Despite being grounded on doctor's orders after a bout of ill-health, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday took a round-the-world trip from Antarctica to London to say a final farewell.

Using satellites and the Internet, she hooked into some of the world's major television networks to answer questions from local anchors and audiences in what was billed as a "Global Townterview" by the State Department.

Israel's parliamentary vote did not end hopes for peace with the Palestinians but instead has opened up a new chance for dialogue, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued Tuesday.

"I actually think this election opens doors, not nails them shut," she said, during a so-called "global townhall" meeting, in which she took questions from Internet-users and broadcasters around the world.

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to congratulate him on his Likud Party's showing in last week's general election.

"President Obama spoke today by telephone with Prime Minister Netanyahu to congratulate him on his party's success in winning a plurality of Knesset seats in Israel's recent election," a White House statement said.

The White House on Monday condemned the unrest shaking Egypt's fragile peace and called on the country's leaders to make clear that violence is never acceptable.

"We strongly condemn the recent violence that has taken place in various Egyptian cities," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

With only days left until she steps down as America's top diplomat, Hillary Clinton left the door open Sunday to a possible future run in the 2016 presidential elections.

And, in a rare joint interview with CBS, she appeared to win the endorsement of none other than President Barack Obama, the man who beat her in the 2008 race to be the Democratic Party's nominee.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday vowed to prevent genocide, as the world marked Holocaust Remembrance Day on the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

"We honor the memories of the six million Jews and millions of other innocent victims whose lives were tragically taken during the Holocaust over sixty years ago," Obama said in a statement.

Hacker group Anonymous said it disabled the U.S. Sentencing Commission's website Saturday in revenge for the death of Internet freedom advocate Aaron Swartz, and vowed to release government data.

The website of the commission, an independent agency of the U.S. Justice Department involved in sentencing, was apparently hacked into early Saturday.

Thousands of people marched in Washington on Saturday to demand stronger gun control legislation, in a solemn rally six weeks after the shock massacre of young children at a Connecticut school.

Protesters, backed by senior officials, marched in silence for around 30 minutes along the National Mall near the U.S. Capitol and Washington Monument, carrying white placards marked with the names and pictures of gun crime victims.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday will name Denis McDonough -- a deputy national security adviser and member of the president's inner circle -- as White House chief of staff, an official said.

Obama was to announce McDonough's appointment at 12:10 pm (1610 GMT) along with those of other senior officials, the White House official said on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. Treasury on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Beijing-based North Korean bankers for their role in exporting Pyongyang's weapons technology and equipment, including to Iran.

Also named for sanctions was a Hong Kong-based trading company which the Treasury said facilitates weapons-related shipments on behalf of Pyongyang's "premier arms dealer," the Mining Development Trading Corporation known as KOMID, the Treasury said.