As deadly protests flare in Iran after the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, Iranians who have crossed into neighbouring Iraq's Kurdistan region for work speak of repression back home.

Amini died after her arrest by Iran's feared morality police for allegedly breaching the country's strict dress code for women.

News of her death on September 16 sparked widespread outrage and triggered rare demonstrations.

"The protests begin in the evening and continue into the middle of the night," said Kawa Krimi, 50, who had come to Iraq from Iran to visit relatives.

Iranians staged a 12th straight night of women-led protests on Tuesday over the death of Mahsa Amini, despite fears an internet blackout will see security forces intensify a bloody crackdown.

Dozens have been killed since demonstrations flared after the 22-year-old Kurdish woman died in the custody of Iran's notorious morality police, after her arrest for allegedly breaching the country's strict rules on hijab headscarves and modest clothing.

Two Tehrans have been on show since Mahsa Amini died in morality police custody last week -- the city of black-clad women castigating "improper" dress and a rival city that resents being told what to wear.

For the past week since the 22-year-old's death three days after being arrested for wearing the Islamic headscarf "improperly", protesters have taken to the streets each evening in various parts of the capital.

After affirming his support for Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid came under fire from right-wing critics and stirred doubts among the Palestinians on Friday.

His speech in New York on Thursday came with Israel headed for elections on November 1 that could oust the centrist Lapid and see the return of his rival, the hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will on Saturday begin a two-day tour of Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, in the hope of sealing new energy deals with the fossil fuel exporters.

Scholz, accompanied by a sizeable industry delegation, will first head to Saudi Arabia before visiting the United Arab Emirates and Qatar on Sunday.

The chancellor hopes to agree new energy partnerships with the oil- and gas-rich Gulf states, with the loss of Russian supplies in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.

Israel is deliberately impeding progress toward a two-state solution and can no longer be considered a reliable partner in the peace process, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas told the United Nations on Friday.

His remarks come a day after Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said he supported a two-state solution, but Abbas said the proof would be immediate negotiations.

Repeating grievances, Abbas said the Jewish state has acted with "total impunity" against people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and that Palestinians' trust in the prospects for peace is "regressing."

As the invasion of Ukraine drains Russia's forces, Moscow's grip on its former Soviet backyard in the Caucasus and Central Asia is loosening with unpredictable consequences, experts say.

A recent flare-up of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan and deadly clashes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have shown how surprisingly little sway Russia currently has over the region, which ranges from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea.

Mustafa Misto embarked on a sea voyage from crisis-hit Lebanon seeking a better life for his family, but he drowned in a shipwreck alongside his children and dozens of others, relatives said Friday.

"His dream was not to obtain another nationality, but simply to enrol his children in a school and feed them," his relative Jihad al-Maneh said.

Lebanon, which since 2019 has been mired in a financial crisis branded by the World Bank as one of the worst in modern times, has become a launchpad for illegal migration.

Iran has imposed tough and targeted restrictions on internet use to try to prevent protests and stop images of crackdowns on their demonstrations reaching the outside world, observers say.

Activists have expressed alarm that the restrictions could allow the authorities to carry out repression "under the cover of darkness".

The latest measures also affect Instagram which is hugely popular in Iran and until now has remained unblocked.

In the heart of Iraq's capital lies Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, which last month saw angry protesters storm its perimeter -- the latest in nearly two decades of assaults on the seat of power.

Inside the heavily guarded compound, which spans 10 square kilometres (6.2 square miles), are the Iraqi parliament, the United States and British embassies, the prime minister's official residence and military headquarters.