The United States on Tuesday welcomed the election of a long-time Texas resident as the Syrian rebel prime minister, voicing hopes he can foster "unity and cohesion among the opposition”, as Russia expressed that it “deeply regrets” this step.

U.S. officials "know and respect" Ghassan Hitto from his work with the Syrian coalition on humanitarian efforts in Syria, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.

Russia said on Monday it saw "no concession" in the U.S. decision to abandon the final phase of its missile shield for Europe while deploying new interceptors against a possible attack from North Korea.

"This is not a concession to Russia and we do not see it as such," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Kommersant business daily. "Our objections remain."

Thousands of emotional supporters waited and wept Saturday after making a pilgrimage to the new tomb of former president Hugo Chavez, the face and leader of Latin America's left for over a decade.

More than 10 days after his death from cancer, the remains of Chavez who was 58, are now entombed in a marble sarcophagus at the Mountain Barracks in Caracas.

Calling France a "sad" place led by an uninspired government where people are "fed up", actor Gerard Depardieu dealt his former country a healthy dose of criticism Saturday, but denied he left for tax reasons.

In an interview with local Belgian television channel Notele filmed on Saturday and to be uploaded onto the site www.notele.be, the 63-year-old star of "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "Green Card" observed that the problem with France is "especially the lack of energy".

The United States is ready to abandon the final phase of its European missile defense system, a U.S. official said Saturday, in a move that could revive arms control talks with Russia.

As part of plans announced Friday to deploy more anti-missile batteries in Alaska to thwart potential strikes from North Korea, the United States intends to "restructure" its missile defense program in Europe, an administration official said.

Three people were killed on Saturday when a Russian military helicopter crashed during a landing attempt in bad weather in Chechnya, investigators said.

The Mi-8 helicopter belonged to a military base in nearby Stavropol region and crashed as it was attempting to land at Khankala military airfield in the restive North Caucasus region.

When a bright meteor streaked across the sky over the Russian Urals last month, it was the film footage captured by hundreds of in-car cameras and hastily uploaded to YouTube by dumbfounded drivers that allowed the world to share the event.

Mini video cameras - dubbed dashcams - have been growing in popularity in Russia as drivers fix them to their windshields as an insurance against erratic road users, corrupt traffic police and the arbitrary justice that is still prevalent here.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has warned that a U.N. document demanding global standards to prevent violence against women is un-Islamic and would lead to the "complete degradation of society."

Governments and NGOs from around the world are to wrap up two weeks of discussions in New York on ways to end violence against women and children with the aim of reaching a consensus by Friday.

Three Russia warships docked on Thursday in Beirut Port, and al-Mayadeen television reported that they will stay in Lebanese waters for three days before departing to Syria.

"The warships carry 700 soldiers and are planning to stay in Mediterranean waters for three days,” al-Mayadeen said, adding that they will then sail to the Syrian port of Tartus.

The European Space Agency (ESA) said it signed a deal on Thursday with its Russian counterpart to launch two unmanned missions to Mars, a quest that was rocked by a U.S. pullout last year.

Called ExoMars, the scheme entails sending an orbital probe to the Red Planet in January 2016 to look for atmospheric traces of methane gas, a pointer to the existence of microbial life.