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This year, President Barack Obama has symbolically pardoned two turkeys on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The turkeys, named Caramel and Popcorn, were granted their presidential reprieve at the White House in what has become an annual tradition.
“I salute our two guests of honor… for their bravery,” Barack Obama said of the turkeys who competed for the title of National Thanksgiving Turkey.
Popcorn emerged the victor in a previously conducted Facebook poll.
Barack Obama has symbolically pardoned two turkeys on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday
Barack Obama, flanked by daughters Sasha and Malia, joked that his job came with “awesome and solemn responsibilities” – but the annual turkey pardon “was not one of them”.
On a more serious note, Barack Obama thanked the American people as well as members of the military for their service prior to the national holiday.
Both Caramel and Popcorn will be shuttled to nearby Mount Vernon – George Washington’s historic home – where they remain through Christmas.
Popcorn and Caramel will not be one of the estimated 46 million turkeys Americans consumed on Thanksgiving every year.
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Texas actress Shannon Guess Richardson, who is accused of mailing ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors, according to federal court documents.
Shannon Guess Richardson, 36, whose acting career included minor television roles, had attempted to blame her husband for sending the letters in May that tested positive for the presence of ricin, according to prosecutors.
Notice of the plea deal was filed on Thursday in US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Shannon Guess Richardson is accused of mailing ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama and NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Shannon Guess Richardson was arrested in June and a federal grand jury accused her in a three-count indictment of mailing the letters to Barack Obama, Michael Bloomberg and Mark Glaze, the director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group founded by Bloomberg that lobbies for stricter gun laws.
Ricin, a highly toxic substance, is found naturally in castor beans, but it takes a deliberate act to make ricin and use it to poison people, according to the CDC. Exposure to even a small amount can cause death and no known antidote exists.
Shannon Guess Richardson is charged with one count of making a threat against the president of the US and two counts of mailing threatening communications. She faces up to five years in prison on each count if convicted.
According to court documents, the letters read, in part: “You will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns. Anyone wants to come to my house will get shot in the face.”
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President Barack Obama paid tribute to the legacy of the past and the politics of the present by awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the nation’s highest civilian honor – to 16 people.
Among those receiving Presidential Medal of Freedom in Wednesday ceremony are former President Bill Clinton, iconic talk show host Oprah Winfrey and late astronaut Sally Ride.
Barack also paid tribute to the memory of President John F. Kennedy.
“This is one of my favorite events every year,” said Barack Obama.
“This year it’s just a little more special, because this marks the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy establishing this award.”
Former President Bill Clinton was among those receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Barack Obama noted that members of the Kennedy clan were in attendance: Robert Kennedy’s widow, Ethel Kennedy, and JFK’s grandson and son of Caroline Kennedy, Jack Schlossberg.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is “presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors,” says the White House.
Later in the day, presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton – and first ladies Michelle Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton – pay another tribute to JFK with a visit to his grave site at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
The Obamas and Clintons will lay a wreath near the eternal flame that marks JFK’s final resting place.
The 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination is Friday, November 22.
Barack Obama will again speak about JFK’s legacy during a dinner for the Medal of Freedom honorees at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
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President Barack Obama has urged senators to hold off from proposing more sanctions against Iran to allow time for world powers to complete a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme.
A White House spokesman warned that if a deal with Tehran was not agreed, Iran would continue enriching uranium.
Envoys from the P5+1 group of nations will begin a new round of negotiations with Iran in Geneva on Wednesday.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Javid Zarif said he believed issues could be resolved.
In a message on the video-sharing site YouTube, Javid Zarif said: “We expect and demand respect for our dignity. For us Iranians, nuclear energy is not about joining a club or threatening others. Nuclear energy is about a leap, a jump toward deciding our own destiny rather than allowing others to decide for us.”
Barack Obama has urged senators to hold off from proposing more sanctions against Iran
Barack Obama held two hours of talks with senators at the White House on Tuesday, along with Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Susan Rice.
In recent days some legislators have expressed concern that the White House is moving too fast and should take a harder line with Tehran.
“We have the opportunity to halt the progress of the Iranian programme and roll it back in key respects, while testing whether a comprehensive resolution can be achieved,” the White House said in a statement.
It said that if there was not an initial agreement, Iran would grow its stockpiles of enriched uranium, install new centrifuges and develop a plutonium reactor in the city of Arak.
Press secretary Jay Carney said President Obama had told the senators new sanctions would be most effective as a consequence if Iran refused to accept the deal now on the table or agreed and then failed to comply.
The president also rejected reports that Iran would receive at least $40 billion in sanctions relief.
Since 2006 the UN Security Council has imposed a series of sanctions on entities and people involved in Iran’s nuclear programme.
Separate US and EU sanctions have targeted Iran’s energy and banking sectors, crippling its oil-based economy.
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President Barack Obama will visit JFK’s grave on November 20 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the former president’s assassination, the White House has announced.
Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will be joined by their predecessors former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton at a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Ceremony Wednesday afternoon, as first reported by the Associated Press.
The actual anniversary falls on Friday.
Barack Obama will also be honoring one of John F. Kennedy’s last initiatives, presenting this year’s awards for the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Wednesday, the highest civilian awarded by the US.
