Spotlight
Key powerbrokers were scrambling Friday over plans to speed up a political settlement in Syria, with UN envoy Staffan de Mistura joining a second day of talks after negotiations in Moscow.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that the United States had "marginalized itself" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by unilaterally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
"The Americans have marginalised themselves and I am trying to not do the same thing," Macron told a joint press conference with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas during which he also ruled out recognising a Palestinian state in the short term.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Friday that his people would "no longer accept" any peace plan proposed by the United States following Washington's decision to unilaterally recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Australian warplanes will cease their air strike campaign in Iraq and Syria, it was announced Friday, with the country's six hornet jets heading home after a three-year mission.

The Palestinians' U.N. envoy on Thursday described as a "massive setback" for the United States a U.N. vote in favor of a motion rejecting Washington's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
"One hundred twenty-eight versus nine -- that's a massive setback for the United States of America," Ambassador Riyad Mansour told AFP, commenting on the result of the vote at the General Assembly.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned a U.N. vote on Thursday that rejected a U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, but expressed satisfaction at the number of countries that didn't vote for the measure.
"We reject the decision of the U.N. but we are satisfied by the high number of countries that didn't vote in favor of this decision," the Israeli leader said in a Hebrew-language statement.

The Palestinian president welcomed Thursday a United Nations General Assembly resolution criticizing the U.S. government's controversial recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Israel's envoy to the United Nations vowed Thursday that his country would never be "driven" from Jerusalem as U.N. member states prepared to vote on rejecting Washington's recognition of the Holy City as its capital.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley warned Thursday of reprisals ahead of a U.N. vote expected to reject the U.S. decision on Jerusalem, warning "the United States will remember this day."
"This vote will make a difference on how Americans look at the U.N. and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the U.N.," Haley told the U.N. General Assembly.

Hundreds of protesters faced off with security forces in Iraqi Kurdistan for a fourth day Thursday, demanding the resignation of politicians accused of graft.
