U.S. President Joe Biden is seeking to maintain pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, announcing a small troop deployment to eastern Europe even as top Pentagon officials backed a renewed push for diplomacy.

Iran's foreign ministry on Saturday condemned a rocket attack against Baghdad airport that took place the previous day as an act that seeks to "destabilize" Iraq.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron Friday that the West had ignored Moscow's security concerns over NATO expansion, the Kremlin said.

"The US and NATO responses did not take into account Russia's fundamental concerns including preventing NATO's expansion and refusing to deploy strike weapons systems near Russia's borders," Putin told Macron, according to a readout of their call published by the Kremlin.

Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria on Friday found the bodies of 18 fellow fighters inside a prison that the Islamic State group attacked last week, a war monitor reported.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said Wednesday that they had recaptured the sprawling complex in the city of Hasakeh following a January 20 IS jailbreak attempt that sparked days of clashes inside the facility and in surrounding areas.

A long-abandoned fuel tanker off the coast of war-torn Yemen poses a "grave threat" to millions of the impoverished country's residents, potentially exacerbating its humanitarian crisis, Greenpeace warned on Thursday. 

The EU's drug watchdog approved Pfizer's coronavirus pill on Thursday, making it the first oral antiviral treatment for the disease to be authorized in Europe.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said Thursday it will work with Japan's atomic energy agency to provide technical assistance to a U.S. start-up run by Bill Gates that is building a next-generation nuclear reactor in Wyoming.

French bailiffs have seized 230,000 euros ($260,000) from Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema over his conviction last year for complicity in a bid to blackmail former France team-mate Mathieu Valbuena with a sex tape, a source familiar with the case said Thursday.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Thursday that Kyiv is satisfied with the U.S. response to Russia's security proposals to end tensions over Ukraine.

Cyprus welcomed Thursday a "landmark" European Union decision to approve a 657-million-euro ($733 million) grant for the construction of a subsea electricity cable integrating it with Greece and Israel.