WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama, hoping to spur U.S. innovation in the explosive field of mobile communications, on Wednesday ordered all major federal agencies to make many more of their services available on mobile phones within the next year.

“Americans deserve a government that works for them anytime, anywhere, and on any device,” Obama said in a statement.

His administration is eager to hasten government adoption of new technology since showing itself to be highly tech-savvy after running a 2008 election campaign that was widely praised for the innovative way it used the Internet and social media.

Analysts welcomed the move, but voiced scepticism it could be effective unless Obama also freed up more government broadband spectrum to the private sector.

“American citizens won’t be better served by government technology and digital services unless more government spectrum is made available to enable these technologies and services,” said Mobile Future Chairman Jonathan Spalter.

His coalition includes AT&T Inc, Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile, Cisco Systems Inc and Qualcomm Inc .

The presidential order tells each agency to make at least two services relied upon by the public available on mobile phones within 12 months.

JOPLIN, Missouri (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Monday praised the community spirit that helped a small town overcome devastating loss as he marked the anniversary of the most deadly U.S. tornado in six decades.

Recalling the kindness of strangers shown Joplin, Missouri, after the tornado killed 161 people a few hours after Joplin High School seniors had attended their graduation ceremony, Obama said the outpouring of help was a source of national inspiration.

“Just as you have learned the goodness of people, so have you learned the power of community,” he told Joplin High School’s graduating class of 2012. “We can define our own lives not by what happens to us but by how we respond.”

Landing in rural Missouri after hosting back-to-back summits of NATO in Chicago and the Group of Eight at Camp David in Maryland, a broadly smiling Obama greeted graduating students, and then reminded them of two classmates killed by the tornado.

“It took Will Norton, who had just left this auditorium with a diploma in his hand. It took Lantz Hare, who should’ve received his diploma next year,” said Obama, who visited a few days after the tornado hit and returned to hail the town’s recovery.

Joplin is still rebuilding from the tornado that was up to three-quarters of a mile wide and stayed on the ground for 32 minutes and 13 miles. The old school has been demolished and students took classes in a shopping mall.

Generous donations, including from movie stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, a Missouri native, came from across the country and around the world.

CHICAGO, May 21 (Reuters) – NATO leaders sealed a landmark agreement on Monday to hand control of Afghanistan over to its own security forces by the middle of next year, putting the Western alliance on an “irreversible” path out of an unpopular, decade-long war.

A NATO summit in Chicago formally committed to a U.S.-backed strategy that calls for a gradual exit of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014 but left major questions unanswered about how to prevent a slide into chaos and a Taliban resurgence after the allies are gone.

The two-day meeting of the 28-nation alliance marked a milestone in a war sparked by the Sept. 11 attacks that has spanned three U.S. presidential terms and even outlasted al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

President Barack Obama and NATO partners sought to show their war-weary voters the end is in sight in Afghanistan – a conflict that has strained Western budgets as well as patience - while at the same time trying to reassure Afghans that they will not be abandoned.

Alliance leaders acquiesced to new French President Francois Hollande’s insistence on sticking to his campaign pledge to withdraw French troops by Dec. 31, two years ahead of NATO’s timetable. While there was no sign this would send other allies rushing for the exits, leaders could face pressures at home.

“Our nations and the world have a vital interest in the success of this mission,” Obama told a summit session on Afghanistan. “I am confident … that we can advance that goal today and responsibly bring this war to an end.”

The summit’s final communique ratified plans for the NATO-led army to hand over command of all combat missions to Afghan forces by the middle of 2013 and for the withdrawal of most of the 130,000 foreign troops by the end of 2014.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – NATO leaders sealed a landmark agreement on Monday to hand control of Afghanistan over to its own security forces by the middle of next year, putting the Western alliance on an “irreversible” path out of an unpopular, decade-long war.

A NATO summit in Chicago formally committed to a U.S.-backed strategy that calls for a gradual exit of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014 but left major questions unanswered about how to prevent a slide into chaos and a Taliban resurgence after the allies are gone.

