U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama poses with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the chancellery in Berlin, in front of Reichstag building, July 24, 2008. Obama, on a foreign tour he hopes will boost his election chances, on Thursday gives an outdoor speech in Berlin on transatlantic ties that is likely to draw thousands. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke (GERMANY) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008