Iranian authorities on Thursday executed Kurdish man Kamran Sheikheh, the last surviving defendant in a case linked to a Muslim cleric's killing in 2008, rights groups said.

Sheikheh, one of seven men first arrested in the case more than 14 years ago, was put to death in Urmia prison in northwestern Iran, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said in separate statements.

Sheikheh's six co-defendants, also members of Iran's Kurdish minority, had all been executed in separate hangings since November 2023.

Israeli strikes hit Gaza on Thursday as the military said it had recovered the bodies of five Israelis taken to Gaza by Hamas militants after they were killed on October 7.

A group supporting Israeli hostages still held in the Palestinian territory welcomed the return of the bodies but alleged "sabotage" of diplomatic efforts to secure the release of others still in captivity.

France winger Moussa Diaby has joined Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad, where he will team up with compatriots Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante under French coach Laurent Blanc, the Saudi club said Wednesday.

The 25-year-old who began his career with Paris Saint-Germain leaves English club Aston Villa after just one season following his transfer from Leverkusen a year ago.

He played 54 matches for Villa last season, scoring 10 goals and making nine assists.

President Vladimir Putin held talks with Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in Moscow amid calls for Russian mediation to cool tensions between Turkey and Syria.

Wednesday's talks between the pair -- the first since since March 2023 -- come after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flagged the potential of a three-way meeting to discuss normalising ties between Ankara and Damascus.

Putin highlighted his concerns over the situation in the Middle East, which he said was "tending to escalate," in opening remarks between the pair which were aired on state television Thursday.

Kamala Harris signaled a major shift on US Gaza policy Thursday, with the presidential hopeful telling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seal a peace deal and insisting she would not be "silent" on the suffering in the Palestinian enclave.

Ripping up outgoing President Joe Biden's playbook of mostly behind-the-scenes pressure on Israel, the vice president said after meeting Netanyahu that it was time to end the "devastating" war.

Israeli forces retrieved the remains of five Israelis, killed during Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, whose bodies had been taken to the Gaza Strip, the military said Thursday.

It said the bodies of Maya Goren as well as soldiers Tomer Ahimas and Kiril Brodski, along with Ravid Aryeh Katz and Oren Goldin -- military reservists -- had been returned to Israel following a rescue operation.

Bearing flags and posters of hostages, hundreds of Israelis marched along a busy street in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza as their prime minister addressed the US Congress.

"Get out of the AC, get out of your houses, come to the street!" one of the demonstrators called through a microphone to bystanders watching from bars and balconies in Israel's largest city.

"We are not a parade! You are seeing here families whose children were kidnapped in their beds on a Saturday morning," he shouted. "It could have been your family."

Thousands of demonstrators angry over the war in Gaza marched on the US Capitol on Wednesday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked lawmakers for steady support as his forces fight Hamas.

A group of protesters burned Netanyahu in effigy, along with American flags -- a raucous end to a mostly peaceful march that also drew families, children and the elderly, as well as concerned citizens from thousands of miles away.

Thousands gathered in Washington on Wednesday to protest Benjamin Netanyahu and call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, as the Israeli premier prepared to address the US Congress.

Crowds carrying Palestinian flags and signs ranging from left-wing slogans to Bible verses gathered outside the Capitol calling for a ceasefire and the arrest of Netanyahu, as prosecutors seek a warrant for him at the International Criminal Court.

"The hypocrisy of our (US) politicians today has gone beyond any limits," Mo, a 58-year-old protester, told AFP.

Two container ships have docked in Yemen's Hodeida harbour, the first since a deadly Israeli strike hit fuel storage tanks at the rebel-held port, according to Huthi media and ship trackers.

The strikes on Saturday, the first claimed by Israel on Yemen, triggered a massive blaze that burned for days at the dock amid slow firefighting efforts.