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President Barack Obama has promised the US will stand alongside Mexico in its fight against drug-related violence.

The vow came after talks with President Enrique Pena Nieto in the White House, in which the two discussed the recent disappearance of 43 Mexican students.

The students were believed to have been handed over to a drugs gang. The case sparked protests around Mexico and more were held outside as the leaders met.

Mr Obama called it a «tragic» case and said he supported Mexico’s response.

The US president said his country would be a «good partner» to its neighbour in the fight against drugs and associated problems.

«Our commitment is to be a friend and supporter of Mexico in its efforts to eliminate the scourge of violence and drug cartels that are responsible for so many tragedies inside of Mexico,» he said.

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The Cuban government has released some of the 53 political prisoners on a US list, the state department has said.

Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington hoped to see all those on the list released soon but did not specify who was now free.

Signalling a historic shift, last month US President Barack Obama ordered his administration to start re-establishing normal relations with Cuba.

This month Cuban and US officials will meet in Havana.

«They have already released some prisoners… Obviously we would like to see this completed in the near future,» Ms Psaki said.

«This list is not to be seen as the end of our discussion on human rights with the government of Cuba.»

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Turkish police have briefly detained a Dutch journalist on suspicion of «propaganda for a terrorist organisation» in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish south-east.

Freelance reporter Frederike Geerdink, based in the city of Diyarbakir, tweeted as her house was searched by police. She was later released.

Turkey and its Western allies call the Kurdish rebel PKK group «terrorists».

The EU has criticised the Turkish authorities for harassing journalists.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted on Tuesday that «nowhere in Europe or in other countries is there a media as free as the press in Turkey».

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, visiting Turkey, said he was «shocked» by the treatment of Geerdink.

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Politicians and celebrities in Germany have joined a media campaign against Pegida, a group protesting against what it sees as the «Islamisation» of Europe.

Former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and retired footballer Oliver Bierhoff are among 80 figures to back a petition in German newspaper Bild.

It comes after rival rallies took place across the country.

Some 18,000 people attended one anti-immigration rally in Dresden on Monday.

There have been weekly protests by the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West (Pegida) since October.

But counter demonstrations have sprung up, with thousands marching in Berlin, Cologne, Dresden and Stuttgart.

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A banned Marxist group in Turkey says it carried out Tuesday’s suicide bombing in Istanbul in which the female bomber and a policeman died.

The DHKP-C said on its website «our sacrificial fighter… carried out the sacrificial action on the tourist police department in Sultanahmet».

Last week the group claimed an Istanbul attack in which a man was arrested after throwing grenades at police. Nobody was injured in the incident. DHKP-C says it is fighting corruption.

The group accused the state of protecting «corrupt» ministers loyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Islamist-rooted AK Party dominates Turkish politics.

In Tuesday’s bombing a woman targeted a police station in the tourist hub of Sultanahmet, near the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia museum.

She spoke English with «a thick accent», but her nationality and identity remained unknown, Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin told Turkish TV. A second policeman was injured in the attack.

The Turkish Hurriyet news website has named her, but there is no official confirmation.

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