At least 35 jihadists from the Islamic State group were killed in air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition overnight in northern and northeastern Syria, a monitor said Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 30 jihadists were killed around the town of Shadadi in northeastern Hasakeh, and another five outside the embattled town of Kobane, on the border with Turkey in northern Aleppo province.

The United States said Friday it would be "premature" to recognize a new Palestinian state, after Sweden said it was planning to as part of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"We believe international recognition of a Palestinian state is premature," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters when asked about Sweden's decision.

The Secret Service lost more than its boss over the cascade of security lapses which cast doubt on its capacity to fulfill its prime mission: protecting President Barack Obama.

The agency, known for sharp-suited agents in mirror shades whispering into shirt cuff microphones, became a punchline.

Aircraft from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined U.S. warplanes in a new wave of bombing raids Friday against Islamic State jihadists in Syria.

Coalition fighter jets and robotic drone planes conducted six strikes in Syria on Thursday and Friday, hitting militant tanks, oil refineries and a training camp, the U.S. military said.

Hong Kong student leaders on Friday called off talks with the government aimed at bringing an end to mass pro-democracy demonstrations that have paralyzed the city, after violent clashes broke out with opposing crowds at their protest camps.

Hong Kong's main student union walked away from negotiations after angry opponents, some waving Chinese flags, began tearing down their tents and barricades in what activists said was orchestrated violence by paid thugs from "triad" criminal gangs.

Heavy clashes erupted on Friday between Kurdish militiamen and Islamic State jihadists who have besieged a key Syrian town near the Turkish border, an Agence France Presse correspondent reported.

U.S. and French defense chiefs on Thursday discussed the possibility of France taking part in the American-led air war against Islamic State jihadists in Syria, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said.

Former Pentagon chief Leon Panetta has denounced the White House in a new memoir, accusing President Barack Obama's top aides of undercutting efforts to secure a deal in 2011 that could have kept U.S. troops in Iraq.

Washington is releasing some $26 million to Yemen in military aid and boosting funds to armies in five other nations, waiving sanctions imposed for recruiting child soldiers, a U.S. official said Thursday.

The United States Thursday welcomed a vote by Turkey's parliament giving a green light to take military action against the Islamic State militant group.