The disruptive new LIV Golf circuit could pay for TV coverage temporarily as it tries to build a long-term presence, its president told AFP, adding that the tour's Saudi backers were looking a decade ahead or more.

LIV, whose luring of top players with record purses has enraged golf's establishment, is currently on a "roadshow" of US and international broadcasters, president and chief operating officer Atul Khosla said at the Jeddah Invitational.

One month ago, a 22-year-old woman was pronounced dead after she had been detained by Iran's notorious morality police for alleged violations of the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

Mahsa Amini's death in hospital on September 16, three days after her arrest, sparked the biggest protests in Iran in years.

Young women and girls have defiantly removed their Islamic headscarves, or hijabs, in standoffs with the security forces that have left dozens dead, according to human rights groups.

Here is a timeline of the events:

- Sept. 13: Arrest -

Vice President Kamala Harris and other top US leaders on Friday hailed women leading protests in Iran as they met activists originally from the country whose clerical leadership is waging a crackdown.

Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan each met with Nazanin Boniadi, the Iranian-born actress and human rights advocate.

Harris voiced "support for the brave women and girls leading peaceful protests in Iran to secure equal rights and basic human dignity," the vice president's office said in a statement.

As Israel and Lebanon moved to resolve a dispute involving offshore gas fields, Egypt has been working with Israeli and Palestinian officials to unlock natural gas production off Gaza's coast.

More than two decades since exploration began, the struggling Palestinian economy could reap huge benefits from natural gas reserves, and a Palestinian official has said an agreement may be imminent.

America's Brooks Koepka said it "kind of sucks" after he hit his best form in years on Friday just as the breakaway LIV Golf tour's first season is about to wind down.

In hot and windy conditions at Saudi Arabia's Royal Greens course, the four-time major-winner shot eight-under-par 62 to lead South Africa's Charl Schwartzel by two after the first round.

The Saudi-funded, 54-hole, no-cut invitational tour is making its debut on Saudi soil this week, ahead of the eighth and final event in Miami at the end of the month.

Iranian activists called for fresh nationwide protests on Saturday over the death of Mahsa Amini, as the movement entered its fifth week despite a crackdown that has killed dozens.

Outrage over the 22-year-old's death on September 16, three days after she was arrested by Iran's notorious morality police, has fuelled the biggest wave of street protests and violence seen in the country for years.

Young women have been on the front line of the protests, shouting anti-government slogans, removing their headscarves and facing off with security forces in the streets.

Two Palestinians including a doctor were killed Friday in an Israeli raid in the flashpoint city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, an army spokeswoman said.

Hours later Israeli troops killed a Palestinian youth accused of firing shots at an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

Dr Abdullah al-Ahmad "succumbed to a bullet wound that pierced his head, fired by the occupation (Israeli) soldiers", the ministry said in a statement following the earlier incident.

France's foreign minister on Friday urged the swift election of a new Lebanese president, after a second vote in parliament to pick a successor to incumbent Michel Aoun failed.

"Lebanon today cannot risk a power vacuum," Catherine Colonna said at the end of a short visit to the Middle Eastern country, urging its leaders to live up to "their political and institutional responsibilities".

Aoun was elected in 2016, after a more than two-year presidential vacancy. He was chosen after lawmakers tried 45 times to reach a consensus on a candidate.

A photomontage of dozens of renowned Iranian women all observing hijab disappeared from a Tehran billboard Friday within 24 hours of going up, after drawing criticism amid protests over Mahsa Amini's death.

Iran has been gripped by a month of protests since Amini died after being arrested by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code for women.

The street violence has led to dozens of deaths, mostly of protestors but also members of the security forces, and hundreds have been arrested.

Iraqi lawmakers have elected a new president who swiftly named a prime minister in the hope of ending a year of political gridlock and deadly violence.

But major challenges lie ahead for the crisis-hit nation.

- How will government talks play out? -

Iraq's parliament, dominated by the pro-Iran Coordination Framework of Shiite Muslim factions, elected on Thursday a new president, 78-year-old Kurdish former minister Abdul Latif Rashid.