The two-day meeting of the 28-nation alliance marked a milestone in a war sparked by the September 11 attacks that has spanned three U.S. presidential terms and even outlasted al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

President Barack Obama and NATO partners sought to show their war-weary voters the end is in sight in Afghanistan – a conflict that has strained Western budgets as well as patience – while at the same time trying to reassure Afghans that they will not be abandoned.

Alliance leaders acquiesced to new French President Francois Hollande’s insistence on sticking to his campaign pledge to withdraw French troops by December 31, two years ahead of NATO’s timetable. While there was no sign this would send other allies rushing for the exits, leaders could face pressures at home.

“Our nations and the world have a vital interest in the success of this mission,” Obama told a summit session on Afghanistan. “I am confident … that we can advance that goal today and responsibly bring this war to an end.”

The summit’s final communiqué ratified plans for the NATO-led army to hand over command of all combat missions to Afghan forces by the middle of 2013 and for the withdrawal of most of the 130,000 foreign troops by the end of 2014.

WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama pressed Europe on Friday to shift toward a more pro-growth policy and away from austerity to tackle a crisis that threatens to push Greece out of the euro zone and send economic shockwaves worldwide.

Setting the tone for a weekend G8 summit, Obama made clear he was aligning himself with the new French president’s drive for more economic stimulus in the recession-plagued euro zone instead of emphasizing belt-tightening programs spearheaded by Germany.

Obama’s stance reflects his worries that the euro zone contagion, which threatens the future of Europe’s 17-nation single currency, could hurt the fragile U.S. economic recovery and his own re-election chances in November.

After White House talks with French President Francois Hollande, Obama said the two agreed that tackling the euro-zone crisis was “an issue of extraordinary importance, not only to the people of Europe, but also to the world economy.”

“We’re looking forward to a fruitful discussion later this evening and tomorrow with the other G8 leaders about how we can manage a responsible approach to fiscal consolidation that is coupled with a strong growth agenda,” Obama told reporters before heading to Camp David to host the summit’s opening dinner.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has insisted on the need for tough fiscal discipline to bring down suffocating debt levels across the euro zone, could find herself increasingly alone when leaders gather at the rustic presidential retreat in Maryland.

Reflecting growing frustration as Greece’s post-election turmoil shakes global markets, British Prime Minister David Cameron called on euro members for decisive action and said the Greeks must “make their minds up” whether to stay in the euro.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, concerned by his portrayal in U.S. media as an autocratic leader intent on consolidating power, has invited several influential Washington scholars to Baghdad to meet his team next week.

The rare invitation was extended to Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution, Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institution and Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group, Reuters has learned.

“I think it a very smart and constructive step on his part,” said Pollack, a former CIA military analyst who served in President Bill Clinton’s White House and also authored an influential book backing the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Maliki’s opponents have accused the Shi’ite leader of amassing power they fear will restore the dictatorship toppled by the United States when it felled Saddam Hussein.

Iraqi officials said the idea behind inviting the scholars was to put out Baghdad’s side of the story and respond to a “deliberate distortion of reality” being promoted by Maliki’s opponents.

“He feels that there is an increasing hostile activity against Iraq and the Iraqi government that attempts to give an unfavorable and negative picture about the situation in Iraq,” said Ali Al-Mussawi, chief media adviser to the prime minister, responding to an enquiry made to Iraq’s embassy in Washington.

President Barack Obama’s decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of last year is blamed by critics for a political crisis that erupted as soon as they left and has raised fears the country could tip back into civil war.

WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama pressed Europe on Friday to shift toward a more pro-growth policy and away from austerity to tackle a crisis that threatens to push Greece out of the euro zone and send economic shockwaves worldwide.

Setting the tone for a weekend G8 summit, Obama made clear he was aligning himself with the new French president’s drive for more economic stimulus in the recession-plagued euro zone instead of emphasizing belt-tightening programs spearheaded by Germany.

Obama’s stance reflects his worries that the euro zone contagion, which threatens the future of the single currency, could hurt the fragile U.S. economic recovery and his own re-election chances in November.

After White House talks with French President Francois Hollande, Obama said the two agreed that tackling the euro-zone crisis was “an issue of extraordinary importance, not only to the people of Europe, but also to the world economy.”

