The British embassy in the Gulf state of Kuwait has temporarily suspended services because of an increased threat toward the mission, a statement on the embassy website said Thursday.

"As of 19 October 2011, because of an increased threat toward the British embassy, we have temporarily suspended British embassy services," the statement said.

Turkish air force jets bombed Kurdish rebels camps in northern Iraq overnight in response to the attacks which killed 24 soldiers in the southeast, local security sources said Thursday.

Military activity at the air base in mainly Kurdish Diyarbakir province was very intensive throughout the night with many F-16 jets taking off to bomb the hideouts of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), they said.

The Palestinians are not ready to resume dialogue with Israel as sought by the Mideast diplomatic Quartet, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Wednesday.

"Our own assessment is that the conditions are not ripe at this juncture for a meaningful resumption of talks," he said at the annual gala for the American Task Force on Palestine, a pro-Palestinian lobby.

Syria's largest opposition group threatened on Wednesday to seek outside help to stop the regime's "irresponsible" deadly crackdown against pro-democracy protesters.

Speaking in the Libyan capital, Syrian National Council member Najib Ghadbian also told reporters that a peaceful revolution could bring down the regime of embattled President Bashar al-Assad.

The U.N. Security Council could vote as early as November 11 on whether to grant the Palestinians full U.N. membership as a state, a top Western diplomat said Wednesday.

"There will be further discussions on 11 of November with possibly a vote (that would mark) the end of the consideration process," the diplomat said.

Gaza's ruling Hamas movement announced on Wednesday it would give $2,000 to each prisoner released by Israel to the coastal territory under a landmark prisoner exchange deal.

"It has been decided that to honor the freed prisoners each of them will be given 2,000 U.S. dollars," said a statement from the office of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas government in Gaza.

Algeria should cooperate with the new regime in Libya over members of the Gadhafi family who took refuge there, British Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters Wednesday.

The fugitive leader's daughter Aisha fled to Algeria late in August with her brother Hannibal, their mother Safiya -- Gadhafi’s second wife -- and his eldest son Mohammed. Aisha has since given birth to a baby girl.

The U.N. Security Council will vote, possibly as early as this week, on a measure condemning the worsening violence in Yemen, a senior Western diplomat said Wednesday.

A draft resolution was circulated among the council's 15 members Tuesday evening.

Syrian state television on Wednesday aired a broadcast of what it said was a rally in support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the second city of Aleppo, Syria's economic hub, claiming it was attended by a million supporters of the embattled leader.

The pro-regime gathering in Aleppo comes a week after a similar rally in the capital, Damascus.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu improved his standing among the Israeli public by approving a deal to secure the release of captive soldier Gilad Shalit, a poll published on Wednesday showed.