Saudi Arabia has welcomed a joint investigation with Turkey into the "circumstances" of the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, its official news agency SPA tweeted on Friday.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was "very serious" and called for an investigation to yield "complete clarity" on what had happened to him. 

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is facing a backlash over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi from business and media previously supportive of his reform drive, with partnerships at risk and big names boycotting a major conference this month.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia are at odds over a planned search by the Turkish authorities at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate where journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared last week, media said Friday.

A Saudi delegation has arrived in Turkey for talks on missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, officials said on Friday, with Riyadh and Ankara sharply at odds over how he disappeared last week from the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.

As the controversy intensified, the Washington Post reported Turkey had recordings made from inside the building that allegedly proved their claims Khashoggi had been tortured and killed at the consulate.

From kidnappings for ransom to armed robberies and torture: residents of Syria's Afrin region say they are suffering a litany of abuses at the hands of Turkish-backed rebels.

They say the fear of harassment has kept them shuttered inside their homes since Ankara and its Arab rebel allies overran the then overwhelmingly Kurdish city in March after a two-month air and ground offensive.

Not far from where he used to live, Palestinian engineer Mahmud Khaled watched as bulldozers rumbled back and forth scooping up smashed concrete from the devastated streets of Syria's Yarmuk.

Israeli forces detained a Palestinian suspected of stabbing and wounding a soldier but a manhunt continued for a second Palestinian who shot dead two Israeli civilians, the army said Friday.

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Britain expressed concern on Friday about the fate of a journalist who vanished after entering its Istanbul consulate last week.

British entrepreneur Richard Branson is suspending two directorships linked to tourism projects in Saudi Arabia following the unexplained disappearance in Turkey of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.