to ready Iraqi soldiers for combat against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, which has overrun large parts of the country.

"I didn't think we were coming back," Lair says, standing on a muddy road lined with sections of concrete blast wall in the massive Taji Base complex north of Baghdad, an M4 assault rifle held across his chest.

"We would go up through Iraq to all the FOBs [forward operating bases]. We would load up all the equipment and take it to the port in Kuwait... by road," he says of the runup to the withdrawal.

"It was kind of a big stepping stone," he says. "We're taking our stuff with us — it's a pretty good sign."

But when he deployed to Kuwait in June this year as IS drove south towards Baghdad, sweeping Iraqi forces aside, it became clear another mission was likely.

"I was just telling myself, hey, get ready to go, 'cause I guarantee that we're not just gonna sit by and watch it happen," he says.

'A habit' 

Lair also served in Afghanistan, and arriving back in Iraq was ultimately a return to the life he has known for years.

"It was comfortable, as weird as I guess that sounds," he says. "This is my fourth deployment, so this is what I'm used to. I don't know anything different.”

"This has become a habit."

Lair is one of about 180 US military personnel now living at Taji, a number that is set to rise, says Captain Tyler Hitter.

The base is one of five sites where the US and its allies aim to train 5,000 military personnel every six to eight weeks in "the bare minimum basics that are needed for counter-attacking", says Major General Dana Pittard.

The US spent billions training and equipping Iraqi forces, but that relationship was scaled back after the 2011 withdrawal.

American soldiers say Iraq's troops did not carry out the subsequent training needed to maintain their skills and that, combined with flawed leadership, helped lead to the IS debacle.

Much of Taji has been in use by the Iraqi army since US troops departed, but it is still full of signs of the past American presence, from basketball goals to an empty can of Copenhagen dip tobacco — a favourite of US soldiers — still sitting in an empty hanger.

Murals accompanied by unit nicknames cover a wall near rows of empty white housing units, and the 1st Cavalry Division's unit patch is painted on a water tower overlooking the base.

'Like starting over' 

Staff Sergeant Marlon Daley, another soldier at Taji, who has been sent to Iraq three times, including during the initial 2003 invasion, did not expect to return after leaving in 2011.

He describes the IS takeover of Iraq's second city Mosul, an area where he was twice deployed, as "pretty shocking".

But "I wanted to come here," he says. "Most soldiers, that's what they want to do, is deploy and make a difference."

Command Sergeant Major Robert Keith is now on his fifth mission to Iraq — a series that has spanned from 2003 to 2011, and now 2014.

"I didn't think I was gonna come back. Everything was shutting down, everybody was pushing back down into Kuwait," Keith says of 2011.

Over the years, "I've seen a lot of progress and... a lot of changes", and having that rolled back by IS is "frustrating," he adds.

It's like "trying to reinvent the wheel, when you establish so much and we come back, it's like starting over again," he says.

But he is glad to be back nonetheless.

"I enjoy coming to Iraq, the people are awesome here, the hospitality," Keith says. "People call me crazy when I say that."