Former prominent recipients of the medal will join the president in a tribute to JFK, who established the modern version of the medal months before his death.
This year also marks the 50th anniversary that President John F. Kennedy signed the Executive Order establishing the medal.
Barack Obama will visit JFK’s grave on November 20 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the former president’s assassination
JFK was assassinated just two weeks before he could honor the award’s first recipients. Since then, more than 500 people have been given the award, according to the White House.
The medal is presented to those who have made “especially meritorious” contributions to the security or national interests of the US, to world peace, or cultural and other public and private endeavors, according to the White House.
“The Presidential Medal of Freedom goes to men and women who have dedicated their own lives to enriching ours. This year’s honorees have been blessed with extraordinary talent, but what sets them apart is their gift for sharing that talent with the world,” Barack Obama said in a White House statement announcing this year’s recipients in August.
“It will be my honor to present them with a token of our nation’s gratitude.”
This year, Barack Obama named 16 recipients for the award from the worlds of politics and science to the worlds of music and sports. Those to be honored include Bill Clinton, women’s rights activist Gloria Steinem, Oprah Winfrey, the late American female astronaut Sally Ride, country singer Loretta Lynn and Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks.
Barack Obama has planned a speech on JFK’s legacy of service at the Smithsonian American History Museum at a dinner with former medal recipients including astronaut Buzz Aldrin, singer Aretha Franklin and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
He will also meet privately on Friday at the White House with leaders and members of the Peace Corps, another program President John F. Kennedy established.
The Peace Corps dates back to 1960, when JFK, then a senator, called on students at the University of Michigan to serve two years in volunteer service to help people in countries of the developing world, according to the Peace Corps web site.
Within weeks of his inauguration as president, JFK signed an Executive Order to establish the Peace Corps on a temporary pilot basis in March 1961. Since then, more than 210,000 Peace Corps volunteers have served in 139 countries working on issues ranging from health and education to environmental preservation.
President Barack Obama has announced a one-year reprieve for millions of Americans facing cancellation of their health insurance policies under his embattled healthcare law.
The president said insurers could extend individually purchased plans that would otherwise be cancelled.
While pushing for the law’s passage, Barack Obama vowed people with individual plans who liked their policies could keep them.
“We fumbled the rollout on this healthcare law,” he said.
In recent weeks insurance companies have sent letters to their customers announcing the cancellation of coverage that does not meet the Affordable Care Act’s strict new requirements for policies sold on the individual private market.
The law included a provision that would allow individual plans that did not meet the standard to continue as long as they were created before 2010. But many firms did not maintain these plans.
While Barack Obama said on Thursday that those people could keep their old plans, he encouraged them to shop around for better, more cost-effective coverage.
Under the change announced on Thursday, insurance companies that extend those plans will be required to inform customers of which medical care they do not cover, and inform them that other insurance options offering more coverage may be available.
Barack Obama also said he expected to have to “win back” credibility and the “confidence” of the American people in the wake of ongoing issues with the health law, his signature domestic policy initiative.
Barack Obama has announced a one-year reprieve for millions of Americans facing cancellation of their health insurance policies under his embattled healthcare law
“I completely get how upsetting this can be for many Americans,” Barack Obama said, acknowledging that he had made assurances that anyone who wanted to keep their plans would be able to.
“To those Americans: I hear you loud and clear.”
It is unclear how many will be affected by the fix. White House officials told Reuters that state insurance commissioners would have to allow it to go ahead and it would be up to insurance firms to renew the plans.
Ahead of Barack Obama’s announcement, Republican House Speaker John Boehner insisted it was time to “scrap this law once and for all”.
“You can’t fix this government-run health care plan called ObamaCare,” John Boehner said of the law, which relies mostly on health insurance plans offered by private, for-profit companies.
“It’s just not fixable.”
At the White House briefing room, Barack Obama acknowledged the flaws with the law’s rollout had put a “burden” on his fellow Democrats.
The American public has remained divided over the law since its 2010 passage and subsequent rollout. Republicans, who were unanimously opposed to the law and have tried to undermine it at every turn, have sought political advantage in every reported problem with the law.
The law, known to both sides as “ObamaCare”, is certain to be an issue in the 2014 mid-term elections.
Before Barack Obama announced the change, the White House had said it was against proposals that would allow insurers to continue selling medical coverage that did not offer the level of benefits required under the law.
“The old individual market was not working well,” Barack Obama said on Thursday.
“And it’s important that we don’t pretend that somehow that’s a place worth going back to.”
Meanwhile, the Obama administration is still struggling to fix ongoing glitches with the healthcare.gov website, established by the law to enable consumers who do not get health insurance from their employers or from the government to shop for private plans.
Among other issues, the site has been plagued by long wait times to sign up for an insurance plan and serious flaws on the back end where customers’ data are processed and sent to insurance companies.
The problems have proven so severe that fewer than 27,000 people in 36 US states have successfully enrolled in healthcare programs on the site since it launched on October 1st.
In comparison, about 79,000 enrolled using websites run by states.
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Oprah Winfrey recalled an incident where Republican congressman Joe Wilson disrespected Barack Obama by crying out “you lie” while the president was giving a speech to the Congress.
