, Aug 14 (Reuters) – U.S. President
Barack Obama went swimming off the coast of Florida on Saturday
and declared the Gulf area’s beaches “open for business,”
trying to show by example that a region hit by the BP oil spill
was safe for tourists to enjoy.

Obama, on his fifth visit to the region since BP Plc’s
(BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (BP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) deep-sea well in the Gulf of Mexico ruptured in
April, pledged to restore the economy and the environment in
the aftermath of the world’s worst offshore oil spill.

PANAMA CITY, Florida (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Saturday he supported the right of Muslims to build a cultural center near the site of the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York City but would not comment on the “wisdom” of such a move.

Obama’s comments came after his remarks at a White House event on Friday in which he appeared to offer his backing for the construction of a center called Cordoba House near the site known as “Ground Zero” in lower Manhattan.

, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Declaring Gulf Coast
beaches “open for business,” U.S. President Barack Obama
visited Florida on Saturday and pledged to restore the economy
and the environment of the region damaged by the BP Plc (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)
(BP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) oil spill.

Obama, on his fifth visit to the region since BP’s deep-sea
well in the Gulf of Mexico ruptured on April 20, held talks
with local business owners to hear their concerns about the
impact of the world’s worst offshore oil spill.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Friday backed construction of a proposed mosque and Muslim cultural center near the site of the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York — a project opposed by U.S. conservatives and many New Yorkers.

“As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country,” Obama said at an event attended by diplomats from Islamic countries and members of the U.S. Muslim community.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. officials gave an upbeat assessment of the situation in Iraq on Wednesday, despite Iraqi politicians’ failure to form a government five months after elections and a sharp rise in civilian deaths in July.

“Iraq is on a positive trajectory,” Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, told journalists at the White House.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. officials gave an upbeat assessment of the situation in Iraq on Wednesday, despite Iraqi politicians’ failure to form a government five months after elections and a sharp rise in civilian deaths in July.

“Iraq is on a positive trajectory,” Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, told journalists at the White House.

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – President Barack Obama attacked the economic policies of his Republican predecessor George W. Bush in Bush’s home state on Monday as evidence of the way Republicans would operate if given power in November 2 U.S. congressional elections.

At the first of two Texas fund-raising events for Democrats, Obama defended his repeated references to Bush’s policies, saying they are necessary to remind Americans of the weak economy he inherited from Bush in January 2009.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – BP’s use of dispersant chemicals on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is sparking questions from a U.S. congressional panel, which says the company used more of these compounds than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had directed.

But the EPA indicated in a statement on Sunday that the difference between what the agency directed and what BP and the U.S. Coast Guard achieved is slight — the difference between a 75 percent cut in dispersant use and a 72 percent cut.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Saturday accused Republicans of holding American small businesses “hostage to politics” after Republican senators refused to back a $30 billion small-business lending package.

Senate Republicans blocked the package on Thursday, dealing a fresh blow to Obama’s efforts to show Americans, in the midst of a tough election year, that his administration is focused on tackling stubbornly high unemployment.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged Iraq’s politicians, still unable to agree on a new government, to “get on with the business of governing” as U.S. troops prepare to end their combat mission.

Despite the deadlock in Baghdad, the U.S. military has kept its withdrawal timetable on track. It is due to reduce the size of its forces in Iraq to 50,000 troops by August 31, when they will formally move to a more advisory role supporting Iraq’s security forces.