Jordan elected to take Saudi seat on UN Security Council

The 193-member UN General Assembly elected Jordan to the UN Security Council on Friday to replace Saudi Arabia, which rejected its two-year term in protest at the council's failure to end the Syria war and act on other Middle East issues.

Saudi Arabia was elected in October to join the 15-member council from Jan. 1, but in an unprecedented move Riyadh declined the role a day after the vote. While unopposed as the replacement, Jordan still needed two-thirds approval by the General Assembly. It was elected with 178 votes on Friday. (Reuters)