The 59-year-old talk show queen, who will be seen playing a White House butler’s wife in Lee Daniels-helmed The Butler, recalled the 2009 incident during a recent interview with BBC.
“Remember that?” she said.
Oprah Winfrey asserted that there is no doubt in her mind that President Barack Obama had to face some criticism because of his ethnicity
“I think there’s a level of disrespect for the office that occurs.
“And that occurs in some cases, and maybe even many cases, because he’s African American. There’s no question about that. And it’s the kind of thing no one ever says, but everybody’s thinking it.”
Oprah Winfrey asserted that there is no doubt in her mind that President Barack Obama had to face some criticism because of his ethnicity.
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Only 27,000 Americans enrolled for health insurance through its troubled federal website in the first month, the Obama administration has said.
About 106,000 people were insured in total, most of them through the state-run websites.
The administration originally estimated nearly half a million people would sign up in the first month.
Democrats reportedly expressed frustration about the botched rollout in a White House meeting on Wednesday.
The federal website, used in 36 US states, has been bedeviled by glitches since its October 1st launch.
The administration has pledged that the portal will be “running smoothly” for a “vast majority” of users by the end of November.
Wednesday’s figures from the US health department also showed nearly 400,000 Americans had qualified for Medicaid, a government medical programme for the poor that was expanded by the healthcare law.
Only 27,000 Americans enrolled for health insurance through its troubled federal website in the first month
About 40% of people in this category were said to have come through the federal website.
Nearly one million people, meanwhile, had managed to check via the website if they were eligible for government subsidies towards the insurance, but had not selected a plan, according to the administration.
The White House’s chief technology officer, Todd Park, told a congressional oversight hearing on Wednesday that the system’s response times have improved.
But there is a long way to go – health insurance enrolment thus far is a tiny fraction of the seven million people the Obama administration has projected will sign up by the end of March.
The difficult launch of the website has provided Republicans with plenty of ammunition against the law, which they tried to delay or defund through a partial government shutdown last month.
The White House is also facing harsh criticism over insurance companies’ mass cancellation of policies that do not meet the law’s strict requirements, even though Democratic President Barack Obama had pledged otherwise.
Adding to his political headache, six Senate Democrats are sponsoring a bill that would allow Americans to hold on to their existing coverage. The proposal is entitled Keeping the Affordable Care Act Promise.
It is along the lines of a House Republican-sponsored bill, to be voted on Friday, which Democratic leaders have rejected as just another conservative attempt to repeal the law.
Democrats in the House of Representatives met White House officials on Wednesday, reportedly to express their concern that the issue could lead to a backlash in next year’s midterm elections.
An unnamed senior House Democratic aide told US media that legislators had pressed President Barack Obama to announce a fix for the cancelled policies.
The White House is expected to host a visit from Democratic senators on Thursday.
Former President Bill Clinton, a fellow Democrat, on Tuesday urged Barack Obama to find a way to let Americans keep their coverage under the law. Republicans seized on his comments.
Last week, Barack Obama apologized to those whose policies had been cancelled, saying “we didn’t do a good enough job in terms of how we crafted the law”.
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President Barack Obama spends Veterans Day on Monday honoring those who sacrificed for the nation.
In the early morning, Barack Obama hosts a White House breakfast for invited veterans and their families.
Later, the president travels to Arlington National Cemetery for the traditional wreath laying ceremony.
President Barack Obama traveled to Arlington National Cemetery for the traditional Veterans Day wreath laying ceremony
In his weekend radio address, President Barack Obama said Veterans Day is a chance for all Americans “to say two simple words: <<Thank you>>.”
President Barack Obama said: “Thank you to that greatest generation who fought island by island across the Pacific, and freed millions from fascism in Europe. Thank you to the heroes who risked everything through the bitter cold of Korea and the stifling heat of Vietnam. And thank you to all the heroes who have served since, most recently our 9/11 Generation of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.”
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President Barack Obama has apologized to Americans whose health insurance plans have been cancelled as a result of his signature health law.
In recent weeks, insurance companies have reportedly cancelled policies that do not meet strict requirements under Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare overhaul.
“We didn’t do a good enough job in terms of how we crafted the law,” the president said in an interview with NBC News.
But a senior Republican labeled his remarks a “half-hearted apology”.
During his campaign for the passage of the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, Barack Obama repeatedly insisted that people who liked their health insurance policies would be able to keep them.
But it now appears that millions of people who purchased plans on the private individual market rather than receive health coverage from the government or their employers may in fact have to buy new, possibly more expensive plans.
“I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me,” Barack Obama said.
“We’ve got to work hard to make sure that they know we hear them, and we are going to do everything we can to deal with folks who find themselves in a tough position as a consequence of this.”
Barack Obama has apologized to Americans whose health insurance plans have been cancelled as a result of his signature health law
The health law’s supporters have said most people thrown off their health plans will be able to buy better insurance policies at better prices, especially those eligible for subsidies provided under the health law.
The opposition Republicans, who have fought the president’s healthcare law at every turn, have seized on the reports of the policy cancellations. Some have gone so far as to accuse Barack Obama of lying to the public during his campaign for the law’s passage.
