The director of the U.S. Secret Service faced a grilling Tuesday from U.S. lawmakers upset by its failure to rein in embarrassing security lapses, and by his acknowledgement that agents use alcohol to reduce stress.

Joseph Clancy, the tarnished protection agency's new boss, was in the hot seat over an incident early this month in which two senior agents drove into White House barricades after a night of boozing but were not detained or given breathalyzer tests.

A nuclear deal with Iran would be a diplomatic victory for Barack Obama, but its historic worth and impact on the U.S. president's legacy may not be known for a decade or more.

In July 2007, a dark-haired, fresh-faced U.S. Senator was asked if he would meet the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea without precondition in the first year of his presidency.

The White House has confirmed that any nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers would be subject to a vote by the U.N. Security Council.

The acknowledgement by President Barack Obama's chief of staff Denis McDonough comes as the White House butts heads with Republicans over whether the U.S. Congress should vote on any deal.

The United States will have to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar Assad to end the civil war now entering its fifth year, Secretary of State John Kerry conceded in an interview that aired Sunday.

"Well, we have to negotiate in the end. We've always been willing to negotiate in the context of the Geneva I process," Kerry said in an interview carried out Saturday.

The French embassy in Beirut denied Saturday that Paris has decided to end the service of its ambassador to Lebanon Patrice Paoli, stressing that the envoy “enjoys the full confidence of the French authorities.”

“Contrary to the claims of al-Akhbar newspaper, the ambassador is performing his mission in a non-partisan approach,” the embassy said in a statement.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he was "embarrassed" for Republicans who signed a controversial letter warning Iran's leaders about reaching a nuclear deal with the White House.

"I am embarrassed for them," Obama said in an interview with Vice media, which is expected to be released Monday.

Piling on more embarrassment for Hillary Clinton amid a row about her emails, U.S. officials revealed Thursday that during her time as secretary of state she had eschewed a government-issued cell phone.

Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Clinton was "not issued a State Department BlackBerry, and that wasn't a requirement -- no one is required to be issued a State Department BlackBerry." 

Venezuela recalled its envoy to Washington for consultations Monday, after U.S. President Barack Obama ordered new sanctions against senior Venezuelan officials.

"We call Maximilien Arvelaiz, charge d'affaires in the United States, for immediate consultations," Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez wrote on Twitter.

President Barack Obama assured in a taped television interview Sunday that the United States was prepared to "walk away" from nuclear talks with Iran if a verifiable deal cannot be reached with Tehran.

Obama made the comments Saturday as US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Paris to smooth over differences with France, which has pressed for greater guarantees that an agreement will stop Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon, and a bruising speech to Congress earlier in the week by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The U.S. Secret Service locked down the White House press room Saturday after a loud noise was heard as reporters gathered to await President Barack Obama and wife Michele's departure for Selma, Alabama, a pool report said.

The Washington fire department reported a fire at a food cart near the White House and that its units had extinguished it.