Obama hears from world leaders

CHICAGO, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- The most recent foreign leaders to call U.S. President-elect Barack Obama have been the presidents of Russia and China, who phoned Saturday.

President Dmitry Medvedev's news service said he and Obama agreed to arrange a bilateral meeting soon, ITAR-TASS reported. Hu Jintao of China said he and Obama discussed the international financial crisis, Xinhua, the official Chinese government news agency, said.

Obama is likely to meet both presidents at the international financial summit scheduled for Nov. 15 in Washington.

Thursday and Friday, Obama took phone calls from 15 leaders, The Washington Post said. An aide said most of the calls were simple congratulations and lasted less than 10 minutes.

Friday's callers included Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, President Lech Kaczynski of Poland, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.

Berlusconi reportedly did not mention his quip -- his version -- or gaffe -- the opposition version -- when he described Obama, who is black, as "young, handsome and even suntanned."