Official Visits

So far on her trip to Europe, Michelle Obama has hugged the queen of England, double cheek-kissed the glamorous first lady of France and electrified the celebrity-obsessed tabloids. When she talked to students at a school for underprivileged girls in London, though, her message was about her working-class childhood and her success gained through strong values and hard work in school.

We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world -- tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate. The relationship between Islam and the West includes centuries of coexistence and cooperation, but also conflict and religious wars.

He talked dinosaurs with the British prime minister's sons and bonded with the young Russian president over their shared coming of age in the post-Cold War years. He elicited an embrace from the physically standoffish leader of Turkey. At one point in President Obama's overseas charm offensive, one world leader confided that he'd never felt able to personally "connect" with the previous American president.

Many Pakistanis welcomed the election of President Obama as an opportunity for some fresh thinking about their troubled region. But the honeymoon hasn't lasted long. As Obama prepares to meet with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai this week in Washington, Pakistanis from different walks of life say they'd give the U.S. leader an earful if they, rather than their president, had a seat at the White House table.

Eight years ago, George W. Bush's stay-at-home proclivities, seen by some as evidence of a lack of interest in the world beyond U.S. borders, became a troublesome issue as he ran for the White House. As the president approaches his final year in office, his agenda is so heavily booked that he is already scheduled to touch down on every continent except Australia and Antarctica.

An American Al Qaeda militant urged fighters to meet President Bush with bombs when he visits the Middle East, according to a video posted Sunday on the Internet. Adam Gadahn, who was raised in Orange County, also tore up his U.S. passport in the nearly hourlong tape. The video came three days before Bush is scheduled to arrive for a weeklong trip in the region to push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. "Now we direct an urgent call to our militant brothers . . .

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Monday made his first official visit to Southern California since taking the post, kicking off his second year in office by presenting awards to 17 sailors, including several Navy SEALs, who recently returned from Iraq. Gates spent 141 days on the road last year, mostly on high-profile overseas trips to regional hot spots and world capitals.

President Bush, wrapping up a series of visits with Arab leaders who are working to expand their economies but wary of relaxing their grip on power, on Wednesday praised Egypt as making progress toward "greater political openness." He made no mention of the Egyptian government's continued crackdowns on dissent and the jailing of an opposition presidential candidate.

With old and young providing testament to the success of a U.S.-funded effort to fight AIDS, President Bush on Sunday called for Congress to renew the program quickly and said that helping Africa was in the national and moral interests of the United States. The program provides readier access to antiretroviral drugs, easing the impact of the disease. But it also puts a strong focus on premarital sexual abstinence, drawing criticism in the U.S.

President Bush, in public settings, regularly refuses to discuss the 2008 presidential campaign. But would the same hold true for Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, the president of Tanzania, when asked at a joint news conference Sunday what Barack Obama's political progress said about America? Before the African leader could respond, Bush, who is on a five-nation trip to the continent, suggested that Kikwete might want to temper his remarks.