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During his visit to Poland, President Barack Obama has unveiled plans for a $1billion fund to increase US military deployments to Europe.
Barack Obama, who will meet NATO leaders amid concerns over the Ukraine crisis, said the security of America’s European allies was “sacrosanct”.
In April, 150 US soldiers were sent to Poland for military exercises amid growing tensions with Russia.
Barack Obama will also visit Belgium and France during his tour.
Meanwhile, NATO defense ministers are set to meet in Brussels to discuss the long-term security implications of Russian actions over Ukraine.
The Kremlin denies Western claims that it is supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine.
During his visit to Poland, President Barack Obama has unveiled plans for a $1billion fund to increase US military deployments to Europe (photo Reuters)
“Our commitment to Poland’s security as well as the security of our allies in central and eastern Europe is a cornerstone of our own security and it is sacrosanct,” Barack Obama said after inspecting a joint unit of US and Polish F-16 pilots.
Speaking at a news conference in Warsaw with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, Barack Obama warned Russia against provoking further tensions in Ukraine.
He said Moscow should use its influence to call off separatists in Ukraine’s east.
Barack Obama reaffirmed the US commitment to NATO’s principle of collective defense, announcing plans for a $1 billion European Reassurance Initiative.
The program, which will fund additional US military rotations to Europe, will need congressional approval.
The US would also “step up partnership” with countries such as Ukraine and Moldova, he added.
Bronislaw Komorowski said Poland would increase its military budget to 2% of its GDP, a move Barack Obama welcomed as a “reminder that every [NATO] ally needs to carry their share” in the alliance.
In a statement, the White House said the European Reassurance Initiative would not “come at the expense of other defense priorities, such as our commitment to the Asia Pacific rebalance”.
In France, Barack will take part in ceremonies to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is also invited, but the White House has already made it clear that the American and Russian leaders will not hold formal bilateral talks.
Washington and its European allies have repeatedly urged Moscow to de-escalate tensions in eastern Ukraine, where fighting has continued between separatists and government troops.
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Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has resigned amid a scandal over delayed care and falsified records at the agency’s hospitals.
President Barack Obama said Eric Shinseki told him he did not want to be a distraction as the agency tried to fix Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals.
Barack Obama said he accepted the resignation “with considerable regret”.
A recent report found veterans at an Arizona hospital waited an average of 115 days for an initial appointment.
On Friday morning after an Oval Office meeting with Eric Shinseki, a retired four-star general wounded in Vietnam, Barack Obama told reporters Shinseki had “worked hard to investigate and identify the problems with access to care”.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki has resigned amid a scandal over delayed care and falsified records at the agency’s hospitals
“But as he told me this morning, the VA needs new leadership to address them,” Barack Obama said.
“We don’t have time for distractions. We need to fix the problem.”
Eric Shinseki’s decision to step down came as his support among Barack Obama’s own Democratic Party steadily eroded. Republicans in Congress and at least one major veterans group had called for him to step down earlier this month.
The president said he had named Deputy VA Secretary Sloan Gibson to be acting head of the agency.
Eric Shinseki’s resignation is the culmination of months of tumult at the agency over reports that administrators at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, had falsified records to hide a lengthy backlog of veterans awaiting care.
On Wednesday, an internal VA inquiry revealed veterans in Phoenix waited an average of 115 days for a first appointment, but the hospital reported to the agency an average wait time of only 24 days.
The VA inspector general’s report also said at least 1,700 veterans were not even on official waiting lists because they had not been properly registered.
Barack Obama acknowledged the misconduct was not limited to Phoenix but had occurred in VA facilities across the country.
“It’s totally unacceptable,” he said on Friday.
“Our veterans deserve the best. They’ve earned it.”
Eric Shinseki had begun sacking senior officials at the Phoenix hospital, and has also cancelled bonuses for top VA executives and ordered the agency to contact any veteran in Phoenix waiting for care.
The US veterans health system serves about nine million former US military service members.
Its resources have been strained by the ageing population of Korean and Vietnam War veterans as well as the large influx of wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
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The US has announced a $5 billion “terrorism partnership fund” to help other countries tackle extremists.
The cash will help countries in the Middle East, Africa and East Asia.
President Barack Obama announced the plan at the US Military Academy in West Point, as he set out his foreign policy vision.
The end of the combat mission in Afghanistan at the end of the year would free up resources to tackle emerging threats elsewhere, he said.
President Barack Obama has announced a $5 billion terrorism partnership fund at the US Military Academy in West Point (photo The Journal News)
“I am calling on Congress to support a new counter-terrorism partnerships fund of up to $5 billion, which will allow us to train, build capacity, and facilitate partner countries on the front lines.”
The money would go towards missions such as training security forces in Yemen, supporting a multinational force to keep the peace in Somalia, working with European allies to train a functioning security force in Libya, and helping French operations in Mali, Barack Obama said.
Turning to the civil war in Syria, Barack Obama promised to “ramp up support” for those in opposition to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, although he did not give details about what that would mean in practice.
Barack Obama’s speech attempted to recast US foreign policy as one which would use military force when necessary but primarily acts on a platform of international consensus.
“We must broaden our tools to include diplomacy and development; sanctions and isolation; appeals to international law and – if just, necessary, and effective – multilateral military action.
“We must do so because collective action in these circumstances is more likely to succeed, more likely to be sustained, and less likely to lead to costly mistakes.”
Last week, the US sent about 80 troops to Chad as part of a mission to help locate hundreds of school girls abducted by Islamist group Boko Haram in neighboring Nigeria.
