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Saudi king to meet with Obama amid Gulf concerns over Iran deal

By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Saudi King Salman will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on Friday to seek more support in countering Iran, as the Obama administration aims to use the visit to shore up relations after a period of tensions. The visit is the king’s first to the United States since ascending to the throne in January, and comes after the United States agreed to

Exclusive: U.S. pressed Guatemala's Perez to back corruption probes that toppled him

By Sofia Menchu and Enrique Pretel GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – In a series of meetings that began early this year, the U.S. government pressured Guatemala’s then-President Otto Perez to rid his administration of corrupt officials and to renew the mandate of a U.N. Commission charged with investigating corruption in Guatemala, according to officials with direct knowledge of the talks. In April, Perez reluctantly approved the continued operation of the Commission

Eight policemen killed in Tajikistan, U.S. embassy shut

Eight policemen were killed in Tajikistan on Friday in attacks the authorities in the Central Asian nation blamed on gunmen loyal to the country’s own deputy defense minister. Tajikistan, an impoverished Muslim nation of 8 million and the poorest ex-Soviet state, is still volatile after a 1992-97 civil war that killed tens of thousands. The events prompted the U.S. embassy in Dushanbe, the Tajik capital, to shut on Friday.

Key dates in Europe's escalating migrant crisis

Around 350,000 migrants and refugees have risked their lives since the beginning of the year making the treacherous crossing across the Mediterranean to Europe, with 2,643 dying in the process, according to the International Organization for Migration. – April 23: EU leaders triple the bloc’s budget for sea rescues and mull military action against human smugglers in Libya after 1,200 migrants drown in a single week off Libya. – June

Thai probe hits hurdle; no bomb match to suspects' DNA

By Aukkarapon Niyomyat and Martin Petty BANGKOK (Reuters) – Forensic tests on two suspects have failed to find a link to the site of Thailand’s deadliest bomb attack, police said on Friday, dealing a blow to the investigation. DNA examination of the two foreigners tie them to a stash of explosives found in a Bangkok apartment block, but not to evidence collected at the Hindu Erawan Shrine where 20 people

Ahead of Greek election, Syriza's 'lost generation' deserts Tsipras

By Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) – So divided has Syriza’s youth wing become over the direction of Greece’s leftist party, that when its council planned to convene at the end of August, the meeting was abandoned. The incident showed the disillusionment Syriza’s twenty-somethings feel with leader Alexis Tsipras, the former Communist student activist they once celebrated as one of their own. In just seven months as premier, Tsipras, under pressure

Key dates in Europe's escalating migrant crisis

Around 350,000 migrants and refugees have risked their lives since the beginning of the year making the treacherous crossing across the Mediterranean to Europe, with 2,643 dying in the process, according to the International Organization for Migration. – April 23: EU leaders triple the bloc’s budget for sea rescues and mull military action against human smugglers in Libya after 1,200 migrants drown in a single week off Libya. – June