Belgium logged nearly 3,000 excess deaths during successive heatwaves since June, health authorities said Thursday, days after this summer was confirmed as the hottest on record in the northern European nation.

Some 365 excess deaths were observed between July 28 and August 16, as Belgium sweltered under a third heatwave, adding to the almost 2,600 excess deaths recorded during the previous two bouts of high temperatures, the Sciensano national public health institute said.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday slammed the Moroccan government for "unacceptable" comments about Ceuta and Melilla, in rare criticism of Rabat which claims sovereignty over Spain's north African territories.

After the mass migrant entry into Ceuta from Morocco in late July, throughout August "we heard two of their ministers make unacceptable comments about Ceuta and Melilla," Sanchez told parliament, revealing Spain summoned Morocco's ambassador on August 21.

Beijing urged France on Thursday to abandon its recently implemented law on ultra-fast fashion, lambasting the new measure targeting Chinese firms including Shein and Temu as "clearly discriminatory".

"China urges France to immediately halt the implementation of the anti-ultra-fast fashion law," commerce ministry spokeswoman Huang Ling said at a news conference.

Kuwait's foreign ministry on Thursday lambasted Tehran after the latest overnight attack targeting the tiny Gulf state, as hostilities between Iran and the United States reignited over the past days.

In a statement, the foreign ministry called the strikes "a direct threat to its (Kuwait's) security and stability, and the safety of its citizens and residents on its territory, and a grave breach of the rules of international law".

Iran attacked U.S. military bases in Kuwait on Thursday, despite President Donald Trump threatening further strikes in a fresh flare-up six months into the war.

Trump said his military was prepared to attack Iran "any time we want" after extensive U.S. bombardment of sites across the country left at least 19 Iranians dead.

Lebanon's central bank said Wednesday that an outside firm had begun a forensic audit into past transactions linked to its foreign assets, scrutinizing them for evidence of graft in the wake of the country's economic collapse.

The move is part of measures the institution has taken to improve oversight, steps that have also resulted in the arrest of the body's former governor, Riad Salameh.

Tiger Woods pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges of careless and reckless driving stemming from a rollover car crash in Florida in March and had his driver's license suspended for five years.

Lebanon has arrested a former Syrian colonel and several accomplices who allegedly planned attacks against the forces of Syria's new government, a judicial official told AFP on Wednesday.

The alleged leader of the network is a former Syrian army major general who is close to longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad and who, like the ousted leader, is now based in Moscow, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday visited troops in the Gaza Strip, where he vowed not to withdraw forces from their positions despite a U.S.-declared ceasefire.

"We control the area. We are not retreating. We are staying on this line," Netanyahu said near the so-called Yellow Line which demarcates the areas under Hamas and Israeli military control.

An Israeli strike on south Lebanon killed one person on Wednesday, Lebanese official media said, while Israel said it targeted Hezbollah in retaliation for an attack targeting its soldiers in the south.

"One person was killed and another wounded in a strike launched by an enemy drone" in the city of Nabatieh, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said, also reporting other Israeli strikes on the area.