Obama, who had made the goal of pursue dialogue with Iran a cornerstone of his administration's foreign policy at the beginning of his presidency, said he had been successful in getting the international community to isolate Tehran.

"As we've seen, the Iranian government has been more concerned about preventing their people from exercising their democratic and human rights than trying to solve this problem diplomatically," Obama said in an interview on Fox News Channel's Report with Bret Baier.
"That's why we're going to go after aggressive sanctions. We haven't taken any options off the table. We are going to keep on pushing," Obama said.

Obama said prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon was one of his administration's highest priorities.

U.S. officials said on Tuesday the pace of Iran's nuclear weapons development appears to have slow, buying time for a new round of sanctions now and possibly more sweeping measures later.

US first lady Michelle Obama's favorite city-based designer Maria Pinto leaving out of business as sales have waned in a bad economy.

Pinto, whose clientele also includes talk show host Oprah Winfrey, is closing her store Lola Black LLC. In a five-day sale starting here next week, her collection of daywear, eveningwear and accessories would be liquidated at 50-70 % off.

Her designs were carried by major stores like Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys and Takashimaya in New York, with high-end boutiques across the country, reported Chicago Tribune.
But the designer hit a rough patch after sales to retailers started declining. She decided to close her shop and finish wholesale operations in January this year.

Michelle, who has turned into an icon with her beautiful taste in fashion, had worn Maria Pinto designs to several key events during her husband US President Barack Obama's political career, including the night she spoke at the Democratic National Convention.

Statistics show that one in three American kids is fat or overweight. These numbers were part of the motivation last month for First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign to fight childhood obesity.

During remarks on March 1, the First Lady said that Americans must “move to rally this country around a single, ambitious goal - and that is to solve the trouble of childhood obesity in a generation so that kids born today reach adulthood at a healthy weight.”

In announcing the initiative, Obama stated that a healthy lifestyle, including achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, doesn’t need major life alterations, but rather “small changes that add up.”

Under this equation - and based on the formula that one pound lost equals about 3,500 calories burned - by cutting down or burning off, say, an additional 100 calories each day, a person could lose a pound every 35 days - more than 10 pounds in a year.

US President Barack Obama has warned of a second disaster in Haiti, saying people should be under no illusion that the disaster there is over.

Mr Obama said the situation in Haiti remained "dire" nearly two months after the earthquake struck.

He was speaking after talks with Haitian President Rene Preval in Washington.

Mr Obama told Mr Preval that the US would continue to assist Haiti in its recovery and reconstruction efforts.

Mr Obama said there remained a desperate need for humanitarian help, particularly as seasonal rains could threaten the more than a million Haitians left homeless by the quake on 12 January.

"The challenge now is to stop a second disaster, and that is why at this very moment, thousands of Americans, both civilian and military, remain on the scene at the invitation of the Haitian government," Mr Obama said.

Michelle Obama has recall the time when her girlfriends ditched her in the presidential box on Inauguration Day to get ready for the time-squeezed evening ball.

The US First Lady revealed she got only an hour to clean up for the ball on the chilly day of her president husband's historic inauguration.

"I remember the inaugural procession and how the President and I stood and we waved until every last band walked by," the New York Post quoted her as saying.

"Then we only had less than an hour-ladies, if you can trust that-all of my friends left us in the stands, by the way," she continued.

"'See ya, good luck.' I was like, 'Yeah, thanks.' 'We have to get ready for the ball.' 'Like, yeah, so do I.'

"So at the time I wasn't actually focused on what I was wearing that evening-I was really just trying to stay warm," she added.

President Obama will spell out his vision for the future of American astronauts in space at a conference that the administration is sheduling for Florida next month.

That pleases Florida lawmakers, who have criticize the administration’s desire to eliminate NASA’s program to send astronauts back to the Moon.

“The president’s upcoming space meeting here in Florida provides a chance for meaningful progress,” said Representative Suzanne M. Kosmas, whose district includes the Kennedy Space Center. She requested a conference when she and others in the state Congressional delegation met last month with Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, and John P. Holdren, Mr. Obama’s science adviser.

The conference will be held April 15. A White House spokesman said Monday that other information, including the agenda, the location and who would be attending, were not yet available.

NASA spent five years and $9 billion on the Constellation moon program. The president’s 2011 budget could cancel all of it. The budget also seeks to nurture the commercial space industry by turning to private companies for transportation to the International Space Station and and to invest in new technologies to make outlook exploration of the solar system easier and cheaper. The budget request would raise NASA’s budget by $300 million, to $19 billion. Mr. Obama, however, has said little publicly about the future of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

First Lady Michelle Obama brings her anti-childhood obesity drive to Mississippi - the country's most heavy state - on Wednesday, when she appears with GOP Gov. Haley Barbour, who has left the door open to a 2012 White House run.

"In Jackson, Mississippi, thanks to the encouragement of the Executive Director of Food Services, Mary Hill, the superintendent now needs elementary school teachers to eat meals with their students," Mrs. Obama said to applause. "And as you can imagine, with teachers sitting at the table - both encouraging kids to eat fruits and vegetables and eating them themselves - fruits and vegetables consumption has gone up there."

"And I'm going to be visiting Jackson on Wednesday, and I am looking forward I'm looking forward to seeing Mary and hearing more about what she's doing. And I'm eager to come to your areas, too," Mrs. Obama said.

Mrs. Obama, Barbour and his wife, Marsha Barbour, will visit two schools to talk about healthy eating and the require for kids to exercise. At the Pecan Park school, Mrs. Obama will tour the walking trail, part of a Mississippi effort to raise physical activity. Mrs. Obama's anti-childhood obesity drive is called "Let's Move;" the Mississippi scheme is called "Let's Go Walkin' Mississippi."