The Israeli army said Saturday it had intercepted three drones launched by Hezbollah that were headed towards an offshore gas field in the Mediterranean, amid rising tension between Israel and Lebanon.

"Three hostile drones approaching the airspace in Israel's economic waters have been intercepted," the army said in a statement, adding that the drones were headed towards the Karish gas field.

The drones were not armed and did not pose a risk, Israeli military sources said.

One drone was intercepted by a fighter jet and the other two by a warship, the sources added.

Iran's foreign minister warned Saturday on a visit to Damascus that Turkish military action in Syria would destabilise the region, after Ankara threatened to launch a new offensive on Kurds in the country's north.

"Any Turkish military action in the north of Syria would be a destabilising element in the region," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told a press conference in Damascus, according to a simultaneous translation from Farsi to Arabic.

Iran is a major ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and an important trading partner for Turkey.

A series of strong earthquakes rocked southern Iran on Saturday, killing at least five people, injuring over 90 others and reducing an entire village to rubble.

The quakes, including two of magnitude 6.0, struck west of the major port city of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province, the US Geological Survey said.

The first rattled an area north of the town of Dezhgan shortly after 2:00 am (2130 GMT), before a 5.7 tremor hit two hours later followed quickly by the second 6.0 magnitude quake, the USGS said.

Executions in Iran have more than doubled in the first half of 2022, an NGO said Friday, warning that the surge in hangings was aimed at spreading fear at a time of protests.

From January 1 to June 30, 251 people were hanged in Iran compared with 117 in the first half of last year, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said in a report.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had expressed concern last month over the rise in executions, with Iran again executing drug offenders in high numbers and many people from ethnic minorities.

Sudanese protesters rallied again Friday, drawing tear gas from the security forces a day after a mass demonstration joined by tens of thousands was met with the deadliest violence so far this year.

Hundreds of activists massed near the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum, after at least nine people were killed during Thursday's protests against a military takeover led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan last October.

The international community has condemned the bloodshed, with the United Nations' rights chief urging an independent probe.

Iran insisted Thursday that a revived nuclear agreement with major powers remains achievable even as European powers backed Washington in urging Tehran to budge following talks in Qatar.

The United States said it was "disappointed" and that there was "no progress made" after two days of indirect talks with Iran brokered by an EU envoy in the Qatari capital Doha.

But Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said he believed the talks had been "positive" and a deal could still be reached.

Energy-rich Qatar has given Lebanon's cash-strapped armed forces $60 million, the foreign ministry in Doha announced Thursday.

"The announcement comes within the framework of the State of Qatar's firm commitment to support the Republic of Lebanon," the ministry said in a statement.

Lebanon is grappling with an unprecedented financial crisis, branded by the World Bank as one of the planet's worst since the 1850s.

Iran insisted Thursday that a revived nuclear agreement with major powers remains achievable despite a negative US assessment of two-way talks in Qatar intended to reboot the stalled negotiations.

The US State Department said the EU-brokered proximity talks in the Qatari capital Doha had concluded late Wednesday with "no progress made".

But Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said he believed the talks had been "positive" and a deal could still be reached.

Yair Lapid, who has vowed to stick to his centrist path despite coming second in Israel's elections, is a TV star who rose to become prime minister within a decade.

"We have no intention of stopping," Lapid told supporters of his Yesh Atid party in Tel Aviv after voting closed in Tuesday's parliamentary election.

Danish police raided the hotel of Team Bahrain-Victorious early Thursday on the eve of the start of the Tour de France in Denmark.

The event led to an excruciating silence at their pre-Tour press conference in the afternoon.

The team announced the raid itself just a few days after similar raids at homes in France -- which they described on Monday as "intentionally damaging the team’s reputation" -- and a year after their hotel was raided during the 2021 Tour.

"Officers have searched all team vehicles, staff and riders' rooms," said Bahrain on Thursday.