President Donald Trump's move to recognize the divided city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital may have triggered a worldwide chorus of critics but the president had his ears closely tuned to his supporters at home.

For Trump, the proclamation was an important way to make good on a pledge to his political base, which includes evangelical Christians and pro-Israel Republicans eager for such a move.

Palestinians shuttered schools and shops and called for protests in West Bank towns on Thursday, while the leader of the Hamas militant group called for a new armed uprising, in widespread show of anger over President Donald Trump's move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Trump's dramatic break on Wednesday with decades of U.S. policy on Jerusalem counters long-standing international assurances to the Palestinians that the fate of the city will be determined in negotiations. The Palestinians seek Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as a future capital.

British media are reporting that two men due in court on terror charges plotted to assassinate Prime Minister Theresa May.

The plan reportedly involved first detonating a bomb at the security gates outside Downing Street, where the prime minister's office is, before going on to launch a stabbing attack on May.

Johnny Hallyday, France's biggest rock star for more than half a century and an icon who packed sports stadiums and all but lit up the Eiffel Tower with his pumping pelvis and high-voltage tunes, has died. He was 74.

President Emmanuel Macron announced his death in a statement early Wednesday, saying "he brought a part of America into our national pantheon." Macron's office said the president spoke with Hallyday's family but did not provide details about where the rocker died or the circumstances.

A potential undersea pipeline carrying natural gas from deposits in the eastern Mediterranean to Europe is "very realistic" and could help secure the continent's energy future, Israel's energy minister said Tuesday.

Yuval Steinitz said that a study on the "strategic" EastMed Pipeline Project shows that the pipeline is feasible, even though it presents technical challenges due to the depths involved.

Turkey and the Palestinians warned on Tuesday of dire diplomatic repercussions if President Donald Trump goes ahead with a possible recognition of the hotly contested city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told parliament that his country's response "could go as far as us cutting diplomatic ties with Israel."

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday announced it has formed a new economic and partnership group with Saudi Arabia, separate from the Gulf Cooperation Council — a move that could undermine the council amid a diplomatic crisis with member state Qatar.

The Emirati Foreign Ministry announcement, just hours ahead of a GCC meeting in Kuwait, said the new "joint cooperation committee" was approved by the UAE's ruler and president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nayhan.

The U.N. is voicing alarm over the spread of HIV in Egypt, where the number of new cases is growing by up to 40 percent a year, and where efforts to combat the epidemic are hampered by social stigma and a lack of funding to address the crisis.

The virus that causes AIDS, U.N. officials say, is infecting more young and adolescent people than any other age group.

The United Arab Emirates on Sunday denied a claim by Yemen's Shiite rebels that a rebel missile had been fired toward the country's under-construction nuclear plant.

The rebels, known as Huthis, earlier in the day claimed they had launched a “winged cruise missile” toward the plant in Abu Dhabi in the first such strike toward the country.

Israel's intelligence minister said Thursday he plans to succeed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is embroiled in corruption scandals and a police investigation.

But Israel Katz said in an interview with The Associated Press he hopes Netanyahu will be able to continue as prime minister, and "that the clouds that are hanging over his head now will pass."