Author: Josh Lederman
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Obama pledges US support to Belgium after attacks
HAVANA — President Barack Obama pledged to “do whatever is necessary” to help Belgian authorities seek justice for the more than two dozen people who were killed Tuesday in explosions at the Brussels airport and the subway system. “We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people,” Obama said in…
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Tussling on human rights, Obama, Castro vow new path forward
HAVANA (AP) — President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro tussled Monday over differences on human rights and democracy but pledged to keep working on a new path forward between their two countries in a stunning diplomatic display. Obama, midway through his history-making trip to Cuba, succeeded in getting Cuba’s leader to submit to…
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US to declassify military records on Argentina’s “Dirty War”
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will move to declassify U.S. military and intelligence records related to Argentina’s “Dirty War,” the White House said Thursday, aiming to bring closure to questions of U.S. involvement in a notorious chapter in Argentina’s history. Obama’s visit to Buenos Aires next week coincides with the 40th anniversary of the 1976…
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FACT CHECK: GOP candidates veer from the truth in 1st debate
EDITOR’S NOTE: An occasional look at political claims that take shortcuts with the facts or don’t tell the full story WASHINGTON — Republicans seeking their party’s 2016 presidential nomination have the challenging task of trying to stand out among the 17 candidates in the race, and Thursday’s televised debate was the first opportunity for the…
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White House intruder gets far past front door
WASHINGTON — The intruder who climbed a fence made it farther inside the White House than the Secret Service has publicly acknowledged, a Republican congressman said Monday. The disclosures came on the eve of a congressional oversight hearing with the director of the embattled agency assigned to protect the president’s life. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah,…
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Obama orders pollution cuts – but timing uncertain
WASHINGTON — Taking aim at global warming, President Barack Obama introduced a politically charged plan Monday to order big and lasting cuts in the pollution discharged by America’s power plants. But the plan, though ambitious in scope, wouldn’t be fully realized until long after Obama’s successor took office and would generate only modest progress worldwide.…
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Obama offers solace to nation at Fort Hood
FORT HOOD, Texas — President Barack Obama returned to the grieving Army post Wednesday where he first took on the job as the nation’s comforter five years ago, mourning at Fort Hood with families and uniformed comrades of those killed during last week’s shooting spree. “We somehow bear what seems unbearable,” he declared. It was…
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Obama consoles families, survivors of Texas blast
WACO, Texas — President Barack Obama consoled a rural Texas community rocked by a deadly fertilizer plant explosion, telling mourners Thursday they are not alone in their grief and they will have the nation’s support to rebuild from the devastation. “This small town’s family is bigger now,” Obama said during a memorial service at Baylor…
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Biden lunches with ‘Veep’ star
WASHINGTON — Watch out, Joe Biden. The other vice president is in the house. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who plays Vice President Selina Meyer on the HBO comedy “Veep,” came to the White House on Friday to have lunch with Biden. While in the West Wing, Louis-Dreyfus took the opportunity to try out the vice president’s desk…
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Colo., 4 other states to increase class time in some schools
WASHINGTON — Open your notebooks and sharpen your pencils. School for thousands of public school students is about to get quite a bit longer. Five states announced Monday that they will add at least 300 hours of learning time to the calendar in some schools starting in 2013. Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Tennessee…