By Elizabeth Piper and Steve Holland

LONDON (Reuters) -Prime Minister Keir Starmer hopes the pomp of a royal welcome for U.S. President Donald Trump on a state visit to Britain this week will offer him protection from possible pitfalls on anything from free speech to scandal over Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump arrives in Britain late on Tuesday, to be greeted over the next two days by King Charles and then Starmer on a visit expected to be heavy on red carpet treatment and the promotion of investment deals to draw the two nations' economies closer.

TEL AVIV (Reuters) -Qatar and the United States are on the verge of finalising an enhanced defence cooperation agreement, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday while departing Tel Aviv for Doha.

Rubio is visiting the Middle East amid heightened tensions after Israel attacked Hamas political leaders in Qatar last week drawing widespread criticism.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis, Writing by Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Michael Georgy)

BOGOTA (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said in a determination on Monday that Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia and Venezuela were to be added to a list of countries that the United States believes have "failed demonstrably" to uphold their obligations under counternarcotics agreements during the past 12 months, a decision that could affect funding for the named countries.

(Reuters) -The United States can export "Reaper"-style and other advanced military drones more easily following a reinterpretation of its export control policies approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the State Department announced on Monday.

By Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he was not informed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in advance about Israel's attack in Qatar last week.

Trump's comments came after an Axios report said that Netanyahu informed the U.S. president of the strike shortly ahead of time.

By Simon Lewis

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday visited a contentious archaeological site beneath Jerusalem, giving U.S. backing to a Jewish settler-led project that critics say undermines prospects for a future Palestinian state.

The visit, from which international and local media were barred, marked the latest endorsement by the Trump administration of initiatives that opponents say are aimed at cementing Israel’s claims to East Jerusalem, which Palestinians view as the capital of a future state.

By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel needs to invest heavily in "influence operations" in traditional and social media to counteract economic isolation arising from negative publicity abroad, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

Speaking at a Finance Ministry conference, Netanyahu said foreign investment into Israel had held up in the wake of a 12-day war against Iran in June, which he said removed an immediate threat of a nuclear-armed foe.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called Monday for Israel to be barred from international sport over the Gaza war, as it emerged his government had also cancelled an $825 million military contract with the country.

Sanchez expressed "deep admiration" for thousands of protesters who forced the halt of the final stage of the Vuelta a Espana, one of the world's biggest cycling races, in Spain on Sunday.

He said Israel should be penalised just as Russia was over its invasion of Ukraine -- angering Israel, which had a team in the race, as well as Spanish conservatives.

Arab and Muslim leaders called for a review of ties with Israel after emergency talks in Doha on Monday following last week's deadly strike on Hamas members in the Qatari capital.

The Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation joint session, which brought together nearly 60 countries, sought to take firm action after Israel's attack on Qatar-hosted Hamas officials as they discussed a Gaza ceasefire proposal.

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA (Reuters) -The top U.N. expert on Palestinian rights, Francesca Albanese, said Israel was trying to make Gaza City unliveable in its assault on the enclave's largest urban area and was endangering the lives of Israeli hostages.

"Israel is bombing using unconventional weapons ... it is trying to forcibly evacuate Palestinians. Why? This is the last piece of Gaza that needs to be rendered unliveable before advancing the ethnic cleansing of that piece of land," Albanese told reporters in Geneva.