South African Company Leaves Obama In Stitches

Adding to the relentless flurry of products emblazoned with Barack Obama’s image, a merchant in South Africa is selling brightly colored pillows, pouches, and rugs depicting the 44th President of the United States. Even his limo made its way onto the pattern with the words: “Hooray for the President.”

Barack Obama issues support for USA 2018 World Cup bid

Barrack Obama has written to the Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, to signal his support for the United States' hosting of either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. In the letter Obama also recalls his early ties to football during his time spent as a child in Indonesia.

“As a child, I played soccer on a dirt road in Jakarta, and the game brought the children of my neighborhood together.”

A ride you can believe in: Obama license plates

Want to ride with the president?

You can buy temporary license plates -- good for two months -- that features President Obama's smiling face and the words, "Illinois Salutes President Barack Obama."

The plates are available for $50 a pair. They are good for 60 days, beginning Feb. 17 and ending April 17. They can be purchased at www.ila.org/obama or at the Chicago Auto Show, which starts this weekend.

Proceeds from the plates go to Illinois libraries.

I'm the British Barack Obama

Here is Ryan Skeggs as a Barack Obama lookalike. Ryan is from Hertfordshire and ever since the American title race began he has been told numerous times how much he looks like Barack Obama. Now Obama is the new President of the United States Ryan's life has changed dramatically, he attends functions all over the UK as a Barack Obama lookalike and has appeared in newspapers and on TV. With Barack Obama's profile guaranteed to raise the longer he stays in power it looks like Ryan Skeggs is going to be busy as a lookalike to the American President.

After less than a week in office, Barack Obama's approval rating plunges 15 points

Barack Obama might have been in office for less than a week, but the euphoria is beginning to wane.

The new President's approval ratings have fallen from a stratospheric 83 per cent to a more modest - although still impressive - 68 per cent.

Washington analysts said the scale of the drop in the Gallup poll underlines the immense challenges Mr Obama faces in trying to turn round the U.S.'s battered fortunes.

He still remains vastly more popular than his predecessor George Bush - who left office with around 25 per cent approval.

Oh, get a move on: Michelle Obama waits with apparent impatience as her husband attends to business on his first day in the Oval Office

But there were signs yesterday that reality has set in following the wave of optimism surrounding his inauguration last Tuesday.

Mr Obama is facing an ugly battle with Republicans over his plans to bail out the economy with ??515billion of taxpayers' cash. Opposition leaders claim the rescue package relies too much on government spending and not enough on tax relief for families and small businesses.

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Obama celebrations around the Globe

The Kenyan and the US flags unite beneath a portrait of U.S. President Barack Obama in a souvenir sold on the dirt streets of Kogelo.

Home village of Obama's late father, Kogelo hosted a 5,000-strong inauguration celebration, slaughtering bulls and goats for food; erecting movie screens for live viewing of the inauguration in Washington, D.C.; and dancing in traditional garb to the beat of leather drums, the Associated Press reported.

In anticipation of Barack Obama's inauguration, Kenyans dance in Kogelo, home of the new President's step-grandmother. "Mama Sarah," as Obama calls her, however, was in Washington, D.C., where she shared the inaugural stage with him on January 20.

The dance was part of an Obama-centered cultural festival that began on January 16 and which locals hope to make an annual attraction, according to the Kenyan Daily Nation newspaper.

The Kogelo, Kenya, primary school served as the "Official Obama Office" during inauguration festivities in the new President's ancestral village.The school was the main inauguration gathering spot in Kogelo, but the institution may face stiff competition during future festivals. Kenya has allocated the equivalent of about a million U.S. dollars for an Obama cultural center in the village, according to Kenya's Daily Nation.

Kogelo residents slaughtered "two bulls, three rams, several goats, chickens and fish" to help feed the thousands of revelers at Obama-inauguration festivities.

Kenyan children celebrate at an inauguration party in Kisumu, the nearest city to Barack Obama's ancestral village of Kogelo.

An employee of Japan's Ogawa Rubber Inc paints an eye on a rubber mask of U.S President-elect Barack Obama at the company's factory in Saitama city, Tokyo. Ogawa Rubber said it has produced and sold more than 2,500 Obama face masks since December, and 1,000 more are being manufactured, making it their fastest selling product.

Pictured are the Sweet Sasha, left, and Marvelous Malia dolls made by Ty Inc., the creators of the Beanie Babies at Lamont's gift shop inside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Chicago. The daughters of President Barack Obama are the inspiration for the latest in the TyGirlz Collection.

The president in plastic

A Japanese company is selling a realistic Barack Obama toy as an action figure. Though the likeness is debatable, Barack fans can now re-create their favourite Obama moments at home.