Obama picks ambassador to Britain
The White House says President Barack Obama has picked the finance chairman for his re-election campaign to be the US ambassador to Britain.
Matthew Barzun, a business executive, has been confirmed by the Senate once before. He served as US ambassador to Sweden until 2011, when he took the position as Mr Obama's finance chairman.
The White House says Mr Obama is also nominating John Phillips, a lawyer who raised more than £336,000 for the president's 2012 campaign, to be the US envoy to Italy and the Republic of San Marino.
He is currently the chairman of Mr Obama's commission that selects candidates to be White House Fellows.
John Hoover, a veteran US diplomat who served in Africa, Asia and Europe, is Mr Obama's pick for Sierra Leone.