MADRID, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Spain will not take part in the Board of Peace initiative launched by U.S. President Donald Trump to tackle global conflicts, saying the decision was consistent with its belief in multilateralism and the United Nations system.

"We appreciate the invitation, but we decline," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told reporters late on Thursday after an EU summit in Brussels.

By Jasper Ward and Ismail Shakil

WASHINGTON/OTTAWA, Jan 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew on Thursday an invitation for Canada to join his Board of Peace initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts.

Trump's aboutface follows Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he openly decried powerful nations using economic integration as weapons and tariffs as leverage.

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Washington welcomed Iraq's initiative to detain Islamic State members in secure facilities in Iraq while also urging nations to repatriate their citizens in these facilities "to face justice."

"The United States welcomes the Government of Iraq's initiative to detain ISIS terrorists in secure facilities in Iraq, following recent instability in northeast Syria," Rubio said in a statement.

WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. military aircraft carrier strike group and other assets will arrive in the Middle East region in the coming days, two U.S. officials said on Thursday, even as U.S. President Donald Trump voices hopes of avoiding new military action against Iran.

U.S. warships including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, several destroyers and fighter aircraft started moving from the Asia-Pacific last week as tensions between Iran and the United States soared following a severe crackdown on protests across Iran in recent months.

Hundreds of red-eyed and exhausted people, including many journalists, crowded into the grounds of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis in Gaza on Thursday to pay tribute to three fallen colleagues.

The three, including a regular AFP contributor, were killed by an Israeli strike the day before that the military said had targeted "suspects" operating a drone.

Mourners gathered around the bodies as they were taken from the morgue towards the hospital courtyard, where men lined up in silence to perform an Islamic funeral prayer recited for the dead.

After a year of tearing down global norms and withdrawing from UN bodies, US President Donald Trump is trying his hand at international institution building with his self-styled "Board of Peace" -- to wide skepticism.

Unlike the United Nations, where every member has a say and five big powers wield vetoes, the nascent board is unambiguously led not just by the United States but personally by Trump, who will hold final say and can remain in charge past his presidency.

DAMASCUS, Jan 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. envoy called for a truce between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces to be upheld, urging steps to build trust after Damascus captured swathes of the northeast in a push to reassert central authority.

Tensions between President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spilled into conflict this month as the SDF resisted government demands for its fighters and enclaves to be integrated into the state.

MADRID, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Spain's High Court on Thursday closed its investigation into the use of Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group's "Pegasus" software to spy on Spanish politicians, citing a lack of cooperation from Israeli authorities.

The investigation was launched after the Spanish government disclosed in 2022 that NSO's spyware had been used to spy on members of the Spanish cabinet, sparking a political crisis that led to the resignation of the country's spy chief.

Jan 22 (Reuters) - Syrian Kurdish forces have lost control of big parts of the country this month as government troops under President Ahmed al-Sharaa seek to bring their security forces and territory under the authority of the central state.

The losses are the latest setback for the Kurds, an ethnic group that was left stateless a century ago when the borders of themodern Middle East emerged from the collapsing Ottoman Empire.

HISTORY

US officials on Thursday presented their vision for a "New Gaza" that would turn the shattered Palestinian territory into a glitzy resort of skyscrapers by the sea, saying the transformation could emerge in three years.

The war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, left much of the Palestinian territory damaged or destroyed and forced most of its residents to flee their homes.

A US-brokered ceasefire took effect last October, reducing the level of bombing and fighting, but for most Gazans, the humanitarian disaster has endured three months on.