Iran, already one of the world's most prolific users of the death penalty, is planning to use capital punishment as a means to quell the protest movement by spreading a climate of fear in the population, activists warn.

The judiciary has already confirmed six death sentences over the protests, with Amnesty International saying that based on official reports at least 21 people currently on trial are charged with crimes that could see them hanged.

Iran currently executes more people annually than any nation other than China, according to rights groups.

Iranian security forces on Monday intensified a crackdown in western Iran's Kurdish-populated regions that killed a dozen people over 24 hours, directly shooting at protesters and using heavy weapons, rights groups said.

The Kurdish-populated provinces of western and northwestern Iran have been hubs of protest since the September death in custody of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, 22, after she was arrested by morality police in Tehran.

Israel's prime-minister designate Benjamin Netanyahu won a lawsuit against ex-premier Ehud Olmert on Monday when a judge ruled Olmert defamed the Netanyahu family by branding them mentally ill.

The legal spat between the former leaders has made headlines in Israel.

The verdict came as Netanyahu, 73, tries to build a coalition after winning November 1 elections, which left him poised to reclaim power after 14 months in opposition.

A woman who was stripped of her British citizenship after joining the Islamic State group in Syria was the victim of propaganda and should be treated as a child trafficking victim, a court in London heard on Monday.

Shamima Begum, now 23, is one of hundreds of Europeans whose fate following the 2019 collapse of the Islamist extremists' self-styled caliphate has proved a thorny issue for governments.

Aged 15 in 2015, she left her home in east London with two school friends to travel to Syria where she married an IS fighter and had three children, none of whom survived.

European heavyweights England and the Netherlands launch their World Cup campaigns on Monday as the tournament in Qatar shifts into a higher gear after a dispiriting defeat for the hosts.

Asian champions Qatar became the first home nation to lose their opening World Cup match as Ecuador cruised to a 2-0 victory on Sunday, with veteran forward Enner Valencia scoring twice.

England, who meet Iran in Group B, will be desperate to start strongly as they target an end to their decades-long trophy drought after two near misses in recent years.

Kurds in northern Syria who woke to deadly Turkish air strikes overnight expressed fear and anger on Sunday, accusing the United States of abandoning them after they spearheaded the fight against the Islamic State group.

In the small city of Al-Malikiyah, in Syria's far northeastern corner, shops were closed and streets were deserted.

"We are scared because we've already been through this," said Mohammed Rajab, who already fled the northern city of Afrin during a Turkish offensive four years ago.

Iran has arrested two prominent actors who expressed solidarity with the protest movement and removed their headscarves in public in an apparent act of defiance against the regime, state media reported Sunday.

Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi were both detained after being summoned by prosecutors in a probe into their "provocative" social media posts and media activity, the state-run IRNA news agency said.

Thousands of empty seats told the sad story as Qatar's long-awaited World Cup debut ended in a bad case of stage fright on Sunday.

Long before the final whistle at the spectacular Bedouin tent-inspired Al Bayt Stadium, the host nation's fans among the 67,372 crowd had started heading for the exits.

The exodus began soon after Ecuador striker Enner Valencia headed his second goal shortly after the half-hour mark against the outclassed World Cup hosts.

Almost from the start, Egypt came under fire over its handling of the UN COP27 climate talks tasked with responding to the growing threat of global warming.

As the negotiations drew to a close nearly two days late with a historic win for vulnerable countries on funding for climate "loss and damage", exhausted delegates lined up to voice hope -- and frustration at the lack of progress on tackling emissions.

Facing calls to do more to resolve global crises, the world's French-speaking leaders met in Tunisia Sunday to discuss growing instability and popular discontent in francophone Africa.

But tensions crept into the International Organisation of La Francophonie (IOF) conference itself when the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, refused to pose for a photo next to Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda.