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Obama refocuses on budget, wants priorities passed

President Barack Obama, left, and first lady Michelle Obama, right, walk across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, before their departure Marine One, Saturday, March 21, 2009.(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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AP - 1 hour, 14 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama demanded Saturday that any budget passed by Congress must cut the deficit, overhaul health care, invest in education and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

  • In this image from NASA TV, international crew members, from left, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov, American commander Lee Archambault and American astronaut Sandy Magnus participate in an interview while orbiting Earth, Friday, March 20, 2009. (AP Photo/NASA TV)
    Astronauts go on 2nd spacewalk at space station AP - 26 minutes ago

    CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Astronauts are out on another spacewalk at the international space station.

  • In this March 16, 2009 file photo, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner makes remarks to small business owners, community lenders and members of Congress in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Geithner is putting the finishing touches on a plan to get toxic assets off the books of the country's struggling banks, according to administration and industry officials. The plan could be announced as soon as Monday (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, File)
    Toxic asset plan expected to be unveiled soon AP - 2 hours, 1 minute ago

    WASHINGTON - The Obama administration, hoping to ease borrowing for families and businesses, has put together a new plan to attack a mountain of toxic assets that are keeping banks from lending more.

  • US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (R) speaks as British Foreign Secretary David Miliband (L) listens during a photo-op at the State Department in Washington, DC. Miliband said that US President Barack Obama's administration is serious about cooperating with its allies on Afghanistan.(AFP/Getty Images/Alex Wong)
    Now showing at Supreme Court: 'Hillary: The Movie' AP - Sat Mar 21, 10:00 AM ET

    WASHINGTON - Months after its debut, "Hillary: The Movie" faces nine of the nation's toughest critics: the Supreme Court.

  • Liam Neeson, left, embraces an unidentified man after exiting the American Irish Historical Society where the body of Neeson's wife, Natasha Richardson, was lying in repose, Friday March 20, 2009 in New York. Richardson died Wednesday after suffering a head injury while at a Canadian ski resort. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)
    Doctor: Lack of medical helicopter cost Richardson AP - Sat Mar 21, 10:07 AM ET

    NEW YORK - As a steady stream of celebrities pay their last respects to Natasha Richardson, questions are arising over whether a medical helicopter might have been able to save the ailing actress.

  • In this Oct. 9, 2006 file photo, two North Korean soldiers patrol on the Yalu river at the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandon. Two American journalists were missing Friday, March 20, 2009, after they reportedly were detained by North Korea for ignoring warnings to stop shooting footage of the reclusive country. Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore's online media outlet Current TV, were seized Tuesday along the Chinese-North Korean border, according to news reports and an activist who had worked with them. (AP Photo/Greg Baker, File)
    NKorea: 2 US reporters held for crossing border AP - 1 hour, 28 minutes ago

    SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea confirmed Saturday that it has detained two American journalists and accused them of illegally entering its territory from China.

  • Treasury has three-part plan for toxic assets Reuters - 1 hour, 15 minutes ago

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department is likely to unveil as soon as next week a three-part plan to relieve the U.S. financial system of the toxic assets that have been clogging up the banks' balance sheets, a source familiar with the plan said on Saturday.

  • AIG bonus payments $218 million Reuters - 1 hour, 50 minutes ago

    CHICAGO (Reuters) - Documents turned over to the Connecticut attorney general show that American International Group Inc paid out over $218 million in bonuses, more than the previously disclosed $165 million, published reports said on Saturday.

  • Washington Mutual sues FDIC for over $13 billion Reuters - 6 minutes ago

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Washington Mutual Inc, the failed U.S. savings and loan, has sued the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp for well over $13 billion in connection with the loss of its banking operations, which was acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

  • Iran to U.S.: "You change, our behavior will change" Reuters - 2 hours, 56 minutes ago

    TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday U.S. President Barack Obama's offer of better ties was just a "slogan," but pledged Tehran would respond to any real policy shift by Washington.

  • U.S. close to announcing bank rescue plan: report Reuters - Fri Mar 20, 10:20 PM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. government will announce as soon as Monday a long-awaited plan to try to get bad assets off the books of banks, a cornerstone of its efforts to tackle the credit crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported.

  • U.S. backs Danish PM as next NATO chief: diplomats Reuters - 8 minutes ago

    BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States has told NATO allies it will back Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the next head of the alliance, NATO diplomats and a U.S. source said on Saturday.

  • U.S. hands almost all Sunni guards to Iraqi control Reuters - 1 hour, 19 minutes ago

    BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Almost 90 percent of the tens of thousands of U.S.-backed fighters who helped purge much of Iraq of al Qaeda have been transferred to Iraqi control, the U.S. commander in charge of their program said Saturday.

  • U.S. plans major Afghan police boost: Holbrooke Reuters - Sat Mar 21, 10:50 AM ET

    BRUSSELS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama plans a significant increase in the size of the Afghan police force, U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said on Saturday.

