Washington, Feb 7: Democrat Senators have gathered 60 votes with the help of two Republican counterparts, needed to advance to a final vote on President Barcak Obama's economic stimulus plan, which includes about 811 billion dollars in spending and tax cuts.

Senators Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Susan Collins of Maine appeared to be the critical Republicans to sign onto the bill, giving Democrats enough votes to move it forward.

Washington, Feb 7: President Barack Obama has been going through a heavy schedule lately, but his press secretary Robert Gibbs has hinted that the commander-in-chief and the First Lady may take time out to celebrate Valentine''s Day.

"I'm sure the president and the first lady will go out for Valentine's Day," Politico. com quoted Gibbs as saying.

The Obamas will be moving about quite a bit, starting with a visit to Camp David on February 7 and ending with a visit to Chicago on February 13.

Washington - US President Barack Obama on Friday created a new bipartisan advisory board to develop solutions to the country's economic crisis as he warned lawmakers that immediate action was critical to pulling the US out of a serious recession.

The 17-member board, led by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, includes conservative and left-leaning economists from academia, labour unions and business.

"This is just the beginning of a long journey back to progress and prosperity," Obama said in prepared remarks released by the White House.

Williamsburg (Virginia, US), Feb. 6 : President Barack Obama has appealed to Democrats to take action to get the US economy back on track.

Pushing his plan for a mix of spending and tax relief, Obama accused some of the bill''s critics of "phony arguments and petty politics."

Washington, Feb. 6 : A little over 50 percent of Americans approve of President Obama''s 800 billion-dollar-plus package to stimulate the economy, a new CBS News poll finds.

But support for the bill has fallen 12 points since January, and nearly half of those surveyed do not believe it will shorten the recession.

Fifty-one percent of those surveyed support the stimulus package, while 39 percent do not. An additional ten percent don''t know. Last month, 63 percent supported the package and just 24 percent opposed it.

Lahore, Feb. 6 : Pakistan's democratic set-up may have been expecting a change of policies from the new United States administration, but according to the former Pak President General. Parvez Musharraf, the US mistrust of Pakistan regarding the `war on terror' would continue even in the Obama regime.

Musharraf said US's distrust on Pakistan would continue, and it could hamper relations between both the countries.