Turkish authorities on Wednesday found the cockpit voice recorder and black box from a private jet that crashed killing the head of Libya's armed forces and his four aides.

The Falcon 50 aircraft requested an emergency landing because of electrical failure minutes after it took off from the Turkish capital Ankara on Tuesday, but contact was lost, Turkish officials said. The plane was returning to Tripoli.

The wreckage was located by Turkish security personnel in the Haymana district near Ankara.

Christmas lights illuminate Damascus's Old City while government forces patrol its shadows as security fears haunt Syria's Christian community.

They recall the shooting and suicide attack in June at the Saint Elias church in the Syrian capital that killed 25 people and wounded dozens more.

"People are going home early, and are afraid," said Tala Shamoun, 26, a university student who was visiting a Christmas market with family and friends.

By Pesha Magid

DEIR DIBWAN, WEST BANK, Dec 24 (Reuters) - The Jewish settler outpost of Or Meir is small. A handful of prefabricated white shelters, it sits at the end of a short dirt track on a hill leading up from Road 60, a major route that dissects the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Over time, similar modest dwellings have turned into sprawling Israeli housing developments, part of a plan that members of Israel's cabinet acknowledge they have implemented to prevent the birth of a Palestinian state.

ANKARA, Dec 24 (Reuters) - A private jet carrying the chief of staff of Libya’s army reported an electrical failure and requested an emergency landing shortly before crashing near Ankara, Turkey’s head of communications said on Wednesday.

The Dassault Falcon 50 jet took off from Ankara’s Esenboga Airport at 1717 GMT on Tuesday en route to Tripoli and at 1733 GMT it informed air traffic control of an emergency caused by an electrical malfunction, Burhanettin Duran said in a statement.

By Renju Jose

SYDNEY, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Australia's most populous state on Wednesday passed sweeping new gun and anti-terror laws following the recent mass shooting on Bondi Beach, tightening firearm ownership, banning public display of terrorist symbols and strengthening police power to curb protests.

The New South Wales state parliament passed the terrorism and other legislation amendment bill early morning after the upper house approved the bill by 18 votes to eight.

ANKARA, Dec 23 (Reuters) - The Libyan army's chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad, died in a plane crash on Tuesday after leaving Turkey's capital Ankara, the prime minister of Libya's internationally recognised government said, adding that four others were on the jet as well.

"This followed a tragic and painful incident while they were returning from an official trip from the Turkish city of Ankara. This grave loss is a great loss for the nation, for the military institution, and for all the people," Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah said in a statement.

The head of Libya's armed forces and four other high ranking military officials died late Tuesday when their business jet crashed shortly after taking off from Ankara, officials in Turkey's capital and Tripoli said.

The wreckage of their Falcon 50 aircraft was located by Turkish security personnel in the Haymana district near Ankara, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said. Three crew members were also killed.

Dec 23 (Reuters) - The United States and Iran traded barbs at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday over conditions for reviving nuclear talks, with the U.S. saying it remains ready for direct negotiations and Iran rejecting Washington's terms.

The two countries held five rounds of nuclear talks prior to a 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June, which Washington joined by striking Iranian nuclear sites.

BELGRADE, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Montenegro on Tuesday revoked its decision to insist on visas for Turkish citizens and reintroduced a visa-free regime but for a shortened duration, citing improved cooperation with Turkish authorities.

Following violence triggered by the stabbing of a Montenegrin man in the capital Podgorica by a group of Turks, Montenegro in October suspended a regime that had allowed visa-free stays of up to 90 days for Turkish nationals.

London police on Tuesday arrested Swedish activist Greta Thunberg at a demonstration in support of pro-Palestinian hunger strikers, Palestinian campaign groups said.

Thunberg's arrest makes her the highest profile person to be detained by police since the government banned the Palestine Action group under anti-terror laws.

Prisoners for Palestine, which organised the protest, said in a statement that Thunberg was arrested under the UK Terrorism Act.

Thunberg, 22, was holding a sign reading: "I support the Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide."