Bipartisan drive hits second snag
February 13, 2009
BARACK OBAMA’S bold experiment in bipartisanship has taken another hit with his second nominee for commerce secretary, the Republican senator Judd Gregg, abruptly withdrawing his nomination citing “irresolvable differences”.
Senator Gregg pointed to the stimulus package and changes to the Census Bureau as the two areas where he could not support Administration policy.
Obama presses forward on Iran, backward on Iraq
January 12, 2009
THE US president-elect, Barack Obama, has confirmed that he will pursue a clear policy of engagement with Iran and press immediately for peace in the Middle East.
Speaking on the ABC News television program This Week, Mr Obama said he wanted to work directly with Iran – a country whose president has called for Israel’s destruction – to improve relations and halt a nuclear program that Tehran describes as peaceful, but the West believes is not.
“We are going to have to take a new approach,” he told the program’s host, George Stephanopoulos, in his first interview since arriving in Washington.
Obama faces delay in Guantanamo closure plan
January 11, 2009
US President-elect Barack Obama has softened his pledge to close the US’s controversial prison at Guantanamo Bay within the first 100 days of his administration, saying it is proving a more complex task than he had first thought.
“I think it’s going to take some time and our legal teams are working in consultation with our national security apparatus as we speak to help design exactly what we need to do,” Mr Obama said in an interview on ABC’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos – his first since arriving in Washington.
Illinois Governor charged with selling rights to replace Barack Obama
December 9, 2008
Chicago has been rocked by a staggering new corruption scandal after the Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested on Tuesday morning for trying to sell the right to replace Barack Obama in the US Senate.
The governor, who has the sole right to appoint Mr Obama’s replacement to the Senate, was caught on wire taps trying to leverage a personal financial benefit from the appointment, including a possible appointment to the Obama cabinet.
Obama Security Team unveiled
December 1, 2008
In recognition that the first year of his presidency will be dominated by trying to stabilize the domestic economy, Barack Obama has assembled a heavy-hitting and highly experienced national security team – including his former rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton.
The president-elect was expected to hold a press conference in Chicago early today to unveil his national security team.
Will Experience Trump Change for Obama
November 26, 2008
Barack Obama promised change, galvanizing many younger voters who believed America could become a fairer country and end its involvement in Iraq.
As a presidential candidate, Obama had promised a new vision of politics. A politics not divided along partisan lines, that would break with the old Washington ways where access to decision makers was corrupted by donations, lobbyists and a culture of insiders.
Hillary Clinton tipped for Secretary of State
November 14, 2008
SPECULATION is mounting in the US that Hillary Clinton could take control of the country’s foreign affairs policy as president-elect Barack Obama considers her for his secretary of state.
Senator Clinton lost the Democratic Party nomination to Senator Obama, but she is understood to be a strong candidate for foreign affairs, along with the decorated war hero Senator John Kerry.
Devotees flock to Buddha reincarnation in Nepal
November 12, 2008
The teenage boy revered by many as a reincarnation of Buddha sat silently in the jungle as he blessed his devotees on Wednesday with a light tap on the head, which they consider the touch of the divine.
His face was still, his long hair spilled over his white robe, and he never said a word.
Palin takes prank call from fake Sarkozy
November 2, 2008
Sarah Palin told a Canadian comedian posing as French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a prank call that “maybe in eight years” she will be president.
The US vice-presidential nominee unwittingly discussed politics, the perils of hunting with Vice-President Dick Cheney, and Sarkozy’s “beautiful wife”, in the telephone call with comedian Marc-Antoine Audette released on Saturday and set to air on a Quebec radio station on Monday.
Accusations are Flying as we approach the Election Date
October 24, 2008
As Democrat candidate Barack Obama and Republican John McCain ended the second-last week of the campaign, each leveled the same charge against the other, as the latter sought desperately to change the momentum of the campaign.
With polls showing that victory is slipping away from him, Senator McCain on Thursday accused his opponent of rewriting his tax policy to avoid accusations that it amounts to giving money away to people who are not paying tax.
