President Barack Obama strolled out of the White House in an unusual walkabout Friday, and declared "nobody is winning" from the U.S. government shutdown.

Obama's photo-op was a clear attempt to clean up after a White House misstep in which a senior aide was quoted as saying the administration did not care how long the shutdown lasts because it feels it is beating up on Republicans.

While observers bemoaned U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to cancel his visit to Asia, at least one group was happy -- hardline Muslims protesting against him in the Indonesian capital Friday.

The president's change of plans "is a victory for the Muslim community and it was surely with the help of God that Obama canceled his trip," said Khoirul Amri, one of more than 500 Muslim radicals demonstrating outside the U.S. embassy in Jakarta.

A majority of Israelis would support unilateral military action against Iran, according to a poll published Friday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government was ready to act alone.

Some 65.6 percent of 500 Jewish Israelis surveyed by the pro-government Israel HaYom newspaper said they would support military strikes to halt Iran's nuclear program, and 84 percent believed the Islamic republic had no intention of reining in its alleged drive to build a bomb.

The Kremlin expressed disappointment Friday over U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to cancel a trip to Asia that could have seen him discuss the Syria crisis with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

"We are disappointed that there will be no meeting," Russian news agencies quoted Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.

President Barack Obama on Thursday directly attacked Republican Speaker John Boehner, saying he could end a "reckless" U.S. government shutdown in just five minutes.

"Take a vote, stop this farce and end this shutdown right now," Obama said during a fiery speech in the Washington DC suburbs.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian leader Vladimir Putin may discuss Syria on the sidelines of a regional summit in Bali next week, a top Kremlin official said Thursday.

Although Obama is yet to confirm his attendance at the October 7 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting because of a budget crisis back home, Putin's foreign policy adviser said both Moscow and Washington were getting ready for the talks.

President Barack Obama had warm words Wednesday for what he sees as Pope Francis' inclusive attitude in recent remarks urging the Roman Catholic church not to focus only on abortion or gays.

In an interview with CNBC on the shrill standoff between Republicans and Democrats that has produced the first partial U.S. government shutdown in 17 years, Obama was asked about the Argentina-born pope's moderate tone.

The United States, South Korea and Japan will hold joint naval exercises next week in waters around the Korean peninsula, a U.S. defense official said Thursday, as fears grow over Pyongyang's nuclear program.

The announcement comes as U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry were in Tokyo to meet their Japanese counterparts following talks with South Korean officials this week.

U.S. President Barack Obama called Republican and Democratic leaders to a White House meeting Wednesday as a government shutdown went deep into a second day.

The talks at 2130 GMT will include Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, and Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, White House and congressional sources said.

Due to the U.S. government shutdown, President Barack Obama has canceled the Malaysia and Philippines legs of an upcoming trip to Asia, the White House said.

Obama's presence at two international summits -- an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meet in Bali and the East Asia summit in Brunei -- is also in doubt.