U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday spoke by phone with Saudi King Abdullah to discuss aid to Syrian opposition forces and to discuss the coup in Egypt, the White House said.

"The President and the King shared their perspectives on the situation in Syria and expressed their strong concerns about the impact of the conflict on the region," a White House statement said.

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday, after the White House warned Moscow not to give fugitive leaker Edward Snowden a "propaganda platform" by granting him asylum.

The call came after Snowden said he wanted to claim temporary refuge in Russia, where he has been staying in an airport transfer lounge, until he could figure out how to reach permanent asylum in South America.

President Barack Obama has invited his Vietnamese counterpart to visit the United States this month, sources said Wednesday, looking to boost cooperation on security and trade despite concerns over the communist state's rights record.

President Truong Tan Sang's visit would be only the second by a Vietnamese head of state to Washington since the former war adversaries normalized relations and comes as both governments see growing common interests.

The United States is seriously considering speeding up the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan because of frustration with President Hamid Karzai, the New York Times reported.

And a so called 'zero option' -- having no U.S. troops in Afghanistan after 2014 -- is also on the cards, the daily said late Monday, quoting U.S. and European officials.

The United States on Thursday pressed Egyptian officials to avoid the "arbitrary arrests" of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and his supporters, an administration official said.

Members of President Barack Obama's national security team have also stressed the importance of a "quick and responsible return" to elected civilian government in Cairo, in contacts with Egyptian officials and Washington's regional partners, the U.S. official said, on condition of anonymity.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon on Thursday told Egypt's foreign minister that there must be a "quick return" to civilian rule in the country after the military ousted president Mohammed Morsi, a spokeswoman said.

Ban also renewed international criticism of the military action against Egypt's first freely elected leader when he held talks with Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, said U.N. spokeswoman Eri Kaneko.

President Barack Obama's push to fight global warming has triggered condemnation from the U.S. coal industry across the industrial Midwest, where state and local economies depend on the health of an energy sector facing strict new pollution limits.

But such concerns stretch even to New England, an environmentally focused region that long has felt the effects of drifting emissions from Rust Belt states.

The European Parliament on Thursday demanded "immediate clarification" from Washington on claims of U.S. spying on EU offices and warned the espionage scandal could damage diplomatic ties.

In a resolution overwhelmingly adopted in the Strasbourg-based legislature, MEPs said the parliament "strongly condemns the spying on EU representations" and warned of its "potential impact on trans-Atlantic relations".

U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday called for a swift return to elected civilian rule in Egypt, saying the United States was "deeply concerned" by the military's toppling of Mohammed Morsi.

Obama also sent a signal to military leaders, ordering a review of the hundreds of millions of dollars in annual U.S. aid to Egypt in light of the army's move against Morsi, the nation's first democratically elected president.

U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday vowed an urgent effort to bring electric power to the impoverished heart of Africa, as he wrapped up a week-long journey through the continent in Tanzania.

Obama also performed a sombre double act with George W. Bush, linking up to remember victims of an embassy bombing in Dar es Salaam in 1998, a day after praising his predecessor's AIDS program as a "crowning achievement."