The address marks the start of a series of speeches from the president about foreign policy over the next 10 days, in an attempt to respond to critics who say current US foreign policy is weak.
On a trip to Europe, Barack Obama will give a speech about US commitment to Europe in Warsaw, meet with the G7 leaders in Brussels, and honor US veterans in Normandy at the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
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President Barack Obama has announced that the US will keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan after it concludes its combat mission at the end of this year.
Under the plan Barack Obama announced at the White House, the US will continue to withdraw troops until only a small residual force remains after 2016.
The remaining troops would guard the US embassy, train Afghan forces and support counter-terrorism operations.
But the plan depends on the Afghans signing a joint security agreement.
President Barack Obama has announced that the US will keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan after it concludes its combat mission at the end of this year (photo AP)
While current Afghan President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign such an agreement, the Obama administration appears to be confident either of the two candidates seeking to replace him would do so.
“This year, we will bring America’s longest war to its responsible end,” Barack Obama said.
The troop numbers Barack Obama announced are largely in line with what military commanders have been asking for. His announcement indicates the longest war in American history – launched by President George W. Bush following the 11 September 2001 terror attacks – will end by the time he leaves office.
He confirmed the US would seek to have 9,800 troops across Afghanistan at the beginning of 2015, but that number would be reduced by about half by the end of the year and would be concentrated in Kabul and at Bagram Air Force Base.
“We will no longer patrol Afghan cities and towns, mountains or valleys,” Barack Obama said.
“That is a task for the Afghan people.”
By 2016, Barack Obama said, the military will draw down to a “normal embassy presence” with an additional security detail, “just as we’ve done in Iraq”.
“We have to recognize Afghanistan will not be a perfect place – and it is not America’s responsibly to make it one,” Barack Obama said.
However, he added the US would help Afghans secure a “hard-earned peace”.
Afghanistan’s run-off election between Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani to replace Hamid Karzai is set for 14 June.
Barack Obama noted on Tuesday that both have said they would sign a security agreement with the US.
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President Barack Obama was cheered by soldiers during a surprise visit to Bagram Airfield outside Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.
Barack Obama has told US troops in Afghanistan that America’s longest war will come to “a responsible end” at the end of 2014.
It comes on the eve of Memorial Day, when Americans commemorate troops who have died in service.
Barack Obama was cheered by soldiers during a surprise visit to Bagram Airfield outside Kabul
Foreign combat troops are due to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of the year.
The US is seeking to keep a small number of troops there to train Afghan security forces. But that plan depends on the next Afghan president – due to be elected next month – signing a bilateral security agreement that incumbent Afghan President Hamid Karzai has refused to authorize.
Barack Obama had invited his Afghan counterpart to the base but Hamid Karzai refused, saying he would only meet the US president at his palace in Kabul, officials said.
Instead, Barack Obama called the Afghan leader from Air Force One on his way back to the US, officials said, saying he would be in touch before announcing any decision on the planned US troop presence after 2014.
To cheers from the assembled troops, Barack Obama thanked them for their service, and promised to improve treatment for wounded veterans.
“By the end of this year… Afghans will take full responsibility for their security and our combat mission will be over. America’s war in Afghanistan will come to a responsible end.”
Barack Obama said the US would remain committed to Afghanistan provided the incoming president signed the security agreement.
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President Barack Obama has joined 9/11 survivors and rescuers at the memorial museum dedication ceremony on the site of the attacks in New York.
Barack Obama told those gathered it was a “sacred place of healing and of hope”.
The National September 11 Memorial Museum includes thousands of personal items and parts of the World Trade Center towers themselves.
Almost 3,000 people died on 11 September 2001 after al-Qaeda hijackers flew planes into the towers.
Another hijacked plane hit the Pentagon. A fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought with the hijackers.
The National September 11 Memorial Museum includes thousands of personal items and parts of the World Trade Center towers themselves (photo NBC News)
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama toured the museum, viewing a memorial wall with photos of victims and a mangled fire truck, before the ceremony began at 10:00 EST.
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined them.
In his opening remarks at the ceremony, Michael Bloomberg said the museum was “a reminder to us and all future generations that freedom carries heavy responsibilities”.
Barack Obama said the museum means we can all “look into the faces of nearly 3,000 innocent souls”.
“We can touch their names and hear their voices, glimpse the small items that speak to the beauty of their lives – the wedding rings, a duty helmet, a shining badge,” he told those gathered.
As well as rescuers, survivors and relatives of people who lost their lives, there was in attendance the New York mayor at the time of the attacks, Rudy Giuliani, the present mayor, Bill de Blasio and actor Robert De Niro.
Along with the nearby memorial plaza, the New York city museum cost $700 million in donations and public money.
The museum, not far from the original site of the World Trade Center, is largely underground.
The museum will be fully open to the public on May 21.
The museum features dramatic and horrific moments of the day in videos, including the two skyscrapers collapsing, but also symbols of heroism, such as damaged fire trucks and the wristwatch of one of the passengers who confronted the hijackers.
“You won’t walk out of this museum without a feeling that you understand humanity in a deeper way,” said museum President Joe Daniels.
Charles Wolf, who lost his wife Katherine in the attacks, said he was awaiting the ceremonial opening on Thursday with a mix of anticipation and dread.
“It brings everything up,” he said.
The museum is not without controversy. Some relatives of victims are upset that unidentified humans remains found in the rubble will be located near the museum at Ground Zero.
