US: She is now "Madam Secretary". Ms Condoleezza Rice, a classical pianist and fluent Russian speaker who experienced racism as a child, was last night sworn in as the first woman African American Secretary of State in the US.
The Senate voted yesterday by 85 to 13 to confirm Ms Rice, who succeeds Mr Colin Powell as America's top diplomat.
The opposition was led by a group of Democrats who said she misled the country over the reasons for invading Iraq, but 30 Democrats voted for her. Also yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8 along partisan lines to approve Mr Alberto Gonzales as attorney general and he is expected to be confirmed by the Republican-dominated Senate next week.
Democrats accused Mr Gonzales of being evasive in his answers to questions about White House policies on interrogation techniques and torture. They used the two nominations to accuse the administration of misleading the country in the run-up to the Iraq war and of creating the conditions where detainees were mistreated by US forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"Based on the glimpses of secret policy formulations and legal rationales that have come to light, I believe his judgments not to have been sound," said Senator Patrick Leahy.
In defence of Mr Gonzales, Republican Senator Jon Kyl said most of the allegations of ill-treatment had nothing to do with him." Republican Senator John Cornyn accused Democrats of political theatre, delays and attempts to obstruct an "outstanding nomination".
Senate debate on Ms Rice continued yesterday morning before the roll call in which 12 Democrats and independent Senator James Jeffords of Vermont voted against her. The list of "No" votes included former presidential candidate John Kerry and Senator Edward Kennedy.
President Bush yesterday reacted angrily to the charge by a Senator on Tuesday that his outgoing national security adviser had lied to get public support for the war, telling reporters: "Condi Rice is a fine, fine public servant, greatly admired here in America and greatly admired around the world. And she will make a great secretary of state."
Ms Rice was raised in Montgomery, Alabama where a school friend was one of four children killed in a racist bombing of a black church. She is a former Provost of Stanford University. Her first foreign visit is likely to be to Europe, where she is remembered for saying during the Iraq UN vote that the US would forgive Russia, ignore Germany and punish France. Ms Rice said recently that relations with France had since improved.
She takes office at a time when Mr Bush is preparing for a summit in Brussels with the EU and NATO amid growing apprehensions in Europe that the US is moving towards confrontation with Iran. Ms Rice singled out Iran in her Senate committee hearing as a tyrannous country opposed to the existence of Israel.