Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam on Sunday stressed that resistance against Israel is legitimate, but noted that “the decisions of war and peace must rest in the hands of the Lebanese state.”

In an interview with BBC, Salam revealed that Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi relayed to him a message from Iran's leadership on Sunday, in which Tehran “wished him success in forming a new cabinet and stressed its keenness on the resistance.”

The Pentagon warned Pyongyang on Friday that "further provocative action would be regrettable" after reports that North Korea had deployed two mid-range missiles near its eastern coast.

"Missile tests outside their international obligations would be a provocative act. They need to follow international norms and abide by their commitments," Pentagon spokesman George Little told reporters.

North Korea has suggested to Russia that it should consider evacuating its embassy in Pyongyang due to the upsurge of tensions on the Korean peninsula, a Russian diplomat said Friday.

"A representative of the North Korean foreign ministry suggested that the Russian side examine the question of evacuating the employees of the Russian embassy," embassy spokesman Denis Samsonov told Russian news agencies.

Charismatic Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a leading critic of President Vladimir Putin, declared his ambition to stand for president as he prepares for a trial that could see him jailed.

Navalny said he expected to be convicted in the embezzlement case, which his supporters claim is politically motivated, but insisted he did not fear prison.

Russian police on Saturday detained around a dozen anti-Kremlin opposition activists after they turned up near Red Square for a rally to support their jailed colleagues.

Police detained 13 out of around 30 activists who had planned to stage a rally in central Moscow, said Yekaterina Mochalova, one of the detained activists.

North Korea on Saturday declared it had entered into a "state of war" with South Korea and warned Seoul and Washington that any provocation would swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict.

The United States said it took the announcement "seriously,” even though it followed a familiar pattern, while South Korea largely dismissed it as an old threat dressed in new clothing.

Russia warned Friday that a flare-up in tensions between North Korea and the United States could spin out of control, urging all sides involved in the standoff to refrain from muscle-flexing.

"Unilateral actions are being taken around North Korea which manifest themselves in an escalation of military activity," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Russia said Thursday it will strongly oppose any bid to give Syria's U.N. seat to the rebel coalition fighting President Bashar Assad.

Russia's U.N. envoy Vitaly Churkin said recognizing the Syrian National Council would "undercut the standing of the U.N.."

Members of the Kremlin's own rights council on Thursday denounced "unprecedented" raids on activist groups, saying the searches were aimed at paralyzing their work and muting their role as a rare critical voice in Russia.

Russian prosecutors and tax inspectors have in recent weeks staged a wave of searches at least 100 leading Russian and foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky was found lying on the bathroom floor at his British home with a ligature around his neck and the same material on a shower rail, an inquest into his death heard on Thursday.

The 67-year-old Kremlin critic was found dead on Saturday in his mansion in Ascot, west of London, sparking frenzied speculation about how he died.