Some Muslim groups have also said a video describing al-Qaeda and the run-up to the attacks does not differentiate enough between the violent hijackers motivated by a radical vision of Islam and regular Muslims.
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Michelle Obama has said the mass kidnap of Nigerian schoolgirls is part of a wider pattern of threats and intimidation facing girls around the world who pursue an education.
The first lady said she and President Barack Obama were “outraged and heartbroken” over the abduction on April 14 of more than 200 girls from their school.
Michelle Obama was speaking instead of her husband in the weekly presidential address.
Michelle Obama was speaking instead of her husband in the weekly presidential address (photo White House)
The Islamist militant group Boko Haram has claimed the abductions.
Michelle Obama, who was speaking ahead of Mother’s Day in the US on Sunday, said the girls reminded her and her husband of their own daughters.
“What happened in Nigeria was not an isolated incident. It’s a story we see every day as girls around the world risk their lives to pursue their ambitions,” she said.
Michelle Obama cited the Pakistani schoolgirl and campaigner Malala Yousafzai, who was shot and wounded by the Taliban for speaking out for girls’ education.
“The courage and hope embodied by Malala and girls like her around the world should serve as a call to action,” she said.
It is unusual for a US first lady to make outspoken foreign policy remarks, but Michelle Obama has campaigned for the girls’ release.
Michelle Obama has often appeared alongside her husband during the weekly address, which is broadcast on radio with a video version available online. This is the first time she has delivered the speech alone.
Earlier this week, Michelle Obama tweeted a picture of herself in the White House holding a sign with the message “#BringBackOurGirls”.
The UN Security Council expressed outrage over the abductions, saying it would consider “appropriate measures” against Boko Haram. The US is seeking to have UN sanctions imposed on the group.
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Michelle Obama is to deliver Barack Obama’s weekly presidential address to condemn last month’s abduction of Nigerian girls.
First ladies normally refrain from outspoken foreign policy remarks, but Michelle Obama has been a vocal campaigner for the release of more than 200 girls.
Fifty-three of the schoolgirls escaped soon after being seized in Chibok on April 14 but many more remain captive.
Islamist militant group Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack.
Michelle Obama is to deliver Barack Obama’s weekly presidential address to condemn last month’s abduction of Nigerian girls
The United Nations Security Council expressed outrage over the abductions in north-eastern Borno state, and demanded the immediate release of the students.
It said it would consider “appropriate measures” against Boko Haram. The US is seeking to have UN sanctions imposed on the group.
Michelle Obama is due to make the address ahead of Mother’s Day, which the US marks on Sunday.
“As the mother of two young daughters, Mrs. Obama is taking up the opportunity to express outrage and heartbreak the president and she share over the kidnapping,” White House deputy spokesman Eric Schultz said.
“The first lady hopes that the courage of these young girls serves as an inspiration… and a call to action for people around the world to fight to ensure that every girl receives the education that is their birthright,” he added.
Michelle Obama has often appeared alongside her husband during the weekly address, which is broadcast on radio with a video version available online. This is the first time she will deliver the speech alone.
Earlier this week, she tweeted a picture of herself in the White House holding a sign with the message “#BringBackOurGirls”.
President Barack Obama has described the kidnapping as “heartbreaking” and “outrageous”.
A small number of US and British experts have now started arriving in Nigeria to assist the government’s rescue efforts.
A senior US official said Washington was also considering a Nigerian request for surveillance aircraft.
But analysts have pointed out the difficulty of using aerial reconnaissance in the region’s rugged forests.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said on Friday he believed the schoolgirls were still in his country and had not been moved to neighboring Cameroon.
Boko Haram has admitted capturing the girls, saying they should not have been in school and should get married instead.
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President Barack Obama had attempted to poke fun at himself at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington.
Barack Obama joked that his predecessor President George W. Bush’s well-publicized but amateurish paintings had inspired him to find his own artistic side (photo Twitter)
Barack Obama joked that his predecessor President George W. Bush’s well-publicized but amateurish paintings had inspired him to find his own artistic side.
When he waited for an example of his work to show up on a projector screen, it never appeared due to a technology malfunction.
“The joke doesn’t work without the slide …. Oh well, assume that it was funny,” Barack Obama said.
NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander has since posted the missing slide on his Twitter page.
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Barack Obama made fun of his healthcare policy, his political opponents and Vladimir Putin at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
The healthcare policy has serious IT issues, prompting the joke: “In 2008 my slogan was: <<Yes we can>>. In 2013 my slogan was: <<Control-alt-delete>>.”
Barack Obama ridiculed media commentators for their apparent obsession with Vladimir Putin’s bare chest.
Dozens of celebrities, journalists and politicians were at the dinner.
Barack Obama made fun of his healthcare policy, his political opponents and Vladimir Putin at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner
The roll-out of healthcare.gov, Barack Obama’s main policy initiative of his second term, provided much of the humor.
The president made several references to computer malfunctions.
“Does anybody know how to fix this,” he asked, pretending that the overhead projector had failed to work.
Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who quit as a result of the IT issues, stepped up and said: “I got this. I see it all the time.”
The president used Vladimir Putin as a way of lampooning some conservative commentators and political opponents.
“Last year [conservative commentator] Pat Buchanan said Putin is headed straight for the Nobel Peace Prize… to be fair they give those to just about anybody these days. So it could happen,” he said.
Barack Obama was given the award in 2009 having been nominated for it after less than two weeks in office.
