Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel defended his country's military preparedness exercises as a deterrent against potential aggression from the United States.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sought more air defense suppport from allies on Sunday as hundreds of buildings in Kyiv were still without heating for a second day after Russian strikes.

The decapitated body of a woman, whose legs were also cut off, was found in a rubbish bin in Istanbul overnight, Turkish media reported Sunday, sparking fury from women's groups.

The Syrian government and Kurdish forces have agreed to extend a ceasefire set to expire Saturday, as part of a broader deal on the future of Kurd-majority areas, several sources told AFP.

Ukraine on Saturday accused Russia of undermining negotiations to end their almost four-year war by launching fresh deadly strikes, as officials from both countries and the United States met for a second day of direct talks in Abu Dhabi.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani told French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday that European countries should repatriate IS detainees that were transferred from Syria to Iraq as part of a US operation.

During a telephone call, Sudani "stressed the importance of countries around the world, particularly European Union member states, assuming their responsibilities by receiving those individuals who hold their nationalities" and prosecuting them, according to a statement from his office.

The United Nations rights chief decried Friday that "thousands" of people, including children, had died in Iran's crackdown on nationwide protests, and urged the authorities to "end their brutal repression".

Speaking at the start of a U.N. Human Rights Council urgent meeting on the situation in Iran, Volker Turk urged the authorities in Tehran "to reconsider, to pull back, and to end their brutal repression".

Europeans were among 150 senior Islamic State group jihadist detainees transferred from Syria to Iraq earlier this week as part of a U.S. operation, two Iraqi security officials told AFP Friday.

The group, which the U.S. military transferred to Iraq on Wednesday, were "all leaders of the Islamic State group, and some of the most notorious criminals," and included "Europeans, Asians, Arabs and Iraqis," one security official said.

European leaders have serious doubts about the scope of President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" but were ready to work with the United States and the newly founded body in Gaza, EU chief Antonio Costa said Friday.

"We have serious doubts about a number of elements in the charter of the Board of Peace related to its scope, its governance and its compatibility with the U.N. Charter," the European Council president said after an EU leaders' summit in Brussels.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday withdrew an invite for Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney to join his newly constituted "Board of Peace."

"Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada's joining," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.