Barack Obama

President Barack Obama said denying climate change is like arguing that the moon is made of cheese, as he issued a call for action on global warming to graduates of the University of California, Irvine.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said U.S. assistance to Iraq, which is seeking to repel a stunning militant advance, would only work if Iraqi leaders overcame deep divisions, the State Department said on June 14

Kerry spoke with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in a call on Saturday, the State Department said in a statement.

Shiite Iran offered Saturday to consider working with longtime foe the United States if it takes the lead in helping push back Sunni Arab militants who have seized a swathe of northern Iraq, as al-Maliki gov't readies offensive.

President Barack Obama said on June 13 he will take several days to review options for how the United States can help Iraq deal with a militant insurgency, saying any action would need significant involvement by Iraq itself.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has discussed the growing insurgency in Iraq with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for the second time in three days, while Ankara established a crisis desk to inform the Turkish public daily about 80 Turks taken hostage by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Iraq.

Islamist fighters have managed to take over the Iraqi towns of Saadiya and Jalawla, days after Mosul and Tikrit fell into their hands.

The US is considering "all options" to give assistance in fighting militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), President Barack Obama said.

Deployment of US ground troops is however out of the question, the BBC quotes White House officials as saying.

Washington vowed June 12 to boost aid to Iraq and is mulling drone strikes amid fears Iraqi forces are crumbling in face of militants increasingly emboldened since the U.S. withdrawal.

Washington vowed June 12 to boost aid to Iraq and is mulling drone strikes amid fears Iraqi forces are crumbling in face of militants increasingly emboldened since the U.S. withdrawal.

Response to NATO buildup will be "political and military"

MOSCOW -- Any further expansion of NATO forces near its borders would be considered by Russia as "a demonstration of hostile intentions," it has been announced in Moscow.