BARACK OBAMA

President Barack Obama said Saturday more time was needed for his $787 billion stimulus package to work, predicting the spending would have a bigger impact on the economy later this year.

U.S. President Barack Obama told Africans on Saturday that Western aid must be matched by good governance and urged them to take greater responsibility for stamping out war, corruption and disease plaguing the continent.

President Barack Obama in a response to criticism that his administration's $787 billion stimulus bill has failed to help pull the economy out of the recession said the Recovery Act has worked as intended.

U.S. President Barack Obama warned Iran on Friday the world will not wait indefinitely for it to end its nuclear defiance, saying Tehran had until September to comply or else face consequences.

The biggest U.S. banks, including Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp., JP Morgan Chase and Citibank announced plans to stop exchanging the registered warrants for cash after Friday.

A G8 summit made scant progress toward a new U.N. climate treaty due to be agreed in December with some nations back-pedaling on promises of new action even before the end of a meeting in Italy.

President Barack Obama made headlines on Friday after a photo of him at the G8 summit apparently showed the president looking at a junior delegate from Brazil Mayora Tavares.

U.S. President Barack Obama now is facing serious challenges over dealing with the settlement issues between Israel and Palestine.

G8 leaders pledged $20 billion (12.3 billion pounds) in farm aid to help poor nations feed themselves, surpassing expectations on the final day of a summit that has yielded little progress on climate change and trade.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev warned the United States Friday that if it did not reach agreement with Russia on plans for missile defense systems, Moscow would deploy rockets in an enclave near Poland.

U.S. President Barack Obama arrived at the Vatican on Friday for his first meeting with Pope Benedict and what the White House says will be frank discussions on issues they agree and disagree on.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday launched a robust defense of its independence and warned that efforts in Congress to put monetary policy under political sway would hurt the economy.

Real estate agent Lisa DeWaal serves coffee at a Starbucks outlet for four hours every morning before she goes to the office to start her

Another sign of easing recession, Fed defends independence, Citi's management shakeup

The U.S. Senate has delayed finishing writing its version of the climate bill until September. The Energy Information Administration said on its weekly report that U.S. inventories of natural gas rose 75 billion cubic feet. China will spend $5.6 billion (38 billion yuan) from the central state budget for energy efficiency projects for 2009.

Michael Jackson's tear jerking memorial was watched by over 31.1 million people across 18 U.S. TV networks and cable outlets, less than Obama's inauguration but about the same as 'American Idol'.

The program, which could be extended by lawmakers, is the latest of a variety of enticements offered to car buyers in the downturn.

The U.S. military on Thursday handed over to Iraqi authorities five Iranian officials it had detained in Iraq, and they would be transferred to Tehran shortly, Iraqi and Iranian officials said.

An explosion outside a school south of the Afghan capital on Thursday killed at least 25 people, including 15 students, officials said, the worst toll from a single blast in a year.

U.S. President Barack Obama said at the G8 summit on Thursday there is still time to close the gap with developing powers on climate change, after the U.N. chief criticised the G8 for not going hard enough.

Leaders of the world's richest nations and major developing powers meet on Thursday to seek common ground on global warming and international trade, with the poorer countries seeking concessions.