'24' to get new female president

A woman has been signed up to play the US President in the next series of 24, it has been confirmed.

Actress Cherry Jones will play President Allison Taylor in the seventh season of the Kiefer Sutherland thriller.

The Tony Award winner has appeared in Ocean's Twelve and the Perfect Storm and has starred on Broadway alongside Ralph Fiennes in The Faith Healer.

The next season of 24 will air in the US from January.