Obama to offer Clinton top job

Barack Obama is "on track" to nominate Hillary Clinton to become his secretary of state, according to reports in the US media which suggested the appointment would be announced within a week. It had been rumoured earlier in the week that Obama was planning to offer the job to Clinton, but there had been no official comment.

According to the source, Bill Clinton had to agree to allow an ethics review of the dozens of charities he runs in order to ensure that his wife would not face any conflict of interest as secretary of state.

Ms Clinton and Obama were fierce rivals for the Democrat presidential nomination, but after she lost out to Obama, Clinton entreated her supporters to vote for him.

On Tuesday, Obama yesterday pledged to open a "new chapter in America's leadership on climate change", speaking at an environmental summit organised by Californian governor Arnold Schwarzenegger via video link.