The UN Security Council failed to find a consensus on prolonging cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria on Friday after Russia and China vetoed an extension and members rejected a counter proposal by Moscow.

Without an agreement, authorization for the transport of aid to war-torn Syria, which has existed since 2014, expired Friday night.

Emmanuel Macron asked Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from annexing Palestinian territory in the West Bank and elsewhere during a telephone call between the two leaders, the French president's office said on Friday.

The UN will announce Friday the  results of a vote on a resolution to prolong cross-border humanitarian aid to war-torn Syria, the authorization for which expires that evening. 

With an unprecedented new surge in coronavirus cases battering Israel's economy, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's closest confidants was dispatched to a TV studio recently to calm the nerves of a jittery nation. Instead, he dismissed expressions of some of the public's economic pain as "BS."

The flippant comment by Cabinet minister Tzachi Hanegbi is symptomatic of what critics see as a bloated, out-of-touch government. It also has become a rallying cry for anti-Netanyahu protests spreading, like the virus, across the country.

Iran's military chief has signed an agreement with Syria's president to reinforce Syria's air defense systems as part of a military cooperation agreement, Iranian state TV reported Friday.

Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, met with Syria President Bashar Assad during his second visit to Syria since 2019.

A fuel shortage is blighting life in the swathes of Yemen controlled by Huthi rebels, cutting electricity supplies, halting water pumps and stranding people in need of medical care as warring sides trade blame.

A Russian bid to get the United Nations to reduce cross-border humanitarian aid to war-torn Syria was voted down by the Security Council, an official said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi paid his respects on Wednesday to the family of slain scholar and government advisor Hisham al-Hashemi, pledging to "avenge" his death.

Member countries of the global toxic arms watchdog voted overwhelmingly Thursday to take action on a probe that blamed Syria for nerve gas attacks for the first time, diplomats said.

Britain and Saudi Arabia put forward late entries Wednesday for the contest to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organization, joining six others hoping to lead the Geneva-based trade body that has faced scorn and pressure from the Trump administration.

The candidacies came in just before the deadline in the race to succeed the current WTO chief, Brazil's Roberto Azevedo. He made a surprise announcement in May that he would leave the job a year early, citing a "personal decision."