Two independent Lebanese lawmakers who spent the night in parliament vowed Friday to stay until MPs elect a new president, as political deadlock hobbles the country already in deep economic crisis.

Lebanon has been without a head of state for more than two months and the government has been operating in a caretaker capacity since May as sectarian leaders fail to reach a political consensus on who should govern.

"To be, or not to be": on a stage in Yemen, William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" rings out in Arabic, a tragedy that resonates with an audience suffering from years of civil war.

In the government-controlled city of Aden, battered by the conflict, the first performance of a Shakespeare play in many years has resurrected hopes of a cultural revival.

"We are hungry for these kinds of events," said Heba al-Bakri, watching one of a sold-out run of 10 shows. "Our people are always distressed and exhausted, so we need this kind of entertainment."

America's prestigious Harvard University said Thursday it would offer a fellowship to a leading human rights advocate after an initial snub over his criticism of Israel sparked a backlash.

The dean of Harvard Kennedy School caused an outcry when it was revealed this month that he had blocked the hiring of long-time former Human Rights Watch (HRW) executive director Kenneth Roth.

Critics said the move went against academic freedoms and raised questions about the limits of free speech regarding US ally Israel and the influence of college donors.

Cristiano Ronaldo recovered from a punch in the face to score twice against Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday in a lively reunion with his great rival Lionel Messi that demonstrated the financial firepower of the resource-rich Gulf.

Ronaldo, 37, was decked by PSG 'keeper Keylor Navas's flailing fist but he drilled the resulting penalty and then added another in a 5-4 exhibition defeat, his first appearance since moving to Saudi Arabia in a deal said to total more than 400 million euros.

The scaling back of contacts between Iran and the West over the crackdown on the protest movement has intensified the anxiety and uncertainty of the families whose loved ones are held by the Islamic republic.

Iran is accused by campaigners of holding over two dozen foreign nationals, some for years on end, in a deliberate strategy of "hostage diplomacy" aimed at extracting concessions from the West.

Lebanon's currency hit an all-time low against the dollar on the black market Thursday as politicians for an 11th time failed to elect a new president in the crisis-torn country.

Protesting the agonising political gridlock, two independent lawmakers announced a sit-in, vowing that they "will sleep in parliament" until a new head of state is elected.

Since an unprecedented financial crisis hit Lebanon in late 2019, the currency has lost more than 95 percent of its value and much of the population has been plunged into poverty.

Germany's lower house of parliament recognised on Thursday the 2014 massacre of Yazidis by Islamic State group jihadists in Iraq as a "genocide", and called for measures to assist the besieged minority.

In a move hailed by Yazidi community representatives, deputies in the Bundestag unanimously passed the motion by the three parliamentary groups in Germany's ruling centre-left-led coalition and conservative MPs.

Thursday's vote followed similar moves by countries including Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Iran condemned Thursday a European Parliament call to blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group, which would pave the way for sanctions against the powerful military force.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian "strongly criticised the emotional approach of the European Parliament and labelled the move inappropriate and incorrect", in a phone call with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

Ireland's foreign minister said Thursday the government was doing all it can to secure the release of a French-Irish citizen held in Iran after his family urged Dublin to intensify talks due to concerns for his health following a hunger strike.

Micheal Martin told a news conference in Dublin that "we're going to do everything we possibly can" to help release Bernard Phelan, a Paris-based travel consultant aged 64.

"I think we have been very active in respect of Bernard's situation," he told reporters.

One person was killed and dozens injured Thursday during a stampede outside an Iraqi football stadium hours before the Gulf Cup final, officials said.

Long banned from hosting international football matches, war-torn Iraq had been counting on the Gulf Cup to burnish its image but it had already been forced to apologise for organisational lapses.

The final match was still able to take place Thursday night and ended in an Iraqi victory.