BARACK OBAMA

President Barack Obama said on Saturday Iraq could chart its own course and told Americans the drawdown of U.S. troops helped fulfil a promise he made during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas every two weeks to improve the prospects of Middle East peace talks, a diplomatic source said on Friday.

U.S. economic growth likely was much weaker than initially thought between April and June, hurt by surging imports and as rebuilding of business inventories softened, a government report is expected to show on Friday.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday mocked rumours that he was suffering from cancer as wishful thinking by his squalid enemies.

U.S. economic growth likely was much weaker than initially thought between April and June, hurt by surging imports and as rebuilding of business inventories softened, a government report is expected to show on Friday.

New U.S. jobless claims fell more than expected last week but were too high to signal a shift in a weak labor market that is constraining economic growth.

New U.S. jobless claims fell more than expected last week but were too high to signal a shift in a weak labor market that is constraining economic growth.

Stunned and disappointed Obama administration officials said on Tuesday they would appeal a federal court ruling that temporarily barred federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

The White House is reviewing all options for responding to a court ruling stopping federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

President Barack Obama's administration asked U.S. doctors Monday to get on board with health reform legislation passed in March, saying those who embrace change will prosper.

Julia Wood, a 51-year-old mother of 12 from Chicago's East side, has some health insurance through a state program -- but is so worried she may lose it she asks not to give her real name.

The frail U.S. economy was dealt fresh setbacks as new U.S. jobless claims scaled a nine-month high last week and Mid-Atlantic factory activity contracted in August for the first time in more than a year.

India may shut down Google and Skype Internet-based messaging services over security concerns, the Financial Times reported on Friday, as the government threatened a similar crackdown on BlackBerry services.

India may shut down Google and Skype Internet-based messaging services over security concerns, the Financial Times reported on Friday, as the government threatened a similar crackdown on BlackBerry services.

Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday it had suspended auto exports to Iran indefinitely since June, amid growing international scrutiny of companies dealing with the country.

The U.S. tactic of pouring money into ailing financial firms during the 2007-09 crisis helped many foreign banks whose governments should have shared some of the burden, a report from a congressional watchdog agency said on Thursday.

Pessimism over the economy is rising and the grim mood could hurt both parties in the November 2 congressional elections, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday.

The economic recovery will fade as government supports dry up, and the Federal Reserve may need to do more to boost growth, economists said in a survey on Tuesday.

The U.S. economic recovery will fade as government supports dry up, and the Federal Reserve may need to do more to boost growth, economists said in a survey on Tuesday.

Mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB) on Monday said it would need another $1.8 billion in aid from taxpayers, bringing its total request since it was taken over by the government two years ago to more than $64 billion.

President Barack Obama reached out on Saturday to retired Americans, an important group of voters, touting a report that showed healthcare reform had brightened prospects for the Medicare hospital trust fund.