Nobel Peace Prize speeches are regularly filled with soaring rhetoric and grand humanitarian gestures. President Barack Obama will accept his prize Thursday with a speech that aims at historical resonance but is forced by his status as a new, wartime president.

Administration officials say the speech, which the president is sketching himself, will address the irony of receiving a peace prize a week after ratcheting up the war in Afghanistan, and the require for continued leadership on nuclear disarmament.

The prize is awarded not often to a sitting head of state; not in 90 years has it gone to a sitting U.S. president. Mr. Obama's nomination was based on his outreach to other nations and the Muslim world, his maintain for nuclear disarmament and election as the first African-American president.

For reporters covered President Obama, there’s only one party in town that matters: The White House Holiday Party is a rare opportunity to walk around parts of the White House and meet the president and first lady. In the past, the highlight of the event has been the chance to get your image taken with the president in the receiving line.

This year, however, the White House seems to be doing things a slight differently. The invites went out late – and didn’t include journalists who have been invited in the long-ago. And those who have been invited seem possible to be denied the traditional receiving-line photo.

US President Barack Obama faces the equal level of threat as that of his two predecessors, George W Bush and Bill Clinton, a senior Secret Service official has said.

"The threats (to Obama) right now and inappropriate interest that we are seeing is the same level as it has been for the earlier two Presidents at this point," the Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan said in response to a question at a Congressional hearing.

The US Secret Service is in charge for the protection of the first family of the United States.

"They are not," Sullivan said when Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton asked him if the threats to Obama were higher or not, during a inquiry by House Committee on Homeland Security on the security breach in the White House last week.

Former President Bill Clinton on Wednesday said he support President Barack Obama's plan to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.

"I decided several weeks ago I would support whatever he decided," Clinton said to a standing ovation at the New Hampshire Democratic Party's yearly Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Manchester. The appearance marked the first time Clinton returns to the state since attending several rallies two days before the 2008 general election.

Clinton praised Obama for carefully studying options and strategy for Afghanistan, despite criticism he was moving too slowly.

The former president noted that many things have altered since he first became president, but one thing that has remained the same is the Republicans' criticism of Democratic policies. He urged the audience to fight false statements about the recent health care proposal before Congress and efforts to fight global warming by talking to friends and neighbors about Obama's policies.

The Obama family passed out turkeys, stuffing and other Thanksgiving favorites to peoples at a food pantry organization.

President Barack Obama tucked pumpkin pies into peoples bags at Martha's Table in downtown Washington on Wednesday evening and wished them a happy holiday.

Obama's two daughters, first lady Michelle Obama and her mother, Marian Robinson, worked next to the president, putting canned food, stuffing, and fresh vegetables into bags. Those in line also received cold turkeys.

Children who attend educational services at the association designed some of the bags.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrapped up a "very productive" state visit to the US with assurances of support from President Barack Obama on countering terrorism emanate from Pakistan, early completion of their landmark civil nuclear deal and allaying of concerns over Chinese role in South Asia.

A day after he held broad-ranging discussions with Obama to forge a "defining partnership of the 21st century", Manmohan Singh told the media on Wednesday he was sure that India and the US will "not only continue but strengthen the momentum of relations built up over the past few years".

At his first summit talks with Obama, Manmohan said they had decided on the early and full implementation of their landmark civil nuclear deal.

There were a "few minor problems" relates to an agreement on reprocessing of nuclear fuel, he said, adding: "I am confident that we can sort out these things in the next few weeks."

Michelle Obama welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Mrs. Gursharan Kaur to the White House Tuesday night and usher in the Obama administration's first official state dinner.

Though she's become known for her (sometimes controversial) high-fashion risk-taking, tonight Mrs.Obama choose a dress with a classic floor-length cut in a subdued gold fabric and paired it with a light shawl. Her makeup was kept to a minimum and her hair finished in a dignified updo. The whole ensemble seemed traditionally feminine and sophisticated, reminiscent of the first lady's more conservative predecessors.

Tonight's look may mark a sartorial departure for Mrs. Obama, a shift into more sophisticated, luxurious, and regal attire, accessible, rather than the playful, less-polished clothing she's worn thus far.