Xinhua Middle East news summary at 2200 GMT, Dec. 21

SANAA -- Suspected cholera cases in Yemen have reached one million, highlighting the suffering of the country caught up in a civil war for nearly three years, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Thursday.

More than 80 percent of the population lack food, fuel, clean water and access to healthcare, ICRC said on its official Twitter page. (Yemen-Cholera)

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BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi parliamentary committee Thursday called on the Kurdish security forces to exercise restraint in response to protests in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq amid widespread anger over unpaid salaries and corruption.

"We call on the security forces in the Kurdistan region to exercise restraint and not to use excessive force against demonstrators," Abdul-Rahim al-Shimmary, head of the parliamentary human rights committee, said in a statement. (Iraq-Kurdish)

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JERUSALEM -- Israel rejected Thursday a United Nations overwhelming endorsement of a resolution calling the United States to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Earlier in the evening, the UN General Assembly approved the decision, with 128 nations voting in favor, nine against, and 35 abstentions. (Israel-UN-Jerusalem)

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ANKARA -- Turkey on Thursday welcomed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)'s rejection of a U.S. decision on Jerusalem's status, and called on the U.S. administration to rescind its decision without delay.

"We welcome with great pleasure the UN General Assembly's overwhelming support for a historic resolution on Al-Quds Al-Sharif (Jerusalem)," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on his official Twitter account. (Turkey-UN-Jerusalem) Enditem