Iran's presidential election Friday is effectively a choice between moderate incumbent Hassan Rouhani and hardline jurist Ebrahim Raisi, with major implications for everything from civil rights to relations with Washington.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces militia is set to lead the fight for the Islamic State group's bastion of Raqa, but its role has stoked tensions between Washington and Turkey.

Security agencies are hunting for those behind a crippling cyberattack which has so far hit hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide, including at government agencies, factories and health services.

Donald Trump and FBI director James Comey, who was fired by the president on Tuesday, have been on a collision course since last year when U.S. intelligence discovered a Russian plot to interfere in the presidential election.

Hundreds of Syrian rebels and their families on Monday began evacuating from a district in Damascus for the first time since war broke out six years ago.

Emmanuel Macron, 39, who won the second round of the French presidential election on Sunday, according to estimates, will be one of the world's youngest leaders.

In his unorthodox private life and short political career, France's new president Emmanuel Macron has battled conventions and broken with traditions.

The foreign policy positions of the French presidential contenders are perhaps their starkest divide, with centrist Emmanuel Macron urging close cooperation with international institutions and the far-right Marine Le Pen championing France-first nationalism.

After six years of conflict in Syria, government backers Russia and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey have signed a deal to create four "de-escalation zones" in the country.

Dozens of black veils dotted a freshly laid sand berm in northern Syria, ditched by women fleeing the Islamic State group's bastion of Raqa as US-backed fighters close in.

Outside the village of Tishreen Farms, 17 kilometres (10 miles) north of Raqa, the Syrian Democratic Forces could be seen laying sandbags to protect themselves from IS car bombs and snipers.