Even some of Barack Obama’s fellow Democrats have suggested the administration delay parts of the law’s implementation, including a requirement that people carry health insurance or face a penalty.
Barack Obama’s remarks on Thursday came after weeks of serious problems with healthcare.gov, a website established under the law that is akin to a shopping site for private health insurance plans.
Among other issues, it has been plagued by long wait times to sign up for an insurance plan and serious flaws on the back end where customers’ data are processed and sent to insurance companies.
Barack Obama has vowed the website will be repaired.
The Republican response to Barack Obama’s remarks was swift, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell saying “if the president is truly sorry for breaking his promises to the American people, he’ll do more than just issue a half-hearted apology on TV”.
Thursday’s television interview was the latest effort by Barack Obama to win public support for the embattled healthcare law.
On Wednesday Barack Obama travelled into the heart of Republican territory to seek cross-party support for the measure.
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Ghastly webs with giant black spiders adorned an orange-hued White House on Thursday, slithering down from the Truman Balcony along the South Portico, where haystacks and nearly 200 pumpkins dotted the lawn for the annual White House Halloween event.
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, clad in orange and black, emerged in the evening to greet the zombies, wizards and superheroes waiting diligently to hear the president’s response to an eerie query: Trick or treat?
It was treats – thousands of packages of jelly beans, dried fruit and White House Sweet Dough Butter Cookies – that Barack and Michelle Obama handed children as they walked across the South Lawn, past stilt-walkers, jugglers and a giant, transparent bubble housing Glinda the Good Witch, who brandished her magic wand in true Wizard-of-Oz fashion.
Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, clad in orange and black, emerged in the evening to greet the zombies, wizards and superheroes
Fog billowed across the lawn, obscuring the Washington Monument in the distance as children and their parents mingled with White House staffers dressed as football players, vampires and princesses. A brass band of white-faced skeletons set the mood with creepy Halloween tunes, dancing as they played alongside a family of ghosts camped out near the area where the president’s helicopter normally lifts off.
Even Barack Obama’s dogs donned costumes — no, not the real Sunny and Bo, but topiaries carved from ribbons and pipe cleaners and dressed up, Bo as a pirate and Sunny as a sunflower.
The festivities marked the return of a favorite annual tradition at the White House that had to be scrapped last year. After three straight years of passing out goodies, rain or shine, Obama and the first lady canceled the event last year because of Superstorm Sandy, which had walloped the East Coast earlier in the week.
More than 5,000 people took part in this year’s Halloween event, the White House said.
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President Barack Obama has accepted “full responsibility” for ensuring the troubled HealthCare.gov website gets fixed.
Speaking in Boston, Barack Obama said he was “not happy” about the glitch-laden project, but made a full-throated defense of the broader 2010 healthcare law.
Earlier, the president’s embattled health secretary apologized to the American people over the botched website rollout.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is the largest overhaul of the US healthcare system since the 1960s.
Commonly known as Obamacare, it aims to extend health insurance coverage to the estimated 15% of the American population who lack it.
But a central component of the law, the federal website where consumers can shop for health insurance plans, has been plagued by malfunctions since its launch on 1 October.
Barack Obama said in Wednesday’s speech: “There’s no denying it – right now the website is too slow. Too many people have gotten stuck. And I’m not happy it about it. And neither are a lot of Americans who need healthcare.”
He added: “So there’s no excuse for it. And I take full responsibility for making sure it gets fixed ASAP. We are working overtime to improve it every day.”
Barack Obama spoke at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, a state that in 2006 introduced a groundbreaking healthcare law that inspired the Obama administration’s own nationwide overhaul.
“Massachusetts has shown the model works,” he said.
President Barack Obama has accepted “full responsibility” for ensuring the troubled HealthCare.gov website gets fixed
He also took a swipe at Republicans, who view the health law as a costly and inappropriate government intrusion into healthcare, and have sought to undo or undermine it at every turn.
“If they put as much energy into making sure the law works as they do attacking the law, Americans would be better off,” the Democratic president said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told a House of Representatives committee that she was to blame for the website’s problems.
“Hold me accountable for the debacle,” she said.
“I’m responsible.”
Kathleen Sebelius acknowledged the website experience was “frustrating” for many Americans, but said the problems were “fixable” and that the site would be fully up and running by the end of November.
Some Republicans have demanded Kathleen Sebelius resign over the issue. They argue that the website’s faults reflect broader problems with the healthcare law.
Committee chairman Fred Upton, a Republican, called the website “inept”, saying that five weeks into enrolment, “the news seems to get worse by the day”.
The committee’s senior Democrat, Henry Waxman, acknowledged “the launch of the new website has not gone well”, but he said the “early glitches will soon be forgotten”.
Aside from establishing the federal insurance marketplace homepage and parallel websites run by 14 states plus Washington DC, the law bolsters coverage requirements for insurance firms, mandates that individuals carry insurance or pay a tax penalty, and offers subsidies to assist in the purchase of the insurance.
It also expands eligibility for the Medicaid healthcare programme for the poor in states where governors have agreed to it.
Amid the fallout, the White House has said it will grant a six-week extension – until March 31st, 2014 – in the healthcare law’s requirement for individuals to buy insurance or face a tax penalty.
