Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's acceptance of an invitation to address the U.S. Congress, without the blessing of the White House, is destructive to U.S.-Israeli ties, a senior official said Tuesday.

U.S. President Barack Obama praised Qatar as a "strong partner" in the fight against Islamic State militants Tuesday, as he hosted Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in the Oval Office.

"Qatar is a strong partner in our coalition to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL," said Obama, using another name for the jihadist group.

Pentagon chief Ashton Carter headed to southern Afghanistan on Sunday to review plans to withdraw U.S. forces in a volatile area that has long preoccupied American commanders.

In his first visit abroad days after he took over as U.S. defense secretary, Carter met senior officers and troops at Kandahar airfield, a key base that hosts U.S. special forces and advisers as well as helicopters and other aircraft.

A federal court ordered the Obama administration Friday to stop detaining mothers and children seeking asylum in the United States, a practice implemented to halt a wave of Central American migrants last summer.

The order by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington removes a tool President Barack Obama's administration had used to halt illegal immigration from across its southwestern border.

U.S. President Barack Obama will host the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at the White House on February 24, officials said Friday.

"The President looks forward to discussing with Sheikh Tamim political, economic, and security issues of mutual concern to our two countries," the White House said in a statement. 

President Barack Obama's administration will seek to block a court ruling that has frozen landmark immigration reform and called into question his strategy of bypassing Congressional stalemate.

The White House said on Friday that papers would be filed by Monday to stay a Texas court injunction against reforms that would protect millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.

President Barack Obama will host Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camilla on March 19, for a visit designed to underscore "the special relationship" between the two nations, the White House announced on Friday.

The White House said the Prince of Wales, heir to the British throne, will visit as part of a four-day trip to the United States from March 17 to 20.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday called on Middle Eastern leaders to stand up to "violent extremism" and stop proxy wars that fuel the rise of terror groups.

"The notion that the West is at war with Islam is an ugly lie," he told the final day of a conference on combating extremism. "And all of us, regardless of our faith, have a responsibility to reject it."

The White House on Wednesday denied keeping Israel in the dark over ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran, but suggested its ally had cherry-picked information to bolster opposition to the deal.

Amid strains in the U.S.-Israeli relationship over negotiations to reach a landmark nuclear agreement with Iran, White House spokesman Josh Earnest rejected suggestions Israel was being frozen out.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday named acting director Joseph Clancy as the permanent head of the U.S. Secret Service, ignoring calls for an outsider to be appointed following a string of White House breeches.

A 27-year veteran of the agency, Clancy is a former head of the presidential protection detail, responsible for safeguarding Obama and his predecessors.