UN culture chief Irina Bokova urged the Security Council to task peacekeepers with protecting cultural sites and to help prosecute those who destroy historical treasures.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan has confirmed that Syrian opposition representatives appealed asking Nursultan Nazarbayev to provide a platform for dialogue on the Syrian conflict. According to the Ministry, Kazakhstan's involvement is quite possible.
US President Barack Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that a framework nuclear deal between Iran and world powers represented "significant progress."
AFP correspondents said, for elections to determine whether Israelis still want incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu as leader, or will seek change after six years.
US Secretary of State John Kerry's suggestion that Washington must negotiate with the Damascus regime was recognition of President Bashar al-Assad's "legitimacy."
A worrying number of Australian women are heading to Iraq and Syria to become so-called Islamic State group "jihadi brides", Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said.
Denouncing a business-as-usual approach to Syria, UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for urgent action to lift sieges on civilians and to end barrel bomb attacks.