Egyptian activists were to rally Friday after a Islamist-dominated panel rushed through a draft constitution, escalating the political stand-off between President Mohammed Morsi and his opposition.

A spokesman for former Arab League chief Amr Moussa said the opposition leader would later Friday head a march to Tahrir Square, where activists are staging a sit-in protest against a decree by Morsi granting himself broad powers that shield his decisions from judicial review.

Jordan must stop using a military tribunal to prosecute peaceful demonstrators after several were arrested this month for protesting at rising fuel prices, the Human Rights Watch said on Friday.

"Instead of respecting the right to peaceful protest, the Jordanian authorities are using what remains essentially a military court to punish civilians, including peaceful protesters," Joe Stork, HRW deputy Middle East director, said in a statement.

Phone and Internet networks were down across most of Syria for a second straight day on Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

"In some areas, it is possible to access the Internet but with great difficulty," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence France Presse.

Fighting between rebels and troops raged around Damascus airport through the night but the main road to the capital had reopened and the airport was functioning normally on Friday, various sources said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the main road to Damascus from the airport, which was closed Thursday due to the fighting, had reopened but said a bus carrying airport employees had been hit by a shell, killing two people.

The U.S. and Israel on Thursday hailed the performance of the Iron Dome defense system during the recent Gaza conflict, with Washington stressing its continued "strong commitment" to the program.

The much vaunted Israeli anti-missile system played a prominent role in the eight-day confrontation between the Jewish state and Gaza-based militants that ended with a November 21 ceasefire deal.

Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in Cairo on Friday to pile pressure on President Mohamed Morsi after a panel dominated by fellow Islamists rushed through a controversial draft constitution.

The new charter, adopted after a marathon overnight session boycotted by liberals and Christians, raises serious human rights concerns, including about religious freedom, activists say.

Delegates from more than 60 countries agreed in Tokyo Friday to ramp up pressure on Bashar Assad's regime and urged the international community to unite to force change in Syria.

The "Friends of Syria" condemned the "incessant killings, bombings of residential areas" and the "gross violation of human rights" that have taken place since Assad's forces moved to crush an uprising.

The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to recognize Palestine as a non-member state, giving a major diplomatic triumph to President Mahmoud Abbas despite fierce opposition from the United States and Israel.

The 193-member assembly voted 138-9 with 41 abstentions for the resolution which enables the Palestinians to join U.N. agencies and sign international treaties.

Two Austrian soldiers stationed with the U.N. force on the Golan Heights were shot and wounded in Syria while their convoy was traveling to Damascus airport on Thursday, the defense ministry in Vienna said.

The two troops, whose lives were not in danger, were part of the Austrian contingent of the United Nations Disengagement Observers Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights and were traveling to Damascus airport to fly back to Austria after their tour of duty, the ministry said.

A Qatari court on Thursday jailed for life a poet accused of incitement against the regime and defaming the Gulf emirate's crown prince, who supported anti-government uprisings in the region, his lawyer said.

"A Qatar court sentenced to life in prison Mohammed al-Ajami, alias Ibn al-Dhib, charged on three counts: incitement against the regime, defamation of the crown prince, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and attacking the constitution," Nejib Naimi told AFP.