Elected amid fervour and renewed American belief, it was inevitable that the first black president of the US wouldn’t match the hopes and dreams of a nation, writes Elizabeth Drew

Barack Obama has conceded it "may be appropriate" to choose an Ebola "tsar" to lead the US response against the disease.

Turkey will let US and coalition forces use its bases for attacks against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and Iraq, American defence sources have said.

A Pentagon investigation concluded in 2010 that Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl walked away from his unit, and after an initial flurry of searching the military decided not to exert extraordinary efforts to rescue him, according to a former senior defence official.

Nearly five years after his capture by insurgents, Sgt Bowe Bergdahl’s "safety and health were both in jeopardy" and officials had to act quickly to obtain his release, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said yesterday.

National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has claimed he worked undercover for the CIA, and said that he would like to return to the US.

Why are so few women in films talking to women about something other than men? Nicola Depuis says too many men are writing the screenplays.

South Sudan’s president has reached a ceasefire agreement with a rebel leader, a US official has said, after a vicious cycle of revenge killings drew international alarm.

Ukraine was plunged into new uncertainty after a deadly political standoff — as a top opposition figure assumed presidential powers.

President Barack Obama’s national security adviser has conceded there are legitimate questions about US spying on its allies, as America sought to soothe Brazil’s concerns about far-reaching surveillance by the National Security Agency.

Barack Obama is going public to try to convince war-weary Americans that limited strikes against Syria are needed for the United States’ long-term safety.

THE images emerging from Syria — from the hysterical young girl to the rows of corpses — should be a turning point in a conflict that has killed 100,000 people. The deaths, if proven, demonstrate either the depravity of Bashar al-Assad — or the rebels fighting him.

The al Qaeda threat that closed US embassies in the Middle East is the most serious in years and the “chatter” among suspected terrorists is reminiscent of what preceded the Sept 11 attacks, a US lawmaker who is briefed on intelligence said.

America’s security chiefs have met to review the threat of a terrorist attack that led to the weekend closure of 21 US embassies and consulates in the Muslim world and a global travel warning.

Irishwoman Samantha Power faces strident opposition from elements of the Israeli lobby to be confirmed as the US ambassador to the UN.

President Barack Obama defied Republican critics and named outspoken diplomat Susan Rice as his national security adviser, despite accusations that she misled the nation in the aftermath of the deadly attack on Americans in Libya.

A Dublin-born Pulitzer prize winner has been selected by President Barack Obama as nominee for US ambassador to the UN.

US President Barack Obama has nominated a Dublin-born academic to serve as his country's ambassador for the United Nations.

Egypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood warned that a UN declaration on women’s rights could destroy society, by allowing a woman to travel, work, and use contraception without her husband’s approval and letting her control family spending.

North Korea threatened the United States with a preemptive nuclear strike, raising the level of rhetoric just before the UN Security Council approved new sanctions against the reclusive country.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at times emotional and fierce, insisted today that her department is moving swiftly and aggressively to strengthen security at US missions worldwide after the deadly September 11 raid on the consulate in Libya.

US President Barack Obama will nominate Republican Chuck Hagel as his next defence secretary, a senior administration official said tonight.

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

US president Barack Obama is expected to nominate Senate foreign relations committee chairman John Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, sources said over the weekend.

Susan Rice, the embattled UN ambassador, abruptly withdrew from consideration to be the next secretary of state today after an ugly standoff with Republican senators who declared they would vigorously oppose her nomination.

The UN Security Council condemned North Korea’s successful rocket launch today and said it will urgently consider “an appropriate response”.

The United Nations has voted overwhelmingly to recognise a Palestinian state, but the Palestinians still face enormous limitations: they do not control their borders, airspace or trade, they have separate and competing governments in Gaza and the West Bank, and they have no unified army or police.

The United Nations voted overwhelmingly today to recognise a Palestinian state, a long-sought victory for the Palestinians but an embarrassing diplomatic defeat for the United States.

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.

Palestinian officials have asked the UN Security Council to act to halt Israel’s military operation in Gaza.

US president Barack Obama will make his first comments on the economy and the financial crisis today as the White House makes the issue its top post-election priority.

Mitt Romney said the attack on the US consulate in Libya is an issue in the presidential campaign because Americans wonder why it took the Obama administration so long to acknowledge it was a terrorist act.

United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon has called on Sudan and South Sudan to reach a comprehensive agreement at a summit of its leaders in Ethiopia.

President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney are embarking on a travel-heavy week through battleground US states, with both campaigns wrangling over unrest in the Middle East and who is best equipped to rejuvenate the economy.

From celeb-filled fundraisers in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village to state dinners at the White House, rumours of political aspirations for the Vogue editrix are flying around town.

The future of the 300-strong United Nations observer mission in Syria was in limbo today after Russia and China again vetoed a Western-backed resolution aimed at pressuring President Bashar Assad’s government to end the escalating civil war.

The United Nations will vote today on a new British-crafted Syria resolution after a last-minute delay failed to get key Western nations and Russia to agree on measures to end the soaring violence.

United Nations observers have inspected the site of an explosion which flattened a block of houses in the central Syrian city of Hama and killed at least 16 people, while the government and the opposition blamed each other for the blast.

International envoy Kofi Annan has told the United Nations Security Council that the situation in Syria is “bleak” and expressed alarm at reports that government troops are still carrying out military operations in towns where UN observers are not present.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today called for international backing of an arms embargo and other stronger measures enforced by the UN against Syria if the country fails to abide by a ceasefire designed to end the bloodshed on its soil.

African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki urged the UN Security Council to take action to stop the fighting between Sudan and South Sudan, warning that both sides are locked in a "logic of war" with hardliners increasingly in control.

The United Nations Security Council will vote today on a resolution authorising the deployment of the first wave of military observers to monitor a ceasefire between the Syrian government and opposition fighters.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton vowed today to pressure Russia over the Syria crisis, saying its refusal to support action by the United Nations Security Council was keeping President Bashar Assad in power.

International envoy Kofi Annan has told the UN Security Council that Syria informed him its military will complete the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from populated areas by April 10.