FACTBOX: Healthcare, war, climate on Obama's tough agenda

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama has set a wide-ranging agenda during his first seven months in office.

Here is a look at where things stand on some major issues:

HEALTHCARE REFORM - Obama's top domestic priority, the plan to overhaul the expensive U.S. healthcare system has drawn intense fire from opponents and cut into Obama's approval ratings as Americans worry about what the nearly $1 trillion scheme could mean for the burgeoning U.S. budget deficit.

Three bills have been approved by committees in the House of Representatives, but no Republicans have backed them. Months of Senate Finance Committee negotiations with three Republican senators have not produced a deal, signaling a nasty battle to pass a plan after Congress returns on September 8 from its break.

Most analysts expect a healthcare bill will make its way through Congress, but its size and scope could be reduced.

THE ECONOMY - Obama signed his $787 billion economic stimulus plan in February, and has started to cautiously claim credit for some improved data. But with U.S. unemployment still at 9.4 percent, and most economists expecting it to reach 10 percent, it is too soon to talk with confidence of recovery.

For example, the $3 billion cash for clunkers plan, which buoyed auto makers by providing cash incentives for trading in an old gas-guzzling car for a new model, expired Monday and its end could see the car companies struggling again.

There is still periodic talk that another stimulus plan may be needed, but the administration was waiting and watching -- and hoping for a better jobs picture.

CLIMATE CHANGE - The Obama administration would like to have a climate change law in place before international talks in Copenhagen in December. But oil, agriculture and manufacturing firms have lined up in opposition, saying it would add costs without guaranteeing environmental gains.

The House narrowly passed legislation to cut carbon emissions and Senate Democrats are expected to introduce their version of a sweeping bill, but it was unclear whether the full Senate will pass anything this year, despite the White House expressing a willingness to be flexible on its wish-list.

AFGHANISTAN - U.S. combat deaths have risen since Obama announced a new strategy and ordered a troop buildup to Afghanistan, where a resurgent Taliban has confounded NATO-led efforts to stabilize the country.

The situation is deteriorating, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, acknowledged. Support for the war among Americans is also declining. U.S. officials were awaiting the outcome of last week's Afghan election, whose result was still unclear.

IRAQ - Obama has declared that the Iraq war will end for the United States by 2012, when remaining U.S. troops are due to withdraw, eight years after invading to topple Saddam Hussein. But a recent surge in bomb attacks that have killed scores of Iraqis and targeted government ministries has raised questions about the Iraqis ability to combat al Qaeda and other militants before elections due in January.

Obama's efforts to extricate U.S. troops on schedule could be complicated if Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki asks Washington for military help. He is banking on saving billions of dollars from winding up U.S. operations in Iraq to help cut a record deficit.

IRAN - Obama has set late September as a deadline for Iran to respond to his diplomatic overtures. However, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was severely weakened by a disputed election and Iran watchers say he is too preoccupied with shoring up his base and getting a restive parliament to approve his cabinet to engage with Washington.

Obama's policy of engagement contrasts starkly with the Bush administration's efforts to isolate the Islamic Republic, but so far has not had noticeable results. Senior administration officials have warned of tougher sanctions if Iran does not respond to the offer of talks by late September.

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT - Obama has made jump-starting Middle East peace talks a top foreign policy priority but so far has made little progress.

Moderate Arab states have rebuffed his appeal to make conciliatory gestures to encourage Israel to halt settlement building in occupied territory, and the Jewish state's right-leaning government has ignored his call for a freeze on settlement construction. Some U.S. newspaper columnists have speculated that he could unveil a new initiative when the United Nations General Assembly meets next month. A breakthrough would boost Obama's efforts to rebuild the U.S. image in the Muslim world.

CIA PROSECUTIONS - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder named a special prosecutor to probe prisoner abuse cases, after the Justice Department's ethics watchdog recommended considering prosecution of Central Intelligence Agency employees or contractors for harsh interrogations in Iraq and Afghanistan during the administration of President George W. Bush.

The decision is likely to ignite a political storm in Washington, as Obama wrestles with the other issues on his agenda, but the White House said the president was leaving the matter in the hands of Holder, whom Obama appointed to be an "independent" attorney general.

(Compiled by Ross Colvin and Patricia Zengerle, editing by David Storey)