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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has topped Forbes magazine’s World’s Most Powerful People list in 2013.
Vladimir Putin has beaten President Barack Obama into second place on the list.
Pope Francis features at number four after Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Barack Obama’s “lame duck period” had started earlier than usual while Vladimir Putin had consolidated his control of Russia, Forbes says.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel ranked number five – one of only two women to feature in the top 20.
British PM David Cameron is 11th most powerful, in the magazine’s opinion – well ahead of his French counterpart but well behind American philanthropist Bill Gates.
It is the first time in three years that Barack Obama has dropped to second place on the Forbes list.
It comes as relations between the US and Russia have been hit by the civil war in Syria.
Vladimir Putin, who has been dominating Russian politics for 12 years, was re-elected president in March 2012.
Vladimir Putin has topped Forbes magazine’s World’s Most Powerful People list in 2013
Barack Obama, on the other hand, has emerged bruised from a 16-day US government shutdown caused by a budget and debt crisis in Washington, Forbes says:
“Putin has solidified his control over Russia, while Obama’s lame duck period has seemingly set in earlier than usual for a two-term president – latest example: the government shutdown mess.”
Russia granted asylum in August to former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who is wanted in the US over intelligence leaks.
A month later, Vladimir Putin “played the trump card again” by averting Barack Obama’s threatened missile strikes on Syria with a plan for Damascus to hand over chemical weapons, the magazine says.
“Anyone watching this year’s chess match over Syria and NSA leaks has a clear idea of the shifting individual power dynamics,” it adds.
Top 10 Most Powerful People – Forbes 2013
1. Vladimir Putin, Russian President
2. Barack Obama, US President
3. Xi Jinping, Chinese President
4. Pope Francis, Roman Catholic Church
5. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor
6. Bill Gates, co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
7. Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman
8. Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
9. Mario Draghi, European Central Bank president
10. Michael Duke, Wal-Mart CEO
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The White House has admitted the need for additional “constraints” on US intelligence gathering, amid claims of eavesdropping on allies.
President Barack Obama’s spokesman, Jay Carney, said an ongoing White House intelligence policy review would account for “privacy concerns”.
Spain is the latest of several countries reported to have been the target of US collection of phone data.
A top Democrat in the Senate has said its intelligence panel will undertake a “major review” of US spying programmes.
Senator Dianne Feinstein said she was “totally opposed” to the NSA’s intelligence gathering on leaders of US allies.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said an ongoing White House intelligence policy review would account for privacy concerns
An EU delegate in Washington described the row as “a breakdown of trust”.
On Monday Jay Carney told reporters the administration “recognize[s] there needs to be additional constraints on how we gather and use intelligence”.
He said the US did not use its intelligence gathering capabilities for the purpose of promoting its economic interests, and that Barack Obama was committed to ensuring “that we are collecting information not just because we can, but because we should, because we need it for our security”.
“We also need to ensure that our intelligence resources are most effectively supporting our foreign policy and national security objectives, that we are more effectively weighing the risks and rewards of our activities,” he said.
An across-the-board review of US intelligence resources, currently under way, is also expected to assist the administration in “properly accounting for both the security of our citizens and our allies and the privacy concerns shared by Americans and citizens around the world”, Jay Carney added.
Jay Carney or Barack Obama have not commented on specific allegations that the US eavesdropped on international allies, including tapping the phones of foreign officials.
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According to NSA officials, the chief of the US spy agency has not discussed the alleged bugging of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone with President Barack Obama say.
General Keith Alexander never discussed alleged operations involving Angela Merkel, an NSA spokeswoman said.
German media say the US has been tapping Angela Merkel’s phone since 2002, and Barack Obama was told in 2010.
The row has led to the worst diplomatic crisis between the two countries in living memory.
A report in German tabloid Bild am Sonntag claimed that Gen. Keith Alexander had told Barack Obama about the bugging himself.
German media say the US has been tapping Angela Merkel’s phone since 2002, and Barack Obama was told in 2010
An NSA source told the paper that Barack Obama had not stopped the operation, and had wanted to know all about Angela Merkel as “he did not trust her”.
However, a statement from the NSA on Sunday denied the reports in Bild.
“[General] Alexander did not discuss with President Obama in 2010 an alleged foreign intelligence operation involving German Chancellor Merkel, nor has he ever discussed alleged operations involving Chancellor Merkel,” NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said.
“News reports claiming otherwise are not true.”
The statement does not make it clear whether the president was informed of the bugging operation by other means.
Barack Obama is reported to have told the German chancellor that he knew nothing of the operation when the two leaders spoke on Wednesday.
Germany is sending its top intelligence chiefs to Washington in the coming week to “push forward” an investigation into the spying allegations, which have caused outrage in Germany.
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John Emerson – the American ambassador in Berlin – has been summoned over claims that the US monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will meet John Emerson later in what is seen as an unusual step between close allies.
Angela Merkel has demanded a “complete explanation” of the claims, which are threatening to overshadow an EU summit.
Germany has summoned the US ambassador in Berlin over claims that the US monitored Angela Merkel’s mobile phone
The German Chancellor discussed the issue with US President Barack Obama on Wednesday.
Barack Obama told Angela Merkel the US was not monitoring her calls and would not in future, the White House said.