“[Republican] Mike Huckabee and [conservative commentator] Sean Hannity keep talking about his bare chest, which is kind of weird.”
The annual WHCA Dinner is traditionally used by presidents to ridicule their opponents, but also laugh at themselves.
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President Barack Obama has announced he will ask Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate problems surrounding the application of the death penalty in the US.
His announcement comes just days after a botched execution in Oklahoma drew widespread attention.
Barack Obama called inmate Clayton Lockett’s prolonged death earlier this week from an improperly delivered lethal injection “deeply troubling”.
The president said he has conflicting feelings regarding the death penalty.
“This situation in Oklahoma I think just highlights some of the significant problems,” Barack Obama told reporters.
The problems surrounding Clayton Lockett’s execution come amid a wider debate over the legality of the three-drug method (photo Fox News)
Americans should “ask ourselves some difficult and profound questions around these issues”, he added.
Barack Obama, trained as a lawyer, said the death penalty is warranted in some cases – including child and mass murder – but its application in the US is problematic.
At issue are evidence of racial bias and potential exoneration of some inmates, he said.
Barack Obama said he will task Eric Holder with providing “an analysis of what steps have been taken, not just in this particular instance, but more broadly in this area”.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin has ordered an “independent review” of the state’s execution protocols, saying the state’s department of public safety would lead the inquiry.
Prison officials in Oklahoma inserted lethal drugs into Clayton Lockett’s groin after failing to find a vein elsewhere.
They took 51 minutes to find a suitable vein and did not realize the one they chose in his groin had collapsed.
The inmate succumbed to a heart attack 10 minutes after his execution was stopped, as he writhed and mumbled.
Clayton Lockett had been sentenced to death for shooting 19-year-old Stephanie Neiman and watching as two accomplices buried her alive in 1999.
Stephanie Neiman and a friend had interrupted the men as they robbed a home.
The problems surrounding Clayton Lockett’s execution come amid a wider debate over the legality of the three-drug method and whether its use violates guarantees in the US constitution “against cruel and unusual punishment”.
The US has encountered increasing problems in obtaining the drugs for lethal injections, amid an embargo by European pharmaceutical companies.
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Shortly after arriving in Philippines, President Barack Obama held talks with President Benigno Aquino and was later to attend a state dinner.
Manila is the final stop of the US president’s four-nation Asia tour.
President Barack Obama says that a new US-Philippine military pact will promote stability in the region.
The deal, signed in Manila hours before Barack Obama touched down, allows a bigger US military presence in the country.
Barack Obama arrives in Philippines, the final stop of his four-nation Asia tour
Barack Obama said the deal was not intended to contain China, with whom Manila is embroiled in a bitter territorial row.
But he backed Manila’s move to seek UN arbitration over its maritime dispute with Beijing.
“Our goal is not to counter China. Our goal is not to contain China. Our goal is to make sure international rules and norms are respected and that includes in the area of international disputes,” he said.
The 10-year military deal was signed by Philippine Defense Minister Voltaire Gazmin and US Ambassador Philip Goldberg on Monday morning.
Under the agreement, the US will have better access to military bases, ports and airfields. US troops would rotate through these facilities and engage in joint training, officials said.
Barack Obama said the US was not planning to rebuild old bases or construct new ones under the security pact.
“We’ll work together to build the Philippines’ defense capabilities and work with other nations to promote regional stability such as in the South China Sea,” he said.
In a statement, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario described it as “milestone in our shared history as enduring treaty allies”.
“The EDCA [Enhanced Defense Co-operation Agreement] elevates to a higher plane of engagement our already robust defense alliance,” he said.
However, the presence of foreign troops is a sensitive issue in the Philippines, a former US colony.
Anti-US activists who say the deal will not benefit the Philippines and harms its sovereignty were expected to protest during Barack Obama’s visit.
The US used to have large bases in the Philippines but these were closed in the early 1990s. US troops have also been active in the southern Philippines, where al-Qaeda-linked militants are based.
In recent months, however, Washington and Manila have moved to strengthen ties again, as the Philippine relationship with China has deteriorated amid a more assertive stance from Beijing on its territorial claims.
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Barack Obama has arrived in Malaysia – the third leg of the US president Asian tour.
President Barack Obama is the first serving American leader to visit the predominantly-Muslim nation since 1966.
The visit signals closer bilateral relations after decades of uneasy ties.
Barack Obama is expected to seek closer trade relations with Malaysia to dilute China’s influence in the region.
The US has already provided Kuala Lumpur with military assistance, most recently in the search for the missing Malaysian airline.
President Barack Obama is the first serving American leader to visit Malaysia since 1966
Barack Obama landed at Malaysia’s Air Force base in Subang on Saturday evening local time.
The US president has already visited Japan and South Korea as part of a four-nation tour of Asia.
Ahead of the visit, Malaysia’s government controlled newspapers printed the American flag on their front pages, along with the words “Welcome, Mr. President”.
But some analysts say it has taken Barack Obama too long to visit Malaysia, especially since he lived in the region as a child.
American presidents had stayed away because of years of anti-Western rhetoric under former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad, but current PM Najib Razak wants Washington to recognize Malaysia as a global player.
In his turn, Barack Obama wants Kuala Lumpur to sign a free trade deal with 10 other nations – the so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Ben Rhodes, Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said relations between the US and Malaysia had blossomed in recent years.
Malaysia has become a “pivotal state” in the Obama administration’s push to strengthen ties throughout the fast-growing and strategically important region, the Associated Press quoted Ben Rhodes as saying.
