US President Barack Obama was treated to a grandiose welcome in Beijing, where he met his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao on Tuesday. The pair agreed to strengthen ties between the two countries. But on the Web, feelings were not so warm. Read more...

Obama reaffirmed his promise to repeal the US Army's ban on homosexual soldiers this month. But while gay activists across the country wait patiently for their right to serve in the army as openly homosexual, our Observer, a gay soldier who served in the sixties and seventies, explains why Obama needs the backing of Congress to fulfil his promise. Read more...

The following video shows a 16-year-old being brutally beaten to death in a fight between two Chicago gangs. The shocking footage is far from rare - Derrion Albert is the 47th Chicago schoolchild to be killed in the city this year. Read more and watch the video...

The debate over President Barack Obama's universal health-care bill turned nasty this week when town meetings became chaotic. One in particular sparked an online debate after footage aired by news networks showed an African American woman being escorted out by police apparently disrupting the event. Images filmed from another angle and posted online by a blogger, however, proved that the story was not what it seemed. Read more...

This image was sent to fellow anti-health reform campaigners by Florida neurosurgeon Dr. David McKalip. So why, if their argument draws on such crass resources, are anti-reformers succeeding in their attempt to stop Obama from implementing a comprehensive health plan in the US? Read more...

The faces of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Barack Obama have appeared in advertisements for upmarket apartments in the central Chinese city of Xi'an. Read more...

The night before Obama’s historic speech to the Muslim world, a shocking video from Jerusalem captures a group of drunken American Jews bashing President Obama with racial slurs and physical threats. Read more and watch the video...

When Obama said that Western countries should avoid "dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear", it could have been perceived as a personal attack in France. The hijab, along with all religious symbols, was banned in French schools in 2004. Read more...

Obama's address in Cairo on Thursday was a hugely anticipated speech. Our Muslim Observers react: only half of them are convinced. Read more...