The image of the U.S. around the world has improved markedly since Barack Obama replaced George Bush, surveyed by the Pew Research Center between May 18 and June 16.

The biggest jump in favorable views of the U.S. has been in western Europe with improvements also in key countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. There were some signs of improvement in Muslim countries but the view of Muslims in the Mideast remain unfavorable.

Americans now disapprove over the way President Obama is handling the proposed overhaul of health care by 50 percent to 44 percent, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted July 17-19.

You can see the partisan divide on this issue from the chart with 74 percent of Democrats approving, 86 percent of Republicans disapproving and 55 percent of independents disapproving.

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling health care policy?

The (minority) of Americans who believe the economy is getting better has dropped since last month and that's taken a toll on President Obama's approval rating which also fell since June, according to a CBS News poll conducted July 9-12.

Obama's approval to disapproval ratio is now 57 percent to 32 percent, still respectable, but a falloff from the 63 percent to 26 percent numbers he enjoyed in early June. That coincided with the percentage of Americans who believed the economy was getting better dropping from 27 percent to 21 percent, and those believing it was getting worse rising from 25 percent to 33 percent. Forty-five percent believed it was staying about the same.

The number of Americans who cite economic problems as the most important challenges facing the country has dropped by 21 points since February but still remains at the top of the list, according to a Gallup poll conducted June 14-17.

Responding to an open-ended question, 65 percent said the economy was the top problem compared to 86 percent in February. The economy in general was the top concern for 41 percent while 14 percent said it was unemployment and jobs. All other items were in single digits.

Other issues mentioned by respondents didn't show much change. Fourteen percent cited poor health care, hospitals and the high cost of health care, which was an increase of April and May, but only slightly higher than the 12 percent recorded in March. Seven percent pointed to the situation with Iraq and 6 percent expressed dissatisfaction with government and politicians.

President Obama enjoys a job approval rating of 65 percent, slightly lower than in the three previous months, but his approval levels when it comes to his handling of specific issues - while nearly all positive - are lower than his personal marks, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll conducted June 18-21. These findings generally track with several major polls released last week.

Obama's approval falls below 50 percent on the issue of the federal deficit, and 87 percent say they are concerned about its size. Fifty-six percent of those described themselves as very concerned. And his margin over congressional Republicans in terms of whom the public trusts more on the economy, while still large, fell 13 points since April.

President Obama still enjoys a 61 percent job approval rating and 65 percent are optimistic about his economic policies, according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted June 10-14. But his approval rating when it comes specifically to his performance on top issues has fallen, a finding in line with two other major polls released yesterday.

The public approves of Obama's performance on the economy by 52 percent to 40 percent, down from 60 percent to 33 percent in April. It approves of his handling ofd foreign policy by 57 percent to 31 percent, compared to 61 percent to 22 percent in April. On dealing with financial institutions, his approval ratio is 50 percent to 40 percent while his approach to the problems of U.S. automakers gets a bare 47 percent to 44 percent approval mark, which is within the poll's 3 point margin of error.

The rubber is meeting the road in the presidency of Barack Obama. While his job approval ratings remain high, Americans are focusing in on his policies and a substantial number are concerned with the way his recovery and other major proposals are expanding the deficit, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll conducted June 12-16.

The poll found that support for his proposals on a range of issues - health care, rescuing the auto industry and closing Guantánamo - fall short of his general job approval ratings.

About two-thirds of voters believe that President Obama has not been tough enough with the two nations - North Korea and Iran - that have raised serious concerns about their nuclear ambitions, and those numbers include a majority of Democrats, according to a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll conducted June 9-10.

Sixty-nine percent say Obama has not been tough enough on North Korea, including 65 percent of Democrats, and 66 percent say he has not been tough enough on Iran, including 57 percent of Democrats.

Two new polls are out today looking at how the public thinks President Obama is doing in general and on specific issues, and so far, he is faring pretty well, although the percentage of Americans that disapprove of his handling of the federal deficit and controlling spending outnumber those who give him positive marks.

A Gallup poll conducted May 29-31 has Obama's overall job approval ratio at 61 percent to 34 percent which is lower than his personal favorability ratio of 67 percent to 32 percent. The margin of error is 3 points and the poll included adults, not just voters.

Americans oppose President Obama's decision to close the Guantánamo detention center by more than 2-to-1 and reject by more than 3-to-1 the idea that suspected terrorists housed there be moved to prisons in their own states, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted May 29-31.

By 40 percent to 18 percent, those polled said the use of Guantánamo had made the U.S. safer.