U.S. President Barack Obama admitted his White House had not always done enough for the relatives of hostages held abroad, as he took steps Wednesday to address poor government coordination.

"There have been times where our government, regardless of good intentions, has let them down. I promised them that we can do better," Obama said after hosting families at the White House.

Countries across the world have a favorable view of the U.S. while 60 percent of Lebanese express an unfavorable view, according to a Pew Research Center report.

The U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Islamic State group fighters also drew 62 percent support worldwide. Among the supporters are 78 percent of the Lebanese population.

France summoned the U.S. ambassador on Wednesday to complain about "unacceptable" spying on President Francois Hollande and his two predecessors that was apparently revealed in leaked documents.

Hollande was due to discuss the documents released by WikiLeaks with U.S. President Barack Obama in the coming hours.

U.S. President Barack Obama underlined the depth of his frustration over American's ongoing battle with racism Monday, employing the racially-charged "N-word" in a radio interview to underline a point.

Obama made his remarks to "WTF with Marc Maron" as the nation was struggling to comprehend the murders last week of nine African American churchgoers at an evening prayer service, allegedly at the hands of a white supremacist.

The flamboyant wife of Israeli Interior Minister Silvan Shalom published an "inappropriate joke" Sunday about U.S. President Barack Obama on her Twitter account, only to later delete it and apologize.

"Do u know what Obama Coffee is? Black and weak," Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes wrote to her 74,400 followers.

U.S. President Barack Obama will in late July become the first sitting American leader to visit Ethiopia and the headquarters of the African Union, the White House said Friday.

Obama's trip to Addis Ababa will come directly after an already announced trip to Kenya, his first as president to his father's homeland, press secretary Josh Earnest announced.

U.S. President Barack Obama laughed off a bust up with his chief Congressional ally Nancy Pelosi over a trans-Pacific trade deal at a joint party fundraiser on Friday.

In a dual appearance on the House of Representatives Democratic leader's home turf in San Francisco, Obama lightheartedly touched on a revolt by lawmakers in his own party over trade.

U.S. President Barack Obama will in late July become the first sitting American leader to visit Ethiopia and the headquarters of the African Union, the White House said Friday.

Obama's trip to Addis Ababa will come directly after an already announced trip to Kenya, his first as president to his father's homeland, press secretary Josh Earnest announced.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday lamented the "record levels" of people displaced by violence and other unrest around the globe, on the eve of World Refugee Day.

The United Nations this week reported that 60 million people -- half of them children -- have been forced to flee conflict and persecution.

U.S. lawmakers voted Thursday to give President Barack Obama fast-track authority to negotiate a major trans-Pacific trade accord, moving it closer to his desk after a dramatic defeat last week.

Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) narrowly passed the House of Representatives by 218 votes to 208 as a stand-alone bill, after congressional leaders uncoupled it from a worker-assistance program that crashed to defeat Friday when most Democrats voted against it in order to block the trade package.