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WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama signed the most sweeping financial reforms since the 1930s into law Wednesday, promising everyday Americans would no longer have to pay for Wall Streets mistakes.

He signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C.

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WASHINGTON – US Congress passed a sweeping overhaul of Americas financial regulations Thursday, securing for President Barack Obama his third major, hard-fought legislative victory.

The White House said Obama likely would sign the bill next week.

He said passage of the giant crackdown on the financial sector will provide long deserved economic security to American families and businesses. The legislation cracks down on banks and Wall Street in the hopes of avoiding another major financial meltdown. The Senates 60-39 vote came nearly two years after a financial crisis knocked the US economy to its knees.

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BEIRUT – A Lebanese magazine has lauded the great role being played by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the leadership of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, as regards supporting the Arab and Muslim causes.

“Al Usbu Al Arabi” magazine in its issue due to be published on Monday highlighted the participation of King Abdullah in G20 summit and the outcome of his talks with US President Barack Obama at the White House. The magazine pointed out that a number of analysts said the tour of King Abdullah and his participation in the summit of G20 as well as his meeting with Obama will give an impetus to the Arab vision on various issues.

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JEDDAH – King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, in separate cables congratulated US President Barack Obama on the occasion of his countrys Independence Day.

In his name and on behalf of the Saudi people and government, the King expressed his good wishes to President Obama and to the friendly American people.

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WASHINGTON – If Barack Obama is to push through a long-stalled US-South Korea free trade deal, he is going to need something he hasnt seen much of during his presidency: Republican support.

Obamas Democratic allies in Congress are balking after his announcement last week at a high-profile global summit that he will revive the accord to cut tariffs and other barriers to trade.

Democratic worries about South Korean restrictions on auto and beef trade sank the agreement after Republican George W. Bushs administration and Seoul signed it three years ago.

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WASHINGTON – The meeting between King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and US President Barack Obama reaffirms the strong, historic ties between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America, the White House said in a statement.

The leaders stated their strong support for the efforts of the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) with regard to Irans nuclear program and urged Iran to meet its international obligations under UN Security Council and IAEA resolutions, the statement said.

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WASHINGTON – The US House of Representatives votes Wednesday on the most sweeping overhaul of Wall Street rules since the Great Depression of the 1930s, amid an 11th-hour scramble to ensure passage.

President Barack Obama pressed divided lawmakers to back the legislation, his top domestic priority, promising it “will prevent a crisis” like the global meltdown of 2008 and ridiculing Republican opposition to the bill.

“Its reform that will protect our economy from the recklessness and irresponsibility of a few,” the president said in remarks prepared for delivery at a rally in Racine, Wisconsin.

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Opportunity for frank exchange in pressing

issues of our timeWASHINGTON – The summit meeting here between King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and US President Barack Obama is “a meeting between two friends, to consult, to talk, to sit down and discuss the next step,” according to Janet Sanderson, US Assistant Secretary of State for the Arabian Gulf and Maghreb, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Saudi Gazette, the US official said that the meeting between the two heads of state provided an opportunity for the two leaders to speak frankly to each other “on the very pressing issues of our time” and “to hear each other out and to continue the very strong friendship that has marked our relations for sixty some years”.

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WASHINGTON – US lawmakers hammered out a historic overhaul of financial regulations as dawn broke over the nations capital on Friday, handing President Barack Obama a major domestic policy victory on the eve of a global summit devoted to financial reform.

In a marathon session of more than 21 hours, congressional negotiators agreed to a rewrite of Wall Street rules that may crimp the industrys profits and subject it to tougher oversight and tighter restrictions.

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HUNTSVILLE, Ontario – Group of Eight leaders have agreed on the need to stay focused on immediate growth goals while tackling public finances “going forward,” a senior US official said on Friday.

“There is a broad consensus among the G8 leaders, a convergence of views, if you will, as they head into the G20, about how to maintain durable growth while also reaffirming, of course, the common shared commitments to fiscal consolidation going forward,” the administration official told reporters.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

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