By Laura MacInnis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday staunchly defended his foreign policy record against Republican election-year criticism that he has overseen a decline in American power in the world.

Addressing graduates of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Obama touted his decisions to pull U.S. forces out of Iraq, wind down the war in Afghanistan and order the raid that killed Osama bin Laden – a record his campaign hopes will temper voter discontent about a still fragile economy.

By Laura MacInnis

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Wednesday staunchly defended his foreign policy record against Republican election-year criticism that he has overseen a decline in American power in the world.

Addressing graduating cadets of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Obama touted his decisions on pulling U.S. forces out of Iraq, winding down the unpopular war in Afghanistan, and the raid that resulted in the killing of Osama bin Laden – a record aides hope will counter voter discontent over a fragile economy and high unemployment.

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) – World leaders backed keeping Greece in the euro zone on Saturday and vowed to take all steps necessary to combat financial turmoil while revitalizing a global economy increasingly threatened by Europe’s debt crisis.

A summit of the G8 leading industrialized nations came down solidly in favor of a push to balance European austerity – an approach long driven by German Chancellor Angela Merkel – with a new dose of U.S.-style stimulus seen as vital to healing ailing euro-zone economies. But it was clear that divisions remained.

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) – World leaders backed keeping Greece in the euro zone on Saturday and vowed to take all steps necessary to combat financial turmoil while revitalizing their economies, which are increasingly threatened by Europe’s debt crisis.

In a bold statement of support for Europe, the Group of Eight leaders of the world’s major economies meeting at the wooded Camp David in the Cactoctin Mountains of Maryland said the global economic recovery shows promising signs but “significant headwinds persist.”

, May 19 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack
Obama will press European leaders to ease up on fiscal austerity
and focus on economic growth at a summit on Saturday that will
discuss ways to stem turmoil in the euro zone and head off the
risk of global contagion.

At the wooded Camp David retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin
Mountains, Obama and leaders from other large economic powers
will try to forge a common approach to tackling a crisis that
threatens the future of Europe’s 17-nation single currency.

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) – Eight of the world’s most powerful people spent Friday night in the woods.

In a sort of VIP sleepover, G8 leaders bedded down in rustic cabins in rural Maryland, where the U.S. presidential retreat known as Camp David is hosting by far the largest international summit in its 70-year history.

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) – Group of Eight leaders agreed in their initial discussions at Camp David on Friday that Iran needs to disclose more about its nuclear ambitions and that it was time to focus on a political transition in Syria, a U.S. official said.

The leaders also stressed the importance of having North Korea adhere to international norms with its nuclear program and said it would face more isolation if it “continues down the path of provocation,” the official said.

CAMP DAVID, Maryland, May 18 (Reuters) – A growing chorus of
world leaders on Friday pushed for a shift toward more
pro-growth policies to help ease a European crisis that
threatens to oust Greece from the euro zone and reverberate
throughout the global economy.

Setting the tone for a weekend G8 summit, President Barack
Obama aligned himself with the new French president’s drive for
more economic stimulus in recession-plagued Europe, in a swipe
at the tough austerity programs that have been spearheaded by
German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) – Leaders of major industrial
economies meet this weekend to try to head off a full-blown
crisis in Europe where fears are growing that Greece could leave
the euro zone bloc, threatening the future of the common
currency.

President Barack Obama, the G8 host, has urged European
leaders repeatedly to do more to stimulate growth, fearing
contagion from the euro crisis that could hurt the U.S. economy
and his chances of re-election in November.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will seek to cement a bond with France’s new leader at the White House on Friday before heading to Camp David for a G8 summit where he is set to press Europe to do more to fix the region’s deepening economic crisis.

Francois Hollande, sworn in this week as French president, has already made waves by challenging Europe’s austerity focus and saying he will pull French combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year.