  • US President Barack Obama speaks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House in Washington, DC. Iran on Friday welcomed US President Barack Obama's olive branch to Tehran but urged him to take concrete steps to repair mistakes that have frozen ties between the two nations for three decades.(AFP/Saul Loeb)
    Iran welcomes Obama appeal but wants action AFP - Fri Mar 20, 4:46 PM ET

    TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran on Friday welcomed US President Barack Obama's olive branch to Tehran but urged him to take concrete steps to repair mistakes that have frozen ties between the two nations for three decades.

  • Afghan border policeman stand guard in front of the Hazrat Ali Shrine in the northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh province. A wave of clashes in Afghanistan killed 70 people, including nearly 20 police Friday, officials said, as the country welcomed in its New Year amid alarm about a mounting Taliban-led insurgency.(AFP/Shah Marai)
    Afghanistan unrest kills more than 70: officials AFP - Fri Mar 20, 6:47 PM ET

    KABUL (AFP) - A wave of clashes in Afghanistan killed more than 70 people, including 18 policemen and four Canadian soldiers Friday, officials said, amid alarm about the country's mounting Taliban-led insurgency.

  • Pope Benedict XVI (L) is welcomed by Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos (R) on his arrival in Luanda. The Pope urged Angola's oil-rich government to do more to fight poverty as he arrived Friday on the last stop of an African tour overshadowed by his rejection of condoms in AIDS prevention.(AFP/Gianluigi Guercia)
    Pope urges Angola to fight poverty, corruption AFP - Fri Mar 20, 4:28 PM ET

    LUANDA (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI urged Angola's oil-rich government to do more to fight poverty and graft as he arrived Friday on the last stop of an African tour overshadowed by his denunciation of condoms.

  • The United States on Friday called the rise to power of Madagascar new president Andry Rajoelina, seen here on March 18 , 2009, rise to power a "coup d'etat" and suspended its non-humanitarian aid to Antananarivo.(AFP/File/Alexander Joe)
    Madagascar faces diplomatic isolation after 'coup' AFP - Fri Mar 20, 12:34 PM ET

    ANTANANARIVO (AFP) - Madagascar faced international isolation Friday as the African Union suspended its membership and threatened sanctions, while the United States, France and Germany rallied behind the deposed president.

  • Chinese cyclists passes through thick pollution from a factory in Yutian, 2006. EU leaders refused Friday to put a figure on aid for developing nations to cut greenhouse gases, saying they wanted to wait to see what the United States, China and others have to offer.(AFP/File/Peter Parks)
    EU fails to commit to climate change aid AFP - Fri Mar 20, 12:30 PM ET

    BRUSSELS (AFP) - EU leaders refused Friday to put a figure on aid for developing nations to cut greenhouse gases, saying they wanted to wait to see what the United States, China and others have to offer.

  • European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso gives a press conference after a Tripartite Social Summit ahead of a European Council summit in Brussels. EU leaders pledged 125 billion euros on Friday to support for eastern Europe and the IMF after rejecting calls to plough more taxpayer cash into their own faltering economies.(AFP/Dominique Faget)
    EU leaders promise billions for eastern Europe, IMF AFP - Fri Mar 20, 12:46 PM ET

    BRUSSELS (AFP) - EU leaders pledged 125 billion euros on Friday to support for eastern Europe and the IMF after rejecting calls to plough more taxpayer cash into their own faltering economies.

  • Workers present a new model of a Renault Twingo at the end of the production line at the Revoz factory in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, in 2007. Renault said Friday it is shifting a production line from Slovenia to Paris to meet a jump in demand and denied the move was linked to a pledge to keep jobs in France in exchange for state aid.(AFP/File/Hrvoje Polan)
    Renault to bring home Slovenia production line AFP - Fri Mar 20, 12:10 PM ET

    PARIS (AFP) - Carmaker Renault said Friday it is shifting a production line from Slovenia to Paris to meet a jump in demand and denied the move was linked to a pledge to keep jobs in France in exchange for state aid.

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  • US President Barack Obama speaks after receiving the economic daily briefing with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner March 11, 2009 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. Obama declared war on lawmakers who stuff bills with expensive pet projects, despite defying Republican veto demands by signing a measure packed with thousands of them.(AFP/Mandel Ngan)
    Cries for Help in Obama's Mailbox U.S. News & World Report - Wed Mar 18, 4:58 PM ET

    Every weekday, President Obama sits behind his big desk in the Oval Office or settles into a comfortable chair in his East Wing residence and opens a purple folder containing some very important material--10 letters from the outside world. The correspondence is chosen by his staff as a sampling of the 40,000 letters he gets every day. The letters are selected to give him an idea of the public's cares, concerns, suggestions, and critiques of how he's doing.

  • What's Behind Obama's Plans to Visit Turkey U.S. News & World Report - Fri Mar 20, 4:33 PM ET

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  • Six years in Iraq: three American stories The Christian Science Monitor - Thu Mar 19, 5:00 AM ET

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