POLITICS-US: Gaza War Lends Urgency to Obama’s Mideast Agenda

On Thursday, his second full day in office, Pres. Barack Obama took some bold steps that could have wide and positive repercussions in the Middle East.

U.S.: Obama Picks Israel-Arab, Afghanistan-Pakistan Negotiators

In his first major diplomatic moves since his inauguration, U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday named two accomplished negotiators, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and Amb. Richard Holbrooke, as special envoys to deal with the Israel-Arab conflict and "the deteriorating situation" in Afghanistan and Pakistan, respectively.

U.S.: Rights Groups Applaud Move to Halt Gitmo Trials

U.S. and international human rights groups Wednesday praised President Barack Obama's directive to immediately suspend the work of military commissions established by his predecessor, George W. Bush, to prosecute suspected terrorists at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and pressed for its earliest possible closure.

POLITICS-US: Obama and the Zelig Effect

President Barack Obama's inaugural address was in many respects an echo of his campaign rhetoric, offering nods to each side of the political divide in a way that elicited respectful praise from both sides but also deep uncertainty as to the speech's practical implications.

POLITICS-US: A Country United, at Least for a Moment

"I have never seen anything like this in my whole life," said Joseph Smith, 79, with tears of joy rolling down his dark, wrinkled cheeks as he watched Barack Obama being sworn in as the new U.S. president Tuesday. "This is unbelievable."

PAKISTAN: Obama Inauguration Brings Hope, Scepticism

As billions of people around the world tuned in to participate electronically in Barack Hussein Obama’s inauguration as the 44th President of the United States, the message of hope that he symbolised resonated with Pakistanis - though some shrugged it off as part of a system that is unlikely to change.

INDIA: ‘No Reason For Unease at Obama Presidency’

As much of the world jubilates in the swearing in of Barack Hussein Obama as the President of the United States of America, Indian diplomats are uneasy about what his presidency would entail for relations between the two countries.

U.S.: Obama Offers Internationalist Vision

Speaking before a record crowd estimated at between two and three million people at his inauguration here Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama promised a foreign policy of "humility and restraint" and "greater cooperation and understanding between nations".

CHINA/US: Obama Era May See More Trade Friction

China is entering the Obama era on a defensive note. Angered by U.S. charges that its glut of savings was the root cause for the global credit bubble, Beijing has chided Washington for being ungrateful and hinted at reviewing its long-standing policy of buying U.S. debt.

POLITICS: Not Just the U.S. Optimistic About Obama

Perhaps never in human history have the hopes of so many people for positive change in international relations rested on one person as they do on Barack Obama, who is to be inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States Tuesday at noon Washington time.

BRAZIL-US: Obama Feeds Hopes

Brazil expects its international standing to be bolstered by more cooperative relations with the United States under the presidency of Barack Obama, as well as a shift in Washington’s position on the issue of climate change and with respect to Cuba.

FINANCE-US: Treasury Nominee Failed to Halt Bond Scam

U.S. senators at Timothy Geithner's confirmation hearing for Treasury Secretary Wednesday may want to ask him about a failure to act that is costing the U.S. a lot more than the amount he evaded on taxes.

RIGHTS-US: After the Party, Obama Has One Long To-Do List

As an estimated two million celebrants converge on the U.S. capital for the inauguration festivities of President-elect Barack Obama Tuesday, the mood among human rights groups and some religious leaders is somewhat more sombre.

U.S.: Liberals, Realists Set to Clash in Obama Administration

Just as the foreign policy of U.S. President George W. Bush was characterised by a continuous battle for control between hawks led by Vice President Dick Cheney and realists based primarily in the State Department and intelligence community - and, in its last two years, the Pentagon - so the incoming administration may find itself split along ideological lines.

POLITICS-US: Bush’s Path from “Humility” to “Bring it On”

George W. Bush entered the White House in 2001 with the least foreign policy experience and the most modest foreign policy programme of any modern U.S. president.

MIDEAST: Syria Makes Its Mark on Regional Politics

The main artery of Damascus's famous covered souk (market) sports a giant red banner expressing - in Arabic and English - the disgust and anguish of a nearby private business for the Israeli military's attacks on Gaza.

POLITICS-US: The Youth Are Getting Restless

Young voters were an important factor in Barack Obama's victory last Nov. 4, but will their new political enthusiasm stand the test of time?

POLITICS-US: Vets Health System in Need of Triage

Eighteen U.S. veterans kill themselves every day. More veterans are committing suicide than are dying in combat overseas. One in every three homeless men in the United States has put on a uniform and served his country. On any given night, the U.S. government estimates 200,000 veterans sleep on the street.

US-CUBA: Obama Urged to Take Bold Steps Toward Normalisation

A broad spectrum of groups and individuals is urging President-elect Barack Obama to go beyond his campaign pledge to lift curbs on travel and remittances to their homeland by Cuban Americans and launch a much broader process of normalisation with Havana.

U.S.: Clinton Stresses “Cooperative Engagement”, “Smart Power”

In the first comprehensive statement of President-elect Barack Obama's foreign policy priorities, his nominee for secretary of state, Sen. Hillary Clinton, said "cooperative engagement" backed up by what she called "smart power" will define Washington's approach to the rest of the world.

RIGHTS-US: Fate of Guantanamo Detainees Still Murky

Human rights groups are hailing reports that President-elect Barack Obama plans to issue an executive order on his first full day in office directing the closing of the Guantánamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. But they are urging him to provide details on when and how it will be done and what will happen to those now imprisoned there.