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Black-clad al-Qaida militants in Iraq appeared to seize control of the embattled western city of Fallujah on Friday, raising their flag over government buildings and declaring an independent Islamic state.

Witnesses said the Sunni militants, members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, cut power lines in the city late in the day and ordered residents not to use backup generators.   

But the chief of Fallujah police, Mohamed al-Isawi, disputed the ISIS claims of control, telling The New York Times newspaper that he was repositioning his forces north of the city for a decisive battle.

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Egyptian authorities say at least 13 people were killed Friday across Egypt, as police moved to disperse thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters seeking reinstatement of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

Witnesses said police moved in quickly to disperse the rallies. Authorities earlier warned they would not tolerate further Brotherhood protests, following last month's designation of the Islamist group as a terrorist organization.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is continuing talks with Israeli and Palestinian Authority leaders in hopes they can soon agree on a framework peace deal.

Kerry met Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Several hundred protesters marched through the streets there ahead of the U.S. diplomat's visit to denounce the peace talks as a delay tactic.

Earlier Friday, Kerry met with Israeli Foreign Minister. He said a framework agreement would narrow differences between Israeli and Palestinian leaders and provide guidelines for permanent negotiations.

"It would address all of the core issues. It would create the fixed, defined parameters by which the parties would then know where they are going and what the end result can be. It would address all of the core issues that we have been addressing since day one, including borders, security, refugees, Jerusalem, mutual recognition and the end of conflict and of all claims."

The Secretary of State said a framework deal would be a "significant breakthrough," though it would be less ambitious than his initial goal of reaching a comprehensive peace agreement by April.

Burma’s constitution effectively bars Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president, but there are signs that that could change in time for the country’s 2015 national elections.

Gabrielle Paluch reports.

Burma's opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, faces a deadline; in order for her to be able to run for president in elections slated for November 2015, the Burmese parliament must first push through necessary changes to the constitution.
 
This week, key political players voiced support for constitutional amendments but remained vague about exactly what changes they back.
 
The clause that could bar Aung San Suu Kyi's candidacy, 59(f), states that a presidential candidate's spouse, children or children's spouses may not hold foreign citizenship. Aung San Suu Kyi was married to deceased British author Michael Aris, and neither of the couple’s two adult sons have Burmese citizenship.
 
Another clause that would disqualify Suu Kyi requires presidential candidates to have military experience. Women were barred from military service in Burma until only recently.

Gabrielle Paluch reporting from BANGKOK,VOA News.

A secretive U.S. court has again ruled that the National Security Agency [NSA] can continue to collect telephone information from all Americans.

The U.S. government revealed Friday that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court renewed the NSA's mass collection of phone data.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said the 15 judges on the court have approved the phone collection program on 36 different occasions over the past seven years.

The Obama administration has announced two new executive actions aimed at strengthening federal background checks for gun purchasers.

One of the proposed rule changes aims to clarify who is prohibited from purchasing a gun for mental health reasons, while the other would make it easier to add mental health information to the background check system.

Friday's announcement comes as President Barack Obama is vacationing with his family in Hawaii. A Justice Department statement quotes Attorney General Eric Holder as saying the clarification of the nation's firearms regulations will strengthen officials' "ability to keep dangerous weapons out of the wrong hands."

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Reporting from Washtington.I'm Bill Michales.

VOA News.