The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday upheld the power of law enforcement officers to take DNA samples from suspects of serious crimes, saying it's no different than fingerprinting or mug shots.

In a 5-4 decision, the highest court in the nation reinstated the 2003 rape conviction of a Maryland man that hinged on DNA collected when he was taken into custody in an unrelated assault case six years later.

Iran last year boosted its support for global terrorism to levels not seen for two decades, the Obama administration said Thursday as it released its annual report on international trends in extremist violence. The report said the core elements of al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan are headed for defeat but stressed that the network's various affiliates remain severe threats to the U.S.

The State Department's "Country Reports on Terrorism" for 2012 left unchanged the U.S. list of "state sponsors of terrorism." Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria remain on that blacklist, although Iran was singled out as the worst offender and Syria was taken to task for the ongoing brutal crackdown on opponents of President Bashar Assad's regime.

Israel's decision to build 1,000 new settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem is "destroying" efforts by Washington's top diplomat to revive the peace process, a Palestinian official said on Thursday.

"We consider the recent decision of the Israeli government to build a thousand homes in east Jerusalem as effectively destroying the efforts of (U.S. Secretary of State) Kerry," top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told Agence France Presse.

The U.S. State Department insisted Wednesday that its Syria envoy Robert Ford was keeping his post, including talks with the opposition, despite reports of his impending resignation.

"Ambassador Ford is in Istanbul right now and continues (Secretary of State John Kerry's) urgent work on behalf of the Syrian people every single day," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday condemned the killing of a British soldier in London by two suspected Islamic extremists as "appalling" and "horrific."

"The United States stands resolute with the United Kingdom, our ally and friend, against violent extremism and terror," Obama said in a written statement.

The United States on Tuesday condemned Iran's disqualification of hundreds of would-be presidential candidates, accusing the "unaccountable" clerical leadership of seeking to tighten its grip on power.

"It appears that Iran's unelected Guardian Council, which is unaccountable to the Iranian people, has disqualified hundreds of potential candidates based on vague criteria," State Department deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.

The United States on Thursday blacklisted the leader of the militant Al-Nusra Front fighting the Syrian regime, as well as four top Syrian government officials, including the defense minister.

Al-Nusra's chief Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani was designated a global terrorist by the U.S. State Department, which said he had been tasked by al-Qaida in Iraq with installing Islamic sharia law across Syria.

A U.S. government witness protection program lost track of two former informants tied to terrorist groups and both are now believed to have now left the country, a report revealed Thursday.

A summary of findings released by the Office of the Inspector General found a number of "deficiencies" and "national security vulnerabilities" arising from the management of the witness protection program known as WITSEC.

The Syrian regime and its allies will refuse any "dictate" at an international peace conference, particularly concerning the departure of President Bashar Assad, a minister said.

The Syrian opposition and several of its allies have repeatedly demanded the departure of Assad in order to end the bloody conflict roiling Syria for more than two years.

Seeking to quell a growing scandal, President Barack Obama said Monday it would be "outrageous" if U.S. tax authorities targeted conservative groups fiercely opposed to his White House.

As he battled growing political woes, Obama also denied his White House had engaged in a cover-up to downplay the impact to his re-election campaign of the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi last year, which killed four Americans.