However, some Malay Muslims claim that the US-led trade deal will reduce their economic privileges over other ethnic groups in the country.
Barack Obama arrived in Malaysia from South Korea and will finish his Asian tour in the Philippines on April 29.
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President Barack Obama arrived in Seoul for a visit that comes amid concern that North Korea may be planning a fourth nuclear test.
Barack Obama, who arrived from Japan on the second stop of his Asian tour, will hold talks with South Korean leader Park Geun-hye.
Their talks are set to focus on North Korea, following reports of activity at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site.
Barack Obama is also expected to express grief over last week’s ferry disaster.
More than 300 people were killed or remain missing after the Sewol passenger ferry sank off South Korea, in a tragedy that has shocked the nation.
Most of those who died were teenagers on a school trip.
Barack Obama arrived in Seoul for a visit that comes amid concern that North Korea may be planning a fourth nuclear test (photo Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images)
Barack Obama is expected to hold talks with Park Geun-hye, visit US troops and then fly to Malaysia on Saturday.
Speaking in Japan, the US president called the North Korean problem “the most destabilizing, dangerous situation in all of the Asia-Pacific region”, and described China’s role in influencing Pyongyang as “critically important”.
Earlier this week, South Korea’s military said it had detected “a lot of activity” at the North’s nuclear test site, suggesting it was either planning a test or would pretend to stage one.
North Korea has carried out three such tests in the past, most recently in February 2013 – an incident that triggered months of severe tension on the Korean peninsula.
It also carried out tests in 2006 and 2009. All resulted in the imposition of sanctions by the UN, which bars Pyongyang from nuclear tests under resolution 1718.
A report from 38 North, the website of the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, also confirmed increased activity at the site “probably related to preparations for a detonation”, based on satellite imagery.
The document highlighted “increased movement of vehicles and materials near what are believed to be the entrances to two completed test tunnels”.
While Pyongyang has tested devices, it is not yet believed to have mastered the process of making a nuclear warhead small enough to deliver via a missile.
China is regarded as the nation with the best chance of influencing North Korea’s behavior, because of their trade ties.
“We will not allow war and chaos on China’s doorstep,” foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Thursday.
“In the meantime, we have consistently and proactively advocated dialogue and negotiation.”
Also on Barack Obama’s agenda will be Seoul’s ties with Japan. The US wants its two main Asian allies to work together to tackle North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
But rows over disputed islands and unresolved historical tensions have severely strained the Tokyo-Seoul relationship.
Last month, the US brokered a meeting between South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye and Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe in a bid to put things back on track.
In Japan, Barack Obama issued a firm statement of support over Tokyo’s dispute over a separate set of islands with China.
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After talks with PM Shinzo Abe, President Barack Obama has reaffirmed his support for Japan in its row over islands with China.
Barack Obama, who is on a four-nation Asia tour, warned against escalation in the dispute and said he wanted to see the row resolved peacefully.
He confirmed that the islands fell under a security treaty that commits the US to act if Japan is attacked.
Barack Obama and Shinzo Abe also discussed a major trade deal as well as North Korea.
The US president arrived in Japan late on Wednesday ahead of stops in South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines.
He is not going to Beijing but relations with China are expected to dominate his meetings with regional leaders.
After talks with PM Shinzo Abe, President Barack Obama has reaffirmed his support for Japan in its row over islands with China
Barack Obama’s trip – which ends on April 29 – comes nearly seven months after he cancelled a visit to the region because of a US government shutdown.
Officials say it is aimed at reassuring America’s Asian allies of its commitment to the region amid concern over China’s growing power.
On Wednesday Barack Obama had an informal dinner with Shinzo Abe. The two leaders then held talks on Thursday morning and gave a joint press conference.
“Article five [of the US-Japan security treaty] covers all territories under Japan’s administration including [the] Senkaku islands,” Barack Obama said, echoing comments published in Wednesday’s Yomiuri newspaper.
“We do not believe that they should be subject to change unilaterally.”
“This is not a new position. This is a consistent one,” he said.
However, Barack Obama also said he told Shinzo Abe that it “would be a profound mistake to continue to see escalation around this issue instead of dialogue”.
The islands are called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
Japan controls the islands but China has been strongly pressing its claim in recent months, flying and sailing vessels in and out of what Japan says are its waters and airspace.
Japan depends on the US for its security, under a decades-old alliance that dates back to the end of World War Two. If Japan is attacked, the US is obliged to come to its aid.
China’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that it opposed the US stance.
“The so-called US-Japan alliance is a bilateral arrangement from the Cold War and ought not to harm China’s territorial sovereignty and reasonable rights,” spokesman Qin Gang said in Beijing.
Shinzo Abe and Barack Obama also discussed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a giant trade deal involving 12 nations.
It is currently stalled partly due to a row between the US and Japan over agricultural tariffs.
North Korea was also on the agenda. Barack Obama wants Tokyo and Seoul to work together on the issue, but ties between the two remain badly strained because of war-related historical issues.
Barack Obama flies to Seoul after Tokyo, amid reports of increased activity at Pyongyang’s nuclear test site – potentially suggesting a fourth nuclear test could be imminent.
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President Barack Obama arrives in Japan on Wednesday ahead of stops in three other Asian nations.
Barack Obama is not going to Beijing, but relations with China are expected to dominate his meetings with regional leaders.
The US president’s trip – April 23-29 – comes nearly seven months after he cancelled a visit to the region due to a government shutdown.
