Tunisia faced a general strike Friday after gunmen shot dead a leading opposition figure in a killing that brought thousands of protesters onto the streets and sparked international condemnation.

Tunisia's national airline Tunisair cancelled all flights Friday.

Syrian opposition leaders on Thursday pressed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to arm rebel groups and said there could be no peace talks while government forces kill civilians.

Kerry held his first meeting with Syrian National Coalition president Ahmad Jarba at the U.S. mission to the United Nations in New York.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon on Thursday called on the Egyptian military to free overthrown president Mohammed Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders, a spokesman said.

Ban demanded that Morsi and his high-level backers "be released or have their cases reviewed transparently without delay," said deputy U.N. spokesman Eduardo del Buey.

Bombs exploded near shops and cafes in Iraq on Thursday night, killing at least 17 people and wounding at least 25, officials said.

The blasts struck after the iftar meal that breaks the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at a time when many people go shopping or relax in cafes.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry appeared to have flubbed his lines on Thursday when he referred to the Palestinian territories as a country.

Speaking at the United Nations ahead of talks with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, Kerry praised the "courageous decision" by Israeli and Palestinian leaders to try to resume direct negotiations.

The United States on Thursday condemned the assassination of a leading critic of Tunisia's ruling Islamists, saying violence had no place in the country's transition to democracy.

Tunisian MP Mohammed Brahmi was shot dead outside his home Thursday in the second such slaying this year, with fingers again pointed at the authorities.

President Barack Obama will welcome his Yemeni counterpart for talks next week that could touch on the fate of dozens of Yemenis held at Guantanamo, the White House said Thursday.

The August 1 meeting with President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi aims to "further strengthen our counter-terrorism partnership, and enable the return of Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo Bay who have been designated for transfer," the White House said.

A United Nations body that handles war reparations for Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait said Thursday it had handed over a further $1.07 billion (810 million euros) to the emirate.

The payment, related to damage to oil facilities and resulting financial losses, brings to $42.3 billion the total sum handed out by the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC).

Ousted president Mohammed Morsi's last prime minister proposed on Thursday a plan to ease tensions in Egypt, as the Islamist leader's loyalists braced for a showdown with the military.

Hisham Qandil, who has kept a low profile since Morsi's overthrow on July 3, proposed in a video posted on YouTube the release of prisoners since the coup and allowing a delegation to visit Morsi, detained by the army.

Militants killed two Egyptian soldiers and wounded four in a shooting in north Sinai on Thursday, as the military vowed to crack down on "terrorism", officials said.

The army officer and conscript were killed when gunmen opened fire on a military checkpoint near the town of Sheikh Zuwayid, security officials and medics said.