WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Saturday promised to lower mortgage costs, offer job-creating loans for small businesses, get credit flowing and rein in free-spending executives as he readies a new road map for spending billions from the second installment of the financial rescue plan….

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sure, it’s all about bipartisanship. Not to mention the perks of watching the Super Bowl at the White House with the first fan playing host….

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama congratulated Iraqis on Saturday’s provincial elections and urged the winners to work for their people….

WASHINGTON (AP) — Protection language in the stimulus bill presents President Barack Obama with a dilemma: Backing the provisions could set off a trade war, but opposing them could mean a backlash from his supporters….

Protesters march through city for two hours, urging government to dissolve parliament and punish those responsible for last year’s crippling protests

Call it the “Great Leap Outward”. Beijing plans to spend billions of dollars on an international media blitz to establish China-oriented television stations and newspapers for Western and Asian audiences. With most of the world’s media downsizing, China’s propaganda putsch will catch eyeballs galore. Whether the worldwide audience will buy into the product is another matter. - Willy Lam (Jan 29,’09)

Long-term investments in clean energy and social welfare are being hindered by falling oil prices, lack of funding and anxiety about profit. Yet the reach of the Internet and US President Barack Obama’s inaugural support for “core” principles should strengthen the prospect of business finding a new, smarter, way forward. - Devin T Stewart

Announcing his new State Department, United States President Barack Obama stressed “America’s commitment to lead”. But lead where? Where’s the boldness, the real change of mindset? The Pentagon’s “arc of instability” hovers over Obama’s “Clinton-3″ State Department like a ghostly self-fulfilling prophecy. Unless, of course, the Obama White House really kicks out ideology and steers the US back to politics. - Pepe Escobar (Jan 29,’09)

A confidential document has reportedly been submitted to the United Nations secretary general outlining a plan to offer Myanmar development aid in exchange for political reforms, including the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and others. Such a quid pro quo would be vastly controversial, but it could circumvent the xenophobic junta’s “aid wall” around the still-devastated Irrawaddy Delta. - Brian McCartan (Jan 29,’09)

Muslim-majority Indonesia denied asylum to hundreds of refugees from Myanmar, including Muslims. They are said to be "economic migrants" rather than political refugees.