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LONDON – Michelle Obama's meeting with Queen Elizabeth II began with a handshake and ended in a hug. The first lady arrived Wednesday with President Barack Obama. After separate meetings on the eve of the G-20 summit, the couple attended an evening reception for world leaders hosted by the queen. Mrs. Obama clearly made an impression with the 82-year-old monarch — so much that the smiling queen strayed slightly from protocol and briefly wrapped her arm around the first lady in a rare public show of affection.

Did you miss President Barack Obama the other day discoursing on college basketball on ESPN? Then perhaps you caught him instead Thursday night chatting with Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show.” Wondered how the first family stays in such fine shape in the White House? Michelle Obama described their morning workouts earlier this month in People magazine. Last winter, before taking office, the president-elect and his wife also shared their thoughts on the family’s eating habits for Parents magazine. From CNN to Men’s Journal, Obama has decided to make himself the Everywhere President.

MOSCOW (AFP) – Russian media has been poking fun at US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she gave her Russian counterpart a "reset" button with an ironic misspelling. Clinton's gift to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at their meeting in Geneva on Friday evening was meant to underscore the Obama administration's readiness to "to press the reset button" in ties with Moscow. But instead of the Russian word for "reset" (perezagruzka) it featured a slightly different word meaning "overload" or "overcharged" (peregruzka).

News reports today point out that President Obama is going a little gray at the temples. Is it the stress of the job, or is he due to go gray about now anyway? We saw it happen to George Bush, and in dramatic fashion with Bill Clinton. Obama saw his own grayer self coming.

NEW YORK – Insane. Childish. Disaster. And those were some of the kinder comments from political pundits about Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and his response to President Barack Obama's speech to Congress on Tuesday night. Jindal, 37, a Rhodes scholar and son of Indian immigrants, is considered a rising star in Republican ranks and a likely 2012 presidential candidate. GOP leaders, looking for a fresh face for the party's image, tapped Jindal earlier this month for the high-profile task of rebutting Obama's first address to a joint session of Congress. But in both style and substance, Jindal's speech has drawn...

(CNN) -- First lady Michelle Obama has a fashion following, with blogs tracking her daily garment choices. She's on the March cover of Vogue in a sleeveless silk sheath. Then there was the purple sleeveless Narciso Rodriguez she wore to the president's joint session of Congress on Tuesday. And she's on the cover of the latest People magazine in a lacy pink number, also without sleeves. Those toned arms are becoming a trademark. And a source of inspiration for some women. Rylan Duggan, a personal trainer who runs Go Sleeveless, a blog that instructs women how to tone up flabby...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Former US president George W. Bush next month is to give the first of at least 10 speeches on a tour that will take him to Canada, Europe and Asia, a source familiar with his plans said Wednesday. "He currently has 10 events scheduled over the next year, including Canada, Europe and Asia, and more are likely," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity because the former president's travel plans were not public.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama is the everywhere president. Turn around and there he is on TV. In a motorcade headed to Capitol Hill, the State Department, the Pentagon, the Kennedy Center. Announcing new members of his administration. At a prime-time news conference. In Indiana and Florida, stumping for passage of his $787 billion economic stimulus package. In Denver, signing it. In Phoenix, announcing a home foreclosure rescue plan. In Canada, schmoozing on his first foreign trip as president. Giving his first address to Congress and an anxious nation at large.

LOS ALAMITOS - The mayor has sent an apology for an e-mail sent to a local businesswoman and community volunteer that she says is racist and offensive. Keyanus Price, an African American, said she was appalled when she received an e-mail from Mayor Dean Grose's personal account that showed a picture of the White House with a watermelon patch imposed as the White House garden

Never thought we'd see a day when a pro ballplayer might take to selling apples or asking a fan to spare a dime, but thanks to the ongoing fraud schemes those farfetched scenes could become a reality this spring. On Monday, Phillies reliever Scott Eyre became the latest MLB player to admit he's in a bit of a financial bind, telling MLB.com's Todd Zolecki that his assets are currently frozen due to the ongoing investigation into the Stanford Financial fraud case. Just how bad is it? Well, because of the court-ordered freeze, Eyre says he's "broke right now" and that...

A Texan who greeted George W Bush at a Dallas store failed to recognise the dressed down former US president.

The story of 13-year-old Alfie, who reportedly has become a father by 15-year-old Chantelle, is a fable for our tragically degraded times. Most of the attention has focused upon Alfie, who looks about eight and doesn't even understand the word 'financial'. But while Alfie's youth is exceptional, this situation is not.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaican regulators say they are forbidding all explicit references to sex and violence over the airwaves. The new rules from the island's broadcast commission ban any song or music video that depicts sexual acts or glorifies gun violence, murder, rape or arson. The Saturday announcement follows a Feb. 6 ban that specifically targeted dancehall tunes and videos depicting "daggering" — a dance style popular among Jamaican youth that features pelvic grinding simulating sex.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said Monday he would begin distributing $15 billion to the states within two days to help them with Medicaid payments to the poor. The money will begin reaching the states Wednesday from the newly passed $787 billion economic stimulus program, Obama told the nation's governors during a meeting at the White House. The recession has had a huge impact on state budgets, and one area public officials are struggling with is in meeting costs in the Medicaid program for the poor. The program is underwritten jointly by states and the federal government.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – An Iraqi reporter who hurled his shoes at George W. Bush said in the past he had videotaped himself practising the Arab insult to use against the president whose "icy smile" had filled him with uncontrollable rage. Muntazer al-Zaidi said on Thursday at the start of his trial in Baghdad on charges of assaulting a foreign leader that he took a recording of his shoe-throwing training two years ago and had hoped to accost Bush in Jordan but this did not take place.

A wealthy businessman was kidnapped and his family ordered to pay a £1.5 million ransom demand, a court heard. The gang swooped as the victim locked up his factory in Leicestershire. The victim, who is in his 40s, was hit on the head, bundled into an Audi and forced to crouch in the car's footwell with a blanket over his head, the court heard He was taken to Birmingham, where he was tied up and held captive for three days, it was claimed. Three men are on trial accused of conspiracy to commit kidnap, false imprisonment and blackmail between December...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Wall Street Journal's European edition withdrew its sponsorship of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday after the United Arab Emirates denied a visa to Israeli player Shahar Peer. "The Wall Street Journal's editorial philosophy is free markets and free people, and this action runs counter to the Journal's editorial direction," the paper said in a statement.

TOLEDO, Ohio – A man held a woman captive in handcuffs and an adult diaper for three days while he read Bible passages to her, police said. Troy Brisport, 34, was charged with kidnapping and felonious assault. Bail was set Tuesday at $400,000. He picked up the woman Wednesday night in Detroit after she told him she had nowhere to stay, and brought her to his home in Toledo, about 55 miles away, police said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – First lady Michelle Obama is widely hailed as a fashion icon, but industry insiders say she's quite the opposite, and that's a good thing. A fashion icon would have an eye-catching signature look and, while the president's wife has the power to set trends, her appeal is refreshingly not so defined and deliberate, said fashion observers at the semi-annual Fashion Week in New York, where designers are showing their Fall 2009 collections.

We just came through a marathon presidential election and are in the midst of a massive economic meltdown. From debates and town halls to press conferences and congressional panels, we've all seen our share of neckties. But why is it they're almost always red or blue? The most logical answer is that it's just plain American to sport our flag's colors. You look downright patriotic. And maybe there's another political message being spun — Obama sporting a red tie could indicate a semi-subliminal message that he's wearing what he preaches: Bipartisanship.