The detained U.S. soldier convicted of leaking a trove of secret documents to WikiLeaks made a rare foray into public life Saturday to warn Americans they were being lied to about Iraq once more.

Chelsea Manning is serving a 35-year prison sentence on espionage charges and other offenses for passing along 700,000 secret documents, including diplomatic cables and military intelligence files, to anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks in the largest-scale leak in U.S. history. 

Shiite Iran offered Saturday to consider working with long-time foe Washington if it takes the lead in helping repel Sunni Arab militants who have seized a swathe of northern Iraq.

The offer came as Iraqi commanders said soldiers had recaptured two towns north of Baghdad as they prepared a fightback, bolstered by thousands of Shiite volunteers who answered a call to arms from top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Barack Obama left Washington Friday for his first visit as president to a Native American reservation, as he seeks to fulfill what he has called America's "broken promises" to Indian Country.

The president, accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama, will pay a visit to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, the tribe of Sitting Bull, the Indian chief famous for his brave exploits in the Battle of Little Bighorn.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday that he is examining options short of sending ground troops to help Iraq counter a Sunni extremist offensive, but warned the country must heal its own divisions.

"We will not be sending U.S. troops back into combat in Iraq, but I have asked my national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support Iraqi security forces," Obama said.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Friday Iraqi security forces have begun clearing cities of "terrorists" who seized swathes of territory and brought the military to the point of collapse.

Security forces "began their work to clear all our dear cities from these terrorists," Maliki said in a statement.

The U.S. soldier freed in a controversial swap with the Afghan Taliban arrived back in the United States Friday, his latest step in a return to normalcy after five years in captivity.

The Pentagon said Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl arrived in the middle of the night on a flight from Germany to San Antonio, Texas where he will continue treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Thursday that his national security team was "looking at all the options" as the crisis in Iraq unfolds, with Arab jihadists pushing towards Baghdad.

"Iraq is going to need more help from us and it's going to need more help from the international community," Obama said after Oval Office talks with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

U.S. President Barack Obama says he's a "good, fun dad" who at times might cause his two teenage daughters to cringe.

In an interview aired Thursday, America's first father also joked that he sought a second term so the Secret Service could keep a close eye on 13-year-old Sasha and 15-year-old Malia.

U.S. police named the gunman in America's latest deadly school shooting Wednesday as 15-year-old Jared Michael Padgett, saying he had multiple weapons and could have killed many more people.

Padgett, who carried his guns in a guitar-case and duffel bag and wore a camouflage helmet, killed himself after shooting one student dead at Reynolds High School in Oregon, they said.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday congratulated Israeli's newly elected next president, the hawkish Reuven Rivlin, and poured praise on his friend, outgoing President Shimon Peres.

"President-elect Rivlin has a long and dedicated record of public service and we look forward to continued strong ties, to the benefit of both our nations, under Mr. Rivlin's presidency," Obama said in a statement.