Washington stands side-by-side with victims of terror around the world, President Barack Obama vowed Tuesday, asking lawmakers to give him updated war powers to defeat Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria.

"We stand united with people around the world who've been targeted by terrorists --  from a school in Pakistan to the streets of Paris," Obama said in the country's annual State of the Union address.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to London on Thursday to host with his British counterpart a meeting of members of the coalition against the Islamic State group.

Kerry's spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the one-day talks with foreign ministers from about 20 countries, including Arab states, would focus on "our shared efforts to degrade and defeat ISIL," an acronym by which the group is known.

The United States condemned Friday sometimes violent protests by thousands of people in Muslim majority countries against a new cartoon of the prophet Mohammed published by French magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Washington stressed the "universal" right of the press to freely publish any kind of information, including caricatures, after at least three people were injured when protesters clashed with police outside the French consulate in Karachi, Pakistan.

The United States has transferred five men from its Guantanamo Bay prison, the Pentagon said Wednesday, in a renewed push by President Barack Obama toward closing the controversial jail. 

Four of the inmates were sent to Oman, while one was sent to Estonia, according to Pentagon statements. 

At least 35 Cuban political prisoners have been released in the last two days, dissident leaders said Thursday, as Cuba moves towards normalizing ties with the United States.

Washington and Havana announced a historic bilateral rapprochement in mid-December in which Cuba agreed to free 53 political prisoners as part of a deal to end a five-decade standoff with the United States.

Hundreds in Washington, New York and Canada rallied Wednesday night in the frigid cold proclaiming "I am Charlie" in solidarity with those killed in a deadly attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Some 200 to 300 French and American protesters gathered in the nation's capital in front of the Newseum, a museum dedicated to news, waving signs and French flags emblazoned with the now ubiquitous rallying cry "Je suis Charlie."

The United States on Tuesday denounced a flag-raising ceremony at Taiwan's de facto embassy in Washington, saying it violated a long-standing pact on U.S.-Taiwan ties.

"We're disappointed with the action," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said when asked about the hoisting of the Taiwanese flag at the compound on New Year's Day.

Republican John Boehner was re-elected and sworn in Tuesday as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, overcoming a surprisingly robust attempt to oust him by two dozen hardcore conservatives.

Boehner received 216 of the 408 votes cast in the chamber, winning as expected over Democratic leader and former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, who received 164 votes.

The United States has expressed concern over a decision for Syrians to obtain visas that sharply limit the time they can stay in Lebanon but Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas reiterated that no Syrian would be deported from the country under the new rules.

“We are very concerned new visa requirements for Syrians entering Lebanon will create additional challenges for refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday.

Former U.S. Sen. Edward W. Brooke, a liberal Republican who became the first black in U.S. history to win popular election to the Senate, died Saturday. He was 95.

Brooke died of natural causes at his Florida home, said Ralph Neas, Brooke's former chief counsel. Brooke was surrounded by his family.