China has warned of serious repercussions for relations with the United States after the Obama administration's decision to sell arms to Taiwan.
 
The Chinese government indicated it is still angry over a nearly $6.5 billion U.S. arms sale to Taiwan that was announced in Washington Friday.
 
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu warned that the sale will hurt Sino-American relations.

One of the most popular residents at the National Zoo in Washington will be shipped to China. Tai Shan, the giant panda who became an overnight sensation when he was born at the zoo in 2005, is part of a long-term loan agreement with the Chinese government. About to reach his sexual maturity, he'll join a breeding program in China where conservationists are trying to increase the population of the endangered species.

Four and a half years ago, the National Zoo unveiled its new addition to great fanfare.

Tai Shan achieved a certain celebrity status here in the U.S. capital as visitors flocked to the zoo to see him and his parents, 10-year-old mother Mei Xiang and 11-year-old father Tian Tian, who were born in China.

Obama administration officials appeared before key congressional committees on Tuesday, defending the $3.8 trillion spending proposal that the president wants Congress to approve for the 2011 fiscal year.
 
The budget blueprint was subjected to tough questions from Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner bore the initial brunt of criticism by opposition Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee.

Noting that the country faces great fiscal perils, he contrasted the U.S. economy a year ago with the progress that has been made since, highlighting recent news of growth.

Geithner said the president's budget promotes government efficiency as well as job creation and business innovation. "This budget is designed to help make sure that Washington is creating the conditions that allow the private sector to grow and expand, to allow businesses small and large to create jobs and make investments," he said.

Republicans such as Senator Chuck Grassley renewed their assertion that the president's budget, with its projected $1.56 trillion deficit, will bring unsustainable expansions of the national debt. "Over the past year, with the levers of power all concentrated in the hands of those on the other side, we have seen the fiscal path worsen.  Deficits as you see are up, and debt is up," he said.

U.S. President Barack Obama has again gone on the road to try to persuade Americans to support his economic agenda.  The president is campaigning for his plan to encourage hiring.
 
President Obama visited the Northeastern state of New Hampshire on Tuesday, to promote a plan he hopes will help ease the nation's ten percent unemployment rate.

Mr. Obama says money repaid by large banks that received government help should be lent to small businesses, where he says most of America's job creation takes place.

"I am announcing a proposal to take $30 billion of the money that was repaid by Wall Street banks-now that they are back on their feet - take that $30 billion and use it to create a new small business lending fund that would provide capital for community banks on Main Street," said President Obama.

U.S. President Barack Obama held a town hall meeting Monday using an unusual venue - the YouTube Internet Web site.  He took questions submitted via e-mail and video during and following his State of the Union address last week.

The president has engaged in live question and answer sessions on the White House Web site.   But this is his first Internet town hall meeting on a privately owned and operated site.

Most of the questions dealt with domestic policy.  But YouTube says there were also many queries dealing with national security.

President Obama answered three national security questions.  His answers were posted live on YouTube and the White House link on Facebook, a popular social networking site.

He responded to a question about combating terrorism by stressing that the United States has to have a balanced policy that includes military, diplomatic and development components.

"We want to use all of our national power to deal with the problem of these extremist organizations," said President Obama. "But part of that does involve applications of military power."

Nearly 20 per cent of President Obama's budget for the next fiscal year, presented to the Congress Monday, is a request for $708 billion for the Department of Defense.  Even at a time of economic downturn and plans for a spending freeze on many government programs, that is an increase of 3.4% over the current defense budget, 1.8% after inflation.  It is the largest U.S. defense budget ever, but the increase from the current year is well below the 4% average annual increase of the past decade.  VOA reports from the Pentagon on how officials plan to spend the money.

The Pentagon budget, and two accompanying strategy reviews, lay out a plan that puts a high priority on winning the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and being ready to fight and win any future conflicts against global or regional powers, or against terrorist groups, or conflicts in space or cyberspace.  The documents also call for an increase in missile defense capability to defend against increasingly flexible, mobile, reliable, accurate and long range missiles being developed or obtained by several countries, including Iran and North Korea.

