Hillary Clinton announced Wednesday she raised a record $45 million in the first quarter of her U..S presidential bid, putting the Democratic frontrunner in prime financial position in the opening months of her 2016 campaign.

"Here's what we know: In the first quarter of this campaign, supporters gave more than $45 million," Clinton wrote in a tweet.

President Barack Obama and Brazil's Dilma Rousseff paid a surprise joint visit Monday to Washington's Martin Luther King Memorial, part of efforts to mend fences after a spying row.

Obama hosted the Brazilian president at the memorial to the civil rights icon -- one of his personal heroes --  after a "turbulent patch" between the two countries caused by revelations that U.S. spies had listened in on Rousseff's phone calls.

The White House condemned a bomb attack that killed Egypt's top prosecutor Monday, vowing to work with Cairo to "fight the scourge of terrorism."

"The United States strongly condemns today’s terrorist attack in Cairo that killed Egyptian Prosecutor-General Hisham Barakat and injured at least nine others," said National Security Council spokesman Ned Price.

The United States condemned "heinous attacks" in France, Kuwait and Tunisia on Friday but said it had seen no evidence that they were directly coordinated.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of these heinous attacks, their loved ones, and the people of all three countries," the White House said.

The United States will provide $360 million in "life-saving assistance" to victims of the Syrian civil war, the State Department said Thursday, bringing its total to $4 billion since the fighting began.

The money will partly support various United Nations programs and other non-governmental organizations in Syria, where more than 230,000 people have died since the conflict erupted with anti-government demonstrations in March 2011.

The State Department acknowledged Thursday it could not find any record of part or all of 15 emails from Hillary Clinton dating from her time as secretary of state, copies of which have been given to U.S. lawmakers.

A stash of thousands of emails has been turned over to a congressional panel investigating the 2012 attack on a U.S. mission in Libya by longtime Clinton confidante and friend Sidney Blumenthal. 

The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a $612-billion defense policy bill, over White House objections, that allows lethal weapons for Ukraine, and virtually prevents President Barack Obama from closing the war-on-terror prison at Guantanamo.

The measure passed easily, 71 votes to 25. But significant battles lie ahead as Obama's Democrats, and the Republicans who control Congress, gear up for debates on spending bills including on defense for fiscal year 2016 which begins October 1.

A U.S. war veteran who climbed over the White House fence and made it into the presidential mansion armed with a knife was sentenced Tuesday to 17 months in prison and three years' probation.

Omar Gonzalez, who has had psychiatric problems since fighting in Iraq, got credit for time already spent in jail so he will only have to serve eight more months. 

The White House on Tuesday hailed the death of al-Qaida number two Nasir al-Wuhayshi was a "major blow" to the militant group and to its deadly Arabian Peninsula affiliate.

National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said U.S. intelligence had confirmed the much-hunted Yemeni militant's death.

The campaign logo is ready, so is the big speech, and his message is taking shape: Jeb Bush is about to join the crowded Republican field running for president in 2016.

Bush, 62, has run a de facto race for six months, raising money and increasing his travels, including a trip this week to Europe.