U.S. senators from both parties renewed calls Thursday for President Barack Obama to boost military aid to Ukraine, while criticizing Europe's approach to the crisis.

The Obama administration has been under fire for months from some lawmakers who have criticized its failure to move decisively to provide Ukraine with "defensive lethal assistance" to defend itself against rebels backed by Russia.

President Barack Obama on Thursday hailed the Dalai Lama as a "good friend" during a symbolic first public encounter between the two men that is sure to enrage Beijing.

Speaking at a high-profile Washington prayer breakfast, Obama heaped praise on his fellow Nobel peace laureate, who is reviled by China as a separatist.

The U.S. Senate votes Tuesday on whether to advance a controversial Republican bill that funds homeland security but rolls back President Barack Obama's immigration plan, with Democrats revolting against the measure.

In December, lawmakers funded all federal departments through the end of fiscal year 2015 except for the Department of Homeland Security, which it funded only through February 27 so the new Republican-controlled Congress could put brakes on Obama's plan to shield millions of undocumented workers from deportation.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet President Barack Obama in Washington on February 9, the White House said Monday, with a fresh spasm of violence in Ukraine high on the agenda.

The German leader will hold an Oval Office meeting with her U.S. host, as the West prepares further sanctions against Russia for its role in stoking the unrest.

China said Monday it opposed foreign leaders meeting the Dalai Lama "in any form", ahead of a public appearance by the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader with U.S. President Barack Obama.

Obama will attend the National Prayer Breakfast with the Dalai Lama in Washington on Thursday, the White House previously said.

U.S. President Barack Obama will appear in public at an event attended by the Dalai Lama next week in Washington, the White House said Friday, in a move sure to anger Beijing.

"The president will deliver remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast," National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said. "This year, the organizers also invited His Holiness the Dalai Lama."

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said Pyongyang would not sit idly by "with rabid dogs barking" about toppling its socialist system, in apparent reaction to comments by U.S. President Barack Obama that the regime was doomed, state media reported Saturday.

Kim made the remarks while overseeing a joint naval and air force drill simulating an attack on a U.S. carrier strike group off South Korea, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Cuban President Raul Castro gave an endorsement to peace between the United States and his communist country Thursday, with the two nations in talks to restore ties after decades of animosity.

Asked by a journalist at a summit of Latin American and Caribbean states what he would most like to see after the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba is lifted, Castro barked: "Peace, peace between us, peace between the United States and us.

U.S. President Barack Obama will on Thursday unveil plans to forestall automatic budget cuts, increasing spending $74 billion above a cap for 2016.

Rolling out budget proposals for the coming year, White House officials said that Obama will seek to freeze the so-called sequester, which would automatically trim spending by about $1 trillion by 2021.

Mitt Romney, considering another presidential run, took swipes at potential 2016 rival Hillary Clinton on Wednesday for "cluelessly" conducting foreign policy, and said Barack Obama's brand of economics is hurting Americans.

The 2012 Republican nominee, who lost to Obama, has returned to the political spotlight this month after telling donors he remains interested in a third shot at the White House.