The U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Friday again warned its citizens of “an increased possibility of attacks” against them in Lebanon and announced the suspension of the Fulbright and English Language Fellow programs.

“The U.S. Embassy has received reports of an increased possibility of attacks against U.S. citizens in Lebanon. Possible threats include kidnapping, the potential for an upsurge in violence, the escalation of family or neighborhood disputes, as well as U.S. citizens being the target of terrorist attacks in Lebanon,” the embassy said in a statement.

Two American soldiers were killed by a member of the Afghan local police Friday in a new "green-on-blue" attack, NATO said.

The deaths take to 39 the number of international troops killed in 28 such attacks so far this year, according to NATO figures.

A U.S. soldier accused of killing 13 people at a Texas army base on Wednesday tried to plead guilty, but the judge refused to accept it and the trial was unexpectedly adjourned until next week.

Major Nidal Hasan, a former army psychiatrist, is accused of carrying out the November 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, an attack that raised fears of homegrown extremism and al-Qaida recruitment within the armed forces.

Mitt Romney complained Wednesday that Barack Obama's re-election bid was steeped in "hatred" as the president accused his Republican foe of planning to slash state health benefits for the elderly.

Romney, hoping to turn Democrat Obama out of the White House after a single term, said that Obama and backers were stoking divides based on income, age and ethnicity, to whip up a sense of "enmity and jealousy and anger."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with Western foreign ministers to coordinate ways to hasten the end of Syrian President Bashar Assad's embattled regime, her spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Clinton, following up on weekend talks in Turkey, held a conference call for more than an hour Monday with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

The United States on Tuesday lifted sanctions against former Syrian prime minister Riad Hijab, who defected earlier this month, as it urged more top officials to abandon the regime.

In a move aimed at convincing members of the inner circle of Syrian President Bashar Assad's embattled regime that they have not been permanently blacklisted, the U.S. Treasury Department unfroze Hijab's assets.

A deadly shootout erupted Monday near the Texas A&M University campus when a man being brought an eviction notice opened fire on a Texas law enforcement officer, leaving three people dead, including the officer and the gunman.

A 65-year-old man also died, while three other law enforcement officers and a 55-year-old woman were wounded, in the shootings at an off-campus home not far from the university's football stadium, College Station Assistant Police Chief Scott McCollum said.

The United States called Monday on Lebanon to ensure transparency in any action against former minister Michel Samaha, fearing a spread of violence from neighboring Syria.

Samaha was arrested on Thursday and a Lebanese judge has accused him and Syria's security chief, General Ali Mamlouk, of planning sectarian killings and explosions in the North.

The United States said Monday it has not ruled out any option to bring about the departure of Syrian President Bashar Assad, following renewed speculation about a possible no-fly zone.

White House spokesman Jay Carney was asked about comments by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Turkey that sparked a new round of questions about a stepped-up Western role in the violence-wracked country.

Two air rifle shots struck the outer wall of a mosque and Muslim education center outside Chicago overnight, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Sunday.

The shots were heard by worshippers who were outside the mosque and were powerful enough to damage the building's brick wall, it added.