A high-ranking military delegation is scheduled to travel to Moscow on Monday to continue discussions with Russian officials on the delivery of weapons to the Lebanese army, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported.

The daily said the Lebanese Army's Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Walid Suleiman will lead the delegation that is expected to further negotiate with Russia the purchase of arms and ammunition.

Moldova went to the polls on Sunday in a crucial parliamentary election that will help determine whether the impoverished ex-Soviet country pursues integration with Europe or returns to Russia's fold.

Polling stations opened at 7:00 am (05:00 GMT), with voters facing a choice between political parties aiming for membership in the European Union and those that back joining Russia in a customs union.

U.S.-led strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria have failed to weaken the jihadist organization, according to Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.

Speaking on Friday night to two Middle Eastern television stations, Muallem also said "more time" was needed before a dialogue between the Syrian government and opposition could begin.

Russia's military on Friday successfully test-fired a Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile from one of its submarines in the Barents Sea, the defense ministry said.

It marked the third successful test of the missile since a failed attempt a year ago. There have been 22 tests overall since 2005, with eight having failed.

Six more coffins carrying body parts of victims from downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 arrived in the Netherlands from Ukraine on Friday, with nine victims of the July disaster still unidentified.

A Dutch Air Force C-130 transport plane arrived at an airfield in the southern city of Eindhoven after leaving Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine.

French authorities and NATO confirmed the presence of four Russian warships in the English Channel on Friday, but denied they were doing military exercises and said they were taking shelter due to bad weather.

Officials quickly sought to ease fears over the presence of the flotilla after Russian media reported they were planning military exercises, with East-West tensions sky-high over Russia's intervention in ex-Soviet Ukraine.

Condemned at the U.N. for rights abuses, North Korea hit back Friday, describing the United States as a human rights "tundra" where racial discrimination flourishes.

Citing the protests that erupted when a police officer was not charged in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, a foreign ministry spokesman heaped scorn on the notion of "rule of law" in the U.S.

China's defense ministry said Thursday that it was in talks with Russian counterparts about joint military exercises next year, after Moscow announced drills were planned for the Mediterranean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

Chinese defense ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng told reporters at a monthly briefing that China and Russia were "conducting consultation" over next year's joint military exercises.

The European Union on Thursday added five separatist groups and 13 individuals to a blacklist for their role in elections this month in rebel-held eastern Ukraine, diplomatic sources said.

The decision taken by the 28 EU ambassadors "responds to the separatist vote which undermined ... the implementation of the Minsk protocol" establishing a ceasefire in the region, one of the sources said.

The Syrian regime and key ally Russia have agreed to support a U.N. proposal to suspend fighting in the battered northern city of Aleppo, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said.

Muallem's remarks, reported by state news agency SANA, followed a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and a Syrian government delegation in Sochi, Russia on Wednesday.