Saudi forces on Friday intercepted five drones launched by Iran-aligned Yemeni rebels, a Riyadh-led military coalition said, in a second assault on an airport in the kingdom's southwest in two days.

Boris Johnson overwhelmingly won the first round of voting Thursday in the race to replace outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May, with the field of candidates narrowed to seven from 10.

From US military deployments to alleged "threats" from Iran and attacks on oil tankers and installations, here is a timeline of escalating tensions in the Gulf:

Algeria's former prime minister Abdelmalek Sellal was remanded in custody Thursday after appearing before a judge as part of an anti-corruption investigation, state media reported.

Three Turkish soldiers were injured after a "deliberate" attack by Syrian goverment forces on one of Turkey's observation posts in Idlib province, Ankara said Thursday.

Some 35 mortar were fired by Syrian regime forces from the As Shariah region, which is controlled by Damascus. 

High winds and heavy rains pounded western India on Thursday as a major cyclone expected to hit the coast veered away instead into the Arabian Sea.

Vayu, classified as a very severe cyclonic storm, moved north-northwestwards in the night over the Arabian Sea, and was around 110 kilometres (70 miles) from the coast of Gujarat state.

Oil prices soared Thursday after the US Navy reported two tankers had been attacked in the Gulf of Oman, fanning geopolitical concerns in the crude-rich region.

Iran's navy rescued 44 crew members from two oil tankers which caught fire after an "accident" in the Sea of Oman on Thursday, official news agency IRNA reported.

Moscow has announced a ceasefire in Syria's northwestern Idlib province after weeks of intensified rocket fire and air strikes by regime and Russian forces.

"At Russia's initiative, with the mediation of Turkey and Russia, a ceasefire agreement was concluded in the Idlib de-escalation zone as of midnight on June 12," the Russian Reconciliation Centre for Syria said in a statement late Wednesday.

The US Fifth Fleet said on Thursday that its vessels in the Middle East have received distress calls from two tankers reportedly under attack in the Gulf of Oman.