Stops include a private dinner with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, as well as bilateral meetings with the South Korean, Malaysian and Philippine leaders.
President Barack Obama arrives in Japan on Wednesday ahead of stops in three other Asian nations
Ties between Tokyo and Beijing will be high on the agenda when Barack Obama touches down in Japan.
Relations are severely strained over a raft of issues, including East China Sea islands – called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China – that both claim.
Japan controls the islands but Chinese ships have sailed repeatedly in and out of what Japan says are its territorial waters as Beijing presses its claim. Last year, China declared an air defense identification zone over the islands, drawing widespread criticism.
Japan depends on the US for its security, under a decades-old alliance that dates back to the end of World War Two.
The US, however, is keen for Japan to take on greater responsibility for its own security – an area where Barack Obama and Shinzo Abe are likely to be in general agreement.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade deal which requires each country to strike an agreement with other prospective members.
A rift between Japan and the US over agriculture product tariffs has proven a major sticking point.
Barack Obama is also expected to have to balance bolstering US ties with each Asian ally with improving communication among them, particularly between South Korea and Japan.
The two Asian nations are at odds over a separate set of disputed islands, as well as historical issues linked to Japan’s war history.
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North Korea has increased the activity at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit to South Korea.
South Korean military was “currently detecting a lot of activity in and around the Punggye-ri nuclear test site”, a South Korean defense ministry spokesman said.
North Korea could be planning to hold a “surprise nuclear test or just pretend to stage a nuclear test”, he said.
North Korea has increased the activity at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit to South Korea
The communist country has carried out three nuclear tests in the past.
South Korea’s foreign minister warned of the dangers of another.
“If North Korea goes ahead with another nuclear test as it has publicly warned, it will be a game changer,” Yun Byung-se said.
North Korea’s most recent test was in February 2013 – an incident that triggered several months of severe tension on the Korean peninsula.
It also carried out tests in 2006 and 2009.
All of the tests – which were signposted well in advance – resulted in the imposition of UN sanctions on Pyongyang.
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President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill that would block the entry of any UN ambassador whom the US says has engaged in “terrorist activity”.
The law came as a response to Iran’s pick of Hamid Aboutalebi as UN envoy.
Hamid Aboutalebi was linked to the student militants who overran the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.
The US has already denied Hamid Aboutalebi a visa, and Barack Obama said he would treat the new law as “advisory”.
Iran has lodged a formal complaint with the UN over the rejection.
Hamid Aboutalebi was linked to the student militants who overran the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 (photo Iranian Presidency)
The bill that Barack Obama signed into law on Friday passed both houses of Congress handily following uproar over Hamid Aboutalebi’s links to the students who seized the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held the American diplomats hostage.
Hamid Aboutalebi has said that he acted merely as a translator on a couple of occasions for the hostage-takers, an account corroborated by some of the activists.
A senior political adviser to President Hassan Rouhani, he has previously served as the Iranian ambassador to Italy, Belgium and Australia.
In a statement on Friday upon signing the bill, Barack Obama said: “I share the Congress’ concern that individuals who have engaged in such activity may use the cover of diplomacy to gain access to our nation.”
However, Barack Obama said the law could effectively curtail his power under the US constitution to receive or reject ambassadors, and thus he said he would treat the law “as advisory in circumstances in which it would interfere with the exercise of this discretion”.
Under the 1947 Headquarters Agreement, the US is generally required to grant visas to persons invited to the UN in New York.
Iran’s deputy envoy at the UN, Hossein Dehghani, has asked Committee on Relations with the Host Country for a meeting over the decision, saying the US had violated its legal obligations under international law.
“This decision of the US government has indeed negative implications for multilateral diplomacy and will create a dangerous precedence and affect adversely the work of intergovernmental organizations and activities of their member states,” Hossein Dehghani warned.
President Barack Obama has called President Vladimir Putin urging him to use his influence to make separatists in eastern Ukraine stand down.
The phone call between Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin came as pro-Russian activists continued to occupy buildings in eastern towns.
For his part, Vladimir Putin rejected accusations of Russian interference, calling the reports “unreliable”.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s acting President, Oleksandr Turchynov, has announced the start of an “anti-terrorist operation”.
He told parliament it had begun in the “north of Donetsk Region” on Tuesday morning and was being conducted “stage by stage, in a responsible and weighed manner”.
The extent of the operation was unclear but unconfirmed reports on Russian media, quoting separatists, speak of Ukrainian armor being on the move near the flashpoint towns of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
President Barack Obama has called President Vladimir Putin urging him to use his influence to make separatists in eastern Ukraine stand down
Tanks and armored personnel carriers could be seen parked 44 miles from Sloviansk on Monday.
EU foreign ministers say they will expand a list of names targeted by sanctions.
Tension has been steadily rising since Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula, formerly part of Ukraine, last month.
The move, condemned as illegal by Kiev and the West, followed the ousting of Ukraine’s pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych in February.
The White House said the “frank and direct” conversation between the two presidents was made at Russia’s request.
“The president expressed grave concern about Russian government support for the actions of armed, pro-Russian separatists who threaten to undermine and destabilize the government of Ukraine,” a White House statement said.
“The president emphasized that all irregular forces in the country need to lay down their arms, and he urged President Putin to use his influence with these armed, pro-Russian groups to convince them to depart the buildings they have seized.”
The statement also threatened Moscow with wider sanctions, saying “the costs Russia already has incurred will increase if those actions persist”.
