The European Union and Morocco on Friday said they would step up cooperation to combat human smuggling after at least 23 migrants died trying to enter Spain's enclave of Melilla.

They were among around 2,000 migrants, many from Sudan, who tried to break through the border fence last month, according to Moroccan authorities.

It was by far the worst recorded death toll in years of attempted migrant crossings into Spain's Ceuta and Melilla enclaves, which have the EU's only land borders with Africa.

Russia on Friday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended cross-border aid to Syria by one year without Damascus's backing.

Western powers then voted down a competing resolution put forward by Moscow that proposed extending approval by just six months.

The authorization for the aid deliveries across the Syrian-Turkish border at Bab al-Hawa, which has been in effect since 2014, is set to expire Sunday.

The aid is a lifeline for more than 2.4 million people in the northwestern Idlib region of Syria, under the control of jihadists and rebels.

The family of prominent Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, shot dead in the occupied West Bank, asked US President Joe Biden on Friday to meet during his visit next week.

Their request came after they condemned a US probe which said it was not possible to determine whose gun fired the bullet which killed the Al Jazeera reporter.

A US citizen, she was shot in the head while covering an Israeli army operation in Jenin on May 11, despite wearing a vest that said "Press."

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad on Friday visited the former rebel bastion of Aleppo, including its historic Old City, for the first time since war broke out 11 years ago.

The visit to Syria's second city and previously the economic capital is highly symbolic as Assad's 2016 victory there -- with crucial military support from Russia -- was a turning point in the war.

Assad and his wife "visited Aleppo's historic Ummayad mosque", the Syrian presidency said on the Telegram messaging app.

The United Nations Security Council will continue negotiating Friday on extending authorization of aid transfers across Syria's border, one day after a scheduled vote was scrapped following disagreement between Russia and the West.

Moscow is seeking a six-month extension, with the possibility to renew, while Western nations want a full year for the transfers, which are being conducted without approval from Damascus.

Russia's top diplomat stormed out of talks with G20 foreign ministers meeting in Indonesia on Friday as Western powers criticised Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Washington and allies condemned Russia's assault ahead of the meeting before Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov faced what US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called a barrage of Western criticism at the closed-door talks.

"What we've heard today already is a strong chorus from around the world... about the need for the aggression to end," Blinken said from the meeting on the resort island of Bali.

The hajj pilgrimage can be physically draining even in ideal conditions, but worshippers this year face an added challenge: scorching sun and temperatures rising to 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit).

Muslims who have flocked to western Saudi Arabia for the five-day ritual, most of which takes place in the open air, have been confronted with a stark reminder of how warming trends are exacerbating what was already a very hot desert climate.

Huge crowds of robed Muslim pilgrims prayed on Saudi Arabia's Mount Arafat on Friday, the climax of the biggest hajj pilgrimage since the pandemic forced drastic cuts in numbers for two years.

Groups of worshippers, many holding umbrellas against the fierce sun, recited verses from the Koran on the rocky rise where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon.

Singing joyfully to beating drums, Syrian refugees who fled brutal civil war perform traditional "Arada" dances in neighbouring Jordan, honouring their home culture and earning extra income.

Their performances, featuring traditional robes and whirling swords, have become increasingly popular in Jordan for marking festivities like weddings and parties.

"They add an atmosphere of joy to our celebration," said Fahed Shehadeh, who hired the Bab al-Hara dance troupe in the capital Amman to mark the graduation of his two sons from university.

Joe Biden will hold talks with Saudi Arabia's controversial Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman -- but only as part of a larger delegation -- when the US president visits the oil-rich nation next week, the White House said Thursday.

"The president will sit down in a bilateral meeting with King Salman and his leadership team. As you know, the crown prince is on that leadership team," John Kirby, National Security Council spokesman at the White House, told reporters.

"So certainly the president will be seeing the crown prince in the context of that larger bilateral discussion."