BARACK OBAMA

U.S. president Barack Obama said on Saturday he will take whatever necessary measures to prevent the flu outbreak and protect the safety and security of the American people.

The financial sector will make up a smaller part of the U.S. economy in the future as new regulations clamp down on massive risk-taking, President Barack Obama said in an interview published on Saturday.

Mexico's flu outbreak appeared to be stabilizing on Saturday but officials warned it was too early to ease vigilance against an unpredictable virus which still threatens a global pandemic.

Barack Obama is reveling in presidential power and influence unseen in Washington for decades.

The cybersecurity chief named to battle Internet viruses and larger challenges facing the information technology networks used by U.S. companies and national defense should be based in the White House, experts told a congressional panel on Friday.

U.S. consumers felt much more upbeat about the economy in April, a month when the country's battered manufacturing sector also appeared to be crawling out of a deep recessionary hole, reports showed on Friday.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will visit Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo during the week of May 18, focusing on a region that so far has not been high on the Obama administration's foreign policy agenda.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday she expected intense sessions when the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan come to Washington for three-nation talks next week.

U.S. consumers felt more confident about the economy last month than at any time since the September failure of Lehman Brothers that pushed global banking to the brink of collapse, a survey showed on Friday.

U.S. consumers felt much more upbeat about the economy in April, a month when the nation's manufacturing sector also appeared to be crawling out of a deep recessionary hole, reports showed on Friday.

Supreme Court Justice David Souter told the White House of his plans to retire in June, a source familiar with his plans said Thursday night, leaving the position open for President Obama to appoint his first Supreme Court justice.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Thursday derided U.S. steps toward improving relations with the communist island, saying the United States wants Cuba to act like a slave willing to accept again the whip and the yoke.

Taliban militants kidnapped 10 Pakistani paramilitaries in an attack on their headquarters on Friday as Islamic militants fought back against an army offensive in the troubled northwest.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter plans to retire, giving President Barack Obama his first chance to make an appointment to the nation's highest court, a government official said.

Chrysler LLC filed for bankruptcy on Thursday and announced an industry-changing deal with Fiat, after being pummeled by sliding auto sales and unable to reach agreement on restructuring its debt.

U.S. automaker Chrysler has filed for bankruptcy and entered an industry-changing deal with Italy's Fiat , in the latest big government intervention in the economy to try to deal with the global crisis.

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted on Thursday in favor of legislation to protect credit card users from hidden fees, sudden interest rate hikes and questionable billing practices.

A bill restricting credit card practices and sudden hikes in interest rates and late fees that have left millions of consumers swamped in debt was passed by the House on Thursday.

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved credit card legislation on Thursday aimed at protecting consumers from hidden fees and sudden interest rate hikes.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment aid fell unexpectedly last week, suggesting the pace of layoffs was easing, even as benefit rolls in mid-April swelled to another record high.

President Barack Obama shares his last name with Japan. Obama, in fact, has meaning in Japanese.