Three lawyers who once represented the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny were convicted by a court Friday as part of the Kremlin's crackdown on dissent that has reached levels unseen since Soviet times.

Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Liptser were already in custody and were given sentences from 3 1/2 to five years by a court in the town of Petushki, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Moscow. They were arrested in October 2023 on charges of involvement with extremist groups, as Navalny's networks were deemed by authorities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting his Iranian counterpart Friday for the signing of a broad pact between Moscow and Tehran.

The Kremlin says the "comprehensive strategic partnership" agreement between Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will take their cooperation to a new level.

A Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rig in the center of the country on Friday killed three people and wounded others, the regional governor said.

"Three people were killed by the Russian army when it struck Kryvyi Rig," the governor of the wider Dnipropetrovsk region, Sergiy Lysak, wrote on Telegram, adding that others had been wounded.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, signed a broad cooperation pact Friday as their countries deepened their partnership in the face of stinging Western sanctions.

Russian and Iranian officials say the "comprehensive strategic partnership treaty" covers all areas -– from trade and military cooperation to science, education and culture.

Japan on Thursday formally inaugurated an independent mission to the NATO military alliance as Tokyo and NATO seek to bolster cooperation amid escalating tension from Russia, China and North Korea.

Previously, the Japanese embassy in Belgium also covered NATO. The new mission is led by Osamu Izawa, who takes over the role currently filled by the ambassador to Belgium, Masahiro Mikami.

After forging unexpectedly fond ties with U.S. President Joe Biden, Italy's right-wing Premier Giorgia Meloni is poised to leverage a more natural alliance with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that positions her as a key interlocutor between the U.S. and Europe.

Weeks before his inauguration, Meloni met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago retreat, a visit that she said went "beyond expectations." The trip, she said, "was an opportunity to confirm a relationship that promises to be very solid,'' adding diplomatically, "I don't know if I can say privileged."

Air raid sirens and loud blasts rang out over Kyiv on Thursday during a visit to the Ukrainian capital by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, AFP journalists reported.

Officials in Kyiv said that air defense systems in the center of the city were engaging enemy targets, after the air force warned of an enemy drone attack. AFP reporters in central Kyiv saw a drone flying overhead.

President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump are both claiming credit for Israel and Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire deal in Gaza on Wednesday after the White House brought Trump's Middle East envoy into negotiations that have dragged on for months.

Trump wasted no time in asserting he was the moving force behind the deal. Biden, meanwhile, stressed that the deal was reached under "the precise contours" of a plan that he set out in late May.

U.S. President Joe Biden urged Americans Wednesday to stand guard against a "dangerous" oligarchy forming under Donald Trump as he delivered a dark farewell address before stepping down next week.

In a primetime speech from the Oval Office at the end of his single term in office, he warned of an ultra-wealthy "tech industrial complex" that he said could gain unchecked power over the American people.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is cohosting a reception with billionaire Republican donors next week for Donald Trump's inauguration, the latest sign of the Facebook founder's embrace of the president-elect.

The reception cohosted by Zuckerberg is set for Monday evening, shortly before the inaugural balls, according to two people familiar with the private plans who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss them.