Guantanamo detention camp needs to be closed: Barack Obama

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama pledged on Tuesday to make a new push to close the Guantanamao detention camp, saying his administration would re-engage with Congress in an attempt to overcome obstacles to shutting the facility.

"It needs to be closed," Obama told a White House news conference. "I'm going to go back at this." But he offered no new path to removing congressional, political and legal hurdles he faces.

Obama arrives in Israel amid low expectations

TEL AVIV: US President Barack Obama arrived in Israel on Wednesday without any new peace initiative to offer disillusioned Palestinians and facing deep Israeli doubts over his pledge to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.

Making his first official visit here as president, Obama hopes to use the trip to reset his often fraught relations with both the Israelis and Palestinians in a choreographed three-day stay that is high on symbolism but low on expectations.