The top US commander in Afghanistan has been cleared of sending inappropriate emails to a woman linked to the sex scandal that forced David Petraeus to quit as CIA director.

President Barack Obama has nominated Senator John Kerry, one of Washington’s most respected voices on foreign policy, as his next secretary of state.

The mistress of former CIA head David Petraeus has escaped charges over emails she sent to a supposed rival.

The US Senate has approved President Barack Obama’s choice to lead US and coalition forces in Afghanistan.

WHAT do Taoiseach Enda Kenny and General David Petraeus have in common?

Former CIA director David Petraeus was sneaked into the Capitol today, away from the media, to face lawmakers’ questions about the attack on the US Consulate in Libya – just one week after he resigned over an extramarital affair.

US president Barack Obama has said he has no evidence the scandal that ended David Petraeus’s career has had a negative impact on US national security.

The sex scandal that felled CIA Director David Petraeus widened to ensnare the top US commander in Afghanistan, an improbable drama unfolding at a critical time in the Afghan war effort and just as President Barack Obama was hoping for a smooth transition in his national security team.

The sex scandal that led to the resignation of CIA director David Petraeus has widened, with the top US commander in Afghanistan under investigation for alleged “inappropriate communications” with a woman who is said to have received threatening emails from General Petraeus’ former lover.

CIA director David Petraeus was shocked to learn last summer that his mistress was suspected of sending threatening emails warning another woman to stay away from him, former staff members and friends have told the Associated Press.

FBI agents are at the home of the woman whose affair with retired General David Petraeus led to his resignation as CIA director.

Former CIA boss David Petraeus is “devastated” after being forced to resign over his affair with a younger woman, one of his former aides has said.

Members of the US Congress are demanding more details about the FBI investigation that unmasked an extramarital affair between ex-CIA director David Petraeus and his biographer.

David Petraeus, the retired four-star general renowned for spearheading military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, resigned abruptly as director of the CIA after admitting to an extramarital affair.

US president Barack Obama said last night his re-election means Americans support his approach for avoiding a looming “fiscal cliff” that threatens a new recession — and that his approach means the country’s wealthiest people will have to pay more in taxes.

David Petraeus has resigned as the director of US intelligence agency the CIA after admitting he had an extra-marital affair.

The White House was told that a militant group had claimed responsibility for the violence in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans, two hours after the US consulate came under attack, it has emerged.

An internet “troll” who sent a threatening email to a Conservative MP was banned from contacting a host of celebrities from Alan Sugar to CIA chief David Petraeus.

An internet “troll” who sent a threatening email to a Conservative MP was banned today in Britain from contacting a host of celebrities – including Lord Sugar.

Letters from Osama bin Laden’s last hideout show him worrying about mistakes made by his terror network and the need to regain the trust of potential Muslim supporters.

Iran is prepared to launch attacks inside the US, a top American intelligence official has claimed.

AMBASSADOR Modai is wrong if he thinks Israeli oppression of Palestinians is not a recruiting sergeant for al-Qaida (Analysis, Sept 24).

DAVID PETRAEUS, the former general who gained prominence charting US strategy in the Afghan and Iraq wars, has been sworn in as director of the CIA.

THE US military estimates $360 million in US tax dollars (€250m) has ended up in the hands of people the American-led coalition has spent nearly a decade battling — the Taliban, criminals and power brokers.

The US military estimates $360m (€250) has ended up in the hands of people the American-led coalition has spent nearly a decade battling – the Taliban, criminals and power brokers.

US General David Petraeus, Washington’s new intelligence chief, handed over command of US and NATO-led troops in Afghanistan after a tentative start was made to a gradual process of transferring security to Afghan forces.

US General David Petraeus handed over command of American and coalition forces in Afghanistan to General John Allen today, transferring responsibility for the nearly 10-year war as Kabul’s international allies draw up exit plans from the conflict.

A SENIOR adviser to Afghan president Hamid Karzai has been murdered along with an member of parliament visiting him at his Kabul home, a senior government official said yesterday.

THE younger half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, one of the most powerful and controversial men in southern Afghanistan, was shot dead at his home yesterday by a senior and highly trusted bodyguard, officials said.

THE US is to withdraw more than 30,000 troops from Afghanistan by next summer, US President Barack Obama revealed last night.

President Barack Obama will set the course for drawing down the war in Afghanistan tomorrow, when he is expected to announce plans to remove around 10,000 American troops in less than a year.

Nato defence ministers were today discussing the future of their mission in Afghanistan ahead of a decision by the Obama administration on how many of the 100,000 American troops to pull out of the war in July.

Nato officials apologised today for an airstrike that inadvertently killed a group of women and children, saying that they thought there were only insurgents inside the targeted compound when they ordered the strike.

The killing of Osama bin Laden may weaken al-Qaida’s influence on the Afghan Taliban, the US military commander in Afghanistan has said.

The US Afghanistan commander General David Petraeus is to be made the new head of the CIA, security sources have said.

The US Afghanistan commander general David Petraeus is to be made new head of the CIA, security sources have said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told ABC News she understood people close to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were in touch with other states about the situation.

Afghanistan’s president has rejected a US apology for the mistaken killing of nine Afghan boys in a Nato air attack, saying civilian casualties were no longer acceptable.

AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai yesterday told US General David Petraeus, the commander of international troops, that his apology after nine children died in a NATO air strike was “not enough”.

AN investigation into claims international troops killed scores of civilians in northeast Afghanistan escalated into a feud between President Hamid Karzai and senior US military officials who cited a report that Afghan parents have been known to discipline children by burning their hands and feet.

Controversial new US intelligence reports say the war in Afghanistan cannot be won unless Pakistan roots out militants on its side of the border, according to officials.

In a holiday-season visit, President Barack Obama has told US troops in Afghanistan they are succeeding "in their vital mission fighting terrorism".

President Barack Obama told US troops during a surprise visit today that they are making important progress in the war, and he pledged Afghanistan would never again be a “safe haven for terrorists” who want to attack the United States.

A Pentagon report on Afghanistan said progress in the nine-year-old war was fragile, but holding.