The Kremlin said in a statement that recent unrest in Ukraine’s south-east was “the result of the unwillingness and inability of the leadership in Kiev to take into account the interests of Russia and the Russian-speaking population”.
The statement said Vladimir Putin had urged Barack Obama to “use the resources at the disposal of the American side” to help prevent any bloodshed.
It dismissed claims that Russia was interfering in Ukraine, saying the accusations were based on “questionable information”.
Thousands of Russian troops are reported to be deployed along the border between Ukraine and Russia. Kiev fears any crackdown on pro-Russian groups could trigger an invasion.
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Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is resigning amid problematic launch of President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, US media report.
The ObamaCare – regarded by the president’s supporters as one of his main domestic achievements – has been marked by early technical problems and delays.
Kathleen Sebelius has been health secretary since Barack Obama took office in 2009.
The reports say Barack Obama will nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the current budget director, to replace her.
The New York Times reported that Kathleen Sebelius had made the decision to resign herself.
Barack Obama had resisted calls for the health secretary to stand down after the websites where people could enroll for health insurance ran into problems last October.
Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is resigning amid problematic launch of President Barack Obama’s healthcare law
After the rocky start, the White House now points to the more than 7 million people who have signed-up for coverage on federal and state-run marketplaces sites created by the Affordable Care Act.
Barack Obama says the program was “here to stay”.
Republicans see it as inappropriate government intrusion into the healthcare industry. US residents face a tax penalty next year if they do not have some form of health coverage.
The 2010 law is intended to extend health insurance to the roughly 48 million Americans who do not receive it through their employers, the government, or a privately purchased plan.
It also aims to slow the growth in the cost of healthcare and requires private plans to meet a certain level of coverage.
Analysts say Republicans in Congress may use Sylvia Mathews Burwell’s nomination proceedings to focus on criticism of the law ahead of November’s midterm elections.
The ObamaCare remains controversial among the American public, as some people have seen their insurance costs rise or their old plans cancelled, and others object to having to purchase insurance at all.
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Zeituni Onyango, President Barack Obama’s aunt who stayed in the US illegally for years, died Tuesday at age 61.
Zeituni Onyango had been treated in recent months for cancer and respiratory problems, Cleveland attorney Margaret Wong said.
She died in a Boston rehabilitation center, said Margaret Wong, who represented her in her immigration case.
Zeituni Onyango, a half-sister of Barack Obama’s late father, moved from Kenya to the US in 2000 and was denied asylum by an immigration judge in 2004.
She remained in the country illegally, living in Boston public housing.
Zeituni Onyango was a half-sister of Barack Obama’s late father (photo AP)
She finally was granted asylum in 2010 by a judge who said she could be in danger if she returned to Kenya because of her relationship with Barack Obama.
Zeituni Onyango was born in Kenya in May 1952 under a mango tree and was delivered by a midwife, Margaret Wong said.
She raised a family in Kenya and worked in the computer department of Kenya Breweries, she said.
“She was an awesome, funny, shrewd, smart lady born at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Margaret Wong said.
“If she was only born in America or born in more Western open society instead of being bogged down by tribes, lineage and being a woman in Kenya, she could have been anything she wanted to be.”
Margaret Wong said Zeituni Onyango had become ill in January and died early Tuesday morning in her sleep.
The White House, which had no immediate reaction to Zeituni Onyango’s death on Tuesday, had said previously that Barack Obama did not intervene in her immigration case.
Barack Obama, in his memoir Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, affectionately referred to Zeituni Onyango as Auntie Zeituni and described meeting her during his 1988 trip to Kenya.
Zeituni Onyanogo helped care for his half-brothers and sister while living with his father, Barack Obama Sr., in Kenya.
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Montana Gulf War veteran Daniel Rachell, who was investigated three years ago for threatening President Barack Obama, was back in federal custody Monday on new charges of threatening the president and his family.
Daniel Rachell, 43, of Darby, about 50 miles south of Missoula, was arrested Thursday and appointed a public defender at his initial hearing in US District Court in Missoula, according to records made public Monday.
Montana Gulf War veteran Daniel Rachell made racist slurs about Barack Obama and his family (photo Getty Images)
He was charged with threatening the life of the president and with threatening the lives of former presidents and other persons – the former president or presidents weren’t identified, but in a 12-page affidavit, the Secret Service said Daniel Rachell had drawn up detailed plans to blow up the presidential motorcade, killing the first family and any Secret Service and other security agents protecting them.
In the affidavit, which was filed March 28, a Secret Service investigator said the agency began looking into Daniel Rachell late last month when a veteran who patronizes the Valley Veterans Service Center in Hamilton reported that Rachell had made racist slurs about Barack Obama and had said someone needed to “kill Michelle and the kids to save the taxpayers money because they fly around on Air Force One all the time”.
The veteran told the Secret Service that Daniel Rachell boasted of having trained his current wife to be a “spotter” to assist him in an assassination attempt and that he had enough ammunition to kill everyone in Hamilton, population 4,300.
It’s not the first time the Secret Service has investigated Daniel Rachell. In April 2011, Rachell’s ex-wife filed a complaint alleging that he’d stockpiled weapons and was on his way to Illinois kill her and to St. Louis to kill another ex-wife — details outlined in the new affidavit.
As part of that complaint, the ex-wife told police that Daniel Rachell suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and had made anti-government statements and specific threats against Barack Obama.
When Daniel Rachell was located in Schertz, Texas, northeast of San Antonio, he was involuntarily admitted for psychiatric evaluation, which concluded that he did show symptoms of depression and PTSD.
