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President Barack Obama will unveil an economic aid program for Egypt and Tunisia on Thursday as part of a broad effort to support democratic reform in the Middle East and North Africa, U.S. officials said. Senior advisers to Obama, previewing parts of his speech, said Wednesday the United States would offer debt relief totaling roughly $1 billion "over a few years" to Egypt through a debt swap mechanism that would invest the money to boost youth employment and support entrepreneurs. Washington would also loan or guarantee loans up to a total of $1 billion through the Overseas Private Investment Corp...

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will announce this week a new aid plan for the Middle East and North Africa that U.S. officials say will be far bolder than previous American economic assistance to the region. Mr. Obama will outline the plan, which could include debt cancellation and a reprogramming of financial aid the U.S. already provides to countries like Egypt, in a speech he is scheduled to deliver Thursday at the State Department.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Costa Mesa, is part of the growing fray over U.S. aid to Pakistan, and has introduced a bill that would halt the flow of that money. The raid that resulted in Osama bin Laden‘s killing in Pakistan “made it clear that Pakistan’s leadership concealed, protected and enabled the al Qaeda leader for many years,” according to a statement from Rohrabacher’s office. “We can no longer afford this foolishness,” Rohrabacher said.

The Obama administration was investigating whether Pakistan knew Osama bin Laden was hiding deep inside the country as House Speaker John Boehner and top lawmakers insisted the U.S. maintain close ties with the sometimes reluctant ally in the war on terror. The killing of Osama bin Laden at a compound just miles from Islamabad prompted furious questions about whether Pakistan was complicit in protecting the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. Several Republicans and Democrats in Congress have raised the possibility of cutting off U.S. aid to Pakistan. John Brennan, White House counterterrorism adviser, said the administration is "not accusing...

Tea party-backed Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) isn’t sure that congressional Republicans have the guts to make the big budget cuts they’ve promised and, he said, members of the movement are becoming frustrated. “There’s a disconnect between Republicans who want a balanced budget but aren’t maybe yet brave enough to talk about the cuts to come,” the freshman senator said in an interview with ABC News, responding to the spending plan released Thursday by the House Budget Committee chairman, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), which would cut non-defense discretionary spending by $58 billion for the rest of fiscal 2011. “I go to...

Former US President Bill Clinton has called for the US to sharply increase foreign aid, suggesting it was important in fighting terrorists and "cheaper than going to war". In an interview with American news channel CNN, Clinton pointed out that the US government gives a little more than 10 billion dollars a year in real aid and that Washington should be offering a lot more. Clinton said the US should be giving aid at the target level set by the United Nations of 0.7 percent of gross national income. In 2004, total us government foreign aid of 19.7 billion dollars,...

WASHINGTON – It wasn't just a speech commemorating the 60th anniversary of the United Nations that President Bush delivered in New York yesterday. Instead, he laid out an ambitious program of increased U.S. foreign aid to tackle worldwide problems of poverty and disease. Think of it as Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty" plan gone global. And he characterized this plan as an extension of his war on terrorism. "Confronting our enemies is essential, and so civilized nations will continue to take the fight to the terrorists," Bush said. "Yet we know that this war will not be won by force...