BARACK OBAMA

The U.S. economy has begun to climb out of the worst downturn since the 1930 Great Depression but still needs additional steps by the federal government to stem a crisis in the job market, a senior economic adviser to President Barack Obama said on Sunday.

President Barack Obama on Saturday called for swift Senate action on a sweeping overhaul of Wall Street rules to secure America's economic future as a reform bill moves into the decisive stage next week.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc and a consortium of other top banks are part of an effort to save ShoreBank Corp, a Chicago bank with Washington ties, a community activist close to the institution said on Friday.

Beijing could have another window of opportunity over the next few days to make its long-awaited move on the yuan, in the wake of strong Chinese data and ahead of a Sino-U.S. summit.

The Senate on Thursday voted to limit fees charged on credit and debit card transactions, and separately moved to overhaul the credit-rating business as part of a widening Wall Street reform bill.

The Senate on Thursday took steps to overhaul the credit-rating agency business, widely maligned for its role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis, and opening it up to greater competition.

The number of workers filing for jobless benefits fell only slightly last week, suggesting the unemployment rate will remain elevated even as recovery in the labor market builds steam.

The Senate approved two amendments to a landmark Wall Street reform bill on Thursday that would shake-up the credit rating agency business, widely maligned for its role in the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

(Reuters) - The Obama administration has urged a court to reject an attempt to block a controversial new law overhauling the U.S. healthcare system, saying it was constitutional and any challenge was premature.

The Federal Reserve scored a victory and mortgage bankers suffered a defeat on Wednesday as the Senate took aim at bank supervision and housing finance in its sprawling Wall Street reform effort.

Spain belatedly joined the euro zone's austerity bandwagon Wednesday in response to a widening debt crisis as the European Commission sought an unprecedented right of prior review of national budgets.

The Federal Reserve scored a victory and mortgage bankers suffered a defeat on Wednesday as the U.S. Senate took aim at bank supervision and housing finance in its sprawling Wall Street reform effort.

(Reuters) - First lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday unveiled a 70-point plan for reducing childhood obesity within a generation, including a call for marketing healthier food, but stopping short of recommending regulatory action or a federal tax on sugary sodas.

Top oil executives faced a second day of grilling on Wednesday by U.S. lawmakers over a gushing well leak in the Gulf of Mexico as BP scrambled with its latest deep-sea effort to control the huge spill that threatens environmental disaster.

Spain became the latest euro zone country to announce sweeping austerity measures on Wednesday as the executive European Commission sought unprecedented power to pre-vet national budgets.

Top oil executives face a second day of grilling by U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday over a deadly well rupture that unleashed a huge oil slick and the specter of environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Senate on Tuesday challenged the Federal Reserve's tradition of secrecy but postponed an overhaul of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under a massive reform of banking regulations.

A $1 trillion emergency package to stabilize the euro zone unleashed a spectacular rally in world stocks on Monday but the euro wiped out initial gains as worries about the region's debt problems persisted.

U.S. President Barack Obama and his team have been in close contact with their counterparts abroad on the European debt crisis, the White House said on Monday. The president and his economic team have been following and have been engaged in this situation for quite some time, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.

The huge slick from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill threatened Louisiana shores west of the Mississippi Delta on Monday as BP Plc said it was trying multiple options to control the leak, without being sure that they would work.

BP Plc said on Monday it had incurred $350 million in costs so far from the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as fears mounted of a prolonged and growing environmental and economic disaster.