Public Opinion

A punchy jingle kicks off the promotional video of a French firm that sells Islamic women's swimwear. Models wearing brightly colored, full-body tunic, pant and hijab combos frolic at the sea's edge swinging their arms in free-spirited step with the music. The water-resistant burkinis , outfits that cover everything except a woman's face, hands and feet, are designed for Muslim women in search of "a little more modesty" so they can "have more freedom to play sports," according to the manufacturer.

One thing hasn't changed in the Age of Obama: Presidents who try big things face a big backlash. Scenes of gun-toting protesters and swastika-wielding demonstrators speak -- loudly -- to the passions stirred by Obama's attempt to refashion the country's healthcare system, after having already engineered a vast intervention in the sagging economy. Some of the antagonism is undoubtedly race-related. The Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama, which tracks hate groups, reports a dramatic surge in the anti-government ranks of the militia movement over the past year or so, when Obama emerged as a favorite to become the first black occupant of the White House.

Public confidence in President Obama's leadership has declined sharply over the summer, amid intensifying opposition to a healthcare overhaul that threatens to undercut his attempt to change the system, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Among all Americans surveyed, 49% express confidence that Obama will make the right decisions for the country, down from 60% at the 100-day mark in his presidency. Forty-nine percent say they think he will be able to spearhead significant improvements, down nearly 20 percentage points from before he took office.

With a wildfire contained after raging for days near Athens, opposition parties and media lambasted the government Tuesday over its response to the blaze. Firefighters patrolled smoldering areas north and east of the Greek capital, guarding against flare-ups while assessing the damage. At least 150 homes have been damaged, officials said, while thousands of acres of pine forest, olive grove, brush and farmland have been destroyed. Experts said it would take generations to replace the forests, and that many were burned beyond the hope of natural regrowth.

Citing poor on-time performance, overcrowding and a shortage of service, several thousand transit riders gave low marks to the bus system run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, according to a survey released Friday. "The MTA got a D for the overall quality of its bus service," said Esperanza Martinez, an organizer for the Bus Riders Union, an advocacy group that conducted the survey. "People are paying way too much and waiting way too long for a bus that will likely pass them by."

The Obama administration is racing to demonstrate visible headway in the faltering war in Afghanistan, convinced it has only until next summer to slow a hemorrhage in U.S. support and win more time for the military and diplomatic strategy it hopes can rescue the 8-year-old effort. But the challenge in Afghanistan is becoming more difficult amid gains by the Taliban, rising U.S. casualties, a weak Afghan government widely viewed as corrupt, and a sense among U.S. commanders that they must start the military effort largely from scratch nearly eight years after it began.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that she sees little support in Congress or elsewhere in the country for sending more troops to Afghanistan, signaling trouble for President Obama's new strategy at a critical point in the war. With the number of casualties rising, Afghanistan embroiled in allegations of widespread election fraud and administration officials mindful that they must show progress by the middle of next year, several experts...

Which of his films does Roman Polanski's life resemble most: "Rosemary's Baby," his horror classic about a devil whose libido is hideously visited upon an innocent girl, or "The Pianist," his Oscar-winning tale of an artist who survives relentless state persecution? Here in Europe, where the celebrated director finds himself looking at the world from behind bars instead of through a movie camera, it all depends on whom you ask. To those in the arts community, especially in France where Polanski lives, he has been cast as a hounded hero whose arrest in Switzerland on Saturday smacks of something "frightening" about America.

Take advice from locals instead of trying to impose your own ideas on a tribal society. Invite the Taliban to the negotiating table. Use traditional governing structures rather than reinventing the wheel. And spend a lot more money on plowshares than on swords. Afghan shopkeepers, women wearing head scarves, day laborers, analysts and former mujahedin fighters are exhausted by three decades of war. Now they worry that conditions are deteriorating again. Violence has increased and fraud allegations shadow the August presidential election.

The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama may have stunned Americans. But in Europe, where the winner is chosen and people prefer superpowers to seek consensus, it is far less surprising that such an honor would be bestowed on a U.S. president who speaks of global cooperation. To European eyes, it matters most that Obama is not former President George W. Bush. The Bush years were scarring for Europe, a time when the continent felt America was betraying its moral standing by going to war in Iraq, torturing terrorism suspects and engaging in other policies Europeans found discordant with the U.S. it thought it knew.