“We’re looking forward to a fruitful discussion later this evening and tomorrow with the other G8 leaders about how we can manage a responsible approach to fiscal consolidation that is coupled with a strong growth agenda,” Obama told reporters.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has insisted on the need for tough fiscal discipline to bring down suffocating debt levels across the euro zone, could find herself increasingly alone at the summit at Camp David in Maryland.

When G8 leaders gather at the presidential retreat starting with a working dinner on Friday, British Prime Minister David Cameron, who has been increasingly vocal in urging Europe to do more to resolve the debt crisis, will insist they must work together to stop it from spreading worldwide, an aide said.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s campaign released a video on Monday calling Mitt Romney’s private equity firm a job-killing “vampire” that ran a steel mill into the ground, signaling a new effort to carve into Romney’s image of corporate success.

The Obama campaign’s six-minute video – a shorter version of which will air on TV stations in the key states of Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Colorado – came on a day in which the president’s team sought to draw dramatic contrasts between Obama and Romney, the presumed Republican nominee for president.

Two days after Romney tried to woo conservative evangelical Christians in a commencement speech at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, Obama spoke at a women’s college in New York City and urged the graduates to fight for a more equitable and tolerant nation.

“Fight not just for a seat at the table,” Obama said, noting that women now make up nearly half the work force and have moved into leadership positions in many companies. “Fight for a seat at the head of the table.”

Later, the Democratic president attended two fundraisers in New York, including one with supporters from the gay community, co-hosted by openly gay singer Ricky Martin.

The fundraiser was held less than a week after Obama announced that he supported same-sex marriages, a move that thrilled the gay and lesbian community but may not play as well with independent voters whose support will be crucial for Obama in the November 6 election.

“We have never gone wrong when we expanded rights and responsibilities to everybody. That doesn’t weaken families, that strengthens families,” Obama said to applause.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Kathleen and Brett Sache are building a six-bedroom, six-bathroom home of their dreams in a sought-after corner of northern Virginia after taking encouragement from a robust local market.

Their confidence was rewarded when their old house sold in just five weeks, allowing them to purchase a plot of almost two acres (0.8 hectare) in Vienna, Virginia, where they are breaking ground this month on a property they hope to live in for the next 30 years.

“We would not have put in a contract to build had we not been confident we could sell our current home,” said Kathleen Sache, a physician who voted Republican in the 2008 presidential election but would not say who she supports this time around.

The November 6 U.S. presidential election between President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican challenger Mitt Romney may be decided by a small number of “swing” states – those that could go to either man – where the health of the housing market looms large for voters as they weigh their choice.

A Reuters examination of the latest housing data in 10 states that may determine the election’s outcome shows signs of hope in even the most battered real estate markets, notably Florida, with some other key battlegrounds doing much better.

In addition to Florida, the other states were: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The recovery in home prices in battleground states is good news for the Democratic president as he stays barely ahead of Romney in national opinion polls.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has pulled out of this month’s Group of Eight summit in Maryland and will send Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in his place, the White House said on Wednesday.

Putin, who took the oath as Russia’s president on Monday, informed President Barack Obama of his decision during a telephone call, citing the need to stay in Moscow to finalize appointments to his cabinet. Instead, the two leaders agreed to meet in Mexico in June.

The May 18-19 gathering of the G8 at Camp David, the rustic presidential retreat in the Maryland countryside north of Washington, had been seen as an excellent chance for Obama and Putin to get to know each other.

A White House meeting between Putin and Obama right before Camp David had also been greatly anticipated, after the U.S. president was recently caught on camera confiding in Medvedev that he would have more “flexibility” to tackle issues like missile defenses after the U.S. election on November 6.

Medvedev was overheard on an open microphone telling Obama that he would “transmit this information to Vladimir.”

Seizing the chance to cast the U.S. president as weak on foreign policy in an election year, Republicans said that Obama was more or less signaling that he would cave into the anti-missile-defense demands of Putin.

They view Putin as a hard-line rival of the United States and a tougher proposition for Washington than Medvedev, whom he replaced as president after previously holding the office from 2000 to 2008.