However, it left open the question of whether calls had been listened to in the past.
French President Francois Hollande had already called for the issue to be put on the agenda of the summit – where EU leaders are due to discuss Europe’s digital economy, economic recovery and immigration – following reports that millions of French calls had been monitored.
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Angela Merkel has called President Barack Obama after receiving information that the US may have spied on her mobile phone.
A spokesman for Angela Merkel said the German Chancellor “views such practices… as completely unacceptable”.
Angela Merkel has called on US officials to clarify the extent of their surveillance in Germany.
The White House said President Barack Obama had told Chancellor Merkel the US was not snooping on her communications.
“The United States is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
Angela Merkel has called President Barack Obama after receiving information that the US may have spied on her mobile phone
Jay Carney told reporters that Washington was examining concerns from Germany as well as France and other American allies over US intelligence practices.
The call comes a day after US intelligence chief James Clapper denied reports that American spies had recorded data from 70 million phone calls in France in a single 30-day period.
James Clapper said a report in Le Monde newspaper contained “misleading information”.
The German government would not elaborate over how it gained its information about alleged US spying on its leader’s communications.
German news magazine Der Spiegel, which has published stories based on material from NSA leaker Edward Snowden, said the information had come from its investigations.
Berlin demanded “an immediate and comprehensive explanation” from Washington about what it said “would be a serious breach of trust”.
“Among close friends and partners, as the Federal Republic of Germany and the US have been for decades, there should be no such monitoring of the communications of a head of government,” the statement.
The statement said that Angela Merkel had told Barack Obama: “Such practices must be prevented immediately.”
The US has also seen other allies angry over spying concerns.
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President Barack Obama helped catch a pregnant woman who was apparently about to faint while he hosted a press conference at the White House.
Karmel Allison, who has type 1 diabetes, began to swoon as she stood behind the president during his 25-minute speech in the White House Rose Garden.
“You’re OK. I’m right here. I got you,” the president told the woman.
President Barack Obama helped catch pregnant Karmel Allison who was apparently about to faint while he hosted a press conference at the White House
Barack Obama was addressing glitches in his administration’s healthcare-insurance website during his speech.
“This happens when I talk too long,” Barack Obama quipped.
Karmel Allison – a member of White House staff – recovered and said later she was a pregnant diabetic, tweeting: “I’m ok world- just got a little lightheaded. Thanks, @BarackObama for catching me!”
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President Barack Obama has said there is “no excuse” for the glitches that have plagued the rollout of an element of his 2010 healthcare law.
In a White House press conference, Barack Obama said that despite its problems, the website was delivering affordable coverage.
Those attempting to sign up for health insurance have reported persistent issues since the 1 October rollout.
Barack Obama said a “tech surge” was under way to fix the snags.
The website’s issues have been overshadowed by the recent partial government shutdown, in which Republican lawmakers attempted to gut the law through budgetary brinkmanship.
During Monday’s Rose Garden event, Barack Obama conceded that healthcare.gov “hasn’t worked as smoothly as it was supposed to work”.
“The number of people who’ve visited the site has been overwhelming, which has aggravated some of these underlying problems.”
Barack Obama added: “There’s no sugar coating – the website has been too slow, people have been getting stuck during the application process and I think it’s fair to say that nobody’s more frustrated by that than I am.”
The president said that notwithstanding the website’s problems, there was “massive demand” and the homepage had been visited nearly 20 million times since its launch.
“Precisely because the product is good, I want the cash registers to work; I want the checkout lines to be smooth,” said Barack Obama.
“And there’s no excuse for the problems, and these problems are getting fixed.”
Barack Obama has said there is “no excuse” for the glitches that have plagued the rollout of an element of his 2010 healthcare law
Barack Obama was joined at Monday’s event by people who have successfully enrolled during the first three weeks.
Janice Baker, a Delaware business owner who was the first person in her state to enroll for coverage through the exchange website, introduced Barack Obama.
She said she had “a number of frustrating attempts” to use the site, but kept trying as she had been rejected from insurance plans previously because of a pre-existing condition.
Janice Baker said she expected to save $150 a month with the policy she had signed up for on the exchange.
The website is supposed to be a clearinghouse for uninsured Americans searching for medical coverage.
The site acts both as a check on whether applications qualify for government subsidies for private insurance, as well as being the first enrolment step for specific plans.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projects the exchanges will be the gateway for providing health coverage to an estimated seven million Americans during the first year.
The White House has said almost half a million people have applied for healthcare through both federal and state-run exchanges since October 1st.
Exchanges run by individual states do not appear to have been plagued to the same extent by malfunctions.
White House officials initially blamed the gremlins on heavy interest in the site, but they recently conceded the flaws were larger and involved software and system design issues.
The Department of Health and Human Services, which runs the exchanges, said in a blog post it had already begun to make improvements.
But the administration has offered few details on who was being brought in from outside the government and the specific causes of the ongoing glitches.
Passed in 2010, the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, has rolled out in multiple steps, including coverage requirements on insurance companies and future tax penalties for those who remain uninsured.
Republicans have repeatedly attempted to repeal or remove funding from the law, most recently during a 16-day government shutdown which ended with no major concessions from Barack Obama.
Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has also been criticized by Republican lawmakers for declining an invitation to testify about the snags on October 24th.
Although the law remains divisive, a recent Gallup poll suggests only 29% of the public favors a complete repeal.
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President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill to re-open the government and extend the debt ceiling, just hours after the House and Senate passed the measure with broad bipartisan support.
Barack Obama said the measure would immediately restart federal programs that had been put on hold during the funding lapse.
The world reaction to the debt deal was one of relief Thursday, but there were signs the drawn-out process has undermined confidence in America’s global standing in both finance and politics. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged Washington to build a more stable management of U.S. finances, mindful that Wednesday night’s deal only suspends the debt limit until February 7, 2014.
Asian money markets rose after the deal, but key European markets fell in early trading, Reuters reported.
After weeks of stalemate that shuttered the government for 16 days, the standoff is finally over
The GOP-dominated House passed the measure 285-144, with 87 Republicans joining all Democrats in support. The Senate passed it 81-18. In both chambers, only Republicans voted against the measure.
Office of Management and Budget director Sylvia Mathews Burwell told federal employees to expect to return to work on Thursday morning.
Federal employees who were furloughed as a result of the shutdown will receive back pay “as soon as practicable,” according to the bill’s text.
The bill will fund the federal government through January 15 and extend the government’s borrowing power through February 7. It also calls for a congressional agreement by mid-December on a long-term budget plan.
After more than two weeks of standoff over the government shutdown, Republicans -faced with Thursday’s debt ceiling deadline – were forced to accept a deal with only minor concessions from Democrats.
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Democrats have rejected a proposal from House of Representatives Republicans to extend the debt limit and reopen the federal government.
The White House criticized what it called an attempt to appease a small group of conservatives, but praised a parallel bipartisan Senate plan.
The White House balked at the House’s proposed amendments to President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law.
The US must raise its $16.7 trillion debt limit by Thursday or risk default.
It remains unclear whether Congress can agree a deal in time to avert the economic calamity in the US and across the world that economists say could result.
The House of Representatives would vote on Tuesday night on its bill to reopen the government and avoid default, said Republicans.
Meanwhile, Fitch credit agency placed the US AAA rating under review for a downgrade.
The Senate plan, outlined on Monday evening, would fund the government through mid-January and raise the debt ceiling until February, creating room for negotiators to agree a longer-term budget.
Democrats have rejected a proposal from House of Representatives Republicans to extend the debt limit and reopen the federal government
The House plan largely mirrored the Senate timeline until Representative Devin Nunes said on Tuesday afternoon it had been amended to fund the government only until December 15.
The California Republican said the revised House plan also dropped earlier attempts to delay a medical device tax used to pay for healthcare subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
The House plan would also eliminate healthcare subsidies for the president, vice-president, members of the president’s cabinet, and members of Congress and their staff.
The health law passed in 2010, was subsequently validated by the Supreme Court, and was a central issue in the 2012 presidential election, which Barack Obama won handily. Many key provisions have already taken effect, and more begin next year.
On Tuesday, Barack Obama rejected what an aide described as Republicans’ attempts to extort “ransom” while the government remained shut and the threat of a debt default loomed.
“Unfortunately, the latest proposal from House Republicans does just that in a partisan attempt to appease a small group of Tea Party Republicans who forced the government shutdown in the first place,” said White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage, referring to a faction of hardline conservatives who hold significant sway in the House.
Later, Republican House Speaker John Boehner said that both parties were trying to find a way forward and that Tuesday morning’s House plan was focused on “fairness for the American people under Obamacare”.
“There have been no decisions about exactly what we will do,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“There are a lot of opinions about what direction to go.”
But following a meeting with John Boehner and GOP moderates on Tuesday Republican representative Charlie Dent told the media his “best estimate is that there aren’t the votes to pass it”.
House and Senate Democrats immediately joined Barack Obama in denouncing the House Republican proposal.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the plan was “an extreme piece of legislation and it’s nothing more than a blatant attack on bipartisanship”. He said it would never pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.
President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet House Democrats on Tuesday afternoon as the clock ticks to Thursday’s debt ceiling deadline.
Even if a deal is reached in the Senate, it is unclear whether Congress could act in time to pass legislation that would avert the October 17 default deadline.
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The White House has potsponed a meeting with Democrats and Republicans congressional leaders as lawmakers continue talks on raising the nation’s debt limit.
The talks were to take place between President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden and leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives.
The US government shutdown, also a result of the political deadlock, has now entered its third week.
Officials warn of economic calamity should the US default on its debt.
In a statement, the White House said Monday afternoon’s meeting had been postponed to “allow leaders in the Senate time to continue making important progress towards a solution that raises the debt limit and reopens the government”.
It is unclear when it will be rescheduled.
The White House has potsponed a meeting with Democrats and Republicans congressional leaders as lawmakers continue talks on raising the nation’s debt limit
President Barack Obama sounded his own warning as he toured a soup kitchen for the poor in Washington D.C. earlier on Monday.
“This week if we don’t start making some real progress, both the House and the Senate – and if Republicans aren’t willing to set aside their partisan concerns in order to do what’s right for the country – we stand a good chance of defaulting,” he said.
