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With limited budget resources, the U.S. is focusing on trade and debt relief in an effort to encourage democratic and economic reforms in North Africa and the Middle East. It's also a way to tackle youth unemployment, one of the main problems that sparked the Arab uprisings.

In an exclusive interview with NPR, South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak speaks about opposition to a free trade agreement with the United States. Facing declining popularity, he also addresses criticism that his policy on North Korea is too hardline.

While the economy has dominated the presidential race, a Republican debate this weekend put the focus on foreign affairs. The GOP presidential candidates tried to draw sharp contrasts with Obama, criticizing his handling of Iran, China and suspected terrorists.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has offered its strongest evidence yet that Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Iran condemned the report, and maintains that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.

A new U.N. report presents more evidence than ever before that Iran's nuclear program is geared toward military purposes. Yet the country has been hampered by both regional rivalries and its own economic and political problems.

The U.N. says more than 3,500 people have died in Syria's eight-month cycle of protests and government crackdowns. Residents of Homs, the third largest city in the country, report fierce fighting as government forces try to regain control of the city.

Patients in those places gave some of the lowest evaluations of their hospital stays, Medicare data show. The surveys asked patients how well their doctors and nurses communicated, whether their pain was always handled welland whether their rooms were clean and quiet.

All U.S. troops are set to withdraw from Iraq by the end of this 2011, and many believe Iran will move to assert more influence over Baghdad. But Ray Takeyh, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, argues that Iran has already lost Iraq.

For the first time, the U.S. government has officially named China as the world's leading source of economic espionage, largely using cybertools — followed by Russia. Intelligence officials say the new candor reflects their heightened level of concern over the growing espionage threat.

The U.S. has plenty of economic problems at home, and its international outlook is increasingly geared toward China and rapidly growing Asian nations. As a result, the U.S. has been more of a bystander than a major player in Europe's financial crisis.