WASHINGTON, June 8 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama
said on Friday that European leaders face an “urgent need to
act” to resolve the region’s financial crisis as the threat of a
renewed recession there spells dangers for an anemic U.S.
recovery five months before elections.

Speaking a week after a dismal U.S. jobs report, Obama said
decisions about how to solve the euro zone crisis are
fundamentally in the hands of Europe’s leaders and that showing
political commitment will be a “strong step.”

WASHINGTON/LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid on Thursday offered a new way to avert by the end of this month a doubling of the 3.4 percent interest rate on federal student loans.

A Senate Republican leadership aide said the proposal would be reviewed and that it may represent progress toward ending an election-year standoff that has seen each side accuse the other of bargaining in bad faith.

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s Democrats traded shots with Republicans on Wednesday about how best to avoid a year-end “fiscal cliff,” as the administration insisted on the need to let tax cuts for wealthier Americans expire as scheduled on January 1.

The prospect of higher taxes and automatic spending cuts that kick in next year have spurred calls for Obama to temporarily extend all of the Bush-era tax breaks to coax Republicans into a sweeping debt deal, but the White House stood firm.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – As President Barack Obama began a West Coast fundraising tour to raise millions for his re-election campaign, Republicans seized on the glitzy events to paint him as out of touch with Americans struggling with economic distress.

Obama spoke with well-heeled donors at two events in San Francisco on Wednesday and was to fly later to Los Angeles to headline a Beverly Hills gala with gay and lesbian activists.

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) – President Barack Obama continues to oppose extending Bush-era tax cuts for wealthier Americans, the White House said on Wednesday, shrugging off calls for a temporary extension to allow more time for a deal on deficits.

“President Obama has been clear about his position and it has not changed,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters traveling with Obama to California. “We should not extend and he will not extend the … Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of the American people.”

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 endorsed 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.

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 endorsed 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.

WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) – New French President Francois
Hollande told President Barack Obama on Friday that he will
stick by his pledge to withdraw France’s troops from Afghanistan
at year’s end, a note of discord in an otherwise convivial first
meeting between the two leaders.

“I reminded President Obama that I made a promise to the
French people to the effect that our combat troops would be
withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2012,” Hollande said
after Oval Office talks with Obama.

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.

BAGRAM AIRBASE, Afghanistan (Reuters) – President Barack Obama marked the anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death with a speedy trip to Afghanistan, signing a strategic pact with Kabul on Wednesday and delivering an election-year message to Americans that the war is winding down.

Shortly after arriving under the cover of darkness, Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a strategic partnership agreement at the Afghan leader’s palace that sets out a long-term U.S. role in Afghanistan, including aid and advisers.