As Syrian peace talks in Geneva appeared to flounder, U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday vowed to step up pressure on the regime of President Bashar Assad.

Obama's remarks came as he hosted Jordan's King Abdullah II at the Sunnylands retreat in Palm Springs, California, to address issues including the flood of Syrian refugees into Jordan.

Islamist cleric Omar Mahmoud Othman, who is also known as Abu Qatada, strongly criticized Hizbullah on Thursday, calling on the cabinet to “pressure” the party to stop its involvement in the Syrian war.

Abu Qatada, who is being tried in Jordan on terrorism charges, also expressed his support to suicide bombings carried out by the al-Qaida linked Al-Nusra Front in Lebanon and Abdullah Azzam Brigades on Lebanese territories.

A man has died in Jordan after being infected with the MERS virus, the kingdom's first fatality from the respiratory disease in more than a year, news reports said Saturday.

Another man was reported to have died of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu.

The Red Cross said Thursday it has suspended provision of tents to displaced Palestinians in the Jordan Valley, in a rare protest over Israeli "confiscation" of aid material.

"We're suspending the distribution of tents and shelter materials because we have seen a pattern of obstacles and confiscations since the beginning of 2013," said Jon Martin Larsen, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

A Jordanian court has reduced the sentence of a man who killed his daughter because she left home without her husband's knowledge from death to 10 years in jail, an official said Thursday.

"On January 29, the court initially condemned the man to death but gave him a reduced jail sentence after the family dropped all legal claims against him," the judicial official told Agence France Presse.

Islamist cleric Abu Qatada, on trial in Jordan on terrorism charges, and dozens of other Islamist inmates have stopped accepting meals in protest at the conditions in jail.

"Around 120 Islamist prisoners in four jails in the kingdom have stopped accepting meals provided by the government," police spokesman Major Amer Sartawi told Agence France Presse.

Islamist cleric Abu Qatada threatened on Thursday to boycott his retrial in Jordan on terror charges, demanding that the court respect a deal that led to his deportation from Britain.

"I asked you at the last hearing (January 16) to publicly declare your commitment to the agreement signed by Jordan. If you do not do that, I will boycott the trial and I will not deal with the court," Abu Qatada told judge Ahmad Tarawneh, who led a panel of three civilian judges at the military state security court.

U.S. President Barack Obama will meet Jordan's King Abdullah II at an exclusive California estate next month, the White House said Wednesday.

The talks, likely to focus on Syria's refugee crisis and Middle East peace moves, will take place on February 14 at the same desert resort -- the Annenberg estate at Sunnylands near Palm Springs -- where Obama met China's President Xi Jinping for an informal summit in June.

Human Rights Watch urged Jordan again Tuesday to reform laws that restrict freedom of expression, saying it is shameful that people can be jailed for chanting slogans or criticizing officials.

In its World Report for 2014, U.S.-based HRW called on parliament to "undertake critical reforms... to remove or amend laws that place impermissible limits on free expression."

Human Rights Watch urged Jordan again Tuesday to reform laws that restrict freedom of expression, saying it is shameful that people can be jailed for chanting slogans or criticizing officials.

In its World Report for 2014, U.S.-based HRW called on parliament to "undertake critical reforms... to remove or amend laws that place impermissible limits on free expression."