By Jonathan Spicer, Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Humeyra Pamuk

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Some of the most senior U.S. diplomats focused on Syria have been abruptly let go from their posts in recent days, according to five people familiar with the matter, a shake-up that comes as Washington seeks to integrate its Syrian Kurdish allies with the central administration in Damascus.

By Steve Holland, Elizabeth Piper and Andrew MacAskill

LONDON (Reuters) -Donald Trump meets British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday for talks designed to focus the U.S. leader's unprecedented second state visit firmly on global affairs rather than domestic political problems.

After a day of pomp and ceremony in which Trump rode in a carriage with King Charles and feasted at a state banquet, the U.S. president and Starmer will celebrate the unveiling of a 150 billion pound ($205 billion) package of U.S. investment into Britain.

By Sonia Rolley, Jessica Donati and Ange Kasongo

KINSHASA (Reuters) -Congo's army and Rwandan-backed rebels are reinforcing military positions and blaming each other for flouting peace accords in an escalation that experts say risks reigniting the simmering conflict, which U.S. President Donald Trump claims to have ended.

Europe and the Mediterranean basin saw record drought in August, with more than half of the land affected, according to AFP analysis of EU data.

Last month, 53 percent of the region was affected by drought -- an all-time high since records began in 2012 -- according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

The figure is far above the 2012-2024 average for August of 30.1 percent.

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Syrian foreign minister Asaad al-Shibani will meet with U.S. lawmakers in Washington this week to discuss the lifting of remaining U.S. sanctions on his country, Senator Lindsey Graham was quoted as saying by Axios.

Shibani's visit - the first by a Syrian foreign minister to Washington in more than 25 years - comes on the heels of remarks by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Wednesday that Syria's negotiations with U.S. ally Israel to reach a security pact could lead to results "in the coming days."

Russian, Chinese, and Iranian state media are exploiting conservative activist Charlie Kirk's assassination to advance thousands of false claims aimed at undermining the United States and other adversaries, a research group warned Wednesday.

Official media in the three countries mentioned Kirk -- a close ally of President Donald Trump -- 6,200 times since the activist was shot dead last week during a speaking event on a Utah university campus, the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard reported citing data gathered using a social media analytics tool.

The UN investigator who this week accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza said she sees parallels with the butchery in Rwanda, and that she hopes one day Israeli leaders will be put behind bars.

Navi Pillay, a South African former judge who headed the international tribunal for the 1994 Rwanda genocide and also served as UN human rights chief, acknowledged that justice "is a slow process".

But as late South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson "Mandela said, it always seems impossible until it's done", she told AFP in an interview.

The United States on Thursday again wielded its veto and thwarted a UN Security Council call for a ceasefire in Gaza, shielding its ally Israel from meaningful diplomatic pressure.

The 14 other members of the Council backed the resolution, initiated in August in response to the UN's official declaration of famine after nearly two years of Israel's war on Hamas in the Palestinian territory.

The vote came as Israeli tanks and jets pounded Gaza City, the target of a major new ground offensive, forcing Palestinians to flee south.

By Maya Gebeily

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Wednesday that ongoing negotiations with Israel to reach a security pact could lead to results "in the coming days."

He told reporters in Damascus the security pact was a "necessity" and that it would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity and be monitored by the United Nations.

Syria and Israel are in talks to reach an agreement that Damascus hopes will secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -World leaders gather in New York every September for several days of speeches at the annual United Nations General Assembly, which on Tuesday begins its 80th session.

WHO SPEAKS WHEN?

The United Nations was formed in 1945 with 51 original members and has since grown to 193 members. Leaders of two non-member observer states - known at the U.N. as the Holy See and the State of Palestine - and an observer member, the European Union, can also speak.