BARACK OBAMA

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said on Monday the Senate's sweeping healthcare reform bill would include a government-run insurance plan that lets states opt out of participation if they choose.

The Obama administration within days will move to get tougher with large financial firms that are in trouble by urging Congress to let the government seize control, wipe out shareholders, boot management and restructure debts, an administration official said on Monday.

President Barack Obama will announce the largest investment of economic stimulus funds in clean energy during a visit to Florida, an Obama administration official said on Monday.

When it comes to borrowing trillions of dollars, it helps to have a golden reputation, a steady income stream, and plenty of rich, trusting friends.

Senate Democratic leaders are close to securing enough votes to advance a sweeping healthcare reform backed by President Barack Obama, a top Senate Democrat said on Sunday, adding that it likely would include a national health plan that would allow states the option of dropping out.

The U.S. healthcare system is just as wasteful as President Barack Obama says it is, and proposed reforms could be paid for by fixing some of the most obvious inefficiencies, preventing mistakes and fighting fraud, according to a Thomson Reuters report released on Monday.

Democratic leaders moved on Friday to build support among the elderly for a massive overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, saying the measure would immediately start closing a gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage.

President Barack Obama has declared 2009 H1N1 swine flu a national emergency, the White House said on Saturday.

Health Care Waste; ING's Split; Rethinking the Movie Business

President Hamid Karzai's rival in a November 7 run-off presidential vote demanded on Monday that Afghanistan's chief election official be sacked, laying out a ultimatum that could complicate the pre-election process.

Afghan police fired into the air on Sunday to break up a protest by thousands of people who had gathered in the capital, Kabul, to protest against what they said was the desecration of a copy of the Koran by foreign troops.

The Taliban called on Afghans on Saturday to boycott next month's presidential election run-off and vowed to disrupt voting in a repeat of their threat to derail the disputed first round.

Health reform negotiations have moved behind closed doors in Congress, but chances are high that a bill will pass this year -- even if it doesn't do all that much to revamp the nation's swelling $2.5 trillion health care system.

President Barack Obama said on Friday he saw consensus building in the U.S. Congress on climate change and energy legislation that is considered critical to international talks on a new global warming pact.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives struggled on Friday to agree on which version of a government-run health insurance plan to include in a reform bill, but said one was certain to be in the final legislation.

Renewed talks to resolve Honduras' deep political crisis collapsed on Friday over whether leftist President Manuel Zelaya could return to power after he was toppled in a June coup.

Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai said he wanted a better and cleaner presidential election run-off in November to bring stability at a time when Taliban violence is at its worst in eight years of war.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, made the fifth phone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday. President Hu expressed his confidence that a positive outcome at the upcoming Copenhagen world climate summit in December could be provided improvement in bilateral relations and faced the weather pattern challenge.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said on Friday there was no need to rush a decision that could stall a realignment of U.S. troops in the country, as tension grows over an issue that could fray ties with Washington.

NATO ministers agreed on Friday on the need to boost training of Afghan forces to allow them eventually to take over from international troops and to insist on higher standards from the next Afghan government.

The U.S. pay czar on Thursday slashed compensation for top earners at seven bailed-out companies for the final two months of the year, and was immediately slammed by the country's largest bank which claimed the cuts could send talent fleeing.