The new affidavit says Daniel Rachell denied making any threats, and it couldn’t immediately be determined Monday how the 2011 investigation ended.
Samsung has been criticized by the White House for promoting a selfie taken by Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz with President Barack Obama.
The picture was taken by David Ortiz on his phone this week and was re-tweeted by Samsung to millions of the phone maker’s 5.2 million followers.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president’s image should not be used for commercial gain.
Samsung representatives have not so far commented on the issue.
Samsung has been criticized by the White House for promoting a selfie taken by Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz with President Barack Obama (photo Getty Images)
Jay Carney said that White House lawyers were being consulted over the issue.
“Without getting into counsel’s discussions, I can tell you that as a rule, the White House objects to attempts to use the president’s likeness for commercial purposes, and we certainly object in this case,” he said.
Jay Carney declined to discuss how the White House had objected.
David Ortiz gave Barack Obama a special Red Sox jersey with the president’s name on it at the function on Tuesday and then persuaded him to pose for the smartphone selfie.
“I gave him the jersey, and the photographers were going to take their pictures and I thought, really at the last second, maybe I should snap a shot with my phone while I have the chance,” David Ortiz told the Boston Globe.
“You don’t get a chance to get a photo with the president every day.”
David Ortiz denied that Samsung paid him any more money for taking the photo.
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The Obamacare enrollment period ended midnight Monday with hundreds of thousands of Americans signing up for insurance under Barack Obama’s healthcare program, in a frantic bid to beat a key deadline.
Officials believe they have reached their target of seven million sign-ups.
March 31 was the last day for most Americans to register for coverage and avoid a penalty next year.
Barack Obama’s allies say the Affordable Care Act will bring healthcare to those who need it most, but Republicans say it is a massive waste of money.
The initial launch of the system last autumn was dogged by website crashes and technical problems.
But analysts say White House officials will have been delighted with the last day of enrollment.
“What I think is important, because I know there’s been a lot of focus on glitches, is that there has been a remarkable story since the dark days of October and November,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
The Obamacare enrollment period ended midnight Monday with hundreds of thousands of Americans signing up for insurance (photo Los Angeles Times)
The Obamacare law has proved deeply unpopular among many voters, and Republicans are expected to tap into that discontent in November’s mid-term elections.
The elections will determine the shape of Congress for Barack Obama’s last two years in office.
Despite Jay Carney’s upbeat message, the federally-run health insurance marketplace website healthcare.gov was briefly out of service for several hours twice on Monday.
Visitors were initially advised the site was down for maintenance or directed to a virtual waiting room.
Spokesman Aaron Albright blamed a “technical problem”.
Meanwhile, long queues were reported at hospitals and clinics, where counselors were helping people sign up for insurance.
At a Houston community centre, immigrants from Ethiopia, Nepal, Eritrea, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and other countries were trying to enroll after having failed to register previously.
Many were waiting for interpreters to help them through the process.
Although March 31 was officially the last day people could sign up, millions could be eligible for extensions.
This includes people who had begun enrolling but did not finish before the deadline as a result of errors or website glitches.
Extensions may also be available to those prevented from enrolling because of a natural disaster, for example, or because they were subjected to domestic abuse.
The 2010 law, known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, is intended to extend health insurance to the roughly 48 million Americans who do not receive it through their employers, the government, or a privately purchased plan.
The Obamcare program also aims to slow the growth in the cost of healthcare through various measures and requires private plans to meet a certain level of coverage.
The health law has been vigorously opposed by the Republican Party and by conservatives in the private sector, who see it as an inappropriate government intrusion into the massive healthcare industry and an affront to personal liberty.
Obamcare also remains controversial among the American public, as some people have seen their insurance costs rise or their old plans cancelled, and others object to having to purchase insurance at all.
Healthcare.gov and similar marketplace websites run by some states are a key element of the Affordable Care Act, providing a clearing-house for people to purchase health insurance for themselves and their families, often with generous subsidies.
Those who are not covered by private insurance or government programs by the end of Monday will face a tax penalty, although the Obama administration has extended a grace period for those who can prove they have had technical issues with the site.
Total enrolment through the federal and state-run websites has jumped since the beginning of March, from 4.2 million to 6 million on Friday.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has called President Barack Obama to discuss the US proposal for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine, the White House announces.
Barack Obama suggested that Russia put a concrete response in writing, his spokesman said in a statement.
According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin suggested examining how the situation could be stabilized.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea has sparked international condemnation.
Vladimir Putin has called Barack Obama to discuss the US proposal for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine
Barack Obama urged Vladimir Putin to avoid the build-up of forces on the Russian border with Ukraine.
The White House said the two countries’ foreign ministers would meet soon to discuss the next steps.
The US proposal was developed in consultation with Ukraine and other European countries.
Barack Obama received Vladimir Putin’s call in Saudi Arabia – the latest leg of a trip which also took him to Europe where the Ukraine crisis dominated discussions.
The Kremlin said in a statement that Vladimir Putin drew Barack Obama’s attention to “the continued rampage of extremists” in Kiev and various regions of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin suggested examining possible steps the global community could take to help stabilize the situation, the Kremlin statement said.
Meanwhile in New York, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he had been assured by Vladimir Putin that the Russian leader “had no intention to make any military move”.
Russia’s reported troop movements near Ukraine’s eastern border – described as a “huge military build-up” by NATO – has triggered fears that Vladimir Putin’s interest in Ukraine is not limited to Crimea.
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