U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday hailed the announcement of a "ceasefire" in northern Syria as a "great day" for Turkey and the Kurds.

Turkey has agreed to suspend its Syria offensive for five days and will end the assault if Kurdish-led forces withdraw from a safe zone away from the border, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Turkish officials said on Thursday.

Armed men in uniform seized a prominent Iraqi blogger from his home on Thursday, one of his relatives told AFP, after a wave of deadly anti-government protests earlier this month.

Turkey's week-old offensive against Kurdish-controlled areas of northeastern Syria has displaced more than 300,000 people, a war monitor said Thursday.

The Islamic State group said Thursday it had "freed" women held by Syria's Kurds, the latest in a series of reported breakouts since Turkey launched a cross-border offensive last week.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Thursday his forces will counter Turkey's invasion by "all legitimate means", in his first remarks since deploying troops near the border to support Ankara's Kurdish rivals.

Saudi Arabia and the Palestinians agreed on Thursday to establish a joint economic committee and a business council, as the Palestinian Authority faces a financing gap that could top $1.8 billion.

It rises out of what were once rolling sand dunes stretching toward the horizon, a feverish construction site by tempo and temperature that has tens of thousands of workers building what looks like a new city in the desert of Dubai.

This is the site of Expo 2020, a world's fair that will be hosted by a city-state that is already home to the world's tallest building, the busiest airport for international travel, an indoor ski slope and other modern marvels.

Damascus on Thursday said Syrians are unified against a cross-border Turkish assault, in its first statement since deploying troops in Kurdish-controlled areas to contain Ankara's offensive. 

A Palestinian was shot by Israeli security forces after ramming his car into a vehicle for undercover policemen in the occupied West Bank, police said Thursday.