British energy giant Shell on Thursday announced net profit totalling $6.7 billion in the third quarter, as oil and gas prices remain strong despite recent slides on easing supply fears.

The result compared with a loss after tax of $447 million in the July-September period last year, Shell said.

Flush with cash from revenue surging to almost $100 billion, Shell said it would buy back shares at a cost of $4 billion.

"We are delivering robust results at a time of ongoing volatility in global energy markets," said Shell's outgoing chief executive Ben van Beurden.

Israel and Lebanon struck a US-brokered maritime border agreement Thursday that opens up lucrative offshore gas fields for the neighbours that remain technically at war.

US President Joe Biden hailed the "historic" deal, that comes as Western powers clamour to open up new energy production and reduce vulnerability to supply cuts from Russia.

The agreement was signed separately by Lebanon's President Michel Aoun in Beirut and by Israel's Prime Minister Yair Lapid in Jerusalem, and went into effect after the papers were delivered to mediators.

Israel's far-right leader Itamar Ben-Gvir may have faced dozens of charges of hate speech against Arabs, but many young voters adore him as the voice of truth.

"The youth follow true messages," argued the Jewish Power party leader ahead of November 1 elections, at a time of flaring violence in the occupied West Bank.

"I don't say one thing and think something else," added the 46-year-old. "I offer my truth and my truth is that we must save the country."

Australia's football team on Thursday condemned human rights abuses in Qatar ahead of the World Cup, becoming the first participant to collectively criticise the host.

Sixteen members of the men's team -- the Socceroos -- appeared in a short video explaining their position.

"We have learned that the decision to host the World Cup in Qatar has resulted in the suffering and harm of countless of our fellow workers," said Jackson Irvine, a one-time Celtic midfielder.

At least 15 people were killed Wednesday in an attack on a key Shiite Muslim shrine in southern Iran, state media said, with the Islamic State group claiming the assault.

The attack carried out by an armed "terrorist" during evening prayers at the Shah Cheragh mausoleum in the city of Shiraz also wounded at least 19 people, state television said.

Earlier reports said 13 people were killed and 40 wounded, and that three assailants were involved.

Local judiciary chief Kazem Mousavi told state television that "only one terrorist was involved in this attack".

Women foreign ministers from a dozen nations led by Canada's Melanie Joly on Wednesday jointly condemned Iran's violent crackdown on women's rights, as protesters in the Islamic republic marked 40 days of unrest.

"As women foreign ministers, we feel a responsibility to echo the voices of Iranian women," said a joint statement issued by ministers from Albania, Andorra, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Kosovo, Libya, Liechtenstein, New Zealand and Norway.

Moroccan rapper ElGrande Toto was released from police custody on Wednesday but remains under investigation for alleged "insults, defamation and threats", a judicial source said, after the artist made public statements about using cannabis.

The Casablanca-born rapper, whose real name is Taha Fahssi and who is a massive star in the Arabic-speaking music world, had in late September told reporters after one of his concerts, "I smoke hash -- so what?... It doesn't mean I set a bad example."

At least 15 people were killed Wednesday in an attack on a key Shiite Muslim shrine in southern Iran, state media said, with the Islamic State group claiming the assault.

The attack carried out by an armed "terrorist" during evening prayers at the Shah Cheragh mausoleum in the city of Shiraz also wounded at least 19 people, state television said.

Earlier reports said 13 people were killed and 40 wounded, and that three assailants were involved.

Local judiciary chief Kazem Mousavi told state television that "only one terrorist was involved in this attack".

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Saudi Arabia has offered some "positive" signs since its bombshell oil production cut but he made clear that Washington remained unhappy.

The OPEC+ cartel infuriated President Joe Biden by deciding to cut production by two million barrels a day starting in November, putting pressure on consumer prices days before US elections and potentially raising revenue for Russia while its war in Ukraine rages on.

Lebanese politician Michel Moawad on Wednesday urged lawmakers to back his bid for the presidency, denouncing Hezbollah's "stranglehold" on the crisis-hit country.

MPs have been unable to pick a successor to President Michel Aoun whose term ends next week, stoking fears of a political crisis that would further compound three years of economic meltdown.

"I am practically the only serious candidate running for the presidency," Moawad told AFP in an interview, adding that he had "support from a large majority of the opposition".