The U.S. said Friday that France's multibillion-dollar sale of Rafale fighter jets to Egypt was no cause for worry, despite Cairo's close defense-sales relationship with America.

"Egypt is a sovereign country," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "We have our own security relationship, so I wouldn't say there's a concern from this end."

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday condemned the "brutal and outrageous" execution-style murders of three Muslim students in North Carolina at the hands of a neighbor who espoused anti-religious views.

"No one in the United States of America should ever be targeted because of who they are, what they look like, or how they worship," Obama said in a statement.

The United States charged Friday that Russia was continuing to deploy heavy weapons in eastern Ukraine, before a ceasefire agreed this week goes into effect.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States had received reports of heavy weapons being moved into eastern Ukraine from Russia over the past few days, and more apparently on the way.

The family of a U.S. activist who was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer in 2003 have condemned an Israeli Supreme Court ruling that the military was not responsible.

"It will take some time before we have (the) ability to read the decision in English and to process all the court has said," the parents and sister of Rachel Corrie wrote in a statement published Friday.

An accident during a training exercise at a U.S. Marine base in California on Thursday left 22 troops injured after a fire extinguisher malfunctioned, officials said.

The majority of the injuries were inhalation related, NBC News reported.

The U.S. commander in Afghanistan told lawmakers Thursday he had proposed "options" to the White House that would slow the pace of a planned withdrawal of American troops from the country.

General John Campbell, who oversees 13,000 U.S. and allied troops, said he had taken into account a request from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to revise President Barack Obama's plan to pull out all U.S combat troops by the end of 2016.

Ashton Carter was confirmed as U.S. secretary of defense Thursday, taking on the job of supervising the war against Islamic State jihadists in the final two years of Barack Obama's presidency.

The Senate -- by a vote of 93 to five -- easily confirmed Carter, an accomplished defense technocrat, to replace Chuck Hagel as head of the Pentagon.

Muslim leaders called for calm  after three students were killed by a gunman with anti-religious views as this North Carolina university town prepared Thursday to bury the victims.

Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, his wife Yusor Mohammad, 21, and her 19-year-old sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha were shot to death Tuesday by a neighbor in what police said was being investigated as a parking dispute.

The United States cautiously welcomed a brokered ceasefire in the 10-month war between Ukraine and pro-Moscow rebels Thursday, but insisted the deal must be implemented and honored.

"The agreement represents a potentially significant step toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict and the restoration of Ukraine's sovereignty," the White House said in a statement.

The northeast U.S. city of Philadelphia will host the Democratic National Convention set for late July 2016, the party announced Thursday.

"I am thrilled to announce that Philadelphia will host the convention where we will nominate the 45th president of the United States," Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement, citing the city's "deep-rooted place in American history."