BARACK OBAMA

(In Feb 1 story, corrects $159 million to billion in first paragraph, and corrects name of defense secretary in paragraph 6)

President Barack Obama will propose on Tuesday using $30 billion from the TARP bank bailout program for a small business lending fund to try to spur job growth in a critical sector of the U.S. economy.

China said a possible meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama would further hurt Sino-U.S. relations, and vowed to go ahead with sanctions against U.S. companies selling arms to Taiwan.

President Barack Obama will travel to Indonesia with his family next month, returning to the country where he spent four years as a child, the White House said on Monday.

President Barack Obama asked Congress to approve a record $708 billion in defence spending for fiscal 2011, but vowed to continue his drive to eliminate unnecessary, wasteful weapons programs.

President Barack Obama participated in a YouTube interview at 1:45 p.m. on Monday to answer questions submitted by YouTube users during and after the State of the Union.

White House adviser Paul Volcker will urge Congress to curb the risks taken by large banks to help prevent them from being treated as too big to fail, according to testimony obtained by Reuters on Monday.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc is likely to slash its chief executive's bonus from the record $67.9 million he got two years ago, but Lloyd Blankfein's pay package could still fuel criticism the bank has been tone deaf in its approach to the financial crisis.

The Obama administration's plan to cut more than $1 trillion from the deficit over the next decade relies heavily on so-called backdoor tax increases that will result in a bigger tax bill for middle-class families.

U.S. manufacturing expanded in January at its fastest pace since 2004 but consumers increased their spending only slightly in December, worried by job prospects and the state of the economy.

President Barack Obama pledged on Monday to halve a record 2010 budget deficit by the end of his first term in office, but made tackling double-digit unemployment his immediate priority with a spending plan that risked public ire and a rough battle in Congress.

Citigroup Inc plans to sell or spin-off its $10 billion Citi Private Equity unit in order to cut its debt, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Oil rose over 2 percent on Monday as stronger U.S. manufacturing data prompted optimism about economic recovery and a weaker dollar helped boost crude demand after oil prices fell to five-week lows on Friday.

The Obama administration on Monday laid out credit provisions for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under its fiscal year 2011 budget proposal, but did not deliver a vision for the future of the money-losing mortgage finance giants.

Oil rose on Monday as stronger U.S. manufacturing data prompted optimism about economic recovery and a weaker dollar helped boost crude demand after oil prices fell to five-week lows on Friday.

Wall St rose on Monday after closing its worst month in almost a year as U.S. manufacturing expanded the most in six years and Exxon Mobil Corp beat earnings estimates.

(Corrects to show Morgan Stanley comment on Warner Chilcott in paragraph 11 refers to only one of the company's products)

President Barack Obama has called NASA to cancel the $100 billion program that was to return humans to the Moon by 2020, and focus instead on new space technologies.

President Barack Obama has sent Congress a multi-trillion-dollar spending plan on Monday boosting this year's federal deficit to a record-breaking $1.56 trillion.

President Barack Obama estimated on Monday that the Federal Communications Commission could get a $6.4 billion boost in the next 10 years from the use of airwaves.

JPMorgan Chase and Sempra Energy may carve up commodities venture RBS Sempra, people familiar with the matter said, as pressure on U.S. banks to limit proprietary trading forces JPMorgan to rethink its plans.