Barack Obama

Wall Street money is heavily favouring Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the race to unseat President Barack Obama, the latest signal of business unease with Obama's tenure and perhaps a bet on his re-election chances.

With scant time to spare, President Barack Obama signed legislation to avoid an unprecedented national default that he said would have devastated the US economy. But the truce with Republicans that defused the crisis seemed to be fading already.

Racing to avoid a government default, President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders have reached urgently for a compromise to permit vital borrowing by the Treasury in exchange for more than $2 trillion in long-term spending cuts.

It is likely that when Prime Minister John Key met United States President Barack Obama and other high-ranking US officials he was pressed to extend New Zealand's commitment to its mission in Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama called New Zealand and John Key an "outstanding partner" after the pair met at the White House this morning.

The soldier in uniform extended his prosthetic hand after losing his own in battle. And the commander in chief reached out to clasp it.

MSNBC has suspended political analyst Mark Halperin for an off-colour remark about US President Barack Obama on TV programme "Morning Joe".

Beginning to wind down a long and devastating war, President Barack Obama has announced he is pulling home 33,000 US troops from Afghanistan by early next year, withdrawing the "surge" of forces he had sent to rescue a flailing effort.

Facing a war-weary public, President Barack Obama is expected to call for a major withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan tomorrow, with roughly 10,000 coming home to the US in less than a year.