“And defaulting would have a potentially devastating effect on our economy.”
Barack Obama said he saw “some progress” in the talks, ahead of Thursday’s deadline for the US to raise its $16.7 trillion borrowing limit or risk default on its debt.
Expected to attend the White House meeting were Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican House Speaker John Boehner and House Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
On Monday, Harry Reid told the Senate he was “very optimistic we will reach an agreement”. Mr McConnell also expressed optimism, following what he described as “a couple of very useful discussions” with the Democratic leader.
Republican Senator Susan Collins acknowledged the Senate did not have a finished agreement, but said senators were “making very good progress”.
A separate bipartisan group led by Susan Collins also met for several hours earlier in the day to discuss possible solutions, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Congressional Democrats are now said to be using the looming debt ceiling deadline as leverage to push back against previously enacted cuts to the US government budget.
Those deep military and domestic spending cuts, known as the “sequester”, went into effect in January 2013 after Democrats and Republicans failed to reach a budget compromise.
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The US shutdown negotiations have been shifted to the Senate.
The Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate held direct talks for the first time in weeks, but there is little sign of any breakthrough, correspondents say.
The shutdown began when Congress missed the October 1st deadline to pass a budget.
The US faces another deadline on Thursday to raise its debt limit.
If a deal is not reached by then, the US faces potential default, a prospect which has caused alarm both domestically and abroad.
Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat, said the aim was to reach a deal on extending the debt limit before markets reopen on Monday.
The talks between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell earlier on Saturday represented the first face-to-face meeting between the two since July, the New York Times reported.
“The conversations were extremely cordial but very preliminary of course – nothing conclusive, but I hope that our talking is some solace to the American people and to the world,” said Harry Reid.
The US shutdown negotiations have been shifted to the Senate
“We had a good meeting,” said Mitch McConnell, without elaborating.
Harry Reid then went to the White House for talks with President Barack Obama.
But he rejected a plan put forward by Republican Senator Susan Collins to allow the government to increase its debt limit until January 31st, 2014.
Democrats have a majority in the Senate, but could not muster enough support to advance a proposal to lift the debt ceiling there.
Talks between House Republicans and the White House had collapsed earlier.
Republicans have refused to pass a new budget unless President Barack Obama agrees to delay or eliminate the funding of the healthcare reform law of 2010.
Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been sent home as a result of the shutdown.
The White House has repeatedly said it would not undermine the law, known as Obamacare, nor negotiate over larger budget matters, until Republicans vote to end the threat of default.
It has also rejected a short-term deal over the debt limit.
“It wouldn’t be wise, as some suggest, to just kick the debt ceiling can down the road for a couple of months, and flirt with a first-ever intentional default right in the middle of the holiday shopping season,” President Barack Obama said.
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President Barack Obama has announced he is willing to sign a “clean” short-term increase to the US borrowing limit that is free from Republican budget and policy demands.
Barack Obama’s announcement came as the US is in the 11th day of a partial government shutdown.
However, the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon and Mount Rushmore, closed by the shutdown, will now re-open.
Barack Obama has announced he is willing to sign a “clean” short-term increase to the US borrowing limit that is free from Republican budget and policy demands
The funding will be provided by the states of New York, Arizona and South Dakota, however, with other national parks and monuments remaining closed due to the deadlock in Washington.
As the well as the shutdown, the US is heading towards default if it does not raise its debt limit by October 17.
The partial government shutdown, which has sent home hundreds of thousands of government workers on unpaid leave, began on 1 October after Republicans refused to pass a new budget unless Barack Obama and the Democrats agreed to delay Obama’s signature healthcare reform law of 2010 or eliminate its funding.
The White House has repeatedly said it would not undermine the law, known as Obamacare, nor negotiate over larger budget matters, until Republicans vote to end the threat of default and reopen the government.
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Pakistani schoolgirl campaigner Malala Yousafzai has met President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House in the Oval Office.
The First Family thanked Malala Yousafzai, 16, who was shot in the head last year by the Taliban, for her “inspiring and passionate work” for girls’ education.
Malia Obama, 15, also attended the meeting.
The White House said the US celebrated Malala Yousafzai’s courage and determination to promote girls’ right to attend school.
Malala Yousafzai has met President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House in the Oval Office
“As the First Lady has said, <<Investing in girls’ education is the very best thing we can do, not just for our daughters and granddaughters, but for their families, their communities, and their countries>>,” the White House said in a statement.
On Thursday, Malala Yousafzai was awarded the EU’s Sakharov human rights prize. Although she had been tipped for the Nobel Peace Prize, on Friday that went to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the body overseeing the destruction of Syria’s chemical arsenal.
A native of Pakistan’s mountainous Swat Valley, Malala Yousafzai rose to prominence in 2009 after writing an anonymous blog for the BBC Urdu service about her life under Taliban rule and the lack of education for girls.
Malala Yousafzai’s name became internationally known after the Pakistan army pushed the Taliban out of the area in 2009.
The Taliban’s Islamist doctrine puts harsh restrictions on women’s rights and one of the militants shot her last year as she was riding in a bus with school friends.
After the attack, Malala Yousafzai was flown to the UK for medical treatment and now lives in Birmingham, where she is going to school.
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