Reuters Politics

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will unveil his new strategy for the war in Afghanistan in an address to Americans on December 1, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Wednesday. Gibbs said Obama would deliver the address from West Point military academy on December 1 at 8 p.m. (0100 GMT December 2). U.S. officials have said Obama may say he is sending around 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan as part of a broader strategy to arrest a deteriorating security situation there. Asked whether Obama's decision included an exit strategy from the eight-year-old war, Gibbs said the United States would not be in ... Read Full Story

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration, facing criticism its economic stimulus plans are failing to halt layoffs, on Tuesday said hiring prompted by the spending would accelerate next year. About half of the $787 billion in stimulus spending has been disbursed or committed, but has so far created or saved only about 1 million of a targeted 3.5 million jobs, said Jared Bernstein, economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. Bernstein told a news briefing at the U.S. Treasury many infrastructure projects are just "slightly underway or half done. So a lot more of that employment will be coming over the next three quarters." ... Read Full Story

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama hosts Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday for talks considered critical to showing Washington's commitment to New Delhi in a region where its rivals, China and Pakistan, are U.S. priorities. Obama's challenge will be to ease the emerging Asian power's concerns that it is slipping down his foreign policy agenda, dominated recently by efforts to craft a new war plan in Afghanistan and curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. India hopes for a clear message from Obama that he intends to sustain momentum in improving diplomatic and economic ties that deepened under his predecessor, George W. Bush. Seeking to ... Read Full Story

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has no plans to join a global treaty banning landmines because a policy review found the United States could not meet its security commitments without the weapons, the State Department said on Tuesday. "This administration undertook a policy review and we decided that our land mine policy remains in effect," spokesman Ian Kelly told a briefing five days ahead of a review conference in Cartegena, Colombia, on the 10-year-old Mine Ban Treaty. "We determined that we would not be able to meet our national defense needs nor our security commitments to our friends and allies if we signed ... Read Full Story

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. negotiators working to conclude a new strategic arms treaty with Russia are discussing ways to continue nuclear weapons monitoring until the new accord can be ratified, a State Department spokesman said on Monday. U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed in July to work on a new treaty that would cut their deployed strategic nuclear arsenals to between 1,500 and 1,675 warheads. The current Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between Russia and the United States expires on December 5. Negotiators in Geneva are hopeful of reaching a draft agreement around that time, but the deal would still have ... Read Full Story