WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday that Iran was just
six to seven months away from being able to build a nuclear
bomb, adding urgency to his demand that President Barack Obama
set a clear “red line” for Tehran in what could deepen the worst
U.S.-Israeli rift in decades.

Taking to the television airwaves to make his case directly
to the American public, Netanyahu said that by mid-2013, Iran
would be 90 percent of the way toward enough enriched uranium
for a bomb. He urged the United States to spell out limits that
Tehran must not cross if it is to avoid military action -
something Obama has refused to do.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An eruption of violent unrest across the Middle East is confronting President Barack Obama with the most serious challenge yet to his efforts to keep the Arab Spring from morphing into a new wave of anti-Americanism – and he has few good options to prevent it.

Less than two months before the U.S. presidential election, a spate of attacks on embassies in Libya, Egypt and Yemen poses a huge dilemma for a U.S. leader who took office promising a “new beginning” with the Muslim world but has struggled to manage the transformation that has swept away many of the region’s long-ruling dictators.

WASHINGTON/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – President Barack Obama branded the attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans as “outrageous” on Wednesday and vowed to track down the perpetrators, while ordering a tightening of diplomatic security worldwide.

The ambassador, Christopher Stevens, and the other Americans died after Islamist gunmen attacked the U.S. consulate and a safe house refuge in Benghazi on Tuesday night. The attackers were part of a mob blaming America for a film they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama vowed on Wednesday to bring to justice the killers of the U.S. ambassador and three other diplomats in Libya as he sought to avoid election-year fallout from an attack that cast a spotlight on his administration’s handling of “Arab Spring” unrest.

Standing in the White House Rose Garden, Obama condemned the attack in Benghazi as “outrageous and shocking” but insisted it would not harm relations with Libya’s new elected government, which took power in July after rebel forces backed by NATO air power overthrew Muammar Gaddafi Last year.

WASHINGTON/BENGHAZI, Libya, Sept 12 (Reuters) – President
Barack Obama branded the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya
and three other Americans an “outrageous attack” on Wednesday
and vowed to track down the perpetrators, while ordering a
tightening of diplomatic security worldwide.

The ambassador, Christopher Stevens, and the other Americans
were killed after Islamist gunmen attacked the U.S. consulate
and a safe house refuge in Benghazi on Tuesday night. The
attackers were part of a mob blaming America for a film they
said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Wednesday strongly condemned the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff, calling it an “outrageous attack,” and ordered stepped-up security at U.S. diplomatic posts worldwide.

The targeting of U.S. diplomats, in militant violence sparked by a U.S.-made film seen as insulting the Prophet Mohammad, could raise questions about Obama’s policy toward Libya in the post-Gaddafi era as he seeks re-election in November.

WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – In a highly unusual rebuff to a close ally, the White House said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama would not meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a U.S. visit later this month, as tensions escalated over how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program.

The apparent snub, coupled with Netanyahu’s sharpened demands for a tougher U.S. line against Iran, threatened to plunge U.S.-Israeli relations into crisis and add pressure on Obama in the final stretch of a tight presidential election campaign.

JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel and the United States were in talks on setting a “clear red line” for Iran’s nuclear program, but the two allies remained at odds on Monday over whether to spell out a clear threshold for military action against Tehran.

The Israeli leader, who has been pressing President Barack Obama for a tougher line against Iran, again signaled that a sharper U.S. ultimatum for Tehran could deter it from developing nuclear weapons and mitigate the need for a military response.

WASHINGTON/CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) – A bleak monthly U.S. jobs report poured cold water on President Barack Obama’s hopes for a post-convention bounce on Friday, putting him on the defensive as he entered the final two-month sprint to the November 6 election.

Just hours after basking in the glow of his supporters’ adulation on Thursday night at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, Obama was hit by a stark reminder of the challenge he faces convincing voters to give him a second term despite stubbornly high unemployment on his watch.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama signed a bill on Friday to strengthen U.S.-Israeli military ties as he sought to reassure American Jewish voters of his commitment to the two countries’ close alliance on the eve of a visit to Israel by his Republican rival, Mitt Romney.

Obama used a White House ceremony to announce the United States would soon provide Israel with an additional $70 million in funding for its short-range rocket shield known as “Iron Dome,” a project strongly backed by the powerful U.S. pro-Israel lobby.