Roberts named as new chief justice of the US

John Roberts became the 17th chief justice of the US today, overwhelmingly confirmed by the Senate to lead the Supreme Court through turbulent social issues for generations to come.

The Senate voted 78-22 to confirm Roberts – a 50-year-old US Appeals judge - as the successor to the late William Rehnquist, who died earlier this month. All of the Senate’s majority Republicans, and about half of the Democrats, voted for Roberts.