Obama Wraps Up Tour in London, Defends Trip

Barack Obama wrapped up his international tour today in London, chatting for two hours with PM Gordon Brown on Iraq, the economy, and the "special relationship" between the US and Britain. Obama, preparing to head home to Chicago, defended his trip to Europe and the Mideast as polls in the US show that Americans have mixed feelings about it, Reuters reports.

"I am convinced that many of the issues we face at home are not going to be solved as effectively unless we have strong partners abroad," he said. "This was important for me not only to try to highlight or amplify how the international situation affects our economy back home, but also hopefully to give people at home, but also leaders abroad, some sense of where an Obama administration might take our foreign policy." (More Britain stories.)