U.S. President Barack Obama has sent a $3.8 trillion budget request to Congress for the fiscal year that begins on October first.  It is the first step in what is expected to be a long, contentious budget process.

President Obama is walking a fine line in his 2011 budget.  He is seeking $100 billion to tackle unemployment, while moving to trim the federal budget deficit.

"It is time to hold Washington to the same standard families and businesses hold themselves.  It is time to save what we can and what we must and live within our means once again," he said.

His budget forecasts a deficit of roughly $1.6 trillion.  President Obama says he plans to slash it in half by 2014 through a combination of tax increases on wealthy Americans, and cuts in domestic programs.

Security will be tighter than ever at Super Bowl 44 this Sunday in Miami, Florida, when the Indianapolis Colts face the New Orleans Saints in the National Football League's Championship game. More than 50 law enforcement agencies -- some of them having planned for as long as 18-months -- will be involved in a massive effort to keep one of the world's biggest sporting events safe from terror attacks.

Recent events, such as the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S.-bound airliner, last month's machine gun attack on a bus carrying the Togo soccer team to the African Cup of Nations in Angola, and the ambush of the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan last year, have raised security concerns.

While there has been no specific threat against the Super Bowl, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says preparations are in place to thwart any terrorist threat or safety problem. "We are, as was mentioned, working hand-in-hand to ensure that Super Bowl 44 goes off smoothly, safely.  We are doing everything we can think of in preparation to make sure that it is a great event," he said.

This year The Who becomes the latest in a series of rock luminaries to headline the entertainment at the Super Bowl half-time show.  But the Who's Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, who played a three-song acoustic set at their press conference, are the first to admit they don't know much about American-style football.

The band, led by surviving members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, are following in the tradition of such British rock legends as the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney.

China's foreign minister says U.S. plans to sell weapons to Taiwan harm China's national security and its reunification efforts.

In remarks reported Sunday, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said in Cyprus Saturday that China firmly opposes the move, which he said runs counter to the U.S. commitment to support the peaceful growth of cross-Strait relations.

A U.S. State Department spokesman (P.J. Crowley) said Saturday that U.S. policy toward Taiwan contributes to stability and security in the region.

U.S. officials announced Friday (Jan 29) plans to sell Taiwan $6.4 billion in military equipment.

China said it will suspend military exchanges and security talks with the United States and threatens to halt cooperation on other issues because of the U.S. plan to sell arms to rival Taiwan.
 
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei summoned U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman Saturday and warned of "serious repercussions" on U.S-China relations from Washington's decision to sell $6.4 billion worth of military equipment to Taiwan.

He said that Beijing considered the decision, announced Friday, as an interference in its domestic affairs and that it could jeopardize Sino-U.S. cooperation on international and regional issues. China and the U.S., for example, have been working together in international efforts to get North Korea and Iran to give up their nuclear programs.

People in the Middle East were watching closely as U.S. President Barack Obama gave his annual State of the Union address, setting out his domestic and foreign policy agenda. 

For Israelis and Palestinians, it is not what President Obama said in his State of the Union address, but what he did not say. 

Mr. Obama did not mention the Mideast conflict.  That is being interpreted here as the United States taking a step back from the peace process, after a year of failed efforts to resume negotiations.

When the president took office a year ago he vowed to make the peace process a top priority.  But Israeli analyst Eitan Gilboa says that with U.S. midterm elections coming up in November, Mr. Obama is likely to put the Israeli-Palestinian issue on the back burner.

The migrants, mainly from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan's Darfur, are trying to find jobs in Israel, but Israeli leaders view this as a threat to security and to the Jewish character.

In the coming days, Israel's cabinet will consider an initiative to reinforce the Jewish State's 240-kilometer border with Egypt.  The aim is to stem the flow of thousands of illegal migrants who Israeli officials say are crossing the porous border and entering the Jewish State. The migrants are mainly from the African nations of Eritrea and Ethiopia, and many are Muslims from the Darfur region of Sudan.  They go to Israel seeking jobs and safety.  For Israel's leaders, they represent a threat to security - and to the Jewish character of a country established as a safe haven for Jews from around the world.